Althouse: On the Weeping Rock trail...

June 6, 2016

On the Weeping Rock trail...

... yesterday, early evening, in Blue Mound State Park.

45 comments:

PB said...: Lots of great places to go in the US and you don't have to go far.; 6/6/16, 10:12 AM
mockturtle said...: I thought that was a bear, at first.; 6/6/16, 10:32 AM
Static Ping said...: POSSIBLE TOPIC: Google "doodles" ignore Memorial Day and D-Day. However, they did have a doddle for Yuri Kochiyama, who explicitly supported Osama bin Laden.; 6/6/16, 10:45 AM
MadisonMan said...: Everyone ignores D-Day, seemingly. Back in the 60s/70s, it wasn't ignored, but of course it was THE defining moment of an entire generation. That generation has mostly passed on.

You never hear about the U.S.S. Maine blowing up anymore. I suspect D-Day is heading that way as well.

Time is relentless.; 6/6/16, 11:08 AM
Ann Althouse said...: Maybe because it's so close to Memorial Day.; 6/6/16, 11:42 AM
Curious George said...: "MadisonMan said...
Everyone ignores D-Day, seemingly. Back in the 60s/70s, it wasn't ignored, but of course it was THE defining moment of an entire generation. That generation has mostly passed on.

You never hear about the U.S.S. Maine blowing up anymore. I suspect D-Day is heading that way as well."

You're equating those two events? Seriously?; 6/6/16, 12:16 PM
Static Ping said...: Bing didn't ignore D-Day.; 6/6/16, 12:17 PM
traditionalguy said...: D Day was a special long awaited moment. But D Day happened 2.5 years into a massive weapon and armed forces build up and after a long air war of attrition had eliminated most all of the trained Luftwaffe pilots. The news media were there reporting in force and the popular Generals were busy preparing to run for office. The Day was mostly the signal for the training of men and the production of ammo to be cut back, way too soon it turned out after The Battle Of the Bulge, which embarrassed them.

The far bigger Battle Day had happened on June 4, 1942. That was six months into the war and before any build up and attrition of enemy pilots could happen. It was almost kept a secret, and when it was admitted, it was intentionally credited to the wrong reasons to cover up for basic weaknesses and a secret code breaking skill.; 6/6/16, 12:37 PM
Static Ping said...: Boy allowed to compete against girls in Alaska high school track and field:

http://dailycaller.com/2016/06/03/high-school-boy-wins-all-state-honors-in-girls-track-and-field/

Contrary to the header, the boy didn't actually win an event, though he did finish 5th and 3rd respectively in the 100 and 200. As a boy he would have finished last in the prelims in both.; 6/6/16, 1:50 PM
ddh said...: Is that Zeus?; 6/6/16, 2:11 PM
Etienne said...: Oliver's exposé on the Debt Buying industry was funny, when he outed Arkansas Representative John Vines as modifying the law to help his wife who is a banker.

When asked if he would do anything bad to the banks, the joke was that he couldn't go home again. He replied "Never!".

Click on his web page, see any resemblance to a fat actor who died of a drug overdose?

Maybe his wife can help the country and spike his f'n ice cream.; 6/6/16, 2:19 PM
CJinPA said...: I thought that was a bear, at first.

Me too. I was afraid Meade had left her in the woods to teach her a lesson.; 6/6/16, 2:27 PM
hawkeyedjb said...: On June 6, I go back and read this. It's good to remember what the soldiers and sailors did for us. Whether we would turn out to be grateful or not, they did it. (Apologies in advance for not knowing how to embed a link in a comment):

http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/1960/11/first-wave-at-omaha-beach/303365/; 6/6/16, 2:35 PM
Etienne said...: Texas Democratic Representative Filemon Vela called Trump a racist today. He said that keeping Mexicans from crossing the border to work as wetbacks is not going to help the economy.

I believe the man is right. I don't think this country could exist without the wetback, and I fully endorse his desire to do away with passports, border controls, and ultimately citizenship.

