Gilded Age Brothel School of Interior Design

Nuclear weapons should not be entrusted to anyone pleased by Trump’s Gilded Age Brothel school of interior design.

George F. Will.

Arches.

Sigh. . . 

White House fires arts commission expected to review Trump construction projects

The move comes as President Donald Trump pursues efforts to build a White House ballroom and a triumphal arch in Washington.

So, if you've been distracted or are just sick of reading stories about the toddler in the White House, here's what this is about:

What we know about White House plans for an 'Arc de Trump'

The BBC article discounts Trump's ability to get this thing built, but that was penned before Trump showed that he'll just ignore the law in this area, as with everything else.

The United States needs a triumphal arch about as much as it needs to build its own version fo the Brandenburg Gate, which we should have blown to bit at the end of World War Two.  At least its not as butt ugly as McCreery's gigantic garden shed that will be a temporary "ballroom" attached to the White House.  That will get partially constructed and then ripped down, to be followed soon after by:

Did you work on illegal White House construction projects?  You were likely exposed to asbestos and should sue the ass of off Donald Trump, call . . . 

Anyhow, Triumphal Arches date back at least to the Romans, and they're particularly associated with them.  The gigantic one in Paris, the Arch de Triomphe, we can blame on Napoleon whom, we should remember was deposed by a coalition of non wacky powers in the 19th Century and sent to die on Elba, where he was likely poisoned.

Triumphal Arches have been emulated ever since the Romans built them, and they appear in many countries.  They are particularly associated with autocratic powers, which suffer from knowing they aren't worthy and therefore try to monument themselves into worthiness, but there are some in democratic states including in the U.S.

There's probably a smaller chance that construction gets started on this before Trump leaves office or collapse in his Happy Meal while babbling, but again, getting it rolling wouldn't be too surprising.  Keeping it up? That's another matter.

I give the White House Garden Shed about an 80% chance of being torn down.  If an arch goes up, I'd give it about a 40% chance.

CliffsNotes of the Zeitgeist, 105th Edition. What's up with the rush on the White House?

It occurs to me that something is really odd about Trump rushing to start his vandalization project on the White House, and then expanding it to destroy the entire East Wing. . . . it's almost like he fears not being around to enjoy it.

Maybe he knows he's not going to be.

Maybe he fears that if he's not around the ugly garden shed won't be built.

Maybe he fears that's going to be so soon, he had to actually take steps that try to force its completion.

Why would that be?

Maybe Trump knows that he's on death's door, or maybe its something else.  Let's look at the possibilities.

Trump knows he's not long for the world.

There's been some speculation on this for other reasons.  

One could say he's acting weird, but he acted weird in his first term too.  He's been acting extra weird.  He's been talking a fair amount and expressing fears that he's going to Hell.  And well he should fear it.  For one thing:

Now someone approached him and said, “Teacher, what good must I do to gain eternal life?” 

He answered him, “Why do you ask me about the good? There is only One who is good.* If you wish to enter into life, keep the commandments.

He asked him, “Which ones?” And Jesus replied, “ ‘You shall not kill; you shall not commit adultery; you shall not steal; you shall not bear false witness; honor your father and your mother’; and ‘you shall love your neighbor as yourself.’” 

The young man said to him, “All of these I have observed. What do I still lack? 

Jesus said to him, “If you wish to be perfect, go, sell what you have and give to [the] poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me. 

When the young man heard this statement, he went away sad, for he had many possessions. 

Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Amen, I say to you, it will be hard for one who is rich to enter the kingdom of heaven. 

Again I say to you, it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for one who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.” 

When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished and said, “Who then can be saved?” 

Jesus looked at them and said, “For human beings this is impossible, but for God all things are possible.”

Based on the difficulty that implies, and it is not intended to be metaphorical, Trump should fear Hell.  He's been far from perfect.  He's a serial polygamist for one thing, and genuinely a bad person.  It appears to some extent he's trying to buy his way into Heaven with the thought that if he can secure peace in some war somewhere God will credit that and allow him to otherwise get a pass on his sins.  He keep seeking reassurance from those around him that will work.

That obsession suggests that he knows he's running out of time.

Trump wants to be remembered for amount to something.  He knows that much of his Presidency will be regarded as a fart in a windstorm.  So he's building his own monumental mausoleum, maybe.

And in doing so, time is short.  Either he'll be out of office in three years, and this is a project that for American construction would take longer than that, or he'll die before its built  He well knows that if a Democrat comes into office after him, under the original plan, no ballroom would be built.  He's taking steps, by destroying the entire wing, to make sure it has to be.

