I am besieged, by a thousand or more of the Mexicans under Santa Anna -- I have sustained a continual Bombardment & cannoned for 24 hours & have not lost a man -- The enemy has demanded a surrender at discretion, otherwise, the garrison are to be put to the sword, if the fort is taken -- I have answered the demand with a cannon shot, & our flag still waves proudly from the walls -- I shall never surrender or retreat. Then, I call on you in the name of Liberty, of patriotism, & every thing dear to the American character, to come to our aid, with all dispatch -- The enemy is receiving reinforcements daily & will no doubt increase to three or four thousand in four or five days. If this call is neglected, I am determined to sustain myself as long as possible & die like a soldier who never forgets what is due to his own honor & that of his countryWilliam Barret Travis died at his post on the cannon platform at the northeast corner of the fortress.
-- VICTORY OR DEATH --
William Barret Travis Lt. Col. Comdt."
....dissident economists and investment professionals offer a much different take: Most of Washington is dead wrong.
Instead of fighting over what should go in the economic stimulus bill, pitting infrastructure spending against tax cuts and contractors against contraceptives, they say lawmakers should be fighting against the very idea of any economic stimulus at all. Call them the Do-Nothing Crowd.
“The economy was too big. It was all phantom wealth borrowed from abroad,” says Andrew Schiff, an investment consultant at Euro Pacific Capital and a card-carrying member of the stand-tall-against-the-stimulus lobby. “All this stimulus money is geared toward getting consumers spending and borrowing again. But spending and borrowing were the problem in the first place.”....
.gif)
The origins of Garryowen are unclear, but it emerged in the late eighteenth century, when it was a drinking song of rich young roisters in Limerick. It obtained immediate popularity in the British Army through the 5th (Royal Irish) Lancers, who were garrisoned in Limerick and was played throughout the Napoleonic War, becoming the regimental march of the 18th Foot (The Royal Irish Regiment)....
Garryowen became the marching tune for the United States 69th Infantry Regiment, New York Militia, (the famed "Fighting 69th" ) in the mid-1800s. The "Fighting 69th" adopted Garry Owen before the Civil War and recently brought it back to combat in Operation Iraqi Freedom
It later became the marching tune for the US 7th Cavalry Regiment during the late 1800s. The tune was a favorite of General George Armstrong Custer and became the official air of the Regiment in 1867. According to legend it was the last tune played before the Battle of the Little Bighorn.
The name of the tune has become a part of the regiment, the words Garry Owen are part of the regimental crest, and there is a Camp Garry Owen, north of Seoul, Korea, which houses part of the 4th Squadron of the regiment.The Seventh Cavalry regiment became a part of the US 1st Cavalry Division in 1921, and "Garryowen" became the official tune of the division in 1981.
We are the pride of the Army and a regiment of great renown, Our Name's on the pages of History. From sixty-six on down. If you think we stop or falter While into the fray we're going Just watch the steps with our heads erect, While our band plays Garryowen.
"Chorus"
In the Fighting Seventh's the place for me, Its the cream of all the Cavalry; No other regiment ever can claim Its pride, honor, glory and undying fame.
We know fear when stern duty Calls us far away from home, Our country's flag shall safely o'er us wave, No matter where we roam. " Tis the gallant 7th Cavalry It matters not where we are going" Such you'll surely say as we march away; And our band plays Garryowen.
(Chorus)
Then hurrah for our brave commanders! Who led us into the fight. We'll do or die in our country's cause, And battle for the right. And when the war is o'er, And to our home we're goin Just watch your step, with our heads erect, When our band plays Garryowen.
