Nobody 838

Sunday, October 31, 2010
Nobody # 838

Nobody Asked Me But:

As I write this I am thinking about a day of tricksters, unspeakable horrors, devils, witches, and scary stories. That’s right – Election Day is Tuesday.

And have you noticed that – although both sides lie in their election ads, the other side lies more than does mine?<<<

"Justice: What’s The Right thing To Do?” By Michael J. Sandel - I mentioned this book a few months ago, and I want to return to it now. As you know, I am fascinated by the closely related topics of justice and morality, and Sandel, the hugely popular Anne T. and Robert M. Bass Professor of Government at Harvard, is one the leading thinkers in this field. If you are interested, and I most certainly am, (actually hugely excited is a better description for me) you can find 12 one-hour streaming videos of his class at http://www.justiceharvard.org/.<<<


Good teachers make something more out of something. This is true at every level, from Sandel at Harvard, to the first grade teacher at Mid-town Elementary – especially to the first grade teacher at Mid-town. Students at every age yearn to be more. Every good teacher, in ways small and large, lights the way for them.<<<

From justice to doughnuts – When Frittelli’s Doughnuts in Beverly Hills closed, Barbara and I suffered for months from doughnut withdrawal. No more mocha-latte caked wonders. But finally there is some relief, and it has always been right there, on Fairfax at Third, for the taking. Last Sunday, we stopped at the Farmer’s Market and “shopped at” Bob’s coffee and doughnuts. No, they are not as good as Frittelli’s, but they were PDW – pretty damned wonderful.<<<

I keep reading Republican remarks about the “liberal elite.” If the liberals are elite, then why do the conservatives have all the money?<<<

"We all have to forgive ourselves our youth.” - Spenser, in Robert B. Parker’s “Painted Ladies”. So much wisdom from the mouth of an ex-boxer turned private detective. I think the thing I most have to forgive myself for is paradoxically, the thing I am most thankful for - that my youth has lasted so long.<<<

Last week I wrote about the probability that Wisconsin’s excellent Democratic Senator, Russ Feingold will lose his seat Tuesday. Among the many reasons he deserves to be re-elected is that he is the only senator who had the courage to vote against one of the most shameful laws in our country’s history – The “Patriot” Act.<<<

And riddle me this – why is it that our country is so valiant on the battlefield and so cowardly at home where, whenever a threat appears, we refuse to defend the very thing that makes us special - our Bill of Rights?<<<

And on the same subject, this was the sad but accurate lead line to a NY Times editorial last week – “It can be hard to distinguish between the Bush administration and the Obama administration when it comes to detainee policy.”<<<

And yet, for all his failings, Barack Obama remains the classiest president since JFK. I will vote for him in 2012 in a heartbeat.<<<

Every childhood has its fears – nuclear war, terrorism. Mine, like the lead character in Phillip Roth’s new novel, “Nemesis,” was polio. But I wasn’t smart enough then to ask the question Roth’s character, Bucky, asks: "Doesn't God have a conscience?"

The moment, a few years later, when I did ask the question – and saw the obvious answer - was the moment I stopped believing.<<<

FYI: UCLA has more players in the NBA than any other school – 14, just under 1/3 of the PAC-10 total of 48.<<<

FYI – The U.S. spends 2% of its gross domestic product on infrastructure. That is half of what we spent in 1960. In comparison, Europe spends 5% and China 9%.<<<

Sir Winston Churchill is so justly famous for his WW II quotes, that some may forget his wisdom in other areas. For instance, this quote: “I have taken more out of alcohol than alcohol has taken out of me." I’m Jim Turner and I endorse this message.<<<

I am barely old, but I remember the MLB days of the playing manager. The last one was Lou Boudreau who managed the Cleveland Indians to the 1948 World Series victory and was also named the American League’s Most Valuable Player.<<<

From The Sporting News Daily: “Guillen (Ozzie) was the Marlin’s third base before becoming the White Sox manager.” The way I hear it, if he hadn’t taken the WS job, he would have been promoted to home plate<<<

Did you ever notice – that people who push against government take-over of healthcare have theirs and don’t seem to have any problem with others going without?<<<

A politico’s definition of an invalid poll - one that goes against them.<<<

For want of a nail --- A shoe was lost. And for want of a helicopter we got stuck with the Reagan presidency – at least according to Jimmy Carter who recently told a group of LA students: “With one more helicopter in 1979 the effort to rescue the Iran hostages would have succeeded and I would have been reelected.”<<<

Did you know – that donkeys kill more people annually than plane crashes? So each of us better watch our ass.<<<

Lately I enjoy reading novels about other cultures, and I just finished one that takes place in Iceland - “Arctic Chill” by Arnaldur Indridason. I am not a “beat the confessions out of them” hard-liner on criminals but neither am I quite as permissive as Icelanders. It seems that one of their most frequent responses to police questioning is – “Is that any of your business?”

Also from the book, in Iceland they call substitute teachers "temporary supply teachers."<<<

Halloween special – scary movies:

As a child: (1) “The Ghost Breakers.” This Bob Hope film was actually a comedy but it scared the heck out of me. (2) “The Mummy.” Lon Cheney Jr. may have been slow with his foot dragging behind, but he just kept coming, and coming, and coming.

As an adult: “Alien.” Scary and ugly is a very bad combination.<<<

Now that he could get 100 years for conspiracy and money laundering, will Tom Delay go from Dancing With the Stars to aging behind bars?<<<

Time magazine recently posted a time-travel list of 10 historical events they would like to crash. It started me thinking about my own list, which, for now, begins and ends at one. My trip would be a short one to the recent past. I would choose to have a front row seat for Barack Obama’s inauguration, which I believe to be a watershed moment in our history.<<<

Here are two more in my series of life’s great philosophical questions:

Does a relationship break down before it breaks up?

Why does a 3-hour plane flight seem to take less than one-half the time of a 5-hour one?

(This picture was taken at a sculpture garden in Stowe.)