"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
Let them wash their clothes at the creek....: Did you chat with a friend in California over Christmas? Well, I did and learned a couple of things. It’s still lovely out there, especially the coastal highway. And it’s getting more expensive to drive, and heat and…
Did you chat with a friend in California over Christmas? Well, I did and learned a couple of things. It’s still lovely out there, especially the coastal highway. And it’s getting more expensive to drive, and heat and cool your home in the Golden State. Everything in the name of climate change, or protecting the earth, as they remind us. This is a good observation from John Sexton:
In short, having jacked up prices for electricity to the highest rates in the contiguous US, California is now going to force everyone to use even more electricity for basic home needs like cooking and heating. We’re all just living at the mercy of Gavin Newsom and his left-leaning regulators. Whatever they decide is best is what we all have to do. No wonder so many people are fleeing the state for other less expensive, less Democrat-controlled places like Texas and Florida.
Well, Gavin can explain all of that when he runs for president in 2028…or so we hear.
The bottom line is that the Democrats do not pay a price for their reckless disregard for common sense. First, there are not enough “red votes” to change things, though apparently, Trump flipped a few counties. Second, and worst of all, more and more simply move away from the state; we see some of that in Texas with California license plates on the freeways. Can’t blame them, but it does not help the state when more and more productive people pack up and leave.
To paraphrase Marie-Antoinette, let them save energy by washing their clothes at the closest creek, let the California sun dry it for them, and let that ocean breeze cool their homes. At least, the elites will feel like they are saving the planet from all of those conveniences to which we’ve grown accustomed. All in the name of saving the planet…or so they tell us.
George Martin was born on this day in 1926. Martin was the perfect choice for a band like The Beatles. He encouraged experimentation in the studio. He listened to their ideas and then arranged them into songs like "Yesterday" and "A day in the life".
Martin died at age 90. He produced 13 LPs and 22 singles for The Beatles. He also produced some of Paul McCartney's solo albums in the 1980’s. All together, his name was on 700 records, from classical to jazz to pop.
Victoria Principal was born in Japan on this day in 1950. As I understand, her father was stationed in Japan after World War II. We got to know her as Pam Ewing in the "Dallas" series. She appeared in several movies and TV shows in the 1980's. Then she and Andy Gibb recorded a few songs. Recently, she has written several books and runs a successful "health products" business.
"The Everly Brothers are the most important vocal duo in rock. The enduring influence of their close, expressive harmonies is evident in the work of British Invasion bands like the Beatles and the Hollies, and of folk-oriented acts such as Simon and Garfunkel, not to mention countless solo artists, among them Dave Edmunds, Gram Parsons, Emmylou Harris, and Linda Ronstadt. "
RIP Phil Everly. Thank you for all of those great songs and harmonies.
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.
Most NFL fans think of Buffalo for three reasons: 1) very good fans; 2) Jack Kemp's old AFL team; and 3) losing 4 consecutive Super Bowls to New York, Minnesota and twice to Dallas in 1991-94. Nobody remembers the team that loses the Super Bowl but these Bills were a very good team. On this day in 1993, the Bills treated their fans to the greatest comeback in NFL history. They were down to Houston, 28-3, in an AFC wild card game. They won 41-38 in overtime. I watched it and could not believe it. It was truly amazing! The Bills were coached by Mark Levy.
The week in review with Bill Katz, the editor of Urgent Agenda. We will review the events of 2024 & look ahead to 2025. Also the latest terror attacks in New Orleans plus other cities.....click to listen:
Obama and Cuba: Change but no hope : Ten years ago, President Obama decided to try something new with Cuba. Today, 10 years later, the “something new” has brought nothing to Cuba. We have an embassy, and President and Mrs. Obama watched a baseball game in Havana. They did….
