William Daniels

 

Happy 97th Birthday to William Daniels!

King's Easter

From the AP/Yahoo:

“King Charles attends Easter service, providing a glimpse of the monarch after cancer diagnosis”

King Charles III joined the queen and other members of the royal family for an Easter service at Windsor Castle on Sunday in what will be his most significant public appearance since he was diagnosed with cancer last month. The monarch offered a cheery wave as he walked into St. George's Chapel for a service expected to last about an hour. The appearance of the 75-year-old king is seen as an effort to reassure the public after Charles stepped back from public duties following an announcement by Buckingham Palace in early February that he was undergoing treatment for an unspecified type of cancer. Though he has been working behind the palace walls, his emergence in public for a royal fixture like the Easter service is seen as a positive sign. The service itself will be smaller than usual as Kate, the Princess of Wales, is also being treated for cancer and has paused public duties. The princess, her husband Prince William and their children won’t attend the service. Kate shock’s announcement that she, too, had cancer was made on March 22, after weeks of speculation about her health and whereabouts following major abdominal surgery in February. While the Easter service takes place in a chapel on the grounds of Windsor Castle, the news media will be able to observe the arrival of Charles and Queen Camilla.

^ It was nice to see him out on Easter. ^

https://www.yahoo.com/news/king-charles-attend-easter-providing-091632732.html

Pope's Easter

From the AP/Yahoo:

“Pope overcomes health concerns, presides over blustery Easter Sunday Mass in St. Peter's Square”

Pope Francis overcame concerns about his health to preside over Easter Sunday Mass, leading some 30,000 people in a flower-decked St. Peter’s Square in one of the most important liturgies of the year. Just hours after celebrating the 2½-hour nighttime Easter Vigil, the 87-year-old Francis appeared in good form at the start of the liturgy in the blustery piazza. Francis, who had part of one lung removed as a young man, has been battling respiratory problems all winter that the Vatican and he have said were bronchitis, the flu or a cold.

The Vatican said some 30,000 people attended the Mass, with more packing the Via della Conciliazione boulevard leading to the piazza. At the start of the service, a gust of wind knocked over a large religious icon on the altar just a few feet from the pope; ushers quickly righted it.

Easter Mass is one of the most important dates on the liturgical calendar, celebrating what the faithful believe was Jesus’ resurrection after his crucifixion. The Mass precedes the pope’s “Urbi et Orbi” (to the city and the world) blessing, a lengthy speech that traditionally rounds up all the threats facing humanity. For the past few weeks, Francis has generally avoided delivering long speeches to avoid the strain on his breathing. He ditched his Palm Sunday homily last week and decided at the last minute to stay home from the Good Friday procession at the Colosseum.  The Vatican said in a brief explanation that the decision was made to “conserve his health.” The decision appeared to have paid off, as Francis was able to recite the prayers of the lengthy Saturday night Easter Vigil service, including administering the sacraments of baptism and First Communion to eight new Catholics, and preside over Easter Sunday Mass. After a busy Holy Week, Francis should have some time to recover as there are no major foreign trips scheduled for several months.

^ I’m glad he was able to lead the Easter Service. ^

https://www.yahoo.com/news/pope-overcomes-health-concerns-presides-084034879.html

Yoda's Easter

 

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter in Different Languages. Learn How to Say and Translate

Albanian Gezuar Pashket            

Basque Aste Santu zoriontsua   

Belarusian З вялік днём [Z vialik dniom]              

Bosnian                Sretan uskrs     

Bulgarian Честит Великден [Chestit Velikden]  

Catalan Feliç Pasqua      

Corsican Bona Pasqua   

Croatian  Sretan Uskrs  

Czech    Veselé Velikonoce          

Danish  God påske          

Dutch    Gelukkig Pasen

Estonian Häid lihavõtteid             

Finnish Hyvää pääsiäistä              

French  Joyeuses Pâques             

Frisian  Fleurich Peaske

Galician  Feliz Pascua     

German  Frohe Ostern  

Greek   Καλό Πάσχα [Kaló Páscha]          

Hungarian  Kellemes Húsvéti Ünnepeket              

Icelandic  Gleðilega páska           

Irish  Beannachtaí na Cásca         

Italian   Buona Pasqua  

Latvian Priecīgas Lieldienas        

Lithuanian  Linksmų Velykų        

Luxembourgish Frou Ouschteren             

Macedonian      Среќен Велигден [Sreḱen Veligden]      

