Forgotten History

* Don't Shout Fire in a Crowded Building! * We have all heard the saying, "you can't shout fire in a crowded building," Does anybody know the story of the origins of that catchphrase? The United States decided to enter the first world war almost three years after the war began in Europe. The public did not immediately respond to president Wilson's call to "make the world safe for democracy." Despite 75,000 speakers, giving 750,000 speeches in more than 5,000 towns and cities, the public did not rush to sign up for the war. So Congress instituted a draft which was the first since the civil war. The conservative Akron Beacon Journal reported that the country "never embarked on a more unpopular war." Protest and rallies against the war appeared throughout the land. The Socialist party, who opposed the war, gained strength in cities like Chicago and Buffalo where they gained more than 30% of the popular vote. Something had to be done. The first amendment is quite clear. "Congress shall pass no law abridging the right of speech or of the press." So Congress passed the Espionage Act which was aimed, despite its clever title, at denying citizens their right to freedom of speech. Two months after the law was passed a man named, Charles Schenck was arrested for passing out leaflets that opposed both the draft and the war. He was promptly tried, convicted and sentenced to a six-month term. This sentence was upheld by the Supreme Court. The majority opinion was written by liberal scholar Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes who wrote: "The most stringent protection of free speech would not protect a man in falsely shouting fire in a theater and causing panic." He ruled that Schenck words constituted a clear and present danger that Congress had a right to prevent. Over 9,000 people were arrested for the opposition to the first world war. The law was used to prevent any publication that was critical of the war to use the mails. This ended the magazine The Appeal to Reason which was a very popular publication of the time. Later Holmes upheld the conviction of Eugene Debs, who was considered the Martin Luther King of his generation. Debs was 66 and remained in jail until 1921 when he was pardoned by President Warren Harding; a republican.

Forgotten History - Friday, March 17, 2000 The Plot to Take over the United States General Smedley Darlington Butler had twice been the recipient of the Congressional Medal of Honor. He had spoken to the Bonus Army in 1932 when, in the depths of the depression, veterans had marched to Washington and demanded to be paid a bonus that was promised to them for their service in World WarI, but not scheduled to be paid until 1945. In 1933, he was approached by two American Legion officials and they wanted him to lead a rank and file revolt against the Legion's leadership. Butler was interested but he felt that it would be difficult for the average veteran to get to the convention considering the state of the economy. American Legion official Gerald MacGuire told him not to worry, that nine wealthy businessmen had put up more than $100,000 for the campaign and told him there was a great deal more where that came from. MacGuire gave him a copy of a speech he was to deliver before the convention and it called for a return to the gold standard. Butler was suspicious and soon was visited by Wall Street broker Robert Sterling Clark. After a brief conversation Butler informed Clark that he should probably find another man. They did, and the Legion adopted a plank calling for a return to the gold standard. Later that year, MacGuire spoke to Butler again and told he of how he had studied the roles of veterans groups in the formation of the Nazi party in Germany, and the Fascist party in Italy. He felt that veterans could do the same here. Maguire felt that an immediate change of government was needed to save the United States from communism. He informed Butler that he and the man Maguire represented felt that Butler could lead a march of 500,000 veterans on Washington and then stage a coup d'etat on the Roosevelt government. While Butler felt this was treason; he asked for more details, like how it would be financed. "In two or three weeks," Maguire told him, "you'll see it come out in the papers." Two weeks later, the formation of the American Liberty League was formed. Its stated purpose was to oppose radical movements in the U.S. and its members included: Lammont du Pont, Alfred P. Sloan-[I bet this is one The American Experience that won't be televised]- E.F. Hutton, Goodyear, J.C.Penny and others. Butler knew he needed independent verification so he contacted Paul Comly French of the Philadelphia Record. Posing as a sympatric party, Maguire met with him at the offices of his boss Wall Street financial Grayson Murphy. There Maguire told French the same story. He added this information that all arms and ammunition could be attained on credit from the Remington Arms Company which was owned by the du Ponts. Butler first took his story to FBI Czar J. Edgar Hoover. Hoover did nothing. In November of 1934 Butler appeared before what would come to be called the House on Un-American Activities. There, French and James Van Zandt, who was the national commander of the Veteran of Foreign Wars, told the same story. Only Maguire was called before the house and claimed that he had been misunderstood. No more questions were asked and the plot has slipped out of the official stories of American history but the record is there for those who seek the truth.

Forgotten History - March 21, 2000 The Story of Dusan Popov He may have been the prototype for Ian Fleming's character, James Bond, and if the former director of the FBI J. Edgar Hoover had listened to him, the disaster at Pearl Harbor might have been avoided. Dusan Popov was a Yugoslav playboy who became a double agent. His German code name was Ivan, and his British Tricycle. Popov came across legendary writer Ian Fleming while working for British intelligence. Fleming was following Popov at the time and watched him embarrass a very wealthy and loud adversary at the Casino. Fleming was taken by this bold Yugoslav and introduced himself to Popov after the game. Popov went on to do various tasks for the British and was sent to the USA in 1941 to set up a spy ring for the Germans. The British saw the possibilities of controlling German intelligence as they had in Europe through Popov. Dusan was carrying a coded message from Abwehr, which carried a request from the Japanese government asking specific questions about the U.S. navel installation at Pearl Harbor. J.C. Masterman, chief of the British XX (Double Cross) system, felt the Germans were planning to attack the Americans at Pearl Harbor urged Popov to pass along this information to the Americans. Popov checked into the Plaza Hotel in New York, not knowing that the FBI had followed him, and then set up a meeting with J. Edgar Hoover. Hoover disregarded his dispatch and immediately began to berate Popov about his playboy ways. Popov tried to explain that he was a double agent and that the Germans expected him to live this lavish lifestyle. Hoover would have none of this and dismissed Popov. When Popov heard about the attack by the Japanese he was sure that it had been repelled. To Popov surprise the American fleet laid in ruins. Dusan now moved in a penthouse on Park Avenue and Sixty-third Street, and began to renew his affair with French actress Simone Simon. Hoover later threatened to charge him with violating the Mann Act and nearly cost him his cover. Popov returned to Europe in 1942 his mission to the U.S. a failure, but his days as a spy continued. He helped set up a network of double agents whose deceptive tactics were instrumental in getting the Germans to believe that the allied invasion of Europe would come at Calais. On June 7th, 1944 the invasion did come at Normandy fooling the Germans. Hitler wasted precious time believing that the main thrust was still to come at Calais and the allies bought enough time to establish a beachhead in France. Was Popov Bond, probably not, Fleming had many influences but this suave spy certainly was one of the many characters that influenced him. Hoover for his part consolidated his power during the war and when it was through used that power to provide information for the reactionary forces that would attack the New Deal under the guise of anti-communism.

Forgotten History - Friday, March 24, 2000 "Little known facts and overlooked history" Origins of the Slave Trade Everybody knows that Columbus set sail in 1492 to find the riches in the east. He had one thing on his mind and that was gold. "I was very attentive to them and strove to learn if they had any gold," said Columbus. He went on to say, "I conquered the whole of them with fifty men and governed them as I pleased." Columbus kidnapped some of them and took them back to Spain. When Columbus returned to Spain the next year he landed in what is now known as Haiti. There he demanded gold. Every man, woman, and child would be held responsible for a certain amount of gold. To ensure cooperation he used punishment as an example for the natives. When an Indian committed a perceived offense, he was brutally punished. The usual punishment was disfigurement. Finally, the Indians fought back but Columbus' men chased the natives and then killed them. They then became slaves of the Spanish. Columbus dispatched many of them to the West Indies. Sickness, brutality and the diseases that the Europeans brought with them led to genocide. The men raped women and hunted the natives down for sport. Women killed their young to protect them from the rule of Columbus and his men. Soon whole nations began to disappear. The Indians lived peacefully without monarchs, or hierarchy but their peaceful way of life was destroyed by the Spaniards who sought gold. The decreasing Indian population now created problems for the Spanish. New crops, such as sugarcane, needed a large labor force but the Indians were dying. The Spanish now turned to Africa. Inhabitants there, because of their centuries old contact with the Europeans, were immune from the diseases that killed the natives. Plus, the gold the Spaniards had stolen from the New World made some of the trade with the great African nations expendable. After all, if you can steal gold why trade for it? The only commodity in the newly emerging mercantile system for the African nations was lives. The nations did not expect the European form of slavery to be different so the Africans were quickly sold as slaves. This was how the slave trade started. So the next time your community celebrates Columbus Day, it would be safe to ask why?

Forgotten History - Tuesday, March 28, 2000 "Little known facts and overlooked history" Much has been written about the Vietnam Veteran. He has been characterized as dangerous, isolated, guilt-ridden and angered over the treatment that he received upon coming home. But he has rarely though of as part of the anti-war movement. This fact has been sadly missing from the history of the Vietnam veteran. Veterans who fought the war in Vietnam came home to protest that same war and their involvement proved to be an important component to the anti-war coalition. By 1967 coffeehouses began to appear around bases across the country but the movement didn't really take hold until the formation of a group called the Vietnam Veterans Against the War. The VVAW was made up of mostly combat veterans. They gained a following over 50,000 members at one time. Their first national action took place in Detroit, Michigan where the VVAW conducted a war crimes hearings. Veterans came up and testified to the atrocities they had committed or had witnessed. Their contention was that the Mi Lai Massacre was standard operating procedure. This was, in essence, the Vietnam War. The national press dismissed them but they couldn't ignore their next action, Dewey Canyon III. While the press was slow to report the activities of anti-war veterans the Nixon administration clearly understood their potential power. The up-coming demonstrations in Washington by the VVAW could be disastrous for the administration. The VVAW was determined that their voice would be heard. They marched down Pennsylvania Avenue to cheers. Nixon had wanted to attack them but White House advisor Pat Buchannon objected, "this would be a mistake" and that the last thing Nixon needed was for Vietnam Veterans to be attacked by the Washington police. So the Veterans came to the steps of the Supreme Court to stand in line, say something at the podium if they wished, and then throw their medals away. The same medals that they had recently gained for their valor during the Vietnam War. One by one they spoke: "I pray that time will forgive me and my brothers for what we did. " Paul F. Wither spoke clearly, " Spec 4, army, retired. I'm taking in nine Purple Hearts, Distinguished Cross, Silver Star, Bronze Star and a lot of other shit. This is for my brothers," Withers threw the medal away and limped off. One newsman grabbed one of the medals but was quickly told by a veteran. "Listen, you newsmen, we're not giving you the medals. We're turning them over to the country." On and on they went. By the end of the day they had caught the attention of a nation. Membership applications skyrocketed. The veterans brought with them a moral authority that could not be matched by the administration. Nixon sent the FBI after the VVAW but their ranks swelled. Finally historians did what Nixon could not do, that is write them out of history. But their story is not forgotten. Those of us who saw them on that spring day will never forget.

HOW MANY PEOPLE SPEAK BASQUE? About 7,000 people speak Basque. Most of them live in a narrow area of about 3,900 square miles in Spain and France. Basque is not Indo-European; it is the only remnant of the languages spoken in southwestern Europe before the region was Romanized. WHAT COUNTRY FIRST INTRODUCED INCOME TAX? For 41 years, under the reign of the Medicis, citizens of Florence, Italy, paid what we know as an income tax. Called the Scala, the tax was instituted in 1451, supposedly on a progressive scale. The tax turned into an easy type of political blackmail, and as such it was repealed when the court of the Medicis was overthrown in 1492. WHAT WAS GERONIMO'S REAL NAME? The Apache leader (1829-1908) was known to his tribe as Goyathlay, meaning "One Who Yawns." The nickname Geronimo is probably a corruption of the Spanish name Jeronimo. WHAT ARE THE PRESIDENTS CARVED ON MOUNT RUSHMORE, SOUTH DAKOTA, MEANT TO REPRESENT? The four 60-foot-high likenesses, sculpted between 1925 and 1941, are meant to represent the following: George Washington, the nation's founding; Thomas Jefferson, its political philosophy; Abraham Lincoln, its preservation; and Theodore Roosevelt, its expansion and conservation.

WHEN DID THE TROJAN WAR OCCUR? According to scholars, it took place during the thirteenth century B.C. The Iliad, Homer's epic account of the war, is thought to have been written in the ninth century B.C. WHAT WAS THE RUM RATION? It was an allotment of the liquor appointed daily to the members of the British navy. The practice, introduced in 1731, was discontinued on August 1, 1970. WHERE DID THE GYPSIES ORIGINATE? Probably India. Romany, the gypsy language, is Indic; but it is not known when or why the gypsies left India. Living as aliens in every country, they reached Persia by A.D. 1000 and northwest Europe by the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. WHO CAN BE BURIED IN WESTMINSTER ABBEY? There are no fixed rules that only royalty or noted public leaders may be interred there. The decision rests solely in the hands of the deans of the Abbey.

Sigmund Freud had a morbid fear of ferns. There are more plastic flamingos in America than real ones. Lee Harvey Oswald's cadaver tag sold at an auction for $6,600 in 1992. The three best known western names in China are Jesus Christ, Richard Nixon, and Elvis Presley. In 1980, a Las Vegas hospital suspended workers for betting on when patients would die. Thomas Edison was afraid of the dark. And Susan Lucci is NOT the daughter of Phyllis Diller!!!

An 1898 novel by Morgan Robertson foretold the sinking of the Titanic, 14 years before the great ship went down. In Robertson's book, a ship full of wealthy and powerful people is on its maiden voyage when it strikes an iceberg in the North Atlantic on an April night and sinks. The two ships shared many other eerie similarities. The most interesting is the name of the ship in Robertson's book: the Titan. Five Jell-O flavors that flopped: celery, coffee, cola, apple, and chocolate. One acre of hemp will produce as much paper as four acres of trees (and can be replaced next season). Men in the U.S. who drink alcohol receive about 7% higher wages than do abstainers, according to data from the national Household Survey on Drug Abuse (United States Department of Health and Human Services). Women who drink receive about three and one-half percent higher wages than do abstainers. *** ----------- Brewery Produces Alcoholic Employee ------------ SAU PAULO - Residing in the "What Were The Odds?" category, a Brazilian court ordered Brahma Brewing Company to pay $30,000 in damages plus a life-time pension to their former senior brewer Bernd Naveke. Unable to work due to his alcoholism problem, the brewer endured twenty years of tasting where he was required to drink six to eight liters of beer each day beginning in the morning. His daily intake was as high as 3.1 gallons per day forcing him to retire at the age of 40. Naveke's lawyers stressed Brahma's negligence for failing to warn him of the risks associated with the job. [The element of surprise must have been daunting!] -------------- Canada Battles Cow Flatulence --------------- CALGARY - A benchmark for both the environment and agriculture was reached Thursday when an agreement was signed to reduce cow flatulence which contributes to the greenhouse effect. TransAlta power company reached a multi-million dollar agreement with U.S. based Global Livestock Group to produce a feed supplement that would reduce both belching and flatulence. This additive would be sprayed on their hey and feed with the potential to decrease methane gases equivalent to 30 million tons of carbon dioxide. Environmental groups question how much other pollutants will increase by producing this additive. The cows offered no comment. [TZ's wife may be interested in this additive.] ------------- Feds Catch Phony Plastic Surgeon ------------- MEXICO CITY - His specialty was scamming credit cards until Roman Quinteros decided to work in the lucrative field of plastic surgery. A school drop-out before the ninth grade, Quinteros dabbled in other vocations such as trading stolen U.S. cars, and falsifying documents. His most recent offense included making women pose for nude sketches, and performing operations that posed a huge risk for his victims. The arrest should curb his medical career while serving as a reminder to always check credentials. ------------- Giant Problem For Little Aussies ------------- MELBOURNE, Australia - A few weeks back we spoke about a midget boxing match and it has taken us until now to find a suitable "midget" follow-up story. So when this story was discovered, we just had to bring it to you. It appears that the Australian National Little People Anti-Defamation Society organized a protest that featured over 1000 "little" people. The cause that aroused the ire of the group was a movie house concession stand sign that called small orders of soft drinks, "midget size." The organizer of the march said, "A thoughtless phrase like that is degrading to little people everywhere." [There's just no pleasing midgets from Australia.] --------------- Burger King - Have It My Way --------------- The Council on American-Islamic Relations has sent a letter of protest, prompting the re-write of a Burger King radio spot. The most recent bit of advertising wizardry has a gentleman named Rashid extolling the mouth-watering virtues of the bacon-cheddar Whopper. The problem? Rashid is a holy, Muslim name. Muslims are forbidden from eating any bacon or pork. Classic Bizarre Moments from the Archives *-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-* A British government agency has issued a health warning: don't buy sperm on the internet. The Human Fertility and Embryology Authority warns that there is no way of ensuring that the sperm is of good enough quality... I guess it's just the same old candy and flowers again this year.

DO TARANTULAS SPIN WEBS? It depends. The Italian species of wolf spider first given the name tarantula (from the town of Taranto) catches its prey by pursuit. In the American Southwest, tarantulas live in burrows; they eat anything from insects to toads and mice. However, certain South American tarantulas do build large webs; their diet includes small birds. DO SIAMESE FIGHTING FISH FIGHT? The males do. They nip each other's fins and show off their extended gill covers and intensified colors. Their battles are exciting enough that the Thai are have domesticated the fish for contests. DO BIRDS SING ONLY IN TREES? No - some species sing on the ground. Shorebirds such as turnstones sing from mounds called hummocks. Some species of American field sparrows, such as the savanna sparrow of the eastern United States, sing from the ground, as does the wood thrush. Why do you sometimes see large red (or orange) balls attached to power lines? These balls are found in areas where there are low-flying aircraft, adn they are put there to mark the wires so the pilots won't fly into them.

Forgotten History Louisiana Purchase The idealism emanating from the American Revolution proved to be a spark to people all over the world. In France, the French revolution was born. In South America, independence movements began to take hold. However, in the United States, that desire was muted by our slavery question. Instead the idea of dominance of hierarchy began to take hold. Slave owners protected by the constitution of the United States sought to expand their territory. In the 1790's, the island of Haiti began a revolt against France. Whether a president owned slaves or not determined his policy towards the revolt. Washington, a slave owner, loaned hundreds of critical dollars from the new republic to French planters in Haiti. This was to be used to suppress the revolt. slaveholding politicians in the south deeply feared a slave uprising. They had grown rich under slavery and their ideology had became dominant throughout the young country. When John Adams replaced Washington our policy changed. Adams supported the black revolt and lent it considerable support. When Jefferson became president all that changed. Jefferson preferred a French colony to a black republic and in 1801 he gave the French the go-ahead to rule Haiti. He promised the French all the help it needed. In doing so the U.S. was acting against its own self-interest and its heritage. It did not worry Jefferson that if Napoleon was successful so might his dreams of an American Empire. This empire would challenge the young government and surround it with England to the north, Spain to the south, and France to the west. But planters feared that this revolt would inspire slaves in America to revolt. It did but the revolts were crushed. The Haitians fought back and in the process burned their island to the ground rather than succumb to the French. When the Haitians won their independence, the United States refused to send representatives to the new republic. Jefferson, fearing a black revolts throughout the Caribbean, proposed annexing Cuba and making it a territory of the United States. For Napoleon and the French, who were caught up in a series of wars in Europe, the war ended his dream of an American Empire. It had proved too costly to maintain the empire so he sought out his ally Jefferson. The United States then made the most successful real estate deal of all time. It purchased the French holdings in North America. Lewis and Clark were sent out to survey the newly acquired land. Their exposition proved to be crucial in the development of the United States. Fate had smiled upon the U.S. It had acquired millions of acres of land. Louisiana, Arkansas and Missouri became slave states and the pressure for expansion into Kansas and other territories became one of the reasons for the civil war. Jefferson himself became an advocate of the expansion of slavery into the newly acquired lands. When he died he owned 267 slaves. He had freed only three in his lifetime and many times had them whipped and sold as punishment. Upon his death he freed five but not any of his own children. Washington, however, freed all his slaves at the time of his death and the issue of slavery would divide the country and lead to most bloody conflict in American history.

and they romanticized jefferson's hush-hush relationship with one of his slaves...huh! george gave his slaves skills so when they were freed, they could make a good living. for all his generosity, the slaves still lived in poverish conditions. (saw this at mount vernon) thanks for that louisiana purchase info....

Thanks for visiting to see what I was posting. There's all sorts of interesting "trivial" (nothing is truly trivial if it involves oneself) information out there. I try to find the most interesting and share it.

Re Thomas Jefferson - Sally is not a relative!

Apparently, I forgot...*grin*

Forgotten History THE WAR OF 1812 Does anyone know what the war of 1812 was about? Our early textbooks describe the war in terms of British disrespect for American shipping rights. But this doesn't seem to be the case because, if New England held the largest shipping populations, why were they the most opposed to the war? A good question. The real story is much more complex and damning to the United States. It was a war for Indian land. They had it and we wanted it. No textbooks call the European occupation of native soil an invasion but it was. From the Pequot Wars of 1636 to the King Philip Wars of 1676 through the French and Indian Wars of the 1760's. The war of 1812 was an extension of the European invasion. The British had been aided by many of the great Indian tribes during the American Revolution. The Iroquois nation sided with the British and continued their fight after the war. The British saw the Indians as a buffer zone but the young United States saw things differently. Indian rights of property were never respected. Think, for a second, about the Louisiana Purchase. Whose land were the French selling? So the U.S. set out to conquer the Indian nation. Five of the seven largest land battles were fought against the Indians. The key outcome of the war was that, in return for leaving Canada alone, the British would not support the Indians. Without international support the Indians were left alone. Then began the most brutal ethnic cleansing operation of all time. The natives were driven from their land and relocated. Sound familiar. What was lost was the knowledge that we had gained from the Indians. They were no longer a significant other so their existence could be ignored. Indeed, before the War of 1812, the term American was used to describe the Indians. After the war it meant Europeans. Over a 100 years later a great admirer of our ethnic-cleansing plan emerged from war torn Europe, Adolph Hitler. That's right, him. He often praised American methods of extermination and used starvation and uneven combat as his model for the extermination of Jews and Gypsies. Was there an alternative to what happened? Yes, but the racist ideology left the young nation without that option. In 1778, the Delaware Indians proposed a creation of an Indian state within the new United States. Congress refused to even consider the idea. If they were citizens then they would have legal rights and the framers of the constitution did not want this. So the genocide continued until finally the Indians were subjugated and the European invasion successful. That was what the war of 1812 was about.

The United States is a racist society, in that racism is so deeply imbedded in its history, coloring much of the policy that would build the United States. It's one of the things you never learn in American History below the college level if you're an American. But they never cease to tell expound on DeTouqueville's quote that "America is good". Another badly taught topic in American schools is the American Civil War. It is taught ad infinitum and ad naseum, but it all comes across as so boring and with so much expunged. The New York Draft Riots are rarely taught below the universtity level. Most Americans never learn that New York City wanted to break from the Union and become a free city. The purpose was financial, as a free city, New York would be free to trade with both sides and their respective supporters. Most Americans also don't know that Abraham Lincoln had no moral postition against slavery. His intent was to save the Union. He noted that if he could save the Union and keep slavery, he would do it; if he could save the Union and maintain some slavery, he would do it; if he could save the Union only by abolishing slavery he would do it. What ever means was the most effective in keeping the Union intact was the course he would follow.

