Friend or Foe: Snobs

There have been a lot of discussions recently about snobs, especially those who live in Claremont, California. It seems Claremont residents believe they are a higher being. As a snob to a small degree I feel I can comment on this, my snobbery involves restaurants, bars, streets, and to a certain degree areas of the USA.

Snobs are like conservative Republicans: a pain in the a _ _, but they keep a proper balance on things. I truly believe we all aspire to be a snob, snobbery feels good – now I do not condone snobbery to our neighbors or religious groups but being a snob can give one purpose in their daily routine.

Is Montclair really worth a visit? Decent restaurants along Foothill Boulevard, I don’t think so. I was feeling a bit down in the dumps this morning, I feel much better now.

PERSONAL FOUL AT PENN STATE  – Maureen Dowd writes: “Like the Roman Catholic Church, Penn State is an arrogant institution hiding behind its mystique. And sports is an insular world that protects its own, and operates outside of societal norms as long as victories and cash continue to flow bountifully. Penn State rakes in $70 million a year from its football program. The delusion that the ability to win football games indicates anything at all about your character or intelligence other than that you can win football games.”

TOP STORY - "Ohio vote shows unions still a political force," by AP's Sam Hananel: "Labor unions are celebrating one of their biggest victories in decades after turning back an Ohio law that curbed collective bargaining rights for state public workers. The vote showed unions are still a potent political force ... The question for many is whether to interpret Tuesday's Ohio referendum as simply a rejection of Republican overreach in a heavily unionized state or more broadly as a barometer of a battleground state that could resonate with voters nationwide. Union leaders say they hope it brings about a resurgence for a labor movement long in decline...

GOP DEBATE WRAP: PERRY DESTROYED; ROMNEY CRUISES - Only one huge headline from last week's CNBC debate: The (final?) implosion of Rick Perry's campaign. The Texas governor was never very strong during the two-hour affair (or any previous debate). But he crashed hard in a classic deer-in-the-headlights moment likely to live in campaign lore when he could not remember the third federal agency he would shut down as president. ...

Perry: "And I will tell you, it is three agencies of government when I get there that are gone. Commerce, Education, and the -what's the third one there? Let's see ... Okay. Commerce, Education, and the...”... CNBC's John Harwood: "You can't -- you can't name the third one?" Perry: "The third agency of government I would -- I would do away with Education, the Commerce... Commerce and, let's see. I can't. The third one, I can't. Sorry. Oops."

INTERNET EXPLODES - Perry came back 15 minutes later and named the Department of Energy as the third he would shutter. But by then Twitter had exploded with blistering commentary, including from many prominent Republicans, about the end of the Perry campaign. The rest of the debate didn't really matter much. Herman Cain drew cheers again and Maria Bartiromo got booed for bringing up the sexual harassment scandal. No surprise. But Cain won't be the nominee. Newt Gingrich gained a bit of traction with another fairly strong, media-bashing performance where he demonstrated his fluency on a wide-range of issues.

But while he has a strong core of elite GOP support, it's difficult to see Gingrich posing a real threat to Mitt Romney, who made no mistakes last night (other than some mussed hair) and won strong applause for brushing past the Cain scandal without a comment while training his fire on President Obama. And Romney, who took some of the edge off his opposition to the auto bailouts, faced none of the withering attacks he endured (especially from Perry) at the last debate.

Indeed, during some of his warmer exchanges with Gingrich it seemed Romney was preparing to offer the former House speaker a senior post in his administration. ... Perry brain freeze is here if you have not already watched it 50 times.

THE BIG IDEA -- - Bloomberg Businessweek cover, "WHY AMERICANS WON'T DO DIRTY JOBS,": "It's a hard-to-resist syllogism: Dirty jobs are available; Americans won't fill them; thus, Americans are too soft for dirty jobs. Why else would so many unemployed people turn down the opportunity to work during a recession? Of course, there's an equally compelling obverse. Why should farmers and plant owners expect people to take a back-breaking seasonal job with low pay and no benefits just because they happen to be offering it? If no one wants an available job-especially in extreme times-maybe the fault doesn't rest entirely with the people turning it down. Maybe the market is inefficient. ... The notion of jobs in fields and food plants as 'immigrant work' is relatively new. As late as the 1940s, most farm labor in Alabama and elsewhere was done by Americans.

"During World War II the U.S. signed an agreement with Mexico to import temporary workers to ease labor shortages. Four and a half million Mexican guest workers crossed the border. At first most went to farms and orchards in California; by the program's completion in 1964 they were working in almost every state. Many braceros-the term translates to "strong-arm," as in someone who works with his arms-were granted green cards, became permanent residents, and continued to work in agriculture. Native-born Americans never returned to the fields. 'Agricultural labor is basically 100 percent an immigrant job category,' says Princeton University sociologist Doug Massey, who studies population migration. 'Once an occupational category becomes dominated by immigrants, it becomes very difficult to erase the stigma.'"

