Good Wednesday Morning and welcome, oh Ye Seekers of Light over Darkness. At least astronomically, this is YOUR WEEK! Indeed, in the wee hours of TOMORROW morning (like 4:01am), in a fleeting instant the count of seconds, minutes & hours of daylight vs. darkness in the Northern Hemisphere pass each other. The daylight has been gaining seconds and then minutes every day since Dec. 21 (solstice) and has now reached EVEN-ness. So, for all you S.A.D.-afflicted on this side of the equator (like me), you MADE IT! And the glow will keep growing until the June 21-ish Solstice. Whew!
It is all a welcome reminder from Nature and from Scripture that “Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness does not overcome it.” In these days of political darkness, shadowy shady dealings, black oil machinations…. well, we need all the Light and Uplift and flash-bangs and flashbulbs (remember those?) and torches and flares of democracy, freedom, hope and courage to shine we can encounter.
This corner of the Internet called DailyKos holds this little corner of the Website of Orange called the Good News RoundUp. All the seekers of Light hurl the entire electromagnetic spectrum against the varieties of darkness currently running amok. This is a spot for a breather and a recharge, and a place to give yourself permission to NOT read about stuff that peels the veneer off your soul. (Far too much of that flying around these days.)
So please---come in. Drinks hot and drinks cold are welcome (although, if in the same cup, the results tend to be…..dull.) Also, draw near with those victuals and/or comestibles and/or rations and/or breakfasts griddled, fried, baked, toasted, micro-zapped or even poured in a bowl from that box in the cupboard, and have a munch….and a sip. The WiFi is bringing you sustenance for the inwards, and here there are stories, comments, replies, questions, tangents, digressions to launch with and to add on to. And, to make it even better---put in your recs, comments, ideas and chuckles.
I’m your host, WineRev, and on the 3rd Wednesday of the month the Good News Guardians of the Galaxy (my handlers) let me play laser tag in the darkened Control Room (“light shining in the darkness”----with blasters!) and fly the ship here. You’ll find some current stories to cheer you on, and there are also Historical and Hysterical moments from March 19ths long gone by. And to top it off, then YOU get to chip in, join in, nod along between munches, take a thoughtful sip at a fresh thought or insight, and you…..type in something for US! YAY!
Good News in Science and Engineering
>>>>Ah, the white lab coat brigade is still with us, despite the grunts and howler monkeys of ignorance who sadly share 46 chromosomes with us in the same species. The scientists and engineers continue to discover, explore, ponder and tinker up all sorts of knowledge, both theoretical and applied.
Sometimes they start with the OBVIOUS: Light shines in the darkness. The sun rises in the East (at least on Earth; scientists of planet Uranus have a VERY different “Obvious” answer.) Water is wet.
Um, yeah…...about that last one: Water is Wet. I mean, we have all learned to live with the Clothing Exception to this observation: Water will clean clothes, but so will the dry cleaners---and they wouldn’t mislead the public on a Big One like that. But otherwise...water is wet.
Except now comes THIS HEAD TURNING STORY that says water can exist as two atomically DIFFERENT and distinct liquids…..AT THE SAME TIME. And they are both wet…….whew! But thats what they say…..
>>>>» An awful lot of medicine and healing can be summarized in a couple propositions. Living biological entities have capacity for self-repair (a cut on a corpse, no matter how carefully treated, will not heal.) Medical arts and sciences either REMOVE what may be blocking this self-repair from happening (like aligning the ends of a broken bone) or they ENHANCE this self-repair capacity (antibiotics often give the immune system a boost.) Beyond this, the body has specialized cells that go after intruders (white cells, T-cells, etc.)
But now we may have found that this ‘fighting off the intruder’ capacity may be in EACH INDIVIDUAL CELL of the body, AS THIS AMAZING ARTICLE RECOUNTS. When researchers use language like a “gold mine of new antibiotic possibilities” its pretty Big.
>>>>>» We are all cheering on the coming wave of Renewable Energy, with solar perhaps the most futuristic. But, like a lot of things, these Things Solar can wear out….or break….or otherwise need to be disposed of. It’s another landfill problem, from something that is solving another problem. But what if you could recycle all those parts and pieces…..using just WATER? Huh? BUT THIS "HOLY SMOKES" PIECE TELLS, just that: a form of solar panels where every single component can be dissolved. (I’m curious how they deal with…..RAIN…...but it sounds promising!)
____________
Of course our era is not the first to see the scientists and engineers make a difference in our lives. On March 19ths of decades past, some of them got a moment of fame.
