"Our Memories ARE History"

Via The Thinking Housewife:

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Allan Wall
On Propaganda and Boredom
August 22, 2020

ALAN writes:

There will be no reunion for my 1964 classmates this year because of propaganda about the alleged virus. It would have been our 56th-year reunion. How many of us will be there for the 57th? We had planned to hold a between-times get-together last April, but the virus propaganda blew that idea out the window.

All of you older readers of The Thinking Housewife: Can’t you just imagine American men in 1942 saying:

Well, folks, we will have to postpone defending our country until Daddy Government gives us permission to go outside without safety masks to protect us against an enemy even worse than the Japs and the Nazis. We must stop working at our jobs. We must stop going to church. We must stay at home and stare at the radio until Daddy Government tells us otherwise.

Could they have been that gullible in 1942? That stupid?

Then try to imagine what they would say about a population who respond to such instructions from Daddy Government like a flock of obedient little lambs.

Of course it is just a coincidence (Isn’t it?) that massive propaganda about an alleged virus is used as an excuse for Americans to surrender so much power over their lives–exactly a hundred years after the founding of the ACLU (American Communist Liars Union), one of whose ultimate goals was to make America into a Communist nation. (How do we know this? We know it because Roger Baldwin, one of its founders, said so. And a Communist wouldn’t tell a fib, would he?)

What better way to commemorate that historic occasion than with a propaganda barrage, Communist-engineered riots and lawlessness, a revolutionary “lockdown” of ordinary, decent, working-class Americans, and a corollary increase in power for the government, the mass communications industry, and the medical and pharmaceutical rackets? It stands to reason that anyone who engineered such a multi-pronged attack would encounter little if any opposition from a population of American men who have been thoroughly feminized.

Never have so many American men agreed so cheerfully to surrender the rights of individuals and the limitations on government power that earlier generations fought wars to create and defend. I learned long ago that false premises are the basis for mythmaking, and modern myths are indeed fodder for thousands of chattering magpies in the mass propaganda industry.

Knowingly or otherwise (mostly otherwise), Americans have now made giant strides toward what Dr. Thomas Szasz called “The Therapeutic State and what Communists have been planning for a hundred years.

I am sick and tired of the do-gooder mush in “We are all in this together” and “Thank you for looking out for each other.” Here’s a news flash for the do-gooders: I am not “looking out for each other”. Not my job. And “each other” are not looking out for me. Not their job.

Recently I had a brief message from classmate Jim. I asked him about classmate Tony, who has had back problems and knee problems. I was glad to receive Jim’s reply: “Tony is doing fine. Just bored like the rest of us.”

Hold on there for a moment. “Bored….”? Allow me to voice my dissent. I am not bored. Angry? Yes. Outraged? Yes. Skeptical? Yes. Confident that we are being lied to repeatedly and on multiple fronts? Absolutely.

Confident that what we have witnessed is not a “lockdown” but a Takedown? Yes. Confident that it is not about health but about power and power-lust? Absolutely. Confident that there are diabolical cultural, political, and philosophical purposes behind the propaganda about the alleged virus? Absolutely. Confident that the Takedown is either a dress rehearsal for the coming Communist World Government (which is now, as the cliché goes, “under construction”) or an exercise to measure the Servility Quotient of Americans (rather high, by all appearances), or both? Absolutely. But “bored”? Never.

We are alive, aren’t we? Since when is it boring to be alive? You can think, see, hear, talk, and remember, can’t you? Or is staring at screens all you care to do nowadays?

Wake up, classmates. Stop scaring at screens and listening to lies. My years are numbered, and maybe yours are, too.

How can anyone be bored with the perspective on life that three score-and-ten years have now my classmates and me? And what of all those memories we have accumulated? If the virus propaganda has given you “time on your hands”, then why not use it to write about what you know best? Our memories ARE history. Don’t take it all with you when you leave. Write it now, or some portion of it, for your descendants or friends or classmates.

Imagine how gratified we would be if our grandparents or great-grandparents had left written memories of their lives in the form of diaries, journals, essays, letters, and cards. Conversations are fine. But they are like meteors: Once they take place, they are gone. Written memories will remain. The printed word remains. Why not share some of them by writing about them? About your life in those years in our parish and neighborhood? About the people and moments you remember best, and why?

Six years ago, I wrote ten two-columned pages of memories we have in common from our school years. Last year I wrote 57 pages of memories of the songs and records we enjoyed in the years 1956-’68. I have written more than fifty additional pages of memories from those years and had intended to share them with classmates at the upcoming reunion…..now rendered null and void by the Communist/Socialist/Globalist Propaganda Barrage…..oops, I mean the deadly virus.

There is no “Dutchtown Historical Society”. We are it. Life as it was in that neighborhood during our school years is what we carry around in our heads. Who will ever know about life as it was there? Who will ever know that Dutchtown was not what it is now but the opposite: A clean, decent, civilized place to live and grow up, if we do not write about it?

“We will take our memories of America’s traditional culture with us to the grave and that will be the end of it,” reader Jane S. wrote to Lawrence Auster ten years ago. [“A Lament for Our Vanishing Culture”, View from the Right, August 20, 2010 ]

She was right. That is, unless those who —like her— remember that traditional American culture write what they remember. Like her, we are the last generation to remember that pre-1960s American culture, and among the last to be able to think and write about it without paying homage to the vocabulary and ideology by which younger generations are now taught to view it through pink- and red-tinted glasses.

Yesterday I was standing at one of the two lakes in Carondelet Park when I saw a young couple with their infant child across the lake. No masks. They were sitting on the grass at water’s edge and encouraging their child’s fascination with a group of ducks and geese who approached them. They were out in the open air in a lush green setting late on a pleasant summer day and encouraging their child’s discovery of the delight and wonder that may be found in making friends with birds.

To observe scenes like that is a good reason to be alive. To create scenes like that is a good way to spend “time on your hands”. To listen to the lies, fallacies, and misrepresentations raining down upon us is a complete waste of your time and your life.

Six years ago, a reader wrote in response to some of my essays:

“I can vouch for Alan’s eloquent description of what it was like. [i.e., Life in south St. Louis in the 1950s-’60s ] It is vital that his testimony and the testimony of his peers appear on the Net. They are historical documents.” [“When Baseball was Baseball”, The Thinking Housewife, July 30, 2014]

Why don’t you add to those historical documents by writing some of your own memories of life in St. Louis as it was before the revolutionary 1960s?

"Better Positioning Addis Ababa"

[Click "See More" for English Translation]

In May 2019, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed hosted the ‘Dine for Sheger’ initiative to mobilise funds for city projects aimed at better positioning Addis Ababa as an urban tourism site. In a short one year period since the activity, both Sheger and Entoto parks are near completion; have created many jobs; are facilitating service economies and changing the look and feel of the city. [Source: Office of the Prime Minister-Ethiopia]

Antisemitism and the Victimhood of Looting Thugs

Above is a screen shot of Peter Brimelow on June 3 at the Berkley Springs Castle, while being interviewed by RamzPaul (what serious adult has a "nickname" RamzPaul - there's a whole "joke" behind it I'm sure, and I'm not interested).

Sir Brimelow, master of the Berkeley Springs Castle, comes looking like one of the (imaginary) hired hands.


Berkley Castle Grounds photograph, courtesy of estately.com

Which begs the question: How does one manage a huge property, in four-season West Virginia (Winter snow, Fall leaves, Spring rains, and Summer growths)?

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In my last post on the series of posts I've don on the VDare non-reporting on the devastation that the fake COVID has done on the US economy, I wrote on VDare author's Sailer's June 4 post: Cristalnacht in the Fairfax District:

It begs the question: Was the VDare group, realizing that eventually the fake virus would unleash societal upheavals, cleverly deducing that it would become a racial blowup, where blacks would feel even more "oppressed," while whites, even the poor whites, appear to be doing that (little) much better?

