Barack Obama Rewrites History

Some princes are born in palaces. Some are born in mangers. But a few are born in the imagination, out of scraps of history and hope. Barack Obama never talks about how people see him: I'm not the one making history, he said every chance he got. You are. Yet as he looked out Tuesday night through the bulletproof glass, in a park named for a Civil War general, he had to see the truth on people's faces. We are the ones we've been waiting for, he liked to say, but people were waiting for him, waiting for someone to finish what a King began.

Barack Hussein Obama did not win because of the color of his skin. Nor did he win in spite of it. He won because at a very dangerous moment in the life of a still young country, more people than have ever spoken before came together to try to save it. And that was a victory all its own.

An election in one of the world's oldest democracies looked like the kind they hold in brand-new ones, when citizens finally come out and dance, a purple-thumb day, a velvet revolution. A hundred thousand people came out in red states to hear Obama; a hundred fifty thousand turned out in purple ones, even after all this time, when they should have been sick to death of Hope and Change. In Michigan, people put an electric fence around their yard sign to protect it. NASA astronauts on board the International Space Station sent a video message encouraging people to vote; they did, from 200 miles up. A judge in Ohio ruled that homeless people could use a park bench as their address in order to register. A couple flew home from India just to cast their ballots. Obama's Ohio volunteers knocked on a million doors on Monday alone. That night, a Florida official locked himself in the Seminole County election headquarters and slept overnight with the ballots to make sure nothing went wrong with the vote. Early-voting lines in Atlanta were 10 hours long, and still people waited, as though their vote was their most precious and personal possession at a moment when everything else seemed to be losing its value. You heard the same phrases everywhere. First time ever. In my lifetime. Whatever it takes.

When it was over, more than 120 million pulled a lever or mailed a ballot, and the system could barely accommodate the demands of Extreme Democracy. Obama won more votes than anyone else in U.S. history, the biggest Democratic victory since Lyndon Johnson crushed another Arizona Senator 44 years ago. Obama won men, which no Democrat had managed since Bill Clinton. He won 54% of Catholics, 66% of Latinos, 68% of new voters — a multicultural, multigenerational movement that shatters the old political ice pack. He let loose a deep blue wave that washed well past the coasts and the college towns, into the South through Virginia and Florida, the Mountain West with Colorado and New Mexico, into the Ohio Valley and the Midwestern battlegrounds: you could almost walk from Maine to Minnesota without getting your feet wet in a red state. After months of mapmaking all the roads to 270, Obama tore right past with ease.

A nation doesn't much need a big President in small times; it needs one when the future is spitting out monsters. We've heard so much about Obama's brand-new voters that we easily forget the others he found, the ones who hadn't voted since Vietnam or who had never dreamed they'd vote for a black man or a liberal or a Democrat, much less all three. But many Americans are living through the worst decade of their lives, and they have anger-management issues. They saw a war mismanaged, a city swallowed, now an economy held together with foreign loans and thumbtacks. It took a perfect storm of bad news to create this moment, but even the big men rarely win in a walk. Ronald Reagan didn't. John Kennedy didn't. Those with the clearest vision often have to fight the hardest for others to see things as they do. Find out more about America's President-elect in a video biography at: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=3545343528928314588

Research info gathered at: http://www.time.com/

Now, here's one of my poems still stuck in the ballot box:

Enclosee Please Find

An umbrella hanging in the hallway.

A noisy vending machine with a quick temper.

Circles drawn in a mirror with red lipstick.

Tar melting on a hot tin roof.One innocent knife.

Some shy bullets.

The moat of a former castle.

Ordinary white underwear.

A persistent fire alarm.

Toy trains emitting real puffs of smoke.

War right after it declares a truce.

A copper skillet with it own cleaning instructions.

Brightly colored canisters of embalming fluid.

8x10 pictures of a single apple ripening.

A meadow thick in a woman of flowers.

Poem first published at: http://kenagainfreesavers.com/

Visit my ezine: http://www.concelebratory.blogspot.com/

tutoring blog: http://www.miceintheclassroom.blogspot.com/

and music blog: http://www.medleyamkersant.blogspot.com/

Poem copyright 2008 by Maurice Oliver. All Rights Reserved.

The International Code of Signals

The International Code of Signals (INTERCO) is a signal code used by merchant and naval vessels to communicate important messages about the condition of a vessel or the wish of the ship’s captain when there are language barriers. INTERCO signals can be sent by signal flag, blinker light, Morse code, or by radio.

The First International Code was drafted in 1855 by the British Board of Trade and was published by the Board in 1857 in two parts. One part was universal and international signals and the other was British signals only. 18 separate signal flags were used to make over 70,000 possible messages. In 1889 the code was once again updated at the International Conference in Washington, D.C.

In 1927 The International Radiotelegraph Conference in Washington D. C. created a code in seven languages: English, French, Italian, German, Japanese, Spanish and in Norwegian. This new edition was completed in 1930 and was adopted by the International Radiotelegraph Conference held in Madrid in 1932 where a standing committee was also set-up to continue revising the Code.

By 1961 the Code was supervised by the Inter-Governmental Maritime Consultative Organization (IMCO). By then too, a new version included vocabulary for aviation communication and an international medical code as well as updated signals for communications between vessels and shipowners, agents, repair yards, and others in the maritime business. The Code was updated again in 1965.

Today, every signal in the INTERCO has a complete meaning and usually does not need any more than two or three signals to complete a message. Here are some examples: AC: I am abandoning my vessel. AN: I need a doctor. GM: I cannot save my vessel. IT: I am on fire. MAA: I request urgent medical advice. MAC: I request you to arrange hospital admission. MAD: I am . . . (tell how many) hours from the nearest port. You can find out more about this subject at: http://flagspot.net/flags/xf-ics.html

Research info gathered at: http://www.wikipedia.org/

Now, here's one of my poems that never uses a signal:

An Asylum, Brandishing A Flashlight

My life isn’t always this dull.

Sometimes I gawk at unblocked stars and
scrap the cobalt blue map until there’s
no color left to see. I read the river
in my palm and spend quality
time feeling toasted wind.
I take my heart apart
plank by plank and
examine each
one for termites. I
darn my socks then hang
my bathrobes from a tree or
maybe set the scarecrow on fire
and never write it in my diary. I stuff
my pockets with pet rocks or burrow a home
in the hollows. And when I really want to
have fun I try my luck at telling the
difference between a weather
vane and a tuning fork,
both of which I
eventually
eat at my leisure,
completely convinced
that there is no better way to fly.

This poem was previously published at: www.puzzleddragon.com/Bent_Pin_Contents/Bent_Pin_Contents.html

Visit my ezine: http://www.concelebratory.blogspot.com/

tutoring blog: http://www.miceintheclassroom.blogspot.com/

and music blog: http://www.medleymakersant.blogspot.com/

Poem Copyright 2008 by Maurice Oliver. All Rights Reserved.

Classic Euro Economy Cars: Fiat 500

The Fiat 500 (the "cinquecento", /tin.kwe.ten.to/, or "chin-kwe-chen-to", from the Italian word for "500") is a car produced by Fiat company of Italy between 1957 and 1975 (the Fiat 500 K alone was produced until 1977). It was designed by Dante Giacosa.

Launched as the Nuova 500, it was marketed as a cheap and practical town car. Measuring only 2.97 m (9 ft 9 in) long, and originally powered by a tiny 479 cc two-cylinder, air-cooled engine, the 500 redefined the term "small car" and is considered one of the first city cars. In 2007 Fiat launched a similar looking, retro-styled car, the Fiat Nuova 500, basing it on the Fiat Panda.

To meet the demands of the post-war market which called for economy cars, the Fiat 500 was rear-engined on the pattern of the Volkswagen Beetle, just like its bigger brother, the 1955 Fiat 600. Several car makers followed this now nearly vanished design at the time and were quite successful, but only the Fiat 500 was used as the template for other car makers in Europe. The firms Neckar of Germany and Steyr-Puch in Austria each made cars that were legally based on the Fiat 500. There were six main models of Fiat 500 produced by Fiat themselves. The original model was called the Nuova (1957-1960).

