A chance to see Rita Hayworth in color and when she was still very cute and beautiful. Not how she looked in the 1940s and 50s, but still looking very good and sounding great. Her voice always made her sound a lot younger than she actually was and her smile always made her seem younger as well. And she still had the body as well as we’re still talking about one of the top actress’s in Hollywood as well. She was truly special and I just wish we could have seen a lot more of her in color, before she was born for color TV and film.
As far as this film whether you want to call it the Sons of Satan, or The Bastard and I might add The Bastards, because we’re talking about two sons who are brothers who are professional criminals as thieves, it’s the same thing. Two guys who went real bad and one of them even worst by beating the hell out of his brother to keep all the money and jewels that they just stole together. These are guys that only their beautiful adorable mother could love, while their father goes out of their way to pretend he doesn’t even know them and perhaps wears disguises when he’s seen with his sons. So people don’t think he’s their father.
If you think the so-called War on Drugs in America goes back to 1971 which is way too long for a failed bogus war to go back to, you would think that at some point the boy genius’ in Washington would get the memo that something is not working and a change of course is needed, you would be wrong about the year the WOD started. The first American War on Drugs started in January, 1920, but back then it only took the genius’ in Washington thirteen-years to figure that something is rotten in Denmark and a change of course is now needed.
Imagine if the genius’ in Washington figured out by 1984 that the second War on Drugs known as the Controlled Substance Act, was a total failure (and I’m being nice) and decided to repeal it then, or even in 1985. How many lives would have been saved as a result in prison spaces, prison cells, new prisons all together if we were instead sending drug users and addicts to drug rehab at their expense instead of prison, or even jail. And getting them off of their addiction so they could move on with their lives. Halfway houses, night school, job training, vocational training, etc. How much in precious tax dollars would we have saved by then? As well as legalizing with taxation and regulation of marijuana.
Alcohol, by the way is a drug for anyone sober enough to understand that as well as remember what its like to be drunk. Which is a form of a high and when you prohibit alcohol like you’re prohibiting lets say marijuana, which has similar side-effects as alcohol, you’re adding to the War on Drugs. Because alcohol is a drug. Alcohol prohibition, didn’t work, because the overwhelming majority of Americans back then over eighty-years ago and today, like to drink alcohol. Even if that meant going to jail for it. And Americans tend to be smart enough to know what alcohol can do to them, so they’re not going to abuse it. Which can also be said about marijuana.
So this idea that just you make something illegal simply because you don’t like it and because it comes with dangerous consequences like people being stupid and deciding to drive and so-forth while intoxicated, doesn’t mean people will stop drinking what they enjoy drinking. Just means they may end up in jail for it. And for what, because they drank something that wasn’t god for them and nothing else. Good thing Americans don’t like heroin, cocaine and meth and even tobacco as much as alcohol. Or we would have to take out loans from China and Saudi Arabia to pay for all of our government expenses. Because most of the country would either be too high, or in jail, but not working and paying taxes for that work.
The War on Drugs, whether it was alcohol prohibition in the 1920s and 30s, or marijuana, cocaine, heroin and meth in the 1970s, all the way up till today, doesn’t work. Because again good people even who don’t normally hurt people and go out of their way not to hurt innocent people, will smoke a joint and get high if they really want to, especially if they think they can get away with it. Or don’t think they could be arrested simply for consuming a product that is not hurting anyone else and perhaps not even them as well.
Even big government, is too small and not smart enough to be the national parents of a country of three-hundred and twenty-million people who is three-thousand miles long and two-thousand miles wide. At some point government has to prioritize at all levels and layout exactly what it should do based on what it is capable of doing. What they have the resources to pay for based on what their taxpayers are willing to pay for. Instead of trying to micro-manage everyone’s life for them. And instead focus on how people interact with each other. Not to run our lives, but to prevent and punish people when we actually hurt others. But short of that just leave us the hell alone and let free adults be exactly that.
