Friday, March 31, 2017

History: The Year is 1974

I've uploaded year 1974 to the TSP Wiki...

http://tspwiki.com/index.php?title=1974

As always, Alex Shrugged's opinions are his own. Other people's work are their own. I include them here for the sake of completeness and to provide a second method of access to the material for the TSP history segment.

* Release of Blazing Saddles and Young Frankenstein -- Contributed by Andy "CandyGram4Mongo"

* The Heir to the Hearst Fortune has been Kidnapped! Sort Of -- Contributed by Alex Shrugged

* World War 2 is still raging -- Contributed by Southpaw Ben

* CONTACT! Sending a Message to the Stars without Waiting for a Reply -- Contributed by Alex Shrugged

* Notable Births -- See below.

* This Year in Film -- See below.

* This Year in Music -- See below.

* In Other News -- See below.


=======================

Release of Blazing Saddles and Young Frankenstein

Contributed by Andy "CandyGram4Mongo"
Blazing Saddles and Young Frankenstein are 2 Mel Brooks movies that defined an era in comedy for many people born in the late 1950s and early 1960s. At a time when standup acts such as Richard Pryor and Lenny Bruce had started trending towards shock humor, these 2 Mel Brooks movies were an ode to clean humor that incorporated brash political incorrectness, subtle innuendo, physical humor reminiscent of Vaudeville, and perfectly timed delivery by masters of their trade.
Classic quotes from Blazing Saddles would be pilloried in today's Politically Correct world, but still bring a smile to many faces:
  • "The sheriff's a ni.. I said the sheriff's a ni.."
  • "One wrong move and the ni55er gets it"
  • "It's twue... it's twue!!!"
  • "Somebody's going to have to go back for a sh^tload of dimes"
  • "Wheya de whyt wimmen at?"
Similarly, Young Frankenstein was the most amazing black-and-white comedy for decades, particularly for anyone who had seen all of the Bela Lugosi movies.
At a point where the US was just starting to reconcile the chaos and animosity following the Vietnam War and its associated counter-culture movement, these 2 movies came out that had laughs (and jeers) for everyone, lampooning 2 genres of films that nearly all Americans could relate to - Westerns and Horror.
Furthermore, these 2 movies and Monty Python and the Holy Grail have become the most-quoted films among the now gray-haired community of Information Technology professionals.
For preppers whose plan includes "Comfort Food", board games, and other tools to help everyone maintain an even keel when SHTF, these 2 titles may be worth having available to break the tension.

The Heir to the Hearst Fortune has been Kidnapped! Sort Of

Contributed by Alex Shrugged
As a child, Patty Hearst, would play amongst the statues at Hearst Castle. Today, the family fortune is smaller, but it is still a hefty amount. Patty is now 19 years old, living with her fiancé in a 4-plex in Berkeley. There is a knock at the door, shots are fired and the heir to the Hearst fortune is kidnapped. The kidnappers identify themselves as the Symbionese Liberation Army (SLA). They want peace and harmony NOW, or they'll blow your head off. Yep. They are Maoists. The SLA demands that the Hearst family donate a weeks worth of groceries to every poor person in California. They can't do it, although they do establish a food bank. Months later the SLA robs a bank. The bank video shows Patty Hearst. She has renamed herself Tania, and she is holding an M1 carbine. Her picture becomes the icon for the 1970s. Eventually, she is taken into custody and put on trial. Her defense is that she was brainwashed. This is not a proper legal defense, so she is sentenced to 7 years in prison. Yet another rich girl finds that the world can be an unforgiving place no matter how much money her daddy makes. [1]
My Take by Alex Shrugged
President Jimmy Carter commuted Patty Hearst's sentence to time served. At that point it was 22 months. The idea of Stockholm syndrome was not fully appreciated at the time. Later, President Clinton pardoned her. Is there really such a thing as brainwashing? Not really, but it is possible to bully people through physical stress, threats and indoctrination. I don't know if this really happened to Patty, but it seems reasonable to think so. Patty has returned to her life. She married a policeman, one of the security detail that guarded her while she was out on bond. He has since passed away. Now she writes, takes small parts in movies and raises dogs. Life goes on.


World War 2 is still raging

Contributed by Southpaw Ben
In 1974, the last two known Japanese holdouts from World War 2 surrendered. The first was Second Lieutenant Hiroo Onoda, an intelligence officer. Given orders in 1945 that under no circumstances was he to surrender or to take his own life. Originally living with 3 other soldiers, they saw a leaflet announcing that the war was over in October 1945, and another one with written orders from their general to surrender as the war was over, however, they examined the leaflet and decided that it was not a genuine order, so they continued to holdout and wage minor guerrilla actions. In 1949, one of the group left and surrendered, causing the other three to be even more careful to avoid detection. In 1954, one of the remaining three soldiers was killed in a shootout with police, and Onoda's final compatriot was killed by police in 1972. In 1974, Norio Suzuki went looking for Onoda, and told him how the war had ended, but Onoda still refused to surrender until he was given orders by a superior officer. Returning with a picture of himself and Onoda, Suzuki had the Japanese government locate Onoda's commanding officer Major Yoshimi Taniguchi, who was flown to the Philippines, where he ordered Onoda to surrender. Upon his surrender, he turned over his sword, his Arisaka type 99, which was still functional, 500 rounds of ammunition, several hand grenades, and a dagger that his mother gave him to kill himself with if he was captured. The second holdout to surrender in 1974 was also the last holdout from World War 2. Private Teruo Nakamura was originally with a band of other holdouts, he parted ways with them in 1956, when he went off and constructed a small hut with a 20 meter by 30 meter field fenced in around it. He was discovered accidentally by a pilot, and was finally arrested on December 27, and was sent to a hospital in Jakarta.[2][3]
My Take by Southpaw Ben
When one looks at Japanese soldiers from World War 2, one can't help but to admire their determination and obedience, even if you disagree with their motives behind fighting or Japan's reason for participating in World War 2 in general. It's also interesting to compare the receptions of Onoda and Nakamura returning from holding out. Onoda, a ethnically​ Japanese officer, was greeted with much fanfare, while Nakamura, who was merely a private and born in Tiawan, had a much less enthusiastic reception.

