George Seaton: Airport (1970)

Source:Turner Classic Movies- Left to right: Dean Martin, Jacqueline Bisset, and Helen Hayes.

Source:The Daily Review 

"Mel Bakersfeld, general manager of Lincoln International Airport, is beset with problems during one of the worst snowstorms in the history of the Midwest. A disabled jet has blocked the major runway, and the auxiliary runway is too short for takeoffs in bad weather conditions, forcing Mel to call maintenance chief Joe Patroni to solve the crisis; Mel's wife, Cindy, informs him that she wants a divorce; and Tanya Livingston, the Trans Global Airlines passenger agent with whom Mel is having an affair, is distracted by the mischievous Ada Quonsett, an elderly woman who is trying to stow away on a jet to Rome. 

Meanwhile, the emotionally disturbed D. O. Guerrero comes on board with a bomb in a briefcase, intending to blow up the plane so that his wife, Inez, can collect on the life insurance policy he has just purchased. 

The jet is piloted by Mel's brother-in-law, Vernon Demerest, who has just learned that his lover, stewardess Gwen Meighen, is pregnant. Shortly after departure, he is warned that Mel and Tanya have determined that Guerrero is carrying a bomb. With Ada's help, Vernon attempts to get the briefcase, then nearly succeeds in persuading Guerrero not to open it, but Guerrero runs into the bathroom and explodes the bomb. 

Guerrero is blown out of the jet, Gwen suffers a serious eye injury, and the aircraft is severely crippled, but Vernon and co-captain Anson Harris manage to land on Lincoln's runway, which Patroni has just cleared. As the passengers and crew enter the terminal, Vernon's wife, Sarah, observes her husband's obvious concern for Gwen and realizes that he has been unfaithful." 

From Turner Classic Movies 

"Burt Lancaster and Dean Martin head an all-star cast in this classic disaster film from producer Ross Hunter, for which Helen Hayes received her second Oscar. On the ground, manager Mel bakersfeld (Lancaster) juggles lover Jean Seberg and wife Dana Wynter while coping with a blizzard, aided by mechanic George Kennedy (who returned in all three sequels). 

In the sky, Capt. Vern Demerest (Martin) must maintain control of a 707 with his pregnant stewardess girlfriend (Jacqueline Bisset), a sly stowaway (Hayes), and a bomb-toting maniac (Van Heflin) aboard. Often imitated but never equaled, this box office hit was adapted by Academy Award winner George Seaton (Miracle on 34th Street, The Country Girl) from the best seller by Arthur Hailey (Hotel).

MPAA Rated PG for some intense sequences of adventure violence and language.

Produced by Ross Hunter Productions. Released by Universal Pictures, an division of NBCUniversal, an Comcast company." 

Source:The Baltimore Movie Trailer Park- Jean Seaberg and Burt Lancaster in Airport (1970) No Wonder Mel never goes home to his wife. LOL

From The Baltimore Trailer Park 

"Trailer from the 1970 movie : Airport" 

Source:Trailer Tajm- a trailer of Airport (1970

From Trailer Tajm

The 1970s, was a crazy and very entertaining even with how gloomy and depressing a decade that it was with the bad economy, Vietnam War, high crime rate and everything else. But one of few great things about that decade was the entertainment, especially movies and TV. 

Terrorism was on the mind of millions of Americans in the 1970s, as well as what could happen if something went wrong with an airplane when it was in air and thousands of miles from a nearest airport. Soap operas were also very popular and common in the decade, as well as movies that combined several different genres and stories in one movie. 

Airport, isn’t a pure action movie, or action/thriller, or action/drama, or action/comedy, or soap opera. It was all of those things into one movie. With a great cast and a great director.

Airport, is essentially about what good decent intelligent people, who all have their own issues and problems outside of work, do when they’re all under extreme pressure: 

Like having a passenger on the plane who is so desperate, who is out-of-work and can’t hold onto a job, who needs money and believes there is nothing left he can do, but have himself killed so his wife can collect his life insurance. Van Heflin, plays a man named Guerro (apparently he wasn't born with a first name) who manages to get a bomb on the plane. 

