Monday, October 31, 2022

The Agony of being a Catholic Voter in 2022



Catholics, according to the Church, are obligated to vote, and to do so in an informed manner.

And, I'll add to that, those who like to say that religion should stay out of politics are grossly misinformed, at least to the extent they mean that religion should be held personally and not influence a person's vote.  A truly held set of religious beliefs ought to inform everything a person does.

This year is simply agonizing for the well-informed, thoughtful, Catholic voter.

In my area, where I will vote, two women contest for the position of Congressman.

The Republican expresses pro-life views, and views which suggest that she holds traditional views on the definition of marriage, two positions which are taken very seriously, even definitively so, by serious Catholics.

She also holds a mix of conservative views on various other issues, some of which I agree with, and some of which I do not, but none of which are moral issues, or at least not closely so.

The Democrat holds pro abortion and "progressive"  views on the definition of marriage, and a host of other liberal views, some of which I agree with, and some of which I do not, but none of which are moral issues, or at least not closely so.

So, no dilemma, in weighing the voting scale, eh?

Well, the Republican has also expressed the view that the election was stolen, and her entire campaign was basically a stab in the back on the incumbent who stood by principals.  In order to advance her campaign, she went from doubts, to being certain of election theft, and is now expressing views regarding the current administration which might charitably be described as nutty, even going so far as to suggest that inflation is a Democratic plot designed to bring about a liberal "Utopia".  If I'm to take her asserted positions as actually held, it would mean she's believing in wild flights of dangerous fantasy, thereby making her a scary potential office holder.  If I am to assume that they're taken for the purpose of being elected, she's lying and an enemy of democracy.

And there are no viable third party choices, really.  One is from the far right, and the other from the Libertarian Party.

The far right candidate, running on the Constitutional Party ticket, is probably every bit as far right as the Republican, but with a very obvious Protestant Evangelical bent to her campaign.  She doesn't say the vile things that the Republican does, and to the extent that her positions sound nutty, they sound nutty in the way that a position expressed by a person with little experience in the world and little education might voice them.  Innocently, in other words.

Maybe I haven't listened enough to her, however.  Frankly, I've disregarded her all along as a candidate that will obviously make no impact in the current election. (I subsequently listed to the debate she was in, and it's relatively clear that she's in the "coup didn't happen camp", although as noted, she probably genuinely feels that way, as opposed to Hageman, whom may not).

The Libertarian is a Libertarian, and there's no point in even going there.

A person could protest vote for the Constitutional Party candidate, but that's all it would be, a protest.  But then, in order to make that protest, a person ought to know what she really believes.  Perhaps I should go back and listed to her in the recent debate, which the GOP candidate skipped out on.

The only realistic hope of defeating the candidate that's either lying or coming off the rails is to vote for the Democrat, which is voting for a position which is normally gravely morally objectionable.

And then we have the Secretary of State's office, where a co-religious is running unopposed based on a stolen election theory along and is otherwise not a candidate which I'd prefer to consider.  A protest is surely mandated there, but it'll have to be a write-in protest.

And so the state's politics have come to this.  It feels like being a German going to the polls in 1932.

Some observations on being sick/injured

Lex Anteinternet: On the sick list.: This has been my view for the past several days.  It's a view of the mountain, between the parking garage and an administrative building...

Some random observations.

Daytime television is truly horrific.

Having a "lazy Sunday" or "lazy weekend", i.e., one which you spend all around the house (which I almost never do) is no fun at all if it's enforced on you.  I.e., you are there, as you have no choice.  It's only fun, if you have the option not to do it. 

It's hard to be sick, and be a professional.  I.e., occupy a profession.  Your obligations do not cease.

I'm sure that's true of all self-employed as well.  If I have to go out and harvest a field, well, I have to.

Saturday, October 31, 1942. False assumptions.

Hitler moved his headquarters from Werwolf in Ukraine back to the Wolf's Lair in East Prussia (now part of Poland) confident that Stalingrad would soon fall.

By I, Dennis Nilsson, CC BY 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=2916843

Hitler seemed oddly possessed of the notion that his physical presence close to the front served the Nazi war effort, whereas the Allied leaders generally governed from their capital cities, with certain exceptions from time to time.

Hitler's HQ's also demonstrated an odd fascination with wolves, which are native to Germany but which had been extirpated by the 1940s. They returned to Germany only in recent years.

The Luftwaffe hit Canterbury in their largest raid on England since the Blitz.  However, as Sara Sundin notes on her blog, their efforts were hampered by barrage balloons. During the raid, famous German fighter pilot Paul Galland, brother of the more famous Adolf Galland, was shot down while flying a FW190 by Spitfires.

White Christmas by Bing Crosby took the number one position on Billboard's singles chart.

In spite of the Christmas themed song on the charts, it was Halloween.  In the U.S. kids were out trick or treating, but on coastal cities, for the first time, that was during the day, due to blackouts at night.

Tuesday, October 31, 1922. Mussolini takes office.

Mussolini officially took office as the Prime Minister of Italy on this day in 1922.

Parades commemorating the event by current fascists took place in Italy yesterday.  As earlier noted here, the current Prime Minister is a member of a political party with fascist roots, although she maintains that she is not a fascist herself.

The Trial of Six commenced in Greece, in which the trial of the defeated heads of the late war effort against Turkey would be held, leading to their execution.  It was effectively a political trial for the crime of losing the war.

It was, of course, Halloween.

Something interesting to note.

 


Troops of the 38th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Division going up the bluff at the E-1 draw in the Easy Red sector of Omaha Beach, Normandy, on June 7, 1944.

The first three soldiers, and the seventh and eighth, are carrying M1903 Springfield bolt action rifles.  The fourth's weapon isn't visible at all, and if he's carrying one, it's probably a sidearm.  The fifth one is carrying an M1 carbine, as is the sixth and seventh.