But even that won't.  It'll just assure that something has to be done.  

Trump knows that there's next to no chance of getting this monstrosity done in time.

I touched on that above, but there's every chance in the world that Trump leaves office, either at the expiration of his term, or being lead out while babbling in full dementia, and this project stops.  As he departs his last glimpse of the ballroom will be of a construction project with workmen likely picking up debris.

There's a good chance that the week thereafter the construction company has cleared out and the trackhoe is back with the same operator demolishing this worthless monument.

It's a natural instinct in most people to complete a project.

And it's a natural instinct to keep and use something, once it's built. . . except for Americans.

Trump's spent a lot of time in the orbit of the high and the mighty his whole life. Since his first legitimate term in office, and now in his second illegitimate one, he's had the opportunity to see monumental public buildings that are really old, quite frankly frequently gaudy.  He's not that smart of guy and he probably doesn't realize that the regimes that built such structures aren't always admired in later years, but he probably does appreciate that things Louis XIV built, or the Czars, are still being used.

The American track record isn't quite so good.  We take down buildings all the time, including our athletic civil temples that were constructed at great expense.  We usually get around to morning them long after they're gone.

Trump probably feels that if he can get this built, particular if the East Wing gets destroyed with it, it'll have to be built, and it'll have to stay when its built.  Like Justice Kennedy, he probably naively assumes that after he's out of office, and after he's dead and gone, people will forget that he was a putz, and love him.

People aren't going to love him.  He'll be remembered as the worst human being to ever occupy the Oval Office, and the building will come down.  A future Democratic President will take it down to make a point, if not out of spite.

Trump is banking on nobody tearing it down (which I suspect is a pretty bad bet).

See above.

Another view of the hideous monstrosity.

An interesting aspect of this is the NatCon one that was circulating before this piece of shit project started to advance.  

As we've noted before, Trump's real backers are members of the Dominionist New Apostolic Reformation, but within the NatCons are Catholic and Orthodox intellectuals who have become Illiberal Democrats.  Not too surprisingly, this same group has pretty strong architectural views.

They like architect James McCrery.

Some of these folks hang out at website called Rorate Caeli, which is actually a type of Mass, but which means "drop down, ye Heavens."  They really like James McCrery, and for good reason.  Here's their post on his getting the job of being garden shed architect:

McCrery, Architects of Catholic Beauty, chosen to renovate the White House

McCrery Architects, New Carmel, Wyoming

Those familiar with the architectural work of James McCrery know he is among the greats of the 20th and 21st centuries. 

McCrery Architects, St. Mary Help of Christians, North Carolina

Based on the Senate side of Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, he has designed, restored and enhanced numerous churches, schools, homes and other buildings — all in a classical style where the average man, woman and child responds “beautiful” upon seeing his work.

Now, Jim McCrery has designed what will be his legacy for generations of Americans: a new White House ballroom. President Donald Trump announced on Thursday $200 million in private funding (including Trump’s own money) will fund a ballroom next to the east wing of the White House that can accommodate 650 guests. This is needed, as the East Room of the White House (the largest for gatherings) seats around 200 people, so the custom has been to put up tents outside when a large dinner or event is hosted.

See the designs for yourself to appreciate them.

McCrery, who is celebrating his 60th birthday, completed a restoration and enhancement of Saint Mary Mother of God church near his DC studio, where the TLM existed from the mid-1980s until its suppression three years ago. From the cathedrals in Knoxville, Tennessee, and Raleigh, North Carolina, to Corpus Christi in the Diocese of Arlington, to the Newman Center in Lincoln, Nebraska, to the Carmelite monastery in Wyoming, the churches he designed are spectacular — no easy task in an age of modern codes, budget limitations and senior officials often advocating bland over beauty. McCrery’s name is synonymous with beauty.

Rorate congratulates Jim McCrery on this achievement and looks forward to the next three years of his project’s construction. And we commend President Trump for choosing traditional architecture, and developing a great relationship with such a fine architect. Who knows what others would have chosen to dump on the White House lawn! It is a time to be thankful for the partnership of McCrery and Trump on this project that will stand tall long after all of us depart this earth.

Rorate Caeli.

This is, quite frankly, part of what upsets me.  This thing is ugly and stupid.

It'd be ugly and stupid anywhere, but it'd make more sense in some places.  In Georgian England, for example, or in 18th Century France.  If you went back, an were honest with yourself, you'd think "well. . . this is ugly and stupid, but looks like belongs here" and then you'd go on to tell everyone, "wow, that's impressive.