The General Manager (played by Burt Lancaster) of the airport, is no longer in love with his wife and as a result is now a workaholic who doesn’t want to go home at night, because he’s happier working all the time. 

Jacqueline Bisset, plays a head stewardess who is having an affair with a married pilot and is now pregnant with his baby. Dean Martin, plays the father of the head stewardess’s baby and his married and having an affair with that stewardess.

You have all of these decent intelligent people who are all very good at their jobs, but are all under enormous pressure and are all now dealing with an airplane that has a bomb on board by a man who is suicidal and wants to set the bomb off and the bomb does go off. So you have all of these people who are already under enormous pressure now having to deal with a potential airplane disaster in horrible Upper Midwest weather in the winter, leaving from Chicago. And now also have to deal with the possibility of hundreds of people dying in a horrible plane crash. 

This is a very entertaining and very funny movie. Perhaps not so believable with all the side soap operas in it. But even great soap operas tend not to be very believable. And it is very entertaining and pretty funny movie with very funny people in it and a an all-star cast.

The National Interest: Colin Dueck: 'Donald Trump, American Nationalist'

Source:The National Interest - The Donald J. Trump. Thank God there's only one. Well, only one sr. Donald J. Trump.

Source:The New Democrat 

"Donald Trump’s real niche, carved out in his own strange way, is simply American nationalism. And this is a powerful force among Republicans. 

In the Republican presidential race, while Donald Trump’s star has faded a little, he continues to lead nationally in most polls. To be sure, he is not going to be president. Trump is more of a circus barker than a plausible commander-in-chief. But his continued polling success should indicate something about his appeal that observers from both parties would best understand. And partly, believe it or not, this has to do with U.S. foreign policy." 

From The National Interest 

"The Republican presidential candidate discussed Carson's rising poll numbers live on "Good Morning America."

Source:ABC News- interviewing The Donald J. Trump.

From ABC News

When you look at Donald Trump, you have to know that he's a businessman and a salesman, as well as the biggest narcissist perhaps in the history of the world. Who does these little things like running for president simply to bring attention himself. Who has multiple positions on perhaps every single major political issue going back thirty years since he first got involved in American politics from the outside. 

You shouldn't take anything The Donald says with a grain of salt,  years supply of salt. He goes where he believes the popular support is. He really should be running for both Narcissist and Faddist of the United States and run both offices at the same time. (He could afford to do it) Because who would beat him, or even challenge him. He's lucky politicians and candidates aren't required to take truth serum before they say anything, because he wouldn't be able to run for anything, other than maybe his own positions.

The Donald's latest venture and real reality show, Who Wants Donald Trump For President, is just an attempt to speak to so-called Middle-America Americans, Richard Nixon's Silent Majority. People who feel left behind from the New America. Anglo-Saxon Protestants primarily and to show them that he's with them. Even though he's nothing like them as far as where he's from, where he lives, the type of lifestyle he lives, the fact that he's not very religious at all. 

Maybe The Donald will get a new book, a documentary, perhaps an actual reality show out of this so-called presidential campaign. But he won't get the presidency, because the current group of Americans that he's pandering to are not enough for him to win the presidency. A Republican can't kiss off Latinos and women and hope to have any shot at winning the White House. So this is not about him being president.

Prager U: Greg Gutfeld- 'Left But Really Right'

Source:Prager U- Right is wrong, at least in Greg Gutfeld's case.

Source:The Daily Review 

“Successful liberals live by conservative values. It’s true. The liberal musician, the liberal chef, the liberal writer–all swear by things conservatives love, like competition, earned reward, and, yes, profit and the bottom line. Greg Gutfeld, bestselling author of, “How To Be Right: The Art of Being Persuasively Correct”, explains.” 

From Prager U

I don’t have a nice way of putting this other to say that Greg Gutfeld has an interesting and even good sense of humor. And is entitled to his liberal First Amendment rights like all other Americans.

All of these collectivist socialist values that comes from Europe, that he was talking about, are exactly that. Collectivist socialist values. Illiberal in most cases, because Liberals believe in liberty, which is where the word comes from and Socialists believe in the collective and seeing to it that you have a big enough government to see to it that no one has to go without.

