Monday, May 26, 2025
Why its hard to take note of Memorial Day this year.
From the occupant of the Oval Office.
The country isn't itself right now. It can hardly honor its fallen dead, while destroying the things they fought for.
Monday, May 26, 1975. Memorial Day.
Gerald Ford issued the following proclamation:
Proclamation 4375—Prayer for Peace, Memorial Day, May 26, 1975
May 22, 1975
By the President of the United States of America
A Proclamation
At the height of the Civil War, President Lincoln proclaimed at a battlefield cemetery "that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain." Shortly after that tragic war, a day was set aside each year to honor those who gave their lives.
Over 100 years have passed since that simple but moving ceremony at Gettysburg. There have been many Memorial Days, and many more Americans have died in defense of what we believe in. As Thomas Paine said, "Those who would reap the blessings of freedom must . . . undergo the fatigue of supporting it." Today, because of the sacrifice and courage of American men and women, we are a free Nation at peace.
Let us dedicate ourselves today, and every day, to honoring those valiant Americans who died in service to their country. Let us gain strength from their sacrifice and devote ourselves to the peaceful pursuits which freedom allows and progress demands.
With faith in ourselves, future Memorial Days will find us still united in our purpose. Let us join together in working toward the greatest memorial we can construct for those who lay down their lives for us-a peace so durable that there will be no need for further sacrifices.
In recognition of those Americans to whom we pay tribute today, the Congress, by joint resolution of May 11, 1950 (64 Stat. 158), has requested that the President issue a Proclamation calling upon the people of the United States to observe each Memorial Day as a day of prayer for permanent peace and to designate a period during that day when the people of the United States might unite in prayer.
Now, Therefore, I, Gerald R. Ford, President of the United States of America, do hereby designate Memorial Day, Monday, May 26, 1975, as a day of prayer for permanent peace, and I designate the hour beginning in each locality at 11 o'clock in the morning of that day as a time to unite in prayer.
I urge all of America's news media to assist in this observance.
I direct that the flag of the United States be flown at half-staff until noon on Memorial Day on all buildings, grounds, and naval vessels of the Federal Government throughout the United States and all areas under its jurisdiction and control.
I also call upon the Governors of the fifty States, the Governor of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and appropriate officials of all local units of government to direct that the flag be flown at half-staff on all public buildings during the customary forenoon period; and I request the people of the United States to display the flag at half-staff from their homes for the same period.
In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this twenty-second day of May, in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred seventy-five, and of the Independence of the United States of America the one hundred ninety-ninth.
GERALD R. FORD
It was my father's 46th birthday.
As it was a day he didn't have to work, my guess is that we went fishing on the North Platte.
Last edition:
Sunday, May 25, 1975. A Sunday in May.
Saturday, May 26, 1945. The Homecoming.
The Supreme Headquarters, Allied Expeditionary Force (SHAEF) was transferred from Rheims to Frankfurt-am-Main.
The Saturday Evening Post featured Norman Rockwell's "GI Homecoming" illustration that was soon used for a war bond poster. It features in one of Sarah Sundin's articles on her blog site, and this is directly linked into that:
Extremely poignant, there's a lot going on in the illustration, from the "girl next door" peeking around the corner, to the fact that the returning soldier is returning to an extremely urban, and not very attractive apartment building, something very common of urban life at the time.
The Berlin Philharmonic gave its first performance since the end of the war in Europe.
Allied forces occupied Bassein, Burma.
It was my father's 16th birthday.
Last edition:
Friday, May 25, 1945. The Clock.
Sunday, May 25, 2025
Sunday, May 25, 1975. A Sunday in May.
Bobby Unser won the 1975 Indianapolis 500, which was halted after 435 miles due to a rainstorm. My father likely would have watched this on television.
There was a lunar eclipse.
I turned 12 years old, although I don't remember it. In 1975 we probably went to Mass the evening prior. As this was a Sunday in May, we may have gone fishing on the river during the day. We wouldn't have had a party or anything, but my parents would have gotten me a few gifts and likely my mother made some sort of a cake.
Last edition:
Saturday, May 24, 1975. Virus variola major.
Friday, May 25, 1945. The Clock.
The Battle of Odžak between Yugoslav (communist) partisans and the fascist Croatian Armed Forces ended in a Yugoslav partisan victory. Fighting ended in Europe.
The American armed forces Chiefs of Staff set November 1, 1945 as the start date for the invasion of Japan.
