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Nov 13, 2012 12:16:42 GMT -5
Post by joew on Nov 13, 2012 12:16:42 GMT -5
Finally got around to reading about Sgt. Stubby. A wonderful story. Thanks for linking to it, Jay.
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Nov 15, 2012 23:45:34 GMT -5
Post by BoatBabe on Nov 15, 2012 23:45:34 GMT -5
Finally got around to reading about Sgt. Stubby. A wonderful story. Thanks for linking to it, Jay. That really was cool. I stoled it.
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Dec 17, 2012 21:02:04 GMT -5
Post by doctork on Dec 17, 2012 21:02:04 GMT -5
I meant to take note of the passing of Dave Brubeck week before last, just getting around to it now for whatever reason. But he has been in my thoughts, yours too I'll bet. Loss of a musical giant.
Then a few days later, someone we probably didn't know by name, but he had an effect on our lives. Norman Joseph Woodland, inventor of the bar code passed away on December 9.
On Friday there were few remarks about the death of Ravi Shankar, as we were all overwhelmed with news of the tragedy of Sandy Hook.
And today, the loss of Senator Daniel K Inouye, senior senator from Hawaii. He was probably the first politician I ever met, as he was first elected in 1962, and I remember him as someone who cared enough about the people of his state to be campaigning at our school and saying hello to a bunch of little kids who didn't even vote.
During WWII he was a member of the 442nd Regimental Combat Team, composed of Nisei (second-generation Japanese-Americans) many of whose parents and siblings spent the war in western mainland internment camps. The 442nd was one of the most decorated units in WWII. Here is the wiki story of Senator Inouye's valor during the war, for which he was awarded the Purple Heart and the Distinguished Service Cross, later changed by President Clinton to the Medal of Honor. There are so few genuine heroes in Congress (or elsewhere) these days, but Senator Inouye certainly was one.
On April 21, 1945, Inouye was grievously wounded while leading an assault on a heavily-defended ridge near San Terenzo in Tuscany, Italy called Colle Musatello. The ridge served as a strongpoint along the strip of German fortifications known as the Gothic Line, which represented the last and most dogged line of German defensive works in Italy. As he led his platoon in a flanking maneuver, three German machine guns opened fire from covered positions just 40 yards away, pinning his men to the ground. Inouye stood up to attack and was shot in the stomach; ignoring his wound, he proceeded to attack and destroy the first machine gun nest with hand grenades and fire from his Thompson submachine gun. After being informed of the severity of his wound by his platoon sergeant, he refused treatment and rallied his men for an attack on the second machine gun position, which he also successfully destroyed before collapsing from blood loss.
As his squad distracted the third machine gunner, Inouye crawled toward the final bunker, eventually drawing within 10 yards. As he raised himself up and cocked his arm to throw his last grenade into the fighting position, a German inside fired a rifle grenade that struck him on the right elbow, severing most of his arm and leaving his own primed grenade reflexively "clenched in a fist that suddenly didn't belong to me anymore".[10] Inouye's horrified soldiers moved to his aid, but he shouted for them to keep back out of fear his severed fist would involuntarily relax and drop the grenade. As the German inside the bunker reloaded his rifle, Inouye pried the live grenade from his useless right hand and transferred it to his left. As the German aimed his rifle to finish him off, Inouye tossed the grenade off-hand into the bunker and destroyed it. He stumbled to his feet and continued forward, silencing the last German resistance with a one-handed burst from his Thompson before being wounded in the leg and tumbling unconscious to the bottom of the ridge. When he awoke to see the concerned men of his platoon hovering over him, his only comment before being carried away was to gruffly order them to return to their positions, since, as he pointed out, "nobody called off the war!"
I am awed by the 442nd, as I am by the Navajo Code Talkers. Widely regarded as second class citizens in their own nation, yet they fought so bravely to defend us in WWII.
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Dec 19, 2012 10:03:08 GMT -5
Post by gailkate on Dec 19, 2012 10:03:08 GMT -5
My goodness, what a story. I didn't know these details of his war injury. I do remember his steady and sane presence on the Watergate hearing committee and have had great respect for him since.
You're right, Newtown understandably put everything else on the back page.
