Ann Shepard (Rueve)

Thank you Gail and Richard for solving the problem so quickly. I thought it might have been something I said that brought the site down.  Just kidding.  

Jeff Daum

Yes, I second that thank you to Gail and Richard for getting us back up- especially before conspiracy theorists chimed in about how this only occured after we started discussing politics 

Jerry Ochs

Women hold up half the sky.  Ten women were recently chosen to be inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame.  They are:

    Matilda Raffa Cuomo, former first lady of New York, founder of Mentoring USA and an advocate for women, children and families.
    Dr. Temple Grandin, animal scientist, author and champion of farm animal welfare. She designed livestock handling systems now used worldwide.
    Lorraine Hansberry, playwright and civil rights activist.
    Victoria Jackson, entrepreneur and advocate for women's empowerment.
    Sherry Lansing, a filmmaker who was the first woman to head a major film studio.
    Clare Boothe Luce, journalist, former war correspondent, U.S. congresswoman, U.S. ambassador.
    Aimée Mullins, an amputee who excelled as an athlete, actor and motivational speaker.
    Carol Mutter, first female three-star general in the U.S Marine Corps.
    Dr. Janet Rowley, scientist and geneticist whose research established that some cancers are genetic diseases.
    Alice Waters, chef and restaurateur who was a champion for organic foods and the local and sustainable food movement.

I am in no way putting any pressure on the women in the class of 1964.  None.  Zilch.  Zero.

Philip Spiess

Just sayin':  one of my two bosses at the Smithsonian Institution (both of whom were Walnut Hills graduates, and, no, that's not how I got the job), was Janet Solinger (Class of 1939, my mother's class), who, The Washington Post said, a number of years ago, was more influential in Washington than the Secretary (i.e., CEO) of the Smithsonian Institution.

Nelson Abanto

There has definitely been too much political discussion and it is time to lighten up a bit.  To that end I have found an old Mel Brooks clip from "Blazing Saddles" in which he portrays a chief executive politician:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NzbhbetwYFU

Does this clip remind you all of anyone currently in government?  Let me think...

Ann Shepard (Rueve)

Nelson!! 

Henry Cohen

Just started to revisit the site recently and someone asked are there any psychologists in the group who can comment on our alternative fact President Trump. For a living I evaluate people for various jobs and my findings usually reflect the combined impressions gleaned from testing and talking and listening to people. A couple of observations here. Obviously with Trump it is all listening and observation. First, Trump does have a corner on the market of narcissism. He is also one of the most insecure people on the face of the earth and most of his bluster is compensation for that. Now for other key points, part of my job is to predict behavior and I wish that it would be as easy in the cases I am given as it is with Trump. He never fails to live down to his worst impulses and he is as little a man as his hands would connote. He is petty, vindictive and shallow and I would peg his IQ  at a level that would place him at best in the 100 to 110 range. He has virtually no ability to think critically and if you listen to him long enough, he will contradict himself multiple times and exhibit the most superficial of thinking. The fact that he won this election ( an election by the way HE said was rigged--why don't we take him up on that and throw his very ample derrier out) will go down as a low point in American history. Lastly, he is by no means a strong man and he is already showing signs of being manipulated by the basketful of deplorables he has appointed. He is or should be a laughingstock and the derision he is experiencing by a very large portion of the public is richly deserved.

Steven Levinson

Henry and passive-aggressive Nelson, to you and Mel Brooks (in that order), and in the words of Jack Nicholson's Jack Torrence:  "Words of wisdom, [Henry], words of wisdom."

Henry Cohen

And another thing, where in the heck is it written that anyone much less a President ( and he is for sure much less a President) should have carte blanche to spew lies, venom and hyperbole squared comments without consequence. As things are evolving, our salvation will only come from one of two sources--the hopefully independent judiciary who can reverse his more egregious executive orders or exercising the ammendment that states that a President can be removed if he shows himself to be unfit for office. Those milquetoast members of both houses of congress are obviously less than up for the task. The question that I would like to pose to those pillars of representative government is " what the heck will they take as evidence that this guy is totally out of his depth and had crossed over into a zone of insanity"? Lastly, my best guess is that had he been given it, he would not have been able to pass the Walnut Hills test!!  

