Engage. Enrage. Enjoy.

Donald, You’re No Ronald!

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

When Senator Lloyd Benson was squared off against Senator Dan Quayle in the Vice Presidential Debate in 1988, Quayle, desperate to establish himself as a qualified VP running mate, dropped a JFK reference.   Benson dropped a haymaker on Quayle, deadpanning “you’re no Jack Kennedy.“

We have resisted comparing Donald Trump to Ronald Reagan for fear of a haymaker ourselves, as Donald is no Ronald.  While each had roles on the TV screen or the big screen previous to ascending to the biggest role in all of the land, they differ in approach far more than they are similar.

Start with the hair styles please.  Ronald had a thick, dark, wavy mane seemingly woven to his head since birth to die for.  Donald has a thin, white/gray whisp that needs to be woven to his head for fear of it flying away.  Ronald was a statesman.  Donald states what he thinks and feels in non too subtle way.  Ronald had his first lady Nancy incessantly shaping his public perception.  Donald has had quite a few ladies and his first lady appears to step back and watch the bullfight from afar.

But, they have one big thing in common.  They know leverage when they see it.  And, when they see it they use it.  And, when they use it, they use it effectively.

Ronald watched as Iran held American hostages for 444 days till the very end of the Jimmy Carter’s mediocre presidency.  Mysteriously, on Reagan’s inauguration day, Iran freed the hostages.  Ronald played the good cop role on a horse in a TV western a few times.  He always got the bad guy and rode off into the sunset with the pretty woman.  Iran wanted nothing to do with this cowboy in real life.  Did Reagan’s team advance anything to Iran about the consequences of a continued standoff?  Probably.  Enough said.

Trump called North Korean dictator Kim Jung-Un “Rocket Man” in front of a United Nations gathering.  It was not very subtle.  It was the equivalent of Nikita Khrushchev’s shoe-banging incident during the 902nd Plenary Meeting of the UN General Assembly held in New York in 1960. During the session Nikita Khrushchev, First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, pounded his shoe on his delegate-desk in protest of a speech by Philippine delegate Lorenzo Sumulong.  It was not so subtle.

Both Ronald and Trump were effective, style points aside.

“Rocket Man” is but one of many verbal jabs, hooks, or TKO’s that the Donald has thrown.  It is for that very reason that we continue to be amazed by how wrong the media continues to miss on understanding his approach, and therefore his effectiveness.  Every time he jabs, tweets, nicknames, and/or insults a foreign leader or an entire country the media screams in unison that “the sky is falling, the sky is falling.”  Except, it isn’t.

In fact it’s the opposite.  Trump threatened tariffs on Mexico a couple of weeks back and gave them a short deadline to help on their southern border controlling Central American illegal inflow, and on our southern border helping protect our illegal inflow.  Foes of The Donald said many things. “He can’t do that.”  “You can’t use tariffs to control immigration.”  “It’s unprecedented.”  “He’s offended our neighbor again.”  The stock market said, “Hold on cowboy.”  “This will wreck certain imported products.”  “Prices on imports will go through the roof.”  One Einstein even lamented, “the price of avocados will go up three fold.”

Our guess is that Donald doesn’t like avocados.  And, he doesn’t like illegal immigration even more.  So, with zero help from his Democrat friends, Donald got help on his own from his southern friends.  Mexico, after all of these years, offered immediate help.  Fifteen thousand of their finest are now being deployed on our joint border to stem the flow northward.  Another two thousand went south to do the same.  It’s amazing what the right carrot on the right stick can do.  And, Wall St. rallied once more.

And, it’s equally amazing how many people, tv commentators, and countries totally fail to understand President Trump’s motives and results derived from them. Ronald won with style and grace.  Donald wins with a hammer and a chainsaw.

Donald paints outside of the lines.  Donald is no Ronald.  But, he is Michelangelo in the art of the deal.

 

 

Moving On Up, to the East Side.

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

Jeffery Bezos may only be worth half as much as he was a few months back, but yesterday it was revealed that he bought not one, not two, but three high rise condos on Manhattan Island, New York, NY.  As a matter of fact he liked the neighborhood, er, high rise so much that he bought the penthouse, and the space right under the penthouse, and the space right under the space right under the penthouse.  The total space will be worked into a three story condo with a modest 12 bedrooms.  The price was an Amazon Prime bargain at $80 million.   Adjusting to the single life requires a few creature comforts.

