The Year was 1963 (When I Was Born)

In 1963, A Stamp Cost 4 Cents

Lyndon B. Johnson becomes president of the US The atomic powered submarine, Thresher, sinks in the North Atlantic killing 129 A civil rights rally held by 200,000 blacks and whites, features Dr. Martin Luther King's "I Have a Dream" speech President John F. Kennedy is assassinated as he rides in a motorcade through downtown Dallas Betty Friedan publishes The Feminine Mystique, launching a middle-class feminist movement Michael Jordan, Quentin Tarantino, Conan O'Brien, Johnny Depp, and Brad Pitt are born Los Angeles Dodgers win the World Series Chicago Bears win the NFL championship Toronto Maple Leafs win the Stanley Cup The Beatles receive their first #1 hit single, when "Please Please Me" tops the charts in the UK Astroboy (known as Mighty Atom in Japanese) Japan's first ever anime was launched NBC expands its evening network news program to 30 minutes The television remote control is authorized by the FCC

What Happened the Year You Were Born?

Blogthings: 100's of Fun, Free Quizzes!

It's a Tie!

A Junior League friend and fellow blogger mentioned a poll on her blog that had 11 questions about the issues to show you which presidential candidates best match your beliefs. I just took the quiz, and three candidates tied for first place on my list with 57 points: Clinton, Obama, and Chris Dodd, who's pulled out of the race already. I like the way the answers list the issues in agree/disagree columns, in addition to links to the candidates's websites. Click here to check out the poll for yourself. It'll be interesting to see how things go in the coming months!

Freedom of Speech

Tonight I went to hear Karl Rove speak in Page Auditorium at Duke. Tickets were free, but they did end up "selling out." Now, my political views are a little more liberal than Karl Rove's, but still, it was fascinating to hear him talk and be in the audience, where there was clapping on both sides of the political fence, and even some demonstrators. Rove is a very intelligent man, but also gave me the impression of a spin doctor. (He knew a lot of facts and figures, which was impressive, but also...) I do think he answered many of the questions thoroughly, and handled the indoor protestors and hecklers very well, too.

The talk was moderated by Duke political science professor Peter Feaver, and he did a good job of moving things along, I thought. George's father joined me for the talk, and that was nice. I wish I'd had time to stay for more of the Q&A, but I had to rush off to a meeting in Durham. I did hear one person ask when his trial for treason would start, a reference to the Valerie Plame affair. Rove answered that if he were in the wrong, he wouldn't be sitting there on the stage.

All the way around, it was a very interesting evening, and I'm glad I went!