Cuban Invasion!

Uncle Neil

Castro’s Miami invasion....

“Will the last real American leaving Miami please bring the flag!”

circa 1980

That was the slogan going around mainly among "anglo" citizens in south Florida.

Neil Rogers and I took to the airwaves to scream our dissent and demanded that President Carter or somebody...anybody in charge of protecting our shores put an end to it.

Despite of protestations in many circles...especially when it was discovered Castro was emptying his jails and mental institutions...the boatlift went on and on and on for about SEVEN MONTHS!

I was dubbed “the Joseph Gobbels” of Miami for my views...by the Mayor of Miami and we had squad cars in our parking lot when we were on the air to ward off any crazies who might want silence our free speech rights (something they didn’t have in their homeland of Cuba of course).

I remember Neil being so upset that he dug out an inside number at the White House and sitting in our office he started a rotation dialing...changing the last number each time.

“I’m going get Carter on the phone and ask him why he’s allowing this crap” was basically what Neil was saying.  

He kept at it for the better part of an hour...saying he was getting some weird answers...lot’s of military types...and I warned him that the Secret Service would be knocking on our door any minute.

He never reached Carter or anyone of substance but he had fun trying.

Meantime the drug dealers were busy using the boatlift as a cover...and the Feds were busy busting the biggest shipments of cocaine in history coming up highway 1 from Key West.

Dade County was not prepared for this invasion....and the whole thing was just one big mess.

In the midst of all the the goings on we received many death threats.

I contacted my old friend from Boston and Chicago, Jerry Williams, who was host and program director for a new Philadelphia FM talk station...WWDB. Jerry had an early evening slot for me and I gratefully left... headed north for the relative “safe” confines of Philadelphia where I would remain for about five years...my longest stay on the radio merry-go-round.
Click to listen to a discussion on WNWS about Miami Herald coverage of the invasion:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SUmwAIHFIDU

stanmajor@aol.com

when do the Cubans come?

...here we go again, Neil!  this time...it’s not just Cubans.....it’s everyone else but Cubans!

The sight of what we used to call “illegals” streaming across the border in droves must be resonating in land-locked Cuba and I’m wondering when another “boat lift” will begin.

The Mariel boat lift back in 1980 dumped about 125,000  on these shores.  And it’s remained about the same even though Castro is no longer a force and their main supporters...the Soviets (gone) along with a cooling China and a crazy North Korea....probably not much help.

So...how long will it be before the Cubans come again.  Not long I’d guess...they are probably organizing now.

We “anglos” here in South Florida wondered what that first migration would do to us.  Neil Rogers and I were the only people, it seemed, against the boatlift. Actually I got out after the Mayor of Miami publicly called me the Joseph Gobbles of Miami.  I headed for heaven and the main line in Philly.  I’m back now for nearly 30 years and the change has been significant...but not  the way you would have thought.

Dade County (Miami) IS basically Hispanic.  There are areas where you have a hard time finding anyone who speaks English.  

But the real surprise has been Broward County.  I don’t have the numbers, too lazy to research it.  But my observation living here continually the past 30 years is Broward County was besieged, but not Cubans...but by Miami blacks who saw their “ethnic” advantages disappear when the Cubans took over.  Their jobs went to the newly arrived Hispanics.

So...they moved into Ft. Lauderdale and other areas in Broward county.

Now...keep in mind...many of the non-whites are not from St. Louis, Chicago or New Orleans.  

They are from the Islands...the Bahamas, Dominica, El. this and St. that.  And they are kind of an interesting brew of ambition...hard working and really desirous of being in this great nation and getting a good education for their kids and working hard and not prone to seek handouts from anyone.  

I do admit if you are native of the Islands you probably come here speaking our language which is a gift...but they also retain traits from home and they didn’t (for the most part) HAVE to run away from it. That may sound harsh...but it’s true.

So...Broward County has changed quite a bit from all this influx.

It’s still a little unnerving to those of us “anglos” who recall the rallying cry of Freedom in 1970...

“WILL THE LAST REAL AMERICAN TO LEAVE 

  HERE...PLEASE BRING THE FLAG!”

stanmajor@aol.com

Kate's bear tush(again) & Nick's flicks

KATE

....so I woke up this morning and fired up my old computer and checked my email as I do each day.

       I went to Google search for something and Google scared the hell out of me!