Maltese  L-Għid it-Tajjeb             

Norwegian  God påske 

Polish  Wesołego Alleluja            

Portuguese  Feliz Páscoa              

Romanian  Paște fericit

Russian Христос воскрес [Khristos voskres]        

Scots Gaelic  Càisg mhath dhut 

Serbian Срећан Ускрс [Srećan Uskrs]     

Slovak   Šťastnú Veľkú noc           

Slovenian  Vesele velikonočne praznike

Spanish   Felices Pascuas              

Swedish  Glad påsk        

Tatar  Пасха мөбарәк булсын  

Ukrainian Щасливого Великодня [Shchaslyvoho Velykodnya]   

Welsh   Pasg Hapus        

Armenian   Շնորհավոր Սուրբ Զատիկ [Shnorhavor Surb Zatik]

Azerbaijani  Pasxa bayramınız mübarək

Bengali শুভ ইস্টার [śubha isṭāra]             

Chinese Simplified  复活节快乐 [fùhuó jié kuàilè]           

Chinese Traditional  復活節快樂 [fùhuó jié kuàilè]          

Georgian  ბედნიერი აღდგომა [bednieri aghdgoma]    

Hindi     हैप्पी ईस्टर [haippee eestar]        

Japanese  イースター、おめでとう   

Kazakh  Пасха құтты болсын [Pasxa quttı bolsın]              

Khmer  រីករាយ​ថ្ងៃបុណ្យ​អេ​ស្ទ័​រ    

Korean 행복한 부활절 [haengboghan buhwaljeol]         

Kyrgyz   Куттуу Пасха [Kuttuu Pasha]      

Lao         ສຸກສັນ Easter [suksan Easter]     

Malayalam         ഈസ്റ്റർ ആശംസകൾ [eester aashamsakal]           

Mongolian          Улаан өндөгний баяр [Ulaan öndögnii bayar]    

Myanmar (Burmese)     ပျော်ရွှင်စရာအီစတာဖြစ်ပါစေ [ pyawshwinhcarar aehcatarhpyitparhcay] 

Nepali  शुभ ईस्टर [śubha īsṭara]

Pashto  اختر مبارک             

Punjabi ਹੈਪੀ ਈਸਟਰ [haipī īsaṭara]            

Sinhala ප්රීතිමත් පාස්කු මංගල්යයක් [prītimat pāsku maṁgalyayak]

Tajik      Писҳо Муборак              

Tamil     ஈஸ்டர் வாழ்த்துக்கள் [īsṭar vāḻttukkaḷ]     

Telugu  ఈస్టర్ శుభాకాంక్షలు [īsṭar subhākāṅkshalu]      

Thai       สุขสันต์วันอีสเตอร์             

Turkish Mutlu Paskalyalar           

Turkmen  Pasha baýramyňyz gutly bolsun            

Urdu      مبارک ایسٹر           

Uyghur پاسخا بايرىمىڭىزغا مۇبارەك   

Uzbek   Pasxa muborak bo'lsin   

Vietnamese       Chúc mừng lễ Phục sinh

Arabic   عيد فصح سعيد [eid fash saeid]     

Hebrew  חג פסח שמח    

Persian عید پاک مبارک       

Afrikaans   Gelukkige Paasfees 

Amharic   መልካም ባል ፋሲካ [melikami bali fasīka]             

Kinyarwanda     Pasika nziza       

Somali  Ciid wanaagsan

Swahili Pasaka njema   

Xhosa    Ipasika emnandi              

Yoruba A ku ọdun ajinde             

Zulu       Jabulela iphasika             

Filipino Maligayang Pasko ng Pagkabuhay            

Hawaiian Hauʻoli Lā Pakoa          

Indonesian  Selamat Hari Paskah             

Malagasy Tratry ny paka              

Malay   Selamat Paskah

Maori    Hari Aranga       

Samoan  Manuia le eseta            

Esperanto  Feliĉan Paskon           

Haitian Creole   Bon fet pak        

Latin      Felix Pascha       

Easter

 

Soldiers' Easter

 

Pysanky Symbols

Ukrainian Easter Eggs -  Pysanky

Every dot and squiggle is a symbol.

