On This Day in History - August 7 Congress Passes Gulf of Tonkin Resolution

Once again, it should be reiterated, that this does not pretend to be a very extensive history of what happened on this day (nor is it the most original - the links can be found down below). If you know something that I am missing, by all means, shoot me an email or leave a comment, and let me know!

http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history

Aug 7, 1964: Congress passes Gulf of Tonkin Resolution

The United States Congress overwhelming approves the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, giving President Lyndon B. Johnson nearly unlimited powers to oppose "communist aggression" in Southeast Asia. The resolution marked the beginning of an expanded military role for the United States in the Cold War battlefields of Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia.  

By 1964, America's ally, South Vietnam, was in serious danger of falling to a communist insurgency. The insurgents, aided by communist North Vietnam, controlled large areas of South Vietnam, and no amount of U.S. military aid and training seemed able to save the southern regime. During the presidencies of Dwight D. Eisenhower and John F. Kennedy, hundreds-and then thousands-of U.S. military advisers had been sent to South Vietnam to train that nation's military forces. In addition, hundreds of millions of dollars in military and economic assistance had been given to South Vietnam. The administration of President Lyndon B. Johnson made the decision that only direct U.S. military intervention in the conflict could turn the tide. However, Johnson was campaigning in the presidential election of 1964 as the "responsible" candidate who would not send American troops to fight and die in Asia. In early August, a series of events occurred that allowed Johnson to appear statesmanlike while simultaneously expanding the U.S. role in Vietnam. 

On August 2, North Vietnamese torpedo boats attacked an American destroyer in the Gulf of Tonkin. Johnson responded by sending in another destroyer. On August 4, the two destroyers reported that they were under attack. This time, Johnson authorized retaliatory air attacks against North Vietnam. He also asked Congress to pass the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution. This resolution declared, "The United States regards as vital to its national interest and to world peace the maintenance of international peace and security in Southeast Asia." It also gave Johnson the right to "take all necessary measures to repel any armed attack against the forces of the United States and to prevent further aggression." The House passed the resolution by a unanimous vote; the vote in the Senate was 88 to 2. Johnson's popularity soared in response to his "restrained" handling of the crisis.  

The Johnson administration went on to use the resolution as a pretext to begin heavy bombing of North Vietnam in early 1965 and to introduce U.S. combat troops in March 1965. Thus began a nearly eight-year war in which over 58,000 U.S. troops died. In a wider sense, the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution can be considered America's Cold War policy toward all of Southeast Asia at the time. The resolution was also another example of the American government's less than candid discussion of "national security" matters during the Cold War. Unspoken during the Congressional debate over the resolution was the fact that the commanders of the U.S. destroyers could not state with absolute accuracy that their ships had actually been attacked on the night of August 4, nor was any mention made of the fact that the U.S. destroyers had been assisting South Vietnamese commandos in their attacks on North Vietnamese military installations. By the late 1960s, the tangle of government deceptions and lies began to unravel as public confidence in both Johnson and the American military effort in Vietnam began to erode.

This date marks the anniversary of Congress passing the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, which really stepped up American involvement in Vietnam. It would wind up being a huge war and, at the time, the longest conflict that the United States would be involved. Much of it started with the Congressional vote in favor of the Gulf of Tonkin, and it would continue to escalate. But that was not the only thing that happened on this date. The Battle of Crannon between Athens and Macedon occurred on this date in 322BC, following the death of Alexander the Great. Otto the Great became King of Germany. Napoleon reinstated slavery in St. Domingue (Haiti). Not too much later, Haiti would gain it's independence. Bolivar defeated the Spanish at the Battle of Boyacá. Germany annexed what would come to be known as South West Africa, and later Namibia. The Peace Bridge between the United States and Canada opened on this day. Germany invaded France during the First World War. Joyce's novel "Ulysses" was not banned following a court ruling on this date. Jacqueline Kennedy gave birth on this day, becoming the first First Lady to have a baby in a very long time.

Also, I would like to wish my mom a very happy birthday today!

Here's a more detailed look at events that transpired on this date throughout history:

322 BC - Battle of Crannon between Athens and Macedon following the death of Alexander the Great.

626 - Battle at Constantinople: Slavic/Persians/Avarenvloot defeated

768 - Stephen III [IV] begins his reign as Catholic Pope

936 - Otto I the Great becomes King of Germany

1409 - Council of Pisa closes

1461 - the Ming Dynasty Chinese military general Cao Qin stages a coup against the Tianshun Emperor.

1479 - Battle of Guinegate: Emperor Maximilian I vs King Louis XI

1485 - Henry (VII) Tudors army lands in Milford Harbor, South Wales

1498 - Columbus arrives in Caribbean

1573 - Francis Drakes fleet returns to Plymouth

1575 - Spanish troops conquer Oudewater, almost all inhabitants died

1588 - -8] English assault on Spanish Armada

1606 - The first documented performance of Macbeth performed at the Great Hall at Hampton Court.

1620 - Kepler's mother arrested for witchcraft

1620 - Battle at Ponts-the-Ce, Poitou: French king Louis XIII beats his mother Marie de Medici

1710 - Earl van Godolphin resigns as English minister of Finance

1714 - The Battle of Gangut: the first important victory of the Russian Navy.

1750 - Slave uprising on Curacao

1760 - Ft Loudon, Tennessee surrenders to Cherokee Indians

1782 - George Washington creates Order of Purple Heart

1789 - Congress creates Dept of War & Lighthouse Service

1802 - Napoleon orders re-instatement of slavery on St Domingue (Haiti)

1814 - Pope Pius VII reinstates Jesuits

1819 - Battle of Boyacá; Bolívar defeats Spanish in Colombia

1820 - 1st potatoes planted in Hawaii

1864 - Battle of Moorefield, WV

1879 - The opening of the Poor Man's Palace in Manchester.

