Surfers, Black Lives Matter, and the Star Count: It’s the news roundup from Britain

Notes from the U.K.

Let’s start with the star count: Back in the winter sometime, I posted information about an effort to study light pollution by asking people to count the stars they could see inside the constellation Orion. If you’d like to see the map that compiled from that study, here’s the link.

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I know I said the news was from Britain, but what the hell, I’m sitting in Britain and I’m typing this, so this comes from Britain, even if the news is from the U.S. It’s too good to miss: Someone from Nebraska is suing every gay person on the planet. In federal court.

She’s not claiming gay people have broken any laws. In fact, her hand-written, seven-page statement doesn’t talk about law. She quotes the Bible and she quotes a dictionary.

Now, I’ll admit to having misspelled a word or two in my time–possibly more than two. And…

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Lies, lives lost and more blood… America’s legacy will be?

Children in cages never have a nice day.

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“The government is literally taking kids away from their parents and leaving them in inappropriate conditions. If a parent left a child in a cage with no supervision with other 5-year-olds, they’d be held accountable.” – Michelle Brane, director of migrant rights at the Women’s Refugee Commission

Photo by Bess Hamiti from Pexels

“We will take America without firing a shot…….We will BURY YOU! We can’t expect the American People to jump from Capitalism to Communism, but we can assist their elected leaders in giving them small doses of Socialism until they awaken one day to find that they have Communism. We do not have to invade the United States, we will destroy you from within.” – Nikita Khrushchev

“Make the lie big, make it simple, keep saying it, and eventually, they will            believe it.” – Adolf Hitler

“The man is the only animal that can remain on good terms with the victims he intends to eat until he eats them.”  – Samuel Butler

History keeps repeating itself.

 

Photo by it’s me neosiam from Pexels

 

How many more innocents must die at the hands of this fascist regime? The survivors will be forever scarred. America can no longer call itself the home of the brave. Brave people do not behave like this. They look to help and to heal. What do you see as the future for such a country? Kidnapping, bigotry and child abuse on a grand scale, is this to be the nation’s legacy?

Bisous,

Léa

 

 

Oppose Racism — charles french words reading and writing

Charles, thank you for saying what shouldn’t need to be said. Unfortunately, the malignancy is rampant and fueled by the swamp.

 

(https://pixabay.com) No matter the political party to which you might belong, no matter where you fall on the political spectrum, racism is completely unacceptable in the United States of America. Donald Trump, who has a history of racist tweets and behavior recently attacked Congressman Elijah Cummings in a way that can only be racist. “As […]

via Oppose Racism — charles french words reading and writing

Wednesday’s Words to Ponder…

HARRIET TUBMAN  1820 – MARCH 10, 1913

 

“If you hear the dogs, keep going. If you see the torches in the woods, keep going. If there’s shouting after you, keep going. Don’t ever stop, keep going. If you want a taste of freedom, keep going”.  – Harriet Tubman

“There was one of two things I had a right to Liberty or death. If I could not have one, I would take the other, no man should take me alive. I should fight for liberty as long as my strength lasted”.  – Harriet Tubman

“Every great dream begins with a dreamer. Always remember, you have within you the strength, the patience, and the passion to reach for the stars to change the world.” – Harriet Tubman

“I freed a thousand slaves. I could have freed a thousand more if only they knew they were slaves.”  – Harriet Tubman

“I had crossed the line. I was free, but there was no one to welcome me to the land of freedom. I was a stranger in a strange land.”  – Harriet Tubman

“I was the conductor of the Underground Railroad for eight years, and I can say what most conductors can’t say; I never ran my train off the track and I never lost a passenger.”  – Harriet Tubman  

Born a slave and named, by her parents, Araminta “Minty” Ross, around the year 1820, she became the most well known of the conductors on The Underground Railroad.ty

She served as a conductor for a decade. The abolitionist William Lloyd Garrison gave her the nickname, “Moses”. It was through her own efforts that she accumulated the funds she would need to continue her mission. Over time, she built a reputation for her deeds and thus supporters helped by providing both shelter and funds for her trips to the south.

Harriet served as a cook, nurse, laundress, spy and scout during the Civil War. She returned to her home in Auburn after the Emancipation Proclamation where she remained for the rest of her life. Her doors remained open to those in need and her earnings from her vegetable garden she added to the funds raised to create schools for the purpose of educating African Americans. She gave speeches on Women’s Rights. While not a leader in the movement, she was a strong supporter and the women who were leaders had supported her efforts in The Underground Railroad. Tubman believed in the equality of all people, black or white, male or female.

Personally, I find it appalling that the sitting President has gone back on the plan of the previous administration to honor Harriet Tubman with her face on the front of the twenty dollar bill and former President Andrew Jackson moved to the back. Trump is determined to undo as many good works from the Obama administration as possible. Unfortunately, it is hardly a surprise that such a racist, misogynistic individual would carry through with the plan. He doesn’t even keep his own promises to the people of the country.

