I say yes, you say no, OR People are Strange

crazy4carrots

But but but....I thought we were told that the Israelis despised Pres. Obama?  Guess not......

Israel to Award Obama Medal of Distinction (First Sitting US President 

President Obama will be awarded the Israeli Presidential Medal of Distinction during his visit to Israel next month, according to a report in the Times of Israel. 

Obama will be the first sitting U.S. president to receive the honor, which was announced by Israeli President Shimon Peres’s office on Monday. 

“Barack Obama is a true friend of the State of Israel, and has been since the beginning of his public life,” said Peres in a statement announcing the decision. 

“As president of the United States of America, he has stood with Israel in times of crisis," he continued. "During his time as president he has made a unique contribution to the security of the State of Israel, both through further strengthening the strategic cooperation between the countries and through the joint development of technology to defend against rockets and terrorism.”

The statement went on to praise Obama as a “symbol of democratic values” who “exemplifies the spirit of equality of opportunity in American society.” 


read: http://thehill.com/blogs/global-affairs/middle-east-north-africa/283675-obama-to-receive-medal-of-distinction-during-visit-to-israel?

CherrylH

Linda, I question your source. You probably read it in either the New York Times or Washington Post. Who can believe anything they write. They use facts, for God's sake. I won't believe it until I see it on Fox news!!

crazy4carrots

Cheryl -- I guarantee that you will NOT see it on Faux Noise!

CherrylH

Linda - LIKE, LIKE!

Belinda44

Cherryl, Happy Belated Birthday! 

Judy, welcome!

Enjoyful, great photos.  What a lovely day!

Hoping Lewing is enjoying a wonderful honeymoon!

Sigh.....Matthew, we hardly knew ye.....

Would love to see Mr. Carson declare his love for Mrs. Hughes next season!

bluedahlia

E, you brought tears to my eyes.  Just beautiful!

Wabbit

Lucky Sampson got to take his best girl for a ride today!  Love the pictures!

Chickadee ... the internet has introduced me also to some thinking patterns that I kind of really wish I didn't even know about.  It's actually scary to see how little it takes sometimes to get people ranting and raving about things that are pure fiction

IllinoisLady

Joyful, and happy loving Samson -- worth more than Ft. Knox and all the Moose Tracks ice cream you can get your hands on.  Delightful picture.

lindasa.......every now and then a QUOTE turns up that is perfection personified.  You found it...and thanks for sharing it.  Every time I start grinding my teeth or 'those who will not see' or even attempt some basic understanding...I'll just think of that quote. 

Blue hope your feeling ok -- not too creaky and big hi's to everyone else. 

Hi and welcome to Judy.

Jackie

crazy4carrots

The theme music to St. Elsewhere was terrific!  I rather liked Dr. Fiscus -- Howie with hair!  Always made me laugh out loud -- mainly because I'd seen his stand-up in Toronto  a few years before and said to DH -- this guy is going somewhere (Elsewhere, maybe??!).

I suspect Lady Mary will be beseiged by unsuitable suitors at Downton.  Maybe she'll hook up with an American millionaire.

RetiredLibby

Eeuwww, do you suppose that awful newspaperman will make a reappearance at Downton Abbey? (Boomer brain has taken care of disappearing his name for me.)



I am a Grey's Anatomy fan, too. I remember St. Elsewhere but never got into it. And while we are 'fessing up about missing popular series or never getting into them, I never liked Seinfeld and never got into Cheers. I found Frazier creepy because Kelsey Grammar strongly resembles my late father.



I was, however, a HUGE Thirtysomething fan.



Welcome to Judy, too.



And Enjoyful, those pictures make mejoyful! I am so happy to see you so happy with your good big boy!



L

Chickadee

Thinking there might be few NASCAR fans, but



GO DANICA PATRICK!



Show them boys how its done.

bluedahlia

Wabbit

Not much of a NASCAR fan but have been watching Danica for years in the Indy cars.  Glad to see her doing well!  At one point some of the male drivers in Indy cars were complaining that she had an unfair advantage because she was smaller and weighed so much less than they did.  Never bothered them when the skinny ones and the heavier ones were all guys  

Belinda44

Will try and watch the 9:00 show mentioned earlier...."Hubris: Selling the Iraq War"

Belinda44

Edit

Chickadee

Interesting Wabbit, they just covered her daily workout goals. Thicker neck muscles to support the helmet and movement, upper body strength to manage steering the beast, and lower body strength to put 300 foot pounds of pressure for hours on the pedals.



And she's on the poll! I wish her well and a safe race for all.

