Venezuelan Creole Pavilion

Pabellón Criollo Venezolano is the name of this dish in Spanish, the national language of Venezuela. Venezuela was once a colony of Spain. As you will see, there are really several recipes that when done, are then put together to form an entire dinner. The main components show the racial mix in  Venezuela's racial population, with the brown/reddish brown stew, the white rice and the black beans. None of the recipes is hard to do, but the meat just takes time to cook. I checked more than 20 recipes for this dish, many by people at least claiming to be Venezuelan, and there were generally only slight variations, often about tomatoes in the stew part of the dish, with some calling for tomato paste, others calling for tomato sauce and still others using chopped tomatoes. At the other end, a recipe or two did not use ANY tomatoes, in ANY form. Also most recipes used red bell pepper, but a few used green bell pepper, so I liked the idea of using both; thus, my version. For the rice, you can certainly leave out the garlic, but many, not all, of the recipes I saw used garlic in some quantity in the rice, that's why I added it. Almost all of the recipes showed plantains, but there were a couple that did not note their use as an accompaniment. Buen provecho, my friends! 

Ingredients:

To cook the meat:
1 pound of flank steak, cut into three pieces or more, so as to fit into the pot you will use
water + 1 heaping tablespoon beef soup base (also called, "bullion," by some)
1/2 large onion, chopped
1/2 teaspoon salt (the soup base has lots of salt)
1/2 teaspoon black pepper

While Venezuelans boil/simmer the meat, I prefer to bake things in such cases. So, you can cook the meat on top of the stove, or in the oven. Cut the steak into 2 or 3 parts, so it will fit easily into a pot. Add some water to the pot and mix in the soup base. Add the meat and half of a large chopped onion, the salt and pepper, then add more water to just cover the meat. If cooking on the stove, heat to boiling over high heat, then cover and reduce heat so that the meat gently simmers. Simmer until the meat is very tender, likely 90 minutes or more. For using the oven, cover and bake at 300 F for one hour, then reduce heat to 275 F. Bake until meat is very tender (I let it bake for 2 3/4 hours, total. Let the meat cool. Use a couple of forks or just use your fingers to pull/tear the meat apart into strands.

For the stew, after the meat is cooked:
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 large onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, chopped
1/2 large red bell pepper, chopped
1/2 large green pepper, chopped
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
4 tablespoons tomato sauce
4 tablespoons broth from the cooked flank steak
shredded steak

 Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the other half of the large chopped onion, half of the chopped red bell pepper, half of the chopped green bell pepper, saute for a couple of minutes, then add 4 cloves of chopped garlic. Saute a further couple of minutes. Add the cumin, Worcestershire sauce and mix in well. Now add the shredded steak along with the broth and tomato sauce; mix well, then over low heat, cook until the liquid is reduced, stir the meat mixture occasionally.  

For the black beans:
2  15 ounce cans black beans, partially drained (drain off half of the liquid in each can)
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
1/2 large red bell pepper, chopped
1/2 large green bell pepper, chopped
4 cloves of garlic, chopped
1 tablespoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon salt

Heat the olive oil in a pan over medium heat. Add the onion, the chopped red and green pepper and saute a couple of minutes, reduce heat to low and then add the chopped garlic and saute until the onion and peppers are softened. Add the black beans and part of their liquid, the oregano and salt and pepper, stir well. Cook over low heat for about 12 to 15 minutes, stirring frequently, to prevent sticking.    
 
For the rice:
1 cup white rice
2 cloves of garlic, roughly chopped
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 cups of water

Follow the instructions provided by the brand of rice you buy, but otherwise, generally, bring the water to a boil, then add the ingredients and stir gently, only once. Reduce the heat so that the liquid just barely simmers. Put the lid on the pan and let the rice cook 20 minutes without removing the lid. 

For the plantains:
2 ripe plantains
1 cup olive oil
salt

Peel and thinly slice the plantains. Add enough oil for an inch or 2 in a heavy duty skillet; cast iron is good for this, but not a necessity. Heat the oil, but it should not be smoking hot. Fry the chips in batches, removing them to paper towels to drain them as you go. Add salt to taste.

WORD HISTORY:
Creole-This word, distantly related to "create" and to the "crease" parts of "increase" and "decrease,"^  goes back to Proto-Indo-European "kreh/kerh (“to grow, become bigger”). This gave Latin "creare," which meant, "to make, to produce, to create." This then gave Latin "criar," which meant, "to rear or to raise or to bring up young (that is, to help them grow up)." This then produced "cria," meaning, "a person brought up in one's home, or in a particular region or area." This gave Portuguese "crioulo," which meant, "European or African person born in Brazil" (then a colony of Portugal), which differentiated the Portuguese born in Brazil from those native to Portugal. Spanish either borrowed the term from Portuguese or developed its own version from the Latin, but I'm not certain on this. The Spanish ("criollo") and Portuguese seem both to have influenced French, which had "creole," with likely reinforcement by Latin itself. With Portuguese, Spanish and French all Latin-based languages, with many similar words, it is difficult to separate out all of this. English borrowed the word in the early 1600s, from French. The meaning of the word varies from area to area, as in American English, the word came to mean "person of French ancestry in Louisiana," circa 1800, or perhaps a little before, but in British English it generally now refers to a person of African descent from (that is, born in) the West Indies, and further, it can refer to the mixed language of these people of the West Indies or of Louisiana. 

^ "Create," "increase" and "decrease" are not original English words, but rather, they were borrowed into English. 

Von Ryan's Express: Frank Sinatra & Trevor Howard Star

This exciting 1965 film, based on a popular novel of the time by David Westheimer, is set in Italy (largely filmed there, too), beginning in August 1943. The Allies are about to complete the conquest of the Italian island of Sicily and Italian morale is low. Colonel Joseph Ryan of the U.S. Army Air Corps, played by Frank Sinatra, is captured by the Italians when his plane is shot down. Italian soldiers hide their prisoner from a couple of German army officers who come looking to see what happened to the pilot of the downed plane. Ryan is sent to an Italian prisoner of war camp, whose main prisoners are British army troops, now under the command of Major Fincham, played by Trevor Howard, as the previous British commander has just died as a result of spending a long time in a special little prison coop, called "the sweat box." Now Ryan is the senior officer, but he at first defers to Fincham and Ryan feels it will not be long before they are freed, so the overall strategy should be to survive in the best conditions they can get and await the arrival of the Allies. Ryan finds, however, that Fincham has let his own men and a couple of Americans suffer in sick bay with malaria, while holding back on medicines and some other supplies for a possible escape attempt. Fincham's contentious style has made the Italian commandant, Major Battaglia, played by Adolfo Celi, respond in a harsher way than he might otherwise have done. Ryan shows Battaglia the potential British escape tunnel and Battaglia has the showers turned on, razors given out and delousing powder dispensed to the POWs, but he will not issue the prisoners fresh clothing, because he is selling the Red Cross provided clothing to make money for himself. Ryan orders all of the prisoners to strip and to throw the raggedy uniforms into a fire they've built. This forces Battaglia to issue the fresh clothing, but he has Ryan locked in the sweat box.

