Showing posts with label industry. Show all posts
Showing posts with label industry. Show all posts

Friday, February 10, 2023

La Festa dell’ Inverno: Winter 2023 - Part 4

Mackay Is The Most Criminally Overlooked Town In Idaho

The other day I tried a 25.3 fl oz aluminum container of Proud Source Spring Water, bottled at the source in Mackay, Idaho in the Rocky Mountains. It doesn't have the taste of most mineral water brands/sources; just a clear taste. I remember my father used to bring home "mountain water" which he collected himself during winter from way up on the Sierra Nevada Mountains, as he was a truck driver. Proud Source has the same taste.

 

From the bottle....

Crafted By Nature

Our natural alkaline spring water is bottled at the source near the base of Idaho's majestic Mount McCaleb. It's naturally filtered by thousands of layers of ancient volcanic rock. Leaving minerals and electrolytes that deliver a smooth, crisp taste.

Proud Source Water

 



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Goat Lake in the Sawtooth Wilderness, Idaho

Sarah Goeckner




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Mom's Guiding Light

"Today Will Be Great"

I can think of once when I was a teen, hiking the nearby mountain trails at twilight one June evening. I had one of those early Sony Walkmans, which played the old audio cassette tapes. The air was warm as the darkness overcame the mountain. I felt energized by the blackness, but I hadn't brought a flashlight. I remember walking a wooded trail, pondering my life, but never thinking that this evening would stay in my memory. To me, it was just another evening. I started to make my way back home, listening to the music. When I came upon the final stretch of trail, before some street light would illuminate the environment a little, I remember listening to 'Time After Time' by Cyndi Lauper. There seemed to be a great meaning to the song, but I didn't really understand what it was. The lyrics almost suit the idea of that warm night and the guiding light.

The mountain itself--along with the elevated community and our home--symbolized guardian spirits, as there were problems not far below. Now I'm far away from those old cornerstones of my life, and it's both easier and harder to be nostalgic about them. Finally I made my way to the big neighborhood water tank; that beautiful light blue tank resting along the mountain slope, some trees surrounding it, with a paved road leading to the street below. There were two other water tanks on the mountain, serving other communities up there, but this one was ours. Somebody then, or now, could walk up that paved road, place a fold up chair on the grassy area in the back, take out a beverage, and look out and see downtown San Francisco, downtown Oakand, the Marin Headlands, much of the Bay, like being in Heaven. If there were a little house on that spot, I would rather live there than the greatest mansion in the city!

I made my way down to the street, and continued to walk a few blocks, downward on those steep streets, back home. As usual, my mother had left the porch light on for me; something she did my entire life. She used to get the cats in, and flip that switch if anyone else was still out. Even just a couple of years ago, living there, when I was out after dark, she would always turn it on, even after she had gone to bed. At that point, she would also turn on the living room lamp as well. She was always my guiding light.

Two days ago, while shopping, I saw one of those little "Be Inspired" hanging canvas banners. The ones that hang on a little wooden stick, with a small rope onto which to hang it up. It was a light-beige canvas with pink flowers and brown lettering that reads "TODAY WILL BE GREAT," with a fancy pink tassel hanging from the v-shaped bottom. I have it hanging from the ceiling on an old hook in one corner. It reminds me of my mom, because every day was great when she was here. Maybe it can bring a little bit of that energy and mood back.


Flashback, warm nights
Almost left behind
Suitcase of memories
Time after time



'Porch Light'

Traditional Realism night Painting

by Paul Keysar



"Become the bright light for others, when their world becomes dark"
-- Anthony Douglas Williams; 'Inside the Divine Pattern'


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Time After Time

Cyndi Lauper

2.74M subscribers

12,402,557 views - Jan 25, 2017

Provided to YouTube by Epic
Time After Time · Cyndi Lauper
Twelve Deadly Cyns... And Then Some
℗ 1983 Epic Records, a division of Sony Music Entertainment
Released on: 1994-07-19

con't....

