We will never see this again

Harry Truman was a different kind of President. He probably made as many, or more important decisions regarding our nation's history as any of the other 42 Presidents preceding him. However, a measure of his greatness may rest on what he did after he left the White House. The only asset he had when he died was the house he lived in, which was in Independence Missouri .. His wife had inherited the house from her mother and father and other than their years in the White House, they lived their entire lives there. When he retired from office in 1952 his income was a U.S. Army pension reported to have been $13,507.72 a year. Congress, noting that he was paying for his stamps and personally licking them, granted him an 'allowance' and, later, a retroactive pension of $25,000 per year. After President Eisenhower was inaugurated, Harry and Bess drove home to Missouri by themselves. There was no Secret Service following them. When offered corporate positions at large salaries, he declined, stating, "You don't want me. You want the office of the President, and that doesn't belong to me. It belongs to the American people and it's not for sale." Even later, on May 6, 1971, when Congress was preparing to award him the Medal of Honor on his 87th birthday, he refused to accept it, writing, "I don't consider that I have done anything which should be the reason for any award, Congressional or otherwise." As president he paid for all of his own travel expenses and food. Modern politicians have found a new level of success in cashing in on the Presidency, resulting in untold wealth. Today, many in Congress also have found a way to become quite wealthy while enjoying the fruits of their offices. Political offices are now for sale (cf. Illinois ). Good old Harry Truman was correct when he observed, "My choices in life were either to be a piano player in a whore house or a politician. And to tell the truth, there's hardly any difference!

December 7, 1941 A day which will live in infamy

Newly Discovered Mozart Piece Performed

A piano work experts attribute to Mozart as a child prodigy (it is believed to have been written when he was as young as 10) was performed for the first time since it was found last year after apparently being left in an attic for centuries. The lively 84-bar passage was played on the composer's piano in a room of his Salzburg home by virtuoso Florian Birsak.

The Mozarteum Salzburg Foundation, which staged the event, said the manuscript was found last summer as part of a 160-page book of handwritten piano music at the attic of a house in Tyrol was being cleared from centuries of detritus.

The Harrowing Lives of Child Miners in the Early 1900s

A young trapper boy inside Turkey Knob Mine in MacDonald, West Virginia. His job was to open and close the wooden trap doors for the mining cars being shunted through.

“Watch out!” the boy shouted as his workmate’s hand came into contact with the mouth of the coal crusher. Too late – the unfortunate lad’s hand got caught and sucked into the machinery. Three of those working the crusher jumped to help, pulling out the boy’s arm, but by then it had been ground to little more than a mangled, bloody mess.

“Shouldn’t have dozed off using the crusher,” said the foreman as men carried off the screaming victim. “Get back to it or you’ll be next,” he warned the ten other boys breaking coal who had momentarily stopped their labor. The breaker boys bent their aching backs over the tipple once more. “If he doesn’t make it, who’ll feed his mother and sisters?” one of them thought, blinking back tears.
The scenario just described may be imagined, but scenes just like it were the harsh reality for many people – not least young boys forced by poverty and circumstance into risking their lives each day in mines across the United States, many of them working thousands of feet beneath the surface.

Coal mining was closely linked to the Industrial Revolution – which continued into the early 20th century in America – as it was the energy generated from coal that powered the steam engines of the era. As mining developed, it became an industry based less on manual pick-and-shovel labor, instead relying more on machinery – like the coal-cutting machines invented the 1880s. Yet, while such inventions reduced the number of workers needed in the pits, for the men – and boys – left toiling underground, many hardships and dangers remained.
In the US, coal mining dominated regions like the Allegheny and Appalachian Mountains, both economically and culturally, and Wyoming, northern Maryland, West Virginia and Pennsylvania were all notable for their coal-mining activities. As we can begin to see in these images of mining in the latter two states as well as Tennessee, the industry played on important part in shaping local identity and tradition in various parts of the country. However, as part of this, boys – valued down in the shafts for their small stature, nimble fingers and the lower wages they could command – had a mix of tough and hazardous tasks to fulfil.
Breaker boys, had the job of separating, by hand, lumps of coal from slate, rocks, clay and other debris. Among the very youngest of the boys set to work in the mines, they had to be 12 years of age – at least, officially they did, though the law stipulating this was only passed in 1885 in Pennsylvania. Moreover, submitting fake records, parents apparently sent boys to work who were as young as five or six. Bosses can’t have scrutinized the situation very closely, either – indeed, they too were known to forge documentation, eager for all the cheap labor they could get.

