G’day, as the Aussies say, on Sunday, July 19, 2020: National Daiquiri Day, celebrating Papa’s favorite drink. It’s also National Ice Cream Day, National Raspberry Cake Day, and National Flitch Day (celebrating bacon; a flitch is one side of a pig).
To make a version of Hemingway’s famous daiquiri, go here.
News of the Day: This is nasty. Trump or one of his minions have ordered federal agents (apparently a diverse gang assembled by the Department of Homeland security) into Portland, Oregon, where, dressed in camouflage gear, they snatch protestors off the streets and stuff them into unmarked vans. From the New York Times report:
The agents in Portland are part of “rapid deployment teams” put together by the Department of Homeland Security after Mr. Trump directed federal agencies to deploy additional personnel to protect statues, monuments and federal property during the continuing unrest.
The teams, which include 2,000 officials from Customs and Border Protection, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the Transportation Security Administration and the Coast Guard, are supporting the Federal Protective Service, an agency that already provides security at federal properties.
Agents have been dispatched to Portland, Seattle and Washington, D.C., to guard statues, monuments and federal property, such as the federal courthouse in Portland, according to homeland security officials.
Civil rights leader and Congressman John Lewis died on Friday at 80 of pancreatic cancer. He was a tireless advocate of equality, for which he worked his whole life, including more than three decades in Congress. One of the iconic photographs of the struggle for civil rights in the Sixties is of Lewis being beaten by Alabama State Troopers during the Selma voting rights march in 1965. He’s in the foreground below, and sustained a fractured skull. Remember, this was a peaceful march, but an act of civil disobedience. Partly because of these images, Lyndon Johnson presented the the Voting Rights Act to Congress about a week later and signed it into law five months later.
Here’s Joe Biden’s new campaign ad about the pandemic. It doesn’t mention Trump, but the message at the end is something you’d never see in a Trump ad (h/t: Jeremy):
Stuff that happened on July 19 includes:
- AD 64 – The Great Fire of Rome causes widespread devastation and rages on for six days, destroying half of the city.
- 1553 – Lady Jane Grey is replaced by Mary I of England as Queen of England after only nine days on the throne.
- 1843 – Brunel’s steamship the SS Great Britain is launched, becoming the first ocean-going craft with an iron hull and screw propeller, becoming the largest vessel afloat in the world.
The ship has been refurbished, and you can see it now in Bristol. Here it is:
- 1848 – Women’s rights: A two-day Women’s Rights Convention opens in Seneca Falls, New York.
- 1900 – The first line of the Paris Métro opens for operation.
- 1903 – Maurice Garin wins the first Tour de France
Here’s Garin. He won the 1904 Tour, too, but was disquaolified for cheating:
- 1942 – World War II: The Second Happy Time of Hitler’s submarines comes to an end, as the increasingly effective American convoy system compels them to return to the central Atlantic.
- 1963 – Joe Walker flies a North American X-15 to a record altitude of 106,010 meters (347,800 feet) on X-15 Flight 90. Exceeding an altitude of 100 km, this flight qualifies as a human spaceflight under international convention.
- 1969 – Chappaquiddick incident: U.S. Senator Ted Kennedy crashes his car into a tidal pond at Chappaquiddick Island, Massachusetts, killing his passenger Mary Jo Kopechne.
- 1976 – Sagarmatha National Park in Nepal is created.
This is the national park that contains Mount Everest. The first time I trekked to the mountain, it was not yet a national park. Here’s a gif of one of the most beautiful sights on Earth, and it’s the view of Everest I got when I climbed an adjacent “peak”, Kala Patthar. Skip base camp and climb that hill; the view is infinitely better.
- 1983 – The first three-dimensional reconstruction of a human head in a CT is published.
Notables born on this day were few, and include:
- 1834 – Edgar Degas, French painter, sculptor, and illustrator (d. 1917)
- 1860 – Lizzie Borden, American woman, tried and acquitted for the murders of her parents in 1892 (d. 1927)
- 1922 – George McGovern, American lieutenant, historian, and politician (d. 2012)
Here’s Lizzie Borden, who was aquitted for the murder of her father and stepmother, but is likely the person who did it anyway.
