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Blogmanac team
Jeannine Wilson (USA)
Veralynne Pepper (USA)
Pip Wilson (Australia)
Carpe diem!
Seize the day with more than 150 articles at Wilson's articles department
This blog is dedicated to the 353 victims of the SIEVX disaster,
and casualties of poverty and authority all around the planet
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Saturday, November 29, 2003
*Ø* Blogmanac | Great apes face extinction
 PARIS (Reuters) - "At least $25 million (14 million pounds) is needed to save great apes such as gorillas and chimpanzees from the threat of extinction, a United Nations official says.
"'The clock is standing at one minute to midnight for the great apes, animals that share more than 96 percent of their DNA with humans,' said Klaus Toepfer, executive director of the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP).
"'$25 million is the bare minimum we need, the equivalent to providing a dying man with bread and water,' he said in a statement before a three-day international conference on the great apes starting in Paris [last] Wednesday.
"All great ape species risk extinction, either in the immediate future or at best within 50 years, because of growing forest destruction, poaching, live animal trade and humans encroaching on their habitat, the conference organisers said."
Full text
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*Ø* Blogmanac | Rockers Unite to Oust Bush
From ROLLINGSTONE.COM
 Moby, Henley, Matthews ask fans to "get involved"
"Bruce Springsteen told a crowd of 50,000 New Yorkers on October 4th to 'shout a little louder if you want the president impeached.' Two weeks later, John Mellencamp posted an open letter to America on his Web site, declaring, 'We have been lied to and terrorized by our own government, and it is time to take action.' Meanwhile, Moby, Eddie Vedder and Michael Stipe are organizing a TV-ad campaign that will run anti-Bush commercials during the week of the State of the Union address in January; Dave Matthews is railing against the war in Iraq in interviews; and at press time, at least three multiband rock tours planned to take aim at Bush-administration policies. Green Day, NOFX, Tom Morello, Dixie Chicks, Don Henley, Willie Nelson and Steve Earle have all played (or plan to play) for political candidates or causes. Hip-hop stars have also gotten involved. 'We have a voice and a responsibility to speak out,' says Jay-Z, a member of Russell Simmons' Hip-Hop Summit, which aims to register 4 million voters before the 2004 election. 'People listen to us.'
"Welcome to the increasingly partisan world of popular music -- where President George W. Bush is a marked man. Thirty major artists interviewed for this story cited many concerns: U.S. policy on Iraq, the Patriot Act, the Bush administration's assault on the environment, the economy and the media. But they all agreed that as the 2004 presidential election gets
closer, it is time to mobilize. 'The America we believe in can't survive another four years of George Bush,' says Moby. Adds Lou Reed, 'We must all unite and work for whomever opposes Bush, regardless of whatever differences we may have. Our motto: Anything but Bush.'"
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*Ø* Blogmanac | More "Food" For Thought
Arrogance is a Disease that often leads to War
Excerpt:
I'll end with a quote that could well describe most liberals. It is from a book called,
"How to be a Gentleman", by John Bridges.
"A gentleman never makes himself the center of attention. His goal is to make life
easier, not just for himself, but for his friends, his acquaintences, and the world
at large."
While a Conservative may succeed in getting to the point where friends and
acquaintences are included within their sphere of concern...they always, always,
fall flat on the last point. It is this point where Liberals go far beyond the current
crop of Conservatives...at least among the more outspoken of them (there are
always exceptions, of course) and shine as the true gentlemen and gentlewomen
of our age, and, at times, all ages.
The Yin and Yang of Conservatism
The 7 States of Sickness
(from "Natural Healing Through Macrobiotics" by Michio Kushi)
1. Fatigue or Tiredness
2. Aches and Pains
3. Blood Diseases
4. Emotional Disorders
5. Organ Diseases
6. Nerve Diseases
7. Arrogance
FURTHER EXPLANATION
1. Fatigue or Tiredness - The major causes are lack of physical exercise plus over-eating
and over-drinking, particularly meat and sugar.
2. Aches and Pains - The nervous system starts to weaken.
3. Blood Diseases - Thought incurable, these can often be cured by proper diet.
4. Emotional Disorders - This category includes problems such as irritability, impatience,
upset, anger, anxiety, worry, fear, and uneasiness. A healthy person is not bothered by
negative emotional states. If we become angry even once a year, we are not completely
healthy. Ideally, we should not become angry even once during an entire lifetime.
