Today is a serious misnomer. It is supposed to be Develop Alternative Vices Day and this is crazy. The intent of the Day is not that you add some new vices it is that you swap vices that you currently indulge in for new replacement vices. How is that even remotely a good thing? What you're supposed to do is quit indulging in one of your actual vices and start indulging in a new different vice that is healthy, "moral", and good for you. That, of course, means it isn't actually a vice at all. If you swap a gambling addiction for alcohol addiction that would be swapping an old vice for a new alternative vice as the Day's name implies, but if you swap a gambling addiction for eating more fruits and vegetables that is not swapping or developing an alternative vice because eating more fruits and vegetables isn't a vice. Vices are things that the cultural overlords of our culture deem to be bad for you morally, spirituality, or such, sinful, or, alternatively bad for your and health. Something that is not bad for you but is good for you is not a vice so the idea of developing an alternative vice is something of an oxymoron if the alternative vice is supposed to be something beneficial to you. In short, this day's creator should have used the word habit and should speak of swapping a bad habit for a healthy one, but that seemingly lacks the proper cachet for today's slogan-centric milieu.

This leads us to Chocolate Day Whether chocolate is a vise or not is it open question. Chocolate in and of itself is arguably beneficial at least in moderate quantities but most chocolate is prepared into confections by the addition of various other ingredients and chemicals. Depending upon the nature and identity of those various ingredients it may be unhealthy and certainly over Indulgence in anything can be unhealthy. A problem is that we in the "West" are not taught from childhood that moderation in all things is good because that is invariably some sort of heresy. Our cultural overlords including great numbers of sacerdotes cannot tolerate this because they hold a great number of things to be so sinful, evil,. and terrible, from secular music and dancing to skipping prayer to things that are actually wrong-doing that even the most moderate indulgence is prohibited.

This then brings us to sex, specifically extramarital sex. This is condemned in the "west" by all of the Sacerdotes and cultural rulers because of the fact that the west has degenerated into patriarchy. It's not so much that sex or even extramarital sex is bad for for men outside of religious orders, especially rich and powerful men, it is that it is bad for women, all women. In a patriarchy women are supposed to be property, chattels owned by their fathers or elder male siblings until handed over to a spouse. Their "value" is as a potential or actual mate for a patriarch and part of that comes from the fact that the patriarchs wish to divide the patrimony, if not during life then upon death, to and among those who are certified to be his progeny. This has evolved into a cultural phenomena where indulging in sex or even co-habitation requires a permit which takes the form of marriage. Today is World Marriage Day so what better day than today to run out and get your permit.

Such is life Department:
John Hooper, the Bishop of Gloucester, was born sometime around 1495. He was a notorious non-conformist who indulged with might and main in many Protestant sectarian squabbles. Twice he found it prudent to go lay low on the continent but was eventually offered the above bishopric. At that point he got into some pissing match about the proper vestments and oath to use and was briefly imprisoned over it until he agreed to use the preferred uniform and ceremony in 1551. Then, sadly, Mary Queen of Scots ascended to the throne and he was burned at the stake for being a Protestant on February 9, 1555

On this day in history:

1555 – Bishop of Gloucester John Hooper was burned at the stake.

1775 – The British Parliament declared Massachusetts to be in rebellion.

1825 – After no candidate received a majority of electoral votes, the US House of Representatives elected John Quincy Adams as sixth President of the US in 1824

1849 – The new Roman Republic was declared while the Pope was out of town and lasted until about July

1870 – US president Grant signed a joint resolution of Congress establishing the U.S. Weather Bureau.

1889 – US president Cleveland signed a bill elevating the U.S. Department of
Agriculture to a Cabinet-level agency.

1893 – Verdi's last opera, Falstaff, premiered

1904 – The Russo-Japanese War Battle of Port Arthur ended

1907 – The Mud March was the first large procession organised by the National Union of Women's Suffrage Societies (NUWSS).

1920 – The Svalbard Treaty, recognized Norwegian sovereignty over Arctic archipelago Svalbard, and designated it as demilitarized.

1934 – The Balkan Entente was formed between Greece, Romania, Yugoslavia, and Turkey.

1942 – Year-round Daylight saving time (aka War Time) was reinstated in the US

1950 – US Senator Joseph McCarthy accused the United States Department of State of being filled with Communists.

1951 – A battalion of the 11th Division of the South Korean Army killsed 719 unarmed citizens in Geochang, in the South Gyeongsang district of South Korea over 2 days.

1959 – The R-7 Semyorka, the first ICBM, became operational at Plesetsk, USSR.

1964 – The Beatles made their first appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show,

1965 – The US Marine Corps sent a MIM-23 Hawk missile battalion to South Vietnam, the first American troops openly in-country without an putative advisory or training mission.

1971 – The 6.5–6.7 Mw  (Mercalli XI) Sylmar earthquake hit the Greater Los Angeles Area

1986 – Halley's Comet last appeared in the inner Solar System.

1991 – Voters in Lithuania voted for independence from the Soviet Union. This was, of course, respected even though "Western" nations rarely respect plebescites.

1996 – Copernicium was discovered

2001 – While trying to show off for some VIPs, the submarine USS Greeneville rammed the Japanese fishery high-school training ship Ehime Maru, killing 9 of those aboard and leaving the USS Greeneville with US $2 million in repairs

2021 – The Second impeachment trial of Donald Trump began.

Some people who were born on this day:

I have never seen a situation so dismal that a policeman couldn't make it worse.

