Hightower!

For years I have been a fan of Jim Hightower.  Southern-voiced curmudgeon and straight-talker, who has been trying to get Americans to realize that they are being flam-boozled by Congress and the Presidency.  He especially likes to pick on George W. Bush's record, and has lots of data that he uses to support his view that "W" as well as lots of unscrupulous Congressmen have raped this country.

Once again, on a trip to the local Dollar Store, I came upon a $1 bargain.  A five-disk package exposing the "questionable" events of the first 4 years of the W. Bush presidency, along with a blasting of greedy Congressmen.  Two of Hightower's books were included:  Thieves in High Places (2003) and Let's Stop Beating Around the Bush (2004).

Jim is a "downhome" Texan, born in 1943.  He has "spent three decades battling the Powers That Be, on behalf of The Powers That Ought To Be."  His latest book is titled:  Swim Against the Current; Even a Dead Fish Can Go With The Flow.

In the Dollar Store package, Jim takes a lot of time talking about "sleezy" politicians, as well as a  guy currently hoping to become President in 2013: Newt Gingrich.  He mentions a lot of negative sounding  things about Newt that are just now also being mentioned by his opponents in the race to win the early primaries in 2012. 

But the main persons that Jim attacks are President George W. Bush and his close cronies.  If even part of what he says about W., Cheney, and Rumsfeld is true, one wonders why none of them is currently serving time.

Yes, Jim certainly has a lot to complain about with the politicians in the Republican Party.. but he also attacks many in the Democratic Party, and in the media, which he compares to a "tasteless joke."  He tries to rally us "common folk" to get rid of all of these "bullies" and regain the rights we have been steadily losing in the United States because of them.

Mr. Hightower is both a very serious and a very funny man.  His seriousness is hidden under a sound  curtain of hilarity.  Pull back that curtain and listen to his serious message, and THINK.  Feel the passion hiding under the humor.. the passion of an honorable man who wants to see our country come back to its former status as a nation "of the people, by the people, and for the people." 

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The Sage of Baltimore

For many years, the initials H.L.M were just as well known in America as G.B.S. in Great Britain.  The initials were for Henry Louis Mencken, the so-called "Sage of Baltimore."

Mencken was born in Baltimore in 1880 and died there in 1956.  He was a journalist, critic and noted philologist.  He worked for the Baltimore Morning Herald and the Baltimore Sun.  He co-edited The Smart Set with George Jean Nathan and founded and edited The American Mercury.  His book: The American Language is a "must-read."  He also wrote other books, including three that are autobiographical:  Happy Days,  Heathen Days, and Newspaper Days.

You may have heard of him in relation to the famous Scopes (Monkey) Trial. 

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/monkeytrial/peopleevents/p_mencken.html


Even before I moved to Baltimore, I had read The American Language volumes and enjoyed the many stories that he relates within.  However, I had never read his autobiographical works, so I was pleased to discover a copy of The Vintage Mencken at a Smith College Book Sale.  The book is a collection of pieces of the writings of Mencken, gathered by Alistair Cooke, with an informative introduction by Mr. Cooke, who dubbed Mencken, "the American Voltaire." 

The book was published as a Vintage paperback.. probably in 1956, one year after Mencken's death.

HLM loved Baltimore.  Even though he edited magazines in New York City, he almost always returned on the weekends by train to his hometown.. about a 5 hour ride.  He liked to eat the famous Wiener Schnitzel at Hausner's Restaurant, and loved everything German.  During the time when Germany was the enemy of the United States, he was not happy, because he considered German culture to be the best in the world.  He liked to read Goethe and was a member of a classical quartet in Baltimore, playing Bach and Beethoven at least once a week. 



Some people have said that he had anti-Semitic tendencies.  I have never found any indication of that.  But, I could be wrong.  He definitely did not like the separate, but not quite equal facilities for Blacks that he saw in Baltimore, and wrote scathingly about them.

If this is the first time you have encountered Mr. Mencken, let me introduce you to a few "tidbits" from some of his writings.  I'm sure you will agree that he had definite opinions about almost everything.

From: In Defense of Women, 1922

"What men mistake for beauty in themselves is usually nothing save a certain hollow gaudiness, a revolting flashiness, the superficial splendor of a prancing animal.  The most lovely movie actor, considered in the light of genuine esthetic values, is no more than a study in vulgarity. His like is to be found, not in the Uffizi gallery or among the harmonies of Brahms, but among the plush sofas, rococo clocks and hand-painted oil-paintings of the third-rate auction-room.  All women, save the least intelligent, penetrate this imposture with sharp eyes."

