Amelia Earhart, the lady, the myth and the family secrets

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Before I write the news, and it has been a slow couple of days, did you hear...

I recently exposed, I mean mentioned, my dreadful Putnam family secret regarding the curse of the Salem Witches. It was one of those "on you and all future generations of the Putnam family".

Well one earlier manifestation of the curse may have taken place about 81 years ago when Amelia Earhart, perhaps the greatest female aviator of all time, married one George Palmer Putnam of the New England Putnam family (the same one as the Salem Putnam family).

GP asked her to marry him six times before she finally relented, and they tied the knot February 7, 1931. Six years later, July 2, 1937, she was declared missing trying to fly around the world. So 75 years ago another Putnam succumbed to the Salem curse.

With news that enough evidence has now been found in the South Pacific to warrant a new investigation of her mysterious vanishing act, Amelia has now jumped back into the front pages of the news.

Amelia and George Palmer Putnam

This time Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has thrown her support of the mission, and a public private expedition is being launched. As a Putnam, I'm all for solving the distant family tragedy but doubt they will stumble across the Salem curse.

For those of you who haven't a clue who Amelia Earhart might be, the following is from her official website and gives a neat, and short biography. This website has to be the most accurate since it is hers.

Aviator Amelia Earhart was born on July 24, 1897, in Atchison, Kansas. On May 15, 1923, Amelia Earhart became the 16th woman to be issued a pilot's license.

Yet another example of the magic of the Internet. Amelia died 75 years ago and has an official website today. That would be so much like her. Her hunger to shatter barriers and records in planes matched her desire to shatter social and cultural barriers in life.

Now I must admit, when I think about her life and death it is really strange to think she was 70 years old and trying to break the record flying around the world. Back then she'd already lived longer than most people in America.

It was probably because she spent much of her youth growing up in Iowa, (my home state by coincidence), where clean air and living made the Midwestern families a quite hardly bunch.

One last tidbit. Back in 1937 it took about 25-30 days to fly around the world. When Amelia checked in last time on her trip she had flown over 22,000 miles and had about 7,000 miles left to fly, meaning the entire odyssey would have been just about 30,000 miles.

That is one tough lady.

From her official website: http://www.ameliaearhart.com/about/bio.html

Biography

When 10-year-old Amelia Mary Earhart saw her first plane at a state fair, she was not impressed. "It was a thing of rusty wire and wood and looked not at all interesting," she said. It wasn't until Earhart attended a stunt-flying exhibition, almost a decade later, that she became seriously interested in aviation. A pilot spotted Earhart and her friend, who were watching from an isolated clearing, and dove at them. "I am sure he said to himself, 'Watch me make them scamper,'" she said. Earhart, who felt a mixture of fear and pleasure, stood her ground. As the plane swooped by, something inside her awakened. "I did not understand it at the time," she said, "but I believe that little red airplane said something to me as it swished by." On December 28, 1920, pilot Frank Hawks gave her a ride that would forever change her life. "By the time I had got two or three hundred feet off the ground," she said, "I knew I had to fly."

Although Earhart's convictions were strong, challenging prejudicial and financial obstacles awaited her. But the former tomboy was no stranger to disapproval or doubt. Defying conventional feminine behavior, the young Earhart climbed trees, "belly-slammed" her sled to start it downhill and hunted rats with a .22 rifle. She also kept a scrapbook of newspaper clippings about successful women in predominantly male-oriented fields, including film direction and production, law, advertising, management, and mechanical engineering.

After graduating from Hyde Park High School in 1915, Earhart attended Ogontz, a girl's finishing school in the suburbs of Philadelphia. She left in the middle of her second year to work as a nurse's aide in a military hospital in Canada during WWI, attended college, and later became a social worker at Denison House, a settlement house in Boston. Earhart took her first flying lesson on January 3, 1921, and in six months managed to save enough money to buy her first plane. The second-hand Kinner Airster was a two-seater biplane painted bright yellow. Earhart named the plane "Canary," and used it to set her first women's record by rising to an altitude of 14,000 feet.