On my Google search page was was kind of “hi” we’ve got some special stuff for you...and up popped a couple of windows,  the first one was the Publix supermarkets “Mother’s Day” tv spot that I had written about in one post on my blog.

So...listen folks...they are into you deep.  Be careful!

__________________

.....May I recommend several Nick Nolte movies. 

All hard to find! 

He is an “overachiever” at finding good scripts.

“A Few Days In September”(2006) with Juliette Binoche (yummy) about 9/11 and advance info Nolte’s CIA character has...but is using for private $ gain....with a hit man after him cause he knows.  
                                                  _______________

“The Good Thief”....(2002) filmed in Monte Carlo where down on his luck Nick’s character eventually “breaks” the casino.  Great music here too....led by “A Thousand Kisses Deep” by Leonard Cohen

________________

“Mother Night”(1996) about Nazi propaganda with Nick a famous Nazi broadcaster....undercover spy of course.John Goodman is great as a Major US Intel...and look cloesly to see a very young Kirsten Dunst as “Risa”.  It’s from a Kurt Vonnegut, Jr book and HE’s an extra in one scene!

_________________

“I Love Trouble”(1994) with a young Julia Roberts (Wow!) filmed mostly in Chicago they are on newspapers...but not the same paper...coverning a train wreck.

Hope you can find these...they are all GREAT Nolte offerings.
                                              --------------------------
       Oh no Kate.....say it isn't so!
After (as rumor has it) Kate Middleton was told to wear longer skirts...by the Queen herself...what happens in Aussie land:  she and Will get off the helicopter and the blades swishes Kates skirt WAY up...revealing a pretty good looking bottom.  That creep critic from France who didn't like her sisters bottom at her wedding would have been proud...but he's probably not into Kate's bottom...my guess is he'd rather see Wills! Anyway...the pics were published...not in Great Britian...but in the German Bild tab.  They have made their way onto the internet and I adore Kate too much to give you a look or link!
        Cmon Liz...give her a break will ya!

                                              

stanmajor@aol.com

STANTON: 2 RUN HOMER lst Inning!

MARLINS GIANCARLO STANTON

BULLETIN:  STANTON 2...BRAVES 0...long long  homer run to center...first inning!

.....cry baby Fredi (BRAVES) backs off the Marlins! (sort of)

Oh...that story just took on a life of it’s own says Gonzalaz...whimpering again as the Atlanta Braves prepare to return to Miami to get whipped again!

Here’s the story:

http://www.ajc.com/news/sports/baseball/fredi-says-braves-wont-switch-signs-for-miami-retu/nf9Wt/

Boy if he gets swept by the red hot Marlins this weekend I’m sure he’ll have another lame excuse:

how about...blame it on Uggla (former long time Marlin)...all his fault..he’s a failure!

or...

the Cuban psychs in Little Havana put a spell on us because we’re  “Braves”.

or...*(___________________________)

here you can make up your own lame excuse for Fredi.  I think he’s gonna need something.  

The Braves...every since we “stole their signs” and beat them bad have begun to “phone it in” like the Phils...the Nats and the Mets!

Stanton in the World Series?  

Anything’s possible when it comes the Marlins.    

Check it out.  Two rings for us...how many for the Braves....nada!

stanmajor@aol.com

http://stanmajor.blogspot.com/

Nixon, again with friends

The ghost of Richard Nixon came again last night.

.....he brought two surprise guests with him

“Mr. Major I would like you to meet Mao Tse Tung of China...and Ho Chi Minh of Vietnam.”

“Sirs...I am honored with the visit.”

Mao began:

“We thought that you could show the adversaries in the China Seas  problem that we were both concerned and have a possible solution.”

Ho Chi Minh continued that thought...

“yes...have your former President Bush, the younger, go to Asia and negotiate a solution between the parties”.  

President Nixon added...yes...Goerge Bush would be good...he should be able to calm the turbulent waters out there.”

“Thanks for the ideas gentlemen.

...I’ll pass them on.”

....and with that all three men disappeared into the night.

my email:

stanmajor@aol.com

Vietnam needs YOU!

Chinese Nuke Sub

Vietnam needs your help!

     I’ve been thinking about the plight of the Vietnamese government regarding China’s push into their waters to get some oil and turtles(?)

http://freebeacon.com/national-security/three-chinese-nuclear-missile-submarines-photographed-in-south-china-sea/

Wait a minute...when the U.S. was fighting the North Vietnamese...guess who was backing Hanoi.  Right...China.  But now the shoes (sandals) on the other foot.  China attacks Vietnam..so guess who has to help Nam!  The good ole U. S of A. that’s who.

