KOSOVO TO DECLARE INDEPENDENCE - RISING FROM THE RUINS OF YUGOSLAVIA

Kosovo is on the verge of declaring its independence from Serbia: a momentous occasion, yet most Americans will be too absorbed in the current political scene to pay any attention. Many will be thinking about whether or not Obama lacks substance or whether Clinton represents the politics of old or whether McCain is too old to be president.

Kosovo’s anticipated arrival on the world stage has not been won without sacrifice or criticism. It has been a long struggle - one which required the breakup of Yugoslavia and years of subsequent chaos, violence, and ethnic cleansing. Since 1999, Kosovo, a province of Serbia, has been under U.N. control.

Old Yugoslavia

On January 31, 1946, the new constitution of Federal People’s Republic of Yugoslavia, modeled after the Soviet Union’s constitution, established six Socialist Republics, a Socialist Autonomous Province, and a Socialist Autonomous District that were part of SR Serbia. The federal capital was Belgrade. The Republics and provinces were as follows:

1. Socialist Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, with the capital in Sarajevo,
2. Socialist Republic of Croatia, with the capital in Zagreb,
3. Socialist Republic of Macedonia, with the capital in Skopje,
4. Socialist Republic of Montenegro, with the capital in Titograd (now Podgorica),
5. Socialist Republic of Serbia, with the capital in Belgrade, which also contained:
   5a. Socialist Autonomous Province of Kosovo and Metohija, with the capital in Priština
   5b. Socialist Autonomous Province of Vojvodina, with the capital in Novi Sad
6. Socialist Republic of Slovenia, with the capital in Ljubljana.

Photo Credit: Wikipedia

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Photo Credit: Wikipedia

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From the end of the second World War until 1980, Yugoslavia remained a federation of the six republics. After Yugoslavian dictator Tito’s death in 1980, some of the republics began to seek more freedom from centralized control, but, at the same time, Slobodan Milosevic, the Serbian communist leader, whipped the Serbian people into a nationalistic fervor. Milosevic’s goal was to keep the Serb people together at any cost.

In 1990, after the fall of the Soviet Union, each of the republics held elections. Some of the republics voted for independence and some voted for continued unity with Yugoslavia. The stage was set for death and destruction as the forces that desired independence fought those who wished to remain tied to old Yugoslavia.

The New Nations

Yugoslavia formally ceased to exist on January 15, 1992, when all 12 members of the European Community officially recognized Slovenia and Croatia as independent states. One by one the former Yugoslav republics declared independence with each declaration leading to war and chaos.

Terrible atrocities were committed by all sides during the Yugoslavian wars. Serbian leaders had fought for an ideal of keeping all Serbs together in a “Greater Serbia”, but failed. In two of the most notable atrocities committed, both in Bosnia-Hercegovina, Serbia besieged Sarajevo, resulting in 12,000 deaths and massacred 8,000 Muslim men and boys at Srebrenica.

The war in Bosnia ended with the Dayton Agreement on December 14, 1995. In all, about 300,000 people were killed and more than 2,000,000 were displaced. In 2003, the name of Yugoslavia was abolished and by 2006, all republics had declared their independence. But within the republic of Serbia lay the autonomous province of Kosovo, waiting for its day of independence.

Kosovo

Kosovo, lying in the southern area of Serbia, is predominantly Albanian and Muslim. Under Tito, Kosovo was granted semi-autonomy in the 1980s but the Kosvars continued to agitate for greater autonomy. When Milosevic assumed leadership of the communist party, he began a drive to subdue Kosovan nationalism. When Milosevic refused to accept an agreement by the European Union to end the conflict, NATO began a bombing campaign. After 78 days of bombing, Milosevic agreed to withdraw his forces from Kosovo, but the violence did not end.

As Albanians returned to their homes, violence among the ethnic groups continued to simmer. Serbs, who had entered during the purging of the Albanian population, were now the ones forced to leave. The hostilities continue to this day, and, with Kosovo on the brink of declaring independence, fears are increasing that this latest and possibly last of the declarations of independence will lead to yet another round of violence.

Earlier Saturday the European Union finally agreed on a security, administrative and legal task force to aid Kosovo once it makes its much anticipated declaration.

Within hours, Kosovo will declare its independence, joining the other players on the world’s stage of autonomous players. And we may see yet another round of violence in the Balkans. As all Americans should remember, independence comes with a price.

