Appomattox - The Quiet and Compelling History

Here is an article .. one of a thousand to read before you die - a subject every single living young person should be required to know before being allowed to pass on to high school.

The past. How people reacted and dealt with the end of a very difficult and horrifying time. Our United States history. The places and some of the people.

Significant moments lasting lifetimes.

It was written in 1987 by James T. Yenckel, a Washington Post Staff Writer and is titled The Quiet and Compelling History of Appomattox.

- - -

Long ago, when my son was just learning to walk (he has now just finished his first year of college), we lived near Appomattox. Near Thanksgiving, my family visited the historic area - me, my husband, my lone child, my father, my mother, my brother and my father's mother.

My parents, brother and grandmother had all driven north to Virginia to spend the holiday with us since we couldn't afford to drive home that year.

We all enjoyed that holiday together so very much - and I distinctly remember that morning we visited Appomattox.

I cannot describe the feeling - other than feeling reverent. I felt I was in a place of supreme importance. Quiet, respectful.

Historic.

Things we remember. Compelling indeed.

An Argument for EcoNuts - Al, Are You Listening?

I happened upon this article this morning and I recommend all read it. Ever heard of a lemming - as in those little furry things that all run off cliffs together for no apparent reason? Keep that image in mind.

These excerpts are from the writings of Richard N. Baldwin from his article Of Lemmings and Men:

Human history shows that there is a strain of heard instinct strongly imbedded in the genes of mankind. Just ask anyone familiar to the gyrations of the stock market to verify this. And sometimes, as in the case of the lemmings, the heard follows the leader off a cliff into the sea.

Such is the case in what is called Global Warming, or as I prefer to call it more properly, Climate Change.

Now, at the start, let's get some things clear. Is the climate changing? Has it changed in the past? Will it change in the future? The answer to all three is absolutely yes.

Now, let's take a peek at what the econuts are proposing for us. Take the carbon "cap
and trade" for an example. The US government is getting ready to regulate carbon
dioxide as a toxic drug. This will enable the federal government to directly regulate almost every human activity in the country.

. . . econuts are not that interested in saving the planet. More to the point is to get total direct government control for almost every economic activity in the world, and the cost be damned.

Gentle readers, we are witnessing a massive lemming march to the sea here. Don't be fooled.

Friends, you are being lied to.

A Grandfather's Legacy

This linked story is one of a thousand to read before you die.

It truly is a grandfather's legacy. It speaks of passion and history and events and people who need to be remembered. Things that are often forgotten . . .

Remembering the past and moving into the future are tightly woven together.

Music is a mystery

You just gotta listen to this (when you get there.. click on the "listen" button). All Jude Johnstone's songs are mysteries to her. Music is a mystery and is a miracle to her - and it is to me too.

She grew up in rural Maine on a blueberry farm.

She made her own record finally - after having written songs for Johnny Cash, Trisha Yearwood - and many others.

Simply great.

She's coming of age.

An Inquiry Into the Value of Work

You may know I'm compiling a list of 1,000 posts to read before you die. They're not my posts - they're yours (well, a small number of them are mine). And I'm picky and you can read them all here. I don't have a thousand yet, but they are adding up, so get some coffee, relax, and of course - read them. Here's the most recent:

I found this article today at Tampabay.com - it's written by Michael Agger, a Slate senior editor. Mr. Agger reviews an intriguing book and the premise of the actual value of work. Value, as in dollars and value as in self worth - self worth being the true value.

An inquiry into the book Shop Class by Soul Craft, written by Matthew Crawford:

When Matthew Crawford finished his doctorate in political philosophy at the university of Chicago, he took a job at a Washington think tank. "I was always tired," he writes, "and honestly could not see the rationale for my being paid at all."

He quit after five months and started doing motorcycle repair in a decaying factory in Richmond, Va.

If you are in possession of a skill that cannot be exported overseas, done with an algorithm, or downloaded, you will always stand a decent chance of finding work. Even rarer, you will probably be a master of your own domain, something the thousands of employed but bored people in the service industries can only dream of.

Dreams. Work. It actually takes skill - skill, with hands and the will of the mind.. things that can't be sent overseas to replace you ...

Adds up to self worth.

- - -

- - -

This more lengthy article also found by me today - is a more detailed look (and very interesting) into Mr. Matthew's essay, from which his book took form. It's titled, The Case For Working With Your Hands and is at The New York Times dot com.

