Let your ear be your guide to the King James Bible
The extraordinary global career of this book, of which more copies have been made than of any other book in the language, began in March 1603. After a long reign as Queen of England, Elizabeth I finally died. This was the moment her cousin and heir, the Scottish King James VI, had been waiting for. Scotland was one of the poorest kingdoms in Europe, with a weak and feeble crown. ngland by comparison was civilized, fertile, and rich. When James heard that he was at last going to inherit the throne of England, it was said that he was like "a poor man … now arrived at the Land of Promise." In the course of the 16th century, England had undergone something of a yo-yo Reformation, veering from one reign to the next between Protestant and anti-Protestant regimes, never quite settling into either camp. The result was that England had two competing versions of the Holy Scriptures. The Geneva Bible, published in 1560 by a small team of Scots and English Calvinists in Geneva, drew on the pioneering translation by William Tyndale, martyred for his heresy in 1536. It was loved by Puritans but was anti-royal in its many marginal notes, repeatedly suggesting that whenever a king dared to rule, he was behaving like a tyrant. Ground rules were established by 1604: no contentious notes in the margins; no language inaccessible to common people; a true and accurate text, driven by an unforgivingly exacting level of scholarship. To bring this about, the King gathered an enormous translation committee: some 54 scholars, divided into all shades of opinion, from Puritan to the highest of High Churchmen. Six subcommittees were then each asked to translate a different section of the Bible. Each member of the six subcommittees, on his own, translated an entire section of the Bible. He then brought that translation to a meeting of his subcommittee, where the different versions produced by each translator were compared and one was settled on. That version was then submitted to a general revising committee for the whole Bible, which met in Stationers' Hall in London. Here the revising scholars had the suggested versions read aloud—no text visible—while holding on their laps copies of previous translations in English and other languages. The ear and the mind were the only editorial tools.
http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2011/12/king-james-bible/nicolson-text

Africa is a continent comprising 62 political territories, representing the largest of the great southward projections from the main mass of Earth's surface. Separated from Europe by the Mediterranean Sea and from much of Asia by the Red Sea, Africa is joined to Asia at its northeast extremity by the Isthmus of Suez. For geopolitical purposes, the Sinai Peninsula – east of the Suez Canal – is often considered part of Africa, although geographically it belongs in Asia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geography_of_Africa

Who first proposed making health insurance compulsory?
The Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank did. In the late 1980s the Heritage Foundation suggested that every American be required to buy health insurance, a requirement known as the individual mandate. Many Republicans took up that idea in the early 1990s, after President Clinton introduced a plan that would have forced companies to cover employees. "I am for people, individuals — exactly like automobile insurance — having health insurance and being required to have health insurance," said Newt Gingrich, then House minority whip, in 1993. When the Clinton plan collapsed in 1994, talk of the individual mandate died with it. During his 2008 campaign for the Democratic nomination, Obama ran a TV ad criticizing rival candidate Hillary Clinton's support for a mandate, saying she would force everyone "to buy insurance, even if you can't afford it." But after President Obama and the Democratic Congress began to construct his health-care plan, advisers warned that free riders would undermine the objectives of extending insurance coverage to anyone who wanted it. For health reform to work, young, healthy people had to be pushed into the pool, to spread cost and risk. So the president allowed his 2010 Affordable Care Act to incorporate a provision that, by 2014, all Americans must have health coverage or face a tax penalty.
http://theweek.com/article/index/222477/the-individual-mandate-health-cares-inherent-controversy

English-only movement, also known as Official English movement, refers to a political movement for the use only of the English language in official government operations through the establishing of English as the only official language in the United States. Find about earlier English-only movements and a table of the current laws in each state at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English-only_movement

If it ever comes to pass that only English may be spoken, will we be allowed to say Colorado, Florida, Montana, fiesta, siesta, rodeo? Valet, ballet? Kindergarten, Oktoberfest? Spaghetti, lasagne?