 

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"I have been hearing this song since I was a child. Thank you for giving us this beautiful song, Cyndi! ❤️"
--  Débora Almeida

"Song always holds a special place in my heart."
-- Lonezewolf Gaming

"Driving late at night and this song came on the radio feel so heavenly. I've forgot about everything for a moment and enjoy the wind and this song."
-- Gen Rex

"This song reminds me of being on a road trip with the windows down and having a good conversation. The song will always hold a special place in my heart"
-- Jade

"Weird because I'm 23 and I feel like I was alive during that song. I absolutely love it"
-- Louis Dnd

"The beat to this song timeless! Love it"
-- Ohemaa Katrine

 

 

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'Time After Time'

Song by Cyndi Lauper

Lying in my bed, I hear the clock tick and think of you
Caught up in circles
Confusion is nothing new
Flashback, warm nights
Almost left behind
Suitcase of memories
Time after

Sometimes you picture me
I'm walking too far ahead
You're calling to me, I can't hear
What you've said
Then you say, "go slow"
And I fall behind
The second hand unwinds

If you're lost you can look and you will find me
Time after time
If you fall, I will catch you, I'll be waiting
Time after time
If you're lost, you can look and you will find me
Time after time
If you fall, I will catch you, I will be waiting
Time after time

After my picture fades and darkness has
Turned to gray
Watching through windows
You're wondering if I'm okay
Secrets stolen from deep inside (deep inside)
And the drum beats out of time

If you're lost you can look and you will find me
Time after time
If you fall I will catch you, I'll be waiting
Time after time
If you're lost, you can look and you will find me
Time after time
If you fall, I will catch you, I will be waiting
Time after time
Time after time

I've got a suitcase of memories that I almost left behind
Time after time
Time, time, time
But you say to go slow but I fall behind
Time after time after time (after time, oh)

 

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For those who do have a deity....

At least for the ones who do live up to this level of dedication, can we match this? With the overall decline of Christianity, I think there is also a resurgence in some circles. For most folk pagans, their gods are not cosmic dictators, but more like members of their family; their kindred. I don't think the gods would want us to think about them every moment of every day! I think they want us to be near, and live by principles of logic and honor. Ritual is important, but I don't think they seek to be objectified in every waking moment.

I remember when I had cable tv some time ago now, I was channel surfing and came upon Joyce Meyer speaking upon the "impure thoughts" that she always has, and that she claims to say aloud "Get outta there Satan!".... using her hands to show her interaction with her own head. So thinking about "Sin, Sex, and Satan" all the time probably leads one right to it! I think our gods want us to have a more grounded set of principles to develop and live by. I recall another time that I came upon a channel with Donnie Swaggart speaking. He openly "claimed" Japan for Jesus Christ. All because... "he said so," although he would proclaim that "god said so." I do think we as small groups, can lay some spiritual claim on certain public lands; to interact with them, and care for them, and the creatures that dwell there. To me, the gods and spirits very much include our own ancestors.
 

 


 

 

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Torres Del Paine National Park (Chile)

[Windows 10 Spotlight]





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These Bizarre Photos Are so Creepy We Wish They Weren't Real



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A quote that almost got him burned at the stake. Copernicus was Polish, but it showed the power of the Catholic Church over governments and institutions far and wide.



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Love Will Find A Way

Pablo Cruise - Topic

1,358,919 views  - July 29, 2018

Provided to YouTube by Universal Music Group

Love Will Find A Way · Pablo Cruise

Worlds Away

℗ 1978 A&M Records

Released on: 1977-01-01

con't....


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PabloCruise.com

"In a world that's going crazy, I say maybe we take a time out. And break away from all the madness, the sadness, and just breathe."
-- Pablo Cruise



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Mysteries of China

One thing I noticed about China is despite its massive population (1.4 bil), a Google Maps examination actually shows a lot of open green mountainous land. Also, There are large ominous entirely empty cities which have been constructed in rural looking regions for some strange economic purpose having to do with internal Chinese investment. These empty cities have no fittings or cables for water or power, and are strictly for investing, mostly of the condo-like units of large high rises. I suppose that someone could break into one of them and just live there, but there's no food or water, and there's the risk of prison if they were caught. However, foreigners can just visit these empty cities, which are poorly constructed and are already crumbling! It's also curious that the politically paranoid Red Chinese government allows its citizens to emigrate, which is almost an admittance that their leaving for "something better."

