Showing posts with label May Day. Show all posts
Showing posts with label May Day. Show all posts

Friday, May 1, 2026

May Day 5/1 protests, demonstrations (live)


LIVE: Hundreds join May Day protest march through downtown Washington D.C. | AC1N
Llanfyllin Carnival and Welsh children dancing around Maypole during Calan Mai
Beltane Festival 2019 ending ceremony, May Queen and Green Man at Bonfire

International Workers' Day is observed on May 1st. It is also called "May Day" but differs from the pagan/heathen European fertility festival May Day (like Shinto Japan's Steel Phallus Fest), which is of ancient origins.


2022 Festival of Fires: Beltane
It marks the beginning of summer, usually celebrated on May 1, around halfway between the Northern Hemisphere's spring equinox and midsummer solstice [1, 2].

Festivities are also held the night before (on April 30th), which is known as May Eve. Traditions include gathering green branches and wildflowers ("bringing in the May") [3] that are used to decorate buildings and made into wreaths. Plus there's the:
Vintage May Day (Jessie Wilcox Smith/Etsy)
  • Crowning a May Queen (ask Led Zeppelin), sometimes with a male companion (Jack in the Green) decked in greenery;
  • setting up a Maypole, May Tree, or May Bush, around which celebrants dance and sing;
  • parades and processions involving these [4].
  • Bonfires are also a major part of the festival in some regions.
Regional varieties and related traditions include Walpurgis Night in central and northern Europe [1], the Gaelic festival Beltane [5], the Welsh festival Calan Mai [5], and May devotions to the Blessed Virgin Mary (a Christian-Jewish version of Kwan Yin or Mother Maya). It has also been associated with the ancient Roman festival Floralia [6]. More

Congress fails citizens, won't stop Trump

Thursday, May 22, 2025

Will Trump survive 5/27? (The Simpsons)


Can The Simpsons really predict the future? No. When has it ever? Yeah, well, except for those times, but that was pure coincidence, luck of the draw, and anyone could have seen those things coming. Why should this be any different? The King is well-fed; long live the King!

Sunday, May 4, 2025

May 4th: Star Wars Day 2025: Stop Wars

Yoda the demonstrator says, "Stop Wars" rather than Star Wars (Kobra, Miami street mural)

Star Wars Day | May 4th [be with you], 2025 | News 19 This Morning - Sunday
San Francisco and Bay Area rise up against US government's war on Iraq (Matt Dunham/AP)


(WHNT News 19) May 4, 2025: Every year on May 4th, Star Wars fans find a way to celebrate the sci-fi movie franchise in a big way.

CRASS: "Fight War Not Wars, Destroy Power Not People" tapestry (Etsy)

  • Similarity I see not. What Lucas thinking?
    The Green Party gets it: "Stop Wars." What's the connection?
  • George Lucas based the Star Wars character Yoda on two Tibetan Vajrayana Buddhist rinpoches, the 14th Dalai Lama (with his distinctive ESL syntax and ejaculative pronunciation and peculiar articulation) and one of his seven teachers, Tsenzhab Serkong Rinpoche (Ven. Serkong).
  • Okay, there's a similarity there. Call the lawyer.
    Buddhists want peace, so Yoda wants peace. And if we can't have actual peace, we at least demand a stop to wars (psychotic state-sponsored overt violence). "Fight war, not wars," as the liberating punk rock lyrics go.
  • The name "Yoda" was chosen because Lucas envisioned the character as a [wise] "little Dalai Lama," and he wanted him to have an "Eastern-sounding" name [9] (Wiki).
News 19 is North Alabama's news leader, on the cutting edge of all things Hollywood in the Deep South as the CBS affiliate in North Alabama and the Tennessee Valley since Nov. 28, 1963. whnt.com / whntnews19 / whntnews19 / WHNT

What happened on May 4th, 2025?
  • News 19 North Alabama, May 4, 2025; Good Morning America, ABC News, May 4, 2025; Pfc. Sandoval, Ashley Wells, Amber Larson (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

Thursday, May 1, 2025

May Day 2025 protests roil US, world


There are two "May Days" today
International Workers' Day observed on May 1st and is also called "May Day" but the two have different histories: May Day is a European festival of ancient origins marking the beginning of summer, usually celebrated on May 1, around halfway between the Northern Hemisphere's spring equinox and midsummer solstice [1, 2]

