Peace Conference, Kentucky Derby Forecast Look All Wet April 28, 2010

This Outfit for Man and Horse Was Required for World War I But You May Need Something Else For Kentucky Derby 136

Click Image to See If There is Anyone You Know

On This Date In History:  Ever noticed how there are some people who feel like that effort or intent is  more important than actual results?  Symbolism over substance.  Today marks such a day because, if that’s not the case, then it would be largely forgotten.  On this date in 1915 World War I (then known as the Great War) raged and the International Congress of Women convened at The Hague in the Netherlands.  The meeting was one of women’s rights organizations and suffrage groups from around the world. 

Aletta Jacobs

 One of the main organizers, Aletta Jacobs, said in her opening remarks that the group meeting would “have its moral effect upon the belligerent countries,”  The conference lasted 3 days and concluded in part ”…we can no longer endure in this twentieth century of civilization that government should tolerate brute force as the only solution of international disputes.”  They outlined specific ways of conflict resolution with continual mediation.   Later, this conference led to the creation of other groups including the Womens’ International League for Peace and Freedom.

This Banner At the Hague Really Made a Difference in 1915

What Did More To Bring an End to America's Involvement in Vietnam? John and Yoko sitting in bed giving peace a chance or Nixon bombing North Vietnam back to the negotation table?

People like these women meant well and their underlying notion has practical merit.  After the 30 Years War, Europeans came up with the Peace of Westphalia which was reached with everyone taking an eye toward balance of power.  The war had taught them that little was accomplished and the weaponry and methods of the day resulted in such destruction to the economy and people that war was becoming too costly to consider as a viable means of settling conflict.  But a condition of mankind seems to be one of violence and so ideals, regardless of their merit, tend to be squashed by reality.  These ladies seemed to think that having a meeting and bringing attention to themselves would do anything when in fact, it did nothing.  Action requires boldness.  

The Great Seal of the United States of America

If you look at the Great Seal of the United States.  You will find that in the talons of the Eagle, there is an olive branch as well as a cluster of 13 arrows.  The most obvious representation is that the 13 arrows is for the 13 original colonies.  But, the cluster of arrows and the olive branch indicates “peace through strength.”  The founding fathers knew that a strong nation was one more likely to live  in peace.  

You Tell'em, Teddy!

Pragmatism and reality doesn’t seem to dissuade or convince folks though because, today there are many associations like International Congress of Women that think they are doing something, that tell people they are doing something and have people tell them they are doing something when, in fact, they accomplish nothing except headlines.  Martin Luther King achieved success through action.  The US achieved freedom through action.  Peace is ultimately achieved through action.   The Spirit and words of President Roosevelt do well here: 

“It is not the critic who counts: not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short again and again, because there is no effort without error or shortcoming, but who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself for a worthy cause; who, at the best, knows, in the end, the triumph of high achievement, and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who knew neither victory nor defeat.” 

I Told You So! (at least I think so)

Kentucky Derby 2010 Forecast: For several days I’ve been telling you about the potential for some interesting weather for Derby Day. I saw some local TV guys have a 30% chance for rain and I said how I wasn’t sold on that. Often when there are big events, forecasters tend to “wish cast” which would be making a forecast based on what they want it to be instead of what the data suggests. In this case, some models had the system slow and another fast. The slow model would result in a better Derby Day forecast and so many people chose that. Better to be the bearer of good news. I had surmised that the truth would probably be in between with rain likely on Saturday and strong storms possible. For now, it may be worth bringing out Colonel Klink and also for you to prepare for rain, though I do not think Churchill Downs allows umbrellas. But, you can place your bet on your favorite mudder. See details below.

SPC Outline of Area for Severe Storm Potential on Derby Day

GFS Has Heaviest Rain (1.5") Early Saturday Morning

Weather Bottom Line:  After a chilly Wednesday start, we get into a warming trend starting today as high pressure in Louisiana moves to the east.  That will result in a SSW flow set up and create warm air advection as well as increase moisture from the Gulf.   The European model had been holding everything back such that it was possible that the next storm system didn’t get here until Sunday or even Monday.  But the GFS consistently brought it out much faster.  The GFS solution would have messed up both the 136th Kentucky Oaks on Friday and possibly the 136th Kentucky Derby on Saturday.  I had been looking for an ultimate outcome of something in between, meaning that I expected that Oaks Day would be partly cloudy, warm and breezy with a fair amount of rain on Derby Day with t’storms. I kept looking for severe weather on Saturday but the models weren’t all that committed.  At this time, the data is supporting my hypothesis except that now the models are more bullish on the severe potential and the Storm Prediction Center has jumped on board.  