The Japs won’t help Nam...the Aussies can’t...can you see Prince William and Kate boarding an Aussie naval vessel to fight China?  I don’t think so.  Kate might break a nail!  (Love ya Kate) and Will wants to be King..or at least log some more miles in the air.

       So if any of you Vets are concerned about all this, once again you may get to prove your worth by helping Vietnam battle China.

What a turn around, huh!  Get the Nuoc Cham sauce ready!

---------------------

The Miami Marlins are coming out of their blue funk of a couple of weeks ever since their star pitcher...Jose Fernandez lost his arm.  Well...not literally...but forced to have surgery and he’ll be out for the rest of the season.

Despite this loss...they have been winning...which is a pleasant surprise to everyone.

Now the “cry baby” Atlanta Braves will be back tomorrow (so soon?) to lose some more games and yell “foul

...those Marlins are stealing our signs again!”

I think they are just really ticked off because they got a second base problem as former Marlin Dan Uggla has not been doing well for sometime.

Anyway....the Marlins and the Braves seem to be the only teams in the NL East who want to win.  It will be interesting.

.....the Nats...Phils and Mets just keep “phoning it in” and losing to each other.

my email:

stanmajor@aol.com

Meg cop cont'd...

Officer ?

THE Meg

the Meg Ryan cop....another episode

I called the Margate Florida P.D. and got a very nice lady...and began tip toeing into my attempt to identify and talk to (in hopes of getting a photo to show you) of the resemblance between Officer _______and actress Meg Ryan.

I made a mistake...which I am regretting now...as I told this nice lady of my short conversation with a female Margate officer in a blue dress off loading bags of groceries into a squad car.

Oh oh.....I may have gotten her into trouble...or at least placed her in a position to deny this encounter ever happened.

The lady ask to put me on hold...and I agreed. She was gone for a couple of minutes and when she came back on...she said she had just  talked with the officer I was trying to reach...and the officer said  something about the dress (instead of a uniform) and that it must have been someone from another city...perhaps nearby Coral Springs.

I said...oh...I got her into trouble over the dress!

...so...we came to a stand still...and I left my number and the info on my blog...how they could Google “Stan Major blog” and then search the blog for Margate P.D. officer or Meg Ryan. 

You can  do the same and read the posts on all this.

I thought the Officer whose name I got from another female officer on that force would call me...but so far...no such luck.

If your reading this then...I sincerely apologize for bringing up the “nice blue dress” you were wearing which caused me to make a joke about “liking your new uniform”.

If you want to contact me you’ve probably got the number.  I just wanted to ask you to PDF a face shot that I could put on my blog along with a pic of Meg Ryan.  I wouldn’t have to use your real name...& I thought it would be fun.

my email:

stanmajor@aol.com

computers rule!

THE FORBIN PROJECT

THIS JUST IN:  Publix Supermarkets still have the low sale prices on the big bottles of LIVINSTON WINE.  $5.69 for most.  Get it for Christmas and New Years... now!

Science fiction flicks becoming reality?

....it’s possible.  We’ll call it the “Google Project”?

Long before “War Games”...”Andromeda Strain” and others that you’re familiar with...there was 

“Colossus:The Forbin Project”.

This was the one where all our military might including the nukes were turned over to a magnificent colossal computer...locked forever in a western mountain by Dr. Forbin himself.

I only bring this up because Hollywood rumor has Ron Howard directing a remake...with the star power of Will Smith.

They have a problem though because the enemy...the Soviets...is not really around...although Putin is trying to bring it back.

So...maybe the bad dudes now would be the NSA, CIA and Google.

At a stretch they could include weird Iran and crazy North Korea.

Who knows where the plot will go and even IF the remake will happen.

Don’t hold your breath on this...and if you can find the original “Forbin Project”...that’s worth viewing.

Mine’s on a VCR cassette.  Remember those things?

stanmajor@aol.com

Foxes foxes everywhere!

Not Reggie...but close!

the Foxes.....

One time at the farm in northwest Illinois when we still

lived in the original Stone House, before I burned it up, my Dad

and I were walking around his nursery...checking out the

grapes and tomatoes and radishes...I love red radishes.

     We saw a fox...which is not unusual, I had seen them

before. 