As CEO of the largest retailer in the virtual world, capitalism has been comforting to Mr. Bezos.  Though the stock is down a bit from it’s high, it’s valuation had crossed a trillion (with a “T”) dollars recently.

Capitalism has been good to the Sam Walton family as well.  As beneficiaries to Sam’s fortune created by Sam’s Clubs and Walmarts, they live life as large as they wish as well.  They just aren’t too flashy.  Walmart, the largest retailer in the brick and mortar world is valued at a palty $350 billion dollars.

So enter one Bernie Sanders yesterday into this capitalism love fest.  Walmart held its annual shareholders meeting.  Bernie had a few thoughts that he wanted heard.  Walmart said, “We have an open door, let’s hear them.”

In a three minute call to action Bernie stood up and asked that Walmart go from $11/hr as opening hourly pay for its employees up to $15/hr.  He also told the board that “regular” employees should have a seat or three on their board.

“Walmart is the largest private employer in America and is owned by the Walton family, the wealthiest family in the United States,” said Sanders. “And yet, despite the incredible wealth of its owner, Walmart pays many of its employees starvation wages — wages that are so low that many of these employees are forced to rely on government programs like food stamps, Medicaid and public housing in order to survive.”

“Frankly,” Sanders continued, “the American people are sick and tired of subsidizing the greed of some of the largest and most profitable corporations in this country.”

He cited Amazon among others as companies that have raised their entry pay level to $15/hr and continued to do well.  He is right.  Amazon has done quite well.

Walmart rejected Sander’s proposal faster than they do a vendor’s proposed price increase.  After all, shouldn’t market forces be the catalyst for wages?  America is nearing zero unemployment.  If you want more money isn’t it there if you qualify, say at Amazon, or Target or anywhere that the market forces force employers to pay up for help?  Just asking.

Maybe Bernie isn’t so crazy after all.  You see he’s chasing Joe Biden, who told America in his “I’m running for President” coming out speech in Pennsylvania that the middle class is getting left behind in the Trump years.  Joe should check the stats on the Obama/Biden years, but we digress.

So Bernie took a swing for the class a bit lower than middle yesterday.  The TV cameras loved it.  It takes a lot of video to fill 24 hours you know.  Bernie yells louder and longer for the little guy than most anyone else.  And, he doesn’t spray his hair like The Donald.  Therefore, outdoor rallies like he had after his appeal to Walmart seem to have much appeal to cameras near and far as his unkempt coif whirls like a dervish.

Jeffery Bezos, no doubt, was looking down on all of this, happy that he already has his minimums set at $15, and happy with his real estate purchase too.  Soon, but not soon enough, he’ll be looking down from 35 stories up.

These fixer upper remodels take time you know.

 

(Don’t)Take the High Ground!

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

Recently this writer took a one hour guided tour of the Battle of Franklin (Tn.) that took place in the very late stages of the American Civil War on November 30,1864.  When asked who won, the tour guide responded, “it is always said that the side that stands on the ground the next morning won. So it was the Confederates who won.”

Last evening and well into this morning the Mississippi St. Bulldogs and LSU’s Fighting Tiger baseball teams fought for 17 innings before the (damn) Dogs prevailed 6-5.  The teams combined for over 600 thrown pitches,35 strikeouts, 30 hits, and 40 men left on base in the 6 hour and 43 minute “war.”  Afterwards, the Bulldogs ran off into the night with victory while LSU stood silently on the “battlefield” wondering what hit them.  It was the Tigers who stood on the ground, but it sure wasn’t victory.

The Confederates lost over 6,000 brave men while the Union lost over 2,000 in the five hour battle that at times was savagely reduced to hand to hand combat.  The Union’s main goal was to build a bridge to allow them to cross the Harpeth River to get to Nashville where warm food and warmer beds awaited. And, in the day before and day of the conflict, build it they did.  The Confederates stood on the high ground on December 1st, but it sure wasn’t victory.  The Union (damn Yankees) was in Nashville by then.

When real wars, or bombings, or tragedies hit we are correctly reminded to not compare sports contests to the actual. “It was a war out there.”  “We fought and fought.”  “It was just going to be the last man standing.”  We ugly Americans cannot help ourselves though.  We marvel at the intestinal fortitude, authentic passion, and unyielding desire of our teams and their opponents.  Along the way, we drink cold beer and eat warm food.  Then we go to sleep in warm beds (sometimes at 3:15) wondering in amazement how our battalion won or lost.  Make no mistake though, we always feel better when we are on the winning side and hold the high ground.