This concept of a country of citizens, is obsolete. We need to get on board with this man, and end citizenship in our lifetime!; 6/6/16, 2:35 PM
Etienne said...: The dog has got the scent of the little girl in the red hood. Mmmph... Mmmph!; 6/6/16, 2:38 PM
Hagar said...: "Wetback" and bracero is not the same thing, and neither have anything to do with the border anarchy created by President Obama.; 6/6/16, 3:02 PM
Etienne said...: Hagar said..."Wetback" and bracero is not the same thing...

You are correct. A bracero is a guest worker.; 6/6/16, 3:13 PM
Mark said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 6/6/16, 3:33 PM
Once written, twice... said...: I am surprise Ann did not write another post today again explaining why Trump is not a racist fool.; 6/6/16, 4:33 PM
shiloh said...: My dad, an Army Air Corp WWII veteran, passed away on D-Day 33 years ago.

>

So is Trump still dominating the media?; 6/6/16, 5:20 PM
Jaq said...: Why don't you write a comment explaining why Hillary has not been a bumbling, dangerous fool as Senator and SoS?

You could start by explaining how killing Qadaffy improved the situation in the ME.; 6/6/16, 5:20 PM
PB said...: I saw the father of the Stanford student convicted and sentenced (lightly) for rape complained that the punishment was undeserved because it was only "20 minutes of action". Yeah, build a time machine and send that kid back 70 years for "20 minutes of action". Many brave men didn't get even that, but they still gave everything they had. Better yet, make him serve that 6 months in continuous Marine boot camp.; 6/6/16, 5:23 PM
mockturtle said...: I'm not ignoring D-Day. I am currently reading Overlord: D-Day and the Battle for Normandy by Max Hastings.; 6/6/16, 5:34 PM
Jaq said...: Another good comment would be one explaining why Hillary took 100K from one of Arkansas's largest polluters and somehow the only records that could have conceivably exonerated her, but could have also proven her guilt beyond doubt were alas, lost.; 6/6/16, 5:38 PM
buwaya said...: On the "common American" - I am working on some research with respect to the Philippines campaign of 1941-42, and the subsequent guerrilla war. Eh, its a hobby. Maybe a book of some sort, eventually, but in the meantime an excuse to buy books.

This has never been of great interest to American popular culture, even in the postwar period. However, its chock full of unusual people and their often surreal adventures.

Three fellows fascinate me - partly because of their story, partly because of their nature, and partly because they are (nearly) forgotten. And they don't deserve it. They were three half-Mexican brothers from Texas (I think they were actually born in Mexico), Walter, Charles and James Cushing, "mining engineers" only by courtesy, actually millwrights and handymen, characters straight out of Mike Rowe.

All three were working for American mining companies when the Japanese invaded, and never joined any military unit, though they did get guerrilla ranks out of courtesy. Their Mexican looks helped them fit in and pass for natives (mestizos).

Walter Cushing pretty much began the Philippine guerrilla resistance, by himself. He organized his miners, plus Philippine and American stragglers into the first active guerrilla group, and performed the first ambush, of a Japanese Air Force convoy. He and his men led the Japanese in a chase all over the north, leading his pursuers into ambush after ambush for eight months, killing hundreds of the enemy, until he was finally trapped and killed.

There is a movie here, or several.

His brother Charles ran guerrilla operations in a province, more circumspectly, and he lasted about two years, before being executed by the Kempeitai, after being induced to surrender when the Japanese captured his wife. These stories are full of every sort of drama and tragedy.

James was chief of guerrilla operations on the island of Cebu till the end of the war, being responsible, among other things, for the capture of Admiral Fukudome and War Plan Z, instrumental in the battle of the Marianas. That episode is worth a movie in itself.

Three blue collar heroes, ordinary men with no official standing, no education, no military training and no rank.

