Hijack This Thread

[RTH10260]

Josephine Baker to Be Honored With a Panthéon Burial
Ms. Baker will be the first Black woman to be entombed in the Panthéon in Paris, a symbolic move amid racial tensions in France.

By Constant Méheut
Aug. 22, 2021

PARIS — Josephine Baker, an American-born Black dancer and civil rights activist who in the early 20th century became one of France’s great music-hall stars, will be laid to rest in the Panthéon, France’s storied tomb of heroes, a close adviser to President Emmanuel Macron said on Sunday.

The honor will make Ms. Baker — who became a French citizen in 1937 and died in Paris in 1975 — the first Black woman and one of very few foreign-born figures to be interred there. The Panthéon houses the remains of some of France’s most revered, including Victor Hugo, Marie Curie and Jean-Jacques Rousseau.

The decision to transfer Ms. Baker’s remains, which are buried in Monaco, comes after a petition calling for the move, started by the writer Laurent Kupferman, caught the attention of Mr. Macron. The petition has garnered nearly 40,000 signatures over the past two years.

Mr. Kupferman suggested that Mr. Macron approved the reinterment “because, probably, Josephine Baker embodies the Republic of possibilities.”

“How could a woman who came from a discriminated and very poor background achieve her destiny and become a world star?” Mr. Kupferman said. “That was possible in France at a time when it was not in the United States.”

Entombment at the Panthéon can be approved only by a president, and Ms. Baker’s reinterment is highly symbolic, coming as France has been convulsed by heated culture wars over its model of social integration, and as gender and race issues have fractured the country around new political front lines.



https://www.nytimes.com/2021/08/22/worl ... urial.html

[RTH10260]

Sardinian Village Tries to Save an Ancient Tree Scorched by Fire
A team of experts, with the help of local residents and authorities, is trying to revive an ancient olive tree in the hilltop village of Cuglieri that was engulfed in a catastrophic wildfire.

By Gaia Pianigiani
Aug. 22, 2021

To the people of Cuglieri, a small hilltop village on the Italian island of Sardinia, the tree was simply “the Patriarch.”

Over the course of its long life — estimates of its age range from 1,800 to 2,000 years old — the olive tree became a behemoth, with a trunk 11 feet, or 3.4 meters, wide, and an integral part of an ancient landscape in western Sardinia. But after a large area of vegetation and numerous farms and villages in the region were devastated by one of the biggest wildfires in decades, time finally caught up with the Patriarch.

The ancient olive tree was engulfed in flames, and its giant trunk burned for almost two days.

In a fire that reached Cuglieri in late July, the agricultural community of about 2,600 residents lost 90 percent of its olive trees, the main source of income for most. More than 1,000 people were evacuated from the town, which is tucked between a mountain covered in cork and oak trees and the Mediterranean Sea.

Now local residents and the authorities are pinning their hopes for the survival of their ancient olive tree on Gianluigi Bacchetta, a professor at the University of Cagliari and the director of its botanical gardens, who is trying to bring the Patriarch back to life.

“The Patriarch is our identity,” said Maria Franca Curcu, who is responsible for cultural and social policies for the municipality of Cuglieri, her voice breaking. “If we can save him, we can give a message of hope to all the people who have lost everything in the fire.”




https://www.nytimes.com/2021/08/22/worl ... -tree.html

[Tiredretiredlawyer]

Oregon labor leader Liz Shuler elected as first woman to head AFL-CIO

Liz Shuler, an Oregonian who rose quickly through the ranks of U.S. organized labor, was elected president of the AFL-CIO Friday.

She is the first woman to hold the post, generally considered the top job in American unions. The AFL-CIO is a federation of 56 unions with 12.5 million members.

“It’s still settling in,” Shuler told The Oregonian/OregonLive. “It’s bittersweet.” The election was staged earlier than originally planned because Richard Trumka, longtime president of the federation, died unexpectedly early this month.

https://www.oregonlive.com/business/202 ... l-cio.html

[northland10]

My town still has that small-town feel sometimes.

