Note that the unemployment rate has risen sharply for all categories in 2009. For “less than a high school diploma” the rate has increased from 9% in [2008] to almost 16% in May.
Education matters!
Calculated Risk has the graph.
Tweeting Too Hard
Thanks to the blogger formerly known as Functional Ambivalent for the link.
June Twooth
Sally Kellerman is 72. Kellerman was Hot Lips in the movie M*A*S*H. She got an Oscar supporting actress nomination for the portrayal.
Charlie Watts, the Rolling Stones’ drummer, is 68.
That fine actor Stacy Keach is also 68.
Composer Martin Hamlisch is 65.
Jerry “The Beaver” Mathers is 61 today.
Comedian Dana Carvey is 54.
Donatien Alphonse François de Sade was born on June 2nd in 1740. We know him as the Marquis de Sade.
Elizabeth was crowned Queen on June 2nd, 56 years ago today.
100 Best Movie Lines in 200 Seconds
Richness of Experience
During David Souter’s confirmation hearings, in 1990, there were concerns about his reputation as a recluse; his views about abortion rights were also a mystery. Senator Howard Metzenbaum got at both when he asked Souter whether he could really imagine what a woman faced when she had an unwanted pregnancy.
Ambivalent no more
Functional Ambivalent calls it quits.
Sorry to see, but understandable, and no surprise.
The best of good wishes, Best Blogging Buddy.
Defender
Those that follow this blog know of my continued praise of The Sweeties athletic success, mostly Mack of course because he’s the oldest and more into it. Kiley (6) and Aidan (5) both completed a mile run Saturday, but Mack ran the event in a personal best 6:42 and took first place in the 8-9 age group.
Later in the day Mack also played soccer and gave us this great sequence. You see him here lined up for a direct kick (the kicking player and Mack’s teammates are cropped out of the photo — I don’t post photos of other children without permission, etc., etc.) but you can see the ball. Pay special attention to the determined, downright fierce look on Mack’s face.
Now click here.
May 31
For one reason or another I haven’t posted anything on May 31st since Sweetie Number 5 was born four years ago today. I see no reason to break the chain except to say Happy Birthday Alex.
Oh, and Happy Birthday Clint Eastwood, 79 today.
May 30th
Jeanne d’Arc was burned at the stake in Rouen on May 30, 1431. She was 19.
The Writer’s Almanac has the story.
Manny Ramirez is 37 today.
Keir Dullea is 73. Michael Pollard is 70. Gayle Sayers is 66. Wynonna Judd is 45.
Benny Goodman and Mel Blanc were born on May 30. See earlier posts for them.
The first Indianapolis 500 was 98 years ago today.
The Lincoln Memorial was dedicated on May 30th in 1922.
Memorial Day
May 30th was Memorial Day (or Decoration Day) for over 100 years beginning in 1868.
The observance was changed to the last Monday in May by law in 1971.
Mel Blanc
… the voice of Porky Pig, Daffy Duck, Bugs Bunny, Elmer Fudd, Private Snafu, Sylvester, Tweety, Yosemite Sam, Pepe Le Pew, Foghorn Leghorn, Speedy Gonzalez, Marvin Martian, Wile E. Coyote, Tasmanian Devil, Barney Rubble, Tom, Jerry, Woody Woodpecker’s laugh and Jack Benny’s Maxwell automobile was born in San Francisco 101 years ago today. His full name was Melvin Jerome Blank.
Blanc was in a serious automobile accident in 1961 that left him comatose. Unable to bring him out of the coma for weeks, in desperation the doctor finally said to him, “How are you today, Bugs Bunny?” Blanc reportedly answered, “Eh…just fine, Doc,” in his Bugs voice and began to recover.
Mel Blanc died in 1989. His epitaph reads: “That’s All Folks!”
Benjamin David Goodman
… was born 100 years ago today.
Goodman was the son of Russian Jewish immigrants who thought that music might be a way out of poverty. His older brothers were given a tuba and a trombone but — just 10 — Benjamin was given a clarinet. He learned to play at a synagogue and then with a Jane Hull House band. By 16, he was in the Ben Pollack Orchestra; by 19, Goodman was making solo recordings.
In 1934, Goodman put together his own band and they played on a live NBC radio program “Let’s Dance” during the late hours in New York. It was not until the band played before a live audience at the Palomar Ballroom in Los Angeles that it found its fans — because of the time difference, the Goodman band that was on so late in the east was heard during prime dancing time on the west coast. (It’s a good scene in the 1955 film The Benny Goodman Story.) Some date the beginning of the Swing Era to that August 21, 1935, appearance in Los Angeles.
On January 16, 1938, Goodman brought jazz to Carnegie Hall. This great concert was recorded (with one microphone), but the original disk was lost. In 1950, Goodman discovered a copy in a closet. It quickly became a best-selling record and the CD is an absolute essential.
But NewMexiKen’s favorite Benny Goodman appearance was on December 30, 1966, at the Tropicana in Las Vegas. That’s because I was there.
Anyone seen the tooth fairy?
News is, Sofie lost the tooth — then lost the tooth. It’s somewhere on the playground at school.
So, what’s a tooth fairy to do?
Linkage
Karen has a great post on driving in the clutch.
Lifehacker recommends taking notes: “I think the act of taking notes in front of others (especially doctors) entices them to give me more time and better information. Three times lately I have pulled out my moleskine and started taking notes in front of a doctor. Each time I have received tips, web site references, and ideas.”