These men have the appearance of being infantrymen, but the lack of M1 Garands suggests they might be combat engineers. At any rate, this photo nicely illustrates how prevalent the M1903 still was during World War Two.

The second man was 18 years old Pvt Vincent Mullen, who would be killed in action a few days after this photograph was taken.

Why on earth would this be surprising in any fashion?

 Regarding a set of Neanderthal remains found in Siberia:

When Skov started comparing the genomes from Chagyrskaya, he got the surprise of his career. Two individuals, an adult male and a teenage female, shared half of their DNA, a situation that could occur only if they were siblings or a parent and child. To determine the relationship, the researchers examined mitochondrial DNA — which is maternally inherited and would therefore be identical between siblings and between a mother and child, but not between a father and child. This differed between the male and female, suggesting that they were father and daughter.

This is a huge whopping surprise?

Rerun: Levis

Bumped up as a rerun from a decade ago, as the topic was mentioned recently:
Lex Anteinternet: Levis: Rancher, wearing blue jeans, in the early 1940s. The roll up cuff was extremely common at that time. At the time I started this entr...

Sunday, October 30, 2022

Best Posts of the Week of October 23, 2022

 The best posts of October 23, 2022, which at least on a personal level, was not a very good week.

Out of Sync. The Hail Mary makes a surprising appearance in advertising.









On the sick list.

This has been my view for the past several days.  It's a view of the mountain, between the parking garage and an administrative building belonging to the hospital.

I took the photo from here.


I'm out now.

I was in as I had a robotic right colectomy.  In other words, I had a large (very large) polyp in my large intestine that had to be removed.  I learned this was there when I went in for a colonoscopy, which I wrote about (in its entirety) here:

On modern medicine

As I wrote here the other day, I went in for a colonoscopy.

I'm almost a decade past the point where you are supposed to get one.  Just too busy, I guess, to have made it in back then, or in between, when I should have.  Having said that, a couple of my contemporaries I know very well only made it in recently as well.

In my last post on this topic, I discussed the statistics of colon cancer.  What I learned in my colonoscopy was that I have a polyp that was too big to be removed, and now I'll have to have surgery to address it.

The doctor is nearly certain that its not cancerous, but it has to be removed.  He also basically indicated it would turn to cancer if it wasn't removed, at some point.  Not yet, basically, but some day.

Which puts me in that statistic in a way.

Lesson learned.

Another lesson learned, however, is that this also puts me in the class of people who'd die early on for sure but for modern medicine.  A sobering thought.  We all imagine ourselves living until 102 worry free, but that isn't the case for most of us.  Lots of us make it further now than we would have, thanks to modern medicine.

This was the following surgery.

This turned out to be a bigger deal. . . a much bigger deal, than I wanted to admit it was.  In my mind, I wanted to pretend that it would be in and out, or at least I'd be out by Friday.  Nope.  I did get out on Saturday, but I'm feeling rather beat up, and it's clear that it's going to take several days to get back to normal.

Army with two IV hookups.  I had two, as I was so dehydrated when I came in they had a very difficult time finding my veins.

I am on the mend now, however.

A few observations.

Colonoscopies have been around, but they didn't become common until 1985 when Ronald Reagan had one which saved his life.  The screening recommendations came into effect in 1995, after the death of my father, who had one when he fell extremely ill in the early 1990s.  While it was probably unconnected, there was some suspicion at the time that a severe infection in his intestine was moved around by the scope, leading to the infection to spread.

As noted, in retrospect, that's probably not what occurred.

Anyhow, whether from that unhappy event or just a family reticence to seeking medical attention for anything, I ignored the current advice which is to go in for a scope at age 50.  You really should, and my failure to do so caused me to end up with this, probably.

That's the first observation here.

A second one is this.  It's interesting to note, I guess, that if I hadn't had this, I probably would have died from this right about the same time my father died from something sort of related, if not perfectly.  So my life has probably been extended by modern medicine.

The boyfriend of the sister of a good friend of mine died from colon cancer, I'd note, and it was a very bad way to go.  He'd been a tobacco chewer, and that may have caused it.  In my case, I don't use tobacco, so that isn't it.  Maybe genetics is.

The night before the procedure, as a distraction, I finished watching Father Stu, the cinematic treatment of the life of Father Stuart Long, who was born the same year I was, but who died of a terrible disease in 2014 which robbed him of his physical abilities.  He had been a boxer at one time, and was quite athletic.  There was some thought of not ordaining him at all, because of his affliction, but the Bishop of Helena moved forward as he sensed himself receiving the message that there was power in suffering, and he should be moved forward.  At his ordination, Father Stuart stated: "I stand before you as a broken man. Barring a miracle, I'm going to die from this disease, but I carry it for the cross of Christ, and we can all carry our crosses."

I note that here as the movie concluded with comments from Father Stuart himself noting that he felt his afflictions were given to him as a gift to overcome things that were a barrier to his union with Christ.  I sort of feel that way about this too, albeit very minor in comparison they may be.

I'd also note, in thinking about it, that this relates back to the purpose of this page, which is ostensibly research for a book.  One of the characters in that book is in his late 40s when the tale takes place, which oddly enough is about the age I was when I started this blog.  Anyhow, that character, perhaps the central protagonist, would be recognizable in lots of ways to people who know me.  Which also means, if I follow that through, he's likely a character that would have died a pretty bad death of disease in his early 60s, a very common experience at the time.

Modern medicine.


Long suffering spouse.
 

Monday, October 30, 1922. Casting.


Mussolini was sworn in as Prime Minster of Italy following what was essentially a coup.

Sunday Morning Scene. Churches of the West: St. Patrick Misson Church, Denver Colorado.

Churches of the West: St. Patrick Misson Church, Denver Colorado.

St. Patrick Misson Church, Denver Colorado.