WHERE ARE OUR YOUNGINS? IS ACTIVISM TIED TO THE DRAFT?

Conscription is a system to provide manpower to be used in the armed forces. In the United States, conscription was introduced in the Union Army during the American Civil War. The 1863 Enrollment Act permitted draftees to hire paid substitutes to fight in their place. In the United States during more recent times, conscription has simply been called the “draft.”

During the Civil War and again during World War I the draft mechanism was dissolved at the end of hostilities. In 1940, prior to U.S. entry into World War II, the first peacetime draft in our nation’s history was enacted in response to increased world tension with the result that the system was able to fill wartime manpower needs smoothly and rapidly after the attack on Pearl Harbor.

At the end of the war, the draft law was allowed to expire, but it was reenacted less than two years later to maintain necessary military manpower levels as a result of the Cold War. From 1948 until 1973, during both peacetime and periods of conflict, men were drafted to fill vacancies in the armed forces which could not be filled through voluntary means.

Induction authority expired in 1973, but the Selective Service System remained in existence in a “standby” posture to support the all-volunteer force in case an emergency should make it necessary for Congress to authorize a resumption of inductions.

Vietnam War draft

Opposition to U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War began slowly and in small numbers in 1964 on various college campuses in the United States. This happened during a time of unprecedented student activism reinforced in numbers by the demographically significant baby boomers, but grew to include a wide and varied cross-section of Americans from all walks of life.

Much of the protest movement was fueled by a system of conscription that provided exemptions and deferments more easily claimed by middle and upper class registrants - and thus inducted disproportionate numbers of poor, working-class, and minority registrants. By the end of 1967, as U.S. troop casualties mounted and the war ground on with no end in sight, public opinion polls showed a majority of Americans were opposed to the war and wanted it to end. In 1967, the continued operation of a seemingly unfair draft system then calling as many as 40,000 men for induction each month fueled a burgeoning draft resistance movement.

But where is that resistance from the youth of today? An undeclared war is being waged in a foreign land, thousands of military personnel are being sent to fight, thousands are dying, and thousands more are being maimed for life.

Yet, the youth of today are strangely silent. Could it be that the primary reason so many college age and young people are not participating is because they do not have a “vested” interest in this war? The Selective Service is still in place for males, but the draft is not. But it is folly to ignore the authority to reinstate the draft at any given moment.

The sole purpose of the Selective Service is to keep track of the number of available young males in case the draft needs to be reinstated. And, as the youth of today sit back comfortably assuming that they are “safe” from forced service to this country, the reality is that our military is stretched thin by our ongoing and misguided efforts in Iraq.

Of course, you will see some younger protesters at the rallies and marches, but take a closer look as you drive by. When I stand on the sidewalk along the Clinton street side of our Courthouse, I look up and down the row of protesters, and I see older individuals - many in their 40s, 50s, 60s, and, yes, even in their 70s.

Many of us protesting and rallying are from the Vietnam War era - we remember those days, and we are willing to stand on sidewalks and street corners in blistering hot weather as well as zero degree temperatures to protest a war that is not only unjust but also one of the greatest blunders ever made by a president.

So our youth, for the most part, turn their heads away from the horrors of Iraq, comfortable in their false sense of security and the notion that they are safe from being snatched into service. They are not yet affected; they are not the ones fighting and dying in an unjust war.

But those thoughts are misguided; the Selective Service hovers in the background with the power to rip complacent bodies into forced military service. A vested interest in this war and any other wars may very well arise only when the individual has the most to lose - his or her own life. What a shame that it takes extrinsic motivation to force the youth to do something that should arise from intrinsic values - caring about their fellow human beings.

Photo Credit: Mike Keefe - InToon.com

 

TOWERING OVER ALL - THE CELL PHONE TOWER CONTROVERSY

Zoning officials today are caught between a rock and a hard place when it comes to siting cellular-phone towers or other antenna installations. Although legally, local authorities cannot refuse them or attempt to design zoning regulations based on health effects, the Federal Telecommunications Act of 1996 does give local governments and entities the right to regulate the placement, construction, and modification of such towers.

