tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-248661452024-03-08T13:02:12.018-08:00Robert RectorAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18409865691924580623noreply@blogger.comBlogger496125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24866145.post-48608451430233175382017-02-23T12:58:00.001-08:002017-02-23T12:58:37.076-08:00Must the Show Go on?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">It’s Academy Awards week. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">But excuse me if I don’t walk around whistling “Hooray
for Hollywood.” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">In my somewhat jaded view, the Oscars is a shameless
group hug on the part of the movie industry for producing a handful of notable
films amid the hundreds of clunkers that
befoul the screen each year. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Think of it: The same folks who brought us
“Casablanca” and “The Godfather” also subjected us to “Batman and Robin”<span style="background: white; color: #252525;"> (characterized by one critic as</span></span><span style="background: white; color: #252525; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 107%;"> </span><span style="background: white; color: #252525; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">“</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">not
the worst movie ever. No, indeed. It's the worst thing ever. Yes, it's the
single worst thing that we as human beings have ever produced in recorded
history”) and “The Hottie and the
Nottie,” a film described as “crass, shrill, disingenuous, tawdry,
mean-spirited, vulgar, idiotic, boring, slapdash, half-assed, and very, very
unfunny." <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">All that and Paris Hilton as the star.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">It’s also a night when the entertainment profession,
which has had a few thousand years to practice putting on a really good show,
rolls out a spectacle that often falls to the level of an elementary school
Thanksgiving pageant. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Then they’ll cap it off by picking “The Sound of
Music” over “Doctor Zhivago” for best picture or “Forest Gump” over “The
Shawshank Redemption.” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">So I’ll curl up with a good book which will allow me
to ignore the rambling, incomprehensible acceptance speeches made by winners
who do their best acting by appearing surprised and humbled. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">I’ll also miss an evening of air kisses and
disingenuous platitudes in a ceremony that conveys all the warmth and emotion
of a Walmart colonoscopy.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">But wait, it may get worse.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">This year’s ceremonies will be awash in enough
anti-Trump commentary to resemble open mike night at a Democratic Party beer
bust.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Want to play a drinking game? Down a shot every time a winner doesn’t
mention Trump or his policies. You’ll be
stone cold sober at the end of the evening.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">I’m certainly not advocating a gag rule for our show
biz friends. It wouldn’t work even if you tried.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Give an actor a microphone, put he or she in front of
a glamorous audience of like-minded celebrities while untold millions watch on
TV, and you’re going to get some scenery chewing.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">That’s why Meryl Streep has received as much notoriety
for her award show rants, specifically her Trump bashing at the Golden Globes
ceremony, as she has for her considerable acting ability.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">In Hollywood, you’re only as good as you’re last
performance, scripted or otherwise.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">And if Meryl Streep or Daffy Duck or whoever wants
their public to know exactly Where They Stand, nobody is going to stop them.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">But there’s some thin ice here. The Oscar telecast isn’t exactly knocking the
socks off the American TV audience. Last
year’s Oscars finished with the third-lowest viewership in the show's history.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">And as Aaron Blake pointed out in the Washington Post:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">“There are basically two camps right now on
ever-partisan social media: Those who think Meryl Streep's speech…criticizing
President-elect Donald Trump at the Golden Globes was great, and those who
think this kind of thing is basically Why Donald Trump Won — i.e., elite
Hollywood liberals going after the guy blue-collar voters chose to be their
president.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Speaking of rants, there’s one other thing. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Several years ago I conceived and published a
sure-fire formula for presenting the awards in a reasonable amount of time. I
never heard back from the Academy so, on the off chance their congratulatory and
heartfelt letter to me got lost in the mail, here are my suggestions, free of
charge:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">First, cut the show to two hours. Period. Start by
limiting the acceptance speeches to the top categories: actor, actress,
director and best movie. Nobody wants to hear the third assistant production
designer thank his accountant.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Forget the documentary short, the short film or any
other category with the word “short” in it. Dump the sound editing award.
Nobody understands what it is anyway. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Get rid of makeup and hairstyling. As one wag once
wrote when “Driving Miss Daisy” won in this category, it was only noteworthy if
“Jessica Tandy was in fact 20 years old and Morgan Freeman was actually white.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Next, get a host who is witty but won’t spend an
inordinate amount of time trying to extract laughs from an audience that didn’t
come to see him or her. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Dump the dance numbers. If I want to see dance, I’ll
go to the ballet.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Cut the number of best picture nominees back to five.
Ten dilutes the value of a nomination. And adds to the insufferable length of
the broadcast.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Do this and I might just tune in.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Robert Rector is a veteran of 50 years in
print journalism. He has worked at the San Francisco Examiner, Los Angeles
Herald Examiner, Valley News, Los Angeles Times and Pasadena Star-News. His
columns can be found at </span></i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><a href="mailto:Robert-Rector@Blogspot.Com" target="_blank"><i>Robert-Rector@Blogspot.Com</i></a><i>.
Follow him on Twitter at @robertrector1.</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18409865691924580623noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24866145.post-23060887237228403262017-02-14T16:42:00.000-08:002017-02-14T16:42:09.322-08:00Targeting Trump<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">In a desperate act of self-preservation, I decided to
kick the social media habit one recent evening. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">It’s quite simple.
Lock your tablet in a steamer trunk, kill the aps on your smart
phone. And exhale.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Oh, sure, I knew I’d miss the cat pictures,
quasi-inspirational offerings and vacation pictures of people I barely knew.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">But I had my reasons.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">It was quite simply an attempt to mute the din of the
political bar brawl that has spilled into the streets of our country. There is
just so much tweeting, insults, bluster, and bull you can absorb before you
snap.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">So I sought shelter in Netflix, hoping for a few
moments of tranquility. I figured somewhere in its vast library of movies and
TV shows, I could get in touch with some emotions other than annoyance and
angst. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">I wasn’t ready to get lost in “Mary Poppins.” But I
wasn’t in the mood for “Hitler, the Rise of Evil” either.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">So I watched a little of this, a little of that,
before I settled on an episode of what I believe is the finest TV series ever
made, “The West Wing.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Which proves that if you’re a political junkie, you
can run but you can’t hide.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">The episode was broadcast in 2002 and while the
battles for power and glory were more understated than today’s mouth-to-mouth
combat, the end game is much the same as we’re seeing now: crush the other guy.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">In this particular script, the President, played by
Martin Sheen, is facing an investigation for withholding critical information
from the American public. He has MS and kept it a secret when he ran for the
presidency. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">His opponents offer him a deal: submit to a Congressional censure and the
investigation will be called off. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">I didn’t stay up half the night to see how this crisis
played out in subsequent episodes because (1) it was past my bedtime and (2)
this is exactly the kind of ongoing political catastrophe, even if it was a
fictional one, I was seeking to forget for a few hours.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">But there’s no escape. You can confine yourself to
watching the Cartoon Network but the sound and fury of the real world will
break down whatever barriers you erect.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">So I retrieved the tablet from the trunk and restored
the phone aps. My head was removed from
the sand.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">I’m certainly no millennial but I do Facebook and
Twitter finding it a good way to stay up with family, friends, former and
current colleagues and to stay abreast of current events.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">But Facebook in particular has become inundated with anti-Trump
rants. I would guess 75 per cent of the posts I receive involve hand-wringing
and angst over the president and his actions.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">OK, I get it. And I share your concerns.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">But it seems everyone feels a need to personally express
their dismay with the President on a daily basis and they all end up saying the
same thing: that he’s unstable, dishonest,
thin skinned and dangerous. His actions
could cause irreparable harm to the nation if not the world that could take decades
to repair.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">To the barricades!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">But, of course, we knew that before he was elected.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">I’m all for dissent.
I’m all for activism. They are the cornerstones of democracy. And I believe the president --- any president
--- should be called out if his actions run contrary to the values of the
people he serves.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">But posting on Twitter isn’t an act of activism. Neither
is placing goofy pictures of Trump on Facebook. There’s good chance you’re merely
preaching to the choir. If you want to express yourself, call an elected official and unload. Believe me, they listen.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Besides, nobody is doing a better job of making
himself look foolish than Trump himself.
And the American people know it.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">The daily Gallup tracking poll conducted this week found
that just 40% of Americans approve of President Trump's job as president so
far, compared to 55% who say the disapprove. The negative 15-point spread is
the highest recorded in the poll since Trump took office January 20.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Trump's low approval rating is atypical for a new
president. Former presidents Barack Obama, George W. Bush and Bill Clinton all
enjoyed approval ratings in the high 50s in Gallup tracking. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">His own party, which never warmly embraced his
candidacy, is getting nervous. They understand that government by chaos is not
a known recipe for success. Inquiries are being made. Investigations are planned.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">And all the alternative facts are not going to explain
it away.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Stay calm. And stay tuned. It’s going to be a hell of a ride.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Robert Rector is a veteran of 50 years in
print journalism. He has worked at the San Francisco Examiner, Los Angeles
Herald Examiner, Valley News, Los Angeles Times and Pasadena Star-News. His
columns can be found at </span></i><a href="mailto:Robert-Rector@Blogspot.Com" target="_blank"><i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Robert-Rector@Blogspot.Com</span></i></a><i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">.
Follow him on Twitter at @robertrector1.</span></i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18409865691924580623noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24866145.post-29041394966993628092017-02-03T14:36:00.000-08:002017-02-03T20:55:07.303-08:00Political Football<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">For whatever else Donald Trump has accomplished in his
first few weeks in office, he has done something nobody thought
was possible.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">He has made the Super Bowl irrelevant. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">This year the game and its considerable hoopla is
being blown off the front page by a president who has arrived in Washington the
way Hitler arrived in Poland. It’s hard
to avert your eyes.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Social media, print and electronic news, even
conversations over the backyard fence are about presidential decrees, cabinet
appointments, bullying of allies, saber rattling. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Politics is supplanting the forward pass. The only
thing being blitzed is the American psyche.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">And it couldn’t come at a worse time for the National
Football League.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">It is still reeling from a concussion scandal, in which
team officials and owners stand accused of ignoring the fact that the game they
oversaw was maiming its participants, leaving many hobbled and brain damaged.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Its players continue to make headlines for violent
crimes, many of which involve gut-wrenching allegations of domestic violence
that result in slap-on-the-wrist punishment. One player accused of assaulting
his wife nearly two dozen times was suspended for one game.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">TV ratings are down.
Teams are on the move. Residents
of Our Fair City wept with joy when the Rams, gone these many years, returned
to Los Angeles. Now they just weep, their heroes of yore replaced with a bunch
of bad actors.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Then, when we weren’t watching, the San Diego Chargers
snuck into town on a midnight freight to the cheers and applause of no one.
They should change their name to the Uninvited. They may turn out to be the
Unwatched.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> Los Angeles,
landing pad for losers.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Talk about an image problem. It has gotten so bad that
the NFL hired Joe Lockhart, a key strategist for President Clinton during the
Monica Lewinsky scandal and the resulting impeachment, to right the ship. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Check the imminently qualified box on his resume.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">In the past, the league could count on the Super Bowl
to put a fresh scrubbed image on its product. Now in its 51<sup>st</sup> year,
it has gained the stature of a national holiday and grabs more media attention
than a papal coronation.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">But this year the hype is strangely muted.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">For the record, the game with be played in Houston and
feature the New England Patriots and the Atlanta Falcons. North versus South, grits versus chowder, an iconic
old champion versus an upstart.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">It’s a promoter’s dream. And nobody seems to care.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">The NFL better hope that Trump, in the middle of the
game, doesn’t announce he’s building a moat around the continental United
States, barring Lutherans from entering the country and declaring war on
Switzerland.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">One Trump Tweet and CNN will win the ratings for
Sunday.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">There is a certain amount of irony here. Two of Trump’s
most ardent supporters are Patriot’s owner Robert Kraft and the team’s star
quarterback Tom Brady. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">That should give the President a rooting interest in
the game. And give lots of other people someone to root against.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Let’s face it.
The Super Bowl isn’t going to disappear. By the time Sunday kickoff
rolls around, we can anticipate a viewing audience larger than Trump’s
inauguration, if you can imagine.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Because the game is really about two things: gluttony and gambling.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">If you were to add up the calories per serving for
every food item a household purchased during the week of the Super Bowl,
it would equal more than 6,000 calories, according to a Washington Post
story. That's the largest number of calories for any week through the year —
more even than during Thanksgiving — and it's not even all that close. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">And when it comes to putting your money where your
mouth is, American Gaming Association President Geoff Freeman said that his
organization expects the Super Bowl to elicit $3.8 billion in illegal wagers.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">The bets know no bounds. For example, you can bet on
what color Gatorade will be dumped on the winning coach. Or the jersey
number of the first player to score a touchdown. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">You can also put your hard earned cash on who the
Super Bowl MVP will mention first in his speech: Teammates are at 2/1,
followed by God (5/2), Fans (5/1), other team (7/1), coach or family (12/1),
owner (25/1) and none of the above at 4/1.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Of course, you can develop your own bets right at
home. Who will be the first to take a bathroom break, who will be the first to
dump a plate of nachos cheese-side down on your new couch, who will be the
first to say "I don't get it" after a multimillion dollar commercials
screens, who will be the first to doze off in the middle of the game after
consuming hot wings, chili, pizza and beer.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Note to gamblers: 26 percent of people say that God
plays a role in determining the outcome of a game, the Public Religion
Research Institute found.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Let the game begin.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Robert Rector is a veteran of 50 years in
print journalism. He has worked at the San Francisco Examiner, Los Angeles
Herald Examiner, Valley News, Los Angeles Times and Pasadena Star-News. His
columns can be found at </span></i><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><a href="mailto:Robert-Rector@Blogspot.Com" target="_blank"><i>Robert-Rector@Blogspot.Com</i></a><i>.
