Last US veteran of WWI dies

I have been tracking the passing of WWI veterans here since 2007. Yesterday saw the death of the last US veteran, Frank Buckles. He was 110 (thanks to Steve at The Yellow Something Something for drawing my attention to the news).


Buckles was born in Missouri in 1901. He enlisted in the United States Army in August 1917 when aged 16 (Like my father he lied about his age to join the services). He served in England and France, driving ambulances and motorbikes. After the Armistice he escorted prisoners of war back to Germany and was discharged in 1920.

In the 1940s, Buckles worked for a shipping company in the Philippines. He was interned by the Japanese in 1942 spending over three years in the Los Banos Camp in Manila. He was rescued on February 23, 1945.

He died of natural causes yesterday, 26 days after his 110th birthday.

Rest in Peace

There are now just two WWI veterans alive, both British: Claude Choules (now resident in Australia) who served in the Royal Navy and Florence Green who served in the WRAF as a waitress.

Some things never change

Watercolour by surgeon Charles Bell of a solider wounded at the Battle of Waterloo

Watercolour of Private Green, September 1918 prior to reconstructive surgery by Harold Gillies, the ather of modern plastic surgery.

The surgical skills may have improved in the intervening century but the workload of the army surgeon certainly did not...

Both paintings are included in the current Watercolour exhibition at the Tate Britain.

The exhibition which I visited today, is a comprehensive study of (mainly) British watercolour art from about 1200 to 2010. Arranged by themes it was unsurprising that the wart art had the greatest impact on me, especially Eric Taylor's study of corpses at Belsen.

The exhibition has some dross and a fair few works that left me unmoved either way. That said there is plenty to enjoy (particularly some well loved Turners and Blakes) and it is wel worth a couple of hours.



The same could not be said for the Susan Hiller exhibition - Except for the installation Witness which I loved

Westminster council - Caring and compassionate

My thanks go to Skuds for drawing my attention to this little tale.

Accordng to Ekklesia Westminster Council has opened a four week consultation on a new byelaw which will fine people in the Victoria area if they “lie down or sleep in any public place”, “deposit bedding” and distribute free food and drink.

This byelaw will affect rough sleepers and charity workers in the Vitoria area,particularly the area around Westminster Cathedral where charities regularly give food to homeless persons

The consultation period is running until 25 March.

A copy of the proposed byelaw can be sen here. The bye law, if enacted, will make the following illegal in an area around Westminster Cathedral:

• No person shall lie down and sleep in any public place
• No person shall at any time deposit any sleeping materials used or intended to be used as bedding in or on any public place
• No peson shall distribute any free refreshment in or on any public place (sporting events and free samples of food excepted)
• No person shall knowingly permit any person to distribute any free refreshment in or on any public place

There yopu have it. Nobody is pretending that food runs solves the issue of rough sleeping. It does provide a lifeline though.

Banning rough sleepers and charities that provide food to them will solve absolutely nothing either except to move the problem to another area. From the council's perspective (and to paraphrase Stalin) it's a case of "No homeless, no problem"... at least the problem will not be across Victoria Street from the council HQ.

It's not law yet and hopefully it will be ditched but the proposal hardly sits well with Cameron's Big Society... Then again the council is not exactly known for its compassion (remember Shirley Porter?)

Yet more nephew

Blair politely asks Ghaddafi to stop murdering protestors

It seems that Tony Blair is looking to redeem himself somewhat for his past associations with Ghaddafi.

According to the Independent he phoned Ghaddafi twice on Friday and asked him to stop killing protesters rising up against the regime.

Unsurprisingly Blair’s appeal fell on deaf ears…

UN imposes tough sanctions on Libya...

The UN Security Council has finally taken its gloves off and has voted 15-0 to impose some of the toughest sanctions imposed on any member state.

All Libyan Airilnes fights are suspended except for a single weekly flight to Kerry International Airport.

Import of Ferrero Rocher chocolates will be limited to one box per citizen per month

Members of Ghaddafi's immediate family will be refused entry to Parc Asterix near Paris - unless accompanied by a responsible adult.

The Security Council has also rejected Libya's plan for the immediate abolition of Switzerland although consideration will be given to a plan for the country to be phased out by 2040

Gerry Adams TD

Gerry Adams has been elected to the Dail as a TD for Louth.

I don't like the man, don't have any respect for the man and I doubt I ever will.

Now he sits in the Dail rather than the House of Commons I hope he chooses to go to Leinster House...


In other Irish election news Fianna Fail are bing slaughtered. Of the 34 TDs elected so far (out of a total of 166) just three belong to Fianna Failure and one of these is the Ceann Comhairle (the speaker of the Dail who is automatically returned).

Signs of protest - Libya

From Buzzfeed's display of Libyan protest signs. These are from within Libya. Unsurprisingly the mood is more sombre than those produced by expatriates. I would be interested to see what the sign with Homer's brain says...

Signs of protest - Expatriates

Buzzfeed has a selection of Libyan protest signs both from within Libya and from expatriates around the world. Here are some from the US and UK expatriates. It is good to see Beavis return on the side of the Libyan protestors....

Photo Hunt and 4000th post

The theme for the week's Photo Hunt is mainly black so here's Lord Horror (aka Ted) again. He is of course considering how much drivel can this blogger spew on this, the occasion of the Poor Mouth's 4,000th.

Even the ghost of the dear departed Mimi is so stunned that I have been able to say absolutely nothing of worth over so many installments that it is back to show its astonishment

Ah well, onwards and downwards (in quality) to post 5,000