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The plot centers around a whirlwind romance of a soldier on leave and a woman he meets, taking place in 48 hours. They meet and marry in that time frame.
Suffice it to say, a marriage contracted that rapidly would be risky.
The Post World War Two increase in divorces. . . maybe.*
Last edition:
Thursday, May 24, 1945. Japanese paratroopers on Okinawa.
I'm Eligible for Early Retirement. . .
Saturday, May 24, 2025
The Best Post of the Week of May 18, 2025.
It was quite a week.
We started the week off with a look at the Vietnamese Diaspora
A Sunday Morning look at the Vietnamese Diaspora.
Here's Six Ways Trump’s Budget Will Hurt Rural Americans
Governor Gordon has enough of Chuck Gray.
The rise of Californian Chuck Gray in Wyoming's politics has really been remarkable. Filling the seat of a popular Casper legislator he failed to unseat in a primary, after that individual died, he became a firebrand populist funded with family money. His bid for earlier larger offices failed until he latched on to the Secretary of State's office in a campaign which was frankly nasty in town, something that was common to him, and which hasn't stopped. He has his sights on higher office now, with reliable rumors claiming that he's going to run for Congress and that Congressman Hageman will run for the Governor's office, which she's done before unsuccessfully.
Gray still surfaces in the media, rising up from what is otherwise a very mundane clerical position, to claim this or that. He did so the other day in a public meeting regarding wind farms, and that apparently caused Gordon to react.
Governor of Wyoming sent this bulletin at 05/23/2025 01:57 PM MDT
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The Governor's statement appears to have caught Gray a bit flat footed. Gray's made a career out of spouting lies packed with invective but having somebody call him out publicly, and from a higher office, is something he isn't used to and obviously wasn't expecting.
This isn't the only area this past week where the two have locked horns. Gray earlier this year accused Weston County Clerk Becky Hadlock of misconduct in the last election and asked for the Governor to remove her, a truly extraordinary move for the Governor to take. The investigation was completed, and Gordon issued a letter stating:
While the review revealed there were multiple mistakes committed by Clerk Hadlock and her staff, no information or evidence was provided that supported any malicious intent on the part of Clerk Hadlock, or that she was trying to manipulate the results of the election.
“[O]ne of the key elements to determining malfeasance is motive or willfulness, but in this incidence there is no indication that she did so with any intent to change or nullify the results of the votes of the people of Weston County,” the Governor wrote. In essence, the process worked, with any irregularities identified and corrected during a review by the canvassing board.
“It is clear that Clerk Hadlock made many mistakes and exhibited a high degree of unprofessional and perhaps slipshod management of the election,” the Governor wrote. “Still, the system set up to discover, correct, and properly count votes worked here.”
He went on to note that he didn't feel it appropriate to override the choice of the electorate and would leave Handlock's future up to the voters, something that 100% echoes what Republicans said about efforts to remove Donald Trump in his first term.
A current feature of Republican politics is to completely ignore precedent where it doesn't serve what amounts to a sort of NatCon view and Gray has practically based his career on election lies, claiming that there are all sorts of irregularities. Not too surprisingly he came right out with his own statement.
CHEYENNE, WY – In response to Governor Mark Gordon’s May 23rd decision not to initiate removal proceedings for Weston County Clerk Becky Hadlock, Secretary of State Chuck Gray issued the following statement:
“I am deeply troubled by Governor Gordon’s letter and for refusing to conduct a rigorous analysis of the facts of this case. I am particularly troubled by the Governor’s lies by omission in completely ignoring our finding that Clerk Hadlock submitted a false post-election audit report with our office, which we discussed multiple times as the most serious finding in our investigation released in March. The Weston County Clerk’s submittal of a false post-election audit report on November 6, 2024 does appear to be a willful violation of the code, as revealed by the Weston County Canvassing Board meeting on November 8, 2024, as well as the subsequent, properly-performed audit, which confirmed that there were 21 of 75 ballots with a discrepancy, in direct contravention to the initial post-election audit results submitted to our office. This false post-election audit occurred after we had expressed concerns about the anomalies. Our investigation came to the conclusion there are only two reasonable explanations for the false submission of this audit, absent another explanation provided by the Weston County Clerk, the Governor, or any relevant actors, which was not even discussed. Our investigation found that one possibility is that Clerk Hadlock conducted her audit, finding errors in the election and then choosing to falsely assert that no errors had been found. The investigation found that the second reasonable possibility is that no audit was conducted at all. Either one of those possibilities would suggest that she attempted to hide the problems with the conduct of the 2024 General Election. That is why we made the recommendation that we did, and the Governor’s omission of discussing the false post-election audit in his decision is inherently problematic. Gordon has gotten used to the media refusing to cover these lies of omission and this is another example of those lies of omission. I’m deeply troubled that Governor Gordon refused to even acknowledge key parts of the case.”
