#taiwan india relation

[herpsandbirds]

What are kingfishers? What category do they belong to? Are they songbirds? Waterfowl? A secret third thing? I must know!

Kingfishers:

Kingfishers are in the order Coraciiformes, along with rollers, bee eaters, todies, and motmots. They are not closely related to songbirds or waterfowl. Think of this group as its own thing.

Many of them perch, and they eat a wide variety of small animals. Even just the kingfishers, many of which live in forests, and hunt frogs and lizards and large invertebrates. The all have a similar toe arrangement, and most of them catch prey and then slam their prey against a surface to help kill it.

The closest relatives to the coraciiformes are the order Piciformes, the woodpeckers, toucans, barbets, puffbirds, jacamars, and honeyguides.

So, generally speaking when we refer to "songbirds" we are talking about the birds in the order Passeriformes (more particularly the Oscine Passerines), most of the perching birds you've ever heard of. Water fowl usually refers to mainly aquatic swimming birds, like ducks, geese, loons, grebes.

Here are some kingfisher friends for you:

Collared Kingfisher (Todiramphus chloris), family Alcedinidae, West Bengal, India

photograph by Kamal Basak

Woodland Kingfisher (Halcyon senegalensis), family Alcedinidae, found in much of Sub-Saharan Africa

photograph by @anthony.press

Black-capped Kingfisher (Halcyon pileata), diving for fish, family Alcedinidae, Taiwan

photograph by joinus12345

Belted Kingfisher (Megaceryle alcyon) eat a tasty fish!, family Alcedinidae, found across most of North America

photograph by Randy Wei

Blue-bellied or Javan Kingfisher (Halcyon cyanoventris), family Alcedinidae, order Coraciiformes, endemic to Bali and Java, Indoensia

photograph by Jeffry Surianto

[affairsmastery]

The US updated its Taiwan factsheet, removing the phrase "we do not support Taiwan independence" while endorsing Taiwan’s global participation. This shift drew support from Taiwan but strong opposition from China. The Taiwan Relations Act (1979) continues to strengthen US-Taiwan ties through trade, cultural exchange, and defensive arms sales, despite Beijing’s objections.

Taiwan holds immense geopolitical importance, as the Taiwan Strait is a crucial global shipping route, and the island produces over 60% of the world's semiconductors and 90% of advanced chips, making it vital to the global tech industry. China insists on the "One China Policy," viewing Taiwan as an inseparable part of its territory, while Taiwan operates as a self-governing democracy. India also recognizes the One China Policy and, in 2003, acknowledged Tibet as part of China in a joint declaration.

[rjzimmerman]

This is "interesting," (to use a mild word), because it shows us how trump and his minions are manipulating our thinking toward their imperialistic goals. In this case, the threat to impose tariffs globally on any country that impose tariffs on the US are not intended to generate revenue, but rather are intended to generate increased exports of fossil fuels, in particular, liquified natural gas, from the US to the rest of the world. Who benefits? The fossil fuel industry. Unfuckingbelievable, yet very believable when one considers the source, methodology, motivation.

Excerpt from Bill McKibben's Substack, The Crucial Years:

In the last few days, Taiwan, India and Japan made clear they will be buying exported American LNG in the months and years ahead. Why? Entirely in an effort to hold off tariffs from the Trump administration. As the Japanese prime minister put it,

“We will cooperate to strengthen energy security between the two countries including increasing exports of United States liquefied natural gas to Japan in a mutually beneficial manner.”

Here’s how Bloomberg described the Indian decision-making:

Indian importers are under pressure from the government to reach deals that could smooth relations with Trump, the people said, but they will be looking for the best possible terms before signing any agreements.

Meanwhile, as Sing Yee Ong reports from Taipei

Taiwan is preparing to buy more liquefied natural gas from the US to reduce its trade surplus and potentially avoid higher tariffs.

Oh, and more to come

South Korea, Vietnam and the European Union are among energy buyers trying to appease President Donald Trump — and reduce the threat of tariffs — by looking to increase purchases from the biggest exporter of the super-chilled fuel and largest producer of crude.

I want to highlight these shakedowns, which have mostly been lost amidst the thousand other terrible things the Trump administration has loosed upon the world, because I know that before long Big Oil will be holding them up as evidence that the world needs and wants more fossil fuel. In fact, the world wants to move in entirely the opposite direction: 85% of new electric generation in 2023 came from renewables, and the numbers for 2024 will almost certainly be higher. That, of course, terrifies the fossil fuel industry—which is why they spent record amounts on November’s election. As fracking baron Harold Hamm explained, “We’ve got to do this because it’s the most important election in our lifetime.”

And now they’re getting the payoff: Trump threatens tariffs, and offers to make them go away if they buy some LNG. It’s akin to a protection racket. Pay up, or your windows get broken. It’s not criminal—it’s all entirely legal. It’s just wrong.

This particular protection racket makes no sense for America at large. Forget, for a moment, that LNG is a huge driver of the climate change driving fire and flood (by the time you’ve shipped it overseas it’s far worse even than coal); exporting it in huge quantities also obviously drives up the price for Americans still reliant on fracked gas for heating and cooking. The Energy Information Administration just predicted that natural gas prices will rise 21 percent in the year ahead. Politico did the math

Paul Cicio, president of the Industrial Energy Consumers of America trade association, said U.S. LNG exports are pushing natural gas and electricity prices higher. Every “dollar increase in natural gas costs consumers $34 billion plus about $20 billion in higher electricity cost,” Cicio said in a statement Tuesday. It's “only going to get worse from here as LNG exports increase.”t of the Industrial Energy Consumers of America trade association, said U.S. LNG exports are pushing natural gas and electricity prices higher.

As the Sierra Club points out, Trump’s strategy “makes no sense.” And they’re right—as long as we’re talking about the future of the planet or the cost to American consumers. But that’s not who Trump is thinking about. He’s got one constituency and one only: the Big Oil execs who bankrolled his campaign. For them, this is sweet payback, a 100-1 return on their investment.

And it’s a stark reminder that we have to fight back on the only turf we have: the fact that the sun and wind can deliver the same product as LNG, only more cheaply and much more cleanly. We can’t threaten tariffs to get our way; we can only make the case in such persuasive terms that we start to change the zeitgeist. That’s the point of SunDay project I described last week and that you are going to hear a lot more about. Many thanks to those who went to sunday.earth to help us draw some suns as we prepare for the official launch of this big effort. So many of you took part already. Here’s a beautiful example from the effervescent Ayana Johnson (whose book What If We Get It Right is a document for this tough moment)

[outsidereveries]

The questions regarding smngg are

They had a global audition in many countries even in southeast asian countries this year They even had a live audition of girls from India so do you think they will add any girls from this audition in their girl group or any indian girl as kpop entertainment are welcoming indians too.

When they will debut

No of members

Concept and nationality too also rumors are this time its going to be south east asian group

Their impact on 5th gen

Will they be big as blackpink

Level of success

thank you for the.. repeating asks.

About rough energy (general reading), SMNGG as a collective group are all over the place. I believe there was change in the lineup in the recent weeks, possibly because of them being different tham the rest. They could've broke a rule as SME trainee. Nothing else. I could see a few girls close with each other, bu the way but nothing much.

About whether they'll debut in the 4th quarter of this year, yeah, I can see it, but there will be delays for their debut preparations in a way or another. I can see SMNGG debuting in December this year if they solve everything as soon as possible. There could be a scandal in the company that will be revealed publicly. If related to the girls, it can be similar situation to Karina's before aespa debuted (not saying it will be bullying 100%).

As amount of members, I see 8. They were going to be 9 if that girl wasn't kicked out. The original plan was 5-member girl group but they scrapped it out.

I do see their concept being versatile rather than having specific vibe. Maybe like Red Velvet's (oh, their impact!) but they haven't decided it very specific what and how exactly it should be.

Girl #1: The most hardworking out of all of them. The most talented but the most introverted too. She might be an it-girl of her generation, or has the potential to be very impactful. Basically, her personality is very relateable and loved. Possibly Na Haeun. As positions, I don't feel any. Maybe a bunch of them at once (Like Vocalist, Dancer, FOTG..). Might be interested in songwriting/producing songs in the future.

Girl #2: Being a trainee from quite some time. Also very hardworking and plans quite a lot. Might receive the leader position.. so possibly she's the oldest girl. I don't feel other positions. If that's Helen, then she can receive also a dancer position.

Girl #3: Very intiutive and optimistic person. She learns dances and everything else slower. If the other idols are way greater dancers, then she might receive criticism from k-netizens bc of it. Don't feel specific positions yet.

Girl #4: Might be foreigner. She feels determinated to debut, but also feels this isn't worth it to some extent. Very emotional too. Might receive vocal position (Lead?). I don't feel she's from India but she might be from an island - Japan, Indonesia, Taiwan or Malaysia. Definitely Asian.

Girl #5: Although as hardworker as the first girl, she doubts her own abilities and talents. Might have issues with her confindence, her mental health, these things. This doesn't make her less talented but she's not on her best time when I asked. Therefore, I don't feel any certain positions.

Girl #6: Might receive dancer position. Very hardworking, also very realistic mindset (with optimistic tendencies). She tries to be a good.. rapper? but doesn't feel this is her thing. SME seems to have in mind for her to be "dancer, (something else)" as positions. She tries with rapping but doesn't work as of now.

Girl #7: Might be the second most popular member in the future. Extremely emotional, very talkative, very creative too. She gives me Ningning vibes, I won't lie (because of her Libra stellium). Main vocalist, I feel so.

Girl #8: Overthinker for sure, might be very critic to herself. She is also working very hard, might come from a wealthy family. She's not rigged for sure, she might be the 2nd all-rounder of the group. I don't feel specific positions yet.

So far I sense 1 (certain?) foreigner.. and the rest of them Koreans. The 2nd girl might've lived in foreign lands, maybe Australia if that's Helen.

Their popularity in the 5th generation won't be that great, they might be overshadowed by other groups. So far I feel ther relevance will be similar to Red Velvet (just enough). Might be more popular outside of Korea.

