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Blogmanac founded April 26, 2003.  I killed my TV before my TV killed me   |
Gawd, I really hate spam with subject headers like almanac the best ANTlSP A.M software? D Um gZVBrtF z eFH At least they got my handle right I guess. I've even had spam from Bible publishers.
*Ø* Blogmanac July 18 | Team members -- best wishes  Blogmanac team member Jeannine (J-9), as many regular readers know, has just had surgery for IBC, Inflammatory Breast Cancer. Our friend is back home and feeling absolutely lousy and in great pain, and has months of chemo and radiation ahead of her. We all send our love and best wishes to her. J-9 wants everyone to know about this rare and awful disease as IBC is usually not detected by mammograms or ultrasounds, so J-9 says awareness is terribly important.  Nora has been off this week due to medical reasons and we look forward to seeing her back real soon. These two women are passionate and dedicated workers for peace and social justice and many planetary issues, so our healing thoughts go out to them.
*Ø* Blogmanac July 18 | A new Briscoe  Many members of the Almanac ezine are familiar with the work of David Briscoe whose photos often grace our pages. Here's a new one -- check out more at his free gallery which has a permanent link in the left-hand column of this Blogmanac. Thanks mate!
*Ø* Blogmanac | New at the Scriptorium I've uploaded some new articles to the Wilson's Almanac Scriptorium in the past few days. The latest is about various rain prognostication days from European (mainly English) folklore. Some other newbies at the Scriptorium: The month of June Sacred to the goddess Juno Folklore of July The Dog Days of Summer What's the background of this common expression? Lady Godiva Who was the naked lady on the horse? The Fairlop Oak Fair How one man created a tradition of celebration Vikings! Lindisfarne, and the Cuerdale Hoard The Heart that Would Not Burn The life and death of Percy Bysshe Shelley, in brief Assassination and a prophetic dream Dream that told of the death of a British Prime Minister July 5: Tynwald Day The ancient annual ceremony on the Isle of Man Mumtaz and Jahan The love affair that created the Taj Mahal Event over Tunguska What exploded over Central Siberia in 1908? As always, these new articles are listed in the Articles Index. Send some bucks for the overdue $420 Internet bill and I'll write some more. Aww, what the hell. I'll do it anyway. Thursday, July 17, 2003
*Ø* Blogmanac July 17 | The legend of Kenelm Lo, in the lyf of seint kenelm I rede, That was kenulphus sone, the noble kyng Of mercenrike, how kenelm mette a thyng. A lite er he was mordred, on a day, His mordre in his avysioun he say. [Now, take St Kenelm's life which I've been reading; He was Kenulph's son, the noble king Of Mercia. Now St Kenelm dreamt a thing Shortly before they murdered him one day. He saw his murder in a dream, I say …] Geoffrey Chaucer, The Nun's Priest's Tale  Strange tale of dreams and mystery Kenelm was an English prince and saint, the son of Coenwulf (Kenwulf), King of Mercia, in the early 9th Century. Tradition says he was murdered on his sister's order, at Clent, Worcestershire. This wicked sister, Quendreda (Cynefrith or Quoenthryth), wanted to be Queen of Mercia, but young Kenelm stood in the way. Somewhere between 812 and 821, Quendreda bribed her brother’s tutor, Askbert (really), to take seven-year-old Kenelm on a hunting trip to the forest of Clent in Worcestershire, far from his home in Winchcombe, and whilst he was there to murder the boy. At this time, young Kenelm had a prophetic dream, as recorded by Jacobus de Voragine in The Golden Legend, or Lives of the Saints: “And in this while, and at that same time, this young holy king was asleep, and dreamed a marvellous dream. For him seemed that he saw a tree stand by his bedside, and that the height thereof touched heaven, and it shined as bright as gold, and had fair branches full of blossoms and fruit. And on every branch of this tree were tapers of wax burning and lamps alight, which was a glorious sight to behold. And him thought that he climbed upon this tree and Askeberd his governor stood beneath and hewed down this tree that he stood on. And when this tree was fallen down, this holy young king was heavy and sorrowful, and him thought there came a fair bird which flew up to heaven with great joy. And anon after this dream he awoke, and was all abashed of this dreme, which anon after, he told to his nurse named Wolweline. And when he had told to her all his dream, she was full heavy, and told to him what it meant, and said his sister and the traitor Askeberd had falsely conspired his death. For she said to him that he had promised to Quendred to slay thee, and that signifieth that he smiteth down the tree that stood by thy bedside. And the bird that thou sawest flee up to heaven, signifieth thy soul, that angels shall bear up to heaven after thy martyrdom.” The day of the hunt arrived, and Askbert and Kenelm made