5/1 - Mayday

There are places where May Day brings out maypole dancers and the like. Some of these places, largely in Europe, have cultural linkages to Beltane, Floralia or both, while others, such as in the US have no such connection. Here Puritans and other such groups worked mightily to destroy traditions of such satanic celebrations and prevent their occurrence. Later, they were consciously and laboriously taught to and instilled in the nation's educational institutions by those who sought to create a more refined outlet for the energies of the hoi polloi than carnivals and amusement parks. These supercilious buffoons initially especially targeted women's colleges for these "good works" of theirs, complete with May Queens, etc. I am told that this practice is now in serious decline

In a lot of the world it is International Workers' Day, or Labor Day, but not here for sure. The US has a terrible history with labor and labor rights. The fact that a huge swathe of the nation depended upon the unpaid forced labor of enslaved persons to keep its economy running is just part of the picture. This was something of a plutocracy from day one, money talked and it talked loudly enough to get tons of laborers killed. Any hint of labor organizing was attacked by both government and private interests, that union of the two interests that Mussolini spoke of. The grange, unions by any name, socialists in general and more were attacked by private armies, police forces, legitimate and otherwise, the national guard and even the army. The Pinkertons would do anything to bust unions and strikes as would the Baldwin-Felts Agency, paid assassins for the coal companies who killed striking miners at the battles of Matewan and Blair Mountain.

On May 1, 1886, rallies were held throughout the United States demanding an eight-hour work day. These led to the Haymarket affair in Chicago, in commemoration of which May 1 is celebrated as International Workers' Day in many countries but not, of course, the US. Even the US labor movement, such as it was, shied away from associating itself with that event though it is something of a microcosm of US labor history except for the bomb. Even after the criminal violence against unions died down including pretty much open war against the Wobblies, and unions were given a legal right to exist, the Taft-Hartley Act was passed in 1947 to try to cripple them, hurt their ability to organize and limit their right to strike. Then the McCarran Act of 1950 put a ton of requirements on any association that the government chose to consider to be communist or subversive, backed up with concentraion camps for violators. This act enhanced assorted requirements placed on union leadership to make sure that they weren't commies and didn't turn their unions in that direction.

Nonetheless, there was still a nagging fear that the CPUSA might evolve into a ready made third political party sympathetic to workers, workers' rights, and the working class in general and that said workers and working class might flock to it. Eventually, the Communist Control Act of 1954 was passed. It simply outlawed the Communist Party and criminalized membership in or support for the party or "Communist-action" organizations, seemingly retroactively. In conjunction with the McCarran Act, this was seriously unconstitutional, violating the 5th Amendment, the right of free association, and the prohibition on ex-post facto laws, just for starters, but that was of no import to the elites of the day. Meanwhile, pursuant to Taft-Hartley, many states passed "right to work" laws. So, no Virginia, we don't celebrate Workers' Day here.

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On this day in history:

1169 -- Norman mercenaries landed at Bannow Bay in Leinster 1328 -- The Wars of Scottish Independence ended with an independent Scotland (but, wait!) 1707 -- The Act of Union joined the kingdoms of England and Scotland 1753 -- Linnaeus published the Species Plantarum 1776 -- The Illuminati were established in Ingolstad 1786 -- The first performance of The Marriage of Figaro 1807 -- The Slave Trade Act abolished slavery in the British Empire as was expected in the mid and late 1700s. 1851 -- Queen Victoria opened The Great Exhibition at The Crystal Palace 1862 -- The Union Army captured New Orleans 1865 -- The Treaty of the Triple Alliance was signed by Uruguay, Brazil, and Argentina 1866 -- The Memphis Race Riots began 1869 -- The Folies Bergere opened 1884 -- Proclamation of the demand for eight-hour workday in the US 1886 -- Rallies were held throughout the US for an 8 hour workday 1894 -- Coxey's Army arrived in DC 1900 -- The Scofield Mine disaster 1915 -- The RMS Lusitania set sail from NYC on her last voyage 1927 -- The AFL founded the Union Labor Life Insurance Company 1945 -- The Soviet Flag was raised over the Reich Chancellery 1948 -- North Korea was established 1950 -- Guam became a US commonwealth 1956 – The Salk polio vaccine was made available to the public. 1960 – The USSR shot down US spy Francis Gary Powers in a Lockheed U-2 spyplane. 1971 -- Amtrak took over US passenger rail service 2002 -- OpenOffice.org 1.0 was released 2003 -- "Mission Accomplished" in Iraq. 2009 -- Sweden legalized Same-sex marriage

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Some people who were born on this day:

To say that authority, whether secular or religious, supplies no ground for morality is not to deny the obvious fact that it supplies a sanction.

~~ Joseph Addison

1582 -- Marco da Gagliano, a composer 1672 -- Joseph Addison, author, poet & playwright 1751 -- Judith Sargent Murray who wrote "On the Equality of the Sexes" and much more 1764 -- Benjamin Henry Latrobe, designer of US Capitol 1769 -- Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, inventor of Wellies 1825 -- Johann Jakob Balmer, physicist 1825 -- George Inness, painter 1827 -- Jules Breton, painter 1852 -- Calamity Jane, scout 1855 -- Cecilia Beaux, painter 1857 -- Theo van Gogh, art dealer 1862 -- Marcel Prevost, writer 1864 -- Anna Jarvis, US founder of Mothers' Day 1885 -- Ralph Stackpole, sculpter and painter 1907 -- Hayes Alvis, bassist 1907 -- Kate Smith, singer and actress 1919 -- Lewis Hill, co-founder of Pacifica Radio 1924 -- Evelyn Boyd Granville, mathematician 1924 -- Terry Southern, author, playwright, screenwriter (The Magic Christian, Dr. Strangelove) 1925 -- Scott Carpenter, astronaut 1928 -- Sonny James, guitarist, singer and songwriter 1930 -- Little Walter Jacobs, Chicago blues harp, just ask Muddy 1934 -- Shirley Horn, pianist and singer 1939 -- Judy Collins, guitarist, singer and songwriter 1942 -- Charlie Allen, singer and songwriter with PG&E 1945 -- Rita Coolidge, singer and songwriter 1949 -- Jim Clench, bassist 1967 -- Tim McGraw, country pop singer 1968 -- Johnny Colt, bassist 1970 – Sacha Perry, jazz pianist and composer 1980 – Jay Reatard, singer, songwriter, and guitarist

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Some people who died on this day:

You don't have to teach people how to be human. You have to teach them how to stop being inhuman.

~~ Eldridge Cleaver

1873 -- David Livingstone, itinerant preacher 1965 -- Spike Jones, singer and bandleader 1978 -- Aram Khachaturian, composer and conductor 1998 -- Eldridge Cleaver, author and activist

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Some Holidays, Holy Days, Festivals, Feast Days, Days of Recognition, and such: International Workers' Day or Labour Day (International) Law Day, Loyalty Day,and Prayer Day* are celebrated in the US to drown out Workers' Day or Labor Day Beltane (northern hemisphere) Samhain (southern hemisphere) May Day * National Day of Prayer occurs in the US if May 1 is a Thursday.

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Today's Tunes May Day Type 1

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