The Allies invade the Italian mainland and Italy surrenders, causing the Italian guards to desert the camp. Ryan is freed, and Battaglia is locked in the sweat box, at Ryan's order, rather than being hanged as Fincham wanted. The 400 prisoners, now helped by anti-Nazi Italian officer, Captain Oriani, played by Sergio Fantoni, try to get to the not too distant coast in hopes of being rescued by Allied naval forces. German military forces arrive at the camp and free Major Battaglia and they then begin to pursue the fleeing prisoners, who have a number of sick men. Oriani goes ahead of the main group to see if he can contact the Allies. The Germans surround the prisoners, killing some, but the rest are captured. All but the sick and wounded are loaded onto a train. Fincham believes Oriani betrayed them, but Oriani is found badly beaten on a railway car, as he has been captured too. Who walks out and gives the fascist salute? Battaglia! The Germans shoot the sick and wounded, bringing Fincham to say, "You let Battaglia live ... You'll get your Iron Cross for this, 'von' Ryan." (The Iron Cross was a German military decoration.) Ryan is depressed. The train moves out and stops in Rome on its way northward headed toward the German border and Innsbruck (Austria was part of Germany, at that time). The train comes under the command of Major von Klemment, played by Wolfgang Preiss. If you've seen any World War Two movies with German officers made in the 1960s, you've seen Wolfgang Preiss.

Meanwhile, Ryan sees an opportunity to pull up some loose floor boards in his boxcar. When the train slows down, some of the men drop down onto the tracks, then climb up and overpower the guards stationed on top of the cars. They put on the helmets and the uniforms of the guards. When the train stops for water, the men now overpower the remaining guards, toss their bodies onto the train, capture von Klemment and take over the train. Off they go! Now you get the title... "Von Ryan's Express." When the train in underway, the men find a young Italian woman in von Klemment's car, ah... undoubtedly there to darn the major's socks. Von Klemment tells the men the train is scheduled to stop in Florence to feed the German troops and the prisoners. The British chaplain, played by Edward Mulhare, had studied some in Germany years before, and he is fluent in German. They dress him in the uniform of one of the killed German officers, so he will be able to address any German personnel when the train stops. He is highly effective and he helps to keep the group from being found out; after which, he promptly faints.

Ryan and Fincham find out from von Klemment that the train will switch crews and guards when it gets to Verona. So now, Ryan cannot take the train into Verona, or it will all be over. Von Klemment says to divert a train, there will need to be an order issued by a high ranking German officer. * The chaplain now goes back to portraying the German officer and he tells the Germans at the regional command center that he needs to change the train route because it is carrying important things for Hermann Göring. The ruse works, but it isn't long before the Germans check with the regional commander about the Göring shipment, about which, of course, he knows nothing. The alert goes out and a chase begins, as an SS officer takes a train load of troops and calls in air support. In the meantime, von Klemment and the woman escape, and Ryan first kills von Klemment, and then the woman, as she heads for a police office. No more sock darning for her... Damn! (or maybe 'Darn' would be more appropriate?) Ryan, Fincham and company head for the Swiss border, but the German planes attack as the train speeds through a number of small tunnels. The men manage to down one of the aircraft, but the planes damage a walkway on a mountainside and bring down rocks onto the tracks, blocking the train's advance. Meanwhile, the German troop train is nearing. Ryan has most of the men clear the tracks and repair damages to the rails with rails pulled up from behind the train. Ryan, Fincham and a few others try to hold off the German troops who are now moving in on them by foot. Lots of fighting takes place, and several of the men are killed, as well as many Germans, but finally the tracks are cleared and the train is ready to roll. Ryan and the rear guard, including Fincham, break off the fighting and dash for the train, which is just beginning to move. Ryan is the last to run for the train and the German troops are not far behind. The German commander grabs a submachine gun and fires a burst, striking Ryan as he nears the train. He dies on the tracks as the train and the rest of the men roll toward Switzerland and freedom.

* Just a little history: Mussolini was ousted from power in late July 1943, but the new Italian government proclaimed its loyalty to the alliance with Germany, although not so completely secret negotiations began with the Allies to get Italy out of the war. With the Allies in the process of conquering Sicily, the Germans sent more forces to strengthen the Italian mainland. In early September the Allies invaded the mainland and the surrender of Italy was announced, with Hitler reacting by sending more forces and literally taking over Italy, except for the far southern region, which was quickly occupied by the Allies. A very slow and bloody campaign to conquer Italy then began, ending only in late April/early May 1945. The movie shows how the Germans have taken over Italy, including the rail system, which retained many Italian personnel, but under German supervision; thus, written orders had to be from German military officers.

Photo is of Fox War Classics, 20th Century Fox 2001 DVD.

WORD HISTORY: 
Express-This prefixed word has uses as a verb, an adjective and a noun; all coming from the same ultimate source. The prefix, "ex," goes back to Indo European, "eghs/ekhs," which had the notion of, "out from." This gave Latin "ex," with the meanings, "out from, from the inside, out of, from or since a period of time." This became a prefix in forming some words. The "press" part of the word goes back to Indo European "per/pre," which had the notion of  "to go forward, to go through;" thus also, "to apply force (to go forward or to go through)." This gave Latin "premere," meaning, "to squeeze, to compress." The two gave Latin "exprimere," which meant, "to make a visible impression or representation by squeezing;" thus also, "to make clear, to make known." Its participle form produced Latin "expressare," "to squeeze out, to make oneself clear." This passed to Old French, a Latin-based language, as "expresser," ("to make clear or known, to squeeze or compress). This was borrowed from French by English in the second half of the 1300s, but likely with influence directly from Latin, as the word meant, "to state clearly," but also, "to make a representation through a work of art." The Latin adjectival form ("expressus") had also given Old French the adjective "espres/expres," meaning, "clearly or distinctly stated." This was then also borrowed into English, but not until the second half of the 1400s. The noun in English came about from its initial meaning of, "direct messenger;" that is, "one who delivers directly from one location to a precise person or location." This meaning has carried over to modern times with the mail and package services. The further meaning of the modern noun, as in, "the Express," meaning, "express train, express bus," goes to the notion of "being direct, with travel service directly from one location to a precise destination." From all of this has also come the notion, "fast delivery or transport."       

The Untouchables: Kevin Costner, Sean Connery Star

If my memory serves me right, I first saw this 1987 film, directed by Brian De Palma, at the Colony Theater on Shaker Square here in Cleveland (the theater is now called Shaker Square Cinemas). The movie is only loosely based on history, as much in the film is fiction. It is set in the early 1930s, and it deals with the enforcement of Prohibition,* which, by then, was not popular with many Americans, but it was the law, although Al Capone and others used illegal alcohol to make great fortunes. The film shows the underlying feelings about booze (see Word History, below), including at the ending, as Eliot Ness, when asked what he'll do if Prohibition is repealed says, "I think I'll have a drink." Sean Connery won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role as "Malone." Real life Eliot Ness lived in Cleveland and served as the city's safety director during the 1930s. When Ness died in 1957, his body was cremated and his ashes were strewn in Lake View Cemetery here in Cleveland, and there is a memorial for him at the cemetery.** Ness died when I was a kid and after his death, he was portrayed in an ABC television series called, "The Untouchables," starring Robert Stack as Eliot Ness from 1959 until 1963.

