Good question. But it is still news :)

Kyle Potter, THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Tuesday, September 8, 2015 1:25:02 EDT PM



BLOOMINGTON, Minn. -- The Minnesota dentist who killed Cecil the lion returned to work Tuesday after weeks away, walking silently past a swarm of media and a handful of protesters outside his small dental practice calling for him to be sent to Zimbabwe to face trial.

A security guard met Palmer in the parking lot of the Bloomington clinic as he walked from a street where police had blocked off traffic, whisking him inside past a barrage of reporters shouting questions.

Palmer announced Sunday in an interview with The Associated Press -- his first since the uproar broke over Cecil's killing during a hunt in Zimbabwe's vast Hwange National Park in July -- that he would return to work, saying his patients and staff need him.

The small throng of protesters gathered outside the clinic didn't match the furor in the days after Palmer was named as Cecil's killer, when hundreds held vigils for the big cat with the black mane and forced River Bluff Dental to temporarily close.

Just a few protesters were on site when the dentist appeared shortly after 7 a.m. Cathy Pierce repeatedly yelled "Extradite Palmer!" as he entered the practice.

Pierce said she drove more than an hour from her home in East Bethel to the Bloomington clinic to "fight for animals who can't fight for themselves."

She scoffed at Palmer's suggestion in his interview with the AP that protesters had unfairly targeted his employees and family, in some cases threatening violence.

"We're not picking on his staff or his family. We're picking on him," she said. "We want him to know that we're not going to forget."

Stephanie Michaelis, a woman who lives near the clinic, walked over to argue with protesters, telling them to leave Palmer alone. She said the uproar over Cecil's death was overblown and that people should be more concerned about abortions and threats to human life.

Among the patients Tuesday was Thomas Dressel, who said his wife was a regular but it was his first visit as a patient. Dressel said he trusted Palmer's account of the hunt and, as a retired doctor, wanted to support a fellow medical professional.

"I support his business. I'm sure that this has really hurt his practice," he said.

Bloomington Police Deputy Chief Mike Hartley said police would be there as long as media were gathered. He said police don't believe Palmer's safety is at risk.

A group of half a dozen protesters remained on the sidewalk more than an hour after Palmer entered, holding signs calling for his extradition to Zimbabwe to face punishment. But while Palmer's guides on the hunt have either been charged or await charges for their involvement in Cecil's killing, the Zimbabwean government's pursuit of the dentist has cooled off amid fears it could hamper a hunting industry that is lucrative and important for the country.

It's been a month since Zimbabwean officials announced that police would process paperwork to extradite Palmer for participating in the hunt, but as of Monday, a police spokeswoman in Harare, Zimbabwe's capital, said there were no new developments in the case.

An attorney acting on Palmer's behalf told AP that he offered to make Palmer available to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to talk about the case several weeks ago, but he hasn't heard back.

Fish and Wildlife spokeswoman Laury Parramore said Tuesday that she has no update on the case but that an investigation continues.

I am requesting from my local library the suggested Hollow City . I have also discovered :

Library of Souls: The Third Novel of Miss Peregrine's Peculiar Children which I look forward to reading as well.


I am right now reading "I am Charlie Wilson" and a murder she wrote book.


I have also joined into a few online book clubs http://www.my-bookclub.com/.


One of the book clubs is now discussing a book called "escaping from camp 14" the group talks about several variety of topics this is the topic for the month. The group has also included this video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JF4R6wwA4C4

It could be a possibility you never know ....lol

lol

A loving, caring and involved in their lives mother or father. Children also appreciate having a parent to talk to that takes the time get involved not only in their needs but to also encourage them, protect them get them ready for being a responsible adult..

Sep 04, 2015 | Vote 0 0

Long-awaited land deal for First Nation at Ipperwash, but old wounds remain

His brother, is not happy with the structure of $95M agreement, which returns Ipperwash to a local band



Glenn Ogilvie,The Canadian Press


Hamilton Spectator
By Colin Graf


SARNIA — On the eve of the 20th anniversary of the police shooting death of native protester Dudley George at Ipperwash Provincial Park, his brother is upset over the terms of a proposed $95-million deal with the federal government that seeks to return the land George died trying to reclaim.

