Tuesday, May 31, 2011

What Was Disney Thinking?

Once upon a time the Walt Disney Company was a corporate sloth. Walt Disney died in 1966. The corporation threaded water for two decades by doing things the Walt Way and asking the question “What would Walt do”? Corporate raiders/predators started circling Disney, like vultures.

The Company turned to Michael Eisner in 1984 for change. And change it got, plenty of change. Eisner may not have been a creative genius, but he understood economics.

The future of Disney would be to make money, and it did. Prices were progressively raised, and costs ruthlessly controlled. The greatest example of bean counting by the Eisner regime is California Adventure. Be sure to check out the stories in Mouse Tales.

Execs were now measured by cash flow – not by what Walt wanted, although Eisner did present himself as the face of Disney, that is, the reincarnation or second coming of Walt.

Shareholders were rewarded handsomely, none more so than Eisner who reaped over a billion dollars from Disney.

I digress.

The new Disney is geared to reacting quickly to seize opportunities. It constantly reinvents itself; Out with the old, in with the new!

Two days after the Navy Seals Raid that killed Osama Bin-laden, the Disney Corporation filed three applications to trademark “Seal Team 6,” presumably for use on products, rides, cartoons, movies, or TV shows. Who knows for sure since the Wonderful World of Disney is a universe onto itself.

The possibilities are endless:

Mickey Mouse as a Navy Seal on an overpriced T-shirt;

Donald Duck as a Navy Seal on an overpriced T-shirt;

The omnipresent giftshops with Seals bobble-heads;

Seals facial kits and outfits;

A new ride in Adventure Land – Obama Offs Osama;

A pin set, made in China, featuring Navy Seals, helicopters, the U.S.S. Carl Vinson, Osama and his entourage, Taliban and Al Qaeda figures, and each of Osama’s successors as they meet a similar fate with the Seals;

A yet again submarine ride, this time searching for Osama’s body;

Tomorrow Land with a super secret stealth helicopter ride over Pakistan to replace Peter Pan’s Ride;

Soaring Over Afghanistan to replace Soaring Over California;

Food stands selling Seals Dogs;

Adding Osama to the pantheon of Disney villains, next to Scrooge McDuck;

The new patriotic fireworks with Osama as the villain;

The Rants of Osama Automaton;

Main Street Abbotabad;

A new TV show, “I Led Three Wives”;

The Hills of Tora Bora to replace the aged Matterhorn;

The daily Electric Light Getting Osama Parade;

Osama’s Magic Carpet Ride;

The Sheik Osama Bazaar;

Pirates of the Mediterranean featuring the Navy Seals;

Save the Seals Foundation;

Ride the Seals through Osama’s Lair;

The Rivers of Pakistan, captained by a Seal shooting at fleeting Al Qaeda;

What was Disney thinking? Did Disney believe that a Mouse could trump the Seals?

Did it really believe two days after the Osama Raid that it could trademark “Seal Team 6’?

Navy Seals 6, Navy Seals Team 6, or Navy Seals belong to the United States, the United States Military, and the American people. Disney should no more be able to trademark the Seals than the Space Shuttles, Navy Polaris Submarines, Green Berets, the 5 Marines and one sailor raising the Flag on Iwo Jima, or the F.D.N.Y. flag raising at Ground Zero.

Disney can certainly protect individual products, but not the generic names. Bill O’Reilly and Rush Limbaugh are selling their celebratory Navy Seals merchandise. They made no attempt to trademark the generic names or phrases.

The AP owns the copyright of the 5 Marines and the Navy Corpsman raising the Flag on Mt. Suribachi, and Time the copyright of Eisenstadt’s photo of the sailor kissing the nurse. Neither trademarked the events

The Department of Defense filed applications of its own.

The Walt Disney Company withdrew its applications.

Disney wasn’t thinking.

Da Bibi Disses Da Obama

Three Republican primary candidates for President had a bad May. Senator Rick Santorum called Senator McCain out on torture. That is ill-advised.

Governor Romney has not yet found a good way to escape the albatross of Romney Care in Massachusetts.

Congressman Newt Gingrich self-imploded shortly after leaving the starting gate. Gingrich has an excuse; it’s genetic. He’s a congenital flame thrower, who confuses personal rhetoric with principled disagreement. He forgot President Reagan’s 11th Commandment: Thou shall not speak ill of a fellow Republican. He called Representative Paul Ryan’s proposed Medicare reform plan “radical” He continued “I don’t think imposing radical change from the right or the far left is a good way for a free society to operate.” He compared right wing social engineering to left wing social engineering.