Which brings us to General Pelosi and General Schumer and Commander in Chief Trump.  Yesterday, minutes before they were scheduled to meet to further discuss a big spending bill on American infrastructure, General Pelosi threw a very public, verbal, hand grenade at the Commander.  “We believe that no one is above the law, including the president of the United States. And we believe that the president of the United States is engaged in a cover-up,” she said.

President Trump, enraged, countered by “blowing up” the planned peaceful meeting saying that when they wanted to end the phony investigations and work with him they could go about repairing the nations highways, airports, and bridges.  And so the war for power in DC had quite the battle yesterday.

Somehow LSU has to pick themselves up by the boot straps just 10 hours after they lost, and play an elimination game at 1 PM today.  Elimination?  That sounds permanent.  There is that war/sport comparison again.

Permanent too was the loss of the hundreds of thousands of soldiers from the north and south who fought and died like the 8,000 did in the Battle of Franklin over 150 years ago.

Washington DC could learn a lot by watching young adults play baseball into the morning hours.  Washington DC could learn a lot taking a one hour Battle of Franklin tour as well.

It isn’t always about the high ground.  Sometimes its better to lose the battle and win the war.  Washington DC continues to lose the war trying to win the battle.

 

 

 

Ya Gotta Believe!

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

Back when the 1973 New York Mets, aka “The Amazins,”  were making their very improbable run all the way to the World Series, team member Tug McGraw coined a phrase.    It was “Ya Gotta Believe.”  And believe the Mets did, going from last place in their division on a very late in the season August 30th all the way to a 4 games to 3 World Series loss to the Oakland A’s.  Tug’s tug on his teammates passion to unite behind a cause was a winning formula.

So too it is in politics.  Tell people something enough and eventually they will accept it as the truth and a way of life and unite behind a cause.  Just a few months back, and several hundred billions less in debt, the US Senate held a hearing to either approve or reject Judge Brett Kavanaugh to the US Supreme Court.  Quickly Christine Blasey Ford became the centerpiece of the effort to block his confirmation.  She claimed a then teen Kavanaugh about 30 odd years ago  attempted to rape her at a party.  Where?  She didn’t know where.  When? She didn’t know when.  Her friend that she said was with her at the party said she wasn’t.

It mattered not.  You gotta believe her some said.  Kamala Harris, Democratic Senator on the Confirmation Committee said she did. She is now a candidate for President.  Others did too.   Hawaii Senator Hirono went so far as to state that Ford needed to believed, she believed Ford, and that men needed to shut up.  This was before the testimony to reveal any credible evidence.  You know, everyone is guilty if they are on the wrong side of the argument until proven innocent.  When the hearings concluded, the unconvinced of guilt lefties felt like yet another “victim,” who just came forward, needed to be heard.  She was represented by the honorable, but now indicted for attempted bribery of nike, Michael Avenatti.  Nothing credible came of that either.   Shocker.  Another delay.

Eventually Kavanaugh was confirmed.  But, that was only after the delay and the narrative could be heard and heard and heard.  After all, what better free advertising for the party attempting to regain control of both houses in 2018?

Enter the Trump Collusion Mueller Investigation.  Enter Adam Schiff, Chair of the House Intelligence Committee (House and the word Intelligence together, like politicians, make strange bedfellows).  Pencil Neck, as someone calls him, claims to have evidence that Trump colluded with the Russians.  Twenty-three months of Mueller, his cadre of lawyers, investigators, over 500 subpoenas and over one million pages of info requests of Trump’s team later, we have the Attorney General Robert Barr echoing Mueller that there was no collusion.  And, Mueller stated no legal reason to think Trump obstructed justice.  Barr said, too, that it fails to meet the legal bar for it.

Harry Reid said that he had evidence that Mitt Romney cheated on his income taxes.  Give em hell Harry.  No evidence yet.  None ever coming.

“We need Mueller to testify before the Oversight Committee,” comes the cry.  “Surely there is more to this,” comes the cry.  “What’ll we do with all of these pitchforks and lanterns,” comes the cry.

We now have government officials asking for government officials to interview under oath a government appointed special prosecutor who investigated the executive branch of our government for two years and came to no legal wrongdoings.  Ya Gotta Believe says Adam and others.  Adam, show us your evidence.  It was your civic duty, not political hay to make, 23 months ago.

Don’t let the facts get in the way of a good narrative it seems. Oh, and if we can keep this up till, say, 2020, we can use this cloud hanging over Trump to beat Trump, can’t we?