1882 - Hatfields of south WV & McCoys of east Ky feud, 100 wounded or die

1884 - Germany annexes Angra Pequena (Southwest-Africa)

1885 - 5 German warships anchor at Zanzibar

1888 - Theophilus Van Kannel of Phila patents revolving door

1893 - 53rd Congress (1893-95) convenes

1900 - Diamond workers in Amsterdam strike

1904 - Train derailed on bridge in Eden Colo during a flash flood, kills 96

Macedonian King and Conqueror of Persia Alexander the GreatMacedonian King and Conqueror of Persia Alexander the Great 1907 - Walter Johnson wins 1st of his 416 wins, 7-2 over Cleveland

1909 - US issues 1st Lincoln penny

1912 - Progressive (Bull Moose) Party nominates Theodore Roosevelt for pres

1914 - British Gloucester vs German Breslau/Goeben off Greece

1914 - French government awards king Albert of Belgium the Great Cross

1914 - French troops under Gen Bonneau occupy Altkitrch at Elzas

1914 - German army occupies city of Liege Belgium

1914 - Lord Kitchner says "Your country needs you," poster spreads over UK

1915 - Assault up Russell's Top at Gallipolis, 232 Australians die

1915 - St Louis 3rd base coach Miller Huggins, calls for ball Bkln rookie obliges, Huggins steps aside, & Card runner scores

1921 - Cyclist Piet Moeskops becomes world champ sprinter

1925 - League of Nation advises against Turk/Iraqi division of Mosoelgebied

1927 - Peace Bridge between US & Canada dedicated

1927 - US rum smuggler Horace Alderman kills 3

1929 - Charles Ruijs de Beerenbrouck forms Dutch government

26th US President Theodore Roosevelt26th US President Theodore Roosevelt 1929 - Ruth ties record by hitting grand slams in consecutive games

1929 - Jo Baer (born Josephine Kleinberg), Seattle USA, American artist

1930 - A large mob estimated at 2,000 lynch two young black men, Thomas Shipp and Abram Smith in Marion Indiana

1930 - Richard Bedford Bennet forms Canadian government

1933 - The Iraqi Government slaughters over 3,000 Assyrians in the village of Sumail. The day becomes known as Assyrian Martyrs Day.

1934 - US Court of Appeals upheld lower court ruling striking down government's attempt to ban controversial James Joyce novel "Ulysses"

1935 - 60% of voters agrees to nazism in Danzig (Gdansk)

1938 - Leo Durocher, hits 2,000th Dodger home run

1938 - Nazi's close theologic department of Innsbruck university

1940 - Churchill recognizes De Gaulle government in exile

1940 - Largest amount paid for a stamp ($45,000 for 1 1856 British Guiana)

1940 - Alsace Lorraine is annexed by the Third Reich (Germany) during World War II

1941 - 551 Jews are shot in Kishnev ghetto in Romania

1942 - 1st American offensive in Pacific in WW2, Guadalcanal, Solomon Is

1942 - Resistance bombs Rotterdam railway

Baseball Player and Manager Leo DurocherBaseball Player and Manager Leo Durocher 1942 - Transport 16 departs with French Jews to nazi-Germany

1943 - Red Army recaptures Bogodukov

1944 - Anton de Kom arrested by Surinam resistance fighter

1944 - Canada/Polish offensive direction Falaise: Total Cooperation

1944 - German counter attack at Avranches fails

1944 - July 20th Plot trial under Roland Freis in Berlin begins

1944 - US 3rd Army reaches suburbs of Brest Brittany

1944 - IBM dedicates the first program-controlled calculator, the Automatic Sequence Controlled Calculator (known best as the Harvard Mark I).

1946 - 1st coin bearing portrait of Negro authorized

1947 - Balsa raft Kon Tiki crashes into a Polynesian archipelago reef

1947 - The Bombay Municipal Corporation formally takes over the Bombay Electric Supply and Transport (BEST).

1948 - 1st Dutch government of Beel resigns

1948 - Delfo Cabrera wins 11th Olympic marathon (2:34:51.6)

1949 - "All after Love" closes at Mark Hellinger Theater NYC after 121 perfs

1950 - Police bar white players-Lou Chirban, Stan Mierko, & Frank Dyle, from playing in Negro League

1951 - Douglas D-558-II Skyrocket reaches 1,992 kph

1951 - US viking rocket reaches 210 km height (record)

1953 - Eastern Airlines enters jet age, uses Electra prop-jet

1954 - "Golden Apple" closes at Alvin Theater NYC after 125 performances

1954 - Charles Mahoney becomes 1st US black to serve as a full UN delegate

1955 - Bar-Ilan University founded in Israel

1955 - KSTF TV channel 10 in Scottsbluff-Gering, NB (CBS/NBC) begins

1955 - Tokyo Telecommunications Engineering, the precursor to Sony, begins selling its first transistor radios in Japan.

1956 - Boston Red Sox fine Ted Williams $5,000 for spitting at Boston fans

1956 - British government sends 3 aircraft carriers to Egypt

1956 - Dynamite transport explodes in Colombia; about 1200 die

1957 - US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site

1959 - Explorer 6 transmits 1st TV photo of Earth from space

1959 - The Lincoln Memorial design on the U.S. penny goes into circulation. It replaces the "sheaves of wheat" design

1960 - Ivory Coast (Côte d'Ivoire) gains independence from France

1960 - Students stage kneel-in demonstrations in Atlanta churches

1960 - Wiffi Smith wins LPGA Waterloo Golf Open

1961 - Cosmonaut Gherman Titov circles Earth for a full day in Vostok 2

1961 - Soviet premier Khrushchev predicts USSR economy will surpass US

1962 - USSR performs nuclear test at Eastern Kazakh/Semipalitinsk USSR

1963 - Jacqueline Kennedy becomes 1st, First Lady to give birth since Mrs Cleveland

1964 - 31st NFL Chicago All-Star Game: Chicago 28, All-Stars 17 (65,000)

1964 - Turkey begins air attack on Greek-Cypriots

1964 - US Congress approves Gulf of Tonkin resolution

1966 - Race riot in Lansing Michigan

1970 - 1st computer chess tournament

1970 - Christine Perfect (McVie) joins Fleetwood Mac

1970 - WDHN TV channel 18 in Dothan, AL (ABC) begins broadcasting

1970 - 4, including presiding judge, killed in courthouse shootout in San Rafael, California (Police charge Angela Davis provided weapons)

1971 - Apollo 15 returns to Earth

1972 - Hall of Fame inducts Berra, Sandy Koufax, Lefty Gomez & Early Wynn

1974 - Philippe Petit walks tightrope strung between twin towers

1976 - Chako Higuchi wins LPGA Colgate-European Golf Open

1976 - US Viking 2 goes into Martian orbit after 11-month flight from Earth

1976 - Scientists in Pasadena, California, announce Viking I found strongest indications to date of possible life on Mars

1977 - "Shenandoah" closes at Alvin Theater NYC after 1,050 performances

1978 - Eddie Mathews, Addie Joss, & Larry MacPhail inducted to Hall of Fame

1978 - Thousands of mourners file past body of Pope Paul VI

1980 - Hurricane Allen ravages Caribisch area, about 70 killed

1981 - The Washington Star ceases all operations after 128 years of publication.

