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On this day in 1679, the Parliament of England passed the Habeas Corpus Act o define and strengthen the ancient prerogative writ of habeas corpus, which required a court to examine the lawfulness of a prisoner’s detention and thus prevent unlawful or arbitrary imprisonment.

The act is often wrongly described as the origin of the writ of habeas corpus. But the writ of habeas corpus had existed in various forms in England for at least five centuries before and is thought to have originated in the Assize of Clarendon of 1166. It was guaranteed, but not created, by Magna Carta in 1215, whose article 39 reads (translated from Latin): “No freeman shall be taken or imprisoned or disseised or exiled or in any way destroyed, nor will we go upon him nor will we send upon him except upon the lawful judgement of his peers or the law of the land.”

Many members of the current US administration appear to misunderstand the term, so here is a simple explanation: Habeas corpus is a legal process that ensures someone who is detained (arrested or imprisoned) has the right to be brought before a judge. This allows the judge to review the legality of their detention and determine if they should be released. Essentially, it’s a way to prevent unlawful imprisonment. 

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We try to give our cats a good life…

Today is the birthday, in 1971, of Lisa Lopes, Left-Eye, singer with American girl group TLC. They scored nine top-ten hits on the Billboard Hot 100, including four No.1 singles, ‘Creep’, ‘Waterfalls’, ‘No Scrubs’, and ‘Unpretty’. Their 1999 US No.1 album Fanmail spent 57 weeks on the UK chart. Having sold over 65 million records worldwide, TLC is the best-selling American girl group. Lopes was killed in a car accident on April 25th 2002 aged 30. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FrLequ6dUdM

Memorial Day weekend traditionally marks the beginning of summer in the U.S. It’s still a bit cool, but maybe some summer music will heat things up! Enjoy!!

To start, here are The Jamies!

It might be cool now, but it’s gonna get HOT!

We can go to the beach!

We can have fun!

Imagine the tropics…

Maybe a summer romance…

enjoy some summer sweetness…

take a drive…

It can get hot!

relax on a sunny afternoon..

and have fun!

Go surfing!

Hit the islands!

and find a good beach bar…

Have a great summer!

Today is the anniversary of the Defenestration of Prague in 1618. The event was precipitated by the conflict between the Roman Catholic king and emperor and the Protestant nobility and gentry. At a meeting to try to resolve the issue, two of the Catholic regents, Count Jaroslav Bořita of Martinice and Count Vilem Slavata of Chlum, together with their secretary, Philip Fabricius, were thrown out the window of the Bohemian Chancery by Protestants led by Count von Thurn.

they survived the 70-foot (21-metre) fall from the third floor. Catholics maintained the men were saved by angels or by the intercession of the Virgin Mary, who caught them; later Protestant pamphleteers asserted that they survived due to falling onto a dung heap, a story unknown to contemporaries and probably coined in response to divine intervention claims. Philip Fabricius was later ennobled by the Emperor and granted the title Baron von Hohenfall (literally ‘Baron of Highfall’).

The event precipitated the 30 Years’ War, one of the most destructive conflicts in European history. An estimated 4.5 to 8 million soldiers and civilians died from battle, famine, or disease, while parts of Germany reported population declines of over 50%.

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Oh, you’re home early.

Must be more to this story…

Here’s QUEEN! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zO6D_BAuYCI

On this day in 1892, toothpaste was first sold in a collapsible tube by dentist Washington Wentworth Sheffield. Sheffield was an American dental surgeon best known for inventing modern toothpaste in the 1870s. With the help of his son Lucius T. Sheffield, he was also the first to sell the paste in collapsible tubes. He was considered one of the most skilled dentists in New England and the United States, making important contributions to the fields of dentistry and dental surgery.

Sheffield conceived of a ready-made tooth crème in the mid-1870s and was using it on his patients with great praise from them. To this crème, he added various extracts of mints that left a very pleasing taste in the mouth of his patients which caused them to request samples of the toothpaste. Initially, Sheffield was making toothpaste batches at his dental office at the corner of State Street and Green Street in New London, Connecticut. Demand grew rapidly and he was forced to build a laboratory and manufacturing facility behind his residence.

