A4 Thursday, December 9, 2010
OPINION
Forget deficits, debt. It’s time for a family movie
Nothing like Christmas to test our fragile American psyches. While times remain hard for millions of us, stores have amped up the gift-giving hype because, well, they’ve been hit by hard times, too. What better way to make up for a hard year than by sending us the message that if we really, really care for someone ... kaching! Guilt makes the sales soar, si? This season’s not for amateurs. We wrap up more than gifts; we wrap up our year. We might stare at our Christmas tree and find big empty spaces. We might sit for our holiday dinner and find more empty spaces – loved ones away or maybe gone forever. Like I said, it’s not for amateurs. Still, I love this season. I love Christmas. I’m a Christian. That helps, but it’s not necessary. And I don’t mean to minimize my faith or the faith of more than a billion others, but Christmas offers, if
JEFFRY GARDNER RIGHT
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we’ll accept it, something we each deserve – a respite; a time-out where we can quiet the chatter in our heads and hearts. So I’m offering this simple phrase to kids from one to 92: Check your troubles at the door and check out one of “My 10 Fave Holiday Flicks.” No. 10: “Scrooged,” Bill Murray, 1988. Most every Christmas movie anymore either retells “A Christmas Carol,” or “It’s a Wonderful Life.” Scrooged, obviously, fits the former, and I’m fairly certain this is the only list on which you’ll ever find this little gem.
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Few things scream “love Christmas!” like the Ghost of Christmas Present, played by the wonderful Carol Kane, banging Murray in the head with a frying pan. No. 9: “Miracle on 34th Street,” Elizabeth Perkins, Dylan McDermott, Richard Attenborough, Mara Wilson, 1994. The late John Hughes’ remake changed little of the 1947 original. The opening scene says it all: dogs and children know who Santa is. Tru dat. Perkins is no Maureen O’Hara, but really, who is? No. 8: “A Christmas Story,” Darren McGavin, Melinda Dillon, Peter Billingsley, 1983. The Red Ryder BB-gun movie. Billingsley’s precocious. I’m not a precocious fan, but McGavin was a cynical dad’s dad. I love cynical Christmas-loving dads. No. 7: “A Christmas Carol,” George C. Scott, 1984. You and I know you don’t win a war by dying for your country; you make
the other son-of-a--, er, wait. That’s Scott as Patton. Brilliant. But this is the best film version of Dickens’ tale, and, yes, Scott’s brilliant as Scrooge. No. 6: “Miracle on 34th Street,” Maureen O'Hara, John Payne, Edmund Gwenn, Natalie Wood, 1947. Our Creator created Gwenn specifically to play Kris Kringle. And Maureen O’Hara is virtuoso as the stunning, no-nonsense Irish single mother. No. 5: “One Magic Christmas,” Mary Steenburgen, Harry Dean Stanton, 1985. This is a retelling of Wonderful Life. Casting Stanton, a harmonica-playing cowboy, as the angel sent to show Steenburgen the light was inspired. No. 4: “Holiday Inn,” Bing Crosby, Fred Astaire, 1943. Astaire dances; Irving Berlin introduces “White Christmas;” the singer gets the girl. Perfection. No. 3: “Planes, T rains and Automobiles,” Steve Martin, John
Candy, 1987. Hughes makes my list again. Go figure. Try not to laugh as Candy’s fingers dance across the dashboard as he pretends to play the piano to Ray Charles’ “Mess Around,” or cry when we find him alone in a commuter train terminal. Hughes understood compassion. No. 2: “A Charlie Brown Christmas” (1965) and “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” (1966). Technology and science were going to make our lives better, more peaceful, remember? Yet, a pair of 45-year-old cartoons remind us what truly feeds our souls and warms our hearts. Let Stephen Hawking figure that one out. No. 1: “It's a Wonderful Life,” Jimmy Stewart, Donna Reed, Lionel Barrymore, Henry Travers, 1946. Think you don’t make a difference? Please think again. God created us to love and be loved. Rejoice. © New Mexico News Service, 2010
EDITORIAL
The final for-profit frontier
There’s a chance that the first launch into orbit of a privately owned spaceship, which could be attempted this week, will fail. If it does, however, another launch will succeed, and the transition of space travel from a strictly government endeavor to one dominated by private companies will have advanced an important step. It is a welcome step for those who understand that commercialization of space travel is essential to bringing on a time when ordinary human beings, not just the super-rich, can venture into space. The Space Exploration Technologies Corp, or SpaceX, headquartered in Hawthorne, Calif., is scheduled to launch its Dragon capsule, designed with the idea of being adapted to carry people, into orbit. Founded in 2002 by PayPal co-founder Elon Musk, SpaceX has a $1.6 billion contract with NASA to conduct 12 resupply missions to the International Space Station after the announced end of flights of NASA’s space shuttle. Another company, Orbital Sciences Corp., has a similar contract. Spaceships designed by aviation pioneer Burt Rutan for entrepreneur Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic have achieved suborbital flights and are scheduled to offer individuals flights just beyond the edge of Earth’s atmosphere. Space tourism will be the province of the wealthy at first, but innovation, competition and amortization of development costs are expected to bring the price down over time. Other space tourism companies have plans that could include orbiting space hotels. Mr. Musk is said to have put $100 million into the company. He recently raised $50 million more from investors. The company has several contracts involving its two rockets, Falcon 1 and Falcon 9, and plans to develop vehicles for launching even heavier loads and, eventually, cutting the cost of such trips by a factor of 10. The Falcon 9, which will carry the Dragon capsule into orbit, was successfully tested in June. Nobody knows where space exploration will go from here — Mr. Musk hopes to do manned missions to Mars eventually — but the involvement of the private sector is the crucial factor. Like any monopoly, the government monopoly on space exploration led to overpriced and inefficient efforts. Now the future looks exciting again. Guest Editorial The Orange County Register
LETTER POLICY
The vindication of lawyer Chuck Cooper
For Charles Cooper, chief litigator for Proposition 8, the ultimate vindication will come when five U.S. Supreme Court justices overturn U.S. District Court Judge Vaughn Walker’s decision. Judge Walker is the San Francisco judge who took it upon himself to rule that 7 million Californians had no right to vote for Prop 8 — gay marriage, he ruled, is required by the U.S. Constitution. Chuck Cooper 1, Ted Olson 0. That’s the only score Cooper cares about. While Ted Olson and David Boies bask in the glow from fawning media, Cooper has kept a much lower profile.
