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Friday, April 26, 2013

Birthday 7,985

BOSTON  GRIEVES

















*  All images courtesy of "Google Images".





by Felicity Blaze Noodleman



This week marks the first year for us here at the Noodleman Group!  It was at the beginning of May, last year when Gregory Seagull suggested that I write a Blog, so I did and we have publishing every Friday since then.  May 4th, 2012 was our first week with Google Blogger.  We have made many changes – experimenting with our format and look trying to come up with an interesting format and articles to fill our Blog. 

When first confronted with the idea of being a writer I just could not see this happening at all.  “I’m a photographer and graphic artist”, I told Gregory!  “I’m the worst possible writer ever and it would never work”.  Now one year later I’ve managed to turn out an article every week for our Friday dead line and that has not been easy to do.  We’ve passed the mandate test and are moving on!



To Blog or not to Blog?  “People with good writing and research skills are rare. People who cross disciplines and read widely are rare. But don’t we need these people for academia to thrive? After all, many times, the greatest innovators are those who bring in fresh eyes and the perspectives of fresh disciplines: they are less likely to be myopic and be constrained by lines of thinking that are area-specific—and more likely to see patterns and connections that are invisible to the insiders. Maria Konnikova in Scientifc American, taken from her blog Literally Psyched.




We freely admit that The Noodleman Group is a conservative Blog; this shouldn’t be confused with left wing or Neo-Nazi’s as the left wing Democrats try to portray us.  We are just common everyday people who try to use good judgment and apply common sense to our decisions.  You may remember that title, “Common Sense”, written by the father of the American Revolution, Thomas Paine in 1776.  He also authored “The Age of Reason” in 1794.  Paine suffered and struggled for the freedoms which we all take for granted today.


"Common Sense"
Thomas Paine


The primary goal of our Blog page is to publish an interesting article each week supported with photographs and art supplied from web sites from across the Internet and “Google” images.  We discovered early on that illustrations could bring an article together when words could not exactly do the job we wanted.  This was our feeling after the first article we published about “Wheelchairs” just need something more than we were able to write.  Make sense?  Since then we’ve used photos, illustrations (cartoons), graphs and charts to dress up our writing.

From commenting on the news of the day to short stories to essays on some of the issues in today’s society, we’ve written about a range of topics.  We loosely covered the Presidential campaigns of President Obama and Mitt Romney exploring each of the candidates.  When two of Hollywood’s hottest starts called it quits, we weighed in on Scientology and the “Tom-Kat” divorce story with our own views and opinion.  




http//:jacksmumontherun.wordpress.com/2012/01/13/bloggers-block-or-not/
Coming up with a good outline is essential - sometimes ideas come out of
nowhere and have to be jotted down - then we can write!



Other topics which came up in the news and our Blog included the Pharmaceutical Industry, the Economic Recovery, the London Olympics, the attack on the Libyan US Embassy, the issue of Gun Control, Pope Benedict’s  resignation,  the economic “Sequester”, and just recently the bombing at the Boston Marathon and the funeral of British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher.

Just for fun during slow news weeks, we wrote some short essays on subjects from science fiction to historical subjects and “Childhood Memories”.  We journeyed to the Sun and wrote about Meteorology in an attempt to understand how the weather affects our lives.  We have written about some common sense subjects just to establish some guide lines to help us all in our day to day lives such as good communications practices in a two week expose called “Communication Breakdown”, New Year’s Resolutions in “2013 Resolutions”,  “Bad Gift Ideas”, “Home Safety”, and “You Might Be CrazzzY” just to name a few.  

Two of my favorite stories were "Noodleman Goes to The Sun", because the research was so interesting - we discovered how far NASA has gone in solar exploration, and "New Years Resolutions", this article surprised me because it received the most hits out of all the articles we'd written - I thought at the time it was a cheep, cheesy little spoof!