for the woods. After the exertions of the chase, the young lad soon tired with the heat and lay down under a tree for a nap. Askbert, meanwhile, began to dig a grave. Askbert took out his sword to kill the boy, but Kenelm awoke and said “You think to kill me here in vain, for I shall be slain in another spot. In token, thereof, see this rod blossom”, and stuck his walking stick into the ground. Over the years, this grew to be a great ash tree, which was known as St. Kenelm's Ash. Askbert managed to slice off the boy's head, whereupon a white dove flew out of the boy's head and flew away. Jacobus de Voragine: “And anon, his soule was borne up into heaven in likeness of a white dove. And then the wicked traitor drew the body into a great valley between two hills, and there he made a deep pit and cast the body therein, and laid the head upon it. And whilst he was about to smite off the head, the holy king, kneeling on his knees, said this holy canticle: Te Deum laudamus, till he came to this verse: Te martyrum candidatus, and therewith he gave up his spirit to our Lord Jesu Christ in likeness of a dove, as afore is said.” Askbert buried the prince’s body and went to tell the triumphant Quendreda of his success. Jacobus de Voragine informs us, “And it was so that a poor widow lived thereby, which had a white cow, which was driven in to the wood of Clent. And anon as she was there she would depart and go into the valley where Kenelm was buried, and there rest all the day sitting by the corpse without meat [food, grass]. And every night came home with other beasts, fatter, and gave more milk than any of the other kine [cattle], and so continued certain years, whereof the people marvelled that she ever was in so good point and ate no meat. That valley whereas Saint Kenelm's body lay is called Cowbage.” The miracle of the dove The murder was miraculously made known at Rome by the dove, which alighted at St Peter’s, bearing in its beak a scroll with the words In Clent cow pasture, under a thorn, Of head bereft, lies Kenelm, King-born. [or, depending on source: In Clent in Cowbage, Kenelm, king born, Lieth under a thorn, His head off shorn.] which it deposited on the high altar. Clerics tried to read, but they could not make it out, as it was written in English. At last, however, an Englishman was found, and he told them what it said. The Pope sent emissaries to England to discover the meaning, and before long the searchers found a grave under a thorn by a white cow. When the body was removed from the grave a light shone and healing water sprang from the ground – it became known as Saint Kenelm’s Well, and in time, a small village called Kenelmstowe sprang up around the site of his martyrdom ... ... Read the rest of the tale at the Scriptorium's articles department Pip Wilson's articles are available for your publication, on application. Further details Receive similar items free each day with a free subscription to Wilson's Almanac ezine. Send a blank email
*Ø* Blogmanac | NADER: Vote Kucinich in Primaries "It's not too early to get to know the candidates, one of whom we'll count on not only to get us out of the mess we're in in the U.S., but to restore our peaceful relationships with others around the world." NADER SAYS: Vote Kucinich in Primaries Friday's Cleveland Plain Dealer reported: "Consumer activist Ralph Nader, still undecided about running again as a third-party candidate, said yesterday that he is urging Democrats to vote for Rep. Dennis Kucinich in the presidential primaries next year...Unlike some of his rivals, Kucinich 'says publicly what he believes privately,' Nader said at a breakfast meeting with reporters. 'At this point, I am urging Democrats to vote for him in the primary.' Info IOWA LABOR LEADER: Kucinich is the Up-and-Comer Sunday's Des Moines Register reported on remarks of Jan Corderman, president of Iowa's influential AFSCME union: "I think that probably the up-and-comer...is Dennis Kucinich." Kucinich has "had a real presence here in Iowa recently" and has received an enthusiastic reception, said Corderman, whose 13,000-member union is the state's second largest. "Our folks are impressed with his position on issues," she said. "He's definitely a man of the people. But he's also one that people need to hear more about." Info KUCINICH STILL CHALLENGING IRAQ WAR Continuing his leadership on Capitol Hill in questioning Bush administration claims that led us to war, Rep. Kucinich held a news briefing Tuesday morning with former intelligence officers on the use (or misuse) of intelligence before the war in Iraq. Joining Kucinich was Ray McGovern, a former CIA analyst of 27 years who prepared the President's Daily Brief in the 1980s, and Andrew Wilkie, a senior intelligence analyst at Australia's Office of National Assessments until his resignation a week before the Iraq war in protest of the way intelligence was used to justify Australia's support for the war. KUCINICH FIGHTS FOR PEACE DIVIDEND When Dennis Kucinich calls for more spending on healthcare, education and environmental cleanup to be paid by cutting the bloated military budget, he is often outnumbered on the campaign trail. (Howard Dean has challenged Kucinich on that stand.) He is also typically outnumbered in Congress, as Associated Press reported days ago: "Though the defense bill accounts for about one-sixth of federal spending, it has generated little debate. After the attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, lawmakers have been reluctant to deny the Pentagon the equipment it says it needs to defend the country. But Rep. Dennis Kucinich, D-Ohio, an anti-war Democratic presidential candidate, said the bill does little to make America safer. 