The top two buildings are in fact impressive.  Why did they take this assignment?

Well, . . . on this, I'll be frank that I"m not so sure about the top building.

Wyoming isn't Medieval France or pre King Henry VIII the Vandal England, and I'm not really too sure that this fits the state too well.  There's been a fair amount of murmuring about it, which is slightly embarrassing for Wyoming Catholics.  We know we don't live in Medieval France.

I guess, however, that this is religious architecture and they are free to build what they wish.

Monumental public architecture belongs to the public, however.  The public doesn't want a gigantic gilded garden shed.

Worthless Democrats

One thing this has served to do is to illustrate how completely worthless the Democratic Party is.

If this was the party of 1975, or 1985, it would have rushed out on day one and filed an action for an injunction, which would have included a request for a TRO.  They would have gotten it.

More particularly, what they would have asked for is an injunction returning the White House to the status quo ante until the architectural commission in charge of these things had a chance to consider the matter.  That would have meant that Donny would have had to stop the construction and the structure repaired, on his dime, until the body could meet and make a ruling.

Yes, that body is going to say "go ahead", but that would have burned through about $10M of the vandalization money in advance, and delayed the project by at least a year.  Mobilization costs would have gone up, and Democrats would likely be back in power.  The thing would never have been built.

Instead they sat around and did nothing.

This all points to an existential crisis within the Democratic Party.  Most Democrats are actually center left, politically, but over the last fifteen or so years the party has been captured by its hardcore left wingers that will not compromise on anything, and so the party has glaciated.  The left wingers in the Democratic Party are every bit as nutty, if not more so, than the hard right of the Republican Party.

We need new parties.

McCrery

I noted earlier that I had placed some home in the design in that James McCrery was responsible for it.

I've lost that hope.  

The more I look at it, it's just flat out gaudy and ugly.  It's interesting to note that McCrery, who was one of the people that Donny did the roof top tour with recently, has been taking some flak. 

Apparently McCrery wasn't always a classicist.  And people interviewed about him recently haven't been all that kind.  For example, Robert Livesey, who was chair of the Ohio State architecture department from 1983 to 1991 when McCrery was a student wrote recently in an email that “to be honest, I do not have a real memory of Jim. My sense was that he was a good design student which is why Eisenman hired him,  Unfortunately, his work does not have the presence of real classical architecture, or even of people who were also after the classical, like Palladio, or later Hawksmoor.”

Eisenman refers to Peter Eisenman, who was a professor at Ohio State and who took McCrery under his wing and later employed him.  Eisenman is not a classicist and has called his former underlings design "bonkers", adding "putting a portico at the end of a long facade and not in the center is what one might say is untutored.”

Pretty harsh.  In fairness, Eisenman and McCrery seem to have had a falling out some time ago, and McCrery seems to have become very identified with his Faith in regard to his architectural projects, which leads a person to wonder why he'd want to take on a giant civil structure like this.  Frankly, Eisenman's criticism seems pretty valid to me.

Rats

One potentially good thing about this is that it might make a lot of rats homeless.  Apparently the White House is full of them, in the walls.

No big surprise.

Rats being rats, however, they're probably just moving into the house itself.

What should reconstruction look like?

One thing that this brings up is what should reconstruction look like.  The White House grounds are already pretty crowded without this monstrosity. Frankly, a pretty good argument can be made that the East and West Wings detract from the original appearance of the structure.  Maybe this presents an opportunity just to take them out, although apparently that would create an office space problem.

The donors

Here's who is paying for this abomination:

Altria Group, Inc.

Amazon

Apple

Booz Allen Hamilton

Caterpillar, Inc.

Coinbase

Comcast Corporation

J. Pepe and Emilia Fanjul

Hard Rock International

Google

HP Inc.

Lockheed Martin

Meta Platforms

Micron Technology

Microsoft

NextEra Energy, Inc.

Palantir Technologies Inc.

Ripple

Reynolds American

T-Mobile

Tether America

Union Pacific Railroad

Adelson Family Foundation

Stefan E. Brodie

Betty Wold Johnson Foundation

Charles and Marissa Cascarilla

Edward and Shari Glazer

Harold Hamm

Benjamin Leon Jr.

The Lutnick Family

The Laura & Isaac Perlmutter Foundation

Stephen A. Schwarzman

Konstantin Sokolov

Kelly Loeffler and Jeff Sprecher

Paolo Tiramani

Cameron Winklevoss

Tyler Winklevoss

Some of these you know, and some of their products you use everyday.  Microsoft, for example, is pretty hard to avoid. 

