The Writer's Life 4/22 - Dipping, Assault, Pledge, Mendacity

One of the most maddening aspects of big government is the massive amount of corruption and fraud involved. An article in today's NY Post renders another example. An official at the City University of NY has been found to be double-dipping - collecting both a pension and a salary. His pension brings in $91,000 a month, his salary $164,000. His position is listed as "integrity expert." Looks like the system found the perfect man for the job. Here's another man of integrity caught double-dipping:

Another Post article reveals the peril faced by employees of NYC public schools. In 2016-'17 there more than 10,000 assaults reported against staff - teachers, aides, principals, a 4.5% increase from the previous school year, up 11.8% going back two years. Unfortunately, the piece did not detail the numbers by decade, which would have given it more perspective.

It's too soon to celebrate NOKO's pledge to give up its nuclear program. Dear Leader may simply be maneuvering to bamboozle the President, as his father and he have made fools of those who preceded Trump going back decades. It would be so disappointing if Trump too were suckered.

Last night PBS ran Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1958). As always, I was sucked into it, mesmerized by Liz Taylor's beauty and Burl Ives' powerful portrayal of Big Daddy. Whenever I encounter the word "mendacity," I think of him, the character saying he's had to live with it all his life, and his asking his drunken son, played by Paul Newman: "Why can't you?" The dynamite cast also features Jack Carson, Judith Anderson, Madeleine Sherwood and Larry Gates. In researching the film at IMDb, I came across another Hollywood stalwart, Vaughn Taylor, who played the Deacon. He was an early pioneer in TV. Although there are "only" 186 titles listed under his name, which pales in comparison to those in the 500 club, he appeared in multiple episodes of many popular TV shows. In the early to mid '50's alone, he did 31 of Kraft Theatre, 32 of Robert Montgomery Presents, each an anthology series. To my great surprise, he was in two TV movies in 1946: Seven Keys to Baldpate and Mr. and Mrs. North. I'd had no idea any existed before the '60's. Here a pic of him in a season one episode of The Twilight Zone aired in 1959, Time Enough at Last, which starred Burgess Meredith as bookworm Henry Bemis:

Not much action at the floating book shop on this gorgeous day. My thanks to the gentleman who purchased a Dale Brown thriller. How good it is to not be cold.

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