Aug 31 2012
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Tonight’s Special Feature-
Write more and often. This is an Open Thread.
Aug 31 2012
Cross posted from The Stars Hollow Gazette
Tonight’s Blue Moon is special since there will not be another until 2015.
The moon will wax to its full phase at 9:58 a.m. EDT (1358 GMT) today, bringing August’s full moon count to two (the first one occurred Aug. 1). Two full moons won’t rise in a single month again until July 2015. [..]
Tonight’s blue moon also happens to fall on the day of late astronaut Neil Armstrong’s memorial service. Armstrong, who on July 20, 1969 became the first person to set foot on the moon, died Aug. 25 following complications from heart surgery.
So stargazers may want to keep Armstrong’s “one small step” in mind as they gaze up tonight.
“For those who may ask what they can do to honor Neil, we have a simple request,” Armstrong’s family wrote in a statement shortly after his death. “Honor his example of service, accomplishment and modesty, and the next time you walk outside on a clear night and see the moon smiling down at you, think of Neil Armstrong and give him a wink.”
So if your sky’s are clear tonight, even if they’re not, go outside, reach up with your arms towards the moon and breath.
Aug 31 2012
#36 of the 50 greatest cartoons of all time and deservedly so. Originally posted May 11, 2011.
Aug 31 2012
Cross posted from The Stars Hollow Gazette
This is your morning Open Thread. Pour a cup of your favorite morning beverage and review the past and comment on the future.
Find the past “On This Day in History” here.
August 31 is the 243rd day of the year (244th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 122 days remaining until the end of the year.
I am very hesitant to make the death of Princess Diana the prominent story of the day but her death was a tragedy on so many levels that it is not surprising that the world nearly stood still for 6 days until her funeral. There are many things that we remember exactly where we were and what we were doing when they happened, like 9/11 and, for those of us old enough, JFK’s assassination.
I was living in Paris then not far from the site of the accident. I had been out to dinner that evening with my then ex-husband, Dr. TMC, when we heard the crash, it was that loud, and shortly after the sirens of emergency vehicles. Not unusual in Paris, so, we continued on to our destinations. It wasn’t until very early that I heard that the Princess had died and where. Paris was stunned. The site became a instant memorial.
We all sat glued to the TV for days waiting for the Queen to say something. The Queen badly underestimated the admiration that was held her former daughter-in-law. The day of her funeral Paris froze, the only time I have ever seen the city this quiet was on 9/11.
After being criticized for failing to satisfactorily match the grief of the British people, the royal family arranged for a state funeral to be held for Diana at Westminster Abbey on September 6. Diana’s coffin was taken from Kensington Palace to the Abbey on a horse-drawn gun carriage, and an estimated one million mourners lined the route. Diana’s sons, William, 15, and Harry, 12, joined their father, Prince Charles; grandfather Prince Philip; and uncle Charles, the Earl of Spencer, to walk the final stretch of the procession with the casket. The only sound was the clatter of the horses’ hooves and the peal of a church bell.
The service, watched by an estimated two billion people worldwide, sacrificed royal pomp for a more human touch. Workers associated with Diana’s various charities represented 500 of the 2,000 people invited to attend the funeral. Elton John, a friend of Diana, lent a popular touch to the ceremony when he sang “Candle in the Wind,” accompanying himself on piano. After the service, Diana’s body was taken by hearse to her family’s ancestral estate near Althorp, north of London. In a private ceremony, she was laid to rest on a tree-shaded island in a small lake, securely beyond the reach of the camera lens.
Since the death of Princess Diana, Althorp, which has been in the Spencer family for over 500 years, is now a popular tourist attraction that offers tours to the general public.
I still light a candle in her memory on this day.
Blessed Be.
Aug 31 2012
Just when you think the world can’t possibly get worse, it does.
270 miners charged in co-workers’ deaths
South African authorities have charged 270 miners with murder in the killings of 34 fellow workers, even though police are believed to have fired the fatal shots.
Whaaaaaat? Well, in fact, the South African authorities are using a sort of they made us do it defense. In an ugly throw-back to the Apartheid-era, the miners are being charged under the common purpose law:
“It’s the police who were shooting but they were under attack by the protesters, who were armed, so today the 270 accused are charged with the murders,” Frank Lesenyego, a spokesperson for the National Prosecuting Authority, told the Associated Press.
Daily News / 30 Aug 2012
Because of course, it’s always a good idea to blame the victim. This is unbelievably frightening… to now put this massacre at the feet of the miners is breathtaking. Really jaw-dropping insanity.
I mean WTF???????????
Watch out, because this is our world now and those in power (all of them) make it harder and harder for us to act on the truth as we are being buried in bullshit… being forced to accept lie after lie, no matter what we see, no matter what the facts may indicate. One can only wonder how long before police in Oakland or New York City adopt a similar strategy…
This video is amazing… look at it and bear witness; one never knows if it will disappear.
Aug 31 2012
Well Ann Romney is still the best speaker overall with Huckabee clearly second and Rice and Ryan about tied. Christie slides to 5th just ahead of Pawlenty. Everyone else is reality show bad or worse.
Remember my points are given on presentation not substance so the fact that Ryan’s speech was such a comprehensive compendium of lies that even inoffensive little words like ‘a’, ‘and’, and ‘the’ were overwhelmed by the onslaught is immaterial to the score.
Of course tonight we have our special super secret guest speaker which rumors say will be Clint Eastwood. I must say if true I consider this a mistake from 2 standpoints. Firstly I’m not sure ‘Dirty Harry’ Callahan is sufficiently ardent for the Party at this particular stage and secondly he’ll make Romney look bad. He’s already going to have competition enough from Jeb Bush who wouldn’t even be on the stage except for his institutional strength.
I think actually that will be the speech to watch tonight. Jon is not kidding when he calls this a rehearsal for ’16 because no one with any brains (and I had to set the bar that low to include the Villager Idiots) thinks there is a path to electoral victory for Mitt. What we have seen so far is the chaotic evil of the id raging anti-fairies (Fairly Odd Parents, I stand by my metaphor), Jeb is the face of the soul sucking pixies and they own this town.
There are reports that ratings are tanking and the enthusiasm among the delegates distinctly down. Other factors are contributing (Isaac) and will no doubt be blamed by those looking for excuses, but what I’m feeling is a huge emotional black hole at the center of all of this and his name is Barack Obama.
Reagan was sunshiny optimism and hope on a hill. He had goals, evil goals but still goals. These guys have nothing but hate, resentment, and fear. They won’t talk about their program for America because people justifiably don’t like it. Huge majorities, even in their own party.
However Democrats are just as bad. One of the reasons Paul Ryan is an evil hypocritical liar is that he voted against the Bowles/Simpson report. We should be thanking him instead.
The politicians are afraid of democracy. Since 2006 every election has been a “change” election and attrition has replaced many of the less firmly entrenched. There is no reason not to expect this trend to continue until conditions improve.
I’ve been watching the action on CSPAN and I highly recommend it as complete and mercifully pundit free.
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