One afternoon in April 1928, a phone call came for Earhart at work. "I'm too busy to answer just now," she said. After hearing that it was important, Earhart relented though at first she thought it was a prank. It wasn't until the caller supplied excellent references that she realized the man was serious. "How would you like to be the first woman to fly the Atlantic?" he asked, to which Earhart promptly replied, "Yes!" After an interview in New York with the project coordinators, including book publisher and publicist George P. Putnam, she was asked to join pilot Wilmer "Bill" Stultz and co-pilot/mechanic Louis E. "Slim" Gordon. The team left Trepassey harbor, Newfoundland, in a Fokker F7 named Friendship on June 17, 1928, and arrived at BurryPort, Wales, approximately 21 hours later. Their landmark flight made headlines worldwide, because three women had died within the year trying to be that first woman. When the crew returned to the United States they were greeted with a ticker-tape parade in New York and a reception held by President Calvin Coolidge at the White House.

From then on, Earhart's life revolved around flying. She placed third at the Cleveland Women's Air Derby, later nicknamed the "Powder Puff Derby" by Will Rogers. As fate would have it, her life also began to include George Putnam. The two developed a friendship during preparation for the Atlantic crossing and were married February 7, 1931. Intent on retaining her independence, she referred to the marriage as a "partnership" with "dual control."

Together they worked on secret plans for Earhart to become the first woman and the second person to solo the Atlantic. On May 20, 1932, five years to the day after Lindbergh, she took off from Harbor Grace, Newfoundland, to Paris. Strong north winds, icy conditions and mechanical problems plagued the flight and forced her to land in a pasture near Londonderry, Ireland. "After scaring most of the cows in the neighborhood," she said, "I pulled up in a farmer's back yard." As word of her flight spread, the media surrounded her, both overseas and in the United States. President Herbert Hoover presented Earhart with a gold medal from the National Geographic Society. Congress awarded her the Distinguished Flying Cross-the first ever given to a woman. At the ceremony, Vice President Charles Curtis praised her courage, saying she displayed "heroic courage and skill as a navigator at the risk of her life." Earhart felt the flight proved that men and women were equal in "jobs requiring intelligence, coordination, speed, coolness and willpower."

In the years that followed, Earhart continued to break records. She set an altitude record for autogyros of 18,415 feet that stood for years. On January 11, 1935, she became the first person to fly solo across the Pacific from Honolulu to Oakland, California. Chilled during the 2,408-mile flight, she unpacked a thermos of hot chocolate. "Indeed," she said, "that was the most interesting cup of chocolate I have ever had, sitting up eight thousand feet over the middle of the Pacific Ocean, quite alone." Later that year she was the first to solo from Mexico City to Newark. A large crowd "overflowed the field," and rushed Earhart's plane. "I was rescued from my plane by husky policemen," she said, "one of whom in the ensuing melee took possession of my right arm and another of my left leg." The officers headed for a police car, but chose different routes. "The arm-holder started to go one way, while he who clasped my leg set out in the opposite direction. The result provided the victim with a fleeting taste of the tortures of the rack. But, at that," she said good-naturedly, "It was fine to be home again."

In 1937, as Earhart neared her 40th birthday, she was ready for a monumental, and final, challenge. She wanted to be the first woman to fly around the world. Despite a botched attempt in March that severely damaged her plane, a determined Earhart had the twin engine Lockheed Electra rebuilt. "I have a feeling that there is just about one more good flight left in my system, and I hope this trip is it," she said. On June 1st, Earhart and her navigator Fred Noonan departed from Miamiand began the 29,000-mile journey. By June 29, when they landed in Lae, New Guinea, all but 7,000 miles had been completed. Frequently inaccurate maps had made navigation difficult for Noonan, and their next hop--to HowlandIsland--was by far the most challenging. Located 2,556 miles from Lae in the mid-Pacific, Howland Island is a mile and a half long and a half mile wide. Every unessential item was removed from the plane to make room for additional fuel, which gave Earhart approximately 274 extra miles. The U.S. Coast Guard cutter Itasca, their radio contact, was stationed just offshore of Howland Island. Two other U.S. ships, ordered to burn every light on board, were positioned along the flight route as markers. "Howland is such a small spot in the Pacific that every aid to locating it must be available," Earhart said.

