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The Blogmanac: "On This Day" ... and much more
Think universally. Act terrestrially.
For in a hard-working society, it is rare and even subversive to celebrate too much, to revel and keep on reveling: to stop whatever you're doing and rave, pray, throw things, go into trances, jump over bonfires, drape yourself in flowers, stay up all night, and scoop the froth from the sea.
Anneli Rufus*
[The Bush administration has been trying to hide the truth of many matters behind closed doors, delay tactics, holey stories and, of course, bald-faced lies. Americans have grown up over the past three years. We know the Santa Claus story and all about the Tooth Fairy. We want the facts about 9/11. Yes! We CAN handle the truth! We MUST have the truth! We know there's something happening and we must know what it is -- before it's too late. November 4th is too late! Thank you, Stephen, for bringing this, maybe the first, but hopefully not the last, of the mainstream research of this all-important subject to the fore. -v]
I have been paying attention for some time to the movement of people who are convinced that the official 9-11 story is not the real one. An impressive amount of evidence has accumulated, with books, conferences, videos, and websites pointing to established facts that are very hard to reconcile with the official story. However, I have been waiting on publicizing any of this work widely until it felt right. That time is now.
The reason is the publication of a new book: The New Pearl Harbor: Was the Bush Administration Complicit in 9/11? It has been written by David Ray Griffin, one of the most established and respected philosophers of our day, with something like 20 books to his credit. He is a grounded, sober, and very established academic who has little to gain from a book like this and a lot to lose. I have met him and respect his work. He’s not a fringe guy fed up with the system who simply wants to undermine it. He’s a man who has devoted his life to studying and explicating the truth, mainly in the realm of philosophy and theology and he’s never done a book anything like this. Here’s his website at Claremont. While I have not read the book yet, I have ordered three copies and people whose opinions I trust and who saw advance copies say that it is a breakthrough. It does not conclude exactly what level of deception has occurred but merely illuminates just how many holes, problems, and likely illusions there are in the official story, pointing towards the necessity of a much deeper investigation.
As you may know, the 9/11 Commission will hold two days of public testimony from top people in the Bush administration at the end of this month, according to the Associated Press. Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld and CIA Director George Tenet will testify publicly in a federal commission inquiry into the Sept. 11 attacks. This will be the last official opportunity to grill them. It is thus imperative to activate a much deeper level of inquiry and activism around this information quickly.
I think this book and the 9-11 material in general will play a key role in electoral politics this year, seriously undermining Bush’s credibility, especially since he’s working to capitalize on 9-11 to win votes. The implications of this investigation are more than worrisome. What I strongly encourage people to do is read the reviews I have pasted below, order the book directly from the publisher so you can get it quickly (Amazon won’t have it in stock for a week or two), and start campaigns to the press and members of congress to bring up the questions that must be asked.
Personally, I think this is Bush’s Watergate, the scandal that can undermine his power in a way that even a $150M war chest cannot fix. It is thus vital that this investigative work is advanced and contemplated by anyone interested in removing him from power next year. I ask that you simply keep an open mind and investigate the evidence that Griffin has assembled here, making up your own mind.
*Ø* Blogmanac March 6, 1835 | Mill and Carlyle: friendship only singed, not burned
"One of the grimmest episodes in the history of combustion"
Mill's maid burned Carlyle's French Revolution history manuscript
1835 In the evening, English philosopher and former child prodigy John Stuart Mill knocked at the door of his friend, the Scottish essayist and historian Thomas Carlyle.
Mill had fostered Carlyle’s interest in the French Revolution, so Carlyle had asked his friend if he would read the manuscript of his first volume of a history that he had written on the subject.
Ashen-faced, Mill had the unpleasant duty of telling his friend that his, Mill’s, maid had mistaken for the manuscript (the only copy in those quill-pen days) for garbage, and had lit the fire with it. All that remained of the historian’s hard labours were several burned pages. Thirty-nine-year-old Carlyle had laboured for five months without income to produce the volume:
“Had Carlyle stooped to journalism and adapted himself to the every day routine of the professional man of letters – The Times, for instance, was thrown open to him – he might rapidly have won an assured position for himself. Instead, he buried himself in French history, laboured unremittingly at his French Revolution, while months passed when not a penny came into the domestic exchequer.” Cambridge History of English and American Literature (1907 - 21), Vol. XIII
Carlyle’s journal for the following day, March 7, 1835, tells the tragic story more poignantly than I can:
"Last night at tea, Mill’s tap was heard at the door. He entered pale, unable to speak; gasped out to my wife to go down and speak with Mrs Taylor whom Mill later married; and came forward (led by my hand, and astonished looks) the very picture of desperation.
"After various inarticulate utterances to merely the same effect, he informs me that my First Volume (left out by him in too careless a manner, after or while reading it) was, except four or five bits of leaves, irrevocably ANNIHILATED!
“I remember and can still remember less of it than of anything I ever wrote with such toil. It is gone, the whole world and myself backed by it could not bring that back: nay the old spirit too is fled.
“I find it took five months of steadfast, occasionally excessive, and always sickly and painful toil ...
“Mill very injudiciously stayed with us till late; and I had to make an effort and speak, as if indifferent, about other common matters: he left us however in a relapsed state.”
Mill offered a sum of two hundred pounds in compensation, which his gentlemanly friend at first declined. Carlyle changed his mind and later told Mill that he would take the money after all. He used it to buy paper, and by January, 1837 he had recreated his masterpiece. It was different, but perhaps better: Wikipedia’s article on Carlyle notes: “The resulting second version was filled with a passionate intensity, hitherto unknown in historical writing.”
George Eliot wrote, “No novelist has made his creations live for us more thoroughly than Carlyle has made Mirabeau and the men of the French Revolution … What depth of appreciation, what reverence for the great and godlike under every sort of earthy mummery!”
The French Revolution was published in three volumes (Ralph Waldo Emerson helped him publish it in America), and received great critical acclaim. Mill, of course, among the enthusiastic reviewers. Fortunately for Carlyle, eldest of nine children of a poor stone mason, sales were good and he was able to continue working at home on his writing projects.
