Maybe now is ...

...the time to explain why I may be swearing off RAK (Random Acts of Kindness) for a long time. This and "eat more bacon" are my resolutions for 2011. I don't think I'll have any trouble keeping them. There were two "events" but I'd like to describe just the last one.

I have "season" tickets to a professional ballet company about 3 hours away from where we live (you can figure out the rest, I 'd like to keep this as potentially "search proof" as possible). We get a "three-pack" and this year the ballets were poorly scheduled (for us). I had to take the Nutcracker as part of our series. Now this is not usually a problem as December weather is usually not too bad and driving is not an issue. (February, on the other hand, is a b&^ch.) When you are a season "patron" you have a few options with your tickets. 1) You can exchange them for another performance day; 2) You can exchange them for another ballet in the series; 3) You can turn them back for a tax write off. They are very liberal in their policies, and very accommodating. I have no complaints.

This year, however, the weather looked like it was going to be a problem and we were trying to decide what to do with our tickets. (I've described our run in with black ice before, and we have been very careful ever since.) As we were thinking about our options, I had what I thought was a brainstorm. Why not offer them to a family member who was struggling with a recurrence of a serious illness? She probably needed a night out, with a friend, daughter or family member, and the tickets would be put to good use. (BTW, they are excellent high end seats.) My DH was delighted with this suggestion, so I got in touch with said relative, who was happy to receive them. I exchanged them (a week in advance) for the date she requested and all was well....for the moment. THE NIGHT BEFORE the performance at 6:30 pm, she called and left a message at our home and said she was too ill to go, and could I exchange them for another night!! (I might add here that I didn't get home until after 8:00 pm that evening, which is when I got the message.) Now, I was sympathetic at this point because this is the nature of her physical condition. I wanted to call her back, but didn't have the number at home. I called my sister in law for the number and she said "Oh yeah, I have it here I RSVP'd for the party." (!!!) What party, I ask? THE PARTY SHE WAS HAVING THE NIGHT SHE WAS SUPPOSED TO GO TO THE BALLET!! I was dumbfounded. This means she KNEW she wasn't going to the performance at least a week in advance (she mailed the invitations a week earlier), and instead of calling me ASAP and saying her plans changed and could I make the exchange for another night... She, didn't outright fib, but was disingenuous in the extreme. I called and she gave me the story about her condition, and I listened and asked if she wanted an alternate date, then told her I'd try. Steaming all the while. At this point, I didn't KNOW if I could exchange them, and if I couldn't I'd have to make another choice (see above). And I had about four box office hours the next day to do it. And this is before Christmas, and I had other things I planned to do. Sitting on the phone was not one of them. I vacillated from anger to incredulity to simply ticked.

I exchanged them successfully, and then cut my communication. I didn't trust myself to speak to her again. I find I'm still stunned by this. I was hoping by now I'd have some distance. No such luck.

Can you imagine?

If I were president ....

... and a state passed a law that concerned me. Here's what I'd do.

1. I'd READ it thoroughly.
2. I'd get on the shoe phone to my AG and say, "Have one of the elves evaluate the federal statute with regard to this law, and write up a comparison. I want it in 48 hours."
3. "In addition, have the elves search case law for applicable cases and decisions. I hear there's this thing called LexisNexis (ETA: As per Bezzie--Thanks!). Write me a short report, and talking points and put in on the teleprompter."

If I did this, here is what I would have found out in 48 hours max:

That the federal statute gives far more latitude to law enforcement than the Arizona law AND that the Arizona law actually codifies the "no profiling" restriction, which which federal law doesn't.

Think the federal law is a lawsuit waiting to happen? Well, you're late.

MUEHLER V. MENA (03-1423) 544 U.S. 93 (2005)
332 F.3d 1255, vacated and remanded.

The Supreme Court found in a .... are you sitting down....9 to 0 decision (even Bader Ginsburg crusty liberal that she is, concurred), that the federal law is constitutional, and that law enforcement does not need a reason to ask for proper identification and proof of residency. This case revolved around unlawful search and seizure, and is very clear.

Chief Justice Rehnquist wrote the opinion...not majority opinion, mind you...the OPINION.

Read paragraph 14:

The Court of Appeals also determined that the officers violated Mena’s Fourth Amendment rights by questioning her about her immigration status during the detention. 332 F.3d, at 1264—1266. This holding, it appears, was premised on the assumption that the officers were required to have independent reasonable suspicion in order to question Mena concerning her immigration status because the questioning constituted a discrete Fourth Amendment event. But the premise is faulty. We have “held repeatedly that mere police questioning does not constitute a seizure.” Florida v. Bostick, 501 U.S. 429, 434 (1991); see also INS v. Delgado, 466 U.S. 210, 212 (1984). “[E]ven when officers have no basis for suspecting a particular individual, they may generally ask questions of that individual; ask to examine the individual’s identification; and request consent to search his or her luggage.” Bostick, supra, at 434—435 (citations omitted). As the Court of Appeals did not hold that the detention was prolonged by the questioning, there was no additional seizure within the meaning of the Fourth Amendment. Hence, the officers did not need reasonable suspicion to ask Mena for her name, date and place of birth, or immigration status.