At 10am local time, zero Greenwich time on July 2, the pair took off. Despite favorable weather reports, they flew into overcast skies and intermittent rain showers. This made Noonan's premier method of tracking, celestial navigation, difficult. As dawn neared, Earhart called the ITASCA, reporting "cloudy, weather cloudy." In later transmissions earhart asked the ITASCAto take bearings on her. The ITASCA sent her a steady stream of transmissions but she could not hear them. Her radio transmissions, irregular through most of the flight, were faint or interrupted with static. At 7:42 A.M. the Itasca picked up the message, "We must be on you, but we cannot see you. Fuel is running low. Been unable to reach you by radio. We are flying at 1,000 feet." The ship tried to reply, but the plane seemed not to hear. At 8:45 Earhart reported, "We are running north and south." Nothing further was heard from Earhart.

A rescue attempt commenced immediately and became the most extensive air and sea search in naval history thus far. On July 19, after spending $4 million and scouring 250,000 square miles of ocean, the United States government reluctantly called off the operation. In 1938, a lighthouse was constructed on Howland Island in her memory. Across the United States there are streets, schools, and airports named after her. Her birthplace, Atchison, Kansas, has been turned into a virtual shrine to her memory. Amelia Earhart awards and scholarships are given out every year.

Today, though many theories exist, there is no proof of her fate. There is no doubt, however, that the world will always remember Amelia Earhart for her courage, vision, and groundbreaking achievements, both in aviation and for women. In a letter to her husband, written in case a dangerous flight proved to be her last, this brave spirit was evident. "Please know I am quite aware of the hazards," she said. "I want to do it because I want to do it. Women must try to do things as men have tried. When they fail, their failure must be but a challenge to others."

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Happy St. Patrick's Day

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"If you want to know what God thinks about money, just look at the people He gives it to."
                                  (Old Irish saying)

It is that time of year again, St. Patrick's Day, America's most celebrated non-holiday of the year when all 310 million of us can be Irish for the day.  I am a die hard St. Patrick's Day parade junkie having attended parades in New York City, Chicago, and yes, even travelling to Ireland for the Dublin parade.

I find parades much safer than those times I was taking bus tours of Irish bars when I noticed in the packed bar standing next to me was a stark naked Irish man in boots only.  When I looked around no one else seemed to notice anything wrong so I just ignored the lack of clothes and grabbed my green beer.

Something odd always seemed to happen on St. Pats no matter where I might be like in Omaha, Tucson, Washington, D.C., Boston, Philly, LA  or where ever I might have landed.  It was always great to see the cultural barriers and differences dissolve for a day.

Even the Irish Queen of motor racing, Danica Patrick, is proud to show her heritage with her new shamrock paint job on her NASCAR hot rod.

Whether you’re Irish or a leprechaun wanna-be… everyone loves a good St. Patrick’s Day Parade! You may have heard the expression “Everyone wants to be Irish on St. Patrick’s Day.” Though St. Patrick’s Day is the national holiday of Ireland, it is celebrated world wide… from North America to Argentina, Germany to Montserrat, Mexico to Russia. Originally a religious celebration in observance of the death of Saint Patrick (circa 385 – 461), one of the Irish patron saints, it has now become more of a holiday to celebrate the Irish culture and it’s influences worldwide.