I wrote, on Sailer's comment in that article: "The Fairfax neighborhood in West Hollywood, CA is known both for its elderly Jewish population":

As always, the VDare group has some wrong end of the stick. And it usually involves blacks. And a subservient, under-the-radar acknowledgment of Jewish "victimhood." Who exactly finances VDare's big enterprises - e.g.: Their Castle on the Virginia Hills? And who has the deepest, and strongest, vested interest in destroying Christianity?

Sailer is not letting off his Jewish-link, i.e. antisemtic, theory, as an update on his June 4 post.

In his latest article on June 5 at VDare: More on Cristalnacht in West Hollywood, Sailer quotes from Jerusalem Post's June 3 article, Jewish business owners describe vandalism, looting of businesses in LA.

In that article, Jewish business owners describe the vandalism and looting of businesses in LA:

Rosenfeld described the scene late Saturday night with people driving down the Fairfax district streets screaming, “effing Jews,” at them.

Notice that this is the generic "people." Were they whites, Hispanics, blacks? How many? A whole Dionysian mob?

Is it the "antifa" which is effing the Jews?

Well, here is some information:

Israeli-born philanthropist and activist Adam Milstein...said: “The rioters are antifa and Black Lives Matter and they are inherently antisemitic.”

Why anti-semitic? Because they ransacked some stores? No, because:

"...synagogues got tagged and Jewish businesses were looted with [signs saying] ‘Free Palestine’ and ‘Kill the Jews,’ [which] is not a coincidence. The rioters are antifa and Black Lives Matter and they are inherently antisemitic.”

So who at VDare really cares about the fate of blacks, those hundreds of thousands of blacks, who are at at the same mercy, (and even worse), as are whites, of the vicious hands of these hired gun thugs who are rampaging through America's cities?

But Jews are leftists, and "activists," in one form or another, and explains Jonathan Friedman:

....who owns Syd’s Pharmacy, also in the Fairfax area, he’s unclear if he was targeted because he is Jewish or if it’s because looters were after narcotics – all of which were taken from his store.

“It’s frustrating,” he added. “We had no part in this. They had no reason to involve us. I understand the [protesters’] cause. They’re actually right. Someone was murdered and they’re right, but I don’t see where myself and other businesses, that were suffering with corona, have the extra $3,000 to cover the deductible for their insurance, fit into this whole thing.”

Syd "understands" these thug looters, who are victims, don't you know. There can be some excuse for antisemites.

Ethiopian Christian Tradition

In my previous post, Conciliator and Unifier, I wrote that Ethiopian PM Abiy Ahmed Ali had set aside May 25 for "Africa Day."

Abiy Ahmed Ali, PM of Ethiopia, is a conciliator and Unifier, in the tradition of past Ethiopian leaders (Emperors), who led a diverse country of religious groups (mostly Christian and Muslim), ethnic groups, and languages, and formed one nation. Abiy takes that role further, in the tradition of the late Emperor Haile Selassie, as a leader of Africa.

I should specify that although there has been a constant empathy towards Muslims over the centuries, and other religious groups, the traditional, historic, leaders were all Christian. It is important to add that the majority of these emperors were of Amhara origin, the group that combined Christianity and ethnicity to form a united whole, a nation.

And Ahmed Ali himself is half Orthodox Christian (on his mother's side) and half Muslim. He is married to an Amhara Orthodox Christian woman, and he professes to be some kind of evangelical protestant. His wife regularly appears in the traditional Ethiopian/Amhara dress, with embroidered crosses.

I keep saying that it won't be long before PM Abiy takes on the religion of his Ethiopian ancestors, and becomes an Orthodox Christian.

Letter to VDare

Detail of a 17th century painting of St. Mercurius,
from a church in Lalibela, northern Ethiopia,
now in the Addis Ababa National Museum

Below is a letter I wrote to VDare regarding a post by one of their authors, John Derbyshire, who wrote about WHO's COVID mastermind, Tedros Ghebreyesus, in his April 4 article: Globalization Meant Sinification—Until China Virus Intervened.

VDare is:

[A] non-profit journalistic enterprise, the main project of the VDARE Foundation. We publish data, analysis, and editorial commentary in a variety of formats. We inform the fight to keep America American.

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Dear Mr. Fulford,

VDare recently published a post which discusses Tedros Ghebreyesus, the Director-General of the WHO, by John Derbyshire.

I understand the concerns that Mr. Derbyshire expresses, but I wish to correct him on one point (well another, too).

Firstly, Derbyshire makes reference to Ghebreyesus' background as Ethiopian, well, "Ethiop," to use his wording. More precisely, Ghebreyesus is Eritrean-born. His loyalties are for Eritrea. That is a fine line perhaps, like saying the Scottish and English are British, and both have their loyalties. But Ghebreyesus' loyalties to Eritrea go beyond ethnic association, and are also political.

As I write here:

He worked for the Ethiopian government during the Derg Marxist era of the 1908s in the Ministry of Health

And here:

His PhD dissertation was on malaria transmission in the Tigray region, a province in northern Ethiopia, which further distance him from the "Ethiopia" label, since the Tigray people have fiercely contested the historical leaders of Ethiopia, the Amhara, and often would not recognize the historical Ethiopia in defiance of the Amhara tradition and history as rulers of Ethiopia.

Most non-Amhara would wish to identify with the Amhara, as evidenced by their large numbers inter-marrying with the Amhara group, while openly associating with their various ethnic groups. I see this regularly within my own family circle (I am an Amhara).

And most Amhara will identify themselves as Ethiopians first.

The current politics in Ethiopia is a much larger and complex story. Yes, the Chinese have gained a foot-hold in Ethiopia for about a decade now, but the astute leader, Abiy Ahmed, a southern Muslim married to an Amhara woman, went to those who could help him in his time of "nation building" when America was too busy with wars in the Middle East, and unable (or unwilling?) to become the ally he needed.

Abiy, now, has enlarged his scope of allies, with Canada, Europe, and hopefully America, slowly replacing the Chinese and their many limitations. COVID-19 is now most likely the deal breaker.

Ghebreyesus' Chinese link in Ethiopia's politics may have been a reality at some point, but it is a weak one now.

The other point I would like to make is Derbyshire's condescending use of "Ethiop" to describe Ghebreyesus' (contested) origins.

Perhaps Derbyshire is using Shakespeare's "A rich jewel in an Ethiop's ear," although even Shakespeare got it wrong, since in his time (late 16th - early 17th century), those wearing such rich jewels, and often crosses, would be the lighter skinned Ethiopians, who consolidated themselves centuries earlier, through their various kings and emperors, as the Christian Amhara. They were leading that distant country then, as evidenced by paintings, mostly religious and Christian. Shakespeare perhaps associated this far off Christian civilization with the dark African (slaves?) whom he might have witnessed arriving within England's shores.

I have attached a detail of a 17th century painting of St. Mercurius, from a church in Lalibela, northern Ethiopia, now in the Addis Ababa National Museum, to give an idea of the Ethiopians prominent in that century.

Note, though, that Ghebreyesus has the Orthodox Christian background of his native Eritrea, which is of course the traditional religion of Ethiopia, which the Amhara developed and intertwined intricately with their culture, society, language, and their leadership (as kings, emperors and governors).

His first name Tedros comes from the Greek Theodore, later Christianized, with St. Theodore as an important namesake. It is also the name of two Ethiopian Emperors named Twedoros, one of the 15th century and another the 19th century. Perhaps Ghebreyesus intentionally changed his name's spelling from the traditional Twedoros (and which is phonetically more correct) to Tedros in order to weaken this association.

Ghebreyesus means servant of Jesus, with Ghebre being a common prefix for other "servants," such as Ghebremariam, Gherbreselassie (servant of the Trinity), etc. But Ghebreyesus' years as a Marxist would have annihilated his Christian spiritual references.

Ghebreyesus, through his WHO post (as Director-General), surely has close links with Canada's Chief Public Health Officer, the Hong Kong born, British educated Theresa Tam, who is the mastermind behind the COVID-Lockdown here in Canada. I have written on her and her links with the WHO. My article is published on the website of the Council of European Canadians.