CONTACT! Sending a Message to the Stars without Waiting for a Reply

Contributed by Alex Shrugged
At 1,000 feet across, the Arecibo Observatory is the largest radio telescope in the world. It was originally built to detect incoming ballistic missiles and to conduct experiments in radio astronomy. The dish just sits there reflecting radio energy across a range while the radar detector hanging above it is moved around to intercept the desired part of that range. It's an innovative design, so the designer is granted a patent along with another fellow named William J. Casey. (Yes. He will become the director of the CIA in another 7 years. Imagine that.) But on the scientific front, "El Radar" needs more frequency range. Thus, the wire mesh has been replaced by metal plates. Nobel Prizes are in someone's future, but to test the new equipment and to commemorate the event in pomp and ceremony, a radio message is sent to the stars. Which stars? Just pick one! Since a massive cluster of stars in the constellation Hercules is in position, they decide to send the message there, 25,000 light years away. This is not a serious attempt to communicate, but make a note in your diary. In 50,000 years, start listening for a reply. [4] [5] [6] [7] [8]
My Take by Alex Shrugged
What kind of knucklehead would send a message that could not possibly get a reply until 50,000 years later? That knucklehead would be Carl Sagan, the author of "Contact". I'm not going to beat up on Carl too much. The boss was watching and he had to do something, but sending messages to the stars in general suffer from several limitations. 1. It takes a freakishly long time to get a reply (if any).
2. No one may be listening at the time the message reaches them, or if they are listening, they may be long gone by the time we receive their reply.
The mostly likely scenario is that they NEVER reply because they NEVER existed in the first place. We are the first. Scientists resist that scenario and rightly so. Science has been misled by the assumption that we are the center of the universe, the apex of God's creation and stuff like that. I'm a religious guy, so I'm happy to concede that God created us. If He created someone before us, they are sure taking their sweet time letting us know about it. In fact, if they exist at all it should have already happened. Since it hasn't happened, my bet is that we are the first, and we need to act that way instead of waiting around for the aliens to show up to make things better... or to eat us. I'm just saying. [9] [10]

Notable Births

  • Chris Kyle (died 2013, age 38 shot by a man with PTSD): He remains the most lethal sniper in American military history. [11] [12]
  • Kari Byron: Mythbusters team member. [11]
  • Kate Moss: Supermodel. She looks like she is on heroin. "Heroin chic" was in style. [11] [13] [14]
  • In Movies....: Christian Bale (Batman Begins), Joaquin Phoenix (Her), Amy Adams (The Arrival) and Leonardo DiCaprio. [11]
  • In Comedy....: Jimmy Fallon and Seth Green (the voice of "Chris" on Family Guy). [11] [15]

This Year in Film

  • Death Wish: Charles Bronson plays a man seeking revenge against hoodlums for the death of his wife. [16]
  • In Comedy...: Blazing Saddles, Young Frankenstein and The Longest Yard. [16]
  • Disaster films...: Airport 1975, The Towering Inferno and Earthquake. (The theater shakes.--alexshrugged) [16]

This Year in TV

  • Happy Days: with Ron Howard. [17]
  • Little House on the Prairie: with Michael Landon. [17]
  • Nova: The science show on PBS. [17]
  • The Rockford Files: Tongue-in-cheek detective show with James Garner. [17]

This Year in Music

  • Money: Pink Floyd. (They seem a little negative on capitalism.--alexshrugged) [18] [19]
  • Kung Fu Fighting: Carl Douglas. Heard in the movie Kung Fu Panda. [20] [19]
  • Waterloo: ABBA. And in the musical Mamma Mia. [21] [22] [19]
  • Smokin' in the Boys Room: Brownsville Station. "Now, teacher, don't you fill me up with your rules..." [23] [19]
  • Hooked on a Feeling: Blue Swede. And in the movie, Guardians of the Galaxy'. "Hey. The Galaxy Won't Save Itself". [24] [25] [19]

This Year in Video Games

  • The first video game magazine is published: Play Meter focuses on arcade games. [26]
  • Auto racing games are introduced: Gran Trak 10 is the 1st. Speed Race features collision detection. That is, when you run into something the game realizes it. (There were no hardware graphics chips helping you out, guys. It's math and it's hard to do.--alexshrugged (an early video game programmer)) [26]
  • NASA creates the first "first-person-shooter" game: Maze War. (With the Apollo program in mothballs, NASA has a lot of free time on its hands.--alexshrugged). [26]

In Other News

  • Show me the money!: Congress visits the gold in Fort Knox. As of this writing it will also be the last time. [27] [28] [29]
  • President Nixon resigns: Serious calls for impeachment after the Watergate coverup forces him out of office. (Looking at what Bill Clinton did, Nixon must be spinning in his grave.--alexshrugged) [30]
  • President Gerald Ford pardons Nixon: (I thought he was innocent. What does an innocent guy need with a pardon? This does not go over well with the voting public. Hello Jimmy Carter.--alexshrugged) [30]

This Year in Wikipedia

Year 1974, Wikipedia.

Thursday, March 30, 2017

History: The Year is 1973

I've uploaded year 1973 to the TSP Wiki...

http://tspwiki.com/index.php?title=1973

As always, Alex Shrugged's opinions are his own. Other people's work are their own. I include them here for the sake of completeness and to provide a second method of access to the material for the TSP history segment.


* The First OPEC Oil Crisis -- Contributed by Alex Shrugged

* Tax Evasion Costs Agnew the Presidency -- Contributed by Southpaw Ben

* The Sexual Suicide of America -- Contributed by Alex Shrugged

* Notable Births -- See below.

* This Year in Film -- See below.

* This Year in Music -- See below.

* This Year in Video Games -- See below.

* In Other News -- See below.






==================================

The First OPEC Oil Crisis

Contributed by Alex Shrugged
In reaction to the Six Day War with Israel, the Arab oil producing countries used oil as an economic tool to punish countries that supported Israel. It didn't work, but since that time the US dollar has been devalued twice. President Nixon has abandoned the last vestiges of the gold standard. The US dollar is now a free-floating fiat currency. Wage and price freezes have allowed food prices to rise while wages stay the same. Industry in the UK is forced to a three-day work week to conserve power during a coal strike. 1.6 million workers strike in protest of a crippled economy. They want food! (Soylet Green is people! Oh, wait. That's a movie. Never mind.) The London Stock Exchange loses 74% of its value. Then in October, the Yom Kippur War is fought and the Arabs lose big time. Once again, the Arab countries embargo their oil, but this time they are supported by OPEC which includes non-Arab countries. The price of oil quadruples. Shipping costs skyrocket. Consumers have no choice but to cut back on travel, cancel vacations, delay purchases. Many are forced to trade in their Ford Mustang for a Pinto or even... (gasp!)... A TOYOTA! (Oh how the mighty have fallen.) I pull down my copy of Famine-1975! It's really going to happen. Isn't it? [1] [2] [3]
My Take by Alex Shrugged
Nope. Close, though. You might be asking, "But Alex! Don't we have our own oil wells?" Yes we do, but it takes time get production going again, and even after the embargo was lifted, oil prices remained high. The proposed Trans-Alaska Oil pipeline suddenly received overwhelming support. It had been blocked by energetic environmentalists. (FYI, the caribou LOVE the pipeline because it keeps them warm!) OPEC got richer in the short-term, but they lost market share in the long term as people found alternatives to OPEC oil. Higher energy prices make alternative energy economically viable. That is why you see Saudi Arabia pumping as must oil as it can today. Keeping OPEC oil prices low shuts down alternatives like shale oil and hydrogen-fueled cars. So the OPEC oil keeps on flowing, keeping fuel prices low for you and me. Will we ever learn? Maybe. OPEC has recently struck a deal that allows oil shale to remain a viable alternative. That means higher oil prices though. The perfect balance of price vs security is an elusive goal. [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10]

