Showing posts with label Rome. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Rome. Show all posts

Sunday, March 3, 2024

Friday, March 3, 1944. The death of Teresa Gullace and of hope for Poland.

Teresa Gullace, seven months pregnant, was killed by a German soldier when she attempted to pass a sandwich to her husband, who was detained by the Germans in Rome.  She was part of a group of women that had gathered to protest the Germans holding their husbands.

The scene was later depicted in Rosellini's 1945 Rome open city, one of three great films by the director set during World War Two and filmed immediately after, and which used amateur actors to a large degree.

The U.S. Army Air Force hit the Roman rail facilities at the Tiburtino, Littorio and Ostiense marshalling yards.  There were 400 civilian casualties.

Over 500 railroad passengers died of carbon monoxide poisoning during a protracted stall in a tunnel at Balvano, Italy.  It's one of the worst rail disasters of all time.

Stalin shut the door on further negotiations on the Polish border.

The Soviet Union created the Medal of Ushakov and the Medal of Nakhimov, both of which were awarded to sailors.  Interestingly, they were both named after Imperial Russian officers.

Japanese troops on Los Negros launched a night attack, which was repulsed by US cavalrymen.

The 3d Infantry Division repulsed a German attack on the Anzio beachhead at Ponte Rotto.  It would be the last German offensive action at Anzio.

Paul-Émile Janson, a Belgian Prime Minister just before World War Two, died at Buchewald at age 71.

Tuesday, January 16, 2024

27 BC. The Roman Republic Ends.

The Roman Senate, suspending its duties, bestowed the title Augustus on Gaius Octavius, the posthumously adopted son of his uncle, Gaius Julius Caesar, and the Roman Republic ended.

You don't get democracy back on its own, once it's surrendered to a strongman.  There's a lesson in there.

Wednesday, October 18, 2023

Monday, October 18, 1943. Jewish Romans transported to Auschwitz.

Germany transported Roman Jews to Auschwitz.   Rome had one of the oldest Jewish populations in Europe.

Japan transferred four provinces of British Malaya to its ally Thailand.

Perry Mason was broadcast on the CBS Radio Network for the first time.  It would run until December 20, 1955.

Monday, October 16, 2023

Saturday, October 16, 1943. Arrest of Roman Jews.

German police arrested 1,259 Jews in Rome. 252 were subsequently released.  Unlike in France, the Germans did not attempt to use Italian police, as they were deemed unreliable.

News of the impending arrest had caused many others to previously take refuge with non-Jewish friends or in Catholic churches and institutions.

Approximately 1500 people from the US and 1500 people from Japan were at the start of a repatriation process as the  MS Gripsholm and theTeia Maru, docked alongside of each other at the Portuguese Indian port of Mormugao.

The U-470, U-533, U-844 and U-964 were  sunk.

The B-25D 'Red Wrath' of the 498th 'Falcons' Bomb Squadron, 345th 'Air Apaches' Bomb Group bombing Japanese anti-aircraft sites, Wewak & Boram, New Guinea, October 16, 1943.

Today in World War II History—October 16, 1943: After transfer from Italy, US Ninth Air Force is re-formed as a tactical force at Sunninghill, England, under Lt. Gen. Lewis Brereton . . . 

From Sarah Sundin's blog, which also includes a variety of other interesting events not noted here.

Sunday, October 1, 2023

Friday, October 1, 1943. The Germans depart, and destroy, Naples.

The U.S. 5th Army entered Naples.  The Germans burned the University of Naples and the Teatro di San Carlo on the way out.

German wartime poster attempting to recruit Italians to an SS formation.

The German appeal to the Italians didn't seem to be well calculated.

Hitler ordered Kesselring to hold a line south of Rome.

As a total aside, it was this date in 1943 that the German police and the Waffen SS adopted the M43 field cap, the famous billed cap that was patterned on the Bergmütze that had long been worn by German alpine troops. A similar hat had long been in Finnish use, nicknamed the "blood ladle".  German and Austrian alpine troops still wear a variant of it, as do many German hunters.

