I can’t believe the hypocrisy of some government officials. Indeed, they don’t want government interference in their own lives, but they have no qualms injecting their viewpoints into the lives of others and telling them what to do.
July 2 Notable Birthdays
If today is your birthday, “Happy Birthday!”
Folk singer Tom Springfield (Springfields) is 78.
Actress Polly Holliday (Alice, Flo, Private Benjamin, Gremlins) is 75.
Auto racer Richard Petty (7-time winner of Daytona 500 [1964, 1966, 1971, 1973, 1974, 1979, 1981]; 1st to win a million-dollar stock car race) is 75.
Luci Baines Johnson, daughter of 36th U.S. President Lyndon and Ladybird Johnson, is 65.
Guitarist – saxophone player Johnny Colla (Soundhole, Huey Lewis & The News) is 60.
Actor Jimmy McNichol (The Fitzpatricks, California Fever, Escape from El Diablo) is 51.
Professional baseball player Jose Canseco (Oakland Athletics [1986 Rookie of the Year; all-star 1986, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1992; 1st player to hit 40 or more home runs and steal 40 or more bases in same season]; Texas Rangers; Boston Red Sox) is 48.
Actress Kathryn Erbe (Oz, Chicken Soup, Dragonfly, Law & Order: Criminal Intent) is 46.
Actress Yancy Butler (Hard Target, Law & Order, South Beach, Brooklyn South, The Witness Files) is 42.
Filed under Birthdays
On July 2…
1776 – The Second Continental Congress, assembled in Philadelphia, formally adopted a resolution for independence from Great Britain.
1809 – Shawnee Chief Tecumseh called on all Native Americans to unite and resist further encroachment by Whites on their lands.
1867 – New York City’s first elevated railroad officially opened for business. Commuters soon called the mode of transportation the El.
1881 – Only 4 months into office, President James A. Garfield was shot as he walked through a railroad waiting room in Washington, D.C. Vice President Chester A. Arthur served as acting president until Garfield died on September 19, 1881.
1900 – Count Ferdinand Graf von Zeppelin demonstrated the world’s first rigid airship over Germany’s Lake Constance.
1908 – Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall, 1967 – 1991, was born in Baltimore, MD.
1921 – The first prize fight offering a million-dollar gate was broadcast on radio. Jack Dempsey knocked out Georges Carpentier in the fourth round of the bout in Jersey City, NJ.
Dempsey
Carpentier
1937 – Aviator Amelia Earhart and her navigator, Fred Noonan, were reported missing near Howland Island in the North – Central Pacific Ocean.
1964 – President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act of 1964 into law, making against the law to discriminate against people because of their race.
Filed under History
The Truth is the Truth
Even for those in a state of denial – like the entire Republican Party. Image source.
Filed under News
Quote of the Day
“We know that some people have expressed concerns about one of our humor cards that references President Obama and tea parties. That line of cards has successfully poked fun at both sides of the political debate for many years. It is never our intent to offend anyone. We apologize if anyone was offended.”
– Hallmark, in a statement after some Tea Party advocates expressed outrage at a recent Hallmark graduation card.
You mean to tell me that the same band of loud-mouthed bigots got their feelings hurt over a greeting card? Altogether now – who cares?!
Filed under News
Paris’ Village Voice Will Close
Odile Hellier and admirers at the store’s recent closing party.
The independent English-language Village Voice book shop in Paris will close at the end of July. Founder and owner Odile Hellier kept her shelves stocked with the best that publishers produced for three decades; running literary events over the years with authors such as Raymond Carver, Edmund White, Don DeLillo, Mavis Gallant, or David Sedaris. Moreover Hellier succeeded in creating a veritable community of book lovers.
But the deregulation of book prices in the Anglo-Saxon publishing world, the rise of Amazon, and more recently the advent of e-books, took a terrible financial toll on the bookshop and had Hellier battling for years. Two years ago Hellier began speaking to a number of people, trying to find a financial solution – without success.
“It’s a difficult enough decision to manage, but I realize we are something like an imaginary reference point inscribed in their mental map,” Hellier said. “Because things change so rapidly today, something that has been around for 30 years seems like it will be there forever.”
At a recent farewell party at the bookshop, customers, many of whom are Paris-based writers, editors and publishers, packed into the two floors of the bookshop and spilled into the street. People made speeches and gave gifts, but as a sign of the times, one author who has participated in literary events at the bookstore was overheard saying to friends that they should look for his latest book “on Amazon.”
Although independent bookshops in France are faring much better than in other countries, The Village Voice as an English-language bookshop could not benefit from the subsidies pumped into the French book business by the state and publishers.