Sincerely,

Kidist Paulos Asrat
Reclaiming Beauty

Three Wise Men in the Modern World

The Adoration of the Magi
Copy woven 1894 for the Corporation of Manchester
Designed by Edward Burne Jones with details by William Morris and John Henry Dearle
The Adoration of the Magi, tapestry, wool and silk on cotton warp, 101 1/8 x 151 1/4 inches
Manchester Metropolitan University

E. Michael Jones is referring to the Three Wise Men as "The Three Wise Persians."

This is both biblically and historically incorrect.

It appears that Jones' insistence on the Persian origin of ALL the magi may be to give credence to the current, Islamic, anti-American, regime in Iran and to connect the birth of Christ with a Persian legacy, and to legitimize the "Death to America" chants of Iranians in Tehran. The Persians after all acknowledged the birth of the Messiah, and even brought him gifts.

The world is becoming anti-American, anti-West, and anti-Christian. Jones should know this. No ancient gift would expiate the ruthless aggression of this "Death to America" or its subtext, "Death to Christian America," proclamation. And why doesn't Jones understand, or acknowledge this?

Perhaps he does wish "death to America," in an innocent desire to abate what he believes is now a sinful, Godless, country, and to start afresh with a country which he believes could be re-positioned closer to God.

Here are some biblical and historical accounts of these magical, ancient, men: kings who came from afar to pay homage to the infant Christ.

From Matthew 2:1–12:

In the time of King Herod, after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, asking, "Where is the child who has been born king of the Jews? For we observed his star at its rising, and have come to pay him homage." When King Herod heard this, he was frightened and all Jerusalem with him; and calling together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Messiah was to be born. They told him, "In Bethlehem of Judea; for so it has been written by the prophet: 'And you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for from you shall come a ruler who is to shepherd my people Israel.'" Then Herod secretly called for the wise men and learned from them the exact time when the star had appeared. Then he sent them to Bethlehem, saying, "Go and search diligently for the child; and when you have found him, bring me word so that I may also go and pay him homage." When they had heard the king, they set out; and there, ahead of them, went the star that they had seen at its rising, until it stopped over the place where the child was. When they saw that the star had stopped, they were overwhelmed with joy. On entering the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother; and they knelt down and paid him homage. Then, opening their treasure chests, they offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. And having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they left for their own country by another path.

The biblical version identifies these men as "wise men from the east."

Biblical historians and analysts say:

They were of noble birth, educated, wealthy, and influential. They were philosophers, the counselors of rulers, learned in all the wisdom of the ancient East. The wise men who came seeking the Christ child were not idolaters; they were upright men of integrity.

They had apparently studied the Hebrew Scriptures and found there a clear transcript of truth. In particular, the Messianic prophecies of the Old Testament must have claimed their attention, and among these they found the words of Balaam: “A Star shall come out of Jacob; a Scepter shall rise out of Israel” (Numbers 24:17, NKJV). They certainly were acquainted with the prophecy of Micah: “But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of you shall come forth to Me the One to be Ruler in Israel” (Micah 5:2, NKJV; see also Matthew 2:5, 6). They probably also knew and understood the time prophecy of Daniel regarding the appearance of the Messiah (see Daniel 9:25, 26) and came to the conclusion that His coming was near.
[Source: The Magi]

And

They have become known most commonly as Balthasar, Melchior, and Gaspar (or Casper). According to Western church tradition, Balthasar is often represented as a king of Arabia or sometimes Ethiopia, Melchior as a king of Persia, and Gaspar as a king of India. [Source: Britannica.com]

And a more precise origin of Balthasar as an Ethiopian:

Balthasar is the young black King of Ethiopia and wears a purple/blue cloak. Balthasar is traditionally associated with the gift of myrrh. [Source: Jesuit Institute, London: Feast of the Epiphany]

An explanation: Ethiopia stands at the southern post of the Arabian peninsula, and is often categorized as an "Arabian" land. Its history may connect it to Arabia, but it has always maintained an independent and separate identity. It is very likely that one of the magi did come from Ethiopia.

And here is a longer account (and analysis) concluding that the probable land of origin of one of the magi was Ethiopia. Sheba's empire, now part of the modern state of Yemen, reached far north from what is currently Ethiopia into the Yemen.

Scholars have tried to connect the gifts the Queen of Sheba brought with the possible location of Sheba. She brought spices, gold, and precious stones, all products of extreme wealth. Spices, in particular frankincense and myrrh, came from the area of modern-day Ethiopia, Eritrea, and Somalia, on the African coast of the Red Sea. Ancient gold mines have been found in the same area.

And

That Abyssinia (Ethiopia) was peopled from South Arabia is proved linguistically...[Source: Britannica.com]

And below is an excerpt from the chapter “Where is Medieval Ethiopia? Mapping Ethiopic Studies within Medieval Studies” by Suzanne Conklin Akbari (of the University of Toronto), in Toward a Gobal Middle Ages: Encountering the World through Illuminated Manuscripts (Ed. Bryan Keene).
[Note 1: images referenced in the text can be viewed at the linked site
Note 2: T-O map refers to a type of early world map]

In theological terms, Ethiopia was understood as a place of special grace and apocalyptic expectation. In the Hebrew Bible, the story of Solomon and Sheba was interpreted in terms of a mystical union that brought the earthly Jerusalem into contact with the southern riches of Ethiopia; in the Acts of the Apostles, the queen of Ethiopia, named Candace, is identified as the ruler of the Ethiopian eunuch who converts to Christianity. Apocryphal stories of the Magi, seen in a twelfth-century Beatus manuscript from San Petro de Cardeña (1175–85; New York, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1991.232.1), also associate one of the three wise men with Ethiopia, in a reassertion of the fundamentally tripartite division of the world found in the medieval world maps and medieval encyclopaedias. These texts divide the world into three parts—Asia, Africa, and Europe—to correspond to the three sons of Noah: Shem is associated with Asia, the biggest part; Ham, the outcast, with Africa; and Japheth, the youngest, with Europe. The three Magi recapitulate the sons of Noah, but while the sons of Noah are scattered outward into the wide world after the Flood, their descendants populating each of the three continents, the three Magi come inward toward the sacred center of the nativity. On this Beatus manuscript page, a depiction of the Virgin and Child with the Magi, to the right, is integrated within a larger genealogy laid out in a series of linked circles, plus the familiar form of the T-O world map at the top left. Note that the T-O map includes not just the names of the three continents, but also the three sons of Noah, as a visible reminder of the Old Testament prefiguration of the three Magi, seen at right. The economy of type and antitype is expressed in terms of word and image, with the
names of the sons of Noah foreshadowing the vivid human forms of the three Magi.

Depictions of the Magi vary in how they present the ethnic origins of each of the three kings. Some, such as the Beatus image mentioned above and as in a book of hours from Naples (1460s; Los Angeles, The J. Paul Getty Museum, Ms. Ludwig IX 12), show exotic dress but only moderate differences of physiognomy, while others, as in the Prayer Book of Albrecht of Brandenburg illuminated by Simon Bening (ca. 1483–1561), show bodily diversity more vividly, with black skin (fig. 4.4). Like the Ethiopian magus, depictions of the Queen of Sheba also vary in how they portray ethnicity. While there was a rich medieval commentary tradition on the Song of Songs that interpreted the allegory of the beautiful and black bride in historical terms, as the Ethiopian Queen of Sheba, pictorial depictions of the encounter of Solomon and Sheba often show the queen as fair-skinned, as in the page by Simon Bening that faces his image of the Magi.10 The queen is attended by two other women, her attendance on Solomon and offering of gifts appearing as a counterpart to the offerings of the three Magi. To put it another way, a chain of typological prefigurations links various moments in salvation history, with each one of them rooted in an essential notion of Ethiopian identity. In one typological relationship, the sons of Noah prefigure, and are fulfilled in, the three Magi. In a second typological relationship, the encounter of Solomon and Sheba, and the tribute offered by the Ethiopian queen to the king of Israel, is fulfilled in the tribute offered by the Ethiopian magus to the newborn king of the new Israel.