A very practical cap, the design had spread from mountain troops to the regular German Heer in a variant for North Africa, early versions of which had the ear flaps fixed in place, as some variants still do (including a variant now used as the Ukrainian field cap), but which the later versions allowed for them to be folded down, as with the Bergmütze.  The Afrika Korps version had a longer bill, which was retained for the M43.  When adopted by the Heer, it replaced the flat cap (garrison cap) which had been adopted in the 1930s.  The flat cap is a fairly useless cap, and the Bergmütze was a very practical one.  

As Waffen SS mountain units had already adopted the Bergmütze, they were allowed to fix the Edelweiss cap badge to their caps on this day, that being a symbol previously used only by the Heer.

Sarah Sundin noted the liberation of Naples and another item:
Today in World War II History—October 1, 1943: In Italy, US Fifth Army and British X Corps enter Naples. US Third War Loan Drive ends, raising $19 billion (quota $15 billion).

W. Averll Harriman was named Ambassador to the USSR

Friday, September 22, 2023

Friday Farming. All agriculture is local, the danger of taking agricultural advice from Reddit, and Meeting Marcus Aurelius on the prairie.

Accept the things to which fate binds you, and love the people with whom fate brings you together,but do so with all your heart.
Marcus Aurelius, Meditations

Longhorn in mixed herd, central Wyoming.  This is from this year. . . a high water year.
From the r/ranching Subreddit on, of course, Reddit:

I just inherited 1200 acres of ranch land. WTF do I do?

My father in law wants to pass on his ranch to me before he passes. He’s in bad health and for some reason decided that I would be the best of everyone to take on his property. I don’t know a god damn thing about cows or hay, having lived in a big city my whole life; but I’m a pretty good mechanic and would fix all of his equipment whenever I visited him, so I guess he likes me and he thinks I’m the best to take things over. The ranch, located in southern Wyoming, hasn’t done anything productive in the past 5 years due to FIL declining health and I have no idea what to do with it. Like the title says, it’s 1200 acres of mostly hilly sagebrush with grassy bottom land surrounded by forest land. I promised him I wouldn’t break up the land or develop it; but how does a city slicker move out to the middle of Wyoming and generate a living income off of the land without knowing a thing about ranching? Can I lease the grazing property out; lease the grass land out? Just looking for any advice or recommendations. Any advice is appreciated.

Let's answer the question first, that being, "how does a city slicker move out to the middle of Wyoming and generate a living income off of the land without knowing a thing about ranching?"

The answer is simple.  You don't.

Here's the reason why:

User avatar
level 1

With only two sections, in Wyoming, I’m assuming that he wasn't a full time rancher, or that he leased a lot of land to get by. Most working Wyoming ranches are large for a reason.

So, as a starting point, what did he do with it? 1,200 acres sounds like a lot unless you've actually ranched in Wyoming, in which case, it really isn't.

19
User avatar
level 2

And to be fair, two sections in Carbon or Sweetwater Counties is different than the same area in Laramie or Albany Counties. Your mention of sagebrush suggests that you are somewhere west of Laramie. That also suggests that there are some state or federal leases that are connected to the privately owned land. How many adult cattle does (or did) he run on his place?

The truth of the matter is that, in today's operations, your mechanical abilities are among the most important skills to make a farm or ranch work.

15
User avatar
level 3

True. If you are east of Cheyenne, which is really more farm country, it's one thing. Once you start heading west of Cheyenne and into Albany County, it's another. The sagebrush country of Carbon County, something else entirely. Wyoming has quite a bit of varied terrain and conditions.

None of it will support really dense stocking, however, like some other regions of the country will allow. I'd have to assume, like you, that if he was really ranching, he must have had Federal and perhaps state leases, or maybe some private leases.

As a total aside, the line "Somewhere west of Laramie" is part of one of the greatest advertising campaigns of all time, which some credit with starting modern advertising. The 1923 ad for the Jordan Playboy car, which starts off with “Somewhere west of Laramie there's a broncho busting, steer roping girl who knows what I'm talking about".

