text:
Clarification and apology for my remarks about Shellie Zimmerman discussion

September 30, 2013

Monday, September 30, 2013

Good afternoon:

Tzar said something in a comment that inspired me to write this post.

He said,

Hi I am Tzar and I carry hate and contempt in my heart.

I do so because there are -and more importantly, there probably always will be- people and notions in this world that are the reason of why we can’t have nice things. I do so because because there people and notions in this world that we ought to fear and people and notions that we are to hold in disrespect. I do so because it defines the limits of what I find beautiful, what I love, what I find tolerable and insignificant.

I respect my hate and I delight in my contempt because they are very small and sharply defined and because they make me me. Woe unto one who finds themselves in that little box, because it is hard to get in and equally hard to get out (bullies, child abusers and spreaders of hate and disorder are lifetime members).

If I am at risk to be consumed, it is by my love and awe. If I am at risk to be obsessed it is through the task of diminishing yet always maintaining my hate.

I think of hatred as an intense and compulsive form of anger that overwhelms my circuits compromising my ability to perceive what is happening in my environment and to interpret the sensory information in an objective manner. We have learned from observing Trayvon’s case, for example, that bias and prejudice compromise perception. People tend to see what they expect to see or want to see. For this reason, we must be ever aware of the danger of failing to see something in plain view and misinterpreting our environment.

When I hate, I am not living in the moment. I am more likely to make decisions based on assumptions rather than evidence. Hatred impairs judgment, in other words.

I realized long ago that I had to figure out how to manage my emotions, if I was going to be an effective trial lawyer. By managing emotions I do not mean suppressing them. Suppressing emotions is unhealthy because it requires considerable energy and it deadens us to experiencing life.

Emotions come and go relatively quickly and an effective way to manage them is to develop the ability to change mental focus.

Baba Ram Dass emphasized the importance of being in the moment when he advised people to “be here now.” I agree.

If we are focused in the moment, we are plugged-in to our senses and less likely to miss something important like an approaching train.

Tzar believes some things like racism deserve to be hated. I agree in the sense that some beliefs and actions merit universal condemnation. Racism is one of those things.

I choose not to hate racism or a racist because I already condemn them. Hating them does not make them go away. Hating only hurts me by dissipating my energy and clouding my focus.

Hating is what racists do and I condemn them because they do that.

I do not want to be like them.

I believe some people misunderstood what I meant regarding Shellie Zimmerman. I did not intend to minimize what she said or did. I agree that her behavior protecting her husband, lying to the court about his assets at the bond hearing, and her participation in the devious scheme to falsely claim that Tracy Martin threatened someone in the Zimmerman family in order to persuade Judge Nelson to exclude Tracy Martin from the courtroom was wrong and reprehensible. I also suspect that she is racist and her chuckle regarding her husband’s comment about wearing a hoodie when he was released from jail was particularly insensitive and offensive.

No one should assume that I have approved of anything she said or did before she decided to divorce her husband. I have stated that her public statements and conduct in the case are consistent with the behavior of an abused and battered spouse. I also said that actions speak louder than words, so I am reserving judgment about her until we see what she does.

After reviewing my statements this weekend about Shellie, I realize that I did not clearly express myself. Therefore, I apologize for the confusion that I caused.

Finally, I still believe that she is a minor character in this tragedy. I said and still believe that the tone of many comments rejecting the possibility that she was a battered spouse was insensitive and disrespectful of the comments and feelings of many of our readers who have recently admitted that they were abused. I wanted that to stop.

Again, I thank Tzar for his thoughtful comment that inspired me to write this article.

Hello, everyone.

Producing articles and maintaining this blog requires substantial time and effort. Please take a moment and consider making a donation.

As you depend on us, we depend on you.

We need your help!

Fred and Crane

The Importance of Laughter

September 29, 2013

Sunday, September 29, 2013

Good afternoon:

With so little good news lately and our government poised to lay off 800,000 employees, one could be forgiven for reaching for the razorblades. So, I decided to to post something lighter.

This is Chapter 22 of my non-fiction book, Namaste: If Not Now, When?

The Importance Of Laughter

Just as perfection never is attainable, becoming a warrior is a never-ending developmental process. A key part of that process is laughter, particularly the ability to pop your bubble of self-importance by laughing at your own know-it-all self. Since I am married to Crane-Station, I do not have to worry about deflating my sense of self-importance, as she manages that chore rather well, ahem! And I do laugh, although not always at first.

The Mullah Nasruddin was invited to deliver a sermon. When he reached the pulpit, he asked the people,
Do you know what I am going to say?

They replied “no.”

“I have no desire to speak to people who don’t even know what I will be talking about!” the Mullah said, and he turned his back to the people and left the building.

Feeling extremely embarrassed, the people invited him back the next day. This time, when he asked the same question, they replied, “yes.”

Nasruddin said, “Well, since you already know what I am going to say, I won’t waste any more of your time!”
As he had done the previous day, he turned and left the building.

Now the people were really perplexed. They decided to try one more time and once again invited the Mullah to speak the following week.

As expected, he asked the same question, “Do you know what I am going to say?”

The people were prepared, so half of them answered “yes” while the other half replied “no.”

Without missing a beat, Nasruddin said, “Let the half who know what I am going to say, tell it to the half who don’t.”

Then he turned and left the building.

A warrior does not know when Death is going to reach out and claim his physical form. Therefore, he assumes that it can happen anytime. With that in mind, he decides what to do and when to do it focusing all of his attention, energy, and will on acting impeccably while he is doing it.

There is no time for remorse or second thoughts. A warrior accepts full responsibility for all of his decisions because he is literally ready to die for them.

He never sees himself as a victim and never wallows in self-pity.

He is never bored, resentful, helpless, bewildered or frightened.

Instead, his acts are focused and powerful because he never wastes energy or time reacting to what others say or do.

He never makes excuses because he understands that excuses are irrelevant and unnecessary when he does his best.

For a warrior there is time only for his impeccability.

Everything else drains his power; impeccability replenishes it.

He controls his destiny and he is happy and free because he is in charge of his life.

Because of the relationship he chooses to have with his death, he knows that no decision he makes is more or less important than any other. They are all important because each one might be his last.

Because of his focus and detachment, however, he also understands that they are all equally unimportant.

He sees his own imperfections and self-importance and he acquires power by laughing at himself. As he does, he sees imperfections and self-importance in others and their clueless pretensions, disorder, and confusion until one day when he realizes he has forever transformed and can never go back.

A renowned philosopher and moralist, who was traveling through the Mullah Nasruddin’s village one day, stopped and asked him where there was a good place to eat. Nasruddin suggested a place and the scholar, hungry for conversation, invited Nasruddin to join him. Much obliged, Nasruddin accompanied the scholar to a nearby restaurant, where they asked the waiter about the special of the day.

“ Fish! Fresh Fish!” said the waiter.

“Bring us two,” they answered.

A few minutes later, the waiter brought out a large platter with two cooked fish on it. One fish was quite a bit smaller than the other.

Without hesitating, Nasruddin speared the larger of the fish and placed it in on his own plate.

The scholar, giving Nasruddin a look of intense disbelief, proceeded to tell him that what he did was not only blatantly selfish, but that it violated the principles of almost every known moral, religious, and ethical system.

Nasruddin calmly listened to the philosopher’s extemporaneous lecture patiently, and when he had finally lapsed into a ruddy silence, Nasruddin said,

“Well, Sir, what would you have done?”

“I, being a conscientious human, would have taken the smaller fish for myself.”

“And here you are,” Mullah Nasruddin said, and placed the smaller fish on the gentleman’s plate.

Hello, everyone.

Producing articles and maintaining this blog requires substantial time and effort. Please take a moment and consider making a donation.

As you depend on us, we depend on you.

We need your help!

Fred and Crane

Open Thread about anything except Shellie Zimmerman

September 28, 2013

Saturday, September 28, 2013

This is our 692nd post.

Namaste to all who enter here.

We Can Do This

September 28, 2013

by Crane-Station for Frog Gravy

Ducks. jail Art

Ducks, jail art by Crane-Station on flickr. Colored pencil and magazine ink.

Wild Turkey. Jail art.

Jail art by Crane-Station on flickr with comment:

For Dad. Wild Turkey. We have these beautiful birds here. I was not really able to finish, because they turned the lights out, and because I do not have the correct colors (such as rust). Turkeys have been nearly wiped out by unrestricted hunting and land development. Some programs are bringing them back. They roost in trees, but like to run on the ground.

note: Frog Gravy is a nonfiction incarceration account.

Frog Gravy contains graphic language.

McCracken County Jail, Cell 107, early 2008

The social worker tells me that I am angry, and that I need to not be angry, and that I need to accept my situation like everyone else does, and I need to stop writing, because no one reads anything that I write anyway, because no one cares. She is referring, I assume, to the many letters that I write regarding jail conditions. I listen to her for a bit, and then decide that I would rather be back in the cell. I end the meeting. I continue to write.

I keep my writing to myself and I quit talking about the letters.

In the cell I wear a towel on my head and babble to myself endlessly, in my mind. Maybe the towel keeps others from hearing these conversations. The other me, the one I babble to, is elegant and strong and graceful, and says all of the right things to all of the wrong people. Things such as ‘I respectfully disagree,’ and ‘No, thank you,’ and ‘I am sorry but I cannot support you and your commissary habit in here,’ and ‘I will continue to write because it gives me meaning and purpose at the moment,’ and ‘Excuse me, do you think you could quit screaming for just a few moments, because I am finding it difficult to concentrate.’

