Good job from Vicente Padilla, & Manny uses his bat for more than getting dirt off his cleats. Now on to Colorado or Philly. Whichever of those two ultimate losers wins, they will be in bad shape once their postponed & delayed series is over.
Sweeter to beat the Angels or the Yankees? There'll be plenty of discussion around the sushi bars & taco trucks for a few days.
Today is Saturday, Oct. 10, the 283rd day of 2009. There are 82 days left in the year. The UPI Almanac. Today's Highlight in History: On Oct. 10, 1913, the Panama Canal was effectively completed as President Woodrow Wilson sent a signal from the White House by telegraph, setting off explosives that destroyed a section of the Gamboa dike. On this date: In 1813, composer Giuseppe Verdi was born in Le Roncole, Italy. In 1845, the U.S. Naval Academy was established in Annapolis, Md. In 1886, the tuxedo dinner jacket made its American debut at the autumn ball in Tuxedo Park, N.Y. In 1911, revolutionaries under Sun Yat-sen launched their overthrow of China's Manchu dynasty. In 1938, Nazi Germany completed its annexation of Czechoslovakia's Sudetenland. In 1943, Chiang Kai-shek took the oath of office as president of China. In 1963, a dam burst in northern Italy, drowning an estimated 3,000 people. In 1964, the 18th Summer Olympic Games opened in Tokyo. In 1967, the Outer Space Treaty, which prohibits the placing of weapons of mass destruction on the moon or elsewhere in space, entered into force. In 1970, Quebec Labor Minister Pierre Laporte was kidnapped by the Quebec Liberation Front, a militant separatist group. (Laporte's body was found a week later.) Fiji became independent after nearly a century of British rule. In 1973, Vice President Spiro T. Agnew, accused of accepting bribes, pleaded no contest to one count of federal income tax evasion, and resigned his office.
Sound Bite:Vice President Spiro T. Agnew turns it over to Gawd. In 1978, President Jimmy Carter signed a bill authorizing the Susan B. Anthony dollar. Thirty years ago, in 1979, Hall-of-Famer Wayne Gretzky made his National Hockey League debut as the visiting Edmonton Oilers took on the Chicago Blackhawks. In 1985, U. S. fighter jets forced an Egyptian plane carrying the hijackers of the Italian cruise ship Achille Lauro to land in Italy, where the gunmen were taken into custody. In 1993, Greek voters returned to power former Prime Minister Andreas Papandreou and his Pan-Hellenic socialist movement. Ten years ago: Portugal's governing Socialist Party was returned to power by a comfortable margin in a general election. Six college students getting out of their cars or walking along a highway on their way to a fraternity party at Texas A&M University were struck and killed by a pickup truck whose driver had fallen asleep. AP Highlight in [Alternate] History: On Oct. 10, 2002, the House voted 296-133 to give President George W. Bush broad authority to use military force against Iraq. (The Senate followed suit the next day.) In 2003, conservative commentator Rush Limbaugh announced during his syndicated radio show that he was addicted to painkillers and was checking into a rehab center. Five years ago: Ken Caminiti, the National League's 1996 MVP who later admitted using steroids during his major league baseball career, died in New York at age 41. In 2005, Angela Merkel struck a power-sharing deal that made her the first woman and the first politician from the ex-communist east to serve as Germany's chancellor. [We did not know that she was from Stasiland. Thank you so much, MSM. — Ed.] One year ago: Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson announced the government had decided to go forward with a plan to buy a part ownership in a broad array of American banks in response to the financial meltdown. Connecticut's Supreme Court ruled that gay couples had the right to marry, making the state the third behind Massachusetts and California to legalize such unions. An Alaska legislative committee released a report saying Gov. Sarah Palin had violated state ethics laws and abused her power by trying to have her former brother-in-law fired as a state trooper. Finland's ex-president Martti Ahtisaari received the Nobel Peace Prize. Today's Birthdays: Former Illinois Sen. Adlai Stevenson III is 79. Actor Peter Coyote is 68. Entertainer Ben Vereen is 63. Singer John Prine is 63. Actor Charles Dance is 63. Rock singer-musician Cyril Neville (The Neville Brothers) is 61. Actress Jessica Harper is 60. Author Nora Roberts (aka "J.D. Robb") is 59. Singer-musician Midge Ure is 56. Rock singer David Lee Roth (Van Halen) is 55. Country singer Tanya Tucker is 51. Actress Julia Sweeney is 50. Actor Bradley Whitford is 50. Musician Martin Kemp is 48. Rock musician Jim Glennie (James) is 46. Actress Rebecca Pidgeon is 44. Rock musician Mike Malinin (Goo Goo Dolls) is 42. Minnesota Vikings quarterback Brett Favre is 40. Actress Wendi McLendon-Covey is 40. Actor Mario Lopez is 36. Almost Nothing Happened In Entertainment Today: In 1935, George Gershwin's opera "Porgy and Bess" opened on Broadway. In 1985, actor-director Orson Welles died at age 70. In 2004, Christopher Reeve, the "Superman" of celluloid who became a quadriplegic after a May 1995 horse riding accident, died in Mount Kisco, N.Y. at age 52. Thought for Today: "The imperceptible process of age has a point which, once passed, cannot be retraced. I knew I had passed that point and was getting old the day I noticed that all the cops looked so young." — Harry Lewis Golden, American author, editor and publisher (1903-1981).
First, how about a round of applause for the No. 9 Detroit Lions? After seeing their 19-game losing streak come to a tragic end, the always-say-die Lions went out and started a new one with a 24-48 defeat to Chicago.
Winless and hopeless St. Louis, meanwhile, took over first place by shutting itself out against San Francisco. The 49ers seem to bring out the worst in the Lambs. It was two decades ago that Jim Everett, the Lambs shell-shocked quarterback, registered a rare self-sack against the 49ers, falling to the ground when no one hit him en route to a 3-30 beating.
This year, the Lambs have rolled up 24 points in four games, which puts them on a pace to score 96. That would break the record for fewest points in a 16-game season (140 by Seattle in 1992).
Oakland, averaging all of 10 points per game, travels to New Jersey to play the Giants and the first 20 rows of the stadium will be empty to minimize the chances of an errant JaMarcus Russell pass skulling a spectator.