The film depicts Eliot Ness, played by Kevin Costner, as he tries to combat Al Capone's alcohol business and the violence Capone, played by Robert De Niro, used to keep his control on the Chicago market. Acting on a tip, the idealistic Ness conducts a raid, only have it turn to nothing, as Capone has also been tipped off by a corrupt policeman, and he has the alcohol removed from the warehouse. The Chicago newspapers ridicule Ness over the fiasco and Capone has a good laugh. Ness is feeling low, but then he meets an Irish beat cop, named Jim Malone, played by Sean Connery. Malone has decided to stay alive by walking the beat, rather than go up against the Chicago police department and the Chicago political system, both heavily tainted by the corruption of Al Capone's money. Malone tells Ness that it will take a fight to the finish to break Capone and the corrupt system. Malone is a wise and experienced policeman and he begins to share his wisdom with Ness, who, at first, is a crusading idealist. Together, Ness and Malone check on police recruit George Stone, played by Andy Garcia, known for his ability to handle firearms. When they ask the recruit why he wants to be a cop, he gives the standard textbook answer ("protect and serve... etc"). Malone decides to ruffle the feathers of the young officer and he mentions the officer's name, "George Stone." Malone then asks, "What's your REAL name," and the officers says, "That IS my real name." Malone presses further by saying, "I mean your name before you changed it." Now the officer turns more serious. Finally the young man utters, "Giuseppe Petri." This brings Malone to call the young officer "a lying wop *** and a member of a lying no good race." Now Stone responds by quickly drawing his pistol and telling Malone, "It's better than you, you stinking Irish pig," Malone now says, "Oh, I like him." So Stone becomes part of the team.    

Ness also meets an accountant, Oscar Wallace, played by Charles Martin Smith, sent by the federal government to investigate Capone's finances. Wallace tells Ness that Capone has not filed a tax return for several years, but Ness doesn't really understand the potential significance of the information provided by the little accountant with the big glasses. When Ness, Stone and Malone go on their first raid as s team, Malone hands the accountant, Wallace, a gun. So now Wallace is part of the team, which will eventually be called, "The Untouchables." This raid scores a big hit and Capone scores a big hit by killing a member of his own inner circle with a baseball bat for providing info to the authorities. As Malone had told Ness, this has all of the makings of a fight to the finish.

The Untouchables get info about a shipment of liquor coming from Canada and they go to the border area to arrest those involved. Not only do they kill a number of Capone's men, but they capture one of his bookkeepers, who can help tie Capone to the gangster's large net of businesses; and thus, to income tax evasion. We also see another reference to how many Americans wanted alcohol, as Wallace, an Untouchable, takes a drink of liquor streaming from a bullet hole in a keg. The bookkeeper's ledger also has names of people who have taken money from Capone (been bribed). When Wallace is taking the bookkeeper away later, both are killed by one of Capone's hitmen, Frank Nitti, played by Billy Drago.**** In Wallace's blood on the wall, Nitti scrolls, "Touchable." So now one of the team members is gone. Malone gets the chief of police, who is part of the corruption, and he forces him to tell him the whereabouts of Capone's main bookkeeper. Before Malone can act on the information, a man with a knife gets into his apartment, and Malone forces him out with a gun, but this brings him into the fire of Nitti who is waiting in ambush. Severely wounded, Malone crawls back into the house and Ness and Stone get there in time for Malone to give them the info about the main bookkeeper. Malone dies, so another team member is gone.

Ness gets the bookkeeper after a major shootout and a dead on shot by Stone at the train station and the man begins his testimony in court about Capone's massive organization. Capone, however, sits in court yawning, appearing to not have a care in the world. Nitti briefly talks with him, and Ness sees the Nitti's gun. When Ness and the bailiff escort the Nitti out of the courtroom, Ness searches him and finds a book of matches with Malone's address on it. He now knows this is Malone's killer. Nitti  takes off and gets to the roof, with Ness in hot pursuit. Ness finds Nitti as vulnerable as he could be, climbing a rope, but he decides to remain within the law and have Nitti tried for Malone's murder.  But then the cocky Nitti tells Ness that Malone "died screaming like a stuck Irish pig," and that Ness should think about that when he goes free for the murder (he knows the court system is fixed). Now Ness's emotions take hold and he pushes the son-of-bitch off of the building roof. Nitti screams and Ness shouts out, "Did he (Malone) sound anything like that?" I remember the movie audience cheered when all of this took place.

Back in court, Ness has notes from Nitti about how Capone's jury has been bribed. This is why Capone was so confident. Ness asks to speak to the judge privately and when court resumes, the judge orders the bailiff to switch juries with the courtroom next door. Capone is furious and orders his attorney to do something, which he does, he tells the judge that on behalf of Capone, he is changing Capone's "not guilty" plea, to "guilty." All hell breaks loose with the press and the people in the courtroom, as now Capone is in big trouble. The district attorney asks Ness what he told the judge. Ness says he told him his name was in the payoff list in the ledger too, but the DA says, "His name wasn't in the ledger." I take this to mean that the judge had received some "favors" from Capone, other than direct payoffs. While the film doesn't show it, in real life, Capone was convicted and sentenced to eleven years in prison, plus fines and also back taxes. Most people are probably unaware that the real life Capone "ruled" Chicago when he was only in his mid 20s to early 30s.        

* Prohibition was the ban on the production, transportation, importation and sale of alcoholic beverages in the United States, as established by the Eighteenth Amendment to the Constitution in 1920. It was repealed by the 21st Amendment in late 1933.

** President James A. Garfield and his wife Lucretia are buried there, as well as billionaire oilman John D. Rockefeller, who founded his Standard Oil Company here in Cleveland. 

*** "Wop" has long been a highly derogatory term for an Italian.

**** Frank Nitti was a real person and the head of Capone's "enforcement department;" which was responsible for intimidating people, and led to some being killed or seriously injured. The scriptwriters have simply used his name for the movie, and the film does not truly mirror Nitti's life, although his character's killings in the film do symbolically show his responsibility.  

Photo is from the 2004 Paramount Home Entertainment DVD 

WORD HISTORY:
Booze-This word has both a noun (alcoholic beverage) and verb form (to drink alcohol, usually more than a small amount), but its origin is very unclear. It was borrowed in the late 1200s as, "bouse(n)," from Dutch "busen," which meant "to drink a lot of alcoholic beverages." The noun apparently was taken from the verb. Where Dutch or how Dutch got the word is unknown. The modern spelling "seems" to date from the 1700s. 

The Kitchen Sink Veggie Drink

For non English speakers, the title refers to a common expression, "everything, but (or some say, except) the kitchen sink," which means, "EVERYTHING," or, "a bit of everything."

Ingredients (4 servings):

32 ounces of plain low fat yogurt
5 radishes
1 carrot
1/2 red bell pepper
1 stalk celery (cut so you can take the strings out)
1 tomato (I actually used about 8 to 10 grape tomatoes)
1 chili pepper (if you like a little heat, I used a serrano chili and it did not overwhelm with heat)
5 garlic cloves
3 green onions (use the green, unless it is dried out)
1 teaspoon turmeric
2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon seasoned salt
1 handful kale or baby kale
1 handful spinach leaves
1 handful beet greens *
3 inch piece seedless cucumber
2 stems of fresh mint, stems and leaves
1 handful fresh parsley, stems and leaves
1 inch piece of ginger, aka, ginger root, peeled 

Rinse the veggies and herbs well. No need to chop, chop, chop; just put them into a blender whole, or cut into pieces so they will fit. Add all of the ingredients to the blender and blend until you have a smooth mixture, although you will likely still have to chew the veggie bits. Of course, it might just be my cheap ass... ah... my cost efficient blender.   