'The only thing this Congress will take care of today are the profit-gouging defense contractors,' he said. FUNDRAISING WAY UP The Kucinich campaign has released its quarterly financial report, showing the biggest percentage jump in fundraising of any presidential campaign. We far exceeded expectations. Help us continue this momentum by making a donation here today. WHY OUR CAMPAIGN KEEPS GROWING Is it because the New York Times is covering us fairly or fully? No. It's because you keep circulating our email alerts to others on the Internet! Find more info on the campaign here. Wednesday, July 16, 2003
*Ø* Blogmanac | We Need a New Precedent! From Lisa: Swami's WORLD WIN Campaign to Elect Ourselves and Choose a New Precedent We Need a New Precedent! A Message From Swami Beyondananda: Early this year, my inner voice told me loudly and clearly to campaign for President. Now my inner voice, like my outer voice, speaks with a slight East Indian accent, and so is sometimes difficult to understand. When I recently replayed my inner messages, I realized the message was, "we need a new precedent." Yes, in these unprecedented times, what we really need to do is set a new precedent -- and a new President will follow. Because if we only do things the way we've always done them, we'll only get what we've always gotten. Even a rat will stop pulling the lever when there is no more reward, and as an optimystic I have to believe we humans are smarter than rats. So let's elect ourselves and choose a new precedent. In fact, while we're at it, let's choose a whole platform of precedents. And we can start with government of the people, by the people and for the people -- where the government actually does our bidding, not the bidding of the highest bidder. If that happened, it would be truly unprecedented. Now Take the Democrats -- Please! Yes, we have looked to the various political parties to make a change -- and we've been disappointed. Take the Democrats -- please. Ever since that electile dysfunction they suffered back in Florida, they just haven't been able to get an election, have they? And so, if we want to provide stiff opposition to the current fossilized fools in power, we must become the upstanding citizens our Founding Fathers intended -- and elect ourselves. Let's Turn Those Devotees Into ... Votees Years ago, many spiritual people got turned off to the dirty world of politics, and devoted themselves to finding inner peace. And they found it, which is great. But in a world with less and less outer peace, it is no longer appropriate for the peacekeepers to keep the peace to themselves. That is why we have launched our Blisskrieg and declared "all out peace." All of that peace we've been developing inside -- time to let it all out! And time for all of those devotees to become ... votees. Laughter Can Bring Down the Irony Curtain And that is the mission of the Swami for Precedent campaign and the Right-to-Laugh Party -- to turn the devotees into votees, to give the "silenced majority" a voice, to awaken a slumbering body politic, and to use the magic of laughter to lift the Irony Curtain which separates the people from the truth. In response to the laugh-threateningseriousness we face thanks to both terrorism and the war on terrorism, we think it's time for a real political "party" -- and that is our slogan, "One big party, everyone is invited ... all for fun, and fun for all!" What If We Used One B2 ... To Be One? And if we're going to invite everyone to the party, we must make sure there are enough refreshments to go around. I don't know about you, but I don't think it's any fun to fight over a few crumbs. It's way more fun to bake a bigger pie. That is why, the Right-to-Laugh Party is offering a radically ridiculous idea ... what if we took a small portion of the resources we currently use on behalf of death and destruction, and used it for mass construction instead? Talk about raising the laugh-expectancy on the planet. What if we took the $2 billion we now spend on each B2 bomber, and used it to create something that benefit all? What if we used one B2 ... to be One? The Manhelpin Project -- A World Win Campaign During World War II, America focused all its resources on the Manhattan Project -- a team to develop the first atomic bomb. What we need now is a Manhelpin Project -- renewable, nonpolluting energy