Income Taxes & The White House

March 24, 2025 by • Financial, Law, Politics • 0 Comments

Nixon’s vice-president, Spiro Agnew, would have been the 38th president.  But he had to resign from office in October of 1973 for failing to report $29,500 of income in 1967.    It’s called income tax evasion.  Otherwise, he would have been the 38th president.

I feel a loop coming on.

 

INCOME TAXES & THE APOLLO ASTRONAUTS

“If anyone from the IRS is watching, I forgot to file my 1040 Return and I meant to do it today, but…” /  “That’s no joke.  They’ll jump on him.”  –from Apollo 13

 

THE INCOME OF TEST PILOTS

“A controversy arose over just how much bonus Slick Goodlin should receive for assaulting the dread Mach 1 itself.  Bonuses for contract test pilots were not unusual, but the figure of $150,000 was now bruited about.  The Army balked, and Yeager got the job.  He took it for $283 a month, or $3,396 a year, which is to say, his regular Army captain’s pay.”  –from the book The Right Stuff

20th Century Conflicts In The Middle East

March 24, 2025 by • History • 0 Comments

Two notable conflicts in the Middle East involving Israel and the Arab world:

  • The Six-Day War in June 1967.
  • The Yom Kippur War in October 1973.

Leading up to The Six-Day War, threats were made against Israel from the leaders of the Arab world.  Looking at quotes from those leaders, it seems obvious back in 1967 that many Arab leaders weren’t too happy about the existence of Israel.  Well, not much has changed in the world it seems.

Looking up The Yom Kippur War in October 1973, I found some intriguing headlines that very month.  “Three Legal Eagles Shot Down By Nixon” in what was called the Saturday Night Massacre as Nixon attempted to obstruct justice in regards to the Watergate break-in.  And earlier in that very month, “Agnew Resigns” (Nixon’s Vice-President) after Spiro Agnew agreed not to contest a government charge of income tax evasion.  Looking at those two headlines, it’s hard to believe we are living in the same country from over 50 years ago.

The World Of Sports And Television

March 18, 2025 by • Sports, Television • 0 Comments

With the first Super Bowl in January of 1967, it’s no lie that the earliest years of The Super Bowl were in the late 1960’s/early 1970’s.  Or to be more specific, it can truly be said that the first seven years of The Super Bowl were in the late 1960’s and early 1970’s. 

And looking beyond that time frame, of the top 28 “All-Time Most Watched Television Programs” according to the 2024 World Almanac, 26 of those programs were Super Bowl games.  And so there’s significance to include the earliest years of an annual sporting event that would dominate both the world of sports and television.

But perhaps some might be thinking it’s kind of a stretch to list the first seven years of The Super Bowl among this list of events that were exclusive to the late 1960’s/early 1970’s since The Super Bowl continued past 1973.  For example, if someone were to say that the first ten years of The Super Bowl were in the late 1960’s/early 1970’s, that would be false since it would include the mid-1970’s.  Or if I were to say that the first three years of The Super Bowl were in the late 1960’s/early 1970’s, then that would also be false since 1970 would fall after the first three years of the Super Bowl.

So for those who see this inclusion as a bit of a reach, I see your point.

Construction Of Disney World’s The Magic Kingdom

March 15, 2025 by • Entertainment, Financial, Law, Politics, Society, Television • 0 Comments

After Walt Disney’s death in 1966, his brother Roy took over the project of building a park larger and improved upon the version of Disneyland in California.  Walt Disney Productions began construction on the Magic Kingdom and the entire resort in 1967.  The theme park opened on October 1, 1971.  It has become the world’s most visited theme park.

In 2023, Americans spent $28.4 billion on amusement parks, about a 17% increase over the previous year.  There were over 600 amusement establishments in 2023.

The Magic Kingdom is located between Orlando and The Gulf Of Mexico, though much closer to Orlando.

Many people still attend the park despite the fact that the Disney company has fought against Florida’s parental rights legislation in recent years.  Parents still taking their children to Disney World despite the company’s stance against parents having rights to protect their young children from inappropriate indoctrination.  Seems to be a bit ironic.

