Surf’s Up!
It’s September again. Summer is waning away at last, nights are longer and cooler, schools are back in session, Congress is wandering back from their recess, and the Supreme Court will return shortly. Fall will be with us soon, and with it the beginning of the end of another year.
So another year passes that I didn’t go surfing. But yet I did. I’ll explain below.
I learned to surf back in the days when Ronald Reagan was President. I caught my first wave at Huntington Beach, California, in June 1982, and just missed hitting the pier when the wave had ideas of its own. I have never surfed long, or all that well, but I would try to stay on the board as long as I could.
I had just completed my first year of college: the world was young, my hair would turn auburn in summertime, and the beach was only two and a half hours away by my trusted ‘74 Ford Pinto station wagon.
So, why the topic of surfing this morning? It’s simple really: it’s a question of balance, and the willingness to try, despite realizing that you stand a very good possibility of wiping out and looking foolish. But at least you’re trying!
You just have to pick your wave, especially when the seas are choppy and take your chance.
Not all of us are cut out to surf the Banzai Pipeline in Hawaii. But we can all surf.
In fact, you have been surfing all along: you just didn’t know it!
It’s how we deal with the times we’re in: whether it’s marching, protesting, litigating, pestering our elected leaders, donating time and money to campaigns, putting out yard signs, canvassing, reaching out to the disaffected, blogging, putting a candle out on Friday nights, or registering voters. Oh yes, and voting too!
Those are the waves you’ve been catching and riding, while the vast majority of people who are not nearly as politically active as we are are merely dog-paddling by the shore and not daring to make the attempt. They’ll merely go with the ebb and flow of the tide.
The signs and portents indicate a bigger blue wave is coming in 2020 than the one we saw last year. If this is so, I want to be able to say I surfed it and that I did so in good company.
So, choose your wave and keep your balance! Remember, it’s the Republicans that want to put up signs that say “Locals Only.” We want to keep the beach open for everyone!
*A note about surf music: This genre of American music emerged in the early 60s, and predates the Beach Boys and Jan and Dean. Purists such as Dick Dale believed that proper surf music was instrumental only, so who am I to question? It’s still cool. Also, I don’t think we’ve ever had a Good News Roundup featuring this unique bit of Americana!
Remember, all complaints in writing to the Management.
First Musical Interlude— Walk Don’t Run by the Ventures.
What? News?
France Takes Steps to Curb Domestic Violence:
From AFP:
“The French government on Tuesday announced plans to create 1,000 new places in shelters for the victims of domestic violence as outrage grows over the number of women killed by a current or former partner.
France is one of the European countries with the highest number of such murders, according to EU figures from 2017 which put it second only to Germany.
Last year, 121 women were killed in France in these circumstances, equating to one death every three days. So far this year, at least 100 women have been killed by a current or former partner.”
San Francisco County Board Names NRA a Terrorist Organization!
From SFGate:
“The San Francisco Board of Supervisors passed a resolution on Tuesday declaring that the National Rifle Association is a domestic terrorist organization. The officials also urged other cities, states and the federal government to follow suit.
District 2 Supervisor Catherine Stefani wrote the resolution and shared her thoughts on the NRA with KTVU. "The NRA has it coming to them," she said. "And I will do everything I possibly can to call them out on what they are, which is a domestic terrorist organization."
After citing some statistics about gun violence in the United States – like that there's been more than one mass shooting per day in the country in 2019 – Stefani got local with how gun violence has impact the Bay Area.”
California Bans Fur Trapping!
From the Los Angeles Times:
“SACRAMENTO — California has enacted a new ban on fur trapping for animal pelts, making it the first state to outlaw a centuries-old livelihood that was intertwined with the rise of the Western frontier.
The Wildlife Protection Act of 2019, signed into law by Gov. Gavin Newsom on Wednesday, prohibits commercial or recreational trapping on both public and private lands.
Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez (D-San Diego), who introduced the legislation, said it was time to end fur trapping. “It seems especially cruel, obviously, and it’s just unnecessary and costly,” she said.
A total of 68 trappers reported killing 1,568 animals statewide in 2017, according to the California Department of Fish and Wildlife. Among the 10 species reported taken were coyote, gray fox, beaver, badger and mink.”
Bye-Bye Boris?
