Which day is it?

OK, how many of you never heard of Juneteenth before a month ago, raise your hands.

(I see you guys in the back, waving)

Once unique to Texas, now the Lefties want it to be a national holiday.

Which is funny considering that should be the date the Emancipation Proclamation went into effect, but that went into effect January 1, 1863.

So scratch New Year's. Also MLK's birthday because it's too close. Not to mention the fact it wasn't all that popular at the time. 50,000 Union soldiers deserted when the news was made public, I learned in history class.

Then there's the backstory. In our last exciting episode, we learned the protective tariff was the big source of revenue for the Feds, so Abe was short money to prosecute the war. This was the reason for the first income tax in the country's history and it flopped, mostly because it couldn't be collected.

So Abe went to the rich Abolitionists and asked for money, "What's in it for us?". "Name it". "Free the slaves".

So we have the Emancipation Proclamation, which only freed slaves already free, i.e., in Union-held territory. This was such a weasel, William Seward even criticized to Lincoln's face.So the war went on another 2 1/2 years and, no, it didn't end at Appomattox, either.

How many didn't know that one, either?

(yeah, I see you over there, mumbling "S'ter, S'ter", under your breath)

It was a whole lot more complicated than that. Jefferson Davis knew the war on the battlefield was lost, so he tried to convince Robert E Lee to move his men up into the mountains and drag the war out for another 20 years until the Union finally gave in. Uncle Robert, who detested bushwhackers like John Mosby, would have none of it, and made his decision to surrender.

Lincoln, ever the shrewd propagandist, ballyhooed this as the end of the war. John Wilkes Booth thought otherwise.

Davis then attempted to push his idea on Joe Johnston, still duelling in the Carolinas with Sherman. Like Lee, Joe's supply lines were gone, and he felt he had no choice but surrender, so he went to Sherman and proposed terms. Basically he asked for everything Grant gave Lee, but also a general peace proclaiming the war over in all theaters (Ford's, included). Sherman could make no promises on his own, but said he'd ask.

Although the Radical Republicans screamed, Sherman was able to give Johnston Grant's terms, for which Joe remained grateful the rest of his life.

That was April 26. Aprentieth doesn't have much of a ring, do it?

By then, Jefferson Davis had been captured. That left the theaters comprising the Deep South and Texas.

Richard Taylor, son of Zachary Taylor, held command of the Department of Alabama, Mississippi, and East Louisiana and was held in high regard by his contemporaries for his ability to hold his ground, as well as Arkansas and Texas against the Yankees, but, by the end of April, he also saw the writing on the wall.

Commander of the Union's Military Division of Western Mississippi. was Edward Canby, who had won the New Mexico campaign, but was now being roundly criticized for rebuilding infrastructure, rather than killing Johnny Rebs.

Taylor rode with Bedford Forrest (of all people) to Canby's camp to inquire about surrender terms, and were met with an offer to do lunch. Basically, Grant's terms were offered plus something only Canby, a Kentuckian, could offer. He would see that any of Taylor's men too far from home to get there by himself would get a free ride on one of his railroads.

Taylor agreed and formally surrendered on May 4. Doesn't exactly sing, either.

So now we are down to Texas, commanded by Edmond Kirby Smith. He had heard of all the other surrenders and was in the same straits, although he also wanted to put Davis' idea and fight a guerrilla war on the plains of Texas. He had already won what would be the last fight of the Civil War at Palmito Ranch and decided to see if he had the supply lines to do it.

In his absence, second in command Simon Buckner, hopped a train to New Orleans and did lunch with Canby. The surrender, unofficial, was on May 26, and Kirby Smith, returning to his HQ and learning he had been outmaneuvered, endorsed the surrender on June 2. And that was the real end of the war.

Junetooth?

It took 2 1/2 weeks to get the word out that the slaves of Texas were free. And so, in those areas of Texas with a Negro population, Juneteenth became an unofficial holiday.

Now, does that make it worthy of national recognition?

