Month: December 2021

“That Rag-Tag Army”

The truth is that the news is so damn redundant that I have become bored with it….and after all the readership of this blog slips during the holiday season…..so I revert back to my secondary interest…history.

I have been doing a lot of reading about the beginnings of the United States, from 1750-1812, and watching documentaries on the Revolutionary War and in that time I have seen and read many things that are not that accurate.

Most of the history is whitewashed or sanitized, if you will…..

If instance take the participation of France in the American Revolution…..

It’s the goddamn American Revolution. Sure, the French stepped in late in the game, but by the time they bothered to put down their baguettes and wine, the colonists had already proven they were a solid bet. Even after the Americans won at Saratoga, French assistance was, well, French: underwhelming and plagued by indecision.

The Reality

In the centuries since the Revolutionary War, French contributions have been criminally downplayed. Somewhere between the real Yorktown and Mel Gibson’s rather less accurate version, The Patriot, the monumental French war effort during the birth of America got forgotten, buried in the sand, and pissed on.

The truth is, the 13 colonies would never have earned their freedom without French intervention — the whole battle for American independence was essentially a proxy war between Britain and France. To the French, America was nothing but another theater in their grand blood feud against Britain. They were all about making the Englishmen eat every last available dick, and since they noticed they could use the colonists’ struggle for independence as a handy feeding pen, that’s exactly what they did.

France began providing arms and ammunition as early as 1776 (the war started in 1775). In early 1777, months before Saratoga, the French sent American colonists 25,000 uniforms and pairs of boots, hundreds of cannons, and thousands of muskets — all stuff that the colonists would’ve had a hard time surviving without, and all stuff they had no access to on their own. And that was just the tip of the iceberg: From supplies to advice to military reinforcements, France exercised all the fiscal restraint of a drunk businessman at a strip club when it came to funding the American war.

France provided a whopping 90 percent of the rebels’ gunpowder. Let that sink in for a second. Without France, the entire American Revolution would have devolved into a bunch of dudes swinging their muskets as clubs within weeks.

Still, the most important French contribution to the revolution (or, if you’re British, their ultimate dick move) was the least visible to Americans. As mentioned, the reason France pampered the Patriots was always selfish. They were out to weaken the British forces — particularly their naval strength — in order to take the fight to them, perhaps even conquer them. That’s why, for much of the Revolutionary War, the British ships tasked with kicking America’s ass had to survive 12 rounds with the French navy before they could even think of crossing the Atlantic. France gleefully fought the British, eventually teaming up with Spain, declaring a war, attacking from all sides, and even setting up an invasion force. In those battles, America’s independence was a fart in the desert.

So, when the Colonial army was fighting for dear freedom, history books tend to conveniently forget that they did so with French money, equipment, and backup forces, while France and its other allies were busy pummeling the empire from every other side.

(cracked.com)

Like I stated whitewashed.

Like so many other things and people the US history tends to sanitize the facts so that the noble Colonialist appear more god-like.

There is such much more and so many myths that need to see the light of day.

Be Smart!

Learn Stuff!

Joy to all and to all a good night.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Guns….Guns….Guns

The title ought to get the thoughts flowing.

Just a short note–Let me say there…..I own guns I have no problem with others doing the same….my problem is assault weapons for the unwashed masses…..it is a lie that these are for ‘protection’….these weapons have one purpose.

These two articles are written by others and I just want to share…..

This is a thought on the gun control debate……

Expect the gun control debate in America to really get hot over the next 12 months as Beto O’Rourke runs for governor of Texas. O’Rourke said, when running for president in 2019, “Hell yes, we’re going to take your AR-15, your AK-47!”

And it’s entirely time for this debate. America has just a bit more than 4 percent of the world’s population, but, with more guns than people in our country, we have more than 40 percent of all the guns in civilian hands in the world.

Specifically, as a Swiss-based research group found, there are “approximately 857 million civilian-held firearms in the world’s 230 countries and territories” and, as ABC News points out, in America there are “over 393 million firearms in civilian possession” as of 2017. About ten million more have been sold in the US since then: we are the only nation in the world with more guns than people.

https://www.commondreams.org/views/2021/11/23/go-ahead-take-their-guns-us-would-be-less-dangerous-place

Of course the 2nd will be the first thing the debate will bring forward…..

