U.S. is a ‘Federal Corporation’ British Crown Colony

Crossmas '09

Love Freo got an email today from Miss Ted about a Christmas event that you definitely want to know about…

Crossmas

Crossmas is an annual fundraiser where boys dress like girls and girls dress like boys for one merry night of the year.

Time: Saturday 12th December 7pm – 1am
Place: Victoria Hall, Fremantle.

Tickets $20 available from:
New Edition Bookshop,
82 High Street,
Fremantle.
No Door Sales
Over 18s event + ID required.

All funds raised go to Saint Patrick’s homeless refuge in Fremantle.

Have a look at some photos from last year…

Here’s a quick run down of what’s going on, in no particular order:

Performing live is The Scotch of Saint James, The Brow Horn Orchestra, Horny Pony, King George, and Rex Monsoon. Plus romping theatrix, your accommodating hostess “Susan Suzuki”, a hot dog stand, cheap drinks, circus performers, a date auction for local artist Nathan Karnovsky and a professional photo booth. A King and Queen of Crossmans will also be crowned. The gorgeous and sexy creative French food genius Stefan Armentano (ex-Gypsy Tapas & Sardines) is doing the catering.

Ladies here’s some info on how one might coiffe ones face hair. Gents can get some tips from Emily Howard.

Find the best betting odds for King George VI Chase Horse Race event at Kempton Park on Boxing Day.

The William Hill King George 26th December, Kempton

Kauto Star 1.80

Imperial Commander 6.00

Albertas Run 11.00

Cooldine 11.00

Madison Du Berlais 11.00

Nacarat 13.00

Barbers Shop 21.00

Deep Purple 21.00

Kalahari King 21.00

Racing Demon 26.00

Well Chief 26.00

In Compliance 34.00

Joe Lively 34.00

Our Vic 34.00

Schindlers Hunt 34.00

Voy Por Ustedes 34.00

War Of Attrition 34.00

Cappa Bleu 41.00

Cloudy Lane 41.00

Glencove Marina 41.00

Roll Along 41.00

Tartak 41.00

What A Friend 41.00

Atouchbetweenacara 51.00

Casey Jones 51.00

Monets Garden 51.00

Ollie Magern 51.00

Master Medic 67.00

Ballyfitz 101.00

Chief Dan George 101.00

Sandymac 501.00

Each-way bets 1/5 odds first 3

For additional information, visit http://betting.ladbrokes.com/en/king-george-chase-betting/ or Click here: King George Chase Odds

While most of the nation is eating left over turkey, racing fans will be enjoying one of the feature events of the National Hunt calendar.

History of the King George VI Chase?

In 1937 the inaugural running of the King George VI Chase took place with only four runners lining up. The race was not seen as particularly prestigious down to relatively poor prize money. In fact the winner picked up only a tenth of that years’ Grand National winner.
It was in 1948 that the perception of the King George changed. Cottage Rake had already won the 1948 Gold Cup and he went to Kempton having to carry 12 stone and 6 pounds, conceding weight all round to eight rivals. Jumping the last Cottage Rake looked a beaten horse, but he produced a stunning turn of foot – one a top class flat horse would be proud of – to take the race by five lengths.

Over the decades the race has become one of the nation’s favourites. The fact that the race takes place on Boxing Day means that a large number of the public can see their heroes in action. Also, the same horses turn up year in year out which means that the public can build an affinity with the animals and jockeys.

Classy entries make King George a Christmas cracker.

Last year, Kauto Star won the race for the third time and this year he is looking to emulate the great Desert Orchid who won the Kempton contest four times. Kauto Star’s trainer, Paul Nicholls, is also looking to become the most successful trainer in the race. He has won the race five times and a sixth victory would put him clear of the legendary Fulke Walwyn and Francois Doumen who have each notched up five victories in the Kempton showpiece

A maximum of 20 runners will be allowed to take their place and it is looks like a classy field will stand between Kauto Star and his place in the history books. Among those who could compete in the three mile contest are Albertas Run, second in last year’s race, Monet’s Garden, Our Vic and Ryanair Chase first and second Imperial Commander and Voy Por Ustedes.
Ryanair third Schindlers Hunt, 2006 Gold Cup winner War Of Attrition and RSA Chase winner Cooldine are among six possible King George runners from Ireland. Madison Du Berlais, who established his credentials as a serious threat to Kauto Star’s staying chaser crown by defeating both Denman and Exotic Dancer last season, is also entered.

Kauto Star has nothing to prove, after a glittering career, but if he wins another King George it will come as a late Christmas present to his legion of fans.

For more details on Kempton Park Race, Please visit http://betting.ladbrokes.com/en/king-george-chase-betting or Click here: King George Chase Betting

Kempton Park Horse Race

Kempton Park Horse Racing event, the King George VI Chase is a grade 1 horse race event that is scheduled to take place on December 26th every year. This horse racing event has become synonymous with Boxing Day racing. This is event is open for horses aged four years or older and is run at Kempton Park over a distance of 3 miles (4,828 metres) with eighteen fences to be jumped.

Kempton Park Race Course

(Source: Youtube)

Kauto Star

This year Kauto Star will attempt to become the first horse to win the race four times in a row and also to equal Desert Orchid’s record of four wins. Desert Orchid won four king georges, but not in consecutive years. Paul Nichollas, Kauto Star’s trainer is also looking to become the most successful trainer in the race. He has won the race five times and a sixth victory would put him clear of the legendary Fulke Walwyn and Francois Doumen who have each notched up five victories in the Kempton showpiece.

Horse Racing Links
King George VI Chase

Travis Tritt once wrote a song called “Strong Enough to Be Your Man,” as a response to Sheryl Crow’s–

Wait.  Just guess.  You know this, right?

“Strong Enough.”
Which, of course, poses the question, “Are you strong enough to be my man?”

I know.  It was a tough one.

Well, I just pulled the same stunt, friends.

I was listening to the radio when King George began crooning through those tiny little speakers, “All my exes live in Texas…”

And at first I did what I always do when I hear this song, I started two-stepping around the room with my imaginary two-stepping partner.  That song is so good for two-stepping and acting silly.

But then I thought, wait, what about all of those poor women in Texas?  What did he do to them that was SO TERRIBLE that they RAN HIM OUT?

Another side of this story needed to be told, I figured.

And so I wrote the other side of the story.

Now, I have a confession to make.  I’ve never set foot on Texas soil.  I may not have been terribly qualified to write this particular song based on that point.  However, I have been listening to lots of Texas girl Miranda Lambert lately, so I figured I could channel the right attitude and come up with a pretty decent little song.

Y’all, I just love it.

It’s a song that is SO unlike me.  I can’t say it’s terribly original, but it’s not like anything else I’ve ever written, so in that, it’s totally unique.  I’m excited to hear somebody play a little steel guitar with it, is what I’m saying.

Do you know anyone who plays steel guitar?

