Category: History

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300 Spartans over Critics & Islamic Fundamentalists

Spartans meet with islamic fundamentalist Iranian... er...

 

It is always interesting to see who and what people read into today’s movies… no sooner than the ‘300’ was released did an outpouring of criticism and political posturing grace our film season.

The ‘300’ — for those of you who are visiting from Endor — is a true-to-life movie about how 300 Spartans ( read: the present day Western Civilization or the Greek City State of Sparta that defined the word ‘macho’) held off the invading armies from the east ( read: today’s fundamentalist Islam or Persians from the same locale). The Spartans died to the last man but not before stretching the invading armies supply lines and creating great spirit among the Greeks of their time.

Needless to say, the current Iranian leader is most upset for reasons that are easy to guess. Obviously, he wants Western powers to stay impotent and hopeless… this movie offers the opposite.

The story of what became the Battle of Thermopylae is fascinating. Leonaidas ( one of the two kings of Sparta… yep, two kings) picked 300 of his toughest soldiers with one additional requirement… that each man was already a father. The ‘Persians’ wanted the Greeks to surrender and the exchange went something like this…

…Then Xerxes I asked him more forcefully to surrender their arms. To this Leonidas gave his noted answer: Μολών Λαβέ (pronounced: /molɔːn labe/), meaning “Come take them”.

Movie Critics are upset for a number of reasons … although they are not upfront about it. My guess is that although they are pleased that the heroes all died, they are not happy that any good came from it. Historical lessons sometimes do that to us… point us to what is real and what needs to be done. There is a lot we all can still learn from the Spartans.

By the way, don’t look for the ‘300’ to be on the ‘Oscars’ short list… the Academy is full of weenies. However, this a must see movie.

Roger Freberg

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Short Legs a virtue… in combat?

short legged wonderkind

 

Short legs are a virtue in combat… powerful and provide a lower center of gravity. It’s obviously harder to tip over.

An interesting article appeared in an on-line science magazine called “PhysOrg.com” on the apparent advantage of shorter legs for our ancestors… the picture on the left is of a gorrilla that the author states has an advantage in combat.

I have always observed that many of the better wrestlers are those with a lower center of gravity. It certainly seemed to be helpful for me… except in track.

Roger Freberg

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Discovering WHO we are

Help me... and I will give you money

 

Most of us have been sent emails saying that if we help them save millions of dollars from this or that we can keep a percentage for ourselves. Tempting?

I can only wonder what kind of person actually falls for this sort of thing? Is it little ol’ desperate grandma thinking about turning a good deed into cash? Or perhaps, it is a greedy sophisticated business man or woman…who thinks they are smarter than the crooks they are dealing with and… eventually get robbed or wacked?

The answer , I read, is a little bit of both.

Thommeny said police had identified victims who have been targeted in NSW, South Australia, Victoria, Cyprus, Malaysia, Japan, Norway, Greece, Indonesia, Hong Kong and England. In many cases victims were conned into handing over hundreds of thousands of dollars

So you can imagine how I felt when too burly men walked into my office and said that my Grandfather had passed away and I was set for an inheritance. What ‘grandfather?’

As they say, so began an adventure. My ‘evil’ grandmother divorced when my father was an infant and began calling him by a completely different name utilizing her maiden name; in the days before Social Security this was an easy matter. So my father grew up little knowing his father and eventually through my grandmother’s machinations lost track of him completely. We always wanted to look him up… but couldn’t find him as it appeared that he retired into a corner of the United States in which the population was 32…. Rulo, Nebraska.

As it turned out, the small inheritance rightfully went to our mother… but discovering a bit about my grandfather, seeing where he lived, visiting some of the places he belonged helped answer a few questions. We did discover that my father also had one living relative from that side… a cousin, and I have been conversing with one of his children… who was kind enough to provide a picture taken in 1974.

extended family in 1974

My grandfather is seated on the far left and aside from the fact that the clothes are … well… ’70’s rural… it is a glympse of a family I never thought existed. Heredity is not the total equation in determining who we become… but it is important.

So, treasures surely do exist… not necessarily in gold and silver, but in discovering a bit about ourselves. The real treasure is finding our roots and a little bit of who we are.

Roger Freberg

PS. My father went by the same name as I have legally, but his real name was the same as his father’s… Harold Hjersted. I had thought many times of changing to the patrilinial name… but we are who we are regardless… so I left it alone.

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Pearl Harbor Attack in Pictures!

Attack on Pearl Harbor

 

Sometime back, I really don’t know when, a footlocker was opened and some film was found from an old Browning Camera… remember those?

When the film was finally developed — after a very long time — some quite remarkable pictures popped up.

I like to think I am a student of history … but these pictures were rather remarkable. The devastation was far greater than I could have imagined.

In any event, I put together a group of these pictures that are merely thumbnails of larger version that you can further explore if your desires take you in that direction.

The vastly reduced pictures I have placed on this page… a Japanese Zero, and explosion and sinking American ships are just some of the photos recaptured from that old Browning camera. 

There are lessons still to be learned here… be prepared, take the battle to the enemy and never feel that you are truely safe… because as Thomas Jefferson said … the price of liberty is eternal vigilance.

Roger Freberg

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Abraham Lincoln… what did he know? … and when did he know it?

Captain Riley 1817

Contrary to some revisionist historians, many of the books before and during the Civil War depicted slavery as a central issue from which everything else sprang… so, how did the abolition of slavery become so central a theme to Abraham Lincoln’s vision of a new America? Here is one book that had an influence.

Captain James Riley was the subject of a documentary presented on the History Channel and available for purchase for roughly $24.95. The feature is called “Skeletons on the Sahara.” And there is a book out by the same name.

Here’s how the History Channel refers to Captain Rileys adventures:

“In 1815, a Connecticut merchant ship is run aground off the west coast of Africa. Captured by Arab nomads, Captain James Riley and his crew are sold into brutal slavery and marched across the Sahara Desert, where skin boils, lips blacken and men shrivel to less than 90 pounds. Along the way the Americans will encounter everything that could possibly test them, but Riley and his men will also discover ancient cities, secret oases and a culture largely unknown to the modern world. We’ll take viewers inside the adventure, with realistic recreations shot on location and compelling interviews with descendants of Riley, his crew and the Arabs who held them captive. Includes expert commentary from Dean King, author of the bestselling book of the same name.”

Now, the History Channel did a wonderful job in presenting Captain James Riley’s story… part of the title page of Captain james Riley's Narrativehowever, there is something very special and rare in reading from original work from which the presentation was based.

Originally published in 1817, I was able to obtain an 1836 copy of his revised edition…. or what folks refer to as a ‘working copy’ ( useful for study… but broken in some way). In any event, I was very very grateful to obtain one. However, you can buy a recent printing on Amazon.com.

Just for you, I have set up a page with selected pictures from my copy along with a couple of memorable passages… one passage is on the ritual of circumcision among Jews and Arabs in North Africa… and another passage by the author calling for the ending of slavery in the United States.

Interestingly enough, I found several accounts that Abraham Lincoln had read Riley’s Narrative … and a reference stating that Lincoln held the book in high regard… listing Riley’s narrative among some of his favorites… Pilgrim’s Progress and the Bible.

I have always enjoyed reading history through the eyes of those who lived it.. be it Herodotus or Captain Riley. An amazingly easy read.

Roger Freberg