Seems like one party would rather try to win running on what the other party did wrong (ya gotta believe) rather than what that party did itself right.  Right?  Wrong?  The American citizens lose either way.

 

The Edmund Fitzgerald

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

We have a hunch that you have either heard the song “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald,” hummed along with it, or even contemplated the words of the over six-minute long ballad.  It’s one of those that once in, you can’t get it out of your head.  It was sung by Gordon Lightfoot and released in 1976.  The popular ballad made the sinking of Edmund Fitzgerald one of the best known disasters in the history of Great Lakes shipping.

But for being one of the better known disasters in Great Lakes history the November 10, 1975 sinking remains to this day quite a mystery.

Some of the known’s follow.

  1. The “Fitz” as it was nicknamed first launched in 1958.  It was the largest ship to have sailed in the Great Lakes and remains the largest to have ever sunk there.
  2. The ship and its crew had safely navigated over 1,000,000 miles in its 17 years in the lakes mostly taking the very same route each time. That is the equivalent of several trips around the globe.
  3. It left Superior, Wisconsin on 11/9 with a quite full load of iron ore (26,000 tons) and was riding low in the water per its design.
  4. Its destination was just outside of Detroit even though Lightfoot sang its destination as Cleveland.
  5. Its captain,Ernest M McSorley, a grizzled veteran, saw the weather forecast prior to embarking and thought the worst of a gale force wind storm would pass south of Lake Superior when they got there.  It didn’t.
  6. En route to a steel mill near Detroit, they joined a second freighter, SS Arthur M. Anderson. By the next day, the two ships were caught in a severe storm on Lake Superior, with near hurricane-force winds and waves up to 35 feet high.
  7. Shortly after 7:10 p.m., Edmund Fitzgerald suddenly sank in Canadian (Ontario) waters 530 feet deep, about 17 miles from Whitefish Bay.  It was near the twin cities of Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, and Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario.  Per the captain’s update, they were headed to the bay to get out of the worst of the storm and could have covered that distance in just over an hour at her top speed after his transmission.
  8. Although Edmund Fitzgerald had reported being in difficulty earlier, no distress signals were sent before she sank.  Captain McSorley’s last message to Arthur M. Anderson said, “We are holding our own.”
  9. Her crew of 29 perished, and no bodies were recovered.

What isn’t known is why.

  1.  Clearly the wind caused the huge lake to grow violent.  But McSorley was known as a bad weather pilot having steered through like conditions in these same waters many, many times before.
  2. Rescue efforts began by air and by sea and quickly.  They were in vain.  A few life vests and a few pieces of wood were all that were ever seen floating aimlessly on the surface.  Why so little after only an hour or two had passed?
  3. One theory is that it’s design (low in the middle when loaded) allowed  the waves to crash repeatedly over the top and unsecured hatches ( a rather common practice then) slowly filled with water causing it to sink.
  4. Another theory is that three consecutive waves, commonly called three sisters, in excess of thirty feet each swamped the cargo areas in rapid fashion without allowing the first nor second wave to slide back into the angry sea.  They could have caused the ship to rapidly sink, explaining the lack of a distress signal.  The SS Arthur Anderson, about 14 miles behind, reported two such waves shortly before all communication with the Fitz was lost.
  5. Yet another theory has the ship thrown into nearby shoals causing it to break up.  Subsequent underwater missions have shown no evidence of that type of damage though.
  6. A final theory had the boat structurally effectively snapping in two on the surface from the pressure in the ship’s middle.  Research teams, due to the two pieces only lying 150 apart on the bottom argue against the surface breakup and for the breakup as it hit the bottom.

    The Edmund Fitzgerald’s original bell recovered and now a museum exhibit.
  7. These research “dives” have photographed the ship split nearly in half though supporting theories two or three above.  The bow is sunk and “stands” vertically at the bottom while the stern is at about a 45 degree angle.  These findings support the weight of the ore, the low middle of the ship, and the sudden disappearance.
  8. Numerous investigations have led to numerous safety improvements since then for crew, cargo, ship design, navigation requirements, and storm notification.  Perhaps some good came of a lot of bad.
  9. No one will ever know what actually happened.

While this story pales in comparison to the mega tragedy story of the Titanic, it still fascinates to this day.  How could a veteran crew sailing in familiar lake waters all perish without a prior word of warning?  In Gordon Lightfoot’s ballad he wondered the same and honored those crew members for it.