Wreck, Record; Last Loss; Next Loss
1. St. Louis (0-4); 0-35, San Francisco; Minnehaha
2. Oakland (1-3); 6-29, Houston; N.J. Giants
3. Cleveland (0-4); 20-23, Cincinnati; Buffalo
4. Grampa Bay (0-4); 13-16, Washington; Philadelphia
5. Kansas City (0-4); 16-27, N.J. Giants; Dallas
6. Tennessee (0-4); 7. Dallas (2-2); 8. Miami (Fla.) (1-3); 9.Detroit (1-3); 10. Jacksonville (leads NFL in most season tickets canceled since last year -- 17,000.)
Crummy game of the week: Dallas (2-2) at Kansas City (0-4).
Rout of the week: Oakland (1-3) at N.J. Giants (4-0).
Special citation: Raiders defensive end Richard Seymour was fined $7,500 for pulling the hair of Denver tackle Ryan Clady after a play. Girls, girls . . .
Fantasy flops: RB Adrian Peterson (Minn.) 25 carries, 55 yards, 1 TD; QB Mark Sanchez (N.J. Jets), 14 of 27 for 138 yards with three interceptions, no TDs; RB Maurice Jones-Drew (Jacksonville), 6 carries, 14 yards, 1 TD.
Sporting Editor's Note: This wk.'s Rams would be perfect for Rush Limbaugh to purchase. He couldn't make himself look worse by making them any worse. Nowhere to go but up, huh? We'd be amused to hear Mr. Limbaugh expound on the differences between the NFL's socialism for rich guys revenue sharing & the public option. (We wouldn't, really, but ...)
Intellectual Appropriation Editor's Note: The Steve Harvey who types the Bottom Ten (for the Los Angeles Times) is not the well-known comedian, television personality & morning radio host.
We've wondered why the tragic death of Nataline Sarkisyan hasn't been exhibit one in the health care/insurance/reform debate. We don't remember seeing this
to stir America from its coma. (Or should we just pull the plug on our living dead?)
Have America's sheep bought into the idea that murder for profit is just fine? Wouldn't surprise us one bit, seeing how readily they accept their own (wage-)slavery. BAAAA!
You, too, may be a gang member. Legally, at least. And it does appear we've been given a specific, nation-wide, no doubt accepted in any court definition of gang member. And if he or she is wearing this, run!
At the Utah Gang Conference, [LeFavor] explained Juggalos meet the criteria for a gang in some circumstances because they are a group of three or more individuals, they have a common name and symbol (many wear tattoos or necklaces with the "hatchet man") and collectively engage in criminal activities in some incidents.
Prosecutors say the Juggalos arrested at the park had all the ingredients of a criminal street gang: three or more members, a common sign or symbol (in this case the cartoon hatchet man), and banding together to commit a crime.
When we started this stab at something, we intended to make a pathetic comparison between Juggalos & Juggalettes & those who attend the Tea Parties ("Future 'Baggers: Meet The Juggalos" was a working title) but this coincidence of phrases could actually be confused w/ something.
(Other possible confusion might be three or more people wearing T-shirts, jerseys, & ballcaps of the same team, & drinking in public. Tailgaters beware!)
Curiouser & ... we thought there must have been a federal or at least state gov't. association definition, but an impartial defense atty. indicates it's law-enforcement making the law/"guideline":
Defense attorney Bill Miller represents Huggins, a minor who is charged as an adult in the Graceada Park case. He said gang laws give broad discretion to authorities. As Miller put it, "The Legislature didn't define what a gang member is, and the cops just make it up themselves."
Another impartial observer would be
West Valley City Police Detective John LeFavor, who teaches a Juggalos class to police officers, teachers and social services workers at the Utah Gang Conference each year, said the majority of Utahns who define themselves as Juggalos are not violent.
[...]
LeFavor said police don't have a firm figure on the number of Juggalos in Utah, but said there are "thousands." He said Utah gang detectives estimate about 10 to 15 percent of Juggalos are engaged in criminal activity and meet the definition of a gang member.
LeFavor, who is considered an expert on Juggalos by law enforcement agencies across the country, has traveled to Georgia, Missouri, Oklahoma and California to share his knowledge about the Juggalo subculture.
Nice work if you can get it.
At least the Salt Lake Trib names sources. If LeFavor was one of the sources in the Modesto Bee story, no one would know.
Authorities point to assaults in Colorado, Utah, Washington and elsewhere
Prosecutors say
a crime analyst for the Modesto Police Department said local authorities have watched the Juggalos grow in numbers since their first contact with the group in 2005. She said she has spent half of her time researching Juggalos in the past year, noting that her work includes surveying MySpace and other social networking Web sites to identify Insane Clown Posse fans who post photos of themselves throwing hand signs for WC, or "wicked clown."
That's nice work too.
A prosecutor said authorities have documented
the prosecutor pointed to
Not one named law-enforcement source. Concern for the safety of our brave cops & D. A.s & their families? That is, SWAT Teams should, while breaking down your door w/ a battering ram or a military surplus armored vehicle, be masked to prevent reprisals against their loved ones. And if the masks prevent their being identified when they brutalize you, shoot your 15-(human)-yr.-old dachshund because it barked at a pig, break everything in your house, & so on, well, bug or feature, you decide.
We can only assume that the law-enforcement network that defines "possible" gang membership/activity is the same one Detective LeFavor used to start his free travel & nice hotel rooms effort to save America from its youth.
Did he start acquiring his expertise five or so yrs. ago?
Stephen Nelson, a prosecutor assigned to gang cases in the Salt Lake County District Attorney's Office, said his office has noticed that Juggalo cases have become increasingly violent since they started appearing more frequently within the past five years.
Just a yr. before the Modesto PD's "first contact with the group in 2005?" Huh. We'd wish Senator McCarthyDetective LeFavor good luck in his venture, but he's doing just fine, isn't he?
Can memeorandum explain why Van Susteren's re-printing a press release is newsworthy? Maybe our pointing out the peculiarity of a FOX NEWS personality's "blog" being used as a puke funnel for Limbaugh's egomania ("Excellence In Broadcasting") will wise them the fuck up over there. We're waiting to see our reaction appear in "Discussion:" right under the item.
And waiting. (Granted, we shouldn't start waiting until we've actually "desk-top published" this to the remainder of the world's desk-tops.)