The United States has celebrated St. Patrick’s Day well before it’s independence from Great Britain. The first St. Patrick’s Day and parade in North America was held in Boston in 1737 followed by New York City in 1756. While St. Patrick’s Day originated in Ireland, the largest St. Patrick’s Day parade is held in Chicago with over 2 million spectators and participants. The US, with it’s large Irish ancestry, has parties, parades and events throughout the country.

My Irish Wolfhound - CuChulainn Deo Irie

So have another Guinness, throw down an Irish Cream, and chase it with an Irish coffee and all your woes may just go away.
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CPT Pointers - Some Favorite Pointers

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Before we take things too seriously check out these Pointers.

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CPT Pointers - Digging for the Truth

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Politicians make finding the truth a full time occupation it seems. Now I am an equal opportunity critic so any old politician is included whether democrat, republican, independent, christian, catholic or prostitute.

Thus the need for CPT Pointers - our effort to send you in the general direction of truth. Today we have a couple of subjects raised by Obama supporters and members of MSNBC, the Left wing of the White House.

Preacher Man Al Sharpton - My Man

First we have the wanna be spokesperson for the 99% of Americans who aren't filthy rich, the Obama decription for middle class America, and that mouthpiece for you and me is none other than the Reverend Al Sharpton.

Have you heard him on TV promos talking about "us", the 99% of middle class America? Of course he also says Republicans are the 1% of Americans. Come on Preacher Man, does Divine Providence really let you get away with white lies like that?

You say Republicans represent the 1% yet the truth is 30% of the nation's registered voters are Republicans, while another 28% are Independents, leaving 42% Democrat. Now if nearly 60% of the voters are not Democrat how can you represent 99% of the middle class. Fact is I know a number of Democrats who cringe when I ask them about you being their mouthpiece for the election.

In addition, I have never seen a Republican with blueberry pie all over their face like you say on television. Please keep the racial profiling to yourself and the Obama campaign.

Lawrence O'Donnell and the Academic Elite

Yet another MSNBC announcer who was quick to trash Romney for his Bain Capital connections before having to admit that Bain Capital is a partner in NBC ownership, his boss.

Now Lawrence has a tv promo talking about how a college education is the most important thing for the future of America. That's nice. He tells us how at the end of World War II only 6% of the American work force had college degrees, but thanks to the GI bill that number rose to 20% of the population.

Today 26% of the workers have a college degree. So the way I read that is after billions of dollars in government tuition and billions more in endowment grants to schools in the last 66 years 20% more of our workforce now has degrees.

Seems he's promoting other things close to him 

Of course I am all for education but it may not be the sole reason America does not lead the world any longer. I mean everyone admits that America rose to a superpower between 1946 and 1960 and then became the only superpower by 1990.

That would mean about 80% of the American workforce that built America into a superpower did not have college degrees. Sometimes those who think of themselves as "intellectuals" should thank the 75% who aren't, those who do the work, create the innovations and pay the taxes so the elitists can do their thing.

If all it took was more money, and we spend more money by far on education and health care than any other nation, then why do we not have the best education and health care in the world?
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R-E-S-P-E-C-T - Find out what it means to me...

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A Forgotten American Value

There was a time when respect meant something in America.  Fact is it really wasn't all that long ago.  I have a pretty good memory you see, and good memories have a way of sticking around.

When I think back it seems the beginning of the end of respect in American culture and life started as a backlash to the forced retirement of Richard Nixon from the White House during the post-Watergate era.

When Nixon ran for reelection in 1972 McGovern was never ever a serious threat and Nixon won every single state except Massachusetts and the District of Columbia, in one of the greatest landslides in electoral history.

The Watergate made no sense as there was no chance Nixon could lose.  In the previous four years he ended the Viet Nam war, lowered the threat of nuclear annihilation by his Soviet inroads, he was the first world leader to open the doors to China, and life was pretty darn good.