Olá Pessoal do Blog,

Recebemos o depoimento de mais uma aluna nossa, Priscila Balena. A Pri é formada em Psicologia e foi para Vancouver, no Canadá, fazer um programa chamado de ABMDP – Advanced Business Management Diploma Program. Neste programa, o aluno estuda diferentes módulos ligados à área de gestão de empresas, seguidos de um período de estágio remunerado ou não, na sua área de atuação. Como a Priscila estava um tanto insegura com seu nível de inglês, ela embarcou para Vancouver algumas semanas antes do início do programa de Management para fazer umas aulas de inglês geral.

“Impressionante como o tempo voa né?! Já vou completar meu quarto mês aqui em Vancouver e estou amando cada vez mais!!!

Depois do meu primeiro mês de inglês, resolvi fazer outro curso preparatório pro Business lá na KGIC mesmo, e depois entrei de cabeça no ABMDP!!! Logo na primeira semana, fiquei super feliz e realizada, mesmo sendo um módulo sobre finanças internacionais!!!! Fizemos um contest super legal, investindo dinheiro virtual na bolsa real, pra entender como funcionam stocks and bonds!!!

Depois disso, meu segundo modulo foi sobre cultura e globalização, e mais uma vez super interessante! O curso não tem aquele ritmo lento e repetitivo de ESL (Curso de Inglês), mesmo tratando do mesmo assunto durante 03 semanas! Tenho conhecido pessoas do mundo inteiro, e isso só aumenta a minha vontade de sorrir pelos quatro cantos do planeta!!!

Decidi que queria trabalhar já!! Depois de acalmar meus pais com boas razões (rsrs) fiz entrevista e fui contratada pra trabalhar na Armani da Robson!!! Estou pensando seriamente em focar no Fashion Business, e depois que acabar o curso aqui quem sabe fazer alguma coisa nessa área!!

Cheguei em Vancouver junto com o verão… praias cheias, roupas curtas e sol quente!! Logo conheci brasileiros que me acolheram super bem e me deram seguranca pra interagir com os canadenses! Essa semana um Canadian me perguntou há quantos anos eu morava aqui.. porque já estava com a fluência e ‘accent’ de um canadense!! Dei risada, contei o pouco tempo e fiquei super contente!!!

Aqui os preparativos pras Olimpíadas estão a mil.. Fui em Whistler ainda no verão com um amigo daqui.. Cheio de paciência e bom humor pra fazer jus a beleza do lugar!!

Logo que chegamos também fomos pras Rocky Mountains, aproveitar que ainda era verão e os lagos descongelados (e absurdos de lindos!! Vejam as fotos abaixo). Cadu tambem foi! (Ele é meu colega de aula e vizinho!). Provamos o sorvete da vaquinha e tiramos uma foto pra mandar!

Logo que cheguei e me mudei aqui pro centro minha roomate foi abrir uma conta no banco, pra quando já estivesse trabalhando depositar os paycheques. Eu como estava junto e com o passaporte na bolsa resolvi abrir uma também..mesmo sabendo que ela ia ficar vazia, pq meu dinheiro vinha pelo Visa Travel Money. Essa semana a gerente me ligou falando que eles fazem um sorteio todos os dias entre todas as contas universitárias dos bancos do Canadá e premiam com mil dólares os estudantes, pra incentiva-los a investir, E EU GANHEI!!!!!!!!

Estou com muitas saudades da família e do Brasil, mas na medida pra me tirar daqui só pra um passeio rapido talvez no carnaval!!! Ainda tenho muitos objetivos a cumprir aqui..e sonhos que ainda estão por vir!

Muito obrigada por tudo! Por me dar o primeiro empurrão pra tornar o começo disso tudo uma realidade muito feliz!!

Beijos enormes e gelados!!!

Pri”

A foto com o sorvete da vaquinha ainda não veio, Priscila, mas aguardamos você mandar! E umas fotos suas na escola também, né? Afinal você foi para estudar (E curtir também!!!)

Grande abraço!

Equipe CP4

I wish I could take credit for that headline but I’m paraphrasing a couple of sub-editors from different print and online media outlets.

In King George’s diary on July 4th 1776 he wrote, “Nothing important happened today”. Considering it took weeks or months for news from the colonies to arrive in London he was of course unaware that the American colonists had revolted against English rule and were in the process of claiming independence from his reign.

Perhaps the same could be written for 13/14th October 2009 because it appears that the biggest story of the day was that a bloke who makes vaccum cleaners is now making fans.

I woke up to this ‘breaking news’ as the lead story on SMH.com and News.com.au. It stayed the feature story for most of the day. Are you kidding me? It’s a product story. It deserves no more pixels than, well, it deserves no pixels. Are editors so stuck for content that press releases for gadgets now count as news.

And now as I wind down for the evening, Fast Company is featuring the product on their homepage. I don’t know who Sir James is paying for this PR hackery but as a news story it sux. And every editor and sub-editor who has contributed to this spin needs to have a rethink about their career and responsibility to their readers.

So very, very sad.

From: motherfaithwilliams@gmail.com

To: Leena Shirlee

Date: October 11, 2009

Subject: Save Me….

Dear Friend,

I know this letter will definitely come as a surprise to you but I hope as
you read on, you will come to understand I have decided- after about four
and a half month of thinking about the whole issue- to seek your help in
carrying out my last wishes. I don?t really know you but I have prayed,
thought about it and moreover I have no choice now and for another reason
I prefer not to disclose. My names are Mrs. Faith Williams.

I am 67 years old and I was born and brought up from a motherless baby’s
home the Netherlands. I was married to my late husband for twenty years
and had two children but as God would have it. They died in an auto
accident six years ago.

Before this happened, my business and concern for making money was all I
lived for. I never really cared about other values in life. But since the
loss of my family, I have found a new desire to assist helpless families.
I have been helping orphans in orphanages/motherless baby?s homes,
especially in Africa. I have also donated some funds for humanitarian aid
and rehabilitation of prostitutes in Rio de janiero, Brazil, when I was
healthier. I know by now you might be wondering why this entire long
story. I am a new Christian convert, suffering from long time cancer of
the breast, all indication from my doctor that my conditions are really
deteriorating and it is quite obvious that i wouldn?t live more than three
months. According to my doctors, and in all indication regards to medical
analysis, this is because the cancer disease has gotten to a very bad
stage that there is no hope for me to be a living person again.

I have also lost my ability to talk, due to this my poor health
condition. Presently I been hospitalized and my only means of
communication at the moment is by my email or sms message and I am here
with my laptop.

I am not afraid of death any longer though. Like I told you earlier, my
husbands business and mine really thrived when I was healthy and He been
alive. We really worked hard for the sake of our children. As my health
detracted, my extended family members swooped down on everything my
husband and I worked hard to earn.

Seeing that there are no offspring(s) to inherit it coupled with the fact
that I am dying. They never really liked me anyway but my husband stood by
me all those years. This is my plea; I made most of my money through
exporting vintage wines to African countries like South Africa, Benin
Republic and Nigeria.

