John Denver conspiracy

Fact: Rocky mountain high by John Denver came out in 1973, ironically predicting the legalization of pot in Colorado in 2012. 

Fact:   In 1997 John Denver was mysteriously killed in a plane crash caused by "running out of fuel".

Theory: Due to his seeming ability to predict certain future events, John Denver had to be taken out before any of his other predictions could be turned into hit songs and influence future events.

French Revolution - Root of All Evil?

As I read through history, I come to the conclusion that World War 2 was just the finale of World War 1.  The cause of World War 1 really lies with Bismarck and his desire to get revenge, through the Franco-Prussian war, on the French for Napoleon's humiliation of the Prussians in the Napoleonic Wars.  The only way Napoleon could come to power was though the excesses of the French Revolution.  The French Revolution theories trace back to Rousseau, so I conclude that Rousseau was source of evil of so many of today's problems.

Fall on the Farm

The evening is getting shorter
The light is fading fast
The birds are ready to leave
The squirrels are working hard
The first leaves tumble
The grass is wilting and brown
The monkey brains lie scattered

Big stick

We've gone from Teddy Roosevelt speaking softly and carrying a big stick to Obama bending over and taking the big stick to Trump speaking loudly about his big stick.

Modern Version of "First They Came..."

First they made victims of the Gays, I remained guilty—
Because I was not a Gay.

Then they made victims of the Blacks, and I remained guilty --
Because I was not a Black.

Then they made vicitms of the Women, and I remained guilty—
Because I was not a Woman.

—and then there was no one left to feel sorry for me.

Clickbait Propaganda

So I saw this clickbait "Do You Know Your History" test pop up on Facebook.  Sometimes, in a moment of weakness, I take the bait and waste 10 or 15 minutes taking one.

The format of the test was a picture would pop up with two names under it.  You'd select a name and then the screen would advance, telling you whether you were right or wrong.  It would then pop up a short blurb telling a little about the historical person in the picture.

The test had about 100 people and you could tell it was heavily slanted towards the Progressive view of history because, despite being about 10-12% of the population, blacks were about 30-40% of the historical figures represented. Another 30-40% were women and the rest were white men.

This wasn't really a problem, despite the incongruity of equating someone like Billy Holiday with Benjamin Franklin. The problem was every women or minority got a glowing blurb.  There wasn't a single one with a description that could in any way be construed as negative.

However, the "Dead, White Men", i.e the presidents were another story.  If they were left, they got off easy.  If they were conservative, they got a write up like this one about Ronald Reagan.

I don't know whether I worry more about this kind of propaganda garbage being fed to unsuspecting minds or whether the author of the blurb actually believes that's what happened.

Either way, it's disturbing there are people writing these tests, who are so ignorant of what really happened and that more people are going to continue to be ignorant if they read it and believe it.

Is Peace Always Better?

I've been reading a lot about WWI lately and came across this great quote related by eminent historian Alistair Horne.  The quote is from a Frenchman, Jean Dutourd deploring the more debility of his countrymen in 1940.

"War is less costly than servitude.  The choice is always between Verdun and Dachau"

It seems this is a lesson we're doomed to learn over and over again.