Gray has his supporters in the populist mass that's running the GOP and influencing Wyoming's politics, with those same people really disliking Gordon. Gordon has a lot of more quiet supporters. There's a lot of speculation on whether Gordon will run for a third term, which he's theoretically barred from doing but which the Wyoming S.Ct would clearly say he could do, and he'd have a good chance of winning, certainly against Gray. Hageman seems to be wildly popular with the GOP base right now, so it'd be unclear how that would go. I suspect that Gray would fail in a race for Congress.
At some point there's going to be a reckoning for the flood of lies the populist base of the GOP has been fed by its leadership. Trump's horrific funding bill may be the beginning of it. Wyoming is going to pay in spades for the results of what it's been supporting, with the first wave of that already hitting. By November of next year a lot of chickens may have come home to roost and will have died in their coups. Whether a political change starts to occur in 2026 or 2028 isn't clear, but it's going to. I don't expect Gray to survive it. Most of the better known Wyoming politicians will, as they'll modify their positions to the time, although those who came up during this period will have hard time doing so.
Anyhow, more than one person is cheering Gordon on. No doubt more than one is cheering Gray too, having bought off on what he's told them, facts aside.
Appearance. Shape and being in shape and women (men will come next).
I read this, and your other post on Fran Camuglia. Wow, what a sad life.
I have an observation that I wonder if you would comment on that your post seems to illustrate. The pretty girls of the 50s and 60s looked different than they do now. They were beautiful, but softer, and more natural looking. Even the real dolls like Camuglia, with their exaggerated features, were softer and prettier. Think Marilyn Monroe.
I don't know what's changed it, but maybe the emphasis on "working out" has. Seems like you have really fit girls, and then really out of shape girls, and not much in between.
Thanks for your comment. Her life was tragic.
On your observation, people do indeed look different at different ages in the past, but I haven't really thought of it in this context. Having thought of it now, a little, I think there's something to your observation. As a minor personal observation, "working out" was not really a thing, as you note, in the 70s when I was growing up. Thinking back to high school I can't really think of any overweight kids at all. I'm sure there were some, but it must have been really rare. It seems to me that high schoolers now look older than we did when we were there, but oddly kids of my fathers vintage, who graduated high school in the 40s, looked much more mature. Nobody looked bulked up, or "ripped", or whatever.
This might be worth a post on the site, after I ponder it a bit.By the way, while I've already noted it in these posts, her life being tragic isn't unique in terms of Playboy centerfolds. Quite a few of their stories are pretty grim, and Playboy contributed to that. In this case, quite frankly, she was off to a really bad start as it was, as she was married absurdly young, divorced very rapidly, and objectified forever when still in her teens.
This was equally true of lesser known models, and indeed, it was mostly true for early movie stars as well.
J. Algernon Hawthorne: I must say, if I had the grievous misfortune to be a citizen of this benighted country, I should be the most hesitant at offering any criticism whatever of any other.J. Russell Finch: Wait a minute, are you knocking this country? Are you saying something against America?J. Algernon Hawthorne: Against it? I should be positively astounded to hear of anything that could be said FOR it. Why, the whole bloody place is the most unspeakable matriarchy in the whole history of civilization! Look at yourself, and the way your wife and her strumpet of a mother push you through the hoop! As far as I can see, American men have been totally emasculated. They're like slaves! They die like flies from coronary thrombosis, while their women sit under hairdryers, eating chocolates and arranging for every second Tuesday to be some sort of Mother's Day! And this positively infantile preoccupation with bosoms. In all my time in this wretched, godforsaken country, the one thing that has appalled me most of all is this preposterous preoccupation with bosoms. Don't you realize they have become the dominant theme in American culture: in literature, advertising and all fields of entertainment and everything. I'll wager you anything you like: if American women stopped wearing brassieres, your whole national economy would collapse overnight.
O.W. Root@NecktieSalvageCurrently there are two extremes that didn't really exist en masse before.1 - Extreme obesity2 - Extreme gym cultureMaybe one day those extremes will fade and a more traditional historic norm will replace them.
That's probably all due to the stress of life and hard work.