I had to sell all my inherited belongings and deposited all the sum of
$7.5Million dollars with a security company. Presently, this money is
still kept with the security company and the managements just wrote me to
come forward to pick up my deposit, that it has over stayed the period of
time I entered that I would come over to claim it back. Or issue a letter
of authorization to somebody to receive it on my behalf since I cannot
come over because my illness or they get it confiscated.

It is my last wish to see that this money is invested to any organization
of your choice and distributed each year among the charity organization,
the poor and the motherless baby?s home where i come from. I want you as a
God fearing person, to also use this money to fund churches, orphanages
and widows; I took this decision, before i rest in peace because my time
will soon be up.

As soon as I receive your reply I shall give you the contact of the
Security Company. I will also issue you a letter of authority that will
prove you as the new beneficiary of my fund. Please assure me that you
will act accordingly as I stated herein.

Waiting for your reply.

Yours in Christ

Mother Faith Williams

From: Leena Shirlee

To: Motherfaithwilliams@gmail.com

Date: October 11th, 2009

Subject: I am an unworthy beneficiary

Dear Mother Faith,

While I am very sorry for your dead husband, children, your breast cancer and other physical deteriorations, I cannot accept your kind offer of 7.5 million dollars as your beneficiary. Quite short: Because I feel I do not deserve it considering all the harm I have done to others in my lifetime.

Let me tell you a little story:

When I was a child, playing in my on the beach, I was visited by a sand wizard named Ojaneenee. (oh-ha-nee-nee) (presumably, an apache wizard) The wizard gave me a choice: I will cut off your left leg, or I will kill your friend wendy. It’s up to you. I chose Wendy. I thought he was joking! Turns out, he wasn’t.

Later in life, I was sitting in class sharpening my fingers with a pencil sharpener because I thought it would impress the boy I liked. Apparently seeing my shredded, bleeding fingers did not make him feel sorry enough to date me, but instead caused him to burst into hysterical laughter. Enraged, I threw a protractor at his face–it entered through his eye  sliced the tip off his pre-frontal cortex. He spent the rest of his life hallucinating that he was Thomas Jefferson, writing homosexual overture love-letters to King George III. He died after eating a box of faulty sparklers.

Now.  Think of the most horribly awful thing you can think of. I’ll bet you know what it is already: KITTENS BEING DROWNED IN AN PRADA KNOCK-OFF HANDBAG. Of course it is. Now who would go and do a thing like that? Only the most vile and wretched scab of a waste. Only the most wormlike and mildew-drenched stain of the earth.  And that stain, that waste,  is me. Please don’t ask me the details–I can only assure you that it was an accident. And yet, they say there are no accidents in life, do they not?

Mother. (For I feel a knowingness in our blood line..or, perhaps it’s our radical honesty that’s brought us closer? ) I wish I could accept your money. There are many valuable charities I would like to give to. For instance, there is a program that allows terminally-ill children to run with wild grizzly-bears. It’s called “Li’L Grizzlies”. When I was young, I watched two of my friends die painful deaths with this last wish on their breath. It would make me weep with joy if I could go back in time dressed as the sand wizard  (oh-ha-nee-nee) and offer them a chance to feel the thrill of the wild kingdom once again. Grizzlies are actually the friendliest of bears (polar bears are the deadliest) (common brown bears are somewhere inbetween) and are always happy to play with dying children, they have such big teddy bear hearts!!!!

So, I’ll leave it up to you, Mother. If you still think I am a worthy recipient to your money, then please give me three convincing reasons why. If I am convincingly convinced of my worthiness, I will send you all relevent information you are seeking POST HASTE.

Your Unworthy Beneficiary,
Leena

PS I am sad your family members didn’t like your husband–I always thought he was such a kind man with a good kind heart. Sort of like a grizzly bear! He gave me  a very big bear hug once I’ll never forget. (nor will my aborted daughter, alas).

From: Motherfaithwilliams@gmail.com

To: Leena Shirlee

Date: October 11th, 5:43 PM

Subject: Re: I am an unworthy beneficiary.

Give a dog a bone, this old man came ___________________________________

Siempre me ha gustado esta canción.

Y los recuerdos que trae consigo, también.

Country hit machine pays tribute to the Man in Black and the Man Upstairs

LIKE A BOTTLE OF Heinz ketchup on a diner counter, a George Strait album is a reassuring product. Cameras & Camcorders At fifty-five, dude’s spent his life making fairly low-bullshit, high-yield mainstream country: Since 1981’s Strait Country, his LPs have gone platinum or better thirty two times, and the four-CD anthology Strait Out of the Box has shifted 8 million units.

That’s a lot of Resistol cowboy hats, pardner (although thanks to his endorsement deal, Strait no doubt gets ‘em free). Radar Detectors Troubadour is up to the usual standards, maybe better. There’s witty, swaggering honky-tonk (“Make Her Fall in Love With Me Song”) and the requisite hot-fiddle swing number (“West Texas Town”). “House of Cash” is a rock-edged duet with Patty Loveless about the blaze that leveled Johnny Cash’s family home last year. Moving tribute or pop vampirism? Depends on your taste for sentimentality. Car Security & Remote Starters Ditto the hit single “I Saw God Today,” which is so disarmingly plain-spoken and deftly universal, only the most hard-boiled atheist could beoffended. It’s one example of why folks call Strait “King George” – although this monarch is a uniter, not a divider.

David Hempleman-Adams

 

By Cara Sulieman

AN EXHIBITION celebrating the 100th anniversary of Captain Scott’s journey to the South Pole opens tomorrow (Fri).

Photographs on display include those taken by Herbert George Ponting during the tragic expedition in 1910-13 and Frank Hurley’s snaps from Ernest Shackleton’s expedition in 1914-16.

Also on display are the flag given to Scott by Queen Alexandra in 1910, the Union Jack given to Shackleton by King George V and books from the Royal Library, including a copy of ‘Aurora Australis’, the first book to be printed in the Antarctic.

The show, being held at Holyrood Palace in Edinburgh, was opened by explorer David Hempleman-Adams who was the first man to reach the four geographical and magnetic poles.

All died

Captain Scott set sail for Antarctica on his ship Terra Nova in 1910 with the aim of becoming the first man to reach the South Pole.

But in March 1912 – after Ponting had left the expedition – all remaining team members died on their journey back from the pole.

Herbert Ponting captured around 2,000 glass plate negatives in his time on the trip, including images of the landscape, crew, and wildlife.

Australian photographer Frank Hurley joined Ernest Shackleton on his expedition to the South Pole in 1914.

In October 1915 the ship started to sink after getting trapped in the ice.

Royal Photographic Collection

Despite losing most of his equipment in the wreck, he managed to salvage 120 plates and a small pocket camera which he used to document the rest of the trip – despite the low quality of the images.

The photographs were all presented to King George V and form part of the Royal Photographic Collection.

The exhibition runs in the Queen’s Gallery in Holyrood Palace from October 2 until April 11 2010.

See more of our pictures at our Flickr site and videos at our dedicated channel,  Deadline TV.

This vintage postcard shows a typical Quebec rural farming scene with a young farmboy accompanying an ox and cart. You can see other handmade carts with the same distinctive wheels at  - A Habitant Dog Cart and  A roadside Group on Gaspe Highway.