so abundant we don't need armies to protect it. Instead of the fear-based emergency mentality, we must encourage a love-based emerge `n see policy that will ultimately result in way more fun for way more people. It will be a World Win campaign where the whole world wins! Are you following me? Well, please don't follow so closely. I get a little paranoid when I think I'm being followed, especially these days. Join the Right-To-Laugh Party, and We'll Laugh Ourselves In So please join my World Win Campaign to elect a new precedent. Elect to vote, and vote every day with your dollars and attention. Join the Right-to-Laugh Party (see below). Practice random acts of comedy designed to heal the heart and free the mind, and report back to us. Don't get even -- get odd! Each of us is one-of-a-kind, so you are totally unique, just like everyone else. Once you realize how odd you truly are, you will lose all interest in getting even. Entertain that odd possibility that we humans were actually meant to evolve in consciousness, and now is the time. Why? Because it is too late to do it sooner. © Copyright 2003 by Steve Bhaerman. All rights reserved. May be re-printed and recirculated with proper attribution only. Please include copyright statement and the following: To find out more about Swami's Right-To-Laugh campaign, call toll free at (800) SWAMI-BE or find him online here.
*Ø* Blogmanac | High hopes for injection centres "A scientific report into the trial of a heroin injecting room in Sydney's Kings Cross, has found the centre saves lives. The report has been embraced by the New South Wales Government, which is planning to extend it." Source
*Ø* Blogmanac July 16 | Voudon pilgrimage of Saut D’Eau, Haiti  Today, thousands of Voudon (Voodoo) believers from Haiti and abroad will make a pilgrimage to the sacred waters of Saut D’Eau, a waterfall (pictured at right) where Erzulie Freda (pictured below) – the Voudon spirit of love, art, romance and sex – appeared twice in the 19th century. Freda is a beautiful, wealthy white woman, a promiscuous love goddess-seductress, difficult and demanding, who loves luxurious items such as perfume, champagne and gold. Her sister, the dark-skinned Erzulie Dantor, is the spirit of motherly love, cognate of Saint Barbara Africana in the Roman Catholic Church. Dantor is heterosexual in the sense that she has a child, but she is also the patron loa, or saint, of lesbians. When Erzulie Dantor appears at a ceremony via possession, she speaks a stuttering monosyllable, “ke-ke-ke-ke-ke!”. Origins of the religion Where and how did Voudon originate? There are numerous explanations, including one that proposes that the earliest slaves in the West Indies, Yoruba people who had come from the West African regions of Dahomey, and parts of modern Togo, Benin and Nigeria, brought with them a faith in a powerful fetish and guardian spirit called Vodo. Another possible derivation of the word comes from a medieval evangelist named Peter Waldo, or Valdez, who lived in Lyons in France at around the end of the eleventh century. Valdez, appalled by the extravagant practices of the Church of his time, saw it as his mission to re-establish the Church to its pristine state in which followers of Christ sold their goods and gave the proceeds to the poor, as exhorted by Jesus. Soon he was teaching a religion that included esoteric and occult elements. Valdez gained adherents who called themselves after their leader. However, before long their name became corrupted and known as Waldenses, or Waldensians, or, in French, Vaudois.  Naturally enough, the Roman Catholic Church vehemently opposed the new sect and denounced it as satanic sorcery. In the name of Jesus, they persecuted the Waldenses, finally massacring large numbers of them in the 12th and 13th centuries. However, this was not before the Waldenses had gained adherents in far-off regions of France. It was one of the precursors of the Protestant Reformation, and also experienced a revival in the sixteenth century. In 1677 Spain ceded Haiti to France and soon Roman Catholic missionaries travelled to the West Indian island to convert its people. Angered by their religions, the priests identified them with the heretical sect of the Waldenses and applied their name, in the Creole dialect, to those Haitians. (Many Voudon priests were martyred or imprisoned, their shrines destroyed, because of the threat they posed to Euro-Christian/Muslim colonialism.) Eventually ‘Vaudois’ changed to become finally voodoo, the name that, with various spellings, we know today. Today, some 60 million people worldwide practise the old religion, and similar religions such as Umbanda, Quimbanda, Santeria and Candomble are widespread in South America and elsewhere. Voudon, like these others, is often portrayed rather ignorantly in popular culture as some kind of evil cult, a misperception which is quite far from the truth and derives from historical colonialist dynamics.  Each voodoo god has a symbol known as a vèvè, and this is Erzulie Freda's Pip Wilson's articles are available for your publication, on application. Further details Receive similar items free each day with a free subscription to Wilson's Almanac ezine. Send a blank email Peter Waldo, or Valdez Waldenses, or Waldensians Erzulie Freda Shrine (commercial) Erzulie Freda banners African symbols Erzulie Dantor rite Henna symbols Erzulie Dantor magic Dark goddesses in Voudon How to Spell V-o-d-o-u Useful links More Voudon FAQs African-based religions Tuesday, July 15, 2003
