Open Thread for May 2, 2016; We Shall Overcome

So we're looking at 2 this Monday

2 is the smallest even integer, and defines the even integers (they are those divisible by 2)
Finite multiples of 2 must end in 2, 4, 6, 8, or 0
If the last digit of a whole number is evenly divisible by 2, the entire number is evenly divisible by 2
2 is the first and smallest prime number
2 is the only even prime number
2 is the third Fibonacci number (1, 1, 2)
Ordinary fractions with 2 for a denominator will not result in an infinite decimal expansion
2 is the base of the binary number system
2 is unique in that 2+2 = 2x2 = 2 squared
Powers of two play a significant role in computer programming and computer science
2 is central to the definition of Mersenne Primes (primes that are one less than a power of two)
The square root of 2 is the length of the diagonal of a unit square

2 is Helium
2 is the atomic mass of deuterium
Group 2 of the periodic table is the alkaline earths, elements of which usually have a valence of 2

TITLE 2 of the U.S. Code is THE CONGRESS

2 appears twice in R2D2.

2 BCE was the Year of the Consulship of Augustus and Silvanus.
Emperor Augustus was proclaimed Pater Patriae
The Aqua Alsietina Roman aqueduct was constructed.

2 CE was the Year of the Consulship of Vinicius and Varus (which Varus is a tad unclear, however)
Publius Alfenus Varus, whoever that may have been, was the consul above, not Varus the Butcher.
Tiberius was allowed to return to Rome, and Gaius Caesar signed a treaty with the Parthians who agreed to recognize Roman Claims to Armenia.
In China, Wang Mang, known for having but one wife, Lady Wang, embarked on a course of further personal aggrandisement. The first Chinese census was completed, showing almost 60 million Chinese

On this day in:
1611 -- The King James Bible was published for the first time in London.
1670 -- King Charles II of England granted a charter to the Hudson's Bay Company to open up the fur trade in North America.
1808 -- The people of Madrid rose up in rebellion against French occupation as later memorialized in Francisco de Goya's painting "The Second of May 1808".
1885 -- Good Housekeeping magazine went on sale for the first time.
1885 -- Cree and Assiniboine warriors won the Battle of Cut Knife over Canadian forces
1885 -- King Léopold II of Belgium established The Congo Free State. Just like that. Ayup.
1933 -- Adolf Hitler banned trade unions.
1945 -- The Soviet Union announced the capture of Berlin.
1945 -- General Heinrich von Vietinghoff surrendered all Wehrmacht forces in Italy.
1945 -- The US 82nd Airborne Division liberated Wöbbelin concentration camp.
1952 -- The world's first jet airliner, the De Havilland Comet 1 made its first flight.
1955 -- Tennessee Williams won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama for "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof".
1972 -- A fire at the Sunshine Mine in Idaho, killed 91 workers.
1986 -- The City of Chernobyl was evacuated.
1989 -- Hungary began dismantling its Austrian border fence, allowing East Germans to defect
1998 -- The European Central Bank was founded.
1999 -- Mireya Moscoso became the first woman President of Panama. The US showed tacit approval by not overthrowing or subverting her government.
2011 -- Osama bin Laden, was killed by US forces in Abbottabad, Pakistan.

Born this day in:
1660 -- Alessandro Scarlatti, a composer
1729 -- Catherine the Great, a Russian Empress who made John Paul Jones a rear admiral of the Russian Navy.
1881 -- Alexander Kerensky, a Russian lawyer and politician
1885 -- Hedda Hopper, an actress and gossip columnist
1892 -- Manfred von Richthofen, Snoopy's foe
1895 -- Lorenz Hart, Richard Rodgers' lyricist
1903 -- Benjamin Spock, a pediatrician and author
1915 -- Doris Fisher, a singer & songwriter (d. 2003)
1921 -- Satyajit Ray, a director, producer, and screenwriter
1924 -- Theodore Bikel, a folkie, singer, songwriter, guitarist, activist, and actor
1929 -- Link Wray, a singer, songwriter, and guitarist
1936 -- Engelbert Humperdinck, a singer & pianist
1944 -- Bob Henrit, a drummer (Argent, The Roulettes, The Kinks, and Unit 4 + 2)
1945 -- Judge Dread, a singer & songwriter
1946 -- Lesley Gore, a singer & songwriter
1948 -- Larry Gatlin, a singer, songwriter, guitarist, and actor (The Imperials)
1951 -- John Glascock, a singer & bass player (Jethro Tull, Carmen, The Gods, and Chicken Shack)
1972 -- Pandora Boxx, a drag queen performer and singer
1972 -- Ahti Heinla, a programmer and businessman who co-developed Skype

Died this day in:
1519 -- Leonardo da Vinci.
1945 -- Martin Bormann, a German politician
1960 -- Caryl Chessman, a criminal, author, and cause celebre
1972 -- J. Edgar Hoover, Boss Feeb, scoundrel, & fascist control freak who invented Cointelpro and spied on anybody to the left of Mussolini.
2011 -- Osama bin Laden, a Saudi Arabian businessman & terrorist
2014 -- Jessica Cleaves, a singer (The Friends of Distinction and Earth, Wind & Fire)
2015 -- Guy Carawan, another folkie, a singer & musicologist

Holidays, Holy Days, Festivals, Feast Days and such:
It is National Education Day in Indonesia and Teachers' Day in Iran.
Alternatively, it is he last day of the Festival of Ridván among the Bahá'í .