Kindness to Mill As more evidence of the fine character of the Scottish historian, the following letter which Carlyle wrote the very next day to cheer Mill up, says it all:
7th March 1835, Chelsea
My Dear Mill, How are you? You left me last night with a look which I shall not soon forget. Is there anything that I could do or suffer or say to alleviate you? For I feel that your sorrow must be far sharper than mine; yours bound to be a passive one. How true is this of Richgter: "All Evil is like a Nightmare; the instant you begin to stir under it, it is gone."
I have ordered a Biographie Universelle this morning; - and a better sort of paper. Thus, far from giving up the game, you see, I am risking another £10 on it. Courage, my friend! Carlyle
He also wrote the day after the calamity to Sir James Fraser: “I can be angry with no one; for they that were concerned in it have a far deeper sorrow than mine: it is purely the hand of Providence; and, by the blessing of Providence, I must struggle to take it as such.” He did not mention Mill’s name to Fraser.
Writer Cullen Murphy has rightly called it “One of the grimmest episodes in the annals of combustion.”
This is just a snippet of today's stories. Read all about today in folklore, historical oddities, inspiration and alternatives, with more links, at the Wilson's Almanac Book of Days, every day. Click today's date when you're there.
*Ø* Blogmanac March 5, 1981 | Cannibal Alferd Packer exonerated
1981 USA: Alleged murderer and cannibal Alferd Packer was exonerated posthumously. However, Governor Lamm later denied Judge Kushner's request for a pardon.
The Alferd Packer case is one of the most infamous episodes of the Wild West, and a case that is far from resolved.
Alferd (or Alfred – he preferred the misspelling which he took from a badly done tattoo) Packer is often known as the only American ever convicted of cannibalism, though in reality his conviction was for murder, not cannibalism. In 1874, sometime between February 9 and April 6, Packer was embroiled in a massacre and the eating of human flesh in the snow-bound San Juan mountains (in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado). He later confessed to killing one man in self defence, and to cannibalism due to starvation, but denied having murdered.
On February 9, 1874, a party of six left for Gunnison, Colorado. At an unknown date, the party got hopelessly lost, ran out of provisions, and became snowbound in the Rockies. Packer allegedly went scouting and came back to discover one of his party, Shannon Bell, roasting human meat. According to Packer, Bell rushed him with a hatchet; Packer shot and killed him. It was Bell who had gone crazy due to starvation, and hacked the others to death with a hatchet, Packer maintained. Unfortunately, over the years, Packer’s confessions were inconsistent.
Legend has it that Judge Melville B Gerry sentenced Packer with “There was seven Democrats in Hinsdale County, but you, you voracious, man-eatin' son of a bitch, you ate five of them. I sentence you to be hanged by the neck until dead, as a warning against reducing the Democratic population of the state.”
In fact, Judge Gerry’s statement is replete with florid Victorian prose:
“I do not say these things to harrow your soul, for I know you have drunk the cup of bitterness to its very dregs, and wherever you have gone, the sting of you conscience and the goadings of remorse have an avenging Nemesis which have followed you at every turn in life and painted afresh for your contemplation the picture of the past. I say these things to impress upon your mind the awful solemnity of your situation and the impending doom which you cannot avert. Be not deceived, God is not mocked, for whatsoever a man soweth that shall he also reap. You, Alfred Packer, sowed the wind; you must now reap the whirlwind. Society cannot forgive you for the crime you have committed. It enforces the old Masonic law of a life for a life, and your life must be taken as the penalty of your crime. I am but the instrument of society to impose the punishment which the law provides. Will society cannot forgive it will forget. As the days come and go, the story of your crimes will fade from the memory of men.”
Alfred has been humorously memorialised by a movie, a musical, several cookbooks, a collector's doll, and the Alferd Packer Grill for students at the University of Colorado – all very amusing, unless of course Packer's claims of being “unjustly dealth with” [sic] are true. However, the matter is still one of much debate.
David P Bailey, Curator of History at the Museum of Western Colorado has made claims that recent forensic evidence helps vindicate Packer ...
This is just a snippet of today's stories. Read all about today in folklore, historical oddities, inspiration and alternatives, with more links, at the Wilson's Almanac Book of Days, every day. Click today's date when you're there.
*Ø* Blogmanac | Bush: Gay Marriage Wiped Out Life On Mars
Red Planet Went Pink, President Reveals
"In a nationally televised address last night on the subjects of gay matrimony and space exploration, President Bush revealed that gay marriage wiped out all life on Mars millions of years ago.
"'The Mars rover tells us that Mars at one time was host to a great civilization, perhaps even more advanced than our own,' Mr. Bush said. 'But that civilization and all living things in it were ultimately destroyed by gay marriage.'
"While the Mars rover has found evidence of water necessary for sustaining life, it has found no evidence of life itself, 'leading one to the unavoidable conclusion that gay marriage must have destroyed it,' Mr. Bush said.
"'The Martians, for all their advancements, obviously neglected to pass a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage,' Mr. Bush said. 'We follow their example at our peril.'
"In the Democratic response to the President’s speech, Sen. Evan Bayh (D-Indiana) denied that there was any evidence that the so-called Red Planet had, in the words of Mr. Bush, 'gone pink.'
"Senator Bayh went on to say that while the Mars rover had in fact discovered traces of water, the rover offered 'no evidence whatsoever' of gay Martians.
"'We now know that Mars was a wet planet,' Sen. Bayh said. 'We do not know how it got wet.'
"Later, Mr. Bush backed off his claims somewhat, saying that if gay marriage did not destroy life on Mars, then Saddam Hussein did."
*Ø* Blogmanac | Haiti - Convicted human rights violators must not be allowed power
From Amnesty International:
At least eight convicted or indicted human rights violators are currently at large in Haiti and must be brought before the justice system immediately, a new report by Amnesty International says.
Convicted human rights violators Louis Jodel Chamblain and Jean Pierre Baptiste ('Jean Tatoune') are currently leading the rebel forces circulating freely in Port-au-Prince. Amnesty International is extremely concerned that international forces present in Haiti have permitted rebel forces led by perpetrators of past abuses to effectively take control of part of the capital. The organization fears that they may join forces with former military and paramilitary colleagues who, until reportedly escaping from the National Penitentiary on Sunday, were being imprisoned on human rights grounds.
