Category Archives: news and commentary

Marilyn Monroe at 100: Brief Career, Long-Lasting Legacy.

Leave a reply

FEATURE image: Marilyn Monroe by Jock Carroll, June, 1952. In 1952, Canadian journalist‑photographer Jock Carroll spent two weeks documenting 26‑year‑old Marilyn Monroe in Niagara Falls as she filmed Niagara. Assigned by Weekend Magazine, he captured candid moments that revealed the rising star behind the role. They connected quickly, leading to a series of informal sessions—most notably the General Brock hotel shoot, where she practiced smoking for a part, and their on‑location wanderings along the river, where he photographed her among surprised tourists. The best images resurfaced in 1996 in Falling for Marilyn: The Lost Niagara Collection, now central to Niagara‑era Monroe archives. “Marilyn Monroe by Jock Carroll, June, 1952” by thefoxling is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0.

Marilyn Monroe would have turned 100 today on June 1, 2026. Nearly 65 years after her sudden death in August 1962, the world is marking her centenary with global film retrospectives, documentaries, and art exhibitions. From her roots as a vulnerable foster child to her rise as a towering Hollywood icon, Monroe transformed herself into a master of her own image, a savvy business pioneer, and an enduring symbol of resilience.

Biographical Overview: The Making of an Icon

Early Life and Adversity

Born Norma Jeane Mortenson on June 1, 1926, in Los Angeles, Monroe endured a turbulent and marginalized childhood. After her mother was institutionalized with schizophrenia, Monroe became a ward of the state, spending her youth moving between orphanages and foster care. She married a neighbor shortly after her 16th birthday. In 1945, while working at a defense factory, she left her job to begin a successful modeling career, establishing the essential grit that would fuel her future Hollywood ascent.

“marilyn monroe” by Gerard Stolk (vers l’automne) is licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0.

Defying the Hollywood Playbook

Monroe trained rigorously to transition into acting, debuting in minor film roles by the late 1940s. Though long reduced to a “bombshell” caricature by the studio system, Monroe was an ambitious, self-constructed artist who deeply understood the camera. She systematically fought studio heads for creative control. In December 1955, she negotiated a landmark seven-year contract with 20th Century-Fox, securing a premium salary of $100,000 per movie alongside the rare right to approve her own directors, cinematographers, and projects.

Monroe and sultry star Jane Russell shared the screen just once, in Howard Hawks’s 1953 musical comedy Gentlemen Prefer Blondes. Monroe played Lorelei Lee, the bubbly, gold‑digging showgirl, while Russell anchored the film as Dorothy Shaw, her sharp‑witted, fiercely loyal best friend. Their chemistry—playful, balanced, and effortless—became one of the film’s signatures. Their partnership spilled into real‑world Hollywood lore as well: the two famously pressed their handprints and footprints side by side in the cement at Grauman’s Chinese Theatre, sealing their brief but iconic collaboration in movie history. “Marilyn Monroe and Jane Russell at Chinese Theater 2” by Los Angeles Times is licensed under CC BY 4.0.

Independent Artistry and Business Innovation

Monroe became a feminist pioneer in a repressive era by founding her own independent venture, Marilyn Monroe Productions (MMP), in November 1954. This allowed her to step away from repetitive studio typecasting and pursue serious method acting in New York. Beyond her glamorous exterior, Monroe was highly intellectual—passionately studying literature, politics, and psychoanalysis. She used her immense platform for philanthropy and championed other artists, famously giving designer Bob Mackie his early career break.

Marilyn reading Irish modernist novelist James Joyce. Marilyn Monroe deliberately built the on‑screen persona Hollywood demanded of her, yet she just as deliberately complicated it. She played the “dumb blonde” roles magnificently, but she also worked against that stereotype by allowing herself to be photographed reading, studying, and thinking—images that quietly challenged the industry’s narrow expectations. In reality, she was a deeply intellectual woman who used books to self‑educate, sharpen her craft, and carve out a private inner life away from public scrutiny. Reading became both a refuge and a tool: a way to grow, to escape, and to become a more serious, disciplined actor than the roles she was offered ever suggested. “Marilyn Monroe Reading James Joyce” by I, Puzzled is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0.

Enduring Legacy

Following three marriages—including high-profile unions with baseball legend Joe DiMaggio and playwright Arthur Miller— On August 5, 1962, Monroe was found dead from a drug overdose at age 36. The tragedy occurred in the 12305 Fifth Helena Drive home in Brentwood she had purchased just six months earlier. The modest 1929 Spanish Colonial Revival for which she paid $77,500 was the very first piece of residential real estate that Monroe purchased completely on her own, using her own money, and with her name solely on the deed.

Marilyn Monroe’s three marriages chart her rise from a guarded teenager to a woman searching for emotional and intellectual grounding. At sixteen she wed James Dougherty, a protective but conventional match that dissolved once her career began to take shape. Her whirlwind union with Joe DiMaggio burned bright and fast, undone by his jealousy even as he later became a loyal presence who honored her memory for years. Her longest marriage, to Arthur Miller, reflected her desire to be taken seriously, yet it strained under personal losses and the pressures of fame and creative collaboration. “Marilyn Monroe and Arthur Miller” by Alexander Sasha Dejan is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.

Officially ruled a “probable suicide,” her tragic passing sparked international headlines and enduring conspiracy theories. Today, her boundary-pushing legacy continues to inspire modern art, from Andy Warhol’s classic “Marilyn Diptych” silkscreens to William Travilla’s historic wardrobe installations at the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures.

