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The New American Digest

For Followers of Gerard Van der Leun's Fine Work

  • About American Digest
  • About New American Digest
  • “The Name In The Stone”
  • Remembering Gerard Van der Leun
    • from the website: Through the Looking Glass
    • from the website: Barnhardt
    • from the website: Neo’s Blog
  • Articles
    • The Overland Stage
      • The Holladay Overland Stage: 1 – The Central Route
      • The Overland Stage – 2 Company Operations
      • The Overland Stage – 3 Exploring The Route – An Overview
      • The Overland Stage: 4 – South Platte/Julesburg/Ft Sedgwick
        • Jack Slade
      • The Overland Stage: 5 – Julesburg to Junction Station (aka Ft Morgan)
      • The Overland Stage: 6 – Junction Station to Latham
      • The Overland Stage: 7 – Latham Crossing to Fort Collins
      • The Overland Stage: 8 – LaPorte to Virginia Dale
      • The Overland Stage: 9 – Virginia Dale to Cooper Creek
      • The Overland Stage: 10 – Cooper Creek to Pass Creek
        • Fletcher Family
      • The Overland Stage: 11 – Pass Creek to Bridger Station
      • The Overland Stage: 12 – Bridger Pass to Duck Lake
      • The Overland Stage: 13 – Duck Lake to LaClede
      • The Overland Stage: 14 – LaClede to Almond
      • The Overland Stage: 15 – Almond to Rock Springs
      • The Overland Stage: 16 – Rock Springs to Fort Bridger
      • The Overland Stage: 17 – Fort Bridger to Weber Station

I find I don’t wish to explore new lands, but to explore again those I have already passed through, trying to see what I’d missed in the first hectic rush … Gerard Van der Leun

Home→Published 2025 → February - Page 2 << 1 2 3 4 5 >>

Monthly Archives: February 2025

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Not That Kentucky Stuff

The New American Digest Posted on February 22, 2025 by DTFebruary 22, 2025
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Posted in Uncategorized | 19 Replies

Harbor Winter

The New American Digest Posted on February 21, 2025 by DTFebruary 21, 2025
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Posted in Uncategorized | 5 Replies

In The Words Of JD Vance:

The New American Digest Posted on February 21, 2025 by DTFebruary 21, 2025

“If you are afraid of the voices, the opinions and the conscience that guide your very own people … If you’re running in fear of your own voters, there is nothing America can do for you, nor for that matter is there anything you can do for the American people.”

The same applies to factions of our own US and State governments as well.

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Well Then, Let’s Remove The Threat …

The New American Digest Posted on February 20, 2025 by DTFebruary 21, 2025

Some European Parliament member from Belgium, Guy Verhofstadt, Says Trump Is "NATO's Greatest Threat"

I'll try to not get political very often here, but WWII's been over a long time. Let's ease Europe's fears - we can remove the threat of Trump by removing the US (and US money) from NATO. Then they'll be able to so peacefully sleep at night. After all, they'll still have Zelensky.

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Down By The Old Mill Pond

The New American Digest Posted on February 20, 2025 by DTFebruary 20, 2025
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Tunes For Tuesday – Wednesday Edition

The New American Digest Posted on February 19, 2025 by DTMarch 23, 2025

It completely slipped my mind that yesterday was Tuesday until I realized today is Wednesday ...

A sample of some obscure – and some maybe not obscure – tunes from my strange and off-the-wall collection.

Today’s selection: Mary Carter Stuart - "Going Back To Olive Hill"

Seems most everything ever recorded has made it to YouTube so it's hard to find "obscure" ...
But I think this one may be a challenge even for ghostsniper.

Olive Hill, KY is Tom T Halls' home town.

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Posted in tunes | 3 Replies

Empathy, Not Sympathy

The New American Digest Posted on February 18, 2025 by DTFebruary 18, 2025

I was reading another blog the other day discussing how Federal workers are beginning to panic about their futures. "What will I do?", "How will I pay my bills?", "Where will my next paycheck come from?"

I can empathize - I've been there; I've even been a GS employee at times. And I've been laid off before.

Well, welcome to the real world.

It's a bit of a shock when someone comes to you with a termination notice: "Project's been cancelled, we need to cut costs".

Said message usually brought by someone who knows they won't be laid off and whose main job is terminating others when not shuffling papers.

Sometimes you might get two weeks notice; seems these days you're more likely to be walked out the door right then and there.

A certain complacency sets in when you're assured of not being fired. You might get re-assigned, but you do continue to get a paycheck.

You know who've been the most assured of not getting fired from government jobs? The support staff - secretaries, HR, accounting, legal. Those that do the work are often subject to project funding - and those who "support" the work are often the least likely to be let go. All too often - in my experience - these are the DEI hires, the "affirmative action" hires, those who have "rights" but little responsibility and even less accountability.

So, yes, I have empathy for these workers - I've been in that position and at best, it sucks. Then it goes downhill from there. Their cocoon is bursting and they now find themselves in the same position Biden put the oil pipeline workers in when he first took office. Other examples abound.

Welcome to the world of the private sector ...

What was the government's advice to the oil workers when the pipeline was shut down putting 11,000 people out of work?

"Learn to code" as I recall.

I wonder how much sympathy these same Fed workers had for those workers, knowing that their jobs were "guaranteed?

Biggest trouble in this country now is not enough jobs for too many people.

It's going to take a while to shift things back to production. There will be undeserved suffering.

And there's no way out in the short-term.