 

 

The Wreck Of The Edmund Fitzgerald”

The legend lives on from the Chippewa on down
Of the big lake they call Gitche Gumee
The lake, it is said, never gives up her dead
When the skies of November turn gloomy
With a load of iron ore twenty-six thousand tons more
Than the Edmund Fitzgerald weighed empty
[Former version:] That good ship and true was a bone to be chewed
[Latter version:] That good ship and crew was a bone to be chewed
When the gales of November came earlyThe ship was the pride of the American side
Coming back from some mill in Wisconsin
As the big freighters go, it was bigger than most
With a crew and good captain well seasoned
Concluding some terms with a couple of steel firms
When they left fully loaded for Cleveland
Then later that night when the ship’s bell rang
Could it be the north wind they’d been feelin’?The wind in the wires made a tattle-tale sound
When the wave broke over the railing
And every man knew, as the captain did too
‘Twas the witch of November come stealin’
The dawn came late and the breakfast had to wait
When the gales of November came slashin’
When afternoon came it was freezing rain
In the face of a hurricane west windWhen suppertime came, the old cook came on deck
Saying, “Fellas, it’s too rough to feed ya.”
[Former version:] At seven PM a main hatchway caved in
[Latter version:] At seven PM it grew dark, it was then
He said, “Fellas, it’s been good to know ya.”
The captain wired in he had water comin’ in
And the good ship and crew was in peril
And later that night when his lights went out of sight
Came the wreck of the Edmund FitzgeraldDoes anyone know where the love of God goes
When the waves turn the minutes to hours?
The searchers all say they’d have made Whitefish Bay
If they’d put fifteen more miles behind her
They might have split up or they might have capsized
They may have broke deep and took water
And all that remains is the faces and the names
Of the wives and the sons and the daughtersLake Huron rolls, Superior sings
In the rooms of her ice-water mansion
Old Michigan steams like a young man’s dreams
The islands and bays are for sportsmen
And farther below, Lake Ontario
Takes in what Lake Erie can send her
And the iron boats go as the mariners all know
With the gales of November remembered[Former version:] In a musty old hall in Detroit they prayed
[Latter version:] In a rustic old hall in Detroit they prayed
In the Maritime Sailors’ Cathedral
The church bell chimed ’til it rang twenty-nine times
For each man on the Edmund Fitzgerald
The legend lives on from the Chippewa on down
Of the big lake they call Gitche Gumee
Superior, they said, never gives up her dead
When the gales of November come early

 

Teófilo-There Was Only One.

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

Cuba.  What do we know about it?  Well, for one, great “stuff” comes from there.  Cuban sandwiches and awesome cigars are but two examples.  Famous people have too.  The high profile list is too long to list actually.  There are many musicians (Pitbull, Gloria Esteban, Xavier Cugat), loads of actors(Andy Garcia, Desi Arnaz, Jr.), and countless baseball players (Aroldis Chapman, Reynaldo Ordóñez, Yasiel Puig, Jose Canseco) who have left the island to achieve fame and fortune.

But one who chose to stay(or was told to stay) may have become the most famous of all.  Does the name Teófilo Stevenson ring a bell?  Rest assured that when the bell rung Stevenson rung a few bells himself.

Teófilo Stevenson Lawrence was born in 1952 and passed away in 2012 at the age of 60.   He was a Cuban amateur boxer and engineer.  Stevenson is one of only three boxers to win three Olympic gold medals.  Impressive.

The British Broadcasting Corporation(BBC) once called Stevenson “Cuba’s greatest boxer, and its most famous figure after Fidel Castro.”

It began when his father boxed a bit and Stevenson followed in his footsteps sparring more accomplished fighters when he was but nine. Cuba was all but controlled then by the Soviet Union.  In the state controlled boxing system he quickly rose through the junior and then senior ranks.  In 1970 he turned 18 and was considered Cuba’s best heavyweight.  He weighed in at 225 lbs and stood 6 feet and 5 inches (or 196 centimeters if you prefer).

Stevenson was little known outside of a few on the Moscow controlled island.  That all changed in a flurry and a hurry in 1972 at the Munich Olympics.  Duane Bobick, the USA heavyweight, was fully expected to take home the gold medal continuing the US dominance of that division.  Smokin’ Joe Frazier won gold in 1964, and George Foreman grilled all competitors to do the same in 1968.

Bobick did not get out of the quarterfinals.  Stevenson knocked him down three times in the third and final round. His ferocious display made the boxing world pause and take notice.  In the finals German Peter Hussing, the Munich crowd’s favorite child, got knocked out by the Cuban machine in the second round.  Gold was his and one of several that the Cubans brought back to their island that Olympics.

