Cafe' Ground Zero

Reading the entire dictionary, systematically

Today's word will be teratology, the science and study of monstrosities or abnormal formations in organisms.

Gabe Prosser's (1800) and Nat Turner's revolts (1831) — 3 minutes ago

In the 1800 Census there were counted one million two thousand thirty seven Negroes, who represented eighteen point nine per cent of the total human population. Of these Africans and Americans, eight hundred ninety three thousand, six hundred two were slaves and one hundred eight thousand, four hundred thirty five or ten and eight tenths per cent were Free People. The Northern states had thirty six thousand five hundred five slaves. Most of these were in New York and New Jersey.

Gabe Prosser,
a Black male who might have been born in 1775,
from Henrico County, Virginia,
with his wife and two brothers planned a revolt.
Outside Richmond city, they organized other slaves.
They made swords, though crude, and bayonets.
They made five hundred bullets.
While they did this, they studied
the location of Richmond's armories and ammo caches.
Prosser wanted to end all slavery.
His plan was simple: capture Richmond, killing all whites
except the French, Methodists, and Quakers.
Eventually, his troops would attack other towns
and he would be made King of Virginia.

James Monroe,
Governor of Virginia,
wrote that the plans included most of the slaves
of the city and surrounding plantations.
'Knowledge of such a project,' he wrote,'pervaded other parts,
if not the whole, of the state.'

On Saturday night, 30 August,
over a thousand angry slaves,
some armed with scythes, others with bayonets,
a few with guns, met outside of Richmond.
They then discovered that a storm had taken out a bridge
which they needed to make their advance. Spooked,
many of them gave up the project. But two slaves betrayed
the conspiracy, and the Governor called out the militia.
Numerous arrests were made, and Gabriel Prosser,
with a couple dozen to five times seven more,
were, with proper compensation to the owners,
tried and hung till they died by the noose.

'From what he said to me,' said Governor Monroe,
he seemed to have made up his mind to die
and to have resolved to say but little of the subject
of the conspiracy.'

In November of that year,1800, continued unrest
resulted in the arrests of dozens of suspected rebel
slaves. Rebel slaves.

Nat Turner was born to Nancy that year, 1800.
Nancy had been brought from Africa, sold to the plantation
of Benjamin Turner, in Southampton, Virgina.
Nat Turner was the property of Samuel Turner,
then sold or won by Thomas Moore, then Putnam Moore,
and in eighteen three was hired out to Joseph Travis.
Turner had been a genius. One of Ben Turner's sons taught him.

Nat Turner turned a preacher,
and a zealous preacher was he.
Among the Negroes on the Travis plantation
Nat Turner gained in respect,
and felt convicted to lead his brothers and sisters
to freedom. On the Fourth of July, 1831,
Nat and four slaves plotted an uprising, but last minute
aborted. And 21 August 1831 with the unlucky seven
he attacked the Travis Plantation, killing them all.
They got arms, horses, enlisted other slaves,
and out they galloped, murdering and burning all around them.

In one long hot day and one long bloody night,
they killed one and fifty of the white;
but the revolt failed in four days.
Turner hid for six weeks,
but was found, tried, and hanged.
The trial and execution were held in Jerusalem,
Virginia, that is.

Between the years of 1800 and 1900
(my grandmother was born in 1889),
approximately 4 million slaves were brought to Latin America.
Cuba alone, between 1800 and 1865, the year in which
General Lee surrendered to General Grant at Appomatox,
between 1800 and 1865, imported 386,437 slaves.

Comment? All rights reserved, © cafegroundzero.

If you only had one year left

of your life, if you had some way of knowing you were definitely going to die within one year, what would you do with the time remaining? What kind of work would you do? Would you change your will? Would you write one? Would you travel? Where?

Would you make amends to anyone? What would you say to your loved ones? What would you say to the people you can’t stand, but whom you have to see every day? Which projects would you finish, if any?

What are the priorities in your life today? What should they be? How can you begin to change that now? What can you do tomorrow?

Discipline and Raising Children

My wife found a book, Positive Discipline, by Jane Nelsen, Ed. D.  This was among boxes of books bought by my wife at an auction.  At least some of these books had been in Alaska, since there were some from libraries and one from The Clare House in Cordova, Alaska.

I'll be reading it tonight.  Now I've got to take my daughter to her soccer match.

