31

Dec

A Commodore Stephen Decatur Sunday

Posted by Shark as History, Personal

Having nothing better to do on a Sunday afternoon I decided to spare a thought to the late Commodore Stephen Decatur. As I currently reside in Decatur, Ill. I cannot disagree that my choice of heroes to investigate is slightly biased.

A casual glance of his record is truly impressive, a gentleman sailor, and an officer who inspired confidence in his men, and faith in his country. Indeed at dinner party in Norfolk in April of 1816, Commodore Decatur gave the following toast, “Our country: in her intercourse with foreign nations may she always be in the right; but our country, right or wrong!”  

Commodore Decatur was an early practitioner of the concept of Gunboat Diplomacy, what we today politely refer to as “power projection.” As the commander of the US Mediterranean Squadron, Decatur brought the Barbary Powers under submission and negotiated the release of American captives. Commodore Decatur knew that foreign policy was not always pretty, or friendly, but that projecting strength and naval power was vital to securing American interests overseas.

Admiral Lord Nelson once remarked that Decatur’s 1804 raid on Tripoli’s harbor to destroy the former US frigate Philadelphia was “the most bold and daring act of the age.” Such courage and knowledge of sacrifice was put to good use in the War of 1812 when Decatur was distinguished for the capture of the HMS Macedonian on 25 October 1812.

But not all was successful for Commodore Decatur, in a severe engagement with the British West India Squadron on 15 January 1815, Decatur was wounded by a large flying splinter, and had to make the hardest decision any naval officer has to make, that of surrender. Decatur said “my ship crippled, and more than a four-fold force opposed to me, without a chance of escape left, I deemed it my duty to surrender.” Such an action prove the metal which Decatur was made of, an officer not afraid to make the best, logical, and rational decision under fire while still maintaining the honor and dignity of the naval service. 

Commodore Decatur also served as Naval Commissioner from 1816 to 1820. Still, perhaps, the truest testament to the character and honor of this man was the fact that he was killed in a duel with Commodore Barron in 1820 stemming from Commodore Barron’s poor performance during the Chesapeake-Leopard Affair of 1807.

Forty-six communities bare his name, five naval ships have been named after him, and his face was on the 1886 printing of the $20 dollar bill. Commodore Decatur’s legacy lives on, if only in the hearts of people who casually glance at his bronze statue as they hurry past the Civic Center, but more in those who remember his sacrifices for this nation.

Sources:

http://www.history.navy.mil/bios/decatur.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_Decatur

8 Comments »
09

Dec

Awe Inspiring

Posted by High Priestess Kang as History, News, Sweden

shuttle-liftoff.jpgScience has always escaped me.  It was the thing the smarty-pants excelled in, not the liberal arts oriented folks like me.  That said…there is nothing quite as awe inspiring as watching the space shuttle liftoff. 

Going back years to the first shuttle mission, when we were packed like sardines into a 3rd grade classroom at Mattison Avenue Elementary in Ambler, PA, I remember watching my fair share of these.  Including the ill-fated Challenger which is forever burned into the memory of any respectable GenXer.  In all the years of the shuttle program, I had never seen a night liftoff, though. 

Tonight’s mission was special because the first Swede was shot into space.  Melanie has an excellent write up on SEblog about it.  So, in honor of the Swede, in honor of my home away from home, Dock, Brun and I gathered around the laptop to witness history in the making.

We were not disappointed.

As we cheered for the Swede, we watched the burning orange against the night sky.  We watched the engines separate and the shuttle fade into the distance.  Oh to have been lucky enough to have watched it in person. 

Trevlig resa svensk astronauten! swedish-flag.jpg 

4 Comments »
10

Sep

09/11/01

Posted by High Priestess Kang as History, News, Observations

twin-towers.jpgIt is personal. It is traumatic. While some of lost dear loved ones, others simply remained permanently scarred, to never heal. It is 09.11…one of the defining moments in history which, oddly enough, defies description.  

Travelling far and wide, we all have our stories. We all felt the pain. We still do. It is far too surreal not to.

I started off the morning of 09.11 readying myself to go to work. I stood in my bathroom at the Crap House wondering whatever happened with the Chandra Levy case. Would Gary Condit ever get his due? The commute to work was uneventful. I do not even remember our grizzly production meeting. I remember my friend Russ, stopping by my office, propping himself between the door jambs and telling me about a freakish accident with a plane and one of the towers at the World Trade Center. I immediately tried to access CNN. I couldn’t.

A flurry of activity rushed through the office as we scrambled to find one computer with access to CNN. If I recall correctly, there was only one. We stood, eerily silent, staring at the screen.

It is rare when a manufacturing plant grinds to a halt. One of the engineers fashioned an antenna from some scrap metal for our sole television in the building. The assembly line slowly filtered into the common room. Not a word was uttered.

I remember hearing about the Pentagon. I remember hearing about Flight 93. I remember watching the towers crumble like a house of cards. I remember hearing nothing.