Replies, from me, and some other guy.

Now, the same thread is full of advice on how this person can just move out and, yee haw, be a rancher.

Bull.

All agriculture is local.  All of it.  A grain farmer in Kansas can't walk right into a bandanna plantation in Africa and expect to make a go of it instantly.  Gardeners all over the country, if they suddenly inherited a wheat farm, would go broke.

And with animal agriculture, this is particularly true.  Ranching in Wyoming may be like ranching in Montana, but it's not like cattle farming in Arkansas.  Frankly, a Northern Plains rancher used to low grass and cold winters would have a lot better chance of being successful in Arkansas, than an Arkansas cattle farmer would of being a rancher here.

And somebody from a city, stepping into land on advice from people who don't realize that 1,200 acres doesn't cut it here as a ranch, and who have never endured our winters.

Forget it.

This property will be leased to a neighbor, or sold.

And let us discuss the injustice of things.

From when I was small, I've always wanted to ranch.  It's hard to explain these things, but I always wanted to.  It's probably one of the two "I want to be when I grow up" things in my personality.  The other one was being a soldier, which I've done.  Regarding that, by the time I was approaching graduating from high school (I graduated when I was 17 years old, not all that uncommon at the time) that was waning, but that desire was expressed by six years I spent in the National Guard.

And I have been a stockman as an adult, but I was never able to make it my full time occupation.

I came pretty close twice, once before being married, and once after, but events transpired and. . . off to the office I go.

There's a difference between being in the Regular Army (which I was for training) and being in the reserves. And there's a difference between being a part-time stockman and a full time one.  Moreover, as I'm in one of the professions, I've entered that weird part of my life, which seems to be the case for at least people in my profession, when the kids have grown up and have their own lives, and your spouse has her own job, and most of the people you meet on a daily basis are in your profession, where your private aspirations just die as other people murder them.

You don't need a stock working horse. . . you can borrow one.  Wouldn't you like to sell that old one ton stick shift and buy a nice 1/2 ton sport auto, or maybe a Jeep pickup?  You don't need to work cattle this weekend, you can get that big project done at work.

Which is why, I think, that I see so many old members of my profession carrying on into their 70s and 80s. Their actual personality died thirty years ago.  Just the shell is left.  

And in the weird way of the world, here we are.  Some urban dude who has little interest in ranching inherits a small (and it is) parcel, but one that has entertaining possibilities, and isn't really that interested, whereas some rural dude spends his whole life, more or less, in suit and tie.

M'eh.

My wife always says things work the way they do for a reason.  We're placed in one place, under one set of circumstances, because God wants us there for some reason.  We should accordingly accept it, and be happy with it and that we can do what we do, even if we don't realize whatever the good is that we're supposed to be doing by our placement. I try to accept that, but I'll confess, stuff like this frustrates me.

Friday, September 8, 2023

Wednesday, September 8, 1943. Italy announces its surrender.

King Victor Emmanuel of Italy before the war. He was king from 1900 to 1946.

Italy officially surrendered to the Allies, although the deal had been worked out several days prior.

Prime Minister Badoglio read in a statement:

The Italian government, recognising the impossibility of continuing the unequal struggle against an overwhelming enemy force, in order to avoid further and graver disasters for the Nation, sought an armistice from general Eisenhower, commander-in-chief of the Anglo-American Allied forces. The request was granted. Consequently, all acts of hostility against the Anglo-American force by Italian forces must cease everywhere. But they may react to possible attacks from any other source.

The "other source" was, of course, Nazi Germany.  The reservation for resisting "other sources" effectively put Italy at war with Germany.

70,000 Allied POWs walked out of Italian POW camps, their guards having departed.

Adolph Hitler, down one ally, and his only really significant one in Europe, delivered a radio address to the German people attributing the Italian surrender to "failure or ill will of those elements which by systematic sabotage have caused capitulations."  The Germans, anticiapting the Italian surrender for some time, commenced Operation Achse, occupying Rome and the Italian occupied portions of France, as well as Salerno where US invasion forces were soon to land.