Their success will be "just enough". The half of the girls will be more relevant than the rest. I don't feel anything prominent.

[mariacallous]

In the waters of the South China Sea, Chinese coast guard vessels have clashed with Philippine ships. In the air above the Taiwan Strait, Chinese warplanes have challenged Taiwanese jet fighters. And in the valleys of the Himalayas, Chinese troops have fought Indian soldiers.

Across several frontiers, China has been using its armed forces to dispute territory not internationally recognized as part of China but nevertheless claimed by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).

In August 2023, Beijing laid out its current territorial claims for the world to see. The new edition of the standard map of China includes lands that are today a part of India and Russia, along with island territories such as Taiwan and comprehensive stretches of the East and South China Seas that are also claimed by Brunei, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Vietnam.

China often invokes historical narratives to justify these claims. Beijing, for example, has said that the Japanese-administered Senkaku Islands, which it claims under the name of the Diaoyu Islands, “have been an inherent territory of China since ancient times.” Chinese officials have used the same words to back China’s right to parts of the northeastern Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh. The Chinese government also claims that its sovereignty over the South China Sea is based on its own historic maritime maps.

However, in certain periods since ancient times China has also held sway over other states in the region—Mongolia, North Korea, South Korea, and Vietnam. Yet Beijing is currently not laying claim to any of these.

Instead, Beijing has embraced a selective irredentism, wielding specific chapters of China’s historical record when they suit existing aims and leaving former Chinese territories be when they don’t. Over time, as Beijing’s interests and power relations have shifted, some of these claims have faded from importance, while new ones have taken their place. Yet for Taiwan, Chinese claims remain unchanged, as the fate of the island state is tied to the very legitimacy of the CCP as well as the vitality of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s political vision.

Many of the CCP’s territorial claims have roots in the 19th and 20th centuries during the late rule of the Qing Dynasty. Following diplomatic pressure and repeated military defeats, the Qing Dynasty was forced to cede territory to several Western colonial powers, as well as the Russian and Japanese empires. These concessions are part of what are known in China as the “unequal treaties,” while the 100 years in which the treaties were signed and enforced are known as the “century of humiliation.” These territorial losses eventually passed from the dynasty to the Republic of China and then, following the Chinese Civil War, to the CCP. As a result, upon the CCP’s establishment of the People’s Republic of China in 1949, the new Chinese state inherited outstanding territorial disputes with most of its neighbors.

But despite the humiliation the Qing Dynasty’s losses had caused, the CCP proved willing to compromise and reduce its territorial aims during times of high internal unrest. Following the Tibetan uprising in 1959, for instance, the CCP negotiated territorial settlements with countries bordering the Tibet region, including Myanmar, Nepal, and India. Similarly, when unrest rocked the Uyghur region in the 1960s and ‘90s, Beijing pursued territorial compromises with several bordering countries such as Afghanistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan. In the aftermath of the Great Leap Forward in the early 1960s and the 1989 Tiananmen Square Massacre, the CCP also pursued territorial settlements with Mongolia, Laos, and Vietnam in the hopes of securing China’s borders during times of domestic instability. Instead of pursuing diversionary wars, the CCP relied on diplomacy to settle border and territory disputes.

But China has changed quite a lot since then. In recent years, the CCP has avoided the inflammatory domestic political chaos of previous decades, and its once-tentative hold over border regions, such as Tibet and the Uyghur region, has been replaced by an iron grip. With this upper hand, the CCP has little incentive to pursue peaceful resolutions to remaining territorial disputes.

“China’s national power has increased significantly, reducing the benefits of compromise and enabling China to drive a much harder bargain,” said M. Taylor Fravel, a political science professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

In this context, the CCP has expanded its irredentist ambitions. After the discovery of potential oil reserves around the Senkaku Islands, and the United States’ return of the islands to Japan in the 1970s, Beijing drew on its historical record to lay claim to the islands, even though it had previously referred to them as part of the Japanese Ryukyu Islands. Similarly, though Beijing and Moscow settled a dispute over Heixiazi Island, located along China’s northeastern border, in 2004, the 2023 map of China depicted the entire island (ceded, along with vast Pacific territories, by the Qing Dynasty to the Russian Empire in 1860) as part of its domain, much to the ire of the Russian Foreign Ministry.

Collin Koh Swee Lean, a senior fellow with the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies at the Nanyang Technological University in Singapore, argues that the Chinese mapping of Heixiazi Island shows that Beijing holds on to certain core interests and simply waits for the opportune time to assert them.

“Given the current context of the war in Ukraine and Russia’s increased dependence on China, it might have appeared to Beijing that it has the chips in its pockets because, after all, Moscow needs Beijing more than the other way around,” Koh said on the German Marshall Fund’s China Global podcast.

This raises the question of whether territorial disputes that were settled during times of CCP weakness can be revisited and become subject to irredentist ambitions should power balances shift in China’s favor.

According to Steve Tsang, the director of the China Institute at the University of London’s School of Oriental and African Studies, there is currently a limit to how far the CCP will push territorial claims against Russia, since President Xi will need Russian support to sustain his grand ambitions for Chinese leadership on the global stage.

Although it would be a long shot, even Russia may not be safe from these ambitions indefinitely. Given that large swaths of Russia’s Pacific territories were part of China until 1860, “China could claim back the Russian Far East when it deems the time is right,” Tsang said. Such control would grant Beijing unrestricted access to the region’s abundance of coal, timber, tin, and gold while moving it geographically closer to its ambition of becoming an Arctic power.

While there is plenty of historical evidence pointing to former Chinese control over the southeastern portion of the Russian Far East, the historical record is less unequivocal about Chinese control over Taiwan. Anything resembling mainland Chinese control over Taiwan was not established until after 1684 by the Qing Dynasty, and even then central authority remained weak. In 1895, the Qing Dynasty ceded Taiwan to the Empire of Japan following the First Sino-Japanese War, and by the time Chinese authority was restored in 1945, Taiwan had undergone several decades of Japanization.

These details have not prevented the CCP from claiming that Taiwan has been an inalienable part of China since ancient times. Yet more than any other irredentist claim, Xi has made unification with Taiwan a major component of his vision to rejuvenate the Chinese nation.

Unification, however, has little to do with ancient history and more to do with the challenge that Taiwan presently poses to Xi’s aims, according to Chong Ja Ian, an associate professor who teaches about Chinese foreign policy at the National University of Singapore.

“The CCP pursues a Chinese nationalism that emphasizes unity and homogeneity centered around the CCP leadership while they also often claim that their single-party rule is acceptable to Chinese people,” Chong said.

In contrast, Taiwan holds free elections in which multiple political parties compete for the favor of a people that have increasingly developed an identity distinct from mainland China.

“The Taiwanese experience is a clear affront to the CCP narrative,” Chong said.

Control over Taiwan is also attractive to Beijing because it is key to unlocking the Chinese leadership’s broader ambition of maritime hegemony in waters where almost half of the world’s container fleet passed through in 2022.

As with the case of Taiwan, the CCP’s historical arguments regarding its claims on island groups and islets in the East and South China Seas are likewise much weaker than many of its land-based claims.

Instead, Chinese territorial intransigence in the maritime arena is more about a strategic shift in the value of the seas around China, Fravel said.

Today, it has been estimated that more than 21 percent of global trade passes through the South China Sea. And beneath these waters are not only subsea cables that carry sensitive internet data but also vast estimated reserves of oil and natural gas.

Although it may say otherwise, Beijing’s unwillingness to let up on its tenuous territorial maritime claims suggests that China is pursuing long-held ambitions and global aspirations rather than attempting to reverse past losses. So long as the CCP wields its historical record selectively and changeably to serve its aims—and is willing to back its claims up with military action—China’s neighbors will remain at risk.

[brookstonalmanac]

Holidays 2.12

Holidays

Bra Day (Japan)

Darwin Day

Flip Flop Day [also 3rd Friday in June]

Gamma Day (Illinois)

Georgia Day (US)

Gold Rush Day (Australia)

Hug Day

Immanuel Kant Remembrance Day

International Darwin Day

International Day Against the Use of Child Soldiers

International Day of the Prevention of Violent Extremism As & When Conducive to Terrorism

International Day of Women’s Health

Janet Jackson Appreciation Day

Lady Jane Grey’s Ghost Appearance Day

Lincoln's Birthday

Lost Penny Day

Love a Mensch Day

Makha Bucha Day (Thailand)

Memorial Day of 1990 Dushanbe Riots (Tajikistan)

Moresdag (Mother’s Day; Norway)

NAACP Day

Nancy Hanks Lincoln Memorial Day (Booneville, Indiana)

National Freedom to Marry Day

National Hump for a Day, Day

National Productivity Day (India)

National Women’s Day (Pakistan)

Oglethorpe Day (a.k.a. Georgia Day; US)

Paul Bunyan Day (Bangor, Maine) [also 8.10]

Peanut’s Remembrance Day

Pick A New Love Song Day

Red Hand Day (UN)

Rhapsody in Blue Day

Robinson Crusoe Rescue Day

Rubber Galoshes Day

Safety Pup Day

Sexual and Reproductive Health Awareness Day (Canada)

Susan B. Anthony Dollar Day

Tourism Day (Taiwan)

World Cholangiocarcinoma Day

World Lidar Day

Youth Day (Venezuela)

Food & Drink Celebrations

Hot Tea Day

National Biscotti Day

National P.B. & J. Day

Plum Pudding Day

Nature Celebrations

Common Knotgrass Day (French Republic)

Justiça Procumbens Day (Pure & Simple; Korean Birth Flowers)

Independence, Flag & Related Days

The Baillium Empire (Declared; 2019) [unrecognized]

Chile (Declared from Spain, 1818)

China (Became a Republic after Overthrow of Manchu Dynasty; 1912)

Commonwealth Day (Gibraltar)

Savannah, Georgia (Founded; 1733)

Sexistan (Declared; 2015) [unrecognized]

Union Day (Union of Burma Founded; 1947)

New Year’s Days

New Year for Trees (Tu Bishvat; Judaism)