SEC. 704. FACILITIES SITING; RADIO FREQUENCY EMISSION STANDARDS.
(a) NATIONAL WIRELESS TELECOMMUNICATIONS SITING POLICY- Section 332(c) (47 U.S.C. 332(c)) is amended by adding at the end the following new paragraph:
(7) PRESERVATION OF LOCAL ZONING AUTHORITY-

(A) GENERAL AUTHORITY- Except as provided in this paragraph, nothing in this Act shall limit or affect the authority of a State or local government or instrumentality thereof over decisions regarding the placement, construction, and modification of personal wireless service facilities.

(B) LIMITATIONS-
(i) The regulation of the placement, construction, and modification of personal wireless service facilities by any State or local government or instrumentality thereof–
(I) shall not unreasonably discriminate among providers of functionally equivalent services; and
(II) shall not prohibit or have the effect of prohibiting the provision of personal wireless services.
(ii) A State or local government or instrumentality thereof shall act on any request for authorization to place, construct, or modify personal wireless service facilities within a reasonable period of time after the
request is duly filed with such government or instrumentality, taking into account the nature and scope of such request.
(iii) Any decision by a State or local government or instrumentality thereof to deny a request to place, construct, or modify personal wireless service facilities shall be in writing and supported by substantial evidence contained in a written record.
(iv) No State or local government or instrumentality thereof may regulate the placement, construction, and modification of personal wireless service facilities on the basis of the environmental effects of radio frequency emissions to the extent that such facilities comply with the Commission’s regulations concerning such emissions.
(v) Any person adversely affected by any final action or failure to act by a State or local government or any instrumentality thereof that is inconsistent with this subparagraph may, within 30 days after such action or failure to act, commence an action in any court of competent jurisdiction. The court shall hear and decide such action on an expedited basis. Any person adversely affected by an act or failure to act by a State or local government or any instrumentality thereof that is inconsistent with clause (iv) may petition the Commission for relief.

GenCom has a variance request in front of the Fort Wayne Board of Zoning Appeals to allow it to construct a 150-foot cell phone tower at 1427 Broadway, which is included in our West Central Neighborhood boundaries. The tower will then be leased to Centennial. The tower will sit close to the street and will be completely visible driving Broadway north to south. The tower will also be visible, due to its height, from the opposite direction.

GenCom has not made any effort to work with the West Central Neighborhood on this issue other than to have a Centennial spokesman attend our last meeting. He did not have all the facts or data with him as it related to the need to establish a tower, and it became evident as we continued to ask questions.

One piece of information that did come out of the meeting was the fact that the tower is not needed for residential reception. It primarily is needed to boost cell phone reception by motorists driving through a very minimal “dead zone.” The hypocrisy of this is that we admonish drivers not to talk on their cell phones while driving yet companies turn around and attempt to make reception available in every possible area so that motorists can talk on their phones on their homeward-bound drive.

The following clip is from YouTube and shows the creative ways in which some companies are actually trying to be a “good neighbor.” Apparently, some companies feel it is important to work with communities to reach a solution as to disguising the stark, ugliness of a straight metal structure jutting into the air.

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To give an idea of the height of the tower, compare it to the Statue of Liberty - a symbol with which we should all be familiar. The Statue of Liberty is 306.8 feet from the bottom of the base to the top of the torch. From the Statue’s feet on the base to the torch is 152.2 feet. So imagine a tower the size of the Statue plopped down in a highly visible area of heavy traffic.

 

 

Photo Credit: Statue of Liberty Facts

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We have every right to request the zoning board to deny this variance - to have the tower placed elsewhere. But, if the zoning board decides to approve the variance, then we should demand that it impose restrictions on the construction so that it conforms to the guidelines of the West Central Plan adopted by the City. Those guidelines state:

“Encourage new construction designs to be complementary to the historic nature of the neighborhood.”

The argument that it can’t be done is superficial. Fort Wayne Newspapers, Starbucks, and St. Joe Hospital have all done outstanding work on their designs to bring them into conformance with the West Central Plan. It is time residents and citizens made their thoughts and concerns known as to how our neighborhood will be perceived. It is our neighborhood, and we have the right and the obligation to ensure that new structures do, indeed, complement the historic nature of West Central.

WHAT: Public Hearing
WHERE: City-County Building, Room 126 (first floor)
WHEN: Janaury 31, 2008
TIME: 6:00 p.m.