My lunch pals, Jen, Glenn, Randy and I headed up to a local diner. Normally abuzz with chatter, there was yet, another, eerie silence over the room. Not even a peep from the kitchen. This silence lingered throughout the day, briefly interrupted by the ringing of a phone…trying to contact loved ones…regardless of locale. My sister lives in Falls Church, VA. Her husband works near the White House at the St Regis.

That evening, after doing nothing all day at work except staring off into space and smoking far too many cigarettes, I sat in the living room on the shitty sofa. I was fixed to the television. Dock was working and I was alone. I was so scared, so frightened, so overwhelmed, I had turned on every light in the house. I still do not know why. I remained that way for about a week.

I am blessed, having lost no one, not having to endure the grief of searching and aching for a relative or a friend. My suffering is limited. Yet it is real. I will never forget any of this, so etched in my mind like acid on glass. I have been profoundly, deeply altered. We all have.

Today is the day where your nationality does not matter. Today is the day where we, as humanity, mourn, pray, do whatever it is we need to do to cope.

I do not consider myself to be religious, holy, pious, G-d fearing. I have my faith. It is personal. My only way of conveying my feelings is by posting the Mourner’s Kaddish. It is all that one needs to say.

Exalted and hallowed be His great Name. (Congregation responds: “Amen.”)
Throughout the world which He has created according to His Will. May He establish His kingship, bring forth His redemption and hasten the coming of His Moshiach. (Cong: “Amen.”)
In your lifetime and in your days and in the lifetime of the entire House of Israel, sword, famine and death shall cease from us and from the entire Jewish nation, speedily and soon, and say, Amen.
(Cong: “Amen. May His great Name be blessed forever and to all eternity, blessed.”)
May His great Name be blessed forever and to all eternity. Blessed and praised, glorified, exalted and extolled, honored, adored and lauded be the Name of the Holy One, blessed be He. (Cong: “Amen.”)
Beyond all the blessings, hymns, praises and consolations that are uttered in the world; and say, Amen. (Cong: “Amen.”)
May there be abundant peace from heaven, and a good life for us and for all Israel; and say, Amen. (Cong: “Amen.”)
He Who makes peace in His heavens, may He make peace for us and for all Israel; and say, Amen. (Cong: “Amen.”)
4 Comments »
10

Sep

Worst President Ever

Posted by High Priestess Kang as History, News, Observations, Politics

Seriously. This has been debated.

According to an article written by Stephen Colbert in, America (The Book): A Citizen’s Guide to Democracy Inaction, the worst American president is none other than Warren G Harding. The article is brief, so I shall repeat it word for word in the spirit of plagiarism and completely unoriginal thought.

 

Historians debate feverishly over who is the best president in American history. However, there is little disagreement over who was the worst. His name was Warren G Harding (1921-1923), and he sucked. 

The reasons why he sucked are many and, to be truthful, have been widely catalogued in the annals of presidential history. So, with your indulgences, I’d like to focus instead on the intensity of his sucking.

Warren G Harding was a worthless piece of shit. Fuck him. His presidency was a taint, not just in the sense of a, “stain on the office,” but literally a taint - the anatomical area between the anus and the testicles.

I hate Warren G Harding.

 

This morning, the fair Melanie sent Zillicious and me a link to an article in the Washington Post.

The Bush League
How low can he go?By Gene Weingarten - Sunday, September 10, 2006; Page W40

We in the media are sometimes accused of letting liberal bias subtly slip into our writing and reporting. That accusation is calumny. We are dispassionate observers and seekers of truth. All we do is ask questions.

We in the media are sometimes accused of letting liberal bias subtly slip into our writing and reporting. That accusation is calumny. We are dispassionate observers and seekers of truth. All we do is ask questions.Today’s question: Is George W. Bush the worst president in American history?

An examination of this issue requires that we first consider possible alternatives. Historians pretty much agree on the three leading contenders, to date.

Franklin Pierce (1853-57)

Pro: Cinematically handsome.
Con: Bad hair.

Pro: High-spirited.
Con: Those spirits were mostly distilled alcohol, taken straight, in quantities that could incapacitate a hippo. When president, Pierce actually was arrested after running over an old woman with his carriage, most likely while soused. Died of
cirrhosis.

Pro: Strong political convictions . . .
Con: . . . the strongest of which was about slavery. He thought it was swell. Pierce was elected because the Southern states thought he was the one Northerner they could trust, and he was. “Involuntary servitude is recognized by the Constitution,” Pierce said, “and stands like any other admitted right.”

Pro: Ambitiously, he wanted to annex Cuba . . .
Con: . . . because he wanted another slave state

Greatest achievement: History books reveal that, during the Pierce presidency, “the first perforated postage stamp was used.”

James Buchanan (1857-61)

Pro: Had an expressive, entertaining face.
Con: A vision problem forced him to cock his head at an odd angle, so, in most surviving photos, Buchanan seems to be saying, “You lookin’ at me? You want a piece of me?”