The end never justifies the means. But, to know this we must learn the means with which the ends were achieved. You make very valid points, Cheryl. Thanks for the thougtful post. I hope it makes others think, as well. The even sadder point than poor teaching below the college level is that teachers-in-training are not taught these things unless they elect them. Usually, they do not. Don't know...don't even want to know... Disgraceful!

The Seminole Wars The Seminole Nation existed as a tri-racial society. Native-Americans, runaway slaves, and poor whites lived together in what was called the Seminole Nation. In the 1830's, Indian land removal took a giant step forward under President Andrew Jackson. Jackson's campaign of Indian removal had left only 22,000 Creeks in Alabama, 18,000 Cherokees in Georgia and 5,000 Seminoles in Florida. The Creeks and the Cherokees were put on a forced march, many died of starvation along the way. The Seminoles however choose to fight and refused to leave Florida. The US offered land settlements to some Seminole chiefs. To these chiefs it was lucrative offer. They kept estates along the coast of Florida. Others in the tribe were forced to leave their land and go into the interior of Florida. It was difficult to grow crops there and soon members of the tribe began to resist. A young chief named Osceola led them. Osceola's wife had been chained and sold into slavery by an Indian agent named Thompson. When Thompson ordered the Seminoles to depart, no one left. Instead, the Seminoles declared war, and ordered a series of raids on white settlements. They murdered white families, captured slaves and destroyed property. Soon the US army was sent after them. But the Seminoles resisted. On Dec 28, 1835, they attacked an army regiment of 110 soldiers including Thompson. Only three survived. Congress now asked for funds to fight the Seminoles. William Clay, a political opponent of Jackson's was the only dissenter, and General Winfeld Scoot took command of the expedition force. They marched handsomely off into the Florida swamps. Only they didn't find any Seminoles. What they found was disease and hunger. No one wanted to go fight the Seminoles. In 1836, 103 commissioned officers resigned leaving only forty-six left. In 1837, Major General Jesup moved in with 10,000 men. The Seminoles faded into the swamps of Florida to continue their guerrilla raids. Copyright 2000 by Pulse Direct, Inc. All rights reserved. This went on for years. The army hired other Indians to go fight the Seminoles. That didn't work either. One officer commented, " The adaptation of the Seminole to his environment is only matched by the alligator and the crane." It became an eight-year war that ended up costing the United States 20 million dollars and 1,500 American lives. Finally, in 1840, the Seminoles began to get tired. They were, after all, fighting the resources of an entire nation. They asked for a truce. When they appeared with truce flags, they were promptly arrested and put in chains. Chief Osceola was captured, thrown into prison, and died there. The war was over but they had held out for eight long years. A haven for runaway slaves was gone now and the flight of fugitive slaves could now only lead north. Tensions soon increased and the tri-racial society of the Seminoles vanished from the scene.

WHAT WAS THE FIRST MONOPOLY IN THE UNITED STATES? It is considered to have been John Jacob Astor's American Fur Company, which made him the wealthiest person in the United States and allowed him to found the Astor Library, one of the cornerstones of the New York Public Library. WHEN WAS THE FIRST DEPARTMENT STORE BUILT? In 1848, the Marble Dry Goods Palace opened on Broadway in New York City. Its proprietor and developer was Alexander Turney Stewart, formerly a schoolmaster in Ireland. By the Many sailors used to wear gold earrings so that they could afford a proper burial when they died. Coffee is the second largest item of international commerce in the world. The largest is petrol. Custer was the youngest General in US history. He was promoted at the age of 23. The Seven Deadly Sins are lust, pride, anger, envy, sloth, avarice, and gluttony. No word in the English language rhymes with month, orange, silver, and purple. The word "set" has the highest number of unique definitions in the English Language ~ 192 according to the Oxford English Dictionary. The ZIP in Zip-code stands for Zoning Improvement Plan. A Boeing 747's wingspan is longer than the Wright brother's first flight. The Seven Virtues are prudence, courage, temperance, justice, faith, hope, and charity. The world's largest alphabet is Cambodian, with 74 letters. time of his death in 1876, the blocklong store yielded annual earnings of $70 million.

My server got some of this mixed up: WHEN WAS THE FIRST DEPARTMENT STORE BUILT? In 1848, the Marble Dry Goods Palace opened on Broadway in New York City. Its proprietor and developer was Alexander Turney Stewart, formerly a schoolmaster in Ireland. By the time of his death in 1876, the blocklong store yielded annual earnings of $70 million.

LSD and the CIA Back in the early 1960's the CIA developed a plan called MK-ULTRA which was designed to use LSD as an aid for interrogation of captured enemy agents. Its other uses were for training purposes and to use as a way to discredit foreign leaders, usually of a leftist slant, to quivering, deranged morons, thereby discrediting them to the public. The CIA claims that such use was never intended for use against domestic targets but their history says otherwise. The CIA gathered domestic intelligence right from its outset although they were prohibited in doing so by their own charter. At the height of the Vietnam War they, intercepted mail. Coordinated operation Chaos with the CIA, worked with local police departments, ran smear campaigns, and tapped phones. All of this was done outside the law. Their activities were aimed at antiwar groups, the civil rights movements, and all of those pesky troublemakers. They even used it against each other as guinea pigs. Other times they gave it to people without there knowledge. This often drove people insane. The army used this drug often on their own men. They were called field operations. One classic example is the torture of James Thornwell, a black American soldier stationed in France. In 1961, Thornwell was suspected of stealing classified documents. This and other programs were labeled as, "Operation Third Chance." How many were given LSD without their knowledge we will never know but we do know about Mr. Thornwell. Thornwell, who was 22 at the time, was first exposed to extreme measures. This included beatings, solitary confinement, denial of food and water coupled with a constant stream of steady abuse. After six long weeks of this kind of torture, he was given a dose of LSD without his knowledge. Imagine this. Then he was continuously verbally abused and threatened. The interrogators threatened to extend this delusional state indefinitely. According to army documents, they said they would drive him into a permanent state of insanity. In the late 1970's when CIA terror tactics became public during the Church Committee hearings, Thornwell learned what had happened to him back in 1961. He sued the US government for 10 million dollars. The case was settled out of court and the House of Representatives approved a compromise settlement of $650,000. Copyright 2000 by Pulse Direct, Inc. All rights reserved.

WHAT WAS THE NAME OF THE FATHER OF SIOUX INDIAN LEADER SITTING BULL? Jumping Bull. HOW MANY CHESTS OF TEA WERE DUMPED OVERBOARD AT THE BOSTON TEA PARTY ON DECEMBER 16, 1773? 342 chests. WHERE WERE THE FIRST PARKING METERS IN THE U.S. INSTALLED? In Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, in 1935. Motorists paid a nickel for a 20-foot space. WHAT DOES THE WORD "AMEN" MEAN? "So be it," or "Let it be."

Joseph Priestly is immortal in the history of chemistry as the discoverer of oxygen in 1774. Lost in the glory is the fact he also discovered soda water, and gave the name "rubber" to that soft, bouncy stuff because it could be used to rub out pencil marks.

The Tuskegee Experiment In 1932, the Tuskegee Institute along with the U.S. Public Heath Service began an experiment which promised poor black men, who were inflicted with syphilis, free heath treatment and a proper burial. This seemed a good idea to the afflicted. The men, mostly poor sharecroppers, were never told that they would become part of an experiment, which would track the disease throughout their life. They were never given any treatment for the disease, even after penicillin was discovered in the 1940's, the officials just watched them, kept charts, and documented the progression of the disease until they died. After they died the doctors conducted autopsies on the men and then compared their condition to that of two hundred healthy black men. They were used as guinea pigs. This went on for forty years. In that time 400 men had participated, without their knowledge, in the experiment. In 1972, an investigative reporter named Jean Heller broke the story for the Washington Star. Officials at first tried to deny the allegations or sought to justify their participation on the basis that racist views were prevalent at the time. It is a classic example of institutional racism and its effects. The public was outraged. Neither contrite nor apologetic the senior physicians continued to offer morally offensive justifications for their acts. Finally, after much public outcry, the government appointed a panel to investigate the forty-year program. The study was closed in October of 1972, and a class action suit was soon filed on behalf of the men who were involved with the experiment the case was settled out of court for the amount of 12 million dollars. The survivors received $37,000 a piece. Others who were involved were given lesser amounts. When you think of the damage done, it is a paltry amount of money. Sexual partners of the disease were not told; as a result many black children were born with congenital syphilis. This led to charges that the government program was an act of genocide. Was it? Certainly it fits the definition and the government had used such tactics towards Native-Americans throughout the years. There has been much discussion within the black community about that, and how the government has been responsible for the introduction and spread of aids among African- Americans. This, when coupled with accusations against the CIA for the spread of crack, has led many in the established media to attack as delusional those who raise these questions. Are they delusional? The record and past speak indicate that they are not.

WHAT IS THE FOGGIEST PLACE IN THE UNITED STATES? Cape Disappointment, Washington. It's foggy there an average of 2,532 hours a year - or 106 complete days. WHAT IS THE MOST POPULAR FIRST NAME IN THE WORLD? Muhammad. WHERE DID THE PINEAPPLE PLANT ORIGINATE? In South America. It didn't reach Hawaii until the early nineteenth century. WHAT ARE THE FIVE MOST FREQUENTLY CONSUMED FRUITS IN THE UNITED STATES? The banana, apple, watermelon, orange, and cantaloupe - in order of their greatest consumption, according to the Food and drug Administration.

Saturnday, Sunday, Moonday The ancient Greeks inherited the practice of astrology from the Babylonians, but introduced many new features. For example, where the Babylonians tended not to place the major planets in any physically significant order, the Greeks ordinarily listed them on horoscopes like this Sun Moon Saturn Jupiter Mars Venus Mercury Even though they didn't have a heliocentric model of the solar system, they were still able to deduce the order of the planets, beginning from Saturn as the furthest out and descending to Mercury as the closest in, based on the their periods of their "wanderings" across the night sky. On this list the Sun and Moon are placed somewhat arbitrarily at the beginning, since their apparent motions obviously aren't of the same nature as those of the planets. It was also common for the Greeks to place the Moon last, so that it was considered to be even "lower" than Mercury. In addition, the Greeks could distinguish between the "interior" planets (Venus, Mercury) and the "exterior planets (Saturn, Jupiter, Mars) based on their apparent motions, and they sometimes placed the Sun in the "center" between these groups. This led to the arrangement Saturn Jupiter Mars Sun Venus Mercury Moon Now, each of the 24 hours (an Egyptian invention) of the day was though to be "ruled" by one of these 7 planets, and the rulers would cycle around in the arrangement shown above. Thus, if we denote the planets by the symbols T,J,R,S,V,Y,M respectively, and begin the first day with the Sun, we have Hour Day 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 1 S V Y M T J R S V Y M T J R S V Y M T J R S V Y 2 M T J R S V Y M T J R S V Y M T J R S V Y M T J 3 R S V Y M T J R S V Y M T J R S V Y M T J R S V 4 Y M T J R S V Y M T J R S V Y M T J R S V Y M T 5 J R S V Y M T J R S V Y M T J R S V Y M T J R S 6 V Y M T J R S V Y M T J R S V Y M T J R S V Y M 7 T J R S V Y M T J R S V Y M T J R S V Y M T J R After the 7th day the cycle repeats, so the 8th day is the same as the 1st, and so on. (Fortunately, 7 if coprime to 24.) Each day in the cycled was said to be "ruled" overall by the planet that rules the first hour of that day, so the rulers of the seven days were S,M,R,Y,J,V,T, which is to say Sun Moon Mars Mercury Jupiter Venus Saturn According to Neugebauer, this is also the arrangement of the planets that was used most often in Hindu astronomy. From this we get the names of the days in the week Latin French Saxon English Sun Dies Solis Dimanche Sun's day Sunday Moon Dies Lunae Lundi Moon's day Monday Mars Dies Martis Mardi Tiw's day Tuesday Mercury Dies Mercurri Mercredi Woden's day Wednesday Jupiter Dies Jovis Jeudi Thor's day Thursday Venus Dies Veneris Vendredi Frigg's day Friday Saturn Dies Saturni Samedi Seterne's day Saturday Wodin (or Odin) was one of the principal gods in Scandinavian and Teutonic mythology, and he seems to have somehow become identified with the Roman Mercurius. Likewise Tiw was identified with Mars. Frigg was the wife of Odin, and likened to Venus. The Germanic god Thor is similar to Jupiter, in the sense of being regarded as the "main" god in most northern European countries. This shows how the common names for our days of the week have been influenced by a wide range of peoples and traditions, including the Babylonians (astrology), Egyptians (24 hour division of the day), Greeks (arrangement of the planets), Romans (Latin names of the gods), and Scandinavian mythology (for the Germanic names). http://www.seanet.com/~ksbrown/kmath138.htm Tbank, Maggie. Let's hope it posts as pretty as it looks pasted in the submit box...

1800 Library of Congress Established - April 24 President John Adams approved legislation that appropriated $5,000 to purchase "such books as may be necessary for the use of Congress," and the Library of Congress was born. The first books, ordered from London, arrived in 1801 and were stored in the U.S. Capitol, the library's first home. The first library catalog, dated April 1802, listed 964 volumes and nine maps. In 1814, the British army invaded the city of Washington and burned the Capitol, including the 3,000-volume Library of Congress. Former president Thomas Jefferson, who advocated the expansion of the library during his two terms in office, responded to the loss by selling his personal library, the largest and finest in the country, to Congress to "recommence" the library. The purchase of Jefferson's 6,487 volumes was approved in the next year, and a professional librarian, George Watterston, was hired to replace the House clerks in the administration of the library. In 1851, a second major fire at the library destroyed about two-thirds of its fifty-five thousand volumes, including two-thirds of Thomas Jefferson's library. Congress responded quickly and generously to the disaster and within a few years the majority of the lost books were replaced. After the Civil War, the collection was greatly expanded, and by the twentieth century the Library of Congress had become the de facto national library of the United States and one of the largest in the world. Today, the collection, housed in three enormous buildings in Washington, contains more than seventeen million books, as well as nearly ninety-five million maps, manuscripts, photographs, films, audio and video recordings, prints and drawings, and other special collections.

Why is a horse race over obstacles called a steeplechase? In the 18th century, a group of fox hunters were returning from a fruitless hunt when one of the hunters, deciding the day should not be a total waste of time, suggested an interesting race. He bet he could ride straight to a steeple that was visible in the distance and touch it with his whip before any of the other hunters. Everyone agreed the race to the steeple had to be straight, meaning the riders had to jump obstacles long the way. The bet was accepted, and the first steeplechase race began. Later, this term was used to describe overland races between several steeples. Today, it just means an obstacle course.

Myths and Presidents As the campaign of 2000 nears, the ad agencies are busy at work producing mythmaking commercials about their candidate, which will invariably describe them in the most glowing terms. To enhance their stature George W. Bush will point to his stint in the National Guard and congratulate himself on his service. Al Gore will go one step further, he will point to his tour in Vietnam, to try to upstage George. However, neither one of them can hold a candle to the late President Kennedy when it comes to myths. When Kennedy ran for president the public was told he was a war hero, a scholar, and a best-selling author. None of which is true. President Kennedy began his war service in Washington as a navel intelligence officer. The dashing Kennedy soon became involved with a beautiful German woman named Inga Arvid. They became a most talked about couple, the handsome millionaire and the blond Nordic beauty. The problem was that she was most likely a German spy. Their escapades soon caught the attention of FBI czar J. Edgar Hoover who had Kennedy followed and bugged. Hoover was close to Joe Kennedy, the president's father, and recorded the conversations of Jack and Inga. While no secrets were passed (they were interested in other things) Joe decided that the young Jack might be better off away from the night life of Washington. So he sent him to the Pacific theatre where his skirt chasing would be difficult. The future president became a PT-boat commander. His duties were minimal but he even managed to screw that up - no pun intended. One day his boat was attacked and sunk by a Japanese destroyer. Kennedy claims to have saved three men, but records indicated that he saved only one, and that the boat sank because of his own negligence. It seems that they were caught napping - I didn't see that in the movie - and were outmaneuvered by the destroyer. The stories about the scholar Kennedy are not much better. Kennedy's prize winning undergraduate thesis, While England Slept, was based partially on research that was provided by a friend of the Kennedy family, Arthur Krock. Kroch was a friend of Kennedy's father and later gave the book a glowing review in the New York Times. The Pulitzer Prize winning book, Profiles in Courage, which helped enhance the legend of Kennedy the scholar, followed Kennedy's thesis. It's success however, was largely due to the organization of Kennedy supporter Jules David, and written for the most part by his speechwriter Theodore Sorenson. So when the mythmakers in both parties try to explain to you why their candidate is the stuff of legends and are more virtuous than the other, remember Jack Kennedy and Camelot; then reach for the clicker. Copyright 2000 by Pulse Direct, Inc. All rights reserved.

Sounds a lot like the Earnest Hemingway myth, the notable difference being that Hemingway obviously wrote his own books.

I thought it was common knowledge that Kennedy had help with his books...

Before Castro Cuba was controlled by Spain from the 16th century until its independence after the Spanish American War. In the 1870's, Jose Marti considered the father of Cuba, helped stage a revolt against Spain. It was finally crushed after ten long years, but trouble soon resurfaced again in 1898 when the USS Maine was sunk under mysterious conditions. Soon, the US was at war and the Spanish-American War rallying cry became "Remember the Maine." The US easily won the war, although that was not the case in the Philippines, and replaced the Spanish in Cuba. While Cuba was granted independence the United States, through the Platt Amendment, reserved the right to intercede in Cuban affairs. The US maintained economic control of the island and by 1928 US firms controlled 75% of the sugar cane crop. In the 1930's, Cuba challenged American dominance and elected Ramon Grau San Martin as their president. The socialist president promised land for the peasants, an eight-hour workday, and a limit to foreign investment. The US quickly backed a coup-d'etat, which was led by Fulgencio Batista, to replace him. Batista ended all talk of reforms and imposed a corrupt dictatorship on the island. By the 1950's, the US controlled two of the three oil refineries in Cuba, 90% of the telephone and electric facilities, and most of the tourist industry, which was run by the mafia. The mafia set up operations in Cuba and was given a free hand by Batista. Bastista's regime spent little on social programs and Cuba stood at the bottom of the list in infant mortality rates as well as illiteracy rates. Health care was unheard of for the peasants. A small minority benefited from the dictatorship but most of the population suffered. In 1959, Castro's army defeated Batista and took control of Cuba. Castro quickly moved to lessen its island's dependence on the US. He nationalized some industries while throwing the mob out of Cuba. Waves of immigrants left Cuba and settled in Miami. Who were they that left? They were the supporters of a brutally corrupt dictatorship. Think about it; who joined the revolution? Wasn't it the best of the best? Remember, this was before Castro imposed a Soviet style communist government, so the coalition included many who were not communists but who sought justice for their people. Opponents of Castro sided with a government that was corrupt, provided little or no social service, and was ruled by the mob. One example of the many changes in Cuba was the creation of a national film industry that became respected throughout the world. What Castro did was take the existing pornography industry from the mafia and then turned it over to Cubans to make pictures that had social significance. In 1960, Castro came to the United States and addressed the UN. He said that the US was planning an invasion of Cuba. The American press called him delusional, and within the year Cuba was invaded. Castro then moved closer to the Soviet Union, cancelled elections, and declared Cuba to be a Marxist-Leninist state. While Castro's mistakes have been many, statistics show that the revolution has also brought gains in education, heath and welfare services, infant mortality rates and the arts. While ranking at the bottom in per-capita income, Cuba has stayed at the top in social services. Has his revolution been successful? Yes and no. Socialist economies have been historically good at providing social services but bad at creating wealth. But whether Castro has been successful or not, Cuba is better off without the corrupt dictatorship that preceded it. As for the exile community, they have been involved in Watergate break-in, spied on the Vietnam Veterans Against the War, and in general made life very difficult for African-Americans who live in Florida. This past week they showed they did not believe in the rule of law. Funny thing is, they never did.

Co-Intelpro In the mid 1960's, the Federal Bureau of Investigation began a program named Co-Intelpro. Its aim was to destroy, disrupt, and discredit Black Nationalist groups. The manifesto proclaimed, "We must prevent the rise of a black messiah." It was first directed at Dr. King and Malcolm X, and soon came to include Stoakley Carmichael (Kwami Ture), Fred Hampton, Huey P. Newton, and Geronimo Pratt. The FBI, along with the Nixon administration, soon targeted the Black Panther Party. On December 4, 1969, it conducted a raid on the Black Panther headquarters in Chicago. The result was the killing of Fred Hampton and Mark Clark Hampton. During the raid, the FBI had worked closely with local law enforcement officials. This would become a pattern. Four days later a similar raid occurred in Los Angles and after a long gun battle with the police, the panthers surrendered. The target of the raid was a man named Geronimo Pratt. Pratt was a highly decorated Vietnam Veteran, had returned home to the United States and settled with his sister in Los Angles. He soon began attending classes at UCLA. There, he met Bunchy Carter and began hanging around with the Los Angles chapter of the Black Panther Party. This began to attract the attention of the FBI and the Los Angles Police department. In 1972, Caroline Olsen and her husband were attacked by two men resulting in Caroline's death. The husband was shown pictures of Pratt. At first he said Pratt was not the man but later changed his testimony after continuously being presented with Geronimo in various line-ups, his accounts changed. The descriptions of the two men that he had given the police were completely at odds with Geronimo's appearance but the LAPD wanted Pratt. The problem was Pratt was 400 miles away at a Black Panther party meeting in Oakland. Wesley Swaeringen was a veteran FBI agent who had performed, by his own admission, over fifty illegal break-ins for the bureau He was assigned to the LA office at the time and overheard one of his fellow agents exclaim, "The sonava bitch was in Oakland." Later on wiretaps of the meeting would be discovered only to find the days where Pratt had been in Oakland were mysteriously missing. During the trial an FBI informant named Julio Butler appeared. He testified that Pratt had written him a confession, which he passed the information over to Sgt. Rice who was instructed to open the letter only if something happened to Butler. The FBI approached Rice and asked him for the letter but Rice was an honest cop who then refused the FBI's request. How did the feds know it was a letter? Because, they wrote it. After a long trial Pratt was sentenced to life in prison. The death penalty was not in effect in California at the time so Pratt escaped the chair. He protested his innocence throughout the trial and upon his conviction was thrown in solitary confinement for seven years. For over twenty-five years Pratt languished in prison with many people, convinced of his innocence (as I was). I met Pratt in a San Quentin prison where we interviewed him for a documentary named The FBI's War On Black America that I was co-producing at the time. There, I learned of his tale of injustice. I wrote Pratt from time to time but like so many others, I drifted away. In 1995, new evidence revealed that Butler repeatedly lied on the witness stand. That, when coupled with former juror Jeanne Kilpatrick's and FBI agent Wesley Swearingen's statements, caused Superior Court Judge Everett Dickey, a Ronald Reagan appointee, to rule for a new trial. He stated that the credibility of prosecution witness could have been undermined if the jury had known Butler was an ex-felon and FBI informant. Two years later, District Attorney Gil Garcetti announced he would not try to bring Pratt to trial again. Pratt then sued the government, and on April 27th the federal government and the city of Los Angles agreed to a 4.5 million dollar settlement. Sometimes, history has a happy ending. Geronimo now lives in Morgan City, La., where he is working to convert his former school into a youth center.