So, for music we gots --
Alessandro Scarlatti
Doris Fisher
Theodore Bikel
Link Wray
Engelbert Humperdinck
Bob Henrit
Judge Dread
Lesley Gore
Larry Gatlin
John Glascock
Jessica Cleaves
Guy Carawan

Alessandro Scarlatti

Doris Fisher Cowrote things like "You Always Hurt the One You Love", "Into Each Life Some Rain Must Fall" and --

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Theodore Bikel

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Link Wray Before there was metal, there was Liink Wray.

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Engelbert Humperdinck

Bob Henrit

Judge Dread

Lesley Gore

Larry Gatlin

John Glascock

Jessica Cleaves

Guy Carawan Carawan, a folkie, taught "We Shall Overcome" to the SNCC in 1960, the rest is history --

SO, about TWO

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Comments

Good morning x 2 - newly registered here yesterday. I look forward to reading and commenting in the future. It is great to 'see' some familiar faces/names.

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Make yourself comfortable..

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"Religion is what keeps the poor from murdering the rich."--Napoleon

PhilJD's picture

Don't believe the nonsense being posted about C99 at TOP, saying we're essentially a handful of dead-end crazies and the site is on life-support. Pretty much the opposite is true; C99 is active, vibrant and growing and most of the best progressives from TOP are posting here.

I guess the befuddled Clintonistas confused their monitor and their mirror, because one formerly-progressive site is indeed dying.

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Hillary Clinton 2016: I'm a proud progmoderate!

Lady Libertine's picture

to take a look at the Welcome New Members blurb whenever you have time.

LL

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enhydra lutris's picture

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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 --

Gerrit's picture

applicable everywhere.

Have a great day,

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Resilience: practical action to improve things we can control.
3D+: developing language for postmodern spirituality.

enhydra lutris's picture

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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 --

Lookout's picture

Thanks for the number fun. It takes two for a duality.

We've crossed over one of the four corners. May 1 is the middle of spring. The other corners include Halloween (the middle of fall), ground hog day (middle of winter), and somewhere around Aug 7 or so, in the dog days (middle of summer). Midsummer's day is actually the start of summer on the solstice. The dog days refers to Sirius the dog star which is out/up during the day in August and was thought to add heat to the sun making the dog days so hot.

Hope all you c99ers have a good day!

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“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”

enhydra lutris's picture

should have included.

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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 --

slowly but surely, spring is erupting and driving away the winter blahs. love this time of year.

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"Religion is what keeps the poor from murdering the rich."--Napoleon

enhydra lutris's picture

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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's picture

TTIPtoten1

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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 --

mimi's picture

I am hopelessly behind in reading. I start my day with Democracy Now and it's through today's broadcast I was introduced to the life of Father Berrigan. I can't tell you how much Democracy Now helps me to not lose my mind, find out about truths I never would have on my own and be inspired constantly to ... just spend the rest of my life reading and studying the history of my host country, the US, and relate my own pitiful little life into context of it. I think I have a personal project on my hands that will last to keep me busy for the rest of my life.

I can't link to the video of today's Democracy NOW broadcast, the video source is not found yet. May be it's just too early. But when it becomes available I watch it again to see what I listened to.

Meanwhile going over to news.google.de I got all the German media stories about the TTIP and the Greenpeace release of the TTIP documents on the internet. Unfortunately I haven't found yet any English translations of most of the German reactions. But it is clear that I am thoroughly disappointed about Merkel's comments, in which she said she wants to still see a fast compromise and solution of the TTIP negotiations with the US.

There is, as far as I understand scanning the media, quite some opposition to what people have now understood to be facts that no one wants to compromise about or sign on to.

Greenpeace puts TTIP papers for everybody to read into the internet. Thank you Greenpeace. Would be nice to have an English translation for this.

Some German media in English about the French 'Nuit Debout' protests in Paris:[video:https://youtu.be/vB4fJ2zFmeU]

During the day I hope to find German reactions in English.

Have a good day, all. And sorry for not even have started to read the Resilience Group's essays. How are you all doing so much reading and writing so fast?

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enhydra lutris's picture

Rhine at Bamberg, with a bridge on each side. If you look close you can make out what is spraypainted on the side (of both) - "TTIP Toten" or "TTIP Totet", I can't quite read it.

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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's picture

dkmich:
TTIPtoten1

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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 --

lotlizard's picture

Bamberg, so scenic, I can’t help myself, I love it, my parents loved it when they were here 35 years ago.

