Month: December 2025

Today is the anniversary of the Boston Tea Party in 1773. Disguised as Native Americans, on the night of December 16 members of Sons of Liberty boarded the Dartmouth, a merchantman that had docked in Boston carrying a major shipment of EIC tea, and set about throwing 342 chests of the tea into Boston Harbor.

The source of the protestors’ anger was the passage of the Tea Act by the Parliament of Great Britain on May 10, 1773, which allowed the East India Company (EIC) to sell Chinese tea in the colonies without paying taxes apart from those imposed by the Townshend Acts – a series of taxes and regulations to fund British administration of the colonies.

Parliament responded in 1774 with the Intolerable Acts, which, among other provisions, ended local self-government in Massachusetts and closed Boston’s harbor to commerce. Colonists throughout the Thirteen Colonies responded to the Intolerable Acts with additional acts of protest, and by convening the First Continental Congress in Philadelphia, which sent a Petition to the King for repeal of the acts and coordinated colonial resistance to them, culminating in the October 1774 Continental Association.

Less than two years later, on April 19, 1775, the Battles of Lexington and Concord, also in Massachusetts, launched the eight-year American Revolutionary War, which resulted in the independence of the colonies as the United States.

Boston Tea Party, W.D. Cooper, 1789

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I miss editors…

BADA BING!

Can’t wait to add my pretend $2,000 tariff check to my pretend $5,000 DOGE check so I can stock up on my pretend $2.00 a gallon gas.

Somebody just asked me if I’m ready for Christmas … hell, I’m not even ready for this afternoon.

Calling autism a disorder assumes neurotypicals have some kind of order. They don’t — they’re just the majority.

“TikToker gets plastic surgery on her nose so her future children will inherit her new nose.” US: We’re not going to make it, are we? Humans, I mean.

A genie granted me one wish, so I said, “I just want to be happy.” Now I’m living in a cottage with six dwarves and working in a mine.

Where do plants invest their money? In the stalk market.

What do you call a happy cowboy? A jolly-rancher.

What kind of undergarments does a lawyer wear? Legal briefs.

Why can’t the bank manager ride a bike anymore? He lost his balance.

What do you get when you cross a parrot with an elephant? An animal that tells you everything  it remembers.

What do you call a short cow? Condensed milk.

What’s a cat’s favorite song? Three Blind Mice.

If you need help building an ark… I Noah guy.

Want to hear a joke about construction? I’m still working on it.

ICE is asking people to quit calling its hotline to report an undocumented girl named Anne Frank hiding in the attic of a republican lawmaker.

At Ford we listen to our customers. You asked for a place to nap while waiting for the tow truck and we delivered. Fold flat front seats!

I used to think adulthood was one crisis after another. I was wrong. It’s multiple crises. Concurrently. All at once. All the time. Forever.

Let’s admit that drinking bleach and shoving a UV light up your ass is the closest we’ve gotten to a republican healthcare plan in the last 16 years.

Milking stools only have three legs because the cow has the udder.

Gynecologist: What are you using for birth control? Her: My personality.

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Homemade Nativity Scene

’tis the season! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a0mT-zNxRMw

Today is the birthday, in 1862, of Alexandre Gustave Eiffel, one of the most remarkable and groundbreaking engineers of the Victorian era. He made his name with various bridges for the French railway network, most famously the Garabit Viaduct. He is best known for the Eiffel Tower, designed by his company and built for the 1889 Universal Exposition in Paris, and his contribution to building the Statue of Liberty in New York.

The Maria Pia bridge over the Douro – 1877

The Garabit Viaduct in the Massif Central Region completed in 1884

December 1887

March 1888

May 1888

August 1888

December 1888

March 1889

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Two states of being…

Time for Holiday Music!!! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qTx-sdR6Yzk

On this day in 1937, Japanese bombers attacked and sank the U.S. Navy river gunboat Panay and three Standard Oil Company tankers on the Yangtze River near the Chinese capital of Nanjing. Japan and the United States were not at war at the time. The boats were part of an American naval operation called the Yangtze Patrol, which began following the joint British, French, and American victory in the Second Opium War.

Public reaction was mixed in the U.S., with Franklin D. Roosevelt weighing various diplomatic and military responses only to settle for an apology and compensation.

A flat-bottomed craft built in Shanghai specifically for river duty, Panay served as part of the US Navy’s Yangtze Patrol in the Asiatic Fleet, which was responsible for patrolling the Yangtze River to protect American lives and property in China. Since November, the Panay had been evacuating U.S. citizens from the battle zone around Nanjing. On 11 December, the Panay evacuated some of the last remaining Americans from the city, bringing the number of people aboard to five officers, 54 enlisted men, four US embassy staff, and 10 civilians.

USS Panay

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Today is the birthday, in 1946, of Denny Dias, American guitarist, best known for being a founding member of Steely Dan. Dias placed an ad in The Village Voice in the summer of 1970 that read: “Looking for keyboardist and bassist. Must have jazz chops! Assholes need not apply”. Donald Fagen and Walter Becker responded to the advertisement. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vptlTsgu9p0

Today is the anniversary of the Battle of Orewin Bridge in 1282. The English, led by the Marcher Lords, defeated the Welsh army under Llywelyn ap Gruffudd.

