01/16 - Martin Luther King Junior Day
![Civil Rights March on Washington, D.C. [Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. speaking.], 08/28/1963.](https://live.staticflickr.com/1398/5102447354_9462b74b0a_w.jpg)
~~ Martin Luther King
It's Martin Luther King Junior Day, and what can one say about such a tremendous personage?
It has often been said that "you are known by the company you keep" or words to that effect. Maybe, but that is, among other things, guilt by association, and tends to hinge to a large degree on stereotypes and generalizations. I much prefer the idea that one is known not by the company they keep, but by the enemies that they make. So let's have a look, shall we.
Jedgar Hoover Horrible, the collective antitheses of everything that the U.S. is supposed to stand for, who misused the power of a government department to illegally harass, persecute and sometimes maliciously and wrongfully prosecute those he personally disliked or disapproved of, hated Doctor King. With his private army department dedicated to the broad goals of shutting down any and all nonconformity, ideological impurities, protests, thought crime, peaceniks, things he deemed "obscene", civil liberties and civil rights he was still able to focus on a few specific individuals. Doctor King was one such, Hoover really wanted to "get" Martin Luther King Jr. To become a specific named target of Jedgar the Horrible was a mark of great distinction; Doctor King really was that important to civilization, decency, and progress in this country.
It appears that today is designated National Religious Freedom Day I note that they don't say what nation. In this country it wavers between you can be whatever type of Christian (or Jew) you please and you can pray to the god of your choice. Yeah, whatever.
It is also my favorite holiday of them all; National Nothing Day. That's right, nuttin'. Zϼ, thass rite, Z rho, nada, and all like that. Don't have any obligation to remember, celebrate, honor, respect, acknowledge, appreciate, or be concerned about anything. Nothing Day is all about ϕ, the null set, and that's just ϕne with me.
On this day in history:
0027 BC -- Gaius Julius Caesar Octavianus became "Augustus" kicking off the Roman Empire.
0378 -- General Siyaj K'ak' conquered Tikal
0550 -- The Ostrogoths conquered Rome
0929 – Emir Abd-ar-Rahman III established the Caliphate of Córdoba
1605 -- The first edition of El ingenioso hidalgo Don Quijote de la Mancha was published
1786 -- Virginia enacted Jefferson's Statute for Religious Freedom
1883 – The US Civil Service was created by an act of Congress.
1909 -- Ernest Shackleton's expedition found the magnetic South Pole.
1919 -- Misguided zealots in the US ratified the Eighteenth Amendment
1920 -- The League of Nations held its first council meeting
1938 -- Benny Goodman and his band performed in concert at Carnegie Hall
1945 -- Hitler went into his underground bunker
1969 -- Soyuz 4 & Soyuz 5 did the first docking of manned spacecraft & first crew transfer
1979 -- Shah Reza Pahlavi fled Iran
1991 -- The start of the Gulf War
1992 – The Chapultepec Peace Accords between the US backed right wing El Salvador junta(s) and the rebels.
2003 -- The Space Shuttle Columbia launched on its final mission.
2006 -- Ellen Johnson Sirleaf became President of Liberia - Africa's first elected female ruler
2020 – The first impeachment of Donald Trump went to trial in the Senate
2020 – The United States Senate ratified NAFTA 2.0
Some people who were born on this day:
It isn't the mountain ahead that wears you out; it's the grain of sand in your shoe.
