07/31 is Ka Hae Hawai'i Day

Flag-of-hawaii-flying

~~ Flag of Hawai'i; photo by Scazon on Flickr

July 31 is Lā Hae Hawaiʻi, the Hawaiian Flag Day. (It is also Lā Hoʻihoʻi Ea, Sovereignty Restoration Day.) The flag of Hawai'i prominently features a smaller Union Jack within it. Why does a US state have the British Ensign on its flag? Because the British dealt moderately properly with them and never tried to steal their country or overthrow their government. They certainly never sent in their Marines the way we sent in the US Marines to help some low-life thieving scum stage a coup d'etat and force a changed constitution upon them at bayonet point.

U.S. Public 103-150 "acknowledges that the overthrow of the Kingdom of Hawaii occurred with the active participation of agents and citizens of the United States and further acknowledges that the Native Hawaiian people never directly relinquished to the United States their claims to their inherent sovereignty as a people over their national lands, either through the Kingdom of Hawaii or through a plebiscite or referendum". It is, of course, not actionable.

Denis Diderot, who died on this date, was a philosopher, art critic and writer, as well as co-founder, chief editor, and contributor to the Encyclopédie. He contributed 7,000 entries to the Encyclopédie and wrote numerous books, essays and plays. If you do nothing else, go to a source like BrainyQuote.com and read whatever sampling of quotations by him are there such as:

The first step towards philosophy is incredulity.

or

We swallow greedily any lie that flatters us, but we sip only little by little at a truth we find bitter.

Panama's Omar Torrijos negotiated the 1977 Torrijos–Carter Treaties that eventually gave Panama full sovereignty over the Panama Canal, instituted many populist measures like land redistribution and public works programs, supported Allende and the Sandinistas and restored diplomatic relations with Cuba. He died in an airplane crash on this date in 1981.

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On this day in history:

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1492 -- Ferdinand & Isabella expelled the Jews from Spain

1703 -- Daniel Defoe was pilloried for seditious libel

1790 – The first U.S. patent was issued

1932 -- The NSDAP won over 38% of the vote in German elections.

1938 -- Archaeologists found engraved metal plates from King Darius the Great in Persepolis.

1964 -- Ranger 7 transmitted the first close-up photographs of the moon to earth

1970 – The last day of the officially sanctioned rum ration in the Royal Navy.

1971 -- Apollo 15 crew got the first ride in a lunar rover

1991 -- The US and USSR signed the START I treaty.

2006 -- Fidel Castro transferred power to his brother, Raul.

2007 -- The British Army finally left Northern Ireland,

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Some people who were born on this day:

Open your newspaper - any day of the week - and you will find a report from somewhere in the world of someone being imprisoned, tortured or executed because his opinions or religion are unacceptable to his government.

~~ Peter Benenson

1598 -- Alessandro Algardi, sculptor
1718 -- John Canton, physicist
1803 – John Ericsson, engineer
1835 – Paul Du Chaillu, zoologist, anthropologist and explorer
1858 – Richard Dixon Oldham, seismologist and geologist
1860 -- Mary Vaux Walcott, the Audubon of botany
1875 -- Jacques Villon, painterv
1877 – Louisa Bolus, botanist and taxonomist
1904 – Brett Halliday, engineer, surveyor, and author
1912 -- Milton Friedman, right wing quack
1918 – Paul D. Boyer, biochemist and academic
1918 -- Hank Jones, pianist, composer and bandleader
1921 – Peter Benenson, activist, founded Amnesty International
1921 – Whitney Young, activist
1923 – Ahmet Ertegun, songwriter and producer, founded Atlantic Records
1923 -- Stephanie Kwolek, chemist who invented Kevlar
1931 -- Kenny Burrell, guitarist, singer and songwriter
1943 – Lobo, singer, songwriter, and guitarist
1946 – Gary Lewis, drummer and singer
1951 -- Evonne Goolagong Cawley, tennis champ
1952 -- Faye Kellerman, mystery author
1957 – Daniel Ash, singer, songwriter, and guitarist
1958 – Bill Berry, drummer and songwriter
1959 -- Stanley Jordan, jazz guitarist, pianist and songwriter
1964 – Jim Corr, singer, songwriter, and guitarist
1965 -- J. K. Rowling, author

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Some people who died on this day:

Man will never be free until the last king is strangled with the entrails of the last priest.

