Friday 1st May 2015…rabbits , rabbits, rabbits!!!!

Better get a glass or a cup of something this is going to be a long one!!!!

It is different waking up here I hear the church bells, the roosters from where I don’t know but I hear them…the terrace here is wonderful with views of the whole of SMA will take photos tomorrow.

A totally different kind of Friday for me today I had errands to do in town and then some shopping and then in the afternoon went back to help Linda with some stuff but unfortunately she got held up in town and with some appointments and I did not get to see her….

Late afternoon I just went for a walk around the neighborhood and now settled down with some tea. They have cable here but it is Mexican cable so of course not able to watch the hockey game tonight but that is OK.

Today was very busy as it is a holiday weekend and the article below describes the events.

 

 

Labor Day (Día del Trabajo), also known as May Day (Primero de Mayo), is a public holiday in Mexico on May 1.

Demonstrations occur on days like Labor Day in Mexico.Demonstrations occur on days like Labor Day in Mexico.©iStockphoto.com/abalcazar

Celebrate Labor Day

Labor Day parades, rallies or demonstrations often feature large crowds holding banners to promote workers’ rights in the main streets of major cities. Having the day off means people can either relax at home or spend time with family or friends. Leisure activities include going to the theatre or movies, or going out for coffee or a meal.

Public life

Labor Day is a federal public holiday in Mexico. Banks, schools, government offices and many businesses are closed. People intending on travelling via public transport in Mexico should check with public transit authorities on any timetable or route changes.

About Labor Day

Mexico’s labor movement was repressed in places such as Cananea in the north. However, the Constitution of 1917 instigated significant social reforms to labor laws. According to some sources, a Labor Day parade was held in Mexico as early as 1913, but the holiday was first officially commemorated on May 1, 1923. Labor Day is not exclusive to Mexico – many other countries also celebrate Workers’ Day.

 

 

Ok so here goes with my news….I think I have mentioned a little of my travel plans and it seems to be pretty firm now…….I am leaving SMA on  the 19th of May and have managed to get one of my tennis friends to come stay at the house.

I am driving back to Tucson for two days and then onto Sedona for three days, Capitol Reef State park for three days, two days in Provo and then work my way north to Vancouver arriving on 8th June when I have a ticket for the World cup soccer women’s game in Vancouver that evening and then I go the Island the next day and reunite with Heather and Kirby and their boys and as always they let me stay with them…..I lpan to spend the next 4 months on the Island with some side trips to Alberta and my old stomping grounds of Smoky Lake.

On September 28th I  board an Holland America cruise ship for a 39 day cruise to New Zealand arriving 8th November…I will explore both Islands till around 20th January when I fly to Melbourne and get a ticket to watch the first tennis grand slam of the season……after that…I do not know at this stage.

I think this is going to be very wonderful and exciting…..in May I do intend to go to England and visit with my family and then buy a car and spend 4 months driving through England, Wales, Ireland and Scotland before returning to my families home the beginning of October to help Janet and Malc celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary………

I have managed to sell my scooter, Little Blackie and the new owners have let me kindly use her till I leave…so big changes coming along for me and I as always will embrace every day and see what this stage of my life brings to me…. 

 

 

  Very sad what is going in Maryland!!!   

 

 

What a riot does achieve

 

Jon Sopel North America editor

 

For students at journalism college there is always that initial debate of what constitutes a story.

The hackneyed but good example is that if a dog bites a man it's not a story - dogs do that quite often. But if a man bites a dog, it is a story - because men, generally speaking, do not.

In other words the "story" is something that is unusual, rare and unexpected.

So what box do we put the Freddie Gray story in?

It's obviously a story - but it is none too rare, sadly not that unusual - and if you ask many in the black community, not in the least bit unexpected.

I heard one piece of commentary that more or less started "First there was Ferguson, now Baltimore"' - but in truth there has been a whole pile of incidents in between.

I haven't the space to list them all - the 12-year-old boy shot dead in a park in Cleveland, Ohio, the student left bloody and bruised at the University of Virginia, the man fatally shot eight times in the back in South Carolina, the 44-year-old chased down and killed in Tulsa, Oklahoma, after volunteer officer pulled a firearm instead of a stun gun.

And there are more, culminating in Freddie Gray dying while in the custody of Baltimore police, after his spinal cord had been virtually severed. It's unlikely you would sustain an injury like that simply by slipping as you stepped into the police wagon.

What the common features are of all these incidents is that the victims were black and the forces of law and order involved in them were for the most part white.

All of these stories made news on the day, and maybe even a bit of follow-up on day two and day three.

But have they stirred national debate, caused people to stop and reflect, led to serious - as President Obama has demanded - "soul-searching"? I am going to say not so much.

Which brings us back to the opinion piece that made the point that first there was Ferguson, then there was Baltimore. The writer is correct, insofar as they both resulted in looting, burning and vandalising - all playing out on our screens last night.

How could you not feel sickened to see some poor shopkeeper's life's work go up in flames, or being taken away in greedy armfuls by the lawless mob?

There was something almost grotesque about sitting and watching for an hour or so the looting at a CVS pharmacy store as people very casually wandered into the store and wandered out with their arms full.

And not a policeman in sight. If I were on the board of CVS I would be asking the authorities in Baltimore some pretty searching questions.

And some pretty searching questions are being asked again today about American society - What to do? How to put things right?

This has been a huge story because in 21st Century America you don't really expect the need to impose night-time curfews.

From tonight in Baltimore, unless you are going to work or you have a medical emergency, you are banned from being outside.

You don't really expect to see Humvees and the National Guard on patrol in one of the larger cities in America.

It's astonishing. The cable channels are full of it, Washington has sat up and taken notice. If you could market hand wringing, you'd make a fortune.

But here is the morally uncomfortable bit - is it the death of Freddie Gray that has caused everyone to sit up and take notice, or is it the rioting?

Protesters gathered peacefully a day after the riots

From the hapless Baltimore mayor through to the president the point has been made - rioting achieves nothing.

But, sadly it has. It has caught people's attention - because it has conformed to the journalist's law of what makes a story - it is rare, unexpected and unusual.

Perhaps the lesson is we need to take more notice of things that lead to the riots and sense of alienation by disaffected young African-Americans.

The white cop assaulting or shooting a black man may not be that unusual, but it has already led to dire consequences for those living in Ferguson and in Baltimore.

Yashi Kochi!!!!