History Repeats

Books to read in the new year if you haven’t read them before.

heishort — Sat, 31 Dec 2011 18:36:41 +0000

Recommendations of a few books I couldn’t put down this year.
Terry Jones, yes from Monty Python is a historian.
Not only is his books full of facts they are fun to read, and the shows he has done related to his books are fun to watch.
An archaeologist who isn’t boring to read and not boring to watch either is Francis Pryor.
Fun, informative, and cleaver.
Last but not least Vine Deloria Jr., one of the best Native American authors, activists.
My first introduction to him was the book “For This Land: Writings on religion in America” a number of years ago. From then on I ran across many more that I found to be thought provoking and informative.
Custer Died for Your Sins and The World We Used to Live In: Remembering the Powers of the Medicine Men. Some suggestions for the new year.

Fort Knox, Elvis, Occupy, Taxes, and the one percent.

heishort — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 01:20:00 +0000

You may ask what they all have in common, money. Fort Knox is were the gold is stored that used to back all of the nations money, that hasn’t been the case since Nixon has been in office. Occupy wants the banker to be accountable for the money, something Andrew Jackson would have agreed with. Elvis set an example that the one percent should follow, he paid out more in taxes then he has ever owed. He has continue to make the rich look bad even after his death. This has been a brief history moment for you mind to think on.

Where does religion come from?

heishort — Fri, 04 Nov 2011 20:24:02 +0000

Psychology says it come from the time man began to reason, anthropologist say it comes from the time when we started to put our loved ones in the ground.
So the time when man started to reason, tried to figure out the world around him and started to think there must be some unseen force out in the world controlling all the things they don’t understand. We are talking an extremely long time ago.
As we have evolved science has taken some of the mystery out of the world. As this changed has occurred we now have a wide variety of religions.
But is it a byproduct of evolution as some believe or is it part of an adaptation to the world around us.
One of the more recently questions a group of us are considering is the possibility of evolving to the point of no religion. Can we do without the supernatural?
Or will science be the new religion?

From Dust, you are the supernatural force helping your people.

heishort — Tue, 11 Oct 2011 22:12:06 +0000

Your shaman and the rest of the people of the village are depending on you to keep them from hazards in their world. The game is deceptive on how hard it can be at times. One of the fun features is the challenges, if your friends also have the game it can be fun to see who does the best at helping your people to get passed the challenge and survive.

Commentary on Presidents and others.

heishort — Fri, 23 Sep 2011 19:36:54 +0000

He was a tough, nasty, old bird, but he got things done at all costs.
He tried his best but because the house or senate they made sure he couldn’t do his job or get what the people voted him into office done.
Wow if we had known what he was doing when that guy was President we would have gotten him out of there.
The people voted for him.
Well all those things can be said of a number of President Andrew Jackson, Obama, and a few others.
But do we take enough about the house and senate and those people, I don’t think we do nearly enough. Sometime we forget that these are the people that can make of break the Presidency. It’s time we payed more attention to those people as well. They have alot to do with lack of money, jobs, etc. We voted for them too, I think we need more control over them.

Lost in the Cemetery, missing a relative.

heishort — Fri, 23 Sep 2011 19:26:39 +0000

Missing a relative that should be buried in some such cemetery as recorded by a family member, well don’t be surprised if you can’t find them where you thought they were. This is a real problem. In some cases it could be that they are where you think they are and the records for that cemetery may have gotten lost as well as the head stone for them being lost or just plan impossible to read.
Some cemeteries are going to computer versions and some are still on 3 X 5 cards as I found out recently and even some are it rather large books with drawings of plots and the names on some plots have faded away.
This can pose a problem for those using the cemetery to find people.
Two of the most interesting mistakes we have found out searching is stole headstones, and one that had the wrong information on it that had replaced the faded one that was there before.
Be careful. Even in a cemetery things are not always what they seem.

Andrew Jackson and the Search for Vindication book review

heishort — Mon, 12 Sep 2011 21:14:21 +0000

Andrew Jackson and the Search for Vindication (Library of American Biography Series) by James C. Curtis
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is an interesting book about the life of Andrew Jackson with a psychological approach to why he did what he did. Even though it may leave some facts out that you might want to know it does give some basis for how his actions became part of the fabric of the US during his life time. It is a quick read.

View all my reviews

First and as of today only child born to a President in the White House.

heishort — Fri, 09 Sep 2011 21:12:20 +0000

Yes, I found it interesting that today in history the first daughter was born to a President in the White House on this date in 1893. The President Was Grover Cleveland The first daughter was named Esther. I find this interesting for two reasons, one it seems more grandchildren were born to Presidents in office and two that when Mr. Cleveland was first President he was a bachelor. You would think with the biggest job in the country he wouldn’t have had time to find a wife.

Backhoe use in Archaeology.

heishort — Fri, 26 Aug 2011 22:02:29 +0000

You don’t believe they do this, well yes they do. It is a great tool for expediting a dig.
Here is an article that talked about how one operator is extremely good at using this piece of equipment.
Even if you don’t approve of such things, sometimes time is not on the Archeologists side so if you have an expert it’s always good to use the method and person who can get you there the quickest.
I used to cringe when people told me about such things, but after watching the Time Team do this sort of thing repeatedly I’m all in favor of using such methods, even here in the states this is not unheard of. Example “Hopewell.“

Buffalo Hunting is Alive and Well.

heishort — Fri, 26 Aug 2011 21:38:32 +0000

Yes that’s right not only are the Native American’s hunting the herds that they have been helping back back from the verge of extinction but a number of private ranches have also gotten into the practice of having people hunt the buffalo on their respective properties.
Early this year The Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation went on their first hunt in 130 years in Montana and the Cayuse and Shoshone-Bannock are hunting in Oregon, some tribes have been hunting outside Yellowstone National Park since they have finally won their right back to hunt Federal land.
It’s great that this old tradition is being revived now that the herds are back.
Native American Buffalo Hunting