What I get from this piece from The Nation is that self-described Socialist Feminist Suzanna Danuta-Walters, who said she’s to the left of Democratic Socialist Bernie Sanders, is voting for as she put it centrist Hillary Clinton, is because she believes Hillary would win. And has enough in common with her on the issues. And of course being a Feminist she wants the next president to be a Democratic women. And to be honest I believe that is the calculation that a lot of both Far-Left Democrats like Bernie and Center-Left Democrats such as myself are making as well. Not far enough to the left, not liberal enough for me on personal freedom and civil liberty issues, too much influence from Wall Street. And in Bernie’s case, she’s not a Socialist and not progressive enough on economic issues.
That is really the calculation all Democrats should be making assuming Hillary is our nominee. Not our first choice in many cases unless you’re truly in this to see the next president be a Democrat who is at least center-left. She’s not a dead-centrist and stuck in the middle, she just has a tendency to come off that way, because she had a tendency to wait until issues to become popular before she takes a tough stand on them, but generally comes down on the liberal, or progressive side. She’s not in the dead-center, but not very far to the left even on the Center-Left for many Democrats. But compare her with anyone running for president for the Republican Party, there is no contest here.
And with the current shape of the GOP, Hillary is not only the likely Democratic nominee, but likely the next President of the United States. Because the GOP has nobody who can beat her, other than maybe John Kasich. Who is stuck somewhere around five-percent in GOP polls. And for the GOP to have any real shot at the White House next year, they not only have to win Latinos and women back in huge numbers, but stop their attacks on immigrants and Muslims as well. Because of the huge turnout of new voters who will be looking forward to voting for the first female President of the United States and making history. Good luck doing that with their Far-Right.
What Hillary Clinton has going for her, is that she’s a Center-Left Democrat who comes off as strong and independent-minded, who looks very strong as a leader when she speaks, who is great on the center stage and in debates and now even speaking to voters and giving speeches. You can’t call her radical about anything, unlike Bernie Sanders. You can’t say she’s inexperienced, or hasn’t been tested, especially being married to Bill Clinton (ha, ha) and her own career in Congress and as Secretary of State. Going up against a Republican nominee who might be trying to prove to the Far-Right of the party that he hates Latinos and Muslims enough. No contest! Unless the GOP wakes up and nominates John Kasich, or maybe Marco Rubio, who could appeal to Latinos and perhaps younger voters. Pop Sugar Entertainment: Hillary Clinton & Lena Dunham Discuss Feminism
The Neo-Communists and Neo-Marxists, (as I at least call them in Venezuela) finally not only have some competition, but a liberal democratic opposition to their authoritarian rule. And shows that there’s even a limit to the mount of socialism that Venezuelans will put up with in their country. Especially when it comes with a high cost of the lost of personal freedom and a strong economy. Just as the Cuban economy is improving and the economy starting to move again in Columbia, the Socialist Maduro Administration in Venezuela has seen their economy collapse.
Because of falling oil prices in their country and the Venezuelan government’s Marxist miss-management of their economy, a country that is energy independent and yet not able to pay for their bare essentials like toilet paper and even food. The people in Venezuela stood up and demanded change and chose the liberal democratic opposition the Democratic Party there, which in Venezuela would be considered right-wing, which tells you how Far-Left the current government in Venezuela is. And now The Maduro Administration will have an opposition Assembly that it will have to deal with. With real limits on their power.
It’s not so much socialism that is the problem here, but how far you go with it and are you democratic or not and allow for real personal and even economic freedom, including a free press, free speech and a true opposition. Or do you concentrate so much power in the central government, the executive and head of state. To look after and take care of everyone else for them. Which is what happened in Cuba fifty-five years ago and perhaps would happen in Venezuela if the Neo-Communists there were allowed to hold on power indefinitely.
What the Venezuelan people did with their Assembly elections is to say that there’s a limit to what they expect one government and one political party to do for them and what they’ll allow to do to them. That you can’t blame America and Venezuela’s allies for all the problems that are going on in Venezuela. That at some point a political party, the Neo-Marxist Socialist Party in Venezuela that has had all the power in Caracas for the last 16 years has to take responsibility for the condition of the country.
