Crabs and Beer!

This day in 1938, was Kristallnacht, a pogrom against Jews carried out by the Nazi Party’s Sturmabteilung (SA) and Schutzstaffel (SS) paramilitary forces along with some participation from the Hitler Youth and German civilians throughout Nazi Germany on 9–10 November 1938. The German authorities looked on without intervening. The euphemistic name Kristallnacht comes from the shards of broken glass that littered the streets after the windows of Jewish-owned stores, buildings, and synagogues were smashed.

Jewish homes, hospitals and schools were ransacked as attackers demolished buildings with sledgehammers. Rioters destroyed over 1,400 synagogues and prayer rooms throughout Germany, Austria, and the Sudetenland. Over 7,000 Jewish businesses were damaged or destroyed, and 30,000 Jewish men were arrested and incarcerated in concentration camps.

Kristallnacht changed the nature of Nazi Germany’s persecution of the Jews from economic, political, and social exclusion to physical violence, including beatings, incarceration, and murder; the event is often referred to as the beginning of the Holocaust. In this view, it is not only described as a pogrom, it is also described as a critical stage within a process in which each step becomes the seed of the next step.

After 1945 some synagogues were restored. This one in Berlin features a plaque, reading “Never forget”, a common expression around Berlin.

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On this day in 2008, Miriam Makeba, the South African singer who reached No.12 on the Billboard chart in 1967 with ‘Pata Pata’, suffered a fatal heart attack at the age of 76. Among her many notable achievements was becoming the first African woman to win a Grammy, for Best Folk Recording in 1966 with Harry Belafonte for ‘An Evening With Belafonte / Makeba’. Pata Pata is recorded in the Xhosa language, a ‘click language’ and you can hear the occasional click in the song. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lNeP3hrm__k

On this day in 1860, Abraham Lincoln was elected president with about 40% of the popular vote. He defeated three others, John Breckenridge, John Bell and Stephen Douglas.

Lincoln received a majority in the Electoral College, with all his Electoral College votes coming from Northern states. He prevailed in 18 states, won 180 electoral votes, and received 39.7 percent of the popular vote. Douglas won the second-highest popular vote total, but won only the state of Missouri; he was the only candidate in the 1860 election to win electoral votes in both free and slave states. Breckinridge won 11 states, finishing third in the popular vote, while Bell finished fourth in the popular vote and won the electoral votes of the states of Kentucky, Tennessee, and Virginia.

Lincoln’s election as the first Republican president served as the main catalyst for Southern secession and the American Civil War. His election motivated seven Southern states, all of which had voted for Breckinridge, to secede from the United States before Lincoln’s inauguration on March 4, 1861. The Civil War began less than two months after the inauguration with the Battle of Fort Sumter, after which four more slave states seceded.

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Good aim!

Today is the birthday, in 1948, of American musician Glenn Frey, a founding member of the rock band the Eagles. He was the co-lead singer and frontman, roles he came to share with fellow member Don Henley, with whom he wrote most of Eagles’ material. Frey played guitar and keyboards as well as singing lead vocals on songs such as ‘Take It Easy’, ‘Peaceful Easy Feeling’, ‘Tequila Sunrise’, ‘Already Gone’, ‘James Dean’, ‘Lyin’ Eyes’, ‘New Kid in Town’, and ‘Heartache Tonight’. He scored the solo hit in 1985 with ‘The Heat Is On’. Frey died on 18 Jan 2016 at the age of 67 in New York City from complications arising from rheumatoid arthritis, colitis and pneumonia. A life-sized statue of Frey was unveiled at the Standin’ on the Corner Park in Winslow, Arizona, on September 24, 2016, to honor his songwriting contributions to ‘Take It Easy’. The song was the Eagles’ first single in 1972. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PqccEpqvwPY

Today is, of course, Guy Fawkes Day. It commemorates an attempt to blow up the House of Lords during the state opening of Parliament on November 5, 1605 by a group of English Catholics, led by Robert Catesby. Catesby is suspected by historians to have embarked on the scheme after hopes of greater religious tolerance under James had faded, leaving many English Catholics disappointed.