However, it is not the other me that is in jail. It is me.

Sirkka is the new arrival. After introductions, she says to me, “Never take anything to trial in McCracken County. Everyone knows that.”

Sirkka is tiny, just 4’8,” and she drives me nuts in an endearing, pathetic sort of way. I want to hug her. I want to kill her.

She does not want to put clothes on and strolls about the cell half-naked, in bra and panties, talking at an indecipherable speed. Sirkka has an eating disorder. It reminds me of what I used to be and so, maybe this is why she annoys me. Her behavior is actually good for me because it reminds me of the horror of food binges and scamming for food at every opportunity. For a while, she convinced the staff she was pregnant because pregnant women get extra trays, but when the staff figured out that she was not pregnant, they placed her in the hole for a bit, and then back in the cell.

Today at breakfast, before I even sit down, she says, “Are you gonna eat that?”

“Here. Take the whole thing,” I say.

Down the hall, Harry screams from his isolation cell, “Somebody help me! Pleeeease! Let Me out! HELLLP! HELPmehelpmehelpmehelpme, PLEASE!”

Sirkka collects six sausages, five pieces of toast, two milks, and three servings of Fruit Loops. At lunch, four corn dogs, two helpings of corn, and three pieces of cake. The only thing I asked her for was one serving of applesauce but she would not give it up. She weighs 105 pounds, and has gained 30 pounds to get there; that is a 30 pound weight gain in a month. At this rate, she will be obese by May. That can happen in here. I met an inmate who gained 150 pounds in a year in jail. She had given up.

On one of the rare occasions that we do get to visit the outside cage for recreation, I cannot believe this, but Ruthie and I are the only ones who want to go outside.

Christie and Sally both claim that going outside briefly is actually more depressing than staying in the cell. I am worried about Christie. She stays on her bunk and cries all the time now. She says, “I just can’t help it, I just feel so bad inside.”

“Come on Christie, let’s just get out for a minute,” I say. “You’ll feel better. Tina, you too. Come on you guys. We’re going out. It’ll be all right. You’ll see. When we get back we’ll watch ‘Lost.’ I’ll even comb your hair Christie. Come on, we can do this.”

We go. In the outside cage Sirkka strips down to her bra and stands at the door, hoping a Class D male will walk by. Christie sits in a chair, silent. Tina takes a book and seats herself next to Christie. I stand in a corner and look up. The sun is shining. I shield my eyes.

I listen for a bird.

Hate and rage have no place in our hearts or in our blog

September 27, 2013

Friday, September 27, 2013

Good morning:

Hate and rage have no place in our hearts or in our blog.

No one is perfect and everyone makes mistakes.

Some of our mistakes are intentional and some are not.

Maybe Shellie Zimmerman is a sympathetic human being slowly emerging from a fog of abuse or maybe she is a grifter attempting to even up the score with a grifter husband who dumped her. Maybe she is a mixture of both. Regardless what we believe, the truth will be revealed as we watch from afar.

Shellie is at a crossroad in her life and we can only watch as she chooses what to do.

She is what she is and she will be whatever she decides to be.

Whatever choice she makes for whatever reason should have little or no impact on our lives.

Instead of shrieking at her, why not thank her for exposing something in us that we may need to own and decide to change?

Have we not been taught to believe in redemption, rebirth, tolerance, love and forgiveness?

Why not light a candle in your heart for her and offer a prayer that she makes the right choice?

Are there not far more important matters than Shellie Zimmerman’s life decisions going on in the world that have real life consequences to each of us?

For example, the United Nations Climate Change Report will be released today.

Think on this:

The Lord is spirit: and where the Lord’s spirit is, freedom is. The veils no longer cover our faces — we all behold the glory of the Lord and are transformed into his image from one level of glory to another; and this comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.

2 Corinthians 3 :17-18

Peace be with you.

Is Shellie Zimmerman wavering

September 26, 2013

Thursday, September 26, 2013

Good afternoon:

This just in:

Crane and I have errands to run this afternoon.

(H/T to Two sides to a Story for the link)

Hello, everyone.

Producing articles and maintaining this blog requires substantial time and effort. Please take a moment and consider making a donation.

As you depend on us, we depend on you.

Fred and Crane

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The Study Bible for Women

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text:
Franklin Pierce, Out of the Loop

Franklin Pierce

Franklin Pierce

The sack of Lawrence took place on a hot Wednesday, May 21, 1856. The destruction, pillage, and worse continued into the night but had abated by dawn. In the most restrictive sense, it played out over as little as four or five hours from the time Samuel Jones led his posse into town until they left again. But it took time and good cause, or at least a solid pretense, to get so many men to come over and consummate their long-held desire to do something about the infamous abolition town. The story could begin all the way back when Stephen Douglas cutting deals with the F Street Mess and Archibald Dixon. One could make a case for either, but to keep things manageable let’s focus on the immediate campaign against Lawrence that culminated on that Wednesday afternoon and evening. That also takes us back to Samuel Jones, sans posse, coming into Lawrence to arrest Samuel Wood on April 19. Failing then, he came back with a detachment of United States Cavalry and found Wood gone. He collected a few men as consolation prizes, then received a bullet in the back from someone in Lawrence gratis. On May 5, Samuel Lecompte’s grand jury made a federal case of things by ordering the arrest of various free state leaders and the suppression of the free state newspapers. The two causes came together in I.B. Donaldson’s overgrown “posse” of Missourians and Jefferson Buford’s adventurers.

That yields a bit more than a month between inciting event and the attack. During all that time, plenty of news could have passed back and forth between Kansas and Washington. One has to wonder just what the Pierce administration thought of events as they developed. The Transactions of the Kansas State Historical Society, Volume IV (PDF), have an account of that. The documents begin with the news that Franklin Pierce felt left out of the loop. On May 23, he telegraphed

Has the United States Marshal Proceeded to Lawrence to execute civil process? Has military force been found necessary to maintain civil government in Kansas? If so, have you relied solely upon the troops under the command of Colonels Sumner and Cooke? If otherwise, state the reasons. The laws must be executed; but military force should be employed until after the Marshal has met with actual resistance in the fulfillment of his duty.

Shannon, absent airline travel, couldn’t have called upon the president; he might at least have written.

Wilson Shannon

Wilson Shannon

Later that day, the President telegraphed again. In the interim, he received word from Edwin Sumner via Jefferson Davis, Secretary of War. Pierce had a copy of Sumner’s letter to Shannon “of the 12th instant.” I think that Pierce means the letter Sumner sent on the 13th, based on his endorsement of Sumner’s policy there. The Colonel wanted a purely military posse to keep the peace and offered to furnish Shannon with however many men he required. Pierce wrote

My knowledge of facts is imperfect; but with the force of Colonel Sumner at hand, I perceive no occasion for the posse, armed or unarmed, which the Marshal is said to have assembled at Lecompton.

Jefferson Davis

Jefferson Davis

Nobody looks on Franklin Pierce as a sterling example of presidential leadership or far-sighted judgment, but even he could see things had gone sour indeed and required containment. He knew that Donaldson had a posse at Lecompton but had yet to move on Lawrence, thanks to his information as of the 13th. But while he sat in Washington and wondered why Shannon hadn’t written back to him, Donaldson had gone and Lawrence unresisting people of Lawrence paid the price.

Two Roads to Lawrence

Wilson Shannon

Wilson Shannon

When Wilson Shannon, Governor of Kansas, told the people of Lawrence that they could disarm themselves in the face of an armed foe bent on their destruction if they wanted him to lift a finger to save them, he claimed the only danger they might face came from a legally-constituted posse. Under ordinary circumstances, and if the governor had burdened himself with facts, one might not find much to quarrel with in that. For a governor to interfere with the work of the courts must raise suspicions of executive usurpation. But Lawrence faced rather more than a posse, and when confronted with a posse of United States dragoons, the town had offered no direct resistance.

Lawrence came to all of this by two roads simultaneously. Samuel Jones, the proslavery sheriff, came into the town to apprehend Samuel Wood. Wood, a free state militia officer, had rescued fellow officer Jacob Branson from Jones’ custody back in December. This even precipitated the first campaign against Lawrence. Wood declined to go with Jones and a scuffle ensued, which deprived Jones of a pistol. Wood and the men who helped him get free from Jones promptly made themselves scarce. Jones applied to the 1st Cavalry for help, securing about a dozen soldiers who went back into Lawrence with him, searched the town and surrounds, and found none of his original quarry. He arrested about ten others and camped in town. Someone shot him in the back. Jones survived, but the proslavery press reported his death.

Samuel Newitt Wood

Samuel Newitt Wood

Jones’ travail by itself may have caused the invasion, just as his previous had, but the federal government became more directly involved when Samuel Lecompte’s grand jury summoned the entire free state leadership for questioning, with execution to follow. Serving Lecompte’s warrants did not fall to Jones or his office, as he served only the territorial government. Lecompte had his appointment direct from Franklin Pierce. He presided over the First District Court of the United States for Kansas Territory and so could call on the US Marshals to handle his process. Lecompte did in the person of J.B. Donelson (also rendered as Donaldson in some sources), an Illinoisian whom William Phillips called

a comparatively illiterate and informed man,. and, judging from his manner of acting in his official capacity, totally devoid of the legal knowledge necessary to dignify his office. […] He is a man past middle age, of coarse, unintellectual face, and, from his looks, ought never to have held a station above that of town constable; he would not have been too well qualified for that.

