Category: History

Remember Martin Luther King Jr.

Remember Martin Luther King Jr.We were remiss this year in giving Martin Luther King Day the recognition it deserves. While we didn’t forget Monday entirely, our remembrance was in code.

So here is a belated tribute.

Rev. King probably would have been proud to be called an Uncle Tom.

Here is the text of his wonderful “I Have A Dream” speech given, Aug. 28, 1963 at the Lincoln Memorial. Note the phrases praising God, The Declaration of Independence and the Constitution.

I am happy to join with you today in what will go down in history as the greatest demonstration for freedom in the history of our nation.

Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand today, signed the Emancipation Proclamation. This momentous decree came as a great beacon light of hope to millions of Negro slaves who had been seared in the flames of withering injustice. It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of their captivity.

But one hundred years later, the Negro still is not free. One hundred years later, the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination. One hundred years later, the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity. One hundred years later, the Negro is still languished in the corners of American society and finds himself an exile in his own land. And so we’ve come here today to dramatize a shameful condition.

In a sense we’ve come to our nation’s capital to cash a check. When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir. This note was a promise that all men, yes, black men as well as white men, would be guaranteed the “unalienable Rights” of “Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” It is obvious today that America has defaulted on this promissory note, insofar as her citizens of color are concerned. Instead of honoring this sacred obligation, America has given the Negro people a bad check, a check which has come back marked “insufficient funds.”

But we refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt. We refuse to believe that there are insufficient funds in the great vaults of opportunity of this nation. And so, we’ve come to cash this check, a check that will give us upon demand the riches of freedom and the security of justice.

We have also come to this hallowed spot to remind America of the fierce urgency of Now. This is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism. Now is the time to make real the promises of democracy. Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice. Now is the time to lift our nation from the quicksands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood. Now is the time to make justice a reality for all of God’s children.

It would be fatal for the nation to overlook the urgency of the moment. This sweltering summer of the Negro’s legitimate discontent will not pass until there is an invigorating autumn of freedom and equality. Nineteen sixty-three is not an end, but a beginning. And those who hope that the Negro needed to blow off steam and will now be content will have a rude awakening if the nation returns to business as usual. And there will be neither rest nor tranquility in America until the Negro is granted his citizenship rights. The whirlwinds of revolt will continue to shake the foundations of our nation until the bright day of justice emerges.

But there is something that I must say to my people, who stand on the warm threshold which leads into the palace of justice: In the process of gaining our rightful place, we must not be guilty of wrongful deeds. Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred. We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline. We must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence. Again and again, we must rise to the majestic heights of meeting physical force with soul force.

The marvelous new militancy which has engulfed the Negro community must not lead us to a distrust of all white people, for many of our white brothers, as evidenced by their presence here today, have come to realize that their destiny is tied up with our destiny. And they have come to realize that their freedom is inextricably bound to our freedom.

We cannot walk alone.

And as we walk, we must make the pledge that we shall always march ahead.

We cannot turn back.

There are those who are asking the devotees of civil rights, “When will you be satisfied?” We can never be satisfied as long as the Negro is the victim of the unspeakable horrors of police brutality. We can never be satisfied as long as our bodies, heavy with the fatigue of travel, cannot gain lodging in the motels of the highways and the hotels of the cities. We cannot be satisfied as long as the negro’s basic mobility is from a smaller ghetto to a larger one. We can never be satisfied as long as our children are stripped of their self-hood and robbed of their dignity by signs stating: “For Whites Only.” We cannot be satisfied as long as a Negro in Mississippi cannot vote and a Negro in New York believes he has nothing for which to vote. No, no, we are not satisfied, and we will not be satisfied until “justice rolls down like waters, and righteousness like a mighty stream.”¹

I am not unmindful that some of you have come here out of great trials and tribulations. Some of you have come fresh from narrow jail cells. And some of you have come from areas where your quest — quest for freedom left you battered by the storms of persecution and staggered by the winds of police brutality. You have been the veterans of creative suffering. Continue to work with the faith that unearned suffering is redemptive. Go back to Mississippi, go back to Alabama, go back to South Carolina, go back to Georgia, go back to Louisiana, go back to the slums and ghettos of our northern cities, knowing that somehow this situation can and will be changed.

Let us not wallow in the valley of despair, I say to you today, my friends.

And so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.

I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.”

I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia, the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.

I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.

I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.

I have a dream today!