Lives That Might Have Been Saved

Close to fifty years since Haile Selassie was deposed from the Ethiopian throne and murdered.

How many millions of lives might have been saved if monarchy had remained in Ethiopia!

From James Perloff:

This month marks the 100th anniversary of Bolshevik murder of Royal Martyrs Tsar Nicholas II & his family.

How many millions of lives might have been saved if monarchy had remained in Russia!

For Auld Lang Syne

Auld Lang Syne
Sang by: Ronnie Browne
Poem by: Robert Burns
Melody: Sixteenth Century Schotland, attributed to David Rizzio,
an Italian courtier who became the private secretary of Mary, Queen of Scots.

English translation here

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Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
And never brought to mind?
Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
And auld lang syne!

Chorus:
For auld lang syne, my jo,
For auld lang syne,
We'll tak a cup o' kindness yet
For auld lang syne.

And surely you'll be your pint stoup,
And surely I'll be mine,
And we'll tak a cup o' kindness yet
For auld lang syne!

Chorus

We twa hae ran about the braes,
And pou'd the gowans fine,
But we've wander'd monie a weary fit
Sin' auld lang syne.

Chorus

We twa hae paidl'd in the burn
Frae morning sun til dine,
But seas between us braid hae roar'd
Sin' auld lang syne.

Chorus

And there's a hand, my trusty fiere,
And gie's a hand o' thine,
And we'll tak a right gude willie waught
For auld lang syne!

Chorus

"Why Do They Hate Us?"

National Policy Institute director Richard Spencer speaks at the 2015 American Renaissance conference about political persecution he faced in Budapest, Hungary, and Whitefish, Montana. He traces anti-white attitudes to deep-seated feelings of guilt and shame. “Whites,” he says, “have a special capacity to become their own worst enemy, a unique ability to inflict guilt on themselves.”

[Transcript]

"The plane above the city was almost an omen"

TWA Poster
David Klein
Museum of Modern Art, New York
1956
Medium:Photolithograph
Dimensions:40 x 25"
Gift of TWA

Tiberge from Galliawatch wrote me this in an email after I sent her some of my posts at Reclaiming Beauty:

"[The poster is ] full of American energy and optimism. But the plane above the city was almost an omen."

She was commenting on this post, where I was writing about the poster for the TWA airlines from 1956, which I've also posted above.

Yes, with the horrible history that we have inherited, now planes in the sky, in a darkish background, become ominous (there is also that glittering star-like spark on the skyscraper, as though a premonition and target for those towers. But a single, twinkling star like that used to tell us that Baby Jesus was nearby).

Omens are important to pay attention to. But we cannot live under the cloud of omens, nor let ominous events take over our lives. We have to live, after all.

It is interesting that I was drawn to this illustration, although I was talking about a nostalgic time, labeling my article "When America Was Great." I noticed the bright, exuberant, kaleidoscopic colors, and a kind of New Year's revelry that goes on in Times Square. Tiberge, wiser, paid attention to the plane.

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Posted By: Kidist P. Asrat
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The Credit River

View of Credit River (Showing Mississauga [Indians] Fishing in Canoes, 1796
Elizabeth P. Simcoe(1766-1850)
Grey wash and Watercolour
National Archives of Canada C-13917 (NAC 2320)
Published in Frank A. Dieterman, Ed. Mississauga, The First 100,000 Years
Toronto: Mississauga Heritage Foundation and eastend books, 2002, P. 20

About Elizabeth Simcoe:

Elizabeth Simcoe (September 22, 1762 – January 17, 1850) was an artist and diarist in colonial Canada. She was the wife of John Graves Simcoe, the first Lieutenant Governor of Upper Canada.

She was born Elizabeth Posthuma Gwillim in the village of Whitchurch, Herefordshire, England, daughter of Lieutenant Colonel Thomas Gwillim and Elizabeth Spinckes. Her father died before her birth, and her mother died shortly afterwards. After her baptism, which was on the same day as her mother's burial, she was taken into the care of her mother's younger sister, Margaret. In commemoration of her mother, Elizabeth was given the middle name Posthuma. Margaret married Admiral Samuel Graves on June 14, 1769 and she grew up at Graves's estate, Hembury Fort near Honiton in Devon.

On December 30, 1782, Elizabeth married John Graves Simcoe, Admiral Graves' godson. They had four daughters and one son, Francis Simcoe, for whom they named Castle Frank. Katherine Simcoe, their only daughter to be born in Upper Canada, died in childhood of pneumonia; she is buried at Fort York Garrison.

[...]

Elizabeth Simcoe left a diary that provides a valuable impression of life in colonial Ontario. First published in 1934, there was a subsequent transcription published in 1965 and a paperback version issued at the turn of the 21st century, more than 200 years after she wrote it. Lady Elizabeth Simcoe's legacy also includes a series of 595 water-colour paintings that depict the town of York. She was responsible for the naming of Scarborough, an eastern Toronto district, after Scarborough, England. The townships of North, East and West Gwillimbury, just south of Lake Simcoe in central Ontario, are also named for the family.

Elizabeth Simcoe (1790)
Mary Anne Burges (British, 1763-1813)
Watercolour12 x 15.1 cm
Library and Archives Canada

More on Elizabeth Simcoe at the Dictionary of Canadian Biography.


Niagara Falls, Ontario, July 30, 1792
Elizabeth Simcoe
Archives of Ontario
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Posted By: Kidist P. Asrat
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Hidden Garden

Queen Elizabeth Jubilee Garden, Mississauga, Ontario
[Photo By: KPA]

The Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee Garden is a tiny space located behind Mississauga's City Hall. The grass needs patching, and a blue bench in the far corner needs some paint. This is indicative of the absence of recently retired Mayor Hazel McCallion, the forceful, formidable leader of Mississauga, who never lost an election, and who had to retire when (because) she reached her nineties. The entire city center is full of her touches, giving this rather bland Toronto suburb a character of its own. I fear, though, like the park, there may not be other dedicated leaders to continue McCallion's legacy. They are more interested in promoting multiculturalism. The link leads to Mississauga's yearly festival Carassauga which tells us that "Over 72 countries [are] represented at 28 Pavilion Locations, throughout Mississauga" - note the 72 countries all represented in Canada! This is not an international event, but a local and national one. This clearly refers to the multicultral and not international nature of the event. Dedicating parks to English monarchs is far from the agenda of Mississauga's, and Canada's, leaders.

Here is more from Mississauga.ca on the park:

The Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee Garden is located at 300 City Centre Drive and was originally named Civic Garden Park or the Rose Garden. It is 0.17 hectares.

This garden has been part of the Civic Centre since it was originally dedicated on July 18, 1987 by The Duke and Duchess of York. Fifteen years later in October 2002, Buckingham Palace agreed to have the garden formerly named The Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee Garden in commemoration of Her Majesty The Queen's 50th Anniversary of Her Accession to The Throne. (The full article is available at Mississauga.ca)

As always with beautiful things in our modern world, we have to deal with the ugly alongside it, competing for space and for attention.

Right in the middle of the garden, there is a hideous, rusted iron "sculpture." I tried to find its title, and its creator, and was able to do so at the Mississauga.ca website.


Anne Harris (1908)
Canadian
Northern Eye
Bronze
1995

Here is how the website describes it:

The sculpture the Northern Eye done by Anne Harris is cast bronze and steel and is a more humanized example of Harris' work which tends to be more geometric and mechanical in character. This piece evokes a definite sense of vulnerability and is a provocative and dynamic piece as it displays the artist's interest in interior and exterior space and also poignantly references the human body as a vessel and the body, metaphorically, as a wound.

The author of this description is at odds about how to describe a work he clearly dislikes, but he cannot be forthcoming about his opinion, where the Art God reigns supreme in modern culture.