Follow him on Twitter at @robertrector1.</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18409865691924580623noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24866145.post-44011588520447987732016-12-30T17:36:00.001-08:002016-12-30T18:12:43.748-08:00A Few Parting Words<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">By ROBERT RECTOR<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">If we can’t leave 2016 with a smile, perhaps a smirk
will do.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">In that spirit, we leave you with a collection of
oddities which crossed my desk during the year, presented here to amuse, not to
enlighten nor educate.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Best
Corrections<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">This odd advisory from the AP: “France’s deeply
unpopular Socialist president Francois Hollande says he will/won’t seek
reelection.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">From the New York Times: “Because of an editing error, an article
Monday about a theological battle being fought by Muslim imams and scholars
in the West against the Islamic State misstated the Snapchat handle used by Suhaib
Webb, one of the Muslim leaders speaking out. It is imamsuhaibwebb, not
Pimpin4Paradise786.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">From the Guardian: “Margaret Ritchie is not the MP for
Down South as we suggested. Nor is she the MP for Up North. Her seat is South
Down.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">From the Huffington Post: “This story originally said
Marr asked Corbyn about a capella group The Flying Pickets. He a actually asked
about flying pickets, people who travel to attend pickets during strikes. In
our defense, both are associated with the 1980s.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">From the New York Times: “In an article March 20 about
wave piloting in the Marshall Islands misstated the number of paths that could
be navigated without instruments among the 34 islands and atolls of the
Marshall Islands. It is 561, not a trillion trillion.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">From Wired: “Due to an oversight involving a
haphazardly installed Chrome extension during the editing process, the name
Donald Trump was erroneously replaced with the phrase, ‘Someone with tiny
hands’” when this story was originally published.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">From the New York Times: “A television review Friday
about the new Amazon series ‘Goliath’ included an inaccurate discussion of the
show’s plot structure. The critic
mistakenly watched the first two episodes out of order.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">From the New York Times (and I’m glad I didn’t take
the call on this one): “The listing of highlights about the wedding of
Cassandra Ilich and Shaun Reed, featured in the Vows column last Sunday,
misstated the number of stones in her engagement ring. It has nine stones, not
seven.” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">From the Boulder Camera:” EDITOR'S
NOTE: Comments attributed to a Trump campaign spokeswoman were removed from an
earlier version of this story at her request after she learned she would be
identified by name.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">From the New York Times
whose editors must be wondering if anything in this story was correct: “An
obituary on Wednesday about the pilot Bob Hoover referred incorrectly to his
escape from a prisoner of war camp in the final days of World War II. While he
escaped from the camp with a friend, only Mr. Hoover then flew a German
aircraft to freedom; his friend was not with him on the plane. The obituary
also misstated the name of the Ohio airfield, now part of Wright-Patterson Air
Force Base, where Mr. Hoover was based after the war. It was Wright Field, not
Wilbur Wright Field. In addition, the obituary misidentified the Bell Aircraft
X-1, which Mr. Hoover trained to fly. It was a rocket plane, not a jet. The
obituary also misidentified the company with which North American Aviation, for
which Mr. Hoover worked as a test pilot, merged. It was Rockwell-Standard, not
Rockwell International. And the obituary referred incorrectly to the P-51
fighter. It was a propeller plane, not a jet, and Mr. Hoover did not test it at
Wright Field. In addition, a picture caption with the obituary misidentified
the plane shown with Mr. Hoover. It is an F-100D Super Sabre, not an F-86
Sabre. And because of an editing error, the byline for the obituary misstated
the surname of the reporter in some copies. He is Craig H. Mellow, not Bellow.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Best Restaurant Review of the Year<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">The Trump Grill by Tina Nguyen, Vanity Fair<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Ngyuen, whose regular beat
is politics, took note of everything, from the bathroom situation that she
compared to lining up for essentials in Venezuela to the fact that a pig’s
eyeball she once ate on a dare tasted better than the Trump Grill’s Gold Label
Burger.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> She waxes especially eloquent on the
faux lavish touches all around the lobby-style restaurant, such as the
French-styled art décor that looks as though it were actually purchased at
a Home Goods. She uses this as the occasion to cite a now-famous Fran Lebowitz
quote, that Trump “is a poor person’s idea of a rich person.” Vanity
Fair reportedly got 13,000 new subscribers within 24 hours of the
story running after Trump tweeted angrily in response. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Notable Dish: Filet
mignon. “The steak came out overcooked and mealy, with an ugly strain of pure
fat running through it, crying out for A.1. sauce (it was missing the promised
demi-glace, too). The plate must have tilted during its journey from the
kitchen to the table, as the steak slumped to the side over the potatoes like a
dead body inside a T-boned minivan.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Best Wordsmithery (from the Washington Post)<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Coffee</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> (n.), the person upon whom one coughs.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Flabbergasted</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> (adj.), appalled over how much weight you’ve
gained.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Abdicate</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> (v.), to give up all hope of ever having a
flat stomach.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Esplanade</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> (v.), to attempt an explanation while drunk.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Willy-nilly</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> (adj.), impotent.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Negligent</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> (adj.), describes a condition in which you
absentmindedly answer the door in your nightgown.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Lymph</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> (v.), to walk with a lisp.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Gargoyle</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> (n.), gross olive-flavored mouthwash.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Flatulance</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> (n.), emergency vehicle that picks you up
after you are run over by a steamroller.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Balderdash</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> (n.), a rapidly receding hairline.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Rectitude</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> (n.), the formal, dignified bearing adopted
by proctologists.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Pokemon</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> (n.), a Rastafarian proctologist.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Circumvent</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> (n.), an opening in the front of boxer shorts
worn by Jewish men.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Foreploy<b> </b></span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">(n): Any misrepresentation about yourself for the
purpose of getting laid.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Oyster</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> (n.), a person who sprinkles his conversation
with Yiddishisms.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Skilljoy</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> (n.): The would-be friend who’s a bit better
than you at everything.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Percycution</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> (n.): Giving your child a name he will hate
for the rest of his life.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Coughin</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> (n.): A small enclosure designed especially
for smokers.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Typochondriac</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> (adj.): A paranoid proofreader.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Ignorial</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> (n.):<b> </b>A monument that nobody
visits.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">And finally, the year in politics summed up by Dave
Barry:<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">“…the American people,
looking for a leader, ended up with a choice between ointment and suppository.
The fall campaign was an unending national nightmare, broadcast relentlessly on
cable TV. CNN told us over and over that Donald Trump was a colossally
ignorant, narcissistic, out-of-control sex-predator buffoon; Fox News countered
that Hillary Clinton was a greedy, corrupt, coldly calculating liar of massive
ambition and minimal accomplishment. And in our hearts we knew the awful
truth: <i>They were both right</i>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">It wasn’t just bad. It was
the Worst. Election. Ever.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Happy New Year.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Robert Rector is a veteran of 50 years in print
journalism. He has worked at the San Francisco Examiner, Los Angeles Herald
Examiner, Valley News, Los Angeles Times and Pasadena Star-News. His columns
can be found at </span></i><a href="mailto:Robert-Rector@Blogspot.Com" target="_blank"><i><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Robert-Rector@Blogspot.Com</span></i></a><i><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">.
Follow him on Twitter at @robertrector1.</span></i><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18409865691924580623noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24866145.post-20456646990697272942016-12-12T16:02:00.000-08:002016-12-13T15:01:51.380-08:00The Truth Is Marching On<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Fake news.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">It’s the topic du jour thanks in large part to the
fact that it has been shamelessly embraced by our President-elect who has
become a walking, talking supermarket tabloid. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">“All I know is what’s on the internet,” he famously
remarked.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">You’ll find it in e-mails and web sites that publish
hoaxes, propaganda and disinformation to drive web
traffic inflamed by social media.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Fact checked? Sources? No need for that. If it
ridicules someone you oppose, well, then, it must be true. It may be garbage,
but if it's presented as red meat, people will bite.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Indeed, it mirrors modern-day politics where debate is
now a knife fight and those with differing opinions are enemies to be crushed.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16.0pt;">It is malicious gossip created anonymously
in the dark corners of the Internet and produced for profit by those who put
cash above conscience. It is the work of conspiracy theorists who give paranoia
a bad name.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16.0pt;">It is reminiscence of the tin foil hat set
who used to fire off single spaced typewritten letters to newspapers written in
all caps and headlined, “Wake Up America!” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16.0pt;">Now, thanks to the internet, they have the
entire world as an audience.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16.0pt;">I have been a soldier of long standing in
the war against this gibberish. It seems I have a number of family members, friends
and acquaintances who have generously included me on the mailing list of these
harebrained chain letters. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16.0pt;">Their numbers include accountants,
lawyers, engineers, business owners, doctors, people who at one point in their
lives must have learned critical thinking skills but now embrace vitriol.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16.0pt;">I know exactly when this stuff started
landing in my e-mail queue. It was the day Barack Obama was sworn in as
president.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16.0pt;">Over the next eight years, I was informed
that Obama is a Muslim. Not just a Muslim, but a Jihadist. He installed a
prayer rug in the Oval Office. He was sworn in on the Koran, not the Bible. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16.0pt;">He refuses to salute the flag. </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16pt;">He
has a secret plan to take away our guns. He is using a Cold War-era
mind-control technique known as "Delphi" to coerce Americans into
accepting his plan for a United Nations-run communist dictatorship. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16.0pt;">Obama's efforts to force banks to lend to
African Americans in the mid-'90s led to the subprime mortgage
crisis that killed the economy in 2008.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16.0pt;">He plans to deliver the country to Islamic
jihadists who will convert our churches to mosques, veil our women, toss our
liquor into the Pacific Ocean and pack the halls of Congress with radical
clerics. He is a fascist. He is a socialist. He is in fact the Antichrist.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16.0pt;">I'm still waiting for one these websites to run a correction that says, "For the Record: Everything we wrote about Obama is wrong."</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16.0pt;">Hillary Clinton had no sooner declared for
the presidency than she was branded a lesbian who had an affair with Yoko
Ono. She once said that children should be raised and trained by the
state, and parents should have only a secondary role. She and President Obama
were charged with being “accessories to terrorism” by the Egyptian government. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16.0pt;">Hillary is in fact a tool of the Dark Lord
Lucifer sent to oppose Jesus Christ in the Last Days.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16.0pt;">Like any newsperson, I dutifully
researched some of these claims and explained to my chain mail buddies that
these so-called facts didn’t hold up upon examination. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16.0pt;"> I
further pointed out that if any of these claims were even remotely true, it
would be front page news and that the good people of America would be marching
on the White House with torches and pitchforks. Neither of which happened.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16.0pt;">I should have known what would come
next. I was informed that the media, me
included, was involved in covering up these claims and was part of an insidious conspiracy that included
untold millions of people. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16.0pt;">One texted, “I’m glad I don’t
live in your world where everything you read is wrong.” Which is something I
could have said to him.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16.0pt;">Ultimately, I decided to lick my wounds
and live to fight another day, directing these true believers to Snopes
instead. I had reached the point where I was incredulous that people could
believe this stuff.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16.0pt;">Then Trump was elected.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16.0pt;">I have not lost faith in the American
public, however.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16.0pt;">Post-Trump, the New York Times has
seen "a net increase of approximately 132,000 paid subscriptions to our
news products," the media giant told CNBC.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16.0pt;">The Washington Post’s surge in new
sign-ups parallels the Times,’ according to published reports. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16.0pt;">Though the Post, a privately owned company,
doesn’t release much data on its business performance, it said that ”We began
to see a strong surge in digital subscriptions over the summer, and those
numbers continued to increase through the month of November. Our monthly
average of new subscriptions (July through November 21) is up 73% from the
first half of the year.”).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16.0pt;">The Los Aneles Times saw a 60 percent
increase in new digital subscriptions in the weeks following the election
according to the Columbia Journalism Review. For the month of November, the
paper added more than four times as many new subscribers as it did during the
same period in 2015.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16.0pt;">At The Wall Street Journal, orders and new subscribers were up
300 percent on Nov. 9, versus an average Wednesday.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16.0pt;">It appears Real News may be trumping Fake
News. And that’s Good News for all of us.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<i><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16.0pt;">Robert Rector is a veteran of 50 years in
print journalism. He has worked at the San Francisco Examiner, Los Angeles
Herald Examiner, Valley News, Los Angeles Times and Pasadena Star-News. His
columns can be found at </span></i><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16.0pt;"><a href="mailto:Robert-Rector@Blogspot.Com" target="_blank"><i>Robert-Rector@Blogspot.Com</i></a><i>. Follow him on Twitter
at @robertrector1.</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<br /></div>
</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18409865691924580623noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24866145.post-68013522092414553552016-11-10T15:28:00.002-08:002016-11-10T23:37:28.702-08:00Oh, Canada<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">By ROBERT RECTOR<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Some of what follows is from a column I wrote early
last spring but it seems especially pertinent now as we grope through the
darkness of a Trump presidency.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">America is a country of slogans, rallying cries born
from the fear and despair of uncertain times.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">In the past, there has been “Remember the Maine,”
“Damn the Torpedoes, Full Speed Ahead” and “Nixon’s the One.” Some of them have inspired us.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">This week, “Canada, Here We Come” has joined the list.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Many have cast their gazes northward looking for safe
haven from the perceived horrors of a Trump administration.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">I tend to dismiss these vows as so much political
hand-wringing, born more of angst than determination.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">And abandonment in the face of adversity is a cure
worse than the disease. After all, if we all hit the road every time someone we
opposed was elected to public office, our country would be as vacant as a
politician’s promise.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">But there seems to be momentum here. On election night, Canada’s
citizenship and immigration website crashed as it was flooded with
interest.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Remi Lariviere, a spokesman for the Canadian
immigration agency, told the New York Times Wednesday morning that the cause
was “a significant increase in the volume of traffic.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">By then, the site was taking about half a minute to
load but was accessible shortly before 8 a.m. Eastern. “Move to Canada”
remained among the top trending search topics on Google.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">This comes as no surprise to Canadians. Twelve years
ago, as George W. Bush took a commanding lead over John F. Kerry in the polls,
Canadian immigration applications tripled. Visits to the immigration
department's website skyrocketed from an average of 20,000 per day to 115,000
the day after Bush won the election. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">And, according to one Canadian publication, American
conservatives are not immune. “Move to Canada” +Obama spiked in 2008,
and was most popular in southern states. It doesn’t appear, however, that many
of them actually fled a Democrat in the White House.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">That could be because a county known for higher taxes,
universal health care and stringent gun control may not have been the
paradise they sought.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Last Spring, as Trump was emerging as a bona fide
candidate, Rob Calabrese, a radio host in Nova Scotia, was inundated by more
than 3,000 inquiries after he, on a lark, set up a website last month
inviting anti-Trump Americans to move to Cape Breton, an island along the
Atlantic coast that has lost population as industries have left.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">One wag called it “The Land of the Flee.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">But while Canadians are a friendly and welcoming
people, that doesn’t necessarily mean they want you to move next door.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Unless you fall into certain categories, including
students in higher education or someone trained in a list of professions found
in the North American Free Trade Agreement, you could be out of luck.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">“Sometimes I’ve had Americans who feel that they can
just drive across the border,” said one immigration lawyer. “It comes as a
surprise to them, ‘Oh what do you mean, I have to qualify?’ Yes, you do have to
qualify.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">And even those who do can expect to spend six years or
more doing paperwork and living on Canada’s equivalent of a green card to build
up residency requirements. Of course, a Trump presidency could be over by then.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">There are other obstacles and adjustments as explained
by Margaret Wente, an American-born columnist at The Globe and Mail in Toronto.
There is no good Southern barbecue, she said, a house in Vancouver will cost
you $2.4 million and the brutal winters can last six months.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Then there are the cultural differences, she added:
“You will have to learn some weird local customs, like saying ‘sorry’ when you
bump into someone on the sidewalk.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">My advice: if you want to live in blissful
isolation, go to the North Woods of Maine or the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.
That way you can maintain your citizenship even as you curse the country that
bestowed it upon you.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Or better yet, stay and fight for what you believe
in. It’s the American way.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Robert Rector is a veteran of 50 years in
print journalism. He has worked at the San Francisco Examiner, Los Angeles
Herald Examiner, Valley News, Los Angeles Times and Pasadena Star-News. His
columns can be found at </span></i><a href="mailto:Robert-Rector@Blogspot.Com" target="_blank"><i><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Robert-Rector@Blogspot.Com</span></i></a><i><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">.