History was always a good source for a story in many areas.  From Hollywood to the early days of General Motors in my hometown of Flint, MI.  From the arts of music and painting, we looked back on the history of “Pop Music” and the paintings of the great American master Norman Rockwell.  If you are like me, then you might have trouble classifying our article on “Vintage Automobiles” as art or automotive history!  We even explored some of the history in Los Angeles through the cities architectural treasures in the historic core of the downtown area.  I feel strongly about cars and buildings as they both exhibit art at a high level in their presentation.  Talk about “Pop Art”! 



 I remember the old days; 1980 B.C. (Before Computer).  Writing on my 
portable Smith Corona typewriter with the "White Out" close at hand -
the hours of research at the Public Library!  Its all so much easier
today - everything  is easy to accomplish on the computer and the
Internet - and no erasures!



During our first year, we have written as advocates on behalf of some worthy causes.  Most notably was our article on the “Homeless and Elderly”.  Speaking up for those who really have no voice and are suffering and in many cases are helpless in so many ways.  Many of us might think being an “Advocate” is connected with some sort of charitable work or cause such as the “Green Movement” or rescuing shelter animals, but what about advocating for ourselves so that we might be able to continue representing the more noble causes which we hold in high esteem? 

Noodleman has been an advocate for lees wasteful spending by our Federal Government in Washington and holding the line on taxation and spending.  You know; more responsible government.   Cutting the “PORK” in the budget.  This is such a big subject with so many ramifications – it’s really hard to be rational on the subject when it has been so out of control for so long.  




Writing and publishing made easier!






“Blogging” on the Internet has become one of the biggest phenomenon on the Internet and the computer age.  Finally, THE PEOPLE HAVE A VOICE!  We are able to individually express our views on a wide variety of subjects.  We can research the history and facts of any subject we choose in our quest for knowledge and current information and hopefully do so responsibly.  No longer to we have to just take word of the Press on the news stories of the day. 

True story:  I met a woman who read about the gas in sodas and soft drinks such as Coca Cola and Pepsi.  She concluded that soft drink manufactures are putting Gasoline in their products.  She told me, “it is true – Google it”!  I asked her, “are you referring to carbonation in sodas”? “Such beverages only give you gas after they have been consumed”!  Moral of the story; everything should be approached with some degree of common sense.

During our second year we hope to be writing more in depth stories and following the news looking for more answers to the events of the day.  More short stories and exploring history!  More science and more fiction.  I would like to thank all of our readers for returning each week, tell your friends and co workers about us by sending our electronic business card below!  See ya next week.


 It's easy!  Just copy and paste me into your email!

 




Boston Grieves for Marathon Bombing Victims, Police Chief Says
Suspects Planned More Attacks

“The Washington Post”

By Associated Press,
April 20, 2013
BOSTON — As churches paused to mourn the dead and console the survivors of the Boston Marathon bombing Sunday, the city’s police commissioner said the two suspects had such a large cache of weapons that they were probably planning other attacks. The surviving suspect remained hospitalized and unable to speak with a gunshot wound to the throat.

After the two brothers engaged in a gun battle with police early Friday, authorities found many unexploded homemade bombs at the scene, along with more than 250 rounds of ammunition.
Police Commissioner Ed Davis said the stockpile was “as dangerous as it gets in urban policing.”
“We have reason to believe, based upon the evidence that was found at that scene — the explosions, the explosive ordnance that was unexploded and the firepower that they had — that they were going to attack other individuals. That’s my belief at this point.” Davis told CBS’s “Face the Nation.”

On “Fox News Sunday,” he said authorities cannot be positive there are not more explosives somewhere that have not been found. But the people of Boston are safe, he insisted.

The suspects in the twin bombings that killed three people and wounded more than 180 are two ethnic Chechen brothers from southern Russia — 19-year-old Dzhokhar Tsarnaev and his 26-year-old brother, Tamerlan. Their motive remained unclear.