"The Multinational Interim Force must ensure that the safety of police and judicial officials, witnesses and human rights defenders who were involved in bringing these perpetrators to justice in the first place is guaranteed, as they are at risk of reprisal attacks," Amnesty International said.
*Ø* Blogmanac | Bush ads enrage 9-11 families, firefighters
Families of those who died in the attacks on 9-11 are "enraged" about Bush's exploitation of the victims in his election ads, says this story. And so are the firefighters whose colleagues died in the tragedy. I know politicians are mostly cynical, but how crass is this guy? A village in Texass is missing an idiot.
*Ø* Blogmanac | "Olympic spirit" under fire for exploitation
Sportswear industry violates the Olympics spirit "Giant sportswear brands are violating the rights of millions of workers in order to get the latest sportswear into the shops in time for the Athens Olympics, according to anti poverty campaigners and trade unions.
"In a campaign – Play Fair at the Olympics – launched in the UK today Oxfam, Trade Union Congress (TUC) and Labour Behind the Label are calling on Puma and the British Olympic Association to clean up their act ..." Source: Oxfam
[One would have thought that the Olympic spirit of competition (= winning by beating other people) was very well suited to this sort of thing. Oxfam is probably being diplomatic in order to achieve results, and who can blame it? It's also worth noting that not only sports clothing, but sporting equipment, is a key player in the international sweatshops industry organised by rich-country transnational corporations.]
"About 83% of all garments sold in the U.S. are now made offshore, as are 80 percent of the toys, 90 percent of the sporting goods, 95 percent of the shoes. The people who make these items largely work in sweatshops for pennies an hour. The companies who commission the work, the famous brand names, buffer themselves from employing slaves and children by using brokers to contract out the work" ("Keeper of the Fire," Mother Jones, July/Aug. 2003). Source
*Ø* Blogmanac | THE MORNING AFTER -- Words of Resignation
Why John Kerry is Winning By Scott Galindez t r u t h o u t | Perspective
Thursday 04 March 2004
Supporters of Dennis Kucinich and Howard Dean are not going to be happy with what I am about to say.
Two years ago, I attended Dennis Kucinich's "Prayer for America" speech, and was inspired. I was a believer, and still believe in the goals of the Kucinich campaign.
Late last year, I attended a meeting titled "From Mouse pads to Shoe Leather" sponsored by the Dean Campaign. A straight talking campaign manager named Joe Trippi convinced me that Howard Dean had the best chance to beat George Bush. The enthusiasm of the Deaniacs was very exciting, and inspiring. Dean had the right message, but was the wrong messenger. He tapped into the anger that Democratic Party activists had at George Bush, but did not convince rank and file Democrats that he was the candidate who could beat Bush.
While activists want a President who is going to shake things up, most voters are looking for a levelheaded candidate, someone they count on to lead the country through crisis. A candidate who makes them feel safe.
Most people had written the Kerry Campaign off, but the experienced staff did not panic. They knew that most voters had not made up their minds; they knew that most voters were looking for a candidate who could A- Beat Bush and B-make them feel secure that the country would be in steady hands.
John Edwards and John Kerry stayed on message, while Howard Dean made too many mistakes at the wrong times. Activists forgave Dean's blunders, but the rank and file voters didn't see the qualities they were looking for in a President. They agreed with his message, but many worried that he was a loose cannon.
Kucinich stayed on message, but did not have the organization necessary to get that message out. Most Kucinich supporters blame the media, but Howard Dean was unknown and created a story that they could not ignore.
I wish the media did some things differently, but John Kerry should not be blamed for the media overplaying the scream speech, or for not covering Kucinich and Sharpton enough. Media reform is an issue that must be pursued, but punishing the person who benefited is not fair.
Many activists agreed with Dean and Kucinich on the issues, but let's face it, most Americans don't vote on the issues the way activists do. Politics is a popularity contest; most voters vote based on image. John Edwards and John Kerry appealed to rank and file voters and the others didn't. In December, activists were focused on the campaign and they went for Dean, although the real front runner was "undecided". When January rolled around and rank and file voters tuned in, they voted for Kerry and Edwards.
I was in Iowa, and attended rallies for all the candidates. Gephardt's rallies were dominated by labor. Dean's events were full of Deaniacs from out of state wearing the orange hats. Kerry and Edwards rallies looked more diverse. They stuck to their message, and they won over the undecided. Another factor was the TV advertisements. John Kerry and John Edwards defined themselves in the Ads, while Dean and Gephardt destroyed each other with attack Ads. Kucinich ran an ad that slowly zoomed in on his face, saying something about the eyes you can trust. It was not the kind of Ad that gave you the impression that this is the guy I want to be President. The media cannot be blamed for that flawed strategy.
The bottom line is that John Kerry is winning because he is running the best campaign. In November, either John Kerry or George Bush will win the election. Like it or not, that is the choice we face.
[No, I'm not happy with what Mr. Galindez has to say. Granted, the Democratic candidate to face Bush has been (s)elected. The reasons he cites for the selection are much less clear to me. As we've learned from experience over the past few years, nothing is as simplistic as "most voters simply preferred" Kerry's staying on message. For all the reasons we've covered in previous articles, from the White House controlled media coverage of only certain candidates to Kerry's brotherhood with Bush in the Skull & Bones club, and programmable electronic voting machines, there was much more going on than a simple straight show of voters' opinions! I think Scott Galindez is being a little naive to think there wasn't. There was only one candidate who truly represented an opportunity for real change. We can continue to support his cabinet-level Department of Peace and use it as a barometer by which to judge the sincerity of the rest of Congress and the Dem candidate. Yes. Kerry is the man we must support--all the way to continuing "business as usual" under a Dem banner. -v]
*Ø* Blogmanac March 4, 1712 | England's last witchcraft conviction
1712 Hertford trial: In what was probably the last witchcraft trial in England in which a conviction was recorded, Jane Wenham, ‘the Witch of Walkern’, was tried for talking to her cat and for flying – in other words, for being a ‘wise woman’ as witches were sometimes called in that country. Wenham was accused of bewitching Matthew Gilston and Anne Thorne of Walcorne, in the county of Hereford, was declared guilty and sentenced to death.