Anyway, an entertainment tax on television, movies, and amusement parks that would be at the same tax rate as what the top 1% should be paying on their federal income taxes (slightly above 50%) would help remind Americans that we are all in this together to help our country get out of our $36 trillion national debt.  Make that $37 trillion.

 

CONFLICTING COMMITMENTS

I got behind a family vehicle earlier this year at a stoplight and noticed two small TV’s above the back seats…playing identical children’s programming.  And then I noticed the license plate with the words “Autism Awareness”.  Too funny.  Too funny.

 

Hollywood’s Disastrous Disaster Movies

March 15, 2025 by • Entertainment • 0 Comments

Early development in the late 1960’s and early 1970’s of Hollywood’s disastrous disaster movies.

  • Airport, a 1970 film based on the 1968 novel by Arthur Hailey, began its principal photography on January 31, 1969.
  • The Poseidon Adventure, a 1972 film based on a 1969 novel by Paul Gallico,   Obviously, the movie began filming between the publishing of the novel in 1969 and the movie’s release date in 1972.  Duh.
  • Earthquake, a 1974 film whose birth occurred in the summer of 1972 when Mario Puzo was paid to write the first draft after his success with The Godfather.
  • The Towering Inferno, a 1974 film based on the novels The Tower and The Glass Inferno.  Executives at two different movie studios were convinced to join forces to make a single film based on the subject of a tall building on fire.  A press release announcing the single film collaboration occurred in October of 1973.

It should be noted that Airport and The Towering Inferno both received Best Picture nominations, but none of these disastrous disaster movies received a DGA nomination for any of the movies’ directors.  One of many reasons I had always put more stock into the DGA awards than the Oscars.  But of course, both movie awards were burned to ashes since early January of this year with the movies they selected and honored for the best of 2024.

Rest in peace, Hollywood movie awards.  Rest in peace.

Hollywood Struggling For Economic Survival

March 15, 2025 by • Entertainment, Financial • 0 Comments

“The American motion-picture industry struggled desperately for economic survival during the late 1960’s and early 1970’s.  About 80% of all films produced lost money.  Nearly every studio was in serious financial trouble.”  –from The World Book Encyclopedia. 1983.

DOMESTIC RENTALS OF THE TOP FILMS  (In millions)

  • 1968:  $26.3
  • 1969:  $45.9
  • 1970:  $48.7
  • 1971:  $38.2

And then came the massive blockbusters…

  • 1972:  $86.2
  • 1973:  $89.0
  • 1975:  $129.5
  • 1977:  $193.7

 

OPENING SHOT AFTER THE TITLE CRAWL

  • Box-office champ for all films released in 1976.
  • Would win Best Picture and the DGA award in 1977.
  • With an estimated production budget of about $1 million, the movie would bring in $56 million in domestic box-office rentals for United Artists.

 

A WORK OF ART

“After searching for months for a work of art that would convey a contemporary notion of God, the editors concluded that there was no appropriate representation.” –from Time magazine, April 1966.

 

THE NEXT SPIELBERG’S TOP 10 LIST.  NEWSWEEK AUGUST 2002.

  • 10 films receiving DGA recognition…including 4 winners.
  • 7 box-office giants released within 10 years after the early 1970’s.
  • “It’s important, Marion.  Trust me.”

 

Hollywood’s Future King Working In Television

March 15, 2025 by • Entertainment, Financial, Television • 0 Comments

The late 1960’s/early 1970’s:  The movie industry’s future king, Steven Spielberg, working in television.

  • Night Gallery –a made-for-TV anthology film directed by Boris Sagal, Steven Spielberg, and Barry Shear that served as the pilot for the anthology television series written and hosted by Rod Serling.  The film premiered on NBC on November, 1969.
  • Spielberg directed the Columbo episode “Murder By The Book”, which premiered on NBC on September 15, 1971.
  • Duel –a made-for-TV film based on a short story written by Richard Matheson.  The film originally aired as an ABC Movie Of The Week on November 13, 1971.  Duel is considered a cult classic and one of the greatest films ever made for television.
  • Other TV films he directed early in his career:  Something Evil (1972) and Savage (1973)

He followed his theatrical debut The Sugarland Express in 1974 with the 1975 blockbuster Jaws, Hollywood’s first summer blockbuster and the first of three huge blockbusters that put Spielberg on top of Hollywood after the release of 1981’s Raiders Of The Lost Ark.  “It’s important, Marion.  Trust me.”

