Welcome one and all to the Wednesday Good News Round Up, where the stories are positive, the links are hot, warm, lukewarm or really cool, and the comments, replies, threads, threads on threads, digressions, unwinding of digressions, snark, wit, and general bonhomie (bonhomie, I say!) are all worth taking in…..because of each one and every one and all of you clicking and typing in the comments can be found every single day here at DailyKos.
I am your host, WineRev, firing up the chairlifts, ringing the bell for ski school, making sure the Ski Patrol and the St. Bernard rescue dogs are outfitted right down to that under-chin little keg of brandy. (Uh, those would be under the chins of the dogs, NOT the ski patrol…..). Spend a bit of time
No gloves, so OK, spring skiing….and what
skiers all used to dress like…...
on the slopes of the Good News, whether carefully tracing snowplow turns through a winding digression, or trying the intermediate slopes of commentary with stem-turns of insight and curiosity. Perhaps you’d like to parallel ski through various clicks and links (almost like you’re barely lifting a finger) or even wedeln your way through the intricacies of a studious piece, scooting through the mogul fields of logic and implication.
Whatever you like, let me recommend the Gnuville Breakfast Brunch, where the Jean-Claude Killy Lounge welcomes you in your apres-ski attire to put up your feet on sofas, recliners, rockers or wingbacks, tune in the WiFi, and launch into the MidPoint of the Month Crossing day of the 15th of January. As is my custom, you will note today’s Round Up also features the History Corner of January 15ths of decades past that have intrigued or educated with the Good, or amused and tickled with the Goofy.
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The Snowplow turn…….part 1 of “Learning to Ski!”
Good News in Arts, Literature and Music
Starting out skiing…...
Well, if you are new to skiing and are just clumping across the lodge deck in your ski boot rentals (lace-up or the new buckle model) , there is no need to be nervous. Hilda and Antonio (from Austria and Italy, respectively) have lots of experience with new skiers. As you get the hang of stepping into the bindings (or even bending over to snap down the cable bindings) and figuring out how to walk/slide over toward the T-bar for your first uphill ride, there are other moments worth pondering while you are waiting in the lift line.
>>>>>>>>>>First, there are cats. Particularly, tomcats…...orange tomcats. They are an unusual shade, even among cats, and some brainy cat lovers wondered…..WHY? Now the geneticists have written up THIS LITTLE STORY about Orange cats and why they are typically male. Admit it…..you’ve always wondered a bit…..
>>>>>>>» Second, there are cats. Yes, house cats but sometimes it makes a difference just exactly WHICH house they rule. Yours, for instance…….or if you have a snappy address like…..London, UK….like #10 Downing Street. In that case, when its your cat birthday (like a couple days ago) the Press is called in…..
While the tune tinkling off the piano is familiar, the captions are delightful, and the main character, still quite “with it” despite advanced years, still knows how to dress for his birthday (and every other day for that matter)
>>>>>>Do you remember third and fourth grade? There were spelling tests. Vocabulary lists. And, if your class was like mine with Mrs. Eichelberger or Mrs. Hooper, there was “At the board” work. Sometimes you and a couple others were up at the front, chalk in hand, doing math problems in front of EVERYBODY. And SOMETIMES, you were there to show how much you had learned (and still needed to learn) about…….handwriting. Not just printing letters one by one, but that string of flowing, connected letters, (capitals and small ones) linked together as CURSIVE writing. Yes, you might have cursed it to yourself (because it kind of meant learning the alphabet all over again) but it made you more like a grown up and led to that stylized autograph of yours, much sought-after these days by collectors.
They don’t teach cursive anymore, and the “kids” (up to maybe age 50) can NOT write in cursive, and they struggle to read it. But YOU can…..and the National Archive wants to talk to you! Yes, the Old Book & Letter Room of America IS LOOKING FOR VOLUNTEERS to help read cursive and transcribe stuff from 1792 and 1837, etc. OK so most of it will be land deeds or a bill of sale, but there are diaries and letters and such too. SO, if you would like to help preserve America for future generations, here’s your chance!
As much fun as continuing with cats could be, there have been historical moments that have shown the human capacity for music, art, style, dance, fashion and literature. Here is a January 15th collection.
