Blog Archives

Our Highway System

8/28/2024

Have you ever given much thought to how our interstate highway system got started? Would it surprise you to know that the vision for having it wasn’t about providing ease of personal or for that matter commercial transportation across the country but instead about moving military equipment and personnel?

The U.S. realized during WWI that they would’ve been much more effective at ending the war sooner if there were better roads in Europe. After World War I, leaders in Washington became concerned about the state of our nation’s roads should we ever need to fight a war at home. The automobile was still a relatively new invention so most transcontinental travel depended on a few train tracks spanning the country. The U.S. War Department (now the Defense Department), wanted to know if our nation’s roads could handle coast-to-coast movements of military equipment so the vision of having a roadway system was mostly about our military effectiveness not about having roads for personal use.

The Federal Government sent a Transcontinental Motor Convoy which included 80 military vehicles and 280 soldiers from Washington, D.C. to California on July 7, 1919. Army scouts rode ahead of the convoy on Harley Davidson motorcycles to check out the conditions. They traveled over dirt roads, rutted paths, winding mountain trails, and shifting desert sands on their way to California.

Many areas were nearly impassable, and the men often had to push or pull the heavy trucks in their convoy to keep them moving. The vehicles frequently broke down, got stuck in mud, and sank when roads and bridges collapsed under them. In spite of the hardships, 62 days after it left Washington, D.C., the convoy reached San Francisco. It had covered 3,251 miles, averaging 58 miles a day at an average speed of 6 mph. The official report of the War Department concluded that the existing roads in the United States were absolutely incapable of meeting their requirements.

One of the Army officers on the convoy was 28-year-old Lieutenant Colonel Dwight D. Eisenhower, who later said the roads they encountered “varied from average to non-existent.” Eisenhower never forgot this grueling experience nor how difficult it was during WWII to get around the various countries so one of the most important things he did after becoming president was to create the interstate highway system.

Construction began in 1956, and the entire interstate system now has a total length of 46,837 miles. It’s the largest highway system in the world and the largest public works project in world history.

A Wild Story

8/28/2024

On May 1, 1893, the gates opened at the Chicago World’s Fair, one of the greatest architectural feats in U.S. history. During the fair’s six months of operation, more than 26 million visited the 600-acre fairgrounds that had over 200 buildings full of art, food, entertainment and new technology. The fair was just two decades after the Great Chicago Fire which killed more than 300 people and left over 100,000 residents homeless so the city really needed the investment in infrastructure and aggressively went after the bid to host the Fair. Here are three interesting facts you may not know about 1893 Chicago World’s Fair:

1. The fair produced a number of new products.

A number of grocery products introduced at the Chicago World’s Fair are still popular today like Cream of Wheat, Juicy Fruit gum and Pabst Blue Ribbon beer. New technology was introduced that is still being used as well such as the dishwasher and fluorescent light bulbs, although the dishwater didn’t really take off until the 40’s and 50’s.

2. The newly invented Ferris Wheel helped save the fair from financial ruin.

Despite the money raised by private investors and the U.S. government (through the sale of commemorative coins and stamps), squabbling amongst the organizers and numerous construction delays resulted in a huge budget deficit. In today’s dollars it took around $330 million to put the fair together and run it and they only ended up getting less than half of what they invested in the fair back in ticket sales so getting people to spend a lot of money at the fair was critical.

Another costly financial mistake was the refusal to allow William “Buffalo Bill” Cody and his troupe of sharpshooters, cowboys and Native American performers to appear at the fair. This made him mad, so he brought his Wild West extravaganza to Chicago anyway, setting up shop right outside the fairgrounds and siphoning off visitors. By the way, the Chicago World’s Fair didn’t want Buffalo Bill to perform for political reasons as his show involved cowboys and Indians having shootouts; so political correctness was around even then.