Despite working above ground, breaker boys were exposed to large quantities of coal dust, which settled everywhere from their faces, eyes and ears to their hands and lungs. What’s more, as we can see, the breaker boys’ working environments were far from well ventilated. And with dust in the air being breathed in constantly, serious and chronic respiratory illnesses were rampant.
Another of the occupational hazards faced by the breaker boys was known as ‘red tips’ – a skin condition characterized by swollen and bloody fingers resulting from repeated exposure to the coal’s sulfur content. Wearing gloves, which would have alleviated the problem, was not an option: employers believed that they would affect the boys’ dexterity, and thus their productivity.
As if damaged lungs and fingers weren’t serious enough problems, breaker boys also suffered from hearing loss as a result of prolonged exposure to the deafening noises of the machinery – especially the coal crushers. These same machines were also singularly dangerous in other respects: one careless movement could cost an overworked and exhausted young boy dearly, with fingers, hands and even lives lost in conveyor belts, gears and other devices. As one source describes it: “Occasionally a boy fell into the coal crusher and was ground to pieces.” A starkly chilling image.
The working conditions in the coal mining industry were clearly bad enough above ground. Underground, it was a living hell. Nippers, or trappers, had the apparently simple – not to say mind-numbing – job of opening the doors for the mining cars trundling through, yet the young boys were in grave danger of being run over by the cars in the dark should their attention lapse for a second.
Fifteen-year-old trapper boy Vance got paid $0.75 for a 10-hour shift at a coal mine in West Virginia. Photographer Lewis Hine says: “On account of the intense darkness in the mine, the hieroglyphics on the door were not visible until the plate was developed.”

Gary, a city in West Virginia – and site of some of the scenes shown here – was named after attorney Elbert Gary, founder of U.S. Steel. This company not only built the soon-to-be booming coal mining town around it but was also once the world’s biggest steel producer, controlling two thirds of steel production in 1901. Coal, by the way, is essential in the steel industry as a fuel used to extract iron from iron ore. And where there was coal, there were miners – and boys ripe for being exploited in these roles.
Mining in Gary, WV has historically been the largest local employer – shaping people’s lives and economic security. Over time, however, it suffered the same fate that has befallen many such mining towns. Since U.S. Steel closed down its Gary Operations in 1986, the area became plagued by poverty and high unemployment. Ironic that it was impoverished conditions which drove many of the young workers and boys down the mines in places like Gary in the first place.

James O’Dell,was a ‘greaser’ and ‘coupler’ at Cross Mountain Mine for Knoxville Iron Co., located close to Coal Creek, TN. Pushing the heavily loaded cars looks like backbreaking work, and Lewis Hine estimated O’Dell to be all of 12 or 13 years old.