Follow him on Twitter at @robertrector1.</span></i><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18409865691924580623noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24866145.post-48158821393108608272016-11-03T12:44:00.004-07:002016-11-03T12:44:54.242-07:00Signs of the Times<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">By ROBERT RECTOR<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Understanding the subtleties of presidential polling
is like trying to decipher the fine print on your cell phone bill.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Headache inducing. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">I remain transfixed by the polls, however. Like many
of my fellow Americans, I want to know how this insufferable bloodbath is going
to turn out.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Well, the polls tell us Hillary Clinton is winning.
No, wait, Donald Trump may be winning. But Poll A is using faulty data. And
Poll B has a political agenda.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Poll C tells us Trump could win if the moon is in the
seventh house and Jupiter aligns with Mars. Poll D is being manipulated by
Russian hackers. Or maybe it’s North Koreans. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">There is only one thing to do. Conduct your own
research. Which is what I have done using the lightly regarded and completely unscientific
PYS method.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">PYS stands for Political Yard Signs and I spent the
last couple of days prowling my Zip code and carefully tabulating the numbers
of signs for each candidate.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">My conclusions:
nobody is passionate enough about either one of these folks to stick a
sign in their front yard.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">I found two Clinton signs, two signs for Libertarian
presidential candidate Gary Johnson and none for Trump. Which is somewhat
surprising since our neck of the woods is thick with Republicans.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Maybe people who support Trump are fearful that by
displaying a sign they will be identified as racist, misogynistic no-nothings.
Which, of course, they would be.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Or maybe it’s because, according to their web site, a
Trump yard sign will set you back $20 to $30.
Clinton’s go for a more modest 12 bucks.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">The most signs I saw in my neighborhood were in
support of a local community college bond issue. Apparently, there’s nothing like sprucing up
the old junior college to get the juices flowing.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">What does this all mean? Very little as it turns out.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Phillip Bump, writing in the Washington Post,
explained it this way:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">“The problem with lawn signs, as any campaign manager
would probably tell you, is that they are expensive, annoying,
logistically tricky to distribute and — most importantly — don’t seem to
do much of anything. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">“Candidates like to <i>feel</i> as
if they’re winning. Campaign managers like to <i>know</i> that
they’re winning or at least making progress. So campaign managers like things
that have either measurable effects on voters (like identifying targeted
supporters) or demonstrated past effects (like advertising). Lawn signs don’t
fit into either category.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">The Post story cited a study by Donald Green, a
professor at Columbia University who has done decades of work assessing the
utility of various methods of voter outreach. Green partnered with researchers
at universities in Upstate New York, Pennsylvania and Virginia to test signs in
four races at the federal, state and local level.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Their conclusion: “[I]t appears that signs typically
have a modest effect on advertising candidates’ vote shares — an effect that is
probably greater than zero but unlikely to be large enough to alter the outcome
of a contest that would otherwise be decided by more than a few percentage
points.” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">In other words, the next time you feel the urge to erect
a political sign on your front yard,
remember this: you’re probably not going
to change anybody’s mind. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">But this is a great country. Even the millions of
voters who don’t like either candidate can express their feelings via yard
signs.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">There’s the “We’re All Screwed 2016” model, another
that says “Vote Nobody,” the Uncle Sam model that declares, “I Want You to Stop
Voting for Idiots” and one that offers three choices: “I Am (1) A Democrat; (2) A Republican or (3)
Drinking Another Glass of Wine.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Finally, there’s a sign that declares in not so subtle
language that “Everyone Sucks. The U.S. Is Doomed.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Which just might be the prevailing sentiment next
week.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Robert Rector is a veteran of 50 years in
print journalism. He has worked at the San Francisco Examiner, Los Angeles
Herald Examiner, Valley News, Los Angeles Times and Pasadena Star-News. His
columns can be found at </span></i><a href="mailto:Robert-Rector@Blogspot.Com" target="_blank"><i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Robert-Rector@Blogspot.Com</span></i></a><i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">.</span></i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18409865691924580623noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24866145.post-18953486798688365192016-10-19T13:18:00.000-07:002016-10-19T13:18:40.411-07:00On the Town<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">By ROBERT RECTOR<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">“What did Jesus say to the Chicago Cubs on his last
day on earth? Don’t do anything ’til I get back.” Anonymous reference to the fact the
Cubs haven’t won the World Series in 102 years</span></i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Ah, the baseball postseason.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">The crack of the ball on bat, the roar of the
crowd. And if you’re at Dodger Stadium
the warm beer and cold hot dogs.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">There’s a lot at stake in this contest between the Los
Angeles Dodgers and Chicago Cubs. A trip to the World Series. Civic pride. The hopes, dreams and
aspirations of millions of fans. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">And in
Chicago, a chance to speak the name of their team without preceding it with
“long suffering.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">If we didn’t have enough mud-slinging going on in this
country, a couple of newspaper columnists have seized the opportunity to hurl
insults at one another. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">“It’s Cubs vs. L.A., city of smog and failure,” said
the headline on a Chicago Tribune column by Rex Huppke. He also wrote
elegantly about other things, such the “the urine-soaked streets of the
Dodgers’ home city.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">It wasn’t long before Los Angeles Times columnist
Steve Lopez opined that “My guess is that on the day the L.A. put-down was
written, there were fewer than a half-dozen public officials indicted and no
blizzards in Chicago, so it was a slow news day.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Amusing stuff.
But when it comes to whittling a town down to size, these guys are
flyweights compared to the heavyweight champ.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">That would be the late Jim Murray, a Pulitzer Prize
winner from the Los Angeles Times and the best sports writer to ever lay hands
on a keyboard.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Here’s Murray on Cincinnati: “(People) don't have any
appreciation for what us truth-seekers go through on a road trip for the honor
and glory of baseball. For instance, you come into a city like Cincinnati at 3
o'clock in the morning.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">“Now, if you have any sense, you don't want to be in
Cincinnati at all. Even in daylight, it doesn't look like a city. It looks like
it's in the midst of condemnation proceedings. If it was a human, they'd bury
it."<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Also on Cincinnati: "They still haven't finished
the freeway . . . it's Kentucky's turn to use the cement mixer.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">And these travelogues:
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">"</span></i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">The only trouble with Spokane, Washington, as a city is that there's
nothing to do after 10 o’clock. In the morning. But it’s a nice place to go for
breakfast."</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">"[St. Louis] had a
bond issue recently and the local papers campaigned for it on a slogan,
'Progress or Decay,' and decay won in a landslide<i>."</i></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">"Minneapolis and St.
Paul don't like each other very much and from what I could see I don't blame
either of them."</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Murray called Louisville “Lousyville.” Pittsburgh was
"America's Slag Heap."<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Philadelphia was a town that would “boo a cancer
cure." <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Baltimore: "The weather is like the team. Gray.
Colorless. Drab. The climate would have to improve to be classified as merely
lousy. It would be a great place to stage 'Hamlet' but not baseball games. It
doesn't really rain, it just kind of leaks. You get a picture of Baltimore as a
guy just standing on a corner with no place to go and rain dropping off his hat.
Baltimore's a great place if you're a crab."<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">He also took shots at cities closer to home:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">“You have to pay 50 cents
to go from Oakland to San Francisco. Coming to Oakland from San Francisco is
free."<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> "San Francisco is not so much a city as a
myth. It is in the United States but not of it. It is so civilized, it would
starve to death if it didn't get a salad or the right wine. It fancies itself
Camelot, but comes off more like Cleveland. Its legacy to the world is the
quiche."<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">"Palm Springs is an
inland sandbar man has wrestled from the rodents and the Indians to provide a
day camp for the over-privileged adults<i>."</i></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Reaction from cities was mixed. Cincinnati fans
protested Murray during the 1961 World Series with signs that mentioned him by
name.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">In his state of the state address, Iowa's governor
rebuffed Murray’s comments that Iowans came to Los Angeles for the Rose Bowl
“in the family Winnebago with their pacemakers and the chicken salad." <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Yet some cities longed for attention. A delegation of
citizens once greeted Murray upon his arrival in their city and begged him
repeatedly to "Knock Spokane!"<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">He could knock a few icons down to size as well.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">UCLA Coach John Wooden was "so square, he was
divisible by four"; Rickey Henderson "has a strike zone the size of
Hitler's heart"; tennis is "a game in which love counts for nothing,
deuces are wild, and the scoring system was invented by Lewis Carroll." <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">“Arnold Palmer turned a golf round into Dempsey-Firpo.
A war. He didn't play a course. He invaded it. He looked and acted like an
athlete. He was strong enough to hit a ball out of the Pacific Ocean, and did.
He could go in the rough and smash a ball out of debris so thick that the ball,
chunks of rock, cans, bottles, a few squirrels, tree trunks and parts of old Volkswagens
would come flying out together. And most of them landed on the green."<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">A poet in the press box? You bet.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Robert Rector is a veteran of 50 years in
print journalism. He has worked at the San Francisco Examiner, Los Angeles
Herald Examiner, Valley News, Los Angeles Times and Pasadena Star-News. His
columns can be found at </span></i><a href="mailto:Robert-Rector@Blogspot.Com" target="_blank"><i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Robert-Rector@Blogspot.Com</span></i></a><i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">.</span></i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18409865691924580623noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24866145.post-51132577404568014382016-10-11T16:32:00.002-07:002016-10-11T21:42:01.660-07:00 A Trumped-Up Excuse<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">In the 1977 movie “Slap Shot,” Paul Newman stared as
an aging hockey player trying to save his minor league team from going belly
up.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">It was a film full of fascinating characters, so well-acted
it made Canadians seem almost interesting. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">But one stood out. Brad Sullivan played the part of Morris
“Mo” Wanchuk, a man so sexually obsessed that he could talk about nothing else.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Crude and creepy, he was largely ignored by his fellow
teammates who, although not exactly choirboys themselves, found his act
disgusting.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">This past week, we heard Donald Trump do a pretty good
imitation of Mo Wanchuk. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">In a recorded conversation, Trump bragged in vulgar
terms about kissing, groping and trying to have sex with women during a 2005
conversation saying that “when you’re a star, they let you do it,” according to
a video obtained by The Washington Post.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">“You know I’m automatically attracted to beautiful — I
just start kissing them. It’s like a magnet. Just kiss. I don’t even wait.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">“And when you’re a star, they let you do it,” Trump
says. “You can do anything.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">“Whatever you want,” says another voice….<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">“Grab them by the p---y,” Trump says. “You can do
anything.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">He then talked about his attempt to seduce a married
woman.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">“I moved on her, actually. You know, she was down on
Palm Beach. I moved on her, and I failed. I’ll admit it.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">“I did try and f---k her. She was married.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Trump later apologized, saying, “This was locker-room
banter, a private conversation that took place many years ago. Bill Clinton has
said far worse to me on the golf course — not even close. I apologize if anyone
was offended.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Lots of people were. And the impact on his campaign
has been catastrophic if not fatal.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">But what about this “locker room banter’? Are men’s locker rooms incubators for misogyny?
Do men really speak openly about forcing themselves on women and joke about sexual
assault? Do they amuse themselves by recounting their predatory attempts to bed
married women?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">I’ve found myself in the company of men many times, in
countless locker rooms, in Army barracks, in corporate board rooms, on playing
fields and taverns.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">And I can say without hesitation I have never heard a
conversation such as the one Trump engaged in.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Men talk about sports, their stock portfolios, their
golf swing, their jobs, the weather, movies, music, those sort of things.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">But if some guy starts braying about his real or
imagined sexual conquests, he won’t find much of an audience. Or much of a following.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> Don’t take my
word for it. Clippers coach Doc Rivers
said such talk is not typical of any locker room he has been a part of.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">"They're bad comments. They're demeaning to
women," Rivers told ESPN. "You
know, I think when people throw out that word, 'locker room talk,' there's
nobody talking like that in the locker room. Is there swearing in the locker
room? Yeah. Every other word. But there's nobody demeaning -- there's players
in our locker room with sisters, wives and daughters. There's not that type of
talk in anyone's locker room."<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Said Ole Miss football coach Hugh Freeze:
"We're working hard on our young men understanding that women are
priceless and should be treated as such."<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Detroit Lions wide receiver Golden Tate put it this
way: "I've heard some distasteful things over the years, but I've also
heard some incredible things and some incredible outputs on life and character
and religion and faith.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">And Baltimore Ravens tight end Ben Watson, a published
conservative Christian author, had this to say about Trump on a Facebook blog:</span><span style="color: #111111; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">“One’s character is one’s character,” he
wrote. “It does not and should not change in the locker room, on private
emails, or on a bus. This is the challenge for all of us.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">I don’t want to soft pedal this: there is locker room
talk, some of it distasteful, about women, especially their physical
attributes. But it is rare and getting rarer.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">And I don’t mean to suggest that because women are not
a favorite locker room topic, that the struggle for equal employment and equal
pay has captured the hearts and minds of all men.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">But what we should take away from all this is that
Donald Trump does not represent the 21<sup>st</sup> century American male. He
is an ethical and moral Neanderthal, and like them, will soon be extinct.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Robert Rector is a veteran of 50 years in
print journalism. He has worked at the San Francisco Examiner, Los Angeles
Herald Examiner, Valley News, Los Angeles Times and Pasadena Star-News. His
columns can be found at </span></i><a href="mailto:Robert-Rector@Blogspot.Com" target="_blank"><i><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Robert-Rector@Blogspot.Com</span></i></a><i><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">.</span></i><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18409865691924580623noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24866145.post-60524540042200349512016-10-06T17:05:00.000-07:002016-10-06T17:05:43.751-07:00Hormonal Imbalance<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">The presidential campaign struck a new low this
week. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Before it is all over, it will undoubtedly sink even
farther until it obliterates any semblance of good taste, responsible
campaigning and what passes for ethics in the world of politics.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">But for now, the bottom feeders are giving us new
reasons to weep for the future of humanity.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">First, a Florida doctor named Dareld Morris claimed the
persistent urge to vote for Hillary Clinton may be a sign of a troubling lack
of testosterone, the steroid hormone that regulates masculine traits, according
to a story in the Washington Post.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">And the doctor is here to help.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> “Most are not
aware of the negative effects low T can have on your mental state, for instance
your ability to focus and think clearly,” the ad says.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">“So as a community service, I have this special offer:
For any guys out there that are thinking of voting for Hillary, I want to offer
you a free testosterone test. Just come in and register in my office in Fort
Myers or online at my online practice and let's see if we can help.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">When his offer attracted nationwide media attention, Morris,
a self-described Donald Trump supporter, told South Florida NBC affiliate
WBBH that the ad is a joke — and a tongue-in-cheek way to
promote his business.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> But he also
told the station the ad was an “experiment” and that he wanted to see if there
is a correlation between health and political views.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">It’s doubtful he’ll ever make that connection and it’s
uncertain how many men flocked to Morris’s clinic.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">But do you want to trust your health to a guy who
thinks you’re a wimp because you support the only sane candidate in the race?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Maybe Morris ought to start his “experiment” by
looking in the mirror.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Then there was the report that televangelist Pat Robertson
urged “Christian husbands of all ages and races across America to stop having
sex with their wives for the purpose of demonstrating that they don’t have
control over us, and especially so if they’re planning to vote for Hillary
Clinton.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">“American women need to learn two things: one, that
they don’t control us, but that it’s the other way around, and two, that God
has made it very clear He wants Donald Trump to be the next President of the
United States.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Robertson has made enough crazy statements over the
years to make it entirely believable. And many media sites carried the story.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">But it’s not true. It comes from a website called
Newslo that publishes fabricated stories and passes them off as satire.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Among its other “scoops”: a story claiming that an Alabama
politician proposed saliva-based "hunger tests" for food
stamp recipients; Ted Cruz said he'd run as a Democrat if
something affected Clinton's candidacy; and Mike Pence opining that
if abortion was legal in cases of rape women would try
to "get raped" in order to obtain an abortion.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">That doesn’t let Robertson off the hook, however. He
reportedly said Hillary Clinton is using pneumonia to hide the real reason
behind her failing health.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">“The fact that Hillary’s health is failing is a sign
of the spiritual battle going on inside her,” said Robertson on “The 700 Club.”
