Tag Archives: HISTORY

Politics & Economics

I Was Nineteen and the Movie was Exodus

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When I was nineteen I didn’t know much about Israel, Palestine, the Mid-East, where oil came from, and many other things. What I first learned about Israel came from sitting through the 1961 screening of Otto Preminger’s film, Exodus in Copenhagen, Denmark.

To keep it brief, the story is about Jewish survivors of the Nazi holocaust seeking their own nation in what was then Palestine, a place already occupied by people calling themselves Palestinians. Palestine was under the control of Great Britain as mandated by one of the treaties ending World War One and directions of the old League of Nations.

Emigration to Palestine by European Jews, being frowned upon by the British, made the central characters illegal immigrants seeking to force the newly formed United Nations into partitioning Palestine into two nations, one Arab, one Jewish.

With the backing and manipulation of the United States the UN did partition Palestine in 1947 thus immediately setting off a war between Continue reading I Was Nineteen and the Movie was Exodus →

Music & the Arts

You Call That a Dirty Joke?

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If you’re younger than I you may have never heard of Rusty Warren or Redd Foxx. Even if you know of Redd Foxx it’s probably from his role as Fred G. Sandford of television fame. But long before Sandford and Son, Foxx was known as the king of dirty jokes while Warren was the queen.

In the 1950s people secretly listened to Redd Foxx and Rusty Warren on long-play, 33 1/3 r.p.m., vinyl record albums which society in general viewed as extremely raunchy humor. Everyone owned a couple of these albums, or had a friend who did. Adults routinely held house parties with a part of the evening’s entertainment consisting of sitting around the record player listening to the latest album from one of these comedians.

Rusty Warren was, and still is, considered by many a major figure in the sexual revolution Continue reading You Call That a Dirty Joke? →

Politics & Economics

Nothing New About the Tea Party

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Speaking at a luncheon prior to the dedication of the MLK, Jr. monument in Washington, DC, Jessie Jackson made the statement that the Tea Party was nothing new, “It’s just a new name for an old game.”

The old game Jackson referenced is the argument for state’s rights. When historians examine the causes of the American Civil War they often cite issues involving state’s rights as a major reason Continue reading Nothing New About the Tea Party →

Education, Politics & Economics

As You Drink a Cold One on Monday

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America has been taking the first Monday in September off since the late 1800s. The holiday rose from the labor violence of that era as a reaction to the growth of the unionism and collective bargaining. It is a day whose purpose is to honor the efforts of those who fought so hard to attain better conditions for the nation’s working classes.

In the decades that followed, the day has come more to mark the end of summer rather than a day to acknowledge the reason for the holiday itself. Labor Day is a day Continue reading As You Drink a Cold One on Monday →

Travel

A Place Named Betsy Bell

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Back in the spring I ventured over to the Atlantic coast near Virginia Beach for some salt water fishing. I love to drive and don’t seem to have any trouble finding things to do as I wind my way along the Interstates and secondary roads. I stop frequently to stretch the legs and on occasion back track to take a look at some point of interest or historical monument.

Another way of passing time is to take note of the many signs alerting the traveler of nearby towns and villages bearing interesting or curious names. Continue reading A Place Named Betsy Bell →

Education

The Rule of Thumb

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I am fascinated to know the origin of sayings and clichés. I have several books on the subject. My grandmother and mother had a trove of sayings and my brothers and I use them frequently but I notice that most younger people do not “GET” them. One old saying I do NOT use is “RULE OF THUMB” because it stems from the fact that in old English law a man was allowed to punish his wife and children with a rod as large as this THUMB! Continue reading The Rule of Thumb →

Politics & Economics

Maybe Not Warfare But Certainly Disparity

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Frequently when discussing the distribution of wealth in America a conservative will employ the phrase, “class warfare.” They argue that liberals and the liberal media are trying to drive a wedge between the haves and have-nots that will somehow lead to a forced redistribution of wealth at the hands of government.

I don’t think anyone is advocating real “class warfare” but, there Continue reading Maybe Not Warfare But Certainly Disparity →

Just Stuff

Why 160 Acres?

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My wife, after reading Mike Newman’s piece about his great-grandfather homesteading in New Mexico, asked me, “Why 160 acres?” The only answer I could give her was that it had something to do with one of the several Homestead Acts passed by the US Congress and possibly with the terms of the Northwest Ordinance of 1787. I also recalled it had something to do with the old saying, “forty acres and a mule.” Forty acres being about what one family with a mule could work in a years time and Continue reading Why 160 Acres? →

Travel

What the heck is Wall Drug?

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My wife and I were recently in a local steak house and on the wall was a sign that read, “Visit Wall Drug.” There are probably many people today who have no idea what that sign is all about or what Wall Drug is. Back in the 1960s it didn’t seem to matter where one traveled, you ran into “Visit Wall Drug” signs. I even remember seeing one on the side of a double-deck city bus in Continue reading What the heck is Wall Drug? →