Corsican's rose up in rebellion against occupying Italian and German forces, taking the capital city of Ajacco.

In reality, at the point at which Italy surrendered, it was obvious that Germany's other allies in Europe would as well, when it became possible and necessary.

Franklin Roosevelt delivered a fireside chat, in which he stated:

My Fellow Americans:

Once upon a time, a few years ago, there was a city in our Middle West which was threatened by a destructive flood in the great river. The waters had risen to the top of the banks. Every man, woman and child in that city was called upon to fill sand bags in order to defend their homes against the rising waters. For many days and nights, destruction and death stared them in the face.

As a result of the grim, determined community effort, that city still stands. Those people kept the levees above the peak of the flood. All of them joined together in the desperate job that (which) had to be done -- business men, workers, farmers, and doctors, and preachers -- people of all races.

To me, that town is a living symbol of what community cooperation can accomplish.

Today, in the same kind of community effort, only very much larger, the United Nations and their peoples have kept the levees of civilization high enough to prevent the floods of aggression and barbarism and wholesale murder from engulfing us all. The flood has been raging for four years. At last we are beginning to gain on it; but the waters have not yet receded enough for us to relax our sweating work with the sand bags. In this war bond campaign we are filling bags and placing them against the flood -- bags which are essential if we are to stand off the ugly torrent which is trying to sweep us all away.

Today, it is announced that an armistice with Italy has been concluded.

This was a great victory for the United Nations -- but it was also a great victory for the Italian people. After years of war and suffering and degradation, the Italian people are at last coming to the day of liberation from their real enemies, the Nazis.

But let us not delude ourselves that this armistice means the end of the war in the Mediterranean. We still have to (must) drive the Germans out of Italy as we have driven them out of Tunisia and Sicily; we must drive them out of France and all other captive countries; and we must strike them on their own soil from all directions.

Our ultimate objectives in this war continue to be Berlin and Tokyo.

I ask you to bear these objectives constantly in mind -- and do not forget that we still have a long way to go before we attain (attaining) them.

The great news that you have heard today from General Eisenhower does not give you license to settle back in your rocking chairs and say, "Well, that does it. We've got them ('em) on the run. Now we can start the celebration."

The time for celebration is not yet. And I have a suspicion that when this war does end, we shall not be in a very celebrating mood, a very celebrating frame of mind. I think that our main emotion will be one of grim determination that this shall not happen again.

During the past weeks, Mr. Churchill and I have been in constant conference with the leaders of our combined fighting forces. We have been in constant communication with our fighting Allies, Russian and Chinese, who are prosecuting the war with relentless determination and with conspicuous success on far distant fronts. And Mr. Churchill (he) and I are here together in Washington (here) at this crucial moment.

We have seen the satisfactory fulfillment of plans that were made in Casablanca last January and here in Washington last May. And lately we have made new, well-considered (extensive) plans for the future. But throughout these conferences we have never lost sight of the fact that this war will become bigger and tougher, rather than easier, during the long months that are to come.

This war does not and must not stop for one single instant. Your (our) fighting men know that. Those of them who are moving forward through jungles against lurking Japs -- those who are (in) landing at this moment, in barges moving through the dawn up to strange enemy coasts -- those who are diving their bombers down on the targets at roof-top level at this moment -- every one of these men knows that this war is a full-time job and that it will continue to be that until total victory is won.

And, by the same token, every responsible leader in all the United Nations knows that the fighting goes on twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, and that any day lost may have to be paid for in terms of months added to the duration of the war.

Every campaign, every single operation in all the campaigns that we plan and carry through must be figured in terms of staggering material costs. We cannot afford to be niggardly with any of our resources, for we shall need all of them to do the job that we have put our (undertaken) shoulder to.

Your fellow Americans have given a magnificent account of themselves -- on the battlefields and on the oceans and in the skies all over the world.

Now it is up to you to prove to them that you are contributing your share and more than your share. It is not sufficient to simply (to) put (money) into War Bonds money which we would normally save. We must put (money) into War Bonds money which we would not normally save. Only then have we done everything that good conscience demands. So it is up to you -- up to you, the Americans in the American homes -- the very homes which our sons and daughters are working and fighting and dying to preserve.

