Seattle is doomed! But in order for you to understand this, you need some basic Seattle history. This story is actually something I wrote for something else some other time, so it may not sound quite the same as I normally write for this blog. Let's just say that by studying Seattle, we are studying a city built on folly
Underground Seattle is a complex maze of passageways and basements in downtown Seattle. In the mid-1800s, when Seattle was just beginning, Underground Seattle was really the ground level. The city was built on the tide flats of the Puget Sound and thus flooded frequently.
The original buildings of Seattle were made of wood, and as the University of Washington Library states, the floors of the buildings were made of “wood chips and turpentine.” (University of Washington Libraries) The streets were muddy, and the people were coarse lumberjacks who seldom took baths.
Seattle was founded on November 13, 1851. A party of settlers led by a man named Arthur Denny landed on Alki Beach in November. (I may do another story on Seattle some other time. If I do, there will be more about the folly of his early settlement.) A man who was interested in the Northwest since an early time in his life, Arthur Denny seized the chance to go west when it came. He was partly influenced by his wife Mary. The city was also founded by the Terry group, and the Hines group. Little is known about these groups, but it’s better not to give all the credit to Arthur Denny.
When the Denny party landed on Alki Beach, now in downtown Seattle they named the place New York and then added bye and bye. Bye and bye became the Washington state motto. Part of the reason that Seattle was once named New York may have been because the biggest city, New York City, New York, where most of the Denny party had come from, was a three month journey. The Denny party hoped that Seattle would be able to take New York’s place as a large social center. Later the city was named Seattle after explorers met the powerful local Indian chief, Chief Sealth, or, Seattle, as we Americans called him.
This story was intended to be mainly about why Seattle is doomed so, enough of Seattle’s background. Let us instead skip to one of Seattle’s first mistakes: the Great Fire of Seattle. It started on June 6th, 1889, at 2:15 p.m., just after a beautiful spring.
The Great Fire started in a carpenters shop when a pot of glue, which was put on the stove by John Back, boiled over onto the sawdust and turpentine floor. The floor, of course, caught fire. When it was noticed, it was already too late to stop it. The fire soon ignited the liquor store on the one side, and a hardware store on the other side. Because of the massive logging industry of the time, all of the hardware stores carried dynamite, while everyone knows that alcohol is highly combustible. You can well imagine the result.
An equally important contribution to the greatness of the fire is Skid Row. The term Skid Row started in Seattle. It was really called Skid Road at first. The lumberjacks would skid the logs down the steep hill behind Seattle to the Puget Sound. After the logs had been put into the Sound, the lumberjacks would enter the bars. Thus, Skid Row was born.
At the time of the fire, drunken teenagers and men set fire to other buildings thinking that it was all in fun. Amazingly, no lives were lost in the fire. An article titled the Great Seattle Fire of June 6, 1889 tells us of the devastation caused by the fire. It says, and I quote, “Thousands of people were homeless, and 5,000 men were without jobs. The city estimated losses at more than $8 million, and that did not include personal property losses.” (U-S, comp.)
Where was the fire department all this time? Unfortunately, the fire Chief was out of town at a fire prevention conference! No one seemed to mind that. After all, they had two brand-new fire engines that would fix the problem in no time. However, they neglected to see if the fire engines were filled with water. Of course they weren't. No problem, said the city’s government, there’s the Sound just a hop, skip, and a jump away. So, they drove the fire engines over to the water. At least, they tried to. Un-happily, the tide was out causing the beach to be muddy. The engines got stuck and the people were forced to put out the fire in the old fashioned and unconventional way. A line of men passing buckets back and forth. The city of Tacoma, about half a day away, did send over their fire engines in time to help put out the fire, but it wasn’t enough to save Seattle.The fire destroyed almost the entire city. Thirty blocks were utterly demolished.
(It sounds like Seattle has already gone through its doom-edness. But this is only the beginning. Other, more terrible things are to come in Snippets of: Seattle, Part 2. However, Part 2 must wait it's turn. Next up is: Stories of My Life:__)
Friday, September 24, 2010
Monday, September 13, 2010
A Day in the Life of: Colonel David "Mickey" Marcus
"Hi, I'm Mickey Marcus, but you must never call me that. Here, in Palestine, I am Mickey Stone. Got it?"