1983 - "Merlin" closes at Mark Hellinger Theater NYC after 199 performances

1983 - 1st World Track & Field Championships

1983 - 65th PGA Championship: Hal Sutton shoots a 274 at Riviera CC LA

1983 - Bobby Murcer Day at Yankee Stadium

1983 - Grete Waitz of Norway, wins 1st all-women Marathon (Helsinki Fin)

1983 - Patti Rizzo wins LPGA Boston Five Golf Classic

1983 - Some 675,000 employees strike AT&T

1984 - David Rabe's "Hurlyburly," premieres in NYC

1984 - Japan beats US for olympic gold medal in baseball

1984 - Jim Deshales becomes 1,000th playing Yankee

Singer & Actress Barbra StreisandSinger & Actress Barbra Streisand 1985 - Barbra Streisand records "Broadway Album"

1985 - Baseball players end a 2 day strike

1985 - Takao Doi, Mamoru Mohri and Chiaki Mukai are chosen to be Japan's first astronauts.

1986 - "Honky Tonk Nights" opens at Biltmore Theater NYC for 4 performances

1986 - Daniel Buettner, Bret Anderson, Martin Engel & Anne Knabe begin cycling journey of 15,266 miles from Prudhoe Bay Alaska to Argentina

1987 - 5 Central American presidents sign peace accord in Guatemala

1987 - Javed Miandad scores 260 v England at The Oval, 28 fours 1 six

1987 - Lynne Cox swims 4.3 km from US to USSR in 39°F (4°C) Bering Sea

1988 - Martha Nause wins Planters Pat Bradley International Golf Tournament

1988 - Writers guild end their 6 months strike

1988 - Rioting in New York City's Tompkins Square Park.

1989 - U.S. Congressman Mickey Leland (D-TX) and 15 others die in a plane crash in Ethiopia.

1990 - Desert Shield begins - US deploys troops to Saudi Arabia

1990 - NY Yankee Kevin Mass sets record with 12th HR in 1st 92 at bats & becomes 21st to hit a ball into 3rd deck of Seattle's Kingdome

1991 - Charles Austin breaks US high jump record at 7'10½"

1991 - Court rules Manuel Noriega, may access some secret US documents

1991 - Darrin Lewis hits his 1st major league HR

1991 - Manhattan Cable final day of amnesty to return illegal cable boxes

1991 - US sets 400m relay record at 37.67 seconds

1992 - Cleveland Indians turn a triple play

1992 - Tampa Bay group purchases SF Giants

1993 - "Camelot" closes at Gershwin Theater NYC after 56 performances

1993 - Tropical storm Brett ravages Venezuela, 118 killed

1994 - "Hedda Gabler" closes at Criterion Theater NYC after 33 performances

1994 - 1st telephone link between Israel & Jordan

1994 - Carolyn Hill wins McCall's LPGA Golf Classic at Stratton Mountain

1994 - Ernesto Samper sworn in as president of Colombia

1997 - STS 85 (Discovery 23) launches into orbit

1997 - Ung Huot appointed Cambodia's 1st premier

2007 - Barry Bonds of the San Francisco Giants breaks baseball great Hank Aaron's record by hitting his 756th home run.

2008 - Georgia launches a military offensive to surround and capture the capital of South Ossetia, Tskhinvali, from Russian control, starting the South Ossetia War.

2012 - 21 people are killed by a gun attack in a church in Okene, Nigeria

2012 - Heavy rain forces 20,000 people to flee their homes in Manila, Phillipines

2012 - 200,000 people are evacuated from Shanghai in anticipation of Typhoon Haikui

1789 - The U.S. War Department was established by the U.S. Congress.   1782 - George Washington created the Order of the Purple Heart.   1888 - Theophilus Van Kannel received a patent for the revolving door.   1914 - Germany invaded France.   1928 - The U.S. Treasure Department issued a new bill that was one third smaller than the previous U.S. bills.   1934 - The U.S. Court of Appeals upheld a lower court ruling striking down the government's attempt to ban the controversial James Joyce novel "Ulysses."   1942 - U.S. forces landed at Guadalcanal, marking the start of the first major allied offensive in the Pacific during World War II.   1947 - The balsa wood raft Kon-Tiki, which had carried a six-man crew 4,300 miles across the Pacific Ocean, crashed into a reef in a Polynesian archipelago.   1959 - The U.S. launched Explorer 6, which sent back a picture of the Earth.   1960 - The Cuban Catholic Church condemned the rise of communism in Cuba. Fidel Castro then banned all religious TV and radio broadcasts.   1964 - The U.S. Congress passed the Gulf of Tonkin resolution, which gave President Johnson broad powers in dealing with reported North Vietnamese attacks on U.S. forces.   1974 - French stuntman Philippe Petit walked a tightrope strung between the twin towers of New York's World Trade Center.   1976 - Scientists in Pasadena, CA, announced that the Viking 1 spacecraft had found strong indications of possible life on Mars.   1981 - After 128 years of publication, "The Washington Star" ceased all operations.   1983 - AT&T employees went on strike.   1987 - The presidents of five Central American nations, met in Guatemala City, and signed an 11-point agreement designed to bring peace to their region.   1990 - U.S. President George H.W. Bush ordered U.S. troops and warplanes to Saudi Arabia to guard against a possible invasion by Iraq.   1999 - Tony Gwynn of the San Diego Padres got his 3,000th hit of his major league career.   2003 - In California, Arnold Schwarzenegger announced that he would run for the office of governor.   2003 - Stephen Geppi bought a 1963 G.I. Joe prototype for $200,000.

1789 Congress established the U.S. War Department. 1947 The wooden raft Kon-Tiki, which carried Thor Heyerdahl and five companions more than 4,000 miles, crashed into a reef in the Pacific. 1959 The United States launched Explorer 6, which sent back a picture of Earth. 1964 Congress passed the Tonkin Gulf Resolution, which expanded President Johnson's use of military powers in the Vietnam War. 1987 Lynne Cox becomes the first person to swim from the United States to the Soviet Union, making the 2.7 mile trip through the frigid waters of the Bering Strait. Cox is surprised by the (relatively) warm welcome she receives from the Soviets. 1998 U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania were bombed, by terrorists. Some 224 were killed and more than 5,500 injured. 2000 Sen. Joseph Lieberman of Conn., was selected by Al Gore to be the first Jewish vice-presidential candidate on a major party ticket. 2007 Barry Bonds passes Hank Aaron on baseball’s all-time homerun list. The record, however, is discredited by many because of Bond’s alleged steroid use.

The following links are to web sites that were used to complete this blog entry:

http://www.historyorb.com/today/events.php

http://on-this-day.com/onthisday/thedays/alldays/aug07.htm

http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history

http://www.infoplease.com/dayinhistory

Video Games Are Not All Bad

No, I am not the biggest fan of video games, admittedly.

Yet, I recognized that there is some skill involved in some of the video games, and that there might be some good that comes from them, assuming that they are done in moderation.

Everything in moderation, including moderation.

So, it seemed appropriate to post a blog with a link to an article that actually suggests that video games can do some good for kids, assuming they are not allowed to play too much. I try and keep my son to reasonable limits, but when I'm not there? Well....

