Sunday, November 30, 2003
WORK-A--DAY STATS
President Martin Van Buren, on March 31, 1840 - one day day ahead of April Fools Day - placed his signature on an executive order which established a ten-hour work day for all government employees.
I have no concrete evidence at hand which would tell me that government workers put in more than ten hours per day prior to the ruling by Van Buren but there must have been sufficient reason to set such a limit at the time. Holding a government job has long been associated with the concept of less physical effort than that demanded by other forms of employment.
It might well have been that some folks, when first hearing of the presidential ordered, may well have taken it to be a Fool's Day prank, but it stuck an brought about some endless changes in the structure of our national and state governments.
Iy could have been a reward of a sort handed out by the Presdent to make government work more attractive. Or, it could possibly have been a political do-dad applied to pressure a specific point of that era when the Industrial Revolution was beginning to revolve throughout the land. On thing, for sure, is that one thing, for sure, is that set up a cycle change which has not stopped even today.
People today often take the attitude that to ”get a government job”, is the same thing as retiring with full pay. Holding a government office is often seen as their version of achieving heaven on Earth. A ten hour day in our time is considered to be an imposition. We are seemingly on the verge, quite often these days, of emulating some of our European brethren in setting up a four or five-day work week, with hours per day well below any ten.
If you happen to live on any major highway leading into or out of Washington, DC., you can gauge holiday traffic starting with an early closing time at Federal offices on Friday at afternoon and the rush of traffic returning to the District Tuesday night. Week ends become l-o-ong ones when "sick days" and other special modern innovations are added to official holidays.
Martin Van Buren started tinkering with established work hours work in 1840 and it hasn't stopped changing ever since.
A.L.M. November 29, 2003 [c402wds]
Saturday, November 29, 2003
UNEXECTED ELIMINATIONS
The moment I first heard of President George W. Bush's quick trip to Baghdad to have Thanksgiving Day dinner with troops stationed there, I wondered what the reaction would be from Democrats running for that office.
And on the day after the visit, just fifty days or so before the first winnowing promised in Iowa's primary election, the comments on the trip by the nine aspirants for the office should have sealed the fate of several them.
The final tabulations, of course, are not in, as yet, but it appears that at least two of the vying candidates took the path of common sense and agreed with the President tat such a trip was a good and proper good and proper action for this time. They saw it as a booster shot for troop morale and a reminder to folks at home that the war continues. There may have been other in the group who joined in this sentiment. As I said, I have not yet seen a finished tabulation of their expressed views
.
Others, and I shall leave them nameless for various reasons, held fast to their critical stance and took the occasion to reiterate their prattle about “Bush's“completely failed foreign policy”. They are apparently unaware of the possibility that some previously firm adherents may not see eye-to-eye on such an unsportsmanlike, ungentlemanly attitude. They spoke harshly of the presidential visit and went through their tiresome litany of “stop the war and bring our boys and girls home.” Certainly there must be some voters in Iowa and other areas, who will have some second thoughts concerning such self-centered statements by individuals they may have supported previously thinking them to be decent, fair-minded individual worthy of our highest office.
It would seem logical that anyone aspiring to take over the Oval Office would want people to respect his judgment in matters which affect al of us beyond party limitations. It has been a firm tradition that all segments of our society that we bind together, in times of adversity, as a unified, strong and dedicated unit to protect our common holdings and to better our place among the nations of Earth.
A.L.M November 29 ,2003 [c378wds]
Friday, November 28, 2003
THE BIG FLY BY
When summer ends and the first hints of Fall become evident in sudden chills and cooler night, the birds seem to get the message and we can see them gathering in small flocks. The congregate along the fringe of the Blue Ridge Mountains to the east of our home here in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia
If you watch carefully, especially in the evening hours, you can see sudden flickering of gray-black, crackled-paint patches against contrasting background or the sky; small flocks of birds gathering as local covens and and preparing for a massive movement south before the cold winds.
You see the small patches enlarging daily to become pulsing clouds after a few evenings. They fly about nervously in the evening seeking new adherents for the planned trip across the mountains to the east and south. They find a place, it seems, to settle in for the night and wait for the exact moment of departure.
I have often wondered how it is that the smaller groups become aware of a large flocks of bird which appear a few moments later from the western skies along the Appalachian Range. The local flocks are selective, it seems. They seem to know which southbound flocks they are to join. You will see them in the air circling meaninglessly before the long string of thousands of birds darkens a strip in the sky as a steadily moving caravan will be as much as a mile wide as it passes over us, irregularly shaped like a huge drifting cloud churning ahead. The parade seems endless. It may falter and become narrow somewhat at times, but it doesn't seem to have an end and it may continue for many miles. Thousands of fluttering creatures will be digging at the sky ahead of them and local groups will fly in an join them.
Just where so many birds come from has been a mystery with us for many year. We wonder, too, where they are going and if there will be food sufficient to feed them all – bugs, flyings insects, weed seeds, and other bird rations when they get wherever it is they are going. When we think it through we realize that they must reverse the process by which small group joined the larger one. Small groups will drop out of the large formations from time to time as they reach the spot they think is right for them, maybe the extant spot they had wintered the previous year. There is method in their meanderings, you can be sure even though we do not comprehend the exact nature of such subtle steps of survival.
We do not always realize that some will not make it. Some will die on the way. Other will meet with forces of destruction while in their southern home, and some will not be in shape to enough face the rigor oft the trip back to the north lands. The flock is changing constantly. The beat; the basic rhythm of it all, the fundamental meaning of banding together at times goes on.
Observe the birds and reflect on what tell us.
A.L.M. November 27, 2003 [c535wds]
Thursday, November 27, 2003
NO WAY
It seems a great many people find comfort and encouragement in reading about several method being considered which might be used to bring about a measure of containment pf some of the excess traffic which now complicates travel and the movement of commerce on Interstate 81.
Two such plans have been set forth repeatedly bit neither plan seems to have gathered enough support to outshine the other. Both are temporary “Band Aid” treatments to be applied to some deep-rooted evils which will continue to fester and which will become dominant again in short order.
Both plans suggested rest on the concept of simply widening the road by additional lane which, it is thought will be limited to truck use. I traveled section up the Valley to Roanoke last Monday, and it is obvious that even average truck traffic can be profitably moved on a single lane even if it is all their own. Monday is considered to be a "light" traffic day in I-81 but , even then it is obvious a single truck lane would be a joke. Another point is that of making I-81 a toll highway. Truckers dislike that feature as do the rest of us. The higher rates charged for truck use will prove to be a book-a-rang the builders will regret having suggested. Before too long, if present disagreement is allowed to fester, I think we will see a day on which trucker will unite in a massive demonstration to protest toll charges. One such day do it, too. The argument has been set forth that they don't want to pay the suggested toll they can travel by other routes. If, on one day, truckers would schedule all north and south runs for that one day only for Route 11, the resulting congestion for that highway and the towns all along the way. Let's hope it does not come to such a ";day of demonstration" because, even as just a one time thing, it could prove to be dangerous and costly for many.
I still maintain that solution to the I-81 overuse problem can best be solved, for a decade or two, just as was done before. The construction of I-81 helped lower volume of traffic on I-95 and a new north-south interstate highway from the Raleigh-Durham area through the Lynchburg and Charlottesville areas staying on the east side of the Blue Ridge into Maryland, would be a far more, efficient and sensible way of north-south access routes which are so essential.
Such a plan was suggested a year or more ago, and ignored.
Isn't it time to take another look at it?
A.L.M., November 26, 2003 [c488wds]
Wednesday, November 26, 2003
NUTTY NOTIONS
If you have any idea of trying to make use of the common acorn as a food item, the first thing you had best do is to learn the differences between and Red Oak and a White Oak tree. You have to know that because the nuts grown on a Red Oak are bitter and those grown on the White Oak are, well, not quite so bitter.
