By SueN
- Guests:
- Libertarian Wayne Root.
- Richard Florida, author "The Great Reset: How New Ways of Living and Working Drive Post-Crash Prosperity"
- Topics:
- Is America facing "My Big Fat Greek Bankruptcy?!"
- How can a recession lead to a boom in innovation?
- "Which one of you bitches dumped the oil???"
- Bumper Music:
- Start Me Up, Rolling Stones.
- World Hold On, Bob Sinclar (video).
- Build a Bridge, Limp Bizkit.
- The Candidate, Economy in Crisis.
- I'm A Nazi, Rush Limbaugh / WNNX-FM (Atlanta, GA) (video).
- Someday, Sugar Ray.
- Diamonds And Coal, Incubus.
- Who'll Stop The Rain, Creedence Clearwater Revival.
- Grand Canyon, Dmitriy Lukyanov (you need to search for it) (with additional sounds by Jacob).
- Democracy, Leonard Cohen.
- The Mail Must Go Through, Larry Groce & The Disneyland Children's Sing Along Chorus.
- Today's newsletter has details of today's guests and links to the major stories and alerts that Thom covered in the show, plus lots more. If you haven't signed up for the free newsletter yet, please do. If you missed today's newsletter, it is in the archive.
- Quote: "These capitalists generally act harmoniously and in concert, to fleece the people." ~ Abraham Lincoln.
- Clip:
President Johnson: "Some of our folks, including some of the old China lobby, are going to the Vietnamese embassy and saying please notify the president that if he'll hold out 'til November the second they could get a better deal. Now, I'm reading their hand, Everett. I don't want to get this in the campaign."
Sen. Dirksen: "That's right".
President Johnson: "And they oughtn't to be doin' this. This is treason".
Sen. Dirksen: "I know".
...
President Johnson: "And my judgment is that Nixon ought to play it just like he has all along, that I want to see peace come the first day we can, that it's not going to affect the election one way or the other. The conference is not even going to be held until after the election. They have stopped shelling the cities. They have stopped going across the DMZ. We've had 24 hours of relative peace. Now, if Nixon keeps the South Vietnamese away from the conference, well, that's going to be his responsibility. Up to this point, that's why they're not there. I had them signed on board until this happened".
Sen. Dirksen: "Yeah, OK".
President Johnson: "Well, now, what do you think we ought to do about it?".
Sen. Dirksen: "Well, I better get in touch with him, I think, and tell him about it.".
President Johnson: "I think you better tell him that his people are saying to these folks that they oughtn't to go through with this meeting. Now if they don't go through with the meeting, it's not going to be me that's hurt. I think it's going to be whoever is elected, and may be--my guess--him. And I think they're making a very serious mistake, and I don't want to say this, and you're the only one I'm going to say it to.".
...
President Johnson: "I know this--that they're contacting a foreign power in the middle of a war".
Sen. Dirksen: "That's a mistake.".
President Johnson: "And it's a damn bad mistake. Now I don't want to say so, and you're the only man that I have confidence in to tell them. But you better tell them they better quit playing with it. And the day after the election I'll sit down with all of you and try to work it out and be helpful. But they oughtn't to knock out this conference.".
...
President Johnson: "You just tell them their people are messing around in this thing, and if they don't want it on the front pages, they better quit it".
Phone conversation between President Lyndon Johnson and Sen. Everett Dirksen (R) Illinois, November 2, 1968.
- Article: The Last Days of the Dragon Lady by Cholene Espinoza, former U-2 pilot.
Were the risks worth it? Absolutely. The advantage of having a human being in the pilot’s seat of a reconnaissance plane is overwhelming. A person can troubleshoot problems in mid-flight, with creativity that a computer lacks and a proximity to the problem that a remote-control pilot can never achieve. A pilot also has unique situational awareness: I’ve been on more than one mission in which I was able to distinguish promising details that a drone would have missed.
It was worth it personally, too. I’ll never forget the adrenaline surge of landing what was basically a multimillion-dollar jet-powered glider on its 12-inch tail wheel from a full stall while wearing a space suit. And I’ll always remember the peace of sitting alone on the quiet edge of space, out of radio contact for hours.
The new generation of drones have their merits. But flying robots, no matter how advanced, can’t measure up to the courage and commitment of a pilot who is risking her life for the sake of the mission.
Reconnaissance will outlive the U-2, but there will always be a divot in the hearts of those who have seen the curvature of the earth, the stars seemingly close enough to touch, and known the satisfaction of having completed a mission with the Dragon Lady. - Clip: Incidentally, which one of you bitches is my mother?