Back in the day, a greaser’s job was to grease the axles of the coal cars, while couplers had to join together those same cars with coupling chains to form a train. Spraggers, meanwhile, kept the wheels of the mining cars going with long sticks. Often, however, rather than the stick, it was the limb of one of the boys that got entangled and severed in the spokes of the cars’ wheels. Dangerous? Wait until you hear of the more general mining dangers, which could strike at any moment.
Explosions resulting from the build-up of methane and carbon monoxide killed numerous miners, young and old, and the mere release of these same poisonous gases was enough to asphyxiate those unfortunate enough to breathe in the fumes. What’s more, underground fires often preceded or followed the explosions just mentioned, trapping those not killed in the blasts. Naturally, given such a state of affairs, sanitation wasn’t high on the agenda, and having to go to the toilet meant doing it right there, underground. This lack of basic hygiene, together with rat infestations, resulted in the spread of many diseases.
Those who somehow circumvented all the aforementioned subterranean hazards had to contend with yet another common danger: mining tunnels caving in and collapsing. Boys working in the pits stood little chance and could easily be left paralyzed or quite simply crushed to death. As one source has it: “Sometimes a young miner would be crushed to the ground so severely that his body would have to be scraped from the floor of the mine with a shovel.” Too gruesome to contemplate.
As one can imagine, with its growing demand for a workforce that suited the machines – rather than vice versa – the Industrial Revolution was not the best time for laws being passed that helped to improve working conditions – not least for children. In spite of this, part of the work of the National Child Labor Committee (NCLC), formed in 1904, was to raise awareness about the conditions and risks that tens of thousands of children had to face every day in the United States alone.
The NCLC’s investigative photographer Lewis Hine (1874-1940) took on the important mission of traveling the United States to document the working conditions of children. Hine carried out this work from 1908 to 1924, with the 5,100 and more photographs he took creating a body of evidence about the dark underbelly of the Industrial Revolution – a period whose seeming success was based on the broken backs, lungs and lives of society’s weakest members, children.
Many of Hine’s photographs (like those shown here) were published in newspapers and other publications of the time. They thus helped to shed light on the dreadful lives endured by many young workers toiling underground and elsewhere. Yet although most people were shocked and outraged, they had to contend with the interests of the business owners, who did their best to keep the young workforce in place.
Perhaps somewhat surprisingly, given what we have just learned, at least some of the young workers preferred the idea of slogging underground or within the walls of factories to the prospect of school. Historically, throughout the Industrial Revolution, many families found themselves without a male breadwinner owing to factors such as early death and abandonment, meaning the children had to chip in to help ease the financial burden.
Being a child in the 19th century meant growing up fast. At 13 or 14 years of age, adolescents were considered young men and women who had to earn their keep. In fact, as we have seen, many were sent to work much earlier, aged eight or even younger. For many, attending school and thus not earning was simply not an option. And if your role models were men who cheated death each day just by making it through work, sitting at a school desk into your mid or late teens was unthinkable – especially with college nothing more than a pipe dream for most.
In early 20th-century America, in large part thanks to the work of Lewis Hine, labor reforms were set in motion to raise the minimum age at which children could work and lower their working hours. There were setbacks, however, with a 1916 law deemed unconstitutional by the Supreme Court just two years after it had been enacted. After a long struggle, the Fair Labor Standards Act was finally passed in 1938. Under the terms of this act, schooling and health were prioritized for any children working below the ages of 15 and 16, while no one under 18 could be employed in treacherous jobs like mining. A minimum wage and limits on the number of hours children could work were also put in place.
Today, child labor is still rife in many countries around the world. Moreover, dismissing it as the problem of poorer nations is missing the point, as developing countries often produce goods for their wealthier counterparts. The fate of the world’s children – rich or poor – is intertwined. It is thus up to all of us to face the reality of the situation, and to be aware that children simply forced out of one kind of employment could easily find themselves in the hands of even less scrupulous employers and performing yet more dangerous tasks.

The Grinning Skeletons of Peru's 1000-Year-Old Nazca Cemetery

Screaming or laughing?