(This was written before The Great Dewakening; The Current Unpleasantness. It could
be argued that anger, as a defense mechanism, should be reserved for such times as
these...although I much prefer Gandhean Satyagraha to vehemence and anger. Besides,
there is always the Butterfly Effect to consider, as well as the even more subtle Taoist
notion that one need not lift a finger, or make any ripple in the material world. A vision,
well-wrought, can change minds and worlds effortlessly, internally. I digress....)
5. Organ Diseases - Organs begin to degenerate.
6. Nerve Diseases - Dullness, forgetfulness, social crimes.
7. Arrogance - This occurs when we try to separate ourselves from nature and the
universe, and happens in one of two ways. The first is yang arrogance, and it appears
in the form of a domineering, conquering, or self-insistent personality which tends to
drive others away. This yang arrogance is what George W. Bush, and many on the
flagrant right-conservative site of the dial, have digested...although it occasionally takes
root among those left of center...at which point they become neo-cons, after having
passed through Dennis Miller.
"The yin type of arrogance shows itself in the form of withdrawal or a refusal to listen.
Many of the elderly and and those who consider themselves devout or religious suffer
from this form of arrogance. This type of person is usually not open to the opinions or
suggestions of others."
Kushi continues: " Arrogance is actually the underlying cause of all human sickness and
unhappiness and is at the same time the end point of the first six stages. Ultimately, all
people who suffer from arrogance commit suicide by dying an unnatural death, either
through sickness, war, accident, or other causes. The basic purpose of macrobiotic
healing is to cure arrogance."
So here we have it. The explanation of what is today called "Conservatism"...although the only thing these folks are concerned about conserving is their ego; their arrogance -- whether it be in the form of Bush-style brashness, or the quieter, more obscurantistic hard-headed self-righteousness exhibited by the more reposed.
Arrogance is a killer...of self and others. It incorrectly places the ego where God, the Tao, the spirit, Stewardship, Magnanimity, or whatever name you call it, should be.
What a wildly imaginative but brilliant and sensible way of looking at our world!
Definitely CONTINUE to the SOURCE and enjoy more of this and other unique posts!
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*Ø* Blogmanac November 29, 1838 | Myall Creek murderers convicted
 1838 The Myall Creek Massacre culprits were found guilty of murder.
On Saturday, June 9, 1838, twelve European stockmen in Australia rounded up approximately 20 Kwiambal Aborigines at Myall Creek (a branch of the Gwydir River), and killed them with knives and guns. The stockmen, who had accused the Aboriginal people of pilfering, were acquitted at a trial on November 15, but, following a public uproar, faced trial again on November 29 and were found guilty. Seven of the twelve murdered were executed under Governor Sir George Gipps’s authority.
Massacre at Myall Creek, from Cafe Diem!, our store
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*Ø* Blogmanac November 29 | International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People
 I am a black South African, and if I were to change the names, a description of what is happening in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank could describe events in South Africa.
Archbishop Desmond Tutu
In 1977, the General Assembly of the United Nations called for the annual observance of November 29 as the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People (resolution 32/40 B). On that day, in 1947, the Assembly had adopted the resolution on the partition of Palestine (resolution 181 (II)).
On December 3, 2001, the Assembly noted the action taken by Member States to observe the Day, and requested them to continue to give it the widest possible publicity (resolution 56/34).
This is just a snippet. Read all about today in folklore, historical oddities, inspiration and alternatives at the Wilson's Almanac Book of Days, every day. Click today's date.
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*Ø* Blogmanac | Queen speaks of same-sex couple rights
"My government will maintain its commitment to increased equality"
 "Queen Elizabeth II of England opened Parliament on Wednesday by announcing that MPs will debate the issue of civil partnerships for same-sex couples in the coming session.
"In her annual speech, in which she outlines the key bills from the government, the queen said the bill would help increase social justice across England and Wales.
"'My government will maintain its commitment to increased equality and social justice by bringing forward legislation on the registration of civil partnerships between same-sex couples,' she told the House of Lords' ..."
Source: Planet Out
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Blogroll Us Friday, November 28, 2003
*Ø* Blogmanac | Good Friday Agreement in trouble
Gerry Moriarty, Irish Times
"Sinn Féin has made huge gains over the SDLP in the Northern Ireland Assembly elections, while a strong DUP vote could give the Rev Ian Paisley's party more seats than the UUP.
