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Monday
November 11, 2013
Downy Woodpecker
Legend has it the red patch on the head of the male Downy Woodpecker inspired legends with many Native America Tribes across the United States, from being a fire detective to bearer of a warrior's badge of courage. This small bird has been a symbol of bravery and hard work. This male Downy Woodpecker was photographed in the Ketchikan Creek area.
Front Page Photograph By JIM LEWIS ©2013
(Please respect the rights of photographers, never republish or copy
without permission and/or payment of required fees.)
Veterans Day: November 11, 2013
Today We Salute Our Nation's Veterans
Ketchikan: Did Sir Francis Drake visit Southeast Alaska? Author/historian contends Drake was here long before Bering By DAVE KIFFER -
History tells us that Vitus Bering “discovered” Alaska in 1741.
Francis Drake, nicknamed “my pirate” by Queen Elizabeth I, was among the so-called “Sea Dog” privateers licensed by the English government to attack Spanish shipping.
Photo courtesy Wikipedia
And by the 1790s, English explorers (Cook, Vancouver), French explorers (LaPerouse) and Spanish explorers (Malaspina. Caamano) were also exploring the Alaska coast, primarily in search of the fabled Northwest Passage. No one argues with that.
But, what if European explorers had actually arrived nearly a century and a half before Bering?
What if the famed English explorer and pirate Sir Francis Drake had made a secret trip up the coast during his global circumnavigation in the 1580s?
That is the belief of Canadian historian and geographer Samuel Bawlf and it led to a 2001 book called “The Secret Voyage of Sir Francis Drake, 1577-1580”
Actually, Drake’s voyage of 1577-1580 was not very secret. It was the second circumnavigation of the world, following Ferdinand Magellan’s 1519-1522 voyage.
At a time when England’s Queen Elizabeth was looking to assert her nation’s authority (the famed English battle with the Spanish Armada would come in 1588), Drake’s circumnavigation heightened England’s prestige as a growing world-wide power.
In 1579, during his circumnavigation, Drake reported that he had landed along what is now Point Reyes on the California coast, north of the territory then claimed by Spain. Drake claimed the northern territory for England, calling it Nova Albion.
Shortly thereafter, according to the official records, Drake set out across the Pacific to continue his round the world voyage.
But Bawlf says the official story that Drake told was actually a ruse to hide the fact that he had sailed much further north in search of territory to claim for England and that his landing at Point Reyes was after he had sailed north, as far north as the central Southeast Alaskan Panhandle.
Why the ruse? Why didn’t the English just announce the new discovery?
Bawlf says it was tied up in the complicated European politics in the latter part of the 16th Century. And Drake’s own complicated reputation as a seafarer also played a role.
Drake was considered by many, even in England, to be little more than a “pirate.” The official term for his actions was “privateer” in that he often sailed as a “pirate” under the official seal of the English government.
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In the decade before his circumnavigation, Drake became a wealthy man attacking Spanish ships and towns in the Americas and the Caribbean. John Cummins in his 1996 book, “Francis Drake: The Lives of a Hero,” wrote that King Philip II of Spain was so upset by Drake’s “plundering” that he put a bounty of 20,000 Ducats on the English captain’s head. That would be the equivalent of a more than $6 million in today’s dollars.
Although many English hailed Drake for his harassing of the Spanish, there were many in the English establishment who felt differently. Indeed Queen Elizabeth herself took part in a vacillating foreign policy toward the Spaniards, considered the European superpower of the age, as she worked to increase English influence without triggering a war, according to Cummins.
Others like Lord Burghley, the Queen’s most powerful advisor, were openly disdainful of Drake. According to Bawlf, Burghley refused any gifts from Drake stating that Drake had “stolen all he had.”
But all that was of little importance to Drake when he left Plymouth, England in November of 1577. His stated mission, sanctioned by the Queen, was to sail south around the tip of South America and then up the coast and to harry Spanish interests on the Pacific side of the Americas.
By September of 1578, he had crossed underneath South America. An interesting sidelight in Bawlf’s book is that he notes that Drake never reached either Cape Horn or the body of water between South America and Antarctica that is now known as Drake’s Passage. Instead, he most likely passed through the islands off the coast where Magellan had passed half a century before.
Drake then moved up the coast, plundering as he went, taking several million dollars worth of booty from Spanish treasure galleons in the area. The amount Drake returned to England in 1580 would double the English crown’s income for the entire year and that was only a half share of the plunder, Drake was allowed to keep the rest.
After swinging seaward to avoid the Spanish fleets in Central America, Drake made plans to land along the coast of North America, north of the Spanish holdings in what was then called Alto California.
That’s where the historical record gets squirrely and that’s where Bawlf says that Drake made a run further up the coast than generally believed. - More...
