All Entries in the "Fractured Opinion" Category
Music in Punta del Diablo
A spectaclar autum afternoon in the South Atlantic Ocean town in Uruguay
Grace O’Malley, warrior from Connemara
Sure as I am a mountainy man from the wilds of Connemara she once lived here among us. The pirate goddess who said no to the queen of England. She robbed them all in good time-The Spanish, The Brits, the Portuguese… She might well have lightened the purse of the Russian Czar if she could have gotten at him.
Sailing the sea in the 16th Century with her loyal crew Grace O’Malley (Graine Ni Mhaille) massed riches beyond belief and in 1593 met and told Queen Elizabeth to take a leap when her majesty offered royal recognition. She then refused to bow to the Queen of England, who she did not honor as the Queen of Ireland.
In her 2006 biography of O’Malley, Irish historian and novelist Anne Chambers described her as:
a fearless leader, by land and by sea, a political pragmatist and politician, a ruthless plunderer, a mercenary, a rebel, a shrewd and able negotiator, the protective matriarch of her family and tribe, a genuine inheritor of the Mother Goddess and Warrior Queen attributes of her remote ancestors. Above all else, she emerges as a woman who broke the mould and thereby played a unique role in history.
Natural Flow in Punta del Diablo
Punta del Diablo, Uruguayan coast – March, 2023
GAELTACHT
Driving left of logic
on that mean, misty roundabout
leftover from the pubs of our roots
four-corpse fried full breakfast to boot.
It’s one regular Celt cult over here
splashed Eire green, beaches of pebbled priorities
ages of breaths taken
then released along the boreen.
Blood relatives rolling chimes off lips
brandished by the paths of armies
and mythologies dispatched
by vigilant moss, cutting sea breezes.
Harbor in tears, crashing waves
judged too soon by Cranberry Druids
land of emigrant departures
Fenian convicts on the sea.
Endless red cavalry stopped
in its tracks by angry fir
with only pikes against artillery
potato stars and mad mornings.
And the lough came into the sitting room
for his afternoon tea.
Boatloads of vanquished Blasket Islanders
victims of a fishless ocean
drift toward the rocky An Daingean
refugees from Europe’s most westerly isles.
Paddy’s last name is O’Flaherty
It’s been so and is sure not a rarity
his whiskey pot still
his life a crisp parity.
Where they still speak it
in out of the rain
telling the tale
in careful ancient words.
Labor Department Suggests Stupid Days
(Washington) A new federal program, aimed at relieving work-related stress and decreasing employee absenteeism, will be implemented by 2024 if the U.S. Department of Labor has its way.
The project, dubbed The Stupid Agenda, calls for the assignment of five stupid days per year per employee. The plan will be tested next month at more than 200 factories and mills throughout the country and a final approach will be determined by summer.
“If I guy wakes up in the morning and he can’t get it together he can just call in stupid,” said one human behavior analyst. “It’s like calling in sick but you don’t have to lie.”
The analyst went on to say that several industries already honor mental health days and vacation days but pointed out that these excuses leave a lot of gray area unexplored.
“Of course we expect that some employees will take advantage of the new program and take their stupid days in a row,” he sighed. “Many go on stupid cruises or go to stupid Las Vegas. It will be up to the individual business to police its own shop and regulate the extension of stupid days to people who really don’t deserve them.
According to unconfirmed sources here the federal government has been engaged in a secret stupid day exchange since about 1902. Frighteningly enough, most major decisions made since then were formulated by top level officials who had called in stupid.
“It’s about time we caste off the yoke that tells us we were put on earth to labor,” explained the government spokesman. “The concept of stupid days serves as a reminder that when it really comes down to it, life is rather silly at best.”
-Dinty Moore
“Blame who you will. Point the Yankee finger. But the drug problem begins at the end of the nose of the United States. Sure, I’ll grow corn instead of coca and watch as my children starve.”
– Emilio Chinchina, Colombian farmer.
