Last year the Virgina celebrated Confederate History Month with a Proclamation that started out

WHEREAS, April is the month in which the people of Virginia joined the Confederate States of America in a four year war between the states for independence that concluded at Appomattox Courthouse;

and went on in the same vain. It really pissed me off and I posted on my complaint last year, so it is only fair that I post this year’s version. This year the proclamation is completely different, now it is Civil War History in Virginia Month. I like that much better. It says

….it was in April 1861 that Virginia seceded from the Union following a lengthy, contentious and protracted debate within the Commonwealth, and it was in April 1865 that the War was essentially concluded with the South’s surrender at Appomattox….

WHEREAS, the largest wartime population of African-American slaves was in Virginia, yet through their own acts of courage and resilience, as well as the actions of the United States army and federal government, they bequeathed to themselves and posterity a legacy of freedom; and

WHEREAS, slavery was an inhumane practice that deprived people of their God-given inalienable rights, and the Emancipation Proclamation and the Civil War ended its evil stain on American democracy and set Virginia and America on a still-traveled road to bring to fruition the great promises of the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights, and ensure that all Americans have the opportunity to enjoy equally the blessings of liberty and prosperity; and

WHEREAS, the military leadership and tactics of Virginians like Confederate Generals Robert E. Lee and Thomas J. “Stonewall” Jackson and Union General George Henry Thomas are still studied, analyzed and discussed today; the heroism of brave individuals like William Harvey Carney, who was born a slave in Norfolk, gained his freedom through the Underground Railroad, and received the Medal of Honor for his valor as a Union soldier at the battle of Fort Wagner, inspires us through the ages;

What a difference. The Proclamation has gone from a pro-confederate screed to honoring both the Virginian Confederate generals and the Union General George Thomas, the Rock of Chickamauga. More importantly, it honors both whites and blacks, and especially a Virginia slave who won the Medal of Honor.

There is a scene in Dr. Strangelove or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb when, if the United States bomber can get through the Soviet defense, the world will end. It is in everybody’s interest to stop the plane and President Merkin Muffley is on the hot line with the Soviet Premier trying to help them stop the plane and the end of the world. Muffley asks General Buck Turgidson if the bomber can get through and he – Turgidson – excitedly and full of pride says Yes but he realizes that the bomber getting through is exactly what nobody, including him, wants.

I feel a little that way when I read about the Libyan rebels complaining about NATO help after being spoiled by the US air support. Among other – much more glamorous – weapons we brought to Libya is the A-10 Thunderbolt – usually called the A-10 Warthog, because it is so ugly – the best plane in the world for killing people on the ground. Nobody else has anything like it because nobody else has a large enough budget for such a specialized weapons system. It is a plane built around a rapid firing canon that is literally as big as a Volkswagen.

I am thrilled at how powerful we are. How well our military does its job. Then I read about the budget fight and see what Congress and the President want to cut and I remember that the cost of this great weapon and others like it is a deteriorating  infrastructure and increasingly shitty schools,  no high-speed rail and less inspection of meat packing plants, Because we are spending so much money on the military, we have less and less money for what the government should be doing. There is less and less for us and now Congress wants to cut almost everything but the military.

A couple of weeks ago, at the invite of Vern Smith, Michele and I went to a Bonsai Show. I love plants and I love plant shows, but I have never been to a Bonsai show. My only exposure has been through wandering around a couple of Bonsai nurseries and what I have gathered from the zeitgeist. Most plant shows feature rows or groups of plants, usually lined up in some sort of contest mode – at a cactus show for example, all the Mammillarias will be together –

but, at a Bonsai Show, each plant is displayed separately as an individual. And the entire display is important. The plant, the pot, the top dressing – which is often some sort of moss – and the background. Even the entry to the show is given special attention with a display called a tokanoma – I think. To me it felt very Japanesey but when I talked to various hall monitors at the show, they didn’t think so.

As an aside, I think of Bonsais as being only Japanese and was shocked to find a very old Bonsai at the Guangzhou Airport when we were in China. End aside.

It seems that each Bonsai Club has a different character – on purpose – as part of their charter. For example, the Dai Ichi Bonsai Kai (“Number One” Bonsai Club) – Serenity through Bonsai – says that they take  great pride in its family-oriented character. The California Kusamura Bonsai Club, according to its website, specializes in teaching. Because of that, there were several first time entries at this show which I found very attractive but Vern found somewhat wanting. I can hardly wait for a show from a club that specializes in only experts. In the meanwhile, this very fun show will do.