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1. From Letter 7/12/1916: "Tell Burt I will be able to roll B.D. with one hand pretty soon, for it seems to be the standard in this part of the country."
B.D. refers to Bull Durham tobacco. Sam Avery was the product of an upright Protestant family. In later years, when Sam would be chided for his continued smoking habit he would good-naturedly reply, "If you saw what I've seen, you would smoke, too."
2. From Letter 7/15/1916: "I just received your post cards, and tell Bert I will have to wait until I get home before I buy that gulp, for this is no place to take a chance. Not for me anyway. Its here, but I want to be able to say 'Here I come' instead of 'I can't come back.'"
Buying that gulp refers to a large, refreshing quantity of beer. Sam had a zest for living and clearly enjoyed the night life including dancing, drinking and the company of women. However, he also showed great self-discipline and common sense out of respect for his position as a Sergeant and a professional sense of dignity as an Army volunteer. He indicates that he would rather do without the temporary pleasure rather than run the risk of being detained on the Border under military discipline.
3. From Letter 7/18/1916: "And the ball games. I put the fellows that play this game down in a climate like this, in the same class as those that run in the Marathon every year, nuts."
The Marathon refers to the Boston Marathon. Inspired by the first modern-day marathon at the 1896 Summer Olympics, the Boston Marathon started in 1897 and has been run annually every Patriot's Day (the 3rd Monday of April) over a course of 26 miles from the suburbs of Boston into the heart of the city. Originally it was a local event for which the prize awarded was an olive wreath. Today the Boston Marathon continues under corporate sponsorship and management by the Boston Athletic Association as the world's oldest annual marathon which draws participants from all over the globe.
4. From Letters 7/22/1916: "The companies are gathered together into its respective battalions and are drilled in close and extended order until half past eleven."
Sam Avery kept a pocket diary from 1916-1918 in which he made the following Sergeant's notes on the subject of Battalion formations; Battalion distance of companies in line 5 paces. In close column 8 paces. In extended column 5 paces plus the interval of a company. In companies in line of column of squads 5 paces plus the interval of one company. In the battalion in column of squads 4 paces. In close line column of squads 7 paces. The major is always 20 paces ahead of the leading guide in column or in line. The color is always between the second and third companies in column and in line except when the companies get in close column, then the color is on the left of the second or centre company. The battalion as a unit never executes the loadings and firings only in salutary volleys. A battalion is the largest unit that executes a movement at the command of execution of its commander. Total # of men 260.
"Well the country was for (Preparedness) and we are practically paying for it by serving our young lives down here. But say it is going to make a grand lot of men out of us, and some of us will be glad it happened, when it is all over."
Preparedness refers to the Preparedness Movement, a domestic campaign for national readiness championed by Gen. Leonard Wood, former President Theodore Roosevelt and other prominent social, industrial and establishment leaders that advocated U.S. military and economic mobilization for war after the start of the Great War in Europe.
Initially American public opinion was one of isolation and neutrality regarding the hostilities in Europe. With the sinking of the British passenger liner Lusitania by a German U-boat in 1915 which took the lives of 1,200 civilians, American public opinion began to change. The Preparedness Movement aggressively promoted the view that America needed to build up strong military forces and the industrial sector for purposes of national defense and the increasing likelihood of eventual involvement in the international conflict.
The Preparedness Movement advocated augmenting the size of the U.S. military through Universal Military Service (UMT), a national service program designed to require a mandatory 6 months of military training and subsequent assignment to military reserve status for all male citizens turning 18 years old. While this specific policy was not enacted, the Preparedness Movement helped set the stage for Congress to pass the National Defense Act on June 3, 1916 which authorized an enormous increase in the size of the U.S. military including doubling the size of the Regular Army and quadrupling the size of the National Guard.
5. From Letter 7/23/1916: "…they have just finished the Y.M.C.A. building and from now on, as long as we are stationed here I advize you not to send any more stationary, news papers or stamps, for we got paid yesterday and Ive got enough money for these things anyway."
The Y.M.C.A. refers to the Young Men's Christian Association; a non-profit, community organization established before the Civil War and which continues a unique tradition of volunteer service supporting the morale and well-being of uniformed members of the military and their families.
Following the Civil War the Y.M.C.A. delivered social services to the military in state militia camps. During the Spanish-American War the "Y" further extended its services with the troops overseas, providing office supplies and medicine. During the Great War the Y.M.C.A. mobilized 13,000 workers who served troop trains, coordinated entertainment, operated 1500 canteens and exchanges, and provided humanitarian services for prisoners of war.
6. From Letter 7/27/1916: "A fire is built on which we cook our bacon potatoes, warm our beans and corned willie, and make coffee."
Corned willie refers to corned beef hash. To prepare in authentic fashion, take corned beef and fry up in bacon grease in a meatcan. If you have onions add at the same time. Brown, then add can of tomatoes and bring to simmer. If you have a can of kernel corn, add that as well. Cook as long as you wish then eat. (Courtesy of the Great War Association).
7. From Letter 7/28/1916: "Before leaving Camp Cotton we were issued rations enough for two meals and they have got to do us for three. It consists of one can of beans a can of corned willie, also four hard tack per man for three meals."
Hard Tack refers to hard biscuits. Made from flour, water and salt and baked hard, hard tack keeps for years if it is kept dry and was commonly used for sustenance in the absence of perishable foods. It was a staple of the sailor's and soldier's diet from the 18th Century onwards into the early 20th Century. In its dried state hard tack was impossible to eat. To soften it, it was often dunked in coffee or some other liquid or cooked into a skillet meal.
8. From Postcard 8/5/1916: "I see that the Red Sox are in first place. I am going to be there for the Big Series."
The Big Series refers to the 1916 World Series. The Red Sox did indeed win the American League pennant in 1916 and also went on to win the World Series Oct 7-12, 1916 beating the Brooklyn Robins (aka Dodgers) four games to one thanks in part to the dominant pitching of Babe Ruth. A Red Sox fan like any true Boston native, Sam Avery hoped to see the 1916 World Series in person but would miss it while still South on the Border. When The Babe led the Red Sox to another World Series victory in 1918, Sam would miss it again while fighting in France.
Following the 1918 season Babe Ruth was sold to the New York Yankees, which began the "Curse of the Bambino" era for Red Sox fans which lasted until 2004. Sam Avery would never have another chance to see the Red Sox win a World Series, but the tragedy of The Curse is another story…
9. From Letter 8/19/1916: "Just as soon as I seem to get used to this life, some one sings a song plays a tune, and then it is all off. I am back home in the front room near the graphophone or piano."
The graphophone or "talking machine" refers to an early version of the phonograph. First patented in the 1880's, the graphophone both recorded and played back sounds including voices and music using either disks or cylinders of cardboard coated with wax. The machine had two diaphragms fitted with steel needles, one used in making the record and the other in reproducing the sound. No skill was required to operate the machine, the consistent rotation of the cylinder or disk being performed by a crank, treadle or automatic motion. This device was revolutionary in its implications including for home entertainment by enabling the first truly faithful and unlimited reproduction of the human voice in speech and song.
10. From Postcard 9/1/1916: "They say now that we will be on the move by the 15th in complience with the Old Dix law."
The Old Dix Law refers to the Militia Act of 1903, also known as the "Dick Act." Named for its author Senator/Maj. Gen. Charles Dick who was also commander of the Ohio National Guard, the Dick Act reorganized the old State Militia system under a new federal National Guard Bureau and established common military training standards for both Regular Army and National Guard troops.
The Act was further amended in 1908 and mandated a broad reform which gave the National Guard federal status, required N.G. units to attend 24 drills and 5 days of annual paid training per year and subjected N.G. units to inspections by the Regular Army. In accordance with Article I, Section 8, Clause 15 of the United States Constitution, it further provided for the calling-up of N.G. units to serve under Federal authority and pay either within or without the territory of the United States when they were needed to "execute the Laws of the Union, suppress Insurrections and repel Invasions." At the same time, such deployments were originally to be for a period not exceeding nine months. It appears to be the nine month time limit that Sam Avery is referring to in this passage. (Thanks to John J. Hayden, Norwich University '85).
11. From Letter 9/20/1916: "I will say that the dish towel and union suit is pretty near in threads, but I hope I can give Lena back her dish towel a little the worse from scrubbing but never the less a (dish towel). There have been times that I wished I took my safty, but (Safty First) you know."
A union suit refers to a one-piece long underwear garment originally patented in 1868. Equipped with long arms and long legs, union suits typically buttoned up the front from the groin to the neck and also sometimes featured a button-up flap in the seat for added convenience in the latrine. A warm and practical garment still favored today by some cold weather outdoorsmen, the union suit was also redesigned as a 2-piece ensemble in the mid 20th Century now commonly known as "long johns."
