ESSAY: Failed State & The New Reformation--#MAGA #SHUTDOWN POLITICS, 2019

CH203.1002 UNIVERSITY OF NEVADA, RENO, DR S PASQUALINA, SPRING 2019



THE NEW REFORMATION

     (The Scullery)--Beyond the rhetoric, the insinuations and the failed state syndrome, the view from higher ground is one of renewed confidence in the process of democracy. There is something greater going on above the dysfunction and low-brow clamor on a daily basis from furloughed congressmen and women, disgruntled news media pundits attempting to relate everything to Watergate, and pollsters squeezing out impeachment statistics wherever they can.
     By definition, "reformation," according to Collins, means "the act or an instance of reforming or the state of being reformed."

Along with a definition, Collins offers a usage graph illustrating the most common reference of the word to the Protestant Reformation, capitalized, of the 16th century. Clearly, the word has lost its meaning since then and appears to have very little meaning today. However, on the horizon is a new movement that has yet to be properly evaluated as it isn't related to religion, but to politics and in particular, politics in the United States. If we were to define the roots of this new movement, which for the sake of clarity we define as "#MAGA," it has as its origin not in America, but in Iraq.
     To be more accurate, mainstream media is just now beginning to understand the nature of the cold-blooded killer caliphate known by its acronym, ISIS, and the mistake made by the previous administration in removing all American soldiers from the Middle East, paving the way for the march of ISIS. The result was yet another entry into the muddled quagmire that is Middle East politics; from the self-interest of Israel, to the dark regime of Syria, the "other" caliphate of Iran and the on-again, off-again NATO partner Turkey.  On the sidelines but with just as much influence in the neighborhood is the Western ally, oil-based Saudi Arabia. All of these players are what Rand Paul (R-KY) referred to in CBS' Face the Nation recently as "can they not do anything?" But the caliphate was only a small fraction of the issues facing the Commander-in-Chief when he assumed office, Afghanistan was the other foreign policy quagmire. At the time it was on the back burner as the main course was cooking on the front of the stove, the fight for the wall along the border between Mexico and the United States. In time, the Middle East would indeed surface to become part of the New Reformation.
     New Year's Eve, 2018 and a resolution for border wall funding has become the cornerstone of The New Reformation with the US government deadlocked and in a shutdown mode over the issue. The President has promised delivery of the wall to the nation but opposition in Congress has fought him every inch of the way on the hundreds of miles of wall slated for construction. Even though Iraq may have been a more difficult agenda to complete, specifically, withdrawal from it and Afghanistan as well, it was the border wall that created the climate for the New Reformation. The political revolution in American politics was long overdue and postponed by the previous administration as it just didn't have enough resolve, for that matter, political savvy and philosophy, to address the issues. It was all about affordable health care, an agenda that was recently dismantled by a Texas judge as non-enforceable, part of the previous "failed state" syndrome.
     No revolutionary movement is complete without a set of grievances and demands, as witnessed from the religious Reformation to the Declaration of Independence. Can we assume the combined action of the border wall shutdown along with the recent orders to withdraw from foreign wars of occupation represents at least a beginning in long overdue "reforms" in the way politics function in Washington, DC? According to the media, impeachment isn't good enough for the President. In fact, add the hostility of the press toward the administration as another product of The New Reformation. Daily, the media attacks with everything it has; polls, opinions, condemnations, harassment at press briefings, attempting to topple the regime. None of it works, the President isn't queer for the media, unlike his predecessor.
     Impasse looms into the New Year, the view from the high ground is that something bigger is going on, rooted in frustration from decades of mismanaged government policies that are legislated only to be dismantled. Finally, Congress will have to decide on the course of action for the nation, with firm resolve or with impotence. The President has been a one-man show ever since he took the oath of office; his loyalty to #MAGA is remarkable, not just campaign demagoguery, but conviction. If he succeeds, there will be a New Reformation, politics will not be as-usual, and he will reaffirm the belief that one man can make a difference.

   
     HAVE A VERY HAPPY & PRODUCTIVE NEW YEAR,         JAMES C L'ANGELLE

Contributing Sources:
Reformation definition, https://www.collinsdictionary.com/us/dictionary/english/reformation
Rand Paul, Face the Nation, CBS, Dec 23, 2018, https://www.cbsnews.com/news/full-transcript-face-the-nation-on-december-23-2018/
#MAGA Hats & Soldiers,  Newsweek,  https://www.newsweek.com/donald-trump-signing-maga-hats-troops-during-iraq-trip-truly-disgusting-says-1272147

WALL ALONE AM I --Prez Sings the Blues on Christmas---LIVE FROM #SHUTDOWN STUDIOS

Trump says border wall will be built with "shutdown money"

President Trump, who is spending the holidays in the White House after cancelling a trip to his Mar-a-Lago resort, said on Christmas Eve that a "complete" wall on the southern border will be built with "Shutdown money plus funds already in hand."

Government shutdown enters 3rd day; where does Congress stand Christmas Eve

WASHINGTON - Both sides in the long-running fight over funding President Donald Trump's U.S.-Mexico border wall appear to have moved toward each other, but a shutdown of one-fourth of the federal government entered Christmas without a clear resolution in sight. In fact, a top White House official warned the shutdown could stretch into January.

Trump tweets he's alone at White House waiting for Dems deal

WASHINGTON (AP) - President Donald Trump was meeting with his Homeland Security secretary and other officials on Monday to discuss border security issues as a partial government shutdown over his U.S.-Mexico border wall entered Christmas without a clear resolution in sight. Though both sides have traded offers over the dollars, they remain far apart on the wall.

President Trump Trashes 'Crazy' Democrats for His 'Home Alone' Christmas: 'I Am All Alone (Poor Me)'

President Trump, instead of channeling his inner Kevin McAllister and enjoying being "all alone" in the White House on Christmas Eve, is blasting Democrats for refusing to give him the one gift he really wants: a $5-billion border wall.

US Lawmakers Home for Christmas, Govt Workers Unpaid on Shutdown Day Three

Washington: US lawmakers headed home for Christmas leaving the government partially shut for a third day Monday in an impasse over President Donald Trump's demand for border wall funding, a standoff which the White House budget director said might continue until a new Congress takes over in January.

NATIONAL LAMPOON'S "CHRISTMAS VACATION 2018--Starring POTUS & The Senators-- #WALL-Y WORLD IS #SHUTDOWN..!!

Christmas shutdown: Why Washington let the government close

In many Republican leaders' eyes, Friday was the GOP's last chance to take the lead on budget negotiations before the start of the new session under a Democratic House. And by midweek, a deal seemed imminent.

Sides in fight over funding border wall move closer to each other, but no resolution in sight

WASHINGTON - Both sides in the long-running fight over funding President Donald Trump's U.S.-Mexico border wall appear to have moved toward each other, but a shutdown of one-fourth of the federal government entered Christmas without a clear resolution in sight. In fact, a top White House official warned the shutdown could stretch into January.

'All alone' Trump prods Dems to deal on border wall, as partial shutdown drags on

With no compromise in sight to end the partial government shutdown, President Trump on Monday urged Democratic leaders to "make a deal" on border security -- while those lawmakers countered that mixed messages from the White House are "making it impossible to know where they stand."

Government shutdown, day 3: White House awaits Democratic reply to 'counteroffer' to $5B for border wall

CLOSE WASHINGTON - As the partial government shutdown continues, the White House and congressional Republicans awaited a Democratic response to their "counteroffer" in negotiations over President Donald Trump's demand for $5 billion for a southern border wall.

Trump accuses Democrats of border wall hypocrisy

Amid a government shutdown centered on President Donald Trump's demands for border wall funding, the president again slammed Democrats on Monday for refusing to give him the funding levels he wants. "Virtually every Democrat we are dealing with today strongly supported a Border Wall or Fence," Trump tweeted.