As things happen, there has been a revolt by the Tories in Parliament against the Prime Minister. Twenty-one Conservatives, including a grandson of Winston Churchill, have crossed party lines in opposition to Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s no-deal Brexit plan and despite Johnson ejecting the rebels from the Conservative Party. There is much unhappiness and disarray.
From the Guardian:
“Boris Johnson has announced that he will ask parliament to support plans for a snap October general election after suffering a humiliating defeat in his first House of Commons vote as prime minister.
Former cabinet ministers including Philip Hammond and David Gauke were among 21 Conservative rebels who banded together with opposition MPs to seize control of the parliamentary timetable on a dramatic day in Westminster.
The move was aimed at paving the way for a bill tabled by the Labour backbencher Hilary Benn, which is designed to block a no-deal Brexit by forcing the prime minister to request an extension to article 50 if he cannot strike a reworked deal with the EU27.”
And this update, courtesy of the BBC:
“Boris Johnson will call for a general election on 15 October if Labour and rebel Tories succeed in blocking a no-deal Brexit.
He challenged Jeremy Corbyn to put his policy of "dither and delay" over EU withdrawal to the British people.
Mr Johnson needs the support of two-thirds of MPs to trigger an election.”
“You have sat too long for any good you have been doing lately... Depart, I say; and let us have done with you. In the name of God, go!”
--Oliver Cromwell, Address to the Rump Parliament (20 April 1653)
Isn’t that a much nicer way of saying eff off than actually saying “Eff Off?”
There are Still More of Them Out There:
This is the map provided by the National Hurricane Center as of last night.
While Dorian is still creeping up the eastern seaboard, there are still potential hurricanes forming out in the mid-Atlantic which may be headed our way.
So don’t get distracted by this one storm, there’s plenty of time left in hurricane season for another big one to come a-callin’.
On the bright side, hurricanes do tend to keep the president off the airwaves… apart from when he admits he doesn’t know what a Category 5 is. A windbag upstaged by a windstorm...
Polls Anyone?
According to Real Clear Politics, President Trump’s Approval Rating is at 42.6%.
According to 538, his Approval Rating is at 41.3%.
Also from RCP:
As of September 3rd:
And Here’s Another Happy Thought:
According to Ballotpedia, there are four US Senators (1 Democrat, 3 Republicans) who elected not to run for reelection, and 17 US Representatives (4 Democrats and 17 Republicans) who are not running in the next election cycle.
There are now 425 days until the November 3, 2020 General Election.
Meanwhile, Canada Gears Up Against Foreign Election Interference.
From Politico:
“Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government passed new transparency rules last year for online political ads that run on platforms including Facebook and Twitter — further than what’s required in the U.S. It ordered the country’s usually tight-lipped intelligence services to go public about foreign threats. Canada also housed a G-7 project to share the latest intelligence between allies about possible foreign disinformation and created a non-partisan group to warn political parties and the public about outside interference.
“The way the Canadians have responded to the problem of technology and democracy is much more impressive than what we’ve seen in Washington,” said Ben Scott, a former Hillary Clinton official, now based in Toronto, who has tracked disinformation campaigns in elections across the West. “Pound for pound, Canada is way ahead of the U.S. in terms of policy development on these issues.”
The country finds itself on the front lines of a global battle to tackle foreign election interference on social media, other platforms for political advertising and hacking of political databases — and lessons from its upcoming nationwide vote will prove essential for U.S. policymakers already fearful that next year’s presidential campaign will see another round of digital tricks aimed at swaying potential voters and underlying democratic institutions.
Canada’s 338-member parliament is up for election on Monday, October 21st. Maybe we can take some hints from their playbook!
Hong Kong Extradition Bill Withdrawn!
From the Singapore Straits Times:
“HONG KONG - Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam on Wednesday (Sept 4) formally withdrew a contentious extradition Bill following months of protests.
"The government will formally withdraw the Bill in order to fully allay public concerns," she said in a pre-recorded address in Cantonese and English that was carried by all major broadcasters in Hong Kong.
Mrs Lam said a motion to withdraw will be tabled when the Legislative Council reconvenes.
This essentially responds to one of five demands protesters have asked for. The others are: the retraction of the word “riot” to describe rallies; the release of all arrested demonstrators; an independent inquiry into the police; and the right for Hong Kongers to democratically choose their own leaders.