NAM Initializes Rain Event Saturday morning

Yesterday, I mentioned that all we needed was a “kicker” to ignite the unstable atmosphere and we’d have an increased potential for severe weather on Saturday.  The GFS was throwing out about 2 inches of rain for Derby Day.  It would seem that now we do indeed have all the ingredients for not only excessive rain but also strong storms.  Basically, the main low makes its way to the Great Lakes but another low comes out of Northern Mexico into S0uth Texas.  That sets up a long frontal boundary from North to South with the boundary just to our west.  There will be ample southerly flow providing an influx of moisture into the Lower Mississippi Valley and Ohio Valley.  The low to the south will tend to slow the front down.  It will also tend to throw off pieces of energy.  

Canadian Advertises over an inch of rain Saturday Afternoon

So, we have a set up with a stalled front that will result in consistent rain and then a low tossing out energy that will run up along the front and produce a risk for severe weather as it moves NE along the boundary.  The GFS has backed off its rain plans on Friday though the NAM does want to try to increase chances.  I still think that Oaks Day will generally be fine unless a stray shower or t’shower moves over Churchill Downs.   Saturday though looks tough.  I also think that the rain chances will stay pretty high through Sunday.  Of course, this is Wednesday and things could change with regard to timing but so far, the data is generally coming more in line with what I had thought would be a likely scenario which was the one that made the most sense to me, regardless of what the models were saying.  And you know what…the weather always does what it will do without consulting the computers to find out what its supposed to do.  I would have a concern that the folks that got slammed by twisters last Saturday will be facing the potential for another round.

Coach Slaps Player on Arm, Apologizes; Are We Getting Soft or Responsible? January 10, 2010

Click on image for video of punch that ended Hayes' career

Coach Martin Can Get Emotional

Kansas State basketball coach Frank Martin today apologized for whacking a kid on the arm with the back of his open hand from frustration at a kids poor play. Maybe he felt like he had to because just a month before a coach had to resign for actions that did not include physical contact and other coaches have been dismissed for physicial altercations.    Kansas football coach Mark Mangino had to resign amidst charges of verbal, mental and emotional abuse.  University of South Florida head football coach Jim Leavitt was fired for allegedly grabbing a player by the throat.  And of course, Texas Tech head football coach Mike Leach was fired following events surrounding charges that he made a player stand in a dark room.  

Kush Got a Statue After Being Fired For Alleged Player Abuse

These types of things are new, but then again they are to some extent.  Woody Hayes was an extremely successful coach and many of his former players are very grateful for what they learned under the tough coach.  But, Hayes often displayed childish and foolish behaviour during games and in 1978, a national TV audience witnessed Hayes’s punching an opposing player after the opponent made a key interception.  The 65-year-old Hayes was fired and never coached again.  Arizona State head coach Frank Kush was fired after a player filed suit alleging that he punched the player in the mouth following a lousy punt in a game.  But, Kush was acquitted in the lawsuit, the team plays on a field named for him, there is a bronze statue of Kush outside the stadium and in 2000, Kush was hired by the university as a full-time special assistant to the athletic director.  

Knight Wasn't Fired For This

 Then, of course, there is Bob Knight who was fired at Indiana following several accusations of mistreatment of players.  He had been charged with grabbing a player by the throat in practice.  But, he wasn’t fired for that.  Bob Knight  instead was fired for violating a “zero tolerance” policy when a 19-year-old kid walked past him and said “hey, what’s up, Knight?”  Coach then grabbed the kid by the arm and lectured him about manners.  Two years later, Knight was back coaching at Texas Tech, the same place that just fired Mike Leach. 

This Board is Tame Compared To Some I've Met Up Close and Personal

When I played sports in Junior High and High School, the coaches were tough.  I remember in Jr. High basketball we had to shoot free throws at the end of practice and for every one out of the final ten that we shot that we missed, we got a swat.  In fact, it was a normal part of discipline for boys to get swats.  Once, a girl protested that it wasn’t fair that a boy could get three swats and be done but girls had to come to Saturday detention, which was when a misbehaving student had to come to school on Saturday for either an entire day or half day.  So, the school agreed it was discriminatory and the girl got her swats.    I also had an Industrial Arts teacher who said we didn’t get any discipline at home.  He was a former Marine Drill Instructor so he took us out on the field every day for a week and made us march. 