From: The Smart Set, April 1920

"In the face of another man's good fortune I am as inert as a curb broker before Johann Sebastian Bach.  It gives me neither pleasure nor distress.  The fact, for example that John D. Rockefeller had more money than I have is as uninteresting to me as the fact that he believed in total immersion and  wore detachable cuffs.  And the fact that some half-anonymous ass or other has been elected President of the United States, or appointed a professor at Harvard, or married to a rich wife, or even to a beautiful and amiable one: this fact is as meaningless to me as the the latest piece of bogus news from eastern Europe."

From: The Smart Set, May 1919

"The allurement that women hold out to men is precisely the allurement that Cape Hatteras holds out to sailors:  They are enormously dangerous and hence enormously fascinating.  To the average man, doomed to some banal drudgery all his life long, they offer the only grand hazard that he ever encounters.  Take them away and his existence would be as flat and secure as that of a moo-cow."

From: The Smart Set, 1923

"Man, at his best, remains a sort of one-lunged animal, never completely rounded and perfect, as a cockroach, say, is perfect. If he shows one valuable quality, it is almost unheard of for him to show any other.  Give him a head, and he lacks a heart.  Give him a heart of a gallon capacity and his head holds scarcely a pint."

From: The Baltimore Evening Sun, December 1924

"...that (chiropractic) pathology is grounded upon the doctrine that all human ills are caused by the pressure of misplaced vertebrae upon the nerves which come out of the spinal cord .. in other words, that every disease is the result of a pinch.  This, plainly enough, is buncombe.  The chiropractic therapeutics rest upon the doctrine that the way to get rid of such pinches is to climb upon a table and submit to a heroic pummeling by a retired piano-mover.  This obviously, is  buncombe doubly damned."

From: Happy Days, 1940

"...they (literary tourists) all agreed, often with lubricious gloats and gurgles, (a) that its (Baltimore's) indigenous victualry was unsurpassed in the Republic, (b) that its native Caucasian females of all ages up to thirty-five were of incomparable pulchritude, and as amiable as they were lovely, and (c) that its home-life was spacious, charming, full of creature comforts, and hightly conducive to the facile and orderly propagation of the species."

(And they were right.. Baltimore is a nice comfy place to live.)

So, there you have it.  HLM was a curmudgeon, a "Crankshaft" kind of guy, and a breath of fresh air, in my opinion.  I wish that he had lived into the 1960's so I could have had a beer and 'schnitzel with him at Hausner's. 

If you do nothing else in your life... go to the library and browse through his magnum opus: The American Language.  In it you will learn how some people had their European names squeezed and stuffed into Yankee sounds.  Also, you will learn that the interns at the famous Johns Hopkins Hospital used to name all the children born to poor unwed mothers.  Some of the names that they chose were classic, such as "Positive Wasserman Johnson." (Medical persons will appreciate that.)  And, you will learn that he was the person to first categorize:

Boobus Americanus:  A subspecies of homo sapiens. Characterized as the ignorant, self-righteous, and over-credulous American middle class.

... and the category of humanoids that both the Republicans and Democrats will be trying to woo in the election year of 2012!

Good bye, from HLM!

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Common Ground?

I've mentioned before how I find great buys in books at the local Dollar Store.  Books that don't sell many copies are taken up by these stores and mixed in with Bibles and coloring books and sold for that magical one dollar bill.  Well, the other day in the store, I found a basket full of Books on Tape (actually on Disk).. and I bought them all.  If you are still with me, you know that I am ready now to talk to you about one of them.

Common Ground (How to Stop the Partisan War that is Destroying America)
Written by Cal Thomas and Bob Beckel. Read mostly by Richard Rohan.

ISBN 978-0-06-136360-3  Containing 7 CD's for 8 1/2 hours.

I spent the 8 1/2 hours listening while I drove to and fro around Maryland.

Bob Beckel has been called a rabid Liberal and Cal Thomas has been called a rabid Conservative.
However, both have set partisanship aside and have become great friends.  They wrote this book in 2007 when they thought that divisiveness in Congress had gone on as long as it could. (Unfortunately, they were wrong.  I wonder if they have written a sequel.)

Bob Beckel:  A leading Liberal DC political analyst and consultant.  I'm sure I have seen him on TV many times, but I just don't remember him.

Cal Thomas:  A leading Conservative commentator. I debated whether or not I should listen to this book because of Cal.  I have not had a good opinion of him since one time, many years ago, I felt that he had  twisted some of my words around to make it look like I was a racist.  At the time, I thought that what he said was a "cheap shot" designed to expose me as a hypocritical Liberal. I was "touchy" then, and could have just misunderstood what he said.   I can't remember if this was during an "in person" Baltimore event, a "call in", or from something written by me.  My feelings were hurt because of what he said, so I have tried to forget all about it.  (Of course, I was much younger then .. today, I am too old to let criticism, true or false, bother me.)