The Millennial’s today who are still in college, the so-called Social Justice Warriors who want to establish their form of political correctness on the entire country who believe that minority Americans, are entitled to never having to hear anything that offends them, could learn so much from the Baby Boomers of the 1960s. The Hippies, who weren’t fighting for collectivism and censorship, political correctness, but instead were fighting for individual freedom and Freedom of Speech. The right for Free Americans to express exactly how they feel about issues. On and off campus.
The Hippies, the long beards of the 1960s, the Baby Boomers, were fighting against the right-wing establishment who believe America was still in the 1950s. When individualism and individuality, were still not common and if anything looked down upon. Where people were told how to think, instead of taught how to learn and then base their own views on what they just learned. Where individual freedom and free speech were only tolerated if people were doing, saying and believing what the establishment approved of.
Again, free speech is exactly that. Take it for what its worth, because it by itself is not designed to make you feel good or bad, but to express how someone feels and when done right inform people as well. ‘This is where you’re doing well and this is where you need improvement. This is what you should do less of if not stop all together. This is what you should be doing more of.’ And these are just some examples of what free speech is. Which is something the long beards of today, the Millennial’s who are in college simply don’t understand and approve of.
It means that you have the constitutional right to express how you feel about someone, or some group, or something, but that person next to you and everyone else not only have the constitutional right to not only tell you what they think about what you have to say, but express their own views on the same subject, or any other subject that they want to talk about. And you have the same constitutional right to express how you feel about what they have to say about whatever they’re talking about as well.
Just because America has a history of racial and ethnic discrimination, which is the worst part of our national history, doesn’t protect ethnic, racial and religious minorities from having to hear anything critical about themselves or their group in the future. Especially when the criticism is accurate. There’s nothing bigoted about the truth and even when someone delivers half-truths about people perhaps to make partisan points and even racial or ethnic points to make a group seem worst than they actually are, you can always present the rest of the story and point out whatever hypocrisy the commentator is making.
There’s nothing bigoted about saying that women and gays are treated like second-class citizens and slaves, or risk death if they try to convert from Islam in the Arab and broader Muslim World, since those things are actually true. Just like gays and women are treated like second-class citizens in the Bible Belt in America. Free speech, is free and facts don’t lie and when someone is actually offended by the truth, then they have a real problem with dealing with reality. And have real self-improvement issues to deal with beyond whatever negative facts that have already come out about them. But that is no reason from censoring the truth and free speech. Especially in a liberal democracy like America.
“Conservative firebrand pundit Ann Coulter is so thrilled with Donald Trump’s proposal to ban Muslim immigrants from the United States that she has called it the “best birthday gift” she’s ever received. Trump announced his idea Monday evening, and Coulter turned 54 on Tuesday. “Add in every other kind of immigrant and it’s perfect!” she added, seemingly calling for a total ban on all immigration.”
I don’t know who is a bigger birthday gift for bloggers and comedians, Donald Trump, or Ann Coulter. I guess The Donald would be at least physically, but that might only be because Ann Coulter has the body that only a stick-figure could want and is tall as a giraffe at the same time. Maybe they could run on a ticket for birthday gift of the year and run as a duo. Perhaps arm-wrestle to see who should run for president and who should run for vice president. I gotta admit even with her scrawny frame, with all of that masculinity that Ann carries inside, that might be enough for her to beat the 220 pound or more Donald Trump in an arm-wrestling contest.
Or better yet, The Donald and Flat Ann, could run for President and Vice President of the United States together for the Fascist Party and bring that back. As they’re working to develop their national time machine to take America back to 1955 and celebrate like its 1955 on New Years Eve and Day. They could appoint Rick Santorum as their foreign policy adviser and Mike Huckabee as their social policy adviser. Donald Rumsfeld, (an even less impressive Donald) could be their national security adviser.
A couple major things that The Donald and Flat Ann have in common is that neither one of them are politicians, because neither one of them are electable outside of the Bible Belt. And in The Donald’s case, he’s not electable anywhere outside of a Hollywood movie, or one of his own so-called reality TV shows, because he doesn’t know what he believes. Which gets to my second point about The Donald and Flat Ann, that since neither one of them are politicians they both can say whatever nonsense comes into their head at anytime.
