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reetings from Australia.
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So now, Athenian men, more than on my own behalf must
I defend myself, as some may think, but on your behalf, so that you
may not make a mistake concerning the gift of god by condemning me.
For if you kill me, you will not easily find another such person at
all, even if to say in a ludicrous way, attached on the city by the
god, like on a large and well-bred horse, by its size and laziness
both needing arousing by some gadfly; in this way the god seems to
have fastened me on the city, some such one who arousing and
persuading and reproaching each one of you I do not stop the whole day
settling down all over. Thus such another will not easily come to you,
men, but if you believe me, you will spare me; but perhaps you might
possibly be offended, like the sleeping who are awakened, striking me,
believing Anytus, you might easily kill, then the rest of your lives
you might continue sleeping, unless the god caring for you should send
you another. Socrates; at his trial, February 15, 399 BCE
Crito, I owe a cock to Aesculapius;
discharge the debt and by no means omit it. Last words of Socrates, convicted on February 15, 399 BCE
The onion dip is delicious, but do they call this
'punch'?! Alternative last words of
Socrates
You did see that on the Lupercal,
I thrice presented him a kingly crown,
Which he did thrice refuse. Shakespeare:
Mark Antony speaking of
Caesar (Julius Caesar, III, ii); he offered him the crown on the day of the Festival of
Lupercal, February 15
Good morrow, friends! St
Valentine is past;
begin these wood-birds but to couple now? Shakespeare; Midsummer Night's Dream, IV, i
February 15th ... A
she-wolf, which had given birth to her whelps came, wondrous to tell, to
the abandoned twins [Romulus and Remus,
founders of Rome]
... She halted and fawned on the tender babes with her tail, and licked
into shape their two bodies with her tongue ... fearless, they sucked her
dugs and were fed on a supply of milk that was never meant for them. The
she-wolf (lupa) gave her name to the place, and the place gave
their name to the Luperci. Great is the reward the nurse has got for the
milk she gave. Ovid,
FastiII. 413Roman
calendar
É, si muove!. (Still, it moves.)
Galileo Galilei, Italian scientist, born on February 15, 1564
You cannot teach a man anything; you can only help him find it within himself.
Galileo Galilei
Remember the Maine, to hell with Spain!
A slogan in William Randolph
Hearst's New York Journal, on the sinking of the USS
Maine, on this day in 1898
If all the rich and all of the church people should send their children to the public schools they would feel bound to concentrate their money on improving these schools until they met the highest ideals.
Susan B Anthony, American activist, born on February 15, 1820
I distrust those people who know so well what God wants them to do, because I notice it always coincides with their own desires.
Susan B Anthony
We have not come to this house to make and
unmake ministries. We have come into this House to make and unmake social
conditions. George Black, Australia political activist, born on February 15, 1854;
speech to NSW Legislative Assembly, 1891 Source
The men we represent are the wage-earners —
those who labour with either hand or head, with either mind or muscle. George Black; speech to NSW Legislative Assembly,
1891
We have been told that we have come into this
House to represent a class. Well, that may be; but that class is the class
of all classes. It is a class as wide as humanity — so wide that you may
describe it as the class out of which all other classes are built up. George Black; speech to NSW Legislative Assembly,
1891
There are no whole truths; all truths are half-truths. It is trying to treat them as whole truths that plays the
devil. Alfred North Whitehead, British-American philosopher and mathematician,
born on February 15, 1861
Civilization advances by extending the number of important operations which we can perform without
thinking. Alfred North Whitehead
The deepest definition of youth is life as yet untouched by
tragedy. Alfred North Whitehead
The safest general characterization of the European philosophical tradition is that it consists of a series of footnotes to
Plato. Alfred North Whitehead
The vitality of thought is an adventure. Idea's won't keep. Something must be done about
them. Alfred North Whitehead
It requires a very unusual mind to undertake the analysis of the
obvious. Alfred North Whitehead
Life is an offensive, directed against the repetitious mechanism of the
Universe. Alfred North Whitehead
For
scientific leadership, give me Scott; for swift and efficient travel, Amundsen; but
when you are in a hopeless situation, when there seems to be no way out,
get on your knees and pray for Shackleton. Sir
Raymond Priestley
We know that hunger is mortal, and if we know that, does it make sense to waste time arguing whether the soul is immortal?
Father Camilo Torres, killed by government troops in Colombia, February 15, 1966
The Lupercalia was a celebration to expiate and purify new life in the Spring, celebrating the survival of the human
herd through the perilous, hungry wolf times of Winter. It is also a
precursor of our modern Valentine's Day
rituals. The name of the month of February
is derived from the Latin februare, 'to purify' (meant as one
of the effects of fever, which has the same linguistic root).
Held at the Lupercal,
the place where Romulus and Remus were suckled by the she-wolf, the
Lupercalia was an annual festival held in honour of Lupercus, the Lycaean
Pan/Faunus (so called because he protected the flocks from wolves).
"It was on one
of these occasions that, in Shakespeare's Julius Caesar, Antony thrice offered Caesar the crown, but he
refused, saying, 'Jupiter alone is king of Rome.'" Ivor H Evans, Brewer's
Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, Cassell, London, 1988
Its rites were held
under the superintendence of a body of priests called Luperci, inaugurated either by
Evander or Romulus and Remus,
founders of Rome.
It was held on February 15 and began with a sacrificeby the Luperci of goats and a dog. These were led to the altar and
their foreheads touched with a bloody knife. The blood was wiped off with
wool dipped in milk. For some reason, according to the ritual, two men
then had to laugh. The Luperci next cut thongs from the skins of the
animals and wore them. With the sacrificial blood wiped across their
foreheads, the youths had to run the circumference of the PalatineHill, tracing the traditional route of the city boundary traced by
Romulus at the foundation of Rome. According to one early poet, originally
Romulus and Remus, after their foundation work, ran back to the cave of
the she-wolf that had suckled them as babies, for the sustenance given by
her milk.
Girls who approached
the runners were brushed, whipped or splattered with februa, thongs
of sacrificial goatskin, symbolically blessing them with fertility. The
red of blood is thus the colour of the day as it is with Valentine's Day,
the day invented by the Roman Catholic Church to replace the Lupercalia. A
sacrificial feast followed. The Lupercalia continued until 494 CE when it was changed by
Pope Gelasius I into the Feast of the Purification, which is commemorated
on February 2. In due course, Valentine's Day supplanted it.
Mark Antony offered a
crown to Julius Caesar at the 44 BCE celebration of the Lupercalia and
Shakespeare mentions this. The two colleges of the Luperci priests were Luperci Quinctiales (or Quintilii), and Luperci Fabiani (or Fabii),
founded respectively by Romulus and Remus. A third was established in 45
BCE in honour of Julius Caesar, headed by Antony.
Perhaps it was a rite
of fertility magic – the Romans themselves were uncertain of its origin.