Reverse of Postcard – Text

To: Billie Hours(?), Washington Ave., Babylon L.I., New York

Dear Billie,

How’d you like to have one of these animals to play around with at home. Grand Ma & me are having a swell time just looking around Old Quebec. Lots of love to all Grand Pop.

Reverse of Postcard -A little bit of  philately

The 1942 postmark shows that this postcard was mailed right in the heat of WWII. The King George VI stamp was part of a special War Issue of morale-boosting stamps. One series showed King George VI in the uniforms of different branches of the Armed Forces while others depicted war technology and other types of Canadian production that supported the Allied effort.

Take a second look and you’ll notice the  postal cancellation with the slogans:

Save your material  -  Conservez vos rebuts

Canadians on the homefront were a vital part of the war effort and there were 3 ways that civilians could support the military.

1. war-related production (e.g. fighting machines, weapons & munitions)

2. food production for European allies

3. freeing up resources for the military through conservation methods

Related Posts:

Index: Vintage Postcards of Quebec

Further Reading:

Fighting from the Home Front

Canadian World War II Posters Gallery

The Post Office Went to War

http://redfredblog.blogspot.com/2009/09/red-fred-presents-catherine-crabill.html

Right where you’d expect it to be! On Fred2Red.com in an interview with Colin Brehm… enjoy!

So I didn’t really want to “work” today. Let’s be honest… I wasn’t in the mood for deep thinking (still suffering from a lingering sinus headache from the night before) so I decided that I’d clean out the server room. I was having a ball trashing diskettes and modems that were 10 years or older. I quickly grew bored until I found an old box of photos.

Mostly meeting and board photos dating back to the early 90s when women wore those gaudy flower print dresses with lace collars. Admit it ladies, we all had a few of those and we all look as though Laura Ashley threw up all over us. We did. Those photos weren’t too terribly interesting.

Then I found family photos from the 1950s and 60s! Very cool, despite not recognizing any of the people. My digging continued and I found this:

Check out the date… 1777! There were five others dating from 1777 to 1829

Dog-eared pages

Twine binding

Name scribbles

THEN… my co-worker told me she found a Bible from 1877. That wasn’t exciting but a TREASURE was hidden inside!!!

This is a shipping receipt from 1753… complete with King George’s stamp (via The Stamp Act… see below for a better view).

Of course I have NO CLUE as to why we have these documents since they have NOTHING to do with transportation. I guess they belonged to the founder of our organization and his personal estate didn’t want them? And now that I found all this stuff I have to do an inventory and then get it appraised in order to calculate our fiduciary responsibility.  I’m special ed when it comes to numbers, so this should be interesting. But what a find!!!

The delegate paced the floor almost violently, his shoes scuffing being the only sound heard in the stifling, unbearably hot Philadelphia. As he whirled about with such vigor, several other delegates wondered if he would fall over from his own force. All eyes gazed on this living giant of politics, a veritable Founding Father of America, as he wrung his hands together in an almost pleading fashion. Many held their breath, waiting for his promised speech.

“Gentlemen!” the South Carolinian suddenly boomed, his voice filling the air. “Gentlemen! Our nation is in crisis!” Several delegates murmured in approval.

“We, as mere mortals, cannot comprehend the very crisis our country faces! Yes, gentlemen, all we have worked for will come to naught, our victory snatched away by the very maw of defeat, plunging our country into the Dark Ages! The Dark Ages, mind you!”

The delegate stopped his nervous pacing and slammed both of his hands emphatically onto his oaken desk, causing the ink wells and pens to rattle, sending parchment to the floor. Several delegates jumped, others gasped. James Madison gave out a tiny squeak of displeasure and surprise.

“I am talking, of course, of the damnable concept of socialized medicine!”

The entire room of delegates exploded. North Carolina roared with displeasure, while Pennsylvania’s delegates dissolved into a raucous chanting of “Don’t tread on me!” Both Alexander Hamilton, the delegate of New York, and James Madison, considered the man who orchestrated the Constitutional Convention, stood up immediately, unbuttoning and pulling back their sleeves. But when General Washington regally, slowly stood up, the entire room grew silent. Hamilton and Madison withered under Washington’s stare, and even the South Carolinian delegate stood quietly, though arms crossed, his jaw jutting out challengingly in the air.

“Gentlemen, I fail to see why this matter is so, as our illustrious friend calls it, ‘damnable.’ But, for sake of debate, let us debate this civilly, shall we?” Washington slowly lowered himself into his chair, and the delegates stayed uncomfortably quiet.

George Mason of Virginia finally broke the reverie. “It is damnable, my dear General, for it flies against the very concept that we are trying to establish here in this very Constitution! Socialized. Medicine. Is. Monarchy!” With the final word, he jabbed the air with his finger, and the entire room degraded into yelling and shouting once more. Washington rapped his cane sharply twice on his desk, silencing the room.

“My good gentleman, you are mistaken!” Madison quickly stood up, his thin reedy voice barely audible to some sitting at the edges of the room. “Please explain – rationally, prudently – how socialized medicine is akin to monarchy!”

“Isn’t it obvious? Did not King George try to control every aspect of our lives through a centralized economy, stifling progress and advancements in all sectors of industry? Any government which runs anything from its seat of power is monarchist!”

“Like the post office?” Ben Franklin quipped. Several delegates chuckled softly, for Franklin himself served as postmaster once.

“Or like your provision that we ban the slave trade in twenty years? Or would you rather the ’slow poison’ of slavery, as you called it yourself, Mr. Mason, continue to run its course through this country?” Hamilton shrilled, his face contorted with passion.

“This is a completely different matter!” Mason sputtered, his face turning slightly pink.

“I fail to see how this socialized medicine even has anything to do with our Constitution,” Governor Randolf said. “We’ve already enumerated that Congress will have the power ‘To regulate commerce with foreign nations, and among the several states,’ which gives it provisions to alter the affairs of any industry according to the desires of the people, so I fail to see how regulated health care is either monarchist or unconstitutional, unless you wish to call the Constitution unconstitutional? Which would simply be -”

“Absurd! Yes, I know! But! Once any government begins to regulate economic affairs, it becomes a fascist regime!” cried out the delegate from South Carolina.

“Yes! Gaze upon these signs we made ourselves, physical manifestations of the fact that the American people do not desire socialized medicine!” another delegate cried out. Immediately, North Carolina, South Carolina and New Hampshire pulled out signs wherein James Madison’s profile had been defaced, King George’s wig drawn crudely upon it.

“Come now, is this necessary?” Madison cried out, irritated. “I must say, the idea that a government regulating a highly degenerated, corrupt, bloated, unscrupulous sector of industry becomes fascist is ridiculous!”

“Yes, what’s this got to do with the Constitution anyway?” Franklin added, also irritated. “Your misguided, unfocused anger is causing my gout to inflame!” Several other delegates snickered at this comment.