Dog Pyramid

 

Via Dolorosa

For Good Friday and Easter Weekend:

Here is Via Dolorosa - Start of the Holy Sacraments' Walk and the Church of the Holy Sepulchre (where Jesus was crucified and then buried) - Jerusalem – Israel. I took these pictures in October 2017.

Vietnam Veterans Day

Vietnam Veterans Day

Today (on Vietnam Veterans Day) we remember the American Men and Women who served in and around South Vietnam, North Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand and Laos.

The Federal Government officially states that a Vietnam Veteran is a person who served in Southeast Asia from February 1961 until May 1975 (although the US only had Combat Troops in South Vietnam from the Gulf Of Tonkin Resolution of August 1964 until the Paris Peace Accords of April 1973.)

2,709,000 American Soldiers served in and around Vietnam during the Vietnam War (out of the total 9,087,000 American Soldiers worldwide at the same time.)

58,000 Americans died and 300,000 Americans were wounded while serving in and around Vietnam during the Vietnam War.

It is estimated that of the 2,709,000 Soldiers there are 510,000 Vietnam Veterans alive today. They range from 67 years old (those who were 18 in 1975) to those in their 90s and 100s (many of them serving in either World War 2, Korea and Vietnam or Korea and Vietnam.) The average age of a Vietnam Veteran is 68 years old.

Many Vietnam Veterans were treated poorly by their fellow Americans during and immediately after the War (despite the fact that Politicians - Congress and the President create, run and end wars.)

Good Friday

 

Pysanka

 Pysanka

(Ukrainian:  Писанка)  are eggs decorated using the wax-resist method (resist dyeing).

The Pysanka, like the egg in general, symbolizes the beginning, the birth of life.

Many legends, beliefs, traditions, customs, traditions, ceremonies are associated with Pysanky which arose in the Pagan Era, were modified, and with the adoption of Christianity acquired a new quality — associated with the Consecration of Easter during the most important Christian holiday - and the symbolism of Christ's Resurrection with the future resurrection of the dead.

Hence their generic name — "Easter Eggs."

The Worlds Largest Pysanka Easter Egg is in Vegreville, Alberta, Canada (64 miles east of the Provincial Capital pf Edmonton.)

Canada Has the Largest Ukrainian Population in the World Outside of Russia & Ukraine. In Alberta, 10% of the population has Ukrainian heritage.

We Were The Lucky Ones

 

I’m watching the first 3 episodes of the Hulu Miniseries “We Were The Lucky Ones.”

It is an adaptation of a Book of the same name by Georgia Hunter.

It dramatizes the Holocaust from the perspective of the Kurc Family, fictional Polish Jews inspired by real people.

The story centers on Siblings Halina (Joey King), Addy (Logan Lerman), Genec (Henry Lloyd-Hughes), Jakub (Amit Rahav), Mila (Hadas Yaron) and their Parents, Sol (Lior Ashkenazi) and Nechuma (Robin Weigert) in Radom, Poland right before, during and then after World War 2.

Like I said I am only into the 3^rd episode of 8 episode miniseries, but so far it is really well made and very informative (whether you know much about the Holocaust or not.)

Easter Holidays

Easter Holidays

While most of the Countries of the World get either Good Friday, Easter Monday or Both (Catholic, Protestant or Orthodox Christian) off the United States only gets Easter Sunday off as a Federal Holiday – and we only get it off because it’s a Sunday.

Easter Sunday Only: Albania, Kosovo, Moldova, Sudan, Suriname, Syria, Ukraine and the United States (Federal)

Good Friday Off: Angola, Argentina, Bermuda, Bolivia, Cameroon, Canada (Federal), Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, East Timor, Ecuador, Estonia, Ethiopia, Faroe Island (Denmark), Honduras, Indonesia, Lebanon, Macau, Malta, Marshall Islands, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, the Philippines, Portugal, Singapore, South Africa, Spain, Sri Lanka, Tanzania, the United Kingdom (the Falkland Islands, Scotland), the United States (Delaware, Florida, Hawaii, Louisiana, North Carolina, North Dakota, Northern Mariana Islands, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, Tennessee, US Virgin Islands and Wake Island)

Easter Monday Off: Austria, Belgium, Benin, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Burkina Faso, Canada (Northwest Territories and Quebec), Central African Republic, Chad, Cote d’Ivoire, Croatia, Cuba, Gabon, Guinea, Ireland, Italy, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Madagascar, Mali, Monaco, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Poland, Romania, San Marino, Senegal, Slovenia, Spain (Catalonia, Balearic Islands, Rioja, Navarre, Basque and Valencia), Togo, Tonga and Vatican City