A self-styled "rebel," who wraps himself in the bloody American flag (note also his statement of purpose on the header) has gone to the well of right-wing thought, where they "get it right." That would be "Russia Today," of course. Not that he links to anything printed, mind you. Might strain the viewers' tiny but pure minds.Added note of bitterness & jealousy: How does a fuckwit like Left Coast Rebel (two comments on his foray into stupidity in the five hrs. since its appearance) get all over memeorandum, while we at Just Another Blog™ toil in obscurity (Oh, the injustice.) being rational & making sense or mock of everything?
Last Friday, the International Olympic Committee stiffed him.
Might you want to mention, Mr. Dickerson, that several other heads of state &/or gov't. were "stiffed," as you put it? We doubt that the IOC decision had much, if anything, to do w/ our President, or that it was based on a specific desire to "stiff" him. (What, he was looking for a tip from the IOC?)
This is far from turning into a sports blog, evidence to the contrary in items below be damned. (When the fuck do the play-off games start? We is bored limp w/ Obama/Nobel. 1500 Pacific? Go Twins!) This is political:
US President Barack Obama has won the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize.
The Nobel Committee said he was awarded it for "his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and co-operation between peoples".
The committee highlighted Mr Obama's efforts to strengthen international bodies and promote nuclear disarmament.
There were a record 205 nominations for this year's prize. Zimbabwe's prime minister and a Chinese dissident had been among the favourites.
The laureate - chosen by a five-member committee - wins a gold medal, a diploma and 10m Swedish kronor ($1.4m).
"Only very rarely has a person to the same extent as Obama captured the world's attention and given its people hope for a better future," the Norwegian committee said as the prize was announced.
"His diplomacy is founded in the concept that those who are to lead the world must do so on the basis of values and attitudes that are shared by the majority of the world's population."
We've been listening to Vin Scully call Dodger Division Series games on the radio while watching TBS, a bit disconcerting as (due to technical thingies) Vin will usually have described the entire play before it even begins on TBS.
Today is Friday, Oct. 9, the 282nd day of 2009. There are 83 days left in the year. The UPI Almanac.Today's Highlight in History: On Oct. 9, 1919, the Cincinnati Reds won the World Series, 5-3, defeating the Chicago White Sox 10-5 at Comiskey Park. (The victory turned hollow amid charges eight of the White Sox had thrown the Series in what became known as the "Black Sox" scandal.) On this date: In 1446, the Korean alphabet, created under the aegis of King Sejong, was first published. In 1635, religious dissident Roger Williams was banished from the Massachusetts Bay Colony. In 1701, the Collegiate School of Connecticut — later Yale University — was chartered. In 1776, a group of Spanish missionaries settled in present-day San Francisco. In 1859, French army officer Alfred Dreyfus, the focal point of the Dreyfus Affair, was born in Mulhouse. In 1888, the public was first admitted to the Washington Monument. In 1930, Laura Ingalls became the first woman to fly across the United States as she completed a nine-stop journey from Roosevelt Field, on New York's Long Island, to Glendale, Calif. In 1934, King Alexander of Yugoslavia was assassinated by a Croatian terrorist during a state visit to France. In 1936, the first generator at Boulder (later Hoover) Dam began transmitting electricity to Los Angeles. In 1958, Pope Pius XII died at age 82, ending a 19-year papacy. (He was succeeded by Pope John XXIII.) In 1967, Latin American guerrilla leader Che Guevara was executed while attempting to incite revolution in Bolivia.
In 1974, businessman Oskar Schindler, credited with saving about 1,200 Jews during the Holocaust, died in Frankfurt, West Germany. (At his request, he was buried in Jerusalem.) In 1975, Soviet scientist Andrei Sakharov was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. In 1983, James Watt, facing U.S. Senate condemnation for a racially insensitive remark, resigned as U.S. President Ronald Reagan's interior secretary. In 1985, the hijackers of the Achille Lauro cruise liner surrendered after the ship arrived in Port Said, Egypt. Read the original AP story. In 1986, the U.S. Senate convicted imprisoned U.S. District Judge Harry Claiborne of tax cheating, making him the fifth U.S. judge to be impeached and removed from office. In 1989, the Soviet news agency Tass, under Mikhail Gorbachev's policy of increasing openness in society, reported a flying saucer visit to the Soviet Union. In 1990, David Souter was sworn in as an associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court. In 1992, NASA announced that the unmanned Pioneer spacecraft was apparently lost after orbiting Venus for 14 years. Ten years ago: The United Auto Workers and Ford Motor Co. reached a tentative agreement on a new contract, hours after a handful of workers walked off the job when a strike deadline passed. In boxing's first sanctioned battle of the sexes, Margaret MacGregor defeated Loi Chow by winning all four rounds on all three judges' cards in a promotion held in Seattle. In 2001, letters postmarked in Trenton, N.J., that later tested positive for anthrax spores were mailed to Sens. Tom Daschle, D-S. D., and Patrick Leahy, D-Vt. The Pentagon reported the destruction of seven terrorist training camps in Afghanistan and, claiming control of the skies over Afghanistan, launched heavy airstrikes against Taliban garrisons and troop encampments. In 2002, the Washington-area sniper claimed a seventh victim with the slaying of a man at a gas station near Manassas, Va. Five years ago: A tour bus from the Chicago area flipped in Arkansas, killing 15 people headed to a Mississippi casino. Afghanistan's first direct presidential election began. (Interim president Hamid Karzai emerged the winner.) Australian Prime Minister John Howard won a historic fourth term in national elections. Meanwhile, in Afghanistan's first democratic presidential election, nearly all the candidates, concerned over reported irregularities, boycotted the process even as voters went to the polls. [Democracy. It's messy — Ed.] In 2006, North Korea announced that it had conducted its first nuclear weapons test, drawing condemnation from around the world. Google Inc. announced it was snapping up YouTube Inc. for $1.65 billion in a stock deal. One year ago: Calm gave way to fear in financial markets, turning a relatively steady day into a rout that pushed the Dow Jones industrials below 9,000 — to 8,579.19 — for the first time in five years. Jean-Marie Gustave Le Clezio of France won the Nobel Prize in literature. Today's Birthdays: Actor Fyvush Finkel is 87. Former Sen. Trent Lott, R-Miss., is 68. R&B singer Nona Hendryx is 65. Singer Jackson Browne is 61. Actor Gary Frank is 59. Actor Richard Chaves is 58. Actor Robert Wuhl is 58. Actress-TV personality Sharon Osbourne is 57. Actor Tony Shalhoub is 56. Actor Scott Bakula is 55. Musician James Fearnley (The Pogues) is 55. Actor John O'Hurley is 55. Writer-producer-director-actor Linwood Boomer is 54. San Francisco 49ers coach Mike Singletary is 51. Actor Michael Pare is 51. Jazz musician Kenny Garrett is 49. Rock singer-musician Kurt Neumann (The BoDeans) is 48. Country singer Gary Bennett is 45. Movie director Guillermo del Toro is 45. Singer P.J. Harvey is 40. Retired golfer Annika Sorenstam is 39. Country singer Tommy Shane Steiner is 36. Actor Steve Burns is 36. Sean Lennon is 34. Actor Randy Spelling is 31. Actor Brandon Routh is 30. Actor Zachery Ty Bryan is 28. Actress Spencer Grammer is 26. Actor Tyler James Williams ("Everybody Hates Chris") is 17. Today In Entertainment History October 9 In 1940, John Lennon was born in Liverpool, England. In 1946, the Eugene O'Neill drama "The Iceman Cometh" opened at the Martin Beck Theater in New York. In 1966, John Lennon met Yoko Ono for the first time at an art gallery in London. In 1973, Elvis and Priscilla Presley were divorced in Santa Monica, Calif. They had been married since May 1, 1967, and had one child, Lisa Marie. In 1980, John Lennon celebrated his 40th birthday by releasing the single "(Just Like) Starting Over." In 1985, moviemaker Orson Welles died. He was 70. Yoko Ono dedicated "Strawberry Fields" in New York's Central Park to the memory of John Lennon. In 1986, Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical version of "Phantom of the Opera" opened in London. The $2.9 million show, based on a 1911 novel by Gaston Leroux, drew a six-minute standing ovation from the first night audience. Thought for Today: "The world is divided into people who think they are right." — Anonymous.