Origin of state names: http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0854966.html

Steeped in history and romance and almost in a class by itself, the pomegranate, Punica granatum L., belongs to the family Punicaceae which includes only one genus and two species, the other one, little-known, being P. protopunica Balf. peculiar to the island of Socotra. The pomegranate tree is native from Iran to the Himalayas in northern India and has been cultivated since ancient times throughout the Mediterranean region of Asia, Africa and Europe. For enjoying out-of-hand or at the table, the fruit is deeply scored several times vertically and then broken apart; then the clusters of juice sacs can be lifted out of the rind and eaten. Italians and other pomegranate fanciers consider this not a laborious handicap but a social, family or group activity, prolonging the pleasure of dining. In the home kitchen, the juice can be easily extracted by reaming the halved fruits on an ordinary orange-juice squeezer.
http://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/morton/pomegranate.html
How to De-Seed a Pomegranate (Every pomegranate has 840 seeds.)
http://www.coconutandlime.com/2006/11/how-to-de-seed-pomegranate.html

One of the earliest of the 'health food fadists', Dr. James H. Salisbury, a 19th century English/American physician (1823-1905), wrote 'The Relation of Alimentation and Disease'. Make the cakes from half an inch to an inch thick. Broil slowly and moderately well over a fire free from blaze and smoke. When cooked, put it on a hot plate and season to taste with butter, pepper, salt; also use either Worcestershire or Halford sauce, mustard, horseradish or lemon juice on the meat if desired." Find his complete recipe for Salisbury steak at: http://www.foodreference.com/html/artsalisburystk.html
(In case you haven’t heard of Halford sauce, it was “Halford Leicestershire Table Sauce,” advertised in the 1880s thusly: “The Most Perfect Relish of the Day. An absolute Remedy for Dyspepsia. Invaluable to all Good Cooks. A Nutritious Combination for Children. Invaluable for Soups, Hashes, Cold Meats, and Entrées.”) http://www.metnews.com/articles/2004/reminiscing020504.htm

James Salisbury is one of many famous people interred in Lake View Cemetery in Cleveland. Some others are:
James A. Garfield, 20th President of the United States
Lucretia Garfield, former First Lady of the United States
Marcus A. Hanna, U.S. Senator and Republican Party boss
John Hay, former United States Secretary of State and aide to President Abraham Lincoln (Hay's monument was created by sculptor James Earle Fraser)
Edwin Converse Higbee, founder of Higbee's, the first department store in Cleveland
Adella Prentiss Hughes, founder of the Cleveland Orchestra
Effie Hinckley Ober Kline, founder of the Boston Ideal Opera Company, second wife of Virgil P. Kline.
Virgil P. Kline, Abolitionist publisher and anti-trust attorney, later house counsel to John D. Rockefeller.
Garrett Morgan, inventor of the gas mask and the three-colored traffic light
Eliot Ness, detective, investigator and Cleveland safety director best known member of The Untouchables
(Ness's ashes and those of his wife Elizabeth and son Robert were scattered over a pond in the cemetery.)
Harvey Pekar, comic book writer, known for his groundbreaking series American Splendor. Ashes scattered here.
John D. Rockefeller, billionaire oil tycoon and philanthropist
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_View_Cemetery

Quote
You're better than perfect. You're good.
Black Water, #3 in the Merci Rayborn series by T. Jefferson Parker

Ajiri black tea "Through the sale of Ajiri Tea, we hope to create a sustainable cycle of community employment and education." Ajiri means "to employ" in Swahili, the national language of Kenya. The leaves have a lovely sweet cocoa scent. The liquor tastes of whole wheat toast, and dark chocolate. It is a strong brew that is very basic, perfect for the morning and would hold up well to milk and sugar. It's an easy tea to over-steep, so be very careful! A teaspoon for each cup is more than enough, and watch that you don't steep for more than 3 minutes. This tea was named a 2011 North American Tea Champion for CTC Black Tea at the World Tea Expo.
http://teahappiness.blogspot.com/2011/03/ajiri-tea.html
Find retailers by state or buy online: http://www.ajiritea.com/WheretoBuy.html

69 – The Roman Senate declares Vespasian as Roman emperor, the last in the Year of Four Emperors.
1620 – Plymouth Colony: William Bradford and the Mayflower Pilgrims land on what is now known as Plymouth Rock in Plymouth, Massachusetts.
1826 – American settlers in Nacogdoches, Mexican Texas, declare their independence, starting the Fredonian Rebellion.
1872 – Challenger expedition: HMS Challenger, commanded by Captain George Nares, sails from Portsmouth.
1879 – World première of Henrik Ibsen's A Doll's House at the Royal Theatre in Copenhagen.
1913 – Arthur Wynne's "word-cross", the first crossword puzzle, is published in the New York World.
1937 – Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, the world's first full-length animated feature, premieres at the Carthay Circle Theater.
1968 – Apollo program: Apollo 8 launched from the Kennedy Space Center, placing its crew on a lunar trajectory for the first visit to another celestial body by humans.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/December_21