~~ Denis Diderot

1358 – Étienne Marcel, rebel leader
1726 -- Nicolaus II Bernoulli, mathematician
1784 -- Denis Diderot, philosopher
1886 -- Franz Liszt, pianist, composer and conductor
1913 – John Milne, geologist and mining engineer
1944 -- Antoine de Saint-Exupery, pilot and poet
1951 – Cho Ki-chon, poet
1966 -- Bud Powell, pianist
1981 – Omar Torrijos, general and politician, Military Leader of Panama who died in an airplane crash.
1986 -- Teddy Wilson, swing pianist
2012 -- Gore Vidal, novelist, critic, screenwriter, wise-ass, wit

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Some Holidays, Holy Days, Festivals, Feast Days, Days of Recognition, and such:

Ka Hae Hawai'i Day (Hawai'ian flag day)

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Today's Tunes

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Hank Jones

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Ahmet Ertigun

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Kenny Burrell

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Lobo

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Gary Lewis

Stanley Jordan

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Jim Corr

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Franz List

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Bud Powell

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Teddy Wilson

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In honor of Evonne Goolagong

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Bonus:
Hank Jones

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Bud Powell, Mingus on bass

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Teddy Wilson

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Ok, it's an open thread, so it's up to you folks now. So what's on your mind?

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Cross posted from http://caucus99percent.com

Open Thread, Daniel Defoe, START I Treaty, Denis Diderot, Evonne Goolagong, Ahmet Ertegun, Stanley Jordan

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Lookout's picture

Coups are US, I'm afraid. When we want territory, we take it one way or another. The Seminoles in FL never surrendered either.

Happy Hawaiian Flag Day.

Thanks for the OT!

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“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”

enhydra lutris's picture

@Lookout

Thanks for dropping in and bringing the music of the islands.
be well and have a good one

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6 users have voted.

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 --

usefewersyllables's picture

https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/ive-never-seen-anything-mysteriou...

Unlicensed Chinese biotech outfit in a warehouse in the Central Valley. Tit, meet tat. Sauce for the gander and all that, after all.

At least it is no longer in Fresno, amirite? Gawd forbid we should lose Fresno...

NBC News reports that an investigation found the tenant was Prestige BioTech, a company registered in Nevada and unlicensed for business in California. City officials spoke with Xiuquin Yao, who was identified as the company president, through emails included in the court documents.

Yao told officials that Prestige BioTech moved assets belonging to a defunct company, Universal Meditech Inc., to the Reedley warehouse from Fresno after UMI went under. Prestige Biotech was a creditor to UMI and identified as its successor, according to court documents.

Officials were unable to get any California-based address for either company except for the previous Fresno location from which UMI had been evicted.

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Twice bitten, permanently shy.

enhydra lutris's picture

@usefewersyllables

certain cachet that Fresburg utterly lacks, a certain je ne sais quoi, so to speak. Of course, this comes from age old memories of traveling Hwy 99 with all of it's glorious signage and billboards.

be well and have a good one

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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 --

usefewersyllables's picture

@enhydra lutris

Good point. Let's settle on Los Banos, then. It may not be on 99, but it has unique charms of its own as well.

When one of our cars got stolen while we were still living out there, that's where they recovered what was left of it. Besides, I just love the name of the place- somebody definitely had a sense of humor...

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Twice bitten, permanently shy.

enhydra lutris's picture

@usefewersyllables

"The Baths", someplace to stop and wash up. Tsk, tsk.

Spent a night at a friends Duck Club there, great Horned Owl hooting much of the evening. Forget where we ate, but not pea soup.

be well and have a good one

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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 --

usefewersyllables's picture

@enhydra lutris

as well- until the CHP officer supervising the handover of our stripped, partially burned hulk corrected my translation, and said "No, it is more correctly pronounced 'The Toilets'".

Cost a lot of out-of-pocket money to get it released from the impound and dragged directly to the nearest junkyard. But the coolest thing of all? That was in 1994, and the DMV still sends me a non-operational-car notice once a year, and asks if I want to renew the plates to put it back on the road.