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Bisous,

Léa

Ville Folle / Crazytown

“America will not be destroyed by undocumented workers, same-sex marriage, Muslims, atheists or abortion but rather by unreasonable fears, uncontrolled hatred, divisive politics, unethical politicians, deliberate misinformation and a gullible population.” – Laura C. Keeling

“True Americanism is opposed utterly to any political divisions resting on race and religion.” – Henry Cabot Lodge

“A politician divides mankind into two classes: tools and enemies.”
– Friedrich Nietzsche

 

Ville folle / Crazytown

 

How does one

Teach responsibility

To a child

When those sworn officials

Selected, to serve and protect

When those entrusted

To govern the land

Accept no responsibility

pointing at others, for their crimes

For their actions

For their words

Inciting death, destruction

Divisive tactics, misogyny – Nth degree 

Machiavellian inspired

Their only defense is offense

Harm to the masses

On their backs, spill their blood

Ripping families apart,

Infants torn from the breast

Caging children, more than

That pound of flesh

Innocence is stolen

Predatory ICE – presidential mandate

For a land that claims to be free

Free from responsibility

To women, men

To all the most vulnerable,

The air we breathe, the water we drink,

Food you try to consume,

Our oceans thick with toxic, plastic carcasses

Yes, there is one, condemns us to perish

With maniacal grin and predatory leer

The oath of one without conscience

As meaningless as those who

Stand with him, without conscience

Serving only themselves

Spewing propaganda from

Forked tongues, turning

Neighbor from neighbor

Man from woman

Brother from brother

Race from race

Ally bridges burning

Fractured States of Hate

Nothing here united

While the masses

Shock and awe mode

Standby waiting for change

Helplessness learned

Waiting for a hero, if you want one,

You must be one

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Bisous,

Léa

#writephoto — Zero Tolerance: A Parable — This, That, and The Other

Dorothy and her dog, along with her three traveling companions, were making the hazardous journey through the land of Oz heading toward the legendary Emerald City, which they were told was a welcoming land of opportunity just on the other side of the river. Their journey had been an arduous one so far. They had […]

via #writephoto — Zero Tolerance: A Parable — This, That, and The Other

Democracy… no, sadly it is not.

Thank you Sally for your courage. There are very few words here that I haven’t said myself, not that anyone was listening. My only disagreement would be on the views of Western Europe regarding the American Image. I’ve been living the past decade in Western Europe and find that the image is faded, tattered and torn. For those sitting on the fence, drop what you are doing and do yourself a favor. Start by reading The People’s History of the United States by Howard Zinn.

Why I have Always Hated Independence Day (July 4th) in the USA I am not the only one, either. Fireworks I could enjoy the fireworks from a great distance and up high, only. Sometimes I could get to my own or someone else’s rooftop or high window and watch from afar and admire the colors […]

via Why I have Always Hated Independence Day in the USA — Sally Ember, Ed.D.

…To the left

Despite the fact that I first published this here over three years ago, it seems imperative to reblog it now given current events in Virginia and elsewhere. 

“This is the biggest cemetery for Jews, Poles, Roma and Sinti. It must tell us that we have to come back here again and again. We must keep the memory of the worst crime in human history alive for those who were born later.”   –  Horst Koehler, Germany President

“First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out – Because I was not a Socialist.

Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out – Because I was not a Trade Unionist.

Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out – Because I was not a Jew.

Then they came for me – and there was no one left to speak for me.”    –  Martin Niemöller 

This post is dedicated to the memories of Claire Magnani (who wanted it read but couldn’t hear it anymore), Manya and Meyer Korenblit, Chaim Nagelstein and too many others.

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…To the left

Naked they cling to each other

Husband and wife parent to child

Lovers embrace

O mother, with infant at your breast

You must be cleansed

To the side of the large stone building

Lay the belongings

Of those who are to be cleansed

You who wear a yellow star

You shall be cleansed

Soldiers rummage through mounds of clothing

Items are catalogued

By the hundreds

They line up for the showers

Men, women, children

With paralyzing fear

They are herded through large doors

A small boy of five

With piercing brown eyes

Clutches his mother’s arm

As the gas permeates the room

Amid the screams

Comes the cry

“Hush mien kindelein hashem is with us”

And they are cleansed

And Germany is cleansed

And the ovens are cleansed

Made ready for those who will follow

Skeletal remnants of men

Must remove the remains

Of their brothers and sisters

Must pry the gold from their mouths

Must fill German coffers

Must kindle the fires with the bones

Of those they love

Germany must be

Cleansed

Purify

Pile another corpse into the ovens

Those hollow cheeks the vacant stares

Fire will purify

Cold grey ashes will not tell

Of what has been done

Thick black smoke fills the nostrils

With deaths stench

And violates the skies of Europe

Rich German soil harbors mass graves

And Germany will not be cleansed

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NEVER AGAIN!

Bisous,

Léa