Some can be easily avoided.  I'll never eat in another Hard Rock Cafe again, ever, which of course will be an easy thing for me to do.

Last edition:

CliffsNotes of the Zeitgeist, 104th Edition. Mike Johnson, toady, and other matters.

Labels: 2010s, 2019, 2020s, 2025, 2025 Off Year U.S. Elections, Donald Trump, Mike Johnson, New York, North Korea, Socialism, Special Forces, The Madness of King Donald, Trump Derangement Syndrome, U.S. Navy, Zeitgeist

The Vandals.

American democracy has several great weaknesses, the primary one being that Americans believe that we have a "two party system".

We don't.  We've just allowed two parties to take over and even fund their party elections, the primaries, with government funds, and tolerate the creation of bogus Congressional roles, such "Senate Majority Leader".

That needs reform desperately.

Amongst other weaknesses, however, is that Americans believe that we have a free enterprise economic system. We don't. We have corporate capitalism which allows businesses to escape the implications of their actions through the corporate business form.

Americans believe so strongly in "free enterprise" that they basically never vote with their wallets.  They'll let businesses absolutely screw them and keep supporting them.  On the rare occasions in which they actually will vote with their wallets and boycott a product it's when its something trivial and otherwise readily available, as in when sales of Bud Light dropped off over a transgender personality advertising it.

Lots of companies brew beer.

I note this as the illegitimate occupant of the White House, who has no real authority, is having the East Wing of the  White House destroyed for on oversized garden shed, aka, a ballroom.

The White House doesn't need a ballroom.  This isn't 1875.  What Donald Trump wants is something overblown and gaudy, which is his brand, so that hopefully people remember him after he departs this Earth for his final reward. It's much the same motivation that has him angling for the Nobel Peace Prize.  He's hoping to be remembered as a serious person, rather than as a real estate developer/serial polygamist.

Before we move on, we should note that the White House was originally designed as a house, and its been modified continually.  Frankly, it ought to flat out stop. The constant monkeying with the structure only encourages this sort of baloney, and the building isn't getting any better looking over time.  The East Wing only dates back to 1942 and to some degree was built as a cover for the construction of a bomb shelter underneath it.  I suppose you can argue the bomb shelter was a good addition, but this just goes on and on.

The West Wing has been modified a great deal over time, but basically dates back to 1902.  Theodore Roosevelt was President then, and his large family was busting at the seams of the White House.

This is different, however.

The West Wing was built as office space.  Basically it's an office space annexation. The East Wing, as noted, was originally added to cover the construction of a bomb shelter.  In later years, offices for correspondence, calligraphers and the social secretary were placed in the East Wing. It became the offices of the First Lady, with the First Lady requiring offices a fairly dubious proposition, quite frankly.

Trump wasn't supposed to really touch the East Wing Structure but a Volvo bucket is out destroying part of the facade now. The new structure will be, of course, a garden shed. . .um a ballroom.

Adding offices made sense.  Adding a bomb shelter in 1942 made sense, after all, German rocket technology brought the ICBM within reach during  World War Two and submarine launched aircraft actually did made land strikes on the West Coast during the war.

A ballroom, however, is a superficial structure for somebody who likes to entertain.

Trump is a superficial person who has been spending a lot of his time at the golf course.

Trump can't molest the structure unless the forces of capitalism dutifully line up to give him his dream. There was never any doubt that they would.  So, have you wondered who the Vandal hired by the illegitimate occupant of the White House/Real Estate Developer/Serial Polygamist to design and construct a giant garden shed is?

Well, wonder no more:

President Trump Hires National Civic Art Society Board Member to Design New White House Ballroom

James McCrery, a classical architect who is a co-founder of the National Civic Art Society and a member of our Board of Directors, has been chosen by President Donald Trump to design a new ballroom at the White House.

According to the administration, “The White House State Ballroom will be a much-needed and exquisite addition of approximately 90,000 total square feet of ornately designed and carefully crafted space, with a seated capacity of 650 people — a significant increase from the 200-person seated capacity in the East Room of the White House.”

McCrery, who is principal and founder of McCrery Architects in Washington, D.C., is associate professor at the Catholic University of America's School of Architecture. He was a commissioner on the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts, appointed by President Trump during his first term. McCrery served alongside NCAS President Justin Shubow, who was chairman of the Commission.

