Lysistrata Revisited

If you went to college and had to study the ancients at all, you probably are familiar with Aristophanes' play Lysistrata. To quickly recap, the Greek women are tired of the Peloponnesian War, and decide to withhold marital privileges from the men until they agree to negotiate peace.

It's was a comedy in its day and still is in ours, and in the play, the strategy works.

Turns out, it sometimes works in real life, too.

The women of the village of Dado on Mindanao Island in the Philippines were apparently tired of their men and the interminable land disputes they had. Finally, the ladies decided, to quote one, "If you do bad things, you get cut off, here," motioning to below her waist.

And "cutting the water off," as my Sweetie has always termed it, has helped in this instance. Men who start a land fight don't get any until they quit, make peace, or come to some sort of peaceful resolution.

Sometimes it's nice to know that the more things change, the more they stay the same.


Today is:

Adopt a Goblin Orphan Day -- Fairy Calendar

Bolludagur -- Iceland (Bun Day, the children wake the parents with a "spanking" while calling for cream buns that will be eaten today)

Blessed Wulfric's Day

Cherry Pie Day

Family Day -- Alberta, Ontario, and Seskatchewan, Canada

Flying Car Day -- the Arrowmobile, the first flying car, patented this day in 1937 (and can you imagine, as bad as driving is, how many accidents we would have if these people were flying around instead?)

Great Lent -- a/k/a Clean Monday, Ash Monday, Pure Monday, Monday of Lent, Shrove Monday, Collop Monday, Rose Monday, Merry Monday or Hall Monday, and (in Cypress) Green Monday -- Orthodox Christian

Hoodie Hoo Day (Northern Hemisphere) -- at noon local time, citizens are requested to go outside and yell "Hoodie-Hoo" to chase away winter and call in spring; sponsored by Wellcat Holidays

Islander Day -- Prince Edward Island, Canada

Louis Riel Day -- Manitoba, Canada

Love Your Pet Day -- a day to pamper pets, like they don't get pampered enough

Lundi Gras -- Fat Monday, Carnival, one of the last to days to feast before the Lenten fast begins Wednesday

Mahashivratri -- Hindu (festival to Shiva)

Presidents' Day -- US and US Territories

Rosenmontag -- German-speaking Countries (Rose Monday, highlight of Karneval)

St Leo of Catania's Day (Patron of Rometta, Longi, and Sinagra, Sicily)

Toothpick Day -- patented this day in 1872

World Day for Social Justice -- International


Birthdays Today:

Andrew Shue, 1967
Cindy Crawford, 1966
French Stewart, 1964
Charles Barkley, 1963
Patty Hearst, 1954
Gordon Brown, 1951
Ivana Trump, 1949
Jennifer O'Neill, 1948
Sandy Duncan, 1946
Buffy Sainte-Marie, 1941
Nancy wilson, 1937
Bobby Unser, 1934
Sidney Poitier, 1927
Robert Altman, 1925
Gloria Vanderbilt, 1924
Gale Gordon, 1906
Ansel Adams, 1902


Today in History:

Orkney and Shetland are pawned by Norway to Scotland so King Christian I can pay his daughter's dowry, 1472
The first recorded wine auction is held, in London, 1673
The Postal Service Act, establishing the United States Post Office Department, is signed by President George Washington, 1792
Austria declares bankruptcy, 1811
Concepcion, Chile, is destroyed by an earthquake, 1835
The US Congress prohibits dueling in the District of Columbia, 1839
Luther Crowell patents a machine to manufacture paper bags, 1872
In New York City the Metropolitan Museum of Art opens, 1872
The first minor league baseball association is organised, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, 1887
King O'Malley drives in the first survey peg to mark commencement of work on the construction of Canberra, 1913
A new volcano, Paricutin, erupts in a farmer's cornfield in Mexico, 1943
The Avro Arrow program to design and manufacture supersonic jet fighters in Canada is cancelled by the Diefenbaker government amid much political debate, 1959
While aboard Friendship 7, John Glenn becomes the first American to orbit the earth, making three orbits in 4 hours, 55 minutes, 1962
Ranger 8 crashes into the moon after a successful mission of photographing possible landing sites for the Apollo program astronauts, 1965
The Southeast Asia Treaty Organization disbands, 1976
Texas industrialist Ross Perot's U.S. presidential campaign begins, 1992
Spain becomes the first country to vote in a referendum on ratification of the proposed Constitution of the European Union, passing it by a substantial margin, but on a low turnout, 2005