stand your ground

 

In April of 1989, Tom Petty released a song titled “I Won’t Back Down”, which contained the phrase “I’ll stand my ground”.

Tom Petty produced a lot of great music, and this song was one of his best.

Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers - I Won't Back Down (Official Music Video) - YouTube

It goes without saying that you always have a right to defend yourself and your property, but the right has evolved into something more sinister in recent years.

Prior to the death of Trayvon Martin in 2012, most of us were not aware that many states had “stand your ground” laws. Since Florida is one of those states, George Zimmerman was acquitted of all the charges against him. Ironically, Zimmerman himself was the target of a shooting three years later. The perpetrator was CONVICTED of attempted murder, and sentenced to 20 years in prison.

Since his acquittal, Zimmerman’s life has not been a bed of roses.

He has been charged twice for domestic violence, his Twitter account has been suspended for various violations, he sold the murder weapon for $250,000 (but not without a lot of controversy), he gained more than 100 pounds between the date of the shooting and the start of the trial, and he is currently trying to sue Pete Buttigieg Elizabeth Warren for defamation. On November 5 of this year, Zimmerman was scheduled to speak at the Lethal Force Gun Laws 2021 Tactics & Strategies Conference in Idaho. When the organizers learned that Zimmerman was going to be a speaker, the event was cancelled.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Zimmerman

https://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/ny-geroge-zimmerman-cancel-speak-hotel-20211106-sq4ortgwrbexlg42uliam6k55i-story.html

As of June, 2020, 25 states have passed “stand your ground” laws. Georgia is one of those states, but Illinois and Wisconsin are not, but that does not mean that “defending yourself” in those states could not be used as a defense.

https://www.findlaw.com/criminal/criminal-law-basics/states-that-have-stand-your-ground-laws.html

After an unarmed black man named Jacob Blake was shot in the back 7 times by Kenosha police, riots erupted in the city. Kyle Zimmerman’s father lives in Kenosha, and when Kyle heard of the riots, he and his mother drove from their home in Illinois to Kenosha “to defend the property” of a business owner that he knew. Even though he was too young to own the AR-15 that he used to shoot three people, a jury in Kenosha acquitted him, largely due to the incompetence of the judge. His defense was that he was defending himself.

Overnight, he became a celebrity on right wing media, and he actually got invited to Mar-A-Lago by Donald Trump.

 

A case in Georgia turned out differently.

In February of 2021, an unarmed black man, Ahmaud Marquez Arbery was shot and killed on February 23 while jogging through a predominately white neighborhood about two miles from his mother’s house. William Bryan, a neighbor of the man who shot Arbery, took a video of the shooting, which was later released to a local radio station.

Heather Cox Richardson’s letter of November 26 provides a lot more details about the case, but here are the key points.

https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/november-26-2021

1)    The local police department, as well as the local prosecutor, were not interested in pursuing the case.

2)   The men involved in the shooting used “self-defense” as an excuse for the shooting, the same excuse used by Kyle Rittenhouse.

3)   Just as a video was key to convicting Derek Chavin after he killed George Floyd, the video was the main reason the men involved were convicted.

4)   The case finally went to trial due to the persistence of a local reporter named Larry Hobbs, who issued numerous columns about the killing, which forced the case to trial.

On Wednesday, November 24, just before the Thanksgiving holiday, a jury found Gregory McMichael (65), his son Travis McMichael (35), and their neighbor William “Roddie” Bryan (52) guilty on 23 counts in the murder of Ahmaud Arbery on February 23, 2020, near Brunswick, in Glynn County, Georgia.

In addition, former prosecutor Jackie Johnson was indicted her for violating her oath of office and obstructing police, saying she used her position to discourage law enforcement officers from arresting the McMichaels.

Colin Kaepernick began kneeling during the National Anthem to protest the shooting of unarmed black people by the police. More details about him can be found in the link below:

https://tohell-andback.blogspot.com/2018/01/a-man-of-integrity.html

Kaepernick was roundly criticized by many right wind pundits, and even Donald Trump himself. He’s been unable to return to football, but he is doing fine financially, in large part due to a Nike ad that ran in 2018.