~~ Brendan Behan

1441 – Ali-Shir Nava'i, poet, linguist, and painter
1651 – Procopio Cutò, entrepreneur
1737 – Thomas Paine, philosopher, author, and activist
1741 – Henri-Joseph Rigel, composer
1775 – Farkas Bolyai, mathematician and academic
1781 – Johann Baptist von Spix, biologist and explorer
1783 – Vasily Zhukovsky, poet and translator
1789 – Franz Xaver Gabelsberger, engineer, invented Gabelsberger shorthand
1837 – José Burgos, priest and revolutionary
1846 – Wilhelm Maybach, engineer and designer
1854 – Aletta Jacobs, physician and suffrage activist
1863 – Anthony Hope, author and playwright
1864 – Miina Härma, organist, composer, and conductor
1867 – Natsume Sōseki, author and poet
1871 – Howard Taylor Ricketts, pathologist and physician
1874 – Amy Lowell, poet, critic, and educator
1885 – Alban Berg, composer and educator
1891 – Kristian Krefting, footballer and chemical engineer
1891 – Pietro Nenni, journalist and politician, Secretary of the Italian Socialist Party
1896 – Alberto Vargas, painter and illustrator
1907 – Harold Scott MacDonald Coxeter, mathematician and academic
1909 – Carmen Miranda, actress, singer, and dancer
1910 – Jacques Monod, biochemist and geneticist,
1914 – Ernest Tubb, singer, songwriter, and guitarist
1923 – Brendan Behan, rebel, poet, and playwright
1927 – Richard A. Long, historian and author
1928 – Frank Frazetta,
painter and illustrator
1929 – Clement Meadmore, sculptor
1931 – Thomas Bernhard, author, poet, and playwright
1931 – Robert Morris, sculptor and painter
1932 – Gerhard Richter, painter and photographer
1939 – Barry Mann, pianist, songwriter, and producer
1940 – Brian Bennett, drummer and songwriter
1940 – J. M. Coetzee, novelist, essayist, and linguist
1941 – Sheila Kuehl, actress, lawyer, gay rights activist, and politician
1942 – Carole King, singer, songwriter, and pianist
1943 – Barbara Lewis, singer and songwriter
1944 – Alice Walker, novelist, short story writer, and poet
1945 – Yoshinori Ohsumi, biologist,
1945 – Carol Wood, mathematician and academic
1947 – Joe Ely, singer, songwriter, and guitarist
1947 – Major Harris, singer
1951 – David Pomeranz, singer, musician, and composer
1953 – Gabriel Rotello, journalist and author, founded OutWeek
1955 – Jimmy Pursey, singer, songwriter, and producer
1960 – Holly Johnson, singer, songwriter and bass player
1960 – David Simon, journalist, author, screenwriter, and television producer
1960 – Peggy Whitson, biochemist and astronaut
1963 – Brian Greene, physicist
1963 – Travis Tritt, singer, songwriter, guitarist, and actor
1968 – Alejandra Guzmán, singer, songwriter ,and actress
1968 – Gloria Trevi, singer and actress
1981 – The Rev, musician
1982 – Ami Suzuki, singer, songwriter, and actress
1996 – Chungha, singer

Some people who died on this day:

I think the devil doesn't exist, but man has created him, he has created him in his own image and likeness.

~~ Fyodor Dostoyevsky

966 – Ono no Michikaze, calligrapher
1555 – John Hooper, bishop
1619 – Lucilio Vanini, physician and philosopher
1675 – Gerrit Dou, painter
1874 – Jules Michelet, historian, philosopher, and academic
1881 – Fyodor Dostoyevsky, novelist, short story writer, essayist, and philosopher
1891 – Johan Jongkind, painter
1906 – Paul Laurence Dunbar, author, poet, and playwright
1951 – Eddy Duchin, pianist, bandleader, and actor
1960 – Alexandre Benois, painter and critic
1960 – Ernő Dohnányi, pianist, composer, and conductor
1966 – Sophie Tucker, singer
1976 – Percy Faith, composer and conductor
1977 – Sergey Ilyushin, engineer and businessman, founded the Ilyushin Design Bureau
1979 – Allen Tate, poet and academic
1980 – Tom Macdonald, journalist and author
1981 – Bill Haley, singer, songwriter, and guitarist
1994 – Howard Martin Temin, geneticist and academic
2009 – Orlando "Cachaíto" López, bassist and composer
2010 – Walter Frederick Morrison, invented the Frisbee
2012 – Joe Moretti, guitarist and songwriter
2021 – Chick Corea, jazz composer
2025 – Tom Robbins, writer

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

Develop Alternative Vices Day
IS THIS OXYMORONIC OR WHAT?
Chocolate Day (see above?)
World Marriage Day
Get your permit

Today's Tunes

Alternative Vices Day

Brits declare Massachusetts to be in rebellion

The Beatles on Ed Sullivan

The first marines openly in Vietnam who weren't pretending to be advisors or trainers

Sylmar Earthquake

Henri-Joseph Rigel

Carmen Miranda

Ernest Tubb

Barry Mann


Brian Bennett

Carole King

Barbara Lewis

Major Harris

Travis Tritt

Percy Faith

Bill Haley

Orlando "Cachaíto" López

Joe Moretti

Chick Corea

Bonus:

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, alternative vices, Beatles, Carmen Miranda, Ernest Tubb, Barry Mann, Carole King, Percy Faith, Bill Haley, Chick Corea