Menton is a commune in the Alpes-Maritimes department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in southeastern France. Situated on the French Riviera, along the Franco-Italian border, it is nicknamed la perle de la France ("The Pearl of France"). The Menton area has been inhabited since the paleolithic era, and is the site of the original "Grimaldi Man" find of early modern humans, as well as remains of Neanderthals and Cro-Magnons. The first major settlement occurred during the 11th century CE, when the Count of Ventimiglia constructed the Château de Puypin (Podium Pinum) on the Pépin hill, north and west of the modern town center. During the 13th century, the seigneury of Puypin fell to the Vento family of Genoa who built a new castle along the Roman road, now the site of the Vieux-Château cemetery, providing the core around which the current town grew. Menton was thus incorporated into the Republic of Genoa. The first mention of Menton dates from 21 July 1262, in the peace treaty between Charles of Anjou and Genoa. Its position on the border between the Angevin-ruled Provence and the Republic of Genoa, which at the time claimed Monaco as its western limit, made it a coveted location. Acquired in 1346 by Charles Grimaldi, Lord of Monaco, Menton was ruled by the Princes of Monaco until the French Revolution. Annexed during the Revolution, Menton remained part of France through the First Empire. It belonged to the district of Sanremo in the department of Alpes-Maritimes, which at the time included Monaco and Sanremo. The Lemon Festival takes place every February. The festival follows a given theme each year; past themes include Viva España, Disney, Neverland, and India. The Casino Gardens in the centre of town are decorated in the theme of the festival, using lemons to cover the exhibits, and huge temporary statues are built and covered with citrus fruit. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Menton
The 79th Lemon Festival is being held February17-March 7th, 2012. See pictures at: http://www.fete-du-citron.com/Lemon-Festival-Menton-French,34.html
George Cope (1855–1929) was an artist who stayed close to home. He began his career painting the lush Brandywine River Valley landscape in Chester County, Pennsylvania, and its wildlife and architecture. He later explored realism in highly detailed trompe l’oeil (literally translated, “fool-the-eye”) and in still lifes of favorite objects from the homes of his neighbors and patrons. At the Philadelphia Centennial of 1876, Cope met German-born landscape painter Hermann Herzog (1832–1932), who became his lifelong friend and only teacher. The pair often took sketching and hiking trips in the Pennsylvania countryside. Cope’s Landscape with Two Horses (1883; Chester County Historical Society) is very similar to Herzog’s work in both composition and style. Cope’s big break came when Major Levi Gheen McCauley, a prominent West Chester businessman, politician, and Civil War hero, commissioned him to paint “an exhibition hanging picture” in 1887. The subject was the major’s Civil War regalia—swords, cap, belt, pistol, holster, sash, canteen, and two important military medals—all rendered in exact scale and in vivid realistic color. This was one of Cope’s first ventures into the illusionism of trompe l’oeil. See Fig. 4: The Civil War Regalia of Major Levi Gheen McCauley, 1887. Oil on canvas, 50 x 36 1/2inches. Photography by Greg Williams. Courtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago. at: http://www.antiquesandfineart.com/articles/article.cfm?request=516
DUBLIN, Ohio 15 February 2012—OCLC Research has made FAST (Faceted Application of Subject Terminology) available for bulk download, along with some minor improvements based on user feedback and routine updates. FAST is an enumerative, faceted subject heading schema derived from the Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH). OCLC made FAST available as Linked Open Data in December 2011. The bulk downloadable versions of FAST are offered at no charge. Like FAST content available through the FAST Experimental Linked Data Service, the downloadable versions of FAST are made available under the Open Data Commons Attribution (ODC-By) license.
http://www.oclc.org/research/news/2012-02-15.htm
Flax (also known as common flax or linseed) (binomial name: Linum usitatissimum) is a member of the genus Linum in the family Linaceae. It is native to the region extending from the eastern Mediterranean to India and was probably first domesticated in the Fertile Crescent. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flax
Sesame (Sesamum indicum) is a flowering plant in the genus Sesamum. Numerous wild relatives occur in Africa and a smaller number in India. It is widely naturalized in tropical regions around the world and is cultivated for its edible seeds, which grow in pods. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sesame
According to the U.S. Government Accountability Office's updated analysis, replacing the $1 note with a $1 coin would provide a net benefit to the government of approximately $4.4 billion over 30 years, or an average of about $146 million per year. The overall net benefit was due solely to increased seigniorage and not to reduced production costs. This estimate differs from GAO’s 2011 estimate because it considers recent efficiency improvements in note processing that have extended the expected life of the $1 note and other updated information. GAO’s estimate covered 30 years to be consistent with previous GAO analyses and because that period roughly coincides with the life expectancy of the $1 coin. Using the same model and assumptions used for its 30-year analysis, GAO found that replacing the $1 note with a $1 coin would provide a net loss to the government of about $531 million in the first 10 years, or an average of about $53 million per year. The cost of producing a large number of coins necessary for the transition would result in a net loss in 6 of the first 7 years. In the eighth year, and for the remaining 2 years, this situation is reversed: the interest savings outweigh the production costs and the net benefits would be positive. Overall, the net loss over 10 years compared with the net benefit GAO estimated over 30 years would occur because of large costs in the first few years to produce the initial supply of $1 coins. If the interest savings due to increased seigniorage are excluded from the analysis, the government would incur a total net loss of about $1.8 billion over 10 years, or an average of $179 million per year. With no interest savings to offset the costs of coin production, net losses would be incurred in 9 of the 10 years. As in the preceding scenario, these production costs are greatest in the first 4 years, when a large number of coins need to be produced for the transition. Although this scenario suggests there are no net benefits of switching to a $1 coin, GAO believes that excluding the interest savings related to seigniorage omits a monetary benefit to the government. If it is assumed that each $1 note will be replaced by 1, rather than 1.5, $1 coins, the government would incur a total net loss of about $582 million over 10 years, or an average of about $58 million per year. The costs of producing coins for the transition dominate in the first 3 years, followed by benefits in the fourth year due to the overproduction of coins during the transition. In this scenario, net losses continue to accrue through year 10. Net losses in this scenario are smaller than in the preceding scenario because fewer coins are produced and coin production costs are lower, but the one-to-one replacement does not provide increased seigniorage. Moreover, this lower replacement ratio is not consistent with the experiences of other countries that have switched from notes to coins and is likely to produce too few coins to meet demand, which could be disruptive to the economy.
See 15-page document GAO-12-307 at: http://gao.gov/assets/590/588549.pdf
Seignorage is "The amount of real purchasing power that [a] government can extract from the public by printing money." -- Cukierman 1992
When a government prints money, it is in essence borrowing interest-free since it receives goods in exchange for the money, and must accept the money in return only at some future time. It gains further if issuing new money reduces (through inflation) the value of old money by reducing the liability that the old money represents. These gains to a money-issuing government are called "seignorage" revenues. The original meaning of seignorage was the fee taken by a money issuer (a government) for the cost of minting the money. Money itself, at that time, was intrinsically valuable because it was made of metal. http://economics.about.com/od/economicsglossary/g/seignorage.htm
Tuesday, February 21, 2012
Monday, February 20, 2012
palladium (puh-LAY-dee-uhm) noun
1. A safeguard.
After Athena (also known as Pallas Athena), a goddess in Greek mythology. She was the daughter of Zeus and was born fully-grown from his forehead. Palladium was a statue of Athena that was believed to protect Troy. Earliest documented use: before 1393.
2. A rare, silvery-white metal.
Palladium was discovered by chemist and physicist William Hyde Wollaston in 1803. He named it after the asteroid Pallas which had been discovered the year before. The asteroid was named after Pallas Athena. Earliest documented use: 1803.
cruciverbalist (kroo-si-VUHR-buh-list) noun A crossword designer or enthusiast.
[From Latin cruci-, stem of crux (cross), + verbalist (one skilled in use of words), from verbum (word).]
Cadmean victory (kad-MEE-uhn VIK-tuh-ree) noun
A victory won at as great a cost to the victor as to the vanquished.
After Cadmus, a Phoenician prince in Greek mythology who introduced writing to the Greeks and founded the city of Thebes. Near the site where Cadmus was to build Thebes he encountered a dragon. Even though he managed to kill the dragon, only five of his comrades survived, with whom he founded the city. Other words coined after him are calamine (a pink powder used in skin lotions), from Latin calamina, from Greek kadmeia ge (Cadmean earth) and the name of the chemical element cadmium. A similar eponym is Pyrrhic victory.
A.Word.A.Day with Anu Garg
The first example of a crossword puzzle appeared on September 14, 1890, in the Italian magazine Il Secolo Illustrato della Domenica. It was designed by Giuseppe Airoldi and titled "Per passare il tempo" ("To pass the time"). Airoldi's puzzle was a four-by-four grid with no shaded squares; it included horizontal and vertical clues. On December 21, 1913, Arthur Wynne, a journalist from Liverpool, England, published a "word-cross" puzzle in the New York World that embodied most of the features of the genre as we know it. This puzzle is frequently cited as the first crossword puzzle, and Wynne as the inventor. Later, the name of the puzzle was changed to "crossword". Learn about grids, clues and variants at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crossword
Toledo Botanical Garden Seed Swap February 25 noon-3 p.m. Erie Street Market downtown
Join us for our 7th annual Seed Swap! This FREE event offers a myriad of seeds for you to browse. Bring your own seeds and exchange them for different ones! We’ll also have informative workshops on gardening and other activities.
