Billy the kid

Billy the Kid. William Henry Bonney. Brushy Bill. John Miller? Did Billy die in 1881, or not? Let's dive into that.

One of the only confirmed pictures of Billy the Kid

A short introduction to Billy the Kid is in order. He was born in the slums of New York City. His father died when he was a child, his mother remarried, and he was a straight shooter until he stole laundry at age 14 while working at a hotel. From there he went to jail (and instead of just letting it blow over and get released) only to escape out a chimney. He went to work as a civilian teamster in Arizona and encountered a man who bullied him. He shot him in self-defense during a fistfight. Once again, instead of letting the law acquit him on self-defense, he ran away. From there he eventually ended up in Lincoln County working for John Tunstall, who got killed by a rival rancher. This set him up for being on the wrong side of the Lincoln County War. All this led to Pat Garrett supposedly killing him at Fort Sumner. 

The Debate 

Yes, that was a lot, but if you want more go down and surf my sources. He's a fascinating outlaw. Here is where we debate. Did he die in 1881 at the hands of Sheriff Pat Garrett, or did he live out his life as Brushy Bill or John Miller? No one actually has proof of either situation. It would not surprise me if evidence was buried due to a mistake in identification, or if Garrett sympathized with him as a friend. 

First, let's give you the facts. No opinions, just facts, on what can be proved. It isn't much, sad to say. Billy was in Fort Sumner visiting women, staying at Peter Maxwell's house. He had a knife on him because he was cutting meat off a killed yearling outside. Pat Garrett had been asking questions of Peter Maxwell when Billy came into the room. Here Garrett shot him. This is all that can be proved. 

Young guns is not as factual as you think, but it does ask the question of whether it happened this way or not. According to Pat Garrett's book "The Authentic Life of Billy the Kid", this is how it happened. However, according to Joe Hines (a survivor of the Lincoln County War), Garrett killed the wrong man and Brushy Bill was in fact Billy the Kid. Historians all have different views. Some say Billy was dead in 1881, while others think he was Brushy Bill or John Miller. 

Brushy Bill in Hico, Texas

Evidence is a problem. There are two coroner reports that are nowhere to be found and the remains of the original (possibly, but maybe not) Billy and Brushy Bill have not been kept track of well. The sketchy part is that most times you kill an outlaw you have a picture of the body. Garrett buried the body so quickly that there is no picture of the dead body and the witnesses who signed the coroner report barely saw the body. Brushy Bill being Billy is denied by the family of Brushy Bill. The timeline doesn't line up, as well. You see, Billy the Kid is a legend and most likely only killed 9 men (when newspapers said he killed 21). His case is so cold that we may never have actual proof of the outcome and newspapers don't help. 

So, What Happened?

I will say this for Brushy Bill - he only wanted the pardon he was denied by Lew Wallace. He said he left him to die when he took back his word. This fact and several others convinced a lot of Hico, Texas that Brushy Bill was Billy the Kid. Paired with Joe Hines' tale, it would actually fit together that Billy the Kid died around 90 years old in Hico, Texas - that he didn't die in 1881 in Fort Sumner. 

As for Pat Garrett's tale, I can't look past the fact he buried the body almost as quickly as he shot the man. It would be believable that he could lose a coroner's report or two to cover up his mistake. Also, wouldn't you want to show off that you shot a notorious outlaw who was known for killing 21 men? His story is also contradicted by Joe Hines. In general, something is not lining up. It is entirely possible he shot the wrong man.

Lastly, some think he lived a peaceful life as John Miller after dodging Garrett. I can't find much on this at all, which might be why it is possibly true. If he was hiding out, it could be he did so in a way that drew no attention to himself. He wanted that pardon he was given and then denied, so why not use his "death" to live the peaceful life he desired? 

An Updated (not the original) grave of Billy the Kid 
in the Billy the Kid museum. The original was a wooden
board  and his body was in flooded land. 

All of these are possible outcomes to a cold case that has never been solved. What do you think? Did he die in 1881 or not? I'll leave it up to you. Go ahead and surf my sources. See what you can find.

Pictures:

Roadside America

Wikipedia

Mental Floss

Sources:

https://www.biography.com/video/billy-the-kid-a-controversial-death-2203008690?li_source=LI&li_medium=m2m-rcw-biograph

https://www.legendsofamerica.com/we-billykid/

http://www.eyewitnesstohistory.com/billythekid.htm

https://www.cowboysindians.com/2019/09/billy-the-kid/

https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/billy-the-kid-survived-hico-texas

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2015/07/21/one-mans-quest-to-bury-the-wild-west-mystery-of-billy-the-kids-death/

https://www.biography.com/crime-figure/billy-the-kid

Politics- how to civilly discuss it

 Politics can't be avoided these days. Shall we discuss it civilly? 

With all this Republican versus Democrat yelling going on, let's first talk about the origin of the political parties that we see every election. Politics is defined as activities associated with governing, especially conflict among individuals or parties having and hoping to achieve power. The Republican and Democrat parties were born in 1820 when settlers had to decide whether their state would be free or slave. Apparently, they have been at each others' throats for a longer time than some of us thought possible, so let's learn how to get along this election.