I have made my thoughts known on this amendment to the Constitution…..https://lobotero.com/2013/02/20/a-well-regulated-militia/

I read this piece on the 2nd……

As America grapples with a relentless tide of gun violence, pro-gun activists have come to rely on the Second Amendment as their trusty shield when faced with mass-shooting-induced criticism. In their interpretation, the amendment guarantees an individual right to bear arms—a reading that was upheld by the Supreme Court in its 2008 ruling in District of Columbia. v. Heller. Yet most judges and scholars who debated the clause’s awkwardly worded and oddly punctuated 27 words in the decades before Heller almost always arrived at the opposite conclusion, finding that the amendment protects gun ownership for purposes of military duty and collective security. It was drafted, after all, in the first years of post-colonial America, an era of scrappy citizen militias where the idea of a standing army—like that of the just-expelled British—evoked deep mistrust.

The Second Amendment Doesn’t Say What You Think It Does

I also visit a couple of debate sites…this is one of the debates on one of the sites….

https://gun-control.procon.org/

Please do not shoot the messenger….I just want help the debate, real debate, move forward….

Watch This Blog!

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Banning Books

It seems when some sanctimonious religious d/bag gets on his /her high horse they want to ban this book or that….books like “To Kill A Mockingbird”, “Lolita”, “Tropic of Cancer”, and many more ….even beloved Dr. Seuss is not immune.

As a history nerd I got to thinking of what was the first book banned here in the America of old?

I have the answer I was searching for…..

There’s no more potent evidence of the power of the written word than the fact people have historically looked to ban them. Not even Dr. Seuss (Theodor Geisel) has been exempt: “The Lorax” (1971) was ostracized as political commentary. Most recently, author Brad Meltzer expressed disappointment that his 2014 children’s book “I Am Rosa Parks” — a primer on the civil rights advocate — had been prohibited in the Central York School District in York, Pennsylvania, along with other purportedly racially-conscious material. (The district has cited “parental concerns” as the reason for the ban but quickly walked it back after protests.)

Cultural norms, politics, personal beliefs, school policy, and other factors can all conspire to deem a book too incendiary to circulate in America. But just how far back does this policy of thinly-veiled thought control go?

As is often the case when you look back into history, there’s more than one possible answer. But one of the leading contenders has a fairly predictable culprit: the Puritans.

In 1637, a man named Thomas Morton published a book titled “New English Canaan.” It was a searing indictment of conservative Puritan life, which Morton had brushed up against after moving to Massachusetts in 1624. Compared to the entrenched and reserved culture of the area, Morton was a hedonist who liked to party. (As much as one could party in 1624, anyway. Dancing around a pole for May Day was considered risqué.) He also was friendly to Native Americans, which Puritans strongly disagreed with. He was eventually ostracized from the area and later sued over the forced relocation.

https://www.salon.com/2021/11/20/what-was-the-first-banned-book-in-history_partner/

Personally I think the whole banning books things is just as asinine as stupidity of the anti-vax movement….no one should be able to tell a person what they can read…for any reason.

Thoughts?

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Saturday’s Random Thoughts

It is the Saturday before Christmas

And all through the house

Blah….blah….blah….

Now for the news that you cannot use…..

First there is news that shows the ancient world was more closely link than was once thought…..

The world has never been more connected. The things we buy, use, eat, and are were often made miles away – let’s face it, statistically speaking, there’s a pretty good chance you’re wearing something right now that was made in China.

How long do you think it’s been this way? The answer may surprise you: according to a new study published in the journal Quaternary International, a piece of nearly 3,000-year-old armor found in Yanghai cemetery, Northwest China, may have originally been manufactured in the Neo-Assyrian Empire – a land that covered parts of modern-day Iraq, Iran, Syria, Turkey and Egypt.

https://www.iflscience.com/editors-blog/ancient-assyrian-armor-found-in-china-proves-technology-transfer-is-older-than-we-realize/

Soon the supply of wood will dissipate and what will the building industry do then?  There is an idea in Italy that could solve the drop in supply and do something to help the environment……

They may look like something ancient desert civilisations would have constructed centuries ago.

But actually these are the world’s first eco-sustainable houses – 3D printed in Italy using locally-sourced soil – and could one day be the homes of the future.

They are the brainchild of architect Mario Cucinella, who hopes the ‘state-of-the-art building technology’ can help combat homelessness and displaced communities after emergencies or natural disasters.

He has dubbed them TECLA houses in a nod to the combination of technology and clay.