The Nuova had a smaller engine than all newer models, at 479 cc and producing just 13 bhp. The original model also features a roof folding all the way back to the rear of the vehicle, like that of a Citroen 2CV rather than the later roof design which only folds half way back along the roof. The Nuova is one of three models featuring "suicide doors”. There is also a stylish Sport version of the Nuova, which features a distinctive red stripe and a more powerful engine, bored out to 499.5 cc from the original 479 cc engine and with a longer stroke, thus producing an impressive 21 bhp from the same original block.

The other five models were the “D” (1960-65), the “K” or Giadiniera (1960-77), the “F” or Belina (1965-72), the “L” or Lusso (1968-72), and the “R” or Rinnovata (1972-75). Fiat previewed the all new 500 in March 2007 exactly 50 years after the first Fiat 500 was presented. The design of the new 2007 Fiat 500 is based on the 2004 Fiat Trepiuno concept. The car features a distinctive retro-look just like the Volkswagen New Beetle and BMW MINI but may well be substantially cheaper than those cars, with a starting price of €10,500. The car is 3.55 meters long and 1.65 meters wide. Top speed is 180 km/h (112 mph). The basic price is €10,500 in Italy; with options €15,000. Find out more at: http://www.retro500.com/

Research info gathered at: www.wikipedia.org

Now, here’s one of my poems that speaks Italian:

12 Stanzas In A Taxi

In her opinion, a metaphor should be categorized

by size & amount of choices on the menu. By speed

& wind velocity. Whether they are punctual on habitually

tardy. If they've ever been arrested for driving under

the influence. Missed a child-support payment. Filed

for bankruptcy. She feels it should be noted if they have

ever had a bad case of heartburn. Wet in the bed as a

child. Can read music. Chinese characters. Morse code.

Has a preference for frog legs or snails. Can speak at

least 3 different languages. Likes panoramic views. And

perhaps more important, has dived into the deep blue

sea with its headlights still on.

Poem first published at: http://kenagain.freeserver.com/
Visit my ezine: http://www.concelebratory.blogspot.com/
And music blog: http://www.medleymakersant.blogspot.com/
Poem Copyright 2008 by Maurice Oliver. All Rights Reserved.

Classic Euro Economy Cars: Austin Mini

The Mini is a small car that was produced by the British Motor Corporation (BMC) and its successors from 1959 until 2000. The most popular British-made car ever, it was superseded by the New MINI, which was launched in April 2001. The original is considered an icon of the 1960s, and its space-saving front-wheel-drive layout (that allowed 80% of the area of the car's floor span to be used for passengers and luggage) influenced a generation of car-makers. The vehicle is in some ways considered the British equivalent to its German contemporary, the Volkswagen Beetle, which enjoyed similar popularity in North America.

This distinctive two-door car was designed for BMC by Sir Alec Issigonis. It was manufactured at the Longbridge and Cowley plants in the United Kingdom, the Victoria Park / Zetland British Motor Corporation (Australia) factory in Sydney, Australia, and later also in Spain (Authi), Belgium, Chile, Italy, Portugal, South Africa, Uruguay, Venezuela and Yugoslavia. The Mini Mark I had three major UK updates: the Mark II, the Clubman and the Mark III. Within these was a series of variations including an estate car, a pick-up truck, a van, and the Mini Moke— a jeep-like buggy. The Mini Cooper and Cooper "S" were sportier versions that were successful as rally cars, winning the Monte Carlo Rally three times. Minis were marketed under the Austin and Morris names until Mini became a marquee in its own right in 1969.

Designed as project ADO15 (Austin Drawing Office project number 15), the Mini came about because of a fuel shortage. In 1956, as a result of the Suez Crisis which reduced oil supplies, the United Kingdom saw the re-introduction of petrol (gasoline) rationing. Sales of large cars slumped, and there was a boom in the market for so called Bubble cars, which were mainly German in origin.

The production version of the Mini was demonstrated to the press in April 1959, and by August several thousand cars had been produced ready for the first sales. The name Mini was first used domestically by BMC for Austin's version in 1961, when the Austin Seven was remaketed as the Austin Mini, somewhat to the surprise of the Sharps Commercials car company (later known as Bond Cars Ltd) who had been using the name Minicar for their three-wheeled vehicles since 1949. Slow at the outset, Mark I sales strengthened across most of the model lines in the 1960s, and production totaled 1,190,000.

The Austin Mini Cooper and Morris Mini Cooper debuted in 1961. The original 848 cc engine from the Morris Mini-Minor was increased to 997 cc, boosting power from 34 bhp to 55 bhp (25 to 41 kW). The car featured a racing-tuned engine, twin SU carburetors, a closer-ratio gearbox and front disc brakes, uncommon at the time in a small car. One thousand units of this version were commissioned by management, intended for and designed to meet the homologation rules of Group 2 rally racing. The 997 cc engine was replaced by a shorter stroke 998 cc unit in 1964. The Mini would become the only car in history to be placed in the top three on the Monte Carlo Rally for six consecutive years. Find out more at: http://www.austinmemories.com/

Research info gathered at: www.wikipedia.org

Now, here’s one of my poems that speaks Olde English:

Ignoring The Super-Crazy-Ultra-Wide

OK. OK.

If I had my rathers I'd prefer a steamy attic

with a razor's edge view. The wooden beams
would have nothing left to say & the winter

isolation would be pilfered in the prettier way.
There would be no mirrors & the stylize fuzz

might be mistaken for dust bunnies. O yeah,
& the old trunk in the corner would become

extremely talkative after a few drinks but most
of all would be well-known for its slick handling

of a deck of cards.

Poem first published at: http://www.kenagain.freeserver.com/
Visit my ezine: http://www.concelebratory.blogspot.com/

tutoring blog: http://www.miceintheclassroom.blogspot.com/
And music blog: http://www.medleymakersant.blogspot.com/

Classic Euro Economy Cars: Saab 92

In 1945, at the end of WW II, Saab, a firm that until then had made planes for the Swedish air force, had to branch out. The designers thought of a Swedish car for Swedes in much the same sense as Citroën thought of the Deux Chevaux for the French peasant, and with more luck and intuition than money for development, devised a vehicle that slotted neatly below Volvo's smallest car. In the code numbers for their planes they had reached 91; the code number for their first car was, therefore, 92.

Designer Sixten Sason's "Project Small Car" - how unromantic Swedes can be - was to have front-wheel drive, leaving an uncluttered cabin with a flat floor for five passengers and luggage. Construction was to be chassis-less, monocoque, and on aerodynamic aircraft principles, the parts tough, reliable and cheap.

Full-scale production began on 12 December 1949, the model year 1950 car - 700 of which were made. The 1951 model year Saab 92 was identical in every respect except that German VDO instruments now replaced the American Stewart-Warner components. Philipsons, Sweden's largest automotive distributor, reportedly had a waiting list of between 15,000 and 35,000 people for the Saab 92. They also had the exclusive distribution rights as they had guaranteed to take 8,000 units in the first four years. More importantly to Saab, Philipsons had given a large advance that made it possible for Saab to start production of the 92. Saab manufactured 1,246 cars in 1950 - all of them green - and production increased by more than 2,000 units a year. The target of 8,000 cars in the first four years was exceeded by 1,000.

The cost of production was critical to Saab at the time and only 17% of the cost of the 92 was from imported materials. Hence the Henry Ford principle of any colour you like as long as it's… green in Saab's case! It has been said that the reason that the first Saabs were available in this colour only was that they had a surplus of green paint left over from their wartime aircraft production. Substantiated or not, it's an interesting story.

A two-cylinder, two-stroke 764cc 25hp thermo siphon water-cooled engine powered the Saab 92. The maximum speed was around 105km/h. The 92 had three gears, the first being unsynchronised. In 1953 the Saab 92 was replaced by the 92B, although that designation was never used in any advertising in its first year of its production. Find out more about this classic car at: www.independent.co.uk/life-style/motoring/classic-cars/saab-92-414631.html

Research info gathered at: www.wikipedia.org

Now, here’s one of my poems that can speak Swedish:

“Skip #73” Sonnet

I have my reasons. For instance, the ability

to iron creases out of a fan for one. To find

a chaos theory appealing for another. To be

a vehicle on the road to salvation. Untied

shoelaces. Overturned chairs. The buoy left

out in a frigid ocean. An obdurate spider. A

redeemed sheep. The quack of a ravenous

duck. "X" that does not mark the spot. Pastry

already stale. No shortage of hummingbirds.

