(Santo Tomas Camp during the war.)
(Santo Tomas Camp liberated by the Americans.)
Tuesday, February 4, 2020
75: Santo Tomas Liberated
(Santo Tomas Camp during the war.)
(Santo Tomas Camp liberated by the Americans.)
Monday, February 3, 2020
Caucuses And Primaries
From the BBC:
“US election 2020: What are the
Iowa caucuses and how do they work?”
Four years after the world
watched Donald Trump's momentum build and build until he became the Republican
nominee, America is again deciding who will run for the White House. The
nominees will be chosen through a series of primaries and caucuses in every US
state and territory, starting in Iowa on Monday and ending in Puerto Rico in
early June. Short of a big shock, the Republican nominee will be Donald Trump.
Even though technically he has two challengers, he is so popular among
Republicans, he has a clear run ahead of him. With that in mind, the Democratic
primaries are the only ones worth watching. It's an unusual process, not all of
which makes sense, although we've tried.
Step one: The start line: A whole year before the primaries, the first
candidates emerged from hibernation. Over the year, others woke up and
eventually 28 people announced they were running to become the Democratic
nominee for president. But dwindling funds, luke-warm or (ice-cold) public
reaction and campaign infighting have, to varying degrees, led to 16 candidates
pulling out of the race. Now, with primary season upon us, 12 people remain in
the running. In theory, any one of them could become the nominee. In reality,
only a few have a chance.
Step two: The Iowa caucuses: The
first event of the primary season isn't a primary at all - it's a series of
caucuses, in Iowa, on Monday 3 February. We'll explain the difference between a
primary and a caucus later. What are caucuses? A caucus
involves people attending a meeting - maybe for a few hours - before they vote
on their preferred candidate, perhaps via a head count or a show of hands.
Those meetings might be in just a few select locations - you can't just turn up
at a polling station. As a result, caucuses tend to really suit candidates who
are good at rousing their supporters to get out of bed. People like Bernie
Sanders, for example. Caucuses used to be far more popular back in the day, but
this year, Democrats are holding only four in US states - in Nevada, North
Dakota, Wyoming and Iowa. If any candidate gets under 15% of the vote in any
caucus, their supporters then get to pick a second choice from among the
candidates who did get more than 15%, or they can just choose to sit out the
second vote. Why does Iowa matter?: A win here
for any candidate can help give them momentum and propel them to victory in the
primaries. Why is Iowa first in the primary
calendar? You can blame Jimmy Carter, sort of. Iowa became first in 1972, for
various technical electoral reasons too boring to go into here. But when Carter
ran for president in 1976, his team realised they could grab the momentum by
campaigning early in Iowa. He won there, then surprisingly won the presidency,
and Iowa's fate was sealed. Why does Iowa not matter? Iowa
doesn't represent the entire US - it's largely white, so the way people vote
there will be very, very different than in other states. Its record on picking
the eventual nominees is a bit rubbish too, at least when it comes to
Republicans - when there's an open Republican race, Iowa hasn't opted for the
eventual nominee since 2000. Such names as Mike Huckabee, Rick Santorum and Ted
Cruz have won there in recent years.
Step three: The New Hampshire
primary: Eight days after Iowa on Tuesday, 11 February, is the first primary,
in New Hampshire. The tiny north-eastern state of only 1.3m people will once
again become an unlikely hotbed of political activity. What is a primary? Unlike a
caucus, where voters are expected to turn up at a few limited locations at
certain times and stick around for a while, primary voters can just turn up at
a polling booth and vote in secret. Then leave. How does a primary work? The more
votes a candidate gets in a caucus or primary, the more "delegates"
they are awarded, and all candidates will be hoping to win an unbeatable
majority of delegates. The number of delegates differs in each state, and is
decided by a convoluted series of criteria. In California's primary, for
example, there are 415 Democratic delegates up for grabs this year. In New
Hampshire, it's only 24. This year is a bit different. Any candidate would need
to get at least 15% of the vote in any primary or caucus to be awarded
delegates. There are still 11 candidates in the running - an unusually large
number - so there's a risk the vote share will be spread out and some of the
candidates may struggle to reach 15%. After New Hampshire, we could get a clear
picture of who is struggling, but whoever has claimed the most delegates at
this stage is still far from guaranteed to be the nominee. And even those who
are struggling may not drop out right after New Hampshire, because there is so
much at stake on...
Step four: Super Tuesday A few
other states vote in between New Hampshire and the end of February, but this is
when things really start to warm up: Super Tuesday, on 3 March. What is Super Tuesday? It is the
big date in the primary calendar, when 16 states, territories or groups vote
for their preferred candidate in primaries or caucuses. A third of all the
delegates available in the entire primary season are up for grabs on Super
Tuesday. By the end of the day it could be much clearer who the Democratic
candidate will be. The two states with the most delegates are voting on Super
Tuesday - California (with 415 Democratic delegates) and Texas (228).
California is voting three months earlier than in 2016, making Super Tuesday
even more super than normal. California and Texas are two states with very
diverse populations, so we may see them going for very different candidates
than those chosen in Iowa and New Hampshire.
Step five: The rest of the race: After
hectic Super Tuesday, everyone gets to cool down for a week, before another
busy day on Tuesday, 10 March, when six states vote, with 352 delegates
available. After that, the primary season still has three months left to run
,and at the end, the role of those delegates will become clear...
Step six: The conventions: Hillary
Clinton celebrates becoming the Democratic nominee at the 2016 convention. This
is as good as things got for her campaign. Donald Trump will almost certainly be sworn in
as the Republican nominee at the party convention in Charlotte, North Carolina,
between 24 and 27 August. The Democrats will confirm their candidate at their
own convention between 13 and 16 July in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. What happens in a convention? Here's
where those delegates come in. Let's say that during primary season, candidate
A wins 10 delegates. During the convention, those 10 delegates would vote for
candidate A to become the Democratic nominee. (Any party member can apply to be
a delegate - they tend to be party activists or local political leaders.) All
through the Democratic primaries, there are 3,979 delegates available. If any
one candidate wins more than 50% of those delegates during primary season
(that's 1,990 delegates), then they become the nominee in a vote at the
convention. But if we get to the Democratic convention and no-one has more than
50% of the delegates, it becomes what's known as a "contested" or
"brokered" convention. This could well happen this year. There are so
many candidates that no one frontrunner emerges in the primaries, and they
split the delegates between them. In that circumstance, a second vote would
follow. In that second vote, all the 3,979 delegates would vote again, except
this time they would be joined by an estimated 771 "superdelegates".
These are senior party officials past and present (former president Bill
Clinton is one, as is current Vermont senator and presidential contender Bernie
Sanders), and they're free to vote for whomever they wish. If a candidate wins
50% or more in that vote - 2,376 delegates - then they become the nominee. This
is all thanks to a rule change in 2020: last time around, the superdelegates
voted at the start of the convention, with the delegates. But many had pledged
their support to Hillary Clinton even before the convention, leading her rival
Mr Sanders to suggest the deck was stacked against him. He's the one who
campaigned for the change - and it may benefit him in 2020.
Step seven: The presidency? After
inching past Iowa, negotiated New Hampshire, survived Super Tuesday and come
through the convention, there is only one step left for the nominee: the
presidential election, on 3 November. We'll explain how that one works a little
closer to the time.