One of the conspirators, Guy Fawkes, who had 10 years of military experience fighting in the Spanish Netherlands in the failed suppression of the Dutch Revolt, was given charge of the explosives.

an anonymous letter of warning was sent to William Parker, 4th Baron Monteagle, a Catholic member of Parliament, who immediately showed it to the authorities. During a search of the House of Lords on the evening of 4 November, Fawkes was discovered guarding 36 barrels of gunpowder—enough to reduce the House of Lords to rubble—and arrested.

At their trial on 27 January 1606, eight of the surviving conspirators, including Fawkes, were convicted and sentenced to be hanged, drawn and quartered.

Engraving of eight of the thirteen conspirators, by Crispijn van de Passe.

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There was an election…

Thanks, Debra

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ERROR!

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Some great photos of Presidents here…https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ln9-36kXFe8

On this day in 1924, Nellie Tayloe Ross was elected governor of Wyoming – the first woman elected as governor of a U.S. state. She was also first female director of the United States Mint from 1933 to 1953. She was a Democrat and supported Prohibition. After her retirement, Ross contributed articles to various women’s magazines and traveled extensively. She made her last trip to Wyoming in 1972 at the age of 96. Five years later, she died in Washington, D.C., at the age of 101. At the time of her death, she was the oldest ex-governor in the United States. She is interred in the family plot in Lakeview Cemetery in Cheyenne.

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Election results for some…

Jerk Chicken…

SIGNZ

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Music for today https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3GwjfUFyY6M

Today is, of course, Election Day in the United States. All 435 members of the House of Representatives and 33 senators will be elected. The first congressional election in the US was held from November 24 1788 to March 5, 1789 – each state set their own dates.

With the new form of government needing to be operational prior to the completion of the first national census, Article I, Section 2, Clause 3 of the U.S. Constitution set a temporary apportionment of seats. Among the original 13 states, 11 of them ratified the Constitution and elected 59 total representatives. North Carolina and Rhode Island did not ratify the Constitution until after the 1st Congress began, and consequently did not elect their representatives until 1790.

Actual political parties did not yet exist, but new members of Congress were informally categorized as either “pro-Administration” (i.e., pro-Washington and pro-Hamilton) or “anti-Administration”.

The representative chosen for the part of Maryland where I now reside was Daniel Carroll. He was one of the Founding Fathers of the United States and a plantation owner. He supported the American Revolution, served in the Confederation Congress, was a delegate to the Philadelphia Convention of 1787 which penned the Constitution of the United States. He was one of the few Catholics among the Founders. His younger brother John was the first Catholic bishop in the United States (as Bishop of Baltimore, 1790) and founder of Georgetown University; his cousin Charles Carroll of Carrollton signed the Declaration of Independence.

Daniel Carroll

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Not for me!

This is a surprise!

Cosmic Cats!

BADA BING!!

Did you know on the Canary Islands there is not one canary?  And on the Virgin Isles? Same thing – not one canary there either!

The next time you shop, ask your cashier what kind of candy bar they like and buy them one. I did this today, it was self checkout, but still, it’s a nice thing to do!

Your body has always told you when it’s tired.  At 80, you’ve finally stopped arguing with it.

I’m not getting older. I’m becoming a limited edition.

After a sheepdog gets all the sheep in the pen, he reports back to the farmer: “All 40 accounted for.” “But I only have 38 sheep,” ays the farmer. “I know,” says the sheepdog. “But I rounded them up.”

Yesterday I saw a dog wearing a “Do not approach” vest. I wonder if they make those for people.

The US is the only country in the world where people believe government-funded healthcare won’t work because people with government-funded healthcare told them so.

At my age an all-nighter means I didn’t have to get up and pee.

I’m currently experiencing life at the rate of several “WTF’s” per hour.

Putting someone on the ballot just because of their last name is a bit slimy. But enough about Darlene Graham.

I’m actually a very pleasant person to be around … unless I’m hungry, tired, hot, cold, thirsty, anxious, dealing with idiots, or basically uncomfortable in any way.

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Yes, get out and vote and remember whose country this is. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Q7PULELvok