Politically Motivated! As a Catholic, Charley couldn’t run for office or serve as a lawyer, but he knew how to write. He entered politics in 1773 when he wrote some letters as ‘First Citizen’ for the Maryland Gazette. He became known as a citizen patriot. A year later his fellow citizens elected him to the 2nd Maryland Convention, and that ended the ban on Catholics in politics.

Charley’s next assignment, traveling to Canada with Samuel Chase, Ben Franklin, and his cousin John. Their job, to get Canadians to join us in fighting the British. They said no thanks. Charley and Chase returned home. They convinced hesitant Maryland delegates to vote for independence, and Charley became a delegate to the 2nd Continental Congress. He was the only Catholic to sign the Declaration. Here’s his signature…

​Charley didn’t stop there. He helped write Maryland’s first state Constitution and Declaration of Rights. It was adopted in 1776. He went on to serve in the state Senate from 1776-1800. (Wikipedia said he started in 1781.)

Charley continued to serve in the Continental Congress until 1778. He left when his term ended so he could spend more time with family and join in state government. In 1789 Charley became one of Maryland’s first two US Senators. He left at the end of 1792 because he had to choose where to serve. Maryland made a law that its representatives could only serve one government—state or national. Charley chose Maryland, of course. 


​

I’m not sure when this painting was done. The internet tour guide for Charley’s Annapolis house said it was painted for his granddaughters. They married English aristocrats and wanted a painting to remember him.
​
Charley left the Maryland Senate in 1800. That’s the year Thomas Jefferson was elected President, and his party too. They swept to victory in Maryland and across the country. 

But don’t worry! Charley didn’t wither away. He invested in banks, canals, turnpikes, bridges and water companies. AND, he helped build the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. Think B&O! Charley never wasted money—he used it to grow more.

Charley spent his final years on Lombard Street in Baltimore. It’s now the Carroll Mansion and museum. He also built St. Mary’s Catholic Church on his land in Annapolis. It became the city’s first official Catholic Church.
​
On July 4, 1826, Charley became the last living signer when both Thomas Jefferson and John Adams died on the same day. Charley lived another six years, dying in November 1832. The country gave him a National Day of Mourning. He’s buried at his country home, Doughoregan Manor.

Catholics from the founding of our country on have faced discrimination. Think of the FBI targeting a Catholic Church that used a Latin service. Think Catholic presidents. I thought there was only one, JFK, John Fitzgerald Kennedy, but it turns out there was  a second…Joe Biden.

When I was growing up, it was common knowledge… don’t date Catholics. Why? If you married a Catholic, you’d be forced to raise your children that way too. BTW, I dated two.

But there’s a new first for US Catholics…a Catholic Pope from the US. The discrimination came from the Church itself. For decades, they feared too much American control of society, religion, and even politics, if an American was Pope. Read on, here’s a little background on the newest Pope, Leo XIV. 
​

My sources:
Biography of Pope Leo XIV, born Robert Francis Prevost - Vatican News
Pope Leo XIV - Wikipedia
​

​Part 1 – The First US Pope – A Brief Biography: See the man in the middle? That’s our new pope, the Bishop of Rome, Robert Francis Provost. He was born in September 1955, near Chicago Illinois. He’s not a coastal elite. He’s a man from the heartland who’s only four years older than me. His parents had French, Italian, and Spanish roots. Mine had German, French, and English ones. He had 2 older brothers. I had a younger brother and sister. All of those things make him relatable to people like me. 

See the house? It’s tiny, but that’s where young Robert grew up. I wonder if his neighbors ever dreamed that they lived beside a future pope. I imagine not.

‘Bob’ grew up in Dolton, Illinois. It’s on Chicago’s South Side. As a kid he was part of the parish of St. Mary of the Assumption. That’s where he went to school, sang in the choir, and served as an altar boy. Would you believe he dreamed of becoming a priest? He even played Mass at home with his older brothers. Wow!

His first step, moving to Michigan for high school. It's where he studied at the Minor Seminary of the Augustinian Fathers. For college he moved to Pennsylvania to study at Villanova, an Augustinian University. His first degree was in math, but he also studied philosophy.

Later in 1977, he moved to Missouri to become a novice/novitiate in the Order of Saint Augustine. Four years later he made his solemn vows. Think of it like graduation, but Bob wasn’t a priest. Not yet. The next school meant another move, back to Chicago for his theological education at the Catholic Theological Union. By 1982, his superiors sent him to Rome to study Canon Law at the Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas. By mid-June, he was officially ordained as a priest. Congratulations, Father Prevost!
​

This is South America. That’s where Father Prevost moved next. He was a missionary in Chulucanas, Peru from 1985-1986.  Peru is on the western central coast of South America. It’s in olive green.  Prevost returned to Illinois in 1987 to finish his doctorate.

In 1988 Prevost flew back to Peru. This time he went to Trujillo to serve the Augustinians as a missionary. He also took on ten different roles over eleven years. In 1999 he returned to Chicago where he served in five different jobs. He stayed put until 2013.