Civil Conversation

In some cases, it may be a respectful conversation habit to avoid politics at all times. This depends on the person you are talking to. If you can bring up politics without a chair being thrown across the room you can benefit from this post. To start with, choose your moment to speak on this carefully. Invite the person into the topic, but do not demand they talk about it. In this situation, they can politely decline without any anger and frustration. 

Everybody makes decisions on what they think of people. However, stop and consider this person with a blank slate and hear them out on their views without jumping to conclusions on what you think their background is. Assume good intentions until proven otherwise. If proven otherwise you should probably just end the conversation. Every person you know is loved by God. Treat them as such in this interaction. 

On a related note, pride and looking down upon people is frowned upon, especially when you discuss sensitive topics. Topics that can make someone go at you in a public place, like politics, is a good area to remain humble. Being humble is a good practice in life. Pride can make it hard to discuss anything, let alone intelligently debate. Being right does not necessarily mean you need to rub it in anyone's face, and right now we can't always know what is truth, half-truth, and lie. This is where we give grace to each other and lovingly correct, should someone be wrong about something. Do not insist your opinions are correct if they are just opinions. 

Intelligent debate should help you understand the other point of view. It is not a court case where someone can win or lose - it is a conversation where two or more people logically provide backing for their beliefs while agreeing to disagree. Don't be baited into turning debate into argument. We already know that our own government does not always intelligently debate, especially if you watched the last few debates recently. If the other side of the debate is not going to calm down you should end it, then and there, and walk away (if you are not on TV or at a debate event). 

When you jump into your passions you can easily go overboard. You believe strongly in x, y, or z, and most likely believe you are right. You shouldn't go into this conversation fully trying to prove it. This is not the courthouse. You have no reason to constantly present evidence that you are right and try to outdo your fellow humans. If this is the case, stop talking. Listen to understand.

Building Connection

It is hard to connect political conversation with building connections, but here it is. Most of the time we converse on common ground. Find that common ground and build some trust as you navigate this type of conversation. Relationship and friendship make it easier to respectfully discuss a topic. You are less likely to attack the other person verbally if there is some form of friendship or trust there. This creates a space that is more welcoming to a respectful discussion. 

Ask questions, respectfully, about the person's experiences. Get some background on what they believe, experienced in childhood, lived through, and live with. Real, genuine curiosity can lead you into a more connected discussion than you thought possible. Try to understand the issues and views from their point of view. Use your empathy and put yourself in their shoes. You can come away from this with a new understanding of the people and groups around you. Don't shut that down by refusing to empathize with another human being. 

With this, we have to understand that some words mean different things and offend different people. Don't storm off in a huff when they say something you are offended by. Let them explain themselves in full. Assume nothing. If you find you simply can't hold back your temper you need to walk away from this conversation before you say something hurtful. If they are intentionally being hurtful that is a clear sign to leave the room.

Listening skills are seriously important here. If you are listening to respond back and refute, rather than to understand, you shouldn't be in the conversation at all. Listening to understand creates a connection that makes someone feel important and valued. If you are just trying to prove you are right you are not doing any good, not to anyone. Don't tune anything out, either, simply listen.

A verbal attack on your beliefs is one thing you need to make sure you don't do. We defend beliefs naturally. This makes us all hostile, even with intentions to be civil. I have said walk away from hostile confrontations many times and this situation is no different. If the other person can't intelligently talk about differences, then the conversation you had was just hot air. I would encourage you to feel out who can talk about politics without throwing a chair, so that hostility can be avoided (it can't always, but this can save you some breath and bad feelings in the long run). 

At the end of all this, it is suggested that you bow out of the conversation before you get too triggered by issues and are tempted to get hostile yourself. If you come out of it agreeing to disagree you have had a good conversation and now understand (mostly) the other person. It is okay to not have the same view on politics. We are not the same people and should not expect to. 

Today 

Right now this type of conversation is not the most common. Scan through Facebook today, I challenge you, and find at least one argument in the comments. It only takes a few minutes to find one, which doesn't bode well for our future. God did not call us to communicate hate, but instead gave us the ability to build others up. God has called us to love our neighbors, so please, love your neighbors for the sake of everyone around you. It will create a better community. Since most everyone has now discovered how important human interaction is (due to Covid regulations), I think we need to relearn love. Now is the time to start and it is never too late to do so. 

Pictures:
The Thunderbeat

Videos:

SNL 2020

Sources:

https://www.ushistory.org/gop/origins.htm

https://www.npr.org/2019/04/12/712277890/keeping-it-civil-how-to-talk-politics-without-letting-things-turn-ugly

http://www.respectfulconversation.net/mission/

https://ideas.ted.com/how-to-talk-about-politics-constructively/

Gifted -what it means

Gifted kids. Gifted programs. Problem-causers that frustrate teachers when they get bored. What does gifted mean? That's today's deep dive. 

For starters, being gifted does not mean you are a genius by any means. It simply means you are more mature and advanced in one topic or more than your peers are. You are probably also keenly aware of a lot more in your world than your peers. Your peers are not stupid. If you are gifted in any way you are not a superior human; you are simply built and wired differently from those around you. Do not become narcissistic and begin to believe you are superior. 

