The Erotic Diaries of a Victorian Seafarer in the US Navy

An American Seafarer in the Age of Sail: The Erotic Diaries of Philip C. Van Buskirk, 1851-1870 by Barry Richard Burg
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This book is not what you think it's about. :)

Philip C Van Buskirk was an educated young man whose family fell on hard times. Consequently:

1) He is an outsider to the world in which he now must live. For example, although he is a common drummer boy/sailor/marine he has more in common with the officers.

2) He has beautifully clear handwriting.

His urge to record his internal life is amazing - he kept diaries for *years*. And they're mostly about his private hopes, disappointments, and thoughts - not about the places he went (China, Japan) nor the Civil War he fought in.

This is a very different record of shipboard life, and of interest to anyone who likes the Age of Sail.

The reason the title has "erotic" in it is because Van Buskirk - a moral, if not Puritan, middle-class boy - is seriously appalled at the frequency of male/male relations between other crew members. Apparently unlike the British navy, the American navy accepted these liaisons as a matter of necessity and as long as it didn't interfere with your duties all's well that ends well.

Because there was little privacy on board, Van Buskirk's diaries were often read by others. Sometimes people objected to what he wrote. Interestingly, his descriptions of male/male erotic behavior were NOT objected to, which furthers the idea that this was normative behavior.

Van Buskirk is a complex, not to say seriously messed-up, person. When he grows up, he has difficulty forming friendships with adults his own age. And thanks to Victorian America's obsession with masturbation as a direct road to death and Hell, he keeps meticulous track of his bodily fluids and constantly writes of how he despises himself.

As a narrator, you may not like him, but this window into a male mind of the mid-to-late 19th century is priceless.

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Sean Bean in Sheffield Today

The Saga of Kate O'Hare

Kate Richards O'Hare, American socialist and anti-war activist in 1917, went to Bowman, North Dakota as part of a speaking tour and "in the presence of 125 people" said:

"that any person who enlisted in the army of the United States for service in France would be used for fertilizer, and that is all he was good for; and that the women of the United States were nothing more or less than brood sows to raise children to get into the army and be made into fertilizer."

On the grounds that "such statement so made was made with the intention of willfully obstructing the recruiting service of the United States, to the injury of the service of the United States," she was arrested and indicted under the Espionage act.

It came out during her trial that she had further said The Great War was only being waged to protect capitalists, and that had the US loaned more money to Germany, we would be on Germany's side, but since our investments were more with the Allies, we were on the Allies' side.

The judge told her there was "no foundation" for this idea.

As part of his sentencing speech, the judge also said the Secret Service had told him, "We have been unable to secure anything specific on her that would be a violation of the Federal law ....but .... we are morally certain [she is] for Germany against our country."

Apparently being "morally certain" outweighed the lack of "anything specific."  Kate was convicted and sentenced to 5 years in a Federal prison.

If stating your opinion to 125 people in North Dakota would get you 5 years, can you imagine what would have happened to her if they'd had 24-hour television back then?

Current Security Levels

I received this as one of those forwarded-forwarded-forwarded emails from a friend.  If you know who wrote it, please name them in the comments section so I can give them credit.  

Current security levels:

The English are feeling the pinch in relation to recent terrorist threats and have raised their security level from "Miffed" to "Peeved."  Soon, though, security levels may be raised yet again to "Irritated" or even "A Bit Cross."  The English have not been "A Bit Cross" since the Blitz in 1940 when tea supplies all but ran out. Terrorists have been re-categorised from "Tiresome" to a "Bloody Nuisance."  The last time the British issued a "Bloody Nuisance" warning level was during the great fire of 1666.

The Scots raised their threat level from "Pissed Off" to "Let's get the Bastards" They don't have any other levels.  This is the reason they have been used on the front line in the British army for the last 300 years.

The French government announced yesterday that it has raised its terror alert level from "Run" to "Hide".  The only two higher levels in France are "Collaborate" and "Surrender."  The rise was precipitated by a recent fire that destroyed France 's white flag factory, effectively paralysing the country's military capability.  It's not only the French who are on a heightened level of alert.

Italy has increased the alert level from "Shout loudly and excitedly" to "Elaborate Military Posturing." Two more levels remain: "Ineffective Combat Operations" and "Change Sides."

The Germans also increased their alert state from "Disdainful Arrogance" to "Dress in Uniform and Sing Marching Songs." They also have two higher levels: "Invade a Neighbour" and "Lose".

Belgians, on the other hand, are all on holiday as usual, and the only threat they are worried about is NATO pulling out of Brussels.

The Spanish are all excited to see their new submarines ready to deploy.  These beautifully designed subs have glass bottoms so the new Spanish navy can get a really good look at the old Spanish navy.

Americans meanwhile are carrying out pre-emptive strikes on all of their allies, just in case.

New Zealand has also raised its security levels - from "baaa" to "BAAAA!".  Due to continuing defence cutbacks (the air force being a squadron of spotty teenagers flying paper aeroplanes and the navy some toy boats in the Prime Minister's bath), New Zealand only has one more level of escalation, which is "Shit, I hope Australia will come and rescue us".

Australia, meanwhile, has raised its security level from "No worries" to "She'll be alright, mate". Three more escalation levels remain, "Crikey!', "I think we'll need to cancel the barbie this weekend" and "The barbie is cancelled".  So far no situation has ever warranted use of the final escalation level.

Save the Coffee Boy, Save the World

This is from http://SaveIantoJones.com:

January 9th is the day!

January 9th marks the sixth month anniversary of the (temporary) death of sci-fi's favourite coffee boy. 

And, with all possible love and goodwill, we're here to spread the message ... 

ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE IN SCI-FI. SAVE IANTO JONES!

On January 9th let's ramp it up and send as many emails as possible to the BBC with one simple message:

Anything is possible in sci-fi.  Save Ianto Jones!

On 9 January, Tweet your fingers off sending our key message,
Anything is possible in sci-fi.  Save Ianto Jones!

Working together, we can put Ianto back on trending topics!