Ostensibly exploring the practice of law before the internet. Heck, before good highways for that matter.
Friday, May 16, 2014
Thursday, May 15, 2014
Extremism and the Internet
To give an odd example, there's a video that's been on the news and which is uploaded to YouTube, which was compiled from a series of security cameras. It shows a little boy out riding a little bicycle. He gets attacked by a neighbor's mid sized dog. The remarkable thing about the video is that the family cat rushes out and attacks the dog, and chases it off. It's a neat video.
It'd be hard to imagine anyone exhibiting their extremism based on that, but if you read the comments, some sure do.
For one thing, one poster is opinionated about the homeowner having so many security cameras. Well, miffed person, stuff it. If a person wants security cameras, so be it.
Beyond that, however, one person comes in and voices an opinion that all dog ownership should be banned. All of it, save for working dogs.
Seriously? I've heard of people exhibit this extreme view about firearms, which is also way out there in my view, but ban dogs? Come on.
Another person pronounces cats as "evil" and then goes on about how they carry some disease. That's equally absurd. No doubt cats carry some diseases. Mammals carry disease. For that matter, reptiles and birds carry diseases. If this view meant anything, pretty much all things on land ought to be banned, assuming that we can't get diseases from fish (which I don't know if we can or not). This person needs to relax.
In a prior era, I suppose people with these types of views would have still held them. But they probably wouldn't have voiced them out of fear that they'd get eye rolling. In this fashion, the Internet has done us no favors.
Aging and ignition.
Recently I was in Denver and had to rent a car. I rented some sort of newer Toyota SUV.
For the second time in recent months, when I got in the car, I was baffled by how to start it. Really a sign, I suppose, that I've aged to a point where some new technologies through me. When I rented the car, they told me that the "keys are in the car." Indeed, the "key" was in the ignition. But it wasn't a key at all, it was really a fob that was inserted in a slot. No key. It didn't turn. And because it didn't turn, I had a moment where I couldn't figure out how to start the car.
I then noticed the on/off button depicted above, and pushed it.
Nothing happened.
It quickly became apparent, however, that what I needed to do was to push on the brake, and push on. Once I did that, it started just fine. I drove into Denver and found a spot in a parking lot. There was a moment of tension when I pushed off, but it turned off just fine.
This is all a little silly of course, but every car I've ever owned took a key. They all started when you turned the ignition switch clock wise. They didn't all work exactly the same way, however.
The 1954 Chevrolet Sedan I had actually didn't require a key to start it. The key only unlocked the ignition. Once the ignition switch was unlocked, you could remove the key. I had no idea this was the case until my uncle showed me, and I was frankly stunned that was the case.
Wednesday, May 14, 2014
Monday, May 12, 2014
No More Bromine: Coke, Pepsi Drop Controversial Ingredient : The Salt : NPR
In the "really. . . there was nothing else to worry about department. . . ."
Removes 99% of Makeup . . .
Here's a thought. Dispense entirely with makeup. That removes 100% of makeup.
A cranky opinion I know, but I'm operating on very little sleep today and cranky as a result. But makeup is largely a fraud on women.
Women do not need makeup. It's a huge industry that promotes the idea that people look better by not really looking natural, which is absurd. Indeed, at its most absurd, it promotes the idea that by using it you look natural, when obviously you look the most natural by not wearing it.
Nobody really looks better than they do in a state of nature by wearing makeup.
Sunday, May 11, 2014
Summer has been cancelled.
It's snowing again here right now. And I don't mean barely, I mean its really coming down. Probably snow all day.
Snowed last week a couple of times too. Flew to Denver one day it was really coming down here to find that it had snowed slightly in Denver as well.
Not really that unusual for this region, but snow every week is a bit unusual. With all the reservoirs full for the first time in decades we might be in for flooding.
And of course, I just brought my lawnmower in to try to deal with the lawn yesterday, and didn't get to the back yard. We went to see a showing of Doctor Zhivago, which is touring in a restored version (highly recommended). So about 1/3d of the back yard is done and now it's snowing. It was almost like a hay crop as it was. I may have to invest in a couple of sheep.