 

JERRY GOLDSMITH. 1982.    Homecoming for Hollywood’s brand new king and a Vietnam War veteran.  All is not well.

Scorsese Begins His Film-Directing Career

March 15, 2025 by • Entertainment, Financial, Politics, Success • 0 Comments

Before Martin Scorsese was in an interesting and inconspicuous box-office derby with director John McTiernan during the late summer/early fall of 1988, he began his career as a film director during the late 1960’s and early 1970’s.  His first theatrical film was released in 1967.   His second theatrical film was released in 1972.

PAPER, ROCK, & SCISSORS….SPIELBERG, SCORSESE, & ED WOOD

Spielberg EASILY trumps Scorsese as the greatest filmmaker ever with the most relevant movie industry numbers.  Movie numbers like:

  • Total # of tickets sold
  • Total # of tickets sold after opening weekend
  • Box-office grosses
  • Box-office profits
  • Total # of DGA wins (before 2025)
  • Total # of DGA nominations (before 2025)
  • Total # of films listed in the AFI’s top 100 films (1998)
  • Total # of films listed in the AFI’s top 100 films (2007)

But many on the left want you to believe that Martin Scorsese is the greatest filmmaker ever, which makes him better than Ed Wood, who is widely-regarded as the worst filmmaker ever. 

Ed Wood, however, trumps Steven Spielberg because Ed Wood never destroyed many of the greatest films ever, something Spielberg has done since July of 2000.  Ed Wood never destroyed Jaws, E.T., and Duel the way Spielberg has over the last 25 years.

The MPAA’s New Classification System Of 1968

March 15, 2025 by • Entertainment, Relationships, Society • 0 Comments

In 1968, the MPAA adopted a classification system of rating completed films to their suitability for various age groups.  Decades earlier, the organization was the Motion Picture Producers and Distributors of America, which reviewed scripts before filming began in order to catch and delete offensive material.

The ratings created by the MPAA in 1968 were:

  • G — general, all ages admitted
  • PG — general, all ages admitted, but parental guidance suggested
  • R – restricted, persons under the age of 17 must be accompanied by a parent or guardian
  • X – no one under the age of 17 admitted

The new classification system in 1968 of reviewing completed films to then be rated…rather than reviewing scripts before filming began…gave the film industry new freedoms in the late 1960’s and early 1970’s to create films with more offensive material.

*Edward Longshanks granting new freedoms and rights…in a 1995 film scored by James Horner that would win a prestigious film industry award for its director. 

NOTE TO SELF:  the bloody peculiar timing of this movie’s original theatrical release

  • *Using A.I. to define “bloody”…  In British English, “bloody” functions similarly to “very” or “extremely” in phrases like “bloody brilliant” (meaning “very brilliant”)
  • –British English…Edward Longshanks granting new rights to his English nobles…Get it?…British English and Longshanks’ English nobles?…Get it?

New York City Plagued By Several Strikes

March 15, 2025 by • History • 0 Comments

New York City plagued with various strikes by public employees.

  • In 1966, transit workers struck for 12 days, halting all subway and bus services.
  • In 1968, striking sanitation workers let garbage pile up on the city streets for 9 days.
  • In 1971, police officers refused to go on patrols for 6 days and fire fighters refused to perform nonemergency duties for a week.

These strikes involved disputes over wages, various benefits, and working conditions.

Later in 1975, New York City faced a financial crisis that was eventually helped by the federal government.

Anyway, I’m guessing that those transit workers, sanitation workers, police officers, and fire fighters weren’t demanding to be paid enough that would place them in the top 1% of income earners.  Besides back in the late 60’s/early 70’s, the top 1% of income earners paid a much higher federal marginal income tax than since 1987.

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