The Hungarians, first to revolt againt Soviet hegemony, in 1956, are at last enjoying the full flowering of freedom, liberty & the miracles of free market medicine.
We didn't mean to, but we saw the opening line of Friedman's piece. (Below.)
I am a 56-year-old baby boomer, and looking around today it’s very clear that my generation had it easy: We grew up in the shadow of just one bomb — the nuclear bomb.
About what we typed (We still haven't/won't read the remainder.) but we have to add that, as a recently turned 56-yr.-old humanoid (let alone "boomer") we've never been so embarrassed to be whatever age we were. Though we've never embarrassed ourself w/ a mustache.
Today is Thursday, Oct. 8, the 281st day of 2009. There are 84 days left in the year. The UPI Almanac.Today's Highlight in History: On Oct. 8, 1871, the Great Chicago Fire erupted; fires also broke out in Peshtigo, Wis., and in several communities in Michigan.
[What the hell is the AP saying here? Was there some sort of conspiracy, cows or otherwise? — Ed.] Also in 1871, on the same day, a forest fire broke out at Peshtigo, Wis., eventually killing about 1,100 people while burning some 850 square miles. [The UPI explains. Dang, that's a fire! — Ed.] On this date: In 1869, the 14th president of the United States, Franklin Pierce, died in Concord, N.H. In 1918, Sgt. Alvin C. York almost single-handedly killed 25 German soldiers and helped capture 132 in the Argonne Forest in France. In 1919, The U.S. Congress passed the Volstead Act, prohibiting the sale or consumption of alcoholic beverages. The first U.S. transcontinental air race began with 63 planes competing in the round-trip aerial derby between California and New York. Each way took about three days. In 1934, Bruno Hauptmann was indicted by a grand jury in New Jersey for murder in the death of the son of Charles A. Lindbergh. In 1945, President Harry S. Truman announced that the secret of the atomic bomb would be shared only with Britain and Canada. [We take this opportunity to apologize sincerely for any good-natured but snarky remarks that may have been made here about any nations on the North American continent, except Mexico & the U. S. — Ed.] In 1956, Don Larsen pitched the only perfect game in a World Series to date as the New York Yankees beat the Brooklyn Dodgers in Game 5, 2-0. [Just ignore that Brooklyn shit. Fucking show-off Larsen. — Ed.]
In 1957, the Brooklyn Baseball Club announced it was accepting an offer to move the Dodgers from New York to Los Angeles. In 1959, the Los Angeles Dodgers won the World Series, defeating the Chicago White Sox 9-3 in Game 6 at Comiskey Park. [That's better. But not all was beer & skittles that yr. — Ed.] Margaret Thatcher was first elected to the British Parliament as a Conservative from the north London suburb of Finchley. In 1967, Argentinean-born Communist revolutionary Ernesto Che Guevara, an important figure in the 1959 Cuban revolution, was killed while leading a guerrilla war in Bolivia. In 1970, Soviet author Alexander Solzhenitsyn was named winner of the Nobel Prize for literature. In 1981, at the White House, President Ronald Reagan greeted former Presidents Jimmy Carter, Gerald Ford and Richard Nixon, who were preparing to travel to Egypt for the funeral of Anwar Sadat. In 1982, all labor organizations in Poland, including Solidarity, were banned. In 1985, the hijackers of the Italian cruise ship Achille Lauro killed American passenger Leon Klinghoffer and dumped his body and wheelchair overboard.