In 2014 Pope Francis sent Prevost to Peru again. This time to Chiclayo. Within a month Prevost was ordained as a Titular Bishop of Sufar.  He picked an episcopal motto, ‘in the one Christ we are one.’ Less than a year later Pope Francis appointed him Bishop of   Chiclayo. As bishop, Provost served in six other positions from 2015-2023 too, until the Pope found him a new job. Did you know Prevost also has dual citizenship? From Peru and the US.
​

Becoming a Bishop!In 2023 the Pope called Provost to Rome. His job, to recommend new bishops to Pope Francis, who’d have to approve them of course. His last job was Cardinal. From 2023-2025, he served in fifteen other roles as well.

Pope Francis died on April 21, and Provost was elected on May 8. From what I’ve seen and heard, I believe our new pope will talk the talk and walk the walk as a servant of Christ. Robert will grow and change as he adjusts to his new job, as Pope Leo XIV, just like everyone else who gets a promotion.



​

​Charley was born in September1737, in Annapolis, Maryland. He was the only son and heir to a wealthy family who suffered discrimination because they were Catholics. At age ten he and his cousin John were sent to study secretly at Bohemia Manor in Cecil County. At age twelve the cousins were sent to study publicly at St. Omers, a Jesuit school in France. He wouldn’t return home for sixteen years, until he was 26. In between Charley studied the classics in Paris; then law at the Inner Temple in London. This portrait was painted before he came home in 1765.
​
When Charley returned, he found himself the owner of 10,000 acres. The property’s name, Carrollton, became part of his name too. Why? To make himself different from all the other Charles Carrolls in the family. Within three years Charley married. He had seven children, but he only watched three grow up.

​
​

Politically Motivated! As a Catholic, Charley couldn’t run for office or serve as a lawyer, but he knew how to write. He entered politics in 1773 when he wrote some letters as ‘First Citizen’ for the Maryland Gazette. He became known as a citizen patriot. A year later his fellow citizens elected him to the 2nd Maryland Convention, and that ended the ban on Catholics in politics.

Charley’s next assignment, traveling to Canada with Samuel Chase, Ben Franklin, and his cousin John. Their job, to get Canadians to join us in fighting the British. They said no thanks. Charley and Chase returned home. They convinced hesitant Maryland delegates to vote for independence, and Charley became a delegate to the 2nd Continental Congress. He was the only Catholic to sign the Declaration.
Here’s his signature…
​

​
Charley didn’t stop there. He helped write Maryland’s first state Constitution and Declaration of Rights. It was adopted in 1776. He went on to serve in the state Senate from 1776-1800. (Wikipedia said he started in 1781.)

Charley continued to serve in the Continental Congress until 1778. He left when his term ended so he could spend more time with family and join in state government. In 1789 Charley became one of Maryland’s first two US Senators. He left at the end of 1792 because he had to choose where to serve. Maryland made a law that its representatives could only serve one government—state or national. Charley chose Maryland, of course. 
​

​

I’m not sure when this painting was done. The internet tour guide for Charley’s Annapolis house said it was painted for his granddaughters. They married English aristocrats and wanted a painting to remember him.
​
Charley left the Maryland Senate in 1800. That’s the year Thomas Jefferson was elected President, and his party too. They swept to victory in Maryland and across the country. 

But don’t worry! Charley didn’t wither away. He invested in banks, canals, turnpikes, bridges and water companies. AND, he helped build the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. Think B&O! Charley never wasted money—he used it to grow more.

Charley spent his final years on Lombard Street in Baltimore. It’s now the Carroll Mansion and museum. He also built St. Mary’s Catholic Church on his land in Annapolis. It became the city’s first official Catholic Church.

On July 4, 1826, Charley became the last living signer when both Thomas Jefferson and John Adams died on the same day. Charley lived another six years, dying in November 1832. The country gave him a National Day of Mourning. He’s buried at his country home, Doughoregan Manor.

My Sources:
Charles Carroll of Carrollton – The Signer | Charles Carroll House
Charles Carroll of Carrollton - Wikipedia
 
Tomorrow – another first for Catholics

To see and hear that something that’s extinct is alive again made me flash back to Jurassic Park. The movie where scientists made T Rex and Velociraptor live again. YIKES!
​

​                                      This link from Animal Planet explains why dire wolves are still extinct.
                                                       No, Geneticists Did Not Bring The Dire Wolf Back     

​
​       ​

Part 3 – The Implications of De-Extinction: When Colossal introduced their dire wolf pups, they advanced genetic engineering but fell short of de-extinction. My source from Animal Planet said it raised questions about the implications.                     
​

This chart shows how we classify the animal world according to what they look like on the inside, outside, and how those sides work together. Animal Planet’s first concern, that this was too subjective, and not rigorous enough.

They thought evolutionary relationships between dire wolves and gray ones over time should have had more emphasis. That DNA sequencing of traits should have been studied then applied.

For me the debate between the two views shows how hard it is to define a species, let alone bring an extinct one back to life. My question, how do you know you’re interpreting the DNA correctly, then putting it together properly? 

​

Another concern from Animal Planet was about protecting our endangered animals. If companies like Colossal invest in de-extinction, there are less resources for animals who aren’t extinct yet, but could be.
​
Reintroduced species like the wolves at Yellowstone must be considered. They vanished from the national park but are found in other places. There’s only so much money for conservation. Spending it on de-extinction won’t save animals in danger today.