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">“When she collapsed at the 9/11 memorial it was a sign
that the demonic spirit was trying to come out of her.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Robertson then closed his eyes and offered a prayer
for the demon to leave Clinton.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> Robertson once described feminism as “a
socialist, anti-family political movement that encourages women to leave their
husbands, kill their children, practice witchcraft, destroy capitalism and
become lesbians.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Maybe Dr. Morris can give him an estrogen treatment.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;">A fervent supporter of Donald Trump, he once told his
flock that “God came to me in a dream last night and showed me the future. “He
took me to heaven and I saw Donald Trump seated at the right hand of our Lord.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">May God have mercy on us.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Robert Rector is a veteran of 50 years in
print journalism. He has worked at the San Francisco Examiner, Los Angeles
Herald Examiner, Valley News, Los Angeles Times and Pasadena Star-News. His
columns can be found at </span></i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><a href="mailto:Robert-Rector@Blogspot.Com" target="_blank"><i>Robert-Rector@Blogspot.Com</i></a><i>.</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18409865691924580623noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24866145.post-58252951340233816332016-10-02T17:10:00.001-07:002016-10-02T17:10:47.247-07:00The Goat Life<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Ladies and gentleman, let’s have a big round of
applause for Thomas Thwaites.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Who?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">OK, so he’s not exactly a household name but he’s
become somewhat of a celebrity in the scientific community. In fact, he was just awarded the not-so prestigious
Ig Noble prize, given annually for silly science.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Thwaites claim to fame is that he created custom
prosthetics so he could spend three days grazing on the side of a Swiss
mountain while living as a goat. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">His conclusion: Being a goat is harder than it looks.
Thwaites said his experiment tested him in ways he hadn’t expected it to and
forced him to confront both his own humanity and the elemental aspects of
goat-ness. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> “I was sort of shocked at how bad a goat I was,”
he says, “and I was really trying.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">It was not all herding and head butting, however. He developed a strong bond with one animal in
particular - a "goat buddy."<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Thwaites, who once wrote a book on making a toaster
from scratch, shared the prize with Charles Foster, who pretended to be a badger,
a deer, an otter, a fox, and a bird for his book “Being a Beast.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">For the uninitiated, the Ig Nobel awards are presented
each year at Harvard University by the Annals of Improbable Research magazine.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">With tongue firmly in cheek, the Ig Noble folks honor
scientific articles that have some humorous or unexpected aspect, such as the
two scientists who discovered that the word "huh?" (or its
equivalent) seems to exist in every human language — and for not being
completely sure why.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Or the group of researchers who are trying to
understand what happens in the brains of people who see the face of Jesus in a
piece of toast.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Or the scientists who are investigating whether it is
mentally hazardous for a human being to own a cat.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Or the group that investigated whether suicide rates
are linked to the amount of country music played on the radio (they are).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Or the woman from MIT who invented an alarm clock that
runs away and hides, repeatedly, thus ensuring that people do get out of bed,
and thus theoretically adding many productive hours to the workday.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">The awards know no bounds. The prize for mathematics
was once awarded to the Southern Baptist Church of Alabama for their
county-by-county estimate of how many Alabama citizens will go to hell if they
don't repent.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Also honored were researchers at the Air Force’s
Wright Laboratory, Dayton, Ohio, for instigating development on a chemical
weapon -- the so-called "gay bomb" -- that will make enemy soldiers become
sexually irresistible to each other.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Other 2016 winners (and my reactions):<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Chemistry: </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Volkswagen
took home the award for solving the problem of excessive automobile emissions
by automatically producing fewer emissions when cars are tested. (Very clever
but it cost VW $15 billion in fines. Das Dummkopfs).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Psychology: </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">A
group of psychologists interviewed thousands of liars about their lying habits.
Their findings suggested young adults are the best liars and that people lie
the most in their teenage years. (How did they know the study participants weren’t
lying? They didn’t.)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Literature: Fredrik Sjöberg was awarded for his
three-volume autobiographical work about the pleasures of collecting flies that
are dead, and flies that are not yet dead. (Three volumes? And I have trouble
writing this column).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Perception: <b> </b></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">This
prize recognized researchers who studied how people perceive distances when
they bend over and look between their legs. (Couldn’t they just interview
the center on a football team?)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Medicine<b>: </b></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Researchers
discovered people can relieve an itch in the right arm by scratching the left,
but only after tricking their brain. Researchers injected histamine
dihydrochloride into volunteers' right arms. Using mirrors and video feeds,
researchers made it appear volunteers were scratching their right arm when they
were really scratching their left. (Thus constructing an experiment from
scratch).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Reproduction<b>: </b></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Researchers
published a study that found polyester underwear significantly reduced male rats'
sexual success rates. (Putting polyester underwear on any living thing would
seriously hurt their game).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">So what are we to make of all this?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">The Ig Noble folks will tell you that “our goal is to
make people laugh, then make them think. We also hope to spur people’s
curiosity, and to raise the question: How do you decide what’s important and
what’s not, and what’s real and what’s not — in science and everywhere else?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">But we all know that nerds just want to have fun.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Robert Rector is a veteran of 50 years in
print journalism. He has worked at the San Francisco Examiner, Los Angeles
Herald Examiner, Valley News, Los Angeles Times and Pasadena Star-News. His
columns can be found at </span></i><a href="mailto:Robert-Rector@Blogspot.Com" target="_blank"><i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Robert-Rector@Blogspot.Com</span></i></a><i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">.</span></i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18409865691924580623noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24866145.post-12779688700174968942016-09-25T17:01:00.000-07:002016-09-25T17:01:50.554-07:00The Golden Age of Beer<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">You’ve got to hand it to our
Neolithic ancestors. They emerged from their trees and caves around 10,000 B.C.
and set about farming, forming villages, crafting tools and domesticating
animals.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">In their spare time, they
invented beer which we can assume was responsible for their remarkable uptick
in sophistication. Or perhaps after a
couple of brews, they just thought they were smarter.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Whatever. We’ve not only
been drinking it ever since (it ranks behind water and tea as the most popular beverages on the planet) but our
fascination with the product has led to more research and study than we’ve
devoted to the solar system.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Just this past week, a group
of Swiss researchers pulled their heads out of their beakers long enough to
notice that people who drink beer generally seem to be long on laughter and
short on inhibitions.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">So they designed a study to
see if they could shed some light on the situation. According to a story in the
Los Angeles Times, they recruited 30 men and 30 women, offered them beer and
subjected them to a series of psychological tests.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">They discovered that people
were quicker to recognize happy faces when there was alcohol in their system;
that they had a greater desire to be in a “positive” social environment
— such as a party — after consuming beer.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">In addition, people were
somewhat turned off by sexually explicit images after drinking non-alcoholic beer
— they rated the pictures “less pleasant than neutral pictures” — but
not after drinking regular beer. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">When people had an alcoholic
buzz, they found sexually explicit images “more pleasant” than they did when
the buzz was absent. This effect was particularly strong among women.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">The researchers concluded
that alcohol’s role as a social lubricant can be traced to its ability to facilitate
“sexual disinhibition.” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">So if I understand this
correctly, in the Year of Our Lord 2016, the Swiss have just discovered that
people get frisky after a couple of brews. Maybe they just yodel when they imbibe.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Of course, these are the
same people who released a highly scientific study several years ago that
concluded an empty beer bottle makes a better weapon than a full beer bottle in
a fight.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">In a related development, researchers
asked people at bars to rate their own attractiveness. They found that the
higher the blood alcohol content of people, the higher they rated themselves on
attractiveness. Which I guess is why they put mirrors behind bars.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">But we digress.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Aside from flirting and
fighting, there are a lot of reasons to enjoy beer.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">After more than 20 years of research and scores of
studies on the effects of moderate alcohol consumption on health, beer is being
understood as a beverage that not only lifts spirits but delivers protection
against major ailments such as heart attacks, stroke, hypertension, diabetes
and dementia.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Norman D. Kaplan, a professor of internal medicine at
the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, has studied
alcohol's impact on health as part of his 40 years of research into the causes
and treatment of hypertension. He told the Wall Street Journal that he has
found that "the benefits of drinking moderate amounts of alcohol is well
beyond contention."<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">As for beer's specific virtues, Dr. Kaplan cites two
recent large-scale studies: in one, a look at 70,000 female nurses showed that
those who drank moderate amounts of beer had less hypertension than did nurses
who drank either wine or spirits. He also points to a survey of 128,934 adults
in the Kaiser Permanente managed-care system. It showed that male beer drinkers
among the group were at a statistically significant lower risk of
coronary-artery disease than were men who drank red wine, white wine or
spirits.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">In a declaration that exposes him as nobody’s
sommelier, Dr. Kaplan says, "beer drinking has equal or perhaps more
benefit" than wine or spirits. As for the wine claims: "The wine
people have done a major snow job" in peddling the notion that wine is
superior to beer or spirits, he says.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Without question, we are living in the Golden Age of
Beer.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">As of Dec. 1, 2015, the Brewers Association had
counted 4,144 breweries in the United States, the most ever operating
simultaneously in the history of the country. According to historians, the
previous high-water mark of 4,131 was set in 1873.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">So how to you tell which brew is best? Sampling some 4,000 different brands seems
like a risky plan. So use my
method: order the brew with the cleverest
name.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">There’s Deep Ellum's Dallas Blonde ("goes
down easy," says the can) or AleSmith's Java the Nut or Ruckus' Hoptimus
Prime or For Richer or Porter.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">You might try Peter Cotton Ale (“Now With More Hops”),
Audrey Hopburn, Monty Python’s Holy Ale,</span><span style="background: white; color: #333333; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; letter-spacing: .15pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Muscles
from Brussels , Old Lawnmower, or AlimonyAle.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">To bring out the animal in you try Moose Knuckle Winter
Stout, Rat Tail Ale, Damn Dirty Ape or Dogfish Head.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">My personal favorite:
Polygamy Porter, brewed in Utah. Its
slogan is “Why Have Just One?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Robert Rector is a veteran of 50 years in
print journalism. He has worked at the San Francisco Examiner, Los Angeles
Herald Examiner, Valley News, Los Angeles Times and Pasadena Star-News. His
columns can be found at </span></i><a href="mailto:Robert-Rector@Blogspot.Com" target="_blank"><i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Robert-Rector@Blogspot.Com</span></i></a><i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">.</span></i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18409865691924580623noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24866145.post-32856424362692476992016-09-18T14:53:00.004-07:002016-09-18T14:53:48.518-07:00Hillary Stumbles<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Hillary stumbles, Rams fumble. That was the week that was.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">News: Hillary Clinton leaves a 9/11 memorial service
because she becomes “overheated.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Views. It turns out she had pneumonia. And pneumonia
is a serious disease. For U.S. adults, it is the most common cause of hospital
admissions other than women giving birth. About 1 million adults in the U.S.
are hospitalized with pneumonia every year, and about 50,000 die from this
disease.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">So when a major presidential candidate is stricken, and
has kept her condition a secret, it is big news.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Fortunately in the case of Hillary Clinton, the medical
prognosis is good. Unfortunately, her illness has provided misguided
credibility to rumormongers who would have us believe she is at death’s door.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">The following “facts,” mostly reported by conservative
media, have been making the rounds on the internet for months:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">That leaked medical records document that Hillary
Clinton exhibits signs of dementia and serious illness. The doctor whose name
was attached to these reports said that “These documents are false, were not
written by me and are not based on any medical facts.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">That she is prone to seizures (based on a
photo of her making a face) and/or she is suffering from Parkinson's disease.
The latter diagnosis was made by a Dr. Ted Noel who is an anesthesiologist, not
a neurologist, and admits, “ I am a medical doctor with 36 years of
experience, but I am not Hillary Clinton's treating physician, so I can't claim
that what I'm about to tell you is a conclusive diagnosis.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">That a video reportedly showing what looked to be a
tubular metallic object plopping out of her right pants leg onto the
ground proves that she wears leg or hip braces or that the
object in question was an ostomy bag clip, a catheter, a mind control receiver
or a crack pipe.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">That she has in fact died and has been replaced by a
body double.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">In the meantime, Mrs. Clinton’s personal physician has
released a statement attesting to her good health.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">But when all is said and done, her health really isn’t
the major issue here. It’s her
credibility. After all, nobody expects a
68-year-old woman to go out swimming with the Navy Seals. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">She has damaged her reputation by keeping her medical
condition secret until it was played out in public before a national audience. Now,
to many, every goofy internet posting just might be true.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">And what would have happened if she announced she had
a mild case of pneumonia and was taking few days off to recover? Oh, sure, the Trump people would have accused
her of lacking stamina. But that could have been spun as misogyny, not unknown
in Trump circles. And the political damage would have been minimal. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Now, her campaign is on the defensive. And while
defense might win football games, it’s a lousy way to win an election.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">She has not only played into the hands of her
detractors but the media will be all eyes and ears every time she so much as
sneezes on the campaign trail. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Every misstep or cough or crooked smile will be
reported in tones usually reserved for the death of a pope. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Mrs. Clinton will survive pneumonia. But healing her broken
reputation will be the biggest challenge she’ll have to overcome.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">News: Rams lose
opening game, 28-0.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Views: I was a Ram fan from childhood to adulthood and
was angry and frustrated when they left town. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">I was delighted when I heard they were returning. But
even more than that, I was amazed at their public relations acumen.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">They blew into town with banners unfurled. They announced plans for a $3 billion dollar
stadium in Inglewood which would feature a venue of up to 100,240 seats
(including standing room only seats) while reconfiguring the previously
approved Hollywood Park plan for up to 890,000 square feet of retail, 780,000
square feet of office space, 2,500 new residential units, a 300-room hotel and
25 acres of public parks, playgrounds, open space and pedestrian and bicycle
access. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Then they engineered a blockbuster trade to acquire the No. 1 pick in the NFL draft which they used to
select Cal quarterback Jared Goff. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Keeping up the momentum, they secured the starring
role in “Hard Knocks,” a popular HBO series that documents NFL training camps.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Not done, they scheduled their first exhibition game
at the Coliseum versus the Dallas Cowboys who like to call themselves
“America’s team.” It drew an astounding 90,000 fans.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Their first regular season game was against long-time
rivals, the San Francisco 49ers on the iconic Monday Night Football
broadcast. Their first home game is
against the Seattle Seahawks, coached by Pete Carroll who led USC to numerous
championships at the Coliseum.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Brilliantly conceived.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">But in the midst of this public outreach, someone
forgot to assemble a competitive team.