Safty refers to a safety razor as opposed to a straight razor. The safety razor with disposable blades was successfully marketed by Gillette in 1909. This device was designed with a thin double-edged disposable blade covered by a housing which protected the skin against the deep cuts which were all to easy with careless use of a straight razor. The invention of the safety razor revolutionized the personal grooming products industry by enabling a majority of people to safely shave themselves rather than rely on the services of a professional barber.
During World War I, Gillette safety razors were issued as standard equipment to all members of the U.S. Armed Forces deployed to Europe, thus converting an entire generation of American men to the use of the safety razor. Based on this passage Sam apparently had taken his straight razor for his stay on the Border but wished he had brought his safety razor instead.
12. From Letter 9/22/1916: "One of the boys just came in and said that he saw a Boston Post on the front page in large print which said that the Ninth and Fifth had got orders to leave and that the boys threw their hats in the air…"
Founded in 1831, the Boston Post was the most popular daily newspaper in New England for more than a century. In its heyday during the 1930's, the Post was one of the largest newspapers in the United States with a circulation of more than one million readers. Ultimately it folded in 1956 due to competition from the Hearst papers in Boston and New York along with the increased popularity of radio and television news.
"…I was trotting around to the different post with a loaded gat on my right hip…"
"Gat" is a slang term for handgun (specifically a revolver). Derived from the Gatling Gun which operated with a revolving action and was the mid-19th Century predecessor to the machine gun.
13. From Letter 9/25/1916: "As 'Teddy The Big Stick' would say 'Im Feeling Bully' and say folks I am."
"Teddy The Big Stick" refers to Theodore Roosevelt (also known as "T.R.") who was the 26th President of the United States. "Feeling Bully" refers to one of T.R.'s popular phrases. One of the Great Presidents in American history, T.R. was a leader of the Republican Party and the Progressive Movement. He was also a champion of the Preparedness Movement in the United States after the start of the Great War in Europe. Teddy Roosevelt was known as "The Big Stick" based on his philosophy of international diplomacy; speak softly in negotiations and carry a big stick in the form of military power and resolve.
It is impossible to overstate the impact of T.R. on the American experience in the 20th Century whether speaking of politics, economics, military affairs, or America's place in the world. With all his achievements, T.R. was perhaps most famous for his larger-than-life personality and embodiment of masculinity combined with an expansive intellect: In addition to being a statesman and reformer, T.R. was a historian, naturalist, explorer, prolific author and soldier. "Bully!" was one of T.R.'s favorite phrases, used to convey the meaning of "good" or "well done" with enthusiastic approval in similar fashion to the colloquial use of the terms "awesome" or "terrific" today.
14. From Letter 9/29/1916: "I got up, jumped in to my shoes, and bolted for the street at a ten second clip. Up and down the street I tore and when I got back into my tent again I was feeling like Roughans on a Saturday night."
Roughans refers to the old Oceanfront Ballroom in Revere Beach, which was originally known as Condits Ballroom or Roughans Ballroom. Built in 1904 by owners Condit and Roughan of Charlestown where Sam lived, the establishment was first known by the names of its owners. Later it was renamed the Spanish Gables based on its appearance. Reopened under the name Oceanfront Ballroom after World War II, it was destroyed by fire in December, 1959.
Throughout the first half of the 20th Century, Revere Beach was a popular summertime entertainment destination for New Englanders known as the "Coney Island of the East." In addition to the beach itself, the Boulevard featured numerous attractions, amusements, movie theaters and dance halls. Often families would vacation in the area and stay at the many seasonal cottages and hotel accomodations.
15. From Letter 10/2/1916: "For our dinner (which we are carrying) we have a can of beans one package of H.J. to go for four men."
H.J. refers to prepackaged beans and tomato sauce made by the H.J. Heinz company. Originally founded in 1869, the Heinz company began as a purveyor of processed condiments. In 1892 the famous slogan "57 Varieties" was introduced although the company was actually producing more than 60 different products. Canned beans, tomato sauce and ketchup are still staples of the Heinz product line today.
16. From Letter 9/8/1917: "The lieutenant that has charge of the section Im in is a Plattsburger, and his name is Frothingham. I guess Burt will remember when he played for Harvard."
Plattsburger refers to an officer commissioned after attending the National Army's Officer Candidate School in Plattsburg, New York in 1917. The Officer Candidate Schools ran from May 1917 through November 1918 at locations across the nation. Officer candidates, after careful screening, were given three months of intensive training. By June of 1918, more than 57,000 graduates had been commissioned and enrolled in the new National Army which was composed of draftees. Sometimes sarcastically labeled as "90-day wonders," graduates of this officer training program actually provided the U.S. Army with a generation of combat leaders having superior quality, many of whom also served at senior command levels during World War II.
Life Buoy refers to a brand of soap containing phenol marketed by Lever Brothers. Originally available in 1895 and popular for more than a century, Life Buoy brand soap is still widely available in the United States, United Kingdom, Europe and Asia. The term "B.O.", short for "body odor," was popularized by a Life Buoy advertising campaign.
18. From Letter 11/22/1917: "The Sammies really are in the trenches Em and soon (to soon Im afraid) you folks will see some of these poor chaps back in the States badly bent after doing their bit…"
Sammies is short for "Uncle Sam's boys," an early nickname for the Volunteer troops (both Regular Army and National Guard) of the American Expeditionary Forces who were first in the fight. The term pre-dated the popular use of "doughboys" which was a later moniker that also included the drafted National Army troops.
19. From Letter 11/26/1917: "I'm knowing that that there's more contained in this package than the actual contents but pen us a few lines will you if for nothing else than pass-time, and Im appreciating it more than a Morgan Memorial Christmas Tree to a nine year old Samuel Avery of 70 Shawmut Ave Boston Massachusetts…"
Morgan Memorial refers to the Morgan Memorial Goodwill Industries, a Boston-area thrift and employment assistance organization established in 1895 by Rev. Edgar J. Helms. Rev. Helms had the idea of collecting unwanted household goods and providing employment to the disadvantaged and disabled who refurbished the items for resale. This provided consumers of limited economic means with a reliable source of quality off-price home goods, and the revenue generated by the sales paid the employee's wages. In a period of war-time inflation and economic hardship, Goodwill remains the place where people often shop for Christmas gifts as well as their own needs. Today, Goodwill is one of the largest employers of the disabled in New England with a global network of over 200 affiliates.
20. From Letter 12/4/1917: "Hows Roughan's, Winter Hill, Castle Sq., Liggett's, Madge's and Life in general."
Liggett's refers to Liggett's Drug Store which was a popular pharmacy chain in the early 20th Century. TIME Magazine of 12/7/1925 ran an article stating that at the time there were 300 U.S. stores, 40 in Canada and 700 more in England dba Boots Pure Drug Co., Ltd. Like all pharmacies of the time, Liggett's also featured a soda fountain where customers could enjoy ice cream sodas as part of their social and shopping experience. Sam's sister Em worked in this establishment, thus making sense of his references to her working overtime during the pre-Christmas shopping season.
21. From Letter 12/5/1917: "In this kitchen that we make our office and home there is a stone sink… we had a freeze up this morning. We had paper burning, axes flying hot water, and pokers. After a while it started to run. But, on the floor. Nuf ced."
"Nuf Ced" was a common phrase of Boston baseball fans during the early 20th Century to indicate the definitive end of a discussion. The phrase was orignially coined by Michael T. McGreevey who operated the Third Base Saloon from 1884-1920 outside the Huntington Avenue Baseball Grounds (Fenway Park did not open until 1912). The Third Base Saloon was America's first sports pub and baseball museum (The Hall of Fame at Cooperstown, NY did not open until 1939), and was the home of the Boston Royal Rooters fan club. McGreevey was a master of baseball knowledge and would umpire spirited debates and discussions about baseball while tending bar, shouting "Nuf Ced!" and thumping the bar with the authority of a judge to settle the patrons down.
The Boston Royal Rooters were led by McGreevey both at home and on the road. They supported the Boston Americans in the 1890s and continued with the Boston Red Sox during the Cy Young era in the early 1900s. Their heyday coincided with the run of Red Sox World Series victories beginning with the first World Series vs. the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1903. In this regard they were the ancestors of Red Sox Nation today. The song "Tessie" revitalized by the Dropkick Murphys during the 2004 World Series originated with the Royal Rooters. The Third Base Saloon was closed in 1920 with the beginning of Prohibition. In 2008 it was officially reopened at 911 Boylston Street in Boston and contains a replica of the original bar along with Boston Red Sox and Royal Rooters memorabilia. Today the Third Base Saloon remains the beating heart of Red Sox Nation and is once again often the last stop before home. Nuf Ced. (Image from the McGreevey Collection at Boston Public Library).
