Author: NewMexiKen

Barack Obama’s Top Ten Campaign Promises

Number 10: “To keep the budget balanced, I’ll rent the Situation Room for sweet sixteens”

Number 9: “I will double your tax money at the craps table”

Number 8: “Appoint Mitt Romney Secretary of Lookin’ Good”

Number 7: “If you bring a gator to the White House, I’ll wrassle it”

Number 6: “I’ll put Regis on the nickel”

Number 5: “I’ll rename the tenth month of the year ‘Barack-tober'”

Number 4: “I won’t let Apple release the new and improved iPod the day after you bought the previous model”

Number 3: “I’ll find money in the budget to buy Letterman a decent hairpiece”

Number 2: “Pronounce the word nuclear, nuclear”

And the number one Barack Obama campaign promise:

“Three words: Vice President Oprah”

There Will Be Blogging

Sincere thanks for all the fan mail — even us utility infielders like affirmation.

(And unlike Matt Hasselbeck, none of you sent a message asking me if I could get you a real blogger’s autograph.)

I know I stood there like a puppy demanding that you pet me, but truly what I am hoping for is a little more conversation along the way. I always find NewMexiKen wise, whimsical and witty. I just often question whether you do — and when, of all things, “Omarosa nude” returns after four years as the most searched item, I think it is reasonable of me to wonder.

Keep dropping by and I’ll keep blogging away. And if you see something you like or something you detest, please share the thought.

OK, I gotta go see There Will Be Blood. (Which my desktop widget lists as re Will be Blood, The).

Hey here’s a great idea for a TV show about Albuquerque

First, this news item from the Albuquerque Tribune:

Police say somebody stole an “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” utility truck from the parking lot of a hotel near the Big-I on Tuesday night — the same day the crew unveiled a new home to a Southeast Heights family.

The show was in town to build a home for the Martinez family, who live in the Trumbull Village neighborhood, known for its history of crime and poverty — a fact mentioned repeatedly on promotional material for the show.

Here’s my idea — Extreme Makeover: Cops Edition.

Bad boys, bad boys, what’cha gonna do
What’cha gonna do when they come for you

The problem with my idea is that four years ago Mayor Marty banned Cops from filming in Albuquerque. “The city’s police officers are portrayed in a good light, but the rest of the city looks horrible. That has a real impact. That’s all people see, and that’s not who we are.”

Tell that to the Extreme Makeover guys.

January 24th

Oscar-winner Ernest Borgnine (McHale’s Navy) is 91 today. Borgnine won the best actor Oscar in 1956 for the lead in Marty. The film also won best picture, director and screenplay (Paddy Chayefsky).

Oral Roberts is 90. Everyone wants to go to heaven, but no one wants to die.

Ray Stevens is 69.

One of the most popular novelty artists of all time, Ray Stevens enjoyed a remarkably long career, with a stretch of charting singles — some of them major hits — that spanned four decades. Unlike parody king Weird Al Yankovic, Stevens made most of his impact with original material, often based on cultural trends of the day. Yet his knack for sheer silliness translated across generations, not to mention countless compilations and special TV offers. Stevens was a legitimately skilled singer and producer who also performed straight country and pop, scoring the occasional serious hit. But in general, comic novelty songs were his bread and butter, and his brand of humor somehow managed to endure seismic shifts in popular taste and style.

allmusic

Neil Diamond is 67, as is Aaron Neville.

Mary Lou Retton is 40. Ed Helms is 34. Mischa Barton is 22.

Edith Wharton was born on January 24th in 1862. This is from her obituary in 1937.

John Belushi should have been 59 today.

Edith Wharton was the child as well as the author of the Age of Innocence. In her seventy-five years of life she published thirty-eight books, including that great love story, “Ethan Frome.” But her reputation rested mostly upon her achievement as the chronicler of Fifth Avenue, when the brownstone front hid wealth and dignity at its ease upon the antimacassar-covered plush chairs of the Brown Decade.