1728 Bari, Italy Birth of Niccolo Piccinni, composer (*NOT to be confused with the later PU-ccini) Niccolo had a good musical upbringing even though his father, a musician himself, did not want him to follow in that line because he knew it could be a hard life. But Niccolo had a gift and wrote his first opera (a comedy) at age 22 that went on stage in Rome…..and ran for two years and later went on the road across several European capitals. A second opera was such a hit that the well-to-do theater & opera goers to started asking dress-making shops and tailors for copies of the clothing in the production for everyday wear. Became the first Italian invited (by the Queen herself) to be director of the French Royal school of music that produced operas. Mostly forgotten today (comedy doesn’t always age well) but a lion in his time, with 80 operas to his name over a lifetime.
Surely sounds like the overture or the “between acts” sort of music for an opera…
Look out! Its free of its box! Looking for a head to
ride upon! Beware…..beware!!
1797 London (Public dressing #1) Haberdasher (men’s clothing) John Etherington (sometimes spelled Hetherington), like any retailer in a fashion industry, is always looking for the next new trend. Several days earlier he had stepped out of his shop onto the sidewalks wearing something eye-catching. A crowd formed, worried and unruly, and a policeman later testified “various women fainted, children began to cry and dogs started to bark. One child broke his arm among all the jostling.”
Etherington was arrested and on this day had his trial in court. He was found guilty of disturbing the peace by wearing a hat “calculated to frighten timid people.” He had to pay 50 pounds (!) in trust to the court and keep the peace for the next several months before he could get the money back. Thus the introduction of the “tall and shiny construction on his head that terrified nervous people” the top hat. (Caught on for decades……6 foot 4 Abraham Lincoln wore an 8 -inch tall model to give him a height advantage when publicly debating Senate re-election opponent, 5 foot 4 Stephen Douglas. Dancer Fred Astaire was happy to name one of his movies after a white model…..Personally I am more of a “riverboat gambler” sort of guy, but I do wear hats---not caps----hats, which keep your ears dry in a straight-down rain…..)
1895 St. Petersburg, Russia Tchaikovsky’s “Swan Lake” ballet premieres to the world this night. We have never forgotten.
1909 San Francisco (Public dressing #2) Even in this city there are RULES you know. San Francisco values mean something! On this day Miss Francis Smith dresses in a jaunty sailor suit and goes strolling with her friend Miss May Burke down Montgomery Street. They are both arrested and later convicted: Miss Smith of masquerading in male attire and Miss Burke of vagrancy. (That put a stop to things and San Franciscans have behaved themselves ever since, right?)
First Lady Profile
Nearly a year of months ago I ran a couple biographies of some of the American First Ladies and asked if in following months the Reading Public here wanted more, and you DID! So today, 2 more, but with an asterisk*…… This profile on Rosalynn Carter already ran in August, but in light of President Carter’s passing and funeral this past week, it seems fitting to recall the remarkable woman at his side…..for 77(!) years!
Eleanor Rosalynn (Smith) Carter
was born August, 1927 in Plains, Georgia the 1st of 4 children. Their father was a store clerk, AND a school bus driver AND a mechanic, and died in 1940 when Rosalynn (hardly ever used her first name except for legal stuff) was 13. Their mother, Frances Althea (Murray), “Allie” still had 4 children to raise as well as caring for her aged father, who lived with them (and started collecting that new-fangled Social Security back in 1937……). Frances also worked as a store clerk, in the local school cafeteria, and, a bit later, gladly for the local Post Office (a government job!)
In 1946, at age 18, Rosalynn married a freshly-minted graduate of the Naval Academy, James Earl Carter. (She turned him down the first time he proposed, but accepted when he asked a second time about 3 months later.) As a Navy wife she followed him to various ports in Wives/Family housing: Norfolk to New London to Providencetown on the East Coast, as well as stations in Pearl Harbor and San Diego on the Pacific. (The moving around via the Navy was…..challenging for Rosalyn. Between 1947 (Portsmouth, VA), 1950 (Honolulu) and 1952 (New London, CT) she and Jimmy had three children…..all boys (Jack, Donnell, James).
In 1953 Carter’s father died, and James/Jimmy came home from the Navy to Plains, GA to run the family peanut farm and business. Rosalynn, with 2 boys still pre-schoolers, managed also to work on the financial side of the operation for several years, (all unpaid.) She was also unpaid as she worked steadily in his political campaigns, 1962 & 1966 (losses)….in 1967 giving birth to a daughter, Amy…... and also in 1970, when Carter become governor of Georgia. As Georgia’s First Lady she was an outspoken advocate for Mental Health care for all ages and a very public supporter of the Special Olympics across the US and internationally.
