Grandpa Meets Granddaughter

My family prefers not to appear on the blog and I mention them, usually, only in passing to give regular readers some context for my comings and goings.  But there are some events that demand more than the cryptic message I posted when she was born last week.  Meeting and greeting my new granddaughter is one of them.

There is no shortage of new children arriving into the world every day.  According to the BabyCenter a little over 4 million are born each year in the US alone, which comes to about 11,000 each day.  Vizwiz tells me that her birthday ranks 337 out of the 366 possible birthdays.  Christmas ranks 365 and February 29, leap year day, ranks 366. 

Yet each birth is an amazing event.  Connecting us to our pasts and our futures and stirring mystical bonds and giddy expectations that the world can be a better place.  What an honor and treat to hold this precious child. 

"Hipsters" (Stilyagi) DVD Coming Out With English Subtitles

The 2009 Anchorage International Film Festival winning feature - Hipsters - is coming out in DVD with English subtitles!  This was a wonderful giant Russian musical a about hipsters in Moscow in the 1950's.  In the drab Soviet Union, these kids with their wild suits and big hair and rock and roll music really stand out.  This is a fun and lively musical with big sweeping musical scenes and great music.

Chris left me a comment on one of the older posts about the movie when it was at the festival.

Hipsters is finally being released on DVD with english subs! Hipsters DVD release with english subtitles from amazon

[UPDATE November 16, 2014:  Unfortunately the link goes to a Go Daddy ad for the url.  Not sure where this movie is available with English subtitles today.  Anyone know?  Leave a comment and link.]

Do share as I know alot of people have been waiting for this one!

It appears that Chris works for the company that did the subtitles - Subtitlemeplease - where the link takes you.


This is a feel good movie and the music will grow on you.  (I got to see it three times at the festival.)  It beat out some really strong competition that year.  Here's the subtitled preview:

The Unified Command Totally Unresponse To My Query

In a post Sunday, I went  went line-by-line through two Kulluk Unified Command Updates (#s 42 and 43) pointing out the ambiguities, the self-congratulations, the repetitions,  and general lack of forthcomingness.

But I held up posting it.  I decided I should at least submit some questions and give them a chance to answer.   I went to their page and filled out their comment/question form. (There's no phone number or email address on the Kulluk Unified Command page.)  After I got their response, I posted the previous post.

So, here's what I asked:

"Following up on Update #43.

You write:  "The damage discovered on the Kulluk is consistent with what is expected from a vessel of this type being on hard ground."

Can you tell me:
1.  What do you include in "vessel of this type"?  I assume off shore oil rigs.  Is that correct?
2.  How many vessels of this type have been 'on hard ground'?
3.  Can you give me the vessel names and dates?
4.  Specifically what damage "is expected from a vessel of this type being on hard ground"?
5.  You say the damage on the Kulluk is what is to be expected.  If you know that, then you must know what damage the Kulluk has.  Can you please detail that damage?

Thanks.

And here is the speedy answer back:

The following inquiry was submitted to Kulluk Tow Incident | Coast Guard,
Shell, Kodiak Borough, Alaska DEC, Noble on 01/19/13 08:49 (1117123):
From : Deb Sawyer
Date : 01/19/13 10:45

Thank you for contacting Unified Command. The information provided in the
most recent update includes all the details that have been released to
date. The report continues to be reviewed. Unified Command will not
comment on the damage assessment until the report is finalized. 

Deb Sawyer

 If you read my questions carefully, you'll see that four out of five of them have nothing to do with the results of the report or the damages of the Kulluk.  They are about past events about other incidents that have nothing to do with the Kulluk, except the previous update referenced them.


It's not just me thinking this.  Here are some other responses:

• Salvagers tight-lipped on recovery of Kulluk drilling rig that ran aground - Associated Press Headline at  The Oregonian  (Variations on this picked up at various others like The SeattlePI ,    The Olympian and the Albany, NY TimesUnion.)
• Unified Command Mum About Kulluk's Future   - Headline from KUCB Unalaska
• 'Unified Command' Tight-Lipped About Kulluk - Headline KMXT Kodiak
• After Kulluk Hull Damage Assessment, Shell Mum on Damage Extent – State of Alaska Could Care Less - Alaska blogger "Edward Teller" at Firedoglake 

But they aren't just mum about damage extent.  They are mum about everything.  At least at the news briefings there was a chance to ask questions to real people.  But the last one, to my knowledge, was January 5.  

Famous People Born 1913 Part III: Albert Camus To William Casey

The first post gives background on the year 1913, including a link to an interesting video with a panel talking about the cultural situation of 1913.  It was very much a time of change.  

The second post has video of the two that appear to still be alive (both opera singers), Risë Stevns and Licia Albanese.   It also has the list of all 44 that I chose in birth order.  So the 'oldest' born January 4, 1913, Rosa Parks, starts the list.

This is the third post - and I'll probably have two more -  with bios of the people where you can learn more about them.  Since these are so long, I'll divide them up into shorter posts.  And I still have bios to finish. 


The people in this post are listed by death date.  The first (and thus youngest) of the 2013 cohort to die - Albert Camus - comes first.  And reflecting culturally who had most access to power and fame in the 20th Century, most are white males. 


Albert Camus, 46 (1913 - 1960 ) Nobel Prize in Literature 1957

Image from Tigerloaf

was a representative of non-metropolitan French literature. His origin in Algeria and his experiences there in the thirties were dominating influences in his thought and work. Of semi-proletarian parents, early attached to intellectual circles of strongly revolutionary tendencies, with a deep interest in philosophy (only chance prevented him from pursuing a university career in that field), he came to France at the age of twenty-five. The man and the times met: Camus joined the resistance movement during the occupation and after the liberation was a columnist for the newspaper Combat. But his journalistic activities had been chiefly a response to the demands of the time; in 1947 Camus retired from political journalism and, besides writing his fiction and essays, was very active in the theatre as producer and playwright (e.g., Caligula, 1944). He also adapted plays by Calderon, Lope de Vega, Dino Buzzati, and Faulkner's Requiem for a Nun. His love for the theatre may be traced back to his membership in L'Equipe, an Algerian theatre group, whose "collective creation" Révolte dans les Asturies (1934) was banned for political reasons.

The essay Le Mythe de Sisyphe (The Myth of Sisyphus), 1942, expounds Camus's notion of the absurd and of its acceptance with "the total absence of hope, which has nothing to do with despair, a continual refusal, which must not be confused with renouncement - and a conscious dissatisfaction". Meursault, central character of L'Étranger (The Stranger), 1942, illustrates much of this essay: man as the nauseated victim of the absurd orthodoxy of habit, later - when the young killer faces execution - tempted by despair, hope, and salvation. Dr. Rieux of La Peste (The Plague), 1947, who tirelessly attends the plague-stricken citizens of Oran, enacts the revolt against a world of the absurd and of injustice, and confirms Camus's words: "We refuse to despair of mankind. Without having the unreasonable ambition to save men, we still want to serve them". Other well-known works of Camus are La Chute (The Fall), 1956, and L'Exil et le royaume (Exile and the Kingdom), 1957. His austere search for moral order found its aesthetic correlative in the classicism of his art. He was a stylist of great purity and intense concentration and rationality.