Henry Cohen

Steve L, what do you and your colleagues in the judiciary think of our esteemed ( that is a dripping in sarcasm label) President?

Jerry Ochs

Now for something that makes more sense than the current state of the union.

Philip Spiess

Hmmm.  Allow me to comment as your class's Cultural Historian.  Jerry, the show, as near as I can tell, is Act II of Tchaikovsky's The Nutcracker ballet, on drugs or steroids (Dale:  any comment?).  Or maybe it's the opening performance spectacular of some as-yet-to-be-staged Olympics.  I think at least part of it is "The Dance of the Sugar Plum Biglies."  And the main female performer, pictured prominently in those gold frames, is either Ivanka Trump or Lady Gaga.  There is also obviously a Russian theme -- witness the hats, the Kazatsky (sp.? danced at the end), and, oh, yes, those bears on the floor at the conclusion.

And Henry, the current situation in which we find ourselves makes Richard Nixon look like a saint.

Henry Cohen

Phil, it is absolutely amazing how circumstances can change so that we long for the days of a crooked President whose crookedness was relatively benign. Of course our current president has the advantage of Twitter whose 140 character limitations fit perfectly the upper limits of his mental capabilities. While he prides himself on being unpredictable, he is actually the most predictable person immaginable. Another one of his litany of shortcomings comes from the battles he chooses to fight: the size of the crowd on the mall, his Apprentice ratings and his antipathy toward Nordstrom. The term presidential and Trump ( in the parlance of Venn diagrams) do not intersect. 

Jerry Ochs

My favorite Venn diagram.

Stephen (Steve) Dixon

I'll say one positive thing about the new president, he has certainly livened up the dialogue on WHHS64.

Henry, I see a third possibility that might, to paraphrase Henry II, rid us of this meddlesome president. That would be the man himself.

I don't think he has the temperament to brook any kind of challenge, or to be exposed as a fool. He's not going to stop lying, or Tweeting (I'm being redundant, here) and I am counting on the judiciary, first, followed by the recently spineless mainstream news media, then a modicum of congressmen and senators to begin to challenge every lie and goofy proposal. The pressure will build. He has walked away from every major problem in his business career. He does settle because his positions are, at root, so indefensible.

He will never admit he was wrong. Can't do it. I believe that he is supremely Narcissistic. One of the greatest Narcissists ever! Nobody is more of a Nar... Sorry, I've been reading too much Trump lately.

I think there is a very real possibility that he could become so frustrated by the challenge of his every statement being endlessly picked apart, as is the tradition at least over the last 10-12 years, that he will want to just leave. Plus, the negative business consequences are already starting bud. That's where his heart, such as it is, exists. He expected just the opposite. When he finds that whining about losing business doesn't tug at anybody's heartstrings he will want out.

Conjuring up a "medical" reason to abdicate should be easy. He got himself medically certified as the fittest candidate in presidential history.

On another note, anything with a platypus in it is a plus. Thanks, Jerry.
 

Henry Cohen

Examining the conditions that gave rise to this abomination would be an interesting exercise. Using his terminology, our so called President has somehow convinced a significant amount of the populace to believe that he is their salvation and will make things better for them. The truth of course is that he has absolutely no use for most of those people beyond getting their votes and anything he actually does will in no way be of assistance to them. He is an embarassment at every level and even at some levels that haven't been plumbed yet. 

Richard Winter (Winter)

It is great to see all the active participation on this forum, but please remember that this website is for everyone in the class, regardless of political viewpoint. 

This site is for class REUNION.   

So, please, lets try to bring the focus back to what we can all share and enjoy together.

The internet has thousands of websites for political discussion.  Please take your political opinions to those sites. 

Henry Cohen

Richard, with all due respect while I see what the primary intent was with this web site and hopefully this will keep us connected with lots to enjoy, these times in our world are extraordinary and deserve discussion and exchange of ideas. 

