The Weekly Poll
Results
The 'Ten Little Questions' Edition
It's Census time again! (What? Already? Didn't we just do this 10 years ago?)
so, just fer fun, I'll add four of my own...
1.) Did you fill out your census form and send it back yet?
2.) If not, will you?
3.) Did you answer all the questions?
4.) If not, what questions didn't you answer and why?
(Warning! Big Brother says we have to fill it out and return it otherwise we'll get a knock on the door from the friendly Census Police politely asking us to do so...
Go easy on the poor bastards, eh? They're mostly unemployed people trying to make a few bucks and probably are scared to death that they're gonna get slammed. It's not their fault, OK?... P.S. you answers here are entirely confidential and will not be shared with ANYBODY, especially You-Know-Who...)
Well, then, Poll-fans we have an interesting collection of responses here, and that's a fact. From the terse to the instructional and then the anecdotal... with a bit of whimsy thrown it, as it were, for some spice (Thanks, Dan!)... I will depart from my usual wont of giving my response last and this time start it out... I answered the form and returned to my mail box for posting the same day I received it. I do agree with Marc Perkel on the race issue - Census 2000 - Burning my Census Form Reading his words certainly has made me think about other issues, as well... The object of his exercise, I would say...
I encourage all you Poll-fans to check out the link with an open mind...
Now, all that said, you may proceed, if you please... (haha)
Richard McD concisely wrote...
Filled it out just like they asked. Why not? Every thing to lose.
maw was also succinct...
Yes. Found the questions about as intrusive as breathing air.
Joe B. replied...
I filled it out. All they asked was your age, race and what kind of a dwelling and if you had a mortgage on your house. I heard in Texas they aren't filling it out which doesn't make sense because it determines how much money you get from the Federal Gov.
DanD sent an 'interesting' reverie...
From Fantasy-is-all-us INC. (the possibly improbable conversation between FDR and his chief jackboot, JEH, just before the shootin' started in earnest):
(EARLY DECEMBER, 1941)
FDR: "Hey Jacko, ever since your bastard bubba, Herbert did a great job drivin' the economy side-ways, south and screwed into the ground, your secret (neo-con-esque) faction of Incorporated National Socialism (as spearheaded by Prescott) made a killing when we SO SUCCESSFULLY confiscated everybody's real gold stocks after I got elected and made it illegal to own! Yup, ever since our "Fed" racket went live in '13, we've been quite successful in our "tax-slave" agenda to indenture even the middle-class white folks of this country ... FIRST!"
JEH: "Yeah Frankie, but we've still got a problem with all those slope-eze from Jap-land way. Them slant-eyed bastards are right smart, and God are they good at math ... at least as good as the Kikes. Anyway, you know that world war that you and Hitler's been brewin' against the Russkies for a while? Well, I've got a great idea for using the national census. Ya-know, ever since we first put it in the Department of Commerce back in '13, we've been collectin' the info that let's us know where every last one of them ski-headed sums-uv-bitches live ... so when you do pull your "Lincoln" and even more expansively nationalize the whole economy, well, I already know that you're gettin' ready to stab ole' Adolf in the back by suckering the Japs in to attack Pearl ~"
FDR wonders: (Damn! an' I thought I had that secret well-covered, even from him!)
JEH continues: "... so I'm gonna' go ahaid and dig out from all that Census data we got tellin' us where all them yellar monkeys are livin' so's we can incarcerate them an' their daughters in our (pre-Homeland Security) concentration camps ... all while confiscating their property (heh heh)! I mean, it'll be a great way to teach them yellar niggers not to get too uppity with us again ... an' it'll also show the Chinks where they can't go."
FDR: "Sounds like a good one to me Johnny boy. Oh, by the way guy, my SS boys got some great pics of you last month in your latest evening gown, you do look right fetchin'!"