To suggest that people who are successful regardless of political ideology, live by conservative values, would be like saying anyone who is against racism, believes in free speech and expression even as it relates to pornography and offensive speech , things that the liberal ACLU defends in court everyday, must be Liberals.

And if you believe that gays should be treated equally under law, you must be a Liberal. Right? Am I at least in the ballpark on this one? If this is case then most Americans are Liberals, because we tend to believe in these things and oppose discrimination based on race, ethnicity, gender, religion and even sexuality. If same-sex marriage was on a national ballot, it would probably win 60-40 now. Does that mean 3-5 Americans are liberal? I could argue that we are. But same-sex marriage is just an example of that.

You don’t have to be a Conservative, or even live by conservative values to be successful in America. If you believe in personal freedom constitutional rights, individual rights, civil liberties, equal justice under law, values that tend to unite Americans, are you a Liberal? No, because these are simply Americans values that tend to bring Americans together. Instead of trying to divide a country of three-hundred-twenty-million people between Right and Left.

And doing it in a way that suggests Liberals are simply about collectivism and just another way of saying Marxist. And people who believe in productivity, hard work, education, responsibility, fiscal responsibility, etc, aren’t conservative necessarily who live by the conservative ideology. They’re just good productive Americans who in many cases also believe personal freedom, including privacy, equal justice and rights under law, a very liberal freedom of speech, etc.

If you’re going to accuse people of being liberal and followers of liberalism, which Liberals tend to take as complement, by the way and not as an insult, so I don’t know what Greg Gutfeld is getting out of here other than maybe some laughs (perhaps at himself and some new followers people who already agree with him, at least have the decency to know what the hell you’re talking about. Instead of going off bogus (to be kind) liberal stereotypes from the 1950s and 1960s. Join the rest of the country in the 21st Century where many Americans now embrace so-called liberal values, that I’ve already laid out, as well as Greg Gutfeld’s so-called conservative values.

If the Right had to talk about actual Liberals and not just people who call themselves Liberals , because they don’t have the balls to be called Socialists, or are called Liberals in by the mainstream media, or hyper-partisan rightists (such as Greg Gutfeld) the Right would lose all the time if they had to debate Liberals and liberalism for what we really are. Because Americans now tend to embrace these so-called liberal values.

Keppler Speakers: 'Senator Bob Dole Shares Great Political Wit'

Source:Keppler Speakers- former U.S. Senate Republican Leader Robert J. Dole (Republican, Kansas)

Source:The Daily Review

“Since leaving public elective office, former Presidential candidate and Senator Bob Dole continues to take an active leadership role in a wide range of public policy and charitable causes. Recent projects include serving as Chairman of the National World War II Memorial, which was completed and dedicated in 2004; serving as Chairman of the International Commission on Missing Persons, and co-chairing, with Former President Bill Clinton, a foundation to assist the spouses and children of the victims of the 9/11 terrorist attack; and serving as President of the Federal City Council. He also takes an active role in supporting the work of the Robert J. Dole Institute of Politics at his alma mater, Kansas University. As a renowned political commentator, a frequent guest on late night talk shows, star of two Super Bowl commercials and best selling author, Bob Dole is part of the American landscape. Senator Dole’s best-selling World War II memoir, One Soldier’s Story, chronicles his harrowing experience on and off the battlefield and the lessons learned through his struggle to survive. One Soldier’s Story is a tribute to those who defended liberty in its darkest hour and his gift to future generations, a destined-to-be classic about overcoming adversity and making the most out of life. Book Bob Dole at Speakers.com.” 

From Speakers 

Bob Dole, follows the oldest rule in the book, that he perhaps wrote himself, or had his good friend Strom Thurmond right for him: “Never take yourself too seriously.” The best rule for a politician, or any special interest servant, I mean public servant.

There’s so much nonsense (to be charitable) that goes on in Washington. Most people judge their finances in the thousands. Companies, in the thousands and millions, state and local government’s in the millions and to a certain extent hundreds of millions.

The U.S. Government in Washington millions of dollars to someone in Congress, is like a slam dunk to Lebron James: no big deal, something that he does several times in each game.