China Military Official Site (in English)

 





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Bowen Island, north of Vancouver, Canada

[Windows 10 Spotlight]



 
 

 

 

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Google Chrome 666 Logo

If dice keep coming up with "snake eyes," usually it means the dice are fixed.



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Sia - Unstoppable (Lyrics)

Loku

2.58M subscribers

357,455,987 views  - May 24, 2020

con't....



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A society without the means to detect lies and theft soon squanders its liberty and freedom."
-- Chris Hedges


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"Most people are wrong, when it's most important to be right."

-- Author unknown



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Are there bats in Alaska?

According to the Alaska Department of Fish and Game:

Many residents are unaware that we have bats in Alaska, but seven species of bats are known to occur here. The little brown bat is the most common and widespread bat in Southeast Alaska and is the only species known to occur in Southcentral, Interior, and Western Alaska.

 

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The little brown bat is the one I'm used to seeing, when I lived back home. It's not just southeast Alaska, but they live right up to central Alaska. Alaska is fascinating in that it's entirely different than Greenland. In fact, "Greenland" would be a more fitting name for Alaska, as there are massive woodlands even in the far north. I guess it can't be too surprising that there are bats there. A cave would offer them a safe place to hibernate, without enduring the full harshness of winter.

Bats in Alaska! (video footage of little brown bat species in Alaska)

 

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No Snakes in Alaska (Alaska Department of Fish and Game)

There are no lizards, freshwater turtles, or snakes in Alaska. The only reptiles in Alaska are rare sightings of sea turtles.



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Forggensee, a lake in Bavaria, Germany

[Windows 10 Spotlight]

Well stocked with trout, eel, and pike, this large lake is a prime fishing spot. And, by the looks of those mighty mountains rising above the lakeshore, this is also a great place for sightseeing. Located in a part of Bavaria that's blessed with truly breathtaking scenery, Forggensee is shadowed by the Ammergau Alps, a subgroup of the Northern Limestone Alps. The sharp, rugged contours of the towering mountains contrast in photo-worthy fashion with the placid waters of the lake and the area's lush forests. If you look very closely at the foothills in the center of our image you may glimpse something else of a spectacular nature: Neuschwanstein, a 19th-century castle and one of the architectural gems of the region.

 


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Eddie Money - Two Tickets to Paradise (Lyrics)

Tridon64

Two Ticket to Paradise by Eddie Money with lyrics on screen. My soon to be honeymoon destination with my very special lady.



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"Great song & images! Makes me want to fly away with my lady!"
-- Tom Maxwell

 "I'm ready to pack my bags and leave tonight. I wish I was on a nice vacation far from where I live."
-- Margaret Nicola

 

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"The escape to paradise"

This is a silly story, but I remember years ago I had a friend who was living in Antioch. I was speaking to one of his neighbors one afternoon, a young woman who was 18 and just graduated from high school. Blonde, really cute; more in a girl next door sort've way. I wasn't interested in her as such, but she was nice. She really really wanted to get out've Antioch, and really the area in general. During another subject of conversation, I mentioned another friend of mine who was living in Birmingham, Alabama at the time. Somehow the concept of just being able to go to some place to get away from things for awhile came up, and I just mentioned as an example going there for a time, but wasn't really serious. She then said: "YEEAH, LETS GOOO!!!" I really think she would have gone! I wonder how many couples got their start by just... going! What if I had just.... gone..??


I'm gonna take you on a trip so far from here

I've got two tickets in my pocket, now baby, we're gonna disappear

 

[Above: 'Angelina' by Doris Joa]


...or maybe just to escape from fate..

