02/07 - National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day
It is National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day and I am not remotely qualified to speak to the subject. IF the existence of this day benefits any member of the seeming target population any good whatsoever, then I'm all for it and give it my wholehearted support. I will say that it sounds like one of those "thoughts and prayers" type of days where the creation of the day is the sum total or our concern, and the full extent of our involvement as a nation and society in seriously addressing the things that could and should be being done. We, as a nation and as individuals and communities, need to see what we can do to ensure that such is not the case.
On this day in history:
1497 – Supporters of Girolamo Savonarola burned cosmetics, art, and books, in a "Bonfire of the vanities in Florence, Italy.
1783 – French and Spanish forces lifted the Great Siege of Gibraltar.
1795 – The 11th Amendment to the United States Constitution was ratified.
1812 – The strongest in a series of earthquakes hit New Madrid, Missouri
1819 – Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles left Singapore just after taking it over, leaving it in the hands of William Farquhar
.
1863 – HMS Orpheus sank off the coast of Auckland, New Zealand, killing 189.
1894 – The Cripple Creek miner's strike, led by the Western Federation of Miners, began
1898 – Émile Zola was brought to trial for libel for publishing J'Accuse…!
1900 – A person in San Francisco fell ill with bubonic plague in the first plague epidemic in the continental United States
1904 – A fire began in Baltimore, Maryland that destroyed over 1,500 buildings in 30 hours.
1951 – More than 700 suspected communist sympathizers were massacred by South Korean forces.
1962 – The United States banned all Cuban imports and exports.
1974 – Grenada gained independence from the United Kingdom
1979 – Pluto moved inside Neptune's orbit for the first time since either was discovered.
1984 – Astronauts Bruce McCandless II and Robert L. Stewart made the first untethered space walk using the Manned Maneuvering Unit (MMU).
1986 – Haitian President Jean-Claude Duvalier fled Haiti
1990 – The Central Committee of the Soviet Communist Party agreed to give up its monopoly on power.
1991 – Haiti's first democratically elected president, Jean-Bertrand Aristide, is sworn in.
1992 – The Maastricht Treaty was signed, leading to the creation of the European Union.
2013 – The U.S. state of Mississippi officially certified the Thirteenth Amendment, becoming the last state to approve the abolition of slavery.
2014 – Scientists announced that the Happisburgh footprints in Norfolk, England, date back to more than 800,000 years ago, making them the oldest known hominid footprints outside Africa
Born this day in:
Advertising is a valuable economic factor because it is the cheapest way of selling goods, particularly if the goods are worthless.
~~ Sinclair Lewis
1478 – Thomas More, lawyer and politician who wrote Utopia
1612 – Thomas Killigrew, playwright and manager
1722 – Azar Bigdeli, anthologist and poet
1802 – Louisa Jane Hall, poet, essayist, and literary critic
1804 – John Deere, blacksmith and businessman who founded Deere & Company
1812 – Charles Dickens, novelist and critic
1825 – Karl Möbius, German zoologist and ecologist
1864 – Arthur Collins, baritone singer
1867 – Laura Ingalls Wilder, author
1870 – Alfred Adler, psychologist and therapist
1873 – Thomas Andrews, shipbuilder and businessman, designed the RMS Titanic
1877 – G. H. Hardy, mathematician and geneticist
1885 – Sinclair Lewis, American novelist, short-story writer, and playwright
1887 – Eubie Blake, pianist and composer
1889 – Harry Nyquist, engineer and theorist
1893 – Joseph Algernon Pearce, astrophysicist and astronomer
1905 – Ulf von Euler, physiologist and academic,
1906 – Oleg Antonov, engineer, founded the Antonov Aircraft Company
1920 – Oscar Brand, singer, songwriter, and author
1920 – An Wang, engineer and businessman, founded Wang Laboratories
1932 – Gay Talese, journalist and memoirist
1934 – King Curtis, saxophonist and producer
1934 – Earl King, singer, songwriter, guitarist, and producer
1956 – Mark St. John, guitarist
1962 – David Bryan, keyboard player and songwriter
1962 – Eddie Izzard, comedian, actor, and producer
1975 – Wes Borland, singer, songwriter, and guitarist
Died this day in:
“How strange it is, that a fool or a knave, with riches, should be treated with more respect by the world, than a good man, or a wise man in poverty!”