The conservatives in this country don’t like him because he dared to expose the dirty side of our history. As a result, at least 21 states have passed laws banning the teaching of critical race theory. The CRT controversy was the primary reason that Glenn Youngkin just got elected as governor in Virginia.

https://meaww.com/critical-race-theory-full-list-of-states-that-have-banned-teaching-of-crt-anti-racism[tb1] 

 

FOX “news”, of course, did its part, since the topic has been mentioned over 2,000 times since the beginning of the year, even though Tucker Carlson has admitted that he still     hasn’t figured out what critical racial theory is.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/tucker-carlson-says-never-figured-203411585.html

Critical race theory is an academic movement focused on recognizing the effects slavery and institutional racism continue to have on the U.S. Critical race theory is an intellectual framework for analyzing American history introduced by legal scholars as a way to recognize the effects that racism has had on the U.S. The theory dates back to the 1970s, although it was apparently coined during a 1989 conference led by several scholars and has roots even farther back, with civil rights activists such as W.E.B. Du Bois. A book titled Critical Race Theory: An Introduction defines the movement as “a collection of activists and scholars interested in studying and transforming the relationship among race, racism, and power.” Critical race theory has been applied to examine how the history of racism in the U.S. has affected multiple areas of society, such as discriminatory labor practices, access to education, bank lending, and housing segregation, as well as a host of microaggressions. One of the founders of critical race theory, Kimberlé Crenshaw, described it as “an approach to grappling with a history of White supremacy that rejects the belief that what's in the past is in the past, and that the laws and systems that grow from that past are detached from it.” [Time, 9/29/20; CNN, 10/1/20]  

https://www.mediamatters.org/fox-news/fox-news-critical-race-theory-obsession

On June 19, 1845, Texas was the first state in which former slaves learned that they had been freed. As a result, it’s not surprising that Texas is one of the first states to ban the mention of the Ku Klux Klan or Jim Crow laws in its public schools.

         

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The history of our country, although admirable in many ways, is littered with examples of events that should not have happened. For that reason, I believe that history should be taught in our schools.

All of it.

any color you want, as long as it's black

 

We recently replaced the sheets on the bed in the front room because the old set was thoroughly worn out. Technically, the color of the new sheets is “blue”, but they reminded me of the turquoise color that was popular on the cars of the 1950’s.

One thing that I remember about the cars of the 1950’s is that they had an enormous number of options and colors to choose from, which made it difficult to decide what you wanted your car to be. On top of that, prior to the introduction of the Monroney sticker in 1958, you really had no idea what the cost of the vehicle actually was, which made car buying a lot like betting on the horses. Since their introduction in 1958, the information on the stickers has been expanded to include other items, such as fuel economy ratings, standard and optional equipment, and country of origin. Although few people actually pay MSRP for their vehicles, at least having that information in plain sight makes negotiating a price a little easier.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monroney_sticker

When you buy a car today, your color choices are limited. Typically, you’ll have a choice of white, silver, gray, red or blue, and the exact shades usually vary by the year of manufacture.

 If you bought a 1955-1957 Chevrolet, you had a choice of 15 solid colors. In addition, you also had a choice of 24 two-tone combinations. Since option packages did not exist yet, you had to order your options individually, and sometimes the option(s) you wanted were simply not available.

https://news.classicindustries.com/1955-1956-1957-chevy-colors-paint-codes

https://www.urechem-paints.com/1956-chevrolet-bel-air-car-paint-colors/

If you bought a more expensive vehicle, you had even more color options.

In 1958, Cadillac offered LOTS of options.

 

https://eldorado-seville.com/my58eldo/1958colors/

 

In 1958 buyers had the choice of 19 exterior colors which could be applied in different tones for the lower or single part of the car and a different color for the upper part. There were 5 special colors reserved to the Eldorados. 5 different top colors for the Vicodec roof were available and a choice of 8 interiors in cloth or leather for the Seville.