22. From Letter 12/21/1917: "Im going to tell you that youve got quite a scheme, addressing your letters with bleueing."
Blueing refers to laundry bluing which in the early 1900's was widely used to whiten fabrics and was found in virtually all laundries. Made of iron powder, bluing works as an optical whitener by staining fabrics with a light blue tinge that makes them appear brilliantly white to the eye. Before automatic washing machines, the process for bluing fabric involved dipping the newly-washed laundry in a separate "bluing kettle" before hanging to dry. One popular U.S. brand first established in 1883 was Mrs. Stewart's Bluing which came in liquid form and therefore could also be used as a type of color-fast ink resistant to running and smearing in water. Em's "scheme" was to address her letters to Sam with bluing so that rain, sleet or snow would not obscure his address and delay delivery. Although bluing has been largely replaced by laundry bleach and other whiteners in modern use, it is still available today.
"So the Ayer boys are going South. Well Em give them all the luck and sympathy you can, for their never getting any from the Sammies."
Ayer Boys refers to National Army draftees of the 76th Division which was formed and trained at the Camp Devens cantonment in Ayer, Mass. The first National Army division to be activated in August 1917, the 76th Division did not complete its deployment to France until early August 1918, although a number of its men were reassigned to the 26th Division during the time of its original formation at Westfield, Mass. The 301st Infantry Regiment which was part of this division was also called "Boston's Own Regiment" due to its composition of men from the metropolitan Boston area including Boston, Brookline, Cambridge, Chelsea, Everett and Winthrop: At Camp Devens the doors to the barracks occupied by men of the 301st sported placards with the names of famous Boston hotels.
As Sam clearly indicates in his writings, both the Regular Army and National Guard troops of the AEF were experienced Volunteers highly suspicious of the fundamental patriotism and soldierly abilities of the "Draft men" forced into performing their duty as part of the National Army. As for "Boston's Own," Sam would point out in a later letter that while they were still dancing at home, he was busy dancing to avoid incoming German fire in the trenches.
"Lena is Hoverizing on food stuffs, and I guess Im doing some of this econimy stuff with this paper."
Hooverizing refers to an American program of voluntary rationing devised and promoted by Herbert Hoover who managed the U.S. Food Administration during the Great War. Appointed to the post by President Woodrow Wilson after the United States entered the war in 1917, Hoover was charged with managing domestic agriculture and conservation efforts in order to both feed the troops of the American Expeditionary Forces and also assist Allied forces and civilians in war-ravaged Europe. Hoover's plan was to encourage Americans to voluntarily cooperate in changing their eating habits in order to conserve food, eliminate waste and leave more food to be shipped abroad.
The national public relations campaign to conserve food was based on the slogan "Food Will Win the War," and included various recommendations such as the observation of "Meatless" Mondays and "Wheatless" Wednesdays, substituting plentiful for scarce ingredients and learning about nutrition. The "Doctrine of the Clean Plate" was promoted to encourage both children and adults to reduce waste, and the National War Garden Commission encouraged citizens to grow war gardens and preserve by canning and drying all perishable fruits and vegetables they could not use while fresh. Hoover's program successfully reduced the domestic consumption of food by 15% in the United States without forced government rationing, while also creating guaranteed markets for surplus that ensured farmers received a "fair price" for their products. As a result, U.S. overseas food shipments tripled, which helped prevent a post-war famine in Europe.
"You spoke of a service flag outside the shop on which was nine stars. It is the first I heard about this flag, and I could name every one they represent."
Service Flag refers to the Blue Star Service Banner, also originally known as the "Sons in the Service" banner. Originally designed and patented in 1917 by Capt. Robert Queisser of the 5th Ohio Infantry, these flags (and their corresponding Service Pins designed for individual wear) were first used during World War I to honor family members serving in harm's way. One blue star is displayed for each loved one on active duty, and a gold star represents a service-related death.
The use of the Blue Star Banner and Service Pin was standardized by the end of World War II. While they were popular during the two World Wars, they were not widely used during the military "police actions" of Korea and Vietnam. Since 9/11/01, the service flags have enjoyed a resurgence in popularity with widespread overseas deployment of the National Guard and military reservists to forward combat zones in the Global War on Terror.
23. From Letter 12/22/1917: "Its work Em hard work from the time you get up in the morning until you hit the cootie nest at night, and then its work to sleep."
Cooties are body lice, the bane of the common soldier during the Great War and no respecter of rank. Infestations were the result of going prolonged periods without bathing, wearing filthy clothing for days and weeks at a time and dwelling in unsanitary conditions. All soldiers who occupied the trenches or common billets suffered from them. Lice hunts were a common activity which soldiers frequently engaged in and made into a form of recreation. Where possible the AEF arranged in rear areas for the men to have baths in vats of hot water while their clothes were sanitized in steam delousing machines. Unfortunately this was only a temporary respite since a large proportion of the eggs remained embedded in the seams of clothes and within 2-3 hours a man's body heat would hatch them out again. Furthermore, the straw mats the men slept on in billets were teeming with the parasitic bugs, and anyone returning from the baths would quickly be invaded again while attempting to sleep.
24. From Letter 12/26/1917: "Bingville Band or the Maine Hayshakers is a very fitting name, but at that there isn't a better band organized than this same 103rd Inf."
Bingville refers to the "Bingville Bugle," a syndicated humor feature which ran in major newspapers during the early 1900s. Formatted as a full-page comic in Sunday editions including the Boston Sunday Post, the "Bugle" was written by humorist Newton Newkirk as a parody of a hillbilly newsletter including gossipy tidbits, minstrel quips, creative spellings and mock advertisements. The leading protagonist of the "Bugle" was a character named Bingo who was distinguished by protruding ears similar to Sam's. This makes the comedy of Sam's reference even more hilarious by combining the backwoods character of the 103rd's musicians with Sam's jutting ears as he leads the nightly march 'round the Ville…
"Also got a package of tobacco from Bill, (my side kick at the shop,) a letter from a sister of one of the boys at the shop (stating that she was sending a package,) and a letter from a party in S.B."
S.B. is an abbreviation for South Boston.
25. From Letter 2/19/1918: "The thrill of this, and the big Jack Johnson have all worn off now."
"Jack Johnson" was the Allied nickname for a large artillery shell because the power and large amount of dark smoke given off by the explosions were reminiscent of black Heavyweight boxing champion Jack Johnson. Arthur John Johnson (1878-1946) was known as "Jack" Johnson and the "Galveston Giant." This American boxer was the first black Heavyweight Champion of the World (1908-1915). Here Sam indicates that the novelty of heavy artillery has quickly worn off for him, especially when friends are killed on the receiving end.
26. From Letter 3/1/1918: "Im sending a copy of the "Stars & Stripes" in which you will get all the news as straight as any A.E.F. could hand it to you."
"Stars & Stripes" refers to the AEF newspaper published by order of Gen. John J. Pershing for the troops in France from Feb. 8, 1918 to June 13, 1919. The mission of this 8-page weekly newspaper was to support morale by providing American troops with a sense of unity and understanding of their part in the overall war effort. This was especially important because in many cases American forces had been widely dispersed and mixed at the unit level with British, French and Italian forces.
The publication featured news both from home and across the theatres of operation, sports, poetry and cartoons including a large amount of content contributed by the troops themselves. The staff included renowned journalists Alexander Woollcott, Harold Ross and Grantland Rice. The paper was printed in Paris on borrowed presses and widely distributed across the front using a network of trains, autos, trucks and motorcycles. During its peak circulation the Stars & Stripes had a circulation of more than 525,000 readers.
27. From Letter 3/3/1918: "I never thought that Ingersol would remind you of me but I can say that this watch reminds me of you, Lena and Bert every time Im asked what time it is or when I use it for my own information."
Ingersol refers to a watch sold by the Ingersoll Watch Company which grew out of a mail-order business started in New York City in 1882. Started by Robert and Charles Ingersoll, the company introduced watches to the catalog in 1892 which were originally supplied by the Waterbury Clock Company of Connecticut. In 1896, Ingersoll introduced the affordable "Yankee" watch which was mass produced from stamped parts and priced at just $1.00. By 1899 more than 8,000 per day of these "dollar watches" were produced to keep up with popular demand. Over the next 20 years nearly 40 million of these watches were sold, and Ingersoll coined the catchphrase "The watch that made the dollar famous!" Ingersoll expanded by acquiring the Trenton Watch Company in 1908 and the New England Watch Company in 1914. By 1916 Ingersoll produced 10 different watch models and continued to thrive until it went bankrupt in 1921 during the recession that followed World War I. Em apparently used an Ingersoll watch while in a later letter Sam indicates that his own pocket watch was a Waltham model made by the Waltham Watch Company in Massachusetts.
