It is International Migrants Day. A surprisingly non-verbose UN holiday.

On 18 December 1990, the General Assembly adopted a resolution on the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families.

~Wikipedia

Migant workers, especially in agribusiness have a long history, both internal migrants who follow the ag cycles around the country, and thosw who travel between countries, such as those who made annual trips to the US from Mexico under the Bracero Program of yore.

Korematsu v US was decided on this day in 1944. It was neither the first nor the last Supreme Court decision to flagrantly ignore the US Constitution. Like some others, as well as a lot of terrible legislation, it was based on concern for "National Security" a phrase which, when invoked, usually means that we citizens just have stepped or are about to step in something really foul. In this case it meant that US citizens could be rounded up and sent to concentration camps for no reason other than their race. That is the lowest standard I know of, usually at least the claim that there is sekret "information" from a paid stoolie known for lying or the "assessment" of some spook known for incessant "errors" is trucked out before we lock folks up without evidence of wrongdoing, but, in this case, not even that.

The governmet did, in the fullness of time, apologize, but Korematsu is still on the books; it is still, technically, the law. Thay can do it again, all they have to do is say that they are afraid. It doesn't even have to be a rational fear, it can be as harebrained as claiming that you are a threat to national security because you post anonymously on facebook. Anything goes. Now they can even drone you for sitting somewhere without extradition and simply loudly and continually criticising the US' behavior. I know of no solution that doesn't start with us ceasing to be afraid of our shadows and of everybody who looks or talks different or who doesn't buy the "we are indispensible and uniquely wonderful" line which, in turn starts with ignoring the talking heads who advocate constant and continual fear of this, that or some other "other"

On this day in history:

1271 – Kublai Khan renamed his empire "Yuan" starting the Yuan dynasty
1777 – The first national Thanksgiving in the US.
1865 – US Secretary of State Seward proclaimed the adoption of the Thirteenth Amendment
1892 – The First performance of The Nutcracker
1916 – The end of the Battle of Verdun
1917 – Congress passed the resolution that would become the 18th Amendment (prohibition)
1944 - Korematsu v US decision
1958 – The world's first communications satellite was launched. Communication didn't improve.
1972 – Nixon announced that the US would start bombing North Vietnam over Christmas.
1981 - First flight of TU 160,
2019 - First impeachment of Donald Trump

Some people who were born on this day:

The most potent weapon of the oppressor is the mind of the oppressed.

~~ Steve Biko

1800 – James Watney, brewer, patron saint of pub darts players
1847 – Augusta Holmes, pianist and composer
1849 – Henrietta Edwards, women's rights activist and author, one of "Famous 5"
1856 – J. J. Thomson, electrifying physicist
1860 – Edward MacDowell, pianist and composer
1870 – Saki, short story writer
1879 – Paul Klee, painter
1890 – Edwin Howard Armstrong, invented FM radio
1897 – Fletcher Henderson, pianist and composer
1907 – Lawrence Lucie, jazz guitarist
1917 – Ossie Davis, actor and activist
1927 – Ramsey Clark, lawyer and politician
1928 – Harold Land, tenor saxophonist
1938 – Chas Chandler, bass player
1938 – Joel Hirschhorn, songwriter and composer
1939 – Michael Moorcock, author and songwriter
1941 – Sam Andrew, singer, songwriter and guitarist
1941 – Wadada Leo Smith, trumpet player and composer
1943 – Bobby Keys, saxophonist
1943 – Keith Richards, singer, songwriter, guitarist, and role model
1944 – Crispian Steele-Perkins, trumpet player
1946 – Steve Biko, activist, murdered by South African security officers
1948 – Bill Nelson, singer, songwriter and guitarist
1948 – Laurent Voulzy, ditto
1950 – Randy Castillo, drummer
1952 – John Leventhal, songwriter and producer
1953 – Elliot Easton, guitarist and singer
1963 – Norman Brown, singer and guitarist
1968 -- Alejandro Sanz, singer, songwriter, and guitarist
1975 -- Randy Houser, singer,songwriter, and guitarist wrote honky-tonk badonkadonk
1980 -- Christina Aguilera, singer and songwriter

Some people who died on this day:

Life, alas, is very drear. Up with the glass! Down with the beer!

~~ Louis Untermeyer

1737 -- Antonio Stradivari, instrument maker
1829 -- Jean-Baptiste Lamarck, biologist
1848 -- Bernard Bolzano, priest, logician, mathematician and philosopher
1869 -- Louis Moreau Gottschalk, pianist and composer
1961 -- Leo Reisman, violinist and bandleader
1977 -- Louis Untermeyer, poet, anthologist and critic
1987 -- Conny Plank, keyboards
1990 -- Paul Tortelier, cellist and composer
2016 -- Zsa Zsa, one of the Gabor sisters

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

International Migrants Day
Arabic Language Day
Bake Cookies Day

Today's Tunes

Kublai Khan

Tchaikovsky 's Nutcracker Suite

18th Amendment

1st communications satellite

Nixon's Christmas Bombing Campaign

Augusta Holmes

Edward MacDowell

Fletcher Henderson

Lawrence Lucie

Harold Land

Chas Chandler

Joel Hirschhorn

Michael Moorcock - really

Sam Andrew

Wadada Leo Smith

Bobby Keys

Keith Richards

Crispian Steele-Perkins

Steve Biko

Bill Nelson

Laurent Voulzy

John Leventhal

Elliot Easton

Norman Brown

Alejandro Sanz

Leo Reisman

Bonus:

Sam Andrew et. al.

Keith Richards et. al.

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

Photo: Migrant Mother, Nipomo, California; 1936, Dorothea Lange, Public Domain

Open Thread, International Migrants Day, Kublai Khan, Steve Biko, Augusta Holmes, Peter Gabriel, Sam Andrew, Keith Richards