The older brother was killed during a getaway attempt. The younger brother, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, was still in serious condition Sunday after his capture Friday from a tarp-covered boat in a suburban Boston backyard. Authorities would not comment on whether he had been questioned.

Sen. Dan Coats of Indiana, a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said Tsarnaev’s throat wound raised questions about when he will be able to talk again, if ever.
http://articles.washingtonpost.com/images/pixel.gif
The wound “doesn’t mean he can’t communicate, but right now I think he’s in a condition where we can’t get any information from him at all,” Coats told ABC’s “This Week.”

It was not clear whether Tsarnaev was shot by police or inflicted the wound himself.
In the final standoff with police, shots were fired from the boat, but investigators have not determined where the gunfire was aimed, Davis said.

In an interview with The Associated Press, the parents of Tamerlan Tsarnaev insisted Sunday that he came to Dagestan and Chechnya last year to visit relatives and had nothing to do with the militants operating in the volatile part of Russia. His father said he slept much of the time.

The younger Tsarnaev could be charged any day. The most serious charge available to federal prosecutors would be the use of a weapon of mass destruction to kill people, which carries a possible death sentence. Massachusetts does not have the death penalty.

Across the rattled streets of Boston, churches opened their doors to remember the dead and ease the grief of the living.

“The Washington Post”






* “The Noodleman Group” is pleased to announce that we are now carrying a link to the “USA Today” news site.We installed the “widget/gadget” August 20, and it will be carried as a regular feature on our site.Now you can read“Noodleman” and then check in to “USA Today” for all the up to date News, Weather, Sports and more!Just scroll all the way down to the bottom of our site and hit the “USA Today” hyperlinks.Enjoy!



The Noodleman Group is on Google "Blogger"!

Friday, April 19, 2013

Boston Shaken 7,766

 British PM Thatcher 
Dies Age 87













BOSTON  SHAKEN  -
US  FIRM  ON  TERRORISM

Warning:  This article may contain disturbing images for some readers.


"Crude bombs": Both of the bombs were small, likely homemade devices and
initial tests showed no C-4 or other high-grade explosive material  (Reuters)


*  Thanks to "Google Images", The "White House Blog, "USA Today",
 "Chicago Tribune","Time" and "The Washington Post".




by Felicity Blaze Noodleman


A few words of consolation to the family's of those who died and those who suffered in the cowardly act of terrorism in Boston, MA on Monday April 15, 2013: Fate has chosen you to demonstrate to the world, to be the representatives of those who have courage and who meet the challenges from those who fail in their attempts to influence the progress of human kind.  Your city will live on and prosper long after this tragedy has been forgotten.   

The Noodleman Group













President Obama: "The American People Refuse to Be Terrorized"

President Barak Obama delivers remarks on the explosions that occurred in Boston,
in the James S. Brady Press Briefing Room of the White House, April 16, 2013.
(Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)


 Colleen Curtis - April 16, 2013
12:21 PM EDT

Following a briefing from FBI Director Mueller, Attorney General Holder, Secretary Napolitano, and homeland security advisor Lisa Monaco, President Obama went to the Brady Press Briefing Room to update Americans on developments in Boston, following two explosions at the finish line of the Boston Marathon on Monday afternoon. 

"We continue to mobilize and deploy all appropriate law enforcement resources to protect our citizens, and to investigate and to respond to this attack," the President said in a televised address. "Obviously our first thoughts this morning are with the victims, their families, and the city of Boston. We know that two explosions gravely wounded dozens of Americans, and took the lives of others, including a 8-year-old boy.
"This was a heinous and cowardly act. And given what we now know about what took place, the FBI is investigating it as an act of terrorism.  Any time bombs are used to target innocent civilians it is an act of terror. What we don’t yet know, however, is who carried out this attack, or why; whether it was planned and executed by a terrorist organization, foreign or domestic, or was the act of a malevolent individual."