Goff has so far been a bust, relegated to the sidelines in civilian
clothes. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Their opening game performance was so abysmal I
thought Donald Sterling was running the show.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Public relations, no matter how well executed, can’t
mask a poor product. And while the Rams may turn it around, they may soon find
that this town only supports a winner.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Lose a few more games and their fans will be spending
the day at the beach.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">Robert Rector is a
veteran of 50 years in print journalism. He has worked at the
San Francisco Examiner, Los Angeles Herald Examiner, Valley News, Los </span></i></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18409865691924580623noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24866145.post-20377189431937131672016-09-11T14:06:00.001-07:002016-09-11T14:06:07.444-07:00Out at Home<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">I know far too many people who live in the past. Talk to them for a while, and it becomes
apparent that high school was a profoundly epic experience, one they relive day
in and day out.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">I enjoy dabbling in nostalgia occasionally. But I choose
to enjoy my dwindling number of tomorrows instead of all those yesterdays.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">There is one tomorrow I’m dreading, however. That will
occur at the end of the month when Dodger announcer Vin Scully retires after 67
years on the job.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">It should be a big league sendoff, befitting the best
of them all. But it probably won’t
be. More on that later.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">If one’s life has a soundtrack, mine is orchestrated
by Scully. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Back in the days before most games were televised,
Scully was the Dodgers. His voice on the radio meant spring was here. When
Scully called the Dodgers, it was time to get the lawn furniture out, fix a
cool drink and listen to the drama unfold as only a master story teller could
describe it. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">And when I did get to a game at the Coliseum or Dodger
Stadium, it was Scully's voice that dominated the scene, broadcast over a
thousand portable radios clutched by fans throughout the park. It was as though
even if you saw the action with your own eyes, you needed Scully to validate
it.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">How good is he?
Hall of Fame pitcher Sandy Koufax once said of him, “It may sound corny,
but, I enjoyed listening to Vin call a game almost more than playing in them.” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">How popular is he?
He was once asked to run for governor.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">How unique is he?
He blends the objectivity of a reporter with the soul of a poet.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">But it was more than that. It was Scully’s voice that was a constant
during life’s milestones.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">I listened to him as a teenager. I listened to him
when I married and started a career. I listened to him the weekend my wife and
I moved into the house we still occupy after 43 years. I listened to him as I held my children in my
arms and later when we would play catch in the back yard. I listened as I
waited for them as teenagers to return from dates. I listened when they went
off to college.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Through triumphs and tragedies, Vin Scully was a reassuring
presence in our lives.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Vincent Edward Scully has been named California
Sportscaster of the Year 28 times, he received the Ford Frick Award from the
Baseball Hall of Fame in 1982, was honored with a Life Achievement Emmy Award
for sportscasting and induction into the Radio Hall of Fame in 1995, and was
named Broadcaster of the Century by the American Sportscasters Association in 2000.
In 2014, he was grand marshal of the Rose Parade, an honor he should have
received about 20 years earlier.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">He has a star on the Hollywood Walk of fame. The Los
Angeles City Council in a unanimous vote, renamed Elysian Park Avenue to
Vin Scully Avenue, changing the address of Dodger Stadium to 1000 Vin
Scully Ave.<sup><o:p></o:p></sup></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Through the power of his voice, he has almost single handedly made the Dodgers one of the top drawing franchises in all of sport.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">And how has the team rewarded him? By making him invisible.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Seventy per cent of us don’t get Dodgers broadcasts. And
haven’t for three years.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Worse, if you want to hear Scully on the radio, he
only calls the first three innings. After that, he’s only heard on a cable channel
you probably don’t get. Talk about twisting the knife.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">All this is thanks to Time Warner, a bumbling cable
company that paid way too much ($8.35 billion) for broadcast rights and now
can’t sell the telecasts to other outlets, and the Dodger owners who
refuse to re-do the deal. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">I guess we are supposed to enthusiastically support a
team that doesn’t care if they have insulted and alienated their fans, made
themselves into the poster boys for corporate greed and, worse, silenced an
icon.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Now we learn that the Dodgers and KTLA Channel 5 have
struck a deal to bring us the last five games of the season. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Great. If you can negotiate 5 games, why not 10? Or the entire month? Throwing the fans a bone is about as far as
our corporate overlords are prepared to go.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">And believe it:
If it wasn’t Scully’s swan song, we wouldn’t have gotten that.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">But in the meantime, I’ll be able to enjoy one more
time the guy who brought joy to Mudville, the voice whose popularity has crossed
generational, economic and racial lines.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">And it will bring back a lot of memories.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">After all, it was Vin who once said, “It’s a mere
moment in a man’s life between the All-Star Game and an old-timer’s game.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Robert Rector is a veteran of 50 years in
print journalism. He has worked at the San Francisco Examiner, Los Angeles
Herald Examiner, Valley News, Los Angeles Times and Pasadena Star-News. His
columns can be found at </span></i><a href="mailto:Robert-Rector@Blogspot.Com" target="_blank"><i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Robert-Rector@Blogspot.Com</span></i></a><i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">.</span></i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18409865691924580623noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24866145.post-6332153730378746052016-09-02T14:34:00.000-07:002016-09-02T14:34:18.646-07:00Fat Chance<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Labor Day was established as a public
holiday to honor the American labor movement and the
contributions that workers have made to the strength, prosperity, and
well-being of the country. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">A noble gesture indeed.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Here in our neck of the woods, it also marks the
opening of the L.A. County Fair which, instead of celebrating working stiffs,
has become a showcase for some of the most waist-expanding, heart
attack-inducing, imagination-defying, deep-fried-and-dipped-in-sugar culinary
monstrosities known to the human race.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">One wonders if the fair is an attempt to kill off the
working class. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">And it’s not just the L.A. event. Fairs across the country are turning into a
celebration of gluttony that would make Henry VIII proud. In Arizona they’ll
feed you Deep-Fried Scorpion on a Stick, in Minnesota a plate of Spam Curds and
in Texas, Fried Frito pie washed down with Deep-Fried Beer.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">The L.A. fair reportedly offers unique dishes, such as
Deep Fried Guacamole (served with a tub of ranch dressing) and a burger lathered
with a hefty spread of grape jam, peanut butter, and a squirt of Sriracha hot
sauce. A flame grilled patty is then topped with a handful of bacon.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">And since Chicken and Waffles is a popular dish in
L.A., one vendor takes it a step farther by wrapping his chicken in bacon
before frying it, setting it atop a waffle, and dousing it in maple syrup.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">You might want to have your cardiologist on speed
dial. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Not to be outdone, the
Orange County Fair offers the Pepsi Donut Bacon Dog: a quarter-pound
bacon-wrapped beef hot dog on a doughnut bun topped with Pepsi glaze; the Bacon
Nutella Pickle: dill pickle wrapped in bacon and filled with the popular
hazelnut cocoa spread; French Toast Bacon Bombs: sweet dough stuffed with cream
cheese, wrapped in bacon, deep fried, sprinkled with sugar and topped with
maple syrup; and the S'moreo Doughnut: a 10-inch glazed doughnut topped with
chocolate, Oreo cookie crumbles, graham crackers and marshmallow cream.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">While you’re digesting that, you may wonder: How did
fairs become the incubators of junk food?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">According to noted food writer Robert Moss, “If you
believe the popular tales, more new American foods were invented at the 1904
World's Fair in St. Louis, Missouri, than during any other single event in history.
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">“The list includes the hamburger, the hot dog, peanut
butter, iced tea, the club sandwich, cotton candy, and the ice cream cone, to
name just a few. If all the pop histories and internet stories have it right,
American foodways would be almost unrecognizable if the 1904 fair had not been
held.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Alas, some of this is good old American
hyperbole. Hamburger had been around
since Civil War days and iced tea was a drink of choice in the 1880s.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">It won’t be the first time legends trumped truth and
it would appear that the spirit of St. Louis continues to this day in
fairgrounds throughout our land.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">How else could we explain Deep Fried Kool Aid, Deep
Fried Butter, Chicken Fried Bacon, a Deep Fried Spaghetti-Stuffed Meatball,
Chocolate Bacon on a Stick or Deep-Fried Tequila Shots. All available at a fair near you.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">But wait, there’s more: a Hot Beef Sundae, layered
with mashed potatoes, marinated beef, gravy, cheese, corn "sprinkles"
and a cherry (tomato); Grilled python kebabs seasoned with Worcestershire sauce,
liquid smoke, Old Bay and lemon-pepper (let me guess, it tastes like chicken); Elvis
on a Stick: a deep fried banana-battered peanut butter cup with bacon; and deep
fried mashed potatoes on a stick.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">It’s enough to make Paula Deen look like Jenny Craig.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">So why do we eat this stuff? Leave it to the New York Times to delve
deeply into the subject and come up with an explanation only a psychiatrist
would love:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">It’s all about “decision fatigue.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">According to a Times article, no matter how rational
and high-minded you try to be, you can’t make decision after decision without
paying a biological price. It’s different from ordinary physical fatigue
—you’re not consciously aware of being tired — but you’re low on mental energy.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">The more choices you make throughout the day, the
article says, the harder each one becomes for your brain, and eventually it
looks for shortcuts. One shortcut is to become reckless: to act impulsively instead
of expending the energy to first think through the consequences.<br />
<br />
OK, that works for me. Now pass me that Deep Fried Butter. And add a dash of Lipitor.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Robert Rector is a veteran of 50 years in
print journalism. He has worked at the San </span></i><i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Francisco Examiner, Los Angeles
Herald Examiner, Valley News, Los Angeles Times and Pasadena Star-News. His
columns can be found at </span></i><a href="mailto:Robert-Rector@Blogspot.Com" target="_blank"><i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Robert-Rector@Blogspot.Com</span></i></a><i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">.</span></i></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18409865691924580623noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24866145.post-50695525744965786352016-08-26T21:22:00.001-07:002016-08-26T21:22:23.577-07:00Looking Back in Anger<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Once upon a time, there was a publication called the
Weekly World News that occupied a special niche in American journalism.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">It was a supermarket tabloid but unique in that tawdry
genre. It went places no other publication dared to go.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Where else could you read stories like </span><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> "</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Satan
Captured by GIs in Iraq” or "Termites Eat the Eifel Tower," or "Hard
Up Sheik Sheds His Wives, 200 Woman Harem to be Sold on eBay." or "Alien
Bible Found, They Worship Oprah” or “I Was Bigfoot’s Love Slave.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Its philosophy was best explained by Sal Ivon, a
former managing editor, who said, "If someone calls me up and says their
toaster is talking to them, I don't refer them to professional help, I say,
'Put the toaster on the phone'."<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Perhaps its most popular feature was a column written
by the fictitious Ed Anger, a
perpetually angry conservative (a typical column began "I'm pig-biting
mad!"), who railed against illegal immigrants, women and speed limits among
many other perceived ills. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Not to mention Democrats, wild animals that somehow
need protection even though they have claws, complicated foods, and most
television programming.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Anger also hated foreigners, yoga, whales and
pineapple on pizza; he liked flogging, electrocutions and beer. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">He even authored a book entitled “Let's Pave the Stupid Rainforests & Give
School Teachers Stun Guns and Other Ways to Save America.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">Here’s Ed on Obamacare: “Their
plan was to bore half the country to death and give the other half heart
attacks, so we’d all be dead anyhow and wouldn’t need doctors!”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">On China: “if I were
President Obama, I’d make the Chinese buy only American for five years, just to make up for robbing
us blind – or we’ll bomb ’em back to the Stone Age where they came from.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">On legalized marijuana: “All
my life I heard smoking that stuff made you a shiftless degenerate – and now
the government wants to hand it out free to everybody! It won’t really be
“free,” of course – you and I are the ones paying for it. We have to work two
or three jobs and cough up half our dough, so these lazy dope fiends can have
their wild crazy parties and eat corn chips all day in their underpants!”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">The Weekly World News
disappeared somewhere into cyberspace a few years back and Ed Anger along with
it. But if you noticed a certain similarity
between Anger’s vitriol and the rhetoric of this year’s Republican Party, you
wouldn’t be wrong.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">Could it be that Donald
Trump’s politics were shaped by a ghost-written satirical column in a
supermarket tabloid? Or, to borrow from
a WWN staple, is Elvis alive and directing his campaign?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">We’ll never know. But Trump
clearly has a lot of Anger in him. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">Here are a few of the
candidate’s positions which could be straight out of the pages of Weekly World
News:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">His political background: “What
do I know about it? All I know is what's on the internet." <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">The military: “Why can’t we use nuclear weapons?" –Trump,
reportedly asking a foreign policy adviser three times during a meeting why the
U.S. couldn’t use its nuclear weapons stockpile, according to MSNBC's Joe
Scarborough.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">Foreign policy: “Russia, if you’re listening, I hope you’re
able to find the 30,000 (Hillary Clinton) emails that are missing. I think you
will probably be rewarded mightily by our press." –Trump, calling on
Russian espionage services to intervene in the U.S. election.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">Leadership: "I alone
can fix it." –Trump in his acceptance speech at the Republican National
Convention, July 21, 2016.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">Race relations: "I’ve
been treated very unfairly by this judge. Now, this judge is of Mexican
heritage. I'm building a wall, OK? I'm building a wall." –Trump, accusing
U.S. District Judge Gonzalo Curiel, who is presiding over the fraud case
against Trump University, of being biased against him because of his Mexican
heritage, despite the fact that he is a U.S. citizen who was born in Indiana.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">"When Mexico sends its
people, they're not sending their best. They're sending people that have lots
of problems...they're bringing drugs, they're bringing crime. They're
rapists." <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">"Donald J. Trump is
calling for a total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States
until our country's representatives can figure out what is going
on." <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">“I have a great
relationship with the blacks.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">“Happy Cinco De Mayo! The best taco bowls are made in Trump Tower
Grill. I love Hispanics!” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">Women’s issues: “I think
the only card she has is the women's card. She has got nothing else going.
Frankly, if Hillary Clinton were a man, I don't think she would get 5% of the
vote. And the beautiful thing is women don't like her, OK?"<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">"There has to be some
form of punishment…you go back to a position like they had where they would
perhaps go to illegal places, but we have to ban it." –Trump on women who
have abortions.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">"Look at that face!
