1. The Constitution says that "The House of Representatives shall chuse (choose) their speaker and other officers." But it does not state that they must be elected members of the House. Some Constitutional scholars have said that the House could choose anyone for these roles. Similar to how a city council chooses a city manager to run a city. However, this issue has never come up in the history of Speaker selection and unlikely it ever will.
This came up during the government shutdown a few years ago when news pundits joked that the House should appoint Senator Ted Cruz as Speaker. Then some Constitutional experts said that it could be done. However Senator Cruz would have to resign as Senator because the Constitution is clear that a member of the Senate or House cannot hold another government position.
2. The Federal Government could create $20 Trillion and pay off the debt. It can under Article I, Section 8, Clause 5 of the Constitution which states that the Government has the power "To coin money" ("coin" here used as a verb). The problem is that with such an infusion of money into the economy hyperinflation would occur. The price of bread would go up to $100 a loaf in a few weeks and $1000 a loaf in a few months.
So sorry to hear about Frank's passing. I remember him as a quiet friendly guy that always had a great smile. I never saw him angry at anyone. I haven't seen an "obit" for him but as I remember he had a couple of daughters (now adults) as his ex-wife Christina worked for me as a librarian at Snap-on during the 90's. She mentioned that he had had a difficult home life through high school, so sad. RIP to one of the most talented high school athletes we had at HHS.
La Bella Pizza has been on 3rd Avenue for 60 years. Below is a news program about the 60th Anniversary. The restaurant was started by Kitty and Tony Raso in 1955.
Tom Money--who's family's real estate firm has been on 3rd Avenue since the 1950s--told me that sometimes the trains would stop in front of La Bella's and the crew would go in and order pizza. Note La Bella's is on the right of this picture that Bruce and I have posted in the past:
The Raso family still owns the restaurant. Kitty and Tony have passed away and the restaurant is run by their sons as shown in the news story. Kitty lived into her 90s. This picture shows her on the right.
Kitty had a "heart of gold" and did a lot for charity. She was on the Salvation Army Board, a member of the Navy League and supported a number of other charities. She always made the restaurant available for group meetings at low costs.
The Navy often invited elected officials and members of the Navy League to fly out on a helicopter to returning aircraft carriers.
This is a picture I took of Kitty Raso and National City Mayor Kile Morgan just after we were flown out to a carrier. I think the carrier was the USS Constitution.
Joseph Raso posted a number of videos on Youtube. You can find these by serachiing on his name.
George, the NAVY's program of flying VIPs to the aircraft carriers which are training off SoCal has always been an important part of having people see how impressive our military forces are, and more importantly, how impressive our sailors are. The ship name was USS CONSTELLATION, although other carriers are also based in San Diego and also support the program (USS CONSTITUTION is an ironclad in Boston, Mass, and an excellent chance to visit history on the oldest commissioned ship in the Navy if you get to New England). Glad to hear the visit aboard "CONNIE", was a good one; it was my honor to be the Chief Engineer for 3 years from 1986 to 1989 aboard ship and to welcome the VIPs at their dinner stop.
Dick, yes I made a mistake it should have been the USS Constellation. Great that you got to serve as Chief Engineer on such a fine ship.
I recently became a septuagenarian, but I refuse to believe such a mistake was due to a senior moment was due to a senior moment?
Anyhow, I used a cheap camera but one of the pictures shows that the ship was actually theUSS Kitty Hawk(CV 63).
I did travel out to the USS Constellation a few years later when I had a 35mm camera.
This is the approach, by helicopter, to the USS Kitty Hawk.
The man in the blue suit at the center of the picture is Congressman Lionel Van Deerlin on the Kitty Hawk.
The USS Constellation.
I have been in Boston a few times, but unfortunately never got to tour the USS Constitution. However, I did tour the old Naval Sailing vessel USS Constellation in Baltimore.
Of course it was important for VIP's to visit those carriers. That is why Officer Bob took me and a bunch of red-sweatered patrol boys out to tour the (either WASP or HORNET) back in elementary school.
When asked why I did not get accepted at the Naval Academy, I generally (or admiral-ably) respond with the question "Because I didn't apply?".
Why Cream chose Ginger Baker rather than me as drummer? I have no answer. Ask Eric "God" Clapton.
On the other hand, maybe it was the hair thing. Not Emil Zumstein, nor Admiral Zumwalt.
