On Hallowed Ground: A Memorial Day look at Cemeteries

Memorial Day is a United States federal holiday observed on the last Monday of May. Formerly known as Decoration Day, it commemorates U.S. Service Members who died while in the military service.^[1] First enacted by formerly enslaved African-Americans ^[2] to honor Union soldiers of the American Civil War – it was extended after World War I to honor Americans who have died in all wars.
Memorial Day often marks the start of the summer vacation season, and Labor Day its end.
Begun as a ritual of remembrance and reconciliation after the Civil War, by the early 20th century, Memorial Day was an occasion for more general expressions of memory, as ordinary people visited the graves of their deceased relatives, whether they had served in the military or not. (Wikipedia - Memorial Day)

This is a day of pilgrimage in big cities and small villages all across the country.  Cemeteries will be filled with people cleaning headstones, placing flowers, connecting and remembering.  I see cemeteries not as sad and depressing depositories of the dead, but as vibrant places alive with personalities, infused with memories, steeped in unique beauty. 

I see them as outdoor galleries of fine art and folk art, ripe for photographing, which I do every chance I get, but always with the sense that I am treading on hallowed ground.

In honor of fallen soldiers, of friends and family no longer with us, of people whose lives we know only from symbols on a headstone, I offer these today:

The General - Gettysburg

The Copse of Trees - Gettysburg

Unitarian Church graveyard - Charleston, SC

A brother and sister sculpted in a glass casket - Conway, SC

 

"Here lies the body of Catherina Spano born 17 May 1853 died Oct 29 1900"  """"  Apalachicola, FL Cemetery

Old Cliff Mine Cemetery, Keweenaw Peninsula, MI

Myrtle carpets the ground at Old Cliff Mine Cemetery, Keweenaw Peninsula, MI

Decorated grave at Old Mission Cemetery, Brimley, MI

Old Mission Indian Cemetery, Hessel, MI

Memorials for sailors gone down with the Edmund Fitzgerald -- Whitefish Point, MI

When the time comes, I'll be buried in a plot in a small township cemetery in Michigan's Keweenaw Peninsula. My parents and members of my mother's family are already buried there. Anything goes in that cemetery -- one of the reasons my husband and I chose it. People have installed benches and arbors and rocking chairs, turning their family plots into symbols and extensions of the lives that went before. Children's toys are scattered, as if the child has left them only momentarily.  Pictures, beads, notes and Lake Superior beach stone cairns decorate the sites.

It's the kind of place you would want to stop by and visit.

It'll suit me just fine.


(Please note: All photos are mine.  Please ask permission before using.)

FRIDAY FOLLIES: On Oprah, Elizabeth Warren, Hitler's Dogs, and Assorted Boobs

 After months of building up to this, on Wednesday Oprah Winfrey said goodbye to her still-huge audience and ended her daytime show. I watched a re-run of her final show last night.  I got through the whole thing and I have to say, it was as dreadful as I hoped it wouldn't be.  Oprah is big, I get that, but a whole hour of watching Oprah congratulating Oprah on her huge success (after a whole week of everyone else congratulating Oprah on her huge success) -- well, it made it much easier to say ho-hum.  (It's not like Oprah is leaving for good to take up knitting or to finally marry Stedman.  She has her OWN network, for God's sake.  She's Oprah.  You really think she's going to stay behind the scenes? She's Oprah.)

Oprah giving benediction for last time

I confess I watched Oprah religiously when her show first began.  I can't remember now what was so compelling that I would actually buy a little 5-inch counter-top TV so I could watch while I was cooking dinner, but she lost me for good one day when she announced there was no way she could sleep under sheets that weren't Egyptian cotton with at least a 400 thread count. 


So this week I've been stewing less about losing Oprah and more about this story I read in the NYT: 

Jobless Discrimination?  When Firms Won't Even Consider Hiring Anyone Unemployed
When Sony Ericsson needed new workers after it relocated its U.S. headquarters to Atlanta last year, its recruiters told one particular group of applicants not to bother. "No unemployed candidates will be considered at all," one online job listing said.

The cell-phone giant later said the listing, which produced a media uproar, had been a mistake. But other companies continue to refuse to even consider the unemployed for jobs — a harsh catch-22 at a time when long-term joblessness is at its highest level in decades.

Read more: http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,2073520,00.html#ixzz1NYPCcNZj

But I did get a good laugh out of the blow-back after Rep. Patrick McHenry tried to make the country believe Elizabeth Warren is a liar.  Elizabeth Warren, for God's sake!  OUR Elizabeth Warren -- mighty and adorable watchdog and head honcho of a consumer protection agency that might actually get around to protecting consumers someday.


  Elizabeth Warren was shocked, as someone who tries super hard not to lie would be, but she wasn't nearly as shocked as McHenry when thousands of angry Elizabethans bombarded his Facebook page to set him straight.  (Now there's a movement to get her to run for elected office.  I really hope she doesn't. She needs to stay right where she is, at least until the other side makes good their promise to kill the agency right out from under her.)


So did you hear about Hitler's army of talking dogs?

In his new book Amazing Dogs: A Cabinet of Canine Curiosities, Cardiff University historian Jan Bondeson mines obscure German periodicals to reveal the Nazis' failed attempt to breed an army of educated dogs that could read, write and talk. "In the 1920s, Germany had numerous 'new animal psychologists' who believed dogs were nearly as intelligent as humans, and capable of abstract thinking and communication," he writes. "When the Nazi party took over, one might have thought they would be building concentration camps to lock these fanatics up, but instead they were actually very interested in their ideas."

