Monday OT - July 27: Bagpipe Appreciation Day

July 27 is day 208 of the Gregorian Calendar year, Pungenday, Confusion 62, 3186 YOLD (Discordian) And let us not forget 13.0.7.12.15 mlc (the Mayan Long Count)

On July 27, 1921, researchers at the University of Toronto, proved that the hormone insulin regulated blood sugar. The original researchers and others, originally reluctant to obtain a commercial patent, agreed to obtain one and transfer it to the University of Toronto for a buck to prevent predatory pharma company Eli Lilly from gaining a patent and gouging for insulin.  This is not why a vial of insulin costing $300 in the US only costs $30 in Canada, however.  That is due to the fact that the US lacks any healthcare system, or, for that matter, anything vaguely resembling healthcare.  Instead, the parasitic corporate-government symbiote running the country has established a for profit fee based medical crisis creation and management model that creates medical crises and then charges exorbitant prices for medical goods and services. Essentially, every aspect of health care, like every other human necessity, is a targeted weakness to be exploited for the purpose of extracting the wealth represented by the work product of the citizenry and transferring it to the oligarchs, usually in the form of periodic rents.  

On this day in history: 1663 – The English Parliament passed the second Navigation Act. a colonial casus belli. 1694 – The Bank of England was granted a Royal Charter. 1775 – The Second Continental Congress passed legislation creating "an hospital for an army consisting of 20,000 men." 1789 – The first U.S. govt. agency, the Department of Foreign Affairs, was created. 1866 – The first permanent transatlantic telegraph cable was successfully completed. 1890 – Vincent van Gogh shot himself and died two days later. 1919 – The Chicago Race Riot erupted leading to 38 fatalities and 537 injuries   1921 – Researchers at the University of Toronto, proved that the hormone insulin regulated blood sugar. 1929 – The Geneva Convention of 1929, on prisoners-of-war, was signed by 53 nations. Though it was difficult for the US to pretend to abide by it, they did so pretend  until GWB's  interpretation of the term "enemy combatatant" allowed the US to openly ignore all of the otherwise applicable Geneva conventions. 1949 – Initial flight of the de Havilland Comet, the first jet-powered airliner. 1953 – The US, China, and North Korea signed an armistice ending Korean War combat. 1964 – Five thousand more US "military advisers" were sent to South Vietnam raising the number of non-CIA US forces ifighting to prevent elections in Vietnam to 21,000. 1974 – The US House Judiciary Committee voted to recommend the first article of impeachment against Nixon. 1976 – Former Japanese prime minister Kakuei Tanaka was arrested on suspicion of violating foreign exchange and foreign trade laws in connection with the Lockheed bribery scandals.  Well Duh  Born this day in:  1667 – Johann Bernoulli, mathematician and academic 1740 – Jeanne Baré, explorer 1768 – Charlotte Corday, assassin and politician, or vice-versa, whatever  1848 – Loránd Eötvös, physicist and politician, Minister of Education of Hungary  1867 – Enrique Granados, pianist and composer ( 1870 – Hilaire Belloc, writer and historian 1881 – Hans Fischer, chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate 1882 – Geoffrey de Havilland, pilot and engineer, 1890 – Benjamin Miessner, radio engineer and inventor 1916 – Skippy Williams, saxophonist and arranger 1924 – Vincent Canby, historian and critic 1927 – Guy Carawan, singer and musicologist 1929 – Harvey Fuqua, singer, songwriter, and producer 1929 – Jack Higgins, author and academic 1933 – Nick Reynolds, singer and bongo player 1938 – Gary Gygax, game designer 1942 – Édith Butler, singer and songwriter 1944 – Bobbie Gentry, singer, songwriter ,and guitarist 1944 – Barbara Thomson, saxophonist and composer 1945 – Edmund M. Clarke, computer scientist 1948 – Henny Vrienten, singer, songwriter ,and bass player 1949 – Rory MacDonald, singer, songwriter, and bass player 1949 – Maureen McGovern, singer and actress 1954 – Mark Stanway, keyboard player  1955 – Bobby Rondinelli, drummer 1960 – Conway Savage, singer, songwriter and keyboard player 1962 – Karl Mueller,  bass player 1964 – Rex Brown, bass player and songwriter 1967 – Juliana Hatfield, singer, songwriter and musician 1967 – Hans Mathisen, guitarist and composer 1974 – Pete Yorn, singer, songwriter, and guitarist 1975 – Fred Mascherino, singer, songwriter, and guitarist 1982 – Neil Harbisson, painter, composer, and activist, CYBORG  Died this day in: 

“One must dare to be happy. ” ~~ Gertrude Stein

1675 – Henri de la Tour d'Auvergne, Vicomte de Turenne, general 1759 – Pierre Louis Maupertuis, mathematician and philosopher 1844 – John Dalton, physicist, meteorologist, and chemist  1946 – Gertrude Stein, novelist, poet, and playwright ( 1948 – Joe Tinker, shortstop 1948 – Dorothea Bleek, anthropologist and philologist 1963 – Garrett Morgan, inventor 1988 – Frank Zamboni, inventor and businessman, 1990 – Bobby Day, singer, songwriter, pianist, and producer 1999 – Harry Edison, trumpet player  2001 – Leon Wilkeson, bass player and songwriter 2012 – Darryl Cotton, singer, songwriter, guitarist, and actor 2015 – Rickey Grundy, singer, songwriter 2017 – Sam Shepard, playwright, actor, author, screenwriter, and director     Holidays, Holy Days, Festivals, Feast Days, Days of Recognition, and such: Cross Atlantic Communication Day Gary Gygax Day Bagpipe Appreciation Day Natinal Scotch Day National Crème Brûlée Day Walk On Stilts Day National Korean War Veterans Armistice Day (United States)  Music goes here, iirc, well, With apologies ;-)  Image is public domain  It's an open thread, so do your thing

Cross posted from http://caucus99percent.com