I will try and show this to his mom, in hopes that we can find a way to make sure that our beautiful son doesn't get too wrapped up with the video games, although perhaps some good can come from his recent obsession with video games, after all.

Here is the link:


9 Health Effects of Playing Too Many Video Games by answers.com:

http://www.answers.com/article/1204222/9-health-effects-of-playing-too-many-video-games?param4=fb-us-de-health&param1=health&param2=676411&param5=5&param6=6#slide=1

The Appeal of the Canadian Football League & Review of BC Lions 25, Calgary Stampeders 24

Now, this is a bit of an oddity, admittedly.

Never before have I reviewed anything from the Canadian Football League, and there's a good reason for that: no Canadian Football League games are available where I live (in the United States).

It's not for lack of interest. As anyone who knows me is aware, I love Canada, and pretty much anything that reminds me of Canada. That includes the Canadian Football League (CFL) which, so far as I can tell, really is very Canadian in several ways. It is a smaller league, more down to scale for a smaller country, with much less revenue than the NFL here in the United States. But then again, if that means you don't have to hear about players like Andy Dalton receiving $115 million contracts, then perhaps that is not such a bad thing.

The players in the CFL generally make much more modest salaries. It is fairly popular in Canada, but nothing like the NFL is here in the States. But salaries are not completely out of hand, which means that there most likely is not the same level of greed, or for that matter, of greed motivated defections to other teams, or hold outs, or speeches about how this or that player needs to hold out for an extra ten million or so because they have to feed their families.

The Canadian Football League seems a bit more of a throwback league, with much more modest money, smaller scale stadiums, and a smaller market - and I am not saying that in an insulting manner!

I rather like it, and find that it has a certain charm to it! I would be willing to bet that ticket prices are much more modest, too, which is a good thing! I'd also be willing to bet that there has not been any cases of teams relocating to greener pastures in another city. Ask fans of the Baltimore Colts and Oakland Raiders in the eighties, or of the Cleveland Browns, Los Angeles Raiders, Los Angles Rams, and Houston Oilers in the nineties. Or fans of the Buffalo Bills these days, who have started an anti-Bon Jovi campaign there, since Bon Jovi is seriously looking into purchasing the franchise, with the possibility that the Bills might be relocated - presumably to Toronto (which would be the NFL's first ever NFL franchise). For that matter, the owner of the Oakland Raiders just made waves by publicly flirting with relocation to San Antonio, mostly because he wants to force his hand with a desire for a brand new stadium. Those new stadiums usually come with quite a hefty price tag, and many have become disgusted with the enormous amounts spent on new stadiums. Case in point, the Atlanta Falcons, who got a new stadium in the early nineties, a shiny, glimmering new dome that was the pride of the NFL for a few years, even earning the right to host a Super Bowl. Now, the Atlanta Falcons are hoping to get a newer, more glitzy (and certainly more pricey) stadium deal, much of it, surely, paid by John Q. Taxpayer.

Of course, Canadians are no strangers to that kind of heartbreak, although not relating to the NFL. In NHL hockey, they lost the Winnipeg Jets and Quebec Nordiques, while the Edmonton Oilers, Calgary Flames, and Ottawa Senators seemed on the verge of departing for greener pastures south of the northern border. Canadian fans of the Montreal Expos in MLB baseball, and the Vancouver Grizzlies in NBA basketball saw their franchises leave town, as well.

That kind of heartbreak for devoted fans, because of the disloyalty and greed of management, is refreshingly missing from the CFL.

Yes, I can understand the appeal. You don't have any players in your face on ESPN or other networks, crying and asking for sympathy and understanding because their multimillion dollar contract this season just isn't enough, and they deserve more. Nor do you have management trying to twist the arms of the local fans for a new stadium deal.

The focus is on the sport, and on the play on the field. To my understanding, many players stay on the same team for a long time, because there really is little incentive to make a move elsewhere, with salaries hardly being huge. You don't have to worry as much about players, and even franchises, breaking hearts by skipping town. Because let's be honest: the first thought in a league like the NFL when  a player starts to really enjoy success is that he has earned himself a big pay day in the future. And frankly, I think many, if not most, fans are probably a bit tired of that - especially when the economy and opportunities have dried up, and things have gotten tough recently.

This is especially evident when far too many of those players cannot even behave themselves, despite being blessed with the very best that modern material comforts have to offer, many of these players go ahead and act too self-entitled anyway, showing no limits to their self-indulgence. Witness Michael Vick, who's transfer to the New York Jets, normally my second favorite NFL team behind the Giants, this offseason makes me feel indifferent to them this season. He has quite the track record of poor decisions and not knowing his limits. Or how about Ray Rice, who gets suspended for all of two games for knocking out his new wife, and setting up a second news conference after realizing that forgetting to apologize to her in the first caused all sorts of bad press. NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, when confronted by those who question just how committed the NFL is in punishment when it seems that Rice got away with very bad behavior, claims that people are not looking "at the facts". He then went on to state as one of those facts the NFL's belief that "this young man" learned his lesson. Or how about Ben Roethlisberger, who was suspended for all of six games initially, after forcing himself on a woman - not for the first time - back in 2009. The Steelers, clearly only concerned about women and getting their money's worth, negotiated to bring his punishment down to four games, with the message being that, for the most part, it's no big deal that he essentially seems addicted to raping women. Quite a few players have gotten into trouble for carrying weapons illegally. And never mind the substance abuse problems!

By contrast, the CFL is a refreshing change!

Much like Canada itself, the CFL is kind of there, persisting and doing their own thing, while often overshadowed by their much larger and louder neighbours to the south. And, that's okay. In fact, I find it rather appealing.

So, yes, my interest in the CFL is real.

But you can only get into the league so much when you literally can never see any games (although I watched a game or two here and there while on trips to Canada). Sure, I check the standings online from time to time, and even was happy to hear that the Montreal Alouettes, my de facto favorite team, suddenly were enjoying success!

I cannot honestly say that I am familiar with many of the players, or even teams, in the CFL!

Yet all of that might start to change now that ESPN, at long last, is beginning to broadcast weekly CFL games this year. Suddenly, I can actually watch some games, without feeling I'm wasting time doing so while using up precious vacation time while on a trip to Canada.

This was something that I noticed they were doing just before my recent trip to Canada, but I had not actually gotten the chance to see any of those games, until the most recent one, that was broadcast on Friday night, between the British Columbia Lions and the Calgary Stampeders.

Calgary entered the game as the only remaining undefeated team left in the CFL, with a 4-0 record. Their defense had allowed quite a bit fewer points than any other team in the league, and they were looking good.

By contrast, the BC Lions were struggling with a 2-3 record and, on the road against the only remaining unbeaten team left, were facing a very real possibility of falling to 2-4, which would have been digging themselves in a hole that would probably be too big for them to dig themselves out of.