According to the mandatory penalty at the time, Judge Powell had no choice but to condemn her to death, but through his influence she was later given a Royal Pardon, provoking a brief pamphlet war. In 1686, Alice Molland actually had the distinction of being the last to be hanged for witchcraft in England. In 1736, the old laws against witchcraft were repealed, but people could be prosecuted for the pretended exercise of supernatural powers.
The killing times In 1903 Robert Steele estimated that 70,000 victims were hanged in England, under the reign of James I alone. However, records indicate that between 1566 and 1685 fewer than 1000 people were hanged. No accurate figures are available as to the carnage throughout Britain and Europe during the era of witch hunting. The Inquisition is often credited with many deaths, and indeed many people were killed for the crimes of witchcraft and sorcery, but the figures are minor compared to those executed by the Inquisition for heresy, which was its main brief. Usually, witches before the inquisitors were dismissed as mentally ill.
The last execution for witchcraft in Scotland, however, took place in 1722 when Janet Horne was killed as the witch hunts wound down all across Europe (though as late as 1782 the last witch to be legally executed met her fate at Glarus in Switzerland). Accusations of witchcraft and sorcery still emerge from time to time in many countries of the world. As recently as 1981 a Mexican woman was stoned for practising witchcraft.
This is just a snippet of today's stories. Read all about today in folklore, historical oddities, inspiration and alternatives, with more links, at the Wilson's Almanac Book of Days, every day. Click today's date when you're there.
Today I heard a non-English-speaking-background gentleman refer to two of the causes of the declining life expectancy in many poor countries. He referred to "AIDS and warship".
That's English for you. We don't speak of "friendfare", after all, do we?
"The future of current attempts to re-establish devolution in Northern Ireland was cast into serious doubt after Ulster Unionist leader Mr David Trimble yesterday withdrew his party from the review of the Belfast [Good Friday] Agreement.
"Mr Trimble, who is meeting the British Prime Minister, Mr Tony Blair, in Downing Street today [Wednesday], insisted he would not engage further in the review until the British and Irish governments agreed to sanctions against Sinn Féin over the alleged IRA attack on Mr Bobby Tohill."
However, Vincent Browne had this to say in the Irish Times on February 25, about the same alleged attack:
A scam to sabotage NI peace?
"The primary issue to arise from the alleged attempted abduction of Bobby Tohill in Belfast on Friday evening is not whether this represents the IRA's continued paramilitarism but whether it is another scam by some security personnel to sabotage the resumption of power-sharing in Northern Ireland.
"Let me deal with the IRA paramilitarism issue first. Of course the IRA has not gone away ...
"[But] The IRA never previously, in its 30-year history, attempted to abduct a person in such a public place. No guns were involved. The attempted abduction took place in close proximity to a police station in the centre of Belfast. The person at the centre of the affair, Bobby Tohill, has given starkly divergent accounts of what happened.
"His background would seem to offer a variety of possible explanations for his involvement in a fracas. But most peculiarly, the people charged with his abduction have not been charged with membership of the IRA. If there was clear evidence for the allegation that they were members of the IRA, how come there is not evidence for charges of membership?"
Greenspan Testimony Highlights Bush Plan for Deliberate Federal Bankruptcy By Michael Meurer t r u t h o u t | Perspective
Tuesday 02 March 2004
Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan's Feb. 25 testimony to the House Budget Committee provided an unintentionally candid look at the Bush administration's deliberate fiscal policy of bankrupting the federal government to justify a sweeping program of privatization.
During his February 25 testimony before the House Budget Committee, Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan generated sensational national headlines by recommending that President Bush's $1.5 trillion in tax cuts be made permanent while Social Security and Medicare benefits be dramatically cut to achieve long term deficit reduction and a balanced budget.
In spite of the media furor and across the board condemnation by the remaining Democratic presidential candidates, there should be no reason for surprise at Greenspan's remarks. In his capacity as shill for the Bush administration, the Chairman's recommendations make perfect sense, as long as one is not foolish enough to believe the window dressing about a long term balanced budget. Mr. Greenspan is laying the groundwork for a second Bush administration, not a balanced budget. His remarks, and most of the economic policies of the Bush administration, can only be understood against the backdrop of the little remarked right wing agenda of deliberate federal bankruptcy.
From the first months of the Bush administration, when their initial breathtaking tax cuts were presented to Congress, it has been obvious that the explicit goal of this administration is to bankrupt the federal government to justify a sweeping program of privatization. Pursuing federal bankruptcy is a deliberate policy.
This administration's pursuit of bankruptcy as deliberate policy had to be extraordinarily bold from day one because public programs such as Social Security were so extraordinarily solvent into the distant future, and the underlying strength and diversity of the U.S. economy was sufficient to keep them that way if spending priorities were not radically altered. The events of 9/11 provided the perfect cover for pursuing federal bankruptcy in the guise of an open ended war on terror.
*Ø* Blogmanac March 3 | Cooke and his 'Letter' will be missed
On November 20, on his 95th birthday, we looked at the career of an extraordinary broadcaster, Alistair Cooke. Cooke's Letter from America, we noted, has been broadcast on BBC (British Broadcasting Commission) Radio every week since March 24, 1946, making it the longest-running speech broadcast program in the world. His job, as he saw it, was to explain America to the world, and he did it with great insight and empathy.
In his November 9, 2003 broadcast, Cooke revealed that in 57 years of Letter from America he has recorded the program 16 times while in hospital, but only ever missed one edition due to ill health. As reported in the Sydney Morning Herald on October 20, 2003:
“Veteran 94-year-old British-born presenter Alistair Cooke was unable to broadcast his Letter from America show this week after suffering a fall, the BBC said yesterday.”
Ever the trouper, Cooke’s only reference to his injuries in his next broadcast (October 27), lay in his opening sentence: “Where were we when I was so smashingly interrupted?”
Sadly, the great man couldn't make it to the mike again last week. Missing a second weekly broadcast after 2,869 editions must have been heartbreaking for Mr Cooke, and it's with great sadness that we learn that Letter from America has ceased due to the correspondent's frail health.