I'm in favor of tariffs on principle. While costs will go up in the short run, the nation will be better off if we return to being a "producer nation" as opposed to being a "consumer nation", i.e., welfare state. Make money real again, bring production back to this nation, decrease the actual unemployment numbers, not just those unemployment numbers based on those who collect government welfare. The number of people without livable work right now far exceeds the official numbers - our economy is in very bad shape.

It's largely a tax code and regulatory issue. Out-sourcing is a tax deductible expense (or was when I was in that game); employees are an expense of a different sort. What would happen if the cost of employees was a deduction from gross revenue? What would happen if "labor-saving" equipment was taxed at a rate proportional to the number of "laborers" it replaces?

Someone would figure out a way to pay off the legislators that we allow to make those decisions to benefit the few at the expense of the many
...

What would happen if there weren't so many regulations discouraging small start-up businesses?

What the country now needs - especially in light of the current state of the educated public - is more jobs for ditch-diggers and porters.

And fewer jobs for HR, "administrators", "administrative assistants", and the like.

Rant over ... and I didn't even really get started.

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Posted in Uncategorized | 3 Replies

Presidents Day

The New American Digest Posted on February 17, 2025 by DTFebruary 17, 2025

The "best" is subject to interpretation, but the worst?

In chronological order:

  • Lincoln
  • Wilson
  • FDR
  • LBJ
  • Daddy Bush
  • BillyJ
  • Baby Bush
  • Buck Ofama
  • FJB

I can't be "Christian"; I believe some are born evil and beyond even Jesus' redemption. The last two are among those - they are so evil and have already sold their souls, they should both be hanged for treason and let the Devil collect.

Jimmy gets an honorable mention but I charge him more for incompetence than "badness".
No, I don't put Nixon's name on this list - not that I liked him ... but he was a far better choice than Humphrey or (gag) McGovern.
Other names could also be included for incompetence ...

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Posted in Uncategorized | 9 Replies

One can hope, one can do

The New American Digest Posted on February 16, 2025 by DTFebruary 16, 2025

Ghostsniper submitted this as a comment but it appears to be copyrighted material. I'll provide the (dead) link but it's best if I don't publish material not mine or any particular commenter's.

GOLDEN AGE THE AMERICAN RENAISSANCE by EKO
Feb 15, 2025

eko dot substack dot com/p/golden-age

Sorry ghostsniper - I trashed the comment but I thought it was worth letting people know where to go to read it.

As what's-his-name says: New Rule
Please don't submit copyrighted material that you don't own. I'll post a dead link to the material though.
Thanks

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Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Reply

Overland Stage – Part 9 Virginia Dale to Cooper Creek

The New American Digest Posted on February 16, 2025 by DTFebruary 16, 2025

Part 9 - Virginia Dale to Cooper Creek is now live.

After heading north a mile or so out of Virginia Dale, the stage line crests a ridge and enters into Dakota Territory. The far side of the hill drops down into the Laramie Plains; a vast valley of fine grasslands with no "civilization". There is no city of Laramie, no Fort Sanders, no railroad - nothing excepting a small handful of stage stations, scattered groups of Indians from various tribes, and ever-present bandits. The stations are lined up in almost a straight NW line 45 miles to the far edge of the valley just beyond the Cooper Creek station.

Coming up next: Cooper Creek to Pass Creek

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Rules

Gerard Van der Leun
12/26/45 - 1/27/23


Gerard's Last Post
(posthumous): Feb 4, 2023
"So Long. See You All a Little Further Down the Road"

When my body won’t hold me anymore
And it finally lets me free
Where will I go?
Will the trade winds take me south through Georgia grain?
Or tropical rain?
Or snow from the heavens?
Will I join with the ocean blue?
Or run into a savior true?
And shake hands laughing
And walk through the night, straight to the light
Holding the love I’ve known in my life
And no hard feelings

Avett Brothers - No Hard Feelings

The following was posted along with the announcement of Gerard's passing.
Leonard Cohen - Going Home

For a 2005 interview with Gerard


February 2025
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Most Recent Comments

  1. Tom Hyland on Comnenos Mosaic of AyasofyaJune 29, 2025

    Art appreciation... a good and healthy activity. It's civilized. Here's a painter who's having a stellar existence. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0kOlx6lXpEk

  2. azlibertarian on Train TimeJune 29, 2025

    "...Having a record does not define you or your character...."I think that most of us knew that those school-day threats…

  3. jean on Comnenos Mosaic of AyasofyaJune 29, 2025

    Any time I see images like these I am reminded of my Mom and her family. Thank you, DT.

  4. Snakepit Kansas on Train TimeJune 29, 2025

    I suppose there will always be an element of society that are just screw ups. Then make the situation worse…

  5. Zaphod on Comnenos Mosaic of AyasofyaJune 29, 2025

    Lost another one of the good guys. RIP the Z Man.


Blogroll
The New Neo
Jean's Blog

Hey, Mr. Tambourine Man,
play a song for me
I'm not sleepy
and there ain't no place I'm goin' to

Hey, Mr. Tambourine Man,
play a song for me
In the jingle jangle morning,
I'll come followin' you

Take me for a trip upon
your magic swirling ship
All my senses have been stripped
And my hands can't feel to grip
And my toes too numb to step
Wait only for my boot heels to be wanderin'

I'm ready to go anywhere,
I'm ready for to fade
Unto my own parade
Cast your dancing spell my way
I promise to go under it


Men who saw night coming down about them could somehow act as if they stood at the edge of dawn.


From Gerard's site. The picture always caught my eye.

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