Turns out we’ve been worshiping pagan gods every time we ask what day it is.

Tuesday. Wednesday. Thursday. Friday.

There they are. Týr. Woden. Thor. Frigg. Ancient gods hiding in plain sight on the calendar, surviving Christianity, empires, kings, popes and roughly two thousand years of people saying “Thank God it’s Friday” when they really ought to be thanking Frigg.

So naturally, Digital Diner went looking for them.

We found Týr, who lost a hand to a giant wolf. Woden, who traded an eye for wisdom. Thor, who brought the hammer. Frigg, who could see the future but apparently signed a nondisclosure agreement. Then came Saturn, the Sun and the Moon.

And now the whole unruly pantheon has its own playlist: trailmix.cc/days

These are the short videos we’re using to open each day’s Digital Diner. We made them reusable because the gods have already lasted a couple thousand years. No sense giving them a 24-hour shelf life.

We’ll keep tinkering with them as we find more historical oddities, ancient footage and assorted cultural debris worth throwing into the stew.

Seven days. Seven stories. Two thousand years of history hiding on your calendar.

Joaquín Rodrigo Vidre; 22 November 1901 – 6 July 1999, was a Spanish composer and a virtuoso pianist. He is best known for composing the Concierto de Aranjuez, a cornerstone of the classical guitar repertoire. ( wiki link )

Enjoy, Jack

Saturnday for the book writing intellectuals and the manor house.
Satyrday for us peasant folks. We need a day too.
Jack

Remember your first reaction when you first saw or heard about it?

At the Republican midterm convention in Dallas last night, Trump promised a $5,000 “Trump Dividend” to every adult U.S. citizen — but only if Republicans keep both the House and Senate in November. How should Democrats respond?

The cost: roughly $1.35 trillion. That’s nearly one-quarter of the federal government’s entire annual revenue.

Trump claimed tariffs could pay for it, but the supposed tariff windfall is disappearing: most of the $166 billion collected under the tariffs struck down by the Supreme Court is expected to be refunded.

We’ve tried massive cash injections before. Pandemic stimulus under both Trump and Biden helped Americans through the crisis, but economists found the added demand also contributed to the inflation that followed.

Sure, Democrats should blast this for the insane budgeting foolery that it is — BUT why not have some fun and call his bluff. Say they’ll vote for it if billionaires pay for it. A one time 13% tax on billionaire wealth would get it done. Read more about this on my Substack today.

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CNN Fact Check: Trump makes numerous false claims in Republican convention speech.

SOME CAMPAIGN SIGNS ARE MORE EFFECTIVE THAN OTHERS by John Darkow

[John Darkow has been a professional cartoonist for over 20 years, spending the last 10 as the staff cartoonist at the Columbia Daily Tribune. He is syndicated internationally by Cagle Cartoons.]