Navy dispatch from the ranking United States naval officer in Pearl Harbor, Commander in Chief Pacific (CINCPAC), to all major navy commands and fleet units provided the first official word of the attack at the ill-prepared Pearl Harbor 69 years ago this morning.
Today is the birthday
… of Eli Wallach. Tuco is 95. “Hey Blondie, do you know what you are? You’re a stinking son of a….” [Theme starts.]
Wallach has more than 150 acting credits lidsted on IMDb.
… of Ellen Burstyn. Alice is 78. Ms. Burstyn has been nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress five times, winning for Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore in 1975. She was also nominated for Best Actress in a Supporting Role for The Last Picture Show.
… of Johnny Bench. The Hall of Fame catcher is 63.
… of Larry Bird. The Basketball Hall of Famer is 54.
… of T.O., Terrell Owens. He’s 37, and doing well for my fantasy team.
Richard Warren Sears was born December 7, 1863, in Stewartville, Minnesota. In 1886, seeking to make some extra money, he took a number of watches on consignment and sold them all to fellow railroad stations agents. Within six months he quit the railroad and formed the R.W. Sears Watch Company, a mail-order business. He joined with watch repairman Alvah C. Roebuck the next year. Sears, Roebuck and Co. moved to Chicago in 1893.
Willa Cather was born in Back Creek Valley, Virginia, on this date in 1873. The following is from her New York TImes obituary in 1947.
One of the most distinguished of American novelists, Willa Sibert Cather wrote a dozen or more novels that will be long remembered for their exquisite economy and charm of manner. Her talent had its nourishment and inspiration in the American scene, the Middle West in particular, and her sensitive and patient understanding of that section of the country formed the basis of her work.
Much of her writing was conceived in something of an attitude of placid reminiscence. This was notably true of such early novels as “My Antonia” and “O Pioneers!” in which she told with minute detail of homestead life on the slowly conquered prairies.
Perhaps her most famous book was “A Lost Lady,” published in 1923. In it Miss Cather’s talents were said to have reached their full maturity. It is the story of the Middle West in the age of railway-building, of the charming wife of Captain Forrester, a retired contractor, and her hospitable and open-handed household as seen through the eyes of an adoring boy. The climax of the book, with the disintegration of the Forrester household and the slow coarsening of his wife, is considered a masterpiece of vivid, haunting prose.
Another of her famous books is “Death Comes for the Archbishop,” 1927, in which she tells in the form of a chronicle a simple story of two saints of the Southwest. Her novel, “One of Ours,” won the Pulitzer Prize in 1922.
A Christmas Story in 30 seconds with bunnies.
“Getting Republicans to agree to more tax cuts in return for preserving existing tax cuts is roughly equivalent to getting crack addicts to agree to try a different brand of cocaine in return for allowing them to keep their existing stash.”
*The conversation chart around my life looks a bit like this:
33% Weather
25% How stuff is too expensive
15% General hotness level of various people.
12% Pop Culture
5% Sports (overall)
5% Sports specific to Derek Jeter, Tiger Woods and LeBron James
3% “The coach/manager/server at this restaurant/neighbor/pilot/doctor/anyone else suck at what they do.”
1% Religion and politics and family and science and current events and stuff like that.
1% Justin Bieber
Joe Posnanski, from a blog post about things that are too expensive.
“This Blog would like to believe that the current MNF crew will lock Chris Berman in a closet so as to keep him from marring tonight’s broadcast with a boneheaded and self-indulgent ‘tribute’ to Meredith, complete with a lame Cosell imitation and a Gilbert and Sullivan Texas accent with which he’ll sing a few bars of ‘Turn Out The Lights,’ but This Blog is not optimistic.”
“For her latest book club selection Oprah Winfrey decided to go ‘old school,’ she said on Monday. Ms. Winfrey has selected two Charles Dickens novels, ‘A Tale of Two Cities’ and ‘Great Expectations,’ both announced on her show on Monday, both books that she had never read before.”
And both available free just about any electronic reader you might prefer.
I believe there is no god.
Or, at least I believe there is no god that interacts in any way with human life or ever has.
My belief comes, I’m sure, as no surprise to my seven regular readers. If I haven’t so much as said so before, my dogma is implied by links I’ve posted, references I’ve made, a tone of disbelief I’ve exhibited. I’ve always assumed my regulars share my incredulity, or don’t care what I think and just want to know whose birthday it is, or are strong enough in their own beliefs to let me have mine.
In turn, I’m strong enough in my beliefs to let you have yours. It’s my blog, and after 2 million words, I can do as I please with it, but I don’t believe I’ve used NewMexiKen much to proselytize. At least not about religion.
But I am going to post links to two essays that are premised on beliefs similar to my own, and I thought first I should give witness, as they have.