Alan Ladd, 50 (1913-1964)  Actor

Photo for sale at leadinglightsautographs

Alan Ladd was born on September 3, 1913, to the American-born Alan Ladd Sr., a freelance accountant who traveled frequently, and the petite Selina Rowley Ladd (stage name Ina Raleigh), who was born in County Durham, England, in 1888 and came to the United States in 1907. They married in Hot Springs in 1912, but it is not known how the couple met or came to settle in Arkansas.

In 1917, when young Ladd was four, he saw his father fall over and die from a heart attack. While there was a small amount of insurance money to tide them over, the poverty-stricken mother and son lived in a rundown apartment building in Hot Springs, while Ina, without family or close friends, tried to decide what to do. On July 3, 1918, four-year-old Alan found a box of matches to play with and burned down the shabby apartment building the Ladds lived in.

Without furniture or possessions, Ina took what little money she had and moved with Alan to Oklahoma City. Alan was a frail child, and when he entered school, he was the smallest in his grade and was subjected to relentless teasing about his tiny size. Ina remarried to a frequently unemployed house painter named Jim Beavers. Unable to find work to support the family in Oklahoma City, they decided to move to California in 1920. Ladd later said it was like John Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath, taking them four months to make the journey in a broken-down Model T. He also remembers constantly being hungry, as the family was too poor to buy food. Beavers was forced to sell his paint brushes to pay for the frequent car repairs. Reaching California, they moved from a transient camp in Pasadena to Hollywood, where Beavers found a short-lived job painting movie sets for a soon-to-be defunct studio. Ladd remembers the family subsisting on potato soup for weeks on end.  . .

Initially turned down as an actor by motion picture studios because of his light skin and blond hair (which was felt not to photograph well), as well as his short stature (at this time 5' 6"), he played small parts in local radio productions, working to improve his voice until he progressed to national presentations broadcast from Hollywood, such as “Lux Radio Theater.” Talent agent and former starlet Sue Carol heard him on the radio, liked what she heard, and offered to sign him to a contract. Ten years older than Ladd, she later said, “He came into my office wearing a long white trench coat. His blond hair was bleached by the sun. He looked like a young Greek god and he was unforgettable.” Through her efforts, he was cast in an uncredited role as a reporter in the 1941 movie Citizen Kane. His role as the hired killer Raven in the film This Gun for Hire (for which his hair was dyed black) won him instant fame in 1942. That same year, he divorced his wife Midge and married his agent Sue Carol a week later. They had two children, Alana (born 1943) and David (born 1947). . .

He starred in the movies Two Years Before the Mast, The Blue Dahlia, O.S.S. (all in 1946), and The Great Gatsby in 1949. His starring role in 1953’s Shane was said in The New York Times to be “one of the best performances ever given in a Western movie.” He received the Photoplay Gold Medal for the most popular performance of 1953 for Shane (along with Marilyn Monroe for Gentlemen Prefer Blondes). His handprints and footprints were added to Graumann’s Chinese Theatre in 1954. 

On November 2, 1962, he was found with a self-inflicted gunshot wound in his chest, which he said was accidental. On January 29, 1964, at age fifty, Alan Ladd was found dead at his Palm Springs home of an overdose of sedatives and alcohol.  .  . (From The Encyclopedia of Arkansas History and Culture)

Image from Findagrave

Delmore Schwartz, 52 (1913-1966 ) Writer

Delmore Schwartz was born December 8, 1913, in Brooklyn. The marriage of his parents Harry and Rose, both Roumanian immigrants, was doomed to fail. Sadly, this misfortune with relationships was also a theme in Schwartz's life. His alcoholism, frequent use of barbiturates and amphetamines, and battles with various mental diseases, proved adverse in his relationships with women. His first marriage to Gertrude Buckman lasted six years; his second, to the young novelist Elizabeth Pollett, ended after his ceaseless paranoid accusations of adultery led him to attack an art critic with whom he believed Elizabeth was having an affair.

Despite his turbulent and unsettling home life as a child, Schwartz was a gifted and intellectual young student. He enrolled early at Columbia University, and also studied at the University of Wisconsin, eventually receiving his bachelor's degree in 1935 in philosophy from New York University. In 1936 he won the Bowdoin Prize in the Humanities for his essay "Poetry as Imitation." In 1937 his short story "In Dreams Begin Responsibilities" (successfully written in one month during the summer of 1935 after he locked himself in his Greenwich Village apartment) was published in Partisan Review, a left-wing magazine of American politics and culture; the following year this short story would be published by New Directions with other poetry and prose in his first book-length work, also titled In Dreams Begin Responsibilities. It was praised by many, including T.S. Eliot, William Carlos Williams, Ezra Pound, Robert Lowell, and Vladimir Nabokov. . .

The last years of his life Schwartz was a solitary, disheveled figure in New York. He drank frequently at the White Horse Tavern, and spent his time sitting in parks and collecting bits of work, quotes, and translations in his journal. Finding himself penniless and virtually friendless, in the summer of 1966 Schwartz checked into the Times Squares hotel, perhaps to focus on his writing. Unfortunately by this time his body had been taxed by years of drug and alcohol abuse. He worked continuously until a heart attack on July 11 seized him in the lobby of the hotel.  [From Poets.com]

For a more literary view of Schwartz see The Poetry Foundation.

Image from Dr. Marco's

Vivien Leigh, 53  (1913 - 1967 ) Scarlett O'Hara

 Actress Vivien Leigh was born Vivian Mary Hartley in Darjeeling, India. From the ages of six to 15 she was educated in English convent schools, where she showed aptitude for the performing arts; then her education was polished off in European finishing schools. (According to Mia Farrow, 7-year-old Vivian told Farrow's mother Maureen O'Sullivan, who was a schoolmate, that she "was going to be famous.") At 18 she enrolled in the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London, and at 19 she married barrister Leigh Holman, whose name she used to create her stage name, Vivien Leigh. A year later, still studying acting, she had a daughter, Suzanne.
In the mid-1930s Vivien met and began a passionate pursuit of Laurence Olivier, who was then married to Jill Esmond. Leigh and Olivier soon began a very public affair, and after appearing together on both stage and screen, including Fire Over England, they each left their spouses. When Olivier signed to play Heathcliff in Wuthering Heights, which was being filmed in Hollywood, Vivien asked to be cast as Heathcliff's Cathy, but was turned down because she was an unknown in America at the time. It was then the ultimate irony that she won the role of Scarlett O'Hara in Gone With the Wind, which came out in the same year as Wuthering Heights and completely eclipsed the latter film at the Academy Awards for 1939. Vivien Leigh, the unknown, won Best Actress.

Leigh and Olivier were married at last in 1940. During the war years, Vivien worked mostly on stage in and around London. Speaking of this period, stepson Tarquin Olivier, said, "She was an insomniac always, and he had to sit up with her, and he was not an insomniac. She only needed about three or four hours a night. It was very hard." In 1944, while filming Caesar and Cleopatra, Leigh discovered she was pregnant, but a fall on the set caused her to miscarry. It was Tarquin's opinion that losing this baby "caused her manic depression to come forward" (Biography, 2000). Additionally, in 1945 she was diagnosed with tuberculosis.

