Original Former Naval Person

New York City politics are almost as entertaining as politics in Canada

I have long been a fan of New York City politics. They have always had a colorful cast of characters. Freddy (Fernando) Ferrer is one of the best. Freddy is making another run for mayor. The problem is, he can't keep his mouth shut (and aren't we there egging him on?). The MY Post says:

Chief media consultant David Axelrod and Chad Clanton, Ferrer's director of communications, resigned because Ferrer has refused to apologize for controversial — and politically damaging — comments he made about police shooting victim Amadou Diallo, according to some insiders.

I probably agree with what he said:

The sudden departure of the senior campaign staffers comes just two days after a poll showed Ferrer had fallen behind Mayor Bloomberg for the first time, losing 20 points since he said in early March that the Diallo shooting was not a "crime."

I only say that, because if you are in a warzone, you have to be quick on the trigger to survive. The Post says, as well:

Bloomberg spokesman Ed Skyler said last night on NY1, "Ultimately, good consultants can't cover for a bad candidate."

Ed Morrissey has a review of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, and recommends it

I had wondered how a new movie about the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy would be. Fortunately, it was done in Britain, so we probably needn't have worried. Ed Morrissey has a review.

Movie Review: Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy

Last night, I went to a film opening for the first time in years to see the new version of Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy. The books have long been a favorite of mine; I've read and re-read the five-book trilogy enough times that the characters are easily recalled from memory, as well as my own personal characterizations of them. Unlike most books, however, a film version of HGG would necessarily mean making a more coherent narrative in order to be successfuly -- so I went to the cinema knowing that the film would take certain license with the original material.

I was not disappointed.

Cruel Quotes

Charles Johnson reproduces a piece by R. Emmett Tyrell about the dangers of quoting.

This is the conclusion of that piece:

Alas, I committed an egregious journalistic excess. I quoted the writers who a year before had insisted on Mr. Clinton’s near virginal condition and on the “dishonesty” of those of us arguing otherwise. “Dishonesty” was the word Michael Kinsley leveled at us. Joe Klein, now of Time, was equally critical. And after my Journal piece appeared he told me to my face I had dealt him “a low blow.” My innocent response was something to the effect, “But Joe, all I did was quote you.”

Today I realize how treacherous it is for writers to remind others of their prior timorousness or imbecility. Mr. Kinsley explained how unfair it is sometime ago when he noted liberals were having their foolish statements thrown back at them because of the advent of so many Internet search machines making it easy to retrieve a public person’s errors.

Dr Z has another blog, as well: Z++ Software Development Language

Dr Z's other blog is the Z++ Software Development Language. The history of Z++ is on the main site: ZHMicro.

Clayton Cramer on the "coincidence" of the minor's abortion issue and the lowering of the age of consent

Clayton Cramer is just a bit angry about social liberalism, at least when it comes to both allowing interstate transportation of minor girls to have abortions and lowering the age of consent so that older men can have sex with boys and girls. Clayton equates the two: men over thirty having sex with 13 year old girls and Planned Parenthood's desire to allow girls to be transported for abortions.

Oddly enough, there seems to be only two areas where liberals are intent on treating minors like adults: abolishing age of consent laws by insisting that minors have a constitutional right to have sex with adults, and making abortion available without parental consent or even notification.

Coincidence? I don't think so. One of the troubling aspects to all of this is the enormous number of adult men who impregnate minors--and I am not talking about 19 year old guys and 17 year old girls. I'm talking about 30 year old guys and 13 year old girls. Planned Parenthood has played a major part in making sure that these crimes don't come to light. You might almost think that there's some connection between the "abolish age of consent laws" and "no parental consent or notification for abortions".

Well, jury duty isn't over yet

I had an easy drive into Dallas, this morning, and parked in expensive parking very near the George Allen, Sr. Court building at 600 Commerce Street. I ate at McDonald's, beyond the Greyhound Station, and went around to find how to get into the court. There was construction on most of three sides. I got in, went through security, and turned in my paper. Then, we watched a video. Finally, we had a break before being put into groups and dispatched to our courts. I was sent to the 4th floor to the 101st court. I was given the juror list to hand to the bailiff. I had seen bailiffs, in the past, in sport coat and tie, but this one was in his blue sheriff's deputy uniform. He called the roll, and then went into the room at the end with a woman. He came out and told us to keep our juror's badges and to return at 10am on Wednesday, May 4th. The guy next to me went up to confirm that we were dismissed, although I actually asked the question. So, I am now at work, after going home to get my things, first. This is going to be a multi-day event, even if I'm not picked. My coworker is going the following Monday, which is the traditional day in Dallas to report to jury duty.