This Catholic Church in North Denver is St. Patrick Mission Church.  The Mission Architecture Church was built from 1907 to 1910, and served the Denver Highlands.  Its architectural style is unusual for Denver.

This Church is also called St. Patrick's Oratory, and has a presence by the Capuchin Poor Clare Sisters.

There's more to this church than I have here, I just don't know what it is, but it may be explained by the Capuchin sisters. The church as a bit of a campus, and therefore as a mission, it might strongly reflect their presence.

Saturday, October 29, 2022

Sunday, October 29, 1942. The Alaska Highway Opens.

British clergymen and political figures met to denounce German persecution of the Jews.

Today In Wyoming's History: October 291942  The Alaska Canada Highway (ALCAN) opened as a military highway.

What does this have to do with Wyoming?  Well, arguably not much.  But the story is relevant, as depicted here, for a couple of reasons.  For one thing, it was the first really all year around, all weather, rural highway in the United States. The trucks depicted here are travelling in conditions that would be familiar to most Wyoming drivers, but which most people avoided travelling in for the most part, for long distances anyhow, prior to World War Two.

Pat of the reason that, after the war, they would travel in conditions like this has to do with a technology depicted here which wasn't common at all prior tot he war. . . the all wheel drive.  In this case, the vehicles are 6x6 2 1/2 ton military trucks, but it was the 4x4 military truck that would really cause a revolution in post war rural travel, when it put on civilian colors.



Gang Warfare Erupts Between Thomas Gobbles Gang and Other Turkeys


Well of course somebody is out feeding them.

Turkeys in town are a nuisance. They're mean, dirty and a large road hazard.  I wish the Game & Fish would relocate them.

Friday, October 28, 2022

Saturday, October 28, 1922. King Victor Emmanuel summons Mussolini.

The Saturday Evening Post went with a jester theme for its Halloween 1922 ediition, the Country Gentleman went with a jest.


King Victor Emmanuel III, Italy's king, refused a request from Prime Minister Luigi Facta to declare martial law to address the Fascist March on Rome.  The Italian army advised the king that it was fearful troops would disobey any order to fire on the Fascists, and therefore the request should be denied.

With this, the Italian government effectively surrendered to Fascism.  The King invited Mussolini to come to Rome to discuss the political situation with him.

KYW broadcast the first national radio transmission of a football game. The game was between Princeton and the University of Chicago.

Antrim Castle in Northern Ireland caught fire during a grand ball and was destroyed.  Suspicion existed that the castle fire may have been the work of the Irish Republican Army, but no charges were ever brought against anyone and no insurance claim was ever paid out.

La Bamba - Los Lobos (Version Jarana) Instrumental

Thursday, October 27, 2022

Tuesday, October 27, 1942. The execution of Helmuth Hübener.

Helmuth Günther Guddat Hübener, age 17, was executed by Germany for his role in a youthful German resistance group.

Hübener is unusual not only for his age, but for his religion.  He was a Mormon, a religion that was not common in Germany.  Moreover, the German LDS themselves had not come to a position on the repression of the Jews.  By and large it seems the majority of them were not supportive of the Nazi's repression of the Jews, but Hübener had the bad luck of his local branch having a handful who were, and he was even apparently expelled from the religion by a local figure prior to his execution.  In contrast, all the members of his small anti-Nazi group were also Mormons, and also youths.

The Battle of Santa Cruz Islands concluded with the Japanese winning a tactical victory while the US won the strategic victory, the latter being the more important of the two.  Japanese losses were high, and the result was that the Japanese lost the ability to obtain victory in the Pacific before superior US production would come to bear.

The Australians took Goodenough Island off of New Guinea.

The island would be developed into an air base.

The defense of Outpost Snipe came to a successful British conclusion.

Friday, October 27, 1922. Horse events, funerals, savings certificates. And the March on Rome begins.

Today In Wyoming's History: October 271922  The Schwartz Brothers Haberdashers store opened in Cheyenne.   Attribution:  Wyoming State Historical Society.

A military horse show took place in Washington, D.C. on this day in 1922.

Billy Mitchell was one of the competitors.





 Elsewhere, a military funeral was also conducted.




Andrew Mellon was issuing new Treasury saving certificates.


Southern Rhodesia, which later became Rhodesia, and which is now Zimbabwe, held a referendum on joining South Africa.  Voters rejected the proposal.

Italian Fascists took possession of cities around Italy as the March on Rome began.  The mach was a mass demonstration that was also a slow rolling coup in progress intended, ultimately, to put so much pressure on the Italian government that it would fall, and the Fascists take control of the government.  It would succeed in that aim.

Bruce Channel - Hey Baby

Wednesday, October 26, 2022

Thursday, October 26, 1972. "We believe that peace is at hand".

So stated Henry Kissinger publicly, and just eleven days prior to the 1972 Presidential Election.

Kissinger, Nixon and Alexander Haig at Camp David in 1972.

Nixon did not approve as he felt that Kissinger was hogging the limelight through the announcement, however Kissinger noted that the North Vietnamese had already published the text of the draft agreement.

Unbeknownst to the public, neither Nixon or Kissinger believed that the Republic of Vietnam had any chance of holding out long term against North Vietnam, and they were putting heavy pressure on the South Vietnamese, who had little faith in their abilities themselves to cooperate.

Igor Sikorsky, aviation giant and developer of helicopters, died on this day at age 83.

Sikorsky was born in Kyiv to Russian parents.  His father was an internationally known psychiatrist and his mother a physician, meaning he was born into an unusual family for the era.  He was drawn to aviation very early in his life and studied in Paris.  He worked in Paris during World War One and did not return to Russia due to the Russian Revolution, immigrating to the United States in 1919.  His first wife accordingly divorced him, as she remained in Russia with their daughter.  

Sikorsky's pioneering work in helicopters would end up being of enormous benefit to his adopted country, and his company still is a leader in heavy helicopters.