These statements were personally harmful, but only affect their Presidential ambitions.

Statements of the President of the United States are different. When the President speaks, he changes the official policy of the United States.

President Obama delivered a speech at the State Department on Thursday, May 19. The first half laid out his goals and aspirations for the always volatile and byzantine Mideast. His Wilsonian goal is a peaceful, Democratic Mideast.

The second half of his presentation placed at risk the future of America’s most steadfast and reliable ally, Israel, as well as America’s national security in the Mideast.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was flying to the United States when the President unleashed his anti-Israel broadside, blindsiding the Prime Minister, who had less than a day’s notice. President Obama presented it evenhandedly, but it was anti-Israel. The speech was broadcast in English, Arabic, and Farsi.

The next day at a joint conference in the Oval Office, the President referred to the Prime Minister as a friend. As the saying goes, with friends like these, who needs enemies? They met as friends, but the President’s conduct towards Israel has been one of petulance, treating Prime Minister Netanyahu as the satrap of an American province. The two world leaders are equals, both elected leaders of independent democracies.

The President abruptly left a White House meeting with the Prime Minister in 2009 to have dinner with his family. The President had presented the PM with a list of 13 non-negotiable demands, including a halt to new settlements. The Prime Minister rejected the non-negotiable demands.

Vice President Biden was earlier 90 minutes late to a dinner with Prime Minister Netanyahu in Jerusalem. The VP was purportedly insulted by Israel approving the construction of 1,600 homes in east Jerusalem.

Most attention in Thursday’s speech focused on President Obama’s statement that “The borders of Israel and Palestine should be based on the 1967 lines with mutually agreeable swaps, so that secure and recognized borders are established for both states.”

Less attention has been placed on his statement that the Palestinian state, i.e. Gaza and the West Bank, should be contiguous: “The Palestinian people must have the right to govern themselves, and reach their full potential, in a sovereign and contiguous state.”

Netanyahu referred to the President’s proposals for the 1967 borders with negotiated land swaps as a non-starter. He essentially rejected the President’s proposals as unrealistic. He disclaimed a “peace based on illusions.”

The President appeared before AIPAC, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, on Sunday. He backdown somewhat by recognizing that Israel would not retreat to the 1967 boundaries, but that land swaps between the Israelis and Palestinians “must be central to any deal.”

He stated that America’s support for Israel is “ironclad,” but tell that to President Mubarak of Egypt.

The Prime Minister clearly restated Israel’s long established position that no negotiations can occur without the Palestinians acknowledging the right of the Jewish state to exist.

The Prime Minister’s subsequent speech two days later before a joint session of Congress received a bipartisan 29 standing ovations. Former Speaker Nancy Pelosi spoke in favor of Israel, as did Senate majority leader Harry Reid. The President is out of step with even his Party on the Israel issue.

The President made his remarks when the Palestinian government is negotiating with Hamas, which is sworn to the destruction of Israel, for a joint power sharing arrangement. The Prime Minister responded that no negotiations can take place until the parties recognize the right of Israel to exist.

People hear what they want to hear. The Palestinians are no exception. They echo the call for a return to the 1967 borders, as well as the right to return for the grandchildren and great grandchildren of the dispossessed Palestinians during the Israeli War for Independence.

Israel is justifiably concerned about its security. It is surrounded by enemies and probable enemies. Its secure border with Egypt is now history with Egypt opening the gates to Gaza. Syria has never been friendly. Fatah on the West Bank may join with Hamas in Gaza in a unity government. Both Hamas and Hezbollah in Lebanon are sworn to the destruction of Israel. Iran is supplying arms and funding to Israel’s sworn enemies. Only Jordan is quiet – at least for now.

Israel has suffered through three wars and two Intifadas, with possibly a third materializing. “Land for Peace” is a proven failure for Israel.

The country deals with harsh reality. It cannot risk Wilsonian Democracy.

The Arab Spring is not directed at Israel. It reflects the human spirit seeking freedom from oppressors. It is not directed at Israel, although, depending on how it turns out, anti-Semitic fanatics, such as the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, may gain control of a country, and direct terrorist activities at the small country.