The well‑known photographs Jock Carroll took of Marilyn Monroe relaxing and reading the script of the film Niagara in bed were shot in Room 801 of the General Brock Hotel—now the Crowne Plaza Niagara Falls—in Ontario, Canada. It was taken in June 1952 during her 1952 stay for the filming of Niagara. “Marilyn Monroe by Jock Carroll, June, 1952” by thefoxling is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0.

The publicity shots for the iconic “flying skirt” scene in The Seven Year Itch (1955) are arguably the most famous promotional images in Hollywood history, born from a calculated publicity stunt that created a massive public spectacle and ended Marilyn Monroe’s second marriage. Brainstormed by photographer Sam Shaw and featuring an ivory white halter-neck dress by William Travilla, the sequence was filmed at 1:00 AM on September 15, 1954, outside Manhattan’s Trans-Lux 52nd Street Theater. A raucous crowd of over 1,500 onlookers and 100 photographers swarmed the intersection as a subway grate blower sent Monroe’s skirt flying through 14 takes, generating deafening cheers that completely ruined the audio and forced a studio reshoot weeks later in Los Angeles. “Marilyn Monroe Lexington Subway Image” by MTAPhotos is licensed under CC BY 2.0.

While the event cemented Monroe as the ultimate American sex symbol, her traditional husband, baseball legend Joe DiMaggio, grew furious watching the crowd ogle her undergarments, sparking a bitter fight that night at the St. Regis Hotel that led directly to their divorce after just nine months of marriage. “marilyn monroe and joe dimaggio” by lopesFamily is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0.

MARILYN MONROE: Selected Filmography and Synopsis

During her 15-year movie career, Monroe starred in some of the most enduring features of the 20th century. Key highlights of her cinematic legacy include:

Dangerous Years (1947) – Monroe makes her official film debut playing a brief role as a waitress.

The Asphalt Jungle (1950) – A critical breakthrough role directed by John Huston, featuring Monroe as a corrupt lawyer’s mistress.

All About Eve (1950) – Monroe earns critical attention as the sharp Miss Caswell in this prestigious, award-winning drama.

Niagara (1953) – A dramatic film noir shot in vivid color and CinemaScope that established her early box office magnetism.

Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953) – A massive $5.3 million musical comedy hit where Monroe plays gold-digging showgirl Lorelei Lee. The film cemented her superstardom and featured her effortless, iconic performance of “Diamonds Are a Girl’s Best Friend.”

How to Marry a Millionaire (1953) – A highly successful $8 million CinemaScope comedy showcasing her sharp, voluptuous comic timing.

The Seven Year Itch (1955) – A definitive $4.5 million cultural high point directed by Billy Wilder. It features the legendary, internationally sensation scene of Monroe’s white dress billowing over a Manhattan subway grate.

Bus Stop (1956) – A nuanced, critically acclaimed dramatic performance directed by Joshua Logan that pulled in $4.25 million.

The Prince and the Showgirl (1957) – A notable independent project produced under her own studio banner, Warner Brothers distribution.

Some Like It Hot (1959) – A legendary United Artists comedy displaying her “effervescent melancholy” and earning her major awards.

The Misfits (1961) – A dramatic John Huston production that served as Monroe’s final completed feature film, released just one year before her death.

The Sanctuary of a Global Pilgrimage

Marilyn Monroe lives on in the hearts of her worldwide admirers with a radiance that outlasts fame itself, proving that her vulnerability and warmth reach far deeper than her silver‑screen glamour. Decades after her passing, she is remembered not as a distant studio creation, but as a profoundly human figure—someone whose longing for love, acceptance, and artistic freedom makes her feel like an intimate friend to millions. It is this emotional closeness, this sense of truly knowing her, that has transformed her resting place into one of the most cherished pilgrimage sites in contemporary culture.

Tucked quietly behind tall glass towers in a bustling commercial district, Marilyn’s final sanctuary rests at Pierce Brothers Westwood Village Memorial Park, less than three miles from her Brentwood home where her life ended. In the Corridor of Memories, her pink marble crypt—Crypt 24—stands out unmistakably. For decades, visitors have pressed lipstick‑stained kisses onto the stone, leaving a soft crimson patina that no amount of polishing can erase. Fresh flowers, handwritten letters, poems, photographs, and small tokens of devotion gather there in a constant, ever‑renewing tribute.

“Marilyn Monroe Grave” by Arthur Dark is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.

The Global Anniversary Gatherings

Each year, especially on June 1 and August 5, the small cemetery becomes a living shrine. Admirers travel from every corner of the world to honor her—some dressed in lovingly recreated versions of her iconic looks, others carrying stories of how she shaped their lives. Together, they ensure that her light, so often misunderstood in life, never dims in memory.

A Monument to the Love She Was Denied

In the end, Marilyn’s gravesite has become what Hollywood never fully allowed her to receive: a place of unconditional affection. It is a sanctuary where strangers become companions in shared devotion, where her memory is tended with gentleness, and where the world continues to offer her the love, protection, and dignity she longed for. Her resting place is not merely a crypt—it is a living testament to the enduring bond between a woman and the millions who still feel her presence.

In Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, the moment Dorothy and Lady Beekman place a diamond tiara onto Lorelei’s head encapsulates the film’s core themes of performance, glamour, and female camaraderie. This striking gesture visually echoes Lorelei’s famous philosophy that diamonds, crowns, and adornments are far more than mere accessories; they are essential tools for survival, security, and self-definition in a man’s world. Shared alongside actress Norma Varden, this playful interaction highlights Lorelei’s delightful, self-aware charm as she masterfully navigates and subverts the extravagant spectacle of mid-century femininity. “Marilyn Monroe” by afevrier is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0.

PACHAMAMA AT THE VATICAN: UNIVERSAL SACRED SYMBOL OR IDOLATRY?

Leave a reply

Feature image: “De la Serie Pachamama” by Juan Vélez is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0. Pachamama, meaning “Mother Earth” in Quechua and Aymara, is the Andean goddess of fertility and nature—a living, nurturing force central to indigenous culture. For centuries she has embodied the unity of space, time, and land, and is honored through reciprocal agricultural rituals to ensure abundant harvests.

The inauguration Mass of Pope Francis took place on March 19, 2013, in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican. The ceremony marked the official start of his ministry as the 266th pope and was attended by thousands of faithful, religious leaders, and political dignitaries from the global community. “The Inauguration Mass For Pope Francis” by Catholic Church (England and Wales) is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0.

Within Christian theology, Yahweh and Abba are understood as designations for the same God, each highlighting a different dimension of the divine identity: the LORD. Yahweh (YHWH), the sacred name revealed in the Hebrew Bible, emphasizes God’s self‑existence and covenantal sovereignty. Abba—an Aramaic term meaning “Father”—is used by Jesus and later by Paul to express an intimate, relational mode of addressing that same Creator. The relationship of Father and Son regarding Yahweh and the Messiah comes from the Hebrew Bible in a prophecy of Nathan. Together, the terms reflect both the transcendence and the personal closeness attributed to God in Christian thought.

God smote the land with all manner of plagues, but still Pharaoh’s heart was hardened. “These things were ordered by themselves, not by God.” Released by Paramount Pictures, The Ten Commandments is a 1956 American epic directed, produced, and narrated by Cecil B. DeMille. Starring Charlton Heston as Moses and Yul Brynner as Pharaoh, the film dramatizes the biblical story of the Exodus.

The account of the first plague in Exodus—when the Nile turned to blood—has long been understood in Christian tradition as a dramatic assertion of the LORD’s sovereignty over creation. Water, earth, sun, moon, and all natural forces fall under His command. In the ancient world, this act was not merely a disruption of nature but a direct theological confrontation. The Nile was revered as a divine source of life, and Egyptian religion associated it with deities such as Hapi, Khnum, and Osiris. By transforming the river into blood, the LORD demonstrated His supremacy over these gods and exposed the futility of idolatry.

This theme—God’s judgment against false worship—runs throughout Scripture. The first commandment forbids the worship of other gods, and Deuteronomy 6:13–16, later cited by Jesus during His temptation in the desert (Matthew 4), reinforces the call to exclusive fidelity to the LORD and warns against “testing” Him through divided allegiance and idol worship. The plagues, therefore, are not arbitrary punishments but theological signs: they reveal the consequences of idolatry and call both Israel and Egypt to recognize the one true God.

Contemporary Catholics argue that this same principle applies today when Church leaders engage in or appear to endorse rituals involving non Christian deities. Critics of modernist tendencies point to events such as the Pachamama ceremonies during the Amazon Synod, interpreting them as a departure from the first commandment and a dangerous blurring of the line between respect for indigenous cultures and participation in religious acts incompatible with Christian worship. Such actions echo the temptation Jesus resisted who obeyed his Father’s will and relied on his Providence —instead of in the least seeking harmony or power through compromise with spiritual forces outside the covenant.

This tension recalls the famous exchange between Margaret More and her father, St. Thomas More. When she urged him to outwardly conform to an oath while privately dissenting, he replied: “What is an oath then but words we say to God?” His point was that fidelity requires integrity of both heart and action. To critics of modern syncretistic gestures, the same principle applies: one cannot outwardly participate in rites honoring a pagan goddess while inwardly claiming a different intention.

Seen through this lens, the first plague is not harsh but proportionate to the spiritual crisis it confronts. It transforms a symbol of life into a sign of judgment, exposing the emptiness of Egypt’s gods and warning Pharaoh of the consequences of hardened idolatry. The narrative becomes not only an ancient story but a perennial reminder: whenever God’s people flirt with rival spiritual powers, the result is confusion, disorder, and a call to return to the LORD with undivided hearts.

“Tierra pachamama” by Julieta suarez is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.

There was a Pachamama ceremonial rite attended by Pope Francis in the Vatican Gardens during the Amazon Synod on October 4, 2019. Several related events followed in the subsequent days and weeks. On October 7, 2019, statues identified as Pachamama and other indigenous figures were carried from St. Peter’s Basilica to the Synod Hall and placed before the main altar. After several of these statues were removed and thrown into the Tiber River, Pope Francis ordered their recovery and had them returned to the main altar between October 21 and 25, 2019. During the Synod’s closing Mass on October 25, the pope accepted a bowl associated with ritual practices involving Pachamama and placed it on the altar. See – Pope Francis apologizes that Amazon synod Pachamama statues were thrown into Tiber River and The Pope, the Amazon, and Pachamama | FRANCIS X. CLOONEY, S.J. – retrieved March 23, 2026.  As part of the post‑synodal process, Pope Francis issued the apostolic exhortation Querida Amazonia on February 12, 2020, which included a brief reference to Pachamama. Although the pope did not explicitly define whether the contested image represents a goddess, a symbol of Mother Earth, or simply a pregnant woman, he framed its presence within Christian liturgical contexts as an expression of respect for indigenous cultures. He therefore cautioned against hasty judgments and argued that “it is possible to take up an indigenous symbol in some way, without necessarily considering it as idolatry.” See – “Querida Amazonia”: Post-Synodal Exhortation to the People of God and to All Persons of Good Will (2 February 2020) – retrieved March 23, 2026.  