​

​Animal Planet shared another reason for caution using the example of the Pyrenean Ibex. It was cloned and brought back from de-extinction. The scientists thought they’d chosen the right set of genes, but the baby Ibex died soon after birth.
If it had survived, where would it live? How about the dire wolves? Many animals are struggling to survive as habitats shrink. Adding de-extincted animals to those habitats would put more living creatures at risk.

​

Animal Planet’s final concern, that a commercial or entertainment interest might push a project too far, too fast, and end badly.

Think Jurassic Park and bringing the dinosaurs back. Remember the ending with kids hiding from a T Rex and a herd of Velociraptors? They pushed the science too far, underestimated dinosaur intelligence, and overestimated ours.
​
The dire wolf has the same potential thanks to Game of Thrones. Science and entertainment have different interests, different requirements. Thank goodness, those pups are genetically enhanced gray wolves, with only a few dire wolf traits.
​
It’s heartwarming to bring back an extinct animal, but it’s also scary. Even scientists don’t know what they don’t know. Think Pyrenean Ibex or Jurassic Park. I hope scientists working on de-extinction will take careful steps as they continue their research.

 Colossal or Colossal Bioscience is the company at the heart of this debate. They say they brought the dire wolf back after being extinct for over 10,000 years. I took a screenshot from their website, and this is their logo. If you’d like to read about them, here’s their link: De-extinction Projects, Facts & Statistics | Colossal     


​

This IS NOT a dire wolf. It’s a gray one. They look a lot alike. That’s because they share a common ancestor that lived over 6 million years ago. Think of your 6 million times great grandparents. It was that long ago.
​
Colossal used ancient DNA samples from dire wolves, then altered some gray wolf DNA, but some experts say not so fast. They say the pups aren’t really dire wolves. They’re really gray ones with some modified and superficial traits.

Remember this image from part 1? It’s our friend, the dire wolf. ​Let’s compare some of his traits to a gray wolf. 

​A dire wolf stands 39 inches tall at the shoulder. A gray wolf, only 30 inches tall.

A dire wolf is about 80 inches long, and so is the gray wolf…but that includes his tail.

A dire wolf weighed 130-150 pounds. A gray wolf, 100-143 pounds.

And last the teeth! Dire wolves have larger teeth than any wolf living today, and that includes the gray one. I really hope those new dire wolf pups are more like their gray cousins than their own great grandparents.
​
                 My Research links: Dire wolf | Size, Origins, De-Extinction, & Characteristics | Britannica
                                              Gray wolf | Size, Habitat, Diet, Predators, & Facts | Britannica

Animal Planet reported that the modern dire wolf story began when Colossal extracted DNA from a 13,000-year-old tooth and a 72,000-year-old skull. They used the DNA as a guide to help them bring back the dire wolf. Then they took blood from a gray wolf, edited its DNA using the ancient genetic information, and transferred the updated DNA to a dog egg. That egg was then implanted into a female dog who gave birth to dire wolf pups for the first time in 10,000 years.

That sounds like the right recipe, especially since gray wolves and dire wolves have DNA that’s 99.5% the same. That’s a lot, but would you believe it leaves out millions of DNA differences between the two kinds of wolves? Then consider Colossal only edited 20 of those millions of genetic differences, and 5 edits gave them white coats, like the ones in Game of Thrones. That still leaves millions of bits of DNA that were never edited. Colossal’s pups sound like they’re more related to their gray wolf cousins than their extinct ones.

                                                           Part 3 – the implications of de-extinction for us.

Have you heard of Game of Thrones? I have, but I’ve never watched it. Two or three weeks ago, it came to my attention for a new reason . . . because someone brought back Dire Wolves. I’d never heard of them either, but the incredible part – Dire Wolves have been extinct for over 10,000 years.
​

To see and hear that something that’s extinct is alive again made me flash back to Jurassic Park. The movie where scientists made T Rex and Velociraptor live again. YIKES!

Part 1 – Picturing a Dire Wolf: I couldn’t find a picture to match my imagination. I thought I’d be staring into its eyes as it stood on four legs looking at me. Something that big has an enormous appetite, and wolves eat meat.

Now take a look at the second image, on the graph. It helps me picture their true size. Dire wolves would have been about a meter or 40 inches tall. My height is 65 inches, so that wolf would have stood about hip high.

But, when I look at his length, the dire wolf was about 2 meters long. That’s 80 inches of wolf standing on his hind legs. He would have towered 15 inches above my head. Now check out his teeth . . . YIKES!
​

                                      This link from Animal Planet explains why dire wolves are still extinct.
                                                       No, Geneticists Did Not Bring The Dire Wolf Back
​
​
​
                                                                      Part 2 – Are Dire Wolves Back, or Not?:
​

 Colossal or Colossal Bioscience is the company at the heart of this debate. They say they brought the dire wolf back after being extinct for over 10,000 years. I took a screenshot from their website, and this is their logo. If you’d like to read about them, here’s their link: De-extinction Projects, Facts & Statistics | Colossal     


​

​This IS NOT a dire wolf. It’s a gray one. They look a lot alike. That’s because they share a common ancestor that lived over 6 million years ago. Think of your 6 million times great grandparents. It was that long ago.
​
Colossal used ancient DNA samples from dire wolves, then altered some gray wolf DNA, but some experts say not so fast. They say the pups aren’t really dire wolves. They’re really gray ones with some modified and superficial traits.
​

Remember this image from part 1? It’s our friend, the dire wolf. Let’s compare some of his traits to a gray wolf. 

