An interesting

and touching story...

Man Plants Guitar Shaped Forest in Memory of His Wife

(Given how much napping I've been doing due to my health all my wife could do would be to plant a forest in the shape of a bed. Or maybe a set of consecutive 'Z's. Thanks for the link SWMBO!)

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And a moment's silence...

...for the subject of a legend, but a real person, and a real hero...

Casey Jones

died this day in 1900.

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Today

is the anniversary of the death of

Lisa McPherson

who "died needlessly at the hands of Scientology".

May she truly rest in peace.

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Lest we forget

Remembrance Day: Lest We Forget

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I've seen lots of items

about the 11/11/11 date (tomorrow) but not a lot by the tinfoil hat crowd. While there's some interest, I would have expected more from that very vocal group. Isn't it a particularly auspicious date?

Twins turn 11 on 11-11-11

Thousands flock to Las Vegas for 11-11-11 weddings

Blink and you'll miss it! Friday sees once-in-a-lifetime moment as time and date read 11.11.11 11.11.11: Only occurs on one day every 100 years

Perhaps, because it is Remembrance (or Armistace) Day they're being particularly sensitive? Naw. Sorry, I wasn't thinking...

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I forgot to mention

that today is the anniversary of the death of

Hoyt Axton

in 1999.

Everyone has different music tastes, but I enjoyed Hoyt Axton's crossover folk/country/rock for a lot of years, and it was a very sad day when he died. I met him on one occasion, and he gave me an autographed double album release that he had done recently. A nice man, even to people who aren't groupies...

Rest in peace, Mr. Axton.

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Today

in Canada, we're celebrating

Labour Day.

We've celebrated it on the first Monday in September since the 1880s, but it's beginning to mean less and less. Today, many stores and shops are still open on Labour Day, with business dictating what the day will be and only those employers who really care about their workers, or unionized workplaces, really celebrate the holiday. It's a very sad testament to what is happening in the working world...

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His last words...

Jack Layton's last letter to Canadians

His final words to all of us.

Note especially the ending:

"My friends, love is better than anger. Hope is better than fear. Optimism is better than despair. So let us be loving, hopeful and optimistic. And we’ll change the world."

Amen. Thanks, Jack.

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Today is

the anniversary of the

Death of Marilyn Monroe

in 1962.

For all you conspiracy theorists out there.

(She was terrific in Some Like It Hot, but so was everyone else in it...)

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Yes...

Atheists file lawsuit over Christian cross at New York City 9/11 memorial

...it never ends...

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Happy Birthday!

To

Woody Guthrie

Born on this date in 1912.

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Requiescat in Pacem

Today is the anniversary of my brother's death, 26 years ago. Unexpected, sudden, tragic. I'm still not sure that I've dealt with it completely. But I miss him, and I love him. Rest in God's peace, Garth. You really are missed.

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R.I.P. - Fr. Paul Donlevy

Fr. Paul was a terrific person and a wonderful priest. We were never close friends, but we knew each other through events and organizations that brought us together for common purposes. He had a keen sense of humour and a deep affection for the poor, those he called 'the orphans'. He was an intelligent man, presiding over the marriage tribunal in the diocese for some years and well as being the diocesan canon lawyer. Everything he did was extra, beyond his first duty which was to the parish(es) that he was assigned to. Fr. Paul suffered from a number of serious illnesses throughout his life, which brought him into the hospital with increasing frequency, and which led us to be able to get together in that context, with me being able to provide him with some measure of comfort in prayer and the Blessed Sacrament. I know that I'll miss him, and I'm sure many others will.

Requiescat in Pacem. Go swiftly to God, Fr. Paul, and rest in His love.

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Celebrate! And please

Don't Panic!

Towel Day

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We went

to Gail's Memorial Service today. I saw quite a few people that I knew from school, but some I expected weren't there. There were only two of us from Gail's class, and both of us had been to Earl's the time she came back from Toronto for the first time since she left after school - Ms. Riley and myself. I suppose I shouldn't be surprised. There are old boyfriends whose relationships ended and so the connection was broken. But there were lots of friends who were friends of Dave, who was only slightly older than Gail and were her friends too, as a result.

It was difficult. They had a slideshow presentation along with the Memorial Service, but they cut it short, and I'm glad they did. I was choking up a lot during it, and I fear I wouldn't have been able to stay through the whole thing. Perhaps it's because time is frozen for me and our relationship is frozen in time, back to the time when we really leaned on each other for support. The world has moved on since then, but I haven't, and now that Gail is gone, everything is stuck there. Even though both our lives went on I'm stuck in the 60s, in the way things were.

God bless you and keep you, Gail Frances Beckett. I know that God loves you, and I pray that you're resting in His presence and peace after your painful struggle. God love you.

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On this date, in 1818,

Karl Marx was born.

Karl Marx

Visit his gravesite in Highgate Cemetery in London, England.

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A National Day of Mourning...

Today is the

April 28 - National Day of Mourning

for workers killed or injured on the job.

The canary above is an illustration of a caged canary which miners used to bring into the mines with them to detect deadly gas. The canaries were more sensitive and would be affected first giving the men more time to get out. It also symbolizes workers caught in the cage of their employment and at the employers whim, and dependent on them to follow safety regulations.

I always mention how important this memorial is to me. A couple of decades ago I was in an industrial accident, through no fault of my own, that nearly cost me the use of my legs and has left me with injuries that affect me badly (and in some ways worse) even today. I'm one of the lucky ones. I lived. A lot of people don't. Please remember all the people on this day, and pray for the day when all employers will care enough about people and less about the bottom line and actually start paying attention to safety regulations in the workplace for more reasons than the fines that they'll get if they get caught with an infraction...

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There are too many

days of infamy in the history of labour's attempts to get fair treatment and living wages from the Capitalist system.

The infamous

Ludlow Massacre

is just one more.

On this date in 1914 nineteen people were killed, mainly by the Colorado National Guard, during a labour dispute in Ludlow, Colorado, including "Two women and eleven children were asphyxiated and burned to death."

As long as this system exists there will be disparity, and those with might will continue to use it, even to the point of killing the workers to get what they want...

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Oh, yes...

I almost forgot...

Happy Saint Patrick's Day!

Sorry, SWMBO!

(Take a look at the link to see a photo of the Chicago River that is dyed green each year in honour of St. Patrick's Day. Humans are nothing if not immoderate...)

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Today is

the anniversary of the birth of

Rosa Luxemburg,

Marxist theorist, Marxist economist, activist, philosopher, and the person SWMBO named one of our gone, but not forgotten or unloved, cats after. I don't think there's a message of any kind there...

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