Lead feathers. Tarred toast. Clouds that have

not yet learned how to clot. Defiant caterpillars.

Edible snails. The sun & moon oblivious to

indifference. No pet rocks. Beauty when it's

accidental. Fruit that purposely lacks seeds.

And of course, a steadfast belief in the notion

of "why".

Poem first published at: http://kenagain.freeserver.com/
Visit my ezine: http://www.concelebratory.blogspot.com/

tutoring blog: http://www.miceintheclassroom.blogspot.com/
And music blog: http://www.medleymakersant.blogspot.com/
Poem Copyright 2008 by Maurice Oliver. All Rights Reserved.

Classic Euro Economy Cars: VW Beetle

The Volkswagen Beetle,officially known as the type 1, is an economy car produced by the German auto maker Volkswagen (VW) from 1938 until 2003. Although the names "Beetle" and "Bug" were quickly adopted by the public, it was not until August 1967 that VW itself began using the name Beetle in marketing materials in the US.

In Britain, VW never used the name Beetle officially. It had only been known only as either the "Type I" or as the 1100, 1200, 1300 or 1500, which had been the names under which the vehicle was marketed in Europe; the numbers denoted the vehicle's engine size in cubic centimeters. In 1998, many years after the original model had been dropped from the lineup in most of the world (production continued in Mexico until 2003), VW introduced the "New Beetle” (built on a Volkswagen Golf Mk4 platform) which bore a cosmetic resemblance to the original.

Its peculiar styling, underpowered motor, rough ride, and high noise levels compared to modern vehicles might have made it a market failure. In its day, though, it was more comfortable and powerful than most European small cars, and ultimately the longest-running and most-produced automobile of a single design (a record that will not take long to be beaten by its younger "cousin" the Type-2 Bus or Kombi, which is still in production in Brazil, with the same basic characteristics of the first series).

It remained a top seller in the US, even as rear-wheel drive conventional subcompacts were refined, and eventually replaced by front-wheel drive models. The Beetle car was the benchmark for both generations of American compact cars such as the Chevrolet Corvair, and subcompact cars such as the Ford pinto and Chevrolet Vega. In the international poll for the award of the world's most influential car of the twentieth century the Beetle came fourth after the Ford Model T, the Mini, and the Citroen DS.

Starting in 1931, Ferdinand Porsche and Zundapp developed the "Auto für Jedermann" (car for the everyman). This was the first time the name "Volkswagen” was used. Porsche already preferred the flat-4 cylinder engine, but Zündapp used a watercooled 5-cylinder radial engine. In 1932, three prototypes were running. All of those cars were lost during the war, the last in a bombing raid over Stuttgart in 1945. Much of the Beetle's design was inspired by the advanced Tatra cars of Hans Ledwinka, particularly the T97, which also had a streamlined body and a rear-mounted 4 cylinder horizontally-opposed air-cooled engine.

In occupied Germany, the Allies followed the Morgenthau plan and the industries Germany was to be allowed to retain were set up. German car production was set at a maximum of 10% of the 1936 car production numbers. The Volkswagen factory at Wolfsburg was handed over by the Americans to British control in 1945; it was to be dismantled and shipped to Britain. Thankfully for Volkswagen, no British car manufacturer was interested in the factory.

The factory's re-opening was largely accredited to British Army officer Major Ivan Hirst (1916–2000). The first 1,785 Beetles were made in a factory near Wolfsburg in 1945. By 1973, total production was over 16 million, and by 1992, there had been over 21 million produced. By 2003 Beetle annual production had fallen to 30,000 from a peak of 1.3 million in 1971. On July 30, 2003, the final original VW Beetle (No. 21,529,464) was produced at Puebla, Mexico, some 65 years after its original launch, and an unprecedented 58-year production run since 1945, the year VW recognizes as the first year of non-Nazi funded production. Find out more at: http://www.vvwca.com/

Research info gathered at: http://www.wikipedia.org/

Now, here’s one of my poems that speaks German:

A Bobby Pin & An Electric Socket

Sometimes pleasure rises up like a brand-new sun. But more often,

things pan out in the abridged version. The search-boat never

comes close to spotting the pearl necklace. The stitches

that hold together our lives unravel due to shoddy

workmanship. Whatever was once in the kitty

has now been doled-out to an over-paid

maid who only dusts the mantle

every second Friday. The

peace plan is crumpled

beyond any reasonable

recognition. The absurd

attaches itself in the air

like Spanish moss while

the marks a prisoner makes

counts the days. Or, a storm rocks

the ship out of the beam of the lighthouse.

Most only listen to music that can move. And

while all this is happening, Dracula's two pointed

teeth write sentimental inscriptions on some sleeping neck.

Poem first published at: http://www.kenagain.freeserver.com/
Visit my ezine: http://www.concelebratory.blogspot.com/

tutoring blog: http://www.miceintheclassroom.blogspot.com/
And music blog: http://www.medleymakersant.blogspot.com/

Classic Euro Economy Cars: Citroen-2cv

The Citroën 2CV (French: deux chevaux vapeur, literally "two steam horses", from the tax horsepower rating) was an economy car produced by the French automaker Citroen from 1949 to 1990. It is considered one of their most iconic cars. It was described in the book Drive On!: A Social History of the Motor Car by longtime CAR magazine columnist the late LJK Setright as"the most intelligent application of minimalism ever to succeed as a car." The 2CV belongs to a very short list of vehicles introduced right after WWII that remained relevant and competitive for many decades — in the case of the 2CV, 42 years.

It was designed for low cost, simplicity, versatility, reliability, and off-road driving. For this it had a light, easily serviceable engine, extremely soft long travel suspension (with adjustable ride height), high clearance, and for oversized loads a car-wide canvas sunroof (which until 1960 also covered the boot). Between 1948 and 1990 3,872,583 2CVs were produced, plus 1,246,306 camionettes (small 2CV trucks), as well as spawning mechanically identical vehicles like the Ami, Dyane, Acadiane, and Mehari.

From 1988 onwards production took place in Portugal rather than in France. This arrangement lasted for two years until 2CV production halted. The level of technology in the 1948 2CV was remarkable for a car of any price in that era, let alone one of the cheapest cars on the planet. While colors and detail specifications were modified in the ensuing 42 years, the biggest mechanical change was the addition of front disc brakes in 1981 (from the discontinued Citroen Dyane), for the 1982 model year. The body was constructed of a dual H-frame chassis, an aircraft-style tube framework, and a very thin steel shell.

The car featured an air-cooled, flat-twin, four-stroke, 375 cc engine, with the notoriously underpowered earliest model developing only 9 bhp DIN (6.5 kW). A 425 cc engine was introduced in 1955, followed by a 602 cc (giving 28 bhp (20.5 kW) at 7000 rpm) in 1968.

The 2CV has also been used for travel around the world. In 1958–1959 two young Frenchmen, Jean-Claude Baudot and Jacques Seguela started at the Paris Motor Show on Oct. 9, 1958, headed south and crossed the Mediterranean by boat from Port Vendres to Algeria; traversed the African continent and crossed the South Atlantic from Cape Town to Rio de Janerio; cris-crossed South America and the U.S. and boated from San Francisco to Yokohama. They returned to Paris on Nov. 11, 1959. During the 13 months, they drove 100 000 kilometers, and consumed 5 000 liters of petrol and 36 tires. Find out more at: http://www.cats-citroen.net/

Research info gathered at: www.wikipedia.org

Now, here’s one of my poems with a French accent:

And Nothing.Or Not.

As surely as one foot falls
in front of the other
we all share the experience of
joy and sorrow over years:
lying on his back
an angle facing the table
with lids shut down
dressed in a work shirt
and blue dungarees
a few empty bottles of beer
chicken wings on the table
the skins of some strange fruit
hair matted & damp
those early hints of gray
less two cigarettes from a pack
the dog's dish bone dry
as a face lined in wilderness
there was no blood
on permanently sealed lips
in a calm before the wake
as if an ordinary immobile body
could upright the over-turned chair.