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Dec 19, 2012 11:23:57 GMT -5
Post by joew on Dec 19, 2012 11:23:57 GMT -5
I've just read that Robert Bork has died. Unfortunately, for me the thing that always comes first to my mind when I think of him is the anger I feel toward Ted Kennedy (and his cronies, including Patrick Leahy) for the contemptible demagogy they exhibited in smearing him during the hearings on his nomination to the Supreme Court by consistently misrepresenting his decisions.
He belonged on the Supreme Court.
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Dec 19, 2012 19:26:10 GMT -5
Post by gailkate on Dec 19, 2012 19:26:10 GMT -5
I've listened to recordings quite recently and there was no need to misrepresent anything he said; he made himself perfectly clear. He did not belong on any court.
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Dec 19, 2012 21:25:39 GMT -5
Post by doctork on Dec 19, 2012 21:25:39 GMT -5
I don't remember as much about Bork as about other political events of the 1980's, as that was a time I was in business school, and working way more than full-time in my private practice. What I do recall is that Bork was the axe wielder in the Saturday Night Massacre, later found to be an illegal move. More than that, it was an initial step toward the Imperial Presidency, with more and more power concentrated in the Executive Branch. As an "origianaist" I'd have expected more support for the separation of powers.
I regret the extreme politicization of the confirmation process that was intended to be "advise and consent," not a litmus test or a partisan brick wall. And maybe Ted Kennedy "misrepresented" or not, I can't honestly say. But Bork carried out the "Massacre," so I was glad that he was not confirmed.
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Dec 19, 2012 21:38:11 GMT -5
Post by doctork on Dec 19, 2012 21:38:11 GMT -5
My goodness, what a story. I didn't know these details of his war injury. I do remember his steady and sane presence on the Watergate hearing committee and have had great respect for him since. You're right, Newtown understandably put everything else on the back page. That was "only" Senator Inouye's war history. He was also there at the birth of the State of Hawaii. He was a member of the Territorial Legislature when Hawaii entered the Union in 1959, and he then became Congressman Inouye. In 1962 he was elected US Senator. So until his death, the State of Hawaii has never been without Congressman/Senator Inouye to represent them. A small point in the overall picture, but for me personally since I lived in Hawaii 1962 - 1965, it just doesn't seem quite Hawaii without him. And don't forget that Senator Inouye was important during the Iran Contra hearings. And he came up in the era when both Republicans and Democrats still (sometimes) worked for the good of the nation, instead of for the good of their re-election campaign and their party. So did Saint Ronnie for that matter, "back in the day." I wouldn't have said it back then, but it seemed so much more collegial back then in Congress.
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Dec 19, 2012 22:08:34 GMT -5
Post by joew on Dec 19, 2012 22:08:34 GMT -5
Separation of powers had nothing to do with the Saturday Night Massacre, since it was all part of the Executive Branch. As for the imperial presidency, I'd suggest that other presidents, beginning with FDR, have had a lot more to do with it than the Saturday Night Massacre did.
I watched the hearings at the time, and Ted Kennedy brought up several cases in which one party was a member of some minority and Bork ruled against them. He'd suggest that the result showed that Bork was opposed to that minority's rights. Bork would explain in detail what the legal issues were and why the law governing the case required the decision he had made, and that it wasn't a matter of refusing to give the minority party their legal rights. When he finished the explanation, Kennedy would say something like, "I don't think most Americans want a justice who is opposed to this minority's rights." Utterly dishonest, demagogic, and despicable. Somebody today noted that even the Washington Post, in their editorial opposing the confirmation of Judge Bork, noted that the hearings had more the character of a lynching than an argument. Since that time, it has been impossible for me to have any respect for Kennedy as a Senator. He was an evil man. I think if you lament the loss of collegiality in the Senate, and in government generally, you have to see the rejection of Judge Haynesworth as one of the early contributors to it and the Bork hearings as a major cause.
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Dec 20, 2012 10:35:52 GMT -5
Post by gailkate on Dec 20, 2012 10:35:52 GMT -5
We could debate Bork indefinitely. I listened to the hearings attentively, as I was between jobs. Did you take time off from work? Calling Kennedy evil surprises me, especially coming from a man like yourself. I use the word very, very carefully. I would not call Bork evil.
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Dec 20, 2012 10:57:44 GMT -5
Post by joew on Dec 20, 2012 10:57:44 GMT -5
I know I watched the hearings. I think they must have replayed them at night, probably on PBS, because I doubt I just happened to be on vacation.
