Monday Musings - September 7, 2020

 

1. Happy Labor Day. It is the first Monday of September the ninth month of the year. The cross-over from Summer to Autumn is upon us.

2. Today is a travel day. Leaving Florida and heading back to Maryland. It was a quick trip, but very necessary. I wonder what traveling will be like on a coronavirus holiday?

3. We got lucky yesterday and left the beach just before a significant rainstorm arrived. It rained most of the late afternoon.

Rainbow on a Cloud
Hobe Sound Wildlife Preserve
Hobe Sound, FL
September 6, 2020

4. Check out the rainbow imbedded in a cloud. It was an impressive sight to see from the beach. 

Garage with Additional Shelf
Tequesta, FL
September 6, 2020

5. The garage project already has its first modification. We had a bit of materials left over and decided to add another shelf. We have a lot of storage now in preparation for full occupancy in the future. 

6. It is weird being in a battleground state and hearing political ads from both parties. The mudslinging is really ugly from one of the candidates.

7. I am tired of the word socialism being used as a scare tactic during this election. Here is some perspective from a former president,  Harry Truman:

“Socialism is a scare word they have hurled at every advance the people have made in the last 20 years.

Socialism is what they called public power.

Socialism is what they called social security.

Socialism is what they called farm price supports.

Socialism is what they called bank deposit insurance.

Socialism is what they called the growth of free and independent labor organizations.

Socialism is their name for almost anything that helps all the people.

When the Republican candidate inscribes the slogan ‘Down With Socialism’ on the banner of his ‘great crusade,’ that is really not what he means at all.

What he really means is, ‘Down with Progress — down with Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal,’ and ‘down with Harry Truman’s Fair Deal.’ That is what he means”

   (From Quote or No Quote?  Harry Truman)

8. If you are getting Social Security, medicare, medicaid or other public assistance--you might be a socialist. 

9. Today in History. On September 7, 1813, the United States gets its nickname, Uncle Sam. The name is linked to Samuel Wilson, a meat packer from Troy, New York, who supplied barrels of beef to the United States Army during the War of 1812. Wilson (1766-1854) stamped the barrels with “U.S.” for United States, but soldiers began referring to the grub as “Uncle Sam’s.” The local newspaper picked up on the story and Uncle Sam eventually gained widespread acceptance as the nickname for—and personification of—the U.S. federal government.
 

Trump: Americans Who Died in War Are ‘Losers’ and ‘Suckers’ - The Atlantic

Hong Kong Protesters Return to Streets Over Postponed Elections - The Wall Street Journal

How Koalas Survive Forest Fires: Australia Is Global Test for Animals - The Wall Street Journal

Orca That Carried Dead Calf for 17 Days  - The New York Times

New York Goes a Month With a Positivity Rate of Under 1 Percent - The New York Times

Trump has a long history of disparaging military service - The Washington Post

Northeastern dismisses 11 students who gathered in hotel room - The Washington Post

India jumps to second place in global COVID-19 infections - Reuters

Brexit back in crisis as UK threatens to undercut divorce pact - Reuters

Ronald Reagan Quote for the Week

It is fitting that on Labor Day, we meet beside the waters of New York harbor, with the eyes of Miss Liberty on our gathering and in the words of the poet whose lines are inscribed at her feet, The air bridged harbor that twin cities frame.

Through this Golden Door, under the gaze of that Mother of Exiles, have come millions of men and women, who first stepped foot on American soil right there, on Ellis Island, so close to the Statue of Liberty.

These families came here to work. They came to build. Others came to America in different ways, from other lands, under different, often harrowing conditions, but this place symbolizes what they all managed to build, no matter where they came from or how they came or how much they suffered.

They helped to build that magnificent city across the river. They spread across the land building other cities and towns and incredibly productive farms.

They came to make America work. They didnt ask what this country could do for them but what they could do to make this refuge the greatest home of freedom in history.

They brought with them courage, ambition and the values of family, neighborhood, work, peace and freedom. They came from different lands but they shared the same values, the same dream.

Today a President of the United States would have us believe that dream is over or at least in need of change.

(Labor Day Speech at Liberty State Park, Jersey City, New Jersey, September 1, 1980)

-- Bob Doan, Tequesta, FL