Entire of itself.
Each is a piece of the continent,
A part of the main.
If a clod be washed away by the sea,
Europe is the less
As well as if a promontory were.
As well as if a manor of thine own
Or of thine friend's were.
Each man's death diminishes me,
For I am involved in mankind.
Therefore, send not to know
For whom the bell tolls,
It tolls for thee.
John Donne, 1572-1631
I always loved the old tune Greensleeves--in fact I wanted to use it as part of the music at our wedding. The Episcopal church would only allow liturgical music, but as it happened, there was a hymn with the Greensleeves tune. .. . but because the title of the hymn was What Child Is This? I reconsidered.
When my FB friend Mario posted a video that tells the story behind the old song and details the meticulous recreation of the various items the besotted lover gives to the lady, including a sumptuous gown, well, I had to see it.
It's a delightful treat for a hot day. Actually, there are two videos. One, showing the work of the various makers of historically accurate apparel and confectionery; the other a sumptuously mounted, tongue in cheek acting out of the song. You can find them HERE
After a truly unhinged rant bemoaning his lack of a Nobel Peace Prize despite his YUGE successes in diplomacy, Dear Leader has dropped many YUGE bombs on Iran -- without congressional input and without reliable intelligence concerning Iran's nuclear activities. He was disappointed with his parade so now he flexes his military might.
This is what happens when a man with all the emotional control of a toddler is given power.
I consider my life well spent, watching the sun in its yearlong creep back and forth across the morning horizon. Today it's at the far northern end of its invisible tether and will begin its stately progress south.
May we all find peace in these troubled times.
Every day brings more outrageous decrees from Dear Leader as the so-called party of small government extends its reach ever farther. The following article is from The Guardian (a quite reliable source.)
VA hospitals remove politics and marital status from guidelines protecting patients from discrimination
Department of Veterans Affairs says the changes come in response to a Trump executive order ‘defending women’
The Department of Veterans Affairs has imposed new guidelines on VA hospitals nationwide that remove language that explicitly prohibited doctors from discriminating against patients based on their political beliefs or marital status.
The new rules, obtained by the Guardian, also apply to psychologists, dentists and a host of other occupations. They have already gone into effect in at least some VA medical centers.
Under federal law, eligible veterans must be given hospital care and services, and the revised VA hospital rules still instruct medical staff that they cannot discriminate against veterans on the basis of race, color, religion and sex. But language within VA hospital bylaws requiring healthcare professionals to care for veterans regardless of their politics and marital status has been explicitly eliminated from these bylaws, raising questions about whether individual workers could now be free to decline to care for patients based on personal characteristics not expressly protected by federal law.
Explicit protections for VA doctors and other medical staff based on their marital status, political party affiliation or union activity have also been removed, documents reviewed by the Guardian show.
The changes also affect chiropractors, certified nurse practitioners, optometrists, podiatrists, licensed clinical social workers and speech therapists.
In making the changes, VA officials cite Donald Trump’s 30 January executive order titled “Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government”. The primary purpose of the executive order was to strip most government protections from transgender people. The VA has since ceased providing most gender-affirming care and forbidden a long list of words, including “gender affirming” and “transgender”, from clinical settings.
Somehow, I don't feel safer . . .
The Stars and Stripes used to evoke in me a feeling of pride, of community, of a Norman Rockwell sort of well-being.
Not any more. Our wannabe dictator surrounds himself with flags and his more rabid supporters fly them from their giant trucks.
"When fascism come to America, it will be wrapped in a flag and carrying a cross."
(Attributed to Sinclair Lewis)
Maybe we could add "and enjoying a costly parade of military equipment while cutting aid to veterans (aka 'losers.')
Back when we were living in the barn, I experimented with tempura daylily flowers--delicious and slightly oniony tasting but a lot of trouble--and we also added the buds to stir fry--pretty good but, as I recall, a tad slimy.