Belinda44

Edit

GatorGal

Today was a glorious day! Watching Susan ride Samson was unbelievable. She wasn't the only one blubbering!! Samson loves Susan as much as Susan loves Samson! They were beautiful together! I will cherish the memory of this day forever!

bluedahlia

Enjoyful

HL, I never liked Seinfeld either.  It's a shame, because the stories I hear from others sound like my kind of humor, but I couldn't get past his whining voice.  It still puts my teeth on edge.

LOVE Grey's Anatomy, House (wonderfully predictable based on the position of the clock's hands...is it cancer?  Nope, it's too early in the show.), ER but I rarely watch TV and don't watch anything regularly.  My favorite sitcoms are/were Scrubs, Community, and 30 Rock.  Just my kind of stupid, silly, absurd humor.  

Have I mentioned how much I love my horse?  No?  Well, I LOVE my horse!  And yes, Athena, I have found my man.  :-)

E, Who Has Regressed to 12-Year-Old Horse-Crazy Girl Status

Enjoyful

bluedahlia

 

THIS JUST IN – Mississippi Has FINALLY Abolished Slavery

2013/02/18

By Lorraine Devon Wilke

 

 

First Reading of the Emancipation Proclamation of President Lincoln by Francis Bicknell Carpenter; @Wikipedia

Some say it takes a village. For others, a cultural revolution. And still some require the outside spark of something moving and dramatic; perhaps a movie. Yes, a movie. Steven Spielberg’s “Lincoln,” to be exact. That’s what it took for the great southern state of Mississippi to finally, officially, and very belatedly ratify the Constitutional Amendment to abolish slavery… only 150 or so years after Congress voted for the 13th Amendment in 1864.

Given the Confederate bona fides of Mississippi, one might not be surprised by this stunning fact, but other southern states, who also proudly flew the Confederate flag before, during and even after the Civil War, all ratified the amendment and, most, a great many years ago (though not as long ago as you’d think!).

Mississippi? Mississippi just got it done on February 7, 2013.

Why the unfathomable delay? It’s an interesting tale of clerical oversight, intentional or otherwise, and the immigrant from India, now a U.S. citizen, whose enthusiasm for the story of “Lincoln,” with its focus on the 16th President’s push to pass the 13th Amendment abolishing slavery, inspired him to find out just when his state of Mississippi came on board in signing the amendment into law.

That’s when he found out it hadn’t.

Ranjan Batra, an associate professor of neurobiology at the University of Mississippi Medical Center, had been so moved by “Lincoln’s” story that he spent some time researching the issue on various websites and, without fail, the state of Mississippi, which did ratify the amendment in 1995, came up with an asterisk next to its name, with the notation that because “the state never officially notified the US Archivist, the ratification is not official.” From the Clarion-Ledger:

After Congress voted for the 13th Amendment in January 1864, the measure went to the states for ratification.

 

On Dec. 6, 1865, the amendment received the three-fourths’ vote it needed when Georgia became the 27th state to ratify it. States that rejected the measure included Delaware, Kentucky, New Jersey and Mississippi.

In the months and years that followed, states continued to ratify the amendment, including those that had initially rejected it. New Jersey ratified the amendment in 1866, Delaware in 1901 and Kentucky in 1976.

But Mississippi had that asterisk.

Batra was stunned by the discovery, finding it profoundly amiss that his state, any state, in modern times was still without the official ratification of that very important amendment.

He sought the aid of colleague, Ken Sullivan, told him of the “asterisk” he’d discovered, and Sullivan was duly intrigued. He remembered when the state ratified the amendment in 1995, remarked that he’d been in high school at the time, but had no idea it had never been made official. Sullivan, too, went to see the film and, as moved as Batra, became equally determined to sort out the Mississippi mess.

Picking up Batra’s thread, Sullivan contacted the National Archives’ Office of the Federal Register, where it was confirmed that Mississippi had, indeed, never taken steps to formally ratify the amendment. Sullivan gathered the information needed and set out to get it done.

He tracked down a copy of the 1995 Senate resolution, introduced by state Sen. Hillman Frazier, D-Jackson, who had been upset to learn Mississippi was the only state that had never ratified the 13th Amendment.

The resolution passed both the Mississippi Senate and House.

“It was unanimous,” Frazier recalled. “Some didn’t vote, but we didn’t receive a ‘nay’ vote.”

The last paragraph of the resolution called on the secretary of state to send a copy to the Office of the Federal Register.

Why the copy was never sent in 1995 remains unknown. [... ]

“What an amendment to have an error in filing,” said Dick Molpus, who served then as secretary of state. [Source]

Indeed. What an amendment.