That bitterness is native to both because of the tannins contained therein, and, in order to prepare them as food for humans, that bitterness can be removed. There are several ways of doing that, The American Indians devised a system whereby the nuts were gathered and held for an extended under the waters of a rapidly flowing stream. That leeched the tannins out and carried them downstream. Dried, either at the fireside or in the sunlight and air, the nuts were ready for use as a food.
As non-Indians, we have our own way of doing the job.
Gather up many more nuts than you think you might need or want because, regardless of when you start gathering om the fall, you will find that infesting insects and the nibbling creatures of various kinds have beat you to it. Select the firm, sound, solid ones and get busy shelling them.
You have now arrived at "Crisis Area Uno" - the first point at which potential acorn acolytes so often decide to seek other forms of amusement. Shelling acorns and capping them calls for gloves, a sharp knife which is used to slit the side before the shell is peel back and off. The “cap” is also removed a this time.
Once removed from their shells and skins peeled away as best one can, the process of leeching begins by a series of boilings. You have, no doubt, head the cook's maxim about cleaning greens properly “putting them through seven waters”. That's what you will be doing with the acorns, putting them through seven or more boiling water baths until the tannic acid is gone and bitterness quelled. Depending on the source of heat you have, of course, each boiling takes about fifteen minutes. You keep doing it as long as the water turns brown. You do it until the water stays clear for a good, long, final boiling.
The boiled acorn can be split in two and then roasted in a 200-degree oven with the door open just a bit to allow moisture to escape. Or, I am told, you can dry them in sunlight.
You are now ready to try them. They can be eaten as roasted nuts, cut up in greens or finely chopped to be added to breads and muffins. To make flour, which is the usual use for them, either pounded them in a cloth bag or use a blender. Add a touch of salt and sweetener to enhance the taste. Use acorn flour as an additive to regular flour or conn meal, in the ratio which you find meets your taste preferences.
We have now arrived at "Quit Point Dos"- where I stand a the moment myself. We still have to learn how to tell a White Oak from a Red one.
Hit that tree book.
A..L.M. November 26, 2003. [c552wds]
Tuesday, November 25, 2003
GRAPEFRUIT, ANYONE?
Why do we call it “grapefruit” when it does not, in the least, resemble a grape?
That's where we are technically in error because the young fruit, appears on the twig of the tree, in clusters and new fruit does look very much like a small bunch of grapes. It was well into the 19th century when the name grapefruit was first applied. Previusly it had been called "shaddock", and for a time we find references to "little shaddocks" because, large as they are compared topother citrus fruits, the shaddock - thought to have been a native of Malaysia – was even larger than today's grapefruit.
It was grown primarily as an ornamental tree. Although it was edible, the shaddock had a thicker rind and less pulp than today's version of the fruit. It was actually "dicovered" in the Barbados area in the 1750's by Europeans who decided it had proably developed from a crossing of the pommelo and a sweet orange found in the area. The new fruit resembled the pommelo morso than t did the orange. In 1830, in an attempt to separate the two, the new fruit was named "citrus paradisi". Their true origin was not discovered until the 1950's when the official name was modified to include a qualifying "X" designation as well – "citrus X paradisi".
Several varities were developed in both white and red pulp types. The U.S. Ruby Red, of the Redblush variety, was patented in 1929. Cultivaion proved to be good in many sites world-wide and in varied soil conditions and Texas and Florida quickly b ezcame major production areas, and, to some extent, due to the populaity of a "grapefruit diet" to assure weigh reduction, grapefruit became a major item at food markets. In New York City, grapefruit sales were exceeded only by potatoes, lettuce, oranges and apples.
We think of grapefruit as a breakfast food, as a rule, when one is sliced in half and eaten from "the half-shell". Sweeter varities don't need it, but others urge a sprinkle of brown sugar, white suger, cinnamon and other spices. Pulp section are usually cut away from the fibers diciding them but other breakfasters prefer to do it themslves. The grapefruit halves can be served chilled or mildly broiled as a hot meal item.
There are scores of other ways in which grapefruit is used. The Aussies, down under, make jams an maralades with them; the makers of your favorite sofa drinks often use seed-oil to tune up flavor; and it is used in reconstituted jiuices to enchance the flavor as well. Grapefruit is also converted into molasses and added to livestock feeds.
If you have ever worked on a farm you know of least two places where grapefruit is not welcomed. One, I found out many years ago, is any poultry feeding area and the other is the pig sty. Chickens will peck once or twice in an investigative fashion, and pigs will toss any grapefruit rinds aside uneaten as containing a toxic substance.
No one said grapefruit was perfect.
A.L.M. November 24, 2003 [c522wds]
Monday, November 24, 2003
AW, COME ON, SMILE!
Think about it. The best part of your day is when you see someone smile.
A simple thing to do, it would seem. It happens more or less naturally but the human mind can forbid it to evolve. It's never seemed important enough for anyone to write books about it but but the mechanism if a smile -pert, sassy, insistent, and glowing – might be something worth such a study.
A smile can be a momentary thing of little immediate consequence or it can be a continuing affirmation good will, understanding and confidence . It is seen in lines of the face, in alignment of certain muscles and in the eyes even more so, perhaps. It is not associated simply with parting of the lips to show white teeth. That's the artificial smile you see so often when people try to smile for the camera. It is usually solicited by having the subjects say the words “cheese” or “money”. It doesn't work well because that is a smile achieved with the lips and without the support of the eyes.
Some people tend to have natural, face-forward show of dentures while others will have a crooked smile with one side down a bit than the the other. Both are acceptable, of course, since no one seems to have defined exactly what a smile should, or might, be. There are “wry” smiles telling the speaker that you know better than to believe what you are saying is true. Smiles can transmit all sorts of subtle messages, both cheerful and encouraging as well as damaging, curt and meant to hurt.
In a way, we might conclude that a smile is a secret the soul seeks to retain. That revealing spark of changes to be occurs first in the eye as an initial hint of what is about to take place in the face. A tiny uplift of the corners of the lips is start of the action.
To smile is to relax. Think of that when you become tired or simply frustrated with haste and complexities of your daily work schedule. Someone, long ago, decided that it took far more muscles of the face to execute a frown that it did to smile, so relax by taking the easy way out of being spent, useless and overburdened.
C'mon – smile!
A.L.M. November 23, 2003 [c379wds]
Sunday, November 23, 2003
QUIZ TIME
We should, from time to time, ask ourselves some questions.
Many such inquiries, honestly asked and honestly answered, can help us find out what might be causing troublesome family relationships, social affairs and even our good health and well-being.
Right now, perhaps, we should be be doing just that as a nation. No nation made up of such varied groups as ours is, can ever be totally at one in most things. There are sure to be differences. Some may seem to be serious and some will appear to be silly, but they do, and will, exist. Questions put to the right people at the right time can be calming as oil can be on troubled waters.
We watch TV shows which present a host of questions which lead to what we might call a worthy goal - such as prizes up to, and including a million dollars or more.
Among the many questions we might well be asking ourselves, would be one which asks if we truly understand and appreciate the form of government under which we live. So many – far too many – people, it seems, are unaware of the values of our form of government. Unfortunately they often openly deride it . We need to remind ourselves, through questions about our national history concerning how it all came to be what it is ... a fantastic mechanism which has brought together, sustained and caused to prosper and to unify in many way one of the most polyglot collections of varied peoples the world has ever known.
We should remind ourselves of the need for personal and corporate integrity. We must question the standards by which live and realize that some our larger problems may not be as dangerous as some other, smaller evils; of ways and means to show how compassion and understanding might best be expressed. We might ask some questions about the proper ways an means of earning a good living in the real world. We might ask about how we can help resolve social, health and economic problems - not only ours, but of others as well.