Full primary season calendar: (Primaries unless stated otherwise)
FEBRUARY
Monday 3: Iowa caucuses (Democratic, Republican)
Tuesday 11: New Hampshire (D,R)
Saturday 22: Nevada (D)
Saturday 29:: South Carolina (D)
MARCH
Tuesday 3 (Super Tuesday): Alabama (D, R) American Samoa caucuses (D) Arkansas
(D, R) California (D, R) Colorado (D, R) Maine (D, R) Massachusetts (D, R) Minnesota
(D, R) North Carolina (D, R) Oklahoma (D, R) Tennessee (D, R) Texas (D, R) Utah
(D, R) Vermont (D, R) Virginia (D) Democrats Abroad (D)
Tuesday 10: Idaho (D, R) Michigan
(D, R) Mississippi (D, R) Missouri (D, R) North Dakota caucuses (D) Washington
state (D, R)
Thursday, 12: Virgin Islands caucuses (R)
Saturday 14: Guam caucuses (R) Northern
Marianas (D)
Tuesday 17: Arizona (D) Florida
(D, R) Illinois (D, R) Northern Marianas caucuses (R) Ohio (D, R)
Tuesday 24: American Samoa
caucuses (R) Georgia (D, R)
Sunday 29: Puerto Rico (D)
APRIL
Saturday 4: Alaska (D) Hawaii
(D) Louisiana (D, R) Wyoming caucuses (D) Tuesday 7: Wisconsin (D)
Tuesday 28: Connecticut (D, R) Delaware
(D, R) Maryland (D, R) New York (D, R) Pennsylvania (D, R) Rhode Island (D, R)
MAY
Saturday 2: Guam caucuses (D)
Kansas (D)
Tuesday 5: Indiana (D, R)
Tuesday 12: Nebraska (D, R) West
Virginia (D, R)
Tuesday 19: Kentucky (D, R) Oregon
(D, R)
JUNE
Tuesday 2: District of
Columbia (D, R) Montana (D, R) New Jersey (D, R) New Mexico (D, R) South Dakota
(D, R)
Saturday 6: Virgin Islands caucuses (D)
Sunday 7: Puerto Rico (R)
^ This does a good job of explaining
a complex system. ^
Chinese Accuse
From the BBC:
“Coronavirus: China accuses US of
causing panic and 'spreading fear'”
The Chinese government has
accused the US of causing "panic" in its response to the deadly
coronavirus outbreak. It follows the US decision to declare a public health
emergency and deny entry to foreign nationals who had visited China in the past
two weeks. There are more than 17,000
confirmed cases of the virus in China. Some 361 people have died there. Outside
China, there are more than 150 confirmed cases of the virus - and one death, in
the Philippines. The virus causes severe acute respiratory infection and
symptoms seem to start with a fever, followed by a dry cough. On Monday, a
study by a Chinese virologist said a pneumonia outbreak associated with the
coronavirus had likely started in bats. The outbreak took its toll on Chinese
shares when markets reopened on Monday following the Lunar New Year holiday.
The Shanghai Composite index closed nearly 8% lower, its biggest daily drop for
more than four years.
What measures has the US taken? On
23 January, the US ordered the departure of all non-emergency US personnel and
their family members from the city of Wuhan in Hubei province, where the virus
originated. Less than a week later, the
US allowed for the voluntary departure of non-emergency personnel and relatives
of US government employees from China. On
30 January, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared a global health
emergency over the new virus. Following
this, the US ordered the departure of all US personnel family members under the
age of 21 in China. Any US citizen who
has been in Hubei province will be subject to 14 days' quarantine upon
returning to the US.
What are other countries doing to
stem the outbreak?
On Monday, Hong Kong said it was
suspending from midnight local time (16:00 GMT) 10 out of 13 border crossings
with mainland China.
Various countries have imposed
varying travel restrictions and other preventative measures, including: Denying entry to all foreign visitors who have
recently been to China: US, Australia, Singapore
Denying entry to foreigners
travelling from mainland China: New Zealand, Israel. (Russia will also apply
these restrictions, though not through Moscow's Sheremetyevo airport)
Denying entry to foreigners who
have visited Hubei province: Japan, South Korea
Temporarily suspending all
flights to mainland China: Egypt, Finland, Indonesia, the UK, Italy
Closing the border with China:
Mongolia, Russia (partially)
The body that represents some of
the world's largest cruise ship operators, the Cruise Lines International
Association, announced on Monday that passengers and crew members who had
recently travelled to China would not be allowed to board vessels.
How did China react to the US
measures? In a news briefing on Monday, Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson
Hua Chunying said the US actions "could only create and spread fear"
instead of offering assistance. She said the US was the first country to impose
a travel ban on Chinese travellers and the first to suggest a partial
withdrawal of its embassy staff. "It
is precisely developed countries like the US with strong epidemic prevention
capabilities... that have taken the lead in imposing excessive restrictions
contrary to WHO recommendations," Ms Hua said, according to a Reuters
report. But Ms Hua also said that China urgently needed "medical masks,
protective suits and safety goggles".
Do the travel bans work? Global
health officials have advised against the bans. The WHO has warned that closing
borders could even accelerate the spread of the virus, if travellers enter
countries unofficially. "Travel restrictions can cause more harm than good
by hindering info-sharing, medical supply chains and harming economies,"
the head of the WHO, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said last week. The WHO
instead recommends introducing screening at border crossings. On Monday, Dr
Tedros again praised China for its commitment to fighting the coronavirus,
stressing that the only way to defeat it was for all countries to work together
"in a spirit of co-operation".
How deadly is the virus? More
than 75,000 people may have been infected in the city of Wuhan, experts say. But
estimates by the University of Hong Kong suggest the total number of cases
could be far higher than the official figures. A report on the early stages of
the outbreak by the Lancet medical journal said most patients who died from the
virus had pre-existing conditions. The report found that, of the first 99
patients treated at the Jinyintan Hospital in Wuhan, 40 had a weak heart or
damaged blood vessels. A further 12 had diabetes. Most people infected are
likely to fully recover - just as they would from a normal flu. An expert at
China's National Health Commission (NHC) said that one week was sufficient for
a recovery from mild coronavirus symptoms.
^ The US has taken the correct
steps in banning any foreigners (Chinese or not) who have been to the affected
area in China to enter the country and any US citizen that has been to the affected
area in China is allowed into the country, but kept in quarantine. It also evacuated
its diplomats and citizens from the infected areas in China. At the same time
as the US is imposing: a travel ban, quarantine and evacuation we are also offering
and giving support to China and other countries to fight the deadly virus. There
are 17,000 confirmed cases and 361 confirmed deaths from this virus in less
than a few weeks (and the numbers of both the infected and the dead is likely
to continue to grow.) The Chinese are saying that the US is over-reacting. I
believe that China is under-reacting (and under-reporting) and has been since
the first signs of the outbreak – which isn’t that surprising for the Communist
Dictatorship. When the Ebola outbreak happened in western Africa a few years
ago the US and the world took similar reactions (bans, quarantines and
evacuations) and Ebola was eventually contained. The same thing should happen
with the coronavirus in China if the same steps are taken. These steps aren't made to create fear - there is already a lot of fear about the coronavirus - but are made to help stop its rapid spread across the world. ^
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-51353279
Iran Ends Co-Operation
From the BBC:
“Iran plane downing: Iran ends
co-operation with Ukraine”
Iran has ceased co-operation with
Ukraine in its investigation into the downing of Ukrainian passenger jet PS752
by Iranian missiles on 8 January. It comes after Ukrainian TV aired a leaked
exchange between an Iranian pilot and air traffic control, apparently recorded
at the time. The pilot allegedly states he saw a flash in the sky, similar to
missile fire, and then an explosion. Iran initially denied responsibility for
the downing, which killed 176. At the time Iran was on high alert, having fired
ballistic missiles at two US bases in Iraq in retaliation for the killing of
top Iranian general Qasem Soleimani in a US drone strike in Baghdad. "We
will no longer provide any documents to the Ukrainians," the head of the
Iranian investigation team Hassan Rezaeifar told the Iranian news agency Mehr
on Monday. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said the new evidence proved
that Iran knew from the very first moments that the Ukraine International
Airlines flight was brought down by a missile. Following the incident, Iran
agreed to co-operate in investigating with "foreign experts". "There
are clearly tensions over the conduct of the investigation," the BBC's
correspondent in Ukraine Jonah Fisher explained. "Ukraine wants to look at
the black box flight recorders. Iran has been stalling for weeks and is
insisting on trying to extract the information in Tehran."