I remember when I was at the hospital with my mother, I recall thoughts for split seconds, of... maybe there's a way to just escape this? To escape from the danger. I imagined just taking her to the car and just driving up some mountain, to a place of safety. But there was no place to escape to..

 

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'Two Tickets to Paradise' (Eddie Money)

I've got a surprise especially for you
Something that both of us have always wanted to do
We've waited so long, waited so long
We've waited so long, waited so long

I'm gonna take you on a trip so far from here
I've got two tickets in my pocket, now baby, we're gonna disappear
We've waited so long, waited so long
We've waited so long, waited so long

I've got two tickets to paradise
Won't you pack your bags, we'll leave tonight
I've got two tickets to paradise
I've got two tickets to paradise

I'm gonna take you on a trip so far from here
I've got two tickets in my pocket, baby, we'll disappear
Know why?
We've waited so long, waited so long
We've waited so long, waited so long

I've got two tickets to paradise
Won't you pack your bags, we'll leave tonight
I've got two tickets to paradise
Won't you pack your bags, we'll leave tonight
I've got two tickets to paradise
Won't you pack your bags, we'll leave tonight
I've got two tickets to paradise
I've got two tickets to paradise



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The Peasant Window

Carl Moll, 1893



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Regina Angelorum

"Queen of the Angels" (sometimes "The Virgin with Angels")

William-Adolphe Bouguereau, 1900



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Sunlight and Shadow

Stanley Royle. 1926



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The gate to Warmond

Floris Verster, 1894



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Mad World - Gary Jules

orijimi

167,936,249 views  - January 9, 2006

The original video of Gary Jules' and Michael Andrews' cover version of Mad World, directed by Michel Gondry. Throughout the video children are making animated figures on the sidewalk below. (the song was featured in the movie Donnie Darko. If you haven't seen it, seriously consider it.

con't....


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A good cover; a young female voice:

Mad World - Gary Jules (Janet Devlin Cover)



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'Mad World' lyrics

'Mad World' would go perfectly with images or footage of those empty Chinese cities, such as the ones posted above. Also, it would go well with the current social climate; depressed, vaxxed, medicated, young weebs... wandering around not even knowing if they're a boy or a girl.

And I find it kind of funny
I find it kind of sad
The dreams in which I'm dying
Are the best I've ever had


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Symbolism

I believe that the song was specifically contracted to go hand-in-glove with the film, which had a certain Satanic occult meaning. I don't buy the official line put out. I'm not knocking the film or the song. I just think there's more to it. This image of the "rabbit" almost reminds me of 'The Wicker Man', and there could be a pagan connection to it. Not surprisingly, there is a lot of artwork based on the film, which is cool. I like when people try to interpret things with art. We should all try to find some types of romantic realism in our lives; for us, or for that which we are close to.

 

'Mad World' (Wikipedia)

'Donnie Darko' (Wikipedia)

Mad world Song Interpretation - lyric meanings (video)

Donnie Darko meaning (video)

Donnie Darko pinterest (art)

Donnie Darko deviantart (art)

 

I saw 'Donnie Darko' many years ago, and I guess I just watched it late one night, and didn't get much from it. I was just sort've out to lunch. Sometimes it depends when you see it! The morning is the best time. I remember watching 'American Psycho' the first time, and didn't especially care for it. Then I really got it when I watched it the second time. Lots of symbolism and mystery. Somehow.. I never got around to seeing DD again, but I will.

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Saturday, March 7, 2020

The "Trident" story - what does the Beretta logo mean?


'The "Trident" story - what does the Beretta logo mean?'

Matteo Recanatini - Beretta Blog - October 12, 2011

One day, we were sitting around the large desk of one of our conference rooms, discussing over and unders and the staggering heritage that links these guns to the five centuries of Beretta history.

At one point, Angela pointed out that most people recognize the Beretta logo: the iconic three arrows and circles often referred to as "Trident," but that most people don't really know why and how Beretta's logo came to be.

