Rudy Rudy Rudy

Every time Rudy tries to hype his manly ground zero bonafides these guys are going to be out there smacking him down. This stuff didn’t happen on the Mekong Delta 35 years ago. This happened very recently in the media capital of the world. His movements were well documented. You have to be a truly grandiose psychopath not to think comments like this will not come back to haunt you. Of course, that’s exactly what he is.

The above by Digby on Giuliani’s recent claim, later recanted, that he had spent as much time at Ground Zero as the workers.

And, according to this article in The Village Voice, the reason Rudy chose the World Trade Center for the city’s emergency-command center was so it would be close to City Hall:

The mayor was so personally focused on the siting and construction of the bunker that the city administrator who oversaw it testified in a subsequent lawsuit that “very senior officials,” specifically including Giuliani, “were involved,” which he said was a major difference between this and other projects. Giuliani’s office had a humidor for cigars and mementos from City Hall, including a fire horn, police hats and fire hats, as well as monogrammed towels in his bathroom. His suite was bulletproofed and he visited it often, even on weekends, bringing his girlfriend Judi Nathan there long before the relationship surfaced.

It seems to me, there’s a good chance if Rudy were elected that W would remain “the worst president ever” only for a short while.

Amerigo: The Man Who Gave His Name to America

From a review by Nathaniel Philbrick of Amerigo: The Man Who Gave His Name to America.

It was in 1507, with the publication of a large cut-out map suitable for creating a do-it-yourself globe, that Vespucci’s first name, if not Vespucci himself, achieved lasting renown. On this map, published in the intellectual backwater of St. Dié in Lorraine, the designation “America” (the feminine of Amerigo) was chosen for the portion of the hemisphere where Vespucci claimed to have landed during his second voyage. In 1538, the noted mapmaker Mercator, apparently referring to the earlier map from St. Dié, chose to use the name America to mark not just the southern but also the northern portion of the continent. The rest, as they say, is history. “The tradition was secure,” Fernández-Armesto writes, “the decision irreversible.” And so, because of Mercator and assorted others, more than 350 million of us now call ourselves Americans.

The Rock

Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary accepted its first prisoners 73 years ago today.

Alcatraz is a 22-acre rock island in San Francisco Bay, 1½ miles from shore. For 29 years the federal prison system kept its highest security prisoners there, including Al Capone, Machine Gun Kelly, and the famous Birdman, Robert Stroud (played by Burt Lancaster in the film Birdman of Alcatraz). Reportedly, no one was ever known to have successfully escaped from Alcatraz, though Frank Morris and the Anglin brothers were never found after their attempt (as dramatized in the Clint Eastwood movie).

Alcatraz

From 1868 to 1934, Alcatraz was a military prison. In 1969, American Indian activists occupied and claimed the island. Their occupation lasted 19 months.

Alcatraz Island became part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area of the National Park Service in 1972.

Alcatraz, from the original Spanish Alcatraces, is usually defined as meaning “pelican” or “strange bird.”

Click photo to enlarge.

The Bourne Ultimatum

Excellent use of car chases and ‘splosions.

Actually, the film was quite good. Matt Damon has the character down, in this the third Bourne film. The action is non-stop at a frenetic pace, made to seem all the more frenzied by the camera movement and split-second editing. The plot has more holes than a prairie dog town, but who cares?

David Denby has a good review, summing up with, “The material is formulaic, but, of all the current action franchises, this one is the most enjoyable.”

Bang bang bang bang bang

Friends were just stopping first in line for a stoplight in Santa Fe last evening when the sixth car back hit the fifth car back at (according to the later police estimate) 65 mph. Number five hit number four. Number four hit number three. Number three hit number two. And number two hit number one.

The perpetrator backed up and tried to drive around the mess he had created. The third car in line, a BMW, moved to cut him off. So he rammed the BMW.

A friend or relative of the perp in a seventh, uninvolved vehicle called to the perp to quick, get out of his car, now blocked, and escape with him. The perp was too drunk to get out of his car. (He was arrested at the scene.)

A city not-so-different after all.

Best line of the day, so far

Today, says White House spokeswoman Dana Perino, the three were out there simply to cast a few fishing lines.

“They’re taking advantage of the great outdoors — it’s one of the things that this family loves to do when they come up here in the summertime,” she said at the Kennebunkport press filing center. “They do a lot of what other families do when they get together for family vacations…”

“Bicker?” a reporter asked.

The Swamp, which has photos of 41, 43 and Jeb in the 825 hp Fidelity III.

Best line of the day, so far

In short, and I know that I’m taking a big chance in saying this, but Mitt Romney is without question the biggest and most obvious fake ever to attain public office, and that includes Jesse Ventura and Caligula’s horse. The larger point is that, to win the nomination of the clown college that is the modern Republican Party, he almost has to be. Why this is the case, it would seem to me, is worth a few minutes on our television chat shows, which seem now endlessly devoted to the topic: The Democrats — What In Hell Is Wrong With Them, Anyway? There’s a really big fish in a really small barrel over here, kids.

Charles Pierce

TBIF

Thank the Bible it’s Friday. I mean, years, seasons, lunar months, the day are all the result of creation, but the seven day week is a biblical invention, no? 1

You might get a laugh or two from the History Of The Internet.

Interesting. god v. satan (one image).

“So you think you know the McDonald’s menu like the back of your hand? Think again. From McDonald’s international, here are some menu items you have probably never tried before.” McDonald’s Strange Menu Around the World.

Celebrities – now and then.

