End-run: A maneuver in which impediments are bypassed, often by deceit or trickery. I think that what the New York appeals court did in February was an end-run around a vote by New Yorkers.. or at least their representatives. In essence they legalized gay marriage in New York.. another example of activist judges legislating from the bench. Here is the story in brief from Reuters:
New York state has instructed government agencies to recognize same-sex marriages conducted out of state or abroad, renewing debate on an issue that was used to rally conservatives in the last U.S. general election.
The directive could impact everything from health insurance to public housing and organ donation. It was welcomed by the New York Civil Liberties Union, which posted a copy on its Web site and said it was "a milestone in the fight for fairness."
In the memo dated May 14 but not publicized at the time, Gov. David Paterson's legal counsel, David Nocenti, said state agencies that do not recognize gay marriages could be subject to liability.
The directive follows a New York appeals court ruling in February that valid same-sex marriages performed in other states or countries must be recognized in New York.
Numb What?
Video from the 2008 National Spelling Bee of 13-year-old
champion Sameer Mishra spelling an unusual word :)
A McCain Senior Moment
A few excerpts from this article about McCain's mis-speak about troop numbers:MILWAUKEE - Republican John McCain's estimate of U.S. troop levels in Iraq touched off squabbling with Democrat Barack Obama on Friday, the latest turn in the presidential rivals' escalating disagreement over the war.
The likely GOP nominee told an audience Thursday: "We have drawn down to pre-surge levels. Basra, Mosul and now Sadr City are quiet."
Obama responded: "That's not true and anyone running for commander-in-chief should know better."
In fact, U.S. troop levels are not yet down to levels before President Bush's troop increase last year, a strategy shift McCain had pushed for some four years before the president authorized it.
There were 15 combat brigades in Iraq before the increase began. Five were added, and the United States has been reducing numbers since December. As of Friday, there are 17 brigades in Iraq, another brigade will depart in June and the plan is to pull out another in July, returning the level to 15.
Prior to the increase, there were 130,000-135,000 U.S. troops in Iraq. As of this week, that number was 155,000, and the Pentagon plans to drop that to 140,000 by the end of July.
What Happened
A few interesting excerpts from this AP article on former Bush White House spokesman Scott McClellan's new book:- The White House responded angrily Wednesday to McClellan's confessional memoir, calling it self-serving sour grapes.
- He reveals that he was pushed to leave earlier than he had planned.
- The news media, he says, were "complicit enablers" for focusing more on "covering the march to war instead of the necessity of war."
- The heart of the book concerns Bush's decision to go to war in Iraq, a determination McClellan says the president had made by early 2002 — at least a full year before the invasion — if not even earlier.
- In Bush's second term, as news from Iraq grew worse, McClellan says the president was "insulated from the reality of events on the ground and consequently began falling into the trap of believing his own spin."
- McClellan ticks off a long list of Bush's weaknesses: someone with a penchant for self-deception if it "suits his needs at the moment," "an instinctive leader more than an intellectual leader" who has a lack of interest in delving deeply into policy options, a man with a lack of self-confidence that makes him unable to acknowledge when he's been wrong.
Jeopardy Record Breaker
My wife and I love to watch.. this gal was really great.
Grad student makes 'Jeopardy!' history
CULVER CITY, Calif., May 29 (UPI) -- Larissa Kelly, a 28-year-old graduate student from El Cerrito, Calif., has become the biggest female winner in "Jeopardy!" history, the game show said.
Kelly had a seven-day total of $222,597.
In addition to being the "winningest" female champion in the quiz show's 24 seasons, she also has become the third biggest money winner behind all-time "Jeopardy!" champ Ken Jennings, who went home with $2.5 million, and David Madden, who won $430,400, representatives for the series said.
"My husband and I have been grad students for awhile now, so it will definitely be nice to have a down payment on a house," Kelly said in a statement.
Kelly's husband Jeff appeared on the program in 2004 and her sister Arianna is scheduled to appear on the show July 8.
Grad student makes 'Jeopardy!' history
CULVER CITY, Calif., May 29 (UPI) -- Larissa Kelly, a 28-year-old graduate student from El Cerrito, Calif., has become the biggest female winner in "Jeopardy!" history, the game show said.
Kelly had a seven-day total of $222,597.
In addition to being the "winningest" female champion in the quiz show's 24 seasons, she also has become the third biggest money winner behind all-time "Jeopardy!" champ Ken Jennings, who went home with $2.5 million, and David Madden, who won $430,400, representatives for the series said.
"My husband and I have been grad students for awhile now, so it will definitely be nice to have a down payment on a house," Kelly said in a statement.
