Monday OT: 11/30/2020 - Cities for Life Day

Today is day 335 of the Gregorian Calendar year,
Prickle-Prickle, The Aftermath 42, 3186 YOLD
And let us not forget 13.0.8.0.14 mlc (the Mayan Long Count)

N_2000_10_33 electric chair-state prison 1929

Electric Chair

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Cities for Life Day is a day of opposition to the Death Penalty and celebrates those governments which have abolished it. This day was selected as a commemoration of the abolition of the death penalty on 11/30/1786 by the Grand Duchy of Tuscany, the first "modern state" to do so.

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On this day in history:

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1782 – Representatives from the US and Great Britain signed preliminary peace articles that became the Treaty of Paris.

1786 – The Grand Duchy of Tuscany, under Pietro Leopoldo I, became the first modern state to abolish the death penalty.

1803 – The Balmis Expedition started in Spain with the aim of vaccinating millions against smallpox in Spanish America and Philippines.

1803 – Spanish representatives officially transferred the Louisiana Territory to a French representative. 

1829 – The first Welland Canal opened for a trial run

1853 – The Imperial Russian Navy destroyed the Ottoman fleet at Sinop.

1886 – The Folies Bergère staged its first revue.

1934 – The Flying Scotsman became the first steam locomotive to be authenticated as reaching 100 mph.

1936 – London's Crystal Palace was destroyed by fire.

1966 – Barbados became independent from the United Kingdom.

1967 – South Yemen became independent from the United Kingdom.

1979 – Pink Floyd's The Wall  was released.

1995 – Official end of Operation Desert Storm.

1999 – Exxon and Mobil signed an agreement to merge

1999 – Demonstrations against a World Trade Organization meeting by anti-globalization protesters forcee the cancellation of opening ceremonies.

1999 – British Aerospace and Marconi Electronic Systems merged to form BAE Systems, Europe's largest defense contractor and the fourth largest aerospace firm in the world.

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Born this day in:

A man should never be ashamed to own that he has been in the wrong, which is but saying, that he is wiser today than yesterday.

 ~~ Jonathan Swift

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1599 – Andrea Sacchi, painter
1667 – Jonathan Swift, I satirist and essayist
1670 – John Toland, philosopher and author
1756 – Ernst Chladni,  physicist and author
1768 – Jedrzej Sniadecki, physician, chemist, and biologist
1781 – Alexander Berry, surgeon, merchant, and explorer
1796 – Carl Loewe, singer, composer, and conductor
1810 – Oliver Winchester, Abusinessman and politician, founded the Winchester Repeating Arms Company 
1813 – Louise-Victorine Ackermann, poet and author
1813 – Charles-Valentin Alkan,  pianist and composer
1835 – Mark Twain, novelist, humorist, and critic
1843 – Martha Ripley, physician
1858 – Jagadish Chandra Bose, physicist, biologist, botanist, and archaeologist
1863 – Andrés Bonifacio, activist and politician, co-founded Katipunan
1869 – Gustaf Dalén, physicist and engineer
1872 – John McCrae, physician, soldier, and poet
1874 – Winston Churchill, colonel, journalist, and politician, 
1874 – Lucy Maud Montgomery, author and poet
1904 – Clyfford Still, painter and educator
1906 – John Dickson Carr, author and playwright
1906 – Andrés Henestrosa, poet, linguist, and politician
1907 – Jacques Barzun, historian and author
1909 – Robert Nighthawk, singer and guitarist
1911 – Jorge Negrete, singer and actor
1915 – Brownie McGhee, singer and guitarist
1915 – Henry Taube, chemist and academic
1916 – Dena Epstein, musicologist and author
1919 – Jane C. Wright, oncologist and cancer researcher
1924 – Elliott Blackstone, police officer and activist
1924 – Shirley Chisholm, Aactivist, educator and politician
1924 – Allan Sherman, actor, comedian, singer, producer, and screenwriter
1926 – Teresa Gisbert Carbonell, architect and art historian
1929 – Dick Clark, television host and producer, founded Dick Clark Productions
1936 – Dmitri Anosov, Rmathematician and academic
1936 – Abbie Hoffman, activist and author, co-founded the Youth International Party 
1937 – Jimmy Bowen, record producer, songwriter, and pop singer
1937 – Praveen Chaudhari, Iphysicist and academic
1937 – Frank Ifield, singer and guitarist
1937 – Luther Ingram, singer and songwriter
1943 – Norma Alarcón,  author and professor
1945 – Roger Glover,  bass player, songwriter, and producer
1945 – John R. Powers, author and playwright
1949 – Jimmy London, singer and songwriter
1953 – Shuggie Otis, singer, songwriter, and musician
1953 – June Pointer, American singer and actress
1953 – David Sancious, keyboard player and guitarist
1955 – Billy Idol, singer, songwriter, guitarist, and actor
1957 – John Ashton, guitarist, songwriter, and producer
1957 – Richard Barbieri, keyboard player and songwriter
1958 – Stacey Q, singer, songwriter, dancer, and actress
1959 – Cherie Currie, singer, songwriter, musician, and actress
1967 – Rajiv Dixit, author and activist
1968 – Des'ree, singer and songwriter
1975 – Mindy McCready, singer and songwriter
1976 – Marta Burgay, astronomer