Often, when you are with someone watching contestants answer Alex Trebec's reversed questions and answers on “Jeopardy” you may feel inadequate; you may judge your abilities too severely. You may be smarter than you think. You judge yourself on all of the proper replies, but , in order to win, you would need to know only one-third of the answers.
It can be the a quiz about our nation. You don't have to know all the answers, just one-third of them. The worth of it all depends on which ones you know rather than on how many.
A.L.M. November 21, 2003 [c457wds]
Saturday, November 22, 2003
THE OTHER SHOE
There have been several interesting forecasts of “things to come” in the news of late:
As anticipated, most of the features b y which the media which marked the 40th Anniversary of the death of President John F. Kennedy, hinged on attempts of some sort to accent the concept of an unidentified conspiracy. On TV promotions well in advance of the showing were loaded with teaser elements which suggested that we were going to hear, for the very first time, who actually killed John F, Kennedy that day in Dallas, Texas.
It seems this vague “others were involved” theory is going to be a regular part of all events of the future marking of death of J.F.K.
Another portent of complications in future news came to light this week when the New York “Times”, and others, took a stand regarding the Social Security bill currently being considered in Washington. They indicated obvious “holes” in the proposed legislation which will not work to the advantage of the Medicare recipients seeking some relief from increasing medical costs. Criticism of the A.R.R.P. has surfaced revealing how the outfit ostensibly protecting old folks has been raking in millions of dollars while servings as little more than a glorified mail drop for insurance companies who pay the organization A.R.R.P. commissions on all insurance policies sold to their members.
Another set of prominently used letters may also be in the upcoming news for re-evaluation of intended and actual activities during the forthcoming election year ... the N.E.A. ...during the political election we face.
Brace yourself for more news coverage of Michael Jackson. It is sure to be a saturation situation and there is very little one can do to avoid it. That seems to be set up now as the keystone of our immediate future. Not a pleasant prospect at all, is it?
There are also news events out there waiting to happen about which we know absolutely nothing. Let's hope some of them will be pleasant.
A.L.M. November 21, 2003 [c394wds]
Friday, November 21, 2003
CROSSINGS
We, as a nation, owe more than we realize to a man named Emanuel Luetze.
To begin with the man's name is pronounced LOIT-suh, and now that we have met him he is be remembered as an artist born in 1816 in Germany who came to America as a child – to Philadelphia – with his parents. He grew up in that area, and in 1859 moved to New York City to live.
He painted a picture which has loomed large our national growth. It stands twelve feet high and twenty-one feet in length.
Today, we can learn from studying this patriotic representation “Washington Crossing the Delaware”. We can examine it, today, and see ourselves both as we once were and as we are.
Almost any attempt to paint picture if an historical event invites a clutter of criticism. Some just grounds for criticism may come from the very complexity of the situation being shown and the involved personalities of the persons depicted as well.
In this case we find the artist set out to paint a picture which would express the basic feelings of patriotism and freedom which inspired the people at that to take action.
The artist painted realty as he saw it . Notice that no two men in the boat are wearing uniform clothing. It was a ragtag army, poorly equipped and inadequately supplied, who were facing up to the Hessians and British Redcoats across the cold. ice-packed river waters against rushing winds. Look at this picture when you have a chanbcetodo so,m and check to see if the criticisms we hear today concerning our national leaders is valid or the results of artistic license taken by the critics.
We see General Washington in uniform as the artist saw him depicted in a museum image; that's James Monroe holding the wind-swirled flag, just behind Washington. Both men are doing something that could have been fatal to the mission - standing an an small boat which could be easily overturned. The flag Monroe is holding the is that designed by Betsy Ross some ten years later. The lone, black patriot on the group is a man known as Prince Whipple who lived in Baltimore at the time of the Crossing.
One can find fault with the painting endlessly, it seems, but it still teaches a fine lesson in patriotism. The focal point of it all is on the stalwart figure of Washington eagerly facing the dangers of an unknown future. He also depicts vividly the rugged character of the colonial people. Leave the nitpicking to those nerds who delight in seeking such slight slivers of departure from exact photographic detail of historical events.
A.L.M. November 20, 2003 [c455wds]
Thursday, November 20, 2003
TOURIST TRAPS
New Yorkers have a long-established tradition of con men selling the Brooklyn Bridge to gullible visitors. Other areas have kindred tales about local folks outsmarting visitors from elsewhere. There was a time when it was a local sport, but no more. Tourism is big business and the major occupation of large groups of people spread afar though the local community. It is no longer a penny-ante game bringing paying visitors in who will never be coming that way again.
Naturally, some attractions are going to be more compelling than others. Much depends on the tourist's likes and dislikes; preferences and needs. Seldom are there two exactly the same and most will talk about what they see to show how intelligent they were in seeking out interesting locations.
No doubt, many tourist attractions have been “dressed up” to bringing passing dollars from travelers. If you think back a few years who can remember seeing advertising signs calling attention to some freak display, a modified natural attraction, or an historical site based on rumor, gossip, hearsay or political fabrication.
Several large cities here in the United States have ethnic areas known as “Chinatown”. A favorite feature of many such areas was guided ours of some dof the dope dens. Eager travelers were escorted through ramshackle quarters where victims of opium smoking, and other drugs were seen groveling and twisting in tortured contortions. The rainbow of odors was present and many a visitor went away unaware that he or she had seen a rigged setup. Street people where hired, made up to appear more emaciated than they were, and they augmented a cast which may or may not have included a known drug addict.
I am confident that the tourism is much more honest today, thanks, I think, to television. Visitors to sites today are pretty well aware of what they can expect to see because they have seen much of it before on TV.
A. L. M. November 19, 2003 [c337wds]
Wednesday, November 19, 2003
RISKY
We have had a flood of dare-devil shows in recent months of television attempting to run the reality shows off the air.
This series made the old days of Evil Knievel jumping his motorcycle over cars and canyons, seem like child's play and most of these scary-shows were fitted with parenthetical disclaimers front and end: “Do not try to do these stunts at home.” It was just strong enough to make a lot of people try them anyway. ER statistics will probably show that in a great many places.
Skate board stunt demonstrations are another chiller with men, women and children skating on, near, around,close-to and especially above rinks designed and constructed in convoluted patterns resembling the Black Hills of the Dakotas.
It all brings back memories, of course.
I remember hearing people in the Schuyler, Virginia (Sky'-ler)area talk about one of their own - Luke Snead by name, who,one day long ago did his thing. I think it must have been been 1931-32. Luke was gunning his truck up a steep,raised bridge crossing a railroad track. The bridge was built entirely of wood and Luke hit one rail almost head-on. He was sudden ly in the air at about forty feet over the terrain, realizing that his truck was turning over - doing a net somersault. It turned over completely and landed on all four wheels on the railroad tracks below. Luke fell back into the set as he held firmly to the steering wheel. He got out,cranked the truck and drove off absolutely unharmed.
Now that was near Schuyler,Virginia, remember - in he edge of the Blue Ridge mountains where the Walton family of TV fame lived. Folks in that part of the country just don't make good liars, so I've always accepted the Luke Snead flip-over story as authentic and reliable. Of course, some tellers of the tale insert a speeding train bearing down on Luke as he desperately tried to crank new life into the old truck. That's where I sorta wonder, however, because we stopped cranking our cars and trucks a good ten years before that date.
Now, let's see some of you TV stunt drivers do that little trick. It had a certain flair about it, originality,for us. I've asked around but I have yet to find anyone who knows if Luke Snead every had any ambitions to try it from a higher bridge bridge with several “flip-overs”.
A.L.M. November 19, 2003 [c422wds]
Tuesday, November 18, 2003
OF ALL PLACES...