On our Facebook and Twitter accounts, we have mentioned it, in the past, and have answered questions about just this, but I thought it wise to publish a quick post about our most recognizable graphic.

Like all respectable 500-year old companies, Beretta has had its share of logos: the shield with the letters "PB" (for Pietro Beretta, the father of the industrialized Beretta,) the duck with open wings, and the more simple "Fabbrica d'Armi Pietro Beretta" are some of the representations that many of our readers will recognize.

And then, there's the "Trident," which (truth be told) is not a trident at all.

The story of this logo starts not far from Gardone Val Trompia, in the small town of Cargnacco, where poet, writer, director, mariner and journalist Gabriele d'Annunzio ended his days, in the late 1930s.

When you walk into the villa that Gabriele d'Annunzio purchased and where he retired, you will find the very first "Trident." It was he who, ever-the-artist, developed this graphic design to symbolize the will to get things done. The encircled arrows represent the three shots fired by a battleship that engages a potential enemy: the arrow on the left reprents the first warning shot, fired at the ship's stern; the arrow on the right represents the second warning shot, fired at the ship's bow. The central arrow is the last round fired, when the ship doesn't yield: this one is aimed at the ship itself. The logo was dubbed "Dare In Brocca" or "hit the target."

Mr. Beretta was fascinated with this symbol, and asked Gabriele d'Annunzio if he could "borrow it." Gabriele d'Annunzio gave Mr. Beretta the rights to use it as the company's symbol, and from that moment, the "Trident" became the company's logo.

So, now you know it. Next time you're wearing a hat like this one, or carry your Beretta firearm to the range or on the field, make sure you share this story with your fellow shooters!



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'Beretta’s “Trident” logo explained'

 

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BerettaUSA.com
 
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Saturday, July 6, 2019

Guido von List: Part 33 - More on the Vehme star rose in German countries

This is in regards to List's "vehme star rose," which is a pentacle... a pentagram within a circle of nature; different than a barnstar or welcome star. While the barnstar represents the "hospitality" aspect of Heathenry, the vehme star rose is used for "protection." In the book 'The Tradition of Household Spirits' (Lecouteuz; 2000), Chapter 3 'The Openings of the House', page 51, it states: "In the Germanic countries, a pentagram was drawn on the door along with the naive inscription, 'If fever comes, I won't be in' or 'Fever, don't come in, so-and-so isn't here!' "

The first part of the chapter focuses on traditions and folklore regarding doors and the doorway, much of it from the Medieval German culture when old spiritual traditions had largely been eliminated or changed to new Christian meanings. I suspect, in some instances, there was a full 180-degree shift in the meaning; a Heathen, Hexerei, or other pagan symbol was replaced with a cross or other Christian symbol, or protective rites and charms from German witchcraft were changed and used to actually keep "witches" out.

From page 52: "In 1411, Hans Vintler remarked in this regard that 'many evil folk enter at night through locked doors', and we know from other sources that witches and spirits (Walridersken, Scgrättele, Alp, Mahr) enter through the keyhole, which should therefore have their keys left in them at night. Also from page 52: "In Appenzell canton in Switzerland, it is said that 'witches can slip inside through the keyhole' (Häxa chönid dör-ena schlüselloch döra schlüffa)." Another example from page 53: "To prevent witches from entering, a new broom should be placed upside down behind the door, and if a pentacle is drawn upon the door, witches will keep their distance (Swabia)."

It wasn't just German-speaking lands as far as the rituals to "ward off witches," but throughout mainly the Alps, and central and eastern Europe. It should be stated that these symbols weren't just scribbled on or above a door; they were beautifully engraved and finished into the wood. One example from the book shows a dark red six-pointed star within a circle with a white background, as-well-as a dark blue four-petaled "Celtic rose" within a circle with a white background; both perfectly melded and finished into the heavy dark brown wooden door frame. The red six-pointed star was not a rosette, but more of a standard "star shape" with the points slightly thinned out near the end. 


