Not exactly an acronym. More of a mnemonic or acrostic.

I never knew HOMES. SHAME is too hard to remember to associate just to this one action.

I remember our grade 5 class making a huge papier-mâché relief map of the Welland Canal and St. Lawrence Seaway. It stretched across the back of the classroom. We learned a song about the Great Lakes and HOMES came into it somewhere.

It's a good thing Gordon Lightfoot isn't around any more. He would have had to change the lyrics of The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald.

^Great song!

”Lake Huron rolls, Superior sings
In the rooms of her ice-water mansion
Old Michigan steams like a young man's dreams
The islands and bays are for sportsmen
And farther below Lake Ontario
Takes in what Lake Erie can send her
And the iron boats go as the mariners all know
With the gales of November remembered”

ETA - Now the song’s in my head. Not a bad thing.

Oh, we're talking about the Great Lakes, then.

No Michigander worth their salt needs an acronym to remember the names of the Great Lakes...

Hopeful, this thread here, will keep afloat in Lake Ontario

Canada is sticking with HOMES

as am i!

And thanks to all this, I learned the word hydronym. Thank you, PM Carney.

Thanks to all for mentioning ‘The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald.’ The song was in my head when I fell asleep – I woke up and started to play the wonderful tune on my computer. I noticed that closed captions were enabled on the audio player – the lyric “The legend lives on from the Chippewa on down / Of the big lake they call Gitche Gumee” translated to “the big lake they call get your goomy.” So, a possible new name for Lake Superior could be Lake Get Your Goomy and the song would not have to change.

HOMES and the Great Lakes is definitely how I was taught in school. I shared the same HOMES acronym with my son, but they never taught it in his class. Not sure why-it makes it so much simpler! I never forgot it.

There are so many. Every Good Boy Deserves Fun. Mary's Violet Eyes Make John Stay Up Nights Pining. And let us not forget ROYGBIV. I had an earth science teacher in junior high who had a mnemonic for everything.

Ollie are you going to change to the new name ?

Recently, I watched a show from USA and the commentator was still saying Gulf of Mexico.

I never knew that acronym. HOMES is helpful and Im sticking with that. I did learn ROYGBIV.

We have a saying here Old Maids Never Wed And Have Babies , to remember the order of the train stops. Kind of out dated now but I do use it to remember which one comes next.

I’ve seen HOMES used a number of times in various ways in the NYT crossword puzzle.

Totally forgot this acronym till now. HOMES I'll remember now and never change it no matter what the tyrant proclaims like an infantile child. HEMES doesn't ring.

Name changes did not begin with T. He simply just turned the volume up.

Ollie, we’ve had name changes on a lot of things in Canada, and statues removed, and things like that. I didn’t agree with many of them.

Locally, many things have been given First Nation names that many people can’t even pronounce. I think it was overdone in some areas.

Some I use, some I don’t.

It didn’t matter what political party did it. 🤷‍♀️

I just wondered how Americans were going to handle this.

Ever since children, sadly many with developmental or congenital disabilities, got keys to various buildings and access to buttons to push and things to change, they've been running amok. Doing needless and often really dumb things. Look at ridiculous goings on with the capital's cultural center. Now it's "Either I get my way or I'll tear it down". Okay, tear it down.

I think when adults return, no matter of what persuasion, the only things that will linger will be the memories of the idiocy that was on display. Everything else is fixable.

Everything else is fixable.

God, I hope so!!

Yes, EJF.

As for passports and paper currency with a destructive tyrants visage on them, I will be selling rolls of sticky paper stamps to help Re-face the currency he has defaced. Images of the stickies will be of the stool, dung, poo emoji. The brown soft serve pyramidal icon we can find in our emoji gallery.

" I think when adults return, no matter of what persuasion, the only things that will linger will be the memories of the idiocy that was on display. Everything else is fixable. "

I disagree. The damage done will last generations, if not forever. OK, not forever, but at least 75-100 years. There is far more than idiocy on display.

" Name changes did not begin with T "

What other countries' leaders have changed geographical names that are not in their country? Serious question, because I've never thought of it before.

Satire is dead.

A few things that can't be undone: Destroying National Parks by allowing drilling and mineral exploration, timber harvests and road construction in pristine National Forests by rescinding the Roadless Rule for those areas. Allow the taking of wild horses from public lands for horsemeat. Destruction of the White House, Destruction of the Rose Garden, Proposal to cut all the Japanese Cherry trees that are beloved by Americans....for a start. I starting to list the things I could think of, but then realized the list would be too cumbersome. Here is a good link that has a comprehensive list. Not all will be impossible to ever correct, but too many will.

Damage done so far (link)

I think to say that cherry trees are beloved by Americans is a bit of an exaggeration. Can something most people have never seen and many not ever heard of, be widely beloved?

Since you are not a gardener, Elmer, I will excuse this misstatement. Cherry trees, both fruiting and ornamental, can be planted (and are!) in every state of the union, are extremely popular garden additions and are easily recognized by anyone the slightest bit familiar with plants. And if you are referring specifically to the Washington DC cherry trees, those are probably the most well known trees in America. I can't think of anyone who is not familiar with the story of George Washington and the cherry tree.