Tax Evasion Costs Agnew the Presidency

Contributed by Southpaw Ben
This year Spiro Agnew, Vice President of the United States, became the second Vice President to resign from office, and was the only one to do so due to criminal charges. After being investigated by the United States Attorney for the District of Maryland for a variety of charges, including extortion, tax evasion and bribery, he was charged with accepting over $100,000 in bribes while a Baltimore County Executive, the Governor of Maryland, and the Vice President. On the 10th of October, Agnew plead no contest to a single charge, $29,500 of unreported income in 1967, on the condition that he would resign from his post of Vice President of the United States. After various later civil lawsuits, he paid the state of Maryland almost $270,000 over the bribery charges. When one looks at the fall out later this year from Watergate, we see that Agnew's poor decisions cost him the presidency. [11]
My Take by Southpaw Ben
As with Watergate itself, we see how a small decision, or, in this case, series of decisions, can alter the path of world history. Had Agnew paid his taxes and taken his bribes in a legal fashion, we would have had President Agnew, 38th president of the US. Instead, we wind up getting the House Minority lead Gerald Ford in this role.

The Sexual Suicide of America

Contributed by Alex Shrugged
In contradiction to the trend of free love and the joys of sex, George F. Gilder publishes his jaw-dropping book, "Sexual Suicide". In it, he details what society is doing to destroy the human male's role in society. He answers anthropologist Margaret Mead's question on society, "What do we do with the men?" Apparently the answer is, "Not a darn thing." He predicts that society will be forced to follow the rhythms of the sexually promiscuous male, rather than the more sensible, future-looking female who is looking out for society as a whole. In other words, we are cutting our own throats, and going for the short-term gain. Whatever feels good. But no worries. That is all in the future. It will all work out in the end. Won't it? [12] [13]
My Take by Alex Shrugged
Golly... my computer went haywire, and it just came back, so you are getting a first draft right off the top of my head. Gilder's book is amazing, but it is definitely male-oriented. If you are a member of the no-sissies-he-man club, then this is the book for you. It is still in print, re-released and updated under the lack-luster title, "Men and Marriage". (Oh, come on, George!) If you are of the female persuasion, you will probably like a different book that makes the same point, only more congenially. It is entitled, "Why Men Are the Way They Are" by Dr. Warren Farrell. He is a former member of N.O.W., but it seems not to have corrupted his brain. Very sensible book, if a little wimpy for my tastes. I am the "he-man" type.

Notable Births

  • Monica Lewinsky: White House intern and love interest of President Bill Clinton. (Note: Alex Shrugged has a tenuous connection with the Lewinsky family.) [14] [15]
  • -- Supermodels... Tyra Banks and Heidi Klum. [14]
  • -- In Comedy... Dave Chappelle, Seth MacFarlane (Family Guy), Seth Meyers (SNL), and Kristen Wiig (SNL). [14]
  • -- In TV... Tori Spelling (90210). [14]
  • -- In Sports... Terrell Owens. [14]

This Year in Film

  • The Sting: Con men seek revenge for the murder of their old friend. Ragtime music becomes popular again. [16]
  • The Exorcist: Linda Blair plays a girl possessed by the devil. The music "Tubular Bells" becomes popular. [16]
  • American Graffiti: Young people coming of age. These young actors are future big names: Harrison Ford, Richard Dryfus, Ron Howard and more. [16]
  • -- And the controversial..." Jesus Christ Superstar, Soylent Green and Westworld. [16]

This Year in TV

  • The Six Million Dollar Man: Bionic implants give a former astronaut superhuman strength. [17]
  • Kojak: Actor Telly Savalas becomes the icon for American shoot-em-up TV. [17]
  • Schoolhouse Rock!: A series of educational, animated shorts. (Effective.--alexshrugged) [17]

This Year in Music

  • Angie: The Rolling Stones. [18]
  • Tie a Yellow Ribbon 'round the Old Oak Tree: Tony Orlando & Dawn. [18]
  • Crocodile Rock: Elton John. [18]
  • The OPEC Oil Crisis is depressing record sales: Oil products are used to make plastic records. [18]

This Year in Video Games

  • Pong clones dominate: Jukebox and arcade game companies scramble to take advantage of the video game craze. [19]

In Other News

  • Federal Express delivers: Fred Smith's professor gave him a "C" on his college paper proposing an overnight delivery service by air. (This is why you don't allow professors to run businesses.--alexshrugged) [20]
  • The first cell phone call is made - Motorola's Martin Cooper calls his competitor, Joel Engle, at Bell Labs, "Joel... I'm calling you from a cell phone... a REAL cell phone!" It weighs 2.5 pounds and the battery lasts 20 minutes. It's a start. [21] [22][23]
  • Rowe vs. Wade makes abortion legal! Actually, it was already legal. This ruling forces all states to allow abortion on demand. Years of fighting begin. [24]

This Year in Wikipedia

Year 1973, Wikipedia.

Wednesday, March 29, 2017

History: The Year is 1972

I've uploaded year 1972 to the TSP Wiki...

http://tspwiki.com/index.php?title=1972

As always, Alex Shrugged's opinions are his own. Other people's work are their own. I include them here for the sake of completeness and to provide a second method of access to the material for the TSP history segment.




Note: Southpaw Ben's segment is forthcoming. Check the wiki URL above.

* The World-Wide Danger of Global Cooling -- Contributed by Alex Shrugged

* The Munich Massacre and the Wrath of God -- Contributed by Alex Shrugged

* Notable Births -- See below.

* This Year in Film -- See below.

* This Year in Music -- See below.

* This Year in Videogames -- See below.

* In Other News -- See below.