I liked this book.  It was many things.  Especially a history lesson. As George Santayana once said:  "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it."

Case in point: They remind us that Newt Gingrich promised a new and wonderful harmonious Congress when he became Speaker of the House.   They also remind us that he was carrying on with a young Intern while loudly picking on President Clinton for the same activity.  They also remind us that he was convicted of an ethics violation.

Since I am an Independent, I can give my opinion about Congressional and Presidential candidates from either party.  So, I will continue mentioning Newt.  On NPR today, a member of Congress reminded us that Newt  published a memo for Republican Congressmen, listing negative adjectives to be used when talking about Democratic initiatives and positive adjectives to be used when talking about Republican initiatives.

Tune in to CSPAN and take a few minutes to listen to the floor debates even today.. the adjective throwing continues.. "Democratic job-killing initiatives"..  "Republican job-increasing initiatives".. etc.

OK.. to be fair.. one of the reasons I became an Independent is because President Obama is not exerting the power he has to override such negativity and unite Congress.

Anyway.. this book is a call for politicians to look for and embrace the "common ground" that they have on most issues.  Of course, there may not be "common ground" for some issues like abortion and same sex marriage.

Cal and Bob are asking politicians to "get beyond partisanship, restore civility, and move our country forward."  They wish that politicians would learn to be "friends" not enemies, just as they have. 

They also discuss so-called "polarizers" like Rush Limbaugh and Michael Moore, and feel that the voters are smart enough to see beyond polarization.

As I said, I liked this book, but I think that they could have said it all in two CD's instead of 7.  One gets their point right away.  The history lesson was enlightening, but also too long.  It's fun to remember what has happened in Congress since Nixon, but some of the repetition is a bit much.  Maybe that is why this is in the "remainder" category.

In my opinion, even though some of the elected Congressmen of 2008 promised bi-partisan civility and cooperation, the situation has gone way way downhill, and I think that the public is tired of it and will vote in 2012 to get rid of some of the divisive members and perhaps get Congress back to doing its job.. which is: serving the best interests of the citizens of the United States of America, rather than narrow partisan objectives.

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The King of Schnorrers

For some time, driving down Route 32 in Columbia, Maryland, I would pass a sign that advertised Daedalus Books.  The sign said that by taking the next two right turns, one would discover a fantastic book lovers paradise.  Finally, after passing the sign for several years, I took the bait.  I made the two right turns and drove into the parking lot of a massive factory-type building. 

However, nowhere was there a sign saying that I was at Daedalus Books.  I asked someone.  "No. Never heard of it. Not here."

I backed out and drove hither and thither for a while, with no luck.  I still do not believe there is such a building for Daedalus Books.  However, I do know that there is a business with that name, because I get catalogs from them periodically.

Last month, I decided to try my luck at ordering some books from them.  Their prices are quite low and that appeals to the biblophile that I am.  I picked out ten books and sent off a check.   A few days later, I received a notice that eight of my book picks were not available.. but they would send me two of them, both by Jewish gentlemen.

One was by a Dr. Levi, who survived a German concentration camp.  The other was by a person named Israel Zangwill, a so-called Jewish-English author who wrote around the end of the 1800's. 

The Zangwill book that I received is called The King of Schnorrers. It was published in 2003 by Dover Publications, Inc.  ISBN: 0-486-42872-9 (pbk). 

I was very curious about this book.  I did not know what a Schnorrer was.  I soon found out that a schnorrer  is a beggar, a rather important person in the Jewish Ghetto of 1790 London.  To quote the cover write-up:  "Manasseh Bueno Barzillai Azevedo da Costa, (is) a proud, resourceful Sephardic schnorrer who lords it over his fellow mendicants in London of the late 1790's."

Think of Manasseh as a combination of Figaro, Jerry Falwell, Charles Ponzi, Sargeant Bilko, and Rod Blagojevich.  He is a person not to be messed with.  But don't be put off by this.  This is a funny story that I will not even begin to reveal.  You have to read it to appreciate it.  Suffice it to say that it is about tolerance and the understanding of others.

Israel Zangwill is a master wordsmith.  Just listen to this, the first paragraph of the book:

"In the days when Lord George Gordon became a Jew, and was suspected of insanity;  when, out of respect for the prophecies, England denied her Jews every civic right except that of paying taxes;  when the Gentleman's Magazine had ill words for the infidel alien; when Jewish marriages were invalid and bequests for Hebrew colleges void;  when a prophet prophesying Primrose Day would have been set in the stocks, though Pitt inclined his private ear to Benjamin Goldsmid's views on the foreign loans .. in those days, when Tevele Schiff was Rabbi in Israel, and Dr. de Falk, the Master of the Tetragrammaton, saint and Cabalistic conjuror, flourished in Wellclose Square, and the composer of 'The Death of Nelson' was a choir-boy in the Great Synagogue; Joseph Grobstock, pillar of the same, emerged one afternoon into the spring sunshine at the fag-end of the departing stream of worshippers.  In his hand was a large canvas bag, and in his eye a twinkle."