Ugly and unqualified or not, Donelson passed the matter of Lecompte’s warrants over to a Georgian named Fain. Fain tried to serve one against Andrew Reeder, then working with the Howard Committee. Reeder dismissed Fain’s summons on technical grounds, so he returned the next day with a warrant for contempt of court. Reeder declined to go with him because he had privilege from arrest, that the summons would impede his work with the committee -Lecompte probably agreed-, and that he would find his murder while in the custody of proslavery men inconvenient just then. Meanwhile, the rest of those with warrants against them began to depart Lawrence for safer pastures. Reeder soon followed.

William Addison Phillips

William Addison Phillips

According to Phillips, Fain did not let matters sit there. Instead of going back to Lecompton to report his failure,

he went down to Franklin, where at that time a band of Southerners, under Capt. Moon, were stationed. There the alarm was given, and soon scouts were sent to Missouri to gather in the Southerners still stationed there.

Last time around, Jones had gone from losing Branson straight to Franklin to write Missouri for help. Now Fain had done the same. Where Jones could claim the mantle of the territorial government and militia for his first campaign, the second could proceed with the imprimatur of the federal courts.

“There is more abolition wolf-bait.” The Shooting of J.N. Mace, Part One

Samuel Jones

Samuel Jones

We left off with a retrospective on how the proslavery border ruffians had pushed indifferent and even sympathetic Kansans into the free state camp by their heavy-handed, sometimes deadly, actions to force slavery upon the territory. George Brown, or rather his associate editor J.H. Greene as Brown had left Kansas on business, published it in the Herald of Freedom as part of a general appeal for help from the East. He and his fellow free state men expected a new invasion in short order and feared that this time, Wilson Shannon would send the 1st Cavalry out of Fort Leavenworth after them as well. They came to those dire straits courtesy of proslavery sheriff Samuel Jones, who came to Lawrence to arrest Samuel Wood. Wood had rescued his fellow free state militia leader, Jacob Branson, from Jones’ custody back in December. As soon as Wood got back to Kansas, Jones went to take him in. Wood refused to oblige, leading to Jones coming back with some of the cavalry as bodyguards. Wood and his accomplices fled Lawrence in advance of that, but someone shot Jones in the back while he camped in town.

Almost simultaneously, proslavery judge Samuel Lecompte got a grand jury to summon the entire free state leadership on suspicion of treason, usurpation of office, and other charges. The jury also declared Brown’s paper a public menace which deserved suppression. Free state governor Charles Robinson left on the 9th. The free state’s senator-elect/delegate to Congress, Andrew Reeder took off shortly thereafter on learning that the previous plan for him to serve as a test case would likely end in his death.

Samuel Lecompte

Samuel Lecompte

Before he left, Brown made sure everyone got the point. After his item recapping Kansas shift into the antislavery camp, he detailed the first attempted arrest of Reeder. Then came an item on Pardee Butler’s late travails. Butler had nothing to do with the free state government except preferring it as a private individual. Brown identifies J.N. Mace as a free state man like Butler, but calls him a captain. That implies militia leadership, which might have made him a larger target. Mace came into Lawrence on April 29, 1856, to testify before the Howard Committee. That night he sat at home until his dog raised a ruckus. Mace went to see what had happened, and

walked but a short distance from the door, when several shots were fired at him, one taking effect in his leg, near the top of his boot. The shot paralyzed his leg, and so stunned him that he fell to the ground. Two persons, who were concealed in a gully close at hand, hereupon made good their escape, one of them remarking, “there is more abolition wolf-bait.”

Unlike Brown’s story of highway robbery, this has a sound ring of truth to it. Mace did testify before the Committee and by naming him Brown invites people to check his facts. Mace suffered for “several hours” before he could get back indoors. Brown called the wound “severe” but not life-threatening, so in theory anybody nearby could go see for themselves.

The Howard Committee’s Difficulties, Part One

The Howard Committee

The Howard Committee

Arrivals and returns have shaped much of Kansas history so far in 1856. The Buford Expedition and Howard Committee arrived in the territory to do their work. Pardee Butler and Samuel Wood came back to Kansas after time away. Just as some of Buford’s men, or a similar group, met Butler’s return to Kansas so did the Howard Committee find itself in Lawrence when Samuel Jones came to serve the warrant he had on Samuel Wood dating back to December. Jones’ subsequent arrests of six men who helped Wood escape him got him shot in the back. This naturally had an effect on the committee’s business in the town.

The Committee might not have gone to Lawrence. They received a letter from E.V. Sumner, in command at Fort Leavenworth, suggesting they meet there. He promised that

There may be no excitement if you assemble elsewhere, but there will certainly be none here.

They answered that they intended to conduct its business at various points in Kansas, but would happily take Sumner up on the offer when they came around his way. The first business in Kansas took place at Lecompton, where they ordered copies of various documents and agreed on the rules for examining witnesses. April 23 found them in Lawrence.

Decades later, John Sherman remarked on the great development of the region that had since taken place. They came to a different Lawrence, one

in embryo, nothing finished, and my wife and I were glad to have a cot in a room in the unfinished and unoccupied “Free State Hotel”

In those modest settings, the committee had a brief meeting on the twenty-third. They had previously agreed to use Andrew Reeder and John Whitfield, both claiming election as Kansas’ sole delegate to Congress, to draw up lists of witnesses for the next day. That night, Samuel Jones took a bullet in the back.

John Wilkins Whitfield

John Wilkins Whitfield

The next morning, Whitfield wrote to the committee. In light of the attack upon Jones, Whitfield pronounced himself

unable to get my witnesses to attend the sitting of the committee at this place; they refusing, and with good reason, to expose themselves and run the risk of being assassinated, whenever night shuts in, by a lawless band of conspirators.

Whitfield’s witnesses included Samuel Jones, who had more reason than most to refuse a trip to Lawrence. Others present at told the proslavery delegate they would leave Lawrence in short order. Nor would those who planned to come previously do so in light of the danger to their lives. Furthermore:

there are others here rendering me material aid in this investigation, and without whom I cannot safely proceed, whom I cannot ask to remain and imperil their lives in so doing, or at least subject themselves to insult and contumely.

One can’t blame them. Whitfield promised that he would still happily comply with the committee’s work and bring all his witnesses to bear, but they had to meet somewhere safer than Lawrence.

“Kill him! Kill him!” The Return of Pardee Butler, Part Two

Pardee Butler

Pardee Butler

We have the election today, Gentle Readers. I hope you will cast your ballots, however you cast them, untroubled by any forceful echoes of the history we deal with here.

Into the presently brewing Kansas strife returned Pardee Butler. He had followed the news out of Kansas since departing the territory in the fall of 1855, but come April he returned all the same. The minister had a money and time invested in a claim On that claim, Butler had built a house where his wife, their children, and her brother lived in his absence. Samuel Wood slept there the night after he escaped from Jones’ custody.

What befell Pardee Butler next, we have from his Personal Recollections by a circuitous route. Butler wrote it all down in a letter to the Herald of Freedom, just as he had the story of his previous mistreatment. He presents it as the original letter, but Butler’s daughter finished the book and adds a note that the minister had not retained a copy of the letter he sent. Due to events we will soon come to, Butler didn’t get a full copy of that edition of the Herald, but rather “only a mutilated copy of it.” Another paper reprinted the letter in part and Butler reassembled the original from the two.

Butler told the Herald that he had first come back to Kansas in November, where he visited Atchison in the full light of day, declared himself, and went about his business without trouble. Tempers seem to have cooled since his near-lynching in August. Despite the dire news, he seems to have thought he would have the same reception again. On April 30, he crossed the Missouri river and called at Atchison again. This time, Butler didn’t do much to draw notice to himself. He touched base with two businessmen who he had dealt with previously.

Having remained only a few moments, I went to my buggy to resume my journey, when I was assaulted by Robert S. Kelley, co-editor of the Squatter Sovereign, and others, was dragged into a saloon, and there surrounded by a company of South Carolinians, who are reported to have been sent out by a Southern Emigrant Aid Society. In this last mob I recognized only two that were citizens of Atchison or engaged in the former mob.

The speed of Butler’s seizure suggests that Kelley had advance word of his arrival. He doesn’t say it in as many words, but he seems to intend us to understand the man who passed him on the road as carrying the news ahead.

Robert S. Kelley

Robert S. Kelley

Butler stressed the novelty of most of his attackers. The Squatter Sovereign speaks of the same group in other contexts, so we have good reason to believe Butler didn’t change the facts to further dramatize the story or spare himself the enmity of anyone still in Atchison. He understood them as another species of border ruffian, not interested in claims or making new homes for themselves, eschewing legitimate business in favor of proslavery militancy. That also roughly matches the Sovereign’s description.

These worthies

yelled, “Kill him! Kill him! Hang the —- Abolitionist.”

Charles Robinson on the Jones Shooting

Charles Lawrence Robinson

Charles Lawrence Robinson

Lawrence Responds: parts 1, 2, 3, 4

We left Lawrence resolved to look seriously into who shot Sheriff Samuel Jones in the back on the night of April 23, 1856. They might have even meant it, regardless of how many free state people in the town believed Jones deserved a good shooting. On behalf of the free state government, Charles Robinson offered a $500 reward for the arrest of the guilty party. After Andrew Reeder’s speech and the resolutions, he answered the loud call to speak to the public meeting. I don’t mean to go over his speech in fine detail, but it deserves a look.