~~ Robert W. Service
1477 – Johannes Schöner, astronomer and cartographer
1634 – Dorothe Engelbretsdatter, author, poet, and proto-feminist
1728 – Niccolò Piccinni, composer and educator
1838 -- Franz Brentano, philosopher and psychologist
1855 -- Eleanor Marx, socialist leader, activist and author
1874 -- Robert W. Service, poet and author
1875 – Leonor Michaelis, biochemist and physician
1882 – Margaret Wilson, author
1892 – Homer Burton Adkins, chemist
1901 -- Fulgencio Batista, fascist mass torturer & murderer greatly loved by the US Government
1901 -- Frank Zamboni
1908 -- Ethel Merman, actress and singer
1914 -- Roger Wagner, conductor and educator (Robert Wagner Chorale)
1923 – Anthony Hecht, poet
1928 – William Kennedy, novelist and journalist
1932 – Dian Fossey, murdered primatologist, zoologist, and anthropologist
1933 -- Susan Sontag, author and playwright,
1934 -- Marilyn Horne, soprano and actress
1942 -- Barbara Lynn, singer, songwriter and guitarist
1943 -- Gavin Bryars, bassist and composer
1943 -- Ronnie Milsap, singer and pianist
1944 -- Dieter Moebius, keyboard player and producer
1944 -- Jim Stafford, singer, songwriter and actor
1944 -- Jill Tarter, astronomer, SETI researcher, and biologist
1956 -- Greedy Smith, singer, songwriter and keyboardist
1959 -- Sade, singer, songwriter and producer
1961 -- Kenneth Sivertsen, guitarist and composer
1962 -- Maxine Jones, singer, songwriter and actress
1965 -- Jill Sobule, singer, songwriter and guitarist
1969 – Stevie Jackson, guitarist and songwriter
1979 – Aaliyah, singer and actress
1996 – Kim Jennie, singer
Some people who died on this day:
The laws of probability, so true in general, so fallacious in particular.
~~ Edward Gibbon
1547 – Johannes Schöner, astronomer and cartographer
1794 – Edward Gibbon, historian and politician
1856 – Thaddeus William Harris, entomologist and botanist
1891 -- Leo Delibes, pianist and composer
1957 -- Arturo Toscanini, cellist and conductor
1967 -- Robert J. Van de Graaff, physicist and academic, electrifying personality
1973 -- Edgar Sampson, musician and composer, stomped at the Savoy
1983 – Virginia Mauret, musician and dancer
1990 – Lady Eve Balfour, farmer, educator, and founding figure in the organic movement
2000 -- Will "Dub" Jones, singer
2000 -- Robert R. Wilson, physicist and academic
2002 – Robert Hanbury Brown, astronomer and physicist
2009 -- Andrew Wyeth, painter
2012 -- Jimmy Castor, singer, songwriter and saxophonist
2012 – Gustav Leonhardt, pianist, conductor, and musicologist
2019 – Lorna Doom, musician
2019 – Chris Wilson, Australian musician
2021 – Phil Spector, record producer, songwriter
Some Holidays, Holy Days, Festivals, Feast Days, Days of Recognition, and such:
Martin Luther King Day (US)
National Nothing Day (US)
National Religious Freedom Day (US)
Today's Tunes
Benny Goodman
Robert Wagner - Wow, I never heard this done as a dirge before
Barbara Lynn
Gavin Bryars
Ronnie Milsap
Dieter Moebius
Jim Stafford
Greedy Smith
Sade
Kenneth Sivertsen
Maxine Jones
Jill Sobule
Leo Delibes
Arturo Toscanini
Edgar Sampson
Will "Dub" Jones
Jimmy Castor
Phil Spector
Hey, mega bonus, the concert that put jazz on the map
Ok, it's an open thread, so it's up to you folks now. So what's on your mind?
Cross posted from http://caucus99percent.com
Comments
Good morning...
I hope everyone has a great holiday!
Warming up here for the next few days, which of course means rain.
No plans today, so nothing day sounds appropriate. Yesterday we took up our black plastic bed covers we use as weed killers. We had wheat sprouting in the beds which we smothered. At any rate, we hung them on the fence to dry and them got them all folded and put away in the garden shed. That task is checked off the list.
Covering weedy patches with a heavy tarp or plastic is a great trick. It does take a month or so, but sure saves on labor in the long run.
Thanks for all the music and the OT!
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
Good morning lookout. It stopped raining this morning
and allegedly won't rain any more today. Yard work and gardening may be in the offing yet. The tarp/plastic sheeting technique is generally great, but one needs to find an easy way to weight the covers down. There are also a couple of pesky weeds that leave little time bombs deep in the soil such that any soil disturbance triggers them springing up anew.
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 --
I cover my beds
to keep them dry during the rainy season.
The PNW is almost constant drizzle, showers, or light rain.
Interspersed with sunshowers, of course.
Neither Russia nor China is our enemy.
Neither Iran nor Venezuela are threatening America.
Cuba is a dead horse, stop beating it.
Good morning earthlling1, I recall Seattle from
one of its really wet years, so I can readily understand keeping the beds dry. Lately I maybe should have too, but one hopes the water penetrates on down to slowly drench lower layers and hold some there. We'll see when I harvest my winter crop (garlic and shallots).
