1966: The bomb lost in Spain

It wasn't James Bond's "Thunderball" or the story of the famous secret agent looking for lost A-bombs off Bahamas.  

It was a lot more complicated in the real world.   It started on this day in 1966 when a B-52 bomber collided with a KC-135 jet tanker over Spain’s Mediterranean coast.  The collision dropped three 70-kiloton hydrogen bombs near the town of Palomares and one in the sea.   

Thankfully, nothing exploded but it caused an international crisis for the Johnson Administration.  It must have been a very scary time for the people of Spain! 

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The 3 times that I was very happy that George H.W. Bush was around….

As we remember President Bush, let me share three times when I literally thanked God that this man was in office.

The first one was March 30 1981, the day of the assassination attempt against President Reagan.  I was in Mexico City having lunch with a business associate.  Back in the office, I got a call from my mother in Texas breaking the news.  I tuned in my shortwave to Armed Forces Radio and got the news reports.  We had an office TV with a cable connection to an NBC affiliate in South Texas.

We didn’t know if President Reagan would make it, but at least, I was confident that George Bush was ready to take over.

The second time was during the Gulf War.  As you may remember, Iraq started to fire scud missiles against Israel.  It was a scary moment because an Israeli retaliation would have probably messed up the coalition, i.e. Arab countries.  President Bush picked up the phone and convinced Israel not to do it. 

The third moment was the coup in the USSR against Gorbachev.  I learned about it early the next morning and saw a photo on TV of President Bush on the phone.  He then made a statement to the media and seemed totally in control of a very serious situation.

Yes, I know that President Bush was not perfect, specially when he broke that tax pledge.  However, I was always felt safe when that man was in charge.

Thank you Bush-41!

PS: You can listen to my show (Canto Talk).

2012 podcast: Let's talk about Camelot: Myth vs Reality

Click the link below to listen:

Let's talk about Camelot: Myth vs Reality 12/06 by Silvio Canto Jr | History Podcasts:

Guests: Leslie Eastman & Barry Jacobsen.....

P.S.  Check out my blog for posts, podcasts and videos. If you like our posts, please look for ”Donate” on the right column of the blog page.

The life and times of Bob Uecker (1934-2025)

Pete meets preachy females

 

Pete meets preachy females - American Thinker https://t.co/LDsGvY9jGV

— Silvio Canto. Jr. (@silvio_canto) January 16, 2025

 Was James Carville watching the hearings?  I hope that he was because we saw "the preachy females" in full force.  

 In the end, it did not work because the lady senators were obnoxious. 

This is from Philip Wegmann:

A decade of live television sharpened Pete Hegseth so much so that even Senate Democrats acknowledged his ability to mobilize the talking point during a confirmation hearing before the Armed Services Committee, marking another battle in an ongoing culture war.

 

Connecticut Sen. Richard Blumenthal said he would back Hegseth to be the next “spokesperson for the Pentagon,” assuring President-elect Trump’s nominee for secretary of defense, “I don’t dispute your communication skills.” Later, not halfway through the hearing, Hawaii Sen. Mazie Hirono felt compelled to remind the quick-witted nominee, “You are no longer on Fox and Friends.”

 

Yes, Mazie, preacher-in-chief.   What are they putting in the pineapples in Hawaii?

 

To paraphrase Scoff Jennings, the only reason to watch a few minutes of CNN these days, he said that Pete kicked butt.  He did in large part because the Democrats gave him a pair of boots to kick them with.

 

First, there was all of the outcry about women in combat.  Once again, they missed the point.  It's not about civil rights but having soldiers that can fight a war.  Women do serve honorably in the armed forces but their biological differences do limit their roles.  By the way, where is this public outcry calling for women to serve in combat?  Did I miss an issue?

 

Second, there was a lot of talk about infidelity from the people who once told us that personal behavior did not matter because the Clinton economy was strong.  Who cares about infidelity if the stock market is booming or so they told us once upon a time?

 

The good news is that he will be Secretary of Defense.  They came, preached and went home without the scalp.  

 

Did you watch it Mr. Carville?   This is exactly what you were talking about.

 

P.S.  Check out my blog for posts, podcasts and videos.

Voz Media and Biden farewell

 

📹 | ENTREVISTA a @silvio_canto, analista político: Joe Biden se despide con una carta llena de autoelogios

Mira la transmisión completa AQUÍ 👉 https://t.co/5zoFwaHm4j

Reporta @yaporkarina para VOZ News por Daystar pic.twitter.com/I9wJkROmBl

— VOZ (@VozMediaUSA) January 16, 2025

1979: Iran and the day that the Shah left

As you know, Iran in the news on a daily basis.

On this day in 1979,  the Shah fled the country and traveled to several capitals before entering the United States in October for medical treatment.

