Pure Chaos

Well, unless something weird happened between when i wrote this and when it publishes (at 2am Pacific time, because i can't figure out how to reset Blogger to Central time, where i am), it looks like the Guv'mint has once again managed to avert disaster and mayhem and reopen.

In other news, a Rasmussen poll has shown that a record 78% of us want to throw out all of Congress and start over.

My proposal would be even more radical.

Let's throw out everyone, from the top down, and hold new elections for every position, Federal, State, and local.  In addition, let's set the rule that no one who has held any office at all at any level within the past 15 years may run for anything at all.

For good measure, let's toss out the tax code and start that over, too.

You want mayhem and disaster, that would likely do it.  It would be pure chaos for a while.  Then it would settle back down, and probably eventually return to business as usual.

Meanwhile, though, it might be fun to watch those sparks fly, and i could guarantee some excitement.



Today is:

Belfast Festival At Queens -- Queen's University, Belfast, Ireland (International arts festival; through Oct. 27)

Biketoberfest -- Daytona Beach, FL, US (last chance to ride before winter, and enjoy concerts and shows, too; through Sunday)

Black Poetry Day -- birth anniversary of the USA's first published black poet, Jupiter Hammon

Dessalines Day -- Haiti

Doburoku Matsuri -- Oita Prefecture, Japan (one of the few sake festivals at a shrine; through tomorrow)

Festival of Hengest -- Asatru (approximate date of the Norse celebration of Hengest and Horsa, who fought to establish Norse settlements in Eastern Britain)

Four Prunes Day (only if you dare!)

Gaudy Day a/k/a Wear Something Gaudy Day

Get Smart About Credit Day -- sponsored by the American Bankers Association

Get to Know Your Customers Day -- third Thursday of every quarter

International Credit Union Day -- World Council of Credit Unions

International Day for the Eradication of Poverty -- UN

Large Fairies Come First Day -- Fairy Calendar (because the rest of the year they let the little ones go first)

Loyalty Day -- Argentina

Mulligan Day -- C. Daniel Rhodes wants you to give yourself or someone else a free do-over today

National Pasta Day

Paint a Mural on a Sidewalk Day -- let your inner child go a bit wild

Preaching of the Lion Sermon -- St. Katherine Cree Church, London, England (Sermon dating back to the 1640's in commemoration of a gift for the poor made by Sir John Gayer, who was delivered from a lion while in Turkey)

St. Ignatius of Antioch's Day (Patron of the Church in the Eastern Mediterranean and North Africa; against throat diseases)

St. Richard Gwin's Day (Patron of large families, parents of large families, torture victims)

Toronto Ski, Snowboard, and Travel Show -- Toronto, ON, Canada (Canada's largest show of this type; through Sunday)

Work on Your Charisma Day -- because what else are you going to do on a Thursday?


Anniversaries Today:

Crown Prince Fernando of Aragon marries Princess Isabella of Castile, 1469
Composer Johann S. Bach marries his niece Maria Bach, 1707


Birthdays Today:

Norm MacDonald, 1963
Alan Jackson, 1958
Howard Rollins, 1950
Margot Kidder, 1948
George Wendt, 1948
Ronn Owens, 1945
Evel Knievel, 1938
Jimmy Breslin, 1930
Tom Poston, 1921
Montgomery Clift, 1920
Rita Hayworth, 1918
Arthur Miller, 1915
Jean Arthur, 1905
Spring Byington, 1893
Jupiter Hammon, 1711


Debuting/Premiering Today:

The Hollywood Squares, 1966


Today in History:

King Cyrus the Great of Persia marches into the city of Babylon and releases the Jews from their 70 years of exile and making the first Human Rights Declaration, BC539
Battle of Neville's Cross, the defeat of King David II of Scotland by Edward III of England, 1346
German astronomer Johannes Kepler observes a supernova in the constellation Ophiuchus, 1604
Boston blacks petition the legislature for equal school facilities, 1787
The political rights of Jews are suspended in the Duchy of Warsaw, 1808
Thomas Edison files a patent for the Optical Phonograph (the first movie), 1888
Guglielmo Marconi's company begins the first commercial transatlantic wireless service between Glace Bay, Nova Scotia, Canada, and Clifden, Ireland, 1907
Albert Einstein arrives in the US as a refugee from Nazi Germany, 1933
The first commercial nuclear power station is officially opened by Queen Elizabeth II in Sellafield,in Cumbria, England, 1956
Prime Minister of Australia Robert Menzies opens the artificial Lake Burley Griffin in the middle of the capital Canberra, 1964
Botswana and Lesotho join the United Nations, 1966
Quebec Vice-Premier and Minister of Labour Pierre Laporte murdered by members of the FLQ terrorist group, 1970
OPEC starts an oil embargo against a number of western countries, considered to have helped Israel in its war against Syria, 1973
Mother Teresa awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, 1979
The pinnacle is fitted on the roof of Taipei 101, making it the World's tallest highrise, 2003