Below is Harris's Monarch. A faceless head-like structure. I wonder why the park chose Northern Eye, other than its obvious Canadian reference? The park is after all commemorating Queen Elizabeth. Well, the committee which made this decision was wary even of the Northern Eye, and I would think that its members couldn't find it in them to put this lump of "monarch" bronze in the garden dedicated to their queen.

This little garden is hidden in many aspects. It is hidden from view. This diminishes its importance and its association with a British monarch. It is hidden in intent where codes and representatives have to be used to deflect, or to diminish, its original and true intent. Harris becomes its cover, and Queen Elizabeth is put on the periphery. It's grandeur is hidden, or diminished, where the flowers and plants are small and unassuming, considering it was set up to celelabrate Queen Elizabeth's jubilee.

I am therefore at odds about it. Its small size, and removal from a grand and open space, gives it charm and character. But it is too small for what it represents. It would have been better to have given it another name altogether, and to remove Queen Elizabeth's identity. Better to have no monarch at all than one with such diminished presence.


Anne Harris (1908)
Canadian
Monarch
Bronze
1974
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Posted By: Kidist P. Asrat
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Rural Ontario

Ontario is a strange province. Probably all of the Canada is the same with an uneven amalgam of rural, urban and farmland.

Below, alongside a busy highway, are some houses reminiscent of the old, Victorian era Ontario.

I took photographs of these fascinating buildings, quietly standing and holding their diminished ground, showing us some of this historical Ontario. It is difficult to get to the buildings, but buses do have stops in front of them, although cars have to make a purposeful detour to get to them. Traffic is heavy, with short reprieves from traffic lights which change to red after several minutes' wait.

The William Chisholm House, which is officially known as the Gardner-Dunton House, according to this site is:

Title: Gardner-Dunton House, Britannia
Date Built: Before 1832
Subject: Historic buildings - Ontario - Britannia (Mississauga)
Donor: Planning & Heritage, Community Services
Location: 5520 Hurontario Street, pt. Lot 3 E1/2, Conc 1 WHS

Description: 5520 Hurontario Street. Conc 1 WHS, pt. Lot 3 E¿. Probably built prior to 1832 by William Chisholm, perhaps before Chisholm sold the surrounding land to Joseph Gardner in 1832 for £750. The house, a two-storey, five bay facade Georgian structure, was originally located one mile north on Hurontario Street, but was moved in 1990 to the Peel Board of Education property. Designated under the terms of the Ontario Heritage Act. This is a 1995 photo of the house in its new location.

Here is the screen shot of the house from Google map:



The building is in a field (I don't think it is farmland), a short distance from the city of Mississauga. The high rises can be seen nearby.

Here is my version of the building, with tulips:


William Chisholm House, Mississauga Ontario
[Photo By: KPA]

The building, as far as I can decipher, is now a designated "heritage" building, and is open for public viewing. It is part of the Peel Board of Education, which I suspect is because there is a public school named after Chisholm, in the Peel school district.

This same bus goes further north, and passes another "heritage" building, also in the middle of a field. I once again go off the bus, to see the building.

The door was locked, but there was a group of children playing in the background. I asked the gentleman who seemed like the supervisor if the building was open for public viewing.

No, it is only open on the week-ends, he said.

"How did you get here?" he asked.

"I was on the bus and I got off to see if I could get find out more about the building."

"Well, I can show you in," he said.

So I got a private tour.

The building is a one-room schoolhouse, which was functioning as such until the 1950s.


Britannia One-Room Schoolhouse
[Photo By: KPA]

Here I am, a good teacher, at the front of the classroom, and sitting down, "a good student" as I said to my guide.


Britannia Schoolhouse Interior


Britannia Schoolhouse Interior

The gentleman told me that a group meets regularly to maintain the heritage of the region, and asked me if I would like to join the Friends of the Schoolhouse.

"Definitely," I said. And took down the information to attend their upcoming meeting.

Here is the site with the information:

The Britannia Schoolhouse.

As well as membership information, the site has fascinating documents, photographs, architecture, and other information describing Ontario in the Victorian era. There is a section called "Fun and Games" which shows how these young children amused themselves as they went through their school days. In the "links" section, there is a long list of Ontario one-room schoolhouses.

And here is more on heritage buildings in the Mississauga area, which also includes the Chisholm House:

Architectural Styles in Mississauga.
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Posted By: Kidist P. Asrat
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Poppy Blossom

Coach, which started out as a luggage store, is now selling perfume (and handbags, purses, wallets and other leather paraphernalia - minus shoes). So far, I think it's become quite successful. I bought several years ago the Coach signature scent, but I found it too sweet. I remember finding Coach Poppy Blossom, but for some reason, I remained unimpressed.

Recently, I went to my favorite perfume store Sephora (where they give samples of scents for the undecided, or the searching), and got a tiny flask (worth about ten sprays) to test. It usually takes several minutes for the scent to release its notes, and even longer for the middle and base notes to come out. Many current perfumes lose their scent within a few hours, but the good ones persist for days.

I asked a shop assistant (a man, unusual for stores these days) what he thought of the perfume. He started a conversation by saying that he recognized the New York Public Library's pin I was wearing on my coat lapel (a logo of the library's lion head). "I worked there for a while last year," he said. "Oh really, what section?" "In the Judaica section, in the Dorot." "Yes, I'm aware of it, but I haven't visited that section... Are you Israeli?"

I asked him his national origin because he had a peculiar name (to me), and a clear Israeli accent.

"No, I'm Moroccan. But I speak fluent Hebrew." he answered.

This didn't ring true (or honest). He did not have an Arab accent. I figured then that he must be one of the many ethnic Arabs who live (or lived) in Israel.

"Do you speak Arabic?" I asked him.

"Yes."

"Are you Muslim?" I finally asked.

"Yes."

Then I thanked him and left.

In any case, he had no idea about the perfume I was asking him, as is the case with most of the staff I ask for assistance at Sephora. What do these people have to do all day but stand around? A smart manager would have them go through all the perfumes, section by section, and study all the basic information about them. And the smart employees would go home online and read up more on the collections.

Which is what I did.

Poppy Blossom was disconnected from the Coach line for a while, but it is back as a limited edition in some of its stores, and Fragrantica and the Bay also carry the line. It is a modest $45 for 30ml.

I have to add, though, there is no poppy flower notes in the perfume, despite the name. It seems like a branding strategy, where the collection's bottles come with cloth poppy flowers for hair or dress decoration: Orange/red flower for the original Poppy Blossom), green for the Poppy Citrine Blossom, and violet/red for the Poppy Freesia Blossom.

The "Poppy" seems to be the name of the woman this perfume was designed for. But what kind of woman is called "Poppy?"

Here are the notes for the Poppy Blossom:

Top: Lychee, Strawberry, Orange, Freesia
Middle: Lily-of-the-valley, Rose, Tubrose, Gardenia, Jasmine
Base: Pralin, Vanilla, Musk, Woody notes

It has the lily-of-the-valley that I wrote about here.

The scent does last several days. Its final notes are a light combination of the floral and fruit, with the floral dominating slightly.

It is the perfect scent for late spring and summer.

Osmoz says this about the perfume:

Description: Poppy Blossom by Coach begins with fruity notes of mandarin, strawberry and lychee. The heart is a bunch of muguet, centifolia rose, tuberose, jasmine and gardenia. The warm and gourmand dry-down mixes praline, vanilla, blond woods and white musks.
At a glance: A playful and optimistic scent
History: After Poppy, and Poppy Flower, a citrusy and sparkling fragrance, Coach introduces Poppy Blossom, a more floral and fruity scent. According to the brand, the perfume combines the vivacious energy of Coach Poppy and the floral femininity of Poppy Flower. The fragrance embodies a whimsical, modern and sophisticated woman with an exhilarating personality.
Bottle: Poppy’s signature flacon is reinterpreted with a red poppy-like ribbon and a golden juice.

