This post has absolutely nothing whatsoever to do with the Civil War. I apologize to those of you who come here exclusively for the Civil War content since you will be disappointed by this post. However, I feel the need to rant about this.

Alex “A-Roid” Rodriguez at least fessed up and admitted that he had made abundant use of illegal anabolic steroids from 2001-2003, which included one of his MVP seasons and a year when he hit a career high 57 homers. All of this calls into question the validity of any of his statistics and taints his entire career. And this from the golden boy who was supposed to lead the Yankees back to the promised land. A-Fraud’s …

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It’s been quite a while since I’ve posted a sketch of a forgotten cavalryman, so I’ve decided to pay tribute to one today.

Samuel Baldwin Marks Young was born on January 9, 1840 at Forest Grove, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania. His father, John Young, was of English descent as was his mother, Hannah (Scott) Young. His spent his early years upon the farm and at Jefferson College (now Washington & Jefferson) in Washington, PA, where he studied civil engineering. He married Margaret McFadden in 1861.

With the coming of the Civil War, he enlisted in the 12th United States Infantry as a private in April, 1861, and was made Corporal in the following June. On September 6, 1861, he was commissioned …

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Here’s an article that gives you a sense of the ridiculous budgetary constraints that the Ohio Historical Society is forced to endure. Whenever the Ohio General Assembly needs to save money, the OHS budget is inevitably the first place they look. And this is the result:

Recession Forces Historians to Make Do
By James Hannah, Associated Press

2/1/2009
Associated Press
http://www.newarkadvocate.com/article/20090201/NEWS01/902010332

COLUMBUS — The Civil War flag that was brandished by the 42nd Ohio Volunteer Infantry is wrapped tightly around its pole. It’s a delicate task to unfurl the almost 150-year-old banner without it crumbling.

Yet, the humidity-raising chamber used to loosen the material consists of a homemade aluminum frame covered with a plastic-like film. It was built with parts

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Mississippi, historically the poorest state in the Union, has now launched a Civil War Sesquicentennial Commission:

Lawmakers Get Ball Rolling on Civil War Sesquicentennial Commission
By Danny Barrett Jr.

1/14/2009
Vicksburg Post

Events planned in Mississippi for the 150th anniversary of the Civil War may yet have a state organizing panel if the Legislature OKs a measure filed this week.

Senate Bill 2474 would establish the Mississippi Sesquicentennial of the American Civil War Commission to plan and develop activities emphasizing the state’s role in the war, with an emphasis on military battles held within the state’s borders. Also, it would encourage participation by local tourism, historical and other groups to participate in events to be announced. Currently, all other states

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Kevin Levin has a really good post on his blog today that I commend to you. Be sure to read the comments, as they are critical to understanding Kevin’s point.

Kevin’s had one particular anti-Semitic neo-Confederate nut job–my first nominee for 2009’s grand champion, by the way–who calls herself “JosephineSouthern”, and who cannot resist any opportunity to (a) be insulting and condescending, (b) loudly bang the neo-Confederate drum, and (c) ignore Kevin’s rules for civility as a condition to being permitted to leave comments on his blog. Given that the primary focus of Kevin’s blog is Civil War Memory, his blog is a prime focus for all of these neo-Confederate jerks who so seem to enjoy tormenting him.

It’s a …

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Late last October, it was announced that Gettysburg National Military Park Superintendent John Latschar was going to retire to assume the presidency of the Gettysburg Foundation at a major salary increase. I seriously questioned the ethics of this job move in a couple of posts here. Kevin Levin disagreed with me in a comment to his post, finding nothing wrong with the ethics of the situation.

Well, as the following press release from the National Park Service plainly demonstrates, there was something fishy about this situation after all. After being reined in by the NPS ethics people, who finally woke up and realized that there serious conflicts of interest inherent in this situation, Latschar has now reversed field, announced that …

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We had our quarterly meeting of the Buffington Island Battlefield Preservation Foundation yesterday. We learned some good news. The Ohio Historical Society has set aside funds to establish an interpretive kiosk at the four-acre battlefield park that it owns. Consequently, the two architects and the display designer who will be responsible for setting up this display attended the meeting. This is great news, as there is almost n interpretation on the battlefield.

In addition, we learned that more than 600 signs will be installed along the route of Morgan’s Ride through Ohio during 2009 and 2010. Obviously, some of this interpretation will affect the battlefield at Buffington Island. My view on it is the more the merrier. We can’t have …

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The fuzzy green fellow in the photograph below is the Phillie Phanatic. Anybody who has followed major league baseball over the last thirty years undoubtedly recognizes the best sports mascot there is. The Phanatic set the gold standard for sports mascots. He is a living legend.

Michael came up with the absolutely brilliant idea of asking Dave Raymond to write the introduction to the baseball book. We’d thought of lots of great ideas for the book, but had neglected finding someone great to the introduction. My initial thought was to ask former major league pitcher and ex-Seattle Pilot Jim Bouton to write the introduction for us, but Jim declined when I asked. Hence we were groping in the dark, hoping …

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My experiences in law firm partnerships have not been good. Prior to my going back out on my own at the end of March 2007, I was involved in three different partnerships, and each was a really bad experience for its own set of reasons. The last one was an economic disaster, and, as I announced here on April 4, 2007, I had to do something different. I spent some time (about six months) trying to figure out what to do with myself, including possibly going back to school to obtain an MBA. In all, I spent 18 months as a sole practitioner, at first trying to figure out what to do. Then, once I figured out that I was …

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Today, our country stands on the brink of truly historic events. Barack Obama is being inaugurated as the 44th President of the United States, joining the most exclusive club in the world. The thought of an African-American in the White House was unheard of just twenty-nine years ago in 1980, when I voted for the first time as a nineteen-year-old college student. But here we stand on the precipice of history, having finally closed the circle on the stain on America that was slavery. Yes, these are events that boggle the mind.

I am hopeful for our future. I am not sorry to see the present administration leave, as I am convinced that this country has only ever had one …

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