HOW FAST DOES LIGHTNING TRAVEL? It travels 90,000 miles a second - almost half the speed of light. (186,000 miles a second). EXACTLY HOW LONG IS ONE YEAR? 365 days, 5 hours, 48 minutes, and 46 seconds. ON DECEMBER 31, 1970, SOMETHING DISAPPEARED FROM TELEVISION. WHAT WAS IT? The cigarette commercial. WHO WAS BASEBALL'S FIRST ROOKIE OF THE YEAR? Brooklyn Dodger great Jackie Robinson, was given the award in 1947. Forty years later, it was officially renamed the Jackie Robinson Award, although it's still widely called Rookie of the Year.

HOW MANY SONNETS DID WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE WRITE? 154. WHO WAS THE FIRST GUEST HOST OF NBC TV'S SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE? Comedian George Carlin, on October 10, 1975. IN WHAT YEAR WAS JANUARY 1 USED TO MARK THE BEGINNING OF THE NEW YEAR? In 153 B.C., by the Romans. Previously, New Year's Day was in March. WHAT U.S. CITY WAS THE FIRST TO HAVE A TEAM IN THE NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE? Boston, in 1924. The league was organized in 1917 with Canadian teams.

Bacon's Rebellion One of the first cash crops of the new continent was tobacco. It's value, and its labor-intensive nature, required a need for workers in the new world. So many indentured servants were sent to Virginia. They were considered the dregs of the continent. Many came from Ireland where they were picked up and often sent, against their will, across the Atlantic to the new world. The English would pick up those that they saw as troublemakers, and send them on a boat. The conditions of the newly arrived servants were appalling. They were often beaten, made to wear shackles, treated unfairly and taken advantage of by the upper classes. In the beginning, they worked with slaves in the field often side by side. Their fraternization and mixing began to cause alarm within the ruling elite. Soon the commonwealth began to take action to separate the races. What the planters feared most was what they called, "the giddy multitude." They feared class anger amongst servants. The slaves had a longer degree of servitude than the whites so they became more valuable to the tobacco growers. So why did the planters prefer servants to slaves, even while using slave labor was more profitable? Why did the change occur? Bacon's Rebellion is the answer. Bacon was a member of the Virginia council. Seeking to protect the settlers from the natives and increase his own lot, he set out to raise a militia. Bacon felt that this would serve a dual purpose. It would re-direct anger towards the Indians and eliminate a foe. Bacon's action shocked the Virginia council. They were afraid of what they described as, "the armed rabble." He had unleashed a class anger that threatened the very foundation of the Virginia government. Bacon soon became ill and died but his followers marched on Jamestown and burnt it to the ground. The British returned with armed ships to crush the rebellion. Finally, the whites and blacks laid down their arms except for a contingent of eighty blacks and twenty whites. The Virginia elite were faced with a problem. They could share their wealth and provide better conditions for the servants or they could use more slave labor. They chose slave labor because the gentry could control them easier. This would serve another purpose as well. They would employ many of the white settlers as slave hands. The planter class could be more effectively controlled by state power the slaves rather than their white counterparts. It was also easier to enact laws that denied certain rights based on the color of one's skin. Blacks were made subordinate to white rule. This was not the case for the white servants. To prohibit any mixing of the races, white women were targeted. Any mulatto child would be categorized as black and the mother fined 15 pounds. The legislature denied blacks the right to vote, own land or testify in court. A racist culture was born. Laws legitimized racism and the brutal treatment of blacks. For the next three hundred years we would pay a price for this decision.

WHAT LAKE, ONCE PART OF A SEA, HAS THE ONLY FRESHWATER SHARKS IN THE WORLD? Lake Nicaragua, in Nicaragua. WHEN IT COMES TO WAVES IN THE OCEAN, WHAT IS A WAVELENGTH? The linear distance between the crests of two successive waves. WHAT WAS THE NAME OF THE LAWYER WHO NEVER LOST A CASE ON TV'S CARTOON SITCOM THE FLINTSTONES? Perry Masonry. WHAT GREAT RULER DIED OF A NOSEBLEED ON HIS WEDDING NIGHT? Attila the Hun, in A.D. 453.

The Iceland Man Cometh? LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Iceland embarked on a mission to melt the hearts and minds of hard-bitten Hollywood on Thursday and turn its ancient sagas into the stuff that movie makers' dreams are made of. President Olafur Ragnar Grimsson, making his first visit to Los Angeles, launched a week-long festival of Icelandic culture, food and music as part of celebrations marking the 1,000th anniversary of the discovery of America not by Christopher Columbus, but by Icelander Leif Ericsson. Columbus was acclaimed for centuries as the man who discovered America in 1492 when he sailed the ocean blue. But in recent decades, more evidence has come to light showing that Ericsson and the Vikings were the first Europeans to set foot on the American continent in the year 1,000. Ericsson's voyage was reported in the epic poems known as the Icelandic sagas and Grimsson visited several Hollywood studios in a bid to encourage writers and producers to turn those adventures into movie material. ``The Icelanders have always been a nation of great storytellers, starting with the Icelandic sagas. The movie business is always looking for a great story to tell and we have for more than 1,000 years preserved some of the greatest stories in Europe,'' Grimsson told Reuters in an interview. ``I think there is a new interest in Hollywood in the international aspect of movie-making. I sense they are now looking to other countries for creative talent, good stories, and movie-making possibilities. Therefore I think we in Iceland can contribute a lot because we have unique stories to tell and a unique landscape,'' Grimsson added. Iceland, a nation of just 270,000 people, is also bringing its own movies to Hollywood with a retrospective of its leading director Fridrik Thor Fridriksson and a slate of new films. Icelandic cuisine heavy on fish but also including lamb is on the menu at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel for a week and the nation's pop music gets a showcase on Friday in a concert featuring GusGus and Icelandic hip-hop band Quarashi. An exhibition on the Vikings and North America will travel across the United States in the next two years celebrating their long, and mostly forgotten, links between America and Europe. Grimsson, elected in 1996 with a pledge to promote Iceland on the world stage, said the exhibition and his visit are not simply aimed at celebrating the past but also at looking to the future. ``In many ways the 21st century will be a century of discoverers, in genetics, in science and in outer space,'' he said. ``Do we enter the 21st century without the culture of discovery to sustain us or do we go back into our own heritage and try to understand what it was that made people great adventurers 1,000 years ago?''

The Myth of Education Recent polls report that Americans believe our children are poorly educated. Some reflect on a golden age of education that assimilated non-English speaking immigrants into American culture. Schools were supposedly so effective that it didn't matter what ethnic background they were from, or what their native language was, the school would teach them. People are somewhat vague about when this enlightened period existed, but most concede it was in the early part of the 20th century. When my grandfather came to this country he didn't speak any English, but he managed without the inclusion programs they have today. Did this golden age ever really exist? What were our schools like during this period? In the early part of the century, the school system was divided into the public and private sectors. The private sector provided education for the elite and the public schools were meant for the rest of us. Well, what was left for the rest of us was not good. In fact, it was awful. Studies show that most students attending schools in Chicago, New York, Boston, Detroit, and Philadelphia could not read, write or do arithmetic in spite of what some people claim. The schools that existed were largely ineffective. One example of the schools utter failure was the drop out rate. In the 1920's and 1930's, a federal study showed that only 56% graduated high school. In New York, where these mythic schools passed people along a generation to the American dream, only 40% finished high school. Philadelphia was worse. Here, only 19% of those who entered high school graduated. Keeping those dismal figures in mind, lets go back to those days and examine what a classroom in New York City might look like. Is it the classroom of neatly scrubbed children sitting behind their wooden desks in a tidy row? Hardly. What we would really find is squalor that would be equal to the conditions that the young immigrants came from. First, it would be difficult to keep them in school due to the financial strains that forced many to find jobs. This robbed many of their youth, their lives, and their future. Next, we would find the schools to be tremendously overcrowded with standard essentials in short supply. The stench would be overpowering. The schools, like the neighborhood , were infested with rats. It would be quite common to see a rat run across the room. Furthermore, the schools were so dimly lit, that it would be difficult to read the textbooks, even if enough of them could be found. This is why reformers of the period, John Dewey, Jacob Riis, and many others made public education such a priority. The schools were grossly substandard or didn't exist. In the 1890's, the federal government reported, that only about half of the children even entered school. So the next time you hear some politician lament about the golden era, remember it never existed.

The Story of Gregorio Cortez Gregorio Cortez was a farmer who lived with his brother Romuldo. Romuldo owned two sorrel mares. One was lame and the other was fit. A local Texas rancher kept pressuring him to sell one of his mares, but Romuldo refused. This angered his neighbor and when Romuldo rejected his overtures, the white Texan took this as an insult. Mexicans should know their place. However, Romuldo decided to trick him. He would trade him the lame mare instead of the healthy one. The Texan was furious at being taken in a horse trade and demanded that the sheriff do something about it. The sheriff disregarded the protest but went to the Cortez ranch to ask them about a reported horse theft. Gregorio asked his brother to go see what the sheriff wanted and Romuldo told Gregorio that someone wished to speak with him. One of the posse, a man called Choate, mistranslated what Romuldo said to Gregorio. He thought Romuldo said, "You are wanted." Choate then asked Gregorio if he had recently acquired a horse. Gregorio said no. He had just gotten a mare, but a mare was not a horse to Gregorio; it was a mare. Sheriff Morris then informed Gregorio that he was under arrest. Again, a mistranslation occurred, Morris thought he said, "no white man is going to take me alive." What Gregorio really said was, "you can't arrest me for doing nothing." Morris drew his weapon as Romuldo charged him. He fired and the bullet went right through his mouth. Morris then turned and fired at Gregorio, he missed. Gregorio shot back and hit the sheriff. Morris crawled to the nearby bushes and eventually bled to death. Choate fled the seen and described the incident as an attack by the "Cortez Gang." This began the chase of Gregorio Cortez. The newspapers reported that Cortez had headed for the border but Gregorio had gone north instead. He dropped off his brother and friends and continued north. A posse headed by Sheriff Robert Glover soon found the family and proceeded to torture them until somebody talked. The posse numbered over fifty men and when they finally reached his friend's house, they were drunk. Glover charged the building with his guns blazing. Cortez fired and shot Glover right off his horse. He then hurried into the brushes. Deputy Swift now entered the house and began firing. The posse heard shots coming from the house and fired into the house. In the confusion, the posse began to shoot at each other. Two of the men died and they now grabbed 13 year-old Encarnacion and hung him from a tree until he finally talked. When they arrived back in town. The posse informed the newspapers that they had found ten Winchester rifles and a bucket of ammunition. None of this was true. Cortez now turned his attention south. He rode and rode, eluding the chasing posse. The posse now grew to over 800 men. Still they could not find Cortez. Once he walked right by them. The posse complained to the press that his gang was supplying Cortez with fresh horses so he had an advantage. All across Texas any crime that happened was blamed on the "Cortez Gang." The San Antonio press reported, "The only hope was to fill up the whole country with men and search every avenue for escape." Finally, Cortez was captured. The trial and the appeals process lasted 12 long years. Cortez protested his innocence. He was convicted for the killing one of the posse, who was actually killed by one of his own men, and later Glover. He was convicted in the Glover case. Finally, after years of appeals, the Governor of Texas pardoned him. All Gregorio Cortez had ever asked for was justice. He died at his wedding at the age of 41. Some say he was poisoned but no one knows for sure. What we are sure of is, that Gregorio gave them one heck of a chase.

The Trail of Tears In the beginning, the Cherokee believed that the earth was covered with water and that beavers came from the sky to drag the mud from the oceans bottom and bring it to the top. The beavers attached it to the sky and created the land. The "great buzzard" then flew to the ground where he flapped his wings and the valleys and mountains were formed. It was on one of these flights that the "great buzzard" created the land on which the Cherokees lived. The Cherokee's had taken to the white man's ways. They were farmers who cultivated the land while living peacefully with those around them. But this was not good enough for some, who envied their land, and others like President Andrew Jackson, whose racial hatred towards the natives drove them to rationalize any excess. In 1829, the Georgia legislature passed laws that would extend its authority over the land of the Cherokees. The Indians were given a choice either the Cherokees could leave the state or they could succumb to white rule. Chief John Ross protested against this unjust policy. He went to President Jackson and asked for federal protection. The Cherokees had signed a treaty with the U.S. government that promised them protection but their protest fell on deaf ears. Jackson not only refused their request but the old Indian hater, who once carried a pouch made from a squaws breast, sent his Secretary of War, Lewis Cass to negotiate a new treaty with a minority faction of the tribe who favored removal. The removal faction was granted $3,000,000 in payment. The treaty had to be ratified by the whole nation so Cass proclaimed that only the pro-removal faction would be eligible to vote. The vote was a sham with only about 4% of the Cherokee nation approving of the treaty. Congress, despite protests from Chief Ross, quickly passed the accord. This set off a tidal wave of land grabbers who plundered the new land often killing the natives in the process. Most of the Cherokees refuse to leave and federal troops under the command of General Winfield Scott were sent in to remove the natives. Their tactics could only be described as genocide. The Cherokees were given no time in which to gather their belongs before they were ordered on a forced march in which 25% of the tribe would perish. Their homes were ransacked as plunderers stole their belongings and then sold them right in front of their eyes. The sellers and the buyers conspired to cheat the Cherokee. The march took place in the middle of the winter as one of the exiles commented: "Looks like maybe all will be dead before we get to new Indian country." The removal took them from their sacred home where the "great buzzard" had come and left them in a land that they knew nothing about. Their land went to speculators and slave owners. The Cherokee were left alone for a while but white settlers would again take their land in the Oklahoma land rush at the end of the century. This injustice haunts our history, reparations have never been made to the Cherokee, maybe it is time they should?

Why is extorting money called "blackmail?" When the English owned the majority of the farmland in Scotland, they charged the Scottish farmers rent called "mail," from a Scottish word meaning rent or taxes. Payments were normally made in silver, and this was called "white mail." When a farmer could not make his payments, the payment had to be made in produce, and this was called "black mail." During the threat of eviction, some landlords demanded more produce than was actually needed to cover rent, which coined the term "blackmail" in its present negative connotation.

Why is something in your area of specialty called "right down your alley?" This expression origninally came from the American game of baseball. In baseball, an alley is one of several paths a ball can take into the outfield which makes the ball difficult to catch. A player who feels his (or her) specialty is hitting a ball down a particular "alley" might promise to hit one 'right down my alley.' This phrase eventually was generalized to refer to any sort of specialty.

The Forgotten Helen Keller Helen Keller is one of the most misunderstood women in history. While we are familiar with her story about how a deaf and blind girl overcame these handicaps through the force of will. Her adult life remains largely forgotten. She is held up to school children across the country as an example of what one can do if they put their mind to it. Patty Duke won an academy award for her portrayal of Helen Keller in "The Miracle Worker." But much is left out. What schools don't speak about is her politics. She was a radical with a firm belief in social justice. One of the most effective forms of censorship is to omit what one finds troublesome. The story of Helen Keller demands a more truthful telling. Helen Keller was a radical socialist. She joined the party in 1909, but she had come to her radicalism before then. Her blindness, and work with the blind, taught her that blindness was not distributed equally throughout the population. Industrial accidents and poor conditions were the main cause. "I have visited sweatshops, factories, crowded slums. If I could not see it, I could smell it." When Keller became a socialist she already was one of the best-known women in the world. Her convictions created a hailstorm of controversy. Once admired by the press, she now was attacked and her handicaps blamed for her beliefs. The Brooklyn Eagle commented, "mistakes spring out of manifest limitations of her development." To which Keller replied, "Oh ridiculous Brooklyn Eagle! Socially blind and deaf, it defends an intolerable system, a system that is the cause of physical blindness and deafness that we are trying to prevent." Helen Keller devoted her life to change. She helped found the American Civil Liberties Union. As a white woman, who grew up in the south during the time when three black people were being lynched a week, she supported the NAACP. Helen Keller spoke out against the First World War and supported Eugene Debs in each of his campaigns for president. She wrote essays on the women's movement. In 1929, at the age of 49, she wrote her book Midstream. In it she described her philosophy, about how she had visited mill towns and met with strikers. She wrote of how she once believed that if one threw themselves into life's struggles, they could overcome anything. She now said that she did not believe that anymore, "I learned that the power to rise in the world is not within the reach of everyone." Helen Keller's story is too often told as if her life stopped as a child. We are not presented with the adult Helen Keller, and quite interestingly, we drain the life out of her story. She becomes an icon without meaning. Her humanity is covered up, and she is treated like a child. The real Helen Keller was much more complex and insightful. "Conclusions are not always pleasant," she once said. Sadly, neither are the losses to humanity from omissions of history.

Why is a white flag used as a symbol of a truce or to give up? The white flag represents untouched purity, and the color white has long been used in religious ceremonies over the world as a sign of innocence and goodwill. due to this image, the color white has almost universally become acknowledged as a symbol of peace and is, as a result, a natural symbol for a flag of truce.

Port Chicago Joe Small joined the navy in 1943. He was stationed at Great Lakes navel station, just outside of Chicago. Small was then assigned to Port Chicago, California. Port Chicago was an ammunition depot throughout the Second World War. All of its petty officers were white and the munitions handlers were black. Their main job was to take the boxes of ammunition from the train and pack them onto the ships, which were then sent to the Pacific for the war effort. Joe Small learned that the work was hard and dangerous with each division being pitted against one another. The navy refused to employ union stove handlers because the union men would demand safety precautions, with the black sailors; the navy would not have to worry about that. The officers bet against each other on who would win, punishing the losers, rewarding the winners. Any complaints about the conditions were met with threats of KP or extra duty. When a boxcar came in it would be filled to the top. Someone would have to crawl up, build a ramp, and then slide the ammunition down the ramp. The navy assured them that, because the bombs lack detonation devices, there was nothing to worry about. Still the men worried, many going AWOL, with one sailor even going so far as to fake a section 8. This meant he was mentally unsound. On July 17, 1944, Joe Small was awakened by a tremendous blast that could be heard all the way to the Berkeley Hills. Some 320 sailors were killed, the base destroyed and the town of Port Chicago, over 1 1/2 miles away, was heavily damaged. The scene was horrendous with arms and legs scattered everywhere. At first the men who survived did nothing. But they were very afraid and with good reasons for after ten days they were sent back to work. They were given no indication that any safety precautions had been taken. The men held a vote and Joe Small was elected as their representative. He gathered petitions and it was decided that the men would not go back. They refused the order and over 300 of them were thrown into the brig. The marines showered racial slurs and threats at them and many fights broke out. Fifty of the men, including Joe Small, were charged with mutiny. The military trial was a sham. They were found guilty and sentenced to 15 years of hard labor, but their case was taken up by future Supreme Court Justice, Thurgood Marshall, who had observed the case. The case had aroused the ire of the black community. Walter White, who was then chairmen of the NAACP, and Marshall, raised a public outcry until the navy was forced to rescind the sentence and give the men dishonorable discharges. The discharges were later up-graded to discharges under honorable conditions. This meant that they would receive no benefits, no insurance and would not be able to partake in the up coming GI bill. It was the largest mutiny trial in the history of the United States and one of the greatest miscarriages of justice in military history. Joe Small, however, considered himself lucky. He had survived.

Most people got married in June because they took their yearly bath in May and were still smelling pretty good by June. However, they were starting to smell, so brides carried a bouquet of flowers to hide the body odor. ** Baths equaled a big tub filled with hot water. The man of the house had the privilege of the nice clean water, then all the other sons and men, then the women and finally the children. Last of all the babies. By then the water was so dirty you could actually loose someone in it. Hence the saying, "Don't throw the baby out with the bath water". ** Houses had thatched roofs. Thick straw, piled high, with no wood underneath. It was the only place for animals to get warm, so all the pets..dogs, cats and other small animals, mice, rats, bugs lived in the roof. When it rained it became slippery and sometimes the animals would slip and fall off the roof. Hence the saying, "It's raining cats and dogs." ** There was nothing to stop things from falling into the house. This posed a real problem in the bedroom where bugs and other dropping could really mess up your nice clean bed. So, they found if they made beds with big posts and hung a sheet over the top, it addressed that problem. Hence those beautiful big 4 poster beds with canopies. ** The floor was dirt. Only the wealthy had something other than dirt. Hence the saying "dirt poor". ** The wealthy had slate floors which would get slippery in the winter when wet. So they spread thresh on the floor to help keep their footing. As the winter wore on they kept adding more thresh until when you opened the door it would all start slipping outside. A piece of wood was placed at the entry way, hence a "thresh hold." ** They cooked in the kitchen with a big kettle that always hung over the fire. Every day they lit the fire and added things to the pot. They mostly ate vegetables and not much meat. They would eat the stew for dinner leaving leftovers in the pot to get cold overnight and then start over the next day. Sometimes the stew had food in it that had been in there for a month. Hence the rhyme: Pease porridge hot, peas porridge cold, peas porridge in the pot nine days old." ** Sometimes they could obtain pork and they feel really special when that happened. When company came over, they would bring out some bacon and hang it to show it off. It was a sign of wealth and that a man "could really bring home the bacon." They would cut off a little to share with guests and would all sit around and "chew the fat." ** Most people didn't have pewter plates, but had trenchers: a piece of wood with the middle scooped out like a bowl. Trencher were never washed and a lot of times worms got into the wood. After eating off wormy trenchers, they would get "trench mouth." (Oh my) ** Bread was divided according to status. Workers got the burnt bottom of the loaf, the family got the middle, and guests got the top, or the "upper crust." ** Lead cups were used to drink ale or whiskey. The combination would sometimes knock them out for a couple of days. Someone walking along the road would take them for dead and prepare them for burial. They were laid out on the kitchen table for a couple of days and the family would gather around and eat and drink and wait and see if they would wake up. Hence the custom of holding a "wake". ** England is old and small and they started running out of places to bury people. So, they would dig up coffins and would take their bones to a house and reuse the grave. In reopening thee coffins, one out of 25 were found to have scratch marks on the inside and they realized they had been burying people alive. So they thought they would tie a string on their wrist and lead it through the coffin and up through the ground and tie it to a bell. Some one would have to sit out in the graveyard all night to listen for the bell. Hence on the "graveyard shift" they would know that someone was "saved by the bell" or he was a "dead ringer".

Why are playing cards made up of hearts, spades, clubs, and diamonds? Although playing cards were invented in China centuries ago, in their present form they only go back to 14th century France. It has been speculated the four standard suits represent the four major classes of 14th century Frencn society. Hearts, shaped like a shield, represented the nobility and the church. Spades, shaped like a spear tip, represented the military. Clubs, shaped like a clover, represented the rural peasant. Diamonds, shaped like the tiles associated with merchants' shope, represented the middle class.

Why is doing something thoroughly or all the way called "going whole hog?" A definition of "hog" is a young sheep not yet shorn. Many moons ago (that means a long time ago), many farmers chose not to shear their hogs completely because the fleece was very short and difficult to get to. Other farmers, thinking differently, chose to "go whole hog" and shar the entire sheep. According to many popular theories, this is where we got the expression.