According  to Shubow, “The National Civic Art Society is ecstatic that President Trump selected James McCrery to design the new White  House ballroom. McCrery is one of the best architects in America, and he will  honor and respect one of the most beloved classical buildings in the United  States. Our organization has no doubt he’ll design a beautiful, fitting  addition. It was President Theodore Roosevelt who personally chose Beaux-Arts architect Charles  McKim to renovate the White House in his time. President Trump has made an  equally wise decision in hiring McCrery.”

Announcement from the National Civil Art Society.

The National Civil Art Society is an organization that sponsors the view that public buildings should be in a classic style.  It's a worthwhile goal, as there sure are a lot of ugly public buildings around.  And the architects firm, McCrery Architects, based on their website, designs a lot of nice classical buildings.  Frankly, choosing them was a really good move for a really bad building.  Things could have been a lot worse.

So should we rejoice?

Well, no, 

McCrery clearly has a lot of talent, as do the people on his staff, but this is still a huge oversized shed that looks ugly.  No matter, it'll go down on his resume, unless it turns out to be a national embarrassment, in which case it will be removed from his resume.

He's designed some beautiful buildings, including the Cathedral of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus in Knoxville, TN.  To go from that, to this . . what a waste.

The contractor for the abomination is heavy contractor Clark Construction, whose website declares "Building What Matters".

M'eh.

This structure doesn't matter.

It is, however, no doubt a major contract.  Nobody could blame them for bidding on it, as that's what they do.

Engineering was done by AECOM, whose website declares; "AECOM is the trusted global infrastructure leader committed to delivering a better world.".  

Well, this structure and the project makes the world just a little bit worse.  No matter, it's probably a big contract.

Funding for the project is not public.  The $200,000,000 to $250,000,0000 vandalization will cost is going to be born by Real Estate Developer Donald Trump and donors.  Donors include Google, Lockheed Martin, Palantir, Booz Allen Hamilton, and NextEra Energy, but there are a lot more.  Lockheed Martin is chipping in $10,000,000.

And there's the real question.  

Blogger, which this is published on, is a Google thing.  Google itself is darned near impossible to avoid, so even though I think they're chipping in is inexcusable, I'll continue to use Google's products, making me just as hypocritical as can be.  I don't buy anything from Lockheed, and I'm not a shareholder, but if I was I'd write in and complain.  

Why would outfits like these chip in?  Well, they're making a bet that King Donald will love them, or at least not hate them.  That's why.  And frankly, if some future administration wanted to build to whack it down, which will occur, and put up a Trump Hall of Shame, they'd contribute to that.

The overall shame, however, is that this is public property.  It's being vandalized.  And nobody can apparently do anything about it.

When this era is over, the country needs major reform.  Part of that reform needs to be an effort to reign the Oval Office into reason.  Another part needs to be to kick the dead asses in Congress back to work and require them to do their actual jobs.

As a final note, Hitler was fond of monumental projects too, planning on building a monumental Berlin after the Second World War.  Franco had the monumental Valley of the Fallen built, which at least commemorates something.  Fascist Italy had a bunch of monumental structures built, and of course Mussolini was in power for quite some time.  The Soviets had Lenin stuff in a mausoleum, the latter of which provides an idea.

Seeing as a modern White House doesn't need a ballroom, and given that Trump is really old and will pass from natural causes in the foreseeable future anyhow, perhaps AECOM can design this structure with hydraulic jacks and wheels so when that day comes this can just be jacked up, hooked up, and wheeled down the highway to Mar A Lago, which it can serve as the Trump Mausoleum and library (I serious doubt Trump has very many books that he's actually read, so the size won't be a problem).  Probably Google, Lockheed Martin, Palantir, Booz Allen Hamilton, and NextEra Energy will be willing to pay for it.

Observations on Denver

Some years we have Rockies' ticket package. We did last year, but we didn't go to a single game for a variety of reasons.  Work was the big one, but then, about this time just a year ago, I was under the knife for the second time as well.

We went to the Orioles game on September 1.

The choice of the date was not my own, September 1 is the opening day of blue grouse and dove season, but I didn't complain about it.  A young member of the family loves the Orioles and that's why it was chosen.  When you get old, as I am, you yield in favor of younger family members, so I did, without complaining.  You also learn, hopefully, not to complain where in former days you might have.

It was a great game.

I've been to Denver several times since my surgery, but they were all hit and run type of deals for work.  In and out, with no time to spare. This is the first time I've lingered in the Mile High City for awhile, and the first time over a weekend for a long while.  Therefore some observations, I guess.

It was hot.  "Unseasonably hot" is what I'm hearing.  I'm not a fan of hot.  As Wyoming has already been chilly in the morning, and I couldn't find my Rockies jersey, I wore a light flannel shirt.  I don't really feel comfortable in just wearing a t-shit in that setting anymore, so I when I got hot, right away, before the game, I went and bought a jersey.  Now I have two.