The free state Governor began on a less than conciliatory note:

We are engaged in a sort of warfare, in this State of Kansas, but it is an honorable warfare on our part, and will will never, as individuals, as a community, or as a party let ourselves down from an honorable position; we will never change ourselves from honorable enemies, to cowardly assassins. No honorable man could justify any such course.

Robinson had spoken of war before, but to do so now strikes an especially radical note.

Hugh Cameron

Hugh Cameron

These words also have more than a hint of aspiration about them. Robinson hewed to the line that someone had put this whole situation up to discredit his movement, just as he affirmed that the Wakarusa War back in November and December had resulted from proslavery scheming. He didn’t make that connection gratuitously or entirely without basis in fact. The gloriously hirsute Hugh Cameron appears to have gotten his justice of the peace commission in exchange for warrants to arrest Jacob Branson’s rescuers. Whether the inciting events came from a plot or not, Jones himself might well have gotten Wilson Shannon to make it one. Jones came back to Lawrence at the start of the late troubles to arrest Samuel Wood, the leader of Branson’s rescuers. One needn’t be a free state partisan to connect those dots.

All the same, Governor Robinson determined to get to the bottom of things. He told the crowd that he had looked into things himself and found, so far as he could determine, a proslavery plot. But since “[w]e all understand this” Robinson felt no need to “go into particulars.” The Governor then recapped the Wakarusa War anyway. Politicians always love the sound of their own voices, but Robinson had a particular audience in mind: the Howard Committee.

A committee comes here from Washington to investigate this matter, and see how we have been treated; to see who are the oppressed, who are the wronged; to see who are in the right. The very moment they plant their feet upon the soil of Kansas, that moment these outrages begin to be fomented. Everything has been quiet up to that moment.

The Howard Committee

The Howard Committee

This, as I have mentioned before, doesn’t quite stand scrutiny. Jones came to Lawrence at essentially the first opportunity on news of Wood’s return from Ohio. Robinson must have known better. A man of his stature in Lawrence would have had the news of an important free state arrival, from the Herald of Freedom if nothing else. The free state Governor follows up an at least misleading statement with a likely outright lie:

The people treated him civilly, so far as I know. I never happened to meet him, but I have learned of no commotion. There has been some little excitement, perhaps, but the community generally have been willing to let him goon and make his arrests.

Robinson can’t have expected that to fool anybody with the denial and the doubletalk about excitement. Something happened, but trust him it didn’t really count. Ok? It strains credulity to imagine that he didn’t know Jones’ foes resisted him to the point of violence. He passes all of that off as “[s]ome individuals” refusing arrest. And anyway, whatever happened no one could pin it on Charles Robinson. He took the opportunity to note that he

happened to be out of town last evening, and I suppose I shall not be charge with the offence committed then.

John Speer and Samuel Jones Reminisce

Samuel Jones

Samuel Jones

On the night of April 23, 1856 Sheriff Samuel Jones caught two bullets. The first passed through his pants. The second took a detour through him. The men he came to Lawrence to arrest must fall under suspicion, as they had a better reason to want Jones gone than anybody. Furthermore, everyone Jones had come into Lawrence to take had a history of violence against him. He first sought the just-returned Samuel Wood, who had let an armed band against Jones to rescue Jacob Branson. The sheriff assembled his second slate of victims from those men who seized him and prevented his arrest of Wood by main force.

We don’t know who fired the shot. Anybody might have done it; Jones had made enemies of any who lived through the siege back in December. But if you want to narrow it down, then the men Jones came back to arrest make a fair group of suspects. Fleeing down during the day didn’t preclude a nighttime return to ventilate Jones. Jones deputy thought John Speer might have pulled the trigger. He might have visited the homes of everyone in the group, but Speer wrote his story down.

Jones and Speer both survived Kansas. Twenty-five years later, they met up again. Jones had gone to Texas and then on to Arizona, where he would die. But he came back to Kansas at least once, visiting Leavenworth. There he saw a man he recognized at Planter’s House:

“Is not this Mr. Speer?” He was Sheriff Jones. we passed out onto the veranda, and had a long and pleasant talk over old times. I asked him if he ever imagined it possible I could have had anything to do with the attempt on his life. Most emphatically he replied: “No. I always recognized you as a gentleman; and that was a dastardly attempt at assassination. With pleasant memories, and hearty congratulations, we parted, never to meet again.

I don’t know from being shot, thank you, but I did have my wrist remodeled in a violent clash many years ago. I remember the event quite well. Though the perpetrators suffered no more than a questioning by the school principal, I put a fair bit of effort into working out just what happened. I can’t imagine Jones got shot and didn’t devote at least some energy to the question down the years. He might have excused Speer or dismissed vague suspicions in the name of politeness, but would he have done so for a man he strongly suspected had put the bullet in him? Probably not.

The Hunt for John Speer

Samuel Jones

Samuel Jones

On the night of April 23, 1856 someone in Lawrence shot Sheriff Samuel Jones, twice. The first bullet went through his pants, the second through him. The Herald of Freedom told readers that a proslavery man had to have done it, referring vaguely to enemies Jones had made on his own side of Kansas Territory’s great issue. Outside Kansas people might believe that, but the evidence doesn’t support the proposition at all. Whatever enemies Jones might have made aside antislavery Kansans, Lawrence had no shortage of men who had made violent threats against him and had attacked him previously.

We don’t know who did shoot Jones, but the men he had come to Lawrence to arrest seem like fair enough suspects. John Speer, who later wrote a biography of James Lane, fit that description. He had intervened to prevent the arrest of Samuel Wood, the business that brought Jones to Lawrence in the first place. Jones’ deputy, Sam Salters (the fourth Samuel in the story), thought Speer a likely prospect and had the dragoons surround Speer’s home, twice.

The first time, he was insolent, abusive and profane; and I advised Mrs. Speer, if she saw his hosts coming, to make no resistance, but to barricade the door and compel him to break it down. This she did; and, as he uttered a volley of profanity, she indignantly cast a dipper of water in his face. The dragoons laid back int heir saddles, and laughed and cheered. This so provoked him that he pulled a revolver, swearing he would “kill the abolitionists.”

That went too far for the soldiers with Salters, who told him to cool it. Instead the officer, Lieutenant McIntosh, went up the the window, tapped, and asked her to let him in. Mrs. Speers didn’t cave easily

She replied: “If you are United States officer, I will; if you are a Border Ruffian, you will have to break the door down.”

The soldier confessed to soldiering, so she let him in. He conducted

a very inefficient search, pleasantly remarking about the bright morning, the babe in the cradle, and her four pretty children around the fire, and retired.

All of this makes it sound like the posse caught Speer in his home, with the inefficient search probably including winks and nods. Speer clarifies to the contrary. McIntosh declined, over Salters’ request, to search a small room. He also tells that he had met McIntosh on the road previously and they had passed without incident. It seems no bad blood existed between them and McIntosh may have thought he let Speer go by means of that incomplete hunt. Speer doesn’t say so outright, but it looks like he understood McIntosh’s actions in that light and he elsewhere declares that many of the soldiers sided with the antislavery party at the time. His mourning of the Lieutenant’s later death at the Battle of Cabin Creek, where he took the side of slavery, points to at least some gratitude for the gentle treatment of Speer’s wife and family.

“Unworthy even of the name of a devil” The Shooting of Samuel Jones, Part Two

Samuel Jones

Samuel Jones

We left Samuel Jones, Sheriff of Douglas County, still in Lawrence. He did not get his man, Samuel Wood, nor the men he came back to get who had helped Wood escape him. But Jones had a concession prize of six men in custody thanks to the backing of the 1st Cavalry out of Fort Leavenworth. Confident of his protection and the free state men’s respect of the United States military, Jones pitched a tent in Lawrence to stay the night. He and some other men had gone out to get a drink of water, a fluid antislavery sources might have us believe Jones understood only dimly for lack of study. Thomas Crowder and William Preston stood with Jones just then, and later testified that some men came up looking for Jones. As the Sheriff stooped mere feet away, he rose to identify himself and then stooped down again. Then

some person in a crowd standing near fired into the party, when the remark was made by P[reston] “Jones, you are shot,” and upon examination it was found that a bullet had passed through his pants without any injury.

No physical injury, anyway. The prose makes this all sound very dry and orderly. Someone took a shot at Jones. The bullet whizzed through his pantleg. Preston delivered a Shakespearean stage direction in a flat voice and everyone went about their lives. No one at the time could have missed the tension. Antislavery men had threatened Jones life all day long. He had a large, armed bodyguard of dragoons with him. Jones must have done at least some cursing, as our witnesses hint immediately after:

The party returned to the tent, where, when we commenced talking about this dastardly and hellish attempt at assassination

I expect that getting shot at tends to dominate conversation, but rude free state men would not let Jones, Preston, and Crowder have their chat about extremely recent events unmolested. A man, pretending drunkenness, stumbled into the tent and sat down. Jones told him to get lost, which he did.

in less than five minutes, as we were conversing together, Jones fell, exclaiming, “Oh!” He attempted to draw his knife and find the dastardly scoundrel -worse than a fiend- who would thus, under cover of night, attempt the life of a fellow-being; but the wound was such as to prevent his rising at all. The shot came from the hind part of the tent, and was aimed at the back of the sheriff. We have no doubt, ourselves, that the whole matter was concocted-the rascal hired for the express purpose of assassination; and that there are many persons in Lawrence concerned in this matter, who are very desirous to shield themselves behind this foul and dark scoundrel, unworthy even of the name of a devil.