Indeed, that is exactly where it seemed that they were heading, too, as Calgary built a solid 21-10 lead.

I was particularly impressed with the solid running of running back Martell Mallett for the Calgary Stampeders, who evidently had not played football in years, before being signed by the Calgary Stampeders earlier this year. He ran for 116 yards in his first real game in the league since 2009!

But somehow, the Lions came roaring back, clawing their way back slowly but surely, to pull within 21-19 in the fourth quarter, although their attempt to convert on a two-point conversion after a touchdown to tie it failed.

Calgary was able to respond with a field goal, but the Lions responded once again got a touchdown, as Ernest Jackson caught a ball from BC quarterback Kevin Glenn, who himself used to be a Stampeder, and ran it 65 yards for what turned out to be the game winner. The two-point conversion failed, but the BC Lions were able to make the lead count, holding Calgary off and securing the win.

Glenn completed 22 of 32 passes for 277 yards and a touchdown for British Columbia, and the Lions raised their record to 3-3, handing Calgary their first, and so far only, loss of the season so far.

Also, I should mention that former NFL quarterback Jeff Garcia (the man who, among other things, replaced legend Steve Young in San Francisco) has been hired by the Montreal Alouettes to help out with their quarterback problems recently. He has not ruled out pulling on the pads and playing himself, if so asked!




Lions come up big in fourth quarter to claw out 25-24 win over Stampeders The Canadian Press By Donna Spencer, The Canadian Press 2 August, 2014:

https://ca.sports.yahoo.com/news/lions-claw-25-24-win-over-stampeders-big-050520184--spt.html



Videos: Dueling pick-sixes played big roles in the Stampeders-Lions clash Friday night By Andrew Bucholtz | 55 Yard Line – Sun, 3 Aug, 2014

https://ca.sports.yahoo.com/blogs/cfl-55-yard-line/videos-dueling-pick-sixes-played-big-roles-stampeders-194251314.html



Can Jeff Garcia help the Alouettes fix their offence, or are there too many cooks in the kitchen? By Andrew Bucholtz | 55 Yard Line, August 4, 2014:

https://ca.sports.yahoo.com/blogs/cfl-55-yard-line/jeff-garcia-help-alouettes-fix-offence-too-many-002935383.html

On This Day in History - August 6 Atomic Bomb Dropped on Hiroshima

Once again, it should be reiterated, that this does not pretend to be a very extensive history of what happened on this day (nor is it the most original - the links can be found down below). If you know something that I am missing, by all means, shoot me an email or leave a comment, and let me know!

http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history

Aug 6, 1945: American bomber drops atomic bomb on Hiroshima  

On this day in 1945, at 8:16 a.m. Japanese time, an American B-29 bomber, the Enola Gay, drops the world's first atom bomb, over the city of Hiroshima. Approximately 80,000 people are killed as a direct result of the blast, and another 35,000 are injured. At least another 60,000 would be dead by the end of the year from the effects of the fallout.  

U.S. President Harry S. Truman, discouraged by the Japanese response to the Potsdam Conference's demand for unconditional surrender, made the decision to use the atom bomb to end the war in order to prevent what he predicted would be a much greater loss of life were the United States to invade the Japanese mainland. And so on August 5, while a "conventional" bombing of Japan was underway, "Little Boy," (the nickname for one of two atom bombs available for use against Japan), was loaded onto Lt. Col. Paul W. Tibbets' plane on Tinian Island in the Marianas. Tibbets' B-29, named the Enola Gay after his mother, left the island at 2:45 a.m. on August 6. Five and a half hours later, "Little Boy" was dropped, exploding 1,900 feet over a hospital and unleashing the equivalent of 12,500 tons of TNT. The bomb had several inscriptions scribbled on its shell, one of which read "Greetings to the Emperor from the men of the Indianapolis" (the ship that transported the bomb to the Marianas).  

There were 90,000 buildings in Hiroshima before the bomb was dropped; only 28,000 remained after the bombing. Of the city's 200 doctors before the explosion; only 20 were left alive or capable of working. There were 1,780 nurses before-only 150 remained who were able to tend to the sick and dying. 

According to John Hersey's classic work Hiroshima, the Hiroshima city government had put hundreds of schoolgirls to work clearing fire lanes in the event of incendiary bomb attacks. They were out in the open when the Enola Gay dropped its load.  

There were so many spontaneous fires set as a result of the bomb that a crewman of the Enola Gay stopped trying to count them. Another crewman remarked, "It's pretty terrific. What a relief it worked."

Well, the obvious big news that occurred on this date in history was the dropping of the Atomic bomb by American forces over Hiroshima. The United States remains the only nation in history to have dropped the bomb on another nation.

Here's a more detailed look at events that transpired on this date throughout history:

258 - St Sixtus II ends his reign as Catholic Pope

523 - St Hormisdas ends his reign as Catholic Pope

768 - Antipope Constantine II deposed

939 - Battle at Simancas - Spain beats Moors

1181 - Supernova observed by Chinese & Japanese astronomers

1497 - John Cabot returns to Bristol from North-America

1538 - Bogotá, Colombia, is founded by Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada.

1588 - Spanish Armada under Medina Sidonia anchors

1600 - Henry IV of France invades Savoy after negotiations break down over Saluzzo, controlled by Savoy since 1588

1601 - Spanish garrison of Meurs surrender to earl Mauritius

1623 - Maffeo Barberini elected Pope Urban VIII

1625 - Earl Earnest Casimir appointed as viceroy of Groningen

1661 - Holland sells Brazil to Portugal for 8 million guilders

1661 - The Treaty of The Hague is signed by Portugal and the Dutch Republic.

1675 - Russian Czar Aleksei bans foreign hairs cut

1726 - Emperor Karel VI & tsarina Catharina the Great sign military treaty

1774 - Founder of the Shaker Movement, Mother Ann Lee, arrives in NY

1787 - Constitutional Convention in Phila begans debate

1806 - Holy Roman Empire ends; it was neither holy, Roman, nor an empire

Founder of the Shakers Ann LeeFounder of the Shakers Ann Lee 1815 - US flotilla ends piracy by Algiers, Tunis & Tripoli

1819 - Norwich University is founded in Vermont as the first private military school in the United States.

1821 - 1st edition of "Courrier of Pays-Bas" newspaper published in Brussels

1824 - Battle at Junan - Simon Bolívars army beats Spanish

1825 - Bolivia gains independence from Peru (National Day)

1845 - The Russian Geographical Society is founded in Saint Petersburg.

1854 - Congress passes Confiscation Act

1856 - The Great Bell is cast in the Great Clock of Westminster (Big Ben)

1861 - Lexington KY-Union milt camp forms in neutral state

1861 - The British annex Lagos, Nigeria.