Bipolar disorder was little understood at that time. Lithium was not yet in use, and the only treatment she received was shock therapy, which was not then administered with the same level of care as today. Tarquin Olivier saw burns on his stepmother's temples at times from her shock treatments. Her ill health, physical and mental, began to strain the Leigh-Olivier marriage. Leigh was drinking heavily at times, culminating in a breakdown during the filming of Elephant Walk (she was replaced by Elizabeth Taylor).

In spite of her illnesses, she continued to work in a handful of films and on stage, winning a second Oscar for her performance in A Streetcar Named Desire. Olivier finally divorced her in 1960 to marry actress Joan Plowright. Though Leigh lived for the rest of her life with a younger actor by the name of Jack Merivale, friends agree that Olivier was her great love. She died of tuberculosis in 1967. [From About.com Bi Polar]

Image from Hartford Courant

Vince Lombardi, 57 (June 6, 1913-September 3, 1970 )  Football Coach

One of the most successful coaches in football history, Vince Lombardi transformed the Green Bay Packers into a dominating force in the National Football League in the 1960s, winning five NFL titles and the first two Super Bowl crowns. Off the field, Lombardi became known for his coaching philosophy and motivational skills, demanding dedication and obedience from his team and promising championships in return.

Vincent Thomas Lombardi was born on June 11, 1913, in Brooklyn, New York, the eldest of five children. Raised Catholic, Lombardi studied for the priesthood for two years before transferring to St. Francis Preparatory High School, where he became a star fullback on the football team. Accepted at Fordham University in 1933, Lombardi spent his first year on the freshman team before being promoted to offensive guard on the varsity team. He graduated with a degree in business in 1937.

After college Lombardi worked for a finance company while taking night classes at Fordham's law school and playing semi-professional football with the Wilmington Clippers. In 1939 Lombardi took a teaching and coaching job at St. Cecilia High School in Englewood, New Jersey, where he taught Latin, algebra, physics and chemistry. He also coached the football, basketball and baseball teams. He married Marie Planitz in 1940.

Lombardi left St. Cecilia in 1947 to accept a coaching position at Fordham. Two years later he was hired to coach the varsity defensive line at the United States Military Academy. Under Earl Blaik, who was widely considered the best coach in the country at the time, Lombardi honed the leadership and coaching skills that would become a hallmark of his later coaching success.

Lombardi's professional football career began in 1954 when he became the offensive coordinator for the New York Giants. Working closely with defensive coordinator Tom Landry and head coach Jim Lee Howell, Lombardi helped to turn the Giants into a championship team in only three years. During Lombardi's five years with the team, the Giants did not have a losing season.

Tired of being an assistant coach, Lombardi accepted a five-year contract as general manager and head coach of the Green Bay Packers. The Packers had won only one game the previous season but Lombardi believed himself up to the challenge. He immediately began cementing his reputation as a demanding coach, creating punishing training regimens and expecting 100-percent dedication from his players. His unrelenting style paid off as Lombardi's Packers defeated the Giants for the National Football League championship on December 31, 1961. For the next eight years the Packers stood alone in the field, winning six divisional titles, five NFL championships, and the first two wins in Super Bowls I and II.

Lombardi retired as head coach in 1968, but retained his position as general manager. Bored without his coaching duties, though, Lombardi became head coach of the Washington Redskins in 1969. He led the Redskins to their first winning record in 14 years. In 1970 the NFL named him its "1960s Man of the Decade."

Diagnosed with intestinal cancer, Lombardi died on September 3, 1970. The following year Lombardi was inducted into the Professional Football Hall of Fame and the Super Bowl trophy was renamed in his honor. ESPN named Lombardi "Coach of the Century" in 2000.  [From Wisconsin History website.]

Image from Library Thing

William Inge, 60  (May 3, 1913 - June 10, 1973 ) Pulitzer Winning Playwright

William Inge’s Kansas boyhood is reflected in many of his works. Born in Independence on May 3, 1913, he was the second son of Luther Clay Inge and Maude Sarah Gibson-Inge and the youngest of five children. His boyhood home at 514 N. 4th Street in Independence still stands.  . . 

Independence, Kansas in the 1920’s was a wealthy white-collar town and the home of Alf Landon, Harry Sinclair, and Martin Johnson. Until the depression, Independence was said to have had more millionaires per capita than any other city in the country.

Inge’s fascination for the theatre began early. In the 1920’s Independence had many cultural events as top artists and shows stopped over for one night stands between performances in Kansas City, Missouri, and Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Although Inge was not from a well-to-do family, he did get to see many shows as a member of a local Boy Scout Troop. The troop met in the Civic Center, a ground floor meeting room of Memorial Hall, a large 2,000 seat theater where these shows were held. The scouts were regularly invited to sit in the balcony after their meetings to watch the performances.

The small town of Independence had a profound influence on the young Inge and he would later attribute his understanding of human behavior to growing up in this small town environment.  “I’ve often wondered how people raised in our great cities ever develop any knowledge of humankind.  People who grow up in small towns get to know each other so much more closely than they do in cities,” said Inge.  Inge would later use this knowledge of small town life in many of his plays, most of which revolve around characters who are clearly products of small towns like Independence.

In 1943, he moved to St. Louis, Missouri, where he worked as the drama and music critic for the St. Louis Times. It was while he worked as a drama critic that Inge became acquainted with Tennessee Williams. He accompanied Williams to a performance of his play THE GLASS MENAGERIE in Chicago. "I was terrifically moved by the play," said Inge. "I thought it was the finest (play) I had seen in many years. I went back to St. Louis and felt, ‘Well, I’ve got to write a play.’" Within three months he had completed FARTHER OFF FROM HEAVEN, which was produced by Margo Jones in Dallas. Inge returned to a teaching position at Washington University in St. Louis and began serious work on turning a fragmentary short story into a one act play. This work evolved into a play that earned Inge the title of most promising playwright of the 1950 Broadway season. The play was COME BACK, LITTLE SHEBA.

In 1953, PICNIC opened at The Music Box Theatre in New York City.  .  . PICNIC won Inge a Pulitzer Prize, The Drama Critic Circle Award, The Outer Circle Award, and The Theatre Club Award.

It was in 1952 that Paramount Pictures released the film version of COME BACK LITTLE SHEBA directed by Daniel Mann and starring Shirley Booth and Burt Lancaster. Shortly after, in 1956, Columbia Pictures released the film version of PICNIC directed by Joshua Logan and starring William Holden, Kim Novak and Rosalind Russell.

Inge’s next success came in 1955 when BUS STOP opened at The Music Box Theatre in New York City. Directed by Joshua Logan, the film version of BUS STOP was released by Fox in 1956 with Marilyn Monroe, Don Murray and Eileen Heckart in starring roles.

