As tax season slowly releases its grip on April USA Today reports on the amazing tax policy in Mexico in place since 1957 that allows artists to pay their taxes with artwork, creating an invaluable collection for the nation.
“Some of the art is explicit, but no matter.
‘There’s no censorship here,’ says Julieta Ruiz, a curator at the museum.
If anything, the temptation to needle the taxman makes the art even edgier.”
DECEMBER 31 —JOHN WYCLIFFE
Leader of the dangerous Lollards, 13th century English spiritual revolutionaries.
DECEMBER 31, 2009 HOLIDAYS AND FESTIVALS
NEW YEAR’S EVE. ANNUAL WORLD PEACE MEDITATION. In Germany, prowling demons & spirits of darkness must be routed this night by mummery & lots of noise. People used to dress in straw clothing with deerskin masks of animals & run through the streets, clanging bells & dragging chains.
Mobile, Alabama: COWBELLION HERD ESCAPADE & REVEL honors Michael Krafft, who founded mystic society, “Cowbellion de Rakin” in 1830 first of all the mystic societies and krewes which stage the Mardi Gras extravaganzas in Mobile and New Orleans.
JAPAN: NAMAHAGE. Men dressed as devils go door-to-door screaming “Any good-for-nothings here about?”
ALSO ON DECEMBER 31 IN HISTORY…
1320 —British religious radical reformer John Wycliffe born, Yorkshire, England.
1384 — Religious radical reformer John Wycliffe Dies, Lutterworth, Leicestershire.
1877 — French radical painter Gustave Courbet dies, Vevey, France.
1996 — Mayan shaman Lacandonista Chan k’in Viejo dies, Chiapas, Mexico.
Excerpted from The 2009 Autonomedia Calendar of Jubilee Saints: Radical Heroes for the New Millennium by James Koehnline and the Autonomedia Collective. The 2010 Autonomedia Calender is now available on the Autonomedia site.
OCTOBER 27 — BRAD WILL
Indymedia activist, killed in street protests, Oaxaca, Mexico.
OCTOBER 27, 2009 HOLIDAYS AND FESTIVALS
FEAST OF THE LORD OF MISRULE.
PUNKIE NIGHT: Children parade with gourd lanterns on last Thursday in October.
ALSO ON OCTOBER 27 IN HISTORY…
1904 — New York City subway opens.
1912 — Player piano composer Conlon Nancarrow born, Texarkana, Arkansas.
1914 — Welsh poet Dylan Thomas born, Swansea, Wales.
1932 — American poet Sylvia Plath born, Boston, Massachusetts.
2006 — New York Indymedia journalist Brad Will killed, Oaxaca, Mexico.
Excerpted from The 2009 Autonomedia Calendar of Jubilee Saints: Radical Heroes for the New Millennium by James Koehnline and the Autonomedia Collective
August 8 – Emiliano Zapata
Heroic military figure in the first Mexican revolution.
August 8, 2009 HOLIDAYS AND FESTIVALS
Scotland: BURRYMAN FESTIVAL. A man in tight-knit suit and mask is cov-
ered from head to toe with burrs and strolls the streets of Linlithgow,
collecting tribute from housewives. No one knows why.
ALSO ON AUGUST 8 IN HISTORY…
1449 — Portuguese slaver Henry the Navigator delivers 6 ships of human cargo.
1876 — Thomas Alva Edison gets patent for mimeograph.
1879 — Revolutionary hero Emiliano Zapata born, Anenecuilco, Morelos, Mexico.
Arthur Magazine 