2nd Wednesday in February

Hump Day [Every Wednesday]

Wacky Wednesday [Every Wednesday]

Waste-Not Wednesday (UK) [Wednesday of Go Green Week]

Watermelon Wednesday [2nd Wednesday of Each Month]

Website Wednesday [Every Wednesday]

Workout Wednesday [2nd Wednesday of Each Month]

Weekly Holidays beginning February 12 (2nd Week of February)

Borrowed Days (Scotland) [thru 2.14]_

Festivals On or Beginning February 12, 2025

Cheongwoldaeboreum, a.k.a. Korean Folk Festival (North Korea)

Great British Beer Festival Winter (Rotherham, United Kingdom) [thru 2.15]

Kosher Food and Wine Experience (Oxnard, California)

Lantern Festival (China) [Day 15 in Month 1]

National Farm Machinery Show & Tractor Pull (Louisville, Kentucky) [thru 2.15]

Taiwan Lantern Festival (Taoyuan, Taiwan) [thru 2.23]

Watertown Winter Farm Show (Watertown, South Dakota) [thru 2.15]

Feast Days

Aesop (Positivist; Saint)

Anthony Kauleas, Patriarch of Constantinople (Christian; Saint)

Ariadne’s Labyrinth Day (Starza Pagan Book of Days)

Benedict of Aniane (Christian; Saint)

Bruno (Muppetism)

Choes Day (Day of the Cups; Ancient Greece)

Damian of Alexandria (Christian; Saint)

Darwin Day (Pastafarian)

Diana’s Day (Ancient Rome)

Diana’s Day — Protection of Wildlife (Pagan)

Ethelwald of Lindisfarne (Christian; Saint)

Eulalia (Christian; Saint)

Feast of the Seven Founders of the Service Order

Feast of the Three Saints — Basil the Great, Gregory the Theologian (Orthodox Christian)

Festival of Artemis (Goddess of the Hunt; Ancient Greece)

Festival of Pitooyage (God of gaming & chance; Oaxaca, Mexico)

Fritter Thursday [Day after Ash Wednesday]

High Confiscation of Property (Church of the SubGenius)

Julian the Hospitaller (Christian; Saint) [travelers, innkeepers & circus performers]

Ludan (Christian; Saint)

Marina (Christian; Virgin)

Martyrs of Abitinae (Christian; Martyrs)

Meletius, Patriarch of Antioch (Christian; Saint)

Sacrifice to Dionysos (Ancient Greece)

Storm-Days begin (Celtic Book of Days)

Tales of Kelp-Koli (Shamanism)

Hebrew Calendar Holidays [Begins at Sundown Day Before]

Tu Bishvat (New Year for Trees) [14-15 Shevat]

Lunar Calendar Holidays

Chinese: Month 1 (Wu-Yin), Day 15 (Ren-Zi)

Day Pillar: Water Rat

12-Day Officers/12 Gods: Open Day (開 Kai) [Auspicious]

Holidays: Lantern Festival (元宵节)

Full Moon [2nd of the Year] (a.k.a. ... 

Bony Moon (Cherokee)

Budding Moon (China)

Daeboreum (Great Full Moon; Korea) [1st Full Moon of Lunar Calendar]

Eagle Moon (Traditional)

Grain Moon (South Africa)

The Great Fifteenth [Lunar Calendar]

Hunger or Hungry Moon (Alternate)

Ice Moon (Celtic)

Little Famine Moon (Choctaw)

Naval Full Moon Poya Day (Sri Lanka)

Raccoon Moon (Traditional)

Snow Moon (American Indian, North America, Traditional)

Southern Hemisphere: Barley, Corn, Dog, Grain, Red, Sturgeon, Wyrt Moons

Storm Moon (England, Neo-Pagan, Wicca)

Trapper’s Moon (Colonial)

Secular Saints Days

Darren Aronofsky (Entertainment)

Max Beckman (Art)

Tex Beneke (Music)

Terry Bisson (Literature)

Judy Blume (Literature)

Omar Bradley (Military)

Rolf Brem (Art)

Charles Darwin (Science)

Friedrich de la Motte Fouqué (Literature)

R. F. Delderfield (Literature)

Jean Effel (Art)

R. Buckminster Fuller (Architecture)

Steve Hackett (Music)

Roy Harris (Music)

Abraham Lincoln (Politics)

Ray Manzarek (Music)

Michael McDonald (Music)

George Meredith (Literature)

Joan Mitchell (Art)

Thomas Moran (Art)

Zoran Mušič (Art)

Anna Pavlova (Dance)

Christina Ricci (Entertainment)

Bill Russell (Sports)

Julian S. Schwinger (Science)

George Simenon (Literature)

Marie Vassilieff (Art)

Franco Zeffirelli (Entertainment)

Lucky & Unlucky Days

Prime Number Day: 43 [14 of 72]

Sakimake (先負 Japan) [Bad luck in the morning, good luck in the afternoon.]

Unfortunate Day (Pagan) [11 of 57]

Premieres

All in Fever Say Aye or The Emotion is Carried (Rocky & Bullwinkle Cartoon, S4, Ep. 204; 1963)

Andy and Min Have a Caller (The Gumps Wallace Carlson Studio Cartoon; 1921)

Andy’s Holiday (The Gumps Wallace Carlson Studio Cartoon; 1921)

Animals, by Pink Floyd (Album; 1977)

Anti-Intellectualism in American Life, by Richard Hofstadter (Non-Fiction Book; 1963)

Emperor Hymn (a.k.a. Gott erhalte Franz den Kaiser), by Joseph Haydn (Austrian Anthem; 1797)

The Automobile Ride (Fleischer Goldwyn-Bray Pictographs Cartoon; 1921)

Beanstalk Bunny (WB MM Cartoon; 1955)

The Best of Luck (The Gumps Wallace Carlson Studio Cartoon; 1921)

Blast from the Past (Film; 1999)

Blow-Up and Other Stories, by Julio Cortázar (Short Stories; 1968)

The Blue Umbrella (Animated Pixar Short; 2013)

Boomerang Bowler or Boris Makes a Comeback (Rocky & Bullwinkle Cartoon, S4, Ep. 203; 1963)

Bunny Mooning (Fleischer Color Classic Cartoon; 1937)

Centennial, by James A. Michener (Historical Novel; 1974)

Chester’s Cat (The Gumps Wallace Carlson Studio Cartoon; 1921)

Crazy Town (Noveltoons Cartoon; 1954)

A Dangerous Girl (Keen cartoon; 1917)

Deadpool (Film; 2016)

Dracula (Film; 1931)

English Settlement, by XTC (Album; 1982)

The Further Adventures of Hardrock Dome (Paramount-Bray Pictographs Cartoon; 1919)

Give ‘er the Gas (The Gumps Wallace Carlson Studio Cartoon; 1921)

Groundhog Day (Film; 1993)

Homeward Bound, by Simon & Garfunkel (Song; 1966)

Hop On Pop, by Dr. Seuss (Children’s Book; 1963)

Il Cuspidore (The Gumps Wallace Carlson Studio Cartoon; 1921)

The International (Film; 2009)

I’ve Got My Love to Keep Me Warm, by Dick Powell and Alice Faye (Song; 1937)

Kittens’ Mittens (Car-Tune Cartoon; 1940)

Life Is Beautiful (Film; 1999)

The Lyin’ Hunter (Krazy Kat Cartoon; 1937)

The Map of Tiny Perfect Things (Film; 2021)

The Masked Ball (The Gumps Wallace Carlson Studio Cartoon; 1921)

Maybe I’m Amazed (Live), by Paul McCartney and Wings (Song; 1977)

Michigan State University (School; 1855)

More Than You Know, recorded by Mildred Bailey (Song; 1942)

Moving Pictures, by Rush (Album; 1981)

NAACP (Civil Rights Organization; 1909)

On Golden Pond (Film; 1982)

On the Avenue (Film; 1937)

Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief (Film; 2010)

Pink Pest Control (Pink Panther Cartoon; 1969)

Pluto’s Housewarming (Disney Cartoon; 1947)

Porky Chops (WB LT Cartoon; 1949)

Progress (Heasrt-Pathe News Cartoon; 1918)

The Promoters (The Gumps Wallace Carlson Studio Cartoon; 1921)

Rear Window, by Cornell Woolrich (Short Story f.k.a. It Had To Be Murder; 1942)

Rhapsody in Blue, by George Gershwin (Musical Composition; 1924)

Rhythm Lullaby and Bubbling Over, by Earl Hines & His Orchestra (Songs; 1935)

Robocop (Film; 2014)

Rolling Around (The Gumps Wallace Carlson Studio Cartoon; 1921)

Roundabout, by Yes (Song; 1972)

Run to the Hills, by Iron Maiden (Song; 1982)

School Daze (Film; 1988)

The Shot Heard Round the World or The First National Bang (Rocky & Bullwinkle Cartoon, S2, Ep. 98; 1961)

Sign of the Unicorn, by Roger Zelazny (Novel; 1975) [The Chronicles of Amber, #3]

The Son Shower (Aesop’s Film Fable Cartoon; 1928)

The Space Rat or Of Mice and Menace (Rocky & Bullwinkle Cartoon, S2, Ep. 97; 1961)

The Squaw Man (Film; 1914) [1st Film made in Hollywood]

Stay Tuned (WB Cartoon; 1993)

Strictly Ballroom (Film; 1993)

Studebaker (Automobile Company’s 1st Sale; 1902)

The Swooner Crooner (Blue Ribbon Hit Parade Cartoon; 1949)

Taft Playing Golf (Criterion Komic Kartoons Cartoon; 1915)

Tapper (Videogame; 1984)

Times and Patowmack Packet (Newspaper; 1789) [1st D.C. newspaper]

Tom Turk and Daffy (WB LT Cartoon; 1944)

Untamed Heart (Film; 1993)

Vermont Gazette (Newspaper; 1781) [1st Vermont newspaper]

We Give Pink Stamps (Pink Panther Cartoon; 1965)

Whoops! I’m a Cowboy (Betty Boop Cartoon; 1937)