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7-7-19 ADDITION:

Now that we know what the Minnesinger Order was, it still leaves us with the mystery of the German Builders Guild and the German Heraldic Guild. There was a 'German Builders Guild' magazine ('Deutsche Bauhütte') which was published from 1897 to 1942. The name itself sounds like a type of craft union, or perhaps an architectural contractors association.

German Builders Guild

'Deutsche Bauhütte' was the title of a magazine for and about architecture, which was published in Hanover from 1897 to 1942 by Curt R. Vinzentz.

Its first editor-in-chief was the architect F. Rudolf Vogel. One of her editorial staff was the German architect and painter Konrad Wittmann (1891-1951).

The magazine had changing subtitles, such as the central bulletin for the German construction industry.


Supplements

The following titles can be assigned to the magazine as a supplement:

'Der Betonbau' (The concrete construction)
 

'Architektonische Details' (Architectural details)
 

'Studien alter Bauweise' (Studies of old construction)
 

'Raumstudien' (Spatial studies)
 

'Musterblätter aus Bauindustrie und Kunsthandwerk' (Sample sheets from the construction industry and handicrafts)
 

'Das Miethaus' (The rental house)

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Saturday, February 14, 2015

Calumet, Michigan - Part of Lombard-American history




firechasers YouTube channel

The default image above is the old headquarters of the now defunct Calumet and Hecla Mining Company, an important copper mining operation from 1868 through World War II, and closed for good in 1970. The building is now part of the historical park.

Calumet was once the home of the Italian-American Federation of the Upper Peninsula, an umbrella voice for the benevolent societies of the area. In those days, it was sink-or-swim for immigrants. Calumet was unfortunately also the site of what is known as the Italian Hall disaster of 1913. The town is part of the Lombard story in the United States.

Two other videos about Calumet:

Calumet and Hecla Mining Co.

Calumet, Michigan

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Sunday, May 11, 2014

Pirelli World Challenge Auto Racing



Pirelli World Challenge GT / GTS Race - Infineon Raceway - Sonoma, CA - August 25 2012. I noticed on one somewhat obscure sporting-related cable tv channel that they frequently have a program called the Pirelli World Challenge Auto Racing. Pirelli is a famous tire company from Milan, and has long been associated with the rise of Milan as an industrial center during the 20th century; as well as a familiar sponsor and logo to American auto racing fans. Also, for what its worth, Sonoma County is an area with a long rich history of Cisalpine people.

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Tuesday, March 5, 2013

Beretta to Maryland: Enact gun laws and we may be outta here



Beretta to Maryland: Enact gun laws and we may be outta here

by Vatic Master - The Vatic Project - March 5, 2013


Vatic Note: I love  companies that stand, like Americans, with their nation, their people and their history.  This is one of them, however, having said that, I believe they could do serious damage/work to the power elite who want to enslave us by stating unequivocally that if they pass the gun control laws, that Beretta will apply them across the board to everyone.  That includes the government contracts as well. 

Its expensive profit wise, but other companies are doing it and going all the way.  Its the only way.  Its all they understand, nothing less. If you don't, then your only customer will be governments and guess what they have done in the past?  If you have no other customers, and they are your only customer, they will simply steal the product from you. 

That has happened to numerous computer software private companies.  The government just stole the software and never paid the company what  they owed.  This move toward tyranny is for ALL OF US, NOT JUST THE LOW, MIDDLE CLASS, BUT THE ENTIRE NATION, DEPOPULATED OF COURSE.

These *censored* mafia Bankers have no morals, or conscience, so they "take'" whatever they decide they want and they have done that already to the ubber wealthy when they stole their diamonds from the diamond market and substituted very good fakes.  If they will steal from the ubber wealthy, they will steal from you.

This isn't a game for them.  Its been in play for thousands of years through these long term blood lines.  We have to adapt to the reality of these people and give up our perceptions of our reality that do not exist, then we can decide if we want to live they way they have planned, if not, then we work our options.  Time to get educated. Your lifes work is on the line.