Woodrow Wilson When asked about President Woodrow Wilson, the answer usually is that he led the country quite reluctantly, into World War One, and that he was the former President of Princeton University. He is thought of as an idealist who after "the Great War" led a courageous attempt to get the U.S. Senate to ratify his vision for a "League of Nations." The rejection of Wilson's polices in the 1920 election is reflected as a reaction to Wilson's idealism. We were tired of the reforms of the so-called progressive era and the electorate longed for a return to a simpler time. What is left out is that it was also a reaction against Wilson's racism, reactionary domestic activities, foreign intervention and lies. Under President Wilson the United States intervened in Latin America more than at any other time in its history. In fact, after Wilson's term the U.S. sought better relations with Mexico under the guise of a good neighbor policy. During his term we landed troops in Cuba, Haiti, Panama, the Dominican Republic and ten times in Mexico. Both sides condemned Wilson's intervention in Mexico in the Mexican Revolution. Wilson may have said that he believed in self-determination but his actions tell another story. In Haiti, U.S. marines invaded and forced the legislature to install our candidate as President. Later when the Haitians refused to declare war on Germany, we got ride of the Haitian legislature. It is not that Wilson failed to bring democracy to Haiti. The problem was that he never tried. On the domestic front, we have Wilson to thank for creating segregation within the Federal government. When Congress refused to pass his racist legislation, Wilson went ahead and refused to appoint blacks to federal offices; even the jobs that had historically gone to African-Americans. He used his power to segregate the Federal government and when blacks in the government protested, he had them fired. In 1914, D.W. Griffith made his ode to the Ku Klux Klan, "Birth of a Nation." It was screened at the White House afterwards Wilson said, "It was like writing history with lightning." Woodrow Wilson campaigned as a peace candidate in the 1916 elections, and by 1917 we were at war. During the war, President Wilson attacked all those who opposed him. He passed into law the Espionage Act in 1917 and the Sedition Act of 1918. This gave Wilson the mandate to arrest anyone who spoke out against the war. It went to absurd lengths. Once a filmmaker was arrested for making a film about the American Revolution. In it, the British were accurately portrayed as the enemy, but this logic did not faze Wilson's justice department who said that it was anti-British and therefore in violation of the Sedition Act. The court upheld the decision. Wilson's government refused to mail publications that were critical of his policies, he jailed suffragettes when they asked for the vote, and his justice department broke into the homes of citizens across the country. By the 1920's many were tired of Wilson and he was hated in his time so why do we revere him. Beats me?

The Panic of 1873 Jay Cooke was a banker. He had made over three million dollars in commissions for selling U.S. government bonds during the civil war, and was a friend of President Grant. The closing of his banking houses in 1873, which took place while Grant slept at his house, set off a wave of panic throughout the country. People could not pay their loans or mortgages and 5,000 businesses closed their doors leaving workers out on the streets. The depression lasted through the 1870's. In 1874, 90,000 people had to sleep in police stations in New York. They were limited to two days a month in any one police station so they had to move around. In Chicago, twenty thousand people marched in the streets demanding clothing and bread. Police attacked workers in New York when they attempted to march to city hall in New York. Strikes were called throughout the country. Employers reacted by bringing in new immigrants to break the strikes. In the summer of 1877, with the country in the depths of the depression, the New York Times wrote: "Already the cry of dying children begins to be heard." Soon, to judge from the past, there will be a thousand deaths of infants per week in the city." In Baltimore, with sewage in the streets, 139 babies died. 1877 also saw a labor war begin in the United States that would be more violent than anywhere in the world. It would last until the late 1930's and thousands would lay dead in its wake. It began with cuts in wages to railroad workers. They received only $1.75 per day while working twelve hours a day and the work was dangerous. Men were crushed between trains and often lost limbs. In West Virginia, workers stopped the rails from moving and the Governor asked President Hayes for help. Hayes had just become president and the nation had no money allocated to send federal troops but J.P. Morgan offered to foot the bill and the strike was broken. People became aware that the army was being used against them. In Baltimore, they surrounded the National Guard armory. The guard had been called out to protect B&O Railroad and the soldiers came out firing. Ten men were killed. Half of the troops quit and an enraged crowd attacked the other half. The rebellion spread across the country. In Pittsburgh troops were called in and a pitched battle resulted in ten dead. Now the whole city rose up in anger and another battle began; this time 29 people were killed, including four soldiers. Police attacked crowds in Chicago firing into them and killing four people. The next day an armed crowd fought the police resulting in three more dead. Karl Marx felt that while the strikes will "Naturally be suppressed, but can very well form the origin of an earnest workers party." When the strikes of 1877 were finally over, a hundred people had died. The railroads made some concessions but a pattern had been established. The labor struggle in America would be a long and bloody conflict. The major political parties had reached an agreement in 1877. They would not protect blacks or workers. Whether the Democrats or Republicans were in control made no difference, national policy would be the same. During this time, the fortunes of Rockefeller, Carnegie and Morgan increased while the country suffered. The fight by American workers for dignity is a struggle filled with bravery and drama and one of histories forgotten stories.

Is there anyone who does not know...? Where did the phrase "Peeping Tom" come from? Before Lady Godiva made her infamous ride through the streets of Coventry, England, she issued an order that all of the townspeople remain indoors and keep their shutters closed during her ride. Everyone complied with this request except for Tom, the tailor. Mr. Tom bored a small hole through his shutter so he could take a peek; ever since that day has been known as Peeping Tom of Coventry.

Who Was HUAC? George Reedy covered the House On Un-American Activities for UPI and once called the members of HUAC, "The worst collection of people that have ever been assembled in the entire history of American politics." The House On Un-American Activities began in 1938. Its chief function was to investigate subversive activities in the United States, starting with pro-German groups like the German-Bund. Its secondary function was to look at other groups who could be categorized as anti-American. This included the communist party and the socialist-workers party. Martin Dies was its first chairmen, and his narrow-minded views would shape the agenda for the committee for the next twenty years. Dies was a racist, anti-New Deal, pro-German, Democratic congressmen from Texas. As chairmen of HUAC, he turned the committee into an anti-Roosevelt investigative agency. He attacked New Deal programs such as: the Federal Theatre project, which employed artists and brought theatre to sections of the United States that had never seen a live play, the Federal Writers project which, among other things, recorded the oral history of former slaves, and other Roosevelt programs. Dies attacks on the Roosevelt administration set the tone for HUAC. Parnell Thomas, who later spent time in prison for corruption, followed him. Thomas was a crude man who allegedly joined the Ku Klux Klan in 1922. Thomas was a bitterly partisan, vulgar leader who brought to the committee his own narrow prejudices. Other Republican members included John McDowell, a former newspaper owner with a deep hatred of the New Deal, and Richard Nixon. Nixon was a first term congressmen from California who defeated incumbent Jerry Voorhis in a very bitter election. Nixon, as newly released Watergate tapes clearly reveal, was a mean-spirited, bigoted anti-Semite, who had waged a vicious and disgusting campaign in 1946. His campaign produced a widely distributed newsletter which said that "the Jews" were supporting Voorhis and that he was a spokesperson for an international Jewish conspiracy, "the subversive Jews and communists...in the interests of international Jews, [aimed] to destroy Christian America." Nixon attacked Voorhis for pushing what he called pro- Russian issues. These included the G.I. Bill, school lunch programs, abolition of the poll tax, opposition to higher oil prices and two veteran housing bills. On the democratic side stood John Rankin of Mississippi. Rankin was a deeply prejudiced man who opposed anti-lynching laws and the GI Bill (because it would include African- Americans). During the hearings, he would search through a scurrilous book called, Who's Who in American Jewry, to see if any of the witnesses were Jewish. Sitting next to Rankin was John Wood of Georgia. Wood was an active member of the Ku Klux Klan who saw proponents of justice for blacks as subversive. So what did these members of HUAC find? Basically nothing. The idea that the communists were about to take over the United States was ludicrous. There was never any threat to take over the government of the United States. By 1956, over half of the members who belonged to the depleted communist party were FBI informants. It was easy to be catorgorized as a fellow traveler. If you signed a petition calling for anti-lynching laws, you were branded a subversive. Of the nearly 2.5 million federal employees investigated only 270 of them were fired and out of that 270, none were proven to be communists. The hysteria created by the committee retarded the growth of the civil rights movement and paved the way for the debacle in Vietnam. So the next time someone steps up to denounce someone else as being un-American, it might be a good idea to investigate the person doing the accusation. You know what they say, "people in glass houses shouldn't throw stones."

As late as the 1700's, barbers served not only as giving haircuts and shaves (and they certainly don't give shaves these days) but also pulled teeth, performed minor surgery, and performed bloodletting. During the bloodletting, patients were instructed to hold on to a pole in such a way as to cause the veins in their arms to swell and the blood to flow freely. This pole was typically painted red in order to hide the blood spatters, and when not in use, it was left outside to air out. Around the pole white bandages were usually wrapped around it which were used to allegedly put out air. This red and white combination soon came to symbolize barber shops. After barbers no longer performed blood letting, someone got the bright idea of using painted red and white poles as the barber's symbol. The color blue was added to poles in america around 1900, more likely than not to match the colors of the flag.

Robin Hood (Or Robyn Hode) Lives! Historians trying to discover the real Robin Hood have concluded that he did indeed exist, although his exact identity and date remain uncertain. The first ballads acknowledging Robyn Hode appear in written form around 1500, although they were probably heard in oral form for 200 years prior to that date. This would probably place his life and activities in the early to middle 1200s. Also, he was originally linked to Barnsdale, not Nottinghamshire. So if you're a fan of the legend, take heart, because at least some parts of it are undoubtedly true.

Although botanically speaking a fruit, in 1893 the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously ruled that tomatoes are a vegetable (and thus taxable under the Tariff Act of 1883) because of the way they are usually served. ref: Smithsonian, August, 1990.

The word "fruit" can be defined as meaning the ripened ovary of a plant. So yes, botanically tomatoes are fruits, but so are eggplants, okra, and peppers, both sweet and hot.

Indeed they are! I can remember the guys' reaction in beginning Botany in college when this little bit of information was presented to them. I had no idea they were so squeamish!

Remembering John Burnett's comments on John Brown, this quotation came to mind: The spirit of resistance to government is so valuable on certain occasions that I wish it to be always kept alive. It will often be exercised when wrong, but better so than not to be exercised at all. --Thomas Jefferson

June is: National Candy Month and National Pest Control Month 1893 - The Ford Theater collapsed in Washington, D.C., killing twenty-two people. This was the theater where John Wilkes Booth assassinated President Lincoln 28 years earlier. 1934 - Walt Disney created a new cartoon character, the irascible Donald Duck. 1980 - Comedian and actor Richard Pryor suffered almost fatal burns at his San Fernando Valley, California home when a mixture of "free-base" cocaine exploded and set him on fire. Near death, he convalesced at Sherman Oaks Community Hospital Burn Center. 2000 - The "junior" Useless-Infomaster will graduate from Saucon Valley High School in Hellertown, Pennsylvania. Credited with the insult that started this web site - young Joe is attending Drexel University in the Fall to study Computer Sciences. His father - The Professor of Uselessology - looks at this as way to get a new programmer - for just the outrageous cost of a college education.

Fannie Lu Hamer Fannie Lu Hamer was 47 years old, married, the mother of two children, had spent her life as a sharecropper. Once she went to a meeting and was moved by the words of James Forman. Forman was part of a group of young civil rights activists called, The Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC). When Fannie Lu Hamer went to register to vote her landlord promptly evicted her from the plantation where she had lived for many years. Two days later sixteen bullets riddled the house where a friend was letting her stay. No one was hurt. Once when Mrs. Hamer was returning from Greenville she was stopped and arrested for no apparent reason. While in jail she was beaten severely by a black prisoner who was following the orders of Mississippi state troopers. He beat her with a blackjack all over her body. From that point on Fannie Lu Hamer never looked back, she was now part of the civil rights movement. Mrs. Hamer became a field secretary for the Student Non- Violent Co-Coordinating Committee (SNCC). SNCC workers and the residents of Mississippi were a people whose bravery is one of the highlights of American History. They withstood threats, beatings, and bombings yet still stayed in the movement. They received no help or protection from the Kennedy Justice department or the FBI. The 14th and 15th amendment had clearly protected the rights of citizens and the right to vote but the laws were never been enforced. Once Mrs. Hamer told an FBI agent, "If I get to heaven and see you there, I will tell St. Peter to sent me back to Mississippi." In 1964, she went to the Democratic convention as part of the Mississippi Freedom Party. The MFD were there to challenge the right of the regular democratic party of Mississippi to be seated at the convention. Mrs. Hamer appeared before the Credentials Committee and gave a moving account of what she had seen. President Johnson did not want to alienate southern democrats. He felt he needed their support in the upcoming election so he sought to keep the public from hearing Mrs. Hamer's testimony. Johnson called a press conference and the networks switched from Mrs. Hamer. Hubert Humphrey wanted very much to be vice-president but first he would have to do Johnson's dirty work. LBJ sent Humphrey to see if he could reach a compromise between the regulars and the MFD. The insurgents refused. The deal would leave them with only two seats in the delegation and they felt that they deserved more. Humphrey and his aid Walter Mondale pressured them and the UAW but the MFD would not compromise. Fannie Lu Hamer spoke out angrily against the proposed settlement and the delegation moved by her words rejected the offer. They voted 64-4 against sharing seats with the all-white Mississippi regulars. Mrs. Hamer's argument was plain and simple. James Whitten, her representative in the second district, had excluded blacks from the voting rolls. While the district was over 50% black. Only 2.9% of eligible blacks were able to vote. Mrs. Hamer went through the whole state district by district and told them about the intimidation, beatings and murders that African-Americans suffered when they tried to register to vote in Mississippi. The next forty days saw blacks all over the state of Mississippi attempt to register to vote. Armed with over one hundred lawyers, who volunteered their time and energy, the tide turned. But it was a costly victory for the movement. Many people had lost their lives for the right to vote even though the 15th amendment, passed in 1870, already guaranteed the right to vote. In 1965, the voting rights act was finally enacted. The battle in the south was not won with the aid of the federal government. They were an obstacle. It was people like Fannie Lu Hamer who had risked their lives who were the real heroes. They forced a nation to pay attention to their struggle and once again proved that people can change history. That is a lesson we should remember.

America Before Columbus When Columbus came to America in 1492, there were over 75 million people, twenty-five million living in North America, inhabiting the land he supposedly discovered. Columbus called them Indians believing he had reached the east by going west. The natives had migrated across the Bering Straits and settled into warmer areas of the continent. The Hopi Indians were building cliff dwellings, farming and creating villages about a thousand years before Christ in what is now New Mexico. When Julius Caesar was conquering the Western world an Indian culture called the Moundbuilders, who lived in the Ohio Valley, were making huge structures out of earth. One of them was said to be over three miles long and the area served as a trading post. Indians came from the west, the Gulf of Mexico and the Midwest to trade and exchange goods. So you can see a system of trade and commerce existed before Columbus arrived. In what is now called Pennsylvania and upper state New York lived the Iroquois. The Iroquois lived in villages and had a very sophisticated social system which was in many ways superior to the European culture. The land was worked in common and was owned by the whole nation. Women held a much higher place in the Iroquois culture versus the European. For instance, family names were tied to the women not the men. When a man married, he joined the family of his wife. Women farmed the land while the men hunted for fish and game. Men and women shared power and the European model of male dominance was conspicuously absent in Iroquois culture. Children were not punished harshly and taught equality in possessions. This is contrasted with the severity of the Puritans who believed in harsh punishment. (continued....) ------------------------------------------------------------ ***** $20 OFF + FREE SHIPPING FROM DSPORTS.COM ****** Father's Day Special! Dads & Grads win at dSports.com $20 OFF any purchase of $50 or more & FREE Standard Shipping Just click here and insert offer ID number: PDAD in the offer ID box at check out. AOL Users Click Here and use ID# PDAD ------------------------------------------------------------ What did the culture of the Europeans bring to the new world? The Europeans were a society of both rich and poor, controlled by priests, governors and male heads of families. The Iroquois society had no laws, sheriffs, judges or juries, however boundaries of behavior existed. If someone stole food or shamed their family, they were banished until they had morally atoned for their actions. So this was the land Columbus "found." There was no written language but their history was passed on by an oral culture that was far superior to the Europeans. They told their history through songs and fables. They paid attention to the development of an individual's personality. This kind of community lasted among natives long after the Indians were conquered. John Collier who lived with the tribes of the American Southwest said of the spirit of the natives, "if we could make it our own, there would be an eternally inexhaustible earth and a forever lasting peace." Perhaps this is myth-making. But these ideas have been repeated in European journals. What can we learn from this? First, we can see that hierarchy leads to divisions in all societies and this stratification of power leads to dominance by a few to the cost of many. This is true of all European systems whether it be capitalism or communism. Secondly, mere laws and punishment do not lead to a peaceful society. Maybe we should study other cultures in our schools and incorporate some of their beliefs into our own violent society.

Why do people say "mush" to make their sled dogs move? Canadian sled drivers actually were trying to say "marchons," which means 'let us march' in French. Early French-Canadians used this command to make their sled dogs go forward. When English-speaking sled drivers attempted to copy this expression, it was mispronounced to "mushon" and subsequently abbreviated to plain old "mush."

Have you ever wondered what happened to the 56 men who signed the Declaration of Independence? Five signers were captured by the British as traitors, and tortured before they died. Twelve had their homes ransacked and burned. Two lost their sons serving in the Revolutionary Army; another had two sons captured. Nine of the 56 fought and died from wounds or hardships of the Revolutionary War. They signed and they pledged their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor. What kind of men were they? Twenty-four were lawyers and jurists. Eleven were merchants, nine were farmers and large plantation owners; men of means, well educated. But they signed the Declaration of Independence knowing full well that the penalty would be death if they were captured. Carter Braxton of Virginia, a wealthy planter and trader, saw his ships swept from the seas by the British Navy. He sold his home and properties to pay his debts, and died in rags. Thomas McKeam was so hounded by the British that he was forced to move his family almost constantly. He served in the Congress without pay, and his family was kept in hiding. His possessions were taken from him, and poverty was his reward. Vandals or soldiers looted the properties of Dillery, Hall, Clymer,Walton,Gwinnett,Heyward,Ruttledge, and Middleton. At the battle of Yorktown, Thomas Nelson Jr, noted that the British General Cornwallis had taken over the Nelson home for his headquarters. He quietly urged General George Washington to open fire. The home was destroyed, and Nelson died bankrupt. Francis Lewis had his home and properties destroyed. The enemy jailed his wife, and she died within a few months. John Hart was driven from his wife's bedside as she was dying. Their 13 children fled for their lives. His fields and his gristmill were laid to waste. For more than a year he lived in forests and caves, returning home to find his wife dead and his children vanished. A few weeks later he died from exhaustion and a broken heart. Norris and Livingston suffered similar fates. Such were the stories and sacrifices of the American Revolution. These were not wild-eyed, rabble-rousing ruffians. They were soft-spoken men of means and education. They had security, but they valued liberty more. Standing tall, straight, and unwavering, they pledged: "For the support of this declaration, with firm reliance on the protection of the divine providence, we mutually pledge to each other, our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor." They gave you and me a free and independent America. The history books never told you a lot about what happened in the Revolutionary War. We didn't fight just the British. We were British subjects at that time and we fought our own government! Some of us take these liberties so much for granted, but we shouldn't. So, take a few minutes while enjoying your 4th of July holiday and silently thank these patriots. It's not much to ask for the price they paid. Remember: Freedom is Never Free!

The Baseball Spy During his highly undistinguished thirteen year baseball career, catcher Moe Berg only achieved a .243 batting average. Berg grew up in Newark, New Jersey where after graduating from high school, he attended Princeton University and became a linguistic scholar. Berg�s baseball exploits earned him a $5,000 bonus for signing with the Brooklyn Dodgers and he used that money to study at the famous Sorbonne University in Paris. It was here that Berg learned to speak twelve different languages which he would later use to become one of the most important spies of WWII. Berg�s entrance into the world of espionage began in 1934, when he visited Tokyo as part of the traveling all-star team that included Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig. His ability to speak fluent Japanese was the main reason that he was included on the team. While there, he secretly filmed the landscape of Tokyo from the tallest building in the city. Jimmy Doolittle's pilots later used this valuable information for their bombing run in 1942. Berg retired from baseball in 1939 and soon began a new career as a spy for the United States. In September of 1939, the Second World War began when Germany attacked and quickly overran Poland. Hitler then turned his attention to Western Europe, and in 1940, France was defeated. Hitler�s bombing of Great Britain and his invasion of the Soviet Union showed the world his callous disregard for human life. On December 7, 1941, Japan attacked the United States and it quickly joined the war for the survival of humanity. The OSS, a forerunner of the CIA, recruited Berg. His first assignment was to assess the situation in war torn Yugoslavia. Impressed by Berg, OSS director "Wild Bill" Donovan sent him to Zurich, Switzerland on what could be considered the most important spy mission of World War II. Berg arrived in Zurich in December of 1944, armed with a handgun, a suicide pill and a mission of utmost importance. What the allies feared most was that Nazi Germany would unlock the secrets of the atomic bomb before they could. Their fears were well justified. Phillip Morresy, a scientist who worked on the development of the American weapon at Los Alamos, even kept a short wave radio tuned into a London station so that he could monitor each morning if they were still broadcasting and had not been wiped off the face of the planet by a German A-bomb. Berg's assignment was to go to a lecture, led by Germany�s leading physicist Werner Heisenberg, and determine if Nazi Germany was close to building an atomic bomb. If they were, he was to kill Heisenberg on the spot. Berg carefully listened to Heisenberg's lecture and decided that Germany was not close to building the bomb. President Roosevelt and the scientists working on the Manhattan Project were briefed on Berg�s report. Heartened by the news, Roosevelt commented, "Fine, just fine. Let us pray that Heisenberg is right. And give my regards to the catcher." Berg was one of our most trusted and effective spies of the war, however, he had a difficult time after the conflict. He lived with his relatives and remained in obscurity, showing up occasionally at Mets and Yankee games. In May of 1972, Berg died at the age of 70, after suffering a fall while working at his New Jersey home. Few people knew of his exploits, and his secret mission, or that Berg was willing to give his own life to save humanity. He is a forgotten hero and a common man that displayed uncommon bravery.

When was money first used? ---------------------------------------------------------------------- If money is a physical object traded as standard tokens of value, then the first money was being used by 9,000 BC in the middle east and Africa, where cattle and measures of grain were exchanged as standard units for other items like food, raw materials, land, or wives. Among the first objects specially created as value tokens were coils of cast silver "ring money" that were used in Mesopotamia as early as 2,500 BC. These bits of silver were weighed in shekels, the world's first standard units of measure. The first coins were circulated in Lydia in 687 BC, according to Herodotus. Although the Chinese may have used paper money for a short time in the same century, the first western use of paper money was not until the 18th century, by the French.