I got lost in your postings. Did you fly aboard the Kitty Hawk? If so, when?
I served on the Kitty Hawk in 1969. One afternoon I had a chance to fly from the ship to Danang. The plane was a C1A, and was able to take off from the carrier without the aid of the catapult. When we flew back aboard we used the arresting wires to keep us from going off the bow of the ship. It was a real "E ticket ride".
John, I did not serve in the Navy. I was very nearsighted and failed eye tests for the Navy and Army. I really wanted to go to the California Maritime Academy, but they required 20/50 uncorrected and I was not near that.
As a civilian, I was invited a few times by the Navy to fly out on a helicopter to arriving aircraft carriers. We would fly out, have a small breakfast on the ship then fly off just before the ship docked. Really a great time.
Interesting that I have had cataract surgery in both eyes and my vision is now 20/20, so I now qualify for the California Maritime Academy. Since they are now a California State University, there is no age requirement.
Question for Dick: As chief engineer on the Constellation were you 2nd in command? Second only to the captain?
In the Merchant Marine the chief engineer is #2 and the first mate #3. On some passenger vessels the chief engineer sits at the captain's table or has a table of his own.
On some larger passenger vessels the staff captain outranked the chief engineer. On the Queen Mary the staff captain's cabin is next to the captain's and the chief engineer's cabin is on the other side of the staff captain.
For Dick and John: What is the aircraft that sounded like "woop", "woop"? I know it scared people on the beach at Coronado.
Good question. On Navy ships, the Chief Engineer is a Department Head. The Executive Officer is second to the CO. I reported directly to the Commanding Officer though; the Executive Officer is more of an assistant to the CO and his/her next assignment is usually as CO. On aircraft carriers, the Commanding Officer has his own dining area called the CO's Mess and he frequently entertains dignitaries. And his Mess is not messy. :). It is usually outfitted with mementos from the estate or memorials from the ships namesake. IE: USS G WASHINGTON, USS ABE LINCOLN, etc. CONSTELLATION had mementos from Presidential visits
My message post 1362 (page 55/56) is about maritime pilots (as I mentioned, there are references to maritime pilots in Homer's "Iliad", Coleridge's "Rime of the Ancient Mariner" and the Bible--Ezekiel 27:27).
A question that often comes up is do civilian pilots handle US Navy ships? Local civilian pilots handle US Navy ships in foreign ports. Also, civilian pilots will handle Navy ships in US ports when the ship is docking at a public facility such as civilian dry dock or a terminal. The US Navy has its own pilots for US Ports where it has Naval facilities/stations.
Below is ashort video of a British Columbia Coast pilot handling theUSS Constellationout of Vancouver, Canada. It is a section of a documentary done by the pilot organization. (I put this portion on ebay as unlisted.)
If you have ever taken an Alaska cruise, there are normally two or three BC Coast pilots on board your ship for the entire trip from Vancouver to the Alaska border where two or three Alaska pilots board.
incidentally, pilots well know how important the engineering department is for the ship's safety and for their own careers.
George, I really enjoyed the video of the Pilot getting CONNIE underway from Vancouver, BC, thank you for posting it. It was GREAT to be underway on CONNIE one more time, albeit only on video!! And, yes, the Pilots do a great job getting the ships safely into and out of harbor.
The guy who owned the company I used to work for was on the Forbes 500 list but what he liked to brag about was his carrier landings (apparently a not so easy task).
When I was at UCI we went over to El Toro and watched some carrier simulation landings. It's unclear to me now but I seem to recall an incident when the cable snapped.That must have been something to see.
Memorial: I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but Jimmy Hitchcock passed away on November 7, 2015. I have not been able find out if or when a service will be held.
Jimmy was my best friend when we were young. He was always taller and bigger, so he was my protector. He helped me grow up through my high school years as well. Jimmy was a very good athlete, a very good surfer and an all around good guy. He was an Army veteran as well. He was a great family man and had a couple of kids and a loving wife. When I came back from Viet Nam in 1967, Jimmy was there at my house to welcome me back and make sure I was okay! Can't say that about any of my other friends! I left Chula Vista in the late 60's, but always kept Jimmy in my memories as someone very positive in my youth. When I learned of Jimmy's illness a few weeks ago, I spoke to him and told him these words. I did not realize how sick he was. We have lost one of the good guys!! He will be missed. Rest In Peace brother! See you on the other side!!
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