NCSD Board Policy 5375. Dress Code.

The current NCSD dress code.

Usually with something like this, the poster, if he's been out of school over 20 years (and I have. . . shoot, I've been out of grad school for over 20 years.. . . hard to imagine), makes some comment about how things have changed and how back in the day. . .

Well, in actuality I think this is the same dress code, more or less, that they had back when I was in junior high.  It might actually be a little more restrictive than the applied code when I was in high school.  I think the same rules applied, but they weren't enforcing them all that much.  I know weweren't supposed to wear t-shirts with beer advertisements on them, but they weren't all that common at that time anyhow, and I don't think they bothered with enforcing that rule.  We were not to wear hats in class, I do recall that.

Which isn't to say that things never changed in the district. There were real rules at one time, but I don't really know when they ended.  I suspect, however, it was the 1970s.  Up until some point just after the Vietnam War every male student at NCHS (but not KWHS) had to take JrROTC and that did create a male dress code for at least one day per week. Earlier in the school's history I think that applied for more than one day per week.

 

 NCHS students in 1940s.

Girls at that time wore a school uniform, or at least for part of that time they did.  I don't really know when it ceased.

Whenever it did, the dress code that is the topic of the NCSD video, has pretty much been in place for at least 40 years.

Help Support NCHS's Welsh Auditorium Project (and my commentary on the lack of a pool).

The NCHS Welsh Auditorium is a of course a classic, but it stings a bit to see how much support the old auditorium is getting while the pool didn't manage it, and the new massive construction will lack a pool.

After this campaign came out, I contacted one of the board members about whether supporting the auditorium might mean we could still get support for the pool.  His reply noted that the auditorium had the support of a community organization that was backing it, where was ours.

I have to say, he was right.  We have no community organization boosting for a pool.  And I know that I don't have the time to try to start one, and I doubt after the defeat in the bond election, it would do much good. Still, this is disappointing.  Which may say something (perhaps not all that complimentary) about me. A pool matters to me. Any high school will have an auditorium, but having spent a lot of time at NC I nonetheless didn't manage to develop warming feelings for the auditorium, which is probably because I didn't take any sort of performance type classes.  Not that I begrudge the whole thing, but something just seems amiss.

Thursday, August 12, 1915. Trouble in Texas.

 Increased trouble on the Texas/Mexico border was being noticed.

As was also noticed, Haiti had a new President, Philippe Sudré Dartiguenave who took over following the lynching of the previous president Vilbrun Guillaume Sam and the start of the United States occupation of Haiti.

The 5th Battalion of the British Royal Norfolk Regiment was completely wiped out in combat at Gallipoli.

Royal Navy Air Service pilot Charles Edmonds became the first pilot to launch a torpedo at a ship, the ship being an Ottoman resupply ship at Gallipoli.

Last edition:

Wednesday, August 11, 1915. Yeoman's Tenth Law of History at work. The Ottomans kill the Armenian Intellectuals.

Labels: 1910s, 1915, 1915 Galveston Hurricane, Armenian Genocide, Australian Army, Battle of Lone Pine, Ethnicities, Gallipoli, Heroes, Ottoman Empire, Puerto Rico, Weather, World War One, Yeoman's Tenth Law of History

Mid Week At Work: Testing an airplane

Posted in honor of my day in the airport  yesterday, in which delays prevented me from reaching my destination, and every plane after the first one was delayed for one reason or another.

Oh well, I'm not really complaining about that.  I want them to fly safely.

I am, however, complaining about the grandmother who spent the first 1/4 of the last flight berating her teenage grandson in a very loud voice. Not cool.

Wednesday, August 11, 1915. Yeoman's Tenth Law of History at work. The Ottomans kill the Armenian Intellectuals.

