Monday Open Thread; March 5 is Momofuku Ando's Birthday

March 5 is the 64th day of the year, there are 301 days left

-

Today's number is 5

-

5 is the third prime 5 is the third Sophie Germain prime 5 is a Fermat prime 5 is the only prime that is the sum of 2 consecutive numbers 5 is the only prime ending in 5 5 is the fifth Fibonacci number There are 5 Platonic Solids (and myriads of Platonic relationships) A 5 sided polygon is a pentagon (lower case) A building full of insane war mongers is a Pentagon (Capitalized initial letter) A 5 sided star is a pentagram 5 is the length of the hypotenuse of a 3,4,5 triangle, often used in construction & carpentry. 5 is boron A pentatonic scale has 5 notes per octave The Book of Five Rings by master swordsman Miyamoto Musashi is must reading, trust me. I-5 connects San Diego, CA with Blaine, Wa The Five Families refers to the Bonanno, Colombo, Gambino, Genovese, and Lucchese "crime families" **.

- 5 is an important number in Discordianism. There is the Law of Fives as well as the Pentabarf, which has five rules. Each page of the Principia Discordia is labeled with five digits.

is an important number in Discordianism. There is the Law of Fives as well as the Pentabarf, which has five rules. Each page of the Principia Discordia is labeled with five digits.

** The so-called crime families were simply non-publicly traded corporations following the standard amoral, sociopathic model inherent in "pure" (predatory) laissez faire capitalism but with inadequate PR. Though New York based, they represent the epitome of Chicago school free market mechanisms.

To relax or take a break, especially of 5 minutes duration used to be called to

There are only 5 Platonic solids because

Penrose tilings

Title 5 of the US Code is GOVERNMENT ORGANIZATION AND EMPLOYEES

-

5 BCE was the Year of the Consulship of Octavian and Appuleius John the Baptist and/or Jesus of Nazareth may or may not have been born this year.

-

5 CE was the Year of the Consulship of Augustus and Sulla Tiberius conquered Germania Inferior Wang Mang, was granted the "Nine Awards of Imperial Favor" Livilla married Drusus Julius Caesar, Julia, daughter of Drusus Julius Caesar and Livilla was born

-

On this day in:

1496 – Henry VII of England issued letters patent to John Cabot to explore unknown lands. 1616 – Copernicus's De revolutionibus orbium coelestium was added to the Index 1766 – The first Spanish governor of Louisiana arrived in New Orleans. 1770 – The Boston Massacre 1836 – Samuel Colt patented the first production-model revolver 1850 – The Britannia Bridge across the Menai Strait opened 1872 – George Westinghouse patented the air brake. 1933 – FDR declared a "bank holiday" 1933 – The Nazi Party received 43.9% at the Reichstag elections, 1940 – The Katyn massacre. 1970 – The Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons became effective 1981 – The Sinclair Research ZX81 home computer was launched 1984 – The UK miners' strike began

-

-

Born this day in:

1512 – Gerardus Mercator, mathematician and cartographer 1779 – Benjamin Gompertz, mathematician and statistician 1834 – Marietta Piccolomini, soprano 1870 – Frank Norris, journalist and author 1871 – Rosa Luxemburg, Satan, The Antichrist (official US, etc,) ** 1882 – Dora Marsden, author, suffragette, and activist 1887 – Heitor Villa-Lobos, guitarist and composer 1898 – Zhou Enlai, politician 1910 – Momofuku Ando, instant ramen king *** 1918 – James Tobin, economist, proposed tax on FX transactions to minimize speculation 1929 – J. B. Lenoir, singer, songwriter, and guitarist 1938 – Paul Evans, singer, songwriter, and guitarist 1948 – Eddy Grant, singer, songwriter, and musician 1949 – Tom Russell, singer, songwriter, and guitarist 1952 – Alan Clark, keyboard player 1956 – Teena Marie, singer, songwriter, and producer 1958 – Andy Gibb, singer, songwriter, and actor

** Also, per wikipedia, a Marxist theorist, feminist, philosopher, economist, anti-war activist, and revolutionary socialist *** patron saint of impoverished students

-

Died this day in: 1770 – Crispus Attucks, slave 1829 – John Adams, Bounty mutineer 1950 – Edgar Lee Masters, poet, author, and playwright 1953 – Sergei Prokofiev, pianist, composer, and conductor 1953 – Joseph Stalin, Stalin 1963 – Patsy Cline, singer, songwriter 1963 – Cowboy Copas, singer, songwriter, and guitarist 1963 – Hawkshaw Hawkins, singer, songwriter, and guitarist 1967 – Mohammad Mosaddegh, politician ** 1995 – Vivian Stanshall, singer, songwriter, and musician 2013 – Hugo Chavez, politician

** The head of a democratically elected goernment in Iran which was overthrown in a coup organized and carried out by the CIA.

-

Holidays, Holy Days, Festivals, Feast Days and such:   Roll your own

-

-

-

So, for music,

-

Nuclear Weapons Non-Proliferation Treaty

Rosa Luxemburg  

Heitor Villa-Lobos  

J. B. Lenoir  

Eddy Grant  

Alan Clark  

Mohammad Mosaddegh, the CIA's first victim

Vivian Stanshall  

Bonus Political commentary:

-

-

-

-

picture is "I Still Eat Top Ramen" by Alan Levine

It's an open thread, so do your thing

Crossposted from http://caucus99percent.com