The era of the individual perfumer is over. Although Karyn Khoury is attributed as Poppy Blossom's creator, she worked with a large team of perfumers to make the scent. She says about the process:

...We spent many hours with Reed Krakoff (Coach’s executive creative director) and his team, listening to their vision of the brand and customer.

[...]

The result is a beautifully blended fragrance with great presence, signature and diffusion, which represents modern beauty, elegance and charm.

But, the "nose" of the original Poppy is Celine Barel, who has a modest collection of perfumes, including one nice one she designed for Jessica Simpson (modern pop star).

This original bottle has no corresponding flower, and is a darker bottle with a chocolate brown ribbon, perhaps referencing that "modern woman," with notes which include light and stronger elements, such as cucumber, gardenia, jasmine, and "decadent" marshmallow.

This site describes this dichotomy best with:

Poppy Blossom combines the vivacious energy of Poppy with the floral femininity of Poppy Flower. This luminous and warm fragrance is inspired by the modern beauty of the Poppy Woman.

But, as I said earlier, if left to its own qualities, Poppy Blossom is light, fresh, fruity and floral, and is perfect for spring and summer.
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Posted By: Kidist P. Asrat
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Living on Canaan's Side

Living on Canaan's Side, Egypt behind
Crossed over Jordan wide, gladness to find


The book cover image for On Canaan's Side

I've tried looking for the subject of this photograph. She is identified as: Woman: Topical Press Agency, Getty Images in the book's jacket. When I do a google image search for her, I get and audio book cover (below). The woman is clearly the same one as on the book cover, but the shot is taken from a different angle. I would think she is somewhat well-known, perhaps a 1920s actress. I will keep tracking down her identity, although for now I've come up only with blanks.


Audio Book Cover for Canaan's Side

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I went to Chapters Indigo looking for a calendar, and I found instead a novel. Rather than go to the regular fiction section, I often go straight to the "bargain books" tables to see their collection. The books are randomly placed on the tables (well, it seems random to me, but I'm sure the store has its own method), so it requires a little bit of patience, and some time, to glean through the titles to find one that might interest me. Once I've found something I like, I then ask a clerk what he thinks about the book. Mostly, though, I go to the store's computer and look up the author to read what critics have written.

I think this time I got lucky. I found a book titled Canaan's Side, by Sebastian Barry published in 2011. I liked the religious allusion, and the cover's black and white photograph of a woman from the 1920s. Behind her, there is a skyline of Chicago. The book was on sale for CAN $6.99 reduced from $30. A great bargain at 75% off.

The reviews in the back are by award-winning, and best-selling, authors I've never heard of. Colm Toibin, winner of the Coasta Novel Award Brooklyn, writes:

On Canaan's Side is written with vast sympathy and tenderness. Sebastian Barry's handling of voice and cadence is masterly. His fictional universe is filled with life, quiet truth and exquisite intimacy; it is also fully alert to the power and irony of history. In evoking Lilly Bere, he has created a most memorable character.

Helen Simonson, author of the New York Times bestseller Major Pettigrew's Last Stand praises the book with:

Somewhere on the second page of this book, your heart will break, and you will devour every glimmering image and poetic line as if the sheer act of reading might alter the course of Lilly Bere's haunting tale. A story of love and loss, as Irish as the white heather and as big-hearted as America itself.

And Joseph O'Neill, Pen/Faulkner winner for Netherland says the book is:

A marvel of empathy and tact.

These three reviewers wrote novels which are a little too multicultural for me, but that is to be expected of contemporary novels, set in contemporary times.

Barry, though, set his novel, or rather starts his novel, at the turn of the twentieth century, with the protagonist Lilly Bere leaving Ireland for America.

I cannot imagine any of the three critics' books described as: "A story of love and loss as Pakistani as the jasmine flower, and as big-hearted as America itself." Or: "A story of love and loss as Trinidadian as the wild poinsettia, and as big-hearted as America itself." Or even: "A story of love and loss as Italian as the Lily, and as big-hearted as America itself." I am being facetious, but somehow we relate more to the white heather's Irishness than we do to the poinsettia's Trinidadianess.

Barry has also written two books short-listed for the Man Booker Prize: The Secret Scripture published in 2008, about the protagonist's "...chronicle not only of her deep emotions, but also of a turbulent era in her nation’s history, from the upheavals of the Irish civil war to the German bombing of Belfast during World War II," and A Long Long Way published in 2005, about Ireland's participation in the First World War.

The Secret Scripture will be made into a film for next year.

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I'm Living on Canaan's Side

Music composed by: Mathilda Durham (1815-1901)
From: The South­ern Har­mo­ny and Mu­sic­al Com­pan­ion
Compiled by: Wiliam Walker (1809-1875)

On Jordan’s stormy banks I stand,
And cast a wishful eye
To Canaan’s fair and happy land,
Where my possessions lie.

(Refrain)
I am bound for the promised land,
I am bound for the promised land;
Oh who will come and go with me?
I am bound for the promised land.

O the transporting, rapturous scene,
That rises to my sight!
Sweet fields arrayed in living green,
And rivers of delight!

Refrain

There generous fruits that never fail,
On trees immortal grow;
There rocks and hills, and brooks and vales,
With milk and honey flow.

Refrain

O’er all those wide extended plains
Shines one eternal day;
There God the Son forever reigns,
And scatters night away.

Refrain

No chilling winds or poisonous breath
Can reach that healthful shore;
Sickness and sorrow, pain and death,
Are felt and feared no more.

Refrain

When I shall reach that happy place,
I’ll be forever blest,
For I shall see my Father’s face,
And in His bosom rest.

Refrain

Filled with delight my raptured soul
Would here no longer stay;
Though Jordan’s waves around me roll,
Fearless I’d launch away.

Refrain

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Posted By: Kidist P. Asrat

In Flanders Fields

Lieutenant Colonel John Alexander McCrae, MD
(November 30, 1872 – January 28, 1918)

In Flanders Fields
By Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae, (1872-1918)

In Flanders fields the poppies grow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie,
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.
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Posted By: Kidist P. Asrat
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Obama's Martin Luther King Day Speech

Obama in front of the Lincoln Memorial, presenting his speech for the
50th anniversary of Martin Luther King's march on Washington, on August 28, 2013

I'm posting below excerpts from Obama's "I have a dream" speech which he gave on the 50th Anniversary of Martin Luther King's march on Washington. The event was commemorated at the "Let Freedom Ring" ceremony, on August 28, the title being a quote quote from King's speech.

The event took place at the Lincoln Memorial. Obama chose that location since it is where Martin Luther King also presented his "I have a dream" speech in 1963.

I waded through Google images and a sixteen minute video of King giving his speech, and could find no images of him standing in front of the memorial.

But, while viewing the video, I can come upon white-capped men on the stage with King. Below is a long shot of him at the memorial (a screen-shot from the video), surrounded by the men wearing the white caps.



It looks like the men are wearing Gandhi caps, I suppose signifying the "non-violence" mantra that Gandhi initiated to activate social change, and which King said he followed.



The image above is from the online Christianity Today, in a January 21, 2013 article titled: Why I Changed My Mind About Martin Luther King's 'I Have a Dream' Speech.

Audrey Ruth comments on the white-capped men shown in the article:

August 29, 2013: There's not just one man in a white hat behind MLK in that pic -- there are a lot of them. The prevailing wisdom is that MLK was inspired by Gandhi above all. He did quote some scripture, but, as noted below, He did not believe that Jesus was/is Lord. He had some Muslim friends too, including Malcolm X. The bottom line, though, is that if any white preacher is immoral, he is deemed unworthy, period. He's not given a chance by the public to repent and be restored to the Lord. But people seem to give black preachers a pass on such things. I've noticed this through the years and wonder why this is so. I also noticed that not one black conservative leader was at the MLK memorial yesterday, yet he said he wanted people to be judged by their character, period. It doesn't look like that day will come anytime soon.