Many have found that rather strange sentiments often come to us from Hollywood.
I am having some difficulty in accepting a statement made recently by a man who has man who has been successful on both the large screen and on TV.
He is saying that Joseph Stalin was not only one of the world's greatest leaders, and also “the most misunderstood” man of all time.
I see no reason why I should set his name before you. Suffice to say, he was a TV personality many knew and admired.
At this time, however, he is seeking attention he does not deserve.
There is a possibility he feels he is just about ready to go “over the hill” and to keep from being forgotten, he takes public stands which are at odds with ordinary thinking.
The total list of the number of people killed though actions of Joseph Stalin has not yet been complied, if it will ever be. His total far exceeded that of Adolph Hitler, and other who built their regimes on bodies of their enemies and, often, their own people. Stalin's rule of inhumane, cruel and totally insensitive acts last over a far great span of years and affected more groups of people often en masse. The records read as macabre log of maudlin massacre - mass murder - planned and executed without any compassion or concern.
If our Hollywood social and political pundits must seek to development a following, they could do far better than to choose Joseph Stalin as a man to venerate and re-do. Opposed openlyh they prosper, but ignored they fade away - not quick enough it seems atx times, but in time.
We play their game for them if we oppose them with any criticism, but we should be aware of their views and temper them as best we can, until such time - which often happens - they realize their views are unsound, impractical or downright stupid.
So, expect to hear Joe Stalin praised for a time by of these Tinsel Town Truth Tellers, and, difficult as it may be to do so, try to give them the silent treatment. Hollywood lives in a make believe world and it often takes time and patience for a citizen thereof to face real circumstances based on age-old Truths.
A.L.M. November 18, 2003 [c393wds]
Monday, November 17, 2003
REFERERENCES
How often , in your mind, do you consciously make references to the past?
It may be more frequent than you think.
Do you ever dream of yesterday's events while sleeping? You probably do far less of that sort of thing when day-dreaming, but, even then, we tend to sort back to see how we handled a like situation years ago.
I know I have called on this dream pseudo-technique successfully. It's common pattern, I suppose. I have gone to sleep at night consciously aware of the fact that an item I need was lost, which I may have misplaced and I dreamed of its wayward location awakened and found the lost item. No doubt, you too, have had, too, have had such an experience as well.
It can be contended that we would have found the item eventually anyway. We would remember where we had put the item. Even then, you see, to recall the act of mis-placing the item is a reference to a past series of actions.
We must the caution at the same time.
Our past is filled with errors, mistakes, and mis-judgments. of course, or we would not be in the plights of the present period. I fact, that may be the most valuable thing we learn from a study of the past – how we did things the wrong way and can avoid doing some of them, all over again.
We need to study the past. Years ago the subject “History” was?lumped together as a mish-mash shoveled out in robotic regularity. We need
to refer to the past to improve out present and future well-being.
A.L.M. November 17, 2003 [c-285wds]
Sunday, November 16, 2003
FIRST LAP LOSER
It happens.
Just his past week-end four cars were quickly removed from the race before they had completed the final lap. That must be one the worst moments a racing driver can experience.
And, so often, it seems to happen in the general world - just as it did this time on the race track.
I don't know if they inquired into the causes of this particular case, but it made me wonder, even as I watched the usual plethora of instant re-plays which followed. Re-runs were done from at least six different angles, it seemed to me, and in each one showing the instant the crash started to form, it was clearly not the fault of the driver of the first car - although one could contend that he should have known better than to be ahead of the zany behind him.
We cannot pick and choose who is to be in the race beside us. We assume that they known what the are doing, and we also feel sure the authorities who plan and execute the races make sure participants are ready, worthy, able and willing to conduct themselves in a sportsman-like fashion. If we are to continue to classify stock car racing as a “sport”, we are going to have to find some way of instilling such as an attitude in particpants and in their suppprters must be accented. Far too many people view such races as a modern version of the Roman Circus or Spanish Bullfight in which death is a possible outcome. When someone gets killed - the onlookers can have a fine time.
We see the same sort of thing in business right now as perfectly legitimate mutual funds groups find themslves marked, driven from the race, even ruined by the careless act of some other less pricipled firm. The second car tips the rear bumper of the car ahead, and causes it to sweve and possibly spin off toward the outer retaining well. It hits the wall in a crashing blow and slides back across the track toward the in side rail and in the path of other cars which are moving at over one hundred and fifty miles per hour. The fans go crazy with excitement both in the stands and in many land as TV repeats the action again and again.
In the business area, the indiscreet act of one mutual funds group, cause others to suffer loss. This is unfair.
All stock car drivers are not alike and that should be made known by prompot acrtion taken against those who give the activite a bad name by infractions of rules. Either by intention or sheer stupidity, the second driven tips the rear end of the first car and the results are costly. If action is taken against such drivers, the most we can expeect is a small fine or some sort, He lost a great deal, you might say. But, others did as well. Five personal racing dreams were shattered when those five cars crashed and support teams would not have a winner or even an also ran contender in those who they have respect and in whose abilities they take due pride.
The stock car races are going to be greatly enhanced in the next year or two as the move from rural to urban locations.
A.L.M. November 16, 2003 [c520wds]
Saturday, November 15, 2003
MIDWAY MAYBE?
Can the terms “casual”and “formal” be blended in some way?
The makers and marketers of men's suits report a modest rise in the movement of men's suits in the work-a-day world. One source of that observation credits George W. Bush with re-establishing a mood of formality in our general business affairs. Others,of course, blame him for doing so. One major Wall Street firm has quietly issued an order saying that all male employees with return to wearing suits as in days of yore. The student body of the University I attended before World War II required coat and tie at all times – both winter and summer. When I returned to school after the war, the G..,I.. was both credited and blamed for changing that mode of dress. We went from formal to floppy.
By that time, however, I had grown used to wearing a suit or slacks and sports coat and to this day I don't feel “right” without a coat, necktie and I have even worn cowboy bolo strings to so I can have a feeling that something is where a tie should be. Yet, in spite of it all, I like casual wear when it is suitable.
A slovenly dressed person at the store counter is not exactly an inducement for a customer to step up and inquire about a suit or tie. In some areas of the country is seems that the men and women often dress as if they are participating in some sort of contest to see who can put together the most outlandish outfit. I've seen some real “doozies”, too ...any one of which which seem to merit a First Prize.
For a time sweatshirts were the prevailing dress and just about every sentiment imaginable has been printed on them in full color back and front by the millions. That phase gave way to tea shirts.
Shoes demanded special attention from the start. For a time scruffy was sufficient but once canvas, plastics and foams took over there was no resemblance to shoes other than the fact that were attached to the bottom of feet as pads, stilts or weaponry. Thick, elongated laces were required and they were usually worn untied.
One of the most noticeable features of casual style in that era of the late 20th and early 21st centuries, will be the simple “baseball cap”a popular sport of the era. The curious thing about people wearing baseball caps is that most of them are worn backwards.. They seem to be be permanent, as well ..never removed regardless of the occasion. The long peaked brim at the usual front of the design is there to shade ones eyes from excessive light and it allows baseball pitchers to focus on a controlled area excluding others when pitching to cross the narrow home plate. There seems to be no ready explanation as to why so many people wear baseball caps backward as they squint at you in bright light. It has been said they are worn that way to prevent sunburn and people cannot call one “redneck”. It has also been said the reversed bill catches bird dropping prevents any false punctuation being accidentally added to the social statement printed on the back of your tea/sweat shirt.
A L.M. November 14. 2003 [c562wds]
Friday, November 14, 2003
50K TO STAY!
On the second day of December 1997 “down under”, the Sydney “Morning Herald” published it's fifty-thousandth edition.
