1949: Pres Truman, USSR and the Cold War

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The Cold War was in full force in 1949 when Pres Truman told the nation that the USSR had exploded a nuclear device.

And the Cold War was underway.  

The US and the USSR clashed from this day until 1991 when the Soviet flag came down.   One of those “clashes” was over missiles in Cuba in October 1962.  

The Truman biography is one of my favorites:

Remembering when the Catholic schools were closed in Cuba

(My new American Thinker post)

Just read a story about a man known as Padre Gilberto, an American from Mississippi who is a priest in Cuba:

The parishioners at La Merced church in Old Havana, one of Cuba’s most important shrines, know their bearded, soft-spoken priest as Padre Gilberto. 

But his real name is Gilbert Walker. He’s from Gulfport, Miss.

Walker, 56, has been a priest at La Merced for 12 years. He was the only American Catholic clergyman in Cuba when he arrived in 2003. 

Today there are two others, but over the past half-century of strained relations between the United States and Cuba, no American priest has been a missionary on the island for as long as Walker.

“I felt at home in Cuba from the first moment I arrived,” he said, speaking at the rectory where he lives behind the soaring 147-year-old church, set along narrow streets among crumbling apartment buildings. 

“I can’t imagine myself any other place.”

“Sure, life would be easier and more comfortable in the United States,” he added. “But I didn’t become a priest to have an easy life.”

Good for Padre Gilberto!

Pope Francis will visit an island that kicked out priests and nuns many years ago.    

In fact, I remember that quite well.

In the 1960s, my younger brother and I attended The Maristas School in Havana.  It was a pretty traditional Catholic school for boys.   I can still remember that we wore a blue shirt, put on a white tie and those light colored pants.  I will never forget the big baseball diamond where the older boys played against other schools.   We used to dream of making the team and wearing those fancy uniforms.

Our education was interrupted one day when the schools were closed and all of the religious people expelled.   All of a sudden a vibrant center of education turned into an empty facility.   

Sadly, the building eventually became a political prison and well known for torture.    Armando Valladares, one of Cuba's most famous political prisoners, wrote about it in his book "Against all hope".   I remember reading the book and feeling terrible that the classrooms and spaces where we spent our youth later tortured Cubans.    It took me a while to get over that.

Why did Castro target the church?   Like many other groups, the Catholic Church kept reminding Fidel Castro that he promised elections as soon as possible.     Of course, Fidel Castro did not like being reminded that he promised elections and a few other things.    Dictators don't like that!

So he threw the priests and nuns out of the country.

My brother and I eventually moved to a public school, along with all of the other friends from Maristas.   We were quickly reminded that education in Cuba was more than teaching kids about reading and writing.  The schools became the regime's indoctrination center.  History was rewritten and the US became public enemy # 1.

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1996: Roger Clemens 20 K's again

A quick baseball note:

“On this day in 1996, Boston Red Sox pitcher Roger Clemens strikes out 20 Detroit Tigers, tying his own major league record for most strikeouts in a game.

Ten years earlier, on April 20, 1986, Clemens, then just 23 years old, had broken Steve Carlton’s modern (post-1900) record of 19 strikeouts in a single game during an outing against the Seattle Mariners at Fenway Park.”

He pitched in Boston, Toronto, NY Yankees and Houston. 

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August 2013: A look at Chile with Mr Horacio Marull

A show from August 2013.   We spoke about Chile with Horacio Marull, the Honorary Consul of Chile in Dalas.

First, we spoke about Chile's economic miracle.  

Second, we spoke about Chile's retirement system, a program that we should look as we modernize Social Security.

The CATO Institute posted an analysis of Chile's program:

"Chile allowed every worker to choose whether to stay in the state-run, pay-as-you-go social security system or to put the whole payroll tax into an individual retirement account. For the first time in history we have allowed the common worker to benefit from one of the most powerful forces on earth: compound interest.

Some 93% of Chilean workers chose the new system. They trust the private sector and prefer market risk to political risk. If you invest money in the market, it could go up or down. Over a 40-year period, though, a diversified portfolio will have very low risk and provide a positive rate of real return. But when the government runs the pension system, it can slash benefits at any time.

The Chilean system is run completely by private companies. We now have 15 mutual funds competing for workers’ savings."

Let's try that here.  Let's give individuals the freedom to choose, from a retirement program to a school for their children.

P.S.  You can listen to my show (Canto Talk).  If you like our posts, click send, and drop a dime here.        Click here for our show:

Baseball, President Bush and 9-11

President Bush was on the radio recently discussing the ESPN show about Game 3 of the 2001 World Series.   

This is the memorable first pitch when President Bush stood on the pitcher's mound and threw a strike.  It happened a few weeks after 9-11 and it brought the country together.  

P.S.  You can listen to my show (Canto Talk).  If you like our posts, click send, and drop a dime here.