Good Friday and Easter Monday Off: Andorra, Antigua & Barbuda, Australia, the Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Botswana, Bulgaria, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Eritrea, Eswatini, Fiji, Finland, France, Gambia, Georgia, Germany, Ghana, Greece, Grenada, Guatemala, Guernsey (UK), Guyana, Hong Kong, Hungary, Iceland, Isle of Man (UK), Jamaica, Jersey (UK), Kenya, Kiribati, Latvia, Lesotho, Liechtenstein, Malawi, Namibia, Nauru, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Nigeria, Norway, Papua New Guinea, Rwanda, Saint Kitts & Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Samoa, Serbia, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Slovakia, Solomon Islands, South Sudan, Sweden, Switzerland, Trinidad & Tobago, Tuvalu, Uganda, the United Kingdom (Anguilla, the British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, England, Gibraltar, Montserrat, Northern Ireland, Saint Helena, Turks & Caicos Islands, and Wales), Vanuatu, Venezuela and Zimbabwe

Passover Off: Israel

Rescue Human

 

Disney-DeSantis Draw

From AP:

“Settlement reached in lawsuit between Disney and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ allies”

Allies of Gov. Ron DeSantis and Disney reached a settlement agreement Wednesday in a state court fight over how Walt Disney World is developed in the future following the takeover of the theme park resort’s government by the Florida governor. In a meeting, the DeSantis-appointed members of the board of the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District approved the settlement agreement, ending almost two years of litigation that was sparked by DeSantis’ takeover of the district from Disney supporters following the company’s opposition to Florida’s so-called “Don’t Say Gay” law.  The 2022 law bans classroom lessons on sexual orientation and gender identity in early grades and was championed by the Republican governor, who used Disney as a punching bag in speeches until he suspended his presidential campaign this year.

The district provides municipal services such as firefighting, planning and mosquito control, among other things, and was controlled by Disney supporters for most of its five decades. The agreement came a day after the appointment of a new board member, replacing a DeSantis-appointed board chairman who was a Disney critic. Under the deal, covenants and a development agreement Disney supporters on the board made with the company just before the state takeover would be dropped and the new board agreed to operate under an earlier plan.

Jeff Vahle, president of Walt Disney World Resort, said in a statement Wednesday that the company was pleased a settlement had been reached. “This agreement opens a new chapter of constructive engagement with the new leadership of the district and serves the interests of all parties by enabling significant continued investment and the creation of thousands of direct and indirect jobs and economic opportunity in the state,” Vahle said.

DeSantis, who was in Orlando on Wednesday, said at a news conference that “we have been vindicated on all those actions.” “I’m glad that they were able to do that settlement,” DeSantis said. “Those 11th hour covenants and restrictions were never going to be valid. We knew that.” As punishment for Disney’s opposition to the controversial law, DeSantis took over the governing district through legislation passed by the Republican-controlled Florida Legislature and appointed a new board of supervisors. Disney sued DeSantis and his appointees, claiming the company’s free speech rights were violated for speaking out against the legislation. A federal judge dismissed that lawsuit in January, but Disney appealed. Before control of the district changed hands from Disney allies to DeSantis appointees early last year, the Disney supporters on its board signed agreements with Disney shifting control over design and construction at Disney World to the company. The new DeSantis appointees claimed the “eleventh-hour deals” neutered their powers and the district sued the company in state court in Orlando to have the contracts voided. Disney filed counterclaims that included asking the state court to declare the agreements valid and enforceable.

Under the terms of Wednesday’s settlement agreement, Disney lets stand a determination by the board of DeSantis appointees that the comprehensive plan approved by the Disney supporters before the takeover is null and void. Disney also agrees that a development agreement and restrictive covenants passed before the takeover are also not valid, according to the settlement terms. Instead, a comprehensive plan from 2020 will be used with the new board able to make changes to it, and the agreement suggests Disney and the new board will negotiate a new development agreement in the near future. Disney also agreed to put on hold the appeal of the federal lawsuit pending the negotiations on the development agreement and other matters, and it will drop its two state lawsuits against the district, one of which was a public records complaint. “It looks to me like both sides called ‘uncle,’” said Richard Foglesong, a Rollins College professor emeritus who wrote a definitive account of Disney World’s governance in his book, “Married to the Mouse: Walt Disney World and Orlando.” “Disney has an interest in ending this and so does the oversight board,” he added. “So, they both win.”

