MAY DAY AROUND THE WORLD: Italy: The people of ancient Rome honored Flora, the goddess of flowers and springtime, with a festival called Florialia. The goddess was represented by a small statue wreathed in garlands. A procession of singers and dancers carried the statue past a sacred blossom-decked tree. Later, festivals of this kind spread to other lands conquered by the Romans. Today May Day is known as the happiest day of the year in Italy. All varieties of flowers are placed in and around places of worship. Boys often serenade their sweethearts on this day. Switzerland: In Switzerland, a May pine tree is often placed under a girl's window. Germany: German boys often secretly plant May trees in front of the windows of their sweethearts. Czechoslovakia: At night, boys at night place maypoles before their sweethearts' windows. England: The festivals begun in Italy reached their height in England during the Middle Ages. On the first day of May, English villagers awakened at daybreak to roam the countryside gathering blossoming flowers and branches. A towering maypole was set up on the village green. This pole, usually made of the trunk of a tall birch tree, was decorated with bright field flowers. The villagers then danced and sang around the maypole, accompanied by a piper. Usually the Morris dance was performed by dancers wearing bells on their colorful costumes. Often the fairest maiden of the village was chosen queen of the May. Sometimes a May king was also chosen. These two led the village dancers and ruled over the festivities. In Elizabethan times, the king and queen were called Robin Hood and Maid Marian. Maypoles were usually set up for the day in small towns, but in London and the larger towns they were erected permanently. They were considered heathen eyesores by the Puritans. May Day festivals became so gay and wild that the Puritans were able to force the government to forbid them. They soon sprang up again, however, and still continue in many English villages. Today in London children go from house to house bringing flowers in return for pennies. After the pennies are collected, they are thrown into a wishing well. Special wishes are made with hopes they will be granted. The pennies are later collected and given to different charitable organizations. The traditional English chant used when handing out May baskets is: France: Since the French considered the month of May to be sacred to the Virgin Mary, they enshrined young girls as May queens in their churches and May queens led processions in honor of the Virgin. Cows also play important roles in French May Day festivals, and bunches of flowers are tied and draped around their tails as they are led in parades. Everyone tries to touch the cows because it is believed to be good luck. On May Day morning, everyone drinks milk still warm from the milking to assure good luck during the year. Greece: Greek children set out early in the morning to search for the first swallow of spring. When the bird is located, the children go from door to door singing songs of spring. For their efforts, neighbors offer special treats to eat, such as fruits, nuts, and cakes. United States: The Puritans frowned on May Day and brought that attitude along to the New World, so it has never been celebrated with as much enthusiasm in the U.S. as in Great Britain. But May Day is celebrated by dancing and singing around a maypole tied with colorful streamers or ribbons. The dancers twist the streamers around the pole to make a pretty pattern to be enjoyed by all. On college campuses a May queen is often chosen and the old dances are performed around a maypole. Children often gather spring flowers, place them in handmade paper May baskets and hang them on the doorknobs of relatives and friends--they ring the doorbells and run away, leaving their flowers as a surprise. At May Day parties children select May queens, dance around the maypole, and sing May Day songs. These festivals often occur in parks or schools.     Come all ye lads and lassies Join in the festive scene Come dance around the maypole That will stand upon the green.  What happened to the radical workers' holiday?   Michelle Cobban The fact that workers had it tough in the early years of the American Industrial Revolution is widely taught in schools. Sixteen-hour workdays in dangerous conditions, child labor, exploitation, and accidents were common; then, magically, everything became better in a civilized, twentieth-century way. The forces behind this change are left ambiguous at best, and the radical labor movement isn't discussed--too difficult for young minds, perhaps. And so the visions of masses of militant workers parading through the streets of cities, towns, and villages on May Day is lost in the revision of history. May Day is not just about the arrival of spring. It is also 1880s workers demanding humane treatment; it is men and women around the world marching in solidarity against the factory owners who would have them work all day, every day but Sunday; it is anarchists, socialists, and leftists of every kind working together within the labor movement. This association of May Day with radicalism is ultimately what led to it being downplayed in contemporary accounts, while Labor Day remains as a state-sanctioned holiday. The first May Day, in 1886, was a call for eight-hour workdays by the workers in many American cities; it is now mostly associated with the Haymarket Martyrs. A bomb thrown by an unknown person at a labor rally in Chicago's Haymarket Square killed one policeman; authorities rounded up whom they considered to be the leaders of the local labor movement and put them on trial. Mother Jones said of the incident: "The workers asked only for bread and a shortening of the long hours of toil. The agitators gave them visions. The police gave them clubs." The charge against the accused, eight anarchists, was conspiracy--labor unions were illegal at the time under conspiracy laws. The prosecution summed up their arguments with: "Anarchy is on trial...