Ostensibly exploring the practice of law before the internet. Heck, before good highways for that matter.
Saturday, April 1, 2017
Poster Saturday: Are You in ths?
Apparently a World War One era poster commissioned by Lord Baden Powell, the creator of the Boy Scouts.
Labels:
Poster Saturday,
Posters,
World War One
Location:
United Kingdom
Best Posts of the Week of March 26, 2017
The best posts for the week of March 26, 2017:
Autocephalous? Eh? A Sunday Morning Scene Post.
Friday, March 31, 2017
Friday Farming: Blog Mirror; Beef-The secret reason why ranchers are so happy
From Beef:
The secret reason why ranchers are so happy
Secret? Well if that's a secret, it's one that apparently I was in on, as I've said the same thing here on more than one occasion, as for example:
Lex Anteinternet: The caged tiger isn't happy? Mixed news on the medical front.Truth be known, we were evolved to live out in nature. But we've developed our society to live indoors, with indoor occupations, which is deeply unnatural. Or, as Beef states:
Farmstead, Pennsylvania. The life many left for life in cities.I sort of feel that this story;Lex Anteinternet: The caged tiger isn't happy?: Heard in an interview of a doctor regarding depression: "Major depression is unheard of in hunter gatherer societies".is related to this one:As per a new study published online Dec. 11 in the Journal Alzheimer Disease and Associated Disorders, high stress could increase risk factor for many cognitive functions that can lead to the Alzheimer’s disease. Dr. Gayatri Devi, a neurologist at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City, said the latest study shows link between high stress levels and chances of developing diseases like Alzheimer’s.From the Northern Californian.
However, despite these worries, it turns out people who work with the land are in an occupation that lends itself to happiness.Is it the fresh air? Being your own boss? Managing livestock? Building something from the ground up? Growing plants from the soil? What is it that makes farmers and ranchers so good natured, even in the worst of times?Now, I can't take credit for knowing everything revealed in the article, for example:
Mycobacterium vaccae is the substance under study and has indeed been found to mirror the effect on neurons that drugs like Prozac provide. The bacterium is found in soil and may stimulate serotonin production, which makes you relaxed and happier.Now, I know that in our deeply urban society, this will be translated by many into "so spend the weekend in the park!" And indeed, that'd be better than not doing that. But at the end of the day, the glass and steel world we've made is operating against us. Your nature would rather see you in nature, every day.
Transfer Day: The United States takes possession of the Danish West Indies
The Dannebrog, the Danish flag, being lowered at the Governor's Mansion for the last time on this date in 1917. Note the fence made of chain and cannon.
On this day in 1917 possession of the Danish West Indies from Denmark to the United States was accomplished, although it appears the official start of US ownership of the islands was the following day, April 1. The treaty and other events leading to this were addressed earlier on this blog.
The day is commemorated on the US Virgin Islands as Transfer Day.
The Cheyenne State Leader for March 31, 1917: Zimmerman defends his note
Labels:
1910s,
1917,
Diplomacy,
Germany,
Mexico,
Newspapers,
The Press,
World War One
The Wyoming Tribune for March 31, 1917: Colorado Guardsmen entrain for home.
Labels:
1910s,
1917,
Colorado,
Colorado Army National Guard,
Newspapers,
The Press,
World War One
Location:
Cheyenne, WY, USA
The Laramie Boomerang for March 31, 1917: Mexican Situation Causing War Department Much Worry
And again, Mexico hit the front pages with concerns on the part of the War Department about Mexican and war.
Labels:
1910s,
1917,
Mexico,
Newspapers,
The Press,
World War One
Thursday, March 30, 2017
Colorado criminalizes marijuana
On this day in 1917 Colorado's legislature passed a bill that criminalized marijuana. The act passed on this date stated:
An act to declare unlawful the planting, cultivating, harvesting, drying, curing, or preparation for sale or gift of cannabis sativa, and to provide a penalty therefore.The bill was in part inspired by the civil war in Mexico. It was being asserted that Pancho Villa funded his Division del Norte in part through the sale of cannabis. Whether this is true or not, marijuana was not unknown by any means in Mexico and it shows up even in music of the period at least to the extent that it features in the Mexican Revolution ballad La Cucaracha. The bill was introduced in Colorado by a Hispanic legislator from one of Colorado's southern counties which were and are predominately Hispanic in culture and where there was strong desire to disassociate themselves from Mexican refugees, including any assertion that they might approve of the use of the drug.
Section 1. Any person who shall grow or use cannabis sativa (also known as cannabis indica, Indian hemp and marijuana) that he has grown shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor and on conviction shall be punished by a fine of not less than ten nor more than one hundred dollars, or by imprisonment in the county jail not more than thirty days, or by both such fine and imprisonment in the discretion of the court.
Colorado was not the first state to address marijuana statutorily. At least California (1907), Massachusetts (1911), New York (1914), Maine (1914), and Wyoming (1915) had. Colorado was one of the states that enacted the prohibition of alcohol by that time and therefore not acting on marijuana would have been odd under the circumstances. It had already been addressed by Federal law to some extent at that time.
