Tuesday, November 23, 1909. The Uprising of the 20,000

Approximately 20,000 Yiddish-speaking young women launched a strike in the New York garment industry.

Mount Aspiring (referred Tititea), the highest peak in New Zealand at 9,957 feet (3,033 m), was climbed for the first time.

Last edition:

Sunday, November 21, 1909. Demanding Nicaraguan reparations..

Labels: 1900s, 1909, boats and ships, Diplomacy, Nicaragua, U.S. Navy, United States

Cliffnotes of the Zeitgeist, 66th Edition. A little song, a little dance, a little seltzer up your pants.*

Strange bedfellows.

Politics, as they say, makes for strange bedfellows.

New Senate Whip John Barrasso with President Elect Donald Trump and President John F. Kennedy with his nephew Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

Politics is, we also know, the art of compromise, but to what extent is a politician to blame for compromising with the truth?

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has been chosen by Donald Trump to be the new head of Health and Human Services.

He is, frankly, a nutter on health topics, who shouldn't be allowed anywhere near such a post.

John Barrasso is, by training, an orthopedic surgeon.

I've long suspected, well I'm pretty much certain, that Dr. Barrasso doesn't actually believe even half of what he's saying..He's doing it to 1) keep his Senatorial seat; and 2) advance himself in the Senate, even though at his age he could easily retire and be done with it.

Without getting too deep into it, I also believe that once you start compromising on fundamental things, you keep doing it, including with the truth.  You don't start off deep into it, but you end up there.

Dr. Barrasso was known, at one time, as "Wyoming's Doctor" and had spots on local television with health minutes, and hosted the Labor Day Marathon.  He continued to do this after he became Senator, a spot he was appointed to by the legislature to fill a vacancy before he was elected.

I've met him, as a physician, but can't claim to know him.  I've been with him on commercial aircraft numerous times.  I've always left him alone, as I figure that while traveling, people don't like to be bothered.  I don't.  Not everyone was like that, however, and I'd see people who recognized him treat him sort of like fans treated Elvis Presley.

Dr. Barrasso is originally from Pennsylvania.  With a solid Italian American parentage, and an early Catholic education, I'd guess, but don't know, that he was a Catholic up until some point.  He list himself as a Presbyterian now, and has been divorced, and later remarried.  He's in his early 70s.  Early on, his positions were clearly moderate Republican, but starting at least as early as 2016 they began to rapidly head towards Trumpism.  He had a right wing challenger in the GOP primary last go around, and while I think the chances of him every losing were small, he went hardcore to the right.

Now he's the whip.  Trump is going to expect him to whip up support for Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.  Robert F. Kennedy, Jr, holds some of the nuttiest ideas on healthcare, and particularly vaccines, imaginable.  He shouldn't be anywhere near the Department of Health and Human Services.

Will Barrasso choke those down and support them.

Again, people don't get to supporting anything overnight.  Some do rapidly, some over decades.

RFK, Jr. has no business in this office.

Kennedys

Before moving on, hasn't the country had enough of the Kennedys?  

I certainly have.

The over tattooed and expropriation.

Trump's nominee for Secretary of Defense, Pete Hegseth, is taking a lot of flak.  Some of it is for things he's said or believes

Some of it for his tattoos, which are interpreted to mean things which they might not.

One of those tattoos is of a Jerusalem Cross.

The Jerusalem cross consists of a large cross potent surrounded by four smaller Greek crosses representing the spread of the gospel to the four corners of the earth.  It was used as the emblem and coat of arms of the Kingdom of Jerusalem after 1099.

Hegeth is a member of a church which is part of the Communion of Reformed Evangelical Churches.  Therefore, he's appropriating a Catholic symbol, while he's not a Catholic.  Indeed, he's not even close, as he's on his third spouse, something no adherent Catholic would have done.

He also has a tattoo on a bicep that states Deus vult, "God wills", a phrase that dates back to the First Crusade, but which has been appropriated by many groups over the years.   And it doesn't stop there.

“Israel, Christianity and my faith are things I care deeply about,” he's stated.

Perhaps he should learn more about the faith espoused by the symbols that he's had inked on himself.  Indeed, quite frankly, the men who cried Deus vult in the 11th Century and those who fought to defend the Kingdom of Jerusalem would have regarded him as a heretic. 