Yet there were people on his staff, the California mafia in particular, who were so paranoid they thought Howard Hughes was working with Larry O'Brien (head of the Democrat National Committee DNC and former knight in John Kennedy's Camelot), the mob, the news media and China to bring down the president.

So they ordered the Watergate break in to find evidence in the DNC headquarters.  For the first time the Cubans breaking in got caught after long careers with the CIA.  The trail then conveniently led to the West Wing of the White House and the top staff members of the president.

Thanks to the terribly botched break in, capture and pointing fingers, everything moved fast, perhaps too fast, for a thorough government investigation.  Before long there was 18 minutes missing from a White House tape and tens of thousands of dollars in cash being passed between a series of dark and shadowy secret agencies, organizations and groups.

In terms of people being out to get them no matter what happened in the election, there were some pretty good reasons for paranoia.  Attempts by the White House palace guards to gain political influence over the intelligence agencies was intense and only J. Edgar Hoover and the FBI had the power to resist the White House staff.

And then there was the Kennedy assassination.  Just 12 years earlier JFK was killed.  Bobby Kennedy and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. were killed about five years later.  Nixon had been defeated by JFK and Nixon people always felt the truth about the Kennedy assassination never came out.

Were the Kennedy's killed because they upset the military industrial complex by wanting to end involvement in the rapidly escalating Viet Nam war?  Or was it the mob and CIA who were upset because of the Bay of Pigs fiasco?  Maybe it went back to Jimmy Hoffa, mortal enemy of the Kennedys from the days he was President of the powerful Teamsters Union and was driven from office into jail by a relentless Bobby Kennedy?

As far as the Nixon cronies were concerned someone was out there powerful enough to kill presidents and anyone else involved if these mysterious forces felt threatened.  I think the Nixon political people were determined to find them first.

Anyway, you get the drift, there were a lot of reasons to be paranoid.  The mafia, Jimmy Hoffa, Castro, Communists, Cuban Freedom Fighters, Howard Hughes, the military, FBI, CIA, Soviets, KGB, Kennedy family and so on.

Someone clearly set them up as a warning or in retaliation for something and people that break the law deserve to get broken.

So Nixon wins by a landslide in 1972 and the Watergate investigation is underway.  His aides forgot to tell him some things that took place?  He covers up for their bungled break in though he most likely didn't know it took place.

Check out this time line.

The Watergate break in is June 17, 1972.

Nixon wins reelection on November 7, 1972.

Watergate trial begins in January, 1973.

Nixon fires top aides in April, 1973.

Butterfield tells Senate of Nixon's tapes on July 16, 1973.

Nixon resigns from Office August 9, 1974.

Just before he wins one of the most resounding landslide victories in American political history a break in took place that would bring down a presidency.

The aftermath brought Ford to the presidency, the pardon of Nixon by Ford, and finally Ford's defeat by Carter.  Historically speaking, it was one of the most remarkable periods ever as the strength of the Constitution, the fairness of the judiciary, the ability for the nation to function for two years without a president who was buried in the legal battle for survival, and the media.

Oh yes the media.  They hated the White House palace guard more than anyone.  Not only did Nixon almost beat the beloved leader of the liberal cause, Kennedy and his Camelot in 1960, but here he was back in the White House elected 8 years after JFK.

In the eyes of the media Nixon was back to dismantle the Kennedy legacy, and the rise of the liberal media legacy, and Watergate gave the liberals and media the perfect reason to go after Nixon and his people.  Little did they know they were pawns like everyone else involved.

The aftermath was a terrible polarization between liberals and conservatives, democrats and republicans, academia and the military, and on and on.  Unlike previous times, this time it was a fight for survival of their cause.

By the late 1970's there were many seeds of hatred, intolerance, judgment, bias and fear planted throughout the land fueled by a conviction that the other guy was out to destroy me so my only hope was to destroy him first.

Reagan brought a brief respite from the bitterness, perhaps because he had been both a democrat and a republican, but it didn't last long after.

