SAIGONBOB

Vietnam (audio) Interview:Dallas Cowboy Don Meredith..1966..by Bob Kholos

file:///Users/ameribob1/Desktop/saigon_bob_-_don_meredith_interview.mp3

("hit" line above. Apprx 20 sec. dead air start)
When I wasn't pulling perimeter guard duty with the 4th Infantry Division in the Central Highlands of Vietnam, the brass allowed me to interview some of the  brave sports and entertainment figures traveling on behest of the USO.
    This is my audio interview with Dallas Cowboy quarterback, Don Meredith ( I'm having technical problems loading my interview with Los Angeles Ram's running back, Dick Bass, and St. Louis Cardinals(football) Defensive Half Back, Larry Wilson. Will try again at a later date.)
    (I'm still trying to find my interview with Jayne Mansfield, and take out a "glitch" with my interview with Nancy Sinatra...all brave souls.)

    These interviews took place at the 4th Infantry Division Base Camp, about 20 miles up the mountains from Pleiku, and about a mile from the Cambodian border.

    The Meredith interview last about 2min 30sec.

    Thanks for reading:

    Bob Kholos

 

OREGON vs. KANSAS--NCAA VOLLEYBALL--SAO PAULO BRAZIL vs. SERBIA?

    Women's College Volleyball has never been better.
    The Oregon Ducks played the Kansas Jayhawks at Mac Court in Eugene, Oregon on a beautiful summer evening(Aug. 25,2007)
    Both teams looked good, but the Ducks survived and beat the visiting Jayhawks in front of a nice, pleasant crowd.

    NCAA Women's Volleyball is a vastly overlooked sport. It is the perfect competition for family view.

    The crowds are less intense than the swearing Basketball and Football spectators, and the athletes act as a positive role model for youth as well as the entire community.

    What I find interesting is the favorite international countries for each team.  Although the Ducks and Kansas had plenty of home town athletes, they also had their own favorite players from a particular country.

    The Jayhawks had three players from Sao Paulo, Brazil: 6ft, Caroline Ferreira Americo, 6-1 Isdadora Rangel, and 6-2 Flavia Lina da Silva.

    The University of Oregon Ducks, reached into former  war torn Serbia, for 6ft 3in, Gorana Maricic, 5-10 Nevena Djordjevic, and 6-0 Marija Milosevic.

    Instead of renting a movie for your kids, call your local college and find out when the next Volleyball game will be played.  Chances are: You'll get a great seat, where the children can actually see the game, and maybe even get a positive role model to boot.

    Thanks for reading:

    Bob Kholos

   

      
   

Gov. Schwarzenegger Kills Mentally Ill Homeless Program

    Los Angeles Times News Item:

California homeless program is cut (not a link)(Aug 25,2007)

By Scott Gold, Lee Romney and Evan Halper

Schwarzenegger kills a $55-million initiative that helps the mentally ill, then signs the budget. Counties and cities can fund it, an aide says. >>

---

 

The California State Legislature will reimburse the counties for calling an early February 5th presidential primary for 60-90 million dollars....but let the least powerful...the mentally ill homeless fight it out on the streets of the Golden State.

    Why bother having a government, when you help give tax breaks to yacht owners, and throw people... who can't even find a toilet....to the snake pit of hell?

    Governor Schwarzenegger is not a horrible person, but he performed a horrible act by cutting out a successful program which helped the mentally ill homeless, and kept them out of jail, and even got some of them jobs and health care.

    I have a suggestion:

    Have the Governor star in another movie...where he will get at least 30 million dollars, and give it all to this homeless program.

    I know that it would be difficult having to run the state and work...but at least he could do the Republican thing...and pull himself up by the bootstraps...and fund, at no taxpayer expense, a program that helps real people in need.

    The Governor is way ahead of the curve on global warming, but until hell freezes over, the homeless will still need a blanket. Got one, Governor Schwarzenegger?

    Thanks for reading:

    Bob Kholos

Jerry Brown for Governor--Again!

    According to the Sacramento Bee (Aug. 23,2007) California Attorney General, Jerry Brown, is considering a run for Governor in 2010.
    His motivation: global warming, and bringing California to the forefront of the fight to reduce greenhouse gases.

    Jerry was Governor of California for two terms, but he can be California's Chief Executive, again, because term limits were passed after he left office.

    The thing I like about Jerry, is that he can't be bought.

    Sometimes, critics will say that he runs far afield on issues, and may take an extreme issue before it is fought out on a legislative agenda.  However, with the problems of health care, the environment, violent gang activity, and the general decrease of the quality of life in California, perhaps "Extremism in the defense of liberty is no crime."

    Mr. Brown still has to prove himself as State Attorney  General, but so far, he has been getting high marks from newspapers around the state.

    As long as he doesn't have any "senior moments" by 2010, he should be good to go!

    Thanks for reading:

    Bob Kholos

   

   

Tribune Buyout Approved---Will Sam Zell Improve or Spin-Off the LA Times?