(A god Lupercus was invented in Roman times.) Ovid says the
honoured god was Faunus,
but Livy named him Inuus ('the Goer-in'? – sexual intercourse?) Both
deities were identified with Pan. The goddess Juno (as Juno Februa)
might have been worshipped in the februation (purification) ceremonies of
the Lupercalia.
The etymology is also uncertain. Suggestions: Luere per caprum, to purify by
means of a goat; lupus, wolf; lupus arcere, he who wards off
wolves (dubious etymology); lupus-hircus,
wolf-goat. The actual association with wolves is uncertain.
In ancient Rome, the month of
February
was sacred to Juno Februata. Her feast day fell on February 15, and on this day,
eligible young women wrote their names on slips of paper and put them in a large
bowl. Each single man drew one billet. The woman whose name was on the billet he
drew was his partner for the day's erotic festivities. These partnerships often
resulted in marriage. As mentioned above, in
494, Pope
Gelasius I renamed
Juno Februata's feast day and later
the date was changed to
February 2.
It is now known as the
Feast of the Purification of the Virgin Mary, or Candlemas.
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Meet me at Corrigenda
Jon Frum, a cargo cult, is a
syncretic sect centred on Sulphur Bay on Tanna Island, Vanuatu, and found
in some neighbouring islands. A white American named Jon, or John, Frum
is also the name of the messenger of this movement; who on his
return, will provide the Frum faithful with promised goods, or
cargo.
An estimated 90 per cent of the population of
Vanuatu is affiliated with a Christian denomination, the largest
being Presbyterian,
followed by Roman Catholic and Anglican. Jon Frum forms a small
minority.
Some Frum members say that Jon Frum is a benevolent
deity who lives in the crater of Tanna's highest mountain, Yasur, with his several thousand strong army, or
else he is the 'king of America'. Jon Frum members believe that when Frum does
return as promised,
the mountains will crumble, filling the rivers, the land will become
very fertile and prosperity will arrive in the villages. Frum
himself will bring money so that the people can buy the goods of the
white people, and he will provide schools for all.
Perhaps influenced by drinks of kava, a mildly narcotic
drink popular in the western Pacific and northern Australia, visions
and prophecies of Frum (by 'messengers' as the movement calls its
priests and prophets) have directed the cult's world view. Some say
it began as early as the 1930s, probably when a man of that name actually travelled or
lived among the villagers.
The arrival of 300,000 Americans during World War II,
with their relative wealth, was instrumental in the rise of
nationalism in the islands, as well as a desire for Western material
goods. There were many African-Americans visiting the islands at the
time, and in 1942, about 1,000 Tannese men were recruited by the
Americans to work on nearby Efate. It was the first time that the Tannese had seen black men
dressed the same as whites, and with so many possessions.
A mixture of saints
Believing the soldiers to be emissaries of Jon Frum,
the islanders began imitating their mannerisms and appearance,
carrying bamboo 'rifles' and wearing improvised US forces' uniforms.
It appears that Uncle Sam, Santa Claus
and John the
Baptist were syncretised into the mythical Frum.
The members strung tin cans and wires from towers,
in imitation of radio facilities, so Jon Frum could speak to his people. The movement
declared that Frum required that money be thrown away, pigs killed, and gardens left
uncultivated, since all material wealth will be provided upon the
glorious return of Jon Frum.
Non-cooperation
The war ended
and the Americans returned home, but the Frum faithful did not lose
their zeal and ever since, they have awaited his messianic return,
which is believed will occur on a February 15, which apparently is
the date in 1957 that Chief Tommy Nampas first hoisted an American
flag and prophesied the return of Frum. Some Frum leaders believed that missionaries and
colonial administrators had interfered with their Second Coming, so the movement sometimes
practised non-cooperation with them. From 1940, British colonial authorities arrested cult leaders,
holding them without trial in Port Vila, but new devotees arose to take their places.
The size of the
movement today is not known, and it has split into a number of smaller
groups. It has representation in the national parliament as one of
the parties.
On Tanna there is a god named Kerapenmun, associated
with Mount Tukosmeru. Some sources say that a native named Mancheri,
under the alias of Jon Frum, posed as this god and began a cult by
appearing to some people and making promises of houses, clothes,
food, transport. Otherwise, it might be that Jon Frum is "John
from" America.
The Tannese who believed in Jon Frum
took as their religious symbol the red cross seen on wartime
ambulances on the island of Efate. In villages north of Yasur
Volcano and elsewhere, one may see are little red crosses dotting
the countryside, neatly surrounded by picket fences.
Prince Philip Movement
Prince
Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, as well, has been worshipped in
Vanuatu by cargo-cult followers among the custom people at Yaohnanen, in the Prince Philip Movement.
Philip is regarded as the head of the cargo suppliers. The Prince Philip
cult dates back to the prince's visit to what was then New Hebrides in 1974.
Associating him with a male spirit married to a female spirit in
their own pantheon of ancestral spirits, followers believe the prince originally came from Tanna in another form and will eventually return to rule over them.
Once, they sent a nalnal (club) as a present to the prince,
via Mr Wilkins, the British District Agent on Tanna at the time. The nalnal was of a design that only a powerful man of high status could own.
The prince sent back his thanks and a signed photograph, which
members took as confirmation of his leadership of their movement,
and of his belief in their beliefs.
"Their legend tells how this spiritual ancestor ended up in England — and eventually married a queen. Which explains why the Duke of Edinburgh, who is well aware of his role as a god in the eyes of the Yaohnanen tribe, has established a curious relationship with these people, who dwell in a simple village in the centre of the Vanuatu island of Tanna in the South
Pacific ..
"Chief Jack, who prefers not to talk about the cannibal days, keeps the photo in his hut, where he protects it as best he can from the humidity, occasionally bringing it out so the tribe can pay its respects. So strong has been the 10,000-mile relationship, and so determined has Buckingham Palace been to keep it under wraps, that a private secretary urged great secrecy in one official letter." Source:
Is Prince Philip a god?
Jon Frum Day celebrations
Today, on Jon Frum Day, prayers and flowers are offered at
the red cross and members hold a flag-raising ceremony and a
military parade.
Cargo
cult
A cargo cult is
any of the religious movements chiefly, but not
solely, in Melanesia that exhibit belief in the imminence of a new
age of blessing, to be initiated by the arrival of a special
''cargo'' of goods from supernatural sources – based on the
observation by local residents of the delivery of supplies to
colonial officials. Tribal divinities, culture heroes, or ancestors
may be expected to return with the cargo, or the goods may be
expected to come through foreigners, who are sometimes accused of
having intercepted material goods intended for the native peoples. Encyclopedia
Britannica
"a tannese creation legend claims that
tanna was once the only land in the universe. yasur volcano, a
highly active and easily accessible volcano on tanna was designated
as the originator of the universe. according to the legend, in that
time there were many wild animals on tanna, including lions, tigers,
elephants and bison. as these were dangerous creatures, it was
decided to create other lands and distribute these perils. chief
mahdikdik took the soil of tanna and threw it in the directions of
the compass, creating europe, asia, africa, australia and america.
some of the soil was caught by the wind and scattered about creating
the pacific islands.
