It was the first political conversation I ever remember having. I was five years old.
She was in a foul mood and, as later became my habit with women, I just assumed I was responsible.
“I’m sorry, mom.”
Her scowl deepened and she kept her eyes on the road. She turned down the a.m. radio playing the news.
“I’m not mad at you. I’m mad at those stupid people.”
I looked out the window to see if I could see said stupid people.
“No,” she said, “those – they elected Carter to be president.”
“Who did you vote for?”
“Well, I voted for Reagan in the primaries and for Ford in the general.”
I nodded like I understood. “So, you wanted Ford to be the president?”
She was quiet for a moment.
“I voted for Reagan in the primaries.”
I don’t know why that memory popped into my head today. I’m sure it has nothing to do with the kind of candidates the GOP has to offer most voters in the Oh-Six elections.
If you ever get the chance some October, you should check out the Balloon Fiesta in Albuquerque, NM. There’s nothing like walking amidst thousands of these behemoths, then watching them rise in mass ascension into the crisp, desert morning air over the valley. Here are a couple of photos I borrowed from the web. Site here.
The conventional wisdom is that we would be better off if politically powerful leaders were less mediocre. Instead, my view is that we would be better off if mediocre political leaders were less powerful.
For a different take (and yes, this is older than the Krell), sci-fi writer David Brin once posited that Star Trek was downright populist compared to the Star Wars universe. I told you it was old.
Brin has an interesting take on LOTR too, if you’ve got the time.
Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination are omnipotent. The slogan “press on” has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race.
– Calvin Coolidge
CNN/Fortune Magazine agree. And they’ve got science to back it up.
As Big Head Todd and the Monsters once intoned: “Work hard, brothers. Love alone won’t pay your bills.”
What think you? How much have your natural talents contributed to your success? And how much was hard work and persistence? How much was just dumb luck/providence?
“Milius’ writing credits include “Apocalypse Now,” “Clear and Present Danger,” “The Wind and the Lion” and “Big Wednesday.” He directed the two latter pics.”
Also “Dirty Harry” and “Magnum Force”, “Red Dawn”, “Conan the Barbarian”, TV series “Miami Vice” and “Rome”, “Jeremiah Johnson”, and he produced “Uncommon Valor”. Also he wrote the “Indianapolis” monologue from “Jaws”.
Quint, over at Ain’t It Cool, reports that Angelina Jolie has been cast to play Dagny Taggart in Atlas Shrugged due out in 2008. You may have already heard rumors to this affect.
What’s new is that Randall Wallace, screenwriter for Braveheart, The Patriot, Pearl Harbor and TV’s Dark Angel has signed on to adapt the screenplay.
IMdB has no word on who is John Galt.
My guess is that this one will tank and be nearly as unwatchable as The Fountainhead. Maybe if they add Space Monkeys….
I posted on this earlier. But I’ll say it again. Tet was not the end. South Vietnam didn’t fall until well after we left. After we defunded them and did nothing to stop the North from moving in. We began drawing down troop levels in ’72, left in’73 and didn’t provide as much air support as we promised in Paris. In 1974, a Democratic congress defunded our support entirely, overriding a veto to do so. In March 1975, North Vietnam – still funded and supported by the USSR – invaded and took over by April.
The Iraq-Vietnam comparison will ultimately be determined by whether we cut and run again, by whether the job is done when we do leave, not by what’s happening on the ground there now.
Note: When I posted the earlier thing, I got linked to by some leftist who insinuated that I meant we needed to bring back the draft. Sigh. I would have responded but I haven’t the time to teach him both history AND reading comprehension. Sad, really. I blame the schools.
Take one bed, queen or king sized. Remove the sheets and replace with a fitted sheet fresh from the dryer. Place one (1) eighteen month old child in the center of the bed. Wave flat sheet over him, allowing it to descend on him like a parachute.
Enjoy the peals of laughter and look of utter delight. Repeat as needed.
Maj. Nicole Malachowski is the first woman pilot on the U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds. The Thunderbirds are in Washington for the dedication of the Air Force Memorial, scheduled for Oct. 14.
Yet there is one, one small thing we can do to in the West to help out those in the Middle East: quit blaming ourselves and fantasizing what we might do to be liked. Leaving Iraq won’t solve the problem—no more than did saving the Kuwaitis, the Bosnians, the Kosovars, the Afghans from the Russians, or the Somali Muslims from hunger. Giving the Egyptians $50 billion or the Jordanians and Palestinians billions as well didn’t do much either. Indeed, Hamas now considers widening their war by attacking Americans for withholding our largess. You see, we have no right not to give Islamists our millions just because they won’t promise not to destroy our ally Israel.
But what would help is simply this: every time a victimized talking head from the Middle East started in on Israel, Bush, Blair, etc. someone could interrupt and politely said, “Sorry, that’s old. No mas. We are tired of the whining. Go get a life.”
Think Tankers 
So, what’s your favorite scary movie?
Mine’s this one, but that could just be me. And that’s only because it’s based on a true story.
In honor of the season, here’s a moldy oldie video for you: The Shining (redux)
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