07/28 Open Thread - The Fourteenth Amendment
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On this day in 1866, Congress passed the Army Reorganization Act creating 6 regiments of black soldiers. These men became the famous Buffalo Soldiers. While the US was always desirous of more Indian fighters and other warriors and or cannon fodder for other conflicts, the creation of these regiments was quite cynical, as was the creation of further such formations. The US military was to remain segregated along racial lines until July 26, 1948, when President Truman issued Executive Order 9981.
On this day in 1868, the 14th Amendment to the US constitution was certified. This is a somewhat complicated hodge-podge of provisions. It should be remembered that, as written, the US Constitution left voting up to the states. To vote for members of the House, people had to qualify to vote for the "most numerous branch of the state legislature"- a qualification determined by state law. Senators were chosen by the state legislatures. The state also appointed "in such manner as the legislature thereof may direct" the electors who voted for the President and Vice President. Generally the state houses consisted of and were selected by white male property owners and no others. Further, direct taxes and seats in the House were apportioned based on state populations excludingIndians not taxed, a term of art that has been moot since about 1926 iirc. Got that? So let's take a look at it.
Section 1. All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.
1. People born here or naturalized are citizens of the US and the state they live in
2. States can't abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens or deprive ANY PERSON of life, liberty or property without due process of law (whatever the hell THAT is).
3. States can't deny ANY PERSON of equal protection of the laws
A real freaking blockbuster so far, n'est ce pas?
Section 2 apportions seats in the house based on the state population excluding Indians not taxed BUT
IF anybody is deprived of the right to vote in any election for electors for the Pres and VP, Congressional Reps, executive or judicial officers of a state or state legislators THEN the state's number of representatives shall be reduced in proportion to the number of denied voters divided by the state population. THAT, CHILDREN, IS THE ENTIRETY OF YOUR SO-CALLED "RIGHT TO VOTE", so read it closely, in the original, until you get it.
It is, however, OK to deny people the right to vote for participation in insurrection or rebellion or other crimes.
Section 3 says that if you ever had a federal or state gig of any type that required youto swear an oath to uphold the Constitution of the US and then engaged in insurrection or rebellion or gave aid or comfort to the enemies of the US then you can't hold federal or state office.
Section 4The validity of the public debt of the US shall not be questioned but neither the US nor any state shall assume or pay any debt or obligation incurred in aid of insurrection or rebellion or any claim for the loss or emancipation of any slave.
Section 5 Congress has the power to pass laws enforcing this (DUH).
On This Day in 1917. the Silent Parade in New York City took place. An estimated 8 to 15 thousand Black US citizens marched in response to a series of racially motovated attacks and lynchings and to protest and draw attention to lynchings and other racially motivated violence against black people. It was hoped that Congress and/or the President might take some sort of action to stop such events, but they did zip shit. In fact nobody did zip shit until LBJ's 1968 Civil Rights Act and the 2022 Emmett Till Antilynching Act. The immediate aftermath was, in fact, that lynchings increased in number for at least the following 5 years.
Meanwhile, on this date in 1915, the US Military Occupation of Haiti began. US Marines invaded Haiti and immediately imposed a military dictatorship where the US Marines ruled by martial law. It would last 19 years (actually longer), and involve the enslavement of huge numbers of Haitians through a so-called corvee system of forced labor which led to the deaths of hundreds of thousands of Haitians. The Marines, many of whom were racists, had no qualms about torturing and shooting Haitians, including massacring villages, some of which were even bombed. On December 17, 1914 the US Marines stole Haiti's entire gold reserve of $500,000 and shipped it off to the National City Bank's New York City vault. After slaughtering the people and raping the economy for 19 years, the US Marines finally pulled out on August 15, 1934, after first transferring power to a proxy army of Gendarmes created, organized, hired, trained and indoctrinated by said US Marines.
On this day in history:
1821 – José de San Martín declared the independence of Peru from Spain.
1866 – Vinnie Ream, then 18, became the first and youngest female artist to receive a commission from the United States government for a statue
1866 - Congress passed the Army Reorganization Act creating 6 regiments of black soldiers.
1868 – The 14th Amendment to the United States Constitution was certified
1896 – The city of Miami was incorporated.
1911 – The Australasian Antarctic Expedition began as the SY Aurora departed London.
1914 – In the culmination of the July Crisis, Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia, igniting World War I.
1915 – The United States began a 19-year occupation of Haiti.