I have a dream that one day, down in Alabama, with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of “interposition” and “nullification” — one day right there in Alabama little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers.

I have a dream today!

I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, and every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight; “and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed and all flesh shall see it together.”2

This is our hope, and this is the faith that I go back to the South with.

With this faith, we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith, we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith, we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.

And this will be the day — this will be the day when all of God’s children will be able to sing with new meaning:

My country ’tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing.

Land where my fathers died, land of the Pilgrim’s pride,

From every mountainside, let freedom ring!

And if America is to be a great nation, this must become true.

And so let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire.

Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York.

Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania.

Let freedom ring from the snow-capped Rockies of Colorado.

Let freedom ring from the curvaceous slopes of California.

But not only that:

Let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia.

Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee.

Let freedom ring from every hill and molehill of Mississippi.

From every mountainside, let freedom ring.

And when this happens, when we allow freedom ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God’s children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual:

Free at last! Free at last!

Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!

Remember Martin Luther King Jr. 

Argentina History And USA Future

Argentina History And USA Future This video describing how Argentina fell from one of the world’s strongest economies — the video actually lists it as second behind Britain — to its present miserable state in a century is an ill portent for America.

The reasons can be summed up as greed, cronyism, corruption and progressivism.

One critique. This is the song they should have picked:

Hat tip Judy McGrane

Argentina History And USA Future

Swamp Ghost Untouched B-17

Maybe the best artifacts in museums aren’t from ancient long-forgotten civilizations but from the ones in living memory. Bob Small sent a link to a fascinating article in the Huffington Post concerning The Swamp Ghost, a B-17 bomber that crash-landing in the jungles of New Guinea after being damaged in a World War II bombing raid. It has been salvaged and is now on display at the Pacific Aviation Museum in Pearl Harbor.

Bob Small sent a link to a fascinating article in the Huffington Post concerning The Swamp Ghost, a B-17 bomber that crash-landing in the jungles of New Guinea after being damaged in a World War II bombing raid.

It has been salvaged and is now on display at the Pacific Aviation Museum in Pearl Harbor.

FYI, the crew of nine survived and made it back to safety after a six-week trek through the jungle. They were given a week’s rest and then a new plane.

Swamp Ghost Untouched B-17

God Bless America, The History

Irving Berlin God Bless America, The History
Irving Berlin

Frank Sinatra considered Kate Smith the best singer of her time, and said that when he and a million other guys first heard her sing “God Bless America” on the radio, they all pretended to have dust in their eyes as they wiped away a tear or two.

Here are the facts… The link at the bottom will take you to a video showing the very first public singing of “GOD BLESS AMERICA”. But before you watch it, you should also know the story behind the first public showing of the song.

The time was 1940. (Ed Note: Wikipedia has its first public singing occurring in 1938 on Kate Smith’s radio show.) America was still in a terrible economic depression. Hitler was taking over Europe and Americans were afraid we’d have to go to war. It was a time of hardship and worry for most Americans.

This was the era just before TV, when radio shows were HUGE, and American families sat around their radios in the evenings, listening to their favorite entertainers, and no entertainer of that era was bigger than Kate Smith.

Kate was also large; plus size, as we now say, and the popular phrase still used today is in deference to her, “It ain’t over till the fat lady sings”. Kate Smith might not have made it big in the age of TV, but with her voice coming over the radio, she was the biggest star of her time.

Kate was also patriotic. It hurt her to see Americans so depressed and afraid of what the next day would bring . She had hope for America , and faith in her fellow Americans. She wanted to do something to cheer them up, so she went to the famous American song-writer, Irving Berlin (who also wrote “White Christmas”) and asked him to write a song that would make Americans feel good again about their country. When she described what she was looking for, he said he had just the song for her.

He went to his files and found a song that he had written, but never published, 22 years before – way back in 1917. He gave it to her and she worked on it with her studio orchestra. She and Irving Berlin were not sure how the song would be received by the public, but both agreed they would not take any profits from God Bless America . Any profits would go to the Boy Scouts of America. Over the years, the Boy Scouts have received millions of dollars in royalties from this song.

This video starts out with Kate Smith coming into the radio studio with the orchestra and an audience. She introduces the new song for the very first time, and starts singing. After the first couple verses, with her voice in the background still singing, scenes are shown from the 1940 movie, “You’re In The Army Now.” At the 4:20 mark of the video you see a young actor in the movie, sitting in an office, reading a paper; it’s Ronald Reagan.