Workshops:
Cindy Bench - Bensell's Greenhouse 10 a.m.-11:30 a.m. Intro to Gardening
Anna Miller 10 a.m.-11:30 a.m. All About Gourds!
Matt Ross - Landscape Turf Management Instructor at Owens Community College
12:45 p.m.-1:45 p.m. Gettin' Dirty in the Garden
Mary Machon - Bensell's Greenhouse 12:45 p.m.-1:45 p.m. Seed Saving 101
Greg & Olivia Willerer 2:30 p.m.-3:30 p.m. Market Gardening
Lindsay Graham 3:30 p.m.-4:30 p.m. Raising Chickens
http://toledogarden.org/content/events/
U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood on Feb. 16 announced the first-ever federally proposed guidelines to encourage automobile manufacturers to limit the distraction risk for in-vehicle electronic devices. The proposed voluntary guidelines would apply to communications, entertainment, information gathering and navigation devices or functions that are not required to safely operate the vehicle. Issued by the Department's National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), the guidelines would establish specific recommended criteria for electronic devices installed in vehicles at the time they are manufactured that require visual or manual operation by drivers. Geared toward light vehicles (cars, SUVs, pickup trucks, minivans, and other vehicles rated at not more than 10,000 pounds gross vehicle weight), the guidelines proposed are the first in a series of guidance documents NHTSA plans to issue to address sources of distraction that require use of the hands and/or diversion of the eyes from the primary task of driving. The Phase I guidelines were published in the Feb. 16 Federal Register and members of the public will have the opportunity to comment on the proposal for 60 days. Final guidelines will be issued after the agency reviews and analyzes and responds to public input. NHTSA will also hold public hearings on the proposed guidelines to solicit public comment. The hearings will take place in March and will be held in Los Angeles, Chicago, and Washington D.C.
See Doc. NHTSA 01-12 at: http://www.nhtsa.gov/About+NHTSA/Press+Releases/2012/U.S.+Department+of+Transportation+Proposes+'Distraction'+Guidelines+for+Automakers
The Living Tongues Institute for Endangered Languages and National Geographic's Enduring Voices project has announced eight new talking dictionaries, containing 32,000 entries and 24,000 audio files. Listen to a sampler of the new online talking dictionaries and the endangered languages they record at: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204880404577227300151734134.html?mod=googlenews_wsj
The online talking dictionaries for the first time document the songs, sound, syntax and structure of Matukar Panau and record seven other unusual, vanishing languages, including Tuvan in Mongolia, Chamacoco in Paraguay and Ho, Sora and Remo in India.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204880404577228982976760026.html?mod=googlenews_wsj
1. A safeguard.
After Athena (also known as Pallas Athena), a goddess in Greek mythology. She was the daughter of Zeus and was born fully-grown from his forehead. Palladium was a statue of Athena that was believed to protect Troy. Earliest documented use: before 1393.
2. A rare, silvery-white metal.
Palladium was discovered by chemist and physicist William Hyde Wollaston in 1803. He named it after the asteroid Pallas which had been discovered the year before. The asteroid was named after Pallas Athena. Earliest documented use: 1803.
cruciverbalist (kroo-si-VUHR-buh-list) noun A crossword designer or enthusiast.
[From Latin cruci-, stem of crux (cross), + verbalist (one skilled in use of words), from verbum (word).]
Cadmean victory (kad-MEE-uhn VIK-tuh-ree) noun
A victory won at as great a cost to the victor as to the vanquished.
After Cadmus, a Phoenician prince in Greek mythology who introduced writing to the Greeks and founded the city of Thebes. Near the site where Cadmus was to build Thebes he encountered a dragon. Even though he managed to kill the dragon, only five of his comrades survived, with whom he founded the city. Other words coined after him are calamine (a pink powder used in skin lotions), from Latin calamina, from Greek kadmeia ge (Cadmean earth) and the name of the chemical element cadmium. A similar eponym is Pyrrhic victory.
A.Word.A.Day with Anu Garg
The first example of a crossword puzzle appeared on September 14, 1890, in the Italian magazine Il Secolo Illustrato della Domenica. It was designed by Giuseppe Airoldi and titled "Per passare il tempo" ("To pass the time"). Airoldi's puzzle was a four-by-four grid with no shaded squares; it included horizontal and vertical clues. On December 21, 1913, Arthur Wynne, a journalist from Liverpool, England, published a "word-cross" puzzle in the New York World that embodied most of the features of the genre as we know it. This puzzle is frequently cited as the first crossword puzzle, and Wynne as the inventor. Later, the name of the puzzle was changed to "crossword". Learn about grids, clues and variants at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crossword
Toledo Botanical Garden Seed Swap February 25 noon-3 p.m. Erie Street Market downtown
Join us for our 7th annual Seed Swap! This FREE event offers a myriad of seeds for you to browse. Bring your own seeds and exchange them for different ones! We’ll also have informative workshops on gardening and other activities.
Workshops:
Cindy Bench - Bensell's Greenhouse 10 a.m.-11:30 a.m. Intro to Gardening
Anna Miller 10 a.m.-11:30 a.m. All About Gourds!
Matt Ross - Landscape Turf Management Instructor at Owens Community College
12:45 p.m.-1:45 p.m. Gettin' Dirty in the Garden
Mary Machon - Bensell's Greenhouse 12:45 p.m.-1:45 p.m. Seed Saving 101
Greg & Olivia Willerer 2:30 p.m.-3:30 p.m. Market Gardening
Lindsay Graham 3:30 p.m.-4:30 p.m. Raising Chickens
http://toledogarden.org/content/events/
U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood on Feb. 16 announced the first-ever federally proposed guidelines to encourage automobile manufacturers to limit the distraction risk for in-vehicle electronic devices. The proposed voluntary guidelines would apply to communications, entertainment, information gathering and navigation devices or functions that are not required to safely operate the vehicle. Issued by the Department's National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), the guidelines would establish specific recommended criteria for electronic devices installed in vehicles at the time they are manufactured that require visual or manual operation by drivers. Geared toward light vehicles (cars, SUVs, pickup trucks, minivans, and other vehicles rated at not more than 10,000 pounds gross vehicle weight), the guidelines proposed are the first in a series of guidance documents NHTSA plans to issue to address sources of distraction that require use of the hands and/or diversion of the eyes from the primary task of driving. The Phase I guidelines were published in the Feb. 16 Federal Register and members of the public will have the opportunity to comment on the proposal for 60 days. Final guidelines will be issued after the agency reviews and analyzes and responds to public input. NHTSA will also hold public hearings on the proposed guidelines to solicit public comment. The hearings will take place in March and will be held in Los Angeles, Chicago, and Washington D.C.
See Doc. NHTSA 01-12 at: http://www.nhtsa.gov/About+NHTSA/Press+Releases/2012/U.S.+Department+of+Transportation+Proposes+'Distraction'+Guidelines+for+Automakers
The Living Tongues Institute for Endangered Languages and National Geographic's Enduring Voices project has announced eight new talking dictionaries, containing 32,000 entries and 24,000 audio files. Listen to a sampler of the new online talking dictionaries and the endangered languages they record at: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204880404577227300151734134.html?mod=googlenews_wsj
The online talking dictionaries for the first time document the songs, sound, syntax and structure of Matukar Panau and record seven other unusual, vanishing languages, including Tuvan in Mongolia, Chamacoco in Paraguay and Ho, Sora and Remo in India.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204880404577228982976760026.html?mod=googlenews_wsj
Friday, February 17, 2012
The word "raccoon" was adopted into English from the native Powhatan term, as used in the Virginia Colony. It was recorded on Captain John Smith's list of Powhatan words as aroughcun, and on that of William Strachey as arathkone. It has also been identified as a Proto-Algonquian root *ahrah-koon-em, meaning "[the] one who rubs, scrubs and scratches with its hands". Similarly, Spanish colonists adopted the Spanish word mapache from the Nahuatl mapachitli of the Aztecs, meaning "[the] one who takes everything in its hands". The raccoon's scientific name, Procyon lotor, is neo-Latin, meaning "before-dog washer", with lotor Latin for "washer" and Procyon Latinized Greek from προ-, "before" and κύων, "dog". Due to its adaptability, the raccoon has been able to use urban areas as a habitat. The first sightings were recorded in a suburb of Cincinnati in the 1920s. Since the 1950s, raccoons have been present in Philadelphia, Washington, DC, New York City, Chicago, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Toronto. Since the 1960s, Kassel has hosted Europe's first and densest population in a large urban area, with about 50 to 150 animals per square kilometre (130–400 animals per square mile), a figure comparable to those of urban habitats in North America. Fruit and insects in gardens and leftovers in municipal waste are easily available food sources. Furthermore, a large number of additional sleeping areas exist in these areas, such as hollows in old garden trees, cottages, garages, abandoned houses, and attics. The percentage of urban raccoons sleeping in abandoned or occupied houses varies from 15% in Washington, DC (1991) to 43% in Kassel (2003). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raccoon
CONTROL INVASIVE SPECIES BY EATING THEM
Raccoon recipes
http://www.backwoodsbound.com/zracoon.html
http://www.cooks.com/rec/search/0,1-0,raccoon,FF.html
Asian Carp recipes
http://magblog.audubon.org/recipes-invasive-species-asian-carp
Asian carp may be a problem in the Great Lakes, but in Louisiana they are renaming it silver fin and promoting it as a delicacy. Chef Philippe Parola says the Asian carp's texture is a cross between scallop and crabmeat, adding its bones can be removed easily by steaming. http://www.chefphilippe.com/recipes_silverfin.pdf
TWITTER is being sued for defamation for the first time under Australian law. Joshua Meggitt, the Melbourne man wrongly named by writer and TV identity Marieke Hardy as the author of a hate blog dedicated to her, is now suing Twitter Inc itself. Mr Meggitt's lawyer, Stuart Gibson, served a legal notice yesterday on the San Francisco-based social media giant, a company valued last year at $US7 billion ($A6.5 billion), as the publisher of a tweet by Hardy last November. Her tweet read: ''I name and shame my 'anonymous' internet bully. Liberating business! Join me,'' with a link to her blog, where she incorrectly named Mr Meggitt as the author of ''ranting, hateful'' articles about her. It was a tweet seen around the world, and now that Hardy (below) has already reached a confidential legal settlement with Mr Meggitt, believed to be about $15,000, and published an apology on her blog, his lawyers are seeking damages from the social media site where the original defamation had the greatest exposure. The original tweet appeared on Twitter's homepage, and was copied by some of Hardy's 60,897 followers and other Twitter users taking part at the time in a worldwide online anti-abuse campaign. Many also commented on the original post in ways that could be construed as defamatory. http://www.theage.com.au/technology/technology-news/twitter-sued-over-hardy-tweet-20120216-1tbxz.html
Twitter is rolling out the self-serve ad platform it's been testing to 10,000 small and midsize businesses next month through a partnership with American Express, in a bid to broaden its revenue streams. Starting Feb. 16, American Express cardmembers and merchants can register to use the platform on a first-come, first-serve basis and also receive $100 in advertising credits to put toward bidding on promoted tweets and promoted accounts -- hopefully whetting their appetites for more. Twitter had begun the roll-out of self-serve, which lets advertisers make electronic payments instead of being invoiced by the sales team, in mid-November with a group of fewer than 20 advertisers and ultimately expanded the group to about 100.