"The overall result due later today radically alters the political landscape of the North and threatens the future of the Belfast Agreement.
"The DUP outpolled by around 20,000 votes the Ulster Unionists in terms of first preferences, sending a clear anti-agreement message to the British and Irish governments.
"Another day of high electoral drama is in store today as the DUP, Sinn Féin and Mr David Trimble's Ulster Unionists Party battle to win the most Assembly seats. The result was unpredictable last night and will hinge on how preference votes are transferred in several of the constituencies.
"If Sinn Féin emerges with the majority of seats, then the prospects of unionists agreeing to form an Executive with Mr Martin McGuinness as the likely First Minister appear very remote. While there has been speculation that DUP pragmatists might deal with Sinn Féin, the party leader Dr Ian Paisley emphasised yesterday that he would not negotiate with Sinn Féin.
"'Anyone who talks to Sinn Féin will be out of my party,' he said."
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*Ø* Blogmanac November 28, 1757 | William Blake, New Age guy
Art degraded, Imagination denied
War govern'd the Nations.
William Blake
Poetry fetter'd Fetters the Human Race
Nations are Destroy'd or Flourish in proportion as
Their Poetry, Painting and Music are Destroy'd or Flourish:
The primeval state of Man was Wisdom, Art and Science.
William Blake; Jerusalem
Energy is eternal delight.
William Blake
 1757 William Blake, English visionary poet (Songs of Innocence and of Experience) and artist who believed in a spiritual and artistic New Age and produced books in a total celebration of self-publishing, including writing the text, making relief etchings of the text (as mirror image) and the illustrations, printing and hand colouring the pages ...
This is just a snippet. Read all about today in folklore, historical oddities, inspiration and alternatives at the Wilson's Almanac Book of Days, every day. Click today's date.
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*Ø* Blogmanac | McDonald's Rapped for 'Simple Fries' Campaign
 LONDON (Reuters) - "Fast food corporation McDonald's has been rapped by British advertising watchdogs for a campaign that trumpeted the brilliant simplicity of their recipe for fries -- the humble potato and nothing else. Adverts showed a potato in a fries box alongside the text: 'The story of our fries (end of story).'
"But the public and campaigners objected, saying that often the chips were part-fried in one country, sometimes in beef tallow; flown halfway round the world; soaked in dextrose; often contaminated with gluten and finally drenched in excessive levels of salt ... "
Full text
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*Ø* Blogmanac | Ireland - Gardaí breathalyse wheelchair user
 "A man in a motorised wheelchair is facing a possible drink-driving charge after his arrest on suspicion that he was over the limit.
"Gardaí spotted the wheelchair-user driving in an erratic fashion in Cork city centre and pulled him over. Most motorised wheelchairs have a top speed of 6mph.
"A garda spokesman confirmed the 'highly unusual' incident happened over the last Bank Holiday weekend. The driver of the wheelchair was arrested and taken to a local garda station where he was breathalysed. A file is now being sent to the Director of Public Prosecutions."
Source
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Blogroll Us Thursday, November 27, 2003
*Ø* Blogmanac | Let's Roll! There are antiquities we must destroy!
[It seems the U.S. IS on a crusade--it's destroying non-Christian
relics wherever it goes, ignoring the fact that Christian relics go
along with them. "Another one back to the Stone Age," they cry,
thinking even less of the people who'll die. -v]
Foreign Policy in Focus (FPIF) Commentary
Editor: John Gershman, Interhemispheric Resource Center (IRC)
Project Against the Present Danger
The Road to Damascus
By Ian Williams | November 24, 2003
 At this time last year, it was difficult to get people to take the threat of war on Iraq seriously. This year, the threat to Syria is much more explicit than that against Saddam Hussein, but too many people dismiss any such thought.
But paranoia pays. We should have noted by now that this administration is motivated in mysterious ways, but does clearly signal its intentions no matter how seemingly irrational they appear to others. The neocons and their friends in the administration may, as the current unplanned Iraqi occupation experience indicates, be out of tune with reality in the rest of the world. But the fact that they achieved their first goal--the invasion and occupation of Iraq--indicates that they know all to well how Washington works. Which should make us worry about their second goal; most of them are on the record supporting Ariel Sharon's suggestion that Syria is next.
The passage of the Syria Accountability Act in the House of Representatives with only 4 votes against it on October 15 could be dismissed as mere pandering by legislators eager to prove how earnestly pro-Israel they are in the run-up to a costly election campaign. But even if Representatives only voted for it out of callow expediency, the Act threatens to mean much more.
