My Appalachian Life
An ever growing site of non-fiction,flotsam, fiction,memoir,autobiography,literature,history, ethnography, and book reviews about Appalachia, Appalachian Culture, and how to keep it alive!!! Also,how to pronounce the word: Ap-uh-latch-uh. Billy Ed Wheeler said that his mother always said,"Billy, if you don't quit, I'm going to throw this APPLE AT CHA" Those two ways are correct. All The Others Are Wrong.
Search This Blog
Thursday, March 28, 2024
My Baseball Cap & I Took My Wife On A Birthday Trip
Thursday, March 21, 2024
The Glorification Of Cold Blooded Murder At Western Kentucky University On March 27, 2024
Because of righteous outrage in the state of Kentucky and the larger surrounding area, law enforcement agencies serving the state of Kentucky, Warren County, Bowling Green, and Western Kentucky University are being called on to divert their resources on March 27, 2024, to monitor protests on the campus of the university and the city which are being held to protest the outrageous decision of the university administration to allow Kyle Rittenhouse to speak at the university in an event which is sponsored by the Right Wing Radical campus organization Turning Point USA which is described as "part of a national organization that advocates for right-wing causes on high school, college, and university campuses." This is an organization which should never have been granted a charter on the campus of any university. This is an event which should never have been scheduled and granted the use of campus property in any building owned by a legitimate university. This is a speaker who should never be allowed to speak on any public property in any state in the union. This entire event is a travesty and a manifest failure of the university management.
Kyle Rittenhouse shot three men, two fatally, during public protests in Kenosha, Wisconsin in August 2020, when he was aged 17. Rittenhouse was acquitted at his trial in November 2021, after testifying that he had acted in self-defense. But the facts of the matter are that he was transported across state lines from the Chicago area by his mother while they were transporting the fully automatic rifle he used to commit the murders. He was acquitted of all charges and his mother was never charged for any crimes related to contributing to the delinquency of a minor or federal firearms laws regarding the transportation of the weapon across state lines. Since the trial, Rittenhouse has sought to make himself a public hero in the eyes of those who mistakenly believe the Second Amendment allows anyone to own any kind of weapon they choose in America and to use those weapons in such blatantly illegal and murderous ways.
The university administration insists that this is a matter of free speech despite the fact that the United States Supreme Court has ruled a few categories of speech are not protected from government restrictions. The main such categories are incitement, defamation, fraud, obscenity, child pornography, fighting words, and threats. As the Supreme Court held in Brandenburg v. Ohio (1969), the government may forbid “incitement”—speech “directed at inciting or producing lawless action” and “likely to incite or produce such action”. While I admit that it is unlikely that Rittenhouse or the organization sponsoring the event will directly call for lawless actions, the very fact that a person is speaking in a public forum who killed two men in cold blood with an automatic rifle and escaped any form of legal consequences is likely to incite illegal action. The university administration and a few at other universities have been too spineless to stand up to these groups and Rittenhouse. Their stated reason, protection of the right to free speech, does not hold water. Their refusal to stand up to a student organization which promotes such events is detrimental to the university community and the greater community surrounding that university. Several other student organizations, local groups, and even national groups have spoken out against this event to no avail. Western Kentucky Public Radio has published an editorial piece by writer Jacob Martin which speaks strongly about the issues involved in this event. But the administration holds strongly to the view that it is about free speech not the glorification of cold blooded murder. The entire administration at this university needs to be removed. Such irrational decision making on the part of a university administration can never be acceptable. I am asking everyone of my readers to make a call to Western Kentucky University at this number (270-745-0111) and register your opposition to this event and the decision making process which has allowed it to take place.