The 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal was Stevenson’s second gold medal and made him a national hero in Cuba.  At this point the natural next step was to accept $5 million from promoters to debut as a pro vs. one Muhammad Ali.  This dream fight had the promoters salivating.  Communist Cuba vs. Free America.  Challenger v. Champ.  The Bay of Pigs was still quite fresh in minds of many millions.

Stevenson, shockingly, passed.  Or, did Fidel Castro help him to make up his mind to pass?  Professional boxing was banned in Cuba in 1962.  Fidel Castro wanted, according to the socialist phraseology, to fight against the exploitation of man by man. “What is five million compared to the love of eight million Cubans,” Stevenson famously wondered.

The 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow was his third consecutive gold medal coronation ball.  That feat is unprecedented to this day in the heavyweight class.  America boycotted Moscow.

In 1984 the Soviet Union counterpunched, boycotting the Summer Games in Los Angeles.  Cuba followed the Soviet lead and stayed home also.  Stevenson was ready for a fourth gold, but a Cold War got in the way of the war he would wage between the ropes.  He retired from boxing after the 1988 Olympics, which Cuba boycotted yet again.

Below are the final Olympic results of Cuban heavyweight boxer Teofilo Stevenson:

Munich 1972

Montreal 1976

  • Round of 32: bye
  • Round of 16: Defeated Mamadou Drame (Senegal) KO 2
  • Quarterfinal: Defeated Pekka Ruokola (Finland) KO 1
  • Semifinal: Defeated John Tate (United States) KO 1
  • Final: Defeated Mircea Şimon (Romania) TKO 3 (won gold medal)

Moscow 1980

His body of work (the link is worth your time) shows that he won 12 and lost zero Olympic matches.  Eight of the 12 ended in knockouts.  He won three Olympic golds, three World Championships, three World Amateur Championships, and two Pan American Games.   Complete and accurate records beyond that are difficult to discern for obvious reasons.  It is believed that this human machine fought 302 times all as an amateur.

Teófilo Stevenson Lawrence’s story is about what could have been.  But, it’s also a story about what it was.  And, it was very impressive.

 

 

Why Did We Stop Now?

Posted on by thependulumswings staff
  • And, for some reason, all is now quiet on the “must take down offensive monuments front.”  So, now that many “offensive” Civil War memorials have been taken down in several of our “united” states ,we ponder, ‘is society any better because of it?’  Did the ones we took down make our country a better place?  Do all of the ones that remain up make our country a worse place?  Why did we put them up in the first place?  Why did we take some of them down?  Where is the outcry to take the rest down?

How many remain?  Ah, take a look.  The research done for that recent AL.com article shows 30 of the 50 United States still have one or more tributes, monuments, or statues depicting a Confederate memorial of some sort.  The list is led by Virginia where 242 still stand upright.  242!  In all there are approximately 1728 spread across the aforementioned 30 states.  1728!

The vast majority stand south of the famous Mason-Dixon line.  But not all of them do.  One or more adorn public land in Iowa, Maryland, Ohio, New York, Pennsylvania, and shocker of shockers, Washington D.C.   But, but, how can that be?  Seems like we agree to disagree?

Apparently, we couldn’t even agree in the mid 1700’s where Pennsylvania and Maryland began and ended.  It’s how we first came to know Mr. Mason and Mr. Dixon.  A World Atlas excerpt follows.

The Mason-Dixon Line became widely known as the symbolic divider between the Northern and Southern states during America’s Civil War; in short, it divided slave states from non-slave states.

However, the original Mason–Dixon Line was actually a demarcation (or border) line between Pennsylvania and Maryland, in an effort to settle an 80-year land dispute between the two colonies. It also included the western border of present-day Delaware, as it was then a part of the Pennsylvania colony.

The ongoing dispute between the Penn family of Pennsylvania, and the Calvert family of Maryland over the border between the two colonies finally erupted into war in 1730, one known as Cresap’s War. After years of conflict, England’s King George II negotiated a cease-fire in 1738.

Shortly thereafter, the Penns and Calverts commissioned two Englishman, Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon, to mark the official border, and solve their property dispute.

Mason (an astronomer) and Dixon (a surveyor) used celestial measurements to form an accurate 233-mile-long line (or boundary) between Pennsylvania and Maryland, and the 83 mile-long between Maryland and Delaware.  The project took nearly 5 years.

