A Little Beacon Of Hope

It's been a full week since I posted about Unexplored Consequences, the article in which I shared a little bit about my unemployment journey, and the State's response in reaction to CoVid-19. I'm happy to say that the State has indeed extended benefits to older Unemployment Insurance claims!

For this, I'd like to extend my gratitude towards our state government. It means a lot knowing that my state representatives are busting their asses, staying on top of the whole health crisis, while balancing the needs and wants of the rest of the state. I know I'm having a hard time staying on top of this, and I'm just some jerk on the internet. I can't imagine the amount of data and information that our government has to filter through to make their informed decisions.

Comments

Junk Food Review: Chocolatey Payday.

I saw an ad on my Instagram page for a chocolate-covered Payday bar. Jokingly, I took a screenshot, and posted it on my stories asking the question "Isn't this just a Baby Ruth?" A friend responded by saying that no, a Baby Ruth is peanuts surrounding caramel and chocolate-flavored nougat; the chocolate-covered Payday is peanuts in caramel-flavored nougat, dipped in chocolate. Now, candy bars are made from a few common ingredients: Chocolate, peanuts, nougat, and caramel. Chocolate and nougat is something like a 3 Musketeers. Chocolate, nougat, and caramel is something like a Milky Way. All 4 makes a Snickers bar. Chocolate and Peanuts is a Mr. Goodbar. Chocolate and caramel is either a Caramello or a type of Milky Way. Peanuts and caramel (no chocolate) is a Payday. And, chocolate, peanuts, and caramel led to the confusion that took me down the road to writing this article in the first place. I did what any sane person w...

The Eddie Bentz Bank Robbery

Prohibition is one of the most storied periods in American history. Urban myths and legends abound nationwide, with tales of folk heroes like Al Capone, Babyface Nelson, and John Dillinger. Tall tales are woven around organized crime, wild bootleggers, underground saloons, and well-dressed gangsters. There's something uniquely American about the DIY ethos of taking matters into your own hands, making illegal alcohol, and selling it through clandestine channels; stickin' it to the man like those in the illegal alcohol industry did. These stories are immortalized in movies like The Road To Perdition and Public Enemies, as well as TV series like HBO's Boardwalk Empire and, well, PBS's Prohibition. Many lakeshore towns in Western Michigan have tales of organized crime and bootlegging. Easy access to Lake Michigan meant that bootleggers had easy access to boat routes, safely out of reach of authorities. Booze was funneled in from Canada, then taken by boat to cities all aro...

Merry Christmas from Tulip City!

I don't have a full article this week, but here's a little bit of trivia for you: While Holland is a predominantly Christian Reformed city, it was the early Methodists that sprung the Christmas spirit. While an 1867 Sunday School Christmas Program drew nearly 150 youngsters to Hope Church, it was several generations before the Reformed church allowed even Christmas trees into their sanctuaries, as Christmas trees were seen as Pagan symbols. Early Methodists adopted the 19th Century American spirit, and welcomed things like Christmas trees and even Santa Claus into their sanctuaries. I tried to determine exactly how long "several generations" were using Dr. Swierenga's book (and the sources he cites), but could not ascertain the exact time. It's almost certainly somewhere in the vicinity of 50 years (before the Christian Reformed Churches allowed 'pagan' Christmas symbols), which would put their allowing of such things into the early 20th century, but ...

Tulip City Dispatch

Search This Blog