The Daily Dose/December 24, 2019
By Gaylon Kent
America’s Funniest Guy
Leading Off
Notes from around the human experience…
WELL, AT LEAST THAT’S OVER WITH: Saudi Arabia has announced five death sentences in association with their trials of those accused in the Oct. 2018 killing of Jamal Khashoggi.
That the Saudis were conducting trials wasn’t a bulletin, but they’ve been held in secret with no accounts given and few have taken them seriously, the death penalty announcement hardly being heralded the world over.
Dry, Technical, Matter: The foreign minister of Turkey – the country where Khashoggi was killed – dismissed it as “far from meeting…expectations” and Khashoggi’s fiance Hatice Cengiz called it “not acceptable” and the Washington Post, for whom Khashoggi wrote from time to time, dismissed the announcement as well.
Numbers Racket: According to the Saudis, they investigated 31 people in connection Khashoggi’s death, arrested 21 and tried eleven. Of the other six that were tried, three were convicted and sentenced to lesser penalties and three were acquitted. Or so we’re told. Again, the trials were held in secret and we have only the Saudi’s word on any of this.
ROTFLMAO: US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was quoted as saying this:
These penalties will not be the last word on this matter from the United States.
He’s just kidding, of course. The US will do the same thing it’s done since Khashoggi’s murder: nothing. Some may get their shorts in a knot over it, but our government announced long ago that it had no interest in pursing anything other than business as usual with the Saudis.
Fly In The Ointment: Paced by a disinterested America, the world declined to demand accountability and good luck ever getting it. The Saudis were determined to kill Khashoggi come what may and they brazened their way through it without sanction. We stood by and watched, as complicit in it as the Saudis are.
Today At The Site
The Diary of a Nobody: Sparrow has the latest gas mileage figures for the new ride. Today’s Diary.
I filled up this morning on the way to the Veterans Service Office (VSO) and I’m afraid the gas mileage figures are the lowest since I bought the new ride last month…
It’s Sparrow, an average man passing an average life.
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On This Date
In 1968 – Man reaches the moon for the first time when Apollo 8 – manned by Frank Borman, James Lovell and William Anders – enters lunar orbit. Orbit followed a 4 minute, 7 second burn that had it not gone properly could have crashed the command module into the moon or flung them into orbit. The crew was unable to see the moon on their approach, and only saw it for the first time after entering orbit. Apollo 8 orbited the moon ten times and returned to Earth on December 27.
In 1968 – Joe Namath of the New York Jets (AFL) becomes the first professional quarterback to pass for more than 4,000 yards in a season in a 42-31 win over the San Diego Chargers. Namath was 18-for-26 for 343 yards and four touchdowns, finishing the season with 4,007 yards passing. Namath broke the professional record of 3,747 yards that had been established the previous year by Sonny Jurgenson of the NFL’s Washington Redskins and the record was broken in 1979 by Dan Fouts of the San Diego Chargers with 4,082 yards. The record is now held by Peyton Manning, who threw for 5,477 yards in 2013.
In 1966 – Jack Greene is at #1 on Billboard’s country chart – then known as the Hot Country Singles chart – for the first of six consecutive weeks with There Goes My Everything. It was the first of five #1 country songs for Greene and also peaked at #65 on Billboard’s Hot 100. The song was written by Dallas Frazier, who also wrote #1 songs for, among others, the Hollywood Argyles (Alley Oop, 1961, pop) and The Oak Ridge Boys (Elvira; 1980, country)
Quotebook
…if these things were to be done, he knew that reason would have to exert its sway quickly: the country could no longer be permitted to be swept along wherever “passion and prejudice” led it. – John C Miller, Alexander Hamilton, Portrait in Paradox
Answer To The Last Trivia Question
King William III and Queen Mary II jointly ruled England from 1689 until Mary’s death in 1694. William then ruled until his death in 1702. He was succeeded by Mary’s sister, Anne.
Today’s Stumper
When was the last time a player led the NFL in passing throwing for fewer than 1,000 for a season? – Answer next time!