Animal Planet reported that the modern dire wolf story began when Colossal extracted DNA from a 13,000-year-old tooth and a 72,000-year-old skull. They used the DNA as a guide to help them bring back the dire wolf. Then they took blood from a gray wolf, edited its DNA using the ancient genetic information, and transferred the updated DNA to a dog egg. That egg was then implanted into a female dog who gave birth to dire wolf pups for the first time in 10,000 years.

That sounds like the right recipe, especially since gray wolves and dire wolves have DNA that’s 99.5% the same. That’s a lot, but would you believe it leaves out millions of DNA differences between the two kinds of wolves? Then consider Colossal only edited 20 of those millions of genetic differences, and 5 edits gave them white coats, like the ones in Game of Thrones. That still leaves millions of bits of DNA that were never edited. Colossal’s pups sound like they’re more related to their gray wolf cousins than their extinct ones.


​

 Part 3 – The Implications of De-Extinction: When Colossal introduced their dire wolf pups, they advanced genetic engineering but fell short of de-extinction. My source from Animal Planet said it raised questions about the implications.                     ​
​

​This chart shows how we classify the animal world according to what they look like on the inside, outside, and how those sides work together. Animal Planet’s first concern, that this was too subjective, and not rigorous enough.

They thought evolutionary relationships between dire wolves and gray ones over time should have had more emphasis. That DNA sequencing of traits should have been studied then applied.
​
For me the debate between the two views shows how hard it is to define a species, let alone bring an extinct one back to life. My question, how do you know you’re interpreting the DNA correctly, then putting it together properly? 

​​

​Another concern from Animal Planet was about protecting our endangered animals. If companies like Colossal invest in de-extinction, there are less resources for animals who aren’t extinct yet, but could be.
​
Reintroduced species like the wolves at Yellowstone must be considered. They vanished from the national park but are found in other places. There’s only so much money for conservation. Spending it on de-extinction won’t save animals in danger today.

​

Animal Planet shared another reason for caution using the example of the Pyrenean Ibex. It was cloned and brought back from de-extinction. The scientists thought they’d chosen the right set of genes, but the baby Ibex died soon after birth.

If it had survived, where would it live? How about the dire wolves? Many animals are struggling to survive as habitats shrink. Adding de-extincted animals to those habitats would put more living creatures at risk.

​

​Animal Planet’s final concern, that a commercial or entertainment interest might push a project too far, too fast, and end badly.

Think Jurassic Park and bringing the dinosaurs back. Remember the ending with kids hiding from a T Rex and a herd of Velociraptors? They pushed the science too far, underestimated dinosaur intelligence, and overestimated ours.
​
The dire wolf has the same potential thanks to Game of Thrones. Science and entertainment have different interests, different requirements. Thank goodness, those pups are genetically enhanced gray wolves, with only a few dire wolf traits.
​
It’s heartwarming to bring back an extinct animal, but it’s also scary. Even scientists don’t know what they don’t know. Think Pyrenean Ibex or Jurassic Park. I hope scientists working on de-extinction will take careful steps as they continue their research.

Did you watch The Masters? It was the golf tournament on last weekend. Sunday’s round was full of moments with the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat, especially for Rory McIlroy. He was playing to win Golf’s Grand Slam. He almost lost—he bogeyed the last hole, lost his lead, and had to play a sudden-death playoff. Thank goodness he won!

Part 1 – The Commercial Hooks:  But that’s not why I’m writing about the Masters. It was all because of a commercial that hooked me three ways on Sunday. The first hook, the song, The Halls of Shambala. I remembered it from 1973. I was a freshman in junior high, middle school today.

The second hook, kids! Kids playing golf, putting the ball in the hole, or rolling it by. The third, the reason for the ad from Bank of America, they’re sponsoring a year of golf for kids across the country. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if someone who learns golf thanks to them, becomes the Master’s Champion in another ten to twenty years? This was the perfect commercial!
​

​Sorry, I googled, but I couldn’t find a screenshot that lets you click on the commercial. Bank of America already pulled it down. But I can share this link: bank of america commercial for halls of shambala - Search Results | Facebook

It takes you to the screenshot above, and it plays Halls of Shambala by Three Dog Night. If you scroll down, the comments are more about the song than the tournament. I guess their fans were thrilled to hear it on national TV again. 
​

As for this screenshot, I looked for young golfers who were as cute as the kids in the commercial. I went through like ten pages on Pixabay, and these were the best images I could find. Sorry ☹

  

                                                                                    Part 2 – A Song Is Born: ​​

​Halls of Shambala was written by musician, singer, and songwriter Daniel Moore. Two different artists recorded and released their own version of Moore’s song within a week of each other.
​
The lyrics were written about Shambhala, a kingdom that existed only in myth, but it was written about in Indian and Tibetan Buddhism. The kingdom is supposed to be hidden somewhere near the Himalayas, either within its peaks or just beyond them.
​
But Daniel Moore’s song version was about a mystic temple in Peru. Its name, the temple of the White Lodge. Daniel found it in Alice Bailey’s 1934 book, A Treatise on White Magic.
​
                                                         Resource Link: Shambala (song) - Wikipedia
​
​​

Part 3 – First Out; Reached #31: B.W. Stevenson released his version first, probably at the end of May or beginning of June. It was a minute shorter and had a country pop rock sound to it. Stevenson’s version reached #66 on the US Pop Singles chart and #31 on the Adult Contemporary chart. Sorry, I couldn’t find a photo of B.W.