Read more: http://newsfeed.time.com/2011/05/25/how-nazi-scientsts-tried-to-create-an-army-of-talking-dogs/#ixzz1NYbSmfkb

And this has nothing to do with anything, except it's darned funny:

A Chicago lawyer is being accused of sexism after requesting that a "large breasted woman" seated at the opposing counsel's table be moved as to not distract the jury.  (No it didn't get past me that the plaintiff is a dealership called "Exotic Motors".  Delicious!)

Cartoon of the week:

Copyright © 2011 Creators Syndicate

FRIDAY FOLLIES: Judgment Day (oh, that), Birthers get Mugged, and Caruso Sings

The Rapture is coming tomorrow.  Tomorrow at 6 PM three percent of the citizens of the world will be swept up and deposited in what they hope will be God's loving arms.  The rest of us can look forward to five months of tribulations, until October 21, when a worldwide catastrophe will take place and we'll all be gone.

I'm pretty sure I won't be included in that three percent tomorrow.  In fact, I'm so sure I'll still be here, I bought two Powerball tickets.  The drawing is at 7 PM tomorrow night -- a full hour after the scheduled Rapture.  It's up to 92 million dollars so I'm thinking if I'm going to have to be living in tribulation for five months it would be nice if I could do it in style for a change. 

 It's one single source, one person -- a Christian broadcaster named Harold Camping -- who's causing all the commotion, and it might seem a little strange that we're even talking about this considering numerous past disappointments when predicted end times didn't happen (including Harold's own prediction in 1994), but Harold is sure he has it right this time.  (It's a bunch of numbers and you know how I am with numbers so go here to see how he came up with his proof positive.) 

So after a few admitted miscalculations, Harold  made his latest prediction, May 21,2011, as long ago as New Year's Day, 2010. and by God he's sticking with it.  (Click on that link for an even deeper in-depth look at his calculations.)

If you're still skeptical (after those numbers?) go here for what the bible has to say about it.  (Or at least what somebody is saying the bible says about it.)

I know I've spent a lot of time on this one item, but it is the end of the world, for chrissake. (Here are the Google Images pages for the May 21 billboards.  The Christian Science Monitor says there are 5000 of them all over the world.  Now tell me it's not a big deal!)

But there is some good news for those of us left behind.  The Center for Disease Control is all over the End Times, when the horrors will finally be unleashed.  They've prepared a Zombie Apocalypse Kit. (Yes, really.  Our CDC.)

Last week Esquire published a parody about World Net Daily's publishing arm having to pull the book, Where's the Birth Certificate? The Case that Barack Obama is not Eligible to be President, authored by Jerome Corsi (co-author of "Unfit for Command", a book full of untruths about then-presidential candidate John Kerry and the swift boat incident), because, well, there's the birth certificate.

Seemed like a reasonable thing to do -- pull a book that's pretty much been proven to be a pack of lies from start to finish -- but this is the Right Wing World, and WND publisher Joseph Farah not only stands by his book, he's threatening to sue Esquire!

This from a piece in a Talking Points Memo:

Farah also said he no longer believes the title of Corsi's book, Where's the Birth Certificate?: The Case that Barack Obama is not Eligible to be President, is unfortunate because he's "100 percent certain" that the long form birth certificate released by Obama a few weeks ago is a "fraudulent, bogus document."
"We feel like Woodward and Bernstein in the early days of Watergate when nobody was reporting the story, and finally the New York Times came along," Farah said.
He said the issue over Obama's eligibility has never been limited to whether he was born in Hawaii, it's been over whether he is a "natural born citizen," which Farah contends he is not because his father wasn't an American citizen.

Right.  I loved David Neiwert's take on it over at Crooks and Liars, too.  It's here.

And the capper, the laffer (Got this first from GottaLaff over at Political Carnival)  is that the Obama 2012 campaign is making the most of it by selling "Made in the USA" tees and mugs as fundraisers.  Barack Obama's picture is on the front and his newly-released official birth certificate is printed on the back. (And how much you wanna bet they'll make more money off of this than World Net Daily will off of that totally irrelevant book of whoppers.)

Remember the ad campaign song, "Coke, the Real Thing?".  Oh yeah, the great new group, "The Other 98 %" , did a parody called "Koch, the Evil Thing".  Inspired!  Watch and compare them both here (courtesy of GottaLaff at Political Carnival.)

Moment of Sublime:  The Library of Congress has created a National Jukebox of historic sound recordings, including more than 10,000 from Victor recorded between 1901 and 1925:  http://www.loc.gov/jukebox/

Here is Enrico Caruso singing "Vesti la Guibba":  http://www.loc.gov/jukebox/recordings/detail/id/378

And Fanny Brice singing "Second-Hand Rose":  http://www.loc.gov/jukebox/recordings/detail/id/8467

There are also voice recordings, including this from William Howard Taft (Yes, that Republican) on the rights of labor:  http://www.loc.gov/jukebox/recordings/detail/id/1480



Cartoon of the week:

See you tomorrow.  Unless you're one of them.

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My Country is Breaking my Heart

Nearly every morning lately I wake up feeling as though my heart is ripping out of my chest.  My loves are still my loves, my health is okay, and it looks like there's a chance my measly but adequate bank account may outlive me, so for a while there the cause of these major palpitations was a bit of a mystery.