Inge’s fame continued to grow as THE DARK AT THE TOP OF THE STAIRS, a reworking of his first play FARTHER OFF FROM HEAVEN opened on Broadway in 1957. DARK AT THE TOP OF THE STAIRS, considered to be Inge’s finest play, is one in which he draws most directly from his own past. He confessed the play was his "first cautious attempt to look at the past, with an effort to find order and meaning in experiences that were once too close to be seen clearly." It was released as a film starring Dorothy McGuire, Robert Preston, Shirley Knight, Eve Arden, and Angela Lansbury in 1960. . .

Inge committed suicide on June 10, 1973 at his home in Hollywood, where he lived with his sister, Helene.  He was 60 years old.   (From The Inge Center.)

Image from Michael Barrier

Walt Kelly, 60 (August 8, 1913 - October 18, 1973 )  Cartoonist - Pogo

 "We have met the enemy and he is us,"

Walter Crawford Kelly was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on August 25, 1913, to Walter Crawford Kelly and Genevieve MacAnnula At the age of two, his family moved to Bridgeport, Connecticut. In high school Kelly recognized his calling when he began drawing cartoons for the high school magazine and a local newspaper, The Bridgeport Post. It was not until many years later in his book, Ten Ever-Lovin’ Blue-Eyed Years with Pogo, that Kelly paid homage to his memories in this Connecticut town, saying “my thanks to Bridgeport, which was more a flower pot than a melting pot, more by-way than highway, maybe even more end than beginning.” After graduating high school, he decided to take his talents to New York City. He worked for the embryonic comic book industry and soon decided to move to Los Angeles where his Bridgeport sweetheart, Helen Delacy, had relocated..

In January of 1936, Kelly got one of the biggest breaks of his career. He became part of the staff at Walt Disney Studios, first in the story department and then into animation, which is where he contributed to works such as Dumbo, Pinocchio, and Fantasia. A year later, in 1937, Kelly solidified his long-lasting relationship with Delacy, and they were married in September. By 1941, Kelly realized that he had seen his share of the West Coast and decided to return to Connecticut. While in Darien, Connecticut, Kelly made frequent trips to New York City to look for work. Finally, in 1941, Kelly was hired by Animal Comics, which would become the birthplace of his ever beloved Pogo. First appearing in Kelly’s “Bumbazine and Albert the Alligator” in October, the little grey opossum with big eyes and his signature red and black striped sweater would not resurface until seven years later when Kelly was hired as the art director of the New York Star. From this point, Pogo’s popularity grew enormously. The comic strip was picked up by the Post-Hall Syndicate after the New York Star folded in January of 1949. Kelly’s so-called “swampland characters” became well known for their witty human ventures, which consequently lacked any sort of rationale. The beginning of Pogo as a political element began in 1952 when Kelly began including social insinuations and an array of new characters that ironically resembled many different political figures. Such figures as Nikita Khrushchev, Fidel Castro, and J. Edgar Hoover have appeared in Kelly’s comics as a pig, a goat, and a bulldog.

The year of 1951 was a bitter-sweet one for Kelly. In that same year he was given the Reuben Award for Cartoonist of the Year by the National Cartoonist Society, and he divorced Delacy after three children and fourteen years of marriage. Kelly married a second time to Stephanie Waggony and, later, married third wife, Shelby Daley. The final tribute to Pogo that Kelly had the opportunity to experience was the creation of a Pogo animated cartoon that appeared on television in 1969. Walter Crawford Kelly died in Woodland Hills, California, on October 18, 1973, due to difficulties from diabetes. Kelly will forever be remembered not only for his masterpiece, Pogo, but for also setting the foundation for political and satirical comic strips everywhere. (From Pennsylvania Center for the Book.)

image from Esquire

Jimmy Hoffa, 62 (February 14, 1913 - 1975 )

 Jimmy Hoffa was born February 14, 1913, in Brazil, Indiana. He became a labor organizer in the 1930s, rising in the Teamsters Union during the next two decades. He played a key role in forging the first national freight-hauling agreement. He was sent to prison in 1967 for jury tampering, fraud, and conspiracy. In 1975 he disappeared; he is believed to have been murdered.

Still missing and presumed dead, Jimmy Hoffa was one of the most famous labor leaders in American history. He saw the challenges and hardships American workers faced firsthand growing up. His father was a coal miner who died when he was still young. His mother went to work to support Hoffa and his three siblings, eventually moving the family to Detroit.

Hoffa only had a limited education. Before the ninth grade, he dropped out of school to go to work to help his family. Hoffa eventually went to work on a loading dock for a grocery store chain in Detroit. There he orchestrated his first labor strike, helping his co-workers land a better contract. He used a newly arrived shipment of strawberries as a bargain chip. The workers wouldn't unload until they had a new deal.

Union Leader

In the 1930s, Hoffa joined the International Brotherhood of Teamsters. He eventually became the president of the union's Detroit chapter. Ambitious and aggressive, Hoffa worked hard to expand the union's membership and negotiate better contracts for his constituents by any means necessary. His extensive efforts paid off in 1952 when he became the vice president of the entire union.

Five years later, Hoffa won the presidency of the Teamsters, replacing Dave Beck. Beck was tried and convicted on charges related to his union activities. Hoffa himself was the subject of numerous investigations but managed to avoid prosecution for many years. In 1961, he scored one of his decisive victories as union president. Hoffa brought together almost all of the trucker drivers in North America under one contract. Both the FBI and U.S. Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy kept a close eye on Hoffa, believing that he advanced himself and his union with assistance from organized crime. The Justice Department indicted Hoffa several times, but they failed to win their cases against the popular labor leader. In March 1964, however, the prosecution scored a victory against Hoffa. He was found guilty of bribery and jury tampering in connection with his 1962 federal trial for conspiracy. That July, Hoffa suffered another blow. He was convicted of misusing funds from the union's pension plan.

Hoffa spent three years appealing his convictions, but these efforts proved fruitless. He began serving a possible 13-year prison sentence in 1967, but he received a pardon from President Richard Nixon in 1971. Nixon also banned Hoffa from holding a leadership position in the union until 1980. But Hoffa wasted no time trying to fight that ban in court and working behind the scenes to regain control over the Teamsters. [From Biography.]

Image from Philharmonia Chorus

Benjamin Britten, 63 (November 22, 1913 - December 4, 1976 )  Composer

'I write music for human beings'

Benjamin Britten wrote some of the most appealing classical music of the twentieth century. As a boy he began by setting favourite poems to be sung by family and friends. Later, his life partner, Peter Pears, was a singer who provided inspiration for almost four decades.

So it is not surprising that Britten is best known for his music for the voice: choral works, songs and song cycles, and – above all - a series of operas among the most engaging ever written. His first success in this genre, Peter Grimes, revived opera in English.

Britten was also a master of orchestral writing, as his two most familiar works, the Four Sea Interludes and Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra, make clear. He was equally committed to writing music for children and amateur performers as he was for leading soloists of the day such as cellist Mstislav Rostropovich.

From the outset, Britten was the modern composer who did not want modern music to be just for ‘the cultured few’, and aimed always to be ‘listenable- to’.  [BrittenPearsFoundation]

From Jessie Owens Park

Jesse Owens, 66 (September 12, 1913-March 31, 1980 ) Olympic Track Champion

Jesse Owens, the son of a sharecropper and grandson of a slave, achieved what no Olympian before him had accomplished. His stunning achievement of four gold medals at the 1936 Olympic games in Berlin has made him the best remembered athlete in Olympic history.