~~ Ann Radcliffe
1333 – Nikko, priest, founder of Nichiren Shoshu Buddhism
1520 – Alfonsina de' Medici, Regent of Florence
1736 – Stephen Gray, astronomer and physicist
1823 – Ann Radcliffe, author
1871 – Henry E. Steinway, businessman, founded Steinway & Sons
1891 – Marie Louise Andrews, story writer and journalist
1897 – Galileo Ferraris, physicist and engineer
1959 – Guitar Slim, singer and guitarist
1960 – Igor Kurchatov, physicist and academic
1990 – Alan Perlis, computer scientist and academic
2001 – Anne Morrow Lindbergh, author and pilot
2009 – Blossom Dearie, singer and pianist
Holidays, Holy Days, Festivals, Feast Days, Days of Recognition, and such:
Independence Day (Grenada), celebrates the independence of Grenada from the United Kingdom in 1974.
National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day (United States)
Ballet Day
e Day
National Fettucine Alfredo Day
National Periodic Table Day
Music goes here, iirc, well, With apologies
Mississippi's belated approval of the abolition of slavery
EUBIE BLAKE
OSCAR BRAND
KING CURTIS
EARL KING
DAVID BRYAN
GUITAR SLIM
BLOSSOM DEARIE
OTHER: EDDIE IZZARD
Please Note: Please do not post any Covid-19 related commentary in the comments. Thank you. There is a separate OT, aka The Dose, where all such material is welcome. Thanks again.
Ok, it's an open thread, so it's up to you folks now. So what's on your mind?
Comments
Call me confused re: Grenada independence from UK
The government of Grenada works under a parliamentary representative democratic structure, which means the general population elects politicians to represent the interests of the public. This country belongs to the Commonwealth Realm and as a Commonwealth Nation, the monarch of England serves as its Head of State.
Not sure how independent that makes them?
Thanks for the OT!
Good morning QMS. The whole bit with being independent and
yet part of the Commonwealth is confusing, fact. Nonetheless, in 67 and 74 it gained some sort of independence from Britain. It is doubtful, however, if it will ever be independent of the US, which has invaded it once to force what is now called "Regime Change" and stands ever ready to do it again, because this hemisphere is ours to control as we see fit.
Here's a link that doesn't ex[lain or solve the mystery of Commonwealth status, but somewhat explains Grenada's Independence Day: https://nationaltoday.com/independence-day-grenada/
be well and have a good one.
That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --
*Very* independent.
You just have to be in Grenada for Independence Day a few times to know. Or better yet, Juve- now that is a party. There's essentially no sign remaining of the old order: anything earlier than Maurice Bishop is long gone.
Shoot, it is one of the few places on the planet that you can find pro-US graffiti: there's a bus shelter just outside St. George's painted with a beautifully maintained 82nd Airborne insignia and the inscription "Thanks, US Soldiers!". It seems that they remember us more fondly than we do (or deserve).
Full disclaimer: have spent many happy weeks there, and in the extremely unlikely event that retirement ever becomes a possibility for me, it will be there...
Twice bitten, permanently shy.
Replying to my own post,
I have to add: with the exception of the bank notes. The old broad's picture is still on that cash. However, that is primarily because the currency in Grenada is the $EC (Eastern Caribbean dollar), and is common with many of the other Eastern Caribbean island nations- some of which still very much are quite British. So, there's that. But Grenada is a lot less colonial than a lot of the rest of the Caribbean Community of nations. It is somewhat analogous to the European Community...
Twice bitten, permanently shy.
Bonfire of the vanities.
Good timing, I was just thinking about burning a book. But it is so damned old it would probably just smolder unless I added an accellerant, which is not something I just keep handy so... shrug. oh well. Maybe I'll just throw it out. It's from 1911 and it has my maternal grandfather's signature in the back under the list of Patrons. I'd like to throw it off the Golden Gate Bridge, right where we scattered my brother's ashes in 1995. My brother would kill me if I harmed this book. lol fuckit, burn the photos too, burn it all why not.
Also signed by the author:
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They were Irish and they were racists. White Irish racists. Us later generations, not so much. Fuck racism. I'd like to forget all isms.
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Richie and McCarthy on the The Golden Gate Ferry
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Richie SF Pride Day 1990 (Domestic Partners law passed)
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Richie died in 1995.
He was part of The Examiner's Gay in America special report series, there were posters of the people distributed all over. Richie is on the third row, third from the left. Arms crossed. I still miss him.