With all 3 boys out of the house and Jimmy being more and more mentioned for the Presidency, Rosalynn spent many days in 1974 and 1975 traveling around the USA, giving interviews to local newspapers and chatting with local radio hosts about public affairs and what her husband thought about these things and wanted to do about them. Her ground-breaking in endless small towns across the map accounted for a fair share of the widespread enthusiasm for his candidacy in 1976. At Inauguration in 1977, the First Couple revived a moment last seen at the Inauguration of Thomas Jefferson in 1801 (!). After the swearing in and speeches, they walked (hand in hand) down to the White House, to the fervent cheers of heavy crowds, cementing a populist image.
First Lady Rosalynn Carter
As First Lady Rosalynn and Jimmy at many points acted as almost co-Presidents (and by all accounts, while they usually agreed on policy, she had much the better political savvy on framing things and timing of announcements and initiatives.) Rosalynn was the first know First Lady to attend Cabinet meetings, and more than occasionally or ceremonially. Continuing her advocacy from Georgia, she became Chair of the Council on Aging. She served on the President’s Commission on Mental Health and in 1980 appeared as a witness before a Senate Committee to lobby for the Mental Health Systems Act and funding for it…….which passed.
After the White House she was author of 4 books and tirelessly continued her advocacy for the mentally ill and the aging, wherever she could get a hearing. One of these was, in 2010, to appear on ‘The Daily Show’ with John Stewart, where she pointed out soberly that A) the suicide rate in the US was higher than the homicide rate, and B) 2 of every 100 suicides are kids. A dear companion and spouse to her husband Jimmy they were married 77 years (easily a Presidential couple record, one that might never be challenged…….), until she died in November, 2023 at age 96.
Two skis, both pointing the same way at the same time! Le Traverse…...
Good News in Science and Engineering
Don’t cross the ski tips…...
Now some of you have been skiing a while, so you don’t need the “bunny hill” so much anymore. So ski and pole your way over to the Blue Square lifts and slopes (the “Intermediate” spots). Here you can take a lift farther up (sometimes even sitting down on a chair lift), and then, listening and remembering carefully what Hilda and Antonio are/were saying. Put your skis IN PARALLEL traverse (ah, that touch of French—“to cross”) over toward the far side of the slope and then, weight on the downhill ski, put out (or “stem”) your uphill ski into snowplow position for your “stem christie” turn. As you reset for your parallel traverse the other way, it’s worth pondering Good News that the engineers and scientists have come up with.
Once again, if we are going to survive as a species on this planet, the scientists and engineers are the ones who are going to do it. And they are hard at work on it.
>>>>>>» From China comes THIS INTRIGUING STORY of combining solar power generation via photovoltaic cells (which we are getting used to) and HYDROGEN as a clean fuel for the coming generations of the human race. Deliberately built in a marshy area (you can imagine the site engineering that was needed to keep everything from sinking) this World First at Scale combines various power generation and battery storage features into one Earth-Friendly plant. YAY!
>>>>>>>» You have seen, maybe even lived in, mobile homes. The name is rather misleading; the only time they are “mobile” is when they are first delivered by truck to a camp/community of like mobile homes. Then they are put up on blocks and provide shelter and the first levels of comfort for those needing a cheap place to live. At the other end of the economic ladder we’ve seen pictures and videos of ultra luxurious RVs, and very upscale hotels at spectacular locations, right? Well what about cranking out upscale “people/ family pods” that can be clustered and even stacked like a snappy hotel, set up one by one in proximity to each other, or built more modestly to provide one-step-up-from-basic housing? WELL THIS COMPANY is giving that a go, and I have to admit, there is a certain “Jetsons”/ Federation Colony on Rigel 7 vibe to these models. (I wonder if even a smaller, “tiny house” version would be feasible to try to answer the issue of homelessness?) (A Chinese company, but they note they are already at work in Dallas and Miami.)
>>>>>>» Since the days of the Palm Pilot V (remember those?) we have all learned to pronounced “lithium ion” as the power source for all sorts of rechargeable wonders. Now one issue is the center of these batteries is a liquid compound, and this can leak, and, since it runs hot, can have fire issues. But now THIS PLEASING STORY sketches out a break through to make such batteries a solid state gizmo, avoiding both leakage and over-hot issues. YAY!