Think of it! Anyway you choose to count it, that's a lot of newspapers. It started as a four-page paper on April 18, 1831.They printed seven-hundred-fifty copies.
In the anniversary edition of the paper – December 2, 1997 - the editors, in a special editorial comment which is worthy of repetition today as we look at the communications field in this 21st century.
'The newspaper,” the “Morning Herald” editors contends, “is the first draft of history and the last word on current affairs.”
As one who has worked in both the print side of journalism and in the radio/TV segments, I agree whole-heartedly with such an estimate of the enduring value of print journalism.
We have long needed a sound clarification of the potentially divisive condition in our mass communications system.. Each is essential. Each has advantages and disadvantages. Skillfully used, they can complement each other..
Remarkable strides have been made in the reporting of world news to and from extreme areas. Radio can do it faster, TV can do it with visual elements and but later as a rule, and the newspaper can print the story that evening or the next day in a “hard copy” form which can be read, re-read, re-printed and edited if new material becomes available.
There used to be a feeling among many newspaper people which urged them to leave the fast moving daily paper and buy a small town weekly paper whereon could take his own, sweet time reflecting on news events before commenting on their place and importance. There was a time when it was very worth while to skim the editorial comments of the weekly papers to know what was real and lasting for all of us in the news.
In time, the telephone, telegraph, films, radio and television brought changes to the field in general. A new dimension is now up and running with the advent of the computer. The entire procedure of producing a newspaper has been radically changed. The same can be said of radio, TV, even the small country weekly publication and magazines of every description.
The Sydney “Morning Herald” editorial is still “the first draft of history” especially as it is now augmented by the Internet editions of the paper which are becoming more and more standard. The outreach of the newspaper has been augment tremendously by Internet publication. Radio and TV make use of it, but it tends to erode some of their much-vaunted and sometimes abused claim of being: ”first.” Internet publication enables the daily newspapers, as “the holder of the “first draft of history” to be, at the same time, highly respected as the ultimate authority on current affairs with background and endless links to development.
Cash in on this wealth. Read several on-line newspapers every day!
A.L.M. November 12, 2003 [c487wds]
Thursday, November 13, 2003
IT'S ABOUT TIME
Finally, I hear some wise words in the news coverage concerning the antics of Yasher Arafat- head of the P.L O.
News reports this past week finally got around to mentioning the fact that Yasher has, during his tenure of the rather unsteady seat as head, Or chief mouthpiece, for the Palestinian Liberation movements, managed to pull together a personal fortune estimated to be worth several million dollars.
That's far too much to carry around in ones pockets, so he has it spread out in various Swiss and other banks in readily available locations. His wife and daughter manage to scrape through in Paris on an allowance said to be a bare thousand dollars a week. Yasher himself, has always lived in comfortable circumstances too, in spite of the for-show skimpiness of his work areas and transportation.
Some have called him the “Clown Prince of the Arabic world”. There is some truth to such a charge,too, and he has skillfully used this charm he has in a social sense to advantage in his relationships with other national leaders. He and President Bill Clinton appeared to be back-slapping buddies for a time. Other leaders,too, accepted his burnoosed presence among them with just a tinge of something akin to comic relief from the usual run of diplomatic personalities.
Some of Arafat's fine collection of coins of various realms actually are said to have come to him from Israel. When agreements were set up in the past to allow Palestinian workers to be employed in Israeli factories and offices, a tax was charged for that privilege. Said tax receipts money, records now clearly show, were paid - always - into Arafat's personal bank accounts.
All of this has been known for years, but someone somewhere has always held the belief that Arafat-head of the P.L.O. was “our only hope” to bring about a time of peace in the mid-east. Some still hold that he will, in some fantastic manner, pull it all off after all. For a time, we questioned his real power to control the violent fringe groups, but he gained new friends and support by a finely tuned pretense of showing that he was trying to bring the zealots to their senses. As usual, he was good at it and gained new ground with many at home and in the Arabic world.
Io me, it appears that the west has never quite realized that Yasher Arafat speaks with what has been called a deceitful, “forked tongue”. One half of the labial protrusion sends forth a subtle message of Hope, while the other half is spewing hate, suspicion and distrust of us among his own people throughout the Arabic world.
Double-talk time is at an end, perhaps.
A.L.M. November 12, 2003 [c472wds]
Wednesday, November 12, 2003
BY CHANCE
So often we read of great inventions and discoveries coming about by accident.
It does happen that way, of course, but if you feel you are of the inventive type, I don't believe it would be wise to sit around waiting for such a fortunate accident to happen in course life.
Inventing is hard work. Discovery comes from dreams and much anticipation of some special benefit to be achieve.
A number of caverns and less glamorous caves are said to have been discovered when a hunter noticed a rabbit which disappeared into a half-hidden hole on a brushy hillside. Upon investigation, he found a fantastic world of underground tourist bait ingredients carved by Mother Nature in the hulk of earth on which he stood.
Or, maybe you remember the story of the primitive man, said to have been in the area we now call France, many centuries ago, who sought refuge fro a heavy storm in a small cave. When the rain stopped, he hurried forth to find the prey he had been following. Later he realized he had left his lunch behind in the cave. When he re-visited the same cave weeks later,he found his lunch readily enough enough, and either he did not notice that the cheese had become blue and green with some streaks of mold though its body. In the shadowy darkness of and the cave he only knew his cheese tasted better than any chess he had ever tasted before! He saved a sample to take back to his village and from that time the villagers took their fresh cheese to the cave and left it there for weeks until it turned green and blue. The nearest town of any consequence to profit from the discovery was named Roquefort.
We have all hear stories of paint and pigment b e discovered by actual, mismanagement of standard experiment by lab workers the wrong ingredients at the right time to create a great new product. One such discovery was found because worked failed to clean a tank where another product had been stored. Slow dried - it had become a new product for the same company.
Even today we fail to make proper use of discoveries at times. As a child I remember hearing the story of a Chinese family who lost their small house to fire. Their only pig killed in the blaze and the owner picked up the remains of the pig too soon and the heat from the roasted pig and burned his finger tips. He put them hastily to his lips and tasted his first morsel of roast pig. He deemed to be very was good but it caused a problem. One by one, the other villagers started shutting pigs up in their houses and setting fire to them to get delicious pig meat.
We act pretty much the same way at times. Check the present cell phone craze, for example.
A.L.M. November 11, 2003 [c432wds]
Tuesday, November 11, 2003
NATURAL WAY
I am not one of those veterans who feels slighted because some people seem to celebrate each Veteran's Day with less and less enthusiasm.
They do not intend any disrespect. It's a normal reaction.
The really important thing about it all, and something all veterans should be aware of and be thinking about, is the obvious fact that we are raising a generation of young citizens who have little or no knowedge of our national history. Month after month we read of someone taking a survey or doing an "in-depth" - as opposed to a "shallow" study, I suppose, which some of them must be - which show, statistically, that our student population at all levels cannot give intelligent answers to many questions about the basics of our geographical locations or of our social and political history.
People do not observe Veteran's Day any more than they did with what it used to be called - "Armistice Day". That moment - 11 a.m., on the eleventh month of the year and on the eleventh day was very special to millions of Americans. That was in the 1920's, and perhaps into the edge of the '30's. That was set aside as a special day when - in memory of the signing an Armistice virtually ending World War I. Thoughful Americans paused for one, solomn minute whatever they were doing and refected on the sacrifices people had made on their behalf during "The Great War". Even then we still believed, as President Woodrow Wilson has said, it was the "war to end all wars."
In the 1930's because of increasing lines of stress and outright conflict, it became evident that such was not to be the case. World War II, in miniature sprang up in half a dozen places. Some were dress rehersals, you might call them, or field tests for new bombing techniques by air, new explosives and their proper uses, and logistical execises about the movment of large masses of mechanized fighting power. Even with such overt demonstrations by various nations "helping" one side or the other in the SpanIsh Civil War, we, here in America failed to see such warnings which some European nations seemed to understand.