Only one democracy exists in the Mideast today. It is Israel. The odds are that when the Arab Spring works its way out, Israel will remain the only democracy in the Mideast.

The United States has only one true ally in the Mideast, Israel. Our erstwhile allies, such as Bahrain, Egypt, Yemen, Tunisia, either have deposed their leaders, or under pressure by the Obama Administration to do so. Yet, the President has been strangely quiet on Iran, and is treating Assad, the dictator of Syria, with kid gloves and benign neglect. Tell me again why we are bombing Libya and attempting to kill Colonel Kaddafi?

Some White House aides started the standard silent campaign against the Prime Minister by claiming he was arrogant and treated the president with contempt. Only a few commentators echoed that Netanyahu is arrogant and should reach agreement with the President.

They forget that the Prime Minister is not speaking for himself. He represents the people of Israel, the people who elected him as a worthy successor to Ariel Sharon – a leader who places Israel’s security above all else.

Wednesday, May 18, 2011

9/11 Was the High Water Mark for Al Qaeda

Al Qaeda peaked on 9/11. We didn’t know it at the time, as we nervously waited for the next attack, just as the West Coast of the United States feared a Japanese attack after Pearl Harbor.

The terrorist group had been on a rising curve. The 1993 World Trade Center Bombing, the embassy bombings in Nairobi and Das es Salaam, Black Hawk Down in Somalia, and the attack on the U.S. Cole, preceded 9/11.

Think of our fears:
The Bomb in a major city
A Briefcase Bomb
Bioterrorism – anthrax, ricin, sarin, et al
Poisoning the water supply
Smuggling the Bomb or terrorists through our ports in container ships
Smuggling the Bomb or terrorists across our porous southern border
“Crop dusting” toxics
Suicide bombings
Subway, bridge and tunnel bombings

Even rural America was scared.

Osama Bin-Laden and Al Qaeda were emulated in the Mideast. He was a hero to many Moslems. Bin-Laden became the face of militant Islam, but Al Qaeda was simply the most successful of the Islamic terrorist organization, if you exclude Hamas, Hezbollah, and Iran. Militant Islam will survive the death of Bin-Laden and the decline of Al Qaeda since the militancy, fed and funded by Iran continues. Bin-Laden also stood out as an anti-American success story.

The aggressive response of the Bush Administration, the driving of the Taliban and Al Qaeda out of Afghanistan removed their sanctuary, a population conscious of terrorism, the killing and capture of most of Al Qaeda’s leadership, tightened security at airports and critical infrastructure, the cooperation of friendly governments in the Mideast and Pakistan, enhanced interrogation, the diversion of Al Qaeda’s efforts to fight the U.S. in Iraq, kept Al Qaeda on the run. Planning for a 9/11 takes time. Al Qaeda lacked the time.

New York City, always a prime target, established its own, large, and to date largely successful, anti-terrorism taskforce. London showed the value of cameras.

Agencies, federal, state, local, and international, started working together, sharing info and resources. The international War on Terror racked up successes even before May 2.

Al Qaeda did not have a second act in the United States.

Attacks by Al Qaeda, its affiliates, and wannabes followed, as in Madrid, London, Tunisia, Istanbul, Mumbai, Amman , and Fort Hood. Al Zarqawi unleashed the Sunni fury of Al Qaeda in Iraq on Iraqi Shia in 2005, but he was killed by an American bomb in 2006. Attacks in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Pakistan were frequent. The militant Chechens engaged in a series of terrorist acts against Russia. These successful attacks were tragic, but none could have the impact of 9/11.

And yet the recruitment of hapless terrorists, such as the shoe bomber (Richard Reid), the underwear bomber, and the Times Square Bomber illustrate the desperation of Al Qaeda to accomplish more terror in the United States.

Bin Laden's goal was an Islamic Caliphate throughout the Mideast. Rebellion is sweeping the Islamic countries in the Mideast, but Al Qaeda is nowhere to be found. The freedom seeking are not rebelling in the name of Al Qaeda or Ben Laden. His time had passed.

Terrorism did not end on May 2, 2011. The War on Terror is not over. The Islamic terrorists may still achieve an epic attack in Europe, the Americas, Asia or the Mideast, but the world is safer. Virulent anti-Semitism gives rise to terrorist acts, especially in the Mideast and against synagogues everywhere.

Risks will increase, absent total elimination of the terrorist threat, as we become more complacent and let up our guard. The terrorists will keep probing for weakness.
After all, who could have imagined bringing down the Twin Towers with box cutters?

