We Remember Because They Cannot

Twenty years ago today, the Chinese Army ruthlessly put down civilian protests in Tiananmen Square.  Weeks of protests that spread from students to workers to peasants and swept the nation culminated in Beijing that summer.

They wanted more freedom.

What they got was their own army using tanks and guns to stop what the government feared was a growing seed of revolution.

No one knows for sure how many died that night.  No one is entirely sure how many were imprisoned and executed in the weeks and months following the military crack down.

Through it all, was CNN.  The news network was only 9-years-old and still in its infancy. They had negotiated the rights to cover the Soviet Premier Mikhail Gorbachev's visit and found themselves covering much more.  CNN, as a 24 hour station, was able to provide unprecedented coverage.

In this modern era of the 24-hour news cycle, it's hard to place this into its proper perspective.  What the world watched happen in 1989 was nothing short of miraculous.  Beginning in January with the formation of the Solidarity movement in Poland and culminating in the opening of Checkpoint Charlie in Berlin on November 9, we watched the end of the Cold War on live television.  Right smack dab in the middle of it all was Tiananmen square.

For those of you too young to remember these events unfold, it's hard to describe.  Watching the tank man stare down those tanks on June 5, after so many of his countrymen had died, was heart stopping.  No one knows who he was.  But we all know what he did.

Since the Chinese government does not allow its citizens to view news or internet coverage of this event, we watch it for them.

And we remember.

Another Great Video

Feel free to share.  H/T to Pam's House Blend. 




The songwriter has an Mp3 avaialble for download on his blog as well as the lyrics and a history of the song.

Number Six!

The New Hampshire legislature voted to approve same-sex marriage today.  Governor Lynch says he will sign the bill.

This is excellent news!

So much for the "radical court" meme.  Despite the court ruling in California and talk in Maine of putting marriage to a public vote, there is clear progress being made.  We need to keep pushing until we have all 50 states.

If you think this is a great day for human rights, drop by the Human Rights Campaign and send a thank you note the Gov. Lynch and New Hampshire legislators. I did.

Wednesday Weirdness

It's that time again, funny how it comes around so regularly. Lots of intertesting and newsworthy tidbits today.

We start with a "what the hell were they thinking award" given to the teachers at Canberra high school. Whatever possesed them to stage a mock hanging is unclear. The student who had the misfortune to get the noose over his head fell and turned blue before the rope was cut. So, I have to ask myself. If I'm "staging" a hanging what might go wrong? Hmm. Oh, I know. It might become a real one. Maybe I should think twice about this.

The next obvious award goes to researchers at the University of Michigan that have found that women enjoy gossip and it boosts their progesterone levels creating a feeling of well-being and reduces stress. Who would have ever guessed? The researchers go on to talk about how important this discovery may be in understanding the link between biological mechanisms and behavior. So when I say that testosterone makes men stupid I may actually be correct. My husband will be so disappointed.


The good deed award goes to Georgette Clemons who ran into a burning home to rescue the family inside. What makes this weird newsworthy is that she did so while wearing a wedding dress. After leaving her wedding reception, Clemons spotted the fire and stopped to render aid. How cool is that?


Squirrels, bees and a deer are up next. A pair of nesting squirrels have set up their nest in a Port Huron, Michigan cometary. Nothing too unusual about that. Except that these squirrels decided that the flags placed on veterans graves for Memorial Day were the perfect resource. Cemetery employees discovered tiny empty flag staffs on Tuesday and soon discovered the culprits. As they watched a squirrel ripped a miniature flag off its staff and scampered away. Following the thief turned up a nest draped in bunting. At least they waited until after the Memorial Day ceremonies.

From cheeky squirrels we move to to tired bees. About 10,000 bees descended on an aircraft in Danvers, MA. and took over the left wing. A bee removal expert was called and he thinks the Queen stopped to rest and the rest of the hive joined her as protection. That's one hell of an honor guard.

Last is a deer who gave one cop the scare of his life. Officer Dan Deffenbaugh spotted a motorist ahead of him braking to avoid a deer and soon got the perfect dash cam picture of the deer leaping across his squad car. He claims to have uploaded the dash cam footage to YouTube but I couldn't find it. If someone sees it, drop me a link in the comments, please. Apparently, Deffenbaugh and the deer were equally frightened.

Last is a story I saw in several places this week and it kind of saddens me that it got tagged as Weird News. A Garden City, NY store owner foiled a would-be robber with an unloaded rifle. The bat-wielding thief dropped his weapon and starting begging for mercy. Mohammad Sohail, a Pakistani immigrant, granted it. He gave the robber $40 from his register and a loaf of bread after hearing his tale of a starving family. And then, and I guess this is the part that demotes this story to "weird", the thief is so impressed that he wanted to become a fellow Muslim so Sohail leads him in a profession of faith. Are we so callous and cynical that we assume this thief was just trying to avoid punishment by playing on this man's faith? Or are we so jaded that we believe all who follow a religious faith are naive and foolish? Either way, the fact that this story has been deemed laughable says more about those who categorize it thusly than either Sohail or the thief.

That's it for today. See you next week or sooner.

RTT-Cars and teenagers and almost 21-year-olds

So, it's Tuesday. Yea, Tuesday! Time for some randomness. Go hit Keely at the UnMom for more.

Well, remember a few weeks back when I told you our timing belt murdered our engine and it was going to effing cost us an outrageous amount to fix? Yeah, well, the engine runs. But now the AC doesn't. And unlike Keely who is currently bemoaning the fact that it's going to freeze tonight in Canada, it's June in Texas for real and that means the thermometer is climbing. Today's expected high is 94 degrees. Relatively mild. Unless you're in a car whose AC was murdered by the idiot's at Lamb's Tire and Auto in Round Rock, TX. They all but admitted they killed it yet still had the cajones to quote us another $1250 to fix it! RIP AC.

So while we sweat the summer away and Hubby plots to get the AC fixed by threatening legal action or some such, our Eldest is approaching a milestone. Next week at 5:01PM CST she will be 21. Legal in all 50 states and able to purchase and consume alcohol on her own. Joy. Yippee. Wait while I weep.

Youngest has herself a new boyfriend. One who is attending an actual college and everything. He has a job. He's polite. You know, I've been married 23 years and it still unnerves me when someone calls me Mrs. Whosit. I no longer look around for my mother-in-law but it still makes me cringe. Most of the girls friends call us, when they actually use something to address us, either Mom or Dad. (Yes, we're those people. Don't ask me how we managed to be the cool parents. I still don't know.) So it's weird when one of them doesn't. This weekend she gets to go to his little sister's high school graduation party and meet the parents, the sibs, various aunts and uncles and maybe even a grandparent or two. Scary stuff.

This is her last year being a teen. Next year she's 20. Damn. Sooner than I expect we will be ready for, they'll be college graduations and weddings and babies (hopefully in that order). Arghh!!!!

So while those of you with toddlers and elementary aged children sit there all smug in their cuteness and adorable-ness, just remember this. It was like yesterday when my girls were all cute and adorable and we were more concerned about finding a way to get some alone time away from them than wondering where the hell they were at 2 AM on a week night. Your time will come. Far, far sooner than you want or will be prepared for or anything.

Though the nice thing is that Youngest is well, young and less than responsible and has disposable income since she's working this summer and she's bought seven tickets to the Alamo Drafthouse to Equality Now's screening of Serenity and Doctor Horrible's Sing Along Blog. And we're invited. How cool is that? Maybe she turned out okay.

That's it for now. Time to get back to work. I've been amiss of late with posting and promise to do better. Tune in tomorrow for Weird Wednesday!