LINDSEY GRAHAM--The "Duke" of Dysfunctional Congress--=-DEMANDS IRAQ-AFGHAN WITHDRAWAL HEARING

ATTN CD@TACNET   VIA JC@AMBUSH//PATROL    SUBJ   FAILED STATE


SWIVELHEAD SENATOR TO BLAME FOR FAILED CONGRESSIONAL SESSION

 (The Scullery)--- Senator Graham (R-SC) has called for immediate hearings regarding CINC sudden call to pull out of Iraq and Afghanistan, decisions hailed by allies and enemies alike. Turkey will have a free throw to toss the Kurds out, Russia thinks it's getting an automatic first down and ISIS and the Taliban are dancing together in the streets of Baghdad and Kabul. But wait, there's more--

Senator Graham calls for hearings on troops in Syria, Afghanistan

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican Senator Lindsey Graham on Friday called for immediate U.S. Senate hearings on President Donald Trump's decision to withdraw all American troops from Syria, which prompted the resignation of Defense Secretary Jim Mattis. Graham, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, told reporters he wanted to hear directly from Mattis at any hearing.

     It wasn't too long ago, before Obama bailed out of Iraq bringing on the "surge" mentality in Congress pressed by Graham and that war hero Arizona Hanoi Hilton survivor, the South Carolina senator had doubts about the role of America in Iraq, expressed at a hearing featuring General David Petraeus as the star witness, reporting in the Sioux City Journal by David Broder,

Graham's question to Ambassador Ryan Crocker "What's the difference between a dysfunctional government and a failed state?" The Senator ought to know the answer to that today amid a government shutdown. How does he expect to have a hearing with the government at impasse over border wall funding, much less call the Secretary of Defense, who handed in his resignation over protest over the withdrawal orders, into a hearing.    Again, the Senator from South Carolina exhibits his ability to stand for and against everything at the same time. Senator Graham urged the president to veto the short term stopgap that would have allowed the government to continue to operate:

Sen. Lindsey Graham Encourages Trump To Veto Short-Term Funding Bill

Amber Athey | Media and Breaking News Editor Republican South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham is encouraging President Donald Trump not to sign a short-term government funding bill unless it includes funding for the border wall.

Supporting Documents
Graham call for hearings, https://www.reuters.com/article/us-mideast-crisis-syria-graham/senator-graham-calls-for-hearings-on-troops-in-syria-afghanistan-idUSKCN1OK22L
"Reality based Iraq Policy", David Broder, Sioux City Journal, 16 Sept 2007, Page A9
Short term veto, https://dailycaller.com/2018/12/20/lindsey-graham-trump-veto-funding-bill-border-wall/

FWD ASAP MERTZ, GI DETAIL, 28TH RLT, CAMP SAN MATEO--

HEADHUNTING FOR #SECDEF--- Pentagon Candidate Diversity---E STANTON & THE AMERICAN CIVIL WAR

ATTN CD@TACNET VIA JC@COC/PATROL SUBJ THE 13TH BUNKER

     (Scullery, Grease Trap Ops)--Again, as in the previous post, consideration for the new candidate may well hinge on ability to adjust to a number of unexpected crises. In the case of HL Stimson, during the FDR war years, the Secretary of War had to make a decision on internment of Japanese American citizens, due to the fact that their loyalty might well have been "impossible" to determine. Removal from the West Coast Exclusion Zone, though unpopular as it was even for the officials involved, became a political and security reality that Americans have come to accept, with regret. Yet another example when considering the right candidate for the job, as in the previous consideration, is the necessity of a military background. That may be the last important qualification on the resume, and if anything, as was just the case for Marine General Mattis, a drawback, the general weighed down by all his medals.
   

     During the American Civil War, President Lincoln retained Edwin Stanton, by no means a military man and at the time, a Washington insider, a lawyer, as Secretary of War. Naturally a military outsider, Stanton would receive criticism from the field commanders for managing, and micromanaging, the Union war effort, but the outcome speaks for itself when General Lee of the Army of Virginia handed his sword to general Grant at Appomattox in April, 1865. Again, as in the previous post referring to Secretary Stimson, Stanton had extra duty, this time in the case of postwar Reconstruction. That required occupation of the states that had seceded from the Union and would create further friction from Southerners already suffering a humiliating defeat and forced to accept the new amendment signed by President Lincoln, the 13th, requiring emancipation of the slaves. As is universally known, Lincoln was assassinated and VP Johnson became president during this critical period of readjustment for all Americans; North, South, East and West.  Eventually, the Secretary of War fell into disfavor from the new president and following an unsuccessful impeachment attempt, Johnson remained in power. Stanton was forced to resign.
     However, we are again reminded that the duty of the Secretary of Defense falls beyond the category of just sending troops into harm's way to assure the outcome of a political agenda. We must consider whatever else lay on the horizon that a man of military career background may not have the qualifications to meet the task. In the past few presidencies, the Secretary of Defense office has had a revolving door installed due to the constant changing of the guard at the top in the Pentagon.

REF TO MERTZ, POT SHACK, 13TH BUNKER DETAIL & AL...

Supporting Documents:
Stanton photograph, and capsule,  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edwin_Stanton
Lee surrender, https://www.history.com/topics/american-civil-war/appomattox-court-house
   

PENTAGON--The Search for SecDef---PROFILING THE CANDIDATE

ATTN CD TACNET VIA JC PATROL SUBJ  ELIGIBILITY

(The Scullery)--Currently, there is a job opening at the Pentagon, at the top. In view of recent developments, it may well be necessary to review what happened.
     Concurrently, President Trump announced complete withdrawal of American forces from Iraq, claiming the war against the terrorist organization ISIS had been won. Although evid3ence may exist to the contrary, nonetheless, the order by the CINC to bring our boys home was given. About the same time, the current Secretary of Defense, James Mattis, a Marine Corps General, proffered his resignation, effective ion the new year. In addition, days later, CINC then announced a radical troop reduction in Afghanistan, which also met with harsh criticism, from allies, TV talk show pundits and Twitter trollers alike; (all of whom have about the same influence on the decision.) Aside from the news impact of the above, it contributes little to the choice of a new candidate, who will have to be confirmed by Congress. Considering the government is in impasse mode, it does provide time for a meaningful assessment of the search for a new Pentagon honcho.
     Naturally, the tendency to select someone with military experience seems the primary choice, but that may not serve a practical purpose considering new roles the military plays on the modern front, both domestic and international. We have seen the deployment recently of US regular Army and Marine forces deployed to the southern border of the United States in Operation Faithful Patriot, in direct response to several immigrant caravans moving north from Central America, with the intention of entering America, either by legal means, asylum or just plain border hopping. It brings on a new era in military policy even though it was used during the Obama administration, setting a recent precedent. It simply means the new candidate will need an understanding not just of direct military matters, but one concerning immigration policy and whatever else the President might seem fit for the honcho to do with the troops. The choice for a regular military officer, then, may not be the best and a civilian may be preferred for the assignment. General Mattis, although a fine example of a field commander, may have been weighed down by all his medals when it came to following civilian orders in relation to remature troop withdrawals and border control.

     Historically, there have been civilians tasked to the Pentagon chief assignment, but a good example of having a dual role to play may well be Henry L Stimson, Secretary of War for many presidents, including FDR during World War Two. What separates Stimson from the others, even though he was an artillery officer in combat, is that he had to make a decision and enforce it on the West Coast Exclusion Zone for Japanese Americans in World War Two. It led to the infamous internment camps where the Japanese citizens of the United States were confined as, in their mindset of the day, it was "impossible" to determine their allegiance, with widespread fear of sabotage as the motive.

     Thus, before selecting candidates, consider the background the individual has in dealing with peripheral situations that may arise, such as the one Secretary faced with Japanese internment camps that became a downside of the war effort, with an afterlife that is still discussed in Core Humanities classes on university agendas even today.