The U.S. Government, deal in billions, hundreds of billions and even trillions everyday. There’s so much money for them to manage and the fact that Congress, anyway represents the people who send them there and are only as good as them, there’s no way they can manage all of it themselves.

I think politicians have to laugh at themselves, otherwise they would go crazy and end up back at the nut house they escaped from to run for Congress and get reelected in the first place.

You’re always in the public eye even when you’re making your back room deals and voting on things you don’t want anyone especially your constituents to know about, because leaks get out. And people who work for you no longer feel they can hide what their boss is doing.

A public servant, is truly that at least in the sense that they work in the public, even if they work for their lobbyists. And in today’s internet age there’s only so much that they can hide from the public. So when they do crooked and stupid things, it gets out and they get reelected anyway, because their constituents are blind and didn’t bother to pay attention to what their senator, or representative was doing, or perhaps were drunk when they went into the voting booth. And voted for the wrong person by accident.

I believe what Bob Dole is talking about here is not only all the politicians in America that have had a great wit, but also making fun of a lot of things that he saw while he was in Congress. All the late night sessions because senators didn’t want to vote on things that their constituents would find out about. So they would vote when they thought the whole country was asleep. And even if Alaska and Hawaii found out about it, the thinking there was that they were too far away to do anything about it.

There’s so much nonsense (to be charitable) that goes on in Washington, Congress and the U.S. Government as a whole. You almost have to laugh at it, or deal with a horrible case of depression. And perhaps take up alcoholism to get through it. 

June-Marie Liddy: Folding Denim Jeans in Jeans in Boots

Source:June-Marie Liddy- skinny jeans in boots.

Source:The New Democrat

"June-Marie Liddy Folding Denim Jeans in Boots." Originally from June-Marie Liddy, but her video has been deleted.

June-Marie Liddy and I follow each other on Google+. I’ve followed her on YouTube for a guess a year or so. We haven’t met in person yet but, I’m pretty familiar with her online. And she does these videos about household chores and what she does around the house. And does them in tight denim jeans in boots and looks great in them as she’s doing this work. And more than willing to express herself physically as she’s doing this work. And gives guys a lot of rides (if you are familiar with the phrase) and a pleasure to check  out.

You can be sexy and substantive at the same time. You don't have to look like a nerd who eats TV dinners at home while reading a book every Friday night by yourself, or with another nerd you're involved with. While working at the library, or some laboratory everyday during the week.

Or look like a hooker who asks children for help in spelling the simplest basic words. You can have real substance and style at the same time, JM Liddy proves that. 

Senator Rand Paul: Senator Paul Speaks Out Against Budget Agreement: 10/29/15

Source:U.S. Senator Rand Paul (Republican, Kentucky)

Source:The New Democrat

I actually agree with a lot of what Senator Paul said here. But he gets a couple of things wrong here. The new spending in the Bipartisan Budget Act that is for defense and domestic programs is paid for by adjusting payments in Disability Insurance. As far as the Guns and Butter, that is what happens when you have a divided government where you have one party that always wants to increase defense spending and cut domestic spending, even infrastructure, which is generally a good pathway to reelection and the other party always looking to cut defense and increase domestic spending. So maybe we should look at the voters who send these people to Congress instead of the Congresspeople who just represent the people who send them there.

We do have a national debt of around twenty-trillion-dollars and I would love to bring that down and you can only do that through stronger economic growth, higher employment, with raising wages and deficit reduction. As long as you have a deficit, the debt will always go up. Which is how you get a national debt through annual deficits that are always adding to the debt. And again, divided government with a military oriented national security party that believes the best interest of corporations are always the best interest of the country. And a party that is more interested in domestic and economic spending, that tends to believe that the best interest of labor unions is always the best interest of the country.

So unless you have people from both parties who say, “we need to cut the deficit and I’m willing to give some of my priorities in a smart intelligent way, but I’m not going to hurt them, if you do the same thing with your priorities”, we’re always going to have guns and butter. Republicans, will get more military spending. Democrats, get more domestic spending like in the areas of infrastructure, education, medical research. And at best you’ll get a bipartisan agreement to fund and not borrow the money to pay for each parties priorities, but you won’t have a real agreement to deal with the long-term debt and budget deficit. That is how Congress works especially when the margins are fairly close both in the House and Senate and the President is from the other party that is not leading Congress. And this is also how you avoid government shutdowns and defaulting on the national debt. Which would have been the worst possible outcome.