Ten years ago: A damage award to State Farm auto insurance customers swelled to nearly $1.2 billion after a judge in Illinois ruled that the nation's largest auto insurer had committed fraud by using generic auto-body repair parts. (However, the Illinois Supreme Court overturned the judgment in 2005.) President Bill Clinton dedicated a new U.S. embassy in Ottawa. Laila Ali, the 21-year-old daughter of Muhammad Ali, made her pro boxing debut by knocking out April Fowler 31 seconds into the fight in Verona, N.Y. In 2001, former Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Ridge was sworn in as director of the new Office of Homeland Security. Five years ago: In a testy debate rematch, President George W. Bush and Sen. John Kerry quarreled over the war in Iraq, jobs, education, health care, abortion, the environment, cheaper drugs and tort reform at a town hall session in St. Louis. A videotape surfaced showing kidnappers beheading British hostage Kenneth Bigley in Iraq. Martha Stewart reported to the Alderson Federal Prison Camp in West Virginia to begin serving her sentence for lying about a stock sale. Kenyan environmentalist Wangari Maathai won the Nobel Peace Prize. World-renowned French philosopher Jacques Derrida died in Paris at age 74. In 2005, a major earthquake flattened villages on the Pakistan-India border, killing an estimated 86,000 people. One year ago: After a day of bouncing higher and lower, Wall Street plunged again. The Dow Jones industrial average lost another 189 points to close at 9,258 — the sixth straight day of losses for the Dow. A gunman killed a men's store employee at Knoxville Center Mall in Tennessee; William Johnson faces charges of felony murder, aggravated kidnapping and attempted murder. German farmer Karl Merk, who received the world's first complete double arm transplant, told reporters that incredulity gave way to joy when he woke from surgery to discover he had arms again. Japan's Osamu Shimomura and Americans Martin Chalfie and Roger Tsien won the Nobel Prize in chemistry. Today's Birthdays: Entertainment reporter Rona Barrett is 73. Actor Paul Hogan is 70. R&B singer Fred Cash (The Impressions) is 69. Civil rights activist, the Rev. Jesse Jackson, is 68. Comedian Chevy Chase is 66. Author R.L. Stine is 66. Country singer Susan Raye is 65. TV personality Sarah Purcell is 61. Actress Sigourney Weaver is 60. R&B singer Robert "Kool" Bell (Kool & the Gang) is 59. Producer-director Edward Zwick is 57. Country singer-musician Ricky Lee Phelps is 56. Actor Michael Dudikoff is 55. Comedian Darrell Hammond is 54. Actress Stephanie Zimbalist is 53. Rock musician Mitch Marine is 48. Actress Kim Wayans is 48. Rock singer Steve Perry (Cherry Poppin' Daddies) is 46. Actor Ian Hart is 45. Gospel/R&B singer CeCe Winans is 45. Rock musician C.J. Ramone (The Ramones) is 44. Actress-producer Karyn Parsons is 43. Singer-producer Teddy Riley is 43. Actress Emily Procter is 41. Actor Dylan Neal is 40. Actor-screenwriter Matt Damon is 39. Actress Kristanna Loken is 30. R&B singer Byron Reeder (Mista) is 30. Actor Nick Cannon is 29. Actor Max Crumm is 24. Actor Angus T. Jones is 16. Actress Molly Quinn is 16. Today In Entertainment History October 8 In 1944, "Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet" made its debut on CBS radio, on the Nelsons' ninth wedding anniversary. In 1958, "Bat Masterson," starring Gene Barry, debuted on NBC. In 1966, Cream drummer Ginger Baker collapsed after performing a 20-minute drum solo in Sussex, England. Doctors diagnosed him as having acute exhaustion and the flu. In 1968, singer Cass Elliot made her solo debut at Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas. However, she was suffering with tonsillitis, and her band had not rehearsed enough. She ended up canceling the two-week engagement after opening night. In 1980, singer Bob Marley collapsed during a concert in Pittsburgh. He was flown to a hospital in New York. Marley never performed again; he died in 1981. In 1988, the comedy "Empty Nest" premiered on NBC. The show, a spinoff of "The Golden Girls," starred Richard Mulligan. In 1990, Tennessee Ernie Ford was elected to the Country Music Hall of Fame. George Strait was named Entertainer of the Year at the Country Music Association Awards.
In 1992, the US Postal Service announced a commemorative stamp booklet that included rock legends Bill Haley, Buddy Holly, Elvis Presley and Ritchie Valens, plus R&B stars Clyde McPhatter, Otis Redding and Dinah Washington. In 1999, Michael Jackson's wife, Debbie Rowe, filed for divorce, citing irreconcilable differences. In 2003, Arnold Schwarzenegger was elected governor of California. [Neither entertaining nor amusing. — Ed.] In 2008, stage and TV actress Eileen Herlie died in New York at age 90. Thought for Today: "History is the propaganda of the victors." — Ernst Toller, German poet and dramatist (1893-1939).
The Guardian reports on what it claims to be Sweden's largest pop-kult phenom. (As long as it's not ABBA tribute bands we don't really care.)
For young Swedes, these giant American cars, which contrasted with the safe, boxy Volvos their parents drove, were the ultimate symbols of rebellion. And they were dirt-cheap. "They were stupid," Georg says about the Americans. "Some of the cars were limited edition. They built maybe 70 of them and they were selling them to us for a few thousand when they were collector pieces."
Georg picked up his first US muscle car, a black 1965 Pontiac, for $2,000 in Los Angeles in 1980. He found it in a lot, rusted and part-inhabited by a eucalyptus tree. By the time he'd shipped it home, sourced original parts, resprayed and kitted out the whole body, it was worth 20 times as much, with an engine that purred and a stereo that roared. The latter is the only concession to modernity acceptable in a raggare's restored car; music is a huge part of the culture. "You don't exactly want to have hip-hop playing from your car when you're cruising," says Martin, a farmer who drives a lime green Chevy. He listens mostly to Creedence Clearwater Revival. "That music came from a period when America was really great. You can hear it in the lyrics."
Uh, no comment there, we guess.
No indication that they have anything in for the Black, Death or whatever-the-hell Metallers we've heard tell of in the land where summer means something, but they seem to have known from aggro:
It wasn't always like this, according to Georg. "We used to meet up on Sundays to have fights. We were honest fighters. No weapons, no martial arts, no kicking – and if you fell on the ground it was all over and you'd buy the guy a drink."
The raggare didn't confine the fighting to themselves. They singled out punks and hippies for beatings, and did it so often that the Rude Kids, a Swedish punk band, released a single called Raggare Is a Bunch of Motherfuckers.
Yes, it said MOTHERFUCKERS, right there in the Guardian, at least on-line. A real First Amendment country.
Many will ask, "How does the fascism w/ a human face socialism of Sweden deal w/ this menace to society? Attempt to tax it to death, so all the too-depressed-to-work Swedes can sit around all day & laugh at the suckers who work?" Not quite.
It's funny how often the words respect and responsibility are used by a group who take their cues from music and films whose very purpose was to express rebellion. That's partly the result of the Swedish government realising there was more to be gained from embracing the raggare than alienating them. In the 60s, the government made the decision to consult the raggare about decisions that might affect them – so now they pay no car or import tax on their vehicles, and Sweden has the largest collection of classic cars outside the US. Another 6,000 were imported last year alone.
By THOMAS L. FRIEDMAN Today’s youth are growing up in the shadow of three bombs — the nuclear, debt and climate bombs — any one of which could go off and set in motion a radical change in their lives.