The seventh child of Henry and Emma Alexander Owens was named James Cleveland when he was born in Alabama on September 12, 1913. "J.C.", as he was called, was nine when the family moved to Cleveland, Ohio, where his new schoolteacher gave him the name that was to become known around the world. The teacher was told "J.C." when she asked his name to enter in her roll book, but she thought he said "Jesse". The name stuck and he would be known as Jesse Owens for the rest of his life. . .

 Owens chose the Ohio State University, even though OSU could not offer a track scholarship at the time. He worked a number of jobs to support himself and his young wife, Ruth. He worked as a night elevator operator, a waiter, he pumped gas, worked in the library stacks, and served a stint as a page in the Ohio Statehouse, all of this in between practice and record setting on the field in intercollegiate competition. . .

His success at the 1935 Big Ten Championships gave him the confidence that he was ready to excel at the highest level. Jesse entered the 1936 Olympics, which were held in Nazi Germany amidst the belief by Hitler that the Games would support his belief that the German "Aryan" people were the dominant race. Jesse had different plans, as he became the first American track & field athlete to win four gold medals in a single Olympiad. This remarkable achievement stood unequaled until the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles, when American Carl Lewis matched Jesse's feat. Although others have gone on to win more gold medals than Jesse, he remains the best remembered Olympic athlete because he achieved what no Olympian before or since has accomplished. During a time of deep-rooted segregation, he not only discredited Hitler's master race theory, but also affirmed that individual excellence, rather than race or national origin, distinguishes one man from another.

Jesse Owens proved in Berlin and thereafter that he was a dreamer who could make the dreams of others come true, a speaker who could make the world listen and a man who held out hope to millions of young people. Throughout his life, he worked with youths, sharing of himself and the little material wealth that he had. In this way, Jesse Owens was equally the champion on the playground of the poorest neighborhoods as he was on the oval of the Olympic games. . .

A complete list of the many awards and honors presented to Jesse Owens by groups around the world would fill dozens of pages. In 1976, Jesse was awarded the highest civilian honor in the United States when President Gerald Ford presented him with the Medal of Freedom in front of the members of the U.S. Montreal Olympic team in attendance. In February, 1979, he returned to the White House, where President Carter presented him with the Living Legend Award. On that occasion, President Carter said this about Jesse, "A young man who possibly didn't even realize the superb nature of his own capabilities went to the Olympics and performed in a way that I don't believe has ever been equaled since...and since this superb achievement, he has continued in his own dedicated but modest way to inspire others to reach for greatness".

Jesse Owens died from complications due to lung cancer on March 31, 1980 in Tucson, Arizona. Although words of sorrow, sympathy and admiration poured in from all over the world, perhaps President Carter said it best when he stated: "Perhaps no athlete better symbolized the human struggle against tyranny, poverty and racial bigotry. His personal triumphs as a world-class athlete and record holder were the prelude to a career devoted to helping others. His work with young athletes, as an unofficial ambassador overseas, and a spokesman for freedom are a rich legacy to his fellow Americans."[From Jessie Owens Olympic Legends]

Bear Bryant, 69 (September 11, 1913 – January 26, 1983 ) Football Coach

Paul William Bryant was born to William Monroe and Ida Kilgore Bryant September 11, 1913, in rural Cleveland County, Arkansas. His birth certificate lists Kingsland as the place of birth as it was the nearest town. Moro Creek was the nearest geographic landmark. The local farmers identified with the creek's bottom land as home, hence the references to Bryant being from "Moro Bottom." He was the 11th of 12 children born to the couple; three others had died in infancy. Bryant was raised in the poor rural South. His father was disabled much of his life, forcing Bryant and his siblings to work on the family farm.

As Bryant neared his teens, the family moved to the nearby town of Fordyce, where the large-framed boy (six feet one and 180 pounds at age 13, according to some sources) played football and basketball for Fordyce High School. A visit from a traveling circus resulted in the teenage Bryant earning the nickname that became permanently associated with his name.

While attending a sideshow at the Lyric Theater, Bryant was unable to resist the offer of a dollar-a-minute to wrestle a bear. During the match the bear's muzzle came off and Bryant jumped out of the ring and did not get paid in the confusion. Bryant, in his senior year in high school, was a member of the 1930 Arkansas state football champion "Red Bugs."

Bryant was recruited by the University of Alabama's football team but had to take additional classes at the local high school to meet the university's admission requirements because he had not graduated from high school. . .

Bryant was stationed in North Africa. Near the war's end Bryant was assigned to a Carolina pre-flight school, again as a coach. He received an honorable discharge as a lieutenant commander on September 23, 1945. Days before his military service ended, Bryant signed a contract to be the head football coach of the University of Maryland, at age 32. After a 6-2-1 season and a disagreement with the university president, who reinstated a player Bryant had suspended, Bryant resigned. . .

In his 25 years Alabama compiled a 232-46-9 record on its way to six national championships (1961, 1964, 1965, 1973, 1978, and 1979) and 14 SEC titles. His teams participated in 24 consecutive bowl games, including the Sugar, Orange, Liberty, Cotton, Bluebonnet, and Gator bowls. He was national coach of the year three times and SEC coach of the year 10 times while his players received 67 All-America honors. Numerous players went on to distinguished NFL careers, including Joe Namath, Kenny Stabler, Ozzie Newsome, and Lee Roy Jordan. . . [Encyclopedia of Alabama]

Danny Kaye, 74 (January 18, 1913 - March 3, 1987 ) Comedian

Entertainer, Humanitarian, Renaissance Man

"If Danny Kaye had not been born," a Hollywood writer once observed, "no one could possibly have invented him. It would have been stretching credibility far past the breaking point".
A virtuoso entertainer, UNICEF's first Goodwill Ambassador to the world's children (1954), a Renaissance man who was a jet pilot, baseball owner, master Chinese chef, symphony orchestra conductor, a performer honored with Oscars, Emmys, Peabodys, Golden Globes, the French Legion of Honor and the Presidential Medal of Freedom, Danny Kaye was one of a kind. There was no one like him. If versatility, skill, passion and joy are necessary elements of genius, then Danny Kaye deservedly ranks among that elite class.
Unique among show business headliners, he starred on Broadway and made such film classics as White Christmas, Hans Christian Andersen, The Secret Life of Walter Mitty and The Court Jester. He appeared on television and radio. He was a box-office magnet on the one-man concert stage. Life magazine called his reception at the London Palladium "worshipful hysteria".  [This is just the beginning of the UNICEF bio.]

The bio also has this tidbit that I'm not quite sure what to do with:

Danny Kaye was born David Daniel Kaminsky on January 18, 1913 in Brooklyn, New York (his actual year of birth was 1911, but the birthday he celebrated was 1913) 

I probably should stick him into the 1911 post.  Weird.
 

