Crabs and Beer!

On this day in 1935, President Franklin Roosevelt issued Executive Order 7034 establishing the Works Progress Administration. It was an American New Deal agency that employed millions of jobseekers (mostly men who were not formally educated) to carry out public works projects, including the construction of public buildings and roads. Headed by Harry Hopkins, the WPA supplied paid jobs to the unemployed during the Great Depression in the United States, while building up the public infrastructure of the US, such as parks, schools, roads, and drains. Most of the jobs were in construction, building more than 620,000 miles (1,000,000 km) of streets and over 10,000 bridges, in addition to many airports and much housing.

At its peak in 1938, it supplied paid jobs for three million unemployed men and women, as well as youth in a separate division, the National Youth Administration. Between 1935 and 1943, the WPA employed 8.5 million people (about half the population of New York).^[3] Hourly wages were typically kept well below industry standards. It tried to supply one paid job for all families in which the breadwinner suffered long-term unemployment.

In one of its most famous projects, Federal Project Number One, the WPA employed musicians, artists, writers, actors and directors in arts, drama, media, and literacy projects.^[1] The five projects dedicated to these were the Federal Writers’ Project (FWP), the Historical Records Survey (HRS), the Federal Theatre Project (FTP), the Federal Music Project (FMP), and the Federal Art Project (FAP). In the Historical Records Survey, for instance, many former slaves in the South were interviewed; these documents are of immense importance to American history. Theater and music groups toured throughout the United States and gave more than 225,000 performances. Archaeological investigations under the WPA were influential in the rediscovery of pre-Columbian Native American cultures, and the development of professional archaeology in the US.

In a short period of ten years, the Public Works Administration, the Works Progress Administration, and the Civilian Conservation Corps built facilities in practically every community in the country. Most are still providing service.

Photograph of President Franklin D. Roosevelt at the White House, preparing to give a national address.

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Good protein!!

MAGA?

left over from Cinco de Mayo…

Introducing myself to my new neighbors…

Thanks, Debra

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Bada Bing!

Yard sale… Me: How much for the angry lawn gnome? Yard sale lady: That’s my toddler.

As an outsider, what are your views on intelligence.

I wish I lacked common sense, you seem so happy.

You state the obvious with such a sense of discovery.

It’s interesting how you never let facts get in the way of your opinion.

I admire your courage to speak in the absence of knowledge.  

Between you and me, one of us is smarter than you.

The acoustics in your head must be incredible. 

You have the unshakable confidence that usually comes with competence. 

I love how much smarter I feel with I walk away from a conversation with you.

I guess common sense isn’t a flower that blooms in every garden.

You might be the only person I’ve ever met that has reached their full potential. 

A defense attorney was questioning an eyewitness of a crime that took place at night. The attorney tries to discredit the witness by asking him, “Just how far can you see at night?”. The man says, “Well.., I can see the moon, how far is that?”

Melania’s documentary had a score of 10% on Rotten Tomatoes, which is a website named after her husband’s testicles.

I helped a Nazi cover-up their swastika tattoo today. Looking at it now you’d never know it was there, pretty wild what six feet of dirt can do.

I ran out of clean socks. So I piled the dirty socks on a tray, grabbed the detergent and headed to the laundromat down the block, a steep hill. As I was walking down the hill, I slipped and fell. The dirty socks went flying, the detergent went flying and there I was, sitting on the sock by the tray, watching the Tide roll away.

I thank the universe every day that I wasn’t born dumb enough, evil enough, insecure enough, and hateful enough to have grown up to become a Trump supporter.

The fact that jellyfish have survived for 650 million years despite not having brains gives hope to many people.

I might not put the sparkle in your eyes but I’ll definitely put the “WTF” wrinkles in your forehead.

“You wouldn’t hate Trump if he was a Democrat.” Dude, Donald Trump was a Democrat for most of his life and we hated him so much he had to switch parties to get supporters.

If you believe that teaching about god in public schools will improve people’s morality, you first need to explain why it doesn’t work in a church.