Anyhow,  one thing that I've worried about since the rise of Christian Nationalist is that Catholics are the ones who are going to take a beating in the end, even though its really a Protestant movement.  I can already see it starting to happen.  Former Senator Adam Kinzinger, who comments heavily on Blue Sky and Twitter, had a post noting that "the Crusades weren't Christian".  Oh yes they were, the thing they weren't is the edited version that English Protestants came up with to attempt to tar and feather the Church.  Others have been running around claiming that the Jerusalem Cross, which Catholics use a lot, is a Nazi symbol, which it isn't, or a camouflaged swastika, which it isn't.

The United States remains a Protestant nation, including in the way it reacts to symbols and in its misunderstanding of history.

All this serves, I'd note, to bury a deeper item that should be of actual concern, which is the American Evangelical view towards Israel.  This is not universal, by any means, but there's a branch of American Evangelicalism which sees itself as having a direct role in bringing about the Second Coming through its interaction with Israel.  According to somebody who knew him and commented on it recently (therefore at least making it somewhat suspect) former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee, who has been nominated by Trump to be Ambassador to Israel, and who is a Baptist minister, has those views.

Really, people with the apparent views of Huckabee and Kinzinger really have no business in the offices they've been nominated to serve in.

Hairless wonders.

This is sort of an odd aside, but the huge increase in male tattoos, including chest tattoos, has caused me to wonder, has there been a reduction in male chest hair in recent years?

Chest hair is a secondary male characteristic which is caused by a variety of genetic factors.  One of those is a high testosterone level, and for that reason, hairy chests have gone, at any one time, from being regarded as "brutish" to sexy.  Because of the conditions of the Second World War, Americans were acclimated for a time to seeing men shirtless, which was unusual, and for a good several decades after the war, hairy chested men, or just flat out hairy men in general, were in vogue.  Indeed I can recall seeing some 1960s vintage war movie with Fabian in it which was ridiculously hairy.

This is clearly really out now, but it still raises the question, what's going on.  Personally, I couldn't have a giant chest tattoo like Hegseth for the same reason that Tom Selleck couldn't.  I doubt that I really could have a tattoo anywhere safe for the the generally non visible part of my arms either.

It's interesting to note that there has been a substantial reduction in detected testosterone levels in the US since the 1980s.**

Maybe RFK, Jr. can look into that.

Creeps

It's a real irony that the man so many Christian Evangelicals saw as the Christian candidate has such a horrible personal tract record at least in the sexual ethics category, but perhaps that fact should cause us to be less than surprised that he nominated Matt Gaetz to be Attorney General of the United States.

There seem to be no doubt that Gaetz dabbled down in this category to a 17 year old.  Yes, he wasn't prosecuted, but he may have had a credible defense based on scienter.  According to at least one report, once he learned she was 17, he abstained from her favors until she was 18.

The thing here, however, is that this conduct is completely immoral.  Not only is it sex outside of marriage, which Christianity, but Gaetz is a creep who is fishing in the bottom of the well.  Frankly, this deserves further investigation as most 17 year olds or 18 year olds would have had no interest in Gaetz, so something should be done to figure out why they did and what's behind that.

This guy has no significant legal experience and shouldn't be anywhere near the AG's office.

Scenes from the American dumpster fire.

Strange bedfellows indeed.

At this point, however, if Matt Gaetz invited Mike Johnson over to the Playboy Grotto, if it still existed, I'd expect him to go.

Something about this photo just shows how trashy American culture has become.

Trashy.

I think there is sort of a faction in the Republican Party that has a strange kind of... sort of homoerotic fascination for Putin.

Boris Johnson recently stated this.

The fascination for Putin (who has a hairless chest, I'd note) is pretty weird.

Trad Rant

The recent election seems to have bubbled some stuff up from the bottom of the cultural dutch oven, and not just stuff like the weird things noted in the two above entries. Some of this is interesting to ponder, including pondering whether its a serious trend or something else.

One of them is the emergence of secular (and religious) trad women, holding a romantic, it seems, view of the not so distant path.

Here's an example.  Interesting trad rant starting at 21:00.

Interesting trad rant starting at 21:00.

