Factlet (18)

 
Menopause and Mares
  "Factlets" are usually short and this one should be. The subject of menopause is not one which I should "appropriate" and the part about mares may be known by most women and not need much in the way of explanation. To ensure brevity I will also not try to explain why I was reading an article about menopause. It is in it that I found this startling (to me) statistic which is our Factlet for today. 
   In 2002, a medical study suggested that there could be some risks for postmenopausal women who were taking estrogen to reduce the conditions associated with menopause. Here is the startling part, particularly the bolded parenthetical portion: 
    "The findings made global headlines, and millions of women who had been prescribed estrogen-based drugs quit them on the spot. (Another consequence was that tens of thousands of factory-farmed horses were no longer needed for their urine; many were sent to slaughter.) Hormone-therapy research went into a tailspin, although, even at the time, a more thorough reading of the numbers revealed a far less scary picture."
   For any male readers who may not have been aware of the source for the estrogen, here is some additional background: 
   "When it was discovered that estrogen could be supplied not just by expectant women but by expectant horses, commercial production of the hormone took off. Premarin, approved by the F.D.A. in 1942 to treat menopausal symptoms, soon dominated the market, its innocuous-seeming name barely disguising its primary ingredient, pregnant mares’ urine. By the end of the twentieth century, Premarin was consistently the first or second most prescribed drug in the United States, beating out medications for common ailments like high blood pressure and diabetes, with an estimated forty per cent of women of postmenopausal age taking it or an alternative estrogen formulation."
   The source for this information is an article in The New Yorker, which explains why I happened upon it. Given that the fact checkers at The New Yorker are known to be overly diligent, I wasn't concerned about the accuracy of this Factlet. But, for those of you who don't trust publications published in New York, I will provide a couple of sources from the hinterlands. As well, I will provide the citation for the original article which offers a literature review of books about menopause since apparently many women don't know much about it either.
The Bonus: 
  I couldn't resist providing this: those doctors and clinicians studying this subject are known as the "Menoposse."
Sources: 
   "Menopause is Having a Moment: If You've Got Ovaries, You'll Go Through It: So Why Does Every Generation Think It's the First to Have Hot Flashes," Rebecca Mead, The New Yorker, March 3, 2025.
   "When Menopause, Horse Urine and Ethics Intersect: Generation Now: You May Be Surprised at How Horses are Linked to Women's Health," Shelby Watson-Hampton, Farm Progress, May 2, 2025.
   "Menopause, Horses, and the Industry of Death,' Gregory McNamee, ExploreBritannica.com, N.D.
For additional Factlets: A Few More Factlets. 

Society in America - Book Series

  Eight U.S. Cities at Mid-Century 
   Those interested in collecting books published in a series, or readers curious about the social history of eight American cities around 75 years ago, will find these publications by E.P. Dutton worth considering.
   I suppose I should have led with the adjectives used to describe the citizens in six of the cities to attract your attention. Here they are and do you think you can match the adjective to a city without looking: "Amiable", "Lusty", "Proper", "Romantic", "Serene", and "Spectacular"? Apparently those living in Memphis and Washington are not so easily characterized.
  The purpose of the publisher was to “to portray the individual characteristics, to underscore the idiosyncrasies, and to trace the growth of sectional societies with special emphasis on local traditions and on the personalities who embodied them.”  You will likely recognize the title of the first book on the list below and will know about the author of it for other reasons.
  You will also probably associate Babe Ruth and Mencken with Baltimore, but not realize it was also the birthplace of Bromo-Seltzer. 
   It is doubtful that you know about Fanny Trollope's bizarre bazaar in Cincinnati in the 1830s, but the book is worth our attention for that reason alone. 
   All of these books are available via Amazon or AbeBooks, but before you buy them, you should know that some are fully available on the Internet Archive. That is true, as well for Fanny's thoughts which are found in "Domestic Manners of the Americans", which is also purchasable as a paperback from Penguin. If you live in London, The Proper Bostonians is in storage up at Western and more books by Amory are found there and are mentioned below.

The Proper Bostonians, Cleveland Amory.
From: "Books" Boston's Closed Corporation," Time, Oct. 20, 1947.
"In The Proper Bostonians, young (30) Cleveland Amory, a Social Registerite himself, has set out to examine his peers. The book is the first of a series which Dutton will publish about U.S. society (others to come: New York, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Santa Fe). Culled largely from First Family writings and conversations with Beacon Hill contemporaries, Amory’s smoothly phrased findings are not likely to ruffle the poise of the Cabots and the Lowells. Still, many a less proper Bostonian will find much here to delight him."

The Amiable Baltimoreans, Francis F.F. Beirne.

From: The blurb of the JHU Press reissue of the book in 1984. "The first umbrella in America and a Washington monument that predates the one in the nation's capital were raised in Baltimore. A renowned beauty of the city, Betsy Patterson, married Jerome Bonaparte, but was forbidden by her brother-in-law, Napoleon, from ever setting foot in France. A century later, Wallis Warfield, another Baltimorean, made her own assault on European royalty. Baltimore is the city of Babe Ruth and H.L. Mencken and the final resting-place of Edgar Allan Poe. "The gastronomic metropolis of the Union," according to Oliver Wendell Holmes, it is also the home of Bromo-Seltzer.