Is evil too strong a word? He wasn't at the level of a Hitler or a Stalin or a Robespierre, so maybe it is too strong. Maybe vicious or wicked would be better. Still too strong? Deeply flawed, contemptible. Even if the end — keeping Bork off the Court — was a good one in his mind, IMO it could not justify the means he used, the effects of which have continued to poison our political life to this day, again IMO.
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Dec 27, 2012 20:06:03 GMT -5
Post by doctork on Dec 27, 2012 20:06:03 GMT -5
Tonight NBC ran a remembrance of notable people who passed away this year. I thought it was well done, and it is even on their website where you can view it if you missed the newscast. Natalie Morales is anchoring the news tonight in Brian Williams' place, and I think she is doing a good job. video.msnbc.msn.com/nightly-news/50307800/#50307800CBS Sunday Morning always runs a similar piece on the last Sunday of the year, and I will try to catch that one too.
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Jan 4, 2013 0:46:52 GMT -5
Post by BoatBabe on Jan 4, 2013 0:46:52 GMT -5
Patti Page, The Rage, has left us.
This was one of my favorites:
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Jan 4, 2013 15:47:02 GMT -5
Post by joew on Jan 4, 2013 15:47:02 GMT -5
A very fine singer.
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Jan 4, 2013 23:37:54 GMT -5
Post by BoatBabe on Jan 4, 2013 23:37:54 GMT -5
Bonnie Raitt, Nora Jones and hundreds of other singers can thank Patti for this one:
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Jan 4, 2013 23:43:30 GMT -5
Post by BoatBabe on Jan 4, 2013 23:43:30 GMT -5
More than that, Patti Page was one of the first to take advantage of the high-falluting new-tech ability to harmonize with herself.
Whatta dream!
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Feb 3, 2013 22:09:14 GMT -5
Post by doctork on Feb 3, 2013 22:09:14 GMT -5
Two commemorations today, one a bit belated.
Last week we lost Patty Andrews, the last surviving member of the Andrews Sisters. GK reminded us yesterday on the show, and the audience sang along with "Don't Sit Under the Apple Tree" - and most of the audience remembered the lyrics! WWII recedes into the mists of history as the veterans of the Greatest Generation pass on. To a lot of "kids" Pearl Harbor was just the name of a movie.
And today, sigh. Today is the 64th anniversary of The Day The Music Died. On February 3, 1959 after performing a Teen Idol type music show at the Surf Ball Room in Clear Lake, Iowa, a plane carrying Buddy Holly (age 22) Ritchie Valens (only 17 years old) and J.P. "The Big Bopper" Richardson (age 28) crashed in an Iowa cornfield just outside town. They were en route to the next show in Moorhead, Minnesota.
If you are not a student of rock 'n' roll history, and did not see the movie "La Bamba," Ritchie Valens was born Richard Valenzuela, and called "Richie," but his promoters had him change to "Ritchie Valens" because they thought he would be better received if he appeared more Anglo rather than Mexican. It surprised everybody when he hit #1 with a song sung in Spanish!
Don McLean's song "American Pie" commemorated Feb 3, 1959 as "The Day The Music Died."
Wiki tells me that the Clear Lake show was called "The Winter Dance Party." Back in the late 1950's - early 1960's, this type of show featuring a line-up of several different stars and groups were popular. When we lived in Hawaii and I was in junior high school, we (groups of friends from school) attended several shows like that.
Those were the days my friend, we thought they'd never end.
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Feb 4, 2013 1:30:48 GMT -5
Post by rogesgallery on Feb 4, 2013 1:30:48 GMT -5
I've been to the Surf Ballroom several times. I used to work shutdowns twice a year at a Lehigh Cement plant in Mason City and would stay at a little motel on the west end of the main highway that runs through Clear Lake. $125 a week for two beds and a kitchenette. The crash site is about 8 miles northeast of there and there is a small memorial brass plaque.
The Ballroom itself is pretty nondescript— Big room, wood floors, a couple of bars on the periphery, cheaply furnished. I've got pictures of the outside somewhere. It's actually quite a bit smaller than one would imagine—200 -250 capacity (about the size of the old Parkers Ballroom in Seattle (Lynnwood?))—unless there is an underground facility that I didn't see. The entry and the marque are pretty impressive though.