"the tannese then built large canoes and
loaded the animals aboard. the various types of beast were sent to
different lands. as there were too many people on tanna as well,
they were sent to different parts of the earth. at this time all
people were melanesian. most people went to africa, however some
were caught on the reef and thrown into the sea, where the saltwater
bleached them white.
"it is said that jon frum is living in
the crater of yasur. There is also a huge army of 5,000 to 20,000
men residing there as well, so the new legend blends with the old.
below, we see alternate versions of the jon frum history. that is
due, for the most part, to a history based on stories and tales
passed on from one individual to the next. in it's own rights, this
then is the next step of that tale.
"the centre of the jon frum cargo cult
today is based in the village at sulphur bay, [also called ipeukel.]
the jon frum church here houses the movement's most sacred red
cross. on friday evenings, jon frum supporters come from the nearby
villages to dance. every year on the 15th of february, jon frum day
is celebrated. This is the day when the sulphur bay people believe
that jon frum will return, bringing with him all the cargo he has
promised. prayers and flowers are offered at the red cross in the
village church. this is followed by a flag-raising ceremony and a
military parade. villagers carry rifles made of bamboo, painted to
appear as if they have red bayonets.
"about 100
men march under the command of two village elders dressed as us
army sergeants. The soldiers have the letters 'usa' painted in
red on their bodies. These soldiers consider themselves to be
members of the tannese army, a special unit of the american
armed forces."(sic)Source
"'He looked
like a human being, but his skin was white. He was dressed in
khaki and wore a hat.' Isaac Navy, a man in his 70s, insists
that he has seen John Frum. 'It was in 1941. He came to our
village and told us that when we're free, we'll also have trucks
and airplanes, just like in America.' Who is, or was, John Frum?
No one knows for certain, but the people of Tanna still worship
him as a Messiah."Source
"There have been different perceptions that John Frum is a custom group, a religion, or a cult.
"Whether you're a local who has heard but not seen the John Frum before or a visitor planning a trip to Tanna, your chance for a preview of the Movement is coming this tonight.
"Said Chief Isaac:
'You have heard the mimics, you have seen the pretenders, now it's the real thing,' he blurted out boastfully in an interview.
"There is no doubt that this man is as
'John Frum' as you can get. Isaac was formerly the chief of Ipuekel in Sulphur Bay, the major John Frum base.
"However, due to a philosophical difference with the so-called Prophet Fred, chief Isaac moved his followers up the Ash Plains to Namakura where their attractive village has become a tourist hotspot, lured there by the John Frum practice.
"The entrance fee is Vt300 for adults, Vt100 for students and children under 5 years can enter free of charge.
"There will be lots of Kava and food. No alcohol is allowed within the premises. There will be plenty of singing and dancing – John Frum style and public will also be allowed to participate during the course of the evening.
"Come along and
see firsthand a reason behind Tanna as a tourist destination."
Singles Awareness Day (SAD) is
a humorous
holiday which serves as an alternative to
Valentine's Day for people who are
single; that is, who are not involved in a
romantic relationship and can therefore
not participate in Valentine's Day traditions. Some observers of SAD
do so out of spite for Valentine's Day, as a
Hallmark holiday, or for other reasons.
"In response to the huge
push by retailers for us to buy all of their candy, flowers and
greeting cards February 15 has been declared Singles Awareness
Day! This is the day that all of the single people can proudly
stand up and show that it is OKAY to be single!
"Sure, some people would prefer to have their February
celebration on February 14, but the rest of us appreciate the
break from the commercialism ...
"Suggested activities for
this day are sending yourself flowers, planning parties for
other singles to mix and meet and to participate in some sort of
single's event." Source
In
Venice in April or May, 1609, Galileo heard of a cylindrical instrument,
made by one Hans Lippershey of
Middleburg (Netherlands), that made distant objects
look to be closer. He made one of these devices by putting
spectacles lenses together at different ends of a tube. He soon made
one that could magnify 30 times and commenced observations of the
moon, which he discovered to have an irregular surface, like that
of the earth.
On January 7, 1610, Galileo observed the four largest
moons of Jupiter for the first time. He named
them and in turn the four are called the Galilean moons(Io, Europa, Ganymede and
Callisto). The Grand Duke of Tuscany gave him a high salary and he
could leave his former professional duties. He discovered the
crescent form of Venus, the spots on the sun and the form of Saturn.
Galileo met with fierce opposition from the Church and the followers of Aristotle. He appealed to their own senses, but without success. He might have escaped the censure of the church, but he "was of an ardent disposition", so when he was assailed from the pulpit he brought out a pamphlet defending his views. In February,
1615 he was brought before the Inquisition in Rome, where he was ordered to recant and never teach his doctrines again.
He fell quite silent for a long time, then many years later published System of the World, which in April,
1633 brought him before the Inquisition again. The heliocentric doctrine (which taught that Earth and the other planets revolve around the sun) was the one which offended. Clothed in sackcloth, he fell on his knees before the cardinals, and with his hands on the Bible, recanted the heresies he had taught regarding the earth's motion. He promised to do penance for the rest of his life. Tradition, however, has it that he muttered under his breath,
"Still, it (the Earth) moves".
"In 1992, 359 years after the Galileo trial, Pope John Paul II issued an apology,
lifting the edict of Inquisition against Galileo: 'Galileo
sensed in his scientific research the presence of the Creator
who, stirring in the depths of his spirit, stimulated him,
anticipating and assisting his intuitions.'"Source:
Wikipedia
1748Jeremy
Bentham (d. June 6, 1832), English philosopher who pioneered utilitarianism and
extolled the philosophical tenet of "the greatest good to the
greatest number".
Bentham is also
known for a particular invention that affects our lives very much
today, the 'panopticon'. He proposed it as a model prison, whereby the prisoners' activities could be seen virtually at all times by the prison warders. By the same token, the inmates could not see the guards, and never know when surveillance was upon him. The psychological uncertainty was in itself part of the control and discipline of prisoners.
Westerners and many in non-Western countries live today in a panopticon world, through hidden cameras mounted almost everywhere we go, the increasing government surveillance of every phone call, website, email and telephone text message, and by the arrangement of offices, furniture and partitions in the workplace as well as in shops and public buildings. Next time you're in a bank, a government office lobby, waiting in line anywhere indoors or outdoors in any city – remember the Almanac's birthday boy for the day, Jeremy Bentham.
Next time you're at work, have a look where the boss sits and where you sit. Notice how high the partitions are, where the water cooler and tea room are placed, and where the cameras are positioned. When you go to a movie, and are waiting in line for a ticket, check the camera inside the foyer, and outside on the wall, somewhere high up. It might be that little hole, barely visible.
Tomorrow there will be even more
panopticons, and the next day, some more. The panopticon owners will send alerts to justify them, but perhaps their messages about duct tape and body searches, and closing down websites, will not sink in, because you will be thinking of something else. You might be thinking of Jeremy.