First published in 1951, The Amiable Baltimoreans presents 250 years of anecdotal history about the city—its buildings, its institutions, its customs, and most of all, its people. Informative, amusing, and sometimes discomforting, it offers an incomparable look into the city's past and revealing insight into the way it seemed to one informed observer thirty years ago."

The Serene Cincinnatians, Alvin F. Harlow. From: "Book Captures Cincinnati's Quirks at an Interesting Time for the City: Our History," Jeff Suess, The Enquirer, Jan. 22, 2023.
"The publication of the history book "The Serene Cincinnatians" by Alvin F. Harlow in October 1950 was the talk of the town. Shillito's department store and John G. Kidd & Son booksellers advertised to preorder copies for $4.50 in the local newspapers. A display of the book at the Cincinnati Public Library – that's the Old Main Library at 629 Vine St. – filled six street windows and several cases in the lobby. The Enquirer and the Cincinnati Post ran articles on the book's release, as well as reviews and commentary on the response. That's a lot of coverage for a history book....

The New York-based author spent months visiting local libraries, historical societies and The Enquirer, as well as hours in conversation with old-timers who filled his notebook with intimate knowledge and anecdotes. Cincinnati had a reputation for being old-fashioned. Harlow opened the book with the city's indignation over the then-recent coverage of the opening of the Terrace Plaza Hotel in 1948. The milestone modernist hotel was revolutionary for its time, yet Time magazine began its story: "Dowdy, old-fashioned Cincinnati gets a new hotel this week." Cincinnati was a place where you could still find chimney sweeps in 1950, a city that basked in its traditions, Harlow wrote. Yet, it also was a city of firsts – the first airmail by balloon, the first professional fire department, the first and only railroad to be owned by a municipality, the Cincinnati Southern Railway....

What sets Harlow's work apart were those gossipy anecdotes that reveal Cincinnatians may not have always been serene, but they were real people....

Details you won't find in other books. One highlight was Harlow's description of Frances Trollope's infamous bazaar. The Englishwoman had come to Cincinnati in 1828, drawn by the young city's reputation for culture, and hoped to make her fortune with her unique marketplace on Third Street near Broadway. There is continued fascination with this curiosity. Harlow called Trollope's Bazaar "a weird creation, predominantly Moorish-Arabesque, as one critic described it, with touches of Gothic and God-knows-what. "In its semi-basement was an elegant coffee-house and bar, the floor above was the store, with an ice cream and oyster parlor, also elegant, back of it, while the whole top floor was a ballroom ... "In the store, she stocked jewelry, pictures, laces, bric-a-brac and articles of virtu (rare objects), which she bought mostly at retail prices and marked up, naively supposing that in so colorful a setting and from a cultured Englishwoman, the dazzled bourgeoisie would buy at any price. But they did not." After the failure of the bazaar, Trollope returned to England and wrote a scathing account of her time here in "Domestic Manners of the Americans" (1832). Harlow spent several pages throughout the book countering many of Trollope's criticisms, thus "The Serene Cincinnatians" serves as something of a rebuttal some 118 years later."

Memphis Down in Dixie, Shields Mcilwaine. From: “Memphis, Tenn., Past and Present,” Turner Catledge, New York Times, June 6, 1948. “Mr. Mcilwaine struck it rich for both his regional thesis (that the way to understand America is region by region) and his story-telling ability when he dug into the past and present of Memphis, Tennessee. For Memphis is such a mine of anecdote, romance and important history that one can pick and choose as he pleases, and then organize his total story in a manner to prove almost anything, or simply to be entertaining.”

The Romantic New Orleanians, Robert Tallant. From: Kirkus Reviews, Jan. 1, 1949: "Fifth in the series launched by the tremendously successful The Proper Bostonians- and as predictably good as one knew a New Orleans' book by Robert Tallant would be. With the wealth of first rate writing that has been done about that provocatively fascinating city, it is astonishing that he has found so much new to be said- and, for the greater part, succeeded in making it interesting even to the outsider. For actually it is virtually a Burke's Peerage translated into terms of New Orleans' inner circle. The Creole aristocracy, unlike that of any other place, depended not a whit on worldly goods- and despite the relatively small number of Creoles in a preponderantly American city, the French, and to a lesser extent the Spanish flavor, the mores and traditions of the old Creole conservative society, the attitude towards women, the pace of living- all are still permeated by that tiny element. New Orleans and her people are portrayed in profiles of personalities of the past; in flavorsome bits about the balls, the carnivals, the snobbery, the clubs, in genealogy spiced with gossip; in colorful passages of the city's history; in the growth away from- and back to- the French Quarter."

The Spectacular San Franciscans, Julia Cooley Altrocchi.