We've lived in CO for 24 years now. And yes, I've written them many times informing that the car has been scrapped, and is never coming back; not in CA or anywhere else.

Ahh, California- never change...

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Twice bitten, permanently shy.

enhydra lutris's picture

@usefewersyllables

Go buy the remains of a junked Henry J put a new corvette drive train in it and a custom fibreglass body on it and it is, officially, ta daa!, a totally smog exempt '53 Henry J.

be well and have a good one

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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 --

enhydra lutris's picture

@usefewersyllables @usefewersyllables
or tertiary. Riding a mule to SJ Bautista from out in the valley, or vice versa, baths are muy welcome, and Los Banos had them, hot springs. California has tons of them because the whole damn state is seismically active.

be well and have a good one.

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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 --

dystopian's picture

@enhydra lutris Hi all, Hey EL! Hope all is well out there!

Did someone say Los Banos? Holy shat! I must confess some of my earliest memories are at Los Banos. Ya see, my dad was stationed at Castle AFB, Merced, in about 58-59, age 3 and 4 for me. My younger brother was born at Castle in 58. My first memories are of B-47's and B-52's, and the SAC logo. A black cat named radar. Maybe 'cause that is what you needed to see it. And Los Banos. Where we went for lots of recreation, when not heading up into the hills in summer. In the back of a 51 Ford, sliding from one side to the other, not being able see over the back of front seats, not a seatbelt in sight. Somehow we survived.

Not sure if Los Banos NWR was a thing then or not. The wetlands were fantastic though. I have birds listed on my life list from Los Banos 1959. The ones I remember are the ones you saw well, closely. Like Red-winged Blackbird, American Bittern, Ring-necked Pheasant, Great Blue Heron, and most spectacularly, somersaulting breeding display dancing Sandhill Cranes.

I would go with The Baths on original meaning. It was a spanish speaking area, and re-discovery. I suspect there were prior Chumash, Ohione, Yokut, or other native names for the place as well. The Baths for its waterhole status, which were great historically. I would guess 'the toilets' was born of racist
bigots. It was not ever anything of the sort that I knew of. We continued birding it in the 60's after my dad got out. Nowadays, Castle AFB has a great air museum collection.

Gotta fly, have good ones all!

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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

usefewersyllables's picture

@dystopian

the cops were none too fond of it by the 90's- the rundown populated parts were a hotbed of the chop-shop/car theft/drug trade economy. Outside of town is nice, and coming over the foothills into the valley from Gilroy on 152, past the San Luis Reservoir, is a fine drive. I'm sure that the wildlife up there is excellent.

It's also likely that the town was better when the USAF made up a large fraction of the folks there. I think they'd already drawn it down a lot before they closed/recycled Castle in '95- they decommissioned the 93rd Bomb Wing wing there in '92. It may be better again by now, and the CHP officer might indeed have simply been a stone racist. But I wasn't inclined to disagree at the time, especially seeing what they had done to (my wife's) car, among all the others in that impound lot...

There are abandoned cars on the Cross-Bronx Expressway that are in better shape.

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Twice bitten, permanently shy.

dystopian's picture

@usefewersyllables Hey UFS. I bet you are right on every count, re: Los Banos... we were out in the adjacent wildlife areas, not in town or around edges thereof. Even then it was a big step down from Merced. I imagine the closing of Castle AFB was a big blow to the area economics. I think there is Merced and Los Banos Nat. Wildlife Refuges in that area. The whole central valley is a winter waterfowl wonderland.

I spent a couple years gawking daily at new stripped and burned out wrecks on the various New York park and expressways... ahhhh more fond memories! If you broke down it was game over for your car. It was quite the shock for this socal beach cities boy to see them hoisting whole engines with a cherry picker or block and tackle up above the parkway... there go the wheels, doors, seats, etc., then came the fire. It was so fast, they were like GrandPrix pit crews.

take care amigo!

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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

My 4 hour trial was passed by the Court, and my free afternoon found me with one walk in after another.
I finally got a chance to say thanks for the music and the conversation.
Have a great day, and I hope whoever is doing the cooking this week comes up with a great dinner this evening.