Thursday, March 7, 2024
Right Wing Radical Repugnicans In Frankfort Declare War On The Working Class
On February 10, 2024, I wrote in a blog post about the current Kentucky state legislature and their active effort to become the worst legislature in America. I had promised at that time to continue to write about their effort to destroy democracy and individual constitutional rights in the state. I have to admit that I have been remiss in not having written about them on a daily basis since they have been working on a daily basis to pull off their plan. This post in particular is about one pending piece of legislation which is as diabolical as anything passed in any state legislature in the nation. It is literally a declaration of war on the entire working class in the state. It is labeled House Bill 500 and the key elements of it are listed in the image below which is from the Kentucky State AFL-CIO.
As you can see in the image above, House Bill 500 will repeal several elements of pro-labor legislation which have been considered sacrosanct all across America for more than 50 to 100 years. Union men and women literally fought and died for these rights all across the United States and the working class has grown to assume that they would never be attacked or eliminated in a democratic country or state. But Kentucky is no longer a democratic state. By the phrase "Kentucky is n o longer a democratic state", I do not mean that the state is being run by Right Wing Radical Repugnicans which it is except for the governor and his appointed staff. I mean that the Right Wing Radical Repugnicans in the state legislature and the majority of statewide elected offices have been working to destroy democracy in Kentucky on a daily basis since they gained control of the majority of the elected offices in the state. When a state legislature even quietly considers taking away the rights of workers to have a designated lunch period, a designated break or rest period, or to receive overtime pay if they are forced to work 7 days in a row, or the other rights they want to destroy with this legislation, they are declaring war on the entire working class in the state. And the only reasonable response to such an act must be for the working class to declare war on that state legislature and remove every one of them from office in the November 2024 election. A vote for any Right Wing Radical Repugnican for any office in Kentucky is a vote against the working class; against teachers, nurses, EMT's, police officers, and every other blue collar worker in the state. This is a link to House Bill 500 as described above. You can go to this link and read the bill for yourself to see exactly what it and its sponsors intend to destroy. This bill will literally rob every worker in the state of their individual and collective rights to have a decent, acceptable working environment. Every legislator who votes for this bill or even speaks out loud in favor of it must be voted out of office in the November election. We must remove these people from office all across the state and we must give Governor Andy Beshear a Democratic majority in both houses of the legislature for the last three years of his term so all the actions of this legislature can be repealed, revoked, and never again be thought of in this state. Phillip Pratt is the original sponsor of House Bill 500 and is also sponsoring another bill, House Bill 255 which is intended to weaken child labor laws in the state. He must be defeated and so must any other public figure at any level in the state of Kentucky who votes for, publicly speaks out in support of, or commits any act in defense of these two bills.
Wednesday, March 6, 2024
Hawley Warrens, Old Regular Baptist Minister, 1889--1977
Hawley Warrens was a long term minister of the Old Regular Baptist Church, New Salem Association, and served as the long term moderator of the Steele's Creek Old Regular Baptist Church. He was born in Floyd County Kentucky at Minnie in 1889 and died at Hi Hat in 1977. But he had lived the majority of his life on a farm at Dema in Knott County about a mile and a half south of the Floyd/Knott County line on Right Beaver Creek. I apologize for the poor quality of the photo which I have located in the obituary in the Floyd County Times. He was the son of Whitt Warrens and Nance Moore Warrens. His first wife was Caroline Moore Warrens and they had eight children, five boys and three girls. Caroline died very young in her middle forties and Hawley then married Mandy Layne who also died before Hawley. He was also married later in life to Dorothy Little Warrens. He joined the Old Regular Baptist Church in 1914 when he was about 25. He had been a member of the church for about 63 years at the time of his death. About 5 years after he joined the church, he was ordained as a minister in 1919 and continued to preach and work as an officer of the church for most of the remainder of his life. His funeral was conducted at the Old Beaver New Salem Association Building on Left Beaver Creek in Floyd County near Minnie. Due to his long service to the church and association, his funeral was attended by large numbers of people from the entire area served by the New Salem Association. He had been one of the best loved and most respected members and ministers of the New Salem Association. He was buried in the Turner Cemetery at Dema near the farm where he had lived most of his life.