     SUMMARY: The candidate need not have a military background. The candidate needs to have a thorough understanding of the role of the job that might require additional assignments such as immigration mitigation. The candidate needs to have flexibility when it comes to spot decisions by the CINC for troop removal and deployment. The candidate may have to be resilient to criticism from career military field grade officers and admirals.


Supporting Documents:
HL Stimson & internment camp photos from Wikipedia.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_L._Stimson
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internment_of_Japanese_Americans


REF TO MERTZ, PVT, GI CAN DETAIL, POT SHACK ..28TH RLT, CAMP SAN MATEO--

CH203.1002--Final Exam Review: Noteworthy Entries & Definitions--UNR FALL 2018

CH203.1002  (Core Humanities)
Dr S Pasqualina
Univ Nevada, Reno  Fall 18
James L’Angelle

EXAM OVERVIEW:
Define “American Exceptionalism”
     Although it might be convenient to use existing primary sources for a direct reply, it would obfuscate the reality of the term as translated into its newest form, “Make America Great Again.”  With the skill of any experienced demagogue, the phrase has been twisted as it has been in US history to place citizens of America above the rest of the world through the usual abstract qualities of moral convictions and being unique and universal. Note for instance the rally to the cause when the South seceded from the Union in 1861 and patriotic fervor swept the North like a tsunami. Lincoln called for 75,000 troops, the newspapers convinced the public war, if any, would be over in 3 months, and those who did not display a flag on their property were subject to harassment, humiliation and arrest.
     Following the battle of Manassas-Bull Run, the bluebellies were in full retreat and if it hadn’t been for the overconfidence of the South, the capital might have fallen into the hands of the Confederate army. If the American way had been so unique as proclaimed from Winthrop to Reagan, from Obama with his Affordable Care Act to Trump with his incessant grumbling over the border wall, Europe would have immediately rallied to the side of the North. As it was, it remained neutral and the Civil War became one of the most bitterly contested conflicts in the nation’s history.  Some of the “unique” and “universal” scars from it proved to be Jim Crow and the afterlife of slavery.

Define "Jim Crow"

     Post-reconstruction was the rise of animosity in the South between the races, or at least many of the Northerners were led to believe it. There was a great deal of talk about the “afterlife” of slavery but little about the afterlife of abolition. In Louisiana, for instance, Homer Plessy, a Negro,  in the late 1890’s bought a ticket and sat in a whites only intrastate railroad car where he was promptly arrested. It was setup to test segregation. The result was a test of the 14th amendment and the Supreme Court in 1896 handed down a “separate but equal” ruling that set the stage for justification of Jim Crow and segregation. It is curious that “separate and equal” is a phrase found in the opening sentences of the Declaration of Independence. The Separate Car Law was the result of the ruling but in New Orleans, for that matter, blacks were only allowed to ride in “Star cars” so it wasn’t anything new.

The 14th Amendment:
     “Abridge the privileges of citizens..” and “equal protection of the laws.” Clearly the amendment can be read in several ways. It was the privilege of whites in Louisiana to have their own railroad cars and blacks riding in those cars abridged that freedom. The blacks would be given equal protection by having cars on the railroad of equal quality as the whites. This brings up the lead-in exam question prompt:

Our course has been focused on the principles and practices  of “freedom” in US history, literature, and culture. What makes this term worthy of study is that it is so frequently invoked by politicians and talking heads, yet it remains so abstract; it is difficult, maybe impossible, to define this abstract term without fixing it to concrete examples. (1) Compare and contrast how 3 of our course readings define “freedom.” (2) According to you, which of these three definitions is the most convincing? Why?

There is nothing abstract about freedom as defined by the 14th amendment.  States cannot make laws that abridge the freedom of its citizens. This can have two meanings. First, it might mean that, as with the separate railroads for whites and blacks, the state cannot force the railroad to make whites and blacks sit in the same coach, if the whites don’t want it. The state has infringed on their freedom. All the state can do is assure that the railroad offers both whites and blacks the same quality of coach in which to ride, the “separate but equal” ruling. The amendment was subverted to force (a ruling on) segregation by the Homer Plessy setup and it backfired, causing the Separate Cars Law to be enacted in many states, used as an example of the so-called oppressive Jim Crow laws. Second, it simply means the blacks were to be afforded the same freedom as everybody else, as the whites, chinese and hispanics.
     Using course readings to describe freedom is inadequate as it will be jaded within the context of the reading biased by a myopic vision from the author depending on race, political position and morality.

Supporting Documents:
1.)The Lost Cause, Edward E Pollard, JF Trow & Co., 1866
https://play.google.com/books/reader?id=cPN5DyXBjRcC&hl=en&pg=GBS.PA172
2.) Obama and America’s Place in the World, Visalia Times-Delta, 24 Dec 2010, Page 11
3.) The 14th Amendment, https://www.law.cornell.edu/constitution/amendmentxiv
4.) Plessy v Ferguson, https://www.history.com/topics/black-history/plessy-v-ferguson

OBAMACARE--Henry Thoreau Examines the Affordable Care Act.--THE MANDATE & THE TAX

CH203.1002//DR S PASQUALINA//UNIVERSITY OF NEVADA/RENO//FALL 2018


 Final Exam Response (Prompt 001)-- by James C. L'Angelle

      In FDR’s State of the Union delivered in 1944 during World War 2, he promised a second “Bill of Rights” which included the following provision:
     “The right to adequate medical care and the opportunity to achieve and enjoy good health”
The question was, as it is today, at what cost?  What seemed like a lofty proposal in the middle of a major war in the last century had to wait until the first decade in the new millennium for a solution. But it would come at a cost and that cost would be a restriction on freedom itself, and came to be known as “Obamacare.”

     The law required all citizens to declare a health care provider under a tax penalty if the individual didn’t meet the deadline and the rules. However, there were so many deferrals, exemptions, credits and restrictions applied to the penalty that it came under the scrutiny of the judicial branch of government. Were it up to Henry David Thoreau, he would toss the tax out with the government. In Civil Disobedience, 1848, Thoreau argued friction on machinery and the oil to reduce friction was taxation. But if the machine was no good, it was time to dispose of it. Apparently, the Obama Affordable Care Act (ACA) has reached the point of the machine no longer able, after only a few years, to function, as what Thoreau would refer to “oppression and robbery.”
     Further, with Thoreau’s analogy of the parts of the machinery as compared to the whole, various components of the ACA came into focus when one did not run properly and the effect it had initially on the other and finally on the entire machine. Oiling did not help as it had already become obsolete due to the friction created by interaction of its parts. Those parts included the “Individual Mandate” and “Shared Responsibility Payment.” 
     When tax cuts were introduced in 2017 and the second of the two was reduced to zero, a major component of the machine was removed. Many times when a part no longer operates in a machine, certain controls can offset functionality, not so in the case of the payment. Because the Mandate could no longer be enforced by a triggered tax, and due to the fact it was an integral part of the machine, a “linchpin,” then the machine, the ACA, became obsolete.
     Consider that from the outset, disregarding the legalese in the recent Texas court ruling, that a form of coercion was the underlying structure of the ACA from the outset, bolstered by a tax that couldn’t be conceivably enforced due to , as many have, a number of exemptions and deferrals. Add to it political agendas based on tax reduction in order to maintain control of the government, then written into a reform such as the zero shared payment could only spell doom for the entire act. The provisions were so tightly connected, as was the intent of Congress when designing the machine, that, ultimately, it failed altogether.
    