Festivities are also held the night before, known as May Eve. Traditions include:
  • gathering green branches and wildflowers ("bringing in the May") [3], which are used to decorate buildings and made into wreaths;
  • crowning a May Queen, sometimes with a male companion (to Jack in the Green) decked in greenery;
  • setting up a Maypole, May Tree, or May Bush, around which people dance and sing;
  • as well as parades and processions involving these [4].
  • Bonfires are also a major part of the festival in some regions.
Regional varieties and related traditions include Walpurgis Night in central and northern Europe [1], the Gaelic festival Beltane [5], the Welsh festival Calan Mai [5], and May devotions to the Blessed Virgin Mary (of Catholic, Christian, Jewish but mostly imperial Roman fame). May Day has also been associated with the ancient Roman festival Floralia [6]. More

Blame economy on Trump or Biden?

Elon Musk to be fired by Tesla?
  • Pfc. Sandoval, Ashley Wells, Seth Auberon (eds)., Wisdom Quarterly

Tuesday, April 29, 2025

LA County (SEIU Union) workers on strike

(KTLA 5 News, Los Angeles, 4/29/25) Over 55,000 L.A. County workers go on strike


Over 55,000 L.A. County workers go on strike
(KTLA 5) April 29, 2025: It's not just federal workers being booted into unemployment. Los Angeles COUNTY employees aren't making enough to keep up with inflation (or Trumpflation as one might call it). So they are on strike, as LA pays $4 billion in child rape and sexual abuse settlement costs from abusing so many children in its care Tens of thousands of workers employed by Los Angeles County continued striking Tuesday, consequently disrupting some public services. The members of labor union SEIU 721 walked off their jobs after 7:00 pm Monday in an effort to negotiate for a new and fairer contract with the county. KTLA's Rachel Menitoff reports on April 29, 2025. Details: ktla.com/news/local-news/abou...

Wednesday, May 1, 2024

May Day: Orgies, sex, pole dancing (May 1)

What does this erect, burning, hard wood represent? Beltane is May Day, a time for Orgies
Modern Europeans drop down to their skivvies in the Tube to provoke sexual attention.
It's time for our annual Yoga in the Park Spring Fest (Dharma Buddhist Meditation)
.
Let's dance around this "pole" and sing the
STD Song, "Ring Around the Rosies"!
May Day is a highly sexualized European festival of ancient origins marking the beginning of summer, usually celebrated on May 1, around halfway between the Northern Hemisphere's spring equinox and summer solstice [1, 2].

Festivities may also be held the night before (such as a Mischief Night), known as May Eve or Bringing in the May [3], like was done at UCLA overnight by Judeo-Christian traditionalists attacking student peace demonstrators.

Traditions often include gathering wildflowers and green branches, weaving floral garlands, crowning a May Queen (sometimes with a male companion), and setting up a May Pole or May Bush (or a May Tree of hardwood, *wink-wink*), around which people dance and sing [4] in spring revelry.

US college students now side with Palestinians.
Bonfires [or explosive fireworks such as those thrown at UCLA demonstrators] are also part of the festival in some regions.

Regional varieties and related traditions include Walpurgis Night in central and northern Europe [1], the Gaelic festival Beltane [5], the Welsh festival Calan Mai [5], and May devotions to the Blessed Virgin Mary. [a stand-in for Buddhist Kwan Yin, various pagan goddesses, and Mother Nature, and possibly God's ex-wife A].

It has also been associated with the ancient Roman sex festival Floralia [6].

International Workers' Day is also called "May Day" but the two are thought to be unrelated, except that they both stir up the population to get out on the streets and revel.

Origins and celebrations
St. George's Kermis with the Dance around the Maypole (Pieter Brueghel the Younger/May Day)
.
Women demand body rights, which means clitorises.
The earliest known May celebrations appeared with the Floralia, festival of Flora [flowers and plants as in "flora and fauna"], the Roman goddess of flowers.

It's held from April 27–May 3 during the Roman Republic era, and the Maiouma or Maiuma, a festival celebrating the god of excess Dionysus (aka Bacchus) and the goddess of sex Aphrodite (where we get the English word aphrodisiac) held every three years during the month of May [7].

Look at the size of that maypole!
The Floralia opened with theatrical performances. In the Floralia, Ovid says that hares and goats were released as part of the festivities.