Again, this is actually normal weather here, albeit not for the past few years. But it's a normal and wet spring, for sure. And a snowy one.
Poll: Prestigious Colleges Won't Make You Happier In Life Or Work : The Two-Way : NPR
Interesting findings (and timely for this time of year).
I wish that the Presidents would learn that going to an Ivy League law school doesn't necessarily mean you'd make a better Federal appellate judge. In recent years, that's all we seem to be getting at the Supreme Court level, which is frankly a worrisome thing. Of course, it's also the case that in recent years our Presidents have tended to all come of Ivy League schools as well.
Listen To These Lovely Cats. No, Actually, Don't : Krulwich Wonders... : NPR
They do sound truly awful, the few times I've actually heard their smaller cousins, the Bobcat.
Monday, May 11, 1914. The Honored Dead.
A national tribute was held in New York City for servicemen killed in the Battle of Veracruz.
Sunday, May 10, 1914. Mother's Day.
Saturday, May 10, 2014
Sunday, May 10, 1914. Mother's Day.
It was the first official Mother's Day, the proclamation having been issued yesterday.
The U.S. Navy brought back the bodies of service men who had died over a snit over how the Mexican government was to apologize for a mistake.
The French Radical Party won a plurality of votes for the French Assembly. In spite of their name, they are a center left French republican party.
Shipwrecked Karluck captain Robert Bartlett left Intuit guide Kataktovik in Emma Town, Siberia and traveled with a Russian escort to Emma Harbor in his ongoing effort to seek a rescue for the Canadian Arctic Expedition survivors on Wrangel Island.
Last prior edition:
Saturday, May 9, 1914. A Mothers Day Proclamation.
Friday, May 9, 2014
Why did the bond issue fail?
Saturday, May 9, 1914. A Mothers Day Proclamation.
President Wilson issued a proclamation decreeing Mother's Day. It created the holiday.
The purpose of the day was to honor mothers who had lost sons in wars, although those who had backed the day had a broader purpose, that being to honor mother's in general.
A lot more mothers were about to lose their sons in war.
The war the US was anticipating was one with Mexico, and a full scale staging of troops on the border was underway, as evidenced by this collection of photographs which were copyrighted on this day.
Suffragettes marched.
Last prior edition:
Thursday, May 8, 2014
Friday, May 8, 1914. Ag Extension comes into being. Dan Sickles passes on.
The Smith Lever Act went into providing for a national Cooperative Extension Service to be established.
This would allow university agriculture departments to offer rural education programs, which his a good thing.
UNIVERSITY OF WYOMING EXTENSION
This is also an example of the American System of economics, which the current GOP detests. It'd be interesting to see what they'd feel about the introduction of such a program today.
An article about the act from another site in another state:
Maryland 4-H and the Centennial of Smith-Lever
On the same day, the 63d Congress also passed a joint resolution "designating the second Sunday in May as Mother's Day, and for other purposes"
A small magnitude earthquake, 4.9, hit Giarre, Sicily, and resulted in the destruction of 223 homes and 120 deaths, saying something about the condition in which people lived.
Coincidentally, or perhaps not, Mount Etna erupted.
This demonstrates, of course, how tectonically active Italy is, but also how poor it was. Since some point in the 1950s, it's been popular to depict Italy as glamorous, but in fact the country was desperately poor to a large extent prior to that time, and was "backward" by the standards of North Americans and northern Europeans. Living conditions recalled Medieval conditions in much of the country up until a post-war economic revolution in Europe changed things, something that also helps to explain the rise of fascism in the 1920s, the strong Italian communist party in the 20th Century, criminal organizations, and large-scale emigration.
The funeral of Daniel Sickles was held in New York.
There was, of course, reason to worry, but that was no reason not to go watch a presentation about the Frontier wars that had followed the Civil War.
Paramount Pictures was formed through a partnership between Famous Players Film Company and the Lasky Feature Play Company.
