Thursday, October 27, 2005

Wednesday, October 26, 2005

Strange Fruit

Hear Billie Holiday sing Strange Fruit by Lewis Allan

Southern trees bear strange fruit,
Blood on the leaves and blood at the root,
Black bodies swinging in the southern breeze,
Strange fruit hanging from the poplar trees.

Pastoral scene of the gallant south,
The bulging eyes and the twisted mouth,
Scent of magnolias, sweet and fresh,
Then the sudden smell of burning flesh.

Here is fruit for the crows to pluck,
For the rain to gather, for the wind to suck,
For the sun to rot, for the trees to drop,
Here is a strange and bitter crop.

Tuesday, October 25, 2005

20 story condominiums proposed to be built along the shores of Beaver Lake!

Click here for the On-Line Petition

Rosa Parks felt 'determination cover my body like a quilt'

Click here to read more and hear actual interviews with Ms. Parks.

Hurling, Camogie & Shinny

Dad played Shinny when he was a kid. My Coal Hill (home of Wobblies & United Mine Workers) cousin, Dorothy, fell in love with E.L. of Hartman, a scab town. They chose to live on neutral ground in Paris. They, with their then teenage daughter, Edye, heard the Clancy brothers sing The Bold Thady Quill. Edye said that Thady reminded her of Cousin Virgil. All agreed. I listened and found that I had all of Thad Quill’s virtues except prowess in hurling. I finally took a pilgrimage to Ireland and watched a match. I was so taken with it that I got my own hurley and sliotar and played with myself on the football field. Camogie has been described as "like hurling, except that in fights the hair may be pulled as well." See, HURLING FOR FOREIGN DUMMIES.

Lately, I started wondering if the Scots had a similar game. I found out about Shinty which is also called Shinny and had come full circle.
Cousin Jim's brother-in-law Garry believes that the Irish came to the Americas long before the Vikings and either taught the Native Americans hurling which became lacrosse or shinny or learned the games from the native Americans and took it back to Ireland. The ancient drawing attached gives him some credibility.

Wednesday, October 19, 2005

Tell Bush that raids are NOT the answer

Anti-immigrant groups have long sought to make life impossible for immigrants. Their thinking is that if they make life difficult by denying them services and such, then immigrants will leave the U.S. on their own. They have gone so far as to advocate for the denial of citizenship to U.S.-born babies of undocumented parents and for mass deportations of all 11 million undocumented immigrants. (source 1)

http://www.bluelatinos.org/noraids.htm

Congress is now bolstering their agenda. This past week, Senate Leader Bill Frist (Republican from Tennessee ) called on Congress “to tackle border security and interior immigration enforcement before turning to the broader question of immigration reforms.” (source 2) In other words, Senator Frist wants Congress to authorize raids on immigrant communities before fixing the broken immigration system.

Congress has already taken steps towards mass deportations. Earlier this month, Congress passed the homeland security-spending bill that includes $10 billion for immigration law enforcement, including 1,000 new Border Patrol agents and more than 600 new immigration investigators and detention personnel for interior enforcement.

Raids are going to drive a deeper and hurtful wedge in America when we need clear heads to fix our broken immigration system. Sign the petition and tell President Bush that raids and other scare tactics are not the answer.

http://www.bluelatinos.org/noraids.htm

Our immigration system is in desperate need of repair. America deserves an immigration system that provides safe and legal channels for immigrants to contribute to the well being of our economy.

Tuesday, October 18, 2005

SAVE TEXAS ON THE WAY TO SAVING THE WORLD




VOTE KINKY

Donate at his website http://www.kinkyfriedman.com/ You can also hear some of his and the Texas Jewboys' all time favorites-They Ain’t Makin Jews Like Jesus Anymore, The Ballad of Charles Whitman, Sold American and Get Your Biscuits in the Oven and Your Buns in the Bed at http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=1949555 (Scroll down. They’re near the bottom on the left)

Sunday, October 16, 2005

RHS


To honor the past and what Jim has given you while living in the present, reply here.
If you have other images you want to add, send them to Patti or me.









"Virgil" and his cousin Jim, who wanted the distinction to be clearly made ...

Wednesday, October 12, 2005

Thanks to Virgil Snoddy, and Angus and Nanny McGregor

Thanks to Virgil Snoddy, and Angus and Nanny McGregor, for creating and allowing us to use this blog.