Today in history, greetings, and social banter here. (More)
Simon de Montfort convened England’s first parliament at the Palace of Westminster today (1265). Also, Władysław I the Elbow-high became King of Poland (1320), Martín Enríquez de Almanza founded the city of León, Mexico (1576), deposed King Charles I was placed on trial for treason, concluding the second phase of the English Civil War (1649), Britain, France, and Spain signed a treaty returning almost all of the territories seized from each other during the American War of Independence (1783), Britain occupied Hong Kong (1841), LaMarcus Adna Thompson patented the roller coaster (1885), the U.S. Senate approved the lease of Pearl Harbor as a naval base (1887), the American Civil Liberties Union was founded (1920), Turkey adopted her first constitution (1921), In Old Arizona with Oscar-winner Warner Baxter as the Cisco Kid opened as the first full-length talking motion picture filmed primarily on location (1929), Fujifilm was founded in Tokyo (1934), Britain’s Edward VIII began his 11-month reign (1936), senior Nazi officials met at the Wannsee Conference to plan the “Final Solution to the Jewish Question” (1942), President Harry Truman proposed his Point Four Plan in his inaugural address (1949), the short-lived National Negro Network, the first black-owned radio network, was founded with 40 affiliates (1954), President Ronald Reagan was inaugurated and, minutes later, the 52 remaining U.S. hostages were released in Iran (1981), Martin Luther King Jr. Day was celebrated for the first time as a federal holiday (1986), at least 133 Azerbaijani civilians were killed by Soviet troops in Baku’s Black January (1990), China announced new restrictions on internet cafés (1999), Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo was sworn in as President of the Philippines, deposing Joseph Estrada to conclude the non-violent EDSA II Revolution (2001), witnesses spotted the Princess of Whales, a juvenile bottlenose whale who had swum up the Thames to London (2006), and Henry Cookson, Rupert Longsdon, Rory Sweet, and Paul Landry reached the Southern pole of inaccessibility after a 47-day, 1093-mile kite-skiing journey, making them the first team to do so without mechanical assistance (2007). And 1000-2000 Icelanders banged pots and pans outside the parliament building to protest the economic crisis, in what the media dubbed the Kitchenware Revolution (2009).
+++++
Yesterday on Campus
Things We Did This Week – Share your stories of offline political activism!
Morning Feature – Records in Pink (Meta Monday)
Midday Matinee – Linda Lee with A Bankrupt Church
Campus Question – With 1% soon to hold over half of the world’s wealth, will any nation implement OxFam’s seven-point plan to reduce inequality?
Our Earth – New Earth-like Planets
Today on Campus
Morning Feature – The Squirrel with President Obama vs. the Sheriffs of Nuttingham
Midday Matinee – Tuesday’s Tale: Toilet Paper
Campus Question at 6pm ET
+++++
Good morning! ::hugggggs::
Good morning! It’s a partly cloudy 13 degrees here. It looks like it’s going to be like this all week, cold, but no snow. I spent yesterday afternoon having discussions with various family members. My father is not doing well at all, and it’s now just a matter of “when,” not “if.” We’ve had funeral plans in place for a decade now, so it’s not unexpected. Then my cousin called to discuss that, and also vent about our idiot cousin. More soap opera drama, and as a distraction, all of us are taking bets on “when exactly will reality hit her.”
I’m very sorry about your father, Norbrook. Even when you know it’s coming, it’s not easy.
I take it the “idiot cousin” is the one who thinks that everyone should take care of her in the way she prefers? Good luck on reality. Some people seem to evade it permanently.
My father has Alzheimers, and entered a nursing home 12 years ago, when he reached the stage of not being able to take care of himself, and our ability to care for him. We were told at the time to expect him to pass away with a year to eighteen months. The estimate turned out to be badly wrong.
Yes, that is the cousin who thinks she’s entitled. She “has a plan” – which won’t work, and she’s about out of her social services benefits.
Sorry about the news of your father. He must be getting wonderful care in the nursing home.
Thanks. It’s one of the better nursing homes in the state, and it also doesn’t hurt that he has a big family who watches everything like a hawk. 😉
Sorry to hear of your father. Best to you and your family.
Sorry about your father Norbrook. That has to be hard to watch. Hugs.
Sorry to hear about your dad, Norbrook. Always seems like there’s a rogue relative making things a little worse than needs be.
My sincere condolences on your father’s failing health, Norbrook.
::hugggggs::
No news on this end, which is usually a good thing. 😉 I worked yesterday, got everything done I needed to, and finished up what was left of the day (about an hour) watching Miss Fisher’s Mysteries, an Australian series that is delightful, start to finish. Full of vibrant, quirky characters, and definitely adult.
Phrynie Fisher is a flapper, but that belies her background as a nurse in WWI. A few flashbacks tell us what happened to her then, and certainly help us to understand how she became so devil-may-care and unconventional. The period is reproduced faithfully and beautifully, while teasing us with mysteries Miss Phrynie solves with the aid of an initially reluctant Detective Inspector, her companion (a young woman who is slowly overcoming her strict upbringing) and two communist cab drivers who have plenty of opinions of their own. They seem like odd helpers for the wealthy Miss Phrynie, but she attracts and likes people of all sorts. Young and beautiful, and oh so smart. 🙂
If you get the chance to see this program, don’t miss it.
Hugggs and good morning!
Wonderful series. Phryne has her own web site. http://phrynefisher.com/ I can recommend all 20 books in the series.
Thanks, Jim. The TV series is so wonderful I was wondering about the books. You answered me.