The first French shipboard aircraft launch was made by René Caudron from a ramp constructed over the fore-deck of the seaplane tender Foudre.
The Caudron brothers, Gason and René, would go on to form an early aircraft manufacturing company, Société des Avions Caudron. Gaston Caudron died in an aircraft accident in 1915, but René carried on in aircraft manufacturing until the fall of France in World War Two. He died in 1959.
Last prior edition:
Thursday, May 7, 1914. A Colorado murder is reported in Wyoming.
Wednesday, May 7, 2014
The Big Speech: Treaty between the United States and the Crow Indians.
Articles of a treaty made and concluded at Fort Laramie, Dakota Territory, on the seventh day of May, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight, by and between the undersigned commissioners on the part of the United States, and the undersigned chiefs and head-men of and representing the Crow Indians, they being duly authorized to act in the premises.ARTICLE 1.
From this day forward peace between the parties to this treaty shall forever continue. The Government of the United States desires peace, and its honor is hereby pledged to keep it. The Indians desire peace, and they hereby pledge their honor to maintain it. If bad men among the whites or among other people, subject to the authority of the United States, shall commit any wrong upon the person or property of the Indians, the United States will, upon proof made to the agent and forwarded to the Commissioner of Indian Affairs at Washington City, proceed at once to cause the offender to be arrested and punished according to the laws of the United States, and also re-imburse the injured person for the loss sustained.If bad men among the Indians shall commit a wrong or depredation upon the person or property of any one, white, black, or Indian, subject to the authority of the United States and at peace therewith, the Indians herein named solemnly agree that they will, on proof made to their agent and notice by him, deliver up the wrong-doer to the United States, to be tried and punished according to its laws; and in case they refuse willfully so to do the person injured shall be re-imbursed for his loss from the annuities or other moneys due or to become due to them under this or other treaties made with the United States. And the President, on advising with the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, shall prescribe such rules and regulations for ascertaining damages under the provisions of this article as in his judgment may be proper. But no such damages shall be adjusted and paid until thoroughly examined and passed upon by the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, and no one sustaining loss while violating, or because of his violating, the provisions of this treaty or the laws of the United States shall be re-imbursed therefor.ARTICLE 2.
The United States agrees that the following district of country, to wit: commencing where the 107th degree of longitude west of Greenwich crosses the south boundary of Montana Territory; thence north along said 107th meridian to the mid-channel of the Yellowstone River; thence up said mid-channel of the Yellowstone to the point where it crosses the said southern boundary of Montana, being the 45th degree of north latitude; and thence east along said parallel of latitude to the place of beginning, shall be, and the same is, set apart for the absolute and undisturbed use and occupation of the Indians herein named, and for such other friendly tribes or individual Indians as from to time they may be willing, with the consent of the United States, to admit amongst them; and the United States now solemnly agrees that no persons, except those herein designated and authorized so to do, and except such officers, agents, and employés of the Government as may be authorized to enter upon Indian reservations in discharge of duties enjoined by law, shall ever be permitted to pass over, settle upon, or reside in the territory described in this article for the use of said Indians, and henceforth they will, and do hereby, relinquish all title, claims, or rights in and to any portion of the territory of the United States, except such as is embraced within the limits aforesaid.ARTICLE 3.
The United States agrees, at its own proper expense, to construct on the south side of the Yellowstone, near Otter Creek,a warehouse or store-room for the use of the agent in storing goods belonging to the Indians, to cost not exceeding twenty-five hundred dollars; an agency-building for the residence of the agent, to cost not exceeding three thousand dollars; a residence for the physician, to cost not more than three thousand dollars; and five other buildings, for a carpenter, farmer, blacksmith, miller, and engineer, each to cost not exceeding two thousand dollars; also a school-house or mission-building, so soon as a sufficient number of children can be induced by the agent to attend school, which shall not cost exceeding twenty-five hundred dollars.The United States agrees further to cause to be erected on said reservation, near the other buildings herein authorized, a good steam circular saw-mill, with a grist-mill and shingle-machine attached, the same to cost not exceeding eight thousand dollars.ARTICLE 4.