Now that the warning is out there, let's keep going. Being gifted can show up in IQ, but not always, so don't depend on IQ points to show if your child, you, or your peer is gifted. It also has to be noticed over time by several others. One devoted mother/father saying their son/daughter is a young prodigy is not enough to say they are gifted. It takes careful observations and more than one person to notice a gifted kid, and there are also tests that you can take to know. Academic success does not mean gifted. Some people who fit in the gifted category have been known to fail miserably at conventional schooling, while others do phenomenally.  As you are probably already realizing, this is no simple definition. 

Qualities of a gifted kid

One of the most common characteristics of a gifted person includes curiosity and deep-diving into passions. We all have our interests, but this will be abnormally intense passion uncommon for the age of the person. The curiosity aspect of things also includes questions, constant in nature, so think about that kid in class who asked ten million questions until the teacher shut them down to move on. Or maybe that was you. Maybe you wanted to know how everything works, functions and can be taken apart, then put back together. In the simplest of terms, gifted individuals generally have an insatiable curiosity. when we take an interest in something we nerd and geek out on it to intense levels. 

One example of geeking and nerding out on a passion is cosplaying, 
dressing as your favorite characters from comic books, movies, and books.

Remember that bored kid, or maybe you, that sat in the back of the class doodling while waiting for the rest of your classmates to understand the concept you perceived as mind-numbingly easy? Yeah, that is a gifted person problem. This is why some students stop listening in class, and in some cases, mistakenly get labeled ADHD by worried parents who don't quite understand what is going through their kids' heads and mistake not paying attention and class disruption for a disorder that wasn't there. Also, "troublemakers" in class could be gifted kids. I want to encourage teachers to remember this. "Troublemakers" are, in some cases,  bored kids that need brain stimulation the classroom they are in can't give them. This is why gifted programs that go at the student's pace are good to have. Also, if you are homeschooling it can help because there isn't a whole classroom to teach and it is individual learning by nature. Generally, boys are more disruptive because girls seek to blend in with others. 

 Intensity is another major quality of gifted individuals. Intensity in emotion, sensitivity, passions, and social interaction makes it hard to fit in. Intensity in focus makes it hard to tear someone away from a task they are engrossed in mentally. This can be vividly illustrated by a person unwilling to leave a computer game, book, or project alone to go do something unrelated. I know people that have obsessed deeply on subjects and projects to a point of perfectionism, which is a gifted person problem. That kind of intense focus consumes us to the point of frustration because nothing looks as good as your mental blueprint said it would. 

Being observant is not as common as it should be. Those of us who are gifted tend to notice what others don't and might be belittled for noticing "unimportant" details in a book, real life, or a movie. Sometimes our details prove important later, sometimes not, but my point is this; we are more aware of our world than others seem to be. Trying to converse about that odd song lyric (for example) with someone who barely noticed that radio was even on is not particularly encouraging in the way of faith in humankind (for reference, I put my faith in God, not humankind). It is frustrating to talk about a subtle social cue and have no one else notice it. It makes you look crazy when you are not. I'm here to tell my fellow gifted people you are not crazy. It probably stops us from being harmed in the streets to notice everyone around you. Keep on being aware of your world, especially when others are oblivious to what they shouldn't be.

Imagination, encouraged in all children, is a trait gifted never lose. It makes us writers, artists, and creative problem solvers. We may alarm our adult leaders in our younger years with more mature ideas that came from our young mouths, but we use our adult years coming up with unconventional solutions to common problems. Here's to all the inventors out there that thought outside the box! We have no box, as gifted individuals, so we tend to do things differently. Teachers, once again, I want to say something to you. If we answer and solve the problem correctly in our own way, please don't penalize us for creativity. Creative thinkers shouldn't be squashed in youth to be just like everyone else. 

Complex vocabulary that is unusual for that age group is a big clue, but it creates social problems. Adults that can use the vocab and complex sentence structures are now easier to converse with than your peers. Try connecting with others socially when they are not at your intellectual level but are your maturity level; it is legitimately a struggle to find a connection in this situation. The term "peer" takes on a new meaning and we find someone mentally our age, and in elementary school it is darn near impossible unless you are talking to a teacher. It gets easier the older you become and college is the easiest still because those getting a college education are mostly those people who are coming by choice and have high levels of intelligence already. My best school years are still college and the most human connection I have made was during college. 

Nancy Drew Games are created by Her Interactive and feature you, as Nancy Drew, solving the mystery.

You see puzzle games everywhere, and lots of gaming takes more intelligence than just, for example, blasting asteroids until you can't. I have played Nancy Drew Her Interactive games for years that took quite a bit of problem-solving and intelligence to finish. I still play them. Some are harder than others in level and puzzles, but puzzle games attract gifted individuals. Occupying your mind and providing stimulation to gamers relieves gifted people of their boredom, as well as also sharpening skills. Creative puzzle games and logic puzzles are easier for out-of-the-box thinkers. Unoccupied people with a need for challenge find these games and consume them happily. 

Kids and adults who tend to follow office and school rules to the letter could be gifted. A sense of constancy and justice is part of being gifted. Basically, one's word is taken as law. This can be seen in me, who sees a largely-ignored rule about cell phone use that even most supervisors ignore, but I can't bring myself to break. I don't tell anyone above me about this because it doesn't truly interfere with work, but yet, I won't go against it and use my cellphone at work. That is one example of having a sense of justice. I, and others with similar traits, hold myself to a high bar and won't let myself slack off. Because of this, and a reputation for not slacking off, I get caught red-handed when I do, while others who aren't watched as an example can do anything (seemingly). 