1883 Lynn, Massachusetts Jan Matzeliger was born in Dutch Guyana and at age 10 he was put to work at a government machine shop open to black folks. At age 18 Jan emigrated to Philadelphia and worked for a time at a shoe factory. He settled permanently in Lynn, a center of
Matzeliger and his “lasting machine.” (A “last” is the shaped model of
a foot which you build a shoe around.)
New England industrial power. Shoe making had become industrialized in part (Union army shoes were soled with multiple layers of leather by a steam-driven Goodyear welting machine) and other machines could cut and, later, even sew part of the uppers.
On this day Matzeliger received a patent for a shoe-making machine. The entire operation (with adjustable parts depending on shoe size) could cut the leather uppers, sew them to the soles and install the heels….in one minute! The machines were installed everywhere and the retail price of shoes went down 50% in 10 years while wages in the shoe factories doubled. Sadly, Matzeliger died of an infection at age 37, so he missed out on the fame and most of the fortune that came from his invention.
OF COURSE streetcars and palm trees go together!
1895 Los Angeles In view of the booming population (reaching 75,000 this year), and taking a leaf from the City of Paris and yesterday’s entry for Blaise Pascal in 1662, THIS DAY the Los Angeles Railway Company is established to provide streetcar service, solving all of LA’s traffic problems…..:-). In just a few years there was a nice network through downtown and out to the suburbs, including one on the northwest side of Sunset Blvd. Starting in 1907, “film imaging” companies started arriving in the little town up there called “Hollywood.”
1979 Across American TV screens The US House of Representatives begins live TV broadcasts via C-SPAN. The Senate would, of course, take longer……
Good News in Arts, Music, Literature…and FUN
>>>>>>>» Say, those scientists and engineers often get pigeon-holed as being rather over-brainy while leaving behind traces of being human (e.g Sheldon Cooper). But while the Good News Round Up has just clicked over into the Arts section from the Sciences, here’s story that may restore your faith that scientists and engineers can indeed have heart…..and even taste!
NASA has lots of satellites up there, many with cameras and instruments pointing down at Earth, both land and sea. All sorts of data and info are gathered and crunched. But now, there are a set of photos of the Atlantic Ocean, enhanced to show various currents and eddies. And NASA has released these to the public, noting that many at that agency who saw these first thought the Atlantic looked like IT HAS BEEN PAINTED BY VAN GOGH! You have to admit NASA VERY SELDOM cites Van Gogh in their press releases, so this counts as...WOW!
>>>>>>>» Several years ago there was a tragic fire in Paris at the Notre Dame Cathedral. A magnificent building, built by hand over centuries with major damage. It is now being restored and repaired, and all sorts of forgotten arts, kept alive by slightly odd persons for centuries in villages and families, have been revived in order to make the restoration as authentic as possible.
Well there are others still learning the ancient arts and putting them to modern use. Fire damage certainly can cause disfigurement and loss. But so can bombing. World War II saw a LOT of bombing, over and upon all sorts of ancient buildings. Some were beyond saving in the years after 1945, and many others still bear the scars from 80 years ago.
Englishman Charlie Gee, age all of 22 (!), is one of those repairing some of these scars. Gee is a stone mason, a craft of his father. Charlie actually attended a school for such masons and now works on 80-year-old damage repairs on buildings 800 years old. I have nothing but admiration for such a young person following SUCH A LIFE-AFFIRMING CALLING.
_______________
But to be human, let there be art…...music…..stories told and stories written. And let there be moments of snickering and of belly laughs. You can see how these have been going on for some time, and on March 19ths.
1785 Paris Birth of Pierre-Joseph-Guillaume Zimmermann, pianist, composer. Son of a piano builder he came to music early, and with talent, being admitted to the Paris Conservatory at age 13. Studied for some time under Cherubini. In his mid-20s he became and instructor at the Conservatory and age 30 a full faculty member, teaching piano. Among his students were Cesar Franck, Georges Bizet and Charles Gounod (who married one of Zimmerman’s daughters.) His compositions include 2 operas, 2 piano concertos, a pianosonata and a great number of smaller works. Noted and recalled for his Encyclopédie du pianiste, a complete manual of piano instruction still in use in parts of Europe.
Playing off of Mozart’s “Requiem”, a sampling of Zimmermann’s talent for arranging and embellishment…
1859 Paris. Speaking of Gounod, after he graduated from the Conservatory and his instructor Zimmermann, tonight marks the Premiere of his opera “Faust” by Charles Gounod; a devilish temptation for all.
