The Daily Dose/April 25, 2020
By Gaylon Kent
America’s Funniest Guy
Leading Off
Notes from around the human experience
USA! USA!: Yesterday we talked about the declining role of America in world affairs, particularly how no one is looking for or expecting much of anything from us during the coronavirus pandemic.
Whew…That Was Close: Which is good, because America, unable to muster a timely, credible, competent response to the coronavirus, has had zero leadership to offer. We noted how the American Century is over and opined that America is irrelevant, halfway between relevance and oblivion.
Quote That Sucker: Richard Nixon has a lot to answer for, of course, but he was no dummy and he put it very well years ago:
Any society, if it is to flourish instead of merely survive, must strive to transcend its own limits.
America is not flourishing because America has, collectively, stopped striving. Our favorite example is the only country to put men on the moon can no longer send anyone into space, a circumstance that should make all of us hang our heads in shame.
Oh, Shut Up: A lot of Americans, including us, weigh too much and the average American spends a bit more than five hours per day watching TV, a figure that does not include us because we gave TV up years ago. Americans are content and friends when either a person or a country is content, they stop striving.
Boy, He’s Really On The Rag Today: Let’s be honest, our country is in shambles. We have blood on our hands because we were unable to handle the coronavirus in a timely and competent manner, resulting in tens of thousands of unnecessary deaths with thousands more to come. We’ve been at war every day for the past 30+ years and our finances are a fiasco. 154 years after the Civil War we are as divided as we’ve ever been. Our country is a shooting gallery and a violent America has resulted in a violent world.
Thank You Captain Optimism: 100 years from now there will be all new people on this planet and they will be looking back at America at the start of the third decade of the 21st century and they will see either a country that was either a generation or two from collapse or a country where concerned and conscientious citizens decided to oust the status quo and make a difference for themselves and their country.
The Bottom Line: Friends, America cannot continue with the status quo. Deep down we all know that. The America we want starts with you and it starts with me and it starts Nov 3.
Editor’s Note: Gaylon is a candidate for the Colorado Libertarian Party’s US Senate nomination and is on the June 30th primary ballot. Click here to contribute.
Today At The Site
Writing worth reading. Usually.
Otherwise, I was very productive at the VSO…I got the day’s project work done and I updated, and even considered changing the design of, the Sparrow For US Senate website and I got my walk in.
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On This Date
History’s Long March
In 1859 – Construction begins on the Suez Canal, with a groundbreaking ceremony in Said, Egypt. It was constructed and financed by the private Suez Canal Company, organized and run by Ferdinand de Lesseps of France. It opened in November 1869, it connected the Mediterranean Sea with the Red Sea and archeologists have traced canal building in the area at least back to 1,800 years before Christ. de Lesseps would later organize initial construction on the Panama Canal before his company ran out of money.
In 1993 – Michael Williams of the Minnesota Timberwolves establishes a new NBA record for most consecutive free throws made in a 113-111 win over the Utah Jazz. Williams was 10-10 from the line, giving him 84 straight free throws made, breaking the record of 78 established by Calvin Murphy in 1980-81. It was the regular-season finale and Williams would extend the record to 97 consecutive free throws the following season and the record still stands. Williams’ season percentage of 90.7% was the fourth-best in the league.
In 1981 – Smokey Robinson is at #1 on Billboard’s soul chart – then known as the Hot Soul Singles chart – for the fourth of five consecutive weeks. The song also went to #1 in on pop charts in New Zealand and Great Britain, peaked at #2 on the Hot 100 and was Billboard’s 13th biggest pop song of the year. It was the second and final soul chart #1 for Robinson and remains his biggest pop solo hit. Robinson originally wrote the song for Kim Carnes, whose hit Bette Davis Eyes Being With You out of the #1 spot.
Quotebook
The wisdom of the ages. Whatever.
The first principle is that you must not fool yourself and you are the easiest person to fool. – Richard P. Feynman
Answer To The Last Trivia Question
It’s not who you know, but what you know.
The Woolworth Building was surpassed as the world’s tallest building in 1930 by 40 Wall Street.
Today’s Stumper
Cheaper than Trivia Night at the bar.
Who led the NBA in free throw percentage in the 1992-93 season? – Answer next time!