Second time’s the charm, apparently. Subtlety went out the window after the first shot, if resident at all. Whoever wanted Jones dead must not have cared to ventilate his friends or his military guards, so they had to make sure they had the right spot to aim at.

The Herald of Freedom tries to blame the shooting on proslavery men who disliked Jones, implausibly enough. So far as aiming at him, George Brown argues that Jones

took a seat in an exposed condition-in an unoccupied tent, with a bright light beside him, which, through the cloth, rendered everything perfectly and plainly visible from the outside. In this position he received a bullet in his back-fired by an assassin hand.

Brown’s explanation relies on Jones not having company, which would come as a surprise to Crowder and Preston. Everything else would fit just fine. A light in a tent would give the shooter an ideal target, but shadows don’t come with name tags and the tent had three. Someone would have had to go look, either the shooter himself or a confederate.

Wilson Shannon Successfully Calls Out the Army

Wilson Shannon

Wilson Shannon

The Arrest of Wood: parts 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

Samuel Jones wrote to Wilson Shannon as he had before: Lawrence defied him. The locals proclaimed they would ignore the law and deny his authority. They resisted his attempts to arrest Samuel Wood and then Samuel Tappan by force. Douglas County’s sheriff tried twice. He even summoned a posse within Lawrence and got no one for his trouble. Governor Shannon had to give him the power, by which Jones meant military force, to do his job.

Last time around, Shannon keenly sought the help of the United States Army in resolving the crisis. It did not come, as Colonel E.V. Sumner preferred to have proper orders rather than intervene on his own authority. Since then, Franklin Pierce had placed his force at Shannon’s disposal. The Governor aimed to use it. He wrote to Sumner on April 20th:

Knowing the irritated feelings that exist between the two parties in this Territory, growing out of their former difficulties, and being exceedingly desirous to avoid the effusion of blood, or any cause or excuse for further conflict or disturbance, I have thought it most advisable to call on you for an officer and six men to accompany the sheriff and aid him in the execution of the legal process in his hands.

Seven men didn’t make for much of an army, but they did come from the Army. The free state leadership badly wanted to avoid any clash with the United States military, as that would damn them as traitors in the eyes of the nation. They knew they could get no help from the territorial government in their cause, nor from Franklin Pierce’s White House. The whole free state strategy rested on their ability to present themselves as loyal Americans who suffered the trampling of their rights in the name of slavery. An armed insurrection against the territorial government hadn’t hurt that image, but one against the United States surely would.

From Shannon’s perspective, that counted as the best reason to use the military. The locals would surely not help Jones, unless he found some proslavery locals who would likely get the idea that they gathered to ruin Lawrence and murder abolitionists rather than conduct a few arrests. It had happened before. Thus

To call on any of the citizens of the county to accompany the sheriff and aid in overpowering the resistance on the part of the defendants, that is anticipated, would most probably lead to a conflict which, when once commenced, it is difficult to foresee where it might end, but in the use of the U.S. troops, no personal or party feelings can exist on either side, and their presence will most likely command obedience to the laws.


text:
Don’t die dear doomsday dudes!

NASA is now educating the shitheads who believe the world will end on December 21, 2012. It looks like a canon is hired to kill a little mosquito. NASA should remain busy with our vast universe. Sane people have been working hard to make the shitheads understand that the world will not end in 2012 and they should better believe in science, rather than superstitions. If the shitheads haven’t got it yet, I am afraid they will not get it even if NASA begs them to get it.
Will the doomsday believers commit mass suicide around December 21? It will be painful to witness such a tragedy. Stupidity does not always kill but sometimes it really kills.


text:
After the Fire

We had hoped to launch a website under different circumstances.

Along with all of the other vendors in the main building at the St. Jacobs Farmers’ Market, we lost our booth in the fire on Monday. It is difficult to believe, and our thoughts are with all members of our market community who are also struggling to do so.

Unfortunately, our apple fritter-flipping business will be temporarily suspended as we lost all of our equipment and do not have another location.

We would like to flip fritters for you again though.  We’ll use this site, as well as our Twitter feed and Facebook page, to keep you updated on our rebuilding efforts accordingly.

Thank you again for all of your support,
Joanne and Marianne
The Fritter Co.


text:
The threadbare 30’s?

I’ve been getting all excited about 30s reproduction prints recently. Yes, my quilting obsession is still in full swing.

When I was commissioned to make a baby blanket for new baby Sienna Rose recently, I couldn’t get passed the idea that I wanted to use 30’s inspired fabric. The 30’s is apparently remembered as ‘the turbulent 30’s’ or ‘the threadbare 30’s’ due to the state of the economy at the time, but from researching the prints and the textures within them, I’d say they’re anything but.

There’s a lot of ditsy prints, small flowers and small geometric patterns. The palette is generally cool and calm, pastel-y shades that lend themselves nicely to baby blankets, children’s clothes and in my mind, tea aprons too! storybook

Although the fabrics can seem a little ‘dowdy’ and outdated at times, I found some super cool and graphical 1930’s quilt that challenged that perception and really got me thinking about how it’s more about selection and categorizing than anything else…. and if you get those two right, I reckon you’re onto a winner!

So, after trawling through my favourite fabric websites, I decided on these beauties. Admittedly, they are girly and cutesy and perhaps a little generic. But don’t worry team, I’ve got a fabulous fabric to back this little quilt in and it’s going to pop it right back into this century … oh, and a fab binding fabric too. Hurrah!

IMG_4300 IMG_4299 IMG_4302

These are some of my favourite cobos:

IMG_4286 IMG_4288 IMG_4292 IMG_4294

I’m thoroughly excited to get working on this quilt, I love venturing into the unknown with a new design or style or print. There are times when I have a very clear idea of how I want a project to end up, but I think this one is going to be a little more organic than that and I can tell already that the prints have a very distinct style that will ultimately dictate the outcome of this venture… stay tuned for updates!

Now to get to work! Wheeeeeeee! x

This entry was published on August 4, 2014 at 6:52 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. Bookmark the permalink. Follow any comments here with the RSS feed for this post.

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The best thing about living in a place like I do must be that I can take my bicycle and in few minutes I am on the beach.  Me and Jonathan often spend quality time, looking at the ocean and enjoying ourself. Sometimes we bring lunch. I love my place! I think he looks adorable, sitting on this bench, watching the sea. He looks like a little philosopher : )

By the way, I have to tell you, the last month I have had visitors from 30 countries!! China, Chile, Nigeria, Russia ect ect. Thats so inspring! Promise I will give you good reasons to visit, so keep stopping by.Have a beautiwhere ever you are!

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Sonoma Chocolate/Beige Ottoman

With a striking tribal design and natural coloring, this flawless ottoman will offer a timeless solution to updating your home décor. Featuring a unique oval construction paired with elegant wooden legs, this piece will exude classic charm in any space. Genuinely faultless in aspects of construction and style, this piece embodies impeccable artistry while maintaining principles of affordability and durable design, making it the ideal accessory for your décor.

  • Dimensions: 20"W x 20"D x 18"H
  • Color: Chocolate, Beige
  • Material: Base 100% Wood, Top 100% Wool
  • Shipping: Ships within 5-7 days. US only.
  • Return: This item is return eligible within 14 days.

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text:
Tuesday, February 25, 2014

    While dating one often hears that the hard part about dating an older person dating is that one becomes more set in ones ways. Part of this used to scare me. Would I end up one of those "older singles" who is set in my ways? I have always tried to be a flexible person and to try new experiences and make new friends. Would that period of my life end before I would find my bashert? I really don't know the answer to any of these questions, but I have learned a few things along the way. Over time a person learns what they like and what they don't like. Unless one is depressed one tries to engage in activities one enjoys and spend time with those who are uplifting . Once one knows what one likes it makes it harder to try other things because one becomes busy and doesn't have as much time to experiment . Then again some people always like to try new things and others never did even when they were younger. Being settled can also be comforting. Its nice to have routine. Its wonderful to have the same friends one has had for over ten years. Its amazing to have people in one's life who know one's good points and bad points and have remained in one's life for many years. Its also good to know who one is.
      I think the idea is to strike the right balance. As much as one should not be too staid being x years old and being completely unreliable , unemployed and unstable are not good options either.

Monday, February 24, 2014

Don't Try This at Home

Ever leave the subway station through this type of exit? I have.I do, almost everyday
The most convenient exit at my subway station has an exit like this. Whenever I exit the station through such an exit I am always careful to let the person in front of me go fully through the turnstile before  I attempt exiting . Apparently everyone is not as considerate. This past Friday after a stressful crowded train ride  I attempted exiting the train station through the turnstile exit. As I am in the exit I realize I am stuck. Some moron decided to go into the space with me. I do not know what would possess anyone to do this right before Shabbos. I almost cried . I could not push myself out because the moron was so heavy and not helping me . Finally she decided to help me and we were able to get out . It really scared me because I can be careful not to go in the turnstile with someone else who is in front of me, but I have no control over someone following me into the turnstile. Please folks, be considerate of others.