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enhydra lutris's picture

Bamberg also has tremendous beer, this architecture:
P1050716

and this plaque
Hegel2

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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 --

mimi's picture

you have in common with Markos the Great at Koslandia... He loved Bamberg too, I remember a comment from him saying ... /ducking and chuckling.
Smile

You guys make me homesick. I have never been to Dresden. But I know that after reunification my former family's business gathered there to celebrate some sort of 100 year jubilee.

I have hope that I will make that trip one day.

This here for example makes me hopeful:
Watch U2’s The Edge Cover Leonard Cohen In First-Ever Rock Performance At The Sistine Chapel
[video:https://youtu.be/XQ-1zJ9cnxQ]
I am so happy for the first time with this specific Pope and with some aspects of Catholicism in these days, after I read all about Father Berrigan and started to love the Catholic Nuns on the Bus. This performance in the Sixtine's chapel makes me all welling up. And I am not at all a Catholic, but this time I feel their humanity having a positive impact on me and I see them being on the right side of things.

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lotlizard's picture

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Granma's picture

So beautiful. It was not bombed during WWII and 400 year old buildings remain. I so wanted to visit when my son was stationed there for a few years.

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Mark from Queens's picture

More evidence that the people of the world understand how unbridled capitalism is a dehumanizing economic system which is quite literally killing the 99% and the planet, and are rising up. This is Bernie's message as well. Democracy Spring's civil disobedience too.

Which is why the MSM and places like TOP are so afraid of it, obstinately looking the other way to live in fanciful, willful ignorance.

Revolt, we must.

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"If I should ever die, God forbid, let this be my epitaph:

THE ONLY PROOF HE NEEDED
FOR THE EXISTENCE OF GOD
WAS MUSIC"

- Kurt Vonnegut

Raggedy Ann's picture

We had snow yesterday - such interesting weather in New Mexico - always! The number 2 - if it is your life path number in numerology, you have tendencies to be a micromanager, so be aware of this trait in yourself! I've worked for them before and it's painful for a free spirit 5 like me!

Have a beautiful day, everyone!

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"The “jumpers” reminded us that one day we will all face only one choice and that is how we will die, not how we will live." Chris Hedges on 9/11

enhydra lutris's picture

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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 --

Mark from Queens's picture

I was born on the 5th (I'm presuming that's what you mean) too. And a Sag. What does that make me? :-0

Snow in NM sounds wonderful. Spring in NYC is delightful, cool, some rain here and there, sunshine too. Absolutely dread summers here so really relishing the entire days now.

Great and really fun roundup enhydra lutris, thanks.

Thanks too for the Bob Henrit, Jon Glascock ad Link Wray. Didn't know Henrit was such a good, creative drummer, and Glascock I remember being introduced by Ian Anderson on the "Bursting Out" live album in '78 I think.

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"If I should ever die, God forbid, let this be my epitaph:

THE ONLY PROOF HE NEEDED
FOR THE EXISTENCE OF GOD
WAS MUSIC"

- Kurt Vonnegut

enhydra lutris's picture

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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 --

Raggedy Ann's picture

Just getting your attention if you are wandering around the comments. Sorry - yesterday was balls to the wall at work for me and I have company, so no time for anything but company at home, which is okay because she has brought laughter back int our home, which has been missing, but that's another story. WHEW!

Anyway - you add up the numbers in your birthday month+day+year and bring it down to one number. For example, my birthday is 7+2+6+1+9+5+2=95, then 9+5=5, so I am a 5. If you let me know what your one number boils down to, I can let you know what it means if you are interested! Also, this is different from astrology in that we go through 9 year cycles with each year bringing about different experiences for us to encounter and work through.

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"The “jumpers” reminded us that one day we will all face only one choice and that is how we will die, not how we will live." Chris Hedges on 9/11

enhydra lutris's picture

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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 --

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"Don't believe everything you read online." -- Epicurus (Greek philosopher, 341–270 BCE)

enhydra lutris's picture

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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's picture

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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 --

lotlizard's picture

mentions Snowden.
http://www.taz.de/Ueberwachung-in-den-USA-2015/%215300516/

That ended up reminding me of that Hillary was the SoS who happily invalidated Snowden’s passport while he was in Russia, then tried to made it look like he had defected.

Ugh.

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I don't know what the letter of the day is however...

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"Don't believe everything you read online." -- Epicurus (Greek philosopher, 341–270 BCE)

enhydra lutris's picture

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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 --

Shahryar's picture

here's a set of lyrics he wrote. I love the clarity, the sparseness.

It seems we stood and talked like this before
We looked at each other in the same way then
But I can't remember where or when

The clothes you're wearing are the clothes you wore
The smile you are smiling you were smiling then
But I can't remember where or when

Some things that happened for the first time
Seem to be happening again

And so it seems that we have met before
And laughed before, and loved before
But who knows where or when?

Some things that happened for the first time
Seem to be happening again
(I can't remember, my darling, I can't remember when)

And so it seems that we have met before
And laughed before, and loved before
But who knows where or when?

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