06/22 Open Thread - Take Your Cat to Work Day
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~~ Sympathy
It is not only Take Your Cat to Work Day, it is also National Chocolate Eclair Day, and World Rainforest Day. You may note that in the USA, Chocolate Eclairs are more important than Rainforests, and that is arguably as it should be. There is a relative dearth of concern in this country for conservation, healthy ecosystems and things of that nature. Rainforests exist to be logged and then either replanted with plantations of fast growing pulp or timber wood or mined for assorted minerals depending upon projected return on investment and the rate of that return. That's depressing enough that I went with good old reliable cats, always ready to do their own thing and have their own way because they domesticated us and not vice-versa.
The Supreme Sacred Congregation of the Roman and Universal Inquisition was founded in 1542 to defend those points of Christian tradition which seemed in danger because of new and unacceptable doctrines." (isn't "new and unacceptable" redundant in this context? Asking for a friend.) The inquisitors proved their mettle on June 22, 1633 when they forced Galileo Galilei to recant his scary and dangerous heliocentric theory of the universe in favor of their divinely revealed geocentric one. In the decades since, despite the fact that his theory was merely based on actual observation of real phenomena, it has somehow managed to take the ascendancy over god's holy truth. The inquisitors did, however, put up a good fight.
And then, to add insult to injury, my spell checker rejects Galileo's last name, Galilei and wants to substitute Galilee, a chunk of ancient Palestine.
On this day in history:
1633 – The Roman Inquisition forced Galileo Galilei to recant his view that the Sun, not the Earth, is the center of the Universe
1839 – Cherokee leaders Major Ridge, John Ridge, and Elias Boudinot were assassinated for signing the Treaty of New Echota, which had resulted in the Trail of Tears.
1870 – The United States Department of Justice was created by the U.S. Congress.
1940 – France signed the Second Compiègne armistice with Germany
1941 – Nazi Germany invaded the Soviet Union in Operation Barbarossa. "Those who don't know history ..."
1942 – The Pledge of Allegiance was formally adopted by US Congress. Sinister, regardless of the circumstances
1944 – U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the G.I. Bill into law
1969 – The Cuyahoga River caught fire
1978 – Pluto's moon, Charon, was first seen
1990 – Checkpoint Charlie was dismantled in Berlin.
2025 – The United States conducted criminal airstrikes on three Iranian "nuclear sites" in Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan. They were "nuclear sites" in the same sense as 3 Mile Island was, except for being less likely to explode or melt down.
Some people who were born on this day:
Life is a disease, brother, and death begins already at birth. Every breath, every heartbeat, is a moment of dying - a little shove toward the end.
~~ Erich Maria Remarque
1000 – Robert I, duke of Normandy
1510 – Alessandro de' Medici, duke of Florence
1684 – Francesco Manfredini,violinist and composer
1757 – George Vancouver, lieutenant and explorer
1837 – Paul Morphy, chess player
1856 – Henry Rider Haggard, novelist
1864 – Hermann Minkowski, mathematician and academic
1887 – Julian Huxley, biologist and academic
1894 – Bernard Ashmole, archaeologist and art historian (
1898 – Erich Maria Remarque, soldier and author
1899 – Richard Gurley Drew, engineer, invented Masking tape
1903 – John Dillinger, businessman, carver
1906 – William Kneale, logician and philosopher
1906 – Anne Morrow Lindbergh, pilot and author
1910 – Anne Ziegler, singer
1910 – Konrad Zuse, computer scientist and engineer, invented the Z3 computer
1915 – Randolph Hokanson, pianist
1920 – James H. Pomerene, computer scientist and engineer
1936 – Kris Kristofferson, singer, songwriter, guitarist, and actor
1937 – Chris Blackwell, record producer, co-founded Island Records
1937 – Bernie McGann, saxophonist and composer
