Happy Valentine's Day - and a Birthday, too!

Happy Valentine's Day to my wife of 24 years, Sue. Without her I would walk into walls, sleep in theaters, and sometimes find myself face down in my dinner. Well, maybe I still do, but not quite as often as I would without her in my life. We still annoy one another in small ways, as most married couples do, but we also still enjoy one another. And that is the secret of being in love.

We had a rough beginning, and probably didn't get it right for the first few years, maybe we still don't. But we have always clung to one another on this rocky ride we all call life. We have had a daughter together, raised two sons, and lived to tell the tale. And that's no small feat! So, Happy Valentine's Day, Sue, you will always be my partner in life, even if I am a grouch...

And that brings me to my daughter, Sarah. Here I am, holding her at about 3AM in the morning on Valentine's Day 1987, which just so happens to be her birthday. We tend to do things around holiday times. We were married on the Fourth of July, had Sarah on Valentine's Day, and she got married on Halloween. Go figure... But she has bought much joy into our lives, and so I just wanted to wish her a Happy 24th birthday. As I told her last night, "May you never lose direction, and all your horizons lay just beyond your reach. In that way you will always strive to be more." We now return to our regular broadcast.

"The King's Speech" with Colin Firth and Helena Bonham Carter

It isn't often that I venture into a movie theater these days, and by that I mean the last 15 years, or so. The screens are too large, and the sound is too loud. I once saw The Rolling Stones in the IMAX Theater in Baltimore, and I suppose that I have never gotten over the trauma of seeing Mick Jagger's lips being two stories tall in the close-ups. All that said, "The King's Speech" is a great movie.

I wanted to see it for several reasons, mostly because the whole World War Two period, as well as the decade leading up to it, has always held a strange fascination for me, largely due to the stories which my Mom told me when I was young. Another reason that the movie was of interest to me was the presence of the the much reviled Duke and Duchess of Windsor.

The former King Edward VIII and his wife, the former Ms. Wallis-Simpson of Baltimore, were the toast of the town in New York when I was growing up. They graced the society pages almost daily, and were frequent guests on the Merv Griffin Show, so their presence was palpable in the world around me. So was the animosty towards them in many corners, by people who held it against the former King and his wife, that they, along with Joeseph P. Kennedy, Sr. (who lost his Ambassadorship to Britian around the same time that the former King abdicated his throne) were Nazi "appeasers."

Okay, with that bit of background out the way, I will now review the film.

While Adolph Hitler was marching across Europe, the aim of which was to conquer the world, George V, lay dying in London. The heir to the throne of England was his eldest son, Prince Edward, a notorious playboy who was currently engaged in an affair with a twice divorced American, Ms. Wallis-Simpson, played by Eve Best. When the King passes away, the Prince is crowned, but he is torn by the choice of being a reviled Monarch, or to marry the twice divorced American woman. Predictably, and fortunately for history, he chose the latter.

Complicating matters in this perilous time was the fact that Edward's younger brother, Albert, who was next in line for the throne, stuttered. It was impossible to imagine that he could someday be King, until the day that his brother, King Edward, who had ascended to the throne upon the death of King George V, abdicated his position in favor of his love for Ms. Wallis-Simpson.

The future King George VI, born Albert and affectionately known to his family as "Bertie", has tried all manner of "cures" to deal with his speech impediment, all to no avail. With his brother's abdication fast approaching, and the situation regarding Hitler deteriorating rapidly, Albert is introduced, under an assumed name to a Dr. Lionel Logue, who has some Kingly demands of his own concerning treating the future King. He wishes to be treated as an equal, an unthinkable idea to Prince Albert. He also insists on addressing the Prince as "Bertie."

Through trial and error, the pair proceed to try every known, and unknown approach to the Prince's dilemma. They even sing and dance together while speaking and reading, in order to establish a "flow". The experiments have an impact, and the future King is able to establish a degree of normalcy in his speech. As the day of reckoning approaches, and time runs short, the two men form a bond that will last a lifetime, and save a Kingdom.