To this day, God Bless America stirs our patriotic feelings and pride in our country. Back in 1940, when Kate Smith went looking for a song to raise the spirits of her fellow Americans, I doubt whether she realized just how successful the results would be for her fellow Americans during those years of hardship and worry….. and for many generations of Americans to follow.

Now that you know the story of the song, I hope you’ll enjoy it and treasure it even more.

Many people don’t know there’s a lead in to the song since it usually starts with “God Bless America …..” So here’s the entire song as originally sung….. ENJOY!

Hat tip Bob Small

VJ Day 70th Anniversary

VJ Day 70th Anniversary
This actually happened on Sept. 2.

Today, Aug. 14, 2015 is being called the 70th Anniversary of the end of World War II as that was when Americans heard that Japan, inspired by the atomic bombings of two of its cities, announced it would surrender.

That the war ended without an invasion of the islands spared the lives of millions, mostly Japanese and other Asians, but many young Americans, British, Australians and New Zealanders as well.

It should be noted that the United States commemorates the war’s end — as does China — on Sept. 2 when Emperor Hirohito signed the surrender papers on the USS Missouri but this was the day Japan announced it would quit.

The Brits celebrate it Aug. 15 as that was the date upon which they heard the announcement due to time zone differences.

It should be further noted that the Soviets did not end their assaults on Japanese occupied Manchuria and Korea until Sept. 2.

VJ Day 70th Anniversary

 

William Lawrence Sr Omnibit 5-25-15

The South won the first, Fort Sumter, and last, Palmito Ranch, battles of the Civil War. Off the Internet
Searching the globe for tidbits of information and enlightenment

The South won the first, Fort Sumter, and last, Palmito Ranch, battles of the Civil War.

The Battle of Palmito Ranch near Brownsville, Texas, occurred May 12-13, 1865 more than a month after Robert E. Lee’s surrender at Appomattox Court House. Historians today are still confused as to why it was fought. Union Private John J. Williams of the 34th Indiana is believed to have been the last man killed in combat.

The final Confederate unit to surrender was the 1st Cherokee Mounted Rifles stationed in Doaksville Indian Territory and commanded by Brigadier General Stand Watie. They did it on June 23, 1865

 

Capitol Bean Soup As Per Chef Bill Sr.

Joseph Cannon Capitol Bean Soup
Congressman Joseph Gurney Cannon, the father of Capitol Bean Soup.

Chef Bill Sr has gotten a query regarding one his favorite dishes — the U.S. Capitol Bean Soup. The dish is served every day in all 11 Capitol dining rooms at the demand, according to legend, of Speaker of the House Joseph G. Cannon.

Cannon, a Republican, represented various parts of Illinois from 1873 until 1923 with a two-year hiatus coming when he lost the 1912 election.

He served as Speaker from 1903 until 1911 and was the man who graced the first cover of Time Magazine on March 3, 1923.

The story is that one day during his Speakership,  he sat for lunch, looked at the menu and shouted “Thunderation, I had my mouth set for bean soup! From now on, hot or cold, rain, snow or shine, I want it on the menu every day.”

And so it came to be.

Here is the recipe courtesy of Soupsong.com Capitol Bean Soup As Per Chef Bill Sr.

  • 1 pound dry white beans, soaked overnight (or quick soaked)
  • 1 meaty ham bone or 2 smoked ham hocks
  • 3 quarts water
  • 3 onions, finely chopped
  • 3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
  • 4 stalks celery, with leaves, finely chopped
  • 1/4 cup parsley, finely chopped
  • [Senate version: add 1 cup cooked mashed potatoes]
  • salt and pepper to taste

Strain the water from the soaked beans and put in a big pot with 3 quarts of water and the ham bone or ham hocks. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 2 hours.

Stir the veggies and herbs into the pot–and  the mashed potatoes for the Senate version–and cook over low heat for another hour–until the beans are nicely tender.

Remove the bones from the pot then  the meat into  bits and return that to the pot. Discard  the bones.

For authenticity crush a few of the beans in each bowl to thicken the broth.

Capitol Bean Soup As Per Chef Bill Sr.

Sounds 6000 Years Old

The languages of Europe, India and Central Asia are mostly descended from the Proto-Indo-European language spoken 6,000 years ago. Sounds 6000 Years Old

Scholars have been trying to figure out what it sounded like and think they have come close.