But leaders from the established First Nation in the area say the agreement is long overdue, and supported by the majority in a community deeply wounded by past injustices.

Dudley George's brother, Pierre George, is among the descendants of more than a dozen families who lived on the land along Lake Huron, located about 35 kilometres north of Sarnia, before they were evicted in 1942 to make way for an army training camp.

They self-identify as a separate group from the Chippewas of Kettle and Stony Point, the established First Nation in the area, and call themselves "Stony Pointers." Roughly 20 Stony Pointers, including George, currently occupy the former army camp.

The historic deal would return the lands of the camp — about 1,050 hectares — to the Kettle Point band. The First Nation, in turn, has promised to use the money for "community enhancement, including individual compensation, healing, and economic development," along with "infrastructure ... including the resettlement" of the army camp lands, the agreement states.

There are no details in the deal about how compensation will be distributed. The Chippewas of Kettle and Stony Point is the only First Nation mentioned in the agreement.

But Pierre George believes the government should be dealing only with the descendants of the Stony Point families, and not with the recognized Kettle Point band. He says the communities were separate before the evictions forced many of the Stony Point families to move to the nearby Kettle Point land, and blurred the lines between the two bands.

"Only people from Stony should have the say," he said, and criticized the promise of a payout to all band members as "buying votes."

Kettle Point Chief Tom Bressette confirmed that about $20 million is earmarked for compensation, with $5,000 going to every resident, whether Kettle or Stony. Seniors, some of whom lived on the Ipperwash lands before the appropriation, will get $10,000 each.

A notice on band letterhead from a band meeting earlier this year states that the compensation funds will be transferred to a trust fund within six months of a ratification vote, and will be distributed "based on the requests of Band Council, for various purposes detailed in the settlement agreement."

"Most of the people here are tired," Bressette said. "It's been 70 years we've been trying to make them (the government) live up to their commitment that they would give the land back."

Bressette disagrees with Pierre George. He says the communities have a long history of good relations that dates back to before the Second World War.

"We've been a harmonious community and always were until the military came along and ruined that — and that's what created a sense of someone lost and someone gained," he said.

After the land was appropriated, he said Kettle Point made room for the Stony families, and never received compensation.

"Basically, it should even itself out, because we've always looked after each other's interests, and we continue to do so," he said.

Asked for comment for this story, a spokesperson for Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada said only that the First Nation and the government "have concluded negotiation of a proposed Settlement Agreement to resolve all outstanding issues regarding the former Camp Ipperwash lands."

The First Nation's membership is expected to vote on the settlement on Sept. 18, she said.

Conservative MP Bev Shipley (Lambton-Kent Middlesex) said the government is "very happy" the proposed agreement has been reached.

"It's not just significant for them (Kettle Point band) but also for our government," he said.

Shipley said he hopes the question of compensation for the Stony Point families "moves ahead," but said it is an internal matter for the band to resolve if the deal is approved when members vote.

Band Councillor Marshall George, who is Dudley George's first cousin, says the deal for the land is good news for all native residents.

"It's been a long time coming," he said of the deal, which he believes band members will approve when the main vote is held on Sept. 18.

He said the families whose land was taken in the '40s will be compensated fairly, adding that many band members can trace their lineage to both bands.

His own mother was from Kettle and his father from Stony.

"Almost everybody is of the opinion this is an opportunity to get (Kettle and Stoney) back together. There are "very, very few who don't go along," he said.

Mike Cloud, a Stony Pointer and former band negotiator who now helps run the gatehouse that controls access to the Stoney community, said the deal is good.

"This will be great for everyone, Kettle and Stony," he said.

The agreement provides for removing the dilapidated army camp buildings. The old buildings show visible signs of decay, with peeling paint and some broken or empty window frames.

The deal also sets out plans for environmental cleanup and continues the search for, and removal of, any unexploded munitions. No cost estimate for the cleanup, or timeline, is included in the agreement document, but all costs will be covered by Ottawa, the agreement states.

Adding the site of the former army camp, where Pierre George and other Stony Pointers now live, will double the size of the reserve, leaving the First Nation with two land bases, separated by several kilometres of farmland, beachfront homes and public beaches.