Persius writes that crowds were pelted with vetches, beans, and lupins. A ritual called the Florifertum was performed on either April 27th or May 3rd [8, 9] during which a bundle of wheat ears was carried into a shrine, though it is not clear if this devotion was made to Flora or Ceres [10, 11].

Floralia concluded with competitive events and spectacles and a sacrifice to Flora [12].

Floralia, Flower Goddess worship in Rome (Giovanni Battista Tiepolo - Floralia)

How do we indoctrinate our European children so that they don't even notice what it's about?

You're going too far! Stop it! - But it's May Day!
Maiouma was celebrated at least as early as the 2nd century AD, when records show expenses for the month-long festival were appropriated by Emperor Commodus [13], who is probably not the namesake of the commode or toilet but maybe.

According to the 6th-century chronicles of John Malalas, the Maiouma was a "nocturnal dramatic festival, held every three years and known as Orgies, that is, the Mysteries of Dionysus and Aphrodite" and that it was "known as the Maioumas because it is celebrated in the month of May-Artemisios."

Sex Fest is a distraction from Workers' Day
During this time, enough money was set aside by the government for torches, lights, and other expenses to cover a 30-day festival of "all-night revels" [14].

The Maiouma was celebrated with splendorous banquets and offerings.

It's time for sexy revelry and ye olde excesses.
Its reputation for licentiousness [sex, nudity, foreplay, intercourse, prostitution, sexual misconduct, sex, and lusty provocation] caused it to be suppressed during the reign of pagan pseudo-Christian Emperor Constantine, though a less debauched version of it was briefly restored during the reigns of Arcadius and Honorius, only to be suppressed again during the same period [13] because Christians have mixed feeling about their sexual urges and sinful immorality. More
  • Ashley Wells, Ananda (Dharma Buddhist Meditation), Seth Auberon (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly Wiki edit May Day, Beltane, Floralia, Maiouma
Was repressed sex always on the European brain?

Wednesday, May 20, 2020

Salzberg, Boorstein, Kornfield, and Goldstein

"Insight Bay Area" (spiritrock.org); Amber Larson, Crystal Q. (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly
ONLINE: Monday Night Dharma Talk & Meditation Jack Kornfield & Friends
Thursdays in Metta May: Orienting Ourselves: Conversations with Founding Teachers with Sharon Salzberg, Sylvia Boorstein, Jack Kornfield, Joseph Goldstein, and Michelle Latvala (calendar).
 .
Ram Dass: Jack Kornfield 💗 Trudy Goodman

Monday, July 29, 2019

UK elects a Trump: Boris Johnson (comedy)

Host John Oliver (Last Week Tonight); Pat Macpherson, Crystal Q. (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly
Rise of the Ginger Redheads of Sodom -- the ET hybrid leaders of the West (ABC News)
WARNING: Naughty foxes acting naturally, and strong language in the service of HBO's irony!

Boris Johnson: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver
(HBO, July 28, 2019) John Oliver explains how Britain’s new prime minister, Boris Johnson, has succeeded -- not despite his bumbling persona, but often because of it.

Hey, Israel's got their own Trump, too. (AP)
Find Last Week Tonight on Facebook like your mom would: facebook.com/lastweektonight, follow on Twitter for news about jokes and jokes about news: twitter.com/lastweektonight. Official site for more: hbo.com/lastweektonight.

Ivanka: Daddy, is that your wallet or my big inheritance? - Donald: Depends where I put it.

Tuesday, May 1, 2018

Real meaning of May Day (video)

AJ+; Seth Auberon, Pfc. Sandoval, Pat Macpherson, Crystal Quintero (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly


 
Revolutionary Latin rebel Che Guevara
Los Angeles will UNITE on a massive scale to continue to push for the right of We The People! Revolution, worker strike, this is the REAL Labor Day with Maydays united worldwide!

Calling ALL organizations in Los Angeles and surrounding cities: It's time to bring out the masses! There are events that will culminate on May 1st (International Worker's Day). The movement has begun! March and Rally Los Angeles
Why do people march?
(The Real News) May Day: Hundreds of Thousands Celebrate International Workers' Day

(TheRealNews) Facing down different manifestations of social and economic injustice, demonstrators across the world rise up for workers' rights on May 1st (therealnews.com, help support the work of honest reporting: therealnews.com/donate).
Join thousands of SoCal marchers on May 1st. May Day March Los Angeles. Monday, May 1, 2017 at 10:00 AM-4:00 PM. Broadway & Olympic Blvd. Los Angeles, California.
 