[These men] are no more guilty than those thousands who follow them...convict these men, make examples of them, hang them and you save our institutions, our society." All were found guilty; four of the eight were hanged, one committed suicide in jail, and the remaining three were freed years later when public opinion turned against the rigged trial. Because of the chilling effect this event had on labor, the next May Day wasn't observed until 1890. Spurred by a resolution from the American Federation of Labor (AFL) and the International Socialist Congress, this day saw parades not only in American cities but simultaneous demonstrations throughout the European industrial centers and in Havana, Cuba. The common theme was the demand for guaranteed eight-hour workdays, and to raise awareness of the common class struggle existing in all countries. From that time on, May Day became an annual gathering of the working class in industrial countries. In the US, Labor Day was started in September of 1882, and quickly became an official holiday at the same time May Day spread throughout the world. Labor Day is a time to celebrate the contributions American workers had given their country, unlike May Day events, which focused on the international class struggle. It remains a patriotic holiday, and compared to the first May Day demonstrations, Labor Day is recognized by relatively staid parades and speeches. Besides the prominence government recognition gave to Labor Day, other factors led to the diminished importance of May Day in the US. American newspapers stereotyped the May Day revelers as being "wild-eyed agitators;" in contrast, those who participated in Labor Day marches were "sober, clean, quiet." At the turn of the century, the difference between the two holidays was exaggerated; the press emphasized the large percentage of immigrants present in May Day celebrations, while Labor Day was "a demonstration of the honest American workingman." At a time when the foreign born were increasingly viewed with suspicion, this portrayal helped push more conservative labor groups in the US (such as the AFL) to abandon May Day in favor of Labor Day. But American radicals wouldn't give up. Eugene V. Debs, Socialist Party candidate for US President, stated in 1907: "This is the first and only International Labor Day. It belongs to the working class and is dedicated to the revolution." The Industrial Workers of the World, a radical labor union, also rallied around May Day. May Day continued to grow, calling for an end to "imperialist slaughter," throughout WWI and the beginning of the Bolshevik Revolution in Russia. The fear of socialist revolution increased the anti-communist sentiment in America; in 1919 May Day participants were attacked by police and anti-labor rioters, which led to the destruction of socialist or communist party offices in many cities. Workers encountered difficulty in getting permission for marches, and some cities required that the American flag be carried. Similar attacks or bans on May Day parades became common throughout non-socialist European countries, especially in fascist Italy and Germany. May Day continued to grow everywhere in the world--Canada, South Africa, China, Japan, and Korea all saw nascent labor movements celebrate May Day. The largest turnouts were in the Soviet Union and Cuba; US media increasingly described May Day as a "commie" event, even though American leftists of all types continued to participate, calling for fairness and equal opportunity on the job. Large-scale demonstrations led to employers recognizing the eight-hour day and forty-hour workweek, among other achievements. But between the Cold War and McCarthyism, participation in May Day events in the US dwindled. May Day is still celebrated by socialist, communist, and labor organizations in America. May Day 1998 saw a small demonstration in Olympia against the Washington State "anarchy and sabotage" statute, which in 1919 made it illegal for anyone to display banners, flags, or emblems that are perceived to advocate subversion of the US Constitution, federal or state laws. In Seattle, hundreds marched for unionization and better pay for child-care workers, and on the UW campus over 500 participated in the first annual Teach-In on Globalization and Democracy, subtitled "Do Free Markets make Free People?" It is ironic that while May Day began in America, participation has paled in contrast to the millions of activists who still celebrate May Day around the world. The impetus for May Day still exists; it only needs the spark of organization to flare up again and command the attention of America's corporations.   PAGAN ORIGINS OF MAY DAY:  There is A Pagan history side to May Day too.  Some of the accounts are a bit risqué and some are gory.  I'll let that research to the reader.  Suggestions: http://www.planet.net.au/innovations/may96/mayday.html http://www.geocities.com/CapitolHill/5202/mayday.htm