After we solved where Maryland ended and Pennsylvania began, the Mason-Dixon line was extended, as mentioned above, to mark the south (slave states) from the north(non slave states).  So, after the war and over time, well over 2000 memorials were erected to honor the bravery, leadership, or passion of those who fought (and/or died) for the Confederacy. Even more were erected nationwide to honor the Union side of the very deadly combat.  The Confederate ones were placed in at least 30 states. There were only 36 states ratified into our United States by the end of the war in 1865.

Can’t you imagine the dedication ceremonies back then?  They likely looked and sounded just like the ones we have now.  The Star Spangled Banner was played by the local high school band.  Politicians stood up and thanked all for coming.  They droned on about how important this moment was to memorialize those who came and died before us.  A prayer was said for those who perished for what they thought was a good cause.  People dutifully bowed their heads.  The statue was unveiled.  People clapped.  Then, everyone ate a ham sandwich and drank a cup of punch.  Work beckoned.

One hundred and fifty years later we decided that these monuments were actually a terrible reflection on our society even though 30 of 36 states erected them and celebrated them for what they were-symbols of what tore us apart and eventually made us stronger, one union, one United States of America.

And, what about those Union memorials.   There are many thousands and they adorn every corner of this country.  Should they be taken down?  They honor Americans who displayed the same passion, leadership and bravery.  They stood for what they believed to be the right thing.   They fought and killed many thousands of US citizens who opposed the abolition of slavery.  Slavery, mind you, was but one of a few other disagreements that never are mentioned nor discussed.  The Union memorials were erected and celebrated for what they are-symbols of what tore us apart and eventually made us stronger, one union, one United States of America.  Sound familiar?

U.S. women were granted the right to vote in 1919.  The right was ratified as the 19th Amendment to the Constitution in 1920.  Just four years prior, in 1915, the US House of Representatives voted against the right to vote.  Should any memorial for any US citizen or US government leader who opposed this cause be torn down?  Or, maybe this discrimination doesn’t rise to the tear down level?  There were even women back then who opposed having the right to vote!

In recent years incivility and unrest over jury verdicts or police actions has led to serious street violence and crime.  A few have reached a level of violence where citizens have thrown rocks, or worse shot at and killed law officers they feel break the law, not uphold it.  Should we have statues erected for the citizens cause?  Should we have statues erected for the police cause?  Both?  Probably neither.   But if we did, my guess is that in 150 years or less one side of the cause will have had their statues removed.  Times change.  Opinions change.

Heck, Mason and Dixon probably disagreed with one another.  Can’t we all just get along?  Obviously not.  Or, better yet, can’t we all realize that what tears us apart can make us stronger if we are willing to recognize it, debate it, and learn from it?

History cannot be changed.  History cannot be erased.  History can teach.  It’s time to learn.

 

 

 

 

Lefty and Shorty Take Dead Aim at the Gun Debate

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

Way way back in 1964, or 5, or 6 I frequently made a Sunday PM trip to the Gulf Gas Station a couple of miles from our house.  I did not know it then, but it was on that road and back that my father (Boom Boom) began teaching his lessons of life to me.

Lefty and Shorty were the amiable service station attendants.  Well, that’s what they were called back then as every pump was full serve. Sunday’s were slow.  We had their full attention.   Dad interacted with them as they checked the oil, washed the windshield, pumped the gas, and took the money.  He tipped them as well.  They were the main characters in the first lesson I learned.  They were funny. They always had a back and forth to their banter.  And, they always had a kind word or three for me.

I’m gallantly attempting to write my first book.  Lefty and Shorty “star” in the first chapter.  What was the first lesson?  Sorry, you ‘ll have to wait for the book (my publicist, if I had one, would be SO proud).

If Lefty and Shorty were alive today their exchange based on recent events and subsequent headlines might go something like the below.