1892 St. Petersburg, Russia. First performance(although not quite a premiere) of Tchaikovsky's "TheNutcracker Suite.” This performance was a selection of eight numbers from the ballet. The delighted audience reception may have encouraged Tchaikovsky to finish the work…..and we are grateful he DID…..
1954 Willie Mosconi. “Mr. PocketBilliards,” sets the world record for running most consecutive Poolballs without a miss, 526 consecutive balls. Chalk up and win a bar bet with that number……
This year’s “March Madness” made all the white bigots mad…..
IN HONOR OF COLLEGE BASKETBALL’S ANNUAL MARCH MADNESS FRENZY, THERE CAME THIS:
1966 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament Final This was a rising sport and a growing tournament, getting airtime and even television broadcasts. In the final today Texas Western College (nicknamed the Miners; their first ever trip to the final game) under coach DonHaskins beats Kentucky (already a power) 72-65. It was theMiners’ first title in about any sport. More significant, TWC was the first ever NCAA Tournament winner that was an all-black team. (They made a movie in 2006 called Glory Road about their road to victory.)
1994 Yokohama, Japan (We bring you the Goofy!….and likely, within your lifetime….) If you’re going to make an omelet, ya gotta break some eggs, right? On this day 160,000 eggs went into the largest omelet in history (up to that time.) Covered 1383 square feet. How the dickens did they fold it over like any real omelet?
6466 kg (14,225 lbs) Diameter 10.3 meters…..plain….
Unknown Among First Ladies
Just a year ago on my 3rd Wednesday of the month turn at hosting the Good News Round Up I ran a couple profiles of 2 of America’s First Ladies. Many readers liked these so I have continued posting these, 1 or 2 each month. Thanks to the fine folks at the National First Ladies’ Center in Canton, OH, I could research today’s First Lady:
Margaret (Mackall Smith) Taylor was born in September of 1788, the daughter of a northern Virginia tobacco planter (who had been an officer in the Revolutionary War.) She was the baby in the family, with 6 sisters and brothers ahead of her. No evidence has survived about her education, but since her family was in the planter class, she would have had classes in sewing, music, dancing, household management, alongside basic literacy and arithmetic. (Her later skill in managing household accounts and even her husband’s finances suggest she had a nimble mind and likely more education (esp. math) than just the basics.) In these girls’ classes “Peggy” (her usual name) was a girlhood friend of a neighbor, Nellie Custis, who was being raised by her stepfather and grandmother in Virginia, George and Martha Washington.
Peggy’s mother died when she was 10, and she went to live a few years with her grandparents. When she was 16 her father died, and she moved to Louisville, Kentucky to live with her next-older sister (who had married well and had room.) 5 years later (age 21) she met and married career Army man, Lt. Zachary Taylor.
Peggy was determined to stay close to her husband’s postings on the frontier, and she and the children (eventually 6) went with her (following daddy from one fort posting to another.) There were separations and desperate prayers as the Lieutenant was in action for 3 years in the War of 1812.
After peace came, and Taylor was promoted (now a colonel), the family was able to live in a string of frontier forts in the commander’s quarters in the South (Louisiana, Mississippi, Arkansas Territory.) Peggy raised chickens and used the usual cellar as a cool place to keep her milk and make all manner of dairy items (for both the family and the fort garrison.) Several letters from various travelers note the Taylors also stocked a notable wine cellar (quite rare for the time) and were hence quite popular as a stop for visitors.
Sadly, in one of these postings, Peggy and two daughters (both under 5) fell seriously ill and both girls died. Peggy was not only emotionally devastated, but she was in weakened, even frail, health for the rest of her life. Despite this the Taylors had two more children, but when they (and their older siblings) were school age, all of them were sent to live with Kentucky relatives for the sake of better health and much better chances for education.
In the mid 1830s a new lieutenant was transferred in to one of these forts commanded by Col. Taylor, and he and the Taylor’s oldest daughter Sarah (22 and done with schooling, so back with her parents), fell in love. They were married in June of 1835. 2 months later both of them were stricken with malaria. Sarah died a month later. Her husband finally recovered after a long healing period, Lt. Jefferson Davis.
The early 1840s brought a 5-year-stint (for Peggy) in Baton Rouge. Taylor was called into action for two years in the war with Mexico, which almost crushed Peggy. She clung to her faith, starting a chapel for military wives (all yearning for news from the War….and sometimes grieving the news), and the chapel eventually become St. James Episcopal Church (STILL extant). Still, Peggy’s worries were heavy for her weakened body, and by the time the War ended (and General Zachariah was a hero) Peggy could hardly walk.