Pro: He thought slavery was wrong.
Con: He was too weak-willed to oppose it.

Pro: He didn’t think the Southern states should secede.
Con: He was too weak-willed to oppose them.

Greatest achievement: Was such a dismally inept nonentity, with such a shameful legacy of nonfeasance during a period of grave crisis, that his party — the Democrats — splintered in disarray. This led to the election of Republican Abraham Lincoln. So in a sense, Buchanan single-handedly saved the nation.

Warren G. Harding (1921-23)

Pro: Handsome. Women had just won the right to vote, after an arduous struggle to be recognized as equals. Harding was chosen by his party on the theory that the ignorant little ninnies would go for the better-looking man.
Con: He was a moron.

Pro: He knew he was a moron. He could not believe it when he was nominated, asking his handlers if they were sure there was no one more qualified: “I am a man of limited talents.”
Con: He dishonored the White House by having furtive sex with his mistress in a closet near the Oval Office. This was Clinton, without the charm or brains or ability.

Pro: He was not personally corrupt.
Con: Nearly everyone he appointed was corrupt. His friends exploited his dimwitted good nature, taking everything they could grab. His own father once told him, Warren, it’s a good thing you weren’t born a girl, because you can’t say ‘no.’”

Greatest achievement: Died in office.

SO WHAT ABOUT GEORGE W.? Can he take a rightful place among these dwarfs?

Consider some testimonials.

About the president acting unilaterally, without seeking advice or consent: “The incompetence of his administration [has not stopped] it from vigorously defending the president’s sole authority to control the execution of the law.”

About the president’s response to crisis: “He acted with his usual strong determination, dogged stubbornness and confused insight.”

About the president’s mangling of the English language: “It reminds me of stale bean soup, of college yells, of dogs barking idiotically through endless nights. It is so bad that a sort of grandeur creeps into it . . . It is rumble and bumble. It is flap and doodle. It is balder and dash.”

Okay, ready? The first two were by historians, about Pierce and Buchanan, respectively. The last was by H.L. Mencken, about Harding. If they sounded contemporary, you may have your answer.

‘Tis yours to decide, folks. My vote, coming as no surprise to anyone, is for W. Or is it Cheney? Or Karl Rove?

Buchanan hails from Pennsylvania. I need to be kind to my fellow Commonwealther. The rest of the lot…their respective stamps on history are marginal. It is really George W Bush, King of the Goat Phuck, that deserves mad props here.

4 Comments »
27

Aug

Hey…I know that place!!!

Posted by High Priestess Kang as History, Travel


/me dorks out and watches, “The Longest Day.”

The movie has just begun and I am already completely agog. I get to hear French and German (the former being understood and spoken by Kodos, the latter…she understands somewhat but still needs the sub-titles)!!!

The movie opens with footage from Pegasus Bridge in Ouistreham, France. Dock and I did a magical, history tour of Normandy for our honeymoon. We spent a considerable amount of time running around Pegasus Bridge, snapping photos and trying to imagine what it must have been like to be there in World War II. Oh…and there is the wildest, German bunker museum (Le Grand Bunker Musée) in Ouistreham that I have ever seen.I wish I could convey the feelings that engulfed me when we visited these sites. I am still at a loss for words. That…and I’m done writing for now as I need to watch this movie.

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05

Apr

Insult my intelligence, please.

Posted by High Priestess Kang as History

For those of you who do not know me personally, I am a complete nerd. I love history, foreign policy and all things French (even stinky-feet cheese). So much so, I wasted my college education studying these very useful topics, because…let’s face it, no matter what a Liberal Arts major chooses to study, he/she is not going to get a job actually using his/her education.

Tonight?my interest was piqued while scanning the tv channels. PBS is running a series called The War That Made America. Oooooh…something about history, war and foreign policy, rolled up into a tidy, little package for my television viewing. I was especially pleased because I have been feeling unusually un-smart as of late and am in dire need of something, anything to spark the firing of the synapses.

Now…here’s where I start to complain. Why is it that these sorts of history shows feel compelled to pepper the documentary with ridiculous reenactments? Yes…I understand that there’s not a lot of film footage floating around from the Revolutionary War era (wait…you mean there is none???). But, there is something smarmy and annoying about watching some guy in the triangular, pointy hat looking at me and lecturing me in Colonial English. I do not mind reenactments for the sake of telling a story, nor do I mind narration. I do mind that whole theatrical nonsense though.

You know what sucks the most, though? I find this particular show absolutely fascinating. Reminiscent of running through the German bunkers in Ouistreham with those crazy mannequins staring at me like they have just dropped tons of acid.

So…I’m going to suck it up, Kang style, deal with the histrionics and hopefully learn something. Because, if I don’t…I’m going to start sounding like Paul McCartney after years of perpetual pot usage. Then again, this Red Coat in the tavern, lecturing me, is making me want to pull an Elvis.

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