So Sorry to See It Come to This: Woke and Cancel Culture Hits Columbus, Washington and Lincoln & Others

From the Feb. 18, 2021, Chicago Tribune "Columbus, Washington and Lincoln statues up for review" by Gregory Pratt.

Images on List of 41 Controversial Monuments in City.  That would be Chicago.

It is bad enough that some of us have to live with the Confederadication Thing, but now this.  I figured if they could now go after Confederate stuff that would open up attacks on a myriad of things and it sure has.

Statues of Presidents George Washington, Abraham Lincoln and William McKinley, as well as the Italian explorer Christopher Columbus, were among the 41 public statues in Chicago on a list from the mayor's administration that are in for further review as part of "a racial healing and historical reckoning project" started last summer.

Other ones on the list (well, let's call it what it is, a HIT LIST) include statues of President  Ulysses S. Grant. a Benjamin Franklin statue, a police memorial tied to the Haymarket Riot and a statue of Leif Ericson at Humboldt Park.

--CootWoke?  Don't Think So.

The Rise, Set and Rise of Daylight Saving Time-- Part 1: It Had to With a War

From the March 10, 2019, Chicago Tribune by Gillian Brockell of the Washington Post.

Hey, that was the day we went back on Daylight Saving Time (DST)!!

Nope, Benjamin Franklin did not invent it, suggesting that cities fire a cannon earlier to wake its citizens.

The idea of doing that DST thing came around the turn of last century from New Zealand and England.  New Zealander George Hudson wanted more time for his hobby, collecting bugs.  William Willett of England wanted more time for his passion called golf.

Neither man's desires came about.

Then came World War I, or as the English call it the First World War.  Of course, back then no one knew that there was going to be a second act so  it was mostly  just called the Great War.

--CooTime

Ten Classic Men, Ten Classic Drinks-- Part 2: From Madeira to Jack

Benjamin Franklin:  Madeira--  a fortified wine from the Portuagal island of the same name.

Truman Capote:  Screwdrivers

Barack Obama:  Bud Light (also Red Stripe) and Blue Moon

Bono:  Jack Daniels

George Clooney:  Straight Tequila

One Tequila, Two Tequila, Three Tequila, Floor.  --Cooter

Benjamin Franklin

From the Nov-Dec, 2014, Wayne County Public Library.

Reading was the key to his success as he only went to school for two years.

A man playing him appeared at the library in Goldsboro, N.C., on November 20th.

Among the famous things Ben Franklin did:

*  Founded the first subscription library in this country
*  Signed the declaration of Independence
*  Charted the Gulf Stream
*  Helped win the American Revolution
*  Invented bifocal glasses
*  Founded the University of Pennsylvania

Among the crazy things he did:

*  Flew a kite in a thunderstorm
*  Only went to school for two years
*  Wanted the national bird to be a turkey
*  Invented the rocking chair
*  Had the first bathtub in the country
*  Had a state named after him which has since disappeared

Now, You Know.  --Cooter

More Drunkonyms

Thanks to Heidi Stevens from an earlier post today, I had to look up Benjamin Franklin's "The Drinker's Dictionary" and I found many more good ones. I'll give you some of them here.

By the way, the Tribune article had a picture of one of the great drinkers of all times, Barney from the Simpsons. And Homer is no slouch on the Buzz Beer either.

Piss'd in the Brook. (Did they use the "P" word back in the 1730s?)
His Head is full of Bees.

He sees the Bears (And believe me, as a Bears fan, sometimes that's the only way you can watch Rex or Jay play.)

Cherry Merry (I really like this one.)
A Cup too Much
Has Dipp'd his Bill

Wet both Eyes
Cock Ey'd (Another good one.)
He's Friskey

Fuddled
Booz'd the Gage
As Dizzy as a Goose

Half and Half
Juicy

And from Poor Richard, "Nothing more like a Fool than a Drunken Man."

Old Ben Had a Good Sense of Humor. --DaCoot

Drunkonyms

From the August 10th Chicago Tribune by Heidi Stevens.

What with all our debt problems these days, some folks are using drunken metaphors to illuminate us.

"We spend like drunken sailors. The debt deal is like curing a drunk with vodka.

Heidi Stevens wants the folks to use some more interesting ways to say drunk.

She suggests Founding Father Benjamin Franklin's "The Drinkers Dictionary" in which he used more than 200 synonyms for "drink."

It was first published Jan. 13, 1737, in the Pennsylvania Gazette. He broke it down alphabetically.

The Letter "A"

He is Addled.
He is casting up his Accounts.
He's Afflicted.
He's in his Airs.

The Letter "B"

He's Biggy.
Bewitched
Block and Block
Boozy
Bowz'd
Been at Barbadoes

Some others she likes:

Cherubimical
Crump Footed
Lappy
Staggerish
He's had a Thump over the Head with Sampson's Jawbone.
He's right before the Wind with all his Studding Sails out.

I like Staggerish myself. I've seen some Staggerish folks. Even been Staggerish myself back in the day, but not much anymore. The next day is too rough.

Hey, I Just Might Have to Check Franklin Out. --DaCoot