The President assured the American people that while it will take time to determine what happened, "we will find whoever harmed our citizens. And we will bring them to justice."

In addition to highlighting the tremendous acts of heroism by the men and women of the FBI, the Boston Police Department, and other agencies and first responders yesterday, the President praised the kindness, generosity and love that was on display throughout the city of Boston in the aftermath of the bombings. "if you want to know who we are, what America is, how we respond to evil -- that’s it. Selflessly. Compassionately. Unafraid."

"The White House"
  



Graphic Evidence . . .




(WPX 11 News)  New York Daily News




 

Wounded bomb victims lie sprawled amid a chilling, surreal scene in Boston.
(AP – New York Post)







A Boston police officer wheels an injured boy down Boylston Street as medical workers carry an injured runner following an explosion during the 2013 Boston Marathon on April 15, 2013.
(US News.com)




While researching this article we uncovered quite a long list of past attempts by terrorists from around the world and the one thing they all have in common is clear - they all accomplished nothing!  From Madrid to Munich to Tokyo and the United States the world refuses to be intimidated by these senseless acts of violence.  US policy in this area is unwavering:  this country will not be influenced by terrorists.

For now the FBI is pursuing the case and asking the public for any and all photos and video of the blasts for analysis in developing leads in the case.  The foot race at the Boston Marathon is now over and a new race to apprehend the bombers is now in full swing!





Boston Bombing Investigators 
Pursuing Two People

"USA Today"

Investigators are exploring a number of promising leads, including an image of a man believed possibly involved in one of Monday's twin explosions.

Investigators are pursuing two people, one at each of the two sites where bombs detonated near the finish of the Boston Marathon, killing three people and wounding 176, a federal law enforcement official said Thursday.

The official, who is not authorized to comment publicly, said investigators were still seeking to question the men in the bombing inquiry, cautioning that it is not clear whether they are suspects or merely witnesses.
The promising developments build on a cache of video and photographs authorities have been examining since Monday's deadly blast.

At one of the bomb sites, several law enforcement officials told USA TODAY, surveillance video shows a man putting down a bag. The bag appears to be similar to the black nylon pack described earlier as possibly used to carry the explosive devices, the officials said.

Meanwhile, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said Thursday that responsibility for the Boston Marathon attack has yet to be linked to international or domestic terror groups or individuals.

"We don't know,'' Napolitano told a congressional panel, as investigators in Boston continue to pursue a number of promising leads in the case.

"The investigation is proceeding apace,'' she said.

Authorities were working to identify individuals at both sites, as well as a number of other people in video and photographs near the site of the explosions. More than 70 people remain hospitalized, with 14 listed in critical condition.

The promising photographic evidence emerged during a chaotic day Wednesday in which federal authorities dismissed a flurry of media reports, including dispatches from the Associated Press and CNN broadcasts, that a suspect had been taken into custody.

"Contrary to widespread reporting, there have been no arrests made in connection with the Boston Marathon attack,'' the FBI said in a statement.

Meanwhile, as investigators painstakingly gathered fragments of evidence from the bomb scene, a lid was recovered from a pressure cooker believed used as one of the explosive devices, a federal law enforcement official said. An official who had been briefed on the matter but was not authorized to comment publicly told USA TODAY the lid was found on a nearby roof.

The discovery came as Napolitano told a Senate panel in Washington on Wednesday that the Coast Guard worked with the Boston Police Department after the bombings to guard against any potential water-borne attack from Boston Harbor or the Charles River.

Napolitano said officials continue to investigate the bombings with the FBI as a solitary act of terror. "There is no current indication to suggest the attack was indicative of a broader plot," Napolitano told the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee on Wednesday. "But out of an abundance of caution, we continue to keep in place enhanced security measures, both seen and unseen."