The longtime struggle to reclaim the land boiled over on Sept. 6, 1995, when Dudley George was killed during a confrontation between OPP and protesters, who had been occupying the former army camp to bring attention to their demands.

OPP Sgt. Kenneth Deane was charged and convicted of criminal negligence causing George's death. Deane died in a car accident weeks before he was scheduled to testify at a government inquiry into police actions at Ipperwash.

In 2007, the head of the inquiry, Commissioner Sidney B. Linden, called on the federal government to return the former army camp "immediately, with an apology and appropriate compensation."



Toronto Star

by Richard Allan Wagner

Tuesday, September 08, 2015

The Winchester Mystery House


The MYSTERY of the Winchester House is now finally SOLVED,
and it has nothing to do with Haunting Spirits or Seances.


The highly sensationalized FOLK TALE that is fed to the public, portraying the extravagantly wealthy Mrs. Winchester as a superstitious widow who believed that evil spirits were out to get her, thus prompting her to build such a remarkably STRANGE mansion is PURE FICTION and has absolutely NO FACTUAL BASIS!



But who cares? After all, midnight flashlight tours designed to give tourists the sensation that they are experiencing various spooky phenomena typically associated with “Victorian Mansions” is both highly entertaining and lucrative…and therein lies the rub! This is not the LEGACY Sarah Winchester wanted to hand down!


The “spiritualist” FOLKLORE about Sarah Winchester’s life is primarily the creation of the people who acquired Sarah Winchester’s Mansion following her death. At that time, information regarding Mrs. Winchester’s spiritual and philosophical views were unknown. However, the question remained: “Why did she build such a remarkably strange house”?

In order to bring in tourist dollars, the enterprise known as “The Winchester Mystery House™” had little choice but to invent a story that would fill-in the blank pages of her life… and make it alluring to the public, and profitable for “The Winchester Mystery House™” enterprise.

On one of my many research visits to the “House” (October, 2005), a senior tour guide informed me that “In the old days, the tour guides were encouraged to make up provocative stories about Mrs. Winchester and the House in order to spice things up”.

Thus, from the very beginning, the fictional FOLKLORE story about Sarah Winchester developed, portraying her as a somewhat “crazed” woman who had allegedly consulted a Boston medium who told her that she was “cursed by her inheritance of the Winchester Rifle Fortune”, and that she had to go to California and build a house for the “spirits” in order to appease and prevent them from killing her.

As the false Folklore about Mrs. Winchester evolved, a wild story emerged, depicting her as a “spiritualist” who, nightly, conducted séances in order to receive strange building instructions from the Spirits so as to atone for her inheritance of the so-called “cursed Winchester Rifle fortune”.

All of this begs the burning question: If Mrs. Winchester truly believed she was “cursed” by the Winchester fortune, why would she make matters worse by continuing to own vast shares of stock in the Winchester Repeating Arms Company, and then later acquire 1,000 additional shares that she maintained and profited from for the rest of her life?

Mrs. Winchester’s closest friend, Henrietta Severs, specifically testified that the late builder of the mansion was neither a spiritualist nor did she conduct séances—which further begs the question: If Mrs. Winchester didn’t build her mansion to appease angry spirits, what was her real purpose for creating such a strange House?... What were her real intensions and motives?

Both the administrators and tour guides of the business known as “The Winchester Mystery House™” tirelessly recite their mantra: “We’ll never know what Mrs. Winchester was thinking.” However, that’s not true! Mrs. Winchester deliberately left behind a mountain of clues and hard evidence that clearly shows she designed her House to serve as an elaborate Puzzle—a Treasure Trail intended to lead the Adventurer to the inner recesses of her brilliant mind. All “Haunted House Nonsense” aside, let’s delve into Mrs. Winchester’s cleverly crafted rabbit-hole.

The evidence (both historical and archaeological) shows that Sarah Winchester strongly identified with the great genius Francis Bacon, and very likely saw herself as the reincarnation of Bacon, the details of which are specifically demonstrated with Bacon’s symbols and numeric cipher code lavishly displayed throughout Mrs. Winchester’s Grand Ballroom—particularly in the “Shakespearean Windows”.



