Breast Expansion Archive Forum
Miscellaneous => Off-Topic & Testing => Topic started by: solvegas on May 30, 2011, 08:02:38 AM
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Today is Memorial Day, a day of rememberance about those who, in President's Lincoln words, have given the last full measure of devotion to their country. Kinda sad when I heard a moron salesman say " Happy Memorial Day ! " at a store here. Needless to say, I ain't buying shit from that asshole. Originally called Decoration Day, it began as a way to honor the fallen from the Civil War, America's bloodiest conflict, but changed to honor all veterans after WW1. Now unfortunately it means the begining of the summer season, barbeque day, and a day to goof off. Guess it's because relatively few americans have served in the armed forces and very few have actually fought and paid the price to keep the Republic free. So the emotional connection about the meaning of the day is not there. I'm getting depressed so I'll just end this post.
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I'm not so sure any holiday is that successful at conveying what inspired it. I mean, for crying out loud, take Christmas -- how much reflection on Christian teaching actually goes on then? You would think the real St. Nicholas would be inspirational enough, but instead we get this jolly old elf. More to the point, though, I think a holiday is reasonably successful if at the very least it exposes people to some good art. I watched "Sergeant York" the other day, and I'm struck by how unassuming it is, no chest-thumping in it or anything like that, it's York simply trying to go about his life sensibly. I like to think that Giunta, our latest Medal of Honor winner, could relate to that. And "The Best Years of Our Lives" will be on tonight, I'm always a sucker for that. Many will miss the point, but some won't. That's about as good as it gets.
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Some have look upon the 2 party system a continuance of the Union and Confederates. I look back at a country that was once divided and lynch mob going on right after the civil war. The memorial or declaration day was an exercise for American to renew their purpose for the country to stay together. The nation needed that day to move forward to healing. To me this day was all about the healing process.
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Actually, 3d, like most things it was more complicated. It was first observed by Confederates during the Civil War, beginning in 1863. After the war the G.A.R., the Northern veteran's association, decided to start observing May 30 in 1868. New York made it a state holiday in 1873 and by 1890 all the Northern states were observing it, which pissed off the Southern states enough that they quit observing it, and picked a variety of different days to observe as Confederate Memorial Day. As solvegas pointed out, it was made a national holiday after World War One, though most of the states of the former Confederacy went on with their separate observations. The most common day for those is April 26.
The irony of all that is that prior to the Civil War most of the states observed a day of mourning for the dead; virtually all other societies have such a day, but the United States has long since abandoned the practice. Around here if you don't get killed in a war, it doesn't count. Like the Klingons.
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Actually, 3d, like most things it was more complicated. It was first observed by Confederates during the Civil War, beginning in 1863. After the war the G.A.R., the Northern veteran's association, decided to start observing May 30 in 1868. New York made it a state holiday in 1873 and by 1890 all the Northern states were observing it, which pissed off the Southern states enough that they quit observing it, and picked a variety of different days to observe as Confederate Memorial Day. As solvegas pointed out, it was made a national holiday after World War One, though most of the states of the former Confederacy went on with their separate observations. The most common day for those is April 26.
The irony of all that is that prior to the Civil War most of the states observed a day of mourning for the dead; virtually all other societies have such a day, but the United States has long since abandoned the practice. Around here if you don't get killed in a war, it doesn't count. Like the Klingons.
Hah! that is so interesting. I thought Christmas was one of the holiday that piss off those that celebrate a pagan holiday. So the northerner hijack the southern special day on the calendar.
Anyone notice how many civil war document are being shown on cable this week?
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Anyone notice how many civil war document are being shown on cable this week?
Considering the War between the States began 150 years ago ( the sesquincentenial ) and people are still digesting the significance of that cataclismic event, not surprised at all. When you realize more Americans died in the Civil War than all other wars combined, including the Indian wars, the banana wars and all the very minor conflicts americans have forgotten ( how many remember the Phillipine insurrection ? ) the Civil War is, after the war of independence itself, the most significant event of all and there are historians who will argue it even supercedes the Revolutionary War itself. It still reverberates, especially in the South. I remember when my sister got married to my brother in law, who is from Michigan, my maternal Grandmother, whose grandad fought in the Texas batallion of the Army of Nothern Virginia, said out of earshot from my sister, " Damn, she's marrying a Yankee ! " . It was bad enough my mother had married a Mexican ( Remember the Alamo ! ) but now the grandaughter married a ... damn yankee. The indignity of it all. ;D
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( how many remember the Phillipine insurrection ? )
Solvegas, I am as much a product of my heritage as you are of yours. One reason for my incorrigible pacifism is that I've had relations in every bloodletting the country has participated in at least since the War of 1812. Which is my way of saying that I recall the Phillipine Insurrection (Or, as Jose Rizal called it, the War of Phillipine Suppression) partly because my paternal grandfather lost his left eye in that particular scrape.