Tomorrow, I have jury duty in Dallas

Tomorrow should be "exciting". I'd just as soon not be excited, but it will be more action-packed than I would choose. I have jury duty in Dallas, and it is not on the usual day. My wife had jury duty on Wednesday, so the "usual day" is a thing of the past, apparently. Last time that I had jury duty, the defense lawyer was looking for potential jurors who would not want to give his client probation, if convicted. His client was accused of having sex with a 13-year old boy. It was a "great case". I was happy to not have to deal with it. The defendant was a snappy dresser, and had a well-turned out woman with him, presumably his wife. The judge was angry with those of us who used the "out" to escape from having to serve. I was not pretending, though. I didn't think much of the prospect of the defendant getting off with probation. We lost a friend who had been given HIV when he was 16 years old by an older man. This is not all fun and games. Behavior has serious consequences.

Marc Cooper has a good post about the MSM

For better or worse, the mainstream media (MSM) is in sharp decline. Marc Cooper has a post that quotes a friend of his who has been researching what is happening particularly in newspapers, and it getting nasty.

"Nattering Nabobs of Nostalgia"

Tim Porter, my friend and colleague at the USC Annenberg Institute for Justice and Journalism, has fired off a roaring post on the current decaying state of American journalism

He’s let the flea-bitten cat come ripping right out of the bag: the demoralization among American journalists is now just about universal. Tim puts a fabulous twist on that conclusion, but as they say in J-School (when it comes to writing ledes), the conclusion comes first. Says Porter:

In the last 18 months I've interviewed several hundred journalists - reporters, photographers, copy editors, executive editors, designers, graphic artists. I've been in newspaper newsrooms of more than 500 people and in newsrooms of less than 50. It has been an immersion course in the mood of the press - and much of it hasn't been pretty.

The amount of anger and hostility, of distrust and suspicion, of inertia and ennui that pollutes the journalistic environment in these newsrooms at first surprised me. Now, when I first step into another newspaper I only wonder how long it will take to surface.

We had a bomb threat today

Perhaps at 10:30am, I had seen a police car parked in the drive at the front door of our office building. About 11am, a voice came over the PA system and told us to evacuate the building due to a bomb threat. Then the alarm sounded. At first, I had thought that only our building was affected, but we saw that the building next door was evacuated as well. I left early to get lunch, and I saw that all buildings within sight had been evacuated. When I returned, we soon found that we could go back into the building. While I was out, I heard about the alert at the Whitehouse, and briefly wondered if there was more happening. Apparently, this was an isolated event, although many people and businesses were affected by the shutdown. I was the first back in, and I called our admin guy (a VP, since we are a small company) and told him that we were back into the building. A few minutes past that, I heard the front door, and soon two sales guys were back, as well. We are in a fairly expansive office park in Frisco, TX, at the North end of the Dallas North Tollway. Everyone was speculating, before I went to lunch, why the bomb threat was given. Mostly, the speculation was joking, since no one took it seriously in our company. These days, though, you never know when it might be real (some sort of extremist terrorist, either foreign or domestic).

Why would Jean Chrétien want to block the probe?

The fact that former Prime Minister Jean Chrétien wants Judge Gomery off the probe seems very suspicious. A "Canadian Press" article in the Globe and Mail has the story.

Ottawa — Lawyers for Jean Chrétien are objecting to an effort by Justice John Gomery to send his own lawyer to court to defend his impartiality as head of the federal sponsorship inquiry.

The former prime minister has asked Federal Court to remove Judge Gomery from his post, alleging that the judge is biased and unable to deliver an objective evaluation of Mr. Chrétien's role in the sponsorship affair.

The impression is that given that he is in trouble, Jean Chrétien is doing everything he can to prevent any investigation of his acts as Prime Minister.