ENTERTAINMENT: Happy 4th of July comic book style!

POLITICS: Man Retires Rather Than Honor Helms

Ernest T Spoon sent me this article from The Charlotte Observer. I edited it down some, but here's a link to the original piece. - OlderMusicGeek

Man retires rather than honor Helms
By Ryan Teague Beckwith
(Raleigh) News & Observer

RALEIGH --
L.F. Eason III gave up the only job he'd ever had rather than lower a flag this week to honor former U.S. Sen. Jesse Helms.

Eason, a 29-year veteran of the state Department of Agriculture, instructed his staff at a small Raleigh lab not to fly the U.S. or N.C. flags at half staff Monday as called for in a directive to all state agencies by Gov. Mike Easley.

When a superior ordered the lab to follow the directive, Eason decided to retire rather than pay tribute to Helms.

“I … understand that my decision is not acceptable. You cannot ignore that fact. There is the law, but there is also a higher law I must follow as a matter of conscience,” he wrote to Easley and Agriculture Commissioner Steve Troxler.

“Regardless of any executive proclamation, I do not want the flags at the North Carolina Standards Laboratory flown at half staff to honor Jesse Helms any time this week,” Eason wrote just after midnight, according to e-mails released in response to a public records request.

He told his staff that he did not think it was appropriate to honor Helms because of his “doctrine of negativity, hate and prejudice” and his opposition to civil rights bills and the federal Martin Luther King Jr. holiday.

When the lab opened Monday morning, the flags were not put out at all, but an employee called Eason's boss, Stephen Benjamin. Around 10:45 a.m., Benjamin told one of Eason's co-workers to put the flags at half staff.

No one in the governor's office was aware of any times in recent memory when a state employee refused to lower a flag. Brian Long, a spokesman for the Agriculture department, said Eason's refusal was unexpected since he has not had similar problems in the past.

In a string of e-mails with his superiors, Eason, 51, was told he could either lower the flags or retire immediately.

He pleaded to be allowed to stay.

Eason, who had worked for the agriculture department since graduating from college, was paid $65,235.

It was not the first time Eason felt uneasy about lowering the flag.

A registered Democrat who said he frequently votes a split ticket, Eason said he had no problems lowering the flag for former Sen. Terry Sanford or President Ronald Reagan. But he remembers wondering whether he would be able to lower the flag after President Richard Nixon's funeral.

He never had to make that decision, since it rained both days.

But it was sunny Monday. And Eason is now out of a job.

A link to the original article

CULTURE/SOCIETY: Employees Tell About First July 4 In U.S.

Hmmmm, I seem to have become something of a holiday blogger. Oh well, that's cool by me!

This is from my work newsletter. - OlderMusicGeek

Employees tell about first July 4 in U.S.

L (name deleted) was surprised by the differences between Fourth of July and Canada Day, which is July 1. “I thought the celebrations would be similar,” she says. “Not so much!”

L, finance/recoupment specialist in Recoupment and Medicare Secondary Payer at (town name deleted), grew up in Canada and experienced her first Fourth of July as a U.S. resident two years ago.

“We have the picnics, parades, you know, the whole deal,” she says. In Canada, however, only licensed professionals are allowed to set off fireworks for community shows. “Not in the U.S.,” she says. “Anyone can go to the local fireworks tent and stock up on various explosives.”

That’s just what Laurie and her husband did. “My husband took me to a local fireworks stand and told me to pick out whatever I wanted,” she says.

She and her husband also grilled hot dogs, tried to teach each other the words to their national anthem and attended a parade and fireworks show.

“The fireworks would have been romantic except my husband and hundreds of people around us were setting off their own fireworks,” she says. “So there I sat on our blanket alone, happily holding my sparkler!”


Fireworks of another kind

D (name deleted), process analyst in Preprocess at NAS, grew up in (town name deleted), Manitoba, which is 15 miles north of the International Peace Gardens located on the Canada-U.S. border.

The only time D paid attention to the American holiday was when she was planning a shopping trip to (town deleted), N.D., and wanted to make sure the stores would be open, she says.

In April 2004, D married a North Dakotan, and their wedding reception was held on the Fourth at her in-laws’ cabin on Lake Metigoshe near (town name deleted), N.D. D experienced another kind of fireworks when the grill was engulfed in flames.

“We were still able to eat the potatoes,” she says.

D says she sees more flags and festivities on the Fourth of July than she did on Canada Day. D has noticed “Americans are more patriotic.” To her, Canada Day meant a day off work. “The patriotism is nice to see,” she says. “I’m so happy to be here.”