The Indians herein named agree, when the agency-house and other buildings shall be constructed on the reservation named, they will make said reservation their permanent home, and they will make no permanent settlement elsewhere, but they shall have the right to hunt on the unoccupied lands of the United States so long as game may be found thereon, and as long as peace subsists among the whites and Indians on the borders of the hunting districts.ARTICLE 5.
The United States agrees that the agent for said Indians shall in the future make his home at the agency-building; that he shall reside among them, and keep an office open at all times for the purpose of prompt and diligent inquiry into such matters of complaint, by and against the Indians, as may be presented for investigation under the provisions of their treaty stipulations, as also for the faithful discharge of other duties enjoined on him by law. In all cases of depredation on person or property, he shall cause the evidence to be taken in writing and forwarded, together with his finding, to the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, whose decision shall be binding on the parties to this treaty.ARTICLE 6.
If any individual belonging to said tribes of Indians, or legally incorporated with them, being the head of a family, shall desire to commence farming, he shall have the privilege to select, in the presence and with the assistance of the agent then in charge, a tract of land within said reservation, not exceeding three hundred and twenty acres in extent, which tract, when so selected, certified, and recorded in the “land book,”as herein directed, shall cease to be held in common, but the same may be occupied and held in the exclusive possession of the person selecting it, and of his family, so long as he or they may continue to cultivate it.Any person over eighteen years of age, not being the head of a family, may in like manner select and cause to be certified to him or her, for purposes of cultivation, a quantity of land not exceeding eighty acres in extent, and thereupon be entitled to the exclusive possession of the same as above directed.For each tract of land so selected a certificate, containing a description thereof and the name of the person selecting it, with a certificate endorsed thereon that the same has been recorded, shall be delivered to the party entitled to it by the agent, after the same shall have been recorded by him in a book to be kept in his office, subject to inspection, which said book shall be known as the “Crow land book.”The President may at any time order a survey of the reservation, and, when so surveyed, Congress shall provide for protecting the rights of settlers in their improvements, and may fix the character of the title held by each. The United States may pass such laws on the subject of alienation and descent of property as between Indians, and on all subjects connected with the government of the Indians on said reservations and the internal police thereof, as may be thought proper.ARTICLE 7.
In order to insure the civilization of the tribe entering into this treaty, the necessity of education is admitted, especially by such of them as are, or may be, settled on said agricultural reservation; and they therefore pledge themselves to compel their children, male and female, between the ages of six and sixteen years, to attend school; and it is hereby made the duty of the agent for said Indians to see that this stipulation is strictly complied with; and the United States agrees that for every thirty children, between said ages, who can be induced or compelled to attend school, a house shall be provided, and a teacher, competent to teach the elementary branches of an English education, shall be furnished, who will reside among said Indians, and faithfully discharge his or her duties as a teacher. The provisions of this article to continue for twenty years.ARTICLE 8.
When the head of a family or lodge shall have selected lands and received his certificate as above directed, and the agent shall be satisfied that he intends in good faith to commence cultivating the soil for a living, he shall be entitled to receive seed and agricultural implements for the first year in value one hundred dollars, and for each succeeding year he shall continue to farm, for a period of three years more, he shall be entitled to receive seed and implements as aforesaid in value twenty-five dollars per annum.And it is further stipulated that such persons as commence farming shall receive instructions from the farmer herein provided for, and whenever more than one hundred persons shall enter upon the cultivation of the soil, a second blacksmith shall be provided, with such iron, steel, and other material as may be required.ARTICLE 9.
In lieu of all sums of money or other annuities provided to be paid to the Indians herein named, under any and all treaties heretofore made with them, the United States agrees to deliver at the agency house, on the reservation herein provided for, on the first day of September of each year for thirty years, the following articles, to wit:For each male person, over fourteen years of age, a suit of good substantial woolen clothing, consisting of coat, hat, pantaloons, flannel shirt, and a pair of woolen socks.
