Less than half of Republicans think Obama was born in the US of A

I guess one way to look at the regional breakdown of the poll results is that at least those of us in the Midwest have our feet firmly planted on the ground. The South, however, isn't coming off so well. For a breakdown of the numbers, follow the link here.

BofA, WTF?

So I'm in my local BofA branch office Saturday morning, because I have to deposit a personal check that the newfangled ATM won't accept because the signatory to the check accidentally signed over the numbers at the bottom, making the numbers apparently unreadable to BofA's ATM computers. I walk in, fill out my deposit slip, and get in line. There are three people in front of me. A BofA employee is standing next to the line in a conspicuous red BofA polo shirt, individually speaking (rather loudly) with each patron, one at a time. "Hi, how are you?" he says. "Uh, I'm fine," says the patron. "What can I help you with," says the BofA guy. "Uh, nothing really, I'm just here to make a deposit," says the patron. "Well, do you use our online bill pay service?" says the BofA guy. "Um, well, actually, yes," says the patron. "Would you like to know how to get access to $100 of your deposit immediately," says BofA guy. "Um, not really," says patron. "Well, here's how you do it," he begins to explain and then waxes eloquent about how if you use the ATM, the $100 becomes available immediately, but if you make a deposit inside at the branch location, one apparently does not get the same immediate access to the funds. I'm paraphrasing, of course. What he said took much longer. The content of his answer made it sound to me like he simply didn't want any of us coming into the branch. Which of course raises the question as to why there is a branch in the first place. These questions and answers went on for a good five minutes as he badgered each person in line. There were conversations about private banking matters ranging from getting mortgage relief help to getting a new mortgage to other types of financing and saving options. I thought to myself, I sure hope he doesn't try and talk with me about my private banking matters in the lobby of a branch office with a bunch of people I don't know standing around. That's kind of crass. Then he gets to me. "Hi, how's it going?" says BofA guy. "I'm all set, thank you," I politely say, smiling and naively thinking that this will bring his potential sales attempt to a premature end. "Oh, okay. Can I help you in any way?," says BofA guy. "No, I'm all set, thank you," I reply, naively thinking that this guy is pretty dense, because my words and non-verbal communication are hollering "you're wasting your time here." It quickly becomes clear, however, that he is not dense. He is not dense in the least. He simply doesn't care that he is badgering people who don't want to be badgered. "Do you use our online bill pay?" he asks. "Thanks, really, but I didn't come in here to get sold something, I'm all set," I say. "Oh, okay," he says. BofA guy continues, "When you come into the branch, there will always be someone here to see if they can help you and be of service." "Okay," I say, thinking to myself that I didn't really sign up to be subjected to lame attempts at social interaction when my prior bank was bought by BofA. Certainly not when the interaction seems genuinely designed to deter me from coming back and/or sell me something I do not want and/or haven't expressed any interest in or need for. A moment passes. Instead of moving on, BofA guy says to me, "Hey, those are really nice glasses, where did you get those?" At this point, I just can't help myself. I know the question is bullshit, because I've had these glasses for almost two years, and I can count the number of comments I've gotten about them on one hand. Moreover, all the comments came from people who would have favorably commented on my glasses even if they were the ugliest glasses in the universe. I wish I could help myself, but I just can't. So I turn to him and say, "Are you actually trying to be annoying?" (At which point, the guy in front of me obviously does everything within his power to not bust out laughing while the BofA guy is still there.) It immediately becomes apparent that none of the other patrons think this guy is anything other than maximally annoying, and that they all wish he would just go sit down in the back somewhere and shut the heck up. "Uh, no, I'm just . . . well . . . there is always someone in here to be of service," he says. "Thank you, I'm all set," I say. Later, after I've deposited my checks, as I'm leaving the bank, BofA guy hollers over in my direction, "Have a nice day," which, at that point, was pretty dang funny.