Ten years ago, President Obama decided to try something new with Cuba. Today, 10 years later, the “something new” has brought nothing to Cuba. We have an embassy, and President and Mrs. Obama watched a baseball game in Havana. They did the wave with Raul Castro and lots of people thought that things would change. Nothing did.
It wasn’t long ago that Havana’s Plaza of the Revolution was packed with American tourists knocking into each other with selfie sticks while taking photos of the iconic image of the revolutionary Che Guevara and trying to catch a ride in a candy-apple red 1952 Chevrolet Bel-Air.
Today, those polished 1950s-era American convertibles that came to symbolize quintessential Cuba sit empty, the tourists they once carried largely gone.
The drivers spend their lives like most Cubans do: coping with prolonged power outages, standing in line at poorly stocked supermarkets and watching their friends, family and neighbors — sick of all the hardships — pack up and leave.
Ten years ago, President Barack Obama stunned the world by restoring diplomatic relations with Cuba, ending more than 50 years of Cold War estrangement between the United States and a country with which it had once been on the brink of nuclear war.
For two and a half years, Cuba brimmed with enthusiasm amid a remarkable wave of investment and tourism, fueled by deals signed by major American companies such as Google, AT&T and Major League Baseball.
But a financial implosion caused by a cascade of factors — the tightening of U.S. policy by the Trump administration, Cuba’s mismanagement of its economy, the crushing effect of the Covid-19 pandemic — has kept visitors away and launched an immigration exodus of epic proportions.
Yes, the tourists came and settled their curiosity touching those 1950s car models driving around Havana. The excitement didn’t last and now everybody is wondering if the Cuba policy was worth it all.
Add to this that the Obama administration did not demand a single concession from the Castro regime. We gave Cuba an embassy, a presidential visit, lots of attention but nothing came back. Did we demand the release of political prisoners? Did we demand some economic reforms to make the country more appealing to investors? No we didn’t.
Raul got his embassy and Obama got to tell the liberal college professors that he changed the policy. In reality, nothing changed, and that was a huge victory for the communist regime.
The 1965 Packers were my introduction to what we called "American football". As a youngster growing up in Cuba, I had no contact with the NFL or any kind of football. As a youngster growing up in Wisconsin, the Packers were the biggest thing going on.
On Jan 2, 1966, the Packers beat the Browns to clinch the NFL title. Back then, nobody took the AFL seriously so the NFL championship was considered the big game in football. It would stay that way until the Jets beat the Colts in Super Bowl III in January '69.
The game against the Browns introduced me to playing football in snow. Shortly after the game, my brother, cousin and I were outside rolling on the snow. And you can read it in my book.
January 2, 1974: President Nixon signed "The Emergency Highway Energy Conservation Act", setting a new national maximum speed limit.....or 55 MPH! It was intended to save fuel.......it probably did but it also drove a lot of people crazy driving down our highways!
'World War Two, the War that Made Our World' Episode One 05/20 by Silvio Canto Jr | Politics Podcasts: Guest: Barry Jacobsen, military historian and blogger......this is our World War II series...........'World War Two, the War that Made Our World Episode One: 'From Out of the Ashes, The Rise of Communism and Fascism'................the end of World War I left many unsettled issues in Europe.......also, the German economy collapsed and that opened the door for Hitler........the collapse of the Czars in Russia created the communist state or the USSR............ and other stories of the week.....
Once in a while, you can catch "American Graffiti" on TV. In fact, I saw it a few months ago. Frankly, I enjoyed it a bit the more "the 10th" time around.
Back in '73, I did not get into "American Graffiti" at all. It "didn't have much a plot" as they sang in "Wake up Little Susie"!
Happy anniversary to a very popular movie. The music was great but the story is still a bit confusing so many years later. Like "Saturday Night Fever", the songs were better than the story. Nevertheless, the movie had an impact and introduced a lot of people to Wolfman Jack, the legendary DJ who was very popular in the West coast.
Quickly juxtaposing Wisconsin and Cuba is difficult.