Zoolander 2 (Film; 2016)

Today’s Name Days

Benedikt, Eulalia, Gregor (Austria)

Zvonimir, Zvonko (Croatia)

Slavěna (Czech Republic)

Eulalia (Denmark)

Alma, Alme, Elma, Elme, Elmi (Estonia)

Elma, Elmi (Finland)

Félix (France)

Benedikt, Eulalia (Germany)

Meletios, Meletis, Plotinos (Greece)

Lídia, Lívia (Hungary)

Alessio, Eulalia, Pilerio (Italy)

Karlīna, Karline, Līna (Latvia)

Benediktas, Deimantė, Eulalija, Mantminas (Lithuania)

Randi, Randulf, Ronja (Norway)

Aleksy, Benedykt, Eulalia, Julian, Laurenty, Modest, Nora, Radzim, Trzebisława (Poland)

Meletie (Romania)

Perla (Slovakia)

Eulalia (Spain)

Evelina, Evy (Sweden)

Ulas (Ukraine)

Abra, Abraham, Abram, Bram, Darwin, Ibrahim (USA)

Today’s National Name Days

National Braydon Day

Today is Also…

Day of Year: Day 43 of 2025; 322 days remaining in the year

ISO Week: Day 3 of Week 7 of 2025

Celtic Tree Calendar: Luis (Rowan) [Day 23 of 28]

Chinese: Month 1 (Wu-Yin), Day 15 (Ren-Zi)

Chinese Year of the: Snake 4723 (until February 17, 2026) [Ding-Chou]

Coptic: 5 Amshir 1741

Druid Tree Calendar: Hackberry (Feb 9-18) [Day 4 of 10]

Hebrew: 14 Shevat 5785

Islamic: 13 Sha’ban 1446

Julian: 30 January 2025

Moon: 100%: Full Moon

Positivist: 15 Homer (2nd Month) [Aesop)

Runic Half Month: Sigel (Sun) [Day 7 of 15]

Season: Winter (Day 54 of 90)

SUn Calendar: 13 Gray; Sixthday [13 of 30]

Week: 2nd Week of February

Zodiac:

Tropical (Typical) Zodiac: Aquarius (Day 24 of 30)

Sidereal Zodiac: Capricorn (Day 29 of 29)

Schmidt Zodiac: Capricorn (Day 18 of 27)

IAU Boundaries (Current) Zodiac: Capricorn (Day 24 of 28)

IAU Boundaries (1977) Zodiac: Capricornus (Day 25 of 28)

[dr-vintura-o-serif]

Infection AU: Familial/Marital Relationships

Here is another update/info dump for this AU.

Like most AUs there are some changes regarding the characters. In this case the relationships between everyone, both Familial and Romantic.

I’m also going to be changing the names of the characters to match this (Mainly surnames, but a few might have different names altogether).

I would like feedback on this so I can make the appropriate changes before they are released as a final draft.

Now let’s start with the Familial Relationships, quick explanation first:

When I say that they are blood related, I mean that they share both parents.

When I say half related, I mean that they share 1 parent.

When I say that they are step related, I mean that they share neither parent.

Familial Relationships

1. England, Scotland, & Wales are blood related siblings, while Ireland & Northern Ireland are half related siblings (They share the same mother), Oldest to Youngest: Scotland, England, Ireland & Northern Ireland, Wales).

2. Sealand is the youngest brother of England, but was given up for adoption when he was an infant.

3. France & Monaco are blood related siblings (France is older).

4. America & Canada are blood related twins (Canada is older). They are the sons of France & an unnamed woman. France & the woman got divorced, with France taking Canada & the woman taking America. Afterwards, the woman got remarried to England who then adopted America after the woman passed from a terminal illness.

5. Molossia is the son of America & another unnamed woman.

6. Seychelles was adopted by France after the divorce (Seychelles is younger than America & Canada).

7. Australia & New Zealand are blood related siblings (Australia is older). They are the sons of England & another unnamed woman who then disappeared (Australia is a bit younger than America & Canada, while New Zealand is younger than all 3, but is older than Seychelles).

8. Hutt River & Wy are the children of Australia & another unnamed woman (Hutt River is older).

9. Ukraine & Russia are blood related siblings, while Belarus is a half related sibling (they share the same mother), (Oldest to Youngest: Ukraine, Russia, Belarus).

10. Czechia & Slovakia are step related twins, (Czechia is older).

11. Germany & Prussia are blooded related, while Worzsovia is a half related sibling (they share the same father), & Austria is adopted (Oldest to Youngest: Worzsovia, Prussia, Austria, Germany).

12. Mednigrad & Neu Fritz are half related siblings (they share the same father). Mednigrad is the son of Worzsovia & Belarus.

13. Austria & Hungary are married & Kugelmugel is their son.

14. Romania, & Moldova are blood related siblings, while Hungary is a half related sibling (They share the same father), (Oldest to Youngest: Hungary, Romania, Moldova).

15. Switzerland & Liechtenstein are half related siblings (they share the same father), (Switzerland is older).

16. Netherlands, Belgium, & Luxembourg are blood related siblings (Oldest to Youngest: Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg).

17. Italy, Romano & Seborga are blood related siblings (Oldest to Youngest: Romano, Italy, Seborga).

18. Spain & Portugal are blood related twins (Portugal is older).

19. Sweden, Denmark, & Herkalden are blood related siblings (Oldest to Youngest: Denmark, Sweden, Herkalden).

20. Norway & Iceland are half related siblings (they share the same mother), (Norway is older).

21. Ladonia is the son of Sweden & another unnamed woman. After they have broken up, Sweden started dating Finland & adopted Sealand (Ladonia is older than Sealand).

22. Finland & Estonia are half related siblings (Estonia is older), (they share the same mother).

23. Macao, Taiwan & Hong Kong are the children of China & another unnamed woman, while South Korea is a half related sibling to the 3 (they share the same father), (Oldest to Youngest: Macau, Taiwan, South Korea, Hong Kong).

24. China, India, Vietnam, Japan, Thailand, Indonesia, Philippines, Malaysia & Singapore are half related siblings (they share the same father), (Oldest to Youngest: China, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Japan, Thailand, Singapore, Vietnam).

25. Greece & Cyprus are half related siblings (they share the same mother), (Greece is older).

26. TRNC is the son of Cyprus & another unnamed woman. After she died from childbirth, Cyprus began dating Turkey who then adopted TRNC.

Romantic/Marital Relationships

1. France & England are in a co-parenting relationship, but are considering to date.

2. Germany & Italy are fiancés.

3. Prussia & Romano are testing the waters.

4. Worzsovia & Belarus are in a co-parenting relationship.

5. Austria & Hungary are married.

6. Bulgaria & Romania are dating.

7. Sweden & Finland are married.

8. Denmark & Norway are “complicated”.

9. Herkalden & Canada are testing the waters.

10. Turkey & Cyprus are dating with marriage in mind.

11. Poland & Lithuania have feelings for each other, but neither has confessed.

Please give me feedback on these ideas so that I can make corrections if needed. Thank You!

[msclaritea]

BREAKING: TWO “Female Boxers” Set To Compete At Paris 2024 Were Previously Disqualified From Women’s World Championship For Having “XY Chromosomes”

By

Anna Slatz

July 27, 2024

Two athletes competing at the Paris Olympics as “women” were previously disqualified from a women’s world championship for having “XY chromosomes.” Imane Khelif of Algeria and Lin Yu-Ting of Taiwan are scheduled to compete in Olympic women’s boxing next week despite past questions surrounding their biological sex.

The Women’s World Boxing Championships took place in March of 2023 and was hosted in New Delhi, India. A total of 324 boxers from 64 nations competed during the 10-day trial, marking the largest participation in any iteration of the championship ever recorded.

However, the grand event was marred by controversy after Umar Kremlev, president of the International Boxing Association (IBA), announced the disqualification of multiple boxers from the championship.

Kremlev said that IBA executives had met towards the championship’s grand finale to discuss “fairness among athletes and professionalism,” after concerns were raised about the biological sex of some participants. He added that after “a series of DNA-tests,” the IBA “uncovered athletes who were trying to fool their colleagues and pretend to be women.”

Speaking to TASS News, Kremlev claimed that the tests had proven the athletes in question “had XY chromosomes and were thus excluded from the sports events.”

Among the disqualified was Imane Khelif, an Algerian boxer who had been set to challenge Yang Liu of China in the welterweight final. Khelif was removed from the gold medal fight, and Thailand’s Janjaem Suwannapheng, who had lost to Khelif in the semi-finals, was allowed to proceed to fight Yang instead.

In a public statement, the IBA wrote that “a boxer from Algeria, Imane Khelif, was excluded from the IBA World Boxing Championships due to the failure to meet the IBA eligibility criteria.” But the Algerian Olympic Committee denied the IBA’s claims, attributing Khelif’s disqualification to a “conspiracy” to prevent Algeria from having a gold medal in boxing.

While they vaguely alluded to Khelif being struck for “medical reasons” surrounding high testosterone levels, they added that they would be supporting Khelif’s journey to the 2024 Paris Olympics regardless.

But following the controversial disqualification, a female boxer came forward to discuss her experience fighting Khelif in the ring at the championship.

“When I fought with her I felt very out of my depth,” Mexican boxer Brianda Tamara wrote on X. “Her blows hurt me a lot, I don’t think I had ever felt like that in my 13 years as a boxer, nor in my sparring with men. Thank God that day I got out of the ring safely, and it’s good that they finally realized,” Tamara said.

A second boxer was similarly disqualified by the IBA at the event, Taiwan’s Lin Yu-Ting, who was also stripped of a bronze medal.

Lin had previously won 5 gold medals in women’s boxing tournaments.

Lin Yu-Ting winning gold and a $100,000 prize at a 2022 women’s boxing championship.

Despite having faced the disqualification just last year, both boxers will be competing in Paris as female boxers.

Khelif is scheduled to fight Italy’s Angela Carini on August 1, while Lin Yu-Ting is set to be matched the next day.

