Boulder Dam Memories

Memories of an early visit to the great Hoover Dam in the desert.

            They begin with times during WWII. You may know WWII as The Second World War. I knew it as The War. But this is not exactly about that war.

            My father was driving us around the U.S. Southwest. It was a big deal, with gas, oil, tires, and tubes being rationed as a part of the war effort. That brings back a lot of memories. Many things were rationed and lines to get them were long. We stood in lines for meat butter, and nylons. My father may have been combining touring with looking into new work. However, I will try to stick with the "Boulder Dam" story.

            Soon we were at that new dam and parked right on it. Then we were going down on an elevator to below water level. I was wide eyed, looking, and listening, perhaps with my heart beating faster than usual. On the elevator were some workmen who were still working on the dam. My father was talking with them. I think they were talking more about the war, the depression, and the president, than about the dam. For the times, a great dam.

            We saw some plaques telling about the great Hoover Dam, the great desert lake that it formed and the electricity that it was providing. The workmen on the elevator were telling my my father that they called the dam Boulder Dam, in part because of the great boulders moved while building it. But mostly the did not like to call it Hoover Dam, because Hoover had been such a bad president that he didn't deserve to have the dam named after him. They did not want the dam to be named after him.

            President Hoover had been of the Republican party. The President at the time was FDR, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, of the Democratic Party. Most people liked President Roosevelt and so did the workmen. Both parties were different then from now. FDR is the first president of which I have living memories. I am back in memories of more than 70 years ago, damn.

            I have just looked at an old newspaper online. It was dared March 4th 1929 and in it I read "Herbert Clark Hoover is inaugurated as President of the United States." A bit father along it goes on. "He announces that the government should assist and encourage these movements of of collective self-help." That announcement makes me think that he may deserve to have the dam named after him. 

            I do not remember those "movements of collective self help." They were before my time. Still, they have a pleasant ring to them.

            But, I acknowledge that I have liked the name Boulder Dam since that family visit there.

            FDR was our president then and he was OK.

            President Hoover may have died in 1964, I think. If so he live long and prospered. The year 1964 felt like a turning point in US history. The country felt different after that, especially the politics. About that time everyone seemed to have begun to use the word "them" when speaking of the government. Before then I remembered everyone using "us" and "we" when speaking of the government. We didn't say "the government" we said "our government."

            Anyway President Hoover was a Progressive Republican and raised a Quaker. All to the good. He was interested in getting rid of inefficiency in business and government. Sounds good to me. He was president  as our country fell into economic depression. Tough on him and nearly everyone else. He lost some points and votes because he supported the unpopular Prohibition of the drinking of alcohol.

            Hoover Dam was part of a good public works program designed as a practical method to get wealth flowing and put people to work. The dam is still a useful part of our national infrastructure. Hoover deserves some credit for that program.

            I might find incentive to write about FDR later.

            Writing this little piece has brought many memories to me. I remembered much of the dramatic beauty of the American Southwest, our awareness of economics and politics, the World War, the high hopes, the memories of a child

            We have a lot to learn as we continue to interpret the doings and happenings of our not so distant past. We will need all of our experience, good sense, and cooperative skills as we move into our future. 

            Thank you to those who use our comment section. The is a place to comment available at RCS Posts

            How far back do your early memories go? The 1990s? The 80s, '70s? "60s? Tell us a bit? 

            I appreciate your visit and reading.

            If you enjoyed this essay you may find another to enjoy by exploring RCS Posts

                                                                                                                    RCS

 

Writing: First Words.

 

Writing With RCS: We are born with talents. Writing is a developing skill

 

Skills are developed and maintained with practice. 

            As an aid to improving your writing skills you can keep a free-writing diary as a practice tool. You may also find that it is a great source of writing ideas.

            Keep your free-writing in a private diary, journal, or notebook. No one but you need ever read a word you put there. In that private place you can write whatever you want in any way you want to.
 

            "Free-writing" is writing without judgement or criticism. Do no editing, corrections, or rewrites. All there is to it is to do it.

            Do not throw away what you have free written. You can use it to discover subjects you can enjoy writing more about.

            In your notebook, journal, diary, write. Produce a finished piece of writing. Keep a topic in mind. Digressions are okay, but when you find yourself digressing in this practice bring yourself gently back to the topic.
 

