The Democrats have had a rough week with scandals.
Friday, October 30, 2026
Happy # 91 Jim Perry
We remember Jim Perry, who was born on this day in 1935.
Jim Perry was the other good pitcher in the family. His brother is Hall of Famer Gaylord Perry.
Jim broke with the Indians in 1959 and won 18 in his second year. He was traded to Minnesota in 1963 and that's where he won the 1970 AL Cy Young: 24-12 with a 3.04 ERA.
Perry retired with 215 wins and a 3.45 ERA. He was a very good pitcher.
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2016: What radio show would Orson Wells do about this election?
On October 30, 1938, millions of Americans had their dinner and sat down to listen to the radio. It turned out to be a rather unusual Halloween night:
Sunday evening in 1938 was prime-time in the golden age of radio, and millions of Americans had their radios turned on. But most of these Americans were listening to ventriloquist Edgar Bergen and his dummy “Charlie McCarthy” on NBC and only turned to CBS at 8:12 p.m. after the comedy sketch ended and a little-known singer went on. By then, the story of the Martian invasion was well underway.Welles introduced his radio play with a spoken introduction, followed by an announcer reading a weather report. Then, seemingly abandoning the storyline, the announcer took listeners to “the Meridian Room in the Hotel Park Plaza in downtown New York, where you will be entertained by the music of Ramon Raquello and his orchestra.” … An announcer broke in to report that “Professor Farrell of the Mount Jenning Observatory” had detected explosions on the planet Mars. Then the dance music came back on, followed by another interruption in which listeners were informed that a large meteor had crashed into a farmer’s field in Grovers Mills, New Jersey.Soon, an announcer was at the crash site describing a Martian emerging from a large metallic cylinder. “Good heavens,” he declared, “something’s wriggling out of the shadow like a gray snake. Now here’s another and another one and another one. They look like tentacles to me … I can see the thing’s body now. It’s large, large as a bear. It glistens like wet leather.” But that face, it… it … ladies and gentlemen, it’s indescribable…”The Martians mounted walking war machines and fired “heat-ray” weapons at the puny humans gathered around the crash site. They annihilated a force of 7,000 National Guardsman, and after being attacked by artillery and bombers the Martians released a poisonous gas into the air. Soon “Martian cylinders” landed in Chicago and St. Louis. The radio play was extremely realistic, with Welles employing sophisticated sound effects and his actors doing an excellent job portraying terrified announcers and other characters.
They say that a million people fell for it.
Maybe a 2016 version of Orson Welles could do a radio show about a presidential candidate who used a private server as Secretary of State.
Then he can tell us about the lady’s assistant who is married to a rather bizarre fellow addicted to sending strange texts to young women.
Then he can tell us about the lady’s assistant who is married to a rather bizarre fellow addicted to sending strange texts to young women.
And the climax of the story is when the FBI discovers that the bizarre fellow had classified information in his laptop.
Wonder if any radio producer would buy that story? My guess is that that they would reject it on the grounds that they don’t think any candidate for president would be that stupid.
Orson, where are you when we need you?
We remember Agustin Lara (1897-1970)
Like so many of you, I grew up listening to Eydie Gorme & Los Panchos singing many of Agustin Lara’s songs.
One of those tunes was “Noche de ronda” and those great lyrics: “Luna que se quiebra sobre la tiniebla de mi soledad adonde vas….”
I can still recall my grandmother rocking on her favorite chair and humming one of Lara’s songs. (She once told me that Lara was from Veracruz and then showed me the location on the map!)
We remember that Agustin Lara was born on this day in 1897. I can’t confirm whether he was born in 1897 or 1900…..or October 1st or 30th! I have seen both dates in my research! So let’s go with October 30th.. He know that he died in 1970.
Lara was, and continues to be, my favorite Mexican composer. I’m not an expert on Mexican music. Yet, I can’t think of any other Mexican who comes close to writing words & music like Lara.
We remember Lara with two of my favorite compositions: “Solamente una vez“, “Farolito” and the wonderful “Noche de Ronda“.
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October 30, 1938: Orson Wells and "The War of the worlds" radio show.
Years ago, Sunday night was radio prime time.