Iran demanded the return of the shah but the Carter administration refused to negotiate.  

On November 4th, 1979, militants stormed the U.S. embassy in response  to the Shah entering the US.  The hostages were held for 444 days.  The Shah died in Egypt in July 1980 or in the middle of the hostage crisis.

The Shah's departure was quite a blow for the US and our interests in the region.   He was our ally in the region.  He wasn't perfect but did not invade his neighbors or start wars.  

P.S.  Check out my blog for posts, podcasts and videos. If you like our posts, please look for ”Donate” on the right column of the blog page.

1991: The First Gulf War

On this day in 1991, the First Gulf War began.   

It all started when Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait in August 1990.    The US, and UN, demanded Iraq's withdrawal but it did not happen.   My guess is that Hussein did not expect that President Bush would send ground troops and kick him out.

In the end, it was a smashing victory and Kuwait was liberated.  Unfortunately, President Bush lost re-election in 1992 and President Clinton did not confront Iraq and their constant violations of UN resolutions.   

So we had to go back in March 2003.

P.S.  Check out my blog for posts, podcasts and videos. If you like our posts, please look for ”Donate” on the right column of the blog page.

James Brady and that awful day that President Reagan was shot

Who doesn't remember the moment when we learned that President Reagan was shot?  

One of those early details was that James Brady, President Reagan’s first Press Secretary, had been fatally wounded. 

Brady was a very popular guy and got along well with the media.    Thankfully, Brady survived but he was disabled permanently.

A few years later,  James Brady died at age 73:

“On March 30, 1981, Mr. Brady had originally asked one of his aides to go with the president on a routine assignment to address a gathering of the AFL-CIO at the Hilton Hotel on Connecticut Avenue NW in Washington. Mr. Brady changed his mind at the last minute and joined Reagan.   

After speaking to the union delegates, Reagan and his party made their way out of the hotel and were walking to the presidential limousine when they were fired on about 2:30 p.m. The shooter was John W. Hinckley Jr., a young man who said he hoped the assassination would impress the actress Jodie Foster. 

Outside the Hilton, bystanders, police officers and Secret Service agents wrestled Hinckley to the ground and arrested him. He got off six shots from the .22-caliber Rohm RG-14 revolver, which he had bought at a pawn shop in Dallas for $29.  

Mr. Brady, the first person hit, was struck above the left eye. Reagan was hit by a bullet that ricocheted off the limousine. Secret Service agent Timothy McCarthy and Washington police officer Thomas Delahanty were also injured. Brady, Reagan and McCarthy were taken to George Washington University Hospital. Delahanty was taken to Washington Hospital Center, which is now known as MedStar Washington Hospital Center.”

Later, Brady and his wife became active in the gun control movement:

“Nearly 10 years to the day after he was nearly killed by Hinckley, Reagan himself joined the fray, announcing his support for the Brady bill in an op-ed piece in the New York Times.

President Bill Clinton signed the bill into law in 1993.”

We don’t know whether the Brady Bill worked or not. The jury is still out on all of this gun control legislation.  I still do not believe that gun control is the answer. 

However, this is about remembering the man, a good man who was literally in the wrong place at the wrong time. His  life was never the same after the terrible shooting that almost took his life.

RIP James Brady….and thanks for your loyalty to President Reagan.

P. S. You can hear CANTO TALK here .

Packers vs Cowboys: The best 4th quarter ever?

To be fair, I have not seen every 4th quarter drive in the history of the NFL.   Nevertheless, I doubt if anything from the past was better than we saw on Sunday night.    

Let's see what Neil Paine wrote about that 4th quarter:    

Packers-vs-Cowboys became only the eighth playoff game in NFL (or AFL) history to feature at least four fourth-quarter ties and/or lead changes. But beyond that, it was also one of only two games in which a team entered the fourth quarter down by double digits but stormed back to tie or take the lead, then gave up another score and then fought to re-gain the tie or lead again.1
Dallas entered the fourth trailing Green Bay by 15 points  and had a mere 7 percent chance of winning. They then scored twice and converted a two-point conversion to tie the game at 28, raising their win probability to 46 percent. Then, after Crosby knocked down a 56-yard kick to re-take the lead for Green Bay with 93 seconds left, the Cowboys’ win probability was bumped back down to 18 percent.
But the game wasn’t done yet. Cowboys QB Dak Prescott led a 6-play, 42-yard field-goal drive to tie the game again, raising Dallas’s win probability to 49 percent. That number rose even higher, to 54 percent, after an Aaron Rodgers sack on the following drive appeared to kill any hope of another Packers response. 
But with 12 seconds left, Rodgers hit Jared Cook for a 36-yard completion, Cook dragged his feet to barely stay in bounds, and Crosby gave Green Bay the 34-31 victory with another long kick.