Here is are forum participants commenting on the Gandhi caps:

okay, so they are Ghandi caps. But that leads to my next question: what's up with Ghandi caps in America?

Obviously, Martin Luther King proudly associated himself with Ghandi's movement and its messsage of non-violence. But had the Ghandi cap become a popular symbol in America of 1963? Or was it pretty much limited to this one demonstration, and then faded away?

When I think of the famous historical symbols of the civil rights movement, I don't think of Ghandi caps. If I had been an average American watching the news that night in 1963 --would I have recognized the caps as a political statement? or as having any meaning at all?

One other point, this time on Obama's choice of his speech venue: Wouldn't it have been more meaningful to have held it in front of the Martin Luther King statue, and pass the torch on to King, rather than use other symbolic references to him?



There is ample space for a large crowd in front of the MLK statue, and some kind of platform could have been built for the speech makers.

I wonder if the statue is aesthetically unappealing to the event organizers, and deterred Obama and his organizing crew from setting the speech's stage before it?

Lawrence Auster wrote in 2011:

I’ve said the statue looks like an Oriental despot. But it’s more than that. It looks like a statue from one of the ancient cosmological empires, in which the pharoah, the god-king, personally embodies the all-ruling forces of the cosmos. Specifically, King’s hostile posture and facial expression are reminiscent of the ferocious statues of the kings of Assyria, that empire that crushed every nation it conquered until it was conquered and crushed itself.

Here are excerpts from Obama's August 28, 2013 "I have a dream" speech:

Because they marched [on August 28, 1963], America became more free and more fair, not just for African-Americans but for women and Latinos, Asians and Native Americans, for Catholics, Jews and Muslims, for gays, for Americans with disabilities.

[...]

To dismiss the magnitude of this progress, to suggest, as some sometimes do, that little has changed -- that dishonors the courage and the sacrifice of those who paid the price to march in those years.

[...]

But we would dishonor those heroes as well to suggest that the work of this nation is somehow complete. The arc of the moral universe may bend towards justice, but it doesn't bend on its own. To secure the gains this country has made requires constant vigilance, not complacency. Whether it's by challenging those who erect new barriers to the vote or ensuring that the scales of justice work equally for all in the criminal justice system and not simply a pipeline from underfunded schools to overcrowded jails it requires vigilance.

[...]

Yes, there have been examples of success within black America that would have been unimaginable a half-century ago. But as has already been noted, black unemployment has remained almost twice as high as white employment (sic), Latino unemployment close behind. The gap in wealth between races has not lessened, it's grown.

[T]he position of all working Americans, regardless of color, has eroded, making the dream Dr. King described even more elusive.

[...]

And what had once been a call for equality of opportunity, the chance for all Americans to work hard and get ahead was too often framed as a mere desire for government support, as if we had no agency in our own liberation, as if poverty was an excuse for not raising your child and the bigotry of others was reason to give up on yourself. All of that history is how progress stalled. That's how hope was diverted. It's how our country remained divided.

[...]

[W]e can stand together for good jobs and just wages. With that courage, we can stand together for the right to health care in the richest nation on earth for every person. (Applause.) With that courage, we can stand together for the right of every child, from the corners of Anacostia to the hills of Appalachia, to get an education that stirs the mind and captures the spirit and prepares them for the world that awaits them. (Applause.) With that courage, we can feed the hungry and house the homeless and transform bleak wastelands of poverty into fields of commerce and promise.

[...]

And that's the lesson of our past, that's the promise of tomorrow, that in the face of impossible odds, people who love their country can change it.

Obama is very clever.
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Posted By: Kidist P. Asrat
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New York in a Week Part III: The Cloisters

I visited the Cloisters during my August trip. It is the third time I've been there. Below are my previous posts on the Cloisters:

- Flowers of the Unicorn Tapestry
September 9, 2012
- A Road Less Taken
August 12, 2012
- The Luck of the Unicorns
September 8, 2010

And here is a published article (in the Botanical Artists of Canada Newsletter) where I discuss the flowers and plants in the Unicorn Tapestries:
- Botanical Art and the Decorative Arts
Botanical Artists of Canada Newsletter
Summer 2007
Pp3-4

This time, I wanted to take better photographs of the New Jersey Palisades, and of the exterior of the museum. Also, there is a special exhibition on the 75th anniversary of the Cloisters, which a special emphasis on the items (documents and objects) relating to the Unicorn.

Here is a description of the exhibition:

Given by John D. Rockefeller Jr. in time for the opening of The Cloisters in 1938, the Unicorn Tapestries are its best-known masterpieces; yet, seventy-five years later, their history and meaning remain elusive. They have been seen both as complicated metaphors for Christ and as emblems of matrimony, and they are beloved as quaint indications of medieval notions about the natural world. This exhibition of some forty works of art drawn from the collections of the Metropolitan, sister institutions, and private collections invites audiences to see the Unicorn Tapestries anew, as the finest expression of a subject widely treated across cultures, and in both European art and science, from the Middle Ages, through the Renaissance.

I will post more on the exhibition, and the notes I took, in an upcoming posting.

The Cloisters are not very far from New York. The city's M4 bus goes there, traveling through the Bronx to get there in about a 45-minute ride. The bus goes through the Bronx, with some beautiful wrought iron balconies and fire escapes on old New York buildings. (The friend I write about is Larry Auster, who was a constant companion during my recent visits in New York). I wrote about the buildings and the iron work here in New York Fire Escapes.

Below are the photographs I took during this trip. The Cloisters, only a short distance from New York City, feel like another place, far away both geographically and spiritually. Magical is another word I would use to describe them, and their location.

I have posted my photographs from my last trip at the Cloisters in August 2012 at the end of the 2013 photographs.


Cloisters entrance
[Photo by KPA, August 2013]


View of the George Washington Bridge from the Cloisters
[Photo by KPA, August 2013]


View of The New Jersey Palisades from the Cloisters
[Photo by KPA, August 2013]

The New Jersey Palisades (above), which were protected through land claims by Rockefeller, are now battling to prevent high rise constructions.

An information pamphlet, An American Landmark is at Risk, was provided at the museum. There is a link at www.protectThePalisades.org for online information.


Garden in the Cloisters
Discussed in: Garden Guide: New York City pp. 33-37
Cloisters Flowers
[Photo by KPA, August 2012]


Standing Virgin and Child
Attributed to Nikolaus Gerhaert van Leiden
(North Netherlandish, active in Strasbourg, 1460–1473)
Date: ca. 1470
Medium: Boxwood, tinted lips and eyes
Dimensions: 13 1/4 x 5 1/8 x 3 9/16 in.
[Photo by KPA, August 2012]




Periwinkles in the Cloisters
Discussed in Garden Guide: New York City pp. 33-37
Periwinkle Label:
Common Periwinkle, Myrtle
Vinca minor
[Photo by KPA, August 2012]
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Posted By: Kidist P. Asrat
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Washington in New York City

"Evacuation day" and Washington's triumphal entry in New York City, Nov. 25th, 1783.
Lithograph by E. P. & L. Restein, 1879.

Image Source: Library of Congress
Digital ID: (digital file from original print) pga 02468 h
Reproduction Number: LC-DIG-pga-02468 (digital file from original print) LC-USZC4-737 (color film copy transparency) LC-USZ62-3915 (b&w film copy neg.) LC-USZCN4-213 (color film copy neg.)
Repository: Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C. 20540 USA
Summary: Print showing George Washington and other military officers riding on horseback along street, spectators line the street, others observe from windows.

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Update:

I found a brochure describing Washington's presence in New York titled: George Washington's New York. It is a thirteen page description, and includes Bowling Green, Fraunces Tavern and St. Paul's Chapel, amongst others.

Here is the link to the brochure.

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I got interested in George Washington from Lawrence Auster's posts at View From the Right. One of his most memobrable was George Washington's Birthday, which he wrote on February 22, 2004, with life-like busts of Washington posted in the article. (Here is a link to all the articles posted on VFR on Washington).