Poem first published at: http://nzpoetsonline.homestead.com/
Visit my ezine: http://www.concelebratory.blogspot.com/

tutoring blog: http://www.miceintheclassroom.blogspot.com/
And music blog: http://www.medleymakersant.blogspot.com/
Poem Copyright 2008 by Maurice Oliver. All Rights Reserved.

Native American Warriors: Manuelito

Manuelito was one of the war chiefs of the Navajo people before, during and after what is now known as the Long Walk Period. He was born to the Bit'ahni Clan, near the Bear's Ears in southeastern Utah in about 1818. His name means “Little Manuel,” in Spanish but he had many other Navajo names too. The Navajo once lived in much of Arizona, New Mexico, Utah, and Colorado. They had clan leaders instead of "head chiefs".

By the 1850s, leaders including Manuelito, had become wealthy through livestock, agriculture, and raids on Mexican and neighboring Indian tribes. But as the western territories became part of the U. S. after the Mexican War, this all changed. Mexicans automatically became American citizens while Navajos did not. When the Mexican-Americans raided Navajo homes, kidnapping women and children to be sold as slaves, the U.S. Army usually did nothing. When Navajos fought back, the government punished them. Manuelito’s own home, crops and livestock were destroyed by soldiers in a “punishment raid” in 1859.

In 1860, he attacked Fort Defiance, Arizona, a military outpost commanded by Colonel Edward R.S. Canby. By then, the Civil War had started, and the Army needed soldiers to fight east of the Mississippi River. So Canby and Manuelito made peace, but with no Army to keep peace, fighting continued.

By 1863, the situation was so bad General James Carleton was sent from California with orders to remove all the Indians to a new reservation called Bosque Redondo, at Fort Sumner, New Mexico, a dry wasteland. Navajos were given a short time to surrender. When they did not, Carleton sent Kit Carson and his troops to destroy crops, livestock, and homes. By October 1863, the first Navajos began making the “Long Walk” from their homelands 350 miles southeast to Fort Sumner. They were given plenty of food and good treatment so others would follow, and when they did not, Carson raided the Canyon de Chelly, a Navajo heartland.

Navajo began to surrender by the thousands in March 1864 and Manuelito and his warriors became the last hold-outs. In February 1865 Carleton sent six Navajo headmen to plead with him to surrender for the sake of his starving people. He still refused. Finally, in September, Manuelito and 23 of his warriors surrendered, their emaciated bodies clad only in rags.

In 1868, after hundreds died of disease and starvation, a new treaty was signed granting the Navajo a reservation back in their original land, along with livestock and food supplies. Manuelito served as head chief from 1870 to 1884. In 1876 he traveled to Washington where he met with President U.S. Grant. He died from measles complicated by pneumonia in 1894 at the age of 76, one of the most respected figures in Navajo history. More about this hero at: www.accessgenealogy.com/native/indianchiefs/manuelito_navajo_war_chief.htm

Research info gathered at: http://www.wikipedia.org/

Now, here's one of my poems that can ride bareback:

The Secret To A Great Lip-Sync...

or in anticipation ofa treat home hurries
the steel-toe shoes to potlick a ride
on your tongue I beg. Or truth
be told, the delights of being
safely tucked in the roof
of your mouth and
topple up the
stairs to
our bedroom.
A candle flickers
and the gull plays
voyeur on the window
ledge as the moon slips in &
out of clouds once it's stripped down
to its underwear.

Poem first published at: http://venerealkittens.blogspot.com/
Visit my ezine at: http://www.concelebratory.blogspot.com/
music blog: http://www.medleymakersant.blogspot.com/
and tutoring blog: http://www.miceintheclassroom.blogspot.com/
Poem Copyright 2008 by Maurice Oliver. All Rights Reserved.

Native American Warriors: Crazy Horse

Crazy Horse, or Thašuŋka Witko, was born on the southern part of the Cheyenne River in around 1842. Crazy Horse's father, a Lakota who was also named Crazy Horse (born 1810), passed the name to his son, taking the new name of Worm for himself thereafter. The mother of the younger Crazy Horse was Rattling Blanket Woman (born 1814), a Lakota as well. Rattling Blanket Woman was the daughter of Black Buffalo, the chief who met Lewis and Clark on the Bad River.

Crazy Horse was a brave and skilled warrior who showed his fighting skills at a young age. In 1864, after the Sand Creek Massacre of the Cheyenne in Colorado, the Lakota tribe joined forces with the Cheyenne against the U.S. Army. Crazy Horse was present at the Battle of Red Buttes and the Platte River Bridge Station in 1865 and was made a war leader. He then fought with Red Cloud in the 1865-68 war, playing a key role in destroying William J. Fetterman's brigade at Fort Phil Kearny in 1867. However, that victory did not stop the settlers from coming and the Fort Laramie Treaty of 1868 opened the door of Lakota land to all that Crazy Horse fought to prevent.

Still, he continued to fight, leading a party of warriors in attacking a survey party sent into the Black Hills by General George Armstrong Custer in 1873. When the U.S. War Department ordered all Lakota onto reservations in 1876, Crazy Horse decided to lead a resistance, fighting in the War for the Black Hills of 1876-77. On June 17, 1876, he fought at the Battle of the Rosebud and a week later, joined forces with Sitting Bull and Chief Gall in the attack that destroyed Custer’s Seventh Cavalry at the Battle of the Little Bighorn. General Nelson Miles chased Crazy Horse and his men throughout the winter of 1876-77. On Jan. 8, 1877, his warriors fought their last major battle against the U.S. Cavalry at Wolf Mountain in the Montana Territory. On May 6 of that year, knowing that his people were weakened by cold and hunger, Crazy Horse surrendered to U.S. troops at Camp Robinson in Nebraska.

In reaction to a rumor that Crazy Horse was planning an escape from his reservation, the Red Cloud Agency (Indian soldiers working for the U.S. government), Army troops and Indian police arrested the famous chief. When he discovered he was being taken to the post jail, Crazy Horse began pulling away from his guards and was either accidentally stabbed with a knife or was bayoneted by an army sentry, Private William Gentles. He died that night on September 5, 1877. After his death, his body was given to his elderly parents, who secretly buried the Sioux chief somewhere in the wilds near Nebraska’s Red Cloud Agency. Find out more about this Native American legend at: http://www.crazyhorse.org/

Research info gathered at: www.wikipedia.org

Now, here's one of my previously published poems rain dancing:

Eventually, A Horse

Or hailstorms to build split-level houses.

When both bells & birds stop. The big mouth

of a refrigerator. Or irony sitting on the

back porch. Girls with flowers to push broom.

The skinny sequoia in a newspaper. Lousy wig.

Lazy lock. A giant running backwards...

fistfuls of handy-wipes

doodles on a napkin

Trying to figure out the best way to

disguise a wish-bone.

One large alarm clock ticking

down the hole...

more sentimental rain

a self-indulgent cloud

I could donate my front door to science,

she teases, with her hand on the knob.

And you're about as natural as a freeway, I

reply, because I think the words hit & run.

You see how difficult gift-giving is?

Poem first published at: http://www.myfavoritebullet.com/

Visit my ezine: http://www.concelebratory.blogspot.com/

tutoring blog: http://www.miceintheclassroom.blogspot.com/

and eclectic blog: http://www.copyat5.blogspot.com/

Native American Warriors: Dull Knife

Dull Knife, who was also known by his Lakota Sioux name of Morning Star (Tamílapéšni), was a chief to the Northern Cheyenne people. He (on right in photo) was born in Montana in about 1810 and gained a reputation as a successful warrior at an early age. He was only nine years old when his family was separated from the rest of the tribe while on a buffalo hunt. His father was away and his mother busy, and he was playing with his little sister on the banks of a stream, when a large herd of buffalo swept down upon them on a stampede for water. His mother climbed a tree, but the little boy led his sister into an old beaver den whose entrance was above water, and remained in shelter until the buffalo passed and they were found by their distracted parents.

Dull Knife was described by many of the 19th century writers as "an admirable outlaw". In 1868, he represented his tribe at the signing of the Treaty of Fort Laramie. As the U.S. government broke one promise after another he soon came to regret it. Following "Custer's Last Stand" at the Battle of Little Bighorn in 1876, Dull Knife became an ally with the Dakota and other tribes against army troops. However, after a disastrous raid by American soldiers (the Dull Knife Fight) in which 153 tepees were destroyed and 500 war ponies captured, most of the Cheyenne were eventually forced to surrender and move to the Indian Territory in Oklahoma. But because they were unable to hunt on the trip and were given very little rations by the government, many suffered from starvation and disease.

