I see numbers everywhere. When I was a teenager, I would go to sleep and dream of math equations, as though there were a whiteboard in my head being written upon by an invisible hand. I would wake up exhausted because my brain wouldn’t shut off. That hasn’t happened in quite a while, but I still see numbers and patterns everywhere.
By no means am I claiming to have a Beautiful Mind, like that of tortured soul John Nash. On my very best day, I might have a Somewhat Good-Looking Mind. But still, the numbers are there, talking to me. The numbers grabbing my attention today include:
0.001—That’s the percentage of people who signed a petition against red-light and speed cameras who did so based on a well-thought-out constitutional argument. Face it: The average American would have trouble mounting a constitutional argument against slavery. No way they’re doing it on speed cameras.
Far too many people want to drive like jackasses, as though they were the only ones on the road and those two-digit numbers on the signs were merely suggestions. “Yield” is defined as “cut in front of those who have the right of way” and a yellow light means step on it.
I heard one person complain that “people slow down when they get near the cameras and then they speed back up.” So the complaint is that people who are breaking the law find themselves having to decelerate to the posted speed limit in the vicinity of the camera zones? To me, that means that they’re working.
My only complaint with the cameras—and it’s a big one—is that they should be owned and operated by the governmental entity that is utilizing them. The fact that a private business is involved sets things up for abuse. However, since there is no constitutional right to privacy and driving is a privilege and not a right, the whining rings hollow. There is a question to be raised concerning due process, but even that is rather weak.
While some might claim otherwise, the majority of people who would vote against speed cameras are selfish drivers who want to be able to break the law without getting caught.
64 percent—In a recent poll, that’s the percentage of people younger than the age of 30 who believed that the gathering of phone-call records by the government constituted an invasion of privacy. There are many, many things wrong with that, not the least of which is that many of the respondents mistakenly believed that the government was listening in on their phone calls.
What I find hilarious is that this is a generation that will go on four different social media platforms and declare: I hooked up with this guy last night. His back was kinda hairy, but on a scale of 1 to 10, I give the sex a B-minus. His breath smelled like Mentos, but I can’t remember his name. Then, they’ll turn around and be outraged that someone was applying an algorithm to billions of phone-call records in an attempt to find a pattern that might lead to a terrorist cell. That’s just funny.
1,282—That’s how many days until the Tea Party goes away for good, because 1,282 days from now, Barack Obama will no longer be president. That whole small-government ideological movement claim has all but been abandoned, most recently by the rabid support for spending $40 billion to double the size of the Border Patrol. The Tea Party has always been—and remains—a movement based on a visceral hatred of a man who speaks differently and …well … looks different than almost all Tea Party people. He is a daily in-your-face reminder of how this country is changing and that’s change that they don’t want to believe in.
Nearly five years in, almost 70 percent of Tea Party people believe that President Obama will “destroy the country.” Six out of 10 still believe that he was born in another country. And more than half think he’s secretly a Muslim, which, I suppose, in their minds would disqualify him from holding office. It’s just too weird.
So in 1,282 days, Barack Obama will be gone and the Tea Party can fade into history, just another kook fringe group that vastly overstayed its allotted 15 minutes.
Unless Hillary Clinton gets elected …
14—That’s the spot on Billboard’s Hot 100 for “Same Love” by Macklemore and Ryan Lewis (featuring Mary Lambert). Way back in December, I named it as my favorite song of 2012 and now it’s finally blowing up.
The New York Times did a nice article on the Seattle-based rapper and the song, noting how “Same Love” took off after the ascension to No. 1 of Macklemore’s goofball hit, “Thrift Shop,” and coincided with the Supreme Court sort of OK’ing gay marriage. (The court’s rulings were steps in the right direction, but the ruling in the California Proposition 8 case was especially troubling, for multiple reasons. More on that at another time.)
Finally, 39—We go 39 straight days with 100-degree temperatures and all we do is tie the record (set in 1987 and tied in 2005). We couldn’t go one more day? That sucks almost as much as the fact that Tucson’s record for 100-degree days in a year is 99.
This article appears in Jul 18-24, 2013.
Visceral hate for Obama because of what? Try a very basic test. If you the employer are looking for a computer whiz for your business would you hire a person with experience in Computers and it’s programs or one that has never used a computer? If you can get beyond your “legend in your own mind” persona, you will hire the one with experience with computers. Look up yourself so you can’t immaturely blame anyone else for the info and see what business or leadership background Obama had! Zip, zero, nada! Read about his friends, Bill Ayers, Valarie Jarret, etc. You and I have a President with NO experience in leadership appointing more of the same, people with no experience! That would not be good for your business or mine or the biggest economy in the world. Look up through the last 100 years the % of people from either business or leadership backgrounds that each administration had. The highest 63% to the lowest 24% of people an administration appointed went to people with experience and not just a political appointment. Your Emperor has 8% the lowest in 100 years for hiring people with either Business or management experience. That is why people with a brain don’t like the guy, because his decisions are a direct effect of the inexperienced people he brought in to serve our country!
All that writing Matthew when what you REALLY mean is that you can’t stand that a Blackmanistan is in the White House.
Tom wrote: “My only complaint with the cameras—and it’s a big one—is that they should be owned and operated by the governmental entity that is utilizing them. “
Exactly my objection to them. Anytime a profit making business runs a project, it is for one goal, to make a profit from it. And sadly they suck at it because they often don’t get a good picture of the driver and license plate to make a solid identification of who was driving.