JEH thinks to himself: (Well, yeah you commie slut-bitch, but with them undetectable, slow-actin' poisons that Joseph's stupidly been sharin' with me, NOW I'm gonna' make damn sure you won't even outlast your own stupid war, boy.) Then he salutates: "Well, say high to the 'little lady' for me, and tell her I think that she's as ugly as ever ~"
FDR responds: "Ditto to you too, (queer!) ~"
Basically, that census let's our "self-possessing" government know just where we all are (supposed to be), how much money we've got, how many properties are (actually in hock) owned, and the legitimate number of sons and daughters we claim are just hangin' around our homestead to get conscripted as soldiers and prostitutes (you know, skanked-out female soldiers for the Dems and little-boy prostitutes for the 'Pukes).
But don't worry, I ain't tellin' nobody nuthin, even to you BttbBBB -- er -- BB, B? Bob to the Bad Big Brother's Bone ... B-Bob~
oh hell, my dyslexia is acting up again!
Adam in NoHo wondered...
We gayed-up all the questions as much as possible and sent it right back. We am not Latino, so half the questions didn't even pertain to us. Why so may questions to find out how much and what kind of Latino you are with nothing about income, family composition, sexual orientation, and maybe religious and/or apolitical affiliation?
DRD sent a personal anecdote...
Following my 1980 experience with the Census I live in mortal fear of not complying on time and with complete information...
We were in the middle of relocating across the city from one residence to another. I received the census form at the old address a week or so before we moved and returned it on time. As a business owner I also had a Post Office Box address for accounts receivable checks, etc. They also sent one there so I filled it out and sent it in. About a month later the door bell rang at the new home and there was Lonesome Jim the census taker with a very stern expression on his face! He starts by telling me that since I had not returned my census slip from my present address I must be in violation of federal laws and regulations that could cost me money and maybe time. I informed him that lo and behold I had already submitted two reports and thought that surely that was sufficient! Long story short, he insisted under penalty of law that I send in one from my current address which boiled over me like hot fudge on a sore lip! At that point I asked him if he was counting houses or people and that went over like a wet fart at the breakfast table! Needless to say I sent in the third report so I guess we were counted three times that time. So I will respond on time with full discloser!
Jane in Boston reported...
Here are my census answers.
1. yes
2. n/a
3. yes
4. n/a
I hope what I've been reading is true--that the knuckle draggers are refusing to fill in the form, reducing their representation in Congress!
litebug answered...
I filled out the form and mailed it back. I answered every question. I was glad to get the short form, which had very few questions. I am aware of how many detailed questions the long form has, or at least used to have. If I remember correctly, the short form is meant to be a universal count, the long form is completed by a sample of the population. (and then asked...)
Did you know that private businesses can and do buy and use Census data? I didn't, before I went to work for a leading property/casualty insurance company at their "think tank" in the early 70s. They were just finishing their processing of 1970 Census data, so this has been going on for some time. The data has no individual identifiers. We mainly worked with data summarized to the Census Tract level. If a tract had so few people in it that even summarized data could be used to identify individuals, the data for that tract would be suppressed. Census tracts could be aggregated to any desired geographic level or configuration. Census data were used, along with other information, for target marketing, to establish rating districts for insurance pricing, to locate sales and claim offices, to recruit employees and more.
bebo responded with a civics lesson...
It's not big brother that says we have to fill out the census. article 1, section 2 of the constitution of the United States mandates that a census be taken every 10 years. The 10 questions on the 2010 census are very similar to the questions that were asked in the first census in 1790. Now, I'm not a rocket scientist or a brain surgeon, but it took me a long 5 minutes to complete the census. Anybody who has problems with these 10 questions could benefit from some remedial training in junior high school.
SallyP rounded it out with...
My response to this week's poll question is number 1: Yes, I filled out my 2010 census form, and mailed it out on the same day it was received!
It was very easy - I did not have to tap into any of the college educated portion of my brain in order to do so. I would suggest one could handle it with their fourth-grade level of education... The census form wanted only basic information about myself and up to 11 other people living in my home (I was to use addition blank pages for more residents over the eleven aforementioned.)