In football practice, if a guy messed up a play, the coach would have everyone on the team jump on the offending player in a dog pile.  For recreation, we played dirty basketball, in which there were no such thing as a foul.  

Was This a Good Idea?

In high school football practice, I once had a head to head hit with another player and my helmet broke in half.  It was off to the locker room for a new helmet and then back on the field.  Coaches regularly grabbed us by the face mask to get our attention.  Once, we were in this drill in which there was a board laid on the ground.  The board was a 2 x 6 from the grandstands and the two players faced each other from either end and did battle with each one having to keep their feet on either side of the board.  I went up against Greg Graves, who was twice as big as me.  He destroyed me.  I had to go against him 10 times in a row with my face getting planted in the ground every time.  Talk about humiliation.  Then of course, there was off-season stick fights in which two opponents beat each other with long sticks that were padded on the ends.  

Things changed fast.  By the time I had graduated college, there was no such thing as swats any more.  My friend was a Junior High coach and he told me of a girl giving a teacher a cake laced with Ex-Lax.  They began with threatening suspension.  The parent protested and the school knuckled under. I don’t know what the ultimate outcome was except that the school finally said that the girl had to apologize and that was that…but the parent objected to that saying, “my daughter is not going to kiss ass to anyone.”  Coach also had a kid who wouldn’t dress out for gym class and wouldn’t move from the floor to the stands.  The kid wouldn’t go to the principal’s office.  Coach threatened to carry him to the principal when the kid said if he did he’d be fired.  Coach picked up the kid with one arm and carried him.  Coach was almost fired for touching the kid.  In some colleges today, a student may file a grievance against an instructor who does something as heinous as assigning homework and then doesn’t grade it.   In the workplace, it can also be difficult just to be nice.   I once worked at a place in which you could be fired for complementing a woman, or man, for their appearance.  You were to look your fellow employees in the eye at all times and not to give opinion regarding appearances in any fashion.  

Abibal Adams Often Gave John an Earful For His Views

John Adams often warned of the feminization of America.  He argued with his wife Abigail in letters once referring to the “despotism of the petticoat.”   But, I’m not so sure that Adams would approve of physical abuse of subordinates.  The question of how to discipline children has been around a long time too.  Mark Sullivan was a journalist in the late 19th and early 20th century.  He wrote a book about the first 25 years of the century called Our Times.   He wanted to give a contemporary history of the first quarter century from a journalist’s perspective. One of the things he speaks about is the movement to remove the switch from the hands of the headmaster in schools and the resulting poor deportment of the students.  75 years later, there were cries from conservatives to return corporal punishment to the classroom.  But, I’m not so sure that we want to give others the right to beat our children.  I was never harmed from the coaches swat board, but serious injury is too big of a risk to take in such instances.  

However, the question does come up as to how far is too far the other way.  A coach back hands a kid on the arm and he feels as if he must apologize.  A coach loses a job for emotional abuse.  How can one define that?  It may be emotionally traumatic just to replace a player from a game.  I once went into a game for a guy in the outfield…in the middle  of the inning!  Talk about embarrassing for the kid!  He never started again…I did.  Under some perspectives, that coach might have been liable for a lawsuit because that was pretty emotionally traumatic.  It seems to me that there definitely should be disciplinary boundaries.  Coaches, teachers and parents need to be more creative and not fall to the most primative methods.  But, there also should be some boundaries the other way.   I don’t know of anyone who agrees with not keeping score in kids games, but they do it all the time.  Life is not equal.  There are winners and losers.  And that can be traumatic but its a fact.    Many people use the “tough love” approach but it seems that approach may be going the way of the dinosaur. 

Louisville area lows Jan 10 2010

NAM Snow Mon Afternoon Through Tue AM

Weather Bottom Line:  We had some sunshine but it didn’t do too much good on Sunday.  Temps only made it to the mid 20′s.  If you look at the low temperature map above from Sunday morning, you can see what I was talking about.  I was right but wrong.   Clearly, the western part of the viewing area had clearing skies overnight.  I had been trumpeting the possibility all week that clearing skies would take the mercury to near zero.   In fact, Jasper in Dubois County did get down to zero with many other areas in the western part of the viewing area in low single digits.  But, when you get to Louisville, the lows were in the mid teens.  That is the difference that clouds can do. 