Saturday, May 14, 2011

San Francisco Ford Lincoln Closes Its doors

San Francisco Ford Lincoln closed its doors the other day.

The last Ford dealer on Van Ness Avenue’s historic Auto Row closed its doors.


As the last Ford dealer in San Francisco became history, it joined the ranks of the last Chevy dealer, the last Buick, Oldsmobile, Pontiac, Cadillac, GMC, Saturn, Lincoln, Mercury, Chrysler Plymouth, Dodge, Jeep, DeSoto, AMC dealers in the history books.

Detroit’s Big Three, GM, Ford, Chrysler, no longer have a dealer in San Francisco selling their vehicles. No pickups, SUV’s, Minivans, Crossovers, luxury cars, hybrids, compacts or subcompacts in San Francisco.

From a post World War II high of nearly 60 dealers, none exist within the City and County of San Francisco. Van Ness Avenue is down to a few imported brands from a high of 20 outlets.

An era, a century closed with San Francisco Ford Lincoln.

Geary Blvd. once had 20 dealerships. Now it has the remaining Toyota dealer in the City. Reynolds Seiler AMC Rambler, like many AMC dealers in the Bay Area during the large 60’s, dueled with a small import line, Toyota. Within three years the owners dropped AMC and rode the fortunes of Toyota. They also opened up a larger Toyota franchise on Van Ness.

Van Ness Ave. was the fabled Auto Row with the dealerships built a century ago looking like palaces. I remember three Chevy and two Ford dealers on Auto Row. The oldest was Hughson Ford. William Hughson received the first Ford franchise and went on to outlive, that is, collect on his life insurance policy. S & C Ford on Market and Van Ness folded three years ago during Detroit’s collapse. I looked at the original Ford Shelby 350 and 500 Mustangs in its showroom. The Van Ness dealers rented searchlights to draw customers when the new models were released.

George Olson was the large Cadillac dealer on Van Ness. I entered college in February 1964 and joined the college newspaper, The Foghorn, as its photographer. My first assignment was to take photos of the Civil Rights picketing of the Cadillac dealer to integrate the auto showrooms. I heard for the first time “We Shall Overcome” that day. The property is now an AMC Cinema.

The Chrysler Plymouth dealer tried a novel idea to sell cars. It fired the salesmen and replaced them with young saleswomen. It attracted traffic into the showroom, but the young men weren’t there to buy cars. Adverse sales threw cold water on that idea.

The fabled Ellis “If you can find it cheaper elsewhere, I will give you 5 pounds of Hills Brothers Coffee” Brooks closed 2 ½ years ago, the last GM dealer in the city.

The building will become a Nissan-Infiniti outlet, at least for now.

Les Vogel Chevrolet advertised “See the USA in a Chevrolet at Mission and Van Ness.” It saw its way down the Peninsula as a Chrysler Plymouth, Jeep and Dodge dealer.

Some of the dealers became pillars of the community. Roger Boas, with a Pontiac dealership on Geary Blvd. near Kaiser Permanente, was Chairman of the Democratic State Party.

Detroit’s franchises spread throughout the neighborhoods. Ben Alexander, an actor who was Jack Webb’s partner on the original Dragnet, had a Ford shop on Mission Street, near Sears (also closed). A VW dealer was on 19th Ave. Fazarkerly Cadillac was in Stonestown across from the Emporium. After going through two successive owners, it became a Petco. The Oldsmobile dealer on Van Ness morphed into a chain bookstore.

The land became too valuable, and profits too small, to justify selling cars. Profits could be made by terminating the high cost, low profits dealerships as the economics of the auto industry changed. A 9.5% sales tax doesn’t help sales in the City. The small buildings, lacking parking, became economically inefficient.

If you want to buy a Made in Detroit vehicle today, you must cross the line into Daly City; i.e. Serramonte, or Colma, where the dealerships are nestled between the cemeteries.

The City & County of San Francisco is down to 5 non-Detroit dealerships.

Silicon Valley beat out Detroit in San Francisco.

Thursday, May 5, 2011

So What really Went Down in Abbottabod?

So What Really Went Down in Abbottabad?