The laundry list of reasons to attack is already written!
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*Ø* Blogmanac November 27 | Sophia, goddess of wisdom
 Sophia is the great lost Goddess who has remained intransigently within orthodox spiritualities. She is veiled, blackened, denigrated and ignored most of the time; or else she is exalted, hymned and pedestalled as an allegorical abstraction of female divinity. She is allowed to be a messenger, a mediator, a helper, a handmaid: she is rarely allowed the privilege of being seen to be in charge, fully self-possessed and creatively operative.
Matthews, Caitlin, SOPHIA: Goddess of Wisdom, Bride of God (1991)
Day of Sophia (according to some sources)
Sophia (pronounced sew-fee'ah in Greek) (pictured here with her three daughters, Faith, Hope and Charity) has been revered as the Wise Bride of Solomon by Jews, and as the Queen of Wisdom and War (Athena) by Greeks. She has been referred to as the Holy Spirit of Wisdom by Christian writers. She is known as Chokmah (HOK-mah) in Hebrew, and Sapientia in Latin. She is sometimes referred to as the Bride of Christ or of God.
To the Gnostic Christians, Sophia had an esoteric meaning, and was the Mother of Creation; her consort and assistant was Jehovah. In the Gnostic creation myth, Sophia sought the unknowable One, being so distant from her. In one account, she saw a distant light which was in fact a mirror image, and thus drifted even farther away from the pleroma, or fulness of God. The Gnostic religion’s sacred texts include Pistis Sophia: The Books of the Saviour.
Her sacred shrine, Hagia Sophia in Istanbul, is one of the remarkable buildings of the world. The first church on the site was built by Constantine the Great. The temple itself was so richly and artistically decorated that Justinian I, after rebuilding it, is believed to have said ÍåíßêçêÜ óå Óïëïìþí (Solomon, I have surpassed you!). It was converted to a mosque at the Fall of Constantinople to the Ottoman Turks under Sultan Mehmed II in 1453. [Read about this seminal event in history in our article, ‘Celestial wonders and the fall of Constantinople, 1453’]. A Christian church in Sophia, capital of Bulgaria, gave its name to the city.
As Asherah (the Semitic name of the Great Goddess, whose origin differs from Astarte, or Ishtar, or Inanna in Sumerian mythology), who was principally worshipped at the Philistine Pentapolis (coalition of five cities forming a kingdom – namely, Ashdod, Ashkelon, Ekron, Gath and Gaza) but also along Canaan and, for some time, Israel, she was even given a place in Solomon’s Temple of Yahweh (Jehovah God), which was built under the direction of skilled Phoenician builders and workmen ...
This is just a snippet. Read all about today in folklore, historical oddities, inspiration and alternatives at the Wilson's Almanac Book of Days, every day
Pip Wilson's articles are available for your publication, on application. Further details
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*Ø* Blogmanac | A reminder for tomorrow
 Buy Nothing Day
“Since its launch in the Pacific Northwest [USA] twelve years ago, Buy Nothing Day has grown into a worldwide celebration of consumer awareness and simple living. Observed on the day after US Thanksgiving – America's busiest shopping day of the year – the campaign has sparked debate, radio talk shows, TV news items and newspaper headlines around the world.
“People in more than thirty countries have made a pact with themselves and, as a personal experiment and public statement, stepped out of the consumer stream for 24 hours. The ways in which people have marked the event worldwide have been as diverse as the participants themselves.
“The daredevils of the Ruckus Society, a California-based direct-action group, dropped a boxcar-sized banner ridiculing overconsumption smack in the middle of the Mall of America. Other more down-to-earth-types created and distributed the Gift Exemption Voucher – a polite way of saying, Let's not get each other anything this year, out of principle. In Seattle, helpful Buy Nothing Day celebrants offered a credit-card cut-up service outside a downtown mall.” Source
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*Ø* Blogmanac | What a wonderful Bush world
(Tune: 'What a Wonderful World This Will Be' by Sam Cooke)
Don't know much about history
Don't know much foreign policy
Don't remember how I got through school
I'm sure I didn't break the rules
But what's it matter 'cause my granny says
"Boy, if you want to you can be the prez
And what a wonderful world this will be"
Don't know much about the women's vote
Don't know much about the bill I wrote
Don't know much about the foreign vets
I've never voted for 'em yet
But I do know if your dad tries hard
He can get you in the National Guard
And what a wonderful place that can be
Now I never claimed to be an A student
But what's wrong with C's?
