Tom

19
Oct
2023

THIRRRRSSDAI

Today is National Heroes Day, a public holiday in Grenada commemorating the killings of former prime minister Maurice Bishop and several members of his cabinet in 1983.

Maurice Bishop took power in 1979 following the ousting of Prime Minister Eric Gairy and held office until his death in 1983. After a palace coup organized by his deputy, Bernard Coard, he was held under house arrest at his residence. Thousands of his supporters marched to his house and freed him from arrest. He then led them to Fort Rupert, military headquarters, where he was taken prisoner and shot to death.

His execution was used by the United States as an excuse for the invasion of Grenada in an operation called ‘Urgent Fury’. A heavily-armed force of more than 7600 soldiers supported by a fleet led by an aircraft carrier and air force fighter-bombers was able to subdue the 1300 lightly-armed Granadian soldiers after a few days.

Maps used by the American military were tourist maps of Grenada overwritten by hand with coordinates. Navy ships providing naval gunfire and Marine, Air Force, and Navy fighter-bomber support aircraft providing close air support mistakenly killed American ground forces due to differences in charts and location coordinates, data, and methods of calling for fire support. A squadron of Rangers were left behind during an evacuation of a school campus and there were many other mishaps. The invasion was condemned by the UN General Assembly as a violation of international law.

SIGNZ

Today is the birthday, in 1944, of Peter Tosh, guitar, vocals, The Wailers, left in 1974, (1978 UK No.43 single ‘You Gotta Walk, Don’t Look Back’). Tosh was murdered by burglars at his home on 11th September 1987. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rf8GjhXvOjU

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Posted by Tom in Humor, Music, World
18
Oct
2023

WENNZZZDAI

Today is Alaska Day. Alaska day commemorates the anniversary of the formal transfer of the Territory of Alaska from Russia to the United States, which took place on October 18th 1867.

After suffering defeat in the Crimean War, Russia was on its knees economically and saw selling its expensive-to-maintain territory in North America as a way of raising some much-needed funds.

On March 30th 1867, the Russian Empire concluded a treaty with U.S. Secretary of State William H. Seward, wherein the United States purchased Alaska for $7.2 million dollars (about $129 million in today’s money.) That worked out to roughly 10 cents per square mile back then, ( just under $2 per square mile today.)

On October 18th 1867, the Russian Empire lowered its flag in Alaska and the United States raised its, marking the formal transfer.

Today is the birthday, in 1952, of American rock drummer, vocalist, and songwriter Keith Knudson from with The Doobie Brothers who scored the 1979 US No.1 single ‘What A Fool Believes’ and the 1993 UK No.7 single ‘Long Train Runnin.’ He founded the band Southern Pacific with fellow Doobie Brother John McFee. He died of pneumonia on 8 Feb 2005 aged 56. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m4oZCtfmh44

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Posted by Tom in Humor, Music, sixties and seventies
17
Oct
2023

TUESDAY has arrived!

Today is the Day of Dignity, a public holiday in Bolivia. This day commemorates those who died on this day in 2003 protesting the exploitation of Bolivia’s oil and gas reserves by a US-based company.

Oil had become an important export for Bolivia, a land-locked country. However under the agreement with the company exploiting the resources and under a trade agreement with the United States, only 18% of the price of the oil would come to Bolivia. In 2002, the government proposed building a pipeline through Chile to export the oil. This decision exacerbated the unrest of the Bolivians as Chile had an antagonistic relationship with Bolivia.

The conflict escalated into confrontations with the Bolivian military until October 17, 2003 when more than 60 were killed and more than 400 injured. The President fled to the United States. In 2006, Evo Morales was elected and he nationalized the gas reserves and declared this Day of Dignity.

Ummm…okay…

Bada Bing!!!

When I say “the other day” it could be any time between yesterday and my birth.

I assume that a Columbus Day sale means I can just walk into a store and take whatever I want.