Although I have never visited Washington DC in cherry blossom time, the stunningly beautiful cherry trees give me great pleasure — we view the in the background of TV news, events and reports. We can see school field trip photos of them.

I find them beautiful, peaceful and inspiring.

" Well, "Ontario" should have never be recognized in the US, the name isn't in wide use in US territory near that body of water. "

Yeah, that's what people call it. It was recognized for the same reason the names Michigan, and Erie were recognized - as the native names that were decided over 300 years ago. Huron was not from a native word, but from what the settlers called the native tribe. It was not named after the Canadian province, but the province was named after the lake.

I'll have to dig more into the Strait of Hormuz terminology.

"

" I disagree. The damage done will last generations, "

What are some examples?"

The US' status in world affairs, including trade and security agreements. Nobody trusts the US anymore, and that will isolate them from other countries in the future. That won't be undone easily if (my opinion) it can be undone at all. Divisions in the US - not D/R divisions, but divisions on humanity, justice, and fairness. That will be a long time in getting resolved; it will, eventually, but it will take generations.

The damage done to science and research is another huge one - in part because of all the false claims and disinformation put out by government agencies, but mostly because of all the experiments and grants that were cancelled. Even though some of the cancellations were declared illegal, the time involved in the case (and the delays the DOJ further created with appeals) doesn't really allow them to be picked back up and started again. You can't just stop an experiment and pick up 3 years later, as if you went out for lunch. Likewise the damage being done to higher education (especially in science) will really hurt, not just losing knowledge, but losing money.....Higher education and graduate degrees were one of the greatest US exports, but now the government is making it very hard, if not impossible, for people to come to the US to learn new things and share their knowledge.

That's just 3. I can think of another 3 or 4 easily, but it would be a novel.

" And it's not the Strait I was referrring to, it was the gulf it's the gateway for. "

Thanks, that will help my search.

Elmer, you are partial to California and I know how beautiful the redwood trees are. I used to live there. But the Cherry trees in Washington DC have probably been visited by 10 times the amount of people just because of where they are. Don't ask for sources because I don't have any. It's my opinion. As was stated above, they are all over the news when they are in bloom and are stunning if you get to see them in person. Millions used to visit Washington DC every year. Just the threat of having them chopped down by some petulant fool makes me sick. Even if some of this damage is reversible, it is the sheer volume of work that will need to be done, again all because of a petulant child. Someone needs to say "No, stop, enough".

I agree TorontoVet, and I can think of others:

Part of the loss of international respect is how, despite outspending the next 10 countries combined on the military, the US has been shown to be impotent against the Iranians, unable to use all that might to control even the Straits of Hormuz. Heck they can't even keep their own sailors fed properly. (Look up General Winter sometime to see why Germany lost WWII.) Not only does this make us look weak to our allies who relied on our strength to keep peace, but it makes us look weak to our enemies as well who realize that we don't carry such a big stick...or if we do, we don't know how to use it. (Just ask all the generals secwar fired...) Before our untested war machine could back up all of our diplomatic efforts around the world, giving weight to our influence and helping to create the kind of world where US and international trade could flourish. (Such as the JCPOA of 2015 which already had in place all that this war is supposed to accomplish without a single bomb dropped.) Especially since the lesson to all now is that, whatever America is, it is only that for 4 years, and after that the entire landscape can change. That the basic tenets that held the nation on a more or less consistent course, creating Pax Americana, regardless of who sat in the oval, have been shredded. (I still recall Francis Fukuyama arguing it was the end of history. He was so wrong about that!)

A big loss that will take decades to recover, if ever, is from the transfer of wealth to the richest away from the working and middle class. One estimate was that elon alone has as much wealth as the bottom 50% of Americans. Without a vibrant middle class, democracy itself is at risk. But it's so much more insidious in terms of our productivity gains which come from money spent on things like nutrition, health, education, infrastructure and R&D which builds our capacity for future growth. With all of those sectors being cut so the wealthiest can keep their tax cuts, our ability to pay back the record national debt is in danger. That could lead to our losing our position as a reserve currency, hyperinflation, and financial collapse....we're already to the point where the treasury is issuing more debt to cover our debt because our international trading partners are not interested in taking more on. That also means the generational wealth increases we came to expect are at risk, that our children and grands will be worse off than we. That kind of generational wealth takes decades to rebuild.

But none of that will matter if the planet becomes unsupportive of human life. There never was a plan to reverse the CO2 in the atmosphere....only slow the rate of increase. But once we reach the tipping point, it will be too late...and that is coming much faster with the 'drill baby drill' crowd who still insists on supporting coal jobs despite the fact that they are a fraction of the jobs available in the renewable industries.

But as you say, TV, there are more... makes me glad I am in the denouement of life. I'm not sure I want to see what comes next!

Re: the cherry trees. They are a symbol of spring and a gift from Japan. My grandson, who lives down there, gets up at dawn and rides his bike to take gorgeous pics of the trees at sunrise. He had one of his pictures featured on the front page of the Washington Post.