Beretta’s future in Maryland tied to state’s gun-control debate

By Aaron C. Davis, Published: February 23
provided to vatic project by Freedom Pheonix

On the production floor of Beretta USA sits a hulking new barrel-making machine ready to churn out the next object of obsession in America’s love-hate relationship with guns: a civilian version of a machine gun designed for special operations forces and popularized in the video game Call of Duty.

Beretta, the nearly 500-year-old family-owned company that made one of James Bond’s firearms, has already invested more than $1 million in the machine and has planned to expand its plant further in Prince George’s County to ramp up production.

But under an assault-weapons ban that advanced late last week in the Maryland General Assembly, experts say the gun would be illegal in the state where it is produced.

Now Beretta is weighing whether the rifle line, and perhaps the company itself, should stay in a place increasingly hostile toward its products. Its iconic 9mm pistol — carried by every U.S. soldier and scores of police departments — would also be banned with its high capacity, 13-bullet magazine.

“Why expand in a place where the people who built the gun couldn’t buy it?” said Jeffrey Reh, general counsel for Beretta.

Concern that the company will leave, and take its 300 jobs with it, is palpable among state lawmakers who worry it could be collateral damage from Gov. Martin O’Malley’s proposed gun-control bill.

Among other restrictions, O’Malley’s bill would ban assault rifles, magazines with more than 10 bullets and any new guns with two or more “military-like” features. Gun experts said it’s a near-certainty that Beretta’s semiautomatic version of the ARX-160, now only a prototype, would be banned under O’Malley’s bill.

“I’m concerned. I think they’re going to move,” said Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller Jr. (D-Calvert). “They sell guns across the world and in every state in the union — to places a lot more friendly to the company than this state.”

In Beretta’s low-slung factory along the Potomac River in Accokeek, where walls are lined with trophy heads of caribou, wild boars and black bears shot by employees, the legislation proposed by O’Malley (D) feels like an affront.

In testimony this month in Annapolis, Reh, who oversees the plant, warned lawmakers to consider carefully the company’s future. Reh pointed to the last time Maryland ratcheted up gun restrictions in the 1990s: Beretta responded by moving its warehouse operation to Virginia.

“I think they thought we were bluffing” in the 1990s, Reh said. “But Berettas don’t bluff.”



Growth of a company

The small U.S. division that Beretta started 35 years ago in Prince George’s has added substantial swagger to a company that already billed itself as the “World’s Oldest Industrial Dynasty.”

From behind the modest brick facade of an abandoned gun plant it purchased in 1977 on Indian Head Highway, Beretta won a landmark contract to become the standard sidearm of all U.S. military personnel in 1985. To the chagrin of American competitors, it soon replaced the venerable Colt 45.

More than a half-million of the company’s guns have been shipped to the Army, Air Force, Navy and Marines, each stamped as made in Accokeek.

The article is reproduced in accordance with Section 107 of title 17 of the Copyright Law of the United States relating to fair-use and is for the purposes of criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research.


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Monday, October 24, 2011

“Patihi, Patahé!” The Camuni of Brescia in Monongahela City: Part II

Sports legend Joe Montana, of half Camunian ancestry

Borrowed from the archives of 'Poche Parole' (May 2009), the newsletter of the Italian Cultural Society of Washington D.C.


By Terry Necciai

The second of two articles

Railroad construction went at a furious pace through the region, both before and after the Panic of 1873, and gangs of temporary workers were recruited to level the grade and lay the ties and tracks. It is particularly difficult to determine who the workers were and where they came from because of the short term nature of the work and lack of records. However, it appears that the Italian workers found other jobs as a result of the new lines. Railroad development was often justified by the expectation that each line would open up a new area for coal mining. Industrial villages cropped up almost instantaneously as each line was completed. Meanwhile, other Pittsburgh area industries, such as steel, specifically avoided hiring Italians because they thought they were less suited than the Slovaks and other Eastern Europeans for the heavy work required at the larger industrial plants, a prejudice that is on record in some of the surviving trade literature. Because the Italians had an easier time finding jobs in coal mines, they ended up scattered all over the region, in the 500 or more mining villages found within a 100 mile radius of Pittsburgh. Those who brought trade skills with them eventually struck off as entrepreneurs, serving as carpenters, blacksmiths, barbers, tailors, and grocers/fruit handlers, and also sometimes as musicians, writers, or bankers in the new villages.

