George’s slightly off-center view of the world
Former Chicago Bulls star Dennis Rodman driving in the wrong direction? On Interstate 5? (“The Five” as they say in southern California.) On the Santa Ana Freeway in Orange County – home of Disneyland? In the carpool lane? Hard to imagine, I know. But Mr. Rodman had a good excuse. It was someone else’s fault. According to his attorney, “The driving error at night was due to poor sign placement.”
No word from the driver who swerved to avoid Rodman’s vehicle and crashed into a concrete barrier.
In 1967 the governor of California signed into law a bill effectively ending involuntary commitment of people suffering from mental disorders. At the time 22,000 Californians resided in state mental hospitals. Ten years earlier the number had been 37,500. These institutions were seen as dehumanizing. Involuntary commitment would now be restricted to those who were deemed as potentially dangerous to themselves or those around them. The commitment had to be sponsored by a family member and/or ordered by the court. A mentally-ill patient who refused treatment typically did not receive any at all. That governor won election to the presidency with a landslide victory in 1980.
Remember the year 2000? I do. We expended time and effort to reassure business partners that we had made preparations to prevent all our systems from crashing at one second past midnight on New Year’s Eve 1999. We even had high-tech shorthand: Y2K. (Y2K – get it?) Today, we would expect a logo and theme music as well. All because the tech-wizards in whose genius we relied, didn’t know the year 2000 was coming. Guess what? They’re back. The subsequent tech generation is unleashing the Internet of Things. Be afraid. Be very afraid. Continue reading “The Internet of Wh-a-a-a-t?”
It’s not easy being Johnny Depp. It’s not inexpensive, either. Imagine if you had all these financial obligations:
With two recent motion-picture box-office bombs, Mr. Depp’s expenses are outpacing his income. So of course he is doing what any sane person would do: blame somebody else. Johnny Depp is suing his long-time business managers, The Management Group, for $25 million, claiming they never told him he might have some financial problems. TMG responded that they, “… repeatedly warned and advised Depp to reduce his spending and sell unnecessary assets. But ultimately, the decision whether and how to spend his money was a decision for Depp to make. Depp listened to no one, including TMG and his other advisors, and he demanded they fund a lifestyle that was extravagant and extreme.”
And you thought you had problems.
The summer of 1970, a year filled with anti-Vietnam War protests across the country, was headed to a climax with the American Legion’s national convention opening in Portland on August 30. The Oregonian newspaper reported that Richard Nixon was to address the gathering. Portland had witnessed its share of demonstrations; this could be the mother of them all. The FBI informed Governor Tom McCall that the so-called Peoples Army Jamboree was organizing to bring 50,000 protestors to disrupt the convention. (Later, evidence showed the FBI had made up the number. Some things don’t change.) Continue reading “American Legion – Then and Now”