IT’S BAAAACK!! THREE RIVERS PARADE TO RETURN TO WEST CENTRAL

Yes, the Three rivers Festival Parade will once again grace our fair neighborhood. The last time the parade wound its way through West Central was 2002. The next year was the Flood of 2003, and Thieme Drive, the route of the first leg of the parade, was deep under water.

I remember my disappointment because my home is right on the route of the parade. For several years, all I had to do was step out on my front porch and enjoy the parade. I had friends over, and we munched on snacks and coffee and beverages as we relaxed in comfortable seats or just sat on my front lawn.

While the parade is back in West Central, it will be taking a slightly altered route - one that, even if it did flood again, would not stop the parade from going on. The new route will cross the Main Street bridge and turn south on Rockhill, stepping lively by the Carol Lombard house. It will then turn east on Wayne Street and head toward Van Buren. Although it will not take in as much of West Central as in years past, the mere fact that it will be back is good enough.

West Central has some amazing architecturally significant homes, and, what a treat for those who rarely journey into our area to be able to get a glimpse of the different styles and designs.

Welcome back and thank you to the Three Rivers Festival Director, Shannon White, for returning a long-standing tradition to our neighborhood. Join us this July for the return of the Parade to West Central. Below our just a few of the myriad architectural styles that you will enjoy during your visit to our neighborhood! Aren’t they gorgeous?

 

 

 

 

 

 

THIEME DRIVE - SAFE FOR NOW

Quite some time ago, I wrote about Thieme Drive and the St. Marys River, both of which are within a few dozen feet of my front door. In July 2003, we experienced what was labeled a “100-year” flood event with the St. Marys cresting at its highest level ever at 21.20 ft. on July 9, 2003.

After the waters had receded, the City requested that the United States Army Corps of Engineers undertake a Section 205 Study. Section 205 of the 1948 Flood Control Act, as amended, provides authority to the Corps of Engineers to plan and construct small flood damage reduction projects that have not already been specifically authorized by Congress. The City made such a request and the Corps submitted the Section 205 Study results in February 2005. The Study was released just a month after the third highest crest of the St. Marys at 19.06 ft. on January 14, 2005.

The Study identified four areas that had flooded in July 2003 that were not protected subsequent to the Flood of 1982 and its aftermath of building berms, levees, and walls. One of those areas was the Thieme-Berry area, with the suggestion made by the Corps to place an 1100-foot wall along Thieme Drive. The Study noted that not many homes in the Thieme-Berry location were impacted. After the release of the Section 205 Study, the City decided to go ahead with meetings to obtain input from the public on the four sites analyzed by the Corps.

Thus, began my fight against “the wall.” I attended meetings that were held not only in my neighborhood but also in other neighborhoods included in the Study. I wrote to the City numerous times, and I attended my neighborhood association meetings to ask for help in fighting the wall. The West Central Neighborhood Association was and has been extremely helpful, and we sent two letters to the City to let them know that a wall was not wanted.

All I could envision during this time were the monstrosities along St. Joseph Boulevard in the Lakeside area and along Camp Allen Drive in the Nebraska Neighborhood. Camp Allen Drive intersects with Main Street just across the Main Street bridge. The homes on Camp Allen Drive face a wall along the west side of the river, and driving along Camp Allen is like driving in a tunnel. The same can be said for driving along St. Joe Boulevard from Tennessee Avenue to the Columbia Avenue bridge. The traffic lanes restrict motorists, edging the drivers against the Wall in the traffic lane closest to the wall heading toward the Columbia Avenue bridge.

Concrete wall along Camp Allen Drive

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In a charrette held this past summer, a number of West Central residents impacted by the flooding of the St. Marys gathered with representatives of the City to discuss options to help with the flooding. No one supported an 10-foot wall, much to my relief. Those of us who actually suffer the flood waters stated that the water comes through our basement walls as the water filters through the ground. When I flooded in July 2003, I only had about an inch or two of water in my basement - most coming from oozing through the northwest corner of my basement wall. My home also sits at the low point on my side of West Berry, so the flow of water is naturally to my home and its foundation.

After much discussion, what was settled on as a consensus was a 4-foot wall with intermittent columns where barricades could be lowered into place to block the flood waters. These plans were then carried to the City by the two city employees who had facilitated the charrette.

I still did not want a wall of any type. Erecting even a 4-foot wall would have meant destroying the river bank environment since any wall would have required setting foundations in place deep in the ground. Trees would have been removed, many of them decades old. I realize to some this is not important, but we have very few river drive views left in Fort Wayne. Many once-visible river banks are now hidden either behind concrete walls or earthen levees and berms.

