     
      |
 |
SLICE
OF CINDI ARCHIVE #4 THE SLICE OF CINDI ARCHIVE OF PAST COLUMNS CURRENT SLICE OF CINDI SLICE OF CINDI ARCHIVE #1 SLICE OF CINDI ARCHIVE #2 SLICE OF CINDI ARCHIVE #3 |
AUGUST
28th, 2006 |
HANGING
IN WEST VIRGINIA This is a report that my son Jacob wrote for a family tree assignment in his 5th grade english class. There were several elements to the project including a "passed down" story. As far as we know, all of this is accurate. I am posting it as my article, because after the assignment was turned in, Jacob and I liked the story so much, that it inspired a new song. I will debut the song at this year's trip. But I thought you all might like the song more if you knew the story first. The song is called "The Ballad of Joseph Page." I look forward to everyone's opinion. In the meantime, here's the story........ THE LAST MAN HUNG IN WEST VIRGINIA This is the story as told to me by my grandfather, told to him by his father, told to him by his father, Coslow Page. Joseph Page was a brother to Coslow Page. He was never married. He owned a farm on Frog’s Creek, just a ways from Kelly’s Creek. While at church one Sunday, someone that owed him about $1200, told Joseph that he would be by his farm on Monday morning to pay him. This conversation was overheard by Bill Beckner. On Monday morning, Joseph got up, prepared his breakfast and put food on for supper (probably a pot of beans.) He went to his cornfield to hoe. In the meantime, Bill Beckner went to Joseph’s house and stole his shotgun and shells. He then proceeded to the cornfield to wait for Joseph. When Joseph had hoed his way to where Bill was waiting, Bill shot Joseph with his own shotgun. They caught Bill Beckner by making a cast of his footprint where he had waited for Joseph in the cornfield. Bill Beckner was hung after being convicted by confession. It is told he was the last man of West Virginia to be hung in Kanawha county. Joseph was killed in 1936. Bill was hung in 1937. The sad but ironic part was the person that was to pay Joseph the $1200 on Monday morning never showed up. Bill Beckner hung by the neck for shooting a man over $2.00 |
AUGUST
14th, 2006 |
ARE
YOU REGISTERED TO VOTE? I am. I am a registered Republican. Do I know what that means? Not really. I am surprisingly, not political at all. I barely keep up with current events. Somewhat of a history buff really. I’m usually more concerned with long hours at my job, my bills, my grumpy husband and wonderful, but trying children. I feel pretty privileged to be concerned with only those things. Maybe that’s what it means to be a Republican. Am I conservative? A little. Am I liberal? Sometimes. That probably just means I’m pretty average. If the average is smart, he/she will vote. Voting……..an interesting little thing. It doesn’t mean anything more than if everybody agrees with you, you win. If they don’t, you lose. Simple, really. The best part, though is that no matter what, you still get to live here, be an American and all that good freedom stuff. Therefore, nobody really loses. Still, there are people who complain. They voted. They lost. Therefore, they decide everybody else must be wrong. Interesting. I don’t know much about presidents and their platforms, but I’m sure their were a bunch of Republicans that thought JFK was just a scoundrel and criminal. Jimmy Carter put interest rates at 15 plus percent. Yeah, that was great. Do we need to even bring up Bill Clinton??!! I’m sure that a whole bunch of democrats would have rather seen Humphry than Mr Richard Watergate Nixon in office. Gerald Ford couldn’t quit falling down. They probably all thought that Reagan was just acting. Bush #1...nice guy, no backbone. Bush #2 jerk on a power mission. I guess it depends on which side of the fence your standing. Here’s a story. I’m in the mortgage business. A little less than 5 years ago, we were doing a loan in Maryland. We tried to verify the employment for our borrower but as he was a member of the military (a general, in fact) it was very hard to speak with someone directly to do that. We diligently tried number after number until finally after 4 days of calling, we found out why we were unable to speak to anyone. Our general was employed at the pentagon. He was meeting our appraiser at his home the morning of 9-11. He was not at work. His entire staff was killed. You know……that kind of makes me mad. So, regardless, of who sits in office, I will support whatever decisions are being made to protect our country. And I will not disgrace the efforts and/or memories of those soldiers that are making sacrifices by complaining about politics. I don’t know the answers. Wish I did. I’m not that smart. So, I have to rely on somebody else to do that. Hopefully, I will be with the majority and we will all agree. If not, I will respectfully step back until it is my turn again to have a say. I urge you to do the same. Please vote. It is still truly the best and most respectful way to disagree. |
JULY
31st, 2006 |
HELL
EXPLAINED The following is an actual question given on a University of Washington chemistry mid-term. The answer by one student was so "profound" that the professor shared it with colleagues, via the Internet, which is, of course, why we now have the pleasure of enjoying it as well: Bonus Question: "Is Hell exothermic (gives off heat) or endothermic (absorbs heat)?" Most of the students wrote proofs of their beliefs using Boyle's Law (gas cools when it expands and heats when it is compressed) or some variant. One student, however, wrote the following: First, we need to know how the mass of Hell is changing in time. So we need to know the rate at which souls are moving into Hell and the rate at which they are leaving. I think that we can safely assume that once a soul gets to Hell, it will not leave. Therefore, no souls are leaving. As for how many souls are entering Hell, let's look at the different religions that exist in the world today. Most of these religions state that if you are not a member of their religion, you will go to Hell. Since there is more than one of these religions and since people do not belong to more than one religion, we can project that all souls go to Hell. With birth and death rates as they are, we can expect the number of souls in Hell to increase exponentially. Now, we look at the rate of change of the volume in Hell because Boyle's Law states that in order for the temperature and pressure in Hell to stay the same, the volume of Hell has to expand proportionately as souls are added. This gives two possibilities: 1. If Hell is expanding at a slower rate than the rate at which souls enter Hell, then the temperature and pressure in Hell will increase until all Hell breaks loose. 2. If Hell is expanding at a rate faster than the increase of souls in Hell, then the temperature and pressure will drop until Hell freezes over. So which is it? If we accept the postulate given to me by Teresa during my Freshman year that, "It will be a cold day in Hell before I sleep with you," and take into account the fact that I slept with her last night, then number two must be true, and thus I am sure that Hell is exothermic and has already frozen over. The corollary of this theory is that since Hell has frozen over, it follows that it is not accepting any more souls and is therefore, extinct ...... leaving only Heaven, thereby proving the existence of a divine being which explains why, last night, Teresa kept shouting "Oh my God." THIS STUDENT RECEIVED THE ONLY "A" |