* For my article on roasted beets, here is the link, they are excellent:  http://pontificating-randy.blogspot.com/2016/06/roasted-beets.html 

WORD HISTORY: 
Vegetable-This word, distantly related to "vigor" (British spelling: vigour), "watch," and "wake,"^ goes back to Indo European "weg/wek," which had the notion, "to be active, to be lively." This gave Latin "vegere," with the same general meaning; thus also, "to excite, to cause to move about." This produced the adjective "vegetus," meaning, "active, lively." This then produced the verb "vegetare," meaning, "to invigorate, to stimulate, to enliven." This produced the Latin adjective "vegetabilis," meaning, "having the capability to grow, be growing (that is, 'be alive')." This carried into Old French, a Latin-based language, as "vegetable," meaning, "growing, living," gradually with this applying to plants in general. English borrowed the adjective circa 1400, and from this developed the noun of the same spelling, but also applying to plants of any type. It took until about the mid 1700s for the noun to gradually be used for "certain plants bearing edible produce (thus also, that edible produce of certain plants)."  

^ "Vigor" (vigour) is not a native English word, but rather it is a Latin derived word borrowed by English from French, but both "watch" and "wake" are English words, going back to Old Germanic. The reason I say the words are distantly related, is that the original relationship goes back to Indo European.

No Political Correctness Among Friends

First, if you love political correctness, this won't be for you, although maybe you really need to read or hear things like this. Please don't limit yourself on humor and having some fun poked at you, "fight back" by humor. You're missing some fun and you'll feel far better about yourself than trying to always figure out how offended you are. We have to be able to take some kidding, but also some actual guff. If you can't do that, I don't know how you'll get through life when things really get serious. Now, please don't take this to mean that I'm saying we should all go around calling others names, as you'll read below. There is common sense in play at all times in our lives. I guess I would have to say, this is the most difficult article I have written here, because it is not easy to show how so many things happened, without using the actual .... ah, "language" that was used. That made the decision hard. That "language" is pretty tough, but that's just the point of this article, and please think in terms of this: if reading or hearing some "expletives" is the worst things you have happen to you in your life, DAMN ... I mean, DARN, you'll have had a HELL of ... I mean, a HECK of a good life. There are most certainly some valid points to particular aspects of "political correctness," but a lot of what has happened over the last few decades is not political correctness, but rather neurotic behavior used by some to flex a certain control over others. As I have written here before, none of us is really "sane," whatever the hell that actually means, but some folks have climbed onto the political correctness pony and ridden it to the point of absurdity, as they feel "offended" by all sorts of silly shit, to put it bluntly. The more they are catered to, the more they need to feel offended to keep getting the lift they need to feel control over others. As I've also written here before, if this silly shit continues, none of us will be able to speak to one another, for fear of uttering what the other person may feel is an offensive word or thought. If you have watched the CBS comedy "The Big Bang Theory," there is much "anti-political correctness" in the show, and while occasionally the characters get their feathers ruffled by one of the other characters, usually by Sheldon (played by Jim Parsons), they all end up understanding and getting along. They DO NOT see each other as "the enemy;" at least, not for long, and they see how none of the real or perceived insults will end the world any time soon. Do you think there's a lesson for society here?

Anyway, more than 25 years ago, there were three of us who hung out together constantly; like, I mean, EVERY DAY! Besides myself, there were Toomie Bill* and Eileen, aka, "The Eye In The Sky." ** Oh, there was also "Rocky," the dog, aka "Rock." Unfortunately, Eileen died about 2 years ago, and I still really haven't dealt with that fact in my mind, if you know what I mean. She was a big woman, and she had endured a lot of snide comments about her size, but she dealt with the comments, and she was very capable of firing right back. Now, I can't tell you what was in her mind, and I'm sure the comments hurt at times, but she also accepted who she was and she could turn her weight into a punch line. She and Bill were always arguing, and one time, I don't remember what it was about (it didn't take much), but she said, in reference of how to shut him up, "I'll sit on him!" I'm going to tell you folks, I laughed so hard, I thought I was going to pop a blood vessel! All I could imagine was, Eileen sitting on Bill and his eyes bulging out of their sockets! Bill would call Eileen, "F---in' b--ch." She didn't get all down and out about it or whiny, she retaliated! He called her that ALL THE TIME! The arguments between the two of them went on every day... like 20 times a day! I'm serious. Bill's temperament lent itself to teasing him, and me and my one liners could skewer him quickly. He could get a little whiny and he'd say, "He shouldn't be sayin' that about me," which would bring Eileen to quickly say, "Oh geez! What a puss!" He would just bristle, followed by, "Shut the f--k up, ya f---in' b--ch!" Eileen just totally loved it when I'd piss off Bill, and we would double team him, at times. He would cuss us and call us all sorts of names, and the madder he got and the more he cussed us, the more she loved it! Sometimes, if he stopped for gas, we'd have him so riled up, he would be talking to himself on the way to pay for the gas, and he'd turn back to us and shout some obscenity! She would laugh hysterically. I'd get a good one liner in on Bill and he'd say, "He thinks he's f---in' funny!" So Eileen would say, "He made me laugh!" He'd just burn up! We would be watching television and Eileen would sit on the couch and Rock would bring his tennis ball to her, which she then would hold down with her foot. Rock would bark and bark, causing Bill to yell, "Give him his f---in' ball, ya f---in' b--ch! I can't hear the TV!" Bill is a "telephone person," he LOVES the phone, so if you cut him off of that, LOOK OUT! One time the three of us were supposed to go somewhere and he called Eileen, who lived just a few houses up the street. He came storming out into the kitchen and shouted, "That f---in' b--ch took the phone off the hook!" I couldn't stop laughing. Another time, I don't remember what I said, but he shouted at me, "SHUT THE F--K UP!" I acted very subdued and asked, "You mean that's gettin' on your nerves?" And Bill screamed, "F---IN' YES!" So I looked skyward, folded my hands and said, "Lord, there IS justice in the world!" Eileen loved it! Years later, after Bill had moved away (which deserved another, "Lord, there IS justice in the world!"), he was in the hospital for quite some period of time. He improved, but he temporarily lost his voice, which when I told Eileen, prompted her to ask, "What will happen to the phone company?" (because of his love of the phone) Then Bill's partner, Toomie Bob (hey, that's the way the names go), emailed and said the doctor was going to do something to restore Bill's voice. All I could think was, "Bob.... can't you pay that doctor NOT to give Bill his voice back?" (Hm, I wonder if Bob had actually thought about that too?) Also after Bill had left town (did I say that deserved another, "Lord, there IS justice in the world!"), he called me three times one night, but I wasn't home. The third time, after some choice words for me on my answering machine, he left a phone number. When I got home, the answering machine was blushing and had its fingers in its ears, so I said to myself, "Oh boy, Bill called again!" So anyway, I called the number he had left. He had a call blocking service for unidentified numbers, and I had an unlisted number, so the call could not go through. This was so long ago, I had WEB TV, which was internet service and equipment that could be hooked up to your television. Your TV screen displayed the web pages. So I wrote an email to him, which I knew would get under his skin. "All three times you called, I was not home, so I figure, there must be a God. Then I tried to call the number you left and it said the call couldn't be completed. Now, I KNOW there's a God!" The next morning, 6 a.m. the phone rang (I was an early riser, so I was awake). When I answered, Bill didn't say, "Hello," or "Good morning," he said, "You're a real f---in' comedian!" Hahahahaha! I laughed so much, I later called Eileen at her job and she LOVED IT!  

