USDA Announces New Support for Beginning Farmers and Ranchers
Nice, I suppose, but the real problem faced by beginning farmers and ranchers is that land prices aren't priced for farmers and ranchers.
Everything else just chips away at the edges. If would be farmers and ranchers can't afford the land, they will not be getting a start in it, no matter what. That's a problem that is difficult to address unless the proposed solutions are fairly radical in nature, which nobody seems to want to take on.
Thursday, July 24, 2014
Friday, July 24, 1914. Mobilization of land armies commences.
Serbia mobilized, Austro Hungaria severed relations.
Russia, regarding its rearmament program incomplete, determined to partially mobilize in the hopes of deterring war.
Victoriano Huerta and his family reached Kingston, Jamaica aboard the German cruiser SMS Dresden. They would reside there until 1915 when they'd relocate to the United States.
The railway strike in New Brunswick came to a negotiated end.
Last edition:
Thursday, July 23, 1914. The Ultimatum.
Labels: 1910s, 1914, Austro Hungaria, Crime, Diplomacy, Germany, Marriage, New York, Russia, Serbia, Teenagers, The relationship between men and women, United Kingdom, World War One
Wednesday, July 23, 2014
On Riding A Bicycle
Most summers I ride my bicycle to work quite a bit. I do that as it forces me to get a bit of exercise, it saves on the use of diesel fuel, and because I just like doing it. This year, however, I got around to that for the first time today. I didn't get a chance earlier as it seems the City of Casper and the State of Wyoming has determined to rip up every street I might conceivable wish to ride on this summer, simultaneously. On my way here today, for example, I went through two construction zones.
British Army bicycle, World War Two.
I have noticed more intrepid bicyclists riding through the highway construction zone near my house, so not all have been deterred. In watching them, and in riding this morning, I've been reminded by some of the odd behavior bicyclists exhibit, and which motorist also exhibit in regards to them. Only a minority of each exhibit these traits, but still, its interesting.
The dangerous motorist exceptions.
One thing that riding a bicycle causes you to encounter are the dangerous motorist, of which there are two types. The Super Courteous Motorist, and the Super Aggressive Motorist. This morning, I encountered the Super Courteous Motorist.
People of this type, when encountering a bicycle stopped at an intersection, will choose to yield their right of way even it means getting everyone killed in the process.
That's what I encountered this morning. I was stopped on a quiet residential street I take that intersects a very heavily traveled street. All I have to do is what a car, or a pedestrian, would do, which is wait for a break in traffic. It's not a long wait. Still, some motorist came to a screeching halt on the busy street nearly causing a fast moving car behind her to nearly plow right into her rear end. She simply parked there in the street, with cars whipping around here, expecting me to proceed out into traffic. I'm not going to do that, as she's the only party yielding and the same rules of the road that apply to cars, apply to me. Finally, I had to get her moving again by repeatedly waiving her on, while other motorist went right around her. I suspect she was probably insulted by my refusal to bike out into heavy traffic to validate her courtesy. Still, it's not a very thoughtful action in the true sense. She was very nearly injured by the fact that a car behind her had to avoid crashing into her, and I would have been injured had I taken her offer up.
The opposite of this is the person who seemingly takes personal exception to somebody riding a bike. They're not going to yield an inch, not even to give you a little more room when you are already over the fog line. Doggone it, if they can't be bothered to ride, you can't either, even if it means blasting by you when they know they're close.
The arrogant bicyclist exception.
Just as there's a Super Aggressive Motorist, there's the super aggressive bicyclist. These people know they have the same legal rights as automobiles, and they're going to use them. They ride in the travel lane no matter what.
The problem here is that bikes are actually not all that easy to see, and if a motorist doesn't see them, it's bad for the bicyclist. Some bikers just won't acknowledge that for some odd reason. As an example of this, the other day on my way to work I fell behind a bicyclist who absolutely refused to yield to vehicles. We were in a 40 mph zone at the time, and he was riding fast, but not all that fast. Still, I slowed down and simply rode behind him. When the road divided and became two lanes, he kept it up. At that point the speed limit drops to 30 mph, but most people keep on going 40 mph. I dropped my speed, and a person pulled out to pass me but did notice him.
What's the point of that. If you get hit by a car, you're doomed. Wake up.