For each female, over twelve years of age, a flannel skirt, or the goods necessary to make it, a pair of woolen hose, twelve yards of calico, and twelve yards of cotton domestics.
For the boys and girls under the ages named, such flannel and cotton goods as may be needed to make each a suit as aforesaid, together with a pair of woollen hose for each.
And in order that the Commissioner of Indian Affairs may be able to estimate properly for the articles herein named, it shall be the duty of the agent, each year, to forward to him a full and exact census of the Indians, on which the estimate from year to year can be based.
And, in addition to the clothing herein named, the sum of ten dollars shall be annually appropriated for each Indian roaming, and twenty dollars for each Indian engaged in agriculture, for a period of ten years, to be used by the Secretary of the Interior in the purchase of such articles as, from time to time, the condition and necessities of the Indians may indicate to be proper. And if, at any time within the ten years, it shall appear that the amount of money needed for clothing, under this article, can be appropriated to better uses for the tribe herein named, Congress may, by law, change the appropriation to other purposes; but in no event shall the amount of this appropriation be withdrawn or discontinued for the period named. And the President shall annually detail an officer of the Army to be present and attest the delivery of all the goods herein named to the Indians, and he shall inspect and report on the quantity and quality of the goods and the manner of their delivery; and it is expressly stipulated thateach Indian over the age of four years, who shall have removed to and settled permanently upon said reservation, and complied with the stipulations of this treaty, shall be entitled to receive from the United States, for the period of four years after he shall have settled upon said reservation, one pound of meat and one pound of flour per day, provided the Indians cannot furnish their own subsistence at an earlier date. And it is further stipulated that the United States will furnish and deliver to each lodge of Indians, or family of persons legally incorporated with them, who shall remove to the reservation herein described, and commence farming, one good American cow and one good, well-broken pair of American oxen, within sixty days after such lodge or family shall have so settled upon said reservation.ARTICLE 10.
The United States hereby agrees to furnish annually to the Indians the physician, teachers, carpenter, miller, engineer, farmer, and blacksmiths as herein contemplated, and that such appropriations shall be made from time to time, on the estimates of the Secretary of the Interior, as will be sufficient to employ such persons.ARTICLE 11.
No treaty for the cession of any portion of the reservation herein described, which may be held in common, shall be of any force or validity as against the said Indians unless executed and signed by, at least, a majority of all the adult male Indians occupying or interested in the same, and no cession by the tribe shall be understood or construed in such a manner as to deprive, without his consent, any individual member of the tribe of his right to any tract of land selected by him as provided in Article 6 of this treaty.ARTICLE 12.
It is agreed that the sum of five hundred dollars annually, for three years from the date when they commence to cultivate a farm, shall be expended in presents to the ten persons of said tribe who, in the judgment of the agent, may grow the most valuable crops for the respective year.W. T. Sherman,
Lieutenant-General.Wm. S. Harney,
Brevet Major-General and Peace Commissioner.Alfred H. Terry,
Brevet Major-General.C. C. Augur,
Brevet Major-General.John B. Sanborn.S. F. Tappan.Ashton S. H. White, Secretary.Che-ra-pee-ish-ka-te, Pretty Bull, his x mark. [SEAL.]Chat-sta-he, Wolf Bow, his x mark. [SEAL.]Ah-be-che-se, Mountain Tail, his x mark. [SEAL.]Kam-ne-but-sa, Black Foot, his x mark. [SEAL.]De-sal-ze-cho-se, White Horse, his x mark. [SEAL.]Chin-ka-she-arache, Poor Elk, his x mark. [SEAL.]E-sa-woor, Shot in the Jaw, his x mark. [SEAL.]E-sha-chose, White Forehead, his x mark. [SEAL.]—Roo-ka, Pounded Meat, his x mark. [SEAL.]De-ka-ke-up-se, Bird in the Neck, his x mark. [SEAL.]Me-na-che, The Swan, his x mark. [SEAL.]Attest:George B. Wills, phonographer.John D. Howland.Alex. Gardner.David Knox.Chas. Freeman.Jas. C. O'Connor.