I'm slow sometimes, I admit, but I've had my suspicions.  Now it's official:  it's my country that is breaking my heart. My country has nearly lost her mind.  She falls for any smooth-talking con man who promises eternal prosperity but who's actually reveling in finding new ways to rob her blind.   For quite a few decades there, I thought she was big enough and bold enough, with a heart strong enough (and a memory long enough) to see past the big bucks and slick facades and recognize the same old deviltry that has plagued her so often before. But it's no use pretending. She has lost her sizzle and maybe even her will to live.  She's giving up.

 
What a blow to those of us who've been desperately trying to think of ways to stop this madness.  (And what madness to think we actually could.)  We've hammered, we've hollered, we've cajoled, we've used humor when nothing was funny.  We've marched, we've sung, we've preached, we've even tried voting.  Nothing has worked.

Now a number of sovereign states have moved in for the kill and it's likely they'll be the ones big enough to put the final nails in the coffin.  Even the states you would think should know better* have been seduced  into voting against their own best interests by the big money power-mongers.  One by one, they're giving control over to "small-government" campaigners who, once in office, are enjoying the hell out of yanking off the wool they've pulled over so many eyes.  (*Read my own besieged Michigan, expected to be the first of the 50 states to turn wholly and officially private.)

Much time and energy is spent citing articles and providing links to some brilliant arguments against what's been happening to our country. (Joseph Stiglitz has a chilling rundown of the takeover in the May Vanity Fair.) But frankly, words -- even brilliant words-- can't save an entire nation.  Words can anger us and encourage us and enlighten us, but being aware is a far cry from being in charge.  Ask any prisoner or slave.

Stiglitz writes in Vanity Fair:   "Alexis de Tocqueville once described what he saw as a chief part of the peculiar genius of American society—something he called “self-interest properly understood.” The last two words were the key. Everyone possesses self-interest in a narrow sense: I want what’s good for me right now! Self-interest “properly understood” is different. It means appreciating that paying attention to everyone else’s self-interest—in other words, the common welfare—is in fact a precondition for one’s own ultimate well-being. Tocqueville was not suggesting that there was anything noble or idealistic about this outlook—in fact, he was suggesting the opposite. It was a mark of American pragmatism. Those canny Americans understood a basic fact: looking out for the other guy isn’t just good for the soul—it’s good for business."

Even 180 years ago it was wishful thinking on de Tocqueville's part. We've always had the self-interest groups among us and they've rarely been in danger of properly understanding.  They've always dreamed of taking over and running things their way. They've always tried to pretend that the "Democracy" tag doesn't exist.  But we've always had clearer heads prevailing, knocking them sideways before their power and greed got completely out of hand.  Up until now.  Now it appears their ruthless tenacity has finally paid off. 

We know who they are.  They operate out in the open without fear of incarceration or retribution or even of losing the least little bit of their fortunes. They can't lose.  Their big money is safely kept far from these shores and there's nothing we can say or do that will hurt their feelings or make them think any less of themselves.  These are the people bent on forcing our country to her knees in order to line their own pockets and feel the power.  These are the people Jim Hightower describes in his must-read column:

Funded and orchestrated by such hard-core, anti-laborite billionaires like the Kochs, DeVoses, Bradleys, Scaifes, Coorses, and Waltons, the right wing has declared open season on public employees. But don't think that the assault by corporate extremists stops there. Using the GOP and the tea partiers as their political foot soldiers -- they intend to dismantle the public sphere, crush all unions, downsize the entire middle class, and banish egalitarianism as an American ideal. Ready or not, our nation has devolved into a new and nasty civil war, with moneyed elites now charging into legislatures and courts to separate their good fortunes from the working class and to establish themselves as a de facto plutocracy.

My country is breaking my heart.  What hurts the most is how easily she gave up.  I never thought I would see this once-proud nation lying in a rusted heap, bankrupt and riven and the laughingstock of the world.  I thought she was as much a fighter as the men and women who worked so long and so hard to keep her strong.  I never once thought she'd forget where she came from and let us down.
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FRIDAY FOLLIES: Big News about Osama, Bad News for Trump, Wacky news from Bloomberg

Well, okay, I guess you've heard the big news of the week--the finding and killing of Osama bin Laden.  Most of us thought the whole operation was pretty impressive--the stealth helicopters, the brave Navy Seals, the efficient execution of the world's worst enemy--it was all good.  But for ex-presidential candidate Donald Trump it was the worst news possible after a really, really horrible weekend.  First, on Saturday night he arrived at the White House Correspondents Dinner thinking he was there as an honored guest of the Washington Post.  He wasn't even suspicious when he was booed in the lobby outside the banquet room. No, he told a reporter, the president wouldn't be mentioning his name.

Once inside and seated he looked around and was pleased to see how much closer to the podium he was than the people behind him.  He ignored the fact that there were people in front of him who were much closer as he observed with dismay that the cameras weren't in a position to be trained on him at all times. But then he perked up when the president did, in fact, mention his name!  And, as is so often the case with Trump, it all went down hill from there.  The president spent many minutes making fun of him, and when Obama sat down, some creep from SNL took over and gave it to him even worse.  The camera finally swung to Trump and caught his scowl, his pout, his utter inability to laugh at the worldview of himself.

On Sunday it was all anyone was talking about.  The embarrassing videos were replayed over and over again and the jokes just kept on coming.  But at least "Celebrity Apprentice" would be airing that night and Trump, in his own mind, saw a vindication in the expected huge numbers of watchers.  Ha!

But alas, it was not to be.  Shortly after 10 PM came an announcement from the White House that the president would be addressing the nation soon on matters of National Security.  Osama Bin Laden was dead.  Immediately the networks cut into regularly scheduled programming and went to their newsrooms.  "You're fired" would not be the highlight of this Sunday night.  Gaahhh!  (The comments on that linked site are hilarious.)