Kelly's husband Jeff appeared on the program in 2004 and her sister Arianna is scheduled to appear on the show July 8.
The Bus Train
What do you get when you cross a bus with a train? A dual-mode vehicle that has the versatility of a bus, the speed of light rail and fuel economy vastly better than either.
Toyota and its truck-making subsidiary Hino Motors have signed on with Japan Rail Hokkaido to develop the vehicles, which carry 25 people and reportedly burn one-fourth the amount of diesel fuel required by conventional buses. Japan Rail started testing them about 18 months ago, and bringing Toyota aboard could speed up development and commercialization of what may be the mass transit vehicle of the future. More here.
Prosecute Criminals, not Barbers
HOUMA, La. - Police in this town wouldn't cut a break for a barber who ran afoul of an obscure law barring him from working Sundays and Mondays.Clyde Scott had opened his shop May 19 just to trim up a few students getting ready for their graduation ceremony when an officer gave him a citation.
A law on the books in Houma for decades bars barbers from working Sundays, Mondays, any of several holidays and even the day after Labor Day.
"I didn't know it existed," said Scott, 32, who has owned Clippas barbershop for about two years. "It's crazy."
...
District Attorney Joe Waitz Jr. won't be prosecuting the case. In fact, he's asking the parish council to repeal the law as unconstitutional.
"It's our job to prosecute criminals, not barbers," he said.
You can read more here.
What do you think about laws that prevent businesses from opening on certain days? Do you think that it may be a way to protect WalMart employees from having to work on Christmas?
Anais Nin
Anaïs Nin (born Angela Anais Juana Antolina Rosa Edelmira Nin y Culmell) (1903-1977) was a Cuban-French author who became famous for her published journals, which span more than 60 years, beginning when she was 11 years old and ending shortly before her death. Here are a few of her quotes:
Life is truly known only to those who suffer, lose, endure adversity and stumble from defeat to defeat.
We don't see things as they are, we see things as we are.
And the day came when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom.
Do not seek the because - in love there is no because, no reason, no explanation, no solutions.
Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one's courage.
Music melts all the separate parts of our bodies together.
Dreams are necessary to life.
We write to taste life twice, in the moment and in retrospection.
Life is truly known only to those who suffer, lose, endure adversity and stumble from defeat to defeat.
We don't see things as they are, we see things as we are.
And the day came when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom.
Do not seek the because - in love there is no because, no reason, no explanation, no solutions.
Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one's courage.
Music melts all the separate parts of our bodies together.
Dreams are necessary to life.
We write to taste life twice, in the moment and in retrospection.
The Green Civic
Each year, the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE) puts out its list of the 12 "greenest cars", taking into account tailpipe emissions, gas mileage, and curb weight.The Civic GX comes in as the ACEEE's greenest car, largely due to the fact it runs on natural gas, which gives off fewer smog-producing pollutants and greenhouse gases than gasoline-powered cars. The Civic GX uses a 1.8-liter four-cylinder engine that gets 24 mpg in the city and 36 mpg on the highway, and is rated as an Advanced Technology Partial Zero Emissions Vehicle by the California Air Resources Board.
It's brother, the Civic Hybrid, came took place, the vanilla Civic scored 11th place and the Honda Fit 12th. Check out the rest of the list here.
Sir Doctor Paul McCartney
According to this article the ex-Beatle was awarded an honorary Doctor of Music degree from Yale University. Knighted by the Queen and now doctored by Yale. Give Me a Break!
Comedian Dick Martin dies at 86
I will always have fond memories of Dick Martin and his "Laugh-In" co-host Dan Rowan.
Laugh-In was a great show that introduced us all to some great new talents like Goldie Hawn. Here are some classic lines from the show:
Sock it to me!
Look THAT up in your Funk and Wagnall's
You bet your sweet bippy.
One ringy-dingy. Two ringy-dingies.
Very interesting, not very funny, but very interesting.
This show was prerecorded earlier, because it didn't make much sense to prerecorded it later.
Rowan: Say good night, Dick.
Martin: Good night, Dick!
Nike Hercules
This article brought back tons of memories because it showed the picture below with this caption:
A Nike Hercules surface-to-air missile at the only restored Nike missile site in the United States. The site is in the Marin Headlands, near Sausalito, Calif. The missile could carry a nuclear warhead of up to 40 kilotons.From 1968-1971 I trained to be a technician on these missiles and worked as launcher chief at a Nike firing site. Several times a month National Guard and Army squads would come out to the middle of the New Mexico desert and fire a few of these missiles down range - it was an awesome site to behold.. you get a small glimpse of it from the video. Often I would be in the control center about 15 feet below the launch.. even the sound was amazing. Maybe I'll make it out to this museum in San Francisco some time.
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