============================

The World-Wide Danger of Global Cooling

Contributed by Alex Shrugged
As everyone knows, we are headed toward another ice age. No one is panicking, with the possible exception of the news media and science fiction writers, but the trend is clear. If "The Bomb" doesn't get us (meaning an atomic bomb landing on our heads) then the follow-on nuclear winter certainly will. It's only a matter of time. The English meteorologist, Hubert Lamb, has opened a small research facility to look into the problem. It is an exaggeration to call it an institute right now, but in time Dr. Lamb's theories will set the world on fire... uh... I mean, send an icy chill through the scientific community and the general public. In two years predictions of an arctic expansion reaching New York will become science fact. Global Cooling is real. Believe it. [1] [2] [3]
"The longer the planners delay, the more difficult will they find it to cope with climatic change once the results become grim reality."
-- Peter Gwynne writing for Newsweek, April 28, 1975.
My Take by Alex Shrugged
Newsweek was late to the party. I remember as far back as 1966 worrying about a coming ice age. In fact, I wrote a short story about it which is now mercifully missing. By the time Newsweek and Science News got the story, Global Cooling was a reality and global famine was inevitable. (Stock up on canned goods now!) Peter Gwynne eventually retracted his article on Global Cooling, but it took him 31 FRICKIN' YEARS to do it. Thanks, Pete. Thanks a lot. Dr. Lamb was soon boasting an honorary doctorate for his work in climate science. Once he realized that the cooling trend had turned into a warming trend he switched to Global Warming and then Global Climate Change. He passed away almost 10 years ago, but his work lives on... like Frankenstein's Monster. [4]

The Munich Massacre and the Wrath of God

Contributed by Alex Shrugged
In short, 11 members of the Israeli Olympic team are taken hostage by 8 Palestinian terrorists in Munich and then murdered. The Palestinians are part of the Black September movement, an offshoot of the PLO. They have been hijacking planes, blowing things up and causing general mayhem to draw world attention to the plight of the Palestinians. (Say nothing, Alex. Keep going.) After negotiations break down the terrorists demand a plane. The West Germans fly the terrorists and the hostages to an air field. The plan is to ambush them, but the German police are not prepared to follow through. At this point everything goes straight to Gehenom. (It's like Hell.) Grenades are thrown into the helicopters, killing the hostages. Five Palestinians are killed by police and 3 are captured. A month later, the West Germans release the 3 captured Palestinians after Black September hijacks a Lufthansa flight. These terrorists cannot be stopped by normal means, so the Israeli Mossad will stop them by other means. Operation "Wrath of God" is on. [5] [6] [7] [8]
My Take by Alex Shrugged
Did Israeli assassins really hunt down the Black September terrorists? It was a secret operation, but it is reasonable to assume that such an operation was carried out. Thereafter, Palestinians connected with the Black September movement dropped dead in various violent and unaccountable ways. About 12 years ago, Steven Spielberg launched a movie entitled "Munich". It is a fictionalized account of the massacre and the Israeli assassination team hunting for the terrorists. It is unaccountably sympathetic to the terrorists. Granted, it must be stressful knowing that a bullet with your name on it might hit you between the eyes at any moment, but the Israeli athletes were shot for being Israelis. The Palestinian terrorists were shot for what they did. Payment was due. I am OK with that. [9] [10]

Notable Births

  • Nikki Haley: Governor of South Carolina and U.S. Ambassador to the UN. (Sorry, Nikki, but someone has to do it.--alexshrugged) [11] [12]
  • Scott Peterson: Currently on death row for the murder of his pregnant wife, Laci. [11]
  • Wil Wheaton: Wesley Crusher on Star Trek: The Next Generation. [11]
  • -- In Movies... Ben Affleck, Cameron Diaz, and Gwyneth Paltrow. [11]
  • -- In Music... Brad Paisley, and Eminem. [11]
  • -- In Sports... Terrell Davis, Drew Bledsoe, and Shaquille O'Neal. [11]

This Year in Film

  • The Godfather: A mobster pulls strings while politicians pull his strings. [13]
  • The Poseidon Adventure: A disillusioned clergyman leads survivors through an overturned ocean liner. [13]
  • Behind the Green Door: A pornographic, feature-length film and 3rd highest-grossing film this year. [13]
  • Fritz the Cat: An X-rated animated film and 9th highest-grossing film this year. [13]
NOTE: Pornography breaks into the Top Ten in terms of gross sales. It is a striking change in societal norms.--alexshrugged

This Year in TV

  • M*A*S*H: The Korean War is played for laughs. (After Hogan's Heroes, anything is possible.--alexshrugged) [14]
  • Kung Fu: A martial arts expert travels the wild west beating up cowboys. [14]
  • The Waltons: John-Boy reminisces about growing up on the family farm. [14]
  • Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve begins. It will continue after he passes away. [14]
  • The Home Box Office channel launches: It will become "HBO" three years later. [14]

This Year in Music

  • I Am Woman (Hear me Roar): Helen Reddy. [15] [16]
  • American Pie: Don McLean. "I saw Satan laughing with delight the day the music died." [15] [17]
  • Day by Day: from the off Broadway musical, Godspell. "Oh, dear Lord, three things I pray: to see Thee more clearly, love Thee more dearly, follow Thee more nearly, day by day." [15] [18]
  • The US extends federal copyright to recordings: Before this time, individual states handled the issue... or they didn't handle it at all. [15]

This Year in Video Games

  • The Magnavox Odyssey game console is released: Essentially, it is a tennis game with three dots and a line! [19] [20]
  • Atari's Pong is a hit at the arcades: It is arguably a clone of the Odyssey game above. Atari is sued and loses, but in the long run, Magnavox is toast. [19]

In Other News

  • The first scientific calculator appears: It's the HP-35. It sells for $395 which is over $2200 in 2015 dollars. [21]
  • George Carlin is arrested for obscenity: Remember the "Seven Words You Can Never Say On Television"? Well, you can't say them on stage either. [21] [22]
  • Jane Fonda is photographed sitting on a North Vietnamese anti-aircraft gun: She apologizes later... much later. [21]
  • Nixon goes to China: I guess the ping pong tournament worked. Mao looks dead in the photos, but his demise is 4 years away. (I can't wait!--alexshrugged) [21]

This Year in Wikipedia

Year 1972, Wikipedia.

Tuesday, March 28, 2017

History: The Year is 1971

I've uploaded year 1971 to the TSP Wiki...

http://tspwiki.com/index.php?title=1971

As always, Alex Shrugged's opinions are his own. Other people's work are their own. I include them here for the sake of completeness and to provide a second method of access to the material for the TSP history segment.


* The Sylmar California Earthquake -- Contributed by Alex Shrugged

* The Media Reveals that the Government was in the Wrong! -- Contributed by Southpaw Ben

* The D.B. Cooper Skyjacking -- Contributed by Alex Shrugged

* Notable Births -- See below.

* This Year in Film -- See below.

* This Year in Music -- See below.

* In Other News -- See below.