After the Biblical scattering of the Jews before and during the World Wars, the Jews were at last released from concentration camps etc. throughout the world after the Second World War. Deprived of their former homes, the Jews had no place to go after the release and gradually, a new hope and dream began to inspire them all. The historically and culturally rich significance of Jerusalem was calling the Jews throughout the world, and most answered that call. As Christians, we all know that the Biblical regathering of the Jews was accomplished in 1948 when the Jews became a nation once again. Many of us however, are unaware of some of the most exciting events that occurred to bring the Jews to the point where they could declare themselves a nation.
In the intervening time before the Jews returned to Palestine, the Arab people had come into the beautiful land and claimed it for their own. When the Jews returned, something, or someone, had to give place. There wasn't room for two nations in the tiny country.
The Arabs were well supplied with weapons and supplies. Not only this, but the British were biased towards them. The British at the time were executing a withdrawal from Palestine. The Jews had returned to their historic homeland immediately after a period of helplessness and despair. As prisoners, they had owned nothing in the shape of weapons. They had not fought against anyone in such a long time that they had few ideas about how to manage and create an army, let alone an army that would defeat the well-equipped Arabs. David Ben-Gurion, and the other leaders of the Jewish people, knew that they needed the help of a real military advisor. For this reason, they turned towards the recently victorious country of America.
Mickey Marcus, after an extremely successful and colorful career in the military during WWII, had turned down the offer of brigadier-general and returned to his very beloved wife, Emmy, or "Snippy," and a successful law practice. He was interrupted one day by Major Shamir, from Palestine.
Mickey was a go-getter kind of guy. If somebody needed something, he didn't sit around talking about the problem and the various solutions. Instead, he got started doing something to fix it; immediately. When Major Shamir asked Mickey to help the Jewish people find a military expert, Mickey instantly called up all of his qualified friends. None of the viable options he came up with however were available. In the meantime, Major Shamir was sizing Mickey up. The Major was impressed with Mickey's quickness of action, his ability to see a situation from all its angles, and his willingness to help with all of his energy. Mickey was startled when he was asked to consider going to Palestine to help.
The idea however, grabbed his mind and would not leave. He fretted about how to tell his wife. But his wife eventually came around to his views. Mickey needed to be doing something for a cause.
Because of the British occupation, Mickey had to go under another name; thus, Mickey Stone was born. If it became known that an American officer was helping the "insurgents and rebels," American and British relations would go down the hole. That would be bad.
Mickey had planned to take the relevant parts of the American military manual with him, or have them shipped undercover when he arrived. Unfortunately, his undercover contacts for that part had to lie low. Instead, Mickey began memorizing huge portions of the manual. When he arrived in Palestine, he instantly jumped into the work of re-writing the manual from memory. The Jews were astonished. Mickey was one of those fortunate people who could escape with only a few hours of sleep. He was on the go almost 24-7. He not only met and advised the Jewish officials such as his "Boss" David Ben-Gurion, and other leaders of the Haganah and Palmach, but he also took the time to visit with the actual soldiers. The Jews appreciated his out-going helpful but teach-able attitude. Many other "experts" had told them things like "Put two battalions of tanks here, machine guns there." Mickey was the only one who came and used the resources which they already had. As Mickey said, why use what you haven't and can't get. Mickey came to help, but he knew that European modern warfare doesn't always work in the desert. (Much like the American Colonials and General Braddock). He was willing to be taught the methods that were viable for Palestine.
Before Mickey arrived, the Jews' fighting method was strictly individualistic. They used night raids, usually with only 1-3 people striking at one place. While it worked for the time being to keep the lines defended, attack by the modernly-equipped United Arab League was imminent. Mickey saw that individual attacks would not be enough to stem the tide. He liked to use the example of a finger versus a fist. "Look Boss, if I poke you with my finger, or even all five finger, but separately, it doesn't hurt. But if you put the fingers together like this...WAM!" Mickey's examples were always apt, even to the very different culture he was in. Within a few weeks, they all loved him.