Monday, October 26, 1942. Hard fighting in the Solomons

Today In Wyoming's History: October 261942  The Torrington Post Office robbed. Attribution:  Wyoming State Historical Society.

In the Solomons, the Battle for Henderson Field ended with an American victory, and the Battle of Santa Cruz Islands was raging.  On this date, the USS Hornet of Doolittle Raid fame was badly damaged, which would lead to her scuttling the following day.

Japanese losses in trying to take Henderson Field were grossly outside, with over 2,500 men being killed in comparison to less than 70 Americans.

In the Second Battle of El Alamein the Defense of Outpost Snip action began.

Thursday, October 26, 1922. The Italian Government resigns.

On this day in 1922 Luigi Facta, Prime Minister of Italy, and his ministers turned in their resignations to King Victor Emmanuel III.

Facta had wanted to declare martial law, which declared the King's signature. Victor Emmanuel refused, having sent Facta a secret note as to his decision. Facta never revealed the contents.  He and his cabinet resigned in protest.

Facta would die in 1930 with the public believing that he'd been to weak to encounter Mussolini, when in fact the opposite had been his desire.

U.S. Navy Lt. Commander Godfrey Chevalier became the first person to land an airplane on an American aircraft carrier.  He'd die the following month in an airplane crash at age 33.


Probably unusually for a pilot at the time, he wore glasses.

Juli Lynne Charlot, singer and designer of the poodle skirt, was born in New York. She's still living.

Painted Bricks: The Big Chief Bottling Company, Denver Colorado.

Painted Bricks: The Big Chief Bottling Company, Denver Colorado.

The Big Chief Bottling Company, Denver Colorado.


Big Chief was a soda brand that was bottled across the United States including Colorado, where this building housed that enterprise.

An old business, but how old?

Industrial History: Coors Brewery in Golden, CO

Industrial History: Coors Brewery in Golden, CO: ( 3D Satellite ) Historic Denver posted Coors Brewery in Golden, CO. (1910) [The Banquet brand is still brewed in just Golden and is shipped...

G. Love & Special Sauce - Come Up Man

Tuesday, October 25, 2022

Sunday, October 25, 1942. Rommel returns, the Japanese Navy strikes.

Rommel returned to Africa.

During his absence, things had not gone well for the Axis.  There's no reason to believe that they would have gone any better had he been there.

Rommel arguably has an outsized reputation.  Perhaps because the British tended to admire him, for some reason, as an adversary, and as they measured their success in the desert in terms of defeating his command, he's obtained the reputation of being a "clean" German commander.  There actually is some evidence to support this, but it's mixed and not as clear-cut as sometimes claimed.

Spectacular photograph of US ships in action on the following day, October 26.

The Battle of Santa Cruz Islands began with the Japanese, operating under the assumption that they had taken Henderson Field on Guadalcanal, moved ships from the Shortland Island towards Guadalcanal in order to support the Japanese ground forces on the islands.  Aircraft from Henderson Field ended up attacking the Japanese convoy throughout the 25th, sinking a light cruiser.  This alerted the Japanese that Henderson Field remained in American hands, but they pushed forward in hopes of engaging the American Navy in a decisive naval battle.

Wednesday, October 25, 1922. Winners and Losers.


A "flying circus" was staged at Boling Field which even included a hot lunch being dropped in from the air.


The Dáil Éireann approved the Irish Free State Constitution Act of 1922.  It would become effective on December 6, 1922, when King George V proclaimed it, which created the Irish Free State as an independent and coequal member of the British Commonwealth.

On the same day, the Irish Republican Army declared the formation of a rival republican government with Eamon de Valera as "President of Ireland", a cabinet of ministers and a twelve member Council of State. By this point, however, the IRA did not holding any Irish territory of consequence.

Mussolini delivered an ultimatum to the Italian government, demanding that it surrender power to the Fascists.

Prince Andrew of Greece, a Greek army officer, was arrested on Corfu and charged with contributing the disastrous Greek defeat in the Greco-Turkish War.  The Prince, the father of the late Prince Consort Philip (Philippos) of the United Kingdom, would be allowed to leave the country.  Other Greek officers were executed or sentenced to long prison sentences.

The Red Army took Vladivostok.  As it did so, Imperial Russian General Mikhail Diterikhs was evacuated with such troops as could be evacuated by the Japanese.


Diterkhs was descended from German Lutherans from the Sudentenland and was a deeply religious Orthodox Christian.  He moved to China, as many Russian Whites from the far eastern part of Siberia did, where he died at age 63 in 1937.

Cliffnotes of the Zeitgeist XXXIX. Pretending


How you can tell that being "Gay" is no longer interesting.

I suppose it'll be controversial to say it, but everyone is well aware that some of the people who claim to be "gay", or more properly homosexual, only claim that for publicity's sake or because it's supposed to be edgy.  Others do, as they have weak personalities and adopt whatever trend is in the news, and its been in the news.

This doesn't mean that there aren't people with same sex attraction. There certainly are.  Indeed, the people who claim to be gay as it's trendy are an insult to people who actually have same sex attraction.

This sort of things is common with every sort of attribute.  Just a couple of years ago we had people who were claiming to be black, but weren't.  Claiming to be a Native American is another one, with at least one U.S. Senator and one college professor down in Colorado claiming that.  Claiming to be a veteran suffering from something is another, with all such people claiming that they saw really valiant service, rather than have worked in the mess hall in San Diego.

In the 30s, if you were of a certain type, being a Communist in certain circles was fun, until it suddenly wasn't.

Madonna has come out as gay.

She isn't.

She is, rather, in a stage of her life when she's no longer very interesting as window dressing. So she has to do something, now, doesn't she?

We might note that at this part, for people who have made such an extensive career as being heterosexual libertines, to claim that they're gay, really is a good indicator that its really not very interesting to people anymore.  I'm sure she'd claim to be a cocker spaniel if that was trendy, but it isn't. For that matter, being gay isn't either.

