Category: True Stories

Armistice Day: The 11th Hour of the 11th Day of the 11th Month of 1918

Walter Myers

The letter below was penned by my grand-uncle Walter (1899-1978) to his parents (my great-grandparents). He had just turned 19, and was serving in the US Army Signal Corps. In WWI that meant he was stationed at the German Front, providing reconnaissance from balloons and wiring reports via telegraph. Very dangerous place to be.

21 August 1918 – France

Dearest Mom and Dad,

Was under fire for the first time recently. No casualties. Believe me you never heard such an unearthly noise. Everything quiet then all of a sudden “Boom” s-h-h-h sh-sh-sh. The boom is when the shell bursts and the “sh” sounds like the wind whistling through a crack. The “sh” is caused by flying splinters. The damned Deutsch can’t hit a barn so we should worry. We have dugouts.

Sorry I can’t tell more. This may be cut out. I don’t think it will though because there is no information. I guess the Deutsch remember shooting at us. So this letter wouldn’t give them any “info”.

You say that you will meet me when I get off the returning transport. I think the day when I arrive will be about 10 years hence, at the present rate. However, though, the unexpected might happen and I might get home inside of 9 years instead of ten. So you get my impression from the above paragraph. However though, I am absolutely not homesick.

Of course I would like to get home, which is only natural. But I don’t want to get home ’till the “Guerre” is finished and finished to a frizzle and finished in our favor, and the damned deutsch exterminated.

We are now sleeping on the ground and in pup tents. Great sport, too. Just like a big camp.

Well, I guess we will call things off for the present. So, “Au revoire cher Pere et Mere.” I will see you “Apres La Guerre.”

With love,
Soldier Bill

Unfortunately, The Armistice lasted barely twenty years, allowed the creation of the WehrMacht, and WWII ensued. The Korean “Conflict” was stalled the same way, and now North Korea is a dangerous rogue nation. Do I need to mention Iran? Fini La Guerre.

God Bless all Veterans who fight selflessly for what’s right.

[Related posts here.]

Don’t Sit Under The Argan Tree

Goats In A Tree

These goats live in a small region in southwestern Morocco where the Argan tree grows. Although the region is semi-arid desert and there’s fodder elsewhere, they love argan berries. They’re goat candy. Since the goats can’t reach them from the ground, they learned to climb Argan trees.

But that’s not the weird part.

When the goats poop, local women pick out the hard undigested nuts, crack them, extract the seeds, mash and grind them up, and produce argan oil – all by hand. It gets stranger: only women are allowed to do it.

Women […] run the entire industry, which is an incredible fact considering that Morocco is a rather patriarchal society. Only women are taught to make argan oil, and they are the sole gatekeepers to the centuries-old method. Much of the country’s oil is made in cooperatives that allow women the opportunity to work and make money independently [via].

Then they rub it on their faces, put it in their hair or eat it. TRUE.

But take this story a step further, and it becomes downright astounding. One sunny day, hundreds of years ago, some Berber women figured it out:

“Hey, Fatima! Bouchra! I found some goat crap under a tree. I bet there’s something in it that we can eat AND wear. Whaddya think? Don’t tell the guys.”

And the rest is history. But wait. There’s more:

The Berbers were the same people that produced Berber carpets, and had a hand in producing purple dye from seashells – the color of Roman Royalty. It’s also interesting to note that a large percentage of Berbers were Jews, Christians and Animists before those sects were marginalized by Islam in the 7th Century. The Barbary pirates were Islamic Berbers, thrived in the world-wide slave trade, and the word “barbarian” has etymological roots to the Berbers as well.

Goats-trees-berries-poop-cosmetics-food-Morocco-Berbers-carpet-purple-Islam-pirates-slavery-barbarians. What a connection, and it all began with Goats In Trees.

Fun Facts To Know And Tell.

[Image found here. Somewhat related post here.]

Saturday Matinee – Moto-X Baby, Hugh Maskela, Big Joe Turner & Muddy Waters

Apparently this dates from the 1990 or so, and predates the Internet as we know it. [Source found here.]

“Excuse Me Baby Please” by Hugh Maskela 2007(?) featuring high school friend Morris Goldberg on sax. Maskela’s better known in the U.S. for his 1968 hit “Grazing In The Grass.”

“Baby Please Don’t Go.” Big Joe Williams was the first to record it in 1935, and it’s been covered by many bands since, both in blues and rock. Here’s Williams’ solo version, live, on 9-string guitar. We may have posted this one before, but so what. We probably posted the next one as well.