And maybe by knowing the names of my cabinet
I can win their love for me...
Don't know much about air pollution
Don't know much about the constitution
Don't know much about th'economy
It never much affected me
But there's one thing that I know for sure
If the rich stay rich and the poor stay poor
What a wonderful world this will be
Don't know much about the national debt
I've never had to pay one yet
If we need to we can sell the States
To the Japanese at discount rates
But I do know if things get bad
Dick and I can always call my dad
And what a wonderful world this will be.
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*Ø* Blogmanac | Aids annual death toll hits 3m
26 November, Irish Independent
"The annual worldwide death toll from Aids has reached 3m, the UN agency leading the fight against the virus reported yesterday.
"New figures released by Unaids and the World Health Organisation before World Aids Day on Monday show that the global advance of the condition is continuing unabated, with 5m new infections and 3m deaths this year, up from 2.8m deaths in 2002.
"An estimated 40m people around the world are now living with HIV or Aids, including 2.5m children below 15, and one in five adults in southern Africa is HIV-positive."
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Donate to the Global Fund to fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria here
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*Ø* Blogmanac | Saddam Dolls Seized!!
 "Customs officials in Israel have seized a lorry-load of inciteful material.
"No, it is not a controversial book about Arab-Israeli relations.
"It is 450 Saddam Hussein and Osama bin Laden dolls.
"And they dance.
"They were seized from an Arab-Israeli businessman in the Northern port of Haifa. He said he wanted to sell them to both Arab and Jews as a 'gimmick'.
"A spokesman for Customs said: 'The law doesn't exactly say that you cannot own a bin Laden doll, but neither he nor Saddam Hussein are exactly good educational role models'."
Source
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*Ø* Blogmanac | "Monstrous US justice" -- Law Lord
The Telegraph
26 November
 "One of Britain's most senior judges condemned the American courts last night for a 'monstrous failure of justice' by refusing to rule on the claims of Taliban suspects held without trial at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba.
"Lord Steyn, a serving law lord, said the United States was acting illegally by holding the men without trial since their transfer from Afghanistan early last year.
"'By denying the prisoners the right to raise challenges in a court about their alleged status and treatment, the United States government is in breach of the minimum standards of customary international law,' he said.
"Giving the annual F A Mann lecture arranged by the law firm Herbert Smith in London last night, Lord Steyn accused the world's most powerful democracy of 'detaining hundreds of suspected foot soldiers of the Taliban in a legal black hole at the United States naval base at Guantanamo Bay, where they await trial on capital charges by military tribunals'.
But these tribunals, or 'commissions', were not independent courts, he said.
"The term 'kangaroo court' springs to mind."
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Blogroll Us Wednesday, November 26, 2003
*Ø* Blogmanac | The Blocking of Africa
 "The Congo, and countries around lake Albert in Africa have become synonymous with butchery, vile deeds, corruption and the curse that valuable resources bring when there is no strong democracy or rule of law. Now, add oil into the mix. It’s too easy to say oil will be merely another story of lawless rebels being exploited in an inevitable spiral of death, dollars and destruction ...
"Oil industry conferences are gushing freely in almost every continent, and African oil is now a regular item. Last month in Capetown, one session actually had as a theme-‘Oil Wars in Africa’. Then there was the Oil and Money Conference in London in Early November. And in the last week there have been another two conferences in Texas.
"America wants to wean itself off reliance on Middle East oil, and make sure there is plenty around elsewhere for the future ..."
Source: Background Briefing
America's SUVs are driving some bad foreign policy decisions [so are Australia's]
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*Ø* Blogmanac November 26 | Eid Mubarak! to our Muslim readers
Go grab a big hamburger with the lot! You've earned it
Today in the Book of Days
 ’Id-al-Fitr
Today (Eid, or 'Id) is one of the most important days in the Islamic calendar, and commences with the first sighting of the first New Moon following Ramadan. When the Ramadan fast ends (the first day of the month of Shawwal) it is celebrated for three days in a holiday called Id-al-Fitr (the Feast of Fast Breaking). Gifts are exchanged; friends and family gather to pray in congregation and for large meals. In some cities fairs are held to celebrate the end of the Fast of Ramadan. This Id is known as Seker Bayram in Turkish, and Hari Raya Puasa in South East Asia. More
Send a free e-card to someone for Eid today because even that nice Mr Bush has done it.