The fair’s financial woes received a boost with the long-awaited debut of a new invention from Pittsburgh and steel magnate George Washington Gale Ferris Jr. His Ferris wheel was 264-feet tall (close to 30 stories) and was an engineering marvel. It could fit 2,160 people at a time, and cost 50 cents to ride—twice the price of a ticket to the fair itself. The cost of a ticket would be around $12.70 in today’s dollars, so it was an expensive ride.

Can you imagine how brave those first riders of the Ferris Wheel were? Would you have been one of the first to go up? The ride proved so popular it was moved to Chicago’s North Side after the fair ended, where it remained in operation for 10 years before it was sold to the organizers of the 1904 World’s Fair in St. Louis, Missouri.

3. Chicago was home to both a serial killer and a political assassin during the fair.

For several years before and during the Fair, Dr. Henry Howard Holmes was busily luring victims (including a number of fairgoers) to a three-story, block-long building called the “Castle,” where they were tortured, mutilated and killed. The building was custom built for him to torture the victims, murder them, and then dispose of their bodies in his own crematorium. Holmes’ heinous crimes weren’t discovered until after the fair ended and it’s believed he was responsible for dozens of deaths in Chicago. Keep in mind the police were absolutely overwhelmed with the 26 million visitors who were visiting the fair.

It was another murder major murder that stole the headlines during the fair. On October 28, just two days before the exposition was set to close, Chicago’s recently reelected and very well-liked mayor, Carter Harrison Sr., was shot and killed by a disgruntled—and deranged—office seeker, Patrick Eugene Prendergast, who believed he was owed a political appointment by the mayor. With the city in shock, the fair’s organizers quickly decided to cancel the lavish closing ceremony in favor of a public memorial to the city’s popular slain leader.

One of the best books I’ve ever read is about this Chicago World’s Fair and it digs deep into the serial killing that was taking place; if you get a chance please read: Devil in a White City as it’s awesome.

A Riddle

8/27/2024

Three men checked into a small motel in a remote town and told the clerk they'd share a room which costs $30 a night; each man took $10 out of his wallet. Immediately after arriving in their room the hotel clerk stopped by to apologize because their particular room should have been $25 not $30. He took out five ones and began handing the money back to each man. After giving each guy $1 they all agreed that he should keep the $2 because of his honesty.

Let's look at what happened. At first each man contributed $10 which is a total of $30. Then they each got a dollar back and let the clerk keep $2. So at this point they all contributed $9 for the room which is $27 total and gave the clerk $2 which totals $29. Where did the other dollar go?

Give it some thought and then when you’re ready reference the explanation below.

It’s kind of a trick question but it does show how you can get two different truths out of the same scenario, basically two sides to every story. There’s no doubt you can argue that a dollar is missing because all three men invested $9 into the room ($27 total),because they each got a dollar back, and the clerk walked away with $2 making the total $29…a dollar is missing; you can’t legitimately argue against this point. But working it backwards the room cost $25, the clerk gave the guys $3 and he kept $2…this totals $30 so a dollar isn’t missing. The fact is one person could argue legitimately that a $1 is missing while another could prove the $1 is still there. This stretches the mind a bit.

Arrogance

8/27/2024

There’s a story in the Bible about a pompous man who attended a wedding and when he arrived at the big tent he took a seat up front. A few minutes later someone more important than him arrived and they asked him to move from his prominent seat and take one in the back. How embarrassing. The Bible says that those who are humble will be exalted but those who exalt themselves will be humbled.

In those times when Christ talked about how we should live our lives being arrogant wasn’t one of the characteristics he mentioned, just the opposite. There’s not a problem with being confident which is basically being self-assured because that’s a characteristic of someone who is successful, but arrogance is revealing an exaggerated sense of one's own importance or abilities. One of the key words here is “revealing” which is also known as bragging.

So, the bottom line is we’re called to be humble not arrogant. People don’t like being around arrogant people and how can we make a positive difference in this world if people don’t want to be around us?

