Cackle Berries: Confucius Say:
Confucius Say:
Man who run in front of car get tired.
Man who run behind car get exhausted.
Man who eat many prunes get good run for money.
War does not determine who is right, war determine who is left.
Wife who put husband in doghouse soon find him in cathouse.
Man who drive like hell, bound to get there.
Crowded elevator smell different to midget.
Investigation, Prosecution Of Attempted Phone Tampering Of Senator’s Office Demanded
NEW ORLEANS, La. — On Monday, Jan. 25, four people were arrested while attempting to illegally trespass and tamper with the government phones of Louisiana Senator Mary Landrieu in New Orleans. Officials are calling this “Louisiana’s Watergate.” Among those arrested is Robert Flanagan, the son of a Louisiana United States Attorney, and conservative activist James O’Keefe, who last summer illegally filmed staffers at ACORN offices in Maryland and Pennsylvania. O’Keefe is being sued in civil court by ACORN for those violations and he is under criminal investigation by state law enforcement authorities. Shortly after O’’Keefe’s alleged illegal conduct involving ACORN, 31 GOP members of Congress signed onto a resolution supporting his criminal activities.
Velvet Revolution, a non-profit grassroots organization dedicated to honest and accountable government, believes that justice can only be served by a complete investigation into this illegal wiretapping operation by an independent prosecutor with no ties to Louisiana.
Clearly, having the son of a U.S. attorney charged in this case along with an activist who has been heralded by the GOP for engaging in illegal surveillance for political purposes underscores the need for an investigation by someone who cannot be accused of having a political agenda, says V.R. “The American public deserves an investigation that will dig deep into this case by looking at the motives behind those charged, who financed the illegal wiretapping operation, whether this case is part of a pattern of illegal conduct, whether there are co-conspirators, and whether those charged were acting on orders from others.” In question is the potential of illegal wiretapping of the offices of other senators or representatives.
Accordinig to VelvetRevolution, “There have been post arrest statements made by Mr. O’Keefe and attorneys for the accused attempting to minimize or justify their conduct as a prank, a setup, a legitimate journalistic investigation, or simply poor judgment. These must be rejected and the truth laid bare. From all indications, it appears that this was an illegal, coordinated, intentional attack on a sitting United States Senator for raw political purposes. No amount of spin can undermine the fact that those charged knowingly committed felonies to undermine our democracy. When the Watergate burglars were arrested, the investigation by the special prosecutor led all the way up to the President and his entire inner circle. Americans need to know the truth here and to have confidence in the results. This can only be achieved by the appointment of an independent prosecutor.”
Velvet Revolution is a non partisan organization with over 150 affiliates representing more than a million members.
Driving Bans Considered
WASHINGTON, D.C. — A number of state legislatures are moving to ban texting and some are moving to ban all telephone use while driving.
That’s because studies show the danger of accidents increases sharply when a driver is using a phone.
A consensus is said to be forming to ban all cell phone use by drivers. A recent report estimated there are now 200 bills in state legislatures aimed at curbing driver distractions, mostly phoning.
More bills are expected to be introduced in coming months. They are described as being in the public interest and if enforced would save lives and reduce automobile accidents.
The difficulty is expected to come in enforcement, as some term this yet another invasion of individual rights.
Cotton-Mouthed Ripoff Being Staged
WASHINGTON, D.C. — One current practice by many drug manufacturers where a change is desirable is not the filling bottles of pills or tablets they’re selling, which doctors recommend. Often a bottle is about one-fifth full, the four-fifths of space above the few pills at the bottom with cotton.
The same is true of many bottle medicines. One famous cough suppressant is sold in bottles so small the buyer must come back two days later for another bottle, since days of dosage is necessary.
Another sales booster is for drug manufacturers to sell pills or tablets which must be taken four or more times daily. In some cases, this is preferred procedure. But in some cases (vitamins) this is selling pills.
The patient who buys a bottle of 60 pills will be out in 20 days. Larger bottles—filled—would save customers money. That’s not the goal of some manufacturers.