1917 – The Silent Parade took place in New York City, in protest against murders, lynchings, and other violence directed towards African Americans.
1932 – U.S. president Herbert Hoover ordered the United States Army to forcibly evict the "Bonus Army" of World War I veterans gathered in Washington, D.C.
1935 – First flight of the Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress.
1939 – The Sutton Hoo helmet was discovered.
1943 – The Royal Air Force bombed Hamburg, Germany causing a firestorm that killed 42,000 German civilians.
1945 – A U.S. Army B-25 bomber crashed into the 79th floor of the Empire State Building killing 14 and injuring 26.
1962 – Beginning of the 8th World Festival of Youth and Students
1965 – U.S. President LBJ announced his order to up the number of US troops in South Vietnam from 75,000 to 125,000.
1973 – Nearly 600,000 people attended a rock festival at the Watkins Glen International Raceway.
1976 – The Tangshan earthquake measuring between 7.8 and 8.2 moment magnitude flattened Tangshan in the People's Republic of China, killing 242,769 and injuring 164,851.
1996 – The remains of a prehistoric man were discovered near Kennewick, Washington.
2005 – The Provisional IRA ended its armed campaign against British rule in Northern Ireland.
Some people who were born on this day:
Wherever morality is based on theology, wherever the right is made dependent on divine authority, the most immoral, unjust, infamous things can be justified and established.
~~ Ludwig Feuerbach
1458 – Jacopo Sannazaro, poet, humanist and epigrammist
1609 – Judith Leyster, painter
1796 – Ignaz Bösendorfer, businessman, founded the Bösendorfer Company
1804 – Ludwig Feuerbach, anthropologist and philosopher
1844 – Gerard Manley Hopkins, poet
1857 – Ballington Booth, activist, co-founded Volunteers of America
1866 – Beatrix Potter, children's book writer and illustrator
1867 – Charles Dillon Perrine, astronomer
1879 – Lucy Burns, activist, co-founded the National Woman's Party
1879 – Stefan Filipkiewicz, painter
1887 – Marcel Duchamp, painter and sculptor
1893 – Rued Langgaard, organist and composer
1901 – Rudy Vallée, actor, singer, and saxophonist
1902 – Sir Karl Popper, philosopher and academic
1907 – Earl Tupper, inventor and businessman, founded Tupperware Brands
1909 – Malcolm Lowry, novelist and poet
1914 – Carmen Dragon, conductor and composer
1915 – Charles Hard Townes, physicist and academic
1915 – Dick Sprang, illustrator
1915 – Frankie Yankovic, polka musician
1922 – Jacques Piccard, ceanographer and engineer
1923 – Ray Ellis, conductor and producer
1925 – Baruch Samuel Blumberg, physician and academic
1926 – Charlie Biddle, bassist
1930 – Junior Kimbrough, singer and guitarist
1938 – Arsen Dedić, singer, songwriter, and poet
1943 – Mike Bloomfield, guitarist and songwriter
1943 – Richard Wright, singer, songwriter, and keyboard player
1945 – Jim Davis, cartoonist, created Garfield
1946 – Jonathan Edwards, singer, songwriter, and guitarist
1948 – Gerald Casale, singer, songwriter, guitarist, and director
1948 – Eiichi Ohtaki, singer, songwriter, and producer
1950 – Shahyar Ghanbari, singer, songwriter
1951 – Gregg Giuffria, rock musician and businessman
1954 – Gerd Faltings, mathematician and academic
1954 – Steve Morse, singer, songwriter, and guitarist
1960 – Jon J. Muth, author and illustrator
1962 – Rachel Sweet, singer, television writer, and actress
1965 – Priscilla Chan, singer
1966 – Shikao Suga, singer, songwriter, and guitarist
1967 – Taka Hirose, bass player
1970 – Michael Amott, guitarist and songwriter
1971 – Stephen Lynch, singer, songwriter and actor
1973 – Marc Dupré, singer, songwriter, and guitarist
1976 – Jacoby Shaddix, singer, songwriter
1978 – Hitomi Yaida, singer, songwriter, and guitarist
1979 – Birgitta Haukdal, singer, songwriter, and producer
1979 – Lee Min-woo, singer, songwriter, and dancer
1993 – Cher Lloyd, singer
1994 – Hyojung, singer
Some people who died on this day:
A pessimist is a man who tells the truth prematurely.