General Ulysses S. Grant (1822 - 1885)

8/27/2024

General Grant was the 18th President of the United States and worked closely with President Lincoln to win the Civil War. He graduated from West Point in 1843 and immediately began serving during the Mexican American War where he built a reputation for aggressive offensive fighting. He was the type of man who would engage directly in fights not just sit on a horse behind the troops who were fighting. He was also a great military strategist who became the first person to become a four-star general.

Grant kept to himself pretty much but did have a couple of good friends who he kept in touch with throughout his life. He was known as a horse whisperer (a tremendous Cavalryman), and set an equestrian high-jump record that stood for almost 25 years. He was married to his wife (Julia), and they had two children, a boy (Frederick), and a girl (Ellen). By the way, Frederick and Ellen were the names of Julia’s parents.

He retired from the Army in 1853 but civilian life wasn’t good for him as he struggled from occupation to occupation. He went to work at his father’s tannery for a while then gave it a shot as a farmer but went bankrupt. Although the Civil War was a terrible thing it was exactly what Grant needed so he joined the Union in 1861.

Grant was initially put in charge of armies from Kentucky and Tennessee (the Volunteers), it was with these men that he won the famous Battle of Shiloh which took place in Tennessee and was one of the deadliest battles in U.S. history. Grant's army had 1,513 killed, 6,601 wounded, and 2,830 missing or captured. Anyhow, right off the bat Grant won a huge battle and was gaining notoriety and praise from President Lincoln.

General Grant was also known for bringing in African American slaves to help in the Union war effort. Even though it was the Union Army, fighting alongside blacks wasn’t popular with some Union soldiers. Grant ended up spending his entire military and political career trying to help free slaves and give them various rights.

Grant kept winning at every turn thus gaining him a great reputation and time with President Lincoln who eventually put him in charge of the entire Union Army. Both General Robert E. Lee and General Grant were the famous warriors during the Civil War and Grant got the better of Lee in Richmond, Virginia. Lee’s Army was being decimated so he finally surrendered to Grant in April of 1865.

Historians have hailed Grant's military genius and his strategies and tactics are still featured in history books and studied at various war colleges. The one issue that stuck with Grant though is that he had a drinking problem and didn’t always do things by the books. He got in trouble many times for not following military protocol but because he kept winning anywhere he went it was mostly overlooked.

After the war Grant was put in charge of reconstruction in the South. He worked to get African Americans engaged in politics and they became a part of the Republican Party. I wonder how many African Americans know this as it was the Republican Party who made sure they were freed. Then Grant brought in investors from the North (remember the Carpet Baggers), to help get businesses started and begin trade between the North and South. It was an extremely challenging yet successful endeavor overall and this is why along with being a military hero, that he was elected as President of the United States in 1868 and then re-elected in 1872.

In 1880, Grant was unsuccessful in obtaining a Republican presidential nomination for a third term. He was struggling financially again and dying of throat cancer when he completed his memoirs, which received rave critical reviews and turned into a financial success thus supporting his family after his death. When he died in 1885 at the age of 63, it prompted an outpouring of national unity. Some scholars rank his presidency below average due to economic problems (of course it was in shambles after the Civil War so I don’t agree with most of them), while admirers emphasize his concern for Native Americans and enforcement of civil and voting rights for African Americans.

General Grant wasn’t a perfect man, but he certainly had more of a heart for people than most people knew, and he was absolutely instrumental in bringing the Union back together definitely deserving of his great place in history.

The Roman Empire

8/26/2024

I wrote this article a few years ago but with everything that’s happening in our political system I thought it would be timely to share again. Civilizations have no guarantee of success for sustained periods of time which also includes the U.S. We need to know what has caused other empires to fall so we’ll know things we should do to prevent it from occurring to us.

