Wednesday, June 2, 2004
Wag of the capital blog set
The Los Angeles Times has an article on Wonkette (Ana Marie Cox) if that kind of thing interests you.
Key quote: Washington, Cox added, exudes a “sort of endearing insecurity.”
Archive for June 2, 2004
Grammar update
You may want to revisit Brad DeLong to peruse an update and the comments on Eats, Shoots and Leaves.
NewMexiKen posted on this yesterday.
For the duration
From CNN:
The Army will prevent soldiers in units set to deploy to Iraq and Afghanistan from leaving the service at the end of their terms, a top general said Wednesday.
That means it’s no longer a volunteer army, right?
Pointer from Billmon.
1 CommentBest line of the day, so far
“The movie [The Day After Tomorrow] raised many interesting questions, the most important of which was probably, if there were another ice age, what would be the best SUV to have?”
Visiting blogger Tom Smith at The Volokh Conspiracy
Cold Turkey
A very interesting, thoughtful and amusing article by Kurt Vonnegut, possibly a graduation speech, though not identified as such. I’ll skip any excerpts and suggest you read the whole thing.
Link via South Knox Bubba.
Over the hill
Professional soccer player Freddy Adu is 15 today.
Best line of the day, so far
“Like they say, politics is show business for ugly people.”
Susan DuQuesnay at Juanita’s
The 10 biggest changes in pop culture
American Heritage is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year and publishing a series called “50/50″ to commemorate it. The series consists of five essays by prominent historians and cultural commentators, each picking ten leading developments in American life during the past 50 years. So far, two of the essays have been published.
The first essay was on Politics. The second is on Popular Culture. It was written by historian and critic Allen Barra, who names 11 “artists and writers who either were at the forefront of change or best symbolized it.” See the essay to read about each.
James Dean
Miles Davis
Raymond Chandler
Pauline Kael
Buddy Holly
Andy Warhol
Frank Sinatra
Ernie Kovacs
Norman Mailer
Francis Ford Coppola
Malcolm X
Just hope he doesn’t have that ax from The Shining
From Steve Schrader in the Detroit Free Press:
Monday night, Timberwolves coach Flip Saunders had to coax Lakers fan Jack Nicholson back into his courtside seat, which he had vacated to yell at a referee over a second-quarter foul call. As if Shaq and Kobe weren’t enough, now [Pistons coach] Larry Brown has to worry about who can cover Jack, too?
Indian Citizenship Act of 1924
Eighty years ago today the United States declared: “That all non citizen Indians born within the territorial limits of the United States be, and they are hereby, declared to be citizens of the United States.”
Until the Indian Citizenship Act of 1924, Indians occupied an unusual status under federal law. Some had acquired citizenship by marrying white men. Others received citizenship through military service, by receipt of allotments, or through special treaties or special statutes. But many were still not citizens, and they were barred from the ordinary processes of naturalization open to foreigners. Congress took what some saw as the final step on June 2, 1924 and granted citizenship to all Native Americans born in the United States.
The granting of citizenship was not a response to some universal petition by American Indian groups. Rather, it was a move by the federal government to absorb Indians into the mainstream of American life. No doubt Indian participation in World War I accelerated the granting of citizenship to all Indians, but it seems more likely to have been the logical extension and culmination of the assimilation policy. After all, Native Americans had demonstrated their ability to assimilate into the general military society. There were no segregated Indian units as there were for African Americans. Some members of the white society declared that the Indians had successfully passed the assimilation test during wartime, and thus they deserved the rewards of citizenship.
Source: NebraskaStudies.org
It was 24 years before every state enabled Indian citizens to vote.
The states that set the most stringent restrictions on voter eligibility were Arizona, Nevada, and Utah. These states required that voters be not only citizens, but residents and taxpayers as well. In Arizona, the state supreme court in Porter v. Hall, decided in 1928, ruled that Indians should be disqualified from voting because they were under “federal guardianship,” a status construed by the court to be synonymous with “persons under disability.” This decision stood for twenty years until the court finally reversed itself in Harrison v. Laveen.
Get out your whips
Donatien Alphonse François de Sade was born on this date in 1740. We know him as the Marquis de Sade.
The Beaver
Jerry Mathers is 56 today.
Life is unfair
Conclusion of article about Ken Griffey, Jr., in The New York Times:
For this series against the Marlins, Griffey parked his yacht, The Chosen One, at the Fort Lauderdale Marina Marriott and slept on it while his teammates bunked in the hotel. Some teammates gawked at the glitzy vessel.
Griffey was reluctant to discuss the yacht, but people who have been aboard said it has six bedrooms, each with a plasma television. The favored beverage on board is apparently margaritas.
“We’ve got a night game tomorrow, so Margaritaville will be open until 2,” said Griffey, who is hoping the latest party is not interrupted by an injury this time.
Zen is the Guide, Destiny Awaits
Phil Jackson fans might enjoy Harvey Araton’s column in The New York Times.
Political advice
NewMexiKen was reminded this morning of yet another reason the Catholic Church should stay out of politics.
When spy Robert Hanssen’s wife found out he was selling secrets to the Russians, she took him to their priest for advice. According to Mrs. Hanssen, as the penalty, the priest proposed a donation of Hanssen’s ill-gotten gains to Mother Teresa.
Reality check
The Department of Homeland Security awarded the multi-billion dollar contract for border security to Accenture, an offshore company (Bermuda) that is a spin-off from Arthur Andersen.
Unity the theme
From the Albuquerque Journal:
Together, state Sen. Richard Romero and the man he defeated walked into an Albuquerque hotel ballroom arm and arm to the cheers of fellow Democrats.
Unity was the theme of the victory party Tuesday night after Romero handily beat Dr. Miles Nelson to grab the Democratic primary election nomination for the 1st Congressional District.
NewMexiKen can’t remember another instance where the winner and loser in an election, even a primary, appeared together on election night. Nice idea.