Moreover, like Bacon, Sarah Winchester was a Rosicrucian and a Freemason (yes, there are women Freemasons). The House she built is overflowing with Rosicrucian and Masonic symbolism. For example, the so-called “Séance Room” (located in the precise center of the House) was actually Mrs. Winchester’s Rosicrucian “Sanctum”, a special place where Rosicrucians typically practice meditation and study at or near the center of their homes.

Examples of the Masonic connection are to be found in the front, wrought iron gates whose Masonic symbolism represents the guiding path of self initiation—leading directly through the twin Masonic pillars known as “Boaz” and “Jachin” to the so-called “Switchback Staircase” which literally doubles (Masonically) as the “Winding Staircase” and “Jacob’s Ladder”—and then there is the “Seven Eleven Staircase” representing the Masonic “Fork in the Road”.

Also, patterns in the architectural fabric of Mrs. Winchester’s house reveal an emphasis on certain Kabbalistic numbers utilized by Francis Bacon and his mentor, John Dee. These are the same numbers emphasized by the Rosicrucians and Freemasons… and Shakespeare. Thirteen is the most significant of these numbers as it is the most important prime number in the famous Fibonacci Sequence. It is also the code number for the names Sarah Pardee Winchester and… Shakespeare. Furthermore, Sarah Winchester made extensive use of the encryption techniques devised by Dee and Bacon.


The Winchester House is an intricate Puzzle of coded messages
implemented to guide the Adventurer on a Treasure Trail of discovery.



As to the abundant anomalous features of the House, many commentators have noted an uncanny resemblance between the Art displayed in the architecture of Sarah’s House and the Art of her contemporary, M.C. Escher. Escher’s body of work primarily focuses on the perspective of the essential properties inherent in a Fourth, Spatial Dimension.

A world governed by four spatial dimensions (based on Georg Bernhard Riemann’s revolutionary mathematical discoveries about the curvature of space) was a very prominent and popular idea throughout Sarah Winchester’s lifetime.

Lewis Carroll, another of Mrs. Winchester’s contemporaries, wrote two remarkable books about the amazing strange properties of a fourth dimension. His books, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass, give us a splendid look at the perplexing aspects of a transcendent four dimensional world. In Carroll’s (and Sarah Winchester’s) higher dimensional world, the distinction between three-dimensional properties such as left and right, up and down, forward and backward, large and small—even inside-and-out simply dissolve. Even time itself can, conceivably, speed up, slow down—or simply stand still. Carroll was basically predicting Einstein’s Theory of General Relativity. Now, the concept of four or more space-time dimensions is at the forefront of modern theoretical physics, particularly the bizarre world of Quantum Mechanics in which a quantum object, such as an electron, simultaneously occupies a multitude of separate points in space-time—a dynamic property that can only occur in four or more dimensions.


Quite remarkably, Mrs. Winchester’s Treasure Trail includes her incredible architectural allusions to a world in which higher spatial dimensions rule.


For example, in a world beyond three dimensions, Mrs. Winchester’s many upside-down pillars (just like Escher’s) are indistinguishable from right-side-up. Moreover, stairs and doors leading to seemingly solid walls become portals leading us into the transcendent realm a fourth spatial dimension. The same “higher dimensional” dynamics are at play with a skylight that is purposefully embedded into one of the mansion’s floors. Furthermore, Mrs. Winchester dazzles us with a display of large doors that, from a three dimensional perspective, lead to a ridiculously small space, and small doors or cupboards that lead to an enormously large space.

In other words, in higher dimensions, the distinction between large and small or fast and slow is gauged by an object’s relationship to the velocity of light, gravity and the curvature of space-time. All of this, of course, is in direct alignment with Einstein’s theories of Relativity.



Mrs. Winchester was clearly a misunderstood genius far ahead of her time.