The tragic saga of Hurricane Kat unfolds

Am waking up with coffee, I-95 Rock of Savannah, WIXV, and backgammon.  Have started to read the news, and am passing on to share with you some excerpts with links to the completed articles.  Specialist Sideburns came by, after I had answered his call to me, by telephone.  He needs a loan.  O.K.  Cool.  He's good for it.  Whatever.  I would like an  interview, and we are, after all, of the same engineer reserve unit.  He's still in, serving in Iraq.  O.K.  I can manage a little loan.

Anyway, back to what's happening around the world.

From MSNBC:  "Violence boiled over when 14 contractors on their way to help plug the breech in the 17th Street Canal came under fire as they traveled across a bridge under police escort, said John Hall, a spokesman for the Army Corps of Engineers. Police shot at eight people carrying guns, killing five or six, Deputy Police Chief W.J. Riley said. None of the contractors was injured, authorities said.

Besides the lawlessness, civilian deaths and uncertainty about their families, New Orleans’ police have had to deal with suicides in their ranks. Two officers took their lives, including the department spokesman, Paul Accardo, who died Saturday, according to Riley. Both shot themselves in the head, he said.

“I’ve got some firefighters and police officers that have been pretty much traumatized,” Mayor Ray Nagin said. “And we’ve already had a couple of suicides, so I am cycling them out as we speak. ... They need physical and psychological evaluations.”

As gas prices rise, people forced to adapt

While gas prices across the nation have increased by leaps and bound—as much as by 50 to 60% since last year—there is talk among economists that they will rise even higher. Some factors blamed for this include the wars on terrorism, in Iraq, and in Afghanistan, a struggling dollar, greed on the part of oil merchants, and lately, Hurricane Katrina.

The more immediate questions are, how does this affect us as consumers, as commuters, even as service providers in the public or private sector? Many motorists have chosen to limit the distance they drive. “We just don’t go anywhere far or as often as we used to. We didn’t even go to the beach this summer,” says Pepe Gomez, a Smallville resident.

Pastor Mark Daniels of New Life Baptist Church, and his family, have been combining errands. “We now wait till we have several things to do or get, and then we take care of them all in one run.” He commutes to Savannah each week, and always is looking out for the best bargain in gas.

Perhaps the gas price increase is felt most immediately by the working class. Lisa Miller, a Smallville resident who commutes to the Hayden’s across from the Courthouse, responded energetically, “Sure it affects me. I’m trying to sell my Explorer. The gas is killing me. We’re working just to pay the gas we use to drive to work.”

“It affects ME!” said a waitress at a local greasy spoon, who declined to be named. “I have to drive to work. I just pay it (the high price). I mean, I have no choice.” She shrugged, hands in the air in a show of powerlessness. “And the other thing is, it affects everything else that we buy.”

However, the cost of fuel is being passed on to consumers and taxpayers in different ways. Willie Nixon, of the Smallville City Public Works Department, mentioned how prices on materials needed for purchased have jumped considerably. “I was requesting an item which had previously cost $131.00, and it had jumped up 37 dollars!”

Another source, which cannot at this time be named, informed me that the GSP has mandated strict limits on fuel consumption. This is not to be exceeded unless the officer or agent is willing to fill out a report indicating why it was necessary to exceed the limit. One GSP patrolman has to use half his mileage just to get to his duty post. He just sits there, parked, and at the end of his shift he fires up the patrol car and heads home!

One strategy which apparently has not been discovered in this part of the state is the use of the internet to post and share information on fuel prices, including locations and types of fuel. There are now a number of web sites which can be accessed via the internet, including www.gasbuddy.com/ , http://www.usastar.com/i95/gasprice.htm/ , and http://autos.msn.com/everyday/gasstations.aspx?zip=30458. There are many price submissions in the greater Savannah area, especially in Effingham and Bryan Counties, and in the even greater Atlanta area.

Another effect of the this continued rising of fuel costs is to make everyone more aware of fuel, what types of fuel there are, and how they work within the engines, furnaces, ovens, etc. that we use from day to day. For example, several presentations and discussions on octane have sprouted on the net, from msnbc.com to http://www.howstuffworks.com/question90.htm/  Now it remains to be seen if the development of alternative technologies will accelerate.

Note:  even as I was reviewing my notes, preparatory to writing the rough draft of this, Lundberg, the economist firm, was quoted as announcing that they predicted even higher gas prices in September due to Hurricane Katrina.  More on this as the news breaks.

Sunnis standing firm

It's a bit much for us Yanks, but the Washington Post attempts to explain the intricacies of the standoff between the Kurds, the Shias, and the Sunnis.  Seems the Shias and Kurds are sharing power but excluding the Sunnis.  Yes, that's oversimplified,but you flesh out the details.