(Chorus)
The 1997 TV Miniseries is almost the perfect movie. Last night my wife and I watched my DVD copy of the movie, directed and written, by John Milius, starring Tom Berenger as Theodore Roosevelt. After we watched the movie I watched it again with the "Commentary Track" on with John Milius. The movie looks like a big screen theatrical release even though the movie was made on a budget with Milius fighting the studio all the way for an increased budget. Milius is a disciple of director John Ford and it shows. You can tell that everyone making the movie wanted to put out a quality product. There is a cast of hundreds with many "reinactors" filling out the men who charged up San Juan Hill, Cuba in 1898 during the Spanish American War. The movie starts out with TR organizing the Rough Riders and training them in San Antonio, Texas and then follows them on the train to Florida and on to Cuba. The scene with the Rough Riders loading on the train with a lady singing "Garryowen" is magical. As the train travels across the South, only a few years removed from the Civil War, you see the crowds cheering the men and holding American flags. As the movie points out the South still hadn't started to celebrate the 4th of July again since the Civil War. Baranger is perfect as TR. After he and his men have made a frontal assault up a hill with entrenched soldiers with machine guns Roosevelt is strangely melancholy realizing he and his man will for the rest of their lives live in the shadow of that charge. Some have said that Roosevelt was a political opportunist. However, political opportunist's don't charge up a long hill ridding a horse under enemy fire when everyone else is on foot. Today most Americans little remember Teddy Roosevelt and the Rough Riders, but for the rest of their lives these men were honored in America for what they did and were held in a special place in the hearts of Americans. John Milius in his commentary points out that only two modern movies have been made about Teddy Roosevelt, this and "The Wind and the Lion"(1975) which also was directed by John Milius. Some background on the Rough Riders:The most famous of all the units fighting in Cuba, the "Rough Riders" was the name given to the First U.S. Volunteer Cavalry under the leadership of Theodore Roosevelt. Roosevelt resigned his position as Assistant Secretary of the Navy in May 1898 to join the volunteer cavalry. The original plan for this unit called for filling it with men from the Indian Territory, New Mexico, Arizona, and Oklahoma. However, once Roosevelt joined the group, it quickly became the place for a mix of troops ranging from Ivy League athletes to glee-club singers to Texas Rangers and Indians.
At the turn of the century on Prince Edward Island, Matthew Cuthbert( Richard Farnsworth) and his sister Marilla(Colleen Dewhurst) decide to take on an orphan boy as help for their farm. But they get an unexpected jolt when they're mistakenly sent a girl instead: Anne Shirley. Anne's a dreamer with an unusual point of view, far removed from Marilla's pragmatic ways, and it's only on trial that Marilla agrees to keep Anne...if Anne can keep out of trouble, only Anne has a positive genius for it. As Anne falls into a series of scrapes (and off a roof), makes a bosom friend, searches (and finds) several kindred spirits, Matthew and Marilla discover that their lives have become a great deal richer, now that Anne is at Green Gables.
"Did you hear the one about how after Barack Obama became president this week he found out the economy was worse than he thought—so he had to lay off 17 journalists."Bernard Goldberg, formerly of CBS News
There is a strong case to be made for a short, sharp stimulus package to restrain the collapse of the American economy. This would involve big, simple programs with immediate impact — a temporary cut in the payroll tax, big aid to the states, expanded unemployment insurance and food stamps.
There’s also a very strong case to be made for long-term government reform. America could fundamentally rethink its infrastructure policies........
But the stimulus bill emerging in the House of Representatives does neither of these things. The bill marked up Wednesday in the Appropriations Committee is a muddled mixture of short-term stimulus haste and long-term spending commitments. It is an unholy marriage that manages to combine the worst of each approach — rushed short-term planning with expensive long-term fiscal impact.
On Tuesday, President Obama was inaugurated and vowed a new era. On Wednesday, the House Appropriations Committee met and showed the old era was very much alive.
Chairman David Obey is a very compelling figure, who would be a judge on “American Idol” if this were hell. He runs the committee like Captain Ahab in a bad mood. Some lesser mortal would offer an amendment to the $800 billion stimulus bill, or whatever it is this moment. Then Obey would allot 5 minutes to himself to explain why the amendment is a tremendously stupid idea and all the lemmings (excuse me, elected public officials) would vote the thing down and make the chairman happy. At one point a Democrat from Florida had the temerity to say that maybe an amendment had merit, at which point Obey turned green, grew into a 400-pound muscular hulk and ripped down the columns of the Rayburn building.
Philadelphia-based Comcast Corp., the nation's biggest cable provider, would be a likely candidate to purchase Charter's Oregon holdings. Comcast already operates in Portland, Salem, Eugene and the northern Oregon Coast.
