Death penalty

NewMexiKen generally opposes the death penalty, but here’s another crime I’d compromise for:

Anyone convicted of discouraging a citizen from voting, or of misdirecting them to the wrong polls, or otherwise tampering with the voting process, I say off with their heads.

A more suitable punishment perhaps: Anyone convicted of tampering with the voting process forfeits their right to vote — permanently.

Another point of view

I’m happy that lots of people vote. The system would break down otherwise, and short of me being the dictator, I can’t think of a better system than imaginary democracy masking the naked ambitions of greedy capitalists. It sounds bad when you say it, but frankly I don’t have a better idea. I’m just happy I have a chance to be one of those greedy capitalists myself.

Now go vote me some tax breaks.

— Scott Adams: The Dilbert Blog

November 6th is the birthday

… of Mike Nichols. He’s 75. Nichols has been nominated for four best director Oscars, winning for “The Graduate.”

… of Sally Field. She’s 60. Field has won two best actress Oscars (because the Academy really likes her); one for “Norma Rae” and the other for “Places in the Heart.”

… of Glenn Frey of The Eagles. He’s 58.

… of California’s first lady, Maria Shriver. She’s 51.

… of Ethan Hawke. He’s 36. Hawke has been nominated for two Oscars, one for supporting actor, “Training Day,” and one for co-writing, “Before Sunset.”

Abraham Lincoln was elected president on this date in 1860.

The more things change, the more they remain the same

One hundred years ago today the citizens of New Mexico and Arizona voted on whether to join the Union as one state.

The Territory of New Mexico (1850) had originally included Arizona; Arizona Territory was split off in 1863. (The original boundary proposal would have split the two north (New Mexico) and south (Arizona), not east and west as it turned out.) New Mexico was 50 percent Spanish-speaking; Arizona’s Indian and Mexican-American population was less than 20 percent.

In 1906, congress passed a bill stipulating one state for the two territories, but the act stated that the voters of either territory could veto joint statehood. The Arizona legislature passed a resolution of protest; combining the territories in one state “would subject us to the domination of another commonwealth of different traditions, customs and aspirations.” A “Protest Against Union of Arizona with New Mexico” presented to Congress early in 1906 stated:

[T]he decided racial difference between the people of New Mexico, who are not only different in race and largely in language, but have entirely different customs, laws and ideals and would have but little prospect of successful amalgamation … [and] the objection of the people of Arizona, 95 percent of whom are Americans, to the probability of the control of public affairs by people of a different race, many of whom do not speak the English language, and who outnumber the people of Arizona two to one.

Joint statehood won in New Mexico, 26,195 to 14,735. It lost in Arizona, 16,265 to 3,141.

New Mexico entered the Union on January 6, 1912 (47th state), Arizona on February 14, 1912 (48th).

How many can you name?

The link for this no longer works, but I thought this NewMexiKen posting from three years ago today was worth bringing back around.

“Most Americans are unable to identify even a single department in the United States Cabinet, according to a recent national poll of 800 adults. Specifically, the survey found that a majority (58%) could not provide any department names whatsoever; 41% could. Only 4% of those surveyed specified at least five of the 19 executive-level departments…”

Currently, the Federal Government includes executive level departments that advise the President. The heads of these departments are collectively known as the Cabinet. Could you please name as many departments as you can that are part of the current United States Cabinet? (Note: This question was open-ended and multiple responses were accepted, meaning, all respondents were invited to name as few or as many departments as they could. If a respondent provided the specific name of a cabinet secretary or administrator, e.g., “Colin Powell,” they were credited with a correct response.)

The same source had this:

“The first Shocking Poll found more than twice the number of Americans could cite the number and names of the Rice Krispies Characters than the United States Supreme Court Justices.”

As I wrote in 2003, Snap, Crackle and Scalia.

Limiting the Damage

Times Select is free this week, so you can follow the link and read Krugman’s whole column, but here’s a key part:

President Bush isn’t on the ballot tomorrow. But this election is, nonetheless, all about him. The question is whether voters will pry his fingers loose from at least some of the levers of power, thereby limiting the damage he can inflict in his two remaining years in office.

