A Bob's Life: Monday Musings

Monday, March 24, 2025

Monday Musings - March 24, 2025

Happy Monday!

1. It is the penultimate Monday of March! There are 40 Mondays remaining in the year.

Samoyed
Tiki52, Tequesta, FL
March 19, 2025

2. March Madness is living up to its name. I read that CBS reported that there are no perfect brackets remaining in the Men's NCAA Basketball Tournament. My bracket is a mess and I had St Johns going to the final four--well that's not happening.

3. Chris and I went to dinner at Tiki52 on Wednesday evening and it was doggie night, apparently. There were many dogs of so many different breeds. It was fun watching them and enjoying their antics. For the most part, all of them were well behaved and a joy to be around. The star of the night, however, was the Samoyed. He was beautiful and still a puppy at heart.

4. Be afraid! The administration's attacks on the judiciary and on law firms is very dangerous. With the Congress already in his pocket, if Trump can neuter the judiciary then there will be no checks on his ability to destroy the country and do away with the rule of law. Additionally, the money angle is working on the education system as well--colleges are supposed to be institutions free to explore the world without being forced to accede to partisan politics. The stifling of research and thought is equally dangerous.

5. Chris and I went out for breakfast a week ago. We paid a 50 cent surcharge on each egg due to the bird flu.

6. Today in History. March 24, 1989: One of the worst oil spills in U.S. history begins when the supertanker Exxon Valdez, owned and operated by the Exxon Corporation, runs aground on a reef in Prince William Sound in southern Alaska. An estimated 11 million gallons of oil eventually spilled into the water. Attempts to contain the massive spill were unsuccessful, and wind and currents spread the oil more than 100 miles from its source, eventually polluting more than 700 miles of coastline. Hundreds of thousands of birds and animals were adversely affected by the environmental disaster.

It was later revealed that Joseph Hazelwood, the captain of the Valdez, was drinking at the time of the accident and allowed an uncertified officer to steer the massive vessel. In March 1990, Hazelwood was convicted of misdemeanor negligence, fined $50,000, and ordered to perform 1,000 hours of community service. In July 1992, an Alaska court overturned Hazelwood’s conviction, citing a federal statute that grants freedom from prosecution to those who report an oil spill.