The funky bicyclist.
It's been a feature of American life since the late 1970s that anything the boomers take up comes with a new set of clothing no matter how long people have undertaken the activity. So it is with bicycling.
Bikes first entered the American scene in numbers in the 1890s, where they were really the vehicle that really liberated people from what they cold do on foot in the cities. Bikes have been around ever since, but it wasn't until the 1990s that people thought they had to dress like they were in the Tour de France to ride a bike.
If you look at photos from any era prior to that, you'll find a lot of people dressed in every day clothing riding bikes. Men in suits, students in their day clothes, even soldiers in their uniforms. Now people seem to think they have to wear a jersey and tight shorts.
Well, being a contrarian, I'm having none of it. I've ridden a bike to work in the summer for 25 years and I wear my office clothes doing that. Some days that means a tie. I'm not going to ride in the Tour de France but I'm just as much of a bicyclist in the traditional sense as those guys. I can wear what I want, and frankly a lot of people who don't race bikes (I get it for bicycle racers) could dress a little more normally as well.
Thursday, July 23, 1914. The Ultimatum.
Serbia was presented with an ultimatum by Austro Hungaria. It read, with its instructions, as follows:
Vienna, July 22, 1914
Your Excellency will present the following note to the Royal Government on the afternoon of Thursday, July 23: On the 31st of March, 1909, the Royal Serbian Minister at the Court of Vienna made, in the name of his Government, the following declaration to the Imperial and Royal Government:
It is clear from the statements and confessions of the criminal authors of the assassination of the twenty-eighth of June, that the murder at Sarajevo was conceived at Belgrade, that the murderers received the weapons and the bombs with which they were equipped from Serbian officers and officials who belonged to the Narodna Odbrana, and, finally, that the dispatch of the criminals and of their weapons to Bosnia was arranged and effected under the conduct of Serbian frontier authorities.
The results brought out by the inquiry no longer permit the Imperial and Royal Government to maintain the attitude of patient tolerance which it has observed for years toward those agitations which center at Belgrade and are spread thence into the territories of the Monarchy. Instead, these results impose upon the Imperial and Royal Government the obligation to put an end to those intrigues, which constitute a standing menace to the peace of the Monarchy.
In order to attain this end, the Imperial and Royal Government finds itself compelled to demand that the Serbian Government give official assurance that it will condemn the propaganda directed against Austria-Hungary, that is to say, the whole body of the efforts whose ultimate object it is to separate from the Monarchy territories that belong to it; and that it will obligate itself to suppress with all the means at its command this criminal and terroristic propaganda. In order to give these assurances a character of solemnity, the Royal Serbian Government will publish on the first page of its official organ of July 26/13, the following declaration:
"The Royal Serbian Government condemns the propaganda directed against Austria-Hungary, that is to say, the whole body of the efforts whose ultimate object it is to separate from the Austro- Hungarian Monarchy territories that belong to it, and it most sincerely regrets the dreadful consequences of these criminal transactions.
"The Royal Serbian Government regrets that Serbian officers and officials should have taken part in the above-mentioned propaganda and thus have endangered the friendly and neighborly relations, to the cultivation of which the Royal Government had most solemnly pledged itself by its declarations of March 31, 1909.
"The Royal Government, which disapproves and repels every idea and every attempt to interfere in the destinies of the population of whatever portion of Austria-Hungary, regards it as its duty most expressly to call attention of the officers, officials, and the whole population of the kingdom to the fact that for the future it will proceed with the utmost rigor against any persons who shall become guilty of any such activities, activities to prevent and to suppress which, the Government will bend every effort."
This declaration shall be brought to the attention of the Royal army simultaneously by an order of the day from His Majesty the King, and by publication in the official organ of the army.
The Royal Serbian Government will furthermore pledge itself:
1. to suppress every publication which shall incite to hatred and contempt of the Monarchy, and the general tendency of which shall be directed against the territorial integrity of the latter;
2. to proceed at once to the dissolution of the Narodna Odbrana to confiscate all of its means of propaganda, and in the same manner to proceed against the other unions and associations in Serbia which occupy themselves with propaganda against Austria-Hungary. . .