Trust the shorter, they say. Meaning we have not/will not read it. (Hell, we won't even link it. If you give a damn, it's at The NYT, in case you hadn't figured that out.) Perhaps the 'Stache condemns the entire developed world, fine by us, we don't limit our hate to America & its institutions.
The party's over for the youth though. Ha ha. No sooner had they been turned to teen-agers, & become a vital economic demographic, thereby validating them as consumers, even if not actual citizens, the whole thing goes go hell. We got in just in time. (And hope to get out at the right moment too.)
W/ usual caveat that the robot is dealing from a 15 card or so deck, & we have no idea what criteria it uses when it claims to be playing random tunes from our "favorites." Perhaps it reads what's left of our mind.
Yesterday we had to wake & arise several hours before the crack of noon (The horror, the indignity, the exhaustion!) to trek almost fifteen miles to the very edge of the continent. (Money is the root of early rising & all other evil.) In order that it not be a complete loss, we present some images of what Raymond Chandler called "Bay City." Here one can see the edge of the continent, & fool humanoids defying the tsunami that's bound to come. (Hurry up, damnit!)
The People's Republic appeals to "liberal guilt."
Coastal Defense Emplacement
The Alley of Commodity Fetishism
At the other end of the Alley of Commodity Fetishism, schadenfreude of the first water: This was a Borders Books, Music, Movies & a Cafe a few months ago.
Fans of this web log may remember the editor typing in passing that he was once an employee of said outfit, though not at this particular store, & merely because we told a condescending management shitheel that "We have to get out of here before we kill someone," they fired us. Can you imagine? We are pleased as punch that it's been replaced by an "outlet store." Fucking morons couldn't keep a store going in the very nexus of consumption.
We hope Borders Group still has the lease on the dump & are still losing money hand over fist on the two vacant upper floors. (The Barnes & Noble at the other end of The Alley of Etc. is still in business. Haw!! Justice. Almost.)
Today is Wednesday, Oct. 7, the 280th day of 2009. There are 85 days left in the year. The UPI Almanac.Today's Highlight in History: On Oct. 7, 1929, former Interior Secretary Albert B. Fall, one of the main figures of the Teapot Dome scandal, went on trial in Washington, D.C., charged with accepting a bribe from oil tycoon Edward L. Doheny. (Fall was convicted and sentenced to a year in prison and fined $100,000; he ended up serving nine months. Ironically, Doheny was acquitted at trial of offering the bribe that Fall was convicted of accepting.) On this date: In 1765, the Stamp Act Congress convened in New York to draw up colonial grievances against England. In 1777, the second Battle of Saratoga began during the American Revolution. (British forces under Gen. John Burgoyne surrendered 10 days later.) In 1849, author Edgar Allan Poe died at age 40. In 1858, the fifth debate between Illinois senatorial candidates Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas took place in Galesburg. In 1868, Cornell University was inaugurated in Ithaca, N.Y. In 1879, Communist revolutionary Leon Trotsky was born Lev Davidovich Bronshtein in Yanovka, Ukraine. In 1913, for the first time, Henry Ford's entire Highland Park automobile factory was run on a continuously moving assembly line. In 1916, in the most lopsided football game on record, Georgia Tech humbled Cumberland University, 222-0. [We've been led to understand that our late father was on the losing team in a 104-0 football game in Texas in the '30s. Coulda been that eight-man football they play down there 'cause they're nuts. Either way: Loser. — Ed.] In 1949, the Republic of East Germany was formed. In 1960, Democratic presidential candidate John F. Kennedy and Republican opponent Richard M. Nixon held their second televised debate, in Washington, D.C. In 1963, President John F. Kennedy signed the documents of ratification for a nuclear test ban treaty with Britain and the Soviet Union. Thirty years ago, in 1979, Pope John Paul II concluded his weeklong tour of the United States with a Mass on the Washington Mall. In 1985, Palestinian gunmen hijacked the Italian cruise ship Achille Lauro in the Mediterranean. (The hijackers, who killed an elderly Jewish American tourist, Leon Klinghoffer, surrendered two days after taking over the ship.) Twenty years ago, in 1989, Hungary's Communist Party renounced Marxism in favor of democratic socialism during a party congress in Budapest. In 1991, University of Oklahoma law professor Anita Hill publicly accused Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas of making sexually inappropriate comments when she worked for him; Thomas denied Hill's allegations. In 1996, Fox News Channel made its debut. In 1997, scientists announced they had found one of the most massive stars known, behind a dense dust cloud in the Milky Way that had previously concealed it. The star was 25,000 light-years from Earth. In 1998, Matthew Shepard, a gay college student at the University of Wyoming, was beaten, robbed and left tied to a wooden fence post outside of Laramie; he died five days later. (Russell Henderson and Aaron McKinney are serving life sentences for Shepard's murder.)