“Paths to Pachamama by the Guarani Kaiowá.” “Caminhos para Pachamama pelos Guaraní Kaiowá” by festivalsensacional is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0.

The papal text drew criticism from numerous sectors within the Church, including Catholic women’s organizations, which noted a central tension: while the document speaks eloquently about sensitivity to and acceptance of indigenous religious practices, it simultaneously overlooks the fact that women play indispensable liturgical and pastoral roles in Amazonian communities, even as the Catholic Church continues to bar women from ordained ministry.

Some commentators further argued that the document reflects a distinctly Jesuit interpretive lens, reviving debates reminiscent of the Chinese Rites Controversy (c. 1630s–1742). That earlier dispute—an intense, century‑long conflict within the Church—centered on whether Confucian and ancestor‑veneration rituals were compatible with Christian practice. Jesuits advocated for cultural accommodation, permitting converts to retain these rites, whereas Dominicans and Franciscans condemned them as pagan superstition. The controversy ultimately ended with a papal prohibition, a defeat the Jesuits neither forgot nor forgave. Their later suppression by Pope Clement XIV in the 1773 brief Dominus ac Redemptor further cemented the episode’s significance in Jesuit memory.

Against this backdrop, Querida Amazonia was interpreted by some as a cultural manifesto that reopens historically contentious questions about inculturation without offering concrete pastoral or structural proposals for the Church’s mission in the region. Critics argued that its “Pan‑Amazonian” vision implicitly legitimized the use of “Pachamama” figures in ecclesial settings—objects some labeled as idolatrous—and risked advancing a syncretistic or pantheistic ecclesiology. In this view, the document’s strong emphasis on indigenous spirituality blurs the line between respect for local cultures and a theological reconfiguration in which the natural environment itself appears to be divinized.

“Ofrenda a la Pachamama” by Emi ♫ is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0.
“ofrenda a la pachamama” by pirindao is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.

THERE’S NOTHING “PAGAN” TO SEE HERE: VATICAN SPOKESMEN.

Vatican officials repeatedly stressed that the Pachamama figures—those smooth wooden carvings that appeared throughout the Amazon Synod—were meant to embody life itself, nothing more. Yet the debate refused to settle. Reporters and commentators kept circling back, probing whether these images carried echoes of Amazonian spiritual traditions, perhaps even the mystical or magical practices woven into the forest cultures from which they emerged.

Paolo Ruffini, head of the Vatican’s communications office, stepped forward in October 2019 with a firm, almost weary clarity. The figure, he insisted, “fundamentally… represents life. And enough.” He brushed aside attempts to brand Pachamama as “pagan” or “evil,” pushing back against the swirl of speculation. To him, the symbol was no more sinister than a tree—another universal emblem of fertility, rootedness, and the continuity of creation. Ruffini’s comparison was deliberate: a reminder that symbols can be shared across cultures without carrying the weight of worship, and that the Church, in this moment, was choosing to see Pachamama not as a rival deity but as a poetic gesture toward the sacredness of life. see – Pope Francis apologizes that Amazon synod Pachamama statues were thrown into Tiber River – retrieved March 23, 2026.

“Future Pope Leo XIV in 2012 headshot” by Eja Encontro Juvenil Agostiniano Agostiniano is licensed under CC BY 3.0.

Recent reports have drawn attention to Pope Leo XIV—widely regarded as a protégé of Pope Francis—regarding his participation in Pachamama-related ceremonies during his missionary work in Peru in the mid‑1990s. The resurfacing of these accounts in 2026 has generated considerable debate. Critics have questioned how the pope can, on the one hand, caution clergy against relying on advanced technologies such as artificial intelligence in their homiletic preparation, while on the other hand urging restraint in judging indigenous religious practices and appearing to support primitive rituals that some observers interpret as forms of non‑Christian worship.

The discussion intensified after photographs emerged from an Augustinian symposium in South America, depicting a mid‑forties Fr. Robert Prevost kneeling in a circle during what has been described as an indigenous agricultural ritual. For those who do not view such practices as conflicting with the First Commandment, the images may seem unremarkable. For others, however, they raise theological and pastoral concerns about syncretism and the boundaries of legitimate cultural engagement within the Church.

News, Feature, Opinion: FEB. 16, 2026. Actor and filmmaker Robert Duvall died February 15, 2026, at 95, it was announced today.

Leave a reply

Feature image: Dave Kunkel, Steve Lang, Robert Duvall. “Dave Kunkel, Steve Lang, Robert Duvall” by Wicklein Group is licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0.

ROSA LEE: I LOVE YOU, YOU KNOW? EVERY NIGHT WHEN I SAY MY PRAYERS AND I THANK THE LORD FOR HIS BLESSINGS AND HIS TENDER MERCIES TO ME, YOU AND SONNY HEAD THE LIST. Tender Mercies – 11. “Blessings and Tender Mercies” – retrieved February 16, 2026.