For a lukewarm review see: "West Coast City; THE SPECTACULAR SAN FRANCISCANS. By Julia Cooley Altrocchi. Society in American Series. 398 pp. New York: E. P. Dutton & Co. $4.50, by Jack Foisie, New York Times, July 24, 1949.

The Lusty Texans of Dallas, John William Rogers. From Kirkus Reviews, Jan. 1, 1950 "Seventh in the Society in America Series, this more than flatteringly pictures the growth of a cluster of cabins on a river bank into a modern metropolis -- a progress which has not smothered either the individuality or the initiative of the city or its citizens. It is a story that encompasses all aspects of this development -- geographical, economic, social and fashionable, cultural, religious, educational and informative. It highlights the heritage of the far past, takes the story from the arrival of John Neely Bryan and his one man community which was incorporated in 1856 as Dallas, and carries on its history as a frontier town that grew up by not following the pattern of other southwest towns. From the conventions and customs of the early days on to those of today, with the folklore and legend given full play, this emphasizes the isolation that brought independence, the particular climate and tradition of life that effected the people who have lived, and who still live, there. A pretty insistent volume, this." See also: “Texas Culture,” Washington Post, Mar. 25, 1951 and “Deep in the Mind of Texas,” Hoffman Birney, New York Times, Jan.21, 1951

Washington Cavalcade, Charles Hurd. From: “Hurd Tackles a Tough One in This City: Washington Cavalcade,” Sterling North, Washington Post, Jan. 18, 1948 “Hurd has written a gay, shallow, non-stop gossip column dealing with costumes, customs and eccentricities which might have been subtitled: ‘From Dolly Madison to Dolly Gann – A Tempest in a Teapot."

Post Script:

In 1952 Dutton celebrated its 100th birthday. They also published, with J.M.Dent & Sons of London, the Everyman's Library. The New York Times contains this article which provides these interesting tidbits: "The record best-seller of the company was the controversial "Under Cover," written before World War II by an author who signed the name John Roy Carlson. It sold 650,000 copies in ten months. Next on the Dutton best-seller list have been the books of A. A. Milne. "When We Were Very Young," "Winnie-the-Pooh," "Now We Are Six" and "The House at Pooh Corner," published in that order, have sold altogether 1,500,000 copies. In 1850 a book selling 3,000 copies at 75 cents to $1 was a best seller. The sales requirement has risen to about 50,000 today, Mr. Macrae estimated, and the price has risen to $3 to $6. As long as the public refuses to buy worthy books in large numbers, he added, the price will have to stay up. The best seller must help pay for the worthy, poor-selling book." "E.P. Dutton Marks Its 100th Birthday..." Jan. 4, 1952.

The Bonus: Even if you were born in this century, you may have recognized the name 'Cleveland Amory' and he may be more interesting to you than the books mentioned above. He wrote others, including The Last Resorts, which includes a chapter on "Palm Beach" - a popular place right now and known as a sunny place for shady people. You may have heard of him in relation to animal rights and more about his involvement is easily found. He appears on YouTube and here is an example: Man Kind? "In 1974 the US Fish and Wildlife Service produced a 26 minute documentary short featuring an interesting interview with the great writer, critic and animal advocate, Cleveland Amory, who has just completed a book entitled "Man KInd?" about how badly wildlife is treated. Amory started The Fund for Animals." Source:

For more details about the "Society in America" book series see:

Series Americana: Post Depression-Era Regional Literature, 1938-1980: A Descriptive Bibliography: Including Biographies of the Authors, Illustrators, and Editors, by Carol Fitzgerald.

The Good Life

   In the past, Mulcahy's Miscellany has offered book suggestions for those interested in intellectual self-improvement and here is another one (for earlier examples, see: "More Aids for Autodidacts" and "MIT Press - Additional Aids for Autodidacts.")
   Those wishing to live a "good life" are likely surprised when they look for books in a library and do not find them grouped under the subject heading, "the good life". Those who rely on Wikipedia, probably give up and end up watching "The Good Life", the British TV series to which Wikipedia directs them. Searching for books about such a nebulous concept is difficult, but this suggestion from the research staff at MM may help. 
  Simply go to the website of Oxford University Press where books about the good life are easily found. A dozen of them are listed below along with the brief description provided by the OUP. 
  Given that June is "Indigenous History Month", and to provide Canadian content, a bonus book is included. It is published by JCharlton which is located in Vernon, B.C.

                                    A Beginner's Baker's Dozen

1. The Good Life

Unifying the Philosophy and Psychology of Well-Being

Michael A Bishop

Proposes a new approach to the study of well-being and an original theory of well-being

Redefines Positive Psychology and connects it to the philosophical study of well-being

Explains philosophy and positive psychology's respective literatures on well-being in understandable, straightforward, and concise language, bringing them into dialogue in innovative and productive ways

2. A Good Life on a Finite Earth

The Political Economy of Green Growth

Daniel J. Fiorino

Studies in Comparative Energy and Environmental Politics

Provides an accessible overview of ecological policy

The first book to offer a systematic analysis of the concept of green growth

Disrupts the assumed conflict between economic and environmental goals, arguing that they can be complementary

3. A Guide to the Good Life

The Ancient Art of Stoic Joy

William B. Irvine

A refreshing presentation of Stoicism that shows how this ancient philosophy can still direct us toward a better life.

