March 20, 2011
BRUCE A. BRENNAN BLOG FROM THE WORLD AND MY MIND
The news as I see it and the views as I want them.
March 20 is … Proposal Day and Festival of Extraterrestrial Abductions Day
What a weird ending to the Butler vs. Pittsburgh game last night. Too bad somebody had to lose.
It was on this day in 1852 that Harriet Beecher Stowe’s classic book was published. Uncle Tom’s Cabin, subtitled Life Among the Lowly became an instant success, selling 300,000 copies in its first year. It has since been translated into twenty languages and performed as a play the world over. Uncle Tom’s Cabin was even spotlighted in the Broadway musical and film, The King and I. Maybe you remember the haunting chant from the show, “Run Eliza, Run!” Harriet Beecher Stowe’s novel remains a must-read for school children and a reminder to all of us of an ugly time in the history of the United States.
The antislavery novel and the adapted plays all feature the elderly, kind slave, Uncle Tom; the slave child, Topsy; Little Eva, the daughter of Tom’s owner; Eliza, a young mulatto woman and the cruel, northern-born overseer who beat Tom to death, Simon LeGree.
The book brought much sympathy from around the world toward the American “peculiar institution” of slavery. In fact, Abraham Lincoln told Harriet Beecher Stowe she was “the little woman who wrote the book that started this great war,” referring of course, to the Civil War.
’Til this day, we refer to an employer or any other with slave-driving tendencies as a ‘Simon LeGree’.
My brother E-mailed this to me I cannot vouch for its accuracy but it sounds like something a politician would do. No matter what side of the aisle you're on, this is funny!
It just all depends on how you look at some things. Judy Wallman, a professional genealogy researcher in southern California, was doing some personal work on her own family tree. She discovered that Senator Harry Reid's great-great uncle, Remus Reid, was hanged for horse stealing and train robbery in Montana in 1889. Both Judy and Harry Reid share this common ancestor.
The only known photograph of Remus shows him standing on the gallows in Montana territory. On the back of the picture Judy obtained during her research is this inscription: 'Remus Reid, horse thief, sent to Montana Territorial Prison 1885, escaped 1887, robbed the Montana Flyer six times. Caught by Pinkerton detectives, convicted and hanged in 1889.'
So Judy recently e-mailed Senator Harry Reid for information about their great-great uncle. Believe it or not, Harry Reid's staff sent back the following biographical sketch for her genealogy research:
"Remus Reid was a famous cowboy in the Montana Territory. His business empire grew to include acquisition of valuable equestrian assets and intimate dealings with the Montana railroad. Beginning in 1883, he devoted several years of his life to government service, finally taking leave to resume his dealings with the railroad. In 1887, he was a key player in a vital investigation run by the renowned Pinkerton Detective Agency. In 1889, Remus passed away during an important civic function held in his honor when the platform upon which he was standing collapsed."
Now that’s how it's done, Folks! That's real POLITICAL SPIN.
Now we will know if it has dirty pictures; You have heard of ".com" and ".org." Joining them soon will be their bawdy cousin: ".xxx."
On Friday, the board of directors of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, which oversees the Internet's naming system, approved the creation of a red-light district online for pornographic websites. It follows a decade-long battle over such a name. The board of directors of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers approved the domain ".xxx" for pornographic websites. Religious groups argue that giving adult websites their own corner of the Internet legitimizes the content. Pornographers worry it will ghettoize their sites. Although it's meant to be voluntary, they fear governments could try to mandate the domain's use, so that pornographic content is more easily blocked. Diane Duke, executive director of the adult entertainment industry's Free Speech Coalition, said in a statement that ICANN has "disregarded overwhelming outpouring of opposition from the adult entertainment industry - the supposed sponsorship community" and dismissed the "interests of free speech on the Internet."
Supporters have maintained that approving the domain is in keeping with the principle of openness that has fueled the Internet's growth. While the idea of ".xxx" has provoked a philosophical debate, for the U.S. company that submitted the application for the domain, the issue is little more than a matter of dollars and cents. ICM Registry and its CEO, Stuart Lawley, who has led the fight for ICANN's approval of ".xxx," stand to profit handsomely from the rollout of ".xxx" websites because he will be in charge of collecting fees for the use of the new domains.
Lawley plans to charge registrars $60 per year for the domain names. He estimates that he could sell as many as 500,000 by the time he rolls them out this summer. "This was always going to be a very lucrative arrangement," he said in an interview Friday. Lawley's prices have been a critical issue for opponents to his plan, since domain names typically sell for a fraction of what Lawley plans to charge. They often sell for $10 or less. ICANN had repeatedly rejected Lawley's application since 2000, under pressure from Christian groups and governments unhappy with the spread of online porn. Lawley has pitched the suffix as a way for parents to more easily block access to the content. He argues it will be easier for Web filtering software to block ".xxx" sites since they are clearly labeled as porn.
It is always the money, no matter what spin or lies you tell, it’s always the money, which I got no problem with. The only thing wrong with it is that it is him and not me making the money.
The world is attacking Libya. It has been named Operation Odyssey Dawn. French war planes flew over Libya as Libyan forces ignored the cease fire and stormed the rebel stronghold of Benghazi. The United States, once again the main player in this insanity, is supplying the navy, the majority of the planes, personnel, bombs and Tomahawk cruise missiles. The cruise missiles cost well over two million dollars a copy. We have deployed over 110 so far. Just in cruise missiles, the United States spent over 228 million dollars in a two hour period on a Saturday afternoon half way around the world while our President was out of the country and the rest of us watched the NCAA men’s basketball tournament. Life is timing.
The Tomahawks were fired by United States and British submarines and US naval destroyers. Someone has to explain to me why we are wasting that money to blow up a country and its infrastructure when we all know we will rebuild the damage done to Libya. Why don’t we tell Libya to go to hell, go ahead, kill each other. Call us when it is over. We will spend our money rebuilding our infrastructure, employing our people and upgrading our country.
This is not a world crisis. Genocide is not happening. The world and especially the US should mind its own business. A few weeks ago our Secretary of Defense, Robert Gates, said we should have are head examined if we involved ourselves in another Muslim war. It is time to make the appointment so we can candle our collective leader’s heads. Our military should act like Shane, “come back, Shane, come back”
Police engaged in a roughly 20-minute standoff with a knife-wielding man on the floor of Los Angeles' Staples Center, where the Los Angeles Clippers and Cleveland Cavaliers are set to play later in the day. Police tackled and apprehended the man Saturday after facing off against him on the basketball court near the visitor's bench area. Some spectators for the 12:30 p.m. game had begun filing into the arena, but were evacuated once the standoff started. The players were confined to their locker rooms. Police spokeswoman Officer Norma Eisenman says the report of the man with a knife came in shortly after 11 a.m. from an off-duty officer. She had no further information. Apparently no one was hurt or really in danger.
BRUCE A. BRENNAN
DEKALB, IL 60115
COPYRIGHT 2011
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By following the good, you learn to be good.
