Today: Advent Sunday, Lincoln & slavery, Stalin’s Great Purge, Rosa Parks, Charlemagne, Pope Leo III, David Ben Gurion, Christmas Music . . .
AND MORE
History, Holidays & Observances -November 30
A look at some of the history and holidays on November 30
Holidays & Observances on November 30
Feast of St. Andrew the Apostle, who lived with Jesus Christ, then after a long life of evangelizing, died a martyr on a St. Andrew’s cross in 60 A.D., during the reign of Nero. Andrew was a fisherman and a follower of John the Baptist when he first encountered Jesus Christ. Andrew introduced Jesus to his brother, Peter, and the two became among the first four of Christ’s apostles.
In the gospels, Andrew is referred to as being present on some important occasions as one of the disciples more closely attached to Jesus. Andrew told Jesus about the boy with the loaves and fishes (John 6:8), and when Philip wanted to tell Jesus about certain Greeks seeking Him, he told Andrew first (John 12:20–22). Andrew was present at the Last Supper. Andrew was one of the four disciples who came to Jesus on the Mount of Olives to ask about the signs of Jesus’ return at the “end of the age”
Andrew was martyred in 62 A.D., crucified for his faith on a cross in the shape of an “X” — a shape which is now known as the “St. Andrew’s Cross.” St. Andrew has been associated with many places and patronages, but perhaps most famously he is associated in legends with Scotland, where he is the patron saint, and where the St. Andrew’s Cross flies on the flag of Scotland.
Day to Mark the Departure and Expulsion of Jews from the Arab Countries and Iran — As May, 1948 approached and, with it, the birth of Israel, many Arab Palestinians — the same one’s now demanding a “right of return” — voluntarily left the borders of the nation soon to be Israel. Jews throughout the Middle East in the Arab countries and Iran were not given a choice to remain in their homelands. These Mizrahi Jews were expelled from their homes, with many coming involuntarily to settle in Israel. Since 2014, today is a day set aside in Israel in their honor.
Major Events on November 30
1782 – American Revolutionary War: Peace Negotiations
With the cessation of major operations in the colonies (skirmishes in SC were still ongoing), the war’s conflict turned in April, 1782, from the battlefields in America to the negotiating table in France. Britain’s major goal in the negotiation was to drive a wedge in between France and America so that it would not be facing a long term threat from a Franco-American alliance. That meant returning the American colonies to close trading partners almost as soon as the war concluded. France, for its part, expected to be included in the negotiations with Britain and America so that they could, to the maximum extent possible, shape the peace to their benefit. They wanted the payoff for their assistance to be a peace that punished Britain.
Fortunately for America, Ben Franklin was the man in charge on the American side of the aisle, and he was in his element, He was later joined by lawyer John Jay, the acerbic John Adams, and from SC, Henry Laurens, all extremely intelligent men who worked well together, though not harmoniously. Their first act was to ignore the French and cut them out of the talks. They opened direct negotiations with Britain, making demands that were highly favorable to America. And surprisingly, the British were quite willing to accede to those demands — and more, so long as American loyalists were protected.
The French, who had gone broke supporting the Revolution with $100 million in aid, and who lent their own military and naval might to the effort, were, to put it mildly, outraged. Franklin turned his attention to mollifying the French while the British negotiations were ongoing. Franklin, probably the most skilled and canny diplomat alive at the time, returned to his unsophisticated man from the wilderness of America persona that he used repeatedly over the years in France. His excuse to the French government was, we are poor simple Americans who do not understand how to handle diplomacy properly, so please excuse our faux pas. He then added, utterly shamelessly, the British clearly want to divide America from France. Please do not be angered and give them that satisfaction. Amazingly enough, that worked at least well enough to buy French patience and a measure of acquiescence for enough time to complete negotiations with Britain.
On this date, in 1782, Britain and America signed their own preliminary peace agreement and sent the treaty to their respective governments to be debated and ratified. In terms of land, borders, fishing rights, and independence, America received all for which it asked. And indeed, within three short years after peace was concluded, trade with Britain had returned to pre-war levels and only grew from there. So Britain achieved what it wanted as well from the peace.
On a final note, the painter Benjamin West was commissioned to memorialize the signing of the peace agreement. But one of the two British negotiators refused to sit for the painting. It was left unfinished.
History, Holidays & Observances – November 22
A look at some of the history and holidays on November 22
Holidays & Observances on November 22
Feast of St. Cecilia, a second century Christian martyred for her religion and of whom it is recorded that, at her wedding, “she sang in her heart to God.” She is the Patron Saint of music and musicians and one of the most famous of the Roman Martyrs. The earliest musical society in the American colonies was established in Charleston, SC in the 1766 and named in her honor, The St. Cecilia Society.