Peter Burke, chief trauma surgeon at Boston Medical Center, said two of the 19 patients there still being treated remain in critical condition, including a 5-year-old boy. All are expected to survive, he said.
Burke said patients who required amputations or who lost limbs are now entering the second phase of their recovery, which is making sure that infection does not set in. "They get injured very quickly, but it takes a long time for people to get better," he said.

Evidence investigators from ATF, FBI and other federal agencies wearing protective suits continued to scour the crime scene Wednesday. Evidence trucks and mobile labs filled Exeter Street, the side street off Boylston closest to the blast sites.

The amount of gunpowder used in the bombings is believed to be a fraction of the overall weight of the devices, estimated to weigh about 20 pounds each, a law enforcement official said Wednesday.
Much of the weight was attributed to the pressure-cooker container and a mix of shrapnel — BB pellets and nail fragments — that cut a deadly path through the crowds gathered near the race finish line, said the official who is not authorized to speak publicly.

The official said the components of the bomb — common kitchen pressure cookers, wire, batteries and gunpowder — are so widely available that barring the assistance of an informant or a telling photo from the crime scene, it will likely take investigators some time to determine where the materials were obtained and who acquired them.

"This is either quick or it's not,'' the official said, referring to the identification of possible suspects, "and right now it's looking like not.''

At the same time, the official said, bomb technicians will likely be able to reconstruct much of the entire device, from both pieces recovered from the scene and the collective knowledge of investigators who have encountered similar devices in past investigations.

"They are going to be able to figure out how this device was acquired,'' the official said. "Depending on the trade craft involved, they will be able to do it relatively easily.''

Boston FBI chief Richard DesLauriers said the recovered materials were being examined at the FBI's laboratory in Quantico, Va., where the bureau has assembled a clearinghouse of improvised explosive devices recovered from such places as the battlefields of Iraq and Afghanistan and crime scenes around the country. Some evidence will undergo an expedited analysis, FBI spokesman special agent Jason Pack said.
The scene of the explosions is strewn with shredded T-shirts, metal fragments and glass shards. Boston police and National Guard members guard every access point, but from the side streets, spectators have watched the investigators at work.

The ATF's evidence recovery experts have found blast debris on rooftops and embedded in nearby buildings, acting ATF special agent Eugenio Marquez said. "It gives the scope of the power of the blast," Marquez said.

The latest discoveries came as investigators appealed to the public for videos and photos of the scene in hopes of getting an image of the person or persons who left the explosive devices near the finish line.
Authorities have yet to determine the motive for the bombings and are urging anyone with tips to come forward with information. "The person who did this was someone's friend, co-worker or neighbor," DesLauriers said. "Somebody knows who did this."

No one has claimed responsibility for the explosions and "the range of suspects and motives remain wide open."

Officials at a Northern California battery company said they believe a battery they manufacture was used in the Boston Marathon bombings.

Benjamin Mull, spokesman for Fremont-based Tenergy Corp., said that based on crime scene photos that have appeared online, the company believes one of its nickel-metal hydride batteries was used to make the bombs.

"We're all horrified and appalled that our off-the-shelf product would be used in such a horrific way," Mull said.

The company has reached out to Boston police and the FBI but hasn't heard directly from investigators, Mull said.

The company said the 1.25-volt battery seen in the photos is sold in retail outlets and is frequently used by hobbyists for various toys, including radio-controlled cars and trucks.

Tenergy has been selling the battery for several years and said it has sold "tens of thousands" of the particular battery in the past year.

Contributing: Bart Jansen; Associated Press
"USA Today"






Boston Marathon Bombing Suspects: City Locked Down as Manhunt Continues

By Scott Malone and Tim McLaughlin Reuters
2:30 p.m. CDT, April 19, 2013

"Chicago Tribune"

WATERTOWN, Mass.— Black Hawk helicopters and heavily armed police descended on a Boston suburb Friday in a massive search for an ethnic Chechen suspected in the Boston Marathon bombings, hours after his brother was killed by police in a late-night shootout.