The Ottoman Empire began the murder of 2,345 Armenian intellectuals held at Çankırı and Ayaş.  Victims included; 

Dikran Chökürian, writer and editor

Armen Dorian, poet

Parunak Ferukhan, musician

Melkon Giurdjian, writer and academic

Ardashes Harutiunian, poet and literary critic

Diran Kelekian, academic

Karekin Khajag, journalist

Garabed Pashayan Khan, physician

Shavarsh Krissian, athlete and sports journalist

Levon Larents, novelist

Kegham Parseghian, journalist

Smpad Piurad, writer and activist

Jacques Sayabalian, writer

Vartkes Serengülian, politician

Ruben Sevak, poet

Parsegh Shahbaz, lawyer and politician

Harutiun Shahrigian, politician

Siamanto, Armenian poet

Hagop Terzian, chemist and historian

Haig Tiriakian, politician

Krikor Torosian, writer

Daniel Varoujan, poet

It's worth noting that repressive regimes always go after the intellectuals.

There's utterly no excusing the Ottoman genocide, and yet Turkey continues to basically deny it.

Cpt. Alfred John Shout, an Australian Army officer of New Zealand birth, performed the actions that caused him to be awarded a posthumous Victoria's Cross:

His Majesty The KING has been pleased to award the Victoria Cross to the undermentioned Officers, Non-Commissioned Officers and Men: —

Captain Alfred John Shout, 1st Battalion, Australian Imperial Force.

For most conspicuous bravery at Lone Pine trenches, in the Gallipoli Peninsula.

On the morning of the 9th August, 1915, with a very small party Captain Shout charged down trenches strongly occupied by the enemy, and personally threw four bombs among them, killing eight and routing the remainder.

In the afternoon of the same day, from the position gained in the morning, he captured a further length of trench under similar conditions, and continued personally to bomb the enemy at close range under very heavy fire until he was severely wounded, losing his right hand and left eye.

This most gallant officer has since succumbed to his injuries.

A weather station in San Juan, Puerto Rico recorded a 29.60 inHg (1,002 mb) pressure reading and winds speeds up to 60 mph (97 km/h) as the eye of the 1915 Galveston Hurricane passed south of the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico. 

Last edition:

Tuesday, August 10, 1915. Storms

Labels: 1910s, 1915, 1915 Galveston Hurricane, Barbados, Battle of Chunuk Bair, Battle of Lone Pine, British Army, Gallipoli, Ottoman Army, Texas, Weather, World War One

Perceptions and the Land and Water Conservation Fund

An article in today's Casper Star Tribune starts off as follows:

Think of your favorite park, ballfield or city swimming pool. Chances are it was paid for in part by the Land and Water Conservation Fund.

The federal grant gave $121,000 to help build Casper's Highland Park in 1974, for example. It supplied $64,000 at Curt Gowdy State Park in 1976. In 2007, it provided $66,930 to build a playground in Edness Kimball Wilkins State Park. 

The Land and Water Conservation Fund has doled out about $17 billion in 50 years, creating outdoor recreation opportunities across the country. But that run may be coming to an end.

Unless reauthorized in Congress, the fund will sunset Sept. 30.

“I don’t know how those projects would get off the ground without it,” said Dominic Bravo, administrator of Wyoming State Parks, Historic Sites and Trails.

The article goes on to explain how the Land and Water Conservation Fund started off with modest funding during the Eisenhower Administration, but it greatly expanded during the 1970s.  It provides money to local government for recreational facilities of all types, and the categories are very broad, and its funded by revenues generated from off shore mineral exploration.  The original concept, according to the Tribune, was to use those off shore proceeds to fund recreational activities for the entire nation and its (then and now) growing population.

The law was built with a 25 year sunset, and it was extended once, meaning its set to sunset again on September 30.

Now, I'll make it clear that I hope its extended, but something like this says a lot about a whole host of interesting things.  It makes it clear how inaccurate our recollection of the past is, and how little we understand about the relationship between the states, people and the Federal government is today.

Starting off with the present, our own state is amongst the most libertarian of them all, and generally has a fairly hostile few of the role of the Federal government locally. But that doesn't keep us from taking Land and Water Conservation Fund money or Federal highway funds.  Indeed, we complain if we don't get the highway funds we  think we're entitled to.

With the recreation funds, we have no shoreline at all, so we can't really say that we have an immediate right to any of the money.  It isn't like local oil money.  If we feel that we deserve part of it, as we're part of the whole, well. . . that says something about the local arguments on the Federal domain as well, doesn't it?