We also had a small herd of deer in our woods...maybe

about ten or so. The deer would cross our road at night to get

into another woods nearby. I would be out jogging (even in the

snow and ice of winter) and they would jump the fences and

scare the hell out of me at night.

Back to the fox. My Dad said he ought to get his rifle and

shoot it and I said why. My dad came from an era when foxes

robbed chicken coops for breakfast.

I said we don’t have any chickens...except what Mom had

in the fridge!

He laughed and never got his gun.

After the fire we rebuilt the Stone House and we had nice

large window views to the north and west out of out living

room.

That’s when I really began to see foxes. So I thought I’d

toss some bread out the window and see if it might be gone the

next morning. It was.

The foxes...maybe two or four at a time started to be

friendly then...and my Dad and I both tossed bread out the

windows and the foxes braved the daytime and came up and we

got to watch them!

There was one who was so beautiful and persistent. He

became our favorite. We nicknamed him “Reggie”.

One day our big kitty named Fabian...a long haired, good

looking black and white cat was walking up our sidewalk in

back to the house...and I saw Reggie following him. He didn’t

pay any attention to the fox...until it got a little too close and

Fab turned quickly and arched up his back in a threatening

gesture and Reggie backed off fast...heading for the woods.

That was a sight to see.

Eventually we had a bunch of foxes coming up and just

sitting around waiting for their evening meal of bread. One

time I counted about twenty!

Their main den was some old left over lumber which had

bushes growing over it...and good hiding place for the fox pups.

My Mom, Dad and I would quietly walk into the

nursery and watch the baby fox pups out in front of the den

running and playing. Another thing one never forgets.

I noticed one day that there was a blackbird who didn’t

like Reggie coming around...and he sat in the pine tree nearest

the house and screeched when Reggie came for his hand out.

This went on for several days and finally Reggie had had

enough and I was watching as the fox sprang into

action...climbing the pine tree and scrambling out on the

branch where the loud black bird was sitting. I think the bird

had a heart attack. It flew off never to be seen again.

     Now...it was not problem for a fox to rush up a pine

tree...just using its momentum to get to the branch where the

bird had been.

But now...Reggie did have a problem. How to get down.

I’ve seen cats in this situation and one had to call the fire

department for help!

But Reg was “foxy” in the way he got back down. He

crawled carefully back toward the trunk of the pine tree and

used his neck to give him tension on the trunk as he came

down. He made it down just fine.

All of this about our foxes has a sad ending, I’m afraid.

After hanging around for a year or so...one day...they were

gone.  I mean...really disappeared. We checked the den..no

foxes...we tossed bread...no takers.

And that’s the way this ended. They had not died out.

There were ...no dead foxes around. So...for some strange

reason that I’ve never understood they just “went away”.

I’ve joined several Fox clubs on the internet hoping for an

answer but I’ve never gotten one.

I shall always treasure my moments with Reggie and the other foxes...forever and as I write this I’m sad knowing I will not experience anything quite like that again in my life.

my email:

stan major@aol.com

let's go to Bangkok!

my choice: 2nd from the right!

might be a good time to vacation in Thailand!

Thailand is suffering from the effect of a military coup which seems to have had more impact outside of that country...with the booming tourist industry being hit fairly hard with the negative news there.

Coups in that part of the world are usually bloodless and bountiful.  I was in Cambodia when the 1970 coup (Lon Nol) occurred and they did it with three armored personnel carriers parked in front of strategic buildings and by unplugging the international phone communications.  Soldiers were sleeping atop the APCs...so not much fear about guns being fired there.

The same seems to be happening in Bangkok....and the more tourists stay away...and head someplace else...the better break you’ll get in pricing on those goodies like serious massage...or “go go” this or that.

The sites are still there..and the young girls...who aren’t as busy because of the coup.

On the business side here’s a good write-up for you to check:

http://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/thailand-coup-could-spell-trouble-booming-tourism-industry-n112041

stanmajor@aol.com

Tourists & Thailand coup

Hong Kong

Vietnam protest!

I love Vietnam...Cambodia...Thailand and Hong Kong...but that area of the world has become a mess.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-05-27/chinese-boat-attacks-sinks-vietnam-fishing-vessel-vietnam-says.html

.....the Chinese living in Vietnam (there’s lots in Cholan...a suburb of what was Saigon) fear for their lives because of protests over turtles?  Probably not...but the pic is good.  China recently moved a huge oil rig into Vietnam waters which set this off.  

