On this day in 1942, a young Navy officer named John F. Kennedy writes a letter to playwright and family friend Clare Booth Luce thanking her for sending him a good-luck coin.
According to Library of Congress records, the coin had belonged to Booth Luce’s mother. Kennedy received the gift just a day before leaving the Kennedy home in Hyannisport, Massachusetts, for World War II duty in the Pacific. In his note, he thanked Booth Luce for her kindness and swore he would clip the coin to his military identification tags.He told her, “good luck is a commodity in rather large demand these days and I feel you have given me a particularly potent bit of it.”
The good-luck charm may have come in handy in 1942 when the PT boat Kennedy was commanding in the Pacific came under heavy fire from the Japanese. In July 1943, according to the official Navy report, Kennedy and the crew of PT 109 were ordered into combat near the Solomon Islands. In the middle of the night on August 2, their boat was rammed by a Japanese destroyer and caught fire. Several of Kennedy’s shipmates were blown overboard into a sea of burning oil. Kennedy dove in to rescue three of the crew and in the process swallowed some of the toxic mixture. (Kennedy would later blame this for chronic stomach problems.) For 12 hours, Kennedy and his crew clung to the wrecked hull, before he gave the order to abandon ship. Kennedy and the other good swimmers placed the injured on a makeshift raft, and then took turns pushing and towing the raft four miles to safety on a nearby island.
Al Cardenas, former chairman of the Republican Party of Florida and current chairman of the American Conservative Union, warned Wednesday that the extended primary schedule Florida unleashed, with its decision to move its primary to Jan. 31, has a downside. It could result in a depletion of GOP resources, a brokered convention and an advantage to President Obama.
“States don’t seem to be thinking this completely through,” he said. The goal of the rule changes made by the Republican National Committee this election cycle was to ensure that the campaign cycle would deepen the primary season, allowing more states to have a role in the selection of the nominees. They penalized states that set their primary calendars ahead of March, reducing the number of candidates as well as removing the opportunity for the primary winner to take all delgates, he said.
“Even though we haven’t had a brokered convention since 1976, that doesn’t mean we can’t have one,” said Cardenas, a Romney supporter in 2008. … Read more
Florida Sen. Marco Rubio arrived in Libya today, joining a small group of lawmakers for meetings with the former rebels who have ended the rule of Col. Moammar Gadhafi.
Rubio is to spend the day meeting with key officials, including members of the National Transitional Council, the opposition movement whose fighters overthrew Gadhafi last month. The trip includes Republican Sens. John McCain, Lindsey Graham and Mark Kirk.
On Wednesday, the lawmakers visited Malta and met with Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi to discuss Malta’s “ongoing efforts to facilitate Libya’s transition to democracy and life after Gadhafi,” Rubio’s office said.
A report by the website Malta Today said the senators expressed thanks for Malta’s role in assisting the evacuation of hundreds of American citizens from Libya during the uprising in February. … Read more
He worked as an insurance salesman and sold building supplies before partnering with W. Ashley Verlander in 1956 to start the American Heritage Life Insurance Company inJacksonville, Florida. He had no money of his own, so he recruited investors and his brother-in-law to bankroll the venture. The firm catered to the wealthy and quickly became one of the most successful in the industry, earning Kirk a fortune. Six years later, he left American Heritage Life and purchased a partnership in the New York securities firm, Hayden Stone, selling investments to Floridians. Between 1965 and 1966, Kirk traveled to Brazil for an unsuccessful business venture, but met Erika Mattfeld, a beautiful model and actress.
In 1960, he switched his party affiliation from Democrat to Republican, heading the “Floridians for Nixon” campaign. He ran unsuccessfully for theU.S. Senate in 1964 against incumbent Democrat Spessard Holland and then ran for governor in 1966. The incumbent governor, W. Haydon Burns, who represented the conservative wing of the Democratic Party in Florida, was defeated in the Democratic primary by the more liberalMayor of MiamiRobert King High. Burns did not endorse High after his defeat and the division among Florida Democrats was a major factor in Kirk’s decisive victory over High. Upon taking the oath of office on January 3, 1967, he became the state’s first Republican governor in 90 years. During his term in office a new Florida Constitution went into effect in 1968. The governor was often at odds with both Democrats and his Republican colleagues in the legislature on issues such as growth and taxes. He earned the nickname Claudius Maximus due to his brash style of leadership and opinionated, colorful personality. A statewide teachers’ strike in 1968 was a significant event during his single term.
One of the major themes of Kirk’s campaign was his strong support for the death penalty, in contrast to Collins’, Bryant’s and Burns’ opposition. Kirk promised to resume executions (the last had taken place in 1964), but no executions took place under his administration, mostly because of an informal nationwide moratorium. Kirk made headlines when, during the campaign, he visited Florida State Prison and, after shaking hands with several death row inmates, said, “If I’m elected, I may have to sign your death warrants”.