    The stockholders approved the "Zelling" of the Tribune Company today(Aug.21,2007) which includes the Los Angeles Times.  It should be completed in the fall of this year.
    The big question remains: Will Sam Zell sell off the Los Angeles Times to someone like media mogul David Geffen?

    My hope, of course, is that Mr. Zell can do for  the Los Angeles Times, what Starbucks did for coffee shops.

    The Los Angeles Times should be treated like the great newspaper it has become, with a hands-off policy on editorial decisions in the news room.

    Whatever else Sam Zell does, he should treat the Los Angeles Times like the gem of the Pacific Rim, and put money and people back into the production of this great newspaper.

    I don't want to see the Times go the way of the Red Car in Los Angeles.  When I was a child growing up in West Hollywood, my Mom and I would ride the streetcar on Santa Monica Blvd, going to movies, drugstores, and the doctor's office.  It was a perfect way to get around Los Angeles.....just like the Los Angeles Times can be a perfect read right now.  I don't want that to end. I don't want to see,someday, in a museum, what a great newspaper the LA Times used to be and too bad we don't have that resource any longer.

    A great newspaper like the LA Times can keep the wheels of democracy going, by doing the tough detail work it takes to put together good reporting.  It can tell us what the government is doing right and wrongly, and the people will be informed by a credible news source.

    If the Times is treated like the business of a trailer park, we all lose.

    Mr. Zell has the responsibility to make sure the Los Angeles Times keeps it's respectability as a great news source for the western world.

    Thanks for reading:

    Bob Kholos

   

 

Waiting for Fred Thompson...A Brilliant Political Move?

          Update:  Boy--was I wrong on this one!

    If they had "razzies" for political candidates--Fred Thompson would get first prize.(I first wrote this in August of 2007)

    (update: Thompson will announce on Sept. 6, but will tell Jay Leno first...hmmm)

(Update: Evidently Thompson made a poor speech before a veteran's group. This is not the first time he has had a problem with his presentation.  There may be some weakness in his armor after all.)

Los Angeles Times reporter, Joe Mathews, writes about the frustration of "hometowner's" in Tennessee, waiting for former US Senator Fred Thompson, to run for President.  It is a terrific piece on the town (Aug.20,2007), and it tells me a lot.

    I'll be voting for the Democratic nominee for President  during the Fall of 2008, but I am very impressed with the non-campaign of former Tennessee Senator Fred Thompson.
    His non-campaign staff have waited for the "whites of those Republican eyes," before shooting his mouth off in, what has to be, the longest and most expensive, presidential campaign in the history of this country.

    Because he has waited.....Thompson has watched the negative mud thrown at him already.  He knows what to expect, and can better handle his response, once he enters.

    Also, to his advantage, candidates have already dropped off the map...while his expectation profile has risen, like waiting for the last episode of the Gilmore Girls, or The Soprano's.

    As an actor, he also understands the importance of timing.  Thus, waiting until September to announce his candidacy gives him the momentum to run into the early primaries of January(perhaps December if Iowa can't get it together).

    Voters generally don't start to pay attention to political races until September/October, in any case.

    His negative of having a really young wife, will probably not hurt him with GOP males.  His past lobbying efforts, will also not hurt him in the Republican Primary, because that political party still believes, "what is good for General Motors, is good for the country."

    I give Thompson the inside track for the GOP nomination, compared to his competition.

    Romney has the issue of having many young male children..and not one has joined the military.

    Giuliani has the problem of family break-ups, including a child who wouldn't vote for him

    McCain seems to have fallen off the planet.

    When Thompson, the actor/politician makes his announcement for President with that southern drawl, and his perfected stage demeanor, he will make himself the person to beat among Republican's.

    Thanks for reading:

    Bob Kholos

 

 

Don Imus Comes Back...Diversity for Wealthy Bigots.

    Don Imus has been laid off long enough.  I thought he should have been fired for about a year, and then allowed back on the air. After all, even smart, glib, wealthy bigots, who shame Black children, need a vaulted place in the realm of radio talk show hosts.
    At least he isn't a conservative, needing a "fairness" doctrine to protect the rest of us.

    I suppose he will be cheered by the Washington establishment...when he makes his comeback.

    Instead of small minded, pick-up truck types, tooling around Mississippi, America doesn't have people who are willing to use the airwaves to put down PBS host, Glen Ifill, as a maid.....we need more upper class bigots.

    I support the First Amendment...because it is made for guys like Don Imus.  I don't even expect him to apologize.......I just wish he was with Condi Rice and others during the 1950s, in Selma, Alabama, when he could have celebrated his own problems.

    Thanks for reading:

    Bob Kholos

Miles Automotive and The Chinese People...Building American Transportation Again! ..by Bob Kholos

    The last time we had the Chinese people help build us a transportation system, which changed America, it was the vast railroad system.
    Of course, we then kicked many of them out of the country.
    This time Miles Rubin has teamed with the Chinese people to bring us a new system of transportation which may just revolutionize the way we travel, and make us much less dependent on Middle East oil.
    Miles Automotive has developed a functional high speed car, which is totally electric, goes over 80 miles an hour and has an approximate distance traveled on one charge, of 120 miles!
    Mr. Rubin is a well liked and well known industrialist, who would only develop a competent enterprise.