Tucson drivers are some of the the rudest and most uncaring people i have seen. Just the other day, a large SUV cut me off to the point that I had to slam on the brakes and nearly got rear ended. He then proceeded to change lanes a half dozen times and we both arrived at the next red light side by side. What did he gain other than ticking off a dozen other motorists?
I don’t drive like an “old person” but I am proud to say that I haven’t received a traffic citation in 40 years. When I drive, I don’t text or talk on the cell phone and I use my mirrors and turn signals to alert others of my intentions. That works against me sometimes as when I signal my intention to change lanes, some idiot will speed up to block me. I don’t let it get my blood pressure up but just slow down and pull in behind them.
Too many people are distracted by their rolling entertainment/communication center on wheels and would better be called passengers in an uncontrolled vehicle than drivers.
And no, I’m not anti-technology. I worked it IT for nearly 30 years and embrace almost all of the modern technology, but I also have the good sense to know when to ignore it and concentrate on the task in front of me, like driving. Heck, my sports car even has an old fashioned clutch and 5 speed gearbox that you stir with a stick!
Yeah. Hire a guy with experience and all will be well. Nixon was a congressman, senator and vice president. He was a GREAT president. Watergate and the coverup were master strokes. Bush 43 was a governor for a couple years. Tons of experience. He got us into a war based on lies and crashed the economy. Good times. U.S. Grant won the Civil War and lead the Army of the Potomac. He was tremendous. We got the Panic of 1873, Black Friday, and Whiskey Ring (all together known as Grantism) from him. Who can forget the genius of Warren Harding? He served in both the Ohio and US Senate. His vast experience gave us Teapot Dome and his expertise in handling the Great Railroad Strike of 1922. Last but not least is the wizard that was Herbert Hoover. He ran the U.S. Food Administration, the American Relief Adminstration, and was Secretary of Commerce. The Great Depression will always be his greatest accomplishment. Yes Matthew, your very basic test will always ensure that we get the very best president.
I am the 0.001 percent. I DEFINITELY can present a well thought out legal argument against those big brother eyes. A.R.S. 28- 1593 comes to mind
@Bob Regan: “All that writing Matthew when what you REALLY mean is that you can’t stand that a Blackmanistan is in the White House.”
Yeah. Right.
*You*, Mr. Regan, can’t come up with any facts to refute Matthew’s comments so you take the typical prog Low Road: insinuating that Matthew’s disagreement with your Messiah is a racist.
I’d suggest that you could probably do better than that, but in reality you probably don’t have the intellectual capacity to do so.
Mr. Tom Daheny,
The traffic camera issue to me is not about private or gov’t control (the potential for abuse has been proven with either). I don’t feel any safer for having either of them to watch us. Most importantly and most objectionable is the fact that these items in public space were placed without without public vote, – and that, my friends, is decidedly unconstitutional, unlawful, and un-american. Security is found in our hearts to do what’s right, not in what’s mounted on the poles of nearly every intersection. This topic will never make the cover page of the ‘Weekly’ and I suspect that .001 percent of us are unafraid to vote or speak out against the impropriety. It appears BURNIE MAK and I are vastly outnumbered when we stand together with old Ben who in shaping our great nation rightly spoke…
“Those Who Sacrifice Liberty For Security Deserve Neither. He who would trade liberty for some temporary security, deserves neither liberty nor security.” -Benjamin Franklin
“It is better to die on your feet than live on your knees.” -Emiliano Zapata
Maybe I’m just a feeble-minded right -winger, but what the Hell is a Blackmanistan ? Mr. Regan your stupidity is beyond belief. Do you really feel that someone who happens to disagree with Obummer is an instant racist? Your opinion would be funny if it wasn’t so sad. True story. Some time ago I was having an adult beverage at my local watering hole. I happened to be wearing one of my many anti-Obummer T-shirts. A black gentleman walked by me, stopped to read my shirt and mumbled ” racist”. I asked if I could trouble him with a few questions. When he agreed I started with ” what did you think of George Bush ?’ 2 beers later I finally heard enough about Enron, illegal wars, blood for oil, Gitmo. WMDs and all the other crap the left has to offer on the subject. I told him I got the picture and asked him ” are you black?” He said you know I am.. I then asked him if Bush was white. He answered in the affirmative. ” Guess that makes you a racist, too. That ended that conversation.
ya know..ive had issues with overpaid city planners and stupid council members and yes, mayors, city managers and governors…since the 1970s. wasted funding for religious based laws, security laws and bring everyone down to the most stupid, laws (to protect the stupid…). but if y’all are comfy with em…..go on. im a native, I hate you for what you’ve done to this town. intellectualize, rationalize and minimize all you want, I don’t need to be monitored, watched, or dogged. our local government does. our water does. our misuse of land, including what was state parks’ land does. large talking folks, keep talking..about the future for your precious kids and grand kids. and be comfy knowing we’re spending money and resources on insignificant laws and corrupt political pockets. did this address the issue? in a broad sense, ya.
39. Thank you. Of all the things mentioned, TeaParty, Speed cameras, social media, that one bothers me the most. I think it speaks to Tucson second class nature. I mean, really, has Phoenix even dipped under 110 since 1987? We need to do better.
As to hiring with or without experience, many employers would hire those with none or little experience so they can pay them less. Only the smart and employers who want instant result would hire an experience person and pay them the minimum wage they can.