August 2017: A look at The Clinton Foundation with Bruce Woodhull, author

CLICK TO LISTEN:

A look at The Clinton Foundation with Bruce Woodhull, author 08/25 by Silvio Canto Jr | News Podcasts: 

Guest: Bruce Woodhull, author...........his latest book is 'Omaha in the time of the saints'........we will look at The Clinton Foundation and its operations..........the AP story that donors got appointments with Secretary of State Clinton..........the idea of a former President running around the world collecting money from any regime regardless of their views on human rights..........was it a Foundation or an organization created to buy access to a future Clinton administration?............

August 2016: A chat with Leslie Eastman & Bruce Woodhull, author of "Wild Indians"

A chat with Bruce Woodhull, author of "Wild Indians" ....click to listen.......https://t.co/nUJxbRnQef

— Silvio Canto, Jr. (@SCantojr) August 19, 2016

2014: Leaving Cuba in 1964 with Orestes Matacena…...

 

A show from 2014: Leaving Cuba with Orestes Matacena....click to listen....... https://t.co/aXJq35OTXe

— Silvio Canto, Jr. (@SCantojr) September 2, 2017

 P.S.  You can listen to my show (Canto Talk).  If you like our posts, click send, and drop a dime here.

August 2009: Tributes for Les Paul from rockers all over the world!

This is a sample of some of the reactions to Les Paul's death:

Mark Kemp of ROLLING STONE posted an amazing article about Les Paul:

"With apologies to Hendrix and Clapton, inventor and musician Les Paul, who died Wednesday at 94, was the most influential rock guitarist ever — even though he was only tangentially involved in rock.

Paul was important not just for his instrumental virtuosity, but also for his groundbreaking studio developments and creation of the Gibson solid-body guitar that bears his name, the quintessential rock instrument made famous by such legends as Clapton, Duane Allman, Jimmy Page and Eddie Van Halen."

There is more from Rock and Roll Daily: Les Paul Remembered: Guitar Greats on Their True Hero

It's remarkable to hear and read tributes from rockers and guitarists all over. It's a great testimony to Les Paul's influence, specially on people born after he recorded all of those guitar arrangements.

P.S.  You can listen to my show (Canto Talk).  If you like our posts, click send, and drop a dime here.

World War II: The great military leaders with Barry Jacobsen

Guest:   Barry Jacobsen, military historian and blogger.......we will remember the Allied and Axis commanders: Ike, MacArthur, Nimitz, Monty, Zukov; and on the Axis side, Von Manstein, Guderian, Rommel, Kesselring, Adm. Yamamoto, General Yamashita. and other stories of the war............

P.S.  You can listen to my show (Canto Talk).  If you like our posts, click send, and drop a dime here.

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World War II: A look at the political leaders with Barry Jacobsen

 

World War II: A look at the political leaders with Barry Jacobsen....click to listen.. https://t.co/lbtjAf9Riw

— Silvio Canto, Jr. (@SCantojr) December 4, 2016

 

P.S.  You can listen to my show (Canto Talk).  If you like our posts, click send, and drop a dime here.

We remember Anne Richards (1933-2006)

We remember Anne Richards who was born in Lacy Lakeview, Texas, on this day in 1933.   She died in 2006.

Richards was a very nice lady who taught us a big lesson about timing.

Richards' career was about being in the "right place at the right time" and the "wrong place at the wrong time". In both cases, there was a Bush in her story.

In 1988, Michael Dukakis was desperately trying to put a southern face to his presidential campaign. The party picked Atlanta for its convention site. Dukakis picked Texas Sen. Lloyd Bentsen as his running mate. Last but not least, they selected Texas Treasurer Anne Richards to deliver the keynote address.

Dukakis was borrowing a page from the 1960 playbook, aka The Boston-Austin connection. In '60, Kennedy picked Johnson in order to be more competitive in the conservative south.

Richards' speech was funny and partisan. It was full of jokes about VP Bush. It made fun of VP Bush's speech and other things that went over well at the convention.

The speech did not work on election day. VP Bush went on to win the presidency and carried Texas comfortably.

However, it helped Richards and she became a popular speaker at the party dinners. In '90, Richards ran for governor and won a close election.

Now, we begin Chapter 2 of Richards' life. This is the part where she was at the wrong place at the wrong time.

In '92, Richards made the fatal mistake of getting close to Clinton. In '94, her association with Clinton destroyed her and lots of southern Democrats.

In fact, the Clinton presidency destroyed the Democrat Party. Today, the Democrats cannot compete in the South and West. We saw that in 2000 and 2004. In both cases, the party won 20 and 19 states, respectively.

Richards' career was started by making fun of VP Bush. Eventually, the Bush jokes got old. In '94, his son enjoyed the ultimate family revenge by beating her!

Richards was a nice lady with a good sense of humor and a pleasant smile. She deserves a lot of credit for overcoming personal tragedies and keeping her good attitude.

She taught us that timing is everything, specially in politics!

P.S.  You can listen to my show (Canto Talk).  If you like our posts, click send, and drop a dime here.