The Oregonian is concerned about Florida:
We confidently predict that the outcome of the 2004 presidential election will not hang on paper ballots’ “hanging chads” in Florida. We are immensely troubled, though, that the Nov. 2 Election Day winner could be determined by denying the vote to thousands of Floridians, predominantly African Americans, who will be purged wrongly — and in our view illegally — from the voter rolls.
Read more from The Oregonian editorial.
Thanks to Lee for the pointer.
From The Sideshow:
Found in the 29 May issue of The Week:
An American Christian group is lobbying to have the whale reclassified as a fish, because that is how the animal is described in the story of Jonah. “the Bible is God’s own words,” says a spokesman for Concerned Christians for Education Reform. “If the Lord says the whale is a ‘great fish’, it’s a fish. Period.”
From the Los Angeles Times:
California officials and Hearst Corp. have reached a tentative agreement on a $95-million deal to preserve most of the rolling hills and grassy tablelands of the Hearst Ranch around San Simeon, which have long served as a picturesque gateway to Big Sur.
Under the proposed accord, which California Resources Secretary Mike Chrisman announced after months of negotiations, the state would buy about 1,400 acres west of Highway 1. The purchase would make public about 13 miles of the state’s best-known undeveloped stretch of coast — a land of cliffs, rocky outcrops and short beaches colonized by lounging elephant seals.
Hearst Corp. would retain ownership of four parcels along the coast, totaling five miles of shoreline. At the base of one of those parcels — San Simeon Point — the company, owned by a family foundation, would retain the right to build a 100-room hotel based on architectural plans of Julia Morgan, who designed Hearst Castle.
The corporation would allow some public access across each of the parcels by way of the California Coastal Trail, a work in progress that is designed to run the length of the state.
On the rest of the roughly 120-square-mile cattle ranch that surrounds Hearst Castle, a “conservation easement” would prevent most development. The ranch reaches from the coastline far into the forests and rangeland of the Santa Lucia Mountains in northern San Luis Obispo County.
Hearst Corp. would keep the right to build 27 homes deep in the canyons so long as they were out of view of the highway and Hearst Castle, which is owned and operated by state park officials. The homes are presumably for family members, but could be sold to outsiders, according to negotiators. The family has owned the ranch since 1865.
From Morning Briefing in the Los Angeles Times:
Which is harder to win, the Triple Crown of baseball or the Triple Crown of horse racing?
In the past 117 years, there have been 17 Triple Crown winners in baseball. In the past 122 years, there have been 11 Triple Crown winners in horse racing.
The last Triple Crown winners in baseball were Frank Robinson in 1966 and Carl Yastrzemski in 1967. The last Triple Crown winner in horse racing was Affirmed in 1978.
Tom Durkin, who will call today’s Belmont Stakes for NBC, said on a conference call this week, “There’s no question that the Triple Crown of horse racing is more difficult. How many years did Willie Mays play? Twenty years? [Actually 22]. He had 20 chances to do it. Smarty Jones has one. That’s it.”
Dissenting vote: Paul Hagen of the Philadelphia Daily News claims the Triple Crown debate is a walkover for baseball.
“Think about it,” he wrote. “To claim a spot in his sport’s pantheon, Smarty Jones has to be better than a dozen or so horses for just more than six minutes.
“To win baseball’s Triple Crown, a hitter must be at the top of his game for six grinding months … competing against hundreds of the best.”
Marshall is one of the truly great Americans. He was Army chief of staff during World War II (and the first five-star general in American history), secretary of state 1947-1949, and secretary of defense 1950-1951 (at age 72). Marshall received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1953.
According to one story told to NewMexiKen, Marshall lived near Leesburg, Virginia, some 35 miles from Washington. As a cabinet officer Marshall was entitled to a car and driver for his commute. Marshall, however, thought it was unreasonable for the taxpayers to pay when he chose to live so far out. So each day he drove himself 23 miles to Tysons Corner, Virginia, where he was met by his driver for the few miles remaining of the trip to the office.
Not many like Marshall anymore.