Disorderly conduct

Disorderly conduct is what you get charged with when the responding officer figures out that you haven't actually broken any law, but in the process of figuring that out, he has also concluded that you are a colossal asshole who needs to be taught a lesson. This is doubly true if the charge of "disorderly conduct" is dropped within 24 hours of your arrest. Conducting one's self in a disorderly manner is not actually against the law in a constitutional democracy. Being an asshole isn't against the law, either UPDATE: Criticism of police from across the street apparently constitutes disorderly conduct in D.C. UPDATE: Begging constitutes disorderly conduct in Van Buren County, MI.

Only in America . . . .

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Ypsilanti's rich history with Little League Baseball

Ypsilanti's Little League is proud to acknowledge that, back in 1973, when faced with a challenge to its policy of permitting girls to play alongside the boys, fought and won the right to include girls in little league baseball. A historic and very interesting video news story from CBS News' archives is below. Much of the video looks as if it were shot at Candy Cane Park, which must have been called College Heights Park back in the 70s. Special thanks to Ypsilanti's Little League for posting the video in its website.

More on Republican hypocrisy as Sotamayor hearings begin

Never wanting to miss out on an all-new chance to display hypocrisy and apply a double-standard, the Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee put their hip-waders on today, criticizing Sonia Sotomayor for displaying empathy. In the words of Hypocrite-in-Chief, Jeff Sessions, "empathy for one party is always prejudice for the other." In an interesting juxtaposition on this issue, DailsKos has some revealing video of the comments of conservative Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito, who during his confirmation hearings stated: And that's why I went into that in my opening statement. Because when a case comes before me involving, let's say, someone who is an immigrant -- and we get an awful lot of immigration cases and naturalization cases -- I can't help but think of my own ancestors, because it wasn't that long ago when they were in that position... When I get a case about discrimination, I have to think about people in my own family who suffered discrimination because of their ethnic background or because of religion or because of gender. And I do take that into account. He also said, "When I have a case involving children, I can't help but think of my own children." Empathy from Sam Alito, a white male, is desired by Republicans. But empathy from Sonia Sotomayor, a Hispanic woman, is not. What the hell is wrong with these people? Samuel Alito's words, from none other than Samuel Alito himself, for your viewing pleasure:

4th of July 2009

Ah, what a weekend it was. Parties, cookouts, fireworks, and a trip to the hospital. Nothing quite compares. The day started out nicely with a big breakfast. Unfortunately, we missed the parade, but we did catch it on the Internet afterward. Next, we were off to Dee and Bill's where I met a fellow cigar aficionado who was willing to share his stash with me. Then, off to the Doyle's for a fun-filled afternoon cookout. The evening was spent in the Irish Hills visiting some of Meredith's friends who have a lake home there. Here are some pics of the sunset cruise, first leaving the dock: And there is George, enjoying the ride: Of course, the clouds were quite beautiful at sunset, so I had to get a pic: Afterward, we went to the fireworks in Brooklyn, MI. Here's part of our group sitting on a blanket on the local high school football field: The fireworks were quite spectacular. I had to try out my new camera, which had a "fireworks" feature: Unfortunately, as we were leaving, Meredith accidentally stepped into a hidden but sizable hole in the field, severely twisting her ankle. The EMTs came and fixed her up, and we traveled to St. Joseph Hospital for some x-rays. She suffered a bad sprain, but her ankle wasn't broken. Here's a shot of her being helped into the car, followed by the EMT's emergency vehicle. Meredith is still in a lot of pain and has been slowed down a bit, but we've been assured she will be fine. Finally, here's the video I shot of the fireworks finale. It's a long one, but well worth it:

Camping over Father's Day Weekend

We had another wonderful camping and canoeing excursion this year. A number of dads (even a couple of moms this time) and a virtual boatload of kids went to the Rifle River Recreation Area for a weekend of fun in the sun, canoeing and campfires. Our flotilla is below: There are nowhere near as many pictures as I wish there were, because my camera went swimming, rendering it inoperable. I have since gotten a waterproof camera, so that particular snafu isn't likely to occur again. A few photos did survive the plunge, so here is one of Esme standing in front of our tent: Here is Hannah hanging out at our campsite: And Bob and Amy were kind enough to send me a copy of the group pic (that was Bob's at the top of the post, too): The weekend turned out to be another wonderful camping experience! We're already looking forward to next year!