Monday Open Thread; August 7 is Assyrian Martyrs Day
August 7 is the 219th day of the year. There are 146 days left.
Today's number is 7
7 is a prime (the 4th prime)
999,999/7 = 142,857. Any fraction consisting of an integer divided by 7 will have a repeating decimal consisting of those digits in that order starting at a different, determinable digit unless the numerator is an even multiple of 999,999 or 7. For example, 1/7 = 0.142857142857..., 2/7 = 0.285714285714..., 3/7 = 0.42857142857....
The short-cut is to multiply 0.142857 by the remainder of the long division, and then repeat that decimal component. Thus, the fractional part of 11/7 is 4/7 = 4 x 0.148257 repeated, generating 0.571428571428571428 etc.
This arithmetic oddity was something of a pain for accountants in days of yore because the shortest depreciable life to generate the maximum investment tax credit was 7 years. As a result, 7 was a very popular useful life and the computation of 150% and 200% declining balance depreciation would involve using a rate of either 1.5 x 1/7 or 2 x 1/7.
7 is the most likely result from rolling 2 regular 6 sided dice.
7 is neutral pH
7 is Nitrogen
Old No. 7 is
There were 7 wonders
There are 7 days in a week, 7 colors in the rainbow, 7 seas, 7 continents, 7 Dwarves, Rome's 7 hills, the Plieades, and
There were Seven Samurai
And the magnificent Lotus 7 & super 7.
By Brian Snelson from Hockley, Essex, England (Lotus 7) [CC BY 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
Oh yeah, 7 Spanish Angels
Seven is and has been a magik and magikal number in a lot of cultures and religions. I'm just going to take a pass on all of it.
The sole exception is that the Seventh Son is present throughout the US blues and folk genres. Right Willie?
Title 7 of the US Code is AGRICULTURE.
7 BCE
was the Year of the Consulship of Nero and Piso
Emperor Cheng of Han and his royal consort Zhao Hede died
7 CE
was the Year of the Consulship of Metellus and Nerva.
Caesar Augustus was emperor and appointed Publius Quinctilius Varus (yep, that Varus) governor of Germania. Varus almost immediately created a lot of dissension among the various and sundry German tribes, just as he had pissed off the residents of Syria and Judea when stationed in those outposts. This would bite him in the ass in 9 CE at the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest where some of said German tribes annihilated him and his 3 legions. The Romans did, much later, recover their 3 "Eagles", but never again had a 17th, 18th or 19th legion.
On this day in:
1420 -- Construction started on the dome of Santa Maria del Fiore
1679 -- The brigantine Le Griffon, became the first ship to sail on the upper Gret Lakes
1909 -- Alice Huyler Ramsey, became the first woman to drive a car across the continent (NY to SF)
1933 -- The Iraqi government slaughtered over 3,000 Assyrians in the village of Simele.
1942 -- The Battle of Guadalcanal started
1944 -- IBM dedicated the first program-controlled calculator, The Harvard Mark I.
1947 -- The Kon-Tiki, smashed into a reef at Raroia in the Tuamotu Islands
1955 -- Tokyo Telecommunications Engineering (Sony)sold its first transistor radio
1962 -- Frances Oldham Kelsey received the U.S. President's Award for Distinguished Federal Civilian Service
1964 -- Congress passed the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, inspiring the later, similar, Iraq WMD con job
1978 -- Jimmy Carter declared a federal emergency at Love Canal
1990 -- American soldiers arrived in Saudi Arabia to wage the Gulf war.
1998 -- US embassies in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania and Nairobi, Kenya were bombed, killing about 212 people
2008 -- The War over South Ossetia's seccession began.
Born this day in:
1560 -- Elizabeth Bathory, infamous serial killer
1844 -- Auguste Michel-Levy, geologist
1890 -- Elizabeth Gurley Flynn, author and activist, prominent Wobbly, founding member of the ACLU, and much more
1904 -- Ralph Bunche, political scientist, Nobel winner and more
1913 -- George Van Eps, guitarist
1921 -- Manitas de Plata, flamenco guitarist (gypsy flamenco)
1925 -- Felice Bryant, co-authored a lot of music for Everly Brothers, also CW
1933 -- Jerry Pournelle, Sci-Fi author
1935 -- Rahsaan Roland Kirk, jazz multi-instrumentalist
1942 -- Garrison Keillor, author, humorist, radio host
1942 -- B. J. Thomas, singer
1942 -- Caetano Veloso, singer, composer, activist and guitarist
1947 -- Sofia Rotaru, singer and songwriter
1965 -- Raul Malo, singer, songwriter and guitarist (Mavericks)
1966 -- Jimmy Wales, try Wikipedia
Died this day in:
1834 -- Joseph Marie Jacquard, weaver, inventer of Jacquard Loom
1938 -- Konstantin Stanislavski, an actor with awesome technique
2004 -- Colin Bibby, ornithologist
2005 -- Peter Jennings, journalist
2009 -- Mike Seeger, folk singer
2015 -- Frances Oldham Kelsey, pharmacologist
Holidays, Holy Days, Festivals, Feast Days and such:
Assyrian Martyrs Day
So, for music Alice Huyler Ramsey Gulf of Tonkin Resolution? Elizabeth Gurley Flynn George Van Eps Mantas de Plata Felice Bryant Rahsaan Roland Kirk B. J. Thomas Caetano Veloso Sofia Rotaru Raul Malo Colin Bibby Mike Seeger-
Alice Huyler Ramsey
Gulf of Tonkin Resolution
Elizabeth Gurley Flynn
George Van Eps on his 7 string guitar
Mantas de Plata
Felice Bryant
Rahsaan Roland Kirk
B. J. Thomas
Caetano Veloso
Sofia Rotaru
Raul Malo
Colin Bibby
Mike Seeger
Bonus:
Comments
Frances Oldham Kelsey, who kept thalidomide off the U.S. market
as U.S. Surgeon General — despite pressure from politicians and their donor cronies in Big Pharma.
Just the opposite of the DOJ, Federal Reserve, and Treasury weasels who, under President Trump’s three predecessors, allowed “financial thalidomide” to take down the U.S. economy and ruin the lives of millions among the 99%.
And now for something completely different: unusual food pairings.
https://www.foodpairing.com/en/home
Yes, I've noted her before, a true professional doing
her job properly. She didn't get corrupted. Thanks for emphasizing her (and for reading).
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 notice Mondays tend
to be slow days.
Kinda like 'don't buy a car built on Mondays or Fridays. Friday workers minds are on the upcoming weekend and Mondays they're recovering from the hangover.
There is no such thing as TMI. It can always be held in reserve for extortion.
Good morning, ghotiphase. There is some of that Monday
blahs in our society, though I surmise that most of the "hangover" is simply lack of sleep. If everybody could find truly fulfilling work, Monday might be invigorating instead, but that would seem to be less and less likely every year.
For us retirees, of course, Monday is the start of our free time, when we don't have to navigate the hordes of suddenly present members of the workforce and their children. The advent of flex-tours, of course, has had some impact on both Monday and Friday, but Tuesday through Thursday we hae the place mostly to ourselves. Empty orads and stores. Que' Mirac!
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 could save typing
by just calling me fish. It'll keep you fingerprints intact plus think of all the electrons and photons you save.
There is no such thing as TMI. It can always be held in reserve for extortion.