Ever since it has been clear that the core of our malaise was our failure to respect the right of others to disagree.  Yes, loss of R-E-S-P-E-C-T.  The powerful feminist anthem by soul singer Aretha Franklin in 1967.  Aretha wailed it:

R-E-S-P-E-C-T

Find out what it means to me

R-E-S-P-E-C-T

Take care ... TCB

"TCB" is an abbreviation that was commonly used in the 1960s and 1970s, meaning Taking Care (of) Business.

We all need to remind each other to respect our right to disagree, and respect the opinions of others as you would want them to respect your opinions.

In the past people could disagree without hating.  My best friends worked against me in political campaigns yet we still shared a beer every week and laughed about our campaigns. All of the competitions of life should make us understand the need to respect and listen to each other but we don't.

Maybe the feminists will allow us to borrow Aretha's anthem for another cause, the need for renewing respect in our lives, politics and religions.

Just for fun I checked the definition of respect from my current dictionary and from my collection of old dictionaries, this one from 1906.  Words are my playground and the more I study them the more I understand their secrets.

Over 100 years ago respect had a lot more significance than it has today.  The following are the current and 1906 dictionary definitions of respect.  Use this as a good refresher of what we need to work to achieve.

Internet Free Dictionary - 2012

re·spect (r -sp kt )

tr.v. re·spect·ed, re·spect·ing, re·spects

1. To feel or show deferential regard for; esteem.
2. To avoid violation of or interference with: respect the speed limit.
3. To relate or refer to; concern.

n.
1. A feeling of appreciative, often deferential regard; esteem. See Synonyms at regard.
2. The state of being regarded with honor or esteem.
3. Willingness to show consideration or appreciation.
4. respects Polite expressions of consideration or deference: pay one's respects.
5. A particular aspect, feature, or detail: In many respects this is an important decision.
6. Usage Problem Relation; reference. See Usage Note at regard.

The New American Encyclopedic Dictionary - 1906

respect (rĕ-spĕct )
v.t. [Fr. respecter, from Lat. respectus, pa. par. of respicio=to look back on, to look at: re=back, again, and specio=to look, to look at; Sp. respectar, respetar; Ital. rispettare.]

1. To look back upon.
2. To look toward; to face or look in direction of.
             "Palladius adviseth, the front of his house should so respect the south, that in the first angle it receive the rising rays of the winter sun." - Browne.
3. To take special notice of; to regard attentively; to regard as worthy of motice.
            "What should it be that he respects in her?"
                        Shakespeare: Two Gentlemen of Verona, iv.4.
4. To heed. to consider, to regard.
            "Do you persuade yourself that I respect you?"
                                Shakespeare: Measure for Measure, iv.1.
5. To view or regard with some degree of reverence; to esteem; to look up to with reverence or respect.
6. To have reference or regard to; to relate to.

[Respecting, 3.]

                To respect a person or persons, to respect the person: To show undue favor or bias toward; to suffer the opinion or judgment to be influenced or biased by a regard to the outward circumstances of a person, to the prejudice of right and equity.

rĕ-spĕct , s. [Fr., from Lat. respectum, accus. of respectus=a looking at, regard, from respectus, pa. par. of respicio=to look back upon, to respect (q. v.).]

