The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald

     This is an ode to those who trod the Lying Lakes....hauling iron ore to the mills of Cleveland and such places to be converted to steel, while then taking the grains of the verdant fields of Illinois and Indiana to the mills of Minneapolis to be converted to flour.

    Without them and their ships....America would not have prospered as it did.   So, as a Confederate, I allow that these are the people who made America what it became.  The sinking of the good ship Edmund Fitzgerald was caused by an error of the crew, for having not sealed the upper closures of the ship.   It simply took on too much water....along with 26,000 tonnes of iron ore.

    We request of the Lord G0d Almighty to remember these souls.  My great-grandfather was one of those, who during an earlier period might have  been awaiting the return voyage, laden with grains to mash into liquor, beer, and other seeds to be sold for seed that would then be turned into  flour for bread.   

     This, had he lived, would have been his 167th year on this planet.  En Requiem - Peter Bonesteel Christian.........associate of the Washburn - Christian Mills, to-day known as GENERAL MILLS.

We thank everyone's patience and interest.   Please forward your inquiries in these times to privatouring@gmail.com

EL GRINGO VIEJO 

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Truly ancient Psalm and Prayer....

King James I (authorised)

King James Version (KJV)

1)     James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad, greeting:

2)    My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations;

3)    Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience.

4)    But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.

5)     If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.

6)    But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed.

7)    For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord.

8)    A double minded man is unstable in all his ways.

9)    Let the brother of low degree rejoice in that he is exalted:

10)    But the rich, in that he is made low: because as the flower of the grass he shall pass away.

11)    For the sun is no sooner risen with a burning heat, but it withereth the grass, and the flower thereof falleth, and the grace of the fashion of it perisheth: so also shall the rich man fade away in his ways.

12)    Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him.

13)    Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man:

14)    But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed.

15)    Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.

16)    Do not err, my beloved brethren.

17)    Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.

18)    Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.

19)     Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath:

20)    For the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God.

21)     Wherefore lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness, and receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls.

22)     But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.

23)     For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass:

24)     For he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was.

25)     But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed.

26)    If any man among you seem to be religious, and bridleth not his tongue, but deceiveth his own heart, this man's religion is vain.

27)    Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world.

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King James Version (KJV)

Public Domain

     The past never leaves the future  with pause, nor totally in peace.   Be they Draculas or the Truth of the Everlasting Word.....the past never retires from the future.  Were the Southerners guilty without redemption because of the Institution of Slavery and the Northerner innocent of the 30,000 Irish children who were thrown to the streets because they were down to the "Sixth Finger"?

    Let us build our monuments of either these foes carefully,  lest we reap as we have sewn.   Let us not weep about the past, but let us restore the righteousness of the American Experience, giving reverence to the past and reverence to our learning from the Word of the Creator of our Universe.   

El Gringo Viejo

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Admonitions, Confessions, and the ordering of Catholic ritual and treatment of others

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    This, (that which is posted to the lower extremities of this submission), is how things sounded to the Old Gringo several hundred years ago...back in the 1950s and 1960s, when El Gringo Viejo was an acolyte at Saint John's Church, Episcopal in McAllen, Texas.   The three Newton brothers put in (combined) over 30 years trying to be loyal and faithful servants.  Only one made the measure, the eldest....born on a Saturday...while the two younger ones served well, tried to be "of the order born", but as I judge myself, and my judges will say, "extremely mediocre at best"

     We put the Admonitions of the Vieux Anglaise which had been tediously reduced into the Olde English.....not from the Roman Catholic Bible, Liturgy, and Litany, but from the forms of Greek, from the Hebrew, the Aramaic Hebrew, the Latin, and other linguistic influences.....and from the pens of the Monks of Ireland and over a score of the finest linquists of the period....those who were constructing a Bible in a "....tongue accustomed to those who worship in their own language."

Sir Isaac Newton

     The task was actually ordered by King James Ist, and the scores of interpreters, the greatest European linguists, many of whom were agnostics, or Jew, or Irish Catholic, theist, or English Catholic (as opposed to papal catholics), and Roman Church linguists.....and they came up with the best interpretation of the (Roman) Catholic Bible in Latin into what was then "modern English".....and a publication of a simple, Common Catholic Bible for an Orthodox (and Catholic) English-speaking Church that was not under the whims and Inquisitions of the Bishop of Rome. 