http://adage.com/article/digital/twitter-opens-serve-ad-platform-10-000-businesses/232787/
Chicken Marengo takes its name from the battle of Marengo in 1800, when Napoleon defeated the Austrians. The original version, improvised on the battlefield by Napoleon's chef, was made with a chicken, tomatoes, eggs, crayfish, garlic, and a splash of brandy from the General's flash. See recipe at: http://almostbourdain.blogspot.com/2009/08/chicken-marengo.html
Recipe from Food Network: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/melissa-darabian/4-step-chicken-marengo-recipe/index.html
When firefighters arrived at the $11-million mansion in the Hollywood Hills last year, they thought they had a chance to save the 13,500-square-foot structure. More than 80 firefighters raced to the home, and 19 were temporarily trapped as the fire spread. Veteran firefighter Glenn Allen was on the ground floor when several hundred pounds of plaster and lumber fell on him. His colleagues dug him out using chainsaws to cut through the debris, but his injuries were so severe that he died two days later. From the beginning, investigators were suspicious of how the fire started. After a yearlong investigation, prosecutors on Feb. 15 charged the home's architect with involuntary manslaughter for allegedly building a home that was the perfect backdrop for a reality TV show but a deathtrap for the firefighters who tried to save it. Authorities said the Feb. 16, 2011, fire occurred two days before filming was set to begin at the home for "Germany's Next Top Model." The show starred Heidi Klum and centered around a group of models staying at the home, with its sweeping views, dramatic terraces and infinity pool. Prosecutors said Gerhard Albert Becker, 48, knowingly ignored safety recommendations and altered the home after inspections. He has been charged with involuntary manslaughter in connection with Allen's death. Building inspectors said Becker had told them there were no plans to build fireplaces in the home, and none were spotted during a final inspection. After the fire, investigators discovered that he had installed four outdoor fireplaces inside the home, a violation of city building codes. Becker has pleaded not guilty. Last year, he told investigators after Allen's death that "he did not consider them to be fireplaces but rather architectural features or decorations," according to court records. "This man built an 18-foot fire trough designed for outdoors inside the home. It was a recipe for disaster," added Deputy Dist. Atty. Sean Carney. "He essentially put this fireplace on 2-by-4s." According to a search warrant affidavit, the manufacturer of the fireplaces warned Becker that they were for outdoor use only. Records show he replied in an email, "I am aware I just don't see the difference. It is a pit with a pipe." http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-firefighter-killed-20120216,0,512896.story
CONTROL INVASIVE SPECIES BY EATING THEM
Raccoon recipes
http://www.backwoodsbound.com/zracoon.html
http://www.cooks.com/rec/search/0,1-0,raccoon,FF.html
Asian Carp recipes
http://magblog.audubon.org/recipes-invasive-species-asian-carp
Asian carp may be a problem in the Great Lakes, but in Louisiana they are renaming it silver fin and promoting it as a delicacy. Chef Philippe Parola says the Asian carp's texture is a cross between scallop and crabmeat, adding its bones can be removed easily by steaming. http://www.chefphilippe.com/recipes_silverfin.pdf
TWITTER is being sued for defamation for the first time under Australian law. Joshua Meggitt, the Melbourne man wrongly named by writer and TV identity Marieke Hardy as the author of a hate blog dedicated to her, is now suing Twitter Inc itself. Mr Meggitt's lawyer, Stuart Gibson, served a legal notice yesterday on the San Francisco-based social media giant, a company valued last year at $US7 billion ($A6.5 billion), as the publisher of a tweet by Hardy last November. Her tweet read: ''I name and shame my 'anonymous' internet bully. Liberating business! Join me,'' with a link to her blog, where she incorrectly named Mr Meggitt as the author of ''ranting, hateful'' articles about her. It was a tweet seen around the world, and now that Hardy (below) has already reached a confidential legal settlement with Mr Meggitt, believed to be about $15,000, and published an apology on her blog, his lawyers are seeking damages from the social media site where the original defamation had the greatest exposure. The original tweet appeared on Twitter's homepage, and was copied by some of Hardy's 60,897 followers and other Twitter users taking part at the time in a worldwide online anti-abuse campaign. Many also commented on the original post in ways that could be construed as defamatory. http://www.theage.com.au/technology/technology-news/twitter-sued-over-hardy-tweet-20120216-1tbxz.html
Twitter is rolling out the self-serve ad platform it's been testing to 10,000 small and midsize businesses next month through a partnership with American Express, in a bid to broaden its revenue streams. Starting Feb. 16, American Express cardmembers and merchants can register to use the platform on a first-come, first-serve basis and also receive $100 in advertising credits to put toward bidding on promoted tweets and promoted accounts -- hopefully whetting their appetites for more. Twitter had begun the roll-out of self-serve, which lets advertisers make electronic payments instead of being invoiced by the sales team, in mid-November with a group of fewer than 20 advertisers and ultimately expanded the group to about 100.