I am happy to tell you that there was no, 'chip' enclosed with the census form for me to insert in my forehead, nor other sinister enclosures, bearing the numbers, "666" either. Furthermore, I have not seen the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse galloping down my block since I mailed in the census, nor do I fear bringing on the Armageddon by having submitted said Census form!
I too would very much like to know exactly who are living in this country, and what they are up to! Really people, it is no big deal...
So, there it is... I rather enjoyed it, I gotta tell ya... Thanks to all!
Yer the Best!
BadToTheBoneBob
~~~~~~~~~~~
New Question
The 'Banning the Burka' Edition...
Belgium may be the first European country to ban the full-covering Islamic veils from being worn in public... The Belgian parliament's home affairs unanimously backed a proposal to ban the so-called burka and niqab, two forms of the Muslim veil covering the entire body and face. If the law is enacted, women who wear this in public would be fined 15-25 euros and may face a jail sentence of up to seven days.
EUobserver / Belgium moves towards banning the burka
Would you support or oppose such a ban here in the US? (and why?)
A.) Support ______
B.) Oppose ______
C.) WTF? I gots more important things to worry about, dagnabbit! _______
Send your response to
Recommended Reading
from Bruce
Paul Krugman: Making Financial Reform Fool-Resistant (nytimes.com)
The Senate financial reform bill would create a system dependent on the good intentions of officials. That's not something we can count on.
RICHARD ROEPER: Why would you care if gays go to your kid's prom? (suntimes.com)
How could that be a threat to your teenager's well-being?
Jay Mathews: Lessons for a lifetime (latimes.com)
Anyone who has seen the film "Stand and Deliver," the story of East Los Angeles math teacher Jaime Escalante -- who died Tuesday of cancer at age 79 -- will remember the character Ana Delgado. She was the Escalante student whose father made her work at his restaurant. In the movie, the teacher goes there one night and persuades the father to put a desk in the back so she can do her homework.
Sandy Banks: Lasting lessons of a teacher who delivered (latimes.com)
Jaime Escalante's former students reflect on what they learned -- not just about math, but about life.
Steve Lopez: A house full of kids and love (latimes.com)
When I knocked on Bob and Linda Nelson's door in Laguna Niguel, their son Matthew took one look at me and figured he knew my line of work.
Susan Estrich: Rejection Season (creators.com)
... in the world of law school admissions, a world I know well, applications are up at many schools by 10 percent or more, which means acceptances will be down by at least that much. This is, in short, the season in which hardworking and dedicated students across the country discover that their best was just not good enough.
Connie Schultz: We the People in a Land of 'I's' (creators.com)
By now, millions of people around the world have viewed the video showing a middle-aged guy taunting an older man with Parkinson's disease at a protest in Columbus, Ohio, over health care reform. That's how it works in these days of YouTube and the World Wide Web. A healthy man picks on someone who's disabled and, before you know it, students in Hong Kong are posting a video of ugly America on Facebook.
Froma Harrop: Down With Political Prognostications (creators.com)
Political sages turn today's polling and past voter behavior into confident predictions about upcoming elections. That's their job. But fortune-tellers may do nearly as well, especially when the vote takes place months in the future
Paul Hiebert: George Lucas, the Most Hated Filmmaker in America (Salon)
More than a decade after "The Phantom Menace," a documentarian examines why "Star Wars" fans just can't forgive.
Jane Goldman: much more than just Jonathan Ross's wife (guardian.co.uk)
The scriptwriter of 'Kick-Ass' and now a new film, 'The Debt,' is clearly a considerable talent, says Deborah Orr.
Frank Lovece: Broadway's new dah-ling: Valerie Harper as Tallulah Bankhead (Newsday)
Mention Tallulah Bankhead to people of a certain age, and they'll grin at the memory of the scandalous film and theater star who joyfully cursed, ran around sans underwear and had bisexual affairs. ... When she died in 1968, she left a legacy of outrageous stories, many of them true.