I agree with this from The Secret Diary of Steve Jobs, an excerpt from one of the best rants about Christianity I’ve seen:
Second, your “religion” is a myth. It’s bogus. Jesus did not die and rise from the tomb and ascend into heaven. Okay? That. Did. Not. Happen. God did not take the form of a little bird and fly down and impregnate an unwed teenage virgin girl so that she could give birth to a half-human half-divine man-god. Immaculate conception, virgin birth, raising people from the dead, walking on water, loaves and fishes — great stories, but correctly filed under “fiction.” The sad fact is, what you call “faith” is a form of mental illness. It’s amazing enough that so many of you are running around in your mental case dream world. But it’s simply unacceptable when you start trying to impose your delusions upon the rest of us. Cynical politicians may feel the need to humor you and kowtow to your demands. I, however, do not.
I like his conclusion, too:
It’s bad enough that you’re hateful bigots. But to dress up your hate and bigotry as an expression of Christianity? That, my friends, is pure evil. If you want to go around hating people, fine. Go for it. It’s stupid, and pointless, but whatever. Go hate people. Just don’t go around saying Jesus told you to do it.
So, listen up. You can’t put your bullshit in my app store. I’m sorry. But I won’t let you use my store to spread your hate. I don’t want any part in the spreading of your phony religion, either. There is no God. There is no heaven. There also is no hell, which is too bad, because if hell did exist, you would surely be spending eternity there, with red-hot pokers up your butts. And nothing would make me happier.
You really should read the whole thing. (Keeping in mind that the blog is satire and is not, so far as we know, written by the actual Steve Jobs of Apple.)
The other post is by Tanya at Dinner without Crayons. She titled it, “What would Jesus do?”
Tanya may not appreciate being conjoined here with the Fake Steve Jobs. Her post is more personal, and more open-minded and tolerant than the rant described above (you do need to go read all of both of them). Tanya writes:
If I really want to scare the other person off I tell them I am a liberal atheist lawyer. Few things evoke the horror and the revulsion of that statement.
Now, I am not a rabid, foaming-at-the mouth-atheist. I don’t believe in God, but I fully support your right to. People saying “Merry Christmas” does not offend me. I don’t care what is printed on our currency so long as I have enough of it. When people come to my door trying to save or convert me, I tell them that I admire the depth of their belief and wish them well.
Ironically, many of my closest friends are quite devout in their beliefs, and I am glad that their faith gives them comfort and a sense of belonging. They pray for me, and I think good thoughts for them. They don’t try to convert me and I don’t invite them to my naked goat slaughters in the moonlight. (Just kidding, I do invite them but they don’t attend.)
I think religion, like sex or politics, is deeply personal and that whatever consenting adults choose to do or believe that does not hurt or interfere with the enjoyment of others is generally fine by me. Rock on, rock out for Christ, rock the vote, whatever. But at the end of the day, I believe, as Dooce so eloquently wrote recently, “when we die there is no heaven, we just rot in the earth while worms digest our intestines. Merry Christmas.”
Taken together then, my beliefs. Peace.
“72,000 pounds of chicken salad has been recalled. Apparently, the egg salad was supposed to come first.”
A new electronic bookstore, this one from Google, complete with software, apps and, oh yes, books.
Just thought you should know.
Today is the birthday
… of Dave Brubeck. Dave’s taken five for 90 years.
… of Tom Hulce. The actor who played Mozart in Amadeus is 57. (The film came out in 1984.) Hulce got an Oscar nomination for that performance. He shows up from time-to-time, but the only other role that comes to mind is as Larry Kroger in Animal House.
… of Steven Wright. He’s 55.
… of Judd Apatow. The director is 43.
One of America’s great lyricists, Ira Gershwin was born on this date in 1896.
Summertime
And the livin’ is easy,
Fish are jumpin’
And the cotton is high.
Oh yo’ daddy’s rich
An’ yo’ ma is good lookin’
So hush, little baby,
Don’t you cry.
[with Dubose Heyward]
*****
You’ve made my life so glamorous
You can’t blame me for feeling amorous.
Oh! ‘S wonderful! ‘S marvelous!
That you should care for me!
‘S wonderful! ‘S marvelous!
That you should care for me!
‘S awful nice! ‘S paradise!
‘S what I love to see!
*****
The way you wear your hat,
The way you sip your tea,
The mem’ry of all that —
No, no! They can’t take that away from me!
The way your smile just beams,
The way you sing off key,
The way you haunt my dreams —
No, no! They can’t take that away from me!
Alfred Joyce Kilmer was born on December 6th in 1886. He published his most famous poem in 1914.
I think that I shall never see
A poem lovely as a tree.
A tree whose hungry mouth is prest
Against the earth’s sweet flowing breast;
A tree that looks at God all day,
And lifts her leafy arms to pray;
A tree that may in summer wear
A nest of robins in her hair;
Upon whose bosom snow has lain;
Who intimately lives with rain.
