Nobody 825

Sunday, July 18, 2010

Nobody # 825

Nobody Asked Me But:

The picture above was taken twenty-one years ago this coming Tuesday.

Anniversary

Well 20 now has past us

And 21 is near

And if next year is good as last

Then we have naught to fear

But even if some troubles come

As sure they will some day

We will meet them and defeat them

As we send them on their way

It is said that love wins all

And I believe it to be true

So we can never losers be

Forever I love you

Excellent dreams last week: In one I made the game-winning basket. In the other I was a good guy trying to escape from the bad guys in the White House (must have been during a Republican administration) by hiding out in the Library of Congress.<<<

Plot spoiler – If you have not watched “Murder On The Orient Express,” and plan to, do not read the following section.

In the PBS production of “Murder On The Orient Express,” Hercle Poirot has a moral dilemma. In matters of right and wrong, he tends to be an absolutist. The church (Catholic) and the state make the rules and establish just ways of enforcing them. Lay people, both civil and religious, are not allowed to make their own situational rules, or supersede authority in enforcing justice.

But what now? Twelve good people, all interested parties, have declared themselves a jury, sentenced and executed (murdered) an evil man – a kidnapper and child-killer. Should Poirot follow the law that he loves so much and turn them in? Or should he, at least this once, choose vigilante justice and let them go?

Last night I thought he should turn them in. By morning’s light I am not so sure. The bad guy certainly deserved to die, and I could support passionate justice. But passion and plotting don’t really go together, nor is time a fertile field for passion’s growth. So I will stick with my original and instinctual feeling. They should not escape arrest and punishment. But I would support minimum sentences.

Add on: This was an interesting Poirot. He had the hard edge of a man at war with himself. His world of black and white had suddenly developed a gray haze.<<<

I was looking for excitement last Sunday, and I had to choose between the World Cup final and counting the number of carpet fibers in our family room. I picked the World Cup. Wrong choice.<<<

Airline security to Mr. Big Business: “Sir, what is that bulge on your ass.”

Mr. Big Business: “That’s just the Republican Party.”

Airline security: “You will have to remove it.”

Mr. Big Business: “I can’t. It’s permanently attached.”<<<

It’s just another crazy theory, but it’s all mine: Yes, he is sinking in the polls, but perhaps President Obama values first term accomplishments more than reelection. Later, in his words:

“I know it doesn’t poll well. But it’s the right thing to do for America.”<<<

I am usually side with labor over management, but if the LeBron, Wade, Bosh deal wasn't collusion, what was it?<<<

My right eye failed me during my attempt to get my driver’s license renewed Thursday. However, my surprise was not in the failure but in the fact that they tested eyes individually. So I told the lady I had MD and now have to get a note from my eye doctor clearing me to drive. I don't think I will have a problem getting the clearance or my license this time, although I may have to take a behind the wheel test. But what about the future? Will they require a renewal every year? What if I reach a point where they will not give me a license? These are scary thoughts but they are about tomorrow, which is something over which I have no control. And I have a today to live well.

Irony alert: after I flunked the eye test, I went to see “The Girl Who Played With Fire.” I sat about 2/3 of the way back and, because my glasses were dirty, as usual, I watched the film and read every sub-title easily – WITHOUT WEARING MY GLASSES!<<<

The film, by the way, was an excellent adaptation of the book. See it when you get the chance.<<<

From the LA Times Chris Erskine – on camping with his son: “Now, a few things race through my head as I hear the bear outside our tent door. First, that I haven't even cast my all-star ballot yet. Under the new online system, you can vote up to 25 times, much like in a Chicago mayoral election.”

My sports line of the week comes from Tom Hoffarth of the LA Daily News: Who's gonna tell Clippers owner Donald T. Sterling that Vinny Del Negro doesn't count as a minority hiring?<<<

Poll: Glenn Beck's ratings are sinking.

Reaction: Life is good!<<<

Action: The billboard pictured here is by courtesy of the North Iowa Tea Party.

Reaction: When are these people going to realize that despite calling themselves the National socialist party, socialism was the Nazis mortal enemy?

Reaction # 2: This just in from the North Iowa tea Party – “We are not radical, we’re just stupid.”<<<

If buildings can be designated historical landmarks and preserved forever, then why not Hugh Hefner? Not the man, silly, his ownership of Playboy. Hefner is in danger of losing the magazine, which was one of the great social-change agents of the 20^th Century, and that’s not right. Therefore it is about time for a bailout.<<<

Action: Jesse Jackson claims that Cleveland owner Dan Gilbert views LaBron as a “run-away slave.”

Reaction: Jesse Jackson has been an Asshole Number One for so long that he may be eligible to keep the trophy forever.

Reaction # 2: But even worse from Jesse’s point of view is that years ago he became irrelevant.<<<

Meg Whitman has a television add where she attacks Jerry Brown for his opposition to the death penalty. I can’t say that this diminishes my respect for Whitman, because I have none. But it does make me question a body politic for which such an ad has appeal. Even if one believes in capital punishment, it seems to me that it is not a belief that you hold high as if it were a badge of honor.

I know that “Inception,” opened Friday to good reviews, but it sounds a lot like “The Matrix” to me. If so, I’ll pass.<<<

MORE GED QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

Q. In a democratic society, how important are elections? 
A. Very important. Sex can only happen when a male gets an election. Q. What happens to a boy when he reaches puberty
 A. He says goodbye to his boyhood and looks forward to his adultery.<<<

And then there was this hard-ass champion of Arizona’s immigration law who zipped past Elizabeth on the freeway at 8o mph in a 55-mph zone with a bumper sticker that read, “What part of illegal don’t you understand?”