*Ø* Blogmanac July 15 | Rainy days ahead?Feast day of St Swithin (Swithun)  Watch the weather today Our story today takes us back more than a millennium, to the days when the British Isles were beset by Viking raids and Charlemagne’s empire ruled supreme in Europe. St Swithin (or Swithun) was Bishop of Winchester, England, and adviser to King Egbert of Wessex (died 839) and probably tutor to his son Ethelwulf. He was called the ‘drunken saint’, but no such behaviour is recorded of him. Swithin was the one who introduced tithing into England: he persuaded King Ethelwulf to enact a law, by which he gave a tenth of his land to the church, on condition that the king should be prayed for every Wednesday in every church forever. Among other remarkable feats, Swithin once restored broken eggs. Swithin’s consecration by Ceolnoth, Archbishop of Canterbury, seems to have taken place on 30 October, 852. We don’t know the date of his birth, but he died on July 2, 862. An old English legend says that the good bishop wished to be buried in the churchyard of the cathedral, in a humble grave outside the north wall, so that the ‘sweet rain of heaven might fall upon his grave’. Nine years later his monks tried to move his remains inside the cathedral but there was a violent thunderstorm for the following 40 days and 40 nights. Believing their beloved late bishop to be weeping in distress, they abandoned the venture. Miraculously, two rings of iron, fastened on his gravestone, came out as soon as they were touched, and left no mark of their place in the stone. When the stone was taken up, and touched by the rings, by themselves they fastened to it again. A century passed and 971 came around (the year Eric Bloodaxe became the second king of Norway, by the way, not that Eric has anything to do with our tale, sorry, but it’s such a great handle). Swithin was canonized (declared a saint – St Swithin was never actually canonised by a pope; he is a ‘home-made saint’) and, following a vision by St Aethelwold (909- 984), the monks decided to honour him by placing his body in the Winchester Cathedral choir rather than outside amongst the common folks’ graves. So…. They booked July 15 for the ceremony of the ‘translation’ of his relics (bones), and this time it was successful. His head is in one part of the cathedral and his body in another. Oh, and one of his arms ended up in St Svithun’s Cathedral at Stavanger, Norway. St Swithin’s shrine was destroyed during the Reformation and a new one was dedicated in 1962. Various miracles have been performed at the tomb, such as the cure of a hunchback, and of a man with a “grievous ailment in his eyes”. Or so it is said. Swithin is appropriately patron of drought relief; of Stavenger, England, and of Winchester. How did St Swithin's legend come about? Possibly there was an even more ancient tradition relating to a day about this time of year and we note the pervasiveness of similar customs in Europe. Other rain prognostication days in Europe include: St Médard's Day (June 8), France; Saints Gervais and Protais (June 19), St Godelieve, Belgium (July 6); the Seven Sleepers, Germany (July 27). Keep watching the Almanac for these. Examination of the meteorological records of England reveals the legend to be fallacious. Nineteenth-century British folklorist Robert Chambers found that between 1841 and 1860, a dry St Swithin's day was actually more likely to have the larger number of succeeding wet days! Those who believe in this superstition ignore the fact that it is based upon the dating of the Julian calendar and therefore could not hold for 40 days from the current July 15, which is based on the Gregorian year, a calendar that Britain did not adopt until 1752. Rain today “blesses and christens the apples”. Apples should not be picked or eaten before this day. All apples growing at this time will ripen and come to maturity. To mark St Swithin's Day, you could read more international weather wisdom, featuring such gems as "snow is due when the cat washes behind both ears". Or you can sing (and play) along to Billy Bragg's musical ode. Today’s weather