Thursday, February 20, 2014

Snow Days

The snow has visited New York City more times than I can count this winter. Usually I am in such a hurry that I don't get a chance to photograph the weather. Not this year. This year I have been able to snap some snow photos.Now that I am flipping through the photo files I realize how pretty the snow is. The snow kind of makes Brooklyn look like a sleepy town when snow blankets  the streets. How deceptive.

Tuesday, February 18, 2014

Meir Schuster BDE

     When I was eighteen and was in Israel for the year I had the privilege of viewing Meir Schuster standing by the kotel trying to get young people to experience a shabbos meal, or go to yeshiva. It was quite a sight to see. So many can thank him for being an observant Jew today. Meir Schuster passed away yesterday, February 17,2014 . Baruch Dayan Emet. I am including in this post a shorashim video . Its a little cheesy in my opinion, but it shows Rabbi Shuster speaking which is why I am posting it.

Sunday, February 16, 2014

Leah Vincent

     I just finished the latest off the derech National Enquirer tell all penned by Leah Vincent. I was thoroughly unimpressed. I would have preferred to have read The National Enquirer or Star Magazine.
     The book is called Cut Me Loose - Sin and Salvation After My Ultra-Orthodox Girlhood. It starts out with Leah , one of eleven children growing up in a yeshivish home in Pittsburgh. At that point I found it a little difficult to take her seriously. Growing up yeshivish in Pittsburgh is a lot different than growing up yeshivish in Brooklyn. She herself says she was sent to Manchester , England for high school because her family felt it would be a more appropriate so she obviously was exposed to people of different levels of religious as a child. Then again , I grew up orthodox outside of New York and though I was not yeshivish , out of town actually is a lot more sheltered than Brooklyn because you don't have  New York City beckoning only a subway ride away. Just being shomer shabbos and kosher and having a good Torah education gives you a different culture and when you mingle with secular people you are unfamilar with their standards. It may be a bit more pronounced if you grow up yeshivish or hassidish, but you are kidding yourself if you think being more modern makes you just like a secular person. So to begin with I forgave her a little for saying she had a difficult time merging with secular society. But then I read the rest of the book.
     Over time Vincent began to push the limits with her parents and after high school ended up in New York. Her parents found her a job and an apartment  and paid her first month's rent.  After that she was on her own. After this point the tabloid begins. She blames her parents for her lack of friends and loneliness which she claims lead her to years of living as a degenerate.
      Vincent lived in Kensington , Brooklyn which is on the outskirts of Boro Park and Midwood and are both chock full of OTD youth. Fifteen years ago when her supposed meltdown occurred there were plenty of young people who were full of questions who lived in the neighborhood that she lived in. I find it hard to believe that she was not able to find ANY of them to commiserate with . Instead she had a Rastafarian drug dealer boyfriend who she had an affair with. Gee that makes sense. I find it hard to believe that someone who grew up so sheltered would feel comfortable hanging with someone so degenerate. She eventually starts cutting herself, at some point is in a psych ward (where she should have stayed longer if you ask me) , becomes a prostitute for a few days and has an affair with an older , married Brooklyn college professor . Why would ANYONE  think that being a prostitute is a great idea? Why would someone with Leah's background not befriend any secular or modern orthodox or average respectable gentiles at Brooklyn college? Why would Leah think when her three times her age married lover's wife called her up and yelled at her for having an affair with her husband that she wasn't at fault since she was single?  Inquiring  minds want to know.
        The book reads like a bad version of a small town girl goes to the big city and does every bad thing she could do before she sobers up. Every time you think she could not have done anything more absurd she does. It almost seems fictional . How could anyone be so stupid? If she really did all the scandalous deeds she mentions why would she want put them in a memoir for all to see? Would she not be embarrassed?
       Vincent would like to blame all of her sins on her parents and a religion that is very strict about the separation of the sexes. She feels that because her parents equated writing letters to a boy to being slutty that it left her no choice but to fulfill that prophecy. Baloney. Her parents were not perfect. I don't think anyone religious or secular has perfect parents. After reading Leah's story I have sided with her parents. They were right to be strict with her. They were afraid that she would do the crazy things that she claims she did in her book.  However, it is clear from this memoir that Leah had a lot of untreated mental issues which it is too bad that her parents perhaps could have gotten her help for before she spun out of control . I am sure that they could not imagine that she would have such poor judgement. In my opinion not getting Leah proper mental health help was their only crime, the rest was her  own creation. You can only blame your parents and your religion so much. At some point you have to take responsibility for your actions.
        I think that part of my problem with reading these OTD  books is that I want to read the story about the person who leaves their hasidic or yeshivish world , gets job , goes to college, gets married , lives a normal life, respects that even though they may not want to be observant that there are different strokes for different folks and they just move on . When I find a book like this I will let you know. I guess the people who end up normal don't need to write books about it. Though he's a bit of a nut, Shalom Auslander's book Foreskin's Lament still remains the best of the OTD books so far.
        In the meantime if you want to read about scandal read about the Kardashians or Paris Hilton rather than read Vincent's book. They are much more interesting.

Monday, February 10, 2014

   I recently saw the movie HER with Joaquin Phoenix and Scarlett Johanson. Her is a movie about a guy who falls in love with the Siri-like voice of his computer's operating system. They even become a couple. The crazy part is that I am surprised it has taken this long for a movie like this to have been made.
   A human- os (operating system) relationship is ridiculous, but there are so many people who are so attached to their digital devices that they really don't need people anymore and for them an os relationship is all they can commit to.
    The movie made a strong point when Joaquin Phoenix's character went of vacation with his os.  He would go places with her and speak to her. It made me think of people who speak to deceased relatives as if they are still alive. As unreal as this movie was I think that there are quite a few people  who would be interested i n these kinds of "relationships".
     I don't want to give away the whole plot, but I will say that it really made me think about how distant people are from each other these days. Human interaction is becoming so minimal. Let us never get to the point where a relationship with a computer seems better than a relationship with an actual person.The we would really have a shidduch crisis.

Saturday, February 8, 2014

Bye Bye Braces

This sounds really cool. I wore conventional braces for three years. I would have preferred this option....

Wednesday, February 5, 2014

We are Family

     After reading the following blog post by Rabbi Maryles it really got me thinking. I appreciate knowing that great rabbis have relatives who observe all stripes of Judaism. It makes them seem more human and it makes people who are bt or who do not have the "right" yichus feel that they can attain greatness no matter what their background. King David himself was the descendant of Ruth who was a Moabite and look who he became.
    If we have learned anything from the Pew report we have learned that anyone who is Jewish today is not so far away from having good yichus because after assimilation there is so much intermarriage that a family is no longer Jewish after barely a generation.

Tuesday, February 4, 2014

What it all means

     I used to have a friend who wished she did  not want to get married because then  she would not feel bad that she was single.  I also know someone who worries that  her sick friend's daughter is too dependent on her mother. She feels she should not spend so much time with her mother because she feels it will be harder for her when her mother passes.
      I think that the purpose of life is to strive for something even though one may not get it and even if it hurts when one does not achieve one's goals. I may not find a spouse, but then again maybe I will and I would definitely regret not trying to find one more than the pain I am going through trying to find my bashert.
      Losing a loved one is always painful whether one spends a lot of time with them or little time with them. One is not going to escape missing them or wishing they were there to to help one navigate life when they are gone. I think that my friend means well when she fears her friend's daughter will be devastated when her mother passes on , but the daughter will feel distraught and alone when her mother dies no matter what . She would also feel even worse if she does not spend every moment with her now when she is alive.
      Knowing life is finite does not mean that one should avoid  people and things in life because they are finite, it means one should love and appreciate everyone one holds dear because we have a limited time to spend with them. Every moment is precious.


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Textual Conversation

What’s interesting about textual conversation in chatrooms is that many aspects of communication are not given or fixed. Like there are neither mimics nor gestures and the setting is fixed: a chatroom. Yet this is real language. Another point that makes it suitable for analysis is that there is no observation problem: The fact that every conversation is recorded is true anyway, so it has no impact on the conversation (well it probably makes the whole thing special).

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Posts from the ‘ASSETS’ Category

A Critical Skill: Valuing Real Estate

Real Estate two 102913

By Melissa Bank Stepno, Senior Consultant, Target Analytics, a Division of Blackbaud, Inc.

When I started my career in fundraising, I was trained with a simple formula: a $1 million home equated to a major gift prospect rating. Even as a budding prospect researcher, this simple formula didn’t quite ‘sit right,’ but it took me a few years to pull all the pieces together.

Due to the real estate market’s explosion and later bubble burst, national economic conditions, changes in mortgage company policies, new government regulations, and other factors, what someone’s home is worth today may or may not help a fundraiser understand its relative ‘value’ to the owner. Simply stated: not every major gift prospect lives in a million dollar home and not every million dollar home is owned by a major gift prospect. Read more


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Bofort Blackwater

A claustrophobic dwarf seeking freedom and fortune.

Race: Dwarf
Class: Fighter Thief
Level: 6
Alignment: Chaotic Good
Religion: Face of the Free

Bofort Baru-zhad was born and raised in the Dashahn Mountains of Svimohzia, the fourth of eight children—a very large family by dwarven standards. Pushed into the family business against his will, Bofort was caught in a terrible mining accident with his younger brother, Barzun. His brother tragically perished, but Bofort was miraculously rescued after being buried alive for three days. Bilnik, their youngest brother, still blames Bofort for Barzun’s death to this day.

