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Showing posts from March, 2011

The Times That Try Mens' Souls

My husband and I have been watching a series on Netflix called "Into the West." I highly recommend it, but it can be pretty depressing. It covers the expansion of white people from the east to the west throughout the nineteenth century. It focuses on the conflict between the whites and Native Americans as the inexorable tsunami of wagons crossed the plains. Indian wars, broken treaties, the near extinction of the buffalo, stolen lands . . . For the whites, the 1800's were a time of prosperity and gain. Inventions made life easier, the railroad brought the coasts together, while gold mines, industry, banking made some people millionaires. Huge cattle ranches and drives were the stuff of legend. Literature, politics, education, entertainment, journalism . . . There was nothing withheld from the irrepressible, enterprising whites of eighteenth century America. For the Indians, it was a time, with a few exceptions, of humiliation and loss. They fought bravely for what they

The King's Speech -- Classic God-At-Work

Ted and I went to see the movie, The King's Speech. The entire movie laid a foundation so that the viewer could understand the historical importance of George VI ascending to the throne of England and making an all important speech on the eve of WW II. The problem was that the man stuttered so badly that he could not even read a simple speech written by another. Thus, His Majesty (Bertie) had to rely on the skill of a "Dr." who had no training or credentials. He was also a stage reject, in spite of the fact that he had all of Shakespeare's plays memorized. In the meantime, Hitler was mesmerizing Germany with long, enchanting rants. One of the most important lines in the movie was when George's daughter asked what Hitler was saying in one of his speeches. George answered, "I don't know, but he seems to be saying it rather well." If Hitler's spies had informed him that the new King of England couldn't even read a speech, he would have laughed a