Of course, those engineering and scientifically minded people have been discovering and inventing stuff for ages, and they deserve to be recalled as well.
Catch that last line? After all they are SERVANTS…..harumph!
1759 London Thanks to a generous benefactor, Mr. Montagu, on this day a group of scientists and administrators took over the Montagu House and opened the British Museum, proclaiming itself as the world’s first independent national museum. It has expanded over the last 250 years (although the heart of it still stands on the site of the Montagu House) and opened several branch institutions (beginning in 1881 with the Natural History museum). A fine idea that has caught on around the planet.
1861 New York City Inventor Elisha Otis this day receives a patent for his steam-powered elevator. For heaving things around a warehouse, for work down at the docks, even brawny stevedores appreciated how it made the work go faster. (A couple years later, on a New York stage, Otis would personally demonstrate another patent, the safety brake on one of his elevators, to a large audience and wide press coverage. Skyscrapers would now become possible; New York (and other cities) would start to look different……and taller.)
You’ve seen endless copies and variations of “glass box” buildings
but here was the first one…..
1936 Toledo, Ohio This port and industrial town has become a vital cog in the auto industry. Various plants around town see thousands of workers making glass panes for the auto industry: windshields, tiny rear portholes, side windows that slide up and down in the doors. At the Libbey company they also make food jars by the thousands every day and the city’s casual nickname is “Glass City.” This day the city itself starts to literally live up to it. The first building to be completely covered in glass is completed this day, built for the Owens-Illinois Glass Company. Designers and architects beat a path to the town to see for themselves and after World War II designed skyscrapers everywhere that look like glass boxes. (Libbey-Owens-Ford (now Picklington Group) is still making glass.)
First Lady Profile
While her husband was a fine general and a so-so President (take that with a grain of salt; a number of Southern historians did their best for decades to slam Grant’s Administration as a form of revenge for losing the War), you may not have hear much of anything about his First Lady.
Julia Dent Grant
Born January 26, 1826 on her father’s “gentleman farmer’s” farm 10 miles outside St. Louis, Missouri. 5th of 8 children; first 4 were all boys, next 4 all girls. Father Frederick Dent, from Maryland, had no formal education but had a fine head for business. Moved to the Missouri Territory after getting married in Pittsburgh. Formed a successful partnership with 2 other men investing in steamboats and handling their cargos; made all three wealthy. Dent bought 30 slaves to clear the land and work the farm. Was personal friends with Territorial governor William Clark (as in Lewis and Clark) and other high profile characters.
Julia had 5 years of early schooling in a one-room schoolhouse…..that had 4 teachers(!) on staff. Her (4) older brothers often took her camping and hunting with them. She enjoyed these adventures and became noted as a good horsewoman.
From age 10-17 she was at the Mauro Academy for Young Ladies in St. Louis. She boarded at the school but lived close enough that she usually went home on weekends. Her best subjects were history, mythology & philosophy and was a natural at drawing and at the piano. She was a fine and prolific letter-writer her whole life, but admitted she only “put up with” grammar and math classes. Became a voracious reader, a trait she shared with Frederick Jr., next-oldest in their family. The pair enjoyed reciting Shakespeare and Byron to each other.
Frederick won appointment to West Point and wrote to her about a fellow cadet from Ohio, Ulysses Grant. Grant went with Frederick on a school break and met Julia. The young lady, (who was cross-eyed since birth) followed her mother by ignoring the hard-core strictures of certain Methodist churches and delighted at playing cards, sipping a beer or some wine, and dancing with delight whenever a chance came along. Grant was very taken with her, and she with him, so he wooed her and asked her to get engaged (loaning her his cadet ring as a pledge) until he graduated. While she waited she told friends she had a premonition that Grant would gain fame and become President. When he graduated their wedding was in her father’s house. (One of Grant’s groomsmen was a fellow cadet, James Longstreet, a future Confederate general.) Grant’s parents pointedly did NOT attend; as hard core abolitionists they did not approve of their son marrying into a slave holding family.
