Peace out, comrades
Tag Archives: United States
Our rights as Americans
“The rights Americans
enjoy come from outside
history, and outside
mankind. Thomas Jefferson
did not confer them.
Neither did Congress. As
no one made them, so
no one can efface them.”
— Richard Brookhiser
Happy birthday, America!
I love the this country. God bless the United States.
ajh
“America’s exceptional armed forces have altered the course of the world for the better.”
Ezra’s Farm in 1860
By the Numbers
Six bushels of Irish potatoes. Are Russet potatoes Irish potatoes? That’s what I am assuming.
Two hundred pounds of butter! He and Caroline, who I am sure did most, if not all of the churning, had 200 lbs. of butter on hand?!
Ten tons of hay. That’s a lotta hay. And their granddaughter Geneva, my great grandmother, would go on to marry a man named Hay.
Forty gallons of molasses. What’s that for, cooking & baking?
Eight pounds of beeswax. Candles? Soap?
Ezra had 180 acres of land, 40 of which were deemed “improved” and 140 considered “unimproved.” What these mean beyond the basic, fundamental understandings I don’t know. The cash value of the farm was recorded as $1440.
Eight milch cows. Gonna have to look up the word milch.
One working ox. Or given that it reads oxen, is that two?
And one “other cattle.” What’s the purpose of this one? Why a separate listing?
No sheep.
Twelve pigs. Or swine. Man, how I love bacon.
The value of the livestock was listed at $238.
There were 60 bushels of wheat and 300 bushels of Indian corn on hand.
It’s quite the list. Everything was tabulated on June 12, 1860 on his farm in Lime Creek Township, Washington County, Iowa.
There is a precipitous decline in these numbers on the 1870 ag census. Why? It is unclear. But did Ezra focus on other endeavors, such as the post office?
ajh
Dan Rather teaching, or preaching, a course on journalistic integrity? What next? Nazis promoting tolerance?
Having disgraced news anchor Dan Rather, who I have dubbed “Dan Blather,” teach (or more aptly, preach) a course on journalistic integrity is like having Nazis promoting tolerance.
You want me to spend 19 bucks on this nonsense. The company behind this gag, called Udemy, should be paying me to watch this drivel.
Rather was fired from the CBS Evening News after a thorough investigation into a story about George W. Bush. It was a smear job and not a very good one. The documents on which the news story was based proved to be fake.
But it was too good a smear to waste on fact checking. It was an example of the recent media narrative on fake news. However, most will conveniently ignore this example. It’s a bit too inconvenient.
Yet, to this day, despite the overwhelming evidence otherwise, Rather continues to believe that the story is true, which shows just how biased and insular he really is. He is a die hard liberal, an activist masquerading as a journalist. But these days he is far from alone.
He, like so many others in the media, is a joke and has been for a very long time. One of the greatest moments of the Bush 41 era is when George H. W. Bush fought back while being interviewed by Rather. Unfortunately, it was a rare moment. Bush 41 was a bit too conciliatory and polite.
Thankfully, we have entered a new era. Trump has thrown out these outmoded conventions.
ajh
Lincoln towers over Fidel, 1959
I have tweaked this image a bit, manipulating the contrast, so it will print better on a black-and-white laser printer. I love high contrast imagery. I may use this for a piece of art at some point. The photograph, by photographer Alberto Korda, is titled David and Goliath.
ajh
Evil is afoot in the world. And we must stand against it. Everyone & everywhere.
“ THE
only thing
necessary
for the TRIUMPH of
—
EVIL
is for good men
to do nothing.”
— Edmund Burke
I wish President Obama and Hillary Clinton had this moral clarity.
ajh
No, thanks. I don’t want to live in the land of Fanta & drug lords.
I like Mexico, for the most part, and the Mexican people. But I don’t want to live there.
ajh
Deporting veterans?! Foreigners who serve should be awarded citizenship.
This is just scandalous. Why are men and women who serve in the Armed Forces ever deported?! I can understand if a serious crime has been committed. But, man, any foreigners who serve should be fast-tracked for citizenship. Our government is so damn depressingly stupid. Whatever happened to common sense?
ajh
AARON HILL’S NOTEBOOK 