Atlantis would be an interesting topic to discuss :)

I will have to look that series up thanks :)

Posted by Evan Andrews on October 26, 2009 in Bizarre, Video Lists |


Ghost ships, or phantom ships, make up a big part of the seafaring
lore that has been passed down by sailors and fisherman throughout the years. The ships are said to be spectral apparitions that materialize on the horizon before quickly disappearing, and they are believed to be a sign of bad things to come. The term is also used to describe abandoned vessels that are found adrift with no crew or passengers, often under frightening and mysterious circumstances. Whether real stories of these derelict ships or legends about phantom craft trawling the seas.

The Caleuche

caleuche-1


One of the most well known legends of the Chilota mythology of southern Chile describes the Caleuche, a ghost ship that appears every night near the island of Chiloe. According to local legend, the ship is a kind of conscious being that sails the waters around the area, carrying with it the spirits of all the people who have drowned at sea. When spotted, the Caleuche is said to be strikingly beautiful and bright, and is always accompanied by the sounds of party music and people laughing. After appearing for a few moments, the ship is then said to disappear or submerge itself under the water. According to Chilota mythology, the spirits of the drowned are summoned to the ship by the Sirena Chilota, the Pincoya, and the Picoy, three Chilota “water spirits” who resemble mermaids. Once aboard the phantom ship, the drowned are said to be able to resume their life as it was before they died.

The SS Valencia

SS_Valencia_Side


The SS Valencia was steamer ship that sank off the coast of Vancouver, British Columbia in 1906. The ship had encountered bad weather near Cape Mendocino, and after drifting off course, struck a reef and began taking on water. The crew quickly began lowering lifeboats holding the ship’s 108 passengers into the water, but several of these capsized, and one simply disappeared. The Valencia eventually sank, and only 37 of the roughly 180 people on board survived. Five months later, a fisherman claimed he had found a life raft with 8 skeletons in it in a nearby cave. A search was launched, but it found nothing. Thanks to its dramatic end, the Valencia eventually became the source of numerous ghost ship stories. Sailors would often claim they could see the specter of the steamer drifting near the reef in Pachena Point, and to this day the ship is the source of frequent wild theories and ghost ship sightings. In a bizarre twist, 27 years after the sinking of the Valencia, one of its life rafts was found floating peacefully in nearby Barkley Sound. The “ghost raft” was said to be in remarkable condition, and even still had most of its original coat of paint.

The Ourang Medan

OurangMedan


The story of the Ourang Medan begins in 1947, when two American ships received a distress call while navigating the Strait of Malacca, off the coast of Malaysia. The caller identified himself as a member of the crew of the Ourang Medan, a Dutch vessel, and supposedly claimed that the ship’s captain and crew were all dead or dying. The messages became jumbled and bizarre before trailing off and ending with the words: “I die.” The ships quickly raced to the scene to help. When they arrived, they found that the Ourang Medan was undamaged, but that the entire crew—even the ship’s dog— was dead, their bodies and faces locked in terrified poses and expressions, and many pointing at something that was not there. Before the rescuers could investigate further, the ship mysteriously caught on fire, and they had to evacuate. Soon after, the Ourang Medan is said to have exploded and then sank. While the details and the overall veracity of the Ourang Medan story are still widely debated, there have been a number of theories proposed about what might have caused the death of the crew. The most popular of these is that the ship was illegally transporting nitroglycerin or some kind of illegal nerve agent, which was not properly secured and seeped out into the air. Others, meanwhile, have claimed the ship was a victim of a UFO attack or some other kind of paranormal event.

The Carroll A. Deering

carroll a deering


Perhaps the most famous ghost ship of the Eastern Seaboard is the Carroll A. Deering, a schooner that ran aground near Cape Hatteras, North Carolina in 1921. The ship had just returned from a commercial voyage to deliver coal in South America, and had last been spotted just south of Hatteras by a lightship near Cape Lookout. It ran aground in the notorious Diamond Shoals, an area famous for causing shipwrecks, and sat there for several days before any help was able to reach it. When they did arrive, the Coast Guard found that the ship was completely abandoned. The navigation equipment and logbook were missing, as were the two lifeboats, but otherwise there were no signs of any kind of foul play.

