April is Confederate History Month, I do declare!

It's 7 days into April and I just found out what the month signifies in this region of the country.

Yes, southern states tend to declare April as Confederate History Month and the one I type in, Georgia, took up this particular Confederate gauntlet in 2009.

The goal of this controversial declaration is to put a spotlight on history and now the state of Virginia (where a gaggle of my ancestors hailed from before they migrated to Georgia, some of them pre-Revolutionary War due in part to tobacco growing ruining Virginia's soil - the rest may have been pioneering wanderlust or perhaps simple contrariness) is in the spotlight for choosing to remember our warring history...ad infinitum, it would seem.

So please, let us remember our ancestors who fought so bravely, but let's not fight the war all over again!

Turner Simmons
died April 1862
Goldsboro, NC

and other family members who here shall not be named.

R.I.P.

Is Obama really a socialist?

"McCain called me a socialist for wanting to roll back the Bush tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans so we can finally give tax relief to the middle class." Senator and candidate, Barack Obama

~:~

Yes, 'socialism' is always the boogeyman word the GOP pulls out and dusts off when their elite base squalls at the threat of social involvement waiting in the wings. As if they'd feel the pinch!

But there's a huge number of Americans who could do with some New Deal initiatives thanks to the monied class' thievery...will the common Joe and Jill vote against themselves today while giving Rovian politics a thumbs-up?

That the unemployed haven't had it up to Here with upper class banditry is difficult for me to believe, but of course, the electoral college may be what's used most effectively against the people's best interests and druthers.

So it's Nov 4th at last, and it seems Virginia is having serious problems today. Come on, Virginia! Contingency plans would have been a great idea, and as an artist of the drawing persuasion, you can't beat a good pencil and paper especially when all else fails.

Only a landslide will do, so I'm off to vote now - meet ya later! jude

Stars Above! Deerlick Astronomy Village

You may not.

But if you do, here's today's post from Jude's Threshold concerning a new observatory site called Deerlick Astronomy Village, a stargazer's paradise located under the darkened skies of rural eastern Georgia, USA.

Added to the post is a little early Georgia-Virginia history with a slight genealogical flavor from yours truly, reluctant astrologer and native Georgian these many years.