Thread below the Gardening Thread: Independence

I have been thinking about the NYT piece by the holder of a PhD in philosophy who wants much of Britain destroyed because there are "somewhere people" living there. It occurred to me that people like him must be supremely offended by Hobbits. The Shire is full of "Somewhere People". Maybe it is time for some of us to build our own Hobbit Houses.

Thanks to Maetenloch for this link to Tim Blair:

To fully convey the horror of Britain's EU independence, the New York Times publishes the tortured thoughts of 27-year-old University of Essex philosophy lecturer Tom Whyman – who isn’t even independent of his parents . . .

Read the whole thing. Our NYT essayist has spent too much time in class, I think.

Independence, Missouri

In the run-up to Independence Day, I thought it would be interesting to briefly review the history of Independence, Missouri, which was named after the Declaration of Independence. It has had its ups and downs in terms of independence over the years.

Few towns its size can claim such a rich history: the Missouri and Osage Indians originally claimed the area, followed by the Spanish and a brief French tenure. It became American territory with the Louisiana Purchase of 1803. Lewis and Clark recorded in their journals that they stopped in 1804 to pick plums, raspberries, and wild apples at a site later identified as the location of Independence.

I liked this detail:

Independence grew up around the building used for court sessions. In 1827, the town was platted and a log courthouse was constructed by slaves. The courthouse was used as a pig pen in the evenings and became thoroughly infested with fleas. The judge was forced to resort to bringing sheep into the courtroom before a session to clear out the fleas.

Independence went on to become the "Queen City of the Trails" during the expansion of the country to the West. It was also the focus of the Missouri governor's Extermination Order against Mormons A little later, it was the site of a Civil War battle, after the political battles caused by its status as a potential slave or free border state. Things got better after that, but Independence never regained the prominence of its years as "Queen City of the Trails".

Harry Truman and his wife are among the famous natives of Independence. Truman actually accomplished something (building roads) after being elected to his first public position there.

Although Independence is now a suburb of Kansas City, it has apparently maintained some of that small-town feeling that is so offensive to the trans-nationalists.

Spending the Weekend in The Shire?

Mollie Hemingway has a piece up on 15 ways to celebrate Independence Day with the kids. Some of those ideas are adult-appropriate.

Have a great weekend and a great Independence Day.

posted by Open Blogger at 12:25 PM

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