This topic has come up here before, and the same way, more or less. The video clip above was cut down as a TikTok clip and reposted on Twitter, where it went viral.  Just the part where the young female Republican Trumpite starts the rant linked above.  We posted on this topic before, where a young woman, who was not aspiring to be a Hallmark farm wife, was having an absolute meltdown about having to work.

It's easy to dismiss this stuff, but there's something to it, which as noted, I've dove into before.  What's bizarre, maybe, is there somewhat to be some sort of minor movement.  Witness, in photos lifted from Twitter, although if I did it right, you can jump right to their Twitter feed.

I don't want to go to far in criticizing this, really, as it has a real appeal, as does a lot of sort of agrarian conservatism and Chesteronian distributism I see creeping into the culture, sort of sideways.  These people are sincere, and there's a real appeal to it.  Shoot, I'd live an agrarian life if people around me would allow it, or so I tell myself.

Others tell themselves that too, and also mock themselves, as for example, here:

Carpathian shepherdess.

Well, enough of all of that.

Footnotes:

*“A Little Song, a Little Dance, a Little Seltzer Down Your Pants”

**That may actually be due to the overall increase in the median age, as testosterone levels decline, normally, in males as they age.

Related Threads:

Women at work. "Whoever fought, for women to get jobs. . . . why?. . . . why did you do that?" Looking at women (and men) in the workplace, and modern work itself, with a long lens.

Last edition:

Cliffnotes of the Zeitgeist, 65th Edition. Toilet Paper Day, Swedish immigration and emigration, Wyoming trending on Twitter.

Labels: 2020s, 2024, 2024 Election, Daily Living, Disaster, emigration, Immigration, law, Sweden, The Wyoming Fires of 2024, Twitter, Wyoming, Zeitgeist

Saturday, November 15, 1924.

 

Last edition:

Thursday, November 13, 1924. Polish Orthodox Church.

Labels: 1920s, 1924, Apostolic Christianity, Christianity, football, Italy, Mussolini, Orthodox, religion, Sports, Women

Thursday, November 13, 1924. Polish Orthodox Church.

The Polish Orthodox Church was created as an autocephalous Orthodox Church by the signing of the Patriarchal and Synodal Tomos by Patriarch Gregory VII of Constantinople, recognizing the situation that had been created by the Russian Revolution and Poland's independence.

Mussolini introduced a bill to grant women the franchise in Italy.

Last edition

Thursday, November 12, 1914. Wanted horses.

Labels: 1910s, 1914, British Army, Equine Transportation, Maritz Rebellion, Mexican Revolution, Mexico, South Africa, South African Army

Thursday, November 6, 1924. The 100th Anniversary of Christopher Robin and Winey the Pooh.

Winston Churchill was named Chancellor of the Exchequer.

Nikola Pašić became Prime Minister of Yugoslavia for the second time.

Published on this date:

Calvin Coolidge issued a statement regarding his election:

November 05, 1924

It does not seem possible to me to make an adequate expression concerning the Presidency of the United States. No other honor equals it; no other responsibility approaches it. When it is conferred by an overwhelming choice of the American people and vote of the Electoral College, these are made all the greater.

I can only express my simple thanks to all those who have contributed to this result and plainly acknowledge that it has been brought to pass through the work of a Divine Providence, of which I am but one instrument. Such powers as I have I dedicate to the service of all my country and of all my countrymen.

In the performance of the duties of my office I cannot ask for anything more than the sympathetic consideration which my fellow-Americans have always bestowed upon me. I have no appeal, except to the common sense of all the people. I have no pledge except to serve them. I have no object except to promote their welfare.

Life Magazine came out with a cover featuring a Girl Scout.

The Irish Boundary Commission held its first meeting to come to an agreement of the dividing line between the Irish Free State and the United Kingdom.

Last edition:

Wednesday, November 5, 1924. Expelled from the Forbidden City.

Labels: 1920s, 1924, 1924 Election, 1930s, 1940s, 1950s, 1960s, Calvin Coolidge, China, Chinese Warlord Era, Manchukuo, Monarchy, Nellie Tayloe Ross, Thanksgiving, World War Two

Tuesday, November 4, 1924. Ross and Coolidge win.