Here’s what we know, I think. Osama Bin Laden, three other males, including a son, and a female were killed by Navy SEALS. The initial clues to tracking down the key courier were discovered and pursued during the Bush Administration, perhaps through enhanced interrogation. President Obama gave the final authorization for the Seals to go in. Both Bush and Obama deserve all the credit they get for the successful operation.

I don’t care if he was killed in a firefight. It doesn’t matter if he was unarmed reaching for a gun. I don’t even care if he was captured and then executed. If the Seals’ orders, express or implied, were to kill Osama in the raid (a kill mission), that’s fine with me. What matters is that Osama’s dead at the hands of the United States military. If he was on his knees begging for mercy, and then the fatal shots fired, then he would have faced the same dread as the 9/11 victims who could not even beg for mercy.

My preference would have been to provide him a helicopter ride to Ground Zero, soar to the height of the Twin Towers, and then push him off the helicopter into the abyss of a 1,727’ free fall to the ground, as did scores of the innocent victims on 9/11. That was never going to happen, so a bullet to the brain is a good substitute. Too bad the bullet wasn’t from one of the survivors of 9/11 or a family member of a deceased, but he’s dead, and that’s what matters.

That his two trusted couriers were killed with him is an added bonus. The death of a woman, originally identified as his wife, is unfortunate, but in most of the world, all the people in the compound would have been killed in the raid.

The United States sent a message to the world! Our military can strike anywhere, even in essence in a large military area. No matter how long it takes, American justice will prevail.

The problem though is that as seemingly every hour passes by, we learn that the initial reports were erroneous. The Obama Administration still can't get its story straight.

John Brennan, the President’s Homeland Security Assistant, told the public that Osama died in a shootout, holding a woman, his wife, as a human shield. She was killed as well. Thus, he died the death of a coward.

That was three days ago.

Two days ago, Jay Carney, the White House Press Secretary said Osama was unarmed, but was resisting as the Seals were engaged in a firefight during the almost entire 40 minutes they were on the site.

Yesterday we found out that three of the males, including Osama, were unarmed, and that only one shot at the SEALS. He was quickly killed. Any firefight was short. According to Senator Feinstein, the Seals thought Osama was possibly reaching for a gun. The deceased woman was downstairs, perhaps the wife of one of the couriers. Osama’s young wife was shot in the leg as she came at the Seals.

Another claim is that the SEALS were scared he might be wearing a suicide vest. So why shoot him in the chest?

From the beginning, we were told that Osama was killed in front of his wife and 10, 12, 13(?) year old daughter. She claims that he was captured by the SEALS and then executed. Some of the survivors assert the SEALS also took an unknown male with them. So far, only perfunctory denials have been made.

Even if the traumatized daughter’s right, American justice triumphed. We call it justice, but this was vengeance.

Now we learn that the deceased shooter and his wife were in the detached guest house, and that he was quickly killed. And it’s back to Osama pushing his wife at the SEALS, while he appeared dazed and scared in the final minutes of his life.

Scared is good; he felt the pain of his thousands of victims.

We were first told that one SEAL fired both shots. Now we’ll told it was two SEALS, maybe. How about some ballistic tests?

Just today, one of the most intriguing facts emerged. The departing helicopters supposedly flew directly to the aircraft carrier Carl Vinson in the Arabian Sea. Osama’s body was quickly removed cleansed and purified, received the Islam equivalent of the last Rites, and then buried at sea – all before the world was notified of his death.

The distance from Abbottabad to the Arabian Sea is about 1,000 miles, and would require flying through India, Iranian, or long stretches of Pakistani airspace. This story does not make sense. What's next?

Clearly, initial reports can be confusing in the fog of war. Also, government can engage in disinformation in wartime. Some of it used to be called propaganda. For example, both Pat Tillman and Jessica Lynch are heroes, but the initial Pentagon reports of her capture and injuries and his death were false. Sergeant Tillman, for example, did not die of enemy fire, but was a victim of friendly fire.

The problem for disinformation is that in today’s internet age with questioning reporters, the facts will often come out.

We are debating the role of Pakistan in hunting or protecting terrorists. Supposedly Pakistan was not informed of the raid in advance. So why did the Pakistan army and police respond slowly to the explosions and gunfire roughly 800 yards from their military academy and close to two regiments of soldiers? Was our electronics jamming devises that effective, or was a high level Pakistani officer blocking a response such that the helicopters could escape Pakistani territory? Is the secret in the helicopter’s tail, which is now in the hands of the Pakistanis? Was it really the tale of the courier, or did someone drop the dime and the courier is but a cover story?