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Feb 4, 2013 9:27:58 GMT -5
Post by doctork on Feb 4, 2013 9:27:58 GMT -5
I'm not surprised the Surf Ball Room is not large and not fancy; things weren't in those days. The similar shows I attended in Hawaii probably had an audience of 600 - 800 and that was in a large city. They were held in an outdoor arena, but it was Honolulu, not Iowa.
We didn't have the internet or cellphones, the TV had 3 station which were all in black & white, and it was a big deal when I got a transistor radio - which was how I would find out about such a concert, unless a friend told me at school. Or on the phone, but it seems to me my parents were always telling me to "Get off the phone!"
We weren't in perpetual contact with each other, but there was a lot more face-to-face interaction.
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Feb 5, 2013 3:01:10 GMT -5
Post by rogesgallery on Feb 5, 2013 3:01:10 GMT -5
I believe I remember the Andrews Sisters in a movie—maybe Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis. I might have seen them on Lawrence Welk, but what I remember as clear as if it were yesterday is Ed Sullivan saying "Ladies and Gentleman thhe Aaanrews Sisters.
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Feb 21, 2013 2:15:00 GMT -5
Post by rogesgallery on Feb 21, 2013 2:15:00 GMT -5
Did anyone hear about this? Evidently David Oliver Relin, the co-author of 'Three Cups of Tea" committed suicide in December 2012. Regardless of the Mortenson scandal Relin was never implicated in it and the book was and still is a treasure of journalistic literature.
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Feb 21, 2013 16:54:21 GMT -5
Post by gailkate on Feb 21, 2013 16:54:21 GMT -5
No,Rog, I hadn't heard it. You need to stop digging up sad news when we already have plenty. Stick to your 19th c. lit!
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Feb 21, 2013 19:23:17 GMT -5
Post by rogesgallery on Feb 21, 2013 19:23:17 GMT -5
Don't shoot me I'm just the mesenger
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Feb 22, 2013 1:04:35 GMT -5
Post by BoatBabe on Feb 22, 2013 1:04:35 GMT -5
Did anyone hear about this? Evidently David Oliver Relin, the co-author of 'Three Cups of Tea" committed suicide in December 2012. Regardless of the Mortenson scandal Relin was never implicated in it and the book was and still is a treasure of journalistic literature. I hadn't heard that.
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Feb 22, 2013 1:48:49 GMT -5
Post by rogesgallery on Feb 22, 2013 1:48:49 GMT -5
The weird thing about it is he died of blunt force trauma...How does one beat themselves to death?
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Feb 22, 2013 14:33:43 GMT -5
Post by joew on Feb 22, 2013 14:33:43 GMT -5
What I saw indicated that he was found by some railroad tracks. A train can provide considerable blunt force. But details seem to have been kept quiet.
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Feb 22, 2013 17:26:49 GMT -5
Post by rogesgallery on Feb 22, 2013 17:26:49 GMT -5
That would explain it joe
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Apr 6, 2013 19:18:45 GMT -5
Post by doctork on Apr 6, 2013 19:18:45 GMT -5
I can't believe it took me so long to post this, but the news hit me in the pit of my stomach when I heard it on the car radio driving home from work 3 days ago. Roger Ebert, the well-known movie critic, passed away from cancer that he has battled since 2002. I have always loved the movies, my recent residency in places with no nearby movie theaters notwithstanding. And Siskel & Ebert was my MovieGoers Bible, with "Two Thumbs Up" being nearly a commandment: Thous shalt go to see this Film. It was bad enough when Gene passed away, but with Roger gone now too, well I guess it is the end of an era.
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Apr 8, 2013 17:09:04 GMT -5
Post by doctork on Apr 8, 2013 17:09:04 GMT -5
Rest in peace, one very strong and brave lady, Annette Funicello. I hope you are dancing with the angels.
I took note that the reports actually stated the cause of death as multiple sclerosis, which is unusual. The media are not usually so candid.
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Apr 8, 2013 18:11:21 GMT -5
Post by Jane on Apr 8, 2013 18:11:21 GMT -5
I remember running home from school to watch the Mickey Mouse Club. I'll bet I can still name all the "original" Mouseketeers. We used to play that we were the Mouseketeers. I was Doreen.
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