Today In Wyoming's History: November 4: 

1924 Nellie Tayloe Ross of Wyoming was elected the nation's first woman governor, when she was elected in a special election to fill the term of her late husband, who had been governor. She would serve until 1927, when she would leave office after having narrowly lost the 1926 election. She refused to campaign in either election, but remained popular nonetheless. Her 1926 loss is likely attributable to her refusal to campaign, which her opponent did do, and her strong support for Prohibition. She would later serve in Franklin Roosevelt's administration and Truman administration as the head of the United States Mint.

 

1924  Calvin Coolidge elected President.

Coolidge took 52% of the Wyoming vote, but showing a strong remaining progressive/populist streak, Robert LaFollette of the Progressive Party took second place with 32%.  The Democratic candidate, the forgotten John Davis, took the balance.

Last Edition:

Monday, November 3, 1924. Election Eve.

Labels: 1920s, 1924, 1924 Election, 2020s, 2024, Calvin Coolidge, Casper Wyoming, Lodging, Nellie Tayloe Ross, Radio, Wyoming (Casper)

Tuesday, October 25, 1774. Edenton Tea Party

Fifty-one women in Edenton, North Carolina, met and agreed to uphold the non-importation resolves passed in August 1774 by the North Carolina Provincial Congress in what is known as the Edenton Tea Party.

Last edition:

Friday, October 14, 1774. The Declaration of Resolves.

Labels: 1770s, 1774, American Revolution, Colonial North America, First Continental Congress, Intolerable Acts

Today in World War II History—October 19, 1944

Today in World War II History—October 19, 1944: 80 Years Ago: Japanese form Special Attack Group of kamikazes. US Navy partially integrates Blacks into service areas and opens WAVES to Black women.

Saturday, September 27, 1924. Politicin'

 

John W. Davis (standing center with white hair), candidate for president in 1924, with Clem L. Shaver, Democratic National Committee Chairman standing to his right.

Pres. Coolidge with Natl. Laundry Owner's Assn., 9/27/24

Pres. Coolidge with Natl. Assn. of Retail Druggists,

Coolidge with Natl. Assn. of Local Preachers of Methodist Episcopal Church, 9/27/24

"Bonus bar".

The Saturday magazines were out.  The Saturday Evening Post pictured a Rockwell of a downtrodden man and a dog.

County Gentleman featured a duck hunter freshening up his decoys.

Colliers featured a woman working on her car.

Governor Zheng Shiqi of China's Anhui province telegraphed China's President Cao Kun for military aid to resist the Fengtian troops.

Last edition:

Thursday, September 25, 1924. Theodore Roosevelt Jr. and the New York Governor's Race.

Labels: 1920s, 1924, 1924 Election, Democratic Party, Franklin Roosevelt, New York, Politics, Republican Party, Socialism

Sunday, September 25, 1774. Clementina Rind.

Cementina Rind, age 34, died in Williamsburg, Virginia. She was the first female printer in North America, having assumed the role of publisher of the Virginia Gazette upon the death of her husband the prior year.  She left five children.

This is interesting for a variety of reasons, including the common early arrival of death in the 18th Century, and that women did occupy roles that would surprise us.

Last edition:

Friday, September 23, 1774. The York Tea Party.

Labels: 1770s, 1774, American Revolution, Colonial North America, Maine

Saturday, September 10, 1774. Edenton Tea Party.

Penelope Barker organized 51 women in Edenton, North Carolina to protest taxation without representation.

Last edition:

Friday, September 9, 1774. The Suffolk Resolves.

Labels: 1770s, 1774, American Revolution, Blog Mirror, Colonial North America, Massachusetts

Monday, September 8, 1924. Landing at Long Island. Beauties in Casper. Gunning down the mistress in Texas.

The U.S. Army's around the world flight, that is the surviving aircraft of it, landed at Mitchel Field on Long Island.

The Prince of Wales was there to greet them.

The Casper papers reported on the big aviation event.

The Casper Daily Tribune also reported on the Princess Petrolia Ball.

The Casper Herald, a morning paper, noted that the flight would be coming, but headlined with other news.

Last edition:

Sunday, September 7, 1924. Infernos.

Labels: 1920s, 1924, 1924 at the Movies, Casper Wyoming, Catholic, Christianity, Movies, religion, Spain, The written word, Wyoming (Casper)

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.