The Bresciani who came to Monongahela City helped to set off a chain reaction that brought Italians from almost every other part of Italy, boosting the population within and surrounding a very small city that is still 25% Italian-American today. A small group of Calabresi who came in the 1870s may have been the first, followed in the 1890s to 1910s by other Italians from north of Rome, a large group of families from Tuscany, and smaller groups from Umbria, Piemonte, and Venice, and then by large groups from Naples, Calabria, and Sicily, with smaller groups from Abruzzi and Molise. In one of the later waves of immigration, families came from Suisio, an industrial town west of Bergamo, where the dialect was almost the same as that of Brescia. The Italian-Americans in Monongahela whose roots are in the other parts of Italy often refer to the Bresciani and Bergamaschi as the “Patihi, Patahé,” an obscure phrase that the Bresciani had apparently used as a greeting and a shibboleth (though no one from modern day Brescia seems to remember exactly what this phrase means). (My theory is that it could be derived from a word “dialect,” similar to the French “patois.” Or another possibility is “patéser” a verb in the local dialect that means the same as “soffrire” — to “suffer” or to “put up with” someone. Assuming the two words are conjugated forms of a verb, say “patihare” or “patéher,” with an “h” being substituted for a “c” or an “s,” the meaning of “se patahi, pataho” could be “if you speak the dialect, then I will” or “if you put up with [me], then I’ll put up with [you]”)

A small group apparently came about 1886, probably as a gang of young, single men looking for work. Three of the first surnames were: Milani, Pezzoni, and Carrara. Serafino Carrara came to Monongahela from Brescia in ca.1886-88, taking a job in the Catsburg Mine, and by the 1890s, his daughter Maria operated a boarding house for Italian miners on a hillside site overlooking the mine. Undoubtedly, this facility housed many of the Camuni when they first arrived. By about 1915, the Odelli family had a very popular fruit market that later became a peanut and candy store. When Joe (Gio’ann’) Odelli, Sr., rebuilt his fruit stand in 1925, he erected one of the most impressive buildings on Main Street. The Anton family, Bavarian Catholic immigrants who made open flame lamps for the coal miners, took an interest in the Brescians and sponsored the establishment of an Italian Catholic Church in 1904. It was named for St. Anthony of Padua in part to recognize the Antons as the benefactors. The Bresciani were the core group in the congregation. A few years later, in 1913, open flame lamps were blamed for a mine disaster at a mine near Monongahela, taking the lives of 97 men, of whom at least 8 or 10 were from Brescia. Legislation outlawing lamps with open flames after this disaster led to the invention of the safety lamp and then the battery-powered flashlight.

The best known Brescian-American from Monongahela is football quarterback Joe Montana (who played for Notre Dame in the 1970s and the San Francisco 49ers in the 1980s and 1990s). The name Montana is slightly Americanized, apparently from Montagni (he is also half Sicilian, through his mother, Theresa Bavuso Montana).

The Val Camonica is named for the Camunni, an ancient culture of unknown origin that became blended with the Celts of Northern Italy in pre-Roman times. Today, the inhabitants of the valley call themselves “Camuni” (with one “n”). The ancient Camunni left approximately 350,000 rock carvings on the face of the mountains, depicting pre-Roman-era life in the valley. Some are as much as 10,000 years old. To interpret the sparse written passages in the Camuno language that accompanies some of the later carvings, linguists have begun to analyze the peculiarities in the local dialect, which preserves some Camuno characteristics, differentiating it from other dialects of Northern Italy.

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