From the oh-that’s-not-fair department: Rachel Alexandra won’t run in Belmont Stakes
Wall Street Journal music writer Jim Fusilli provided information a few weeks ago to eliminate any regret we might feel over Phil Spector’s 19-year-sentence. Fusilli included this:
Celebrities were treated to similar shenanigans. According to Mr. Brown’s biography, Mr. Spector, weapon in hand, locked the door to his Beverly Hills mansion behind Michelle Phillips of the Mamas and the Papas, refusing to let her leave. Mr. Brown also reports that Mr. Spector was wearing a handgun in 1973 when he attended the Ali-Norton fight at the L.A. Forum in a group that included Bob Dylan, Neil Diamond and James Taylor; later that night, when he was introduced to Frank Sinatra at Trader Vic’s, he was still wearing the gun. Once he pulled a gun in a studio at the Record Plant and accidentally fired it; the bullet somehow missed Lennon. On another occasion, a drunken Mr. Spector pressed the muzzle of a gun against Leonard Cohen’s neck. “Leonard, I love you,” he said. Nudging the barrel aside, Mr. Cohen replied: “I hope you do, Phil.”
And Political Animal cites Alito, O’Connor and Thomas as nominees who’ve claimed that personal background can, does and should play a part in judicial decision-making.
Wild is as wild does
“Yellowstone is the only place in the lower 48 states where a population of wild bison has persisted since prehistoric times…”
Helicopters from the state of Montana at times are flying as low as 20 feet or so above ground inside the park to push herds of bison ranging in size from 200-250 animals as much as a dozen miles into the park’s interior, according to Yellowstone spokesman Al Nash.
Worst line ever
“Let’s hope that the key conferences aren’t when she’s menstruating or something, or just before she’s going to menstruate. That would really be bad. Lord knows what we would get then.”
One of Our 50 is Missing
CLOSE CALL: Carol Hoffman’s phone call to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, in New York City, began seriously enough, but quickly evolved into geographical farce.
“I called to order an engagement calendar, and the woman on the phone was very nice,” says Hoffman, who has lived in Albuquerque for 56 years. “We chatted about weather and the season, then I began giving her information: credit card, address, zip, and state.”
But the museum representative’s first response was a head turner: “And what country is that?”
Hoffman was dumbfounded. “The USA.”
“Really?” said the rep.
“Yes. It’s down by Arizona.”
“Really?”
“Yes—it holds Arizona and Texas apart.”
“Really?”
“Yes, really!” And Hoffman, thoroughly annoyed, hung up. She never received her calendar. “Maybe it was the foreign postage that created the problem.”
Idle thought
Wake me up when Justice Sotomayor is sworn in. Three days of idiots blathering is enough.
Idle thought
I’m still looking for someone to suggest a Supreme Court case wrongly decided by activist justices.
That and an example of a power reserved to “the people” by the Tenth Amendment.
JFK
Were he still alive, John F. Kennedy, 35th President of the United States, would be 92 today.
Tenzing Norgay
… of Nepal and Edmund Hillary of New Zealand become the first ever to reach the summit of Mount Everest (29,035 feet/8,850 meters) 56 years ago today. The mountain is called Chomolungma (“goddess mother of the world”) in Tibet and Sagarmatha (“goddess of the sky”) in Nepal. It’s growing/moving about 6 cm a year.
George Everest (1790-1866) was the British Surveyor General of India (1830-1843). (He pronounced his name E-ver-est, not Ev-er-est as we know it.) Everest’s successor named the mountain for the surveyor.
Suicide by the mathematically-challenged
“Each participant pulled the trigger on two occasions; the victim discharged the fatal bullet on his third attempt. […] Four of the victims had pulled the trigger at least 3 times before their fatality.”
Via kottke from a study on Russian Roulette incidents in Kentucky.
The Kentucky schools need to teach a little bit more about mathematical chance. If you pull the trigger enough times that one bullet will, in fact, come out.
Of course, it may not be the math, but rather the meth.
It’s how you spin it
The lede from a Wall Street Journal article:
“New-home sales climbed a second time in three months during April, an encouraging sign for the housing market . . .”
Fact:
It was the third worst month on record. But it was better than March.
The Simpsons: Coming To Homerica
This episode of The Simpsons available on Hulu is an absolute classic from opening titles on.
BTW Hulu just launched a desktop version for PCs and Macs.
How the U.S. decides if you’re Hispanic
It doesn’t. It’s strictly up to you.
Here’s a quick primer on how the Census Bureau approach works.
Q. I immigrated to Phoenix from Mexico. Am I Hispanic?
A. You are if you say so.
Q. My parents moved to New York from Puerto Rico. Am I Hispanic?
A. You are if you say so.
Q. My grandparents were born in Spain but I grew up in California. Am I Hispanic?
A. You are if you say so.
Q. I was born in Maryland and married an immigrant from El Salvador. Am I Hispanic?
A. You are if you say so.
Q. My mom is from Chile and my dad is from Iowa. I was born in Des Moines. Am I Hispanic?
A. You are if you say so.
Q. I was born in Argentina but grew up in Texas. I don’t consider myself Hispanic. Does the Census count me as an Hispanic?
A. Not if you say you aren’t.
Source: Pew Research Center
Under federal law Hispanics are “Americans who identify themselves as being of Spanish-speaking background and trace their origin or descent from Mexico, Puerto Rico, Cuba, Central and South America and other Spanish-speaking countries.”
Pew also reports:
A 2006 survey by the Pew Hispanic Center found that 48% of Latino adults generally describe themselves by their country of origin first; 26% generally use the terms Latino or Hispanic first; and 24% generally call themselves American on first reference. As for a preference between “Hispanic” and “Latino”, a 2008 Center survey found that 36% of respondents prefer the term “Hispanic,” 21% prefer the term “Latino” and the rest have no preference.