GFS Claims Snow 18Z Sun...at least for now this model run

Now, the clouds will be increasing again as another shortwave comes rolling down the trof from the northwest.   I’m doubtful regarding the moisture but both the 12Z GFS and NAM call for about a half inch of snow for late Monday afternoon into Monday evening.  Evening drive may be interesting.  Previously, there had been some agreement of temperatures getting above freezing for the first time in 2010 by Tuesday afternoon but now the models say Thursday…which is closer to my two week old forecast of Jan 15.  But, alas, I suspect that many people will be above freezing my Wednesday afternoon.  Now, we do warm up to the low 40′s for the end of the week but there is an interesting feature that has shown up consistently.  It’s a big low forming off of New Orleans.  It migrates northeast.  The track has been changing almost every model run.  And half the time, cold air gets dragged down in response to this feature increasing our prospects for more snow on Sunday.  But, it seems that in alternating runs, it runs the low up the Appalacians but keeps the cold air in Canada.  This seems odd to me.  I would think that we would get some cold air dragging down for Sunday.  It’s not a huge pattern shift but just a short term event.  I’m hoping that if it does happen, that an icing situation does not develop…that’s the one bit of weather that I hate…I don’t need that kind of excitement and neither do you.

Gun Control Advocates Snubbed Forever as US Government Arms the Nation January 4, 2010

Nuns with Guns Ready to Defend Nation...Imagine What They Could do With Handguns

Colt Worth $15 million in 1862 at death at age 47

On This Date In History: On this date in 1847, the Federal Government more or less began the arming of America with handguns. Not directly or on purpose, mind you, but it had the same affect. Samuel Colt had invented his revolver in 1836, but he had no money. Except for dueling, handguns

Colt 1847 Dragoon Revolver

were not that practical up to that time due to inaccuracy and also the fact you had to reload everytime you shot. Most pioneers preferred big knives like the Bowie Knife for close in action. Colt’s revolver solved that problem. They had a rifled barrel for accuracy and the repeating percussion caps provided for several shots with cartridges making it simple to reload quickly. But, Colt had no money and his guns were very expensive….too expensive for most Americans. But on January 4, 1847 Sam got a contract from the US Army for 1000 revolvers. That gave him cash. The army liked it so much that they ordered more..that gave him more cash. He then teamed up with Eli Whitney to more efficiently mass produce the weapons and suddenly the prices fell and everyone could afford them. Naturally his business grew and between 1850 and 1860, Colt sold nearly 270,000 weapons of various types. There was a saying after the Civil War that went something like this: “Abe Lincoln may have freed all men but Sam Colt made them equal.”

Chuck Heston Knew How to Handle His Gun

Today, gun control advocates point to the millions of handguns in America as reason for controlling their sale.   Others say that people need them for self defense and many states even have right to carry laws.   Some say the proliferation of guns as the cause of an increase in violent crime whereas others point to data that suggests handguns in the population has actually resulted in a decrease in crime.  It’s not a new debate as communities attempted to control handguns back in the late 19th century in the western United States when visitors in a city limits had to surrender their 6 killers to the sheriff until they left town.  That is a little different than preventing ownership or confiscating their guns.  But, it was a form of gun control.  Not sure how Chuck Heston would have liked that rule.  

Jeremiah Johnson Would Be Tough For Any Invading Foe

I won’t deal with that debate, but I will say that a college friend of mine once opined this…that is that the United States could never be conquered by an outside foe because it is the only country in history that has a generally armed population. I think he has a point there. Now, whether or not an outside invasion is ever likely or will ever be an issue is another topic, though one might say that it would never be an issue or be likely because everyone is armed. I mean, can you imagine any invading army trying to get to the boys in the mountains of Tennessee or West Virginia? How about the Cajuns in South Louisiana? The mountain men in the Rockies would be no easy task and I can tell you, the state of Texas would be the largest armed camp known to man. Nevertheless, it is what it is and on this date in 1847, the US Government was largely responsible for the proliferation of handguns across America….whether Uncle Sam knew it or not.

GFS Bullish for Snow Thursday

Weather Bottom Line:  Here’s the bottom line with the weather.  It’s going to be cold for the forseeable future. I doubt that we get above freezing for another two weeks.  I see on tv that a certain cable channel is claiming a high of 34 for Wednesday but I don’t quite get it.  Well, I do know what they are up to in that we have a very strong bowling ball of an upper low tumbling down from the northwest and what they want to do is move the temperatures up just above freezing advance.  Yes, temperatures will rise but I doubt if it will get above 30 0r 31.  But so what?  If we do get above freezing it will be for about an hour or two because when this guy comes through, it will bring us our best chance for snow of the year for Thursday  and  Thursday night….maybe some leftover flurries or snow showers on Friday….then we go back into the deep freeze. 

