Russert misstated elementary facts

According to the Daily Howler, yesterday Tim Russert had this exchange:

RUSSERT: All right. But it is—and we did show, in one poll, her actually beating Rudy Giuliani—

BRODY: Right.

RUSSERT: So people may hold their nose, so to speak, at this stage. Or she may be successful at transforming her image.

Two things.

One, she’s beating Giuliani in every poll including a more recent survey by one pollster Russert cited elsewhere to show a tie.

Two. “People may hold their nose.” Excuse me?! Hillary Clinton is not NewMexiKen’s choice, but clearly Russert’s remark is inapporpriate for a supposedly neutral commentator.

And so goes the national news media, framing the discussion.

It’s not the heat, it’s the humidity

Two days in a row with the high officially at 99º F. Will today be the magic day we get to 100º officially for the first time since 2003?

Earlier this morning the dewpoint hit 50º. That’s a sure sign the monsoons are near. In Arizona the monsoon season is said to begin after three consecutive days with the dewpoint averaging 55º or higher.

In the United States, Arizona and New Mexico are located on the northern fringe of the Mexican monsoon. For most of the year, winds aloft over the southwest U.S. are west to northwest. During the summer, winds turn to a more south to southeast direction, importing moisture from the Pacific Ocean, the Gulf of California, and the Gulf of Mexico.

As this moisture moves into the southwest…a combination of orographic uplift (air being forced to rise by the mountains), daytime heating from the sun, and weak upper level disturbances moving across the region causes thunderstorms to develop across the region.

National Weather Service — Phoenix

Not yet, but soon.

By the way, June usually has the hottest daytime high temperatures in Albuquerque, but July and August are warmer on average because it doesn’t cool down at night as much.

And there is already three minutes less daylight than there was on June 21st.

Salvation – or not

Why wonder for the rest of your life whether you’re headed to heaven or hell. Take this quick quiz at NeedGod.com and find out now.

The quiz has too many layers at the end, but still it won’t take you more than a minute or two.

Good luck and answer carefully, your eternal life is on the line.

By the way, for NewMexiKen, hell —

While this is something that is extremely tragic and far from God’s ultimate desire for any person, the Bible is clear that the place of punishment for those who do not turn from their sins is Hell.

But, no, hell doesn’t worry me —

Perhaps you feel safe because you don’t believe in Hell. This can be likened to standing in the middle of a busy highway and shouting, “I don’t believe in trucks!” Your belief or disbelief in trucks will not change reality.

Link via Jesus’ General. It will be fun being in hell with the General’s inner frenchman.

Good Words

Theodore C. Sorensen, who put on paper some of the finest words John F. Kennedy ever wrote, has written an acceptance speech for next year’s Democratic presidential nominee.

In this campaign, I will make no promises I cannot fulfill, pledge no spending we cannot afford, offer no posts to cronies you cannot trust, and propose no foreign commitment we should not keep. I will not shrink from opposing any party faction, any special interest group, or any major donor whose demands are contrary to the national interest. Nor will I shrink from calling myself a liberal, in the same sense that Franklin and Theodore Roosevelt, John and Robert Kennedy, and Harry Truman were liberals—liberals who proved that government is not a necessary evil, but rather the best means of creating a healthier, more educated, and more prosperous America.

It gets even better.

And our best blogging buddy Functional Ambivalent has written his view on last week’s Supreme Court decision on race and schools. (Tom lives in Louisville, one of the two school districts in the case.)

In the middle ground, where families like mine just try to muddle through the day, I wish everyone would stop worrying about the Supreme Court and get back to worrying about stuff that matters. This is one of those issues that’s going to involve lots of swings of the pendulum. Maintaining a program that was developed a long time ago for a set of circumstances that no longer exist would have been ridiculous, so the court moved us forward into territory that is by definition unknown.

On July 2nd

… in 1776 the Continental Congress approved a resolution declaring independence. Twelve of the 13 colonies voted in favor. (New York did not approve independence until July 9th.)

Resolved, That these United Colonies are, and of right ought to be, free and independent States, that they are absolved from all allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain is, and ought to be, totally dissolved.

That it is expedient forthwith to take the most effectual measures for forming foreign Alliances.

That a plan of confederation be prepared and transmitted to the respective Colonies for their consideration and approbation.

The Declaration of Independence stating the reasons for independence was approved two days later (and not signed until August).

… in 1863 the second day of battle was fought at Gettysburg.