1944 – Peter Asher, singer, guitarist, and producer
1946 – Eliades Ochoa, singer, songwriter, guitarist, and producer
1947 – Howard Kaylan, singer, songwriter, and musician (The Turtles; Flo & Eddie)
1948 – Todd Rundgren, singer, songwriter, guitarist, and producer
1949 – Larry Junstrom, bass player
1949 – Alan Osmond, singer and producer
1951 – Craig Gruber, bass player
1953 – Cyndi Lauper, singer, songwriter, producer, and actress
1955 – Green Gartside, singer, songwriter and guitarist
1956 – Derek Forbes, bass player and guitarist
1957 – Garry Gary Beers, bass player, songwriter, and producer
1961 – Jimmy Somerville, singer and songwriter
1962 – Bobby Gillespie, musician, singer, and songwriter
1964 – Dan Brown, author and academic
Some people who died on this day:
It's a big club and you ain't in it
~~ George Carlin
1101 – Roger I of Sicily, nobleman
1429 – Jamshid al-Kashi, astronomer and mathematician
1664 – Katherine Philips, poet
1874 – Howard Staunton, chess player
1892 – Pierre Ossian Bonnet, mathematician and academic
1925 – Felix Klein, mathematician and academic
1936 – Moritz Schlick, physicist and philosopher (Vienna Circle)
1956 – Walter de la Mare, poet, short story writer and novelist
1969 – Judy Garland, n actress and singer
1977 – Peter Laughner, singer, songwriter, and guitarist (Rocket From the Tombs and Pere Ubu)
1988 – Dennis Day, singer and actor
1997 – Ted Gärdestad, singer and songwriter
2008 – George Carlin, comedian, actor, and author
2018 – Vinnie Paul, musician
Some Holidays, Holy Days, Festivals, Feast Days, Days of Recognition, and such:
Take Your Cat to Work Day
National Chocolate Eclair Day
World Rainforest Day
Today's Tunes
Take your Cat to Work Day
Francesco Manfredini
Randolph Hokanson
Kris Kristofferson
Chris Blackwell
Bernie McGann
Peter Asher
Eliades Ochoa
Howard Kaylan
Todd Rundgren
Larry Junstrom
Cyndi Lauper
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, Galileo Galilei , Erich Maria Remarque, George Carlin, Kris Kristofferson, Todd Rundgren, Cyndi Lauper
Comments
As soon as I saw your cat theme I remembered the
Cat Sonata by Rossini, a piece of opera Buffa.
Here is a YT compilation of cat themed pieces. Number 3 is the one I'm thinking of and number 4 "The Cat" by Perkofiev from Peter and the Wolf is a favorite.
We are living with 40°C and wondering if we can save the garden. Shading/tenting with white cloth over Tomatoes, peppers, eggplant and their friends Basil, Marigolds and others. Mon dieu this is the hottest weather I think I have ever lived in.
Stone houses are cool until the heat warms up the rock walls. Mon mari has been putting cloth canopies over the south/east facing windows which will save window boxes and keep some of the worst heat off the interior. Pulled a dozen pots and window boxes off of walls and patio into the shade of a weeping Ash where I also have my first Meyer Lemon and some other terrified plants.
We have finally had an explosion of butterfies and just yesterday our first dragon fly. The sun hit his wings as he perched looking for prey: the vein were copper. So beautiful.
Our Eurasian Oriol has been fluting and sqawking around for almost two months. Just this morning he has been joined by another. Two is an unbelievable treat.
We are eating a lot of fruit and salads. We have no shame about going to a wonderful independent butcher (Le Comptoir Charollais) who also sells more and more produce of great quality. They are also offering pre made meals or main dish serviings for 8 euros which feeds the two of us a meal. So we get main dish, sides and salads done by someone else, from their in house kitchen. I love that store/boutique.
And our kitchen fridge which is a small under counter job we had just cleaned has decided to quit. We can get one just like it for 186 euros for 133 litre capacity. On line for a good price and exactly what we want but a week to get or take what we can get at the local appliance big box. Checked all connections but there is no power to the motor. We are of the generation who fixed things that don't work. It's not easy these days.