Julia lived the next 4 years with her family in St. Louis as Ulysses was sent to various Army posts and went off to the Mexican War (where his unit commander was Colonel Robert E. Lee; there, he also became friends with fellow Ohioan William T. Sherman.) Both of them wrote many letters to each other, so much so that once when Julia did not receive a letter for 5 days she wrote to the fort commandant, asking if Grant was wounded or missing. After the Mexican War Grant was posted for 2 years in California and was lonely and depressed. After this stint he decided to leave the Army for civilian life; there were stories (that followed him the rest of his days) that he had been drummed out for drunkenness; there may have been an incident (or 2) but his decision to leave was his own.
Grant tried (and failed at) various professions as a civilian. His father-in-law gave him several fields of the Dent farm in Missouri to farm, along with a slave which Dent had given the couple as a wedding present. Grant only managed to sell cordwood (rather than any crops) but did make enough to go to the courthouse and pay the state fee to emancipate the man. He and Julia had 4 children in this stretch but it was a hard time. At the end of the 1850s they moved to Galena, Illinois where Grant’s father, Jesse, gave him a job in his general store (and Ulysses was a lousy clerk.) Julia did most of the child-rearing because Ulysses was always looking for work and also a very indulgent father.
With secession and the outbreak of the Civil War Grant went back into the Army, first by appointment by the governor of Illinois of a state regiment, and then as a brigadier general by order of Abraham Lincoln. (Lincoln wanted to appoint West Point men to higher posts and such men, like Grant and Sherman, were rare in “the West.”)
During the War Julia saw to raising and educating the children, but several times during the winters when campaigning was at a standstill the whole family united in the Army camp. Sometimes Julia and the children stayed in a nearby hotel, but other times a wall tent was pitched next to Grant’s and all lived and ate Army style.
With the War over and President Johnson impeached and very nearly convicted, the Republicans turned to Grant as their first choice for their nominee and he won the Presidency in 1868. He served 2 full terms, the first to do so in over 30 years. At the same time, Julia was very much in the public eye since the last First Lady to reside for 8 full years in the White House had been Dolly Madison, who left in 1817.
All four Grant children were frequently living at the White House (the two boys mostly in the summers; one was admitted to West Point and another attended Harvard.) The family was often seen together around Washington. This happened often enough that newspapers of the day took to referring to them as the “President’s Family” or the “White House Family”, the first terms for the concept of the “First Family” of later Presidents. When the summers got too sweltering in DC, the entire family would spend weeks at a time at Long Branch, New Jersey, a beach resort—-the first appearance of “the summer White House.”
First Lady Julia (Dent) Grant
Julia enjoyed hosting numerous events, dances and dinners for various groups, large and small. (She once hired a noted Italian chef to prepare a dinner for 36——that had 25 courses!) She was also sensitive about her crossed eyes (and although a surgical repair had been developed, she never had it corrected) and asked all photographs of her be in profile.
Julia kept up a voluminous correspondence with many friends and family, so it is not unusual to learn that she gladly adopted a new print invention of the day: in 1875 she arranged for the White House for the first time to send out Christmas Cards to family, friends and other prominent people.
Three months after the Inauguration of Rutherford Hayes several men of wealth put up money for Ulysses and Julia to take an around-the-world tour that lasted 2 full years. They were cheered in England, recognized at concerts in Paris, Vienna and Rome. The stayed in a palace in Cairo and Julia got to ride an elephant in India. A newspaper man, John Young, had been assigned to Mrs. Grant by the New York Tribune newspaper for the entire tour and wrote frequent stories about the adventures of Julia (e.g. meeting the Emperor of China…..coming into his Majesty’s presence (at his order) by 4 servants carrying her in a sedan chair…..and later gamely trying to eat with chopsticks.) The American public read these accounts avidly, cementing Julia in a certain celebrity status for the rest of her life.
After their return the Grants lived comfortably in New York, but Grant invested in a company that 4 years later turned out to be a scam and he was financially ruined. Financier Cornelius Vanderbilt was willing to pay off their debts of $150,000 (today, over $5 million) but Grant was embarrassed and Julia wrote Vanderbilt to decline. Grant was making fair to good money writing magazine articles and turned to writing his memoirs in the hope that sales of these would provide for Julia. He was diagnosed with throat cancer (a dozen cigars a day for decades) but labored on, helped by his editor and publisher Mark Twain. He finished mere days before he died (1885), and sales were as good as he had hoped, so that Julia could live in comfort the rest of her days.
