Beyond the Palewall (14)

 

   Apart from the description above, I will add that this series allows me to note some items I found to be of interest, without doing much work. Besides, you probably missed most of the items in the news, that I point out, because you spent all of your time reading about Trump and/or Taylor, the two defining personalities of our time, perhaps of all time, forever. If the news doesn't get better next year I will start grabbing headlines from years when it was, or focus only on the bright side as Monty Python suggested. 

Bullets "R" US
  There has been some talk lately about Canada becoming a state in the United States. If so, Christmas shopping would sure be easier. Here in Ontario we have only recently and reluctantly allowed some alcohol to be sold in convenience stores. There, you can pick up a 6-pack and some ammo from a vending machine if you have forgotten to buy any presents. The story:

"Start-up Putting Ammo Vending Machines in Grocery Stores Plans to Grow: Dallas-based American Rounds says it makes selling ammo safer and more convenient, but some public officials and health experts worry about impulse bullet buying,", Jackson Barton, The Washington Post, Dec. 15, 2024.

Barred from Bar Harbor

  If you have purchased a cruise package you might want to check your destinations. People appear to be getting tired of tourists.
"In Some Port Towns, It's Residents vs. Cruises: 'We're Going to Eradicate Them:   "From Alaska to Maine to Virginia, Residents Are Using Their Voices and the Law to Preserve Their Communities," Andre Sachs, The Washington Post, Dec. 15, 2024.

"Around the world, from Venice to Juneau, Alaska, to Bar Harbor, Maine, residents are rising up against what they consider a scourge on their communities. They fear the vessels that they say pollute their air and water, drain the local economy and dispatch overwhelming crowds that diminish their quality of life. In Bar Harbor, for example, locals have described chaotic cruise days as packed as Times Square."

Suit Settling and the Decline of the Fourth Estate
   Even in MM Trump news cannot be escaped, but my excuse is that I wanted to display a quotation that is important. It is in an article reporting that ABC News is going to give the Trump Foundation $15 million, plus another $1 million for legal fees, because George Stephanopoulos said something that is not quite true, but mostly is. Here is the quote:

“What we might be seeing here is an attitudinal shift,” she added. “Compared to the mainstream American press of a decade ago, today’s press is far less financially robust, far more politically threatened, and exponentially less confident that a given jury will value press freedom, rather than embrace a vilification of it.”
("ABC to Pay $15 Million to Settle a Defamation Suit Brought by Trump:

The outcome of the lawsuit marks an unusual victory for President-elect Donald J. Trump in his ongoing legal campaign against national news organizations,"

By Michael M. Grynbaum and Alan Feuer, NYT Dec. 14, 2024.)

Update: MM can provide "BREAKING NEWS" with the best of 'em: 
"Trump Sues Des Moines Register and Iowa Pollster, Escalating Attacks on the Media: The Action is the Latest in a Series of Lawsuits Targeting News Media Companies," By Elahe Izadi, Laura Wagner and Meryl Kornfield, The Washington Post, Dec. 17, 2024.

Law and Disorder
   This new news is so bad, I have to include it: 

"Confidence in U.S. Courts Plummets to Rate Far Below Peer Nations:

Very few countries have experienced similar declines, typically in the wake of wrenching turmoil. Experts called the data, from a new Gallup poll, stunning and worrisome." Adam Liptak, NYT, Dec. 17, 2024.

   "Public confidence in the American legal system has plunged over the past four years, a new Gallup poll found, putting it in the company of nations like Myanmar, Syria and Venezuela.

“These data on the U.S. courts are stunning,” said Tom Ginsburg, an authority on comparative and international law at the University of Chicago.

  After the Supreme Court’s decision overturning Roe v. Wade and the several prosecutions of Donald J. Trump, Professor Ginsburg said, “there is a perception that the judiciary has become inexorably politicized.”