*Ø* Blogmanac | Viva la France! BUSHOUT (Blog en français) Pour une coalition mondiale pour que Bush ne soit pas réélu en 2004 I guess it was bound to happen. I suppose I shouldn't be surprised. And I wasn't prepared for the double-take I did when I saw this blog. My eyes bugged out and my jaw hit the floor--just like in the cartoons! It's nice to know we have a coalition working along with us made up of people around the world, but I can't help it . . . it's also pretty darned FUNNY!!! No. It's not a joke. BUSHOUT, The Blog, is absolutely serious and it has been created especially to build a coalition of French-speaking people to work actively to make sure that W is not re-(s)elected in 2004! I don't know if its creators are from France, from Quebec, another French-speaking country or the U.S., but I hope wherever they are they are able to appeal to all French-speaking voters in America. Bon chance!! For any of our readers who are or who know French-speaking people, by all means make this an action and bring it to the attention of as many people as possible. Source Monday, July 14, 2003
*Ø* Blogmanac July 14, 1912 | Happy birthday, Woody Guthrie! Woody Guthrie, American folk singer/songwriter (This Land is Your Land) This song is almost always sung as a patriotic song, which is why the last three stanzas are usually deleted. Most schoolchildren aren't even aware of their existence, yet they are essential to the song's meaning. This Land is Your Land (in D) Woody Guthrie CHORUS: This land is your land, this land is my land From California to the New York island From the Redwood forest to the Gulf Stream waters This land was made for you and me As I was walking that ribbon of highway I saw above me that endless skyway I saw below me that golden valley This land was made for you and me I roamed and rambled and followed my footsteps O'er the sparkling sands of her diamond deserts While all around me, a voice was saying This land was made for you and me When the sun came shining and I was strolling And the wheat fields waving and the dust clouds rolling As the fog was lifting, a voice was chanting This land was made for you and me As I went walking, I saw a sign there On the sign it said NO TRESPASSING But on the other side it didn't say nothing That side was made for you and me! In the squares of the city, in the shadow of the steeple In the relief office, I seen my people; As they stood there hungry I stood there asking, Is this land made for you and me? Nobody living can ever stop me As I go walking that freedom highway Nobody living can make me turn back This land was made for you and me.
*Ø* Blogmanac July 14 | Fête Nationale, France: Happy Bastille Day! 1789 The Fall of the Bastille Rien. (Nothing.) Diary entry by King Louis XVI on July 14, 1789 When the revolutionary mob stormed the French prison they were surprised to find most of the cells empty but for the miserable scratchings of prisoners on the walls. Only seven prisoners were resident, under the relatively (for his time) lenient penal policies of King Louis XIV. Among those inmates, Marquis de Sade is believed to have triggered the assault by crying that people were being executed inside. Three of the prisoners were old men, legitimately incarcerated; two of these had become insane, no doubt because of the horrible conditions in the cells. The other four prisoners had been in the Bastille for only four years each, for various crimes such as forgery. The seven were paraded through the streets as heroes, though the revolutionaries must have been disappointed that they did not have more to show off.  It was widely believed at the time and for years afterwards, that the wasted body of the celebrated Man in the Iron Mask had been found there, with the mask still on his skull. Held for over forty years in various prisons during the reign of King Louis XIV, the Man in the Iron Mask was an unknown prisoner. When travelling from prison to prison, he always wore a mask of velvet, not iron. He was buried as ‘M. de Marchiel’, but his true identity has never been revealed. One suggestion was that he was the Duc de Vermandois, an illegitimate son of Louis XIV. Alexandre Dumas in his romantic novel suggested that he was an illegitimate elder brother of the king, with Cardinal Mazarin his father – a suggestion originally made by Voltaire. Lord Acton, the British historian, suggested a minister of the Duke of Mantua, who, in his negotiations with the king, was found to be treacherous and imprisoned at Pignerol. Whenever he was moved, he was diguised with a velvet and whalebone mask, though it entered the popular imagination that this mysterious, unknown character, was masked with iron. He died on November 19, 1703. His dungeon was scraped to the stone, and his doors and windows burned, lest any inscribed message get out to the world and thus reveal his identity, and Louis's great cruelty to the representative of another state. Pip Wilson's articles are available for your publication, on application. Further details Receive similar items free each day with a free subscription to Wilson's Almanac ezine. Send a blank email  Bastille Day (Fête Nationale), France (public holiday) Célêbraté with Frênçh rècipés Bastille Day e-cards