Time has reduced my recollection of most of the specific things that went on or were said, but if you'd heard them by chance, you'd have thought the three of us hated one another, but in the end, it wasn't that way AT ALL! You could NOT have been around us for more than 20 or 30 minutes without leaving with a headache from laughing. I don't care how serious you took life. I kid you not. The awful thing was, we didn't film all of this. But back then, there would not have been a way to get it onto television, as far as I know, because such language would NEVER have been allowed, for one thing. It's a shame, because it would have been a big hit! 

* On the border between the states of Ohio and Pennsylvania is a man made reservoir, called Pymatuning Lake. The lake is part of state parks for both states. On our first trip to Pymatuning, we stopped at a State Trooper office on the way, just to be sure we were not off course. Bill could not say the word, "Pymatuning," which he pronounced as, "Ponatoomie," so when he talked to a State Trooper there, he cautiously asked, "Which way to the lake?" The officer then asked, "Which lake?" (Lake Erie is just north of there.) Now Bill had to say the word, and he said, "Ponatoomie." The officer smiled, but he knew what he meant, and he told us the answer. Well, that started me to calling Bill, "Ponatoomie Bill." He was very temperamental, and that name ticked him off, so I deliberately shortened it to, "Toomie Bill," just to piss him off that much more. Which it did! Hahahahahahaha!

** One of my favorite songs was an Alan Parsons' Project hit from the early 1980s called, "The Eye In The Sky." So, with EI-leen," who many shortened to as if, "Eye," I started calling her, "The Eye In The Sky," which is the name Rocky recognized for her. I'm not kidding.
 
WORD HISTORY:
Correct-The main body of this word, related to a number of words, including "regulate" (a word borrowed by English and of Latin derivation) and "right" (a true English word of Germanic derivation), goes back to Indo European "reg," which meant "to move in a straight line, to guide or to direct." This gave Latin "regere," which meant, "to rule, to lead." The prefix is from Indo European "kom," meaning, "near, with, by," which gave Latin "con-/com-/cor-;" with the variations according to the spelling of the main word, and generally meaning "together," or indicating "completeness." The two parts gave Latin "corrigere," which meant, "to straighten out, to make changes to better something, to make or set right." Its participle form was "correctus" (bettered, improved, proper), and this was borrowed into English in the early 1300s as "correcten" (verb). It wasn't until the mid 1600s that the adjectival form was borrowed from French. By the way, close English relative, German, borrowed the infinitive form "corrigere" directly from Latin in the 1300s, but with the spelling, "korrigieren." As noted above, English borrowed the participle form of that infinitive. 

How About We Follow The 'Net Execs Around?

If we followed the Internet execs around in their lives the way they follow us around on their sites or on the Web, we'd be arrested, but their money, and therefore, power, have made their following us around and gathering information on us, then selling or in other ways making deals with our info to make money, legal. Just because something is legal, doesn't necessarily mean it's right. Many correctly criticized the Gestapo and KGB for snooping on citizens for political purposes, now we let Internet companies snoop LEGALLY, and for MONEY! Just think of what they know about you. Let's face it, Yahoo got into trouble for reading their customers' emails, then passing along info to the government. This should scare the absolute hell out of you! The government knew private Internet providers had more info than they could collect! "Supposedly," Google and others turned down the government request for info on their customers. They'd rather keep it all to themselves, but hmm, I wonder if the Trump administration offered enough money ..... what would happen then? And how about when these companies get hacked? There goes your info, including silly, but still personal things, like, where you order pizza online, or more serious things, like, which political party or causes you like or donate to. Then of course, OOPS! You sent a sex message to someone and a picture of... ah, well, never mind.

Of course, the Internet execs state or imply, that they grant us free access to their sites in exchange for our info, not that many people even understand that. How many of us would "join" their sites if we had to pay for it? Zuckerberg just choked! (It's NOT just him, but he's prominent, and there are many others). He and others have a disconnect on the subject. They want money and they have justified their intrusion into people's personal lives, so they can get that money, which they have done, to the tune of billions and billions. That song is the tune they LOVE, not your privacy! 

I'll be doing another article on the overall subject of our personal privacy (ahh, what personal privacy?) soon, but it will have a separate title. 

WORD HISTORY:
Steal-The ultimate origin of this word is not firm, but it "seems" to come from Indo European "ster," which meant, "to steal," which "seems" to have carried the notion of, "to secretly take something from someone," as opposed to the ancestor of "rob," which had a much more aggressive notion of taking something, "to grab, to snatch." The Indo European form "may" have had a variant form, "stel," or Indo European's Old Germanic offspring changed the form, as Old Germanic had "stelanan," which meant, "to steal" ("seemingly" with that same "secret" part to its meaning). This gave Old English (Anglo-Saxon) "stelan," with the same meaning. The "secret" part that seems to be part of the meaning is far better seen in the derived, "stealthy;" meaning, "to secretly or sneakily move along (originally, "sneakily move along with the intention of stealing"). "Stelan" then became "stelen," before the modern form. Forms in the other Germanic languages: German and Low German Saxon have "stehlen," Dutch has "stelen," Danish has "stjæle," Norwegian has "stjele," Icelandic has "stela," Swedish has "stäla." I could not find a form in modern West Frisian, but Frisian once had "stela." 

Zulu, Historical Action Film

One of the great action war movies of all time was filmed in 1963 and released in early 1964. That film was "Zulu," which was heavily based on the real battle of Rorke's Drift in the British colony of Natal in southeastern Africa in 1879. The movie was filmed in South Africa, but not at the exact site of the battle. In more recent times, a debate about colonialism would more than likely weigh heavily against the subjugation of people and territory far from a nation's own homeland, but such was not the case at the time of the battle in Natal in the 1800s. When the film was released in 1964, the European nations that had colonized many territories around the world had either already granted varying degrees of independence to their colonies, or they were under pressure to do so. The film script was very cleverly written to avoid the moral debate over colonialism, as it focuses only on the battle of Rorke's Drift, and correctly uses reference to, and a brief scene from, another battle earlier that day, at Isandlwana, as the set up for the film. Isandlwana was less than 50 miles from Rorke's Drift, which itself was simply a relatively small Christian missionary outpost, with a Swedish missionary, in Natal.* Isandlwana was a terrible defeat for the British against Zulu warriors that day, and a Zulu force some 4000 strong was moving on Rorke's Drift, which was held by only about 150 men, almost all British regular troops, with a small colonial force in support. A major key, however, was that the British had modern fire arms, while the much larger Zulu force had only a smattering of old rifles, and they were poorly trained in their use. The overwhelming number of Zulus were equipped with short spears and animal hide shields.

The movie plays up a bit of a rivalry between two British officers as to who should be in command, with Lieutenant Chard, played by Welsh/British actor Stanley Baker, who is commanding an engineer detachment there, and Lieutenant Bromhead, played by English/British actor Michael Caine (in his first major film role), who is commanding a company of regular infantry, comparing their commission dates for the identical ranks, only to find the engineer has seniority by just a couple of months. Bromhead is miffed that his regulars will be under the command of a Royal Engineer, but because Chard is an engineer, he uses the men to build some good defensive positions before the Zulus arrive.  