In one paragraph, Mr. Zangwill has given us an English history lesson and also led us through beautifully flowing language until we finally meet Mr. Grobstock and notice the twinkle in his eye.

This is a small book and can be devoured in a few pleasant hours.  I highly recommend it.

Israel Zangwill is also well-known for some potent sayings, among which are:

"Everything changes but change."

"Selfishness is the only real atheism; unselfishness the only true religion."

"A man likes his wife to be just clever enough to appreciate his cleverness, and just stupid enough to admire it."

My life has been enriched by learning about Israel Zangwill.  I plan to read more of his many books.  His works are divided into two parts: English life stories;  Jewish ghetto life stories.  I hope to read both types.

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A Book by Andy Rooney (RIP)

On 11/11/11, Carroll Lutheran Village paid tribute to Veterans Day by presenting a remembrance of the Home Front in World War II.  It was set up beautifully by members of the Mens Club and the Red Hatters.  Some of our fellow residents served in that war and were honored.  Some others of us who served in later wars were also honored.   However, the main topic was, as I said, The Home Front in World War II. .

Many of us who were too young to be drafted helped in the war effort by collecting scrap paper and metal.  Some of us wrote about that and other wartime experiences on The Home Front and a book was published with our writings.  It's available for viewing at our library, a very nice place in our Village to sit and read, surrounded by thousands of good books, old and new.

At the Veterans Day presentation, some library books about WWII were on display and I was pleasantly surprised to see one by recently-deceased Andy Rooney.  As the one or two who read my blogs, you already know that Andy was one of my heroes.  I thought of him variously as: a curmudgeon, a humorist of the first order, a naive observer of the world, a fantastic public speaker, a wise old man, .... depending on the article I was reading that was written by him, or the words that he was saying to close out a television show... or by what I read in the humorous books written by him that I unfortunately gave away before I moved to the Village.  And.. of course,  I have tried to imitate him in some of my writings.  Charles Caleb Colton wrote in 1820: "Imitation is the sincerest (form) of flattery."

The book was titled:  My War by Andy Rooney.  1995 by Essay Publications, Inc.
ISBN: 0-8129-2532-7

Andy tells about his life from 1939 to 1945.  As a staff writer for the GI publication, The Stars and Stripes, he traveled in his beloved Jeep all over Europe and Asia for stories, often hemmed in between massive tanks and 4x4 trucks, sustaining lots of enemy fire.  Many of his fellow correspondents were killed, some right by his side, and how he escaped his own demise is a mystery to me, as it was to him.

He was near the action on D-Day and was with the troops when they drove the Germans out of  Paris. He observed that Parisian man crying when the French partisans and American GI's entered his city, and tries to tell how much that liberation meant to the people who had suffered so long under German occupation. 

Andy was there with the troops when they entered Cologne (my old "stomping ground") and the Schnee Eiffel (where I spent 18 months in the 1950's).  He has nothing good to say about General Patton, who took credit for the Battle of the Bulge.  He got chewed out by the General one time, but ignored the admonition and lived to tell about it.

Andy was also there when the American troops entered Buchenwald.. I quote: "Buchenwald represented the worst of everything in all the Nazi extermination camps.  The dead and dying were still everywhere."  My friend, Harry Wade, was there at that time too and he echoes what Andy said.. and also what Andy said about the SS-run work camp at Thekla:

"When these SS troops realized U.S. soldiers were going to arrive in Thekla within hours, they herded 300 prisoners into one of the barracks... They threw pails of gasoline over the barracks and onto some of the prisoners and then tossed incendiary grenades into the building.  It surely was one of the pinnacles in the annals of man's inhumanity to man."

Some of the Thekla citizens who lived close to the barbed wired compound, came out of their neatly trimmed homes and told Andy: "We didn't know."

Andy was also not very impressed with the dropping of two atomic bombs on Japan.  He reminds us that our B-29's had already bombed 39 Japanese cities in the spring of 1945.  The Russians were impressed though and joined us in the war against Japan.

From what I have been saying, you might think that this is a depressing book.  Not so.  Andy's subtle humor shows through on almost every page. 

For example:  One of Andy's assignments was to cover an American unit that was training Chinese soldiers to help us in the war.  He found that many people in that area of China understood English and used a form of it for communication.   He liked these examples:

A billboard ad:  Chenmen cigarettes: smoke one and you'll never smoke another.