Regarding our recollections of the past, and soon to be a subject of another post, there's come to be a belief for some reason that the 1950s were politically "conservative".  I'm not sure of the origin of that belief, but it's widely held, and I suspect it's widely held because of the concept that the entire boomer generation that came of age in the 1960s rebelled against their upbringing during the 1950s.   There's a lot of reason to question that assumption or at least to nuance it, but it isn't really accurate to claim that the 1950s were a Happy Days like era of conservatism.  In fact, the GOP was largely middle to middle left in the era, and the Democrats crowded them for that position.  There were exceptions, but what we really see is that the GOP moved towards the Democrats after World War Two, and the Democrats moved towards the Republicans.  Neither party had any problem with large Federal projects and Federal funding of any kind, reflecting the views that had come up during World War Two.  So, we got stuff like the Land and Water Conservation Fund during a Republican Administration, and again during the 1970s we find that the GOP held the White House except for four years.

I'm not really making a point about the fund, or indeed any of this.  It's just a comment regarding our perceptions.

Tuesday, August 10, 1915. Storms

As if border raids weren't enough of a problem for Texas, the 1915 Galveston hurricane became just that on this day, being observed north of Barbados.

The Battle of Lone Pine concluded at Gallipoli with the Australians taking 2,277 men killed or wounded, with Ottoman estimates were estimated between 5,000 and 6,000. The Ottoman's prevailed, but at a heavy price.

The Ottomans overwhelmed British defenses at Chunuk Bair.

Last edition:

Monday, August 9, 1915. Hard fighting at Gallipoli.

Labels: 1910s, 1915, Armenian Genocide, Battle of Chunuk Bair, Battle of Lone Pine, British Army, Gallipoli, German Kriegsmarine, Landing at Suvla Bay, Mexican Border War, Newspapers, Ottoman Army, Ottoman Empire, press, Royal Navy

The Big Picture: Holscher's Hub: Anchor Point, Alaska

Anchor Point, Alaska

Hurt feelings?

There's a case pending, apparently, in the Federal District Court of Wyoming in which environmentalist have sued the Peabody Coal Company.  I don't know what the suit is about.

Apparently the plaintiffs included lyrics of the chorus from John Prine's classic "New" Grass folk song, Paradise, in their complaint.  For those not familiar with the song, those lyrics are:

And daddy won't you take me back to Muhlenberg County
Down by the Green River where Paradise lay
Well, I'm sorry my son, but you're too late in asking
Mister Peabody's coal train has hauled it away.

The defendant apparently moved to strike that part of the complaint, and now that motion is pending.

Well, I suppose it isn't proper pleading, but Peabody has been around a long time and its survived okay since 1971 when the song was released.  Apparently, according to an article in the Tribune, they've never liked the fact that they were the target of the song, and it is pretty pointed, but still, seems like moving to strike is fairly pointless.

Monday, August 9, 1915. Hard fighting at Gallipoli.

Hard fighting at Gallipoli continued on.

British forces were ordered to capture Hill Q at night, but disorientation and friendly fire caused the effort to fail.

British infantry of the 32nd Bde were to exhausted after a night march and were destroyed in a Ottoman bayonet charge.

Fighting died down at Lone Pine.

Swedish diplomat Cossva Anckarsvärd released a report stating: "It is obvious that the Turks are taking the opportunity to, now during the war, annihilate the Armenian nation so that when the peace comes no Armenian question longer exists."

The HMS Lynx struck a mine in the North Sea and sank.  

The German auxiliary cruiser SMS Meteor was scuttled in the North Sea.

The news of yesterday's fighting in Texas hit the front pages in Casper.

Last edition:

Sunday, August 8, 1915. The Raid on Norias Ranch.

Labels: 1910s, 1915, Armenian Genocide, Battle of Chunuk Bair, British Army, Constitutionalist Army, Gallipoli, German Kriegsmarine, Mexican Border War, New Zealand Army, Portugal, Royal Navy, Texas, Texas Rangers, World War One

Sunday Morning Scene: Churches of the West: St. Francis de Sales Roman Catholic Church, Denver...

Churches of the West: St. Francis de Sales Roman Catholic Church, Denver...:

Yet another photograph taken from a car window, this is St. Francis de Sales Roman Catholic Church in south Denver. This church, named after the Patron Saint of Writers, is also associated with a Catholic School which is about one block away. The church was built in 1911.