In a sand-dusted cemetery in the desert, 30 kilometers south of the city of Nazca in Peru, lie the skeletal remains of an ancient people. Inside the open tombs there are not simply scattered bones but whole human mummies, as well as archeological artifacts. Skulls leer up at those souls who venture down the dirt track that leads to this sepulchral site; skeletons in virtually the same ghastly poses in which they were frozen a millennium and more ago. If you ever wanted to see what you might look like after death, these figures – complete with hair – offer a glimpse. Do ghosts haunt this creepy South American burial ground? We wouldn’t be surprised.
Chauchilla Cemetery was discovered in the 1920s, yet the last time it was used was back in the 9th century AD. Moreover, the first use of the timeworn necropolis dates deeper still in the mists of time, as early as 200 AD. The length of time for which this place of death served its purpose – together with the important burials to be found here – only adds to the sense of intrigue that pervades the desert site.
Unfortunately the dead in this Peruvian graveyard – also known as ‘Death Valley’– were not permitted to rest in peace. Over the years, huaqueros – grave robbers, known for destroying archaeological sites – dug up the tombs, stole many of the treasures that lay therein, and littered the surrounding area with the remains of people and pottery fragments alike.
Whether the aforementioned raiders were cursed for their looting and destruction we’ll leave for your imagination to decide. What is certain is that the Peruvian authorities passed a law to protect the cemetery in 1997. Furthermore, those behind the restoration operation managed to find many of the ceramic objects and human remains and return them to their rightful resting places.
In keeping with the traditions of the Nazca culture from which they were born, all the remarkably well-preserved corpses face east and are positioned crouched and sitting up, as if eager to greet visitors – be they welcome or not. Amazingly, the heads of these long-dead individuals still have hair – lots of it in some cases – and even pieces of soft tissue remain, skin that has stayed intact over the centuries under the sun.
There are a number of reasons why the mummification process of those interred in Chauchilla Cemetery proved to be so successful. First and foremost: the bone-dry climate of the Peruvian desert itself. Among the most arid places on the planet, this environment aided in the preservation of the corpses a great deal, protecting them against the ravages of moisture and rot.
Notwithstanding the hot, dry natural conditions, the preparations for the dead employed by the Nazca also contributed to how well the corpses were preserved. These ancients embalmed the dead in a layer of resin, dressed them in embroidered cotton, and then buried them in special vaults built out of mud bricks. The textiles and resin used are both believed to have helped keep insects at bay while also limiting the speed at which bacteria would cause the bodies to decay.
Another archaeological site near to Chauchilla Cemetery might also hold some clues as to the preservation methods used. In Estaqueria, archaeologists have unearthed wooden posts that research suggests were used to dry out the dead bodies. It seems funeral rites and natural forces conspired brilliantly to make the mummification formula work so well.
Some sources refer to the bodies found at Chauchilla as those of shamans. These spirit-connected persons were highly respected in their communities and upon burial may well have been bestowed with precious earthly possessions such as stone tools and ceramics to take with them into the afterlife. One of the best-preserved mummies is sealed off by glass and surrounded by artifacts, though as we can see, many of the skeletons, pottery shards and fabrics have been left exposed to the elements.
Nazca culture itself thrived between 100 and 800 AD, but, like the cemetery itself, its history can be traced back much earlier in time. The Nazca created many wonderful crafts including ceramics and textiles, while some of their feats of engineering, subterranean aqueducts, incredibly still work to this day. Yet this was also a culture with a more macabre side. So-called partial burials of people were commonplace, for example, with sites discovered containing decapitated heads and dismembered bodies. Most of the people buried in Chauchilla Cemetery appear to have gotten off lightly.
Nowadays it’s said that local people call Chauchilla Cemetery the "tomb of horror and grief." Could this have to do with the fact that the graves were plundered and the bodies disturbed, such that the unwelcome guests had terrible events visited upon them? Some say it’s so. And yet, interestingly, even eerier happenings are apparently associated with this place…
Locals tell tales of bright lights and moving objects seen in the cemetery at night. The suggestion seems to be that these sightings are connected with paranormal activity of some kind – but whether ghosts or UFOs we can but guess. Then again, perhaps unexplained goings-on here shouldn’t surprise us. We are, after all, in the vicinity of the Nazca Lines – those famous giant designs, many depicting animals, etched into the ground and visible from the air.
Some might dismiss the strange activities purportedly witnessed in Chauchilla Cemetery as nothing more than trespassing treasure hunters – would-be grave robbers more likely to work at night. The fact that the events took place before the authorities took over and protected the site seems to lend credibility to this theory. And, of course, skeptics will always have their own standpoint…
In spite of any skepticism, however, the curious stories surrounding the location persist. One Adolfo Bniaval claims: "None of us can deny the existence of these strange lights. [There] were dozens of people [who] saw them on several occasions and there are a number of certificates stored in the municipality of Nazca which confirms the truth of these views."
What more could a visitor to Chauchilla Cemetery want (and all for as little as seven US dollars)? Mummies amid tombs, piles of bones, grinning skulls and tales of unexplained phenomena combine to make this place a must-see for anyone fascinated by the mysterious and the downright creepy. And who these long-dead people really were – how they lived and how they died – is difficult, if not impossible, to fathom.

America 1950 vs. America 2012

America 1950 vs. America 2012



Would you rather live in the America of 1950 or the America of 2012? Has the United States changed for the better over the last 62 years? Many fondly remember the 1950s and the 1960s as the "golden age" of America. We emerged from World War II as the wealthiest and most powerful nation on the planet. During that time period, just about anyone that wanted to get a job could find a job and the U.S. middle class expanded rapidly. Back in 1950, America was still considered to be a "land of opportunity" and the economy was growing like crazy. There was less crime, there was less divorce, the American people had much less debt and the world seemed a whole lot less crazy. Most of the rest of the world deeply admired us and wanted to be more like us. Of course there were a lot of things that were not great about America back in 1950, and there are many things that many of us dearly love that we would have to give up in order to go back and live during that time. For example, there was no Internet back in 1950. Instead of being able to go online and read the articles that you want to read, your news would have been almost entirely controlled by the big media companies of the day. So there are definitely some advantages that we have today that they did not have back in 1950. But not all of the changes have been for the better. America is in a constant state of change, and many are deeply concerned about where all of these changes are taking us.

There has never been any society in the history of the world that has been perfect. America was flawed in 1950 just as America is flawed today.

But that doesn't mean that we should not reflect on how much things have changed over the past 62 years.

So which version of America would you rather live in?