Over the next 17 years Julia made public appearances in connection with the Grant’s legacy, like overseeing the plans for his final resting place in New York, “Grant’s Tomb.” She also became friends with the First Ladies who followed her, from Lucy Hayes through Ida McKinley. Surprisingly, she also struck up a relationship and was a good friend to Varina Davis, the widow of Jefferson Davis.
By the 1890s 3 of her children had settled in California, so almost every year Julia regularly would stay with them several months at a time (typically in fall and winter). Her presence in San Diego and Santa Monica and friendly relations with reporters made for reading across the US and led to a stream of people deciding “if the widow Grant likes it there” the American West had been truly tamed, so relocating there could be a good thing.
She died at her Washington DC home in 1901, age 74, and is buried next to Ulysses in Grant’s Tomb. Like him, she wrote the memoirs of her life but was undecided about publishing these, and was not satisfied with the royalty offers she was getting. She died before reaching a decision, so her memoirs were not published……until 1975 (much to the delight of a section of American historians.)
Hilda & Antonio…..off duty from Ski School (Or….wait? Was that one of MY old ski photos…?)
Good News in Society & Politics
I saw these at the top of a run named “Resurrection.” I said no.
OK, OK…...enough with the learning to ski. Eventually, with enough falls and enough practice, you get good at it. The slopes and trails get steeper and trickier, but the rush from “having survived” to the bottom is worth the gulping hard at the top.
>>>>>>» Above we noted the call from the National Archives for people to volunteer to read and transcribe cursive writing. And this leads to the question, “What ARE they teaching in the schools? What’s going on there?” Well, part of what’s going on are “smart” phones, those pocket gizmos incessantly connected to the Internet. In many cases this means YOU are connected to the Internet…..incessantly. Is that a Good Thing? (And if you don’t understand the question, this is a Bad Sign.)
But the impact of these blinking, dazzling, algorithmically addictive little boxes are NOT good for developing brains. Like other research has hinted at, THIS SOBERING STORY points out the permanent damage “smart” phones can do to developing brains…...like children…...permanently crippled. Like feeding toddlers alcohol or hard drugs…..DON’T DO IT!
>>>>>>>» What were they thinking and doing? This is almost the governing question of archeology. You dig up a relic, find a fragment of a manuscript, uncover a clay tablet with strings of symbols that might be letters or might be hieroglyphics and maybe you can read it. And, as happens in science, sometimes you go back to Square One and say “We don’t know.” THIS STORY runs down a stone structure in the MidEast that was “religious”, or “a circular fortress”, or “a tomb of a famous person/powerful ruler”, or “a stone observatory like Stonehenge in England.”
Well #2 was the first guess----but no signs/relics/drawings of warfare or weapons. #3 was a non-starter because famous/powerful people put their name on stuff, and this didn’t have any. #4 was a newer guess, and the stones DID seem to line up with stars and solstices, so “it was a Middle Eastern observatory.” But now the story is back to “we don’t know/religious” (always the fall back position----we don’t have a clue, so it must have involved ritual and worship that we don’t know). Why? because of basically a form of “continental drift” that has moved things about 40 meters over the last 5000 years. Yes, NOW things line up with stars and solstices, but they didn’t back then. Hmmmmm….
>>>>>» In the past weeks we have mourned Jimmy Carter’s passing, celebrated his deeds, admired his devotion to Rosalynn, and been moved by his “putting faith into action” across his life. This last has annoyed and upset some of his fellow “Christians.” When Carter became President there was satisfaction among many evangelicals that “one of our own” was President.
That was then. Now, some of those same fundagelicals (descended-----in several senses----from the “Electronic Church” types of Jerry Falwell, Jimmy Swaggert, Jim & Tammy Bakker…..and the “still with us” Gollum, Pat Robertson) have found a new god, a new savior: Trumpism. They are bringing the “Xtian” language to “Xtian Nationalism”…...and THIS THOUGHTFUL PIECE lays out the contours of the differences, much to Carter’s credit.
And, in years past, there have been….moments…...in society and politics when things were…...earlier, different…..and yet, are still with us in some way or another.
1535 London Why do people sometimes say, “It’s good to be king?” One reason happened today. British King Henry VIII, for political, theological and personal reasons (the king of divorce) this day named himself head of the Church in England. The Pope was NOT pleased.