The Plague of America William Langer wrote that the Bubonic Plague was "the worst disaster that had ever befallen upon mankind." During the 14th century, about 30% of the European population died from its effects. The Europeans believed that the horror was caused by God punishing them for their sins. We now know that it was rats and fleas that carried the disease coupled with the hygienic shortcomings of the time. There is another plague that is barely spoken of, that is the spread of disease to native-Americans which was carried by the settlers of the New World. This plague caused 90% of the population to die and was refereed to by the governor of the Massachusetts colony John Winthrop as "an act of god." Winthrop wrote to a friend in England, "So as God hath thereby cleared our title to our place, those who remain in these parts, not being more than fifty, have put themselves under our protection." The Europeans brought with them diseases that the native people were incapable of handling. Europeans refused to bathe, believing it to be unhealthy, and they never took their clothes off. In fact, the natives complained that they smelled and tried to get the settlers to bathe but had little success. Furthermore, the Pilgrims brought with them animals that carried diseases such as cows and chickens. The results proved disastrous as only one in every twenty people survived the invasion from Europe. Although medical science has proven otherwise, the Europeans of the time still held steadfastly to the belief that this was an act of God being held out in their behalf. One settler proclaimed while speaking about the deaths of Native- Americans, "their enterprise failed, for it pleased God to effect these Indians with such a deadly sickness, that out of every 1000, over 950 of them had died, and many of them lay rotting above the ground for lack of burial." On the West Coast the devastation was similar. In 1769, it was estimated that there were 300,000 people living in California and by the end of the gold rush in 1849 only 30,000 remained. These cataclysmic events are treated in our textbooks as an example of American exceptionalism. "This great opportunity for a great social and political experiment may never come again," says the American Pageant. Another textbook states, "The American people have created a unique nation." What on earth is so unique? What did the natives do to deserve such a fate? The gracious acts of the indigenous people are quite remarkable. They told them how to grow corn, where to fish and where to hunt. This allowed the settlers to survive, however, they neglected to thank the natives. What can we learn from this? First, one must be very careful when any group says that their exploitation is an act of God. Second that America was conquered without regard for the people who lived there. It is estimated that over 14 million people lived in what we call the United States, but by 1900, fewer than one million remained. Today, we would describe this as ethnic cleansing. If anyone out there deserves reparations, it is Native-Americans. I pray that some day they get it. Sources for Article: Gary Nash, Red, White and Black Almon W. Lauber, Indian Slavery in Colonial Times Francis Jennings, The Invasion of America James Loewen, Lies My Teacher told Me

The CIA and Art In 1947, a war-torn Europe was suffering from the worst winter in memory. As the country lay in ruins, the alliance between the allies was beginning to crumble. A cold war had developed between the United States and the Soviet Union, during which time the U.S. instituted what was called the Marshall Plan. Named after General George C. Marshall, the plan poured millions of dollars into the economies of the Western European countries along with defeated Germany, which was now divided into occupied zones. This, more than anything, stopped the advance of communism. But the cold war had another dimension. It was a cultural war as well. The mission of the CIA was to draw the intelligentsia of Western Europe away from its enchantment with Marxism and communism. To do this the U.S. would have to lure intellectuals into excepting an American way of life. Before the war, American culture was held in low regard in Europe and was considered an effective economic machine with a second rate intellectual culture. With the help of the CIA, this was soon to change. What the CIA sought to achieve was a non-communist left, headed by people like Tom Brandon and Arthur Schlesinger, that would persuade Europe to look at America in a different light. To accomplish this, the CIA requited people from the old OAS. The OAS was the forerunner of the CIA and its membership included intellectuals from Ivy League schools who had worked for the agency during the Second World War. Aided by money from the Marshall Plan, they set-up new foundations and passed money through old ones, all in the name of discrediting communism. To do this, books were funded which questioned communism and its right to be considered the wave of the future. Many of those who now attacked communism were themselves former communists and sympathizers who had grown wary of the Soviet Union after the purge trials of the 1930�s and the Hitler-Stalin pact of 1939. The Federal Arts Project of the 1930�s was widely criticized by the republicans and conservative democrats as New Deal propaganda. But it gave work to unemployed artists throughout the country, including the great American painter Jackson Pollack. What abstract-impressionism represented was a radical artistic movement that broke with the conventions of social realism. Criticized by both the Soviet Union and American conservatives, it seemed like the perfect choice to represent American interests. This is not to say that the movement itself, born out of Surrealism and Cubism, was not a legitimate artistic movement. It certainly was- Jackson Pollack happens to be one of my favorite painters- but it was the perfect choice because of its radical break in form to illustrate the artistic freedom of the United States. The problem was Congress, led by Republican George Dondero, who attacked the new movement. "All modern art is Communistic. Cubism aims to distort by designed disorder. Futurism aims to destroy by the machine myth. Dadaism aims to destroy by ridicule. Abstractism aims to destroy by means of brain- storms." So the agency was faced with a problem of what to do about its own Congress which was clearly undermining its own efforts. The answer was to draw on its old OSS ties. Nelson Rockefeller, former OSS operative during World War II, put the resources of the Museum for Modern Art (MOMA) behind the project and the work of Jackson Pollack. Pollack himself was an old left-winger who had been involved with Communist work shops of the Mexican muralist David Alfalo Siquireros. Pollack was the perfect choice. Born on a sheep ranch in Wyoming, Pollack was a hard drinking American artist whose work was exceptional. Through Rockefeller, MOMA helped support various exhibitions throughout Europe and New York replaced Paris as the center of the art world. Abstract Expressionism most likely would have become a major force anyway but there is no question that the CIA aided it. But was that a bad thing?

As you noted, Abstract Expressionism would have become the prevailing mode in post war art anyway. Cubism and Surrealism are not necessarily born out of Marxism and socialism. They have their roots in Post-Impressionism. There is indeed, and always has been political art. In reality, Cubism was prompted by scientific theories concerning how the human eye "sees" in three dimensions. As for Surrealism, its roots lie in psychology and the analysis of dreams. Another artistic movement of roughly the same time was Dadaism, which is best described as "a response to that cosmic bad joke known as World War I". The quote comes from Robert Hughes, I believe. I could be wrong. As to whether or not the CIA aiding the influence of Abstract-Expressionism was a bad thing. That's a matter of taste, on some level, isn't it? It depends on whether you like Abstract-Expressionism, or not? Or even what your view of the CIA may be.

I was hoping with your background, you would pick up on this post and comment on it. Interesting conjecture there at the end of your comments. I agree!

John Peter Altgeld John Peter Altgeld was the most hated man of his generation. Nearly every newspaper in the country attacked him at one time or another. To others, he was a man of conscience and morals, who saw injustice and acted despite its consequences to his career. He was just an infant his parents brought him to America from Germany in 1848. A young Altgeld followed the Civil War closely and tried to enlist at the age of sixteen, however, was rejected because of his young age. In 1875, he arrived in Chicago, which at that time was a growing and bustling city. Altgeld became wealthy through some astute real estate investments and developed a keen interest in politics. In 1886, he was elected judge and proved to be an open supporter of labor. He also was extremely critical of a justice system that many times jailed young offenders for no apparent reason. His reforms improved the justice system and Altgefd started to win statewide recognition as a defender of the common man. Altgeld was elected governor of Illinois in 1892. His first public act was to condemn the lynching of a black man in Decatur, Illinois. This created a stir across the nation but nothing compared with what would soon follow. On June 26, 1892, he issued a pardon to three of the Haymarket anarchists. The Haymarket riot occurred when a bomb was thrown into a peaceful crowd of people who were holding a demonstration in support of the eight-hour day. Altgeld carefully studied the evidence and came to the conclusion that the defendants were innocent. They had been tried and convicted because of their political beliefs and not because of anything they had done. Altgeld carefully examined every page of the record that proved that it was police Captain Bonfield's sadistic behavior that had caused the riot. Because juries were not picked by lot at this time, Judge Gary packed the jury with opponents of labor and falsified the evidence. The defendants were innocent but to pardon them would be an act of political suicide. Altgeld pardoned them anyway and was accused of being an an anarchist by the Chicago Tribune. In 1894, Altgeld would be tested again. When George Pullman, with the support of his chief stockholder Marshall Field, cut workers pay by a 25%, the workers went on strike. The strike quickly developed into a test of strength between the railroad union and Pullman. The union appeared close to victory when Federal troops, against the will of Altgeld, were sent into Chicago to break the strike. The government said that the railroad union was in violation of the Sherman Anti-Trust Act. Although the act had been set up to guard against the creation of monopolies by corporations, like so many other court decisions in American history, it was turned against the people. This intervention by federal troops quickly resulted in severe rioting and several deaths. Altgeld began to speak out against the malpractices of these corporations. Altgeld's attack was probably the most devastating attack ever made by a public official at that time. He said the danger came to the country "from the corruption, usurpation, insolence, and oppression that go hand in hand with vast accumulation of wealth, wielded by unscrupulous men." In 1896, Altgeld helped William Jennings Bryan, receive the nomination of the Democratic Party. The party now rejected the pro business policies of standing President Grover Cleveland. Two years earlier, Altgeld had stood alone against Cleveland, howver, now the whole Democratic Party was behind him. Altgeld was again attacked by the press and red baited by Theodore Roosevelt, who called him a dangerous man. The New York Tribune said that Bryan was puppet in the hands of the "anarchist Altgeld." Even though Bryan was defeated and Altgeld lost a very close election for governor, he still can be viewed as a beacon of light in an era of corruption and darkness. Many of his proposed reforms were passed during the Progressive era, which would follow a decade later. On March 11, 1902, after a fatiguing day in court defending a union against a strike injunction, Altgeld died from a stroke. Clarence Darrow, his former law partner said, " he died as he has lived, fighting for freedom." Sources. Critic and Crusaders, Charles Madison, 1947, Henry Holt

Red Summer The summer of 1919 is remembered as the beginning of the Red Scare, a term civil rights leader James Weldon Johnson coined to describe the racial riots that bloodied the streets of America during that season. While federal agents were arresting political radicals, riots broke out in Chicago, Washington, East St. Louis and twenty other towns and cities in the U.S. The riots were a result of white fears and a growing hatred toward immigrants and blacks across the country. The movie "Birth of a Nation" and its subsequent success had much to do with the revival of the Ku Klux Klan. President Woodrow Wilson described the film as, "history written with lighting," which adveritsers used to promote the movie. The movie characterized African-Americans as clowns, corrupt and incapable of self-government. In reality, they were no more corrupt than the public officials in other parts of the United States. This was after all the Gilded Age, and for the most part, they were an improvement over their colleagues elsewhere. Even such scholars as President Wilson of Princeton University and John Rhodes of Columbia University, for whom the prestigious Rhodes scholarship is named, bought into this southern fable and later wrote about it as if it was true. During World War I, African-Americans were forced to live in substandard housing and were confined to only certain areas of the cities. One report written for the Associated Charities of Detroit told a typical story. "There was not a single vacant house or tenement in the several Negro sections of the city. The majority of Negroes are living under such crowded conditions that three or four families in an apartment are the rule rather than the exception." When African-American soldiers returned from the war and demanded respect, they were met with discrimination, segregation and increased lynchings. As blacks sought to break out of the ghettos and try to achieve a better life, they were attacked. The worst riot occurred in Chicago on July 27, after a group of white bathers stoned a black boy named Eugene Williams. The boy had drifted near them and subsequently drowned to death in panic. The riots raged on for nearly four days. One of the white groups that was heavily implicated in the disturbance was the Hamburg Club, where future Mayor of Chicago, Richard J. Daley presided. Meanwhile, black men, who were to be called "Bolshevik Agents," fought back in Washington and elsewhere. Claude McKay wrote of the resistance, "If we must die, let us nobly die, so that our precious blood may not be shed in vain." The system of white superiority had been challenged and whites had reacted with a determination to reaffirm its status. But this never could have happened if those in the ivory towers of our best schools had not spread the lie regarding re-construction. Racism had become a national ideology and not just a regional one. People such as Eric and Phillip Foner, Kenneth Stamp, W.E.B. Du Bois and the federal writers project of the 1930's have discredited the writings about the failure of re-construction and, in turn, have painted quite a different picture. What can we learn from this? One thing we can learn is that whoever writes about history is subject to their own prejudices and just because they come with lofty credentials doesn't mean that they don't lie. So next time you hear some media designated expert on TV spew their rhetoric, question them.

What does �Annuit Coeptis� and "Novus Ordo Seclorum" on the back of a United States one-dollar bill mean? What is the significance of the pyramid in the design being split into two parts with an eye in between? Annuit Coeptis is Latin for �He has favored our undertakings.� Novus Ordo Seclorum is Latin for "new order of the ages." The eye represents the eye of Providence and the shining light around it illustrates "spiritual above material." The pyramid is split to indicate it is unfinished, signifying the United States, too, is continually growing and building but never finished.

Irish Women in America The economic struggle in Ireland had a particularly negative effect on Irish women. Farmers began to stop the practice of dividing the land upon their death amongst their sons in 1825. The reasoning was there was not enough land for all the men so it would be better that the oldest would inherit the land and get something. Women weren't even considered worthy of receiving inheritances. Marriage rates declined and over one-third of all women between the ages of 26-35 were single. One women stated, "There is no fun in Ireland at all..times are lonesome..no one is getting married." Many women saw the new world as a place of hope and came in droves. The majority of them became domestic servants where the pay was better than at the factory but left them with no time for themselves. Guidebooks recruited servants, offering them more money than they could have ever dreamed of in Ireland. One women wrote, "Here in America we marry for love and work for riches." So they cooked and cleaned for the upper classes. Women were forced to wear caps and aprons, which served as remind- ers of their servitude. The nature of this servitude left women feeling exploited, forced to serve their bosses some- times for twenty-four hours a day. Many of them left and sought work in the textile mills of New England. The work was noisy and often dangerous with an average life expedi- ency of twenty-four. In 1860, eighty-eight women died in a fire in Lowell's Pennington Mill when they were unable to reach safety after a roof had collapsed upon them. Some of the earliest strikes in America took place at some of these mills. All across New England, women struck against appalling working conditions that were imposed on them. A succession of strikes near Pittsburgh saw women, armed with pitchforks, invade and many times close the mills. Reformist Catharine Beecher wrote: "I was there in the winter and every morning I was awakened at five by the bells calling to labor. The time allowed for dressing and breakfast was too short, as many had told me, that both were performed hurriedly. The work at the mill begun by lamplight and con- tinued without remission till twelve. This was all done standing up." Despite the hardships, America represented hope for many women. It was not just jobs and wages they sought, but a kind of self-sufficiency from fathers and husbands that they could not find in Ireland. Many said they would never go back to Ireland. "Any man or women without a family are fools that would not venture and come to this plentiful country." As women became more middle class, they began to dominate such professions as teaching and other fields that had been closed to them in the past. Women became a force in the abolitionist movement and which later led to the women's movement. It would be a long struggle, but through their own efforts they would change their lives and the lives of those who would come after these brave pioneers. Sources: Howard Zinn, A People's History of the United States, Harper/Collins Ronald Takaki, A Different Mirror, Little Brown and Company

Forgotten History - Beginning of the Vietnam War On September 2, 1945, representatives from the Emperor of Ja- pan signed surrender papers ending World War II. On that same day a declaration of independence was signed by Ho Chi Minh and the Democratic Republic of Vietnam was born. The procla- mations said, "All men are created equal. They are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights, among those are, Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness." Now, if this sounds a lot like our own Declaration of Inde- pendence, that's because it is. Minh studied history while attending school in the United States. In 1919, Minh tried to convince President Wilson to endorse Vietnamese independ- ence, but Wilson refused to meet with him. During World War II, Minh was an ally of the United States and the Americans had given him money and weapons so he could fight the Japan- ese. Minh was certain that this would be rewarded by the United States, and in return, they would support Vietnamese independence after the war. We didn't. Instead we supported a return of the French. At first, Ho Chi Minh tried to negotiate with the French. However, after talks collapsed, a war of independence broke out in Vietnam. From 1946 to 1954, we poured millions of doll- ars into coffers for the French military, so in effect we arm- ed both sides. In 1954, the unthinkable happened. The French were defeated at Dien Bien Phu. Many people in the Eisenhower administration wanted to go to war and replace the French but President Eisenhower, who had just negotiated a perilous peace in Korea, was in no mood to send American boys to Vietnam. But others in the administration had different ideas, including Secretary of State Charles Foster Dulles. "I do not believe that in this contingency, the United States would simply say 'too bad we're licked and that is the end of it.' We can raise hell and the Communists will find it just as expensive to resist as we are now finding it." So we set out to raise some hell. One of the first things we did was to create a government that we could call our own. Ngo Dinh Diem was installed as the ruler of South Vietnam. Vietnam had been separated at the 17th parallel, with Ho Chi Minh's forces ruling the north and the newly created Diem government in the south. Both sides had agreed to elections in 1956, but the U.S. had no intention in keeping their end of the bargain. Diem had no support. He had no army. He had no popular appeal. Diem needed the American CIA to survive so the Saigon Mili- tary Mission was born. First, they paid off many of Diem's opponents in the south. Next they used physiological warfare to scare the largely but not exclusively Catholic refugees by transporting a million North Vietnamese refugees and turning them loose in the south. The effects of this influx of refu- gees had devastating effects on the south. Many of the dis- placed people became the early Viet Cong. Diem had spent most of his time out of the country and had no knowledge of the inner workings of Vietnam. Because of this, he made two other tragic mistakes, which seemed logical at the time, but would prove to be a devastating for the Viet- namese. First, he ordered the French to leave, which removed any kind of government in South Vietnam. Next, because he sus- pected they were communists, Diem ordered the Chinese out of the country. This destroyed the commerce of South Vietnam be- cause the Chinese were the middle men in Vietnam's economy. Now, when rice farmers brought their crops to market to ex- change them for necessary goods, no one was there to trade with them. The invaders from the north soon took land from the peasants, with the support of the American CIA, and refugees from the north increasingly dominated the Vietnam government. In the name of anti-communism, the seeds of a war that would take the lives of two million Vietnamese and 58,000 Americans, was born. We weren't trying to save Vietnam we were, in the words of Charles Foster Dulles, "raising some hell." Sources: The Pentagon Papers, Daniel Ellsberg JFK, The Cia, Vietnam and the Plot to Assassinate John F. Kennedy, L. Fletcher Prouty. Interview with Noam Chomsky

The national anthem of Greece has 158 verses. The World Trade Center's twin towers in New York City have two zip codes, 10047 and 10048 - one for each building. Mozart never went to school. Smokey the Bear's original name was "Hot Foot Teddy." Queen Elizabeth was an eighteen year old mechanic in the English military. The watch pocket in pants is also known as the "fob." In ancient China, doctors received payment only if their patients were kept healthy. If their health failed, the doctor sometimes paid the patient. Six people can eat on one scrambled ostrich egg. The dot over the letter "i" is called a tittle.

James A. Farley/Strikebreaker James A. Farley was known as the "King of the Strikebreakers." During the 1880's, as the cry of the eight-hour workday and other labor reforms grew, so did the growth of private detect- ive agencies dedicated to breaking strikes. The 1890's were not the gay nineties to working people. To them it was a time of poverty and desperation as the strikes became increasingly violent. American industry was determined to keep unions out. To do this, they would often hire detective agencies to pro- vide the force necessary to cross picket lines. The depress- ion of the 1890's left them with an ample labor supply of drifters, grifters and other questionable characters. These characters were ready to provide services and started private detective agencies. One such character was James A. Farley. ------------------------------------------------------------ Farley saw an opportunity and he proved himself to be a ruth- less ally to the business community. By 1904, he had already crushed over twenty strikes. Farley used to brag about his success saying, "I have my own staff of personal representa- tives, and in some corner of the country one of my clients is always enjoying my services." Violence often followed his visits. He advertised in papers and recruited his little army. Many quit when they learned they would be used as scabs but an equal numbers stayed. Farley's methods were ruthless. In Chicago's teamster strike of 1904, his actions could be cate- gorized as "putting gasoline on the fire." Farley sent his chief lieutenant into an already explosive situation who announced: "I want no police, they only get in the way. Give me plenty of men and plenty of clubs." He then took 300 men, armed them with razors, guns and knives and set out after the strikers. The strikers drove them back after a particularly bloody day and Farley still earned $50,000 for his efforts. It is interesting to compare that salary with the $3 dollars a day in wages the strikers were asking for. His tactics made him a celebrity. The New York Herald called him "the best hated man in this country." In the San Francisco streetcar strike of 1907, Farley agreed to bring 400 strikebreakers from the east to break the strike. The strikers were asking for three dollars a day and after on- ly the second day of the strike Patrick Calhoun, President of United Railways, brought the scabs in. Protesters surrounded the trains and tried to prevent them from leaving the barn. Farley's men fired shots into the crowd and which left 25 men either dead or seriously injured. The people of San Francisco were outraged and even though 1,000 or more separate injuries resulted from the strikebreakers' negligence in operating the streetcars, the strike continued. The strikers' lost their battle and Farley went home to enjoy his riches, which were ample considering he was paid more than $10 million for his services during the decade. On September 11, 1915, he died of tuberculosis. There would be others to follow him, but Farley was the first in a long list of strike- breakers. The fight for economic justice would be a hard and protracted struggle in America as long as companies were will- ing to use the service of unsavory characters like James Far- ley. Sources: Labor Heritage, Robert M. Smith

The John Lennon Files John Lennon was the heart and soul of "The Beatles." It was Lennon that gave the group their edge and he will be forever linked with the rebellious youth culture of the 1960's. Lenn- on was the political Beatle and for this he became a target of the FBI, the CIA, and President Nixon. Nixon went after Lennon, J. Edgar Hoover called him a dangerous subversive and the CIA was willing to break the law, and its own chart- er, in their pursuit of this former Beatle. Lennon had been very critical of the U.S. involvement in Viet- nam and after the break up of the Beatles he became increas- ingly interested in radical politics. This caught the atten- tion of FBI czar J. Edgar Hoover. Hoover's FBI had investi- gated artists for years and kept files on writers such as Nel- son Algren, John Steinbeck, William Faulkner and many others. Through the use of informants, the FBI found that Lennon was planning to fuse his music with new left politics. What real- ly caught the eye of the bureau was a plan to go to the GOP convention and do a series of concerts to protest the war in Vietnam. Nothing illegal you say, it doesn't matter. On December 10th, 1971, John Lennon gave a concert that was intended to raise money for jailed political activist John Sinclair. Sinclair was arrested for possession of two sticks of marijuana and then sentenced to ten years in prison. For the concert Lennon wrote the song "Free John Sinclair." Sinclair was the former manager of the rock group "MC5." The Five, as their fans called them, were punk rockers before punk became fashionable. They played all out rock and roll with a polit- ical edge, perhaps the most exciting band I have ever seen. This, when coupled with Sinclair's politics, made John a tar- get for the local police. This event was the beginning of a year long investigation of Lennon by the FBI. So what did they find? Basically, they found that Lennon believed in non-violence and expressed no interest in joining any protest where there might be violence. They could have just listened to his songs to learn that, but this would be too simple. So they bugged him, followed him and reported his every move. Nixon also sought FBI support to deport Lennon while the CIA, in violation of its own charter which forbids domestic spying, also kept close tabs on him. In the end the FBI stopped, but only after one of their own in- formants told them that John and his wife Yoko Ono had no real interest in American politics. In 1980, Lennon was brutally murdered on the streets of New York. Soon after Jon Wiener, a professor of history at the University of California, Irvine, made a Freedom of Infor- mation Act (FOIA) request to see Lennon's FBI files. The FOIA was created after the revelations of FBI and CIA abuses of pow- er. The newly elected Reagan administration fought the request tooth and nail. Years passed and still the government dragged it's feet. In 1988, George Bush was elected president. Bush, a former CIA director, was not eager to co-operate with FOIA requests. A successful corporate attorney named Kenneth Starr, who would later head the investigations of Bill Clinton, was put in charge of the Lennon case. Starr fought hard against the dis- closures, saying among other things, that compliance would be too costly for the government. This is, of course, the same man that spent 40 million dollars on the Whitewater case. In the end the documents were released due to the relaxation of the rules by the Clinton administration. John Lennon had broken no law. It is not against the law to hold a benefit concert or to oppose anyone's election but the Justice Depart- ment spent hundreds of thousands of dollars, first on surveil- lance and then against release of the documents. All John Len- non asked the government for was to "Gimme some truth." Sources: Jan Wiener, Gimme Some Truth: The John Lennon FBI Files. Herbert Mitgang, Dangerous Dossiers: Exposing the Secret war Against America's Greatest Authors

The Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) They changed the world, as we know it. They are indeed an im- pressive lot, whose ranks include Marian Wright Edelman, Jul- ian Bond, Congressmen John Lewis, Bob Moses, Alice Walker and Howard Zinn. It was 1960 and the sit-ins had just begun. Stu- dents throughout the South became energized by the Greensboro incident where four students sat in at a lunch counter and sou- ght to break the stranglehold of segregation in the South. Am- erica was at the time living a lie. On the one hand we were telling the world to reject communism yet an apartheid system controlled the South, which made a mockery of our democracy. So a group of mostly young black people decided to take action into their own hands. Many were influenced by a group of people known as the exist- entialists, whose philosophy was to take direct action and whose belief was that an individual had the power and the re- sponsibility to change things. The existentialists sought out to confront the South's particular institution by challenging segregation at theater's, libraries by conducting sit-ins and demanding their rights. The Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) energized the long budding fervor of discon- tent in the South. They came from all over; Bob Moses from Boston, Stokely Charmicheal from Howard University, Cortland Cox from the Bronx and Diane Nash from Chicago. Their courage caught the attention of a nation and some of their activities included freedom rides and voter registration drives. In each case they were met by violence. During the freedom rides the group de-segregated buses trav- eling throughout the South. When they stopped at places like Birmingham Alabama, they were attacked and beaten as the FBI and the Kennedy Justice Department just watched and did noth- ing. In fact, JFK described them as "sons of bitches" but the nation watched and admired their willingness too stand-up for what they believed. Soon white kids from the North, who saw them as heroes and role models, joined them. This was a new time in America and SNCC was at the heart of it. What must be remembered is that they were so young, teenagers really, and they organized sharecroppers, domestic maids and others th- roughout the South. The elders fed them, opened up their homes to the young people, and then went out and risked their lives for the right to vote. It was uncommon courage displayed by common ordinary folk. This is how things are changed. In Mississippi they faced the ultimate challenge. It is hard to explain to people now what Mississippi was like back then. The disgusting movie "Mississippi Burning" portrayed the FBI as being heroes, which was a lot like praising the Gestapo in the Anne Frank Story. In 1964, Bob Moses organized, along with other members of SNCC, Mississippi Summer. Here they would directly challenge the apartheid system. All they asked for was the right to vote and for this they were shot, beaten, jailed and killed. Finally, the ultimate horror came as three young students; James Chaney, Andrew Goodman and Michael Sch- werner were arrested, released and then murdered. Now the fed- eral government had to do something so eventually the voting rights bill was passed. The price had been high, but the young people and the brave common folk of the South had won. We remember Dr. Martin Luth- er King but often the story of SNCC is forgotten, which is a mistake because the story of SNCC is just as important. Many of the writers of history constantly search for leaders, so they single out Dr. King but neglect to tell the real history of America and the struggle for a decent life by regular people like you and me. The changes that have occurred have been because of groups like SNCC and people like Sam Block, James Foreman, Oscar Chase, Ella Baker, Gloria Richardson, Cleve- land Sellers and so many others that I can't mention here. It really is an impressive history, isn't it? Sources: A Peoples History of the United States. Howard Zinn You Can't Be Neutral On a Moving Train. Howard Zinn Parting the Waters. Taylor Branch Conversations with: Marian Wright Edelman, Stokely Charmicheal (Kwame Ture), Cleveland Sellers, Cortland Cox, and Bob Moses.

Media, Prejudice and Zoot Suits Every wave of immigration the US has experienced was accompan- ied by racial prejudice and poverty for the immigrating eth- nic group. Far from being a land of open arms to free oppress- ed people from all over the world, too often economic imper- atives have made it necessary for the US to let the "people in." Such was (and still is) the case for the Mexican-American immigration scene. But US need for immigration is for another day. Today we look at the media, which has always contributed to a one dimensional view of these new immigrants. These im- ages have contributed to creating a climate of hate. The Mex- ican-American image today owes much of that image to fashion. In the 1940's, a particular style of fashion, known as the Zoot Suit, became popular among young people in the Mexican community. Because of their unified taste in clothing, the media began to call this group of Mexicans gang members. This was, at best, incorrect. Although some of the "Zoot Suiters" were gang members, most were just out to have a good time and look good. The Mexican-Americans in 1941 were for the most part were poor and left out of the American dream. Their average income was $792 dollars a year. Poverty and its hand maiden, discrimination, were the root causes for the way they were treated and viewed as a group. The Office of War Information described the living conditions of the Mexican-Americans in a classified report in 1942: "These people do not live, they exist. Malnutrition, sickness and disease are prevalent among them. Their housing, both in and out of cities, is the worst in the nation. The schools they attend are frequently segregated and generally inferior." The problems described in the report had already begun to take its toll in Los Angles. The police in Los Angles were corrupt, brutal and racist. Police Captain Edward Duran Ayres stated, "Mexicans generally preferred to kill, or at least let a per- son bleed. Their propensity for violence could be traced to the predominance of Indian blood in their racial composition." The media generally went along with these racist descriptions and denounced the "Zoot Suiters" as unpatriotic threats to society. On June 3, 1943, after fights between soldiers and Zoot Suit- ers developed, hundreds of servicemen began to go on a ramp- age. They invaded movie theaters and often removed the cloth- ing off those who looked like Zoot Suiters. The marines wield- ed clubs, belts and iron pipes. A twelve year old, who had re- ceived a broken jaw, described the scene, "Who the hell are they fighting, the Japs or us?" Another young man said, "Hell man, this is a street in Germany tonight." The police stood by and watched, often praising the attackers, as did the media. A Los Angles Times headline story stated: ZOOT SUITERS LEARN LESSON IN FIGHTS WITH SERVICEMEN. The city council of Los Angles, blamed the victims of the attacks and passed a resolution saying: "Now, therefore, be it resolved, that the City Council finds that the wearing of Zoot Suits constitutes a public nuisance and does hereby instruct the City Attorney to prepare an ordinance to prohib- it the wearing of Zoot Suits." The Zoot Suit riots remain an important lesson for all Americans about how racial and eth- nic differences, strengthened by bias in the press, can lead to violence and misunderstandings.

+--------------- Bizarre National Holidays ----------------+ SEPTEMBER IS... September is... Be Kind To Editors and Writers Month September is... National Bed Check Month September is... National Chicken Month September is... National Mind Mapping Month September is... National Papaya Month September 1 is... Emma M. Nutt Day September 2 is... National Beheading Day September 5 is... Be Late For Something Day September 11 is... No News Is Good News Day September 12 is... National Chocolate Milkshake Day September 13 is... Defy Superstition Day September 15 is... Felt Hat Day September 16 is... Stay Away From Seattle Day September 18 is... National Play-doh Day September 22 is... Hobbit Day and Dear Diary Day September 23 is... Checkers Day and Dogs In Politics Day September 28 is... Ask A Stupid Question Day September 29 is... Poisoned Blackberries Day September 30 is... National Mud Pack Day

Lincoln and Slavery While most people know of Lincoln�s Gettysburg address, few are aware of his Inaugural Address of 1864. It was a masterful speech, perhaps one of the greatest in American History in that it specifically identified slavery as the great issue of the Civil War. Strange as it may seem, some think that the war was a battle over state's rights. This is an erroneous opinion, which flies into the face of logic. The Supreme Court was applauded in the South when it decided in 1857 that all slaves, regardless of their own wishes or laws in the North, must be returned to the slaveholding states. The court ruled that blacks had no rights that must be respected. What did the slave states say to this? Did they talk about state's rights? No, they didn't. In fact, they urged President Buchanan to use his federal powers to enforce the law. It was only after they lost the election of 1860 and control of Congress did they begin to champion state's rights. So much for state's rights. The Democrats in the North ran a racist campaign appealing to the worst instincts of the population, however, Lincoln prevailed. It is popular now to say that Lincoln was only concerned with saving the Union, but listen to what Lincoln says: "Fondly do we hope, fervently do we pray, that this mighty scourge of war may speedily pass away, Yet, if God wills that it continue until all the wealth piled by the bondsman�s two hundred and fifty years of unrequited toil shall be sunk, and every drop of blood drawn with the lash shall be paid by another drawn with the sward." Lincoln�s action spurred anti-racist feelings in the North and especially the Border States. In Maryland, a slave state, the abolitionists brought the issue to the forefront while the citizens forced the issue of slavery to a vote. The tally went against the forces of freedom until large numbers of absentee ballots turned the tide. These were soldiers from Maryland who caste their lot with the anti-slavery forces while they risked death. The ideas of Lincoln had the opposite effect on the South. On their way to Gettysburg, southern forces captured blacks and sent them back to slavery. However, the African-Americans revolted and joined the Union army in droves, dispelling the notion of happy slaves. While armed guerrilla attacks plagued the South, many soldiers from the South switched sides or deserted. In fact, about two-thirds of the army that opposed General Sherman disappeared. By 1865, the Confederate army was disbanding on a massive scale. "The zeal of the people is failing," said Jefferson Davis. The failure of textbooks and schools to relay the truth has been one of the great mistakes of American history. While racism has existed in the United States, and still does, this is the birthplace of anti-racism as well. This struggle has led to many different kinds of social movements. The women�s movement owes its energy to the cause of civil rights, while one of the heroes of Tiananmen Square was Lincoln. In East Germany, citizens sang "We Shall Overcome." Unfortunately, here in America, we have refused to honor the abolitionists as heroes and have in many ways turned our backs on our own glorious history. We shouldn�t, because much of our history is one that we should be quite proud of. Sources: Lies My Teacher Told Me. James W. Loewen

Atomic Veterans When the United States dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, scientists had little idea about the effects of radiation on human beings. They were startled by what they saw and decided to study the effects of radiation further. But who would be tested and how would it be done? It was decided that American servicemen would become subjects to tests. So they were sent to the islands of the Pacific, protected their eyes, and watched the show. The blasts from the bomb rippled through everything and the fallout became ingested and imbedded in their skin and bodies. At first, after the blast, the effects didn't appear to be too bad. In fact, the amount of radiation was less than one would receive from an ordinary chest X-ray. But while they watched and monitored the results, the amount doubled and then doubled again. Soon it exceeded all safety levels and contaminated everything in sight. The dust from the blast began to fall and resembled a snowstorm. The troops often wrapped themselves in bed sheets to protect themselves from the dust. These were the lucky ones. In other tests, soldiers walked to ground zero and became exposed to the deadly dust sometimes without any protection at all. It is estimated that 380,000 men participated in the experiment and over 200,000 were exposed to nuclear radiation. Many have suffered a variety of maladies, the most common being cancer. The Veterans Administration has persistently fought medical claims and has prohibited servicemen from suing the government which has left them with few options. In Great Britain, it has been worse. The British government has refused to provide any compensation at all. Former British Prime Minister Anthony Eden stated, "It�s a pity but we can�t help it." We can only imagine the toll this had on former soldiers of the old Soviet Union. (Continued...) ------------------------------------------------------------ ------ What Do These Companies KNOW that You Don�t? ------- Companies like Xerox, Office Depot, AT&T, DELL, and Zing all utilize the fastest growing ad network on the Internet... PennMedia. Why? PennMedia has over 40 million opt in subscribers... 40 MILLION opt in subscribers to over 700 different e-mail publications in their network. EVERY day, 40 MILLION subscribers receive daily jokes, horoscopes, golf tips, technology news, etc. in their e-mail box. Content and ads... e-mail advertising that makes a difference. Call PennMedia today and reach 40 MILLION opt in subscribers today. 708-478-4500 or visit: http://www.PennMedia.com ------------------------------------------------------------ In August of 1979, the late Orville Kelley formed the National Association of Atomic Veterans. It took seven years of Kelley�s life and most of his savings to receive any compensation from the United States government. When he finally achieved justice it was, in the end, too late for Kelley. He died seven months later from Lymphoma. But the organization that he formed continues to fight for the abused veterans although only 460 men have received any compensation to date. Congress has apologized but the Veterans Administration has continuously dragged their feet on the matter. This is an outrage but the military continues with this kind of behavior. In the Gulf War, U.S. and United Nation troops became exposed to U-235, which is more commonly known as depleted uranium. The armor piercing shells that destroyed Iraq tanks with such ease now threaten the lives of those who were exposed to its deadly effects. Now, much like what happened to the first atomic veterans, men are coming down with strange illnesses but our government and the British government refuse to acknowledge its effects. They say, much like before, that that the men were not put in any danger. The evidence is overwhelming that they are incorrect. One only has to look at the high rates of cancer among the population of Iraq to see that this is another cover-up. Veterans risk their lives for their country and they deserve better in return. Sources: National Association of Atomic Veterans In the Shadow of the Cloud, John Lerager, Karl Morgan, Susan Lambert

The International Workers of the World (Wobblies) In June of 1906, the International Workers of the World were born in Chicago. The Wobblies, as they came to be known, believed in organizing all workers regardless of race, color or skills into "One Big Union." They were fearless. Hounded by government throughout their history, they were tarred, feathered and often run out of town. However, this did not phase them. When arrested for giving speeches, other members followed them, often filling the jails until they were allowed to speak. They were lead by a charismatic labor leader named Big Bill Haywood. Haywood was a giant of a man who, at their inaugural meeting in Chicago, stood on a box cart and proclaimed: "The capitalist class and the working class have nothing in common." The Wobblies were anarchists-syndicalists, meaning that they believed in co-operatives, rather than a vanguard like the communists. Working conditions at the turn of the century were horrible. The depression of the 1890�s and the consolidation of corporations had left labor at the mercy of the industrialists. In 1911, a fire swept through the Triangle Shirt Company, killing 146 people, mostly women. They were crushed in their attempts to escape the illegally locked doors. Some jumped from the buildings and plunged to their deaths. The next year the American Woolen Company decided to cut the wages of their women workers in four of the their plants. The women, who could not adequately feed their families before the wage cut, were enraged and decided to go out on strike. The average wage before the strike was $8.76 a week. The work was dangerous and many died at very young age. Dr Elizabeth Shapleigh wrote: "A considerable number of the boys and girls die within the first two or three years after beginning work. ...Thirty-six out of every 100 men and women who work in the mill die before they are twenty-five years of age." The IWW organized soup kitchens to feed 50,000 people, which consisted over 50% of the population of Lawrence, Massachusetts. The Wobblies organized parades and held rallies while the mayor called out the local militia to combat the strike. When police attacked the marchers, a riot developed, and one person was killed. Even though witnesses said the police had shot a woman named Anna Lopizzo, the leaders of the strike were arrested for the crime. Neither, Joseph Ettor or poet Arturo Giovanntti, was near the incident but that did not stop the authorities in their quest to squash the strike. So the IWW sent for "Big" Bill Haywood. The strikers set up mass pickets defying the law. But they faced what seemed to be an insurmountable problem, what to do with the children. The New York Call, a Socialist paper, proposed sending the children off to sympathetic families. So they went to places like Barre, Vermont, New York City and Philadelphia. The police clubbed the women who brought their children to the train station and one pregnant woman and here-unborn child died as a result. Finally, the American Woolen Company decided to settle the strike. The workers received a 11% raise and jury found Etter and Giovanntti innocent of the murder charge. The strike inspired singer-union organizer Joe Hill, who in honor of the women and Elizabeth Gurley Flynn, wrote the song Rebel Girl: There are women of many descriptions In this queer world, as everyone knows Some are living in beautiful mansions And are wearing the finest clothes There are blue-blooded queens and princesses Who have charms made of diamonds and pearls But the only and Thoroughbred Lady Is the Rebel Girl. Hill was framed in Salt Lake City, Utah for the killing of a grocer. He was convicted and executed and upon his death asked for his ashes to be sent to every state in the union except Utah saying, "I wouldn�t be caught dead in Utah." Sources: A Peoples History of the United States, Howard Zinn The Autobiography of Big Bill Haywood

Given the current protests at recent international conferences and national polictal conventions, it would appear that anarchy as a practiced political philosophy is coming back as an option. It always surprised me that many people are completely ignorant to the fact that during the first half of the twentieth century many Americans, who were very proud that the were Americans, were in fact members of the Socialist Party. They were very often the people that immigrated to the United States, found a hard life, but a better life than they had had. Although life in the U.S. was quite often hard for them, they found it could be a good life, both rewarding and worthwhile. They simply wanted better working condtitions. Socialism, communism, and anarchism are all part of American History, and not necessarily bad or degenerate parts.

The Cold War and Atomic Waste During the 1940's and 1950's, the United States began producing huge quantities of atomic weapons. To do this, the US hired hundreds of private companies for the dangerous job of producing and handling atomic waste. According to recent de-classified files, this left a legacy of poisoned workers and contaminated communities. Thousands of workers were exposed to dangerous levels of radiation, often hundreds of times stronger than what was considered acceptable limits. This was all done in secrecy, with neither the government nor private industry explaining the risk to American workers. The United States, in its haste to build nuclear weapons, ignored the safety of its own citizens while American industries, in their quest for profits, turned their backs on their own employees. The risks were known, however, companies such as the Simonds Saw and Steel Company in New York, unloaded railroad cars containing uranium and thorium to the factory. In 1948, workers at the Saw and Steel plant were told they would be rolling a new type of metal. The shipments arrived with armed guards who stayed until the job was completed. Most of the workers had no idea of the risked they were taking but were happy to have a job after enduring hardships throughout the "Great Depression." The workers were told that there would be no danger to their health. We now know that this was a lie. Workers were told in a 1947 memo that they may hear the word "radiation" while they worked on the job, but that the levels would be so small that instruments would be needed to show any exposure. This was not the case. In fact, when private companies violated minimum safety standards, the government ignored their violations. In a 1947 memo, Bernard Wolf, medical director in the Commissions office stated, "Hazards to public health of ABC operations has been given inadequate consideration." The agency did nothing fearing exposure and dependent on the private companies. The Cold War was at a fever pitch at this time. Politicians such as Richard Nixon, Joseph McCarthy and many others were busy making careers out of the cold war. Officials at the Atomic Energy Commission tried to reduce the risks but the White House, Congress and the boys at the Pentagon demanded that production be carried out with wartime urgency. What is so repugnant about these operations is that the government cared more about possible insurance claims that could be filed against private industry, than it did its own citizens. They said that disclosure would cause, "an increase in insurance claims, increased difficulty in labor relations and adverse public sentiment." One could safely categorize their response as "class warfare.' What we have today is many people coming down with unusually high cancer rates and communities left with the task of cleaning up the toxic mess. The public, as so often is the case, is left unaware of how much health or environmental damage may have been done to their communities and while the Clinton administration has pursued cleanups more forcefully than previously, federal laws right now say nothing about those contaminated in private industry. So their fate remains in question. It is a national disgrace and a reminder to all of us to question both corporations and government when it comes to our health. Sources: Records of the Atomic Energy Commission

Good points Cheryl. Before I posted those articles on the labor movement and such here I ran it past John Burnett, a man I consider an intellectual giant and one who will give me straight answers as unbiased as he possibly can. He suggested I post it and added his own personal views at the bottom. Unfortunately, it is sometimes necessary to destroy the old before anything new can be created for the better good. It is a treacherous path to tread, but if wisdom and the good prevail you end up with the American War for Independence (Revolution?!) If not, you end up with death and anarchy and we all lose.

We have come back, in a sense, to the conundrum of John Brown. A great, but problemic American.

Ah yes, somwhere back in this topic John Brown's rebellion was addressed most eloquently by John Burnett and, with his permission, I posted it. Worth another read, surely! The Spanish Civil War What Spain meant to the world has been largely forgotten. The Spanish Civil War was the signature event of the 1930's and for many, the most important experience of their lives. The war now seems lost in time, but in retrospect, it helped forge an alliance that would stop the forces of Fascism and thus save the world. For two-and-a-half years the civil war raged on, people from all over the world joined the fight on their own, and sometimes in defiance of their respective governments. Spain, long considered a peripheral country in Europe, was thrown into world politics in 1931 when a loose coalition of liberals took control of the government from the monarchy. In 1933, the conservatives regained control of the Spanish government. Social forces on the left fought to regain control and elected a small majority to the new Spanish parliament. The right was furious and the army revolted. Soon Spain was in flames and in the abyss of a modern war. The Catholic Church in Spain had been aligned with the most reactionary segments within Spanish society and citizens took their vengeance out on their perceived enemy. In some cases clerics were removed from their churches and had their land confiscated. The Spanish Civil war saw the first anarchist society in Barcelona. Here, the working class formed Co- operatives and currency was abolished. Life in Barcelona saw endless discussions regarding tactics, and citizens existing and being governed in communities without interference from above. Led by Spanish General Francisco Franco, and aided by Mussolini and Hitler, the army bombed civilians in Madrid and Barcelona. To aid the beleaguered government, citizens of the world went to Spain to fight the Fascists. They included 10,000 French, 5,000 Germans and Austrians, 3,350 Italians, 2,800 from the United States and over 5,000 others from the continent. They went to fight for a cause and many would never come back. They would be the first causalities second world war. The British poet, W.H. Auden wrote: On that table-land scored by rivers, our thoughts have bodies; The menacing shapes of our fever, are precise and alive. Finally, Spain was lost. The western democracies tried to stay out of the war but in doing so aided the Fascists. The defeat was total. Several hundred thousand lay dead with an equal number of refugees seeking asylum from war-torn Spain. Almost all of the artists and intellectuals were supporters of the republic so they left Spain in droves. But the alliances between, liberals, socialists and the communists who would defeat Nazi Germany were born. They would forget their differences and join forces against Hitler. The Second World War was a struggle for a better society. This is why a popular front, that included communists and nationalists, could be forged. After the war nobody dreamed of going back to 1939 or even to 1928. The Spanish Civil war was lost but the common thread that held, Churchill, Roosevelt and Stalin together along with socialists, French Communists, would have been impossible without the struggle in Spain. In the United States, the members of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade, which fought in Spain would be labeled as premature Fascists during the cold war. They would later lose their jobs and be black listed as friends of the communists even though many had become disenchanted with communism during the Spanish Civil War. The irony of this is that some who hounded these men of conscience had no conscience at all, some had even been pro-Hitler before the war, but that's the way it often is. Sources: The Age of Extremes, Eric Hobsbawm The Spanish Civil War, Hugh Thomas

