March 27, 2023

March 27, 2025 by • Crime, History, News, Society • 0 Comments

MARCH 27, 2023…

A new narrative begins.

Og Mandino’s Ten Scrolls…& Mario Puzo’s The Godfather

March 27, 2025 by • Books, Religion • 0 Comments

Two published books from Christian author Og Mandino containing The Ten Great Scrolls.

  • The Greatest Salesman In The World, first published in 1968.
  • The Greatest Secret In The World, first published in 1972.

 

“Drink deeply from good books, especially the Bible.” –UCLA basketball coach John Wooden

Learn from my mistakes of the past: don’t neglect your reading of the Bible.

“…without Your hand to guide me, I will wander far from the path which leads to success and happiness.”  –from the 10th Scroll.

It’s kind of hard to be guided by God if you’re not reading the Bible.

 

And finally, Mario Puzo creating a cultural phenomena with “The Godfather” in the late 1960’s/early 1970’s.  (I’m still working on this one, folks.  It’ll likely involve, somehow, an offer that can’t be refused…and the fact that I started rereading Og Mandino’s words the very same year Donald Whitney signed for me one of his two books that I own. Of course it could just mean an offer just for myself…but I doubt I’m the only one the offer is intended for.)

The two books from Donald Whitney I’m referring to:

  • Spiritual Disciplines For The Christian Life (the one he signed for me back in 2006)
  • Simplify Your Spiritual Life

I personally think it’s a bad idea for Christians to not own those two books, especially for those Christians who might get overwhelmed easily or who are overwhelmed.  After all, the subtitle to Simplify Your Spiritual Life is “Spiritual Disciplines For The Overwhelmed”.  Both of those books consistently point back to the Bible time and again.  And so with what John Wooden said about drinking deeply from good books, those two are essential.  

As far as Og Mandino’s books containing The Ten Scrolls, well, they didn’t work for me during my early years of reading them, likely because I was allowing them to push out my time in the Bible.  They also didn’t work because of the problematic 8th Scroll, of which certain Bible verses could have shielded me from.  Proverbs 22:3 comes to mind.

But who’s to say that reading them in their proper priority and with Biblical discernment, that much of The Ten Scrolls wouldn’t be helpful and beneficial?

Let me conclude for now with this verse from Psalm 143…   

Teach me to do Your will, for You are my God; may Your good Spirit lead me on level ground.  –Psalm 143:10

Dominating The NCAA

March 27, 2025 by • Sports • 0 Comments

From 1964 thru 1975, basketball coach John Wooden led UCLA to ten different NCAA tournament championship appearances…over the course of twelve years.  All ten appearances during that twelve-year period resulted in victories.  Ten appearances.  Ten victories.  From 1964 thru 1975.

NCAA CHAMPIONSHIP WINNERS:

  • 1964:  UCLA
  • 1965:  UCLA
  • 1966:  UTEP
  • 1967:  UCLA
  • 1968:  UCLA
  • 1969:  UCLA
  • 1970:  UCLA
  • 1971:  UCLA
  • 1972:  UCLA
  • 1973:  UCLA
  • 1974:  North Carolina St.
  • 1975:  UCLA

Winning back-to-back-to-back NCAA championships has never happened outside of the late 1960’s/early 1970’s…in men’s basketball.  Not once since the NCAA tournament began in 1939.  (That’s 86 years of NCAA tournaments for men’s basketball.)    

Do the math, folks.  What is the statistical probability of one college winning seven consecutive NCAA tournament championships precisely during the late 60’s/early 70’s?

mathematical \\  2a: rigorously exact:  PRECISE  b: CERTAIN  3: possible but highly improbable  

Let this sink in for a while.  Think deeply about this, especially considering that UCLA’s coach during this time has said, “Drink deeply from good books, especially the Bible.”

 

ABOUT JOHN WOODEN…AND HIS LACK OF GREED

“He never made more than $35,000 a year salary (not including camps and speaking engagements), including 1975, the year he won his 10th national championship, and never asked for a raise” –from Rick Reilly of ESPN.

 

Dominating College Basketball

March 26, 2025 by • Sports • 0 Comments

From 1968 thru 1970, Pete Maravich lit up the college basketball record books for:

  • career points
  • career points per game
  • season points per game (his three seasons leading the chart)

Christian author Donald Whitney concludes in the final paragraphs of his book Spiritual Disciplines For The Christian Life with a quote from Pete Maravich, leading Whitney to conclude “he ultimately regretted giving such productive discipline to anything besides his faith in Christ”.

“The key to my ability was repetition.  I practiced and practiced and practiced again.  I gave the sport my total commitment.  I tried everything I could in every way I could to perfect my skills.  It was like an obsession.” 

                                                                                                                                             –Pete Maravich

The Demonic

March 26, 2025 by • Books, Crime, Entertainment, History, Law, Politics, Religion, Society • 0 Comments

Previously I had written that in the late 60’s/early 70’s, that William Peter Blatty was working towards winning an Oscar.  I thought I remembered reading in a book somewhere that he was researching the story during the late 60’s, but I was unable to find much of anything on the internet to support that claim.

However, I did find that after him seeing the 1968 film Rosemary’s Baby, Blatty told his wife that he wanted to write a story like that.  I also found that on New Year’s Eve of 1969 while attending a party, Blatty ran into the editor of Bantam Books, who asked Blatty what he was working on.  Blatty responded that he was working on the story of a child possessed by a demon.  The editor said, “I’ll publish that.”  This led to Blatty signing a contract and was given a financial advance to write the novel about a demon-possessed child.

So there we have it…the evidence that he was headed towards winning an Oscar in the late 60’s.  And of course, he began writing at his home the book that was published in 1971.  Blatty would then write the adapted screenplay and produce the film released at the end of 1973.  A film that would win him an Oscar in 1974.

 

SPEAKING OF THE DEMONIC

So apparently, there are many demons in California. 

A mother of a child who had been socially transitioned behind her back by the school system in California was upset and decided prayer was needed.  So she began her prayer, and soon there were many demonic responses to her after she used the name of Jesus.  After the mayor (apparently the mayor) stopped her and told her “we don’t do prayer”, the mayor gave the mother 28 seconds to finish with her comments.

The mother continued with her Constitutional right to pray.  The mayor interrupted her just seven seconds later, followed by the word “stop” a few seconds later.  And 21 seconds after giving the mother 28 seconds, the mayor told her repeatedly that her time was up.

Anyway, if you ever get to see this clip of this mother praying in Ventura, California, be sure to take note of the demonic responses in that room as she prayed.

  • Nashville, Tennessee.  March 27th, 2023…politically-correct violence against children at a Christian school.
  • Vancouver, Canada.  March 31st, 2023…a politically-correct assault on Billboard Chris.
  • San Francisco, California.  April 6th, 2023…a politically-correct mob kidnapping Riley Gaines.

And speaking of the demonic and the politically-correct, praying for loved ones and other people who have been confused by the government and the public school system has been outlawed in Australia apparently.

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, 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.

 

CONFLICTING COMMITMENTS

I got behind a family vehicle recently 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.

< 1 2 3 4 5 >»