Alistair Cooke was recorded as saying that he tried hard to make every sentence "good radio". This he achieved for nearly six decades, and his Letters are classics of the genre. All 2,869 of them, I have no doubt.
I'm a newcomer to the Letter. I suppose most people under 60 are. Seriously, though, surprising as it might seem, I discovered its delights less than two years ago. However, I've tried not to miss an edition, and I will sorely miss it.
All good wishes, Alistair Cooke, for a healthy and happy retirement, and "thank you", to a man whose journalistic excellence lay not only in his longevity but in every other aspect one can think of.
1913 A large women’s suffrage parade was held in Washington, DC, USA.
Twenty-six floats, 10 bands, 6 golden chariots, and divisions of between 6,000 and 10,000 women marched by country, state, profession and occupation, the day before Woodrow Wilson took office. It is said that when Wilson arrived in town, he found the streets empty of welcoming crowds and was told that everyone was on Pennsylvania Avenue watching the parade.
This is just a snippet of today's stories. 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 when you're there.
I don’t know if you ever saw the movie “Good Will Hunting” that came out in 1997. It had some eerily prescient dialog. ----------------------------
Will: Why shouldn't I work for the N.S.A.? That's a tough one, but I'll give it a shot.
Say I'm working at N.S.A. Somebody puts a code on my desk, something nobody else can break. So I take a shot at it and maybe I break it. And I'm real happy with myself, 'cause I did my job well. But maybe that code was the location of some rebel army in North Africa or the Middle East. Once they have that location, they bomb the village where the rebels were hiding and fifteen hundred people I never had a problem with get killed.
Now the politicians are sayin', send in the marines to secure the area 'cause they don't give a shit. It won't be their kid over there, gettin' shot. Just like it wasn't them when their number was called, 'cause they were pullin' a tour in the National Guard. It'll be some guy from Southie takin' shrapnel in the ass. And he comes home to find that the plant he used to work at got exported to the country he just got back from. And the guy who put the shrapnel in his ass got his old job, 'cause he'll work for fifteen cents a day and no bathroom breaks.
Meanwhile, my buddy from Southie realizes the only reason he was over there was so we could install a government that would sell us oil at a good price. And of course the oil companies used the skirmish to scare up oil prices so they could turn a quick buck. A cute little ancillary benefit for them but it ain't helping my buddy at two-fifty a gallon. And naturally they're takin' their sweet time bringin' the oil back, and maybe even took the liberty of hiring an alcoholic skipper who likes to drink martinis and play slalom with the icebergs, and it ain't too long 'til he hits one, spills the oil and kills all the sea life in the North Atlantic.
So my buddy's out of work and he can't afford to drive, so he's got to walk to the job interviews, which sucks 'cause the shrapnel in his ass is givin' him chronic hemorrhoids. And meanwhile he's starvin' 'cause every time he tries to get a bite to eat the only blue plate special they're servin' is North Atlantic scrod with Quaker State.
So what do I think? I'm holdin' out for somethin' better.
Why not just shoot my buddy, take his job and give it to his sworn enemy, hike up gas prices, bomb a village, club a baby seal, hit the hash pipe and join the National Guard?
I could be elected president.
[I think it was similar thinking that affected the main character, played by Michael Douglas, in the movie "Falling Down." He'd done his best working for the defense (D FENS) industry and where did it get him? Oh, sure. These are "just movies." LOL! Art imitates life -- not the reverse. -v]
*Ø* Blogmanac | Bottom line: "Bush is an asshole," Chavez
[Commentary Mine: Jeffrey Sachs guested on Charlie Rose Show on PBS and strongly fought for the contention that Aristide was kidnapped by the U.S. Naturally, the U.S. Ambassador to Haiti strongly fought against that contention.
Following Charlie Rose, Tavis Smiley reported that he had expected his Monday night show to be an interview with President Aristide of Haiti. However, prior to his leaving for Haiti on Saturday afternoon, he received a phone call from the U.S. State Department, telling him that "it" was "coming down" on Saturday night or Sunday and that the subject of his interview would not be available due to "assassination or something" and that it would be better if he cancelled his trip. You do the math.
The archives of both shows on PBS are worth checking out. You can listen to shows you missed. Some of the guest speakers are well worth re-visiting!
By the way, Jeffrey Sachs in an example of a Harvard graduate. It's hard to imagine Bush as being in the same "caste," isn't it? LOL! Jeffrey actually attended classes and did the work--that's the difference! -v]
Aristide Kidnapped by U.S. Forces? By William Rivers Pitt t r u t h o u t | Perspective
Monday 1 March 2004
"Beyond the mountains, more mountains." - old Haitian proverb
The front pages of major American newspapers and the talking heads on the news channels would have you believe that the resignation of Jean-Bertrand Aristide from his presidency in Haiti was voluntary. Questions have been raised, however, about the manner in which his departure unfolded. In short, there is mounting evidence to suggest that Aristide was removed involuntarily from power by American forces.
Randall Robinson, founder of TransAfrica and a close friend to Aristide, was interviewed on CNN by Wolf Blitzer on Monday afternoon about the events unfolding in Haiti. Robinson, who is one of the few people to actually speak with Aristide since yesterday, said, "We have undertaken a coup against a democratically elected government in Haiti." Congressman Charles Rangel, who also spoke to Aristide, said later on CNN, "He was kidnapped. He resigned under pressure. He and his wife had no idea where he was going. He was very apprehensive for his life."
For the last several weeks, rebel forces have waged war against the government of Aristide. Hundreds of Haitians have been killed, many of whom were supporters of Aristide. As the rebel forces drew closer to the capital, the status of Aristide's leadership became more uncertain. An attempt to craft a power-sharing agreement between Aristide and the rebels failed when the rebels refused any terms that kept Aristide in office. The endgame began when Secretary of State Colin Powell, who had previously been espousing a hands-off policy regarding American intervention, told Aristide that the security being provided him by America would be removed. Such an action would have left Aristide completely exposed to the surging rebel forces.
President Aristide: 'I Was Kidnapped', 'Tell The World It Is A Coup' Democracy Now!