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Guess I'll get on my soapbox and pontificate on something that annoys the hell out of me even though most people probably don't give a shit. WTF do they mean " Happy Memorial Day " ? ??? Memorial Day, originally know as Decoration Day, is a day for rememberance and to take stock of those who, as President Lincoln stated on the Gettysburg address, " have given the last full measure of devotion " to the country. As far as I am concerned, Congress did a terrible dis-service when it made the last monday in May the day to reflect on those who have paid the ultimate price for the republic. It should have been left alone on the 31st of May just like the 4th of July. So we don't have a three day weekend so that stores may sell more crap we probably don't need or some slob somewhere can get on the BBQ and drink Schlitz. I'm listening on the radio and seeing on the TV " Happy Memorial day ! " and thinking do these idiots go to a funeral and celebrate with beer and fireworks ? I served twenty years in Uncle Sam's canoe club and lucky for me we only drilled for war, not actually fight it. The last great fleet action the US Navy has fought was at the Battle of Leyte gulf in 1944. But I 've always respected those who have and to cheapen their sacrifice and those of their dead comrades is very saddening. :'( Anyways, you may all proceed forward and let this Veteran rant a little.
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Solvegas, you really do look for things to get pissed about.
Historically Memorial Day has been a state holidy; it was not made federal until 1967. And historically it was celebrated on May 30, not May 31. You may find this to be the only issue upon which you agree with Senator Daniel Inouye:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Memorial_Day (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Memorial_Day)
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This has been a problem for awhile, and not just with Memorial Day. I've also heard people say Happy Ramadan, which makes no sense either.
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Eh, I take sol's point a little -- even though I wouldn't jump all over anyone who says it, for the simple reason that it's way too easy to fall into the "Happy Whatever" formula and I'm not sure anyone HAS ever figured out a truly proper greeting.
I chalk my attitude up to living in perhaps the most Jewish neighborhood in all Western Pennsylvania. Saying Happy Memorial Day feels a little like saying Happy Yom Kippur.
(PS: Cheviot! Hi!)
also: Zorro, thank you -- and thank you.
At the heart of all this, it still seems we could use a better saying. I'm open to suggestions.
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Just so you guys know, I have not jumped on anyone nor corrected anyone or try a piss contest about it. I've internalized and, with the exception of other Veterans, have not discussed it. I was only ranting here because I needed an outlet outside of the Veterans circle. Thanks for the correction pedonbio, that is what happens when you are angry and are just not checking your typing closely. I understand most people saying " Happy Memorial day ! " are not maliscious but can't we educate them about the proper meaning and etiquette of the day ?
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I have to agree with Solvegas on this one. I also served in the U.S. Navy however I only gave 10 years of my life to it.
All the commercialism toward Memorial Day had been going on before I enlisted in 1971. Most folks have the cookout and other festivities on this day, so it is not something that had only been going on recently.
In the 90's when I joined the VFW I also became active in 2 different Honor Guards. In the 5 or so years I participated I did, on the average of about 10 funerals each year and also was in Memorial Day services at Fair Park in Dallas, TX.
After I moved to Florida I did not do the Honor Guard functions anymore, but I still would go to Memorial Day functions plus visit my dad, who was a WW2 veteran.
Memorial Day now has a special meaning for me after my father died in 2007.
The little "sailor" in this picture taken in 1924 is my dad. ;D
Zorro, I'm very sorry, but the BEA's owner allows absolutely no images of children in the forum, so we have to remove this one even though it's meaningful to you and to us. No rule violation will be recorded.
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Zorro, having a number of pictures of my father at about that age, it is clear to me that the obsession with having children smile in photos is a fairly recent development.
BTW, great colorizing job. Yours?
