Jim, this will cheer you up!

[Gob]

A statue of Ronald Reagan will be unveiled near the US embassy in London on Monday. How did this come about?

Once upon a time, 4 July in London was the occasion for a grand party at the American ambassador's vast residence in Regent's Park.

The diplomatic corps, leading MPs, titans of industry, and we sparrows of the press would feast on hamburgers, hot dogs and crumbs of gossip on the vast back lawn.

But this is the Age of Austerity. The party is over. This year, the big 4 July event in London will be held in Grosvenor Square just across from the American embassy and it is a private affair not hosted by the US government. A statue of Ronald Reagan, 40th president of the United States, will be unveiled.

Baroness Thatcher, Reagan's soul-mate in power, has been invited but it is not known if she will be able to attend. However, 2,000 other paying guests will do so and will listen to remarks by British Foreign Secretary William Hague, former US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, and the current ambassador, Louis Susman.

The creation of the statue - total cost $1m - did not grow out of a public clamour for a fitting memorial to the late president (though Westminster City Council made an exception to its usual rule refusing permission for statues until 10 years have passed since the subject's death).

The event is part of a year-long series of big occasions to mark the centenary of Reagan's birth, organised by the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation. In the weeks prior to the London unveiling, statues have been unveiled and conferences convened in Cracow, Budapest and Prague.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-13989455

[Lord Jim]

On the Fourth Of July... Most of appropriate. The Gipper would have wanted it that way.

A most fitting tribute to a great friend of the British people.

And the recognition and honors due to The Winner Of The Cold War keeping coming...this time from one of the many nations his defeat of the Soviet Union brought out of the darkness of totalitarian oppression, and into the bright sunshine of liberty (I meant to start a thread about this, but it will fit nicely here):

Czech Republic names street after Ronald Reagan

(AFP) – 2 days ago

PRAGUE — The Czech Republic Friday renamed a street in its capital Prague after former US president Ronald Reagan, highly regarded in the region for having helped hasten the demise of communism.

Former US secretary of state Condoleezza Rice attended the ceremony, held to mark the 100th anniversary of Reagan's birth.

"Ronald Reagan was remarkable because he believed in the freedom so deeply, but he was even more remarkable because he believed that what ought to be had to be and so he acted on this policy," Rice said at the televised ceremony.

Republican Reagan, who was president from 1981 to 1989, is celebrated in former Soviet satellite states for a tough line credited with having pushed the Kremlin to the wall.

Czech Environment Minister Tomas Chalupa said Reagan's stance struck a chord in his country, whose 1989 Velvet Revolution became a symbol of the peaceful overthrow of the region's regimes.

"He beat communism using means that are dear to we Czechs. He decided to go against the grain and tell the truth," Chalupa said at the ceremony.

Reagan died in 2004.

He is the fourth US president to have a street named after him in Prague, after independence leader George Washington, head of state from 1789 to 1797, Woodrow Wilson (1913-1921) and Franklin Delano Roosevelt (1933-1945).

Ronald Reagan Street, near the US ambassador's residence in Prague, replaces part of a longer road named after Czech writer and historian Zikmund Winter (1846-1912).

Rice's presence was met by protests from a small, vocal group of demonstrators.

"Democracy is great but sometimes it's noisy," she said.

On Wednesday, Rice attended a ceremony in Budapest, capital of ex-communist Hungary, where a statue of Reagan was unveiled.

A bust of Reagan was already erected in a Budapest park in 2006.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/ar ... c6f679.871

[liberty]

The plaque should read: He won the Cold War and saved the world from totalitarian slavery.

[Lord Jim]

The plaque should read: He won the Cold War, saved the world from totalitarian slavery, and lifted the specter of global nuclear annihilation

[Sean]

The plaque should read: He won the Cold War, saved the world from totalitarian slavery, lifted the specter of global nuclear annihilation and made a movie with a monkey.

[Gob]

[liberty]

The plaque should read: He won the Cold War, saved the world from totalitarian slavery, lifted the specter of global nuclear annihilation and made a movie with a monkey.

Well Sean, are you against fun or you just don’t like monkeys? Not everything in life has to be serious. There is no shortage of the serious stuff; a little more fun would be nice.

[dales]

Since we're on a RONALD REAGAN thread:



I have this in my collection, it is a re-make of the 1946 film of the same name with Burt Lancaster and Yvonne DeCarlo.

[Sean]

The plaque should read: He won the Cold War, saved the world from totalitarian slavery, lifted the specter of global nuclear annihilation and made a movie with a monkey.

Well Sean, are you against fun or you just don’t like monkeys? Not everything in life has to be serious. There is no shortage of the serious stuff; a little more fun would be nice.

So the poster with no sense of humour wants to lecture me about fun...

[Gob]

I have this in my collection, it is a re-make of the 1946 film of the same name with Burt Lancaster and Yvonne DeCarlo.

Now she was HOT!

[rubato]

"... 2,000 other paying guests ... "

Now there's an oxymoron for you.


yrs,
rubato

[quaddriver]

Yvonne DeCarlo.

Lily?

[dales]

duh

[Gob]

By pure and total coincidence, also on the BBC today;

Who, What, Why: How do you graffiti-proof public art?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-14011623

[liberty]

By pure and total coincidence, also on the BBC today;

Who, What, Why: How do you graffiti-proof public art?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-14011623

He came, he saw , he saved the world.

[Andrew D]

Maybe I am Reagan's love child.

The last time he came was about the time I was conceived.

[rubato]

Who, What, Why: How do you graffiti-proof public art?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-14011623

Make it so ugly people feel sorry for it.

yrs,
rubato

[liberty]

Reagan was an interesting man; I agreed with his fight for freedom, but not with his economic and social views. However he was the right man at the right time and he did save the world from a fate worse than war and deserves all the honors he can be given. He resisted totalitarianism when others were too terrified to resist. True Charley Wilson was an important ally in the struggle against the Soviets. But he is another subject.

Reagan was a true believer in freedom but he saw government as an oppressive force which it can be some times. I have heard liberal commentator suggest that he opposed social security and labor laws such as the minimum wage; I don‘t consider these things as oppressive. Although Liberals were pretty worthless in resisting the communist they did do a good job of holding the more conservatives elements in our country in check.

On the other hand, if Reagan had not been elected president I believe I would have died in a slave labor (re-education) camp; I would have never been able to submit.