The French philosopher, Michel Foucault, identified the panopticon as a significant metaphor in modern society, and described its implications in
Discipline
and Punish: The Birth of the Prison (1975):
Hence the major effect of the Panopticon: to induce in the inmate a state of conscious and permanent visibility that assures the automatic functioning of power. So to arrange things that the surveillance is permanent in its effects, even if it is discontinuous in its action; that the perfection of power should tend to render its actual exercise unnecessary; that this architectural apparatus should be a machine for creating and sustaining a power relation independent of the person who exercises it; in short, that the inmates should be caught up in a power situation of which they are themselves the bearers. To achieve this, it is at once too much and too little that the prisoner should be constantly observed by an inspector: too little, for what matters is that he knows himself to be observed; too much, because he has no need in fact of being so. In view of this, Bentham laid down the principle that power should be visible and unverifiable. Visible: the inmate will constantly have before his eyes the tall outline of the central tower from which he is spied upon. Unverifiable: the inmate must never know whether he is being looked at at any one moment; but he must be sure that he may always be so. In order to make the presence or absence of the inspector unverifiable, so that the prisoners, in their cells, cannot even see a shadow, Bentham envisaged not only venetian blinds on the windows of the central observation hall, but, on the inside, partitions that intersected the hall at right angles and, in order to pass from one quarter to the other, not doors but zig-zag openings; for the slightest noise, a gleam of light, a brightness in a half-opened door would betray the presence of the guardian. The Panopticon is a machine for dissociating the see/being seen dyad: in the peripheric ring, one is totally seen, without ever seeing; in the central tower, one sees everything without ever being seen.
Excerpt from 'Panopticism' in
Michel
Foucault,Discipline and Punish: The
Birth of the Prison
"Here's a
shopping-list of ten technologies for the police state of the
next decade, and estimates of when they'll be available." The Panopticon Singularity
"Miller began to preach in 1831.
Based on Daniel 8 - 9, Miller counted 2300 years from the time Ezra was
told Jesus Christ could return to Jerusalem
to reestablish the Temple. The date of this event was calculated
to be 457 B.C. Thus, 1843 became the date of Christ's return. As
the appointed year grew closer, Miller specified 21 March 1843 to
21 March 1844 as his predicted climax of the age. The date was
revised and set as 22 October 1844.
"Failure of this event has come to be know as the
Great
Disappointment. It is estimated that the Millerites,
as they came to be known, numbered nearly 50,000. Miller recorded
his personal disappointment in his memoirs: Were I to live my
life over again, with the same evidence that I then had, to be
honest with God and man, I should have to do as I have done I
confess my error, and acknowledge my disappointment (Memoirs of
William Miller, Sylvester Bliss, p. 256)."Source:
Wikipedia
In 1873, while
frequently drunk on the ship from which he sailed from Scotland, he
flirted with a Mrs Duggan. For the affray that followed with Mr
Duggan and the ship's mate whom he hit, Black was thrown in irons.
In Sydney, Mrs Duggan left her dullish schoolteacher husband for
Black, whom she bore 12 children in the next 18 years. Mrs Duggan
(she did not remarry, and Black always presented her as his
sister-in-law) later complained that she had also miscarried four
times when Black had hit her.
Cyril Pearl (Wild Men of Sydney, Universal
Books, Melbourne, 1958) writes: "He was, from time to time, a damsinker, a
photographer's canvasser, a billiard-marker at Pfahlert's and
Aaron's Exchange Hotels, a woodcutter, a miner, a free-lance
journalist, a finisher and retailer of billiard cues, a
picture-framer, and a lecturer at the Cyclorama on the horrors of
Gettysburg."
In June, 1892, when
a member of the NSW Legislative Assembly (Seat of West Sydney),
Black sued John
Norton, editor of Truth
(for which Black had himself occasionally written) for libel,
arising from articles about the continuing ill-treatment of Mrs
Duggan.
When Black, like
most of the Laborites, switched from following a Protectionist line
to the Free Trade line of Sir Henry Parkes,
Norton was furious and beat up a scandal (based on fact) about Black
being a wife beater (actually, it was not Black's de jure wife but
his common law wife, Mrs Duggan). Norton wrote in 1891:
Badly-Behaved Baldy Black
That black-hearted bawdy blackguard and barbarous brutal benedict
'Baldy Black' who had befooled, befouled and betrayed women, should
be banned and blackballed from brotherhood until he behaves himself
better.
This was classic Norton. The purpose of his
scurrilous campaign was to force Black to resign from the Assembly
where the Parkes party had a majority of just one. After Black used
his free government rail pass for a double return ticket from Sydney
to the Melbourne Cup of 1891, passing off the blonde as his wife,
Norton provoked even greater scandal and began referring to Black as
"The Squeezer". Black, now in a public speech calling
Norton "scaly and scrofulous ... no better than a leper
physically, morally and mentally – a groveller in the gutters ...
covered with the green slime of the sewers ... a bestial
drunkard", and similar Sydneysider terms of endearment, sued
Norton for 5,000 pounds for defamation. It went to court; Black
denied in the witness stand that he had ever struck Mrs Duggan
except in self-defence, and that he has never got drunk with a
ventriloquist named Voltaire nor accompanied him to a 'gay house'.
Norton got 50,000 words of copy for Truth out of the case, which
served his political purposes. Eventually, Black was awarded one
farthing in damages, but remained in Parliament for many years and
is considered one of the founding fathers of the Australian Labor
Party.
Parliamentary Service
Position
Start
End
Period
Parliament
Member of the NSW
Legislative Assembly
17/6/1891
21/2/1917
25 year(s) 8 month(s) 5
day(s)
Member of the NSW
Legislative Council
17/7/1917
22/4/1934
16 year(s) 9 month(s) 6
day(s)
Life Appointments under
the Constitution Act: Date of Writ of Summons 6 May 1917.
Granted retention of title of 'Honourable' for life.
Member for West Sydney
17/6/1891
25/6/1894
3 year(s) 9 day(s)
Member for Sydney-Gipps
17/7/1894
5/7/1895
11 month(s) 19 day(s)
Member for Sydney-Gipps
24/7/1895
8/7/1898
2 year(s) 11 month(s) 15
day(s)
Member for Namoi
14/10/1910
6/11/1913
3 year(s) 24 day(s)
Member for Namoi
6/12/1913
21/2/1917
3 year(s) 2 month(s) 16
day(s)
Minister for Agriculture
23/2/1915
15/3/1915
21 day(s)
Minister for Public
Health
27/4/1915
15/11/1916
1 year(s) 6 month(s) 20
day(s)
Colonial Secretary
15/3/1915
15/11/1916
1 year(s) 8 month(s) 1
day(s)
Political Party Activity
"Founder of the Republican
League 1888; Member of the Australian Socialist League from 1890
to 1894. Foundation member of the Australian Labor Party (ALP).