‘We like to think that TECLA is the beginning of a new story,’ said Cucinella. 

‘It would be truly extraordinary to shape the future by transforming this ancient material with the technologies we have available today. 

‘The aesthetics of this house are the result of a technical and material effort; it was not an aesthetic approach only.’

He added: ‘The goal was to match the agenda of 2030 in Europe of zero emissions.’ 

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-10268041/Worlds-eco-sustainable-houses-3D-printed-Italy.html

It is the season to pull out the good china and special eating utensils…..but do you know about the history of these items?

I can help with that…..

Perhaps, like me, you’ll find yourself grateful for our ancestors who suffered with stone or wooden headrests, stiff-backed chairs and cold nights before feather-stuffed pillows and fluffy duvets were part of everyday life (and appreciative of those who imagined that things could be better). In The Elements of a Home: Curious Histories Behind Everyday Household Objects, from Pillows to Forks, I’ve uncovered the stories behind the objects that fill our homes and our lives. They all come with stories. What follows are a few of my favorites.

https://getpocket.com/explore/item/ten-surprising-facts-about-everyday-household-objects

BUGS! and recycling…..

Microbes in oceans and soils across the globe are evolving to eat plastic, according to a study.

The research scanned more than 200m genes found in DNA samples taken from the environment and found 30,000 different enzymes that could degrade 10 different types of plastic.

The study is the first large-scale global assessment of the plastic-degrading potential of bacteria and found that one in four of the organisms analysed carried a suitable enzyme. The researchers found that the number and type of enzymes they discovered matched the amount and type of plastic pollution in different locations.

The results “provide evidence of a measurable effect of plastic pollution on the global microbial ecology”, the scientists said.

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/dec/14/bugs-across-globe-are-evolving-to-eat-plastic-study-finds

Finally It is the Christmas season and we subject our canine friends to embarrassing displays……here is a thought…..

Image

Why would we do this to a family member that has done  nothing but give unconditional love and joy….why take their dignity away?

Have a great weekend before Christmas

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Closing Thought–17Dec21

I read a lot and sometimes I read something that just makes me step back and ask the question…..Really?

One such article was from the “Daily Caller” (not one of my regular reads) it was about some allegations about Playboy’s Hugh Hefner…..

Holly Madison said Monday the late Hugh Hefner allegedly took “sexually explicit” pictures of her and other women that she called “non-consensual.”

“When girls would go out with Hef, in the limo, in the nightclub and come back to his room after, he was constantly taking photos of these women on his disposable camera,” the former Playboy playmate and former girlfriend of Hefner shared during her appearance on the the “Power: Hugh Hefner” podcast.

“And they’d be invited out and oftentimes would be pressured, not necessarily directly by him, he would have some of his girlfriends do it too, pressure them to come upstairs,” Madison continued.

https://dailycaller.com/2021/12/14/holly-madison-hugh-hefner-pictures-playboy/

Seriously?

You try out for the men’s magazine that features women in sexually explicit photos and yet you want to try a get a payday out of your actions?

I question this accusation….the timing is a bit suspicious for me.

I understand the ‘consent’ thing….but I can also see the consent was applied when you voluntarily want to be naked in a magazine for all men to admire and desire.

Plus they are accusing a dead man….no chance for his response.

Maybe I am just from a by-gone era.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Insurrection Update #21

This subject is not covered as much as it should be….it should NEVER be ignored for any reason…..I will do my part….

The insurrectionists are losing faith in their orange god…..it is so bad that some are helping with the prosecutions…..

Two key organizers of the main Jan. 6 rally in Washington, D.C. are coming in from the cold.

Dustin Stockton and Jennifer Lynn Lawrence are set to testify next week before the House select committee investigating the attack on the U.S. Capitol. The pair will deliver testimony and turn over documents, including text messages, that indicate the extensive involvement members of Congress and the Trump administration had in planning the House challenge to certifying Biden’s election and rally near the White House where Donald Trump spoke — efforts that ultimately contributed to a massive and violent attack on the Capitol.

Among the documents the couple is providing are conversations they had with staffers and members of Congress as they planned the main rally that took place on the White House Ellipse that day. Stockton described these discussions as largely logistical and focused on planning the members’ participation in objections to the electoral certification on the House floor and various events that were staged to protest against the election. They include Instagram messages Lawrence exchanged with Rep. Madison Cawthorn (R-N.C.) as she tried to get him to speak at the Ellipse rally. Cawthorn, whose office did not immediately respond to a request for comment, ultimately appeared onstage at that event.