After the charrette, the City took soil borings, and, much to my delight, found that Thieme Drive is mostly fill with no way to support the footings that would be necessary for any type of wall. The City has determined that it would not be cost effective to go forward with a wall given that only a few homes are impacted by the flooding.

While I was elated at this news, it does not mean the fight is over. The City could place the project in the hands of the Army Corps of Engineers. But if the Corps becomes involved, it will trigger a Section 106 review. The following are the mandates of Section 106:

Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966 requires consideration of historic properties in the thousands of federal actions that take place nationwide each year. The law and regulations require federal agencies to consult with the State Historic Preservation Officer (SHPO) and/or Tribal Preservation Officer and give the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation an opportunity to comment before projects are implemented. The Section 106 process also provides for public input in the decision making.

This is relevant to Thieme Drive because Thieme Drive has been included in a multi-property document filed with the state and national historic registers, thus providing protection of a historical nature. Let me explain a little about the historic nature of Thieme Drive.

Thieme Drive History

Thieme Drive is named after Theodore F. Thieme, an early Fort Wayne entrepreneur who started the Wayne Knitting Mills and who donated the home where the Arena Dinner Theatre is located. He was also active in city improvement projects and was an early supporter of the beautification of our rivers. The overlook at the junction of Rockhill and Thieme Drive was built by Mr. Thieme on what was an old dump site. He donated his home to be used as an art studio, and it now houses the Arena Dinner Theater. One of my prized possessions which I found at the Hyde Brothers Book Store is a personally-autographed book of Mr. Thieme’s life titled “Theodore F. Thieme: A Man and His Times” by Ross F. Lockridge. I cannot help but think from reading the book that Mr. Thieme was a true “renaissance man.”

Around 1907, the citizens of Fort Wayne combined their effort with the local government to implement plans to beautify their city. The first plan was submitted by Charles Mulford Robinson of New York in 1909. This plan was followed by a park and boulevard plan by noted landscape architect George Kessler in 1911. The Plan highlighted and capitalized on the city’s most important and significant asset - its three rivers and the opportunity they presented.

After the Flood of 1913, the River Improvement Association was formed to review options for control and prevention of floods. The existing River Front Commission hired Kessler to supervise the work of revising the park system and beautifying the river banks. Kessler’s plan called for connecting the nine miles of rivers running though the city via parkways and boulevards.

The 1912 Kessler Park and Boulevard System for Fort Wayne included Present Parks and Parkways, Proposed Parks and Parkways, and Proposed Boulevards. A parkway includes the river, its bank, public green space along the bank, the vehicular drive along the landside of the green space. At the time of the Plan, the city had only two lengths of existing parkway:

• one running along the east bank of the St. Joseph River south from the Tennessee Boulevard to link to the Maumee River at its confluence, and
• one associated with Thieme Drive, along the east bank of the St. Marys River extending south from Main Street to Swinney Park.

The river drive along St. Joe Boulevard is encased on the river side by a cement wall over which no one can see from the street. Thieme Drive is the only river drive left of the original Kessler Plan. It is also one of the few drives left in Fort Wayne where motorists can actually drive right along the river - a rare sight indeed in today’s Fort Wayne landscape of berms, levees, and concrete walls hiding our rivers from view.

But Thieme Drive is neglected. Its river side is overgrown with unsightly brush and weeds and Trees of Heaven, which grow quickly and overtake almost any area they invade. The Drive is need of upkeep and care - it needs cleaned and weeded. The River Greenway runs alongside the river, but no formal path exists - I don’t know why because one could surely be established. This would require turning Thieme Drive into a one-way running from Washington Boulevard to Main Street, but that could be accomplished.

So, as I leave my home each morning and turn onto Thieme Drive and drive along the river, I breathe a sigh of relief - Thieme Drive is safe for now. I can only hope that somehow, someway the powers-that-be will soon look at Thieme Drive in a new light - a light that sees it for what it is - an historic river drive in need of care and attention to turn it into what could be a beautiful reminder of the man who gave it its name - Theordore F. Thieme.