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Died this day in:

Be yourself; everyone else is already taken

~~ Oscar Wilde 

912 – Otto I, Duke of Saxony
1647 – Bonaventura Cavalieri, mathematician and astronomer
1761 – John Dollond, optician and astronomer
1863 – Kamehameha IV, King
1900 – Oscar Wilde, playwright, novelist, and poet
1930 – Mary Harris (Mother) Jones, Labor organizer
1953 – Francis Picabia, painter and poet
1958 – Hubert Wilkins, pilot, ornithologist, geographer, and explorer
1979 – Zeppo Marx, actor and comedian
1992 – Peter Blume, painter and sculptor
1993 – David Houston, singer and songwriter
1996 – Tiny Tim, singer and ukulele player
1997 – Kathy Acker, author, poet, and playwright
1999 – Charlie Byrd, guitarist
2000 – Scott Smith, bass player
2006 – Shirley Walker, composer and conductor

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Holidays, Holy Days, Festivals, Feast Days, Days of Recognition, and such:
Cities For Life Day
National Mason Jar Day
National Personal Space Day
National Stay At Home Because You Are Well Day

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Music goes here, iirc, well, With apologies Wink

Charles-Valentin Alkan

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Robert Nighthawk

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Jorge Negrete

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Brownie McGhee

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Allan Sherman

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Luther Ingram

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Roger Glover

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Jimmy London

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Shuggie Otis

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June Pointer

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David Sancious

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Richard Barbieri

 

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Tiny Tim

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Charlie Byrd

 

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It's an open thread, so do your thing

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15 users have voted.

Comments

Lookout's picture

Wow...they banned the death penalty in 1786. As usual we are behind the times. The real shame is many on death row are innocent, and even when DNA proves them so, the court often won't relent because as opposed to Swift statement above they can admit no wrong. Whatta broken injustice system we have.

Well thanks for the OT and music, el! A cold day here. We are at the high for the day currently 42 F, dropping into the 30's today and mid 20's tonight. Our first taste of winter weather. I'm planning on skipping Trade day tomorrow...strolling around in mid 20's doesn't sound like fun and I don't really need anything that bad. So take care everyone and value the day.

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13 users have voted.

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

enhydra lutris's picture

@Lookout

we are behind the times and out of the loop. The EU did away with the death penalty (except Belarus), Russia "suspended" it, etc. We're more in line with the Saudis, though we don't do beheadings, though I'm not sure why.