CNN hides video of Star Anchor Wolf Blitzer talking about having to apply his own makeup the night Obama announced bin Laden's death.  If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes I wouldn't have believed it myself.  It was at almost precisely 11:40 AM on Monday, May 2 on CNN Newsroom. Drew Griffin asked Wolf to comment on where he was when he heard the news that Obama was going to announce something big at 10:30 PM on Sunday night.  Wolf begins to sputter--apparently he was caught totally off guard by the question, as well as the announcement.  He launches into a play-by-play about getting dressed and rushing to the studio, where he finds--to his utter shock--that there are no makeup people there yet!   He looks around, and grabs the first powder puff he sees and. . .powders his own forehead before going in front of the camera.  (As icing on the cake for this Blitzer watcher, I'm watching in shuddery fascination as a gasping, wide-eyed Wolf pantomimes the patting of the puff on his brow.)

I've looked in vain for the video of this conversation, but it's probably to CNN's credit that they've relegated it to Nowhereland.  (If anybody happens to find it, my gratitude will know no bounds if you pass it along.)  The mystery of the ages is why Blitzer is still on television.  This bizarre exchange on the morning after Osama bin Laden's death deepens the mystery.  He either knows too many secrets or he's somebody's nephew.  Watching him one can drift off and forget that this is real and not SNL.  Who could parody Wolf Blitzer as well as he parodies himself?  As an interviewer he's worse than any sappy local newscaster in the deepest, dustiest hinterlands.  His idea of a brilliant question is either "What were you thinking, as. . .?" or "How horrible was it?"  As he might put it, "Dreadful".

 As if to prove that New York City is the center of all the entire universe, their Mayor Bloomberg has decided it's his job to decree that immigrants wanting to come to the U.S should only be allowed in if they promise to detour around NYC and head to Detroit.  (No, I mean it--this isn't a SNL skit or one of those crazy nightmares we Michiganders are so prone to sweat through.)

This is what he said on "Meet the Press" via the AP: 

“Take a look at the big, old, industrial cities, Detroit, for example,” he said. “They’ve got a great mayor, Mayor (Dave) Bing, but the population has left. You’ve got to do something about that. And if I were the federal government, assuming you could wave a magic wand and pull everybody together, you pass a law letting immigrants come in as long as they agreed to go to Detroit and live there for five or ten years. Start businesses, take jobs, whatever.”
Detroit has seen its population fall from 1.8 million in the 1950 U.S. Census to 714,000 in 2010. The population dropped 26 percent in the last decade alone.
“You would populate Detroit overnight because half the world wants to come here,” Bloomberg said. “We still are the world’s greatest democracy. We still have hope that if you want to have a better life for yourself and your kids, this is where you want to come.”

Is that nuts, or what?  Where are these jobs that Bloomberg wants these people to take?  If they were in Detroit what makes him think Detroiters wouldn't be taking them?  Start businesses?  Couldn't Americans who are already here do that if it were that simple?  Nothing at all against immigrants--we've had a few in my family, too--but Bloomberg isn't talking about inviting them to Detroit.  He's talking about forcing them to settle here.  Making a law.  And he said it out loud.  On national television.  Does anybody else think that's weird?

Interesting, too,  that he wants to put immigrants on a fast train to Motown when his own state is losing two congressional seats after the last census count showed a significant drop in population in all but the area in and around New York City.  Has he looked outside lately?

Moment of Sublime:  This morning  at dagblog, William K. Wolfrum posted a link to a self-obituary by Derek Miller, a Canadian blogger who died Tuesday of colorectal cancer.  He asked his family to post his last blog, about his own death, on the day he died.

Here it is. I'm dead, and this is my last post to my blog. In advance, I asked that once my body finally shut down from the punishments of my cancer, then my family and friends publish this prepared message I wrote—the first part of the process of turning this from an active website to an archive.

If you knew me at all in real life, you probably heard the news already from another source, but however you found out, consider this a confirmation: I was born on June 30, 1969 in Vancouver, Canada, and I died in Burnaby on May 3, 2011, age 41, of complications from stage 4 metastatic colorectal cancer. We all knew this was coming.

Photo:  Vancouver Sun

 
You might wonder why I chose this particular story for my Moment of Sublime, but when you read his last blog, you'll understand.  It is about as life-affirming as anything you're ever again going to read.  My heart goes out to his family, but how lucky they were to have him in their lives.  RIP, Derek Miller.


Cartoon of the Week:

A Mike Luckovich cartoon

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Bin Laden is Dead. Twitter scooped Everyone.

It took me years to finally venture over to Twitter to see what all the fuss was about.  I was one of those who thought everything about it was silly, including and especially the name.  And what was with that 140 character limit?  Anything I wrote would be called a "Tweet".  Uugh.  No!

I don't remember what finally changed my mind, but now I follow over 1,000 people who, by retweeting what they've found, make up a humungous network passing along information I'm interested in.  Whenever something big is about to happen I rush to Twitter to see what's going on.

Last night I was watching TV and skimming Twitter at the same time, when around 10:15 someone tweeted that Obama would be making a "major security" announcement at 10:30 PM.  Long before any TV source was saying it, the buzz began on Twitter, thanks to Keith Urbahn, Rumsfeld's former chief-of-staff, who tweeted at 10:25 PM, "So I'm told by a reputable person that they've killed Osama Bin Laden.  Hot damn."  People who followed his tweets re-tweeted it to other people and they re-tweeted it to others and within seconds it came to me via a dozen re-tweets from people I follow.  We all knew it long before the networks and cable news channels were allowed to announce it.  They were scooped by Twitter, plain and simple.