 The interpretations became cumbersome to be sure, but it also became much of the most quoted, most moving, most beautiful verbiage ever read and/or uttered by the mind and tongue of Mankind.   "Almighty Father, We who have erred and strayed like lost sheep...and followed too much in the devices and desires of our own hearts....." sounds a lot better than....'God don't make no s###' of the new Anglican approach to "relevance", and "inclusion", and "reason" and "tolerance" and "progressivism".   The Roman Catholics of to-day do little better.  Perhaps the Greek Orthodox might still have some semblance of Tradition.    This Anglican Catholic stuff was not something made up at the spur of the moment.   The translations were the work of the greatest linguistic and historian intellectuals of the day.  The translations had the approval of such personalities as Sir Isaac Newton...to this day regarded by many as the most intelligent man who ever lived.

     Oddly enough, the portrait of Sir Isaac Newton is a true portrait, but it depicts a person who is actually the "spittin' image" of El Zorro....our closest chum and friend from the extreme northern edge of the Republic of Texas.   It is an oddity...but please understand....one who says that he is a "direct descendant" from Sir Isaac....is floating balogna.   I can be a nephew of descent and El Zorro can be a nephew by descent....but Sir Isaac Newton never had issue of progeny.   His brother, yes....but Sir Isaac, no.

WE LEAVE THIS SUBMISSION BY QUOTING FROM THE KING JAMES BIBLE (UNABRIDGED)  concerning the point that "Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above....''

Thanks for your continued patronage.  To-morrow, more studies from reality.

El Gringo Viejo

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Political Commentary: Two Schools of Sociology - Weberian and Marxist

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     One of the most useless disciplines within the arbiter of Liberal Arts is the study of sociology.   This is declared by one who majored in that discipline, and as one of that group, graduated in 1969, with a BA degree in Sociology and associated Latin American Studies.   The various minors were clustered in political science, history, archeology, anthropology, and a sub-minor in underwater basket-weaving.

     It is true, however and it must be said,  that there were in my day, two different poles in the sub-set of the discipline of Economics (also a false science).   One was Marxist which was very popular during my stay on campus, and the other was Weberian (pronounced 'veh - behr - e - yahn').

     The Weberian analysis of society and social organisation, and social order was that it was full enough of life-change during the trek:  birth, adolescence, adulthood, professional and trade life,  motherhood, old age, and Death.   He said that the societies who were disciplined celebrated all these acts and ceremonies. This was done according to their religions, denominations within those religions, tribal customs, etc.

     It was Max Weber who determined that there was no "class-warfare".  His understanding was that there was a division of the classes based upon the perceived notions of Class.....Status....and Power.    Interweaving all of this with the idea of life-change of each individual (he or she who actually composed 'societe') means that there are infinite realities concerning the organisation of human society.....AND culture....than can be processed by the most powerful computers to-day.

     Max Weber was no Fascist who believed in ''tradicionalismo uber alles" (pardon the combination of fascism and national socialism).   He was influenced by Marx in various ways, and other writers and thinkers.   BUT.....he parted with the convenient cant and lofty prayer of the "Progressives" by establishing that tradition and social comfort....a warm copa de vino....a comfort of uncles....a lamentation of the death of a cousin....the pain of a wife.....were all more powerful than any "Movement".   (Upon this, believeth El Gringo Viejo)

     Max Weber ( pronounced Veh - behr) was my refuge during the studies of Sociology back in the dark ages of the 1960s.   Even now, he is rarely mentioned, although there are many Che Guevara T-shirts on campus, along with memorials for Mendacious Frida Kahlo and Mendacious Rigoberta Menchu'.  For the one who found and told the truth, there are no T-shirts, nor accolades.

There shall be more, a bit later.    Thank you for your time and patience.
El Gringo Viejo!!!

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Anger and Apathy, and a general lack of fire in the belly......

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     We are a lost nation and a bankrupt culture.  The summit has been crossed and from this point on, our Nation's future will be seen from the point of view of steadily descending into a desert, such as the Mojave.  Social prescription and restriction, already the rule, will become Commandments.  We will gradually become Europe.....grey....dull....knowing too much to be religious....understanding nothing except the next empty pleasure.   Perhaps a good "Burning Man" festival might cure things.....(?)....

     We are certain of our faith in Government.   We have steadily lost our faith in the Giver of Life and invested our trust in government sponsored benefits instead.   We have become, essentially, Voltaire-light. The Proles who might be willing to break out the guillotines and "citizens' tribunals" are exercising at work-out gyms....ever mindful lest the Scarlet Pimpernel's jumping through some open window can interrupt the purification of French blood line..