What's in the leaked recording? The
recording is of a conversation between an Iranian pilot who was landing shortly
after the doomed Ukrainian passenger jet took off, and the control tower in
Tehran. In an audio clip published by a Ukrainian YouTube channel, the Aseman
Airlines pilot says he is seeing lights in the sky ahead that look like they're
from a missile. A male officer in the control tower is then heard trying to
contact the Ukrainian plane several times, without success. After a few
minutes, the Iranian pilot tells the control tower he has just seen a "big
light from an explosion".
^ No one should be shocked or
surprised at all that the Iranians have lied to the world from the very beginning
of when they shot down the plane. Iran has lied to the world on so many other
things for decades. ^
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-51356626
75: Manila
Battle of Manila
The bloodiest fighting of the
Philippines campaign occurred in the Battle of Manila between February 3rd and
March 3rd, 1945. Manila residents suffered horrifically. Street fighting there
left the capital in ruins. An estimated 100,000 to 150,000 Filipino civilians,
in a city of 1 million, died. Many residents were killed by U.S. shells or
slaughtered by Japanese marines "in a bloodbath that rivaled the 1937 rape
of Nanking in China." By the time MacArthur marched
into the city a city that had been one of the finest in Asia was a smoldering
heap. The historian William Manchester wrote, "The devastation of Manila
was one of the great tragedies of World War II. Of Allied cities in those war
years, only Warsaw suffered more. Seventy percent of the utilities, 75 percent
of the factories, 80 percent of southern residential district and 100 percent
of the business district were razed." Manila was captured by American forces through
bloody street to street fighting. Fort Santiago, at the bayside end of
Intramuros, gained notoriety in 1945 when Americans staged an eight-day siege.
After pounding their way through dirt and concrete barriers two stories high
and 40 feet thick, victorious GI's found the bodies of 600 Filipinos and
Americans in the dungeons of Fort Santiago.
Corregidor was retaken in
February 1945. In an assault lead by America paratroopers dropped from cargo
planes, bombers blasted the fortress so heavily that an American soldier
remarked, "We had the impression of standing on jelly." When the 15-day
campaign was over 210 American were killed and 790 were wounded (280 of these
in landing mishaps). Of the 5,200 Japanese who guarded the fortress only 50
were believed to have survived. The 513 prisoners who remained alive in the
Bataan Death March Prison were dramatically rescued by the 8th Ranger
Battalion, which slipped through the jungles, with the help of Filipino
guerrillas, past Japanese encampments to the prison. In a hail of gunfire the
Rangers fought their way into the prison and loaded the prisoners onto water
buffalo that carried them to safety. Fighting continued until Japan's formal
surrender on September 2, 1945. The Philippines had suffered great loss of life
and tremendous physical destruction by the time the war was over. An estimated
1 million Filipinos had been killed, a large proportion during the final months
of the war.
Atrocities at the Battle of
Manila: In the Rape of Manila. men, women children were slaughtered on the
streets and in private homes, churches, hospitals and school by rampaging
Japanese occupation troops. One Japanese soldier later told the New York Times:
"In the beginning, we could not kill even a man. But we managed to kill
him. Then we hesitated to kill a woman. But we managed to kill her, too. Then
we could kill children. We came to think as if we were just killing
insects." In the village of
Lipa, outside of Manila, over 1,000 people were killed. More than 400 people
were thrown down a well. One woman died when her head was smashed by a Japanese
soldier while she combed her hair. Describing the massacre of 2,000 people at
the village of Calamba, south of Manila in February 1945, one former Japanese
soldier told the New York Times, "They took the old men in a truck to the
church. They used a rope to strangle them. It was an easier and cheaper way to
kill them than with rifles and bullets." One Filipino woman told the Washington
Post she saw Japanese soldiers kill her mother and sister in a hail of bullets.
Her two-year-old sister survived, but then a Japanese soldier walked over and
tossed the girl in the air and speared her with his bayonet.
Killing of Civilians in the
Battle of Manila: According to the
Presidential Museum and Library of the Republic of the Philippines: “The
massacres committed by Imperial Japanese troops on the civilian population of
Manila in February 1945 are among the more horrifying tragedies of World War II
in the Pacific theater. Approximately 100,000 civilians in the City of Manila
were killed indiscriminately and deliberately. According to the XIV Corps
Inspector General's report on the Manila atrocities, the following war crimes
had been committed: 1) Bayoneting, shooting, and bombing of unarmed
civilians—men, women, and children—with rifles, pistols, machine guns, and
grenades. 2) Herding large numbers of civilians—men, women, and children—into
buildings, barring the doors and windows, and setting fire to the structures.
3) Throwing grenades into dugouts, where unarmed civilians were taking cover;
burying alive those who were not killed by the grenades. “4) Assembling men into large groups, tying
their hands, and then bayoneting, beheading, or shooting them. 5) Theft from
civilians of money, valuables, food, and the looting and burning of their
homes. 6) Blindfolding and restraining Chinese and Filipino men, and then
beheading them with a sabre on a chopping block. 7) Torturing both military
prisoners of war and civilians by beating, kicking their faces, burning, and
making them assume contorted positions for long periods of time until they lost
consciousness, to make them reveal information. 8) General disregard of the
rights of prisoners of war under the Geneva Convention. 9) The taking of as
many as a hundred girls at a time by force to serve as “comfort women” to
Japanese troops. 10) The killing of refugees, doctors, and nurses at the
Philippine Red Cross Headquarters, disregarding the rights of the Red Cross
under the Geneva Convention. With
little or no reason at all, Japanese soldiers would shoot, bayonet or throw
hand grenades at groups of helpless civilians. The streets were further
fortified with minefields and pillboxes, leaving many civilians no choice but
to stay in their homes. For those who attempted to leave or even cross the
streets, the Japanese would mow them down with machine guns. Many of these
atrocities were mentioned in the War Crime Trials against the commanders of the
Imperial Japanese Forces.
75: Battle of Manila Begins
(During the Battle of Manila)
(Civilians flee Manila during the Battle)
(Manila after the Battle)
150: 15th
15th Amendment
The 15th Amendment granting
African-American men the right to vote was adopted into the U.S. Constitution
in 1870. Despite the amendment, by the late 1870s discriminatory practices were
used to prevent blacks from exercising their right to vote, especially in the
South. It wasn’t until the Voting Rights Act of 1965 that legal barriers were
outlawed at the state and local levels if they denied African-Americans their
right to vote under the 15th Amendment.
What Is the 15th Amendment? The 15th Amendment states: “The right of
citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the
United States or by any State on account of race, color, or previous condition
of servitude.” The 15th Amendment granting African-American men the right to
vote was adopted into the U.S. Constitution in 1870. Despite the amendment, by
the late 1870s discriminatory practices were used to prevent blacks from
exercising their right to vote, especially in the South. It wasn’t until the
Voting Rights Act of 1965 that legal barriers were outlawed at the state and
local levels if they denied African-Americans their right to vote under the
15th Amendment."