Steven Levinson

Richard, with respect, our When We're 64 and LXX Birthday Bash reunions are over, and what you are seeing, I think, is the expression of what a lot of the class views as of paramount concern to them, the country, and the world.  The future is at stake, for goodness' sake.  Henry and Steve D., where I come from, at least, judges are appalled.  You've both hit the nail on the head.  I think the best case scenario is a single four-year term, produced by the disaffection of a sufficient margin of Trump's base -- among the electorate and in Congress -- to make him a one-termer.  Impeachment or other early departure within the next four years would give us President Pence, which is as frightening a prospect as what we've got.  I'm hoping that the Republican Congressional leadership, the Federal Judiciary, and the military/intelligence establishment will begin to put the brakes on the inevitably ongoing insanity.  We're on the brink of the abyss; we don't exist outside history, and it's about time that Americans abandon the childish belief that our nation is forever.  Empires rise and empires fall, and sometimes they take the whole world with them.  It's 2017, and there's little permissible wriggle room for disastrous mistakes. We're standing right on the edge.

Mary Benjamin

Ann Shepard (Rueve)

Super Bowl LI  was a game to remember!  Cincinnati Bell was the BIG winner locally, with this new ad, written and performed by OTR.   http://www.wlwt.com/article/watch-cincinnati-landmark-featured-in-super-bowl-ad/8680238

Phil, this will give you a glimpse of your home town. 

Margery Erhardt (Schrader)

A question was asked about a psychologist. I am not one though my sister and niece are. I have two MAs in psychology and counseling – one obtained here in the US and the other In England. This spewing of hatred and lies is not what our class should be about. This country that so many of us love is falling apart due to the malevolence of the past decade. Richard and Gene kindly have asked us to focus elsewhere so why all of this name-calling which gets us nowhere?

What I personally know and then I am off…. I knew Hillary and worked with her in the eighties. I couldn’t wait to be away from her (and from current associates I know that she only has gotten so much worse.) This is who you are putting up against Trump? Hillary Clinton is the most corrupt person ever to get this close to becoming president of the United States. Her corruption has many dimensions. It involves her personal, professional, and political life with so many overlaps. Her use of a private email server engulfs all three aspects. Clinton’s malfeasance speaks loudly. She lies to get out of trouble and fool both voters and the press. She also lies irrelevantly—when it's not required in order to avoid trouble. When she should express concern and condolences she blames someone else. Her indifference in protecting national security secrets and her exploitation of the foreign policy and diplomatic process for personal gain made her unfit to be president. I know this up close and personal!

For Obama…I have been involved during this past decade with a group of specialists and attorneys throughout much of the US. We did a lot of background work to ensure the Constitution was upheld. It has not been at all. The lies and deceit of these past years is reprehensible. Every word you use here against Trump can be multiplied tenfold against our past president.

But, I will not even go there as many of us live our lives looking for the positives and the good in others. Unlike the past 8 years when the only words we heard were “I”, Trump was quite the opposite in his inaugural address. “We, the citizens of America, are now joined in a great national effort to rebuild our country and to restore its promise for all of our people. Together, we will determine the course of America and the world for years to come.” Does he have his faults? Sure but our country does need a new direction. Let us BE POSITIVE!

Steven Levinson

All right, Margery!!  I for one value your input and point of view.  Positivity and denial aren't the same. Let's keep talking about what's important, which includes, but is not limited to, politics.

Henry Cohen

Steve, glad to hear that you and your colleagues are wanting to make sure that the third branch of government is acting as a check and balance. In this last election, I certainly feel a case could have been made for none of the above. That said, in trying to be as magnanimous as possible and in the spirit of giving the new guy a chance, I certainly was willing to suspend my impressions in hopes that he could rise to the occasion. If the first three weeks are any indication, those hopes have been totally dashed and it is blatantly apparent that the Peter Principle is in full blossom.

Steven Levinson

Henry, let's continue our conversation via the Message Center.