Here is the parable of the sheep and the horse as it might have sounded in 4,000 B.C. with the translation below it.

A sheep that had no wool saw horses, one of them pulling a heavy wagon, one carrying a big load, and one carrying a man quickly. The sheep said to the horses: “My heart pains me, seeing a man driving horses.” The horses said: “Listen, sheep, our hearts pain us when we see this: a man, the master, makes the wool of the sheep into a warm garment for himself. And the sheep has no wool.” Having heard this, the sheep fled into the plain.

Sounds 6000 Years Old

Carlisle Moody: Handguns Stop Murders

In the days of old when knights were bold murder was pretty common.  In 13th century Europe, the rate was 22.68 per 100,000 rising to 40.79 per 100,000 by the 15th century. Carlisle Moody: Handguns Stop Murders

It was as though every place in Europe was Chester, Pa. Well, maybe not that bad. Figure Detroit or New Orleans.

But then something happened. In the 16th century the rate tumbled back to 20.28 per 100,000.

Carlisle Moody of the College of William & Mary says that the year the trend changed was 1505 and what happened was the handgun, namely the wheel lock pistol which by that year had become common enough to make a social impact.

The pistol put the little guy (and gal) on a equal footing with the big, strong, armor-plated club/knife/ax wielding thug.

Moody says the likely inventor of this device was Leonardo Da Vinci  which would make Leonardo the father of the handgun. Thank you Leonardo.

For what it’s worth, the authoritarian types didn’t like them from the beginning. The first gun control law happened  in 1517 when Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I declared “Inasmuch as certain persons in our territories of Lower Austria are in the habit of carrying self-striking hand-guns that ignite themselves which we are on no account prepared to allow . . .our nobles, stewards, administrators, chief justices, mayors and judges should under no circumstances permit such guns to be carried.”

Still handguns didn’t disappear and the trend continued. In the 17th century  the murder rate dropped big to 7.84 per 100,000. Moody says the big year was 1621 when the flintlock — which became the standard firearm for the next two centuries  — entered general use.

Moody notes the cost of firearms was rarely prohibitive for the masses. In 1699, a pair of pistols cost 5 shillings or about $41 in today’s dollars.

The European murder rate continued to fall reaching 1.18 per 100,000 by the 20th century. In Britain, by 1920 it had fallen to .84 per 100,000. That was the year The Firearms Act was passed essentially ending the English right to bear arms. Since then the British murder rate has risen to 1.44 (as of 1999) and the assault rate has exploded from 2.39 per 100,000 to 419.29.

Some other tidbits: Moody says London had a homicide rate of .26 per 100,000 in the 1820s before the first world’s first police force was created in 1829. It now has a rate of 2.28 per 100,000.

Carlisle Moody notes that three out of every four murder victims before 1850 would have survived with today’s medicine. He says, however, even dividing by four would not affect the pattern regarding the previous century murder rates.

Moody’s paper can be found here. The math is there to back up his claims to other academics and doesn’t have to be followed to get his point.

Hat tip James Delingpole of Breitbart.com.

Carlisle Moody: Handguns Stop Murders
Carlisle Moody is a member of the Economics Department at the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Va.

Carlisle Moody’s paper is titled Firearms and the Decline of Violence in Europe: 1200-2010.

 

 

Springfield 1922 Advertisement

The below advertisement appeared in The Philadelphia Inquirer in 1922 for building sites in Springfield, Delaware County, Pa.

It called the town “The Leading Suburb and noted it was just 12 minutes and one fare from the Sixty-ninth Street Terminal.

It boasted that it has been developed with “substantial stone highways and cement sidewalks winding through the rolling hills for over a mile along the westerly side of the Media Short LIne.”

It described it as a “fast-growing development” and called attention to the three stone passenger stations on the trolley line.

The developer, A. Merritt Taylor of the Springfield Real Estate Co., sold building lots of between 1,500 and 2,000 square feet that contained “ample space for fruit trees and flowers”.

He noted that there were “a few especially desirable hill-top locations of exceptional size and commanding extended views”.

He also noted that he had “two well-designed old farm houses in poor repair which can be converted into unusually attractive homes at moderate cost”. The farm houses were surrounded by old shade and fruit trees.

The properties started at $1,500 and he had an agent daily opposite Springfield (presumably Springfield Road) station.

Hat tip FullHistory.com

Springfield 1922 Advertisment

Springfield 1922 Advertisement