28. From Letter 4/22/1918: "That day light saving idea is an old one in France and our time changed Easter, also."
Daylight Savings Time (or Summer Time in British usage) is the convention of advancing clocks so that afternoons have more daylight and mornings have less between April and October. Typically clocks are adjusted forward one hour in the Spring and are adjusted backward one hour in the Fall. An early goal of Daylight Savings Time (DST) was energy conservation by reducing the evening use of incandescent lighting.
During the Great War, DST was promoted as a way to alleviate economic hardships from wartime coal shortages (either for home use or commercial energy production). Germany led the way with implementing the practice, followed by Great Britain on May 21, 1916. The United States finally implemented DST in 1918 after a lengthy public campaign led by industrialist Robert Garland on behalf of manufacturing and retailing interests.
After the First World War, states and local communities in the United States made their own decisions whether to continue the practice of observing the time change. During World War II the federal government again mandated universal DST. In 1966, Congress passed the Uniform Time Act which standardized the implementation and length of Daylight Savings Time as it continues today.
29. From Letter 4/30/1918: "A carton of Perfections was very welcomly received by me also and beleive me they didnt last long for a ready made cigarette to us right here is a gold mine."
"Perfections" refers to Perfection Cigarettes, an American Tobacco Company brand in the early 20th Century.
30. From Letter 5/5/1918: "That drive for the Liberty Loan must be making things very interesting, especially the Tank you speak of, and the airships. From all accounts every one is taking hold in the real American Spirit, which is very incouraging to us."
The Liberty Loan Drives promoted the sale of Liberty Bonds which were securities sold by the United States government to support the war effort during the First World War. Originally authorized by the Emergency Loan Act on April 24, 1917, there were four issues of Liberty Bonds form 1917-1918 with tax-exempt interest up to $30,000 and yields of 3.5 to 4.5 percent.
Subscribing to the bonds became a symbol of patriotic duty and introduced the idea of financial securities to a broad segment of society. The government commissioned famous artists to design promotional posters and also used movie stars to host Bond Rallies. Contemporary celebrities including Al Jolson, Elsie Janis, Mary Pickford, Douglas Fairbanks and Charlie Chaplin made public appearances to promote the patriotism of purchasing Liberty Bonds.
The Liberty Loan Drives spurred community efforts to sell the bonds nationwide and were such a success that the U.S. government raised around 17 billion dollars for the war effort, or approximately $170 for each American citizen living during that time.
31. From Letter 5/29/1918: "Last night we had the pleasure (and pleasure it was Em) to see a real American woman, hear real American singing, and some real American jokes, and from a real American actress Elsie Janis…"
Elsie Janis (1889-1956) was an American singer, songwriter, actress and screenwriter. In the days before the creation of the USO, entertaining the troops during World War I immortalized her as the "sweetheart of the AEF." An international star, Janis was a headliner both on Broadway and in London who tirelessly advocated for British and American troops during the Great War. She helped promote Liberty Bonds and also took her act on the road as one of the first popular American celebrities to entertain the troops in forward areas during a foreign war.
32. From Letter 11/5/1918: "What seems to worry us boys over here the most is the epidemic that is raging over there, for in letters every one gets this is mentioned and Ive seen more than one poor chap that has lost either a mother, sister or wife."
The influenza pandemic of 1918 spread worldwide at the end of the Great War and was caused by an unusually virulent strain of H1N1 flu virus. The pandemic officially lasted from March, 1918 – June, 1920 and killed anywhere from 20-100 million people worldwide.
Commonly known as the Spanish Flu (the Spanish press was not censored and provided extensive coverage after the Flu moved from France to Spain in November, 1918), the more virulent strain of the disease was first recorded in the U.S. among Navy sailors in Boston during late August. Within three days there were 58 cases at the Chelsea Naval Hospital. Within two weeks, over 2,000 military officers and men stationed in the Boston area had influenza. By the first week of September, the disease had reached Camp Devens where it quickly decimated the population of 50,000 troops at a rate of approximately 100 deaths per day. An entire barracks building was converted to use as a morgue and special trains were used to carry away the dead.
At the same time, the Flu spread rapidly across the entire state of Massachusetts with numerous deaths reported in many communities by the end of September. In Boston alone, 333 deaths from Flu were registered during just one week in September, and in Everett (where Sam's family lived) there were 698 reported cases and 7 deaths by the end of the month. During the first week of October, 1,023 additional Flu deaths were reported in Boston by public health officials, although the city's death rate had reduced to about 50 per day by the end of that month. Overall, the death toll in Boston from the Flu was estimated to be at least 4,000 from September 8 – October 25. Statewide the death toll in Massachusetts was estimated to be 45,000 from September 1, 1918 – January 16, 1919.
The victims of the 1918 Flu pandemic were primarily people under 65 years old with more than half being young adults 20-40 years old. This is in contrast to most influenzas which more greatly impact juveniles, the elderly and the infirm. The high death rate of the 1918 Flu was due to both a very high infection rate and the severity of the symptoms. Certainly troop concentrations both in close quarters and adverse environmental conditions hastened the progress of the pandemic. Likewise, civilian populations concentrated in cities such as Boston were more severely impacted than outlying areas.
Interestingly, the Spanish Flu outbreak of 1918 was merely a footnote to the history of the Great War until public awareness of a new pandemic threat was raised during the more recent outbreaks of bird flu and swine flu in the past decade.
33. From Letter 2/5/1919: "Orders can be changed very quickly and as much as I dislike to think of it Russia is a big job on our hands just now and things there are getting worse. The boys of this division will not put it by them to shoot us up there if things get rough."
Following the abdication of Czar Nicholas II of Russia in 1917, the new Bolshevik government signed a peace treaty with Germany which then allowed the German military to reallocate troops to the Western Front and also provided access to stockpiles of military supplies that had been accumulated at Murmansk, Archangel and Vladivostok.
The ongoing Russian Civil War between "Red" and "White" factions further added to the urgency of the situation, and led Britain and France to intervene militarily against the Bolshevik government. Upon the request of Britain and France and in collaboration with both Japan and China, the United States also supplied troops for two separate expeditionary forces in Russia: 5,000 troops for the American North Russia Expeditionary Force (also known as the "Polar Bear Expedition") and 10,000 more troops for the American Expeditionary Force Siberia.
The "Polar Bear Expedition" arrived in Archangel on September 4, 1918 and was initially placed under British command. The troops immediately went into action against Bolshevik forces and remained on the offensive for six weeks along the Dvina River and Vologda Railroad, but eventually became overextended and took up defensive positions for the winter. The Bolsheviks then took advantage of the winter conditions and drove the Allied troops back with numerous casualties. The troops of the "Polar Bear Expedition" were relieved and returned home by late June, 1919.
The lead elements of the AEF Siberia arrived in Vladivostok in mid-August, 1918 and guarded the Trans-Siberian Railway from attack by Bolshevik forces. The experience for the troops was miserable, including widespread problems with fuel, ammunition, supplies and food. Equipment and horses froze in the sub-zero conditions and were useless. The troops of AEF Siberia remained for 19 months until April, 1920.
"We won't go home until after Peace has been signed anyway and as none of the divisions that took part in any of the fighting have as yet left for home, there must be something unforseen by us in the wind."
The Treaty of Versailles formally ended the state of war between Germany and the Allied Powers. Although the hostilities of the Great War had been suspended on November 11, 1918 with the signing of the Armistice, it required an additional six months of negotiations at the Paris Peace Conference to finalize the Treaty which was signed on June 28, 1919.
The Treaty contained provisions (Articles 231-248 known as the War Guilt clauses) that required Germany to accept sole responsibility for causing the Great War, disarm, make territorial concessions and pay reparations. These terms were considered so onerous to German pride and damaging to Germany's politico-economic viability that they directly contributed to the start of World War II only two decades later.
Ironically, although President Woodrow Wilson had been directly involved in the Treaty negotiations on behalf of the United States, the U.S. Senate failed to ratify the Versailles Treaty on November 19, 1919 and thereby precluded membership of the United States in the League of Nations.


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Well, it's over. The Tater is at school and all is well.
Yesterday was the 1st day, so we parked, got out of the car, walked to the room, did all the picture-taking stuff. You can SOOO tell which parents have kindergarten kids ~ there's more cameras than on the red carpet…..Oh, let's take a picture of her walking down the sidewalk. OH, let's take a picture of her sitting in her seat. OHOHOH, let's take a picture of her at the door to her room. Oh, I KNOW! Let's take a picture of her putting her backpack in the closet.
Geez….and yes ~ I am guilty of Every.One.Of.Those! God Bless her teacher, she said "Take all the pictures you want to take, this only happens once." Then she turned back and said, "Well, it's only SUPPOSED to happen once." Lemme tell ya…this is only happening once!