Stalin Central Time?

On August 15, the clocks in North Korea will go back half an hour. The country will officially enter a new time zone which it itself has created – according to the country's official KCNA news agency, it will be dubbed 'Pyongyang Time.' As with much of what the North Korean state does, the new time zone is being framed as a triumph over imperial history. Pointedly, Pyongyang Time will begin on 70th anniversary of Korea's liberation from Japanese occupation.

"The wicked Japanese imperialists committed such unpardonable crimes as depriving Korea of even its standard time while mercilessly trampling down its land," KCNA says.

From a press report.

Painted Bricks: What is it? Granger Wyoming

Painted Bricks: What is it? Granger Wyoming:

This is a fairly substantial structure in the small town of Granger, Wyoming.

 

Granger is an old locality for Wyoming.  It was a Pony Express stage stop, and the stage building is still there (which unfortunately I didn't realize until after I'd driven out of town).  The town is small, and the population of about 140 has stayed constant for the entire 20th Century and into the 21st.

Which makes a building like this a peculiarity.   When I took this photo, because of some of the features of the building, I thought it was an abandoned church, and I had intended to post it on our Churches of the West site.  But later I reconsidered as I'm not so sure of that.  It doesn't really have a steeple, not that all churches do.  It has some very church like features, but this could also have served some other purpose.  I'll note the other side made me, at the time, even more convinced this was a church, but as the house is now apparently used as a private residence, I didn't want to linger while photographing, particularly as a curious dog inside the building was taking note of me on the street.  I should also note, however, that on one side is a branch of the Sweetwater County Library, and on the other side is the Granger town hall.  Maybe this was a government building at one time?  Maybe it was a school?

So, what do we have here?  If you know, post the answer.

Friday Farming: Agriphemera: Planning A Subsistence Homestead(1934)

I was doing some early morning net surfing, having awakened far too early this morning, and ran across this:

Agriphemera: Planning A Subsistence Homestead(1934): There was a time when the U.S. government encouraged families to live on a small section of rural land and provide for their own ...

I'm really amazed that the U.S. Government was publishing an item on subsistence farming in 1934.  I wonder, would this reflect conditions in the Great Depression?

Saturday, August 7, 1915. Hard fighting at Gallipoli.

The Landing at Suvla Bay, designed to revive Allied hopes at Gallipoli, disintegrated into being a mess. 

A second attack occurred at Krithia Vineyard.  Ottoman replacements began a counter offensive at Lone Pine.  A local attack at Chunuk Bair was successful but slow, leading to increased losses at the Battle of the Nek, where the 3d Light Horse Brigade engaged in a charge of Ottoman positions.

Battle of the Nek.

The Australians also were engaged in heavy fighting at the lesser known Battle of Dead Man's Ridge.

Leyendecker depicted an act of theft.

Ducks graced The Country Gentleman.

Last edition:

Friday, August 6, 1915. Attack of the Dead Men.

Labels: 1910s, 1915, Bandit War, Battle of Lone Pine, Battle of Sari Bair, Battle of the Krithia Vineyard, Gallipoli, Imperial Russian Army, Mexican Border War

Sunday, August 8, 1915. The Raid on Norias Ranch.

Carrancistas in support of the Plan of San Diego raided the Norias Ranch near Kingsfield Texas, but were held off by Texas Rangers and local peace officers.

Aftermath of the raid.

Ian Hamilton, commander of the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force, met with Gen. Frederick Stopford and noted that progress a Suvla Bay was too slow.  He pushed Stopford to up the hour of an attack on Ottoman defenses by twelve hours.

Reports began to come out of Syria that Armenians were dying in droves.

A New Zealand assault on Chunuk Bair failed.  Albert Downing, age 29, a former New Zealand rugby player, for the New Zealand national rugby union team and the Marist Brothers Old Boys RFC was killed in the fight. William George Malone, age 56, commanding the New Zealand troops was as well.

The German High Seas Fleet attempted to clear Russian minefields around the Gulf of Riga 

The Ottoman battleship Barbaros Hayreddin, formerly the SMS Kurfürst Friedrich Wilhelm, was torpedoed and sunk in the Sea of Marmara off Bolayır, Turkey by British submarine HMS E11.

