Sunday, May 3, 2009
Nobody # 766

Nobody Asked Me But:

"Make no little plans, they have no magic to stir men's blood." Chicago architect Daniel Burnham

I don’t know about you, but I am thrilled that our President seems to be following Burnham’s advice.<<<

Grading the first one hundred. Since this is only a progress report, let’s keep it simple. He has been greatly challenged, more so than any president since Truman. And he has exceeded my expectations in responding to these challenges.<<<

Congratulations to new grandpa Jimmy B!<<<

We skipped the LA Times Book festival last weekend. It was the first one we have missed in years and only the second one since they started over a decade ago. There were not that many authors in attendance that interested us this year, and I am already drowning in unread books. (What a nice way to drown!) I did regret missing James Elroy until Jim called and said that he and Vicki found the author’s famed eccentricity more boring than interesting.

I am sure that this year off will be a case of absence making the heart grow fonder, and by next April I will be hungry for the sun and sensibilities of wandering Bruinland, surrounded by books and the people who love them.<<<

And did you see where Texas has requested 37,000 doses of Tamiflu from the C.D.C.? I’m with blogger Mark Kleiman in wondering if this means “that Texas doesn’t plan to secede?”<<<

Hypocrisy times 2

The Senate Democrats, at the President’s urging, have decided to use, if necessary, a filibuster by-pass in order to pass his health care proposals. These are the same Democrats who howled in pain when the Republicans were in the majority and did the same thing. Now it’s the Republicans howling. A pox on both their hypocritical camps.

Everyone could stop howling if they would just eliminate the 60% rule. A democratic legislature should not require a supermajority to pass legislation.

(Pay attention California legislature with your 2/3 requirement on budget measures!)<<<

Should the Bush Justice Department lawyers who wrote the pro- torture memos be prosecuted and, if found guilty, punished? Not by themselves. They are merely middlemen. Get the people at the top or, better still, forget getting anybody. Investigate, publish the truth, do a national mea culpa and an honest “never again.”<<<

(If we must punish somebody, wash Cheney’s mouth out with soap and take away his shotgun.)

AND HERE IS GENERAL PETRAEUS ON TORTURE: "Our values and the laws governing warfare teach us to respect human dignity, maintain our integrity, and do what is right. Adherence to our values distinguishes us from our enemy. This fight depends on securing the population, which must understand that we - not our enemies - occupy the moral high ground."<<<

Whether it is “24,” or “State of Play,” which I saw Monday, for- profit military groups are becoming the hot villains of the moment. Personally, I think the writers are on to something.

As for the film, I recommend it. I may not like the real Russell Crowe but the actor is a great talent.<<<

I even write one once in a while (during my dumber moments) but 90% of sports letters to the editor and message board posts are excellent arguments for the value of silence.<<<

For many long years, I fought a “great and courageous” battle against the school gum police. It is true that I based my case on freedom rather then academic gain, and it is the latter that new research seems to support. But, no matter, I was pretty much alone on the front lines.

So, do I feel justified? Damned right!<<<

Have there ever been better one-two picks in the NBA draft than 1960 when Oscar Robertson was the first player chosen and Jerry West the second?<<<

I know I am showing my age, but I always liked Buddy Clark. I liked him on “Your Hit Parade,” I liked his singles such as “Linda,” and liked his teaming with Doris Day for songs such as, “I Love Somebody.”

I knew he died young. I vaguely remember that it was in a plane crash, but I did not remember the interesting details. Here they are:

It was on October 2, 1949. He and four buddies were in a small plane flying back to LA after attending the Stanford vs. Michigan football game in Palo Alto. The plane ran out of gas and crashed on Beverly Boulevard. Clark, 38, was the only one who was killed.

And did you know – that the Linda of the song I mentioned above was 6-year-old Linda Eastman, the daughter of a friend, who grew up to marry….. Paul McCartney?<<<

I could be a local news anchor. The only skill I would need is the ability to read the morning paper and regurgitate it on camera.<<<

UP: All the LA Times reporters who joined me in protesting their paper’s front page adds. If newspapers are truly going down, they should do it with honor.<<<

UP: Arlen Specter – It is never too late to find one’s way.

DOWN: Starbucks/Pepsi for stopping production of Starbucks canned ice coffee. I am sipping one now, and I still have a 4-pack in the garage. But when that’s gone, no more. Sad.

UP/DOWN: President Obama – UP on narrowing the definition of state secrets; DOWN because he didn’t make me believe it will be narrow enough.

UP/DOWN: Vice President Joe – Refreshingly honest, which is not always a good trait in one who talks too much.

UP: Building up one’s immunity to SFH – (Swine Flu Hysteria). It’s simple. Just stick with these three rules. 1. Follow the numbers and you will see how slow it is developing. 2. Forget the local news on television. Scaring you means higher ratings. 3. Don’t listen to VP Joe.

DOWN: David Brooks, for his Friday column in which he postulates that genius is made not born. I’m a born kind of guy.

UP: Unnatural food.

WAY DOWN: Mitch McConnell/hypocrite (one and the same). This phony calls on Obama to apply no litmus tests to his upcoming SC appointment. AS IF Bush didn’t?

WAY UP: Justice Souter – You did a fine job for someone who would have rather stayed with the simple life in New Hampshire.<<<

Did you see the recent Pew Center poll, which reported that the majority of Republicans polled wanted the GOP to move further to the right? Talk about a death wish.

Or As Maine’s republican Senator, Olympia Snowe said – “It is true that being a Republican moderate sometimes feels like being a cast member of ‘Survivor.’”

And I love the new Right mantra – “Purity over victory.”

Did you read about the school district in Austin, Texas, that decided against naming a stadium Tumbleweed Hill in fear of inviting potential marijuana references? Fark.com writes that officials are "still mulling over what to do with the hash marks."<<<