Remembering America's War Dead on Memorial Day 2011

The US military cemetery pictured above is in Carthage, Tunisia. 2,8741 World War II American military war dead rest at the 27 acre North Africa American Cemetery and Memorial. Nearly 4,000 names of the missing are also remembered. As with all American military cemeteries abroad, the graves are decorated for Memorial Day this weekend with American flags.

Here in Wilmette, the Village of Wilmette and Huerter Post #46 of the American Legion will host a Memorial Day parade on Monday, May 30. The parade will begin at 10:30 am at St. Joseph School on Lake Avenue and Ridge Road, proceed east to Park Avenue, south to Wilmette Avenue and conclude at Village Hall, 1200 Wilmette Avenue.

A Memorial Day ceremony will be held on the front lawn of Village Hall at the conclusion of the parade.

Memorial Day was officially proclaimed on 5 May 1868 by General John Logan, national commander of the Grand Army of the Republic, in his General Order No. 11, and was first observed on 30 May 1868, when flowers were placed on the graves of Union and Confederate soldiers at Arlington National Cemetery.It is now celebrated on the last Monday in May.

Support the Right of Saudi Arabian Women to Drive

In 2008, Saudi Arabian officials promised to allow women the right to drive a car by the end of the year. That promise was broken. The same promise was made to Saudi Arabian women during this year's Arab Spring, but that promise has not yet been kept. In the meantime, Saudi Arabian women are beginning to defy authorities, and getting behind the wheel. While 20% of Saudi Arabian women work, hiring drivers takes a good chunk of their salary.

June 17th has been chosen as the day that Saudi women will get behind the wheel en masse, but their facebook page was removed and one of the activists arrested. Of course, the movement has a blog, written by a lady in Boston who lived in Saudi Arabia for many years.

Gold Standard, Swiss Francs, and The Sad, Sad Dollar

I own 2 Swiss Franc 10 Franc notes; they traveled home with me a few years ago from a trip to Switzerland. I took them with me to Switzerland late last year, when I flew to Frankfurt via Zurich, but there was nothing I wanted to buy and I was stuffed from my airplane meal, so they remained in my wallet. But why am I boring you with this trivia, you ask?

The first time I went to Switzerland, the gold-backed Swiss Franc was worth 25 cents. On my trip to Switzerland where I got the 2 ten franc notes they were worth no more than 75 cents each, making my bills worth about $15.00. Today, they are worth $22.67, making them a strong investment, for sure. If trends continue, they may end up as the strongest investment I own. That is why I am recommending this article.

We all learned in school that returning to the gold standard was folly. Would it be? It might just lift us out of this slide to second world status in which we seem to be involved. Time to rethink the whole situation.

Candudate Dan Seals Given $121K Job by Grateful Democrat Party

And. what do you know? Perpetual Congressional candidate Dan Seals finally gets to be fed by the taxpayer's hands at his new job for the State of Illinois. As Sears and other companies look around for their suitcases and better states to head for business, Seals will be spreading the gospel to why overtaxed, corrupt, broke Illinois is a wondeful place to move. Expense account anyone?  The Sun Times has the story.

Bin Laden Dead: The Raid Against Bin Laden Twittered in Abbottabad, Pakistan

"Helicopter hovering above Abbottabad at 1AM (is a rare event). 16 hours ago" -ReallyVirtual onTwitter

UPDATED - twice:  Scroll down
So began what must be the scoop of the year on Twitter, where IT consultant and Twitter user ReallyVirtual (whose actual name is Sohaib Athar) chronicled what appeared to be some helicopter problem overhead in Abbottabad, Pakistan in a series of tweets. A few hours later, what Athar heard was announced by President Obama as the US operation which resulted in the death of Osama Bin Laden, whose safe-house was reportedly only 100 yards from the gate of the Pakistan Military Academy in Abbottabad, pictured above.

Across the globe, many think the supposed burial of Bin Laden at sea more than a little fishy, and in Pakistan many think Bin Laden had been dead for years. In Pakistan, English Language newspaper, Dawn, presents the local angle.

UPDATE 1: This morning, May 3, 2010, ReallyVirtual (Sahaib Athar) has posted a number of pictures from around the Osama Bin Laden compound here. (Use the little sideways "v" arrow to see them all.

UPDATE 2: This video, from the May 3, 2010 NBC Nightly News takes the viewer on a brief tour of the area around the Bin Laden compound in Abbottabad along with some comments from the locals. BBC has a step-by-step guide to the raid on the compound.