http://adage.com/article/digital/twitter-opens-serve-ad-platform-10-000-businesses/232787/
Chicken Marengo takes its name from the battle of Marengo in 1800, when Napoleon defeated the Austrians. The original version, improvised on the battlefield by Napoleon's chef, was made with a chicken, tomatoes, eggs, crayfish, garlic, and a splash of brandy from the General's flash. See recipe at: http://almostbourdain.blogspot.com/2009/08/chicken-marengo.html
Recipe from Food Network: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/melissa-darabian/4-step-chicken-marengo-recipe/index.html
When firefighters arrived at the $11-million mansion in the Hollywood Hills last year, they thought they had a chance to save the 13,500-square-foot structure. More than 80 firefighters raced to the home, and 19 were temporarily trapped as the fire spread. Veteran firefighter Glenn Allen was on the ground floor when several hundred pounds of plaster and lumber fell on him. His colleagues dug him out using chainsaws to cut through the debris, but his injuries were so severe that he died two days later. From the beginning, investigators were suspicious of how the fire started. After a yearlong investigation, prosecutors on Feb. 15 charged the home's architect with involuntary manslaughter for allegedly building a home that was the perfect backdrop for a reality TV show but a deathtrap for the firefighters who tried to save it. Authorities said the Feb. 16, 2011, fire occurred two days before filming was set to begin at the home for "Germany's Next Top Model." The show starred Heidi Klum and centered around a group of models staying at the home, with its sweeping views, dramatic terraces and infinity pool. Prosecutors said Gerhard Albert Becker, 48, knowingly ignored safety recommendations and altered the home after inspections. He has been charged with involuntary manslaughter in connection with Allen's death. Building inspectors said Becker had told them there were no plans to build fireplaces in the home, and none were spotted during a final inspection. After the fire, investigators discovered that he had installed four outdoor fireplaces inside the home, a violation of city building codes. Becker has pleaded not guilty. Last year, he told investigators after Allen's death that "he did not consider them to be fireplaces but rather architectural features or decorations," according to court records. "This man built an 18-foot fire trough designed for outdoors inside the home. It was a recipe for disaster," added Deputy Dist. Atty. Sean Carney. "He essentially put this fireplace on 2-by-4s." According to a search warrant affidavit, the manufacturer of the fireplaces warned Becker that they were for outdoor use only. Records show he replied in an email, "I am aware I just don't see the difference. It is a pit with a pipe." http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-firefighter-killed-20120216,0,512896.story
Thursday, February 16, 2012
The Maldives, a group of about 1,200 islands, separated into a series of coral atolls, is just north of the Equator in the Indian Ocean. Only 200 of the islands are inhabited. Many of these tropical atolls and islands are simply gorgeous, with swaying palms, white sandy beaches and deep-blue lagoons; none of the islands rise higher than 7.8 ft. above sea level. These low lying specs of coral are subject to erosion, and stand at the mercy of any sea level rise. Some were severely damaged during the December, 2004 Tsunami. The Maldives was long a sultanate (a territory ruled by a sultan), first under Dutch control, and then under British protection. It gained independence from the United Kingdom in 1965, and three years later, declared itself an independent republic. See map at: http://www.worldatlas.com/webimage/countrys/asia/mv.htm
BRIC is an acronym for the economies of Brazil, Russia, India and China combined. The general consensus is that the term was first prominently used in a Goldman Sachs report from 2003, which speculated that by 2050 these four economies would be wealthier than most of the current major economic powers. The BRIC thesis posits that China and India will become the world's dominant suppliers of manufactured goods and services, respectively, while Brazil and Russia will become similarly dominant as suppliers of raw materials. It's important to note that the Goldman Sachs thesis isn't that these countries are a political alliance (like the European Union) or a formal trading association - but they have the potential to form a powerful economic bloc. BRIC is now also used as a more generic marketing term to refer to these four emerging economies. http://www.investopedia.com/terms/b/bric.asp#axzz1mG7ivkw9
The Industrial Revolution started in England around 1733 with the first cotton mill. A more modern world had begun. As new inventions were being created, factories followed soon thereafter. England wanted to keep its industrialization a secret, so they prohibited anyone who had worked in a factory to leave the country. Meanwhile, Americans offered a significant reward to anyone who could build a cotton-spinning machine in the United States. Samuel Slater, who had been an apprentice in an English cotton factory, disguised himself and came to America. Once here, he reconstructed a cotton-spinning machine from memory. He then proceeded to build a factory of his own. See links Eli Whitney & the cotton gin (short for cotton engine), Robert Fulton & the steam engine, and Francis Cabot Lowell & the American Textile Industry at: http://library.thinkquest.org/4132/info.htm
Angelo Bartlett "Bart" Giamatti (1938–1989) was the president of Yale University and later the seventh Commissioner of Major League Baseball. Giamatti negotiated the agreement that terminated the Pete Rose betting scandal by permitting Rose to voluntarily withdraw from the sport, avoiding further punishment. Giamatti had a lifelong interest in baseball (he was a die-hard Boston Red Sox fan). In 1978, when he was first rumored to be a candidate for the presidency of Yale, he had deflected questions by observing that "The only thing I ever wanted to be president of was the American League." He became president of the National League in 1986, and later commissioner of baseball in 1989. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A._Bartlett_Giamatti
A. Bartlett Giamatti made a speech to the incoming Yale freshman class in 1980. He reminded the class of something I trust they carried with them through Yale and beyond. “You are not expected to know,” he said, “but you are expected to wish to know.” He went on to raise a rhetorical question—“Why does any ideology tend to be authoritarian?”—and then answered it: “These closed systems are attractive because they are simple and they are simple because they are such masterly evasions of contradictory, gray, complex reality. Those who manipulate such systems are compelling because they are never in doubt.” To a later class of Yale, he noted that the twentieth century was coming to a close. “The fact is,” Giamatti said, “nothing is old or tired or declining for you. You are new. You do not need the worn intellectual cloaks of others; you must weave your own, with which to walk out into the world.” He sent them on their way with a charge to be remembered by all: “Do not become one of those who only has the courage of other people’s convictions.” The Time of our Lives by Tom Brokaw
A 2,000-Degree Dinner Party at Esque The artisans at Portland, Oregon’s Esque host a dinner party at their studio, inviting star chef Naomi Pomeroy to cook in their superhot ovens. In less than five minutes, a glassblower can transform a small molten blob at the end of a long tube into a drinking glass; in about half an hour, the glassblower can create a foot-long vase. And in the studio’s 2,000-degree oven, a roast beef for eight people—the main course for an amazing dinner party—will cook in only about three minutes. Andi Kovel and Justin Parker, cofounders of Esque, are part of both fast-moving experiences. The pair launched Esque a dozen years ago after meeting at Parsons design school in New York City. See high-heat cooking tips and the dinner party menu at: http://www.foodandwine.com/articles/a-2000-degree-dinner-party-with-the-artisans-at-esque
The Federal Communications Commission is set to approve tougher rules giving consumers additional protection against unwanted autodialed or prerecorded calls to home phone lines. "We have gotten thousands of complaints," says FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski. "Consumers were still getting robocalls they don't want and shouldn't get." He expects the commission to approve new rules that will require telemarketers to get written consent before making such calls. Even though Congress in 2008 passed legislation making Do Not Call permanent, some telemarketers have continued to make unsolicited calls because of loopholes in the law. Under the new FCC rules, telemarketers must get consent before calling home phones, even if the consumer hasn't included their number on the Do Not Call registry. Current rules already prohibit such calls to cellphones without consent. Robocall telemarketers use predictive technology to automatically dial thousands of homes simultaneously and connect live representatives with call recipients. Often, consumers hear nothing when they pick up the phone because there's no representative available. Previously, companies that consumers already had done business with could robocall them, but that exemption will be removed under the new rules. Other new provisions require telemarketers to give consumers a quick way to end the call and automatically add their number to telemarketers' Do Not Call lists. Not covered by the new rules: robocalls from schools and other non-profit organizations and political groups, because they are considered informational. Those calls cannot be made without consent to wireless phones, however.
http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/telecom/story/2012-02-14/robocall-ftc-do-not-call/53097276/1
"I love your verses with all my heart, dear Miss Barrett … " So begins the first love letter http://digitalcollections.baylor.edu/cdm/compoundobject/collection/ab-letters/id/1966/rec/1 to poet Elizabeth Barrett from her future husband, fellow poet Robert Browning. Their 573 love letters, which capture their 19th century courtship, their blossoming love and their forbidden marriage, have long fascinated scholars and poetry fans. Though transcriptions of their correspondence have been published in the past, the handwritten letters could only be seen at Wellesley College in Massachusetts, where the collection has been kept since 1930. But beginning on Valentine's Day, their famous love letters will become available online where readers can see them just as they were written – with creased paper, fading ink, quill pen cross-outs, and even the envelopes they used. The digitisation project is a collaboration between Wellesley and Baylor University in Waco, Texas, which houses the world's largest collection of books, letters and other items related to the Brownings. Thanks, Linda.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2012/feb/14/love-letters-barrett-browning-valentines
BRIC is an acronym for the economies of Brazil, Russia, India and China combined. The general consensus is that the term was first prominently used in a Goldman Sachs report from 2003, which speculated that by 2050 these four economies would be wealthier than most of the current major economic powers. The BRIC thesis posits that China and India will become the world's dominant suppliers of manufactured goods and services, respectively, while Brazil and Russia will become similarly dominant as suppliers of raw materials. It's important to note that the Goldman Sachs thesis isn't that these countries are a political alliance (like the European Union) or a formal trading association - but they have the potential to form a powerful economic bloc. BRIC is now also used as a more generic marketing term to refer to these four emerging economies. http://www.investopedia.com/terms/b/bric.asp#axzz1mG7ivkw9
The Industrial Revolution started in England around 1733 with the first cotton mill. A more modern world had begun. As new inventions were being created, factories followed soon thereafter. England wanted to keep its industrialization a secret, so they prohibited anyone who had worked in a factory to leave the country. Meanwhile, Americans offered a significant reward to anyone who could build a cotton-spinning machine in the United States. Samuel Slater, who had been an apprentice in an English cotton factory, disguised himself and came to America. Once here, he reconstructed a cotton-spinning machine from memory. He then proceeded to build a factory of his own. See links Eli Whitney & the cotton gin (short for cotton engine), Robert Fulton & the steam engine, and Francis Cabot Lowell & the American Textile Industry at: http://library.thinkquest.org/4132/info.htm
Angelo Bartlett "Bart" Giamatti (1938–1989) was the president of Yale University and later the seventh Commissioner of Major League Baseball. Giamatti negotiated the agreement that terminated the Pete Rose betting scandal by permitting Rose to voluntarily withdraw from the sport, avoiding further punishment. Giamatti had a lifelong interest in baseball (he was a die-hard Boston Red Sox fan). In 1978, when he was first rumored to be a candidate for the presidency of Yale, he had deflected questions by observing that "The only thing I ever wanted to be president of was the American League." He became president of the National League in 1986, and later commissioner of baseball in 1989. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A._Bartlett_Giamatti
A. Bartlett Giamatti made a speech to the incoming Yale freshman class in 1980. He reminded the class of something I trust they carried with them through Yale and beyond. “You are not expected to know,” he said, “but you are expected to wish to know.” He went on to raise a rhetorical question—“Why does any ideology tend to be authoritarian?”—and then answered it: “These closed systems are attractive because they are simple and they are simple because they are such masterly evasions of contradictory, gray, complex reality. Those who manipulate such systems are compelling because they are never in doubt.” To a later class of Yale, he noted that the twentieth century was coming to a close. “The fact is,” Giamatti said, “nothing is old or tired or declining for you. You are new. You do not need the worn intellectual cloaks of others; you must weave your own, with which to walk out into the world.” He sent them on their way with a charge to be remembered by all: “Do not become one of those who only has the courage of other people’s convictions.” The Time of our Lives by Tom Brokaw
A 2,000-Degree Dinner Party at Esque The artisans at Portland, Oregon’s Esque host a dinner party at their studio, inviting star chef Naomi Pomeroy to cook in their superhot ovens. In less than five minutes, a glassblower can transform a small molten blob at the end of a long tube into a drinking glass; in about half an hour, the glassblower can create a foot-long vase. And in the studio’s 2,000-degree oven, a roast beef for eight people—the main course for an amazing dinner party—will cook in only about three minutes. Andi Kovel and Justin Parker, cofounders of Esque, are part of both fast-moving experiences. The pair launched Esque a dozen years ago after meeting at Parsons design school in New York City. See high-heat cooking tips and the dinner party menu at: http://www.foodandwine.com/articles/a-2000-degree-dinner-party-with-the-artisans-at-esque
The Federal Communications Commission is set to approve tougher rules giving consumers additional protection against unwanted autodialed or prerecorded calls to home phone lines. "We have gotten thousands of complaints," says FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski. "Consumers were still getting robocalls they don't want and shouldn't get." He expects the commission to approve new rules that will require telemarketers to get written consent before making such calls. Even though Congress in 2008 passed legislation making Do Not Call permanent, some telemarketers have continued to make unsolicited calls because of loopholes in the law. Under the new FCC rules, telemarketers must get consent before calling home phones, even if the consumer hasn't included their number on the Do Not Call registry. Current rules already prohibit such calls to cellphones without consent. Robocall telemarketers use predictive technology to automatically dial thousands of homes simultaneously and connect live representatives with call recipients. Often, consumers hear nothing when they pick up the phone because there's no representative available. Previously, companies that consumers already had done business with could robocall them, but that exemption will be removed under the new rules. Other new provisions require telemarketers to give consumers a quick way to end the call and automatically add their number to telemarketers' Do Not Call lists. Not covered by the new rules: robocalls from schools and other non-profit organizations and political groups, because they are considered informational. Those calls cannot be made without consent to wireless phones, however.