“In every threat and every compliment there is a blunder.” Thoreau


Supporting Documents:
State of the Union, FDR, 1944: https://fdrlibrary.org/address-text
Civil Disobedience, Henry David Thoreau, 1847, Five Hundred Years, Casper, Davies & deJong, Pearson Solutions, 2016’
Texas v USA , CA et al; US District Court, Fort Worth; https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/5629711-Texas-v-US-Partial-Summary-Judgment.html

ESSAY: Two Men from the Confederacy and Union Bullion--CH203.1002//UNIV NEVADA, RENO FALL 2018

CH203.1002//Dr. S Pasqualina//University of Nevada, Reno Fall 2018
James L’Angelle 11 Dec 18

Two Men from the Confederacy and Union Bullion

    Valentine Houseworth, also known by the abbreviation “V.A. Houseworth,” was a name little known in circles surrounding the history of the gold rush in Virginia City, Nevada antebellum, but the name does appear infrequently in various documents.  Charles Howard Shinn references V.A. Houseworth’s name in his work titled The Story of the Mine (1):
    “The miners had long before provided, after a fashion, for a recorder of claims, and had elected an honest but illiterate blacksmith of Gold Hill, V.A. Houseworth by name, whose book of records and memoranda is now one of the official treasures of Storey County. It was Houseworth's guileless habit to keep pen, ink, and the old blank book on a shelf behind the bar of an adjacent saloon.”
    On page 123 of “The Story,” Shinn again alludes to the illiterate blacksmith and his tendency to go to the saloon with the miners, leaving his claim book on a shelf where anyone could modify it:
    “Never since the world began were conflicting interests, honest and dishonest, more wildly entangled than in that early Nevada.”
    First mention of the “Kentuck” mine is on page 37 of Shinn’s account of the Virginia City mines. The story of the Kentuck mine becomes central in the rise of John Mackay of the Comstock lode and it is here that the name of Houseworth again appears. In the Reports of Cases Decided in the (9th) Circuit and District Courts, filed by Counselor L.S.B. Sawyer, the following reference is made to the Comstock:
    “On June 10, 1859, Penrod & Co., since called Comstock & Co., of whom Comstock was one, while working on a claim made by them, discovered the Comstock lode. Before that time a number of claims had been taken up in the vicinity as square locations.”
    The very next day, a set of laws governing the Gold Hill claims was set and as a result, Houseman’s system became obsolete. He did have a hand in the enactment of the laws, however:
    "Art. 4. The duty of the recorder shall be to keep in a well-bound book, a record of all mining claims that may be presented for record, with the names of the parties locating or purchasing;”
    Houseworth’s name appears at the bottom of the laws as  both “Recorder” and “Secretary.”
The laws were published in the Territorial Enterprise.

    Jonas M. Walker is the next name that plays an integral part in the development of the Comstock lode.  According to Gregory Crouch’s book, The Bonanza King, (3)  The “Kentuck” mine was originally a claim of John Osborne, who spent most of his time celebrating and in the process, neglecting development of the mine. Houseworth also had a claim in the vicinity but it eventually passed into the hands of Osborne and Houseworth returned to his home in Virginia around the time the Civil War broke out. Walker, who had also migrated out west during the gold rush of ‘49, became indirectly involved in the Kentuck mine, The profligate Osborne died and left no direct ownership to the Kentuck about the time Walker and a rather newcomer on the scene, John Mackay, formed a partnership. It was in 1865, just a few months after Lee surrendered in Appomattox, that Walker tracked down Houseworth in Orange Court House, Virginia and secured a quitclaim for $500, transferring  ownership of the Kentuck to Walker and Mackay. In this first endeavour, the partners managed to secure finance, borrow money and create stock for the mine.
    As time went on, Walker eventually sold out to bankers who bought into the claim, including the Comstock, and eventually died penniless. But there are a couple of missing details to this rather convoluted and fascinating story. The Bloomington Daily Pantagraph reported in 1879, that while Mackay was digging and failing, he eventually “became associated with J.M. Walker, a brother of Governor Walker of Virginia.” (4) Another curious turn in the obscure pre-Virginia City history of Walker can be found in The Plumas Argus in 1859 regarding an insolvency case against “Jonas M. Walker” in Quincy. (5)
Apparently Walker had migrated west, gone broke, moved to Virginia City, taken on a job at the Kentuck, managed to fanagle the original Houseworth quitclaim that gave he and Mackay a grubstake to develop the Comstock, made a fortune, sold out, failed at a railroad business enterprise with his brother back east, and died a pauper in San Francisco.
    The ironic fact in the story is that two men from the Confederate States of America, from Virginia; Valentine A. Houseworth and Jonas M. Walker, were instrumental at a grass roots level in the development of the mines in Nevada that helped finance a Union victory against the South in the Civil War.

Supporting Documents:

(1) The Story of the Mine, Charles Howard Shinn, D. Appleton & Co., New York 1896, pages 71 & 123.
(2) Reports of Cases Decided in the (9th) Circuit and District Courts, Counselor L.S.B. Sawyer, A.L. Bancroft & Co., SF, 1878, pages 394-97
(3) The Bonanza King, Gregory Couch, Simon & Schuster, 2018,
(4) The Bloomington Pantagraph, Nov 25, 1879, Front Page.
(5) The Plumas Argus, 18 Aug 1859, Page 3.

CH203.1002---Essay #002, Grading Rubric---UNIVERSITY OF NEVADA, RENO FALL 2018

CORE HUMANITIES 203.1003 DR. S PASQUALINA   UNIV OF NEVADA, RENO FALL 2018


ESSAY #2: CH203.1002-ESSAY #002--African-American Struggle i…

ABSTRACT: Comparison of two opposing views on the future of the emancipated African-American; the first, Booker T. Washington; the second, W.E.B. DuBois. The essay was graded by TA J Williams; the final score, 9 out of 10. The breakdown of the rubric is below:


1. 2.82
2. 1.88
3. 1.94
4. 1.58
5. 0.80


1.) Thesis  3 points
Excellent (A range: 2.7 – 3 points)
States a clear, persuasive, and complex argument that responds to one of the essay prompts. The thesis is an argumentative interpretation based on the texts being analyzed, meaning it goes beyond a mere observation about the texts. Either in the thesis statement itself or elsewhere in the essay, the stakes of the thesis—why the argument matters, or what we learn from it—are made clear

2.) Concrete Evidence / Support  2 points
Excellent (A range: 1.8 – 2 points)
Includes multiple pieces of relevant concrete evidence from the texts being analyzed (for a written text, this means quotations from the text; for an image, concrete descriptions of parts of the image). The evidence successfully supports the thesis. The evidence is properly cited with parenthetical citations that follow MLA guidelines.

3.) Analysis / Interpretation of Evidence  2 points
Excellent (A range: 1.8 – 2 points)
The textual evidence is thoroughly analyzed. The analysis of the evidence is nuanced, persuasive, and thoroughly supports the thesis. The analysis includes minimal summary, instead focusing on interpretations of the text.

4.) Organization  2 points
Satisfactory (C range: 1.4 – 1.6 points)
Relatively clearly organized, with paragraph divisions and mostly clear topic sentences.

5.) Mechanics & Usage  1 point
Good (B range: 0.8 – 0.9 points)
Few to no grammatical and syntactical errors. Perfectly executed parenthetical citations and Works Cited page, per MLA citation guidelines

RSJ108--Journalism Challenge 005--Image as Type--UNIVERSITY OF NEVADA, RENO FALL 2018

JOURNALISM 108   PROF A WALSH   UNIVERSITY OF NEVADA RENO FALL 2018

CHALLENGE 005   IMAGE AS TYPE

PART A  Design

Part B: Documentation

Photo Objective?

     Reno in 1958: African-Americans were barred from downtown casinos excluding those on East Commercial Row such as the New China Club, Henry's Corner Bar and others along Lake Street. In 1958, African-American Ruby Lee Roberts was crowned "Keno Queen" in front of the New China Club.  (Photo from Reno Gazette Journal, Sept 18, 2016)
     The first photo from the Reno Gazette Journal  on Oct 04, 1958 shows Miss Roberts with New China Club owner Bill Fong on her left and gold medal winner Jesse Owens, who participated in the 1936 Berlin Olympics in Hitler's Nazi Germany, on her right. The second photo is sepia toned, image opacity 44%. Clipping mask letters for "New China" were individually set. The glyph is TW Cen MT Condensed Extra Bold, [R,G,B = 30, 175, 157]; size=1000 pt, opacity 50%.

