Jimmy Stewart At LAX, 1976

Recently, I saw a photo posting of actor Jimmy Stewart and his wife on Facebook. This jogged a memory dating back to 1976.

Former Governor Ronald Reagan was in a primary campaign against President Gerald R. Ford. During the campaign, Reagan was returning to Los Angeles from campaigning in different states. He was scheduled to arrive at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) and the Reagan campaign (Citizens For Reagan) turned this arrival into a campaign rally.

Since I lived only a few miles from LAX, decided to attend the rally.

When I arrived and while walking to rally area, I saw Stewart signing autographs for fans. I took the below snapshot with a 110 Kodak camera I had at the time.

Panama Violating Its Canal Treaty By Cozying Up To China

Above, the Panama Canal. Tripadvisor photo.

Panama president rules out talks with Trump over canal threat • Dec. 27, 2024, 1:54 AM ET (Voice of America English News)

In 1976, former Gov. Ronald Reagan made the Panama Canal a campaign issue during the year's GOP presidential primary campaign against President Gerald Ford. He charged that Ford and Sec. of State Henry Kissinger were about to turn over control of the canal to Panama. They didn't accomplish this.

Above, Nancy and Ronald Reagan at the 1976 Republican National Convention. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

However, after Jimmy Carter beat Ford in the 1976 election, he turned it over to Panama.

Recently, two friends took a two-week cruise that included sailing through the canal. They learned that cruise ships have to pay around $200,000 to cross through the canal.

Now, it seems that Panama is giving control operations to China, in violation of the Panama Canal Treaties.

From the New York Post:

“Welcome to the United States Canal!” the once and future President Donald Trump posted on Truth Social Sunday, along with a photo of an American flag proudly fluttering over a narrow body of water.

Earlier in the day, Trump had told a crowd at Turning Point USA’s AmericaFest rally that he would never allow the Panama Canal, a strategic waterway built by the United States over a century ago to connect the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, to fall into the “wrong hands.”

Trump made an economic argument along with his geopolitical one: “We’re being ripped off at the Panama Canal like we’re being ripped off everywhere else,” he told the audience as he denounced the increased fees billed to American shippers by the canal’s operators.

The waterway, originally an American possession, was given to Panama by President Jimmy Carter in two 1977 treaties that barely passed the two-thirds Senate majorities necessary for ratification.

The first treaty obliged Panama to operate the canal neutrally, with nondiscriminatory pricing, and allowed the United States to defend it from any threat that might interfere with its neutrality.

The second treaty transferred full control to Panama effective on Dec. 31, 1999, without superseding the first treaty’s broad provision allowing for US defense of this crucial military and economic asset.

Yet despite the assurances in these agreements, the sad truth is the Panama Canal is already in the “wrong hands”: China’s.

In 1996, Panama made a 25-year agreement to outsource management of the canal’s two entry ports — Cristóbal on the Atlantic side and Balboa on the Pacific — to a subsidiary of Hutchison Whampoa, a Hong Kong-based shipping firm.

To read more, go here. 

Las Vegas To Zion National Park On I-15

Above, a breakfast stop at the Casablanca Resort in Mesquite in 2017. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

The first time I was on Interstate 15 between Las Vegas, Nevada and Zion National Park, Utah was in August 1969 with my parents. We were headed to Zion and Bryce Canyon National Parks on a camping vacation.

It seemed like an oppressively long drive back then (even though it is under 3 hours long). Nowadays, I appreciate it more. I was last there five years ago while heading up to Idaho for the Great American Eclipse. 

Back in 1974, while we were somewhere between Utah and Las Vegas, it was announced on the radio the President Gerald Ford pardoned former President Richard Nixon. That news made the drive a little more interesting.

Along the way, there's an Indian trading post that specializes in tobacco products and fireworks. The town of Mesquite offers a place to take a break for food. And, as the Interstate enters Utah, there's the scenic Virgin River Gorge. 

Travel2Next has an article on ten stops along the way.