Uses psychological insights and the practical techniques of the Stoics, offering a roadmap for anyone seeking to avoid the feelings of chronic dissatisfaction

Readers learn how to minimize worry, how to let go of the past and focus their efforts on the things they can control, and how to deal with insults, grief, old age, and the distracting temptations of fame and fortune

Shows readers how to become thoughtful observers of their own lives.

4. Happiness and the Good Life

Mike W. Martin

Integrates philosophy with the new branch of psychology called "positive psychology"

Draws substantially on fiction, memoir, and film

Accessible to a wide audience in practical and applied ethics

5. A Minimally Good Life

What We Owe to Others and What We Can Justifiably Demand

Nicole Hassoun

Explores and asks what we owe to others as a basic minimum

Challenges opposing accounts of the basic minimum and the limits of our obligations

Argues that concern for our common humanity requires helping others live minimally good lives

6. Morality and the Good Life

Edited by Thomas L. Carson and Paul K. Moser

7. Nature, Reason, and the Good Life

Ethics for Human Beings

Roger Teichmann

Presents an original and provocative account of ethical thought

Engages with a range of philosophical disciplines, including philosophy of mind and philosophy of language

Critiques contemporary trends of thought that exist both in academic philosophy and in wider culture

Written for a broad readership, beyond as well as within academic philosophy

8. Organizational Ethics and the Good Life

Edwin Hartman

The Ruffin Series in Business Ethics

In this book, Edwin Hartman argues that the real world of experience, rather than abstract theory, is the source of principles for business ethics. Hartman explains how ethical principles derive from what employees learn in good organizations and argues that an ethically good company is one that creates the good life for those who work in it.

9. Plato on Pleasure and the Good Life

Daniel Russell

Daniel Russell develops a fresh and original view of pleasure and its pivotal role in Plato's treatment of value, happiness, and human psychology. This is the first full-length discussion of the topic for fifty years, and Russell shows its relevance to contemporary debates in moral philosophy and philosophical psychology. Plato on Pleasure and the Good Life will make fascinating reading for ancient specialists and for a wide range of philosophers.

10. Pleasure and the Good Life

Concerning the Nature, Varieties, and Plausibility of Hedonism

Fred Feldman

11. Pursuing the Good Life

100 Reflections on Positive Psychology

Christopher Peterson

Compiles short essays by one of the founders and leaders of positive psychology

At times humorous, at times serious, Peterson deftly traverses a varied landscape of emerging research, personal perspectives, and big ideas

12. The Quest for the Good Life

Ancient Philosophers on Happiness

Edited by Oyvind Rabbas, Eyjolfur K. Emilsson, Hallvard Fossheim, and Miira Tuominen

New perspectives on a key philosophical topic

Illuminates the complexity of ancient ethics in fascinating ways

Shows how the ideas of ancient thinkers are relevant to contemporary debate

The Bonus and CANCON: 

13. Pimatisiwin : The Good Life, Global indigenous knowledge Systems, Settee, Priscilla.

   "Drawing upon her own life, scholarly work and an in-depth review of the relevant literature, Priscilla Settee delivers a perspective of what it means to be alive while, at the same time, furthering Indigenous-based struggles for decolonization, social justice and intellectual thought." For more see:

"Mino-Pimatisiwin is an Indigenous traditional teaching that describes how the emotional, physical,mental, and spiritual parts of a person, or the heart, body, mind, and spirit, come together in balance to lead the good life. This is a lifelong endeavour where one comes to understand how to live in relationship with oneself and others as part of the natural world with respect, reciprocity, and interconnectedness. The teaching and understanding of Mino-Pimatisiwin is deepened through continuing work with Indigenous communities, Indigenous Elders and Knowledge Keepers. Through this ongoing work, these perspectives and Indigenous phrases expressing values have become a part of how we describe the good work we do for all students in Manitoba." From: "Mino-Pimatisiwin: The Good Life," Province of Manitoba.

Hockey News

 There's Not Much
  I figure that the title will attract thousands since there has been no hockey news since the final game of the Stanley Cup was played a few days ago. A few days from now, the quest for the Cup will begin again. Until then, here is some Canadian hockey news to get you through the lean times. It will also allow me to push the post about Stalin down the page.
  Our Prime Minister played hockey and, if you are not impressed, I will add that he played for Harvard University. He did not play much, but was a dedicated and hard-working team member who was still able to graduate magna cum laude in 1987.
   I know all of this because of an article in The Athletic, which is the company that the New York Times bought to cover sports, which, let's face it, aren't as good as they once were. Still, the subject is valued by some and a subscription to the NYT necessary if you want to access the content provided by the sweat-stained wretches at The Athletic, who are probably located in another borough. The bits below about Carney and hockey at Harvard are from the following piece and they have been edited extensively so I won't be accused of stealing the prose for which you are unwilling to pay.
   I will say that the article is better than the title: "Cheap Beer and a Suspect Blocker: Before Mark Carney Was Canada's Prime Minister, He Was Harvard's No. 3 Goalie," [I suppose that some in the U.S would say that it was a demotion], Fluto Shinzawa, New York Times, April 30. 2025.