The normally traffic-clogged streets of Boston were empty as the city went into virtual lockdown after a bloody night of shooting and explosions. Public transport was suspended, air space restricted and famous universities, including Harvard and MIT, closed after police ordered residents to remain at home.

Officials identified the hunted man as Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, 19, and the dead suspect as his brother, Tamerlan Tsarnaev, 26, who was killed Thursday night in the working class suburb of Watertown.

Details emerged on Friday about the brothers, including their origins in the predominantly Muslim regions of Russia's Caucasus, which have experienced two decades of violence since the fall of the Soviet Union.

A man who said he was their uncle said the brothers came to the United States in the early 2000s and settled in the Cambridge, Massachusetts, area.

"I say what I think what's behind it - being losers," Ruslan Tsarni told reporters in suburban Washington. "Not being able to settle themselves and thereby hating everyone who did."

Tsarni said he had not spoken to the brothers since 2009.

He said Monday's bombings on the finish line of the world-famous Boston Marathon that killed three people and injured 176 "put a shame on our family. It put a shame on the entire Chechen ethnicity.

The bombing, described by President Barack Obama as "an act of terrorism," was the worst such attack on U.S. soil since the plane hijackings of September 11, 2001.

The FBI said the twin blasts were caused by bombs in pressure cookers and carried in backpacks that were left near the marathon finish line as thousands of spectators gathered.

Authorities cordoned off a section of the suburb of Watertown and told residents not to leave their homes or answer the door as officers in combat gear scoured a 20-block area for the missing man, who was described as armed and dangerous.

The manhunt has covered 60 percent to 70 percent of the search area, Massachusetts State Police Colonel Timothy Alben said Friday afternoon. "We are progressing through this neighborhood, going door-to-door, street-to-street," he said.

Two Black Hawk helicopters circled the area. Amtrak said it was suspending train service between Boston and New York indefinitely and the Boston Red Sox postponed Friday night's baseball game at historic Fenway Park.

The events elicited a response from Moscow condemning terrorism and from the Russian-installed leader of Chechnya, who criticized police in Boston for killing an ethnic Chechen and blamed the violence on his upbringing in the United States.

"They grew up and studied in the United States and their attitudes and beliefs were formed there," Ramzan Kadyrov said in comments posted online. "Any attempt to make a connection between Chechnya and the Tsarnaevs is in vain.

The brothers had been in the United States for several years and were believed to be legal immigrants, according to U.S. government sources. Neither had been known as a potential security threat, a law enforcement official said on Friday.

HOUSE-TO-HOUSE SEARCH

In Watertown, the lockdown cleared the streets for police, who raced from one site to the next. The events stunned the former mill town, which has a large Russian-speaking community.

During the night, a university police officer was killed, a transit police officer was wounded, and the suspects carjacked a vehicle before leading police on a chase that led to Tamerlan Tsarnaev being shot dead.

"During the exchange of the gunfire, we believe that one of the suspects was struck and ultimately taken into custody," Alben said.

The suspect died of multiple injuries including gunshot wounds and trauma, said Dr. Richard Wolfe, chief of emergency medicine at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center.

The older brother was seen wearing a dark cap and sunglasses in surveillance images released by the FBI on Thursday. The younger Tsarnaev was shown wearing a white cap in the pictures, taken shortly before Monday's explosions.

"We believe this to be a terrorist," said Boston Police Commissioner Ed Davis. "We believe this to be a man who has come here to kill people. We need to get him in custody." 

Copyright © 2013, Reuters
"Chicago Tribune"




Margaret  Thatcher  Memorial  Service

Margaret Thatcher
British Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher,  (1975 - 1990)  passed away Monday April  8, 2013 at the age of 87.   Her state funeral took place at St. Paul's Cathedral in London on Tuesday of this week.  She was then remembered in a privet service for the family afterwards at Westminster Chapel. 