They begin with:

Whether you’re visiting Las Vegas, looking for a road trip idea, or are already visiting both destinations, driving between Las Vegas and Zion National Park is worth the journey. In general, those travelling this route will take Interstate 15 for most of the trip before changing onto Highway 9, which runs through the park. Only 2.5 hours long, you might assume that there isn’t much to do between the two imposing tourist destinations, but the journey could take you all day or longer if you stop at any of these beautiful places.

To read more, go here.

Classic Rock Music Monday

The stuff that now passes as "music", particularly rock 'n roll, leaves me cold. So, to start off the week, here's a video of a classic rock artist.

It is funny when a song is played, it takes one back to either a time or place (or both). Such is the case of the band Boston and their song, "More Than A Feeling" that came out in the summer of 1976. It was the time of the Bicentennial and the Republican presidential campaign battle between President Gerald Ford and former Gov. Ronald Reagan culminating in a raucous Republican National Convention in Kansas City, Missouri.  This is the song that will start off this week.

According to Wikipedia:

Boston is an American rock band from namesake Boston, Massachusetts, that had its most commercial successes during the 1970s and '80s.

Wikipedia says the band is still active although it has gone through some personnel changes over the years. Lead vocalist Brad Delp passed away in 2007 from suicide.

Ronald Reagan's March 31, 1976 Televised Address

Above, Ronald and Nancy Reagan during the 1976 Republican National Convention. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Back in the 1976 presidential primary campaign, former Governor Ronald Reagan challenged President Gerald Ford for the Republican nomination for president.

During the campaign, the Reagan campaign floundered as it had not won a single primary until the North Carolina primary in March.

Following that win, Citizens for Reagan purchased a half hour of airtime for Reagan to address the American people on March 31, 1976. The North Carolina primary win and the address of March 31 gave the Reagan campaign a much-needed shot-in-the-arm and he went on to win most of the state primaries thereafter.

At the 1976 Republican National Convention at Kemper Arena in Kansas City, Missouri, I was a California Reagan delegate. During the balloting,  Ford won with 1187 votes to 1070 votes for Reagan. He later lost to Jimmy Carter during the general election. 

Above, Kemper Arena in Kansas City, Missouri in 2016. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

This morning, I came upon Reagan's March 31 televised address on YouTube. This was the first time I watched it since 1976, even though I did make an audio recording during the broadcast.

The address by Reagan in many respects applies today with what we're going through with Biden and the Democrats, especially with current problems with Russia, energy and the economy.

Here is the video of that address:

Flying With Pacific Southwest Airlines (PSA) In 1974

Above, yours truly about to board a "PSA Grinningbird" in San Jose.

This morning, I scanned some photos from April 1974 of the first airplane flight I took.

It was aboard a Pacific Southwest Airlines (PSA) Boeing 737 or Boeing 727, I don't exactly remember which. Max Bettman, Mitch Geriminsky and I were returning to Los Angeles from a Republican State Central Committee Convention in San Jose in which then-Vice President Gerald R. Ford was the headliner.

Above, Max Bettman and your truly aboard the PSA jet.

In our Hawthorne High School alumni Facebook page, I started a discussion on PSA. I scanned the accompanying photos to post in the discussion. 

Above, Mitch Geriminsky. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

On PSA, according to Wikipedia:

Pacific Southwest Airlines (PSA) was a United States airline headquartered in San Diego, California, that operated from 1949 to 1988. It was the first large discount airline in the United States. PSA called itself "The World's Friendliest Airline" and painted a smile on the nose of its airplanes, the PSA Grinningbirds. Opinion L.A. of the Los Angeles Times called PSA "practically the unofficial flag carrier airline of California for almost forty years."

The airline initially operated as an intrastate airline wholly within the state of California. This strategy which avoided the steep costs from federal regulation would later serve as the model for Southwest Airlines, doing in Texas what PSA had done in California. After the Airline Deregulation Act of 1978, PSA expanded to cities in other western states, and eventually to several cities in Mexico.

In 1986 PSA became the first of two airlines that merged into the existing USAir, followed by Piedmont Airlines in 1987. The PSA acquisition was completed in 1988. USAir changed its name to US Airways in 1997. In 2005, after its second bankruptcy filing, America West Airlines acquired US Airways, continuing with the name until it merged with American Airlines in 2015.

Above, a shot of a PSA stewardess. Photo by Max Bettman.