========================================

The Sylmar California Earthquake

I awaken in the gloom of the early morning. Everything is moving. The bookcase is teetering, and I wonder if it is going to fall. I am half asleep, but I know I'm in the middle of an earthquake. No big deal. We get a lot of these in Southern California. It will stop in a second. OK. Maybe 5 seconds. Wait. IT'S NOT STOPPING! The phones are dead, but my father is a telephone lineman. He doesn't need a call to know that they need him at work right-the-heck now. It was a 6.7 magnitude earthquake with the epicenter in Sylmar. I am studying modern building practices, and I've seen a lot of new construction out there, but many of those "modern" buildings have collapsed or are damaged beyond repair. Bridge foundations are crushed. A wing of the Veterans Hospital has collapsed. People are dead. We haven't heard from our father for 3 days. He can't call. Even where the phone lines are intact, so many people are trying to call simultaneously that they cannot get a dial tone. We are millions together, and all alone. [1] [2]
My Take by Alex Shrugged
Lessons learned in the aftermath. 1. Most people die as they run outside. They get hit by glass or a falling brick. Get under a table or stand inside a doorway.
2. Attach bookcases to the wall... loosely. I use a chain with a removable loop.
3. Buildings need to flex. Sill-plate bolts must be loose so that the building can slide around on its foundation.
4. Big picture windows can cause a wall to fold down like a scissor jack. Make sure you leave enough room for cross-bracing in that wall.
5. Avoid making non-emergency local phone calls. Out-of-state calls work better. Arrange for an out-of-state family member or friend to relay family status calls like, "I'm OK, Aunt Sally. Tell Mom when she calls."
6. Building codes are there for a reason. The reason is usually, "We don't EVER want this to happen to us again."

The Media Reveals that the Government was in the Wrong!

Contributed by Southpaw Ben It's February 1971. You're a reporter . The aide for a leader of a task force studying the Vietnam war approaches you with as study called "United States – Vietnam Relations, 1945–1967: A Study Prepared by the Department of Defense". Upon examination, you realize this could be a journalistic gold mine, but would damage the image of the government, and possibly threaten your career. What would you do?

The aide was Daniel Ellsberg, aide to Assistant Secretary of Defense McNaughton. You're Neil Sheehan of the New York Times. The study brought to you will become known as the Pentagon Papers, and will be one of the final nails in the coffin for American public's support of the Vietnam war. The contents of the paper reveal that the Department of Defense knew the war was unwinnable, and also showed just how much previous administrations had actually known about the war, including the fact that JFK knew of the plans to overthrow Ngo Dinh Diem well prior to the November 1963 coup, and that Johnson, despite promising not to expand the Vietnam war, had plans to do just that well before the 1964 election. It also revealed the expansion of the war into Cambodia and Laos, which had never been reported upon by the media. The Nixon administration attempted to have the New York Times cease publication, and the issue eventually went to the Supreme Court, who ruled that publication was legal and could continue. Ellsburgwas charged with Espionage, but the case was dismissed when it was discovered his psychiatrist was burglarized by a secret White House team to discredit him. We will here more about this same team next year. [3][4]
My Take by Southpaw Ben
With the mainstream media as in bed with the government as much as it is today, it's hard to imagine anything like this being published, unless it was against very specific individuals already being demonized by the media, *Cough* Trump *cough*, and definitely wouldn't be published if it would have damaged the reputations of the four previous administrations as the Pentagon Papers did. Too bad, as today there seems to be so many more leaks of important information trying to happen, but has to go through "less credible" outlets, as the "proper channels" refuse to touch these important issues that could damage the governments image. As if it could really look any worse.

The D.B. Cooper Skyjacking

Contributed by Alex Shrugged
"I have a bomb here and I would like you to sit by me."
-- "D. B. Cooper" as he hijacks a 727. [5]
Is "D. B. Cooper" his real name? Hardly. That is not even the name he gives to the airlines. (It is a media fabrication, but no one knows who started it.) He calls himself Dan Cooper and he threatens to blow up the plane unless Northwest Airlines comes up with $200,000 in $20 bills and 4 parachutes. The plane lands for refueling and takes off again with the money, the parachutes and Dan Cooper. A thunderstorm rages outside as Cooper jumps out of the 727 at 10,000 feet over a forest wilderness. It will be a miracle if he survives the jump without being hit by lightening, or pass out from the altitude or hit a tree. As federal marshals comb the area they find a few dollar bills, but no D. B. Cooper. He must have been eaten by a bear... or he has just pulled off the perfect crime. He will never be caught. [6]
My Take by Alex Shrugged
But we have a fairly good idea who he was. Kenny Christiansen, now deceased, was a former Northwest Airlines employee making $512 A MONTH. He was also part of several strikes at Northwest Airlines that seriously cut into any savings he had. But after the hijacking he suddenly had a lot of money to throw around. He was also a former paratrooper, but these facts escaped the notice of the FBI. On his deathbed he whispered to his brother, Lyle, that he had a confession to make. In fact, Kenny had $186,000 in his savings account and over $20,000 in his checking. Did Kenny really do it? Probably, but we'll never know for sure. Kenny is dead, and the FBI maintains that D. B. Cooper died after jumping out of a plane at 10,000 feet.

Notable Births

  • ISIS Leader (or ISIL or whatever). Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi (pronounced AH-boo BAH-car awl Bog-DAWD-dee) [7] [8]
  • Marc Andreessen: Co-creator of Mosaic, one of the first web browsers. [7] [9]
  • -- In Politics... Marco Rubio and Bobby Jindal. [7] [10]
  • -- Women in Movies... Denise Richards and Winona Ryder. [7] [15] [16]
  • -- In Comedy... Christina Applegate and Amy Poehler. [7] [17] [18]
  • -- In Music... Kid Rock, Snoop Dogg, and Tupac Shakur (died 1996, age 25, killed in a drive-by shooting, resurrected as a hologram 2012) [7] [19] [20] [21] [22]

This Year in Film

  • Fiddler on the Roof: A Jewish dairyman sings his way through the trials of life. (A Jewish "Must See".--alexshrugged) [26]
  • Dirty Harry: Clint Eastwood. "You've got to ask yourself one question: 'Do I feel lucky?' Well, do ya, punk?" [26]
  • A Clockwork Orange: A rapist and murderer is brainwashed to make him "good". (Socialism at its worst.--alexshrugged) [26]
  • Billy Jack: A Green-Beret veteran defends hippies against corrupt police. (This is not as outlandish as it seems. The KKK was killing communists at this time. Hippies and Jews were perceived as communists.--alexshrugged) [26]

This Year in TV

  • Columbo: Peter Falk plays a bumbling homicide detective. [27]
  • The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour: Cher builds a music career. Sonny Bono builds a political career. [27]
  • All in the Family: Archie Bunker offers controversial commentary on issues of the day. (It is funny because at some level all comedy must be true.--alexshrugged) [27]
  • Cigarette commercials are now forbidden: This is part of the growing anti-smoking movement. [27] [28]

This Year in Music

  • Maggie May: Rod Stewart. [29]
  • Imagine (No Religion/No Possessions): John Lennon comments, "The Socialism I speak about... [is] nice... British Socialism." [29] [30]
  • Brown Sugar: The Rolling Stones. NOTE: The band is escaping "nice... British Socialism" because it is taxing them to death. [29] [31]

In Other News

  • Forced school bussing begins: School children must take "affirmative action" to racially integrate. IT'S THE LAW! (White-flight ensues.--alexshrugged) [32] [33] [34]
  • The Weather Underground blows up a men's room in the US Capitol building: (We are talking about Bernardine Dohrn and her husband, Bill Ayers, the rumored ghost writer for Barack Obama's autobiography.--alexshrugged) [32] [35]
  • Project Gutenberg digitizes the Declaration of Independence: Thus begins the digital archive of public domain books. (The Internet does not exist, yet, so access is limited to the students on campus.--alexshrugged) [32]

This Year in Wikipedia

Year 1971, Wikipedia.