Our pantry houses an upright frigo/refridgerator, an upright freezer/congelateur, and a chest freezer.
We have fans and open and shut the volets and windows depending on time of day, sun angle and overall heat. Even though it's hotter outside it seems more comfortable the sit next to the dwindling petite rivière Mussy under the shade of mixed trees than stay in a stuffy house.
We have been somewhat adopted by a feral kitty who prowls the house when she thinks we are not looking. We feed her in the window sills upstairs/a l'étage. She will probably never settle in. So we are looking for two young kitties to replace George and Ira. They and this kitty really do banish any rats who may think this would be a good place to find food.
It drops to 18-21° C at night but the house stayes above 24° C. I would love a good thunderstorm any afternoon or evening the weather gods will allow. Too darn hot!
Thanks for the OT and have a good one CC99.
ETA: We older folks need to replenish lost fluids and elemental minerals. I guess this is true for anyone. We drink teaspoon of sea salt with bio/organic apple cider vinegar, in filtered water. We add Milk Thistle for liver cleanse, and teaspoon of 99% pur DMSO for anti inflammatory help. Our biggest challenge is when to do our 5k walk. Too hot. We have a new neighbor a young Donkey who talks to passing cars, and verge mowers. He is so close we talk to him when he brays. We take Teddy up to visit and feed him apples. He is los lonely boy. He needs a pal very badly.
A society grows great when old men plant trees in whose shade they know they shall never sit. Allegedly Greek, but more possibly fairly modern quote.
Consider helping by donating using the button in the upper left hand corner. Thank you.
Good morning DM, thanks for the cat collection. I will listen
to it laterm un the yard, I think, but maybe start right now. Perhaps I can include it in the next iteratio of this column. 40 Celsius is serious heat. Using mostly passive mitigatin processes will be very difficult, I'm sure.
Your butcher sounds wonderful. We have nothing remotely similar. We do, at the moment, have an abundance of apricots on/from our tree, which is a tad rare and a decent supply of tomatoes, ripe from one plant, and ripening from two others.
Good to have an adopted stray cat, especially in a situation like yours. We had one recently who was death on pocket gophers, but he vanished. Luckily, a new one has somewhat moved in, so maybe she will take over that duty.
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 --
You are that donkey's friend,
D'sM. It will love you until it dies. I have experience with donkeys, wish I had one now.
Best of luck on beating the heat. As a farm girl product of 2 generations, you just deal with it.
Watering systems for small "farms", pray to God of Your Choice for gigantic fields.
Been there, done that, no guarantees. Mother Nature is Bad Ass.
"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981
Wow, that's some serious effort to chill
.
Curious if your heat is wet or dry? Have been in places of low
humidity where misters help lower temps. Otherwise, dehumidifiers
can help. We use fans almost exclusively.
About $300.
or
About $600.
Bonne chance.
Zionism is a social disease
We are in a river bottom but the air during the day is dry. At
night it gets fairly high at + 90%. We also use all fans and don't need to dehumidify. I use a portable humidity tester on our stone walls to be sure we are not growing mold. We don't often get above 8% in stone or wood surfaces. Yay.
House humidity runs 45 to 58%. which is very comfortable.
We just cracked 40°C and 20% humidity out side. In is 26.3 and 50% humidity. Wow!
On these hottest of hot days I dunk a hand towel in water and wear it. I'm surprised how it helps overall comfort.
Any tips on saving our garden from everyone? One small planting of sweet corn has given up and is tasseling at maybe hip height. The earlier planting is hanging on.
The dust from the agricultural lane in front is a constant and prevents me from using our slowly acquired wool rugs and runners. I may have to give them away.
A society grows great when old men plant trees in whose shade they know they shall never sit. Allegedly Greek, but more possibly fairly modern quote.
Consider helping by donating using the button in the upper left hand corner. Thank you.
Good morning Cap'n Q. That lower contraption has me
scratching my head, especially situated outdoors like that, must be somewhere down south.
be well and have a good opne
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 --
Your lists are so inspiring and love the music.