Monday 01 March 2004
Multiple sources that just spoke with Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide told Democracy Now! that Aristide says he was "kidnapped" and taken by force to the Central African Republic. Congressmember Maxine Waters said she received a call from Aristide at 9am EST. "He's surrounded by military. It's like he is in jail, he said. He says he was kidnapped," said Waters. She said he had been threatened by what he called US diplomats. According to Waters, the diplomats reportedly told the Haitian president that if he did not leave Haiti, paramilitary leader Guy Philippe would storm the palace and Aristide would be killed. According to Waters, Aristide was told by the US that they were withdrawing Aristide's US security.
TransAfrica founder and close Aristide family friend Randall Robinson also received a call from the Haitian president early this morning and confirmed Waters account. Robinson said that Aristide "emphatically" denied that he had resigned. "He did not resign," he said. "He was abducted by the United States in the commission of a coup." Robinson says he spoke to Aristide on a cell phone that was smuggled to the Haitian president.
Chavez Calls Bush 'Asshole' as Foes Fight Troops Reuters
Sunday 29 February 2004
CARACAS, Venezuela -- Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez called President Bush an "asshole" on Sunday for meddling, and vowed never to quit office like his Haitian counterpart as troops battled with opposition protesters demanding a recall referendum against him.
Chavez, who often says the U.S. is backing opposition efforts to topple his leftist government, accused Bush of heeding advice from "imperialist" aides to support a brief 2002 coup against him.
"He was an asshole to believe them," Chavez roared at a huge rally of supporters in Caracas.
The Venezuelan leader's comments came as fresh violence broke out on the streets of the capital, where National Guard troops clashed with opposition protesters pressing for a vote to end his five-year rule.
Military helicopters roared in low runs overhead as soldiers fired tear gas and plastic bullets to repel several hundred opposition demonstrators who threw stones and set up burning barricades in eastern Caracas late into the night.
Troops and opposition activists also skirmished in other cities.
David and Chad Sow peas, good or bad. English traditional proverb: sow peas regardless of weather, today and St David's Day (yesterday)
Feast day of St Chad (Ceadda), bishop of Lichfield (Dwarf cerastium, Cerastium pumilum, is today's plant, dedicated to this saint) Ceadda was actually a pre-Christian deity of healing springs and holy wells. His symbol was Crann Bethadh, the tree of life ...
St Chad lore for wells and fountains Today is the day to clean and groom holy wells and fountains, known in Britain as well-dressing.
Other days include Ascension Day, when in places such as Lichfield in England, villagers walked around the boundaries of the cathedral precinct area, carrying elm boughs and beating the eight places where wells had once been or still were present. In some places, such as Wirksworth, England, Pentecost Day was a day for well dressing.
Wells traditionally have mystical significance. Even today, wishing wells are common in parks and even may be found in shopping malls. Ancient Britain gives us many well customs. The first water drawn from a well on January 1 is supposed to bring fortune and happiness, and is called 'the cream of the well'. It is customary to leave petals floating on the water. The wells at Wark, in Northumberland, UK, are supposed to have magical powers on New Year's Day. In Wales, drawing fresh spring water as a New Year's Day custom might have survived at the town of Tenby as late as the 1950s.
It was believed by the Druids of Britain that when a new spring or well bubbled up, its location was like a bridge or doorway to eternity, and eternal life that may sometimes be had by drinking of the waters there (cf, baptism). The Chalice Well, at Glastonbury, England (the Avalon of King Arthur) is one such sacred site ... (more well lore)
This is just a snippet of today's stories. 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 when you're there.
*Ø* Blogmanac | Calling all "Super Tuesday" Voting Americans!
Setting Our Compass
Tomorrow, the sun rises on a day when you can help chart our destiny as a country. A vote is more than a popularity contest. It involves more than weighing positions. Each vote is an arrow pointed towards our future. It is how we set our compass as a nation. What is the future that we want to create? How boldly do we dream?
As you stand at the polling booth, I encourage you to imagine the many generations still to come. Imagine the billions of people in other countries that will be impacted but cannot vote in this election. Imagine the millions of species that are affected by how gracefully we walk on this earth. It is an awesome responsibility, this charting of America’s future. And perhaps no election in our lifetime has been as weighty.
I ask you to let the enormity of it affect you so that you do not choose from fear. Or media pronouncements. Or popularity. I ask you to choose from love: love for yourself, love for your family and community, love for your country, and love for future generations. Let your vote point us towards a future that you can be proud of having helped to create.
For me, the choice is crystalline clear. A vote for Dennis Kucinich is a statement of support for what we are becoming as a country and an act of compassion for the billions who will be affected by this election but who cannot vote in it. Kucinich’s stands on universal health care, world peace, education, sustainability, social justice, human rights, and protection from corporate corruption are the compass setting towards the America that I want to live in.
The new vision of America is one in which we blaze as a beacon of truth, justice, and freedom and take a strong leadership role in creating a new vision for the world, one that does not include war, poverty, exploitation, and environmental degradation.
Dennis Kucinich does more than dream of this new America. He advances practical policies that build the dream, brick by brick. He leads with truth, clarity, and tenacity. Join us by voting for him tomorrow and bringing this new vision of America to life.
"Prime Minister John Howard has agreed to set up an independent inquiry into pre-war intelligence on Iraq's banned weapons, as recommended by a parliamentary inquiry.
"The committee has found that Australia's intelligence agencies may have overstated the evidence that Iraq had stocks of banned weapons before the war last year ...
"Labor foreign affairs spokesman Kevin Rudd says the report has exposed a number of failings by the government.
"'This report is a catalogue of intelligence failure, it is a catalogue of a government cherry picking the intelligence advice it received to suit its own political objective,' he said.
"The Greens Leader Bob Brown says a new inquiry, headed by a former intelligence expert, is not good enough, and wants a judicial inquiry.
"'It's totally inadequate to have a former spy doing a review of how our spy agencies work ...
"'The question is how did the Prime Minister come to mislead Australia with threats of mammoth death and destruction if Saddam Hussein wasn't put out of action.'" ... Source
Our thoughts go to people in parts of Western Australia now reeling under Cyclone Monty. Reports coming in of winds of 210 kph might make good headlines, but it must be terrifying to live through such forces of weather. Although the path of the hurricane isn't heavily populated, there are still plenty of settlements. A lot of people will probably be living in light timber housing, or Aboriginal camps around the countryside. Good luck to you all.