Major Events on November 22
1307 – Arrest of the Templars:
The Templars were an order of warrior monks created in 1119 to protect travelers to the Holy Land. Setting up their headquarters on the Temple Mount in the Al Aska Mosque, the later in Acre, the Templar became famous for their ferocity in battle as a highly trained heavy cavalry force. But there was much more to the Templars. Templar military prowess made the monastic order wealthy as people across Christendom contributed money, lands and estates. Someone had to manage the wealth and property. Thus a significant majority of the Templars were not warriors but bureaucrats and builders stationed all across Europe. And the Templar’s most long term significance was developing the world’s first proto-banks as a service for pilgrims to the holy land. Pilgrims could place their wealth in Templar hands in, say, England. The Templars would issue a receipt that would allow the pilgrim then to travel without worry of presenting an inviting target to bandits, then reclaim their wealth from the Templars once arrived in the Holy Land.
The biggest mistake of the Templars was lending their wealth to scurrilous individuals . . . such as French Kings. And for that, they ended up getting something normally reserved in medieval times for Jewish moneylenders.
In 1307, France’s King Phillip II was deeply in debt to the Templars. Rather than — or perhaps unable to — repay it, and with greed for Templar wealth, the French King opted to destroy the Templars. He found a man who had been forced out of the Order and who was making wild accusations against them. Phillip II knew he alone could not destroy the order. He need to add an air of verisimilitude to the charges and he needed a person of high standing to do it. In short, he needed the backing of a Pope. And in his blood relative, Pope Clement V, Phillip found a willing accomplice.
On this day in 1307, Pope Clement V issued the papal bull Pastoralis Praeeminentiae which instructed all Christian monarchs in Europe to arrest all Templars and seize their assets. No trials were held. No evidence of any wrongdoing by the monks was ever introduced. In the blink of an eye, the Templar Order was destroyed, or at least it was as soon as Phillip II had tortured confessions out of the Templar’s highest ranking members. Things like this are the reason “due process” came to exist in Anglo law.
In the end, the leadership of the Templar order were executed by being burnt alive at the stake. In the moments before the flames overtook him, the Grand Master of the Templars shouted out to Phillip II and Pope Clement that they would soon be meeting him in the afterlife. That proved prophetic. Within a year, both Pope Clement V and King Phillip II were dead.
Wolf Notes for 11 Oct. 2018
The IPCC’s latest just in time for Halloween
Everything about the global warming movement is a scam designed to transfer the wealth and political power of the West generally and the U.S. in particular into the hands of socialist apparatchiks at the U.N. It has always been so. The most recent effort to accomplish that was with the Paris Accords, from which, thankfully — and in perhaps the most consequential act of his Presidency — Trump withdrew. But these watermelons in the U.S. and at the UN (green outside, red inside) are not going to give up.
The IPCC issued a new climate report several days ago, complete with dire projections and hands out for money. CNN was on top of it: Planet has only until 2030 to stem catastrophic climate change, experts warn
Governments around the world must take “rapid, far-reaching and unprecedented changes in all aspects of society” to avoid disastrous levels of global warming, says a stark new report from the global scientific authority on climate change.
The report issued Monday by the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), says the planet will reach the crucial threshold of 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) above pre-industrial levels by as early as 2030, precipitating the risk of extreme drought, wildfires, floods and food shortages for hundreds of millions of people.The date, which falls well within the lifetime of many people alive today, is based on current levels of greenhouse gas emissions.The planet is already two-thirds of the way there, with global temperatures having warmed about 1 degree C. . . .
July 2, 1776: Prologue to Independence
John Adams – Great American Patriot, Poor Prognosticator. Reposted from 2 July 2017.
On July 2, 1776, the 2nd Continental Congress voted to approve the Declaration of Independence and sent it print. Congress did not officially declare Independence and release the document to the public until July 4, 1776. Nonetheless, on July 3, 1776, John Adams wrote a letter to his beloved wife, Abigail, forecasting that our nation would long celebrate its birth — but he was a bit off on the date:
. . . The Second Day of July 1776, will be the most memorable Epocha, in the History of America.—I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated, by succeeding Generations, as the great anniversary Festival. It ought to be commemorated, as the Day of Deliverance by solemn Acts of Devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with Pomp and Parade, with Shews, Games, Sports, Guns, Bells, Bonfires and Illuminations from one End of this Continent to the other from this Time forward forever more.