The British await the arrival of the Zulu force, and the Swedish missionary, played by well known English actor Jack Hawkins, goes about trying to scare the hell out the soldiers about the Zulus. He proceeds to get drunk (hey, Christian missionaries get drunk), but Chard has him locked up to prevent him from totally undermining morale. The Zulus arrive with much noise making, as they chant and bang on their shields to instill fear. They launch an attack, but suffer many casualties, making Chard and the men feel a burst of confidence, until an experienced Boer (Dutch ancestry African colonist) officer tells them the Zulu chief is sacrificing his men's lives to gauge the British strength. The missionary is permitted to take his (adult) daughter and leave in a buggy. The Zulus know the missionary and they do not bother with him. The Zulus launch further attacks, including with the use of the few rifles they have. There is some fierce hand to hand combat, as the Zulus enter the complex in many places. Each attack is halted, with heavy casualties, although the British also suffer losses, and the hospital part of the complex is set on fire. This leads malcontent Private Hook, played by English actor James Booth, to take heroic action to get the sick and wounded to safety.

The dwindling number of defenders prepares for what the men think will be their final stand, as the Zulus prepare to attack again. Chard hides part of his remaining force behind a hastily constructed barrier. The Zulus attack and the British fall back, after a short time, to form lines of troops, including the now revealed reserves, with each line firing on command into the charging Zulus. The Zulu attack is stopped and they fall back once again, but the British know their own ranks can't hold out much longer. After a period of time, the Zulus line up again and begin singing and chanting, as the defenders await their doom, but the Boer officer tells them the Zulus are honoring the troops for their brave and steadfast defense. The Zulus withdraw... the battle is over.

The film has two rather short narrations from Welsh/British actor Richard Burton, one at the beginning and then again at the end. He tells how the small British force became one of the most highly decorated in British history because of this battle.

I've read two or three books about this battle, and the movie does a good job at much of the history, but the script did take some liberties, the most controversial of which was the initial portrayal of Private Hook (NOT Captain Hook! You're thinking of Peter Pan). Before Hook rises to the occasion, the movie makes Hook to be a coward and malcontent, something that was the opposite of the real soldier. The controversy came when his elderly daughter or daughters (I just forget) walked out of the then just released film in 1964, because of the way her/their father was portrayed. The movie correctly shows the real Private Hook's heroic action, for which he was awarded the Victoria Cross for bravery in the face of the enemy.

The other major deviation from history was the ending. The Zulus did indeed withdraw, historically, but they did not sing a song to honor the British. The other thing is, the Zulus likely withdrew because of approaching British reinforcements, not because of their heavy casualties (dead and wounded in the many hundreds) and the tough British defense.             

* Both Isandlwana and Rorke's Drift are located in the modern Republic of South Africa.
 
Photo is from the MGM Home Entertainment DVD

WORD HISTORY:
Scene-This word goes back to Indo European "skai/ski," which had the notion of "to shine." This gave Old Greek "skia," which meant "shade;" seemingly from the notion of "a condition of less sunlight." This then produced Greek "skene" ("tent"). Tents were used to provide places where plays were performed ("shaded, protected from the sun"), and the word came to also mean not only the tent, but the stage area for a play to be performed. Latin borrowed the word form Greek as "scaena/scena," with the "stage for a play" meaning, and also "segment of a play" (as in Scene One, Scene Two, etc), "perhaps" initially from the change in decor/set up on stage during a play to represent a change in locale (example: Scene One stage set up depicts an outside setting, while Scene Two depicts an inside setting). French, a Latin based language, inherited a form from Latin, as "scène," and English borrowed the word form French in the 1500s. The word also took on the meaning "public squabble, or action that brings attention of others" (as in, "Joe and Ted made a 'scene' during dinner by arguing about basketball").

Red Enchilada Sauce

"Enchilada" simply means "to season with chili (pepper)." Enchiladas originated in Mexico, but they are quite common elsewhere, especially in some parts of the United States, although they are available throughout the U.S. Enchiladas are quite easy to prepare, but if you're a lazy ass... I mean, if you are too tired from work or other activities, they can also be found in the frozen food sections of supermarkets. Of course, you can always visit Mexican restaurants for their individual versions, as recipes do vary somewhat, including by the filling wrapped in the tortilla, by whether the tortilla is from corn or flour, by the enchilada sauce ingredients, as some recipes use tomato in some fashion in the sauce, while others use only chilies to make the sauce, no tomato. Some sauce is also green, but I'll do that at another time. Also, the cheese topping may vary by type, or may even be a mixture of cheeses. Here is my version of the sauce:

Ingredients:

3 tablespoons olive oil
3 tablespoons flour
1 teaspoon garlic powder
3 tablespoons ancho chili powder (or other, if you don't have ancho)
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
pinch cayenne pepper (or 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon, for hotter)
2/3 teaspoon abobo seasoning salt*
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano (Mexican, if you have it)
1 1/2 cups chicken stock/broth
1 can tomato paste
1/2 teaspoon sugar (it takes some of the sharpness out of the tomato paste, but you can use more, less or none)

Heat the oil in a pan over medium heat. Reduce the heat to low and add the flour and stir well to form a roux. Add the tomato paste, stirring constantly, until the paste is broken up. (I've found that adding the tomato paste at this point makes it easier to mix in, as it is so thick. You can add the broth first, however, and then mix the tomato paste, but be careful not to leave any "clumps" of tomato paste.) Increase the heat again to medium and gradually add the chicken broth in increments, stirring constantly. As you stir in the broth, let the mixture come back to a simmer each time until the broth is all added and the liquid begins to thicken somewhat. Reduce to a constant light simmer and add the other ingredients, and stir well again to combine. Let simmer for about 5 minutes. The sauce should not be super thick. Pour sauce over whatever type of enchiladas you're making. 

* Adobo seasoning is a type of Puerto Rican/Latino seasoned salt, easily available in supermarkets, although perhaps in the "Hispanic/Latino Foods" section. Ingredients vary somewhat, but generally it includes, at a minimum: salt, onion powder, garlic powder, black pepper, dried oregano, with ground turmeric being a frequent ingredient. Understand, the term "adobo" means different things in different Latino or Spanish influenced cultures. In Mexico, the term is used for a sauce usually made from a mixture of chili peppers, spices and some liquid component. It is often used as a marinade. If you've bought chipotle peppers in the can, they are usually packed in adobo sauce.

In this case, I made two enchiladas for myself. I like lots of enchilada sauce! 

WORD HISTORY:
Art-This noun goes back to Indo European "ar/aer," which had the notion of "join together, assemble." This gave Italic/Latin the noun "ars," which generally meant "skill," and later the extended meaning, "object produced by skill." The Latin noun, depending upon usage in a sentence, had various inflections (changes), which usually had a "t" included in those changes (inflections). Old French, a Latin based language, inherited a form of the word as "art," which was borrowed into English in the early 1200s, very much with the notion of "object produced by skill," a meaning still carried into modern times.

Operation Valkyrie (2004): The Plot to Kill Hitler

Note: "Valkyrie" (German: Walküre) was the cover/code name of a plan by the German army to implement a form of strict martial law in case of a breakdown of order in Germany. The anti-Nazi plotters in the army cleverly decided to use this plan to take over the German government from the Nazis after Hitler had been killed (or perhaps, arrested). 