Texans Wait Until 1888 To Ride Across The State
The Fort Worth and Denver City Railroad reached the New Mexico state line on Jan. 26, 1888 making it possible at long last for Texans to ride all the way across their vast state. The Lone Star Republic did not have a single mile of track, and Texans had to wait until the seventh year of statehood to catch their first train. In 1853 a short-haul line began carrying freight between Harrisburg and Richmond, but optimistic plans for expanded service were delayed indefinitely by the Civil War.
The Fort Worth and Denver City Railroad reached the New Mexico state line on Jan. 26, 1888 making it possible at long last for Texans to ride all the way across their vast state.
The Lone Star Republic did not have a single mile of track, and Texans had to wait until the seventh year of statehood to catch their first train. In 1853 a short-haul line began carrying freight between Harrisburg and Richmond, but optimistic plans for expanded service were delayed indefinitely by the Civil War.
As Texas stagnated under Reconstruction rule, railroad building was going great guns in the rest of the country. The eagerly anticipated continental connection was completed in May 1869 at Promontory Point, Utah, when the Union Pacific and Central Pacific conquered the Rocky Mountains.
The Lone Star State lagged far behind much to its economic detriment, and geographic isolation stunted the growth of many communities. With a rapidly rising population of 818,000 in 1870, Texas was in dire need of a modern transportation system.
A charter was issued in August 1872 to the California and Texas Construction Company to build a railroad west from Marshall. In two years, the outfit was supposed to have a hundred miles of track in operation and within the decade a ribbon of iron clear to the Pacific Ocean. Both goals exceeded the limited resources of the modest venture, but the attempt at least signaled the start of the gigantic task of tying Texas together.
The Panic of 1873 and the depression that followed strangled the California and Texas and similar enterprises. Serious work did not resume until 1876.
The notable exception during this lull was the 1874 connection of Dallas, the state’s fifth largest city, with St. Louis courtesy of the Texas and Pacific. Fort Worth residents grimaced at the profitable honor bestowed upon their rivals but took comfort in the T&P pledge that their town would be next.
When the railway reneged on its promise, an exodus of disappointed citizens threatened to turn Cow Town into a dusty cadaver. However, two years of extraordinary effort, which included everything from badgering state legislators to laying track for free, finally brought the iron horse. The inaugural locomotive was welcomed on Jul. 19, 1876 by a deliriously happy crowd that cheered the rescue of their town.
The coming of the train was surpassed only by remaining the westernmost railhead, a lucrative distinction Fort Worth enjoyed for four years. During this boom, the population zoomed from less than 500 to 6,600.
Construction crews went back to work in 1881, and a new railroad, the Fort Worth and Denver City, crept northwest toward the recently settled Panhandle. At each stop along the way, jubilant throngs celebrated their liberation.
By May 1, 1882, fresh track covered the 40 miles to Decatur, seat of Wise County, and an obviously impressed eyewitness recorded the grand occasion. “Brawney men of woods and pastures closed in and vented their feelings by emitting a wild Comanche whoop. Then they clasped the hands of the trainmen and visiting officials. Of all days in Wise County before or since, this was the prodigeous day.”
That same spring, the Texas legislature nullified all land grants to the railroads. In their zeal to usher in the steam age, generous politicians had parceled out 40 million acres – a fifth of the state! The inevitable backlash against this giveaway hit the lawmakers full force in 1882.
As the furor mounted in Austin, the Fort Worth and Denver City realized the clock was ticking and frantically pressed on toward Wichita Falls. In July 1882, the tiny village became the line’s western terminus, an enviable position it held for nearly three years until a political thaw revived construction.
After 20 months on nonstop labor, the FW&DC entered Vernon in October 1886 and brand-new Quanah four months later. Without missing a beat, the crews pushed on across the Panhandle and straight into a civic squabble in Childress County.
