We are a commune of inquiring, skeptical, politically centrist, capitalist, anglophile, traditionalist New England Yankee humans, humanoids, and animals with many interests beyond and above politics. Each of us has had a high-school education (or GED), but all had ADD so didn't pay attention very well, especially the dogs. Each one of us does "try my best to be just like I am," and none of us enjoys working for others, including for Maggie, from whom we receive neither a nickel nor a dime. Freedom from nags, cranks, government, do-gooders, control-freaks and idiots is all that we ask for.
The Turk showed up in the no man's land between the armies dressed in his finest- "his shoulders were fixed with a paire of great wings, compacted of eagle feathers within ridge of silver, richly garnished with gold and precious stones." Smith dispatched him on the first pass. Upset by the loss of his captain, another Turk challenged Smith. The bout began with an exchange of blows and ended with pistol shots. Smith took a round in the breastplate, but his Turkish opponent suffered a debilitating blow to his arm, eventually collapsing. The final duel occurred when Smith gave the Turks a chance to redeem their honor. The contest was settled by the use of battle axes, with Smith triumphing once more. When Smith brought the three heads before the commanding Turkish general-each head mounted on a lance-he was embraced by the general and given a horse and a jewel-encrusted scimitar. The sweetest honor came from Prince Zsigmond Báthory of Transylvania, who granted Smith the right to wear "three Turkish heads" on his shield and bestowed on him the title of "English gentleman." John Smith had succeeded in exchanging "farmer" for "gentleman" by the swing of his sword.
One of the books I am reading now: Leon Uris' Trinity (1976). It's a novelized visit to a sorrowful piece Irish history, and so well-done that it's difficult to imagine that Uris was not Irish.
That potato fungus, and its consequences, killed or drove away over 1 million Irish. The book puts you there. Mrs. BD is half-Irish, and tells me "Stop" when I read sections to her. Mostly the Catholic peasants had the worst time. They were sharecroppers, peasants. The Scots Presbyterians and the Brit Anglican overlords did somewhat better, at the expense of the sharecroppers. It is heartbreaking.
Lucky thousands made it to Canada and the US. Luckily for the US and Canada. The Brits were no heroes of the history, but they were stuck with the tragedy too. It was complicated, like all such things.
Sure was. Of course, Nixon mishandled it badly and the media was out to get him before his election anyway. All he had to say was that these jerks did dirty tricks, and I denounce them for it. That's what clever pols do. What coverups did Hillary do compared with "Tricky Dick" Nixon? Via Instapundit.
Was Nixon even a Conservative? Not really. A moderate without a winning personality. JFK was the sleaze along with the rest of his disgusting family.
While I thought the Urban Hike of 2019 was one of our best, despite the rain, the Brooklyn trip of 2018 remains my favorite so far. To that end, this article about Battle of Brooklyn sites is worth a look-see. We stopped at a number of these sites, such as the Old Stone House, the Gowanus Canal, Brooklyn Heights, and the monument to the prison ship martyrs.
The article did miss one site, on the side of a bank, which commemorated the battle (perhaps the author is unaware of this plaque, but we stumbled upon it and I wish I had a picture or a location to share).
Looking forward to planning 2020's Urban Hike. Need some thought starters. Right now, Wave Hill to City Island is what I'm considering, but that's more walking and less sightseeing.
I'd like to pitch for a podcast I am now addicted to. For what it's worth, I am not a podcast person. The Revolutions podcast, link attached, is excellent and worth your time if you like history. It was recommended by a good friend who thought I'd enjoy the current episodes on Communism. Instead, I went to the beginning (which I highly recommend doing) and started from scratch. It's worth it.
I'm now in season 3, the French Revolution, and enjoying every minute of it. To say the least, if you don't see parallels between today and the French Revolution, you probably may not know as much about the French Revolution as you think. I know I didn't see them, and I thought I understood it. I did not. For what it's worth, the narrator is not pointing them out, I just think they are very, very noticeable.
At any rate, I recommended to my brother, who then sent me a note telling me that he hated me with the heat of a thousand suns because he has found himself hopelessly addicted to listening. The stories are both entertaining and informative, and very funny in some of the most appropriate places.
The narrator also did a history of Rome, which I'll turn to once I'm finished. And he does tours, which I hope to take part in (maybe we should invite him to our Urban Hike, though right now he's living in Paris).
Part of the process of cleaning out my inbox is finding neat stuff that I'd forgotten I wanted to watch/read. Since I posted about Manhattan's wooden homes yesterday, and Hamilton Grange was a stop from our Urban Hike, here's another little tidbit about how it moved:
Except for our technologies, I say that we live today much as did wealthy Romans. Same culture. I agree with this comment at Quora, responding to a query about whether modern-day Italians are descendents of the Romans (not much):
What is more important than the genetic aspect of the "Roman" question is the legacy which Rome left to posterity: its concepts of organized society, of the Law, of tolerance of assimilated cultures and religions (up to the moment when Christianity prevailed!), its keen interest in science and culture and, last but not least, its ability to shape a language that still survives in practically all European and American languages today in its alphabet and vocabulary. Even the language we are now using to communicate owes most of its vocabulary (48%) to the language of Rome.