“Everything!” the South Carolinian delegate screamed out. “Can we trust a government that successfully fought off an imperialist monarch with woefully unequipped and untrained soldiers bred from our own backwoods farmers and blacksmiths to successfully run the medical welfare of our people?”

“Yes, we can!” Hamilton roared back. “This entire Convention is because our Articles of Confederacy are not simply not strong enough! A strong, federal government is required to run this country, lest it run itself upon the rocky shoals of progress!” Several groups now cried out in desperate protest. “Yes,” Hamilton continued, shouting down his opposition, “Strong enough even to regulate the vast industry known as health care!”

“Come now,” Washington intoned, “We cannot let future generations become derailed by this. We look forward to the future, gentlemen, not the past. We look forward to progress and unity, not backward to slavery and monarchy. Remember, gentlemen, our ideas were once considered strange, dangerous, and subversive; impractical and catastrophical if implemented. But look at us now! Throwing off the shackles of England, we stand together, shoulder to shoulder, as brethren for the cause of freedom! Even our brothers in France now follow our example! Truly, we stand at a unique time in history to create any government possible, even another monarchy! But we dissolve not into fascism, as the world said we inevitably would, but we look towards republicanism, of representation and liberty!

“Surely, we can look past our petty squabbles. Our Constitution has said enough already of this matter. It is up for the people to decide whether a government run health care system is both necessary and profitable, but let it be decided by the people. And let us not bring misleading accusations to this debate. Universal health care is neither unconstitutional, nor shying away form what we as the Founding Fathers of America desired. Health care means nothing to us – what we wish is a nation wherein our people can decide for themselves their own destiny, whether it be to the enlightened future, or the the darkened past. But of all this, the people alone must decide. Even we, gentlemen, cannot decide for them.”

The room fell reverently quiet, cowed by the gentle rebuking of the lion of America. But such silence could not last for long, as all the delegations broke once more into angry yelling and even a fist fight or two.

“Monarchist!” “Unruly hypocrite!” “Deist!” “Unconstitutional!” “Fascist!” “Imperialist!” “Money grubbing merchant!”

Some of the delegates pulled out their Madison signs, chanting for his removal, while others pushed back, furiously shouting at the protesters to quiet down and let the General speak once more. David Brearley of New Jersey roared, “And how will the Americans pay for this health care? By taxing them to death like King George did?” before being pulled down roughly by Georgian delegates Baldwin and Few.

Washington sighed, his eyes closing. Madison, dodging a thrown shoe, settled down next to the aging politician and whispered, “There’s no talking to these people. Hot headed and opinionated are the people of America. It is our greatest strength, and yet also our greatest downfall.”

“I fear that generations of Americans will look back at our contentiousness and disunity and wonder how the fate of their nation once lay in the hands of such hooligans,” Washington said softly.

“If I know anything about human nature,” Madison said with a smile, “Should this great American experiment work, I daresay we will be deified, canonized! Our words will become as political ammunition, never mind that our words will contradict each other constantly. Virtual popes and patron saints of all of America!”

“Patron saints, indeed!” Washington laughed, watching with guilty earnest as Hamilton hurled harsh epithets at an almost screaming delegate who had nearly broken down to tears. “I do not wish to be deified, only understood.”

The following article is by John Cooper at http://www.cosmicflyswatter.com/. John is the nephew of Lt. Col. Jeff Cooper. Many of you know Lt. Col. Cooper as a scholar, a decorated Marine, a hunter, a family man, and most formidably a Shottist (one who is exemplary in the shooting field). This article is thought provoking to say the least.

At What Point Do We Call It Treason?

The United States Code at 18 U.S.C. § 2381 states

“… whoever, owing allegiance to the United States, levies war against them or adheres to their enemies, giving them aid and comfort within the United States or elsewhere, is guilty of treason and shall suffer death, or shall be imprisoned not less than five years and fined under this title but not less than $10,000; and shall be incapable of holding any office under the United States.”

At what point do we consider the illegal confiscation of over half the wealth of common Americans a form of treason. Was it not treasonous for the Secretary of the Treasury to meet secretly with the President and demand $800 billion dollars of taxpayer money to be given away to foreign bankers, and then refuse to provide a clear accounting of that money? I believe this to be patently unconstitutional.

Is it not a form of treason for the next President of the United States to give aid and comfort to the enemies of the American people by rewarding them with cabinet posts? Timothy Geithner is a tax-cheat and the former head of the New York Federal Reserve Bank. He is one of the enemies of the American people. Or take Rahm Immanuel a former Goldman Sachs executive who was also responsible for the most irresponsible acts perpetrated against the good and trusting American Taxpayer/Investor. He is now chief of Staff in the White House. These two men were integral players in the financial meltdown and subsequent thievery.

Is it not treasonous for this same reprobate, Immanuel, to condescendingly state that he would not let a good crisis go to waste? He is personally orchestrating the destruction of the private sector of the United States and has made it clear that he will see the end of capitalism.

Is it not treason for the President of the United States to steal the equity owned by regular citizens in our largest auto manufacturer and give the shares to himself and the United Auto Workers. This is unconstitutional and the trampling of the rule of law no matter the refusal of the Supreme Court to do anything to stop it.

Is it not treason to declare war on independent thinking free men and women and their small business interests by saddling them with billions in taxes, with tax models cooked up by East Coast Plutocrats to line their pockets by implementing energy and health care schemes, schemes designed to do one thing efficiently: destroy the private sector and force Federal control of all prerogative? This is also unconstitutional. Is it not treason against the people by abrogating those guarantees of the Tenth Amendment.

Is it not treason for legislators to pass thousand page bills – which they do not read – loaded with cronyist paybacks and pork, spending billions of our great grandchildren’s money forcing monetary slavery on children who are yet unborn?

Are not our Representatives and Senators levying war against us?

Are not Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid levying war on the American people?

The United States Code at 18 U.S.C. § 2381 states:

“… whoever, owing allegiance to the United States, levies war against them or adheres to their enemies…”

By stealing the peoples money illegally with no accountability have they not LEVIED WAR against us?

By unreasonably seizing assets, and levying unconscionable and oppressive tax and spend schemes are they not destroying our way of life?

By instituting conspiracies with large corporations such as GE to rake dollars from the public are they not levying war?

I ask you to consider, have they not declared war on us?

What part of the thievery being perpetrated against the American People since September of 2008 is different, no, what part is in any way inferior to the Acts of King George that caused our Revolution and Founding?

Notwithstanding the recent pandering of our President to our declared enemies, is there not just cause for the good American to consider any such actions as legitimate that might stop this illegal and ungodly course?

What pressure would stem the profuse bleeding these traitors have caused our philosophy of living, our blessed and free way of life?

And even now the traitors, fearful of the wrongs they know they are committing, sleep so uneasy that they have alerted Law Enforcement to be on the lookout for any returning veterans that might disagree with them. Good men who have served their country must be watched for they know how to use weapons. These men of duty cannot be trusted by the evildoers in our government. This is because the man of evil only sleeps well after good men have been put to sleep and silenced.