America 1950 vs. America 2012 - you make the call....

In 1950, a gallon of gasoline cost about 27 cents.

In 2012, a gallon of gasoline costs $3.69.

In 1950, you could buy a first-class stamp for just 3 cents.

In 2012, a first-class stamp will cost you 45 cents.

In 1950, more than 80 percent of all men were employed.

In 2012, less than 65 percent of all men are employed.

In 1950, the average duration of unemployment was about 12 weeks.

In 2012, the average duration of unemployment is about 40 weeks.

In 1950, the average family spent about 22% of its income on housing.

In 2012, the average family spends about 43% of its income on housing.

In 1950, gum chewing and talking in class were some of the major disciplinary problems in our schools.

In 2012, many of our public schools have been equipped with metal detectors because violence has become so bad.

In 1950, mothers decided what their children would eat for lunch.

In 2012, lunches are inspected by government control freaks to make sure that they contain the "correct foods" in many areas of the country. For example, one 4-year-old girl recently had her lunch confiscated by a "lunch monitor" because it did not meet USDA guidelines....

A preschooler at West Hoke Elementary School ate three chicken nuggets for lunch Jan. 30 because the school told her the lunch her mother packed was not nutritious.

The girl’s turkey and cheese sandwich, banana, potato chips, and apple juice did not meet U.S. Department of Agriculture guidelines, according to the interpretation of the person who was inspecting all lunch boxes in the More at Four classroom that day.

The Division of Child Development and Early Education at the Department of Health and Human Services requires all lunches served in pre-kindergarten programs - including in-home day care centers - to meet USDA guidelines. That means lunches must consist of one serving of meat, one serving of milk, one serving of grain, and two servings of fruit or vegetables, even if the lunches are brought from home.

In 1950, the United States was #1 in GDP per capita.

In 2012, the United States is #13 in GDP per capita.

In 1950, redistribution of wealth was considered to be something that "the communists" did.

In 2012, the U.S. government redistributes more wealth than anyone else in the world.

In 1950, about 13 million Americans had manufacturing jobs.

In 2012, less than 12 million Americans have manufacturing jobs even though our population has more than doubled since 1950.

In 1950, the entire U.S. military was mobilized to protect the borders of South Korea.

In 2012, the U.S. borders with Mexico and Canada are wide open and now there are 1.4 million gang members living inside the United States.

In 1950, there were about 2 million people living in Detroit and it was one of the greatest cities on earth.

In 2012, there are about 700,000 people living in Detroit and it has become a symbol of what is wrong with the U.S. economy.

In 1950, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was slightly over the 200 mark.

In 2012, the Dow Jones Industrial Average is threatening to soar over the 13,000 mark.

In 1950, corporate taxes accounted for about 30 percent of all federal revenue.

In 2012, corporate taxes will account for less than 7 percent of all federal revenue.

In 1950, the median age at first marriage was about 22 for men and about 20 for women.

In 2012, the median age at first marriage is about 28 for men and about 26 for women.

In 1950, many Americans dressed up in suits and dresses before getting on an airplane.

In 2012, security goons look at the exposed forms of our women and our children before they are allowed to get on to an airplane.

In 1950, each retiree's Social Security benefit was paid for by 16 workers.

In 2012, each retiree's Social Security benefit is paid for by approximately 3.3 workers.

In 1950, many Americans regularly left their cars and the front doors of their homes unlocked.

In 2012, many Americans live with steel bars on their windows and gun sales are at record highs.

In 1950, the American people had a great love for the U.S. Constitution.

In 2012, if you are "reverent of individual liberty", you may get labeled as a potential terrorist by the U.S. government.

In 1950, the United States loaned more money to the rest of the world than anybody else.

In 2012, the United States owes more money to the rest of the world than anybody else.

In 1950, the U.S. national debt was about 257 billion dollars.

In 2012, the U.S. national debt is 59 times larger. It is currently sitting at a grand total of $15,435,694,556,033.29. Surely our children and our grandchildren will thank us for that.

One of the only things that is constant in life is change.

Whether we like it or not, America is going to continue to change.

Back in the 1950s and 1960s, about 70 percent of all American adults were married.

Today, only about 50 percent of all American adults are married.

We are more independent, less religious, more addicted to entertainment and more doped up on prescription drugs than Americans used to be.

We have a higher standard of living than Americans in 1950 did, but we are also drowning in an ocean of debt unlike anything the world has ever seen.

A Short History of the Modern Calendar