We pretended such conditions did not exist, and a part of that sentiment developed because we were so intent for so long dwelling on what we thought we have accomplished by World War I . We were celebrating victory even as another war was brewing in Nazi Germany, in Fascist Italy, in Imperial Japan and a type of malaise in the hearts and minds off several other national groups. We need to see England under threats of invasion, being bomb without mercy snd France torn asunder. We asked leadership of our President Franklin D. Roosevelt and he, wisely, I feel, made a Lease-Lend plan available to the British. Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor aroused us to belated action.
Let's not dwell too much on what we have done in the past, Respect it, yes, and those who brought it about, but think tomorrow...think future...work for now....rather than dwelling on past events.
A.L.M. November 10, 2003 [c520wds]
Monday, November 10, 2003
MUSICAL LEADERSHIP
Have you noticed that not one of the many eager aspirants out to become president of our nation has, as yet, declared his ability to peform on any musical instrument?
Music has been important to our national life. Our official national anthem is "The Star-Spangled Banner"..the words written September 14,1814. We waited until March 3, 1931 - one hundred and seventeen years later - to make it official and, ever since that moment, many have lobbying to change it. We have been especially blessed in the fact that, when an old tune was found to which the words could be fitted, one was selected which cannot be easily hummed, whistled, or sung . That quality has keep it free from parody. Other national hymns have quickly been given new, demeaning words. They could be and were, sung on any street corners by discontented citizens or outright enemies. They failed as truly national songs with deep, respected meaning.
At least six of our previous presidents played some sort of musical instrument.
Thomas Jefferson was adept at playing violin. We can easily imagine him bowing away with other musicians to brighten his home at Montecello in Virginia or at his governmental abode.
President JohnTyler scraped a mean fiddle, too, we are told. The term "fiddle" is used which suggests his music may have been a bit more on the folky side rather than a formal, classical style.
Many of us remember seeing President HarryTruman seated at a piano and we have seen and heard him play on TV. We were, I think, usually given the idea that the "Missouri Waltz" was about the only tune he ever really knew. I feel that was a false estmimate of his capabilities. Harry played "convivial" piano, if there is such a classification. We find it easy to picture him playing away for family or close friends, or more often for his own, personal relaxaion and enrichment. Harry, I think, actually "heard" far more piano than he played. I play piano it the same way...for my own amazement!
Four more. Who were they?
There was an Alto Horn player by the name of Warren G. Harding. That puts him the high school or college marching band class, but he also played Cornet and must have done a mean " Tea Pot Dome Blues" at one time in his stay in D. C.
Several presidents, we are told, used to sing a lot and well. The loudest and most heard was President Chester Arthur, who had the first bath tub in installed in the White House.
It is easy for me to imagine President Calvin Coolidge, sittin' on a nail keg in the Blue Room, playing "Yankee Doodle"on his harmonica.
Richard Nixon, I think, played piano at one time, and more recently, President William Jefferson Clinton did rather well on B-flat Tenor Sax. He "jammed" with pop musicians from time-to-time as photo-op fodder, but I have a feeling he could get along very well in a band of yesterday with an ad lib style that seemd to fit that age rather than now.
Music is a part of our national make up. It comes, as a profound blessing, in many forms.
A.L.M. November 9, 2003 [c502wds]
Sunday, November 09, 2003
LET'S TALK ABOUT MAGIC.
So often, the usual type of what we call "magic" is limited to a gifted individual who can take real things and make them disappear ... become unreal things.
We expect our national president to be a person qualified to bring about such changes. We ask him to remove the restrictive bonds of unemplyment and to put the people back into jobs which no longer exist, earning real money on which to survive. We expct him to re-arrange our economic life so that we will not have to face those conditions which we feel demean us, which frighten us, or which are contrary to our true standards living.
So often, those are among the things we expect our new president to do. We willingly turn our very lives over to political groups gropeing for greatness, when what we need is more personal interest and effort.
Many fears are orges which haunt us constantly and yet are not evident enough for us to "put a finger on them " - even the ones which seem to be of most concern.
A point we tend to over look is that when we watch someone do magic tricks, we are, ourselves, ready and willing to see him do it. We must be prepared to accept what he tells us as true. Our attention must be draw aside from what his hands are actually doing when we think they're doing a normal function. So much of magic is mental and so often, by skilful mis-direction a magi-pol can convince his followers that all is well and going as planned.
Behind every magician, however, are other people and much preparation. I can remember being on stage myself and making a pint of water disappear. I poured the water, very evidently, into a metal wash basin and moments later turned it upside down over a subject's head. Not one drop came forth. But, I had to affix enough dry sponge material to the inside bottom of that pan to absorb exactly one pint of water and I had to keep any view of that area form being seen by the audience. Your politician magician is prepared to work his changes in the very same way.
I used a version of this when we were to choose a new minster for our congregation. I spoke of the need for us to prepare the way for a man who would stay. All of the aspirants were worthy - having come that far on their own – but were we?
Look at the panel of presidential potentials before us now! Are you ready to see any one of them work the magic you expect of him? And, most of all, are you willing to help him do so?
A.L.M. November 7, 2003 [c469wds]
Saturday, November 08, 2003
TV - YESTERDAY
There was some debate years ago as to the eventual shape of TV pictures? Many contended they should be round since the tubes generating those images was oval shaped at that time.
The first television pictures I saw were round and when the rectangular pictures came along the round-ites complained about the bottom, top and both sides of the picture were being chopped off. They felt cheated, but not for long because when more manufacturers changed to rectanglar types, they went along with the change. I sometimes felt like I was looking down an open manhole.
The smaller screens were called, logically enough, "sardine " can screens. Early TV studio construction had a number of them. The first one I recall seeing were installed in business locations, used just as radio had been used to attract customers into the store. TV set proved to be a real boon to one second-rate restaurant on a hill outside of our town. I remember how two of the men's civic clubs shifted their dinner meetings from downtown to the place where they could watch TV.
ZENITH was oval-minded and kept them longer than the others, as I remember, and RCA pushed the "square picture tube". I remember one little old lady calling our radio station to inquire if she could buy a round one or a square one. She would accept our word as final, adding that years before, we had helped her choose her first radio. One of our enginners had gone to her home to install it. "He tuned it to your station," she told us,"and it's been right there ever since. I never had it changed." She wanted to make sure we could do the same favor when she got her TV set.
Another incident which comes to mind when I rethink the early days of TV, had to do with the actual construction of "ours"when we got a license to build. The tower was six miles or so from the studios-to-be and had to be more or less self-contained and self-sustaining year round. A narrow road that was little better than a trail and it curved and twisted up totghe site on far side of the mountain. The crew hired to dig a water well had it pre-arranged that they would not work one week during hunting Season. They had to go the the Great Smokey Mountains of Tennesee to hunt bear. They came back bearing no bear and when they went up on the mountain Monday morning all their fine, new leather straps and belts on their drilling rig had been gnawed to nothingness by the local bear population.
Bear stories were plentiful when talking about that transmitter site. One night an engineer was sleepily seated at his conole hovering over the program in progress when a tremendous clatter jolted him awake and ready for sure disaster. The cooling system for the transmitter site consisted of a large fan mounted in the wall of the metal building. It was covered on both sides with heavy-duty ratwire screen material to keep out birds, leaves, and small critters. That night a curious bear had reared up on his hind feet to peer into the room to see what was going on in there. He rested his two front paws on the ratwire screen, which, in turn, was pressed against the whirring blades. That made a special noise, you might guess. The engineer was awakened from his half-sleep and was amazed as the bear simply stood there, as if wondering how in the world the two-legged things stand it in there with all that noise! After a time, he tired and withdrew his paws from the screen and went off into the woods, no doubt, to recount his views as to what those strange man-creatures were up to now up there on the mountain top.