So, this morning we have the pep talk about dropping her off at the sidewalk, a teacher opening the door to the car, she'll hop out without a fuss, fit, or flailing arms. She'll walk to her room like a big girl and then she'll have a GREAT DAY!! A GREAT DAY!! A GREAT DAY!!!!
All that went EXACTLY according to plan. Except I couldn't see her after she turned the corner to get to her room. I drove back around the school (no one seemed to think that was odd, I'm sure. "No I don't have a child to drop off, I'm just checking…")
I decided the only logical thing to do was call the school and make sure she got to her room. The secretary chuckled as she put me on hold and then came back on the line to tell me she was in her room, happily playing. Whew.
I called Mac and when he answered, I said, "Well, that sure was difficult!" and proceeded to tell him the story.
When I finished he was laughing…..and said, "I thought when you said it was difficult you meant she wouldn't get out of the car, wouldn't let go, was crying and screaming and all that stuff. But you mean that was DIFFICULT for YOU!"
I don't think he's funny at all. Not one bit. Nope, not at all.
I'm thinking she should ride the bus to school next week…..that way I'll be able to SEE her get on the bus. And I'm not gonna think about what happens when she gets off the bus and has to get to her room.
Nope, not gonna think about it at all. Not one bit…..

subset: commoncrawl


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About fifteen years ago, I was rummaging through my favorite local flea market (still my favorite). I usually went there then to find vintage glass and kitchen ware. However, on that summer day, I saw two Pendleton 49'ers hanging in a back booth, both in good condition and each only $5! I grabbed the one I really liked, a brown and butter-yellow plaid, and left the red and blue, lonesome on the wall. After getting home, I regretted that I didn't take it as well. Next morning, I drove the thirty miles back to get it. It was still there, and I'm so happy I got it.
Now this vintage 49'er is my official holiday Pendleton. I just wore it for Thanksgiving with our family. With the 49'er here, I am wearing my thrifted (Goodwill) White House/Black Market flared jeans, a Coach bag, and a pair of Born black ankle boots. I've had these boots for about ten years and they are the most comfortable boots I own–and they still look new. Because of this pair, I am surprised I don't own more Born shoes. If Born shoes hold up like these boots, they are one fantastic shoe company.
The 49er's
Below are my three vintage 49'ers. The top left was given to me by my mother-in-law before she passed. She had worn this jacket for as long as I had know her. When I showed up in one of my vintage ones, she made sure I had hers as a remembrance.
Pendleton brought back the 49's a few years ago slightly restyled. I do have one of those and did a post on it last January.
A bit of 49er history
Pendleton introduced the 49'er back in 1949. After market research, they concluded American women were ready for wool sportswear and introduced a small line of five items. The line was a success. But the interest in the iconic Pendleton jacket was especially good. No one is going to tell their story better than Pendleton HERE. I love vintage ads and Pentleton's post has some gorgeous ones along with a great history of the 49'ers. The first 49'er was sewn by the designer Berte Wiechmann, who based her design on Pendleton's mens' shirts. She was very particular about the buttons and would only use a black shell button from Australia and Tahiti. In 1956 alone, they used $150,000 worth of buttons for the jackets!
Another good place to go for all things Pendleton, and really all things vintage sportswear, is The Vintage Traveler. Lizzie Bramlet, also a retired teacher and collector of vintage sportswear, is very knowledgeable. She is one of my favorite bloggers in this area.
Finding Your Own 49'er
At the moment Pendleton these two 49'ers on sale for $138 each.
You can find a vintage 49er on eBay for around $40-$50.
The one below is on eBay now and has a 40″ bust measurement. These jackets are wool and I would grill the seller about any moth holes or other imperfections just to be on the safe side.
You can also find authentic 49'ers on Poshmark.
Instagram Focus
The look below is perfectly at home in this 2nd Loved post. I wore this last week and was my Instagram post. My Sanctuary Clothing vest, Merino Pendleton sweater, brown leggings were all found second hand on eBay. My Marc Jacob sunnies were from The RealReal. The two "new to me" items are my Coach bag and the Nine West Vintage Americana boots.
Now to the 2nd Loved 1st Friday Linkup. For inspiration, I'm again kicking it off with a collage of the wonderful slow fashion stylists that linked up last month. We still have just eleven and I am brainstorming on how to get the word out about the slow fashion movement. I so appreciate those of you who have taken time and effort for this important part of the fashion community.
I appreciate all of you who link up but to be in the collage you must link up with something you scored at a consignment shop, eBay, or a charity shop.
This month thirteen bloggers linked up at least once, sometimes more than once with gems that they searched for and thought deserved a second life. I now give you…
Last Months Slow Fashion Stylists from the 2nd Loved 1st Friday Linkup
- Charlotte of http://www.jtouchofstyle.com – her IG is @jtouchofstyle/
- Jess of Elegantly Dressed and Stylish-her IG is@ elegantlydressedandstylish
- Maggie of Thriftshop Fashionistablog – her IG is @thriftshopfashionista/
- Jodie of http://www.jtouchofstyle.com – her IG is @jtouchofstyle/
- Mary of The Pouting Pensioner -her IG is @thepountingpensioner
- Trina of Tipey Heelz-her IG is @tipseyheelzblogger
- Michelle and her IG is @seechele_styles
- Sally of Spicy Philosophy
- Nicole of High Lattitude Style – her IG is @highlatitudestyle/
- Patti of Not Dead Yet Style-her IG is @notdeadyetstyle
- Penny of Frugal Fashion Shopper -her IG is @frugalfashionshopper
I would like to thank everyone who participated in the linkup. Again, to be in the collage, the link title or in the blog, you have to mention what was pre-loved. I hope to see you at the link-up tomorrow!
The link up button is now on every post that I publish to make it easy for you to link up.
And Something Extra
With my emphasis on slow fashion here on the blog, I've wanted to participate in something along that line on Instagram. This month I got my wish. Michelle of seechele_styles sponsors as thrifted challenge every month and this month she is letting me be one of the guess hosts. If you are on IG, check out Michelle and join the fun. You just have to tag you 2nd Loved fashions with #thriftedchicstylechallenge and there is always a prize for this one.
That wraps it up for this week. Thank you for stopping by. I'll have another blog bit next week. You are certainly welcome to leave a comment or two or three. I love to hear from you.
I link up with some great blogs every week. To see who they are go HERE.
Husband Michael gets credit for the photos of me and does a bit of editing from time to time.
Again, thanks for stopping by. Take care……..
Time for my usual link-up blurb!
It's time for the December's 2nd Loved 1st Friday Linkup which stays open until December 31st.
Any post on a blog, Instagram, Facebook or the like can linkup to this style celebration. If you can copy and paste the URL in the Linky box, you are good to go!
One item is quite OK—a hat, skirt, pants, shoes, purse, or a piece of jewelry. That item (or items) can be from a thrift shop, eBay, consignment shop, vintage boutique, one of the online consignment shops such as RealReal–or even something a friend gave you because they didn't want it anymore.
When you do post, I would appreciate a description about your 2nd Loved item (or items), what type of shop you found it and what drew you to it. Tell as much or as little as you want. To be featured in my collage, which I will put on Instagram along with your links, you have to say what item is second loved. That is a "have to".
If you have never participated in a linkup before, no fear. Go to Linkup 101 guide that is found on my 2nd Loved 1st Friday linkup page (also found at the top in the tab section).
Just click the frog below to link up and join the fun!


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News Story
Medicaid Expansion Spurs States to Fight Fraud, Overpayments
U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara announces Medicaid fraud charges against more than a dozen Russian diplomats and their spouses living in New York. The expansion of Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act has spurred states to redouble their anti-fraud efforts. (AP)
States are stepping up efforts to combat health care fraud and overpayments that cost them billions of dollars a year.
States are assigning special investigators, sharing information with each other and using new ways of looking at data to track improper coding and identify suspicious health care providers before they collect unauthorized cash from Medicaid, which is funded jointly by states and the federal government.
"It's always easier to stop it on the front end," said state Sen. David Sanders, an Arkansas Republican who authored a law establishing a special inspector general for Medicaid fraud. "What you want to try to do is prevent waste, fraud and abuse from happening."
The less palatable alternative, Sanders said, is the so-called "pay and chase mode" of trying to recoup improper payments after the fact.
The Affordable Care Act also takes aims at fraud and overpayments. The law centralizes claims data scattered across the Pentagon, the Department of Veterans Affairs and the Indian Health Service, among other agencies. It also requires states to stop payments to Medicaid providers when there is "credible evidence" of fraud, and mandates tighter screening of providers seeking Medicaid reimbursement.