     The artefacts of our history.....the great monuments of the victors and the defeated....the flags, banners, and images are left to be ignored or defaced or removed.   Few understand any of it anyway.  Most university graduates cannot tell a questioner if the War of 1812 came before or after the War Between the States.   The same cohort of responders can not discern which side was fighting whom.
     There was a test devised fairly recently that asked the responder to match two simple pairs.  Confederate, Yankee, Rebel, Union: please combine so that the pairs are compatible.   If the responders were all total dolts, the laws of statistical probability suggested that at least one-half would hit the head on the nail.   But, no! Some 39 per cent managed to pair up Union / Yankee and Confederate / Rebel.   The coinage and currency of America will soon change the motto, "In God We Trust" for "Gimme, gimme" and "Who cares?"
      Of course, our money soon will be worth less than nothing anyway.

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THE ISSUE of "REPEAL and REPLACE" :

     El Gringo Viejo don' wan' no stinkin' repeal and replace.  You understan', Sr. Presidente de los Gringos!!!   You are goin' to repeal, y ya!   Me entiendes, Mendez?

     The matter at hand is simply to repeal the dysfunctional Obamaham-Care Free Medical Programme, also known as the Obama Socialised Medicine Initiative (OSMI).   The central government in Washington D.C. has no authority or justification to provide medical services.   It should be enough to point out that the best the central government can do is a fairly good, but frequently disastrous, Veterans' Administration operation.
     Were the programme OSMI to collapse to-morrow, there would be rapid measures taken by the insurance companies and private mutuals (Medishare , for instance) to fill the vacuum and submit to State by State insurance commission rules and the rules of the free market.   Costs would plummet, and oddly enough doctors and nurses and medical workers could possibly make more profit and salary because there would no longer be any need to go through a labyrinth of regulations, fees, and penalties.
     It would help normal people by allowing them to avoid paying for that guy's reverse-re-transgender-inverted-duplicate-elective-sexual assignment-abortion-ready and psychological adjustment counselling package.   Social engineering is the greatest evil facing the Republic's culture.  Deficit spending is the greatest evil facing the Republic's economy.

     You cannot say "girl".   You cannot say "Black" ,  "person of Black African Ancestry",  "Negro", "Coloured", ''Coloured Person", "uncle" or "aunt" as a caucasian person about any person  of Black African Ancestry, no matter how close the "girl" or "boy" is to the honkey family.  "Uncle Remus" or "Aunt Jemima" ,  you see, are "racist terms" that underscore the overbearing hubris of "White Privilege".

     Pinkoes and intellectuals on the left also figured out that the word "Mexican" is a dirty word,  because Mexicans are dirty....and dark....and evil looking...like in the Movies, where the real world lives.  So, in order to isolate "them" and make "them" a victim group, the leftist bone-throwers decided to delete "Mexican" and replaced that horrid word with "Hispanic"....which means almost "next-to-nothing".
     "Hispanic" as it is applied during the present times can include people who have totally Black African ancestry, or totally caucasian (white) Iberian ancestry.   Therefore, it is a meaningless ethnic identifier.   The leftists brought us this nominal assignment, because of their own bias against Mexicans.
       But, allow me to advise the Ivy League and the snootsies of the East and Left Coast.  Mexican is a word that identifies nationality....not ethnicity or racial identification.   There is no such thing as an Hispanic Race or a Mexican Race.  We have said this many, many times on this blog.  If someone says, "All Mexicans are......", STOP LISTENING.  
     All Mexicans have brown eyes....except for the ones who have green, blue, grey, or yellow eyes.  All Mexicans are Catholics, except for the ones who are atheist, Protestant, Masons, Jews, etc.....

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     El Gringo Viejo is surrounded with family members from my wife's side who are totally accomplished.....a concuna (in this case the wife of my brother-in-law),  who works in an environment that dictates that, concerning some operations, nothing begins without her presence.   Her husband, my brother-in-law  (cun~ado), served in the Constabulary for many years in Bexar County of Texas.   He also served in the adjunct area of the Viet Nam War, Taiwan,  attending to aircraft of war....and exposed for the duration of his service to the continuing menace of saboteurs who were frequent and effective.

     While simply Honourably Discharged, your humble servant is quick to point out that he had great uncles who served against the Spanish and later against the Huk Filipino nutters after the Spanish American War.   All OROGs know that El Gringo Viejo has a father who was in the Horse Cavalry and various blood members on both sides of the War Between the States.
     We are very dedicated to reverencing the sacrifices of those who served in the manner that they understood to the obligatory and noble.  The applies to enemy and friend, provided that they served under honourable conditions.