How many times do I have to click ‘I accept cookies’ before they send me the COOKIES!

Walmart will be closed on Thanksgiving so self-checkout cashiers can be with their families.

Turns out I’m “woke.” All along, I thought I was just compassionate, kind, and good at history.

So, do you wash your clothes before you drop them off at a Goodwill donation center mostly to make sure your DNA won’t show up at a crime scene someday or do I overthink things?

I was in the half of the class that made the top half possible.

Welcome to old age. All the foods you ever loved are now trying to kill you.

Facebook has taught me a couple of things. First, there are some incredibly brilliant people in the world. Second, they are vastly outnumbered.

Today marks the death, in 1849, of Frédéric Chopin, Polish composer and virtuoso pianist of the Romantic period, who wrote primarily for solo piano. He has maintained worldwide renown as a leading musician of his era, one whose “poetic genius was based on a professional technique that was without equal in his generation” Here is the amazing Yuja Wang playing is beautiful Waltz in C sharp minor. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b_E51SV0Zus

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Posted by Tom in classical, Humor, Music
16
Oct
2023

maybe…MONDAY

Today is Mothers’ Day in Malawi, a public holiday. Mothers Day in Malawi is not just a day for cards and flowers but is a national holiday aligned with World Rural Women’s Day.

Rural women comprise more than 25% of the total world population yet suffer disproportionately from poverty. While extreme poverty has declined globally, the world’s 1 billion people who continue to live in unacceptable conditions of poverty are heavily concentrated in rural areas. Poverty rates in rural areas across most regions are higher than those in urban areas. Women farmers may be as productive and enterprising as their male counterparts but are less able to access land, credit, agricultural inputs, markets and high-value agrifood chains and obtain lower prices for their crops.

Malawi’s economy is heavily based in agriculture, with a largely rural population so the disparity faced by rural women is keenly felt in this sub-Saharan African nation. This makes the joining of World Rural Women’s Day and Mother’s Day in Malawi an important and appropriate way of highlighting the issues that rural women face while still taking time to celebrate and honor the role of mothers in society.

Cartoon by Jon Adams.

Today is the birthday, in 1947, of American musician and songwriter Bob Weir, best known as a founding member of the Grateful Dead. The group released more than 140 albums during their career, the majority of them recorded live in concert. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=48eW3VL-95g

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Posted by Tom in Humor, Music, sixties and seventies
13
Oct
2023

And……it’s FRIDAY (the 13th)!!!

Today is Prince Louis Rwagasore Day, a public holiday in Burundi. This holiday commemorates the life of one of Burundi’s national heroes, who was assassinated on this day in 1961.

Prince Louis Rwagasore was the son of King Mwambutsa IV. He was active in nationalist movements and campaigned for independence from Belgium. The Belgians had maintained a strong colonial rule by skillfully avoiding a unified Burundi nationalist movement by pitting the different ethnic groups against each other. Rwagasore diffused these tensions by organizing cooperatives and political parties that included members from all ethnic groups and my marrying outside his own ethnic group.

He antagonized the Belgian colonial administrators by creating power centers outside their control and because of his popularity among the people of Burundi. In the September 1961 elections before independence, he won 80% of the vote and became the first Prime Minister-elect.

He was gunned down in a hotel restaurant a few weeks later on October 13th 1961. Though his assassin was Greek, strong suspicions remain that his murder was sponsored by a pro-Belgian group.

Today is the birthday, in 1941, of Paul Simon, singer, songwriter, (1970 UK & US No.1 single with Simon and Garfunkel, ‘Bridge Over Trouble Water.’ The duo’s 1970 album ‘Bridge Over Troubled Water’ spent 307 weeks on the UK chart). Solo, (1986 UK No.4 single ‘You Can Call Me Al’, 1986 UK No.1 album Graceland spent 115 weeks on the UK chart). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fmf9ZJ_Yn0A

Posted by Tom in eighties music, Humor, Music