Eva Green: 'Maybe I'll end up living in Norway, making cakes' (guardian.co.uk)
Eva Green first burst onto the cinema scene as an oft-nude revolutionary in Bertolucci's 'The Dreamers,' then cemented her pin-status as a Bond girl in 'Casino Royale.' The Hollywood-sceptic tells Xan Brooks about the indignities of working in the theatre and why she needs to fall in love.
David Bruce: Philosophy for the Masses: Interesting Philosophical Arguments About Religion (lulu.com)
Download: FREE
responded:
From The Creator of 'Avery Ant'
Link from RJ
4 Women
Hi there
Thought I would send you this... very today relevant as it were - as it is news and happening now!
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Sunny, but cold and windy.
Visits Malawi
Madonna
Madonna has arrived in Malawi ahead of her weeklong charity tour.
According to an official program released by the pop star's charity, Raising Malawi, Madonna is scheduled Monday to visit the Millennium Village, a United Nations initiative in the central border district west of Lilongwe.
Madonna will be joined by economist Jeffrey Sachs, a development affairs expert and mentor of the initiative. On Tuesday, she will lay the first brick of her Raising Malawi Academy for Girls, signaling the official commencement of construction of the $15 million academy, set to open in 2011.
Madonna has pumped millions into this impoverished southern African country and become very active in charitable efforts; she has also adopted two children from Malawi.
Madonna
Lucasfilm Plans Animated Series
"Star Wars"
After two hit "Robot Chicken" parodies of "Star Wars," "Chicken" masterminds Seth Green and Matthew Senreich get to do the real thing.
"Star Wars" creator George Lucas' Lucasfilm Animation said Monday it is developing a new animated "Star Wars" series that will take a comedic and irreverent look at the characters from the sci-fi franchise and will feature creative involvement from Green and Senreich as well as writing from Brendan Hay ("The Daily Show").
There is no network announced for the new series, but given Lucas Animation and Green and Senreich's close ties with Cartoon Network, a deal with Cartoon or its Adult Swim programing block appears likely.
The new comedic "Star Wars" series follows Lucasfilm Animation's series "Star Wars: The Clone Wars," which airs on Cartoon Network. Meanwhile, "Chicken" buoyed by its popular "Star Wars: Episode 1 and 2" specials, is the flagship series on Adult Swim.
"Star Wars"
3 Renewals
NBC
Three new NBC reality shows are coming back for another season.
The network said Monday that it's renewed "The Marriage Ref," "Minute to Win It" and "Who Do You Think You Are?" for the 2010-11 season.
Two of the shows have celebrities behind them: Jerry Seinfeld is executive producer of the comedy panel series "The Marriage Ref," while Lisa Kudrow has that role for "Who Do You Think You Are?" which looks at stars' family trees.
"Minute to Win It," with TV chef Guy Fieri as host, is a competition series with a top prize of $1 million.
NBC
Cancels Sitcoms
Fox RupertFox Rupert is canceling two live-action comedies -- one new, one old.
The network is pulling Sunday-night freshman "Sons of Tucson" after four episodes, and has confirmed the cancellation of long-running series "'Til Death."
"Tucson" is off the schedule for the rest of the season, replaced by usual time-period holder "American Dad." Fox will burn off the remaining eight episodes during the summer.
Launched in 2006, "'Til Death" will also finish its run this summer. The Brad Garrett comedy has been a utility player for the network, filling holes around the schedule, but was never much of a ratings draw.
Fox Rupert
Remembered For More Than Movies
Bruce Lee
When a lifelike figure of Bruce Lee was unveiled at Madame Tussaud's wax museum in Hollywood earlier this year, his only surviving child noted that he died shortly before the 1974 premiere of "Enter The Dragon," the movie that made him a global superstar.
"I think my dad definitely dreamed he would make an impact like this," said Shannon Lee, who was three when her father died of a cerebral edema aged just 32. "I'm very sorry he didn't live to see it, but it's nice to see those dreams come true."