I believe the Roman Empire was the greatest throughout the history of mankind. First of all, just the fact they lasted over 1,000 years (625B.C. – 476 A.D.) is absolutely amazing because most civilizations only last around 200 years. I can’t begin to tell you all the things the Romans invented but some of my favorites are the invention of cranes, a central government, paved roads, the sawmill, the steam engine (amazing), architectural engineering, and advanced military strategies and tactics.

After reviewing various research I’ve compiled what to me seems to make the most sense as to what led to the fall of the Roman Empire; you’ll have to see if you agree. I think the greatest mistake they made was aggressively expanding their Empire. There’re several reasons why I think this was so detrimental. Throughout the history of mankind there’s been a limit countries could empire build before they were beaten back. They get beaten back for several reasons among these is that eventually they encounter an enemy that not only has a strategic advantage because of their military position but also has a tremendous advantage because of what they’re fighting for; they were protecting their homes and families, so they had huge incentives to fight with all they had. Roman soldiers fought for territory that someone else would own; they didn’t have the incentive to fight to their last breath.

Another problem has to do with logistics. The further the army travelled the more difficult it was to supply them with clothing, food, medical supplies, money, etc. Anyone in the military will tell you that if you want to negatively affect your enemy go after their supply routes and take away their necessities.

Let me talk about the lack of food a little bit. It only takes a few days to begin to feel the negative effects of not having protein. The soldiers grew weaker and weaker which not only meant they weren’t in good condition to fight they also couldn’t travel as fast. Lack of good nutrition also affected their healing if they were injured. It was difficult enough to survive back then due to a lack of medical capabilities let alone lack of nutrition. Could you imagine trying to kill enough food (i.e. deer, rabbits, squirrels, etc.), to feed 1,000 soldiers on a daily basis? How about an army of 5,000 or 10,000? Of course water was always an issue too; finding a small watering hole didn’t provide enough water for their animals and soldiers; they needed huge water supplies.

So, the bottom line is that as Roman soldiers got further away from Rome, they began to lose their effectiveness both physically and mentally. The logistics it took to support them wasn’t effective. My guess is that these troops felt negatively about Rome because they sent them out to fight yet they weren’t taking care of them. All military commanders know that situations like this can be detrimental to morale and of course performance.

I’m going to stick with the military a little bit longer because I feel it was a huge reason for the fall of the Roman Empire. These military marches went on for thousands of miles and as you can imagine the number of soldiers continuously dropped due to deaths (both in battle and disease) and with desertion. So, each time they’d approach a battle they did it with less troops.

They’d also lose troops due to some having to stay behind to protect the conquered cities. So once again the army would encounter their next battle with even less troops. What all of this created is that it became easier for them to lose battles, and the opposing force would start going down the path the Romans took and attacked the cities which the Roman’s had just taken over, basically a wasted military campaign.

There’s a lot more to this but let me wrap up with the financial impact in their pursuit of expanding their empire. There’re a lot of things which make up the cost of government and the military is a huge budget item. Their aggressive efforts towards empire building caused them to spend unreal amounts of money to fund their quests. Just like with any government taxpayers had to foot the bill. More and more were asked of them yet they weren’t getting anything in return. What did having all these other lands due for the citizens of Rome? Nothing, thus those proud Romans started becoming very angry Romans. This in turn negatively affected the respect they had for their politicians which began the process of fracturing their republic. Sound familiar?

One more point in reference to costs. Rome’s economy took a huge hit because money was leaving the city and going to other lands; basically, anywhere where the soldiers went. That money in turn was spent away from the city and it usually didn’t make its way back. What this means is that money was being siphoned out of Rome and no longer in their economy. Just like with any economy (money going round and round) it eventually ends in depression if it continues to shrink and that’s exactly what was happening to Rome. Their economy was headed south at the same time their soldiers were overextended and beginning to lose battles. It’s never good when a military loses its edge. They were mighty warriors who were feared but with a chink in their armor other armies felt they could beat them and did.