Secretary of State George C. Marshall announced what became known as the Marshall Plan at a speech at Harvard University’s graduation ceremonies on this date in 1947. The State Department provides this brief summary:
Europe, still devastated by the war, had just survived one of the worst winters on record. The nations of Europe had nothing to sell for hard currency, and the democratic socialist governments in most countries were unwilling to adopt the draconian proposals for recovery advocated by old-line classical economists. Something had to be done, both for humanitarian reasons and also to stop the potential spread of communism westward.
The United States offered up to $20 billion for relief, but only if the European nations could get together and draw up a rational plan on how they would use the aid. For the first time, they would have to act as a single economic unit; they would have to cooperate with each other. Marshall also offered aid to the Soviet Union and its allies in eastern Europe, but Stalin denounced the program as a trick and refused to participate. The Russian rejection probably made passage of the measure through Congress possible.
The Marshall Plan, it should be noted, benefited the American economy as well. The money would be used to buy goods from the United States, and they had to be shipped across the Atlantic on American merchant vessels. But it worked. By 1953 the United States had pumped in $13 billion, and Europe was standing on its feet again. Moreover, the Plan included West Germany, which was thus reintegrated into the European community.
was shot by Sirhan Bishara Sirhan early on this date in 1968. The 42-year-old brother of assassinated president John Kennedy died the next day. Read the story from The New York Times.
Sirhan’s snubnosed .22-caliber Iver Johnson Cadet model revolver, which wounded five individuals in addition to killing Senator Kennedy.
was born on this date in 1878. He became known as Pancho Villa.
Read what NewMexiKen posted about Pancho Villa’s 1916 raid on Columbus, New Mexico — the last raid on American soil by a foreign force until 2001.
Retired General William Tecumseh Sherman wired the Republican national convention on this date 120 years ago to say, “I will not accept if nominated and will not serve if elected.”
Sherman did not want a deadlocked convention to nominate him. On the fourth ballot the Republicans nominated James G. Blaine, who lost to Grover Cleveland.
The Chinese army crackdown on the protests in and around Tiananmen Square was 15 years ago today. According to estimates by the Chinese Red Cross (accepted at the time by the U.S. State Department) some 2,600 protesters and military were killed and another 7,000 wounded.
This declassified State Department cable (June 22, 1989) provides the account of a witness to the violence on the night of June 3-4. The students believed that the military would be firing rubber bullets. The witness tells that “he had a sickening feeling when he noticed the bullets striking sparks off the pavement near his feet.”
This second declassified cable provides an hour-by-hour chronology of the events of the night of June 3-4, 1989.
While difficult to read, these documents tell the story as American diplomats reported it.
NewMexiKen took this photo in Tiananmen Square just three years after the historic events there. The building in the background is the Great Hall of the People. At left is the Monument of the People’s Heroes.
Some interesting story placement from the Casper Star-Tribune:
This house at 1016 S. Washington is suspected as a methamphetamine and marijuana distribution center operated by alleged drug organization leader Rodolfo Jimenez.Photo by Sarah Beth Barnett/Casper Star-Tribune.
Seniors navigate drug card program|Many choices, much confusion.
Maybe the government should hire Rodolfo to help the seniors.
Also from Bill Simmons:
Speaking of TV series, it’s been 10 years … why hasn’t “The Wolf” from “Pulp Fiction” been spun off into his own series yet? Would anyone have been against this? Has there ever been a character with more potential who received less screen time, with the possible exception of coach Fenstock? Even the title of the show would have been cool: “The Wolf.” I don’t get it.
From Bill Simmons at ESPN.com Page 2:
It’s too bad you could never coordinate this with 40,000 people, but the next time Barry Bonds comes up, if everyone at SBC Park cheered all at once, and then someone in the right-field stands threw a ball into the bay so all those losers in the boats would dive in for the ball … and then this happened like five or six times … I mean, that would be kinda fun, right?
Thanks to Jason for the pointer.