 Sohaib Athar, an IT consultant right in Abbotabad, near the compound where Bin Laden was finally taken down, was live-tweeting earlier in the afternoon about helicopters hovering overhead, worrying that something big was about to happen.   (I didn't see it but read about it this morning. )

This isn't the first time we've been witness to events unfolding live as they happened, getting more info within minutes than we could get through conventional sources.   A woman in the middle east was live-tweeting as soldiers broke into their house and dragged her father out.  We learned later, sadly, that they had killed her father and her husband.

We heard about the shooting in Tucson on Twitter first.  People on the scene were tweeting through their I-Phones.

Such is the power of Twitter.  It still carries that unfortunate name but it's all grown up now.  Leave it to the standard sources for the in-depth reporting, but for instant news followed by source after source for more information, I'll head to Twitter first.  (This is, unless it's overloaded, which it is right now!)

FRIDAY FOLLIES: The Royal Wedding, of course.

Thursday, April 28 10 PM:  Is anything else going on these days besides the Wedding of the Century, The marriage of Katherine ( Kate) Middleton and William (Will) Mountbatten-Windsor?  (This time the wedding of the century really is the wedding of the century -- the century is young, and, until another big wedding comes along, this is it.)

Tonight the Big channels--E!,  MSNBC, CNN, BBC America--have all put together specials on tomorrow's big day. The background, the real stories, the life histories of both Will and Kate,  as well as interviews with their families and anyone who has ever known them, from class-mates to haberdashers and hairdressers to people they've waved to on the street.  Right now BBCA is talking about the wedding of the son of Camilla Parker-Bowles.  Very chi-chi.  High society. Astonishingly irrelevant and even, maybe, just guessing, in really, really bad taste.

10:38:  On CNN's Anderson Cooper they're showing vintage footage of Princess Diana being helped out of her carriage while her bridesmaids stand by.  Will it totally spoil the mood if I say that her bridal gown looked as if it had been made for a giantess and then tucked and pinned to fit little Lady Di?  Same with the bridesmaids.  Very odd.  But what do I know?  I've heard there were thousands of weddings world-wide where brides happily wore dresses that were near-copies of Diana's.

(Did you hear about the guy who had pictures of Will and Kate tattooed onto his two front teeth?  It'll wear off in about three months, depending on how often and how vigorously he brushes his teeth, but until then--they're there.  It's all here.)

10:55 PM:  Matt Lauer is excitedly talking about the wedding cake.  It'll be big and beautiful and it'll taste heavenly.  It's a Royal cake so it can't be anything less.  It just can't.  (Looks like the mayor of London forgot to comb his hair tonight.  Sure hope he remembers tomorrow.)  [Update:  He didn't]

11:00PM:  I'm off to bed.  Coverage starts at 3 AM EST.  I'm not kidding.  (No, I won't be there, either.)

6:00 AM:  I'm up.   Kate is out of the funny, boxy limo and she's beautiful and her gown is beautiful, if very similar to gowns I've seen on "Bridezilla" or elsewhere.  I'm a little disappointed, frankly.  But the tiara belonged to the Queen Mum and for some reason that makes me quite giddy.

Here come William and Harry.  Harry is dressed in regalia that's much more eye-popping than William's.  Black and gold, compared to William's more sedate red with blue banner.  One-upped.  Imagine.

I see Beefeaters lining the Cathedral aisle as Kate and her father make their way to the altar.  They really do look wonderfully Gilbert & Sullivan.  What are Beefeaters anyway?  I'll look them up later, after the festivities.  [Okay, here it is.]

Yes, those Brits know how to throw a wedding.  Is Westminster Abbey the most gloriously ostentatious building you've ever seen in your life?

They've all met now at the altar and the sopranos are singing the high notes.  I think it's about to begin. I'm sorry -- I can't take my eyes off of Harry.  Is he adorable, or what? 

Oh, wait, not yet.  Now the crowd is singing.  There's Elton John.  And Victoria Beckham and that guy. Does Princess Anne ever smile?

The queen is lovely in Daffodil yellow but can't seem to muster up much enthusiasm.  Prince Philip is looking peaked.  Lady in large blue hat is looking peaked, too. Come on, people!  It's the Royal Wedding!  Lots of work went into this!

 Okay, singing has stopped and the Archbishop of Canterbury just said "Dearly Beloved".  Shhh, I need to hear this.

I grabbed this off of my TV.  Hope it's okay, CNN.

They've spoken their vows and got through it without flaw.  Whew!  (I won't mention Diana's mixing up of Charles's many names.  No, I won't.)

6:20AM/11:20 AM:  It's done!  The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have moved to the side of the altar and are now. . .standing there singing along with everybody in the cathedral.    Crowd scene.  Lots of fancy duds. Camilla, true to form, is wearing a ridiculous hat, but this time she's not alone.

An outside shot. Crowds of Royal worshipers are seen but I can't tell if they're singing. Lots of happy flag-waving.

Kate's brother James is reading from the scriptures or something, appealing to everyone to "present your bodies for sacrifice". What???  Is he reading the wrong passage?  "Extend hospitality to strangers". "Weep for those who weep". "Do not be haughty but associate with the lowly."  "Do not claim to be wiser than anyone."  What the heck?  Who invited him, anyway?

Long shot of the cathedral. Took my breath away. I mean it.