http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/telecom/story/2012-02-14/robocall-ftc-do-not-call/53097276/1
"I love your verses with all my heart, dear Miss Barrett … " So begins the first love letter http://digitalcollections.baylor.edu/cdm/compoundobject/collection/ab-letters/id/1966/rec/1 to poet Elizabeth Barrett from her future husband, fellow poet Robert Browning. Their 573 love letters, which capture their 19th century courtship, their blossoming love and their forbidden marriage, have long fascinated scholars and poetry fans. Though transcriptions of their correspondence have been published in the past, the handwritten letters could only be seen at Wellesley College in Massachusetts, where the collection has been kept since 1930. But beginning on Valentine's Day, their famous love letters will become available online where readers can see them just as they were written – with creased paper, fading ink, quill pen cross-outs, and even the envelopes they used. The digitisation project is a collaboration between Wellesley and Baylor University in Waco, Texas, which houses the world's largest collection of books, letters and other items related to the Brownings. Thanks, Linda.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2012/feb/14/love-letters-barrett-browning-valentines
Tuesday, February 14, 2012
Rabbit, Run--Rabbit, Jump
She was the fastest rabbit in town, taking just 11 seconds to jump all the hurdles in the round. Cherie, a 2-year-old Swedish bunny, left the competition in the dust at the U.K.'s Rabbit Grand National, held in the dignified Yorkshire town of Harrogate in late January. The lop-eared speed demon, who also won the competition last year, elicited gasps from the audience as she jumped hurdles close to 28 inches high. In Sweden, where the fluffy competitors train for up to two hours a day, there is an established network of breeders who are always looking for talent. "Our bunnies are so used to competing, so they know what to do," Ms. Hedlund says. Choosing the right breed of rabbit is also important. Sweden's 200 or so breeders are experimenting widely, and charge more—up to 1,500 kronor ($225)—for a rabbit with prizewinning parentage. Bunny-jumping enthusiasts say it is good for the rabbits. A domestic rabbit that is allowed to exercise can live 10 or 12 years, compared with five years at most if kept in a cage, says Lisbeth Jansson, who has written two books on rabbit jumping and, with her husband, Lars, runs Libra Arctic, the world's only professional maker of rabbit jumps. "These bunnies develop psyche, heart, lungs and muscles, so they live longer and the vets have more to do," she says. "Some [owners] even take out life insurance on renowned jumping rabbits. Despite their dominance of the sport, Swedish bunnies are bested by their Danish neighbors when it comes to world records. In 1999, a Danish rabbit called Yaboo set the world long-jump record when he flew over a three-meter, or nearly 10-feet, hurdle, while his compatriot Tösen bounced 99.5 centimeter, or about 40 inches, to nab the high-jump record in 1997. JAVIER ESPINOZA and ANNA MOLIN http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204652904577196912649404638.html
For his first show for the Paul Kasmin gallery in Manhattan, the artist Will Ryman will take over both of its locations with two massive installations, one in the gallery on 10th Avenue and the second in the newly opened space on West 27th Street, the former home of Bungalow 8, just around the corner. The show will run from February 16 to March 24. The two projects both feature an obsession with trash and items found at hardware stores. The first, called Everyman, will turn the original gallery into a gigantic human form in repose, some 50 feet long and curved around the walls of the gallery. Mr. Ryman’s shirt will be composed of work boots, flattened and painted, and his extended fingers will be bottlecaps. The second project, Bird, features a giant raven made of nails that range in size, from one inch to three feet. The bird holds a rose in its mouth, perhaps a reference to Mr. Ryman’s installation The Roses, which appeared on Park Avenue earlier this year. His roses could also be spotted at a new installation, Desublimation of the Rose, at the Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden during Art Basel Miami Beach.
http://www.galleristny.com/2011/12/big-willie-style-will-rymans-new-installations-will-take-over-paul-kasmin-gallery/
If your pension plan is underfunded, you could be at risk of losing some of your benefits. That isn't news. But did you know that your pension can be at risk even if the plan is relatively healthy? Something as seemingly innocuous as having a lump-sum payout provision, or even having a religious affiliation, could mean your benefits are vulnerable. Here are some red flags to look for, and some ways to protect yourself:
Your pension is healthy, but your employer isn't.
Your plan offers lump-sum payouts.
Your company changes hands.