Was the shooting legal or illegal? I don’t care. He’s dead and will never threaten America again.

Of course, much confusion exists in the fog of war, but the problem here is that the President and his major aides were watching the operation in real time with a video feed.

The military knew what it was doing. The politicians are blowing it. No excuse exists for Brennan’s initial false statements, followed by more misinformation by others, which cast doubt on the White House story and will fuel conspiracy theories.
Osama is dead by the SEALS. A simple, honest narrative would suffice for Americans.

Monday, May 2, 2011

Well Done President Obama

Congratulations to President Obama, the Navy Seals, CIA, and the American military in general.

You did it. President Clinton either couldn’t or wouldn’t. President Bush tried, but couldn’t. President Obama did. He gave the order. The military pulled it off.

The President fulfilled his campaign promise to go into Pakistan if necessary.The military did it a mile from the West Point of Pakistan.

President Obama achieved a great psychological victory over Al Qaeda.

No questions; no second guessing today. It is the President’s Day.

President Obama succeeded where President Carter failed with his Iranian Hostage Crisis rescue effort.

The raid on Abbottabad is right up there with the Israel rescue effort at Entebbe.

The killing of Osama Bin-Laden will no more end the War on Terror than the killing of Admiral Yamamoto, the mastermind of Pearl harbor, ended the War in the Pacific, but it will speed it up. Ayman Zawahiri survives, plotting against the United States. He’s the last of Al Qaeda’s 9/11 leadership.

Churchill’s remarks after the great victory at El Alamein said it best, as Churchill often did: “This is not the end. It is not the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning.”

Al Qaeda is not the Taliban.

The decisiveness of the Abbottabad Raid trumps the weak, indecisive, confusing and contradictory Mideast Policy of recent months.

Let the Administration build on the success by harvesting the intelligence gathered by the Navy and CIA in seizing the computers, papers and other sources of information. Let’s see of some of the networks can be rolled up.

One dramatic result of the Raid is the lack of anti-American riots throughout the Mideast. Perhaps Bin-Laden no longer has the standing in the Muslim World that he used to. Remember on 9/11 the Palestinians were dancing in the streets.

Let’s also give credit to President Bush as well. The original intelligence about the courier was developed through interrogations, perhaps enhanced interrogations, during his Administration. Further links were added prior to President Obama assuming office. Without the work of the Bush Administration, the Obama Administration could not have found Osama.

However, President Obama gets and deserves the credit. It occurred on his watch.

Let President Obama enjoy his boost in the polls. The underlying economic and foreign policy problems are not going away, but not for today.

Bipartisanship will reign for a few days.

Sunday, May 1, 2011

Reflections on the Royal Wedding

I actually watched it live while completing a paper due the next morning.

Prince William wed a commoner, but all royal families start out as commoners

The Duchess of Cambridge will diversify the royal gene pool. For all too long, the European Royal families have been inbreeding, although one report is that William and Kate are 15th cousins. Of course, except for recent immigrants, everyone is
related to everyone in England

This couple may erase out some of the disglory that Prince Charles has brought onto the House of Windsor

Three decades ago the question was if Lady Di was a virgin. This time the newly weds have been cohabitating

Britannia may no longer rule the waves, but she still knows how to put on a pageant

The marriage between the Prince and Kate Middleton represents the acceptance by the Royal family, indeed the upper class, of the entrepreneurial class in England

If Parliament changes the Law of Succession, then if their first born is a daughter she will be ahead of any brother in the line of succession

Has the shrinkage of the British military resulted in the shrinkage of their great military bands?

The mystery was solved. Sarah Burton of the late Alexander McQueen’s firm designed the wedding dress

Top hats yes, but why must some of the women mar the beauty, dignity, and grace of the wedding with those hats?

Some of the military uniforms look hideous, regardless of the bravery that went into earning them

Is the Duchess of Cambridge on a short term diet, like her mom, to look great at the wedding, or is she becoming anorexic?

Why did the pageboys look like Beefeaters in waiting?

Was Camilla pouting?

Why does Prince Harry have so much hair while Prince William is balding?

The Disney movie will be out soon; the prince marries the granddaughter of a coal miner

Most significantly, this marriage will last. The couple is mature; they know who they are and what is expected of them. Sadly, Lady Di had not yet discovered herself when she married Prince Charles