In this sense we can say that we are all "Romans."
2018 New York Times best seller. The first definitive history of the Mossad, Shin Bet, and the IDF's targeted killing programs, hailed by The New York Times as "an exceptional work, a humane book about an incendiary subject."
While he was not considered a generally 'good' mayor, Robert Van Wyck certainly is an integral part of the city. I've taken the Van Wyck Expressway many times, but I've never wondered who Van Wyck actually was.
A Tammany operative, his scandals eventually cost the group power. Robert was the first mayor elected after the consolidation of the five boroughs.
On Valentine's Day 1899, he signed a law renaming Western Boulevard. Western ran north of Columbus Circle, and his law changed its name to Broadway, thereby extending the famous thoroughfare. Today, Broadway runs all the way north on the west side, then turns east at Inwood toward the Spuyten Duyvil, across into The Bronx, and up into Yonkers (where it becomes South Broadway). At 178th Street, it becomes Route 9.
Robert A. Van Wyck (1849-1918) was born in New York City and graduated from Columbia Law School in 1889. In 1897, Van Wyck became the first mayor of Greater New York after the consolidation of the five boroughs in 1898. During his term in office, Van Wyck renamed Western Boulevard north of Columbus Circle “Broadway” in 1899, extending one of Manhattan’s most famous streets. On March 24, 1900, Mayor Van Wyck began another New York institution by breaking ground in front of City Hall for the city’s first subway.
An expressway bearing Van Wyck’s name was built to connect John F. Kennedy, then Idlewild, Airport to several of the main east-west thoroughfares that run through Queens. Initial construction of the Van Wyck Expressway (I-678) was completed in 1950, and the road was officially opened on October 14 of that year. The construction of the Van Wyck Expressway required the impressive engineering feat of elevating the Long Island Rail Road switching yards and terminal in Jamaica, Queens (at 1,100 trains a day one of the busiest railroad junctions in the world), up into the air to allow for construction of the roadway underneath
That was the New York Times' opinion of Patrick O'Brian's Jack Aubrey series of nautical novels, set during the Napoleonic wars. You might have seen the Russell Crowe movie about the first book of the series.
Royal Navy Master and Commander Aubrey and his ship's physician/spy Dr. Maturin are quite a pair. Maturin is the more interesting character, with his estate in Spain and his passion for natural history and for spying (for free). Aubrey is a skilled seaman and lucky warrior. The two men connect mostly by playing Handel on strings after dinner.
One theme of the series is that living on land is just too complex financially, romantically, socially, politically, and practically, while going to war at sea is comfortably simple with the possibility of becoming wealthy by seizing prizes. This series offers a similar delightful escape.
The sailing details are said to be remarkably accurate. You can learn a lot about topgallant sails. I had to look up quite a few antique nautical terms. I've never sailed on a square-rigger, but I would love to.
O'Brian died recently. We owe him many thanks for his efforts. Writing novels that anybody is willing to read, given limited free time to do so, is always remarkable.
This day, September 3, holds some level of significance for the U.S. Not only because it happens to be the day we celebrate Labor Day, or the unofficial end of summer, with barbecues, beach time, yard work or laying in hammocks. Today, in 1777, at Cooch's Bridge, the official US flag (the one Betsy Ross presumably created) was raised in battle for the first time at Cooch's Bridge. A minor skirmish, a loss for Continental forces, but a holding action to slow the advance of British and Hessian troops through Delaware. It also is known as the Battle of Iron Hill, and was the only military action, outside of naval affairs offshore, which took place in Delaware.
The American flag took on many forms prior to, and after, its introduction. Not many are aware of the fact both stars and stripes were added in 1795 for the admission of both Kentucky and Vermont. The 15 star, 15 stripe flag was to remain the official flag for 23 years, and it was the 15 star, 15 stripe flag which flew over Fort McHenry and inspired The Star Spangled Banner. It is the only official flag which had more than 13 stripes. In 1818, an act was passed which dictated the modern conception of the flag, which added one star for each new state and left the number of stripes at 13 to represent the 13 original states. The 1818 act was passed to recognized Tennessee (1796), Ohio (1803), Louisiana (1812), Indiana (1816), and Mississippi (1817).
Another note to consider, tangentially flag-related, is that Sept. 3 is also the day on which the Treaty of Paris was signed, officially ending the Revolutionary War in 1783. The treaty was ratified by Congress on January 14, 1784. Benjamin Franklin had pushed to gain all of Canada in the negotiation, but failed in that regard. However, he gained enough land to double the size of the existing land controlled by the newly formed nation, leading to the addition of many new stars on the flag.
A pal of mine (and MF reader) who knows everything and is interested in everything - I am lucky to have a few pals like that - sends a 1988 research piece from The US Air War College about camouflage and deception in warfare.
Wow. A biography to make almost all of us feel like lazy slackers: 
Book recommendation: 
That was the New York Times' opinion of Patrick O'Brian's 
Many devils: 
