Closing in on History

Congratulations, Trevor Hoffman ~ Hall of Fame Pitcher

A Quiet Triumph

Image: Paramount Pictures

I've always maintained that a script writer never allows a pregnant woman to go unexploited for dramatic purposes, and I think I've been proven correct in every TV show or movie I've ever watched. But never have I seen a pregnant woman used so extensively--and effectively--as Emily Blunt's character in the almost unbearably suspenseful film,  A Quiet Place.

In a post-apocalyptic world, the monsters have arrived yet again. In this incarnation, they are blind but hunt by sound. The creatures are extremely ugly, seemingly indestructible, and incredibly fast when they respond to an inadvertent noise. A Quiet Place is a quiet film that will keep you riveted to the edge of your seat, right from the start.

Directed by John Krasinski, who also stars, the story follows the Abbot family: father Lee, mother Evelyn, and their children, one of whom is deaf. The fact that the entire family is able to communicate fully in sign language no doubt has aided them in their survival. But as is the case in any successful horror movie, things will go wrong for the characters you have come to care about. The tension builds ever upward to the dramatic conclusion. I had a bit of a stiff neck by the time the credits rolled, but it was well worth it.

In a sociological analysis, A Quiet Place could be said to mirror our current national atmosphere, where one wrong sound brings immediate destruction. Just ask Roseanne Barr or the former CEO of Papa John's pizza, to cite two recent examples. But in a more intimate sense, the movie is a simple story of one family's love, resilience, sacrifice, and redemption. Get your bowl of popcorn and watch--quietly.

Hail to a Very Special Chief

Chief Joseph Pfeifer retired today from New York City's fire department. Pfeifer was the first FDNY chief on the scene at the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001. His firefighter brother, Kevin, was among those killed in the terrorist attack.

Chief Pfeifer had actually been eligible to retire a few days before 9/11 happened. In one interview, Pfeifer said he stayed on active duty so as not to end "on a sad note." His leaving the fire service marks the end of an era and, I hope and pray, the beginning of many joyful years ahead with family and friends.

Chief Pfeifer, a brave, unassuming, and enduring American hero. Godspeed.

Independence Day

Image from The History Cat

The Declaration of Independence of The United States of America

IN CONGRESS, July 4, 1776

The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America

When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for
one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected
them with another, and to assume, among the Powers of the earth,
the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and
of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions
of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which
impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal,
that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights,
that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.
That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men,
deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed,
That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends,
it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute
new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing
its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect
their Safety and Happiness.  Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments
long established should not be changed for light and transient causes;
and accordingly all experience hath shown, that mankind are more disposed
to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing
the forms to which they are accustomed.  But when a long train of abuses and
usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce
them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw
off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.
--Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now
the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government.
The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated
injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment
of an absolute Tyranny over these States.  To prove this, let Facts
be submitted to a candid world...

[You can read the exhaustive list of grievances against the English king 

within this link to the transcript]

We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in 
General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world
 for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority 
of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That
 these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and 
Independent States; that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the 
British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the 
State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that 
as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, 
conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all 
other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. And for 
the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection 
of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our 
Fortunes and our sacred Honor.