If she really wants to be in the news, and she obviously does, she should join the Ukrainian army. But then, that'd take real guts.

Or confronting her superficial past and making amends might, but people rarely do that.

Lying Little Feather

And, speaking of pretend, you have heard of Marie Louise Cruz, but as Sacheen Little Feather.  She became famous for appearing at the Academy Awards as the behest of Marlon Brando in order to receive his award for The Godfather.  Dressed in buckskins, she represented herself as a Native American and the protest was for Native American justice.

She wasn't a Native American.

Upset by the representation of their late sister regarding their late father, her sisters have come forward and revealed that in fact they're all Mexican American and that their father, whom Cruz portrayed as an abusive alcoholic, in fact didn't drink nor abuse anyone in the family.  He was, by their accounts, a hardworking immigrant who himself had had an abusive alcoholic father.

Cruz began portraying herself as a Native American in the very early 1970s, trying to obtain acting roles, which she was somewhat successful at doing, with the "Little Feather" persona.  Like Madonna, she stripped herself of her attire to be photographed, prior to becoming well known, appearing in an intended Playboy photo spread that was called "Ten Little Indians", apparently, as it featured ten Native American women.

Or at least ten who were thought to be Native Americans.

There's a quote in a San Francisco area newspaper about this episode.

“Sacheen Littlefeather, the Bay Area Indian Princess, and nine other tribal beauties are sore at Hugh Hefner. Playboy ordered pictures of them, riding horseback nude in Woodside and other beauty spots, and then Hefner rejected the shots (by Mark Fraser and Mike Kornafel) as ‘not erotic enough.’ Why do them in the first place? ‘Well,’ explained Littlefeather ‘everybody says black is beautiful — we wanted to show that red is, too.’ ”

That's obviously out of a different era.

Having said that, the title, and the concept of photographically exploiting Native American women's bodies was really pretty shocking then, even if it is more so now.

Well, the real tragedy, I suppose, was to her family, particularly to her father, who wasn't what he was accused of being.

‘Dilbert’ comic stripped from nearly 80 newspapers

Dilbert is funny.

This isn't something you can say about every cartoon.  Family Circle, for example, is not funny.  It may have been once, but it isn't anymore.

The same is largely true of Garfield.

It has to do with Lee Enterprises, which owns our local newspaper, as well as the one in Billings, which in fact frequently share news stores.

Lee also includes the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, which in an act of rebellion, and which saw its 34 cartoons go to 10, has been publishing letters of protest from its readership.

All of which goes to attack the frankly, flaming BS claim that modern newspapers tend to make that they're vital to the local reader.

One of the claimed BS benefits to reducing the cartoons is that they were making room for local newstories.  This is absurd, quite frankly, as anyone who ever picks up a thick old newspaper would know. Want more coverage, add it.  Poof, it's there.

And additionally, often children, whose young interests the papers claim to hold dear, often are first introduced to newspapers through cartoons.  Eliminate them, and there goes that readership.

Rotating door

A reporter from the local newspaper noted she's leaving.

No surprise, our local reporter position is a revolving door for cub reporters.  It's sad, really. The national paper company brings them in, and as soon as they're trained up, they move on.

Barnard College will offer abortion pills for students

So reads a headline.  This text followed.
Barnard applies a reproductive justice and gender-affirming framework to all of its student health and well-being services, and particularly to reproductive healthcare. In the post-Roe context, we are bolstering these services," Catallozzi and Grinage said.
Barnard apparently applies a lot of Orwellian babble as well.

Barnard is a women's college.  Whatever else it theoretically does, it's supplied to provide an education to the young women who go there, such that they'll be well-educated members of society who can be later productive in their chose endeavors.

"Reproductive justice" is something that, at least unless you are Chinese in which that would apply to struggles against injustice, doesn't rally mean anything whatsoever.  And gender-affirming frameworks have little to do with failing to control your own conduct.

Women's colleges have been in existence since 1836.  Weirdly, vast numbers of the students didn't end up pregnant at them in earlier eras, prior to "the pill".  It's almost like people were sufficiently educated that they knew what reproduction entailed, and how not to engage in it prematurely.

Weird.

More freedom, less government, and more cash?

The State gave out $6,600,000 in rent relief, funded by the Federal Government, last month.

This is interesting for a state that claims to hate Federal money like a Bar Tender hates the Temperance Union. We hate it just enough to hold our hands out.

I wonder how the "Less government, more freedom" party, at least one of whom new members is a prominent landlord, will react to this.

Will they turn down the Federal money?

Intellectual consistency would demand they would, tenants out on the street or not.

Guns bought through credit cards in the US will now be trackable


This is being treated in certain circles as disastrous, but it's really hard to get too concerned about it. So what?

Speaking of packing heat. . . 

Our current Interim Secretary of State has semi famously sported a sidearm all the time, although he's noted that he can't do that as Secretary of State, as the state government doesn't let you walk around inside its buildings armed.  UW doesn't let you do that on its grounds, either, but that didn't stop ISoS Allred from open carrying on the campus.

The concept, of course, is that a gun battle could break out at any time, and you'll be armed to address it.  If, however, that's what you are really worried about, concealed carry would make more sense, although I'd note that not everyone has the body to carry concealed.  Not everyone really has the body to open carry with that goal, either.

Anyhow, as this has now become a big deal in some circles locally, and those same circles make much of "less government, more freedom", and a "right to keep and bear arms" with no restrictions, implies the right to use them, is dueling now allowed?  It'd sure cut down on all that pesky civil litigation.

Monday, October 24, 2022

Tuesday, October 24, 1972. Jackie Robinson passes.

Jackie Robinson died on this day in 1972.


He was only 53 years old when he died of a heart attack, a condition brought on by diabetes and heart disease.