For France, that is a LOT of land for 15,000 settlers…...
1541 Paris OK, so Columbus went sailing for Spain, followed by several others. The Portuguese got in the rush for land and goodies. The British were making a grab for things and now France gets in on the act. King Francis I gives Jean-Francois Reberval a commission to persuade a group of French citizens to begin settling the North American province of New France (later Canada) and also to persuade the local folk to convert to Catholicism.
1870 Across America This week’s issue of Harper’s Weekly magazine carries another drawing from the pen of in-house artist Thomas Nast. He draws a donkey kicking, (“A Live Jackass Kicking a Dead Lion”) and labels the donkey “Democratic Party” the introduction of this symbol of that political party. /
| | | | /
V V V V V
Mr. Nast, pointing out Democrats have
had some not-so-great moments
1892 Springfield, Massachusetts Canadian-American physical educator James Naismith has had the boys at his school trying out a new game he has invented. Other schools are interested; gives them something to do indoors physically during the long New England winters. On this day Naismith publishes the rules of basketball. (Four corners offense, high-top shoes, plexiglass back boards, three-point shots and slam dunks all came later……)
1929 Atlanta, Georgia Birth of Martin Luther King Jr., minister and Civil Rights leader. (All of the following is Critical Race Theory……) Born into a prominent pastor’s family, Martin was a brainy child with a prized singing voice. Was admitted to Atlanta’s only black high school., then won early admission to Morehouse College, graduating at age 18. Called to ministry, he studied theology at Boston College and there learned about Gandhi’s principles of non-violence that had freed India from colonial rule. Organized and led the Montgomery bus boycott in 1955, founded the Southern Leadership Conference in 1957, became the leading speaker for the cause of civil rights (1963, Washington DC, “I Have a Dream” speech). Helped bring about the passage of the 1964 Civil Rights Act and the 1965 Voting Rights Act. Awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964. Third Monday in January is now a national holiday.
On the Steps of the Lincoln Memorial, an immortal speech in barely 6 minutes…..
1951 Washington DC Just how free can “free speech” be? We’ve all heard the Oliver Wendell Holmes limit about NOT being free to cry ‘Fire’ in a crowded theater. This morning it just seems fitting to note on this day the US Supreme Court ruled "clear & present danger" of incitement to riot is NOT protected speech & can be a cause for arrest. If any officer/DA/agent/National Guardsman/court/ might be interested……
Oh, that school teacher from Milwaukee went far……….
1973 Rome, Italy Many could never imagine it could ever happen in their lifetime, but I recall this too: on this day at the Vatican Pope Paul VI holds a private audience with…….Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir. Apparently, although it was a state visit (Vatican and Israel) rather than a religious one, the conversation was as warm and tasty as the coffee and biscotti….
Let me call in a Democratic President, who, weeks before an election he was running in, that, if successful, will let him win a full, 4-year term in the White House. How sharp was this Democrat? What did he have to say ABOUT, and say AT, Mr. Dewey, the Republican candidate and his party?…...Sir, with tears in my eyes, will you ‘Give ‘em hell, Harry’?!!
- “Republicans approve of the American farmer, but they are willing to help him go broke.
- “They stand four-square for the American home—but not for housing.
- “They are strong for labor—but they are stronger for restricting labor's rights.
- “They favor minimum wage—the smaller the minimum wage the better.
- “They endorse educational opportunity for all—but they won't spend money for teachers or for schools.
- “They think modern medical care and hospitals are fine—for people who can afford them ...
- “They think American standard of living is a fine thing—so long as it doesn't spread to all the people.
- “And they admire the Government of the United States so much that they would like to buy it.”
— Harry S. Truman, October 13, 1948, St. Paul, Minnesota, Radio Broadcast
And HOW MUCH has changed…..or NOT…..since 77 years ago?
How cool in January can you be!?
Alright friends and neighbors! Thank you for coming in off the slopes and flopping down in stretch pants, after-ski boots, snappy knit sweaters in the Good Slopes/Good Snow Salons of the Jean-Claude Killy Lounge. Now comes the best part of the Round Up: YOU! Now its your turn to read, rec, post comments, add stories, click on links, add thoughts, drop in your drollery, and laugh out loud around the fondue pot. Thank you for coming by!
May all your News be Good, comforting and inspiring.
Shalom.