Drive into the light

It’s auto insurance renewal time and the premium is actually a few dollars less than six months ago, an unexpected treat. Being put in a good mood, NewMexiKen was probably more amused by some of the possible answers to these Are You a Safe Driver? questions than they deserve, but:

3. Where should your hands be while driving?
A. 7 and 11 o’clock
B. 10 and 2 o’clock
C. One hand at 12 o’clock the other firmly holding your cell phone

4. If your signals are broken, what are you supposed to use to signal instead?
A. Your doors
B. Your left arm
C. Your children

5. In city driving a good habit is to:
A. Never make eye contact with another driver
B. Practice good judgment
C. Reduce speed and use the horn a lot

10. What should you do if an oncoming vehicle is blinding you with its high beams?
A. Drive into the light
B. Honk your horn
C. Flash your lights quickly to signal that they are on high beam.

Jefferson’s home town

Top 10 cities and metropolitan areas from the newly released Cities Ranked & Rated:

1. Charlottesville, Va.
2. Santa Fe
3. San Luis Obispo, Calif.
4. Santa Barbara, Calif.
5. Honolulu
6. Ann Arbor, Mich.
7. Atlanta
8. Asheville, N.C.
9. Reno
10. Corvallis, Ore.

See The Washington Post article on Charlottesville, ‘Best’ a Mixed Blessing for No. 1 City. “This place is a magnet for people looking for a special place.”

Want fries with that?

According to an AP story McDonalds is planning to have wireless “hot spots” in half its restaurants by the end of the year. “They said the familiar golden arches will offer a reliable place for road-weary workers to download e-mail or surf the Internet.”

Subway, are you paying attention?

Know what I’m sayin’?

From The Seattle Times: Sideline Chatter:

• Tonya Harding, appearing on ESPN Radio’s Dan Patrick Show, on why she was declining Patrick’s offer to have her fight show regular Phil the Showkiller: “I’m not going to make a skeptical out of my boxing career.”

• From a transcript of interview quotes by Syracuse men’s hoops coach Jim Boeheim distributed to media at the NCAA tournament’s Phoenix regional: “There are a lot of good teams. There’s a lot of parody.”

Random thoughts

History — “an intelligible story of how men’s actions produce results other than those they intended.

Historian J.G.A. Pocock

“Often it does seem such a pity that Noah and his party did not miss the boat.”

Mark Twain

“Mankind has always assumed that he was more intelligent than dolphins because he had achieved so much — the wheel, New York, wars, and so on — while all the dolphins had ever done was muck about in the water having a good time. But conversely, the dolphins had always believed that they were far more intelligent than man — for precisely the same reasons.”

Douglas Adams, The Hitch Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy

Thomas Jefferson

It seems to NewMexiKen that the country could use a federal holiday during that long spell from Washington’s Birthday to Memorial Day. I propose that today, April 13, Jefferson’s birthday, would be ideal.

At a White House dinner honoring 49 Nobel laureates in 1962, President Kennedy remarked, “I think this is the most extraordinary talent, of human knowledge, that has ever been gathered together at the White House, with the possible exception of when Thomas Jefferson dined alone.”

Despite serious flaws, Jefferson remains one of the most remarkable Americans — statesman, scientist, architect, philosopher agronomist, author.

Click on the image to view Jefferson’s draft of the Declaration of Independence.

Deadwood

NewMexiKen has definitely become of fan of the newest HBO series, Deadwood, which showed its fourth episode Sunday (and which I viewed Monday via Comcast On Demand).

True to history, “Wild Bill” Hickok died at the end of this episode, shot by a small-time gambler. While accurate—Hickok was killed on August 2, 1876, at the age of 39—it’s too bad. As played by Keith Carradine, Wild Bill was the most charismatic and positive character in the show. The hell with historical fact, bring back Wild Bill.

Deadwood Magazine has an informative 1999 article on Hickok in Deadwood, Gambler to the End. The following is excerpted from that article:

British author Joseph Rosa has been researching the Hickok legend for more than 40 years. His books (They Called Him Wild Bill, The West of Wild Bill Hickok and Wild Bill Hickok: The Man and His Myth) meticulously sift fact from fiction.

The number of notches on Wild Bill’s guns were part of the myth, according to Rosa. The true total of men he killed in gunfights is closer to 10, rather than the 21 to more than 100 he has been credited with, Rosa writes.

Like all other serious historians, Rosa debunks stories of a romance with Calamity Jane. Known to be a notorious liar, Martha Jane Cannary claimed the relationship only after Wild Bill couldn’t defend himself. Almost 27 years to the day after Wild Bill’s death, Calamity Jane died and, by her request, was buried in an adjoining lot.