The Haganah and Palmach leaders were anxious to get a real army going, and Mickey was too. However, he did realize that time was getting short. Unfortunately, he felt the Jews were being a little too impatient when they said they wanted a fully trained army within a month. "Make it six" Mickey said. After a little argument, Mickey relented, "All right, three, no less." The Jews still wanted it sooner. "Listen," Mickey replied, "how long does it take for a woman to make a baby?"
"Nine months,"
"Right, and what happens if she has it in four?"
This time, the Jews relented.
And so, in about three months, with the help of Mickey's prodigious energy, the makings of a real army began to show through. After a trip home, where Mickey pulled strings to ensure that the U.S. would recognize an Israeli state, Mickey returned to Palestine to help some more. He promised his wife he'd be back in June. He was, but not in the way they both thought. Always one to visit the front lines and be with the 'boys' (literally, some of them) he was killed by friendly fire a few weeks later. His body was shipped to America a few day's later in June.
Colonel David "Mickey Marcus was the only soldier buried at West Point while fighting under a foreign flag. A champion boxer, trusted Pentagon aide, one of the few who actually put together the surrender terms for WWII, one of the first parachuters (clandestinely) to land on D-day, cleanser of the New York corrupted Tammany jails, and possessor of numerous medals, Colonel Marcus was killed in Palestine on June 11, not 10 feet from where his name-sake, the David of the Bible, had danced after Goliath. Without him, Israel may not have been. Almost single-handedly, (figuratively speaking) he had won the Israeli War of Independence. According to David Ben-Gurion, "he was the best man we ever had."
You can read more about him in Cast a Giant Shadow, by Ted Berkman. It is an excellent book.
(This has been: A Day in the Life of: Colonel David "Mickey" Marcus. Look in next time to read: Snippets of:__)
After the Biblical scattering of the Jews before and during the World Wars, the Jews were at last released from concentration camps etc. throughout the world after the Second World War. Deprived of their former homes, the Jews had no place to go after the release and gradually, a new hope and dream began to inspire them all. The historically and culturally rich significance of Jerusalem was calling the Jews throughout the world, and most answered that call. As Christians, we all know that the Biblical regathering of the Jews was accomplished in 1948 when the Jews became a nation once again. Many of us however, are unaware of some of the most exciting events that occurred to bring the Jews to the point where they could declare themselves a nation.
In the intervening time before the Jews returned to Palestine, the Arab people had come into the beautiful land and claimed it for their own. When the Jews returned, something, or someone, had to give place. There wasn't room for two nations in the tiny country.
The Arabs were well supplied with weapons and supplies. Not only this, but the British were biased towards them. The British at the time were executing a withdrawal from Palestine. The Jews had returned to their historic homeland immediately after a period of helplessness and despair. As prisoners, they had owned nothing in the shape of weapons. They had not fought against anyone in such a long time that they had few ideas about how to manage and create an army, let alone an army that would defeat the well-equipped Arabs. David Ben-Gurion, and the other leaders of the Jewish people, knew that they needed the help of a real military advisor. For this reason, they turned towards the recently victorious country of America.
Mickey Marcus, after an extremely successful and colorful career in the military during WWII, had turned down the offer of brigadier-general and returned to his very beloved wife, Emmy, or "Snippy," and a successful law practice. He was interrupted one day by Major Shamir, from Palestine.
Mickey was a go-getter kind of guy. If somebody needed something, he didn't sit around talking about the problem and the various solutions. Instead, he got started doing something to fix it; immediately. When Major Shamir asked Mickey to help the Jewish people find a military expert, Mickey instantly called up all of his qualified friends. None of the viable options he came up with however were available. In the meantime, Major Shamir was sizing Mickey up. The Major was impressed with Mickey's quickness of action, his ability to see a situation from all its angles, and his willingness to help with all of his energy. Mickey was startled when he was asked to consider going to Palestine to help.
The idea however, grabbed his mind and would not leave. He fretted about how to tell his wife. But his wife eventually came around to his views. Mickey needed to be doing something for a cause.
Because of the British occupation, Mickey had to go under another name; thus, Mickey Stone was born. If it became known that an American officer was helping the "insurgents and rebels," American and British relations would go down the hole. That would be bad.