Thatcher was the longest serving British Prime Minister of the 20th. Century with three terms in office until her resignation in 1990.  She and her government were strong allies with the United States under NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) and President Reagan.  Together under NATO they were able to bring about the peaceful collapse of the East German Government and the fall of the Berlin Wall.   The eventual dissolution of the Soviet Union (Russian) domination of Eastern Europe which then followed in 1991.  This brought about an end to the long running "Cold War" and to some extent, the Communist State as it had been known.  

Queen Elizabeth II and her husband Prince Philip were among the more than 2,000 mourners who attended the service. At least 170 countries were represented among them.  Mourners included Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich and F.W. de Klerk, the last apartheid-era president of South Africa.  Former U.S.Vice-President Dick Cheney and former U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger attended but Nancy Reagan -- the widow of Thatcher's ally and former U.S. President Ronald Reagan -- was unable to attend and sent a representative in her place.

For this writer, instead of recalling what I'd liked about this world leader, I would have to ask, "what didn't I like about her".  Thatcher seemed to be the quintessential elected western  head of state in spades!  At times she seemed to be more regal that Queen Elizabeth II herself and that is something which is just not written about.  She, however, is certainly a role model for any young woman of our day. 



 Britain's Prime Minister David Cameron gives a reading during the ceremonial funeral of former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher at St Paul's Cathedral in London.
Christopher Furlong/AP




Britain Bids Farewell to Margaret Thatcher,
The Iron Lady

The Union Jack covers the coffin bearing Thatcher’s body during the funeral procession
in London.  Thatcher was Britain’s longest-ruling prime minister of the 20th century.
 

By Anthony Faiola and Eliza Mackintosh,
Apr 17, 2013 04:43 PM EDT

The Washington Post Published: April 17

LONDON — Britain bade a final farewell to Margaret Thatcher on Wednesday, silencing the bells of Big Ben and mounting a trademark display of sober pageantry for the funeral of a towering leader who, in death as in life, deeply divides the nation.

Although not a state funeral — an honor reserved largely for monarchs — the military honors and pomp unfurled for the event marked the most elaborate goodbye for any elected leader here since Winston Churchill. As the Union Jack flew at half-staff over No. 10 Downing Street, the hearse carrying the flag-covered casket of the Iron Lady wound along a historic two-mile route. For the final leg of the procession, the casket was transferred to a gun carriage drawn by six horses.

Tens of thousands of mourners and 4,000 police officers lined the route, which stretched from the Gothic spires of the Palace of Westminster, through Trafalgar Square and over to St. Paul’s Cathedral, where a service was later attended by more than 2,300 dignitaries and others.


Well-wishers waved flags, both of Britain and the Falkland Islands, the British territory Thatcher went to war to recover after an Argentine invasion. They had come, they said, to honor Britain’s longest-ruling prime minister of the 20th century, a woman whose steely will is credited with rebuilding the country’s global status, accelerating the fall of the Berlin Wall and modernizing the domestic economy.

“She truly was an Iron Lady. She is what made Great Britain great,” said Maureen Mann, 71, whose husband and son fought in the 1982 Falklands War. Mann’s family traveled hours from central England to stand along the procession route. “Thatcher fought fiercely for that little island and the people on it. We feel a great sense of pride in that.”

Margaret Fowler, who, like Thatcher, is a grocer’s daughter, left Oxford for London at 5 a.m. to find a good spot along the route. “She put Britain back on its feet. When you see the people turning out here, you can see the support for her still,” Fowler said.

Conservatives on both sides of the Atlantic came to pay their respects, with former U.S. secretaries of state George Shultz, James A. Baker III and Henry Kissinger joining British Prime Minister David Cameron and John Major, one of Cameron’s Conservative predecessors.

In accordance with Thatcher’s wishes, the service was quintessentially British, including pieces by English composers Edward Elgar and Ralph Vaughan Williams. Justin Welby, the archbishop of Canterbury, delivered a blessing. Cameron and Thatcher’s American-born granddaughter, Amanda, offered readings.