Woody Hayes, 74 (February 14, 1913 - March 12, 1987 ) Football Coach

Images from The Cleveland

Another coach.  I'm not in a good mood.  I was looking at William Casey just before this.  Woody Hayes was a football coach at Ohio State.  He won a lot of games.  But is this the kind of guy we want leading our kids?

Hayes's career at The Ohio State University ended in 1978. This year the Buckeyes were playing Clemson University in the Gator Bowl. As the game was drawing to a conclusion, Hayes punched a player from Clemson after the player intercepted a pass, securing the victory for Clemson. Because of Hayes's action, Ohio State terminated him. [From Ohio Central History]

OK. Everyone is more complex than one day.  Here's from Buckeye Fans Only:

He was as complex as he was successful, leaving behind a legacy as stark in contrast as his personality traits. Throughout Ohio, he is revered for his graciousness and his charity work. The football facility is named in his honor, as is the street outside Ohio Stadium.

Throughout the rest of the country, though, he is reviled for his temper and for punching Clemson's Charlie Bauman in the 1978 Gator Bowl.

"The truth is, his legacy is always going to start with the fact he slugged Charlie Bauman," said Bruce Hooley, a Columbus sports talk show host who spent 18 years as a beat writer covering the Buckeyes. "I don't think Ohio State fans think of that within the first five things when they think of Woody. They think of the Super Sophomores, Hop Cassady, 'The 10-Year War' with Bo and the recruiting of Art Schlichter. You could talk to an Ohio State fan for five minutes before they ever got to the Gator Bowl. "If you talk to someone outside of Ohio, the first thing they mention is the Gator Bowl."

Image from Wikipedia

William Casey, 74 (March 13, 1913 - May 6, 1987 )

The material on Casey online offers little about his life before graduating from college.  It also suggests - but doesn't prove - Casey could have been involved in some of the more corrupt actions in American history.  These include working with the Iranians to postpone release of the American Embassy hostages until after the 1980 election to help Reagan's victory. We do know the hostages were released within an hour of Reagan's inauguration.
He was also involved with the - not unrelated - Iran-Contra affair.

The scandal began as an operation to free seven American hostages being held by a group with Iranian ties connected to the Army of the Guardians of the Islamic Revolution. It was planned that Israel would ship weapons to Iran, and then the United States would resupply Israel and receive the Israeli payment. The Iranian recipients promised to do everything in their power to achieve the release of the U.S. hostages. The plan deteriorated into an arms-for-hostages scheme, in which members of the executive branch sold weapons to Iran in exchange for the release of the American hostages.^[2][3] Large modifications to the plan were devised by Lieutenant Colonel Oliver North of the National Security Council in late 1985, in which a portion of the proceeds from the weapon sales was diverted to fund anti-Sandinista and anti-communist rebels, or Contras, in Nicaragua. [From Wikipedia]

There's nothing clear cut about the most disturbing parts of Casey's life.  There's lots out there so if you want more you can check these sites:
New York Times obituary
A short review of Woodward's book on Casey by right-wing columnist William Safire - here's the end:

Did our master spy know of the diversion of Iran money to the contras? Of course he did; knowledge was power, and the resolute denial of guilty knowledge was quintessential Casey. But if, on his deathbed, this murky man suddenly became lucid, confessed his congressional sins to the nearest reporter and sought absolution from his dovish critics, I would say: Wait a minute, that`s not Casey; why is he conning us?

A biography at Spartacus Educational that has Casey meeting in Madrid with Iranians to work out the deal to postpone the hostage release. 

A review of evidence from Robert Parry's Trick or Treason:  October Surprise Mystery which looked into the details of the Madrid meeting and the Bohemian Grove alibi the House investigation accepted. 

Even if only half of the accusations are true, it paints an evil picture of the men in power and how they've wreaked havoc in the world, made a mockery of democracy, and gotten away with it.  Will Americans ever get to learn the truth of this?  If Tea Party types want to be outraged, the Reagan administration gives them plenty of legitimate fodder.



The next post will start with Woody Herman and end with Red Skelton.  The last post will go from Loretta Young and finish with Risë Stevens and Licia Albanese, both of whom, as far as I can tell, are still alive.  

Kulluk Unified Command Continues To Give Pseudo Updates

 I got one email Thursday and another Friday from the Kulluk Unified Command.  It's amazing how they can make the grounding of an oil drilling platform into a Shell celebratory event.  And how they can put out update after update and continue to say absolutely nothing of substance.  

Let's take a look at the last two updates.  To make this as clear as possible, I'm going to use italics for when I'm speaking.  The regular font will be for the Unified Command's Updates and the citations from elsewhere.

DATE: January 17, 2013 4:40:00 PM AKST

For more information contact:

Unified Command Joint Information Center at (907) 433-3417

Update #42: Assessment of data continues for final report

Jan. 17, 2013

Unified Command confirmed the following information today:

What does that mean that they confirmed this information?  To whom?  Are they saying,  Yes this is true?   They've been saying much of this all along.  Or does it mean they confirmed it for themselves, that this is, in fact, true?  

These updates are so terse that they tell us nothing of any substance.  Perhaps they mean something to people in the salvage business, but the words are ambiguous enough, that the general public really can't make a lot of sense out of this.  But then, maybe that is the intention. 

• The Kulluk remains in stable condition with no reports of a release.

A release?  Oil release is what I think they mean.  But what they tell us later suggests they might also mean "no release of a report."

• Multiple entities are involved in the assessment of data, including Unified Command, Shell, Smit Salvage and Det Norske Veritas (DNV). Unified Command will not comment on the assessment until the report is finalized.

Smit Salvage is a Dutch firm and was a sponsor of a Salvage and Wreck Removal Conference in London in December 2012.  Their sponsor descriptions says:

SMIT Salvage is part of Royal Boskalis Westminster N.V. which is a leading global services provider active in the dredging, maritime infrastructure and maritime services sectors. The company provides creative and innovative all-round solutions to infrastructural challenges in the maritime, coastal and delta regions of the world with the construction and maintenance of ports and waterways, land reclamation, coastal defense and riverbank protection. Boskalis offers a wide variety of marine services through SMIT including harbour towage, salvage, subsea, transport and heavy lift services. It also has strategic partnerships in the Americas, Middle East and Far East for harbour towage and terminal services. Including its share in partnerships, Boskalis employs approximately 14,000 people in around 75 countries across six continents and avails over  a versatile fleet of over 1,100 marine units that SMIT Salvage can call upon in case of emergency response,  wreck removal or environmental projects.

Det Norske Veritas' website tells us:

DNV (Det Norske Veritas) is an independent foundation with the purpose of safeguarding life, property, and the environment. Our history goes back to 1864, when the foundation was established in Norway to inspect and evaluate the technical condition of Norwegian merchant vessels.  .  .

They divide their activities into three operating companies.  The first seems most relevant here:

• DNV Maritime and Oil & Gas provides classification, verification, risk management and technical advisory services to the global maritime and oil and gas industries

So, if this were actually a new update with the intent of informing the world, through the media, it might tell us what roles these two companies are playing in the assessment.  But no.  All we know is that they are somehow involved.   

Another thing they said up there, before we forget it:

. . .  will not comment on the assessment until the report is finalized.

