WW2: Hero Dog, Judy the Pointer

 Judy, a purebred pointer, was the mascot of several ships in the Pacific, and was captured by the Japanese in 1942 and taken to a prison camp. There she met Aircraftsman Frank Williams, who shared his small portion of rice with her.

Judy raised morale in the POW camp, and also barked when poisonous snakes, crocodiles or even tigers approached the prisoners. When the prisoners were shipped back to Singapore, she was smuggled out in a rice sack, never whimpering or betraying her presence to the guards.

The next day, that ship was torpedoed. Williams pushed Judy out of a porthole in an attempt to save her life, even though there was a 15-foot drop to the sea. He made his own escape from the ship, but was then recaptured and sent to a new POW camp.

pc: wikipedia

He didn't know if Judy had survived, but soon he began hearing stories about a dog helping drowning men reach pieces of debris after the shipwreck. And when Williams arrived at the new camp, he said: "I couldn’t believe my eyes! As I walked through the gate, a scraggly dog hit me square between the shoulders and knocked me over. I’d never been so glad to see the old girl!"

They spent a year together at that camp in Sumatra. "Judy saved my life in so many ways," said Williams. "But the greatest of all was giving me a reason to live. All I had to do was look into those weary, bloodshot eyes and ask myself: 'What would happen to her if I died?' I had to keep going."

Once hostilities ceased, Judy was then smuggled aboard a troopship heading back to Liverpool. In England, she was awarded the Dickin Medal (the "Victoria Cross" for animals) in May 1946. Her citation reads: "For magnificent courage and endurance in Japanese prison camps, which helped to maintain morale among her fellow prisoners, and also for saving many lives through her intelligence and watchfulness".

pc: wikipedia

At the same time, Frank Williams was awarded the PDSA's White Cross of St. Giles for his devotion to Judy. Frank and Judy spent a year after the war visiting the relatives of English POWs who had not survived, and Frank said that Judy "always provided a comforting presence to the families."

When Judy finally died at the age of 13, Frank spent two months building a granite and marble memorial in her memory, which included a plaque describing her life story.

our beloved Mr Bubbles ❤

Pointer (dog breed)

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America Gold Toilet : Where Art Thou?

Any news-worthy stories/headlines about GOLD remind me of my late cousin.  He passed away on this day in Year 2011 and is sorely missed by his wife, children, relatives.

He & wife purchased 23-kt gold jewelry on my behalf while in Asia. My beautiful items are safely tucked-away in the bank safe and hopefully will not be stolen.  Daring thieves took this one-of-a-kind 18k precious, functional "throne" (sculpture named AMERICA) which was on loan from  the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum. Worth $6 million!!  So far, there are no solid leads on who dunnit. 

Leon Neal/ Getty Images

Two People Arrested for Stealing $6 Million Golden Toilet Named 'America' - via Western Journal

Two people have been arrested in connection with the theft of a golden toilet from Blenheim Palace, the birthplace of former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill.

The theft occurred Saturday (September 14th), according to The Associated Press. A 36-year-old man was held on suspicion of conspiracy before being released, and police earlier arrested a 66-year-old man. Neither suspect is currently in jail.

The toilet, which is a working model and could be used by visitors to Blenheim, was created as a work of art and was at the palace for a short-term art display. It has a value estimated near $6 million, according to The Guardian.

The toilet, titled “America,” was created by Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan.

Because the toilet was connected to the palace’s plumbing, significant water damage took place after it was stolen. The toilet had been installed in a room next to the one in which Churchill was born.

Blenheim Palace

“We are continuing to investigate this incident and have made a second arrest in connection with it. Our priority is to locate the stolen item,” Detective Inspector Steven Jones of the Thames Valley Police said.

Blenheim chief executive Dominic Hare said the incident reminded him of a “heist movie.” He said the theft was the “first theft of this type in living memory” from the estate, according to the BBC.

The palace has “a sophisticated security system,” he said, but its security staff is “now challenged to look hard at ourselves and improve again.”

Hare said the artwork was a “comment on the American dream.”