Because they both know they’re not going to get elected to anything anyway. The Donald. wants to sell himself for his current venture which is: “Who Wants Donald Trump For President?” Which will be available at your nearest TV set, or movie theater by the spring of 2017. And Flat Ann wants to sell her latest book and columns which will be available at your nearest garbage cans sometime in 2016. With pieces of three-weeks old baloney stuck in each page. With even homeless people turning down as food and reading material at the same time.
The only time I’m surprised by anything that either Donald Trump or Ann Coulter says, is when they say something intelligent. And I gotta tell you I have a hell of a memory and I can’t remember the last time either one of them ever said anything that got me thinking: ‘hum, we agree on something. They have a point there and I wish I had thought of that.’ They are both sharp businesspeople even accidentally in the sense that they know how to sell themselves. Sell their business ventures and in Flat Ann’s case her writings. Trash to be accurate that she sells that gets thrown out, or made fun, or a combination of both.
No, Ann Coulter, is not a prostitute, because lifelong prison inmates who have a better chance of seeing snow in San Diego than getting out of prison, have turned her down and have chosen men instead. What I mean by that is they sell themselves as far as what they’re personally selling. With The Donald, it’s his personality and reality TV career. With Flat Ann, it’s her books and columns. That keeps garbagemen in business forever with all the trash she writes. I personally for the life of me can’t believe why any intelligent person could even take either of them seriously, let alone believe what they say could actually be true.
I haven’t seen the Dalton Trumbo movie yet so I can’t really comment on it at least in a credible sense and I’m not going to take the word of J.T. Hayworth and Allan Ryskind on it as well. Who both come from a very heavy right-wing partisan slant on it to say the least. Whatever you think of Dalton Trumbo’s politics and I’m not a Socialist, democratic or otherwise, we’re still talking about his politics here. The only reason why he was brought up in front of the House Un-American Activities Committee in 1947 was because of his politics.
The so-called Red Scare at the start of the Cold War that drove a lot of Americans crazy in believing that communism was so dangerous that a great liberal democracy like America, which is the opposite of communism, couldn’t survive in the same world as communism. That it wasn’t just communist policies and communist states that had to be defeated and destroyed, but communist beliefs as well. That you needed a fascist state coming from the Far-Right, where everyone looked at politics and the world from the same point of view and all shared the exact same values. That is not freedom and free speech, but a form of fascism.
Dalton Trumbo, wasn’t brought in front of HUAC because he was a communist agent for the Soviet Union or a spy or something like the Rosenberg’s. He was brought in front of HUAC because he was a Socialist in Hollywood and had a big mic and stage to get out his political beliefs. As much as the right-wing anti-Communist Warriors said they were defending freedom and liberty in the 1940s and 1950s, it would have been nice if only those things were true. Because instead they were defending what they claimed they were against. Which was fascism and statism.
You can say that Freedom of Speech is so important and that liberal democracy is so powerful that all views are welcomed to be expressed, because we’re so strong as a country that we can tolerate extreme views from both the Far-Left and Far-Right and that Americans will be able to make up their own minds on these issues. But these things don’t mean anything if you don’t actually believe in them. What you do instead is say that freedom and free speech is so important that we have to stand up for the right for everyone to have their own views and be able to express them. Even if they’re fringe and then hold them accountable for what they believe and say. But not try to shut them up and then we’ll have true freedom and free speech.
As a Liberal, I’m against racial preferences regardless of who they’re tended to favor over any other race and in favor of equal rights and protection, civil rights and civil liberties and the 1964 Civil Rights Act, not because I’m not a Liberal, but because I am. Because I got this wild Martin L. King notion that everyone all Americans should be judged by the content of their character and not by the color of their skin. Which really is about as liberal of a notion and value as liberalism gets. Liberals, truly believe in racial tolerance. Not just for minorities, but for all people regardless of their race, ethnicity, gender, religion, or sexuality.
The same reasons why I argue in favor of free speech whether I agree with the speech or not, because I’m a Liberal and not because I’m not. When you have racial preferences even if they’re designed to help minorities over the majority, you’re still approving a form of racial discrimination. You’re saying that certain races of people should get special treatment under law over another, because of their race and circumstances. Just because one race of Americans and in this case European-Americans or Caucasians, have benefited from special treatment in the past, doesn’t mean other Americans are now entitled to special treatment for themselves. It was wrong for Caucasians to benefit because of their race in the past and its wrong for anyone else to benefit because of their race today.
