What's In Your Ear Today?

Ira Hyman Jr. of Western Washington University calls those songs you can't get rid of earworms. Mostly it's kind of a loop thing of the chorus.

His study seems to show that earworms activate themselves while we are doing mundane tasks-like house cleaning. To get rid of these annoyances we should do more demanding things such as reading.

My earworm this morning is:

School Days

Good Day, and Long Live Rock-n-Roll!

A "Cottage Industry" Flourishes In Louisiana

I don't know if you watch Treme on HBO, but it covers some silly government rebuilding efforts still going on after Katrina.

Now, we learn from the Associated Press that a $75 million cottage program has significant costs overuns. The average cost of each cottage is $145,216. But what, there's more. People who live in 34 of those cottages had to move out in order that repairs be made because water leakage in the walls.  With these repairs the price of the 34 homes has increased to $195,452.

Honest Graft

Spin from the 'ole school' may have started with a Tammany Hall guy named George Washington Plunkitt:

"Everybody is talkin‘ these days about Tammany men growin’ rich on graft, but nobody thinks of drawin‘ the distinction between honest graft and dishonest graft. There’s all the difference in the world between the two. Yes, many of our men have grown rich in politics. I have myself. I’ve made a big fortune out of the game, and I’m gettin’ richer every day, but I’ve not gone in for dishonest graft—blackmailin' gamblers, saloonkeepers, disorderly people, etc.—and neither has any of the men who have made big fortunes in politics.

There’s an honest graft, and I’m an example of how it works. I might sum up the whole thing by sayin‘: “I seen my opportunities and I took ’em.”

Believe it or not this distinction has become even more refined. For example in the The Abuse of Power there was a discussion regarding 'legal graft'. Legal graft is considered apolitical. It is featured by a quid pro quo. It is apolitical because the parties involved in the 'arrangement' see themselves at a level outside of politics. An example from the book is: "I'll get you a 99-year lease from the city and you give my friend some insurance …." In Robert Caro's book, The Power Broker: Robert Moses and the Fall of New York, this so-called legal graft was pervasive for decades and at the expense of reforms. Legal graft, is not apolitical and those who participate in it have a vested interest in keeping the status quo.

Trust Me

Ever here of 'gun trusts'?

Erica Goode has:

"A growing number of shooting enthusiasts are creating legal trusts to acquire machine-guns, silencers or other items whose sale is restricted by federal law - a mechanism that bypasses the need to obtain law enforcement approval or even undergo criminal background checks."

An ATF spokesman confirms "… that under current regulations, background checks are not required for the buying of restricted firearms through trusts."

ATF also notes that applications between 2008 and 2012 have doubled to 39,000.

Furthermore these gun trusts are amazingly easy to procure. One guy in Ms. Goode's report used Quicken and a $10.00 fee to get his gun trust, but the quick Quicken method may not be valid. I have seen some articles on the internet by law firms questioning the validity of Quicken and Legal Zoom regarding strength of these on-line gun trusts forms, but no current literature. Some forums go back- and-forth on the legality of these quick and cheap on-line gun trusts forms. The best advice is to use an NFA Trust.

Newtown: Still A Deadly Place To Live

Francis X. Clines reports that Newtown, Connecticut had a warehouse full of toys that they had to get rid of recently. This is just one of many factors that linger in the aftermath of the December mass murders. Another is the continuing fight over local gun control. Newtown or Riverside is the headquarters of the National Shooting Sports Foundation. Different sources put the organization's base in different towns. I'm going with National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF), who claim a Riverside location, they should know, right? The problem with NSSF is that somewhere in their history, backyard shooting ranges were permitted. As Mr. Clines notes this was before the the members of the local NSSF accessed long-range assault pistols and rifles. Now there are complaints of bullets flying around the neighborhoods of Newtown.

More bad news for the unarmed citizens of Newtown is coming out of Washington concerning opposition to closing loopholes in background checks, and assault weapon ban.

And so it goes….

What's That You Say?

The New York Times has had very extensive coverage regarding the pre and posts goings on resulting from Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI resignation. Why did he REALLY resign? How corrupt is the Curia? And so on.

I have followed this coverage closely, but not being Catholic I am curious about only several things:

In this Times article by John F. Burns and Rachel Donado of February 26, 2013 they report:

"The main role of cardinals is to elect a new pope, and they remain eligible to vote under any circumstances, even if they have been excommunicated, Bishop Juan Ignacio Arrieta, the secretary for the Pontifical Council for Legislative Texts, said last week."

Does this mean that the eligible voting members can elect an excommunicated cardinal as Pope? I can't confirm the Times statement attributed to Bishop Arrieta. I have written to the Times Public Editor, the Times Foreign Editor and The Catholic News Service … no replies. You can find discussions on forums, but not from an authorized source such as Bishop Arrieta.

The other question I have is just who are the Memores Domini? I ask this because four women from this community will be caring for Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI at his temporary 'quarters' at the Castel Grandolfo. The women are laywomen and you can find some information here.

If you don't already know the Pope Emeritus will be 'hidden to the world' here, but only temperary:

Then he moves to his permanent digs here:

Poor Catholics in Louisiana are 'hidden to the world' here:

Soft Kitty, Warm Kitty, Where Are You?

                           

                                         










Mrs. Koop, have you seen my cat? Dr. Schrodinger and I don't know if he is dead or alive.?

"Mrs. Schrodinger, why would you ever ask me?

C. Everett Koop was appointed by Ronald Reagan as Surgeon General and died February 26, 2013.
Anyway, in a rather lengthy obituary in the New York Times we learn that around age 14:

"… he operated on rabbits, rats and and stray cats in his basement after his mother had administered anesthesia. By his account, not one of the animals died."