Read more at https://www.brainyquote.com/authors/cyrano-de-bergerac-quotes
~~ Cyrano de Bergerac
1631 – Guillén de Castro y Bellvis, playwright
1655 – Cyrano de Bergerac, poet and playwright
1667 – Abraham Cowley, poet and author
1741 – Antonio Vivaldi, violinist and composer
1750 – Johann Sebastian Bach, organist and composer
1818 – Gaspard Monge, mathematician and engineer
1838 – Bernhard Crusell, composer
1869 – Jan Evangelista Purkyně, anatomist and physiologist
1928 – Édouard-Henri Avril, painter
1930 – Allvar Gullstrand, ophthalmologist and optician
1942 – Flinders Petrie, archaeologist and academic
1963 – Carl Borgward, engineer, founder of Borgward Group
1968 – Otto Hahn, chemist and academic
1969 – Frank Loesser, composer
1972 – Helen Traubel, soprano and actress
1980 – Rose Rand, logician and philosopher, Vienna Circle member
1982 – Keith Green, singer, songwriter, and pianist
1996 – Roger Tory Peterson, ornithologist and academic
2002 – Archer John Porter Martin, chemist and academic
2003 – Valerie Goulding, activist and politician
2004 – Francis Crick, biologist and biophysicist
2012 – Colin Horsley, pianist and educator
2013 – Rita Reys, jazz singer
2021 – Dusty Hill, musician
Some Holidays, Holy Days, Festivals, Feast Days, Days of Recognition, and such:
National Soccer Day
National Milk Chocolate Day
National Hamburger Day
Buffalo Soldiers Day
World Nature Conservation Day
World Hepatitis Day
Today's Tunes
Army Reorganization Act
US occupation of Haiti
The silent parade
LBJ troop increase
Rued Langgaard
Rudy Vallée
Carmen Dragon
Frankie Yankovic
Charlie Biddle
Junior Kimbrough
Mike Bloomfield
Richard Wright
Gerald Casale
Steve Morse
Antonio Vivaldi
Johann Sebastian Bach
Bernhard Crusell
Frank Loesser
Roger Tory Peterson
Rita Reys
Dusty Hill
1973 Watkins Glen Festival
Ok, it's an open thread, so it's up to you folks now. What's on your mind?
Cross posted from http://caucus99percent.com
Open Thread, Buffalo Soldiers, Fourteenth Amendment, Silent March, Occupation of Haiti, LBJ, Mike Bloomfield, Vivaldi, Bach, Roger Tory Peterson, Dusty Hill, Watkins Glen Festival
Comments
Good Morning...
Another hot one here, but relief is in the forecast later this week. Plenty of chores to catch up on from mowing to gardening.
It would be nice if the Constitution mattered these days, but seems it is optional when needed by TPTB. My old buddy the Judge said years ago, when it comes to drugs you can wipe your ass with the constitution. I would add when it comes to any challenge to the power of the oligarchs you can wipe your ass with the constitution.
Well, thanks for the OT and all the music. I have a friend who wrote a song about the Buffalo soldiers.
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
Good Morning LO, thanks for reading. Hope the heat doesn't
bother you too much, be sure to stay hydrated and all of that.
The Constitution, in reality, means very little when it comes to protecting the hoi polloi. It was written by and for the elites and oligarchs, and the courts, whenever they see fit, will readily interpret it in that light.
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 --
If only buffalos were armored
.
maybe many would not have been
slaughtered? Can not re-write history
but it seems the great beasts and natives
did not stand a chance against the European
dominators and their bang sticks.
Thanks for the history lesson.
That was the most popular rendition of Birdland
when I lived in Arizona (Phoenix) back in the 70's.
Very upbeat.
Zionism is a social disease
Good morning Cap'n Q. I suspect that they would've
just used dynamite on the buffalo and then backfilled and craters, the forces mandating their destruction were overpowering: pave the way for the railroads and all the protits that would bring, sell the hides for money, and deprive the indians of a major resource critical to their survival - a trifecta.
That has been one of my favorite versions of Birdland since I first discovered it, whenever that was.
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 --
BTW how do they make guitars sound
.
like friggen pipe organs?
Guessing it must be synthesizers.
Never heard that before.
Zionism is a social disease
I'm sure I don't really know but I know that they have
foot activated boxes that can modify and modulate the base suitar sound in many ways, I think a combination of synth plus filter elements.