Robert Duvall died February 15, 2026, at his home in Middleburg, Virginia, at 95 it was announced February 16. In Tender Mercies, a 1983 American drama film set in Texas, Robert Duvall played washed-up country singer Mac Sledge in a performance that won that year’s Academy Award for Best Actor. In this scene, Duvall’s friend, Wilford Brimley, played Harry, Mac’s former manager, and Tess Harper played a widow named Rosa Lee who develops feelings for Mac. Coming off a bitter break up with his wife Dixie Lee, a superstar country singer, who won’t let her ex-alcoholic husband near herself or their grown daughter, Mac, a once legendary country music star in his own right, lives and works quietly at a gas station operated by Rosa Lee who lives with her young son. As Mac tries to rebuild both his career and life on the Texas badlands, he finds he has keener, if less flashy, success with the latter. Nominated for 5 Academy Awards, Tender Mercies also won Oscar for Best Screenplay – Written Directly for the Screen (Horton Foote). In his 60-year film career, Duvall made scores of films, receiving seven Academy Award nominations in the process. Duvall also received four Golden Globe Awards. From his film debut in 1962 as Boo Radley in To Kill A Mockingbird, Duvall appeared in some of the most iconic feature films of his era and in iconic roles both on screen and behind the camera as producer, writer and director. Notable film titles include: True Grit (1969), M*A*S*H (1970), The Godfather (1972), The Godfather Part II (1974), The Conversation (1974), Apocalypse Now (1979), The Great Santini (1979), Tender Mercies (1983), The Natural (1984), The Apostle (1997), Open Range (2003), and Wild Horses (2015). At 91 years old, Duvall’s final film, The Pale Blue Eye, was released 60 years after his first, in 2022.

Robert Duvall played Lieutenant Colonel William “Bill” Kilgore in Apocalypse Now, a 1979 war film directed by Francis (Ford) Coppola.  Commanding the 1st Battalion, 9th Air Cavalry Regiment during the Vietnam War, Kilgore is depicted as an adrenaline-fueled “gung-ho” officer who embodies the insanity of the war. (6) Apocalypse Now UHD (1979) – Lieutenant Colonel Bill Kilgore (1/11) | 4K Clips – YouTube – retrieved February 16, 2026.
Based on the 1969 novel by Mario Puzo, Francis Ford Coppola’s The Godfather (1972) is one of the greatest films of all time. Robert Duvall plays cool-headed Tom Hagen, the Irish-German consigliere and lawyer for the Corleone crime family. Since youth Hagen was unofficially adopted into the New York-based Italian American family by the Godfather, Vito Corleone. Hagen is dispatched to Hollywood by the Godfather to secure a film role for Johnny Fontaine, a singer and Vito’s godson, and produced by Jack Woltz (John Marley). When Woltz refuses Tom Hagen’s first offer for Johnny to star in his picture, and Tom Hagen returns to New York, the Godfather makes the reluctant film producer a second offer he can’t refuse.

ECONOMY TOPICS: June 9, 2024 – INFLATION. At its worst, Jimmy Carter 7% unemployment (13.3% inflation) and Ronald Reagan 11% unemployment (4% inflation). In 2024, Joe Biden 4% unemployment (4% inflation).

Leave a reply

Feature Image:”Money” by free pictures of money is licensed under CC BY 2.0.

Reacting to a story in the Wall Street Journal dated June 9, 2024 entitled, “Americans Really, Really Hate Inflation—and That’s a Big Problem for the Fed” (see – https://www.wsj.com/economy/central-banking/americans-inflation-target-fed-c1fc7857?mod=latest_headlines – retrieved June 9, 2024) the author cites various financial experts where some of them prefer the traditional 2% target inflation rate for the Federal Reserve and others for a higher and perhaps more realistic 4% target rate (or thereabouts) so to give better headroom for the Fed to cut rates or not to stimulate and otherwise moderate the economy. In tandem with this article is another article that appeared in the Tampa Bay Times updated August 28, 2005 entitled, “Remember how Reagan beat inflation” (see – https://www.tampabay.com/archive/2004/06/09/remember-how-reagan-beat-inflation/ – retrieved June 9, 2024) that served as a history of inflation and unemployment rates between the 1960’s and the early 2000s.

Portrait of Paul A. Volcker (1927-2019) by Luis Alvarez Roure. 2015. Oil on linen. 40 x 30 inches. Collection of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. Volcker served as Fed chairman from 1979 to 1987. PHOTO CC BY-SA 3.0.