 Mark Benning knew his job. The Harvard defenseman’s priority was to retrieve pucks and deliver them quickly and accurately to Scott Fusco, Lane MacDonald and Tim Barakett, the Crimson’s talented forwards.
   To get to pucks first, Benning required timely on-ice arrivals. It was up to Harvard’s No. 3 goalie to open the bench door at just the right moment to let his puck-moving defenseman pounce onto the ice at full speed. Mark Carney took the job seriously. He did it well. 
   It was one of many things the future politician mastered during his time at Harvard. Hockey wasn’t his professional destiny, but the Canadian prime minister has deep connections to it, from his college playing days to his Oilers fandom to a close friendship with longtime NHL executive Peter Chiarelli....
   In the fall of 1983, Chiarelli moved into Straus Hall, his freshman dorm at Harvard. He met Greg Dayton, his new roommate.
  Two doors down, Chris Sweeney, Dayton’s best friend and fellow Belmont Hill grad, was settling in with an 18-year-old from Edmonton. Dayton went to visit Sweeney. Chiarelli tagged along and was introduced to Carney. The teenager that Chiarelli met in his first hour at Harvard would become his best man.

   “We would have connected even if we weren’t living that close together with each other,” says Chiarelli, who is from Nepean, Ontario. “Because we would be at the hockey rink.”
   Chiarelli was a forward. In 1983-84, the freshman played in 27 games. It was 27 more than Carney.
   That season, Carney was behind two goalies: Grant Blair, a sixth-round pick of the Calgary Flames, and Dickie McEvoy. Blair and McEvoy were very good NCAA goalies.
   Carney, meanwhile, was listed at 5-foot-9 and 160 pounds, undersized for the position. Regardless of his competitiveness and puck-handling touch, he had weaknesses his teammates could exploit.
   “I was going high blocker,” recalls Fusco when asked where he liked to shoot on Carney.
   “Low stick,” counters ex-teammate Randy Taylor.
   Carney’s situation did not change in seasons to come. John Devin entered the rotation, pushing Carney to practice part-time with the Harvard JV. 
   But on March 9, 1985, Carney got his chance. In Game 2 of the Eastern College Athletic Conference quarterfinals, Harvard was beating up on Colgate. Crimson coach Bill Cleary pulled Blair and replaced him with Devin. 
   Then in the third period, Devin got hurt. Carney came in. The sophomore stopped all five shots he saw. Harvard won 10-2.
   It was Carney’s first and final NCAA appearance.“His goals-against average is zero and his save percentage is 1.000,” Taylor says. “Let’s focus on that and not how many games he got in. For the chance that he got, he couldn’t have done any better.”
  In retrospect, Chiarelli, former general manager of the Boston Bruins and the Oilers and current vice president of hockey operations for the St. Louis Blues, believes Carney would have been good enough to be a No. 2 goalie elsewhere in the ECAC. 
  “He was realistic,” Chiarelli says. “He was good at the sport and he loved it, but he wasn’t going to change schools.”
Carney did not go to Harvard to be a hockey player.....
   After freshman year, Chiarelli, Carney and Dayton moved out of Straus. They lived together in Winthrop House. Their room became a second home for Benning. 
   The defenseman had started his college career at Notre Dame. Benning transferred to Harvard after the Fighting Irish shifted to club status in 1983. In 1984-85, his first year at Harvard, Benning lived off campus in Inman Square, a residential and commercial neighborhood in Cambridge. Instead of walking back to his apartment after practice, Benning became what he termed Carney’s adopted roommate. 
   On Saturday nights, after home games at the Bright Center, Carney and his teammates were regulars at the Piccadilly Filly. Funds were tight. Beverage quality was not the priority.
   “All of us were pretty cheap,” says Benning, now the founder of a venture capital firm called Excelsior. “The cheapest beer we could find.”
   Fusco, the founder of Edge Sports Center in Bedford, Mass., is Harvard’s all-time leading scorer with 240 points. He won the Hobey Baker Award as college hockey’s top player in 1986. He had help getting there.
   Fusco, 62, remembers wind-lashed walks from the Harvard quad across the Anderson Memorial Bridge to practice at the Bright Center like they happened yesterday. He liked getting to the rink early to work on his shot. 
   As Fusco crossed the Charles River, Carney was usually at his side. The goalie with no shot at playing was happy to stand in net while Fusco ripped off pucks for 45 minutes before practice.
Carney was there to serve."