David Hicks and more than 600 men are being held in Guantanamo without trial, in inhumane conditions, for Bush's poilitical purposes. Perhaps the tables could be turned and Americans with consciences could make this international disgrace election issue No. 1 in 2004.
Click images for enlargement
Play highlights Hicks's detention "The father of Guantanamo Bay detainee, David Hicks, hopes a play about his son's experiences will show people the inhumane conditions under which he is being held. The play is showing as part of the Adelaide Fringe.
"David Hicks has been held in Guantanamo Bay for more than two years, and the play X-Ray reveals a day in the life of the detainee, set in a replica of his cell at Camp X-Ray.
"His father, Terry Hicks, yesterday saw the play and says it was extremely emotional and difficult for him to watch.
"'Particularly when it's your own son, yes it's pretty hard going,' he said.
"Producer Chris Tugwell says he approached the Hicks family after seeing images of Guantanamo detainees ..." Source: ABC (Oz)
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Free David Hicks!
"David Hicks has been held without charge in the US military camp at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba for more than two years. In November, US Major Michael Mori was appointed as his military 'defence counsel''.
"On January 21, Mori launched an attack on the US military tribunal process claiming Hicks was unlikely to receive a fair trial. He also denounced the agreement by the Australian government to allow the US — rather than Australia — to try Hicks for any offences he is alleged to have committed.
"'The military commissions will not provide a full and fair trial', Mori told reporters in Washington on January 21. 'The commission process has been created and controlled by those with a vested interest only in convictions.' ...
Courts vs Bush? "A ruling in favour of those detained would result in one of the biggest ever clashes between the US courts and the administration. Some evidence suggests that the Supreme Court may rule against Bush. In December, the New York federal appeals court ruled two to one that the government had no authority to declare Jose Padilla an enemy combatant, and therefore strip him of his legal rights. Padilla is a US citizen who was arrested on US soil ..." Source: Green Left
Looks like Ozzies will have to cool it with the New Zealand jokes for a little while. Peter Jackson's eleven Oscars for the latest Bored of the Rings flick, equalling the record of Ben Hur and Titanic, is an impressive achievement.
Especially for a Kiwi. (Sorry, just had to get a last dig in.)
*Ø* Blogmanac March 1 | New Year's Day, ancient Rome
New Year Hestia, in all dwellings of men and immortals Yours is the highest honour, the sweet wine offered First and last at the feast, poured out to you duly. Never without you can gods or mortals hold banquet.
The Vestal Virgins rekindled the sacred fire of the Temple of Vesta on this day. The Roman goddess Vesta (analogous to Hestia in Greek mythology) and her sacred fire were considered tightly bound to the fortunes of the city, and failure to show proper respect for either was punishable by death.
Vesta's fire could only be rekindled by a burning glass, or by friction on a piece of wood from a fruit tree. In Roman homes, a small cake would be thrown on the fire for Vesta, and it was considered a good omen if it burnt with a crackle.
It was a New Year custom, as with today's Christmas, for the Romans to present gifts (strenae) with accompanying good wishes. The word is connected with the name of a Sabine tutelary goddess, Strenia. From her precinct beside the Via Sacra at Rome consecrated branches were carried up to the Capitoline today. The strenae consisted of branches of bay and palm, sweetmeats made of honey, and figs or dates, and these were supposed to bring joy and happiness in the forthcoming year. The fruits were covered in gold leaf as they are today in Germany – the word as well as the custom, survives in the French word etrennes.
The pontifex maximus (head of the Roman religion, from where the current Roman Catholic Pontiff, or Pope, gets his title) today had the privilege of choosing the priest known as flamen dialis, from a list of three candidates nominated by the college of pontificates or pontiffs. Today, also, the old laurel branches around the doors of the regia (home of the pontifex maximus), rex sacrorum, the great flamines, the curiae, and the temple of Vesta were replaced by new branches, bringing to mind the Christian custom of taking down Christmas trees, holly and other decorations at Epiphany ...
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Today was also the Matronalia, a women's festival dedicated to the goddess Juno Lucina.
Women and girls prayed to her and brought offerings where the goddess was represented veiled, with a flower in her right hand, and an infant in swaddling clothes in her left. Prayers for prosperity in marriage were offered.
By the second century BCE, this aspect of Juno was associated with childbirth because the name lucina was thought to have come from the Latin word lux (light); thus, when a child was born it was said to have been "brought to light". In this aspect the goddess was a lunar deity, often paired with Diana and depicted as holding a torch.
In the worship of Juno Lucina, women had to untie knots and unplait their hair – sympathetic magic to prevent entanglements in the delivery of babies. In Roman homes, prayers were offered for prosperity in marriage, and women waited on the slaves, just as the men did at the Saturnalia ...
These are just snippets of today's stories. 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 when you're there.
Still lying: Bush bio on State Department web site inflates Guard service record Date: Saturday, February 28 @ 09:27:10 EST Topic: Commander-In-Thief By Walter V. Robinson, Boston Globe
Questions remain about President Bush's long-ago service in the Texas Air National Guard. But the basic outline of his Guard service is not in dispute: After a year in flight school, Bush spent five months learning how to fly an F-102 fighter-interceptor and then 22 months as a part-time pilot. He stopped flying in April 1972 -- 30 months before his formal commitment would normally have ended.
Nonetheless, the biography of Bush on the US State Department's website credits him with almost six years in the F-102's cockpit -- two years on active duty flying the plane and nearly four more years of part-time service as an F-102 pilot. The websites of at least five American embassies -- those in Germany, Italy, Pakistan, Vietnam, and South Korea -- use the identical language, even though Bush spent barely two years flying the airplane.
After the 2000 election, when evidence of Bush's abbreviated flying career and his propensity to miss required drills became public, the presidential biography written for the White House website made no mention of the period of Bush's service, only that he served as an F-102 pilot.
*Ø* Blogmanac | Think fast, forward fast! For Super Tuesday!
Here's an excellent article from author Anodea Judith (Wheels of Life and Eastern Body, Western Mind ) on why it is so vital to vote for Dennis Kucinich next Tuesday. Forward it freely!
