Women baffle me.  They think very differently from men.  Read this poem by Betty McMicken:

TAX MEN!

Abortion is a truly awful subject
and a source of constant debate
It could seal the fate
Of a national health care plan
So let's take it out of the bill
We could still surely fill
The coffers for a fund
One that would be definitely rotund
By simply taxing men

So males over the age of twelve
Would have to delve
Into their pockets twice a year
Pay what amounts to several cases of beer
Into a stupidity bank
For what they did to a lover
When passion made them a rubber

This is a fair way of retribution
For their mindless contribution
To an unwanted pregnancy
It's been that way through history
The woman pays the price

So place a tax on men
One they surely cannot defend
For their seeming lack of guilt
Don't let our health care proposal wilt
On this issue steeped in dispute
Punish the gender at the root
And place a tax on men
Before we send this health care bill
Back for revision

Sometimes I think that if you live long enough you get all the awards.  But last night was something special.  I received the BAFTA/LA award for Worldwide Contribution to Filmed Entertainment.  What was special about it was that Governor Schwarzenegger drove down from Sacramento to present it to me.  That was very thoughtful.

I worked with Arnold Schwarzenegger in his first movie, The Villian.  At that time, neither of us could imagine that he would become such an important movie star and then governor of California.  He was a great guy back then, and he has never changed.

Every year Edie Wasserman, the widow of Lew Wasserman who was probaby the most powerful man in the movie industry, gives a dinner at the Motion Picture and Television Home every year on her birthday.  I always go.

The Motion Picture and Television Home is a retirement home for people in front of, and behind, the camera.  I have run into so many people that I have worked with years ago: Stanley Kramer, who produced the picture that made me a star, "Champion", lived there until he died; Jan Sterling is a wonderful gal.  We worked together years ago in "Ace in the Hole".  Every year, I bring her a bowl of hot chili and we catch up.  She likes that.

Years ago, I took over the Alzheimer's Unit.  I named it Harry's Haven, after my father.  I support that unit more for the relatives of the patients.  Can you imagine how it feels to live with someone who doesn't even know who you are?

I am proud of our industry.  We take care of our people.

Quentin Tarantino has made a wonderful picture, "Inglorious Bastards", it is a hit all over the world.  When he was casting for "Inglorious Bastards" he never talked to me.  For 50 years I played bastards.  Of course, he wanted young bastards, but I think he could have used at least one old bastard.  But it's a wonderful picture and you must see it.  Quentin Tarantino has made many exciting movies.  Previously, "Pulp Fiction" was also a worldwide hit.  Quentin has received many awards: BAFTA, Golden Globe, Palm d'Or and of course an Oscar.  He has placed them on one shelf and has just one open spot - he will fill it with the Kirk Douglas Award for Excellence in Film which is presented by the Santa Barbara Film Festival.

This is the way I introduced Quentin Tarantino at the Santa Barbara Film Festival last night, he's a wonderful guy.

In 1941 Franklin D. Roosevelt wrote these lines, I think everyone should read them again:

Jan. 6, 1941

The basic things expected by our people of their political and economic systems are simple.  They are:

Equality of opportunity for youth and for others.
Jobs for those who can work.
Security for those who need it.
The ending of special privileges for the few.
The preservation of civil liberties for all.
The enjoyment -- The enjoyment of the fruits of scientific progress in a wider and constantly rising standard of living.
These are the simple, the basic things that must never be lost sight of in the turmoil and unbelievable complexity of our modern world.  The inner and abiding strength of our economic and political systems is dependent upon the degree to which they fulfill these expectations.

In the future days, which we seek to make secure, we look forward to a world founded upon four essential human freedoms.
The first is freedom of speech and expression -- everywhere in the world.
The second is freedom of every person to worship God in his own way everywhere in the world.
The third is freedom from want, which, translated into world terms, means economic understandings which will secure to every nation a healthy peacetime life for its inhabitants -- everywhere in the world.
The fourth is freedom from fear, which translated into world terms, means a world-wide reduction of armaments to such a point and in such a thorough fashion that no nation will be in a position to commit an act of physical aggression against any neighbor -- anywhere in the world.

That is no vision of a distant millennium.  It is a definite basis for a kind of world attainable in our own time and generation.  That kind of world is the very antithesis of the so-called "new order" of tyranny which the dictators seek to create with the crash of a bomb.

Not long ago the Jewish people celebrated Rosh Hashana, the new year, 5770.  Wow!  That's a long time.  I am not very religious, but it reminded me of an incident that happened when I was filming the movie, "In Harm's Way".  I played a naval officer, a bitter flier under John Wayne's command.  After raping Jill Harworth, the girlfriend of Wayne's son, played by Brandon de Wilde, I sacrificed myself on an air mission.

The most exciting thing about the production was that we got to shoot on the USS St. Paul, a cruiser, as it sailed from Seattle to Hawaii.  And there was Otto Preminger, the director, treating the personnel like his own personal crew, the boat like a prop, yelling to the captain, in his German accent, "Push the boat the other vey, so ve get the sunlight!"

I shared a bunk with one of the officers, Josh Nelson, who I was surprised to learn was Jewish.  I never think of naval officers as being Jewish, maybe because I didn't know any others when I was one.  I asked Josh if many of the crew were Jewish.
He said, "A few."
I said, "Do you ever hold religious services?"
"I tried to, but it's hard to get them interested enough."
"Suppose I conduct the religious service?"
"would you?  Could you?"
"Yes," I said, "Why don't you tell your friends that tomorrow, Friday night, I'll conduct the service."

That Friday evening, we were all dining at the captain's table - John Wayne, Burgess Meredith, and of course Otto Preminger - when over the loudspeakers:

NOW HEAR THIS MEN, AT 20:00 THERE WILL BE FRIDAY EVENING JEWISH RELIGIOUS SERVICE CONDUCTED BY KIRK DOUGLAS.

Well, this caused a little ripple.  Heads everywhere bobbed.  And I, very dignified and nonchalant, stood up and said, "Would you excuse me, Captain?  I have to officiate at this service."  John Wayne and Burgess Meredith, curious, came over later.  Otto Preminger, a Jew, didn't.  In a borrowed yarmulke and prayer shawl, I conducted the Friday evening service, remembering the old Hebrew prayers that I learned when I was a poor boy living in Amsterdam, when the people in my synagogue wanted little Issur to become a rabbi, and I didn't know how to tell them I wanted to be an actor.  That night on the USS St. Paul was the fulfillment of my debt to them.

I don't think it matters what religion you follow as long as your faith tells you to care for others.

My son Peter had a movie script he was developing.  He showed it to Drew Barrymore, she liked it and produced the most wonderful movie, "WHIP IT".  Don't miss it!  She has done a great job for her directorial debut and she gets a great performance from Ellen Page.
"WHIP IT", you must see it!!

I am still disturbed by the outcry of people who resented the president talking to students.  Almost every president has talked to students, encouraging them to study and work hard and get an education.  How can anyone imagine a president, any president of our country, would try to do anything else?

What does a young boy or a young girl think when they hear their parents saying they should not go to school that day?  They should not listen to the president?  I think that is more than a crime, it is a sin.

How do young people react when they hear a member of Congress yelling at the president of the United States, "You lie!"  It has nothing to do with being a republican, a democrat or an independent.  Everyone should be respectful of the head of our country.

If you teach your children not to respect the president, what does that bode for the future?