2000 Mules Disappeared
   A couple of years ago the film, 2000 Mules,  produced by Dinesh D'Souza, spread the message that the 2020 U.S. election was affected by 2000 "mules" hired to deposit multiple ballots to benefit the Democrats. The tagline on the theatre poster was: "They Thought We'd Never Find Out. They Were Wrong."
   That tagline now can be turned around and used against Mr. D'Sousa, who admits mistakes were made, but apparently still believes the election was stolen. Even the WSJ reported this story:
"Dinesh D'Souza Says Sorry for '2000 Mules', Wall Street Journal, Dec. 5, 2024.
"Indulging Donald Trump's claims that the 2020 election was stolen has ruined many reputations. The latest is the unraveling of the MAGA mockumentary "2000 Mules." This week the movie's narrator, Dinesh D'Souza, issued an apology for misleading viewers....One voter featured by the movie, a Georgia man named Mark Andrews, was cleared of wrongdoing by state investigators more than two years ago, before "2000 Mules" hit movie theaters. He has sued for defamation, and motions for summary judgment are due shortly. "I owe this individual, Mark Andrews, an apology," Mr. D'Souza now says."
If you missed the film and the news about "2000 Mules" see the Wikipedia entry. 

You Need a Phone to Sit on the Throne
   This very clever headline caught my attention: "Can't Afford a Smartphone? That's Going to Cost You," Marc Fisher, Washington Post, Dec. 4, 2024. 
The District of Columbia signed a contract to have the company,Throne, supply "convenient, clean and free toilets for people who find themselves in urgent need. To use them, you need a phone (unless you are homeless and can get an access card from a library.) The author concludes:
"Too often now, in matters meaningful and meaningless, the good stuff is reserved for people who have smartphones or other digital tools. From parking garages to airplane movie offerings, it pays to be digitally equipped. More to the point, it hurts to be in the technological slow lane."

(As an older gent, I still think the idea is a good one and that there should be more public toilets, even ones only accessible by phone.)

Chikungunya (Something Else To Worry About)

  This is a deadly and costly mosquito-borne disease I was unaware of and I don't recall ever seeing the word --- "Chikungunya." A new report was released and then reported on in The Washington Post: "Mosquito-borne Disease Has Cost the World Billions, Researchers Say: Scientists Say There Were 18.7 million Chikungunya Cases That Exacted a Total Cost of Nearly $50 Billion Over a Decade," Erin Blakemore, Dec. 7, 2024. This is from the study from BMJ Global Health:

"Chikungunya is a mosquito-borne arboviral disease posing an emerging global public health threat. Understanding the global burden of chikungunya is critical for designing effective prevention and control strategies. However, current estimates of the economic and health impact of chikungunya remain limited and are potentially underestimated. This study aims to provide a comprehensive overview of the chikungunya burden worldwide."

The Lamprey (Some Good News for a Change)
  This title is from the National Geographic: "How Scientists Claimed Victory Over an Invasive Great Lakes Bloodsucker." 

 "In order to combat the highly predatory sea lamprey, which arrived in the region more than a century ago and immediately began to gobble up native species, scientists developed a new type of lampricide that has now killed off between 90-95% of the sea lampreys in the Great Lakes without harming the native species. 

"There is no doubt that this is an unprecedented victory anywhere on the planet, where you have a species this destructive, this widespread geographically, and yet still able to be controlled using a selective technique," said Great Lakes Fishery Commission's executive secretary Marc Gaden. "It saved the Great Lakes fishery." 
(As reported by Jeremiah Budin in TCD, Dec. 4, 2024.)

    Hold on - the good news was just reduced by this breaking news. Apparently covid even had an affect on the cold Great Lakes. 

"The Great Lakes Fishery Commission has announced the annual sea lamprey abundances for each Great Lake in 2024. In it, the commission noted that populations of non-native predatory sea lampreys are above targets in all five of the Great Lakes.

The sea lamprey, a highly noxious fish, spiked in numbers when field crews were constrained in their ability to conduct sea lamprey control in 2020 and 2021. Because of the sea lamprey’s life cycle, scientists are now seeing the ramifications of those reduced control seasons. Recent levels of sea lamprey control give the commission reason to believe that sea lamprey numbers are now on the way back down.
This was just reported by the Great Lakes Fishery Commission. See:"See Lamprey Populations Jump in All Five Great Lakes: Controls Were Relaxed in 2020 and 2021 Because of the Pandemic," SooLeader Staff, SOOTODAY, Dec. 17, 2024

Wave Power (More potentially good news, from Newport, Oregon.)