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 always think back to this video, use a live guitar as the
initial signal input instead of just a sine wave and then filter and/or augment the hell out of it with all that other stuff.
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 --
That is pretty amazing
.
have never understood that science before now.
Thanks!
Zionism is a social disease
I always think back to this video, use a live guitar as the
initial signal input instead of just a sine wave and then filter and/or augment the hell out of it with all that other stuff."
for a single note approximation, sticking the guitar into
a clock/frequency divider could be used to generate lower octaves, three adjacent mixed into a single voice, maybe passed through a slew or a filter to a VCA all controlled by a single gate output. the limitation is that most modulars work on a note at a time, and in the case of transmogrifying a guitar into a pipe organ (or anything else you want to trigger polyphonically/ie play from a guitar) you would need to process each string separately. pretty soon your talking real money.
But the pedals are out there,
and the digital MIDI guitar synth setups work just like the video shows.
BTW how do they make guitars sound
like friggen pipe organs?
Guessing it must be synthesizers.
Never heard that before.
Im certain there are a few ways these days, but given what makes that tone happen,
with a synth, the best knock off I heard was from my 3 oscillator Memorymoog. Each oscillator an octave higher than the other. Much like a convincing piano patch, three oscillators are needed, although a piano uses three strings in unison.
Over the years, my weak skills and imagination left me thinking multi-oscillator poly synths in a crowded soundscape would either take the percussive role of a piano or the sustained role of an organ.
Roland guitar through a Roland GM-70 into a Memorymoog pipe organ patch is as close as I will ever come to playing a pipe organ on six strings. More interesting than a sampler or digital patch.
Speaking of Dick Sprang-https://dyn1.heritagestatic.com/lf?set=path[2/1/4/7/8/21478821]&call=url...
Good morning, el!
The 14th Am. makes my head hurt. Or is it just my tooth?
Thanks for the ZZ Top. btw.
Yesterday, Google made a list of websites they just knew I would be interested in visiting. Of the 3 sites, dkos was nos. 1 and 2. Was that AI hallucinating or did kos send 'em a check?
Thanks for the OT, dear friend!
"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981
Good morning, otc, thanks for reading. One of the reasons
that the 14th is crazy making is that it was written in another world. Previously, the elites and propertied class ruled via the state houses and it was a given that a national level, the state congressmen would be representing their invidual states' interests and competing for bennies for their specific states. By shifting to a popular vote they were doing something racical, and, though I don't think that they fully thought it through, arguably the House would now represent the states' peoples' interest, not the states' (and states' oligarchs' and elites' interests). They still left some control with the state governments insofar as any state can disenfranchise anybody they want, but, should they disenfranchise too many, then they could lose one or more Congressmen. I always thought it would have been cool if the DOJ had seen fit to and been able to enforce that during jim crow. "OK, 'Bama, you just lost 3 reps, mississippi, 6,..." etc.
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 --
RIP Tom Lehrer, BTW, dies 07/26/2025!
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 --
RIP Tom Lehrer, BTW, dies 07/26/2025!
From that was the week that was.
Zionism is a social disease
Thanks for that video. 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 --
I mourn.
He will never be equalled.
Twice bitten, permanently shy.
Good afternoon UFS. It will require vast changes for anyone
to come close to him because, as he noted, satire has become in toay's world. For him that was made obvious when Kissinger got the Nobel Peace Prize. Now you have to add Obama, too, plus everything else that ha gone 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 --
Many saying Europe got nothing out of tariff deal
and now Trump has moved up his threats of holy hell for Russia from 50 days to 10 or so days.
I'd say there were parts of the trade deal, not to do with trade, and not public, advantageous to Europe and not so great for Pooty Poot. Pooty has killed enough people for one life. Not up there with Stalin, Mao, and Hitler but pretty bad for 2025.
In Asia, Pakistan has birthright citizenship. One country. In Europe none. Originally intended to give equal rights to freed slaves and Indians I think legal immigrants who have advanced degrees ok, the rest can go home. The sooner everyone understands laws are being enforced the easier things will go.
There are trump haters
.
and there are Putin haters.
You seem to fall into the latter camp.
There are Zelenski lovers and there are
Netenyahoo lovers. Sounds like you may be
camping out there as well?