University of California Television: An Evening with Christopher Buckley (2009)

Source:University of California Television- talking to Christopher Buckley.

Source:The Daily Review

"Political satirist (”Thank You For Smoking”) Christopher Buckley brings down the house in this raucous interview with host Dean Nelson as part of the 2009 Writer’s Symposium by the Sea, sponsored by Point Loma Nazarene University... 

From the University of California Television

I like Chris Buckley’s line saying that it is unfair for satirists, because they are now in competition with USA Today. Applying that a lot of jokes come true, or as I would put it, get elected. We now have a Congress that represents America. Not exactly the best of America, I hope now anyway. Or maybe I’ll join Alec Baldwin the next time he threatens, or is generous enough to leave America. 

USA Today is supposed to be in the business of news and report serious issues. Satirists, are in the business to make fun of what’s going on and life in general. The problem for satirists is that USA Today and other news organizations now report on a lot of things that look like comedy. Like the government shutting down, because the House of Representatives can’t get the President to repeal his own signature legislation.

Sarah Palin, who I actually have a lot of respect for as a satirist, comedian and a beautiful woman, (even if someone who has just graduated from high school is more qualified to be either President, or Vice President of the United States) is the perfect example of satire, or a real-life comedy story. 

In Supreme Courtship, Chris Buckley, writes about a fictional character from Texas, a very attractive female judge who loves firearms and the Southwestern Texas lifestyle. Sarah Palin, who other than being from Alaska instead of Texas, has a lot in common with the fictional Texas judge. A very attractive woman with a keen sense of humor, from rural Alaska, who loves the country lifestyle and is a big fan of guns, who has a great personality. But who is more qualified to be a fictional TV character than Vice President of the United States. And yet she’s nominated for Vice President by the candidate who comes within a few large states of winning the presidency.

As I’ve blogged before, you can’t follow Washington politics and that is national politics and I’m sure Washington city politics as well, without a sense of humor. Unless you have a lot of money that you don’t know what to do with and decide to spend all that money on shrinks and vacations at mental institutions as a patient. Because you’re suffering from a severe case of depression. Because there’s so much nonsense (to be nice, bullshit to be accurate) that happens here that we all pay for.

U.S. Senators, who rather be president to the point that they their main job becomes running for president, instead of serving their people in Congress that the taxpayers have to pay for. 

A taxpayer-funded Defense Department that is so big that it can’t be audited. One f the funniest true stories of all-time. 

Taxpayer Congressional investigations that purely designed to hurt the leading presidential candidate from the other party. 

The largest entitlement programs in the world that are going broke if they’re not fixed. That no one in Congress has the balls to actually fixed, because that might mean that they have to go home and find a real job, that they’re a lot less qualified for.

But again the problem with satirists and people who write satiric books for a living about current affairs, is that it becomes harder to find new stories to write about even if you think you have something that is really funny. Because chances are that story is actually true, or something very similar to that has already happened. Tobacco companies have said under oath that tobacco is not addictive. Which was the story in Chris Buckley’s Thank You For Smoking.

We actually do have a Congress that makes con man, used car salesman, personal injury attorney’s, gold diggers, look popular. As well as the nerd in class whose hand is always up to not only answer every question, but answers the questions that the teacher puts to other students and then wonders why they never have any money for lunch, or are always getting kicked in the butt. Because their lunch money is always stolen and they’re wearing a kick men sign on their butt.

The thing about Washington and American government is that jokes are not just funny, but they get elected and a lot funny made for Hollywood stories actually come true. You would go nuts and became Michelle Bachmann’s roommate at a mental institution if you couldn’t laugh about it. But that is democracy for you. 

As the great political satirist George Carlin said, “politicians are a reflection of the people.” They’re not God, or aliens from another planet, or even robots. (Even if they look and act like them for their lobbyists) And they represent the best and worst of us.