There's a certain irony in this, I suppose, in that Colorado is now a pioneer in a national movement that has seen several states decriminalize marijuana, although the irony would be diminished if the entire matter is considered in the context of its times. It remains subject to Federal penalties, something that has seemingly been lost in the discussion of this topic, and there is no sign that this will change any time soon. The Federal government, however, seems to have basically stopped enforcing the law on the Federal level for the time being, although that could change at any moment.
Circling back to Colorado, while often not noted in the discussion on this, Denver Colorado has provided a big test of the impact of the change in the law, and not in a good way. Almost any casual observer who is familiar with Denver over time has noted the impact of the change and Denver, which has had a fairly large homeless population for decades now has a larger, but rather weedy one. Open begging downtown for cash for marijuana is now common, and encounters with stoned younger people who are part of a marijuana culture will occur at some point if a person spends any time downtown at all. All of this is the type of discussion that does not tend to occur, for some reason, in discussions over the monetary impacts of the change or on the degree to which the substance itself is dangerous or how dangerous it is.
Labels:
1910s,
1917,
Colorado,
Crime,
Denver Colorado,
Ethnicities,
Government,
Marijuana,
Mexican Revolution,
Mexico,
trends,
Yeoman's Fourth Law of History
Location:
Colorado, USA
Suffragettes volunteering for war service.
The Library of Congress caption provides: "Photograph shows women from various backgrounds and experiences
offering their services in support of (American entry into) World War I at the office of the
New York City Women's Suffrage Party on 34th Street on March 30, 1917"
Labels:
1910s,
1917,
The roles of men and women,
Women,
World War One
Location:
New York, NY, USA
The Cheyenne State Leader for March 30, 1917: Guardsmen mobilzing at Ft. D. A. Russell.
Ft. D. A. Russell was being used for Guard mobilization this time. It hadn't been a year prior for the Punitive Expedition.
Labels:
1910s,
1916,
1917,
Ft. D.A. Russell,
Mexico,
Nebraska National Guard,
Newspapers,
The Press,
The Punitive Expedition,
Utah National Guard,
World War One,
Wyoming Army National Guard
Location:
Cheyenne, WY, USA
The Wyoming Tribune for March 30, 1917: Germans spur Mexican outlaw murder?
Mexico remained on the front pages even with the US on the eve of war, this time once again in association with the Germans.
Labels:
1910s,
1917,
Crime,
Germany,
Mexico,
Newspapers,
The Press,
World War One
Wednesday, March 29, 2017
Some Gave All: March 29 Designated National Vietnam Veterans Day
Some Gave All: March 29 Designated National Vietnam Veterans Day: By an act of Congress signed into law on this day by President Trump, March 29 will hence forth be National Vietnam Veterans Day.
Wyoming Fact and Fiction: A Few Thoughts on History – From an Old History Te...
Wyoming Fact and Fiction: A Few Thoughts on History – From an Old History Te...: I mentioned, in a speaking engagement a week ago, that new history consistently replaces older history. Things that happened in the past ...
Wait! What about "the Sacred Twenty": Was Lex Anteinternet: Women authorized to join U.S. Navy
Recently we posted this item on women being allowed to enlist in the Navy for the first time:
Lex Anteinternet: Women authorized to join U.S. Navy: Secretary of the Navy Josephus Daniels authorized the enlistment of women in the United State Naval Reserve Force. Both officers and enlis...
That was followed by this:
Lex Anteinternet: Loretta Perfectus Walsh becomes the first female sailor in the United States Navy: Loretta Perfectus Walsh joined the U.S. Navy, something that only became a legal possibility two days prior when first authorized by the Secretary of the Navy. She joined at the rank of Chief Yeoman.
Both went right to this blog's top ten of all time.
Well, some may say, what about the Navy's "Sacred Twenty"?
Astute Navy historians and fans (although none posted about it) might have noted that on May 13, 1908, President Theodore Roosevelt signed a Naval
Appropriations Bill authorizing the establishment of the Nurse Corps as a
unique staff corps in the Navy. This followed the establishment of the Army Nurse Corps in 1901.
So, I was wrong, right?
Well, it's not quite that easy.
The "unique staff corps" element of it is the key here.
Yes, these women served the Navy. But in a role that was quite a bit different than conventional Navy personnel. At first they were not even provided room and board, which came a couple of years later actually, and instead had to find their own lodging and pay for their own meals. Basically, they were nurses in a special corps in service of the Navy, but they weren't really "sailors". They were not included in the Navy's ranking system, although at some point early on their were provided with uniforms. However, Public Health Service nurses were also provided with uniforms (although the Publish Health Service traditionally becomes part of the department of the Navy during war).
All of which is why Loretta Perfectus Walsh is regarded as the first female sailor. She joined as a sailor. There were women in the service of the Navy prior to that, albeit just barely, but the nature of their service is a bit murky.