A massive investigation by the U.S. government followed, which discovered that several other ships had disappeared under mysterious circumstances around the same time. Several theories were eventually put forth, the most popular being that the ship fell victim to pirates or rumrunners. Others suggested that mutiny might have been the cause, as the Deering’s first mate was known to bear some animosity toward its Captain, but no definitive proof has even been discovered. The mystery surrounding the ghost ship has encouraged wild speculation, and many have argued that paranormal activity might have been responsible, citing the ship’s passage through the infamous Bermuda triangle as proof that some kind of otherworldly phenomena might be to blame.

The Baychimo

baychimo1


One of the most amazing cases of a real-life ghost ship concerns the Baychimo, a cargo steamer that was abandoned and left to drift the seas near Alaska for nearly forty years. The ship was owned by the Hudson Bay Company, and was launched in the early 1920s and used to trade pelts and furs with the Inuit in northern Canada. But in 1931, the Baychimo became trapped in pack ice near Alaska, and after many attempts to break it free, its crew were eventually airlifted out of the area to safety. After a heavy blizzard, the ship managed to break free of the ice, but it was badly damaged and was abandoned by the Hudson Bay Company, who assumed it would not last the winter. Amazingly, the Baychimo managed to stay afloat, and for the next 38 years, it remained adrift in the waters off Alaska. The ship became something of a local legend, and was frequently sighted aimlessly floating near the frozen ice packs by Eskimos and other vessels. It was boarded several times, but weather conditions always made salvaging it nearly impossible. The Baychimo was last sighted in 1969, again frozen in the ice off of Alaska, but it has since disappeared. The ship is believed to have sunk in the intervening years, but recently a number of expeditions have been launched in search of now nearly 80-year-old ghost ship.

Hello

SassyEuro2 thanks very much for sharing the lyrics to "God Save The Queen" :)

Dodo_David and alleoops thanks for sharing your thoughts :)


That's right women rule :)

How Tarot Cards Work

by Lee Ann Obringer




In most people's minds, "Tarot card reading" means a woman in flowing robes, leaning over a small table in a candlelit room, foretelling impending doom.

But that's not really what Tarot cards are about. In fact, they're not even really meant to tell your fortune or future. According to The Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, "The most powerful sources of information come from within; the Tarot aids in coming in contact with one's Higher Self."

But what does that mean? In this article, we'll look at the various ideas about where Tarot cards come from, what they mean and how a deck of cards can possibly tell you anything about yourself. You'll learn why it matters where the cards fall and why you don't have to be a psychic to do a Tarot reading.

Types of Readings

There are actually two different types of Tarot readings: question readings and open readings.

Question Readings

In question readings, you are addressing a specific question. Tarot is not intended to answer specific yes or no questions. Most say it also shouldn't be used to make decisions, but instead should be used as a guide to help you make the decision yourself. For this reason, the way a question is stated is very important. According to Joan Bunning, a Tarot reader and teacher, questions should:
•Keep your options open: If you have the answer before the reading, then you're not allowing the cards to guide your overall decision. Bunning gives this example: Asking how you could encourage your mother-in-law to move out, as opposed to asking how you can get along better with her, is narrowing the scope of the true question by answering it before you even get started.

•Find the best level of detail: Your question should be focused, but not overly detailed. Rather than looking at one particular aspect of a problem, find a way to look more broadly at it. For example, rather than asking how you can make your home life less chaotic, ask how you can better balance kid schedules and adult schedules. That is a focused question. But do not go so far as to ask how you can coordinate baseball, soccer and Cub Scout schedules and still have family time -- that's too detailed. Only include the minimum level of detail needed in order to express what you want to learn from the cards.

•Focus on yourself: If the reading is for yourself, make sure your question focuses on you rather than on someone else who you think may be the root of your problem.

•Stay neutral: In order to stay open to other points of view, your question has to be neutral and not convey a preconceived notion that your view is necessarily the right one. The cards can give you guidance if you ask for it.

•Be positive: Make sure your question is stated in a positive rather than negative way. Instead of asking why a specific event hasn't happened, ask what you can do to help make that event happen.