Doonesbury
MAGGIE
GALLAGHER COLUMNIST
But on Monday in San Francisco, he received at least a partial vindication of a controversial decision to not present more expert witnesses in Judge Walker’s kangaroo court. For it tur ns out that the expensive, prolonged and totally unnecessary trial
imposed on proponents of Prop 8 by Judge Walker really was ultimately just a show trial — irrelevant to the issues that will genuinely decide this case. At the oral arguments before a three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Monday, Ted Olson and David Boies tried to restrict the rights of these three judges to review the evidence and to decide on the merits of the case. But the appeals court judges are Judge Walker’s bosses, and it was clear that the suggestion that they had no authority to review his decision did not sit
well. During oral arguments even the two liberal judges brushed aside Olson’s and Boies’ assertions that the judges had to abide by Judge Walker’s socalled scientific “findings of fact” from the trial, like they were intellectual gnats. “What is marriage?” and “Children need a mom and a dad?” are what judges call “legislative facts,” not issues that can be decided at trial. The most amusing moment was watching appellate judges Stephen Reinhardt and Michael Hawkins get Boies to
See GALLAGHER, Page A5
The Daily Record welcomes and attempts to publish all letters to the editor that meet guidelines.
To be published, letters must include the writer’s first and last name, address and telephone number. Addresses and telephone numbers will not be published unless the letter asks for a response. Addresses and telephone numbers are used for verification or to contact the letter writer for more information. All letters except those sent by e-mail must be signed. DEAR DR. GOTT: On an almost daily basis, I have muscle cramps in my hands, fingers, legs, feet and toes. They occur during the day and night. I take 25 milligrams of HydroDiuril and two 595-milligram doses of over -thecounter potassium gluconate. I drink several glasses of water a day plus water with my meals. Is there anything else that I can do to relieve these cramps? DEAR READER: HydroDiuril is simply hydrochlorothiazide (HCTZ), a common medication used to treat hypertension (high blood pressure). It can cause muscle and joint pain and a reduction of potassium, which can cause cramp-
ASK DR. GOTT UNITED MEDIA SYNDICATE
ing, but you are on supplements to avoid the common side effects. HCTZ can also cause a reduction in the amount of magnesium in your body. While studies suggest that most people may be deficient already, symptoms are not common. If your low levels are further reduced by your medication, this can lead to symptoms of deficiency, which
include cramping. T ry adding a magnesium supplement to deter mine whether the cramping lessens. Speak to your doctor to determine how much you should take. If this doesn’t help, perhaps a change in medication is in order. Other possible options include calcium supplements, eating pickles or drinking the juice, consuming electrolyte or sports drinks (pickles, pickle juice and sports drinks can be high in sodium, so be sure to read labels), or rubbing marjoram oil (one part marjoram to one part castor or olive oil to prevent skin irritation) over the affected areas. To provide related information, I am sending you copies
of my Health Reports “Dr. Gott’s Compelling Home Remedies” and “More Compelling Home Remedies.” Other readers who would like copies should send a self-addressed stamped No. 10 envelope and a $2 check or money order per report payable to Newsletter and mailed to Newsletter, P.O. Box 167, Wickliffe, OH 44092. Be sure to mention the title(s) or print an order form off my website at www.AskDrGottMD.com. DEAR DR. GOTT: My 41/2-year-old son is developmentally delayed and was diagnosed as having low muscle tone. With the help of therapy, he sat up at 1 year and See GOTT, Page A5
25 YEARS AGO
Dec. 9, 1985 • Manuel Garcia has been elected president of Mountain View Middle School’s Mustang Band for 1985-86. Garcia, son of Mr. and Mrs. Francisco Garcia, plays the cornet. Other new officers are: Chris Martinez, son of Mr. and Mrs. Robert Martinez, vice president; Theresa Gomez, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Luis Gomez, secretary and drum major; and Melanie Martinez, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Ernie Martinez, seventh grade representative first lieutenant. • Sheryl Shanor has been elected to membership in the Order of Omega, a Greek Honor Society. Shanor, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Stuart Shanor, is a 1983 graduate of Goddard High School. She is a political science major and member of Pi Beta Phi Sorority at University of Michigan.