Dull Knife saw what was happening, and in September 1878 he decided to lead the tribe on a 400 mile trek north again toward their ancient homelands. Fighting 1,000 soldiers the Cheyenne were unable to win a battle against U.S. soldiers in the Nebraska Sand Hills. On Oct. 23, 1878, Dull Knife and his people surrendered peaceably to the Army and were imprisoned in nearby Fort Robinson (Nebraska). When they refused to return to Oklahoma, an attempt was made to starve them into going, and the Indians were not given heat, food, or water.

They broke out of prison on January 9, 1879 and, in their dash for freedom, 64 were killed and 78 were recaptured, but six people, including Dull Knife and surviving members of his family, escaped and made it to the relative safety of the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota. By this time public opinion was on the side of the Indians, and the Bureau of Indian Affairs were forced to a establish a reservation for the northern Cheyenne on the Tongue and Rosebud rivers, where Dull Knife and his people (fewer than 80 remaining) were finally allowed to settle. Because of his courage, the Northern Cheyenne today still possess a homeland in their traditional country (present-day Montana). Dull Knife lived out his days on a reservation assigned to the surviving Cheyenne in the Rosebud Valley. He died in 1883 and was buried on high ground near his home. Find out more about him at: www.legendsofamerica.com/NA-Dullknife.html

Research info gathered at: www.wikipeida.org

Now, here's one of my poems that can cut you too:

Do You Read Me, Copy?

His chair can purr.

He takes it everywhere he goes.

Some say he feels this unusual

closeness because the chair

reminds him of the basic

animal instinct in all of

us. Others insist the

chair is simply his

“security blanket”

he’ll never have

to wash. Whatever

the reason, year after

year he carries it over a

shoulder. He once even had

it upholstered in a flame-stitch

pattern using colors taken from the

rainbow. But the chair remained

non-committal with sturdy

legs. It prides itself in

being a perfect

dance

partner and

never eats meat.

It can be positioned in

an endless variety of angles

and has a built-in microphone.

Best of all, when he finishes this

life he can just fold it up and ship it

by parcel post to that place, rumored

to be somewhere beyond the white light.

Poem first published at: http://www.sundress.net/21stars

Visit my ezine: http://www.concelebratory.blogspot.com/

tutoring blog: http://www.miceintheclassroom.blogspot.com

and music blog: http://www.medleymakersant.blogspot.com/

Poem Copyright 2008 by Maurice Oliver. All Rights Reserved.

Native American Warriors: Chief Joseph

Hinmaton Yalatkit, “Thunder Rolling in the Heights,” a Nez Percé chief, was a peaceful man who came to be known as one of the greatest Indian military commanders of the 19th century. He was born at the mouth of Joseph Creek, in Wallowa Valley, Washington, in 1832, the third child of Khapkhaponimi, a Nez Percé woman, and her husband, Tuekakas, a Cayuse man also known as Old Joseph. The younger got his name after being baptized by Christian missionaries. He would use the name for the rest of his life.

Joseph became chief at 30 when his father died. The 6’ 2’’ tall younger Joseph was brave but not a warrior chief. He relied instead on passive resistance in his relations with Whites. By 1835 (especially after gold was discovered) white settlers began to move onto the Nez Percé’s beautiful fertile land. Indians were forced to live on reservations. By 1863, a new treaty had reduced the reservation to about 550 square miles and no longer included the land of many of the tribal leaders land, including Joseph’s father, so some refused to sign it and continued to occupy their homeland in the Wallowa Valley in relative peace with their white neighbors.

Finally, in 1877, the government took action against Joseph and the rest of the non-treaty Nez Percé. General O. O. Howard met with them to try to reach a peaceful agreement, but fighting broke out between young warriors and white settlers and both sides were forced into a state of war. In the first major battle, at White Bird Canyon, the U.S. Army was almost annihilated. The Nez Percé won 18 more battles, but Joseph knew he had only three ways to end the war: annihilation, surrender, or retreat. He chose to retreat. His original plan was to join the Crow people in Montana, but they refused to help him, so he decided to go to Canada to join Sitting Bull and the Sioux who had fled there in 1876.

The retreat of Joseph’s people turned out to be one of the most brilliant in United States military history. They were able to escape U.S. troops because a few sharpshooters were able to hold off large numbers of soldiers. Their speed amazed the Army and they even managed to maintain good relations with the Whites they met along the way. Joseph led about 750 of his people twice over the Rocky Mountains, through Yellowstone Park (which became a park in 1872), and across the Missouri River. The journey covered four states and over 1,500 miles. But while resting on the way to Canada, General Nelson Miles caught-up with him and attacked on September 30th. Joseph and his men fought bravely but were to few in number to win. On October 5, 1877 he surrendered. He and his people were sent to reservations far from their homeland. Joseph went to Washington D.C. twice to ask President McKinley for help but nothing was done. He died on September 21, 1904. Find out more at: www.pbs.org/weta/thewest/people_c/chiefjoseph.htm

Research info gathered at: www.wikipedia.org

Now, here's one of my poems wearing buckskins:

Items Needed For 'Data Mining'

The list is relatively short. You'll need

the wealth of a shipping tycoon like

China. A signature that retains its

maiden name. The general idea

that history repeats itself. A

reliable 401K which is by

most accounts considered

"cautiously optimistic". Art

for art's sake. An obituary written

well in ad-vance. A couple of seersucker

summer suits. An old-fashioned rotary phone

and a phone book from '56. The uncanny ability

to mind-read. A religion that doesn't cause

heart burn. Pictures of the floating

gardens of Babylon. One lime

colored hula hoop. A pair

of genuine Mickey

Mouse ears. A

guidebook to the

first stop in your itinerary.

A room with a view of utopia.

And at least twenty-four hours to make your decision.

Poem first published at: http://www.whyvandalism.com/

Visit my ezine: http://www.concelebratory.blogspot.com/

and music blog: http://www.medleymakersant.blogspot.com/

Poem Copyright 2008 by Maurice Oliver. All Rights Reserved.

Native American Warriors: Red Cloud

Red Cloud was born around 1822, close to the forks of the Platte River near the modern-day city of North Platte, Nebraska. His mother was an Oglala and his father was a Brule Indian. Red Cloud was partly raised by his maternal uncle, Chief Smoke. At a young age, he fought against neighboring Pawnee and Crow, learning valuable military experience.

He became the Chief of the Oglala Sioux Indian Tribe. One of the fiercest enemies the U.S. Army ever fought, he led the successful Indian Campaign known as Red Cloud's War between 1866 and 1868. He fought the army for control of parts of Montana and Wyoming.

He started Red Cloud's war in 1866, which was the most successful war an Indian nation ever waged against the US Army. The military was building forts along the Bozeman Trail straight through the Lakota Territory of Wyoming and Montana. As miners and pioneers started encroaching on Lakota Land, Red Cloud feared the end of the Indian way of life there.

Red Cloud's military success forced the U. S. to make treaties with the Indians. The army abandoned its forts on the Bozeman Trail, and gave the Lakota possession of much of what is now South Dakota. In particular, the Lakotas were given the Black Hills of Montana and Wyoming. Peace was short-lived. In 1874, General Custer attacked Red Cloud. Red Cloud did not take part in the Lakota war of 1876–77 with Crazy Horse, Sitting Bull, and other war leaders.

Throughout the 1880's Red Cloud struggled with the Indian Agent who had been assigned to the Pine Ridge Reservation on the White River in South Dakota where he was forced to live. He complained to the government about the awful way food was given to the people that lived there and about who should control the reservation’s police force. He was eventually successful in getting the agent fired from his job. Red Cloud also worked with whites back East who wanted to see a better life for Native Americans on reservations and he even with to Washington D.C. to meet the President.