"This Seaside Town Will Power Thousands of Homes With Waves:

Wave Energy Has Been Untapped So Far, But an Experiment Could Unlock its Potential in the United States," Sarah Raza, The Washington Post, Nov.19, 2024.

   "At a moment when large offshore wind projects are encountering public resistance, a nascent ocean industry is showing promise: wave energy.

It’s coming to life in Newport, a rainy coastal town of nearly 10,500 people located a couple of hours south of Portland. Home to fishing operators and researchers, Newport attracts tourists and retirees with its famous aquarium, sprawling beaches and noisy sea lions. If you ask anyone at the lively bayfront about a wave energy project, they probably won’t know much about it.

   And yet, right off the coast, a $100 million effort with funding from the Energy Department aims to convert the power of waves into energy, and help catch up to Europe in developing this new technology. The buoy-like contraptions, located several miles offshore, will deliver up to 20 megawatts of energy — enough to power thousands of homes and businesses....
There is enough energy in the waves off America’s coasts to power one-third of all the nation’s homes, said Matthew Grosso, the Energy Department’s director of the water power technologies office.

We shall see. 

Disappearing Osprey and Complicated Supply Chains
   I will end this batch with some CANCON. It has been reported that the over- harvesting of menhaden in the Chesapeake Bay near where I grew up is having a devastating impact on the ospreys in the Md./Va. area. Oddly enough, the menhaden catch is being used to feed fish, where I now live. 

"Mystery of Disappearing Ospreys Might Have Controversial Explanation:

A new study suggests osprey chicks are starving in parts of the Chesapeake Bay because of a lack of menhaden, a primary source of food but also a major industry," Gregory S. Schneider, The Washington Post, Sept. 22,2024. 

"The company at the center of the battle is Omega Protein, which operates out of Reedville on Virginia’s Northern Neck. It’s a waterman town, named after a menhaden fisherman named Captain Elijah Reed who came down from New England in the 1870s. Boats run in and out of Reedville bringing menhaden to a processing plant that grinds the fish into meal and oil — partly to feed farm-raised fish in Canada."

QUENTIN REYNOLDS

 Reynolds and the University of Western Ontario

     I ran across Reynolds when I was reading about Ernie Pyle, about whom I just posted. Like Pyle he was, for a portion of his career, a war correspondent and they both reported from London during the Blitz. Pyle went on to win a Pulitzer and was awarded honorary degrees from Indiana University and the University of New Mexico before he was killed in the war. Reynolds continued on as a writer and he also was awarded an honorary degree - from the University of Western Ontario. 

     An account of the conferral is provided below and within it there is an indication that the choice of Reynolds was controversial. The writer of the account (President Fox of Western) thinks that the citizens of Western Ontario were misguided in their opinion of Reynolds and suggests that some members of the UWO Senate were equally ill-informed. 

     I have no idea what would have been controversial about the choice of Reynolds to be honored by Western. At the end of the excerpt below it appears that the residents of St. Thomas, at least, were enthusiastic when Reynolds arrived there and President Fox was obviously impressed. University records and publications probably provide some answers, but they are not readily accessible, nor are the local newspapers from that time. I did find one article in the Globe and Mail, but there is no hint of any controversy. You are welcome to dig deeper.

     Twice there are mentions below of a trial involving Quentin Reynolds and Westbrook Pegler, but it was the latter who was more controversial. More information is provided.

     About a decade after the degree was granted, Mr. Reynolds was involved in a Canadian Hoax, but even that does not reflect negatively upon him. The details are provided after the Western story.