I know I speak for every man and woman throughout the Americas when I say that we Americans will not be satisfied to send our troops into the fire of the enemy with equipment inferior in any way. Nor will we be satisfied to send our troops with equipment only equal to that of the enemy. We are determined to provide our troops with overpowering superiority -- superiority of quantity (quality) and quality (quantity) in any and every category of arms and armaments that they may conceivably need.

And where does this our dominating power come from? Why, it can come only from you. The money you lend and the money you give in taxes buys that death-dealing, and at the same time life-saving power that we need for victory. This is an expensive war -- expensive in money; you can help it -- you can help to keep it at a minimum cost in lives.

The American people will never stop to reckon the cost of redeeming civilization. They know there never can be any economic justification for failing to save freedom.

And we can be sure that our enemies will watch this drive with the keenest interest. They know that success in this undertaking will shorten the war. They know that the more money the American people lend to their Government, the more powerful and relentless will be the American forces in the field. They know that only a united and determined America could possibly produce on a voluntary basis so huge (large) a sum of money as fifteen billion dollars.

The overwhelming success of the Second War Loan Drive last April showed that the people of this Democracy stood firm behind their troops.

This (The) Third War Loan, which we are starting tonight, will also succeed --because the American people will not permit it to fail.

I cannot tell you how much to invest in War Bonds during this Third War Loan Drive. No one can tell you. It is for you to decide under the guidance of your own conscience.

I will say this, however. Because the Nation's needs are greater than ever before, our sacrifices too must be greater than they have ever been before.

Nobody knows when total victory will come -- but we do know that the harder we fight now, the more might and power we direct at the enemy now, the shorter the war will be and the smaller the sum total of sacrifice.

Success of the Third War Loan will be the symbol that America does not propose to rest on its arms -- that we know the tough, bitter job ahead and will not stop until we have finished it.

Now it is your turn!

Every dollar that you invest in the Third War Loan is your personal message of defiance to our common enemies -- to the ruthless savages (militarists) of Germany and Japan -- and it is your personal message of faith and good cheer to our Allies and to all the men at the front. God bless them!

Italy has tended, in histories, to be regarded as almost a third class power during the war, but it really was not.  And the surrender of Italy was not only significant as a fact, but symbolically.  Italy had been the first fascist power in the world, and was originally the more significant of the two Axis powers. 

That Italy was drifting towards the far right and becoming aggressively expansionist was in evidence shortly after World War One, when various elements of the Italian far right viewed territorial expansion into areas with minority Italian populations as their right following the war.  Italy had been expansionist in a colonial sense before World War One.  But with the rise of the fascist, it took a new and much more aggressive turn.  Italy built a serious military machine which, ironically, would essentially peak too soon, in some ways reflecting that it arrived upon the fascist scene first.  It contributed fascist troops and equipment, including armor and aircraft, to the Spanish Civil War, where they proved effective but also where many of the most dedicated fascist combatants lost their lives.

By the Second World War, Italy had passed its peak and could no longer sustain the arms race that preceded the war.  Even during the early stages of the war, rank and file Italian troops were often ineffective in combat, although not to the degree which popular histories have tended to portray.  The war in North Africa really proved to be is last gasp, and by the time of Operation Husky it was effectively defeated on land and knew it.  Its navy, however, remained fairly effective in some ways right up until September 1943.

The country was between a rock and a hard spot in regard to its surrender, and essentially threw itself on the mercy of the Allies as it was obvious that it would be invaded by Germany.  It pledged itself, effectively, as an Allied power, but it was not going to be an effective one as its energy was spent.  The remainder of the war, and the immediate peace thereafter, was a deeply human tragedy for the Italians featuring extreme deprivation and desperation.

The Allies launched the Dodecanese Campaign in an effort to seize the Italian held Dodecanese Islands.  Conducted without air cover, the Anglo Italian campaign would ultimately fail, giving the Germans a mid war victory at a time at which those had effectively ceased.