     My grandfather's brothers, my father, father-in-law, brother-in-law, son, those of the period of the War Between the States (both sides), and my wife's people who apparently had actives on both sides of the Alamo in 1836 are all in this panoply of Texana and family history.

     We retire from this issue for a bit.  To-morrow,  perhaps we shall return, the Lord willing.

El Gringo Viejo......
We lament the profound impact of the loss of El Zorro's son and we seem to have a problem overcoming the grief thereof.   Not becoming of an Old Confederate, but sincere. One can only imagine and lament......it has affected me very profoundly.

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As promised: We advised last night that there would be a Vol. II concerning the Double Earthquakes of Mexico - 1985

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Below we have submitted the general text of a private transmission between your humble servant and the father-in-law of his daughter.   I am the father-in-law of his son, ergo the Spanish word "consuegro" which means something like "interrelated fathers-in-law".

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Consuegro, 

       I was also in Mexico 32 years ago.
  
     I  was there a week after the "big one" this was a planned trip, tried to postpone it but was told that "business was business" and to come any way. The companies ( NEOSA and VYSSSA) had a large factory compound close to Mexico City. For 2 days I stayed in a small, rough hotel close to the factory. 

As a reminder from yesterday...this is the Torre
Latinoamericano - Pride of Mexico

     The compound was surrounded by a high wall, with garden gates. They had openned the yard and a warehouse to house some of the employees and their families. The first day, with the owner and 2 sons, I helped moving cots, serving food, and general office clean-up.

     Jorge (a very powerful industrial magnate in the North American over-all oil / natural gas industry) told me that he was not much of an humanitarian but, by watching over his people he was building locality, the workers saw the owners working, hard, to help them.  (many Mexican wealthy pooh-pooh their eleemosynary activities so as to avoid attracting flies instead of bees, and to keep their profile low, in order to protect favoured workers and family members)

    The third day we took a truck to his office in Salamanca, picked up a car, and then went to the Pemex Refinery. The "story" he told one-and-all" was: .....his company had me come to check my products to be sure that they  were  still working correctly.  They were !  That refinery became one of his biggest customers. ( I was, on several occasions, the "token Gringo", playing a role and showing that his company could preform.​) (.....a further parenthetical:  There is a old notion among both Mexicans and foreigners that nothing....nothing....in Mexico is any good until it has been approbated by a foreigner....especially an American, Englishman, or Japanese) 

A small portion of the Minatitlan - Coatzacoalcos Petroleum
Complex.  It is one of six complexes in Mexico.  This one is
equivalent to the entire production of Nigeria, Venezuela
(now), and 160 others countries on Planet Earth.

    From Salamanca we drove to Mexico City, flew to Minatitlan, then returned to Mexico City and Houston (home). Sometimes you can be a small part of history, sometimes you can just read about it.   I would prefer to be known as having been part of it.    (here, El Gringo Viejo vigorously intercedes, because what my consuegro says so lightly is actually a gruelling political - social - industrial - engineering - and physical health challenge.  He was moving, and still does, through the most advanced super-rich, the most advanced blue-collar, the most antique and advanced technology, the most complicated social interaction protocol one can imagine.   For instance, in terms of physical health, we are not referring to silly, giggly things like Montezuma's Revenge.  My Consuegro's problem was that he was always surrounded by massive outlays of the finest Mexican, American, and International cuisine and the finest wines, brandies, and beer in existence......and failure to indulge and sample and enjoy is considered an insult.    Any absent word on the work site could set back negotiations and contract compliance strength by months....or years.   Still, at his age, Gringo operators and Mexican magnates still ask for him to do "....just one more little favour".....He does not complain, and he refuses to be "tired".  He is a true beacon of the positive in terms of the Human Condition.) 

My health is ----ok, I continue to improve and thats a good thing. Still have some limitations.

Politics.  Still, I feel , we've lost and see no real end.

Was baby sitting, Evelyn came in to kiss me good night. She looked at the TV and said "Pa-Pa they're speaking Spanish.  Why?"    I told her that the show was a soap opera and it was a good way for me to remember Spanish.    She  said " that's a good idea."  (That is the nature of a good Consuegro)

GOOD NIGHT

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    It should suffice to say that everything in blue print is the compulsive testimony and commentary from the pen of El Gringo Viejo.  That which is in the standard colour above is from his Consuegro.   It should also be noted that this man has no grand degrees from stellar universities, but graduates from such places, such as MIT and Stanford have had to ask for his guidance with some frequency.

     And oddly....although we were frequently in the same places and almost equally frequently at the same time, doing that which we both did best, we never ran across one another in Mexico.

And now you have.....the rest of the story.

El Gringo Viejo

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