When we praise people who do work that is straightforwardly useful, the praise often betrays an assumption that they had no other options. We idealize them as the salt of the earth and emphasize the sacrifice for others their work may entail. Such sacrifice does indeed occur — the hazards faced by a lineman restoring power during a storm come to mind. But what if such work answers as well to a basic human need of the one who does it? I take this to be the suggestion of Marge Piercy’s poem “To Be of Use,” which concludes with the lines “the pitcher longs for water to carry/and a person for work that is real.”

Beneath our gratitude for the lineman may rest envy.

White House Blogs

Found this here at Fox News.

White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs played a joke at the very top of his briefing today telling reporters that the President would announce his Supreme Court nominee tomorrow, Saturday, at 630 am.

He paused long enough (3 seconds) that reporters took him seriously, until he finally said,

"Gotcha, I'm done . . . "

The Man Who Forgot How To Read

Howard Engel forgot how to read.

The irony in that is that he's a long time novelist, has written numerous mystery novels, and recently - he suffered a stroke that robbed him of the ability to decipher letters on the page. He couldn't read his newspaper one morning and realized he needed to rush to the hospital where he was diagnosed as suffering from a stroke.

He has since written a memoir of the journey back to a more normal life and of writing more books (he could write, but couldn't read).

At cbc.ca - Canada Reads, here's a link to a wee article about him and then there's a precious video interview with him as Hannah Sung walks with him to a local book shop in Toronto to browse and chat through the books.

He sometimes can't remember the names of who he is talking to, but he could remember hers because he's good with palindromes (as am I- thanks to my friend TC). Hannah's name is a palindrome.

I always smile when I hear talk of palindromes.

I Ask Myself

I ask myself - remember me?

Sometimes.

What does that mean? Remember me? Of course I do. I don't have amnesia. Or have I? Don't we all have some degree of amnesia at times.

Sometimes.

Who am I is the question. What is my purpose in asking? I think I know that answer - so I will not forget.

My mom calls often, or I call her (we live a couple hours apart) and often the conversation starts this way:

Hey there!

Well, hello.

Whatcha doin'?

Oh, we're just hanging out- doin' what old people do. Your dad's downstairs watching a game I guess, or doing some work on the computer - and I've just cleaned up the kitchen, made some greens for lunch. We really haven't accomplished much of anything today.

It's been so wet here, haven't even been outside. I think your dad went out earlier though and did some work out at the shop. He came back in though and went downstairs.

He's watching a baseball game?

Yeah.

Who's playin'?

I don't know. There's always a game on. What ya'll been up to?

Oh, just the regular. Nothing new really. Just get up, go to work, come home, go to bed. Shift work. Punch in - punch out. Get up the next day and do it all again.

Yeah - well, one day you'll be old like me and get to retire and do the same thing at home.

Mmm maybe, but I don't think I'll ever be in a place to afford retirement. I gotta work til I'm 100 to pay off all my bills.

Yeah, life is that way sometimes, maybe you'll catch a break one of these days.

Yeah, maybe. Oh well. Could be worse, we could live in Afghanistan - or have the Swine Flu.

Oh gosh yes, be thankful for that. It could be worse. We've all got it pretty good really.

Yes we do.

- -

I think about this alot. The 'this' being . . . 'what's it all about alfie' mentality of mine. I know it's not all drudgery. I know I have purpose. I know I have joy (sometimes -ok, more than that). I know I'm lucky. I know I know I know.

But, still - I wake up every day and do the same thing. Get up (tired), get to work just in time, work with people I tolerate well most days (although I want to beg them to show a little joy - more than I'm showing - I'm such a hyprocrite sometimes).

Come home dog tired. Kids are growing so fast - they are usually doing their own thing. They don't 'need' me like they did when they were young. I mean, I don't have to feed them, bathe them, change their diapers . . . all that stuff that I can hardly even remember doing, but I know I did. I am almost an empty nester.

Almost. I'm not really there yet. But, my kids are really quite self sufficient. I'm glad in a way. I'm sad in a way. One thing's for sure, my alone time is much greater than it has ever been since

I became a mother almost 20 years ago.

Twenty years ago I was somebody else tho. I ask myself now, remember me?

Sometimes.

But I'm not the person I remember. I guess that's the conundrum.

I'm not the person I remember. So, does that mean I get to re-create myself? Sure, why not. I'm in charge of me aren't I? Yes.

