January 16, 2004
George Catlin's creed on the Indians.
George Catlin, you may have heard of him, was this extraordinary artist who went all over the Americas during the mid-19th century, painting pictures of the Indians. An amazing man, whose work is especially valuable and unique because he was able to visit the Indians in the American west mostly before their lifestyle was destroyed by the whites.
Anyway, he visited dozens if not hundreds of tribes, and apparently was warmly welcome by all of them, and claimed never to have been troubled or harassed at all. I was looking through this book that my roommate has about him, and came cross this "creed" he wrote, which I thought was worthy of posting. It says a lot about the Indians, and probably even more about him.
I love the people who have always made me welcome to the best they had.
I love a people who are honest without laws, who have no jails and no poorhouses.
I love a people who keep the commandments without ever having read them or heard them preached from the pulpit.
I love a people who never swear, who never take the name of God in vain.
I love a people "who love their neighbors as they love themselves."
I love a people who worship God without a Bible, for I believe that God loves them also.
I love the people whose religion is all the same, and who are free from religious animosities.
I love the people who have never raised a hand against me, or stolen my property, where there was no law to punish for either.
I love the people who have never fought a battle with white men, except on their own ground.
I love and don't fear mankind where God has made and left them, for there they are children.
I love a people who live and keep what is their own without locks and keys.
I love all people who do the best they can. And oh, how I love a people who don't live for the love of money!
An incredible man and artist. One thing you might not know about him was that during his later life, after he painted those in the west, he took his pictures and a group of Indians as well, and went to England and France, where he had what was actually the first "wild west show", long before Buffalo Bill did. He was a big smash there too. Then he went to South America, up the Amazon and Orinoco Rivers and more, and painted those as well. And then went up to the American northwest and Alaska, and continued his work there.
Writing Salon via The American Street.
One thing leads to another, and via this new mostly politically-oriented community blog,
The American Street, which is pretty interesting, I found this new writing-oriented community blog,
Writing Salon, which is where different kinds of writers get together and inspire each other and post their stuff and tell each other how good they are, and how hard life is, except they all really know that it's not hard at all, it's beautiful, or why would they be writers, since who wants to hear how hard it is anyway? Anyway, it's nice, and I wish there was one for painters too, and maybe there is, but they're even more solitary than writers, so if there was one they probably wouldn't tell anybody about it anyway. But you never know what you'll find on the web, and if you really want it it's probably out there somewhere.
Many California hospitals shutting down.
The
LA Times reports that an increasing number of hospitals in California are shutting down due to increasingly paltry Medicare and Medi-Cal payments, as well as the inability to meet new California laws requiring additional nurses and seismic changes.
The number of hospitals has been in decline for years in the state. In the last decade, 60 have closed while only 26 have opened, according to the state Department of Health Services.
But some health industry officials and experts expect the trend to accelerate as hospitals scramble to meet the requirements of two costly state laws, which require minimum nurse staffing levels and seismic improvements.
"There is no question in my mind that the smaller hospitals will have to close programs or close their doors because they won't have the money to meet the law and serve their patients," said Bob Reed, chief financial officer for the Sutter chain of hospitals in Northern California. "Some will decide to exit the business.
Although some officials say hospitals could benefit from some pruning or consolidation, residents in affected communities decry the loss of nearby emergency services and secure jobs.
Santa Teresita was one of three hospitals in Southern California to announce their closure in the last month, joining Santa Paula Memorial in Ventura County and Century City Hospital in Los Angeles. A fourth hospital — Trinity General in rural Northern California — may soon close if area residents can't muster more than $1 million to fix a leaky roof.
In the previous two years, closures included Granada Hills Community Hospital in the San Fernando Valley and St. Luke's Medical Center in Pasadena.
The new laws add to the many woes that hospital administrators say they are already facing: paltry Medi-Cal and Medicare payments, pinched managed-care rates and the soaring cost of technology.
"Our total volume was 65% Medicare and Medi-Cal and another 15% to 20% managed care, and they all pay terrible," said Gene Kaberline, chief financial officer at Santa Paula Memorial.
With Governor Schwarzenegger's budget plans calling for even more cuts in Medi-Cal, and
continuing job losses in the state, the situation is bound to worsen.
A growing problem is the federal and state governments passing laws requiring local communities and institutions to do various things without providing the money necessary to do so. The situation also affects schools, many of which are struggling to come up with the money to meet the requirements of Bush's "No Child Left Behind" act, and having to cut already existing programs to meet them.
The Beatles are as popular as ever.
Over thirty years after they split up the Beatles are still going strong, and thoroughly dominate the "classic rock" release market. The
Guardian reports on the latest releases, and their apparent popularity among a new generation.
A new year and another new Beatles release. This time it's a DVD documentary celebrating the 40th anniversary of the quartet's first American tour. Released early next month, The Beatles First US Visit promises "exceptionally candid footage" of a legendary event. It follows hard on the heels of last year's Let It Be ... Naked CD, which in turn followed the five-DVD Anthology box set, the Anthology book, the 1 CD compilation of "greatest hits" and the remastered Yellow Submarine DVD and "songtrack" CD. In fact, there has been a steady stream of Beatles product since 1994, when the Beatles' company Apple began a programme of reissues with the double CD set Live at the BBC.
... The fact remains that The Beatles dominate heritage rock with the same sort of totality with which they dominated the 1960s singles chart. None of their competitors - The Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan, Elvis Presley - can match the Beatles' commercial appeal.
"They've been going in and out of style, but they're guaranteed to raise a smile."
I'm probably just an old fogey, but their music still sounds fresh to me. And it illustrates the continued value of art products, which can sell forever. The same as old films, old books and so on. Not only will their music continue to sell, but I'll bet it inspires all sorts of new art works of various kinds. Theater for example. Sooner or later someone will make a Broadway musical out of the Yellow Submarine story and music. It's just perfect for it.
Old software of course has no value whatsoever. You can't even run it anymore.
End of entries. Unless indicated otherwise, all entries are by Michael Presky, and copyrighted the date of their creation. All quotations are copyrighted by the creator.