Customers, co-workers pay tribute to longtime Libertyville mail carrier

Love, not tradition, was the reason behind a police-led procession of U.S. Postal Service and civilian vehicles honoring the memory of Libertyville mail carrier Marcus Wheeler on his longtime route Saturday morning only three days after his sudden and unexpected death at 56.

"I've been in the post office for 32 years and in management for about 15 years," Libertyville Postmaster Patrick Sweeney said. "I've never seen this. He is loved by his customers. He had a great personality and sense of humor. His smile was constant."

Sweeney said Wheeler had been with the Libertyville post office for 33 years and was one of only three left who had started before the move to the current building in 1991.

https://www.dailyherald.com/news/202108 ... il-carrier

[Volkonski]

She's young, female, Hispanic and favors mask mandates. She's in a state where anybody can carry a gun just about anywhere.

They need to wrap her in Kevlar and surround her with a wall.

[raison de arizona]

https://twitter.com/FOX26Houston/status ... 3714?s=19
She's young, female, Hispanic and favors mask mandates. She's in a state where anybody can carry a gun just about anywhere.

They need to wrap her in Kevlar and surround her with a wall.

What a brave young lady, and how scary things are becoming with these anti-maskers.

Lock them up!

[MsDaisy]

https://twitter.com/FOX26Houston/status ... 3714?s=19
She's young, female, Hispanic and favors mask mandates. She's in a state where anybody can carry a gun just about anywhere.

They need to wrap her in Kevlar and surround her with a wall.

What a brave young lady, and how scary things are becoming with these anti-maskers.

Lock them up!

She's beautiful, doesn't look old enough to be out of High School! Or maybe I'm just old and crusty I do get Medicare next year finally! I'll no longer have to pay over $900.00 a month for health insurance that doesn't cover anything until I spend $10K out of pocket. Thankfully I have no real medical conditions so I never spend much of anything. That SOOOO pisses me off!

It's kind of like forced extortion!

[John Thomas8]

Sportsball time again, my yearly hijack to invite folks to participate:

NFL:
viewtopic.php?f=30&t=870

CFB:
viewtopic.php?f=29&t=867

There's still spots open in the Fogbow NFL Fantasy League, too:

viewtopic.php?f=30&t=505

[Phoenix520]

Has anyone heard from zeke? His last visit was a week ago; that’s not like him.

Stupid COVID, making us worry about our friends grumble grumble.

[Dave from down under]

Went for a stroll.. not really exercise - so wore masks - jasmine is flowering - so we both had a sprig of flowers inside the masks - lovely!

Will do it with clover flowers next time.

[AndyinPA]

Went for a stroll.. not really exercise - so wore masks - jasmine is flowering - so we both had a sprig of flowers inside the masks - lovely!

Will do it with clover flowers next time.

What a neat idea. Not so sure what clover flowers smell like, but jasmine --

[Estiveo]

[Foggy]

Has anyone heard from zeke? His last visit was a week ago; that’s not like him.

Stupid COVID, making us worry about our friends grumble grumble.

ZekeB, where are you?

[Tiredretiredlawyer]

Zeke? Where you are?

[AndyinPA]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va ... e-hearing/

A California parole board panel on Friday voted in favor of Sirhan B. Sirhan’s request for release from prison on parole, more than 50 years after he was arrested and convicted of the assassination of Sen. Robert F. Kennedy, finding that he was no longer a threat to society, according to the state corrections department.

The slaying of Kennedy (D-N.Y.), then a contender for the Democratic presidential nomination, likely changed the course of American history. But Sirhan’s lawyer argued that was an irrelevant consideration for parole — that the criteria of rehabilitation, remorse and future dangerousness applied to all prisoners should also be applied to Sirhan, now 77.

“Over half a century has passed,” Sirhan told the two parole commissioners, “and that young impulsive kid I was does not exist anymore...Sen. Kennedy was the hope of the world and I injured, and I harmed all of them and it pains me to experience that, the knowledge for such a horrible deed.”