Llywelyn ap Gruffudd was killed during the battle effectively ending the autonomy of Wales. Llywelyn ap Gruffudd, also known as Llywelyn the Last, was thus the last native-born Prince of Wales.

A sixteenth-century depiction of Prince Llywelyn ap Gruffudd at the parliament of Edward I, King of England, as depicted by the Wriothesley Garter Book.

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They had ONE JOB!!

Seems reasonable…

This season of ‘EARTH’

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Today is the birthday, in 1944, of American singer Brenda Lee who had the 1960 US No.1 single ‘I’m Sorry’, the UK No.4 single ‘Sweet Nothin’s’, plus 27 US & 18 other UK Top 40 singles. Lee is the oldest artist ever to top the Hot 100 at the age of 79 with ‘Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree’. The song also set the record for the longest period of time between an original release and its topping the Hot 100 (65 years). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TFsZy9t-qDc

Today is the anniversary of the he Nyköping Banquet in the year 1317, King Birger’s Christmas banquet at Nyköping Castle in Sweden.Among the guests were his two brothers Duke Valdemar and Duke Eric.

King Magnus Ladulås of Sweden died in 1290 leaving three minor sons. Birger Magnusson was the successor to the throne, but was only ten years old. In 1302 Birger was crowned king and came into the inheritance of his father. His brothers Eric and Valdemar became dukes of Södermanland, and of parts of Uppland and Finland, respectively. The relations between king Birger and his two brothers were strained, since Eric in particular sought after the throne for himself.

Eric and Valdemar plotted a rebellion against Birger and carried out raids into Sweden. Despite receiving support from Norway, they had to admit defeat at the treaty of Kolsäter in 1305 after which the three brothers reconciled. However, Eric and Valdemar turned on Birger again and staged a coup against him and had King Birger imprisoned in Nyköping Castle. After an intervention by the Danish and Norwegian kings, a settlement was reached in 1310 and Sweden was divided among the brothers into three sovereign states.

During a journey to Kalmar in the autumn of 1317 duke Valdemar was invited to celebrate Christmas with king Birger and queen Martha at Nyköping Castle, together with the royal court. Duke Valdemar stayed overnight and was treated royally. He convinced his brother Eric to come to the Christmas feast.

The banquet was held on the night between 10 and 11 December 1317. When the dukes arrived at the castle, they were received by the king himself. He took them by the hand, and led them into the castle with fair words. Even queen Martha was happy and excited. The dukes’ retinues were lodged not in the castle, but in the town of Nyköping, the pretext being lack of space. When the last of the duke’s men had left the castle gate, it was locked shut.

After the dukes had retired to bed, the king’s drots Brunke (Johan von Brunkow) arrived with a company of crossbowmen and handcuffed them. The dukes were imprisoned in the castle’s dungeon, still extant today, with neck irons tethering them to the stone walls where they were starved to death.

Despite help from Denmark, Birger could not stop a rebellion that broke out in support of the dukes. According to legend, when he realized he had no way to prevail, king Birger threw the keys to the dungeon into the Nyköping river. Birger was forced to flee to Denmark.

Following a year of regency by his mother Duchess Ingeborg, the three-year-old son of Duke Eric, Magnus, was elected King in 1319 at the Stones of Mora in Uppland. The deposed king Birger died in 1321 in exile in Denmark.

Present-day appearance of Nyköping Castle, in which the Dukes were starved to death.

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BADA BING BING BING

I am no longer allowed to go caroling at the psych hospital. I guess “Do you hear what I hear” was a bad song choice.

Doctor in packed waiting room: Due to new privacy regulations, we can no longer use patient names in the waiting room. Will the patient with the itchy vagina please follow me.

I was called into my managers office because of my dress code. He said, “You can’t wear pajamas for work.” I said, “Everyone else does.” He said: “That’s because they’re PATIENTS!”

It’s maddening when the ATM charges you $3 to get your own money, then tells you to cover your pin so you don’t get robbed.

A female news anchor who, the day after it was supposed to have snowed and didn’t, turned to the weatherman and asked, “So Bob, where’s that eight inches you promised me last night?”

My brain has 47 tabs open, 3 are frozen, 1 is playing music, and I have no idea where it’s coming from.

Interviewer: Why did you leave your last job? Me: The company relocated and didn’t tell me where.

I’ve reached the age where I drive around and say, “Dang, I remember when this was all woods!”

My circle is so small that when my phone rings I know it’s scammers.

In the 1950s carjacking had a totally different meaning.

Just had my phone incorrectly autocorrect ‘ducking’ to ‘fucking’, which means I’ve won! How does failure feel, demon box.

Where are all the flat earthers? They’re at home trying to figure out why it’s night time.

I started a dating site for chickens. It’s not my day job. I just do it to make hens meet.

If you believe a president who pardons drug dealers is fighting a war on drugs by sinking small boats, I don’t know how to help you.

I’ve been looking for my sanity, but I think it ran off with my motivation, the matching socks, and half of the Tupperware lids.

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SIGNZZZZ

Today is the birthday, in 1941, of British musician Chad Stuart. He was one half of the duo Chad & Jeremy that began working in 1962 and had its first hit song in the UK with ‘Yesterday’s Gone’ followed by a string of successful records in the United States through the mid-60s. He died on 20 Dec 2020 died from pneumonia following a fall. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vfvL2oLeBYs