Along with following rules to the letter, we remember a bit more than our peers for longer periods of time. I am gifted in reading, so I can tell you all about books I read months and years back, while my peers that I went to early or later schooling with may not be able to. If you tie this to noticing more about the environment you can conclude quite easily that we can retain knowledge about people and places that others quickly or have nearly forgotten. Little details, especially odd things, are kept in long term. If you tend to remember more than those around you I want you to know you are not crazy. Just because no one else noticed it doesn't mean it didn't happen or certain words didn't come out of someone's mouth. 

Quirky Individuals

If you process through all this and connect it all together it is clear that gifted traits can create quirky individuals. This means that they may also include learning disabilities. High IQs tend to come with social weirdness, to varying degrees, that makes it hard to fit in or blend in. In some cases, they are told to live up to adult standards, but if they do they have fewer friends because they have to play dumb with their peers to blend in. You can't truly be yourself in this scenario and you may end up being a loner. In my case, I was well-liked by most and still on the social fringes. I was almost in between popular and the social fringes, actually, which turns out to be an odd place where you befriend the "weird" people and yet get your picture inevitably in the yearbook. Gifted individuals are truly originals, and we have original ideas that may leave some people a little uncomfortable or amazed at our maturity. Our perspectives are not what the average student sees. As a result, trying to explain our ideas can sometimes and often get expressions of confusion, a raised eyebrow, or a mix of several reactions. We can be easily misunderstood and misrepresented, as well as others perceiving us as "off" or "odd". 

Here's the part where I tell you the struggles of being gifted. I'd like to personally say these are real struggles and nowhere near fiction. Being gifted, have a learning disability, or both combined can create a life where you would rather throw yourself into your passions and forget most of (not all) your peers. I mentioned that college was the most social connection with other students I have ever had. That doesn't mean I had no friends (I did make true friends earlier than that, so don't assume I didn't), but it meant I did bury myself in writing fiction to create a world of my own. It was a coping mechanism that has now led to me writing fiction in an attempt to get it published. I would sit in the back of classrooms writing stories in notebooks when I was bored. It confused a math teacher once, who picked it up thinking it was me passing notes. I did not have a learning disability, but I did have no regard for social norms. 

Oh, social norms, pesky rules that make no sense and make life so much harder in the long run... Other people on the social fringes felt the same way. Odd ducks stick together. It is a gifted person problem. Long ago I decided to quit trying to fit in and I am not the only one to make that decision in this world. The only problem with that is the fact that when you blatantly ignore social norms you can get made fun of, and you don't blend in anywhere. Social groups all include unspoken rules, especially in female circles. In my case, I disappeared inside my created worlds and only reached out to specific people that I liked and trusted. 

Other struggles that the gifted endure include not being able to connect intellectually with others. Another personal experience I have had is intense empathy that my peers mistook for "having a crush on every boy". My kindness was taken as a crush by my peers because my emotional maturity was not at the same level. (This is also an introvert-related problem, but that is not today's topic.) When I did have a real crush on someone it was strangely intense and obvious due to the deep emotions I didn't know how to control or interpret. This deepness in emotion is not uncommon in gifted people. 

Last, but definitely not least, is perfectionism. This is when you have a blueprint or mental image of the results in your brain that are magnificent and amazing, then you look at your project that is absolutely beautiful and it falls short. You rewrite your thesis, term paper, fiction story, or presentations ten million times because it falls short of your vision. You see your art or wood project, nearly perfect in every detail and only off by an eighth of an inch, and call it flawed. You have a grand vision and you can't make it look that perfect. It is a struggle that can drive you mildly or terribly insane. I took a class making a documentary (no, I didn't include it in this blog. You'll never see it if you don't personally know me.) and my inexperience with the camera made it impossible for me to reach my vision, even with a tutor that greatly helped and encouraged me. Did I get a good grade? Yes, but I still see my creation as subpar and home-video-like. My point? I never reached my perfect vision and couldn't possibly have done so. I got a decent result (according to my tutor who loved it), and I am unsatisfied with it. Tears were cried over that project. Perfectionism can drive you to succeed, but it can also drive you to insanity faster than anything else I've ever seen. 

The End 

This has been a long post, so I leave you to process this information. Feel free to find more information and dive deeper into this subject. 

Sources:

https://www.readandspell.com/us/signs-of-a-gifted-child

https://www.nagc.org/resources-publications/resources/my-child-gifted/common-characteristics-gifted-individuals

https://www.care.com/c/stories/3409/20-top-traits-of-gifted-children/

https://www.nagc.org/resources-publications/resources-parents/my-child-gifted

https://www.publicschoolreview.com/blog/10-characteristics-of-the-gifted-child

Pictures:

Greenwood School District

Bored Panda

Her Interactive

Pinterest

 

Star Trek - predicting the future

 Today we boldly go where no man has gone before to tell you that Star Trek technology predicted today's devices. Don't believe me? Well, go ask Cortana or Siri to search for Star Trek and think about the fact that a computer just obeyed your voice command.

