Good Morning All & Happy Friday!
Today I’m taking action…I’m having my 93 year old mother give me a haircut…just like the old days! I just can’t wait for the hair styling salons to open…I need a haircut now!
Happy Birthday to my friend and fellow People For Effective Government (PEG) member, Dave, who turns 65 today! Here’s to you, Dave, and welcome to Medicare! Dave was one of the visionaries behind the PEG effort. Check out PEG’s website at www.pegnow.org for more information about this movement to bring civility to public discourse and seek non-partisan solutions to the pressing issues/challenges of our time. Thanks, Dave, for helping make our world a better place and have fun on your special day of celebration!
Speaking of birthdays, Happy Birthday wishes also go to former football great & sports commentator, Boomer Esiason, who is 59 today; to actress Jennifer Garner of “What’s In Your Wallet?” fame, who turns 48 today; to “Spice Girl” Victoria Beckham, who is 46 today; to actor Sean Bean of “Lord of the Rings” & the PBS Masterpiece production of “World On Fire”, who turns 61 today; and last, but certainly not least, to actress Olivia Hussey of “Romeo & Juliet” movie fame (she was awesome in that film!), who is 69 today! Here’s to all of you!
Speaking of movie/entertainment celebrities, did you know that Marilyn Monroe died 57 years ago, but she still earned around $13 million last year? The bulk of her estate went to her acting coach and then to her acting coach’s second wife who had the foresight to license everything “Marilyn Monroe”…her image, her movies, her photos, etc.. That resulted in Marilyn’s estate continuing to make a significant amount of money long after she died. Marilyn is No. 8 on the list of deceased stars who continue to earn an income…No. 1 on the list is Michael Jackson and No. 2 is none other than “The King”…Elvis Presley. How about that?
For all of you hot springs/hot tub fans out there, I got into an interesting discussion via e-mail the other day with my friend Raelene on the topic of hot springs of all things. Come to find out, she is something of an “expert” on where the best hot springs are located throughout the world, no less. Who knew? She bases her assessment/rankings on having actually visited all of these hot springs at one time or another. All this came to light after I had asked her where her “happy place” was…Everyone seems to have a “happy place”, don’t you think? Well, for Raelene, it’s obviously hot springs. Here her list of the top 6 hot springs:
Strawberry Park at Steamboat Springs, Colorado
Negombo on Ischia Island, Italy
Halcyon Hot Spring Rental House, Upper Arrow Lake, near Revelstock, Bristish Columbia, Canada
Avalanche Ranch, Redstone, Colorado
Burgdorf Hot Springs, McCall, Idaho
Termas de Papallacta, Papallacta, Ecuador
(Thanks for sharing this invaluable information, Raelene. Some more places to put on one’s “bucket list”, for sure!)
Here’s the funny thought for the day. It comes to you from a letter my wife (at the time my girlfriend), Judy, wrote to me in June, 1978:
“I tried to learn how to drive the truck last night. I do fine until I have to start moving…”
We seem to be in a general discussion about the merits of socialism as a way to solve our country’s pressing domestic challenges vs. a free market approach under a democratic republic form of government. According to the Pew Research Center, 70% of Generation Z (those age 13 to 21 in 2018) believe government should do more to solve problems. 64 percent of Millennials agree, with 51% of them viewing socialism positively. That’s troubling to a Baby Boomer who has seen various attempts at Socialism end in disaster for many countries who have tried to stick with that economic model for an extended period of time. I do see the attraction to Socialism, as it looks to be an “easier” way to “make things better”…just have the government do it. However, how is prosperity generated? Through the government?…or through private enterprise in a free market economy (with appropriate government oversight when appropriate)? After all, government just takes part of the income that is generated through the private market place in taxes and distributes those funds to various programs. Ask yourself…do you really want the government to run most enterprises in our country? Has government proven to be an effective deliverer of goods & services in the course of history? Which economic system in history has done a better job of distributing wealth to its people and ensuring a strong middle-class? Good food for thought, for sure.
Here’s the fact for the day:
The U.S. retail industry makes $6.8 billion a year from gift cards that no one redeems.
Here’s the word definition for the day:
Animalcule (an-a-MAL-kyool): “A microscopic animal.”
Here is the thought for the day:
“The dogma of the quiet past are inadequate to the strong present”…”The occasion is piled high with difficulty and we must rise with the occasion. As our case is new, so we must think anew and act anew. We must disenthrall ourselves, and then we shall save our country.”
—President Abraham Lincoln, on the difficult and overwhelming challenges he faced as President (1862)
Here’s to a great Friday and lots of love and good wishes always!
Press on,
Papa ‘a (Dad, Uncle Mark, Mark, etc.)