WEST CENTRAL NEIGHBORHOOD’S GRAND BLUE LADY

I love old homes and early architecture. I am not much for the stark look of some of today’s more “modern” buildings - the square, gray, cold look with little or no artistic detail either inside or outside. That is one reason I love living in West Central, the City’s oldest residential historic district.

The District is roughly bounded by Main, Webster, Jefferson, Broadway, Jones, and St. Mary’s River, Fort Wayne. The area began to develop as a residential area during the canal era of the 1830s. The homes represent virtually all architectural styles popular between 1830 and 1950. The West Central neighborhood was listed on the National Register of historic Places as the West End Historic District in 1984. A portion of the neighborhood received local designation shortly thereafter and was expanded in 1985.

One of the most disheartening events occurs when the older homes are abandoned by their owners - many of them absentee landlords who do not live in the neighborhood. Or, if not abandoned, the homes are relegated to neglect and disrepair while transiting tenants in and out on a monthly basis. When a home finally succumbs to its age and neglect, it is ripe for demolition, leaving in its wake an empty lot sprouting overgrown weeds and bare soil.

Sometimes we are fortunate, though, and a home’s ultimate demise is cut short by the intervention of a group or a person who steps forward to buy the house. Such a house is the “Grand Blue Lady” which sits at the corner of Van Buren and Washington. Although the house was not yet on the demolition list, it would have just been a matter of time. The house faces busy West Washington, looking out on a constant flow of traffic heading west.

No doubt about it, the house is in disrepair and needs thousands of dollars of work to bring her back to glory. She has three floors and is divided into two sides - each side with distinctive features.

Front of Blue Lady

Back yard of the house

Foyer in one side of home

Staircase from first floor to second floor on one side of house

Looking north from the third floor porch

The inside has much of the old woodwork: foyers, stairways, and pocket doors appear to be hard, solid oak. Today’s world of cookie cutter homes sprawling outward from the City’s core do not have the same massive wood trimmings and doors that were used in yesteryear’s homes.

The house was purchased by ARCH to save it from the fate from which so many other homes in the downtown area have suffered. This past summer members of ARCH as well as some of us from West Central helped clean the house for a city inspection. I took my camera and ended up taking over 90 pictures - those above are only a few of the ones I took.

Although I know of no one who has come forward at this time to buy the house from ARCH, it would be a true shame if the Grand Blue Lady were saved from demolition only to be unable to attract a new owner to renovate and lovingly restore her to her former self. I am hoping that someone will come along soon and save this Grand Blue Lady of West Central.

JOHN McCAIN - INSANITY AT ITS WORST

John McCain is really coming across as a war-monger. In a video caught, apparently, by a camera phone, he jokingly sings “Bomb, Bomb, Bomb, Iran” to the tune of the old Beach Boys hit, “Barbara Ann.” Chuckling as he takes the microphone, he cheerfully converts the words of the Beach Boys’ hit to accommodate his future Middle East strategy.

How grown up, and just think, there are thousands of voters out there ready to throw their support behind him. If you want more war and more conflicts, then you want John McCain in the White House. Personally, I think he is insane. He may be a Vietnam veteran and hero, but he has certainly lost his grip on reality.

How can anyone who went through what he went through want to be a part of a continuing boondoggle in Iraq and then ramp it up to include Iran? And, if that isn’t convincing, he told a crowd in New Hampshire on January 4, 2008, that he is fine with staying in Iraq for 100 years.

So, all you McCainites out there, if you want war, war, war, and death, death, death, vote for John McCain; he doesn’t sound like he will let you down. Sort of reminds me of the Johnson - Goldwater contest back in 1964. The fear was that if Goldwater was elected, he would lead us into nuclear war. The famous ad below was one of the most effective ads ever in a campaign.

Either senility has surely set in or his advisers couldn’t get to him before he opened his mouth. If McCain gets elected, there will be no light at the end of the tunnel because he will never let a tunnel be built.

THE CHRISTMAS TRUCE - IMAGINE A WORLD OF PEACE

Miracles do happen every so often - even in battle. For those soldiers locked in fierce combat near Ypres in the Ypres salient region of Belgium, that miracle was the Christmas Truce of December 24, 1914. The United States had not yet entered World War I and would not do so until 1917.