Monday, March 27, 2017

History: The Year is 1970

I've uploaded year 1970 to the TSP Wiki...

http://tspwiki.com/index.php?title=1970

As always, Alex Shrugged's opinions are his own. Other people's work are their own. I include them here for the sake of completeness and to provide a second method of access to the material for the TSP history segment.


* Pawn to King 4 and the Soul of a New Machine -- Contributed by Alex Shrugged

* We're from the government, and we've come to help -- Contributed by Southpaw Ben

* The Sky Marshals Are at Your Service -- Contributed by Alex Shrugged

* Notable Births -- See below.

* This Year in Film -- See below.

* This Year in Music -- See below.

* In Other News -- See below.




=============================

Pawn to King 4 and the Soul of a New Machine

This year the UNIX clock begins its count. There are no microprocessors. A personal computer must be custom built using Transistor-Transistor-Logic (TTL). Mainframes, such as the IBM 360, have a whopping 4 K of memory. NASA uses people (mostly women with slide rules) as human "computers". Computers are complex and ornery beasts that often break down. One time a computer programmer "debugged" a problem by pulling out a dead moth that had shorted out a logic circuit. Xerox has established a new research center that will develop Ethernet, laser printers, the Graphical User Interface (GUI) and the mouse. Carnegie-Mellon has poured its research dollars into a speech recognition machine. It is a military-sponsored project, so when the General asks for a demonstration, they set up a chessboard and a microphone to catch the General's voice. The machine will challenge the General to a game of chess, but as he clears his throat, the computer interprets the General gurgling as a chess move. The computer responds, "Pawn to King 4". This is going to take some time. [1] [2] [3] [4] [5]
My Take by Alex Shrugged
Building computers in the 1970s was not easy. Even the early microprocessors required a lot of support circuitry. Memory was bulky, slow and ran hot. People could imagine pocket computers. After all, they saw them on Star Trek... but those were blinking lights, sound effects, and the voice of Mrs. Roddenberry responding "Data not found. Cannot comply". Real computers didn't work that way, but those of us growing up with Star Trek WANTED them to work that way. We poured our souls into a new machine, and brought it to life. Designing and building computers is a special kind of crazy. My decent into insanity began after I read the book, "The Soul of a New Machine" by Tracy Kidder. I have not been the same since. [6] [7] [8]

We're from the government, and we've come to help

Contributed by Southpaw Ben
On December 2nd, the EPA was formed in response to the many ecologically damaging practices of many in the US, which had been publicized and criticized in the growing environmental movement of the 1960s. Many in industry thought the environmental protection movement was merely a fad, which caused William Ruckelshaus, the first administrator to the EPA, to establish the fact that the EPA had the power to effectively combat pollution and punish those found guilty of pollution. This year, the groundwork for the creation of OSHA is laid, with the signing of the Occupational Safety and Health Act by President Nixon on December 29th. The same environmental movement that created the EPA also pushed for OSHA, which would allow the Federal Government to impose and enforce regulations on workplace safety.[9][10][11]
My Take by Southpaw Ben
During the summer of 2015, my youth group was working with the Mennonite Disaster Service in Crisfield Maryland helping to rebuild some houses that had been damaged by Hurricane Sandy in 2012. Being from a largely farming community, most of us were familiar with the proper use of power tools, and the first day had been making great progress, until and administrator realized that, since most of us were under 18, we weren't allowed to use power tools, because it would be an OSHA violation. Needless to say, it slowed down our work considerably, as according to OSHA, we couldn't safely use the power tools, because we were too young. As for the EPA, I read "Folks, this Ain't Normal" by Joel Salatin this weekend, and agree with him that we could simply use trespassing laws and sue and prosecute those actually responsible for pollution, rather than using the EPA, which doesn't end up punishing the large companies that are the cause of pollution, and instead uses it's overreaching powers to further the various political agendas of whichever moron is in power.

The Sky Marshals Are at Your Service

Contributed by Alex Shrugged
"All we can do is hang our heads and admit that what we did was wrong even though it felt right at the time. We were idealistic students who wanted to change the world and challenge a USA determined to wage war."
-- Emiko Kaneko, co-conspirator with the Yodo-go skyjackers, on trial 32 years later. [12]
These days communist sympathizers want to hijack a plane and fly to Cuba, but the Yogo-do hijackers cannot fly a 727 from Japan to Cuba without multiple fuel-stops, so they head for North Korea where they are granted asylum. (32 years later North Korea will return them to Japan in exchange for economic aid.) Usually, passengers are safe as long as they remain calm, but this is Black September. Passengers be damned. Palestinian PFLP terrorists have skyjacked 4 international flights. Three flights land in Jordon, and a 4th lands in Egypt. The terrorists take over the airfield in Jordon as a direct challenge to the King. Eventually, the passengers are released in exchange for Palestinian prisoners. The planes are blown up, and a civil war erupts between the Palestinians and the Jordanian kingdom. The "Black September" movement will lead to further violence throughout the Middle East. [13] [14] [15] [16] [17] [18]
My Take by Alex Shrugged
FYI, an attempt to skyjack an El Al flight was foiled when Israeli sky marshals dutifully shot the terrorists. President Nixon stepped up the US Sky Marshal program in reaction. Now... I'm going to say something that will cause many people to roll their eyes... but have you ever noticed that whenever society is going to hell in a hand-basket that the communists are often supplying the hand-baskets? In this case, The KGB supplied weapons to the Palestinian (PFLP) skyjackers. The Soviet Union funded terrorist groups around the world in order to challenge the USA. Chairman Mao of communist China did the same. Communists are not under the bed, but these days they are often paying for the buses, the platform and the microphones so that protestors can disrupt the capitalist state. This makes communism look like a reasonable alternative. I could say something about lipstick on pigs, but I'll leave it there.[19] [20]