Reconstruction: In 1867,
following the American Civil War and the abolishment of slavery, the
Republican-dominated U.S. Congress passed the First Reconstruction Act over the
veto of President Andrew Johnson. The act divided the South into five military
districts and outlined how new governments based on universal manhood suffrage
were to be established. With the adoption of the 15th Amendment in 1870, a
politically mobilized African-American community joined with white allies in
the Southern states to elect the Republican Party to power, which brought about
radical changes across the South. By late 1870, all the former Confederate
states had been readmitted to the Union, and most were controlled by the
Republican Party thanks to the support of black voters. In the same
year, Hiram Rhodes Revels, a Republican from Natchez, Mississippi, became the
first African-American to sit in the U.S. Congress, when he was elected to the
U.S. Senate. Although black Republicans never obtained political office in
proportion to their overwhelming electoral majority, Revels and a dozen other
black men served in Congress during Reconstruction, more than 600 served in
state legislatures and many more held local offices.
Did you know? One day
after it was ratified, Thomas Mundy Peterson of Perth Amboy, New Jersey, became
the first black person to vote under the authority of the 15th Amendment.
Reconstruction Ends: In the late 1870s, the Southern Republican
Party vanished with the end of Reconstruction, and Southern state governments
effectively nullified both the 14th Amendment (passed in 1868, it guaranteed
citizenship and all its privileges to African Americans) and the 15th
amendment, stripping blacks in the South of the right to vote. In the ensuing decades, various
discriminatory practices including poll taxes and literacy tests—along with Jim
Crow laws, intimidation and outright violence—were used to prevent African
Americans from exercising their right to vote.
Voting Rights Act of 1965:
The Voting Rights Act of 1965, signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson
on August 6, 1965, aimed to overcome all legal barriers at the state and local
levels that denied African Americans their right to vote under the 15th
Amendment. The act banned the use of literacy tests, provided for federal
oversight of voter registration in areas where less than 50 percent of the
non-white population had not registered to vote and authorized the U.S.
attorney general to investigate the use of poll taxes in state and local
elections. In 1964, the 24th Amendment made poll taxes illegal in federal
elections; poll taxes in state elections were banned in 1966 by the U.S.
Supreme Court. After the passage of the Voting Rights Act, state and local
enforcement of the law was weak and it often was ignored outright, mainly in
the South and in areas where the proportion of blacks in the population was high
and their vote threatened the political status quo. Still, the Voting Rights Act of 1965 gave
African-American voters the legal means to challenge voting restrictions and
vastly improved voter turnout.
https://www.history.com/topics/black-history/fifteenth-amendment
Sunday, February 2, 2020
Best & Worst For Animals
From the New York Post”
“Mississippi worst state for
animal protection laws; Illinois the best”
If you’re an animal, get your
tail out of Mississippi fast. The southern state was named the worst to be an
animal, according to a new report. The annual U.S. State Animal Protection Laws
Rankings Report, published by the Animal Legal Defense Fund, slams Mississippi
for its weak animal protection laws. The state currently has (among other
issues): no felony neglect or abandonment provisions; inadequate
definitions/standards of basic care for most species; no mandatory reporting
for veterinarians or other select non-animal-related agencies/professionals who
suspect animal abuse; no mandatory forfeiture of animals upon conviction and
permissive forfeiture only available for select animals and sexual assault
statute (is) poorly defined.” The four other states rounding out the bottom
five from 46 to 49, respectively, are Wyoming, Kentucky, New Mexico and Iowa. There
is some good news for the low-ranked Kentucky — which was cited by the report
for breaking its losing streak. “In 2019, Kentucky became the 46th state to
enact legislation prohibiting sexual assault of animals (the remaining four
states without bestiality laws are Hawaii, New Mexico, West Virginia, and
Wyoming),” the report noted, “For the first time in 13 years, it is not the worst
state due to its new law criminalizing the sexual abuse of animals. The top
state for furry friends was Illinois, with Oregon, Colorado, Maine and Rhode
Island rounding out the top five.
^ It’s sad that any State (or any
country) does not have good animal protection laws. ^
https://nypost.com/2020/02/01/mississippi-worst-state-for-animal-protection-laws-illinois-the-best/
02/02/2020
From USA Today:
“Sunday's date is a rare
palindrome that hasn't happened in over 900 years”
Sunday is shaping up to be a
unique day for reasons other than the Super Bowl and Groundhog Day: It's also a
rare palindrome. While various forms of palindrome dates are fairly common,
02/02/2020 has the unique distinction of reading the same backward and forward
when written out in eight digits in multiple date systems, according to
University of Portland professor Aziz Inan. “We are so lucky to have such a
special palindrome date occurring in our lifetime because it’s so rare,” Inan
told USA TODAY Saturday. For starters, it's an eight-digit palindrome:
02022020. Many palindrome dates are only symmetrical if you write the date with
seven digits (1-10-2011) — or in some cases even fewer (9-10-19). But even more
rare, according to Inan, is that Sunday's date is an international palindrome:
It works whether you write the date as "Month/Day/Year" or
"Day/Month/Year," as many countries do. Inan calls such dates
"ubiquitous palindromes," and there won't be another one for 101
years. After that, you'll have to wait until March 3, 3030. According to Inan's
calculations, the last such palindrome date to occur was 11/11/1111 – more than
900 years ago. For years, Inan has been crunching numbers using a basic
calculator and a pad of paper to find unique patterns in dates.
^ This was interesting. ^
Groundhog
Groundhog Day
Groundhog Day falls on February 2
in the United States, coinciding with Candlemas. It is a part of popular
culture among many Americans and it centers on the idea of the groundhog coming
out of its home to “predict” the weather.
Is Groundhog Day a Public Holiday? Groundhog Day is not a public holiday. It
falls on Sunday, February 2, 2020 and most businesses follow regular Sunday
opening hours in the United States.
What Do People Do? Groundhog
Day is a popular observance in many parts of the United States. Although some
states have in some cases adopted their own groundhogs, the official groundhog,
Punxsutawney Phil, lives at Gobbler’s Knob near Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania. The
town has attracted thousands of visitors over the years to experience various Groundhog
Day events and activities on February 2. The Punxsutawney Groundhog Club
plays an important role in organizing Groundhog Day in the town. Club members,
news reporters, locals, and visitors meet at Gobbler’s Knob on February 2 each
year to await Phil’s appearance and his weather prediction. Pennsylvania’s
governor has been known to attend Groundhog Day ceremonies. Many weather
researchers questioned the groundhog’s accuracy in predicting the weather, but
some of the groundhog’s fans may not agree.
Public Life Groundhog Day
is an observance but it is not a public holiday in the United States. However,
areas around parks and some streets may be busy or congested in towns, such as
Punxsutawney, where Groundhog Day events are popular. Roots in Nature Thousands
of years ago when animalism and nature worship were prevalent, people in the
area of Europe now known as Germany believed that the badger had the power to
predict the coming of spring. They watched the badger to know when to plant
their crops. By the time the first German immigrants settled in Pennsylvania
they probably understood that this was not true but the tradition continued.
Unfortunately, there were not many badgers in Pennsylvania so the groundhog
was substituted for the badger. Tradition has it that if the groundhog sees its
shadow on February 2 it will be frightened by it and will then return to its
burrow, indicating that there will be 6 more weeks of winter. If it does not
see its shadow, then spring is on the way.
Punxsutawney Phil Punxsutawney
held its first Groundhog Day in the United States in the 1800s. The first
official trek to Gobbler's Knob was made on February 2, 1887. It is said that
Punxsutawney Phil (the groundhog) was named after King Phillip. He was called
Br'er Groundhog prior to being known as Phil. Canada also celebrates Groundhog
Day. The movie “Groundhog Day” from 1993, starring comedian Bill Murray,
made Punxsutawney Phil in Pennsylvania famous worldwide. The film's plot added
new meaning to the term “Groundhog Day” as something that repeats itself
endlessly.
https://www.timeanddate.com/holidays/us/groundhog-day
Saturday, February 1, 2020
Strengthen Against Threats
From Military.com:
“Commanders Push Back Against
Efforts to Reduce US Troops in Africa, Latin America”
Combatant commanders for Africa
and Latin America made the case Thursday for more U.S. military, diplomatic and
economic involvement in their regions, even as the Defense Department mulls
troop drawdowns. Army Gen. Stephen Townsend, head of U.S. Africa Command, and
Adm. Craig Faller, head of U.S. Southern Command, received bipartisan support
for their positions at a hearing of the Senate Armed Services Committee. Sen.