However, he refused to take the pledge in 1893 and won a seat as
independent Labor in 1894. He rejoined the Party when the pledge
was reworded in 1895. He was a member of the central executive in
1901, 1903, 1911 and 1915-16. He was expelled over conscription in
1916 and dropped from the Ministry and stood as an independent
National in 1917.
"Educated at Thorburn's School at
Leith, Scotland. Matriculated in the Faculty of Arts, Edinburgh in
1871. Transferred to medicine in 1873 but left without graduating
in 1877. After arriving in New South Wales in 1878, undertook a
variety of occupations, including billiard-marker and country
journalist. Settled in Sydney as a journalist and worked as
sub-editor of the Bulletin from 1889 to 1891; as editor of
the Australian Workman from 1891 to 1892; for John Haynes' Elector,
later the Newsletter and as editor of the first 17 issues
of the Barrier Truth in 1898; as editor of the Sydney Worker
from May 1900 to July 1904; as editor and joint owner (with G W
Lavender) of the Radical in 1904; as editor of the Bathurst
National Advocate in 1908 and was a contributor to the Sunday
Times. Black was the author of the following books: In
Defence of Robert Burns, 1901; The Origins and Ethics of
Landowning, 1903; History of the NSW Labor Party, 1910;
A History of the NSW Political Labor Party 1926- 1929; To
perpetuate the Memory of Rosalind Singleton Black....., 1918, An
Anzac Areopagus and other verses, 1923; and Arbitration's
Chequered Career, 1929.
"Son of George Stevenson, a
messenger-at-arms, and Isabella Muir. Arrived in Victoria,
Australia in 1877 and moved to New South Wales in 1878. Had a
cohabitation relationship with Georgina Duggan between 1877 and
1891 and had issue 12 children. Married (1) Rosielinn (Rosalind)
Clarkson, nee Singleton on 21 June 1894. Married (2) Priscilla
Verne Kelly on 11 April 1928 and had issue 3 daughters and 1 son.
Presbyterian faith." Source
"In Sydney, Louisa and Henry Lawson,
who were both in touch with the fluid, minority political culture
of the radical, urban intelligentsia, championed a new vision of
Australian identity, riding on the back of largely derivative
socialist theory. Together with George Black, one of the founding
members of the ALP, they projected Australian nationalism as
antithetical to the old, class ridden, and socially divisive model
of British capitalism. The Lawsons' nationalism was spurred on by
the occasion of the Queen's Jubilee in 1887 and the Centenary of
Settlement in 1888." Source
1874Ernest Shackleton,
Anglo-Irish
explorer, knighted for the achievements of
the 'British Antarctic Expedition' (1907 - 09) under his command,
but now chiefly remembered for his Antarctic expedition of
1914
- '16
in the ship
Endurance
1886Sax Rohmer,
British
author whose novels
helped establish in the Western mind the stereotypically sinister
Asian (the Dr
Fu Manchu series)
"Imagine a person, tall, lean and feline, high
shouldered, with a brow like Shakespeare and a face like Satan, a
close-shaven skull, and long, magnetic eyes of the true cat-green.
Invest him with all the cruel cunning of an entire Eastern race,
accumulated in one giant intellect, with all the resources of
science past and present, with all the resources, if you will, of a
wealthy government - which, however, already has denied all
knowledge of his existence. Imagine that awful being, and you have a
mental picture of Dr Fu Manchu, the yellow peril incarnate in one
man ..." (from
The Mystery of Dr Fu Manchu, 1913)
1934Graham Kennedy
(d. May 25,
2005), Australianradio,
television
and film
performer. Known in his heyday in the 1960s as 'The King',
he was the most popular star of the first twenty years of Australian
television, particularly for his show In
Melbourne Tonight on which he became famous (or notorious)
for his witty anti-ads, genuine 'live-read' commercials that
Kennedy would turn into attacks on the sponsors, the product or
both. In later years he hosted an execrable Match Game-style TV show called Blankety
Blanks at the other end of the humour spectrum from IMT,
which was often funny.
1948Art Spiegelman,
Americancomics
artist, editor, and advocate for the medium of comics, best known
for his
Pulitzer Prize-winning comic
memoir,
Maus.
Spiegelman was a major figure in the
underground comix movement of the 1960s
and 1970s, contributing to publications such as Real Pulp,
Young Lust and Bizarre Sex. He co-founded two significant
comics anthology publications, Arcade (along with
Bill Griffith) in the early '70s in San
Francisco, and
RAW with his wife, artist (and, later, Art
Editor of the
The New Yorker)
Françoise Mouly, in 1980.
Your family and friends will get a
kick when they hear their own name being sung in 'Happy Birthday'!! You can schedule your singing cards in advance, and even add your
own face to funny animations. (Pay cards)
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receive similar items daily with a free subscription to Wilson's Almanac
ezine
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webmasters free content, or else articles at very reasonable rates
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application. Further details
399 BCETrial
of Socrates: The Athenian philosopher, Socrates
(b. 470
BCE),
was sentenced to death for leading
the young people of Athens
astray. His accusers called him "a doer of evil, who corrupts the youth; and who
does not believe in the gods of the state, but has other new divinities of his
own".
"A trial before a jury of 501 Athenian citizens
was held in which Socrates called into question the whole basis for the trial
instead of putting on a self-abasing, eloquent defense, which was expected. By
a very narrow margin, the Athenians found Socrates guilty. Next, Socrates and
his prosecutor suggested competing sentences. Socrates jokingly suggested free
meals, but then finally settled on an insultingly small fine. His prosecutor
urged death. The Athenians then voted on the sentences. The verdict was nearly
unanimous (60 to 441), but this time on a matter of principle: guilty men must
be punished. Socrates' followers encouraged him to flee, and indeed the city
fathers expected this and were probably not averse to it; but he refused on
principle and took the poison (hemlock) himself."Source:
Wikipedia
60BCE On the Feast of
the Lupercal, Marc Antony ran naked through the Forum.
The
Society was founded and led by
Johann Georg Rapp (1757 - 1847) and his adopted
son, Frederick Rapp (1775 - 1834). The Harmony
Society is best known for its worldly succeses, eventually bulding what were in
effect three small cities, one at Harmony, near what is now Ambridge, Pennsylvania, another by a splinter
group in nearby Beaver County, Pennsylvania, and the
third in Illinois.
Spanish-American
War: The US
battleshipUSS Maine
exploded and sank in Havana Harbor, Cuba, for then unknown reasons, killing more than 260. This event
led the United States to declare war on Spain.
The Maine was allegedly sunk by a mine while on a mission to protect American
citizens during a Cuban insurrection against Spanish rule. The event prompted US
intervention in the Cuban-Spanish conflict on the behalf of Cuba. It became a
pretext for war with Spain and the US picked up, among other new properties,
Puerto Rico, Guam and the Philippines in the deal, using its new presence in the
Pacific as an excuse for "annexing" the independent nation of Hawai'i later
that year. Some have claimed that was the 'maine' idea.
