tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2424131704277823220.post8763554221001913733..comments2023-09-23T11:16:00.352+02:00Comments on The Franco-American Flophouse has moved: The Flophouse is DoomedVictoria FERAUGEhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16319699673885400472noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2424131704277823220.post-57118978794718968032013-07-12T18:19:29.902+02:002013-07-12T18:19:29.902+02:00@Marie, Writing is MUCH more important than clean...@Marie, Writing is MUCH more important than cleaning house. :-)<br /><br />@bubblebustin, Not sure where it came from but it was certainly a creative idea - link good housekeeping to surviving a nuclear attack. A stretch but perhaps one that made a weird sort of sense to people in that era.<br /><br />@Janet, THANK YOU so much for sharing your memories of that time. Amazing. I'm going to get Nation of Sheep - sounds like a good read.Victoria FERAUGEhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16319699673885400472noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2424131704277823220.post-86806394976390003552013-07-12T10:29:24.372+02:002013-07-12T10:29:24.372+02:00The video brought back my childhood fears and nigh...The video brought back my childhood fears and nightmares.<br /> <br />I grew up in NYC during the cold war. Almost every school day we had a practice air raid drill which we were told would save us in case the Russians dropped nuclear bombs on NYC.<br />There were two kinds of drills. "Take Cover" drills which were triggered by the teacher shouting "take cover". For this drill we had to immediately stop whatever we were doing and hide under our desks, with our arms covering our heads and our backs facing the windows. The teacher would tell anyone who was too slow that they would die if they were too slow when the bombs fell. <br />The second type of drill was the "Advanced Warning" drill. This was a city-wide drill which was triggered by howling air raid sirens. For this drill, our teacher lead us down to a corridor in the school basement where we had to wait until the sirens sounded the "All Clear" signal.<br /><br />Every school child in NYC was issued a dog tag on which their name, date of birth and address was embossed. We were told these tags would help the authorities reunite us with our parents after a nuclear attack! While checking attendance in the morning,teachers were obligated to also check that each child was wearing their dog tag. I refused to wear my dog tag since I had come to realize that if the Russians did drop a nuclear bomb on NYC neither I nor my parents would still exist. Yes I got into trouble with my teacher and with the school principal but I remained steadfast. Since I was one of their best pupils and normally very well behaved, they finally just ignored the fact that I wasn't wearing my dog tag. <br /><br />I think this was when I first realized that governments use fear as an instrument to control their citizens. <br /><br />Years later I met a Russian physicist who had the same date of birth as I do. He was born in Moscow where he grew up and attended school. When we compared our childhoods, he told me the Russian children also had air raid drills to "save" them from a nuclear attack from the Americans! <br /><br />Before there was the Department of Homeland Security there was the Federal Civil Defense Administration; before the terrorists there were the communists. Fear is a very powerful weapon.<br /><br />Yesterday noticed one of my father-in-law's books. He was every interested in politics and studied political science after he retired. The title of the book intrigued me so I took off the shelf and leafed through it. The book is "A Nation of Sheep" by William J. Lederer. Mr. Lederer was the co-author of "The Ugly American". <br />I quote here from the chapter entitled "Secrecy in Government":<br />'The problem is how much "right to know" can citizens give up in the name of government (and other public affairs) without stepping uncomfortably close to totalitarianism? If free Americans voluntarily elect to reduce their right to know - because an emergency requires it- this,then, is their privilege as members of a free society. But this has not yet occurred. At present we want information, and it is being denied us" This was written in 1961. Janetnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2424131704277823220.post-69528799174147057842013-07-11T17:51:14.330+02:002013-07-11T17:51:14.330+02:00Who wants to survive a nuclear bomb anyway? What&#...Who wants to survive a nuclear bomb anyway? What's not mentioned is the effect of that much heat all those aerosol cans and Good Housekeeping magazines (not to mention the inhabitants-unless of course they too are well painted).<br />Is this the 'broken window' theory's predecessor?<br /><br /><br />bubblebustinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01789474207408205280noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2424131704277823220.post-88113676422731523392013-07-11T16:24:08.503+02:002013-07-11T16:24:08.503+02:00Ah I love this - thank you! I often feel I am negl...Ah I love this - thank you! I often feel I am neglecting housework in favor of blogging or writing or doing anything really except the housework. So this truly helped me today :-)Mariehttp://beyondbreastcancer.wordpress.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2424131704277823220.post-53795052954083764582013-07-11T08:12:05.552+02:002013-07-11T08:12:05.552+02:00@Sally, I'm with you. I've learned to lo...@Sally, I'm with you. I've learned to love stone. Stays cooler in the summer too.<br /><br />@Rosy, Oh can I read your thesis? I like their philosophy. What my recent adventures have taught me is that I sure don't want to be the richest person in the cemetery. :-)<br /><br />@anonymous, This is true. :-) Victoria FERAUGEhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16319699673885400472noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2424131704277823220.post-27717722548015157852013-07-11T01:11:53.782+02:002013-07-11T01:11:53.782+02:00What Victoria fails to point out is that her famil...What Victoria fails to point out is that her family has two models - model one her grandmother and her step-grandmother. Both houses looked like a showroom for good, mid priced furniture. In these houses it was never safe to let your coffee cool because the cup would be snatched up, washed, dried, and returned to the cupboard; sort of like that. The second model was Victoria's French Canadian great grandmother who liked stuff and she had a bunch of it, clean, comfortable house, great but not fussy food, much, much more relaxed. So guess what we chose to follow. <br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2424131704277823220.post-82441165617109380032013-07-11T00:06:17.194+02:002013-07-11T00:06:17.194+02:00I did my thesis on Steinbeck. What I liked most wa...I did my thesis on Steinbeck. What I liked most was his praise of the "noble savage" revisited with the merry bunch at the Palace Flophouse down on Cannery Row. Live for today, don't worry about getting rich, and manage with whatever you can lay your hands on. Their most precious traveling gear consisted of salt, pepper and coffee. Period. The rest would come by itself - the booze included. Long live the Franco-American Flophouse! Ice cream cone crumbs and all ! :-)Rosy the Riveternoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2424131704277823220.post-67672324845129264822013-07-11T00:00:16.763+02:002013-07-11T00:00:16.763+02:00it seems to me that this points out that flimsy Am...it seems to me that this points out that flimsy American houses, foolishly built from flammable materials like wood, are firetraps.<br /><br />We may be in trouble in an earthquake (crashing cinder blocks) but it's unlikely our house will burn to the ground.Sallynoreply@blogger.com