   If you are interested in Carney and college hockey and politics see: "Mark Carney: College Hockey's First Prime Minister," Adam Wodon, College Hockey News, March 12, 2025. 

The Bonus: 
  His wife, Diana Fox Carney, also played hockey and lived on a pig farm, among other, much higher endeavours. 
   If you are more interested in music than sports, note that our Prime Minister likes heavy metal: "HEADBANGER TO HEAD BANKER: Heavy Metal Fan to Run the Bank of England," Steve Hawkes, The Sun, Nov. 27, 2012.
"5 OF MARK'S FAVE TUNEs
1 Back in the Black - AC/DC
2 For Those About to Bail Out Northern Rock, We Salute You - AC/DC
3 Rates of Spades - Motorhead
4 Number of the Beast - Iron Maiden
5 Cash-mir - Led Zeppelin.

Statues In The News

 

They Come and They Go -- and Then They Come Back
  Enough has been written in Mulcahy's Miscellany about the elimination of statues and the erasure of names. Briefly stated, I think the statues should be allowed to stand and the names on things should remain. For one sample among the many posts about these subjects see: "Simple Solutions". 
  Just because I have chosen to remain silent about statues and names does not mean that others are not concerned about them, and here I will simply offer a bibliographic synopsis of the statue news over the last few days from three countries. My coverage does not extend to the municipal level, but I will note that one guy's name was erased from a street here in London, but you will still be able to locate Plantation Road on a map.

Russia
   The stimulus for this post is Stalin, who has been restored to a proper pedestal at a station in the Moscow Metro. He is not alone since there are 120 other Stalin statues elsewhere, 105 of which have been erected over the last quarter of a century. To refresh your memory:
   "Stalin was responsible for mass purges, including the Great Terror of 1936 to 1938, when more than 700,000 people were executed, including military leaders, intellectuals, members of ethnic minorities, landowning peasants and others. Under his leadership, entire ethnic groups, like Crimean Tatars, were expelled from their homelands. His policies contributed to mass famine across the Soviet Union, including in Ukraine."
BUT, nostalgia for the Soviet era is strong, especially among older generations traumatized by the painful transition to capitalism, reinforcing memories of Stalin as a strongman who imposed order on a sprawling country and led it to victory against Nazi Germany. His admirers see purges, famines and mass deportations as “excesses” for which overzealous local officials were mostly responsible."
   There is real value in reading about foreign examples of issues which concern us and in this case one finds a suggestion for the names problem. Simply alternate them, for example, "Volgograd" and "Stalingrad." ("Volgograd itself briefly reverted to its former name on May 8-9 for Victory Day celebrations and will be temporarily renamed five more times this year to mark related wartime anniversaries.") I suppose this solution works for electronic signs, but it must be problematic in most cases.

The United States - Plant A Garden Full Of Statues
  In all the musings about names and statues in MM, I admit that I never thought about the simple switching of names to satisfy the S.W.I.N.E. ("Students Wildly Indignant About Nearly Everything"), and many others. Nor did I think of creating a large garden of statues, an idea taking root in the U.S. I have to admit that this is a very efficient solution, which will be clearly evident during harvest time. 

Canada
  About statues and names in our country, you will likely know everything, but I will offer a few sources for Stanley Cup watchers who may have missed them. Basically, interest in statues has surged because Sir John A. Macdonald is being let out of his box. Names are again in the news since an attempt is being made, in Toronto at least, to slow down the erasing of them. It is too late for the old Ryerson Public School here in London, but I suppose the old and new names could be switched on occasion, although the new one is rather bland - "Old North Public School.' 

Sources:
  For Russia this will do: "Stalin’s Image Returns to Moscow’s Subway, Honoring a Brutal History," Ivan Nechepurenko, NYT, May 29, 2025. 
  For the Garden in the U.S., see this press release and the following article: "NEH Announces Grant Opportunity to Create Statues of Iconic Americans for the National Garden of American Heroes," April 24 and:
"Trump Administration Seeks Artists for ‘Garden of Heroes’ Statues: Those selected would receive up to $200,000 to create one of the 250 sculptures, which will be paid for in part with canceled grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities," Jennifer Schuessler, NYT, April 24, 2025. 
  "The garden, which was announced during Mr. Trump’s first term, will feature life-size renderings of “250 great individuals from America’s past who have contributed to our cultural, scientific and political heritage,” according to a news release. The endowment is now requesting “preliminary concepts” for individual statues from artists who must be American citizens; those who are selected will receive awards of up to $200,000 per statue, which must be made of marble, granite, bronze, copper or brass."
   For Canada, there have been many about the Macdonald statue and this recent benign piece by the G&M editorial staff, still elicited over 300 comments: "Sir John A. Macdonald’s Statue Should Stand, but Not Alone, May 5, 2025:
  "The statue of Sir John A. Macdonald in front of Ontario’s legislature is expected to return to public view this summer after being vandalized five years ago. That’s a good move, but it does not go far enough.…To reflect Macdonald’s legacy properly, remove the protective box now hiding his statue – and erect an equally prominent memorial to the victims of residential schools."
  The folks over at The National Post wouldn't agree and selected pieces from that paper are provided below. If you don't have time, there is even a Wikipedia entry which offers a summary of Monuments and Memorials in Canada Removed in 2020-2022.
- Ontario Decides to Let Sir John A. Out of Box; Comment Decision to unbox queen's park statue of Canada's first pm marks significant reversal of current government thinking, Tristin Hopper, National Post, May 29, 2025.
- "Is Sir John A. Macdonald Being Set Up For a fall? We won't stop the statue-botherers without proper enforcement and prosecution," Chris Selley, NP, May 30, 2025.
- "John A. Macdonald's return to Queen's Park an Opportunity for Historical Literacy: The reappearance of his statue at the Ontario legislature is not the end of the conversation. It should be the beginning,"  Greg Piasetzki, NP, June 4, 2025. 
  About the names of schools in Toronto: "Ontario Education Minister Steps in to Prevent Erasure of Sir John A. Macdonald, Ryerson and Dundas from Toronto Schools: The new legislation, introduced by Ontario education minister Paul Calandra will require a board to apply before changing the name of an existing schools," Stewart Lewis, National Post, May 30, 2025.