Prior conversation with myself:

I think I'll take a walk (I've been walking pretty regularly for about a couple months now).

I want to be more fit and trim.


But I get bored walking (I walk at least 3 miles and I often try to do 6). Well, there's a way to beat boredom - listen to something.. but, music is boring after a couple songs. Well, don't you like stories?.. listen to stories.. like books on tape? Yes, like books on tape.. They are so expensive (around 30, 40 bucks sometimes at Barnes & Noble unless you catch a good sale).

Ahh - but remember those ones at Cracker Barrel? You can exchange them when you're done and it's only a few dollars.. oh yeah?!! Love it.

Let's do that.

So, I did that. The first one I listened to was The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society. And I've blogged about this book. It is a fantastic book. No kidding.

Second one I listened to was Dewey, the Small Town Library Cat. Not as good as the first, but it was ok. I wouldn't dis-recommend it (unless you don't like cats - and in that case - I recommend you read something else. On the other hand - if you are a cat lover, and I am not, you will be in tears reading this book. I daresay you will absolutely love it).

Third book on tape (on cd really - I just like saying book on tape - I like saying things the way I like saying things) that I listened to was Remember Me? It's written by Sophie Kinsella.

It's unlike anything I usually read. It's light, it's funny, it's a little (alot) on the crass (tawdry) side. I certainly wouldn't want my kids to read it. It's pretty adult. I mean, it's not awful, but it's not for Sunday School.

But, it has a meaning in it which made me think - and ask myself - remember me?

Sometimes.

I am now listening to London Calling, by Edward Bloor. It's a really good book! I recommend it to anyone so far (I'm not done with it yet).

But, I am enjoying it. It has a bit of mystery in it, a bit of history, a bit of just how I like it.




What else do I want?

I want my breezeway to be pretty. Right now it's ugly. I'm so tired of my ugly breezeway porch. I really want it to be nice and inviting. What's the holdup? Me. What's to do first? It needs a new floor. I've been wanting to tile it or something. Then add plants, chairs, and friends.

This is it. Currently.


This is my little dog in the little chair on my ugly breezeway porch (I really miss my old dog who died more than a year ago.. this dog is the rebound dog..

I suppose by the time this dog is old I'll like her more).



This is my little daughter who taught the little dog to sit in the little chair on the ugly breezeway porch (because the old dog who died who I loved - loved to sit in chairs).




So, went to the home building stores - both the orange one and the blue one (orange is Home Depot, blue is Lowe's).

Looked at tile, looked at grout, looked at mortar, looked at all the fixins that go into a floor.






And then, we looked at the wood - and decided that perhaps a wooden, decking floor would be easier and, maybe, I might like it better.

Maybe. Really, it doesn't matter, as long as it's not ugly anymore.




Things I ask myself.

And Now .. A Funny

A couple weeks ago, while in a coffee shop waiting for coffee (duh), I picked up the local paper to see what there was to see.

This is what I saw.

It was funny.

Still is.

Dumber Than a Bucket of Hair

Trial is set July 20 for young woman.

Her ex-bosses and any number of others are quite simply "dumber than a bucket of hair" - words of her real lawyer - the one who is trying to keep her out of jail (as opposed to her prior lawyer who wasn't ever her lawyer who landed her in jail).

She Was Indicted Today

Here is some of what I know.

Her lawyer is quoted in the linked article above as saying, “What is surprising is they have elected to charge her individually,” . . . “Logic would tell you if they had a decent case alleging misconduct by her and others, they would have brought it.

A grand jury will indict a cheeseburger.”

"It Was Chicken Shit"

According to blogger Letter of Apology, the recent antics of the Feds in dealing with a certain young woman - was chicken shit.

It stinks alright.

I've had the bad pleasure of smelling chicken shit just about all my life anytime I've been around the farms of my family.

I know it when I smell it - and so can half the county surrounding any pasture where it's being spread.

Read their take on the smell here.

I Am Deeply Troubled

Yesterday, I was honored to be introduced by my father to someone I've written about here - someone who, according to some major news outlets, unfortunately faces indictment tomorrow in Dallas.

She is being used/sacrificed to bring down a financial empire owned by two charismatic white handsome men. The men who run the empire, the men who hired her, the men who used her, are being left alone.

No one but her has been arrested. No one but her has been sent to jail. No one but her faces indictment. Not one of the two men who employed her have come to her rescue. Not one of them. Both of them - and others, set her up.

