"Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn't pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same, or one day we will spend our sunset years telling our children and our children's children what it was once like in the United States where men were free." - President Ronald Reagan
Unlike Senator Obama or Governor Palin, Senator McCain did not need a big speech to introduce himself.
We know McCain. He has been around for 25 years. McCain has been in the middle of every domestic and national security issue since the Reagan administration.
Last night, McCain called for a change in Washington.
McCain wants Washington to work and get things done. Like most of us, he is tired of Democrats and Republicans yelling at each other.
On national security, I think that we can easily deduct that our enemies know who McCain is.
I think that Iran knows that McCain will negotiate but won't be afraid to take out the nuclear plants if necessary. My guess is that France and Germany understand that McCain will call on them to put up or shut up in NATO. How much longer can the Afghanistan War be fought by US, UK and Canadian guys?
The 2008 election has been one surprise after another. Who would have believed a week ago that Gov. Sarah Pallin would be the new star in town?
Someone wrote some great lines and she delivered them beautifully:
"I guess a small-town mayor is sort of like a "community organizer," except that you have actual responsibilities.
I might add that in small towns, we don't quite know what to make of a candidate who lavishes praise on working people when they are listening, and then talks about how bitterly they cling to their religion and guns when those people aren't listening. We tend to prefer candidates who don't talk about us one way in Scranton and another way in San Francisco."
She nailed Obama! Try this one:
"But listening to him speak, it's easy to forget that this is a man who has authored two memoirs but not a single major law or reform - not even in the state senate.
This is a man who can give an entire speech about the wars America is fighting, and never use the word "victory" except when he's talking about his own campaign."
Great job! This lady is one heck of a candidate!
P.S. What was Obama's response? His staff said that Palin was talking like Bush! I get the feeling that the Obama people are still running against Bush. They should get ready to run against McCain-Palin!
On July 14, 2008, we sat down to watch The Home Run Derby. It gave the world a chance to see the Josh Hamilton we had watched here during the first half of the season.
Hamilton gave us the most unbelievable home run derby performance ever: 28 HR's, 3 HR's over 500 feet including one for 518 feet, and 13 consecutive HR's in the first round.
A post from July 2008: As of today, Mike Huckabee is still considered a 2nd tier candidate. In other words, he is not hailed as a front runner.
Nevertheless, Mr. Huckabee is rising. In fact, I would argue that he is one of the best communicators on the Republican stage.
I do not believe that Mr. Huckabee will be nominated president. However, he has to be among the top 2-3 names for VP. P.S. You can listen to my show (Canto Talk) and follow me on Twitter.
Who are the greatest Latino pitchers? You can choose from Marichal, Cuellar, Tiant, Valenzuela, Martinez, etc. It is a very impressive list.
My top five are:
1) Juan Marichal----243 wins and a 2.89 ERA. He started 451 games and completed 244 of them, pitching 52 shutouts. Marichal has one more complete game than wins. That's amazing! Marichal's career was played in the shadows of Sandy Koufax and Warren Spahn.
2) Mike Cuellar----In 15 seasons, Cuellar went 185-130 with a 3.14 ERA, 1,632 strikeouts, 172 complete games and 36 shutouts over 453 games......won 139 games in a 7 year span with Baltimore (1969-75) plus game 5 of the 1970 World Series pitching another complete game. Cuellar won't make the Hall of Fame but he is the most successful lefty from Latin America.
3) Camilo Pascual---the most underrated pitcher of his era. He was a 5 time All-Star starting in 1959 to 1962 and in 1964.......won 174 games yet pitching for bad teams for much of his career......a 3.75 ERA and 36 shutouts in 18 Major League seasons....led the league in strikeouts from 1961 to 1963 and was among the leaders in shutouts in 1959, 1961 and 1962.....struck out 2,167 batters in 2,930 innings.
4) Luis Tiant---He led the league with a 1.60 ERA in 1968 and a 1.91 ERA in 1972.....won 229 games with a 3.30 ERA over 19 seasons......won 20 games four times and led the American League in shutouts three times.
5) Pedro Martinez----A three-time Cy Young Award winner---1997, while with the Expos, and in 1999 and 2000 with the Red Sox. Hall of Fame 2013.
Guest: Barry Jacobsen, military historian and blogger..........we go from the German invasion of the USSR to the very difficult year of 1942.........the US is now in the picture......
APRIL 1973.....yes that was many years ago.....and I was listening to this song.....maybe I'm giving away my age........it was THE BEE GEES and "Saw a new morning". It was released as a single and included in "LIFE IN A TIN CAN" album, a very underrated album from 1973. The single "Saw a new morning" was a clue to "sounds to come". I hear "Nights on Broadway", specially the way that Barry & Robin share the lead vocals. I also hear "Edge of the universe" also from "MAIN COURSE" released in 1975. Great song! P.S. You can listen to my show (Canto Talk). If you like our posts, drop a dime here.
On April 20, 1980, the Castro regime announced that all Cubans wishing to leave were free to board boats at the port of Mariel.
Shortly after, the first wave of 125,000 Cuban refugees reached Florida the next day.
Mariel brought thousands to the US and most of them turned out to be very good additions to Florida. Unfortunately, there were some criminal elements but they were a very small number.
Years later, most of the “Marielitos” have contributed much to Miami and the US. One of them is my friend Marcos Nelson Suarez who came to Dallas and started a very successful newspaper, "El Hispano".
For me, Mariel was a turning point in rediscovering my Cuban roots. It reconnected me with the Cuban cause, specially as I saw boats and people leaving the same island that I left as a kid in 1964.
