Nobody 733

"Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both." Ben Franklin

I started to use this last week but delayed it until I had room for comment. We all know, or should, that our freedoms are not absolute. We can’t yell fire in a crowded theater or sacrifice our first-born. But the Bill Of Rights was written with the intent that if limitations are imposed on these freedoms, the burden of proof is on the government to show the necessity of their actions.

Too many times in our history we have allowed the government to get away with limiting our freedoms, sometimes in general, at others for specific groups, without proof of necessity. The president simply waves his national security blanket and, like sheep, we surrender our neighbor’s freedom thinking that this is the best way to protect our own.

How foolish we are not to know that if today it is our neighbor, tomorrow it may be us.

Sunday, February 24, 2008
Nobody # 733

Nobody Asked Me But:

“God is on the side with the best artillery.” Napoleon

“Never buy a boat, but always have a friend who owns one." Al McGuire

LAST WEEK’S QUESTIONS

The swish of a three-point shot, the crack of the bat hitting a home run ball, the crack of a helmet hitting a helmet….. In your opinion, what is the greatest sound in sports?

Me: There is no sound in sports that can equal the CRACK when, with a perfectly timed swing, the bat sends the ball soaring toward the distant fence. You can have your eyes closed and still know immediately that it is …………gone!

Hugh: The sound of a perfectly hit golf ball being struck by a persimmon driver. In the good old days we called this hitting it on the screws. Wooden drivers had Phillips head screws to hold the faceplate in place. Sometimes you could see the marks they left on the golf ball. The new titanium canons make a metallic sound that is both irritating and unreal.

Barbara: The music of the Olympics, which always gives her goose bumps.

If you had to write a brief message on a dollar bill that many people would eventually see as the currency circulates, what message would you write?

I would replace “In God We Trust” with “Let Freedom Ring.”

Hugh: So many things I would like to write on a dollar bill. Some serious, some not so serious. I suppose, "Spend me in good health" makes as much sense as anything else.<<<

Last week I promised that I would give you my take on “Vaginagate” and free press. About 10 days ago, the student newspaper at Cleveland High School in Reseda published a four-page special which editor-in-chief, 15-year-old Richard Edmond said was trying to raise awareness of violence against women. It contained a lead story about playwright Eve Ensler's "Vagina Monologues," and included a front-page diagram of a vagina and such stories as "Ending shame for nature's gift" and "Rejected!!!!!!!"

Actually I should have written, tried to publish, because as soon as he heard about the paper, Cleveland principal Bob Mark (formerly principal at Hale) sent out his storm troopers to seize the papers so that boys would not find out that girls have vaginas.

It was reported that security guards snatched papers out of student’s hands. Marks said he had heard similar reports, but did not witness any such incidents – nor would he confirm that some students were seized, beaten with their copies leaving printer’s ink stains over their face and heads and are being kept in isolation for the remainder of the semester so as not to spread the word.

Who was right at Cleveland? I say the students. Sure they handled their chosen subject with profound immaturity, but that’s because they are immature. Like everything else in life maturity comes step-by-step, mistake-by-mistake. Did they challenge authority? I hope so. The success of a democracy depends on it being challenged. Only autocracies command rote obedience. Obviously, a school is not a democracy, but it is where we (supposedly) prepare kids to be functioning democrats.

You can’t teach freedom with repression.

And finally, is it true that as one way of getting out of its financial mess, LAUSD will market tee-shirts fronted with the logo – “A vagina should be obscene and not heard!?”<<<

Did McCain fool around? Like the President Bill mess, I think the answer is irrelevant to his ability to be president - which is already far below that of Senator Obama, the Democratic nominee. And besides, if he did, I think it just adds to his reputation as a “straight shooter.”

And I don’t buy Zeph’s comment in the Star that this is a sign of McCain’s mental imbalance. I don’t think that it was his “mental” that that was involved.<<<

While on the subject of Senator John, his favorite president is Teddy Roosevelt. That is probably an excellent reason to vote against him. Don’t get me wrong. There was much about TR to like. He was fun, he was cheerful, he was dynamic, he was literate, he was powerful and he was a leader. But he loved power and war too much. Here is what he said about them:

“No triumph of peace is quite so great as the supreme triumphs of war." "

I don't think that any harm comes from the concentration of power in one man's hands."

Someone once said that one Teddy Roosevelt a century is enough. Make that one every two centuries and reject McCain.<<<

The sad love affair of Americans for guns - this is from a Column One in last week’s LA Times:

"On Friday morning, my husband and I sat down with Hannah and her younger brother and sister for a talk before school. We told them what to do if they ever spotted anyone with a gun in school: Forget calling 911. Don't worry about finding a teacher. Hit the floor. Crawl away and hide.

I hated to scare them. But my search for answers had led to only one truth: It will happen again." Stephnie Simon

(Hannah was 10 months old when Simon covered the Columbine massacre. She is 10 now and the killings continue)<<<

1959 – U. S. breaks off trade and diplomatic contact with Cuba to force Castro from power. 2008 – Castro announces his retirement. IT’WORKING!!!!!!!!!<<<

Another reason for Barack:

Everyone who votes for Hillary will vote for Barack. The reverse is not true.<<<

AND ABOUT BARACK’S “PLAGIARISM” or MUCH ADU ABOUT NOTHING

Here is Bill in 1992 followed by Hil Thursday night: Clinton, 92:

“The hits that I took in this election are nothing compared to the hits the people of this state and this country have been taking for a long time.”

Hil, Thursday: “You know, the hits I’ve taken in life are nothing compared to what goes on every single day in the lives of people across our country.”

Or is it not plagiarism to steal from one’s husband?<<<

And is Bill right when he says that voters should not be swayed by eloquence and excitement – unless he is running?<<<

YouTube song of the week. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xp1mIYJNKWQ

ANNUAL ACADEMY AWARDS PREDICTIONS

There were no great films this year, but there were several very good ones. And there were so many excellent acting performances that some of these categories are impossible choices. So here we go (possible surprises in parenthesis).

Best Picture – “No Country For Old Men.” (“There Will Be Blood”)
Best Actor – Daniel Day-Lewis (George Clooney)
Best Actress – Julie Christie (Cate Blanchett)
Best supporting Actor - Javier Bardem (None, although all five were incredible)
Best supporting Actress – Ruby Dee – sentimental choice (Amy Ryan, Cate) Blanchett, and Tilda Swinton were all wonderful

And did you know:

That the pilot for “Bewitched” languished for more than a year because of complaints by ABC’s Southern stations that its adman-loves-witch premise was “a veiled argument for racial intermarriage?”

That Doris Day and Ronald Reagan were the early choices to play Mr. and Mrs. Robinson in “The Graduate?

That “What’s new, pussycat?” was one of Warren Beatty’s signature seduction lines?

That for “Doctor Dolittle,” producers spent six months trying to teach a chimp to cook bacon and eggs in a frying pan?

That Dustin Hoffman, (no surprise here) “had a big fight” with Lee Strasberg the first time he attended Strasberg’s class?

These facts are taken from:

PICTURES AT A REVOLUTION Five Movies and the Birth of the New Hollywood. By Mark Harris.
Illustrated. 490 pp. The Penguin Press. $27.95.

QUESTIONS FOR NEXT WEEK

Suppose that everywhere you went, you had to carry a shoebox around with you, and in that shoebox you had to keep what you consider the most unusual or unique object you own. When people invariably ask you to show them what’s in the box, what item would be revealed?

If you could have a home on the shore of any body of water in the world, which waterfront would you choose?