Muddy Waters‘ live version of the same song, featuring James Cotton on harmonica, in Chicago 22 November 1981. It’s a classic performance, then some friends showed up to make it awesome.That’s a wrap for this edition of The Saturday Matinee.

Have a great weekend, folks, and don’t forget VETERANS DAY. EVER.

How ObamaCare Works

ObamaCare Illustration 110

The warm water is not for you. It’s only for members of Congress, their employees and Union Workers who’ve been exempted by fiat.

Obamacare is the most destructive economic policy I’ve seen implemented in my lifetime, and its reach goes far beyond healthcare.

If you haven’t been paying attention, ObamaCare forces employers to reduce their workforce by government fiat. It prevents employers from hiring full-time workers, and it cripples the insurance industry by mandating coverage without allowing it to compete nationwide in order to balance risks. That’s how the insurance industry works – spreading risk, spreading payments,  balancing it all and adjusting it all the time. It’s a game about odds.

Obamacare changes all of that. This should be a logic issue, not a political one.

However, once a federal program like ObamaCare competes with the private sector and has the power to arbitrarily dictate unreasonable rules, existing medical insurance companies are doomed, neighborhood medical facilities close and Hospitals go bankrupt. Hell, it’s already happening.

Tell me where such a system has ever succeeded. I’ll save you the trouble. It hasn’t succeeded anywhere in the history of the world, without killing off those who needed medical treatment the most – The Poor and The Elderly.

In the United States, The Elderly, the so-called “BabyBoomers.” are the largest population who understand the seductive evils of Socialism/Communism, which makes them a target. They are the same people that Socialists and Communists abhor, i.e.,  People Who Remember. For socialism to prevail, these ancients need to be squelched, and in that respect, ObamaCare is a very useful tool.

I’m not unconvinced that this is part of the intent. The signs are all there, and and it’s been done before.

THIS is the stuff of fascism. Mussolini rejected socialism, and was hanged by his own people for his alternative,

[Image found here.]

Happy Birthday, Bunkessa. You Gave Us The Scariest Halloween We Ever Had.

Bunkessa Halloween

[And yes, that’s really Bunkessa.]

Saturday Matinee: Ray White, Priscilla Ahn & Tom Waits

Talking Feet: 6-1/2 minutes of awesome. Watch the whole thing [via].

Priscilla Ahn‘s got a cool version of Tom Waits‘ “I Don’t Wanna Grow Up.”

Tom Waits was indicted [sic] into The Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame in 2011, and Neil Young introduced him. Great intro, great clips, great quotes. Someone said that Waits doesn’t sing the same song the same way twice.

“I think what I try to do is write adventure songs and Halloween Music.” –Tom Waits

That last quote cracks me up, because back when we still had trick-or-treaters coming around, we’d do up the front entry and blast Mickey Hart’s “Planet Drum” and Wait’s “Bone Machine” to the neighborhood. Great Halloween music.

Have  a great weekend, see you back here tomorrow.

The Artwork Of Pierre Brassau

1964brassau05

In February 1964, four paintings by a previously unknown avant-garde French artist named Pierre Brassau were exhibited at an art show in Göteborg, Sweden. Also at the show were works by artists from England, Denmark, Austria, Italy, and Sweden, but it was the works of the French artist that attracted all the attention.

Art critics, journalists, and students, glasses of wine in hand, silently contemplated Brassau’s creations. Their praise was almost unanimous. Rolf Anderberg of the morning Posten later wrote that most of the works at the show were “ponderous,” but not those of Brassau:

“Pierre Brassau paints with powerful strokes, but also with clear determination. His brush strokes twist with furious fastidiousness. Pierre is an artist who performs with the delicacy of a ballet dancer.” Continue reading “The Artwork Of Pierre Brassau”

Ents

Ents On The March

In a tiny corner of western Poland a forest of about 400 pine trees grow with a 90 degree bend at the base of their trunks – all bent northward. Surrounded by a larger forest of straight growing pine trees this collection of curved trees, or “Crooked Forest,” is a mystery.
[via]

[Found here. Related post here.]

Nothing Much Happened Today.

Tired Horse

[Found here.]

Update:

The horse, named Rowdy, fell into a sticky situation Monday when he found himself stuck in a large tire on a farm in Belington. The tire apparently holds water for the livestock, and when some local residents found Rowdy stuck, they were afraid he was going to drown. […] One of Rowdy’s owners who was on the scene, believes that Rowdy got trapped after an altercation with some of the other horses.

[More about the incident found here, via here. Tip ‘o the Tarboosh to John M. for ferreting out the story.]

Salting The Pot or A Bigass Wish?

big-wish

[Found here. Salting the pot works. Related True story here.]