I can't wear my old New York Yankees pull on jersey anymore.  I'm too big and its too small.  My Sox jersey is messing a button.

It's really weird to think that at least into the 1940s people dressed pretty formally at baseball games.  Men were in jacket and tie, something you'd never see now.

We were there on Sunday.

Holy Ghost is, in my view, the most beautiful church in the region and the most beautiful one I've ever been in.  We went to Mass early Sunday morning.  It's stunning and it never fails to impress me with its beauty.  

A beautiful church really adds something to worship, and a sense of the Divine.

Not a new impression, but the street people problem is out of control.

I don't know what can be done to help these people.  Some, you can tell, are now so organically messed up that they'll never really recover.  

In various places, when approached for money by somebody on a street, I'll give them some.  But not in Denver.  The people on the streets are so messed up I know where that money is going.  Something needs to be done to help them, but I have no idea what it would be.

The day before I went down I read that the Venezuelan criminal gang Tren de Aragua (TdA) had taken over two apartments in Aurora.  Looking it up, it's apparently true, and they're using them for sex trafficking.

The greater Denver area, fwiw, has never been all that nice, in spite of what people might say. I recall going down in the 1980s, when I was an undergrad at UW, and parts of were really rough then.  16th Street was just starting to develop.  The area around LoDo was really really rough.  I can recall walking from an off street towards 16th past a really rough looking bar mid morning when a prostitute came spilling out of it, probably just getting off work.  The Episcopal Cathedral, St. John in the Wilderness, had lots of broken windows, broken by rocks thrown into them from the street.  Colorado Blvd in the region of what is now Martin Luther King Blvd was as complete red light district full of XXX movie theaters.  Lo Do was a no/go zone.

Coors Field really cleaned up a lot of that, and much of downtown Denver has really gentrified.  16th Street, however, is a drug flop house as is much of downtown Denver.  The legalization of marijuana, COVID, and a highly tolerant city council has created an enormous problem.

Anyhow, I don't go into Aurora much, but I don't really recall it being really nice.  I recall my father, who had experience with Denver going back to the 1930s, mentioning it had never been nice.

We had a big breakfast at Sam's No. 3.  It's a great cafe.  A real urban one, which probably makes it surprising that I'll go there, but it is great.

At the game, I had a hot dog.  I usually have "brots", rather than dogs, if I have your classic small sausage on a bun.  I'd forgotten, accordingly, what real dogs taste like.  I like them, but I don't like them as much as brots.

Converse Chuck Taylors are comfortable for sitting at a game, but not for hiking around a city.  Like my baseball jerseys, I like Chuck Taylors but given my line of work and my off time avocations, which I unfortunately seem to be able to engage in less and less, I have little call to actually wear them.

Regarding clothing, while I hesitated to post it, a lot of young women in urban settings don't dress decently when dressing casually.  I don't mean "dress up" either. Perhaps because it was hot, a lot of them had on "summer clothes" which showed way more skin, and other things, than is decent, in my view.  For that matter, coming out of a hotel a barista was coming in wearing a t-shirt who had chosen to omit undergarments and was showing, well, through.  I almost turned to my daughter who was with me and thanked her for not dressing like so much of what I was seeing, but I didn't.

On that, some of the younger women were clearly with a parent. Why would you let a child, even if not a child any longer, go out dressed like that?

I'm not really proud of noticing and I didn't glare or stare, but frankly with so much on display its impossible not to notice anything.  I'm old, but not dead, and there's way too much on display, certainly way more than is the case up here in the rude hinterlands.  A Christian should have custody of their eyes but I'd rather other folks make it easy to exercise.

Also on display were vast numbers of tattoos, some artful and some really bad.  Having a bad tattoo has to be a bummer.

I was reminded of how much I don't like country music.  My wife and daughter do, so we listed to one of the XM Radio satellite radio channels on the way down.  I never listen to contemporary country music, although over the years I've gotten to where I like some of the older stuff.

Anyhow, I was surprised by how much country music is just devoted to getting drunk.  It's weird.

A fair amount is devoted to bad decisions, particularly with alcohol and women.  Some has gotten inappropriate towards women in general.  One of the songs on the way down I heard was Country Girl, which involves alcohol, and also the lyrics "shake it for me, girl".  I've been around country people, including country girls, my entire life and I've never seen a country girl shaking whatever for anyone.  Indeed, I've always been impressed by how almost everyone who lives in the sticks knows how to swing dance and tends to wear, usually, a fair amount of clothing, even in the summer.