Open Readings

Open readings address the larger aspects of your life rather than a specific problem area or question. They're usually done when you're entering a new phase of life, such as getting married, graduating from college or starting a family. You can somewhat direct the reading if you have a general area you want to cover, such as your career or health, but that's as specific as the direction gets.


http://science.howstuffworks.com/science-vs-myth/extrasensory-perceptions/tarot-card.htm

Queen Elizabeth to overtake Queen Victoria as longest-serving monarch in British history

The Canadian Press | September 6, 2015 | Last Updated: Sep 6 4:10 PM ET
More from The Canadian Press
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Queen Elizabeth will surpass Queen Victoria (left) as the longest-reigning monarch in British history on Wednesday.

Glenbow Archives; Suzanne Plunkett / GettyQueen Elizabeth will surpass Queen Victoria (left) as the longest-reigning monarch in British history on Wednesday..


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TORONTO — They grew up in the shadow of a throne they were never intended to occupy, then went on to carve unique and revered places in British history.

They bucked royal traditions by marrying their cousins for love, raised broods of children that thrust them into an unwelcome spotlight, and coped with public criticism about their aloofness and emotional reserve.


Keystone / Getty Images

Keystone / Getty ImagesQueen Victoria and her beloved Prince Albert, the Prince Consort, at Buckingham Palace. .

But among the many parallels that exist between Queens Elizabeth and Victoria, one looms larger than the rest — longevity.

On Sept. 9, the current Queen will succeed Victoria as the United Kingdom’s longest-reigning monarch after 63 years and 218 days on the throne.

The years from 1837 to 1901 when Victoria ruled were markedly different from Elizabeth’s era, heralding the United Kingdom’s transformation into an industrial and colonial superpower.

The women who presided over more than half of their respective centuries, however, are strikingly alike.

Royal commentator Rafe Heydel-Mankoo said the two share similar temperaments and values, something the British public was quick to grasp.

Although a teenaged Victoria ascended to the throne after decades of previous scandal-plagued rulers and Elizabeth became queen as a young married woman, he said Britons quickly came to view them in similar lights.



FILES / AFP / Getty Images

FILES / AFP / Getty Images Queen Elizabeth II with husband her Prince Philip on the Queen's Coronation day at Buckingham Palace in 1953..

“They brought in a new spirit of hope — Victoria, after all the scandals of her uncles, and Elizabeth after all the problems of the Depression and the Second World War and the post-colonial devastation of Britain and the British economy,” he said in a telephone interview from London.

“They both basically offered hope and a new, bright future.”

The two queens led strikingly different lives in early childhood, with Victoria’s life rigidly under the control of a domineering single mother and Elizabeth enjoying a more conventional family life with loving parents and an adored younger sister.

That changed for both after the age of 10, however, when twists of fate decreed that they would each have to assume the throne.

Victoria became heir presumptive after a number of royal deaths left her as the only legitimate member of the family in the line of succession.

The present-day Queen’s fate was decided after her father, George VI, took the throne after it was abdicated by his elder brother.

Historian Barbara Rusch said both future queens learned of their pending responsibilities as pre-teens, and neither one shied away from the daunting futures before them.

The then-Princess Elizabeth emerged as a poised public presence at age 14 with a radio address to British children sent away from home at the height of the Second World War.



Rusch said the confidence she expressed in that speech with the line “in the end all will be well” was echoed more than a century earlier by Victoria, who greeted the news of her eventual accession to the throne with the declaration: “I will be good.”

They both also showed early signs of tenacity, Rusch said, particularly when it came to their future husbands.


The night the Queen snuck out as a commoner: What really happened when she joined crowds on V-E day


It was the only time in the Queen’s long life when she slipped, incognito, among her subjects. On the night of May 8 1945 — VE Day — Princess Elizabeth and her sister Margaret were given permission by their father King George VI, to leave Buckingham Palace and join the crowds of ordinary people on the streets of London. They were in the middle of the biggest party in history and the princesses, who had spent the war at Windsor castle, wanted to savour the atmosphere first hand.

A film based on the events of that night — A Royal Night Out — starring Emily Watson and Rupert Everett, is set to be released next month. But it has only a passing acquaintance with the truth.

Read more…
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Although relatives had more than one prospective suitor in mind for Victoria, she fell hard for her German cousin Prince Albert and wrote rapturously in her diary about her excitement to marry him.

