01 mai 2006
May Day
Fun facts about May Day(loosely stolen from Wikipedia):
1. It's also called International Worker's Day
2. The day originated as a commemoration of the 1886 Haymarket Riot in Chicago
3. Many countries of the world get this day off
4. We do not
5. We used to, before the Red Scare
6. I wish America wasn't afraid of communists so I could get this day off work
7. If I did get this day off, it would come out of the 30 combined sick and vacation days I get a year, and so I would have to choose to take the day off and it wouldn't matter if it were a national holiday or not
Here in Chicago, today kind of sucks though because it's going to rain on all the protesters. Not just the immigration protesters, but the Save Darfur protesters, who, for some reason, decided to protest on the exact same day as another organized national protest, instead of over the weekend, as did other cities such as New York and D.C. I wanted to go to the Darfur rally today in Chicago, but a) I have to work and b) it seems silly to compete with the immigration demonstration. I know, excuses, excuses. I'll be there in spirit.
Speaking of Darfur, it is awesome that people are finally raising awareness of the horrors that are occuring daily, but the situation has been dire for a couple years. Why did it take so long for major public figures to speak out?
1. It's also called International Worker's Day
2. The day originated as a commemoration of the 1886 Haymarket Riot in Chicago
3. Many countries of the world get this day off
4. We do not
5. We used to, before the Red Scare
6. I wish America wasn't afraid of communists so I could get this day off work
7. If I did get this day off, it would come out of the 30 combined sick and vacation days I get a year, and so I would have to choose to take the day off and it wouldn't matter if it were a national holiday or not
Here in Chicago, today kind of sucks though because it's going to rain on all the protesters. Not just the immigration protesters, but the Save Darfur protesters, who, for some reason, decided to protest on the exact same day as another organized national protest, instead of over the weekend, as did other cities such as New York and D.C. I wanted to go to the Darfur rally today in Chicago, but a) I have to work and b) it seems silly to compete with the immigration demonstration. I know, excuses, excuses. I'll be there in spirit.
Speaking of Darfur, it is awesome that people are finally raising awareness of the horrors that are occuring daily, but the situation has been dire for a couple years. Why did it take so long for major public figures to speak out?