Ten years ago: American Home Products Corp. resolved one of the biggest product liability cases ever by agreeing to pay up to $4.83 billion to settle claims that the fen-phen diet drug combination caused dangerous heart valve problems. AP Highlight in [Alternate] History: On Oct. 7, 2001, the United States and Britain launched air strikes against Taliban positions and Osama bin Laden's training camps in Afghanistan; bin Laden praised God for the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in a videotaped statement aired on the Arabic satellite station Al-Jazeera. [If Bush hadn't been such a moron on 6 August 2001 ("You've covered your ass.") we could have been bombing them 12 or 13 September 2001, depending on the dateline. — Ed.] In a pre-recorded tape Osama bin Laden warned, "America will not live in peace" until peace came to "Palestine" and "until the army of infidels depart the land of Mohammed." In 2001, Barry Bonds of the San Francisco Giants wrapped up his record-breaking season with his 73rd homer, while San Diego's Rickey Henderson became the 25th player with 3,000 career hits. [Barry sucks, but Rickey's cool. — Ed.] In 2002, the sniper terrorizing the Washington area struck again, critically wounding a 13-year-old boy as he was being dropped off at school in Bowie, Md. In 2003, California voters recalled Gov. Gray Davis and elected actor Arnold Schwarzenegger to replace him. [Smooth move, you fucking shitheels. Are you happy now, cretins? — Ed.] Five years ago: President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney conceded that Saddam Hussein had no weapons of mass destruction as they tried to shift the Iraq war debate to a new issue — whether the invasion was justified because Saddam was abusing a U.N. oil-for-food program. [Oh, why even bother? — Ed.] Two bombs exploded at a gathering of Sunni Muslim radicals in Multan, Pakistan, killing some three dozen people. Cambodia's King Norodom Sihanouk abdicated because of poor health. [Perhaps Ah-node will abdicate because he's a groping jerk-off. — Ed.] Austrian writer Elfriede Jelinek won the Nobel Prize in literature. In 2006, Anna Politkovskaya, a journalist who had chronicled Russian military abuses against civilians in Chechnya, was found shot to death in Moscow. Until this is a regular occurence in the United Snakes, fascist right-wing ass-wipes are cordially invited the shut the fuck up about being "silenced" when they are called on their lies & condemned as lying scum. — Ed.] Three former congressional pages joined two others in accusing former U.S. Rep. Mark Foley, R-Fla., of making "sexual approaches" over the Internet. Foley had resigned a week earlier when the first of the reports surfaced. One year ago: The misery worsened on Wall Street, as the Dow lost more than 500 points and all the major indexes slid more than 5 percent. In their second presidential debate, held at Belmont University in Nashville, Tenn., Democrat Barack Obama and Republican John McCain clashed repeatedly over the causes and cures for the economic crisis. Makoto Kobayashi and Toshihide Maskawa of Japan and Yoichiro Nambu of the United States won the Nobel Prize in physics. Today's Birthdays: Singer Al Martino is 82. Retired South African Archbishop Desmond Tutu is 78. Comedian Joy Behar ("The View") is 67. Former National Security Council aide Oliver North is 66. Rock musician Kevin Godley (10cc) is 64. Actress Jill Larson ("All My Children") is 62. Country singer Kieran Kane is 60. Singer John Mellencamp is 58. Rock musician Ricky Phillips is 58. Actress Mary Badham is 57. Actress Christopher Norris is 56. Rock musician Tico Torres (Bon Jovi) is 56. Cellist Yo-Yo Ma is 54. Gospel singer Michael W. Smith is 52. Actor Dylan Baker is 51. Recording executive and TV personality Simon Cowell ("American Idol") is 50. Rock musician Charlie Marinkovich (Iron Butterfly) is 50. Country singer Dale Watson is 47. Pop singer Ann Curless (Expose) is 46. R&B singer Toni Braxton is 42. Rock singer-musician Thom Yorke (Radiohead) is 41. Rock musician-dancer Leeroy Thornhill is 40. Actress Nicole Ari Parker is 39. Rock singer-musician Damian Kulash is 34. Singer Taylor Hicks ("American Idol") is 33. Actor Omar Benson Miller is 31. Today In Entertainment History October 7 In 1940, Artie Shaw and his Orchestra recorded Hoagy Carmichael's "Stardust" for RCA Victor. In 1950, "Your Hit Parade" was first broadcast on NBC. It started as a radio program in 1935. In 1954, Marian Anderson became the first black singer hired by the Metropolitan Opera Company in New York. In 1959, singer-actor Mario Lanza died in Rome at age 38. In 1968, the Motion Picture Association of America adopted its film-rating system, ranging from "G" for general audiences to "X" for adult patrons only. In 1975, John Lennon won his battle against US immigration authorities when a federal appeals court overturned an order to deport him. Officials had wanted to kick Lennon out of the country because of a drug arrest in Britain. In 1977, guitarist Steve Hackett left Genesis. In 1982, the musical "Cats" opened on Broadway, beginning its record run of 7,485 performances. [No one has ever gone broke underestimating the "taste" of the American public. — Ed.] In 1995, actors Ted Danson and Mary Steenburgen were married on Martha's Vineyard in Massachusetts. Rapper Tone Loc was arrested for allegedly taking $80 from a pizza parlor in Los Angeles, arguing with the owner over a pizza, and demanding his money back. He pleaded no contest to the charges. In 1996, an alleged shoplifter surrendered to actors Richard Belzer and Clark Johnson after mistaking them for real cops. Belzer and Johnson were filming an episode of "Homicide: Life on the Street." In 2000, Phish performed its last show before going on hiatus. Thought for Today:"An egotist is a person of low taste — more interested in himself than in me." — Ambrose Bierce, American author-journalist (1842-1914?).
You've probably seen the TNR piece on Betsy (A sixty yr. old "Betsy?") McCaughey & what a lying sack of shit she is.
And their "Gee, we're sorry publishing this horrid woman's lies in 1994 destroyed health care reform apology'regrets.'" (Perhaps Marty Peretz can cough up a few of his wife's zillions to pay some of the families whose loved ones' deaths can be laid directly at TNR's door. You think? Maybe just pay for long term care for some of those screwed up for life as a result of TNR's assholery, but not yet dead?)
Related Links - Betsy McCaughey (12 of 12)
Click here to read Michelle Cottle's new profile of Besty McCaughey.
Click here to read Besty McCaughey's infamous 1994 essay about the Clinton health plan.
Click here to read TNR's regrets about McCaughey's article, and our case for universal health care.
Ha ha. Schadenfreude +. We've only two things to add:
A well-tended 60, she still has a penchant for short, high-slit skirts, revealing blouses, and spike heels--all on display at her afternoon debate with Aaron--which give the impression less of poised-to-kill tiger than on-the-prowl cougar.
The first chapter comes to an end, not a moment too soon.
Not giving anything away (We couldn't, we haven't read any farther than anyone else.) but you don't think that Miles (being, after all, of Jewish heritage) might be the so-called Anti-Christ, do you?
Fans of Pioneer Chicken & The Starwood will note them at the beginning of this.We've no idea if it was shot in The Starwood. Was the stage that big? Don't bother watching/listening. Suicidal urges are the least of the responses this piece of dreck will cause.