And why won't they comment on the report yet?  What exactly are they checking?  Is this a standard inspection of a wreck?  What does a standard wreck inspection entail?  Can't they at least tell us that much?  I guess not.

I was able to find something related to this - Oil Companies International Marine Forum's (OCIMF) Ship Inspection Report Programme (SIRE). There you can find protocols (Vessel Inspection Questionnaires)  for what I guess are regular inspections of Oil Tankers, Combination Carriers, Shuttle Tankers, Chemical Tankers and Gas Tankers.

Presumably there's something similar for damage assessment inspections of wrecked oil drilling rigs and other vessels in a similar category. There's lots and lots Shell could tell us about the inspection now, without causing any liability issues.  But instead, they say they won't comment.

• Future plans for the Kulluk will be determined once the report is finalized.

Note the word plan here.  It's a word that Shell uses in its own way.  Here it has an 's' at the end.  Presumably this means 'we'll decide what to do when the report is complete.'  But one would think that they might have some options already set out.  Like, if A then we might keep the Kulluk here a little longer.  If B then we will move the Kulluk to Seattle.  If C . . .  You get the idea.   If they were serious about keeping the public informed, they would be telling us some of these options and the contingencies that would cause them to choose one option or another. Maybe they don't want to alarm us with the possibilities.

• There are more than 250 people in the Kodiak area responding to the incident.

250 people.  Is that a lot for an operation like this?  How many are working for Shell?  How many are employees of Smit and DNV?  How many are Coast Guard personnel?  How many are locals from the Old Harbor Native Corporation?  And who else is there?  What are they all doing?  How many are doing technical oil rig rescue related work?  How many are support who provide food and shelter and other things necessary to support the technical folks?  Are they all paid or are there some volunteers?  Does this include the attorneys that approve the Updates to make sure they don't say anything that could hurt them when this goes to court or a Congressional hearing?  

• Unified Command’s priorities continue to be the safety of all personnel and the environment.

We get this line in just about every update.  What level priority is keeping our liability as low as possible?  What priority is making this rescue look as good as possible so it doesn't hurt our future oil drilling in the Arctic?  What priority is Shell's bottom line?  



Here's Friday's Update.  When they report on how responsive to the public they were, they're going to say we had 48+X updates which we made on an almost daily basis.  

I hope that someone looks at the updates or looks at this post to see that these updates told the public almost zilch except what a great job Shell was doing.  

DATE: January 18, 2013 5:49:00 PM AKST

For more information contact:

Unified Command Joint Information Center at (907) 433-3417

Update #43: Kulluk stable as damage assessment data review continues

I'm sure the fact that the Kulluk is stable is important.  But what exactly does it mean?  There are no changes?  The water isn't rocking the Kulluk.  It's not getting worse?  I'm pretty sure it has nothing to do with horses. 

Jan. 18, 2013

The data gathering phase of the Kulluk assessment has been completed. Unified Command confirmed the following information today:

• There were a total of 12 divers and one ROV (remotely operated vehicle) used during the assessment process in Kiliuda Bay. The divers operated during daylight hours and functioned as data gatherers.

This is something.  We now know what 12 of the 250 people they reported (in Update #42) working on this are doing.  What about the others?

• No one was injured while performing the assessment.

We're glad to hear this.  Really.  But the Kulluk is in a protected harbor now and they keep telling us that everything is stable and that they have zillions of the best people in the world working on this.  Is there something you aren't telling us about how dangerous this is?  Is that why you keep telling us that no one was injured?  How many people are injured and die in the typical rescue of this sort?  

I'm not so sure we can say that public awareness has not been injured by the lack of information coming out of these updates.  
 

• Multiple entities are involved in the review of data, including: the U.S. Coast Guard, Shell, Smit Salvage and Det Norske Veritas. These reports involve precise calculations; it is important to ensure the accuracy of any reports in order to develop the next steps for the Kulluk. At this time there is no firm date for completion of the damage assessment report.

First, you gave us this list of who was involved in the last report.  The only change is that in Update #43 (this one) U.S. Coast Guard replaces Unified Command.  But that's a wording change, not a substantive change.

Second, duh.  We assume that precise calculations are involved.  Is this supposed to impress people with how professional you are? [Sorry, I seem to have shifted from the third to second person here.]  Please don't insult us.  Maybe you could tell us some of the kinds of things data were collected on?  What are the measurements you took and what will they tell you?  Or are we too ignorant to understand any of this?  Or are you afraid we might understand?

OK, there's no firm date for the completion of the damage assessment report.  Can you give us a ballpark estimate?  Will it be a day or two?  A week or two?  A month or two?  Was the talk about not moving the Kulluk until after the Tanner Crab Season ends just fluff to make us think you cared, when you knew you weren't going to move the Kulluk before then anyway?

• Once the damage report is completed, the Kulluk and any plans to move the vessel will be evaluated before it is moved to its next location.

"Any plans to move the vessel will be evaluated."  This could be interpreted in several different ways.  One would be that there might not be any plans.  We're just going to abandon the Kulluk in Kiliuda Bay.  Maybe you'll tell us how sinking abandoned oil drilling rigs makes a great habitat for tanner crabs.  

But I really don't think that is what you meant.  But that 'any' in the sentence is like a wildcard.  Like,  'if there are any plans.'  I know, I'm being obnoxious here, but you give us so little to work with that it's like trying to parse the new releases from the Chinese Communist Party.  What exactly might each word mean?  Why don't you just tell us?  Maybe we need to get Will Shortz working on this. 

I guess you mean, before we move the vessel we will look at each of the alternative plans carefully, but we're sure as hell not going to share any of that with you.

• Water did enter some spaces of the vessel through damaged hatches. However, the water has been captured and is being safely stored in a compartment.

Translation:  Something bad happened,  but all you need to know is that we fixed it and everything is fine. Aren't we great?

• The damage discovered on the Kulluk is consistent with what is expected from a vessel of this type being on hard ground. The fuel tanks are intact.

How much do you pay these guys to write this stuff?  "The damage. . . is consistent with what is expected from a vessel of this type being on hard ground."  

That's like saying, about a head on collision, "The damage is consistent with this sort of collision" without telling us that the cars were totaled and everyone was killed.   

Is this a way to avoid telling us the damage, a way that makes us think this is just a normal oil rig on the rocks situation, nothing to worry about?   How many oil rigs end up on hard ground? I can't find any others by googling. And what damage is expected when that happens?  You obviously know what damage happened or you wouldn't be able to say it is 'the level expected.'  So why not just tell us instead of making us try to find out what is normal for this sort of accident?

• Points of entry for water into the Kulluk are being sealed (i.e., windows and hatches). Additionally, tow brackets are being added for preparation for the next move.

Like with all these releases, you artfully skip over the damage and tell us how nicely you are taking care of things.  But you do actually tell us something - that water got in where it shouldn't and there will be a next move - though that it isn't something we didn't already assume.

• Unified Command’s priorities continue to be the safety of all personnel and the environment.

This ending line is getting so standard on these updates it's like "Sincerely Yours" at the end of a letter.  It means nothing.



