Very warm day, but sunny and nice.
Rest in Peace: Lauren Bacall
01. How the Hell do I vote?
Diane Rheem had some experts on her show today to talk about States' attempts to restrict voting rights. (In the Shelby case, the Supreme Court made unworkable the Voting Rights Act.. because "it is unfair to hold southern States to 'permanent purgatory' for 1950 and 1960 actions."
As soon as possible after the Court's decision, 22 States put in place voter restrictions such as:
Show strict voter ID.
Show Proof of Citizenship.
Cut back on early voting.
Change the voting location.
In those States where 2008 elections saw a significant increase in minority balloting, Republican State legislatures rushed through changes, such as those shown above.
When asked why the changes were made, the most common reason given was: "to reduce voter fraud." The question is: How many cases of voter fraud have been found recently?
The answer is: Only 31 cases of voter fraud have been found among the billions of votes cast in the past couple of years.
One result of the changes: In Athens, Georgia, African Americans will now have to drive 25 miles to get to their polling places.
02. Jelly Donut on Mars
I finally found some information by NASA about the item suddenly appearing on Mars that looked like a jelly donut. NASA says that it is just a common piece of stone that bounced in front of the camera that is still working there. (Or is the real story being kept under Top Secret lock and key?)
I asked fellow CLV resident, Bob, about this.. he used to work at NASA. He said he wouldn't put it past his former co-workers to play pranks like that; however, this would be a million dollar prank, so he thinks it would not be done.
03. *Guns .. Judge's Decision
Federal Judge Catherine Blake found Maryland's new ban on assault rifles and magazine holding more than 10 rounds of ammunition constitutional Similar laws have recently been upheld in Washington, California, Connecticut and New York. (This will not be the last we hear about this. When will they learn?)
04. *Crime .. New Weapon
A man was charged today with armed robbery for allegedly bashing the head of an employee of a "detailing" shop with a 10 pound dumbbell and stealing his iphone and money. (Very inventive.)
05. *Fracking
A TRIBUNE article on Fracking was featured in the Carroll County Times today. The last paragraph of the article intrigued me:
"Companies say fracking has never contaminated drinking water. The EPA launched three investigations over the last six years into possible contamination by oil and gas activities in Dimmock, Pennsylvania, Parker County, Texas, and Pavilion, Wyoming, After initially finding evidence of contamination at the sites, the EPA shelved the investigations amid allegations that it succumbed to political pressure." The Internet revealed the following:
Dimmoch, PA. - several wells were contaminated with methane and other substances used in gas drilling and fracking.
Pavilion, WY - Benzene, a known carcinogen, was found in the ground water at fifty times the level that is considered safe.
Parker County, TX (Weatherford, near Fort Worth) - Wells were saturated with flammable methane. The water from kitchen faucets could be set on fire!
I guess that big money has once again prevailed over the health of small town citizens.
06. Weird Politicians Actions
As usual, Tom Zirpoli wrote a very interesting column today. He mentioned some of the weird activity of politicians.. but, surprising to me, he left out the crazy stuff that some of the Carroll County Commissioners did so far this year. Maybe he'll get to that in his next column.
He mentioned the former Democratic Governor of Montana, Brian Schweitzer, and how he talks about his well-working "gaydar." I had never heard of this word before, so I had to look it up:
From the Urban Dictionary: gaydar.. is short for Gay-Radar, the ability to tell when someone near you is homosexual; even if they have given no obvious indications of being so.
Mr. Schweitzer says that he is "OK" with homosexuality.. but you can tell from his other words that this might not be the case. It reminds me of the old phrase: "I have nothing against homosexuals, but I wouldn't want my sister to marry one."
07. Trickle-down has Petered-out.
Fellow NARFE member, Dan Bridgewater, has had his monthly letter published by the Carroll County Times. Dan lambastes "trickle-down economics" and rightly so.
I have had a bit of trouble getting my letters published, and Dan gave me a good tip. Make your letter address a current interesting topic. I followed his simple advice recently and had a letter published. Thanks for the tip, Dan.
08. *Dr. Mohamed Esa
I mentioned Dr. Esa yesterday, and said that he is involved in the German Society of Maryland. (Even though I probably am not of German extraction, I enjoy being in this organization that appreciates the great things that Germans and Austrians have accomplished over the years. )
Herr Professor Doktor Mohamed Esa, longtime director of the German Society has now been elected national president of the American Association of Teachers of German. (He heads the German program at McDaniel College in Westminster, Maryland, and has been teaching there for 20 years.)
He recently was also honored by the Federal Republic of Germany for his leadership in teaching techniques for the German language.
09. Strad Facts
The BBC Music magazine put out these facts about Stradivarius instruments in 2004:
a. World record auction price for a Strad: 947,500 pounds at Christie's in 1998. (I don't know what a pound is worth now.. but so what... almost a million of them must be a hell of a lot of money.)
b. In more than 70 years of work, Antonio Stradivari made about 1,200 stringed instruments.
c. Number of Strads thought to exist today: 500 violins, 11 violas, 80 cellos (What happened to the rest?)
d. Famous violinists who played Strads: Joshua Bell, Anne-Sophie Mutter, Viktoria Mullova, and Maxim Vengerov (what about Jack Benny?)
e. Famous cellists who played Strads: Lynn Harrell, Yo-Yo Ma, Mstislav Rostropovich
f. In 1953, the 1732 "Red Diamond" Strad was washed out to sea in a freak accident. It was found and restored.
g. "Stradivarius" on the label doesn't mean it's a Strad: it's probably a copy.
h. Stradivari's working tools can be seen at Cremona's Museo Stradivariano.
10. Quote by whom?
I like this quote.. which I'm sure I have misquoted.. and it rings true, I'm sure you will agree.
"Man, no matter how well dressed, is just a monkey in a vest."
11. Quote by Fred Allen
"The world is a grindstone and life is your nose."
12. My favorite flower
This is a poem by fellow Intertel Member: Vachel Lindsay
The Dandelion
O DANDELION, rich and haughty,
King of village flowers!
Each day is coronation time,
You have no humble hours.
I like to see you bring a troop
To beat the blue-grass spears,
To scorn the lawn-mower that would be
Like fate's triumphant shears.
Your yellow heads are cut away,
It seems your reign is o'er.
By noon you raise a sea of stars
More golden than before.
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