Crabs and Beer

Aug

2024

MONDAY…’nuf said

Today is Victory Day, a public holiday in Rhode Island, observed on the second Monday of August. It commemorates the end of second world war when Japan’s surrender was announced on August 14th 1945.

Days after the US dropped atomic bombs on two Japanese cities, Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Imperial Japan surrendered bringing World War II to an end. The announcement of the surrender was made by the Japanese in the afternoon of August 15th 1945, though due to time differences it was received when it was still August 14th in the US. The official surrender ceremony took place on September 2nd 1945 on the deck of the battleship USS Missouri.

In 1946, President Harry S. Truman declared 14th August as Victory Day. Victory Day was established in Rhode Island by lawmakers in the spring of 1948, three years after World War II ended when the General Assembly passed a bill sponsored by Rep. Richard Windsor, a long-serving East Providence Republican.

New York observed V-J Day a few times in the late 1940s, and in 1949, Arkansas adopted a new state holiday – “World War II Memorial Day”. Arkansas dropped this holiday in 1955, leaving Rhode Island as the only state that marks the end of World War II with a legal holiday.

Rhode Island’s continuation of this holiday is said to have been reinforced due to the high number of veterans who retired to the state. Indeed, residents of the state suffered a higher proportion of war deaths than nearly any other state. It is also a state with strong union representation, so once a holiday made it onto the state list it is difficult to drop it.

Today is the birthday, in 1949, of Mark Knopfler British songwriter, guitarist, singer with Dire Straits who had the 1985 US No.1 single ‘Money For Nothing’, the 1986 UK No.2 single ‘Walk Of Life’, and the 1985 world-wide No.1 album Brothers In Arms. Knopfler has recorded and performed with many prominent musicians, including Chet Atkins, Eric Clapton, Bob Dylan, Bryan Ferry, Emmylou Harris, Van Morrison, Steely Dan, Sting, and James Taylor. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wTP2RUD_cL0

Aug

2024

THURSDAY…today

Today is Nane Nane (‘eight eight’ in Swahili) Day, a public holiday in Tanzania. Also known as Farmers’ Day, this day marks the contribution of farmers to the national economy.

The importance of the agricultural sector in Tanzania is hard to overstate. Half of all workers in the country work in the sector and agriculture contributes to almost a third of Tanzania’s gross domestic product and accounts for 85% of exports.

Nane Nane is an important opportunity to showcase new technologies and developments in farming, improve education and highlight best practice. Agricultural fairs start on August 1st, with eight fairs organized for August 8th.

Here is The Band Perry. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yPK5NAzqf64

Aug

2024

It’s MERCREDI in Paris

Today is Independence Day, a public holiday in Côte d’Ivoire. This is the National Day of Côte d’Ivoire (Ivory Coast) and commemorates full independence from France on this day in 1960. Before the colonial age, most European contact with this part of West Africa was for trade in elephant ivory, which is how the region got its name.

In 1843, the French first established a protectorate over a few kingdoms in the region. With the so-called ‘Scramble for Africa’ at the end of the nineteenth century, Ivory Coast became a French colony in 1908, though local resistance to the European invaders was not quashed until 1915.

In 1946 with the establishment of the Fourth French Republic, Ivory Coast became an overseas territory of France with its own parliament and representation in the French national assembly.

In 1958, Ivory Coast became a self-governing autonomous republic within the French Community.

On July 11th 1960 France agreed to Ivory Coast becoming fully independent. Ivory Coast gained its full independence on August 7th 1960, with Félix Houphouët-Boigny becoming Ivory Coast’s first president. Ivory Coast has one of the fastest-growing economies in West Africa. The city of Abidjan is one of the most modern and livable cities in the region.

Pre-Backpack Era

Clint…

makes sense…

SIGNZ

Today is the birthday, in 1960, of Jacqui O’Sullivan, singer who joined British female pop group Bananarama in 1988. She sang on the hits ‘I Want You Back’ and ‘Nathan Jones’. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d4-1ASpdT1Y

Aug

2024

2s DAY

Today is Independence Day, a public holiday in Bolivia. Known in Spanish as ‘Dia de la Patria’, this is Bolivia’s National Day and marks the signing of the Declaration of Independence on August 6th 1825.