There's much more in today's page of the Book of Days. Like this:
Late November, the Bogong Moth Dreaming, Australia
North-East and Upper Murray River region of Victoria
Late November six aboriginal clans meet at Mungabareena (‘the gathering place’), a reserve on the NSW side of the river just east of Albury.
and
Archaeologist Howard Carter and the Earl of Carnarvon peeked through a hole in the door of Tutankhamun's tomb and became the first modern people to see the treasures.
(Read on at November 26)
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*Ø* Blogmanac | Free: Australian wildlife calendars
I have two Australian wildlife calendars that I will airmail next Monday to the 7th and 17th persons who write to me and tell me that they have invited two friends to subscribe to Wilson's Almanac from the subscription box in the right-hand column on this page.
I have an Aussie bird calendar for the 27th person who writes to me. My email addy is in the left-hand column here.
Put CALENDAR in the subject header of your email to me and I will contact the winners for their postal address.
No need to give me your friends' names or anything else. Let's do it on trust.
Have fun!
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Seen at
The Armchair Acitivist
Get free graphics and free content for your website
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Blogroll Us Tuesday, November 25, 2003
*Ø* Blogmanac November 25 | Feast day of St Catherine of Alexandria
(Sweet butter-bur, Tussilago fragrans is today's plant, dedicated to this saint)
She was a virgin (nun) and martyr of noble birth in Alexandria who defended the Christian faith against ‘heathen’ philosophers (c. 310 CE) commanded by Emperor Maximinus.
When Maximinus began his persecutions, the 18-year-old and very beautiful Catherine went to the emperor and rebuked him for his tyranny as he stood in the middle of a pagan temple. Unable to answer her arguments, he called in fifty philosophers to confront her. After they admitted that they were convinced by her arguments, the furious emperor sentenced them to be burned ...
From the wheel on which she was tortured and killed comes the circular window design in stained glass in medieval ecclesiastical architecture, termed a Catherine-wheel window or wheel window, and also the firework, the Catherine wheel.
There is quite a lot of folklore associated with Catherine and this day, and some info on the Hindu goddess Kali, with whom she has been compared. Check out November 25 in the Wilson's Almanac Book of Days where there is plenty more, on John Lennon, Homeland Insecurity, Celtic Tree Calendar Months, crazy temperance lady Carry A Nation, Australian Aboriginal Legend of the Great Flood and much more.
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Blogroll Us Monday, November 24, 2003
*Ø* Blogmanac November 24, 1876 | Canberra's bent designer
1876 Walter Burley Griffin, anthroposophist architect who designed Canberra, Australia’s national capital.
Rivalry between Sydney and Melbourne, Australia’s two largest cities, has always been so great, in the early 20th Century it was decided that a capital city should be founded somewhere between the two, despite the huge distances involved and the complete lack of any other reason for founding a city in the ‘middle of nowhere’. The city thus founded is 248 km from Sydney and 483 km from Melbourne.
As it was being established in the middle of sheep country (appropriately), the new capital city of Australia was named ‘Canberra’. Names flippantly suggested for the artificial city included Kangaremu, Australific, Meladneyperbane (combined names of capital cities Melbourne, Adelaide, Sydney, Perth and Brisbane). The final choice was kept a secret and announced by Lady Denman, wife of the Governor-General, when foundation stones were laid on Capital Hill, at noon on March 12, 1913. The name probably means "meeting place" in an Aboriginal language.
The city of Canberra was designed by this American anthroposophist, who placed esoteric symbols in the unusual layout of the city’s roads, public spaces and suburbs. Similar occult symbology is to be found in other examples of his work such as a large incinerator built at the Sydney suburb of Sydney.
It is widely alleged that the best thing ever to come out of Canberra is the Federal Highway.
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*Ø* Blogmanac November 24, 1963 | Patsy Day?
 It isn't right to put me in line with these teenagers ... You know what you are doing, and you are trying to railroad me ... I want my lawyer ... You are doing me an injustice by putting me out there dressed different than these other men ... I am out there, the only one with a bruise on his head ... I don t believe the lineup is fair, and I desire to put on a jacket similar to those worn by some of the other individuals in the lineup ... All of you have a shirt on, and I have a T-shirt on. I want a shirt or something ... This T-shirt is unfair.