While neither have stated they identify as transgender, it is suspected that both are impacted by a Difference of Sexual Development (DSD), a category of medical conditions encompassing any problem noted at birth where the genitalia are atypical in relation to the chromosomes or gonads.

DSDs in elite sports first came to public attention during the meteoric rise of South African runner Caster Semenya. Semenya’s rapid improvements in performance beginning in 2009 initially triggered suspicions of drug use, and World Athletics (then called the IAAF) was internationally denounced for requesting Semenya take a test to ascertain his biological sex.

Most women, including elite female athletes, have natural testosterone levels of 0.12 to 1.79 nanomoles per liter (nmol/L), but Semenya has XY chromosomes and male gonads producing a normal level of testosterone for a male. In 2011, Semenya was measured as having 15.6 and 29.3 nmol/L. Years later, a decision in the Court of Arbitration for Sport revealed that Semenya has a DSD where the normal male sexual development fails in utero, resulting in external genitals that appear to be a vagina at birth, but was in fact an underdeveloped penis.

Speaking to Reduxx, a representative with the Independent Council on Women’s Sports (ICONS) condemned the confusion that had emerged surrounding the sex of competitors due to the International Olympic Committee’s 2000 decision to end sex-verification screening.

“The IOC’s decision to end sex-verification screening in 2000 has caused distrust and confusion in women’s sports ever since,” ICONS co-founder Marshi Smith said. “Its 2021 decision to offload the responsibility for international eligibility criteria to individual sporting bodies has resulted in varied standards and widespread chaos among athletes, coaches, officials, and the public.”

Smith notes that a new boxing qualification system was implemented for the 2024 Olympics in which an ad-hoc unit was created by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) Executive Board to organize the boxing competitions for Paris 2024.

This new unit was set up after the International Boxing Association (IBA), which had previously disqualified Khelif and Lin from women’s championships, was suspended by the IOC due to concerns it was receiving funding from Russia.

In the FAQ for the Paris 2024 Boxing Unit, no gender eligibility guidelines are specified, something Smith suggests likely indicates that individual nations were given a tremendous amount of power to deem their own athletes eligible.

“In boxing, the recent contentious split between the IBA and the IOC has now placed Olympic eligibility power into the hands of national boxing federations, allowing countries like Algeria and Taiwan to set their own standards and continue placing male boxers in the ring with female athletes in combat for women’s Olympic medals,” Smith explains.

“The physical abuse of women on an Olympic stage eliminates the integrity of all Olympic events and risks lifelong injury or even death for female athletes. This deceit cannot be allowed to continue.”

[head-post]

Trump to endorse faster arms shipments to Taiwan

US President-elect Donald Trump would accelerate the delivery of American arms and military equipment to Taiwan, incoming national security advisor Mike Waltz announced.

At the US Institute of Peace in Washington, Waltz reported a backlog of more than $20 billion in weapons and equipment bought by Taiwan. In addition to expediting supplies as part of a strategy to deter China, Trump will also continue to forge partnerships and alliances throughout the Asia-Pacific region.

The security adviser praised the efforts of the outgoing administration of President Joe Biden to promote co-operation between Japan, South Korea, the Philippines and the US. He also emphasised the growing importance of India as a potential partner in the region.

Taiwan declared its independence in 1949 after the defeat of Kuomintang forces, led by Chiang Kai-shek, in a civil war. The island also retained the symbols of the Republic of China, which existed before the Communists took power on the mainland.

The United States severed diplomatic ties with Taiwan in 1979 in favour of establishing relations with China. In subsequent years, however, Washington, despite supporting the One China policy, has supplied Taiwan with arms and maintained unofficial ties.

Read more HERE

[peonycats]

russia x india, thaiviet, japan x taiwan

rusind: given what my indian friends tell me, indians seem to have a very positive perception of russia! I think it makes a lot of sense, but i must confess... I don't really have an interest in shipping russia with other characters, dare i say it I'm an asexual russia truther

taipan: From what I know about the relations between the two, I do think it makes sense for taiwan to have a very close attachment to japan, with the large role japan played in the formation of the Taiwanese identity. But I think it's definitely something stronger felt on taiwan's side than it is on japan's, and I do feel like the way it's portrayed in the fandom is a little too..... "everygirl romance webcomic protagonist x brooding male lead with flaws but a secret heart of gold " for me 😂

thaiviet: my favorite hetero pairing, sunshine boy x stoic girl but like make them both problematic🥺🥺🥺They were former rivals and enemies, saw the arrival of Europeans in Southeast Asia, took different sides on the cold war, and nowadays spend most of their time in a weird post empire semi retirement where they mostly chill out but fight like dogs and cats when soccer season comes to town ⚽🥅

[brookston]

Holidays 10.21

Holidays

Abby Cadabby Day

American Frog Day

Antillean Day (Bonaire, Curacao, Saba, St. Eustatius)

Armed Forces Day (Honduras)

Babbling Day

Back to the Future Day

Barrel Day (French Republic)

Boiler Switch On Awareness Day (UK)

Can-Can Day

Celebration of the Mind Day

Check Your Meds Day

Count Your Buttons Day

Egyptian Naval Day (Egypt)

Everyone Writes Day (UK)

Funafuti (Tuvalu)

Global Clinical Engineering Day

Global Encryption Day

Global Iodine Deficiency Day

GTA Day

Heroes and Foreparents Day (British Virgin Islands)

Humble Yourself By Having Your Picture Made Wearing A Bicycle Helmet Day

International Day of Action on Big Biomass

Jailhouse Rock Day

Light Bulb Day

Loud Shirt Day

Mashujaa Day (Kenya)

National Alexander Day

National Annual Tree Loving Day (Thailand)

National Archives Day (Philippines)s

National Breast Reconstruction Awareness Day

National Check Your Meds Day

National Check Your Transmission Day

National Dental Hygiene Day (Thailand)

National Heroes’ Day (Jamaica)

National Jameson Day

National Nurses’ Day (Thailand)

National Pets for Veterans Day

National Raymond Day

National School Bus Driver Appreciation Day

National Shut-In Day

National Social Welfare Day (Thailand)

National Throw Short People Day

National Witch Hazel Day

Ndadaye Day (Burundi)

Overseas Chinese Day (Taiwan)

Police Commemoration Day (India)

President Ndadaye Melchior (Burundi)

Reptile Awareness Day

Take Time and Watch the Sunset Day

Trafalgar Day (UK)

USS Constitution Day

Uzbek Language Day

Wonder Woman Day

World Earthworm Day

World Energy Saving Day

World Esports Day

World Feminist Radio Day

World Gaming Day

World Iodine Deficiency Day

World War II Victims Remembrance Day (Serbia)

Food & Drink Celebrations

Apple Day (UK)

Caramel Apple Day

Garbanzo Bean Day

Great British Cheese Day

International Day of the Nacho (Mexico, US)

National Honey Day (UK)

National Mezcal Day

National Pumpkin Cheesecake Day

Pop Rocks Day

World Apple Day

Independence & Related Days

Narsiryn (Declared; 2021) [unrecognized]

3rd Monday in October

Boss's Day [10.16 or nearest work day]

Circular Economy Monday (Canada) [3rd Monday]

Clean Your Virtual Desktop Day [3rd Monday]

Day of Races (Colombia) [3rd Monday]

Hurricane Thanksgiving Day (Virgin Islands) [3rd Monday]

International Adjust Your Chair Day [3rd Monday]

Manic Monday [3rd Monday of Each Month]

Meatball Monday [3rd Monday of Each Month]

Meditation Monday [Every Monday]

Monday Musings [Every Monday]

Motivation Monday [Every Monday]

Multicultural Diversity Day [3rd Monday]

National Heroes Day (Jamaica) [3rd Monday]

Weekly Holidays beginning October 21 (3rd Full Week of October)

Bone and Joint Health Action Week (thru 10.27) [3rd Week]

Disarmament Week [Week of 10.24]

Fairfield Restaurant Week (Fairfield, Connecticut) [thru 11.3]

Hepatitis Awareness Week (thru 10.27) [3rd Week]

International Infection Prevention Week (thru 10.27) [3rd Week]

National Baking Week (thru 10.27) [3rd Week]

National Culinary Week (thru 10.27) [3rd Week]

National Food Bank Week (thru 10.27) [3rd Week]

National Health Education Week (thru 10.25) [3rd Mon-Fri]

National Kraut Sandwich Week (thru 10.27) [3rd Week]

National Nuclear Science Week (thru 10.25) [3rd Mon-Fri]

YMCA Week without Violence Week (thru 10.25) [3rd Week]

Festivals Beginning October 21, 2024

CHC GALA (New York, New York)

NC Yam Festival (Tabor City, North Carolina) [thru 10.26]

Ohio Bar Owners Bar Expo (Columbus, Ohio)

Philly Music Fest (Ardmore, Pennsylvania) [thru 10.27]

Feast Days

Abby Cadabby (Muppetism)

Asterius of Ostia (Christian; Saint)

Berthold of Parma (Christian; Saint)

The Birdman (Muppetism)

Bruno Hauptmann Day (Church of the SubGenius; Saint)

Charles of Austria, Blessed (Roman Catholic Church)

Domenichino (Artology)

Festival of Parlor Shamanism

Fintán of Taghmon (Christian; Saint)

Great Horn Fair (Pagan)

Hilarion (Christian; Saint)

John of Bridlington (Christian; Saint)

Katsushika Hokusai (Artology)

Laura of Saint Catherine of Siena (Christian; Saint)

Leticia (Christian; Saint)

Lord Bacon (Positivist; Saint)

Maha Saptama Great Ceremony; Hinduism) [7th Day of 9th Moon]

Malchus of Syria (Christian; Saint)

Mary Blair (Artology)

Nikos Engonopoulos (Artology)

Patrick Kavanagh (Writerism)

Peter Yu Tae-chol (Christian; Saint)

Phulpati [7th Day of Dashain]

Samuel Taylor Coleridge (Writerism)

Seek the King Week (Shamanism)

Severinus of Bordeaux (Christian; Saint)

Try Thinking Day (Pastafarian)

Tuda of Lindisfarne (Christian; Saint)

Ursula (Christian; Saint)

Ursula K. Le Guin (Writerism)

Viator of Lyons (Christian; Saint)

Lucky & Unlucky Days

Fortunate Day (Pagan) [43 of 53]

Sakimake (先負 Japan) [Bad luck in the morning, good luck in the afternoon.]