One more of my many favorites:
A society grows great when old men plant trees in whose shade they know they shall never sit. Allegedly Greek, but more possibly fairly modern quote.
Consider helping by donating using the button in the upper left hand corner. Thank you.
Heh, that event caught my eye as I scrolled down through the
columen to get to the comments and I wondered why I hadn't used that somg in my music selection and 2) wjhether I should try to remember the name and post it in the comments. Accordingly, thanks tons for posting it.
be well and have a goodf 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...
It's summer now as dawn relays above. Oddly enough we have been wet and mild, but change is in the air next week.
Have a huge hollow oak tree fallen over one of our trails. I mowed it last Monday and just discovered the newly fallen tree last evening. I'll call in my tree guy to help. My saw isn't big enough to get through the old monster. Hate to lose such an old tree. Our place had a history of fire before we got here, so many of our older trees are scarred.
I need a garden cat to go after the voles, so it would be a put your cat to work day in that case.
Take care and thanks for the OT!
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
Good morning lookout, thanks for dropping in.
Sucks to lose big old trees like that, but you'll either get firewood or mulch out of it. Garden cats are indeed a boon, good luck acquiring one.
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 Brits have gotten fed-up
.
UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer Announces Resignation.
Couldn't stand the heat so to speak. A typical lying pol,
he failed to deliver on campaign promises on immigration,
unable to do anything about rape gangs, pushed to cut social
spending to waste money on Ukraine and was generally unpopular.
Wondering if Mertz and Macron are not far behind his fate? I think
threatening to supply the Ukienazi's with nuclear weapons was the
camel that broke the straw's back.
Zionism is a social disease
@QMS Question to Google AI,,
Question to Google AI,,,Did britian's prim minister offer ukraine nukes?
Response,,,No, Britain's Prime Minister did not offer Ukraine nuclear weapons.
The confusion stems from a mix-up between two completely separate events: a nuclear energy fuel deal signed at the June 2026 G7 summit and disinformation pushed by Russian intelligence earlier in the year.
The Actual Nuclear Energy Deal
Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced a £210 million civil energy agreement to supply enriched uranium to Ukraine.
The Purpose: This uranium is strictly intended to fuel Ukraine's domestic nuclear power plants (managed by Energoatom). It ensures the country's electricity grid can withstand Russian attacks on its infrastructure.
The Provider: The commercial fuel is being provided by the UK-based firm Urenco. It has nothing to do with weapons.
Origin of the Weapon Rumors
The rumor that the UK was giving Ukraine nuclear weapons stems from a targeted disinformation campaign:
In February 2026, Russia's Foreign Intelligence Service publicly accused the United Kingdom and France of secretly preparing to hand over nuclear weapons to Kyiv.
Prime Minister Starmer's office immediately rejected the accusation, stating that "Putin is clearly lying" to distract from Russia's actions in Ukraine. Both France and Ukraine dismissed the claims as an "absurd lie" and "blatant disinformation.
"The UK continues to supply Ukraine with billions in conventional military aid—such as air defense missiles, long-range weapons, and drones—but strictly adheres to non-proliferation treaties and does not provide nuclear arms.
Russian propaganda is probably not the best source, just saying. I guess the counter argument would be that the entire rest of the world is in a conspiracy to discredit Russia's propaganda ministry.
AI, especialy western Ai is probably not a very good source
either. Long ago, as these things go, Ukraine was publicly and officially stating that it should be given nukes. Meantime, they will be given enriched Uranium. For decades the US/Zionist Entity/NATO mouithpieces have been clamoring that Iran should not be allowed to enrich uranium or have any enriched uranium for their peaceful atomic projects because it was an obvious ruse to gwet a weapon. If that is so logical and rational for them to assume about Iran, which is not remotely interested in going to war with anybody. They it is clearly a valid assumption with respect to Ukraine which has been being used by NATO/EU as a proxy to provoke and then fight a war with the Rus. Especially after their war-mad dictator all but demanded that they be given them.