And on this list has also been placed anyone who is Christian, against abortion, or in favor of our Second Amendment Rights. The list will grow longer by this very nightfall. For I am now joined to it and perhaps you are also for reading this. They are now murmuring vague proposals to modify our First Amendment rights.

At what point do we call it Treason?

The movement of progressives has been marching now for a century. The subtle advancements of their cause has, for the most part, been added to them unnoticed by the good, generous, and hard working free men and women. But when would-be tyrants from the ranks of the elite not only practice their normal strong-arm tactics by seizing power, control, and the very sustenance of the productive, but they then unashamedly declare that they will force monetary slavery on them, not three fold, not ten fold, yes not even one hundred fold, but a thousand fold or more, and then boast about it; is it not time for free men and women to resist and consider the absolution of our bonds with this illegitimate and treasonous government?

When the arrogance of a class of men has outreached their common sense and any prudence from which they conceive of their authority; when political, corporate, financial, and labor representatives forget from where we the common people derive our rights, it is our duty to remind them first and then remove them for the sake of our way of life, for the maintenance of our posterity and for the respect due to those who have shed their blood for our freedom.

It is time for free men and women to remind the elite scoundrels that populate those foul centers of thievery and corruption, New York and Washington D.C., that their second rate imitation of Sodom and Gomorrah may bring them their just portion of fire and brimstone, but that we intend not be buried with them!

We will not indulge those who show nothing but contempt for the common man! It is time to remind all of them and the Liars at Harvard, their progeny and anyone who would support the degrading of our freedom, our economic liberty, and our rights that,

“… We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government…”

At what point do we call it Treason?

It is on this day, July 18, 2009 that we must call it treason!

http://www.cosmicflyswatter.com/

By Rev Ed Hird

Beethoven once said: “Handel was the greatest composer that ever lived.  I would uncover my head, and kneel before his tomb.”  King George III called Handel “the Shakespeare of Music.”  George Bernard Shaw commented that “Handel is not a mere composer in England: he is an institution.  What is more, he is a sacred institution.”

In North America and England, at the very least, Handel’s Messiah has become the most popular and performed and recorded and listened to choral work.  Many people stereotype Handel’s Messiah as Christmas music, but in earlier years, Messiah performances were more likely to occur at Easter.  For Handel, the Messiah was an Easter event that told not merely of birth but also of death and resurrection.

Against All The Odds
George Frideric Handel was born in Halle, Germany within a month of Johanne Sebastian Bach (1685).  Handel’s father was a barber-surgeon who hated music and wanted his son to become a successful lawyer.  His aunt Anna gave Handel a spinet harpsichord that they hid in Handel’s attic, wrapping each string with thin strips of cloth, so that Handel could play undetected. 

When George was eight or nine, the Duke of Weissenfels heard him play the postlude to a church service and he summoned the boy’s father and told him he ought to encourage such talent.  His only teacher was Friedrich Wilhelm Zachow, a most learned and imaginative musician and teacher, who instilled in his young pupil a lifelong intellectual curiosity.  At age 11, Handel entered a musical contest at the Berlin court of the Elector with the famous composer Buononcini, and won.

When Handel moved to England in 1712, it was a beehive of musical activity with Italian opera ruling the day.  Within the next 30 year period in England, Handel wrote about 40 operas and 26 oratorios.  Handel did not play to easy audiences.  If opera attenders felt bored in Handel’s day, they would often start loud conversations, and walk around freely.  It was also a custom for them to play cards, and eat snacks right during the opera.

Handel the Whipping Dog
As Smith/Carlson put it, Handel “…was an inviting target for critics and for satire.  He was a foreigner, and an individual no one could help noticing.  He had large hands, large feet, a large appetite, and he wore a huge white wig with curls rippling over his shoulders.  He spoke English rather loudly in a colourful blending of Italian, German, and French.  He was temperamental, he loved freedom, and he hated restrictions which placed limits on his art…”  

 Charles Burney, who later sang and played under him, told how Handel once raged at him when he made a mistake, “a circumstance very terrific to a young musician.”  But when Handel found that his mistake was caused by a copying error, he apologized generously (“I pec your parton – I am a very odd tog”, he said in Germanic English).

Handel also struggled with his weight, a problem about which critics mercilessly teased him.  His London years were up and down, and unbelievably down at times.  As Romain Rolland has tried to explain it: “He was surrounded by a crowd of bulldogs with terrible fangs, by unmusical men of letters who were likewise able to bite, by jealous colleagues, arrogant virtuosos, cannibalistic theatrical companies, fashionable cliques, feminine plots, and nationalistic leagues…Twice he was bankrupt, and once he was stricken by apoplexy amid the ruin of his company.  But he always found his feet again; he never gave in.”

Handel’s Higher Power
The situation was so bleak in 1741 that just before he wrote the Messiah, he had seriously considered going back to Germany.  But instead of giving up, he turned more strongly to God.  Handel composed the Messiah in 24 days without once leaving his house.  During this time, his servant brought him food, and when he returned, the meal was often left uneaten.  While writing the “Hallelujah Chorus”, his servant discovered him with tears in his eyes.  He exclaimed, “I did think I did see all Heaven before me, and the great God Himself!!”  As Newman Flower observes, “Considering the immensity of the work, and the short time involved in putting it to paper, it will remain, perhaps forever, the greatest feat in the whole history of musical composition.” 

At a Messiah performance in 1759, honouring his seventy-fourth birthday, Handel responded to enthusiastic applause with these words: “Not from me – but from Heaven- comes all.”  In his last years he worshipped twice every day at St. George’s Church, Hanover Square, near his home.

Handel’s Greatest Moment
The Messiah was first performed in Dublin in 1742, and immediately won huge popular success.  In order to have room enough for the people,  a request was sent afar and wide, asking, “The favour of the Ladies not to come with hoops this day to the Music Hall in Fishamble Street.  The Gentlemen are desired to come without their swords.”  This is how the Dublin Newspaper reported the event: “…The best Judges allowed it to be the most finished work of Musick.  Words are wanting to express the exquisite Delight it afforded to the admiring crowded Audience.  The Sublime, the Grand, and the Tender, adapted to the most elevated, majestic, and moving Words, conspired to transport and charm the ravished Heart and Ear…”  Handel could have made a financial killing from the Messiah, but instead he designated that all the proceeds would go to charities.

Handel the Successful Failure
In contrast to the Irish, the English did not initially like the Messiah.  This oratorio, after all, had no story.  The soloists had too little to do, and the chorus too much.  It was different, and the audience wasn’t ready for it.  Jennens who wrote the script didn’t like it either.  He commented: “Handel’s Messiah has disappointed me, being set in great haste, though he said he would be a year about it, and make it the best of all his Compositions.  I shall put no more Sacred Works into his hands, thus to be abused.” 

Twenty-five years later, Handel’s Messiah was so popular with the English that they almost rioted, while waiting to hear it at Westminster Abbey.  People screamed, as they feared being trampled.  Others fainted.  Some threatened to break down the church doors.

