AdamSmith

Arrested for DUI again. Booked, then released on $15,000 bond. http://www.cnn.com/2014/01/11/showbiz/david-cassidy-arrest/index.html?hpt=hp_t2 Blew .19 on the Breathalyzer, it says. He would have tossed down a right fair amount of hooch fairly quickly to get there. Speaking from personal experience. Sad.

Interesting consideration of Gates's new memoir, by the recently launched online Politico Magazine, which has turned out pretty good, well rounded pieces so far. http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2014/01/the-pentagons-angry-old-man-102046.html?hp=l1#.UtFfprTVees

Poop addiction! http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20100610034648AAl9tzd But it could be worse: http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20120217141324AACva3g

I do in the middle of the night when I don't want to turn on the light.

Who knew? There is afoot a worldwide movement to get men to pee sitting down, according to this writer who will have no truck with the notion: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/men/thinking-man/10555436/Im-taking-a-stand-against-peeing-sitting-down.html One is dying to know hito's position on this urgent issue.

Hmm...

Fun to watch. Senator Ted Cruz, still CanadianBy Anthony Zurcher Editor, Echo Chambers BBC News Would a Canadian appear so comfortable around a US flag? In August, the Dallas Morning News reported that US Senator Ted Cruz was, by having been born in Calgary, a Canadian citizen. The story was good for a few laughs, and Mr Cruz quickly announced that he would renounce his Canadian citizenship. "Nothing against Canada, but I'm an American by birth, and as a US senator I believe I should be only an American," he said in a statement. Fast forward nearly five months, and Mr Cruz is still a Canadian in good standing. "I have retained counsel that is preparing the paperwork to renounce the citizenship," he told the Dallas paper. All this has Canadians scratching their heads. Lee-Anne Goodman of the Canadian Press interviewed several experts in Canadian immigration law, and one said that barring "a security issue" or a "mental health issue that hasn't been disclosed", the process should be fairly simple - although there could be some tax concerns. "If he's attempting to bring our system into disrepute by suggesting it's lengthy and complex, it's just not true," says immigration lawyer Richard Kurland. "Revocation is one of the fastest processes in our system." Goodman notes: "There's even an online, four-page PDF form on the Government of Canada website to get the ball rolling without the help of lawyers." Cue another round of jokes. "Listen, if you want to forfeit your right to a Canadian passport, and distance yourself from this land of socialized medicine, gay marriage and gun control, we understand," write the editors of the Globe and Mail. "But, future former citizen, what's the hold-up?" Kelly McParland writes in the National Post: "Ted Cruz is an American caught in the talons of Canadian citizenship. We need to set him free." Dianna Wray blogs for the Houston Press that embracing his Canadian heritage could help improve Mr Cruz's image. "Of course we shouldn't live by stereotypes," she writes, "but it is a truth universally acknowledged that Canadians are polite, tolerant, civic-minded and pretty darn friendly." In the Globe and Mail, Gerry Flahive warns Mr Cruz: "When you come crawling back on your hands and knees, as you inevitably will, and beg us, BEG US, to let you back in, please use the 'Renounced Citizenship But Have Nothing To Declare' line at Canadian airports." This may not be a joking matter, however, as Mr Cruz relies on the support of conservative Americans who are serious about patriotism and probably don't take too kindly to politicians with dual loyalties, even if they're only on paper. "Cruz counts Tea Party voters as an important part of his political base," writes Wayne Slater for the Dallas Morning News. "But many GOP Tea Party enthusiasts have accused President Barack Obama of being born in Kenya - his father was Kenyan, his mother American - and therefore insist he's not legally an American citizen." Writes McParland: "Shedding his Canadian skin would help Mr Cruz demonstrate his red blooded American-ness, just in case anyone in the party started questioning his heritage too." There is one more possible stumbling block for Mr Cruz, but it's not on the Canadian end. As explained by Steven Lubet in Salon back in September, in order to renounce his Canadian citizenship, he has to establish he is a US citizen. According to US rules, to do that Mr Cruz needs to present proof that his mother Eleanor, who was born in Delaware, was "physically present" in the US for a total of 10 years before his birth. "The only definitive way to prove Eleanor Cruz's 10 years of physical presence would be with documents such as leases, school registration, utility bills or tax records," Lubet writes. "It would be pretty embarrassing to have his Application to Renounce Canadian Citizenship denied on a technicality." The paperwork may be hard to come by, but if Mr Cruz decides to enter what will surely be a rough-and-tumble Republican primary for the 2016 presidential nomination, I doubt he will want to have to answer any more questions about his allegiances to the maple leaf of the north. Then again, he may have no choice. "Renounce all you want, Senator," writes Michelle Cottle in the Daily Beast. "If there's one thing we learned from the Obama birthers, it's that official documents don't mean squat in the face of a really nutty conspiracy theory." http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/blogs-echochambers-25646867