Zionism is a social disease
There are trump haters
I don't like any of them, some more so than others. Killing lots of people doesn't lead to fondness on my part. Bush has lots to answer for. Zelenski has done ok for Ukraine, I don't know much about him. Know even less about Netanyahu. My dislike of politicians makes it difficult for me to like what they do when they do something that ends up going well. I try to keep an open mind.
Try to get in some reading about both Netanyahoo and Zelenskye
because they are that special kind of authoritarian politician that could cause a few nukes to drop.
"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981
Actually, one must consider provocations. Hitler should get
credit for all those firebombed in Deutschland by the allies and all the German troops killed by all of the allies, including Stalin. Similarly, 'Elensky should get credit for everybody killed in the lead up to the ukie-Rus war, as well as all those killed during it.
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 --
The tariffs favored the US,
screwed the EU; We bombed Hamburg and Dresden and the civilians there; We nuked Hiroshima and Nagasaki along with the civilians; Zelenskye has bombed a theater full of civilians inside Russia; Zelenskye has bombed a civilian passenger train inside Russia; Putin has bombed the following civilian enclaves: (oops. Drawing a total blank!)And, 20 Gazans (civilians) have died of starvation in the last 3 days.
"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981
Must not leave out
the US fire bombing of Tokyo.
Oops.
Forgot.
"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981
Man's inhumanity to mankind
Has always perplexed me.
Unjustifiable homicide on a mass scale
just makes me want to crawl back into a
cave and draw on rocks.
Zionism is a social disease
Greed causing forcible taking of someone's "treasure"
is the root cause of war. I dunno, Cap'n, but the most prominent human characteristic and leading driving force in man's nature is greed.
The only time it was not present was during the hunter-gatherer stage. Once we started planting and ranching, we needed more, and more, and more...
"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981
Reading these comments feels like an alternative universe
Idi Amin anyone? Pol Pot? There must be some sort of bloodthirsty dictator that tankies can find unjustifiable.
sorry kid
but WTF are tankies?
for beginners
Zionism is a social disease
It was a slur on Brits who supported the USSR communists,
but now, I think it is supposed to be insulting to anyone who supports the integrity and security of capitalist Russia.
It doesn't insult me in the least, nor did it insult me to be called a commie since I was 30 years old. It may not be accurate, but it is not a personal insult, as far as I am concerned.
If I was called a genocide supporter, a big fight would ensue.
"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981
Pol Pot, for sure, but I note that n=you don't mention
Lon Nol. Of course, saying that Hitler is responsible for the war deaths in the war(s) he started is somehow falsely transmogrified into full on approval of Stalin and the horrors he perpetrated and miraculously not as disapproval of Hitler, unless, of course you don't deem him to be a bloodthirsty dictator. I guess he was maybe another good guy like Lon Nol.
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 --
please see my reply to you above
for my recommendations.
"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981
a day late from the white house
Loved that Tom Paxton tune, EL. Thanks for Tom Lehrer and your other excellent selections! Your review of Haiti's experience with US occupation reminded me of how much there is to know about US imperialism. What a tragic place. I was there for a few days with the ship. We had a hotel room there in some luxurious hotel overlooking the squalor in Port au Prince.
Day late and a dollar short-
They don't call it the forgotten war for nothing-
PRESIDENTIAL MESSAGE ON NATIONAL KOREAN WAR VETERANS ARMISTICE DAY
Yesterday, the Korean War Memorial Foundation held a ceremony for the July 27, 1953 anniversary as far as I can tell. From the WH statement-
First of all, nobody "won the day." Second, the MDL/DMZ is not on the 38th parallel, but it's close enough to symbolize the arbitrary and futile nature of the conflict which technically never ended. Trump's maximum pressure campaign was unsuccessful and resulted in North Korea becoming an established nuclear weapons state. The US and Trump, took the completely doomed all or nothing or Libyan approach that was destined to fail from the outset. Trump couldn't take the propaganda campaign from the media and caved to the neocons. The latter sabotaged the productive advance work of President Moon Jae-in and quite a few diplomats and technical specialists who had worked hard to reduce the nuclear threat from North Korea. Trump's bad faith turnabout resulted in a catastrophic volte face by Kim to Russia.
The earlier Trump-Kim theme song- Unrequited Love 짝사랑 (주현미, 1989) Chu Hyun-mi
語必忠信 行必正直
Good evening, Soryang. Thanks for reading and for the
informatin and video. Glad you liked the tunes.
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 --
A very sweet voice
.
wonder why Asian women always appear so happy?
Zionism is a social disease