Would anyone vote for that? Can you imagine that, the face of our next
president? I mean, she's a woman, and I'm not supposed to say bad things, but
really, folks, come on. Are we serious?" – Trump on primary opponent Carly
Fiona.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"> "If Hillary
Clinton can't satisfy her husband what makes her think she can satisfy
America?"<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">His constituents: "We
won with poorly educated. I love the poorly educated." –Trump on his
performance with voters who helped him win the Nevada Caucus.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">"I could stand in the
middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody, and I wouldn't lose any voters,
okay? It's, like, incredible." <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">Ed Anger would cheer. He couldn't have said it better himself.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Robert Rector is a veteran of 50 years in
print journalism. He has worked at the San Francisco Examiner, Los Angeles Herald
Examiner, Valley News, Los Angeles Times and Pasadena Star-News. His columns
can be found at </span></i><a href="mailto:Robert-Rector@Blogspot.Com" target="_blank"><i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Robert-Rector@Blogspot.Com</span></i></a><i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">.</span></i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<br /></div>
</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18409865691924580623noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24866145.post-43697545207302391882016-08-20T16:30:00.001-07:002016-08-21T20:56:01.712-07:00Don't Go There<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Summer is winding down but there is still a few weeks
left to squeeze in some vacation time.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Europe?
Hawaii? Legoland? There are lots
of choices but, like a friendly old uncle, I’m here today to put my arm around your
shoulder and advise you on a couple of places to avoid:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 12.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Pittsburgh. OK, it wasn’t on your bucket list anyway but
I’ve been there dozens of times (I have in-laws nearby) and it is a beautiful and lively city with great food and the best sports fans in the world. Some locals call it the Paris of Appalachia.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 12.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">So why stay away? Here’s
why. Uber customers in Pittsburgh later this month can begin hopping
into vehicles that can drive themselves to their destination</span><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 12.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">And hilarity or carnage
could ensue. You don’t want to be the victim of either.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 12.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Uber has
been quietly testing a handful of tech-laden Volvo cars in Pittsburgh which is headquarters for the tech company's autonomous car
research facility. Many of its staffers are former robotics experts from nearby
Carnegie Mellon University, a self-driving car technology hotbed.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 12.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Volvo has so far
delivered a "handful of vehicles" to Uber, but expects to have 100
SUVs ready by the end of the year, according to a Bloomberg report. The
cars will be staffed with safety drivers, per current transportation laws.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 12.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Just so you understand
this, you’ll be jumping into a car that will be navigating a city that was laid
out for horse carts in a vehicle imagined by an industry that recalled 56
million cars last year. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 12.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">And, of course,
Pittsburgh is dissected by three large rivers:
The Allegheny, the Monongahela which meet up to form the Ohio. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 12.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Do robotic cars
float? Stay tuned.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 12.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">The other destination is
North Korea. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 12.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">It was probably much
farther down your bucket list than Pittsburgh but maybe your inner explorer is
urging you onward to more adventuresome locales.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 12.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">After all, the North
Korean national anthem declares, “Let morning shine on the silver and gold of
this land/ Three thousand leagues packed with natural wealth.<br />
<br />
“My beautiful fatherland/ The glory of a wise people/Brought up in a culture
brilliant/With a history five millennia long.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 12.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">How bad can it be? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 12.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Plenty, as it turns out. We
all know Kim Jong Un and his cohorts as iron-fisted rulers of a rogue nation that hates Americans and leads the world in human rights violations.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 12.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">And if you’re a visitor, utter a bad word about Dear Leader and you could do 50 years at hard labor.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 12.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Still want to go? There’s even more bad news. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 12.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">It seems that for the
fourth year in a row, North Korea’s Air Koryo has claimed the dubious honor of
being ranked the worst carrier in the world.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 12.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Meaning it may be more
dangerous getting there than being there.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 12.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Among the gripes: the
onboard meal of hamburgers made of a “mystery meat,” safety demonstrations that
often were skipped, entertainment that consisted of propaganda films played in
a loop and overhead luggage racks with no doors to keep bags from falling
down on fliers during turbulence, according to travel writer extraordinaire Hugo Martin.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 12.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">You’ll also be traveling
on aging Russian aircraft. Think getting
a 1973 Plymouth for a rental car.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 12.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Chinese authorities just
announced they will limit the
operations of Air Koryo, after a Beijing-bound flight made an emergency landing
last month.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 12.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">The flight from Pyongyang
had to land in the North-eastern Chinese city of Shenyang because of smoke in
the cabin. No one was injured in the incident.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 12.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">China's Civil Aviation
Administration announced "relevant measures to limit operations"
without giving any details.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 12.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">As for me, I take these ratings
with a grain of salt.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 12.0pt;">
<span style="background: white; color: #333333; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Malaysia Airlines, struck
by two incidents that left all passengers on board dead
or missing in 2014, was given five stars out of a possible seven in one
recent rating.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 12.0pt;">
<i><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Robert Rector is a
veteran of 50 years in print journalism. He has worked at the San Francisco
Examiner, Los Angeles Herald Examiner, Valley News, Los Angeles Times and
Pasadena Star-News. His columns can be found at </span></i><a href="mailto:Robert-Rector@Blogspot.Com" target="_blank"><i><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Robert-Rector@Blogspot.Com</span></i></a><i><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">.
</span></i><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 12.0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 12.0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 12.0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 12.0pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 12.0pt;">
<br /></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18409865691924580623noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24866145.post-53069128287254209402016-08-13T13:31:00.001-07:002016-08-15T16:37:06.086-07:00Not So Golden Moments<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">I have watched the Olympics since they were broadcast
in black and white.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Let me clarify that.
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">I have had the TV tuned to the Olympics since they
were broadcast in black and white.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Nobody watches the entire menu of Olympic events, not even
in 1960 when CBS first offered American viewers 20 hours of highlights from
Rome. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">It was pre-satellite days so they had to fly the tapes
from Rome to New York to put them on the air.
Talk about delay of game. Talk about anti-climactic.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Certainly not now when NBC is bombarding us with 6755
hours of coverage on multiple channels.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Nobody in their right mind would watch the entire
thing. But I almost did.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">It seems I was required to have hip surgery recently,
an act that required me to rehabilitate at home for what seemed like forever
plus.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">So what do you do to pass the time? You read a book. Or you watch TV.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">I watched the political conventions while taking
powerful prescription pain medicine which led to numerous surreal experiences,
very strange and difficult to understand. I’m sure if I had not been medicated,
it would have all made perfect sense.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> I did get my
head cleared in time to watch Donald Trump’s acceptance speech. Then I quickly reached for more pain pills.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Hillary Clinton’s address was about as exciting as a
PTA treasurer’s report. I needed no
medicinal help. I fell asleep after 15
minutes.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">So much for the future of our country.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">I quickly devoured the books I had set aside and was
faced with the vast wasteland that is daytime TV: “Dr. Phil,” Dr. Drew,” “Judge
Judy,” “Naked and Afraid,” “My 600-lb Life,” every “Law and Order” ever made and
lots of shows about UFOs and Nostradamus, sometimes combined into one
blockbuster.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">My salvation was the Olympics and because of my
circumstances I was ready to embrace every minute.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">That didn’t last long. NBC broadcast the opening ceremony
on a one-hour delay on the East Coast. The West Coast was delayed by an
additional three hours. While the rest of the world was watching, we were
waiting.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">And while we were waiting, we were subjected to
endless commercials, mindless happy talk and constant promotional reminders
that we have a really good women’s gymnastics team.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">The Brazilians, not surprisingly, put on a heck of an
opening show. Then came the parade of athletes, always interesting, but this
time so disorganized it looked like commuters being disgorged from a subway
station.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">If was after 9 p.m. when the parade began. It ran so
long I was off to bed before Lichtenstein strolled into the stadium.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">But I’m all about second chances so I tuned in again
and again. Again and again I was awash
in commercials wrapped around profiles of people and places.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">It also seemed that every time I decided to watch,
somebody was doing something in a swimming pool. What did they have, about
10,000 events? Or maybe NBC focused on swimming because the U.S. had a superior
team. Nothing like a winner to boost ratings.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">I also became increasingly irritated by the way NBC
bounced around between events that gave little time for the viewer to get
interested.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">If you’re going to get me hooked on the canoe slalom
or taekwondo, I need time to understand what I’m seeing.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Of course, we could have anticipated this.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">NBC’s chief marketing officer John Miller explained
the network’s approach this way:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">“The people who watch the Olympics are not
particularly sports fans,” he told Philly.com recently. “More women watch
the games than men, and for the women, they’re less interested in the result and
more interested in the journey. It’s sort of like the ultimate reality show and
miniseries wrapped into one.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">That brought this response from Sally Jenkins writing
in the Washington Post:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">“The Olympics is the most prominent competition in the
world and 53 percent of Team USA is female, which means American women likely
will bring in more medals than American men. Yet they will be presented in
packaging aimed at a Ladies’ Home Journal crowd.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Maybe that's why we heard commentators like NBC broadcaster
Dan Hicks, who after Hungarian swimmer Katinka Hosszu won gold and set a world
record in the 400-meter individual medley, immediately started talking about
her husband and coach, calling him “the guy responsible.” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Or the Chicago Tribune, which referred to two-time
trapshooting medalist Corey Cogdell as “wife of a Bears’ lineman” in a
headline, rather than using her name.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">We lagged badly in the sexism competition, however.
The winner was a German equestrian commentator for ARD TV, Carsten Sostmeier, who
opened an interview with rider Julia Krajewski with, “Let's see what the
blondie has to say.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">He went on to call her a “scaredy-cat" and said
she was so afraid of the course that "there was a brown stripe in her
panties." <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Or maybe this is what passes for German humor.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">I’m walking unaided now and getting out and about.
That means my Olympics viewing will occur in fits and starts.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">I’m sure in the future I’ll watch but, baring medical
complications, it will be selectively.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">If there is a future. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> In 2015 the US nominated Boston for the 2024
Summer Games, until Boston withdrew because of low public support. Germany
nominated Hamburg but it pulled out after the local government lost another
referendum. Toronto’s mooted bid was scrapped when its economic development
committee voted against it. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Right now, the four candidate cities are Rome, Budapest,
Los Angeles and Paris. In Hungary, the supreme court has just blocked a
proposed referendum. And in Italy, Rome’s new mayor, Virginia Raggi,
has repeatedly said she opposes the bid.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">It looks like Our Fair City may win by default, maybe
permanently. And if it does, I’m betting NBC will still try selling us the
journey rather than the results.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><i style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 18.48px;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 19.9733px;">Robert Rector is a veteran of 50 years in print journalism. He has worked at the San Francisco Examiner, Los Angeles Herald Examiner, Valley News, Los Angeles Times and Pasadena Star-News. His columns can be found at </span></i><a href="mailto:Robert-Rector@Blogspot.Com" style="background-color: white; color: #888888; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 18.48px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank"><i><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 19.9733px;">Robert-Rector@Blogspot.Com</span></i></a><i style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 18.48px;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 19.9733px;">. Follow him on Twitter at @robertrector1.</span></i></span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18409865691924580623noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24866145.post-86460375469137425812016-07-31T14:41:00.001-07:002016-07-31T14:41:07.230-07:00The Write Stuff<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">This column is being written by a human being.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">An honest-to God, flesh and blood, living and
breathing member of the human race who formulates the words in his brain, then
lets them spill off his fingertips onto a computer keyboard sometimes with
mixed results.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">I mention this because sometime in the not too distant
future, what you read --- on your Twitter account, Facebook page, in your daily
newspaper --- will have been written not on a computer but by a computer. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> This is not the
stuff of science fiction. It’s already
taking place. Don’t be surprised if you
see a byline soon that says “I. Robot.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">To underscore how rapidly the media/communications business
is evolving, consider this recent job posting that caused more than a little
shock and awe in social media circles.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> “…Content
Agency is seeking a dedicated individual to join our SmartContent product team
as a Content Specialist, to develop and support our news content harvesting
robots and classification and management systems… We maintain and enhance a
mission-critical data ingestion system that gathers and distributes
market-moving, ground-breaking content every day in support of (our) content
platforms and enterprise feeds.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">“…Work with our team of content specialists and
ontologists to craft customized information solutions for our hundreds of
clients worldwide. Day to day responsibilities include designing and deploying
specialized content harvesting robots, creating and enhancing tools to
facilitate data collection, and expanding and refining our industry-leading
news ontology.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">A computer science degree would be preferred but the
company is also open to people who have studied English or journalism. Although
in truth, this person won’t be working for a newspaper but a news curation
service.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">This posting makes two things clear: (1) Someone had better integrate an editing
component into this system so the word “content” doesn’t appear eight times in
two paragraphs. And (2) lose the phrase “news content harvesting robots” which sounds
like a giant Pac Man hunting down and devouring hapless reporters.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">What it means is that news gathering and distribution will be unlike anything we've ever seen. Included in the Brave New World will be stories untouched by human hands.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">For example:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">A company
originated by two electrical engineering and computer science professors at
Northwestern University automatically generates sports stories using commonly
available information such as box scores and play-by-plays. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">Along with the text is an appropriate headline and a
photo of what the program deems as the most important player in the game.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">It’s not a stretch to see this same principal being
applied to police and court news, election and political stories, government and
agency reporting.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">You won’t get much in the way of context, analysis and
interviews. And deftly written articles
will be rare.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Instead you will be informed, educated and entertained by
stories that convey all the insight and readability of a 140-character Tweet.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">The Associated Press is already using an automated
system to produce quarterly earning stories for its business clients. The AP now
publishes 3,000 such stories every quarter — and that number is poised to grow.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">James Kotecki is a spokesman for a company called
Automated Insights, whose Wordsmith platform generates millions of articles per
week. Their partners include Allstate,
Comcast, and Yahoo, whose fantasy football reports are automated. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Kotecki estimates the company's system can produce
2,000 articles per second if need be.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Kris Hammond who works for a firm called Narrative
Science suggests, with an edge of mischief, that a computer will win a Pulitzer
prize within five years, and that 90% of journalism will be written by computer
by 2030.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">I can hear the nation’s newspaper executives lick
their chops as they envision a business with little or no overhead. Just build
robots to replace reporters. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">All of this puts me square in the middle of the tracks
as a giant locomotive called “Progress” speeds toward me.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">But before I get run over, I hope someone will develop
an algorithm that will collect the works of journalists who actually write
their own stories so we can be reminded of what we could lose.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
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<i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Robert Rector is a veteran of 50 years in
print journalism. He has worked at the San Francisco Examiner, Los Angeles
Herald Examiner, Valley News, Los Angeles Times and Pasadena Star-News. His
columns can be found at </span></i><a href="mailto:Robert-Rector@Blogspot.Com" target="_blank"><i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Robert-Rector@Blogspot.Com</span></i></a><i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">.
Follow him on Twitter at @robertrector1.</span></i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18409865691924580623noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24866145.post-61865145492716444222016-06-26T15:37:00.005-07:002016-06-26T15:37:52.043-07:00Mr. Cool<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Let me say right up front, I'm a weather wimp.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">I'm Southern California born and bred and when the
temperature dips below 70 or rises above 90, I become easily irritated, feeling
like a slave to oppressive weather.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Oh sure, I've lived other places: San Francisco where
summer never comes and the fog seeps into your bones; and Washington, D.C., a
place so hot in July and August that the British Foreign Service once declared
it a hardship post, considering it
harsher than Calcutta.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">All things considered, I'll take Los Angeles, where
the voices of songbirds waft on jasmine-scented breezes.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Alas, for the last week or so, the songbirds have
fallen silent and the jasmine is wilting.
