Wednesday again. Here goes:
Jonathan Gatehouse, writing for the Canadian weekly Macleans on May 15, has noticed a phenomenon he calls America Dumbs Down. Well, duh!!! (#tbt—which, in our acronym-flooded culture means Truth Be Told—I was sort of hoping others wouldn’t notice our dumbing down. On the other hand, others would have to be pretty, pretty dumb not to notice.
Still Tinkering by Linda Greenhouse, in the May 15 issue of the New York Times, takes off on Justice Harry Blackmun’s comment, in a dissent from a refusal to take a death penalty case in 1994, that “[f]rom this day forward, I no longer shall tinker with the machinery of death.” Ms. Greenhouse calls to attention very well the fact that our states cannot effectively administer the death penalty. As for the rest of this collective blight on our character as a nation, on the same day The Atlantic ran a piece by Andrew Cohen titled The Tortured Debate over Death Penalty Statistics. The piece is interesting and informative, save for most anything offered by John Lott, the head of the Crime Prevention Research Center and the author of, among other books, More Guns, Less Crime.
Hendrick Hertzberg, a great writer, wrote Truman Station? for the New Yorker, with a May 14 post date. Great piece about the naming deal that goes on with monuments, buildings, airports, and train stations. Delightful fun!
Warren Buffett is at it again; now it’s giving money—real money—to pro-choice causes. Get the facts in Warren Buffett Has Given Conservatives 1.2 Billion Reasons to Lose Their Minds, written by Allen Clifton and posted at Forward Progressives on May 15. By the way, while Mr. Buffett agitates the Right, it’s worth noting that his father was a Republican Congressman from Nebraska for a total of eight years in the 1940s and 50s. Alas, Planned Parenthood counts among its early leaders Barbara (Mrs. George H.W.) Bush and Peggy (Mr. Barry) Goldwater.
Finally, for your viewing—and reading—pleasure, here’s Damon Gambuto’s 14 Most Memorable Burgers in Los Angeles from A Hamburger Today at www.SeriousEats.com. I know nothing about Damon Gambuto, but he found some beautiful burgers. In fact, he offers baker’s dozen in the LA area and Delux, which is located at 32nd and Camelback in Phoenix and fine burgers and great fries!