The law also requires all states – even those not expanding Medicaid – to set up Recovery Audit Contractor programs to spot overpayments and recoup the money. Such efforts, the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services said, led to a drop in the billing error rate from 9 percent in fiscal year 2010 to 5.7 percent in 2013.
Nevertheless, Medicaid overpayments and fraud are still costing states and the federal government billions of dollars — about $13 billion in fiscal year 2013, according to a December report by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Individual audits and stings have exposed some egregious examples:
- A Texas investigation found that the New York-based drug manufacturer Hi-Tech Pharmacal Co. was inflating generic drug prices. The company in January was forced to pay a $25 million settlement to Texas and the federal government.
- In February, New York's Foundling Hospital was forced to pay $250,000 in fines and reimbursements to Medicaid for billing the program before children were admitted to the hospital and after they left. The state has so far recouped $3.8 million from fraud cases involving 65 child foster care facilities.
- Wisconsin won a guilty plea and more than $45,000 in restitution in December from a nurse who wrongly claimed she had provided Medicaid-covered care for two children with muscular dystrophy.
How states and the federal government split Medicaid funding varies among states, with the federal portion ranging from 50 percent to 73 percent. Since Medicaid comprises a quarter or more of most state budgets, states have a powerful incentive to make sure individuals and providers aren't getting improper payments.
Action in the Statehouses
In 2013, more than 100 bills designed to combat Medicaid fraud and abuse were introduced in state legislatures in at least 23 states, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures, and at least 35 of them became law. States also are fighting fraud in ways that don't require legislation, such as improving communication among state agencies, said NCSL's Megan Comlossy. Currently, 19 states are considering 45 bills related to controlling Medicaid fraud and errors, she said.
At least 10 states — Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Illinois, Kansas, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, Texas and Utah — have passed laws creating Medicaid inspectors general, according to NCSL.
In Arkansas, Inspector General Jay Shue conducted 214 audits and reviews in the last six months of 2013, recouping $1.3 million. Shue said the very existence of the new post has had a deterrent effect, sending a strong message that the state will scrutinize the necessity of medical treatments and will punish fraud. "We want to change the mindset," Shue said.
In 2013, New York's inspector general recovered $851 million in erroneous and fraudulent Medicaid payments — more, the state contends, than any other state. The office uncovered a Medicaid fraud ring whose members, residents of an exclusive gated beachfront community, fabricated information on their Medicaid applications to bypass the income limits for eligibility. One person who claimed to be low-income drove a Porsche, an Aston Martin and a BMW.
The investigation led to six prosecutions by the Brooklyn District Attorney for welfare fraud, grand larceny and offering a false instrument for filing.
The New York inspector general also recouped more than $200 million from home health care providers who should have been billing Medicare, which is wholly federal, instead of Medicaid.
Other states are focusing on improving communication among state agencies and between states and federal authorities. In the past, states did not always compare data to see, for example, whether Medicaid was continuing to pay a provider cited for fraud by another government agency.
According to a Kaiser Family Foundation report, 14 states in fiscal 2013 and 20 states in fiscal 2014 took action to improve data sharing between public and private entities. Arkansas, Virginia and West Virginia told Kaiser they planned to participate in an all-payer claims database, which collects and analyzes data from all health insurance claims and can be used to spot suspicious trends in Medicaid claims.
A dozen more states, including Virginia, have implemented programs to share provider and claims data with a slew of other agencies, including the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the Kaiser report said. Three states – Arkansas, Florida and Illinois – passed legislation in 2013 to improve collaboration or sharing of information to target Medicaid fraud, according to NCSL.
Texas, which decided against expanding Medicaid but is eager to control its spending on the program, has made big recoveries from pharmaceutical, medical device and other providers by working across state lines, said Bill Morrison, an attorney with the Dallas-based Haynes and Boone law firm and an expert on the state's anti-fraud efforts. "Texas really learned it could be profitable by getting involved in multi-state, joint state-federal actions," he said.
The Power of Technology
Some states are using new technologies to identify bad actors, although some state legislators still aren't convinced that the services offered by software vendors are better than what Medicaid anti-fraud authorities are already doing, said NCSL's Comlossy.
Arkansas, Colorado, Massachusetts, Texas and Washington have enacted, and several other states are considering, new laws calling for investment in so-called "predictive modeling" software similar to what credit card companies use to reveal patterns of illegal activity, according to NCSL.
Simpler technology, such as using GPS to verify visits by home health care workers, can also add up to a lot of savings for states, said Scott Hermann, director of mobile solutions at Procura. Tennessee uses an electronic visit verification system, and Texas is considering one, Hermann said.
Citizens have helped uncover Medicaid fraud in the 30 states that have their own versions of the federal False Claims Act, which protects whistleblowers and rewards them for producing evidence, said Pat Burns, co-director of the Taxpayers Against Fraud Education Fund. The group cannot say exactly how much has been collected because of the laws, but estimates that about $1.3 billion was collected in civil fines in state cases in 2012 for all health care fraud.
"If you think of fraud as the disease, the False Claims Acts are an antibiotic," Burns said.
And since not all overpayments are the result of deliberate fraud or theft, New York and Arkansas have imposed mandatory programs that teach Medicaid providers how to comply with complicated coding and eligibility laws. Even a small clerical or coding mistake can add up month after month for big hospitals, which may have hundreds of millions of dollars a month in Medicaid business, said a spokeswoman for the New York State Office of the Medicaid Inspector General.
"New York is basically spending a billion dollars a week on Medicaid, so the paperwork alone can lead to (expensive) screw-ups," said state Sen. Kemp Hannon, a Republican who has been active in Medicaid reform.
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- People interested in health policy
- People interested in Medicaid fraud
- Newly eligible Medicaid beneficiaries
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Editor's Note: LZ Granderson, who writes a weekly column for CNN.com, was named journalist of the year by the National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association and is a 2011 Online Journalism Award finalist for commentary. He is a senior writer and columnist for ESPN the Magazine and ESPN.com. Follow him on Twitter: @locs_n_laughs
Story highlights
LZ Granderson: Texas governor Perry among those ok with concealed weapons in schools
Granderson commends Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder for vetoing concealed weapons bill
A school official trying to take out a gunman more likely to hit kids or be killed, he says
Granderson: Trained police end up killing people by accident all the time
I wish I were surprised that Texas Gov. Rick Perry doesn't see a problem with concealed weapons in schools, but after watching his failed bid for the presidency, the truth is there's very little that man can say that will truly surprise me.
"If you have been duly back-grounded and trained and you are a concealed handgun license-carrying individual, you should be able to carry your handgun anywhere in this state," Perry said at a tea party event held on Monday.
It seems his line of reasoning is in line with some of his gun-loving brethren who believe if teachers and principals are armed, tragedies like the one in Newtown would go away.
It's as if he thinks "Rambo" is a documentary.
In a country with fewer than 350 million people but more than 310 million guns, we don't need more of them. We need fewer. And when it comes to our schools, we don't need guns at all.
So it's very fortunate that Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder had the good sense to veto Michigan Senate Bill 59 on Tuesday. The proposed law would have allowed people with permits to carry concealed weapons and with extra training, to bring their guns to traditional "gun-free" zones such as day care centers and schools. And by "extra training," the bill called for an additional eight hours and another 94 rounds on the firing range.
That's it.
It was approved the day before the shootings in Newtown.
On Monday – while Perry was encouraging guns in schools – a letter signed by all 21 superintendents in my county was sent to Gov. Snyder asking him to veto the bill because, unlike the gun-happy politicians who rammed the legislation through in a lame duck session, educators do not believe guns in schools are a good thing.
I have yet to hear a teacher who has survived a massacre advocate for guns in schools. In fact, the American Federation of Teachers – with its 1.5 million members – also sent a letter to Snyder opposing the bill, saying, "We should be doing everything we can to reduce the possibility of any gunfire in schools and concentrate on ways to keep all guns off school property."
In moments of stress, typically the first thing to erode is our motor skills. So the argument that educators should be ready to dodge gunfire, avoid hitting students and take out a gunman so someone hundreds of miles away can buy military-grade weapons and ammunition for kicks is a very stupid argument to make. And yet, we heard elements of that reasoning soon after the movie theater killings in Aurora, Colorado. Texas Rep. Louie Gohmert asked: "It does make me wonder, with all those people in the theater, was there nobody that was carrying a gun that could have stopped this guy more quickly?"
Yes, Gohmert – because what a dark room filled with tear gas and panicked people needs is more guns.
That makes as much sense as the lawmakers in Florida allowing concealed weapons in the state Capitol building in Tallahassee – and then needing to install alert buttons on the phones of every senator and staffer in case someone came in and started shooting up the place with one of those concealed weapons.