Jim Inhofe, R-Oklahoma, the committee's chairman and a close ally of President
Donald Trump, said that AFRICOM and SOUTHCOM "have never been adequately
resourced." A drawdown in either region to free up more troops to counter
Russia and China makes no sense when both Russia and China are aggressively
expanding their influence in Africa and Central and South America, Inhofe said.
Sen. Jack Reed, D-Rhode Island, the committee's ranking member, made similar
arguments at the hearing, pushing back against the possibility that an ongoing
Pentagon review of the U.S. force posture worldwide might lead to withdrawals. "While
it is wise, and in fact necessary, to take a hard and methodical look at our
investments and military activities around the globe, it would be strategically
unwise to disengage from either Africa or Latin America in an effort to
generate small, near-term budgetary gains," Reed said. Defense Secretary
Mark Esper has said repeatedly in recent weeks that the force posture review
could result in withdrawals in some regions to either send troops home or
reposition them as part of the National Defense Strategy to counter China and
Russia. He said in December that decisions would be made "in the coming
weeks" on troop withdrawals from Afghanistan, but no announcements have
been made. While Townsend and Faller were testifying Thursday, Esper held a
Pentagon news conference at which he skirted questions on which regions could
face a drawdown. "I know the inclination is whenever someone says
'review,' the word that automatically pops up in their head is 'reduction.' It
is a rebalancing," Esper said. "In some cases, we will increase; in
some cases, we won't change; and in some cases, we will decrease," he said
but gave no details. In an unusually lengthy and detailed presentation to the
committee, Townsend made the traditional request of all combatant commanders
for more intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance assets and argued that
small investments of troops and assistance go a long way on the continent. He
backed up his case with an 18-page prepared statement, presented graphics
showing Russia and China's advances in Africa, and focused particularly on
China's so-called "debt diplomacy," in which it puts African nations
in hock with the promise of building roads, ports and infrastructure. "I
have learned that small investments in Africa go a long way," Townsend
said in the prepared statement. "A few bucks and a few troops can make a
significant difference and have proven to be the cornerstone of multinational
efforts in the region. "What U.S. Africa Command accomplishes with
relatively few people and few dollars, on a continent 3.5 times the size of the
continental United States, is a bargain for the American taxpayer," he
said. Townsend also appeared to be sending a message to the Pentagon that a
drawdown in Africa would free up only a relatively small number of troops for
repositioning to the Indo-Pacific region to counter China. The troop estimate
for AFRICOM has usually been given as 6,000, but Townsend, possibly for the
first time in public, gave a breakdown. There are 5,100 US troops and about
1,000 Defense Department contractors in the region, he said. Faller echoed
Townsend in calling for more attention to the inroads made by Russia and China
in Latin America, and called for more investments by the U.S. in addition to
more assets for SOUTHCOM. China and Russia are propping up Nicolas Maduro's
dictatorship in Venezuela, where an estimated five million refugees have fled
the regime to neighboring countries, he said. The region has also been
exploited by a "vicious circle of threats" from trans-national
criminal organizations thriving on drug trafficking, said Faller, whose command
has about 1,200 assigned military and civilian personnel and is bolstered by
rotational troop and naval assets. Sen. Angus King, I-Maine, noted that there
were an estimated 67,000 deaths in the U.S. last year attributed to drugs,
adding that SOUTHCOM has the capacity to detect only about 25% of the drug
shipments coming to the U.S. from Latin America. "We detect 25%,"
Faller said in response, but "we only interdict 9%" due to the lack
of Navy and Coast Guard ships to intercept the drug runners. King asked,
"Who do we need to talk to get those assets? We are woefully falling down
on this responsibility." In his opening remarks and questions, Inhofe
questioned how much would be contributed to the National Defense Strategy by
withdrawing the relatively small number of troops now assigned to AFRICOM and
SOUTHCOM. "You're talking about two areas where there aren't enough people
to reposition," he said. Much of the hearing was devoted to examining
China's efforts to build up debt and dependence across Africa through
investments in infrastructure. Townsend called China's investments "debt
trap loans -- that is exactly what we're seeing. Most African leaders are wise
to it," he said, but they are susceptible to money up front. "They
build not just debt but dependence," he said of the Chinese. The Chinese
policy in Africa was likened to "payday loans" by Katherine
Zimmerman, a resident fellow at the American Enterprise Institute and Africa
specialist, was referring to the high-interest instruments that trap many troops
in mounting debt. "African leaders are not stupid," she said in a
phone interview. "They know what deals they're making" with the
Chinese, but many are reluctantly willing to trade long-term dependence for
immediate assistance. She contrasted the Chinese approach to U.S. policy on
assistance and aid, which often comes with requirements for long-term
development plans and delays in delivery. "When you're drowning, you
accept any help," Zimmerman said.
^ The Cold War taught us that to combat
Chinese and Soviet influence around the world you have to be around the world
yourself. Today it is China and Russia that are working hard to gain allies in
Latin America and Africa (since North America, Europe and Australia are already
taken.) If the US wants to maintain its Super Power status we need to do more,
not less, in those areas. ^
https://www.military.com/daily-news/2020/02/01/commanders-push-back-against-efforts-reduce-us-troops-africa-latin-america.html
EU Vs Commonwealth
^ Now that the United Kingdom has
left the European Union of 27 member countries (which is run by Germany and
France) after 47 years the hope is that the Commonwealth of Nations of 54
member countries (16 of which are Commonwealth Realms like Canada) – and it’s 2,418,964,000 people on 20% of the world’s
land area – will become more of a global presence. And I’m not just saying that
as a Canadian and Commonwealth citizen. ^
Troubles Pension
From the BBC:
“Troubles victims' pension:
Julian Smith praises campaigners”
Victims who led a long campaign
for a pension for people injured during the Troubles have been praised for
their "fortitude" by the secretary of state. Julian Smith paid tribute to the campaigners'
determination, just hours after he signed new legislation which set up an
annual payment scheme. It will provide life-long financial support to severely
injured victims. But some campaigners
are angry that the scheme is only open to people injured "through no fault
of their own". It means that anyone who was injured while taking part in
an attack, for example bombers who were caught up in their own explosion, would
not qualify for the pension. Both Sinn
Féin and the campaign group Relatives for Justice accused the government of
creating a "hierarchy" of victims and trying to impose its own
version of the past.
'Too long': More than 3,500 people were killed during the
Troubles and the Northern Ireland Office has estimated that a further 40,000
were injured during more than 30 years of violence. The pension campaign was beset by years of
delays due to disagreements over whether former paramilitaries would be
eligible for payments. In a statement on Saturday, Mr Smith acknowledged that
there were "different views about how to proceed" but added the
"discussions and delay of the past few years have gone on long
enough". "This scheme is intended to provide much-needed
acknowledgement, and a measure of additional financial support, to people
injured through no fault of their own in a Troubles-related incident, some of
whom are struggling to make ends meet," he said. The payments will range from about £2,000 to
£10,000 a year depending on the severity of disability.