Well, someone had to win and someone had to lose.    It's a shame that these two teams won't get to play for the NFC title next.    My guess is that most of the country would love to see a rematch!

P.S.  You can listen to my show.  If you like our posts, please look for ”Donate” on the right column of the blog page.

Wednesday’s video: Biden farewell, Rubio & Bondi plus Pete and other stories

The peso is falling

The peso is falling: Back in the summer of 1982, I was working and living in Mexico. It was a wonderful experience, and I learned something about Mexicans. Don't tell them that the peso is falling because they will give you that look, if you know what I mean. ...

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Back in the summer of 1982, I was working and living in Mexico. It was a wonderful experience, and I learned something about Mexicans. Don’t tell them that the peso is falling because they will give you that look, if you know what I mean.

To be fair, 2025 is not 1982. That was the year that a bunch of currencies experienced devaluations, especially Mexico. Things got so bad that even Paul McCartney decided to write a song about it:

The pound is sinking, the peso’s falling

The lira’s reeling and feeling quite appalling

I don’t remember anything about lira reeling or the pound sinking. I do remember UK ships heading to the Falklands.

Anyway, down in Mexico the peso is falling. This is the story:

The Mexican peso depreciated against the US dollar for a fourth consecutive trading day on Monday, according to end-of-day exchange rate data from the Bank of Mexico (Banxico).

The peso closed at 20.72 to the greenback after ending Friday at 20.70 to the dollar, Banxico data shows.

Why does this matter? A weak peso means that dollars are more expensive. It also highlights the importance of remittances, currently $ 60-plus billion.

We talk about tariffs, but it’s remittances that allow President Trump to negotiate with Mexico. What if we put a tax on those and use that money to pay for the border or to compensate victims of fentanyl?

The other thing to remember is that a weaker peso is an indication of concerns south of the border over the economy. Presidenta Claudia Sheinbam has made a big deal about the local economy, but Mexicans are not convinced, or at least the ones that I hear from.

According to The World Bank, Mexico’s GDP will grow 1.5% in 2025. That may be growth, but not the number Mexico needs. According to the report, Mexico is not taking advantage of the nearshoring trend or taking advantage of its proximity to the U.S.

So the peso is falling and that’s never good, unless you are a tourist and going to Cancun.

P.S. Check out my blog for posts, podcasts and videos.

The peso is falling - American Thinker https://t.co/GF8SrvVsLz

— Silvio Canto. Jr. (@silvio_canto) January 15, 2025

January 2014: Mandy Nagy shares her Obama Care story

We talk Obama Care with Leslie Eastman & Mandy Nagy......
— Silvio Canto, Jr.

The Battle of Gettysburg 1863 with Barry Jacobsen

CLICK THE LINK TO LISTEN:

Guest: ........Barry Jacobsen, military historian and blogger, will remember The Battle of Gettysburg 1863, one of the defining moments of the US Civil War...We will look at General Robert E Lee and some of the other military commanders......President Lincoln and the North...........Jefferson Davis and the South....he wrote a recent post about Civil War.......we will also look at the movement to delete Confederate symbols........

January 1972: The Bee Gees and "My world"

By January 1972, The Bee Gees were enjoying quite a reputation as hit makers and wonderful songwriters. 

They had just hit # 1 in the US with "How can you mend a broken heart" and sold millions with 'round the world best sellers like "Lonely Days", "I started a joke" and beautifully arranged tunes like "Holiday".

Like many of their fans, I kept up with the group's news on the radio.  We did not have Internet or e-mails back then to warn us of new releases.

"My world" was so catchy that it stuck with me as soon as I heard it on the radio.  I think that I learned the melody & lyrics in minutes. 

I went to my favorite store and said to the manager:  "How about that song by The Bee Gees that goes "my world is your world and your world is my world....."

He gave me the 45 and said "Here it is"!    (By the way, those were the days when you had small record stores and proprietors who actually knew their inventory)

Then it was off to home and the turntable. 

It became a huge international hit.   It was great!  I love the way that they harmonize the chorus!

The B-side was "On Time" with the late Maurice doing the lead vocals.  I was glad that both of these songs were included in the "Tales from The Brothers Gibb" box set released in 1990.

Of course, no one knew that day in 1972 that Barry, Robin & Maurice were just getting started.  By the end of the 1970's the brothers were one of the best selling bands in the world.    At one point, they had six # 1 songs in a row.  They also wrote and produced albums for Dionne Warwick, Barbra Streisand and Diana Ross.  Add Andy Gibb and you had a ton of record sales for the very talented brothers!

You can buy "My world" here.     This is "Best of Bee Gees, volume 2", an album released in the US in 1973.

 

P.S.  You can listen to my show (Canto Talk).  If you like our posts, please look for ”Donate” on the right column.