On TV, Winter? Netflix, or some other platform?
Netflix. 🙂 The best Christmas present my son could have given us.
Our PBS stations carry Miss Fisher. Both MPT and WETA.
Found: a good man.
Since I’m in Fla now, found my way to the golf course. Yesterday, I played and shared a golf cart with a pleasant fellow. At one point he asked what I did before retiring. Explained that I was a former hospital administrator and that gave him the opening to share this story: A local single mom was struggling, doing her best to raise her two kids, when she met my golf partner, establishing a nice friendship. Learning of her struggles to raise two young teenagers, my new golf friend offered to pay for their education, providing they give it their best effort to succeed in their studies. Done. One is still in school, the other just finished her masters degree in hosp admin and was just hired by a Broward County health facility.
I mentioned how amazing doing something like that is and he said “not such a big deal, they went to local colleges so not too expensive.” He also mentioned his 6 grandkids but said he hears more from his “adopted” kids than from his grandkids.
Since this country thinks it’s now a good idea to cut Pell grants, we need more fellows like my golfing buddy. Of course, if the Republicans agree with President Obama, maybe we’ll have free community colleges soon. Yeah.
One of our Thanksgiving topics was the cost of college educaiton. One of my cousins works at a community college, and she’s seen the struggles people have to get through and pay for it. Most of my generation remembers when you could get through with not much debt, unlike today. 🙁
What a wonderful person to meet, Mike. 🙂 He sounds like a truly great man. I’m glad you ran into him and that you shared his story.
What a heartwarming story!
Yup, people like your golfing buddy make me hopeful for the future.
Good Morning. I am going to redeem one of my Christmas gifts and will have a massage later this morning. Big grin here in anticipation.
Then I’m going to the bank. My credit card got hacked and I canceled it. I only have one which is awkward. Strange place to be and I don’t use my debit card for anything but the ATM. I need a second backup credit card.
Otherwise it is nice weather. Hope everyone has a nice day. 🙂
Shouldn’t you schedule the massage for after the bank? You’ll probably need it more then. Sorry to hear that your card got hacked, it’s happening more and more often. 🙁
I scheduled the massage before the credit card hack but you make a good point. The script may go like zoombie gets credit card.
Your credit card got hacked again? Is this the third time in the last year or so? Wow, you’re making me nervous.
Enjoy your massage. That sounds like heaven!
Sometimes, after reading about all the credit card issues, I think the tech and business sectors may go “Hey, we have this brand-new secure method of payment! It’s called a check!”
Except my daughter’s checks got stolen and then forged. When she found out about it, she went to the bank and the hassles were huge. You get less of a hassle when you dispute your credit card and cancel it. Truly.
I had a cousin whose cancelled checks were taken from the trash and cashed. Her bank called her, said she’d have to make good on the losses… Really.
Ouch! Not right at all.
I should have added a /snark tag. The problem for banks with this is that they’re on the hook for these charges, and then they turn around and fail miserably at pushing security. (sigh)
The problem with both retailers and banks is that they ignored security and wrote hacks off as the cost of doing business. The hackers took the opportunity to waltz through.
This is the third hack and second replacement. Last time, we’ll just watch very closely. I have text alerts whenever it is used which makes me comfortable.
I won’t be seeing the movie “American Sniper” mostly becuase I don’t go to the movies much. It is a hot topic in Minnesota because former Gov. Jesse Ventura sued the author’s widow for defamation and won a $1.8 m settlement.
Now the controversy over the movie has led to cacellations of press access.
http://www.startribune.com/entertainment/movies/289097651.html
Apparently the book contains a number of lies. That may be so. But after having spent an entire afternoon interviewing a SEAL sniper, I don’t care to see it “glorified.” The sniper I spoke to didn’t glorify his job. He was frank about it, did what he was required to do, and lived with the memories. He certainly didn’t consider himself a hero. Some of his descriptions chilled me to the bone. He paid for it with PTSD and nightmares, faces he had seen through his scope that he never forgot.
From what I’ve read, in real life this guy was a sociopath.
Good morning!
Kenny was by yesterday to help me load the topper onto the truck bed. Thanks buddy! Then, he took me out to lunch at a new Mexican place he wanted to try, he picked up the tab and the tip. Thanks again buddy! He found out they have his brand, Stag, on tap. I’m thinking he’ll be back….
Didn’t get started on the woodpile ’till around 2, but still managed to get the third rick completed. Now, if I can just get one more we’ll be set!
The truck is loaded for a run down to Eden and the trash transfer station. We have lunch plans and a shopping list, hope all is well with all of you!
Best, G
PS: SOTU speech tonight, 8 local time!
Sounds like a productive and fun day! Kenny is a great friend as I’m sure you are to him. 🙂
I will be watching the SOTU speech. I may turn off the commentary after Chris Matthews second interruption of another speaker.
Try the White House web site.
I’m no fan of Tweety either…..
Have a great day, G. 🙂 Sounds like you had a pretty good one with Kenny yesterday, too.
Planning to watch SOTU tonight, but also planning to turn it off as soon as it’s over. I can evaluate what I hear, so I’ll leave the spin to those who want it.
Yeah, the address is in plain English, then somebody feels the need to tell us what was said….
Keystone XL will not be a free ride for Republicans. A group of Senate Democratic Caucus members, led by Independent Bernie Sanders, filed an amendment to Keystone XL bill that imposes a two-year moratorium on Postal Service cuts. The Democrats in the Senate are learning the minority party ropes.