No evidence of sabotage was found, but the Hearst
newspapers claimed the ship was intentionally blown up by the Spanish. The
accusation increased the newspapers' circulation and drew the US inevitably
towards war with Spain. "Remember the Maine" was used as pretext for setting
off the Spanish-American War.The
incident is believed by many to have been a false
flag operation.
1910
'The Uprising of the Twenty Thousand', the International Ladies' Garment
Workers Union Triangle Shirtwaist strike that began September 27, 1909, was
declared officially over by ILGWU; by this day, 339 manufacturing firms had
reached agreements with the union; 13 firms, including Triangle, with 1,100
workers, did not settle.
"If the union had won,"
explained 1909 Triangle Shirtwaist Company striker Rose Safran, "we would
have been safe. Two of our demands were for adequate fire escapes and for open
doors from the factories to the street. But the bosses defeated us and we
didn't get the open doors or the better fire escapes. So our friends are
dead."
Source: The Daily Bleed
"February 15, 1933, only 3 weeks prior to
inauguration day, Roosevelt was riding in a motorcade through Miami, Florida
when a 32-year old bricklayer named Giuseppe Zangara shouted from the
crowds, 'Too many people are starving to death', and then pulled out a gun
and fired 5 shots at Roosevelt. The Mayor of Chicago, who was riding in the
motorcade, was killed and four others wounded. Roosevelt was unhurt. Zangara
was tried and found guilty of murder, being electrocuted a year later."Source
February
- March: In Tangier, Kerouac stayed in a room above Burroughs at the Villa
Muniria. He typed Burroughs's Naked
Lunch manuscript (Kerouac had provided the title for the novel which
Burroughs originally called Word Hoard.) In March, Allen
Ginsberg and Peter Orlovsky arrived in Tangier to visit Kerouac and
Burroughs.
1958
USA: Jerry Lee Lewis
performed Great Balls of Fire and Breathless on American Bandstand. Later in the day, The Dick Clark Show, a new Saturday night rock 'n' roll
television program, debuted.
1965Nat
'King' Cole, 48, died of complications following surgery for
lung cancer in Santa Monica, California, USA.
1966 Father
Camilo Torres was killed by government troops in Colombia.
1969 A
Florida, USA, woman was arrested for impersonating Aretha Franklin
during a concert. Vickie Jones's impersonation was so convincing
that nobody in the club asked for a refund.
1986Running street battles broke out between striking printers and
police outside the Wapping, London print plant run by Rupert Murdoch, who was
running his Sunday Times and News of the World papers with non-union labour.
Murdoch went on to own Fox.
1997In 'Railway Tracks Action Day', some 15,000 in Wendland,
Germany blocked and dismantled railway lines scheduled to be used for transport
of nuclear waste.
2000 The Indian Point
II nuclear power plant in New York vented
a small amount of radioactive steam when a steam generator
failed.
2002 At the Tri-State
Crematory in La
Fayette, Georgia, USA, investigators found that bodies that
were supposed to have been cremated were in fact disposed of in
the woods and buildings on the crematorium's property. The
discovery revealed one of the worst incidents of abuse in the funeral
service industry.
2003 Grimly determined to invade Iraq and thus secure fossil fuels to drive Western consumerism, the leaders of the 'Free World' plugged their ears when
global protests against war on Iraq occurred in more than 600 cities worldwide. Estimates from
10 million - 15 million made this the largest day of protest in the
history of humankind.
So says the 2004 Guinness
Book of Records which cites this day's activities as the
largest mass protest movement in history. However, other estimates have
it that more than 12 million people worldwide marched in demonstrations against
America's illegal, unprovoked and pre-emptive impending invasion of Iraq
(together with the UK, Britian, Poland and various other countries in the
farcically named "Coalition
of the Willing"). The invasion was predicated on
disinformation and various
lies deliberately promulgated by the administration of American President,
George W Bush.
In Rome one to three
million people were on the streets in one of the Italian capital's largest ever
mass demonstrations. In London, estimates of the number of marchers varied from
750,000 (by the police) to over 1.5 million (by the organisers,
the Stop the War Coalition) and was the largest
demonstration in the city's history. In Berlin there were
half a million in the largest demonstration for some decades. There were also
protest marches all over France as well as in many other European cities,
drawing attendance figures in the tens of thousands per city. In Ireland, one
hundred thousand turned out in Dublin, for a parade that was originally expected to draw one
fifth that number. Protesters demanded that the Irish government ban the United
States military from continuing to use Ireland's
Shannon Airport as a trans-atlantic
stop-off point bringing soldiers to the Middle East.
In Spain, Barcelona
city hall and the Guardia Civil cited 1.3 million protesters, marching from the
Passeig de Grŕcia to the Plaça de Tetuan, though the
Delegación de Gobierno said 350,000. Government sources estimated protests at
660,000 in Madrid.
The small Asturian
city of Oviedo
(pop. 180,000) had a turnout of 100,000.
Protests
were held in Australia,
South
Africa, Syria,
India, Russia, South Korea,
Japan, Canada, and the USA, among many other
countries. Hundreds of thousands turned out in New York
City, near the
United Nations Building. In Colorado
Springs, 4,000 protestors were dispersed with pepperspray, tear-gas, tazers
and batons. More than one hundred thousand people protested in Montreal
despite wind-chill temperatures of below -30°C, and in Chicoutimi
1,500 people braved a -40°C wind-chill temperature including gusts of wind
reaching 50km/hr, in what was surely one of the coldest marches on February 15.
In San
Francisco, a protest was held on February 16.
Protest organizers and police agreed that the crowd count was 200,000. A San
Francisco Chronicle photographic investigation, on the other hand,
estimated that the number at the peak period was closer 65,000, although it did
not say how many people attended during the entire time of the demonstration.
This dispute highlights the continuing debate over the accuracy of crowd
estimates in large public demonstrations.
In Baghdad several
thousand Iraqis – many carrying Kalashnikov rifles – also joined with the
global protests.
Protests
continued on February 16
in Australia,
with an estimated 600,000 (out of a total national population of just 20
million) demonstrating in cities around the country.
My own town of
Bellingen, NSW,
Australia, with only a population of 2,800 men, women and children,
had, it is believed, the world's highest per capita attendance at
one of these demostrations, with about 3,000 marchers. Nearby
Coffs
Harbour (population 62,000) had approximately 2,500 marchers, one of them
being your almanackist.
[See February
8 for the Byron Bay, Australia protest with 750 nude women that drew so much
attention to the cause, and March 2, 2003 for a
similar demonstration in Sydney with 300 nude women.]
Photo: RadioPop/Maurizio
Nava
Radio Popolare, a
satellite and Internet news organization, arranged about 15,000
people to form an enormous peace symbol, photographed from a
small blimp.