WildBill.gifThe fifth card in the “Deadman’s Hand” (two pair—black aces and eights) has been the subject of speculation for years, variously identified as the queen of diamonds, nine of diamonds, a jack, or (in another version of the story) the fifth card hadn’t been dealt. Newspaper accounts written immediately after the shooting make no mention of specific cards held by Wild Bill. It wasn’t until many years later Ellis Peirce wrote: “Bill’s hand read aces and eights—two pair, and since that day aces and eights have been known as ‘the deadman’s hand’ in the Western country.”

Wild Bill’s real name was James Butler Hickok.

Rare play

Regular readers of NewMexiKen know that I am a fan and constant visitor to Eschaton and the work of Atrios. It’s about the best place in the blogosphere for commentary on current issues.

But even the great hitters sometimes mess up. Today Atrios hit into the rare triple negative: “Not insignificant chunks of the internet are inaccessible today.”

Which reminds NewMexiKen of the line about Nixon’s political philosophy: “If two wrongs don’t make a right, try three.”

Dumb and dumber

Tucson Weekly has an article on some of the dumber criminals to pass through the system. The best example:

Danny was a local career criminal who had pulled–and botched–enough jobs to be prosecuted separately by Rick Unklesbay and two of his colleagues in the Pima County Attorney’s Office.

For the current charge against Danny, prosecutors wanted to show prior convictions. A prior conviction cannot be demonstrated simply by recitation in court or the showing a piece of paper; it has to be part of the evidence of a case. One way to accomplish that is to have the prosecutor who handled the previous case testify in court that he or she had, in fact, previously prosecuted the defendant. Identification is necessary.

In this case, Unklesbay was called on to identify the defendant, and sufficient time had passed for Unklesbay to wonder if he would still remember Danny.

As he and his colleague, Tom Rankin, walked the block from their offices to the Superior Court Building, Unklesbay had some doubt if he would be able to identify the thief.

There are four elevators in the courthouse; the doors opened on one, and the two lawyers walked in.

“Hi, Mr. Unklesbay,” said Danny. “Remember me?”

And Danny went back to prison.

Janet Jackson

Did you see Janet Jackson on Saturday Night Live? In the opening sketch she did a good and funny job as Condoleezza Rice preparing for her testimony. Jackson had the Rice facial expressions—the sneers and grimaces—down wonderfully. When the stress of actually appearing before the commission arrived and Ben-Veniste pressed her with his questions, Jackson as Rice responded, of course, by ripping off her bodice. (There was a scrambled image.) I didn’t see the punch line coming and it was pretty funny.

NewMexiKen doesn’t care for Janet Jackson and thought the Super Bowl show was a tacky travesty on several counts, though not a national crisis. But I’ll give Jackson and Saturday Night Live credit for making the boob flashing into the joke it should be and not giving in to the FCC hysteria.

FDR

died on this date in 1945.

The New York Times had re-published its obituary, written by Arthur Krock with an April 12 dateline, President Roosevelt is Dead; Truman to Continue Policies

Franklin Delano Roosevelt, War President of the United States and the only Chief Executive in history who was chosen for more than two terms, died suddenly and unexpectedly at 4:35 P. M. today at Warm Springs, Ga., and the White House announced his death at 5:48 o’clock. He was 63.

The President, stricken by a cerebral hemorrhage, passed from unconsciousness to death on the eighty-third day of his fourth term and in an hour of high-triumph. The armies and fleets under his direction as Commander in Chief were at the gates of Berlin and the shores of Japan’s home islands as Mr. Roosevelt died, and the cause he represented and led was nearing the conclusive phase of success.

Read more from The New York Times.

There is an interesting and prescient remark in the article concerning Truman: “He is conscious of limitations greater than he has.”

Fort Sumter

FortSumter.jpg

America’s most tragic conflict ignited at Fort Sumter on April 12, 1861, when a chain reaction of social, economic and political events exploded into civil war. At the heart of these events was the issue of states rights versus federal authority flowing over the underlying issue of slavery.

Photo and caption from the National Park Service.

Six-year drought reigns across most of the West

The Santa Fe New Mexican published an article Sunday that surveys the drought situation across the west.

From the brittle hillsides of Southern California to the drying fields of Idaho, from Montana to New Mexico, a relentless drought is worsening across most of the West where a once-promising snowpack is shrinking early, water supplies are dwindling and the threat of wildfires is already on the rise.

“Most of the West is headed into six years of drought and some areas are looking at seven years of drought,” said Rick Ochoa, weather program manager at the National Interagency Fire Center in Boise, Idaho.

Arizona faces its worst drought on record.

New Mexico farmers are bracing for dramatic reductions in water supplies, and in parts of southeast Idaho, the only farmers who will get water this summer might be those with water rights dating to the late 1800s.