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There is a comparison, perhaps, complicated by the use of different calendars, in Holocaust Memorial Day. Most countries (including the United Nations) mark it on January 27, the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz in 1945* by the Red Army. As you may note here:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holocaust_Memorial_Day (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holocaust_Memorial_Day), there are two groups of people who do not observe it on that date: The liberators and the liberated.
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*--My mother calculated that this was probably the date I was conceived. I have no idea what significance that may have.
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Solvegas, thanks for posting this...and as a fellow veteran, thanks for your service, too.
I was in the Army (95-00), then the AF Res (02-05), and it seems like as the years go, the people that actually bother to 'thank' the veterans, are the ones that wish we would bomb the living crap out of everyone not like them, and I have to stop myself from lashing out at such rubbish.
Thanking a vet just doesn't seem to have the same effect it used to. :(
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Zorro, having a number of pictures of my father at about that age, it is clear to me that the obsession with having children smile in photos is a fairly recent development.
BTW, great colorizing job. Yours?
Yes, I did the colorizing of that picture. It was one of my early attempts with Paint Shop Pro.
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My pet peeve is people who confuse Memorial Day and Veteran's Day.
The latter is for those who served and made it back; the former is for those who served and didn't.
And let us also remember those who have died in service during peacetime; just because there's no war on doesn't mean you are not defending our nation's honor.
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I haven't served a minute in the military. I honestly give a real and sincere Thank You to those of you on here, and not on here, that have served. I agree completly agree with solve. I just never thought about it before. I'm a bit over 30 and remember Memorial day always being like this, all happy and such. I think that's why I never thought about, I was just used to it. I will keep this in mind. Again, Thank You!
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A little late to the party, but I noticed this year was the first Memorial Day since I got out of the Navy (12 years, then RIF'd out) and this year I did a lot more sitting and thinking of friends who have died in the line of duty over the course of my time in.
It was odd, because when I was in, it was looked forward to mostly because it was one of the few weekends they wouldn't screw with unless really important stuff was happening.
Funny how perspective changes as you get older/more experienced.
I didn't do much in the way of a BBQ or anything, but I did talk with a friend's widow.
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Yeah, it's a bit like wishing people a happy Good Friday. It might be well-meaning, but it comes off as spectacularly clueless.
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What's the problem? ???
Wishing someone a "Happy Memorial Day" isn't as bad as telling them to have a "Merry Memorial Day". :-\
And besides, at least the HMD greeting isn't as much of a tongue twister as MMD is. ::) :P
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First of all I want to apologize for that picture of my father taken in 1924. In the spirit of the occasion I forgot that even an old picture of a ch1ld is not allowed here at the BEA.
This year I might stay at home and I might cook a few hamburgers and/or hot dogs.
Having to use a city bus for my transportation sucks!
I realize that the actual holiday is tomorrow, but I just want to relax and work on morphs that day.
I grabbed this picture from a social website that another user posted.
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Just remember, Z-man, I'm a non-driver, so I'm stuck with buses my whole life long -- and in Pittsburgh! ;)
I'm always struck by the Vietnam memorial (this one we finally settled on). There is a simple dignified power in the naming of the dead, in the fact that an army is comprised of individual lives. Perhaps in some future century the leaders of nation-states will at long last feel the true weight of that. Sadly, this century's already been shot.
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lee greenwood, you know the song.
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Well, another Memorial Day where I have to listen on the radio or TV the stupid " Happy Memorial Day ! " or " Memorial Day sale ! " idiocy. Yea, I'm a fuddydaddy I guess but I don't care, it's still a free country. The weather is exceptional today to partake in outdoor activities. After I go to the local Veteran's cemetery in Boulder City, where I already have a spot when the time comes for me to depart this world, and pay my respects, I will go out with my friends from work and BBQ. Most of the personnel which work in our Security department at the Luxor are either retired police, retired military or have prior service so it's not difficult for us to congregate and tell sea stories ( if you were Navy or Marine Corps ) and do what most guys do best, swap lies. ;D We will of course solve all of the world's problems, bitch about anything ( a bitching sailor is a happy sailor ) and drink some cerveza. Next year we will do the same. :)
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I found out that by law we all have to have a moment of silence at 3 pm on Memorial Day. It's a law that would be very hard to enforce, I know, but I think it helps serve as an antidote to the hyper-commercialization of the day.