Handel the Revolutionary
Handel’s use of biblical words in a theatre was revolutionary, and those who opposed Handel went to great extremes to keep his oratorios from being successful.  For example, certain self-righteous women gave large teas or sponsored other theatrical performances on the days when Handel’s concerts were to take place in order to rob him of an audience.  As well, his enemies hired boys to tear down the advertisements about Handel’s Messiah.  One opponent wrote to a newspaper asking “if the Playhouse is a fit Temple…or a Company of Players fit Ministers of God’s Word.”  This person saw the Messiah as “prostituting sacred things to the perverse humour of a Set of obstinate people.”

In contrast, the famous preacher John Wesley liked Handel’s Messiah.  He wrote: “In many parts, especially several of the choruses, it exceeded my expectation.”  One clergy William Hanbury in 1759 said that you could hardly find an eye without tears in the whole audience. 

The King was so deeply stirred with the exultant music, that when the first Hallelujah rang through the hall, he rose to his feet and remained standing until the last note of the chorus echoed through the house.  From this began the custom of standing for the Hallelujah chorus.  When a nobleman praised Handel as to how entertaining the Messiah was, Handel replied, “My Lord, I should be sorry if I only entertained them; I wished to make them better.”

Messianic Popularity
What is it about the Messiah that makes it so popular?  Many scholars point to the spaciousness in Handel’s music, the dramatic silences, and the stirring contrast.  Sadie commented that the music of Handel’s, is a blend of different styles: English church music (especially the choruses), the German Passion-music tradition, the Italian melodic style.  In fact, three of the choruses are arranged from Italian love-duets which Handel had written thirty years before.  Handel’s genius was in bringing new and dramatic twists to the familiar and mundane.

Handel’s Finale
In 1759 the almost blind Handel conducted a series of 10 concerts.  After performing the Messiah, he told some friends that he had one desire –to die on Good Friday.  “I want to die on Good Friday,” he said, “in the hope of rejoining the good God, my sweet Lord and Saviour, on the day of His resurrection.” 

On Good Friday, he bid good-bye to his friends and dies the very next day on Holy Saturday, April 14th, 1759.  Handel was fittingly buried in Poet’s Corner at Westminster Abbey.  A close friend of Handel’s, James Smyth, said: “Handel died as he lived –as a good Christian, with a true sense of his duty to God and man, and in perfect charity with all the world…” 

My prayer is that the words and music of Handel’s Messiah may help us experience the intimacy of Handel’s relationship with His Messiah, Jesus of Nazareth.

The Reverend Ed Hird, Rector

St. Simon’s Church, North Vancouver 

Anglican Coalition in Canada

http://www3.telus.net/st_simons

-author of the award-winning book ‘Battle for the Soul of Canada’

http:/www.battleforthesoulofcanada.blogspot.com

-previously published in the Deep Cove Crier
 

Jefferson and other Founding Fathers recognized that there was a higher authority – the “Creator” – to whom they could appeal to to establish objective moral grounds for their independence.  Had they begun the Declaration with, “We hold these opinions as our own…” (rather than “self-evident” “truths”), they wouldn’t have expressed an objective moral justification for their Declaration of Independence.  It simply would have been their opinion against that of King George.  So the Founders appealed to the “Creator” because they believed his Moral Law was the ultimate standard of right and wrong that would justify their cause.  And their cause was to end the rule of King George in the American colonies.  They were convinced that George’s rule needed to be ended because he was violating the basic human rights of the colonists.

- Geisler, Norm and Frank Turek, I Don’t Have Enough Faith to be an Atheist, copyright 2004, page 176

Photo by Megan Oteri copyright 2009

“Everyone seemed happy. Yep, they were all kissin’ and huggin’ and swingin’ and swayin’.”     ~ Charlie Wagner

In response to “How was the George Strait concert?”

Click on link below to hear it in Charlie’s own voice

Charlie Wagner on George Strait concert July 18, 2009

Click on link below to hear Mitchell Bannon from Texas on George Strait being the King of County

Cowboy on George Strait being the King of Country (1)

The R34 at East Fortune

By Cara Sulieman

RESIDENTS of a tiny town in America have been invited to Scotland to mark the 90th anniversary of the first return flight across the Atlantic.

The giant Glasgow-built R34 airship set off from East Fortune in East Lothian bound for Mineola on Long Island on July 2 1919.

And the National Museum of Flight, which is based at the East Fortune site, have waived the admission fee for any of the 19,000 residents of the US town.

The airship’s flight was an adventurous and exciting event and hit the headlines on both sides of the Atlantic.

6,000 mile trip

It had only been a few weeks since Alcock and Brown’s record-breaking flight in a plane across from America, and the world was gripped with flying fever.

Not only was it the first return journey to be attempted by air, but the first time an aircraft had started the 6,000 mile trip from the East side of the ocean.

The airship, nicknamed Tiny, finally reached Mineola after 108 hours and 12 minutes after an arduous journey.

The 30 crew members required 4,900 gallons of petrol, 230 gallons of oil, three tons of water for ballast and almost a ton of food to sustain them across the Atlantic.

Stowaways

They piled into the 643 foot long ship that was kept afloat by 1,950,000 cubic feet of hydrogen gas, which was held in 19 gas bags.

In order to power the ship, five 250 horse power V12 engines were installed – one at the front, two half way down, and two at the back.

But despite the remarkable achievement of the crew and the majesty of the aircraft, it was the story of two stowaways that captured the public’s imagination.

William Ballantyne and Wopsie the cat both sneaked on to the airship separately – Ballantyne by himself and Wopsie with the help of a crew member.

William Ballantyne and Wopsie the cat

The kitten had been taken on to the ship by LAC Graham, making it the first feline to fly across the Atlantic.

William Ballantyne had originally been a part of the crew but had been bumped off when it was decided there were too many people on board.

Three of them got pulled off, but Ballantyne was determined to make it to America.

He told the New York Times on July 7 1919: “I’d worked hard, I had, blasted hard, on the bally blimp, but that didn’t matter so much.

“You see, I‘d never been to America, had my heart placed on it, and my mind, too. So I sneaks out a bit before midnight, about two hours before the R-254 left Scotland. I hides in the rigging. No-one saw me and we were off.”

Unusual cargo

But he was discovered before the blimp reached the States when he had to come out of hiding because he was ill.

His chosen hiding place was too close to fumes and he developed a fever of 102 F.

The stowaways weren’t the only unusual cargo on the airship.

R34 carried 112 pounds of post, including some pure platinum from bullion dealers Derby & Co and letters from King George V and the prime minister, David Lloyd George.

It was delivered by parachute near the town of Fortune in Newfoundland, Canada.

Chewing gum

A lot of things were learnt during the flight, and the crew had to use their imagination to fix the problems that arose.

If too many staff were in one area of the airship it was knocked off balance. When lunch was served, the crew had to eat in shifts or the blimp started to tilt forward.

And half way through the flight, a leak sprung from the engine.

In order to repair it, the crew had to stick a copper sheet over the hole with the ship’s entire supply of chewing gum, which was on board as a smoking substitute.