                                                         Resource Link: Shambala (song) - Wikipedia
​
​

Part 4 – Last Out, But Hit #3: The version you heard from the golf commercial, that was Three Dog Night. They released Shambala early in June, and it stayed on the American top 40 chart from June until the end of August. AND, it hit #3 on both the Pop Singles and Adult Contemporary charts. Where does Second ever beat First?! In the Halls of Shambala.

Fun fact, this is the first song Three Dog Night released as a single. They added it later to their ninth album, Cyan. You’ll also find it on their anthology and compilation records.

Meet the boys in the band from 1972. Back row, from left to right: Joe Schermie, Floyd Sneed, Michael Allsup, and Jimmy Greenspan.

The front row, left to right are the founding members: Danny Hutton, Cory Wells, and Chuck Negron. Between 1969 and 1975, Three Dog Night scored 21 Billboard Top 30 hits. Three of them – #1s.

                Resource Links:  - Shambala (song) - Wikipedia    and - Three Dog Night - Wikipedia

​

Part 5 – Welcome to Shambala:​ This was the only screenshot I could find. It’s from the story of Kalki’s birth place. Kalki is the final incarnation of the god  Vishnu. His arrival signals the beginning of a new Golden Age. If you’d like to check it out, click here: Shambhala - The Birth Place of Kalki

My link said Shambhala comes from a Sanskrit word. It means ‘place of peace or place of silence.’ Legends say only people with pure hearts live there. That it’s a place where love and wisdom reign. Where there’s no suffering, want, or old age. It sounds like Heaven to me.
​
Some say Shambhala has a thousand names. Hindus call it Aryavartha, the Land of the Worthy Ones. The Chinese name is Hsi Tien, the Western Paradise of Hsi Wang Mu. Russian Old Believers call it Belovoyde, and across Asia it’s known by its Sanskrit name – Shambhala, Shamballa, or Shangri-la. Whatever its name, it’s where I want to go. 

I was born in 1959, and so many things I grew up with, that were made here in the USA are gone. The factories who made them, gone. Moved to another country. Employing other people to make them.  The link below has 18 things that left our shores. 
​

​ 
#1. Rawlings Baseballs: They’re THE supplier for Major League Baseball. Born in 1887 in St. Louis, Missouri. Their founders, George and Alfred Rawlings.
​
In 1969 Rawlings moved their factory from Missouri to Puerto Rico, then Haiti. Now they’re in Costa Rica. I guess baseballs are no longer as American as apple pie. 


​

#2. Gerber Baby Food: Oh, my! I grew up eating Gerber. My kids did too.
​
Gerber was born in 1927 in Michigan, that state up north. They merged with a Swiss pharmaceutical company, Novartis, in 1994. Nestle bought them out in 2007, but my link said Gerber is no longer made in the USA.

CORRECTION: Yes, it is. Bonus source #1 said Gerber’s still made in Ohio and Florida. In Canada and Europe too, but source #2 said you’ll find Gerber around the world. In Mexico too. 
​

​#3. Etch A Sketch:. I had one growing up, and so did my husband. Etch A Sketch was born in Bryan, Ohio. The company, Ohio Art, moved its factory to Shelnzhen, China in 2000. It’s a pity . . . something created by Buckeyes is now made in China.



​

Now Chucks are made in Indonesia, but I wondered about Converse, so I googled. If you buy anything with a Converse label, they’re made in China, Vietnam, India, Indonesia, Thailand, Bangladesh, and Malaysia. Not in the USA.

Converse became part of Nike in 2003. They’re both American companies, in name only. Their headquarters are in the US, but their shoes are made somewhere else.

Bonus Sources: Where Are Converse Made? In The US? - The Men Hero
​Is Nike an American Company? - Shoe Effect


​

 5. Steel Rebar: Have you heard of rebar? I hadn’t, so I googled it. Rebar is a special steel bar or mesh made from small steel wires. Its purpose—to strengthen and stabilize concrete and other materials. You’ll find it in platforms, walls, floors, and ceilings.

If you’re in construction, you use rebar. You can buy some kinds in the US, but you have to import the others. 

                                      Bonus Source: What Is Rebar and Why Is It Used? - Handyman's World
​

​​

​

​#6. Shirts: The major manufacturers have left the country. The last one, C.F. Hathaway shut down their factory in Maine in 2002 after 165 years of doing business. There are still small shirt makers in the US, but the big guys are all gone.