Main Cast: Colonel Stauffenberg: Sebastian Koch; Henning von Tresckow: Ulrich Tukur; Werner von Haeften: Hardy Krüger, Jr; Nina Stauffenberg (the Colonel's wife): Nina Kunzendorf; Joseph Goebbels: Olli Dittrich; Friedrich Fromm: Axel Milberg   

There have been a number of movies about the plot to kill Hitler on July 20, 1944, and this German/Austrian production should not be confused with the film "Valkyrie," starring Tom Cruise, released in 2008 (I have now posted the article on this movie as of July 17, 2018). The 2004 film's original German title was, "Stauffenberg," after the man who actually planted the bomb near Hitler that July day. Since the end of World War Two, Germans/Austrians* have struggled to come to terms with the Nazi period of their history. It has not been an easy thing to do, as fascism is a movement that is tough to define precisely, but it always mixes in ultra nationalism with other elements. Nationalism can make people highly sensitive to criticism of one's country, as some folks allow themselves to become so identified with their country, they seem to feel personally attacked and insulted by any attempt to point out real or perceived flaws in their country or its leaders. And, in this case, I mean criticisms coming from their fellow citizens, not from people outside of their country, which, when that happens, can quickly ruffle feathers and cause tempers to flare. The more distant the war's end has become, the more some younger Germans have tried to face their history. This movie is one of those attempts at such. It is available on DVD, and it has settings for the original German, with subtitles in English (or, presumably for other languages in other editions), or for dubbed English, so you will not have need to read along in subtitles.

The horrific crimes against humanity committed during the Nazi era left many postwar Germans very defensive and conflicted about their own roles during those times. Some tried to deal with it by pretending (or maybe even believing) that things weren't as bad as claimed by historians, foreign governments and survivors of Nazi terror, while others said, "I was just following orders," and others still felt some degree of shame and complicity. Traudl Junge (pronounced as if, "yung-eh" **), one of Hitler's personal secretaries during the last two and one half years of his life, felt so much guilt after the war, she had pretty serious emotional troubles, even involving hospitalization.*** This movie and others that have dealt with this subject, faced a difficult task, as it is almost impossible to show all of the feelings and motivations involved in the anti-Nazi German resistance. Further, films are made to make money, and that means movies are made to try to maintain audience interest, but actual history is not always so dramatic at every turn. The movie does correctly show that Claus von Stauffenberg, played by German actor Sebastian Koch, was supportive of Hitler for quite some time. The thing to remember about the anti-Nazis is, they were NOT saints who opposed Hitler and the Nazis from the very first, but rather, they were people who gradually saw that Hitler was exposing Germany to great danger by leading the country into an ever expanding war, and that later, Hitler's racism and murder would also drag Germany's honor and reputation into the abyss with the defeated nation. This is "essentially" Stauffenberg's own history up until about 1942, and it is so depicted in the film. He begins to learn of other officers who are more than a little troubled by the course of the war and by atrocities committed by Germans, especially in Russia. One of those officers is Henning von Tresckow, played by German actor Ulrich Tukur, who moves Stauffenberg's doubts about the Hitler regime along by providing him with an eyewitness to mass murder. The disillusioned Stauffenberg is sent to Tunisia in North Africa, where the German and Italian forces are facing the end of their military resistance to the Allies. His rising anti-Nazi feelings are reinforced when a young German officer from Stauffenberg's home province of Swabia is killed just after reporting for duty. He sees the futility of it all and he smashes Hitler's photo.

Allied aircraft attack a German column and Stauffenberg is severely wounded; so severely, in fact, he is sent back to Germany for treatment. He loses his left eye (over which he always wore a black patch after his release from the hospital), his right hand, and two fingers on his left hand. He is now also more convinced that Hitler must be removed from power, which means Hitler will have to be killed. The anti-Nazi plotters eventually agree to have Stauffenberg make the actual move to kill Hitler, as he is on the staff of the German Replacement Army (German: Ersatzheer), the part of the army responsible for inducting, training and then sending men to units as replacements, and also responsible for the raising of new units. This gives Stauffenberg periodic access to Hitler at military conferences, and indeed, on July 20, he will again be in Hitler's presence. Plans are made to take over the German government once Hitler is dead, and on July 20 the whole operation begins with Stauffenberg and his aide flying to Hitler's military headquarters in northeastern Germany, located in a forested area of East Prussia. Stauffenberg carries the bomb into the military conference in his briefcase. After a momentary exchange with Hitler, Stauffenberg gets as close as possible to the Führer and he places the briefcase under the large conference table. Stauffenberg then exists the conference with the excuse of a telephone call. I'm not going to go into everything that happens, as much of the film deals with actual historical details, as known. When the bomb explodes, Stauffenberg is convinced that Hitler could not possibly have survived, a view quickly reinforced when he sees a body being carried out of the devastated room covered with Hitler's cloak. Stauffenberg flies back to Berlin only to learn that virtually nothing has been done to advance the take over of the government. The problem: reports that Hitler is alive! Stauffenberg tries to convince other conspirators that the Nazis are lying and that Hitler is really dead. Orders go out to military units in Berlin to ignore orders from Nazi leaders, and some SS officers and men are arrested in Vienna and Paris (which is still in German hands), but the conspirators mistakenly leave a pro-Hitler major, Otto Remer, played by Italian actor Enrico Mutti, in charge of part of one of Germany's elite army units, "Grossdeutschland." Remer is summoned to the home of Nazi propagandist Joseph Goebbels, who then contacts Hitler directly by telephone. Hitler speaks to Remer and issues orders to put down the revolt and the major sets about doing just that. Once it is confirmed that Hitler is alive, the plot, already on life support, is left with the final acts to be played out; namely, the arrest of the army leaders of the conspiracy. General Fromm, the actual head of the Replacement Army, is, at first, arrested by the conspirators when he won't commit himself to the anti-Hitler side, but he is then freed by pro-Hitler army troops. Fromm sets about rounding up the officers in the building, including Stauffenberg.

Longtime anti-Nazi (dating back to the 1930s), General Ludwig Beck, asks that he be allowed to take his own life, but he botches it, and Fromm orders others to finish off Beck. The other officers are led outside during the early part of July 21. A vehicle's headlights are used to provide light for the executions. When Stauffenberg is led up, just before the order to fire (German: Feuer) is given, his aide, Werner von Haeften (played by Hardy Krüger, Jr.), attempts to run in front of him, and both are killed by the execution squad. We then hear a part of the actual radio broadcast of Hitler speaking about the assassination plot.***** The film ends with General von Tresckow, one of the leading conspirators, holding a hand grenade to his body to commit suicide just behind the Eastern Front, where he was stationed.             

* For the sake of simplicity; hereafter, I will use "German," in the broad ethnic sense, to include Austrians, as well as people of German ethnicity who lived in German communities in other countries back then. Switzerland and Liechtenstein are excluded, but it should be noted, some men from both countries did serve in the German armed forces during the war, including in the Waffen SS, although the overall numbers were very small. To make this clear too, however, I must also say that MANY non Germans participated in Hitler's military or in his murder apparatus, in some way.