"Murder Insurance"

Tort Boards
   I will get to the subject of "Murder Insurance" in a few sentences, so if you are in a hurry, jump to the next sub-title. 
   Back in the last century (and not that far back in it), it was seen as both undignified and unprofessional for lawyers to pitch their wares. That is now not the case. On a recent car trip to the United States, bulletin boards for personal injury lawyers blotted the brief spots of landscape, not already obscured by tattoo shops and weed and dollar stores. (As an aside; given that travel to that country is now discouraged I will offer as an excuse the fact that it was an "oblication" - an obligation to which we tacked on a brief vacation.) On our next trip, if the political situation allows one, there are likely to be more bulletin boards by lawyers offering "Murder Insurance", which is no longer just a niche market.

Finally - "Murder Insurance"
   The word "murder" was assigned to this new insurance product by the critics of it, who may have considered, the words "homicide' or "manslaughter". Those selling it prefer "self-defense insurance" and, if it existed up here, it would be called "self-defence insurance", but it is unlikely to be on sale in Canada because our lawyers are less enterprising and we have far fewer guns. 
  I learned all of this from the following article, the title of which reveals two reasons why the market for self-defense insurance has grown to over two million customers:
"Did You Shoot Somebody in Self-Defense? There's An Insurance Policy For That: Insurers Cover Self-Defense Shooters - Rise in Gun Ownership and Stand-Your-Ground Laws Drives a Lucrative New Market," Mark Maremont and Tawnell D. Hobbs, The Wall Street Journal, May 11, 2025.
   The major purveyors of this new product are listed below, along with additional information should you have concerns about protecting your own castle. Like, State Farm, I suppose, call and they will be there like a good neighbor, to provide such things as defense assistance, civil litigation support and money to cover the costs for cleaning up the mess that usually results when someone is stopped dead. They may be busy since it has been noticed that, "the industry’s expansion coincides with the growth of permitless concealed carry laws, stand-your-ground statutes, and increased firearm purchases, particularly during periods of social unrest..." It is also the case, as the critics of "Murder Insurance" suggest, that the existence of such a product may incentivize the use of force in even trivial or accidental acts of trespass.
  Loyal readers of MM will appreciate the irony (there is usually some around) if they recall my post of last May when I noted that homeowners in many states were having difficulty getting insurance for protection against natural disasters. See, Your CASTLE.

Some Self-Defense Insurers:
U.S. Concealed Carry Association - "Keep Your Family Safe"
Armed Citizens' Legal Defense Network, Inc. "Can You Survive the Legal Aftermath of Self Defense?"
U.S. Law Shield. The website is there, but you will likely be blocked as a Canadian and have to contact them.