She is taking the fall for some evil men. She is not the monster the press (and the Feds) is making her out to be. She is not.

This is troubling me and it is troubling so many of her family members and friends in her community. It simply cannot be happening, but it is.

I am praying for true justice - equal justice.

Joy in the Morning

Do Re Mi . . .

A doe a deer, a female deer, ray, a drop of golden sun. Me, a name I call myself .. Far, a long long way to run.

Sew, a needle pulling thread, La, a note to follow so.. Tea a drink with jam and bread, and that brings us back to do!

We Have Seen the Enemy and The Enemy Is Us

In the U.S. - one death is attributable to Swine Flu.

One.

The hysteria is the pandemic.

Cancer, heart ailments, and good 'ole regular flu, however, kills zillions of people all the time. Where do you hear of that hysteria on the 24 hour news cycles and twitter-holics?

Jack Kemp died yesterday - not of swine flu, but of cancer. My grandmother died of cancer a couple years back. My cousin died in a car crash. My sister died of the flu years ago, and it wasn't swine flu.

People die from things - and it's not because schools didn't close.

Perspective people - perspective.

We confuse quantity of reporting on “news” with quality reporting and until we learn to tell the difference “they” will continue to manipulate us with fear mongering tactics and distraction.

We have seen the enemy and the enemy is us. - M. Davis at Op Ed News dot com

He Never Unpacked

Many of you know I've been compiling a list of 1,000 posts to read before you die. They're not my posts - they're yours (well, a small number of them are mine). And I'm picky. Read them all here. I don't have a thousand yet, but they are adding up, so get some coffee, relax, and of course - read them.

Here's the latest one to read. It's a link to an article I read today written by Phillip Rucker for the Washington Post and published by the Seattle Times online paper. The article is written about Justice David Souter's longing for his New Hampshire rural hideaway and childhood home.

Justice Souter is retiring soon and will be leaving Washington D.C. for good it seems. I so smiled when I read the article. I first smiled when I saw the picture of his New Hampshire home. I next smiled when I read this sentence:

"He never unpacked," said Thomas Rath, one of Souter's closest friends. "A few years ago, he said, 'I figured I'd take the pictures out of the boxes and hang them up, but I figured in a few years I'd be coming back to New Hampshire and I'd have to pack them back up, so I might as well leave them in the boxes.' "

I smiled again at this:

Souter once wrote in a letter to the late Supreme Court Justice Harry Blackmun that he was at peace at his farmhouse. "The restoration comes not only from the landscape and air, though they play their significant part, but from the people," Souter wrote. "I feel a strong need to be in New Hampshire for as much of the summer as I can manage it."

And then again:

Souter has famously shunned Washington's social scene and leads an unusually reclusive life for a public official. He dislikes schmoozing at cocktail parties, refuses media interviews and rarely poses for photographs.

And finally here:

A few years ago, Weare proposed naming its new middle school after Souter, but he wrote a letter respectfully declining the honor. Souter enjoys mountain hikes and strolling through nearby Clough State Park. He is also a ferocious reader; friends said he is eager to finally organize his thousands of books into a library.

"He's given his whole life to public service, and I think it got harder and harder for him to go back to Washington the last couple of years," said Rath, whose daughter held the Bible at Souter's swearing-in. "This is where he belongs."

The maverick justice who never unpacked. I love it.

I Respectfully Dissent

Justice David Souter is leaving the Supreme Court.

I respectfully dissent in his decision to leave. I will miss him being there.

Three decisions in particular, discussed in a beautiful piece about Souter by Dahlia Lithwick at Slate dot com yesterday, are part of the reason I believe others will miss him greatly. In these decisions, Souter's humanity rises above ink on a page, rises above pharisee and sadduceeism. His own agenda was never the agenda.

His objective was and is to not have one - an objective, an agenda. He wasn't there to be a voice for the Republicans. He wasn't there to be a voice for the other side either. He was there to be a voice for what was correct and for the case in front of him - not a voice for the one to his left or right whispering into his ear.

He was passionate about the rule of law, the Constitution, what is correct, people, common sense - all rolled into one. But that is what the rule of law is, isn't it? What are rules? What is the law? The rule of law, the Constitution, what is correct, people, common sense - it is humanity.

Laws without people, laws without grace, laws without reasons - those are things that serve no good or just purpose.

A recurring statement of Souter's in his dissents is as follows:

"I am not through regretting that my position in United States v. Navajo Nation, did not carry the day. But it did not, and I agree that the precedent of that case calls for the result reached here."