… in 1877 the Noble laureate Hermann Hesse was born.

… in 1881 Charles J. Guiteau assassinated President James A. Garfield.

… in 1908 Thurgood Marshall was born.

Thurgood Marshall, pillar of the civil rights revolution, architect of the legal strategy that ended the era of official segregation and the first black Justice of the Supreme Court, died today. A major figure in American public life for a half-century, he was 84 years old.

The New York Times (1993)

… in 1937 Amelia Earhart was lost.

Coast Guard headquarters here received information that Miss Earhart probably overshot tiny Howland Island because she was blinded by the glare of an ascending sun. The message from the Coast Guard cutter Itasca said it it was believed Miss Earhart passed northwest of Howland Island about 3:20 P.M. [E.D.T.], or about 8 A.M., Howland Island time. The Itasca reported that heavy smoke was bellowing from its funnels at the time, to serve as a signal for the flyer. The cutter’s skipper expressed belief the Earhart plane had descended into the sea within 100 miles of Howland.

The New York Times (1937)

American Heritage has a lengthy essay on Earhart: Searching for Amelia Earhart.

… in 1946 the Air Force says a weather balloon crashed near Roswell, New Mexico.

… in 1961 Ernest Hemingway committed suicide at his home in Ketchum, Idaho.

… in 1964 President Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act.

Today is the day Richard Petty turns 70.

Today is the day Luci Baines Johnson, the younger daughter of President Lyndon Johnson, turns 60.

Larry David turns 60 today as well.

Lindsay Lohan is 21 today. Party!

2007 will be half over at 1PM today (noon if you’re not on daylight saving time).

Blogging to a beat

I could blog without a lot of things but I doubt I could blog without iTunes.

Now playing 11110 random tracks. The last dozen:

  1. The One I Love Is Gone / Linda Ronstadt-Ann Savoy
  2. Dimming of the Day / Bonnie Raitt
  3. It’s So Easy / Guns N’ Roses
  4. Strange Meadow Lark / Dave Brubeck
  5. Bye Bye Bird / Sonny Boy Williamson
  6. Mother and Child Reunion / Paul Simon
  7. I Cried for You / Billie Holiday
  8. Moments to Remember / The Four Lads
  9. Drop That Sack [Rare Take] / Louis Armstrong
  10. Come On Come On / Mary Chapin Carpenter
  11. Rock Me Baby / Jimi Hendrix
  12. My Baby Thinks He’s A Train / Rosanne Cash

Best line of the day, so far

“[T]here have been Southern presidents and there have been conservative presidents. But the Southern presidents have not been conservative, and the conservative presidents have not been Southern.” [Since Polk, until George W. Bush.]

Michael Lind, Made in Texas (2003)

Lind also says:

The pre-modern mind [conservative Southerner] can conceive of economic expansion only in terms of applying traditional techniques to more resources. The idea of using innovative machinery or more efficient organizational techniques to produce more with the same amount of land, labor, or raw materials—or even with smaller amounts—is alien to this archaic mentality.

Hence the reliance on more oil, not more fuel-efficient cars; more immigrant labor, not highly mechanized and automated industries; etc.

Bits and pieces

Harper’s Magazine has a series of brief essays on Undoing Bush: how to repair eight years of sabotage, bungling, and neglect.

YouTube has Jay Leno’s post-jail interview with Paris.

Another video, this of the World’s fastest, longest zip-line in South Africa. This would be like taking the Tram without the tram.

Out in Left Field takes her kids to Charles Edward Fromage. You know, Chuck E. Cheese. (A place NewMexiKen went once.) “‘Come on,’ I mumble, taking him by the hand and letting him know in no uncertain terms that he’s a pain in the ass. But that I love him anyway.”

And I know, at some level this isn’t funny, but … From The Onion, After 5 Years In U.S., Terrorist Cell Too Complacent To Carry Out Attack:

“We remain wholly committed to the destruction of America, the Great Satan,” al-Sharif said. “But now is not a good time for us. The season finale of Lost was such a cliff- hanger that we have to at least catch the first episode of the new season. After that, though, death to the infidels.”

“Probably,” added al-Sharif, who noted that his nearly $6,000 in credit-card debt from recent purchases of a 52-inch HDTV and a backyard gas grill prevents him from buying needed materials for the attack.

Try the 20Q Pocket Game Demo. NewMexiKen has the real thing and it is pretty amazing at guessing objects if you answer correctly.