A sign over a tailor shop:  Respectable ladies having fits upstairs.

A dentist's sign:  False teeth. Latest methodists employed.

Well, Andy Rooney survived the Great War, and lived to be over 90.. but he left one unsolved mystery that I want to clear up right here and now.   Andy had this Jeep that became almost a part of him.  He traveled everywhere in Europe with it.. but when it came time for him to leave Europe in 1945, he couldn't fit it into a duffle bag, so he had to leave it sitting on a corner somewhere in an Army base.  He always wondered what happened to it.

I came to Europe in 1953, just 8 years later, and began my term of duty in that "Scnnee Eiffel" that Andy liked to pronounce.  A little while after I arrived, I won a Jeep in a game of chance.  It was in the Motor Pool, buried in 6 feet of snow (Schnee) with just an antenna poking out.  I dug the Jeep out, turned the ignition (no key).  It started right up and became my constant companion for over 3 years in Germany.  When I departed for home in 1956, I left that Jeep on a corner, just as Andy did before me. I'll bet that someone adopted it and it's still running today.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeep


Read the book!  Enjoy!

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What, why and how do you eat?

A few months ago, I finished studying (not just reading) a book authored by a gentleman seen or heard by most Americans on TV and radio shows.  He makes a good guest.  He has a lot to say about our use of food.  The author is Brian Wansink, and the book is:

Mindless Eating (Why We Eat More Than We Think) by Brian Wansink, Ph.D.   Bantam Books. 2006 ISB-13:978-0-553-80434-8

I devoured this book (sorry about that).  Yes I did.. using a modified Hugh Downs Method.  First, I read the whole 200 or so pages little by little.. that is, a few pages each day, marking passages that I wanted to come back to later.  Next I went through the Notes Section,  checking out those notes refered to in the text that I hadn't looked at earlier.  Then I went through the Index, alphabetically, rereading parts of the text on related points in separate parts of the book.   This sounds like a chore, but it was not, because I like the way that Brian writes.

What did I learn from this book that I did not know before?  Not much.  But that is because I have heard the author talk before on NPR and have read much of his subject in a number of popular magazines.

So.. why did I like the book so much?  Because I am a chubby little rascal who knows that he must lose weight, and this book put a lot of weight-management tips together with healthful food-eating tips into a kind of common-sense manual for guys like me.  Doctor  Wansink looked me right in the eye and said: "Hey, fatso, you've got to reengineer your eating habits or you are going to waddle on for the rest of your life!"  This is what he told me to do: (He cites studies and rationales for each of these strategies.)

Reengineering Strategy #1 (Think 20%)

Put 20% less in your plate than you think you will want to eat, and make sure that includes more fruit and vegetables than foods like pasta.

Reengineering Strategy #2 (See all you eat)

Put everything you decide to eat on a plate before you start eating.
Do not remove the remains of what you have eaten before the end of the meal.

Reengineering Strategy #3 (Control your own tablescape)

Repackage big containers to smaller Ziploc containers.
Use smaller plates.
Don't make so much that you have tempting leftovers.

Reengineering Strategy #4  (Make overeating a hassle)

Keep serving dishes off of the table.
Put tempting items in hard to reach places.
Eat snacks only at the dining table and on clean plates.
Don't bring impulse foods into the house.
Eat before you shop.
Shop from a list.

Reengineering Strategy #5 (Remove distractions when eating)

Eat only at the kitchen or dining table.
Try not to watch TV while eating.
Try not to read while eating.
Try to concentrate on what you are eating.

Reengineering Strategy #6 (Tricks for thoughtful cooks)

Prepare healthful food and give the food enticing names like "succulent" or "homemade".
Think about using fancy plates, tablecloths,.. candlelight.

Reengineering Strategy #7 (Make comforting foods more comforting)

Keep the comfort foods, but eat less of them.  Do not deprive yourself.
Pair healthier foods with positive events.  (Like celebrating graduation with something with less calories than "Death by Chocolate!")

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Brian also does a comparison of these popular diets:

The South Beach Diet
The Sugar Busters Diet
The Weight Watchers Points Diet
The Zone Diet
The Atkins Diet

He even lays out many of his suggestions in a diet that he calls:  "Your Mindful Eating Plan".

,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
This is only part of the information that Doctor Wansink puts forth in his marvelous book.  I highly recommend it to anybody who is concerned about what they eat. 

Check it all  out at:

http://www.mindlesseating.org/


...or else:


Watch those calories!   Joe

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A Book about the Civil War

I picked this little book up at BJ's.  It was part of a series of informational books published by the Readers Digest.  It contains 169 pages of facts, stories and original photographs, all of which is presented in a wonderfully easy reading style (kind of Readers Digesty).