Poems are made by fools like me,
But only God can make a tree.
John Singleton Mosby, the Gray Ghost, was born on this date in 1833. A Virginian, Mosby sided with his state during the secession. He organized a partisan ranger company, the 43rd Battalion, Virginia Cavalry, also known as Mosby’s Rangers or Mosby’s Raiders, and conducted what Union leaders considered to be guerilla raids in northern Virginia, from the Shenandoah Valley to the Potomac River. After the war, Mosby became politically aligned and friendly with Republican President Grant, was a successful lawyer, and entertained a young George S. Patton with Civil War stories. He lived until 1916.
That’s Kunstler’s painting Fairfax Raid, depicting Mosby’s daring saunter behind enemy lines on March 9, 1863. That morning he captured Union General Edwin H. Stoughton. According to a story reported in Wikipedia, “Mosby found Stoughton in bed and roused him with a slap to his rear. Upon being so rudely awakened the general shouted, ‘Do you know who I am?’ Mosby quickly replied, ‘Do you know Mosby, general?’ ‘Yes! Have you got the rascal?’ ‘No, but he has got you!” His group also captured 30 or more sentries without firing a shot.”
You can’t drive two miles in the Fairfax-Manassas, Virginia, area without seeing this or that Mosby shopping center, neighborhood, school and so on.
“Turn out the lights, the party’s over.”
Don Meredith, who died yesterday in Santa Fe, age 72.
“I intend to live forever. So far, so good.”
Steven Wright, 55 today.
- Federal taxes are the lowest in 60 years, which gives you a pretty good idea of why America’s long-term debt ratios are a big problem. If the taxes reverted to somewhere near their historical mean, the problem would be solved at a stroke.
- Income taxes, in particular, both personal and corporate, are low and falling. That trend is not sustainable.
- Employment taxes, by contrast—the regressive bit of the fiscal structure—are bearing a large and increasing share of the brunt. Any time that somebody starts complaining about how the poor don’t pay income tax, point them to this chart. Income taxes are just one part of the pie, and everybody with a job pays employment taxes.
- There aren’t any wealth taxes, but the closest thing we’ve got—estate and gift taxes—have shrunk to zero, after contributing a non-negligible amount to the public fisc in earlier decades
He’s got a chart.
“Social Security is crucial to most Americans — but not at all to the elite.”
He’s got the chart. Social Security income is 83.2% of the income for the elderly bottom one-fifth; 81.8% for the next fifth, 64.4% for the middle fifth, 43.6% for the fourth of the five groups. For the top fifth, Social Security income is just 17.9%.
Do you suppose there’s anyone in Washington’s in-crowd that isn’t in that top fifth?
“First of all, in Texas a Governor cannot commute a sentence. To even cut [Delay’s] sentence time, they have to have the recommendation of the DA, the judge, the sheriff, the Board of Pardons and Paroles, and six members of the Baptist church.”
She admits she’s making up the Baptist church part.
“And because of loose restrictions on weapons here, Arizona is now considered a knife carrier’s dream, a place where everything from a samurai sword to a switchblade can be carried without a quibble.”
I see that Costco has cut Christmas trees for sale this year. That’s a first I think. They look like nice trees too, and a decent price.
But Donna tells me you have to buy a pack of six trees.
“[T]he Incredible Shrinking President”
I love nativity sets because of all the Christmas decorations they express most closely the true meaning of the season.
This one with penguins is particularly rich in religious symbolism.
If you like your college football to end in a real championship, consider the Football Championship School (FCS) playoffs which continue today.
Many of these games can be viewed at http://www.ncaa.com/allaccess/.
Western Illinois at Appalachian State
Villanova at Stephen F. Austin
Southeast Missouri State at Eastern Washington
North Dakota State at Montana State
Lehigh at Delaware
New Hampshire at Bethune-Cookman
Wofford at Jacksonville State
Georgia Southern at William & Mary
There are 125 FCS schools (and 120 Football Bowl Schools).
Villanova won the championship last year, Richmond in 2008, Appalachian State in 2005, 2006 and 2007.
Jeff Bridges is 61 today.
Marisa Tomei is 46.
“It’s hard to give Arizona the benefit of the doubt on anything these days, what with the state’s dubious performances in matters like illegal immigrant hysteria, the selling of the State Capitol to help balance the budget, and the electing of Jan Brewer. However, let’s accept that given their economic problems, it would be natural for the Legislature to want to try to cut the Medicaid budget. Although preferably in some saner, less brutal manner.
“But try to imagine what the Republicans would have said if someone in the Obama administration proposed cutting off liver transplants for Medicare recipients.”
Gail Collins writing about Arizona cutting Medicaid funding.
I published 1,031 posts during the six months June-November.