Tag Archives: Monroe

Peek Inside

Memories

15 Comments

Sometimes I post something I think may be of interest to someone other than me and has nothing to do with currents events of the day – this is one of them. If you are of my vintage or perhaps a few years senior or junior you may find this enlightening – sort of trip down memory lane. If you’re not of our vintage, you may find it boring. LOL For me it resurrected many fond memories of the days I loved and will cherish forever. I have no idea who wrote it; I received it from several friends and thought I’d pass it along. Even the photo rekindles many memories.

Long ago and far away, in a land that time forgot,

Before the days of Dylan , or the dawn of Camelot.

There lived a race of innocents, and they were you and me.

For Ike was in the White House in that land where we were born,

Where navels were for oranges, and Peyton Place was porn.

We longed for love and romance, and waited for our Prince,

Eddie Fisher married Liz, and no one’s seen him since.

We danced to ‘Little Darlin,’ and sang to ‘Stagger Lee’

And cried for Buddy Holly in the Land That Made Me, Me.

Only girls wore earrings then, and 3 was one too many,

And only boys wore flat-top cuts, except for Jean McKinney.

And only in our wildest dreams did we expect to see

A boy named George with Lipstick, in the Land That Made Me, Me.

We fell for Frankie Avalon, Annette was oh, so nice,

And when they made a movie, they never made it twice..

We didn’t have a Star Trek Five, or Psycho Two and Three,

Or Rocky-Rambo Twenty in the Land That Made Me, Me.

Miss Kitty had a heart of gold, and Chester had a limp,

And Reagan was a Democrat whose co-star was a chimp.

We had a Mr. Wizard, but not a Mr. T,

And Oprah couldn’t talk yet, in the Land That Made Me, Me.

We had our share of heroes, we never thought they’d go,

At least not Bobby Darin, or Marilyn Monroe.

For youth was still eternal, and life was yet to be,

And Elvis was forever in the Land That Made Me, Me.

We’d never seen the rock band that was Grateful to be Dead,

And Airplanes weren’t named Jefferson , and Zeppelins were not Led.

And Beatles lived in gardens then, and Monkees lived in trees,

Madonna was Mary in the Land That Made Me, Me.

We’d never heard of microwaves, or telephones in cars,

And babies might be bottle-fed, but they were not grown in jars.

And pumping iron got wrinkles out, and ‘gay’ meant fancy-free,

And dorms were never co-Ed in the Land That Made Me, Me.

We hadn’t seen enough of jets to talk about the lag,

And microchips were what was left at the bottom of the bag.

And hardware was a box of nails, and bytes came from a flea,

And rocket ships were fiction in the Land That Made Me, Me.

T-Birds came with portholes, and side shows came with freaks,

And bathing suits came big enough to cover both your cheeks.

And Coke came just in bottles, and skirts below the knee,

And Castro came to power near the Land That Made Me, Me.

We had no Crest with Fluoride, we had no Hill Street Blues,

We had no patterned pantyhose or Lipton herbal tea

Or prime-time ads for those dysfunctions in the Land That Made Me, Me.

There were no golden arches, no Perrier to chill,

And fish were not called Wanda, and cats were not called Bill

And middle-aged was 35 and old was forty-three,

And ancient were our parents in the Land That Made Me, Me.

But all things have a season, or so we’ve heard them say,

And now instead of Maybelline we swear by Retin-A.

They send us invitations to join AARP,

We’ve come a long way, baby, from the Land That Made Me, Me.

So now we face a brave new world in slightly larger jeans,

And wonder why they’re using smaller print in magazines.

And we tell our children’s children of the way it used to be,

Long ago and far away in the Land That Made Me, Me.

If you didn’t grow up in the fifties,

You missed the greatest time in history,

Hope you enjoyed this read as much as I did.

 

Originally posted 2023-07-24 10:57:54.

Current Events

America’s War on Children Part II

4 Comments

I’m sorry gang, you probably want to hear more about Trader Joe, but I just got this from Fox News and almost spilled my coffee reading it. Are there any sane humans still living in California? If you know of any, please ask they why and let us know what they say.  It has to have something to do with family, ya think?

