Fifty Years Ago Today

On the 29th of October, 1962 two things happened which would forever change the world we live in. In ascending order of importance these events were:

The Fourteenth Day:

The world sighed a collective sigh of relief as news spread that the Cuban Missile Crisis was over.

In response to the U.S. having nuclear capable missiles based in the U.K., West Germany, Italy and Turkey, the Soviet Union introduced similar missiles onto Cuban soil, just 90 miles away from the American mainland.

Following some back door diplomacy between the U.S. President, John F. Kennedy, and his Soviet counterpart, Nikita Khrushchev, the crisis ended not with a bang, but a whimper.

The crisis, from the American perspective, was well covered in the movie “Thirteen Days”, starring Bruce Greenwood as J.F.K., Kevin Costner as his advisor Kenny O’Donnell, Steven Culp as Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy and Dylan Baker as Secretary Of Defense, Robert McNamara.

It would be nice to see a similar film showing the Russian perspective of the crisis, but as yet, no-one has made it.

If you haven’t seen the movie, here it is in full via YouTube:

A Child Is Born:

The second history making event that took place on October 29, 1962, was the birth of your humble(?) scribe.

Yes that’s right, Dan (or at least the bloke you have come to know and love(?) as Dan Gulberry), is 50 years old today.

Despite having lived a lifestyle in my 20′s that would make Ozzy Osbourne and Keith Richards seem like Trappist Monks, I have lived to tell the tale.

I could have settled into a life of middle-aged mediocrity as many of my contemporaries have done, however I decided to start up a blog to have my voice heard, and to fight the prospect of Tory arses ever touching the leather on the benches of the Treasury side of Parliament House again.

If I had more time, I would like to keep writing more. However I still have bills to pay, and as the Derp will not accept advertising, that means I still have to devote a large portion of my time to gainful employment.

Although I am nowhere near as eloquent as fellow bloggers such as Ad Astra, or Andrew Elder, the feedback I’ve had from many of you, both here in the comments section, and on Twitter has encouraged me to keep going.

I thank you all for that feedback, and rest assured, when time permits, I will keep writing and maintain this blog going as long as I am still able to string together a few sentences to convey a message.

All the best to all of you,
“Dan”.