The Fighting 24th and San Juan Hill During the Civil War, 179,000 black soldiers fought for the union and the war could not have been won without them. At the time of General Lee's surrender, over 125,000 soldiers remained in uniform and no one quite knew what to do with these soldiers. Neither the South or the North wanted them there, so many units were disbanded and those that remained were sent to the West. In the West, they distinguished themselves admirably and were called the "Buffalo Soldiers." When the Spanish-American War broke out, the all-black 24th division was sent to Tampa to await further orders. The conditions that they faced were terrible. The locals in Tampa discriminated against the soldiers who were members of the United States army. It was an insulting time for the 24th. Soon they were sent to Santiago, the black soldiers were forced to be in the bottom of the boat on the ride, while the rest rode on top with the intention of capturing Cuba's second largest city. The operation in Cuba could be described as ill thought, at best. It was the hottest and rainiest time of the year in Cuba, which made the military campaign all the more difficult. Three units led the assault and were soon pinned down in high grass that covered the soldiers. For over three hours they laid there while bullets whistled through the grass, and the event later became known as the "bloody angle" because of the high rate of casualties that were sustained. Knowing that they couldn't stay there in the grass, the troops attacked. The fighting 24th led the way and soon raised their arms in victory as they took control of Kettle Hill. To the left, a columnist took notice of a young Colonial named Theodore Roosevelt charging up the Hill. While the young Teddy was a dashing figure on horseback, everyone there praised the twenty-fourth courage. They were on top Kettle Hill when General Summer ordered a New York regiment to advance towards San Juan Hill. They were routed and Summer turned to the troops that he could trust. That was the fighting 24th and they did not disappoint him. The black soldiers fearlessly charged "like a pack of wild demons." The hill was taken and only after the 24th succeeded did Teddy Roosevelt come, huffing and puffing as his dismounted regiment joined the 24th. The black countries reward was to return to the rear where they faced malaria and exhaustion. The reward the black soldiers received from the future president was one of scorn. He said that while they had performed admirably, if it wasn't for him, the black soldiers would have run. He blamed this on, "the superstition and fear of the darkey, natural in those but one generation removed from slavery and but a few generations removed from the wildest savagery." So not only did Roosevelt not lead the charge up San Juan Hill, he racially insulted those proud Americans who did. The regiment returned to the United States disillusioned and angered. History recorded Roosevelt's ride up San Juan Hill. That too is a lie since the incident was actually filmed by Thomas Edison's company in New Jersey. This is the real story of San Juan Hill. Sources: Big Trouble, J. Anthony Lukas

The Transcontinental Railroad It's hard to understand just how important the building of the transcontinental railroad was. It was built mostly by Irish and Chinese men who suffered great hardships but still managed to complete one of the most amazing feats of the 19th century. The two competing companies who built the railroad were the Central Pacific and the Union Pacific. While they worked together to complete the line, there existed a competition among them that captured the attention of the American public. In 1868, the Union Pacific laid down four and one half miles of track in one day. Charles Crocker, who was in charge of the Central Pacific, became angered at his rivals bragging about the feat. So he got together with his construction boss, James Strobridge, and urged him to beat the Union Pacific mark. They did this by laying down six miles to top the Central Pacific. Now, it was the Union Pacific's turn to respond. The Union Pacific didn't back down from this challenge. By the end of the year the Union Pacific broke the record by laying down an amazing eight and a half miles of track. Crocker was determined to beat this mark and said, "Now. We must take off our coats, but we must not beat them until we get so close that there is not enough room for them to turn around and outdo us." So he made a bet that the Central Pacific could lay ten miles of track in one day. Crocker calculated that ten miles could be done if everything was organized properly. So he laid plans for the challenge. When the sun arose, the Chinese men were ready. They worked like they had never worked before. The Chinese became cohesive track laying machines. When a loaded cart came to the end of the track, Irish workers would grab the rails with their tongs and drop them when the foreman cried, "Down!" What these crews accomplished should not be forgotten, because even the fact that they were underpaid and working in dangerous conditions did not stop them. They did it for the sake of pride. The three thousand Chinese, African- Americans and Irish working men as well as Mexicans of Indian blood, worked at a demonic pace. One reporter described the efforts of the workers as, "The scene was an animated one. From the first pioneer to the last tamper, perhaps two miles, there is a thin line advancing a mile an hour." By noon, they had laid six miles of tracks and at the end of the day they had reached their goal of ten miles. To demonstrate that the track had been laid successfully, Jim Campbell ran his locomotive on the track at forty miles an hour. They had done it. When the golden spike was driven into the ground, it marked a new era for the United States. General Lee had been defeated only four years earlier and the country, after years of blood and hardship, had something to cheer about. While corruption was rampant between the railroads and their treatment of the men was appalling, the feat that these workers performed that day ushered the United States into the modern age. No one can take that away from them. Sources: American Heritage, October 2000

From: MMMemo@wizardofads.com Subject: Extreme Accidental Magic - Monday Morning Memo 10-2-00 X-UIDL: mUQ!!U\8"!iC##!-"S!! Extreme Accidental Magic A Monday Morning Memo for the Friends of the Wizard of Ads The Associated Press may own the copyright, but I own the actual photograph. I'm not really sure why I bought it, though. You can't even see the faces of the six people in it. I'm told their names were Ira, Mike, Franklin, Harlon, Rene and John, but that's not really important. Ultimately, it's just a photograph of six people doing something that people do every day. But for them to do it that day was crazy. The photographer who took the photo was crazy and I was crazy to buy it. I do crazy things sometimes. I'll bet you do, too. And like me, you probably have no better explanation than "It seemed like the right thing to do at the time." Fortunately, Pennie tolerates my irresponsible behavior. Maybe she even loves me for it. That's one of the many advantages of marrying your best friend. But I really do like this photo. It's special, somehow. Beyond the fact that three of the six people in it died shortly after the photographer's shutter went "click," the photo is unique because everything about it was an accident and Accidental Magic is the theme of my collection. This particular accident happened when a photographer named Joe Rosenthal heard a noise and swinging his camera toward it, pressed his finger on the camera's shutter unintentionally and captured a millisecond of history by accident. The millisecond happened on Feb. 23, 1945. The photo is called Raising the Flag Over Iwo Jima. I bought the photo, through a broker, from the estate of John Faber, the man who became the official historian for the National Press Photographers Association in 1956. Faber kept the job until the day he died. John Faber obtained the photo from Joe Rosenthal, the Associated Press photographer that actually snapped it. In the preface of his 1977 book, Great News Photos and The Stories Behind Them, Faber writes, "Assembling this book has been a series of unforgettable experiences for me. I listened again to my tape recording of Joe Rosenthal describing, in his humble way, the day he made the Iwo Jima Flag Raising picture..." Gosh I wish I could find that tape. I really do hope that you'll come to visit us sometime and take a long, hard look at this picture. It's a photo that speaks of all the best in us - heroism, sacrifice, principles and honor. But it also speaks of the worst - anger, violence, killing and war. Yes, there are two ways of looking at this photo. There are two ways of looking at everything. Wisdom is often found in the ability to look at a thing from both sides and not feel like you have to choose between them. It is perhaps that very tension that makes the photo a profound and powerful millisecond of history. In his book, Flags of Our Fathers, James Bradley opens with a quote from a Japanese man, Yoshikani Taki, who said, "Mothers should negotiate between nations. The mothers of the fighting countries would agree: Stop this killing now. Stop it now." What makes James Bradley's use of this quote particularly interesting is that the man in the center of the Iwo Jima photograph was James Bradley's father, John, and it was the ancestors of Yoshikani Taki that John Bradley had been sent to Iwo Jima to kill. Our spinning world is an interesting place, but you've got to hang on tight. Roy H. Williams

The Salem Witch Trials Abigail William's had been acting very peculiar. It was a cold winter in 1692, but that didn't explain why she was flapping her arms like a bird around the house and screaming that a witch was trying to get her. Her neighbors were shocked by her behavior and soon other children were acting in a similar fashion, claiming that they were possessed by witches. This began one of the infamous incidents in American history, and by the time it was all over 19 men and women plus two dogs were executed for witchcraft. The mass hysteria caused another 55 people to repent their sins and an additional 130 people awaited trial for witchcraft before the whole thing was over. The incident started when Abigail, and her nine year old cousin Elizabeth, read a book about witches by Cotton Mather. The two girls blamed their slave Tituba, who hailed from Barbados, for the whole thing. Tituba believed the only way she could avoid hanging was to plead guilty to the charges. She spoke about an encounter with a thin white man who showed her a book with the names of nine Salem witches in it. This impossible story led to the witch hunt that followed. Tales of witches were not new. In the 14 century, several thousands of people had been executed because of their suspected witchcraft. Witches had appeared in European folklore, including the old bard William Shakespeare, throughout the 15th century. Ten people had been hanged for witchcraft in England in 1600, so the idea of witches was not that strange in 1692. But the actions of children who came to understand that they could accuse anyone of witchcraft was quite different. The witch hunts moved forward and no one was safe. Critics of the hunt complained that all of those who were accused had some previous dispute with the children or their families. The whole thing took on a bizarre life of its own as people started to confess to the charges so that they could avoid the hangmen's noose. The trials began on June 2 and the newly appointed judges soon became part of the hysteria. Race became part of the proceedings as one accuser claimed that a woman named Goody Nurse had brought a black man with her claiming he was there to cause her to "tempt god." The judges and the jury ignored all defense evidence even if the evidence proved the defendants innocence. When a few people were acquitted the children began to scream again and the judges soon ordered new trials where they were soon found guilty. The hangings began on July 19th while the jails of Salem became so full that suspected witches had to be transferred to other towns. The trial became an outrage to many but the last straw was when the children accused the governor's wife of witchcraft. The governor was furious and a special grand jury was convened to deal with the situation. They quickly threw out more than a hundred charges of witchcraft. The court system was overhauled and drastically improved, as it would have been hard to be any worse, and the testimony of children began to be suspected. America would see many witch hunts in the future. They would take on different forms, but that mob mentality became a part of American culture. The McCarthy/Nixon era of the 1950's would be worse, but our history is full of stories of irrational mass behavior. This was only the beginning. Source: Infamous Trials - Bruce Chadwick

Lawrence of Arabia and the First Multi-Media Exhibit Most people think that multi-media presentations are a new phenomena. Certainly their popularity has increased during the past two decades, but its origins go way back and can be credited to Lowell Thomas. As a child, Thomas moved to Cripple Creek, Colorado where he saw, among other things, the strike by the Western Minors Association. Later he became a reporter for the Chicago Evening Journal and by 1917, he convinced President Wilson to send him to Europe as an unofficial historian for the war. In July of 1917, Thomas raised $100,000 and formed Thomas Travelogues. Soon Thomas and his trusted cameraman, Harry Chase, were off to the great war. What they found was a trench warfare, and its brutal combat made it quite difficult to present the war from a positive point of view. Looking for heroes in a war that provided none left Thomas without the images he needed. When Thomas learned that the famous British cavalry general Edmund Allenby was given command of the British forces in Palestine, he quickly left for the holy land. Soon he was introduced to T.E. Lawrence. Lawrence had become something of a legend while in Arabia. He became the friend and advisor to Prince Feisel. Lawrence was sympathetic to the Arab cause and had become the unofficial King of Arabia, at least in the eyes of the British. Thomas did not think much of the 5'2'' Lawrence, but learned more about his exploits anyhow. Thomas asked permission to follow Lawrence. "In the weeks that followed, I slowly came to learn the story of Lawrence's astonishing desert campaign," wrote Thomas. Lawrence introduced him to the charismatic Feisel who allowed Thomas to film him and soon, Thomas had one of the best stories of the year. He learned of Lawrence's activities and he embellished the stories by making them first hand accounts of the Arabian struggle. In April of 1918, Thomas left for Europe to cover the rest of the war, which ended November 11 of that same year. After 18 months overseas, Thomas returned to America and found a country that wanted to forget about the war. In March, Thomas found some investors who were willing to sponsor his talks in exchange for 40% of the profits. Thomas found that the audiences were only interested in the charismatic Lawrence. Thomas' innovative cameraman Chase started projecting three separate images while Thomas lectured about the dramatic adventures in the Holy Land. The reaction of the audience was enthusiastic. The show was a success as audiences began to flock to see this first multi-media presentation. The show soon went to England where it was a huge hit and more than a million people went to the program, including Queen Mary. Lawrence himself was unim- pressed and called the Thomas show "vulgar." But Lawrence was supportive of the Arab cause for self-determination, so he toned his criticism down. Lawrence had problems with his new found fame, as well as the lingering side effects suffered during his brief capture in 1917, where he was beaten and raped by the Turks. He died in a motorcycle accident in 1935. Thomas had no such problems with his new found fame. He went on to become a world famous broadcaster and author. But the story of Lawrence of Arabia always fascinated him and the public as well. In 1962, David Lean made his epic film "Lawrence of Arabia." Thomas once asked Lawrence if a story he was told was true. Lawrence replied, "Use it if it fits your needs." Sources: Joel Hodson. The American Historian.

History - is it objective? And, is it repeating itself? Checkers Richard Nixon's rise in American politics had been meteoric. In 1946, Nixon was only thirty-three when he defeated Jerry Voorhis for Congress. By the age of 37 he was elected Senator of California. Despite his success, Nixon was a controversial figure. His campaign against Jerry Voorhis was a no holds barred attack on a man who was known for his integrity. Nixon even said so himself, "I knew that Jerry Voorhis was not a communist...I suppose there was scarcely ever a man with higher ideals...but I had to win." His success in the Hiss case had made him a national figure and in 1952, and General Dwight David Eisenhower picked him to be his running mate. But Nixon had a shady past as well. Nixon's supporters had set him up with a slush fund that he could use for personal expenses and the story broke during the 1952 election. Nixon immediately denied the story but years later Murray Confiner confirmed the allegations. Nixon continued to use the money throughout his political career and in return provide favors for those who greased his palms. They were mostly real estate magnates and the oil companies. This practice began early in Nixon's sordid career. A classic example of this kind of corruption can be found in the case of oil men Taylor Woodward and William Anderson. Woodward and Anderson had tried for years to get clearance for some off shore drilling on land which was owned by the federal government. They had been unsuccessful until Nixon was elected to the Senate. Nixon, upon taking his seat in the Senate, cleared the way for the oil drilling. Dana Smith, who helped set up the slush fund, was having tax problems with the IRS, who claimed he owed the government $500,000. Once Nixon got in office, he wrote a letter to the IRS and Smith's problems disappeared. Howard Hughes had given a loan to Nixon's brother, Donald, but some of the money was earmarked for a new house in Washington for Senator Nixon. These were some of the charges that Nixon faced before facing the nation in what was to be known as the "Checkers Speech." Nixon was masterful in that he avoided all the charges and instead concentrated on his things such as his wife Pat's coat, which he claimed was a fine Republican cloth coat. Nixon went through his financial holdings piece by piece, and by the time he finished there was not a dry eye in the house. He finished his soap opera by describing how he was given one gift and that was his dog, Checkers. General Eisenhower called his running mate Nixon, "my boy" and the crisis was over. The press swallowed the explanation, like the good lap dogs they are, without investigating whether the allegations were true. Eisenhower was elected President by a landslide and Nixon became vice-president at the age of forty. Nixon's illegal activities continued. He took money from Hughes, participated in insider trading when he abandoned the gold standard as president, took money from mob boss Meyer Lanky thru his friend Babe Rebozo. All of this can be seen in Anthony Summers' amazing book "The Arrogance of Power". Summers has been criticized for deviling in Nixon alleged wife beating but that is only a small portion of the book. What Summers should be credited for is allowing us to see how corrupt the system really is, but the press has not commented on that. Are you surprised? Source: Milhouse, a film by Emil de Antonio The Arrogance of Power, Anthony Summers

Was the Taj Mahal simply a labor of love, or was there more to the story? The Taj Mahal in India, Shah Jahan's divinely elaborate tribute to his 17th century sweetie, is one of the world's wonders. Yes, Jahan was madly in love with Mumtaz, one of his four wives (what did he build for the other three, condos in Miami Beach?) Yet what do we know about her? What was she like to merit such architectural affection? She was baaaad! Intolerant to an extreme, she insisted that her hubby persecute the country's small settlement of Christians. Mumtaz personally supervised their sale into slavery and had their priests stomped to death by elephants. Poor Jahan, looking for love in all the wrong places. Maybe he should have erected something more appropriate to memorialize Mumtaz -- a high-rise dungeon or a parking garage for elephants. What would Donald Trump have done? (Source: JUST CURIOUS, JEEVES by Jack Mingo and Erin Barrett) ------------------------------------------------------------- FAST FACTS: Most of us are familiar with old medical cures that have fallen into disrepute. For example, at one time a common treatment for many ailments was bleeding the patient. Now that's practiced only by HMO's when they send you their bill. Another old cure fallen by the wayside was called the lettice cap (probably from the same root as the word "lattice"). It was something like a hair net filled with medicinal herbs. It worked pretty well, actually, until some fool mistook "lettice" for a similar word and thought he could make it a more powerful cure by pouring Thousand Island dressing over it. He was sued, bringing the whole approach into disrepute. (Source: FORGOTTEN ENGLISH) Compare the price of this book, toys, electronics, gifts & more: http://mailbits.com/free/get/ratings.asp

She was bad to the bone.

The Middle East Theodor Herzl is considered the father of Zionism. He felt that Jews across the world would always be susceptible to anti-Semitism as long as there was no Jewish state. Arab nationalism was a simple idea, which consisted of a search for a long lost Arab identity. For hundreds of years, the Arabs had been under the leadership of the Ottoman Empire. At the early part of the 20th century, there was a possibility for these two movements to co-exist. This is a story of that lost opportunity. In the beginning of the 20th century, about a half million Arabs lived in Palestine along with about 50,000 Jews. The budding discontent within the Ottoman Empire provided the new Zionist movement with its first real choice. Should they work with the Arabs against the Turks and join the upcoming revolt or should they try to acquire an international charter for a Jewish homeland? Unfortunately, the early Zionists sided with the Turks, but a small minority advocated working with the Arabs. The Arab leaders faced a dilemma of their own. Should they work with the new settlers or oppose them? This is not as unusual as it sounds today. The early deputies of Palestine spoke of the common Semitic heritage among the two people. But Jewish leaders felt that getting along with the Arabs was secondary to the establishing of a Jewish homeland. What they needed was the help of a European state to help them establish a charter. At first, Herzl went to the Sultan but the conversations went nowhere. Then, he approached Kaiser Wilhelm who considered the idea briefly but the Kaiser was rigid anti-Semite and eventually sided with the Turks. Finally, Herzl turned to the British, who liked the idea because it was a way to extend the British control and protect the Suez canal. Nothing happened until the outbreak of the first world war, which opened the doors of opportunity for the Jewish state. In November of 1917, the Zionists achieved their aim with the Balfour Declaration. There were many reasons for the British decision, including an effort to engage the United States in the war, the fear of Bolshevik revolution and those who saw this as a way to maintain a foothold in the Middle East. The leader of the Arabs was Emir Faisel. Faisel was fighting the Turks with the hopes of creating a great Arab kingdom and was aided in this by T.E. Lawrence, who was a British agent in Cairo. Lawrence was extremely anti-French and saw the Arab Nationalist movement as a way to cheat the French and extend British control over the area. Faisel, for his part, was sympatric with the aims of a Jewish state. He felt it should be part of his great kingdom. In a letter to Felix Frankfurter he stated: "We know the Arabs and Jews are racial relatives. We shall do everything we can, as far as it depends on us, to assist the Zionist proposals by the Peace Conference, and we shall welcome the Jews with all our hearts on their return home." This was no idle boost. Two months earlier Faisel and Welzmann, who was now the leader of the Zionist movement, had drawn up such a plan under the guidance of Lawrence. The agreement never happened, as the French invaded Damascus and drove Faisel out of Syria. The Zionists were rewarded by the British and talk of a great Semite state disappeared. But the possibilities were still there and it was a defining moment that was missed which the people of the Middle East have paid for ever since. Sources: Israel Without Zionism, Uri Avnery

Standard Oil and the Nazis William Teagle was a giant of a man, standing 6'3" tall and weighing over 260 pounds. Teagle had risen quickly through the ranks of John D. Rockefeller's Chase Manhattan and later moved on to Standard Oil. There he avoided scandal after scandal of price fixing schemes. Teagle enjoyed Cuban cigars and Nazi politics and was a major contributor to the Nazi party along with Dutch Shell. Teagle also established early relations with I.G. Farben. I.G. Farben was the German industrial giant who had become rich by arming the Nazi war machine and would soon become a business partner. Teagle's business interests with I.G. Farben caused him to visit Berlin frequently. It was at this time he hired Ivy Lee, the father of public relations, to help him gain information regarding the United States government's reaction to the Nazi military build up. When Hitler came to power, Teagle made sure that Standard Oil maintained its ties with Germany. Goring's planes could not fly without the lead additive tetraethyl so Standard, DuPont and General Motors made sure that he had it. In fact, during the Battle of Britain, Great Britain actually had to pay royalty rights to Standard through the French while Goring's planes bombed London. Because of the bad publicity, Teagle turned the account over to the Paris office and made sure their tankers were using a Nazi crew. Before the United States entered the war, Standard Oil would ship their oil tankers through Vichy, North Africa. An example of this can be found in an incident where British ships seized a oil tanker headed for Casablanca. Cordell Hull demanded that the vessel be released and when it was, the ship went on to Africa, soon followed by six additional freighters. Summer Welles, a State Department official, accused Standard refueling stations in Mexico and South America with supplying the Nazi's. In Nicaragua, Standard was caught delivering Nazi propaganda. The list goes on and on. On June 15, 1943 Joseph Flick sent Cordell an astonishing list of oil sales showing Standard subsidiary firms shipping fuel to Aruba. The list was then sent to Fascist Spain and later on to Germany. Standard then sued the United States government for seizing synthetic rubber patents and using them to aid the Nazi's who were developing different synthetic products. Judge Charles E. Wyzanski gave his verdict, which reflected that he had decided against Standard. The final word came when Standard appealed the case. Judge Charles Clark words were quite harsh: "Standard Oil can be considered a national enemy in view of its relationship with I.G. Farben after the United States and Germany had become active enemies." Oil companies have no loyalty. Sources: Trading With the Enemy, Charles Higham

The Election of 1876 While we sit and ponder who will be the next president of the United States, it might be useful to look at the last time an election was this close. It was in 1876, the centennial year of the United States, and it pitted Samuel Tilden against Rutherford B. Hayes. The states of things at this time was not good for the country was in a severe depression. Also, the corruption of the Grant administration caused many to feel that it was time to end Republican rule. The South had never accepted the emancipation of black people and had fought it tooth and nail during reconstruction. It was during this time that the Ku Klux Klan was born and black voter's, along with their Republican supporters, were attacked throughout the South. It was only the presence of federal troops that kept Republicans in power. The election of 1876 was so close that it was impossible to tell who had won and to make matters worse, Louisiana, South Carolina and Florida each had different two different sets of results. The Klan had attacked black voters and their white supporters during the election and ballot boxes were stuffed throughout the region, so when all the dust cleared, it was still impossible to see who had won. Early returns had seen Tilden gain the lead but as the counting continued, Hayes closed the gap and appeared to have won. When it was all over, Hayes had gained 185 electoral votes, which was enough to win the election, but Tilden had won the popular vote. Republican officials had invalidated many of the Democratic votes in the South because of the violence and the Democrats challenged the result. There was even talk about another civil war, and the headline "Tilden or War" appeared on more than one democratic newspaper. This was definitely a crisis and despite the rhetoric, neither side had the stomach for another war. Tilden was a man who feared disorder and seemed to resign himself to defeat. Grant didn�t help matters at all. He felt that the 15th amendment had been a mistake and had done little or nothing to stop the terror of black people in recent years. He felt, as many Republicans did, that the party would be better served if it sought the aid of former members of the Whig Party rather than black people and their white supporters in the South. Something had to be done so a commission to solve the matter was established, consisting of 15 members, five from the House, five from the Senate and five Supreme Court justices. The split was even between Republicans and Democrats except for the Supreme Court members where the GOP had an advantage of one vote. What the South wanted more than the election of Tilden was home rule in their states, so a deal was made whereby Hayes would win the election and in return federal troops were to be removed from the South. In an 8 to 7 vote, Hayes was elected president. While Hayes himself pledged loyalty to black voters and promised to protect them, Congress refused to appropriate any money for the troops. In the South, the Democrats now cut government programs drastically, and in addition, schools, hospitals and other government services were closed. By 1890, black people had lost their right to vote and an apartheid system took over in the South that would not be removed until the 1960�s. While Hayes would not send troops to the South, he would send federal troops to break the strike of 1877. The election was an overall disaster for the United States. To win, the Republicans had forsaken the rights of black people and spit on the bravery of those who had fought and died for the Union cause. The Democrats established a rule of terror in the South and the idea of democracy in the United States became a hypocritical joke. Things have changed in the United States since then. Whoever wins this election will not face the possibilities of another civil war. It is a testament to the strength of our democracy that people like you and I can make jokes about the election. However, in 1876, it was no joke. Sources: Reconstruction, Eric Foner Rutherford B. Hayes, Ari Hoogenbrook