Red Cloud became an important leader of the Lakota as they transitioned from the freedom of the plains to the confinement of the reservation system. He outlived the other major Sioux leaders of the Indian wars and died in 1909 at the age of 87 on the Pine Ridge Reservation, where he is buried. An Indian school on the reservation was later named in his honor. Find out more about his life at: www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Cloud

Research info gathered at: http://www.wikipedia.org/

Now, here's one of my poems riding side-saddle:

The Correct Way To Drive An Abu Ghrib

In this scenario I marry the blue dress and

end-up smiling with an ice pick in my skull.

Every dusty highway is lined with blinking

neon signs that declare "No Vacancy" or the

motel is a version of heaven for the affluent.

There's fire in the winter stars. The murky

water in roadside ditches hum Motown tunes.

A guardrail that likes to hug. A dim railroad

crossing that prefers bow ties. Miles and miles

of Route 66 with someones fingers tightening

around its throat. A dirty windshield with

telepathic eyes. Either way, it all depends on

the price of gas and whether we can move the

furniture around enough to have the room

we need to dance to The Supremes...

and the flicker of the candle grows imperceptibly
taller as it burns.

Poem first publised at: www.main.nc.us/wiresandwich

Visit my ezine: http://www.concelebratory.blogspot.com/

and music blog: http://www.medleymakersant.blogspot.com/

Poem Copyright 2008 by Maurice Oliver. All Rights Reserved.

Native American Warriors: Sitting Bull

Sitting Bull (whose real name was Tatanka Iyotaka) was born about 1831 near the Grand River in South Dakota. He was the main chief and medicine man of the Dakota Sioux, who were driven from their reservation in the Black Hills by miners in 1876, and took up arms against the whites and friendly Indians, refusing to be transported to the Indian lands.

In June, 1876, they defeated and massacred Gen. George A. Custer's advance party of Gen. Alfred H. Terry's column, which was sent against them, on Little Big Horn River. Because of their victory, they were pursued northward by General Terry.

In the months after the battle, Sitting Bull fled the United States to Wood Mountain, Saskatchewan, Canada, where he remained, and, through the mediation of Dominion officials, surrendered to the American military police on a promise of pardon in 1881.

After his return to the United States, he briefly toured as a performer in Buffalo Bill’s Wild West show and traveled to the major cities in America and even with the show when it went to Europe. He was not impressed by white society and their version of civilization. He was shocked and saddened to see the number of homeless people living on the streets of American cities. He warned other Indians to be wary of what they accept from white culture.

After working as a performer, Sitting Bull returned to the Standing Rock Agency in South Dakota. Because of fears that he would use his influence to support the Ghost Dance movement, Indian Affairs authorities (who were Indians themselves) ordered his arrest. During a fight between Sitting Bull's followers and the reservation agents, Sitting Bull was shot in the side and head on December 15, 1890 by American police after they were fired upon by his supporters.

His body was taken to nearby Fort Yates for burial, but in 1953, his remains possibly were exhumed and reburied near Mobridge, South Dakota by Sioux who wanted his body to be nearer to his birthplace. However, some Sioux and historians dispute this claim and believe that any remains that were moved were not those of Sitting Bull.

After his death, his cabin on the Grand River was taken to Chicago to become part of the 1893 Columbian Exhibition (the exhibition where the first Ferris wheel appeared). It was exhibited along with Native American dances and a sign that said "War Dance Given Daily." He became the subject of several Hollywood movies. Even today, Sitting Bull is still remembered as an archetype of Native American resistance movements. Find out more about him at: http://www.sittingbull.org/

Research info gathered at: http://www.wikipedia.org/

Now, here's one of my feathered with a feathered headdress:

Ignition Or Perdition

She reads my leaves.

First, she tells me that very shortly my life will become smooth

as a blister and that good fortune will allow me to drink from

Cinderella's slipper. There will be two omens to serve as

forewarnings; a groundhog will emerge from my

mouth looking for its shadow and an elaborate

grid-work of spider webs will appear

between my toes, several days

before the revelation. But

she also cautions me

to pick the

right Monk tune next time

I play a jazz album or I might face

the possibility of becoming an eternal

extra in a Fellini movie. Once success comes,

I should stash the loot under my mattress and schedule

the next bank hoist on a day when someone I trust can drive

the get-away car. After all, both humor and horror can be depicted

from the back of a dirt bike, competing for shiny awards in a

timeless paradox. When she's done, I pay the minimal

fee and step back out into the night, where the

cosmos waits to deal with me from its

simmering lobster pot.

Poem first published at: http://www.wildviolet.net/

Visit my ezine: http://www.concelebratory.blogspot.com/

and music blog: http://www.medleymakersant.blogspot.com/

Poem Copyright 2008 by Maurice Oliver. All rights Reserved.

Native American Warriors: Geronimo

Geronimo (far right in photo) was born in 1829 in what is today western New Mexico, but was then still Mexican territory. He was a Bedonkohe Apache by birth. His wife Juh, was a Chiricahua Apache. He was the leader of the last American Indian fighting force to surrender to the U. S. government. Because he fought so bravely and held out the longest, he became the most famous Apache of all. To the pioneers and settlers of the region he was a bloody-handed killer. To the Apaches, he was a courageous hero.

The Chiricahuas were mostly nomads, hunting and farming according to the seasons. At the time American settlers arrived, the Spanish controlled the area. The Spanish wanted Indian slaves and Christian converts. In 1858 when Geronimo returned home from a trip to Mexico he found his wife, his mother and his three young children murdered by Spanish troops. From that day on he hated whites and vowed to terrorize Mexican settlements using the power which came to him in visions. Geronimo was a medicine man.

In 1876 the Chiricahua were forced into an Indian reservation in eastern Arizona. Geronimo escaped with warriors to Mexico but was arrested and returned to the reservation. For much of the 1870s he and his second wife Juh would live peacefully there. Then 1876 the U.S. Army tried to move the Chiricahuas into another reservation. Geronimo fled to Mexico where he would return to fight U.S. troops for a decade. The U.S. government would use over 5,000 soldiers, one-quarter of the entire Army, and 500 scouts, and perhaps up to 3,000 Mexican soldiers to track down Geronimo and his band.

Then in May 1882, Apache scouts working for the U.S. army surprised Geronimo in his mountain sanctuary, and he agreed to return with his people to the reservation, but after a year of farming, the sudden arrest and imprisonment of an Apache warrior caused Geronimo to flee on May 17, 1885, with 35 warriors and 109 women, children and youths. In January 1886, Apache scouts found Juh's hideout and threatened to kill her if he did not surrender. So on Sept. 4, 1886 he surrendered to Gen. Nelson Miles. The government breached its agreement and transported Geronimo and nearly 450 Apache men, women, and children to confinement in Forts Marion, Florida.

In 1894 they were moved to Fort Sill in Oklahoma. One year later many of them were relocated to the Mt. Vernon barracks in Alabama, where about one quarter died from tuberculosis and other diseases. Geronimo remained in Oklahoma where he became a rancher, appeared in 1904 at the Louisiana Purchase Exposition in St. Louis, sold Geronimo souvenirs, and rode in President Theodore Roosevelt's 1905 inaugural parade. He died on Feb. 17, 1909, a prisoner of war, unable to return to his homeland. He was buried in an Apache cemetery in Fort Sill in Oklahoma.Find out more about this Native America and others at: http://www.indians.org/

Research info gathered at: http://www.wikipeida.org/

Now, here's one of my poems that knows how to pow-wow:


Unpredictable Velocity

Expect a rough ride & plan on landing hard:

or it might be cross-eyed stairs you

can't climb or an amp that goes up to

fifteen. You may have to muscle pass

aimless grease or sneak-in the snaking

line round the block. Then, perhaps

it'll appear as a fingernail clipping of

some spinster or a fine feather floating

in chicken broth. In its shaky claim to

the future it might put on a bathrobe

with saggy sleeves or a nurse's uniform

with scuffed white shoes. In any case,

the story line's the same. The restraining

order is still issued to the stockbroker

while he dines at a buffet. The glint you

see is still a mirror or a glass eye. And the

figurative line in the sand's just a coil of

razor wire. So don't count on a cozy

retirement-plan. Just try to enjoy your

bit-part while your helmet still rattles &

fogs away in a craggy mischance.

Poem first published at: http://www.myfavoritebullet.com/
Visit my ezine: http://www.concelebratory.blogspot.com/
and music blog: http://www.medleymakersant.blogspot.com/
Poem Copyright 2008 by Maurice Oliver. All Rights Reserved.