'Bravery and fortitude': Mr Smith also commended victims' groups who
persevered with their campaign for compensation for more than a decade. "It
is right that we recognise the bravery and fortitude of those people who have
fought hard for too long to see such a scheme," he said. "This is a
moment to recognise those living with life-limiting injuries, and to
acknowledge the harm they have suffered. "We should pause and thank those who have
helped us get to a place where we can provide a scheme like this." Outlining
the new regulations, the secretary of state said the government had
"listened carefully" to those who took part in a recent public
consultation and introduced "new, more generous rules". "For the
first time, we will also ensure that payments can transfer to partners and
carers who look after those still living with their injuries," Mr Smith
said. Referring to the scheme's
restrictions, he added: "An independent judge-led board will make
decisions on whether payments should be made where there is compelling evidence
that a payment would not be appropriate." Eligible victims will have to
apply for the payments, and the scheme will open for applications at the end of
May 2020. It is the second time within two months that Mr Smith has pushed
through legislation to give financial support to victims who had faced years of
frustration over compensation delays. In
November, he helped to fast-track the Historical Institutional Abuse Bill
through Parliament, which set up a redress payments scheme for people who were
abused as children in residential homes.
Resilience: In a statement on Friday, the Wave Trauma
Centre welcomed the Troubles payment scheme, saying it would make a "real
difference" to victims. "The
Injured Group at Wave have been campaigning for over 10 years for official
recognition and acknowledgement of the great harm done to individuals who have
been severely injured during the Troubles," said Wave's chief executive
Sandra Peake. "To see legislation being enacted at Westminster is
testament to the tenacity and resilience of the group who have been fighting an
often lonely campaign on behalf of those who have been marginalised for too
long." But Relatives for Justice accused the government of using the
legislation "to promote their own partial narrative of the past". It
added that the regulations did not sufficiently address the needs of people
bereaved as a result of the Troubles, and described it as an "insulting
and ill-thought out piece of legislation".
^ I believe that anyone (members
of: the Catholic Paramilitaries, the Protestant Paramilitaries and the British
Military) that participated in an attack where innocent men, women and children
were injured or killed and the attacker became injured should not receive any
compensation. That way there is no longer a system in the UK and in Northern
Ireland that rewards the criminals (the way the British Government has rewarded
the British soldiers who participated in the out-right massacre of innocent
people – as happened during Bloody Sunday.) The only people in the United Kingdom
and Northern Ireland that should be labelled and treated as victims of The
Troubles should be the real victims: the men, women and children that did not
shoot or bomb others. It has been 22 years since The Troubles ended and so this compensation program is long over-due. ^
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-northern-ireland-51338904
Closed Virus
From the BBC:
“Coronavirus: US and Australia
close borders to Chinese arrivals”
Countries around the world have
closed their borders to arrivals from China, as officials work to control the
rapid spread of the coronavirus. The US and Australia said they would deny
entry to all foreign visitors who had recently been in China, where the virus
first emerged in December. Earlier, countries including Russia, Japan, Pakistan
and Italy announced similar travel restrictions. But global health officials
have advised against such measures. "Travel restrictions can cause more
harm than good by hindering info-sharing, medical supply chains and harming
economies," the head of the World Health Organization (WHO) said on
Friday. The WHO recommends introducing screening at official border crossings.
It has warned that closing borders could accelerate the spread of the virus,
with travellers entering countries unofficially. China has criticised the wave
of travel restrictions, accusing foreign governments of ignoring official
advice. "Just as the WHO recommended against travel restrictions, the US
rushed in the opposite direction," foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua
Chunying said. "[It is] certainly not a gesture of goodwill."
What is the latest? The death toll from the new virus, which is
officially called 2019-nCov, now stands at 259. All the deaths occurred within China and the
majority were in Hubei province, where the virus originated. Almost 12,000
cases have been confirmed and a small proportion of those - around 100 - have
been identified outside China. The UK, US, Russia and Germany have all
confirmed cases in recent days. Meanwhile authorities in Hubei extended the
Lunar New Year holiday until 13 February and announced marriage registrations
would be suspended to discourage public gatherings. China celebrated the
holiday on 24 January, and Chinese officials had already extended the break
until 3 February in an attempt to prevent large numbers of people travelling. The
number of coronavirus cases worldwide has overtaken that of the similar Sars
epidemic, which spread to more than two dozen countries in 2003. But the mortality rate of the new virus is
much lower than that of Sars, which has led officials to believe it is not as
deadly. Estimates by the University of Hong Kong suggest the total number of
cases could be far higher than official figures suggest. More than 75,000
people may have been infected in the city of Wuhan, which is at the epicentre
of the outbreak, experts say.
How are countries outside China
responding? A string of travel
restrictions have been announced in recent days. The US, which declared a rare
public health emergency, banned entry from all foreign nationals who had
visited China in the past two weeks. US
citizens and residents returning from Hubei province, where the outbreak
started, will be quarantined for 14 days. Those returning from other parts of
China will be allowed to monitor their own condition for a similar period. Another
confirmed case in the US on Friday - in California - brought the number there
to seven. Robert Redfield, director of the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention (CDC), said 191 people were under observation. Australia, which
announced a similar ban, said any of its own citizens arriving from China would
be quarantined for two weeks. There have also been a number of evacuations from
China as foreign governments work to bring their citizens back. More than 300
Indians arrived in Delhi on Saturday after they were evacuated from Wuhan.
Thailand is also set to evacuate its nationals from the city in the coming
days. The UK, South Korea, Singapore and New Zealand are all expected to
quarantine evacuees for two weeks to monitor them for symptoms and avoid
contagion.
In other recent developments: China
asked the European Union to facilitate the sending of medical supplies from
member countries Vietnam Airlines suspended all flights to China, Hong Kong and
Taiwan Other airlines, including Qantas, Air New Zealand, Air Canada and
British Airways, cancelled or scaled back flights North Korean leader Kim Jong-un
offered his condolences in a letter to China's president Hotel chains,
including Hyatt, Radisson and Hilton, extended their cancellation policies for
guests travelling to China Apple said it would temporarily close its stores in
China The UK announced it would pull dozens of Foreign Office staff out of the
mainland Russia said two Chinese citizens had been placed in isolation after
they tested positive for the virus Germany, Italy, and Sweden confirmed further
cases in Europe Singapore closed its borders to all travellers from China
An entire country in isolation: The
coronavirus outbreak is all but grinding this economic juggernaut to a halt. Tianjin,
an industrial port city of 15 million people, is the latest metropolis to
announce that all non-essential business should stop. Beijing, Shanghai,
Chongqing are lifeless when compared to their normal selves. There is a feeling
that the entire country is being placed in isolation, with international
airlines halting mainland China connections and other countries declaring that
Chinese passport holders will be denied entry for the time being. Yet, in some
respects, these governments are following China's lead after it locked down the
entire province of Hubei, where the virus emergency started. Most people seem
to welcome the decisive action from the government, given the circumstances.
But officials in Wuhan are being slammed for their slow response in the early
stages. Some even worked to prevent the news getting out. And as if to
illustrate how quickly this virus can spread, a doctor who was one of a group
of whistleblowers who tried to sound the alarm in December says he now has the
virus himself. Li Wenliang was initially hauled over the coals by local police
for "spreading rumours" and "disrupting social order" after
he posted a message on his alumni chat group that said his hospital had
isolated patients who had contracted Sars. It turned out to be the new virus,
but China's Supreme Court has criticised Wuhan police for reprimanding him and
the other whistleblowers.
^ It only makes sense to place restrictions and
bans on people who have recently been to the infected area to curb this
fast-moving and deadly virus. That means foreigners that are coming from the
infected area should be temporarily banned from entering and that citizens that
are coming from the infected area should be quarantined away from everyone else.
People who say that it is discrimination don’t seem to have any common sense.