Notable Births

  • Melania Trump: First Lady of the United States, and 2nd foreign-born First Lady. The first was Louisa, wife of John Quincy Adams. [21] [22]
  • Paul Ryan: Speaker of the House (R) and VP candidate. [21]
  • Ted Cruz: US Senator (R) and Presidential hopeful. [21]
  • Gabrielle Giffords: Congresswoman (D) was shot by an assassin and lived. The assassin got life-plus-140 years. [21] [23]
  • Nicole de Boer: Ezri Dax on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. She played the "Trill" symbiont. [21]
  • -- In Comedy: Tina Fey and Sarah Silverman. [21]
  • -- In Movies: Matt Damon, Heather Graham, and Rachel Weisz (Evelyn in The Mummy). [21]

This Year in Film

  • Love Story: "Love means never having to say you're sorry." (I love my wife, so why am I saying "I'm sorry" every frickin' day?--alexshrugged) [24] [25]
  • Airport: A guy, down on his luck, blows up the plane, so his wife can collect the insurance money. (Very exciting.--alexshrugged) [24]
  • Patton Beginning with an amazing pep talk from General Patton. [24] [26]

This Year in TV

  • The Partridge Family: Shirley Jones launches her TV family on a musical career. David Cassidy is her real son. [29] [30]
  • NFL Monday Night Football: Howard Cosell pokes fun at Don Meredith while Keith Jackson does the play by play. [29]

This Year in Music

  • Bridge over Troubled Water: Simon & Garfunkel. [31]
  • Whole Lotta Love: Led Zeppelin. [31]
  • Let It Be: The Beatles. NOTE: Paul McCartney leaves the Beatles, and puts out his own album. [31]

In Other News

  • Apollo 13: "Houston, we have a problem.": An exploding oxygen tank strands moon-bound astronauts in space. Against all odds they return to Earth. [14] [32] [33]
  • Earth Day is celebrated... NOAA is created... PBS is here.: ... and on and on... [14] [34] [35] [36] [37]
  • Vietnam War protests turn violent: Kent State students are shot. And the Weather Underground bombs the University of Wisconsin at Madison, killing a physics researcher. [38] [39] [40] [41] [42]
  • Finally, the Ford Pinto and Chevy Vega are introduced: As if we didn't have enough problems. [14]

This Year in Wikipedia

Year 1970, Wikipedia.

Friday, March 17, 2017

History: The Year is 1969

I've uploaded year 1969 to the TSP Wiki...

http://tspwiki.com/index.php?title=1969

and for the sake of redundancy's sake...

http://alexshrugged.blogspot.com/

As always, Alex Shrugged's opinions are his own. Other people's work are their own. I include them here for the sake of completeness and to provide a second method of access to the material for the TSP history segment.


* The My Lai Massacre and the Trial of Lt. William Calley -- Contributed by Alex Shrugged

* The fire spreads to Czechoslovakia -- Contributed by Southpaw Ben

* The river is on fire. Again. -- Contributed by Southpaw Ben

* Bad Vibrations and "Occupy Wall Street" -- Contributed by Alex Shrugged

* Notable Births -- See below.

* This Year in Film -- See below.

* This Year in Music -- See below.

* In Other News -- See below.





================================

The My Lai Massacre and the Trial of Lt. William Calley

Contributed by Alex Shrugged
26 soldiers are charged with the murder of over 100 unarmed Vietnamese women, children, babies and the elderly. This crime was committed last year by American forces led by Lt. William Calley. Leaflets had been dropped the previous day warning of the impending doom. The assumption (though no one said it) was that civilians would clear the area leaving behind only enemy forces. Company C's job was to sweep through, kill the enemy and confiscate any weapons. What actually happened was rape, murder and mayhem. Company C was fresh out of training camp. This was their first major engagement, but the military can't write this off. Too many people know about it, so Lt. Calley is put on trial for murder. The question is, is it standard procedure to put a bullet in a kid? Maybe. Previous to this engagement attacks had been coming from the rear, meaning that enemy forces were dressing as civilians, and trying to shoot troopers in the back. That famous photo of the General shooting a Vietnamese spy in the head is a classic example. Enemy combatants, out of uniform and found on the battlefield are considered spies. They are not protected by the Geneva convention. Children have been attacking the troops as well, so a soldier cannot know who is friend or foe. It is not an excuse. It is an explanation, but rape is not explainable at all. Lt. Calley claims that he did nothing wrong. Nevertheless, he is sentenced to life in prison. He is the only one convicted out of the 26 charged. [1] [2]
"I am very sorry....If you are asking why I did not stand up to them when I was given the orders, I will have to say that I was a 2nd lieutenant getting orders from my commander and I followed them—foolishly, I guess."
-- William Calley, August 19, 2009, making his first public apology for My Lai. [3]
My Take by Alex Shrugged
A federal judge reviewed Cally's case and concluded that he was denied some significant rights to a fair trail. (I agree that he was denied those rights although I'm not sure they would have done him any good.) Calley was released, but not exonerated. My sense is that he was selected by the military as the scapegoat. In the Bible, the "scapegoat" carries away the sins of the community, and dies in the process. But when a reporter named Seymour Hersh got wind of the story, the jig was up. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch carried the story with pictures of dead children. There was no room left for a cover-up. [4] [5]

The fire spreads to Czechoslovakia

Contributed by Southpaw Ben
This year, of the 6 people who committed political self-immolation, 4 of them were protesting the Communist invasion and rule of Czechoslovakia. Jan Palach protested the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia, and it's crushing of the Prague Spring, which crushed the spirit of the Czechs, by setting himself on fire on January 16th, and finally dies of his wounds on the 19th. This act ignited a wave of people self-immolating in protest of the USSR's treatment of it's satellite states, most notably Czechoslovakia, though Sándor Bauer's act was about the USSR. Next were Jan Zajíc, on February 25th, and Evžen Plocek on April 2nd, both taking place in Czechoslovakia. The final person to light themselves on fire to protest the treatment of the Czechs took place in the USSR. On April 13th, Eliyahu Rips, a Jewish mathematician, lit his gas soaked clothing on fire, however bystanders were able to intervene, ad he only suffered from burns to his hands and neck. He was arrested and held in custody for 2 years until his story spread among Western mathematicians, who were able to pressure the USSR for his release in 1971, and to allow him to emigrate to Israel in 1972.
My Take by Southpaw Ben
In the third major series of self-immolation taking place in the 60's, we see a third possible result of this act, the suppression of it's occurrence by the media and state. While the deaths and acts of these 4 men were moderately well known in the areas of their acts, the USSR was able to prevent coverage by any major media outlets, and prevented almost all of them from having any type of public funeral or commemoration of their lives and deaths. This sharply contrasts with the Buddhist monk's self-immolation which brought attention to the plight of Vietnamese Buddhists, or the relative indifference of both the media and history of the Vietnam protesters in America. This also shows how different forms of protests work better in different environments and systems of governments. What could be a wildly successful tactic in 1960's USSR could not gain much sympathy from the public or government in 2006 America.