On May 25th 1809, the Chuquisaca (modern-day Sucre) Revolution was the first popular uprising in Latin America and is known in Bolivia as ‘Primer grito libertario’ (the first shout of freedom). This led to the Bolivian War of Independence which would last for 16 years. Eventually, the Colonial forces were defeated and Bolivian independence was proclaimed on August 6th 1825.

To honor the role of the Venezuelan resistance leader Simón Bolívar in leading the fight for independence, Charcas was renamed Bolivia. Interestingly it is said that when deciding what path Charcas should take after independence from Spain, Bolívar favoured a union with Peru and that naming Bolivia after him was a way to get him to accept creating a newly independent country.

Bolivia’s flag features its coat of arms emblazoned on three horizontal bands of red, yellow, and green, representing the nation’s fight for independence, vast mineral resources, and wealth of agriculture and landscapes, respectively.

The coat of arms further symbolizes Bolivia’s natural landscape with a depiction of the sun rising adjacent to Mount Potosi, the peak that towers over La Paz.

Huanya Potosi

A photo?????

BADA BING!!!

I hate it when people ask me if I did anything exciting over the weekend…like I’m over here skydiving. I’m old. I went to Costco, did some laundry, ate too much food, and took a nap.

A huge part of marriage is asking the other person if they have “any thoughts on dinner?” every day for the rest of your life.

JD Vance’s couch is polling higher than JD Vance right now. Also, JD Vance is probably polling his couch right now.

A friend who has worked in Chicago his entire life tells me it’s not that violent. His job is tail gunner on a school bus.

Barbie: My product was first launched in Japan. Oppenheimer: Mine too.

I was born a male and identify as a male. But according to Stouffer’s lasagna, I’m a family of four.

I prefer Christians who get upset about poverty, racism, war, and injustice rather than art they don’t understand.

Apparently, the wound on his ear healed. I’m still waiting for the hole under his nose to close up.

New book: Everything I don’t like is THE DEVIL! The emotional Bible thumpers guide to the 2024 Olympics opening.

The greatest difference between a man and a woman is the meaning of “What an ass”.

I wish I had enough money to discover that it doesn’t make me happy.

Driving by myself is exhausting because I have to be the lead singer, the backup singers, the dancers, etc.

Elon now says he is punishing people who use the term ‘weird’ to disparage supporters of OrangeMan. BWAHAHAHAHAHA

I showed my blog to my psychiatrist and she wants to talk to all of you.

Never baptize a cat. Apparently, they don’t like it when you try to save their soul. Trust me.

I did a push-up today. Well, actually I fell down. But I had to use my arms to get up So… you know, close enough.

He was White and then all of a sudden he became Orange. Someone should look into that.

On this day in 1974, ABBA scored their first US top 10 hit when ‘Waterloo’ went to No.6. ‘Waterloo’ was written specifically to be entered into the 1974 Eurovision Song Contest, after the group finished third with ‘Ring Ring’ the previous year in the Swedish pre-selection contest. The original title of the song was ‘Honey Pie’. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4XJBNJ2wq0Y

Aug

2024

Uh oh…MONDAY is back!

Emancipation Day is observed today in many Caribbean countries. This holiday marks the end of slavery in the British Empire.

The British like other colonial powers had allowed the widespread practice of slavery to take place during the time of expansion to the new world. In 1772, the ruling in the case of Somerset v Stewart determined that slavery was unsupported by the common law in England and Wales. While the ruling was not clear on the situation in other parts of the Empire, this case was seen as a key turning point in the change towards emancipation.

Slavery was finally abolished throughout the British Empire by the Slavery Abolition Act 1833, which came into effect on August 1st 1834. The territories controlled at that time by the East India Company, Ceylon (modern-day Sri Lanka) and St. Helen’s were excluded. Slavery was not abolished in these regions until 1843.

While the emancipation officially occurred on August 1, many countries celebrate it on the first Monday of August (today!).

There were some groups of people already living in freedom before Emancipation. Most of them were former soldiers. The Merikins were one of them. They were ex-slaves of the American south who were part of the British army in 1812. For helping fight against the former colonies, they were rewarded with their freedom and land in the Princes Town and Moruga area on Trinidad. Africa-born soldiers who also served in the West India Regiment also had their freedom and land as rewards.