The U.S. Army Air Force raided German headquarters at Frascati, resulting in 485 civilian deaths.

On the same day, the Red Army entered Stalino.

The Germans ordered the removal of 5,006 Jewish residents of Theresienstadt.

Today In Wyoming's History: September 8

1943  The first woman lookout was assigned in the Medicine Bow National Forest.  Perhaps it is coincidence, but this event occurred during World War Two when women were occupying many traditional male occupations due to labor shortages.   Attribution:  Wyoming State Historical Society.

Monday, August 14, 2023

Saturday, August 14, 1943. Rome declared an open city.

Rome was declared an open city by the Italian government.  The Italian government offered to remove its defenses under the supervision of the Allies. This followed the second major bombing strike on the city.

Allied troops had not even touched foot yet on the Italian mainland.  Suffice it to say, this made it clear that Italy would exit the war soon.

On Sicily, the Allies captured Rondazzo.

The U.S. Army Air Force raided Borneo with B-24s that were based in Australia, making a record 2,500 bombing run.  The target was oil reserves at Balikpapan.

U.S. aviation insignia changed again, albeit slightly.

By NiD.29 - Bell, Dana (1995) Air Force Colors Volume 1 1926–1942, Carrollton: Squadron Signal Publications ISBN: 0-89747-316-7.US Navy F6F Hellcat USMC F4U Corsairaccording to Section 40.1.1.2 Color of MIL-STD-2161A (AS), the colors of this insignia are established as FED-STD-595 red 11136 white 17925 blue 15044. The visualization of the colors comes from this siteElliot, John M. (1989) The Official Monogram US Navy & Marine Corps Aircraft Color Guide Vol 2 1940–1949, Sturbridge, MA: Monogram Aviation Publications ISBN: 0-914144-32-4., CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=3330877

The Allies won the battle of Roosevelt Ridge.  The Soviets prevailed in the Battle of Belgorod.

The US revised its conscription regulations with a revised list of reserved occupations and providing that dependents were a deciding factor in deferments.

The movie This Is The Army premiered.

Wednesday, July 19, 2023

Monday, July 19, 1943. Hitler haranges Mussolini, Allies bomb Rome.

Benito Mussolini met with Adolf Hitler at Feltre.  The purpose of the meeting was an Italian withdrawal from the war, but Mussolini apparently never brought it up.  Instead, the discussion turned to forming a defensive line across the Italian peninsula upon the inevitable upcoming Allied invasion, a strategy which ignored Italy's long coasts and the fact that the Italian Army was beaten in the field in Sicily, and the Italian people rapidly switching their allegiances towards the Allies.  It did, however, take advantage of Italy having rough terrain and only being 75 miles wide, for the most part.

It further was never more than a plan for a defensive withdrawal, with a defensive war not being winnable.

U.S. troops advancing in Sicily, July 19, 1923.

The meeting featured a long harangue by Hitler on the many virtues of war which Mussolini, well aware the war was lost, mostly endured silently, a fact aided by his poor understanding of German.  Hitler, for his part, had already ordered his General Staff to make plans for the occupation of Italy in the event of an Italian surrender or armistice.  Mussolini, however, assured the Germans that the Italians would continue fighting on.

The Allies bombed Rome.  The raid went on for two hours.


Pope Pius XII left the Vatican for the first time since 1940 to observe the bombing damage.  He attempted to comfort the wounded, resulting in his white soutaine being bloodstained. A statue in his honor was later erected on the location.  

The Pope's actions became a symbol of opposition to the violence of war. The bombing itself, however, shocked Romans, even though it was directed at military targets (rail yards) of the era.  The bombing helped accelerate the already increasing Italian abandonment of Mussolini.

The War Department ordered that difficult German POWs and those with Nazi ideology be kept at Camp Alva in Alva, Oklahoma.

Konzentrationslager Warschau was opened in Warsaw.

