01/03 is National Write to Congress Day

It's National Write to Congress Day, not because it is some kind of civic duty like some of us were told back in the fifties and sixties, nor is it because it is the only way tha they'll know what you need, think, and/or want. Frankly, they don't give a shit what you need, think and/or want unless you are among the oligarchs and elites, in which case they already have a pretty damn good idea from all the discussions with your lobbyists and other minions. No, it is a particular and peculiar etiquette that pertains to the written communique. FIRST - it must be exculpatory and devoid of any possible taint of any provable quid pro quo. SECOND - It must simply request "access" an opportunity to meet face to face and discuss "things". THIRD - It must be written on the back of a large denomination bearer bond, privately issued share of special preferred stock, or other negotiable instrument.

On this day in history:

1521 – Pope Leo X excommunicated Martin Luther 1749 – The first issue of Denmark's oldest continually operating newspaper, Berlingske, was published 1777 – General George Washington defeated General Lord Cornwallis at the Battle of Princeton 1833 – Captain James Onslow of the Clio reasserted British sovereignty over the Falkland Islands 1848 – Joseph Jenkins Roberts was sworn in as the first president of Liberia 1870 – Construction work began on the Brooklyn Bridge in New York, US 1911 – A magnitude 7.7 earthquake destroyed the city of Almaty in Russian Turkestan 1920 – A magnitude 6.4 earthquake hit Puebla and Veracruz Mexico killing over 640. 1947 – Proceedings of the U.S. Congress were televised for the first time 1956 – A fire damaged the top part of the Eiffel Tower 1957 – The Hamilton Watch Company introduced the first electric watch 1959 – Alaska was admitted as the 49th U.S. state 1961 – The US severed diplomatic relations with Cuba 1961 – The SL-1 nuclear reactor was destroyed by a steam explosion; the only reactor incident in the US to cause immediate fatalities 1961 – A protest by agricultural workers in Baixa de Cassanje, Portuguese Angola, turned into a revolt, starting the Angolan War of Independence 1962 – Pope John XXIII excommunicated Fidel Castro 1976 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, adopted by the United Nations General Assembly, weny into force 1977 – Apple Computer was incorporated 1990 – Ex CIA asset Manuel Noriega surrendered to invading US forces 1993 – George H. W. Bush and Boris Yeltsin sign the second Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty 1999 – The Mars Polar Lander was launched by NASA 2009 – The Bitcoin, Genesis block, was established by Satoshi Nakamoto 2016 – Iran ended its diplomatic relations with Saudi Arabia 2018 – For the first time in history all five major storm surge gates in the Netherlands were closed simultaneously in the wake of a storm 2019 – Chang'e 4 made the first soft landing on the far side of the Moon, deploying the Yutu-2 lunar rover 2020 – Iranian General Qasem Soleimani was assassinated in a terrorist US airstrike

Born this day in:

The safety of the people shall be the highest law.

~~ Marcus Tullius Cicero 106 BC – Cicero, philosopher, lawyer, and politician 1611 – James Harrington, political theorist 1793 – Lucretia Mott, activist 1810 – Antoine Thomson d'Abbadie, geographer, ethnologist, linguist, and astronomer 1819 – Charles Piazzi Smyth, astronomer and academic 1887 – August Macke, painter 1892 – J.R.R. Tolkien, writer, poet, and philologist 1909 – Victor Borge, pianist and conductor 1916 – Betty Furness, actress and television journalist 1919 – Herbie Nichols, pianist and composer 1929 – Gordon Moore, businessman, co-founder of Intel Corporation 1943 – Van Dyke Parks, singer, songwriter, musician, composer, author, and actor 1944 – Doreen Massey, geographer and political activist 1945 – Stephen Stills, singer, songwriter, guitarist, and producer 1946 – John Paul Jones, bass player, songwriter, and producer 1947 – Zulema, singer and songwriter 1980 – Kurt Vile, singer, songwriter, guitarist, and producer 2003 – Greta Thunberg, environmental activist

Died this day in:

I try to construct a picture in which shapes, spaces, colors, form a set of unique relationships, independent of any subject matter. At the same time I try to capture and translate the excitement and emotion aroused in me by the impact with the original idea.

~~ Milton Avery 1543 – Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo, explorer and navigator 1641 – Jeremiah Horrocks, astronomer and mathematician 895 – James Merritt Ives, lithographer and businessman, co-founded Currier and Ives 1927 – Carl David Tolmé Runge, physicist and mathematician 1965 – Milton Avery, painter 1966 – Sammy Younge Jr., civil rights activist 1967 – Jack Ruby, businessman and murderer 1969 – Jean Focas, astronomer 1975 – Victor Kraft, philosopher from the Vienna Circle 1989 – Sergei Sobolev, mathematician and academic 2014 – Phil Everly, singer and guitarist, Don's Bro 2016 – Paul Bley, pianist and composer 2020 – Qasem Soleimani, major general, commander of the Quds Force 2021 - Eric Jerome Dickey, author

Holidays, Holy Days, Festivals, Feast Days, Days of Recognition, and such: Festival of Sleep Day Women Rock Day National Write to Congress Day (heh) J.R.R. Tolkien Day

Music goes here, iirc, well, With apologies ;-)

Victor Borge

Herbie Nichols

Steven Stills

John Paul Jones

Zulema

Phil Everly