Small boys singing in high voices. (No, I'm not thinking what you're thinking.) Now the grown-up choir is joining in.  Lovely.  Simply lovely. I miss the Queen Mum.

Someone says St. Catherine of Sienna said "Be all you can be and you'll set the world on fire".  (Okay. Whatever.)

Speeches now, while Will and Kate sit obediently listening. You just know they're thinking, "Didn't we just get married? Why are they still talking? Aren't we supposed to be walking up the aisle?  Will this never end?"

Shot of the crowd outside. They're getting restless. Who knows what will happen if these guys don't wrap it up soon? Wide shot. Huge screens out there showing the inside events. Almost as good as  watching it on TV at home.

Will and Kate are back at the altar, standing alone. Gorgeous scene. (Just saw the Palace Guard marching to somewhere. Is there trouble out there?) The singing has stopped.  Kate and Will are kneeling now.  "Lord have mercy upon us."  Now the Lord's Prayer.  Now more preaching.  What an opportunity.  A captive audience,  inside and out.  It goes on and on, with the newlyweds still on their knees.  Good thing they're young.

Now "Jerusalem" by William Blake.  Played at every British Rugby game, someone just said.  The Brits know all the words.  Nice song.  The crowd is waving the Union Jack and cheering. Now the stirring British national anthem, "God Save the Queen".  Everyone singing but the queen herself.

The Maid of Honor just bent over to lift the bride's train.  Oh, my!  The cleavage!  Watch it!

They've all walked behind the altar and are, I presume, leaving the building.  The music is swelling.  Shot of the cathedral from above.  Stunning camerawork.  Really.

Oh, Jeez. I should have known. Here come Will and Kate again.  NOW they're finally walking up the aisle.  Kate is smiling and Will looks somber.  Ah, there's a little uplift of the left side of his mouth. And now a full blown Diana-like shy grin.  All's right again.

They're standing in the doorway and the crowds outside are seeing them for the first time.  They're going wild. Confetti everywhere.  The bells are clanging. The red,black and gold Cinderella-like carriage, the very same that carried Charles and Diana so long ago, has pulled up and Will is adjusting his white gloves. They're entering the carriage. The bells are going wild. Lovely couple.  They're smiling at each other lovingly. This could work.

They're off. They've mastered that Royal side-to-side wave with precious little wrist action. Prancing white horses. Wide-spread jubilation (according to Piers Morgan, who ought to know).

Piers just reminded us that the sun is shining. They're really pleasantly surprised, since it's England in April and heavy rain was actually predicted. I seem to remember that the weather cooperated when Charles and Di were married, too. So much for portents of good things to come.

They're entering  Buckingham Palace and both Will and Harry have saluted as they enter the gates.  The Royal couple have exited the carriage and won't be seen again until they appear on the palace balcony. The queen is arriving behind them. Prince Philip salutes as they enter the gate. Charles and Camilla are in a carriage behind the queen. (I can only guess that Charles, too, has saluted as he passed under the arch.) Aerial view of the crowds. Pretty impressive.

From now on it's all talk. Example: "We have never seen Prince William kiss Kate." They can't stop talking about the long-awaited first kiss. They're actually doing a minute-by-minute countdown until the Big Smooch.

8:30 AMish: Okay, they've kissed. That's it.  We're done here.
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We're Michigan and Most of Us Don't Deserve This

 Michigan, our wonderful, beautiful jewel of a state--the only state in the union that looks like a mitten reaching up to grab a leaping rabbit, the only state surrounded on three sides by three different really Great Lakes, the only state that can lay claim to both Vernor's Ginger Ale and Sanders Hot Fudge Sauce, has been in the news a lot lately.

 Not because we've finally been discovered and people are wondering how they could possibly have overlooked us (Weather Channel, I'm talking to you. Bad weather travels from the northern plains to NEW YORK CITY! via a route through Michigan.  There's no getting around it), but because on January 1, 2011 Richard Dale Snyder ("Rick", because, you know, he's just--aaaw--Rick) was sworn in as Governor.

Nothing unusual about a new governor being sworn in in early January, but this particular brand-new governor raised hackles in some circles (okay, in nearly ALL circles outside the corporate honchos and people still having Tea Parties in the midst of the rubble) by stepping off the podium and almost instantaneously barking orders to annihilate anyone outside his own elite space who thought they might be entitled to a taxpayer-funded public education, or wages beyond the truly laughable, or even a retirement free of toil and strife.

For most people bent on taking over an entire state that might have been enough, but some days later this man Rick found the Holy Grail.  An existing Financial Emergency Manager Law that he and his Republican-led legislature then got to work enhancing and extending until it no longer would only be used in--okay--emergencies, but could be tweaked to kill the unions, take over public education and. . .oh, let's say. . .fire duly elected officials in cities and towns that may or may not have potentially fatal fiscal wounds but do have too many poor people and thus can't keep the Gov and his court in the style to which they've become accustomed.

Robert Bobb (true name) has been the Emergency Financial Manager for the city of Detroit since 2009.  I don't know how well he was doing in that job before the EFM act gave him infinite powers, but he's apparently rubbing his hands in glorious anticipation of being able to do away with 53 Public Schools, either by outright closings or mergings or switching them to charter status.  (Rachel Maddow has been reporting on one of them--The Catherine Ferguson Academy, a school for teen mothers.  After learning their school was targeted for closing, the students staged a quiet sit-in and, for their efforts, were handcuffed and taken away by the police, causing enough commotion (not by the students) to make the story go national. Thank you, Rachel--and everyone else who picked up the story and ran with it.  Everything that happens in Michigan mustn't--must not--stay in Michigan.  We need to shout it to the mountaintops.  We're under attack and we can't pretend it's all pretend.  It's not.

