SLAVIA - A BIG PART OF THE WORLD UNITED? WHERE WOULD HUNGARY FIT? and THE WINTER OLYMPICS IN RUSSIA

This winter I didn't watch the OLYMPICS,  which was staged by Russia, at all.  I did listen to radio news and looked it up on the Internet quite a bit, but I didn't see a single televised performance. 

I thought some of the press wasn't fair at all.  So what if one of the flowers didn't open to become a ring?  Wasn't there a similar failure when Canada hosted?  Jokes about hotel rooms missing doorknobs and featuring two toilet seats in the bathrooms, so people who were used to outhouses could upgrade their mutual potty experience were everywhere.  THAT CERTAINLY WASN'T EVERY HOTEL, just evidence of a rush to finish some of the accommodations.

So much focus on what went WRONG when so much went RIGHT.

I thought it was terrific that Putin sat and watched some of the performances and made the scene there.  I thought it was terrific that royalty like Princess Anne of Great Britain and Prince Albert II and his wife Princess Charlene (another person the press should be kinder to) made the scene.  IT WAS TRULY INTERNATIONAL. It was a great opportunity for people from around the world to see another country, as all Olympics are.  This is one of the reasons various cities apply to be chosen as a HOSTING site!

We in the United States still haven't really shaken off memories or impressions from the COLD WAR ERA, but as the days went by, I became more interested and worried about what was happening in the Ukraine.  (I do have a few readers from somewhere in Ukraine and other parts of the Slavic world.)

This morning as I listened to very early morning talk radio I heard that there is speculation that the UKRAINE will split into an east and a west, one part going with Russia, the other part with Europe.

IT SEEMS THERE IS ALWAYS TURMOIL IN THIS PART OF THE WORLD.

Well, I also recently learned about a move to UNITE all Slavic speaking Countries.  I don't know where this would leave Hungary,  I think OUT, though it has historically had many Slavic people as well as German people within changing borders.

Not every person in these countries wants to be part of the EUROPEAN UNION.

MAYBE IT'S A GOOD IDEA?

First, the end of the various Slavic people fighting each other, economic cooperation, and a preservation of culture. 

I watched a number of YouTube videos and the idea is also to stop Russia.  Here is a link that is one of many I saw:  SLAVIALAND.ORG


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THE MONARCHS ARE DYING OUT - PLANTING A BUTTERFLY GARDEN

Be it global warming or more natural "earth changes" extreme weather seems to be a reality, and the ongoing hardship of winter that won't end in much of the United States is defied by the too early spring of Southern California. 

Over the President's Day holiday I managed to labor to clean out the old garden and begin a new one.  Trees are blooming here that shouldn't be for at least another month, and humidity hangs in the air, but we're in a severe drought.

Maybe I can inspire you to consider planting a BUTTERFLY GARDEN too?

You see, it takes THREE GENERATIONS of monarch to make it to Mexico which seems to be the country they like to hang out in.  Last year about 40 acres of Mexico had monarchs hanging in the trees but this year that same area had only about 2 acres worth.  That means a generation or two has been decimated.

IN ORDER TO ATTRACT BUTTERFLIES TO YOUR GARDEN you need the following:

You need plants they can munch when they are caterpillars...  THE MILKWEED PLANT IS possible their favorite but check with your local arboretum library or expert native nursery about LOCAL plants.  Very nearby they need NECTAR BEARING plants for NOURISHMENT when they are on wing.  The savvy butterflies are also looking for a place they can safely be in their in-between chrysalis stage and that means NO WIND and WARM ENOUGH. 

Some links to help you!

LIVE MONARCH ORG - NONPROFIT - INFORMATION - FREE SEEDS

UPDATE 2014:

This year marks another sharp decline in Monarch overwintering numbers and may represent the shrinking of their migratory route. The 97% decline from their high over the past 20 years has researchers very concerned.   YOU CAN DONATE TO THEM TOO.  This is where I got my packet of seeds, which I shared with two other people.

 

ARBORETUM ORG - LOS ANGELES COUNTY  link...  I called the arboretum in Arcadia and the librarian was terrific!  There are probably libraries like this in other parts of the country.

 

FLOWERS that attract "pollinators" include easy to grow MARIGOLDS,  NASTURTIUM, and HUNTINGTON GARDENS BLOG - SWEET ALYSSUM  Sweet Alyssum.

 

Butterflies like flowers that are about the same color as they are.  If you plant RED you may also get hummingbirds so think about that when you plant PETUNIAS.  The Sweet Alyssum smells like perfume but I'm also planting it because the Southern California butterflies tend to be light or pastel shades.

 

For those of you who are disgusted with winter, SPRING WILL COME - IT WILL!

 

 

HUNGARIAN AMERICAN CULTURAL CENTER - DETROIT

HUNGARIAN AMERICAN CULTURAL CENTER - DETROIT  

Please pick up a membership application form at the club or send us a SASE at the following address: Hungarian American Cultural Center P.O. BOX 295 26257 Goddard Rd. Taylor, MI 48180

CELEBRATING LOVE : ‘Bálint Nap’ or ‘Valentin’Day'

HUNGARIAN BALINT SILLY SONG : MR VALENTINE IS DEAD

They said Hungarians have something in common with the Irish. They said it. Not me!

BROWN HORSE PORTRAIT

YEAR OF THE HORSE PARADE - CHINESE ASTROLOGY - AND THE DNA OF HUNGARIAN HORSES!

The Year of the Horse is starting NOW!  I attended a parade that featured a few terrific looking horses as part of the festivities.  I wondered.  When did the ancient Hungarians get horses?  I believe they came into Hungary with the People, but as you know, Hungarians are a mystery...

I found this link to DIENEKES ANTHROPOLOGY BLOG which is from 2009 and answers the question using DNA evidence.

October 03, 2009  THE ARTICLE

Avar and Hungarian horses were different:

Genetica. 2009 Sep 30. [Epub ahead of print]

Mitochondrial sequence variation in ancient horses from the Carpathian Basin and possible modern relatives.

Priskin K, Szabó K, Tömöry G, Bogácsi-Szabó E, Csányi B, Eördögh R, Downes CS, Raskó I.

Movements of human populations leave their traces in the genetic makeup of the areas affected; the same applies to the horses that move with their owners This study is concerned with the mitochondrial control region genotypes of 31 archaeological horse remains, excavated from pre-conquest Avar and post-conquest Hungarian burial sites in the Carpathian Basin dating from the sixth to the tenth century. To investigate relationships to other ancient and recent breeds, modern Hucul and Akhal Teke samples were also collected, and mtDNA control region (CR) sequences from 76 breeds representing 921 individual specimens were combined with our sequence data. Phylogenetic relationships among horse mtDNA CR haplotypes were estimated using both genetic distance and the non-dichotomous network method. Both methods indicated a separation between horses of the Avars and the Hungarians. Our results show that the ethnic changes induced by the Hungarian Conquest were accompanied by a corresponding change in the stables of the Carpathian Basin...."

 

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I find the subject of DNA so interesting, I've decided to link to this Blog on my sidebar...