Tuesday, March 5, 2024
"Hungarian Recipes" Reflections On An Intriguing Cookbook From The Magyar Evangelical and Reformed Church in Elyria, Ohio, 1957
I love food. I like to cook but I don't claim to be a good cook. I also love cookbooks, especially interesting, odd, unusual cookbooks, and I have bought cookbooks which fit that description for many years at yard sales and discount stores such as Goodwill, Salvation Army, etc. I don't even remember when or where I bought this little cookbook but I strayed into it again and, due to the fact that it is a piece of work from a truly unique cultural group in America and contains a few odd, interesting, and unique recipes, I decided to write about it on this blog. My copy is the 12th printing of the book with a copyright date of 1957. It is, amazingly, available online in whatever the current printing may be. In the copy I own, it labeled as being "Compiled by The Dorcas Guild of the MAGYAR EV. and REF. CHURCH 119 West River Street, Elyria, Ohio". The copy available for sale on the internet today is labeled "Compiled by The Dorcas Guild of Community of Faith United Church of Christ (formerly Magyar UCC)". My copy sold in 1957 for one dollar with shipping available for 25 cents extra. The copy available today online is priced at $15.00 with standard US shipping. Inflation has obviously had some effect on the cost of cookbooks. Interestingly, the cover of the book is exactly the same plain green it was in 1957. The only change is the address and name of the church. It is said to be available until December 31, 2025. One other interesting footnote to this story is that despite my not remembering where or how I came to own this cookbook, I used to have an aunt, uncle, and three cousins who lived in Elyria, Ohio. The book is only 40 pages in a pamphlet form but it is loaded with recipes.
For me, the most interesting recipes in the book would be the following: Liver Dumplings, Veal Heart And Lung Soup, and Kidneys With Rice. There is also one recipe for Chicken And Rice which calls for "1 chicken--using bony pieces: neck, feet, wings, gizzard, liver". The wording in that ingredient is taken verbatim from the book. Many of the meat based recipes also call for generous portions of lard. I am forced to wonder if the 2024 version of the book still calls for lard but I doubt it. The book also has a large section of recipes for dessert items, cakes, pies, cookies, etc. For those of you who might not know the term Magyar, it is defined as:
Saturday, March 2, 2024
Requiem For A Friend, Willie Elwood Isaac, 1928--2023
Willie Isaac and his new car--Photo by Cakes For You and Roger D. Hicks |
Willie Isaac, about 1951--Photo by Willie Isaac & Roger Hicks |
Willie Isaac, Korea, photo by Willie Isaac & Roger Hicks |
Walter H. Handley, Alabama--Photo by Willie Isaac and Roger Hicks |
Bill Ison, Crockett, KY--Photo by Willie Isaac & Roger Hicks |
The Truck Willie Drove--Photo by Willie Isaac and Roger Hicks |
"Hauser from Alabama" driving the Jeep Willie used to drive--Photo by Willie Isaac and Roger Hicks |
Willie Isaac & Baker from Central or Western KY--Photo by Willie Isaac and Roger Hicks |
Bridge Over An Unamed Korean River With An Unnamed Soldier--Photo by Willie Isaac and Roger D. Hicks |
Willie Isaac In Front Of A Mess Tent--Photo by Willie Isaac and Roger Hicks |
Willie Isaac and a fellow soldier at Fort Knox 1952--Photo by Willie Isaac and Roger D. Hicks |
"8 inch gun"--Photo by Willie Isaac and Roger Hicks |
Friday, March 1, 2024
More Observations on Reading "The River of Doubt" by Candice Millard
It is a very short list of books which I have ever mentioned more than once in this blog. This is the first that I have chosen to write about twice other than a couple which I have chosen to discuss in multiple posts centered on brief, compelling segments of such books. But this book is so powerful, interesting, and worthy of extended attention that I chose to write this second post about it. Go get it! Read it! You won't be disappointed!