Elizabeth had to fight harder to make Prince Philip the future Duke of Edinburgh, Rusch said, adding her parents initially balked at her choice of the dashing naval officer long-rumoured to have a roving eye.

Rusch said Elizabeth’s parents made her wait a year to see if her ardour cooled before they’d give their blessing to the union. It did not, and historians agree that Philip went on to occupy the place once held by Albert as a central force in a reigning queen’s life.

Historians said both families led comparatively modest lives by royal standards in a bid to be in closer touch with traditional middle-class values. When Elizabeth married Prince Philip, for instance, Rusch said she followed the post-war norms of the day and collected clothing coupons to buy material for her wedding gown.

Although both monarchs valued their marriages, historians say that Victoria seemed more emotionally reliant on her husband.

Albert, who fathered her nine children, virtually co-ruled alongside his wife before his death in 1861. That event, Rusch said, changed Victoria’s life and English society permanently.


Andy Buchanan/AFP/Getty Images

Andy Buchanan/AFP/Getty ImagesQueen Elizabeth II (C), Britain's Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh (4th L) and Britain's Prince Charles, Prince of Wales (4th R) attend the annual Braemar Gathering in Scotland on Saturday..
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“It was an obsession, and she created a cult of mourning which extended to the entire empire around her sadness and her loss,” she said, adding Victoria ordered hot water and shaving gear brought to her husband’s room for years after his death.

The monarch who once revelled in court social functions and dabbled in amateur painting soon became a recluse, largely withdrawing from public life and earning a reputation of rigid aloofness that has shaped her image in popular culture.

Her reserve did not extend to the political realm, however.


Because she’s been on the throne for so long, her approach has become synonymous with how a constitutional monarch should behave
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Rusch said Victoria’s personal journals are filled with clear descriptions of which British prime ministers she did and did not favour. She played a quiet but active role in shaping the politics of her time, he added.

The current queen has taken the opposite path, said royal historian Carolyn Harris.

Elizabeth has always taken her role as a non-partisan constitutional monarch “very seriously,” Harris said, adding that her lack of political involvement and unflappable poise have redefined the public image of what a queen should be.

“Because she’s been on the throne for so long, her approach has become synonymous with how a constitutional monarch should behave,” Harris said.


MIGUEL MEDINA / AFP / Getty Images

MIGUEL MEDINA / AFP / Getty ImagesThe statue of Queen Victoria outside Kensington Palace in central London, on March 20, 2012..
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Such exemplary behaviour didn’t always trickle down to the next generation in either case.

Both queens had first-born sons whose sexual proclivities and extra-marital antics shone uncomfortable spotlights on lives they preferred to keep private. Their parenting techniques were both questioned in similar ways.

Rusch said Victoria’s documented remarks describing herself as “no admirer of babies” can easily be compared to video footage of the Queen shaking hands with her four children after being away from them for weeks.

But public images can be deceiving. Heydel-Mankoo said both women, frequently depicted as everything from stoic to joyless, both had strong senses of humour that didn’t always shy away from the off-colour.

Heydel-Mankoo believes the parallels that run through their respective reigns were no accident, saying Victoria’s example helped mould the current queen into someone who could carry on the traditions she began.

“Queen Victoria really shaped the idea of middle-class monarchy in terms of its morality and its lifestyle,” he said. “One could argue that Queen Elizabeth is the last heir of that tradition.”

The kids and I like to have the bunny and tortoise out together on the deck.They get along pretty well sniffing each other on the nose it is pretty cute.


At one time the kids with their friends were doing some painting outside. The bunny got into the paints and hoped onto the paper. Lol their was paw and hair paint prints on their art work. The bunny also likes to play with the kids toys she would pick them up or roll cars with her nose. She has even managed to pull my cell phone out of my pocket.

Becoming an archaeologist would be a way to find out :) It would be a fascinating job :)

Tailor

He sounds like a scammer. I get tons of emails of guys saying how much they love me and my kids on the first hello. I ignore them.

A police officers job can be pretty stressful I agree . Shooting at a person I don't know if I were a police officer that would be a hard part of the job.

Neat.