A picture of Transparent Aluminum

Here comes your crash course in Star Trek plot, in case you clicked this and never watched the old or new Star Trek movies and TV shows. Captain James Kirk is the captain of the starship Enterprise in the mid 22nd to late 24th century, where the plot then features Captain Picard. Their mission is to explore space. The introduction says it all. Read the narrated introduction below and you pretty much have the gist of the show and movies, give or take smaller plot points. It started with very little budget, and now we still love it, only now it has a budget that makes the costumes look less like the cast all went to goodwill. 

"Space, the final frontier

These are the voyages of the Starship Enterprise

Its five-year mission

To explore strange new worlds

To seek out new life

And new civilizations

To boldly go where no man has gone before"

The Technology

The characters on the show communicated with flip phone communicators, talked to their computers to command them to compute, used portable memory discs, used wireless headsets, used Ultrasound technology, walked through automatic doors, communicated with facetime-like systems to other ships, consulted their GPS, and used biometrics to track health. That isn't even all they did that we can do today. I forgot to add tablet computers, tractor beams, transparent aluminum, and bionic eyes for the blind. Oh, and did I mention tricorders, badge communicators, hyposprays, replicators, cloaking devices, Google glass, universal real-time translators, and diagnostic beds? 

This could be explained by the inspired scientists that loved this show and took it as an invitation to make these devices. Sometimes, though, we didn't even realize we could replicate an older dream, like when transparent aluminum happened. This TV show started in the 1960s, around 1966. We walk around with cell phones and touch screens today and think nothing of it, but in 1960 we were far from touch screens. 

Real Gadgets

Some of the ones you might not know, the less obvious ones that don't have homes in our pockets, will now be explained. Captain Picard could order his earl grey tea hot with a food replicator. While it may not be up to tea, we can print other food. 

Another thing that may be a little foreign, but only a bit, is that alien languages were translated in real-time, without a human translator. This is why all the audience ever heard was English, despite several races of aliens being on the show. There is an app for this now.

Tricorders scan for geological, biological, or meteorological anomalies. These do exist today, and one was built at McMaster University in Ontario. 

In this vein of thinking, I also introduce you to the holodeck, also known as virtual reality in one room. Project Holodeck created a fictional world through VR goggles. 

Tractor beams, which are invisible and pull a ship, are actually in progress and may be used in a NASA mission if successful. NASA has also suggested that warp drive is possible. 

This one may "stun" (yeah, bad pun, I know) you, but there is a gun similar to a phaser that has existed since the Iraq War. It is called a dazzler and it sends electromagnetic radiation in pulses to stop anyone in their tracks. 

Unfortunately, you can't beam out and into work, and for good reason. They have only tried anything close to it with small cells, which copy to the other place but kill the original cells. Safely beaming is not an option, not yet. 

Do you hate needles? We have a solution for you! Hypospray, which sprays medication into the skin. It is jet-injection and is less painful than needles. 

Transparent aluminum requires some explanation. It is lighter than armor and stronger than bullet-proof glass. It is known as ALON. The Airforce is testing it for windows and canopies. It is the first picture you see in this blog, in case you wanted a visual of it. 

There is a VISOR that allows one of the characters, Geordi, to see, though he is blind. VISOR stands for "visual instrument and sensory organ replacement". It is possible to get close to this in medical times today. Similar things do exist. You could not pass a driving test, but you could avoid the use of a seeing-eye dog. They are called bionic eyes. 

Geordi and his VISOR

So, if you truly want a Spock funeral, you could have one. Torpedo-coffins, like the one Spock was torpedoed from, have been invented. You may not be able to buy one yet, but it is real. 

Today teleconferences (no, not Zoom) are possible. You can legitimately have the illusion of being in the room with all your coworkers while all being separate in your own spaces. (Given the world right now, this is kind of useful for those who opt-out of in-person meetings, but I'd imagine it might be just as exhausting as Zoom calls are.)

Conclusion

Is your mind sufficiently blown? Feel free to correct me if I got anything wrong, in case I did so. I'd rather be able to know if I got it wrong. Dig into my research below and have fun rewatching old favorites with a new perspective.

Sources:

https://genius.com/Star-trek-star-trek-opening-lyrics

https://qz.com/766831/star-trek-real-life-technology/

https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/31876/12-star-trek-gadgets-now-exist

https://entertainment.howstuffworks.com/10-star-trek-technologies.htm

Pictures:

CNN Business

SF Gate

Star Trek

Spies with fabric and string

I was going to do this topic a while back, but I'm doing it now instead. Let's talk about knitting morse code and the role of art in espionage. 

Morse Code Shawl example

Some think the arts are only for children, others don't, but the spy trade takes all forms. Wars produce espionage. Having to send messages to the other side and infiltrate for information takes unusual methods and unusual people, some of which look perfectly ordinary to the average human. Put simply, a spy should blend into the environment. What is more common than knitting during a World War when women are told to knit gloves and hats for the troops? 