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Today is the birthday, in 1945, of American singer-songwriter, guitarist and pianist Bob Seger, who scored the 1977 hit ‘Night Moves’, the 1987 US No.1 single ‘Shakedown’, taken from the film Beverly Hills Cop II, and the 1995 hit single ‘We’ve Got Tonight’. Seger has sold more than 100 million records worldwide. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xH7cSSKnkL4

Today is, of course, Cinco de Mayo, the anniversary of the Battle of Puebla in 1862 when Mexican troops under General Ignacio Zaragoza defeated a French invasion force. However, and a larger French force ultimately defeated the Mexican army at the Second Battle of Puebla and then occupied Mexico City.

More popular in the United States than in Mexico, Cinco de Mayo has become associated with the celebration of Mexican-American culture. The day gained nationwide popularity beyond those of Mexican-American heritage in the 1980s due to advertising campaigns by beer, wine, and tequila companies; today, Cinco de Mayo generates beer sales on par with the Super Bowl. In Mexico, the commemoration of the battle continues to be mostly ceremonial, such as through military parades or battle reenactments.

Commercial interests in the United States have capitalized on the celebration, advertising Mexican products and services, with an emphasis on alcoholic beverages, foods, and music. To celebrate, many display Cinco de Mayo banners while school districts hold special events to educate students about its historical significance. Special events and celebrations highlight Mexican culture, especially in its music and regional dancing. Examples include baile folklórico and mariachi demonstrations held annually at the Plaza del Pueblo de Los Ángeles, near Olvera Street.

Cinco de Mayo celebration in Saint Paul, Minnesota

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Happy Cinco de Mayo – don’t embarrass yourself…

Los Lobos! – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nLAWPrCUQQ0

On this day in 1961, the first Freedom Ride began in Washington DC headed for New Orleans. Freedom Riders were civil rights activists who rode interstate buses into the segregated Southern United States in 1961 and subsequent years to challenge the non-enforcement of the United States Supreme Court decisions Morgan v. Virginia (1946) and Boynton v. Virginia (1960), which ruled that segregated public buses were unconstitutional. The Southern states had ignored the rulings and the federal government had done nothing to enforce them.

The Freedom Riders challenged this status quo by riding interstate buses in the South in mixed racial groups to challenge local laws or customs that enforced segregation in seating. Police arrested riders for trespassing, unlawful assembly, violating state and local Jim Crow laws, and other alleged offenses, but often they first let white mobs of counter-protestors attack the riders without intervention.

On Sunday, May 14, 1961, Mother’s Day, in Anniston, Alabama, a mob of Klansmen, some still in church attire, attacked the first of the two Greyhound buses. The driver tried to leave the station, but he was blocked until KKK members slashed its tires. The mob forced the crippled bus to stop several miles outside town and then threw a firebomb into it. As the bus burned, the mob held the doors shut, intending to burn the riders to death. Sources disagree, but either an exploding fuel tank or an undercover state investigator who was brandishing a revolver caused the mob to retreat, and the riders escaped the bus. The mob beat the riders after they got out. Warning shots which were fired into the air by highway patrolmen were the only thing which prevented the riders from being lynched. When the Trailways bus reached Anniston and pulled in at the terminal an hour after the Greyhound bus was burned, it was boarded by eight Klansmen. They beat the Freedom Riders and left them semi-conscious in the back of the bus.

The Kennedys called for a “cooling off period” and condemned the Rides as unpatriotic because they embarrassed the nation on the world stage at the height of the Cold War. James Farmer, head of CORE, responded to Kennedy saying, “We have been cooling off for 350 years, and if we cooled off any more, we’d be in a deep freeze.

During the summer of 1961, Freedom Riders also campaigned against other forms of racial discrimination. They sat together in segregated restaurants, lunch counters and hotels. This was especially effective when they targeted large companies, such as hotel chains. Fearing boycotts in the North, the hotels began to desegregate their businesses. During those months, more than 60 different Freedom Rides criss-crossed the South, most of them converging on Jackson, where every Rider was arrested, more than 300 in total.