Amanda Thatcher, 19, drew particular accolades for her composure as she read a New Testament verse that spoke to her grandmother’s strength: “We wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.”

The Rev. Richard Chartres, a family friend and the bishop of London, told the mourners that Thatcher had requested not a typical eulogy, laced with her political accomplishments, but a more simple and personal address. He delivered just that, reflecting on a young boy who had once written Thatcher asking whether prime ministers, like Jesus Christ, never made mistakes. Thatcher’s life, Chartres acknowledged, had been stormy. But as her remains rested in the church, he said, now “there is a great calm.”

“At such a time, the parson should not aspire to the judgments which are proper to the politician,” he said. “Instead, this is a place for ordinary human compassion of the kind that is reconciling.”

After the service, the coffin was carried to a hearse waiting at the foot of the cathedral’s west steps. A private cremation was held later in the day. Thatcher’s remains will be interred next to the spot at the Royal Hospital Chelsea where her husband, Denis Thatcher, was laid to rest in 2003.

Ed Miliband, head of a Labor Party that was forced to shift to the center after Thatcher’s 11 years in office, led those from the opposition who were present at St. Paul’s. But not all of Thatcher’s opponents were as forgiving. Furious Labor lawmakers sought to block a move to delay the start of Parliament on Wednesday so members of the House of Commons could attend Thatcher’s funeral. Several also railed against the decision to silence Big Ben for the event and to have taxpayers largely foot the 10 million pound ($15 million) bill for the funeral procession; Thatcher’s estate was to cover at least some of the costs.

“This is over the top,” said John Mann, a national Labor lawmaker. “Not even the German Luftwaffe could silence Big Ben. And I would be surprised if Margaret Thatcher herself would approve of the 10 million pound bill.”

Cameron defended the scale of the funeral, telling the BBC that the plans were made long ago. “She was an extraordinary woman, and it was right to mark her passing in this way,” he said.

On Tuesday, a more intimate service was held at the Chapel of St. Mary Undercroft in the House of Commons for family, friends and lawmakers.

British authorities reviewed security plans after the bombings this week in Boston. But Scotland Yard said no additional precautions were taken for the funeral, which was always going to be a massive security operation.
Police had feared rowdy protests, along the lines of one in London over the weekend. But Wednesday, Thatcher’s supporters far outnumbered the small groups of protesters peppering the route. Anti-Thatcher chants by some prompted sharp retorts from nearby mourners. At one point, protesters appeared to throw something at the horses pulling the hearse. A cluster of Thatcher opponents turned their backs on the parade.
“We lived through Thatcher destroying this country,” said Bryony Nierop-Reading, a 68-year-old retired teacher. “We used to be a rich, powerful, industrial nation, and she destroyed the working class.”

In Goldthorpe, a town in the South Yorkshire region hit hard when Thatcher broke the coal miners unions in the 1980s, an open coffin containing an effigy of the late prime minister was set ablaze Wednesday as hundreds watched.

“In death as in life, Margaret Thatcher has drawn both praise and opposition,” William Hague, Britain’s foreign minister, said in a speech Tuesday evening, noting that Thatcher would not have minded the divergent views about her legacy.

“She, who prized freedom above all things, would not be in the slightest bit upset by the disagreement,” Hague said. “Some of us, including me, will always be inspired and shaped by her achievements, while others may never reconcile themselves to her policies or to her character. The right to form our own opinions on that count is fundamental to our democracy.”

Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, her husband, attended Wednesday’s service despite long-standing reports of differences between the nation’s two most powerful women.

“I think the queen is making quite a big statement by going,” said Jane Tate, 48, a dressmaker from Kent who watched the procession on the Strand with her two young daughters. “Despite what people might say, the queen respected Thatcher because of the position she reached and all of the works she did for this country.”

"The Washington Post"






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