12/23 Open Thread - Human Light
~~ Humans
HumanLight is a Humanist holiday created to provide a specifically Humanist celebration during the so-called western world's holiday season. The intended focus of the holiday is on the "positive, secular human values of reason, compassion, humanity and hope". Sadly, this makes it somewhat exclusionary, because many featherless bipeds who are ostensibly members of Homo sapiens lack the ability to feel compassion and many others, while arguably capable of feeling something akin to compassion are seemingly constitutionally incapable of acting upon any such feelings that they may have. For example, psychopaths, sociopaths, and many (most?) corporatists. Perhaps those persons could Join Henry Kissinger in celebrating Nixon's notorious bombing of the civilian population of Hanoi from December 18th to December 29th and exulting over the 1,600 pointless civilian deaths caused by this petulant temper tantrum. I dunno.
Beyond that, other sources put a slightly different focus on it. For instance, checkiday.com tells us that:
Humanists believe in morality, tolerance, freedom, critical reason, and science, but don't believe in gods, supernatural events, and miracles. The humanist values, ideals, and ideas of tolerance, compassion, empathy, honesty, free inquiry, reason, and rationality are celebrated and promoted with HumanLight, a holiday that embraces the conviction that humans can create a peaceful, ethical, and enlightened world without any guidance from deities and supernatural entities. The holiday was given its name because it emphasizes humanity instead of the supernatural, and it looks to the "light of reason." It takes place on December 23, during the winter holiday season, and is viewed as an alternative holiday to Christmas and other nearby holidays.
On this day in history:
1815 – Jane Austen's "Emma" was published
1913 – The Federal Reserve Act was signed into law
1919 – Sex Disqualification (Removal) Act 1919 became law in Britain
1947 – The first demonstration of the transistor
1954 – The first successful kidney transplant took place
1968 – The crew of the U.S. spy ship Pueblo were released
1986 – Voyager lander after completing the world's first non-stop, non-refueled flight around the world.
2002 – A Mig 25 shot down a US Predator drone maintaining the US' illegal no-fly zone in Iraq. This was the first known combat between an airplane and a drone.
Some people who were born on this day:
I don't believe that jazz will ever really die. It's a nice way to express yourself.
~~ Chet Baker
1689 – Joseph Bodin de Boismortier, composer
1745 – John Jay, abolitionist, jurist, author, politician
1912 – Anna J. Harrison, chemist and academic
1926 – Harold Dorman, singer and songwriter
1929 – Chet Baker, singer, trumpet and flugelhorn player
1935 – Johnny Kidd, singer and songwriter
1935 – Esther Phillips, singer
1940 – Jorma Kaukonen, singer, songwriter, and guitarist
1940 – Eugene Record, singer and songwriter
1941 – Tim Hardin, singer, songwriter, and musician
1946 – Robbie Dupree, singer and songwriter
1948 – Jim Ferguson, guitarist, composer, and journalist
1949 – Adrian Belew, singer, songwriter, and guitarist
1951 – Anthony Phillips, guitarist and songwriter
1955 – Grace Knight, singer and songwriter
1964 – Eddie Vedder, "singer", songwriter and guitarist
1975 – Lady Starlight, singer and songwriter
1977 – Tore Johansen, trumpeter and composer
Some people who died on this day:
The music field was the first to break down racial barriers, because in order to play together, you have to love the people you are playing with, and if you have any racial inhibitions, you wouldn't be able to do that.
~~ Oscar Peterson
2007 – Oscar Peterson, pianist and composer
2013 – Yusef Lateef, saxophonist and composer
2013 – Ricky Lawson, drummer and composer
Some Holidays, Holy Days, Festivals, Feast Days, Days of Recognition, and such:
Festivus
HumanLight -- a humanist holiday; Who Knew??
*
Night of the Radishes (Oaxaca City, Mexico)
National Pfeffernüsse Day (US)
- NB: Some state that this relates to "Secular Humanism", it does not, Secular Humanism is redundant
Today's Tunes
Joseph Bodin de Boismortier
Harold Dorman
Chet Baker
Johnny Kidd
Esther Phillips
Jorma Kaukonen
Eugene Record
Tim Hardin
Robbie Dupree
Jim Ferguson
Adrian Belew
Anthony Phillips
Oscar Peterson
Yusef Lateef
Ricky Lawson
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
Open Thread, Human Light, The FED, The Transistor, Chet Baker, Johnny Kidd, Esther Phillips, Jorma Kaukonen, Oscar Peterson, Yusef Lateef
Comments
Happy Birthday Jorma!
When it comes to musical talent, very few humans are equal to Jorma Kaukonen, IMHO.
Good morning Johnny, thanks for dropping in and, of course,
for posting that clip.
Have a happy today, whatever it is.
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 --
Good morning...
Another 30F start to the day, but headed into the 50's.
Never heard of humanlight, so I learned something. Plus it's festivus for the rest of us. I think it was ek ? who used to come by and remind us every year.
Whatever holiday you celebrate, I hope it is a good one.
Thanks for the OT!
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
Good morning LO, sorry about the cold. To me that's
stay indoors weather. I never heard of Human Light myself, it's good to know that it exists and hope it spreads. Festivus is, of course, also secular and cool too.
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 --
Hallo
Doing a bit of research on the origins of Festivus.
According to Wiki, the celebration was coined
by Daniel O'Keefe in 1966 to commemorate his first
date with his wife. Their son eventually popularized
the occasion by writing a script for a Seinfeld episode.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Festivus
Thanks for the OT man!
question everything
Good morning Cap'n Q. Thanks for the info on
Festivus. I can't even start to guess what the significance of a clock in a bag might be, but it doesn't really matter anyway.
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 --
National Pfeffernüsse Day - Really?
National Pfeffernüsse - They must be nuts.
https://www.euronews.com/live
Good morning mimi, thanks for dropping in. Thanks also for the
joke.
As the French say, a chacun son gout, to each his/her/their own. FWIW, I know that I've had Pfeffernüsse and I think I liked them.
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 --
Any music
involving Adrian Belew is good music. Sometimes *challenging* music, but good music.
Let's hear it for the humanists. I aspire to humanism, truly, and I could almost pull it off- with the single caveat that I pretty much hate all other humans (the readership here excepted, of course).
So I guess that that makes me an anti-human humanist... (;-)
Twice bitten, permanently shy.