The GFS that I have posted above is claiming about 4 inches for the 12 hours ending at about 10pm on Thursday night.  That is not unreasonbable to expect, though at this point the GFS seems the most bullish.  But, the ECMWF and the Canadian models both have a fair amount of moisture right over the top of us and we certainly have plenty of cold air. That’s why I say its the best chance for snow this season.  Now, we do have a slight chance of a little somethin-somethin Monday night into Tuesday but the far better opportunity is later in the week.  The real story is that the cold will continue…no global warming around here for a few weeks at least.  Good thing that global natural gas prices are about 1/3 what they were about 18 months ago.  Now I just hope that my heater doesn’t fail like it did last year when it was below zero.

Alleged hit-man murder caught on camera, shown on TV; Martian Invasion causes panic! October 30, 2009

A MARTIAN INVASION!!!!

In the United States lately, there has been a discussion regarding the amount of violence being shown on TV.  Some groups allege that, in particular, images of violence against women have increased on prime-time tv shows.  The fear is that it may create a more violent society or cause kids to become more violent.  It’s an old argument.  30 years ago when I was in Journalism school at the University of Texas, that was one of the topics covered.  I recall a “true false” question asking if a child was exposed to violence on TV was he more likley to become a violent person.  I never studied for that class.  I don’t think I even came to class except for the tests.  Well, they’ve taken things a bit farther.  The murder of an alleged gangster in Italy, shot dead at point blank range, was captured on video cameras and the footage was shown on TV.  Wonder how that would suit anti-violence groups in the states?  The cops in Italy say they released the video in hopes of catching the shooter.  Imagine what a field day the cable networks would have with that in the US?  Would it create pandemonium on the streets?

Orson Welles did On This Date In History:

A Vicious Invader?

The Martians Invaded on this date in 1938…at least that’s what millions of Americans thought. A young 23 year old radio man named Orson Welles presented a show on CBS radio. He began by saying it was an adaptation of H.G. Wells’ War of the Worlds. It began at 8 pm. But a whole bunch of people were listening to Edgar Bergen and his dummy, Charlie McCarthy on NBC. Bergen’s routine ended at 8:12 and many switched to CBS. By then the radio-play was already going so they missed the opening disclaimer. Welles’ production had some sort of regular sounding broadcast with a weather report followed by some cheesy music that went on for some time before a reporter broke in with a report (I don’t think they called it “breaking news” then) and he said there were explosions on Mars. Then more music followed by another break in with a hysterical “reporter” describing ugly Martians getting into large machines that rose out of the ground with long tentacles. It reported that the machines fired heat rays and destroyed a national guard unit, dropped deadly gas bombs and they were destroying everything.

People thought it was real. Some went bananas and jammed the highways looking to get out of

Orson So Good He Caused Mayhem

town. CBS had Welles break in and remind everyone it was fiction, but no one listened. The panic was on. Reports of suicides came in but there was no confirmation. Congress naturally had to investigate and found nothing was wrong. Welles thought his career was over. Instead, he got a cinematic contract which led to his production of Citizen Kane which has regularly topped the list as the best movie ever made.

Like Welles, sometimes we create the worst in our mind when, in fact, the best is just around the corner. If you are discouraged or feeling that you’ve made a terrible mistake, keep your head up. You don’t know what the future holds and today’s set back may just be the foundation for tomorrow’s success.

HPC calls for about 1.37" of rain

Weather Bottom Line:  I will dispense with the details.  Rain holds off until tonight. The amount is whatever its gonna be. I’m thinking about an inch, give or take a quarter inch. The HPC says about 1 and a third inches of rain.  We have windy and warm conditions prior to the slow-poke front’s arrival.  As I had explained previously, the main conversion zone is well to our south in the lower Mississippi Valley where they’ve had heavy rain and a few tornadoes.  With the abundant moisture, it seems likely that we will get a fair amount of rain Friday night through probably at least late morning on Saturday. This system is so slow as the parent low to the north winds down, that I might suggest that rain may still be in the area toward midday.  But, it should be dry and cooler for the afternoon and the UL game. Maybe a bit breezy as well.  The kids on Halloween should be dry but with temps in the lower 50′s, it will probably be a bit chilly for the ghosts and goblins…so give them another sheet.