Knitting

No surprise here, women were a prominent force in the spy world, mostly because knitting for the troops and sitting in the domestic sphere knitting was a social norm. Female spies could blend in and knit knots of morse code into their sweaters for days, all under the enemy's constant view. It was perfect. You give the sweater to your lovable, soldier fiance and he passes it on to intelligence, who unravel it and hold it against a marked door frame to reveal a message. It is a form of Steganography, which physically hides messages in plain sight. Men and women could both do this method of code, since morse code and knot patterns worked so well in, not only knitting, but embroidery and all string arts. Drop stitches here, add stitches there, tie a few extra knots here, and no one is the wiser. British, Soviet Union, and United States have all used this method of hiding messages in yarn.

That doesn't mean it was fool-proof, especially since the US caught on to this method and banned the sharing of knitting patterns internationally in case an innocent pattern wasn't so innocent. The UK, at one point, banned knitting because of a growing paranoia about secret messages in knitting. Foolproof? No. Smart? Yes. 

Some cases of this code aren't in stitching. In some situations watching someone under a cover of knitting or embroidery is a better cover than holding a newspaper. It makes you look preoccupied, so people ignore you. A woman knitting in front of a window, or several women around train stations (all recording train movement in their knitting for Belgian Resistance) is subtle enough to work. Also, smuggling messages, plans for aircraft, and anything else can be done in a knitting bag or disguised as a ball of yarn. Below I include the brief descriptions of real spies who did what I have described in this section.

UK - Madame Levengle - She sat knitting in front of window, tapping messages with her heels for her kids to record (while pretending it was homework) in the floor below, all while living with a German Marshal. The German suspected nothing.

Soviet Union (WWII) - Elizabeth Bently - She ran two spy rings sending damaging information about the US to the Soviet Union. She also smuggled out early plans for the B-29 and other aircraft in her knitting bag. 

United States (Revolutionary War) - Molly Rinker - She spied for George Washington while knitting, putting scraps of paper in a ball of yarn, then throwing the yarn off a cliff down to a soldier below.

Britain (WWII) - Phyllis Latour Doyle - She parachuted into Normandy, was friendly and unthreatening, and knitted morse code messages to Britain.

Phylis Latour Doyle

Art on Canvas

Welcome to the 1950's. This is Cold War territory - no physical fighting, just a couple of countries verbally sparring. Think psychological warfare. Canvas art for the use of government intelligence included propaganda posters, as well as abstract art shows. The US' thoughts on how art could change and form the country wasn't wrong logically, but it was manipulation. The success of these artists made intelligence services want them. Abstract art shows also allowed some artists to defect across the Iron Curtain. Eventually, the government lost control of these artists, after the 1950's ended, and they made their views on Vietnam very, very clear. They couldn't be held back or controlled for long. Art to portray an ideology or view on the current events continues even today. Psychological warfare is probably still happening, especially with political tensions high and a health crisis going on that gives government more control than before. I would encourage you, my readers, to keep this in mind.

Underground Railroad Quilts

This is not proven, but some think and fully believe that safe houses on the Underground Railroad had quilts on clotheslines and windowsills that were encoded with visual cues about the area slaves were in. Anything from a bowtie meaning to dress in disguise and in high status to a log cabin meaning people were safe to speak to and seek shelter from to a zigzag pattern that means to zig zag because you might be stalked by hounds. The problem is that some patterns weren't even around then. Also, concrete evidence of these quilts is either slim or none. If a quilt that supports this theory is found it is generally in bad shape, been through a flood for example. 

Another point was also made; as this does count as espionage, most probably won't spill their secrets so easily. Bottom line, if it happened the quilts are gone and secrets get buried with the dead. Southern ways are pretty unyielding and racism is still here - especially southern racism. It didn't die so quickly, and not as quickly as we'd like. If you supported abolition as a family back then you could die doing this Underground Railroad. Would you flaunt these quilts soon after, or even ten years after? No. Abolitionists in the south weren't popular, so you could still be seriously hurt or blackballed, even murdered for it. My point? The concrete evidence of this practice is probably destroyed by time or the owners themselves, in order to save their own lives. 

With the current racism even today there is also a consideration of who will tell whom what. Back then the climate was even worse, so do you as a reader think a former black slave, or relative of one, would tell a white man or woman all the details of their escape from slavery and give up the codes that saved so many lives? It is possible they don't feel comfortable doing so, whether you are for abolition or not. If abused by a person who is white for a long time, one doesn't just sit back and spill their beans. A black interviewer is more likely to get more information. 

Sources:

https://blogsofwar.com/julia-tatiana-bailey-art-as-espionage-in-cold-war-america/

https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/knitting-spies-wwi-wwii

https://handwovenmagazine.com/knitting-war-spies-history/

https://folklife.si.edu/magazine/underground-railroad-quilt-codes

Pictures:

Fringe Association

Daily Mail

Spring Hill Historic Home

ghost hunting and Christianity

Ghosthunting and curiosity toward the supernatural are getting more and more popular lately. Is it biblical? Let's dive into that. 

First of all, I'd like to define the term "ghost". The Bible does not use it how we do. It is mostly "giving up" the ghost that you see. Short answer, it doesn't refer to a ghost as a being lingering on earth as a soul without a body. The Bible does not support our use of the word "ghost". It is used only to show someone giving up the ghost, or the name Holy Ghost. Christian belief says that no souls linger on earth - there is only Heaven or Hell after we die. So, we do not seek ghosts in ghost hunting. 