The problem with government in many cases and why it tends to be ineffective and not trusted, is because they like to live under their own laws while they enforce other laws for everyone else. They say we can’t practice racial, ethnic and gender discrimination against other Americans, when that is exactly what they do with racial preferences under so-called affirmative action. If government wants Americans to not judge people for good and bad because of race, ethnicity and gender, then they can’t do those things and expect to be trusted and respected.
Americans, might not be the sharpest tools in the shed as a people, but we know hypocrisy when we see it and we see it everyday. Racial preferences under so-called affirmative action, days are numbered, because we’re finally starting to become that MLK dream of a country. We’re becoming that country that doesn’t like it when Americans benefit from, or are denied access in this country because of our race and ethnicity. And that is because of the Millennial’s. The same generation that says minorities are entitled to never have to hear anything that they find offensive. Also believes in Equal Protection Under The Law and oppose racial and ethnic discrimination.
When the U.S. Supreme Court most likely kills racial preferences under so-called affirmative action in America perhaps as early as next year, it will give America a great opportunity to develop a real affirmative action policy in this country. That won’t be built off of racial discrimination and preferences, but on empowering Americans who have been left behind in this country including because of their race and ethnicity. But instead empowers Americans who come from underdeveloped communities to be able to make a quality life for themselves. And even be able to stay in their community that now has quality schools, infrastructure and new economic development.
What we should do instead as a country is build on the 1964 Civil Rights Act and expanding it to include gays and having a real education, infrastructure and economic system, that’s built off of economic development that says all Americans regardless of race, ethnicity, or gender, and economic background, are entitled to a real shot at achieving their own American dream. Of living in economic and personal freedom based on what they’re created for themselves form their own skills and production. Not because of their race, or ethnicity, or father’s income level.
You don’t achieve a racial and color-blind society with big government saying, “it’s only okay when we do it.” You do that by saying it’s not okay at all and when you do it there are heavy economic prices to pay for it. To encourage you not to do it at all and to never do it again if you do it in the first place. That is what the 1964 CRA should be about. Not to expand the criminal justice system in America which is way over capacity to begin with. But to say racial and ethnic discrimination is wrong period and is illegal and have real strong enforcement. To encourage victims of racial discrimination to come out and report even if they think they can’t win their case, or can’t afford a good attorney.
Because good civil rights attorneys, would take their case anyway and their would be a criminal case to prosecute as well. And the victims would be entitled to financial compensation if the court finds that they’re victims of racial discrimination in the workplace, or in college, to use as examples. But we don’t create a society where Americans aren’t judged by their race and ethnicity with government not practicing what it preaches. That is what I mean by racial and color blindness, a society where Americans aren’t judged by their race, color, or ethnicity. Not a society that pretends its blind and can’t see race and ethnicity, but where we don’t judge people by those things.
A slow week on this blog as far as activity. This blog hasn’t posted anything since Wednesday night, because I had a crazy week. I had to get my bike to the bike shop, making plans for the holiday season including getting together with friends who are coming to town who I haven’t seen in a while, as well as friends who live in town that I haven’t seen in a while before I head out to the West Coast, Seattle to be precise on the 23rd. Returning calls yesterday that I missed, because my phone was dead and didn’t get it get back until Saturday afternoon.
Speaking of that, I have a friend from high school and we go back to early 1991 our freshmen year in high school. My birthday was last Tuesday and he finally called me, because he was finally able to get my phone number and manage to hang on to it. At least long enough to call me. He’s been messaging me on Facebook every time he’s wanted to talk to me, really since 2011, because he now lives on the West Coast where he’s been since he graduated from college in the early 2000s. He’s lost my cell number and I only have a cell number, every year at least since 2011. And I told him the last time he Facebook messaged me, “that if you want to talk to me, you’re going to have to get my number and call me.”