I Used to Know That -- CIVIL WAR   (stuff you forgot from school) by Fred DuBose  2011

ISBN 978-1-60652-244-8  US History..Civil War, 1861-1865

I have been a member of the Pipe Creek Civil War Roundtable for a couple of years and have developed a great interest in that war.  Action happened in this area around the Pipe Creeks (Big and Little) and also in my current hometown of Westminster, Maryland and its environs. However, the Index does not mention Westminster or Pipe Creek.  Nearby Gettysburg, of course, has prominent mention.

The point of the book is to outline the main events and personages of the fight, and get you interested in learning more.  I think it accomplishes that admirably.  There were a lot of gaps in my knowledge of the war and some of these gaps were filled in, and my interest  in the war has indeed been intensified.. 

The book covers three periods:

1.  The Antebellum Period:  1800-1860

2.  The War Between the States: 1860-1865

3.  The Reconstruction Era: 1865-1877

The book explains four key events in the 1850's that pushed the Nation toward disunion:

1. The Compromise Act of 1850 (which included the Fugitive Slave Law)
2. The publication of Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe in 1852.
3.  The Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854 (which stipulated that the citizens of a territory could determine its free or slave state status.
4.  The Dred Scott Decision by the Supreme Court in 1857 (which stripped Congress' power to ban slavery in new territories.)

The book examines the conduct of the war by both North and South.

The book takes a good look at recontruction activity after the war.

There you have it.. all you ever wanted to know about the Civil War.

................................................................................................................

However, you know me, I like to pounce on little known facts and utterances in the books that I read, so here are a few (out of chronological order) items from Part I, the Antebellum Period:

Both Abraham Lincoln and Jefferson Davis were born nine months apart in Kentucky.

Abraham Lincoln (the 6'4" Railsplitter) squared off with Stephen A. Douglas (the 5'4" Little Giant) in a series of debates when running for the Senate in 1858.  That must have been a marvelous scene.. Abe, speaking in the squeaky drawl of a country boy.. looking down on an eloquent sweet-tongued practiced orator.  Lincoln lost those seven debates, but what he said created great interest in him and  nailed down his anti-slavery credentials.

Jefferson Davis was a hell-raiser while at West Point.  He was average in grades, but way above average at breaking curfews, drinking hard liquor and disregarding the rules.  He did make it through in spite of a court-martial based on his participation in a student riot after drinking alcoholic eggnog.

Frederick Douglass was born a slave in Talbot County, Maryland.  He was sent to Baltimore for a while, where he learned to read (mostly surepticiously).  After suffering whippings and beatings back in Talbot County, he returned to Baltimore and was trained as a boat caulker.  In 1838, when he was around twenty years old, he escaped along the Underground Railroad and eventually arrived in New Bedford, Massachusetts (my old hometown).

As an experienced caulker, he obtained a job on the New Bedford wharves, and became active in abolitionist activity, even though he still had the status of an escaped slave.  Eight years after his escape, British abolitionists bought his freedom from his Maryland "owners". 

Frederick joined the Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society and became a powerful lecturer and author. He published The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave, Written by Himself  in 1845, at the age of 27. 

In 1859, abolitionist John Brown decided that an attack on the federal arsenal at Harpers Ferry, Virginia, by blacks and whites, would encourage slaves to escape from the south and join them in the Allegheny Mountains, where they would be trained as guerilla fighters.  Mr. Brown did succeed somewhat in capturing the arsenal, but Robert E. Lee led a Union military force that restored order and captured Mr. Brown, who was later hanged.

'In 1807 the Kentucky Abolitionist Society was formed as an offshoot of the Baptized Licking-Locust Association, Friends of Humanity confederation - emancipationist Baptist churches..." 

.....................................................................................................................

Well, what do you think?  Has your interest been tweaked?  I've mentioned only a few interesting (at least to me) items from part one of this great little book.  Get a copy and spend an enjoyable couple of hours learning little-known aspects of this period of our country's life.  And enjoy the marvelously reproduced photographs scattered throughout.  Have fun!

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A Golfer's Mystery

I have never attempted to become a golfer.  Even as a kid, I did not have an urge to be a caddy.  There were lots of opportunities there, but I opted to deliver newspapers instead.  Golf did not interest me in the least.

Now, I live in  a senior citizen paradise, where the surviving males love to spend time on an adjacent golf course.  I can look out of our back window and see these guys riding their little carts from hole to hole, and having, what appears to be, a wonderful time. 

I don't recall any of my fellow weightlifters ever taking up golf.  We often called it a "sissy game."  I always wondered how we would do if we ever got the "golf bug."  Would our pumped up muscles allow us to hit the little white ball a lot farther than the Walter Mitty types that we would probably be playing with?  Well, my question was answered when I found this gem of a book.