Prosecutors play a huge role in the difficulty in getting the sentences of those later proven innocent overturned, they always seem to take a "It was a fair fight and we won, they had their day in court and lost." They always have opposed and fought freeing those proven innocent as well of those who, while not Proven to be innocent, can be shown to have been wrongfully convicted. This, in no way lessens the case against our Judges and court system, especially the Supremes, Scalia is notorious for taking the position that innocence isn't even grounds for appeal. Here's an article from Slate on that: https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2015/03/innocence-is-not-cause-for-e...

be well and have a good one

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4 users have voted.

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 --

a modern version of the mass death penalty.
Funny, but somehow I survived penniless 50 years ago.
That was before being broke was a crime.
Healthy, young and strong headed then.
Wouldn't do so well nowadays. Wink

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10 users have voted.
enhydra lutris's picture

@QMS

time penniless in the way back when and got away with it. Long odds on that happening today.

be well and have a good one

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5 users have voted.

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 --

but it bears repeating.
I was working during a stint in graduate school. A co-worker would show up drunk. He said he was raised by a drunk. His Dad was the man who pulled the switch to light up Ol' Sparky, the electric chair at the Walls Unit in Huntsville, Texas. The warden would provide the man his whiskey, and he had to be pretty soused to yank that switch.
The prison system abused the man, the neighbors shunned him, his family hated him, and his son railed about it for years.
Years later, a client fell apart, divorced, became homeless, stayed drunk. His prison job was to escort the prisoner to the gurney, strap them in, make sure the medical assistant hit the vein.
The death penalty does far more damage than the hideous death of the prisoner.
The death penalty has no place in society.

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11 users have voted.

"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981

enhydra lutris's picture

@on the cusp

Beyond the fact that taking somebody out to die really should take a toll on the person doing it (hence firing squads), the fact that our "system" of "justice" wrongfully condemns so many innocents makes such a person a murderer and they can't help but believe some of thosse professing innocence right up to the moment of death.

be well and have a good one

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4 users have voted.

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 --

Anja Geitz's picture

Capital punishment. Yeah, that’s one ugly stain on the Nation’s soul isn’t it? Especially when you consider that most criminologists have concluded that capital punishment is not a deterrent to crime. It costs the state much more money to execute a man as opposed to life imprisonment. A jury is much more likely to recommend a death sentence for a Black defendant than a white one in a similar case. And not surprisingly, most of the states that still support capital punishment are below the Mason-Dixon Line.

Yet even with all these grim statistics essentially making an argument against capital punishment, there are still a majority of Americans who have not changed their minds.

Why is that?

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8 users have voted.

There is always Music amongst the trees in the Garden, but our hearts must be very quiet to hear it. ~ Minnie Aumonier

enhydra lutris's picture

@Anja Geitz

penalty. I suspect propaganda, TV and religion all play a role. This nation was, after all, born of and celebrates folks who burned witches.

be well and have a good one.

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5 users have voted.

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 that clearly show it is far cheaper to house a prisoner for life than for the tax payers to pay court appointed lawyer's fees for the mandatory appeals in death penalty cases.
Have those statistics ready when that next person argues that they do not want to feed and house a murderer.
Yet another lame excuse to give the state a green light to kill what may very well be an innocent defendant.

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8 users have voted.

"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981

magiamma's picture

et a;

That picture of the electric chair says it all. Metal head rest. Chest belt, two arm belts, seat belt, feet belts attached to steel rods which also serve as the front legs for the chair. AND It appears that the whole chair is attached to a metal rod from the ceiling or somewhere. So the chair does not jump around? No electrical connections in this picture. wtf? Where are they, please? Life affirming, much? Says a lot about who we are as a society. Not so many people were here in Merika when that chair was made and most likely mostly Christian. Guess we have better equipment now but our lack of compassion has not evolved. Devoled?

Take good care everyone. Be safe.

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7 users have voted.

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enhydra lutris's picture

@magiamma

day. Yeah, the early ones were crude, the first "test" was a horible disaster iirc, but that's ok, because victim deserved it, of so they said.

be well and have a good one.

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3 users have voted.

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 --