That the Father of the United States of America was one of the greatest men who ever lived, who impressed on this country his character, his prudence and far-seeing political wisdom, his extraordinary personal force modulated by his mildness and self-control, his dedication to classical ideals of honor and patriotism combined with his future-oriented grasp of an expanding America, his profoundly felt sense of America’s reliance on the protection and guidance of Divine Providence (and not just Providence, but Jesus Christ, as can be seen in his 1789 proclamation of a national day of thanksgiving), and his deeply experienced vision of the national Union, is something that we are still receiving the benefits of to this day, in myriad and incalculable ways, even in the midst of our current decadence, and even if we ourselves don’t know it and don’t care. (Author: Lawrence Auster, View From the Right)

I commented on Washington's Birthday, here at Reclaiming Beauty, in a post titles: Larry Auster and Reclaiming Beauty:

Although Larry Auster didn't directly write about beauty, his work is infused with the desire to bring beauty back into our world.

One of the most memorable posts he did on art (and beauty) was his reaction to a bust of George Washington. The image of the bust he has posted is huge and takes up the whole screen, so that we, like him, can have as close a look at it as possible.

I plan to trace Washington's presence in New York during my forthcoming visit to the city.

I got this from various sources, but here is my itinerary:

1. Fraunces Tavern:
54 Pearl St.

[T]he tavern served as George Washington's final residence during the week following the evacuation of the British troops in 1783. It was here that he ceremoniously bade farewell to his officers, marking the final stage of the Revolutionary War.
[Source: The New York Preservation Archive Project]

2. St. Paul’s Chapel
209 Broadway, between Fulton and Vesey

On his inaugural day, Washington, along with members of Congress, worshiped at St. Paul’s Chapel. Washington had previously worshiped there in 1776 prior to retreating from the City and continued to do so during his tenure as President in New York. Washington’s marked off and commemorated with an eighteenth-century oil painting of the Great Seal of the United States.
[Source: Untapped Cities]

3. Bowling Green Park
Broadway and Whitehall

On July 9, 1776, after the Declaration of Independence was read to Washington's troops at the current site of City Hall, local Sons of Liberty rushed down Broadway to Bowling Green, where they toppled the statue [a gilded lead equestrian statue of King George III].
[Source: Wikipedia]

- Related: Site of the Charging Bull Sculpture

4. Federal Hall
26 Wall St.

On April 30, 1789, the inaugural ceremony took place on the balcony of Federal Hall in New York City,[7] then the first US Capitol and the first site where the 1st United States Congress met.[Source: Wikipedia]

Federal Hall, built in 1700 as New York's City Hall, later served as the first capitol building of the United States of America under the Constitution, and was the site of George Washington's inauguration as the first President of the United States. It was also where the United States Bill of Rights was introduced in the First Congress. The building was demolished in 1812.
[Source: Wikipedia]

- Related: Washington's inaugural address: Transcript

5. Brooklyn Bridge:

The Samuel Osgood House (demolished), also known as the Walter Franklin House, was a mansion at the northeast corner of Pearl and Cherry Streets in Manhattan. It served as the first Presidential Mansion, housing George Washington, his family, and household staff, from April 23, 1789 to February 23, 1790, during New York City's two-year term as the national capital.
[Source: Wikipedia]

The site of 1 Cherry Street (right under the south side of the Brooklyn Bridge) is just north of the east side of Pearl and Dover Streets. On April 30th, 1899, the Mary Washington Colonial Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution placed a plaque commemorating George Washington's first Presidential Mansion, on an anchorage supporting one of the big stone arches on the south side of the Brooklyn Bridge (opened in 1883). The plaque is basically not visible to the public these days, both because of steelwork attached to support the bridge and a metal fence that the Department of Transportation put up after 9-11 for security reasons [Source: NY-BUS.com - "Learn about NYC's past by riding NYC's public buses in the present."].

6. The Alexander Macomb House
39 Broadway at Bowling Green

Demands upon the hospitality of the first Presidential Mansion were constantly increasing, and at best space was lacking for the comfortable accommodation of the family and entourage of the President. So, after 10 months' residence in the Franklin House, a larger Executive Mansion was secured. The Macomb House, recently vacated by the French minister, was secured and became known as the Mansion House. This was the finest house in the city and in the most fashionable quarter, located at 39 Broadway, a short distance from Trinity Church. The rear windows commanded an extended view of the Hudson River and the Jersey shore.

The President personally supervised a great part of the moving and the putting up of furniture, which he supplemented by purchasing from the French minister the large mirrors in the drawing room "and other things particularly suited to the rooms in which he found them." A stable was built at the President's personal expense, to accommodate his favorite horses and cream colored coach, which was embellished with his coat of arms and the "Four Seasons."

While living in this house the President received the Key of the Bastille, which afterwards hung in a glass case on the wall, and which is now at Mount Vernon. It was sent by Lafayette with the message: "That the principles of America opened the Bastille is not to be doubted, therefore the Key comes to the right place."

Six months after the removal of the President's family to the Mansion House another move became imminent, due to the transfer of the Capital to Philadelphia. The New York Assembly was building a Presidential Mansion but, with the loss of the Capital, it was, of course, doomed to disuse as such.

The city of Philadelphia, upon securing the temporary Capital, proudly erected a Presidential Mansion there, but it was so large that the President refused to occupy it, and it became the early home of the University of Pennsylvania. It was located on the spot where the post office now stands.
[Source: Marshall Davies Lloyd, author of: Polybius and the Founding Fathers: the Separation of Powers, and partial C.V.]

7. Van Cortland House
215 East 71st Street, between 2nd & 3rd Avenues

The Van Cortlandt House Museum, also known as Frederick Van Cortlandt House or Van Cortlandt House, is the oldest building in The Bronx, New York City. The house was built by Frederick Van Cortlandt (1699 – 1749) in 1748 as a mansion for the Van Cortlandt family. It was built in Yonkers, of fieldstone and in the Georgian style. He died before its completion and willed it to his son, James Van Cortlandt (1727 – 1781)...

The house was used during the Revolutionary War by Rochambeau, Lafayette, and Washington.[Source: The National Society of Colonial Dames in the State of New York]

8. The George Washington Bridge
Washington Heights, Fort Lee

Groundbreaking for the new bridge began in October 1927, a project of the Port of New York Authority. Its chief engineer was Othmar Ammann, with Cass Gilbert as architect...The bridge was initially named the "Hudson River Bridge." The bridge is near the sites of Fort Washington (in New York) and Fort Lee (in New Jersey), which were fortified positions used by General Washington and his American forces in his unsuccessful attempt to deter the British occupation of New York City in 1776 during the American Revolutionary War. Washington evacuated Manhattan by crossing between the two forts. In 1910 the Washington Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution erected a stone monument to the Battle of Fort Washington. The monument is located about 100 yards (91 m) northeast of the Little Red Lighthouse, up the hill towards the eastern bridge anchorage.
[Source: Wikipedia]

George Washington Bridge, vehicular suspension bridge crossing the Hudson River, U.S., between The Palisades park near Fort Lee, N.J., and Manhattan island, New York City (between 178th and 179th streets). The original structure was built (1927–31) by the Swiss-born engineer Othmar H. Ammann according to the modified designs of architect Cass Gilbert. It was constructed to carry eight lanes of traffic. A lower deck with six more traffic lanes was added in 1958–62, along with a modernistic bus terminal on the Manhattan side (designed by Pier Luigi Nervi).

When first built, the main span of 3,500 feet (1,067 m) doubled the record for suspension bridges. Overall, the bridge now extends 4,760 feet (1,450 m) between anchorages, with the decks 115 feet (35 m) and 212 feet (65 m) above mean high water and the lattice-steel towers rising 604 feet (184 m) high above the water. On the New York side the tower stands on land; on the New Jersey side the tower rises out of the river 76 feet (23 m) from shore. The bridge was built and is operated by the Port of New York Authority.
[Source: Encyclopedia Britannica]

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Posted By: Kidist P. Asrat
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