Umu Limnu (Evil Day; Babylonian Calendar; 49 of 60)

Premieres

All the Right Stuff (Film; 1983)

The Awful Truth (Film; 1937)

Bad as Me, by Tom Waits (Album; 2011)

The Banshees of Inisherin (Film; 2022)

Batman: Mystery of the Batwoman (WB Animated Film; 2003)

Bat Out of Hell, by Meatloaf (Album; 1977)

Big Heel-Watha, a.k.a. Buck of the Month (Tex Avery Screwy Squirrel MGM Cartoon; 1944)

Black Adam (Film; 2022)

The Boys from Brazil, by Ira Levin (Novel; 1976)

Bullets Over Broadway (Film; 1994)

Chase Me (WB Cartoon; 2003)

Comes a Time, by Neil Young (Album; 1978)

The Dead Zone (Film; 1983)

Doctor Pink (Pink Panther Cartoon; 1978)

Dopey Dick the Pink Whale (Woody Woodpecker Cartoon; 1957)

Down Beat Bear (Tom & Jerry Cartoon; 1956)

Dune Messiah, by Frank Herbert (Novel; 1969) [Dune #2]

Everything to Everyone, by Barenaked Ladies (Album; 2003)

Footlight Parade (Film; 1933)

For Whom the Bell Tolls, by Ernest Hemingway (Novel; 1940)

The Framed Cat (Tom & Jerry Cartoon; 1950)

The Geezer (Super Chicken Cartoon; 1967) [#7]

The Good Egg (WB MM Cartoon; 1939)

Goonland (Fleischer Popeye Cartoon; 1938)

It Can't Happen Here, by Sinclair Lewis (Novel; 1935)

Jack Reacher: Never Go Back (Film; 2016)

The Mandarins, by Simone de Beauvoir (Novel; 1954)

Moonlight (Film; 2015)

My Fair Lady (Film; 1964)

Mystic Pizza (Film; 1988)

The Newcomer (Terrytoons Cartoon; 1938)

Next Time, Take the Train (George of the Jungle Cartoon; 1967) [#7]

Oliver and the Artful Dodger (Hanna-Barbera Animated TV Movie; 1972)

One Horse Town (Woody Woodpecker Cartoon; 1968)

Orpheus in the Underworld, by Jacques Offenbach (Operetta; 1858)

The Peripheral (TV Series; 2022)

Pink Pictures (Pink Panther Cartoon; 1978)

Plague Dogs (Animated Film; 1982)

Polka Party, by Weird Al Yankovic (Album; 1986)

Romantic Melodies (Betty Boop Cartoon; 1932)

Rumble Fish (Film; 1983)

The Sheik (Silent Film; 1921)

Sex, by Madonna and photographer Steven Meisel (Book; 1992)

Speed Racer (Film; 2008)

Stooge for a Mouse (WB MM Cartoon; 1950)

Tapeheads (Film; 1988)

What’s My Lion (WB LT Cartoon; 1961)

You Don’t Know What You’re Doin’ (WB MM Cartoon; 1931)

You Want It Darker, by Leonard Cohen (Album; 2016)

Today’s Name Days

Karl, Ulla, Ursula (Austria)

Hilarion, Kajo, Uršula, Zvjezdan (Croatia)

Brigita (Czech Republic)

Ursula (Denmark)

Ulla, Ulrika, Ursula (Estonia)

Ursula (Finland)

Céline, Ursule (France)

Celina, Holger, Ulla, Ursula (Germany)

Christodoulos, Efkratis, Orsalia, Socrates, Sokrates, Sokratis, Ursula (Greece)

Orsolya (Hungary)

Orsola (Italy)

Garlibs, Ginta, Gints, Severins, Urzula (Latvia)

Hiliaras, Raitvilas, Uršulė (Lithuania)

Bergljot, Birger (Norway)

Bernard, Celina, Dobromił, Elżbieta, Hilary, Klemencja, Pelagia, Pelagiusz, Urszula, Wszebora (Poland)

Taisia (Russia)

Uršuľa (Slovakia)

Úrsula (Spain)

Ursula, Yrsa (Sweden)

Ada, Ilarion, Larry (Ukraine)

Celina, Celine, Nobel, Selena, Selina, Ursula, Wanda, Wendall, Wendell, Wendy (USA)

Today is Also…

Day of Year: Day 295 of 2024; 71 days remaining in the year

ISO: Day 8 of Week 43 of 2024

Celtic Tree Calendar: Gort (Ivy) [Day 23 of 28]

Chinese: Month 9 (Jia-Xu), Day 19 (Wu-Wu)

Chinese Year of the: Dragon 4722 (until January 29, 2025) [Wu-Chen]

Hebrew: 19 Tishri 5785

Islamic: 17 Rabi II 1446

J Cal: 25 Orange; Foursday [25 of 30]

Julian: 8 October 2024

Moon: 76%: Waning Gibbous

Positivist: 15 Descartes (11th Month) [Cujas / Grotius]

Runic Half Month: Gyfu (Gift) [Day 15 of 15]

Season: Autumn or Fall (Day 30 of 90)

Week: 3rd Full Week of October

Zodiac: Libra (Day 29 of 30)

[uglyparkbench]

my side-blogs: @mmryooze (photography), @egorth (randoms)

all kinds of art related posts: ⭑ paintings, illustrations, photography, graffiti, fanart ⭑ sculptures, mixed media art

text-based: ⭑ poetry, quotes, text

by country: ⭑ palestine, lebanon, syria, iraq, yemen, jordan, qatar ⭑ egypt, sudan, tunisia, morocco, mauritania, libya, algeria, somalia, eritrea, ghana, ethiopia, ivory coast, mauritius, dr congo ⭑ afghanistan, iran, turkmenistan, uzbekistan, kazakhstan, pakistan, india, nepal ⭑ philippines, taiwan, japan, xinjiang uyghur, china, mongolia ⭑ native american, jamaica, haiti, cuba, brazil, costa rica, mexico, usa ⭑ turkey, armenia, ireland, italy, greece, germany, austria, czech republic, georgia, russia, scotland, england

other: ⭑ stamps, gifs, films, food, animals ⭑ my posts, gofundmes, posts that make you go "real"

[qnewsau]

Thailand MPs fly pride flag after passing same-sex marriage

New Post has been published on https://qnews.com.au/thailand-mps-fly-pride-flag-after-passing-same-sex-marriage/

Thailand MPs fly pride flag after passing same-sex marriage

Thailand MPs have waved a big rainbow flag in parliament after they overwhelmingly voted to pass a same-sex marriage bill.

Four hundred of 415 politicians voted for the landmark bill in the country’s lower house this week. The bill must now be approved by the senate and endorsed by the Thai king.

It means Thailand is set to become the first Southeast Asian nation to legalise marriages between two people regardless of gender, per the bill.

After it passed, politicians cheered and a group of them waved a large rainbow flag. Thailand’s Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin is a big supporter of the reform.

Thai MP Danuphorn Punnakanta, who led a committee working on the draft bill, said its passage “elevates the status of Thailand in the eyes of the world”.

“The right to equality in Thailand has begun today,” he said.

“It is the beginning, and there will be further legislation relating to people’s rights and freedom as a result.”

Thailand will join Taiwan and Nepal as the only countries in Asia to legalise same-sex marriages.

Taiwan was the first in Asia to allow same-sex marriages in 2019.

Last year, Nepal recognised same-sex marriages under an interim order from the country’s Supreme Court.

Marriage equality around the world:

Aussie couple wants one of Greece’s first gay weddings

Couples celebrate in Estonia as same-sex marriage now legal

Couples in Nepal celebrate ruling allowing same-sex marriage

India’s top court refuses to legalise same-sex marriage

For the latest LGBTIQA+ Sister Girl and Brother Boy news, entertainment, community stories in Australia, visit qnews.com.au. Check out our latest magazines or find us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.

[taiwanexpoindia]

Taiwan Expo India 2024: Premier Innovation Showcase at Pragati Maidan, New Delhi

The Taiwan Expo India 2024 is set to be a landmark event, marking its return to New Delhi with a grand showcase of technological advancements and cultural richness from Taiwan. Scheduled from July 8 to July 10, 2024, at the iconic Pragati Maidan, this expo aims to foster stronger economic ties and collaboration between Taiwan and India. Organized by the Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA), along with the International Trade Administration (TITA) and the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA), the expo promises to be a dynamic platform for innovation, trade, and cultural exchange.

Dates: July 8-10, 2024 Location: Pragati Maidan,Hall no 2(Entry Gate 4), New Delhi

Key Themes and Pavilions

The Taiwan Expo 2024 will feature five central themes, each highlighting Taiwan’s expertise and innovative spirit across various sectors:

Smart Manufacturing: This pavilion will showcase Taiwan’s advanced manufacturing technologies, which are integral to industries worldwide. Expect to see demonstrations of automation, robotics, and cutting-edge machinery designed to enhance efficiency and productivity in manufacturing processes.

Smart City: As cities around the world evolve into smarter, more connected ecosystems, Taiwan is at the forefront with its smart city solutions. The Smart City pavilion will present technologies that contribute to sustainable urban development, including smart transportation systems, energy management, and IoT (Internet of Things) applications.

Smart Lifestyle: Taiwan’s innovations extend into everyday life, improving how we live and interact with technology. The Smart Lifestyle pavilion will feature products that enhance quality of life, from smart home devices to consumer electronics and health and wellness innovations.

Wellness Fiesta: Health and wellness are critical components of a balanced lifestyle. This theme will focus on Taiwan's contributions to medical devices, personal care, and health-related technologies, highlighting products that promote well-being and healthy living.