3. to eliminate without delay from public instruction in Serbia, everything, whether connected with the teaching corps or with the methods of teaching, that serves or may serve to nourish the propaganda against Austria-Hungary;
4. to remove from the military and administrative service in general all officers and officials who have been guilty of carrying on the propaganda against Austria-Hungary. . .
5. to agree to the cooperation in Serbia of the organs of the Imperial and Royal Government in the suppression of the subversive movement directed against the integrity of the Monarchy;
6. to institute a judicial inquiry against every participant in the conspiracy of the twenty-eighth of June who may be found in Serbian territory; the organs of the Imperial and Royal Government delegated for this purpose will take part in the proceedings held for this purpose. . .
8. by efficient measures to prevent the participation of Serbian authorities in the smuggling of weapons and explosives across the frontier; to dismiss from the service and to punish severely those members of the Frontier Service at Schabats and Losnitza who assisted the authors of the crime of Sarajevo to cross the frontier;
9. to make explanations to the Imperial and Royal Government concerning the unjustifiable utterances of high Serbian functionaries in Serbia and abroad, who, without regard for their official position, have not hesitated to express themselves in a manner hostile toward Austria-Hungary since the assassination of the twenty-eighth of June;
10. to inform the Imperial and Royal Government without delay of the execution of the measures comprised in the foregoing points.
The Imperial and Royal Government awaits the reply of the Royal Government by Saturday, the twenty-fifth instant, at 6 p.m., at the latest.
A reminder of the results of the investigation about Sarajevo, to the extent they relate to the functionaries named in points 7 and 8 [above], is appended to this note.«
Appendix:
«The crime investigation undertaken at court in Sarajevo against Gavrilo Princip and his comrades on account of the assassination committed on the 28th of June this year, along with the guilt of accomplices, has up until now led to the following conclusions:
1. The plan of murdering Archduke Franz Ferdinand during his stay in Sarajevo was concocted in Belgrade by Gavrilo Princip, Nedeljko Cabrinovic, a certain Milan Ciganovic, and Trifko Grabesch with the assistance of Major Voija Takosic.
2. The six bombs and four Browning pistols along with ammunition -- used as tools by the criminals -- were procured and given to Princip, Cabrinovic and Grabesch in Belgrade by a certain Milan Ciganovic and Major Voija Takosic.
3. The bombs are hand grenades originating from the weapons depot of the Serbian army in Kragujevatz. . .
5. To make possible Princip, Cabrinovic und Grabesch's passage across the Bosnia-Herzegovina border and the smuggling of their weapons, an entire secretive transportation system was organized by Ciganovic. The entry of the criminals and their weapons into Bosnia and Herzegovina was carried out by the main border officials of Shabatz (Rade Popovic) and Losnitza as well as by the customs agent Budivoj Grbic of Losnitza, with the complicity of several others.«
On the occasion of handing over this note, would Your Excellency please also add orally that -- in the event that no unconditionally positive answer of the Royal government might be received in the meantime -- after the course of the 48-hour deadline referred to in this note, as measured from the day and hour of your announcing it, you are commissioned to leave the I. and R. Embassy of Belgrade together with your personnel.
British foreign minister Sir Edward Grey offered to Germany and Russia to mediate the dispute. Russia agreed, but Germany declined.
The Komagata Maru complied with Canadian orders and left Canadian waters.
Riots occurred in New Brunswick in the labor dispute involving striking rail workers.
Democratic politician William V. Cleary of Haverstraw, New York shot and killed his 18 year old son in law, Eugene M. Newman over the secret marriage of his pregnant daughter. He would not serve time for the murder, being acquitted in a trial that lead to widespread criticism. Nearly everyone associated with the trial and scandal ended up impoverished
His defense was temporary insanity.
Last edition:
Wednesday, July 22, 1914. Rejected proposals.
Tuesday, July 22, 2014
Camouflage
When I was a kid, I routinely wore a couple of items of camouflage in the winter. I had a camouflage Jones Hat, and a camouflage winter coat. Both had the "duck hunter" pattern of camouflage, which is why I had them to start with. I'm a duck hunter.
U.S. Army troops, World War Two, wearing the duck hunter pattern of camouflage developed for the Army. This pattern wasn't used by the Army long, as it was found in Europe that troops routinely associated camouflage with the SS. This photo is additionally interesting in that every soldier in the photograph is armed with a bolt action M1903 and M1917s rifles, rather than the M1 Garand, and the one soldier with a hat wears the early war pattern of fatigue brimmed hat. It's probably a relatively early war photo. The use of M1917s is fairly rarely seen in photographs from World War Two.