Separated by just four miles, Childress City and Henry fought over the route and the right to the county seat. The argument was settled when the railroad ran its tracks past Henry. Losers and winners wound up neighbors after Henry changed its name to Childress and the practical inhabitants of Childress City relocated en masse.
After crossing the New Mexico boundary in January 1888, the FW&DC raced to meet its sister line out of Denver, Colorado. In the hills of northeastern New Mexico on Mar. 13, 1888, Fort Worth and Denver were united by 808 miles of steel and spikes.
By 1926, a hectic half century after its standing start, Texas proudly boasted 16,000 miles of track, the most rail mileage of any state in the Union. No longer cut off from each other or the rest of the nation, Texans were ready to tackle the challenges of the twentieth century.
“Secession & Civil War” – latest “Best of This Week in Texas History” collection available for $10.95 plus $3.25 postage and handling from Bartee Haile, P.O. Box 152, Friendswood, TX 77549 or order on-line at twith.com.
Oklahoma Museum Opens ‘New Deal’ Exhibit
Revisiting The New Deal: Government Patronage And The Fine Arts, 1933-1943
NORMAN, Okla. — In light of the current U.S. economy and its historic correlation to the 1930s, the Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art in Norman, Okla. premieres a new exhibition of New Deal-era artwork this spring. Revisiting the New Deal: Government Patronage and the Fine Arts, 1933-1943 opens Friday, Feb. 5, with a special public opening reception at 7 p.m.
The opening reception is preceded by a guest lecture at 6 p.m. by Eugene B. Adkins Curator Mark White. Both are free and open to museum association members and the public. The exhibition runs through May 9.
Revisiting the New Deal surveys the large collection of painting, sculpture and prints that the museum acquired from the federal government between 1935 and 1943. Selections from the exhibition include works by Stuart Davis, Joseph Hirsch, Jon Corbino, Louis Lozowick, Paul Goodbear and Patrociño Barela. A collection of posters designed by Louis Siegriest and reproductions of Navajo blankets by Louis Ewing are highlighted as well.
During the Great Depression, the administration of Franklin Delano Roosevelt offered a New Deal to the American people to help alleviate the economic turmoil of the 1930s. The Works Progress Administration was a national program that modernized and extended the country’s infrastructure in urban and rural areas and, by extension, created jobs for unemployed Americans.
“President Obama has suggested publicly that we may need a new ‘New Deal,’ which makes this exhibit both timely and relevant,” said White.
Since the fine arts had little presence in American communities outside the major metropolitan centers, culture was included in the program.
“The artists who participated in the various WPA programs were ethnically diverse and it gave minorities a pictorial voice that they never really had in American visual culture before this time,” White said. “This exhibition contains numerous works by artists of Hispanic, Jewish, Native American, and even Chinese heritage. Many of the artists were first-generation Americans, which also gives us the opportunity to engage the issue of immigration.”
For the visual arts, the federal government extended economic relief and opportunity to American artists under four distinct programs: the Public Works of Art Project (PWAP, December 1933- June 1934); the Treasury Department’s Section of Fine Arts (1934-43); the Treasury Relief Art Project (TRAP, July 1935- June 1939); and the Federal Art Project (FAP, 1935-43).
Artists who worked for these programs produced murals, paintings, prints and posters, much of which dispersed to federal and state buildings, museums and other cultural institutions in 1942-43.
Revisiting the New Deal celebrates the 75th anniversary of the FAP and its significance for American artists and is drawn from the sizeable amount of WPA material in the collections of the Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art.
The Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art is located in the OU Arts District on the corner of Elm Avenue and Boyd Street, at 555 Elm Ave., on the OU Norman campus.
Admission to the museum is free to all OU students with a current student ID and all museum association members, $5 for adults, $4 for seniors, $3 for children 6 to 17 years of age, $2 for OU faculty/staff, and free for children 5 and under. The museum is closed on Mondays and admission is free on Tuesdays. The museum’s Website is . Information and accommodations on the basis of disability are available by calling (405) 325-4938.