Agree about those affordable cities. But think I'll hit up some affluent friends to go in on a time-share buy of one of these French castles that cost the same as a shit box in NYC: http://www.buzzfeed.com/benrosen/6-castles-that-cost-less-than-an-apartment-in-nyc

My thought too. Br'er Fox, don't throw me into that foreclosure patch! Looks like a generic worst-cities rundown that some hack at a web-content mill repurposed for that retirement-themed site without overexertion of his grey matter.

In identical vein, this passage from the article: Because of Oppenheimer's initial position in the H-bomb debate, in opposition to large thermonuclear weapons, and the assumption that he still had influence over Los Alamos despite his departure, political allies of Edward Teller decided he needed his own laboratory in order to pursue H-bombs. By the time it was opened in 1952, in Livermore, California, Los Alamos had finished the job Livermore was designed to do.

Ditto. On Win8/FF.

Same for me, on Win8/FireFox. Fortunately it still keeps me logged in all the time on the iPhone.

...another post waving a flag at the NSA! Pretty interesting article if you grok such: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_weapon_design

Today's Google doodle reminds it's the birthday of Zora Neale Hurston. Her novel Their Eyes Were Watching God ravished my heart away the first time I read it. The opening alone... Ships at a distance have every man’s wish on board. For some they come in with the tide. For others they sail forever on the horizon, never out of sight, never landing until the Watcher turns his eyes away in resignation, his dreams mocked to death by Time. That is the life of men. Now, women forget all those things they don’t want to remember, and remember everything they don’t want to forget. The dream is the truth. Then they act and do things accordingly.

Some bear at least a passing resemblance.

Satanists’ statue design for Oklahoma Capitol: ‘Sit on the lap of Satan’ By Cheryl K. Chumley The Washington Times Tuesday, January 7, 2014 Enlarge Photo This artist’s rendering provided by the Satanic Temple shows a proposed monument ... more > Members of the Satanic Temple have unveiled their design for a 7-foot-tall statue of the devil they want to locate at the Capitol building in Oklahoma, right next to a monument of the Ten Commandments that has stood since 2012. And to many, the design may prove shocking. The Associated Press reported an artist’s depiction shows Satan as the goat-headed and horned figure of Baphomet, complete with wings and a long beard. The Satan figure is shown sitting on a throne decorated with pentagrams, in the middle of a few smiling children. “The monument has been designed to reflect the views of Satanists in Oklahoma City and beyond,” said Lucien Greaves, a spokesman for the group, in a statement reported by the AP. “The statue will also have a functional purpose as a chair where people of all ages may sit on the lap of Satan for inspiration and contemplation.” The group is based in New York, but says it’s not fair for Oklahoma lawmakers to let a Ten Commandments statue stand at the building, without also allowing monuments that reflect other spiritual beliefs, The Associated Press reported. The Ten Commandments statue was privately funded. The American Civil Liberties Union sued to have it removed shortly after it was place, AP reported. And the Satanic Temple isn’t the only group seeking equal access to the site. The AP reported that a Hindu head in Nevada wants to put a monument at the Capitol, along with an animal rights group and the — satirical — Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster. In response, the Oklahoma Capitol Preservation Commission has put a moratorium on deciding new requests. But it’s the Satanic Temple request that’s sparking ire among Bible Belt residents and politicos. “I think you’ve got to remember where you are,” said Rep. Don Armes, in the AP report. “This is Oklahoma, the middle of the heartland. I think we need to be tolerant of people who think different than us, but this is Oklahoma and that’s not going to fly here.” The group, meanwhile, said it’s already raised $10,000 to build the monument — about the half the amount members estimate is needed. “We plan on moving forward one way or another,” Mr. Greaves said, in the report. Read more: http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2014/jan/7/satanists-statue-design-oklahoma-capitol-sit-lap-s/#ixzz2pj1An0WL

Interesting life story of Kerry by The Boston Globe, from 2003: http://www.boston.com/globe/nation/packages/kerry/061503.shtml