"The only thing worse than bad winners are sore losers, and we’ve had enough of them for the past eight years. So with that in mind, in the wake of today’s historic inauguration, here’s my Handbook For The Loyal Opposition, 2009 edition - a “To Don’t List,” if you will. Or even if you won’t."
I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States.
This is an historic election, and I recognize the special significance it has for African-Americans and for the special pride that must be theirs tonight.
I've always believed that America offers opportunities to all who have the industry and will to seize it. Sen. Obama believes that, too.
But we both recognize that, though we have come a long way from the old injustices that once stained our nation's reputation and denied some Americans the full blessings of American citizenship, the memory of them still had the power to wound.
A century ago, President Theodore Roosevelt's invitation of Booker T. Washington to dine at the White House was taken as an outrage in many quarters.
America today is a world away from the cruel and frightful bigotry of that time. There is no better evidence of this than the election of an African-American to the presidency of the United States.
We shall overcome, we shall overcome
We shall overcome some day
Oh, deep in my heart, I do believe
We shall overcome some day
The Lord will see us through, the Lord will see us through
The lord will see us through some day
Oh, deep in my heart, I do believe
The Lord will see us some day
We’re on to victory, we’re on to victory
We’re on to victory some day
Oh, deep in my heart, I do believe
We’re on to victory some day
We’ll walk hand in hand, we’ll walk hand in hand
We’ll walk hand in hand some day
Oh, deep in my heart, I do believe
We’ll walk hand in hand some day
We are not afraid, we are not afraid
We are not afraid today
Oh, deep in my heart, I do believe
We are not afraid today
The truth shall make us free, the truth shall make us free
The truth shall make us free some day
Oh, deep in my heart, I do believe
The truth shall make us free some day
We shall live in peace, we shall live in peace
We shall live in peace some day
Oh, deep in my heart, I do believe
E shall live in peace some day
The March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom was a large political rally that took place in Washington, D.C. on August 28, 1963. Martin Luther King, Jr. delivered his historic "I Have a Dream" speech advocating racial harmony at the Lincoln Memorial during the march....Estimates of the number of participants varied from 200,000 (police) to over 300,000 (leaders of the march). About 80% of the marchers were African American and 20% white and other ethnic groups.....Musician Bob Dylan performed several songs, including "Only a Pawn in Their Game," about the culturally-fed racial hatred amongst Southern whites that led to the assassination of Medgar Evers; and "When the Ship Comes In," during which he was joined by fellow folk singer Joan Baez.
Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand today, signed the Emancipation Proclamation. This momentous decree came as a great beacon light of hope to millions of Negro slaves who had been seared in the flames of withering injustice. It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of their captivity......
But one hundred years later, the Negro still is not free. One hundred years later, the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination. One hundred years later, the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity. One hundred years later, the Negro is still languished in the corners of American society and finds himself an exile in his own land. And so we've come here today to dramatize a shameful condition.....
But there is something that I must say to my people, who stand on the warm threshold which leads into the palace of justice: In the process of gaining our rightful place, we must not be guilty of wrongful deeds. Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred. We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline. We must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence. Again and again, we must rise to the majestic heights of meeting physical force with soul force.
The marvelous new militancy which has engulfed the Negro community must not lead us to a distrust of all white people, for many of our white brothers, as evidenced by their presence here today, have come to realize that their destiny is tied up with our destiny. And they have come to realize that their freedom is inextricably bound to our freedom.
We cannot walk alone.
I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.
KING HENRY V:
This story shall the good man teach his son;
And Crispin Crispian shall ne'er go by,
From this day to the ending of the world,
But we in it shall be remember'd;
We few, we happy few, we band of brothers
As we address these challenges – and others we cannot foresee tonight – America must maintain our moral clarity. I have often spoken to you about good and evil. This has made some uncomfortable. But good and evil are present in this world, and between the two there can be no compromise. Murdering the innocent to advance an ideology is wrong every time, everywhere. Freeing people from oppression and despair is eternally right. This Nation must continue to speak out for justice and truth. We must always be willing to act in their defense and to advance the cause of peace.