Green Innovations: Reflecting Taiwan’s commitment to environmental sustainability, the Green Innovations pavilion will display eco-friendly technologies and solutions aimed at reducing carbon footprints and fostering a greener planet. This includes renewable energy technologies, green materials, and sustainable practices.

Explore Taiwan's cutting-edge technology and innovative solutions at the Taiwan Expo India 2024. This event will feature over 110 exhibitors across 160 booths, showcasing advancements in smart manufacturing, green innovations, and more. Join us at Pragati Maidan for a unique opportunity to discover Taiwan's contributions to modern technology and culture. Don’t miss out on engaging with top industry leaders and experiencing Taiwan’s rich cultural heritage!

[mariacallous]

Across the globe, a diverse group of nations that view world politics differently from the United States are rising and flexing their diplomatic muscle in ways that are complicating American statecraft. From Africa to Latin America, to the Middle East and Asia, these emerging powers refuse to fit into traditional U.S. thinking about the world order. The successful pursuit of American interests in the mid-21st century calls for a strategy that attracts them toward the United States and its ideals but without expecting them to line up in lockstep with Washington.

“We refuse to be a pawn in a new cold war,” Indonesian President Joko Widodo, known as Jokowi, said in November 2022. His views are shared in some form or another by leaders of Argentina, Brazil, India, Mexico, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Thailand, and Turkey. All 10 of these nations are either in the G-20 or have economies large enough to warrant membership. A majority of them have populations larger than Germany’s. Collectively, they make up around a third of the world’s population and a fifth of its economic production, while also constituting a major share of the so-called global south’s population and economic production.

In the next two decades, emerging powers like these will climb the ranks of the world’s largest economies and populations, reshaping the structure of world politics in the process. Their diplomacy is increasingly ambitious. And they are taking positions that run counter to those of the United States with growing boldness. Washington and its allies should accept not only that these powers are emerging, but also that as they grow stronger, they will not align with Washington’s preferences on many international issues, especially when it comes to Russia and China.

When Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, most of these powers declined to join the U.S.-led coalition to support Ukraine, refusing to take concrete action with sanctions on Russia or weapons for Kyiv. Some emerging powers, such as India and Turkey, even expanded economic ties with Russia.

Meanwhile, several of them pursued active diplomacy to end the war, challenging the U.S. policy of supporting Ukraine “as long as it takes.” Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, for example, pitched a plan to assemble a peace club to end the war and urged Washington to “stop encouraging war and start talking about peace.” Separately, Jokowi visited Kyiv and then Moscow, urging Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Russian President Vladimir Putin to start a dialogue. South Africa led a delegation of African leaders to end the war, and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has maintained a working relationship with Putin and sought to keep diplomatic channels open.

Most of these emerging powers also have warm ties with Beijing. They are reluctant to do anything that would endanger their economic relations with China. On a visit to Beijing in 2023, for example, Lula pledged to work with China to “balance world geopolitics”—a phrase that implied upending American global primacy. Even India, which sees China as an adversary and has grown much closer to the United States in recent years, is very unlikely to back the United States militarily in the event of a war over Taiwan.

Washington thus needs to avoid the urge to frame this world historical moment as a neo-Cold War ideological struggle. When the United States appeals to the emerging powers to sacrifice their interests for the liberal world order, they suspect that it is simply trying to woo them for its hard-power struggles with Russia and China. Their officials are quick to cite the 2003 Iraq War as evidence that Washington is not so committed as it claims to the liberal international order. They point to the many cases where the United States has compromised on its high principles and backed autocrats. President Joe Biden’s support for Israel’s campaign in Gaza has only given them another reason to doubt the veracity of American claims to exceptional moral authority.

Most of these emerging powers have limited political headroom anyway for ideological struggles of the kind that so often animate U.S. foreign policy. Indian Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar drove this point home when he pointed out that Europe’s ability to wean itself from Russian energy was a luxury that India did not have. “I have a population at $2,000 [per capita annual income],” he said. “I also need energy, and I am not in a position to pay high prices for oil.”

Given frictions between Washington and so many emerging powers of late, it can be tempting to disregard them and focus solely on countering Beijing and Moscow. But this would be a mistake. The emerging powers don’t pose a threat of the kind that U.S. adversaries can, but they also can’t just be ignored. China and Russia are certainly not going to ignore them—in fact, they are actively courting their leaders for political ties and market access with the hope of building a network of political and economic partners to obviate the need for ties to the West.

The emerging powers are also very open to China’s backing for alternative international institutions, such as the BRICS New Development Bank, that offer the prospect of infusions of capital without the bothersome conditions that accompany Western loans. They are critical of many aspects of the U.S.-led international order, which they see as dominated by former colonial powers and unfairly structured to serve the interests of the world’s wealthiest nations.

The good news for Washington is that the emerging powers don’t want to be vassals of China any more than they want to be vassals of America. They are not swing states ready to pick sides in a neo-Cold War. In fact, they actively seek a more fluid and multipolar world, one in which they believe they will have more leverage and freedom of maneuver. Many, moreover, maintain closer economic ties with the United States than China, especially when it comes to investment and defense cooperation.

Washington can make progress with these powers if it puts aside grand ideological framings about the liberal world order and focuses on developing a positive value proposition that offers meaningful benefit to their economic and political development, sovereignty, and aspirations for an enhanced voice in international affairs.

Although trade agreements have become politically unpopular for Republicans and Democrats alike, market access remains a powerful tool the United States has to this end. Other mutually beneficial economic arrangements are imaginable, focused on specific sectors and packages. So is cooperation on infrastructure investments, technology manufacturing, energy transition initiatives, deforestation, public health, and other areas.

Even when making progress on common interests, the emerging powers will also maintain substantial relationships with U.S. adversaries. Washington should not fall into the trap of judging the quality of its relations with the emerging powers by the strength of their ties to China or Russia.

Ultimately, the best way to engage with these nations is to help them strengthen their sovereignty so that they can resist the influence of U.S. adversaries and gain a real stake in sustaining a peaceful world order. This will take time and a change of approach but is likely to pay long-term benefits to America’s prosperity and continued global leadership.

[brookstonalmanac]

Holidays 2.11

Holidays

Agriculture Day (Canada)

American Hospital Day

Armed Forces Day (Liberia)

Assault on Copenhagen Day (Denmark)

Be Electrific Day

Burt Reynolds Day

Civil Registration Office Employees Day (Ukraine)

Day of Revenue Service (Azerbaijan)

Death Valley National Monument Day

Don't Cry Over Spilled Milk Day

Don’t Shoot Your Friend in the Face While Hunting Day

Evelio Javier Day (Philippines)

Flash Appreciation Day

Get Out Your Guitar Day

Ghost Day

Giorno della Conciliazione Day (Italy)

Grandmother Achievement Day

Gratified Being Single Day

Guðfriðr's Day (Aedeland)

Hug a Tall Person Day

International Day of Women and Girls in Science (UN)

Islamic Revolution Day (Iran)

Janet Jackson Appreciation Day

KISS Day (South Carolina)

La-Z-Boy Chair Day

Leslie Nielsen Day

Make A Friend Day (a.k.a. Make A New Friend Day)

Meaning of Life Day

Meringue Memorial Day

National Emergency Number Day (Finland)

National Guitar Day (a.k.a. Get Out Your Guitar Day)

National Inventor's Day

National Shut-In Visitation Day

National Sports Day (Qatar)

National 211 Day

Nelson Mandela Day (South Africa)

112 Day (EU)

Promise Day

Pro Sports Wives Day

Safer Internet Day

Satisfied Staying Single Day

Shaheed Day (Bangladesh)

Thaipoosam (a.k.a. Thaipusam or Thaipoosam Cavadee; India, Malaysia, Mauritius)

Wear Orange for Teen Dating Violence Awareness Day

Weiberfastnacht (Germany)

White Shirt Day (a.k.a. White T-Shirt Day)

Whitney Houston Appreciation Day

World Day of Medical Women

World Day of the Sick (Roman Catholic)

World Unani Day (India)

Youth Day (Cameroon)

Food & Drink Celebrations

National Latte Day

National Pork Rind Appreciation Day

National Roast Day

Peppermint Patty Day

Nature Celebrations

Couch Grass Day (French Republic)

Forest Animal Feeding Day (Poland)

Melissa Day (Sympathy; Korean Birth Flowers)

Independence, Flag & Related Days

Foundation Day (Japan; 660 B.C.E.)

Honduras (Declared; 1922)

Independence Proclamation Day (Norway; 1814)

National Day (Iran)

Vatican City (Lateran Treaty signed with Italy, 1929)

2nd Tuesday in February

Extraterrestrial Culture Day (New Mexico) [2nd Tuesday]

Extraterrestrial Visitor Day [2nd Tuesday]

Lucky Day for Making Journeys & Getting Married (Celtic Book of Days) [2nd Tuesday]

National AAP & APRP Recognition Day [2nd Tuesday]

National Sports Day (Qatar) [2nd Tuesday]

Table Tennis Tuesday [2nd Tuesday of Each Month]

Taco Tuesday [Every Tuesday]

Target Tuesday [Every Tuesday]

Tater Tot Tuesday [Every Tuesday]

Tomato Tuesday [2nd Tuesday of Each Month]

Travel Light Tuesday (UK) [Tuesday of Go Green Week]

Trivia Tuesday [Every Tuesday]

Two For Tuesday [Every Tuesday]

Wear Orange 4 Love Day (for Healthy Teen relationships) [2nd Tuesday]

Weekly Holidays beginning February 11 (2nd Week of February)

National Date (Fruit) Week (thru 2.20)

Festivals On or Beginning February 11, 2025

Gasparilla Carnival (Tampa, Florida)_

Iowa Specialty Producers Conference (Ankeny, Iowa) [thru 2.12]

Minnesota Pork Congress (Mankato, Minnesota) [thru 2.12]

Sanremo Music Festival (Sanremo, Italy) [thru 2.15]

World Ag Expo (Tulare, California) [thru 2.13]

Yanshui Beehive Fireworks Festival (Tainan, Taiwan) [thru 2.12]