Monday PM - November 11, 2013
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Columns - Commentary
 DANNY TYREE: Veterans Day: Is Anybody Listening? - Veterans Day brings to mind one of the favorite anecdotes of my late father, Lewis Tyree.
Dad was inducted into the U.S. Army at the tail end of World War II. During basic training, the drill instructor demonstrated how to disarm a knife-wielding assailant. One by one he handed the recruits a knife and invited them to attack him.
Without exception the soldiers held the knife high overhead like a dagger and lumbered toward the instructor, who easily (sadistically?) made them drop the knife and used a judo flip to land them on their backsides.
When Dad's turn came, he employed rural Tennessee common sense. He crouched and advanced on the instructor, with the knife blade tucked against his forearm so he could slash with impunity.
With a "deer in the headlights" facial expression, the instructor tried to save face by sputtering, "You dumb old hillbilly! Sit back down! Somebody who knows how to hold a knife come up here and attack me!" - More...
Monday PM - November 11, 2013
 TOM PURCELL: For Veterans Day -- Quiet Sacrifice - Ida Ayres never served a day in the armed forces, but she knows a thing or two about the sacrifices of war.
When we think of war and conflict, we think of the men and women who put themselves in harm's way, as we should. But what about the parents, children, siblings and spouses who are left behind to worry and pray?
"Through four wars, I have been the daughter, sister, wife and mother of men who served their country," Ida explained to me.
During World War I, Ida's father, Sam DiRenna, fought for the Italian army. DiRenna, who was born in a small town near Naples, was captured by the Germans and spent four years in a concentration camp. He survived by eating potato peels and garbage scraps. The Germans branded his forehead — a scar he retained for the rest of his life.
Thankfully, he lived. He was declared a hero in Italy for overcoming the brutality. He eventually settled in America. He sent for his wife. They gave birth to Ida and two sons, Angelo and Pasquale. Life was hard during the Depression years, but Ida's family prevailed.
But then America was thrust back into war — a war in which both of Ida's brothers would serve. In 1944 Angelo enlisted in the Navy. Pasquale followed in 1945. Angelo was stationed on the LST 1040 and Pasquale served on a carrier. - More...
Monday PM - November 11, 2013 |
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 Harley Riders 2013 Dinner By James Schenk -
On Saturday, November 9th, Ketchikan Harley Riders will be putting on our 2013 Spaghetti dinner with an auction to follow. - More...
Thursday AM - November 07, 2013
RE: Open Letter: Affordable Care Act By Marvin Seibert -
I'm appalled at a group of Doctors in Alaska supporting the destruction of our Health Care system by way of Obamacare. There is nothing affordable about this and it was passed with lies and deceit by our current President, Barack Hussein Obama! - More..
Thursday AM - November 07, 2013
Re: Affordable Care? By Alan R. McGillvray -
Affordable care, to whom is it affordable? Only to a Senior Citizen who is getting most if not all his medical expenses paid by some one else, even if his 'diabetic test strips' were costing him $75.00 to $100.00 a month. Which, because he is on Medicare, some one else is picking up the costs of his testing supplies. - Mor..
Thursday AM - November 07, 2013
Obamacare By Duane Hill -
I don't see how those praising Obamacare can say anything about it. Hardly anyone has been able to sign up for it and nobody has had time for their claims to be processed, and add to that time the 3 to 7 days it takes for a letter to be printed here. These letters to the editor are either speculation or lies. - More..
Thursday AM - November 07, 2013
Re: No More Traditional Paper Marine Charts By Donita O'Dell -
Paper copies of charts will still be available as POD (print on demand) and from NOAA-certified third parties (complete with updates!). NOAA is ending production of the traditional litho versions because they have declined in popularity as more convenient options (for hard-copy as well as digital) have emerged. - More...
Thursday AM - November 07, 2013
Gun Free zones and other things By A. M. Johnson -
Small snippet of data gathering. Could be interesting to your readers then again, depending on political leaning, maybe not. I found them informative and useful in future discussions on gun control. - More...
Thursday AM - November 07, 2013
Federal tax system "abominable" By Wiley Brooks -
The Tax Foundation has released a report providing an eye-opening look at many facets of the federal tax system - which the foundation calls "abominable."
The report is titled "Putting a Face on America's Tax Returns: A Chart Book."
The Foundation states: "The income tax system in the United States is a sprawling mass of provisions spread across dozens of volumes and has been called everything from a 'disaster' to an 'abomination.'
"It takes Americans as many as seven billion work hours every year just to complete the paperwork required. The IRS' own National Taxpayer Advocate estimates that it costs individual and corporate taxpayers more than $165 billion annually to comply with the income tax code.
"In order to figure out what we need to fix, we need to understand how the system works now. We've compiled this chart book to not only 'put a face on American taxpayers,' but to provide some must-know background information on the key issues of the tax reform debate." - More...
Thursday AM - November 07, 2013
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