When we (the world) didn’t ban or quarantine the coronavirus was allowed to
spread across the world rather than being solely isolated within China. Those initial
steps were the worst steps that could have been made and now countries are
racing to limit the exposure to their citizens rather than protecting them from
the initial exposure in the first place. Once the coronavirus is contained and
people stop getting infected and dying then the bans and quarantines can be
lifted. ^
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-51338899
Sit-In
Greensboro Sit-In
The Greensboro sit-in was a civil
rights protest that started in 1960, when young African-American students
staged a sit-in at a segregated Woolworth’s lunch counter in Greensboro, North
Carolina, and refused to leave after being denied service. The sit-in movement
soon spread to college towns throughout the South. Though many of the
protesters were arrested for trespassing, disorderly conduct or disturbing the
peace, their actions made an immediate and lasting impact, forcing Woolworth’s
and other establishments to change their segregationist policies.
Greensboro Four: The
Greensboro Four were four young black men who staged the first sit-in at
Greensboro: Ezell Blair Jr., David Richmond, Franklin McCain and Joseph McNeil.
All four were students from North Carolina Agricultural and Technical College. They were influenced by the non-violent
protest techniques practiced by Mohandas Gandhi, as well as the Freedom Rides
organized by the Congress for Racial Equality (CORE) in 1947, in which
interracial activists rode across the South in buses to test a recent Supreme
Court decision banning segregation in interstate bus travel. The Greensboro Four, as they became known,
had also been spurred to action by the brutal murder in 1955 of a young black
boy, Emmett Till, who had allegedly whistled at a white woman in a Mississippi
store.
Did you know? The former
Woolworth's in Greensboro now houses the International Civil Rights Center and
Museum, which features a restored version of the lunch counter where the
Greensboro Four sat. Part of the original counter is on display at the
Smithsonian National Museum of American History in Washington, D.C.
Sit-In Begins: Blair,
Richmond, McCain and McNeil planned their protest carefully, and enlisted the help
of a local white businessman, Ralph Johns, to put their plan into action. On February 1, 1960, the four students sat
down at the lunch counter at the Woolworth’s in downtown Greensboro, where the
official policy was to refuse service to anyone but whites. Denied service, the
four young men refused to give up their seats. Police arrived on the scene, but were
unable to take action due to the lack of provocation. By that time, Johns had
already alerted the local media, who had arrived in full force to cover the
events on television. The Greensboro Four stayed put until the store closed,
then returned the next day with more students from local colleges.
Sit-Ins Spread Nationwide: By
February 5, some 300 students had joined the protest at Woolworth’s, paralyzing
the lunch counter and other local businesses. Heavy television coverage of the
Greensboro sit-ins sparked a sit-in movement that spread quickly to college
towns throughout the South and into the North, as young blacks and whites
joined in various forms of peaceful protest against segregation in libraries,
beaches, hotels and other establishments. By the end of March the movement had
spread to 55 cities in 13 states. Though many were arrested for trespassing,
disorderly conduct or disturbing the peace, national media coverage of the
sit-ins brought increasing attention to the civil rights movement. In
response to the success of the sit-in movement, dining facilities across the
South were being integrated by the summer of 1960. At the end of July, when
many local college students were on summer vacation, the Greensboro Woolworth’s
quietly integrated its lunch counter. Four black Woolworth’s employees—Geneva
Tisdale, Susie Morrison, Anetha Jones and Charles Best—were the first to be
served.
SNCC: To capitalize on the
momentum of the sit-in movement, the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee
(SNCC) was founded in Raleigh, North Carolina, in April 1960. Over the next few years, SNCC served as one of
the leading forces in the civil rights movement, organizing Freedom Rides
through the South in 1961 and the historic March on Washington in 1963, at
which Martin Luther King Jr. gave his seminal “I Have a Dream” speech. SNCC
worked alongside the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People
(NAACP) to push passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and would later mount
an organized resistance to the Vietnam War. As its members faced increased violence,
however, SNCC became more militant, and by the late 1960s it was advocating the
“Black Power” philosophy of Stokely Carmichael (SNCC’s chairman from 1966-67)
and his successor, H. Rap Brown. By the early 1970s, SNCC had lost much of its
mainstream support, and was effectively disbanded.
https://www.history.com/topics/black-history/the-greensboro-sit-in
Black History
Black History Month
Black History Month is an annual
celebration of achievements by African Americans and a time for recognizing the
central role of blacks in U.S. history. Also known as African American History
Month, the event grew out of “Negro History Week,” the brainchild of noted
historian Carter G. Woodson and other prominent African Americans. Since 1976,
every U.S. president has officially designated the month of February as Black
History Month. Other countries around the world, including Canada and the
United Kingdom, also devote a month to celebrating black history.
Origins of Black History Month:
The story of Black History Month begins in 1915, half a century after the
Thirteenth Amendment abolished slavery in the United States. That September, the Harvard-trained
historian Carter G. Woodson and the prominent minister Jesse E. Moorland
founded the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History (ASNLH), an
organization dedicated to researching and promoting achievements by black Americans
and other peoples of African descent. Known today as the Association for the
Study of African American Life and History (ASALH), the group sponsored a
national Negro History week in 1926, choosing the second week of February to
coincide with the birthdays of Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass. The
event inspired schools and communities nationwide to organize local
celebrations, establish history clubs and host performances and lectures. In
the decades that followed, mayors of cities across the country began issuing
yearly proclamations recognizing Negro History Week. By the late 1960s, thanks
in part to the civil rights movement and a growing awareness of black identity,
Negro History Week had evolved into Black History Month on many college campuses.
President Gerald Ford officially
recognized Black History Month in 1976, calling upon the public to “seize the
opportunity to honor the too-often neglected accomplishments of black Americans
in every area of endeavor throughout our history.”
Black History Month 2020 Theme:
Since 1976, every American president has designated February as Black
History Month and endorsed a specific theme. The Black History Month
2020 theme, “African Americans and the Vote,” is in honor of the centennial
anniversary of the Nineteenth Amendment (1920) granting women’s suffrage and
the sesquicentennial of the Fifteenth Amendment (1870) giving black men the
right to vote. In the Radical Reconstruction period that followed the
Civil War, newly freed black men made great political gains, winning office in
Southern state legislatures and even Congress. The Southern backlash was swift
and marked by the passage of “black codes” designed to intimidate black voters,
prompting a call for formal, national legislation on the right to vote. The
women’s rights movement grew out of the abolitionist movement, with activists
like Frederick Douglas working alongside Elizabeth Cady Stanton to secure the
right to vote for all. That goal was reached with the passage of the nineteenth
amendment in 1920.
https://www.history.com/topics/black-history/black-history-month
February Holidays
Daily Bizarre and Unique
Calendar Holidays - February, 2020
Month:
American Heart Month
An Affair to Remember Month
Black History Month
Canned Food Month
Creative Romance Month
Great American Pie Month
National Bird Feeding Month
National Cherry Month
National Children’s Dental Health
Month
National Grapefruit Month
National Weddings Month
Spunky Old Broads Month
Weekly Celebrations:
3rd Week International Flirting
Week
February 2020 Daily Holidays,
Special and Wacky Days:
February 1: 1 Eat Ice Cream for Breakfast Day, National
Freedom Day, No Politics Day, Spunky Old Broads Day
February 2: Candlemas ,
Ground Hog Day
February 3: Feed the Birds Day ; The
Day the Music Died - Buddy Holly, Richie Valens and the Big Bopper died in a
plane crash in 1959.