Remember, the UK's anem, even among its allies is "Perfidious Albion", and they cannot be trusted to do anything on the up and up.
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 --
@enhydra lutris Not sure what you are
Not sure what you are saying as it seems to be written in some sort of anti western secret code only comprehensible to people who are schooled in that particular vocabulary.
"US/Zionist Entity/NATO mouithpieces"
"Ukraine which has been being used by NATO/EU as a proxy to provoke and then fight a war with the Rus."
I hope you can understand that to most people water is wet and Russia invaded Ukraine. Like if you were to jump in the river with your clothes on, your clothes would be wet when you got out. I'm sure arguments can be made for the world being flat, and people do make them, but most sane people consider it round and that Russia invaded Ukraine to take it.
If Russia simply went home the war would end. Russia has invaded lots of neighbors of late, none of this is very complicated. I'd drop the "US/Zionist Entity/NATO mouithpieces" it sounds like the chem trails or abducted by aliens.
The distorted views
.
proffered by some generally work out to be a delusion
in support of globalist designs. Don't buy it. It is far better
to avoid repeating talking points without first sifting the chafe.
Zionism is a social disease
You're walking on thin ice, ban nock...
I let the back and forth between you and Pricknick slide last night because you were insulted first, and I didn't see it until both insults were thrown. It looks to me that you're initiating it today.
Take this as a fair warning.
Good morning Cap'n Q. It's about time he exited, he's been
quite unpopular for some time now. Let's hope they replace him with somebody much more rational and reasonable. NOo for France and Germany.
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 prime minister in waiting, Andy Burnham (sp?) is
another WEFer. Nothing will change. Alexander Mercouris has been talking about how the new guy has been selected, again without a vote. He is going to be put up for I think Labor in the near future. So discouraging.
A society grows great when old men plant trees in whose shade they know they shall never sit. Allegedly Greek, but more possibly fairly modern quote.
Consider helping by donating using the button in the upper left hand corner. Thank you.
Good morning, el!
I didn't ever take my cat to work. She was already there. For 18 years. She lived at the office. I took her food every day, or paid someone else to feed her.
One of the sweetest things she ever did was to crawl onto the lap of this youngish man and have a love fest. I didn't know what to do, but it seems he was a disabled war vet who had his own cat that gave him comfort when he most needed it. He said he could not have made it through our consultation without her on his lap.
Have a great day, 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. Heh, office/library/bookstore/bodega cats are
fampusly a class or species all of their own. You are lucky to have had one.
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 --
Beautiful post.
Nice formatting.
So grateful that the mindful distillate of life, considered, is served here, consistently.
Thanks, el.
Good afternoon, Pluto. Thanks yourself.
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 --
Hi el
My mother occasionally served a 6” round of Brie baked at a low temperature with apricot preserve on top. I’m not a big cheese lover, but it was delicious. Check out these apricot recipes, they sound divine. Loved your musical selection as usual, especially the Ochoa song and dancers. I never knew that Peter and Gordon were quite punky ; ).
A slew of short vids showing cats doing cat things around Japan
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/shows/catseye/
Cat in 2009, in a German TV studio during a live weather report
The reporter picks up the cat, briefly explains to viewers that she is named Lupin, and continues, petting her all the while…
Lovely
You can see the affection they have for each other. And he apparently doesn’t care about the advice for actors—always avoid being in a scene with a dog or cat because all eyes will go to the animal.
Anya
Did you see the viral story about the Romeo & Juliet ballet cat?
It was a humorous news item all over the world last week…
https://www.primamateriaballet.com/post/emotional-ginger-cat-steals-the-...
Too funny!
I hadn’t seen this so thanks for sharing. It may’ve been on TV but I don’t have TV. The cat does seem determined to revive Romeo. Romeo and Juliet did a good job of carrying on as though nothing was amiss. But the cat did steal the show, no question.
Anya