There are many ways to skin a cat – and as some financial experts agree that a 2% target inflation rate is the better choice for the Fed to maintain – the board can work with this traditional target inflation rate to react to the economy. That the going inflation rate should be higher and, if for no other reason that it matches today’s inflation level (4% as of April 2023 cited by WSJ article), has its proponents as more practical if not always politically viable. The last time inflation was as high as it is in 2024 was under one-term Democrat president Jimmy Carter in 1980. After inflation in 1976 was 4.9%, it roared to 13.3% under Carter. Further, the Carter Administration did not stop inflation’s continued rising at an unpredictable pace. When Reagan was elected in 1980 nearly 60% of voters said inflation was, as the TBT article stated, “a determining issue for them.” Mortgage rates, too, were at an historic high level in 1980. It was Fed Chairman Paul Volcker’s tight money policy that revived the 1980s and this despite Reagan’s tax cuts and massive deficit spending which left a troublesome legacy of historically large deficits and economic consolidation. To fix the economy as Volcker and Reagan worked it in the early 1980s had workers bear the brunt – Carter’s 7% unemployment rate spiked to 11% under Reagan. This meant millions of workers were suddenly without the means to buy goods and services and – guess what?- inflation dropped to under 4%. Though it ticked up to 6% by 1990 it has not been higher until President Joe Biden. The WSJ article’s citing “wage growth” that consumers should be appreciating yet apparently choose to ignore seems to be that most spectral of all economic indicators. As house prices (and mortgage interest rates) have doubled in the last 20 years how have wages kept up? Since Reagan, “free” money and attendant excessive borrowing at the individual and government level clearly juiced the economy, but at a price where the American people now have record debt levels and there have been certain misdirected “too big too fail” investments including inadequate affordable housing inventory and overbuilding office space and other commercial developments and the sometimes implosion of capital requiring huge bailouts, much of it from more borrowed money with the taxpayer on the hook.

Federal Reserve Board Chairman Jerome H. Powell took office on February 5, 2018, for a four-year term. He was reappointed to the office and sworn in for a second four-year term on May 23, 2022. Public Domain.

Louis Gossett Jr., trailblazing actor and Oscar‑winning Sgt. Foley in An Officer and a Gentleman, dies at 87.

Leave a reply

FEATURE image: Louis Gossett, Jr. (1936-2024). “File:Louis Gossett Jr LF.JPG” by Credit to lukeford.net (permission statement at en:User:Tabercil/Luke Ford permission) is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.5.

“Lou Gossett Jr” by Alan Light is licensed under CC BY 2.0.

Louis Gossett Jr. at the 60th Academy Awards in 1987 — a moment that captured the authority and ease of a man who had already carved out one of the most decorated careers in American entertainment.

In a stage, film, and television journey that stretched across generations, Gossett made his Broadway debut at 17 and never stopped ascending. Over the decades he collected dozens of Best Actor and Supporting Actor honors, including his historic 1983 Academy Award, along with Golden Globes, Primetime and Daytime Emmys, and multiple NAACP Image Awards. He wasn’t just successful — he was a trailblazer who widened the path for those who followed.

Louis Gossett Jr. died on March 29, 2024, at a rehabilitation center in Santa Monica, California. He was 87.

Louis Gossett Jr. won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his ferocious, unforgettable turn as Navy Gunnery Sergeant Emil Foley in the 1982 Paramount summer powerhouse An Officer and a Gentleman. Directed by Taylor Hackford and starring Richard Gere and Debra Winger, the film tracks 13 bruising weeks of aviation officer candidate training under Foley’s unrelenting command — a crucible designed to strip away ego, expose character, and forge discipline.

As candidates from every corner of civilian life grind through classroom drills and field exercises, the real test becomes internal: strength versus insecurity, ambition versus fear, the fragile bonds of camaraderie versus the pressure to quit. No one embodies that struggle more than Zack Mayo (Richard Gere), whose swagger masks a lifetime of emotional armor. Foley’s job is to break him down; the story’s power comes from watching whether Mayo can build himself back up.

Released in July 1982, An Officer and a Gentleman landed like a jolt. I remember seeing it that summer in a packed theater — one of the most purely entertaining films I’d encountered up to that point in life, and honestly, since. (And yes, it was 1982, so ticket prices were already creeping up.)

At the center is brash aviation officer candidate Zack Mayo (Richard Gere), a young man who enlists in the all-volunteer U.S. armed forces — a system only nine years old at the time. Mayo has the physical and mental chops, but his hustler instincts get the better of him: he’s caught selling polished shoes and buckles to other candidates during inspection. It’s just the first crack in his armor of ego.

U.S. Marine Gunnery Sergeant Emil Foley: “Mayo I want you DOR.(Drop On Request).”
Aviation Officer Candidate Zack Mayo: “No Sir. You can kick me out of here but I ain’t quittin’.”

Enter Gunnery Sergeant Emil Foley (Louis Gossett Jr., in his Oscar‑winning role), the hardest man on the base — a drill instructor who locks onto Zack Mayo and refuses to let him skate by on ego. Foley’s mandate is blunt and uncompromising: break Mayo down, teach him esprit de corps, and rebuild him into someone worthy of the uniform.

The film became Paramount’s biggest hit of 1982. Produced for $6 million, it earned $190 million at the box office — roughly $524 million in 2022 dollars. Audiences responded to its classic architecture: a diverse, believable ensemble; high‑stakes training sequences; friendships forged under pressure; and a tender romance between Mayo and Paula (Debra Winger), a factory worker and townie with a quiet resilience.

And then there’s the ending — triumphant, cathartic, and instantly iconic.

Zack Mayo (Richard Gere)- “I won’t ever forget you sergeant.” In this penultimate scene from An Officer and a Gentleman, Sgt. Foley’s graduating class lines up to thank the gunnery sergeant who pushed them to the limit. When Ensign Zack Mayo — the officer candidate most transformed by Foley’s brutal, exacting training — steps forward, he offers his Navy challenge coin. Foley pockets it separately from the others, recognizing it as a symbol of uncommon achievement and hard‑won purpose.