​

#7. Mattel: It’s the largest toy company in the world, the stuff of my childhood. Mattel shuttered its last US factory in 2002. Now China makes about 65% of Mattel’s toys. That includes Hot Wheels, Fisher-Price, Polly Pocket, American Girl, and so many more.

Mattel’s headquarters are in California, and it has factories all over the world including China, Mexico, Indonesia, and Malaysia. Like everything else, production is cheaper overseas.

                                             Bonus Source: Where Are Mattel Toys Made? - AllAmerican.org


​

​​ #8. Minivan Chassis: I know what a minivan is but had no idea about the chassis. It’s the bottom of a car, where the rubber meets the road. Think wheels and axles. I used Legos to teach my second graders about them, but I never used the word chassis. Car companies stopped making them here in 2003. 

​

#9. Vending Machine Parts: The key parts of my favorite machine aren’t made in the USA anymore. Two of them – the bill and coin dispensers.

             Tomorrow: Four more products no longer made in the USA



​

#10. Levi Jeans: If you’re American, you’ve probably worn Levis. They were an icon here for 150 years, until December of 2023. That’s when they moved their factories to Latin America and Asia.

What’s Latin America? I looked it up. It’s the parts of the Americas that once belonged to the Spanish, Portuguese, or French colonial empires. So, what’s that? Basically everything south of Mexico, including Central and South America. Plus, the islands of the Carribean.

Bonus Source: Latin America can also be defined as all those parts of the Americas that were once part of the Spanish, Portuguese or French colonial empires.
​

​

​#11. Radio Flyer Wagons: Everyone I know, including my children grew up with a little red wagon. They were all made in the US until 2004. That’s when Radio Flyer closed its plant in Chicago and moved to China. 




​

#12. Television: I grew up with TV. I went from black and white to color. From a small screen to the huge ones we have today. In the 60s TVs were made in the USA. Not anymore. The last American manufacturer, Five Rivers Electronic Innovations, closed in 2004. Now, TVs are made somewhere else.

So, who makes TVs? The AI list included South Korea, China, Vietnam, Poland, India, Mexico, Russia, and Indonesia. But I found A FEW made in the USA.

1. Silo Digital is in Chatsworth, California. It specializes in LED TVs, and it’s been the leading ‘manufacturing scene’ (whatever that means) in the USA for the last 10 years.

2. SunBrite TVs are based in Thousand Oaks California, but they have plants in North Carolina and Texas. Their specialty, TVs for outside places, but they have indoor ones too!

3. Element Electronics sounds like a hybrid to me. They have an assembly plant in South Carolina to make their Smart TVs, but their Android and Roku units are made in Asia.

4. Sharp Electronics Corporation, really? They started in Montvale, New Jersey in 1962, but they are a subsidiary of Sharp from Japan. My source said, ‘you really can’t get televisions that are more “Made in America” than Sharp!’ If that’s true, why didn’t my source list the plants in the US?

5. Toshiba is another Japanese subsidiary that has some assembly lines here in the states. They do carry the Made in the USA label, but they don’t name the states they’re in.

​6. Seura is an American brand found in Green Bay, Wisconsin.  

 Bonus Source: TVs Made In the USA: American Brands Complete List [2025]


​

#13. Cell Phones: My original link said that in 2008, 1.2 billion cell phones were sold world-wide, and NOT ONE was made in the USA. So, where are they made? I googled, and here’s the Top Ten list:

1. China once made 80% of the world’s phones, but it dropped to 50% in 2023 when some companies left the country.

2. India is where business went. Phones are now their 5th largest export.

3. Vietnam was in 2nd place, until India passed them. Now it’s in 3rd place, and they make 10% of the world’s mobile phones.

4-10. These six countries make the remaining 20% of mobile phones. In order…the US, Japan, Germany, Italy, France, and the United Kingdom. How did the US get into 4th place? Maybe other countries make the parts, and Americans assemble them, but that’s a guess.

    Bonus Source: The Top 10 Mobile Manufacturing Countries (Updated 2025) (US) - MobilityArena

                                       

                                                          The photo below is a welding kit. It has 4 key parts.

Top Right – Crucible. It’s used for melting metallic elements before they can be cast. Crucibles have to have a higher melting point than whatever’s inside.

​Top Row Left – Sand Mold. There are 3 pieces for each rail type and 3 different kinds of rails.

Bottom Left – Igniter. It has a wind resistant design, and it produces temperatures as high as 1500 Celsius. Water boils at 100. YIKES! You need 1 igniter for each weld. That’s where you melt 2 pieces of metal together.
​
Bottom Right – Welding Portion. That’s the metals—aluminum and iron oxide powders, that are put into the crucible then melted together. 



​

Put it altogether, and this is what rail thermite welding looks like. I hope welders use protective equipment to stay safe and keep their cool.

Bonus Sources:
Cast Manganese Steel Crossings: Applications and Benefits - MFG Shop
​
Rail thermite welding | Railroad Thermite Welding | Welding Kit And Crucibles Available
​

​

​
​
#15. Dell Computers: Dell’s last major plant in the US closed in 2010. Now they outsource their production to Asia. Why? To stay competitive, in other words to keep prices down. American workers in the 2000s made too much money. That made Dell computers expensive, so they sent their factories overseas where they could find cheaper workers.