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 --
MLK had a powerful dream
not soon forgotten by progressive thinkers. Reading now about the gospel train and abolitionists
with side trips to the Missouri and Kansas territories. Free staters vs slavers.
Thanks for nothing day
Good morning QMS. King had a dream, and it is
sadly still but a dream. I heard that El Presidentito gave some sort of address yestidday asserting that we had come a long way. From where? Open slavery is limited to prisoners, ok, but the Civil War was in the 1860s.
You are very welcome, enjoy nothing day to its fullest. Perhaps we need at least one per month.
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 --
As Matt Johnson said
in the tune "Armageddon Days" from The The, "Mind Bomb" (1989):
Twice bitten, permanently shy.
Thanks UFS.
IMO, churches and organized religion are the source of at least half of all of history's troubles, so ...
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 --
So what came first,
MLK Day or Nat'l Nothing Day?
It seems somewhat disrespectful to MLK.
Or maybe it's just me.
Thanks for the OT, EL.
Neither Russia nor China is our enemy.
Neither Iran nor Venezuela are threatening America.
Cuba is a dead horse, stop beating it.
yes, piling nothing on MLK seems in bad taste
or has Hallmark gone political?
see my reply to earthling immediately below this
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 --
There is no real conflict there, Nothing Day is January 15th
King's birthday is January 14th. Aaaand, thanks to the governments fetish for Monday holidays,
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/1/16/dr-martin-luther-king-jr-day
MLK's birthday is a fixed date, 1/14
Nothing Day is a fixed date, 1/15
MLK Day Federal Holiday is a floating date not really tied to Dr. King's life except for being in the same month as his birthday.
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 --
I got nuthin' here...
Hi all, Hey EL! Hope its all good out there!
A couple of the best nothings...
Nothing to Say (Benefit)
Nothing is Easy (Stand Up)
If your name was Zero, would it make you feel like nothing?
told ya I had nuthin'...
Who knew van de Graff had an electrifying personality? ROFL!
be well 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
And some more nothin'
Billy Preston:
[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8HqyEHqEYho width:400 height:300]
And the Alley Cats from Urgh: A Music War (still one of the finest documentaries of the 80's LA scene ever done):
[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3q-MTmh9p0E width:400 height:300]
Twice bitten, permanently shy.
Thanks UFS. n/t
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 --
Nuthin' from nuthin'
Thanks UFS! Great tunes! I love that Billy Preston. He was on soooo much great music, the Beatles to the Stones to Eric Clapton, and a million things. Amazing player. I saw him do an hour set in '73 and he blew the place (Long Bch. Arena - 10k) away. And after we just watched Jose Feliciano running around on stage with a Strat shredding Purple Haze, that was no easy feat.
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
Good afternoon Dysto, thanks for reading.
If my name was Zero I would claim that it was a cypher for Zeno
Thanks for the tunes. Probably nobody knew about ol' Robert J except the Van de Graaff generation.
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 --
two great nothings from Tull
thanks dysto!
somewhere there's a photo
of me and the Rev. King, marching in NYC...with about 100,000 others. I suspect some of you were there, too. 1967.
Afternoon Sharyar, thanks for reading. So, did you
have that pic of you with King framed?
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 --
deleted. darn it, I forgot those times. Sorry. /nt
Robert E. Lee Day is today
Mississippi and Alabama celebrate the birthday of Robert E. Lee on the same day as MLK's birthday. Some state legislators have tried to end this practice, but I don't think it will change anytime soon.
Good evening Karl. I was aware of the Miss holiday,
not sure if I had stumbled across the bama one or not. I tend not to mention those kinds of holidays, birthdays of mass murderers and stuff like that unless I've got something to hammer them with and not much else to do. In this case, your choice of
but I got no mucho for bama, I'm afraid.
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 --
What a contradiction of people celebrated on this day
Thank you for introducing me to Kabir Karriem in your link ...
Robert E. Lee
Thank you el, for acknowledging one of the best
in your own way.
I’ll try to shake the grain of sand in my shoe out.
[video:https://youtu.be/T2u2eqerRks]
Good morning Janis.
You're welcome and thanks. Thanks as well for the music.
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 --