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Below is a photo of the earliest federally-recognized Memorial Day observation, May 1, 1865, in Charleston, South Carolina. A group of freed slaves held a ceremony honoring 257 Union soldiers, prisoners of war, killed by the Confederate Army and buried in a mass grave. The freed Blacks undertook to exhume and identify the remains for re-burial.
My paternal great-grandfather was the only member of the family to meet the constitutional definition of a traitor, serving under Gen. Kirby-Smith of the Trans-Mississippi Department.
Look at the picture closely, and you will notice that the group is saluting the flag the original way, not the pantywaist "hand over heart" shit introduced in 1943.
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^
Interesting, that`s also the salute of the Roman Empire.
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Interesting, that`s also the salute of the Roman Empire.
Indeed. Much more a demonstration of loyalty than a "Where's my wallet?" gesture.
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A make believe military hero. :P :P :P
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On this MEMORIAL DAY WEEKEND in the USA,
we salute the men and women of our Armed Forces who have given their service
to a country that has been a beacon of hope for people around the world. We
especially salute and remember those who have given their sacred lives in
service of their country.
To the living and the deceased, we say thank you for your service.
We remember.
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From today's news, a reminder that you don't have to be in combat to give your life in service to your country:
"FORT HOOD, Texas — At least five soldiers were killed Thursday at Fort Hood in Texas when their truck overturned in a creek, according to the Army. Three soldiers' bodies were recovered Thursday afternoon. Two more were found Thursday night. Four soldiers remained unaccounted for...."
(Heavy rains are causing massive flooding in areas of Texas)
Remember them as well.......
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Today is officially the Memorial Day holiday. Memorial Day is the day we honor and remember those died in the service of the USA or, to paraphrase the words of the 16th President of the USA Abraham Lincoln, gave their last full measure of devotion to their country. PLEASE don't say" Happy Memorial Day!" for it is not a time for joy like Christmas or the 4th of July but a somber day of remembrance.
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Agreed that Memorial Day isn't a "celebration", but a commemoration. So few people realize who really started the holiday, or why they did.
"Although May 30, 1868 is cited as the first national commemoration of Memorial Day at Arlington National Cemetery, events led by African Americans in Charleston, South Carolina to decorate the graves of fallen Civil War soldiers occurred on May 1, 1865, less than a month after the Confederacy surrendered.
Reports of this early version of Memorial Day or “Decoration Day” as it was called, were rediscovered in the Harvard University archives in the late 1990s by historian David Blight, author of the 2018 biography Frederick Douglass: Prophet of Freedom.
To quote from history.com:
When Charleston fell and Confederate troops evacuated the badly damaged city, those freed from enslavement remained. One of the first things those emancipated men and women did was to give the fallen Union prisoners a proper burial. They exhumed the mass grave and reinterred the bodies in a new cemetery with a tall, whitewashed fence inscribed with the words: “Martyrs of the Race Course.”
And then on May 1, 1865, something even more extraordinary happened. According to two reports that Blight found in The New York Tribune and The Charleston Courier, a crowd of 10,000 people, mostly freed slaves with some white missionaries, staged a parade around the race track.
Three thousand Black schoolchi!dren carried bouquets of flowers and sang “John Brown’s Body.” Members of the famed 54th Massachusetts and other Black Union regiments were in attendance and performed double-time marches. Black ministers recited verses from the Bible.
Despite the size of the gathering and newspaper coverage, the memory of this event was “suppressed by white Charlestonians in favor of their own version of the day,” Blight stated in the New York Times in 2011.
On May 31, 2010, near a reflecting pool at Hampton Park, the city of Charleston reclaimed this history by installing a plaque commemorating the site as the place where Black Charlestonians held the first Memorial Day on May 1, 1865."
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Today is Memorial Day and I'm usually annoyed when I hear people say, "Have a happy Memorial Day!", which is improper in my opinion. As I was searching for proper images of for commemoration of the day, this one was one of the few without the happy crap. Please honor those who have paid the ultimate price for the USA.
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Today is the day that we commemorate those who have paid the ultimate price, their lives, for their country here in the USA. My best friend here in Las Vegas is an Air Force Veteran who served in Vietnam and met and married his Vietnamese wife back in 1968. We'll be going to the VA cemetery in Boulder City to pay our respects to those who have served their country, and it is the main military cemetery of Clark County. Boulder City is nearby/adjacent to the Hoover Dam.