In 1848 the Whig Party nominated war hero Taylor for President, but Peggy wanted him to decline. “If you become President it will shorten both our lives.” When Taylor won she very reluctantly moved to Washington DC, so reluctantly she did not attend the Inauguration. She did attend DAILY worship services at St. John Episcopal Church but otherwise lived almost exclusively in the family private quarters on the White House 2nd floor. Another of their daughters, Mary Elizabeth (Bliss) was the White House event hostess for virtually all public events.
Peggy occasionally received visitors upstairs (Senator Daniel Webster every few months) and such visitors found her eager for conversation and matters of the day, but she tired quickly. Ironically one of her most frequent visitors (and perhaps closest confidante) was Varina……as in “Varina Davis” the 2nd wife of the Senator from Mississippi, Jefferson Davis.
Her general seclusion became a matter of ridicule, with Taylor’s political enemies (the Democrats) starting or repeating rumors that Peggy was either A) “too frontier” for polite society, using a corncob pipe and ignorant of the use of petticoats, or B) was kept away upstairs because she was “mentally unsound” (a very heavy charge in 19th century America and far worse than one of, say, thievery or adultery.)
Her prophecy of shortened lives for the Taylors came true. The President died 18 months into his term from a severe stomach ailment (possibly cholera; DC had an epidemic of it the summer of 1850.) Peggy moved back to the South, to Mississippi, to live with their son, Richard. She taught Sunday school for several months but died of “a fever” in 1852 (age 64.)
————
First Lady Taylor,
in delicate health,
taken at about age 55-60
Margaret “Peggy” Taylor never sat for a portrait or even an artist’s sketch, and so for decades the common understanding was there was no image of this First Lady. However, in 1998 (!) a carte de viste (an early “wallet-sized” dagguerreotype) among a collection of such images of public persons connected to the Mexican War was discovered. The provenance, although shaky at points, still seems solid enough that thanks to the late 1840s arrival of photography we do have THIS image that is likely First Lady Taylor.
Good News in Society and Politics
Yes, yes, the header for this section is odd and hard to believe in the Bad News/Stupid Crap Era we have been enduring for 2 months. Nonetheless, there are bits and pieces and stories and even articles worth a look and a consideration.
>>>>» Yes the Orange Tariff Toff keeps blathering the “T” word at the least provocation, and then proclaiming them, imposing them, exempting part of one, suspending another one, etc. Well, more than one can play at that game. (As noted the other day, apparently the computer servers that host the large & popular pornography website “PornHub” are located in Canada. The Canadians are making noises they might “prohibit the export of literature and images to a nation acting in a hostile manner on trade issues.” Not the official wording, but I thought I’d give them a template...)
Another response gaining traction are calls (and actions to implement) for boycotts of American goods & services. The list and the countries involved are much more than fertilizer potash, Canada and Mexico. THIS FINE WRITE-UP from “The Guardian” (and if you can, you should give them some coin; a valuable voice on our side) runs down Tesla sales, Kentucky Bourbon, touring musicians and more, all boycotting American Stuff from Norway to Macedonia, Finland to Portugal, and points wide and many.
>>>>>» The Trumpers have practiced insults, put-downs and crass behavior and speech for many years in many ways. But they are not the only ones who can return fire with spirit and vigor (e.g. AOC and Jasmine Crockett for 2.) And sometimes there’s a zinger with such a high arc the whole world has a chuckle and admires the Snap! In the European Parliament on Sunday, Raphael Glucksmann, (despite the decidedly Teutonic surname, is a French Member, representing the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats) fired off a speech with a tongue-in-cheek (maybe?) zinger that since the US has abandoned all sorts of the values it was founded on, France should ask for the Statue of Liberty be returned. The spluttering in MAGA land, the surprise in many quarters, and the widespread chuckling are all in delightful circulation, as neatly summarized IN THIS CRSIP STORY.
>>>>>>>» As an ordained (Lutheran) pastor, for me personally AND professionally, one of the more disturbing features of the present landscape is the tremendous abandonment of Christianity in any recognizable form by the “Xtian Nationalist” wing of the current GQP. These are the people always asserting America was/is a “Christian nation, under God” and should be governed on “Biblical principles.” There are so many things wrong with this collection of media preachers and their gold-plated “theology” of “theocracy” (“rule by God”----as interpreted BY US white, male, often Southern, telegenic “clergy” of mega-churches (with mega pastoral salaries, mega “parish housing” for the “pastor”, all “overseen” by a council/board of like white males who are all personal friends of, or under threat of blackmail, by the “clergy” whom they “oversee.”) THIS INCISIVE ARTICLE says where I stand better than I can say it myself, and you may find assurance there as well.