1. The act of looking at with attention; the act of noticing; a looking toward; attention, regard, care.
                "I will have respect unto the statutes continually." - Psalm cxix. 117
2. Relation, regard, reference [¶].
3. The act of holding in high esteem or regard; regard; reverence; the deportment or course of action toward another which proceeds from a feeling of esteem, regard, or reverence toward such person.
4. (Pl.): An expression of esteem and regard; as, Give him my respects.
5. Respected character or position; respectability, repute.
                "Many of the best respect in Rome."
                                Shakespeare: Julius Caesar, i. 2.
6. Goodwill, favor.  (Genesis iv. 4.)
7. Partial regard; undue bias to the prejudice or right and equity.
                "It is not good to have respect of persons in judgment."
                                Proverbs xxiv. 23.
8. Consideration; motive in reference to something.
                "Whatsoever secret respects were likely to move them."
                                Hooker: Eccles. Polity.
9. Point or particular; point of view; matter, feature.
                "She will be ruled in all respects by me."
                                Shakespeare: Romeo and Juliet, iii. 4.
10. Modest and becoming behavior; decency.
                "Talk with respect, and swear but now and then."
                                Shakespeare: Merchant of Venice, ii. 2.
11. Deliberation, reflection.
                "The icy precepts of respect."
                                Shakespeare: Timon of Athens, iv. 3.
12.Caution, care.
                "He it well did ward with wise respect."
                                Spenser: F. Q., V. xii. 21.

[¶] 1. In respect: Comparatively speaking; relativity.
                "He was a man; this, in respect, a child."
                                 Shakespeare: Henry VI., Pt. III., v. 5.
2. In respect of, or to:
            (1) In comparison with; relatively to.
                "In respect of a fine workman I am but a cobbler."
                              Shakespeare: Julius Caesar. i. 1.
            (2) On account of; by reason of; in consideration of; as regards.

Do you see how much we are losing from the true meaning of respect?
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Obamaville March 14 - Primaries and March Madness - America's Entertainment

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International Negotiations American Style

For those of you who think we like to mix politics and entertainment, you got it right.  Last night was the pre-opening round of the NCAA tournament when those teams "on the bubble", yet another odd form of media slang, had to play to get into the tournament.

There were two NCAA games and four NIT games and March Madness doesn't even start until tomorrow.  Make no mistake, however, this is really big stuff, much more important than political primaries.

Why even UK Prime Minister David Cameron flew in and he and President Obama took a break from critical world affairs to run down to Dayton, Ohio for the night to see one of the NCAA play-in games.

Play-in games were an underhanded trick by the NCAA to allow more teams into the tournament without adding a huge number of teams, so four teams play each other for the right to play in the NCAA.  In truth it was a way to take advantage of the massive money made from tournament games.

Of course as the last teams to qualify they get the worst seeding so what does that mean to the winner of these games, they play the top seeded teams in the tourney in their next game. So Western Kentucky, after staging the greatest four minute comeback in NCAA tournament history, now has to face the top team in the nation, the mighty Kentucky Wildcats who are the concensus favorite to win the national championship.  The game is in Louisville.

By the way, as our two heads of state watched on Western Kentucky staged the greatest five minute comeback in NCAA history as they came from 16 points down to win 59-58 over Mississippi Valley State.

The next game in Dayton saw even more history made as BYU staged the greatest comeback in the NCAA history by coming from 25 points behind.  Previously, the largest deficit overcome was 22 points in 2001 when Duke fought back to beat Maryland 95-84 in the national semifinals.

Back to our leaders, we all know Obama loves basketball.  In fact it has been good for basketball and good for Obama politically.  But the Brits, well they have a little problem with strange games in the colonies such as basketball and leaders going out for a good time. Check out this fun report of the game by the London Daily Mail.

The London Daily Mail

Don't risk looking like a basket case, Dave

By Melissa Kite

PUBLISHED: 06:17 EST, 14 March 2012 | UPDATED: 09:52 EST, 14 March 2012

British Prime Ministers are good at many things, but high-fiving whilst eating hotdogs has never been one of them.

David Cameron did his best to look like he was enjoying all the slam-dunking action at the basketball, but this really isn’t our thing, is it? I mean, the only thing we Brits have ever put in a basket for cultural or leisure purposes is a piece of chicken.

Barak Obama invited Mr Cameron to watch Western Kentucky University take on Mississippi Valley State in the opening game of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Men's Basketball tournament, known as March Madness, apparently.