Two Jan. 6 Organizers Are Coming Forward and Naming Names: ‘We’re Turning It All Over’

Speaking of pro-Trump idiots…..and their willy nilly approaches…..

Following the 2020 presidential election, attorneys Sidney Powell and Lin Wood, former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn and former Overstock.com CEO Patrick Byrne had a common goal: promoting the false and debunked claim that the election had been stolen from then-President Donald Trump. But a year later, journalist Matt Shuham emphasizes in Talking Points Memo, this crowd has become an example of bitter infighting in MAGA World.

“A year ago, they were pro-Trump conspiracy theorists at the top of their game,” Shuham notes. “In early December 2020, Lin Wood and Sidney Powell addressed a packed crowd in Georgia together. Wood modeled a ‘General Flynn’ ballcap and promised to ‘fight like a Flynn,’ a tribute to Powell’s client Michael Flynn, who Wood likened to George Washington. The day prior, Flynn and Wood both endorsed martial law and a national re-vote.”

https://www.alternet.org/2021/12/lin-wood-powell/

To this I say…GREAT!

DC is suing the ‘leaders’ of the 06 January insurrection to recoup the expenses that were made trying to protect the Capitol.

More than two dozen members of the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers are being sued by District of Columbia Attorney General Karl Racine in an effort to recover the millions of dollars the city spent to defend the US Capitol during the January 6 attack.

The lawsuit filed Tuesday in federal court in Washington, DC, accuses 31 members of the extremist groups of “conspiring to terrorize the District” on January 6, calling their actions “a coordinated act of domestic terrorism.”
Racine is asking the court to find the Oath Keepers and Proud Boys liable for the millions of dollars officials spent dispatching officers from the Metropolitan Police Department to the Capitol, along with the enormous expense of treating the injured officers and paying for their medical leave in the months after the attack.
 
Another great bit of news….I say sue them for every dime that have…..
 
The saga continues….hopefully the cowards that participated, all of them, will get what is coming to them.
 
More observations to come……
 
Watch This Blog!
 
I Read, I Write, You Know
 
“lego ergo scribo”

Those Kennedy Papers

Closing Thought–16Dec21

For decades conspiracy theorists have been wanting and waiting for the Kennedy assassination papers so they can further the beliefs they want to be true.

The Biden admin has done what they have longed for….released the investigation papers../….well some but NOT all….

The White House on Wednesday released almost 1,500 additional documents tied to the 1963 assassination of President John F. Kennedy. Experts say there’s little point in searching for a smoking gun within them, reports CNN, with Fox News adding a large number of the documents involve assassin Lee Harvey Oswald. The National Archives and Records Administration said the release of the “previously withheld” records was done to adhere to an October memorandum issued by President Biden that required “releasable records” be disclosed by today’s date.

It’s a step forward in an elongated process that was supposed to wrap up in 2017: the John F. Kennedy Assassination Records Collection Act passed in 1992 specified all assassination records be made public by October of that year. Then-President Trump balked on releasing some, and Biden allowed for a delay as well. At least 10,000 more are either still withheld or remain partially redacted, as today’s deadline only applied to those that national security agencies have not suggested should continue to be withheld. A second deadline set by Biden of Dec. 15, 2022, was “to allow for the remaining documents to undergo a rigorous security review and then be released,” per CNN.

CNN adds that there’s a third deadline in all this, which is also today, and one that could “be more significant than the documents release.” Biden’s memo reads, “For any record containing information that an agency proposes for continued postponement beyond December 15, 2022, the agency shall provide, no later than December 15, 2021 … an unclassified letter, to be signed by the head of the agency, providing a written description of the types of information for which the agency is proposing continued postponement and reasons for which the agency is proposing continued postponement of such information.” The memo says NARA will review proposed redactions with agencies no later than September 1, 2022.

How disappointing for the conspiracy nerds.

And the wait continues…..

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Liberty University Has Made The News (Again)

It seems that Liberty U has become a hot bed for sexual deviants….first it was the sexual exploits of the founder’s son a school president, Falwell….then the school hires the sexual predator coach from Ole Miss…..from the professor who abduct a student to the rapes on campus…..and now more sexual exploits in the school…..