The Six "Black U.S. Presidents"

Would Barack Obama be the first black president of the United States? In the 19th and 20th centuries, the standard for determining one’s race was, one drop of black blood, made you black, socially and in the eyes of the law. So if we use this measuring stick, it would appear that there are other U.S. presidents who would have been considered black, mulatto (the Spanish word) or Creole (the French term). Were there other "black" presidents? Some historians have reason to believe people don't really understand the genealogy of past U.S. Presidents. Recent research shows that at least six other former U.S. presidents had black ancestors and that Thomas Jefferson, the nation's third president, was considered the first black president, according to historian Leroy Vaughn, author of Black People and Their Place in World History. Here’s what his research found:

1. Thomas Jefferson the third elected president, who served two terms between 1801 and 1809 was described as the “son of a half-breed Indian squaw and a Virginia mulatto father,” as stated in Vaughn’s findings. Jefferson also was said to have destroyed all documentation attached to his mother, even going to extremes to seize letters written by his mother to other people. Only in recent years did the family of Thomas Jefferson acknowledged he was the father of the (5 or 6) children born to a slave on his plantation, Sally Hemmings.

2. President Andrew Jackson, the nation’s seventh president, was in office between 1829 and 1837. A renowned African-American historian J. A. Rogers, author of the “Five Black Presidents” wrote that Andrew Jackson Sr. died before his son, President Andrew Jackson Jr., was born. The president’s mother then went to live on the Crawford farm, where there were Negro slaves and one of these men was Andrew Jr.’s father, Rogers wrote. Vaughn cites an article written in The Virginia Magazine of History that Jackson was the son of an Irish woman who married a black man. The magazine also stated that Jackson’s oldest brother had been sold as a slave.

3. Abraham Lincoln, the nation’s 16th president, served between 1861 and 1865. Author Vaughn, states Lincoln had very dark skin and coarse hair and his mother allegedly came from an Ethiopian tribe. His heritage fueled so much controversy that Lincoln was nicknamed “Abraham Africanus the First” by his presidential opponents and cartoons were drawn depicting him as a Negro. In a book, titled “The Hidden Lincoln” written by William Herndon, Lincoln’s law-office partner, said that Lincoln’s father of record, Thomas Lincoln, could not have been Lincoln’s father because he was sterile from childhood mumps and later was castrated.

4. President Warren Harding, the 29th president, in office between 1921 and 1923, apparently never denied his ancestry. According to Vaughn, William Chancellor, a professor of economics and politics at Wooster College in Ohio, wrote a book on the Harding family genealogy. Evidently, Harding had black ancestors between both sets of parents. Chancellor also said that Harding attended Iberia College, a school founded to educate fugitive slaves. Professor Chancellor says the Justice Department agents allegedly bought and destroyed all copies of this book. Harding suffered nervous breakdowns at the age of 24 and had to spend some time in a sanitarium. Between 1889 and 1901, Harding paid five “protracted” visits to the J. P. Kellogg sanitarium in Battle Creek, Michigan “to recover from fatigue, overstrain, and nervous illnesses.” Some speculate his illness was due to the pressure of not fully disclosing his black heritage and living as “white”.

5. Calvin Coolidge, the nation’s 30th president, served between 1923 and 1929 and supposedly was proud of his heritage. He claimed his mother was dark because of mixed Indian ancestry. This notion was disputed by Auset Bakhufu, author of “The Six Black Presidents” who said in her book that by the 1800s, the New England Indians hardly were pure Indian, because they had mixed so often with blacks. Coolidge’s mother’s maiden name was “Moor” and in Europe the name “Moor” was given to all blacks just as “Negro” was used in America. It later was concluded that Coolidge was part black.

6. The last elected “black” president was Dwight David Eisenhower who served from 1953 to 1961, the 34th president. Eisenhower’s mother, Ida Elizabeth Stover was a mullato woman making Eisenhower part black. Eisenhower as president moved military integration from a law to reality. He battered Arkansas Gov. Orval Faubus with federal force to desegregate Little Rock’s Central High School. He was the first President to elevate an African- American to an executive position in the White House. He established the first regulations to prohibit racial discrimination in the federal workforce. He was the first President since Reconstruction to meet with Civil Rights leaders in the White House. After turning the U.S. Armed Forces into an integrated military where blacks and whites could fight in the same baton then live in barracks side by side, he helped turn Washington D.C. which had once been as segregated as any place in the South, into an integrated nation‘s capital. To find out more visit: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/08036/854713-51.stm

Research info gathered at: http://www.wikipedia.org/

Now, here's one of my poems that's black and white:

Real Life, Transcending The Rule Book

She insists Adam & Eve must have had a dog.

She never had any pets of her own as a child. She would

often become violently ill at merely the sight of anything

as hairless as a Chihuahua. We both wanted to sleep

with Lassie when we were ten. I longed to grow-up to be

as strong and robust as Rin-Tin-Tin. Instead, by the time

I reached twenty-one I had become a ninety-five pound

weakling. I could vote, but no dogs were allowed on the

ballot. That was about the time I learned how to point my

tail in a straight line and raised one paw at the same time.

I suppose it was one way of compensating for not having

a he-man’s body. She has never cared much for my skillful

tail-pointing and thinks my strange laugh resembles the

present-day Hyena. I tell her I’m more wolf than anything

and she just frowns. And when we get tired of pounding

nails in the dog house we put on our leashes, bring out the

sheet music of mistranslated text, and dig-up the bone of

our falsetto voices. Then, we proceed to carefully sniff our

way through an entire cantata by Scarlatti.

Poem first published at: http://thepotomacjournal.com/

Visit my ezine: http://www.concelebratory.blogspot.com/

and music blog: http://www.medleymakersant.blogspot.com/

Poem Copyright by Maurice Oliver. All Rights Reserved.

Walt Disney World

Summertime means travel time. I'm lucky when it comes to travel. I've seen many of the world's landmarks up close and personal. Places like the Eiffel Tower, The Acropolis, Vatican City, Ayres Rock, Franz Josep Glacier, Norte Dame and Big Ben. For the next few postings I want to share some lesson plans I use for my students as I present some of America's outstanding landmarks and places of interest. So get your luggage packed and gas-up your mental car because we're off. Today, let's go to Walt Dsiney World:

In 1959, Walt Disney began looking for land for a second theme park that would be like Disneyland which had opened in the summer of 1955. Only 2% of the visitors to Disneyland came from the eastern part of America, where 75% of the nation’s population lived. Walt Disney wanted a large amount of land on the east coast where visitors could feel they were really in a “magical land” far away from the “real” world.

In November 1963 Disney visited Florida and found a large piece of land in Lake Buena Vista, Florida, just southwest of Orlando. He saw the good roads around the land and fell in love with it. This land was mostly swampland back then. When asked, he said that the roads intersected here, which is why he chose it. To keep from having a sudden increase in land prices, he created several dummy companies to buy 27,400 acres. The first five acre lot was purchased in October of 1964. In May of 1965, two large pieces of land were sold, totaling $1.5 million. These were purchased by very exotic sounding companies, such as the "Reedy Creek Ranch Corporation”, which is today the name of the Disney World Fire Department.

Once the land purchases were discovered, a press conference was organized to announce Disney‘s plans. In the press conference, he explained what he planned to do, including the plans for EPCOT, which stood for Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow. EPCOT was to be a futuristic city, also known as Progress City. These plans changed following Disney's death, becoming EPCOT Center, a second theme park. Many of the original concepts for EPCOT were incorporated into the community of Celebration later.

Sadly, Walt Disney died on December 15, 1966, before Disneyworld was finished. His brother Roy put off his own retirement to oversee the rest of the construction. At the dedication of the property, Roy gave a speech, where he said the property would officially be known as WALT Disney World, to honor his brother. And so even though Walt Disney did not live to see his dream realized, his dream would become true thanks to his brother Roy.

