Nobody 774

Sunday June 28, 2009
Nobody 774

Nobody Asked Me But:

“There are those who look at things the way they are, and ask why... I dream of things that never were, and ask why not?” RFK

I think that President Obama is, by nature, a visionary – the kind of man that Kennedy was talking about. I only regret that some times his political instincts temper his grand plans.

The vision of Congressional politicians, on the other hand, goes no farther than their next election.

As for most Americans, I am sorry to say that their vision is overshadowed by their antipathy for taxes. Vision requires sacrifice, and as a general rule Americans don’t do sacrifice unless their backs are to the wall.

JFK was a visionary in his breathtaking challenge that took us to the moon, but even in space we have lost our ambition. Forty years later we still look to the moon – when we bother to look at all – while Russia looks to the moons of Mars.<<<

Speaking of space, I wrote this six years ago.

Sunday, February 2, 2003
Nobody # 488

Nobody Asked Me But:

When the good and the young die it is a sad thing, but to die while playing with the stars, as those seven astronauts did yesterday, is to look into the eyes of death and say, “if you take me old man, it will be on my terms.”

And don’t you agree that our space program remains a miracle of safety in any measurement of difficulty to failure?<<<

Wouldn’t it be wonderful if we had the same sort of vision and determination today that fueled our journey to the moon in the 1960s, and we used it to guarantee health care for EVERY AMERICAN and make us the healthiest nation in the world?<<<

GEOGRAPHY QUIZ

Which great river forms at Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania at the junction of the Allegheny and Monongahela Rivers?

The region known as the Great Basin is in which half of the United States – western or eastern?

(Answers at end)

FOOD FOR THOUGHT

As you know, I have long been a champion of malts as nature’s perfect food. Now it is time to name the runner-up.

And the winner is ………. The onion.<<<

I have a confession. Last Tuesday on one of my, of late, infrequent visits to Starbucks/Coldstone, I did NOT have sweet cream with raspberries mixed in. Instead I had my cup of black with a Coldstone’s chocolate malt chaser. Did I make a mistake? Yes! I should not have ordered a small malt when medium and large were available. Never again!<<<

Action: Sanford wanderlust trip paid by tax dollars.

Reaction: That’s a Republican for you. You notice that President Clinton never spent tax dollars on a love trip. He got his right in the White House. Saved the taxpayers big bucks. Thank you President Bill.

Reaction # 2: But Governor Mark is no Clinton fan. As he once said about President Bill’s play days with Monica, “If you undermine trust in our system, you undermine everything.”

Reaction # 3: Is it true that Sanford’s favorite song is “Don’t Cry For Me Argentina?”

Reaction # 4: Is it true that one of the hot topics between Governor Mark and his “Evita” was his fear that traditional marriage is being threatened by gays?<<<

Question: What is the most dangerous sport in which Republicans participate?

Answer: Sexual stone-throwing.<<<

EMPATHY AND THE SUPREME COURT

Anyone who condemns empathy as an attribute in SC Justices would, I assume, support replacing humans judges with computers. No empathy there. Just the facts man.

And when are conservatives going to stop pretending that their judges aren’t just as influenced by their background, philosophy and feelings as are the liberals?

The next time any judge is not influenced by who he or she is will be the first.<<<

Action: The Motion Picture Academy announced that they are doubling (from 5 to 10) the number of films that will be nominated for the Best Picture award.

Reaction: Bigger is not always better. More is sometimes less. It is often difficult to find 5 worthy films in a year. But then, perhaps worthy no longer has anything to do with it.

Reaction # 2: Maybe with 10 choices the Academy can actually get it right.<<<

Excuse me for not being worried about Shaq being traded to the Cleveland Cavaliers. The Big Nickname had (barely) one good year left in him after he was traded by the Lakers, and he used that up in 2006. He will play hard for the first 10 games or so. After that it will be one effort about every 7th game and for a couple of games in each play-off series.<<<

Action: A strip search of Savana Redding, a 13-year-old Safford, Arizona girl, to see if she had drugs in her underwear was unjustified, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled Thursday.

Reaction: It is refreshing to see the SC get one right every couple of years.

Reaction # 2: Except for Justice Thomas, that is, who was the only dissenter.

Reaction # 3: For too long school officials have been getting away with most everything short of murder by simply invoking the magic words – drugs or gangs. As the ACLU attorney said - " Schools are not constitutional dead zones."

Action: Two UCLA players, Holiday and Collison, selected in the first round of the NBA draft - For the Bruins, it marked six first-round picks in the last four years, tops for any college program in the nation.

Reaction: Ben Howland recruits. Ben Howland coaches. Players improve. Bruins win.

Reaction # 2: Had Jrue Holiday returned to Westwood for a second year he would have been a lottery pick – probably top 5.<<<

Answers to geography quiz – 1. Ohio River. 2. Western half.

The picture at the beginning is of Whitehall, first a palace for Henry VIII, and later the place from where the British Empire was administrated. Now it houses, among other things, the UK's Defense Ministry. I took this shot during our 05 trip.