As Todd A. Haywood reported in Michigan Messenger yesterday, The Mackinac Center for Public Policy,  home of Michigan's Randian Tea Party, really is a part of the Vast Right Wing Free Market Think Tank Conspiracy.  They've joined up with Sauron in the Dark Tower to seek out and destroy anything resembling entitlement programs, government-sponsored good works, university professors' emails in support of beleaguered Wisconsin, and more importantly, labor unions.  Their goal is small government and their method is to fire all municipal officials and put an "emergency financial manager"--one person--in their place.  One person will run everything, making every decision without fear of being fired or losing elections.  It's the Fascist version of "we're not a Democracy, we're a Republic".
  
This group, State Policy Network, is working at installing a host of compliant soldiers posing as Leaders of the People in all 50 states.  Their purpose:  to guarantee the complete and total privatization of these United States of America.  So far they've managed to enlist the governors of Michigan, Wisconsin and Indiana, all of whom are not in the least shy about expressing their fascination with the mission they've chosen to accept.

In Michigan, Governor Ricky is in direct competition with Wisconsin's Governor Scotty to see who can take down whose state first.  At first glance you might be inclined to say "boys will be boys", but you mustn't forget the Eye of Sauron watching their every move.  (Here I'll repeat:  Vast Right Wing Conspiracy)

More to chew on:

If two members of the legislature get their way, Michigan's foster kids will have to get their back-to-school clothing from thrift stores because Michigan could save a lot of money that way.  I loved this part but you have to read the whole thing by Susan G. Demas:

So what's behind these moves by the Legislature? Well, the two DHS panel chairs both live in relatively homogeneous and very conservative enclaves in the state.

[Bruce] Caswell is a Calvinist who's never had to deal much with Democrats or people with other views on social issues, taxes or government services. He believes he's doing the right thing and rooting out inefficiencies in the budget.

[Dave] Agema ... well, his general philosophy can be summed up in his solution for overworked welfare caseworkers. Rather than hire more workers or work to speed up paperwork processing times, the goat killer suggested that DHS employees be armed with guns to subdue any unruly welfare queens.

Sen. Coleman Young II (D-Detroit) once flippantly described Republicans' attitude toward the poor and unemployed as: "Too bad. It sucks to be you." 

Who thinks like this?  What kind of person sits around thinking about poor, dispossessed kids and, instead of wondering what he/she can do to make things better for them, concludes that money could be saved if they wore second-hand Government-issue clothes?  And what kind of person is then surprised when reasonable people say, "Hold it right there. . .".   And who then would say in response, they probably don't spend it on clothing anyway, and "I think the hardship is negligible"?

(Newsflash:  They're rethinking this, after a really soul-satisfying (on my part), all-out blogospheric blast attack against it.  Looky here:

Senator Caswell initially proposed issuing a gift card for the clothing allowance for resale shops in order to ensure the money would actually go toward purchasing clothing. After a suggestion from a constituent, he plans to draft an amendment to the proposal that would direct the state to work with major retailers to create a gift card program that would ensure the clothing allowance money only purchases clothing and shoes at their stores. Furthermore, the amendment will direct DHS to negotiate with the retailers for a discount on those clothing items purchased with the allowance in order to get the best deal for the recipients.

Okay, I'm exhausted.  But one last thing.  You know how Gov. Ricky gave supreme power to one lone Emergency Financial Manager in poorest of the poor Benton Harbor?  Yes?  And how they fired everybody (see links above) and then poured salt in the wounds by demoting them to secretarial duties, like taking minutes at meetings?  Yes? Well, Gov. Ricky will be visiting Benton Harbor on May 7.  No, he won't be looking around to see how well his plan is working. Or to see what else he can do to lift that poor town out of its misery.  No. He'll be Grand Marshal of  Blossomtime's Grand Floral Parade.  The parade route will start in St. Joseph:

And end in Benton Harbor:

This is clueless to the absolute ultimate.  This is Nero fiddling while Rome burns.  This is the New America.

So the way I see it, we either get used to it or we fight like hell to end this onslaught.  I know us.  We don't plan on ever getting used to it.

Michigan Labor Legacy Landmark, "Transcending"

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FRIDAY FOLLIES: Earth Day, Beautiful Danger, Buseyisms, and Oh, by the Way. . .Jesus is coming

Today is Earth Day.  Ever since 1970 we've been setting aside April 22 to celebrate the birth of the earth. (It also happens to be Lenin's birthday but I promise there is absolutely no connection.  I only mention it because some subversive with a tea cup is sure to bring it up, and I want to be able to say I got there first.)

 When I wrote about Earth Day last year I wondered how Ken Salazar would do as Secretary of the Interior.  So far so good, I'm happy to say.  (If you know something different I invite you to burst my bubble.  Go ahead.  It wouldn't be the first time.)  This week is National Park Week and all entrance fees have been waived through April 24, which means you can go celebrate Earth Day in some of the most beautiful places on earth for free this weekend.

The Grand Canyon

 I took the picture above a few years ago but, lucky me, I never wrote about it.  (See below)  The Grand Canyon is spectacular, for sure, but it can also be dangerous.   As you can see, there are places where there are no barricades.  Most people have enough sense not to get too close to the edge, but every now and then someone leans over to take the picture of a lifetime and. . .

  

                                                                                           

It happens. . .