Following a long convalescence, Bofort sought freedom from the oppressive tunnels and painful memories of his home. For a while, he ferried trade goods with his uncle Bolimur down the Izhano river to Monam-ahnoz, the sparkling capital of Meznamish on the shores of Mewzhano Bay.

But Bofort was still restless, and eventually found new work with Captain Shazrak aboard the Scheherezade, a whaling ship sailing out of Monam-ahnoz. Long hours flensing the catch taught him how to handle a glaive; defending the ship from pirates in the Straits of Svimohzia taught him how to kill with it.

Recognizing his natural talents, the captain introduced Bofort to the other side of his business—smuggling—and began instructing him in the ways of the scofflaw. After several more seasons of gainful employment, Bofort Blackwater decided to set out and explore Tellene aboard any merchant vessel that would hire him on, seeking his fortune and freedom over the horizon.

Bofort Blackwater

Galwyn & Company Red24 crwilliams


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I had so much to say about The Isle of Capri in Biloxi in my last post, I never even got to the checkin part. I’ll try not to make this an 18 part series on my vacation to Biloxi 🙂

One think I did want to do is comment on the rooms. I was reading some reviews of the hotel and someone mentioned it looked like it was decorated by the “Golden Girls”. This was funny as it was kind of true but it had me thinking “out of date”.  It wasn’t and I personally think Betty White is pretty cool (I still love this commercial) . The reviews were also all over the place with “fabulous place” and “Had a Great stay!” right next to “Sad and rundown” . I love reviews from other customers but this time we had no idea what to expect when we got to the room.

It turned out our room was both beautiful and very clean. My wife immediately started moving clothes to the dresser and told me she wasn’t planning on leaving. I (of course 🙂  ) got pictures of the room from different angles so you can check out the theme below.

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I personally get bored with the same neutral hotel theme and really liked the change of pace! Now it could be they knew I was a blogger and made sure I got a good room but I peeked into a few others and they all seemed nice too.

My wife and I are also exercising much more lately – I’m personally hitting the buffets and free drinks a little hard – so we later headed down to the exercise room. This place is well equipped with Precor machines. Mrs Gambler even gave a class to another guest on how to use the elliptical machine (we have the same machines at our gym).

If you would rather swim, they also have a multi-level pool just outside the exercise facilities and the spa along with a small pool bar with soft drinks and beer. From this area, you can also see the gulf and boats right behind you.  So far, the Isle is 2 for 2. Next blog, we’ll talk about the food.

Disclosure:  The Isle comped our room and one meal which I think is partly because I’m a blogger and partly because my wife and I regular casino customers. This is no way affects what I write in my blog.


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House & Home · Recipes · Sharing

Papadelle in creamy sauce topped with wood roasted Salmon or Avocado

I have been preparing a recipe of the week to send to my niece who eats mainly vegetarian cuisine ….. Like many of my basic recipes ….this one has options including substituting a creamy dip for the roux sauce …. How easy does it get!

This is a great wholemeal spelt Papadelle … but you could use any similar

Seasonal veg
Spelt flour or plain flour
Wood Roasted Huon Salmon or Avocado

Prep seasonal veg … I used Asparagus, snow peas, capsicum, and a handful of spinach greens and garlic chives from the garden
( lightly cook other veg if necessary )
Cook up about 100 – 150gms Papadelle ….Drain
In same saucepan …Make a roux sauce … or use a purchased creamy dip instead
Melt about 1-2 tablespoons butter
Add  1/4 cup  spelt flour and cook lightly
Take off the burner let cool slightly then add 3/4 – 1 cup milk, a little at a time to mix and tasty cheese
Cook over medium heat stirring until it thickens …. add more milk if necessary to make a just runny texture

Add cooked Papadelle and the veg …. and heat ( add a little water if necessary to stop it sticking to the bottom )

Serve … topped with wood Roasted Salmon or Avocado and chives and grind of pepper

( If you are using this Roasted Salmon … no need to add extra salt )

2 thoughts on “Papadelle in creamy sauce topped with wood roasted Salmon or Avocado

  1. Sounds absolutely delicious and definitely one to put on the menu! I was considering a diet soon – oh well – that can be delayed I guess !!

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1.6K views 2 comments

Given the name of the web site, I expected to find negative reviews of gate 1 tours. However, I recently returned from an 11 day Kenya tour and know other people who have all be on gate 1 tours with no complaints.

All 20 people on the tour I was on had no major complaints. I certainly had no complaints The hotels were great, the tour guide/driver was great, the food was great, pretty much everything was exactly as expected and I had an amazing time with some really wonderful people.

Most of the complaints I read about have to do with hotels out in the woods not having wifi or air conditioning or people not seeing the animals they wanted to see or that the roads were in horrible shape. If people want great roads, air conditioning animals on command, everything one expects from a US trip, my suggestion is to go to Bush Gardens or some other wildlife experience.

There are people who seek out things to complain about and they usually gravitate to sites geared towards complaints. As to false reviews, not one from me. I thoroughly enjoyed my interactions with gate 1, the trip, the follow-up and more.

In all honesty, informed choice should include positive reviews rather than only posting biased and one-sided reviews focusing only on negativity and leaving out the other side of the story.

Review about: Positive Experience.

Review #515345 is a subjective opinion of a user.

Reason of Review / Monetary Loss Not specified / Not specified
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Los Angeles, California, United States #1176145

You are absolutely right on this one.I traveled with Gate 1 numerous times (5 to be exact) and ALL are great experiences.

The problem with American customer is that they complaint a lot and they are horrible to please.

If you are not happy then book a PRIVATE tour and pay!I am very please with Gate 1 and will continue to travel with them.

Hobe Sound, Florida, United States #923459

last June, June of 2013, we went to South Africa with gate One, it was fantastic, sure one hotel was not airconditioned, but they had fans , and after inquiring this is usual in some parts. Tour guide was great other hotels fantastic

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GMEFI at the PCNC 18th Annual Assembly

PCNC_Annual AssemblyJune 1. The 18th Annual Assembly of the Philippine Council for NGO Certification [PCNC] with the theme: Celebrating by Doing More and Doing Better was held at J.Y. Campos Hall A & B, Unilab Bayanihan Center located in Pasig City. Gawad Metronian Educational Foundation, Inc. [GMEFI] President and Board Member Mirana Medina attended.

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PCNC Vice-Chair Teresita Ang See gave the welcome remarks. Other PCNC officers who actively facilitated the program were: Secretary/Trustee Fr. Antonio Cecilio Pascual, Chair of the Election Board Dr. Tita Branzuela, Trustee Ms. Carmen Linday Atayde, Chair of the PCNC Board Mr. Vitaliano Nanagas II; Board Treasurer, Mr. Augusto Carpio III. Dr. Jaime Galvez-Tan introduced the keynote speaker Dr. Cielito Habito who talked about “The Philippine Economic Status and What NGOs Could Do More and Better. The open forum was led by Ms. Cecile Alcantara, Trustee.

After lunch, Fr. Pascual spoke about “Program Evaluation — Prelude to Doing More and Better”. The attendees were made to share their practices in program evaluation through a small group discussion.

The election of new officers was also held; announced then inducted.

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Alfred Redl

Alfred Redl | Public domain | 14147

Alfred Redl was born on March 14, 1864 in Lemberg, Galicia, which was then in the Austrian Empire and is now known as Lviv, Ukraine, He died by his own hand on May 25, 1913. Openly homosexual and from a poor background, he became the head of the the counter-intelligence organisation of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

At the same time, Redl spied for the Russians. Russian military intelligence in Warsaw discovered Redl’s homosexuality as early as 1901, and blackmailed him into revealing classified information. There are also unproved allegations that he also spied for France and Italy.

On May 9, 1913, a letter for Redl sent Poste Restante (to be collected) was intercepted and was found to contain money. After a number of days Redl collected the letter. Redl committed suicide by gunshot.

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All GBA Wonder Cards are... enabled?

Discussion in 'GBA - Console and Game Discussions, Help and Tips' started by Byacco Kotetsu, Feb 12, 2009.

  1. Byacco Kotetsu

    Byacco Kotetsu Newbie

    Jan 3, 2009
    United States
    Hi, how are you?

    Yesterday, while i browse the internet, i found some very interesting videos on the YouTube site.

    These videos show us the events enabled by some unknown wonder cards. There are about 17 videos showing these unknow wonder cards.

    Here is the most incredible video of that user:

    Celebi's Wonder Card

    As you can see, the video si marked with a link to another Pokémon site, but this web page is a forum in Spanish.

    The currente user's name is: Richard Redfield

    Here other link to another video:

    Jirachi's Wonder card

    To view the other videos, you can find those videos that relate to the same user.

    Finally, what do you think of these videos?

    Clearly, these videos are not the result of a hackrom, you can see as well as the wonder card is exchanged.

    I don't know if i will to break the forum rules, but here is the link of the writing topic of this: F.A.Q El Evento Misterioso en GBA

    See you later...
  2. Kenroi

    Kenroi Newbie

    Oct 18, 2008
    Yeah! o.O

    Amazing! now I have a wondercard sharable, I'm looking for ways to change the text.

    I send you an email [IMG]

    See you
  3. hdofu

    hdofu GBAtemp Regular

    Oct 4, 2007
    United States
    Forgive my ignorance but what is a wonder card, does it enable some kind of in-game event or something?
  4. PettingZoo

    PettingZoo yesss

    Oct 5, 2008
    in the trap
    *googles wondercard* ah here we go.


