Dire Straits

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

Today is the National Day of the Victorious Greater Poland Uprising. It commemorates the 1918-19 Greater Poland Uprising.

The uprising took place in the wake of World War One, as Poland sought to re-establish itself as an independent state following over a century of partition between Germany, Russia and Austria.

The Greater Poland Uprising, which was one of the two successful Polish uprisings, ended in the triumph of Polish insurgents over the Germans. The uprising broke out on December 27, 1918, in Poznań (western Poland) after a patriotic speech by Ignacy Paderewski, the famous pianist and diplomat, who became the Polish prime minister in 1919. The city was liberated on January 6, 1919. Almost the entire province was liberated by mid-January.

Under the Treaty of Versailles, signed on June 28, 1919, almost the entire Wielkopolskie province returned to Poland.

BADA BING!!

Dear Texas, If you’re really obsessed with going backward in time, return your state to Mexico.

Of all the poop in the world, who decided that bat shit was the craziest?

I’m looking for either buttons or a zipper. I guess I’m really just looking for some closure.

When the FBI is searching your phone for evidence but has to go through 60,000 memes.

Does anyone else feel the urge to walk out of a business the moment they see Fox News on?

Instead of a condom, I carry a moist towelette in my wallet. I run into chicken wings more often than sex.

I used to be against organ donation. Then I had a change of heart.

Not bragging, but, I do live in a gated community with 24-hour guards at the gates.  Ok. it’s a prison, I said I wasn’t bragging.

Walmart is giving free turkeys to anyone who can outrun security.

I have a pet termite named Clint.  Clint eats wood.

Today is the birthday, in 1952, of British singer-songwriter, guitarist, David Knopfler, (the younger brother of guitarist Mark Knopfler). He is a co-founder of the rock band Dire Straits, with whom he spent three years. After quitting the band, Knopfler embarked upon a solo career. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kd9TlGDZGkI