On the edge of the Sierra, lingering drought is pitting residents against the Reno country club that hosts a national golf tournament in a battle over water from a mountain creek.

Continue reading from the Santa Fe New Mexican.

FulPhilment

NewMexiKen isn’t a fan of Phil Mickelson but I am glad he finally got the monkey off his back. Better yet, he did it in style—he made the charge this time—five birdies in the last seven holes—and making the final birdie putt to win.

Factoid: Mickelson had never come to the final hole in a major with a share of the lead.

Ladykillers

NewMexiKen saw the latest Coen brothers film Ladykillers over the weekend. After a slow start it becomes a lot of fun, albeit not unlike a Road Runner cartoon becomes fun, but laugh-out-loud fun nonetheless. Tom Hanks is amusing, seemingly enjoying himself in a part the near opposite of Michael Sullivan in Road to Perdition. Irma P. Hall is delightful. And the Coens may do for gospel music what their O Brother, Where Art Thou? did for bluegrass.

The one large argument I have with this otherwise enjoyable—though hardly classic—movie is the profanity. NewMexiKen has a working knowledge of the four and 12-letter words. I’m not shocked by them. But what I don’t understand is what value they are thought to add when used in torrents. Even if that is the way some people talk, the movie is a cartoon. Realism isn’t the goal. Why let the f-word turn a good farcical comedy into an R-rated movie? It was uncomfortable and off-putting.

Peeps update

Jacob Levy at The Volokh Conspiracy is thinking peep thoughts.

Slate’s Explainer says that 700 million Peeps will be eaten this year.

That’s all? Just two-and-a-half per man, woman, and child? Call it three for everyone old enough to be allowed to eat (semi-)solid food but not so old to have lost their teeth. Of those 230 million or so, 40 million are on low-carb diets, and another 5 million or so are diabetics. 185 million left, who will eat an average of a little less than 4 apiece.

Is there anyone who actually eats Peeps who eats only four of them?

Of, course not, they come in fives. What kind of monster would eat a few and leave the others orphaned?

Toddler runs cash register

From The Daily Iberian:

Gordon Tan’s parents never asked their son, age 2 1/2, to climb up on a chair and start checking customers out at the cash register.

He did it on his own.

His mother, Tiffany Lei, said when they were busy in January at their restaurant, Formosa Gardens on Lewis Street, little Gordon Tan began taking tickets from customers, punching in the totals and ringing them up. He even knew how much change to give them.

“He can do the credit card machine too,” Lei said.

Gordon Tan’s father, Jason Tan, said his son knows the difference between credit and debit cards and can swipe them and enter the four-digit code to complete the sale.

“His mother taught him once, and he figured it out himself,” Jason Tan said.

Read more.

Gee, NewMexiKen’s grandkids, sweet as they may be, are just a bunch of unemployed slackers.

Candace Parker

NewMexiKen mentioned Candace Parker several days ago and has been getting a number of search hits since. It seemed like a little more information was in order. Here it is from The Washington Post, Women’s Basketball Hits New Heights. The article begins:

Midwest City, Okla., March 30 — In the most recent example of the evolution of female athletes, a high school girl did more than just compete against five of the best boys’ high school basketball players in the nation in a slam dunk contest on Monday night.

She defeated them.

Candace Parker, a 6-foot-3 17-year-old from Naperville, Ill., beat a field of competitors that included at least two who could be playing in the National Basketball Association next season.

“I hope 10 years from now this isn’t a big deal,” said Parker, who will play at the University of Tennessee next season. “That would be my dream. That 10 years from now three or four girls enter the dunk contest and it’s not a big deal. It’s not like, ‘Wow, she won.’ I hope that happens.”

Parker achieved her milestone with a final dunk attempt, a right-handed slam that she spiced up by covering her eyes with her left arm during her final few strides toward the basket. The crowd of 5,000 at the Carl Albert High gymnasium — many of whom wore throwback jerseys and bopped to blaring hip-hop throughout the night — cheered wildly as the ball ripped through the net.

The dunk earned 79 out of a possible 80 points from eight judges.

LeBron James won this contest last year.

NewMexiKen has been unable to find a video of the dunk online.

Idiot

Clifford D. May at National Review Online has written on Condoleezza Rice & 9/11 Commission. Whatever other nonsense there may be in May’s article, you’ve got to howl at this sentence: “President Roosevelt waited until after World War II to put in place a commission to investigate what mistakes led to Pearl Harbor.”

FDR appointed a commission to look into Pearl Harbor on December 18, 1941, 11 days after the attack. But there is an even more glaring error in the sentence. Figured it out?

Thanks to Roger Ailes for the discussion on this.