…

At this point, nobody should have any illusions about Mr. Bush’s character. To put it bluntly, he’s an insecure bully who believes that owning up to a mistake, any mistake, would undermine his manhood — and who therefore lives in a dream world in which all of his policies are succeeding and all of his officials are doing a heckuva job. Just last week he declared himself “pleased with the progress we’re making” in Iraq.

In other words, he’s the sort of man who should never have been put in a position of authority, let alone been given the kind of unquestioned power, free from normal checks and balances, that he was granted after 9/11. But he was, alas, given that power, as well as a prolonged free ride from much of the news media.

Stock Options

NewMexiKen knew of course what stock options were and what they’re for, but I remained in the dark about the recent scandal. James Surowiecki has written a brief explanation for The New Yorker. It included this background:

The most common stock options are known as “at the money” options, which let you buy the company’s stock at the price that it had on the day of the grant. They’re valuable only if the stock price rises after you get them. The companies involved in the recent scandal were backdating options to a time when the stock price was lower, making them immediately lucrative. As it happens, companies are perfectly free to issue options priced below the current market: those are called “in the money” options, and they’re worth something right when they’re issued. (If you’re given an option with a strike price of ten dollars when today’s stock price is fifteen dollars, each option can yield an immediate profit of five dollars.) But there’s a rule that companies have to follow when they issue “in the money” options: they have to disclose it in their financial statements.

The backdating companies broke this rule: they reported how many options they were issuing, but conveniently omitted the fact that they had been backdated. In Washington, people say that it’s not the crime that gets you—it’s the coverup. In the case of backdating, the only crime was the coverup.

There’s more detail, including this: “[T]he scandal has metastasized, engulfing more than a hundred companies, sparking criminal indictments, and forcing the departure of high-profile executives.”

November 5th is the birthday

… of Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee Ike Turner, 75 today. [Tina will be 67 later this month.] A Fool in Love / Proud Mary

… of Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee Art Garfunkel, 65. Bridge Over Troubled Water

… of Sam Shepard. He’s 63. An inductee as a playwright into the Theatre Hall of Fame, Shepard was also nominated for the best actor Oscar for playing Chuck Yeager in The Right Stuff.

… of Peter Noone (Herman of Herman’s Hermits). He’s 59. No, Peter isn’t in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Mrs. Brown, You’ve Got a Lovely Daughter

… of Bill Walton, 54. He’s in the Basketball Hall of Fame.

… of football hall-of-famer Kellen Winslow. He’s 49.

… of Tatum O’Neal, 43. Miss O’Neal won the best supporting actress Oscar at age 10 for Paper Moon.

Vivien Leigh (who died at age 53) was born on this date in 1913. Miss Leigh was voted best actress twice — for Katie Scarlett O’Hara in Gone With the Wind (opposite Clark Gable) and for Blanche DuBois in A Streetcar Named Desire (opposite Marlon Brando).

And Leonard Franklin Slye was born in Cincinnati on this date in 1911. As Roy Rogers he’s an inductee into the Country Music Hall of Fame, the only person to be elected twice — as the King of the Cowboys and as a founder of the Sons of the Pioneers (“Tumbling Tumbleweeds,” “Cool Water“). Rogers died in 1998.

Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore (Indiana)

… was authorized 40 years ago today. It is one of just three National Park Service sites in Indiana.

Indiana Dunes

Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore is a treasure of diverse natural resources located within an urban setting. The national lakeshore features communities that have both scientific and historic significance to the field of ecology. In addition, four National Natural Landmarks and one National Historical Landmark are located within its boundaries.

The park is comprised of over 15,000 acres of dunes, oak savannas, swamps, bogs, marshes, prairies, rivers, and forests. It contains 15 miles of Lake Michigan shoreline spanning the distance from Gary to Michigan City. Lake Michigan is part of the largest complex of freshwater lakes in the world. The national lakeshore’s beaches are the park’s most significant recreational resource.

— Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore

Belly laughs

NewMexiKen has several thoughts about this video:

One, I’ve watched situation comedies with less material.

Two, at what point does this become child abuse?

Three, it’s better than one more posting about the election, no?

Stick to the script

Not just Kerry, but now New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg. He comes on stage at the Latin Grammy Awards and welcomes the audience with “Hasta la vista.”

Which pretty much translates as “See ya’ later.”