Once I saw this, I'd shut up. Or have my word smith elves construct a line or two that I could use that would not put me in an awkward position. (Mostly because I "like" law enforcement almost as much as I "like" the military, and can't seem to be able to keep this fact under wraps.) I'd then tell my minions to keep their opinions to themselves unless they could come up with grounds that wouldn't suck us down like quicksand..... I have no problems with pragmatists.

I would like to request that our elected officials, particularly those who are supposed to be smarter than God, understand the actual laws of the country they are supposed to be representing. Is that asking too much? (This debacle makes W looks like Einstein.)

Oh and ACLU....Game on!

Slight of Hand

This little bit of news hardly made a ripple:

State College & Johnstown Among The Safest Places To Live

You will notice that State College is #1 on this list. If you look at the crimes that were considered:
murder, rape, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary and motor vehicle theft, it's no wonder. No public urination, no drunk and disorderly, no DUI, no disturbing the peace and throwing items off of balconies, or jumping/falling from said balconies. Without those there would be nothing for the police to do here. So there you have it. As long as you stay away from drunk men in need of facilities, you're golden (no pun intended).

This while the town council is trying to figure out how to pass an ordinance that will make the hosts of parties responsible for damage their "guests" might do. The ACLU seems to think this is unconstitutional because it would inhibit .... are you ready for this ..... religious or political meetings. Those wild and crazy Baptists, I'm sure they're staggering down local streets after prayer meetings.....who knew?

No offense .....

.... to Michael fans out there...but preempting programming....really?

It's just too much....way too much. He was a misbegotten, talented, probable pedophile, with mental problems that I couldn't even begin to guess.

Seriously, world, get a grip.

In the never ending....

... parade of bizarreness that is my life--take a look at my calendar.



Pretty no? I do have a "thing" for carousels. Always have. In fact my husband refuses to go to amusement parks with me because the only ride I really like (and that doesn't make me nauseous) is the carousel. Especially if it is an original Dentzel Carousel like at Kennywood Park .....but I digress. Because there is nothing too weird about this right?












Here is the weird part:



Do you see it?








Look closer .....



Bet you don't have one of those in your month.....

Loose Leaf Thoughts .....

I "accidentally" joined the Loopy Ewe Sock Club. How, you may ask, does one "accidentally" join a sock club. Well, I just wanted to see the details (costs and such), and clicked once too many times. Well, it's a lottery, I told myself, what are the odds? Well, pretty darned good apparently. I'm in. I debated whether I should withdraw, but heck. I can be on a yarn diet the rest of the year, right? First shipment should be in about 4 weeks. I almost can't wait.

I should know better about lotteries. Back in 2002 the first round of the NCAA Basketball Tournament was being held in Pittsburgh. My DH LOVES the basketball tournament. It runs a close second to the Super Bowl with the Steelers playing. Anyway, the tickets were $$ and you had to "buy" into a lottery to try and get them. Also you had to fax your application. Anyway, our fax hiccuped and I ended up entering twice!! (And having my credit card charged twice.) Nice, huh? This was about January 2001. Lo and behold May rolls around and I am notified that I've gotten TWO tickets. Now I'm on pins and needles waiting to see if I also got the other two. This pre-dates StubHub and those other ticket services, so selling them would have been an ordeal and subject to PA's scalping laws. Fortunately, for me, I got a "regrets" notification, and a credit to my charge. But we had a GREAT time at the tournament!

I'm wondering who the heck is going to benefit from the 800B? Not me. If they really wanted to stimulate the economy, and help the "middle-class" they'd do things like....tax write off for $20K if you buy a new home in 2009, how about $5K if you buy a new vehicle ($7 for a hybrid or high mileage), a few hundred for all kinds of durable goods, like washers, dryers etc. This would put Detroit back to work, housing starts would get going again (along with all the associated crafts), manufacturing would stay afloat....but no. We have climate change research. Yeah, that'll help the folks laid off in Midland. The only people this will help in 2009 are the pinheads in the labs at Stanford and MIT and the packing/shipping folks at Fischer Scientific. Oh yeah!! And it would be loads cheaper! (How do I know about pinheads and labs? I used to be one of those pinheads!)



Dondi just doesn't know when to quit. Sheesh. And it just gets worse and worse. Hey buddy!! The clue phone is ringing and it's for you!












I think I just hate Facebook. I just don't "get it". I'm also so not a twitterer or plurker...gads do I really need to know your thoughts at every moment? You sure don't want to know mine! I shudder to think. This comes to mind because we are looking at Facebook as a teaching tool, because "students use it all the time". Many students get drunk all the time too, are we going to start serving cocktails during class? Just sayin'.

No self-esteem?

Is it my imagination, or has the world gone stark raving mad? Doesn't ANYONE have any SELF-esteem?

If the Borg wanted to assimilate our planet, now would be the time....... The non-conformist part of me is getting the "creepin' eeps"....bad.