In Hawaii  they want to put a stop to people getting hurt or killed while going ga-ga over splendiferous sights.  They can't blame the dangerous places themselves because they're tourist attractions and they bring in money so the next best thing is to blame the. . .(wait for it). . .travel writers.

PRINCEVILLE, Hawaii—In his work, travel writer Andrew Doughty often deals with mosquito-infested rain forest and treacherous riptides. Recently, he had to grapple with a new career challenge: a proposed state law that would hold Hawaii guidebook writers personally liable for deaths or accidents at spots they recommend.

Kauai

Mr. Doughty, a longtime Hawaii travel writer, didn't take the plan seriously at first. But he had reason to worry about its implications. As the author of "The Ultimate Kauai Guidebook: Kauai Revealed," Mr. Doughty, 47 years old, was one of the first writers to widely publicize remote attractions such as a natural tide pool called Queen's Bath and a swimming hole called Kipu Falls on the Hawaiian island of Kauai.
Kauai officials say accidents used to be rare at the two attractions, remote places with rocky terrains. But since Mr. Doughty wrote about them in 1994, at least 10 people have drowned at Queen's Bath and Kipu Falls.
That has put Mr. Doughty and other authors in the cross hairs of politicians such as Hawaii state representative James Tokioka, who sponsored the liability bill in January. "I do believe we are endangering our visitors, and it is our responsibility to keep them safe," he says. "Authors or publishers of visitor-guide publications describing attractions have a duty to warn the public of dangerous conditions."

So okay, if you're going to write about dangerous places in Hawaii you'll need to add something like this:  "Caution:  Sheer stupidity can lead to death, maiming or heavy embarrassment.  Author is not responsible for your inability to engage brain while hanging from cliffs, swimming in deep water, or driving anything with more than one wheel."

All of which leads me to another fine example of failing to engage brain.  Did you happen to catch Gary Busey on "Celebrity Apprentice"?  Too bad.  The Donald has already fired him.  But Gary forgives and mostly forgets.  He's endorsing Mr. Trump for president.  (Yes, of the United States.)

Does it seem to you that every day is April Fool's Day?  I know.  Me too.

 But April is almost over and come next month it looks like we'll all be almost over.  Jesus is returning on May 21st and who knows?  It could be the end for most of us.

 

 So. . .

Oh, of course I'm kidding.  I love this earth and I do worry.   How can we look around at what we've got and not worry?  May 21st will come and go and we'll still be the stewards of our planet.

Remember this?  It was an ad campaign from more than 40 years ago.  We've come a long way. (And still a long way to go.)


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Cartoon of the Week
(click on cartoon to enlarge it.)

Not just one but 46.  Cartoonists celebrate Earth Day and we get to participate:

Click here.

(Hey, is it still Friday?  Sorry this is so late.  Earth Day, you know.)
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FRIDAY FOLLIES: The Cheesiest and the Choicest

My pal Jan started this yesterday on Facebook with a "Hooray!  Hooray!  It's Grilled Cheese Sandwich Day".  I'm shocked that I didn't know about GCSD.  I love those things!  But when Jan crabbed about her favorite sammich getting the recognition it so richly deserves for only one day, I wondered what I could do to make her feel better.
Here it is!

Now there's a sandwich.  But the best part is that Grilled Cheese gets a whole month!  They even get a whole website!

Or two:  grilledshane has a site that brags "A Grilled Cheese no longer has to be white bread and American cheese". Okay, but we all agree a Grilled Cheese sandwich should be mostly cheese, right?.  Otherwise it's not a Grilled Cheese sandwich, it's a grilled stuff sandwich. (Try and remember that when you're busy re-inventing these things.)

 An outfit in L.A called The Grilled Cheese Truck (big yellow trucks serving up GCS) set aside an hour on April Fool's Day to give away grilled cheese sandwiches at Beverly Hills Porsche.  Fun!  But, ha ha, the joke's on us--this from the L.A Weekly:

It can be fun shvitzing in line while waiting for your meal, but it's also nice to have a table, chair, and maybe even some utensils to enjoy with your food. Mark Gold, chef-owner of Eva Restaurant, and Dave Danhi, co-owner of The Grilled Cheese Truck, are offering four- and five-course grilled cheese pairing menus ($35-$50) on Tuesday, April 5th. Depending on which option you choose, there will be a truffled mac and cheese melt, and Gold's butter poached lobster. Wine pairing is $20 extra.

Oh, man!  Those crazy kids!  But if that's not enough for you, there's this:

It just seems to go on and on. . .

But speaking of things cheesy and running on, I guess it's no secret that Donald Trump is thinking of becoming president.  He's looking into ways to do it without wasting time campaigning and/or waiting for votes, so in the event he figures it out and worms his way into the Oval Office, click here for a preview of the person we'll be hailing as chief.  (Sorry, embed disabled.)   

Shudder. . .I don't know why I put that in here.  Honestly.

Oh, wait. . . just had to add this to my homage to fromage:  Got this from Wonkette:  Sarah Palin will be pelted with cheese curds in Wisconsin on Saturday.  Cheeseheads attack!

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Time for the sublime.  Eric Whitacre's amazing virtual choir performing "Sleep". (2000 voices strong from 58 countries:)

(I found this in an Op Ed News article by Rob Kall called A Bottom-Up-Virtual Choir.  He has links to other videos by and about Whitacre here. What an incredible accomplishment.) 

And finally, to further lift your spirits:  the power of words.

And the power of silence:



Cartoon of the Week:

Thanks to Mike Keefe, The Denver Post