Do you think Fiona Apple would be as successful if she went by her birth name Fiona Maggart?

July 1st is the birthday

… of Olivia de Havilland, 91 today. Miss de Havilland was nominated for an acting Oscar five times, winning for To Each His Own and The Heiress. She lost the best supporting actress Oscar for Gone With the Wind to Hattie McDaniel.

… of actor-director-producer Sydney Pollack. The five time Oscar nominee is 73. Pollack won best picture and best director for Out of Africa and received the same nominations for Tootsie and the best director nomination for They Shoot Horses, Don’t They?. The ultimate chick flick The Way We Were is his, too.

… of Cpl. Klinger. Jamie Farr is 73.

… of Famous Amos. Wally Amos is 71.

… of Twyla Tharp. The choreographer is 66.

… of one-time Oscar nominee for best actress Geneviève Bujold. She’s 65. The nomination was for Anne of the Thousand Days.

… of Deborah Harry of Blondie. She’s 62.

… of Louis Winthorpe III. Canadian-born Dan Aykroyd is 55. Aykroyd was nominated for the best supporting actor Oscar for Driving Miss Daisy.

… of Arwen. Liv Tyler is 30.

Diana, Princess of Wales, would have been 46 today.

Today is Canada Day, a holiday celebrating its independence from Britain on this date in 1867. The holiday was called Dominion Day until 1982 (in Quebec Le Jour de la Confédération). Three British colonies were joined to form Canada — Canada (which included Ontario and Quebec), Nova Scotia and New Brunswick.

NewMexiKen — I was just Ken then — was married 40 years ago today. We’ve been divorced for many years, but a lot of wonderful things came out of our time together — including especially our four official children and The Sweeties whose photos are on this and every page of NewMexiKen.

The Decider

With his approval numbers dropping into the twenties, President Bush begins to fear for his legacy. His advisers recommend he go on Fox News and have a no-holds-barred, frank one-on-one discussion with a hard-hitting newsman like Brit Hume. Bush agrees.

Unexpectedly, Hume is ready. Among the first questions he asks is for President Bush to explain his relationship with Vice President Cheney.

Bush says they have a relationship that’s easy to understand. “I wanted him to be my vice president, so I agreed that he could make all the small decisions and I would make all the big ones.”

Hume says, “That’s great. Can you give us an example of a big decision?”

Bush responds, “Well, there haven’t been any big decisions yet, but if one comes up, I’m ready to make it.”

Did you notice?

iTunes 7.3, which was released yesterday to incorporate the iPhone, alphabetizes the library differently than its predecessors.

Punctuation marks are somehow incorporated into the order — for example, Miles Davis’s ‘Round Midnight or Otis Redding’s (Sittin’ on the) Dock of the Bay. These used to be listed before “A” because of the apostrophe and the parenthesis. Now they show up under R and S.

And numbers now come after the letters rather than before — for example, Prince’s 1999.

I don’t care — I think I prefer this — but I thought it odd that the change was made.

——–

Some other stuff:

If you’re a shut-in you can check out the Moon Phase. (Today’s was a blue moon for most of the world. The U.S. had a blue moon last month.)

Here’s a bunch of photos of celebrities when they were kids. They’re captioned, but how many would you recognize?

For whatever reason, a video of Mika Brzezinski trying to do the right thing — and two knuckleheads.

How fast can you handle simple mathematical calculations?

Here in ‘Burque, using a pseudonym, a member of Mayor Marty’s cabinet called his radio show to flatter Marty and rail against the city council. Linda has ‘always been my alter-ego name’ CFO Gail Reese later said. Tbe Albuquerque Tribune has the story.

And Scott Adams has a take on lottery winners, prompted by the couple that won $105 million Wednesday night.

But I notice that the people who win are coincidentally the people who would be best for marketing future Powerball lotteries. You know what story you will never hear about a lottery winner? It’s this one:

“Wealthy bachelor neurosurgeon, age 30, wins $300 million in the lottery. The lucky winner, Winston Arbuckle III, says he plans to “Buy another yacht, smoke more weed, and float around the Mediterranean until I die from the clap.” Asked about his neurosurgery practice, Arbuckle quipped, “I never liked sick people.”

No, you will only hear stories about the modest couple with the hard-working husband, usually in his late fifties or early sixties. They will be “thinking about” getting a nicer house. In this latest lottery story, the husband is a long-haul trucker whose truck has recently crapped out. He plans to buy a new (used) truck and keep working.