1862 - Confederate Army ironclad "Arkansas" is badly damaged in Union attack

1864 - Rebels evacuate Ft Powell, Mobile Bayd

1870 - Battle at Spicheren: Prussia beats France

1870 - White conservatives suppresed black vote & captured Tenn legislature

1890 - Denton True "Cy" Young pitches and wins his 1st major league baseball game

Military and Political Leader Simon BolivarMilitary and Political Leader Simon Bolivar 1890 - At Auburn Prison, New York murderer William Kemmler becomes first person to be executed by electric chair.

1896 - France annexes Madagascar

1901 - Kiowa land in Oklahoma is opened for white settlement, effectively dissolving the contiguous reservation.

1905 - 26.7 cm rainfall at Princeton, Indiana (state record)

1908 - St Louis Card John Lush's 2nd no-hitter, beats Dodgers, 2-0 in 6 inn

1909 - Alice Ramsey and three friends become the first women to complete a transcontinental auto trip.

1910 - NYC Mayor Wm J Gaynor seriously wounded during assassination attempt

1914 - Austria-Hungary declares war on Russia & Serbia

1914 - French cavalry enter Belgium

1914 - German Zeppelin bombs Liege City, 9 killed

1914 - Serbia declares war against Germany

1914 - Denis Patrick Dowd Jr. enlists in the French Foreign Legion, becoming the first American to fight in World War I.

1917 - World War I: Battle of Mărăşeşti between the Romanian and German armies begins.

1918 - Ferdinand Foch becomes marshal of France

1918 - In WW I 2nd battle of the Marne ends

1919 - 1st air flight over a major body of water in Australia (Harry Butler)

1919 - Romanian forces destroys Bela Kun Republic in Budapest

1921 - Clason Point, Bronx to College Point, Queens muni ferry system begins

1926 - NY's Gertrude Ederle becomes 1st woman to swim English Channel

1926 - Warner Bros premieres Vitaphone sound-on-disc movie system (NY)

1926 - Don Juan with John Barrymore shown

1930 - Supreme Court Justice John Force Crater disappears in NYC

1930 - Remains of Solomon Andrees' balloon expedition to North Pole in 1897, found at Kvit oya Spitsbergen

1934 - US troops leave Haiti, which had been occupied since 1915

1936 - 1st time in 20th century, 1st 2 batters in a game-Roy Johnson & Rabbit Warstler of Boston Bees-lead off with HRs

1937 - Franco-artillery fire on Madrid

1937 - Indians overturn Yankees' 7-6 win by a protest

1937 - US & USSR sign trade treaty

1939 - 1st broadcast of "Dinah Shore Show" on NBC-radio

1940 - Estonia is annexed into Soviet empire

1941 - Detroit pitcher Al Benton is 1st to collect 2 sacrifices in an inning

1942 - -8] Riots by Dutch Jews

1942 - Assinibaine destroyer sinks U-210

1942 - Churchill fires Gen Auchinlek as Middle-East commandant

Nazi Politician Hermann GoeringNazi Politician Hermann Goering 1942 - Hermann Goering proclaims occupied areas "thoroughly empty to plunder"

1943 - US 1st Infantry division occupies node Troina Sicily

1944 - All 1,200 Jewish death marchers from Lipcani Moldavia have died

1944 - Anti-German attack at Avranches fails

1944 - Deportation of 70,000 Jews from Lodz Poland to Auschwitz begins

1944 - US 20th Army corp under general Walker occupies Nantes

1945 - Hiroshima Peace Day-atom bomb dropped on Hiroshima by "Enola Gay"

1945 - Keith Miller scores 110 in the 4 Victory Test Cricket at Lord's

1946 - US officially submits to jurisdiction of World Court

1947 - 1st performance of Villa-Lobos' "Bachianas Brasilieras No 8"

1948 - Bob Mathias, US, wins decathlon at London Olympics

1948 - Dreesgovernment (KVP/Social Democratics/CHU/Liberal) forms

1948 - Fanny Blankers-Koen (Neth) is 1st women to win 3 golds at Olympics

1949 - Luke Appling record of 2,154 (en route to 2,218) games at shortstop

1951 - Typhoon floods kill 4,800 in Manchuria

1952 - Satchel Paige, 47, becomes oldest pitcher to win a complete shutout

1953 - Ted Williams returns to Red Sox from the military

1954 - WLAC (now WTVF) TV channel 5 in Nashville (CBS) begins broadcasting

1956 - After going bankrupt in 1955, the American broadcaster DuMont Television Network makes its final broadcast, a boxing match from St. Nicholas Arena.

1958 - Glenn Davis sets record of 49.2 in 400-meter hurdles

1958 - US performs atmospheric nuclear test at Johnston Island

1960 - Pitt Steelers (NFL) beat Toronto Argonauts (CFL) 43-16 in Toronto

1961 - Gherman S Titov, 2nd Russian in space aboard Vostok 2 (17 orbits)

1961 - Mickey Wright wins LPGA Waterloo Golf Open

1961 - 1st case of motion sickness in space reported

1962 - Jamaica becomes independent after 300 years of British rule

1964 - Pope Paul VI publishes encyclical Ecclesiam Suam

1964 - Prometheus, the world's oldest tree, is cut down.

1965 - 32nd NFL Chicago All-Star Game: Cleveland 24, All-Stars 16 (68,000)

1965 - Beatles release "Help" album in UK

1965 - Federal Voting Rights Act guarantees black voting rights

1965 - Indian troops invade Pakistan

1965 - LBJ signs Voting Rights Act, guaranteeing voting rights for blacks

1966 - Muhammad Ali KOs Brian London in 3 for heavyweight boxing title

1966 - Salazarbrug over Tag opens (longest suspension bridge of Europe)

1966 - US citizens demonstrate against war in Vietnam

1967 - Kathy Whitworth wins LPGA Lady Carling Golf Open

1967 - Minn Twin Dean Chance perfect games Boston Red Sox, 2-0 in 5 innings

1967 - Oriole Brooks Robinson hits into a record 4th triple play

1967 - Pope Paul VI publishes constitution Pro comperto sane

1969 - Balt Orioles pull their 3rd triple play (5-4-3 vs KC Royals)

1970 - France performs nuclear test at Muruora Island

1972 - Garry Player wins PGA golf tournament

1972 - Hank Aaron hits 660th & 661st HRs for Braves (record for 1 team)

1972 - Kathy Whitworth wins LPGA Knoxville Ladies Golf Classic

1973 - Roberto Clemente & Warren Spahn inducted into National Baseball Hall of Fame

1973 - Stevie Wonder involved in car crash, goes into a 4 day coma

1974 - 6th time Phils get just 1 assist in game; no other team did it twice

1974 - Explosion & fire destory Great Northern RR yard in Wenatchee, Wash

1976 - Zulfikar Ali Bhutto lays the foundation stone of Port Qasim, Karachi.