Theodore Roosevelt In The Dakotas
Most literate Americans will remember that Theodore Roosevelt was a former President of the United States but many might not know that he was also a well respected naturalist and explorer in addition to both his careers in politics and military service. After Roosevelt left the White House in 1909, he ran once more in 1912 as the candidate of the Progressive or Bull Moose Party. He lost that election in a landslide for a variety of reasons including having invited Booker T. Washington to dinner in the White House as the first African American ever given that honor. After this loss, Roosevelt suffered serious depression and eventually decided to go on a long, dangerous adventure in the Amazon. He and his son Kermit had spent a long period on a big game hunting expedition in Africa and both were accustomed to life in extreme physical conditions. Roosevelt went on a tour of several South American countries and was eventually connected with Colonel Candido Rondon who was a Brazilian military officer who also served as the director of the country's effort to design a route for and construct a national telegraph line into the most remote communities of the Amazon Basin. Rondon was also the first person from the developed countries to discover the river he had named The River of Doubt. This river had never been explored and its actual route or the mouth of the river were not known. It was truly and uncharted river which might or might not turn out to be a major branch of the Amazon. Rondon and Roosevelt were installed as co-commanders of what was officially named the Roosevelt Scientific Expedition. They handpicked a group of professional explorers, naturalists, and native laborers to join them on the expedition to float down the River of Doubt and map it's route, study its wildlife, and determine where it actually terminated.
Theodore Roosevelt & Candido Rondon
Candice Millard was an excellent person to write a book about the expedition. She is a former writer and editor for National Geographic and has traveled and performed writing assignments in many of the most remote areas of the world. She is also an excellent researcher and utilized a vast amount of written records about the expedition to complete her book. She depended heavily on the journals of Theodore Roosevelt; Kermit Roosevelt; Colonel Rondon; and, George Kruck Cherrie, an American ornithologist who had several different species of birds and animals named for him because of his work both before and after the Roosevelt Expedition. Cherrie was generally conceded to have been a self-made man who arose to international fame after having gone to work at 12 in a sawmill. Millard also utilized official records of the American Museum of Natural History, the Brazilian government, and communications between the principals of the party and their families and friends.
George Cherrie
The book does an excellent job of describing the near disasters and one or two actual disasters which struck the group and their 19 native laborers on this trip into a thousand mile long river filled with unmet local tribes including some of which practiced cannibalism; the many dangerous species of flora and fauna along the river; and, most importantly, the myriad deadly and debilitating diseases of the unexplored jungle. Along the trip, the expedition discovered that they had been very inadequately supplied with equipment and food for the trip by the old friend Roosevelt had allowed to act as the purchaser of equipment. They lost their canoes one by one, eventually carved out dugouts similar to those used by the local tribes. One by one, they became infected with deadly Amazonian diseases and Roosevelt was nearly dead by the end of the trip. In fact, his disease required several months of recuperation after the trip before he was back to full health. Their native workers had also been poorly chosen and one actually murdered their most qualified native worker. He then absconded into the jungle to be seen one more time and being abandoned to the jungle by the two leaders. Another native worker drowned in one of the many cataracts along the river. One very dangerous tribe of natives made contact with the expedition and killed Rondon's favorite dog before deciding in their somewhat archaic method of decision making to allow the expedition to pass through their territory without further molestation. By the time the expedition managed to make contact with Brazilian rubber gatherers near the end of their trip, they were starved nearly to death, left with only the most minimal clothing and equipment, and probably would have perished if they had been required to remain on the journey for just a few more days.
If you like books about exploration, discovery, adventure, and success in the face of nearly impossible odds, this is the book for you. It is a relatively easy and engrossing read. It will hold your attention from cover to cover and will give you a close look at one of the most interesting presidents ever to live in the White House. It is also likely to leave you with the impression that Theodore Roosevelt was capable of performing tasks which most, if not all, of the subsequent occupants of the White House would never attempt.