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The Daily Dose/June 21, 2011
By Gaylon Kent
The Writer's Shack
Notes from around The Human Experience...
WHOOPS, OUR BAD: We don't like the reports of civilian deaths in Libya anymore than you do, but they're hardly surprising. You blow up buildings, civilians are going to die, whether you intended it or not. Though we are in the second decade of the 21st century, technology isn't sufficiently advanced seperate combatants from the innocent.
The timing isn't too great either, as Republicans in Congress are getting their shorts in a knot over US involvement in the NATO campaign due to the Obama Administration's refusal to classify what is going on in Libya as hostilities.
Get Your Official Writer's Shack Policy Right Here: Their shorts should be in a knot over this. A lot of noise is being made about the War Powers Resolution of 1973, which states the president needs Congressional authorization to continue hostilities after 60 days, a mark that in the Libya action is long past.
Dry, Technical Matter: We're not too concerned about the War Powers Resolution, though. Its constitutionality has been debated for decades, and while a detailed analysis of that rather dull topic is, thankfully, beyond the scope of this column, we're wondering why the heck it was necessary, because the US Constitution is very clear on the matter, with Article I, Section VIII stating, in part:
The Congress shall have the Power To…declare War...
Clear, Simple English: Keep your War Powers Resolutions. We are part of a NATO coalition that is bombing another country. We're not experts in the matter, merely concerned citizens, but it's not completely beyond comprehension to call the bombing of another country war.
Sure, a president can take short term military action. The Constitution is clear on this as well, making the president Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces. However presidents, as much as they would like to, cannot go to war on their own and while we usually favor Congress keeping their mitts out of matters, it is time for Congress to get involved. We are at war in Libya.
More Official Writer's Shack Policy: We really shouldn't be. We should leave Libya to the Libyans.
THOSE ZANY BRITS: Ordinarily tennis John Isner and Nicholas Mahut meeting in the opening round of Wimbledon for the second straight year wouldn't make news. While they are lot better than all but a few dozen of our fellow humans, they are rather average professional tennis players.
But History, as it is wont to do from time to time, took an interest in last year's Isner/Mahut match, which lasted over 11 hours across three days and was the longest match in tennis history. After a fairly routine first four sets, the fifth set ended at 70-68, the type of score that would get edited out of a tennis novel because it is simply beyond comprehension that a tennis match could go 70-68 in the final set.
A Warm Remembrance: We were so enthralled with 70-68 we decreed it - along with those plucky Chilean miners - our fave story of 2010 here at the Writer's Shack.
LOL: Interestingly, though perhaps not surprisingly, neither Isner nor Mahut seem particularly pleased at their rematch. Mahut said that immediately after the draw was announced Isner texted him a sad face.
FunFact: We were hoping the match would be played on Centre Court, because unless they are getting their strawberries and cream handed to them by the top seed that is the only way Isner or Mahut would play Centre Court, but they will have to settle for Court 3. Which is still a substantial upgrade over Court 18, where their historic match took place.
Oh, Jesus H: Somebody with even more time on their hands than us did some figuring about what it would take for certain sports to break their current duration record by the same amount Isner/Mahut extended the tennis duration record.
We were spot on with our conclusion that a similar major league baseball game would have to go over 40 innings to match up. We came up with 41, they came up with 42. But we had to eat dinner or rotate our tires or something and stopped there.
Jeff Levy at tennis.com, though, evidently has no life because he figured out, among other things, that a similar NHL game would last just under ten (10) overtimes and the NCAA basketball record for overtimes would be 18 overtimes.
WE THE PEOPLE: Speaking of the Constitution, New Hampshire becomes the ninth state to ratify the US Constitution - the final state required for ratification - on this date in 1788. Virginia and New York would follow later in the summer and in September the Constitution was certified as ratified. The new government would form the first Wednesday of the following March.
Well, That Was Easy: Jim Bunning of the Philadelphia Phillies throws the seventh perfect game in major league history on this date in 1964, as the Phillies defeat the New York Mets 6-0 in the first game of a doubleheader in New York.
Dry, Technical Matter: It was the first National League perfect game since John Lee Richmond and Monte Ward threw perfect games in 1880.
Oh, Jesus H: Of the 20 perfect games in big league history, half have been thrown since 1984.
Oh Yeah: The Phillies won game two also, 8-2. The Mets weren't very good back then. The game two loss was their tenth in their last eleventh games
Sign Of The Times: June 21 was Father's Day in 1964, and except for San Francisco and St. Louis playing a single game, everybody else in the National League played doubleheaders. There were only two doubleheaders in the American League.
3…2…1…Blastoff: SpaceShipOne becomes the first privately funded spacecraft on this date in 2004. Piloted by Mike Melvill, SpaceShipOne takes off and lands in the Mojave Desert in southern California and makes a 24-minute suborbital flight.
Thought For The Day: One must wait until the evening to see how splendid the day has been. - Sophocles
Answer To The Last Trivia Question: Horace Greeley finished second to Ulysses S. Grant in the 1872 presidential election, but received zero electoral votes because he died before the electoral votes were counted. He did receive three electoral votes, but they were disallowed by Congress.
Today's Stumper: Jim Bunning had two runs batted in (RBI) in his perfect game. Who is the only pitcher to have more RBI's in a perfect game? - Answer next time!
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