Left to right, Kris Sullivan, Ken Dale Sullivan, Kenzie Sullivan and Mary Grace Miller pose with Secretary of State Delbert Hosemann as the girls hold the documents for Mississippi’s official ratification on Feb. 7, 2013, of the 13th Amendment ratification in the U.S. Constitution. Special to The Clarion-Ledger; @The Clarion-Ledger

The current Secretary of the State of Mississippi is Delbert Hosemann. Sullivan contacted his office, explained the situation, and Hosemann agreed to file the necessary paperwork to make the ratification official.

On January 30, 2013, Hosemann forwarded a copy of the 1995 Senate resolution papers – which were adopted by both the House and the Senate – to the Federal Register. On February 7, 2013, the director of the Federal Register, Charles A. Barth, verified that he had received the resolution, declaring:

“With this action, the State of Mississippi has ratified the 13th Amendment to the Constitution of the United States.”[Source]

And, with that, the red state of Mississippi joined the very red, white and blue United States of America in officially abolishing slavery.

As Henry David Thoreau said:

“It’s never too late to give up our prejudices.”

alexandria58

Hi all.  Just got back from a family funeral and sitting Shiva.  My uncle was 90 and quite a remarkable man.  he survived Auschwitz to become a renowned child psychiatrist, spoke 7 languages. wrote two books.   It was hard.  No matter how old someone is, it's always hard to say goodbye.  It also brought up a lot of memories of my own mother's death.

I was also thinking how these things bring out the best and the worst in people.  My cousin S stayed by my uncle's side for the past six weeks, singing to him, feeding him, supporting my aunt.  She has two kids with developmental problems and her husband had to take care of the kids and do his job during this time.  Another cousin, E,  went on a cruise, told her sister she was too busy (and important) to come visit her dying father or give her sister some relief, even though he was asking for her.  E got there one day before he died when he was no longer able to recognize her, gave a speech at his funeral Sunday - which she was too busy writing to spend time with her mother on the Saturday.  S. also wrote a speech, but was too broken up to give it.  I spent three days hiding in the bedroom or my uncle's office with S because she was so upset and couldn't stand the sight of her sister, who was in her glory as a chief mourner, greeting people, chatting, repeating platitudes.

I would have stayed longer, but my MIL, who's home from the hospital, went a little nuts, started throwing her dinner and refusing to take her meds.  I think she'd have PTSD and flashing back to her time as a POW.  My husband rushed over and calmed her down, but I needed to be here in case she had a problem when he goes to work.

Enjoyful

Oh, Alexandria!  I am sorry for your loss and all of the family drama surrounding it.  I hope you find some peace, soon.

Enjoyful

And a big fat "YAY?" for Mississippi.  WTF, Mississippi??

GatorGal

Alexandria, sadly it seems every family has someone like your cousin, E. So sorry for your loss. Your uncle was an amazing man. I'm not Jewish, but I really like the idea of sitting Shiva!

bluedahlia

Truly amazing!  My condolences Alexandria.

IllinoisLady

Alexandria....Glenna is so right.  There is always someone who feels 'entitled' to center stage in a family and mostly they are usually the least.  I'm sorry for your loss, and that of your family as well.  I'm also sorry for the loss of someone WHO really KNEW by living it, what the rest of us should never, ever forget.  He earned his rest though.  Hope for the day that love and good memories can once again bring joy without effort. 

Jackie

IllinoisLady

Enjoyed the "Hubris" piece last night.  A shame that it was not required listening for both parties.  It is so easy to see why certain former POTUS's keep an extremely low profile after leaving office.  I have said a number of times....I disliked all of the W-Bush years, but I didn't say much while he was in office. 

JMO but his time in office I believe had a lot to do to start the huge downward spiral of the Republican party and now it seems they can't do enough, fast enough to help the disintegration.  Those who are so big on disrespecting our President should realize that this is all they will have soon.  It is going to be sad for those now in the party to look BACK and recognize ( as I hope a fair amt. will be able to do ) where they got off tract.  I think especially of Sen McCain -- grandstanding, so he can toss his friend aside and then rescue him later. 

Oh well.....it is their choice, but what a legacy. 

Jackie

gardengumby

Aalexandria - so sorry to hear of your loss, and as Jackie said, it always seems that the person who cares the least showboats the most (or words to that effect).  Also, so very sorry to hear that your MIL is having difficulties.  Know that we are thinking of you and with you in spirit.

I started watching Hubris last night, but unfortunately, fell asleep in the middle.  It was most interesting, but a long stressful day.  At the end of it, though, we had a beautiful brand-spankin' new BRIGHT red new (did I say new? and did I say RED?) truck.  It's the very first brand new vehicle I've ever owned. 's a really cool truck.