["We know what we are, but not what we may become." -v]
CATERPILLAR OR BUTTERFLY, WHICH DO YOU CHOOSE? By Anodea Judith
The present moment is a cauldron of staggering potential and awesome responsibility. Never before have American citizens had such ability to influence the political climate, nor has there ever been such absolute necessity for us to do so.
We are, quite simply, facing the ultimatum of traditional rites of passage: transform or die. Which do we choose?
Collectively, we are undergoing a profound transformation, a change from an adolescent "use-it-all-now" attitude to one of sustainable maturity that can parent a global future. In this transformation, we are like the caterpillar, entering the chrysalis to become a butterfly.
Prior to this transformation, a caterpillar eats voraciously, consuming all it can. Then it outgrows its skin, repeatedly, getting more and more bloated, slows down, and loses all freedom as it enters the confines of the chrysalis. The military-industrial-corporate-media complex, designed for consumption, the bloated Pentagon budget, and the Homeland Security Act that is curbing our freedom draw obvious parallels. The majority of cells in this country are still in the caterpillar stage, unknowing of what they might become.
Yet, inside the chrysalis, a miraculous thing occurs. Tiny cells begin to appear, called "imaginal cells," wholly different from the caterpillar cells, vibrating at a different frequency -- so different, in fact, that the caterpillar's immune system vigorously attacks them. The media is the immune system of the old network, keeping the old memes alive, even as they lead us into stagnation and possible death. They continue to attack anyone that has a new way, such as Dennis Kucinich. Still, these new cells continue to appear, carrying the blueprint of the future organism.
As these cells become more numerous, they find each other, clump together, and form new networks and clusters that organize and differentiate into varied tasks. At a certain point in this proliferation, the new cells recognize each other as a wholly different organism and become so strong and numerous that the organism changes identity and reroutes its immune system. The caterpillar body then becomes the nutrient for the emerging butterfly.
Dennis Kucinich is an imaginal cell, dancing to the beat of a different drummer, a shaper of the future, not the past. He alone has demonstrated the wisdom of redirecting the Defense Department's overactive immune system into a Department of Peace. He alone courageously addresses the overconsumption of corporatism and speaks of redirecting those resources into a system that works for the many, not the few. He alone sees the role of global leadership that America can play in the quest for world peace and justice. Dennis Kucinich is the one candidate who possesses the spiritual maturity to lead our larva-like culture into its glorious emergence.
But he can't do it alone. We are the cells within this collective body. We can decide where to place our alignment -- with the dying caterpillar, choking on its own consumption, or the imaginal cells of the future. We can organize behind a vision for the future and we can support the mouthpiece of this organism who dares to speak for our dreams. We can get out the vote, and vote for Dennis Kucinich as a statement of who we are and who we are inevitably becoming.
As imaginal cells, we can use our power of imagination along with our donations and our sweat equity. We can visualize -- as a daily meditation -- a surge of support so profound the media cannot ignore it. We can use our own minds and mouths and keyboards to spread the word. We can align ourselves with progressive values of peace, sustainability, equality, and restoration. We not only can but we must if we are to survive the transformation.
Sadie Hawkins Day is actually in November There is a tradition that women may make a proposal of marriage to men only on February 29; this is a tightening of an older tradition that such proposals may only occur on leap years. In 1288 the Scottish parliament legislated that any woman could propose in Leap Year. The man may, of course, refuse but, by tradition, he should soften the blow by providing a kiss, one pound currency and a pair of gloves (some later sources say a silk gown). This law was adopted in France, Switzerland and Italy and the tradition was carried to America.
In Al Capp's comic strip Li'l Abner, a similar custom called ‘Sadie Hawkins Day’ was commemorated on or around November 9 each year. On Sadie Hawkins Day, in the hillbilly town of Dogpatch, a race was held for spinsters, in pursuit of all the local bachelors who must marry if caught. 'Sadie Hawkin's Day' functions are still held in some places, and by association with the older tradition, sometimes now occur on or around February 29.
I have no idea what the custom is if either the spinster or bachelor should happen to be bissextile.
This is just a snippet of today's stories. 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 when you're there.
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1835 In the evening, English philosopher and former child prodigy John Stuart Mill knocked at the door of his friend, the Scottish essayist and historian Thomas Carlyle. 
1981 USA: Alleged murderer and cannibal Alferd Packer was exonerated posthumously. However, Governor Lamm later denied Judge Kushner's request for a pardon.
Sportswear industry violates the Olympics spirit
1712 Hertford trial: In what was probably the last witchcraft trial in England in which a conviction was recorded, Jane Wenham, ‘the Witch of Walkern’, was tried for talking to her cat and for flying – in other words, for being a ‘wise woman’ as witches were sometimes called in that country. Wenham was accused of bewitching Matthew Gilston and Anne Thorne of Walcorne, in the county of Hereford, was declared guilty and sentenced to death. 
"The future of current attempts to re-establish devolution in Northern Ireland was cast into serious doubt after Ulster Unionist leader Mr David Trimble yesterday withdrew his party from the review of the Belfast [Good Friday] Agreement.
On 
Meanwhile, my buddy from Southie realizes the only reason he was over there was so we could install a government that would sell us oil at a good price. And of course the oil companies used the skirmish to scare up oil prices so they could turn a quick buck. A cute little ancillary benefit for them but it ain't helping my buddy at two-fifty a gallon. And naturally they're takin' their sweet time bringin' the oil back, and maybe even took the liberty of hiring an alcoholic skipper who likes to drink martinis and play slalom with the icebergs, and it ain't too long 'til he hits one, spills the oil and kills all the sea life in the North Atlantic. 
St Chad lore for wells and fountains
New Year
Prior to this transformation, a caterpillar eats voraciously, consuming all it can. Then it outgrows its skin, repeatedly, getting more and more bloated, slows down, and loses all freedom as it enters the confines of the chrysalis. The military-industrial-corporate-media complex, designed for consumption, the bloated Pentagon budget, and the Homeland Security Act that is curbing our freedom draw obvious parallels. The majority of cells in this country are still in the caterpillar stage, unknowing of what they might become. 
Sadie Hawkins Day is actually in November 