The Mysterious Montague (A True Tale of Hollywood, Golf, and Armed Robbery), by Leigh Montville.  Mr. Montville is the author of bestselling  books about Babe Ruth and Ted Williams, so I could not figure out why I found this book in the Dollar Store, in the remaindered book section. But I am glad I did.

Although only a little over average height, John Montague was an extremely muscled 210 pounds, and could lift  300 pound Oliver Hardy with one hand and deposit him on top of a bar.  John loved golf, and was known to hit the ball much farther, and with more accuracy than any other golfer in that fairyland called Hollywood. 

Mr. John Montague suddenly appeared in Hollywood in the early 1930's.  Completely unknown at first, he quickly made a name for himself at the Lakeside Golf Club.. that's the club where the famous movie stars liked to play their golf, and drink their hootch.   For a while, he lived at Oliver Hardy's house, and often played with Bing Crosby and other celebrities.  Once, he beat Bing by wielding a rake and a shovel, instead of clubs.  Mr. Montague beat everybody he played with for many years, and became a club legend. 

(Segue:  I heard on XM Radio, that at one time, the ladies who visited  Lakeside were shocked because they could see that male golfers often removed their shirts while they played.  The ladies forced the club officials to issue a notice that forbade the removal of shirts while on the course.  The male members {sorry} complied with the notice.. until Groucho and Harpo showed up at the last hole with their shirts on, as ordered, but minus their trousers....)

Back to Mr. Montague...  John refused to enter any of the tournaments, which everyone knew he could win.  In addition, Mr. Montague refused to have anyone take his picture.  The celebrities he golfed with wondered about him, but because he was such a spectacular golfer, they let him be the way he was until a rogue photographer took a long distance photograph of him that was published without his knowledge. A few days later, he was arrested.

So, there you are.. who was this John Montague?  Why didn't he want to enter tournaments that he obviously could have won?  Why didn't he want his picture taken?  Why was he arrested?  What happened after he was arrested? 

To find out, hurry over to your local Dollar Store and buy a $1 copy of this interesting true story.  It's a quick read, and if you are a golfer, you will probably not be able to put it down until it is devoured.

Have fun!   FORE!

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Book by George Carlin

For my second book review, I want to try a controversial book by a masterful comedian.  I have watched George Carlin do his routines for many many many years and I think that his comedic observations, while supposedly given mainly for laughs, are filled with "life lessons" for us all.
The book I am reviewing was purchased at Big Lots for $3, at the same time it was offered at Borders for $14.  Why would that be?  I suspect that the book ("A New York Times Bestseller") was not such a great seller in other parts of the country, and was considered a "remainder" where Big Lots obtained it.

The title, and even the cover picture would probably anger some customers.   The picture is a take-off of Leonardo da Vinci's fresco in the refectory of the Dominican Convent of Santa Maria delle Grazie. (For a marvelous study of this painting, go to  http://www.jaydax.co.uk/lastsupper/lastsupper.htm

George has inserted himself into the painting.. squeezing himself next to an empty chair where Jesus Christ is supposed to sit.  George has his modern day knife and fork at the ready and is saying the "outrageous" title of the book:  "When Will Jesus Bring the Pork Chops?"

This book is filled with jokes and sayings by George.. many of them should not be repeated in polite society.  But, regardless of how you feel about this, George has some great observations about this crazy world we live in.  I believe that since this is a book review, to give you a feel for what is in the book, I can mention some of these observations without incurring a law suit.

Euphemism Examples: 

Toilet paper has become bathroom tissue.
Second-hand clothing is now vintage apparel.
Answering machines are now voice-processing systems.
Reruns are now encore presentations.

And (maybe, according to George) this trend may lead us to sayings like:

The opera isn't concluded until the full-figured  woman offers a vocal rendering.  (ouch!)

or:

In the kingdom of the visually impaired, the partially-sighted person is fully empowered.

Segue:  I often told the original of that phrase to my son, Chris.  "In the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king." This was my way of teaching the "work ethic."  One day, much to my surprise and pleasure, he presented me with a nameplate to be used on the Branch Chief desk that I occupied at Social Security.

 The nameplate read: Joe Vaughan,  One-eyed Chief. 

Mr. Carlin makes lots of other observations that I like, such as:

"I was looking in the mirror the other day and I realized I haven't changed much since I was in my twenties.  The only difference is I look a whole lot older now."  (How true!)

"If you vote once, you're considered a good citizen.  If you vote twice, you face four years in jail."

"I drove past a school with a sign that said WE'RE DRUG-FREE AND GUN-FREE.  Later that day I drove past another school that didn't have a sign like that.  What am I supposed to infer from this about that school?"