The British and German troops were mired in heavy mud, biting cold, barbed-wire boundaries, and water-logged trenches. And despair. The war was supposed to be short, but already predictions were being made that it would drag on for months, if not years. Casualties had been heavy - hundreds of thousands had already died since the beginning of the fighting in August. Soldiers on both sides of the battle field - some not more than 60 yards from each other - were weary and dispirited. And, it was Christmas Eve, the night before the birth of the Saviour who would be known as the “Prince of Peace.”

The soldiers had received bits and pieces from their homelands for their muddy Christmas celebration. Soldiers on both sides received boxes of tobacco and food prepared by their governments, but logistics gave the Germans an edge on gifts from home. The British were separated from their homeland by the English Channel and 60 miles of battlefield. The Germans were close to their homeland borders with no intervening natural obstacles. With a direct line to their homeland, the Germans were able to receive small Christmas trees and candles - items which brought the smell of pine and the soft glow of light to their battle-trench celebration.

Perhaps weary of the fighting and longing to go home, perhaps disillusioned by the commands that had brought them to this front, but for whatever reasons given, the Germans began setting the small trees and lighted candles on their parapets - the low earth and stone ridges erected to protect them from the British. Christmas carols were not far behind, and, although the words were of a foreign tongue, the tunes were familiar to British ears.

They watched, and they listened. And, after a while, they began singing too. Amid continuing shouts back and forth of Christmas tidings, the troops became emboldened. By Christmas morning, the “no man’s land” between the trenches was filled with British and German soldiers, sharing gifts and rations and singing. They kicked around a football, which developed into a real match. The unsanctioned but heart-felt truce lasted until around New Year’s Day when, under the threat of court marital, commanders ordered their troops back to combat.

Shaking hands and parting, the Germans and British trudged back to their sodden trenches to begin the killing of those who, only hours earlier had shared in a celebration common to them as Christians. The Great War would stretch on through another three Christmases and beyond, until the Armistice signed on November 11, 1918. In all, 8 1/2 million would die and 21 million more would be wounded.

But, for a short period of time, political philosophies and divisive nationalities were put aside to celebrate the true meaning of Christmas - the birth of the Prince of Peace.

Image from firstworldwar. com

A minor Scottish poet of the Great War vintage, Frederick Niven, closed his “A Carol from Flanders” with the following lines:

O ye who read this truthful rime

From Flanders, kneel and say:

God speed the time when every day

Shall be as Christmas Day.

My wish - although many see it as naive - is contained in the following version of “Someday at Christmas” by Mary J. Blige. The song says it all, and as silly as it may seem to many, I will never give up on this wish.

Merry Christmas to all.

INTERVIEWER STUPIDITY - THE MORMON POLYGAMY QUESTION - AD NAUSEUM

The following was an exchange while Mitt Romney was still governor of Massachusetts.

Interviewer: Governor Romney, thanks for being on the show.

Mitt: (all smiles) Great to be here, Joan.

Interviewer: Governor, a lot of Americans are asking themselves, Can a Mormon be president? How do your respond to that?

Mitt: (all smiles) Well, Joan, one of the great things about this country is that we enjoy the freedom to worship as we see fit, to raise our children in a belief system that will give them the moral upbringing they need to be good citizens who contribute to the betterment of society. But my hope is that people won’t vote for me, or refuse to vote for me, because of my faith. I would hope that people would look at my record as a public official. For example, when I balanced the budget in the state of Massachu–

Interviewer: Yes yes, but isn’t it true that the Mormons have embraced some rather, shall we say, unorthodox beliefs? Take polygamy. When most Americans think of Mormons, they think of polygamy.

Mitt: (chuckling) Mormons don’t practice polygamy, Joan. The church banned the practice over a hundred years ago. Mormons are just like any other Christian faith. We love our children, we–

Interviewer: Yes yes, but as a Mormon, are you telling me that you’ll never take another wife? I mean, we Americans can only take one First Lady. What would we call the other wives? Second Lady? Third Lady? I mean, who would choose the drapes?

Mitt: No no, Joan. It’s just me and Ann. In fact, one of my goals as president is to strengthen the American family and–

Interviewer: Not even one more wife?

Mitt: Uh, no, Joan. Not even one.

Interviewer: Not even one teeny tiny wife?

Mitt: I don’t follow you.

Several weeks ago, during a debate where the audience was allowed to ask questions, the same issue arose. An individual who was given the opportunity to ask a serious question of Mr. Romney prefaced his “real” question with an inquiry as to which one of his wives would be First Lady. Perhaps the questioner thought he was being cute or personable, but at this point the lack of knowledge about the Mormon religion is getting old.