One odd feature of the 1958 Cadillac was that it came standard with FOUR cigarette lighters – but air conditioning was an extra cost option.

Today, manufactures still offer option packages, but sometimes the trim level (such as LE or SV) included options as part of the trim level.

If you were of car buying age in the early part of the 20^th century, there were numerous car manufacturers in this county, but most of them did not exist for very long.

The most popular car, of course, was the Ford Model T, which was available from 1908 through 1927. During the early years of production, the car was available in a variety of colors – but black was not one of them. From 1915 through 1925, however, the ONLY color choice was black. There are many theories to why Henry Ford chose only black back then. Ford Model T models were painted using a technique called japanning (known today as baked enamel). The coating was used for decorative items in the 1800s. Japanning gave a piano black finish and was also proved to be durable and hard. Black was the only pigment it worked in. Another theory is that black color dried faster than any color. This helped a lot in boosting production. Also, in 1914, Henry Ford introduced assembly line car manufacturing; something almost every manufacturer follows today. Assembly line production was really efficient for Ford. Using only one color (black) increased the efficiency even more.

Most of the buyers weren't complaining either. The reason for that was, the Ford Model T looked really good in black. Black paint was and still is, cheaper. Black could also be easily applied by almost anyone as it doesn't require much detailing and precision like other paints.

The link below provides some additional information about the Model T, which may be of interest to you.

Read more at: https://www.drivespark.com/four-wheelers/2018/why-ford-model-t-came-in-black-colour-only/articlecontent-pf84043-025093.html

There are people living today who yearn for “the good old days”, but the truth is that life is actually much better today. In 1925, you could buy a brand-new Ford for $300, but four years later, the Great Depression started, and life got to be a lot harder.

Since today is Thanksgiving day, you may reflect on the fact that today, in spite of what you head on TV, life is actually pretty good. If you know where to look, you can still buy a model T today,  but it’s going to cost you a lot of money. The cheapest one on the link below is $14,000 – and it’s not black.

https://classics.autotrader.com/classic-cars-for-sale/ford-model_t-for-sale

 

 

 

 

memories of the East Side

 

I grew up on the East Side of St. Paul, and I still have some fond memories of the years I spent there as a kid.

I still get mail from St Pascal’s school, which I graduated from in 1961. Today, it’s known as St. Pascal’s Regional Catholic School, and it boasts some impressive educational achievements, but it’s considerably more expensive to attend than when it first opened in 1948. $10,000 a year for elementary school is a lot of money, which is why financial aid is utilized by most of today’s parents.

https://stpascalschool.org/

 Roughly 1/2 mile east of St. Pascal’s is the house on Third Street, where I lived until I got married in 1972.

https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/2059-3rd-St-E-Saint-Paul-MN-55119/2156293_zpid/

About a mile to the east of the Third Street house is the location where the Minnehaha drive-in theatre showed movies. It opened in 1950 and closed in 1979, to become a flea market. It was demolished in 1986 to make way for another 3M office building.

http://cinematreasures.org/theaters/46025

 

Just down the road from the drive-in movie theatre was ANOTHER drive-in business, but it featured a much different type of entertainment. It was called A&W. Although if offered a variety of basic food items, the best part of your stop there was the genuine A&W root beer, which was always served in a chilled mug.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A&W_Restaurants

 

The brand has been around longer than you might suspect, since the first A&W opened in California in 1919, when it started as a roadside root beer stand.

After WWII, the rapid increase in the number of automobiles in this country led to A&W drive-ins. By 1950, there were 450 drive-in restaurants in the country, and by the 1960’s, the number had swelled to more than 2000.

Since 1963, the company has gone through a series of owners, and is currently owned by Keuring Dr. Pepper. Although you can still find A&W locations (including one in Tucson) they are no longer drive-in locations. Fortunately, you can still by A&W root beer in most grocery stores.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A&W_Root_Beer

For those who want to re-create those drive-in memories, they can now be found at Sonic, which first opened in 1953. Inspire Brands, the owner of Sonic, also owns Arby’s and Buffalo Wild Wings. Each year, the company holds a competition to find the best skating car hop in its system.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sonic_Drive-In

Sonic, though, did not invent the “car hop”. That is an innovation by an even older chain called the Pig Stand.

https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/last-day-for-texas-celebrated-drive-in-pig-stands 

 

The first one opened in Texas in October 1921.