BIRTHDAYS THIS WEEK – Birthday wishes and thoughts this week to Traci Attman …famous text writer, Joe Biden (69), John Boehner (62), Dick Cavett (75), Prince Charles (63), Ann Curry (55), Boutros Boutros-Ghali (89), Carrie Lewis Hasse …famous half-marathoner, Diana Krall (47), Condoleezza Rice (57), Richard Simpson …famous strategist, Lorene Thomas …famous party planner, Sam Waterston (71), Judy Woodruff (65).

SPORTS BLINK -- REMEMBERING JOE FRAZIER -- 'JOE FRAZIER, 1944-2011: Relentless Champion of the 'Fight of the Century by Dave Anderson : 'For all the deserved accolades for Muhammad Ali, I've always believed that each at his best, Joe Frazier, who died Monday night at age 67, was the better fighter. And the better man. After both entered the Madison Square Garden ring undefeated in 1971 for what was called the Fight of the Century, Frazier flattened Ali with a left hook and earned a unanimous and unquestioned 15-round decision that Ali didn't wait to hear. His jaw swollen, he hurried out of the ring on the way to a nearby hospital. He knew who had won. The Thrilla in Manila in 1975 was awarded to Ali when Frazier's trainer, Eddie Futch, wouldn't let him answer the bell for the 15th round because 'he couldn't see the right hands coming' out of his closed left eye, but Frazier soon talked freely in the interview area.... That evening, at a party in an old Filipino palace, Ali, his ribs battered, walked stiffly and sat stiffly, painfully offering a finger or two instead of shaking hands. At his hotel, Frazier sang and danced. Seeing them both, if you didn't know what had happened in the fight, you had to think Frazier was the winner.'

COLLEGE FOOTBALL PICK OF THE WEEK – Saturday 11/19, USC Trojans (8-2) visit #4 Oregon Ducks (9-1), 8:00 PM ET, ABC. Can SC win a big one, especially at Oregon? We don’t think so, the only remaining question is: what uniform will The Ducks wear?
Season to date (7-4).

SMALL COLLEGE PICK OF THE WEEK – Saturday 11/19, the D-III playoffs begin with the SCIAC runner-up #13 Redlands Bulldogs (8-1) visit Belton, Texas and the #4 ranked Mary Hardin-Baylor Crusaders (10-0), 4:00 PM ET, HGTV. The American Southwest Conference champions are tough, too tough for Redlands.
Season to date (10-1).

NFL PICK OF THE WEEK – Sunday 11/20, San Diego Chargers (4-5) @ Chicago Bears (6-3), 4:15 PM ET, CBS. This could be it for Norv Turner’s coaching days in San Diego, rumors are flying that he has lost the team. The Bears will help this out by routing the bolts.
Season to date (6-4).


THE SWAMI’S TOP PICKS – The Swami is coming off a few off weeks, time to get back on track: Oregon 45 USC 28, St. Lawrence 4 Harvard 2, Chicago 24 San Diego 20.
Season to Date (20-10).

BEYOND THE BELTWAY - "Nixon Library director to step down: Timothy Naftali led transformation from roadside attraction to respected institution," by L. A. Times' Christopher Goffard (Saturday's second front): "Naftali, 49, who presided over the transfer of the long-ridiculed private library to federal hands in 2007, will leave Nov. 19 and said he plans to turn his focus to finishing a book he's been researching on the 37th president's great rival: John F. Kennedy. ... For years after its opening in 1990, the [library's Watergate] exhibit reflected Nixon's own version ... In April, [Naftali] unveiled a $500,000 new exhibit that featured a comprehensive chronicle of Watergate, placing it in the context of a broader pattern of dirty tricks and sabotage ... The Nixon Foundation, made up of the former president's loyalists, fought unsuccessfully to block portions of the exhibit [as] part of a larger clash between the Foundation and Naftali. The foundation temporarily suspended event funding in 2009, when Naftali invited former White House counsel John Dean to speak."

DRIVING THE WEEK - Italy remains the dominant financial story and today's bond sale will help drive market sentiment on whether a euro zone crack-up can be avoided ... President Obama has a fundraiser in Hawaii today before moving on to Australia on Tuesday and then Indonesia ... Supercommittee enters its final full week of talks with no deal in sight though there is now talk of a move to increase revenues while leaving the actual details on tax hikes to next year. Obama still has not issued a veto threat on any effort to circumvent the sequester ... Top data this week include retail sales for October on Tuesday, expected to gain around 0.3 percent ... CPI out Wednesday expected to increase 0.1 percent excluding food and energy ...

Next week, the holiday travels begin.

Until next Monday, Adios.

Claremont, CA
November 14, 2011

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