My question is why the pedo/ tyrant cannot be stopped. He is a tenant in the White House, it belongs to all Americans. He has destroyed so much of it and spends his days bragging about his ballroom while ignoring the war he got us into. They still call it the Rose Garden even though it looks like a mall food court with its stupid umbrellas. For someone as rich as he is, he has freaking ZERO taste. Everything is gaudy and cheap-looking, and my grandson said he painted the beautiful horses, which aged beautifully, a gaudy bright gold.

Someone upthread said the lake should have been named Lake New york as Ontario doesn't mean anything to the states.

All of the Great Lakes were named by First Nations probably 400 years ago and certainly before America became America and before New York was New York. The names have been somewhat anglicized since.

Yup, blfenton. PM Carney mentioned that in his statement.

”The name is more than 400 years old, predating both the Confederation of Canada ‌and ⁠the Declaration of Independence of the United States of America,”

We know that America is changing. Their trading relationships, their foreign policies, their national monuments, their hydronyms,” the prime minister continued. “Canadians also know that naming reality means calling it Lake Ontario — then, now and always.”

Last data I saw, the cherry trees attract about 1.5 million visitors a year to DC.

It will cost time and money, but we can rebuild the rose garden or fix the reflecting pool or remove the gilding from the statues. But old growth trees are never a quick or easy fix but a generational one.

Question: What is the difference between, keeping southern statues, images alive, not getting rid of them, For the sake of history..vs changing 400 yr old geographical names?

History is history, should it all he kept alive or no?

Love stone homes, the statue in Canada that has been boxed up is the one in Charlottetown of Sir John A. MacDonald, one of the Fathers of Confederation, and our first PM.

He was a good guy AND a bad guy.

They needed to leave the statue and tell the whole story.

Erecting statues is usually done to honor people. Removing statues of people promoting slavery and secession does not erase history, just the honoring. The history is stil taught, just not honored.

Generally, I would agree with you, oly.

This statue makes a perfect spot for one to sit down and read about Sir John A. MacDonald.

I felt that a sign explaining his role in building Canada, and the residential schools should have been erected-a balanced view of our past.

" Question: What is the difference between, keeping southern statues, images alive, not getting rid of them, For the sake of history..vs changing 400 yr old geographical names? "

Well, one is about a body of water, and another is about people. That should be obvious.

Additionally, the issue isn't really about changing the lake's name, it's about one person unilaterally changing the name of an international body of water without discussion, let alone consent, from other countries. And context matters, since it is happening during discussions that involve threatening Canada's sovereignty and her ability to control her own laws.

Mentioning the age and provenance of the name is only to illustrate that the name holds no national origin from either country; neither Canada nor the US named that lake.

And, as has been said, historical statues (and related) are generally created and kept to recognize and honour someone or something that the place/people are proud of - and that doesn't really apply the name of a lake that means "the big lake".

Who here doesn't realize that this name change flap is yet another attempt at distracting and sidelining public attention away from far more problematic events/actions? I believe it's a.k.a. 'flooding the zone'.

And I do think destroying a well-loved gift from another country would be sending a message of animosity.

My impression is that when statues are being torn down the history of them is being white-washed out of American history such as what happened at the Smithsonian.

If you're going to hold discussions with anyone about the change in name of any of the Great Lakes it should be the Indigenous Nations. The Seneca Nation of New York is demanding a reversal of the name back to Lake Ontario. For those interested this is a short but interesting article about the treaty that was signed by George Washington conferring the name and the origin of the name.

https://www.ctvnews.ca/world/article/seneca-nation-calls-for-reversal-of-trumps-lake-america-executive-order/

blfenton, pretty much NO ONE is going to change the name except the toddler who is throwing the tantrum. The grownups still respect and honor the name of the lake.

1.5M would be a significant number of visitors if they all come to see them when the cherrry trees are in blossom which only lasts a couple weeks. But good try anyway.

Whoever is flagging posts just stop. It and you are very irritating!

We'll keep them busy. I made this comment, no longer there.

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The comment flaggers are at it again. I feel so sorry for you.

Also this one:

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" But good try anyway. "

An implausible "fact". Also not a big number compared to annual visitors there.

" Who here doesn't realize that this name change flap is yet another attempt at distracting and sidelining public attention away from far more problematic events/actions? "

I disagree. I think it's not an attempt to distract, it's an attempt to gain territory and resources - something he's been talking about (and something he's been doing around the world) for 18 months. This is not a new idea that he made up just to distract people, it's part of his territorial expansion plans - and I refuse to minimize it by pretending it's just a distraction.

Other things may be "more problematic" to you, but for me this is an existential fight.

" pretty much NO ONE is going to change the name except the toddler who is throwing the tantrum. "

It's an EO, which means that the Federal government is bound to follow it. Not private companies, but the government must.

“Other things may be "more problematic" to you, but for me this is an existential fight.”

Exactly TV! Right from the get go T was calling our PM ”governor” and Canada being a ”51 state” and the border being a random line.

And don’t leave out who he assigned to us as an ambassador. 🙄