The New York Times

Gold

… was discovered by James W. Marshall on the property of Johann Sutter near Coloma, California, 160 years ago today. By the end of the year the rush was on; nearly 100,000 people arrived in California in 1849.

But these days, as The Gatlin Brothers sang —

All the gold in California
Is in a bank in the middle of Beverly Hills
In somebody else’s name

Here’s a good word

Kakistocracy (from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000)

SYLLABICATION: kak·is·toc·ra·cy

PRONUNCIATION: kăkibreve-stŏk’rə-sē, käk’ibreve–

NOUN: Inflected forms: pl. kak·is·toc·ra·cies
Government by the least qualified or most unprincipled citizens.

ETYMOLOGY:
Greek kakistos, worst, superlative of kakos, bad; caco– + –cracy.
Oldest use: 1829.

* Reference link 1
* Reference link 2

PUTTING THE WORD TO USE:
“Is ours a government of the people, by the people, for the people, or a kakistocracy rather, for the benefit of knaves at the cost of fools?” – 1876 OED

Aztec Ruins National Monument (New Mexico)

… was established on this date in 1923.

Around 1100 A.D. ancient peoples embarked on an ambitious building project along the Animas River in northwestern New Mexico. Work gangs excavated, filled, and leveled more than two and a half acres of land. Masons laid out sandstone blocks in intricate patterns to form massive stone walls. Wood-workers cut and carried heavy log beams from mountain forests tens of miles away. In less than three decades they built a monumental “great house” three-stories high, longer than a football field, with perhaps 500-rooms including a ceremonial “great kiva” over 41-feet in diameter.

Aztec Ruins

A short trail winds through this massive site offering a surprisingly intimate experience. Along the way visitors discover roofs built 880 years ago, original plaster walls, a reed mat left by the inhabitants, intriguing “T” shaped doorways, provocative north-facing corner doors, and more. The trail culminates with the reconstructed great kiva, a building that inherently inspires contemplation, wonder, and an ancient sense of sacredness.

Aztec Ruins National Monument

Bill Clinton: ‘Screw It, I’m Running For President’

CHARLESTON, SC—After spending two months accompanying his wife, Hillary, on the campaign trail, former president Bill Clinton announced Monday that he is joining the 2008 presidential race, saying he “could no longer resist the urge.”

“My fellow Americans, I am sick and tired of not being president,” said Clinton, introducing his wife at a “Hillary ’08” rally. “For seven agonizing years, I have sat idly by as others experienced the joys of campaigning, debating, and interacting with the people of this great nation, and I simply cannot take it anymore. I have to be president again. I have to.”

The Onion – America’s Finest News Source

Time and Space

Anyone who spends any time on an airliner (and gives the whole thing any thought) will find Air Traffic Safety vs. Capacity interesting. Here’s an excerpt that brings out the key point:

Various entities in aviation are using the complexities found in air traffic control to obscure the basic facts in order to further their agendas. The basic fact I would like to clarify is the finite capacity of a runway. I too have an agenda. My agenda is safety.

Any runway has a finite capacity. The key to understanding this is in understanding time. Only one aircraft is allowed to use the runway at any time. It takes a certain amount of time for a departing aircraft to taxi onto a runway, accelerate to flying speed and lift off. Likewise, it takes a certain amount of time for an arriving aircraft to touch down, slow down and taxi off the runway. The time it takes the typical airliner to do either one — land or takeoff — is roughly one minute.

The math is as simple as it is inescapable. Roughly 60 airliners can use a runway in one hour if conditions are absolutely perfect. It is physically impossible to improve that number. However, it can get a lot worse.

As the author goes on to illustrate, one minute at 180 mph is three miles, the distances airliners must usually maintain on approach (five miles for larger airliners). That means that planes landing in New York, for example, need to have a place in line when they take off from Washington or Boston. Throw in a rain cloud … you get the idea.