#16. Canned Sardines: The little fish that are great on crackers, they aren’t canned in the US anymore. They’d been an American product from 1875 until April 2010. That’s when the last cannery, Stinson Seafood from Maine, shut down.

Where do canned sardines come from now? More than half are from Morocco, a country in Northern Africa. They produce more than 850,000 tons each year. That’s a lot of tuna!

                                  Bonus Source: Most of the world's canned sardines come from this country


​

#17. Flatware: Oh, that’s silverware! My link said Sherrill Manufacturing, the last plant in the US, stopped production in 2010 because of economic troubles, and that they hoped to restart their business again.

Surprise! Flatware is still made here in the US, and I found four companies that do it. The first, Liberty Tabletop, and it’s made by Sherrill, in Sherrill, New York. Yes, they’re back in business again! Farmhouse Pottery is also in New York. Wallace Silversmiths are in Wallingford, Connecticut, and Knock Flatware is in Newton, Kansas. Three cheers for flatware made in the USA!
​
                                  Bonus Source: The 4 Flatware Made in The USA 2024 (Complete List)


​

#18. Incandescent Light Bulbs: Invented in the USA, but the last big factory closed in September 2010. Why? Congress passed a ban on them that began in 2014.

I googled if incandescents are made here, and it turns out it’s still a political thing. In 2023 the Biden administration put in a controversial regulation—They banned General Service Lamps too, AND incandescent light bulbs couldn’t be manufactured or sold here either. If a business refused to obey, they’d forfeit their stock. OUCH!

In January 2025 President Trump signed an executive order about energy efficiencey, AND the government is reevaluating light bulbs. So…the good old incandescents might be back, or not. But if they are, you might still need new lamps to use them.

BTW, this isn’t a complete list of products, but we’re in a period of change, so maybe, some will come home again.
​
                                            Bonus Source: Are Incandescent Light Bulbs Coming Back?

​Did you ever reread a story and discover there’s more to it? I read this for Saturday Reads in March of 2023. But when I read it out loud for fourth graders at Cridersville Elementary, I knew I had to write about it. For you, for them, and for me too…I was curious.

The Water Princess in the story spends her morning walking to the well. She returns home in the afternoon. That’s about 4 miles a day, or a hike through 70 football fields lined up back-to-back. That’s a long way.

​
​​

Part 1 – Meet the Real Water Princess:  Her name, Georgie Badiel. The book said it was based on her childhood. The real Georgie didn’t walk to the well every day, only during summer vacations with her grandmother.

Georgie grew up, became a model, an author, and an activist. Today she lives in New York City, but she has never forgotten those childhood walks to collect water. Now she has a platform to help people back home. It’s dedicated to building and restoring wells in Burkina Faso.

This screenshot is from her board of directors. The link:  Team — Georgiebadielfoundation
 

​             

Part 2 – A Foundation for a Princess:  This Georgie Badiel’s Foundation’s home page.
The link: Georgiebadielfoundation

Georgie said, “I used to walk 3 hours to fetch water for my family.
My goal is to break that cycle.”​
​​

​
​Georgie's Mission = CLEAN WATER in Burkina.
Ensure the SUSTAINABILITY of the water system
through WOMEN ENGINEERING program.

When you can provide clean water to someone, it impacts every aspect of life.

If you’d like to watch this video, click on: Mission — Georgiebadielfoundation
​

​
Part 3 – Where the Princess is Working:  Georgie Badiel’s Foundation works in Burkina Faso. The link: Where We Work — Georgiebadielfoundation

Burkina Faso is shown in red and green, with a star in the center. It looks small on the map, but it’s about the size of Montana.

Burkina Faso has way more people. Montana only has 1million, and Burkina Faso, 20.9. That’s like 21 times more!

Burkina Faso was once a French colony. Its official language is still French, but half the people speak Mossi. Its citizens are called Burkinabe, and its capital is Ougadougou.
​
Its neighbors—Mali to the north, Niger to the east, Benin and Togo to the southeast, Ghana to the south, and the Ivory Coast to the southwest. BTW, Georgie was born in the Ivory Coast.

​
​​

Remember those 2 women? The foundation teaches them basic engineering, how to restore, and maintain those wells. Why women? They’re the ones who collect the water, so they need to keep it working.

Would you believe Burkina Faso has 9,775 broken wells? Georgie’s foundation wants to insure their new wells are maintained and cared for, so they manage them until the women are ready to take over.

The Links:
How We Work — Georgiebadielfoundation
Women Engineering — Georgiebadielfoundation
​


​

                                                                    The Link: Georgie Badiel-Liberty - Home


​
Part 4 – Another Water Hero: I thought I was done with the Water Princess, but I saw something on Fox News that made me keep going. One of the reporters did a charity event for Africa 6000 International. I listened, and I was hooked. It was a story I had to tell!

Africa 6000 was born in 2007. That didn’t catch my attention, but this did—6000 children died EVERY DAY in 2007 because of waterborne diseases. What a heartbreaking statistic.