 

VIVA! el CINCO DE MAYO!! The 5th of May is not Mexican Independence Day, but is should be. And Cinco de Mayo is not an American holiday, but it should be. Mexico declared its independence from mother Spain on midnight, the 15th of September, 1810. And it took 11 years before the first Spanish soldiers were told and forced to leave Mexico. So, why Cinco de Mayo? And why should Americans savor this day as well? Because 4,000 Mexican soldiers smashed the French and traitor Mexican army of 8,000 at Pueblo, Mexico, 100 miles east of Mexico City on the morning of May 5, 1862. The French had landed in Mexico (along with Spanish and English troops) five months earlier on the pretext of collecting Mexican debts from the newly elected government of democratic President (and Indian) Benito Juarez. The English and Spanish quickly made deals and left. The French, however, had different ideas. Under Emperor Napoleon III, who detested the United States, the French came to stay. They brought a Hapsburg prince with them to rule the new Mexican empire. His name was Maximilian; his wife, Carolota. Napoleon's French Army had not been defeated in 50 years, and it invaded Mexico with the finest modern equipment and with a newly reconstituted Foreign Legion. The French were not afraid of anyone, especially since the United States was embroiled in its own Civil War. The French Army left the port of Vera Cruz to attack Mexico City to the west, as the French assumed that the Mexicans would give up should their capital fall to the enemy -- as European countries traditionally did. Under the command of Texas-born General Zaragosa, (and the cavalry under the command of Colonel Porfirio Diaz, later to be Mexico's president and dictator), the Mexicans awaited. Brightly dressed French Dragoons led the enemy columns. The Mexican Army was less stylish. General Zaragosa ordered Colonel Diaz to take his cavalry, the best in the world, out to the French flanks. In response, the French did a most stupid thing; they sent their cavalry off to chase Diaz and his men, who proceeded to butcher them. The remaining French infantrymen charged the Mexican defenders through sloppy mud from a thunderstorm and through hundreds of head of stampeding cattle stirred up by Indians armed only with machetes. When the battle was over, many French were killed or wounded and their cavalry was being chased by Diaz' superb horsemen miles away. The Mexicans had won a great victory that kept Napoleon III from supplying the confederate rebels for another year, allowing the United States to build the greatest army the world had ever seen. This grand army smashed the Confederates at Gettysburg just 14 months after the battle of Pueblo, essentially ending the Civil War. Union forces were then rushed to the Texas/Mexican border under General Phil Sheridan, who made sure that the Mexicans got all the weapons and ammunition they needed to expel the French. American soldiers were discharged with their uniforms and rifles if they promised to join the Mexican Army to fight the French. The American Legion of Honor marched in the Victory Parade in Mexico City. It might be a historical stretch to credit the survival of the United States to those brave 4,000 Mexicans who faced an army twice as large in 1862. But who knows? In gratitude, thousands of Mexicans crossed the border after Pearl Harbor to join the U.S. Armed Forces. As recently as the Persian Gulf War, Mexicans flooded American consulates with phone calls, trying to join up and fight another war for America. Mexicans, you see, never forget who their friends are, and neither do Americans. That's why Cinco de Mayo is such a party -- A party that celebrates freedom and liberty. There are two ideals which Mexicans and Americans have fought shoulder to shoulder to protect, ever since the 5th of May, 1862. VIVA! el CINCO DE MAYO!! From http://www.vivacincodemayo.org/history.htm

Youth would be an ideal state if it came a little later in life.
--Herbert Henry Asquith

I don't feel old.   I don't feel anything until noon. Then it's time for my nap.
--Bob Hope

A woman drove me to drink ...  and I hadn't even the courtesy to thank her.
--W.C. Fields

I never drink water because of the disgusting things that fish do in it.
--W.C. Fields

We could certainly slow the aging process down  if it had to work its way through Congress.
--Will Rogers

Don't worry about avoiding temptation ... As you grow older it avoids you.
--Winston Churchill

Maybe it's true that life begins at fifty .But everything else starts to wear out, fall out, or to spread out.
--Phyllis Diller

The cardiologist's diet:  If it tastes good...spit it out.

CHUCKLES & BELLY LAUGHS:
One of Life's interesting twists  From Just For Grins.
At one point during a game, the coach said to one of his young players, "Do you understand what cooperation is? What a team is?"
The little boy nodded in the affirmative.
"Do you understand that what matters is whether we win together as a team?"
The little boy nodded yes.
"So," the coach continued, "when a strike is called or you're out at first, you don't argue or curse or attack the umpire. Do you understand all that?"
Again the little boy nodded.
"Good," said the coach.
"Now go over there and explain it to your mother."

Smart Grandma   Joe Maraqsco sent this one.
The doctor who had been seeing an 80-year-old woman for most of her adult life finally retired. At her next checkup, the new doctor told her to bring a list of all the medicines that had been prescribed for her.
As the young doctor was looking through these, his eyes grew wide as he realized she had a prescription for birth control pills.
"Mrs. Smith, do you realize these are BIRTH CONTROL pills?"
"Yes, they help me sleep at night."
"Mrs. Smith, I assure you there is absolutely NOTHING in these that could possibly help you sleep!"
She reached out and patted the young doctor's knee. "Yes, dear, I know that. But every morning, I grind one up and mix it in the glass of orange juice that my 16-year-old granddaughter drinks. Believe me, it helps me sleep at night!"