** The German name "Junge" is closely related to the English name, "Young."   

*** For more detail about Traudl Junge, I did a three part series on her. Here are the links:

http://pontificating-randy.blogspot.com/2013/02/traudl-junge-working-for-evil-part-one.html

http://pontificating-randy.blogspot.com/2013/02/traudl-junge-working-for-evil-part-two.html

http://pontificating-randy.blogspot.com/2013/02/traudl-junge-working-for-evil-part-three.html

**** General Friedrich Fromm has long been a controversial figure regarding the anti-Hitler conspiracy. Fromm's exact involvement with the conspirators has never really been satisfactorily explained, but he certainly generally knew of the conspiracy and he did not report it, which legally made him culpable. Since Fromm had the main conspirators in Berlin executed within hours (detractors feel Fromm 'conveniently' had these officers executed, as they knew of his complicity), it's doubtful we'll ever know everything about Fromm's participation prior to July 20, 1944. Even though the Gestapo could not make a direct link with Fromm and the conspiracy, he remained under heavy suspicion and the Nazis removed him from his military positions. Two months before the end of the war, Fromm was sentenced to death by a Nazi court for "cowardice before the enemy" (German: "Feigheit vor dem Feind;" see Word History, below). The sentence was carried out just days later.

***** As Hitler's headquarters was in an isolated part of Germany, a recording unit had to be  dispatched there by Goebbels to record Hitler's speech, then the recording was transported from there to a plane and flown to Berlin. It wasn't broadcast on German radio until late at night.  

Photo is from the 2009 The Weinstein Company DVD 

 WORD HISTORY:
Fiend-This word goes back to Indo European "pheyeh," which had the notion, "to give pain, to hurt." This gave its Old Germanic offspring "fijand," which meant, "to hate;" perhaps from the notion, "we hate someone or something that brings us pain," or perhaps even the reverse, "someone or something that causes pain, hates us." The Germanic form gave Old English (Anglo-Saxon) "feond," which meant, "enemy" (someone we hate, someone who wants to do us harm; thus, the opposite of friend). This meaning even expanded later to mean, "the enemy of humanity, enemy of all;" thus, it was also a way of referring to, "the devil, Satan," and later to the less specific, "evil spirit." Its primary meaning of "enemy," which it shared as something of a synonym with the old form of modern "foe," began to be lost in English, when a form of the word "enemy" was borrowed from French, although "foe" has kept that meaning to this day. The notions of "evil spirit" and "someone wishing to harm us," still underlie the modern meanings of "fiend," as in the meaning of being possessed (in the sense of being "obsessed"); thus, "I'm a real music fiend," or the less flattering, "He is a dope fiend." The primary modern meaning, "someone who is evil and cruel," still connects to the old meaning, just not in the direct sense of "enemy" today. The Old English form later became "feend/fend," before what became the modern form. Other Germanic forms: German has "Feind" (enemy), Low German Saxon has "Feend" (enemy), West Frisian "fijân" (enemy), Dutch "vijand" (enemy), Danish "fjende" (enemy), Swedish and Norwegian "fiende" (enemy), Icelandic "fjandi" (enemy, but no longer the primary word for such). 

Wild Kingdom: A Favorite Television Show of the Past

 Edited and updated slightly 6-26-22

Way back in 1963, NBC brought a half hour show to television on Sunday evenings about animals. If you're like me, that show will stir a note of nostalgia in you, as you think back to host Marlin Perkins and his assistant Jim Fowler teaching us, and adults too, about wildlife of all types from around the world. The show, "Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom," named after its insurance company sponsor, but commonly just called "Wild Kingdom" by the public, was such a great show. By the early 1970s, the show was, what you might say, "semi-retired," as the original shows from 1963 until the early 1970s continued to be rerun, but there were a few newly filmed shows interspersed. Marlin Perkins retired in the mid 1980s, and he passed away not long thereafter. Jim Fowler, Perkin's longtime associate, then took over the show himself, which kept viewers in touch with the show's roots. Mr. Fowler is now well into his 80s, and I wish him all the best. (Note: Since I first did this article, Jim Fowler passed away in 2019, age 89.) Thank you Marlin Perkins and Jim Fowler for all you did in bringing this extraordinary series to us. Thanks too to Mutual of Omaha for its support in making the show a reality. Don't be afraid to think back to those times of Wild Kingdom folks. They are GREAT memories!*

A political note: People like Marlin Perkins, Jim Fowler and many, many others helped to bring the plight of a number of animal species to the attention of the public; thus helping to gain protection for these animals which were struggling to survive in modern times. Now, in our modern era, wildlife conservation finds itself threatened by those who are terribly concerned with the "plight of billionaires," as parks, refuges and environmental funding all come under attack by those hoping to exploit environmentally sensitive areas for their own personal gain. Don't let them get away with it!  

* The show was not without some hazards and controversy. Working with and around wild animals can be challenging and dangerous, and they did run through and rehearse things before filming the shows. They also set up some scenes with preparations, like having specific animals available for filming in specific locations for certain scenes and they probably should have told the audience that some scenes were not spontaneous, as implied by the show, but I'm still here, and I started watching the show in 1963.    

 Photo is of Marlin Perkins, the long time host of "Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom," a public domain photo from Wikimedia, which simply identifies the photo being from between 1962 and 1971, "apparently" taken from an undated NBC press release.

WORD HISTORY:
Lion-The ultimate origins of this word for the large, ferocious member of the cat family are unclear, although it "seems" to have been borrowed by Old Greek from some language of the Middle East or North Africa (Egyptian is a candidate^). Old Greek had "leon," which was borrowed by Latin as "leo," but which had forms with "n" ("leoni, leone," for example), depending upon usage in a sentence. The Germanic dialects borrowed forms of the word long ago, which gave Old English (Anglo-Saxon) "leo." Meanwhile, Old French, a Latin based language, inherited a form of the word as "lion," which was carried to England by the Normans and became "liun." This form gradually overtook the closely related English "leo," and gave English "lion." The Germanic dialects of old rendered the borrowing from Latin in various ways, leading to rather stark modern spelling variations in their modern descendants such as German "Löwe," Low German "Lööw," Dutch "leeuw," West Frisian "liuw," Danish and Norwegian "løve," Icelandic "ljón," and Swedish "lejon."

^ Egyptian survives as modern "Coptic," a language now almost exclusively confined to use in the Coptic religion, a branch of Christianity. Essentially Egyptian was slowly overtaken by Arabic, which became the language of Egypt.

A Friend in West Virginia, Part Twenty

My West Virginia friend had an influence on me. His love of rock group, KISS, had me buy a KISS shirt. A favorite rock group of mine is Def Leppard, but my friend doesn't like them, so I teased him a bit about Def Leppard (not spelled "leopard," see Word History," below). He's terribly concerned with his image, which underlies some, or maybe, most, of his fears.  

WORD HISTORY:
Leopard-This word, actually a compound, is related to "lion," which seems to have been borrowed as, "leon," by Old Greek from some language of the Middle East or North Africa. Egyptian is a candidate, as the Greeks and the Egyptians had much contact. Anyway, Ancient Greek had transliterated "leon," which was borrowed by Latin as "leo," but which had forms with "n" ("leoni, leone," for example), depending upon usage in a sentence. The second half of the word, "pard," has an uncertain origin, but seemingly was borrowed by Old Greek from some language as transliterated, "párdalis," which "seems" to have meant, "panther," and which then became, "pardos," which was borrowed by Latin as "pardus." Greek formed the transliterated compound, "leópardos," which was then borrowed by Latin as "leopardus." The overall idea was, the ancient Greeks/Roman felt a "leopard" was a mixture of the lion and panther; thus, the compound word. Old French, a Latin-based language, had the word from Latin as, "leupart" (then "lebard/lepard?"). English borrowed the word in the 1200s as, "leopard," but with some other variant spellings.