Your employer gets religion. ELLEN E. SCHULTZ
See examples and explanations at: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203315804577211064028695608.html
Sarasota, FL Feb. 10 If you're a theater buff with a serious interest in American comedy, "Once in a Lifetime" probably ranks high on the list of little-known shows you'd love to see onstage. Otherwise, I doubt you've heard of it. A farce about the coming of talking pictures to Hollywood, "Once in a Lifetime" was the first collaboration between George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart, who went on to write "The Man Who Came to Dinner" and "You Can't Take It With You." It opened on Broadway in 1930 and ran for 406 performances, which was big business back then. Two years later, it was turned into a middling movie, then vanished from sight (the 1979 Broadway revival was a flop). Today the play is known solely because Mr. Hart wrote about it in "Act One," his 1959 autobiography. Why doesn't anybody do "Once in a Lifetime" nowadays? It costs too much—way too much. The published script calls for five sets and 38 actors. You could get away with that in the 1930s, but no commercial producer would think of bringing so horrendously expensive a play to Broadway anymore. Enter San Francisco's American Conservatory Theater and Sarasota's Asolo Repertory Theatre, two regional companies that double as drama schools, making it possible to put on large-cast shows by using students to cover smaller parts. ACT mounted "Once in a Lifetime" last fall and Asolo Rep is doing it now. TERRY TEACHOUT http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204136404577205803496515734.html
Professor A. Craig Baird, reading from a speech titled “The Responsibilities of Free Communication,” at a University of Iowa commencement speech in 1952, told his audience of newly minted graduates that they must “reject communication as the primitive art of arousing the emotions …. College graduates, as well as reporters, columnists, congressional investigators, must join in the search for intelligent answers to intelligent questions.” What exactly is civility? Civilpolitics.org, which provides a clearinghouse for research and approaches to improving America’s political dialogue, defines it as “the ability to disagree with others while respecting their sincerity and decency.” Essentially, America’s political system depends on a rational exchange of views; it relies on healthy debate that, ideally, leads to the best ideas for mutual governance. As Baird told the class of 1952, “Ours is a government of talk …. Only thus can we have mature opinion and responsible action.” JENNIFER HEMMINGSEN http://www.iowalum.com/magazine/feb12/civility.cfm?page=all
Portmanteau words, also called blended words or simply portmanteaux, are words that are formed by splicing or merging two other words together. The term portmanteau words comes from Chapter Six of Lewis Carroll's Through the Looking Glass, and What Alice Found There, in which the character Humpty Dumpty, in explaining the meaning of the word slithy in the poem "Jabberwocky", says: “Well, slithy means 'lithe and slimy.' Lithe is the same as 'active.' You see it's like a portmanteau — there are two meanings packed up into one word." This is a double joke: first, a portmanteau is a suitcase, in which one would “pack” things, like the multiple meanings within portmanteau words; second, portmanteau is itself a compound word, similar to portmanteau words, in that it is from the French words for "carry" – porter – and "cloak" – manteau. http://www.wisegeek.com/what-are-portmanteau-words.htm
The Parliament of Fowls by Geoffrey Chaucer (ca. 1343-1400) Valentine is mentioned five times in this modern translation. http://www.poetryintranslation.com/PITBR/English/Fowls.htm
She was the fastest rabbit in town, taking just 11 seconds to jump all the hurdles in the round. Cherie, a 2-year-old Swedish bunny, left the competition in the dust at the U.K.'s Rabbit Grand National, held in the dignified Yorkshire town of Harrogate in late January. The lop-eared speed demon, who also won the competition last year, elicited gasps from the audience as she jumped hurdles close to 28 inches high. In Sweden, where the fluffy competitors train for up to two hours a day, there is an established network of breeders who are always looking for talent. "Our bunnies are so used to competing, so they know what to do," Ms. Hedlund says. Choosing the right breed of rabbit is also important. Sweden's 200 or so breeders are experimenting widely, and charge more—up to 1,500 kronor ($225)—for a rabbit with prizewinning parentage. Bunny-jumping enthusiasts say it is good for the rabbits. A domestic rabbit that is allowed to exercise can live 10 or 12 years, compared with five years at most if kept in a cage, says Lisbeth Jansson, who has written two books on rabbit jumping and, with her husband, Lars, runs Libra Arctic, the world's only professional maker of rabbit jumps. "These bunnies develop psyche, heart, lungs and muscles, so they live longer and the vets have more to do," she says. "Some [owners] even take out life insurance on renowned jumping rabbits. Despite their dominance of the sport, Swedish bunnies are bested by their Danish neighbors when it comes to world records. In 1999, a Danish rabbit called Yaboo set the world long-jump record when he flew over a three-meter, or nearly 10-feet, hurdle, while his compatriot Tösen bounced 99.5 centimeter, or about 40 inches, to nab the high-jump record in 1997. JAVIER ESPINOZA and ANNA MOLIN http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204652904577196912649404638.html
For his first show for the Paul Kasmin gallery in Manhattan, the artist Will Ryman will take over both of its locations with two massive installations, one in the gallery on 10th Avenue and the second in the newly opened space on West 27th Street, the former home of Bungalow 8, just around the corner. The show will run from February 16 to March 24. The two projects both feature an obsession with trash and items found at hardware stores. The first, called Everyman, will turn the original gallery into a gigantic human form in repose, some 50 feet long and curved around the walls of the gallery. Mr. Ryman’s shirt will be composed of work boots, flattened and painted, and his extended fingers will be bottlecaps. The second project, Bird, features a giant raven made of nails that range in size, from one inch to three feet. The bird holds a rose in its mouth, perhaps a reference to Mr. Ryman’s installation The Roses, which appeared on Park Avenue earlier this year. His roses could also be spotted at a new installation, Desublimation of the Rose, at the Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden during Art Basel Miami Beach.
http://www.galleristny.com/2011/12/big-willie-style-will-rymans-new-installations-will-take-over-paul-kasmin-gallery/
If your pension plan is underfunded, you could be at risk of losing some of your benefits. That isn't news. But did you know that your pension can be at risk even if the plan is relatively healthy? Something as seemingly innocuous as having a lump-sum payout provision, or even having a religious affiliation, could mean your benefits are vulnerable. Here are some red flags to look for, and some ways to protect yourself:
Your pension is healthy, but your employer isn't.
Your plan offers lump-sum payouts.
Your company changes hands.
Your employer gets religion. ELLEN E. SCHULTZ
See examples and explanations at: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203315804577211064028695608.html
Sarasota, FL Feb. 10 If you're a theater buff with a serious interest in American comedy, "Once in a Lifetime" probably ranks high on the list of little-known shows you'd love to see onstage. Otherwise, I doubt you've heard of it. A farce about the coming of talking pictures to Hollywood, "Once in a Lifetime" was the first collaboration between George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart, who went on to write "The Man Who Came to Dinner" and "You Can't Take It With You." It opened on Broadway in 1930 and ran for 406 performances, which was big business back then. Two years later, it was turned into a middling movie, then vanished from sight (the 1979 Broadway revival was a flop). Today the play is known solely because Mr. Hart wrote about it in "Act One," his 1959 autobiography. Why doesn't anybody do "Once in a Lifetime" nowadays? It costs too much—way too much. The published script calls for five sets and 38 actors. You could get away with that in the 1930s, but no commercial producer would think of bringing so horrendously expensive a play to Broadway anymore. Enter San Francisco's American Conservatory Theater and Sarasota's Asolo Repertory Theatre, two regional companies that double as drama schools, making it possible to put on large-cast shows by using students to cover smaller parts. ACT mounted "Once in a Lifetime" last fall and Asolo Rep is doing it now. TERRY TEACHOUT http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204136404577205803496515734.html
Professor A. Craig Baird, reading from a speech titled “The Responsibilities of Free Communication,” at a University of Iowa commencement speech in 1952, told his audience of newly minted graduates that they must “reject communication as the primitive art of arousing the emotions …. College graduates, as well as reporters, columnists, congressional investigators, must join in the search for intelligent answers to intelligent questions.” What exactly is civility? Civilpolitics.org, which provides a clearinghouse for research and approaches to improving America’s political dialogue, defines it as “the ability to disagree with others while respecting their sincerity and decency.” Essentially, America’s political system depends on a rational exchange of views; it relies on healthy debate that, ideally, leads to the best ideas for mutual governance. As Baird told the class of 1952, “Ours is a government of talk …. Only thus can we have mature opinion and responsible action.” JENNIFER HEMMINGSEN http://www.iowalum.com/magazine/feb12/civility.cfm?page=all
Portmanteau words, also called blended words or simply portmanteaux, are words that are formed by splicing or merging two other words together. The term portmanteau words comes from Chapter Six of Lewis Carroll's Through the Looking Glass, and What Alice Found There, in which the character Humpty Dumpty, in explaining the meaning of the word slithy in the poem "Jabberwocky", says: “Well, slithy means 'lithe and slimy.' Lithe is the same as 'active.' You see it's like a portmanteau — there are two meanings packed up into one word." This is a double joke: first, a portmanteau is a suitcase, in which one would “pack” things, like the multiple meanings within portmanteau words; second, portmanteau is itself a compound word, similar to portmanteau words, in that it is from the French words for "carry" – porter – and "cloak" – manteau. http://www.wisegeek.com/what-are-portmanteau-words.htm
The Parliament of Fowls by Geoffrey Chaucer (ca. 1343-1400) Valentine is mentioned five times in this modern translation. http://www.poetryintranslation.com/PITBR/English/Fowls.htm
Monday, February 13, 2012
When William Shield's comic opera Rosina was first performed at Covent Garden in 1782, Scottish song enthusiasts may have recognized a snippet of melody played by oboe and bassoon, in imitation of bagpipes, toward the end of the overture. It was reminiscent of "The Miller's Wedding," a popular Scottish country dance tune that foreshadowed the melody we now call "Auld Lang Syne." Shield included several such folk references in the opera, and this one led to repeated claims—entirely erroneous—that he had composed the now-famous air. http://www.themorgan.org/exhibitions/online/AuldLangSyne/default.asp?id=6
Until a few years ago it was assumed that the music to this famous song about time, love and friendship was the work of Scottish poet Robbie Burns. Controversy arose a number of years ago over claims that the tune was in fact written by Swalwell (village in northeast England)-born composer and musician William Shield, and appeared in his opera Rosina. With headlines such as ‘England lays claim to Auld Lang Syne’, appearing in the Independent, some people understandably got a little hot and bothered. The opera is a retelling of the biblical story of Ruth in a rural North of England setting, Rosina was Shield's fourth opera, and was a considerable success at its premiere on the last day of December, 1782. Clearly a popular tune it its day, it seems reasonable to imagine that it was heard by Burns, adapted and put to his words. Unfortunately there appears to be a strong case for arguing that neither Shield, nor Burns were responsible. According to Nigel Gatherer : “It's long been known that Burns did not write all the words to 'Auld Lang Syne', and he was the first man to say so. The first three verses belong to a much older song, to which Burns added two more.” Robert Burns in fact sent a copy of the original song to the British Museum with the comment: "The following song, an old song, of the olden times, and which has never been in print, nor even in manuscript until I took it down from an old man's singing, is enough to recommend any air." http://www.swalwell-online.co.uk/auld_lang_syne.htm
Paul Revere's Ride (excerpt) "the famous Revolutionary War poem that's really about slavery"
Listen, my children, and you shall hear
Of the midnight ride of Paul Revere,
On the eighteenth of April, in Seventy-Five:
Hardly a man is now alive
Who remembers that famous day and year.
He said to his friend,—“If the British march
By land or sea from the town to-night,
Hang a lantern aloft in the belfry-arch
Of the North-Church-tower, as a signal-light,—
One if by land, and two if by sea;
And I on the opposite shore will be,
Ready to ride and spread the alarm
Through every Middlesex village and farm,
For the country-folk to be up and to arm.”
