By LARRY HYPES
It won’t be that long until July 20 and for anyone our age, the thing we remember is sitting up late 40 years ago that night to watch Neil Armstrong step on the moon. NASA only had one camera designed for the picture and if it hadn’t worked that would have been one great mistake for photography on the historic day. Someone said at the time that the spacecraft power source was top priority and that the energy allotted for that little grainy, black-and-white picture was only about the same amount as a 40-watt light bulb.
July is generally regarded as America’s birthday month, and rightly so. Of all the revolutions in recorded history, the United States is considered by far the most successful model and our democratic form of government has achieved more “firsts” than anyone else. When we succeed, like the moon shot in 1969, the world takes notice. When we fail, like our recent economic mess, well, the whole world takes notice all over again.
Like the Dallas Cowboys or the New York Yankees, whatever we do is news.
Speaking of the economy, there are many who worry that the Japanese or Chinese or someone will buy up all our banks and businesses. History says that may not happen and if it does, then history records a time, such as in World War II, when the U.S. nationalized some of those resources so they never left the country, anyway.
Now, no one is saying that is going to happen but, after all, our contributions made it possible for the rest of the world to prosper. I can’t imagine that we are going to give much more away. Surely, even as generous as we are, our leaders are going to wake up before long.
Donald Trump — I know what you’re thinking — but the man has made a lot of money and he said a few days ago that it costs the Oil Producing and Exporting Countries (OPEC) about $2 per barrel to pump the crude oil out of the ground. There is little, if any, question that many of our business/political leaders are just making more money than Caesar’s wife helping to keep prices up around $70 per barrel so that the average consumer keeps getting lubricated on all related products. Trump says the oil producers are still “stacking” tankers outside the continental limits of the country, waiting to unload full oil cargoes with not enough storage space to hold the excess. If it is true, it will not be the first time but maybe it will be the last.
Money, of course, drives just about everything. Those of us who do not have any are probably more sensitive to it than most. We who clip newspaper coupons understand the importance of having a value card at the checkout counter. We don’t do it to be trendy, many of us have to in order to make our budgets stretch to the next paycheck.
Speaking of money, the Michael Jackson story certainly brings back memories of Elvis Presley. Both men were “revived” by death, it seems.
Jackson, like Elvis, was not making the right kinds of headlines in recent months and years. Both were talented entertainers but each had problems with doctors and drugs in their own way. Both died at home and probably neither would have if normal medical advice had been followed. Someone said that no doctor is going to say “no” to a superstar and I don’t believe that for a minute. Now, a doctor on the payroll might have a different agenda. (We won’t get into the Howard Hughes story this time.)
At the time Elvis died, RCA was not a hot property but Presley’s death did much to boost the label. Jackson’s recordings are suddenly disappearing off the shelves in many markets again, too. Graceland and Neverland — the comparisons just go on. No wonder Lisa Marie “married” Jackson for a time. How many more movies can be made about such stuff? Stay tuned because we will probably find out.
July has not always been a great month for singers. The year Michael Jackson, 50, was born the great blues singer Billie Holiday passed away on July 17. Only weeks before her death, she had been arrested on an illegal narcotics possession charge. Holiday was only 44 (Elvis was 42) when she died.
Getting back to our country, 50 years ago this past July Americans and Russians were arguing about the advantages of capitalism and communism. Vice president Richard Nixon and Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev exchanged barbs about which system worked better. Khrushchev told Nixon once that all he (Nixon) knew about communism was that he had a fear of it. That probably happened shortly after Nixon landed in Moscow in an elite 707 jet at the time Soviet leaders were still getting around the world in their Russian-made propeller driven aircraft.
It still seems like only yesterday we were all watching WHIS-TV at 10:56 p.m. that special Sunday night to see a historic first on the moon’s Sea of Tranquility.
Now, if only we can get that expensive oil in off the ocean for a lot less money!
Larry Hypes is a teacher at Tazewell High School and a columnist for the Daily Telegraph.
