History: The Year is 1948

I've uploaded year 1948 to the TSP Wiki...

http://tspwiki.com/index.php?title=1948

and for the sake of redundancy's sake...

http://alexshrugged.blogspot.com/

Here are some one liners...


Standing between Statehood and Annihilation -- The reestablishment of the state of Israel and why any sensible Arab would object.

A Wall between Church and State -- Judge Hugo Black continues to corral religion but despite the fact that I think he is a terrible person, I think he has a point here.



Notable Births -- See below.

This Year in Film -- See below.

This Year in Music -- See below.

In Other News -- See below.

Standing between Statehood and Annihilation

"You win, you bald-headed son-of-a-bitch!"

-- President Harry S. Truman, arguing with his friend, Eddie Jacobson, February 1948. ^[1]

Births are messy things. One percent of Jewish soldiers will be dead before this is over. One day it will be considered a fair trade. For now, untrained men step off the boat, grab a rifle and march off to face one of the fiercest types of Darwinian selection... war. For centuries Jews have been forbidden firearms. These skills and many more will have to be learned while under fire. But they have already undergone the most rigorous of Darwinian selections under the Nazis. "The best of us did not return," as Dr. Frankl said. By "best" he means "kindest". Those selfless souls who gave away their last crust of bread are dead now. What is left will do whatever it takes to survive because they already have. Most Jews are under military discipline, but there are smaller, independent groups that are terrorists, plain and simple. They are shooting Englishmen on sight, so the British forces are pulling out. Now it is Jew against Arab. It is probably better this way, however it turns out. But we are from the future. We know how it turns out, and how it will continue. ^{[2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11]}

My Take by Alex Shrugged
OK. What about the Arabs? What's their gripe? They have been getting hosed by the British, the French and the Italians for a good long time. Now the Russians want some of the action, so from the Arab perspective (setting aside any religious disagreements or antisemitism) the Jews look like just one more group of westerners trying to take all the land from the Arabs. Sure. They could make room, but why should they? Now insert any religious disagreements and outright antisemitism and you can see why the Arabs have their backs up. The USA has been trying to balance the principles of liberty with support for their World War 2 Allies, but they are all colonialists! And if the USA supported Arab independence, what should they do with the Jews? Forcing the Jews out of their Biblical homeland at the point of a bayonet looks bad in God-fearin' America, son! There were no good answers, so people picked the least bad ones and moved forward. (FYI, Alex Shrugged is Jewish and supports the State of Israel while acknowledging the many injustices that followed in the wake of its creation.)

A Wall between Church and State

The First Amendment has erected a wall between church and state. That wall must be kept high and impregnable.

-- Justice Hugo Black, writing for the court in Everson v. Board of Education (1947) ^[12]

In the aftermath of World War 2, the Churches are remembering how Hitler subverted their institutions with promises to protect "The True Church" from godless communism. Now the Churches are rethinking their relationship with the state. In this environment, a series of challenges to state support of religious institutions have come up. Last year in Everson v. Board of Education, Justice Hugo Black ruled that a separation between church and state must be nearly absolute. Now Justice Black must rule on whether a school district can set aside TIME AND SPACE for voluntary religious instruction. This is called release-time. Currently 1.5 million students attend weekly religious sessions on school grounds. In McCollum v. Board of Education, the school is picking the religious instructors and coaxing young James McCollum to choose one of the three religions. I know there are more than three religions and that's the point. Isn't it? The release-time program must undergo radical change. ^{[13] [14] [15]}

My Take by Alex Shrugged
The Baptists supported the ruling. I assume they were one of the religions being shut out by school officials. My experience with "release time" is unhappy. Hugo Black's ruling became a prohibition of any religious group renting a school room. They had to park a trailer on the street, and only the larger denominations could afford to do that. So why have religious instruction available at all? Students should understand what religion is even if their parents do not ascribe to a religion. I am Jewish, but I have studied Christianity. I know its value and its issues. I know Judaism's issues as well. We all have our complaints, but without an education in the basics, how can I hope to understand what is best for me? For an informed decision, I need to know what I am deciding about. Having the state decide that I don't need to know about ANY religion is itself coercive, and frankly, makes the state my only god by default. Telling me that it is my own responsibility is insufficient. It's like telling me that the school will teach reading and writing, but math is my responsibility. I'm not expecting calculus... just some basics so I can balance my checkbook, and my life. ^[16]

Notable Births

** Everyone listed below was living last time I checked.

• Al and Tipper Gore: VP of the United States and 2nd Lady, now divorced. ^[17]

• Howard Dean: Presidential candidate. "YEE HAH!" ^[17]

• Charles, Prince of Wales: the heir apparent to the throne of England. ^[17]

• Dennis Prager: Radio talk show host, author (and one of my heroes). ^[17]

• Terry Bradshaw: Pro Football Hall of Fame quarterback and analyst on Fox NFL Sunday. ^[17]

• And in Entertainment...

• -- In Music...: Ted Nugent, Cat Stevens, Ozzy Osbourne, and Olivia Newton-John. ^[17]

• -- Avery Brooks: Star Trek: Deep Space Nine's Captain Benjamin Sisko. ^[18]

• -- Samuel L. Jackson: Jurassic Park, Kingsman: The Secret Service and voice talent for the children's audiobook, Go the F--- to Sleep!. ^[17]

• -- Gerard Depardieu: French actor who left France after a 75% tax combined with other taxes became an effective 100% tax. ^{[17] [19]}

This Year in Film

• The Red Shoes: A young ballerina joins a ballet company called The Red Shoes. (In the fairy tale, a child is condemned to dance in her red shoes even after death.) ^{[20] [21]}

• The Treasure of the Sierra Madre: Starring Humphrey Bogart. ^[20]

• Key Largo: Starring Humphrey Bogart. ^[20]

• Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein: A comedy that makes as much money as any of the above films this year. ^{[20] [22]}

This Year in Music

• Twelfth Street Rag: An instrumental by Pee Wee Hunt & His Orchestra. ^{[23] [24]}

• Nature Boy: Nat King Cole. "The greatest thing is to love and be loved in return." ^{[23] [25]}

• The Woody Woodpecker Song: Kay Kyser & his Orchestra, vocal by Gloria Wood (with Harry Babbitt). ^{[23] [26]}

In Other News

• Zombies Beware! The Halligan Bar is here: Hugh Halligan prototypes a pry-bar for NY firefighters, and it works on zombies too. (BONUS!) ^{[27] [28] [29]}

• The 200-inch Hale Telescope is complete: It will remain the largest in the world for 28 years. ^{[30] [31]}

• The Hells Angels are founded: The motorcycle gang is named after a P-40 Mustang squadron in World War 2. ("The Flying Tigers" were a similar P-40 squadron.) ^{[30] [32] [33]}

This Year in Wikipedia

Year 1948, Wikipedia.