Roy Disney died just two short months after Walt Disney World opened, in December of 1971. EPCOT was completed in 1981 at a cost of 1.4 billion, the Disney/MGM Studios Theme Park in 1989, The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror in 1994, and Disney’s Animal Kingdom in 1998. Today, Disneyworld also has a 10,000 person amphitheater, Discovery Island, Pleasure Island, and Village Market, the theme park’s shopping center. Today, Disney World ranks the 6th most visited theme park in the world and employees about 52,000 people during the peak season. It sits on 25,000 acres of land or 45 sq. miles, almost twice the size of Manhattan. Find out more at: http://www.disneyworld.disney.go.com/

Research info gathered at: http://www.wikipedia.org/

Now, here's a poem that walks like Mickey Mouse:


A Reoccurring Dream, Swallowing Trees

In this scenario

the audience is encouraged to believe

there's a cold war raging in the pitcher

of milk, performed by a secret

agent disguised as the lit interior of a late-model

car. Life is a

bed wetter that likes a constant temperature of 88 degrees.

Hand shakes are the accepted gesture when first meeting.

The demilitarize-zone wears a name-tag and is

set-up between

the wrist and collarbone.

If anything aches it's OK to rub it.

Foot soldiers do. Some even open the window when they

dream. And if they get lost,

they subtract the remaining body

fluids then multiply their mother's age by two. What's left equals

religion or a canary in a coal mine. Either way, most people

don't mind

eating off paper plates and have

no problem writing a letter now

and then to a convicted felon.

They find comfort in knowing the getaway car has a full tank and

say they keep the extra voice in

a jewellery box, simply because it's the

last place anybody would look.


Poem first published at: http://www.laurahird.com/
Visit my ezine: http://www.concelebratory.blogspot.com/
and music blog: http://www.medleymakersant.blgospot.com/
Poem Copyright 2008 by Maurice Oliver. All Rights Reserved.

Grand Central Station

Summertime means travel time. I'm lucky when it comes to travel. I've seen many of the world's landmarks up close and personal. Places like the Eiffel Tower, The Acropolis, Vatican City, Ayres Rock, Franz Josep Glacier, Norte Dame and Big Ben. For the next few postings I want to share some lesson plans I use for my students as I present some of America's outstanding landmarks and places of interest. So get your luggage packed and gas-up your mental car because we're off. Today, let's go to Grand Central Station:

Grand Central Terminal (GCT, often called Grand Central Station) is located at 42nd Street and Park Avenue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City. It is the last of three train stations that have stood on this site. The present-day building was built by New York Central Railroad as a way to outdo the arch-rival Pennsylvania Railroad and smaller railroad lines. It is still the largest train station in the world by number of platforms, 44, with 67 tracks along them. The station has two levels, both below ground, with 41 tracks on the upper level and 26 on the lower. It is used by almost half a million passengers each day on over 550 trains.

The station was opened in October 1871. The original design had the main terminal for passenger services and offices on an "L" shape with a short leg running east-west on 42nd Street and a long leg running north-south on Vanderbilt Avenue. A glass ceiling (called a train shed) covered platforms and tracks. But between 1899 and 1900, the main terminal was torn down and an entirely new facade put on it. The tracks and the train yard was redesigned to make turn around time quicker and the reconstructed building was then renamed Grand Central Station.

In 1914 French sculptor Jules-Alexis Coutan created a 48 feet (15 m) high clock in the center off the terminal with a dial that was 13 feet (4.0 m) wide. It depicted the God Mercury with Hercules and Minerva on both sides and was carved by the John Donnelly Company. It is the station’s symbol today.

The construction of Grand Central created a mini-city within New York, including the Commodore Hotel and office buildings inside the station and was one reason the Chrysler Building was built in the neighborhood. In 1928, the New York Central Railroad built its headquarters in a 34-story building (now the Helmsley Bldg) on the north side of Park Ave. From 1939 to 1964 CBS television had studios above the station’s main waiting room. In 1947, over 65 million people, 40% of the population of the U. S., traveled through Grand Central. But by the mid-50’s railroad travel was becoming a thing of the past, due to government subsidized highways and intercity plane traffic.

Grand Central and the neighborhood around it fell on hard times during the financial collapse of railroads and the near bankruptcy of New York City itself in the 70‘s. Amtrak ended its contract with the station in 1991 and moved to Penn Station. MTA came to the station’s rescue in 1994. It signed a long term lease on the building and began renovations that finally finished in 2000. The station serves commuters traveling to counties in New York and Connecticut. Grand Central Terminal was declared a National Historical Landmark in 1976. Find out more about the station at: http://www.grandcentralterminal.com/

Research info gathered at: http://www.wikipedia.org/

Now, here's one of my poems that can blow its own horn:

Nine Ounces, Said The Strange Dream

Then later, the lakeshore laps in & out of a coma until

all the love & combat in the world is required to

wear a raincoat over itslips. In an attempt to

help, a hand draws clouds on a blank sheet

of white paper over the real face. But

a splash disrupts the stillness,

causing muse to become a

sponge-bath. And that

fistful of air you

thought washer

blouse turns out

to be a rainy night

in Georgia trying to pass

itself off as a mud puddle. The

swarm of flu you thought was a snot

rag or maybe trapped in the refrigerator

of your pocket, settles as fog thick enough to

shut down the sea, or even worst, the loose jaw of

a sunroof, drunk & passed-out beside the reek of a drainage ditch.

Poem first published at: http://www.megaera.com/

Visit my ezine: http://www.concelebratory.blogspot.com/

and music blog: http://www.medleymakersant.blogspot.com/

Poem Copyright 2008 by Maurice Oliver. All Rights Reserved.

The White House

Summertime means travel time. I'm lucky when it comes to travel. I've seen many of the world's landmarks up close and personal. Places like the Eiffel Tower, The Acropolis, Vatican City, Ayres Rock, Franz Josep Glacier, Norte Dame and Big Ben. For the next few postings I want to share some lesson plans I use for my students as I present some of America's outstanding landmarks and places of interest. So get your luggage packed and gas-up your mental car because we're off. Today, let's go to The White House:

The White House is the official home and main workplace of President of the United States. It was built between 1792 and 1800 of white-painted sandstone in the late Georgian style, it has been the executive residence of every U.S. President since John Adams. When Thomas Jefferson moved into it in 1801, he, with architect Benjamin Henry Latrobe made it larger by making two colonnades which was built to hide stables for horses and a storage area.

In 1814, during the War of 1812, the mansion was set on fire by the British Army in the Burning of Washington, destroying the interior and charring much of the exterior walls. Reconstruction began almost immediately and President James Monroe moved into it before the work was completed in October 1817.

Construction continued with the addition of the South Portico in 1824 and the North Portico in 1829. By 1901 the White House had become too small so President Theodore Roosevelt had nearly all work offices moved to the newly-constructed West Wing. Eight years later, President William Howard Taft made the West Wing larger by adding the Oval Office which was moved too as the building expanded. The third-floor attic was converted to living quarters in 1927.

A newly constructed East Wing was used as a reception area for social events and both new wings were connected by Jefferson's colonnades. East Wing alterations were completed in 1946 creating additional office space. By 1948, the house's load-bearing exterior walls and internal wood beams were found to be close to failure. Under President Harry S. Truman, the interior rooms were completely taken apart and a new steel framework was created.

Today, the White House includes the area where the President and his family lives, The West Wing, and the East Wing as well as the Old Executive Office Building which houses the offices of the President and Vice President. The White house is six stories high and has a two story basement. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington D. C. Find out more: http://www.whitehouse.gov/

Research info gathered at: www.wikipedia.org

Now, one of my poems that would fit right into the Executive Branch:


Instructions To S/He Who Waits

Then finally, I make a list of the things we won’t need:

-Hula honey in the airplane propeller.

-A stand-in knot of arsenal bondage.

-Any spittish trail that pours out of chance.

-Straw bales from your marooned pelvic purse.

-Any trifle act of a same-sex drought.

-Every go-go boot germ in a robot’s heartbeat.

-Four synonyms for male perversity worry beads.

-All ink fountains of mastectomy cheeks.

-The rejection slip of a steel-toed jodhpurs.

-Chest wax designed for a cruise missile.

-Fragrant stirrups encased in a falsetto toll box.

-And of course, the rubber pulley of gesture implants.


Poem previoulsy published at: http://www.coupremine.com/
Visit my ezine: http://www.concelebratory.blogspot.com/
and music blog: http://www.medleymakersant.blogspot.com/
Poem Copyright 2008 by Maurice Oliver. All Rights Reserved.