I read the news today oh boy! Page 1,940

I love how every new name that pops up is weirder than the last.
Reince Priebus. And there's some other person involved in the Trump saga called Reality Winner.
For christ's sake.

(I actually like weird names usually, but that one's just confusing!)

Quote: DaButt @ 31st July 2017, 4:19 PM

The military has a penchant for order and uniformity. Other cemeteries aren't quite as rigorous. Military cemeteries are heavily and expensively maintained as shrines/monuments by governments. Community cemeteries are typically strapped for cash, and once they're full there's no more money coming in. Add in a few centuries of weathering and neglect and they can look pretty sad, but I kind of enjoy the old, weathered, look. But it saddens me when there are stones which are so weathered that the inscriptions can no longer be read. The whole point of a tombstone is to remember the person who is buried beneath it.

In a number of cases recently in the UK, the Health & Safety people thought some grave yards were dangerous due to possible toppling gravestones & order were issued. Many churches could not afford to redo the graves nicely so their only option was to lift the gravestones & stack them in a corner or against the walls, so it ends up with unidentified graves & unreadable stones.

This has happened at the village where my gt gt gt grandfather lived and has somewhat stymied any genealogy research of my family at that time.

Quote: billwill @ 1st August 2017, 12:30 AM

In a number of cases recently in the UK, the Health & Safety people thought some grave yards were dangerous due to possible toppling gravestones & order were issued. Many churches could not afford to redo the graves nicely so their only option was to lift the gravestones & stack them in a corner or against the walls, so it ends up with unidentified graves & unreadable stones.

This has happened at the village where my gt gt gt grandfather lived and has somewhat stymied any genealogy research of my family at that time.

This needs a charity to be founded to fund the preservation because it's sad to think of the headstones being removed as that is all the wage will allow. Is it true that plots don't last forever and 200 years is the avarage lease before your plot could be re-used? Or is that just a popular myth? It would explain why I very rarely see headstones older than the 1850s but I don't understand how it would work with the church records.

I'm always telling myself I should volunteer for a charity shop which I never do but getting involved in a group that tidies up church exteriors and maintains the structures is very appealing. I'm not going to throw away good money on fake Donkey charities but will always give generously to the deceased.

Quote: Definitely Tarby @ 1st August 2017, 12:52 AM

Is it true that plots don't last forever and 200 years is the avarage lease before your plot could be re-used? Or is that just a popular myth? It would explain why I very rarely see headstones older than the 1850s but I don't understand how it would work with the church records.

I'm not sure about the UK, but I've seen countless headstones in the United States from the 1700s. I've see an ancestor's marker in New Jersey that was literally a flat rock that was plowed up in a field and inscribed with the name and date using a knife or nail. It dated to the early 1700s.

Many stones from the last century or two were very ornate and carved from marble or limestone. Slightly acidic rainfall and moss/lichens have slowly eroded the stones and caused them to be almost illegible. Genealogy groups are busily transcribing (and sometimes cleaning/repairing) old stones.

Here's a crowdsourced online registry of graves and tombstones, most with photos. It's probably U.S.-centric, but there are lots of interesting graves, including a separate category for celebrities.

https://www.findagrave.com/

Here's the grave of my g-g-g-grandfather and his parents, (my g-g-g-g-grandparents), which I visited three years ago. The stone marker is clearly of modern origin and probably no more than 50 or 60 years old, at most. I assume that the original deteriorated or was broken, and someone replaced it.

https://goo.gl/A7fi7T

Quote: Definitely Tarby @ 1st August 2017, 12:52 AM

but will always give generously to the deceased.

I too would like some money when I have snuffed it. Preferably burned so I can spend it in the afterlife, like what the Chinese do with "Hell money".

Quote: DaButt @ 1st August 2017, 1:20 AM

Here's the grave of my g-g-g-grandfather and his parents, (my g-g-g-g-grandparents), which I visited three years ago. The stone marker is clearly of modern origin and probably no more than 50 or 60 years old, at most. I assume that the original deteriorated or was broken, and someone replaced it.

https://goo.gl/A7fi7T

Aw, I like American gravestones.
What was 'Mrs Henry's first name?

I see a big fat silhouetto of a man,
Scaramucci, Scaramucci, will you do the Trumpango?
Thunderbolt and lightning,
Very, very frightening me.

He said he thought (!!!) the phone conversation with The New Yorker was "off the record"...can I please be the the next White House Communications Director? I mean, I'm no expert either but I deserve a chance.

There are similar groups in the UK, transcribing gravestones etc; usually associated with genealogy groups. Many lists of stones have been published.

Alas that doesn't help me for Cymdu where the stones were just piled up anyhow in a corner in a tangled mess and many broken.

There is a Quakers graveyard close to where I live and some of the stones go back to 1690.
It is always well tended and the gravestones are still legible.
They put the life story of the person(s) buried below - it's very interesting to read for a spare hour.

Quote: Alfred J Kipper @ 31st July 2017, 9:08 AM

Possibly hormones. Any hormonal implant treatment or gender changing surgery leads to hormone imbalances which can affect moods and emotional responses, energy levels etc. I've had severe hormonal imbalance myself due to medical condition and the mood swings are horrendous. I can tell you the military doesn't like unreliable moods and responses from soldiers at any time and won't tolerate it in combat. They have trouble training some men to be reliably consistent in battle conditions, so transgenders may worry them more.

This together with PTSD and being sued for the problems caused by their inoculation drug and the cases of mistreatment are draining the military coffers. It may not be highly PC but I can easily see why transgender recruits would ring alarm bells with the commanders right now. They believe our national security is more important than the diversity quotas for an extreme minority. They would have recommended this to Trump, whether it pleases his prejudices or not. It's definitely come from the military who opposed Obama's directive.

There seems to be lots of opposition to Trump's attempted ban from senior figures within the military. The proposed ban seems to be more to do with wooing Trump's conservative base to help his defence budget get through than anything else.

Quote: Chris Hallam @ 2nd August 2017, 6:47 AM

There seems to be lots of opposition to Trump's attempted ban from senior figures within the military. The proposed ban seems to be more to do with wooing Trump's conservative base to help his defence budget get through than anything else.

Exactly. I'd be tempted to substitute 'conservative' for something less kind.

Quote: keewik @ 2nd August 2017, 11:37 AM

Exactly. I'd be tempted to substitute 'conservative' for something less kind.

That's very kind of you!

Quote: Chappers @ 2nd August 2017, 12:57 PM

That's very kind of you!

Kindness is nice.

I'm a very kind person, except when I meet Trump-lovers and Tories (sorry Arron).