See the whole poem plus stories by Mark Twain, Henry James, Harriet Beecher Stowe, Frederick Douglass, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Louisa May Alcott, and others in the 150th anniversary of the Civil War commemorative issue of the Feb. 9, 2012 Atlantic at: http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/toc/2012/02/
The inventor of the World Wide Web, Tim Berners-Lee, testified in a courtroom Feb. 7 for the first time in his life. The web pioneer flew down from Boston, near where he teaches at MIT, to an eastern Texas federal court to speak to a jury of two men and six women about the early days of the web. His trip is part of an effort by a group of internet companies and retailers trying to defeat two patents — patents that a patent-licensing company called Eolas and the University of California are saying entitle them to royalty payments from just about anyone running a website.
The defendants, including Google, Amazon, and Yahoo, are hoping that Berners-Lee’s testimony—combined with that of other web pioneers like Netscape co-founder Eric Bina, Viola browser inventor Pei-Yuan Wei, and Dave Raggett (who invented the HTML “embed” tag) — will convince the jury that the inventions of Eolas and its founder, Michael Doyle, aren’t worth much. The stakes couldn’t be higher — if Berners-Lee and the defendants don’t succeed, Eolas and Doyle could insist on a payout from almost every modern website.
http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2012/02/tim-berners-lee-patent/
A Texas school-prayer case that fueled calls by Republican presidential hopeful Newt Gingrich to curtail the power of federal judges was settled Feb. 9. Schultz v. Medina Valley Independent School District Case 5: 11-cv-00422-FB Document 136 Filed 02/09/12 from the document: What This Case Has Not Been About: The right to pray. The Real Issue: Does the United States Constitution allow a government entity elected by the majority to use its power to tax and its agents and employees to support and promote a particular religious viewpoint not held by a minority? Read the order at: http://pdfserver.amlaw.com/tx/Schultz_v_Medina_Valley.pdf
"The Agreement is entered as a final judgment, resolving any and all claims set forth in Plaintiffs' Complaint and First Amended Complaint, pursuant to Federal Rules of Civil Procedure 54 and 58. Motions pending with the Court are DISMISSED as MOOT. The trial set for March 5, 2012, is CANCELLED. This case is ADMINISTRATIVELY CLOSED subject to reinstatement if necessary. It is so ORDERED. SIGNED this 9th day of February, 2012." Fred Biery Chief Judge United States District Court
An unusual personal statement follows the signature on page 3.
For 32 years, a portrait of a serene Mary Todd Lincoln hung in the governor’s mansion in Springfield, Ill., signed by Francis Bicknell Carpenter, a celebrated painter who lived at the White House for six months in 1864. The story behind the picture was compelling: Mrs. Lincoln had Mr. Carpenter secretly paint her portrait as a surprise for the president, but he was assassinated before she had a chance to present it to him. Now it turns out that both the portrait and the touching tale accompanying it are false. The canvas, which was purchased by Abraham Lincoln’s descendants before being donated to the state’s historical library in the 1970s, was discovered to be a hoax when it was sent to a conservator for cleaning, said James M. Cornelius, the curator of the Lincoln library and museum in Springfield. The museum is planning to present its findings at a lecture on April 26. The Lincolns were not the only ones fooled. Ever since The New York Times announced the portrait’s discovery in 1929, on Feb. 12, Lincoln’s birthday, historians and the public have assumed it depicted Mary Todd Lincoln. It was reproduced in The Chicago Tribune and National Geographic, and versions of it still illustrate at least two biographies, including the latest paperback edition of Carl Sandburg’s 1932 “Mary Lincoln: Wife and Widow.” In reality, the painting depicts an unknown woman and was created by an anonymous 19th-century artist, said Barry Bauman, the independent conservator who uncovered the fraud. The con, however, dates to the late 1920s, when the portrait was recast as that of Mrs. Lincoln, he said. Mr. Bauman identifies the culprit behind the scam as Ludwig Pflum, who rechristened himself Lew Bloom and was given to the kind of self-invention that America became famous for during the industrial era. He worked as a jockey, circus clown, boxer and vaudevillian before settling on art collecting. http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/12/arts/design/portrait-of-mary-todd-lincoln-is-deemed-a-hoax.html
Until a few years ago it was assumed that the music to this famous song about time, love and friendship was the work of Scottish poet Robbie Burns. Controversy arose a number of years ago over claims that the tune was in fact written by Swalwell (village in northeast England)-born composer and musician William Shield, and appeared in his opera Rosina. With headlines such as ‘England lays claim to Auld Lang Syne’, appearing in the Independent, some people understandably got a little hot and bothered. The opera is a retelling of the biblical story of Ruth in a rural North of England setting, Rosina was Shield's fourth opera, and was a considerable success at its premiere on the last day of December, 1782. Clearly a popular tune it its day, it seems reasonable to imagine that it was heard by Burns, adapted and put to his words. Unfortunately there appears to be a strong case for arguing that neither Shield, nor Burns were responsible. According to Nigel Gatherer : “It's long been known that Burns did not write all the words to 'Auld Lang Syne', and he was the first man to say so. The first three verses belong to a much older song, to which Burns added two more.” Robert Burns in fact sent a copy of the original song to the British Museum with the comment: "The following song, an old song, of the olden times, and which has never been in print, nor even in manuscript until I took it down from an old man's singing, is enough to recommend any air." http://www.swalwell-online.co.uk/auld_lang_syne.htm
Paul Revere's Ride (excerpt) "the famous Revolutionary War poem that's really about slavery"
Listen, my children, and you shall hear
Of the midnight ride of Paul Revere,
On the eighteenth of April, in Seventy-Five:
Hardly a man is now alive
Who remembers that famous day and year.
He said to his friend,—“If the British march
By land or sea from the town to-night,
Hang a lantern aloft in the belfry-arch
Of the North-Church-tower, as a signal-light,—
One if by land, and two if by sea;
And I on the opposite shore will be,
Ready to ride and spread the alarm
Through every Middlesex village and farm,
For the country-folk to be up and to arm.”
See the whole poem plus stories by Mark Twain, Henry James, Harriet Beecher Stowe, Frederick Douglass, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Louisa May Alcott, and others in the 150th anniversary of the Civil War commemorative issue of the Feb. 9, 2012 Atlantic at: http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/toc/2012/02/
The inventor of the World Wide Web, Tim Berners-Lee, testified in a courtroom Feb. 7 for the first time in his life. The web pioneer flew down from Boston, near where he teaches at MIT, to an eastern Texas federal court to speak to a jury of two men and six women about the early days of the web. His trip is part of an effort by a group of internet companies and retailers trying to defeat two patents — patents that a patent-licensing company called Eolas and the University of California are saying entitle them to royalty payments from just about anyone running a website.
The defendants, including Google, Amazon, and Yahoo, are hoping that Berners-Lee’s testimony—combined with that of other web pioneers like Netscape co-founder Eric Bina, Viola browser inventor Pei-Yuan Wei, and Dave Raggett (who invented the HTML “embed” tag) — will convince the jury that the inventions of Eolas and its founder, Michael Doyle, aren’t worth much. The stakes couldn’t be higher — if Berners-Lee and the defendants don’t succeed, Eolas and Doyle could insist on a payout from almost every modern website.
http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2012/02/tim-berners-lee-patent/
A Texas school-prayer case that fueled calls by Republican presidential hopeful Newt Gingrich to curtail the power of federal judges was settled Feb. 9. Schultz v. Medina Valley Independent School District Case 5: 11-cv-00422-FB Document 136 Filed 02/09/12 from the document: What This Case Has Not Been About: The right to pray. The Real Issue: Does the United States Constitution allow a government entity elected by the majority to use its power to tax and its agents and employees to support and promote a particular religious viewpoint not held by a minority? Read the order at: http://pdfserver.amlaw.com/tx/Schultz_v_Medina_Valley.pdf
"The Agreement is entered as a final judgment, resolving any and all claims set forth in Plaintiffs' Complaint and First Amended Complaint, pursuant to Federal Rules of Civil Procedure 54 and 58. Motions pending with the Court are DISMISSED as MOOT. The trial set for March 5, 2012, is CANCELLED. This case is ADMINISTRATIVELY CLOSED subject to reinstatement if necessary. It is so ORDERED. SIGNED this 9th day of February, 2012." Fred Biery Chief Judge United States District Court
An unusual personal statement follows the signature on page 3.