Mickey had planned to take the relevant parts of the American military manual with him, or have them shipped undercover when he arrived. Unfortunately, his undercover contacts for that part had to lie low. Instead, Mickey began memorizing huge portions of the manual. When he arrived in Palestine, he instantly jumped into the work of re-writing the manual from memory. The Jews were astonished. Mickey was one of those fortunate people who could escape with only a few hours of sleep. He was on the go almost 24-7. He not only met and advised the Jewish officials such as his "Boss" David Ben-Gurion, and other leaders of the Haganah and Palmach, but he also took the time to visit with the actual soldiers. The Jews appreciated his out-going helpful but teach-able attitude. Many other "experts" had told them things like "Put two battalions of tanks here, machine guns there." Mickey was the only one who came and used the resources which they already had. As Mickey said, why use what you haven't and can't get. Mickey came to help, but he knew that European modern warfare doesn't always work in the desert. (Much like the American Colonials and General Braddock). He was willing to be taught the methods that were viable for Palestine.
Before Mickey arrived, the Jews' fighting method was strictly individualistic. They used night raids, usually with only 1-3 people striking at one place. While it worked for the time being to keep the lines defended, attack by the modernly-equipped United Arab League was imminent. Mickey saw that individual attacks would not be enough to stem the tide. He liked to use the example of a finger versus a fist. "Look Boss, if I poke you with my finger, or even all five finger, but separately, it doesn't hurt. But if you put the fingers together like this...WAM!" Mickey's examples were always apt, even to the very different culture he was in. Within a few weeks, they all loved him.
The Haganah and Palmach leaders were anxious to get a real army going, and Mickey was too. However, he did realize that time was getting short. Unfortunately, he felt the Jews were being a little too impatient when they said they wanted a fully trained army within a month. "Make it six" Mickey said. After a little argument, Mickey relented, "All right, three, no less." The Jews still wanted it sooner. "Listen," Mickey replied, "how long does it take for a woman to make a baby?"
"Nine months,"
"Right, and what happens if she has it in four?"
This time, the Jews relented.
And so, in about three months, with the help of Mickey's prodigious energy, the makings of a real army began to show through. After a trip home, where Mickey pulled strings to ensure that the U.S. would recognize an Israeli state, Mickey returned to Palestine to help some more. He promised his wife he'd be back in June. He was, but not in the way they both thought. Always one to visit the front lines and be with the 'boys' (literally, some of them) he was killed by friendly fire a few weeks later. His body was shipped to America a few day's later in June.
Colonel David "Mickey Marcus was the only soldier buried at West Point while fighting under a foreign flag. A champion boxer, trusted Pentagon aide, one of the few who actually put together the surrender terms for WWII, one of the first parachuters (clandestinely) to land on D-day, cleanser of the New York corrupted Tammany jails, and possessor of numerous medals, Colonel Marcus was killed in Palestine on June 11, not 10 feet from where his name-sake, the David of the Bible, had danced after Goliath. Without him, Israel may not have been. Almost single-handedly, (figuratively speaking) he had won the Israeli War of Independence. According to David Ben-Gurion, "he was the best man we ever had."
You can read more about him in Cast a Giant Shadow, by Ted Berkman. It is an excellent book.
(This has been: A Day in the Life of: Colonel David "Mickey" Marcus. Look in next time to read: Snippets of:__)
Monday, September 6, 2010
Fountain of Thoughts: Memorization
I've been thinking about writing about Bible memorization for the last month or so. A couple of weeks ago, imagine my astonishment when someone at my church brought it up. Isn't it funny how such things happen. You'll be thinking about something, and then, all of a sudden, it seems as though everyone else has been thinking about the very same thing.
The topic of memorizing Scripture is an important one, and, to my mind, it ties in directly with my previous post in this series about persecution. Over and over in the Bible we are told memorize. Psalm 1: we're to "meditate on [His] word day and night." The word meditate here means to become so involved in God's word that we are talking and repeating it to ourselves. In Proverbs 3 we're supposed to "write it [His word] on the tables of our heart." These are only two examples. This theme literally permeates the Scripture. "Man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God." (Deut. 6).