Since the takeover last year, the district has faced an exodus of experienced staffers, with many in exit surveys complaining that the governing body has been politicized since the changeover. Just this month, the district’s administrator, Glen Gilzean, left to become a county elections supervisor at half the $400,000 salary he was earning at the district, and the district’s DeSantis-appointed board chairman, Martin Garcia, departed the following week. In their place, DeSantis on Tuesday appointed Orlando businessman Craig Mateer to the board and board members on Wednesday approved former DeSantis advisor Stephanie Kopelousos to be the district’s new administrator. Mateer, a donor to DeSantis campaigns, previously had been appointed by the governor to the Greater Orlando Aviation Authority and the Board of Governors, which oversees the state university system. Kopelousos was director of legislative affairs for DeSantis. She also had served as secretary of the Florida Department of Transportation under then-Florida Gov. Charlie Crist and was a former county manager in northeast Florida. Garcia was a vocal critic of Disney and his replacement by Mateer, who is well-known in Orlando tourism and business circles, may have made Disney comfortable enough with the board to reach an agreement, Foglesong said. Board member Charbel Barakat said the board was looking forward to taking a more cooperative approach with the entertainment giant. “We are eager to work with Disney,” Barakat said after the settlement deal was approved.

^ This doesn’t seem like a win for anyone: just a draw. ^

https://apnews.com/article/disney-florida-ron-desantis-settlement-91040178ad4708939e621dd57bc5e494

Guilty Of Neglect

From Military Times:

“Holyoke Soldiers’ Home Ex-Superintendent Admits to Neglect”

The former superintendent of the Holyoke Soldiers Home, where at least 76 veterans died in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, has admitted to five charges of neglect but will serve no prison time. Judge Edward McDonough, Jr., accepted Bennett Walsh plea admitting to sufficient facts to five counts of neglect of an elder related to Walsh’s decision to combine multiple dementia care units into one in March 2020, which in turn led to the deaths of numerous residents who had not been exposed to the virus before the change.

McDonough ordered the case be continued for three months without a finding and ordered Walsh to comply with probationary conditions including that Walsh not contact the victims’ families or work in a medical field. McDonough did not impose probation itself. This finding was identical to the defense’s recommendation. The prosecution recommended that Walsh serve three years of probation with the first year under home confinement. The prosecutor said the recommendation for only probation and not any prison was made because Walsh had a clean criminal record. The maximum penalty for each count was three years in state prison. Over the course of the roughly hour-long hearing in Hampshire Superior Court in Northampton, the prosecution and the defense painted different pictures of the crisis at the Soldiers Home.

The prosecutor said that the conditions of the consolidated dementia care unit “were quite bad” and had been described variously by those who witnessed it as “a war zone,” “a battlefield,” and “the worst I have ever seen.” The prosecutor described the consolidated unit as overly ad hoc, and that dementia care patients were seen wandering around naked, or nearly so, and crammed so tightly that there were double the allowed number of people per room. When the unit was first created, the prosecutor argued, five of nine residents who were assigned to live in the dining room were asymptomatic for COVID19, but the cramped conditions and lack of medical care caused them to come down with the fatal virus. Walsh said during his change of plea that he accepted there were sufficient facts to convict him of neglect, but that he does “not admit that such a decision was wanton and reckless in light of the situation.” Walsh and his attorney said that Walsh, a career military man, had assessed the dire staffing shortage in light of the current guidance coming from state and federal leaders in those confused, early days of COVID. Walsh’s attorney said that in the weeks leading up to the crisis at the Soldiers Home, the flu had been bad in Massachusetts but the state had only seen one confirmed case of COVID-19. He said that leaders sent out an email basically saying that, “Yes, it is very contagious but it is also not a danger to the majority of people who catch it.”

^ Sadly even when guilty he is given a very light sentence while 76 Veterans suffered and died horribly under his supervision. This is not justice. ^

https://www.military.com/daily-news/2024/03/27/holyoke-soldiers-home-ex-superintendent-admits-neglect.html

Wednesday

 

82: 1st French Convoy

82 years ago today (March 27, 1942) the First Convoy left France for the Auschwitz Death Camp in German-Occupied Poland. 1,112 French Men were on the First Transport in 1942. Only 22 of them were still alive in 1945 to return to France.