SILVER CAMP NOTES
“Death went a prospecting
And he was no fool.
Here he struck Faithful Pete
The emigrant mule.”
– grave marker outside Ohio City, 1893
Alpine Tunnel Crews Wreck Pitkin
(Pitkin –1880) Steam-blowing railroad workers destroyed most of downtown Pitkin last night during a weekly Saturday night riot Brought on by lots of alcohol and little to do according to the local magistrate the disturbance caused broken windows, shattered street lamps and a fire at the local livery stables.
For years a love-hate relationship between the railroad workers, engaged in the construction of the Alpine Tunnel, and the town’s 1200 residents, has festered. Merchants in the town appreciate the workers’ silver but resent the noise and occasional violence. The workers, who camp at Alpine all week, look forward to sojourns into Pitkin, a town which boasts saloons, a bank and live women.
According to The Pitkin Independent “We predict that the population of our town will double by next year thanks to the excellent grade of ore from mines like Tycoon, Terrible and Little Addie Addie. In 1882 when the Denver and South Park Railroad reaches us we can expect continued growth. Just look at Quartz,” it continued. “Only months ago it was no more than placer claims and tin shacks near the summit of Cumberland Pass, and now it has a smelter and now there’s more gold dust than elk scat!”
The paper then challenged residents to put an end to the rabble rousing and turn from a mining camp to a fine city, one which might rival other booms towns like Lake City and Eureka in the San Juans, even Leadville.
Masterson Hired by Silverton Council
(Silverton — 1879) In an attempt to keep the lid on notorious Blair Street the Silverton Town Council has hired Bat Masterson as sheriff. The drastic action comes on the heels of an increase in murders and shootings, often resulting from claim jumping and gambling arguments. Blair Street is said to attract some of the top gamblers and prostitutes in the West. It is feared that this unsavory element will control the town.
“We’re pulling more silver out of these mines than anyone could have imagined prior to the Brunot Treaty,” said one leading citizen whose strike up Arrastra Gulch made him rich overnight. “Why should we let these low-lifes jeopardize our future successes? The troupes of preachers and soulful crusaders have had little affect. We’ve got 5 churches and 40 saloons. It’s time the community came together, some of them with their boots on if necessary.
Critics of the move say that despite his savvy, Masterson and his deputies may not want to see the demise of Blair Street.
“These peace officer have far more in common with the ruffians on Blair Street than they do with any legitimate social activity. I’ve seen them cruising the gaming dens and parlor houses on Saturday nights, but I’ve never seen them in church on Sunday.”
GRANT VISITS GOTHIC
Special from The Gothic Bonanza
(Gothic–1880) After weeks of sipping his way across Colorado General Grant arrived in Gothic tonight much to the delight of residents here. Gothic, settled primarily by former Unionists and war veterans, pulled out all the stops in an effort to outdo other boom camps such as Crested Butte and Irwin, who hosted the former President over the last weekend.
A great parade escorted the general into town and he gave a short speech from atop the local barber shop, paying his respects to the more righteous element of the town, then disappearing with local rowdies to sample the region’s poteen.
During his stay he attended several horse races and witnessed a series of terrible snow slides. Before leaving he settled several political disputes and visited the town’s largest sawmill.
Grant served two terms as President from 1879-1877 and due to alleged scandals and fraud within his administration he was not given the nomination in 1876. Republicans, concerned with accusations by the Democrats chose Rutherford B Hayes, who some said was “the most honest man they could find”.
The famous guest was accompanied to Gothic by William T Sherman, former general and Secretary of War and Zachariah Chandler, former Interior Secretary.
Earlier this month Grant visited Schofield, just south of Sonofabitch Basin, where he reportedly rode into town on a white mule accompanied by ex-Colorado governor John Long Routt. The townspeople were so exited that they rolled out a barrel of their best whiskey.* One eccentric resident, Old Lady Jack, presented the general with a freshly washed cat.