Enough said. I am not a Republican, and I won’t be voting for Mitt Romney, but stupidity, rudeness, and failure to check historical knowledge drive me crazy.

MARTIN LUTHER AND THE REFORMATION

Every now and then I take a streak and watch a few DVDs. I have been building a collection for myself, and I recently ordered a couple that I had not yet seen. I tend to like movies that have a message or have some aspect of history recounted in them. One of those was the 2003 movie, Luther, which depicts the life and struggles of Martin Luther. The movie stars Joseph Fiennes as Luther and an outstanding supporting cast.

Luther’s theology challenged the authority of the papacy by holding:

• that the Bible is the sole source of religious authority
• that all baptized Christians are a general priesthood
• that salvation was attainable only by faith in Jesus as the Messiah
• that faith alone and unmediated by the church was the way to salvation

One of Luther’s primary incentives to act against the Catholic church was the church’s use of an “indulgence” as a tool of mediation. Indulgences emerged in the 11th and 12th centuries when the idea of purgatory took widespread hold and when the popes became the activist leaders of the reforming church.

In Roman Catholic theology, an “indulgence” is the remission of punishment because a sin already committed has been forgiven. The indulgence is granted by the church when the sinner confesses and receives absolution. When an indulgence is given, the church is extending merit to a sinner from its Treasure House of Merit, an accumulation of merits it has collected based on the good deeds of the saints. These merits could be bought and sold.

Luther objected to a saying attributed to Johann Tetzel that “as soon as the coin in the coffer rings, the soul from purgatory springs.” Luther insisted that forgiveness was God’s alone to grant, and those who claimed that indulgences absolved buyers from all punishments and granted them salvation were in error.

Luther not only had interpretative disagreements with the Catholic church but also believed that the Bible should be translated into the German language so that all the people of the Holy Roman Empire’s German territory could have access to its teachings.

Luther’s translation of the Bible into the German language is known as the “Luther Bible.” His translation made it more accessible to ordinary people and had a tremendous impact on the church and on German culture. The translation also furthered the development of a standard version of the German language and added several principles to the art of translation.

The Luther Bible by reason of its widespread circulation facilitated the emergence of the modern German language by standardizing it for the peoples of the Holy Roman Empire, an empire embodying most of present day Germany. It is considered a landmark in German literature.

His hymns inspired the development of congregational singing within Christianity. His marriage to Katharina von Bora set a model for the practice of clerical marriage within Protestantism whereas the Catholic church from which he broke forbade marriage.

But just as men and women are seen as heroes and heroines, they also have their flaws. Luther’s main flaw was his attitude toward and treatment of Jews. As a Christian pastor and theologian, Luther was concerned that people have faith in Jesus as the messiah for salvation. In rejecting that view of Jesus, the Jews became a model of the opposition to the Christian view of God.

Initially, he advocated kindness toward the Jews, but only with the aim of converting them to Christianity. When his efforts at conversion failed, he became increasingly bitter toward them. Luther successfully campaigned against the Jews in Saxony, Brandenburg, and Silesia.

Luther’s work acquired the status of Scripture within Germany, and he became the most widely read author of his generation, in part because of the coarse and passionate nature of the writing. The prevailing view among historians is that his anti-Jewish rhetoric contributed significantly to the development of antisemitism in Germany, and in the 1930s and 1940s provided an ideal foundation for the National Socialist’s attacks on Jews.

I found the movie fascinating; however, it did not delve deeply into Luther’s views and treatment of German Jews. The movie takes the viewer up to and through his marriage to Katharina von Bora and no further. But that was enough to pique my interest and to lead me to research the man who became the leader of the Protestant Reformation.

But Luther was not the only troublemaker for the Roman Catholic church - a King of England, Henry the Eighth, was on his way to making history at about the same time. Although England had adhered to the Roman Catholic church for nearly a thousand years, King Henry’s disagreement with the Vatican over his request to annul his first marriage to Catherine of Aragon led to a break with Rome in 1534. Henry the Eighth established himself as the Supreme Head of the Church of England, thus ensuring his annulment and subsequent freedom to marry Anne Boleyn.

And that will be my next movie to watch - A Man for All Seasons. I saw the movie many, many years ago, but now I own it, and I am again intrigued by its tale.