Anyway, this is a hoot, I mean an absolute hoot,. Even worse than banning straws. What is interesting is to read what some members of the school board said to defend their 6 to 1 decision. They have literally no clue what they were elected to do. We didn’t hear from the one dissenting vote, wonder why? Maybe he’s in hiding?

What’s even funnier is to read some of the idiotic comments responding to this post by Fox News. Should you desire to do so, please cut and paste the following into your browser. Otherwise read on and enjoy!

https://www.foxnews.com/us/san-francisco-school-board-votes-to-rename-schools-honoring-washington-lincoln-feinstein-others

San Francisco school board votes to rename schools honoring Washington, Lincoln, Feinstein, others.

Replacing signage at the 44 schools will cost more than $400,000, a report says, plus other related costs. The price tag could also go up to around $1 million for schools to get new activity uniforms, repaint gymnasium floors, etc., according to the Chronicle. The district is facing a budget deficit.

Not even revered former presidents George Washington, Abraham Lincoln and Thomas Jefferson are safe from “cancel culture,” it appears.

The American icons were among a list of historical figures whose names will be removed from San Francisco’s public schools following a 6-1 vote by the school board Tuesday, according to multiple reports.

Washington and Jefferson were both slave owners and Lincoln, who ended slavery, became controversial because critics claim he oppressed indigenous people.

The presidents were among a long list of men and women whose namesake schools will soon be renamed. Others on the list include Francis Scott Key, who wrote the words to the national anthem, former presidents William McKinley, James Garfield, James Monroe, and Herbert Hoover, Revolutionary War hero Paul Revere and author Robert Louis Stevenson, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.

Even an elementary school named for current U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., will be changed over allegations that she replaced a damaged Confederate flag outside of City Hall when she was the city’s mayor in 1986, according to Courthouse News. She didn’t replace the flag after it was pulled down a second time.

Historical figures have come under a sharp focus since anti-racism protests swept the country last summer, with some protesters ripping down Confederate statues but also those of figures like Washington, Lincoln, Jefferson and others they deemed offensive.

STATUE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN WITH KNEELING SLAVE REMOVED IN BOSTON

Mayor London Breed rebuked the plan in October as “offensive,” saying the school board should be focused on reopening schools closed during the pandemic rather than renaming them. Wow, a sane statement in a sea of insanity; remarkable. Heck she might even have a piece of a brain left, ya think?

(Abraham Lincoln High School, among 44 schools targeted for renaming, is seen in San Francisco. (Google))

“It’s offensive to parents who are juggling their children’s daily at-home learning schedules with doing their own jobs and maintaining their sanity,” she said at the time, according to Courthouse News. “It’s offensive to me as someone who went to our public schools, who loves our public schools, and who knows how those years in the classroom are what lifted me out of poverty and into college. It’s offensive to our kids who are staring at screens day after day instead of learning and growing with their classmates and friends.”

Replacing signage at the 44 schools will cost more than $400,000, according to the Courthouse News. The price tag could also go up to around $1 million for schools to get new activity uniforms, repaint gymnasium floors, etc., according to the Chronicle. The district is facing a budget deficit.

While the board focused on renaming the schools in the Tuesday meeting, it did not discuss reopening schools from coronavirus shutdowns.

Other critics complained the panel that reviewed the appropriateness of school names used little input from historians and didn’t put the figures into a historical context or weigh their contributions with their failings.

Others argued the research process was thin, relying on selective sources and using websites like Wikipedia to back up claims.

NY TIMES COLUMNIST: ‘YES, EVEN GEORGE WASHINGTON’ STATUES MUST GO

In the case of Roosevelt Middle School, it wasn’t clear if the board knew which former President Roosevelt it was named for, but decided to have it removed anyway.

Board member Mark Sanchez, however, called the decision a “moral message.”

“It’s a message to our families, our students and our community. It’s not just symbolic,” he said, according to the Chronicle.

Board member Kevine Boggess, who supported the resolution, suggested schools shouldn’t be named after anyone.