“The writing was really on the wall,” said Hellier. “We have been observing the reality of the Anglophone book business with the discounting, the online digital revolution and the social status of the Apple products which are all part of a societal revolution. It’s a miracle we lasted this long, but ten years ago people weren’t yet global consumers.”
Filed under News
July 1, 2012 – 172 Days Until Baktun 12
If you own a house – no matter how big or small – you need to have a tall sturdy fence around it; particularly the back yard area. I’m not talking about one of those quaint little white picket fence things. I’m not talking about a massive structure at least 8’ tall. It needs to be made of strong wood, stone, brick, concrete, or metal. If you can electrify it somehow, that would be even better. But, electrification can be expensive, so height and sturdiness are the two main attributes it must have. A big, strong fence can obstruct intruders, zombies, wild game and rude in-laws. It won’t necessarily prevent them from encroaching on your property, but it will give you enough time to grab your rifle, shotgun or hand grenade. It will also prevent your pets and children from wandering off. It won’t actually keep uncooperative members of your posse from leaving. But, if those individuals are consuming all your water and chocolate, heaving them over the fence and letting them fend for themselves is just part of personal security.
Filed under Mayan Calendar Countdown
July 1 Notable Birthdays
If today is your birthday, “Happy Birthday!”
Actress Olivia de Havilland (Gone with the Wind, To Each His Own, The Heiress) is 96.
Actress Leslie Caron (Lili, The L-Shaped Room, Gigi, An American in Paris, Daddy Long Legs) is 81.
Actor Jamie Farr (Jameel Joseph Farah; M*A*S*H, The Blackboard Jungle, Scrooged, Cannonball Run) is 78.
Actress Jean Marsh (Upstairs, Downstairs, The Jewel in the Crown, Fatherland, Frenzy, The Changeling) is 78.
Actress Karen Black (Easy Rider, You’re a Big Boy Now, Five Easy Pieces, The Great Gatsby, House of 1000 Corpses) is 73.
Actress Geneviève Bujold (Anne of a Thousand Days, Earthquake!, Coma, Dead Ringers) is 70.
Singer Debbie Harry (Blondie) is 67.
Actor – comedian Dan Aykroyd (Saturday Night Live, Driving Miss Daisy, Sneakers, Dragnet, Ghostbusters, The Blues Brothers, Pearl Harbor) is 60.
Actress Lorna Patterson (Goodtime Girls, Airplane!) is 56.
Carl Lewis, Olympic Gold Medalist: long jump and 4×100 relay [1992], long jump [1996], 100 meter in 9.93 seconds, long jump, 4×100 meter relay [1988], 100 meter & 200 meter sprints, long jump & 4×100 meter relay [1984], is 51.
Actress Pamela Anderson (Baywatch, Raw Justice) is 45.
Actor Henry Simmons (NYPD Blue, Another World, One Life to Live, A Gentleman’s Game) is 42.
Actress Claire Forlani (J.F.K.: Reckless Youth, Police Academy: Mission to Moscow, The Rock, The Last Time I Committed Suicide, Meet Joe Black) is 40.
Actress – model Liv Tyler (Silent Fall, Heavy, That Thing You Do!, Armageddon, Cookie’s Fortune, Lord of the Rings series) is 35.
Filed under Birthdays
On July 1…
1867 – The autonomous Dominion of Canada, a confederation of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and the future provinces of Ontario and Quebec, is officially recognized by Great Britain with the passage of the British North America Act.
1874 – The first zoo in the United States opened in Philadelphia, PA.
1897 – Three years after the first issue of Billboard Advertising was published, the publication was renamed, The Billboard. The monthly magazine became a weekly many years later.
1902 – Movie director William Wyler (Funny Girl, Ben Hur, The Big Country, Friendly Persuasion, Roman Holiday, Carrie, Wuthering Heights) was born in Mulhouse, Germany.
1934 – The Federal Communications Commission, as mandated in the Communications Act of 1934, replaced the Federal Radio Commission as the regulator of broadcasting in the United States.
1963 – The Mr. Zip figure was introduced to represent the U.S. Post Office and to help educate people to use the 5-digit ZIP (Zone Improvement Program) code.
1979 – Susan B. Anthony, a 19th century women’s rights activist, was commemorated on a U.S. coin, the Susan B. Anthony Dollar. The coin, roughly the size of a quarter, was confused by many with the quarter and the U.S. Treasury Department eventually stopped producing the Susan B. Anthony dollar.
1981 – In CBS, Inc. v. The Federal Communications Commission, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that candidates for federal office had an “affirmative right” to go on national television. The ruling limited a TV network’s right to determine when political campaigns begin and who may buy time.
1997 – Hong Kong reverted back to Chinese rule, after 156 years as a territory of Great Britain.
Filed under History