106 in Pasadena? 108 in Burbank? Those are the kind of temperatures we see in
Mecca.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">And according to some scientists, it is the new
reality.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Let us pause for a moment then, wipe up the beads of
sweat that have migrated from our foreheads to the tips of our noses, and honor
the memory of Willis Carrier.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Because if it hadn’t been for Mr. Carrier, life in Our
Fair City during the summer would be like taking up residence in a pizza oven.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Carrier was notable for two things: He had a relative described as the “Queen of
Hell” hanged as a witch in Salem in 1692.
He is credited with inventing modern day air-conditioning. It’s unclear
if one event led to the other.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Carrier was no tinkerer. He held a bachelor of science
degree in mechanical engineering from Cornell University and in 1902 was called
upon to solve a quality problem experienced at the Sackett-Wilhelms
Lithographing & Publishing Company of Brooklyn. It seems high
temperatures and humidity was causing their paper to wrinkle.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Carrier submitted drawings for what became recognized
as the world's first modern air conditioning system and was ultimately awarded
a patent. Other factories eventually wanted in on the action so Carrier
established Carrier Air Conditioning Company of America.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Carrier had produced one of the great inventions of
the 20<sup>th</sup> century but success was a long time coming, interrupted by
two World Wars and a Depression. But by
the end of World War II, business and booming. And by 2012, Carrier was a $12.5
billion company with over 43,000 employees serving customers in 170 countries
on six continents.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Other great moments in air conditioning history:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">200 A.D. The
2nd-century Chinese inventor Ding Huan of the Han
Dynasty invented a rotary fan for air conditioning, with seven manually
powered wheels 9.8 feet in diameter. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">201 A.D. The
first fight over control of the office thermostat was reported.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">In July of 1881, a</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">fter an
assassin shoots President James Garfield, naval engineers build a boxy
makeshift cooling unit to keep him cool and comfortable. The device is filled
with water-soaked cloth and a fan blows hot air overhead and keeps cool air
closer to the ground. The device can lower room temperature by up to 20 degrees
but it uses a half-million pounds of ice in two months. And President Garfield still dies.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">In 1914, the first home air conditioning unit was
installed in a mansion owned by Charles Gates in Minneapolis. According to one
report, it was 7 feet high, 6 feet wide, 20 feet long and possibly never
used because no one ever lived in the house.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">In 1931, </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">H.H.
Schultz and J.Q. Sherman invented an individual room air
conditioner that sits on a window ledge but the cost was prohibitive
($10,000 and up) for most people. If you
wanted air conditioning, you found a movie theater with a sign out front that
said, “It’s cool inside.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Packard offered the first air conditioned car in 1939.
Unfortunately, should the Packard's passengers get chilly, the driver had to stop
the engine, open the hood, and disconnect a compressor belt.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">In 1942</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">,
the United States builds its first "summer peaking" power plant made
to handle the growing electrical load of air conditioning.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">In the 1950s</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">,
residential air conditioning becomes just another way to keep up with the
Joneses. More than 1 million units are sold in 1953 alone. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">And, of course, thanks to Mr. Carrier, Phoenix morphed
from a roadside gas station to a city of 1.6 million. The folks down there call
it the Valley of the Sun which is like calling the South Pole a “winter
wonderland.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">So how did we survive for thousands of years without
air conditioning?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">People built houses differently with high ceilings and
deep porches that often protected windows from the heat of the sun. Windows
were also placed to allow cross ventilation.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">In cases where it wasn't possible to have two windows
on opposite sides of a single room, architects would line up rooms in a row, allowing
air to flow between them. You can see this in old shotgun homes in New Orleans.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Porches were important, not just for shading the
windows of a home, but also for providing a place where people could sit
outside, out of the glare of the sun, and perhaps enjoy a breeze. This led to a
whole culture of people sitting outside on their porches after supper, which
has essentially disappeared. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Some older houses were also built with sleeping
porches, screened-in porches where one could sleep during the summer, enjoying
the breezes but protected from bugs.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Best of all, people took naps. People in parts
of Spain still do this — they nap during the hottest hours of the day, resume
work later in the afternoon, and then shop and socialize once the sun has gone
down.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">My advice for this summer: keep cool, especially when your utility bill
arrives.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Robert Rector is a veteran of 50 years in
print journalism. He has worked at the San Francisco Examiner, Los Angeles
Herald Examiner, Valley News, Los Angeles Times and Pasadena Star-News. His
columns can be found at </span></i><a href="mailto:Robert-Rector@Blogspot.Com" target="_blank"><i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Robert-Rector@Blogspot.Com</span></i></a><i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">.
Follow him on Twitter at @robertrector1.</span></i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18409865691924580623noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24866145.post-46949352156024637642016-06-18T17:12:00.001-07:002016-06-19T12:46:33.350-07:00Is There a Future in Fatherhood?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 14pt;">I don’t know what Father’s Day will look like 50 or
100 years from now. I suspect
gender-specific celebrations will have fallen out of favor.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">But for today, at least, it remains a time to doff our
hats to the Defenders of the Cave, the Slayers of Dragons, Disposers of Scary
Insects, Uncloggers of Toilets, Movers of Furniture and Grillers of Meat.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">An old-fashioned notion, perhaps. But I suspect in many homes that Mother’s Day
still means long-stemmed roses and champagne brunches while Father’s Day means
a new crescent wrench and a beer by the barbecue.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">As a small boy once said of Father's Day: “It's just
like Mother's Day only you don't spend so much." <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">That’s OK with me.
I don’t want to be fussed over on Father’s Day. After all, when it comes to the gestation and
production of a child, moms do all the heavy lifting.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">When our little bundles arrived, I discovered that I
had to man up or move out. So I changed diapers, read bedtime stories, fixed
breakfast, lunch and dinner when called upon, rose at dawn on the weekends so
my wife could sleep in and in my spare time made sure I imparted the foundation
of my profession to my kids: critical
thinking skills, a healthy skepticism and a sense of humor. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Along with my wife, I went to what seemed like several
million piano recitals, soccer games, back to school nights and PTA pancake
breakfasts. In sickness and in health.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">If I had to do it all again, I gladly would. I didn’t
have to be prodded to be an active dad. If you loved your family, it’s what you
did. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">All of this is somewhat remarkable in that my wife and
I came of age in the Eisenhower administration. Women wore aprons, stayed at
home, tended the kids and joined book clubs. Men went off to work (or war, as
the case may be), came home to their pipe and slippers and left for work early the
next morning. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">By the time we were married in the late 60s, all of
that was beginning to change. Parenthood and child rearing were becoming shared
responsibilities, women were entering the work force, aprons had all but
disappeared. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">So had the notion of Dad as a Sage Breadwinner who
dispensed dollops of advice and little else.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Fast forward to now:
On the surface, things seem to be about the same. The ideal dad is married,
invested and present in the lives of his children, living with his family, and
employed in full-time stable work with good pay and benefits. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Because his wife is also working full time, the
sharing of responsibilities has become more than a moral obligation. It’s an
economic necessity.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">We see plenty of dads, happily carrying their babies
in Snuglis and men’s bathrooms have changing tables, so all must be well.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Not so fast, say Oregon State University professor Richard
A. Settersten Jr. and assistant professor Doris Cancel-Tirado in their study,
“Fatherhood as a Hidden Variable in Men’s Development and Life Courses.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">There are disturbing social trends facing men,
including the rise of men having children outside of marriage, the increase in
men having children with numerous women and the growing numbers of divorced fathers,
say the professors, quoted in the Huffington Post.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Divorce all too often reduces a dad’s time with his
kids or cuts him out of the picture entirely. But men who have kids outside of
marriage, often African-American men and those without college degrees, are
even less likely to be involved in their lives than divorced dads, they note.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">A survey by the Pew Research Center found that marriage,
while declining among all groups, remains the norm for adults with a college
education and good income but is now markedly less prevalent among those on the
lower rungs of the socio-economic ladder.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">The survey also finds striking differences by
generation. In 1960, two-thirds (68%) of all twenty-somethings were married. In
recent surveys, just 26% were. How many of today’s youth will eventually marry
is an open question. For now, the survey finds that the young are much
more inclined than their elders to view cohabitation without marriage and other
new family forms — such as same sex marriage and interracial marriage — in a
positive light.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">All of which means that the ideal father isn’t nearly
as widespread as we’d like to believe, the professors say. Instead, there are
many more fathers today who are vulnerable — not in the sensitive guy kind of
way, but in their ability to be present and provide for their children.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">“In aggregate, men are becoming less intensely
involved with and committed to children,” they write. Instead, the trends
suggest “men’s family relationships en masse remain relatively fragmented and
tenuous.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">This is a troubling trend. Research shows that
that dads have a profound influence on their kids—socially, developmentally,
economically, psychologically. They are role models and companions, and their
positive presence is a big plus for kids. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Settersten and Cancel-Tirado argue that instead of
policies that just strengthen marriage — which more and more people are
questioning, and rejecting, as a valid institution — we should be supporting
all intimate relationships as well as enlarging the legal and social
definitions of family to reflect the many types of families we have today. Flex
time, job sharing, parity in child support levels and legal benefits for
unmarried fathers raising children in committed relationships are among their
suggestions.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">It’s hard to see how all this will play out in the
future. But if you see a dad today, give
him a hug. Because, at least for the time being, fatherhood
matters.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Robert Rector is a veteran of 50 years in
print journalism. He has worked at the San Francisco Examiner, Los Angeles
Herald Examiner, Valley News, Los Angeles Times and Pasadena Star-News. His
columns can be found at </span></i><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><a href="mailto:Robert-Rector@Blogspot.Com" target="_blank"><i>Robert-Rector@Blogspot.Com</i></a><i>.
Follow him on Twitter at @robertrector1.</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18409865691924580623noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24866145.post-47257850465060212832016-06-11T17:23:00.003-07:002016-06-11T17:34:41.134-07:00Proof Positive<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">I’m a firm believer in science and its practitioners,
specifically researchers hunched over their workbenches day after day in the dingy basement
of some out-of-the-way building.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Without them, we would still be a rag-tag colony of
hunter/gatherers living in trees.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">“Hi, dear. What’s for dinner?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">“Bark.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">“Not again!”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Thanks to scientific research, we have car alarms,
automated telephone menus, mobile phone ringtones, pop-up ads, selfies, boom
boxes, microwaved food, Twitter and Facebook.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Imagine life without them.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">But sometimes researchers, in their never-ending quest
to shine the bright light of knowledge on our dull countenances, do some weird
stuff.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Consider this bit of breathless news that broke just
this past week:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">“New research from the University of Cambridge in
the United Kingdom suggests that restaurants and bars that sell and serve wine
in larger glasses cause patrons to drink more, even if the amount of alcohol
doesn't vary.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">“Over 16 weeks, researchers at the University of
Bristol studied serving patterns at a dual bar and restaurant establishment
called The Pint Shop in Cambridge. Over the course of the study, the space's
owners alternated between three different glass sizes: the "standard"
300 ml, a larger 370 ml, and a smaller 250 ml.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">“Not only did they find that people tended to buy more
wine when the bar served alcohol in larger glasses, they also found that it was
a significant amount more; patrons bought an average of 9.4 percent more wine
when it was served in the 370 ml glass, as opposed to the standard 300 ml
glass.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">And then this: “The researchers are continuing to
study the effects to confirm their hypothesis.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">These guys are geniuses. Not because they came to the
startling conclusion that people drink more when the glasses are larger. But because they found a university to pick
up their bar bill in the name of research.
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Brilliant.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">In a related development, a group of researchers asked
people at bars to rate their own attractiveness. They found that the higher the
blood alcohol content of people, the higher they rated themselves on
attractiveness. Which I guess is why they put mirrors behind bars.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">There is other notable research going on out there.
According to the website Mental Floss, a researcher trained pigeons to tell the
difference between good and bad paintings made by children. The pigeons were
positively reinforced when they pecked at good paintings and after a while,
they were able to determine which ones were good, even observing color and
pattern cues in paintings they'd never seen before. Practical application unknown.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Some other bon mots from Mental Floss:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> </span></b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">A study was
conducted at the Babraham Institute to determine whether sheep were capable of
recognizing the faces of other sheep. When the study concluded in 2001, the
researchers had discovered that sheep <i>could</i> recognize the
faces of 50 sheep about 80% of the time, and they remembered them for over two
years. Which is better than I could do.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">A group
of researchers did a study to determine whether the speed and flow of men's
urination was affected by people being too near them. In order to do this, they
left an observer with a periscope in a public restroom for extended periods of
time. He found that the closer a man had to pee next to another man, the longer
it took for him to start urinating. He also peed, on average, less if someone was standing
next to him. I suspect the research was done at some random sports venue where guys are
lined up shoulder to shoulder and 10 deep. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> </span></b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">At the University
of Minnesota, scientists discovered that it is just as easy to swim in syrup as
it is to swim in water. In order to conduct the experiment, they filled a 25
meter swimming pool with a liquid made of guar gum, a liquid that is twice as
thick as water, and it turns out that you can swim in it just fine. No Olympic records were harmed in the making of this conclusion.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Less we be accused of nerd bashing, scientists poke
fun at themselves for quirky studies. In fact, there is something called the Ig
Nobel awards, presented each year at Harvard University by the Annals of
Improbable Research magazine.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">In the past, honorees included two California
scientists who conducted extensive research on why woodpeckers don't get
headaches. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">And another group studied why pregnant women don't
tip over. Women, it appears, have slight differences in their lumbar vertebrae
that helps compensate for their changing center of gravity. So women are
different. Who knew?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Honors also went to researchers who investigated
whether suicide rates are linked to the amount of country music played on the
radio. My guess is yes.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">And Swiss scientists conducted a study that
confirmed an empty beer bottle makes a better weapon than a full beer bottle in
a fight.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Also saluted was a study that determined that lap
dancers get higher tips when they are ovulating; and a woman from MIT who
invented an alarm clock that runs away and hides, repeatedly, thus ensuring
that people do get out of bed, and thus theoretically adding many productive
hours to the workday.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">The awards aren’t always bestowed for strict
scientific research.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">The prize for mathematics was once awarded to the
Southern Baptist Church of Alabama for their county-by-county estimate of how
many Alabama citizens will go to hell if they don't repent.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">This year’s prize in Economics went to the Bangkok
Metropolitan Police for offering to pay policemen extra cash if the policemen
refuse to take bribes.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">A few years ago, the British government unveiled plans
to allocate research funding according to how much "impact" the
research has.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">The plans immediately came under fire from academics,
who say that curiosity-driven, speculative research has led to some of the most
important breakthroughs in scientific history, including penicillin, relativity
theory and the theory of evolution.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Not to mention runaway alarm clocks.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Robert Rector is a veteran of 50 years in
print journalism. He has worked at the San Francisco Examiner, Los Angeles
Herald Examiner, Valley News, Los Angeles Times and Pasadena Star-News. His
columns can be found at </span></i><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><a href="mailto:Robert-Rector@Blogspot.Com" target="_blank"><i>Robert-Rector@Blogspot.Com</i></a><i>.