Churches of the West: Churches of the West: Our Lady of Fatima Catholic Church, Casper Wyoming

Churches of the West: Churches of the West: Our Lady of Fatima Catholic ...: 

Churches of the West: Our Lady of Fatima Catholic Church, Casper Wyoming

Churches of the West: Our Lady of Fatima Catholic Church, Casper Wyoming: This Church was put in place in the early 1950s due to the expansion of the City of Casper, and has an unusual history. The church it...

Our prior entry, done quite some time ago, lacked an interior shot.  I could have simply added it to the old post, and I likely will, but here it is as a separate entry. More detail on the Church appears in the original entry.

 

Wednesday, January 23, 1924. Red Dead Relocation.

Mexican rebels decided to forego a blockade, but they took Saltillo and Monterrey.

Lenin's body was transported to the House of Unions.  Architect Alexey Shchusev was given the task of constructing a tomb for Lenin within three days.  He would accomplish the task, with the structure being obviously temporary.

Shchusev was originally a church architect, so his rise in the new Communist establishment is not admirable in any sense.  They should tear the crap he's responsible for after 1917 down, including the ice box that Lenin is kept in.

The US and UK entered into a treaty allowing the US to search British ships suspected of rum running.

Convention between the United States of America and Great Britain, Signed at Washington, January 23, 192437

The President of the United States of America;

And His Majesty the King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and of the British Dominions beyond the Seas, Emperor of India;

Being desirous of avoiding any difficulties which might arise between them in connection with the laws in force in the United States on the subject of alcoholic beverages;

Have decided to conclude a Convention for that purpose;

And have appointed as their Plenipotentiaries:

The President of the United States of America:

Charles Evans Hughes, Secretary of State of the United States;

His Majesty the King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and of the British Dominions beyond the Seas, Emperor of India:

The Right Honorable Sir Auckland Campbell Geddes, G. C. M. G., K. C. B., His Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to the United States of America;

Who, having communicated their full powers found in good and due form, have agreed as follows:

Article I

The High Contracting Parties declare that it is their firm intention to uphold the principle that 3 marine miles extending from the coastline outwards and measured from low-water mark constitute the proper limits of territorial waters.

Article II

(1) His Britannic Majesty agrees that he will raise no objection to the boarding of private vessels under the British flag outside the limits of territorial waters by the authorities of the United States, [Page 159]its territories or possessions in order that enquiries may be addressed to those on board and an examination be made of the ship’s papers for the purpose of ascertaining whether the vessel or those on board are endeavoring to import or have imported alcoholic beverages into the United States, its territories or possessions in violation of the laws there in force. When such enquiries and examination show a reasonable ground for suspicion, a search of the vessel may be instituted.

(2) If there is reasonable cause for belief that the vessel has committed or is committing or attempting to commit an offense against the laws of the United States, its territories or possessions prohibiting the importation of alcoholic beverages, the vessel may be seized and taken into a port of the United States, its territories or possessions for adjudication in accordance with such laws.

(3) The rights conferred by this article shall not be exercised at a greater distance from the coast of the United States its territories or possessions than can be traversed in one hour by the vessel suspected of endeavoring to commit the offense. In cases, however, in which the liquor is intended to be conveyed to the United States its territories or possessions by a vessel other than the one boarded and searched, it shall be the speed of such other vessel and not the speed of the vessel boarded, which shall determine the distance from the coast at which the right under this article can be exercised.

Article III

No penalty or forfeiture under the laws of the United States shall be applicable or attach to alcoholic liquors or to vessels or persons by reason of the carriage of such liquors, when such liquors are listed as sea stores or cargo destined for a port foreign to the United States, its territories or possessions on board British vessels voyaging to or from ports of the United States, or its territories or possessions or passing through the territorial waters thereof, and such carriage shall be as now provided by law with respect to the transit of such liquors through the Panama Canal, provided that such liquors shall be kept under seal continuously while the vessel on which they are carried remains within said territorial waters and that no part of such liquors shall at any time or place be unladen within the United States, its territories or possessions.

Article IV

Any claim by a British vessel for compensation on the grounds that it has suffered loss or injury through the improper or unreasonable exercise of the rights conferred by Article II of this Treaty or [Page 160]on the ground that it has not been given the benefit of Article III shall be referred for the joint consideration of two persons, one of whom shall be nominated by each of the High Contracting Parties.