Shirley Slade, a WASP pilot trainee, although the WASPs were at that time the WAFS, appeared on the cover of Life Magazine in a photo that would go on to have cult status.  After training, Slade ferried Bell P-39 Airacobras and Martin B-26 Marauders, the latter of which was a notoriously difficult aircraft nicknamed "The Widowmaker".  She moved to Chicago after the war and married Major William Berkeley, an Air Force veteran and later Eugene "Gene" Lafitte Teer.

She passed away in 2000 at age 79. 

The first New York Fashion Week was held, with the object of giving women an alternative to French fashions.


The Army's news flyer warned troops of potential German use of poison gas, something the Germans did not, in fact, resort to in World War Two.

Thursday, May 18, 2023

Tuesday, May 18, 1943. Reaching out.

The Allies commenced bombing Pantelleria, 100 miles from Tunis and 60 miles off of Sicily.  

On a clear day, Tunisia is actually visible from Pantelleria.  The island, while it has had some occasional human residences since pre historic times, has been continually occupied since taken by the Carthaginians at the beginning of the 7th Century, B.C.

Pope Pius XII

Pope Pius XII appealed to Franklin Roosevelt to spare Rome from bombing.

Wednesday, February 2, 2022

Thursday, February 2, 1922. The birth of Checker Cab.

Washington D. C., February 2, 1922.
 

The Checker Cab Manufacturing Company was created on this day Morris Markin, a Russian immigrant, who assembled the company form the failed ruins of several others.  He was only 28 years old.

An incredible figure, he had a gift for business that had demonstrated itself both in Imperial Russia and the United States, with the Russian Jewish immigrant succeeding at nearly everything he touched in spite of the long odds involved.

Checker's were the default American cab for decades, in their final years taking on a 1950s appearance that would last until the last one was produced in 1982.

Checker cab from Wikipedia commons.

The College of Cardinals gathered in Rome to begin the selection process for a new Bishop of Rome and head of the Catholic Church.

This is, I'd note, also the 100th anniversary of the publication of James Joyce's Ulysses, timed for his 40th birthday.

You probably haven't read it.

And if you tried, you probably gave up.

And that's probably because it's crap.

Those are harsh words for a book that's widely heralded, but often people forget why a book makes a splash in the first place.  I suspect that's the case for this book.  A common reaction of people who try to read it is to find that it's "hard going" and they put it down.

This is, I'd note, the same thing that people say about Mein Kampf, which I haven't read, and I'm not going to.  I note that as these two tomes are roughly contemporaneous and lots of copies have been printed that nobody read.  I'm not saying the content is the same.  I am saying that they're both probably crap.

As for Ulysses, it's probably gathering more dust than readers, as it's just not that great.

My exposure to Joyce is from one short story of his I read eons ago while in high school, and frankly it wasn't great.

And while I'm at it, Liam O'Flaherty's short story The Sniper, which we had to read, also isn't great.  M'eh.

Anyhow, Joyce fits in the same category I'd place Hemingway.  He obtained a reputation early on and that made his reputation.  People when they read their books secretly, I think, say "hmmm. . . . not great" as whatever made them "great" in the first place applied only to their time and place, if it even applied to the time and place.  They're preserved today because of that early reputation and because English departments continue to imagine they're great.  But for English departments, they'd be forgotten.  This book, and Finnegan's Wake, are basically not read, based on the commentary you see from honest people who attempted to.

Saturday, October 2, 2021

Boars

Wild board have invaded Rome.

And Barcelona, apparently, where singer Shakira had to take one on for stealing her purse.

Tuesday, August 27, 2019

Today is the Feast of Saint Monica of Hippo.


She was a Catholic Berber, married to a Roman Pagan, in North Africa. Devout throughout her life, she struggled with a dissolute difficult husband who none the less held her in respect.  Mother to three sons and a daughter, one of the sons was Augustine, who himself lived a life that caused her endless distress.

She followed him to Rome when he left for their, pursing a career in the law.  He converted to Christianity there, prior to her death at age 55. After her death, he would take holy orders, and rise to become St. Augustine of Hippo, one of the greatest Fathers of the Church.