The Germans and their French Collaborators took Men first so it would be “easier” to later take the Women and Children instead of whole Families.

At first the Germans only wanted to deport Men and Women, but not the Children. The French Vichy Collaborators insisted that the Children also be deported to the Death Camps so they (the Vichy Government) wouldn’t have to look after them.

Background: The Germans Occupied part of Metropolitan France - including Paris -  from 1940-1942 and then all of Metropolitan France from 1942-1944.

The Vichy French Collaborators with Germany governed the Unoccupied part of Metropolitan France as well as French North Africa (Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia), French Africa (Ivory Coast, Benin, Mali, Guinea, Mauritania, Niger, Senegal, Burkina Faso, Togo, Chad, Central African Republic, Gabon, Cameroon, Madagascar, Djibouti, Mayotte, Reunion, Comoros), French India (Pondicherry, Mahe, Yanaon), French Middle East (Syria and Lebanon), the French Caribbean Islands (St. Martin, Guadeloupe, Martinique, Saint Barthelemy), French Indochina (Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia), French Guinea in South America and French Oceania (French Polynesia, New Caledonia, Wallis and Futuna) and the islands of Saint Pierre and Miquelon off of Canada from 1940-1942.

In 1942 the Vichy French Territories in North America, South America, Africa, the Middle East and the Caribbean were taken over by the Allies and the Free French. The French Territories in Asia were occupied by the Japanese until their defeat in 1945 and the Germans occupied all of Metropolitan France in 1942 until their defeat in 1944.

Victims: Of the 340,000 French Jews living in Metropolitan France in 1940 -  75,000 of them were deported to the German Death Camps where 72,500 of them were murdered. 75% of French Jews survived the Holocaust because of the French Non-Jewish Resistance Groups, the French-Jewish Resistance Groups, French-Arab Resistance Groups or by escaping to neutral Andorra, Spain and Switzerland.

There were 400,000 French Jews living in French-Morocco, French-Algeria and French-Tunisia in 1940 – those places being considered part of Metropolitan France until the 1960s.

 Sultan Mohammed V of French-Morocco refused to hand over the Jews in his Territory to either the Vichy French or the Germans so while Moroccan Jews were legally discriminated against they were not sent to the Death Camps and the vast majority survived the war.

 The Jews in French-Algeria and French-Tunisia were sent to Forced Labor Camps where many survived.

French Jews in Japanese Captivity were treated as other White People (not because of their Religion) and sent to Internment and Concentration Camps where many died from torture and malnutrition.

The Deportations in France were carried out by every level of French Society (both in the German-Occupied parts and the Vichy-French parts.) 90% of the Guards rounding-up the French Jews were French Policeman with only a handful of Germans supervising (as seen in this picture of the Vel' d'Hiv Roundup in Paris in July 1942.)

France only fully admitted to their role in the Holocaust in 2017.

After the War, the new French Government created the épuration légale (French for 'legal purge') to bring those who had supported the Vichy Collaborators to justice.

From 1944-1949 6,763 people were sentenced to death (3,910 in absentia) for treason and other offenses. Only 791 executions were carried out.

49,723 people were found guilty and given a dégradation nationale ('national degradation') – a loss of Citizenship privileges (Loss of the right to vote, Exclusion from elected office and public or semi-public positions, Dishonorable discharge from the military and loss of all decorations, Exclusion from management positions in businesses, banks, the press, and broadcasting, Exclusion from all positions in trade unions, professional organisations, the judiciary, education, journalism, and the Institut de France and the Loss of the right to keep and bear arms.)

This could last anywhere from 5 years to a person’s whole life depending on their crimes.

High Level Cases:

Philippe Pétain (the Head of the Vichy Government) was sentenced to death for treason, but was later given a Life Sentence (with people like Britain’s Queen Mary, US President Truman and Spain’s Franco trying to get him released.) By 1949 he no longer had his mental faculties and he died in 1951 at 95 years old.

Pierre Laval (the Prime Minister of the Vichy Government) was sentenced to death for treason. His sentence was carried out in October 1945.