Kirk’s style while in office was often described as flamboyant and confrontational. He especially opposed court-ordered mandatory busing. Although he had a Democratic-controlled legislature, Democrats did not have a veto-proof majority during Kirk’s term of office.
He left office on January 5, 1971, after losing his re-election bid to Democrat Reubin Askew. After his term in office, Kirk returned to his business pursuits, though he has campaigned several times for governor, U.S. senator, and Florida commissioner of education.
Kirk met Sarah Stokes while he was in law school. Her family owned an automobile dealership, and the couple married in 1947. They were divorced in 1950, but remarried in 1951. The union produced four children: two daughters, Sarah and Kitty, and twin sons Frank and Will. They divorced for the final time in 1966. In a 1967 interview, Sarah Stokes commented that Kirk “drinks to excess quite often (and) has indiscreet public associations with other women”.
A divorcee when he took office Kirk, then 41, married German-born Erika Mattfeld, 33, on February 18, 1967. From his final marriage he had two daughters and a son.
Tweet“Sen. Bill Nelson’s prospective GOP challengers were curiously quiet this week after the Democrat was raked over the coals by the National Republican Senatorial Committee.” “
The Florida Lottery announced a big get for new Secretary Cynthia O’Connell late Tuesday: Florida will become the first state to offer lottery tickets in Walmart stores.
Walmart will sell tickets in 27 of its Neighborhood Market locations in what is considered a pilot program. The deal includes stores in Pinellas Park, Largo, Clearwater, Pompano Beach, Plantation and Coral Springs.
Orlando-area stores will be the first to offer lottery tickets starting Oct. 5, with other stores rolling out sales later that month. Read more details from the Associated Press.
Customers can buy scratch-offs and drawing games, including Powerball, Florida Lotto, Fantasy 5, Play 4, Cash 3 and Lucky Lines.
“By expanding our retail footprint, we’re able to sell more tickets, which in turn raises more money for education programs in the state,” O’Connell said in a statement.
Progress Florida and its allies are launching a petition urging House Speaker Dean Cannon to scrub his lawsuit challenging the Fair Districts redistricting system approved by voters in 2010. They got Cannon on video dismissing the suggestion:
Progress Florida: “Now is the time for legislators to carry out the will of the people by completing the redistricting maps as required by the Florida Constitution. Dean Cannon and his extremist allies in the Legislature must not be allowed to squander one more penny of taxpayer money battling their constituents in an effort to run roughshod over democracy in Florida.”
Cher (born Cherilyn Sarkisian on May 20, 1946) is an American recording artist, Emmy Award–winning television personality, award-winning actress, director, record producer and philanthropist. Referred to as the Goddess of Pop, she has won an Academy Award, a Grammy Award, an Emmy Award, three Golden Globes and a Cannes Film Festival Award among others for her work in film, music and television. She is the only person in history to have received all of these awards. Cher began her career as a backup singer and later came to prominence as one half of the pop rock duo Sonny & Cher with the success of their song “I Got You Babe” in 1965. She subsequently established herself as a solo recording artist, and became a television star in 1971 with The Sonny and Cher Comedy Hour, a variety show for which she won a Golden Globe. A well received performance in the film Silkwood earned her a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress in 1984. In the following years, Cher starred in a string of hit films including Mask, The Witches of Eastwick, and Moonstruck, for which she won the Academy Award for Best Actress in 1988.
Cher, throughout a career spanning over 45 years, has broken many records. She is the only artist to reach number one on the Billboard charts in each of the previous six decades Her hit dance single “Believe” is her biggest-selling recording and was the best-selling single of 1999, having sold over 10 million copies worldwide. She holds the Hot 100 record for the longest hit-making career span, with 33 years between the release of her first and most recent Billboard Hot 100 #1 singles, in 1965 and 1999 and 45 years between her first and most recent #1 ranking on any Billboard chart Cher ended her 3-year-long “Farewell Tour” in 2005 as the most successful tour by a female solo artist of all time. Cher has sold over 100 million albums worldwide. After a three-year hiatus and retirement from touring, Cher returned to the stage in February 2008 at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas where she performed her show Cher at the Colosseum until February 2011. Cher has a deep contralto vocal range.
Unlike her late ex-husband Sonny Bono, Cher has always been a staunch Democrat. She has attended and performed at Democratic Party conventions and events. Today, she considers herself a Democrat by default, but more of an Independent. Cher has always defined herself as an anti-war activist; she demonstrated against the Vietnam War, and the video for “Turn Back Time” in 1989 was sometimes interpreted as an admonition against the army: “Make love, not war.” On October 27, 2003, Cher anonymously called a C-SPAN phone-in program. She recounted a visit she had made to maimed soldiers at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center and criticized the lack of media coverage and government attention given to injured servicemen. She also remarked that she watches C-SPAN every day. Though she simply identified herself as an unnamed entertainer with the USO, she was recognized by the C-SPAN host, who subsequently questioned her about her 1992 support for independent presidential candidate Ross Perot.