I guess and the Chinese government has had to evacuate some Chinese natives after their businesses were set on fire...and one dude copying an incident in the Vietnam war some 40 years ago...set himself on fire in protest.

----------------------

.....then there’s unrest in Thailand.  

The military...not liking something or other (there’s never a real good excuse) pulled a coup d’etat.  My only concern there is for the great Bangkok massage parlors where the good looking girls worked.

Back in the 1970 era would be maybe 20 or 30 girls seated behind glass...all with a number on their Thai dress so that one  could just select a number for a “massage”.  

This was a really big business and they made a lot of money off servicemen and tourists.  So I’m wondering if the Generals closed them down? 

I emailed one club but got no response so anything's possible.

---------------------------

I guess Hong Kong is pretty stable.  Everyone thought that place would fall into the harbor when the Chinese took over...but from what I can read (between the lines) things are fairly normal there.  As long as the Great Mandarin Hotel is there and functioning...that’s all I’d care about.

Love that place.  Greatest Hotel in the world!

my email:

stanmajor@aol.com

the Goddess:failure to communicate

shooting the film of the coup...and getting it out of Cambodia...

This coup smelled to high heaven 

  Later it would be obvious that this was instigated by the U.S.  The military needed to be able to openly bomb and invade Cambodia...the key sanctuary for all those NVA soldiers I passed on the highway the day before.  So much for turning the war over to the South Vietnamese military!

      I found the freelance cameraman who shot film for NBC News and we went to work.  

      He didn't have audio capability so I just recorded stuff on my handy cassette recorder...and even tried to do a standup report that way as I knew the folks back in New York could match the audio to the video.

      We shot a bunch of film and recorded a lot of stuff but we had a couple of problems.  The first was my very presence with a cameraman and tape recorder.  I was not supposed to be there...so that killed the possibility of doing interviews, etc.  

       I was nervous about approaching any of the Cambodian officers.  

  We did film General Lon Nol as he marched into what appeared to be the legislative building near the palace but I didn't know who he was at the time and didn't approach him.

      All communication in and out of Cambodia was down because of the coup. The only way we could get the film and tapes out was to drive to the Thai border and hopefully hand it over to a Bangkok staffer.  NBC news Bangkok could satellite to New York.  

    I found out that once you left you couldn't get back in.  And...border officers were not letting anyone new come in either...so I had a hell of a scoop.

    I contacted my driver...told him of our project and advised him that we might have to sit at the bridge on the Thai border until someone from NBC News managed to show up.  He said he could probably bribe someone to let him go across and find a telephone to call NBC in Bangkok.

     We headed out for what could have been a long, long drive....not in miles...the border was only an hour away...but in wait time for the pickup.
We took a different highway so there were NO enemy solders to be seen. 

     When we arrived at the bridge that crossed into Thailand...my driver confirmed that the border guards were not letting anyone back in...so we couldn't leave.  

     About a half-hour later some British journalists from the BBC pulled up...telling us they were headed for Bangkok.  

       I had met one of them back in Saigon so I ask him to hand carry our stuff to the NBC News office in Bangkok and he agreed.  

       The BBC had an ongoing deal with NBC news anyway so this was perfect and I knew he wouldn't abscond with my material. 

       So that was all settled nicely...and I turned to get back in the car to return to Phnom Penh when I heard someone yelling at me from Thailand...at the other end of the bridge.  

        It was a CBS news crew and the correspondent was begging me to help them get into the country.

        For probably the first and only time I can remember not being a nice guy...I just shrugged and turned back and got in the car. Well...what would you have done?

       About a month later I would be touring the CBS news offices in New York inquiring about a position.   The radio exec was interested in hiring me for top of the hour news...when the fellow in charge of foreign desk found out I was there he went into a screaming fit about not helping their crew at the border... so my possible career at CBS with Cronkite and Rather was not to be!

       Everyone did make into Cambodia though in a few days after things cleared up.  I got back on the plane headed for vacation before returning to the states. 

    

        Before I left Phnom Penh the correspondent for Newsweek ask me to read over his story before he got it out to wherever. I did and it was good.

        A week or so later in Hong Kong I picked up a copy of Newsweek and read an entirely different version with no byline for him.  Someone back in New York decided they knew better than the guy on the scene as to what actually went on in Cambodia.  

        Since that time...I've not had much faith in what I read in either Time or Newsweek. 

my email:

stanmajor@aol.com