February 4: Create a Vacuum Da, Stuffed
Mushroom Day, Thank a Mailman Day
February 5: National Weatherman's Day
February 6: Lame Duck Day, National Chopsticks Day
February 7: Bubble Gum Day, Wave All you Fingers at Your
Neighbor Day, Send a Card to a Friend Day
February 8: Boy Scout Day, Kite Flying Day
February 9: National Pizza Day, Toothache Day
February 10: Clean out Your Computer Day, Umbrella Day
February 11: Don't Cry over Spilled Milk Day, Make a Friend Day, National Inventors Day. White T-Shirt Day
February 12: Abraham Lincoln's Birthday, National Lost Penny Day, Plum Pudding Day
February 13: Get a Different Name Day
February 14: Ferris Wheel Day, National Organ Donor Day, Valentine's Day
February 15: National Gum Drop Day, Singles Awareness Day, Susan B Anthony Day
February 16: Do a Grouch a Favor Day
February 17: President's Day, Random Acts of Kindness Day
February 18: National Battery Day, National Drink Wine Day
February 19: National Chocolate
Mint Day
February 20: Cherry Pie Day, Hoodie
Hoo Day, Love Your Pet Day
February 21: Card Reading Day
February 22: George Washington's Birthday, Be Humble Day, International
World Thinking Day, National Margarita Day, Walking the Dog Day
February 23: International Dog Biscuit Appreciation Day, Tennis
Day
February 24: National Tortilla
Chip Day, World Bartender Day
February 25: Mardi Gras / Fat Tuesday, Pistol Patent Day
February 26: Ash Wednesday, Carnival
Day, National Pistachio Day, Tell a Fairy Tale Day
February 27: Polar Bear Day, No
Brainer Day
February 28: Floral Design Day , National
Chili Day, Public Sleeping Day
http://www.holidayinsights.com/moreholidays/february.htm
Friday, January 31, 2020
EU On Brexit
From the BBC:
"Brexit: Europeans look to
uncertain future as UK leaves EU”
Forty-seven years ago, in 1973,
the UK joined an organisation that aimed to bring European nations closer
together. The British people voted two years later to remain in what became the
European Union (EU), but in a 2016 referendum voted to leave. On Friday 31 January, at 23:00 GMT, the UK
made history as the first EU member state to legally leave the bloc. Europeans
from several of the remaining 27 member states have shared their thoughts about
Brexit and the EU.
'I have mixed feelings' Justyna Grudzien, 20, violinist from Poland: As a member of the European Union Youth
Orchestra, I've met several people from the UK - and they're all concerned
about Brexit. For them, it means they can no longer be members of the
orchestra, whose main goal is to connect people from EU countries. This
orchestra has over 40 years of history and from the beginning people from the
UK were a very important part. I think most of the organisers are British. For
the rest of the orchestra, including me, travelling to the UK will not be as
easy. We previously only needed a form of ID, but now who knows what will
happen - we probably won't be able to travel without a visa. It is heart-breaking.
On the other hand, I think the EU can, in some cases, put too much pressure on
member states. The union is a wonderful idea for connecting European countries,
but right now it doesn't seem to work.
'Uncertainty of no-deal still
worries me' Gabriele Caredda, 27, NHS nurse from Sardinia, Italy: As an NHS
staff member, I was advised to apply for pre-settled status as it would, in
theory, be enough for me to continue living and working in the UK. The uncertainty of a no-deal Brexit worries
me, though, as we don't know if the situation will change, or what will be
required of EU citizens in order for us to continue working in the country in
the future. I think UK membership of the EU has been positive for both parties.
It has allowed the free flow of people and ideas, and enabled a lot of young
people to have experiences abroad, to face and explore a different culture and
way of thinking. Migrant salary
threshold fall 'would boost public sector' I was really disappointed with the
Brexit result because I always thought the UK was a kind of multicultural
oasis, where everybody could find their place in a society that appreciated
them for what they were bringing to the table.
'It won't have a huge impact on
our business' Kate O'Sullivan, 27, Irelands Eye Knitwear, Ireland:
Brexit will have some affect on
our business, but not a huge impact. As
a company based out of the island of Ireland, we have always relied on export
markets to grow our business, and approximately 55% of what we produce is
exported to over 20 countries worldwide. Our exports to the UK make up about 3% of our
overall business - so quite a small portion. To lose this business would be a
pity, however we are in a better position than some other Irish companies who
rely heavily on their UK customers. In preparation for Brexit, we are focusing
more on other export markets such as Germany, France, and the Netherlands in
order to achieve growth there, although it is difficult to prepare when we do
not know the exact outcomes. The EU has been very good for Europe - the
facilitation of trade agreements, the opportunities to do business and the
facilitation of trade routes have all been extremely helpful, where Ireland is
concerned in particular.
'It could make the EU more
united' Tudor Blaj, 43, tour operator in Romania: I have no idea what will
happen with Brexit - free movement of people is my main concern. I could have
fewer British clients, so it may get more difficult for me. About 60% of my
clients are British. UK membership of the EU and all the European construction
has been a good thing. The EU has meant European states getting together to
survive economic pressure from the US and China etc. Having a bigger market
helps us compete with those big powers. I don't think Brexit will lead to a
break-up of the EU. It could make the EU more united as they will examine what
made the UK leave. There was a lack of communication about the EU's goals.
'Nobody has ever left, it raises
fundamental questions' Birte Wassenberg, 52, professor in contemporary history,
Strasbourg: Brexit is a kind of revolution in what it means to be in the EU.
Nobody has ever left before, so this raises fundamental questions. It may get more difficult to invite British
academics to Strasbourg to talk. UK
membership has been good for Europe and the British were doing really well in
the EU. They were essential for the common defence policy - without them it's a
big problem. They helped the EU to develop real political power, not only
economic. A lot of French people are
glad that the British are leaving - they felt the British never really
belonged. But Germans really regret the UK leaving. Having witnessed the mess
of leaving the EU, others will be dissuaded from leaving too.
'I don't think the British will
abandon Dutch flowers' Edwin van Gils, 50, florist, the Netherlands: My
granddad was a florist, then my father, and now it's me running this company
exporting flowers to more than 1,000 supermarkets in the UK. We've been preparing for about a year and a
half. We're in contact with transport companies in the UK. It's like a
long-running soap opera that started in 2016 - now it's 2020 and nothing has
changed. We are not looking at other
markets. The UK is the market we know. We have a similar business sense and
sense of humour. In five or six years I think things will settle down. I don't
think the British will abandon Dutch flowers. A lot of countries that were
considering leaving now see how much work it is and what it will cost. When you
see the uncertainty in the UK you think twice.
^ This is the first time a member
country has left the European Union (or the European Community as it used to be
called.) It does raise many questions about the relationship between the EU
Government and the EU member states as well as between the different member
states themselves. Hopefully the EU will fix the many issues that currently
plague the organization and give more voice to the member states so that other
countries don’t decide to follow the UK and leave. ^
1st And 2nd Brexit
^ As of a few minutes ago the
United Kingdom has officially left the European Union after 40+ years. Hobbits
like 1st breakfast and then 2nd breakfast and the British like 1st Brexit and
2nd Brexit. The 1st Brexit just happened (everything that was legal a few minutes
ago is still legal for the next 6 months.)
2nd Brexit will happen on
December 31, 2020 when the transition period ends and all laws regarding the EU
will end. The UK now has 6 months to negotiate new treaties with the EU on
everything (the Northern Irish-Irish border, shipping, health care, medicines,
pets, imports/exports, fishing, banking, UK-EU travel including EU citizens'
status within the UK, British citizens' status within the EU, the
Gibraltar-Spanish border, the Chunnel, cell phone roaming charges, policing,
military involvement, food safety, etc.) It took 3 years for the UK to finalize
Brexit and now they have just 6 months before potential chaos.
There are contingency plans
already made for the British Military to be deployed around the UK in December
2020 in case there is any trouble (due to wide-spread fears of food, medicine
and other shortages) and the Queen even has a special Brexit Evacuation Plan
that could see her go to Canada (although since she is Queen of Canada it
wouldn't be seen as the British Queen fleeing the UK, but as the Canadian Queen
visiting her country.) ^
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)