Those who went toes up on July 19 were even fewer, and include:
- 1374 – Petrarch, Italian poet and scholar (b. 1304)
- 2014 – James Garner, American actor (b. 1928)
Meanwhile in Dobrzyn, Hili is worried about the level of the Vistula since there was a long drought followed by torrential rains.
A: Where have you been for so long?Hili: I’ve been checking the level of water in the river.
Ja: Gdzieś ty była tyle czasu?Hili: Sprawdzałam poziom wody na rzece.
From Jesus (or Cheesus) of the Day. You can find the stuff here, but its $10. But look at those noodles! It’s worth it to serve to your Christian friends.
A cartoon from reader Ken:
And another Covid-19 meme:
A tweet from reader Simon that scared the hell out of me. You may want to turn off the loud music.
Soft money positions pic.twitter.com/Kr8ULk3DeI
— Oded Rechavi 🦉 (@OdedRechavi) July 18, 2020
This one, from reader Barry, is also scary:
We were all worried about Skynet. Meanwhile, nunchuck bears.pic.twitter.com/ZfGMIkYFl3
— Kevin Brackett (@KevinRBrackett) July 12, 2020
Tweets from Matthew. As Ernst Mayr hypothesized, the first step in major evolutionary innovations is often a change in behavior. . .
And this, O best beloved, is how the bat got her wings. https://t.co/LKHMG1g6Nv
— Matthew Cobb (@matthewcobb) July 18, 2020
Well, this is an anecdote (well, maybe 139 anecdotes), but it’s not to be ignored completely, either:
Vital news from CDC released yesterday:
Two hairstylists in Springfield MO developed Covid symptoms. Kept working for days anyway, serving 139 customers while symptomatic.
But they wore masks!
With result, they did not infect *any* of the 139.
https://t.co/JZ6pFwpV9g— David Frum (@davidfrum) July 18, 2020
This Weddell seal is having either a nightmare or gas:
A Weddell seal vocalizing while sleeping in Antarctica 💭 Weddells have a wide vocal repertoire, typically making such vocalizations underwater in social interactions.
Rare occasion captured by @johnbozinov pic.twitter.com/a3FYqFS0fp
— Mark Malone (@soundmigration) July 17, 2020
My money was on the shrew:
Who wins in a maze: a systematic exploration yet unafraid shrew? or a wild and chaotic little mouse?https://t.co/QcIgPGImu5
— Adam J Calhoun (@neuroecology) July 15, 2020
I have to say that I didn’t understand this one until Matthew explained it to me:
i’ve been laughing at this for 5 minutes 😂 pic.twitter.com/GpeDaAkVC3
— ℓєєуα (@L_Cdat) July 13, 2020
Storm Troopers in Portland, that should get lots of votes. The Trump era will go down as America’s experiment with ignorance.
It’s absolutely staggering that this is going on in the USA. Why is it not illegal?
All I’ve read from legal types who would not hesitate to call out the Trump admin say it is legal, at least as far as protecting federal buildings. If they do more than that, they may be on shakier ground.
I would have thought that this would outrage the 2nd Amendment types. Perhaps they are sitting at home thinking about which should take precedence, Trumpism or federal overreach. Probably neither as they don’t believe it is happening because it is reported by the MSM. I wonder what Fox News is saying about it.
I never though we’d see the day when federal troops in generic uniforms and unmarked vehicles would be deployed to a US city (devoid of any request for assistance from local authorities) to snatch American citizens off the street without a warrant or even any individualized showing of probable cause.
Yeah. I was about to say – it’s come to this now. In the US you can be scooped off the street and thrown into a van by the authorities for protesting.
The Kala Patthar link goes to SS Great Britain.
The sounds from the seal were totally unexpected! It sounds electronic to me, like a video game.
The Mac n Cheesus is pricey but at least 5% goes to food charities: https://jesusimhungry.com/about/
Took me two tries to ‘get’ the last video. Very funny.
The shrew wins – of course!
Actually shrews are very good to mark their trails and follow them again on olfactory clues.
The SS Great Britain is going to be my new next door neighbour some time in August or September.
She’s directly opposite the Bag of Nails with the floating harbour in between.