Protesting works! Especially if you have about one million friends with you.
Second Musical Interlude— Let’s Go Trippin’ by Dick Dale and His Del-Tones.
Today in History:
1638: Louis XIV, king of France born (d. 1715). He was the State.
1661: Louis XIV’s Superintendent of Finances, Nicholas Fouquet is arrested in Nantes by D'Artagnan, lieutenant of the king's musketeers.
Fouquet incurred the wrath of the king by building the Chateau at Vaux which cost some 16,000,000 livres. Colbert, the next ranking minister, suggested to the king that Fouquet had spent public money in the building of Vaux, among many other projects such as the fortification of Belle Isle in the Atlantic off the Brittany coast.
Fouquet would die in prison, but the chateau of Vaux served as an inspiration for Louis to begin construction of his own palace at Versailles, using the same architects and landscape artisans.
1698: In an effort to Westernize his nobility, Tsar Peter I of Russia imposes a tax on beards for all men except the clergy and peasantry. The tax was on a graduated scale with the wealthiest paying up to 100 rubles to keep their facial hair. The tax was finally abolished by Catherine the Great in 1772.
1774: First Continental Congress assembles in Philadelphia, to formulate a united colonial response to the Intolerable Acts imposed on Boston following the Tea Party. An economic boycott of British goods is selected as the weapon of choice. Meets until October.
1781: Battle of the Capes in the American Revolutionary War: The British fleet is fought to a draw by the French fleet under the Comte de Grasse, and returns to New York. The French retain control of Chesapeake Bay, cutting off British supplies to Lord Cornwallis, and contributing to the British surrender at Yorktown on October 19th.
1791: French author Olympe de Gouges writes the Declaration of the Rights of Woman and of the Female Citizen. She was guillotined the next year for supporting the wrong political faction.
1793: The French National Convention initiates the Reign of Terror. By the time the Terror ended with the Thermidorian Reaction in July of 1794 with the arrest and execution of Robespierre, over 300,000 people had been arrested, some 10,000 died in prison or without trial, and over 16,000 heads had, quite literally, rolled.
1836: Sam Houston is elected as the first president of the Republic of Texas. He is followed by Mirabeau B. Lamar— what a really cool name!
1839: The First Opium War begins in China, when Imperial officials attempt to stop the smuggling of opium into China by seizing it from the European merchants in Canton. The British Army and fleet respond, leading to the opening of the Treaty Ports, the founding of the Hong Kong colony by the British, the demand of extraterritoriality for Europeans, and the beginning of the era of the “Unequal Treaties” in Chinese history. The Chinese are still pissed about this. By the way, the only power to still retain former Chinese territory from that era is Russia.
1905: The Treaty of Portsmouth, mediated by U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt, ends the Russo-Japanese War. Roosevelt is later awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. Main winner: Japan. Main losers: Russia, Korea and China.
1906: The first legal forward pass in American football is thrown by Bradbury Robinson of St. Louis University to teammate Jack Schneider in a 22–0 victory over Carroll College (Wisconsin).
1927: The first Oswald the Lucky Rabbit cartoon, Trolley Troubles, produced by Walt Disney, is released by Universal Pictures.
1945: Igor Gouzenko, a Soviet Union embassy clerk, defects to Canada, exposing Soviet espionage in North America, signalling the beginning of the Cold War.
1960: Muhammad Ali (then known as Cassius Clay) wins the gold medal in the light heavyweight boxing competition at the Olympic Games in Rome.
1969: U.S. Army Lieutenant William Calley is charged with six specifications of premeditated murder for the death of 109 Vietnamese civilians in My Lai.
1972: A Palestinian terrorist group called "Black September" attacks and takes hostage 11 Israeli athletes at the Munich Olympic Games. Two die in the attack and nine are murdered the following day.
1975: Lynette Fromme attempts to assassinate U.S. President Gerald Ford in Sacramento.
1977: NASA launches the Voyager 1 spacecraft.
1978: Menachem Begin and Anwar Sadat begin peace discussions at Camp David, Maryland. The announcement of the signing of the Camp David Accords will interrupt the pilot episode of Battlestar Galactica on September 17th (but only on the East Coast).