Some of the best scenes in the movie involve the Prince and his wife, the Queen Mum, and their children, the future Queen Elizabeth and her sister, Princess Margaret, at home. Seeing the two sisters as adults all of our lives, it's fairly interesting to see them as children, almost as "normal" people.

This is a very entertaining, and historically accurate film.

Abe Lincoln at 202 - Defining a Legend

Today is Honest Abe's birthday. He was born in 1809. There was a time when this portrait, along with that of George Washington's, graced the walls of every classroom in America. He was like a God. But now we are a bit older and more jaded, and we hear much talk about Lincoln's real purpose with the Emancipation Proclamation was to cripple the South as far as labor was concerned, while doing nothing to free the slaves in the Union held States. This is all very true. We also hear much talk of State's Rights being the true cause of the Civil War in lieu of slavery.

And that reminds me of a story that concerns Old Abe and State's Rights. Like most good stories, there is not likely to be any truth to it, but it does make it's point. I heard this tale about 30 years ago, and have used it many times in illustrating just how inter-dependent we are on one another if we are to make the world a better place in which to live. I hope you enjoy the story, and moreover, I hope you get the point..

Abe Lincoln was riding on a train when the man in the seat next to him lit a big cigar. The smoke, and smell, of the cigar was wafting across Mr. Lincoln's face, making it hard for him to breath. He politely asked the man, "Sir, your cigar smoke is causing me great difficulty. I wonder if you would mind putting it out?"

The other man looked at Lincoln and said, "Sir, I will have you know that I paid for both my seat and the cigar. If I wish to smoke the cigar, and it bothers you, that's too bad!" With that he sat down and blew a large cloud of smoke across Mr. Lincoln's face.

Lincoln reached down into his bag and drew out a large pistol, which he then pointed at the other man's head, stating as he did, "I, too have paid for both my seat and this pistol. If I chose to shoot it and the bullet bothers you, I suppose that is the same thing?" The other man extinguished his cigar..

Lincoln was a most crafty lawyer, arguing, in different cases, successfully, both for and against clients in cases that involved the Fugitive Slave Act, which required that all runaway slaves were to be considered property and returned to their original owners. Lincoln argued, quite easily in one case, that the slave was indeed the property of his client. The slave was returned to his owner. In the other case he argued that since the trial was taking place in a free state, the runaway slave had all the rights of a free man, and therefore could not be treated as property by the law. That slave was given his freedom.

There is a reason that Abraham Lincoln is so important to the history of this nation. It's not that he freed the slaves, or split rails. The reason that Abraham Lincoln is still so important to us today was spoken by Old Abe himself during his 1858 acceptance speech as the Republican Candidate for Senate, when he said, "..a house divided against itself, cannot stand." Truer words were never spoken, nor so apt as they are today.

Happy Birthday Egypt!

Here's to the rebellion in Egypt. Now let's see which way the winds will blow in the coming weeks. I'm hoping to be proven wrong concerning my fears that the Muslim Brotherhood will take control, ushering in a new era of Islamic, rather than Secular, government. As I said, I'm hoping to be proven wrong.

The courage, and tenacity, of the Egyptian people, in the last 18 days, has been nothing short of extraordinary. Their Armed Forces acted with great restraint as the people stood their ground. So, here's to a free and democratic Egypt, with the hope that it will usher in a new era of Secular Democracy across the Middle East. Hopefully, that will counterbalance the threat of Radical Islam from the countries further East; such as Syria, Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan and etc. Only time will tell.

Jerry Orr and the TSA - Brothers in Incompetence

Imagine for a moment, if you will, standing in line at the Airport, shoes in hand, pockets emptied, ticket and boarding pass, along with your drivers license at the ready, next in line to be electronically scanned, or sexually assaulted, in order to board the plane for which you have purchased a ticket. You have no criminal record and no ties to any terrorist organizations. All is well.

Suddenly, crashing through the window of the terminal comes a taxi cab, laden with explosives, detonating in an enormous blast which forever changes your life, as well as the lives of all the people who were, just moments before, standing in line with you.