Winkie-Do

I know you people from foreign states probably don’t understand why we local folks are laughing ourselves silly this morning with the news about Dean Hrbacek.  Okay, so a politician photoshopped his chubby body out of the picture.  So what?

Well, for starters, Dean’s body shape is very distinctive.  Very.  A penguin comes to mind.  In Texas, we refer to that as Winkie-Do, as in, “his tummy sticks out more than his Wink….” well, you can fill in the rest and figure it out.  To think that people who see him every day wouldn’t notice is kinda nuts.

Kiss My Big Blue Butt

Follow the link and scroll up-and-down to read more about Dean Hrbacek’s photoshopping. It appears the shoes were photoshopped into another ad. Hilarious — as Susan DuQuesnay Bankston almost always is.

Life is unfair, then you die

So let me get this straight.

If you’re over-extended and have an ARM mortgage you can’t afford, the reduction in the prime interest rate of .75% by the Fed yesterday will help reduce your upcoming payments.

But if you’ve saved and put your savings in money market funds (to avoid plummeting stocks and real estate), you will now get a lower return on your investment.

Story time

The Daily Howler parses the Obama-Reagan-Clinton debate issue — and the media’s misuse of it. Good stuff!

UPDATE: Judge for yourself. Obama’s now infamous Reagan remarks begin at around 19:00 minutes. BUT be certain to listen to his entire discussion at least until 21:00. I believe Obama endorses Reagan’s political leadership skills — which are indisputable — and not Reagan’s and more recent Republican ideas. The Clintons are using this discussion out of context, as are some progressive bloggers.

“The Republican approach I think has played itself out …”

Meanwhile Guardian Unlimited has an excellent review of Senate votes where Obama and Clinton have differed.

Paper or plastic

You do know that the answer to the question, “Paper or plastic?” is paper, right?

Better yet, take your own recyclable containers.

More:

The Whole Foods Market chain said Tuesday that it would stop offering plastic grocery bags, giving customers instead a choice between recycled paper or reusable bags.

A rising number of governments and retailers are banning plastic bags, or discouraging their use, because of concerns about their environmental impact. San Francisco banned plastic bags last year unless they are of a type that breaks down easily. China announced a crackdown on plastic bags a few weeks ago, while other governments, including New York City’s, are making sure retailers offer plastic bag recycling.
. . .

Critics complain that the bags are bad for the environment because they are made from petroleum, are typically tossed after one use, fill landfills, and float into trees, rooftops, roadways and oceans.

They also do not break down easily in a landfill.

Hey, it’s all too little too late, but let’s make an effort at least.
The New York Times

Costco and Ikea have already eliminated plastic bags.

He’s not my mayor

“After discussing the issue and at the request of several legislators, Governor Richardson has agreed to put the red-light camera issue on the agenda for the ongoing session,” the New Mexico governor’s blog stated. “The governor believes it is reasonable for the legislature to revisit the issue.”

Richardson, who recently dropped out of the presidential race, is taking aim at Albuquerque Mayor Marty Chavez (D) who recently quit his run for the US Senate. Chavez had promised Richardson that he would drop the cost of fines in return for the veto, but Chavez has failed to hold up his end of the bargain. By doing so, Chavez has enjoyed $11.7 million in revenue since 2005 with more than $5.1 million in net profit to spend on new government programs.

Chavez briefly toyed with the idea of killing his automated ticketing program after it proved unpopular and became a drag on his aspirations to higher office. The city council, however, recently discovered that it has no ability to cancel the contract because of backroom agreements Chavez made with Australian vendor Redflex in 2005. The changes erased a cancellation clause that had been part of a draft contact approved by the city council. Some council members expressed concern that after more than two years of ticketing, even the city’s “blue ribbon panel” comprised of government officials and the insurance industry failed to generate evidence that the program has provided a public safety benefit.

The Newspaper

Additional key quote: “The council is also powerless to change the per-ticket method of compensation that gives Redflex up to $45 for each ticket it is able to issue.”