 Louis Darquier de Pellepoix (the Commissioner General for Jewish Questions of the Vichy Government) was sentenced to death for his role in the Holocaust, but he fled to Spain where Franco protected him. He died in Spain in 1980.

Saint Pierre & Miquelon

Saint Pierre and Miquelon

Saint Pierre and Miquelon (French: Saint-Pierre-et-Miquelon) are an archipelago of 8 islands, with the largest 2 islands being Saint Pierre and Miquelon, is an Overseas Collectivity of France in the northwestern Atlantic Ocean, located 18 miles from the Canadian Province of Newfoundland and Labrador.

Saint Pierre and Miquelon are the last vestiges of New France which once covered land from Quebec, Canada to New Orleans, Louisiana, USA.

The islands cover 93 square miles of land and have a population of 6,008.

Its Capital is Saint Pierre, its Citizens are full French Citizens, use the French Language and the Euro Currency.

Saint Pierre and Miquelon has harsh, cold and snowy Winters that keep it isolated from nearby Newfoundland, Canada (when the Ferry Service stops.) It can only be reached from the outside world through the Saint-Pierre Airport with flights to Canada (Halifax, Montreal and Saint John’s) and Summer Service to Paris, France.

History:

The first Europeans (the Portuguese) landed on the islands in 1520 and the French came in 1536 when Jacques Cartier claimed them from France.

In the 1713 Treaty of Utrecht, which ended the War of the Spanish Succession, France ceded the islands to Britain which sent British Colonists from its Colonies in Canada and the United States to settle there.

Under the terms of the 1763 Treaty of Paris, which put an end to the Seven Years' War, France ceded all its North American possessions to Britain, though the British granted fishing rights to French Fishermen along the Newfoundland coast, and as part of that arrangement returned Saint Pierre and Miquelon to France's control.

After France entered the American Revolutionary War on the side of the United States and declared war on Britain, a British force invaded Saint Pierre and Miquelon and briefly occupied them, destroying all Colonial settlements on the islands and deporting 2,000 colonists back to France.

When the United Kingdom lost the American Revolution the islands returned to France.  

In 1793, during the French Revolutionary Wars, another British force landed in Saint Pierre and, in the following year, again deporting the French Colonial Population, and tried to establish a community of Anglophone Settlers.

The Treaty of Amiens of 1802 returned the islands to France, but Britain reoccupied them when hostilities recommenced the next year.

 The 1814 Treaty of Paris gave the islands back to France, though the UK occupied them yet again during the Hundred Days War in 1815.

 France then reclaimed the now uninhabited islands, in which all structures and buildings had been destroyed or fallen into disrepair.

The islands were resettled in 1816 and fishing brought prosperity to the French Colony.  

Submarine Trans-Atlantic Telegraph Cables from France in the 19th century typically were routed from the French Mainland through stations on Miquelon or St. Pierre, and then on to Nova Scotia or the United States.

The first was laid in 1869. Of the 12 French Trans-Atlantic Submarine Telegraph Cables laid between 1869 and 1897, 6 of them passed through Miquelon or St. Pierre.

In 1903, American Senator Henry Cabot Lodge advocated that the United States should purchase the islands from France.

Lodge was concerned about the French influence on Saint Pierre and Miquelon, possible political or cultural effects on Canada and the United States, and the effect of French fishing fleets on New England fisheries.

In response, some Canadians asked Great Britain to purchase the islands from France instead.

The People of Saint Pierre and Miquelon decided to remain part of France.

The 1914 Draft Law crippled the fishing industry as all able-Men had to go to fight in the French Military during World War 1.

400 Men from Saint Pierre and Miquelon fought in World War 1 with 25% of them killed.

The Islands gained prosperity during Prohibition in the US from 1920-1933 by smuggling alcohol from the French Colony to the United States.

In 1931, the archipelago was reported by The New York Times to have imported 1,815,271 U.S. Gallons of Whiskey from Canada in 12 months alone.

Many Gangsters including Al Capone and Bill McCoy set up operations in the islands, using them as a base to smuggle  Canadian Whisky, Caribbean Rum and legally imported French Wines and Spirits into the US.

During World War II, despite opposition from Canada, Britain and the United States, Charles de Gaulle's Free French Forces seized the archipelago from Vichy France (allied with Hitler’s Germany), to which the Local Administrator had pledged its allegiance from May 1940-December 1941.

After the invasion the Male Population (only Men 18+ could vote in France until 1946) endorsed the takeover by Free France by over 98%.