Derby Weather: Place or Show? Little Egypt and May-Day May 1, 2008

Does This Look Like A Camel?

The forecast as previously outlined is still generally in line with current thinking.  The clouds Wednesday and chilly start gave way to sunshine and temperatures pushing to 70 at the airport.  Pegasus Parade weather still looks great, though the parade balloons may require some muscle power as it will be pretty breezy as we get up toward 80 with partly cloudy skies.  The storm system is still approaching.  I’ll update the SPC severe outlook as it updates but I suspect it will be similar to what was posted previously.  We will probably see some scattered showers or t’showers on the roam for Friday afternoon but folks at the Oaks would have to be unlucky to get a passing storm.  Nevertheless, probably be a good idea to be prepared, just in case.  The main action still looks like Friday night into the first part of Saturday.  While most data does not support the idea of an enormous amount of rain, the infield may prove interesting.  It should be comfortable temperature wise on Derby Day but we still have an upper low that looks poised to pounce late Saturday afternoon.  It will do two things.  The first will be the leading edge of cooler air for Saturday night and Sunday.  The other thing, probably more important to Derby-goers, will be that it will bring the threat of some scattered showers or t’showers as it passes overhead.  I think the question here is the timing and it is possible that it’s tardy enough that the showers don’t invade until after the Derby, but if it comes through a few hours quicker,  then scattered showers may dampen a few races.  So, again, at this point its probably a good idea to be prepared.  It’s not a forecast that will end up in the winner’s circle, but also it won’t end up in the glue factory either.

On This Date In History:  In 1893, Chicago opened the Columbus Fair to celebrate the 400th anniversary of the explorer’s voyage.  It was a financial disaster until word got out that a dancer calling herself Little Egypt supposedly showed up.  Word was that she did a belly dance nude!  But, apparently it may have been a scam.  The crowds did flock in and the fair was saved.  But most historians who bother to look up such things have had a difficult time finding any evidence that the woman ever existed.  There were belly dancers on the midway, but they were covered in long ethnic costumes.  One fair-goer complained that the women had “inordinately thick ankles and large, voluptuous feet.”  I’ve never heard of feet being described as “voluptuous.”  There were rumors of a naked Little Egypt at Coney Island and there was a woman who claimed to be Little Egypt who jumped out of a cake at a rich guy’s stag party at the Waldorf Astoria.  The stag party Little Egypt may be the source of the Chicago fair’s apparently mythological version because after the party, Little Egypts started popping up everywhere, including a Camel.  No word on if anyone found the camel’s feet to be “voluptuous.” 

The 1933 Chicago World’s Fair opened on this date and organizers decided to pay homage to the 1893 Columbus Fair when it used the world largest telescope in Wisconsin to capture the light from the star Arctus.  It is 40 light years away and so the light captured was the light emitted 40 years earlier when the Columbus fair opened.  The light was captured and focused on a photoelectric cell that in turn used the current to throw a switch that illuminated the fairgrounds.  Probably would have been more interesting to have a naked woman on a camel throw the switch.

May 1st is May Day.  While there are some pre-Christian roots to the day of celebration, the modern version has its roots in France in 1889 when a group of socialists decided to have an international worker’s day in commemoration of the HaymakerMarket riot in Chicago of three years earlier.  The socialists were honoring anarchist workers who were sentenced to death in Chicago for their involvement in the violence that erupted at a rally at the Haymaker Market that was supposed to be a protest of police violence against workers who were campaigning for an 8 hour work day.  Anyway, the day for some is sort of a labor day but instead it’s largely remembered for the military parades held in the Soviet Union…supposedly to honor the workers of the Communist regime but really was more of a forced honoring of Communist leadership.  During the Red Scare of the 1950′s, American leadership did some things in an effort to combat the “communist threat”.  For one thing, the term “under God” was inserted into the Pledge of Allegiance and May 1, 1958 was designated as “Loyalty Day.”  Labor Day in the US has its origins in the late 19th Century by the American Labor movement to honor the economic and social achievement of American workers and is held on the first Monday in September.

Today, May-Day is marked by some in the world by protesting globalization and capitalism.  In other words, it still has a communist/socialist influence.  I guess a legacy of the Soviets were to mess up a perfectly good day on the calendar.