The British armed merchant cruiser SS India was torpedoed and sunk in the Norwegian Sea off Bodø, Nordland, Norway by German submarine SM U-22.

The Austro-Hungarian submarine SM U-12 struck a mine and sank in the Venetian Lagoon.

The British armed boarding steamer SS The Ramsey was torpedoed and sunk in the North Sea by German auxiliary cruiser SMS Meteor.

The Catholic Centre Party was established in Portugal.  It had already won one seat.

Last edition:

Saturday, August 7, 1915. Hard fighting at Gallipoli.

Labels: 1910s, 1915, Australian Army, Battle of Chunuk Bair, Battle of Dead Man's Ridge, Battle of Lone Pine, Battle of the Krithia Vineyard, Battle of the Nek, Gallipoli, Landing at Suvla Bay, New Zealand Army, World War One

Friday, August 6, 1915. Attack of the Dead Men.

Border raiders attacked Sebastian, Texas, killing former lawman A. L. Austin and his son Charles.  He was likely specifically targeted by the raiders due to his history of himself targeting Mexican-Americans during his days as a lawman.

Vladimir Karpovich Kotlinsky (Влади́мир Ка́рпович Котли́нский), the Lieutenant in charge of the Russian attack.

German troops launched a chlorine gas bombardment on the Russian garrison of Osowiec Fortress.  Russians traumatized by gas launched a heroic successful counterattack, called the Attack of the Dead men due to their appearance.

The British landed reinforcements at Suvla as part of a new offensive at Gallipoli.  The British launched a diversionary attack at Krithia Vineyard as part of this.  Australians attacked Lone Pine, ANZACs at Sari Bair.

Last edition:

Thursday, August 5, 1915. Leaving Warsaw.

Labels: 1910s, 1915, Eastern Front, German Army, Imperial Russian Army, panoramic, Poland, The Great Retreat, Warsaw Poland, World War One

Beauty: Function or Form?

Heavily rusted mid 1970s Chevrolet pickup truck, with Colorado classic vehicle plate and rough trailer, but lifted and with good tires, on Homer Spit, Alaska.

New York Times: In Zimbabwe, We Don't Cry for Lions

Excellent article from the New York Times on how people closer to nature, and closer to lions, actually view them.

The war comes to some doorsteps

This has hit the Denver (although not the local Wyoming) news today. The FBI has issued the following warning, which is being reprinted in various papers and on the net:

Middle-Eastern Males Approaching Family Members of US Military Personnel at their Homes In Colorado and Wyoming, as of June 2015
5 pages
For Official Use Only
July 2, 2015
Download
(U//FOUO) In May 2015, the wife of a US military member was approached in front of her home by two Middle-Eastern males. The men stated that she was the wife of a US interrogator. When she denied their claims, the men laughed. The two men left the area in a dark-colored, four-door sedan with two other Middle-Eastern males in the vehicle. The woman had observed the vehicle in the neighborhood on previous occasions.
(U//FOUO) Similar incidents in Wyoming have been reported to the FBI throughout June 2015. On numerous occasions, family members of military personnel were confronted by Middle-Eastern males in front of their homes. The males have attempted to obtain personal information about the military member and family members through intimidation. The family members have reported feeling scared.
(U//FOUO) To date, the men have not been identified and it is not known if all the incidents involve the same Middle-Eastern males. If you have any information that may assist the FBI in identifying these individuals, or reporting concerning additional incidents; in Colorado please contact the FBI Fort Collins Resident Agency at 970-663-1028, in Wyoming please contact the FBI Cheyenne Resident Agency at 307-632-6224.
(U) This report has been prepared by the DENVER Division of the FBI. Comments and queries may be addressed to the DENVER Division at 303-629-7171.

Thursday, August 5, 1915. Leaving Warsaw.

The Russians abandoned Warsaw.

Norfolk and Portsmouth water fronts and harbor, 8/5/15.

Last edition:

Tuesday, August 3, 1915. Aniceto Pizaña.

Labels: 1910s, 1915, Army, Austro Hungarian Army, Bandit War, Battle of Jastków, Floresmagonista, Imperial Russian Army, Italian Army, Plan of San Diego, Polish Legion, Second Battle of the Isonzo, Texas, Texas Rangers