Category: Nonfiction

Posted on

Remembering the Battle of Gettysburg

Perhaps the most memorable battle of the Civil War was the Battle of Gettysburg. Fought on July 1-3, 1863 in and around the town of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. Many consider this battle the turning point of the Civil War. Prior to this battle the Confederate Army held more victories than the Union Army. General Robert E. Lee’s invasion of the North was halted at Gettysburg. This battle had the largest number of casualties during the entire war. Several films and documentaries were made about the battle with the most popular being Gettysburg (1993) starring Jeff Daniels, Martin Sheen, and Tom Berenger.

Why is it called the turning point of the war when the war continued for two more years? This was the final battle where Lee’s Army conducted strategic offensives. The following day July 4, 1863 was also the fall of Vicksburg, Mississippi. These two Union victories together are considered the turning point of the war. Some have even speculated that if Gettysburg had been a Confederate Victory, this would have ended the war. What some may not realize is the Confederate States of America believed they were preserving the country and the North was rebelling against their way of life.

One year before the Battle of Gettysburg, Mexico was defending itself from France. On May 5, 1862, the Battle of Puebla ended with Mexico defeating the French. Some believe that had the French won at the Battle of Puebla, they would have joined forces with the South during the Civil War. They might have gotten help from England as well. The victory at Puebla protected the integrity of Mexico but may have prevented the South from winning the Civil War. The Battle of Puebla is celebrated, more in the USA than Mexico, as Cinco de Mayo.

The United States is once again in a Civil War and the ideals of both sides remain the same. There are people who believe they are superior to others. And they want to destroy and hurt those other people. Let the Battle of Gettysburg and the Battle of Puebla be a reminder that prejudice, racism, hate speech, forceful control, and white supremacy will always lose. There are petitions and protests against Mexican children being locked up at the United States border. Mexico and one of the United States are fighting the other half. I think we’ll win again. Remember Gettysburg. Remember Puebla.

Posted on

What’s New Wednesday: July 1

Overall, not much is changing for the website this month. I’m sticking with the usual things as my pageviews each month continue to grow. We broke 500 pageviews for the month of June. Woot! I’ve stepped away from most social media to focus on the blog and website and things. I would like to have more videos on my YouTube Channel, but I don’t plan to work on any of that for the moment. I’m in the process of searching for a new apartment. That’s taking up most of my time this week.

Some new things I’m trying will include special blog posts. This is not your regularly scheduled programming. A couple extra posts here or there along with the usual things. I have a post every single day and now I’m expanding to throw in two posts a day. Maybe only once a week, but we shall see. If I feel the need to write something, I will write and post it. You’ll just have to read it and tell all your friends. I would enjoy hearing from you kind readers of my blog what you would like to read more about. Be it a specific topic or something random and new, I want to hear from you.

At some point I will try some new advertising and marketing avenues for my books. They fit my budget and perhaps cost to profit ratio will improve. I always get results, but the sales never justify the cost. I’ll let folks know how that goes in a post somewhere in the future. I hope to have many new things to talk about in August. It’s just around the corner but it still feels so far away. I’m sure the world will see several more disasters between now and then. I’m still convinced a ragtag team of special ops Bees took down the murder hornet threat. That’s why they disappeared.

Posted on

Wacky Wednesday: July 1

Welcome to the first Wacky Wednesday of July! I’m your host and we’ve got some cool and exciting things happening in this post. Our first wacky word is about words. Logomachy is a noun meaning a dispute about words or a controversy marked by verbiage. These are the kind of arguments politicians have. They might agree on terms but complain about the verbiage and word usage. It’s an easy way to filibuster. Our next word is a variation of a term many know. You might be familiar with couch potato. I present the noun Mouse Potato which means the same thing but instead of a couch, the person spends their time in front of a computer.

For our holidays today, we have National Postal Worker Day and, appropriately, National U.S. Postage Stamp Day. The first postage stamp was issued in 1847. Stamps were not required back then, and the recipient would pay for the delivery. Stamps became mandatory in 1855. National Postal Worker Day began in 1997. Today is also National Creative Ice Cream Flavors Day and National Gingersnap Day. These go well together because I’ve had a gingersnap ice cream. It was basically a vanilla ice cream with gingersnap cookies mixed in. Still a delicious ice cream but not recommended for anyone with an allergy to gluten.