*Ø* Blogmanac | Australia to Become Nuclear Power "Australia has the option of becoming a nuclear power through a deal with the United States. It has been claimed Australia will gain nuclear weapons and atomic expertise in the deal. "A former government science adviser says the new Au$600 million nuclear reactor will ensure Australia has the capability to start a nuclear weapons program. "In the event of a regional crisis, Australia will have access to tactical nuclear weapons from the US. This deal is Australia's insurance in case the US does not come to Australia's aid in the event of war." Source
*Ø* Blogmanac | Speculation about Chilean Beach "blob" over "Chilean scientists have made a positive identification of the gelatinous carcass of a sea creature that washed up on a beach around three weeks ago. "A DNA analysis was not required for final identification after dermal glands in samples that belong only to sperm whales, the largest toothed whale, and the deepest diver of all whale species. "As the carcass of a sperm whale decomposes, it literally becomes a "skeleton suspended in a semi-liquid mass within a bag of skin and blubber" that mass eventually splits and the skeleton sinks leaving only the blubber and skin afloat." Source
*Ø* Blogmanac | 20 Lies About the "War" "Falsehoods ranging from exaggeration to plain untruth were used to make the case for war. More lies are being used in the aftermath." Read the list from Independent.co.uk Sunday, July 13, 2003
*Ø* Blogmanac | DON'T DUB ME, DUBYA"And reading or watching news of this decision isn't raising as much ire, eh?" PM calls off medal ceremony in US By Oonagh Blackman and Paul Gilfeather, July 12, 2003 TONY BLAIR has ditched plans to receive a "thank you" medal from President Bush next week for backing the war on Iraq. The Prime Minister and the President scrapped the ceremony as it would have triggered a furious backlash in Britain where controversy over the war is raging. Mr Blair is engulfed in a growing crisis over the legality of the war and the Daily Mirror can reveal American officials have had intensive talks with the PM's aides over the past week. Pictures of a smiling Mr Blair having the Congressional Gold Medal pinned on him by President Bush would have been beamed around the world at a time when British and American soldiers are still losing their lives in Iraq. It would have been a public relations catastrophe and stirred up fresh fury in the Labour ranks. Democrats in the US have also fiercely opposed the idea of a medal as they have branded the war illegal and accused President Bush of misleading the American public. Mr Blair arrives in Washington on Thursday to make a speech to Congress, a rare honour for a foreign leader. The Washington visit is the first leg of a round-the-world trip by Mr Blair and his wife Cherie. The PM's official spokesman said: "The Prime Minister will address a joint meeting of Congress and have talks with President Bush. But there will be no presentation of a medal." When asked why the ceremony was scrapped the No10 official said: "That process is still going through in the US. It has to go to the Senate first and then to the House of Representatives." Mr Blair is hugely popular in the US for backing the war, but his close links with the right-wing Republican president have infuriated his own Party. Yesterday ex-Defence Minister Peter Kilfoyle said: "Personally for Mr Blair it is preferable for him not to be seen to be getting this medal. "It would have played as a huge negative for people in the Party." The PM will fly on to Tokyo, Seoul, Beijing, Shanghai and Hong Kong. Source [My question regarding ". . . a furious backlash in Britain where controversy over the war is raging" above: How can Americans possibly be so cold and crass and self-serving as to have so little outrage over our own part in the unjust debacle of violence called 'the war in Iraq'? -v]
*Ø* Blogmanac | Oh, Shrub! Prez opens mouth to change feet Did you hear Shrub's parting words to the African people? I suppose he was concentrating so hard on not calling Africa 'Asia', and calling it a continent and not a country, but is that really an excuse? His farewell speech to Africa closed with: God bless Africa! And God continue to bless America! Imagine you go to the house of some desperately poor neighbours. You rock up in a chauffeur-driven Mercedes and wearing an Armani suit that their kids made in the sweatshop you set up next door. The lives of your neighbours are beset by starvation, domestic violence, fatal diseases and premature death of loved ones. Mother and father both have AIDS. Junior died of injuries last week -- from a weapon made in your factory. After walking around outside to survey your lakes of oil and vast reserves of diamonds underneath their weed-infested garden -- you come inside, eat their food, tell them what a great place they have and what a shame it is that you and your people have never visited before and never will again. However, you'll be sending some people round to advise on how to spend their last $7.00. Then you part with these choice words of Christian love and brotherhood: God bless you! And God continue to bless me!Oh, Shrub! You really are more of a deadshit than we ever knew.