Hugh Thompson, American Hero Hugh Thompson was the son of an electrical worker and a military man. His father served in the army and later, for thirty years, in the navel reserve. Thompson's parents taught him to stand up for other people and once he defended a physically handicapped boy from a group of young bullies who made fun of the unfortunate youngster. After high school, he joined the navy for three years, but later switched to the army and entered officer school. He became a helicopter pilot and was sent to Vietnam in 1967. On March 16, 1968, Thompson was sent to cover American troops advancing on the village of My Lai. He saw no hostile fire from the ground so he went back to the base to refuel. But on the ground something horrible had begun, the infamous massacre at My Lai. Many of the men would not follow the orders of the Commanding Officer Lieutenant Calley. In fact, one man shot himself in the foot rather than carry out the orders to kill. When Thompson returned, he was shocked to see what was happening on the ground. "We started noticing all those bodies everywhere," said Thompson. "Your thinking, 'What happened here?' This little thing in your mind is saying what happened, but you don't want to believe it because it looks bad...I can remember thinking, 'Dammit, isn't this what the Nazi's did?'" Thompson saw a young girl rolling along the ground, obviously in great pain, and radioed for help. During this time a soldier walked up to the girl and executed her. Lieutenant Calley was goading his men to open fire. He had driven the villagers into a ditch, and with the help of Paul Meadlo, began to slaughter the Vietnamese. Blood and body parts flew everywhere and when it was all over, fifty Vietnamese men, woman and children lay dead on the ground. Thompson knew it was time to act. He flew down and gathered help from some of the soldiers on the ground. They sought to protect another group of villagers who had been thrown into a ditch by the Americans and awaited a similar fate. Thompson had seen enough and when a group of American soldiers approached an elderly couple and a small child fearfully hiding from the crazed Americans, Thompson's humanity told him not to let this madness continue. "I was going to save them. I set the aircraft down this time between the civilians and the Americans and told my people if they open up, you open up." The soldiers, who had followed Calley's orders, felt a sigh of relief since they would not be forced to kill anymore. News of the massacre spread among the troops. In fact, Thompson's heroism most likely saved other lives, because the Mi Lai massacre was part of a larger search and destroy operation designed to clear out suspected communist hamlets. When he landed, Thompson angrily reported what he had seen to his superiors. The army conducted an investigation of its own which was led by Colon Powell. Powell tried to whitewash the whole thing, denying that the massacre occurred, but the army and Powell were unsuccessful in their cover-up. Twenty-five men were tried for murder and rape at My Lai but only Calley was convicted and was later pardoned by Richard Nixon. Two years ago, Thompson received the Soldiers Medal, which is awarded for actions on the battlefield not related to combat with the enemy. Hugh Thompson now goes around the country speaking about that horrible day. He is an American hero who knew what the right thing to do was, and did it. Sources: Lecture by Hugh Thompson

George Seldes: Tell the Truth and Run. George Seldes lived to the ripe old age of 104 and is considered to be the link between the muckrakers and the current alternative press. Seldes was a lifetime critic of the press who often attacked the "prostitution of the press." He took on all the powers of his age, including the Tobacco companies in the 1940's, Mussolini and his American supporters in the 1920's, Charles Randolph Hearst, J. Edgar Hoover, Joseph McCarthy and the Communist Party. Seldes never backed away from a fight and, in fact his book "Tell the Truth and Run" aptly describes his incredible life. George Seldes was born in 1890 and grew up with his Jewish immigrant family in a cooperative farming community in New Jersey. Seldes came of age in the era of the muckrakers, which was also a time when journalists reported on and exposed the injustices of the American system. George got a job at the Pittsburgh Leader, at the age of 18, for the grand salary of $3.50 a week. But the era of muckraking was short- lived as the rich bought the magazines that published these writers and expansion of advertising caused a self imposed censorship by the major papers. News was now big business and there was no room for those who were critical of the system. Seldes found himself a job as a war correspondent for the Chicago Tribune where he reported back on the war, however the close censorship by the army disturbed him. Once, after the armistice, he reported favorably on the defeated German army for he saw them as people and humanized their situation. This action brought down the wrath of General John Pershing who threatened to court martial him. Seldes was also one of the first journalists to be allowed inside the Soviet Union. He wrote about what he saw, which did not sit well him with the Communist Party of the new Soviet Union and they soon asked him to leave their country. When Seldes was assigned to Italy to report on the newly created Fascist government of Benito Mussolini, he immediately reopened the story about the assassination of the Socialist opposition leader. This angered Mussolini and he began to exert pressure on Seldes. The newspapers back home supported El Duce's government while the liberal New York Times compared him favorably with Jefferson and Adams. Mussolini's corporate state appealed to publisher's like Hearst and asked him to write columns for his papers. Seldes was finally kicked out of Italy so he returned to the US to write about the disputes between the United States and Mexico regarding oil. Seldes had the nerve to tell both sides of the story for which he was promptly fired by the Chicago Tribune. At the age of forty, he began to publish his newsletter called "In Fact." Seldes refused advertising money for his publication to show that he would not be beholden to the whims of those advertisers who sought to censor the news. He took on the Tobacco companies in the early 1940's, long before anyone else would. Seldes reported studies about the dangers of tobacco while newspapers and magazine's took tobacco's money and refused to report findings of the medical community. The mainstream press had the same information that Seldes had but they didn't have his integrity. The same thing went for the FBI. Seldes wrote about the bureau abuses while the mainstream press lionized the corrupt FBI Czar. When the hateful demagogue Senator Joseph McCarthy began his red-baiting campaign. Seldes accurately stated that the "press chains have made McCarthy a hero." While reporters knew that McCarthy's allegations about communists were suspect, their editors were on McCarthy's side. George Seldes was only interested in the truth. Seldes understood that the attacks were aimed, not at the communists, but at the New Deal. Finally, Seldes was forced to close his publication and started having difficulties in getting his books published. But he had influenced people like I.F. Stone, Ralph Nadar, Howard Zinn and many others. At the age of 90, he appeared in the film "Reds" where he spoke about radical journalist Jack Reed. George Seldes was one the rare people who criticized the press and also exposed their prejudices and destroyed their lies about objectivity. When George Seldes died, the press lost one its most harshest critics and the public lost one of its most honest defenders. Sources: Film Documentary, Tell the Truth and Run

A Brief History of the early Drug Trade The Opium Trade began in 1500, when Portuguese merchants first introduced the practice of smoking opium. Opium in its early days was used as a painkiller and for recreation. The Chinese believed that smoking opium was barbaric and soon banned its use. In the 1600's, the drug was introduced to the people of Persia and was later imported to England by Queen Elizabeth's trading company. It was distributed throughout England by the crown, making the historic queen of England the first renown drug dealer, which is how the empire acquired most of its fortune. The Dutch then introduced the blending of tobacco and opium in its quest to gain a foothold in the emerging drug trade. However, the British East India Company cut them off quickly by controlling the growing process in Bengal to assume control of the trade. The Chinese tried to stop importation, as the drug epidemic soon reached staggering proportions, but by that time the British had achieved a monopoly on the drug. In India, growers were forbidden to sell opium to anyone other than the British East India Company, giving the British government a free hand on the drug commission. While the Chinese sought to ban the drug, the crown sought other avenues of distribution and soon opium was being grown for importation into the United States and Europe. Some Americans, like John Cushing, invested heavily in the trade. In fact, one of the most famous families of America, the Astors' of New York, bought tons of the drug which was then sent to England for sale. This is one of the ways they acquired their fortune and in effect became a part of the drug cartel. Considering today's laws, maybe we should confiscate their property which was, in part, gained through the sale of opium. The Chinese tried to fight back but the drug lords, under the guise of the British government, soon declared war on China and the Opium Wars began. By 1841, the Chinese were defeated and were forced to pay a large indemnity to the crown and surrendered possession of the city of Hong Kong to the British. Now, the British sought to increase their markets and their profits and by the end of the second Opium War in 1856, the Chinese are forced to legalize opium while the addiction rates in China skyrocketed. Efforts were begun at this time to limit its use. The effects of opium were so devastating that laws were soon passed in the United States and Britain to regulate its use and to prohibit importation. Finally, after 150 years of failed attempts to rid its country of the drug, the Chinese were successful in forcing the British to stop the importation of opium to China. However, the damage was already done and many lives were wrecked by the British search for wealth. The monarchy of England stands today as a beneficiary of the drug trade. The profits were enormous for the crown and today hardly anyone remembers them as the drug traders they were. So next time you see all that pomp and circumstance remember who they are, the descendants of drug lords, and try not to be impressed. Sources: The Corporation of Public Broadcasting

The Plague When people speak of the "Black Death," they are usually referring to the 14th century calamity which killed about 30 percent of the population of Europe. The Europeans believed they were being punished by God and that the plague was a sign of the Apocalypse. We know now that it was caused by a lack of adequate health precautions and ignorance. Because people feared that the end of the world was near, farmers refused to plant crops, alcoholism rose and civil disruption resulted in many deaths. Althought this was catastrophic, another plague occurred when the Europeans settled in the new world and has been misunderstood over the years. The warmer climates of Africa, Asia and Northern Europe have always been the breeding ground for disease, so people moved to colder climates to avoid them. As people migrated across the then drained Bering Straits, the crossing served as a kind of incubator so the first immigrants of America may have been the most healthy people ever to live on the planet. Many of the diseases, tuberculosis, cholera, small pox that come from animals did not exist in the new world because there were no cows, horses, pigs or chickens, because they had not been brought over. This when coupled with the superior hygiene practices by the regions habitants made the natives a remarkably healthy race. They lived largely in villages as opposed to the densely populated areas like London, where raw sewage flowed through the streets. But the health of the natives in the new world ironically proved to be their Achilles heel. They had not built up a resistance to the diseases that were brought from Europe and Africa. In 1617, a couple of years before the pilgrims landed on Plymouth Rock, fishermen landed on the Massachusetts coast and came upon the natives of the new world. This contact would result in the worst health catastrophe in the history of the world, for within three years, the plague wiped out ninety percent of the coastal population. Those that did survive fled the area, so when the pilgrims arrived, all they saw were empty villages. Robert Cushman, a British eyewitness, said that only about one in twenty survived the plague. The ground was covered with the bones and skulls of the natives because there was no one left to bury them. The Europeans took this as a sign of God while the natives, much like the survivors of the plague in Europe, felt that their Gods had abandoned them. Robert Cushman reported, "those that are left, have their courage much abated, and their countenance is dejected, and they seem as a people afraid." This scenario was repeated again and again when natives came across Europeans and contributed to the Aztecs succumbing to the Spaniards. Disease traveled across the entire new world and many populations were destroyed. It is estimated, on the high end, that 100 million people lived in the new world at the time of Columbus, while others claim there were only 20 million living at the time. When you consider that George Catlin estimated that in 1840 only two million out of 14 million remained, you can see the results of the epidemics that plagued the people of the new world. By 1880, because of war and disease, only 250,000 natives had survived. The numbers are astounding. What can we learn form all of this? One thing we should learn is that it was disease, and not a superior culture, that was the dominant factor in the conquering of the new world. Sources: Lies My Teacher Told Me, Loewen

Sidney Reilly: Ace of Spies The strange story of Sidney Reilly began in Odessa, Russia. Reilly was born on March 24, 1874 as Georgi Rosenblum, and later became a linguist who learned to speak seven different languages. This ability served him well throughout his years as a spy. He soon was recruited by M16 and assumed the name of Sidney Reilly. Reilly began his work for the British in the Russo/Japanese wars and later was assigned to help with the creation of British petroleum. With the outbreak of World War I, Reilly became the Czar of Russia's arms agent. At that time, Russia was a huge, but very backwards power, whose industrial capacities were not strong enough to fight a modern war. During these years, Reilly earned commissions of over one million dollars. He also shiped inferior munitions to the Russians while his cost cutting schemes earned him millions more. His activities created suspicion, however, the evidence of any wrong doing was destroyed in the "Black Tom" explosion of 1916. Did Reilly have anything to do with the tragedy in New Jersey that killed hundreds of people? He certainly had the motive. With the Bolshevik victory in Russia, Reilly was sent to help foster and counter revolution. In additon, he worked to assassinate Lenin with the help of British representative Bruce Lockhart. Under the urging of Winston Churchill, working as first lord of the Admiralty, the allies invaded the new Soviet regime. They hoped to work with anti-bolshevik forces and forced the collapse of Lenin's government. It was at this time Lenin formed the Checa under the leadership of Felix Dzerzhinsky. The plans of the British were soon exposed by Dzerzhinsky, which destroyed their hopes for a counter revolution for the time being. The question still remained, was Reilly a spy? If he was working for the British, his efforts would be a disaster. However, if he is working for the Russians, as some have suggested, then Reilly was the most clever double agent in history. The arrest of Boris Savinkoff provided an interesting opportunity to look at this question as to whether Reilly was indeed a double agent. Boris Savinkoff was a long time anti-czarist terrorist who became part of the British attempts to overthrow the Russian Revolution. Reilly was working with Savinkoff at the time he was arrested by the Russian secret police and Savinkoff was given a very public trial. There, he spilled the beans about the British efforts and the names of everyone involved, except for Reilly. In the trial, Savinkoff was not asked, nor did he volunteer, any information about Reilly. The question then became why nobody asked about Reilly? It is believed that Reilly was captured and executed by the Trust, a large deception operation run by the secret police of Felix Dzerzhinsky, when he entered Russia in 1925. But bank records of Reilly's provided quite a different scenario. Reilly had been transferring money to Swiss banks in early 1924 and now, the amounts stood in the millions. Could Reilly have offered his services to the new regime and promised them contacts with other business people willing to do business with the Russians? The Soviets were desperately strapped for cash. It is unlikely that they would have killed a man who had access to millions and could deliver millions more for any business willing to work with the Bolsheviks. Could Reilly have become the middle man for the Russians and, in fact, become a Soviet agent? Robin Lockhart, son of Bruce Lockhart, thought so. He contends that Reilly went to work for the Russian secret police and was the infamous first man who recruited famous double agent Kim Philby. We will never know, however, we do know that when Ian Fleming was in Russia in 1930, he asked questions about Reilly. Years later, Fleming created the character James Bond. Coincidence; I think not! Interviews with John Long and Richard Spence.

Just what is a Yankee Doodle? So "Yankee-Doodle went to town." And just why should anyone care? Why would anyone ever sing such goofus-like lyrics? "Stuck a feather in his cap and called it macaroni." Really? You must be kidding! In fact it's ironic that Americans proudly sing a song that originally mocked them and their notion that they should be free and independent. It originated as a 14th century nonsense song in Holland about a silly character named "Yankee-Doodle." English school children adopted it to make fun of Oliver Cromwell. In the same spirit the British troops fighting against the colonists in the American Revolution poked fun at their adversaries with the song. But wouldn't you know it! The Americans not only shot from behind trees at the Redcoats marching in the open in formation, they also turned their own song against the British troops, making of them not macaroni but mincemeat. (Source: JUST CURIOUS, JEEVES by Jack Mingo and Erin Barrett)

Enigma The Enigma cipher machine was used by the German armed forces during World War II. The Germans believed that their coding device was impregnable due to its sophisticated nature. It's rotating rotors were changed regularly, once a day after World War II began and over three times a day afterward, so even if the allies captured one of the machines the infor- mation gained from the machine's capture would be useless to them. This proved to be a great error for the Nazi's and helped lead to their defeat in the World War II. The allies were able to intercept messages and use this knowledge to their advantage. This information was especially useful in the North Atlantic and helped turn the tide of the war. In 1932, the Polish "Buroszfrow" was able to break into the code with the help of the French. The French provided docu- ments, stolen by one of their agents, which were then used for decoding. As war approached in Europe, the Germans began to change their operating procedures for transmission. They not only changed the keys and rotors but they increased the frequency of the changes. When Poland was overrun in 1939, and France followed a year later, the task was left to the British to continue the work done by the Polish and French. The capture of German weather ships and the help of American intelligence aided the British effort. The use of the enigma gave the British and Americans a great advantage. By 1942, they were deciphering an average of 39,000 messages a month from the Nazi forces. At first, the Allies shared their information, but not their decoded enigma machines, with the Soviets. In 1943, the Soviets captured there own machine, which at first was thought to be a typewriter, and began to use it. Knowing this, the British then sent them another machine to go along with the first and began to help the Soviets. This information was crucial in the Soviet liber- ation of Nazi held territory, which would cumulate with the capture of Berlin. What is really remarkable about the whole thing is the sec- recy regarding the breaking of enigma. Thousands of people had access to the Ultra secrets, and the Germans captured many, yet none of them betrayed those secrets. In all some 30,000 men and women knew of the success in breaking the codes. But it was not until 1967 that some of the information came out, and not until 1974, was the whole story told. The Germans used the enigma throughout the war and from 1926 to 1945, about 100,000 machines were delivered to their forces. They never suspected the allies had their codes. It is a test- ament to the men and women of the allied forces that the sec- rets of enigma never leaked out. Our government and military are always worried about free citizens leaking information and that we are not capable of having privileged information. But citizens can be trusted. In the end, it was the commanders who wrote books about the enigma, not the ordinary men and women who worked that finally told the story. The ordinary citizen had kept their lips sealed. Sources: The Encyclopedia of Espionage. Norman Polmar and Thomas B. Allen

http://www.lossless-audio.com/usa/index0.php Site Overview This site aims to provide a basic outline of important, but too often unknown to the public consciousness, information relating to US foreign policy around the world over the past few decades - information which should perhaps be kept in mind when looking at the current direction the US is taking in its foreign policy. All information is backed up with links to articles / sources from around the web, to allow for quick verification. A few highlights of recent US Foreign Policy ... CIA's overthrow of democratic governments in Guatemala, Brazil, Chile, Guyana, Iran, Indonesia and Congo. CIA's overthrow of Iraq's government in 60's and installation of Saddam. US terrorism in Nicaragua leading to condemnation by the World Court. CIA training and support of death squads and repressive secret police in Iran, Indonesia, El Salvador, Chile, Guatemala and Vietnam.

http://hoffmanshome.com/native/ The intent of this page is to provide fascinating information about the Natives of North America, that I can almost guarantee you have never heard or thought about before. Unfortunately, this is due to the Euro-Centric nature of our history books. I was spurred to the creation of this page by the most interesting book I have ever read, titled, Lies My Teacher Told Me, by James W. Loewen. I read this book literally slack jawed. I had thought that I knew a good deal about the history of this country. Well I didn't & wanted to share with you the most interesting facts I found, in the briefest manner possible. I sincerely urge you to read the book however! It is anything but boring & is truly essential reading.

http://www.buckyogi.com/footnotes/subject.htm footnotes to history Artificial Islands- For some reason, the late 1960s saw a rash of artificial islands declared independent nations. None of the platform nation projects were successful, and with the clarification of international law under the 1982 Law of the Sea Convention, it appears that individuals, corporations, and other non-state entities may never gain the right to erect new sovereign entities on unclaimed or artificial territory. Well, it was fun while it lasted. See Abalonia, Atlantis, Minerva, New Atlantis, New Utopia, Isle of the Roses

Forgotten History of the Western People From the Earliest Origins Mike Gascoigne This book, published in October 2002, covers most of my current research into ancient history. "It is not often that a really good book comes our way, but Gascoigne�s Forgotten History is certainly one of them." full text... Bill Cooper, author of After the Flood. Published in Creation, the Journal of the Creation Science Movement, Vol. 13, No. 8, May 2003. "This book provides a survey of many ancient traditions from the ancient near east, the classical world and the British Isles." full text... Michael Tunnicliffe, Manchester Ancient Egypt Society. "...a picture of our past that is very different than the one taught in most schools." full text... Pat Franklin, Sub-Editor of the Surrey-Hants Star. See also the PDF version. "When I was given this book, I had a difficult time putting it down... this book is a wonderful accompaniment to other texts and offers a critical look at obscure texts not often discussed in more mainstream history books... a roadmap through people and stories of our roots." full text... Robin McDonald, Eclectic Homeschool Association. "This book is an attempt, like some others before it, to survey ancient mythological texts and compare them to Biblical accounts... it makes Jonah a lot more understandable..." full text... TheologyWeb Campus, Recommended Reading List. See also the archive copy, in case the main forum topic disappears. "...Mike shows that there is only one true history and that is the history presented in Bible." full text... Martin Emerson, Light in the Darkness.

Colombia protests against Farc kidnappings Hundreds of thousands Colombians across the world marched to call for an end of the scourge of kidnapping and the 44-year civil conflict in what was perhaps the greatest demonstration in this blood-soaked nation's history. In Paris, former hostage Ingrid Betancourt took the stage and shook her hips to Colombian music, leading the crowd in chants of "Freedom for all" at a concert dedicated to captives held by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Farc). The French capital's Place du Trocadero was awash in the red, yellow and blue colours of the Colombian flag. Miss Betancourt, the 46-year-old French-Colombian politician who was rescued three weeks ago in a daring operation carried out by Colombian agents. "This is a special day for us all," said Ms Betancourt. "Just 20 days ago I was in the jungle listening to the radio for news from my family, fighting to survive. Now we must remember those still being held." Hours later, in Bogota, the Colombian capital, hundreds of thousands massed on the streets. "This is an historic moment for us," said Cristina Jimenez, 37, a university lecturer, as she marched. "We are for the first time building a civil society, crying out with one voice." "Libertad, Libertad (Liberty, Liberty)", was the cry that echoed off the high rises in Bogota as people marched to reject the kidnapping and violence meted out by Colombia's Marxist rebels. Whilst there have been demonstrations in the past the protests were given new impetus by the successful rescue of Miss Betancourt and 14 other hostages snatched from the hands of Farc rebels. Twelve 12 Colombians and three US defence contractors were liberated in a bloodless coup for Oxford-educated president, Alvaro Uribe, who now enjoys 85 per cent approval ratings and may be positioning himself to run for a third term in office. Farc are still holding 25 political hostages whom they want to exchange for hundreds of their comrades in prison. Some of those held have spend more than a decade in their jungle prisons, chained to trees at night and forced to march constantly to avoid army patrols and US monitoring aircraft that search relentlessly for their locations. Often forgotten are around 700 people being held for ransom by the rebel group.