It’s Thursday, July 14, and you know what that means: it’s Bastille Day! I was living in Paris on its 200th anniversary, in 1989, and I tell you—that was a celebration!
It’s still hot in Chicago—the high will be 32° C (89° F) today, but it will cool off considerably tomorrow. On this day in history, aside from the French storming the Bastille, Billy the Kid was shot by Pat Garrett (1881), the first Nazi eugenics law, allowing for the sterilization of the “genetically defective”, took effect in 1933, and, in 1976, capital punishment was abolished in Canada. Now if only they’d abolish their hate speech laws. . .
Notables born on this day include Gustav Klimt (1862), Woody Guthrie (1912), Ingmar Bergman (1918), Harry Dean Stanton (1926; he turns 90 today), and Jerry Rubin (1938). Those who died on July 14 include Adlai Stevenson II (1965). Meanwhile in Dobrzyn, Hili reports on some gustatory activity:
Hili: I’ve met a church mouse.A: And?Hili: I ate it. It disagreed with me.
Hili: Spotkałam mysz kościelną.
Ja: I co?
Hili: Zjadłam, nie była dobra.
I had an idea that this might be Gus’s new box as soon as I got it at the market garden. I put it down under the harpsichord where the remnants of the Ikea box are. Lo and behold, while I was practicing today this bliss happened! I wish you could hear him purring.
Also, this is what I feel like today, with the lion being a metaphor for life:
What would I do if I had to choose between getting rid of hate speech laws and the death penalty? Let’s just say I think Canada might have it over Texas in the morality stakes.
Sorry you’re having a bad day Jerry. 🙁 I hope things are looking up before it’s over. 🙂
Oh yes Bastille Day 1989 I remember that vividly!
It’s a stirring song, especially if you don’t understand French. The words are absolutely dreadful. “May their impure blood glow in our furrows.” Yuk. There was recently a big discussion as to whether they should be changed, but it seems to have faded away.
flow, not glow
The man with the lion-nibbled bum will be dining out on that story for years. Well, the story, plus a large doughnut-shaped cushion.
“… the first Nazi eugenics law, allowing for the sterilization of the “genetically defective”, took effect in 1933…”
What is less well known is that all the supposedly-above-such-things Nordic countries enacted similar laws. In particular, in Sweden (land of my wife), the Social Democratic government passed similar laws in 1934. According to the newspaper Dagens Nyheter, at least 60K young swedish women considered sub-normal were sterilized.
When politicians latch onto badly-understood science, look out!