Gov. Snyder needed to veto SB 59, not because the mood of the country has shifted because of the Newtown tragedy, but because it was bad legislation to begin with. We don't need – and most educators don't want – guns in schools.
I said most because David Thweatt, superintendent of the Harrold school district in Texas, where employees have been allowed to carry guns in schools since 2008, told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram: "Nothing is 100%. But what we do know is that we've done all we can to protect our children."
Also, on "Meet the Press," former Secretary of Education William Bennett said, "I'm not so sure I wouldn't want one person in a school armed, ready for this kind of thing. … It has to be someone who's trained, responsible. But, my God, if you can prevent this kind of thing, I think you ought to."
Bennett: The case for gun rights is stronger than you think
Let's think about this: In August, nine bystanders in New York were wounded as a result of police gunfire – the police were trying to arrest a suspect connected with another shooting. In September, police in Houston shot and killed a double amputee in a wheelchair who was trying to stab an officer – with a pen.
Back in 2009, in Perry's state of Texas, a military doctor opened fire at the Fort Hood Army post, killing 13 and wounding 30 others.
The victims were all professionals, surrounded by guns, and trained to handle – in Bennett's words – "this kind of thing." Why would anyone think teachers and principals could take a couple of weekend classes and do better than them?
It just doesn't make sense. Having police patrol the area during school hours is fine. But allowing guns in school is simply counterintuitive to the kind of civilized society we want to live in and represent to the rest of the world.
Did you know, in addition to schools and day care centers, SB 59 would've allowed guns in hospitals, stadiums and churches?
I'm not anti-gun – I have one in my house. But I ask you: What kind of people feel the need to have a gun with them in church? I'll tell you what kind: The kind who probably shouldn't have one in the first place.
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The opinions in this commentary are solely those of LZ Granderson.


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Time was, Earth Day was just for dirty crazy hippies. You could stay away from it if you just figured out where the bad smell was coming from, then went the other way.
But now Earth Day is run by big corporations and politicians and millionaires, who want you to buy their soap that doesn't clean stuff at twice the price, and those curly light bulbs with the poison inside them.
If I want a toilet that doesn't flush, I'll go back to using an outhouse – and that's not gonna happen!
Why do the same people who want to fix the environment want to hand out free condoms at the same time – isn't rubber bad for Planet Earth? I guess it's ok because rubber comes from trees. They like everything "natural" – unless it's tobacco!
I can't keep track of all this crap. Especially the thing about passing laws against cow farts. You know what's coming? A law against breathing! These jerks love the Earth – it's people they hate. They say we're overpopulated, so why don't they kill themselves. Then we'd all be happy!
I don't see the point of saving the polar bears anyhow. They don't do cute tricks like seals do. If we could train them to kill terrorists or patrol the border, that would be something useful, but otherwise they just lay around getting their pictures taken.
This Earth Day, the closest I want to get to nature is the pine tree air freshener hanging from the rearview mirror of my big old truck!


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E-Mackin: Juelz Santana Snatched His New Model Girlfriend "Kimbella" On Twitter! (One Of His Lines Was "I Want To Marry You")
Model Kimbella speaking on Juelz Santana. Shout out to Mr. Exclusive!
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(2018) True Life Drama (CineMosaic) Joey King, Abby Quinn, Cara Seymour, Scott Shepherd, Susan Heyward, Neal Huff, Colin Kelly-Sordelet, John Bedford Lloyd, Joe Grifasi, Brandon Gill, Olivia Macklin, Colby Minifie, Greg Hildreth, Veanne Cox, Tom Galantich, Steven Hauck, Carol Cadby, Gina Piersanti, Julianna Sass, Neil Akins, Gemma Schreier. Directed by Lydia Dean Pilcher and Ginny Mohler
Most of my readers will be too young to remember but there was a time when watches were painted with radium paint in order to make the dials luminescent. In the 1920s and 1930s, outfits like United States Radium and the Radium Dial Company employed women as young as 11 years old to paint the watch faces using camel hair brushes that the girls would dip into the paint and then paint the face of the watch. The brush would quickly lose its shape and the girls were instructed to use their lips to bring the brush to a point and then resume dipping and painting.
In 1928 the United States Radium Company employed 75 women in their New Jersey plant, including sisters Bessie (King) and Jo (Quinn). A third sister had also worked there but she'd passed away some months earlier. The girls are high-spirited, Bessie more so than Jo – especially after Jo falls ill. Bessie is really worried, particularly since Jo was by far the superior earner of the two (the girls are paid for each watch face they complete and Jo not only paints more of them but is far more meticulous). She asks the boss (Lloyd) if Jo can get seen by the company doctor, which he reluctantly agrees to.
The girls have been told that radium is perfectly safe; the company doctor tells Jo initially it's just the flu and to drink lots of fluids and rest but Bessie insists on a thorough examination. The diagnosis comes back a syphilis, which is a bit amazing considering that Jo is a virgin. Bessie, never a radical, begins to discern a pattern developing among the girls at the factory who are all beginning to show symptoms of the same illness. Suspecting a rat, she sees a labor organization who helps her get a lawyer – she intends to hit United States Radium in the only place they understand; their wallets.
This is an important story and it deserves to be told. It has appeared on a number of different television shows, including 1,000 Ways to Die and other fact-based television shows. Books have been written around the girls as well as at least one stage play that I'm aware of. Oddly, it hasn't been the subject of a theatrical feature until now and considering how important the case would become to labor laws in this country it's almost inconceivable (and yes, I do know what it means). Perhaps because the victims were all women has it not gotten the coverage that's warranted.
The movie is reasonably well-acted; the cast other than King is pretty much unknown but Pilcher and Mohler manage to get some pretty decent work tells me a lot about them as directors. They also are to be commended for their creative use of archival footage (and black and white recreations that look archival) that is inserted at various points during the film. That's really imaginatively done and as a history buff I really appreciated it.
The main problem I had with the movie is that it feels too much like a movie of the week. That comes a great deal from the writing which has a kind of melodramatic feel to it. I'm not sure if the writers were trying to go for a period feel here or not but it doesn't work. The movie is at its best not when it is showing us how horrible the rest of the world was to these women, but when it allows us to get to know who they were as people. Another thing I'm not sure of; I don't know if the characters here were the actual Radium Girls from the U.S.R. plant in New Jersey or merely based on them. The names I've found for the actual litigants in the case were different than the ones given to the characters in the movie.
Also, the filmmakers failed to mention that there were two other groups of Radium Girls, one in Ottawa, Illinois who went through the same ordeal ten years after their New Jersey sisters did. That company, Radium Dial Company, had to have been fully aware of the dangers of radium and yet urged their employees to use the "lip, dip, paint" method anyway. It took eight trials (all of which were won by the litigants) for the Illinois Radium Girls to get the money they needed for medical expenses; it was a case of the company stalling so that the victims would die before they had to pay out anything. That gives you an idea of what monsters were running that company.
The real Radium Girls died real deaths that were terrible, gruesome and absolutely unconscionable. That they were abandoned to their fates by callous employers who saw them as expendable commodities that could easily be replaced only adds to the horror. It would be nice to say that things have changed a great deal since these events happened but sadly, they have not. The fact that the current administration is actively trying to strike down existing worker safety laws is proof enough of that.
REASONS TO SEE: Makes a wonderful use of archival footage.
REASONS TO AVOID: Feels too much like a Movie of the Week (in a bad way).
FAMILY VALUES: There's some mild profanity and a bit of violence.
TRIVIAL PURSUIT: If you take a Geiger counter to the graves of the Radium Girls, it still registers as radioactive.
CRITICAL MASS: As of 5/7/19: Rotten Tomatoes: No score yet: Metacritic: No score yet.
COMPARISON SHOPPING: The Triangle Factory Fire Scandal
NEXT: Girls of the Sun


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David White: Trading a desk job for one in the vineyards
Finding Shane Finley was easy.
Via email, we planned to meet for lunch at Bourbon Steak in Washington, D.C., a restaurant that's housed at the Four Seasons. While the steakhouse is known for having one of the best wine lists in the city, it's typically filled with tee-totaling lobbyists and power brokers during the day. So when I spotted a redheaded thirty-something with unkempt hair wearing jeans and an untucked flannel, I figured it was Shane.
I was right.
Finley stopped wearing suits in 2001. That summer, he quit his job as an insurance underwriter in Manhattan to make wine. Both his parents thought the move was a bit nuts, as his career was progressing nicely. They hoped that after a few months on the edge of bankruptcy, he'd get the wine bug out of his system.
But after interning during harvest in Sonoma, Finley was hooked. So he headed off to Australia to work another harvest and then to France's Rhone Valley. When he returned to the United States in 2003, there was no turning back. He quickly built an impressive resume, and in 2006, he launched his own label with the release of three distinct Syrahs. He called it Shane, naturally.
