Crabs and Beer!

On this day in 1833, the Slavery Abolition Act received royal assent, making the purchase or ownership of slaves illegal in the British Empire with a few exceptions. The act was legislated by Prime Minister Charles Grey, 2nd Earl Grey’s reforming administration, and it was enacted by ordering the British government to purchase the freedom of all slaves in the British Empire, and by outlawing the further practice of slavery in the British Empire. The Act explicitly delineated 19 separate pots of compensation covering the Caribbean, South Africa, and Mauritius. Although Britain, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand were technically included, these had relatively few slaves at this time for other reasons. India was excluded. Around 800,000 freed slaves were attested in the claims process.

While the 1833 Act was a landmark, it did not end slavery throughout the entire British sphere of influence. The Act explicitly excluded territories like British India, where slavery was addressed separately by the Indian Slavery Act, 1843. In regions colonized later, such as Nigeria, the abolition of pre-existing local systems of slavery was a gradual process that extended into the early 20th century. Furthermore, in British protectorates, which retained their own local laws, the institution persisted for much longer. For example, slavery in Bahrain was not legally abolished until 1937.

Portrait of Earl Grey by Thomas Phillips, 1820

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photo-bombing…

Enjoy the weekend! Tell Me Something Good!!! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cm_cFzVAoo8

On this day in 1920, the 19th Amendment to the Constitution was certified. The amendment prohibits the United States and its states from denying the right to vote to citizens of the United States on the basis of sex, in effect recognizing the right of women to vote. The amendment was the culmination of a decades-long movement for women’s suffrage in the United States, at both the state and national levels, and was part of the worldwide movement towards women’s suffrage and part of the wider women’s rights movement.

Before 1776, women had a vote in several of the colonies in what would become the United States, but by 1807 every state constitution had denied women even limited suffrage. The Nineteenth Amendment enfranchised 26 million American women in time for the 1920 U.S. presidential election, but the powerful women’s voting bloc that many politicians feared failed to fully materialize until decades later.

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Some dogs live very well…

BADA BING!!!

If you feel depressed, go for a run. You’ll find out that your physical health is far worse than your mental health.

After researchers found that women who jog without a bra get longer breasts, some men have started running without underwear.

Medicare will pay for your heart surgery. It will not pay for the glasses you need to read the bill afterward. Medicare doesn’t cover your teeth, eyes, or your ears. 3 things retirees actually need.

I saw an overweight woman at the bus stop today. I asked her, “When is it due?”  She said, “I’m not pregnant, you rude prick!” I said, “I meant the bus, you fat bitch!”

Just be thankful that Covid hit us when Dr. Fauci was the Chief Medical Advisor.  Can you imagine if Kennedy was in office, we’d all be dead.

Stop leaving your kids with the grandparents. I recently asked my nephew how old he was. He said, “God willing I’ll be 7 in June.”

“I CAN’T BELIEVE PEOPLE ARE COMPARING TRUMP TO SATAN. YES, HE’S EVIL, BUT HE’S CERTAINLY NOT AS EVIL AS TRUMP”.

Some are upset that tRUMP keeps falling asleep. I’m pissed off that he keeps waking up.

Can’t stop thinking about people who first ate mushrooms through trial and error. You know like, this one tastes like beef, this one killed Kevin instantly, and this one made me see God for 2 weeks.

Doc: I’m just waiting for your X-Ray.Female patient: But I’ve never dated anyone named Ray.Doc: And we might do a brain scan.

Employee: Sir, could I have a day off to help my mother-in-law move?Boss: Absolutely not! Employee: Thank you so much, I knew I could count on you!

There’s something deeply bizarre about the possibility that humanity’s first truly simultaneous global celebration, across every time zone, might be triggered by the death of a single human being.

Someone should form an organization of missionaries to go into American evangelical churches and convert them to Christianity.

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Dolly Parton… https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pW2TgGy5gjY

In 1814, the Burning of Washington went into its second day. It was a successful British amphibious attack conducted by Rear Admiral George Cockburn during Admiral John Warren’s Chesapeake campaign. Following the defeat of American forces at the Battle of Bladensburg on August 24, 1814, a British army led by Major-General Robert Ross marched on Washington, D.C. That evening, British soldiers and sailors set fire to multiple public buildings, including the Presidential Mansion (White House), United States Capitol, and Washington Navy Yard.

The attack was in part a retaliation for prior American actions in British-held Upper Canada, in which U.S. forces had burned and looted York the previous year and had then burned large portions of Port Dover. President James Madison, along with his administration and several military officials, evacuated and found refuge for the night in Brookeville, a small town in Montgomery County, Maryland.

An 1814 watercolor and ink depiction of the United States Capitol after the burning of Washington, D.C., in the War of 1812. Painting by George Munger.

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This is Emmylou Harris with an old favorite. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zv6fdib3GBI

On this day in 1992, Hurricane Andrew made landfall in Homestead, Florida. Hurricane Andrew was the most destructive hurricane to ever hit Florida in terms of structures damaged or destroyed, and remained the costliest in financial terms until Hurricane Irma surpassed it 25 years later. Andrew was also the strongest hurricane to make landfall in the United States in decades and the costliest hurricane to strike anywhere in the country, until it was surpassed by Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

Passing directly through the cities of Cutler Bay and Homestead in Dade County (now known as Miami-Dade County), the hurricane stripped many homes of all but their concrete foundations and caused catastrophic damage. In total, Andrew destroyed more than 63,500 houses, damaged more than 124,000 others, caused $27.3 billion in damage (equivalent to $65 billion in 2023), and left 65 people dead.

Damage from Hurricane Andrew in a large mobile home community

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Yes, it’s Monday, but always look on the bright side…https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ifLqzLEB3E0

Today is the anniversary of Nat Turner’s Rebellion which began on this day in 1831. It was a slave rebellion that took place in Southampton County, Virginia, in August 1831. Led by Nat Turner, the rebels, made up of enslaved African Americans, killed an estimated 55 White people, making it the deadliest slave revolt in U.S. history. Nonetheless, the rebellion was effectively suppressed within a few days, at Belmont Plantation on the morning of August 23, but Turner survived in hiding for approximately ten weeks afterward.

There was widespread fear among the White population in the rebellion’s aftermath. Militias and mobs killed as many as 120 enslaved people and free African Americans in retaliation. After trials, Virginia executed eighteen enslaved people accused of participating in the rebellion, including Turner himself; many Black people who had not participated were also persecuted in the frenzy.

Because Turner was educated and a preacher, Southern state legislatures passed new laws prohibiting the education of enslaved people and free Blacks, restricting the right of assembly and other civil liberties for free Blacks, and requiring White ministers to be present at all worship services.

Today is also the anniversary of a Vodou ceremony held by enslaved Africans in Saint-Domingue, led by Dutty Boukman. his gathering sparked a mass uprising against slavery, marking the beginning of the Haitian Revolution.

“Nat Turner & His Confederates in Conference”, engraving from Orville J. Victor’s History of American Conspiracies

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75!

People sing about ‘Ophelia’! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xe7y7ByOrwQ

Lots of people… https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pTOC_q0NLTk

But it has to end somewhere… https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ko70cExuzZM