George also tells a lot of great jokes in the book.  An example:

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J:  I heard ... died.  What happened?

S: It's the strangest thing.  He was walkin' down Fifth Avenue on the way  to Times Square.  He took a right at Forty-second Street and headed over to Broadway.  He was just strollin' along, mindin' his own business, when suddenly a big chunk of concrete fell on him and crushed him to death.

J: ... What a way to  go!

S:   I know.  I woulda taken a right at Fiftieth Street, gone over to Broadway and then headed down to Times Square.
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I'm sure you get the idea from my comments on these examples that I enjoyed this book.  It was probably one of the last ones he wrote before his untimely death.  I heartily recommend it to you.. unless you are easily shocked.  Some of the language is crude and insulting and often juvenile... but remember what George tried to remind us:

Sticks and stones can break our bones,
But words can never hurt us.

I will not drop this book off for anyone else to read because I want to keep it in order to dip into it from time to time .. especially when I find that I am taking myself  too seriously.

... Oh.. before I forget.. George put a quote in the beginning of the book that rings true with me as I now read another interesting book:  In My Time, by Dick Cheney.  The quote is from Hermann Goering, at the Nueremberg War Trials, just before he committed suicide:

"Of course the people don't want war.  But, after all, it's the leaders of the country who determine that policy, and it's always a simple matter to drag the people along whether it's a democracy, a fascist dictatorship, or a parliament, or a communist dictatorship.  Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders.  That is easy.  All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism, and exposing the country to greater danger."

How true, George.. thank you for reminding us .. too bad we keep forgetting this. 

Rest In Peace!

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Poincare's Prize by George G. Szpiro

One of life's little joys is finding an interesting book in an unlikely place.  Such was the joy I had in finding this book at a Dollar Store.  I always look through the sections where "remainders" are offered for the usual $1.  These are books that haven't sold in the regular book stores.

I find that books written by unsucessful politicians find their way to the Dollar Store because nobody wants to waste time reading  them... and usually, neither do I.   Sometimes books show up because they look too difficult to read.  Such, I'm sure was the case with this book by mathematician and journalist, George Szpiro. 

Poincare's Prize  or The Hundred-Year Quest to Solve One of Math's Greatest Puzzles

Monsieur Henri Poincare (accent on the last e  .. the Brits pronounce his name: Pon ca ray) died in the Titanic year of 1912, at Paris, where he was Professor of Mathematical Astronomy at the University, Member of the French Academy and the Academe des Sciences.  He was 58 years old and one of the great minds of the 19th and 20th centuries.

In 1904, he had made the following unproven conjecture: (according to a "simplified" entry I found in Wikipedia)

Every simply connected, closed 3-manifold is homeomorphic to the 3-sphere... or:

If a 3-manifold is homotopy equivalent to the 3-sphere, then it is necessarily homeomorphic to it.

For almost one hundred years, mathematicians tried to find some way to prove this conjecture and earn a prize of one million dollars.  Finally, in 2003, a semi-recluse Russian named Grigori Perelman came up with that elusive proof.  He was offered the $1,000,000 prize.....he turned it down.  He felt that he didn't deserve it because other mathematicians had laid the groundwork that allowed him to come up with the proof.

For somewhat clearer information about Doctor Poincare and his conjecture, visit:

http://www.claymath.org/poincare/

Now, I am not a mathematician.  I did manage to pass basic Algebra, which I took in High School, for fun, along with my cousin, Charlie  And, at one time,  I was told by my grandfather that I had been  an Idiot Savant as a young child.. able to answer addition and subtraction problems instantaneously in my head.   (However, knowing my grandfather, he may have been "pulling my leg, although I do vaguely remember people giving me numbers to add or subtract when I was a very yooung kid." )

I vigorously avoided all mathematics classes in college.  

My grandfather did introduce me to the wonder of Moebius strips and showed me how I could have fun with them.

That has been my only exposure to "higher" mathematics.  So, why the Devil did I go to the trouble of reading this complicated book?

The answer is simply that in my dotage, I still want  to learn all that I can before I kick off this topological sphere.. and besides that, the book reads like a mystery story.

Mr. Szpiro takes the reader into the lives of all of the mathematicians who have been trying to solve this problem for one hundred years, and, I have to admit, these are mostly weird people, even by my very liberal standards... That, of course, makes them very interesting to read about.  I  enjoyed this book.

One question bothers me though.  Why isn't Monsieur Poincare or his conjecture mentioned in Bill Bryson's book A Short History of Nearly Everything, considering that lots of information uncovered by mathematicians during their quest to solve the problem has been used in important endeavors, such as the U.S. Space Program. 

I'm going to drop this book off at an "unofficial library" spot and see if anybody picks it up to read.

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