At half-time, the pair were interviewed by Clark Kellogg of CBS Sports and Mr Cameron, an Old Etonian more used to cricket, rugby and The Eton Wall game, tried to pretend he was lovin’ it.

The Prime Minister said: “I'm enjoying it. It's fast, it's pretty fast and furious. It's hard to follow sometimes exactly who's done what wrong.”

Which is a bit like British politics, I suppose. One minute you’re a popular leader in an open-necked shirt hugging hoodies, the next minute you’ve got a fractious coalition to lead and just when you should be worrying about your Budget statement and an impending re-shuffle, you have to get on a plane to the United States and eat hot dogs in front of the cameras at a basketball match.

Asked if the President was helping him make sense of it all, Mr Cameron said: “He's giving me some tips. He's going to help me fill out my bracket.”

I don’t know what that means, but I’m guessing it’s not about the pair of them doing a spot of DIY shelf assembly.

It’s always the same when British Prime Ministers meet US Presidents. Remember the banter when Tony Blair hobnobbed with George W Bush at Camp David? There was some gobbledegook talked then about how they used the same toothpaste.

In the effort to be folksy and populist, to mingle British and American culture together to achieve a sort of transatlantic mateyness, something always gets lost in translation.

It makes you long for the days when world leaders simply held talks behind closed doors then gave a short press conference in the Rose Garden. At least we could understand what they were on about.

What about the political primaries?

Oh yeah, I almost forgot.  Santorum was the surprise winner of both Mississippi and Alabama although I don't understand why the media was surprised since the two states are 80% evangelical and Santorum is the pride of the social moral majority issues.

A bigger surprise was how that liberal from Massachusetts, Mitt Romney, managed to split the vote with Preacher Santorum and Professor Gingrich.  Since Mitt also won primaries in Hawaii and Guam he actually finished third in the two southern states (just barely) yet still walked away with more delegates to the GOP convention.

So I guess the lesson this week is losing can still be winning in politics in America.

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America's Newest Heroine - Lori Anne Madison

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Lori becomes 1st 6 year old to qualify for National Spelling Bee

America loves and needs a new heroine and our newest comes in a diminutive package packed with knowledge, smarts and wit, 6 year old Lori Anne Madison from Virginia.

This week she took the long and lonely journey to the pinnacle of national competition when she became the youngest person to ever qualify for the highly regarded National Spelling Bee.

Imagine that, a competition for all elementary and secondary students in the USA, meaning kids from 8 to 18, and she is one of the 277 brightest kids in America.

I have a thing for academic pursuit ever since I started correcting my teachers in grade school so seeing one achieve such a lofty honor as qualifying for the National Spelling Bee boggles the mind when you consider at her age I was probably still playing cowboys and Indians.

If you get a chance check out her interviews as her feat was quickly picked up by the national and world press as if they could not believe America had any smart 6 year olds.  Her maturity and charm belie her years.

Did I fail to mentioned that this young genius is home schooled?

Here is what the world news had to say about Lori .

Six-year-old girl in National Spelling Bee

(Reuters) - A 6-year-old girl will become the youngest contestant ever in the Scripps National Spelling Bee after winning a regional competition in Virginia.

Lori Anne Madison, of Woodbridge, Virginia, won the Prince William County spelling contest last week, beating out 21 top elementary and middle school competitors. Her winning word: "vaquero," a word of Spanish origin meaning cowboy.

"My parents quiz me. I read lists and I have a really good memory," Madison, who is home-schooled, told Fox's WTTG-TV.

Madison was believed to be the youngest competitor ever, the Cincinnati-based National Spelling Bee said on Tuesday. Based on incomplete records, the previous youngest contestant was 8, it said.

The spelling contest has been held since 1925. This year's event will be held May 29 to June 1 in Washington with 277 spellers from the United States, U.S. territories and other countries.

Madison will be sponsored by the News & Messenger newspaper of Manassas, Virginia.

(Reporting By Ian Simpson; Editing by Daniel Trotta)

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