March 2010

Temple to History: Westminster Abbey

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In all my travels around the globe, there is no place that intrigues me and begs more curiosity in me than Westminster Abbey. It's a place that sits at the heart of the English Monarchy and the English people. That's what makes it a place of obvious symbolism and importance. Not only is the very building at the center of culture for its ceremonial functions but also for the people buried there, including many of England's Kings and Queens. From the coronation of William the Conqueror to the funeral of Princess Diana, the building has served its national flock for over 1,000 years.

Irish Rant in Honor of Saint Patrick

Every year at this time

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in the U.S. I have to prepare myself for an onslaught of Irish pop-culture that, while it's pop-culture, is more American than Irish. For instance, until recently, when St. Patrick's Day celebrations in Ireland have begun to garner American tourist dollars, St. Patrick's day was a day for Catholics to go to Mass and have a dinner at home with their families. But thanks to American popular culture, and the Internet, we've ended up with a lot of assumptions about what it means to be Irish in America on the 17th of March.

To Wit:

The Truth about Corned Beef

Every year around St. Patrick's

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day in the U.S. the grocery stores start putting corned beef brisket on sale and on display, and restaurants and pubs add corned beef and cabbage to their menus as the Irish entree. Unfortunately, corned beef and cabbage, even when accompanied by potatoes, is more American (or Germanic) than Irish; we'd do better to celebrate Irish cuisine with salmon or colcannon, a dish of potatoes and cabbage (that's even better made with kale).

WASPs Finally Recognized for WW II service

During World War II, over a thousand women in the U. S. joined the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASPs) as civilian pilots. The Army Air Force created what they called the Women's Auxiliary Ferrying Squad in September of 1942. They paid for their flight lessons and pilot training and tested and ferried aircraft, freeing men for combat flying. Two years later, the program ended and the women were sent home. Their con

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tributions to the war effort were mostly ignored and forgotten, so much so that in 1976 the U. S. Air Force announced that for the first time, female pilots would be flying jets—completely ignoring the WASPs. This encouraged the WASPs to start talking about their experience in World War II.

Missed Opportunity

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In 1934, rightwingers, Republicans and fascists railed  against Franklin Roosevelt when he took over the White House, hurled slanderous charges, accused him of bringing socialism, communism and ruin to the Republic. Why? Because he thought that the average American needed a "New Deal". The Wall Street boys and other speculators had pushed America into a Great Depression. Roosevelt programs to stop America from financial bleeding and to get America moving were called socialism. His closing of the banks to halt bank runs was called a dictatorial  taking over of the banks. He shut down the bankrupted banks and reopened the solvent ones under government regulation and with insurance for depositors. This was called the acts of a communist.