From his turn as Will Reeves/Hooded Justice in HBO’s Watchmen (2019) to major film roles in The Color Purple (2023) and his Oscar‑winning performance as Gunnery Sergeant Emil Foley in An Officer and a Gentleman (1982), Louis Gossett Jr. built a career defined by range, authority, and trailblazing impact.

While the ingredients weren’t new, the finale of An Officer and a Gentleman refined them into a crowd‑pleasing template that shaped 1980s and 1990s pop culture, cementing the image of the uniformed hero sweeping his love away from the factory floor.

Jack Nitzsche’s career peaked in 1983 when the Chicago‑born composer won both the Academy Award and the BAFTA for Best Original Song for co‑writing “Up Where We Belong” with Buffy Sainte‑Marie (lyrics by Will Jennings). Powered by that anthem and his sweeping main theme, Nitzsche also earned Oscar and BAFTA nominations for Best Original Score.

The song is inseparable from the film’s legendary finale: Zack Mayo (Richard Gere), newly minted as a Naval Aviator, strides into Paula’s (Debra Winger) paper factory in his dress whites, lifts her into his arms, and carries her out as her co‑workers, mouths agape at the what they are seeing, quickly erupt in cheers. It’s a fairy‑tale rescue staged on a factory floor — a “knight in shining armor” moment that resolves two people both of whom were from the wrong‑side‑of‑the‑tracks renewing themselves in their romance with triumphant clarity.

The emotional voltage of the scene is reinforced by Joe Cocker and Jennifer Warnes’ soaring performance of “Up Where We Belong,” which turns the moment into pure catharsis. Ironically, Richard Gere initially pushed back on this scene, calling the ending too sentimental for such a gritty film, but director Taylor Hackford insisted — and created one of the most iconic romantic conclusions in movie history.

SOURCES:
https://customchallengecoins.net/the-rich-history-and-meaning-behind-navy-challenge-coins/ – retrieved March 30, 2024.

Marianne Williamson is running for President in 2024 and her record as a charity organization founder is formidable. Her PROJECT ANGEL FOOD, founded in 1989, has served more than 16,000,000 free meals to the sick and infirm in a mission of love.

Leave a reply

FEATURE Image: Marianne Williamson founded Project Angel Food in Hollywood, California, that prepares and delivers healthy meals to feed people impacted by serious illness, bringing comfort and hope every day. PHOTO: “Marianne Williamson” by Gage Skidmore is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0.

Marianne Williamson (b. 1952), a Democrat, is running for U.S. president in 2024. She has an interesting biography. For example, Williamson has been active in charity work founding in 1989 Project Angel Food that provides free meals for people too sick to shop and cook for themselves. Sparked in response to a dramatic increase in HIV/AIDS cases in the late 1980s and early 1990’s, Project Angel Food has served its 16 millionth free meal to the sick and infirm in 2023. Within an especially committed and hard-working history, Elizabeth Taylor’s AIDS Foundation gave Project Angel Food its first-ever grant of $150,000 in 1992 and the charity organization obtained its first government grant in 1993. In 1999, Taylor accepted an Angel Award recognizing her impact on increasing awareness of HIV/AIDS at a time in Los Angeles when there were more than 30,000 known cases. In 1998, Marianne Williamson founded the Peace Alliance, a U.S. nonprofit working towards peace building in the U.S. and around the globe. Ms. Williamson is a board member for RESULTS, a nonprofit dedicated to finding long-term solutions to poverty. Ms. Williamson’s candidacy for U.S. President this year (she UNsuspended her campaign this week) should certainly be worth following.

5.29 minutes. “The spirit of this place even though it’s so modern and so huge that little seed that was planted in the very beginning, that spark I swear, Is still here which is so important…”

SUPERDELEGATES in the 2016 Democratic Presidential Primaries: does the party establishment win the battle and lose the war?

Leave a reply

FEATURE image: “Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton – Caricatures” by DonkeyHotey is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0.

Bernie Sanders. “Bernie Sanders” by Nathan Congleton is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0.
super d
Fair use.
Hillary Clinton. “Hillary Clinton” by Gage Skidmore is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0.

By John Walsh – 4:00 pm Chicago time, April 27, 2016.

Despite the corporate media’s unabashed favoritism for Hillary Clinton when reporting the news – it is reminiscent of the Cold War days when Americans were told about the partisan propaganda at Pravda (a frightening journalistic prospect should it ever arrive in some form to America) – the delegate count from April 26, 2016’s five primaries (4 closed and 1 hybrid) comes down to this: a net gain of 52 PLEDGED delegates for Hillary Clinton over Bernie Sanders– or around 2% of the total needed to reach the magic number of 2383 to become the Democratic presidential nominee.

As of April 27, 2016, Bernie Sanders had 1299 PLEDGED delegates and Hillary Clinton 1632 PLEDGED delegates. Neither candidate will likely reach 2,383 delegates– that is, not without the party SUPERdelegates of which Clinton has 519 and Sanders has 39.

It should be well known that the Democratic Party’s nominating process as it is presently constituted is a jimied system, bloated on big money and favoring the status quo, and that its category SUPERdelegates have and will flock to Clinton.

The SUPERdelegates’ reasons to support Clinton may reflect but also transcend her qualifications to be president. The special category of delegates can also work to aid a candidate’s success who may or may not be able to win outright these primaries even under present rules deemed fair. 