The first embodies the rugged Midwestern spirit of long working hours, Green Bay Packers and bone-chilling winters while the other conjures up images of a tropical paradise and that bearded General that has stayed in office way too long.
In Cubanos in Wisconsin, blogger, author and radio host, Silvio Canto Jr. pens an autobiographical journey of how a countryside Cuban managed to make it to the frozen tundra that is Wisconsin.
In the process, Canto provides us with an ominous account of just how quickly a relatively prosperous and stable country can be turned upside down because of communism.
As Canto explained to me, “the political and economic repressions that took place once Castro took over happened very quickly….It reminds me to never take your freedom for granted.”
Canto, like many Cubans his age seldom need reminding of the perils of socialism and government planning with many having lived through the horrors of communism first-hand.
But what about younger Americans and younger Cuban Americans that have no recollection of what life was like in Cuba under the Castro regime? What can they get from this account?
A question I posed Canto when interviewing him about his book. Canto acknowledged the generational gap of the Cuban American experience, but correctly remarked in the universality of the immigrant experience that is sure to resonate with younger readers.
Indeed, as a recent Census Bureau Report suggests, nearly a third of Hispanics in the United States have at least one parent or grandparent that is an immigrant suggesting that the ties to Latin America are indeed still very much personal. What’s more, there’s a natural curiosity about Latin America for many of the Hispanics born in the United States as evidenced by Canto’s own sons that learned a great deal about their father’s native Cuba and his adventures along the way, including the story of how a young Silvio almost started World War III at the height of the Cold War by setting off an alarm in a Soviet truck in a military compound.
And although the Cuban Revolution and the Cold War serve as the prominent backdrop to Silvio’s story, much of it could happen in 2013. Leaving your friends, family and loved ones for a new country with a new culture and new language is experienced by many young immigrants. And even if one didn’t immigrate to the country, today’s multi-cultural families are as American as apple pie.
For Silvio, the young immigrant should remember that this country, the United States of America, is a special place.Special because it is one grounded in liberty and the promise of endless opportunity. Unlike his native Cuba that promised equality of outcome once Castro took over, the United States provides that individual can accomplish whatever one sets their heart and mind to fulfilling.
This is a good reminder particularly in a time when the general consensus among the political elite that expanding the social welfare safety net is the only way to confront income inequality.
Beyond the political subtext, Cubanos in Wisconsin is also a good reminder that the Hispanic population is, and has always been geographically diverse. Almost intuitively, Americans are wired to think that Hispanics live only in California and Texas, but as Canto’s book makes clear, Hispanics were living in Wisconsin long before the Latino craze started sweeping our country a few decades back.
Canto’s Cubanos in Wisconsin is an enjoyable read with an important message about how big government can ruin a country and decimate it completely. Despite our current travails, we are indeed a blessed lot with endless possibilities. Canto and other immigrants that come to our shores are a good reminder to fight to preserve and protect those liberties that so many have come here looking for with that promise of a better tomorrow. P.S. You can order the book here:
We remember George Foster, one of the power bats of The Big Red Machine of the 1970's. Foster was born in Alabama on this day in 1948. Foster broke with the Giants in 1969 but was traded to Cincinnati in 1972. It took him a couple of years to get going but he became a big HR hitter: 52 in 1977 and 40 in 1978. Overall, he hit 348 HR with 1,239 RBI. Foster was the NL MVP in 1977 and came in second in 1976.
On January 1, 1863, President Lincoln issued The Emancipation Proclamation. It marked the end of a story that began in July 1862 when the President began working on the draft. The Proclamation was a controversial move. It took effect on January 1, 1863 but many states did not see the executive order as binding. President Lincoln knew that the order was not the long term answer. This is why he fought for the 13th Amendment that ended slavery in the US in 1865.
P.S. You can listen to my show (Canto Talk). If you like our posts, please look for ”Donate” on the right column.
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