Do I sound a bit cynical here?  I know, you're probably saying that I should ask these questions directly to the Unified Command and give them a chance to answer.  

Well, I did that before posting this.  I'll share the query - I just focused on one sentence of the update - and their response in a later post.   

One more thing:  While I'm focusing on Shell here, the US Coast Guard is part of the Unified Command that is releasing these updates.  The Coast Guard should be insisting that more information be released to the public.  They are now becoming complicit in this information blockade. 

Venice Beach Skate Board Whiz

Besides catching a great white shark on the Venice Pier Friday, there were lots of other things going on along Venice Beach.  At the skate board plaza, things were less crowded than I've seen in the past, but this young kid with a black helmet, is well on his way to his 10,000 hours.  He's comes on about 20 seconds into the video.

Rafael Gets A Great White Shark Off The Venice Pier - I Get Them Both on Video

It was a beautiful day in LA.  I took the bike down to Venice and rode along the bike trail to the Venice Pier.  At the end of the pier a man with several fishing poles pointed out in the distance a whale.  I didn't see it, but we started talking.  He was fishing for sharks. 

Eventually I asked if I could take a picture
for my blog of the pier.  He said sure.  Then asked if it was on YouTube. He'd been on YouTube catching a shark.  I said that if he caught a shark today I'd video tape it and put it on YouTube.

We talked about this and that.  It was lovely just being out there at the end of the pier.  When all of a sudden he sees his pole jerk and runs to grab it.






When he sees it's a great white shark, he asks me to go get the pliers.  I didn't quite understand what he'd said at first, but I stopped the video and found the pliers and he'd cut the line before I could get the camera going again.  But at the end he talks about his great catch.  The video is pretty much the whole thing.  I cut from the fish to Rafael at one point but there wasn't much time without the cam on.

I bet his left arm is sore tonight. 









He caught the shark out at the end of the pier - you can see people silhouetted way in the distance.







These surfers were enjoying themselves next to the pier,  oblivious to the fact that not far from them Rafael had hooked a great white.

It was also a nice day to have a baby.


[UPDATE July 13, 2016:  LA Times article about a man arrested for pulling in a great white from Pismo Beach pier.  Video and photos on Facebook.  Shark was tossed back in, but was out of the water a fairly long time.  Rafael knew the law and cut the line instead of pulling his in.]

Which Right Is More Important? Right to Life? Right to Bear Arms?

The Declaration of Independence set forth the reasons the 13 colonies were declaring independence from England.

After a short preamble explaining that sometimes people have to cut old ties, the Declaration then says:

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal*, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.

Life.  Liberty.  Pursuit of Happiness.  These are the unalienable Rights our founders declared most important when they wrote to the King of England to explain why they needed to rule themselves.

Then after the Revolutionary War, the colonists came together to write up an agreement, which we know as the Constitution of the United States, on how to rule themselves.  It begins, again, setting out basic principles.

We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.

Justice.  Domestic tranquility.  Common defence.  General welfare.  Liberty.


After they finished the Constitution they added ten amendments which spelled out more rights.

As President Obama sets forth his gun control proposal, I just want to point out what should be totally obvious.

Different rights will inevitably conflict.    When Wayne LaPierre set forth the NRA's response to the Newtown shootings, he would brook no compromise to the Second Amendment.  Yet he had no trouble at all proposing to abridge the First Amendment rights of film  and video game makers.  That tells me that even the NRA recognizes that Constitutional Amendments are not absolute. 

Some rights are a means to more important rights.   The right to vote is a means to achieving liberty and the pursuit of happiness.  The right to a free press is a means to helping the people of a democracy gain the knowledge needed to vote wisely.  The right to bear arms is a means to protecting liberty. 

Some rights are more important than others.  When one person's rights infringe on another person's rights, we have to determine which is the more important right.  Some are a question of preference.  Sometimes one person exercising his rights conflicts with others exercising their rights.  A well-known, though apparently misattributed quote goes, "Your right to swing your arms ends just where the other man's nose begins."   The right to practice one's religion in the US, does not include the right to human sacrifice.  The right to life is more important.  The right to bear arms does trump the right to life.  Yet people bearing arms take 30,000 lives a year in the US. (Over half of which are suicides, but that still leaves another 15,000 or so that aren't.)

Which rights are the most important?  I believe that the rights enumerated at the beginning of the Declaration of Independence and of the US Constitution are the highest level rights.  They are the ends to which the other rights are merely the means.


There are a lot of things I don't know.  

I don't know why some people  - mostly men - have such a strong passion for guns.  So strong that it seems nothing else matters.  We can come up with plausible explanations - they bonded with their dads over guns;  they feel impotent in a world that is changing and and a gun gives them some sense of control;  they experienced loss through violence which they believe might have been prevented had they had a gun;  they grew up in a family where power was important and a gun is the ultimate source of power to them.  But I do know every individual comes to this feeling through their own individual path.

I don't know if any gun control legislation will actually make a difference.  Will it be watered down so it is only symbolic?  Will a black market for guns make it irrelevant?  There are lots of things that can dilute its intent.  (But symbolism is important or people wouldn't get upset when a flag is burned.) 

I Do Know

But I do know that guns make it easier for people to kill others and themselves than most other implements of death short of explosives.  Those who say "guns don't kill, people do" are half right.  People do the killing, but without guns, they would do it less.  So guns are only part of the answer.  The other part is working on helping people learn to resolve problems without anger and violence.  I know that people's experiences affect what they believe is possible, and some people who grow up surrounded by anger and violence do not know other ways to resolve conflict.

There's been a lot of talk about mental health in regards to mass violence.  I think we should be talking more about social health - people's ability to interact with other people in healthy ways.  Ways that lead to care and love and satisfaction, not to frustration and anger.  Most mentally ill people aren't prone to violence.  A larger percent of people not diagnosed with mental illness are likely to be violent than those with identified mental illness.  Social health, then, may be a better way of thinking about this.

I do know that life and liberty and the pursuit of happiness are higher level values than the ability to own an automatic weapon.  For those who believe they can only be happy with automatic weapons, I would hope they can find substitutes that can make them happy. There are so many neat things in the world, surely there must be something else that can fulfill them.   If not, I would point out that we are only guaranteed the pursuit of happiness, not necessarily its achievement.  But life and liberty are guaranteed.  Taking someone's life in pursuit of your happiness is not acceptable. 

Let's stop making this either/or.  Let's stop allowing the the extremists to define the debate.  Let's stop treating this as a win/lose battle.

Let's address the underlying causes of people's strong emotional responses.

• Why is owning a gun so important to you while most people live perfectly happy lives without one?  
• When did you first feel a need to have a gun?   
• Why are you so afraid of guns?  
• Under what situations is it ok for people to have guns?  

Let's start here, talking about people's core feelings and beliefs and where they came from.  Let's  find nurturing ways to talk to each other about guns and violence and alternative ways to resolve human conflicts. We can be better than this.




*Which shows the Constitution wasn't perfect since it allowed slavery and  considered slaves to be only 3/5 of a person when it came to calculating representatives.  Which is why I understand that any gun legislation is also likely to be imperfect.   But probably, like the Constitution, better than nothing at all.