Tuesday, January 11, 2011

1.11.11

32 comments:

  1. Howard Dean and the lovely atmospheric picture are first.

    Ya know, Monday I had a wealth of free time for the first time in many many weeks. It was like being at an all-you-can-eat buffet. I had so many fun, wonderful things to choose from I had a hard time making up my mind what to do first. Wasted, in fact, a good part of the day trying to decide. But, oh!, what a lovely problem to have!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Yes!

    Because of a disruption to the schedule at Salt Mine No. 2 I got an unanticipated weekend off. So I lost the pay, but the time was wonderful. We had some sun and blue sky for just a while today, then back to overcast. Rain said to be on the way.

    I thought I might have to go to Eureka for a trial Wednesday, but no such luck; the case settled with a reasonable plea. The public defender handling the case sent me a nice e-mail saying they couldn't have had such a good offer without my written opinion, and saying he has another case for me. Nice bunch of folks to work with, and I suspect they haven't had access to an expert on drugs and alcohol they could afford for a long time. Too bad it costs as much as it does to fly me up for a court appearance, but my fees are low enough they can credibly threaten to put me on the witness stand. So far I've brought every case in under budget, which the judges probably appreciate as well. (They have to approve the costs.) In this case the defendant was in fact drinking and driving, but the driving wasn't particularly bad, no one was hurt, he didn't seem to be fibbing about how much he had had to drink, and his blood alcohol wasn't clearly at or above the per se DUI level. Yes, he should be punished, and was. But he didn't deserve to have the book thrown at him--the charges had been inflated.

    Speaking of punishment, I am gratified to hear that The Bug Man got his. I heard about it here first!

    TTFN--gotta locate the error in my check register--the bank says I have more money than I thought I did...

    ReplyDelete
  3. Gosh, Alan, you'd be dangerous to play Monopoly with. You'd be sure to get those "Bank error in your favor" cards. LOL!

    Congratulations are definitely in order. You have earned the gentle real-life rewards of doing a good job at a fair price. "Live simply so that others may simply live." You're doing it. I am grateful.

    ReplyDelete
  4. U.S. majority doesn't blame rhetoric for Giffords shooting
    http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20110111/us_nm/us_usa_shooting_congresswoman_poll

    "57 percent of respondents said the harsh political tone had nothing to do with the shooting, compared to 32 percent who felt it did."

    Rejection of a link was strongest among Republicans, 69 percent of whom felt harsh rhetoric was not related to the attack, while 19 percent thought it played a part.

    Among Democrats 49 percent placed no blame on the heated political tone against 42 percent who did. Among independents the split was 56 percent to 33 percent, CBS said.



    IMNSHO, the public is either afraid and in denial or woefully uninformed.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Tombstone Politics
    http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/01/09/tombstone-politics/
    What happens when words are used as weapons, and weapons instead of words.

    ReplyDelete
  6. listener ~~ *love* the juxta on the post title and the pic. Still grinning. . . .

    But. . . isn't it: 11.1.11? Kinda more symmetrical, eh?

    ReplyDelete
  7. Bill Thomasson1/11/2011 01:48:00 PM

    Yes, if you're in Japan or writing computer code, it's year/month/day. Which is purely logical. In most of the rest of the world or in the US military it's day/month/year. Which is almost as logical and in this case comes out to the same thing. Writing month/day/year just makes no sense at all.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Bill Thomasson1/11/2011 01:51:00 PM

    We don't yeat know what the (alleged) shooter was thinking. It seems clear that he was disturbed, but there is so far no evidence one way orthe nother as to whether heated political rhetoric may have pushed him over the edge. Or perhaps oriented him toward a political target rather than someone else.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Bill Thomasson1/11/2011 01:57:00 PM

    I agree that it is great Alan is able to assist the cauase of justice at a price defendants can afford.

    I've had a couple of bank errors in my favor over the past few years. Cases where bills were paid as schedule but the bank forgot to subtract the amount from my account balance.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Bill Thomasson1/11/2011 02:01:00 PM

    Photo is particularly appropriate for 2011/01/11 in the Chicago area. Snowing off and on with accumulation of 2" to 4" predicted. Although this winter has been colder than averagel this is just our second significant snowfall.

    ReplyDelete
  11. That's if the trees are in Europe. ;-)

    ReplyDelete
  12. Well done, Alan.

    Well, the bank ought'a know. *grin*

    ReplyDelete
  13. Lord knows I'm no fan of the Chihuahua, but it did rather bemuse me how fast Credo Action came out with their anti-Palin e-mail.

    Sis says, though, that the idea of political motivation was broached fairly early, pretty much as soon as they knew it was an assassination attempt against the congresswoman rather than a random act of violence.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Bill Thomasson1/11/2011 06:41:00 PM

    Happy dance!! The Illinois death penalty is GONE!!!

    ReplyDelete
  15. I do believe Palin and others like her created the climate that made violence seem permissible or even desirable. When you use the internet, the blog and the airwaves to say things like "Don't retreat, RELOAD", and when you create maps with gunsights on specific people, and when you hold an event to fire an M-16 to "get rid" of your opponent, what - pray tell - do you think they're telling people?

    Palin, Kelly, Beck and O'Reilly didn't call the guy up and say "shoot her", but I have no doubt that they helped, and knew it, in creating a climate where violence is deemed a "patriotic" action.

    So yes, they do have a responsibility. If they didn't think so why did they start scrubbing websites and making excuses so quickly?? "Surveyor's Marks" my Aunt Fanny.