Sheffield and his son called this product “Dr. Sheffield’s Crème Angelique Dentifrice”. This product was the first toothpaste and it was sold in collapsible tubes. In 1986, the company was purchased by the Faria family, who continue to operate in New London, Connecticut. In 2016, Sheffield began distribution in China of its Dr. Sheffield’s brand toothpaste.

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Debra has thoughts about…dolls.

voodoo dolls…

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Juxtaposition can be weird…

Thanks, Bob!

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Today is the birthday, in 1950, of Bernie Taupin, English lyricist, poet, and singer and Elton John’s long-time song writing partner. Rod Stewart, Cher, The Motels, John Waite, Starship and Alice Cooper have all recorded his songs. In 1967, Taupin answered an advertisement placed in the UK music paper New Musical Express by Liberty Records, a company that was seeking new songwriters, Elton John responded to the advertisement, and the pair were brought together. Taupin wrote the lyrics for “Rocket Man”, “Levon”, “Crocodile Rock”, “Honky Cat”, “Tiny Dancer”, “Candle in the Wind”, “Saturday Night’s Alright for Fighting”, “Bennie and the Jets”, “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road”, “Mona Lisas and Mad Hatters”, “Don’t Let the Sun Go Down on Me”, “The Bitch is Back”, “Daniel”, and 1970’s “Your Song”, their first hit. Hits in the 1980s include “I’m Still Standing”, “I Guess That’s Why They Call It The Blues”, “Sad Songs”, and “Nikita”. In the 1990s, Taupin and John had more hits, including “The One”, “Simple Life”, “The Last Song”, “Club at the End of the Street” and “Believe”. In September 1997, Taupin rewrote the lyrics of “Candle in the Wind” for “Candle in the Wind 1997”, a tribute to the late Diana, Princess of Wales. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jf2Te1IfjuA

On this day in 1881, Clara Barton founded the American Red Cross after learning of the Red Cross in Geneva, Switzerland. In 1869, she went to Europe and became involved in the work of the International Red Cross during the Franco-Prussian War. She was determined to bring the organization to America.

The Red Cross was not her only accomplishment. In her early life she was an educator. While teaching in Hightstown, New Jersey, Barton learned about the lack of public schools in Bordentown, the neighboring city. In 1852, she was contracted to open a free school in Bordentown, which was the first ever free school in New Jersey. She was successful, and after a year she had hired another woman to help teach over 600 people. Both women were making $250 a year. This accomplishment compelled the town to raise nearly $4,000 for a new school building. Once it was completed, Barton was replaced as principal by a man elected by the school board. They saw the position as head of a large institution to be unfitting for a woman.

In 1855, she moved to Washington, D.C., and began work as a clerk in the U.S. Patent Office; this was the first time a woman had received a substantial clerkship in the federal government and at a salary equal to a man’s salary. For three years, she received much abuse and slander from male clerks.^[12] Subsequently, under political opposition to women working in government offices, her position was reduced to that of copyist.

She provided medical care and nursing support to Union Soldiers during the Civil War. She was known as the “Angel of the Battlefield” after she came to the aid of the overwhelmed surgeon on duty following the battle of Cedar Mountain in Northern Virginia in August 1862. She arrived at a field hospital at midnight with a large number of supplies to help the severely wounded soldiers. This naming came from her frequent timely assistance as she served troops at the battles of Fairfax Station, Chantilly, Harpers Ferry, South Mountain, Antietam, Fredericksburg, Charleston, Petersburg and Cold Harbor.

After the end of the American Civil War, Barton discovered that thousands of letters from distraught relatives to the War Department were going unanswered because the soldiers they were asking about were buried in unmarked graves. She established and ran the Office of Missing Soldiers, at 437 ½ Seventh Street, Northwest, Washington, D.C., in the Gallery Place neighborhood. The office’s purpose was to find or identify soldiers killed or missing in action. Barton and her assistants wrote 41,855 replies to inquiries and helped locate more than 22,000 missing men.

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Some weird kind of cannibalism???

Guide to auto dashboard symbols…

Entitled People???

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Here’s Bruce! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6vQpW9XRiyM