The Bible does say that "not one jot or tittle will pass away." The Bible will remain forever. However, (and this is where it ties into persecution), the time will come for us in America where the Bible will become exceedingly scarce. In many churches in other closed countries, there are either only one Bible or part of a Bible in the entire congregation. Amos 8 says: "Behold, the days come, saith the Lord God of hosts, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord. And the shall wander from sea to sea, and from the north even to the east, the shall run to and fro to seek the word of the Lord, and shall not find it."
Aside from the direct commands to "treasure [His word] in our hearts" I believe the above verses from Amos is the number one reason to memorize Scripture. Amos continues: "In that day shall the fair virgins and young men faint for thirst." The time is coming when we may not be able to get our hands on a physical Bible. I believe, if we do not wish to spiritually faint for thirst of God's Word, that we must commit it to memory.
I myself have been doing so consistently for three, nearly four, years. At one chapter a month, or about a verse a day, I have currently memorized six books of the Bible, going on 8. (I'm at the end of Amos). A verse a day is easy, anyone can do it, even if you think it's too hard for you to memorize. The benefit for me so far has been a much closer look at individual verses. It's easy, when reading the Bible, to just skim. When you memorize it though, you're forced to look at what the verse really says. Aside from that, it is scientifically proven that memorizing Scripture helps to remember other things. I've started with the shorter books of the Bible, but I'm looking forward to getting to the longer books and being forced to memorize 2, 3, and 4, verses a day to accomplish my goal of a chapter a month. I'd like to encourage you to do the same. Figure out a system that works for you, and then keep at it. It takes work at first, but don't get discouraged, it gets easier as time goes on. Having an accountability partner to whom you can quote your verses can really help as well. For this week, try memorizing seven of your favorite Bible verses.
"The Lord bless you, the Lord cause his face to shine upon you...and give you peace."
(This has been Fountain of Thoughts: Memorization. Look in next time to read A Day in the Life Of__)
The topic of memorizing Scripture is an important one, and, to my mind, it ties in directly with my previous post in this series about persecution. Over and over in the Bible we are told memorize. Psalm 1: we're to "meditate on [His] word day and night." The word meditate here means to become so involved in God's word that we are talking and repeating it to ourselves. In Proverbs 3 we're supposed to "write it [His word] on the tables of our heart." These are only two examples. This theme literally permeates the Scripture. "Man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God." (Deut. 6).
The Bible does say that "not one jot or tittle will pass away." The Bible will remain forever. However, (and this is where it ties into persecution), the time will come for us in America where the Bible will become exceedingly scarce. In many churches in other closed countries, there are either only one Bible or part of a Bible in the entire congregation. Amos 8 says: "Behold, the days come, saith the Lord God of hosts, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord. And the shall wander from sea to sea, and from the north even to the east, the shall run to and fro to seek the word of the Lord, and shall not find it."
Aside from the direct commands to "treasure [His word] in our hearts" I believe the above verses from Amos is the number one reason to memorize Scripture. Amos continues: "In that day shall the fair virgins and young men faint for thirst." The time is coming when we may not be able to get our hands on a physical Bible. I believe, if we do not wish to spiritually faint for thirst of God's Word, that we must commit it to memory.
I myself have been doing so consistently for three, nearly four, years. At one chapter a month, or about a verse a day, I have currently memorized six books of the Bible, going on 8. (I'm at the end of Amos). A verse a day is easy, anyone can do it, even if you think it's too hard for you to memorize. The benefit for me so far has been a much closer look at individual verses. It's easy, when reading the Bible, to just skim. When you memorize it though, you're forced to look at what the verse really says. Aside from that, it is scientifically proven that memorizing Scripture helps to remember other things. I've started with the shorter books of the Bible, but I'm looking forward to getting to the longer books and being forced to memorize 2, 3, and 4, verses a day to accomplish my goal of a chapter a month. I'd like to encourage you to do the same. Figure out a system that works for you, and then keep at it. It takes work at first, but don't get discouraged, it gets easier as time goes on. Having an accountability partner to whom you can quote your verses can really help as well. For this week, try memorizing seven of your favorite Bible verses.
"The Lord bless you, the Lord cause his face to shine upon you...and give you peace."
(This has been Fountain of Thoughts: Memorization. Look in next time to read A Day in the Life Of__)
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