A simple device was patented this month in 1868 that helped change the course of history in the American West — barbed wire. Michael Kelly of Dekalb, Illinois invented the first practical such wire. He threaded little blade-shaped metal thorns onto one of two wires, then twisted them together. He called it “thorny fence,” based on Osage orange, a thorny plant from Texas. The double strand made the fence stand up to cattle, and livestock soon learned to steer clear of the barbs. Historians say barbed wire influenced life in the region as dramatically as firearms, the telegraph, and the steam locomotive. In the U.S. today, barbed wire is part of the nearly $6 billion a year fabricated wire products industry. Profile America is in its 16th year as a public service of the U.S. Census Bureau.
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So quiet on HIH since Tuesday. Here are my choices for the Larry, Moe and Curly Awards for Election Season: Chris Christie, Chris Matthews and Diane Sawyer.
That’s b/c everyone is over at Social Services applying for Food Stamps and new Cell Phones!!!! Way to go America………4 mo’ years of 40 oz. beers!!! I love my front porch sitting, EBT using, baby mama drama having citizens of the USA!!!
Do you think our elected officials pay for SS, Medicare, their offices, staff, their phone bill or transportation? I’ve often wondered which end of our socio-economic entitlements adds up higher. People in the 50’s feared communism, now days it is socialism. Think about it. Our taxes pay for the highways and everyone is free to use them. Isn’t that socialism? How ’bout those national office holders who are voted out? Don’t they receive a form of unemployment (or pension), as well as medical insurance for the rest of their lives? Did they, indeed, pay into that system? When the average working citizen receives the exact same benefits our elected national leaders recieve, that would be considered fair. Meanwhile, any complaints we have equate to whining unless we insist our leaders treat us as generously as they treat themselves. I am NOT a socialist but I sure do see the socialistic practices going on in our leadership and corporate institutions. Why lift taxes for those companies who take their businesses off-shore? Shouldn’t their taxes be greater, since they leave unemployed Americans in favor of cheap labor?