We “should not make heroes out of mortal folks,” he said, according to the Chronicle. “I think we need to examine our naming policies across the district and really consider how the way we go about naming schools reflects our true values.”

School staff and families have until April to suggest new names for the schools.

Originally posted 2021-01-27 12:07:04.

Book News

The Dawn’s Early Light

1 Comment

Ok, it’s time to take a break from what the insane liberal thugs are doing. I’ll give them time for their heads to stop exploding. They now have a new thing to rant about with Ruth Ginsberg expiring. Let the battle lines be drawn on this one.

Have you heard the press conference from our Governor here in Florida? LOVED it. I seriously doubt you’ll see any November riots and destruction here; if only your governor has the set he has!

For those of you who have read my book, you may or may not recall in Chapter 41—Lemoore— I was absolutely bored to tears during my last year there. Sergeants were running the command, we did away with the Commander of the Guard. SNCO’s and officers stood Officer of the Day (OOD)—at home. The only time they got involved was when some airwing Command Duty Officer of the base (Navy Lt Cmdr) found it below him to have to speak to a lowly E-5, our Sgt of the Guard, and demanded to speak to me. Of course, that never happened, the OOD took care of him.

Bored beyond belief I began reading a lot and filled my library with books—mostly of military genre; one of books was the one titled here. Once the tour ended, it was back to the Corps and the reality of the hectic schedule of a field grade office—reading ceased.

After retirement came my book. Five and one-half years of constant 24/7 my editor and I beating ourselves to death. He was 2,500 miles away and we burned up the internet and telephone lines daily over grammar, punctuation, sentence structure, etc. More often than not he was correct—without him the book would never have happened. Bless you Denny! When the book finally came to fruition in December 2012, the last thing I wanted to do in my life was read a damn book.

During the ensuing four more moves and garage sales I pretty much emptied my library. For some reason I saved the title book. I believe the reason was I grew up there—Baltimore. Now in my forever home and not much to do, I plucked this book off the shelf and read it. My first read since 2012, and it was great.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I leaned much from the book. One thing was I finally found someone who agreed with me—Baltimore and Fort McHenry are not on the Chesapeake Bay as everyone seems to believe. In fact, I’ve gotten into some heated discussion with folks, even some from Baltimore, who were convinced they were both on the Bay, some said they never heard of Patapsco River—really? They are on the Patapsco River. I grew up on Bear Creek which empties into the confluence of the River and the Bay at Sparrows Point. I spent my childhood camping, hunting, fishing, and crabbing the two with Dad and my friends. I know the area like the back of my hand.

As a retired military officer, I was amazed at the incompetence, sheer ineptness expressed by both Americans and British during this war. For those of us who have spent our time in hell—combat—we all know too well the best laid plans go to hell as soon as the first shot is fired, and adjustments are made in the heat of battle. However, during this war, there were no “best laid plans.” It amazes me we even came out of the war as survivors.

Not far into the book I got the shock of my life! Who on the British side orchestrated, planned, provide forces and orders for the conduct of the War of 1812? It was the Secretary of War and the Colonies—none other than Lord Earl Bathurst. Yes, he is one of my ancestors. I have a loose-leaf binder given to me by a Canadian named Bathurst who was for many years a diplomat in Washington, D.C. I befriended him through a strange set of circumstances while on active duty. He compiled an amazing history of the Bathursts all the way back to the 15th Century. I dug out his binder and sure enough there is Lord Bathurst. Sorry about that folks! LOL

If you are a reader I highly recommend the title book. It was printed in 1972 and is still available. I’m not making this recommendation because of the Lord. LOL I recommend it for its detailed study of the battles of Bladensburg, Baltimore, and Washington. There are amazing examples of the “Fog of War” often fraught with confusion, incompetence, and sheer luck—both good and bad. If you are a military person and a reader I believe you will enjoy it.

Footnote: As a young Marine I remember being told the reason the Brits didn’t burn Marine Barracks and the Commandant’s house was their respect for the bravery and soldierly virtues of the Marines at Bladensburg. Not true Marines. Sorry. LOL

Originally posted 2020-09-23 10:48:20.