1980: The Gotthard Road Tunnel opens in Switzerland as the world's longest highway tunnel at 10.14 miles (16.32 km) stretching from Göschenen to Airolo.
1984: The Space Shuttle Discovery lands after its maiden voyage.
1984: Western Australia becomes the last Australian state to abolish capital punishment. This is somehow appropriate, as Western Australia was also the last place to which convicts were transported from the United Kingdom, ending in 1868.
There will be no test on Friday.
Third Musical Interlude— Pipeline by the Chantays.
Interesting Bits!
Giant Panda Gives Birth to Twins in Berlin!
From DW (Germany):
“Giant panda Meng Meng has given birth to twin cubs, the zoo announced on Monday. The two babies were born within an hour of each other. After the first birth, the mother gently placed her newborn on her stomach to warm it up. A short time later the second panda baby was born.
Zoo director Andreas Knieriem said that although Meng Meng was a first-time mother, she was "looking after her cubs in an exemplary manner." Mother and babies were thriving, he revealed, adding that the young animals had to "drink every two to three hours ... and needed their mother to warm them."
Berlin will not be able to keep the offspring. As part of the panda's loan agreement, the cubs, and any future siblings, will be returned to China after two to four years.
Meng Meng and Jiao Qing (whose names mean "Sweet Dream" and "Darling" in Chinese) made headlines when they arrived at the Berlin Zoo in 2017 as part of a 15-year loan agreement that Chancellor Angela Merkel worked out with China.
New Species of Whale Found!
From the Asahi Shimbun:
“Black whales called “karasu,” or crows, by local Hokkaido whalers have turned out to be a new species.
The finding was announced Aug. 30 in the British science magazine Scientific Reports by a group of researchers from the National Museum of Nature and Science, Hokkaido University and other organizations.
It found that the bodies of the karasu were up to 6.9 meters long while those of others from the same taxonomic genus were up to 12 meters. The karasu's beaks were also proportionately shorter.”
Benefits From Feeding Strangers!
From UPI:
“Sept. 3 (UPI) -- A San Francisco woman who befriended the crows that frequent her apartment window said they have an arrangement -- she gives them food, and they bring her gifts.
Melinda Green said she started feeding two families of crows that congregate outside her Marina District apartment about three years ago.
Green told KGO-TV she and the crows have "rules established," where they will watch for her blinds to be open and then come to collect treats from her fire escape landing and windowsill.
She said the crows started leaving her gifts in exchange for the food. She said they have brought her portions of a champagne bottle, gummy bears, colorful rocks, bones, nuts and strange bits of antique electronics.
And yes, here’s some video!
Sugary Drinks: Cutting Lives Short, One Can at a Time.
From the Guardian:
“People who regularly consume soft drinks have a higher risk of an early death, researchers have found, with the trend seen for both sugared and artificially sweetened drinks.
“Our results for sugar-sweetened soft drinks provide further support to limit consumption and to replace them with other healthier beverages, preferably water,” said Dr Neil Murphy, a co-author of the research from the International Agency for Research on Cancer, part of the World Health Organisation.
Writing in the journal Jama Internal Medicine, Murphy and colleagues report how they analysed data from more than 450,000 people, 70% of whom were women, across 10 European countries including the UK. Participants had an average age of just over 50, and those with health conditions such as cancer, heart disease or diabetes at the outset were not included in the analysis.”
A Smart Cane!
From GoodNewsNetwork:
“This electronic walking stick is revolutionizing the way that blind people can navigate the world.
The cane can be paired with a smartphone’s Bluetooth system for easy control. Since it is also integrated with Voice Assistant and Google Maps software, it can use built-in speakers to inform the user of nearby stores and infrastructural details that they may not be able to see.
WeWalk CEO and co-founder Kursat Ceylan, who is also blind, told CNN that he helped to develop the cane out of a desire to use modern technology as a tool for the visually impaired.”
And Your Obligatory Surfing Goat Video!
That’s A Wrap!
As I close my 9th Good News Roundup since April, I remember that I’m just a temp here, goofing off while waiting for Oldhippiedude to return to his rightful place. May that day come soon!
I hope you enjoyed today’s bit of whimsy.
We’ll have the Marketts take us out today!
Have a great day!