The San Francisco-born, Hong Kong-raised actor has become an iconic figure alongside the likes of Marilyn Monroe, Elvis Presley and James Dean. His influence as an actor, fighter and philosopher has been recognized by stars like Jackie Chan and rapper LL Cool J, creators such as Marvel Comics founder Stan Lee, and movie directors John Woo and Brett Ratner.
What is particularly interesting about the posthumous evolution of Bruce Lee is that he is not only remembered for the handful of movies and TV show in which he starred but also for breaking racial barriers, helping erase stereotypes and his contributions in such areas as mixed martial arts, fitness, health and a philosophy that recognized the commonality of all humanity.
Bruce Lee
Networks Looking To Reclaim
Fridays
Friday, like Saturday, was once a haven for some of the best programing on television, featuring some of the most beloved shows of all time.
Baby boomers will recall ABC's classic early-1970s lineup anchored by "The Brady Bunch" and capped off with "Love, American Style." Soap lovers were glued to CBS' combination of "Dallas" and "Falcon Crest" in the 1980s, a tandem that topped the ratings for most of the decade. ABC branded the night "TGIF" and populated it with entries like "Full House" and "Family Matters" for years. NBC introduced ultra-cool "Miami Vice." And the masses were introduced to Fox's "The X-Files" and CBS' "CSI" on this evening.
All is certainly not as it used to be. The "X-Files" morphed into a Sunday staple, while "CSI," of course, still airs on Thursday -- two nights that are considerably more profitable from an ad revenue standpoint. "CSI," in fact, was the last big Friday hit on any broadcast network, and that was nine years ago.
Once upon a time, the end of the work week offered viewers a bounty of options. But, mirroring once robust and now virtually extinct Saturday (which at one time housed such hits as "All in the Family," "The Mary Tyler Moore Show," "The Love Boat" and "The Golden Girls"), the landscape on Friday has been deteriorating for years, leading many to worry about the future of that evening as a source of original entertainment. (Cable networks are starting to make their mark on the night, but more on that later.)
Fridays
Leaving Monte Carlo
Lance Burton
Lance Burton's run at the Monte Carlo hotel-casino on the Las Vegas Strip is ending after 14 years.
Hotel officials said Monday the illusionist's show will end Sept. 4 - well short of a six-year contract extension he and the resort signed last year.
Burton is 50. He's performed at the Monte Carlo since the day it opened in 1996.
Monte Carlo owner MGM Mirage did not immediately give a reason for Burton's departure.
Lance Burton
Judge Tosses Lawsuit
Stan Lee
A Manhattan federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit against Marvel Entertainment Inc and comic book creator Stan Lee over the ownership of famous characters including Spider-Man, The Incredible Hulk, The Fantastic Four and X-Men.
The $750 million lawsuit filed on behalf of Stan Lee Media Inc alleged that shareholders were harmed when Lee in 1998 transferred rights to the characters to Marvel, which is now owned by Walt Disney Co. Stan Lee Media filed for bankruptcy protection in 2001.
In a March 31 ruling, U.S. District Judge Paul Crotty noted that litigation over the characters had lasted nearly a decade in various state and federal courts in New York, California and Colorado, and included a securities class-action settlement.
The judge concluded that the shareholders, Jose Abadin and Christopher Belland, lacked standing to sue because they did not acquire their Stan Lee Media shares until 1999, more than a year after the alleged illegal conduct.
Stan Lee
Judge Settles Key Issues
Hopper Divorce
Dennis Hopper's estranged wife and daughter can live on his property while the couple resolve their bitter divorce case and the actor fights prostate cancer, a judge ruled Monday.
Superior Court Judge Amy Pellman also ordered the actor to pay $12,000 a month in spousal and child support.
The judge noted the couple's 7-year-old daughter is about to undergo the traumatic loss of her father and the rhetoric should be toned down.