LA May Day March 5-1-18 (Rally List) Los Angeles May 1st march on International Workers' Day! The march will begin...stop the deportations! 2) Legalize Street Vending in Los Angeles NOW! ... Tuesday, 1 May, 2018. Time: 4 PM-7 PM. Address: MacArthur Park 2230 W. 6th Street, Los Angeles, California 90057. City: Los Angeles...

Thursday, May 4, 2017

Cinco de Mayo (May 5) in the age of Trump

AP (ap.org, May 4, 2017); Pfc. Sandoval, Ashley Wells, Crystal Quintero (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly
(Pero Like) Sh*t you should not say on Cinco de Mayo even if you're a well-meaning Gringo
Maya Martinez, a manager at the Rio Bravo Brewing Company in Albuquerque, N.M., pours a craft brew, May 3, 2017, days before the brewery was set to unveil a new drink on Cinco de Mayo. Pres. Trump's immigration policies and rhetoric are leaving some Mexican Americans (Chicanos) and immigrants feeling at odds with a day they already thought was appropriated by beer and liquor companies, event promoters and local bars (AP).

.
Cinco de Mayo met with more ambivalence in the age of Trump
I love Mexicans, rapists, and drug dealers.
ALBUQUERQUE, New Mexico - For years, Yazmin Irazoqui Ruiz saw Cinco de Mayo ("Fifth of May") as a reason to eat tacos and listen to Mexican music.

The 25-year-old Mexican-born medical student left Mexico for the U.S. as a child and celebrates the day to honor a homeland she hardly remembers.

But the Albuquerque, New Mexico, resident said she's reluctant to take part in Cinco de Mayo festivities this year as President Don Trump steps up federal immigration enforcement and supporters back his call for the building of a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border.

Mexican President Pena Nieto (AP)
"I mean, what is it about? You want to eat our food and listen to our music, but when we need you to defend us, where are you?" Irazoqui Ruiz asked about the wave of anti-immigrant sentiment in the country.

(FLAMA/TheFlama.com) Celebrate this 4th of July like Americans celebrate Cinco de Mayo. We'll be drunk by 11 am, put ketchup on everything, and have absolutely no idea what we’re celebrating…Battle of the 4th?
 
She isn't alone. Trump's immigration policies and rhetoric are leaving some Mexican Americans and immigrants feeling at odds with a holiday they already thought was appropriated by beer and liquor companies, event promoters, and bars.

Why? What is Cinco de Mayo?

Latino activists and scholars say that ambivalence is bolstered by the hazy history of Cinco de Mayo and by stereotypes exploited by marketers.

Battle of Pubela: Mexican Indians vs. French invaders
The once-obscure holiday marking a 19th century-battle between Mexico and invading French forces is now a regular celebration in the U.S., where partygoers flock to bars for cheap margaritas and tacos. Television beer commercials often show mostly white actors on a beach celebrating.

"The narrative around Cinco de Mayo seems to say, 'This day really isn't yours'," said Cynthia Duarte, a sociology professor at California Lutheran University.

There doing what in Missouri?!
Tequila company Jose Cuervo is playing off the notion that the holiday is largely overlooked south of the border by throwing a party in a small Missouri town called Mexico: More than 90 percent of people there are white and less than 2.5 percent of Mexican descent. The company is marketing the event on its Facebook page as "Mexico's First Cinco de Mayo."
 
"Consumers consistently tell us that Cinco de Mayo is a great way for them to reconnect with people they care about and enjoy a few cervezas," said John Alvarado, vice president of marketing for Corona beer, which is made by Anheuser-Busch InBev.
  
Mexican 4th of July?
Chicano farm champion Cesar Chavez
Often mistaken for Mexican Independence Day (September 16th), Cinco de Mayo commemorates the 1862 Battle of Puebla.

That battle was between the victorious ragtag army of largely Mexican-Indian soldiers against the invading French forces of Napoleon III.

The day is barely observed in Mexico, but was celebrated in California by Latinos and abolitionists who linked the victory to the fight against slavery.
 
During the Chicano Movement of the 1970s, Mexican Americans adopted Cinco de Mayo for its David vs. Goliath story line as motivation in civil rights struggles. This year... More
Protesters line up in NYC, hoping for chance to BOO Trump, Dummy-in-Chief (AP)
"Without immigrants there would be no America" [USA] (AP)