Finley's decision was certainly gutsy. But in wine, this career trajectory is hardly unique.
Consider another California vintner, William Allen.
Allen first discovered wine two decades ago. At first, it was simply a hobby - he made wine at home and traveled to Napa, Sonoma, and other wine destinations regularly. Eventually, though, the hobby became an obsession. So in the summer of 2009, he moved to Sonoma during a sabbatical from his tech job, planted a vineyard, launched a wine blog, and helped three different wineries with harvest.
The next year, Allen sourced enough fruit to make 175 cases of wine. He named the winery Two Shepherds and it has grown larger each year. In 2013, Wine Business Monthly, a trade publication, named Two Shepherds one of the ten hottest brands in the country.
Or look at Hardy Wallace.
After getting laid off by Kodak in 2009, Wallace landed a one-year social media gig with a large winery in Sonoma. When that job ended, he dove in full throttle, working in the cellar, running a tasting room, helping with sales and marketing, and offering assistance wherever it was needed. Simultaneously, Wallace launched Dirty and Rowdy Family Wines. Today, he can't produce enough wine to keep up with demand.
The list goes on.
There's Dan Petroski, who makes some of Napa Valley's best Cabernet Sauvignon at Larkmead and small batches of bright, stunning whites under his personal label, Massican. In 2005, Dan dropped everything to work in wine after nine years in magazine publishing.
There's Mike Smith, who makes rich-yet-graceful wines under several labels in Napa Valley, including Myriad and Quivet. In 2001, while living in Oregon, Mike started traveling to Napa on the weekends to help Thomas Brown, a world-famous winemaker, for free. Three years later, Mike and his family moved to wine country.
Virtually every winemaker is an evangelist. But few can match the passion of those who pack up their possessions, mid-career, to produce wine. With these vintners and others like them, their fervor for wine is infectious.
Trading a desk job for one in the vineyards may seem foolhardy. But for wine geeks, sometimes, there just isn't a choice.


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You are currently browsing the tag archive for the 'medicine' tag.
I recently read an article entitled "Do Vegetarians Live Longer?". There were numerous studies cited that support eating a purely vegetarian diet vs. a meat-based, or Paleo diet. However, a couple studies that stood above the rest was a study that showed eating mostly plant-based diet with some meat (mostly fish) is the best diet for longevity. Here is an excerpt from the article:
pescetarians—those who have a mostly plant-based diet but eat some seafood—were the true winners, with a slightly lower mortality rate than vegans, ovo-lacto vegetarians, and indiscriminate meat eaters. This may have to do with the food, but it could also be because pescetarians tend to put quite a bit of thought into their intricate dietary direction. Because they are often pickier when it comes to the food choices they make, they might do the same when it comes to other aspects of their lives such as exercise, smoking, getting enough sleep, etc.
Given the basic principle of Paleo eating is that our bodies are designed to eat the way our ancestors ate, it looks like we're supposed to be eating (say it with me now) a largely plant-based diet and some animal products.
This research falls in line with a revelation given to Joseph Smith, the Mormon prophet, called the The Word of Wisdom, which has been called many times "God's Law of Health".
Compare the statements above to some quotes from the Word of Wisdom:
inasmuch as any man drinketh wine or strong drink among you, behold it is not good, neither meet in the sight of your Father
tobacco is not for the body, neither for the belly, and is not good for man
all wholesome herbs God hath ordained for the constitution, nature, and use of man
flesh also of beasts and of the fowls of the air, I, the Lord, have ordained for the use of man with thanksgiving; nevertheless they are to be used sparingly
All grain is good for the food of man; as also the fruit of the vine; that which yieldeth fruit, whether in the ground or above the ground
And all saints who remember to keep and do these sayings, walking in obedience to the commandments, shall receive health in their navel and marrow to their bones;
And shall find wisdom and great treasures of knowledge, even hidden treasures;
And shall run and not be weary, and shall walk and not faint.
And I, the Lord, give unto them a promise, that the destroying angel shall pass by them, as the children of Israel, and not slay them.
Most people know that Mormons do not drink strong drinks or smoke or use drugs, but when you look more closely at the Word of Wisdom, there are a lot of "dos" as well such as eating mostly grains, fruits, and vegetables.
It looks like Science may have caught up with what God revealed a couple of hundred years ago and what our ancestors did thousands of years ago!


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Monthly Archives: June 2013
GROW A SURVIVAL GARDEN NOW- for you and your rabbits!
There are many preparations and skills needed for running a successful homestead in good times or bad. Now is the time to learn these skills weather you live in a urban, suburban, or rural setting, you can start by growing some food to feed your family and rabbits.
Start today by building your knowledge, library, and skills to handle all the chores needed to run a homestead. Start a garden, plant some vegetables, fruit,berry and nut trees, and of course start raising rabbits! This way you will to have the skills needed when the bad times may come.
As you learn these skills you eat healthy food, you save money, as less grocery's are needed and no taxes are paid for growing your own (yet). Seeds cost little money and can be free if you learn to save your own.
It is because today we are so far removed from our food sources, that we must relearn these skills that our grandparents knew. This is also why some of our forefathers often screwed up and starved to death because of lack off knowledge and skills.
Let me start with saying when I first started gardening and raising rabbits that I have killed plants, lost rabbits, and had some failures and setbacks as I first started, but do not give up the results you get in the future are worth it. The time to make mistakes is now while you can still purchase food to replace your mistakes without starving to death.
Lack of experience is a big problem in the amount and consistency of your harvest. Even experienced gardeners have bad years. Nature can work against you bugs, drought, flooding and other weather related issues can cause a lack of production, as you gain experience you will learn how to overcome these issues.
Working a garden now also lets you learn what to grow and what you like the taste of. Also by using heirloom plants so you can save seeds and even develop a strain of plant that will grow better in your area. This is also true with rabbits and other livestock as generations of that animal grow they grow accustomed to that climate and produce offspring that will grow and produce better. By saving and breeding the best you will have the best. My favorite saying is "Save The Best, Eat The Rest"
Every year I try to grow something new in the garden and learn a few more skills. This year I am growing Black Oil Sunflower Seeds to make my own oil and feeding the rabbits and chickens the byproducts. I am working on making a small scale oil press in the workshop for the sunflower experiment. This year I am also trying to grow Yacon as feed for the family, rabbits, and chickens. This is not usually grown in my climate but it has been done.
You will need to learn when do you start seeds where you live and what planting zone your state is?
What is the date of first and last frost?
What grows well in your area or in your soil?
Will you and your faimly eat them?
What plants to grow for your rabbits?
Do you really want to wait to find out after the Shit hits the fan?
Do you have your hutches built for your rabbits? What about the materials and tools to build them with, wire, wood, sheet metal?
Do you have everything you will need for any emergencies for your family and your livestock. These are just a few of the things you should learn now.
You need to plan now for what animals you want to raise, You need to know which wild plants will kill you and your rabbits and what wild plants weed will feed you and your protien source. You will need to know about rabbits. What is the gestation A rabbit?, How to feed a rabbit without pellets?, When to breed your rabbits? All this information and more can be found on this website, our Facebook page, all the guest podcasts and blogs we have done, We are now launching our new RABBIT REVOLUTION RADIO SHOW and the new YOU TUBE stuff for July. I will be constantly updating this post as time goes on. Thanks for reading my stuff. Join The Rabbit Revolution by liking us on Facebook and listening to the radio show. Raising Meat Rabbits To Save The World!


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Just a quick casual Friday post of a photograph I snapped last weekend. I had the good fortune to attend a "workshop" put on by Capture Integration and hosted by plenty of nice folks. I quote the word workshop because the attendee list was full of full-time professional and advanced-amateur photographers. It was more of a gathering to play with some really amazing photographic tools – like Phase One's IQ250 – graciously supplied by Capture Integration. Somehow I failed to link up with the crew for the sunrise shoot on Saturday, so I had to use my lowly Nikon D800 (just kidding – I am loving this camera every time I use it.) Driving around Highway 1 at 5:30AM, I made the call to pull over and capture what I could, where I was, with the system I had. This is one of my favorites from that crazy 30 minutes of light. Zero scout time + steep terrain make this a keeper for me.
When I first got into photography, landscape photography really drew me in. But the more I pursued it, in a way, I less interested I became. Maybe my pictures sucked? I dunno. I think I craved stories that changed, and changed quickly. In the words of one famous engineer, "I'm a people person! I have people skills!" But with all first loves, they somehow have a way of re-kindling the flames in your heart. This coming year I am looking forward to some early mornings, along with pushing myself to learn and progress with an art form that captivated me from the very beginning.
Happy Friday!