Does this project achieve results?

"If Arizona is the Alabama, Nevada is the Mississippi of the West and Utah is the Georgia,"  Dorea Pittman (NAACP) 1964

     Ethnic minorities had a place in Nevada history and it wasn't just on Commercial Row. Long gone are those casinos, with them went segregation as it existed in the Biggest Little City. Bill Fong, New China Club owner, was constantly criticized for alleged racial inequality, all of which were unfounded. He employed minorities in his casino when they weren't allowed to work in the white casinos around the corner on Virginia Street. This small part of northern Nevada history has many inequality chapters, this is just one of them.

CH203.1002-ESSAY #002--African-American Struggle in the Post-Reconstruction Era--U. OF NEVADA, RENO, FALL 2018

CORE HUMANITIES 203.1002
University of Nevada, Reno
Dr. S. Pasqualina
Fall 2018     28 Oct 18
James C. L’Angelle

African-American Struggle in the Post-Reconstruction Era

     Progress does not always come easily. Take for instance, the opposing views of Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. DuBois as to the course of the advance of African-Americans in the United States at the dawn of the 20th century. The former insisted that his race should apply itself to trades and conciliation, reconciliation, with the nation’s white population, namely in the South.  The latter argued that brains not brawn would be deliverance for emancipated slaves.. The former founded the Colored Normal School in Tuskegee, Alabama in 1881; the latter the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) in 1909 .  Washington’s “practical” outlook for African-Americans as the 1800s came to a close was an emphasis on manual skills, thus the normal school devoted its curriculum to that aspect. Dubois’ “idealistic” vision for African-Americans was one of education beyond labor, in other fields such as law and political involvement. A showdown of the two was inevitable, did the polarity benefit or impede progress for post-Reconstruction African-Americans?

     Backdrop for the clash of ideals was the Industrial Revolution of the late 19th century. In Atlanta, an exposition allowed the skills acquired by blacks attending the Tuskegee Normal School to be put on display, it’s founder delivered a monumental speech at the fair. Conciliation appeared to be the tone of the speech, at least it was interpreted that way; in other words do what the Negroes had been doing all along, submitting to the Southern whites. Superficial at best, this interpretation became a catalyst for  intellectual blacks who, led by WEB Dubois, placed blame for lack of intellectual progress squarely on BT Washington’s philosophy. In his speech, on September 18, 1895, Washington made it clear that cooperation was the key to integration,
     “To those of the white race who look to the incoming of those of foreign birth and strange tongue and habits for the prosperity of the South, were I permitted, I would repeat what I say to my own race. ‘Cast down your bucket where you are.’” (1)
The “bucket” metaphor was used throughout his speech and it alludes to assimilation, not alienation, of Negroes into Southern white culture. Whether it was the accommodationist  attitude or possibly plain resentment that caused Dubois’ negative reaction can only be surmised from a close reading of his rebuttal. However, WEB Dubois was not the first to criticize Washington’s desire for working, in the fields and factories, to win the hearts and minds of Southern whites.
     William H. Ferris, an African-American Yale graduate, as early as January, 1898 in a Washington Bee article, found troubling consequences for Washington’s philosophy,
     “Mr. Ferris held that Booker T. Washington's love was not the love of benevolence not a Christlike love but Booker T. Washington's love for the white man of the south was the love of complacency, it was a slave's love, a boy's love, the love that kisses the hand that smites one.” (2)
As if a personal affront to the dignity and intelligence of Northern blacks, Washington is put down by Ferris and those who ultimately became the ideological leaders of the “other” progressive effort in African-American culture, The Niagara Movement, organized by Dubois in 1905. (3)  By January, 1898, Dubois had taken up the refutation of the Washington philosophy of accommodation with an essay published in The Annals of the American Academy, titled  “The Study of the Negro Problems.”
     "A visitor to a great Negro school in the South catches the inspiration of youth, studies the work of graduates, and imbibes the hopes of teachers and immediately infers from the situation of a few hundred the general condition of a population numbering twice that of Holland.” (4)
Dubois’ reference to the “great Negro school” probably meant the Tuskegee normal school although there were others in what, at the time, was known not just as the “Black Belt” but also the “Cradle of the Confederacy.” His rather derogatory comparison to the population of Holland seemed quite out of place since it would have been just as appropriate to refer to the number of African-Americans in the South. Here is where a close reading is useful in determining whether there was more than just a difference of opinion or plain jealousy involved in Dubois’ tone for rejection of the Washington philosophy for progress.
     Dubois was a Harvard graduate, by poor Southern Negro standards, born with a silver spoon in his mouth. Washington was an emancipated slave who, once he was given the assignment to create a normal school in the Black Belt, found nearly insurmountable odds against its success when incorporated on July 4th, 1881. Reading his autobiographical account of the struggle in the early days of the school, it is one of remarkable effort for not just the students, but the teachers as well. The initial students were the teachers, they rejected manual labor to construct housing and classrooms. The students studied at night because they worked ten hours a day knee deep in mud to make bricks to sell in town. Progress was slow if any at all, money was scarce if any at all. Toothbrushes were shared by students, a single fork at the dinner table was shared by the family. (5)
Exceptional progress had been made in just a few short years at the normal school, as reported in the Alabama Herald & Times, December 23, 1885,
     “ During these 4 years 500 acres of land have been secured, 2 large buildings (one three story frame, costing $6,500, and one four story brick, costing $11,000,) have been put up, besides one-half dozen smaller buildings.  Industries established are farming, carpentry, painting, printing, poultry raising, sewing, laundry work and brick-making. 700,000 bricks have been made by the students for one of the new buildings and other purposes. “ (6)
Dubois, in his “Of the Training of Black Men” essay of 1903, took a negative view of the normal school’s development,
     “Meantime, starting in this decade, but especially developing from 1885 to 1895, began the industrial revolution of the South.”
Dubois added a quote in the essay from a “prominent Southern journal” but failed to acknowledge the source,
     “The experiment that has been made to give the colored students classical training has not been satisfactory...The whole scheme has proved a waste of time, efforts, and money of the state.” (7)
Noting indeed that the industrial revolution had begun in the South, and the need for labor to fuel it, Dubois ignored the strides made at the normal technical schools citing an unknown source that rejected progress for the African-American seeking to work his way out of the economic dilemma of post-Reconstruction.  Consistency didn’t seem to be a concern of Dubois as prior to his harsh criticism of the normal school charter, in 1895, as reported in the Des Moines Bystander, he delivered a “Creed for the New Negro,” which in its 6 point plan, included,
     “Industrial training and cooperation, and the formation of habits of steady, honest, manual toil, saving of earnings and providence, in order that the race may become self-supporting, and may aid in the development of Africa.” (8)
     Somewhere down the line, Dubois lost faith in the technical school approach to deliver African-Americans from the poor existence they had known following the end of the Civil War up until the turn of the century. It was possibly his Ivy League education, surrounded by colleagues with similar Niagara Movement worldviews. To make it personal as did others, by undermining Booker T. Washington’s  achievements, seemed unprofessional considering his education. Did it create a stigma for blacks to reject working in the fields and factories? Possibly. Did it make it difficult for African-Americans to integrate into the Southern white man’s way of life?  Probably. What had started as a great enterprise to put Negroes to work in trades became a target of political and intellectual criticism, even though the fruits of labor were obvious at the time. Although progress could be weighed by success, it was countered by stubborn refusal of some to take it at face value.