Effect shall be given to the recommendations contained in any such joint report. If no joint report can be agreed upon, the claim shall be referred to the Claims Commission established under the provisions of the Agreement for the Settlement of Outstanding Pecuniary Claims signed at Washington the 18th August, 1910, but the claim shall not, before submission to the tribunal, require to be included in a schedule of claims confirmed in the manner therein provided.

Article V

This Treaty shall be subject to ratification and shall remain in force for a period of one year from the date of the exchange of ratifications.

Three months before the expiration of the said period of one year, either of the High Contracting Parties may give notice, of its desire to propose modifications in the terms of the Treaty.

If such modifications have not been agreed upon before the expiration of the term of one year mentioned above, the Treaty shall lapse.

If no notice is given on either side of the desire to propose modifications, the Treaty shall remain in force for another year, and so on automatically, but subject always in respect of each such period of a year to the right on either side to propose as provided above three months before its expiration modifications in the Treaty, and to the provision that if such modifications are not agreed upon before the close of the period of one year, the Treaty shall lapse.

Article VI

In the event that either of the High Contracting Parties shall be prevented either by judicial decision or legislative action from giving full effect to the provisions of the present Treaty the said Treaty shall automatically lapse, and, on such lapse or whenever this Treaty shall cease to be in force, each High Contracting Party shall enjoy all the rights which it would have possessed had this Treaty not been concluded.

The present Convention shall be duly ratified by the President of the United States of America, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate thereof, and by His Britannic Majesty; and the ratifications shall be exchanged at Washington as soon as possible.

In Witness Whereof, the respective Plenipotentiaries have signed the present Convention in duplicate and have thereunto affixed their seals.

Done at the city of Washington this twenty-third day of January, in the year of our Lord one thousand nine hundred and twenty-four.

Charles Evans Hughes

A. C. Geddes

Heritage of the Dessert was released.  The film featured some technicolor footage.

Sunday Morning Scene. Churches of the West: Saints Peter and Paul Mission, Haleiwa, HI

Churches of the West: Saints Peter and Paul Mission, Haleiwa, HI:

Saints Peter and Paul Mission, Haleiwa, HI

Photos from a moving vehicle are always difficult, so this only gives you a glimpse of this Catholic mission church in Haleiwa, O'ahu, Hawaii.

On the island's northeast shore, this Catholic mission church was built in 1953 and is served by St. Michael's Parish.

 

Courthouses of the West: Oklahoma County Courthouse, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.

Courthouses of the West: Oklahoma County Courthouse, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.: 

Oklahoma County Courthouse, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.

This impressive art deco courthouse was built in 1937 and serves Oklahoma County, Oklahoma.  Apparently it was loosely inspired by Mayan temples, which is unusual.

It was a Great Depression works project.

Sunday Morning Scene: Churches of the West: South Goshen Community Church, Yoder Wyoming

Churches of the West: South Goshen Community Church, Yoder Wyoming:  

South Goshen Community Church, Yoder Wyoming

 This is the South Goshen Community Church in Yoder, Wyoming.  I don't know much about the church, which bills itself as "non demoninational"  

Yoder is a very small town south of Torrington.

Sunday Morning Scene: Churches of the West: St. Mary's Catholic Church. Park City, Utah.

Churches of the West: St. Mary's Catholic Church. Park City, Utah.: 

St. Mary's Catholic Church. Park City, Utah.

This is the beautiful St. Mary's Catholic Church in Park City, Utah.   The Church is obviously of relatively recent construction, although I don't know the vintage.

Sunday Morning Scene: Churches of the West: First Baptist Church, Rock River, Wyoming.

Churches of the West: First Baptist Church, Rock River, Wyoming.: 

First Baptist Church, Rock River, Wyoming.

This is the First Baptist Church in Rock River, Wyoming.  The Baptist church in the tiny town was founded in 2010 and obviously used a commercial structure for its basic design.

 

Sunday Morning Scene: Churches of the West: First Baptist Church, Rock River, Wyoming.

Churches of the West: First Baptist Church, Rock River, Wyoming.: 

First Baptist Church, Rock River, Wyoming.

This is the First Baptist Church in Rock River, Wyoming.  The Baptist church in the tiny town was founded in 2010 and obviously used a commercial structure for its basic design.

Sunday Morning Scene: Wind City Church, Medicine Bow, Wyoming

Churches of the West: Wind City Church, Medicine Bow, Wyoming: 

Wind City Church, Medicine Bow, Wyoming

These photographs are of Wind City Church in Medicine Bow, Wyoming.  The church is a fundamentalist Christian church of the sola scriptura branch of Protestantism.  It opened in 2019.