Lunar Calendar Holidays

Chinese: Month 1 (Wu-Yin), Day 14 (Xin-Hai)

Day Pillar: Metal Pig

12-Day Officers/12 Gods: Receive Day (收 Shou) [Inauspicious]

Holidays: None Known

Secular Saints Days

Jennifer Aniston (Entertainment)

Elsa Beskow (Art)

Paul Bocuse (Food)

Carlo Carrà (Art)

Sheryl Crow (Music)

Roy De Forest (Art)

Thomas Edison (Science)

Diane Franklin (Entertainment)

Ellen Day Hale (Art)

Else Lasker-Schüler (Literature)

Damian Lewis (Entertainment)

Tina Louise (Entertainment)

Sergio Mendes (Music)

John Mills (Music)

Leslie Nielsen (Entertainment)

Burt Reynolds (Entertainment)

Alan Rubin (Music)

Leo Szilard (Science)

Thaddeus Kościuszko (Military)

Gene Vincent (Music)

Mo Willems (Art)

Jane Yolen (Literature)

Feast Days

Adolph (Christian; Saint)

Benedict of Aniame (Christian; Saint)

Blaise (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)

Bounce on the Bed Day (Pastafarian)

Cædmon, first recorded Christian poet in England, c. 680 CE (Anglicanism)

Feast Day of Our Lady of Lourdes (Roman Catholic)

Feast of Our Lady’s Miraculous Apparitions (Christian)

Festival of Ptah (Ancient Egyptian God of Creativity; Starza Pagan Book of Days)

Gobhnat (Celtic Book of Days)

Gobnait (Christian; Saint)

Gregory II, pope (Christian; Saint)

Hide Under the Bed Day (Pastafarian)

Jane Yolan (Writerism)

Lazarus of Milan (Christian; Saint)

Lucius (Christian; Martyr)

Our Lady of Lourdes (Christian; Saint)

Overindulgence Festival (Church of the SubGenius)

Paschal I, pope (Christian; Saint)

Pattern Day (Ireland)

Phidias (Positivist; Saint)

Pilgrimage Day (Lourdes, France)

Saturninus, Dativus, and others (Christian; Martyrs)

Severinus (Christian; Saint)

Sol (Muppetism)

Tachychardia Week (Church of the SubGenius)

Tales of Kelp-Koli (Shamanism)

Theodora, Byzantine Empress (Anglo-Romish)

Tiresias’s Day (Pagan)

True Parents Day (Unification Church)

Ume Matsuri begins (Plum Blossom Festival; Atami, Japan)

Lucky & Unlucky Days

Fortunate Day (Pagan) [7 of 53]

Tomobiki (友引 Japan) [Good luck all day, except at noon.]

Tycho Brahe Unlucky Day (Scandinavia) [8 of 37]

Premieres

Ballet-Oop (UPA Cartoon; 1954)

The Beach (Film; 2000)

Between the Buttons, by The Rolling Stones (Album; 1967)

Black Spring, by Henry Miller (Novel; 1936)

The Boa Friend (Blue Racer Cartoon; 1973)

Bobby Bumps in the Great Divide (Paramount-Bray Pictographs Cartoon; 1917)

Born This Way, by Lady Gaga (Song; 2011)

Bosko in Person (WB LT Cartoon; 1933)

The Bourne Supremacy, by Robert Ludlum (Novel; 1986)

Box-Office Bunny (WB LT Cartoon; 1991)

Bride & Prejudice (Film; 2005)

The Captains and the Kids (MGM Cartoon; 1939)

Cedar Rapids (Film; 2011)

Col. Herza Liar, Detective (Colonel Herzl Liar Cartoon; 1923)

Death on the Nile (Film; 2022)

Der Captain Is Examined for Insurance (Hearst-Vitagraph News Pictorial Cartoon; 1916)

Dirty Snow, by Georges Simenon (Novel; 1948)

Donald’s Happy Birthday (Donald Duck Disney Cartoon; 1949)

Elvis (TV movie; 1979)

The French Chef (Cooking TV Series; 1963)

Gnomeo & Juliet (Animated Film; 2011)

Goodrich Dirt’s Bear Facts (Paramount-Bray Pictographs Cartoon; 1918)

The Grocery Boy (Disney Cartoon; 1932)

Happy Hooligan (Hearst-Vitagraph News Pictorial Cartoon; 1917)

Happy Together, by The Turtles (Song; 1967)

Hitch (Film; 2005)

Hoppy Daze (WB LT Cartoon; 1961)

Hurts and Flowers (Roland & Rattfink Cartoon; 1969)

Ice Boxed (Krazy Kat Cartoon; 1928)

I Lombardi alla Prima Crociata (The Lombards at the first Crusade), by Giuseppe Verdi (Opera; 1843)

Inviting Anna (Film; 2022)

I Think We’re Alone Now, by Tommy James and the Shondells (Song;1967)

Just Go with It (Film; 2011)

La Fille du Régiment (The Daughter of the Regiment), by Getano Donizetti (Opera; 1840)

Linger Awhile and Mobile Day, recorded by Rex Stewart & His Orchestra (Song; 1940)

London University (UK School; 1826)

Lovesick Blues, by Hank Williams (Song; 1949)

The Magic Christian (Film; U.S. 1970)

Mama’s New Hat (Captain & the Kids MGM Cartoon; 1939)

Meet the Champ (Speaking of Animals Cartoon; 1949)

Memories of the Future, by Sigizmund Krzhizhanovsky (Short Stories; 1989) [Written in 1920]

The Might Celt (Film; 2005)

The Moose and the Monster or Nothing But the Pest (Rocky & Bullwinkle Cartoon, S5, Ep. 255; 1964)

Mutiny on the Bunny (WB LT Cartoon; 1950)

No Deposit No Return (Film; 1976)

The Novelty Shop (Color Rhapsody Cartoon; 1936)

Nurse to Meet Ya (Fleischer/Famous Popeye Cartoon; 1955)

Old Doc Gloom (Hearst-Vitagraph News Pictorial Cartoon; 1916)

Our Cartoon President (Animated TV Series; 2018)

The Piano (Film; 1994)

Pooh’s Heffalump Movie (Animated Film; 2005)

The Quetong Missile Mystery (Animated TV Show;Jonny Quest #22; 1965)

Red Riding Hoodlum (Woody Woodpecker Cartoon; 1957)

Robin Hood Makes Good (WB MM Cartoon; 1939)

Running on Empty, by Jackson Browne (Album; 1978)

R.U.R., by Karel Čapek (TV movie; 1938) [1st Science Fiction program]

Scrappy Birthday (Andy Panda Cartoon; 1949)

Self Control (Donald Duck Disney Cartoon; 1938)

Simon Says, Be My Valentine, Parts 1 & 2 (Underdog Cartoon, S3, Eps. 17 & 18; 1967)

Smash and Grab (SparkShorts Pixar Animated Short; 2019)

Symphony No. 9 in D Minor, by Anton Bruckner (Symphony; 1903)

Testing 1, 2, 3, or Tape a Number (Rocky & Bullwinkle Cartoon, S5, Ep. 256; 1964)

There’s a Kind of Hush, by Herman’s Hermits (Song; 1967)

Thieves Like Us (Film; 1974)

The Tigger Movie (Animated Disney Film; 2000)

University of Missouri (School; 1839)

The Violins of Saint-Jacques, by Patrick Leigh Fermor (Novel; 1953)

Walking After Midnight, by Patsy Cline (Song; 1957)

Weasel Stop (WB LT Cartoon; 1956)

The Wreck of the Hesperus (Super Mouse Cartoon; 1944)

Today’s Name Days

Anselm (Austria)

Marija, Mirjana (Croatia)

Božena (Czech Republic)

Euphrosyne (Denmark)

Teri, Terje (Estonia)

Iisa, Isabella, Talvikki (Finland)

Lourdes (France)

Maria Lourdes, Theodora, Theodor (Germany)

Avgi, Theodora, Vlassis (Greece)

Bertold, Marietta (Hungary)

Dante, Durante, Eloisia, Lourdes (Italy)

Laima, Laimdota, Laimrota (Latvia)

Adolfas, Algirdas, Algirdė, Liucijus (Lithuania)

Ingve, Yngve (Norway)

Adolf, Adolfa, Adolfina, Alf, Bernadetta, Dezydery, Eufrozyna, Łazarz, Lucjan, Maria, Olgierd, Świętomira (Poland)

Teodora, Vlasie (Romania)

Dezider (Slovakia)

Lourdes, Pedro (Spain)

Inge, Yngve (Sweden)

Ulas (Ukraine)

Adolfo, Adolph, Adolpha, Alva, Alvarita, Alvaro, Lourdes (USA)

Today’s National Name Days

National Ava Day

National Marc Day

National Van Day

Today is Also…

Day of Year: Day 42 of 2025; 323 days remaining in the year

ISO Week: Day 2 of Week 7 of 2025

Celtic Tree Calendar: Luis (Rowan) [Day 22 of 28]

Chinese: Month 1 (Wu-Yin), Day 14 (Xin-Hai)

Chinese Year of the: Snake 4723 (until February 17, 2026) [Ding-Chou]

Coptic: 4 Amshir 1741

Druid Tree Calendar: Hackberry (Feb 9-18) [Day 3 of 10]

Hebrew: 13 Shevat 5785

Islamic: 12 Sha’ban 1446

Julian: 29 January 2025

Moon: 99%: Waxing Gibbous

Positivist: 14 Homer (2nd Month) [Phidias)

Runic Half Month: Sigel (Sun) [Day 6 of 15]

Season: Winter (Day 53 of 90)

SUn Calendar: 12 Gray; Fryday [12 of 30]

Week: 2nd Week of February

Zodiac:

Tropical (Typical) Zodiac: Aquarius (Day 23 of 30)

Sidereal Zodiac: Capricorn (Day 28 of 29)

Schmidt Zodiac: Capricorn (Day 17 of 27)

IAU Boundaries (Current) Zodiac: Capricorn (Day 23 of 28)

IAU Boundaries (1977) Zodiac: Capricornus (Day 24 of 28)