Silent screen actress Clair Windsor, whose career bridged into sound, died at age 80.

Egyptian President Anwar Sadat conveyed a council of war in which he announced plans to launch a limited war against Israel.

Field Marshal Sadeq, had not reported to the Supreme Council what the purpose of the meeting was to be, and even though he was ordered to prepare a plan of war by October 1, he was fired a few days later.

The Japanese crime syndicate the Yakuza divided its operations into territories, thereby ending years of inter gang strife.

Saturday, October 24, 1942. Lighting The Torch

A naval task force departed the United Kingdom for North Africa containing the invasion force for Operation Torch.  At the same time, the main Task Force, which included one of my late partners who was a naval officer, left Hampton Roads, VA and Casco Bay, ME.

USS Charles Carroll on which one of my late partners served. She's see action all over the globe.

They were all bound for landing sites in North Africa.

Wilhelm Ritter von Thoma took command of the Afrika Korps after George Stumme was reported missing. Stumme would be found later, dead, but without wounds, although it was learned that his car had been attacked by the British and his chief signals officer killed in the attack.

Stumme had high blood pressure and may have had a heart attack during the stressful event.

Stumme did not take the precautionary measures that Rommel did while traveling in North Africa, and may ultimately have paid for it with his life.

The Japanese launched attacks on the Lunga perimeter on Guadalcanal. The attacks were unsuccessful.

The Saturday Evening Post went to the stands with an illustration by Mead Schaeffer of an American soldier carrying a Thompson Submachine Gun, in a jungle.  Starting in November, the focus of the American Press would very much switch to the war against the Germans.

Tuesday, October 24, 1922. Mussolini speaks and the Fascist March

Mussolini made a speech to a crowed of 60,000 diehard Fascist supporters, Blackshirts, declaring that the party would either govern by consent or seize power by marching on Rome.  Just a few days later, they'd do just that, leading Italy into tragedy.

His speech stated:

Fascists and citizens! It may be, or rather it is almost certain, that my eloquence will disappoint you, accustomed as you are to the impetuosity and rich imagery of your own orators. But since I realize my incapacity for rhetoric, I have decided to limit myself, when speaking, plain to necessity. We have gathered together here at Naples from every part of Italy to perform an act of brotherhood and love. We have with us our brothers from the borderland of betrayed Dalmatia, men who do not intend to yield. (Applause, and cries of "Long live Italian Dalmatia!") There are also the Fascists from Trieste, Istria and Venezia Tridentina, Fascists from all parts of Northern Italy, even from the islands, from Sicily and Sardinia, all come together to affirm quietly and positively the indestructibility of our united faith, which means to oppose strongly every more or less tasked attempt at autonomy or separatism.

Four years ago the Italian infantry, made great through twenty years of work and hardship, the Italian infantry in which the sons of your country were so largely represented, burst from the Piave and, having defeated the Austrians, surged on towards the Isonzo, and only the foolish democratic conception of the war prevented our victorious battalions from marching through the streets of Vienna and the highways of Budapest.

From Rome to Naples. A year ago at Rome, at one time, we found ourselves surrounded by a secret hostility, which had its origin in the misunderstandings and infamies characteristic of the uncertain political world of the capital. We have not forgotten all this.

Today we are happy that all Naples—this city which I call the big safety-reserve of the nation—welcomes us with a sincere and frank enthusiasm, which does our hearts good, both as men and Italians. For this reason I request that not the smallest incident of any kind shall disturb this meeting, for that would be a mistake, and a foolish one. I demand also, as soon as the meeting is over, that every Fascist not belonging to Naples shall leave the town immediately.

All Italy is watching this meeting, because—and let me say this without false modesty—there is not a post-war phenomenon of greater interest and originality in Europe or the world than Italian Fascism.

You certainly cannot expect from me what is usually called a big speech. I made one at Udine, another at Cremona, a third at Milan, and I am almost ashamed to speak again. But in view of the extremely grave situation in which we find ourselves today, I consider this an appropriate opportunity to establish the different points of the problem in order that individual responsibilities may be settled. The moment has arrived, in fact, when the arrow must leave the bow, or the cord, too far stretched, will break.

The Solving of the Problem. You remember that my friend Lupi and I placed before the Chamber the alternatives of this dilemma, which is not only Fascist but also national; that is to say, legality or illegality; Parliamentary conquest or revolution. By which means is Fascism to become the State? For we wish to become the State! Well! By October 3rd I had already settled the question.

When I ask for the elections, when I ask that they shall take place soon, and be regulated by a reformed electoral law, it is clear to everyone that I have chosen my path. The very urgency of my request shows that the tension of my spirit has arrived at breaking point. To have, or not to have, understood this means to hold, or not to hold, the key to the solution of the whole Italian political crisis.

The request came from me; but it also came from a party consisting of a formidably organised mass, which includes the rising generations in Italy and all the best, physically and morally, of the youth of the country; and from a party, too, which had a tremendous following among the vague and unstable public.

But, gentlemen, there is more. This request was made upon the morrow of the incidents of Bolzano and Trento, which had made plain to all eyes the complete paralysis of the Italian State, and revealed, at the same time, the no less complete efficiency of the Fascist State.

Well! In spite of all this, the inadequate Government at Rome puts the question on the footing of public safety and public order!

What we have asked the Government. The whole question has been approached in a fatally mistaken manner. Politicians ask what we want. We are not people who beat about the bush. We speak clearly. We do good to those who do good to us, and evil to those who do evil. What do we want, Fascists? We have answered quite simply: the dissolution of the present Chamber, electoral reform, and elections within a short time from now. We have demanded that the State shall abandon the ridiculous neutral position that it occupies between the national and the anti-national forces. We have asked for severe financial measures and the postponement of the evacuation of the third Dalmatic zone; we have asked for five portfolios as well as for the Commission of Aviation. We have, in fact, asked for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the War Office, the Admiralty, the Ministries of Labour and of Public Works. I am sure none of you will find our requests excessive. But to complete the picture, I will add that I shall not take part with the Government in this legal solution of the problem, and the reason is obvious when you remember that to keep Fascism still under my control I must of necessity have an unrestricted sphere of action both for journalistic and polemic purposes.