Nobody named a ship after them, or an airfield or a military base or a high school or a street, or any memorial in the US. There's a Cushing street in Cebu, and only one book exists about the Cushings - "Cushings Coup", Barreveld, about James, though there are more or less informative references in many other accounts.; 6/6/16, 5:58 PM
Freeman Hunt said...: If anyone is looking for kid-friendly D-Day fare, the Ken Burns series The War covers the D-Day invasion during the first 45 minutes of episode four. It is available on Netflix streaming.

(I say kid-friendly, but I suppose it depends on the kid. It's typical Burns if that's any guide.); 6/6/16, 6:04 PM
Paddy O said...: buwaya, thanks for telling us about the Cushings. Very interesting indeed! I hope you are able to develop this into a book and their stories get more broadly told.; 6/6/16, 6:41 PM
Hagar said...: buwaya has a gift for writing English.; 6/6/16, 6:58 PM
Will Cate said...: In addition to D-Day, my mother is 76 years old today. (20 when I was born); 6/6/16, 7:12 PM
Michael K said...: "I am surprise Ann did not write another post today again explaining why Trump is not a racist fool."

Because anyone with sense recognizes this as leftist propaganda?

"Walter Cushing pretty much began the Philippine guerrilla resistance, by himself."

There were different operations on different islands, as I'm sure you know. Wendell Fertig pretty much ran the one on Mindanao.

I just finished "The Rising Sun" by Toland which is the war from the Japanese POV. The Cebu guerrillas are mentioned and I think Cushing.

There were others although I think Luzon was pretty tightly controlled by the Japanese. There is quite a bit in the book about the Japanese campaign in the Philippines. Homma was the original general but he was relieved, partly because he was too mild on the Philippine people.; 6/6/16, 8:17 PM
buwaya said...: Walter Cushing, a wild man, started his war in January 1942, only a couple of weeks after the Japanese had taken North Luzon. The USAFFE forces in the other islands were not attacked until April, and Fertig started his own war upon the surrender of General Sharpe on May 11. Cushing, a civilian, was the first.

Luzon was heavily garrisoned by the Japanese and the guerrilla war there was intense, a slaughter, there was nothing like it elsewhere. 9/10ths of the guerrilla leaders of 1942 were dead by 1945. I don't think they are properly remembered, certainly not the Americans. The list is very long. Colonels Thorpe, Moses, Noble, among the senior officers, and dozens of others like Praeger and his Troop C, 26th cavalry, Philippine Scouts, the last of their regiment, who held out undefeated until 1943.

Thorpe would make an interesting character, him with his .45 slinging Filipina mistress Minang (who went on to other American guerrillas, I guess she had a thing for them - there are movie scripts here). Praeger recruited a black retiree of the 9th Cavalry "Buffalo Soldiers" (a leftover of 1898) he ran into, gone native in Cagayan - theres a role for Morgan Freeman.
Then there are the survivors, Lapham and Volckmann and Ramsey, who led his troop of Philippine Scouts in the last cavalry charge in US history.; 6/6/16, 9:19 PM
J. Farmer said...: If you want to weep, have a look at this article:

Can anyone stop Atlanta's rapid gentrification?

Seems as though certain neighborhoods in and around Atlanta are experiencing the scourge of "gentrification" (i.e. white people moving into once predominantly black neighborhoods). I'm sure lower crime, improved livability, and increased property values are right around the corner. Luckily, local government is ready to act: "Mayor Kasim Reed spokeswoman Anne Torres tells CL the city has 'significant power' to combat gentrification including the use of building permits, tax incentives, and the ongoing sale of its real estate to help guide the right kinds of developments." Well that's a relief. It sure would be a pity if something as mundane as improved standard of living was preferred over something as essential as ethnic diversity.; 6/7/16, 12:27 AM
rcommal said...: It's to weep, and it is, in this time and in this country, this nation.

I'm at a loss, in many respects, in terms of this election and what the hell it is I'm going to do, or not do, or whatever the hell.