For 32 years, a portrait of a serene Mary Todd Lincoln hung in the governor’s mansion in Springfield, Ill., signed by Francis Bicknell Carpenter, a celebrated painter who lived at the White House for six months in 1864. The story behind the picture was compelling: Mrs. Lincoln had Mr. Carpenter secretly paint her portrait as a surprise for the president, but he was assassinated before she had a chance to present it to him. Now it turns out that both the portrait and the touching tale accompanying it are false. The canvas, which was purchased by Abraham Lincoln’s descendants before being donated to the state’s historical library in the 1970s, was discovered to be a hoax when it was sent to a conservator for cleaning, said James M. Cornelius, the curator of the Lincoln library and museum in Springfield. The museum is planning to present its findings at a lecture on April 26. The Lincolns were not the only ones fooled. Ever since The New York Times announced the portrait’s discovery in 1929, on Feb. 12, Lincoln’s birthday, historians and the public have assumed it depicted Mary Todd Lincoln. It was reproduced in The Chicago Tribune and National Geographic, and versions of it still illustrate at least two biographies, including the latest paperback edition of Carl Sandburg’s 1932 “Mary Lincoln: Wife and Widow.” In reality, the painting depicts an unknown woman and was created by an anonymous 19th-century artist, said Barry Bauman, the independent conservator who uncovered the fraud. The con, however, dates to the late 1920s, when the portrait was recast as that of Mrs. Lincoln, he said. Mr. Bauman identifies the culprit behind the scam as Ludwig Pflum, who rechristened himself Lew Bloom and was given to the kind of self-invention that America became famous for during the industrial era. He worked as a jockey, circus clown, boxer and vaudevillian before settling on art collecting. http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/12/arts/design/portrait-of-mary-todd-lincoln-is-deemed-a-hoax.html
Thursday, February 9, 2012
Fox Studios won a pair of well deserved Oscar® nominations, Best Picture and Best Adapted Screenplay, for State Fair (1933), an affectionate slice of Americana. The film would inspire two musical remakes -- in 1945 and 1962 -- but true connoisseurs consider the original the perfect rendition of Philip Stong's tale of a family that finds love and adventure at the Iowa State Fair. Stong based his first hit novel on his own childhood growing up in Pittsburg, Iowa, where his father ran a general store. Fox quickly bought the rights for $15,000 and even offered him the chance to pen the film adaptation. Instead, it was written by Sonya Levien, who already had written such Janet Gaynor vehicles as Daddy Long Legs and Delicious (both 1931), and playwright Paul Green, known for such rural dramas as his Pulitzer Prize-winning In Abraham's Bosom and The House of Connelly. Their backgrounds came in handy when the studio cast their top female star, Gaynor (number two on the exhibitors' list of top box office stars for 1932), and homespun humorist Will Rogers, whose star at the studio had been steadily rising since the coming of sound. The writers crafted a tale perfectly suited for both, with daughter Gaynor falling for slick newspaperman Lew Ayres, while father Rogers hopes to lead his 900-pound hog to a blue ribbon. Rounding out the family are Louise Dresser as the mother who competes in the mincemeat competition with the help of a generous dose of apple brandy and Norman Foster as the son who falls for a beautiful trapeze artist (Sally Eilers). Blue Boy, Rogers's hog in the film, was played by the grand champion boar from the actual Iowa State Fair, Dike of Rosedale. State Fair was the first Fox film to open at the prestigious Radio City Music Hall and brought in $1.5 million at the box office, a big figure at that time and enough to earn it a place among the year's box office top ten. Ultimately, the film's popularity cost it a scene. State Fair had been made a year before the institution of strict Production Code enforcement in 1934. Although the writers had cut the novel's depiction of a sexual affair between the daughter and the reporter, they had kept the son's seduction by the trapeze artist. When Fox re-issued State Fair in 1935, the film industry's self-governing board insisted the scene be removed. The cut has never been restored. http://www.tcm.com/this-month/article/455912%7C463931/State-Fair.html
In anatomy, heterochromia refers to a difference in coloration, usually of the iris but also of hair or skin. Heterochromia is a result of the relative excess or lack of melanin (a pigment). It may be inherited, or caused by genetic mosaicism, disease, or injury. Eye color, specifically the color of the irises, is determined primarily by the concentration and distribution of melanin. The affected eye may be hyperpigmented (hyperchromic) or hypopigmented (hypochromic). In humans, usually, an excess of melanin indicates hyperplasia of the iris tissues, whereas a lack of melanin indicates hypoplasia. In complete heterochromia, one iris is a different color from the other. In partial heterochromia or sectoral heterochromia, part of one iris is a different color from its remainder. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heterochromia_iridum
James Coleman (born 1949) is an American painter who has worked for Disney as a background artist on numerous animated features. In 1991, after twenty-two years working for Disney, James left to pursue the true passion in his life, fine art. Find selected filmography and links to three sites at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Coleman_(American_artist)
Franklin Court Museum and exhibitions dedicated to Benjamin Franklin
318 Market Street Philadelphia, PA
Inventor. Publisher. Diplomat. Statesman. Scientist. The life and accomplishments of America’s favorite Renaissance man are celebrated in a museum complex tucked behind the city’s busy streets. A steel frame structure, nicknamed the “ghost house,” rises up from the ground, outlining the shape and dimensions of Franklin’s home. Like any couple, Benjamin and his wife Deborah had strong opinions about their home’s design and décor and excerpts from their correspondence about the topic are embedded in the walkways surrounding the house. Descend into the adjacent underground museum to discover some of Franklin’s many inventions including his glass “armonica” (a musical instrument), library chair and music stand. A 20-minute film narrated by David Hartman tells the story of Franklin’s amazing life. Architects Robert Venturi and John Rauch created Ghost Structures, steel frameworks tracing the outlines of Ben Franklin’s vanished house and print shop.
See a picture of Ghost Structures at: http://www.visitphilly.com/history/philadelphia/franklin-court/
Feb. 9 events
1775 – American Revolutionary War: The British Parliament declares Massachusetts in rebellion.
1825 – After no presidential candidate receives a majority of electoral votes in the election of 1824, the United States House of Representatives elects John Quincy Adams President of the United States.
1861 – American Civil War: Jefferson Davis is elected the Provisional President of the Confederate States of America by the Confederate convention at Montgomery, Alabama.
1870 – President Ulysses S. Grant signs a joint resolution of Congress establishing the U.S. Weather Bureau.
1895 – William G. Morgan creates a game called Mintonette, which soon comes to be referred to as volleyball.
1942 – Year-round Daylight saving time is re-instated in the United States as a wartime measure to help conserve energy resources.
1964 – The Beatles make their first appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show, performing before a "record-busting" audience of 73 million viewers.
1965 – Vietnam War: The first United States combat troops are sent to South Vietnam.
Feb. 9 births
1645 – Johann Aegidius Bach, German violist (d. 1716)
1737 – Thomas Paine, English radical liberal philosopher, American revolutionary (d. 1809)
1773 – William Henry Harrison, 9th President of the United States (d. 1841)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/February_9
In anatomy, heterochromia refers to a difference in coloration, usually of the iris but also of hair or skin. Heterochromia is a result of the relative excess or lack of melanin (a pigment). It may be inherited, or caused by genetic mosaicism, disease, or injury. Eye color, specifically the color of the irises, is determined primarily by the concentration and distribution of melanin. The affected eye may be hyperpigmented (hyperchromic) or hypopigmented (hypochromic). In humans, usually, an excess of melanin indicates hyperplasia of the iris tissues, whereas a lack of melanin indicates hypoplasia. In complete heterochromia, one iris is a different color from the other. In partial heterochromia or sectoral heterochromia, part of one iris is a different color from its remainder. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heterochromia_iridum
James Coleman (born 1949) is an American painter who has worked for Disney as a background artist on numerous animated features. In 1991, after twenty-two years working for Disney, James left to pursue the true passion in his life, fine art. Find selected filmography and links to three sites at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Coleman_(American_artist)
Franklin Court Museum and exhibitions dedicated to Benjamin Franklin
318 Market Street Philadelphia, PA
Inventor. Publisher. Diplomat. Statesman. Scientist. The life and accomplishments of America’s favorite Renaissance man are celebrated in a museum complex tucked behind the city’s busy streets. A steel frame structure, nicknamed the “ghost house,” rises up from the ground, outlining the shape and dimensions of Franklin’s home. Like any couple, Benjamin and his wife Deborah had strong opinions about their home’s design and décor and excerpts from their correspondence about the topic are embedded in the walkways surrounding the house. Descend into the adjacent underground museum to discover some of Franklin’s many inventions including his glass “armonica” (a musical instrument), library chair and music stand. A 20-minute film narrated by David Hartman tells the story of Franklin’s amazing life. Architects Robert Venturi and John Rauch created Ghost Structures, steel frameworks tracing the outlines of Ben Franklin’s vanished house and print shop.
See a picture of Ghost Structures at: http://www.visitphilly.com/history/philadelphia/franklin-court/
Feb. 9 events
1775 – American Revolutionary War: The British Parliament declares Massachusetts in rebellion.
1825 – After no presidential candidate receives a majority of electoral votes in the election of 1824, the United States House of Representatives elects John Quincy Adams President of the United States.
1861 – American Civil War: Jefferson Davis is elected the Provisional President of the Confederate States of America by the Confederate convention at Montgomery, Alabama.
1870 – President Ulysses S. Grant signs a joint resolution of Congress establishing the U.S. Weather Bureau.
1895 – William G. Morgan creates a game called Mintonette, which soon comes to be referred to as volleyball.
1942 – Year-round Daylight saving time is re-instated in the United States as a wartime measure to help conserve energy resources.
1964 – The Beatles make their first appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show, performing before a "record-busting" audience of 73 million viewers.
1965 – Vietnam War: The first United States combat troops are sent to South Vietnam.
Feb. 9 births
1645 – Johann Aegidius Bach, German violist (d. 1716)
1737 – Thomas Paine, English radical liberal philosopher, American revolutionary (d. 1809)
1773 – William Henry Harrison, 9th President of the United States (d. 1841)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/February_9
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