Lee Harvey Oswald at a police lineup for Helen Markham, witness to the Tippit murder
At noon, on a street in Dallas, the president of the United States is assassinated. He is hardly dead when the official version is broadcast. In that version, which will be the definitive one, Lee Harvey Oswald alone has killed John Kennedy.
The weapon does not coincide with the bullet, nor the bullet with the holes. The accused does not coincide with the accusation: Oswald is an exceptionally bad shot of mediocre physique, but according to the official version, his acts were those of a champion marksman and Olympic sprinter. He has fired an old rifle with impossible speed and his magic bullet, turning and twisting acrobatically to penetrate Kennedy and John Connally, the governor of Texas, remains miraculously intact.
Oswald strenuously denies it. But no one knows, no one will ever know what he has to say. Two days later he collapses before the television cameras, the whole world witness to the spectacle, his mouth shut by Jack Ruby, a two-bit gangster and minor trafficker in women and drugs. Ruby says he has avenged Kennedy out of patriotism and pity for the poor widow.
Galeano, Eduardo, Memory of Fire: III ‘Century of the Wind’. Part Three of a Trilogy, translated by Cedric Belfrage, Pantheon Books, 1988, p. 183
Lee Harvey Oswald's murder on this day in 1963 is one of many items in the Wilson's Almanac Book of Days entry for November 24
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*Ø* Blogmanac | Keep Your Eye on the Prize!
The Whole World (except America) is Watching
 While all eyes of the legitimate news sources in the world were trained on the protests against Bush in England (which were quite something, by the way!) and Dubya's antics among the royals, when they weren't covering the deepening of the military actions in Iraq and Turkey and the mounting loss of life, Americans were treated to a blow by blow, minute by minute coverage of Michael Jackson's latest run-in with authorities instead of the latest news about the illegtimacy of the touch-screen voting machines AND the illegitimacy of the Iraq massacre and occupation(thanks, DUG)--to say nothing of the expansion of the Patriot Act is moving through Congress.
We watched Michael's stunned reaction to the arrest warrant--it just "happened" to be served after two days of searching his ranch which began ON THE DAY (There are NO accidents!) that his latest CD was released.
The flight back to California and the black Bronco drive were high theatre, as were the handcuffs--whose idea were those, I wonder? He obviously was not a flight risk, since he was turning himself in! Nor was he a danger to the law enforcement agents whose numbers and poundage could have squashed him like a fly.
Is there anyone who still doubts the White House control of the media and the small-minded audiences it satisfies? Does anyone doubt that there are no "free speech zones" within eyesight of the President and the cameras of the media in this, the land of the free and the home of the brave? Isn't it obvious now that mainstream media are prevented from airing any footage they might catch of the gigantic demonstrations being held here against the "leader of the free world?"
It's so depressing and frustrating that I'm tempted to say that America deserves the horror that's taking place here for simply acting as gossip hounds while its priorities go haywire.
WAKE UP, AMERICA! Even Michael Jackson would tell you that. And I'm sure even Laci Peterson would cry out from the grave that her husband's trial is not of national importance and that we should switch to Democracy Now! or our local Pacifica Station. What would our troops say if they knew how little we heard about what was really going on over there and how little their lives meant in this administration's grand scheme?
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*Ø* Blogmanac | Winding the Iraq Deathwatch
League of Liberals New Weblog Showcase Nominee
Iraq = Death
It's becoming more and more clear that America's neo-conservative regime was so blinded by its dual lust for oil and expanded empire that, not only did they fabricate lies to justify the invasion of Iraq but they also didn't bother to plan for the occupation. Now, just like Afghanistan they have what they want, energy resources and a pliant puppet regime. The rest of the country descending into chaos? That's just fine. Soon enough the war will be "won", that is, when the American people stop paying attention and we've moved on to invade Iran or Syria.
Anarchy Xero: Anarchy Xero explains it all
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Blogroll Us Sunday, November 23, 2003
*Ø* Blogmanac November 23 | St Clement and the god Wayland
 Feast day of St Clement (Pope Clement I, or Clement of Rome)
St Clement, the fourth pope of the Roman Catholic Church, the first of the successors of the Apostle St Peter about whom anything definite is known, and the first of the ‘Apostolic Fathers’, is the patron saint of tanners, as, by tradition, he was one himself. His symbol is an anchor, as he was thrown into the sea tied to an anchor. He is also patron of boatmen, marble workers, mariners, sailors, sick children, stonecutters and watermen.