The poster is here. Thanks Greg Brock:
https://makinggayhistory.com/podcast/greg-brock/
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Sorry this has nothing to do with Black HIV/AIDS Awareness. Cnditioning says it's my inherently racist subconcious, to be so fucking unaware. sry
Peace and Love
Love the picture of you and your brother
from 1990. A treasure. There are a plethora of national awareness days for many different groups
thru-out the year. As EL mentioned, if these could be converted into action beyond just awareness, we may have progress.
Good luck.
Roller blades and madras shirts
edit: fix copy pasta double oops. disco brain
Good Times (Original 12" Mix) (Official Vinyl Video)
[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PP_JBPGkd-Y width:420]
Peace and Love
boogie down
There's real joy expressed there
thanks for sharing
disco duck
Hola eyo. Great pictures and thanks for posting them
and that bit of your brother's history (and everybody's, in a sence) here. It is not out of place nor off topic because this is an open thread and there is no real designated topic. I just pick some one or more things for ME to talk about because I like to blab, but not to direct conversation or comments. In this case, it is a chance to chide this country and its politicians for all of their bullshit "days" dedicate to things and persons that they do not support of give a shit about.
be well and have a good one
That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --
Don't burn it, Goddamit, no !
think of all the next generations who will dig into archives and libraries, just to find that particular book. It makes me feel sick. Please don't do it. Give it as gift to someone who has a relation to it.
And I am upset, why it this awarenes dayis a black AIDS/HiV awareess day?. I hate racism too, who why is it everywhere staring at me? White folks were magically saved from gettin HIV?
Please don't burn old books. My sister has books from her Indish-Goaneses (porutgess) family somewhere, which are not wanted anymore, because everybody died away. But I think I wiil give those to Museusm in Protugal one day ... heck, nocbody has any idea what to do with those.
But burning? nah, nah, nah.
Nina Simone cuts into the heart.
I pray for all of you.
Be well all and survive. And much more love and peace from me as well. A double whopper of love!!!
https://www.euronews.com/live
Okay yeah. Book burning is stupid
There are hundreds of copies of California History and Romance still available. It was a lousy book then, as it is today. But that is no reason for me to act like an idiot, thank you.
Peace and Love
I am sorry to have reacted that rude, on my gout attack
days it happens. Please forgive. I also had not read the links.
https://www.euronews.com/live
After thinking a bit through my reactions
I think what makes it difficult to be calmer for me, is the fact that I constantly watch our own German TV media.
Right now I will follow Chancellor Scholz meeting with Biden.
May be the disappointment in Biden and in Scholz is similar.
Scholz is very tired. So I don't think that something earth shuttering will happen.
I miss Bermie Sanders and want him back.
https://www.euronews.com/live
There is an anomaly with respect to Black Aids
in this country. Truth be told, it is NOT an anomaly because it is THIS country. OK, in 2019 Blacks were 13% of the population, but 40% of the people with HIV (CDC). This is after decades of targeted campaigns to eliminate, suppress and prevent the transmission of HIV. It would appear that those campaigns only targeted whites or were otherwise singularly ineffective with respect to blacks.
be well and have a good one
That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --
thanks so much for the explanations. /nt
https://www.euronews.com/live
I think white people are represented on World AIDS Day
On December 1 every year so don’t worry about them. I remember when it was created. My friend and I went to the park it was held in and we were supposed to release our balloons at the same time. Mine took off early and since it looked so lonely my friends released theirs early too.
Was Humpty Dumpty pushed?
Wow
I was there that year too with my brother. I almost have the same picture. Well you’re not in it, but close enough ehh? We probably passed each other on the street. Boy that’s some memory you brought up in my mind. FUN times! Cheers..we’ll just say we met one another and call us old friends shall we? Sounds good to me!
I also scattered my brother’s ashes off the GGB in '93. Was supposed to do it as the tide was rolling in, but the wind was blowing out so I guess you know what happened.
I’m very sorry for your loss, eyo. He looks like he was a great guy. Time is supposed to heal all wounds right? Riiight! Take care and enjoy your memories of Richie. Mine was named Rick and it’s nice to know that he has company swimming in the Bay by the City he loved.
Was Humpty Dumpty pushed?
Cried a lot yesterday. Also laughed.
southnorth tower (oops, got turned around). We all shook the urn and yeah, the wind carried his remains far and wide.Thanks a lot for writing on World Aids Day, and about the names project. I usually can't comment 'cause I'm balling my head off like it all happened yesterday. Tomorrow is another day. Merry meet and merry part and merry meet again.
