Posted on 04/14/2006 6:52:17 AM PDT by george76
A bare bear is unbearable, unless it is unbearably embarassed by it's bareness.
California was coveted by the US government for economic and strategic purposes and, as you know, admitted as a free state, remained with the union. Although California mustered more than 15,000 volunteers a much smaller number participated in the heartbreaking conflict in the east. California troops prevented Texas troops from expanding west and insured gold to finance the union cause. California and it's citizens were more or less spared the anguish of the brother against brother situations. None the less, the war was a tragedy for all Americans. Some points: Southerners fought for States rights, and individual rights, not slavery. Southerners were rebels true, but they also were patriots. Lincoln was correct and wise in his agenda to keep the union together. Slavery was not Constitutional, was illegal, and wrong, and emancipation was a result of the Civil War, not the cause for it. Finally, the contribution of the Southern states to the United States is indispensable from the revolution to the present day.
I can't tell you how much I (and thousands of others, no doubt) have enjoyed them.
You and yours have quite the lineage and traditions.
They have no "habitat", they have "territory".
That explains all the black bears that live in the desert and in inner-cities. I did not realize that black bears are the only animal on the planet that doesn't have a habitat.
Perhaps if you had bothered to read the article attached to this thread, you might have noticed that authorities were "hunting" for "this" bear. My post simply pointed out what should be obvious to anyone capable of thinking, which is: How are they going to figure out which bear killed this girl since there are "2 bears per square mile" in this area (your fact)? Are they going to just go out and kill every bear until they find the one responsible? Did they get a description of the bear's clothing or its license plate so that they can identify it before they kill it?
"Bear in Central Park is in our future at this rate."
You are the self-proclaimed expert on black bears, but aren't they afraid of people? Your credibility is slipping.
In spite of the overlap that has occurred, people are not being attacked in their houses or yards.
I thought you stated that an increasing bear population was a major problem. What's the problem?
"It's up to us to keep them in numbers appropriate for their "habitat".
I thought they didn't have one. Has something changed since the previous paragraph? And once again, what threat or problems are bears posing? They obviously aren't starving, or they would not be increasing in numbers. They are not attacking people in any significant numbers as you pointed out in your post. Let me guess, you also want to hunt mountain lions, wolves, and bobcats because they are not on the verge of going extinct any more.
"We've got sickly deer, (CWD), running rampant over huge swaths of our nation. We've got predators returning in large numbers.
Why aren't these huge number of returning predators controlling these deer populations that are running rampant? Does it matter to you that you are contradicting yourself? I think if the deer populations are out of control it is because people who think like you killed off large numbers of deer's natural predators.
"You couldn't find a clue with a pack of clue hounds, covered in clue scent, in the middle of clue mating season.
I hope Jerry Seinfeld has a good union job to fall back on.
You are quite welcome.
I always get excited talking about my ancestors. They lived interesting lives, as did all of ours on this thread.
I was very fortunate to have been close to my grandparents, and being the curious person I am, had them tell me lots of stories about their lives. Their aunts and uncles lived during the Civil War (they were born in the late 1890s), and I listened for hours to their vivid tales of how things were in those days.
Interestingly enough, I was born on the same day as my great grandfather, and his father, and, since I am a writer, I really enjoy piecing together the stories the grandparents told me about them. In Greeneville TN, the history actually comes alive when I visit the places that were the setting for their tales, the places mentioned in our history books.
Did you know the first Emancipation Newspaper was published in Greenville, TN? At the same time my ancestors were there. I have a copy of a will (written with a quill pen) that my ancestor wrote, and he had a few slaves. This was the Revolutionary War soldier. His son-in-law later freed their few slaves.
East Tennessee was largely Union sympathisers, while west Tennessee (cotton growing country) seceeded. This state was divided, truly had brother against brother situations. President Lincoln appointed Andrew Johnson (a Greeneville resident) as the military governor of TN during the war, and President Andrew Johnson became president after Lincoln's assasination.
Since he (Johnson) is a home boy, I have read extensively about his life. He was one vote short of being impeached, and the impeachment move was in revenge for his efforts to keep the northern legislators from extracting even more revenge on the South.
Here is something I think Freepers will enjoy:
I was living in Greeneville when President Bill Clinton was facing articles of impeachment. I lived approximately one block from the Andrew Johnson National Cemetary, where he is buried atop a huge hill that overlooks the nearby Unaka Mountains (part of the Appalachians) and all of Greeneville.
The day Congress voted, I walked up to the cemetary, and sat on a bench beneath the towering monument where he is buried.
I looked up and said "Well, Andy, what do you think."
There are towering trees at the site. A huge American flag flies atop a flagpole on the site.
This particular day, there wasn't a breeze at all; everything, trees, flag and all stood frozen.
As soon as I made the remark out loud, a powerful gust of wind blew, rocking the crowns of those huge trees, sending the flag whipping furiously.
Then, just as sudden as the wind gust came, it stopped. Everything again stood still and silent. I tell you, it sent chills up my spine, caused goosebumps on my arms.
Not long afterwards, I emailed the Drudge Report a small, three paragraph article from the local newspaper about the laying of the wreaths, a tradition started by President Kennedy in the 1960s. Each year, the current president sends a wreath to be placed on past president's graves on the former president's birthday.
Once it ran on the Drudge Report the AP, and all major media were there. It was the only time in our history a former impeached president was honoring a current impeached president.
History was once again being made in the quaint little town of Greeneville, where so much history unfolded during this nation's darkest days.
I told the AP and other news reporters the story about the day I spoke with Andy, and he answered me :) That story was quoted in AP wire stories across the nation.
This is a true story.
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