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"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981

enhydra lutris's picture

@on the cusp
on your free afternoon. My wife is cooking this week and made a really good fresh blueberry pie yesterday evening for starters. Yum.

be well and have a good one

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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 --

@enhydra lutris putting a scoop of vanilla ice cream on a piece of that pie!

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4 users have voted.

"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981

enhydra lutris's picture

@on the cusp

much the same thing, but neither of us was going to wander on down to the store and get some.

be well and have a good one

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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 --

@enhydra lutris prepare, prepare.
I am just drooling at the taste/thought of blueberry pie a la mode.
Man!

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"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981

soryang's picture

When I saw this reference to a Korean poet, I thought it would be that of some prominent artist, that I hadn't heard of, or of an author whose name I had come across before, but forgotten. I'm not familiar with Korean literature by any means. So I tried to find out who he was. He was known for a time as Korea's Maiakovskii (Vladimir Mayakovsky). I had never heard of either.

I was surprised to find that Cho was a "North Korean" literary figure, who actually wasn't originally North Korean but lived near Vladivostok with his family as a child. Then when all Russian ethnic Koreans became suspect agents of Japan in Stalin's mind, Cho's family was involuntarily shipped off to Kazakhstan with tens of thousands of other ethnic Koreans from the Soviet far east. Initially, Cho's community near Vladivostok spoke and was schooled in Korean. After arrival in Kazakhstan, Cho began his Russian/Soviet education and enjoyed a successful academic career as a young scholar. After the defeat of Japan and Russian occupation of Korea, Cho shipped off to Pyongyang, to assist the occupying forces in their efforts to organize the new North Korean socialist government and to extend the Soviet influence in that direction. Cho was sent along with other accomplished bi-lingual ethnic Korean-Russian literary scholars for this purpose. Their primary function was communication with the Soviet socialist ideological flair or the Stalinist style public communications (propaganda) to assist the Soviet occupation forces. Cho created a new style of Korean lyrical poetry which was overtly political and ideological.

I learned all of this from a short biographical review of his brief life from the article Cho Ki-ch'ŏn: The Person Behind the Myths by Tatiana Gabroussenko (40 pages at jstor a free academic journal source).* Two of Cho's famous "poems" are Baektusan and Tuman River. Baektusan is a poem praising both Kim Il-sung, and Soviet Russia for defeating Japan. The article didn't have any verses from Tuman River, which coincidentally has a similar title as a popular song during the Japanese occupation, written in 1939 or earlier that was circulated and performed widely in colonial Korea (Tumen River of Tears).** Cho never lived in colonial Korea.

*https://www.jstor.org/stable/2f0cc4c2-7220-3c4d-ae5a-1a02839502ff?read-n...

**https://civilizationdiscontents.blogspot.com/2020/01/tumen-river-of-tear...

I've tried to read accounts and analyses of North Korean related reports over the last several years, and found most of them less than informative. This account of Cho's literary and political influence in early North Korean politics, explains much of the nature of North Korean propaganda today, it's hyperbole, and inescapable Soviet style ideological content. Cho rose to considerable status and recognition in early North Korea, knew Kim Il-sung, and died in his Pyongyang office July 31, 1951, when it was bombed during the Korean war. I think he was 38 years old. After his death, North Korea had a falling out with the Russians, and it is said, his poetry was edited to remove overt praise of Soviet actions. Some of Cho's colleagues who survived him, who also projected that same overarching Russian Soviet influence, were weeded out in the mid fifties as Kim Il-sung's communist party moved to the Juche ideology of independent self sufficiency to remove foreign influence. However, the soviet style of communication remains.

I thought noticed that soviet style projection in the official North Korean news appeared to be toned down a bit, when the current Russian defense minister visited Pyongyang a few days ago.

Tumen River of Tears is one of my favorite Korean traditional songs below. Obviously this is a South Korean performance with Song So-hee. The song predates North Korea/DPRK.

Thanks for open thread EL!

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語必忠信 行必正直

enhydra lutris's picture

@soryang

the great music video. My ignorance of Korean culture is vast and clearly showing. Sorry.

be well and have a good one

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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 --