Jeremiah 17:9 (KJV) - "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?"

 

Hello and welcome once again. It is Tuesday, August 11,  2020, and, I come to you, not from that place where elephants go to pile up their bones, but, rather, it is the place where keystrokes go to bid a fond farewell to us all. I was looking at the front page of my reprinted 24-page newspaper of the July 24, 1934 edition of the Chicago Herald-Examiner and I found some interesting tidbits. I noticed an inquiry from state legislators into potential corruption and kickback schemes had to be postponed. The meeting place where they were interviewing folks was just too hot. Literally. (Just so you know, I looked it up and found this data point: "Chicago's official all‑time high temperature of 105 (University of Chicago) was set July 24, 1934.") It was to be rescheduled on a cooler day. I'm not sure but perhaps this is one of the forerunners of the famous saying attributed to President Harry S. Truman, "If you don't like the heat, get out of the kitchen." Scholars debate whether it originated with him and they even have different wordings. But the point is, in July of 1934 it was too hot to continue the investigation in Illinois. There was a special dinner held in honor of the fighters of the Great Chicago Fire. This fire occurred in October of 1871, therefore, there were only three surviving firefighters to honor, aged 88, 89, and 93. The reporter referred to these gentlemen as old smoke-eaters. I thought that was interesting. Another front-page newsflash read this way: "Children Admit Drowning Boy, 7 DULUTH, Minn., July 23 --(AP) Four small children had confessed to today that they pushed Richard White, 7-year-old colored boy, into the ship canal here last Thursday and let him drown. It is unlikely any of the children will be prosecuted, as under Minnesota statues a child under 7 years of age is held unable to commit a crime."  I refer us all to the verse in the title of today's blog because the more things change it is the more they stay the same.

Life during the Great Depression.

Inside the paper, an organization called the League for Decency was reported to be enlisting up to 500,000 women across the country to protest against movies that contribute to juvenile crime and delinquency. It didn't give any examples of what types of scenes they were concerned about, but, my guess is the movies back in those days were very likely tame compared to today's offerings. There was also a pretty bold headline about the Cubs winning their game 8 to 3 over the Brooklyn Dodgers. Even back then, the Cubs winning was a pretty big deal. I saw an ad for a used 1933 Oldsmobile Sedan in like-new condition with an asking price of $565.00. Another ad offered cars for as low as $5 down with low weekly payments. General Motors closed at 28-1/4 down 1-5/8. There were plenty of obituaries for that particular date. When this paper was published the country was coming out of the nearly 5 years defined as the Great Depression. While we might smile at those automobile prices, for many in society, it didn't really matter since they had no funds to buy almost anything. The crash occurred in 1929. My mom was born in 1924. She, even as a youngster, had vivid memories of living with great scarcity. As a result, mom lived out the rest of her days being extremely frugal. Times were tough back in 1934 but it appears to me the newspaper was trying to provide a sense of normalcy in the way they chose and wrote their stories. Don't get me wrong, they knew how to sensationalize as well. The entire back page is covered in photos of John Dillinger's bullet-ridden body. He had been killed the day before and seeing America's Public Enemy Number 1 brought to justice was big news. The flavor in the rest of the paper was straight reporting with a cool and calm approach. So unlike our news media today with their biased harassing blame game designed to achieve their chosen political objectives.

This most recent one has many of his ardent supporters scratching their heads.

I know. Using a reprinted newspaper from 1934 and trying to compare to our times is likely a reach, as in apples and oranges, but, since it is my own reach and it's in my own blog, well, there you have it. I'll surely not be submitting it to the authorities for their approval. That sounds a little big brotherish to me but I do try to include everyone when I am reaching. While I am not paying undue attention to the upcoming presidential race, I have detected a pattern of reporting regarding the fellow who most likely will become the Democrat candidate. Here is the pattern, "He didn't mean it like that." "He doesn't believe what he said the way he said it." "He misspoke." "People are too quick to try and use his words against him." And, it goes on and on. Interestingly enough, these are the same news sources who thought any gaffe by Vice President Dan Quayle made him unsuitable to hold any office in our land. And, I hasten to add, Quayle's gaffes were mostly just silly and had nowhere near the serious impact of what Joe Biden has said in the past, is saying today, and, will no doubt continue to say going forward. I am just a layperson, but, does it surprise you his handlers are doing everything possible to keep him hidden and to keep him off the debate stage? These same people dogged President Reagan's steps because of their suspicions regarding his potential age-related mental lapses. Hello? They would have us all to believe there's nothing to see here. Just move on down to the ballot box and we'll make sure you are told what we want you to know. Okay. A wee bit of bitterness might have crept into my closing thoughts there, but, I think you understand, whether you agree with me or not, at least, where I am coming from. Take care and I will do my best to see you again. Real soon. Amen. .....More later.