11 December 12020

299,502   deaths in America from the current pandemic, and there are still dumbasses in the country insisting that it is all a hoax—inspired by the fake media and George Soros I suppose. It’s like another World Trade Center attack every goddamn day. The right-wingers (AINOs) are all fucking hypocrites in my book—throwing a fit about nine eleven and shrugging off pandemic deaths. Why should I believe anything they have to say in the future about their feelings? Fuck them, I say.

11 December 12020 is International Mountain Day. Celebrated, or at least observed, since 12003, the day reminds us of the importance—geological, biological, cultural, and economic—of mountains. The UN website observes about this year’s commemoration, “Mountain biodiversity is the theme of this year’s International Mountain Day, so let’s celebrate their rich biodiversity, as well as address the threats they face.” There are also a number of national, religious, and cultural observances today. In Argentina it is National Tango Day, the date being the birthday of two men (Carlos Gardel and Julio de Caro) associated with the development of the tango in Argentina. For Burkina Faso it is Republic Day—the anniversary of the day (in 11958) when Upper Volta became an autonomous republic in the French Community. In Canada it is the Anniversary of the Statute of Westminster, the 11931 act giving Canada autonomy (but not full independence from the United Kingdom). Today Crimea remembers the victims of the Holocaust in that region with Krymchaks and Crimean Jews Remembrance Day. In Indiana (US) it is Indiana Day, commemorating the date Indiana was admitted to the Union in 11816. It is the first day of Hanukkah on the old Babylonian calendar still used by the Jews, recalling the rededication of the temple (9837) after an interruption caused by a cultural war between traditionalists and Hellenizers. In Kiribati it is Human Rights and Peace Day (and I don’t have anything further on it). For Kurdistan (at least the Iraq portion of it) it is Establishment of Kurdish Women’s Union, commemorating the establishment in 11952 of a women’s rights organization there. It is Republic Day in Madagascar, reflecting the promulgation of the 2010 constitution of the present republic there. It’s the Sultan of Selangor’s Birthday in Malaysia for some reason or other. And it’s Pampanga Day in Pampanga province (Philippines), St. Andrew’s Flag Day for the Russian navy, Father’s Day in Thailand, and Noodle Ring Day for those who like that sort of thing.

The saint of the day is Daniel the Stylite, the guy who lived on top of a pillar for three decades and was revered for it. (I’m pretty sure I’ve written about him before—no, I know I’ve written about him; I’m pretty sure I posted what I wrote some time or other.) Things were messed up in the 10400s. It’s Hector Berlioz’s (Symphonie fantistique) birthday; he was born in 11803. On this day in history Germany and Italy declared war on the United States in what I think (hindsight is golden) was one of the worst blunders of the war. Had Hitler and Mussolini held off—something they could easily have done given their indifference to treaties and the fact that the treaty they were invoking had an obvious escape hatch—they could have bought time to solidify their European victories while the US focused on Japan. As it was they enabled Roosevelt to easily concentrate on the European front and reserve forces to attack Japan later. I’m not saying it would have changed the outcome; but it might have made US involvement in Europe much less tenable.