Enter Orson Wells.
On Sunday, October 30, 1038 at 8 p.m, a voice announced:
“The Columbia Broadcasting System and its affiliated stations present Orson Welles and the Mercury Theater on the air in ‘War of the Worlds’ by H.G. Wells.”
Let me recommend that you check out the whole show. It is one of the finest audio programs ever made.
I can understand why so many people bought into the Martian attack. Fantastic!
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Thursday, October 29, 2026
France and the welfare state, Alaska and the Sullivans, Midterms and congratulations to the Milwaukee Brewers.
France and the welfare state, Alaska and the Sullivans, Midterms and congratulations to the Milwaukee Brewers...... ...
Money can't buy me love
France is the ghost of the future, or the one that tells you what the future will look like if you don't change your ways.
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Don't be surprised if the French left is humming that Beatles' tune: "money can't buy me love. ' What does it take to get the marchers to love France or their history? It's not money, no matter how much you spend. The "students" are not happy no matter how many dollars you spend on the welfare state. Let's check this one from Matt Roberts:
French public sector spending accounts for around 57% of the country’s GDP. Social spending -- that is, cash benefits and in-kind services for old age, health, family, unemployment, incapacity, housing, and so on -- accounts for fully 30% of GDP. This compares to 49.4% and 28% state expenditure and social spending respectively for Germany, 47% and 23% for the UK and 37% and 19.8% for the US. In Communist China, the state accounts for around 33% of GDP and 10-13% is spent on social benefits. In the USSR in 1988, something like 51% of spending was by the state; roughly 15-20% was social spending (these last two are necessarily estimates, because the data are neither easily available nor reliable).
Nor is it true that Macron himself has overseen meaningful cuts to services and benefits. It was part of his persona in 2017 when first elected that he was going to restore sanity to French public spending and make some of the difficult decisions that his predecessors had avoided. In reality, he hasn’t. As the chart shows, in 2017, he inherited public sector spending at 57.5% of GDP, had some initial success in driving it down to a mere 55.3% by 2019, and then indulged in the same kind of massive increases that we saw across the rest of the developed world in 2020.
So the French can't buy love or respect. It's like the spoiled child that lives off of his capitalist dad and then goes out and joins the Communist Party.
We've often heard that France is the ghost of the future, or the one that tells you what the future will look like if you don't change your ways. We in the U.S. need to look at France and see what money spent on government services will get you. It will get you angry people who don't value or respect your sacrifice.
P.S. Check out my blog for posts, podcasts and videos.
We remember Denny Laine (Moody Blues and Wings)
We remember Denny Laine who was born on this day in 1944 and died in 2023.
Denny started out with The Moody Blues. Later, he joined Wings, the Paul McCartney group of the 1970's.
My favorite of his songs is "Go now", the first big hit in the US by The Moody Blues...
My favorite of his songs is "Go now", the first big hit in the US by The Moody Blues...
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"We've already said ‘Goodbye’.
Since you've got to go
Oh you had better go now.
Go now. Go now. Go now
Before you see me cry.
I don't want you to tell me
Just what you intend to do now.
'Cause how many times do I have to tell you
Darling, darling,
I'm still in love With you now?
We've already said ‘So long’
I don't want to see you go.
Oh you had better go now.
Go now. Go now. Go now
Don't you even try telling me
That you don't want me to end this way
'Cause, darling, darling,
Can't you see I want you to stay?
We've already said ‘Goodbye’.
Since you've got to go
Oh you had better go now.
Go now. Go now. Go now
Before you see me cry.
I don't want you to tell me
Just what you intend to do now.
'Cause how many times do I have to tell you
Darling, darling,
I'm still in love,
Still in love,
With you now? I don't want to see you go
But, darling,
You'd better go now."
Wednesday, October 28, 2026
The week in review with Bill Katz, the editor of Urgent Agenda
Guest: Bill Katz, the editor of Urgent Agenda. The Israel elections. Midterms a week away. Pres. Obama on the road. NY election for governor. Statue of Liberty 1886.
Did Lula go too far?
Did Lula go too far?:
The voters are confused, the investors are scared, and Lula is doing whatever Lula does.
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