After the 1958 French Constitutional Referendum, the Territory of Saint Pierre and Miquelon was asked to choose one of three options: becoming fully integrated with France, becoming a self-governing state within the French Community, or preserving the status of an Overseas Territory; it decided to remain a Territory.

The Islands became a French Overseas collectivity in 2003.

Education:  The Islands have 4 Primary Schools (Sainte Odile, Henriette Bonin, Feu Rouge, les Quatre-Temps), 1 Middle School (Collège de Miquelon/Collège Saint-Christophe) with an annex in Miquelon, 1 State (Government) High School (Lycée-Collège d'État Émile Letournel) and 1 Vocational High School.

The Students who wish to further their studies after High School are granted access to scholarships to study overseas. Most Students go to metropolitan France, although some go to Canada, mainly New Brunswick.

Health Care: There are basic hospital services provided on the islands. The island's first hospital was military in 1904 and became a civilian facility in 1905. L'Hôpital-Hospice-Orphelinat opened in 1937.

Since 1985 Hôpital François Dunan provides basic care and emergency care for residents of both islands.

Residents requiring more extensive health care are transported (by air) to Saint John’s Newfoundland, Canada.

Defense: Is the responsibility of the French Military.

Law Enforcement: Is the responsibility of a branch of the French Gendarmerie Nationale. There are two Gendarmerie Stations on the islands.

Tourism: In recent years the islands have become important places for Canadians and Americans wishing to take Full Immersion French Classes while at the same time being in France (without crossing the Atlantic Ocean.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Pierre_and_Miquelon

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Epilepsy

Epilepsy Day

Purple Day is a global grassroots event formed with the intention to increase worldwide awareness of epilepsy, and to dispel common myths and fears of this neurological disorder. Further intentions of this movement are to reduce the social stigmas commonly endured by many individuals afflicted with the condition; to provide assurance and advocacy to those living with epilepsy that they are not alone in their ongoing endurance; and to initiate individuals living with the condition to take action in their communities to achieve these aims. The day occurs annually on March 26.

Formation and history: The concept of Purple Day was initiated by a 9-year-old named Cassidy Megan, and was motivated by her own struggle with epilepsy. The Epilepsy Association of Nova Scotia helped to develop Cassidy's idea, and the first Purple Day event was held on March 26, 2008, and is now known as the Purple Day for Epilepsy campaign. In 2009, the New York-based Anita Kaufmann Foundation and Epilepsy Association of Nova Scotia joined to launch Purple Day internationally and increase the involvement of numerous organizations, schools, businesses, politicians and celebrities around the world. On March 26, 2009 over 100,000 students, 95 workplaces and 116 politicians participated in Purple Day. In March 2009, the official USA Purple Day Party launch was organized by the Anita Kaufmann Foundation. Canadian Paul Shaffer of the Late Show with David Letterman attended the official launch at Dylan's Candy Bar in New York City.  In March 2012, Purple Day received the Royal Assent and became a legal day for epilepsy awareness in Canada. In December 2015, Electronics retailer Dick Smith had arranged a major corporate partnership with Epilepsy Action Australia to support Purple Day in Australia with a $50,000 cash sponsorship, prizes and exclusive distribution of Purple Day merchandise. A week prior to Purple Day celebrations in 2016, Dick Smith was placed in receivership. Later, the Retail Food Group provided a $50,000 donation to match Dick Smith's previously promised sponsorship.

Description: The Purple Day is held annually on March 26. Supporters are encouraged to wear a purple-coloured item of clothing. Lavender (and thus its color purple) is strongly associated with epilepsy because it has even been proven to act as a central nervous system relaxant and anticonvulsant. The goal of Purple Day is to increase general public awareness, to reduce the social stigma endured by many individuals with the condition, and to empower individuals living with epilepsy to take action in their communities.  Purple Day is celebrated in Australia to fund various epilepsy support organisations including Epilepsy Australia, Epilepsy Queensland, and Epilepsy Foundation.  During the 2018 edition of Purple Day, the Epilepsy Care Alliance called on the technology sector to push further innovations for the treatment for epilepsy.

Guinness World Record: In 2017, a Guinness World Record was reached during Purple Day by the Anita Kaufmann Foundation for the achievement of the largest ever epilepsy training session.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Purple_Day

Purple Day