Supporting Documents:
Address at Opening of the Atlanta Exposition, 1895.  Five Hundred Years,  Casper, Davies, Jong, 2016, p. 150
Booker T. Washington, His False Theories Exposed by a Yale Graduate,  Washington Bee, 08 January, 1898.
The Niagara Movement, blackpast.org/aah/niagara-movement-1905-1909
The Study of the Negro Problem, WEB Dubois, The Annals of the American Academy,  Jan, 1898, p. 13
Up from slavery: An autobiography, by Booker Taliaferro Washington, 1901, http://www.alcyone.com/max/lit/slavery/
The Tuskegee Normal School, Alabama Herald and Times, 23 Dec 1885
Of the Training of Black Men, WEB Dubois, 1903, FYH p. 162-163
A Creed for the New Negro, WEB Dubois, Des Moines Bystander, 13 Dec 1895

JC LANGELLE   27 OCT 18

RSJ108--Challenge 2 - "You Do You" Revisited--COMMENTS//RESPONSES

Challenge 2 - You Do You Revisited

Part A: Design

Part B: Documentation

Colors in my "You Do You" (Revisited) Challenge

#AE9F82--"Hillary"  (The Background)

#CCC9C2--"Cloud"  (The Cowboy Hat)

#B36E4F--"Santa Fe"  (The Locomotive)

#7F5E3D--"Spicy Mix"--(The Cactus)

(Background Image Courtesy: 4rail.net)

What would you do differently?  The image of "Me" does not cover enough of the canvas to allow for a better view of the background image. The train-railroad track scene had to be tactically placed in order to maximize its relation to the foreground and the cactus. Colors were matched using a hex identifier, html-color-codes.info,  and a name that color lookup on chir.ag/projects/name-that-color.  I was also at odds as to which lyrics to use from Glen Campbell's first major hit recording, as all of the lyrics are incredible. For anyone who has ever been there, this song is for you...

What does this statement mean? It's a big country out there. If you hitchhike to Florida and back you will get an opportunity to freeze in the San Antonio rain in December on the side of a freeway ramp. If you spend the next one under a starry sky sleeping on the side of Interstate-10 just east of Las Cruces, New Mexico on the way back out West, you'll know what I'm talking about. No song portrays the experience better than this one. I apologize if I am no good at promoting myself, as the saying goes,

"I'm not that kind of guy..."

COMMENTS//RESPONSES--

Hi James,

I really like the way this whole picture works so well together. The colors are very earthy tones and they give a very calming effect but also a sense of exploration or adventure. You mentioned in your documentation about traveling from one state to the other and I think it goes so well with the picture you chose. I also really like the font you used and the colors, it was super easy to read, and I think that by having the song lyrics one color and the name of the song and artist another was such a good idea! Overall I really like your work on this!

Thank you Jessica,

Travel is something I would recommend for everyone as it not only allows you to see the world but builds your self-confidence. You would be surprised how quickly you adapt to complicated situations you take for granted at home. We see where many people fail to adjust every holiday when their flights are cancelled and they spend the holiday sleeping in an airport and eating peanuts from a vending machine. Have a solid alternative in place, that's the message here. Thanks again.

Hi James!

Excellent work. Your craftsmanship is really evident in this project. Your portrait has a ton of detail that creates a spectacular and eye catching display. The overall result has a lot of character. Thanks for sharing.

Hello Mr. Gomez,

I am grateful for your positive comments. The photo of "Me Doing Me" was again a real #WIP due to the lack of photogenic nature I have at my disposal. Thus, the hat provides an opportunity to apologize for it since it's acceptable to be old and be a cowboy, many were born that way. There is however, something to be said for authenticity and that is much harder to get in life; requiring risk, experience, failure and above all, survival. Hopefully, all of that came out in the design. Thank you for taking a close look at the final product.

DAN365.1001--Essay: Ballet as an Ethnic Dance--U OF NEVADA, RENO, FALL 2018

FWD CD TACNET VIA JC PATROL SUBJ ASSIGNMENT TT RECENT--

(LZ Railbird)--Following docx submitted for review--


DAN365.1001
Prof E Allen
University of Nevada, Reno
Fall 2018 19 Sept 18
James Langelle

Essay: Ballet as Ethnic Dance

     Anthropology at best is an inexact science. It is based, as Joann Kealiinohomoku points out in her introductory argument, on deduction for one. The science is divided into many subordinate disciplines such as archaeology and linguistics, the former utilizing exact methods such as radiocarbon dating, the latter confined to phonetics and historical symbolism. Franz Boas introduced the far superior method of induction into fieldwork that paved the way for a new paradigm to be established in drawing conclusions from observation.(1).  Why is this important with relation to the study of dance, ballet in particular, by anthropologists? The question needs to be answered not directly, but in the context of Kealiinohomoku it is important to constrain the inquiry within the framework of her essay, An Anthropologist Looks at Ballet as a Form of Ethnic Dance.

     In her opening paragraphs, she cites a number of individuals she read in order to gain the necessary background in not just ballet, but dance in general. Here it appears she draws on resources that are genuinely dance history in nature, without any cross consultation with other anthropologists. Walter Sorell was a New York dance critic along with his many books on dance. (2)  Walter Terry, another dance critic, became associated with Ted Shawn’s  “Jacob’s Pillow”  project in Massachusetts. (3)  Claire Holt probably has the closest background of any cited in the text to that of a field anthropologist in her extensive work on Indonesian dance and culture; by some actually considered an accredited ethnographer. (4) Many of the other names cited by Kealiinohomoku indicate she had done her homework which may have led her to the rather cynical conclusion drawn of those who documented dance as ethnic.
     Next, after debunking deduction, Kealiinohomoku makes an exhaustive effort to interpret ethnology in relation to dance. She can’t find an answer in her readings since all of the historians cited overlook some basic assumptions about ethnology itself, that being its ethnocentric nature. For instance, she compares the Hopi rituals where members of the tribe, even though they don’t have a codified system in place for a particular ritual, nonetheless, everyone seems to be on the same page as to who’s who in the process. Here is where the refutation of the dance critics turned historians, as well as those who were directly involved as Agnes DeMille, come under scrutiny for their rather second-class citizen approach to interpreting ethnic dance in general. Kealiinohomoku rejects the categorization of “African dance” and “Indian dance” as superficial and groundless, preferring to place each particular tribal ritual into its own ethnic framework. Establishing the fact that the historians overlook basic field typology, she then moves on to examination of ballet as an ethnic dance itself.
     Ballet as an ethnic dance, according to her analysis, is based on some basic recognizable aspects of the art: the proscenium, the “three part performance,” curtain calls, applause and in particular the use of the French language. What Kealiinohomoku prefers to ignore is that none of that came about by accident. The difference between Western stylized culture (ballet)  and the so-called “pagan” or “savage” rituals lies directly in the codified system that evolved from the Renaissance and into the French ballets de cour. Pardon moi if there is no similar structure in African, Indian or Polynesian dance, but one has evolved out of India in Bharatanatyam.(5) Therefore, the argument is weak that dance historians prefer to overlook the various inherent components of non-Western ethnic performances such as the cast, the crew and who does the lighting and stage props, simply because they are from the West.
     Another mistaken assumption made by Kealiinohomoku is that ethnic ballet leaves out what isn’t appealing to the eye. Certainly an en pointe pirouette is something to behold and admire when performed by a skilled, young agile ballerina. Her name needs to be in credits, the choreographer congratulated. Kealiinohomoku rejects the use of “horses and swans” as purely Western ballet ethos with no tradition for swine and crocodylinae. In fact, costume design for dancers was not constrained in Fontainebleau in 1546 as mascarades began to appear;
     “A number of dancers, resembling some kind of pointed fishes, entered the room….two other mascarades ...griffins, eagles, vultures,” (6)
Also found at the performances were dancing frogs and cockerels (chickens). Note, of course, Kealiinohomoku’s argument that many of her sources had been revised and reprinted with but mere changes in some of the images in the sources, and many are dated. It can be taken into consideration as more historical data is uncovered  concerning the evolution of ballet through the Italian and French courts, more important discoveries will be made about the types of costumes and set designs, the characters and animals portrayed. That is the bottom line in anthropology anyway.The same applies to choreographic codification, as if the West purposely wrote down all of the movements on the floor to intimidate other cultures.
     As understood in Beauchamp-Feuillet Choregraphie, much of the movement depended not just on the performers, but on the stage itself when it came to striking the proper composition.  Etiquette was involved, the dancers might lose the focus of the audience if the set wasn’t properly designed, they could get literally lost onstage in the middle of the performance. (7) In other words, all that was lost in previous civilizations about the status of dance within the culture was directly related to the fact that it was not codified. The purpose of choreography is to preserve the movement, to channel it to a particular venue, to allow for variation and evolution; not to sell dance historians short because they can’t find similar components in other cultures.
     Finally, Kealiinohomoku fields a conclusion based on the “pan-human” trait of “we” and “they.”  Ironically, I encountered this very argument in a Core Humanities class recently when a student referred to “they” were dropping napalm on the people of Southeast Asia during the Vietnam War of the last century. Pardon moi again Mssr.,  I had to remind the student that he is an American, that “we” dropped napalm on the villages, not “they.”
     Taking it from the top, anthropology is best when used as an inductive process to discover why ballet is an ethnic Western dance. What cannot be emphasized strongly enough is the objective nature of the research in order to separate anthropology, the science, from ballet, the art. Both have codified systems in place and it may be necessary to reject those forms of non-codified expression in other cultures in order to better understand ballet as a distinctly Western ethnic art form.