SWEDISH MATH   Janet Shields sent this one.
Sven wants a job, but the foreman won't hire him until he passes a little math test.
Here's your first question, the foreman said.  "Without using numbers, represent the number 9."
"Without numbers?" the Swede says, "Dat is easy." And he proceeds to draw three trees.
"What's this?" the boss asks.
"Ave you got no brain?  Tree and tree and tree make nine," says Sven.
"Fair enough," says the boss.  "Here's your second question.  Use the same rules, but this time the number is 99."
Sven stares into space for a while, then picks up the picture that he has just drawn and makes a smudge on each tree.  "Ere you go."
The boss scratches his head and says, "How on earth do you get that to represent 99?"
"Each of da trees is dirty now.  So, it's dirty tree, and dirty tree, and dirty tree.  Dat is 99."
The boss is getting worried that he's going to actually have to hire this Swede, so he says, "all right, last question.  Same rules again, but represent the number 100."
Sven stares into space some more, then he picks up the picture again and makes a little mark at the base of each tree and says, "Ere you go.
One hundred."
The boss looks at the attempt.  "You must be nuts if you think that represents a hundred!" Sven leans forward and points to the marks at the base of each tree and says, "A little dog came along and crap by each tree.  So now you got dirty tree and a turd, dirty tree and a turd, and dirty tree and a turd, dat make one hundred.  So, when I start?"

Stress Management: - Dr Bill Hamm sent this one to Bud Casselberry.
Just  in case you've had a rough day  at  work , here's an 8 step stress management technique recommended in the latest psychological texts. The funny thing is that  it really works..........
1.  Picture yourself near a stream.
2.  Birds are softly chirping in the cool mountain air.
3.  No one but you knows your secret place.
4.  You are in total seclusion from the hectic place called, "the World."
5.  The soothing sound of a gentle waterfall fills the air with the cascade of  serenity.
6.  The water is crystal clear.
7.  You can easily make out the face of the person you're holding underwater.
8.  See! You're smiling already!

Bud used this one from Good Clean Fun.
Gray Hair When I discovered my first gray hair I immediately wrote to my parents:
"Dear Dad and Mom, You saw my first steps.  You might want to experience this with me too."
I taped the offending hair to the paper and mailed it.
My father's response was in the form of a poem:
It's a trustworthy observation
That nothing can compare
In the process of aging
With finding the first gray hair.
He signed off with this observation:
"That gray hair you sent is not the first one you gave us!"

Another twist for a Bad Tooth: Bud sent this too.
For all the golfers out there or their patient loving wives...
A man and his wife walked into a dentist's office.
The man said to the dentist, "Doctor, I'm in one hell of a big hurry!
I have two buddies sitting out in my car waiting for us to go play golf.  So forget about the anesthetic and just pull the tooth and be done with it-- I don't have time to wait for the anesthetic to work!
The dentist thought to himself, "My goodness--this sure is a very brave man, asking me to pull his tooth without using anything to kill the pain."
So the dentist asked him, "Which tooth is it, sir?"
The man turned to his wife and said, "Open your mouth, Honey, and show the doctor which tooth hurts."
 

GROANERS:

Subject: Norwegian hunters : This one from Harold Pepperman
Two Norwegian hunters from Minnesota got a pilot to fly them to Canada to hunt moose.  They bagged six.
As they started loading the plane for the return trip, the pilot said the plane could take only four moose.
The two lads objected strongly.  "Last year we shot six, and the pilot let us put them all on board; he had the same plane as yours."
Reluctantly, the pilot gave in and all six were loaded.  However, even on full power, the little plane couldn't handle the load and went down a few moments after take-off.
Climbing out of the wreck one Norski asked the other, "Any idea where we are?"
"Yaaah...  I tink we's pretty close to where we crashed last year."

Herb Budinger sent this Groaner.
An elephant is drinking out of a river when he spots a turtle asleep on a log. The elephant ambles over and kicks the unsuspecting turtle clear across the river.
"Why did you do that?" asks a passing giraffe.
"Because I recognized it as the same turtle that took a nip out of my trunk 47 years ago."
"Wow, what a memory!" says the giraffe.
"Yes," says the elephant. "Turtle recall."

This final one from Gary N' Patti
A West Virginian had a flat tire, pulled off on the side of the road, and proceeded to put a bouquet of flowers in front of the car and one behind it.  Then he got back in the car to wait.
A passerby studied the scene as he drove by and was so curious he turned around and went back.  He asked the fellow what the problem was.
The man replied, "I have a flat tire."
The passerby asked, "But what's with the flowers?"
The man responded, "When you break down they tell you to put flares in the front and flares in the back!  I never did understand it neither.

Arbor Day -- April 29 (You can still plant a tree or two)

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