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The More You Know 🌠

Actually, October was the eighth month in the Roman calendar. And the surrounding months are named for their number in the order – SEPTember (7th), OCTober (8th), NOVember (9th), DECember (10th).

Roman Calendars are absolutely bonkers.

Months 7, 8, 9, and 10 are named for their number, but month 1 is named for the god Janus, who was associated with time and doorways. March is named for Mars etc.

HOWEVER, this is just the start of the crazy. Roman January had no fixed length. It was just "January" until it was springtime. THEN it was March.

However, the Roman's had some festivals that took place in January and this is where Febuary originates. It wasn't it's own month, it was a "sub-month" of January incorporating some important religious festivals.

So in the republican period of Rome, it would be January, then February for a bit, then freaking January again then March.

This was part of why Augustus was able to convince people it was fine to take days from February so August would have 31 days. Romans already thought of February as not really a thing.

Now, December was the last month and month 10, and yes the republican Calendar had 10 months. However, a calendar for the earth with 10 months is basically crap. A Lunar/Solar calendar will have 13 months, and solar calendars will have 12 months, and even the ancients could do solar calendars well enough to get the length of a year to ~360 days.

However, the fact that the length of the year is 365 and change pissed the Romans off. So they stuck with their calendar that was 9 months of 30 days and then January was "the rest of winter till spring".

However, even by cheating with January, the Romans experienced some of the worst seasonal drift of all ancient peoples. Although some if this was political as the plebeian tribunes and the the priests of Janus got to decide when the new year began (oh yeah, Roman need year was March 1). So if you were a consul or a bunch of senators and you needed somebodies term to be up, and you could find some flowers sticking up through the snow, well then it must be March now. Time to strip last years consul of his power and appoint a new one!

Anyway, the calendar situation was so abysmal that when new calendars were proposed to fix some of this stuff people cheered! Actually, the sources say that lots of people faught prevent any change arguing that the calendar came from the gods. However, the administrators loved it and adoption was rapid.

However the Julian calendar still has seasonal drift. Hence the Gregorian reforms.

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Disturbing

Mike Dytri, Craig Gilmore, The Living End (1992)

I saw The Living End once, shortly after it premiered. I don't remember much about it other than I found it profoundly disturbing, coming out at a time when so many of my friends and loved ones were succumbing to AIDS and it seemed like I was going to a funeral every other week.

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"Washington's Worst Kept Secret" 🤣

From Margaret and Helen:

Margaret,

I was watching the news for a bit, which is getting exceedingly harder to do, but I'm glad I did. I learned that JD Vance is hanging out with evangelical religious leader, Lance Wallnau, who said after this month's presidential debate that Vice President Kamala Harris used "witchcraft" to win the debate. Wallnau believes Trump has been chosen by God to restore Christian power in America.

I also saw an interview with Senator Lindsey Graham, otherwise known as Washington's worst kept secret. Now that's saying something because Washington is full of secrets that weren't kept. Hell, it's full of lots of things that weren't kept, like Trump's promises and Graham's dignity.

But Senator Graham for this interview was being asked for his reaction to Trump calling Harris mentally disabled. For the record, Trump thought that was a funny insult and those good caring Christians who attend his rallies laughed. Yes. You heard me correctly. We are back to laughing at jokes about disabilities again. Just when you think they've reached bottom, Trump finds a new shovel.

Now nevermind the obvious fact that Harris isn't mentally disabled. Lindsey simply had to say that making jokes about disabilities isn't appropriate. He's a Senator and yet he couldn't muster even an ounce of courage. Instead he said Harris might not be disabled, but her policies are bat shit crazy. And as examples he gave Medicare for All and The Green New Deal.

So according to Graham, taking care of the planet is bat shit crazy. Taking care of the poor and the sick is crazy liberalism. Well, Lindsey Darlin', sign me up for some of that nutty guano because it sounds pretty damn good to me.

That's where the Republican party is today. Taking care of the planet and helping the sick is radical and crazy. Which is odd when you think about it because Christians on the right should realize that Medicare for All is quite literally the answer to What Would Jesus Do?

I just can't even with these asshats anymore. Let me remind you that Lindsey called Trump a race-baiting, xenophobic, religious bigot and Trump called Lindsey Graham the dumbest human being he's ever seen. I could almost say that I finally agree with something Trump said, but I've actually seen Trump, so Graham would have to be at least number two on my list… followed closely by JD Vance and Mindy Noce.

So in summary, Trump is once again making jokes about disabilities. Trump supporters are once again laughing at disabilities. Lindsey Graham thinks taking care of poor people is bat shit crazy. Tim Scott is married and Lindsey Graham isn't. Tammy Baldwin is the first openly gay member elected to the U.S. Senate, but Wisconsin is a swing state and South Carolina isn't.

Well, it's enough to make your head spin. The hypocrisy of the Republican party is astounding.

Can we all just vote for Harris and restore a little sanity to our country. I mean it really.

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This

This.

This is what I want for Ukraine.

This is what I want for the United States.

This is what I want for all the little girls.

This is what I want for Europe.