The duck hunter pattern was a product of World War Two. The U.S. Army started developing it after the Germans, and then the British, introduced camouflage smocks early in the war. The Germans were pioneers in the field, realizing that with cotton print clothing it was now easy to issue a smock with a camouflage pattern. The British did the same for paratroopers after being impressed with German paratroopers early in the war. The US followed suit, but not being too keen on smocks, simply went for a cotton camouflage uniform.
That uniform saw very little Army use in the war, because by the time the Army first fielded it in June 1944, camouflage was already heavily associated with German machinegun crews, and camouflage wearing U.S. troops started to take some friendly fire. So the pattern was withdrawn, and the existing clothing supplied to the Marines, who wore it in the Pacific. That soured the US Army on camouflage for a long time, but duck hunters did take up the pattern post war, and it came to be identified with them as a result. This was so much the case that when the Army first bought some camouflage uniforms, again in this pattern, on a limited basis early in the Vietnam War and during the Bay of Pigs adventure, for Cubans, it bought civilian duck hunter items, which were pretty close to the U.S. Army item of World War Two anyway. Indeed, I have a shirt in the pattern that I used hunting as a kid, and it's darned near identical to the World War Two Army item.
It wasn't until the Vietnam War that the US really changed its mind about camouflage. The war saw the unofficial adoption of Vietnamized French patterns (the Lizard pattern) in the form of the Tiger Stripe pattern. By war's end, the services had introduced the woodlands pattern in a tropical combat uniform, although it was issued mostly to Marines and Air Force ground support personnel. It wasn't until the early 1980s that the Army started to issue a new woodlands pattern to every soldier.
By that time, I was in the National Guard and my basic training cycle was the first one at Ft. Sill to receive the new woodland uniform.
At that time, if you wore camouflage, it meant one of three things. 1) you were in the service; 2) you were a hunter, and probably a bird hunter; 3) you'd recently been in the service. That's about it.
Somehow, since that time, the wearing of camouflage has exploded as a major fashion item. It's simply everywhere.
Yesterday, in the office, I saw a pair of camouflage Capri pants. I see camouflage ball caps everywhere. Lots of kids routinely wear camouflage shorts. I've even seen an advertisement for camouflage saddle oxford shoes.
How did that all occur?
Your camouflaged correspondent in South Korea. First pattern woodlands BDU uniform, with woodlands M65 Field Jacket, and Vietnam War era pattern reversible helmet cover.
Wednesday, July 22, 1914. Rejected proposals.
The Ottoman Empire proposed alliances with Germany and Austro Hungaria. They'd be turned down.
The Austro Hungarian Navy positioned battleships near Montenegro for the purpose of using their aircraft for border reconnaissance of the Montenegrin border, the first time something like that had been attempted.
The finishing touches were put on the demand note to be issued to Serbia.
While the July Crisis was largely off the front page in the US, the Mexican Revolution was not.
Railroad works in Saint John, New Brunswick, went on strike.
Last edition
Tuesday, July 14, 1914. Marmarth.
Monday, July 21, 2014
Western Union Horses
I was looking at something in regards to the Johnson County War the
other day, and was reminded that the horses used by the Invaders were
leased from Western Union. Indeed, one of the Invaders who detached
from the column was identified as such by the fact that his horse bore
their brand, and by that time, in Buffalo, they knew that the Invaders
had Western Union horses.
Does anyone know the story behind Western Union horse. When did they stop leasing them and how much of their business was based no horse leasing?
Does anyone know the story behind Western Union horse. When did they stop leasing them and how much of their business was based no horse leasing?
Tuesday, July 14, 1914. Marmarth.
Irish Nationalist and Irish Unionist met for the first of three days at Buckingham Palace.
The Canadian government mobilized the HMCS Rainbow and troops from the British Columbia Regimand and Seaforth Highlanders of Canada to force the Komagata Maru away from the Canadian coast.
Marmarth, N.D., 1914
Last edition:
Monday, July 20, 1914. The Kriegsmarine mobilizes.
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