Supporting Documents:
 Boas, http://anth701fall2016.web.unc.edu/2016/10/we-were-waiting-for-you-franz-boas/
Sorell, https://www.nytimes.com/1997/02/24/arts/walter-sorell-91-who-wrote-about-dance-and-culture.html
Terry, http://archives.nypl.org/dan/19832
Holt, https://globenewswire.com/news-release/2009/02/07/392262/159217/en/A-Radiant-Love-for-Indonesian-Culture-Art-and-Dance-Accompany-Claire-Holt-While-Sitting-At-the-Feet-of-Gurus.html
Bharatanatyam, https://www.culturalindia.net/indian-dance/classical/bharatnatyam.html
mascarades, Margaret McGowan, Dance in the Renaissance, Yale, 2008, pp. 141-42
Choregraphie, Wendy Hilton, Dance of Court and Theater, 1690-1725, Princeton, 1981, Ch 6, p. 87.

FWD MERTZ MESSTENT GI DETAIL--

CH203.1002--Essay: The Freedom To-From Illusion--A PERSONAL NARRATIVE

CH203.1002
Dr S Pasqualina
University of Nevada, Reno  18 Sept 2018
James Langelle

Essay: The Freedom To-From Illusion, a Personal Narrative

     Course evaluations, normally reserved for the end of a semester, would probably differ considerably from what could be said about class content after just a few weeks of lectures. Consider Core Humanities 203, the University of Nevada, Reno for the Fall 2018 semester. Content currently places emphasis on the writings of social theorist Isaiah Berlin. As a topic in the subsequent discussion section associated with lectures, following primary source reading assignments, it is not difficult to place Spaniards marching across Mexico,. Puritan preachers wives being abducted by savages, or Founding Fathers guilty of profiteering from the slave trade. But where does the to-from paradox apply personally, individually?
     Everyone has a personal experience of being included or excluded from a particular status, whether it be economic, social, ethnic or intellectual. My own personal experience involving a to-from duality can be found not in the constant reminder of slavery in America, but in another form of unwilling servitude, that being conscription. Popularly known as “the draft” in and about the middle of the last century, millions of young American males who had just graduated high school and turned 18 years of age were required to register with the Selective Service for possible duty in the armed services. It is useless to go into a brief history of the origins and evolution of mandatory service save to say it was listed in the Declaration of Independence as a grievance against the King of England. It was also common knowledge that it was a root cause of the War of 1812. We find throughout American history the necessity for the draft to further the cause of freedom at the expense of those who were forced to serve unwillingly.  Did the average citizen of age have the freedom to resist? In many ways, affirmative. Desertion was one and it served its purpose in the course of many wars, from colonial to Gettysburg.

     The most striking example of the disservice served by mandatory service came about in the Vietnam Era, the “Quagmire.” In 1965, I had received a notice of 1A, the highest classification making me eligible for induction. In 1965, the war in Southeast Asia was escalating at an alarming rate with US Marine Battalion Landing Teams wading ashore from Chu Lai to Red Beach in Da Nang. My generation had just graduated high school, myself from Reno High. Our band, the Uncalled 4, all five of us, played rock and roll at various venues in northern Nevada. My lead guitar player received his draft notice in the summer of ‘65,  my older brother received his about the same time. But he knew the Marine recruiter at the quonset hut on Evans Avenue where now stands a college dorm. The recruiter backdated his enlistment into the reserves so that he didn’t have to go into the Army. My lead guitar went and we were truly the uncalled for. I was next in line and to describe it as freedom to or from would be a genuine injustice for all of us who served, like it or not. I signed up for active duty with the same Marine recruiter in the quonset hut on Evans Avenue.
     During Tet of 1968, I landed in Da Nang with the 27th Marine Regiment, the last combat unit LBJ would give to General Westmoreland, we hadn’t any more troops to spare. “Back-in-the-world” as we called it,  students were burning their draft cards, the women were burning their bras; staging love-ins, die-ins, hippies were carrying fake coffins of dead soldiers up and down the streets of Haight-Ashbury. Those who didn’t beat the draft either went in, went to Canada, or went to Leavenworth. There was no freedom-to or freedom-from.  LBJ huddled with his advisors like Rusk, McNamara, LeMay, Taylor, Ridgway and Bradley. In Berkeley, friends of mine were tossing bricks through the windows of the math buildings, breathing tear gas and getting busted for protesting. Over in the ‘hood Stokley and Eldridge were discovering their own form of “freedom-from.”  Following Khe Sanh, Hue city and other memorable highlights of the year that historians liken to “defining,” the Quagmire gradually became so overwhelming for the President that he recused himself from running for another term. It paved the way for Richard M. Nixon, and in the fallout, expiration of mandatory military service. American youth would be free from the draft. The military would become all volunteer. The interim saw a lottery system and a congressional filibuster over just how to phase it out, but by the time the last chopper lifted off from the US embassy rooftop in Saigon, we would have the freedom to do what we wanted with our lives at the age of eighteen.
     In the early weeks of lectures of CH 203 we are constantly reminded of the injustice of slavery in America. Nobody talks about that other great injustice, unrelated to ethnic background although the rich could always find loopholes to avoid the draft. The poor from Appalachia, the blacks from Watts, the farm boys from Nebraska, bubbas from the South and rednecks from Arizona, these are America’s forgotten slaves. They just don’t fit well enough into the lecture, into some sophisticated social dialogue so that constant ethnic unrest can be achieved. Where are they today?

Primary Source Listing:

“Take the rag away from your face, now ain’t the time for your tears…”
Bob Dylan, The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll, 1964

JOURNALISM 108--"You Do You"--Comments and Responses-- U OF NEVADA, RENO,..FALL 2018

ATTN TACNET CD VIA AMBUSH PATROL JC SUBJ TELETYPE TRAFFIC--

(LZ Railbird)--Following docs recorded in cmd chronology--

Part B: Documentation
Colors in my You Do You Challenge
Spring Rain--#ADCBA7
Frosted Mint--#CAFFF5
Paco--#2E0B0E
Suva Gray--#827D80



What would you do differently in this image if you had more time and/or skills? The image is a screen capture from an MP4 created using a Canon HD Vixia HF R62. The colors were translated from the color picker located at https://html-color-codes.info/colors-from-image/. The Hex Codes were translated into the names of the colors at http://chir.ag/projects/name-that-color/. The overall setup could have been staged at KNPB-TV (where I work) using a studio green screen and the control room to edit but the home version required a bit more of an effort to achieve even rudimentary results. In maintaining the theme of simplicity, it was edited on a Microsoft paint program.