Mayor Marty is looking to the courts to overturn the limit that prevents him from seeking a third term. It seems to this observer (who doesn’t live in the city) that it’s the people of Albuquerque that should be looking to the courts — to remove the mayor from office.

January 23rd

Today is the birthday

… of actress Jeanne Moreau. She’s 80. Moreau is best known for French New Wave films Jules and Jim (1962) and The Bride Wore Black (1968). Roger Ebert:

This is ridiculous, I told myself. You’ve interviewed Ingmar Bergman. Robert Mitchum. John Wayne. You got through those okay. Why should you be scared of Jeanne Moreau? Simply because she’s the greatest movie actress of the last 20 years? Simply because she’s made more good films for great directors than anybody else? Simply because something in her face and manner has fascinated you since you sat through “Jules and Jim” twice in a row? She’s only human; it’s not like she’s a goddess.

But I suspected that she was.

… of Princess Caroline of Monaco, 51.

… of Mariska Hargitay. Jayne Mansfield’s daughter is 44. (She was in the car when her mother was killed in 1967.) Ms. Hargitay plays Detective Olivia Benson on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.

It’s the birthday of Humphrey Bogart, born on this day in 1899. Bogart was nominated for the best actor Oscar for Casablanca, The Caine Mutiny and The African Queen; he won for The African Queen. According to The Writer’s Almanac:

[Bogart] was expelled from Massachusetts’ Phillips Academy and immediately joined the Navy to fight in World War I, serving as a ship’s gunner. One day, while roughhousing on the ship’s wooden stairway, he tripped and fell, and a splinter became lodged in his upper lip; the result was a scar, as well as partial paralysis of the lip, resulting in the tight-set mouth and lisp that became one of his most distinctive onscreen qualities.

And, born on this date in 1910, was Django Reinhardt. the first significant jazz figure in Europe — and the most influential European in jazz to this day. Play Jazz Guitar.com has some interesting background:

A violinist first and a guitarist later, Jean Baptiste “Django” Reinhardt grew up in a gypsy camp near Paris where he absorbed the gypsy strain into his music. A disastrous caravan fire in 1928 badly burned his left hand, depriving him of the use of the fourth and fifth fingers, but the resourceful Reinhardt figured out a novel fingering system to get around the problem that probably accounts for some of the originality of his style. According to one story, during his recovery period, Reinhardt was introduced to American jazz when he found a 78 RPM disc of Louis Armstrong’s “Dallas Blues” at an Orleans flea market. He then resumed his career playing in Parisian cafes until one day in 1934 when Hot Club chief Pierre Nourry proposed the idea of an all-string band to Reinhardt and Grappelli. Thus was born the Quintet of the Hot Club of France, which quickly became an international draw thanks to a long, splendid series of Ultraphone, Decca and HMV recordings.

The Red Hot Jazz Archive has some on-line recordings of the Quintette of the Hot Club of France.

Edouard Manet, an artist whose works include both the Realist and Impressionist traditions of 19th-century France, was born on this date in 1832. Click here to view Manet’s painting “On the Beach” (1873) and here for his painting of Monet in his floating studio (1874).

Poll cats

The 24th Amendment was ratified on this date in 1964, making poll taxes illegal in federal elections.

Poll taxes were one way that the states of the former Confederacy circumvented the 15th Amendment. These taxes became common at the end of the nineteenth and the beginning of the twentieth centuries. Many states included grandfather clauses in their version of the poll tax, allowing people whose parents or grandparents had voted to do so as well. In this way, the taxes disfranchised African-Americans while allowing whites, with some exceptions, to vote.

The Edge of the American West

Best line of the morning, so far

A study determines that the Bush Administration lied in order to get the Iraq War started. The innovation of this study: statistics. Administration officials, according to the study, lied 935 times.

Remarkably, the President lied more than the Vice President. I’d have bet against that, myself, but it seems Vice President Cheney — while lying less — lied well with men in scoring position.

Functional Ambivalent