A Ridiculous Answer. And what has been the Government's reply? Nothing! No; worse than that, it has given a ridiculous answer. In spite of everything, not one of the politicians has known how to pass the threshold of Montecitrio in order to look the problem of the country in the face. A miserable calculation of our strength has been made; there has been talk of Ministers without portfolios, as if this, after the more or less miserable experiences of the war, was not the culmination of human and political absurdity. There has been talk of sub-portfolios, too; but that is simply laughable! We Fascists do not intend to arrive at government by the window; we do not intend to give up this magnificent spiritual birthright for a miserable mess of ministerial pottage. Because we have what might be called the historical vision of the question as opposed to the merely political and Parliamentary view.

It is not a question of patching together a Government with a certain amount of life, but of including in the Liberal State—which has accomplished a considerable task which we shall not forget—all the forces of the rising generation of Italians which issued victorious from the war. This is essential to the welfare of the State, and not of the State only, but to the history of the nation. And then...?

A Question of Strength. Then, gentlemen, the question, not being understood within its historical limits, asserts itself and becomes a question of strength. As a matter of fact, at turning-points of history force always decides when it is a question of opposing interests and ideas. This is why we have gathered, firmly organised and strongly disciplined our legions, because thus, if the question must be settled by a recourse to force, we shall win. We are worthy of it. It is the right and duty of the Italian people to liberate their political and spiritual life from the parasitic incrustation of the past, which cannot be prolonged indefinitely in the present, as it would mean the death of the future.

It is then quite natural that the Government at Rome should try to divert and counteract the movement; that it should try to break up the Fascist organisation, and to surround us with problems.

These problems have the names of the Monarchy, the Army and Pacification.

The Acceptance of the Monarchy. I have already said that the discussion, abstract or concrete, of the good and evil of the monarchy as an institution is perfectly absurd. Every people in every epoch of history, given the time, place and conditions necessary, has had its regime. There is no doubt that the unity of Italy is soundly based upon the House of Savoy. (Loud applause.) There is equally no doubt that the Italian Monarchy, both by reason of its origin, development and history, cannot put itself in opposition to the new national forces. It did not manifest any opposition upon the occasion of the concession of the Charter, nor when the Italian people—who, even if they were a minority, were a determined and intelligent minority—asked and obtained their country's participation in the war. Would it then have reason to be in opposition today, when Fascism does not intend to attack the regime, but rather to free it from all those superstructures that overshadow its historical position and limit the expansion of our national spirit? Our enemies in vain try to keep this alleged misunderstanding alive.

Fascism and Democracy. The Parliament, gentlemen, and all the paraphernalia of Democracy have nothing in common with the monarchy. Not only this, but neither do we want to take away the people's toy—the Parliament. We say "toy" because a great part of the people seem to think of it in this way. Can you tell me else why, out of eleven million voters, six million do not trouble themselves to vote? It might be, however, that if tomorrow you took their "toy" away from them, they would be aggrieved. But we will not take it away. After all, it is our mentality and our methods that distinguish us from Democracy. Democracy thinks that principles are unchangeable when they can be applied at any time or in any place and situation.

We do not believe that history repeats itself, that it follows a given path; that after Democracy must come super-Democracy. If Democracy had its uses and served the nation in the nineteenth century, it may be that some other political form would be best for the welfare of the nation in the twentieth. So that not even fear of our anti-Democratic policy can influence the decision in favour of that continuity of which I spoke just now.

The Army. As regards the other institution in which the regime is personified—the army—the army knows that when the Ministry advised the officers to go about in civilian clothes to escape attack, we, then a mere handful of bold spirits, forbade it. We have created our ideal. It is faith and ardent love. It is not necessary for it to be brought into the sphere of reality. It is reality in so far as it is a stimulus for faith, hope and courage. Our ideal is the nation. Our ideal is the greatness of the nation, and we subordinate all the rest to this.

For us the nation has a soul and does not consist only in territory. There are nations that have had immense possessions and have left no traces in the history of humanity in spite of them. It is not only size that counts, because, on the other hand, there have been tiny, microscopic States that have left indelible marks in the history of art and philosophy. The greatness of a nation lies in the aggregation of all these virtues and all these conditions. A nation is great when its spiritual force is transferred into reality. Rome was great when, from her small rural democracy, little by little, her influence spread over the whole of Italy. Then she met the warriors of Carthage and fought them. It was one of the first wars in history. Then, bit by bit, she extended the dominion of the Eagle to the furthermost boundaries of the known world, but still, as ever, the Roman Empire is a creation of the spirit, as it was the spirit which first inspired the Roman legions to fight.

Our Syndicalism. What we want now is the greatness of the nation, both materially and spiritually. That is why we have become syndicalist, and not because we think that the masses by reason of their number can create in history something which will last. These myths of the lower kind of Socialist literature we reject. But the working people form a part of the nation; and they are a great part of the nation, necessary to its existence both in peace and in war. They neither can nor ought to be repulsed. They can and must be educated and their legitimate interests protected. We ask them: "Do you wish this state of civil war to continue to disturb the country?" No! For we are the first to suffer from the ceaseless Sunday wrangling with its list of dead and wounded. I was the first to try to bridge over the gap which exists between us and what is called the Italian Bolshevist world.

How Peace can be obtained. To prove this, I have just recently signed an agreement most gladly; in the first place because it was Gabriele d'Annunzio who asked me to, and in the second place because it was, as I thought, another step towards a national peace.