I hope you have appletv or whatever the paywall is now for Charlie Brown's Christmas movie. I was appalled when the Charles Schultz estate sold out that classic. Appalled! lol It's what I get for living in the same area since forever. Perspective. oh well
I really love your photos, feel lucky when you post about travels with Sam. grin They are fantastic, thanks a lot. scritch scritch
Peace and Love
Good morning
Periodic Table day...sounds elementary.
[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U2cfju6GTNs]
Plus Ballet Day...
[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Alpl6A6gUpo]
Whatever today is...make it a good one!
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
Tom Lehrer "end run" expires. "don't wait too long"
the popup says
right on smarty pants
https://tomlehrersongs.com/
The only one I downloaded and converted to text was Pollution, 'cause I heard it a lot when it was popular. comfy nostalgia
I guess his lyrics are just "too old" for the yutes to recreate something new out of them? Never heard anything since 2020. oh well I know how it feels to be "too old" so there is that. lol
Peace and Love
He was very clever
So many of his pieces still hold up. Thanks for the heads up on the website window.
You need some more sweet potatoes? We had a good crop this year, and I could mail you a small box.
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
My absolute favorite
Lehrer song (to nobody's surprise):
[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=frAEmhqdLFs width:400 height:300]
Young folks should really learn his stuff. It is absolutely worth their while.
Twice bitten, permanently shy.
Let's wait and see if I still have an address
I still have the $600 C99 Savings Account you and mimi sent to fix my face. I never fixed my broken tooth, sorry. It feeds me now when the cupboard goes bare I either fast or borrow from you guys, and that works fine so far. I can't even borrow from the food bank around here. Thanks a lot! muchas gracias
Peace and Love
mutual aid
Good morning LO, thanks for the vids, classic
tunes both. Since you went and brought up ballet day, I feel obligated to post some actual ballet footage:
be well and have a good one
That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --
100 days ago in history Russia planning to invade Ukraine
100 days ago in history Russia planning to invade Ukraine any day now. Really any day now. Not kidding. You just wait and see.
"Tomorrow"
NYCVG
Hi all
Hi EL! Hope all is well! Nina Simone was amazing. Cuts to the bone. Hail Sinclair Lewis! We have been freezing for much of last week here in central Texas. Very few birds around this winter. Many suspect the mega freeze last year is a factor. Have great ones all!
We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.
Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better.
both - Albert Einstein
Hola Dysto. We have suddenly also developed a
scarcity of birds, we suspect that the Cooper's hawk who has been prowling our yard and that of a neighbor who also feeds birds might have something to do with it. Looked out the window friday and there he was sitting in the apricot tree and then the fountain/birdbath, but couldn't get any pics.
Sorry to hear about the cold and the lack of birds there.
be well and hae a good one
That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --
Baby Hummer alert, we've got at least 3 hummers,
suspect 4, and they've really been draining our multiple feeders at a fantastic rate. So, both yesterday and today we've seen hummers disposing of fecal sacs, hence we've got live nestlings in at least one nest (likely in the Orange tree or one of the front yard conifers)
be well and have a good one
That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --
They are so amazing!
Their ability to hover is what fascinates me. Had an office mate for some time who was deeply enmeshed in studying that kind of activity with powerful computers. The hope is that we may be able to figure out how to do it!
Like Muhammad Ali said.. float like a butterfly and sting like a bee.. Like in Majority Report.
We would need a very concentrated lightweight source of power that we don't have right now.
Once one stunned itself against a glass window on my balcony and I held it in my hands as it recovered and then successfully returned to its flight and looking for delicious nectars.
I held it, In all its iridescent beauty.
Cool. That power supply is the answer to many
an idea I've had, btw. We understand the mechanics of their flight, as well a that of bumblebees, etc. but haven't got the magic power source.
be wewll and have a good one
That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --
hummerlets
We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.
Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better.
both - Albert Einstein
We have resident Anna's, Roufous & Allens come through and
some hang around pretty long, but they eventually move on.
be well and have a good one
That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --
Camilla joins The Firm
In the spirit of Open Threadage file this under "things I thought I'd never see" or actually read in print in a newspaper. Cheers HRH Her Royal Highness.
Queen marks 70th anniversary with support for Camilla
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Well alrighty then! Wouldn't it be weird if HRC somehow got appointed Precedent of the USA, then swore on a bible Her allegiance to the constitution paper, dressed inside Her big belfast robes? never mind I even believe she would make the White House servants address Her as if she were royalty. why not
Plan for the worst, hope for the best.