In U.S. v. Navajo, the Navajo Nation lost - No thanks to Souter though.

That case summary is here at Oyez dot org:

The Indian Mineral Leasing Act of 1938 (IMLA) allows Indian tribes, with the approval of the Secretary of the Interior, to lease the mining rights on their tribal lands to private companies. In 1964, Navajo Nation (tribe) entered into a lease with the predecessor of Peabody Coal Company, allowing Peabody to mine on the tribe's land in return for a royalty of 37.5 cents for every ton of coal mined.

The agreement was subject to renegotiation after 20 years. By 1984, the tribe's royalty was only worth 2% of Peabody's gross proceeds. In 1977 Congress had required a minimum of 12.5%. The tribe requested that the Secretary set a new rate, and the Director of Bureau of Indian Affairs for the Navajo Area, as the Secretary's representative, made a preliminary decision to set the rate at 20%.

Peabody's representatives urged the Secretary to reverse or delay the decision. The Secretary agreed, and urged the parties to resume negotiations. The tribe and Peabody agreed on a rate of 12.5%. In 1993, however, the tribe sued the government in the Court of Federal Claims, alleging a breach of trust and claiming $600 million in damages.

The court ruled for the government, explaining that though the government may have betrayed the tribe's trust by acting in Peabody’s interest rather than the tribe's, it had not violated any specific statutory or regulatory obligation. The tribe was therefore not entitled to monetary relief.

On appeal, the tribe argued that the entirety of the IMLA imposes on the government a broad obligation to look after the wellbeing of the tribe. The Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit agreed and reversed the lower court, finding that "the Secretary must act in the best interests of the Indian tribes."

Question for the Court: Can the U.S. be held liable for a breach of trust with an Indian Tribe in connection with the negotiation of a mining lease, even when the U.S. has violated no specific statutory or regulatory duty established in the Indian Mineral Leasing Act of 1938?

Conclusion of the Court: No. In a 6-3 decision, the Court ruled that an Indian Tribe must "identify a substantive source of law that establishes specific fiduciary or other duties." The opinion by Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg held that the IMLA could not be interpreted to require the Secretary to exercise broad authority to manage the tribe's resources for the tribe's benefit.

Instead, the tribe itself controls negotiations and the Secretary has a more limited role in approving the agreements. The Court concluded that no provision of the IMLA entitled the tribe to monetary damages as a result of the government's role in the negotiations.

Justice Souter, joined by justices Stevens and O'Connor, wrote a dissent arguing that the Secretary's approval power must be exercised for the tribe's benefit, and monetary damages may be awarded if the power is misused.

In Ms. Lithwick's article, she writes of another case, Bowles v Russell, where injustice was served, no thanks to Souter:

But the notion that fealty to the letter of the law matters more than the human beings involved was equally appalling to Souter. His simple dissent two years ago in Bowles v. Russell recoiled at the majority's heartless legal formalism:

"The District Court told petitioner Keith Bowles that his notice of appeal was due on February 27, 2004. He filed a notice of appeal on February 26, only to be told that he was too late because his deadline had actually been February 24. It is intolerable for the judicial system to treat people this way, and there is not even a technical justification for condoning this bait and switch. I respectfully dissent."

And then, in a death penalty case, Kansas v Marsh, Ms. Lithwick points us again to Souter's humanity.

Dissenting in a 2006 case, Kansas v. Marsh, Souter made a passionate case for why "death is different" and judges need to be doubly careful in imposing the death
penalty: "A few numbers from a growing literature will give a sense of the reality that must be addressed. When the Governor of Illinois imposed a moratorium on executions in 2000, 13 prisoners under death sentences had been released since 1977 after a number of them were shown to be innocent."

Souter felt that the time had come for the courts to take the phenomenon of innocent exonerations to heart. He wasn't willing to let the courts sign off on even one more ambiguous execution and said so in the strongest terms.

Death is different. The Indian Nation has clearly been cheated. The judicial system technicalities must not be weighed down with bait and switch tactics.

A few things Souter knows to be true.

A few reasons I will miss him.

Today and Tomorrow

Today, I'm dealing with my tooth, broken as it is. To the dentist I'll be going .. here in a bit.

Tomorrow, I'll post a bit about Justice Souter and his announced retirement and some of my own observations on things Supreme Court-ish.

TTFN.