    And if you let them off the hook you're telling them that preaching hate and violence is perfectly okay. IT IS NOT.

    ReplyDelete
  16. And p.s., it doesn't have to be political per se. Just the fact that you're telling people that violence is a good thing, that a gun makes you a "macho man", that taking the life of someone you disagree with is a really good way to shut them up.... criminal insanity. Anyone who has that little regard for the rights and lives of others has NO BUSINESS having a megaphone or bully pulpit. "Sanctity of LIfe", yeah as long as you're a FETUS. After birth not so much.

    ReplyDelete
  17. Ah, the governor signed the bill, then? Last I heard, it had just gone to his desk.

    Hallelujah!

    ReplyDelete
  18. Susan, you are absolutely right, of course. The thing is, none of them have the slightest concept of conscience or responsibility, much less remorse. They all, though, have a highly developed sense of self-preservation. That's all the denials are, a case of CYA.

    "'Sanctity of Life', yeah as long as you're a FETUS. After birth not so much."

    Bull's eye! Exactly what I've been saying for years. Don't kill unborn babies, but hand out firearms to every Tom, Dick and Harry. The hypocrisy, and more than the hypocrisy the stupidity, is staggering.

    ReplyDelete
  19. One of my favorite bloggers has a set piece about the right and fetus people. . . That it's as if they're MORE than "regular" born people.

    ReplyDelete
  20. Bill Thomasson1/11/2011 08:52:00 PM

    Spoilsport! No, the governor hasn't signed the bill, but no one ever doubted that he would if it reached his desk. Getting the bill past the House and Senate was the hurdle.

    ReplyDelete
  21. Hi Bill. As it seems evident that the shooter was mentally insane, it would take a clear assessment from a skilled psychiatrist or two to know what motivated him. But there were death threats against Giffords and he did attend a meeting with her a few years ago. So it can't be ruled out either. Anything being said this early is someone's speculation and hype, and probably originates from an agenda. The concerns this weekend probably did too. So we need to take it all with a grain of salt. Yet, if anything would help to reassure the people going forward, it would be for our leaders to moderate their rhetoric and act like responsible adults instead of acting as though they were at some football game, firing range or doing battle with a terrible enemy instead of someone who simply disagrees with them.

    I'm sure all the conversation online will settle down once people have again become convinced that nothing is really wrong and they can just carry on blissfully unaware.

    ReplyDelete
  22. ......................................... o ............ o
    ....................*O* ................\\ .. O .. //
    ................"==||==" .............\\ .||. //
    ..................... || ........................||
    ....................//..\\ .............. == \\
    ..................//....// ...............\\ ... \\
    ..................=.....= ...............= .......=

    ReplyDelete
  23. Oops! sorry. *smirk*

    ReplyDelete
  24. Bill Thomasson1/11/2011 11:06:00 PM

    Forgot to mention that the final price also included a two-year extended warranty.

    ReplyDelete
  25. Bill Thomasson1/11/2011 11:18:00 PM

    You know, the post to which this was supposed to be a reply just disappeared. Here's roughly what it said:

    I did it. Back in the summer I realized there was more to the iPad than I'd thought. I could read all my ebooks on it as well as check e-mail when I'm out of town and check news on the Web. The 10" screen is large enough to read easily, yet small enough to pack without lugging a separate case. But the top-of-the-line unit I watned cost a bit more than I wanted to pay right now, so I was waiting for the price to come down.

    Then yesterday Tiger Direct offered a $100 discount on an Android tablet that offered essentially all the features of an iPad, plus a camera (which I could have done without). And the Android was several hundred less than the top iPad to begin with. I had to spend another $75 for a couple of memory cards to bring the capacity up close to what the top iPad offered, but even with taxes and shipping the total was less than 3/4 of the LIST for the top iPad. So I just bought it. Hope I don't regret the splurge.

    ReplyDelete
  26. Dusty Springfield, "Since I Fell For You" from The Tom Jones Show, December 28, 1972.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fh8xuEyIWYM

    ReplyDelete
  27. Son who makes websites for a living left his iPad on a table near his nightstand, plugged in and on. He had a glass of water on the nightstand. He also has a cat. During the night his kitty knocked over the glass of water. The glass smashed, the water splashed away and soaked his iPad, which appears to have gotten fried. He put it into a bag of rice for a day, but it only came on a little and not enough. So he has sent it back to Apple with a note. We'll see what they decide. He says he's not holding his breath. But it would be good if they could at least offer him a huge discount on the next one.

    ReplyDelete
  28. I did wonder.

    Bill, that's exciting. I'm sure you won't regret it.

    My dad swears by Tiger Direct.

    ReplyDelete
  29. Bill Thomasson1/12/2011 12:01:00 AM

    Meant to say earlier that, regardless of gun violence, I'd like to see rhetoric toned down. And at least some effort to work together, although full agreement is neither to be expected nor particularly desirable. "Differences of opinion make the world go round." But you can respect those who disagree with you.

    ReplyDelete
  30. Our snow is supposed to start around midnight, around now, actually. The forecast calls for 12 to 18 inches, and Dad says we might get what they're forecasting this time. Personally, I'll believe it when I see it.

    Just ordered a DVD called Dusty Springfield Live at the BBC. Should be good.

    Oh, and Christmas Eve with Engelbert and James Last came today. Haven't had a chance to listen to it or to Released, but really looking forward to them both.

    But for now, I think it's Cinderella time for yours truly.

    Under the wing, friends, next to the heart.

    ReplyDelete
  31. Believe it, Cat. It's coming.

    ReplyDelete