"The Liberty Song" is an American Revolutionary War song composed by patriot John Dickinson, the author of Letters from a Farmer in Pennsylvania. The song is set to the tunes of "Heart of Oak", the anthem of the Royal Navy of the United Kingdom and "Here's a Health", an Irish song of emigration. The song itself and was first published in the Boston Gazette in July 1768. The song is notable as one of the earliest patriotic songs in the thirteen colonies. Dickinson's fourth verse is the first appearance of the phrase, "united we stand, divided we fall," a patriotic slogan that has prominently appeared several times throughout American history, most recently after the September 11, 2001 attacks on New York City and Washington, D.C.. The song is also likely to be a variant of the Irish traditional song from which is often takes its' tune, "Here's a Health". The lyrics of The Liberty Song also hold the same structure. See lyrics at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Liberty_Song

John Dickinson freely adapted David Garrick's lyrics, especially in the chorus, and Dickinson's friend, Arthur Lee, in Boston enroute to England for law studies, also contributed two stanzas. It was sung throughout the colonies at political meetings, dinners and celebrations; it is likely that "The Liberty Song" was the first song to express American patriotism. The most famous passage in the song is the source of a phrase known to many Americans centuries after: "By uniting we stand, by dividing we fall." Less considered is the final stanza, which calls for toasts for "our Sovereign's Health" and "Britannia's Glory and wealth." Such loyalty notwithstanding, Dickinson still worried, in his typical conservative fashion, that his first version had been too fiery. http://chronicles.dickinson.edu/encyclo/l/ed_libertysong.html

An attorney for Rush, Robert Farmer, has sent a letter to Rand Paul campaign officials informing them that they have violated copyright laws — and urging them to stop playing Rush songs at campaign events. “This is not a political issue — this is a copyright issue,” Farmer said in an interview with the Louisville Courier-Journal. http://www.courier-journal.com/article/20100602/NEWS01/6020413/Rock+band+Rush+says+Rand+Paul+s+campaign+can+t+use+its+songs “We would do this no matter who it is.” Click for a story from the USA Today. http://content.usatoday.com/communities/onpolitics/post/2010/06/rock-band-rush-orders-rand-paul-to-stop-using-its-music/1 In his letter, Farmer cited the Paul campaign’s use of a Rush song, “The Spirit of Radio,” to energize a rally.
WSJ Law Blog June 3, 2010

Last week, a Los Angeles County woman named Lauren Rosenberg sued Google in federal court for damages, alleging it was responsible for her being hit by a car. Rosenberg—who also sued the driver who hit her —said the search engine giant was "careless, reckless, and negligent" in supplying her with walking directions in Park City, Utah, last year that led her onto a rural state highway with no sidewalks. And this week, Lauren Rosenberg of Santa Monica got bombarded with the public reaction. Strangers left tart phone messages and withering e-mails lambasting her for suing Google. The problem is—they found the wrong Lauren Rosenberg. This Lauren Rosenberg owns a public relations company, did not sue Google over bad directions, and says she's confident she wouldn't have followed those directions anyway. ("Just because Google says to walk on a highway, you don't walk on a highway.") http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-0502-google-map-mistake-20100602,0,3238788.story June 2, 2010

From muse reader
Last night I cut up mango, pears, green onion, red onion, a little diced jalapeno, fresh corn kernels, tossed it together and served it with hamburgers. Very nice condiment. Also, this is THE best pumpkin cheesecake ever, though pumpkin in general seems a little rushing the season:
Spiced Pumpkin Cheesecake
About 9 oz ginger snaps
About 5 T melted butter
4 8-ounce packages cream cheese, room temperature
1 1/2 cups sugar
3 large eggs
1 15-ounce can pure pumpkin
1 cup half and half
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
For crust: Position rack in center of oven and preheat to 350°F. Wrap double layer of heavy-duty foil around outside of 10-inch-diameter springform pan. Place ginger snaps in food processor. Drizzle butter over. Using on/off turns, blend until crumbs begin to stick together. Press crumbs onto bottom (not sides) of springform pan. Bake until crust is slightly golden, about 10 minutes. Transfer to rack and cool while preparing filling. Maintain oven temperature.
For filling: Using electric mixer, beat cream cheese and sugar in large bowl until smooth and fluffy. Beat in eggs 1 at a time. Add pumpkin and remaining 7 ingredients. Beat just until blended. Pour filling into prepared crust. Place springform pan in large roasting pan. Add enough water to come halfway up sides of springform pan. Bake cheesecake until slightly puffed and softly set and top is golden, about 1 1/2 hours. Transfer springform pan to rack and cool. Cover and refrigerate cake overnight. Using knife, cut around sides of pan to loosen cake. Release pan sides. Cut cheesecake into wedges and serve.

Words named after the wrong person
McKenzie (muh-KEN-zee) noun
Someone who attends a court trial as an adviser to one of the parties. This person works not as a legal representative, but as an informal adviser. Also known as a "McKenzie friend".
The term arose from the 1970 divorce case McKenzie v. McKenzie in the UK. The man in this case didn't have a lawyer. An Australian barrister, Ian Hanger, wanted to help, but could not as he was not qualified to practise in the UK. The man represented himself; Hanger offered to sit with him and provide advice as a friend, but he was denied this by the court. The man lost the case, and this denial became the basis for appeal which affirmed the position that a litigant can, in fact, have someone attend the trial to help in a non-professional capacity. Given the role of the barrister Hanger, a better choice of coinage for this word would have been Hanger, instead of McKenzie.
orrery (OR-uh-ree) noun
A mechanical model of the solar system that represents the relative motions of the planets around the sun. After Charles Boyle, 4th Earl of Orrery (1676-1731), who was given one of those models by John Rowley, a London instrument-maker. They were invented by George Graham c. 1700. The device would have been better named either after its inventor, Graham, or its maker, Rowley.
Buridan's ass (byoo-RUHD-uhnz ass) noun
A situation demonstrating the impracticality of decision-making using pure reason, especially a situation involving two equal choices. Named after French philosopher Jean Buridan (1300-1358). Imagine a hungry donkey standing equidistant from two identical piles of hay. The donkey tries to decide which pile he should eat first and finding no reason to choose one over another, starves to death. This paradox didn't originate with Buridan -- it's been found back in Aristotle's time. A hungry and thirsty man cannot decide whether to slake his thirst first or his hunger, and dies. Buridan, in his commentaries on Aristotle, chose a dog, but his critics, in their parody of Buridan, turned it into an ass. So Buridan's ass was named after a person who neither proposed the paradox nor picked that animal to discuss it.
guillotine (GIL-uh-teen, GEE-uh-teen)
noun: A device with a heavy blade that drops between two posts to behead someone.
verb: To execute by guillotine or to cut as if with a guillotine. After French physician Joseph-Ignace Guillotin (1738-1814) who recommended its use. Ironically the instrument designed as a humane device has come to symbolize tyranny. Dr. Guillotin realized that hanging by rope or beheading by a sword were cruel and urged a more humane method of execution, one that was swift and relatively painless. Dr. Antoine Louis, secretary of the College of Surgeons, designed a device that was called a Louisette or Louison in the beginning, but eventually became known as a guillotine. A.Word.A.Day with Anu Garg