(Palm-Print
Photo by Edward F. Palm)

About Me

My photo
Forest, Virginia, United States
A long time ago, my sophomore English teacher, Father William Campbell, saw something in my writing and predicted that I would someday become a newspaper columnist. He suggested the perfect title for my column--"Leaves of the Palm." Now that I have a little extra time on my hands I've decided to put Father Campbell's prediction to the test. I'm going to start using this blog site not just to reprint opinion pieces I've published elsewhere but to try to get more of my ideas and opinions out there. Feedback is welcome. To find out more about me, please check out my Web site: www.EdwardFPalm.com (Click on any of the photos below for an enlarged view.)

Tuesday, January 25, 2011

The State of the Union--As I See It!

I know not how President Obama may gauge the state of the union tonight, but I got two indications of my own this week.
     First, I tried to send a birthday card to my longtime friend Gary Racz using the Brooklyn address I have always used in the past.  It came back marked "not deliverable as addressed."  My only mistake was to spell out "Seventh Ave." instead of writing "7th Ave."
     Second, Congresswoman and Tea Party activist Michell Bachman has credited our founding fathers with ending slavery.
     I just hope that whatever gods there be--the ones of Mount Olympus, the Judeo-Christian variety, or the Tea Party's imagined Founding Fathers--will see fit to bless America. --EFP

Sunday, January 9, 2011

The Huck Finn Controversy

(I couldn't resist weighing in on this one.)


Readers of George Orwell’s 1984 may remember that Big Brother’s society employs bureaucrats charged with deleting from the language words the government deems unsuitable.  Kudos to Harvard’s Professor Alan Gribben for bringing us one step closer to the future Orwell envisioned by editing the N-word out of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.  But as long as we are going to hide the ugly truth about nineteenth-century Americans and their use of that offensive word, let’s not half-step.  Let’s sanitize some other inconvenient truths of American history and culture. 
       We could change the history books to reflect that the Plains Indians grew tired of their migratory lifestyle and petitioned the United States government to establish, and restrict them to, reservations.
         Likewise, we could declare that West Coast Americans of Japanese descent demanded to be placed in protective custody during World War II.  
         And, while we are at it, why not revise the embarrassing history of slavery itself, recasting slaves as disadvantaged day laborers?  But that would require New South Books to hold the presses and to send Orwellian “Newspeak” advocate Gribben back to the text with his blue pen. --EFP

Monday, January 3, 2011

An Avid TV Watcher

Much to our surprise, our Parson's Russell Terrier Phineas--"Phinney"--took an interest in last night's PBS special on crows.  --EFP

Saturday, January 1, 2011

Razor Clamming at Pacific Beach

We spent the last day of the year digging for razor clams with our friends the Allens at Pacific Beach.  It was bitterly cold, and it was hard work.  But we got 61 clams--more than enough for a few large batches of chowder.  Here is an assortment of Palm-Prints from our day of clamming and its aftermath. --EFP