Paracultural Calendar for June 10

[Mark Thibodeau]

<http://www.whoi.edu/cms/images/mediarelations/Pink-&-White_700_127978.jpg>


On this day in *323 BC*, after conquering almost the entirety of the known
world and leaving scores of cities re-named in his honor, Macedonian
legend-king *Alexander the Great* passes away at the ripe old age of 33.

***

On this day in the year *1692*, a woman named *Bridget Bishop* becomes the
first person to be hanged for witchcraft during the *Salem Witch Trials*.
In all, 20 people have their lives cut short by their former friends and
neighbors before somebody points out how fucking retarded it is to hang
people for no good reason. Who says small town country living is safe?

***

On this day in *1886*, New Zealand’s *Mount Tarawera* erupts, killing 153
people and destroying the famous *Pink and White Terraces*, considered by
many of those who were lucky enough to see them to be a strong contender
for the Eighth Wonder of the Natural World. Wish I could have frolicked in
them.

***

On this day in *1977*, *James Earl Ray* – the man who may or *may not
<http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/04/04/was-james-earl-ray-martin_n_95030.html>*
have
assassinated *Martin Luther King Jr* – escapes from Brushy Mountain State
Prison in Petros, Tennessee, only to be captured three days later.

***

On this day in *1985*, French agents restore a sense of pride to the
nation's much maligned military by blowing up the un-armed *Greenpeace*
 boat *Rainbow Warrior*. A photographer drowns when he tries to retrieve
his equipment from the rapidly sinking ship.

***

On this day in *1991*, an 11-year-old girl named *Jaycee Lee Dugard* is
kidnapped by *Phillip Craig Garrido* and his wife, *Nancy*, in South Lake
Tahoe, California. Dugard would remain missing for more than 18 years,
during which time she would be held against her will in a secure area on
Garrido’s property and forced to father two daughters by her captor and
tormentor.

***

On this day in *2002*, the first “direct electronic communication
experiment between the nervous systems of two humans” is carried out by the
intensely creepy post-humanist pseudo-philosopher cum scientism
evangelist *Kevin
Warwick* in the United Kingdom. Trust me, folks… when it comes to
individuals whose hubris and massive blind spots could potentially wreak
untold havoc on the entire planetary ecosphere, this guy is on the *short
list <http://search.theregister.co.uk/?q=Kevin+Warwick>*.

***

Also on this day in *2002*, Attorney General *John Ashcroft* takes to the
airwaves to announce the arrest of US citizen *Abdullah al-Mujahir -*
 a.k.a. *Jose Padilla* - allegedly over his being part of an al-Qaeda plot
to detonate a radioactive “dirty bomb” in a US city. Padilla was held as an
“enemy combatant” for over a year, and subjected to so-called enhanced
interrogation techniques (a euphemism for torture) before the major charges
against him were dropped for lack of merit, and he was tried for other
transgressions in civilian court in 2007. Of particular note is the fact
that authorities kept him strapped into a "sensory deprivation rig"
whenever he was being transported from place to place, so he would never
know whether his family (who were not allowed to meet with him) were there
to support him. A nice, petty, *Bush*-era touch of malignant hubris.

<http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/13/Jose_Padilla_at_the_Navy_Consolidated_Brig.jpg>
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