What does this statement mean to you? There was a time when journalism was not web based and the reporter had to fend for himself with whatever means was available to him. That is partly the reason I chose not to create the Challenge at the KNPB studio. State-of-the-art equipment; lighting, cameras, editing rooms and final cuts, all readily available, would have been a takeaway from the process of basic media technique, much of it lost to modern technology.
"Self-confidence allows me enough self-doubt to question new things."
Edited by  JCL on Sep 11 at 8:20pm

Yesterday Sep 13 at 10:16am
Hi James, I think that this photo is very creative. I like how you were able to have the light in the photo match the word color. I think the quote compliments the photo as well. Great job!

8:01pm Sep 14 at 8:01pm
Hello Janessa, Thank you for the comment. I readily admit that being photogenic is not one of my resume high points. Therefore it is necessary to adjust the lighting, take and retake, choreograph and rechoreograph and rehearse and re-rehearse for one simple image. Try to hide the flaws created by age, hair color and just plain not cut out to be a leading actor like Cary Grant. But it is true that self-confidence can create an environment to doubt something that is not authentic, a make-believe, a Wizard of Oz world evolving as a result of social media and its propensity to elevate even those with zero talent into the spotlight. Journalism is real and eventually it will separate the professionals from the amateurs.

Yesterday Sep 13 at 4:34pm
Hi James,   I liked your photo because the green light matched your text color very well. Plus, the image clearly matched the quote, and they were so nice together! 

8:10pm Sep 14 at 8:10pm
Thank you Ran, The green light was not my first choice but on trying other colors in the image, none of them worked. The font is called "Bohemian typewriter"  and the size (probably) "35." That Remington typewriter in the photo is a gem and I searched every thrift shop in Reno and found it in the last one, The Thrift Depot, on East 4th Street. It is in mint condition minus only a ribbon. The tag was $80 but got it at a discount of $56. The  girl's comment when I carried it over to the counter was,
     "Is that thing finally going away?"


Yesterday Sep 13 at 9pm
Hey James. I like what you said about journalism but I also don't consider it a detractor. If anything it is a sign of the change we have seen in our society. While the internet has fundamentally changed our news source and quality. It also allows for some great minds to emerge out from under the constrictive and damaging monopoly that the corporate monster used to hold.

7:48pm Sep 14 at 7:48pm
Hello Malachi, Thank you for the insight. Newton Minow, in 1961, labelled television a "vast wasteland."  That was about the time series such as "Rawhide," "I Love Lucy" and "Leave It to Beaver" were popular; westerns and wholesome family sitcoms. Minow has yet to comment on the current trend of reality television. He has yet also to comment on what we see on the internet with blogging, fake news and social media.
"When television is bad, nothing is worse," Minow said in May of 1961. Almost nothing is worse.

ATTN TACNET CD VIA AMBUSH PATROL JC SUBJ TELETYPE TRAFFIC--

JOURNALISM108.1001 --The "You Do You" Challenge--UNIVERSITY OF NEVADA, RENO--FALL 2018

ATTN TACNET.. VIA JC//POTSHACK   SUBJ   PERIMETER WATCH


(LZ410 Danang)--Following OP completed 2020pdt...

The "You do You"...

Part A: Design

Part B: Documentation

Colors in my You Do You Challenge 

Spring Rain--#ADCBA7
Frosted Mint--#CAFFF5
Paco--#2E0B0E
Suva Gray--#827D80


What would you do differently in this image if you had more time and/or skills? The image is a screen capture from an MP4 created using a Canon HD Vixia HF R62. The colors were translated from the color picker located at https://html-color-codes.info/colors-from-image/. The Hex Codes were translated into the names of the colors at http://chir.ag/projects/name-that-color/. The overall setup could have been staged at KNPB-TV (where I work) using a studio green screen and the control room to edit but the home version required a bit more of an effort to achieve even rudimentary results. In maintaining the theme of simplicity, it was edited on a Microsoft paint program.

What does this statement mean to you? There was a time when journalism was not web based and the reporter had to fend for himself with whatever means was available to him. That is partly the reason I chose not to create the Challenge at the KNPB studio. State-of-the-art equipment; lighting, cameras, editing rooms and final cuts, all readily available, would have been a takeaway from the process of basic media technique, much of it lost to modern technology.


"Self-confidence allows me enough self-doubt to question new things."


FWD MERTZ, GI CAN DETAIL....28TH CP SAN MATEO....3RD BN

CH203---Essay: John Winthrop and the Pequot War--UNIVERSITY OF NEVADA, RENO FALL 2018

CORE HUMANITIES 203 SECTION 1002 //DR STEVEN P.  //SUBJ: CITY UPON THE HILL 


(The Roundabout)--Sailing from England fearing possible action taken against the Calvinist-Puritan group, John Winthrop organized nearly a dozen ships, crossed the Atlantic and arrived in Salem in the summer of 1630. But there wasn't enough room or water there so the band of Puritans eventually settled what is now present day Boston. During the Atlantic crossing, Winthrop gave a high-winded speech on board the Arabella about God, duty and the (soon to be) American way of life in which he alluded to building a city upon a hill that would be the envy of the world. But the city would eventually be built on land taken from the Native Americans who had lived there for at least two centuries.

     Pequot-Americans and other indigenous tribes had long been working the land, hunting and fishing and growing crops but all of that would change when, as Tocqueville called them, the "Europeans" arrived. There was a fundamental cultural outlook on life stemming from the strict Puritan code that disallowed other religious viewpoints, one of the principal reasons they left England in the first place. Confronted with the pagan rituals and loose moral codes of the Indians, it is no wonder that soon the Puritans would begin to question why the natives were allowed to keep all the fertile land much in need for plantations and exploitation. The colonists were not directly under any requirement from the homeland to make the New World profitable but were bound to a charter that would at least guarantee some sort of nafta with the King. Where the Indians stood in it became muddled in competition from other British settlers, numerous tribes all of whom could not get along, and the Dutch. The result was ultimately a war, the Pequot War of 1636-38 to be specific. The Pequots, by the way, was already faced with extermination due to that other great killer of Indian nations, smallpox.

     Speechmaker John Winthrop, if not a key player in the decision to go to war with the Pequots, certainly didn't climb back up on the pulpit of the Arabella with another lecture on treating everybody equal, with one of his "four things to be propounded," as;  " love one another with a pure heart fervently," and " bear one another's burdens."  That translated to love one another's land fervently and bear one another's crops and furs. Without going into the details of the outcome of the war, history reports the Pequots were massacred (Mystic River, 1637), women and children included. Those that survived were shipped off to the West Indies to become plantation slaves; except for a few that Winthrop adopted as household servants, in other words, slaves.

     Winthrop's city upon the hill was built on expropriated Indian land following the extermination of the tribe that owned it, with the help of turncoat Native-American allies, and became known as Boston, ground zero of the American Revolution.
   






Supporting Documents:
"A Model of Christian Charity," John Winthrop. https://www.coursehero.com/file/16242329/American-Exceptionalism1/
Sketch of Winthrop on Arabella at Salem--http://gerard-tondu.blogspot.com/2014/11/1630-puritans-found-boston.html
Mystic River Massacre-1637--https://worldhistoryproject.org/1637/5/26/the-mystic-massacre
Image:  http://gerard-tondu.blogspot.com/2015/03/1637-pequot-war.html
Indian-Pilgrim Image--https://www.accessgenealogy.com/native/the-narragansetts-and-pequot-indians.htm
Background Notes--https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Winthrop

CORE HUMANITIES 203 SECTIO1002// DR STEVEN P.  //SUBJ: CITY UPON THE HILL