The good news, that number has been cut in half…down to under 3000 kids. But that’s still too many, and it’s still heartbreaking.                  Their link: Our Mission - Africa 6000 International   
​

​Africa 6000, their mission is the same as Georgie Badiel’s. To deliver clean water to the thirstiest people in Africa. Their charity builds long-term, solar-powered water wells that can be accessed and maintained successfully by the people who live beside them. Africa 6000 hires and trains teams to drill wells and drive support vehicles. 

Meet Jesse Waters. He’s the Fox reporter who introduced me to Africa 6000. He only had 30-60 seconds to tell his story, but it was compelling. He said the number of children dying was closer to 2000 now. Imagine building a program that saves the lives of 3-4000 children every single day. THAT’S an accomplishment!
​
Imagine that clean water makes medical clinics and schools possible. Picture water flowing to your garden or farm. And dream that you and the people in your village are trained and empowered to keep those wells working. THAT’S powerful! Plus, women and children can go to school, can learn to read and write. And me, I’m proud to introduce you to this incredible program!

These 2 maps show the success Africa 6000 has had. Do you see those blue circles with white dots? Each one represents a well built by Africa 6000. They’ve done a lot of work in18 years!
Here’s an interesting fact I learned from Africa 6000—Did you know…A whole family in Africa exists on 5 gallons of water a day? Each American, every single one of us, uses 175 gallons EVERY DAY! Wow, Americans are blessed! ​

​In August of 2024, I decided to break my novel of 57 chapters into a series. The first book will go from chapters 1-10, from the Declaration of Independence to the end of the Revolution.

I went from writing a chapter a week to endless editing and revision. Would you believe chapters 1 and 2 have gone through over 20 revisions since June? I’m working to polish the first 3 chapters to send out on submission. Each chapter is about 13 pages, with 5-10 comments a page to work through. That’s a lot of revision!


​                                               I used to paste them in, then revise. Here’s my new shortcut . . . 
​​
​
​

Part 1 - A Simple Revision: This is my download from Google Docs. It’s in Microsoft Word. That’s where I do my work.
​
The screenshot below came from Chapter 1. Ben Franklin and John Hancock are on their way to sign the Declaration of Independence. Heather’s comment is to the right. She asked about the tea thrown overboard. BTW, the real tea party happened on December 16, 1773. 
​

Here’s what I did . . . I left the paragraph and the  comment where it was. Then I copied another set below the original one. (See? They both start with ‘Ben chortled.’)

Then I copied and pasted Heather’s comment between the two paragraphs. I bolded it for you. She suggested I replace good English tea with fresh English tea.

It seems like an easy switch, until you do the research. The East India Tea Company got their tea from China. Fresh tea leaves wouldn’t have made it to England, or the colonies. They were dried for the journey. 
​
​

I could have replaced good with dried English tea, but I didn’t. This is a story about the founders, the men who signed the Declaration. Not tea, so I left it the way it was, for now. The current version is in the screenshot below, but it could still change. If Heather suggests something better, I’ll take a look.
​
​

Part 2 - A Complicated Revision: This screenshot came from Chapter 2. It’s a conversation I imagined between Charley and John Dickinson. Both men served in the Continental Congress.

John was the chairman of the Committee for the Articles of Confederation. He represents most delegates. They wanted our first constitution to give more power to the states than the national government. Charley took the opposite side now, and in the distant future when the Articles fail, as he predicted. 

​

Here’s how I edited the first paragraph. I only copied the comment from ‘pursed his lips’ below. It’s bolded and 7 paragraphs long. Heather had 3 more comments in the rest of that original paragraph, plus 4 more in the next 2.

This was THE most complicated comment in all of chapter 2. That’s why I picked it. This page, plus the one before and after it, took a lot of work. I started midday on the first day and finished sometime on the second. YIKES!
​
​

​After 2 days of revision, this is what I sent to my critique group. Heather gets it next. The original lines started with pursed his lips, and ended 2 paragraphs later with then stopped. It only took up 8 lines on the page. My new revision is 6 lines longer.

Basically I stretched the conversation between Charley and John Dickinson. I showed their emotions through actions. Then I labeled/told them in words. I also added the details Heather thought a reader would want to know. She reminded me that the reason I write/revise is for you, my reader.
​
​

The bottom one from December, that’s my working copy. I edit and revise on it. I used it to screenshot all the examples you found in this post.

Above it, my original copy from Google Docs. It has the original words from my last revision. It also has all of Heather’s comments. This is the first time I’ve ever put it on my desktop.

When all the revisions are done, I pull up my working copy, listen to it on narrator, and look for places that don’t work. Sometimes I need to change a word or two; sometimes more.

When I get stuck and can’t decide what to do, I pull up that original copy. I look at what was, Heather’s comment, and what’s on the new page. And, PRESTO!
​
OK, it’s usually not that fast, but I get an idea to try. Whatever I decide, I edit, listen, and repeat until the paragraph sounds just right…until Heather looks at it again. 
​
​

The document on top, I’ve had it on my desktop for a year or two. Would you believe I used it today? I’m now working on Heather’s comments from the beginning of chapter 3. She’s asking me to describe the outside of Old St. Joseph’s Catholic Church in Philadelphia. I don’t know if Charley ever attended, but he was Catholic…so it’s very likely.

​