Post Script: 
  I went looking for the origin of the term, "Murder Insurance" and found usage of the words together, but they generally related to people being murdered for insurance or those who had received insurance payments when someone was murdered. Teachers got murder insurance back in 2001 and parents in New York city bought murder insurance for their kids back in the early 1990s. Some municipalities also sought murder insurance to help with the costs associated with bringing murderers to trial.
   The first occurrence, I found, of "Murder Insurance" used as it has been in this post, was back in 2017. The NRA was selling it.
  " 'Murder Insurance' or Protection in Self-Defence Cases?" Lisa Marie Pane, AP. Oct. 19, 2017.
"ATLANTA — The National Rifle Association is offering insurance for people who shoot someone, stirring criticism from gun-control advocates who say it could foster more violence and give gun owners a false sense of security to shoot first and ask questions later.
Some are calling it “murder insurance,” and say that rather than promoting personal responsibility and protection, it encourages gun owners to take action and not worry about the consequences. And, they say, it’s being marketed in a way that feeds on the nation’s racial divisions.
Guns Down, a gun-control group formed last year, is running an ad campaign to criticize the NRA’s new insurance. It’s just the latest group to take aim at the NRA’s offering.
“The reason I call it murder insurance is because if you look at the way this is marketed, it’s really sold in the context of ‘There’s a threat around every corner, dear mostly-white NRA member,’ and that threat is either a black man or a brown man or some other kind of person of colour,” said Guns Down director Igor Volsky.
“So when you inevitably have to use your gun to defend yourself from this threat around every corner, you have insurance to protect you.”
Carry Guard insurance was launched this past spring by the NRA. Rates range from $13.95 a month for up to $250,000 in civil protection and $50,000 in criminal defence to a “gold plus” policy that costs $49.95 a month and provides up to $1.5 million in civil protection and $250,000 in criminal defence. The coverage kicks in if a court finds the person lawfully shot someone in self-defence or the case is dropped.
The NRA isn’t the only gun lobbying group offering such insurance. The United States Concealed Carry Association has been in the business much longer and provides up to $2 million in civil costs and $250,000 for criminal defence. But the NRA is the most prominent gun-rights group in the country and it offered similar insurance previously. And Carry Guard is more comprehensive and being marketed more aggressively than it has been previously. It’s drawing attention to a type of policy that was relatively obscure until now."

Post Script:
   The very clever term, "Tort Boards",  was constructed by me to describe the bulletin boards constructed for lawyers. Those who use the expression "tort boards" without acknowledging MM, will be charged with first-degree plagiarism and a tort board will be used to track down a lawyer who will sue you on my behalf.

Ernie Pyle (Remembered Again)

  Tomorrow is Memorial Day in the United States and for that reason a column by George Will is dedicated to the war correspondent, Ernie Pyle. Over five years ago I did a long piece about Pyle on the 75th anniversary of D-Day. For that reason I will not say more about him here, but simply display some of the material from Will's article. There is more to be found in my post and, more importantly, there are in it some links to Indiana University where Pyle's letters and columns are stored. You can read many of them and you can actually hear them as well. For example, the portion from "The Death of Captain Waskow", that Will provides, can be listened to be clicking here. The post in MM is linked here.
   Will's title: "Ernie Pyle, Capt. Waskow and the Common Soldiers Who Died for America: This Memorial Day, Spare a Thought for the Nation’s Fallen in Overseas Military Cemeteries," Washington Post, May 23, 2025.
   "Most journalism is, at most, the “first rough draft of history.” Occasionally, however, there is some journalism — even of the most perishable kind: a column — that attains an immortality because of its simple sufficiency. It leaves nothing to be said, the words having perfectly suited a moment. One such was the most famous piece by a columnist who soared from obscurity to a place in the nation’s consciousness unmatched before or since. On this Memorial Day, take a moment for Ernie Pyle’s “The Death of Captain Waskow,” a man in his mid-20s from Belton, Texas. The dispatch was datelined “AT THE FRONT LINES IN ITALY, January 10, 1944.”....
“I was at the foot of the mule trail the night they brought Capt. Waskow’s body down. The moon was nearly full at the time, and you could see far up the trail, and even part way across the valley below. Soldiers made shadows in the moonlight as they walked.“Dead men had been coming down the mountain all evening, lashed onto the backs of mules. They came lying belly-down across the wooden pack-saddles, their heads hanging down on the left side of the mule, their stiffened legs sticking out awkwardly from the other side, bobbing up and down as the mule walked.”
   Here is a bit more from Will: 
"Pyle’s language was spare. His sentences were almost without cadences, like tired men not marching, just walking. You could call his style Hemingwayesque. Except Ernest Hemingway, also in the European theater, cultivated a watch-me-transform-literature antistyle: ostentatious simplicity.
Pyle would have scoffed at the notion that he had a style. His granular reporting, replete with the names and street addresses of the GIs he talked to, appeared in 400 daily newspapers and another 300 weekly publications. He appeared on the cover of Time magazine. He avoided the insult of fancy writing about the gray, grim everydayness of the infantryman’s war."

   Pyle died in action on an island in the Pacific in 1945, “It all happened so quickly. … An indiscriminate fragment of shell, red hot and sharp as a scalpel, had sliced a hole in his chest, killing him instantly.” Considering the hundreds of young Americans killed fighting for this unremembered spot, “the death of one ordinary man on a lonely mountainside was, for Ernie, an example of war on a miniature, intimate scale.”

Sources: 
   That last quotation from the Will article is from this book: The Soldier’s Truth: Ernie Pyle and the Story of World War II, by David Chrisinger (unfortunately a copy is not available in the libraries in London.)
   The photograph is from a picture I took of the picture in, An Ernie Pyle Album, by Lee G. Miller, p.151. I have a copy if you would like to borrow it.
   If you are more interested in peace than war, have a look at the columns Pyle wrote about traveling across America (including Canada) before the war. 
More information about them is found in Ernie Pyle.