He is mentioned by St Paul in Philippians, iv, 3. After Clement, or Old Clem as he was known to English blacksmiths, was martyred, two of his disciples prayed to find his remains: the sea retreated for 3 miles, and they could walk to where an angel-built chapel was, with St Clement's remains in a chest of stone, by the anchor. Every year the sea did so, on St Clement's day and remained dry for seven days.
Children in pre-Reformation England went in procession on this day, and at night, adults went out to beg a drink. Hence this day was marked with a pot on old ‘clog almanacs'.
St Clement is also patron of blacksmiths. The November 22 Almanac looked at St Clement’s Eve activities amongst that trade. At the annual blacksmiths’ feast held at Burwash, Sussex, St Clement was said to stand protectively above the tavern door.
Old Clem and Wayland the Smith
St Clement’s day marks the first day of Winter in the Julian (OS) calendar. According to Pennick (Pennick, Nigel, The Pagan Book of Days, Destiny Books, Rochester, Vermont, USA, 1992, p. 129), as patron of blacksmiths and metalworkers, Clement is an aspect of the Saxon and Norse godling Wayland the Smith, Völundr, the smith of the gods, who was the son of the giant sailor Wate and of a mermaid. Swords made by Wayland are regular properties of medieval romance. King Rhydderich gave one to Merlin – King Arthur’s famous sword Excalibur. Rimenhild made a similar gift to Child Horn.
In the Dietrich cycle of sagas, Völundr’s brother Egill was compelled to prove his skill as an archer by shooting an apple off the head of his three-year-old son; he is thus the prototype of William Tell.
 The earliest known record of the Wayland legend is the representation in carved ivory on a casket made by Northumbrian craftsmen not later than the beginning of the 8th century. English local tradition has it that Wayland Smith’s forge is in a cave close to the famous White Horse of Uffington, Berkshire, UK. If a horse that needs to be shod, or any broken tool were left with sixpence at the entrance of the cave the repairs would quickly be done.
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*Ø* Blogmanac | "Harry Grable" from the Beatles
If you're an old Beatles fan (or even a new one), and have Kazaa, you'll dig the download I just found. At only 15 megs, the compilation of early-1960s Beatles Xmas message records (released only to fan clubs) is heaps of fun and surprisingly long. I just typed in Beatles Xmas. Takes me back, as I heard some of them way back then. Aaahh.
Happy Grimble, everydobby peegle!
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*Ø* Blogmanac | Fabulous creatures
 Although my server is playing up this weekend (hence as I write, some of the pix on the Blogmanac aren't showing, I'm sorry), I am still able to work online with everything except the Scriptorium.
I'm constantly amazed by the Internet, as I am constantly dismayed by Western culture. I was searching Yahoo! Groups' Fabulous Creatures category, hoping to find a good list I could join to trawl for more information about creatures of fable such as basilisks (pictured), unicorns and sphinxes, when I found that this category's top-ranking Yahoo! Group is
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/long_legs_small_waist_big_breasts/, the FabulousBody:MoniqueDesireeTaitague group, described as:
Monique Desiree Taitague Body Appreciation Forum:Sexiest Creation in the World!! God's Gift to the World Monique Desiree Taitague.No plastic surgery!!! 36DD breasts and 18 inch waistline.The Sweetheart from Vallejo,California.
::sigh::
Perhaps she is a succubus.
That group has got 8,616 members since November 2, 2002. Wilson's Almanac at Yahoo! Groups has got about 2,550 if you include bouncers, since January 1, 2001. Maybe I should get more large breasts into the Almy, or lose the dragons. Let me know.
I note that there are 552 groups for this fabulous creature, Ms Taitague.
Worst of all, that group didn't have a picture to show so I am completely in the dark. Damn and double damn!
Still and all, out of 1,285 e-lists in our category, the Almy is the fourth largest. We must be doing something right.
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*Ø* Blogmanac | And the mark of the Beast is . . . .
Implantable Spy Chip Gets Green Light from U.S.
By Tim McDonald
NewsFactor Network
The company said the VeriChip could be combined
with a global positioning system and used for
security purposes by potential kidnap victims.
[Do I hear a collective "Yeah, right!"? -v]
Originally used to protect pets, the Verichip can be programmed to contain medical information and can be used to track political dissidents--or whomever might be a "person of interest" to the Bush Administration.
For More Orwellian horror, read on.
Thanks, Dave!
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