It was Sirhan’s 16th parole hearing. Since California abolished capital punishment in 1972, and Sirhan’s sentence was reduced to life, he has been eligible for release since 1975. The decision by the two-person panel will be reviewed by the full parole board for 90 days before it is final. Then the California governor, currently Gavin Newsom (D) who is facing a recall election which ends on Sept. 14, will have 30 days to uphold the decision, reverse it, or send it back to the board.

Kennedy’s family made a late decision to appear at the hearing, with son Douglas H. Kennedy speaking in favor of Sirhan’s parole. “I really do believe any prisoner who is found to be not a threat to themselves or the world should be released,” Douglas Kennedy said, according to the Associated Press. “I believe that applies to everyone, every human being, including Mr. Sirhan...I was very deeply moved by Mr. Sirhan’s expression of remorse and at times it brought tears to my eyes and affected me very deeply.”

[Patagoniagirl]

All these clever new topics, with their clever wording make it really difficult and confusing to search through and find appropriate threads. Jeebus, keep it simple.

[p0rtia]

All these clever new topics, with their clever wording make it really difficult and confusing to search through and find appropriate threads. Jeebus, keep it simple.

[Estiveo]

All these clever new topics, with their clever wording make it really difficult and confusing to search through and find appropriate threads. Jeebus, keep it simple.

[Phoenix520]

Woke up this morning to floods and power outages…inside our house.

There’s a leak in sprouts bathroom upstairs. More accurately, there’s a leak in the pipe above the den. We now have a bubble ceiling with steady drips. Sprout came in at 6 to tell me it’s raining in the den. I turned off the water to his bathroom and the drips are tapering off but it’s ugly and unstable and I can’t find a plumber who can come before tomorrow.

After that, I went into the kitchen to get COFFEE. Why are my socks wet? I just looked at the ceiling leak, I wasn’t anywhere near it. I looked down. Water all over the kitchen floor from the dishwasher which we always run at bedtime.

Took off wet socks, went into living room to grab stack of towels I’d folded the night before, flipped light switch… no light.

Shit. I was going to get a new laptop today.

[Volkonski]

[Shizzle Popped]

Woke up this morning to floods and power outages…inside our house.

There’s a leak in sprouts bathroom upstairs. More accurately, there’s a leak in the pipe above the den. We now have a bubble ceiling with steady drips. Sprout came in at 6 to tell me it’s raining in the den. I turned off the water to his bathroom and the drips are tapering off but it’s ugly and unstable and I can’t find a plumber who can come before tomorrow.

After that, I went into the kitchen to get COFFEE. Why are my socks wet? I just looked at the ceiling leak, I wasn’t anywhere near it. I looked down. Water all over the kitchen floor from the dishwasher which we always run at bedtime.

Took off wet socks, went into living room to grab stack of towels I’d folded the night before, flipped light switch… no light.

Shit. I was going to get a new laptop today.

Well that's a lousy way to start the day. Hope you get it resolved quickly. I assume your laptop money is going to be spent elsewhere now. I'm sorry to hear that.

I had a dishwasher leak onto the kitchen floor in our last house. Luckily, I was in the room at the time and shut it down. The house was basically new but was the model so the dishwasher hadn't been run since it was installed like a year before. I could have had it fixed but it was a cheap builder model and we had wood floors in the kitchen. I decided that the deductible to fix the wood floor would be more than the cost of a new dishwasher and opted to just replace it. At the time, Bosch dishwashers had leak detection so that's what we ended up with. I ordered a new dishwasher for this house before we took possession and had it installed a couple of days after we moved in.

I think all the Bosch dishwashers have leak detection now and some models from other manufacturers do as well. I think you can get leak detecting hoses as well, but the dishwashers go a step further by pumping all the water out of the tub. If you're going to have to replace the dishwasher, it's something to consider.

[raison de arizona]

When it rains, it pours. And floods.

[Volkonski]

[Uninformed]

“Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards 2021 finalists revealed”:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/in-pictures-58402306

[Dave from down under]