A.L.M. November 7, 2003 [c465wds]
Friday, November 07, 2003
DON'T JUST SIT THERE!
This week, you can be sure that almost any people you hear complaining loudly about the political situation are people who did not vote on Election Day just a few days ago.
They are already out there.
This week, you can be sure that almost any people you hear complaining loudly about the political situation are people who did not vote on Election Day just a few days ago.
Poll official here in my local area, report that the number of voters who actually too slightly lower than the last time around. It was forty-there percent of eligible voters who actually showed up on chad-punching day earlier this week. There were forty-six percent last time around. That's not too much, of course.
Several factors enter into any consideration of what causes this obvious lack of interest in civic duties and obligations.
One favorite is the weather. This is variable, of course, but the weather for the moist recent election day herein our area was perfect. No heavy rains, high winds, snow or heat waves to handicap voters on their way to the polls.
Some revert back to the "my Grandmother died," excuse which used to work if someone wanted to go to the ball game instead of to work. It is amazing how important, how urgent, everyday routine procedures can become on election day.
We also must realize that not everyone is alert to the fact that we, as citizens, have to have some idea of what is happening. The simple reality is that when "Civics" was lumped into "Social Studies"in our educaional system, we lost our link to the legislative phase of world affairs. Manyof young, who are becoming older people, are not even aware of who is running for what office or why. New recruits are added annually to this expanding segment . This increase of informational idiocy decreases voting percentages more and more.
Election site workers also tell me of another rather new cause of voting laxity.
The lists of person eligible to vote have been increased by the addition of voters from new and easier ways in which one might register to vote. These "quickie" newcomers, I am told, seem to be not voting at all. They can, if they wish to do so, but, thus far, their performance has been on the sad side.
I'm asking 57% of you – what was your excuse?
A.L.M. November 6, 2003 [c384wds]
Thursday, November 06, 2003
COMMON SENSE
CBS-TV is undergoing a time of distress at the moment, since it announced it would not air the forthcoming special dealing the Reagan years, except next year sometime on “Showtime” to a rather limited “pay to see” audience.
The CBS-TV people finally came to realize that the film was a becoming something quite different from that originally planned. Advance clips showed it had become a critical analysis of the Reagan family. The allegations are now being made that Conservative “pressures”. Charges growing out of circulation of the advance clip showings also accuse the producers of creating incidents and creating fictional dialog to sustain such insertion of sections of truth untrammeled.
It is unfortunate that CBS-TV kept their heads in the silicon sands so long and refused to be aware of what was being done in their name. The day it was announced who would play the role of Ronald Regan was sufficient warning for most of us, but not the officials at CBS-TV. Trust is not one of the natural elements to be found in such agreements of things yet to be done.
Years from now there may well be some reason for such a critical work, but right now while the former President - of necessity to focal point of the story – lives in continued misery due to his debilitating illness. Out of respect for the man, and for his family, one would think critics might exercises a bit of common sense and keep much of their feelings away from public view.
Sadly we can cite incidents in the past when we have bad-mouthed our Presidents, but that is no excuse for doing it again. Give them fifty years or so, I'd say. Dorothy Parker often gets the blame but I think it was one the Longworth girls who said of President Calvin Coolidge that “he had been schooled by old maid aunts and weaned on sour pickles.” Or, when rumor spread that the Coolidge was dead, one of them quipped:”How can they tell?”
We can make fun of our Presidents when they are a generation removed, but not while still among us.
The fault in the current situation is not with CBS-TV, but with the producers of the bio-flick mini-series planned to create a Regan to fit their warped views. Common sense will prevail, I believe, in spite of the fact that much of the media is condemning CBS-TV for giving way to what they call “conservative pressures”. It may be wise for us to keep a watchful and fine-tuned, listening ear focused on any media members who attempt to make the wrongdoers look good.
A.L.M. November 5, 2003 [c455wds]
Wednesday, November 05, 2003
LIBERTY - WHAT IS IT?
It seems to me that right now is a rather poor time for us to be considering what we mean by "liberty."
By this time we should certainty know precisely what we mean by "liberty" in both a political and social sense. This is a time when we are engaged in military campaigns which urge other nations to follow our example. This is a time when we are actually forming government structures to set up free, democratic governments based on liberty and understanding, and it seems unwise to question the basic premise of our own beliefs.
Yet, as I read today's news, I find individuls and groups who are critical of the present administration's handling of internal and external affairs. Some of those fault-finding schemes strike at the fundamental concept of "Liberty", itself.
Louis D. Brandeis, as a former Supreme Court Jusitice, said in the year 1928: "Those who won our independence believed that the final end of the state was to make men free to develop their faculties... they valued liberty both as an end and as a means. They believed liberty to be the secret of happiness and courage to be the secret of liberty." Then, in 1932, speaking of that same liberty, Justice Brandeis added: "The greatest dangers to liberty lurk in insidious encroachments by men of zeal, well-meaning but without understanding."
In their eagerness to present themselves in an engaging light before voters, some aspirants for the presidential role have made statements concerning the conduct of the war which qualify them for Brandeis' classification of those set forth with plenty of zeal but with little real understanding.
These individals and groups currently attempting to say that the war is futile and our handing of it muddled, should also remind themselves of the words by a man who led us in time of a previous war. "Therefore"...he concluded after much discussion on the state of liberty in the our land," the only sure bulwark to contining liberty is a government strong enough to protect the interests of the people." The iniitals which accompany that statement are "F.D.R."
Abraham Lincoln, another wartime president, commented: "The world has never had a good definition of liberty and the American people are now much in want of one. We all declare for liberty, but in using the same word we do not mean the same thing."
Some citizens are voicing negative feelings today with "much zeal, well-meaning," in their view, but with little real understanding."
A.L.M. Nov. 4, 2003 [c430wds]
Tuesday, November 04, 2003
AN UNLIKELY TWOSOME
Now that the Civil War has ended in most of the nation it is considered reasonably safe to point out how much alike the two leaders of that time appear to have been.
They even looked alike. Find two pictures of them in similar poses and place Abe Lincoln and Jeff Davis side-by-side. Notice how the general cut of the profiles resemble each other. How could they be more alike? The features are much the same, with Lincoln's a bit larger, rougher, perhaps, and his hair darker and more unruly than that of Jefferson Davis. Much depends on what type of beards, whiskers and hair-dos the two were wearing at that time. Lincoln's eyes would seem to appear darker, deeper more contemplative.
It would have been oddity enough with them just looking alike, but historians note more and more how much they were like each other in many ways. They seemed to echo each other, at times. Both were avid readers and we have stories of the young Lincoln reading books by candlelight or beside the fireplace. Young cadet Davis, at West Point, studied his books after by the glow of embers in the fireplace.
Both men liked Shakesepare, both read the English Romantic poets and each of them - and their wives read Scott and Burns. Both men where well school in the regular reading of the Holy Bible, as well. Both seemed to have a hunger for books.
Yes, it is true that Jefferson Davis did not suffer the rough frontier lifestyle that Abraham Lincon had to endure but they met with like troubles at other points in their lives.
Both of them like hunting and fishing and, when the opportunity came to them they participated in sports including boxing, wrestling and racing and other favorites of their time. Seldom do we find bookworms who are that active in sports.
In 1815 a young girl by the name of Ann Rutledge ,age 22, blue eyes, a sunburst of bright hair, sickened and died of typhoid fever at her home in New Salem, Illinois. Abe Lincoln was grief-stricken at her death. The very next month in that same year of 1835, Sarah Knox Taylor Davis – his wife of about ninety-days - died of either typhoid fever or some form of maleria.