"About 20,000 followers of Sadr marched in their stronghold of Sadr City, a sprawling slum in eastern Baghdad. The protest was a show of force by the movement, whose militiamen briefly battled rival Shiite fighters this week in a simmering rivalry over influence, ideology and power among the country's Shiite majority.
"

The movement convened other demonstrations in several cities in southern Iraq, protesting a dearth of social services that remains the overwhelming complaint of most Iraqis.

"We demand the addressing of the sharp lack in daily services," one banner read.

"

Can't say as I altogether blame 'em.  But we can't let this Sadr fellow and his followers run amok.

GALEO & GHNet End of Summer Social!

 This promises to be a great event!  Based on RSVP's so far, we expect over 100 people to attend!  We hope you will be able to join us as the summer comes to a close.

Come network and mingle with Latino professionals and several elected officials.  The evening promises to be a great event sponsored by Pampas Steakhouse.  Appetizers will be provided.

GALEO is a 501 (c) (6) statewide nonprofit and non- partisan organization providing a voice for the growing Latino population in Georgia, and providing a framework for collaborative and proactive legislative initiatives for Georgia's Hispanic community.

The Georgia Hispanic Network is one of the largest, most diverse and highly educated groups in Atlanta providing high quality social, cultural and professional networking events.  GHNet's mission is to promote the professional and personal development of our members and future generations while exercising a leadership role among other organizations. 

                   

           

The event is sponsored by Pampas Steakhouse.                 DATE:             Wednesday, August 24th, 2005                       TIME:             6:30 PM - 9:00 PM                       LOCATION:             Pampas Steakhouse. Location: 10970 State Bridge Road, Alpharetta, GA, 30022                       Phone:             678.339.0029                                         Directions to Pampas Steakhouse...

Some good news, for a change

I keep thinking how blessed we were that the recent rocket attacks did not do more than kill one man.  Still, one man's death by any kind of violence is a tragedy.

Today the Iraqis got the Constitution's draft, I know not if it was the first, second, or how many times they've drafted it, but they got it in just before the extended deadline.  Now let's see if they will approve it or will it be bounced around the Parliament or Majlis or whatever they call their Assembly.

Gaza has been cleansed of Jews! Just kidding about the choice of words.  But the good thing is the evacuations are complete.   Now let's see how the police and the protesters do in the West Bank.

The remains of the body of the Philadelphia girl were found.  Her boy friend has been apprehended.  Now may justice be rendered.

Lakes of Ponchartrain

Twas on one bright March morning, I bid New Orleans adieu
And I took the road to Jackson town, my fortune to renew
I cursed all foreign money, no ~ credit could I gain
Which filled my heart with longing for the lakes of Ponchartrain
I stepped on board of a railroad car beneath the morning sun
I rode the rods till evening and I laid me down again
All strangers, they're no friends to me, till a dark girl towards   me came
I fell in love with a Creole girl by the lakes of Ponchartrain.
I said, "Me pretty Creole girl, me money's here no good
And if it weren't for the alligators, I would sleep out in the   woods"
"You're welcome here, kind stranger, our house is very     plain
And we never turned a stranger out on the banks of Ponchartrain"
She took me into her mammy's house and treated me right well
Her hair upon her shoulders in jet black ringlets fell
To try to paint her beauty,   I'm sure 'twould be in vain
So handsome was my Creole girl on the lakes of Ponchartrain
I asked her if she'd marry me, she said this could never be
For she had got a lover and he was far at sea
She said that she would wait for him and faithful she'd remain
Till he returned to his Creole girl by the lakes of Ponchartrain
"So fare thee well, my bonny own girl, I never may see you no more!
I'll ne'er forget your kindness in this cottage by the shore!
And at each social gathering, a flowing glass I'll drain;
And I'll drink a health to me Creole girl by the lakes of   Ponchartrain"

note: Alternate first verse (from Ellen Stekert)

Over swamps of alligators, I made my weary way Over ties on railroad crossings, my weary feet did play. Till at length towards shades of evening, that higher land I'd gain It was there I met with a Creole girl on the Lakes of Ponchartrain.

DT #649 Laws H9 recorded by Null and Shute on Feathered Maiden;
Stekert on Songs    of a New York Lumberjack play.exe PONCHAR2 SOF,RG

See also the "Be Good Tanyas," a trio of wymin backed up by excellent musicians in their latest album,  Blue Horse from  AMG Records. 

http://sniff.numachi.com/~rickheit/dtrad/pages/tiPONTCHAR;ttPONTCHAR;ttPONCHAR2.html