It was a roadside barbecue restaurant unlike any other: Its patrons could drive up, eat and leave, all without budging from their automobiles. (“People with cars are so lazy,” It’s founder, Jessie Kirby, Kirby explained, “they don’t want to get out of them.”) Kirby lured these car-attached customers with great fanfare and spectacle. When a customer pulled into the Pig Stand parking lot, teenaged boys in white shirts and black bow ties jogged over to his car, hopped up onto the running board—sometimes before the driver had even pulled into a parking space—and took his order. (This daredevilry won the servers a nickname: carhops.) Soon, the Pig Stand drive-ins replaced the carhops with attractive young girls on roller skates, but the basic formula was the same: good-looking young people, tasty food, speedy service and auto-based convenience. In addition to car hops, the chain also is the origin of deep-fried onion rings, chicken fried steak, and Texas Toast.

Like A&W, the chain no longer has any drive-in restaurants, but the chain still has ONE location left (in San Antonio) but it is now a “walks in” location.

Like most baby boomers, I remember some of my favorite things from the past, but they aren’t the same anymore, which just proves the old adage.

Nostalgia just isn’t what it used to be.

 

Pig stands

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Thanksgiving dinner that couldn't be beat

 

Arlo Guthrie recorded his most famous song, “Alice’s Restaurant” in October of 1967. In the song, he talked about Alice and Ray and Fasha the dog, as well as Officer Opie, and the twenty-seven 8 by 10 color pictures, with circles and arrows and a paragraph on the back of each one.

If you want to take another trip down memory lane, here is the song in its entirety:

Alice's Restaurant - Original 1967 Recording - YouTube

The song, though, really was not about Alice or the Thanksgiving dinner that could not be beat.

It was about the draft.

On my way back home after basic training, we stopped in Stockbridge, Massachusetts. I saw the location where the restaurant used to be, where the police station is, and where the church building stands.

Originally built as the St. James Chapel in 1829, the structure was enlarged in 1866 and renamed Trinity Church. Ray and Alice Brock purchased the property in 1964 and made it their home. The building has had several owners since the early 1970s.

After four years of high school in Stockbridge, Arlo graduated in the spring of 1965 entering Rocky Mountain College in Billings, Montana the following fall. His college career was short lived, however, and he returned to the Berkshires in November of 1965. He stayed with his friends, Ray and Alice, at the church during the Thanksgiving holidays. The rest, as they say, is history.

Over time, Arlo bought the old Trinity Church featured in the song, and converted it to an interfaith church in 1991. The structure was renamed the Guthrie Center.

If you would like a blast of nostalgia, there is also an Alice’s restaurant in Tucson.

https://alicesrestauranttucson.business.site/

Stockbridge is on the farthest west side of Massachusetts, roughly 160 miles from Plymouth, where another Thanksgiving dinner took place in 1621.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/history/2021/11/04/thanksgiving-anniversary-wampanoag-indians-pilgrims/

The actual history of what happened in 1621 bears little resemblance to what most Americans are taught in grade school, historians say. There was likely no turkey served. There were no feathered headdresses worn. And, initially, there was no effort by the Pilgrims to invite the Wampanoags to the feast they’d made possible.

The Wampanoags, whose name means “People of the First Light” in their native language, trace their ancestors back at least 10,000 years to southeastern Massachusetts, a land they called Patuxet.

 In the 1600s, they lived in 69 villages, each with a chief, or sachem, and a medicine man. They had “messenger runners,” members of the tribe with good memories and the endurance to run to neighboring villages to deliver messages.