Peace and Love
Somehow I picture her, should she ever get
the presidency, carrying a Crusader shield and symbolic Crusader lance with the Crusader banner affixed to the tip as she prepared to go to war with damn near everybody.
That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --
Wasn't it shrub junior that let slip something
about the 'murican crusade against the evil axels?
Remember robin Williams having fun with that ..
ixxnay crusaderay
Yep, indeed, and based on her beliefs, statements,
and behavior, I have always imagined HRC as the definite crusader. Remember her attitude toward
the moorsLibya?be well and have a good one
That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --
Monday. Ugh.
My asst. is out sick. Husband was pitching in at the office, then his brother and s-i-l called, said they would be here from Michigan in a couple of hours. Not the 3 day heads up to get the house organized that we had expected. At all.
So, I will be watching a cop handle an arrest, on video, for a couple hours. And, trying to interview another client. And answering two phone lines. And handling walk ins. And I anticipate a hectic, and unproductive day.
Other than that, we have as many as 40 birds at the bird feeder, at once, throughout the day. It makes for pleasant weekends. They are gone by the time I get off work. I know they have been around by the rapid depletion of seeds. They are pigs!
My tax prep is almost done, EL. Making headway on yours?
"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981
Good morning otc. Sorry about the hectic conditions
and the surprise visitation. Pardon the birds, they are probably already nesting in your locale. We have at least one hummingbird nest with live young and our normal feeders are going through rapid depletion.
We just mailed our federal return yesterday and I'm just starting the state one; it is a convoluted monstrosity that starts with the federal one and then makes a ton of adjustments and one 5 page "form" isn't on the web but must be e-mailed to you after you request it and provide an e-mail address. It's crazy making. I plan on taking my time with it, starting with making a spreadsheet to mimic the computations and information flow once I've made sure that I have all the required forms printed. So long as it is my top priority I don't have to do too much else, except that it is my week to cook.
be well and have a good one
That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --
Feeding birds in the winter and spring, the lean times for them
@on_the_cusp This time of year is the hardest for birds and all animals. Everywhere so you are really making all the difference for them. Helping them survive to have their babies in the spring.
So, thats why they eat a lot. There is almost no other food around they can eat now.
Cal's Falcons are at it again, with a strong likelihood
of increasing the Bay Area falcon population. Since their nest is largely enclosed and atop Cal's Campanile, they have a huge success rate in fledging offspring, insofar as it is very defensible. W00t!
That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --
They are in the Campanile?
I'm sure somebody must have wired them up with a webcam and put them online. Indeed!
https://calfalcons.berkeley.edu
Congratulations Annie and Grinell. So sad about the breaking of one egg. Indeed, DDT does still have lingering effects for our avian friends. Lots of them. It persists in the environment in insidious ways. Clay along streams is problematic as it binds the DDT and releases residues over time. This is mentioned here.
I'm very familiar with the natural environment around UC Berkeley.
https://www.berkeleyside.org/2021/10/14/berkeley-bird-festival
Hola zed. Thanks for both those links. The campus environs
are highly variable for the strangest reasons. Last year, thanks to covid, there were no students at key times. The lack of accidental food drops led to a decline in the pigeon population, which Annie and Grinell went through rather quickly, leading to Grinell hunting the shoreline and bagging a large number of Red Wing Blackbirds to compensate for the pigeon scarcity.
The Cal nest cams are only a part of the local picture; there should be some on the PG&E building too, for their falcons, as well as some up in Richmond for their Osprey, if they return again this year, and others further afield like the famous eagles out east or the less famous ones up in Redding. Soon my wife will again be seriously addicted, jumping from cam to cam to cam.
be well and have a good one
EDIT: fixed some typos
That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --
CORRECTION: PG&E sold the PG&E bldg and the new
owner has removed the webcams and, iirc, is trying to dissuade the falsons from nesting there. Also, in some years past there have been nests and cams on the Bay Bridge.
That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --
Thanks to people who broke rules, poor people are temporarily
poor people with AIDS who cant afford to pay $15,000 a year - what the drug companies charge, are temporarily getting a waiver in the WTO allowing some to get the expensive, life saving HIV drugs for less, as long as they live in the poorest LDC countries, and those countries incomes (wages) stay really low.. So they are being held hostage. Its really evil genius how the drug companies have set it up so if people have any money they have to pay it all to them.
[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ciedlxUDjS4]