Monday, 5 March 2012

This priest never lies...

Tumbleweed sent me this joke:


An attractive young woman on a flight from Ireland asked the Priest beside her,


'Father, may I ask a favour?'


'Of course child. What may I do for you?'




'Well, I bought my mother an expensive hair dryer for her birthday. It is unopened but well over the Customs limits and I'm afraid they'll confiscate it. Is there any way you could carry it through customs for me? Hide it under your robes perhaps?'


'I would love to help you, dear, but I must warn you, I will not lie.'


'With your honest face, Father, no one will question you.'


When they got to Customs, she let the priest go first.


The official asked, 'Father, do you have anything to declare?'


'From the top of my head down to my waist I have nothing to declare.'



The official thought this answer strange, so asked, 'And what do you have to declare from your waist to the floor?'


'I have a marvellous instrument designed to be used on a woman, but which is, to date, unused.'


Roaring with laughter, the official said, 'Go ahead, Father. Next!'





Thank you, Tumbleweed.

Sunday, 4 March 2012

Married bliss


Peter and I managed to forget our wedding anniversary this year. BOTH of us. But hey, we still love each other!

Saturday, 3 March 2012

Pirouette, at the cutting edge of fashion

Pirouette had her ladybits doctored on Wednesday and after a couple of rough days she felt perky enough to start biting off the stitches. So we made her a little suit to stop her having access to the area. You can see she's not terribly impressed with her outfit. Pirate didn't think much of it either.


C'est la vie, n'est-ce pas?

Friday, 2 March 2012

Tidy up your bedroom!

Peter found this encouraging story:

Like any typical teenager, Ryan Kitching resisted all his mother's attempts to get him to tidy his bedroom.

For two weeks, the 19-year-old turned a deaf ear to all her pleas for him to clear up the mess.

But when he finally gave in and started sifting through the junk, he found a lottery ticket from the February 8 draw. 


And instead of tossing it in the bin, he had it checked - and found it had five winning numbers and a bonus ball.

Suddenly, supermarket worker Ryan, of Penicuik, Midlothian, found himself £52,981 the richer and posted on his Facebook page: 'Special thanks to my mum for putting up with me haha!'

Now he plans to reward his long-suffering mother Susan and father Raymond by arranging for them to go on holiday.


The odds of getting Billy and Paul to keep their rooms tidy were more or less the same as winning the lottery!

Wednesday, 29 February 2012

There's a message underfoot...

This is a cool floor. I wonder if the designer was thinking about the 99%?

Monday, 27 February 2012

Sunday, 26 February 2012

Are American women going to be sent back to the 19th Century?

Tumbleweed sent me something about the struggle of pioneering women fighting for the right to vote. I did a bit of research and gathered some interesting material to go with Tumbleweed's contribution. (The body of the original e-mail is contained in the video.) Thank you, TW.

Let's start with some of the history:



The struggle to achieve equal rights for women is often thought to have begun, in the English-speaking world, with the publication of Mary Wollstonecraft's A Vindication of the Rights of Woman (1792). During the 19th century, as male suffrage was gradually extended in many countries, women became increasingly active in the quest for their own suffrage. Not until 1893, however, in New Zealand, did women achieve suffrage on the national level. Australia followed in 1902, but American, British, and Canadian women did not win the same rights until the end of World War I.

The United States

The demand for the enfranchisement of American women was first seriously formulated at the Seneca Falls Convention (1848). After the Civil War, agitation by women for the ballot became increasingly vociferous. In 1869, however, a rift developed among feminists over the proposed 15th Amendment, which gave the vote to black men. Susan B. Anthony, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and others refused to endorse the amendment because it did not give women the ballot. Other suffragists, however, including Lucy Stone and Julia Ward Howe, argued that once the black man was enfranchised, women would achieve their goal. As a result of the conflict, two organizations emerged. Stanton and Anthony formed the National Woman Suffrage Association to work for suffrage on the federal level and to press for more extensive institutional changes, such as the granting of property rights to married women. Stone created the American Woman Suffrage Association, which aimed to secure the ballot through state legislation. In 1890 the two groups united under the name National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA). In the same year Wyoming entered the Union, becoming the first state with general women's suffrage (which it had adopted as a territory in 1869).

As the pioneer suffragists began to withdraw from the movement because of age, younger women assumed leadership roles. One of the most politically astute was Carrie Chapman Catt, who was named president of NAWSA in 1915. Another prominent suffragist was Alice Paul. Forced to resign from NAWSA because of her insistence on the use of militant direct-action tactics, Paul organized the National Woman's Party, which used such strategies as mass marches and hunger strikes. Perseverance on the part of both organizations eventually led to victory. On August 26, 1920, the 19th Amendment granted the ballot to American women.
[Scholastic - Resources for Teachers]

THE NIGHT OF TERROR - November 1917




Lucy Burns

Dora Lewis

Alice Paul

Pauline Adams

Edith Ainge

Berthe Arnold

Helena Hill Weed

There was a lot of propaganda against women's suffrage, on top of the violence:






In the last couple of centuries, women fought long and hard to achieve equal rights in many areas. The fight still goes on for equal pay. Certain politicians want to turn the clock back and take away many of these achievements, notably in the area of reproductive rights. It started with abortion, but now one of these politicians promises to legislate against contraception as well. What next? Take away women's the right to vote?

Can American women afford to be treated as mere chattels again?

Thursday, 23 February 2012

Ready or not, here I come!

My brother posted this photo on his Facebook wall. I find it charming...

Tuesday, 21 February 2012

Eagle time!

It's that time of the year when we start following the joys and dramas of the Decorah eagles. It looks very cold out there! The second egg was laid yesterday evening.



I've embeded the livestream video on the sidebar to make life easier. [h/t to Shapeshifterbelly]

Monday, 20 February 2012

The magic of water

Our friend Dominique sent me a spectacular slide show. All the pictures are connected with water in some way.