George McGovern is a hero of mine. Was trounced by Nixon for wanting to get our boys out of Vietnam immediately. No bone spurs for this guy, he flew 35 missions over Germany and won the DFC. Here’s a link from a medical website on the man.
https://www.kevinmd.com/blog/2020/06/the-similarities-between-surgeons-and-bomber-pilots.html
Bobby Kennedy (then the junior senator from NY) called George McGovern “the most decent man in the US senate.” He was a preacher’s kid from the Dakota plains whose every fiber bespoke humility and rectitude. Yet he was tarred by Nixon’s thugs as the candidate of “amnesty, abortion, and acid.”
It was one of my great joys as a US citizen that the 26th Amendment to the US Constitution, which lowered the national voting age to 18, took effect just in time to give me (who thought an “amnesty, abortion, and acid” platform sounded pretty good 🙂 ) the chance to cast my first ballot ever for George McGovern and against that rotten prick Richard Nixon.
Biden’s tone is right on target in, “Tough”. The message is cool. the contrast is served steaming hot.
Apropos National Flitch Day, there is a delightful tradition in the English village of Great Dunmow in Essex, called the Dunmow Flitch Trials.
The Trials date back to the 12th century, and Chaucer mentions them in the Canterbury Tales. They are held every four years. Any married couple who can convince a jury of six maidens and six bachelors that “they have not wished themselves unmarried for a year and a day” wins a flitch of bacon.
With 53% of the entire World female and with
34 years within the US House’s democracy –
leadership including a l o n g e r adulthood
as an ordained Baptist minister / pulpiteer
/ religionist and King, Jr – apologist for
not lifting one public word or act to alleviate
atrocities against all females including
women and girls destroyed by femicide and
clitoridectomy, let alone, mere multiple
marital infidelities, then I shall finish
the phasing of “He was a tireless advocate of
equality, for which he worked his whole life”
with … … “for men and boys.”
Blue
Good point Blue. Makes you wonder how King would fair in today’s climate.
in re .only. that of what you state, Mr rickflick,
King, Jr including his part IN ” Reverend ”
Mr Logan Kearse’s raping, is doing j u s t fine
… … because of the .ONGOING. and ” different kind
of conspiracy, which historians should both
recognize and … … RESIST: the conspiracy
of S I L E N C E. ”
… … from j u s t last year’s statement by
University of Pennsylvania Professor of
history and education, Dr Jonathan Zimmerman,
of thus:
http://www.nydailynews.com/opinion/ny-oped-face-the-whole-truth-about-martin-luther-king-jr-20190612-u6hdhuga7zfefky3ll4twcdrty-story.html
Blue
The next to last scene in the video shows Joe hugging and interacting with a bunch of people – no masks – no social distancing.
I agree, of course, with the basic strong message of the video but do something quick with that scene. Please. Thanks.
Oh don’t get me started on Weddell Seals! They have some of the weirdest vocalizations among mammals. And some of the funniest—listen to this lazy, loudmouthed youngster:
I was not aware of “The Second Happy Time” in WWII. My maternal grandfather, b. 1883, joined the Navy in 1899 and after serving on battleships (sailed with the Great White Fleet) was in retirement when WWII broke out. At 57 with with the rank of Chief Petty Officer he was called up again and put in charge of gate security at Jacksonville Naval Air Station. Each day after organizing the gate watch, he would ride as a spotter on a PBY Catalina out looking for German submarines. He logged enough flight hours to get Navy wings, at least wings were in his box of medals.
The world sees more pandemic deaths than ever with US, Brazil, India, and Russia taking the lead: US is at 60 – 70 k and climbing infected daily and no change in derivative as of yet.
It is striking how mask wearing has become a political [ https://arstechnica.com/science/2020/06/do-face-masks-help-studies-leaning-towards-yes/ ] divide in US – though I guess it won’t hurt Biden to promote it – though the problem seems to be that parts of US stopped social distancing in the middle of the pandemic wave as well as the continued lack of basic social security (“Obamacare”). [I frankly can’t remember where I read this analysis. BBC? Too much pandemic news, I guess.]
Of course, it doesn’t help prospects that the Worst US President Ever (TM) reportedly has stopped caring about pandemic reports and is refusing to voice if he will accept election defeat. “Biden For Saving US”!?
He will have to accept election defeat. I don’t think there are more than a handful of high level Republicans that actually don’t wish he’d disappear due to the heat of summer (though they’d never admit it). The Pentagon wouldn’t lift a finger to help him. What’s he going to do? Throw a tantrum in the Rose Garden? I’m sure he has not way to emotionally process such a defeat, but, that’s just him.