1977 - Judy Rankin wins LPGA Colgate European Women's Golf Open

Singer-Songwriter Stevie WonderSinger-Songwriter Stevie Wonder 1978 - 60th PGA Championship: John Mahaffey shoots a 276 at Oakmont CC PA

1978 - Nancy Lopez wins LPGA Colgate Europea Golf Open

1979 - 61st PGA Championship: David Graham shoots a 272 at Oakland Hills Mich

1979 - Marcus Hooper, 12, is youngest person to swim English Channel

1980 - University adm declares 5 Pac-10 schools ineligible for conference titles & post-season play due to transcript & curriculum abuses

1981 - Argentina ex-president Isabel Peron freed

1981 - Due to strike, Yanks, A's, Philles & Dodgers declared 1st ½ champs

1981 - NASA launches Fltsatcom-5, it failed

1981 - crowned Miss National Teen-Ager

1982 - 22nd Curtis Cup: US, 14½-3½

1982 - California Doug DeCinces hits 3 HRs again in game (did it 5 days ago also)

1982 - WQXI (Atlanta) is 1st to use Harris Corp AM stereo system

1983 - Minnesota Vikings beat St Louis Cards 28-10 in London, England (NFL expo)

1983 - Supertanker Castillo de Bellvar crashes at South Africa

1984 - 203.05 million shares traded in NY Stock Exchange

Olympic Sprinter and Long jumper Carl LewisOlympic Sprinter and Long jumper Carl Lewis 1984 - Carl Lewis wins 2nd (long jump) of 4 gold medals in Summer Olympics

1985 - 19th space shuttle mission (51-F), Challenger 8, lands at Edwards AFB

1985 - Major League Baseball Players Association go on strike

1985 - Players' Association stages a midseason baseball strike (lasts 1 day)

1985 - STS 51-I vehicle moves to launch pad

1986 - Orioles (Dwyer & Sheets) & Rangers (Harrah) hit record 3 grand slams

1986 - Phil Katz releases PKARC version 1.0, for IBM

1986 - Record 3 grand slams hit in game Tx vs Balt (Harrah, Sheets & Dwyer)

1988 - Oakland A's Jose Canseco becomes 11th to hit 30 HRs & steal 30 bases

1988 - Rich Gossage 300th career save (beats Phillies)

1988 - The Tompkins Square Park Police Riot in New York City spurs reform of the NYPD, who were responsible for the melee that transpired the night of August 6-7.

1989 - "Oh! Calcutta!" closes at Edison Theater NYC after 5959 performances

1989 - Beth Daniel wins LPGA Greater Washington Golf Open

1989 - Boston Red Sox retire Carl Yastrezemski's #8

1989 - Jaime Paz Zamora inaugurated as president of Bolivia

1989 - Pilot Union tells pilots okay to cross Eastern picket lines

1990 - NY Yankee Kevin Mass sets record with 11th HR in 1st 86 at bats

Pakistani Politican Benazir BhuttoPakistani Politican Benazir Bhutto 1990 - President Ghulam Ishaq Kahn dismisses Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto in Pakistan

1990 - UN Security Council votes 13-0 (2 abstensions Cuba & Yemen) to place economic sanctions against Iraq

1991 - Debbie Doom (US) pitches 2nd consecutive perfect game in women's softball at the Pan American Games, beats Nicaragua, 8-0

1991 - Tim Berners-Lee releases files describing his idea for the World Wide Web. WWW debuts as a publicly available service on the Internet.

1992 - Harold Wilson's academy award is auctioned for $60,500

1993 - Japan Hosokawa government begins

1993 - Pope John Paul II publishes Veritatis splendor encyclical

1994 - Algerian Moslem fundamentalists threaten school/Universities

1995 - "Damn Yankees" closes at Marquis Theater NYC after 510 performances

1995 - Dottie Mochrie wins McCall's LPGA Golf Classic at Stratton Mountain

1995 - Indians & Browns play in Cleveland on same day for 1st time ever both lose - Chicago 5, Indians 1; Giants 19, Browns 13 (exhibition)

1995 - Thousands of people in Hiroshima tribute on 50th anniversary of bomb

1996 - NASA announces that life may have existed on Mars (ALH84001)

1997 - Microsoft announces it will invest $150 million in Apple Computer Inc

1997 - NHL Nashville Tenn names Barry Trotz as its 1st coach

264th Pope John Paul II264th Pope John Paul II 2008 - Access 31 TV stops broadcasting in Perth, Western Australia.

2008 - A military junta led by Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz stages a coup d'etat in Mauritania, overthrowing president Sidi Ould Cheikh Abdallahi

2011 - A helicopter containing members of Navy SEAL 6 is shot down in Afghanistan killing 38.

2012 - Mount Tongariro, New Zealand, erupts for the first time in a century

1787 - The Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia began. The articles of the U.S. Constitution draft were to be debated.   1806 - The Holy Roman Empire went out of existence as Emperor Francis II abdicated.   1825 - Bolivia declared independence from Peru.   1879 - The first Australian rules football game to be played at night took place at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. The game was to promote the introduction of electricity to the city of Melbourne.   1890 - Cy Young achieved his first major league victory. He would accumulate 511 in his career.   1914 - Austria-Hungary declared war against Russia. Serbia declared war against Germany.   1926 - Gertrude Ederle became the first American woman to swim the English Channel. She was 19 years old at the time. The swim took her 14 1/2 hours.   1926 - Warner Brothers premiered its Vitaphone system in New York. The movie was "Don Juan," starring John Barrymore.   1939 - Dinah Shore started her own show on the NBC Blue radio network.   1945 - The American B-29 bomber, known as the Enola Gay, dropped the first atomic bomb on an inhabited area. The bomb named "Little Boy" was dropped over the center of Hiroshima, Japan. An estimated 140,000 people were killed.   1949 - Chicago White Sox player Luke Appling played in the 2,154th game of his 19-year, major league career.   1952 - Satchel Paige, at age 46, became the oldest pitcher to complete a major league baseball game.   1960 - Nationalization of U.S. and foreign-owned property in Cuba began.   1962 - Jamaica became an independent dominion within the British Commonwealth.   1965 - The Voting Rights Act was signed by U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson.   1969 - The first fair ball to be hit completely out of Dodger Stadium occurred. Willie "Pops" Stargell, of the Pittsburgh Pirates, hit the ball 506 feet from home plate.   1981 - Fire fighters in Indianapolis, IN, answered a false alarm. When they returned to their station it was ablaze due to a grease fire.   1981 - Lee Trevino was disqualified from the PGA Championship in Duluth, GA when he had his scorecard signed by Tom Weiskopf instead of himself.   1985 - The 40th anniversary of the Hiroshima atomic bombing brought tens of thousands of Japanese and foreigners to Hiroshima.   1986 - William J. Schroeder died. He lived 620 days with the Jarvik-7 manmade heart. He was the world's longest surviving recipient of a permanent artificial heart.   1986 - Timothy Dalton became the fourth actor to be named "James Bond."   1989 - Jaime Paz Zamora was inaugurated as the president of Bolivia.   1990 - The U.N. Security Council ordered a worldwide trade embargo with Iraq. The embargo was to punish Iraq for invading Kuwait.   1993 - The U.S. Senate confirmed Louis Freeh to be the director of the FBI.   1993 - Morihiro Hosokawa was elected prime minister of Japan.   1995 - Thousands of glowing lanterns were set afloat in rivers in Hiroshima, Japan, on the 50th anniversary of the first atomic bombing.   1996 - NASA announced the discovery of evidence of primitive life on Mars. The evidence came in the form of a meteorite that was found in Antarctica. The meteorite was believed to have come from Mars and contained a fossil.   1997 - Apple Computer and Microsoft agreed to share technology in a deal giving Microsoft a stake in Apple's survival.   1998 - Former White House intern Monica Lewinsky spent 8 1/2 hours testifying before a grand jury about her relationship with U.S. President Clinton.   1998 - The last new episode of Magic Johnson's talk show, "The Magic Hour," aired.