     Here it is:
     At the autumn convocation, November 26, 1943, the University conferred the honorary degree of Doctor of Laws upon the famous United States war correspondent, Quentin Reynolds. The action had been preceded by considerable adverse criticism from citizens of Western Ontario -- an attitude that was not in accord with the high acclaim given to Quentin Reynolds in Britain, from such men as Winston Churchill and from high ranking naval officers as well as from the British public in general. Reynolds’ fearless reporting of the famous Dieppe raid and other war activities of the Allies was counted as tightening the bonds of understanding amongst the Allies and especially between Britain and the United States. Reynolds’ whole record confirms the soundness of that judgement. It was doubly confirmed by the evidence that was brought out in the famous suit for libel and slander instituted in 1949 against Westbrook Pegler and the Hearst Syndicate.
Now it will be interesting for the alumni and students of Western to know how the nomination of Quentin Reynolds for the Doctoral honour came about. Usually such nominations originate in the University Senate. In this case, however, it was the chairman of the Board of Governors, Mr. Arthur Little, who made the suggestion that Reynolds’ name be laid before the Senate. When I had succeeded in getting the Committee on Honorary Degrees to endorse Mr. Little’s suggestion, I found the same ignorance prevailing in the Senate as among the general public of Western Ontario. Thus I had considerable difficulty  in persuading the Senate to permit the Secretary of the Senate, the Registrar of the University, to offer Quentin the degree.
After several days, we received a letter of acceptance from Reynolds who asked that he be met at the Michigan Central Station in St. Thomas at a certain hour. There the Chairman of the Board and myself met him. Pending the day of his arrival (November 26, 1943) we had been deluged by requests by the people of St. Thomas to be given the opportunity to have their copies of Reynolds’ books autographed by him. So large did this company become that the gathering for the autographs was arranged for, together with a luncheon, to take place at the Air Force Station several miles south of St. Thomas (now the Ontario hospital). The proceedings were made as concise as possible. Reynolds spoke briefly about his experience at Dieppe and then the autographing fest began.
In the evening the Convocation ceremony was held in the auditorium of the H.B. Beal Technical School. It was honoured by the presence of the Lieutenant Governor of Ontario, my old friend Mr. Albert Matthews, whose aide-de-camp for the occasion was his own son, General Bruce Matthews.
May I close by adding that during the several hours I had in London and St. Thomas in 1943 with Quentin Reynolds, I found him the same friendly, generous spirit that was brought out in the trial of his famous suit in 1954.
(from: Sherwood Fox of Western. Chapter XIX, “The War Years and After,” pp. 211-213).

Quentin Reynolds vs Westbrook Pegler

     Reynolds sued Pegler for libel and won, BIG. The $175,000 awarded was the largest libel judgement up to that time. See: "Quentin Reynolds Wins Libel Action: Court Awards $175,001 in Suit Against Pegler and Two Hearst Concerns," New York Times, June 29, 1954. The Supreme Court refused to review the case: "High Court Declines Pegler Trial Review," New York Times, Oct. 11, 1955. Louis Nizer defended Reynolds and wrote about the case in My Life in Court. The story of the trial later became a Broadway play and was adapted for the movies.

The Canadian Hoax

The Man Who Wouldn't Talk: The Heroic True Story of 'The Gentle Spy'

     That is the title of a book by Quentin Reynolds. The "Man Who Wouldn't Talk" was George DuPre, an Albertan who served with British Intelligence in France where he  remained silent even after being tortured by the Gestapo. He did talk a lot after the war. He talked to service clubs, business groups and toured the country with the Canadian Forestry Association where "he spoke mostly on his sensational career as a saboteur and of arranging escapes for Allied airmen." Readers Digest and Random House became interested and Reynolds wrote the book.

     The "heroic true story" turned out not to be true. No one had checked. The story had been universally accepted. About two weeks after the book was published someone who had served with DuPre showed up at the Calgary Herald and the hoax was exposed.

     Poor DuPre had just wanted to impress his wife and the small lies he told became bigger ones told to larger audiences. Apparently money was not the motive and DuPre was apologetic: "I am truly sorry that I misled Quentin Reynolds and the editor's of Reader's Digest. These men were kindness itself to me and believed in me."

     Reynold's remarked "that this may turn out to be my first novel." Bennet Cerf, the president of Random House came up with an ingenuous solution. The book was simply re-classified as "Fiction".