            Digression are to be honored and respected. After all they do come from your beautiful mind. 
                

            The idea in this practice is to keep writing. Do not stop writing. Do not stop for anything but the most serious and urgent reason. 
            

            You may say to yourself "Let's remember the topic," but do not let a little digression of yours bother you.  Gently practice the discipline of keeping the topic in mind as you honor and value your digressions. 
            

            It does seem that we writers are very much about digressions. They may lead us to our best writing. Still we do not want them to keep us from finishing a piece of work. 

            As an aid toward helping myself to finish a piece of work I have told myself to write down everything I can think about the topic at the moment.                     

            Later you can look for your digressions in you work above.  Do another writing exercise based on your digressions. Let your digressions enrich your writing. Your  digressions may give you topics that motivate the real you.

             Peter Elbow's book WRITING WITHOUT TEACHERS has inspired me know that it is truly possible to write better with appropriate practice and Useful attitude. 

            Use the "comments" section below to contact me. Do so by clicking on "comments." If you see "no comments" click on it.

            You can find more posts on this topic at Writing With RCS.

            Thank you for reading.

            Keep writing.

 

                                                                                             RCS

                                                                                

"Comments" App

 The"comments" application for this Mago Bill site has been taken

                When you want to make a comment on the content of a post on this site you can go to RCS Posts and "comments" there and make your comment. Make sure that you do include that you are commenting on a Mago Bill post. Also give title of the post on which you are commenting.

                    Your comments are importante.

                    You can get to RCS Posts to make your comment by clicking on the blue  RCS Posts above.

                                                                                                    rcs

Civics for the Brave and the Free

Some "how to" for civics

Civility is an important part of civics and politics.

We can profit by learning:

~ some collaborative leadership.

~ about a deeper level of tolerance.

~ about sources of conflict.

~ how people who are fundamentally different from each other can develop sensibilities that enable them to get along.

~learning about consensus building.

 

We are at our civic best when we:

~ are listening. 

~ are working in partnership with others.

~ lead by example.

~ have the courage to be appropriately humble.

                We can practice and learn and, we can learn and practice. My old aunt told me that by beginning, we are halfway there. After beginning one does one's best by keeping on keeping on.

                                                                RCS

Your Common Law

We live and thrive better with our knowledge of Common Law. It helps us to live and thrive in greater clarity. Its empowering. With a couple of viewings of this video you will understand common law more usefully than do most of us.

                                                                                                        rcs

A Reminder About This Kind of Dialogue

   A bit of a definition of our usefully different kind of dialogue.

 

             I write about a new kind of dialogue. It is mostly for groups of as small as 9 to groups of about 39. 

            Below are some descriptive notes about what is, and what it is not. See other posts on the benefits of this more productive and satisfying way to communicate. It can work wonders with your husband and has been successful in some very large groups.

Our dialogue practice is not a:

~ place to make a particular point prevail.

~ debate or even a discussion. 

~ time to attempt to make points.

~ game to win or lose.

 

This new dialogue practice is a way to:

~ meaning and understanding.

~ an activity which helps us to be us.

~ through the meaning of word.

~ an honest, supportive activity.   

~ greater awareness and enhanced consciousness.

~ hone your listening skills.

~ develop new speaking skills.

~ effective methods of communication. 

~ cultural preservation and creation.

~ make a healthy, effective society more probable.

~ meet interested people in an interesting environment.

~ put honest thoughts "on the table" where we can look at them and begin to find their meaning.

~ be heard.

~ find pleasure in speaking-up.

~ understanding among us and within us.

~ satisfying relationship.

~ exchange idea and opinion more safely. 

~ share experience.

~ more effective communication beyond the group.

~ practice a "second" language.

~ peace and good will.

~ to see our words as gifts.

According to Dr. David Bohm a similar dialogue practice is:

~ participating in a flow of meaning between us, through us, and among us.

~ an activity out of which emerges new and renewed understanding.

~ an activity which helps us to be an us.

            Could you find a way to practice a dialogue of this sort? Could you practice a dialogue more of this sort in your group?

            You can open a window below to make a comment, a suggestion, and ask a question. You might have to click on where where "no comment" is printed below.

            Thanks for reading.