I mean good ol' Delaware, home of Gropin' Joe, the man who had a restrictive covenant on his house, didn't abolish slavery until December of 1865.

Sorry about the length, but I wanted to make a point. I'll try to do better.

Labor Day Morgenblätter (Morning Papers)

"On the first Monday of September, Americans enjoy a day of rest to appreciate the social and economic efforts of those whose hard work built our country."

"The first Labor Day was celebrated on September 5, 1882, in New York City, by the Central Labor Union, according to the U.S. Department of Labor.

As President Theodore Roosevelt once said: "It is only through labor and painful effort, by grim energy and resolute courage, that we move on to better things."

My USPS

I bought an American flag. Huzzah! My first flag of my very own. Jingoistic innit, but I don't care. This one; a pole, a bracket, a little eagle, nylon for outside, everything. I'm set. It will be the flappiest flag around here.



Placed the order May 16th for the holiday May 26, and I do realize that is cutting it close. This might not work. I know that going in and I'll have only myself to blame if it does not arrive in time. Oh well, there is always July 4th and that is a better holiday anyway.



The order is processed more rapidly than I expected and confirmed shipped the next day and I tingle with a spark of faint hope of the chance that my flag could arrive on time. Although the document does not say, so I do not know how the package is shipped.



I expect a knock on the door any day after this or a call from the office downstairs. USPS is usually fast. The ladies in the office are expecting it too because I tell them my plan and ask for their help intercepting. I keep in touch each day. They got my back. They like me because I feed them all the time.

This morning an email from USPS saying they tried to deliver but failed, but I know, we know that is nonsense. If they tried it would be here.



The document is titled "one day shipping" Ha! The vendor did not get what he paid for. Dated the 24th, it notes they received the package the 20th, a mere 4 days after the order was placed and 4 days previous to the one day shipping notification, the last day possible to make it time for the holiday. They have a strange calculation for days.

But here is the thing. The notification says, "print your label and show it in the nearest post office to get my package."

So much presumption in one little sentence; that I have a printer, that it works reliably, that I know where the Post Office is, that I have transportation to get there, or that I can walk to it.

But when I do try to go along with their demands and print the label the click through I get a 404 error page and the address ends in .it for Italy. I think. Maybe "it" means something else. I do not know for sure They give me no information at all. Do this: no information.

http://www.computerworldconsulting.it/lang.php?er=wxyUuTibr4fqqbq7RysaUmlX%252BLDjfgXwkW0U%252FalEwxQ%253D



So I did go to the Post Office near my house. I do have a printer that works but nothing to print, I do have transportation and I can walk. So their presumptions turn out to be right, but how would they know that? I figured my I.D. will just have to do. And they are closed, just after noon. Although the mailman showed up today he did not bring my package with him. And that makes me sad, and disgusted, and cross, and disappointed all at the same time. All for a flag. So now when it does come, or when I go back to get it after the holiday, I will most likely feel only resentment. And when July 4th comes I'll go, "pfffft" stupid flag.

But I did get a wonderful deal, a $75.00 flag for $25.00. Not bad, eh?  I should just shut up and appreciate the good things that are offered, but I am human with emotions and cannot always be so reasoned as that.

Mark Steyn: Happy Earth Day!

"Happy Earth Day! April 22nd is the day when President Obama and the rest of the gang demonstrate their commitment to saving the planet by flying in to plant a tree somewhere. And say what you like but, when you're looking for fellows who know how to dig a huge hole, Obama and Harry Reid are pretty much at the top of the list. My township in New Hampshire is 90 per cent forested, but you can never have too many trees, so on Earth Day I always like to plant a couple more, get the tree cover in my town up to 97, 98 per cent, whatever it takes to send climate change into reverse. Of course, it's always a big pain in the neck the morning after Earth Day, when the holiday's over, and it's time to take down the trees. So these days I generally just plant artificial trees with the nice silvery tinselly branches, and then you can just take them down and put 'em in the attic till next year's Earth Day."