A professor at the conservative Christian Liberty University in Virginia has been accused of abduction and sexual battery of a student. William Atwell, an associate professor of American Sign Language, was arrested on Nov. 20 in connection with an accusation of sexual battery on Sept. 15 and abduction on Nov. 19. A spokesperson for the school said in a statement that Atwell has been suspended and the school is taking the matter seriously. Inappropriate sexual contact with a student is “something for which there is zero tolerance,” the spokesperson said, per NBC News.

The student reported the incidents to the school, which turned it over to the police. Liberty has been under fire in the past for how it handles accusations of sexual assault at the school. Twelve women are suing the school, CNN reports. The women, former students and staff plus one minor who was not a student, filed a complaint in federal court saying the school created a hostile environment and punished people who reported misconduct. Scott Lamb, senior vice president of communications and public engagement until Liberty fired him in October, has filed a lawsuit with similar charges, too, the News & Advance reports. Scott says he was fired in retaliation for coming forward, and the school has pushed back hard against the allegations.

Is this where right wing pervs go for an education?

A terrible record for a supposedly religious university….but then I never trusted a group that teaches junk science as fact.

A pack of hypocrites charged with of children’s future….

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Closing Thought–15Dec21

WE all have heard about the ‘stolen’ election through voter fraud….it is all the GOP really has to give to the people….a Big Lie……but you know the news I read about actual voter fraud then GOPers seem to be in the think of things.

Of course the newest accusations of voter fraud comes out of Florida (go figure)……

Texas Lt. Gov Dan Patrick might have to cough up another voter fraud bounty: Three residents of a retirement community in central Florida have been arrested for allegedly voting more than once in the 2020 election, Orlando Weekly reports. Jay Ketcik, Joan Halstead, and John Rider are each accused of casting an out-of-state absentee ballot as well as voting in Florida. All three suspects are residents of The Villages in Florida’s Sumter County, but authorities say there’s no sign that they knew each other. WKMG reports that all three are registered Republicans and there are pro-Donald Trump posts on Facebook pages believed to belong to Halstead and Ketcik.

According to court records, Ketcik, 63, and Halstead, 71, turned themselves in at the Sumter County Jail; Rider, 61, was arrested at the Royal Caribbean cruise terminal in Brevard County on Dec. 3. All three are charged with casting more than one ballot in an election, a felony with a maximum sentence of up to 5 years in prison. WKMG notes that arrests for alleged election fraud are very rare in the region: Records show there were no arrests for casting multiple ballots in Brevard, Lake, Marion, or Sumter counties between 2000 and 2020.

Typical…ig the GOP accuses someone of something, anything, then there is a good chance they are guilty of the same offense and are trying to deflect from their criminality.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

The Privatization Of Medicare

Since I can remember the GOP has hated the very idea of Medicare and almost every Congress they have worked tirelessly to try and give the health industry a win by privatizing the program.

Every year since the election of Reagan the foundation of Medicare has been chipped a way….then there is Biden……a president that is heavily invested in the chipping……

A Trump-era pilot program that could result in the complete privatization of traditional Medicare in a matter of years is moving ahead under the Biden administration, a development that—despite its potentially massive implications for patients across the U.S.—has received scant attention from the national press or Congress.

a group of physicians from around the nation will try to grab the notice of lawmakers, the Biden White House, and the public by traveling to Washington, D.C. and demanding that the Health and Human Services Department immediately stop the Medicare experiment, which is known as Direct Contracting (DC).

The doctors plan to present HHS with a petition signed by more than 1,500 physicians who believe the DC pilot threatens “the future of Medicare as we know it.”

Advocates have been publicly sounding the alarm about the DC program for months, warning that it could fully hand traditional Medicare over to Wall Street investors and other profit-seekers, resulting in higher costs for patients and lower-quality care.

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2021/11/30/congress-asleep-switch-biden-continues-trump-era-ploy-privatize-medicare

Once again the Democrats prove that they are NO better than the GOP….their concerns are for the donors NOT the people.

Medicare could be lost in the name of ‘compromise’ and word that does more damage than good.

At what point do the American people start paying attention to their future and stop living on social media for instant gratification?

The ONLY answer to getting proper health care for the people of this country is Medicare For All.

Not only is this country being hollowed out but your well-being is in jeopardy….and yet you prefer to see what moron has posted a cat video on Twitter or Instagram or whatever other mindless stupidity is out there.

Until the voter starts truly paying attention then we deserve all the silliness and mindless stupidity we get.

Turn The Page!

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”