We only talk about once a year anyway, because we’ve drifted apart the last 10-15 years and don’t have much in common anymore. And talk and get together during the holiday season because he comes back in town every year to see his family for the holidays. And we generally get together for the holidays. Anyway he finally managed to get my number from a mutual friend and he called me on birthday last Tuesday night. We talked for about an hour, caught up, talked about what we might do together as well get together with mutual friends and all hanging out together in a big group. It was a good chat and the phone number issue never came up.
My I-Phone dies on Wednesday and I mean just died absolutely no life whatsoever in the phone. Didn’t even respond to my charger. I make a call with it on Wednesday afternoon and it’s probably at 80-90% power at that point. I go take a shower, come back about twenty-minutes later and the phone is simply dead and non-responsive. The call I made was to the bike shop, I was just returning their call, because they wanted to ask me questions about the bike. The call was maybe ten-minutes and the battery on my phone is pretty strong to begin with. Tried a couple different chargers on it as well as calling the I-Phone with a portable phone and the phone didn’t respond to any of that. So I knew I had a problem and I was going to have to get the phone looked at.
I called the Apple Store in Bethesda, Maryland to make an appointment. Great store and very customer friendly and responsive. You can see why they have sold out football stadium crowds of business everyday and why people have to camp out the night before outside of the store people trying to buy the latest, well I-Phone or computer, just to get service there while they’re still young. But that’s the problem, because they’re so popular and efficient, at least in Bethesda, its hard to get timely service there. I made an appointment on Thursday to get my phone looked at and was able to get the appointment yesterday. They’re not called bar genius’ for nothing and I’m not talking about making drinks.
The guy who worked with me at the store, tried a couple a different chargers as well as scanning the phone with another device and opening the phone up to see what might be the problem. He finally got the phone to reboot and was able to get life back in the phone. And probably had the phone fixed about ten-minutes later after he saw me. And told me, “sometimes these phones just crash and shut off and perhaps just need a break and a chance to reboot and come back.” I’m paraphrasing, but that is pretty close and he told me what I can do to fix the phone myself the next time it simply dies on me and doesn’t respond to the charger.
There was plenty on my plate that I wanted to blog about last week, but I was borderline mentally exhausted by Wednesday. Really just dealing with my bike which is how I get around for the most part as far as running day-to-day errands, not having a phone for three days and getting word out that if you need to contact me, you’re going to have to email, or send me a private message on one of these social networks that I’m on. Dealing with what I might be doing the week of Christmas with hanging out with friends and then heading out-of-town a week from this coming Wednesday. This week should be pretty active on the blog and I’m looking forward to really my last active week on the blog before I go out-of-town and before the new year.
I believe the only impressive point that President Obama made in his ISIS speech on Sunday night, was saying that Congress should be debating this war and passing an authorization for it. If the House and Senate held a vote tomorrow on whether or not America should be involved in the war against ISIS in Syria and Iraq, it would pass overwhelmingly in both chambers. With perhaps just the Progressive Caucus and few Libertarians in the House voting no and perhaps a handful of Senators voting against it as well. If that was the only question and then of course it would have to be worded right where you get clear majorities in Congress behind it.
The original Congressional authorization for the so-called War on Terror was in 2001 for Afghanistan in response to the 9-11 attacks and then they updated it to cover Iraq in 2003. Syria was never part of it, neither were outside terrorist organizations like ISIS. Congress, has to get off their asses frankly and start at least trying to earn their one-hundred and fifty-thousand-dollar a year salaries. Which might not be that much in Washington, but compared with the rest of the country they’re well-compensated, especially if you look at their compensation packages compared with the rest of the country. And the Senate and House need to start trying to earn those benefits.
Congress, is supposed to authorize and say no to wars. The President, can’t do this on their own. They need approval from Congress to go to war and need Congress to authorize the costs of the wars. And I understand with a Republican Congress not wanting to go on the record of even supporting the same weather reports and sports teams as President Obama, because of how their Tea Party would react. But public office is about governing. You run for office to get there and can play all the politics you want on the campaign, but once you’re in office you have a responsibility to govern. Even if that means working with a President from the other party and officially supporting a war that might not be popular.
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