Back from her last tour in Europe, Cher declared that Europeans had a very bad image of Americans, mostly because of the Bush administration. “[Europeans] see us as the real terrorists since this stupid war in Iraq and because of all the innocent civilians that were killed within the first [...]somehow they’re right.” She shared the stage with Muhammad Muhammad in N.Y.C, an American actor who used to tell stories about the changes in American Muslims’ lives since 9/11. On Memorial Dayweekend in 2006, Cher called in again, endorsing Operation Helmet, an organization started by a doctor that provides helmet upgrade kits free of charge to troops in Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as to those ordered to deploy in the near future. She identified herself as a caller from Malibu, California, and proceeded to complain about the current presidential administration. She read aloud a letter from a soldier on the ground in Iraq, praising Operation Helmet’s efforts, and decrying the lack of protection afforded by the military’s provisions for troops.
Cher appeared on The Ed Schultz Show in May 2006 to discuss her work in support of US troops fighting abroad, as well as returning veterans. Schultz noted her involvement with both Operation Helmet and the Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund, which is constructing an advanced training skills facility at Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio, Texas. The center will serve military personnel who have been catastrophically disabled in operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, and those severely injured in other operations, as well as in the normal performance of their duties, combat and non-combat related. During the interview with Schultz, Cher again said she is an independent. Her comments about the current political scene in the US led him to interject, “You’re fed up with everybody”, to which she replied, “I really am. I couldn’t be a Republican ’cause I think I believe in too many services for poor people, but I’m fed up with the Democrats. I just think…you’re gonna find all their spines where you find the elephant’s graveyard.”
Toward the end of the interview, Schultz asked Cher what she thinks about today’s protest songs. She responded, “You know, I think it’s the duty of artists to say what they want, in favor or in opposition. Unfortunately, I think that, with [the Bush administration], you haven’t been able to really voice any opposition because of 9/11, if you say anything opposed to the administration, somehow they’ve been able to wrap themselves in the flag, so that if you have any opposing viewpoint, you’re unpatriotic.” She was about to offer her thoughts on this, but stopped, saying, “I don’t know what you can say on your program, so I won’t talk the way I normally talk. I don’t like it…it rubs me the wrong way. And if I could say all those seven words,” referring to George Carlin‘s Seven dirty words routine about profane language, “that’s what I’d be saying.” Cher supported Hillary Clinton in her Presidential campaign, as she noted on Entertainment Tonight in February 2008. Clinton, in return, said she was thrilled to have Cher’s support. After Barack Obama won the Democratic nomination, Cher supported his candidacy on radio and TV programs, including a November 3 appearance on The Ellen DeGeneres Show. Cher is still involved with Operation Helmet, and appeared with Dr. Bob Meaders (founder of Operation Helmet) on C-SPAN again on June 14, 2006. She then appeared with him on Capitol Hill on June 15, 2006. It has been reported that Cher has so far donated over US$130,000 to Operation Helmet.
In her early career Cher was a fashion trend-setter, popularizing long straight hair, bell-bottoms and an exposed midriff. She is noted as being one of the first women to expose her bellybutton on television. Through her 1970s television shows she became a sex symbol and pushed the censors with her revealing outfits and creative ensembles, frequently designed by Bob Mackie. In 1989 she boarded the U.S. Navy‘s USS Missouri ship in thong and fishnets for the “If I Could Turn Back Time” music video, becoming one of the first videos by a mainstream pop artist to be banned by MTV (after the video was banned, it grew to mass popularity, causing MTV to play the video, though after 9 p.m.). In July 1999, Cher ranked 43rd on VH1’s 100 Greatest Women of Rock & Roll poll and in September 2002 ranked 26th on VH1’s 100 Sexiest Artists. She has appeared on the cover of People magazine 13 times. In a 2007 poll, A&E‘s Biography magazine ranked her as the third favorite actress of all time behind two of her Hollywood idols, Katharine Hepburn and Audrey Hepburn.
Florida Democratic Party Chairman Rod Smith told a redistricting forum Tuesday night that reapportionment “is all I think about these days” and predicts the once-a-decade redrawing of political boundaries will veer off along an unprecedented path next year as lawmakers apply new guidelines imposed by voters.
Legislators will vote on the first round of maps in committee in December and take them up when they convene in special session in January. But Smith is skeptical they will succeed without judicial input and believes the legislature’s role will be to create the court record.
The reason, he told about 40 people at the public forum at the Leon County Public Library Tuesday night, is that the state’s shifting minority population as well as the requirements of the Fair Districts amendments to the constitution “are carving new ground here…The United States Supreme Court will be the final arbitor.”
Smith acknowledged what everyone in Tallahassee has known but few have admitted: “Do we have maps? Yes. Several of them. Will I show them to anybody right now? No. It’s like any card game. I’ll show them when they’re ready to be played.” … Read more
Comments (0)
Sep 29 2011
ell tickets in 27 of its Neighborhood Market locations in what is considered a pilot program. The deal includes stores in Pinellas Park, Largo, Clearwater, Pompano Beach, Plantation and Coral Springs.