Follow him on Twitter at @robertrector1.</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18409865691924580623noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24866145.post-20976966524806325282016-06-04T17:18:00.000-07:002016-06-04T17:18:05.881-07:00A Lot to Loathe<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">I found myself in a tight spot the other day.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Boxed in. Surrounded by aggressive and unfriendly
crowds.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Fearing for my safety, property and sanity.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Desperately seeking a way out.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> I was in a
Trader Joe’s parking lot. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">It doesn’t matter which one. Every one I’ve ever encountered is so small that
it wouldn’t accommodate a handball court.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">As the old joke goes: Trader Joe’s real estate agent:
“How’s the parking lot?” Land owner:
“Terrible.” Real estate agent: “Great, we’ll take it.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Yet we flock to the stores in our never-ending quest
for $2 wine, frozen quattro formaggio pizza, hatch chili mac and cheese, green olive tapenade<b> </b>and
organic low-fat yogurt wildberry probiotic smoothies.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Topped off with a broken taillight.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">So as I waited patiently behind a woman driving a SUV
the size of a Space Shuttle fuel tank, I began to wonder. If all Trader Joe’s
parking lots are tiny, we can reasonably assume that the chain’s management
wants it so.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">It’s owned by a German firm and I can envision the CEO
slamming his fist on the boardroom table and shouting, “Jawhol! We must teach
American shoppers discipline!” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Or probably not. The real reason is much more
sophisticated than that.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">According to several published reports, TJ’s small
footprint --- stores and parking lots --- translates into to cheaper prices for
consumers.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">“Trader Joe’s sells twice as much per square foot as
Whole Foods,” the investment firm JLL reports. “Trader Joe’s sells a whopping
$1,734 per square foot… In comparison, Whole Foods sells $930 per square foot.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">It seems strange to me that food sales would be
calculated in square feet. I mean, watermelons
are bigger than olives so how does that factor in? But if I was a math major, I
wouldn’t be writing this right now.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Building smaller stores with small parking lots is
part of the Trader Joe’s business model, it seems, a way to keep costs down and
pass the savings on to customers. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">They must be on to something. Whole Foods has giant
parking lots but you need to refinance your house to shop there.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Speaking of traffic, both off and on road variety, I
heard a traffic report on the radio a few weeks ago that said a motorist
driving on Laurel Canyon Blvd. hit and sheared off a water main valve. The
resulting flood caused mud, some ankle deep, to flow down the street, closing it
from Ventura Blvd. to Mulholland.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">For the uninitiated, this is a major thoughfare
between the Valley and the West Side.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">In the grand scheme of L.A. traffic, this was merely a
footnote. For sheer psychological carnage, there’s nothing like an 8 a.m. trip
down the freeway, any freeway.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">But the domino effect was staggering. Commuters tried
alternative canyon routes, specifically Beverly Glenn which became so clogged
it took an hour to travel from Ventura to Mulholland, usually a 15-minute
drive.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">And if they were lucky enough to reach Mulholland, it
was moving at creep speed.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Others took their chances on the 405 which, instead of
being merely apocalyptic, had been transformed into a parking lot.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Ventura Blvd. was impacted. So was the Ventura Freeway.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">It occurred to me that if a terrorist or other maniacal
malcontent wants to inflict pain on the good people of Los Angeles, he wouldn’t
have to fly a plane into a building or hack our power grid computers.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">He could just knock over a few water main valves or
fire hydrants. We would be brought to a standstill. Our entire city would
become one giant Trader Joe’s parking lot.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">The good news is that all of this will be ancient
history when we hop into our self-driving cars in the near future. They will
whisk us to our destination and return for us when summoned.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">No more traffic jams, no more parking hassles, no more
accidents, no more road rage. The car will be our servile friend.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Then I read this week that Ford is recalling a
total of 1,898,728 vehicles to replace defective Takata front
passenger-side airbags. The defective airbags have been linked to
ruptures that can send metal fragments at the passenger, due to deteriorating
propellant.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">All told, recalls of Takata airbags in 14 different
automotive brands currently stands at nearly 78 million to be replaced through
2019. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Toyota said it would begin to replace defective
passenger-side inflators but if parts are unavailable, it has advised its
dealers to disable the airbags and affix “Do Not Sit Here” messages to the
dashboard.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">In the meantime, Toyota, Volkswagen, Fiat Chrysler and
Mitsubishi continue to sell new vehicles with defective airbags that will need
to be recalled, according to a Senate Commerce Committee report released this
past week.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">And it’s not just airbags.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">General Motors in 2014 recalled more cars and trucks
in the U.S. than it sold in the five years since it filed for bankruptcy,
according to CNN. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Chief among them was 2.6 million of its small cars due
to faulty ignition switches, which could shut off the engine during driving and
thereby prevent the air bags from inflating. At least 124 deaths have resulted
from the flaw which had been known to GM for at least a decade but never publicized
prior to the recall being declared.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Ford once famously recalled 21 million vehicles from
10 model years for a problem that caused some vehicles to slip from park into
reverse. Records show Ford’s solution for that problem, which investigators
linked to 6,000 accidents and nearly 100 deaths, was to send drivers a warning
sticker to put on the dashboard.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">And these guys are going to build self-driving
cars? I think I’ll take a hike.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Robert Rector is a veteran of 50 years in
print journalism. He has worked at the San Francisco Examiner, Los Angeles
Herald Examiner, Valley News, Los Angeles Times and Pasadena Star-News. His
columns can be found at </span></i><a href="mailto:Robert-Rector@Blogspot.Com" target="_blank"><i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Robert-Rector@Blogspot.Com</span></i></a><i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">.
Follow him on Twitter at @robertrector1.</span></i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18409865691924580623noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24866145.post-81711747467509006912016-05-28T14:20:00.004-07:002016-05-28T14:20:47.765-07:00Historic Histrionics<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">He
is a “rageful, lying, warmongering fellow; a “repulsive pedant” and “gross
hypocrite…”<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Strong words, indeed. And just who is the subject of
this slur? Donald Trump you say? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Not even close. Although the shoe may fit, this
particular quote was directed at then-President John Adams by his vice
president, Thomas Jefferson, author of the Declaration of Independence and
fellow Founding Father. The two, formerly fast friends, found themselves matched
against each other in the presidential contest of 1800.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">We mention this because the hostility level is rising
in the Trump/Clinton/Sanders contests. It
should be white hot soon. But before we cover
our ears, avert our eyes and weep for
the future of our country, consider this.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">No matter how bizarre and angry the rhetoric becomes, it’s
unlikely it will match that of presidential contests in years past.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">And the election of 1800 is the gold standard for
character assassination, deviousness and mudslinging.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">For example, Adams supporters characterized Thomas
Jefferson as the son of a half-breed Indian squaw and a mulatto father. Voters
were warned that Jefferson’s election would result in a civil war and a
national orgy of rape, incest, and adultery.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">They claimed Jefferson supporters were “cut-throats
who walk in rags and sleep amid filth and vermin.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">As the slurs piled on, Adams was labeled a fool, a
hypocrite, a criminal, and a tyrant, while Jefferson was branded a weakling, an
atheist, a libertine, and a coward.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Even Martha Washington got into the act, telling a
clergyman that Jefferson was "one of the most detestable of mankind."<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">So much for the age of civility.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Strangely enough, presidential candidates didn't actively
campaign in those days, according to several published histories. In fact,
Adams and Jefferson spent much of the election season at their respective homes
in Massachusetts and Virginia.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">That didn’t stop Jefferson from hiring a pamphleteer
named James Callendar to do his dirty work. Adams, on the other hand,
considered himself above such tactics.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> Callendar
proved effective, claiming Adams had a “hermaphroditical character, which has
neither the force of a man, nor the gentleness and sensibility of a
woman” and convinced many Americans that Adams wanted to attack France.
Although the claim was untrue, voters bought it, and Jefferson won the
election.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Jefferson paid a price for his campaign tactics,
however. Callendar served jail time for
slandering Adams, and when he emerged from prison in 1801, he felt Jefferson
owed him.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">When Jefferson did little to appease him, Callendar
published a story in 1802 that claimed the President was having an affair with
one of his slaves, Sally Hemings. In a series of articles, Callendar wrote that
Jefferson had lived with Hemings in France and that she had given birth to five
of his children.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">That rumor continues to attach itself to the name of
Thomas Jefferson to this day. In fact, a 1998 DNA study found a match
between the Jefferson male line and a descendant of Hemings' last
son, Eston Hemings.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Adams lived long enough to see his son, John Quincy
Adams, elected to the presidency.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">He died before his son engaged in a nasty reelection
battle with Andrew Jackson in 1828. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Slurs flew back and forth, with John Quincy Adams
being labeled a pimp, and Andrew Jackson's wife getting called a slut.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">A historian reported that as the election progressed,
editorials in the American newspapers read more like bathroom graffiti than
political commentary.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> One paper
claimed that "General Jackson's mother was a common prostitute, brought to
this country by the British soldiers. She afterward married a mulatto man, with
whom she had several children, of which number General Jackson is one!"<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Jackson supporters accused Adams of having premarital
sex with his wife and being a pimp, claiming he arranged an American hooker for
Czar Alexander I.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">A few other lowlights:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">In 1839, Martin Van Buren was accused of being too
close to the Pope, when, in fact, he had done little more than correspond with
the Vatican in his job as Secretary of State under Andrew Jackson. His
opponents, nevertheless, spread the canard that a “popish plot” was afoot to
ensure Van Buren’s election.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">During the campaign of 1864, Abraham Lincoln was
called an ape, a ghoul and a traitor. </span><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">One New York
paper suggested that “Barnum should buy and exhibit him as a zoological
curiosity.” A Houston newspaper said he was the “most
ungainly mass of legs and arms and hatchet face ever strung on a single frame.”
Political cartoons pictured him as a monkey. At one point, Lincoln’s wife was accused of being a Confederate spy.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">During the campaign of 1884 the Buffalo Evening Telegraph<i> </i>accused Grover Cleveland of fathering
an illegitimate son a decade earlier in Buffalo. It turned out that Cleveland,
a bachelor, had dated the child’s mother, as had several other men. The boy,
therefore, was of questionable parentage. Yet the inherently decent Cleveland
had provided for him. A chant soon arose in Republican ranks: “Ma! Ma! Where’s
my pa? Gone to the White House, ha! ha! ha!”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Robert Rector is a veteran of 50 years in
print journalism. He has worked at the San Francisco Examiner, Los Angeles
Herald Examiner, Valley News, Los Angeles Times and Pasadena Star-News. His
columns can be found at </span></i><a href="mailto:Robert-Rector@Blogspot.Com" target="_blank"><i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Robert-Rector@Blogspot.Com</span></i></a><i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">.
Follow him on Twitter at @robertrector1.</span></i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18409865691924580623noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24866145.post-38416158757594513092016-05-21T15:58:00.001-07:002016-05-21T15:58:55.931-07:00Words Worth Sharing<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">It’s that time of year when the collective wisdom of
the human race is reduced to bite-sized portions and spoon fed to those in
whose hands the future resides.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">We speak, of course, of graduation day and the
speakers who exhort a new generation to succeed where previous generations fumbled
the ball on the goal line.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Is anyone listening? A few perhaps, but conventional
wisdom holds that the life expectancy of graduation speech is about 15 minutes.
After all, there’s more partying than pondering taking place on graduation day.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">For those of you whose minds might have been elsewhere
during your graduation ceremony, we offer snippets of some really smart
speeches we have read over the years. Next time you run into your local
journalist, thank him or her for being there to jot them down:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">"Be as bold as the first man or woman to eat an
oyster." - Shirley Chisholm, congresswoman.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">"A man who has never gone to school may steal
from a freight car; but if he has a university education, he may steal the
whole railroad." - Theodore Roosevelt.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">"When you leave here, don't forget why you
came." - Adlai Stevenson.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">"If you think education is expensive, try
ignorance!" - Andy McIntyre.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">"The true meaning of life is to plant trees,
under whose shade you do not expect to sit." - Nelson Henderson.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">“So, what’s it like in the real world? Well, the food
is better, but beyond that, I don’t recommend it.” ---Bill Watterson.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">“You are educated. Your certification is in your
degree. You may think of it as the ticket to the good life. Let me ask you to
think of an alternative. Think of it as your ticket to change the world.” ---
Tom Brokaw.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">“I want to congratulate you all upon your graduation
from the University of Maryland College of Journalism, and wish you luck as you
prepare to embark on exciting careers in telemarketing or large-appliance
repair." ---Gene Weingarten.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">“Never go to your high school reunion pregnant or they
will think that is all you have done since you graduated.” --- Erma Bombeck.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">“It is impossible to live without failing at
something, unless you live so cautiously that you might as well not have lived
at all - in which case, you fail by default.” ------J.K. Rowling.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">“If your uniform isn't dirty, you haven't been in the
game.” ---Ben Bernanke.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">“For the most important decisions in your life, trust
your intuition, and then work with everything you have, to prove it right.” ---
Tim Cook.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">“Life has a very simple plot: first you're here and
then you're not.” --- Eric Idle.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">“You get to make your own luck. 80% of success in your
career will come from just showing up. The world is run by those who show
up…not those who wait to be asked.” --- Steve Blank.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">"Build resilience in yourselves. When tragedy or
disappointment strike, know that you have the ability to get through absolutely
anything. I promise you do. As the saying goes, we are more vulnerable than we
ever thought, but we are stronger than we ever imagined." --- Sheryl Sandberg.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> “Be Santa Claus when you can.” --- Jimmy Buffett.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">"Take your risks now. As you grow older, you
become more fearful and less flexible…Limit your 'always' and your 'nevers.'
Continue to share your heart with people even if it's been broken." ---
Amy Poehler.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“Success
is the ability to go from one failure to another with no loss of enthusiasm.”
----Winston Churchill.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">"All that stands between the graduate and the
top of the ladder is the ladder." --- Author Unknown.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“During
my second year of nursing school our professor gave us a quiz. I breezed
through the questions until I read the last one: What is the first name of the
woman who cleans the school?” Surely this was a joke. I had seen the cleaning
woman several times, but how would I know her name? I handed in my paper,
leaving the last question blank. Before the class ended, one student asked if
the last question would count toward our grade. ‘Absolutely,’ the professor
said. ‘In your careers, you will meet many people. All are significant. They
deserve your attention and care, even if all you do is smile and say hello.’
I’ve never forgotten that lesson. I also learned her name was Dorothy.” -Joann C. Jones.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Robert Rector is a veteran of 50 years in print journalism. He
has worked at the San Francisco Examiner, Los Angeles Herald Examiner, Valley
News, Los Angeles Times and Pasadena Star-News. His columns can be found
at </span></i><a href="mailto:Robert-Rector@Blogspot.Com" target="_blank"><i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Robert-Rector@Blogspot.Com</span></i></a><i><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">. Follow him on Twitter at @robertrector1.</span></i><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18409865691924580623noreply@blogger.com0