The river is on fire. Again.

Contributed by Southpaw Ben
The 1960's was a time of increasing awareness of environmental issues, which set the stage for the creation of the EPA. This year, for at least the 13th time since 1868, the Cuyahoga River in Ohio caught on fire. What makes this fire different from the previous dozen is it's coverage by Time magazine. While not an immediate flash point for the environmental movement and the EPA's creation, the Cuyahoga River fire eventually caused an avalanche of clean water regulations, including the Clean Water Act, Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement, and, as noted, the creation of the federal Environmental Protection Agency, as well as the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency. All this attention on the river helped to get many point source pollution sources to be shut down or regulated by the OEPA, helping to clean the water. The Cuyahoga River became a American Heritage River in 1998. It was also featured in Randy Newman's song "Burn On", R.E.M.'s "Cuyahoga," and Adam Again's "River on Fire".
My Take by Southpaw Ben
Interestingly, the 1969 fire was relatively mild when compared to the 1952 conflagration, which had caused in excess of $1 Million of damage, as compared to $500,000 of the 1969 fire. Also of note was the fact that the 1969 fire was such a non-event that the local media didn't cover it or take any pictures of it. Consequently, all the pictures printed in the Times article were from the much larger 1952 fire, instead of the 1969 one being reported on, which also happened to fit with the story the Times was selling better than pictures of the actual event would have. While created to help protect the environment, the EPA has become a way for the government to shut down businesses which it can't legislate out of existence, due to the push back it would receive as a result.

Bad Vibrations and "Occupy Wall Street"

Contributed by Alex Shrugged
Charles Manson has been passing himself off as a guru. In this hippie generation of free love, and LSD it is easy to be misled by hucksters, hangers-on, and mass murderers. Dennis Wilson is co-founder of the Beach Boys... and he ACTUALLY SURFS! As he makes his way to his Malibu home, he picks up two girls hitchhiking. They are members of the Manson Family, a hippie commune, sharing food, love and spiritual direction with their "guru", Charlie. Wilson regards Charlie as "a little dumb," but with good musical ideas. They work together on a song, and Wilson supports the Family with food, clothing and drugs... especially penicillin. (They have a chronic problem with gonorrhea.) After $100,000 is spent, the Manson Family moves on to greener pastures such as record producer Terry Melcher, and Al Lewis who will play "Grandpa" on the popular TV series "The Munsters". Lewis has Manson babysit his children. But Manson has a new philosophy in life. He calls it "Eat the rich". One night he shows up at what he expects to be Terry Melcher's mansion, but Terry no longer lives there. Actress Sharon Tate is the current resident. Too bad for her, and her friends including Abigail Folger, the heiress to the coffee fortune. Sharon pleads for the life of her baby. She is 8 months pregnant. Her last words are "Mother... mother...." The Manson Family has dinner over her corpse. "Eat the rich. Eat the rich." The next night they do it all again at the LaBianca household. Charles Manson and his "Family" will be sentenced to death... which will be commuted to life-in-prison after California outlaws the death penalty. [6] [7] [8]
My Take by Alex Shrugged
OK, this is all really terrible, but what does it have to do with Occupy Wall Street? I was chilled to the bone when I saw Occupy Wall Street protesters holding up three fingers and shouting "Feed the Poor! Eat the rich!" The movement even has a theme song entitled, "Eat the Rich" by Johnny Drinkwater. ([Click here].) It is easy to be misled. Question everything.... including me. [9] [10]

Notable Births

  • Linus Torvalds: Developer of the Linux kernel, a UNIX-like operating system. (Get it? U-nix / LIN-ix.--alexshrugged) [11]
  • Ron Ford (died 2016, age 46 of cancer): Mayor of Toronto. Caught smoking crack. (He always seemed drunk, but funny.--alexshrugged) [11]
  • Andrew Breitbart (died 2012 , age 43 of heart failure): Founder of Breitbart.com... a liberal turned realist. He never, EVER backed down. And funny as all get out. (FYI, he did not like Donald Trump.--alexshrugged) [11]
  • And in Entertainment...
  • -- Connor Trinneer: "Trip" Tucker on Star Trek: Enterprise. [11]
  • -- Tyler Perry: Actor, comedian, writer, and director. Criticized for "giving black audiences what they want". (Uh...good.--alexshrugged) [11]
  • -- In Music: Ice Cube, Jay Z, and Jennifer Lopez. [11]
  • -- In Movies: Matthew McConaughey, Jennifer Aniston, and Cate Blanchett (Lady Galadriel in Lord of the Rings). [11]
  • -- In Comedy: Jack Black, and Zach Galifianakis (Hosts the talk show: "Between Two Ferns") [11]

This Year in Film

FYI, I can't mention all of the significant films for this year, but they fall into the following categories:
  • -- Anti-hero: Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, Midnight Cowboy and Easy Rider. [12]
  • -- Breaking the social norms: Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice, and Cactus Flower (Hey! Goldie Hawn can act!).
  • -- Biting satire: Alice's Restaurant. (The song is really funny.--alexshrugged) [13]
  • -- Musicals...: Hello Dolly and Paint Your Wagon. [12]
  • -- Comedy...: Support Your Local Sheriff! and A Boy Named Charlie Brown. [12]

This Year in TV

  • Hee Haw: Country variety show replaces the controversial Smothers Brothers. [14]
  • Scooby-Doo: Teenagers solve mysteries with their talking dog. [14]
  • Monty Python's Flying Circus: The BBC will never be the same. [14]

This Year in Music

Too many significant songs to list, but here are a few favorites from Alex Shrugged.
  • In the Year 2525 (If man is still alive...): Zager & Evans. [15]
  • Aquarius / Let the Sunshine In: The 5th Dimension. [15]
  • Love Child: Diana Ross & the Supremes. [15]
  • Pinball Wizard: The Who from their rock opera, Tommy. [15]

In Other News

  • The AIDS Virus arrives in the USA: They don't know it yet, but a young man dies of a mysterious disease later identified as AIDS. [16]
  • ARPANET sends out its first message: The Internet Age as begun. [17] [18]
  • Ted Kennedy drives off a bridge with Mary Jo Kopechne: Mary Jo is trapped in an air pocket under the car. Ted walks away. (F-YOU Ted. F-YOU, your dog and your worthless life. Oh. Did I say that out loud?--alexshrugged) [17] [19]
  • And then there is the Moon Landing, Woodstock... and everything that is more important than all of the above. (I apologize to historians everywhere. I didn't forget, but those events have been well covered, and I ran out of time.--alexshrugged) [17] [20]

This Year in Wikipedia

Year 1969, Wikipedia.