The Daily Dose/July 13, 2019
By Gaylon Kent
America’s Funniest Guy
Leading Off
Proof that this nation will bicker about anything can be found in our national yapping about putting a citizenship question on next year’s census questionnaires. President Trump wanted to include one because he thinks it will make it easier to deport illegals, while the Democrats opposed it because the GOP supports it, though the argument that such a question would result in non-citizens not participating has some merit. We don’t buy that this is the reason Trump wanted the question included on the grounds Trump doesn’t think that far ahead.
There is no reason not to include a citizenship question with the census. One, a government is entitled to know how many citizens it has in its country. Two, it could result in some statistical funsies. Three, answering ‘no’ doesn’t mean you are going to be deported. There are a variety of ways for non-citizens to be in this country legally. The government is sending out roughly 130 million census forms and to think they are going to audit and follow-up on each one is silly. We don’t have the resources for that.
Citizenship questions have been included with the census off and on over the years. The first time was in 1820 when households were asked how many foreigners, not naturalized, were living in the home. Among other things. Census takers also asked about people engaged in agriculture, commerce and manufacturing. Since then, citizenship questions have appeared 13 other times, sometimes asking every household, sometimes only a few. Sometimes it asked about citizenship and sometimes it asked about naturalization status. Sometimes it asked about men, free men, or everyone. A citizenship question most recently appeared in 2000.
Under normal circumstances, we don’t see a problem with a citizenship question. One, a government, but these are not normal times. America and its government are a partisan, fractured and bickering mess and it’s not the est time to go around proclaiming you aren’t a citizen right now, so perhaps it’s best the question is being left off.
Today At The Site
The Diary of a Nobody: Sparrow books his hotel reservation for his trip next month to the VSO conference.
I called back and was greeted by someone who appeared to have started speaking English last week and who spoke as if she got cash for saying as many words as possible in as short a time as possible…There was no point to this, so I hung up…The third girl had a sultry voice that had me wanting to leave a personal Visa number…She didn’t know what she was doing, either, quoting me a rate of $148, plus tax, $20 more than the rate on our flyer…She said that was the rate and followed that up with the silence of someone who didn’t know what the hell they were doing – I’ve been there myself – so I said I would call back…I lied…I went online and reserved there…The system had the rate code and corresponding rate entered and I was done in three minutes.
Now the real work begins…Booking a sub-orbital flight would be easier, because there is a ream of paperwork I need to fax in because this is government travel and my stay is tax exempt and being paid for with a county credit card that is made out to Stephanie in Infant Services and not me…There is also the county’s tax exempt certificate, the hotel’s credit card authorization form, an affidavit of sale, plus pics of the front and back of the credit, plus a pic of Stephanie’s ID…Fortunately I have these pics from my April training in the big city.
It’s Sparrow, an average man passing an average life.
More drivel! Click on the button to read all of The Diary of a Nobody. $5.99 includes all entries, past, present, and future:
On This Date
In 1977 – The New York City Blackout of 1977 begins around 8:30pm with a lightning strike at a substation north of the city. Other lightning strikes were followed by some technical problems beyond the scope of even this feature and power was out citywide within the hour. The only areas not affected were portions of the city served by the Long Island Lighting Company and, interestingly enough, Pratt Institute, a Brooklyn college that generated its own power. Looting and rioting followed, with over 1,600 businesses affected. Power was fully restored by the following evening.
In 1930 – The first World Cup soccer tournament begins in Montevideo, Uruguay, with France defeating Mexico 4-1 and the United States defeating Belgium 3-0. There was no qualification for the tournament, and 13 teams were divided into four groups, with the group winners advancing to the semifinals. Uruguay ultimately defeated Argentina for the first World Cup title 4-2. The next World Cup is scheduled for Qatar in 2022 while the previous 21 World Cup titles have been won by eight nations, with Brazil having won the most titles, five.
In 1974 – George McCrae is at #1 on Billboard’s Hot 100 for the first of two consecutive weeks with Rock You Baby. The song was written by Harry Casey and Richard Finch of KC and the Sunshine Band and McCrae only sang on it because he happened to be in the studio when Casey and Finch were looking for a singer. The song went to #1 in ten other countries, including Great Britain and Switzerland, and was also in its second and final week at #1 on Billboard’s soul chart.
Quotebook
The president pointed out his oath of office required him to „preserve, protect and defend“ the Constitution. This duty overrode any specific constitutional constraints on executive action.
James McPherson
Tried By War: Abraham Lincoln as Commander-In-Chief
Answer To The Last Trivia Question
The US Air Force Medal of Honor was established in 1965, while the lone Coast Guard recipient of the Medal of Honor (Douglas Munroe, 1942) was awarded the Navy Medal of Honor.
Today’s Stumper
How many times has the host nation won the World Cup? – Answer next time!