Lefty -All of these mass shootings need to stop.  The Pittsburgh synagogue is just the latest.  Shorty -How are you going to do that?  Lefty -Eliminate automatic weapons, like AK 47’s.  Shorty -AK 47’s aren’t automatic, they are semiautomatic.  And how would you eliminate them?  Lefty – Stop selling them. Shorty – The sale of them in the US has been illegal since 1986 legislation which attempted to put more teeth into the 1968 Gun Control Act.  Lefty -Then stop selling all assault type rifles.  Shorty -If you stopped selling ALL guns legally today there would be about 330 million in the US alone, or about one for every living American. Lefty -Then we should require background checks to be for an extended period of time before anyone can buy a gun.  Shorty – So if I buy a gun today I wait seven or more days, not four, to be cleared?  Lefty – Exactly.  Shorty – So if I buy it three days earlier than previously planned I can get it cleared the same time as I do today.  Lefty – Well then, since you know it all, what is the answer?  Shorty – Isn’t the problem that people just kill other people far too easily regardless of the weapon?  People kill with their hands, knives, blunt instruments, handguns, rifles, and semiautomatics.  Lefty -Go on.  Shorty -It’s like the war on drugs Lefty.  People only stop doing drugs when they want to stop.  Guns don’t kill people, people kill people.  Lefty – And?  Shorty -There are hundreds of millions of people who own guns, safely store guns, hunt, shoot at targets, and have them at the ready for safety reasons.  Lefty – Here goes the 2nd Amendment hide behind speech.  Shorty – It’s not a hide behind.  It’s an original amendment in the Bill of Rights.  Lefty – That was 250 years ago and was designed originally to provide protection from an overbearing or oppressive government.  Shorty -So because of the expressed original intent you don’t think the need is there anymore?  Lefty – No.  Shorty– Don’t you and your left leaning friends worry about President Trump and his “instability” as the head of the most powerful nation in the world?  Lefty – Yes.  Shorty – Then you should go buy a gun even if it takes seven days to clear, cannot be automatic, and does not have a buttstock. It’s your right you know.  Lefty-I’m going to fix a flat tire.

Please Pardon Our Dust Update.

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

Last week we mentioned a minor tweak or two was forthcoming to make your reading and how you get to “new news now” easier.

So today we come to you with  “new news” via email as before.  The tweak is 1) how the email looks, and 2) that it takes you directly to the article on the website itself, not in your email.  Simply click on the blue underlined link as before.

With this comes a timeline for us when we alert you.  So, every 8 am,  if we have posted anything in the prior 24 hours, you will be notified.

Given that we have readers from coast to coast we thought this time might be best for alerts.  The website of course evolves with posts 24/7 as written.

Thanks for making us a part of your daily reads.   Please feel free to pass our site onto any of your friends and family that you think might enjoy it as well.  We aren’t above a little groveling as you know.  We’ll be even better soon.

In the meantime, please pardon our dust part II.

No News Is Good News

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

You may have noticed that the boomboomsroom.com staff hasn’t posted a news article in a week or so.  It’s because our news editor has been on vacation.   Not really, we don’t have a news editor.   It’s because the staff hasn’t really felt like posting one.

We wondered aloud this afternoon why.  Why no news?

Sure there’s been news.  There is plenty of it every day.  We think our aversion to news stories the last week or so is driven by what we see or hear, who we hear it from, and how we feel about it.  And, we feel like what we have been seeing and hearing has given us news fatigue.

We did some research today and discovered that Googling “news fatigue” is a dead-end.  There is no such thing apparently.  Or, maybe there is and no one trademarked the phrase just yet.  We looked on Dictionary.com too.  Again no such thing.  The site actually asked if we meant “nest egg.”

Tzatziki anyone?

Each year Dictionary. com adds new words/phrases that have been coined along the way.  Glamping is where glamorous meets camping.  Tzatziki is a greek yogurt sauce that is made with garlic and cucumbers.  A dumpster fire is a total loss, worthless, or bad outcome.  Well, dumpster fire is very close to what we were looking for.  But, why no news fatigue?

So the staff met this afternoon, tried some tzatziki,  and decided to help both sites as they clearly aren’t as “on trend” as ours is.  We decided that news fatigue is a noun that describes one’s feelings after watching any of CBS, NBC, ABC, Fox News, MSNBC, or CNN (which some call “fake news” on a rather regular basis).  Those feelings are hopelessness derived from the ridiculous one-sided approach to the same subject and incessantly droning on daylong about it. It’s furthered by the negative angle of that one-sided approach.

Lastly, it’s compounded by the stench emanating from Washington.  Congress members get low, low cost (you’re subsidizing greatly) haircuts and manicures.   We wonder if we could install free showers to?  Everyone in that swamp needs a soap and a rinse.

Hopelessness overtakes those afflicted with news fatigue.  So what is the cure?  We hope there is a better one for the long-term.  Meanwhile, what is the short-term remedy to ease the pain?  After little deliberation we think turning off the news channels until your fever subsides is a smart start.  After all, there are people who report the news and people who make the news.   We suggest that you make your own news, and make it positive in whatever you do.