It is World Soil Day. What can one say, this is borderline fatuous. Industrial agriculture destroys the soil. If we humans wish to have significant amounts of healthy soil remaining, we have to abandon industrial agriculture. We are, instead, increasing its use. Meanwhile, techniques such as regenerative agriculture can radically revive soils, but cannot seem to catch on to a significant extent, perhaps in part because they aren't appropriate for pick-up seat farming, but require feet on the ground hands-on farming.
"Prohibition" ended on this day in 1933. That should really say the prohibition of some alcoholic beverages. Really weak beer and "sacramental wine" were ok. California alone produced enormous amounts of "sacramental wine". But, whatever. That, however, was only one type of prohitition. It was before pot was prohibited but many other things and acts were prohibited because the US has been exceedingly puritanical, narrow minded, and twisted since before it was even a country.
On this day in history:
0633 -- Fourth Council of Toledo with St. Izzy (San Ysidro in the US southwest) 1408 -- Emir Edigu of the Golden Horde got to Moscow, but failed to take it 1484 -- Pope Innocent VIII issued a bull authorizing a literal witch hunt in Germany 1492 -- Christopher Columbus became the first European to land in Hispaniola 1496 -- King Manuel I of Portugal issued an order expelling Jewish "heretics" from Portugal 1848 -- President Polk told congress that a lot of gold had been found in Callifornia 1932 -- Albert Einstein received a visa to enter the US. 1933 -- Utah ratified the 21st Amendment, thereby ending prohibition. 1935 – Mary McLeod Bethune founded the National Council of Negro Women 1952 -- The great smog of London killed at least 12,000 people 1955 -- The AFL & CIO merged to form, what else, the AFL-CIO 1955 -- Rosa Parks & E. D. Nixon led the Montgomery Bus Boycott. 1964 -- The first linkage between the major histocompatibility complex (MHC) and disease was discovered 1969 -- ARPANET was set up, consisting of 4 (count 'em, 4) nodes 1978 -- The Soviet Union signed a "friendship treaty" with Afghanistan. 1983 – Dissolution of the US Backed Military Junta in Argentina. 2004 -- The Civil Partnership Act went into effect in the UK
Some people who were born on this day:
Not only is the Universe stranger than we think, it is stranger than we can think.
~~ Werner Heisenberg 1666 -- Francesco Scarlatti, composer & fiddle player 1687 -- Francesco Geminiani, ditto 1822 -- Elizabeth Cabot Agassiz, philosopher, academic, and co-founder of Radcliffe 1839 -- George Armstrong Custer, rapist, war criminal, loser, see Gall, below 1855 – Clinton Hart Merriam, zoologist, ornithologist, entomologist, and ethnographer 1862 – John Henry Leech, entomologist 1868 – Arnold Sommerfeld, physicist and academic 1869 – Ellis Parker Butler, author and poet 1886 – Rose Wilder Lane, libertarian writer 1895 – Elbert Frank Cox, mathematician and academic 1901 -- Walt Disney, right wing cartoonist 1901 -- Werner Heisenberg, as best as we can tell, but there is some uncertainty 1903 – C. F. Powell, physicist and academic 1912 -- Sonny Boy Williamson II, singer, songwriter and harmonica player 1916 – Hilary Koprowski, virologist and immunologist, created the world's first effective live polio vaccine 1922 – Don Robertson, American songwriter and pianist 1932 -- Little Richard, preacher, singer, songwriter, pianist, and actor 1934 – Joan Didion, novelist and screenwriter 1935 -- Calvin Trillin, journalist, author, and poet 1938 -- JJ Cale, guitarist, singer, & songwriter 1940 – Frank Wilson, singer, songwriter, and producer 1946 – Andy Kim, Canadian pop singer-songwriter 1947 -- Jim Messina, as in Loggins & ... 1947 – Kim Simmonds, blues-rock singer, songwriter, guitarist, and producer 1956 – Krystian Zimerman, virtuoso pianist 1968 – Margaret Cho, comedian, actress, producer, and screenwriter 1980 – Ibrahim Maalouf, trumpet player and composer
Some people who died on this day:
Overcoming poverty is not a task of charity, it is an act of justice.
~~ Nelson Mandela 1791 -- Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, composer and musician 1870 -- Alexandre Dumas, writer 1895 -- Gall, Hunkpapa Lakota tactician & battle leader who played a major role at the battle of the Greasy Grass 1926 -- Claude Monet, painter 1931 -- Vachel Lindsay, poet, America's first rapper, boomlay, boomlay, boom. 1977 – Katherine Milhous, author and illustrator 1997 – Eugen Cicero, jazz pianist 2007 -- Karlheinz Stockhausen, composer and academic 2012 -- Dave Brubeck, unsquare dude who favored strange times 2013 -- Nelson Mandela, 1st President of South Africa,
Some Holidays, Holy Days, Festivals, Feast Days, Days of Recognition, and such: World Soil Day International Volunteer Day for Economic and Social Development
Today's Tunes
Polk's 1848 message to Congress
Francesco Scarlatti (Yeah, not THAT Scarlatti, but, hey ...)
Francesco Geminiani
Sonny Boy Williamson II
Little Richard
JJ Cale
Jim Messina
Kim Simmonds
Ibrahim Maalouf
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Karlheinz Stockhausen
Eugen Cicero
Dave Brubeck
And here's more Brubeck
Ok, it's an open thread, so it's up to you folks now. So what's on your mind?
Cross posted from http://caucus99percent.com ,