You will think me transported with Enthusiasm but I am not.—I am well aware of the Toil and Blood and Treasure, that it will cost Us to maintain this Declaration, and support and defend these States.—Yet through all the Gloom I can see the Rays of ravishing Light and Glory. I can see that the End is more than worth all the Means. And that Posterity will tryumph in that Days Transaction, even altho We should rue it, which I trust in God We shall not.
Many historians call George Washington the “indispensable man” — the man without whom the Revolution would not have succeeded. Quite true, I think. That said, the Revolution would never been given into Washington’s hands were it not for the efforts of John Adams and his cousin, Sam Adams, between 1761 and July 2, 1776. And as to John Adams in particular, his wife Abigail was his love, his confidant, and his sounding board. Their relationship was heartwarming and fascinating. Having studied John Adams in some detail, I think it fair to say that he would not have been who he was without Abigail at his side.
News of the Declaration of Independence, drowned out other national news — both at the time and even to this day, the most important being news of America’s first great victory over the British that had occurred but days earlier. on June 28, at The Battle of Sullivan’s Island. There the British were defeated in their first offensive of the war, an offensive to capture the Southern colonies generally and the port of Charleston in particular.
If you have never seen it, 1776 is a very entertaining musical about the efforts of John Adams (with a nod to Abigail) and his fellow delegates at the Second Continental Congress to draft and pass the Declaration of Independence. It is historically very accurate, though I don’t think John Adams and Ben Franklin every broke out into a duet. Regardless, I recommend it highly and have embedded two songs from the musical below.
John Adams, Our Nation’s First Failed Prognosticator
On July 2, 1776, the 2nd Continental Congress voted to approve the Declaration of Independence and sent it print. Congress did not officially declare Independence and release the document to the public until July 4, 1776. Nonetheless, on July 3, 1776, John Adams wrote a letter to his beloved wife, Abigail, forecasting that our nation would long celebrate its birth — but he was a bit off on the date:
. . . The Second Day of July 1776, will be the most memorable Epocha, in the History of America.—I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated, by succeeding Generations, as the great anniversary Festival. It ought to be commemorated, as the Day of Deliverance by solemn Acts of Devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with Pomp and Parade, with Shews, Games, Sports, Guns, Bells, Bonfires and Illuminations from one End of this Continent to the other from this Time forward forever more.
You will think me transported with Enthusiasm but I am not.—I am well aware of the Toil and Blood and Treasure, that it will cost Us to maintain this Declaration, and support and defend these States.—Yet through all the Gloom I can see the Rays of ravishing Light and Glory. I can see that the End is more than worth all the Means. And that Posterity will tryumph in that Days Transaction, even altho We should rue it, which I trust in God We shall not.
Many historians call George Washington the “indispensable man” — the man without whom the Revolution would not have succeeded. Quite true, I think. That said, the Revolution would never been given into Washington’s hands were it not for the efforts of John Adams and his cousin, Sam Adams, between 1761 and July 2, 1776. And as to John Adams in particular, his wife Abigail was his love, his confidant, and his sounding board. Their relationship was heartwarming and fascinating. Having studied John Adams in some detail, I think it fair to say that he would not have been who he was without Abigail at his side.
If you have never seen it, 1776 is a very entertaining musical about the efforts of John Adams (with a nod to Abigail) and his fellow delegates at the Second Continental Congress to draft and pass the Declaration of Independence. It is historically very accurate, though I don’t think John Adams and Ben Franklin every broke out into a duet. Regardless, I recommend it highly and have embedded two songs from the musical below.
John Adams Jumps The Gun — by Wolf Howling
John Adams’s letter to his wife following the July 2, 1776 vote in the First Second Continental Congress to approve the Declaration of Independence.
. . . The Second Day of July 1776, will be the most memorable Epocha, in the History of America. I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated, by succeeding Generations, as the great anniversary Festival. It ought to be commemorated, as the Day of Deliverance by solemn Acts of Devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with Pomp and Parade, with Shews, Games, Sports, Guns, Bells, Bonfires and Illuminations from one End of this Continent to the other from this Time forward forever more.
You will think me transported with Enthusiasm but I am not. — I am well aware of the Toil and Blood and Treasure, that it will cost Us to maintain this Declaration, and support and defend these States. — Yet through all the Gloom I can see the Rays of ravishing Light and Glory. I can see that the End is more than worth all the Means. And that Posterity will tryumph in that Days Transaction, even altho We should rue it, which I trust in God We shall not. . . .
