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The Daily Dose/August 24, 2018
By Gaylon Kent
America’s Funniest Guy
In The News
Mexican authorities opened 2,599 murder investigations in July, their most ever for a calendar month. That’s a lot of murders, about four times the murder rate here in the United States and so far this year the murder rate in Mexico is up 14 percent from 2017.
A lot of these murders are committed by drug dealers fighting for control of drug trafficking routes, not to mention the usual things dealers of illegal drugs fight about. With US backing, the Mexican government is getting involved, too, sending soldiers into the streets, some of whom are themselves murdered.
We learned nothing from Prohibition, that 1920’s era act that banned booze in the US. It did nothing to stem demand, it merely made the criminals who filled the need rich.
The same is true of our current drug war. If drugs were legal in America, the number of homicide investigations Mexico is obliged to open falls enormously. Dealers who right now are arch-criminals become mere vendors trying to move some product into a country where there is a high demand for it. The sooner we eliminate the penalties associated with drug production, importation and use, the sooner people stop dying because of drug violence.
Today At The Site
Sparrow and The Wife spend a pleasant afternoon at the hot springs in town on today’s edition The Diary of a Nobody. Plus, Sparrow’s pesky tooth still hasn’t come out and he is too chicken to pull it out, so he has soup for every meal today.
Deng Ming-Dao, author of one of our favorite books, 365 Tao, has The Thought for the Day, a reminder that whether we become the ash or the phoenix is up to us.
On This Date
In 2006 – The International Astronomical Union, whoever they are, redefines what a planet is, resulting in Pluto to be reclassified a dwarf planet, leaving the Solar System with eight planets. The staff here at The Daily Dose has always disagreed with this decision. Without getting too technical, Pluto met the requirements of being round and orbiting the sun, but was done in by the fact it is not gravitationaly dominant in its area, as both Pluto and its moons rotate around another point, called a barycenter in the trade.
In 1919 – Cleveland Indians pitcher Ray Caldwell is struck by lightning with two outs in the ninth inning of a game at Cleveland. After being knocked out for five minutes, Caldwell is recovered enough to finish the game, a 2-1 victory over the Philadelphia A’s.
In 1959 – The Browns, a family act from Arkansas, are at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 with The Three Bells. The song would spend three weeks at #1, would also go #1 country and Top 10 on the Soul chart, then known as the R&B Sides chart. It was the Browns only #1 song. They were members of the Grand Ole Opry and were elected to the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2015.
Answer To The Last Trivia Question
There was not a Trivia feature last time, silly.
Today’s Stumper
What song(s) have spent the most time at #1 on Billboard’s R&B chart? – Answer next time!
Shameless Plugs
Backstairs at the Monte Carlo: A Vegas Memoir!: Clock in with the graveyard crew at the Monte Carlo Security Department on the glamorous Las Vegas Strip. You’ll meet drunks, reprobates and scoundrels, and those are just the officers! The funniest Vegas memoir ever! Promise!
The Regular Guys: Meet Lenny and Larry, two comedians who team up more or less out of desperation and become the biggest in show business. As funny as you would expect from Gaylon, and poignant, too.
Click here to read previews of both!
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