When Lincoln married and Davis re-married they both had Episcopal ministers , they both served in wars against Black Hawk. Jefferson Davis, was appointed to fill a vacancy in the Senate and he took his seat on August 10, 1847, the very same day Abrahan Lincoiln took his seat in the House.
Even their warime exeriences seem to have been alike in many way, with each have close calls with death in combat situations. Both lost young sons while their fathers served as President – each of his own nation. Little Willie Lincoln, sickened and died in February of 1862 when the Lincoln's living in the White House. Five-year old Joseph Davis, fell tdo his death from an upper floor widow at the Executive Mansion of the Confederary while Mrs. Davis was having lunch with her husband in his office.
Some have tried to see sameness in the two wives as well, but that is not as evident They both died on the 16th of the month. Both lived 17-years after their husbands,. but in different years. Mrs. Lincoln in July 20, 1882 and Mrs. Davis lived until October 20, 1906.
I have often wondered if those two women saw the likenesses of their respective Presidential husbands.
A.L.M. November 3, 2003 [c601wds]
Monday, November 03, 2003
IT DOES HAPPEN
Regardless of what occupational field you have been pasturing in over the years, you must have noticed from time-to-time that the grass does, indeed, seem to grow greener and taller on the other side of the fence.
In some cases it may be real, but it may also be an illusion founded in the fact that there are fewer occupants feeding on the forage over there. Changing location is not always a sound idea.
I have a sterling example in mind, as I issue a note of caution.
I worked for a little over three years with a man we shall call "Bud". Actually, we called him "Uncle Bud", for the simple reason that he was a bit older than any of us. Bud had actully been on the staff of twenty-eight radio stations in his careening career. Two of his locations had been "home" for a little over one week; several more were month- ong stays. The fact that he had been so many places came to light when he celebrated the longest residence of his career in radio on his second anniversary with us.
I came to know Uncle Bud quite well during that long stay. He had a varied background in just about every phase of radio broadcasting in the 1930's in to the leading edge of the '50's. Well, not engineering. He stayed clear of that end of the business, but had been an announcer in the days when everything was live. He had a dry sense of humor about him. He was a natty dresser and he had a natural gift of gab, and all of that lured him into better money as a time salesman. He remembered the "good ole days" of radio and fashionied much his life after a program you will not recall named "Tony Won's Scrap Book, I think. Uncle Bud wrote verse he called "poetry". He had three volumes of his verses printed in hard cover editions, and one of the first things he sold as a time saleman, was himself reading his verse over soft music. The move-again mania began the first Christmas after he and his wife were married. She always gave him a year's subscription to BROADCASTING magazine without ever realizing that she had opened the gate once more. Uncle Bud turned to the back of the book each week - to the "Help Wanted" columns and wallowed in green pasture lures until one of them got the better of him.
They hit the road again!
A.L.M. November 2, 2003 [c-438wds]
Sunday, November 02, 2003
PRESENT DAY MIRACLES
Some real miracles have been worked in our time.
I have witnessed one dealing with a specific form of human suffering which no longer exists but which is very real a part of my memories of childhood years.
I have seen it all come to pass in my own time, and I marvel, often, at the sheer simplicity of the treatment which brought about this change for so many long-suffering men and women.
You may not be aware of the physical condition of people having extended goiters. The neck tissues became swollen in a large sac which hang down very much like the wattle growth under the head of some fowl.
In 1922, of course, it was known what caused goiters and also how to treat them as well. But such medical knowledge , if it had reached the moutains just a few hundred miles west of Norfolk, Virginia, was not speedily accepted as being truth. I knew scores of men and women - in my memory more women than men, who had the malady and before too many years I realized I didn't see much of it any more.
Swiss scientist discovered that the thyroid gland contained iodine. In 1905 David Marine concluded that the goiter conditon could be ovecome by providing the thyroid with needed iodine. He noticed that many residents of the Great Lakes area had numeous goiters and he found the soils of the Lakes region did not contain the tiny amount of iodine needed to prevent such malfunctons. David Marine is, generally, credited with the idea of adding a touch of iodine to the ordianry persons use of table salt. In 1923 the United States and Switzerland started using iodized salt.
The mountain folk of Southwestern Virginia, in the l920's seldom, if ever, ate sea foods from the ocean. They had fish, of course, from rivers and lakes but not from salt water sources. The fact that refrigation on our railroads had only begun could have been a major influence in preventing movement of seafoods the hinterlands.
You seldom encounter goiter growths today. It is still a problem in central Africa and other remote areas. Think about the progress which has been made and be thankful goiters they been eliminated among us. Think too, of how there may well be realtively simple solutions to many of our other problems if we can bring ourselves to accept Truth when it is presented to us.
A.L.M. November 1, 2003 [c419wds]
Saturday, November 01, 2003
MOUNTAIN STATE
If one delegate attending the convention of 1863 to determine the name of the new, 35th state being added to the union, had been more persuasive the new state may have been called “Augusta”.
He didn't even come close. In fact, the name "Augusta"received just one vote - which we can assume to have been his own. Even though he failed to influence other delegates present, he had good reason to make the suggestion he set forth.
The general area which now makes up what is called West Virginia was, for about a twenty year period, called Augusta County, Virginia. It was formed at the same time as Frederick County, to the north, in 1745 but it took a few years for things to actually get organized and in the mean time, and interim government prevailed. For a time it was the largest piece of real estate under the adminstration of a county seat. Initally, it was governed from Orange Court House, Virginia, then in 1745 the power was shifted to a group of "magistrates" living west of the Blue Ridge Mountains. Staunton, formerly Beveley's Mill Place became the county seat for the entire area called Augusta County. They had been serving for years as the active arm of government in the area as appointed by Royal officials at Orange County Court House, Orange, Virginia.
It territory called "Augusta" was large. To this day, people still find it difficult to believe and to accept the fact that Augusta County was , by far, the largest adminstative unit to be found anywhere in America.
The bounds of Augusta County, Virginia, roughly, embodied the following limitations. If one choses to begin at some point on the Blue Ridge Mountains summit on the eastern side of the County, then he would go south-west down the ridge of that range to the North Carolina border. Then, westward until he came to the Mississippi River. The line then went up that waterway into Minnesota and Wisconsin, took in most of Michigan, all of Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky and Tennessee. From Ohio it crossed Pennsylvania at the general point of Ft. Duquane (Pittsburgh) and bent southward to go along the buldging edge of the newly created Fredrick County, and gradually worked it 's way across the Shenandoah Valley to the Blue Ridge Range.
To this day it is not uncommon to come across place names all over the affected area echoing the Augusta theme. The celebrated folk festival held each year at Elkins, West Virginia , on-in-and around the campus of Davis and Elkin Coillege, is known far and wide as the "Augusta Festival."
But in naming the 35th state to be admitted to the Union the conference voted heavily in favor of calling it "West Virginia." The choice was symbolic, no doubt, of a First Settlement and Colonial Heritage so many indivudals and families the area did not want to forego entirely.
The name "West Virginia" won with thirty votes.
"Kanawha" followed, then came "Western Virginia", "Allegheny" and that lone vote for "Augusta". Naming a state is not an easy task to undertake. It was especially trying to make such a decision at that point in our history. President Abraham Lincoln agonized until the very last minute to seperate the peoples of the Old Dominion/Virginia. Virginia was to be the only state in the entire nation to suffer the loss of more than one-half of her territory, to bleed upon more battlefields than any of the Confederate states, and also to suffer great losses in a materials sense.
The tremendous expanse of Augusta was diminished by time and events. New counties were fomed in Southwest Virginia, Kentucky and other areas and control from the county seat in Staunton, Virginia was relinquished.
Augusta...an historical chimera.
A.L.M. October 31, 2003 [c644wds]
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