Best line of the day, so far

“NewMexiKen is an amusing political blog written by a former US Archives staffperson now living in Albuquerque. The site has a decidedly historical bent, as you might expect, including dailiy “On this day in history” features. There’s a fair amount of cultural commentary – including the iPhone, Paris, Ratatouille (the movie), Harry Potter, and so on. There’s comparatively little, and fairly brief, political commentary. The writer has a great voice and a charming personality, and the commentary is very thoughtful.”

MyDD (one of nine blogs reviewed).

Thanks!

June 30th is a day

… we honor two venerable American institutions.

On this date in 1864 Abraham Lincoln signed the land grant preserving Yosemite Valley.

And Lena Horne is 90 today.

Even in her eighties, the legendary Lena Horne has a quality of timelessness about her. Elegant and wise, she personifies both the glamour of Hollywood and the reality of a lifetime spent battling racial and social injustice. Pushed by an ambitious mother into the chorus line of the Cotton Club when she was sixteen, and maneuvered into a film career by the N.A.A.C.P., she was the first African American signed to a long-term studio contract. In her rise beyond Hollywood’s racial stereotypes of maids, butlers, and African natives, she achieved true stardom on the silver screen, and became a catalyst for change even beyond the glittery fringes of studio life.

American Masters

Stormy Weather

Elsewhere —

Vincent D’Onofrio is 48.

Mike Tyson is 41.

36 years ago today the 26th amendment was ratified by Ohio, the required 38th state. The amendment lowered the voting age to 18.

Ten years ago today Hong Kong reverted to China after 156 years as a British colony.

Chestnuts roasting on an open fire

“Over the weekend, the president kick-started the Holiday Season by pre-taping his appearance for ABC’s Christmas Galleria. … I believe the Constitution declares him the Christian in Chief. So to everyone who criticizes the president for not firing Alberto Gonzales, give him a break, you can’t fire a guy at Christmas.”

Stephen Colbert

“Earlier this week President Bush took part in the taping of the Ford’s Theatre gala that will air this December on ABC. It’s a Christmas show and they tape it in June. It’s always awkward taping six months in advance. For example, right now President Bush is still without a clear cut strategy for Iraq. But come December … no, I guess we’ll be okay.”

Jay Leno

Race

At Slate Magazine there’s an edifying and somewhat thought provoking discussion of Thursday’s school integration Supreme Court decision by Walter Dellinger, Dahlia Lithwick, and Stuart Taylor Jr. It’s up to seven parts at this writing, but each is brief and worthy of your time.

The opinion itself is here. [pdf]

——–

Follow my thinking for a minute.

Race is a bogus construct biologically. It is still, however, a sociological construct of some power.

So, my question is, how do we eliminate the latter now that we understand there is no basis for the former?

It seems to me that assigning children to a school on account of race — whatever the motive — perpetuates the racial distinction, a distinction that doesn’t exist in nature.

So, maybe, the Court got it right — whatever the legal issues, and despite the fact that Roberts, Scalia, Thomas and Alito are moral peasants. (I’m giving Kennedy, the waffler, a little benefit of the doubt, deserved or otherwise. He actually might be the most reprehensible of the five.)

Maybe this decision will force society — and right-minded school districts — to find means to correct socio-economic issues in our society without relying on the age-old racial distinctions that have brought about so much of the inequality to begin with.

——–

Walter Dellinger has a different point of view.

Ephraim is an evil witch doctor

First, thanks to all who have commented on my Half Wisdom, Half Whimsy, Half Wit post. There have been many words of encouragement and some suggestions. All of the comments are appreciated.

And no, I don’t think it’s approval I seek SonoranSon. I seek more readers. I don’t write this blog strictly for myself. Never have.

Which brings me to Ephraim, who said he sees me “as a shut-in who surfs the web all day.” I thought that was an interesting remark when I read it yesterday morning — two people actually sent me emails yesterday criticizing Ephraim. Even if I do spend too much time in front of the computer, in the past six months I’ve also been to Tucson four times, Denver twice, Washington and San Francisco, a concert and a one-man show, a handful of movies, baseball and soccer games, and have tentative plans for camping in Yellowstone and Sequoia this summer and visiting Europe this fall. I don’t even have cable TV. I’m hardly a shut-in. But Ephraim’s thing appears to be to try and get a rise out of me, so I let it go.