We remember Hugh Masekela who was born in South Africa on this day in 1939. Years ago, I bought a 45 by Hugh Masakela called "Grazing in the grass". It was a great arrangement. We learned in January 2018 that Hugh Maeakela passed away.
“Born in Havana in 1918, he came from a family of musicians and studied classical music. He began his public career at 8 years old, playing bongos in a children’s group.
A year later, he had stood on a crate to play bass for the Cuban pianist and singer, Bola de Nieve, accompanying silent films.
At 13, he became the bassist of the Havana Philharmonic, and he performed with the orchestra from 1930 to 1960.
But he also played Havana clubs with his brother Orestes, working with a noted Cuban dance orchestra, Arcaño y Sus Maravillas, and with their own groups.”
On this day in 1989, Dick Clark announced his retirement from "American Bandstand". It started in 1957 and went on for 33 seasons on ABC-TV. Like some of you, I spent a few Saturdays in my life watching Dick Clark introduce one of the week's top songs and watching young couples dance. He died in 2012 and "American Bandstand" is available for new generations to see what life was like back then. P.S. You can listen to my show (Canto Talk) and follow me on Twitter.
It was a big move by MLB. They waived the "5 year rule" following Clemente's death a few months before. A few weeks later, # 21 was retired by Pittsburgh.
Clemente got # 3,000 on his last at-bat of the 1972 season. He was one of the best hitters in baseball history: .317 average, 3,000 hits in 2,433 games, 240 HR, 1,305 RBI, 4 NL batting titles, 1966 NL MVP and 12 straight NL Gold Glove Awards.
We say hello to all of our Irish friends, here and over in Ireland. Today, we all remember the life of St Patrick, who lived a long time between 387-461 AD. It was originally a Catholic holiday but it has grown into a lot more than that. I think that St Patrick's Day is that one day of the year when it's OK to wear "green". I've got a green shade tie. It looks good with a white shirt and dark pants. Add a blue jacket and that's my St Patrick's Day attire. I'm not bragging but at least I've got some "green"!
Dr. Peter A. Lillback, author and educator, wrote a book about George Washington, the greatest man in US history.
Mr. Lillback is concerned that our kids are not learning enough about Washington. He fears that political correctness is hurting Washington's place in history.
In my view, George Washington was the indispensable figure in the early days of US history. He led the rebels, served as the first president and left power gracefully after two terms. He did it all with the upmost integrity.
What more can we learn about this man? A lot more:
Wally Pipp was born in Chicago on this day in 1893. He broke with Detroit in 1913 and traded to Yankees in 1915. Pipp put up some great power numbers in the pre-home run era: .281 batting average, 1,941 hits, 311 doubles, 149 triples, 90 HR & 1,004 RBI in 1,872 games. And then Lou Gehrig came into the picture. On June 2, 1925, Pipp took a day off and was replaced by young Gehrig. We know the rest of the story: Gehrig played every game until 1939! During World War II, Pipp worked at a plant that manufactured B-24 bombers in Michigan. Later, he worked for the Rockford Screw Products Corporation, selling screws and bolts to the major automotive companies in the Detroit/Grand Rapids area. He died in 1965.
At 9:45 o’clock this evening a terrible explosion took place on board the United States battleship Maine in Havana Harbor. Many persons were killed or wounded. All the boats of the Spanish cruiser Alfonso XII. are assisting. As yet the cause of the explosion is not apparent. The wounded sailors of the Maine are unable to explain it. It is believed that the battleship is totally destroyed. The explosion shook the whole city. The windows were broken in nearly all the houses. The correspondent of the Associated Press says he has conversed with several of the wounded sailors and understands from them that the explosion took place while they were asleep, so that they can give no particulars as to the cause.
The Maine explosion led to the US-Spanish War and the eventual independence of Cuba in 1902.
In 1976, a US Navy investigation concluded that the Maine explosion was likely caused by a fire that ignited its ammunition stocks, not by a Spanish mine or act of sabotage.
It will be a very good game and New England will win.
I am not picking the Patriots because the Giants ended Dallas' season. In other words, this is not vengeance but an "objective assessment" that NE is a better team than NY.
I am picking NE because Tom Brady is one of the best QBs ever and he will win his 4th title today. Brady will join Bradshaw (Steelers) and Montana (49ers) as the only QBs who have won 4 Super Bowls.
Eli Manning is also a great QB and the Giants are playing great.
Nevertheless, I am betting on Brady winning # 4 and writing another chapter in the Boston-NY rivalry.
Speaking of the Super Bowl, I am old enough to remember the first one, or Green Bay beating up Kansas City. I think that a lot of NFL fans thought that the game was a "joke" because the Packers manhandled the Chiefs and then the Raiders the next year. However, everything changed when the Jets beat the Colts and the AFL was on the map. The leagues finally merged in 1970 and we've called it the Super Bowl since. Wonder how many fans realize that it was not that big of a game when it started in 1967? My favorite Super Bowl was # 13, or when Pittsburgh beat Dallas. I did not like the score but it was a great game.
My biggest shock was Super Bowl III or the Jets beating the Colts. I watched that game with my dad and brother and we could not believe what we were watching:
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"Please Mr. Postman" has actually been around for some time. It was a # 1 song for The Marvelettes, then by The Beatles and finally this version by The Carpenters. It is now available in a digital format. It was originally released in the "Horizon" album, also available in a digital format.
The Supremes were Diana Ross, Mary Smith and Flo Ballard. The trio hit the top of the Billboard 12 times in the 1960's, or second to The Beatles. The ladies performed their last concert on this day in 1970. "Someday we'll be together" was their last hit and song in the farewell concert.