Hey You Kids, Get Off My Lawn: Okay, calm down...

Thursday, June 25, 2009

Okay, calm down...

This will be a short post. Michael Jackson has died. I was dumbfounded to see NBC's Brian Williams on the evening news tonight speaking at length with a correspondent in California while the video feed showed a crowd of reporters and fans milling about on the hospital grounds. I will make a wild guess and conclude that ABC and CBS (and CNN and CNBC) all had similar hand-wringing on their evening news programs. My condolences go to Jackson's family, but please the rest of you, get a grip. The curmudgeon in me has to conclude that Jackson hasn't been relevant as an entertainer for at least a decade or two, unless you count providing scandals and bizarre behavior as entertainment. As it has for years, pop "culture" mystifies me.

Why the network news programs should treat his death like the passing of a head of state is beyond me. I bet Andy Rooney wouldn't spend that much time on this story. Grumble, grumble.

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Filibuster Votes In The US Senate (see my 7/28/10 blog post)

2014/03/02 Cloture Motion; Veterans Benefits; Expansion of health & education benefits-Agreed (99-0)
2014/02/10 Cloture Motion; Unemployment Benefits Restoration- Rejected (58-40)
2013/11/18 Cloture Motion; Nomination of Cornelia Pillard to US Court of Appeals – Rejected (56-41)
2013/08/05 Cloture Motion; Transportation-Housing and Urban Development Appropriations, Rejected (54-43)
2013/02/19 Cloture Motion; Defense Secretary Nomination, Rejected (58-40)
2012/11/19 Cloture Motion; Sportsmen’s Access to Federal Land, agreed (84-12)(passage of bill expected after Thanksgiving recess)
2012/11/19 Cloture Motion; Cybersecurity Act, failed (51-47)
2012/05/14 Cloture Motion; Student Loan Interest Rates to extend current 3.4% rate for a year (52-45)
2012/04/23 Cloture Motion; Paying a Fair Share Act of 2012 (to raise the tax rate on those earning over $1 Million (51-45)
2011/12/12 Cloture Motion; Nomination of Richard Cordray to lead the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (53-45)
2011/05/23 Cloture Motion; Nomination of Goodwin Liu to be U.S. Circuit Judge for the 9th Circuit (52-43)
2011/05/09 Nomination of James Cole to be Dep. Attorney General (50-40)
2010/12/20 DREAM Act (Immigration) (55-41)
2010/12/13 Defense Authorization Act (w/DADT repeal) (57-40)
2010/11/22 Paycheck Fairness Act (58-41)
2010/09/27 National Defense Authorization Act for 2011 (56-43)
2010/09/27 Democracy Is Strengthened By Casting Light On Spending In Elections Act (59-39)
2010/08/02 Democracy Is Strengthened By Casting Light On Spending In Elections Act (57-41)
2010/07/29 Small Business Lending Fund Act of 2010 (58-42)
2010/07/27 Democracy is Strengthened by Casting Light on Spending in Elections Act (57-41)
2010/06/30 Reid Amendment; American Workers, State, and Business Relief Act of 2010 (58-38)
2010/06/24 Reid Amendment; American Workers, State, and Business Relief Act of 2010 (57-41)
2010/06/17 Baucus Substitute Amendment; American Workers, State, and Business Relief Act of 2010 (56-40)

Favorite Quotations

We live in a society exquisitely dependent on science and technology, in which hardly anyone knows anything about science and technology -Carl Sagan
In science it often happens that scientists say, 'You know that's a really good argument; my position is mistaken,' and then they would actually change their minds and you never hear that old view from them again. They really do it. It doesn't happen as often as it should, because scientists are human and change is sometimes painful. But it happens every day. I cannot recall the last time something like that happened in politics or religion. - Carl Sagan
'Socialism never took root in America because the poor see themselves not as an exploited proletariat but as temporarily embarrassed millionaires.' -John Steinbeck
"So long, and thanks for all the fish." Message left by dolphins when they departed Planet Earth as described in "The Hitchiker's Guide to the Universe." (see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/So_Long,_and_Thanks_for_All_the_Fish )
“Let’s say that she’s 90 percent [recovered]. Well, we’ve had congressmen in Arizona who didn’t even have a brain. So, it’s not like you have to be as talented as she is to be good at it.” Mike McNulty, Rep. Gabrielle Giffords' last campaign manager on her viability to run for Sen. Kyl's Senate seat in Arizona (Newsweek, 4/10/11)
Life is what happens while you're planning for the future. John Lennon
You're entitled to your own opinions. You are not entitled to your own facts. Daniel Patrick Moynihan
On behalf of the people of Illinois and New York, I'd like to thank South Carolina for giving us Mark ("I've been unfaithful to my wife") Sanford. Finally, a governor who's weirder than Rod Blagojevich and less responsible than Eliot Spitzer. Really, we're extremely relieved. Gail Collins, New York Times 6/28/09
Not all who wander are lost. J. R. R. Tolkien
It's no sin to be poor... It's no great honor, either. Tevya, the Fiddler on the Roof
Always do right. This will gratify some people and astonish the rest. Mark Twain
Any smoothly functioning technology will have the appearence of magic. Arthur C. Clarke
I intend to live forever. So far, so good. Steven Wright
I'm not afraid to die, I just don't want to be there when it happens. Woody Allen
I've had a perfectly wonderful evening. But this wasn't it. Groucho Marx
If only God would give me some clear sign! Like making a large deposit in my name at a Swiss bank. Woody Allen
Is it weird in here, or is it just me? Steven Wright
My friend has a baby. I'm writing down all the noises the baby makes so later I can ask him what he meant. Steven Wright
Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former. Albert Einstein