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Let’s Play Pikmin 3 With The Family

With Pikmin 3 almost upon us, and finding it difficult to describe to family and friends, I tasked one of the Family Gamer TV reporters to play through the first few levels on camera explaining as she went. Here is how it turned out: The first couple are available here, subscribe to Family Gamer TV to keep tabs with the subsequent Let’s Play Pikmin 3 episode:

Let’s Play Pikmin 3 Day 3 – 23rd July

Let’s Play Pikmin 3 Day 4 – 24th July

Let’s Play Pikmin 3 Day 5 – 25th July

Get the GeekDad Books!

Andy Robertson has three children (6, 8 and 10) and enjoys racing R/C cars, playing board games and video games with his family. He has been writing about technology and the family for six years. Recently he has covered the Skylanders games in depth. He speaks and writes as a Family Video-game Expert for the BBC and runs the Family Gamer TV show.


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Brexit and black people outside of the Northern ‘big cities’

Often enough I’ve been told that race isn’t an issue here and that a focus on the racial aspect of Brexit itself is somehow racist towards white people.  Of course the whole issue is incredibly complex but facts cannot be ignored.  What the British media often miss is that the ‘other’ biggest divide other than age was race: 53% of White voters wanted out and 73% of Black voters wanted to stay in the EU.

Myself, I voted to stay in the EU, but was my vote really about the EU?  Not really.  I’m no expert on the EU though I recognise that there are many benefits to membership and that Britain is in no position to leave.  I recognise that a lot of funding my area gets is through EU money which should be a big push towards staying, though I also recognise there are a lot of problems with the EU also.  The benefits I recognise the most from the EU are with regards to policy (such as worker’s rights), freedom of movement and economics (funding for projects in my area).  A lot of my decision to remain came from the fact that racism and xenophobia was a huge driver for people round here to vote leave.

Often enough I will refer to myself as from ‘the black community’, but what is this ‘black community’ in areas such as mine in Doncaster, South Yorkshire?  How does it differ from the ‘black community’ in areas such as London, Manchester and Leeds?

Currently the north is split into two in my opinion. You have two types of places –

  1. 1)    Economic powerhouses and university towns that have managed to survive the recession – places such as Manchester, Leeds and Liverpool.
  2. 2)    Towns and cities that have suffered due to decline of industry and have struggled to recover – places such as Hartlepool, Barnsley, Burnley, Doncaster, Sunderland, Worksop and Rotherham.

What really confirmed this split to me are recent depictions of Manchester as some sort of Northern London and the face of a new prosperous north; a city that is experiencing a fast paced regeneration (which I would argue is actually gentrification).  Watch a lot of TV and you will see Manchester City and wider Greater Manchester as an area that is highly represented on TV after London.  After all with the decentralisation of some BBC operations from London to Manchester other media and broadcasting organisations have been attracted to the city, meaning that we have seen an increased representation of areas ‘up north’ (meaning only Greater Manchester) outside of the economic capital (London).

Meanwhile you have places such as Barnsley depicted as being declining industrial wastelands that still look like they could be settings for a remake of Brassed Off or The Full Monty.  The kinds of areas depicted as being still full of backwards thinking bitter and lager sipping working class (white) people without further and higher education and are still bitter about the Miner’s Strike of 1984-1985.

The depiction of areas that are just full of white people who never ever interact with other ethnic minorities in my experience is even pushed by people from ethnic minorities.  Often in my interactions with other black individuals from London, Manchester, Birmingham and other big cities there is often a sense of disbelief that I live in the location I do – an ex-mining village.

“There are no black people here”

The media only speak in extremes.  The message mainstream outlets want the masses to get is that in those towns and cities that have suffered due to decline of industry only white people live; the words “working class” often meaning “poor white males”.  Often in reports there has often been an absolute failure to give representation to ethnic minorities in these places because of course – black people and Asians only live in inner cities in large regional centres like Leeds and Manchester.  The alleged ‘all white’ population of these insular towns up north are simply screaming at clouds because they are just poor angry white people who do not know any better.  They are angry because they have no jobs and because… well… Polish people are taking all their warehousing jobs and there are too many Polski Skleps established by those ‘pesky entrepreneurial Poles’ in the neighbourhood for their liking.

Of course all of that is bullshit, though what cannot be ignored is that compared to the economic centres of Leeds and Manchester, areas especially with a history of mining such as Barnsley, Doncaster and many areas in Wakefield have historically being relatively more homogeneous.  Even though there were black people and Asian people working in mining (who have had their contributions ignored), much of the immigration to these areas has been domestic, for example – the immigration of Scottish and Welsh miners to areas of Doncaster due to collieries in their area closing, thus leaving them with no jobs.

Often enough in my own experience two areas often come up when mentioning the ‘black community’ in Northern England – Moss Side in Manchester and Chapeltown in Leeds.  These are two places historically where a high number of the Afro-Caribbean people in these areas decided to settle between Wold War Two and the 60s (My Grandparent’s generation).

I do feel the need to say however that there however has never ever really been a ‘black community’ in Britain… well not like the Americans would define it.  The Americans would see a black community as an area which is exclusively black people; areas which you will rarely see ‘whitey’ for miles.  This has never been the case in the UK.  Though there are some areas like Moss Side and Chapeltown which have relatively higher numbers of black people, the areas remain relatively mixed (white British, Pakistani, Bangladeshi, Eastern European, etc).

In comparison the ‘black community’ in declining towns and smaller areas is much more spread out and smaller.  There is no real area which can be defined as being a centre for the ‘black community’.  You’d just have families dotted around the town and your odd event here and there.  For a large chunk of my life I felt as though I was one of the very very few black boys in the whole village.  I would look at images of London on the TV and romanticise the place as being a better place to live as a black male (when the reality is that it is just as, if not even more tough to survive in).  There was a constant feeling that I was missing out.  Especially during the late 90s and early 2000s when I started getting into hip-hop and started listening to reggae, funk, soul and learning more about my own history; realising I wasn’t like the other kids.

Even though I did feel pretty much isolated at times there was a sense of support though the understanding shared experiences across different groups.  In my area there was and still is terrible discrimination towards Irish Travellers and Gypsies.  At times I would experience the odd bit of racism and ignorance from those communities in particular but for the most part I got on with a lot of them.  At times I would feel a sense of that that they know we have some things in common (mainly that we’re both from groups that are discriminated against) and that we’re both in the same boat, therefore I wouldn’t get much bother from them.

There is a huge disadvantage of being a black man in a place outside the big economic centres –  a lack of a social circle to share similar experiences and there is a massive lack of culturally sensitive and appropriate support services and facilities.   Even where these exist (usually provided by social enterprises, the third sector or churches – a huge problem for another day) they are relatively more spread out or based centrally (as in town centres) due to the geography of these areas, as a result making these services very inconvenient for a lot of people.  A lot of these services post-economic crisis due to austerity measures have gone under and as a result have left many without support.  This is something I really feel as though I can relate to.  During a tough time where my mental health took a sharp decline and I found mental health services provided by the NHS in my area not very useful in supporting me.  Differences in race and culture always felt like the elephant in the room; a result of the ignorance or lack of knowledge of the person delivering the service.  It was only because I was a university student in another location I could access a service that were knowledgeable and discussed issues related to my cultural background and race. They made me feel comfortable.

It’s important that black people outside of established and larger black communities in the “Economic Powerhouses” are not left out when discussing race in Britain Post-Referendum and in the future as in a lot of cases black people in these areas are the most vulnerable to racism, feel more isolated and have less access to culturally appropriate support services.  Things are very very slowly improving with regards to media representation and culturally appropriate and sensitive services in these areas, but there still exists a perpetuation of the myth that black people only live in certain areas of Northern England such as Chapeltown and Moss Side and could not possibly have been born in *insert declining northern town here*.

The simplistic and regressive depiction of the northern white working class as the main face of ‘working class Northern Britain’; a salt-of-the-earth, oppressed group that has been left behind only exacerbates racism, white exceptionalism, obscures ways that can actually help them (as in understanding the complex factors as to how racist attitudes develop) and also ignores poor whites in large urban areas such as London and Manchester.  It ignores the privileges that the white working class have over ethnic minorities of the same and lower economic status. Of course there are problems in these communities but racist and xenophobic attitudes should not be left unchallenged, excused (“oh, these people are racist because there are no jobs and foreigners are taking them”) and should always be condemned.  A “not on my doorstep” mentality with regards to diversity, change and ethnic minorities has been allowed to fester for years and years in these areas ( the “maybe in Manchester but not round here” mentality).

What I fear is that with no opportunities to receive funding from the EU there will be a decline in funding opportunities.  This has the potential to hit everyone hard though has the potential to exacerbate the problems ethnic minorities have in these areas with regards to bringing culturally appropriate support and projects to these areas; services that are usually provided at community level.  In my experience as a youth and community worker the first services to usually experience cuts and reductions in services are services targeted at marginalised groups; service providers usually cutting these and providing more ‘general’ services to cut costs by lumping all ethnic minorities in the same category.  Of course it is much cheaper and convenient for the powers that be to focus on general equalities in a centralised location, than commission work to investigate and improve services for specific groups, especially in areas that are much more ‘white’.  The experiences of a Bangladeshi woman, Afro-Caribbean man, Nigerian woman and Pakistani man would all be vastly different.