The rulings came after two months of bickering in court filings, including allegations of abuse by both sides, and jockeying for financial position.
Hopper Divorce
Angers Philippines
Adam Carolla
The Philippines on Monday angrily hit back at a US radio personality who said the nation had nothing going for it except boxing hero Manny Pacquiao and sex tours, branding him an ignorant fool.
In a profanity-laced podcast, Italian-American Adam Carolla also called Pacquiao a "f***ing idiot" who "prays to chicken bones" for refusing demands by American rival Floyd Mayweather for an Olympic-style drug test.
Pacquiao is a national treasure in the impoverished Philippines, where even Muslim extremists and soldiers silence their guns during his fights.
But Carolla dismissed him as "just an illiterate guy who happens to smash other guys in the head better than other people".
Adam Carolla
Not Paying Bills
Annie Leibovitz
Photographer Annie Leibovitz is facing new accusations of balking at bills, less than a month after she struck a deal intended to resolve financial problems that had risked her rights to some of pop culture's most famous images.
Investment firm Brunswick Capital Partners LP said in a lawsuit filed Friday that Leibovitz owes more than $800,000 in fees for its help arranging her recent financing agreement with another firm, Colony Capital LLC. Leibovitz representatives had no immediate comment Monday.
New York-based Brunswick said it "made exhaustive efforts" to link Leibovitz with investors who could help her out of a financial hole that had threatened to cost her control of her life's work.
Designated a "Living Legend" by the Library of Congress, she made but mismanaged a fortune. By last summer, she was struggling to repay a $24 million loan, with her three historic Manhattan townhouses and the copyright to all her pictures on the line.
Annie Leibovitz
Source Confirms Video
Baghdad Firefight
A gritty war video circulating on the Internet that shows U.S. troops firing repeatedly on a group of men - some of whom were unarmed - walking down a Baghdad street is authentic, a senior U.S. military official confirmed Monday.
The official said the video posted at Wikileaks.org was of a July 12, 2007, firefight involving Army helicopters in the New Baghdad District of eastern Baghdad.
Among those believed to have been killed in that attack was Reuters photographer Namir Noor-Eldeen, 22, and his driver Saeed Chmagh, 40. Two children also were wounded.
The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly about the video, said the military could not confirm the identities of the Reuters employees in the film.
Baghdad Firefight
Fast Food Axed
Afghan Bases
Fast food joints where soldiers wolf down burgers and pizza will soon be a thing of the past at bases in Afghanistan, as the U.S. military reminds soldiers they are at war and not in "an amusement park."
In the sprawling military base at Kandahar, the fast food outlets facing the axe include Burger King, Pizza Hut, and the U.S. chain restaurant T.G.I. Friday's that features a bar with alcohol-free margaritas and other drinks -- all set along the bustling "Boardwalk" area of the base.
On any given day, the giant square-shaped walkway features the surreal sight of soldiers sipping gourmet coffee and eating chocolate pastries with guns slung across their shoulders, while Canadians play ice hockey at a nearby rink and fighter jets thunder overhead.
The U.S. military says its beef with the burger joints is that they take up valuable resources like water, power, flight and convoy space and that cutting back on non-essentials is key to running an efficient military operation.
Afghan Bases
Age Matters
Social Wisdom
It turns out grandma was right: Listen to your elders. New research indicates they are indeed wise - in knowing how to deal with conflicts and accepting life's uncertainties and change.
It isn't a question of how many facts someone knows, or being able to operate a TV remote, but rather how to handle disagreements - social wisdom.
And researchers led by Richard E. Nisbett of the University of Michigan found that older people were more likely than younger or middle-aged ones to recognize that values differ, to acknowledge uncertainties, to accept that things change over time and to acknowledge others' points of view.
While the researchers expected wisdom to increase with age they were surprised at how strong the results were for disputes in society, Nisbett said. "There is a very large advantage for older people over younger people for those."
Social Wisdom
| CURRENT MOON lunar phases |