Sources:

   The quotations in the section about the hoax are from: "Calgarian's Spy Role Is Exposed as Big Hoax," Globe and Mail, Nov. 16, 1953 or from the very thorough account: "Story Too Good To Be True," Joseph F. Dinnen, Boston Globe, Nov. 22, 1953. 

    Here is a short review of The Man Who Wouldn't Talk written before the hoax was exposed:

KIRKUS REVIEW

"An undemonstrative narrative of a Canadian born, British agent during the war is grave rather than dashing- and tells of George Dupre, a gentle, quiet, and deeply religious man who spent more than four years along side of the French underground and endured the brutalized inquisition of the Gestapo without betraying his identity. An intensive period of training in England groomed him for the alias of Pierre Touchette, an idiot, and he returned to Touchette's native town- Torigni- as a garage helper. His imbecility of speech and gesture gave him a certain immunity from the Germans as during the years ammunition was stolen as well as cars, installations dynamited, and British pilots rescued. But aged Madame Bouvot, who worked along with him, was to use her own life as a means of taking that of several German officers; and Armand, a boy of 14, was shot by a firing squad before his eyes. During the ordeal of questioning, his nose was broken and ""reset"" twice by the same fist; boiling water was poured down his throat; and hypodermics applied the final torture from which he emerged damaged in body but unbroken in spirit. He then went to Hamburg as forced labor in a plant where they sank ""the subs before they got wet""; returned to Torigni, and finally to England where he experienced a delayed reaction to the experiences endured and witnessed..... A plain clothes, not cloak and sword, version of the foreign agent- whose survival depends on a sober, steady, precise obedience to his superiors and his orders and takes its stamina from an inner faith. The Quentin Reynolds name will help to carry this to a wide audience." Pub Date: Oct. 23rd, 1953

Post Script:
One of those odd coincidences - this article just appeared in the New York Times: "It's a Fact: Mistakes are Embarrassing the Publishing Industry," Alexandra Alter, Sept. 22, 2019.

Bibliography of Books by Quentin Reynolds

Britain Can Take It, Dutton, 1941.

The Wounded Don't Cry, Dutton, 1941.

A London Diary, Random House, 1941.

Convoy , Random House, 1942 (published in England as Don't Think It Hasn't been Fun)

American Arms, Todd, 1942.

Only the Stars are Neutral, Random House, 1942.

Dress Rehearsal: The Story of Dieppe, Random House, 1943.

The Curtain Rises, Random House, 1944.

Officially Dead: The Story of Commander C.D. Smith, Random House, 1945.

70,000 to 1: The Story of Lieutenant Gordon Manuel, Random House, 1946.

Leave It to the People, Random House, 1949.

The Wright Brothers, Pioneers of American Aviation, Random House, 1950.

Courtroom: The Story of Samuel S. Leibowitz, Farrar, Straus, 1950, 

Custer's Last Stand, Random House, 1951.

The Man Who Wouldn't Talk, Random House, 1953.

I, Willie Sutton, Farrar, Straus, 1953.

The Battle of Britain (illustrated by Clayton Knight), Random House, 1953.

The Amazing Mr. Doolittle: A Biography of Lieutenant General James H. Doolittle, Appleton-Century, 1953.

The F.B.I., Random House, 1954, reprinted, 1963.

The Life of Saint Patrick, Random House, 1955.

Headquarters, Harper, 1955, reprinted, Greenwood Press, 1972 

The Fiction Factory; or, From Pulp Row to Quality Street: The Story of 100 Years of Publishing at Street & Smith, Random House, 1955.
Operation Success, Duell, Sloan, 1957.

They Fought for the Sky: The Dramatic Story of the First War in the Air, Rinehart, 1957.

Known but to God, J. Day, 1960.
Minister of Death: The Adolf Eichmann Story , Viking, 1960.

By Quentin Reynolds (autobiography), McGraw-Hill, 1963.

Winston Churchill, Random House, 1963 (published in England as All about Winston Churchill, W.H. Allen, 1964 ).

With Fire and Sword: Great War Adventures, Dial Press, 1963.

Macapagal, D. McKay, 1965.