The kid looks to be about 8. Kleiner Kerl spiel Gitarre (Led Zeppelin).

And last (yeah!), a silly little quiz from Car Talk.

1 No one seems to know where, when or why the 7-day week originated. Most theorize it represents the seven visible (to the human eye) objects in the sky that aren’t stars (the sun, the moon and five classical planets — Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn). The seven-day week seems to have originated in more than one culture.

Not such a good solution after all

You may remember NewMexiKen mentioning last week that I tossed my Windows laptop several feet — and then surprisingly it did what I wanted it to do.

Alas, the machine retained some residual resentment and crashed hard Saturday. Indeed, now it won’t even boot in Safe Mode. At first it seemed the video card was loose; now it seems like a lot more than that.

No great loss. All the files are backed up (of course, aren’t yours?) and I was about to get a new MacBook Pro anyway, but I am a little ashamed of myself.

Sunday night light show

Got a calendar? Circle this date: Sunday, August 12th. Next to the circle write “all night” and “Meteors!” Attach the above to your refrigerator in plain view so you won’t miss the 2007 Perseid meteor shower.

“It’s going to be a great show,” says Bill Cooke of NASA’s Meteoroid Environment Office at the Marshall Space Flight Center. “The Moon is new on August 12th–which means no moonlight, dark skies and plenty of meteors.” How many? Cooke estimates one or two Perseids per minute at the shower’s peak.

NASA

The show should be best by dawn Monday morning. Follow this link for details.

Voices we know

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee Bobbie Hatfield was born on this date in 1940. When Hatfield died in November 2003 NewMexiKen posted this:

The Righteous Brothers — blue-eyed soul. No one believed they were white. The name had something to do with that, but it was the sound that fooled everyone.

Bobby Hatfield had the higher voice; Bill Medley the lower. In the book accompanying the Phil Spector compilation, Back to Mono, songwriter Cynthia Weil recalls that:

After Phil, Barry [co-writer Barry Mann] and I finished the song, we took it over to The Righteous Brothers. Bill Medley, who has the low voice, seemed to like the song. I remember Bobby Hatfield saying, “But what do I do while he’s singing the whole first verse?” and Phil said, “You can go directly to the bank!”

On AM radio in those days deejays didn’t like songs that lasted more than three minutes. Lovin’ Feelin’ is 3:46. On the label Spector printed 3:05. It was number one for two weeks in February 1965.

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee Veronica Bennett was born on this date in 1943. That’s Ronnie Spector, one-time Mrs. Phil Spector (married 1968-1974), and lead singer of The Ronettes (with her sister and cousin). Hits included Be My Baby and Walkin’ in the Rain.

“I like to look the way Ronnie Spector sounds: sexy, hungry, totally trashy. I admire her tonal quality.” — Madonna, quoted at RonnieSpector.com.

The Ronettes were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame this year.

Herbert Clark Hoover

… was born on this date in 1874. Mr. Hoover, who was the 31st President of the United States, lived until 1964. Among the presidents, only Reagan, Ford and the first Adams have lived longer.

Born in Iowa, orphaned at nine, Hoover grew up in Oregon. He was in the first class at Stanford University, graduating as a mining engineer. Hoover earned millions in mining before turning his attention to public service. He was instrumental in relief and humanitarian efforts during and after World War I. He was Secretary of Commerce under Presidents Harding and Coolidge.

Hoover, the Republican, defeated Al Smith, the Democrat, handily in the 1928 election with 58% of the popular vote.

President at the time of the stock market crash and subsequent depression, Hoover believed that, while people should not suffer, assistance should be primarily a local and voluntary responsibility. Even so, he supported some measures to aid businesses and farmers; indeed, among his party he was moderate. But he was simply not bold enough to meet the crisis.

Hoover lost to Franklin Roosevelt in 1932, 57.3% to 39.6% of the popular vote, 472-59 in the electoral vote.

Rudy Giuliani’s business-friendly health-care plan

An informative look at how health insurance works by Daniel Gross – Slate Magazine. It includes this:

Bush and Giuliani, and advocates of their plans, want to change the dynamic. They want to turn what has been a wholesale, buy-in-bulk business into a retail business. They want to replace a bunch of giant, sophisticated consumers possessing limited bargaining power with a mass of unsophisticated consumers possessing no bargaining power. For some reason, they think you and I can do a better job negotiating with Oxford and Aetna than Wal-Mart and Coca-Cola can.

The health benefits of coffee

It’s been a great week for coffee drinkers: 1) “Data from 10 studies … suggest that people who drink coffee may be reducing their risk of liver cancer.” 2) “Drinking more than three cups of coffee a day helped protect older women against some age-related memory decline.” 3) “Drinking three or more cups of coffee a day may cut the risk of colon cancer in women by half.” 4) “Exercise and moderate caffeine consumption together could help ward off sun-induced skin cancer.”

William Saletan – Slate Magazine

He also has this (among some other interesting stuff):

A study suggests “Baby Einstein” and other baby videos are bad for kids. Findings: 1) “32% of the babies were shown the videos, and 17% of those were shown them for more than an hour a day.” 2) “For every hour per day spent watching baby DVDs and videos, infants understood an average of six to eight fewer words than infants who did not watch them.”

The New Yorker

Just about everything in last week’s New Yorker is superb — including Elizabeth Kolbert on bees, Michael Specter on spam, Jeffrey Toobin on murder in Seattle and Louis Menand on biography. (Alas, John McPhee’s essay on the U.S. Open is not online.)