Sunday, November 22, 2015

R.I.P. John Fitzgerald Kennedy

I generally try not to post anything on November 22 because I feel strange trying to find something to say about the late President Kennedy that hasn't already been said. Both my parents were Kennedy Democrats and I must confess that, despite an occasional bout of conservative backsliding here and there, I tend to take after them.

Of course, my mother is now a Republican and my late father managed to find good things to say about both Bill Clinton and G.W. Bush. Then again he did die in 2003 and he usually disliked most Republican presidential candidates so I doubt he'd be particularly pro-GWB if he were alive today. Then again I don't believe that he would be an especially big fan of Barack Obama either. And he certainly would not be a big fan of Donald Trump.

As for me, I tend to lean Democratic more often than not. Sometimes I wonder why I do so but then the Republicans go and do something stupid and then I remember why.

My mother used to tell me not to judge Kennedy too harshly because a lot of the things he said during his lifetime which are considered way too moderate today were considered dangerously controversial in his day. We tend to forget that.

I don't pretend to know how much of an improvement Kennedy would have been over Lyndon B. Johnson but I would have liked to have had the opportunity to find out. Thanks to what happened on November 22, 1963, I never will.

In any event, Kennedy died on this date in 1963 and he obviously has been missed. Even by people like me who are far too young to remember him.

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Thursday, November 19, 2015

Quote of the Week

Free men are aware of the imperfections inherent in human affairs, and they are willing to fight and die for that which is not perfect. They know that basic human problems can have no final solutions, that our freedom, justice, equality, and so on are far from absolute, that the good life is compounded of half measures, compromises, lesser evils, and gropings toward the perfect. The rejection of approximations and the insistence on absolutes are the manifestations of a nihilism that loathes freedom, tolerance and equity.
--Eric Hoffer

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Tuesday, November 17, 2015

Words Fail Me Again

My heart goes out to all those who are mourning victims of the recent terrorist attacks in Paris. Apart from that, I can't think of anything to say that has not been better said by others apart from saying that all my prayers and best wishes are with all French people at this moment.

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Wednesday, November 11, 2015

¡Feliz Día de los Veteranos!


In honor of all the people who have served in the American armed forces -- including two of my uncles -- I hope you all have a pleasant Veteran's Day.

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Sunday, November 08, 2015

Movie Quote of the Week

I don't do ladylike.
--Michelle Rodriguez, Machete Kills (2013)

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TV Quote of the Week

What do you think is so bad about "girl?" I'm a girl, and your boss, and powerful, and rich, and hot, and smart. So if you perceive "Supergirl" as anything less than excellent, isn't the real problem you?
--Calista Flockhart, Supergirl, “Pilot”

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Saturday, November 07, 2015

Quote of the Week

Women deserve full access to all positions of power not because they are exceptional, but because they make up half the humans on the planet.
--Tim Ward, Savage Breast: One Man's Search for the Goddess

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Sunday, November 01, 2015

Movie Quote of the Week

Ah, reality is just what we tell each other it is.
--Julie Carmen, In the Mouth of Madness (1995)

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TV Quote of the Week

You know, dear lady, studying mythology is like studying literature. It’s all fiction. The difference is mythology is a lot more fun.
--Peter Cellier, She-Wolf of London, “What’s Got Into Them?”

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