President Thomas Jefferson once wrote, “I like the dreams of the future better than the history of the past.” As I leave the house he occupied two centuries ago, I share that optimism. America is a young country, full of vitality, constantly growing and renewing itself. And even in the toughest times, we lift our eyes to the broad horizon ahead.
I have confidence in the promise of America because I know the character of our people. This is a Nation that inspires immigrants to risk everything for the dream of freedom. This is a Nation where citizens show calm in times of danger and compassion in the face of suffering. We see examples of America’s character all around us.......
we see the best of our country – resilient and hopeful, caring and strong. These virtues give me an unshakable faith in America. We have faced danger and trial, and there is more ahead. But with the courage of our people and confidence in our ideals, this great Nation will never tire … never falter … and never fail.
It has been the privilege of a lifetime to serve as your President. There have been good days and tough days. But every day I have been inspired by the greatness of our country and uplifted by the goodness of our people. I have been blessed to represent this Nation we love. And I will always be honored to carry a title that means more to me than any other: citizen of the United States of America.
And so, my fellow Americans, for the final time: Good night. May God bless this house and our next President. And may God bless you and our wonderful country.
"What’s going to happen here [on January 20] is truly remarkable, if you think about it. I mentioned to somebody the other day — they asked me if I thought things had gotten better or worse during the 40 years since I came to Washington. And I thought back for a minute and was reminded that in 1968 we started the year with the Tet offensive in Vietnam. We had Lyndon Johnson withdraw from the campaign, we had Martin Luther King assassinated, we had Bobby Kennedy assassinated, we had riots in the cities, we had a riot in Chicago that was called the Democratic national convention.
“And here we are 40 years later and we’re about to swear in the first African-American president in history. That’s remarkable. I didn’t vote for him and don’t agree with him on a lot of issues, but I think it really says a hell of a lot for the country that we’ve come that far in that period of time.
“And so I’m basically an optimist — both for the country and for the
party.”
Clint Eastwood stars as Walt Kowalski, a widower who holds onto his prejudices despite the changes in his Michigan neighborhood and the world around him. Kowalski is a grumpy, tough-minded, unhappy an old man, who can't get along with either his kids or his neighbors, a Korean War veteran whose prize possession is a 1972 Gran Torino he keeps in mint condition. When his neighbor Tao, a young Hmong teenager under pressure from his gang member cousin, tries to steal his Gran Torino, Kowalski sets out to reform the youth. Drawn against his will into the life of Tao's family, Kowalski is soon taking steps to protect them from the gangs that infest their neighborhood. (Written by alfiehitchie)
Product Description
Casablanca: easy to enter, but much harder to leave, especially if you're wanted by the Nazis. Such a man is Resistance leader Victor Laszlo (Paul Henreid), whose only hope is Rick Blaine (Humphrey Bogart), a cynical American who sticks his neck out for no one - especially Victor's wife Ilsa (Ingrid Bergman), the ex-lover who broke his heart. Ilsa offers herself in exchange for Laszlo's transport out of the country and bitter Rick must decide what counts more - personal happiness or countless lives hanging in the balance.
Winner of three Academy Awards including Best Picture, the Casablanca Ultimate Collector's Edition marks nearly 70 years as a beloved favorite with many bonuses that no matter how often you've viewed the film itself - this gift set provides a most compelling reason to foster a whole new beginning of our continuing friendship with this unforgettable classic.
Included in this very special edition of Hollywood's most unforgettable classic is a bonus disc of the featurette "Jack Warner: The Last Mogul" - a rare glimpse into the public and private life of oneof the most respected names in the entertainment industry.
Rumors run rampant that Mike Bellotti will step down after recruiting letter-of-intent day, Feb. 4, giving way to Chip Kelly as the Oregon Ducks’ next head coach.
Bellotti says he plans to visit “the mountaintop” to make his decision.
Let’s set the scene:
Democracy is not a mathematical deduction proved once and for all time. Democracy is a just faith fervently held, commitment to be tested again and again in the fiery furnace of history.”
The television was in the other room, and occasionally someone would check on what was going on a thousand miles away, where the Ducks were playing in the Holiday Bowl. He’d return with an update, and then everyone would get back to quiet conversations, prayers and tears around the bedside.