_______________
And then…..well, for hundreds of years societies have had their moments and so has politics, and March 19ths have hosted some of those moments:
1619 Jamestown, Virginia Colony As many have been reminded by the1619 Project, this was the year at Jamestown (founded 1607) when some Dutch traders arrived and part of their sale were some captured African slaves. On a happier note this date notes the birth of William Tucker, the first African-American child born in the English colonies. There are unconfirmed reports he lived to an extreme old age (108, so until 1727!)
1748 London. In a heartening moment of Anti Anti-Semitism, the British Parliament passes the Naturalization Act, granting Jews the right to colonize North American colonies.
1831 New York City In the 1930s bank robber Willie Sutton was once asked why he robbed banks. He famously replied, “Because that’s where the money is.” There was history behind this: on this day the first successful US bank robbery was reported at the City Bank of New York (NOT the Citibank “what’s in your wallet?” people, but an earlier outfit.) It was a stunning haul: $245,000 stolen (today’s equivalent: over $6 million.)
With that stare I’m glad Earp was on THIS SIDE of the law…..
1848 Monmouth, Illinois Birth of Wyatt Berry Stapp Earp, frontiersman and US marshal. Son of an Illinois sheriff, carried on the family tradition in the Old West, most famously as part of the gunfight at the OK Corral (about as Old West as things get). (October, 1881, Tombstone, AZ) Henry Fonda got to play him in “My Darling Clementine”, which included the Corral.
1895 Lyon, France. The Lumière brothers, Auguste and Louis, record their first moving picture footage under the winning Title: “Sortie des Usines Lumière à Lyon” showed workers leaving their factory in Lyon at the end of their shift, the first movie. The film is about 50 seconds long. (It is true that Thomas Edison shot a 6-second film of a friend taking a pinch of snuff and sneezing in 1894, but the Lumieres’ considered that merely a “short film.”)
One from the WineRev Collection……..
(Called upon, in my own mind, to INVENT the movie review…..WineRev slips on his ascot, takes a sip from his morning mimosa, and, dear GNUsie Readers, at a social distance of 130 years, welded to a complete lack of French, offers this “recently discovered” review of the Lumieres’ “Sortie” in the Lyon Daily Tattler; the translation is perhaps lacking at certain points……. Stark, bold camera work from a single POV; a cast of dozens, yet plot line shines through. Setting shows the gritty reality of working class who nonetheless find pleasure in the little things in life, like the end of a workday. Character development falls short here and there and the high concept idea of going without words or even dialogue cards, leaving the audience to imagine these, has some drawbacks, but was still a daring effort. This reviewer predicts Cannes will be the “L” brothers’ playground this year…….. since they’re the only ones bringing a film to invent the festival…..) Back to our regular historical reporting……..
Damned right on!
1911 1st International Women's Day (the date moved around the first few years before settling on March 8) sees over 1 million men and women attend rallies in Austria, Denmark, Germany and Switzerland. Issues discussed included women's right to vote and to hold public office, the right to work, to vocational training and an end to discrimination on the job.
1942 Across America It’s been 2 years, five months since World War II broke out in Europe and President Roosevelt has been working tirelessly to ready America for the fight and sending war goods to Britain. 4 months ago was Pearl Harbor and the war came home. Draft boards opened in every state and most towns; eventually 15 million draft-age men would go into the armed forces. Other millions of draft-age women went into the service or (in great numbers) to the assembly lines and workbenches of the factories to keep production flowing. But I did not know how far this effort extended until I came across this nugget: on this day FDR ordered American men between 45 and 64 to register for non-military duty. Whatever it would take!
_____________
See….a glass for everyone arriving…….
So now, fellow Good Newsers, come away from the Yokohoma Omelet Feast (seconds and thirds are REQUIRED) here at the Gnuville Breakfast Brunch and into the “Sunlight Disinfects Lies” Lounge. A look around will show you recliners, sofas, rockers and wingbacks, so take careful aim and flop yourself on a likely upholstered landing spot. And now, with food at hand, lap in front, screen at the ready…..for the Best Part of the Round Up; YOU! Yes, really. Your reading, and thoughts, and recs, and comments, and questions, and replies, yea verily even your extensions and digressions and tri-gressions (beware transgressions) and Other Good News are what make this spot worth coming to. Please! YOUR thoughts, words, ideas are worth hearing…..and you can swap them for some others coming “right back atcha” via WiFi getting your pixels excited.
Would love to hear from you, or just have a skim, or throw in something…...thanks for coming by..
May all your News Be Good, comforting and inspiring.
Shalom.