CITIES THAT
PARTICIPATED IN FEB 15, 2003 PROTESTS
Africa: Bloemfontein, Bulawayo, Cairo, Cape Town, Durban,
Harare, Johannesburg, Kigali, Lagos, Lusaka, Nairobi, Niamey, Rabat, Reunion
Island Asia/Middle East: Amman, Aligarh, Baghdad, Bahawalpur, Bangalore,
Bangkok, Beirut, Bombay, Busan, Daegu, Daejeon, Damascus, Dili, Faisalabad,
Gaza, Gojranwala, Gwangju, Hong Kong, Hyderabad, Islamabad, Istanbul, Jakarta,
Karachi, Kharian, Kuala Lumpur, Kumamoto, Lahore, Larkana, Layya, Muharraq,
Manama, Mandi Bahaudin, Manila, Matsumoto, Multan, Naha, Okara, Osaka, Otsu,
Penang, Peshawar, Pune, Qasur, Rafah, Ramallah, Sahiwal, Sargodha, Seoul,
Sheikhupura, Taipei, Tel Aviv, Tokyo, Wonju Europe:
Aalborg, Aarhus, A Coruńa, Aix-en-Provence, Agen, Akureyri, Albacete, Alcalá,
Alfta, Algeciras, Alicante, Almería, Alta, Amsterdam, Andorra, Angouleme,
Antwerp, Arendal, Arjeplog, Arosa, Arrecife, Athens, Ávila, Azuqueca de Henares,
Bad Kreuznach, Baiona, Bagnols-Sur-Ceze, Bangor, Barcelona, Belfast, Beoria,
Bergen, Berlin, Berne, Bilbao, Bochum, Boden, Bodoe, Bodx, Bonn, Bordeaux,
Bores, Borldnge, Bratislava, Briviesca, Brussels, Brxnnxysund, Brxnshxj,
Bucharest, Budapest, Burgos, Cádiz, Castellón, Ciudad Real, Ciutadella,
Clermont Ferrand, Cluj-Napoca, Coimbra, Copenhagen, Cordoba, Corinth, Cuenca,
Darmstadt, Donosti, Dublin, Duesseldorf, Dülmen, Düsseldorf, Elche, Elesund,
El Hierro, El Rosario, Elverum, Erftstadt-Lechenich, Erfurt, Erlangen, Es,
Esbjerg, Eskilstuna, Euskal Herria, Évora, Falun, Faro, Ferrol, Florx, Fraga,
Fredericia, Fredrikstad, Gagnef, Galicia, Gazteiz-Vitoria, Gällivare, Gdvle,
Gelsenkirchen, Girona, Gislaved, Gjxvik, Glasgow, Gothenburg, Granada,
Guadalajara, Halmstad, Hamar, Hammerfest, Hania, Harstad, Haugesund, Hdrnvsand,
Hedemora, Heide, Heilbronn, Helsingborg, Helsinki, Hereford, Hückelhoven,
Huelva, Huesca, Hjxrring, Honningsveg, Hudiksvall, Ibiza, Idar-Oberstein,
Igualada, Ioannina, Irakleio, Iruńa-Pamplona, Isafjordur, Iserlohn, Jaén,
Joensuu, Jvnkvping, Jyväskylä, Kaiserslautern, Kalamata, Kalmar, Karlshamn,
Karlskrona, Kavala, Kemi, Kerkyra, Kiev, Kirkenes, Kiruna, Kolding, Konstanz,
Kragerx, Kristiansand, Kristiansta, Kundgebung, Kuopio, Lancaster, Landau,
Landshut, La Rochelle, Las Palmas, Leer, Le Mans, Levanger, Lillehammer, Limoges,
Lingen, Lisbon, Ljubljana, Lleida, Lloret de Mar, Logrońo, London, Longyearbyen,
Ludvika, Lugo, Lulee, Lund, Luxembourg, Lyon, Macapá, Madrid, Mahón, Mainz, Málaga,
Malmö, Malmv, Mandal, Mariehamn, Marl, Marseille, Mataró, Melilla, Menden,
Meppen, Moers, Mo i Rana, Molde, Monforte de Lemos, Montluconm, Moscow, Motala,
Moulin, Mundaka, Murcia, Mytilini, Nantes, Narbonne, Narvik, Navplio, Ndssjv,
Neuwied, Nice, Nimes, Nokia, Nordhorn, Norrkvping, Nxrrebro, Ockelbo, Oslo,
Ostrava, Otta, Oulu, Ourense, Oviedo, Paderborn, Palencia, Palma de Mallorca,
Pamplona, Paris, Patras, Pecs, Peiraias, Perpignan, Piedralaves, Pitee, Ponta
Delgada, Pontevedra, Porsgrunn, Porto, Poznan, Prague, Puertollano, Randers,
Ratingen, Ravensburg, Rethymno, Reykjavik, Risřr, Rissa, Risxr, Rodos, Rognan,
Rome, Roros, Roskilde, Rovaniemi, Rxrvik, Saint-Gaudens, Salamanca, Sandnessjxe,
Sandviken, San Sebastian, San Sbtián. de Gomera, Santa Coloma, Sta. Cruz de la
Palma, Sta. Cruz de Tenerife, Santander, Stgo. de Compostela, Saone et Loire,
Sarpsborg, Savolinna, Schwäbisch Hall, Segovia, Seinäjoki, Sevilla, Shetland,
Siegen, Siero, Silkeborg, Simrishamn, Skelleftee, Skien, Skopje, Sofia, Soria,
Sortland, Sparti, Stavanger, Steinkjer, Stockholm, Stokmarknes, Strasbourg,
Struer, Stuttgart, Sundsvall, Svderhamn, Svolvfr, Sykkylven, Tampere, Talavera
de la Reina, Tallinn, Tarragona, Tavagnacco, Teruel, Thessaloniki, Toensberg,
Tomelilla, Toledo, Tornee, Tortosa, Toulon, Toulouse, Tours, Tripoli, Tromsoe,
Tromsx, Trondheim, Turku, Txnsberg, Uddevalla, Ulvik, Umee, Valby, Valence,
Valencia, Valetta, Vdsteres, Vdxjv, Vegan, Vege, Viborg, Vichy, Vienna, Vienne,
Vigo, Villingen, Vilnius, Visby, Vitoria, Volos, Voronezh, Voss, Vstersund,
Warsaw, Wetzlar, Wroclaw, Wuppertal, Xrsta, Zagreb, Zamora, Zaragoza Latin
America & the Caribbean: Aguascalientes, Bahia, Bariloche, Bauru,
Bermuda, Bogotá, Buenos Aires, Caracas, Caxias do Sul, Chihuahua, Ciudad Juárez,
Cuernavaca, Goiania, Guadalajara, Havana, Kingston, Lima, Martinique, Mexicali,
Mexico City, Monterrey, Montevideo, Outre-Mer Guadeloup, Quito, Rio de Janiero,
Rio Grande do Sul, San Cristóbal, San Jose - CR, San Juan - PR, San Luis Potosí,
San Miguel, San Salvador, Santa Cruz - Bol., Santiago, Santo Domingo, Sao Paulo,
Tijuana, Veracruz, Xalapa USA and Canada: Akron, Amarillo,
Anapolis Royal, Antigonish, Arcata - CA, Armidale, Asheville, Ashland, Athens,
Atlanta, Austin, Baltimore, Barrie, Beavercreek, Bellingham, Billings, Biloxi,
Binghamton - NY, Birmingham, Bisbee, Blacksburg, Bloomington, Boise, Boulder,
Brampton, Brandon, Burlington, Butler, Calexico, Calgary, Canmore, Canton,
Canton - NY, Cape Cod, Cape Girardeau, Capt. Cook, Carbondale, Castlegar, Cedar
Rapids, Charleston, Charlotte, Charlottetown, Charlottesville, Chatanooga,
Chicago, Chico, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Coburg, Colorado Springs, Columbia - MO,
Columbia - SC, Columbus, Comox Valley, Concord, Cornwall, Corpus Christi,