But we are no hysterical women who continually worry themselves by thinking of what might happen. We have not the catastrophic, apocalyptic view of history. The financial problem which is so much talked about is a question of will-power. Millions and millions would be saved if there were men in the Government who had the courage to say "No" to the different requests. But until the financial question is brought on to a political basis it will not be solved. We are all for pacification, and we should like to see all Italians find the common ground upon which it is possible for them to live together in a civilized way. But, on the other hand, we cannot give up our rights and the interests and the future of the nation for the sake of measures of pacification that we propose with loyalty but which are not accepted in the same spirit by the other side. We are at peace with those who ask for peace, but for those who ensnare us and, above all, ensnare the nation, there can be no peace until after victory.

A Hymn to the Queen of the Mediterranean. And now, Fascists and citizens of Naples, I thank you for the attention with which you have listened to me.

Naples gives a fine display of strength, discipline and austerity. It was a happy idea that led to our coming here from all parts of Italy, that has allowed us to see you as you are, to see your people who face the struggle for life like Romans, and who, with the desire to rebuild their lives and to gain wealth through hard work, carry ever in their hearts the love of this their wonderful town, which is destined to a great future, especially if Fascism does not deviate from its path.

Nor must the Democrats say that there is no need for Fascism here, as there has been no Bolshevism, for here there are other political movements no less dangerous than Bolshevism and no less likely to hinder the development of the public conscience.

I already see the Naples of the future endowed with an even greater splendour as the metropolis of the Mediterranean; and I see it together with Bari (which in 1805 had sixteen thousand inhabitants and now has one hundred and fifty thousand) and Palermo forming a powerful triangle. And I see Fascism concentrating all these energies, purifying certain circles, and removing certain members of society, gathering others under its standards.

And now, members of the Fascio of all Italy, lift up your flags and salute Naples, the capital of Southern Italy and the Queen of the Mediterranean!

Today, without a shot being fired, we captured the vibrant soul of Naples, the soul of all Southern Italy. The demonstration is an end in itself and can not turn into a battle, but I say to you with all the solemnity that the moment requires: either we will be given the government or else we must take it by marching on Rome. It is necessary for action to be simultaneous in every part of Italy.

And so, with a speech, Mussolini launched a march that would help take large portions of Europe into fascism, and from there, all of Europe and ultimately the world into war.

The German Reichstag voted 310 to 77 to postpone the 1924 elections into 1925 due to political unrest. It also voted to extend the term of President Ebert into 1925.  

On the same day, former German Chancellor Bernhard von Bulow gave an interview in which he indicated there was no chance for a return of the German monarchy as the republican forces were stronger than the "nationalist" ones.  He also predicated that Communism would not take hold of the country.

Closer to home, a tragedy, well actually a series of tragedies, appeared on the front page of the newspaper.



For reasons I'm unsure of now, I've mentioned Dr. Norwood, DDS's, death here before.  He came to Casper and homesteaded west of town at what is referred to here as "Six Mile Lakes".  There are some wet spots out in that general area, so presumably that's what's being referred to here.  He wasn't married and apparently desired to be a rancher while also practicing dentistry.  He rode a horse into town to his office every day.

Horse use, of course, was still very common, and a second tragedy, the automobile/team collision in a snow storm also gives us a glimpse of one of the dangers of the era.

NOTE:  These seemed familiar as I'd run them before. That's a 1920 newspaper, not a 1922 newspaper.

Sunday, October 23, 2022

Sunday Morning Scene: Churches of the West: Our Lady of Mount Carmel, Denver Colorado.

Churches of the West: Our Lady of Mount Carmel, Denver Colorado.

Our Lady of Mount Carmel, Denver Colorado.


This is Our Lady of Mount Carmel in North Denver, Colorado.

Built between 1899 and 1904 for an Italian population, the church is located in a neighborhood known as Little Italy, although its rapidly gentrifying and experiencing a change in neighborhood character.  Nonetheless, one Mass per month is offered in Italian.

Friday, October 23, 1942. The High Water Mark for Nazi Germany

The Second Battle of El Alamein began.

Montgomery watching his armor in action.

The British offensive was really the first under Bernard Law Montgomery, and pitted slightly larger Allied forces against the Afrika Korps.  Of note, the British had considerably more armor than the Germans.  It would result in an Allied victory, of which Churchill stated; It may almost be said, "Before Alamein we never had a victory. After Alamein we never had a defeat".

On that theme, arguably today was the high water mark for the Axis, or perhaps yesterday.  The Germans and their European Allies had advanced as far as they were going to in the Soviet Union, having taken the Stalingrad tractor factory several days prior.  They had expelled the British from Europe and defeated all of their enemies there, although guerilla campaigns were going on against them.  In North Africa, they had advanced up to El Alamein, but they had not taken it.

The Germans knew they were in trouble at this point.  While it was not obvious to casual observers, their offensive in the Soviet Union had stalled without defeating the USSR and without even bringing to an end the fighting before the onset of winter.  Their advances in the country had been massive, but insufficient, and they knew it.  Additionally, massive Axis efforts on the land, air and sea had failed to drive the British out of North Afrika and, on this day, the British would recommence advancing.

Starting on this day, the Germans would be losing ground every day.

The Battle for Henderson Field commenced as well, with a large-scale Japanese assault designed to take the airfield.

In the Pacific War, the Japanese were already in the position of not really advancing any longer, although the war in New Guinea made that unclear.  Resources were still thin in a theater that was limited to Australian and American forces, with the Japanese war being much more recent than the European one.  Having said that, the Japanese run in the Pacific was over.

Elanor Roosevelt arrived in the UK and met with the King and Queen.

The latter event emphasizes, again without the public really realizing it, that the Western Allies already knew that they would win the war at this point, and the Soviets may have realized it by this point as well.  Lots of the war was yet to be fought, but the final results were dimly in view.