Another area that led to their decline has to do with their economy in general. I already mentioned how funding the military created a major drain on them. Another way money began leaving Rome is due to their citizens’ abundant lifestyles. Because they were well off and living in the city, they didn’t want to do a lot of the manual labor they used to do. Kind of like in the U.S. where we hire people to clean our homes, mow our yards, etc. With this in mind, Rome enticed people to live outside of the city (Rome was too packed) and brought them in to work. These people took their money back to their own communities and spent most of it there. So almost all this money that was used to outsource labor left the city and only part of it came back to the government through taxes.

I mentioned earlier what it does to an economy to lose money so here we have not only the military’s impact on Rome’s economy but also the impact of labor. A lot of the money that was going round and round between citizens because of all the products and services sold began leaving the city. Something like this can only go on so long before a depression occurs.

I’ll wrap up with one more thing that I believe was a factor but not more so than what I just covered. Roman citizens lost faith in their government. At one-point politicians were respected but then with the economy tanking and them still enjoying their luxurious lifestyles while the citizens suffered, the citizens started getting more and more angry and like us they knew things had reached a critical level they just couldn’t figure out how to change it.

Their citizens weren’t willing to give up more taxes, so they didn’t. The politicians got worried as to a potential uprisings so they tried to find ways to placate the citizens including having more events at the Coliseum. They also began escalating the events to include more gore such as putting a man in the ring with a tiger. They thought it would be a nice distraction but in the end it wasn’t enough. Most of the empires they built were taken over by other armies and so the pride of being a Roman waned. As we all know, when a country loses the hearts and minds of their people some form of ruin is just around the corner which is what happened to them in 476 A.D.

Once again there’re hundreds of theories as to what really led to the fall of the Roman Empire. In taking a look at the research and using some good old fashion common sense, I’ve pieced together what I think makes the most sense. Think about it, even the Russian Empire crumbled due to having too large of a military because their citizens couldn’t fund it. Here we had a Cold War with them with the threat of nuclear weapons but President Ronald Reagan, the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and CIA knew we’d win the war due to economic reasons. They were just waiting for Russia to collapse, and it did. My philosophy whether a good situation or bad is to follow the money. This is why I feel the underlying cause of the collapse of the Roman Empire was economic.

Missing Children

8/26/2024

Could you imagine the bad press if Trump were to have lost over 300,000 migrant children? The media would be ripping him apart 24/7. But since it's the Biden Harris Administration, they don't care. What horrific double standards! These children are in danger and democrats don't care. For them it's politics over country. Both scary and sad.

Annual Deaths by the Numbers

8/25/2024

Abortions 1,026,700
Heart Disease 702,880
Cancer 608,371
Accidents 227,039
Strokes 165,393
Chronic Lower Raspatory 147,382
Fentanyl 100,121
Hospital Infections 95,449
Alzheimer’s 86,943
COVID 76,446
Diabetes 70,114
Influenza 25,354
Kidney Failure 39,631
Drunk Driving 31,521
Blood Infection 30,363
Unintentional Poisoning 29,580
Gun Related Murders 19,000 (Most in Baltimore, Chicago, Detroit and L.A.)

We had a saying at work that went: “Fish where the fish are” which meant we should focus on the impactful areas in order to make a positive difference. There are many areas listed above that deserve a greater emphasis than fighting over the use of guns. Democrats are like a dog with a bone when it comes to the 2nd Amendment. I wish they’d put more passion into preventing babies that have a heartbeat from being aborted/murdered.

War Dogs

8/25/2024

I’m a dog lover and have two dachshunds. They’re sweet dogs and are pretty much our children. But the fact is, dogs weren’t initially bred for purposes of providing a family with love instead they were bred to provide services of hunting and militarily assistance.