Cortez, Corvallis, Cranbrook - BC, Croton-on-Hudson, Cowichan, Cumberland - MD,
Dallas, Dayton, Daytona Beach, Deland, Denton, Detroit, Dubuque, Durango,
Edmonton, Ellensburg - WA, Elkins - WV, Encino, Erie - PN, Eugene, Fairbanks,
Farmington, Fayetteville, Fillmore, Findlay - OH, Flagstaff, Fort Lauderdale,
Fort Smith, Fort Wayne, Fredricton, Fresno, Gainesville - GA, Galesburg,
Galveston, Geneva - NY, Grand Forks - BC, Grand Junction, Grand Prarie, Grand
Rapids, Guelph, Hadely, Halifax, Hamilton, Hilo, Holland, Honolulu, Houston,
Hull, Huntington, Huntsville, Indianapolis, Ithaca - NY, Jasper, Jefferson City,
Jersey City, Johnston - NY, Juneau, Kamloops, Kansas City, Kelowna, Kezar Falls,
Kingston, Kitchener, Knoxville, Lafeyette, Lancaster, Lansing, Las Cruces, Las
Vegas, Lawrence - KS, Leavinsworth, Lethbridge, Lexington, Lilloet, Lincoln,
Little Rock, London, Long Beach, Los Angeles, Louisville, Macomb, Madison,
McAllen, Meadville - PA, Medicine Hat, Medford - OR, Melbourne, Memphis,
Minneapolis, Miami, Midland, Milwaukee, Minden - NV, Mobile - AL, Moncton,
Montague Center, Montpelier, Montreal, Mount Vernon - OH, Nanaimo, Naples,
Nashville, Nelson, New Britain, New Carlisle, New Orleans, New York City, Newark
- DE, Niagra, Norfolk - VA, North Bay, North Newton, Olympia, Orange,
Orangeville, Orillia, Orlando, Ottawa, Palm Desert, Parker Ford - PA, Parry
Sound, Pensacola, Penticton, Peoria, Peterborough, Philadelphia, Phoenix,
Pittsboro, Plattsburg, Portland - ME, Portland - OR, Port Perry, Portsmouth,
Powell River - BC, Prince Albert, Prince George, Qualicum Beach, Quebec City,
Racine - WI, Raleigh, Red Deer, Regina, Richland Center, Riverview, Rockford,
Rolla, Sackville, St. Augustine, St. Catherines, St. Charles, St. Joeseph, St.
Louis, St. Paul, St. Petersburg, Saguenay, Salem, Salmon Arm, Salt Lake City,
Saltspring Island, Sacramento, San Antonio, San Diego, Sandpoint - ID, San
Francisco, San Jose, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, Santa Cruz, Santa Fe, Santa
Monica, Sarasota, Saskatoon, Sault Ste. Marie, Savannah, Seattle, Sherbrooke,
Silver City, Sioux Falls, Sitka, Sonora, South Bend, South Haven, Spokane,
Springfield, Starkville, St. John's, Sudbury, Summertown - TN, Sydney - NS,
Tacoma, Tallahassee, Taos, Tehachapi, Temple, Thornbury, Thunder Bay, Tofino,
Toronto, Trois-Rivičres, Truro, Tulsa, Tucson, Uxbridge, Valdosta - GA,
Vallejo, Vancouver - BC, Vancouver - WA, Victoria, Vineyard Haven, Watertown,
Wausau, Waterloo, West Palm Beach, Westbank BC, Whitehall, Whitehorse,
Wilkes-Barre, Williamsburg, Williamsport, Williamstown, Wilmington, Windsor,
Winnipeg, Wolfville, Yakima, Yarmouth, Yellowknife, York - PA, Youngstown Oceania:
Adelaide, Alice Springs, Armidale, Auckland, Bellingen, Brisbane, Bundaberg,
Byron Bay, Cairns, Canberra, Central Coast, Christchurch, Dannevirke, Darwin,
Dunedin, Forster-Tuncurry, Geelong, Gisborne, Greymouth, Hamilton, NZ, Hastings,
Hobart, Kelowna, Kempsey, Launceton, Lismore, Maroochydore, Melbourne, Motueka,
Nambucca Heads, Nelson, Newcastle, Noosa, Opotiki, Palmerston North, Perth,
Rockhampton, Rotorua, Saint Helens, Strahan, Tasmania, Sydney, Takaka, Tamworth,
Taree, Tauranga, Thames, Timaru, Ulladulla, Wagga Wagga, Wanganui, Wellington,
Westport, Whakatane, Whangarei, Wollongong Antarctica: McMurdo StationTOTAL:
794 locales [4]
Richard
Butler, head of the
UN weapons inspection team that, under pressure from the US, had withdrawn from
Iraq on December 16, 1998, marched with more than a quarter of a million others
in the Sydney peace march on February 16.
A man approached Socrates and said he wanted to tell him something about one of his students. Socrates stopped him and said that first whatever he had to say had to be put through a triple filter.
"Triple filter?"
"That's right," Socrates continued. "Before you talk to me about my student, let's take a moment to filter what you're going to say. The first filter is Truth. Have you made absolutely sure that what you are about to tell me is true?"
"No," the man said, "actually I just heard about it and ..."
"All right," said Socrates. "So you don't really know if it's true or not. Now let's try the second filter, the filter of Goodness. Is what you are about to tell me about my student something good?"
"No, on the contrary ..."
"So," Socrates interrupted, "you want to tell me something bad about him, even though you're not certain it's true?" The man shrugged, a little embarrassed.
Socrates continued. "You may still pass the test, though, because there is a third filter
– the filter of Usefulness. Is what you want to tell me about my student going to be useful to me?"
"No, not really ..."
"Well," concluded Socrates, "if what you want to tell me is neither True nor Good nor even Useful, why tell it to me at all?"
The man was defeated and ashamed. This is the reason Socrates was a great philosopher and held in such high esteem.
It also explains why he never found out that Plato was banging his wife.
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Lupercalia Festival, ancient Rome
Jon Frum Day,
A mixture of saints
Bentham is also
known for a particular invention that affects our lives very much
today, the '
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