Today is Tuesday, Oct. 6, the 279th day of 2009. There are 86 days left in the year. [Consider this yr. "86'd." — Ed.] The UPI Almanac.Today's Highlight in History: On Oct. 6, 1939, as remaining military resistance in Poland crumbled, Adolf Hitler delivered a speech to the Reichstag in which he blamed the Poles for the Nazi-Soviet invasion of their country and denied having any intention of war against France and Britain. On this date: In 1683, 13 families from Krefeld, Germany, arrived in Philadelphia to begin Germantown, one of America's oldest settlements. In 1853, Antioch College opened in Yellow Springs, Ohio. It was the first non-sectarian school to offer equal opportunity for both men and women. In 1884, the Naval War College was established in Newport, R.I. In 1889, The Moulin Rouge cabaret opened in Paris. In 1921, sports writer Grantland Rice was at the microphone as the World Series was broadcast on radio for the first time. Sixty years ago, in 1949, President Harry S. Truman signed the Mutual Defense Assistance Act, providing $1.3 billion in military aid to NATO countries. U.S.-born Iva Toguri D'Aquino, convicted of treason for being Japanese wartime broadcaster "Tokyo Rose," was sentenced in San Francisco to 10 years in prison. (She ended up serving more than six.) Forty years ago, in 1969, the New York Mets won the first-ever National League Championship Series, defeating the Atlanta Braves, 7-4, in Game 3; the Baltimore Orioles won the first-ever American League Championship Series, defeating the Minnesota Twins 11-2 in Game 3. In 1973, war erupted in the Middle East as Egypt and Syria attacked Israel during the Yom Kippur holiday. In 1976, in his second debate with Jimmy Carter, President Gerald R. Ford asserted there was "no Soviet domination of eastern Europe." (Ford later conceded he'd misspoken.) Sound Bite: President Gerald R. Ford. Thirty years ago, in 1979, Pope John Paul II, on a weeklong U.S. tour, became the first pontiff to visit the White House, where he was received by President Jimmy Carter. [How many of those creeps have we let in since? — Ed.]
In 1981, Egyptian President Anwar Sadat was shot to death by extremists while reviewing a military parade.
In 1985, England's worst post-war race rioting, which began almost a month earlier in Birmingham, spread to the Tottenham section of London. One officer died and 125 people were injured. In 1987, the Senate Judiciary Committee voted 9-5 against the nomination of Robert H. Bork to the Supreme Court. Ten years ago: In Mexico, torrential rains sent swollen rivers raging through the streets of the Gulf Coast city of Villahermosa and caused mudslides; dozens of deaths were reported in eastern Mexico's coastal mountain ranges. The NFL awarded its newest franchise to Houston instead of Los Angeles, leaving the second-largest TV market in the nation without a football team. [No problem. We'll settle for three games on telebision every Sunday (+ SNF). — Ed.] In 2001, Cal Ripkin Jr. [Hey Reverend Moon, it's spelled Ripken. — Ed.] retired after a spectacular baseball career with the Baltimore Orioles that included playing in a record 2,632 consecutive games. Five years ago: The top U.S. arms inspector in Iraq, Charles Duelfer, reported finding no evidence Saddam Hussein's regime had produced weapons of mass destruction after 1991. The Senate approved an intelligence reorganization bill endorsed by the Sept. 11th Commission. Israelis Aaron Ciechanover and Avram Hershko and American Irwin Rose won the Nobel Prize in chemistry. In 2007, Pakistan's Gen. Pervez Musharraf won a presidential election boycotted by most of his opponents. One year ago: As Wall Street reeled and global markets plunged, President George W. Bush said the U.S. economy was going to be "just fine" in the long run, but cautioned that the massive rescue plan would take time to work. The Dow Jones industrial average dropped to 9,955, its first close below 10,000 since 2004. Congress began investigating what went so wrong on Wall Street to prompt a $700 billion government bailout. Germany's Harald zur Hausen and French researchers Francoise Barre-Sinoussi and Luc Montagnier shared the 2008 Nobel Prize in medicine. Today's Birthdays: Broadcaster and writer Melvyn Bragg is 70. Actress Britt Ekland is 67. Singer Millie Small is 63.The president of Sinn Fein, Gerry Adams, is 61. Singer-musician Thomas McClary is 60. CBS chief executive officer Les Moonves is 60. Rock singer Kevin Cronin (REO Speedwagon) is 58. Rock singer-musician David Hidalgo (Los Lobos) is 55. Former NFL player and coach Tony Dungy is 54. Actress Elisabeth Shue is 46. Singer Matthew Sweet is 45. Actress Jacqueline Obradors is 43. Country singer Tim Rushlow is 43. Rock musician Tommy Stinson is 43. Actress Amy Jo Johnson is 39. Actress Emily Mortimer is 38. Actor Lamman Rucker is 38. Actor Ioan Gruffudd is 36. Actor Jeremy Sisto is 35. R&B singer Melinda Doolittle ("American Idol") is 32. Oakland Raiders defensive tackle Richard Seymour is 30. Today In Entertainment History October 6 In 1927, the era of talking pictures arrived with the opening of "The Jazz Singer," starring Al Jolson. Forty years ago, in 1969, a George Harrison song became the A-side of a Beatles single for the first time, when The Beatles released "Something" backed with "Come Together." In 1976, Rick Dees and His Cast of Idiots received a gold record for the novelty single "Disco Duck." The single eventually went platinum. In 1978, Mick Jagger apologized to the Rev. Jesse Jackson for offensive lyrics in the Rolling Stones song "Some Girls," but he refused to change the words. [Unless the lyrics concerned Jackson or his relatives, was it any of his beeswax? — Ed.] In 1980, the Bee Gees sued their manager and PolyGram Records for $200 million, alleging fraud and misrepresentation. The suit was settled out of court. [Would that have been the Robert Stigwood Organisation? Yes, it would. — Ed.] In 1988, "Dear John," starring Judd Hirsch, premiered on NBC. [Does anyone remember that? Anyone? — Ed.] Twenty years ago, in 1989, actress Bette Davis died in Paris after battling cancer. She was 81. Twenty years ago, in 1989, actress Bette Davis died in Neuilly-sur-Seine, France, at age 81. [Translation: She died at the "American" Hospital in the Parisian suburb of Neuilly-sur-Seine. When you read that a show biz (or other well-known) figure passed in Neuilly-sur-Seine, you know they died at the A. H. Also: Do people ever not "battle" cancer? Some people must just give the fuck up. Bag the cliches, AP! — Ed.] In 1990, Garth Brooks joined the Grand Ole Opry. In 1991, Elizabeth Taylor married construction worker Larry Fortensky at Michael Jackson's ranch in California. They have since separated. Thought for Today: "There are plenty of fools in the world; but if they had not been sent for some wise purpose, they wouldn't have been here; and since they are here they have as good a right to have elbow-room in the world as the wisest." — Susan Edmonstone Ferrier, Scottish novelist (1782-1854).
