Barry’s Journal

You’ve probably been wanting to read the latest from Barry Bonds.

Committee of Vigilance

On May 15, 1856, residents of San Francisco organized a Committee of Vigilance to combat crime in their rapidly growing town. Like other gold rush boomtowns, San Francisco’s population explosion raised crime levels and left residents feeling insecure. Although the Committee of Vigilance turned alleged criminals over to law enforcement officials, it is known to have taken matters into its own hands more than once.

Led by Republican businessmen, the eight-thousand-member committee attempted to clean up politics as well as the streets. Perhaps coincidentally, targets of these rehabilitation efforts tended to be Democrats.

Edward McGowan, a former Pennsylvania legislator and police superintendent whose political dealings earned him the nickname “the ballot box stuffer,” was among the Democratic politicians run out of town by the second committee.

…

Although popular among residents, the Committee of 1856 disbanded after a few months. Hardly unique, the San Francisco Vigilance Committee is just one example of efforts to tame the Wild West.

Library of Congress

House of cards

One way to think of a person’s position in society is to imagine a hand of cards. Everyone is dealt four cards, one from each suit: education, income, occupation and wealth, the four commonly used criteria for gauging class. [Click here to see where you fit in the American population.] Face cards in a few categories may land a player in the upper middle class. At first, a person’s class is his parents’ class. Later, he may pick up a new hand of his own; it is likely to resemble that of his parents, but not always.

Bill Clinton traded in a hand of low cards with the help of a college education and a Rhodes scholarship and emerged decades later with four face cards. Bill Gates, who started off squarely in the upper middle class, made a fortune without finishing college, drawing three aces.

Class in America: Shadowy Lines That Still Divide

And some get the joker and some the Old Maid.

‘Affordable Solutions for Better Living’

“Putin was also irked by Bush’s decision to pay a visit to a country once overrun by the Soviet Union: Latvia. There, President Vaira Vike-Freiberga - whose name also happens to be an entire Ikea living room set …”

Jon Stewart

15 minutes just about up

“Remember how much fun it was, the Runaway Bride? Remember she was supposed to get married a couple weeks ago and she goes nuts and she hops on a bus and goes to Albuquerque, New Mexico. Her name is Jennifer Wilbanks and apparently she’s been arrested three times for shoplifting. But her fiancé, John Mason, John Mason, this guy says he still wants to marry her. John, listen to me: Have you ever heard the expression ‘dodged a bullet’?”

David Letterman

Bless me, father

“According to The National Enquirer, Michael Jackson has secretly sold his Neverland ranch for $35 million. The scary part - you know who the buyer is? The Boston Archdiocese.”

Jay Leno

Nez Perce National Historical Park

… was established on this date 40 years ago. According to the National Park Service:

The 38 sites of Nez Perce National Historical Park are scattered across the states of Idaho, Oregon, Washington and Montana and have been designated to commemorate the stories and history of the Nimiipuu and their interaction with explorers, fur traders, missionaries, soldiers, settlers, gold miners, and farmers who moved through or into the area.

Best line of the day to remember on Father’s Day

And Mother’s Day.

“Whatever children inherit from their parents - habits, skills, genes, contacts, money - seems to matter more today.”

For better or worse.

Quotation from Times article on Class in America.

Where do you fit among the American population?

The New York Times begins a series today on class in America. NewMexiKen will have more on it later. One interesting sidelight is their graphic for determining where you fit based on occupation, education, income and wealth.

Omigod

According to No, You Can’t Just Dodder in today’s New York Times, the Rolling Stones aren’t just “aging rockers, they are also something else: active seniors.”

Oh, gimme a break. Isn’t it time to redefine “seniors” as an age that makes a little more sense than 55 or 60?

(Though, not before I cash in on a few more senior discounts.)

On the other hand there are those who go along with this remark found in the article: “‘I don’t want to keep my brain particularly active,’ she said. ‘I’d like to piddle about.’”