    The high speed vehicles will be available in the United States, either in 2008 or after our new President of the US takes office in 2009.

    This is the era of the environment, and it may be with the help of the federal government and big states like California and New York, we can get these cars on the road quickly.

    Perhaps the states can start some environmental lottery's and hand out these cars to the winners...just to get started.

    Plugging in a car is not a difficult task, and the cost, in my estimation, would be less than getting a gallon of smelly gasoline in 1950 about.. 20 cents or maybe even free...depending on the source.

    These vehicles are being built in China and will have about 30 American distributors when it gets going.

    Although the PRC is going through tremendous growth problems, I have a lot of confidence in their modern technical expertise and hope our two countries can maintain an important friendship.

    China has gone from massive starvation, in my lifetime, to hosting the modern Olympics, next year.

    Our people may have some legitimate concerns about their form of government, but that shouldn't get in the way of our own progress.

     We have a long-time relationship with the people of China.....from building our railroads to serving as important allies in WW II.

    Also, bringing in a totally electric car, which competes with the other brands, will only increase the competition for more types of electric vehicles.

    It is a win-win situation for America.

    (check out www.milesautomotive.com)

    Thanks for reading:

    Bob Kholos

   

   

      

Iowa's Christmas Caucus?

( Update: Aug. 10, 2007--Iowa Governor Chet Culver says he will make sure the Iowa caucus is held in January of 2008.  This may be just a few days before the New Hampshire primary.  The plot thickens.)

  I can see the political cartoonist at work right now: A  drawing of a typical Iowa family surrounding their Christmas tree, with little red stockings hanging from the fire place.  Each stocking has the names of Clinton, Obama, Edwards, Richardson, Thompson, Romney, and Giuliani...with a banner at top which reads "Caucus Here."
    With South Carolina moving their primary to early January, in order to beat Florida, as the first southern vote, Iowa will probably have to move its caucus to December of this year!

    What a joke.  Only an anarchist would appreciate this election cycle.

    There is a rumor that new presidential candidates are ready to announce for the 2012 race in January!  They will only have to raise a billion dollars for that contest.

    If only this were Great Brittan, we could have President Bush call an early election in October of this year, and we could have the decision on the White House before Thanksgiving.

    Where are the cigar smoking, fat cat, party bosses, when we need them?

    Thanks for reading:

    Bob Kholos

Blogging with Cancer...A Democrats View...by Bob Kholos

    As I am treated for Lymphoma, with Chemotherapy and Radiation, certain things, as a Democrat, hit me pretty hard, other than the need for national health insurance.
    I don't have any tolerance for our presidential candidates fighting with each other like third graders.
    But, more importantly, I am astounded at the lack of interest in changing the way we put together our Plutocratic form of national elections.
    After the 1968 Democratic Convention, which was more of a riot than a nominating event, US Senator Harold E. Hughes (IA.) and US Senator George McGovern (SD) along with young attorneys, Sandy Berger and Eli Siegal, instituted a more open nominating process, pushing aside the heavy control by party bosses.

    Putting some balance into the process, Democratic voters were allowed more power in the selection of delegates aligned with their candidates.

    Then, after the "Watergate" reforms, the Supreme Court knocked down many of the provisions on the basis of free speech.

    What we have now is a patchwork of good and bad, when it comes to reforming our national election process and the amount of special interest money going into the coffers of Congressional as well as Presidential candidates.

    I would guess, with my personal knowledge of past campaigns, the Presidential Candidates from our Democratic Party are spending about 90% of their time raising money.

    The election will probably cost the winning candidate in November, 2008, about 500-million dollars.

    That is a lot of special interest access to the President of the US in 2009.

    Not all special interests are bad, and there is something to say about our style of open capitalistic democracy.  While supporting workers rights, we must also protect industry from crippling legislation which hurts our companies on the international front, for example.  Also, someone has to pay the taxes!

    But, there is no energy in reforming the current way we elect our Presidential candidates.

    The early big state primaries are tilted to the wealthiest candidates, or at least the most Establishment candidates at the time.

    Too much money is flowing to too few candidates.

    So, what can we, as small "d" democrats do about this situation?

    1.  Demand in 2012 that fewer open primaries with big states start in the winter of that year.

    2.  Have primaries in states where private television stations allow some free and equal time (not at 2am) for Presidential candidates for commercials and statements.

    3.  Allow a candidate to raise 25% of his or her money from one or more individuals.  As long as it is reported, we'll know who has the influence.  For example, when Democrats were looking for somebody to challenge LBJ on the war in Vietnam, one wealthy industrialist from Boston, gave Eugene McCarthy enough seed money to run in New Hampshire and challenge President Johnson.

    This will also reduce the time that a credible candidate has to spend raising special interest money at $2,300 bucks a pop.

    4. Reduce the number of open primaries, with alternate states getting preferential treatment every other national campaign season.

    5.  Have a Democratic Convention in a Union facility to fight out these reforms and change the way we hold our primaries.

    There are other ideas...but this would be a start.

    Thanks for reading:

    Bob Kholos