In Connecticut’s closed primary on April 26, for instance, Clinton won a net gain of 2 PLEDGED delegates over Sanders based on the people’s vote in that contest but she also received an additional 15 SUPERdelegates there (Bernie picked up zero in the state). In Connecticut Hillary won over 170,000 votes to gain 27 PLEDGED delegates and Sanders won over 153,000 votes to gain 25 PLEDGED delegates – or about 6,300 voters per delegate. Yet Clinton picked up those additional 15 SUPERdelegates cast by 15 fellow Americans whose vote, in this case, has a power equivalent to a bloc of 95,000 ordinary Connecticut voters and, further, basically ginned up the Clinton vote by almost 50%.

This sort of election process flouts the enshrined  “one man/woman, one vote” rule. rather it is a hybrid of the ordinary voter and a handful of special voters who can beknight a candidate and those happy few in the ordinary voter pool who agree with them.

The present Clinton delegate lead and the corporate media reporting that she is the “presumptive nominee” is part chimera as it is based very much on the SUPERdelegate regime and its establishment clique. Democratic Party; my foot.

Bernie Sanders in 2016. “Bernie Sanders 2016” by photogism is licensed under CC BY 2.0.

Bernie Sanders in West Virginia has a 30-point lead in voter polls over Hillary Clinton for the May 10, 2016 primary. Yet they so far split the number of pledged SUPERdelegates though no votes have even been counted.

Hillary Clinton. “Hillary Clinton” by Nrbelex is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0.

On April 26, 2016 Hillary Clinton won Pennsylvania’s primary by 20% in the popular vote over Sanders yet was awarded 1,800% more in SUPERdelegate votes.

It should be expected that in states where Hillary Clinton won the popular vote and most of the PLEDGED delegates that she would pick up more of these SUPERdelegates.

Yet such was not the case in 2016 in New Hampshire, Colorado, Minnesota, Oklahoma, Maine, “Dems Abroad,” Michigan, Utah, Alaska, Hawaii, Washington, Wisconsin, and Rhode Island. In these 12 states (and one constituency) it was Bernie Sanders who won the popular vote and the most PLEDGED delegates but Clinton who picked up all or most of the SUPERdelegates – an additional 77 of them in fact.

In a nomination process for president based on delegate count – which delegates? – this kind of system appears or is “rigged.” Voting results in other states exacerbates the perception of politburo-like favoritism at the DNC and its SUPERdelegate regime. Namely, that when Clinton won the popular vote and most PLEDGED delegates she also still gained all or most of the SUPERdelegates. What gives, America?

Norman Rockwell (American, 1894-1978), Freedom of Speech, 1943.

In all of April 26’s five primary states, Clinton picked up 63 SUPERdelegates and Bernie Sanders picked up one (in Maryland, a state he lost).

Sanders won over 1.1 million votes for his one SUPERdelegate and Clinton won about 27,000 votes for each of hers.

SUPERdelegates are where the action is!

If this is the manner in which the Democrats nominate their party’s presidential candidate it works as a deleterious effect for that candidate’s legitimacy for the general election.

Unfortunately, it is likely some or all of these wildly unfair SUPERdelegates will facilitate the nomination of either Sanders or Clinton unless one of those candidates achieves the magic number of 2,383 in PLEDGED delegates. This is a worthy goal which still remains possible – especially for Clinton.

“Clinton euphoric, Sanders in hysterics” by Eusibeus is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0.

There are 1209 PLEDGED delegates on the table in the final 14 contests and a much smaller indeterminate number of UNPLEDGED delegates (about 195).

Based on PLEDGED delegates, Hillary Clinton would need to win from this point onward 751 of them (62%) and Sanders 1084 of them (89%). These are high and higher electoral numbers for each so one of them secures 2383 in PLEDGED delegates.

Hillary’s challenge to go into the convention with enough PLEDGED delegates has an outside hope to be realistically achievable but it remains likely she will need SUPERdelegates to put her over the top as the party’s standard bearer.

So, if an incomplete slate of PLEDGED delegates is all one needs to be nominated, why not nominate Sanders?

Under this arcane and untrustworthy nominating system, Hillary appears to hold most of the political cards. Sanders can fight on and look to bargain for platform items but the Clinton people will be looking over his shoulder to his voters.

How many of Bernie’s voters do they need to win the general election in November? From that point, deals can be brokered. If Clintonites can peel off enough Bernie voters outright with corporate media-driven stories about party unity and fear mongering over Donald Trump, then any Clinton-Sanders deal may be difficult. But if enough Bernie supporters getting on board for Clinton is problematic –if they clamor for Sanders to be the nominee or on the ticket, or that more of their political beliefs be incorporated into the 2016 Democratic Party platform suchas on campaign finance reform, breaking up the big banks, free public university education, universal medical insurance, a fracking ban, a $15 minimum wage, etc.– all positions spurned by Clinton and her voters – then things should get hugely interesting in Philadelphia in July.

Further, for each of the 14 upcoming primary contests – from Indiana on May 3 to Washington, D.C. on June 14 – Clinton already has 106 SUPERdelegates committed to her candidacy (Bernie has 8). Not a single vote by the people has been counted in any of those places. Welcome to the party.

hillarynetworks FIXED
Fair use.

NOTES

30 point lead in WV – http://mic.com/articles/136039/sanders-has-a-30-point-lead-over-clinton-in-west-virginia-here-s-why-that-matters#.MU5rBef2z

For primary election results – see: http://www.politico.com/2016-election/results/map/president

For state by state delegate distribution – see: http://www.electionprojection.com/democratic-nomination-delegates/