What are you seeking when you hunt "ghosts"? I hate to tell you all this, but you might be seeking contact with a demon. The use of seances and ouija boards as party games is not anything new to our society - look up the victorian period parties for proof - and it was a dangerous thing to do. It never should be entertainment to seek the supernatural or the dead. "Parlour tricks" was a fascination that the victorian era took to like a child to a cookie. (My last source can tell you more about it.) Today this is replaced by ghosthunter shows, that much like parlour games, are often fraudulent and fake. To keep ratings up there are faked hauntings as well as possibly, but not likely, real ones. No ratings and no shows equal no money, so you can understand why they'd fake it, but it is still not okay. 

But I Saw the Haunting On TV!

Ghosthunter shows tend to be fake, and so do hauntings on youtube or TV. If you can rig it, it can be faked. Houdini the magician debunked so many seances that he became famous for it. No one could prove they were a medium to him. What you see often are frauds, frauds making money on the gullible, curious, and desperate. If you are going to go to a medium out of desperation you'll believe anything you want to hear. The psychic on the phone will cost you by the minute to tell you sweet lies and whatever your little heart desires to hear. My point? It is often a false paranormal experience you see on TV. 

"But I experienced one myself!", you say. Well, so have I, but the difference is that I didn't seek it. I just happened to be living in a house that was probably haunted (with three other women who can support that claim). Real experiences are rare, to be completely honest with you. I can tell you all about my awful experiences in that house, truly, and it would be no lie, but you couldn't pay me enough to go do it again. I don't understand why you'd seek communication with the dead or go ghost hunting for fun when it was utterly terrifying to live in a possibly haunted house for one semester. I do have a point to this paragraph and it is this; real experiences do happen whether we invited them in or not. Not all is fraud, but most of the TV shows are fake. 

I will say one more thing on ghost hunting shows. Even I am curious about it. With that, please note that some watch the shows to laugh at ghosthunters and prove they are fakes. I may be one of those people depending on the youtube video and how dumb the ghosthunter acts. If it is clearly fake it is now a comedy in some of our eyes. It may still mess with your head though, so be careful. I have to curb that curiosity, too, so you are not alone.

Side Affects

As said before, a soul doesn't linger on earth, so you may be confronting or seeking demons. This leads to and has a history of messing with ghost hunters long after they stop. Fear issues, demons following you home, possession (should you not have Jesus), oppression by demons, and altogether bad times for all. It is not a healthy obsession. You contact demons and it is nearly impossible to lose them. If you don't want a spirit to follow you home don't go hunting for it. The only exception to the rule is if God told you to confront something and authorized you to do it, thus giving you His umbrella of protection. If unauthorized you can find some nasty surprises in store for you. Do you like being attacked until you are on the verge of suicide or suicidal behavior (it happened to someone)? Then don't open the door, because it has happened to some ghosthunters. 

God has gifted some who are called to exorcise demons and save the demon-afflicted. This is God-authorized. The gift of discerning whether a spirit is of or not of God is given by God. Dive into God's Word for more proof of it. Paul did this. Jesus did this. We are supposed to help and pray over those who need our help, as Christians. God does not say to leave the afflicted to suffer. This is the one loophole you have. God does not say "go see if demons will speak to you for fun" or "go ahead, experiment in the occult"! Read that sentence again and remember it well. 

Spiritual Warfare

In case you don't know and weren't taught what spiritual warfare was, here's a crash course in it. Satan was thrown from Heaven, with all the angels who followed him instead of God, after he tried to take on God. Satan and his demons were angels of God that became fallen angels. Fallen angels are demons now. The goal of Satan is to turn us away from God and thus far, demons are the most likely explanation for "hauntings". 

They wage war in our minds and there are battles we never see, but make no mistake, they happen often. Demons can possess those that don't have the Holy Spirit, oppress any human, and mess with our dreams and perspectives. We fight as Christians with God's truth at every showing of evil. We wear the armor of God (eph. 6:10-18) and call out for and praise God at every opportunity. God has won the war. God fights for us every day, protecting us. Satan has lost and God has won. Read that sentence as many times as you need to. 

Conclusion

All this may have you laughing at me (should you think I'm a looney), or you may be nodding with vigor. Either way, don't mess with the supernatural and never seek it out for fun. If you have opened that door you may not be able to close it. Any contact with the supernatural has to be God authorized, no joke. Fight back against the spiritual warfare you face, absolutely, but don't go where God says you shouldn't. You will be experiencing some unpleasant consequences should you do so. There are several former ghosthunters that can confirm that. 

