April 1980: President Carter between Mariel and the failed Iran rescue mission

If you remember April 1980, then you recall two huge front page stories that rocked the Carter presidency.

First, it was Mariel and the arrival of 100,000 Cubans to the US. It was a boat-lift like no other and became very controversial, specially with then Governor Clinton of Arkansas who faced very hostile voters.

Second, it was Iran and the US diplomats held hostage when the US Embassy was attacked the previous November.

On this day in 1980, President Carter approved a mission to go into Iran and rescue the diplomats held hostage. Unfortunately, he had to address the nation hours later to tell us what went wrong.   

It was a terrible morning to say the least. The operation was called off due to technical problems but 8 US servicemen were killed when one of the departing helicopters collided with a AC-130 transport airplane on the ground.

It was horrible.

The hostages were eventually released a few minutes after President Reagan was sworn in on January 1981.

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Earth Day has become kind of a joke

 (My new American Thinker post)

Fifty-three years ago, The Beatles broke up, and they started Earth Day conveniently on Vladimir Lenin's birthday.  After all, what a better way to celebrate your hatred of capitalism than to schedule your big festival on commie #1's birthday?  Anyway, I am not sure how Lenin would feel about all of the predictions about the Earth that were posted since then.  Let's take a look:

Here are some of the hilarious, spectacularly wrong predictions made on the occasion of Earth Day 1970.

"We have about five more years at the outside to do something."

—Kenneth Watt, ecologist

"Civilization will end within 15 or 30 years unless immediate action is taken against problems facing mankind."

—George Wald, Harvard Biologist

"We are in an environmental crisis which threatens the survival of this nation, and of the world as a suitable place of human habitation."

—Barry Commoner, Washington University biologist

"Man must stop pollution and conserve his resources, not merely to enhance existence but to save the race from intolerable deterioration and possible extinction."

—New York Times editorial, the day after the first Earth Day

"Population will inevitably and completely outstrip whatever small increases in food supplies we make. The death rate will increase until at least 100-200 million people per year will be starving to death during the next ten years."

—Paul Ehrlich, Stanford University biologist

"By ... [1975,] some experts feel that food shortages will have escalated the present level of world hunger and starvation into famines of unbelievable proportions. Other experts, more optimistic, think the ultimate food-population collision will not occur until the decade of the 1980s."

—Paul Ehrlich, Stanford University biologist

"It is already too late to avoid mass starvation."

—Denis Hayes, chief organizer for Earth Day

Check out the long list, because there are more and more examples of how these predictions missed their targets.  Aren't you glad that you didn't pay these people to give you financial advice or introduce you to some girl?  You would have ended up broke and with some angry feminist complaining about everything.

Moral of the story: Be careful with the latest generation of alarmists telling you to drive an electric car and to stop having babies.

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"A Night to Remember", a good movie about The Titanic 1912

Titanic 1912: "A Night to Remember"...... https://t.co/UYdGzfixGm via @amazon

— Silvio Canto, Jr. (@SCantojr) April 14, 2018

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Happy New Year: "Groovin'" by Booker T and the MGs

A fantastic instrumental version: Booker T and the MGs - "Groovin'" - '67.

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Happy New Year to all of my friends

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL OF MY FRIENDS

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Buddy Holly # 13 in Rolling Stone's Top 100 artists

In 1972, Don McClean introduced our generation to Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and the Big Bopper in the # 1 song"American Pie". 

It started like this:     

"A long, long time ago...I can still remember How that music used to make me smile. And I knew if I had my chance That I could make those people dance And, maybe, they'd be happy for a while. But February made me shiver With every paper I'd deliver. Bad news on the doorstep; I couldn't take one more step. I can't remember if I cried When I read about his widowed bride, But something touched me deep inside The day the music died."

The "day the music died" was on this day in 1959, a big triple loss for pop music. 

McClean's tune got me very interested in Buddy Holly, a native of West Texas.

I bought his records. I visited his grave during a business trip to West Texas about 20 years ago. I have followed the creation of The Buddy Holly Center in Lubbock, TX.

I learned that Paul McCartney was also a huge fan of Buddy Holly. He toured England in 1958!

The Beatles recorded Holly's "Words of Love" in one of their early LP's. The Rolling Stones recorded "Not fade away", another of Holly's songs.

Buddy Holly was only 22 but ".....In 2004, Rolling Stone Magazine ranked Holly #13 on their list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time."

You can hear Buddy Holly's influence in every rock song recorded over the years. You can specially hear it in garage bands or every 15-year old who has played a rock guitar.

Ritchie Valens and The Big Bopper were killed in the same plane crash. They were not as popular as Holly but Valens had incredible potential since he was only 17!

The day "the music died", a sad day in the history of rock.

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June 29, 1941: DiMaggio got 41 & 42 in a doubleheader

On this day in 1941, the amazing Joe DiMaggio singled in the sixth inning in the first game of a doubleheader to tie George Sisler's A.L. consecutive-game hit record of 41 games. 

In the second game, he set the record at 42 games with a single in the seventh inning.  

His next goal was the N.L. record of 44.  

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1979: Weaver won # 1,000

On this day in 1979, the Orioles opened the season by beating Chicago.    It was Earl Weaver's 1,000th win as a manager, all of them with Baltimore.

Weaver became the O's manager in July 1968, won the 1970 World Series, the 1969 & 1971 AL pennants, plus the 1973 & 1974 AL East titles.   

In 1979, Weaver's O's won 102 and returned to the World Series but lost to the Pirates.  In 1980, the O's won 100 games but finished 3 behind the Yankees.

He retired in 1982 with 1,480 wins and a .582 winning pct.    He went into The Hall of Fame in 1996.

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Why do we love George Washington?

We remember another of George Washington’s birthdays. Back in our early days in “el exilio”, we used to celebrate this day exclusively. No Presidents’ Day but rather President Lincoln on February 12th and President Washington on the 22nd. I regret that we changed that.

George Washington was vital to the success of the new American nation. Our friends at Power Line call him the indispensable man and they are right:

Today is the anniversary of the birth of George Washington. Of all the great men of the revolutionary era to whom we owe our freedom, Washington’s greatness was the rarest and the most needed. At this remove in time, it is also the hardest to comprehend.

Take, for example, Washington’s contribution to the Constitutional Convention of 1787. Washington’s mere presence lent the undertaking and its handiwork the legitimacy that resulted in success. The convention’s first order of business was the election of a presiding officer. Washington was the delegates’ unanimous choice.

Washington led an army of colonists and then held together the new constitution by serving as the first president. He could have been “president for life” or reelected to a 3rd term. However, he respected the constitution and set the example by walking away from power. We’ve had orderly transfer of power ever since and that’s no small accomplishment in world history. He died in 1799.

He was indeed the indispensable man to the new nation. Where would we be today without the work or presence of George Washington?

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We remember Boris Yeltsin (1931-2007)

We remember Boris Yeltsin who was born on this day in 1931.  He died in 2007.

It's hard to think of Boris N. Yeltsin without recalling the end ot the USSR.  I can still remember Yeltsin with a Russian flag and surrounded by lots of happy faces. That was a happy moment for him and the Russian people.

Yeltsin was consequential, although he had his problems. At the same time, no one is perfect, specially the leader of nation without any democratic traditions.

 

How will Yeltsin be remembered?

 

My guess is that history will be kind to Yeltsin.  

 

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