War dogs were used by many civilizations including the Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans. With the exception of Doberman Pinchers the dogs used back in those days aren’t the same as are standard now like German Shepherds and Pit Bulls which are used for protection purposes. Among the Greeks and Romans, dogs served most often as sentries or patrols, though they were sometimes taken into battle. The earliest use of war dogs in a battle on record was back in 600 BC in the area of Greece.

Attila the Hun used dogs in his campaigns back in 434 A.D. Other civilizations used armored dogs to defend caravans or attack enemies. The Spanish conquistadors used armored dogs that had been trained to kill natives. Later on, Frederick the Great used dogs as messengers during the Seven Years' War with Russia. Napoleon also used dogs during his campaigns. War dogs were used up until around 1770 in France where they guarded naval installations.

The first official use of dogs for military purposes in the United States was during the Seminole War in 1816. Hounds were used in the American Civil War to protect, send messages, and guard prisoners. They were also used as mascots in World War I for recruiting posters. Today, dogs are used in a variety of capacities for law enforcement (i.e. chasing down criminals on the run, sniffing out drugs, etc.). So although my dogs just lay around the house, many dogs are busy working.

Anyhow, people treat their pets, especially dogs, like family members but they weren’t always around for just “love” purposes. They provided pivotal roles from a military perspective for over 2,000 years.

Origin of Words

8/23/2024

There are a lot of old proverbs that we use which over time many of us have forgotten where they had come from or didn’t know in the first place. I’m providing five of them that I think are particularly interesting.

Example: “She’s showing her true colors.”

Of course the above sentence means now we know who she really is. I especially like this proverb because its origin is based on the Navy. Naval Warships (mostly during the 1700’s), used to fly multiple flags to confuse their enemies. In other words, a British ship might fly a Spanish flag when traveling in Spanish waters to try and sail through without being attacked. These War Ships carried a multitude of flags based on what they needed at the time. However, the rules of warfare (kind of like the Geneva Convention), stated that a ship had to hoist its true flag before firing thus: displaying its true color.

A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.

This old proverb contains a message that we all know is true but living it can be challenging. It basically means to appreciate what you have and don’t worry about what you don’t. Keep in mind this proverb is dated way back and it was during times where small prey like birds and rabbits kept people alive. So in this case, the proverb let people know to appreciate that they caught something and don’t fret about what they didn’t. Basically, count your blessings.

Don’t count your chickens before they hatch.

This one goes way back to the Greek fabulist Aesop (620 to 560 BC). In one of his Fables, he mentions to not count your chickens before they hatch. The premise of his story is that you shouldn’t make decisions based off assumptions or it could end in ruin. If someone were raising and selling chickens and there were 12 new eggs, he or she shouldn’t start counting the money until the chicks actually hatch. Someone who borrowed money based on the fact that they thought they’d have 12 chickens to sell could end up broke if not all of them successfully hatched. Once again, it’s a pretty simple concept but we’ve all been guilty at times of making assumptions; counting on something without guarantees.

Eating humble pie.

Of course we know it means making an apology and suffering humiliation along with it but its origin is interesting. During the Middle Ages, the lord of a manor would hold a feast after hunting. He and other royalty would receive the finest cuts of meat at the feast but those of a lower status in attendance were served a pie filled with the entrails and innards of the animals killed and the pie filling was called “umbles” later to be translated as humble. Therefore, receiving “humble pie” was considered humiliating because it informed others in attendance of the guests with lower status. I’ve been served the proverbial humble pie before, and it definitely didn’t taste good.

He has run amok.

This is a common old proverb, and it means in so many words to pretty much go wild (out of control). The word amok (amoq), was used among Malaysian tribesmen to describe when they would run wild during attacks. By the way the reason they were known to go crazy and out of control during battle is they would take opium before fighting.

In wrapping up, there are probably thousands of Proverbs, and I only gave you five in order to keep this article short. The next time you use an old proverb think about whether or not you really know its meaning and where it actually came from…the answer is just a Google click away.

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Author: John Mann

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