When the airship reached Mineola there were no experienced airship crew on the ground so Major Pritchard had to parachute down to instruct them in bringing in the blimp.

As a result he became the first man to reach the States by air.

“Major milestone”

When the R34 reached Mineola at 9.45am on July 6 1919 it had only completed half of the scheduled journey.

The second leg, back to Pulham in Norfolk, took only 75 hours three minutes thanks to strong tail winds.

Alastair Dodds, Principal Curator of Transport, National Museums Scotland said: “The flight of the R34 was a major milestone in aviation history and a real Scottish success story.

“The ship was built at Inchinnan near Glasgow and the trip aimed to test the possibilities of future air travel.

“We have a memorial to the flight at East Fortune and a replica exists in Mineola so we felt it was appropriate to revive the site’s links with this American town through our offer to its residents in this, Scotland’s Homecoming year.”

The story of the R-34 is told in the new Fortunes of War exhibition at the National Museum of Flight.

In 1854 Christiaan Frederick Beyers bought the Zorgvliet farm at a public sale for £2750 sterling. After the Manor house was partly destroyed by a fire he rebuilt it in 1860 as seen on the front gable.

In 1865 a devastating phylloxera plague forced most farmers in the area to sell their farms, Beyers senior went to Europe with his whole family in search of a solution. They spent 12 months overseas and he came back much more knowledgeable on a broad range of subjects. He rebuilt the road passing the farm; Government engineers commended him on the insight and quality of the project.

On the 23rd September 1869 Christiaan’s youngest son and namesake was born. He grew up to become a famous Boer General. Beyers fought a guerrilla war during the Anglo Boer War in the north near Ka’Ingo private reserve; he was later killed by pro Government soldiers in the Vaal River near the Riviera on Vaal Hotel during the Rebellion. After the Boer war C.F. Beyers served as Commandant-General of the Citizen Force.

In August 1912 Brig General C.F. Beyers, was sent to England and Europe by General Smuts to observe and report on the use of aircraft in military operations. Brig. Gen. Beyers was so impressed by what he saw, that when he returned to the Union, he strongly recommended setting up a school of aviation. The Government subsequently contracted Mr Cecil Compton Paterson to provide flying training to a select group of ten aviators at his flying school at Alexanderfontein near Kimberley.

On 15 September, General Beyers resigned his commission and his appointment as Commandant-General, and then sent his grey Daimler to Johannesburg to fetch General De la Rey to Pretoria for discussions. That evening Beyers and De la Rey set off in the car bound for Potchefstroom military camp where they were to meet General Kemp, who had also resigned his commission. The generals were edgy. Taking a circuitous route round Johannesburg to allay suspicions, they came across several police patrols and accelerated away despite signals to stop. Ironically, the police activity was not intended for them. That morning the notorious Foster Gang had murdered a detective and had made their escape in a similar car. Police had been ordered to stop all cars and to shoot if necessary. At Langlaagte in Johannesburg, they encountered another police patrol. The generals again ordered their driver to accelerate and the car crashed through the police barrier. A trooper fired. The ill-aimed bullet hit the ground and ricocheted inwards penetrating De la Rey’s heart. With the words “‘Dit is raak!” (I’m hit) he died in the arms of Beyers.

The rebellion against the Union’s involvement in the First World War was a reality but short-lived. General Beyers was the first to succumb. Cornered by the loyal forces, he was driven up against the Vaal River in flood. With his pursuers on the one side and the raging torrent on the other, he was drowned in an ill-starred attempt to escape across that treacherous river. Parties were sent out to drag the river and search for the body, and a reward of £50 was offered to the finder.

Mrs. Beyers left Pretoria in a special train with a coffin on board, to join the search party. She was accompanied by a few relatives and friends, including one doctor of medicine and one minister of religion. They travelled along the Johannesburg-Kimberley line as far as Maquasi, near the river, where they received tidings of the recovery of General Beyers’s body. It was found by a Dutch farmer, who promptly claimed the £50 reward.

Zorgvliet wine estate nestled in the beautiful Banhoek Valley near Stellenbosch overlooking majestic mountains and rolling vineyards offers luxury accommodation, conference facilities and a stunning wedding venue.
Zorgvliet boasts not only award winning wines but also nine 5 star vineyard lodge rooms and a restaurant. Here you can experience what living on a working wine farm is all about or you can simply indulge in the consumption of the fruit of the vine. You can even have a personalized wine label made while enjoying wine tasting and barrel sampling in the modern wine cellar.

The unique contemporary Cape Dutch architecture of the Herenhuis restaurant dated 1692 blends beautifully with the vineyards and the Simonsberg mountain as backdrop. Sundowners on the stoep of the Herenhuis is a must experience as is a scrumptious meal at this historic house turned restaurant. Le Pommier Restaurant is ever so slightly more casual but promise not to disappoint your taste buds.

Experience the magical ambiance of a mountain braai or picnic at the foot of Simonsberg. At dusk the valley becomes tranquil. The mountains are painted in the colours of our rainbow nation as the last rays of sunshine greets the valley good night. A magical indescribable sight and feeling that overwhelms you.

The magic of the Banhoek will be with you when retiring to your vineyard lodge overlooking the moonlit valley. Share our haven and you will never be the same again as you will become a beholder of the spirit of the Banhoek valley.

Read Further: Zorgvliet Wines

King Geoge are a young band from Perth. One of the members, Vocalist and guitarist Jordi James won the 2008 WAMi song of the year competition, which gave him 10 hours of studio time and resulted in a self-titled EP. He soon decided that he needed a backing band and gradually the members of what is now known as King George came to help him out.

These guys have some great songs and very strong vocals, which many up-and-coming bands seem to lack. This is espcially noticeable on their track Entertainment Tonight, which is almost bluesy. Musically they play a mix of folk and pop music with harmonies and the odd harmonica. They are probably best described as what  Angus and Julia Stone and The Kooks would sound like if they were thrown in a blender.

Apparently these guys are planning to record an EP sometime in the near future as well.

If you’re a fan of pop, folk or good music in general, then I highly recommend you check these guys out.

http://www.myspace.com/kinggeorgeband

Happy Fourth of July to all my fellow Americans!

It still feels very weird to type ‘my fellow Americans’. Sort of like a new pair of shoes, which are very comfortable and look great, but due to their newness still seem a little awkward and tend to squeak if you turn around too fast.

Independence Day is upon us, and is perhaps the holiday about which one would expect me to be most divided; indeed, residual loyalty to Britain does at first glance assert itself.

(Never mind that King George, from whom America famously declared its independence, was about as British as Saddam Hussein – the guy was a German who was only King because his grandfather had once had the strongest of a batch of weak claims to the throne.)

However, for 233 years, America has shone a bright light into the future, leading the way where other nations have trembled and cowered. We – and I can now proudly count myself within this ‘we’ – have had our missteps. Times have not always been easy. We have weathered the storms of economic turmoil, of wars both internecine and international, of nuclear threat and terrorist attack, and we have come through it all carrying the same torch of Liberty and blazing a trail ever forward.