Sports Law Blog has an interesting post on the Raul Mondesi case. It seems Mondesi told the Pirates he couldn’t play for the rest of the season due legal problems at home in the Dominican Republic. The Pirates eventually put him on waivers and released him. Two weeks later Mondesi has signed with the Angels, a first place team.
From Larry Stewart at the Los Angeles Times:
When [Al] Michaels does the play by play for ABC on the NBA Finals that begin Sunday, he will have accomplished a broadcasting Grand Slam.
He will become the first announcer to work the World Series, the Super Bowl, the Stanley Cup finals and the NBA Finals.
He has worked eight World Series, five Super Bowls and was the host of three Stanley Cup finals beginning in 2000.
And the “Do you believe in miracles?” Olympics.
to the Santa Fe New Mexican for the awesome update to their web site. Among other things, you can now read the paper page-by-page and click on any item — even Jumble.
To NewMexiKen’s mind, The New Mexican is New Mexico’s best daily. Too bad it isn’t available for home delivery in Albuquerque.
Jeanne at Body and Soul has some poetic thoughts on what it means to be patriotic.
The description at Body and Soul has always been among NewMexiKen’s favorites — “The body politic, the human soul, and Billie Holiday.” What else is there that really matters?
“Gary Hart endorsed Ken Salazar in the Colorado Senate Race this morning on Air America Radio. Salazar immediately took the endorsement and $3.25 and went across the street to St. Mark’s Coffee House at 17th & Race (not an ad) and bought a latte.”
“Annoy the media! Elect John Kerry!”
Most Americans say religious leaders should not try to influence politicians’ positions on the issues, and abortion is no exception: Nearly seven in 10 — including most Catholics — oppose denying Holy Communion to Catholic politicians who support legal abortion.
Sixty-eight percent of Americans oppose denying communion to such politicians; that includes 72 percent of all Catholics and a similar number of churchgoing Catholics. Even among Americans who oppose legal abortion, 57 percent reject the idea of denying communion to Catholic politicians who hold the opposite view.
These sentiments fit with broader public views: Nearly-two thirds of Americans say religious leaders in general should not attempt to influence politicians’ positions on the issues. Again Catholics mirror the overall population — 65 percent share this view — although there are broad differences among other population groups.
From Al Kamen’s In the Loop at The Washington Post:
Everyone talks about how crucial the Latino vote is going to be in November. Both parties are putting out literature and Web pages in Spanish in an effort to communicate better with this huge constituency.
The Republicans have a sign-up page — called “Abriendo Caminos” or opening paths — that promises Spanish-speaking folks that President Bush and the GOP will “send you weekly news about the topics that most interest you.”
The sign-up page asks the usual stuff — name, address, telephone number and e-mail address. You are to check which of many listed topics — immigration, health, Social Security, corporate responsibility, crime prevention and so on — are of most interest.
Then it asks what you are. There are four options: war veteran or retired military; teacher or educator; senior citizen; or farmer or rancher. That’s it. Nothing for lawyers, doctors, engineers or corporate executives to check.
Not even a box for “otro?”
Here’s the GOP page.
Link via Atrios.
As the anniversary of D-Day approaches, Brad DeLong has a thoughtful assessment of Eisenhower’s leadership.
Well, Annette, I think you and I are the only ones who care anymore, but here is The Week Quiz. NewMexiKen scored nine correct out of 10 this week.
And, lastly, from The Week Newsletter:
Good Week For…
Ironic boredom, as a British cable channel introduced a reality program called Watching Paint Dry, in which viewers watch gloss, satin, matte, and other types of paint dry in real-time webcasts, and then vote out their least favorite.
Also from The Week Newsletter:
Residents of Pennsylvania are complaining about a billboard advertising a local exterminator as “the 911 of pest control.” “Its claim of being the 9/11 of the extermination world makes a mockery of the unspeakable pain suffered by so many people,” wrote one person. A spokeswoman for Ehrlich exterminators said the slogan, adopted in 1999, refers to the emergency phone number, not Sept. 11. The company thought about changing it, she said, “But if we did that, then we thought we were giving the terrorists a victory.”