The First Continental Congress sent the Declaration to the print shop on 2 July after two days of edits. The Declaration was then publicly released on the 4th of July, 1776.
George Zimmerman: the black, Hispanic, Peruvian, kind-hearted non-white, not-racist poster boy
“Facts are stubborn things.”
I love that quotation. John Adams said it back in 1774 when he took on the unpopular job of defending the British troops charged with the killings in the event now known as the Boston Massacre. Arguing off those same stubborn facts, Adams was able to get those troops acquitted.
“Facts are stubborn things.” You can lie about them and you can try to bury them, but they have a bad habit of revealing themselves. Sometimes, these revelations can take decades or even centuries, but sometimes — especially in a modern media age — those stubborn facts demand to be heard within days or weeks of the initial lies.
And so it is with the lies the media told about George Zimmerman.
“He’s a white man.” Wrong, so the media came up the tortured white-Hispanic. Turns out that even that is wrong. Zimmerman is also part black. Brutally Honest has the perfect summation: “In a delicious irony, it is Zimmerman who might actually look more like the son Obama never had.”
He’s a racist. Wrong, because it was revealed that he worked hard on behalf of a young black man he thought was wrongfully accused.
He’s an evil, paranoid man who constantly called the cops because of imaginary terrors in his neighborhood. Wrong. Aside from the fact that he called infrequently, he was the rock of the neighborhood:
George Zimmerman was known as a trusted aid to most of his black neighbours in the gated community of Sanford, Florida that was plagued by a string of burglaries in the weeks leading up to the shooting of Trayvon Martin, according to an investigation by Reuters.
It reveals that the community, previously a family-friendly, first-time homeowner community, had been devastated by the recession that struck Florida, and transient renters began to occupy some of the 263 town houses in the complex.
During that time, it was Zimmerman, who emerged as a sympathetic figure, offering his and his wife’s support to any homeowners who had been robbed or felt fearful.
I don’t know whether George Zimmerman committed a crime. I do know that the American media did. Zimmerman is said to have wept for what he did. I doubt anyone in the media is shedding tears for grossly maligning a good man’s character or for stirring up violent racial animus in America.
Our Military: “Obnoxious and disliked,” thank God! *UPDATED*
My favorite song in the musical 1776 is the song in which John Adams tries to convince several of his fellow Congressman that they, not he, should write the Declaration of Independence. As his reason for refusing this task, he says repeatedly that he is “obnoxious and disliked,” so much so that anything coming from his pen will be rejected:
While it’s true that Adams was obnoxious and disliked, he was also greatly respected. Although 1776 has a little too much fun with Adams’ irascible personality, it is quite accurate in the way it portrays his central role in achieving American independence. He had a clear vision and, whether he was bullying or cajoling his fellow delegates at the Continental Congress, he was able to share that vision with them, so much so that each was willing to put his signature on a document that when written was highly treasonous and, therefore, tantamount to a death sentence for each signatory.
In other words, soft, yielding people need not apply when it comes to the hard work of advancing liberty. I had the same thought when I read a HuffPo article saying that our American military is made up of people who (ready yourself) are not nice:
[A] bombshell new study from Washington University in St. Louis suggests that simply serving in the military can affect veterans in ways that make it hard for them to get along with friends, family, and co-workers in the civilian world.
“Military recruits are a little less warm and friendly to begin with and the military experience seems to reinforce this–as after service, men score even lower on agreeableness when compared to individuals who did not go into the military,” lead author Dr. Joshua J. Jackson, an assistant professor of psychology at the university, said in a written statement. “Interestingly, this influence appears to linger long after the soldier has re-entered the workforce or returned to college.”
The study confirms that military veterans score lower than their civilian counterparts on tests of “agreeableness.” It also indicates that the military tends to attract men who are more aggressive and more interested in competition than other men–and less concerned about the feelings of others, according to the statement.
Did it really take a “bombshell” study to tell us that manly men who don’t lift tea cups with their fingers delicately elevated in the air are the ones more likely to enter the military, a world distinguished by discipline, hierarchy, and combat? Does anyone really think that sensitive, new-age guys who “feel your pain,” are going to be the ones in the front line in the battle for liberty?
My own interactions with the military have been characterized by something very interesting. The guys and gals I’ve met have something that is strikingly lacking in ordinary American culture: good manners. To me, good manners are infinitely more agreeable than some sensitive, touchy-feely metrosexual who refuses to take out the garbage.
(What do you bet that this “bombshell” study was funded by stimulus money?)
UPDATE: Maybe I’m wrong, but this seems apropos.