“At first, when they woke me up this morning with the news,” Cattelan told The New York Times. “I thought it was a prank: Who’s so stupid to steal a toilet? I had forgotten for a second that it was made out of gold.”

“‘America’ was the one percent for the 99 percent, and I hope it still is. I want to be positive and think the robbery is a kind of Robin Hood-inspired action,” he said, adding that the theft was not a prank to call attention to the work.

 “I wish it was a prank,” he said, adding that the incident “is deadly serious if even a little bit surreal since the subject of the robbery was a toilet.”

Cattelan also had a request for the thieves: “Dear thieves, please, if you are reading this, let me know how much you like the piece and how it feels to pee on gold.”

“It is deeply ironic that a work of art portraying the American dream and the idea of an elite object made available to all should be almost instantly snatched away and hidden from view,” Hare said.

pc: wikipedia

The toilet had previously been exhibited at the Guggenheim Museum in New York City, where in 2017 its curator estimated more than 100,000 people had used it.

After its time at the Guggenheim, the golden toilet was offered to President Donald Trump for use at the White House, but Trump declined the offer, according to Fox Business.

by Jack Davis

Thou shalt not steal.

Exodus 20:15

Two People Arrested

America (Maurizio Cattelan)

Blenheim Palace

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Why Visit Marylebone, London England?

Marylebone Floor Mat, Mackenzie-Childs

I had never heard of  this  chic London neighborhood -- until I purchased a Mackenzie-Childs floor mat (Marylebone Floor Mat). 

I am intrigued; though my primary purpose for ever visiting Marylebone (how is it pronounced?) would probably be to see the Sherlock Holmes Museum.


The pictures on IG aren't bad.  If the rest of the neighborhood is just as nice, I am impressed. Look at those windows!!

Marylebone is a chic residential area with a village feel, centred on the independent boutiques and smart restaurants of Marylebone High Street. Tourists queue for the Madame Tussauds waxwork museum and the Sherlock Holmes Museum, the latter in the fictional sleuth’s home at 221b Baker Street. The Georgian mansion that houses the Wallace Collection of art and period furnishings typifies the area's elegant architecture. - google

Post town: London

Dialling code: 020

Baker Street pillow, MacKenzie Childs

Marylebone travel umbrella, MacKenzie Childs

High Street accent chair, MacKenzie Childs

pc: MacKenzie-Childs

When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained;

What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him?  (Psalm 8 )

Marylebone Floor Mat - 2' x 3'

Marylebone, London England

Benedict Timothy Carlton Cumberbatch

16.06.2020

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The Salvation Army Ringers Banned

Belk Department Stores has banned Salvation Army bell ringers from its stores --- just in time for 2017 Christmas season!!  The reason?  "... Salvation Army said they were told the department store ban had something to do with a change in Belk's social consciousness."  

There are 300 Belk locations in 16 states.  This move might result in $1 million less in donations, per the Salvation Army.

pc: wikipedia

BTW, since Year 2004 Target has not allowed SA bellringers at their stores.  Sad. 
Oh, well.  Just another reason that I've found myself increasingly less willing to stop and shop at our local Target store.  It's been many months since I've shopped thru their website too.  

William Booth (1829–1912), founder of The Salvation Army, laboured for the Lord among the poor and destitute in London’s East End. He would “stumble home night after night haggard with fatigue; often his clothes were torn and bloody bandages swathed his head where a stone had struck,” wrote his wife Catherine. “‘Not called!’ did you say? ‘Not heard the call,’ I think you should say,” wrote Booth. “Put your ear down to the Bible, and hear Him bid you go and pull sinners out of the fire of sin. Put your ear down to the burdened, agonized heart of humanity, and listen to its pitiful wail for help. Go stand by the gates of hell, and hear the damned entreat you to go to their father’s house and bid their brothers and sisters, and servants and masters not to come there. And then look Christ in the face, whose mercy you have professed to obey, and tell Him whether you will join heart and soul and body and circumstances in the march to publish His mercy to the world.”


ETA:  Belk reverses its decision!  Read about it HERE

Ring Those Bells!!


The Salvation Army


William Booth, Founder of The Salvation Army

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