Exhibit on Freedom Riders – Center for Civil and Human Rights – Atlanta – Georgia – USA

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Today is the birthday, in 1951, of Jackie Jackson, from American family music group The Jackson 5. They were the first group to debut with four consecutive No.1 hits on the Hot 100 with the songs ‘I Want You Back’, ‘ABC’, ‘The Love You Save’, and ‘I’ll Be There’. And with The Jacksons, had the 1979 hit ‘Shake Your Body (Down to the Ground)’. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y2bVIBwpCTA

Today is May Day and International Workers’s Day. It is also the day that Coxey’s Army reached Washington in one of the first significant protest marches. Coxey’s Army was a protest march by unemployed workers from the United States, led by Ohio businessman Jacob Coxey. They marched on Washington, D.C., in 1894, the second year of a four-year economic depression that was the worst in United States history at the time.

The purpose of the march, termed a “petition in boots”,^[1] was to protest the unemployment caused by the Panic of 1893 and to lobby for the government to create jobs which would involve building roads and other public works improvements, with workers paid in paper currency which would expand the currency in circulation, consistent with populist ideology.

Among the people observing the march was L. Frank Baum, before he gained fame. There are political interpretations of his book the Wonderful Wizard of Oz which have often been related to Coxey’s Army. In the novel, Dorothy, the Scarecrow (the American farmer), Tin Woodman (the industrial worker), and Cowardly Lion (William Jennings Bryan), march on the yellow brick road to the Emerald City, the Capital (or Washington, D.C.), demanding relief from the Wizard, who is interpreted to be the President. Dorothy’s shoes (made of silver in the book, not the familiar ruby that is depicted in the movie) are interpreted to symbolize using free silver instead of the gold standard (the road of yellow brick) because the shortage of gold precipitated the Panic of 1893.

Jacob Coxey (right) is released from the D.C. Jail alongside associates Christopher Columbus Jones (left) and Carl Browne (center), 1894

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SIGNSZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

Today is the birthday, in 1954, of American guitarist, singer-songwriter Ray Parker Jr. who had the 1984 US No.1 & UK No.2 single ‘Ghostbusters’. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fe93CLbHjxQ

On this day in 1789, George Washington was inaugurated as the first President of the United States under the newly-ratified constitution. The inauguration was held nearly two months after the beginning of the first four-year term of George Washington as president. Chancellor of New York Robert Livingston administered the presidential oath of office on the balcony of Federal Hall in New York City.

On April 6, the House and Senate first met in joint session and certified that Washington and Adams were elected as President and Vice-President respectively. Secretary of the Continental Congress Charles Thomson was appointed by the Senate to deliver to Washington the letter containing the news of his election.^[5] Thomson delivered the official notification to Washington at Mount Vernon on April 14, 1789. Washington replied immediately, and set out two days later for New York City.

Along the way, Washington received triumphal welcomes in almost every town he passed through. These included Alexandria; Georgetown, Maryland (now part of Washington D.C.); Baltimore; and Havre de Grace.

George Washington had to borrow money just to get to New York City, which was the capital at the time. Although he owned 60,000 acres of land and 300 slaves, Washington had little in the way of cash, and could not get any by trading with other landowners, as they were equally strapped for cash. Washington said to his nephew that the salary was at least part of the reason why he accepted the presidency, “as my means are not adequate to the expense at which I have lived since my retirement.”

“Inauguration of George Washington”, 1898 painting by Ramon Elorriaga

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BADA BING!

Before therapy: I hate everyone. After therapy: I am okay with hating everyone.

Silly putty implies the existence of serious putty, otherwise known as C-4 or Semtex.

A shop assistant fought off an armed robber with his labelling gun. Police are now looking for a man with a price on his head.

Sometimes I feel like my brain has a lot of things to hold and no pockets.

The advantage of exercising every day is that you die healthier.  

If you are going to try cross-country skiing, start with a small country. 

The past, present and the future walk into a bar. It was tense! 

When I’m stressed, I like to iron clothes. It’s a great way to let off steam.

What’s a zoo vet’s biggest problem? A giraffe with a sore throat.

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Today is the birthday, in 1962, of Robert Reynolds, bassist from the American band The Mavericks who had the 1998 UK No.4 single ‘Dance The Night Away’. The Mavericks won a Grammy Award for the song ‘Here Comes the Rain’. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-UajuBAUkBs