Labels:
1900s,
1910s,
1917,
Medicine,
Mid-Week at Work,
The roles of men and women,
U.S. Navy,
Women
The United States Naval Academy Class of 1917 Graduates.
And two months early.
The looming war caused the Naval Academy to graduate its class of 1917 on this date, in anticipation of the increased need for Naval officers.
The looming war caused the Naval Academy to graduate its class of 1917 on this date, in anticipation of the increased need for Naval officers.
Labels:
1910s,
1917,
Education,
U.S. Navy,
United States Naval Academy,
World War One
Location:
Annapolis, MD, USA
Arthur Zimmerman addresses the Zimmerman Note
On this date, March 29, 1917, German foreign minister Arthur Zimmerman addressed his famous telegram. The speech did nothing to calm American anger of the telegram.
I wrote no letter to General Carranza. I was not so naive. I merely addressed, by a route that appeared to me to be a safe one, instructions to our representative in Mexico.
It is being investigated how these instructions fell into the hands of the American authorities. I instructed the Minister to Mexico, in the event of war with the United States, to propose a German alliance to Mexico, and simultaneously to suggest that Japan join the alliance.
I declared expressly that, despite the submarine war, we hoped that America would maintain neutrality.
My instructions were to be carried out only after the United States declared war and a state of war supervened. I believe the instructions were absolutely loyal as regards the United States.
General Carranza would have heard nothing of it up to the present if the United States had not published the instructions which came into its hands in a way which was not unobjectionable. Our behavior contrasts considerably with the behavior of the Washington Government.
President Wilson after our note of January 31, 1917, which avoided all aggressiveness in tone, deemed it proper immediately to break off relations with extraordinary roughness. Our Ambassador no longer had the opportunity to explain or elucidate our attitude orally.
The United States Government thus declined to negotiate with us. On the other hand, it addressed itself immediately to all the neutral powers to induce them to join the United States and break with us.
Every unprejudiced person must see in this the hostile attitude of the American Government, which seemed to consider it right, before being at war with us, to set the entire world against us. It cannot deny us the right to seek allies when it has itself practically declared war on us.
Herr Haase [note: a German socialist] says that it caused great indignation in America. Of course, in the first instance, the affair was employed as an incitement against us. But the storm abated slowly and the calm and sensible politicians, and also the great mass of the American people, saw that there was nothing to object to in these instructions in themselves. I refer especially to the statements of Senator Underwood. Even at times newspapers felt obliged to admit regretfully that not so very much had been made out of this affair.
The Government was reproached for thinking just of Mexico and Japan. First of all, Mexico was a neighbouring State to America. If we wanted allies against America, Mexico would be the first to come into consideration. The relations between Mexico and ourselves since the time of Porfirio Diaz have been extremely friendly and trustful. The Mexicans, moreover, are known as good and efficient soldiers.
It can hardly be said that the relations between the United States and Mexico had been friendly and trustful.
But the world knows that antagonism exists between America and Japan. I maintain that these antagonisms are stronger than those which, despite the war, exist between Germany and Japan.
When I also wished to persuade Carranza that Japan should join the alliance there was nothing extraordinary in this. The relations between Japan and Mexico are long existent. The Mexicans and Japanese are of a like race and good relations exist between both countries.
When, further, the Entente press affirms that it is shameless to take away allies, such reproach must have a peculiar effect coming from powers who, like our enemies, made no scruple in taking away from us two powers and peoples with whom we were bound by treaties for more than thirty years.
The powers who desire to make pliant an old European country of culture like Greece by unparalleled and violent means cannot raise such a reproach against us.
When I thought of this alliance with Mexico and Japan I allowed myself to be guided by the consideration that our brave troops already have to fight against a superior force of enemies, and my duty is, as far as possible, to keep further enemies away from them. That Mexico and Japan suited that purpose even Herr Haase will not deny.
Thus, I considered it a patriotic duty to release those instructions, and I hold to the standpoint that I acted rightly.
Man o War foaled, March 29, 1917
The legendary Thoroughbred Man o War was foaled on this day, March 29, 1917.
One of the greatest race horses of all time, Man o War was at Nursery Stud, near Lexington, Kentucky. He won he won 20 of 21 races he was entered into in 1919 and 1920 and took $249,465 in prize money. He and Babe Ruth shared accolades from the New York Times for 1920 as the greatest athlete of that year. He won the Belmont and the Preakness in 1920, but was not entered into the Kentucky Derby as his owner believed the young horse to be too young for the longer distance involved in that race. Because of his spectacular success, however, in 1920 he was retired to stud as he would have had handicap weights the following year that his owner thought prohibitive. One of his colts was the famous horse War Admiral. He died in 1947 at age 30, a fairly old age for a horse.
Labels:
1910s,
1917,
1919,
1920s,
1921,
Equine Transportation,
Horse Racing,
Sports
Location:
Lexington, KY, USA
Wetherby Flag Day
Labels:
1910s,
1917,
British Army,
Posters,
World War One
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