Sounds a bit crazy, doesn't it? But it's not so far fetched. At least not here in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Charlotte-Douglas Airport, a major hub for air travel in the United States, has had it's share of troubles as of late. First, there was the boy in the wheel well of a plane, who managed to gain access to the tarmac, and fly to Boston, where he fell to his death. As of this writing no changes have been made at the airport in regards to the safety of the runways. And no one is responsible for that breach of security. I know this for a fact. I have called the TSA at Charlotte-Douglas Airport. They informed me that it was the provence of Charlotte Douglas Airport and it's Director, Jerry Orr, to deal with external security measures. Naturally, when I called the airport, they were not allowed to comment, due to security reasons.

Now we have some more fascinating news from Charlotte-Douglas Airport, regarding security, and once again a surprising lack of interest, or understanding, upon the part of the TSA.

This latest problem stems from the fact that Jerry Orr, Director of Charlotte-Douglas Airport, has awarded a contract to 2 cab companies, Royal and King Cab, both of Charlotte. There seems to be nothing unusual about this, until you scratch the surface. Two owners of the companies, who are brothers, have both served time for a felony. Okay, Jerry Orr takes the position that these men have served their time and are thus free to participate in all aspects of society again, including negotiating, and obtaining, contracts to run cabs out of Charlotte-Douglas Airport. Again, there seems to be nothing wrong with this scenario, until you once again, scratch the surface.

Just what was the crime that the brothers, Javed and Naheed Kashmary, were found guilty of in Federal Court in 2007? They conspired to obtain 40 phony driver's licenses, a tool which is indispensable if you are planning to drive bomb laden cars into the airport.

I'm not saying that the brothers Kashmary are planning any type of terrorist act. And even if they were, they would just be doing their jobs. But the task of the TSA, and the mandate of Jerry Orr, as Director of Charlotte-Douglas Airport, is to look beyond the surface and do more than just go through the motions of doing their jobs. The primary goal, for which they are paid, is to protect you and I. To that end, they are both failing.

Charlotte Mayor Pro-Tem Patrick Cannon gets it. He has called for a delay on the awarding of the contracts to the Kashmary brothers. He wants it put to a vote of the Charlotte City Council. He is to be commended for this stance. Call him and let him know that you agree with his measured approach to this sensitive issue. Here is his number: 704-336-3380.

The other contact numbers which I used in preparing this article are as follows;

Terry Stanton of the TSA. His number is 704-916-3328.

Terry Burgess of the TSA. He is the Assistant Director of Security Compliance. His number is 704-916-3322.

Jerry Orr, Director of Charlotte-Douglas Airport. His number is 704-359-4013.

For the record, I was unable to obtain any logical, or sensible answers to my questions. And remember, we pay these people. Now, if I disappear suddenly and without warning, you will know why.

"He Walked By Night" with Richard Basehart and Jack Webb

This is the film that gave birth to the TV series "Dragnet" with Jack Webb. He even has a small part in this movie. The opening sequence of the TV show, with the Los Angeles Police Station and the voice over, are identical.

The film takes place in Los Angeles, shot on locations around the city, and involves a criminal named Erwin Walker, a brilliant thief and somewhat of a sociopath. The real kicker here is that this is a true story.

At the close of World War Two, Erwin Walker is baffling the police all over Los Angeles as they search for a group of thieves. They are wasting their time. There is only one thief, and that is Mr. Walker, played in the film by Richard Basehart. By altering his modus operandi with each crime, he is able to lead the entire Police Department on a chase that has no apparent conclusion. Until one night, when Mr. Walker makes a mistake, resulting in his fatally shooting a Los Angeles Police Officer.

The investigation becomes a "Dragnet", as the police hunt to find the killer. The investigation leads the two detectives, Sgt. Chuck Jones (Scott Brady) and Marty Brennan (Roy Roberts) to an electronics dealer named Paul Reeves, who is able to put a face to the suspect. With no name to work on, the detectives embark on an exhausting, old fashioned manhunt, knocking on doors and rounding up all the usual suspects.