Except I didn’t know Ephraim had voodoo powers. Here I sit Friday with crutches by my side and a posterior splint on my left ankle — pretty much a shut-in. Seems I have developed a nasty case of tendinitis (brought about most likely by arthritis). Out of the blue. No signs of it before Wednesday and today I needed an injection for pain. (And I nearly assaulted the doctor who kept asking, “Does this hurt?”)

You’ve got my attention now Ephraim!

June 29th is the birthday

Harmon Killebrew plaque… of Harmon Killebrew, 71. Not only is Killebrew in the Hall of Fame, but his is the profile on the Major League Baseball logo.

… of Oscar best actor nominee Gary Busey. He’s 63. The nomination was for The Buddy Holly Story.

… of Football Hall of Famer Dan Dierdorf, 58.

… of Maria Conchita Alonso, 50.

Actress Jayne Mansfield, just 34, was killed 40 years ago today when her car struck a trailer truck near Slidell, Louisiana. The driver and Ms. Mansfield’s companion, Sam Brody, were also killed. Three of her children asleep in the backseat survived.

The Writer’s Almanac has some interesting background on the Globe Theater in London, which was destroyed on this date in 1613 when “a cannon was fired during a performance of Henry VIII to mark the King’s entrance, the thatched roof caught fire, and the whole theater was lost in an hour.”

Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

Antoine de Saint-Exupéry was born on June 29 in 1900. In January 2003, Outside Magazine listed its 25 essential books for the well-read explorer. At the top was Antoine de Saint-Exupéry:

Like his most famous creation, The Little Prince, that visitor from Asteroid B-612 who once saw 44 sunsets in a single day, Saint-Exupéry disappeared into the sky. Killed in World War II at age 44, “Saint Ex” was a pioneering pilot for Aéropostale in the 1920s, carrying mail over the deadly Sahara on the Toulouse-Dakar route, encountering cyclones, marauding Moors, and lonely nights: “So in the heart of the desert, on the naked rind of the planet, in an isolation like that of the beginnings of the world, we built a village of men. Sitting in the flickering light of the candles on this kerchief of sand, on this village square, we waited out the night.” Whatever his skills as a pilot—said to be extraordinary—as a writer he is effortlessly sublime. Wind, Sand and Stars is so humane, so poetic, you underline sentences: “It is another of the miraculous things about mankind that there is no pain nor passion that does not radiate to the ends of the earth. Let a man in a garret but burn with enough intensity and he will set fire to the world.” Saint-Exupéry did just that. No writer before or since has distilled the sheer spirit of adventure so beautifully. True, in his excitement he can be righteous, almost irksome—like someone who’s just gotten religion. But that youthful excess is part of his charm. Philosophical yet gritty, sincere yet never earnest, utterly devoid of the postmodern cop-outs of cynicism, sarcasm, and spite, Saint-Exupéry’s prose is a lot like the bracing gusts of fresh air that greet him in his open cockpit. He shows us what it’s like to be subject—and king—of infinite space.

I know, I post this every year (well, actually just three out of four), but it’s a great book. And the Outside Magazine Adventure Canon is an interesting list.

Moonlight Graham

Those who have seen Field of Dreams or read the book on which it was based, Shoeless Joe by W.P. Kinsella, will remember the character “Moonlight” Graham, played by Burt Lancaster in the film.

Archibald Wright Graham (1876-1965) was an actual player — and a doctor. Graham played in one game for the New York Giants. He was in the field for two innings but was on deck when his one game ended.

It was 102 years ago today, June 29, 1905 (in the movie it was the last game of 1929).

Ratatouille

“Ratatouille” is a nearly flawless piece of popular art, as well as one of the most persuasive portraits of an artist ever committed to film. It provides the kind of deep, transporting pleasure, at once simple and sophisticated, that movies at their best have always promised.

A.O. Scott

There was a moment near the end of Ratatouille (Disney)—the scene in which a snooty food critic, hilariously voiced by Peter O’Toole, finally samples the movie’s title dish—when I choked up a little bit. Not for the usual reasons you’d cry in a movie: because the story was moving (though it was) or because I identified with the protagonist’s triumph (though I did). No, Ratatouille moved me to tears because it was just so well-done—not kinda cute, not OK-for-a-kids’-movie, but a work of art crafted with as much passion and attention to detail as its hero, Remy the rat chef, puts into every vat of soup he makes.

Dana Stevens

The nine-minute excerpt free from iTunes is delightful.