An International"day of peace" seems likely to occur only after armeggadon. So long as the USA is a nation state, universal global peace seems to be not merely risible, but preposterous. Various sources assert that the USA has been at peace for anywhere from 17 to 21 years in its existence. We can use the bogus 250 years (since 1776) or the more acurate 237 years (since 1789) as a denominator and accept the dubiouis assertion that there were 17 years of peace to arrive at 6.8% and 7.2%, respectively, though I doubt that there were really that many years when the USA was completely at peace. Those alleged years were largely long ago, to boot, such as the purported 5 years of peace during the thirties. The inclusion of this as a "period of peace" makes it clear that "peace" does not take into account internal warfare such as the war on labor, labor unions and strikers by hired thugs like the Pinkertons, local and state police, and national guard units that continued apace throughout the thirties, but, whatever. Now, 2026 and beyond, the USA is predisposed to both economic and armed warfare on all and sundry to such an extent that the concept of world wide peace sounds oxymoronic.

After China suffered defeats in the first and second Opium Wars as well as the First Sino-Japanese War , the Guangxu Emperor began issuing edicts ordering a series of reforms which were intended to cause widespread changes in Chinese society, culture, ideology, education and institutions. This did not sit well with the old guard and on September 21, 1898 Empress Dowager Cixi seized power in a coup d'etat, ending the Hundred Day's Reform (or Wuxu Reform) which had actually lasted 103 days.

Fifty-one years later, on September 21, 1949, the People's Republic of China was proclaimed.

On this day in history:

1776 – Part of New York City burned shortly after being occupied by British forces.

1792 – The French National Convention abolished the monarchy.

1843 – John Williams Wilson took possession of the Strait of Magellan on behalf of the Chilean government. Seriously, one cannot take possession of a strait, how does one stick a flag in it? Where does one stand?

1860 – An Anglo-French force defeated Chinese troops at the Battle of Palikao.

1898 – Empress Dowager Cixi seized power and ended the Hundred Days' Reform in China.

1937 – J. R. R. Tolkien's The Hobbit was published.

1949 – The People's Republic of China was proclaimed.

1964 – Malta gained independence from the United Kingdom

1972 – Ferdinand Marcos began authoritarian rule by declaring martial law.

1976 – Orlando Letelier was assassinated in Washington, D.C. He had been a member of the Allende government. It is not certain whether the CIA was involved in his assassination like they were in the overthrow and murder of Allende, or not.

1981 – Belize was granted full independence from the United Kingdom.

1981 – Sandra Day O'Connor was unanimously approved by the U.S. Senate as the first female Supreme Court justice.

1996 – The "Defense of Marriage Act" was passed by the United States Congress for the sole purpose of prohibiting certain specific marriages. It was yet another intrusion of certain twisted religious precepts into our laws in a clear violation of the First Amendment.

2018 – LGBT rights activist Zak Kostopoulos was beaten to death on a busy street in Athens

Some people who were born on this day:

Civilization is in a race between education and catastrophe. Let us learn the truth and spread it as far and wide as our circumstances allow. For the truth is the greatest weapon we have.

~~ H. G. Wells

051 – Bertha of Savoy
1452 – Girolamo Savonarola, puritanical Christo-fascist burned by the pope, a less puritannical Christo-fascist
1552 – Barbara Longhi, painter
1559 – Cigoli, painter and architect
1645 – Louis Jolliet, explorer
1853 – Heike Kamerlingh Onnes, physicist and academic,
1866 – H. G. Wells, novelist, historian, and critic
1873 – Papa Jack Laine, drummer and bandleader
1884 – Dénes Konig, mathematician and theorist
1898 – Frances Mary Albrier, civil rights activist
1902 – Allen Lane, publisher, founded Penguin Books
1903 – Preston Tucker, engineer and businessman, designed the Tucker Sedan
1904 – Hans Hartung, painter
1912 – György Sándor, pianist and composer
1917 – Phyllis Nicolson, mathematician and academic
1918 – John Gofman, physicist, chemist, and biologist
1919 – Herman Fowlkes, Jr., trumpet player and educator
1923 – Fred Hunt, jazz pianist
1926 – Donald A. Glaser, physicist and neurobiologist
1932 – Don Preston, keyboard player and composer
1934 – Leonard Cohen, singer, songwriter ,and poet
1936 – Dickey Lee, pop-country singer, songwriter ,and guitarist
1943 – David Hood, session bassist and trombone player
1944 – Bobby Tench, singer, songwriter, and guitarist
1947 – Don Felder, musician and songwriter
1947 – Rupert Hine, musician, songwriter, and record producer
1949 – Henry Butler, pianist and photographer
1952 – Dave Gregory, guitarist and keyboard player
1954 – Thomas S. Ray, ecologist and academic
1954 – Phil "Philthy Animal" Taylor, rock drummer
1959 – Corinne Drewery, singer, songwriter, and fashion designer
1964 – Jorge Drexler, singer & songwriter
1964 – Lester Quitzau, guitarist
1967 – Faith Hill, singer, songwriter, producer, and actress
1967 – Tyler Stewart, drummer
1968 – Kevin Buzzard, mathematician
1970 – Melissa Ferrick, singer, songwriter, and guitarist

Some people who died on this day:

Every miserable fool who has nothing at all of which he can be proud, adopts as a last resource pride in the nation to which he belongs; he is ready and happy to defend all its faults and follies tooth and nail, thus reimbursing himself for his own inferiority.

~~ Arthur Schopenhauer, Essays and Aphorisms

19 BC – Virgil, poet
1576 – Gerolamo Cardano, mathematician, physician, and astrologer
1860 – Arthur Schopenhauer, philosopher and author
1905 – Nikolay Benardos, inventor
1926 – Léon Charles Thévenin, engineer
1962 – Bo Carter, singer, songwriter, and guitarist
1987 – Jaco Pastorius, bass player, composer, and producer
2002 – Robert L. Forward, physicist and science fiction author
2011 – John Du Cann, guitarist
2012 – José Curbelo, pianist and manager
2015 – Ray Warleigh, saxophonist and flute player
2024 – Benny Golson, saxophonist and composer

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

International Day of Peace (International)
National Pecan Cookie Day (United States)
World Gratitude Day

Today's Tunes

International Day of Peace

Bertha of savoy

Fred Hunt

Don Preston

Leonard Cohen

Dickey Lee

David Hood
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IhHBr7nMMio

Don Felder

Bo Carter

Jaco Pastorius

2012 – José Curbelo

Ray Warleigh

Benny Golson

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, Peace, China, NYC, DOMA, H G Wells, Leonard Cohen, Arthur Schopenhauer, Jaco Pastorius, Don Felder, David Hood