Released in 1948, only one year after the case was solved, this movie was a real shocker at the time. Richard Basehart, who later on would portray the Captain on "Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea", was never in better form as an actor. His part is played with all the guile and cunning one would expect from the real Mr. Walker.

Mr. Walker's preferred means of escape was through the vast system of Los Angeles' storm drains, which he used to great advantage in alluding the police. The scenes shot inside these tunnels are reminiscent of the sewer scenes in Orson Welles' "The Third Man", which was released the following year, in 1949. One can't help but wonder if Mr. Welles' effort was influenced by the true life crimes of Mr. Walker, or the film about them.

With it's slow moving and methodical pace, this movie is immediately identifiable as the genesis for the later TV show "Dragnet", which first aired in 1952 and made Jack Webb a star.

"Harlem" by Jonathan Gill

From the silver tipped wooden leg of Peter Stuyvesant, which was given to him as a reward by the East India Company for continuing to fight, even after his leg was shot off, to Jan Rodriquez, a Portuguese seaman who went to live with the Rockaway Indians, fathering the first mixed race child in America, this book will disavow all you think you know about the early Dutch in New Amsterdam. It will also give you a whole new perspective on Harlem, and it's journey on the way to becoming a bastion of African-American Culture in the early years of the 20th Century.

It is still too early in the year to proclaim this book as the must read for 2011, but this sweeping history of Harlem ,which rivals the scope of the 1999 release of Edwin Burrows' and Mike Wallace's "Gotham", will certainly be in the running.

From Henry Hudson's first step ashore at what is now 130th Street in Harlem (and you thought he went ashore at the Battery) to the Revolutionary War, when Harlem was a small village and considered the "country", through the War of 1812, the Civil War and right on through the 20th Century, each page will surprise you with the richness of the history you didn't know.

Some of the misconceptions that are righted in this fascinating book concern the Lower East Side. We all have this impression that the Marx Brothers, Rogers and Hart, and a host of other entertainment figures, came from the Lower East Side. Not true. The Marx Brothers, as well as Rogers and Hart, and Oscar Hammerstein all came from Harlem. Even the original Little Italy was located in Harlem.

The Manhattan Project, which had it's beginnings in a warehouse adjacent to Columbia University is also represented in this treasure trove of history. Carefully researched and well written, this book will entertain you on so many different levels, that I hardly know how to begin a coherent review. The history of the tenement, and how it came into being, is a rare look into the background of early urban real estate and the forces which drove it.

The Christmas Riot of 1901, which began when a group of white Irish youngsters attacked an old Negro drunk, who was then defended by a pasing white man, sparked the riots that re-drew the color line in Harlem. Prior to the riot, Harlem, like the rest of New York, was divided into ethnic neighorhoods. There were Irish, German, Spanish, Jewish and Italian areas, each with it's own set of rules and rituals. The Christmas Riot began the ethnic change, and also sparked a cultural revival of the local arts scene. This was the era of Langston Hughes and Du Bois; the so-called Harlem Renaissance. It is one of the most exciting portions of the book.

The narrative follows the history of Harlem from Henry Hudson through the present day and it's hopes for the future. Along the way you will be introduced to such luminaries as James Europe, the bandleader turned soldier in the First World War. He enlisted over 2,000 men from Harlem, forming them into the "Harlem Hellfighters", an all black group that included Bill "Bojangles" Robinson. This band of soldiers trained in the streets, with brooms in lieu of weapons. When they arrived in France they introduced the people to jazz before spending 191 days in the trenches, longer than any white battalion in the war, on either side. They were also the only regiment to continue to move forward during that time, never giving up one single foot of the ground that they fought so hard to gain. They even amassed an extraordinary 171 Croix de Guerre's and Legions of Merit.

Modernist painters, gangsters, politicians, criminals, prostitutes, actors and prize fighters are all represented in this fantastic compilation of what made Harlem the unique Mecca of African-American culture that it became, and continues to be.