What I'm NOT at a loss about is facts that are readily available.; 6/7/16, 1:45 AM
rcommal said...: OK. Deep breath. Can I say something I shouldn't say?; 6/7/16, 1:51 AM
rcommal said...: Four of Donald Trump's five children are first-generation Americans.; 6/7/16, 2:01 AM
rcommal said...: (On the maternal side); 6/7/16, 2:01 AM
rcommal said...: Aren't they?; 6/7/16, 2:07 AM
Jaq said...: would be a pity if something as mundane as improved standard of living was preferred over something as essential as ethnic diversity.

I was listening to a piece on NPR and the discussion was gentrification of North Denver. It turns out that anybody wishing to move into that neighborhood has a moral imperative to assimilate into it's culture, and to leave behind their old ways of thinking. Of course, since it's NPR, no core listener's values are ever challenged, so the question "how is this different than other nativist movements?" was never asked.; 6/7/16, 4:13 AM
rehajm said...: According to leftie media Hill clinched the nomination last night! Of course this means voting for Bernie today is irrelevant. Dont waste your vote. According to leftie media...

...in other news last night violent Bernie supporters became violent Hillary supporters.; 6/7/16, 5:15 AM
Jaq said...: A well documented take on the Foster suicide is coming to light after all of these years. Documented by FBI interviews that were somehow not included in Kenneth Starr's reports:

Hillary Clinton relentlessly browbeat her clinically depressed former law partner Vince Foster shortly before he committed suicide in 1993, according to [previously unreported] notes from a final jailhouse interview with a former close business partner of the Clintons.

Jim McDougal, a long-time member of the Clintons’ Arkansas inner circle and a central figure in the Whitewater scandal, passed away from a heart attack in prison in 1998. But he said in a final interview before his death that Hillary Clinton had a “hard, difficult personality” and was “riding [Vince Foster] every minute” about Whitewater before Foster took his own life.

She also publicly upbraided him, calling him a "hick lawyer" who would "never get it" in a staff meeting in the White House a week before he finally killed himself.

Of course, he was merely "depressed," like so many other men, without cause... Believe it if you like.; 6/7/16, 5:17 AM
Jaq said...: Why was Hillary's close associate in prison? No worries! Nobody cares! It was sooo long ago.; 6/7/16, 5:19 AM
Jaq said...: Clinton also induced Foster himself to engage in indefensible conduct. Recall that, from all that appears, Foster participated in the theft of “Whitewater” related Rose Law Firm billing records. Copies were found in Foster’s attic some years after his death.

LOL. Nothing to see here haters!

Let's review what Whitewater was, it was a scheme to sell resort properties to poor people on "easy terms" except that if they missed a single payment, the property reverted to the sellers. Plus the property was never built. It was a way to bilk poor and ignorant Arkansans out of what little spending money they had. It makes Warren's flipping of properties purchased from distressed mortgages seem almost ethical!; 6/7/16, 6:43 AM
Hagar said...: "Whitewater" is a codename for the Clinton, Inc. operations in Arkansas, like "Watergate" stands for all the Nixon administrations sins that the actual Watergate break-in was a small part of.

Jim McDougal had a heart condition, and they got him very excited about something and then threw him in solitary for acting disorderly and refused him his heart medicine.
Nothing more was heard about the manuscript he said he had written about "Whitewater."; 6/7/16, 7:29 AM
Rusty said...: adisonMan said...
Everyone ignores D-Day, seemingly. Back in the 60s/70s, it wasn't ignored, but of course it was THE defining moment of an entire generation. That generation has mostly passed on.

You never hear about the U.S.S. Maine blowing up anymore. I suspect D-Day is heading that way as well.

I hope not. D-Day was a much more important event.; 6/7/16, 2:33 PM
rcommal said...: Oh, there certainly are people who remember all of those things, Rusty. (And they demonstrate it by what they do, how they raise their children.) It's just that the rhetoric of today demands that people like that--if they aren't falling in line in every other way--are to be ignored. You think that everyone ignores D-Day? I say: You've fallen in with people who ignore those who ***don't ignore*** D-Day, on account of it not being good enough to care about D-Day if/when you don't exactly fit in other ways.; 6/9/16, 3:00 AM