            Now comments are needed. 

            To begin to learn more about this kind of dialogue you can go to the Dialogue With RCS website.  You can get to Dialogue With RCS by clicking on the blue Dialogue With RCS just above.

            

                                                           RCS

          

A Leading Republican

  Napoleon Bonaparte, a leading republican of his day, was willing to become Emperor of France

                France welcomed him as Emperor. There may be a lesson to be learned from this bit of history.
                Napoleon did bring reforms to Europe and beyond in the fields of science, education, and a variety of cultural areas. These works could be called republican.
                The legal system called the Napoleonic Code, influenced much of Europe and a significant part of the rest of the World. Napoleonic law is an important part of the law of the U.S. state of Louisiana. 
                Napoleon was a warrior, a leader of armies. Some have said that he won a war against  Russian. To attack Russia, he left home with about a half million men. He returned home with about 20,000 men and "the shirt on his back."
                He met his "Waterloo" in a battle against Prussia and Britain. In that battle Prussia "saved Britain's bacon.
                After Waterloo, Britain, Spain, Prussia, Austria, Russia, and others joined one another in suppressing liberal movements throughout Europe. 
 
This is a TEST:
~ Why do the histories of so many revolutions seem revolting?
~ Where is your revolution headed?
~ Why might a republican be willing to become an emperor?
~ What is a "loo?"
~ Why ought the citizens of a republic be responsible?

                                                                                       rcs

Writing: First Words

 Writing With RCS: We are born with talents. Writing is a developing skill

 

Skills are developed and maintained with practice. 

            As an aid to improving your writing skills you can keep a free-writing diary as a practice tool. You may also find that it is a great source of writing ideas.

            Keep your free-writing in a private diary, journal, or notebook. No one but you need ever read a word you put there. In that private place you can write whatever you want in any way you want to.
 

            "Free-writing" is writing without judgement or criticism. Do no editing, corrections, or rewrites. All there is to it is to do it.

            Do not throw away what you have free written. You can use it to discover subjects you can enjoy writing more about.

            In your notebook, journal, diary, write. Produce a finished piece of writing. Keep a topic in mind. Digressions are okay, but when you find yourself digressing in this practice bring yourself gently back to the topic.
 

            Digression are to be honored and respected. After all they do come from your beautiful mind. 
                

            The idea in this practice is to keep writing. Do not stop writing. Do not stop for anything but the most serious and urgent reason. 
            

            You may say to yourself "Let's remember the topic," but do not let a little digression of yours bother you.  Gently practice the discipline of keeping the topic in mind as you honor and value your digressions. 
            

            It does seem that we writers are very much about digressions. They may lead us to our best writing. Still we do not want them to keep us from finishing a piece of work. 

            As an aid toward helping myself to finish a piece of work I have told myself to write down everything I can think about the topic at the moment.                     

            Later you can look for your digressions in you work above.  Do another writing exercise based on your digressions. Let your digressions enrich your writing. Your  digressions may give you topics that motivate the real you.

             Peter Elbow's book WRITING WITHOUT TEACHERS has inspired me know that it is truly possible to write better with appropriate practice and Useful attitude. 

            Use the "comments" section below to contact me. Do so by clicking on "comments." If you see "no comments" click on it. Too late it has been taken from us.

            For more about writing go to the Writing  With RCS web site by clicking on the blue Writing With RCS above.

            Thank you for reading.

            Keep writing.

 

                                                                             rcs

                                                                                         

OMG!!

The "comments" app has been taken from this site.  

                Now the "comments" app has been take from many of my sites and now sites of mine are being removed from the www, They cannot be found with a search of internet! I have found no way to reinstall comments apps, but there is still one available and I will find it and post the information of how to use it here.

                I am very sorry about this and I do not know what to do about it yet.

                                                                    Richard Sheehan

Dialogue With RCS

Dialogue With RCS is no longer as available as it once was, but it is available here.

                It may somehow my fault. Still a search on the internet no longer finds it.

However, you can find it here Dialogue With RCS

                Dialogue With RCS can also be found and reached with a click here on Mago Bill at the Associated Blogs app in our left hand column.

                Take a look at Dialogue With RCS and tell someone about it!

                Thank you for reading.

                                                                                                        rcs