Pictures:

A&E

Medium

Deliverance Church Kasarani Zimmerman

Sources:

 https://www.ministrymatters.com/all/entry/3323/christians-and-ghost-hunting

https://yorknewstimes.com/editorial/guest-opinion-paranormal-investigations-and-christianity-not-two-peas-in-a-pod/article_cc240d58-d546-11e1-b1de-001a4bcf887a.html

https://www.sandiegohaunted.com/is-ghost-hunting-against-christian-values/

https://www.compellingtruth.org/paranormal-activity.html

https://answersingenesis.org/angels-and-demons/do-you-believe-in-ghosts/

https://www.bible-knowledge.com/the-dangers-of-ghost-hunting/

https://www.allinallchurch.com/teachings/2016/7/25/spiritual-warfare-basics

https://www.epm.org/blog/2019/Jun/24/spiritual-warfare-demons-angels

https://credomag.com/2020/07/angels-demons-and-spiritual-warfare/

https://www.bl.uk/romantics-and-victorians/articles/the-victorian-supernatural

Kansas Jayhawkers

Jayhawkers are not just a Kansas sports team. They wreaked havoc in the name of abolition in Kansas and hated Missouri with a passion. Let me introduce you to the Kansas-Missouri border wars. In case you were curious, this was both pre and during the Civil War. 

To give you a snapshot of what the border war was, here's a brief history lesson. Kansas is for abolition, Missouri is not. For some, there is still animosity over this period of time, mostly due to the damage done to both states and the number of innocent people killed in the process. The Civil War led people to join a side to repay the other side for its actions during the border war. 

The Jayhawkers would use the term "Jayhawker" happily, and the term "redlegs", since they wear red uniforms sometimes. Since some didn't have uniforms early on, it was unknown if they were civilian or military. Jayhawks in verbiage is a cross between hawks and bluejays (so noisy predators). This military abolitionist group was also known as thieves and murderers. To Jayhawk something is to steal something. This whole situation didn't end when Kansas was declared a free state, so after the Civil War it was referred to as "bleeding Kansas". Missouri was known as bushwhackers or border ruffians. A true Jayhawker or redleg wouldn't likely join the US army, but both bushwhackers and Jayhawkers received government backing.

Raids

These groups, whether they were trying to further freedom for slaves or not, did atrocities that were extremely violent. Jayhawkers sacked the town of Osceola for two days. 2500 people lived there at the time. It has never achieved that number again. Less than 200 survived. That was September 22, 1861. They freed every slave they found and let them hitch a ride to freedom with them. The words below can tell you clearly how the people of Osceolo, Missouri feel about it in the 2000s.

IT IS FURTHER RESOLVED that citizens of the City of Osceola, Missouri requests the University of Missouri to educate the above-named Defendants on the FULL historical origins of the “Border War.”

IT IS FURTHER RESOLVED that no citizen of the City of Osceola or the alumni of the University of Missouri shall ever capitalize the “k” in “kansas” or “kU,” as neither is a proper name or a proper place.

With those words, I present you with the fact that Osceola contested the use of the Jayhawker as Kansas University's image. I'm pretty sure they still hold a grudge. To be fair to this town, they did have one million worth of goods stolen, their whole town drunkenly insulted for two days, and the whole town burned down. Not to mention the "court-martial" of 9 men that led to their execution-style deaths. I think maybe you'd hold a grudge, too. 

Osceola, Missouri was not the only town that suffered. The raid of Lawrence, Kansas by Missouri Bushwhackers (led by William Quantrill) was nearly as bad. The shouts of "remember Osceola" were clearly heard in this attack. It was spurred on by an incident where a jailhouse of  5 Missouri's women were killed in a collapse. They had been jailed by Kansas, I believe. Quantrill's sister died there (at age 14) and he led all these angry people to take revenge for their loss and Osceola. The raid they conducted killed 200 men and boys. The Osceola raid had a price. 

The War

The Jayhawkers were led by James Lane (who spearheaded the Osceola raid), but also by Charles R. Jennison and James Montgomery. As the Civil War began raids dropped lower in number. People could take sides and take revenge for all the violence towards them. There were three reasons to join the Jayhawker side: taking advantage of chaos to be a marauder, sincere abolitionism, or being a devout unionist defending a home. Old scores were prepared to be settled. They became the Independent Mounted Kansas Jayhawks. They had a lot to do with Kansas being a free state.

Their technical orders were to protect the border from General Sterling Price. They decided to use it as an excuse to raid pro-slavery homes, which extended to all Missourians no matter their beliefs on slavery. They were the Seventh Volunteer Cavalry that lived off of looting and stealing from these people they deemed enemies. They would gather adult men in public squares, put them at bayonet point, and make them swear allegiance to the Union. As expected, some of these men who were in this Cavalry were previous slaves in Union uniforms. This actually spurred recruitment to Confederate forces, just so they could defend themselves from Jayhawks.

A border wars raid

No Saints Here

I'll end by showing you both sides of this border war weren't saints. Jesse and Frank James learned from William Quantrill and both sides of the border war bred those seeking violence. It churned out men who sought blood and chaos. There were no real heroes here, even if slavery did end for some blacks due to Jayhawk raids. The damage was too over the top to be justified. They had orders and chose to use them as excuses to cause pain to others. The border war was nasty, much like most of the Civil War, but it lasted longer and left painful imprints on the memories of Kansas and Missouri alike.

Pictures:

Pinterest

Wikipedia

Legends of America

Sources:

https://www.legendsofamerica.com/kansas-jayhawkers/

https://civilwaronthewesternborder.org/encyclopedia/jayhawkers

https://www.battlefields.org/learn/articles/bushwhackers-and-jayhawks

https://www.espn.com/blog/collegebasketballnation/post/_/id/35412/the-dark-side-of-the-jayhawks-nickname