*Ø* Blogmanac July 13 | Feast of the Miracles, Brussels, Belgium  The 19th-Century English folklorist, Robert Chambers (The Book of Days), told of a quaint annual celebration in Brussels. If a Sunday, the fiesta started on July 13, or the first Sunday after the 13th, and it went for 15 days. On the first day, there was a procession of the Holy Sacrament of the Miracles. This consisted of three consecrated wafers, with a miraculous, albeit anti-Semitic, story behind them. In 1369 there lived at Enghein, in Hainault, Belgium, a rich Jew named Jonathan, who paid another Jew, a poor man named Jean de Louvain, to steal some wafers from the Church of St Catherine in Brussels, for the purpose of using them in an anti-Christian ceremony. For his sins, Jonathan died soon after the theft, murdered by person or persons unknown. His widow gave the wafers to a group of Jews who used them in a defiling ceremony on Good Friday, 1370. With “horrid imprecations” they ceremoniously stabbed the wafers with poniards. To their amazement, blood flowed from the wafers. The Jews were exposed, and burned at the stake on May 22, 1370. Three of the original 16 wafers were restored to the clergy of St Guduli, where they have remained as sacred objects ever since. They have worked miracles, and even stopped a plague in 1529. Or, so it is said. Pip Wilson's articles are available for your publication, on application. Further details Receive similar items free each day with a free subscription to Wilson's Almanac ezine. Send a blank email Medieval Anti-Semitism Today’s Special on the Menu of Hate
*Ø* Blogmanac Uniting Church president hits out over Iraq war, Tampa "The retiring president of the Uniting Church in Australia has launched a scathing attack on the Howard Government and the Federal Opposition, over their handling of the Iraq war and the Tampa crisis. "He says the nation's democracy is under attack. "The Reverend Professor James Haire says information that is emerging casting doubts on the existence of Iraq's weapons of mass destruction points to a self created serial ignorance among the nation's political leaders. "Professor Haire says what is emerging from the lead up to the Iraq war demonstrates yet again the abysmal moral standards within the United States, United Kingdom and Australia. "He has described Australia's foreign, immigration and welfare policy as rotten, and says the lack of a credible federal opposition is as much to blame as the government." Source
*Ø* Blogmanac | Rubber (?) dollies: the Hulk with the Bulk  Shocked six-year-old Leah Lowland checked out a mystery bulge on her 'Incredible Hulk' doll - and uncovered a giant green willy. Curious Leah noticed a lump after winning the monster (catchphrase “You wouldn’t like me when I’m angry”) at a seaside fair. When she peeled off the green comic-book character’s ripped purple shorts, she found the two-inch manhood beneath them. Horrified Leah immediately ran to mum Kim and reported the find. Kim has called for a ban on the saucy toy. She said: “A hulk with a bulk like this just shouldn’t be allowed." Story from the Sun
*Ø* Blogmanac | Rubber dickies: Giant condom a record? BEIJING, China (Reuters) -- One size fits ALL? "A bright yellow condom covered the facade of a 20-storey, phallic-shaped hotel in the southern Chinese city of Guilin to mark U.N. World Population Day in the most populous nation on the globe ... "The Guilin Latex Company has applied to the publishers of the Guinness Book of World Records to recognize their giant condom, 80 meters (260 ft) tall and nearly 100 meters (330 ft) around, as the world's biggest, the Xinhua news agency said." Source
*Ø* Blogmanac | Rubber duckies head for land after 11-year odyssey  "Thousands of rubber ducks and other bath-time toys are due to become the unlikely allies of oceanographers 11 years after they were cast overboard from a container ship en route from China to Seattle. "The floating flock of 29,000 ducks and their companions - turtles, beavers and frogs - is heading for the New England coast, bleached and battered after a journey around the Arctic. Oceanographers say the trip has taught them valuable lessons about the ocean's currents." Source
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