1806 The Holy Roman Empire ended with the abdication of Emperor Francis II. 1825 Bolivia declared its independence from Peru. 1926 Gertrude Ederle became the first U.S. woman to swim across the English Channel. 1945 The first atomic bomb used in warfare was dropped on Hiroshima, Japan. 1962 Jamaica gained its independence within the Britain Commonwealth. 1965 President Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which outlawed the poll taxes and literacy tests that had restricted black voter registration in the South. 1997 British prime minister Tony Blair and Sinn Fein president Gerry Adams meet—the first time in 76 years that a British leader and an IRA ally meet. 2003 Arnold Schwarzenegger announced his candidacy to replace Gray Davis as governor of California to Jay Leno on the Tonight Show. 2012 Curiosity, a SUV-size rover, successfully landed on Mars. The rover's research has been planned for the next two years, but since Curiosity's electricity is powered by plutonium, it could be operational and provide insight into Mars for decades to come

The following links are to web sites that were used to complete this blog entry:

http://www.historyorb.com/today/events.php

http://on-this-day.com/onthisday/thedays/alldays/aug06.htm

http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history

http://www.infoplease.com/dayinhistory

A List of Historically Inaccurate Movies

Now, I actually knew about the historical inaccuracies of the two Mel Gibson movies mentioned in this article. Both "The Patriot" and "Braveheart" have numerous historical inaccuracies throughout.

For example, in the movie "Braveheart", the events depicted came way too early for them to be wearing kilts. Yet, there they are, wearing kilts some eight or so hundred years ago!

And as for "The Patriot", the scene where the villagers are locked in a church that the British subsequently set fire to never happened at all during the American Revolution, although it did happen in France, during the Nazi occupation there!

Also, the main historical figure that the fictional Benjamin Martin is based on, Francis Marion, was hardly a hero to be celebrated. He committed atrocities at least on the level of the British during the American war for independence, and was a racist who owned slaves, something that was conveniently taken out of the more sanitized and politically correct movie.

Some of the other movies listed are pretty interesting, and I was not entirely aware of the historical inaccuracies in all of them.

I will say this, though: some other movies probably could easily be on the list. I'm thinking "The 300" would be a prime example. There are some other movies that should be on the list, but I don't seem to be remembering them at the moment. Surely, some of those westerns of old, when Indians were systematically portrayed as barbaric savages would qualify.

Actually, come to think of it, there is one movie that I suspect is loaded with numerous historical inaccuracies, and I actually wrote a review about it earlier this year! That would be 1492, starring Gerard Depardieu, and it portrays Chistopher Columbus in the traditional historic view as some kind of a hero, conveniently omitting his mentioning of how the natives would make good slaves, and placing all of the blame on the abuses by the Spaniards under Columbus on a completely fictional character that never existed in real life.

Also, the movie Alexander has quite a few distortions in it, to my understanding.

And I did not want to mention it, since I suspect Tarantino was taking poetic licenses, and since it should be obvious to anyone with even a basic understanding of the events of World War II. But Nazi Germany certainly did not come to an end in a French movie theater, with Hitler, Goebbels, Goering, and Bormann all dying in a fiery cinema while watching a movie about German military glories.  I love "Inglorious Basterds", but you certainly do not want to get the impression that you are watching something that will provide a picture of what the past was really like. It might make a nice movie, but that is obviously not what happened.

On the flip side, I also heard that certain movies that tried to reverse historically inaccurate perceptions of history were themselves not quite historically accurate. I'm thinking of "Dances With Wolves", which was a beautiful movie that I always love watching, but which is probably too sappy and designed to please modern sensibilities and political correctness to be accurate.

One movie that, while not historically accurate in terms of actual characters, but which I suspect does actually provide a fairly realistic version of history would be "Blackrobe" a movie that I would recommend to anyone. The characters feel very real, and all of them are very human and flawed. It shows a conflict of when two cultures from very different worlds met, and as a result, the movie is a fascinating look at the time of colonization in the Americas.

Maybe you have some ideas on movies that are rife with historical inaccuracies? If so, please feel free to share your thoughts!






7 Movies Based On History That Lied

http://www.answers.com/article/1198027/7-movies-based-on-history-that-lied?param4=fb-demo&param1=now&param2=733631

One Man Gave Up $90,000 Voluntarily So That Other Minimum Wage Workers Could Get a Raise!

No, this is not a "typical" story in the news headlines these days.

We should be so lucky!

But these types of things do happen, and when they do, they should be news! We get so much bad news, that it is easy to lose sight of the fact that many people, perhaps even most people, are still good at heart, and want to do the right thing.

Here is a story about a University president who voluntarily gave up $90,000 that he was entitled to, so that minimum wage workers at the university would get a raise!

In this day and age, when headlines are dominated by corrupt, do-nothing politicians and by equally corrupt corporate CEO's and Boards that reward themselves huge bonuses, we need a reminder that not everybody is so damn greedy!

Yes, we live in an age where the political flavor of the moment in the United States (and the rest of the world, to a lesser extent) is all about reaping in as much profits as possible, and sacrificing everything (including the health of the planet itself, including land, water, and air!) all in the name of short-term profits. But indeed, some people are not so blinded by the bottom line of greed, and have their heads squarely on their shoulders.

This was a great story, and I thought it was something that definitely deserved sharing!

Take a look:



A university president gave up $90,000 to give his minimum wage workers a raise byLibby Nelson on August 4, 2014

http://www.vox.com/2014/8/4/5967181/kentucky-state-university-president-minimum-wage?utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook&utm_campaign=ezraklein&utm_content=monday