They occupied a land of plenty, hunting deer, elk and bear in the forests, fishing for herring and trout, and harvesting quahogs in the rivers and bays. They planted corn and used fish remains as fertilizer. In the winter, they moved inland from the harsh weather, and in the spring, they moved to the coastlines.

 They had traded — and fought — with European explorers since 1524.

 By the fall, the Pilgrims — thanks in large part to the Wampanoags teaching them how to plant beans and squash in a mound with maize around it and use fish remains as fertilizer — had their first harvest of crops. To celebrate its first success as a colony, the Pilgrims had a “harvest feast” that became the basis for what’s now called Thanksgiving.

 

The Wampanoags weren’t invited.

 

Ousamequin and his men showed up only after the English in their revelry shot off some of their muskets. At the sound of gunfire, the Wampanoags came running, fearing they were headed to war.

 

“One hundred warriors show up armed to the teeth after they heard muskets fired,” said Paula Peters.

 

Told it was a harvest celebration, the Wampanoags joined, bringing five deer to share, she said. There was fowl, fish, eel, shellfish and possibly cranberries from the area’s natural bogs.

 The story about Thanksgiving has particular significance for a number of reasons:

1)    November has been designated as Native American Indian Heritage Month since 1990, when President George H.W. Bush signed a bill honoring America’s tribal people.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Native_American_Indian_Heritage_Month

2)   It’s the time of the year known as Indian summer. According to The Farmer’s Almanac, there are several reasons why it is called Indian Summer. Since none of the explanations are verified, you can pick the one you like.

https://www.almanac.com/content/indian-summer-what-why-and-when?fbclid=IwAR1wNPnIQHu-3Mn4oI3KGyF1gUO5Lz8JRrEUNthf6MAtk6DDne-Hc5i4-1Q

3)   Even though Native Americans have lived in what is now the United States, our knowledge of their past is surprisingly limited. Sure, we’re all familiar with Custer’s Last Stand and Wounded Knee, but how many of us know that the mountain that is now Mount Rushmore was once known as the Six Grandfathers? How many people have even heard of the Indian Removal Act of 1830, which led to the “Trail of Tears”? Did you know that between 1777 and 1868, the United State government signed 368 treaties with the native Americans?  Although a number of those treaties were broken, Native people never gave up on their treaties or the tribal sovereignty that treaties recognized. Beginning in the 1960s, Native activists invoked America’s growing commitment to social justice to restore broken treaties, to demand congressional legislation – or modern treaty amendments – that repaired the damages that had been inflicted on tribal communities by U.S. Indian policies, and to rejuvenate tribal governments long subjugated by heavy-handed federal agents. Today, the reassertion of treaty rights and tribal self-determination is evident in renewed tribal political, economic and cultural strength, as well as in reinvigorated nation-to-nation relations with the United States.

 

https://blog.nativehope.org/six-grandfathers-before-it-was-known-as-mount-rushmore

 

https://www.bartleby.com/essay/The-Causes-Of-The-Indian-Removal-Act-PCQHUTYPWR#:~:text=1803%20Words8%20Pages%20The%20Indian%20Removal%20Act%20of,%E2%80%9CTrail%20of%20Tears%E2%80%9D%20where%20many%20of%20them%20died.

https://www.americanindianmagazine.org/story/nation-nation-treaties-between-united-states-and-american-indian-nations

 

4)   Native Americans were not recognized as citizens until 1924, when the Indian Citizenship Act was signed. In some states, they were not allowed to vote until much later. When native American Ira Hayes (a native of Arizona) climbed to the top of Mount Suribachi in February of 1945, he still was not allowed to vote in Arizona.

 

https://law.asu.edu/indian-legal-program/nativevotearizona

At a time when it is more important than even to learn our country’s history, followers of the FOX network are told to “whitewash” the past, which they call “critical race theory”, and that is very dangerous, since focusing on that issue alone just enabled Glenn Youngkin to get elected as the next Governor of Virginia.

 For now, though, let’s set politics aside. If you’ve got the time, listed to Arlo’s old tune again, and plan to enjoy another “Thanksgiving dinner that can’t be beat with your family and friends.

Amen.