Imagine, for a moment, that you're a publisher hearing a pitch about a children's book whose tangled plot braids together quantum physics, fractions and megaparsecs (a measure for distances in intergalactic space). The book also casually tosses out phrases in French, Italian, German and ancient Greek. Sound like the next kids' best-seller to you? It didn't to the many publishers who rejected Madeleine L'Engle's A Wrinkle in Time, which turns 50 this year. The novel was an immediate hit with young readers and with critics when it was published, and it won the Newbery Medal in 1963. Since then, it has remained a beloved favorite of children and adults alike. Despite considerable misgivings, Farrar, Straus and Giroux bought the book. They sent it to an outside reader, who called it "the worst book I have ever read." The book's editor admitted it was "distinctly odd" but conceded: "I for one believe that the capabilities of young readers are greatly underestimated." His faith in young readers paid off. There are currently 10 million copies of the book in print.
http://www.npr.org/2012/03/05/146161011/the-unlikely-best-seller-a-wrinkle-in-time-turns-50

The Hen “Alas! my child, where is the Pen That can do justice to the Hen? Like Royalty, she goes her way, Laying foundations every day, Though not for Public Buildings, yet For Custard, Cake and Omelette. Of if too old for such a use They have their fling at some abuse, As when to censure Plays Unfit Upon the stage they make a Hit Or at elections seal the Fate Of an Obnoxious Candidate. No wonder, Child, we prize the Hen, Whose Egg is Mightier than the Pen.” Oliver Herford (1863-1935) http://www.worldofquotes.com/author/Oliver+Herford/1/index.html

Mead, also called honey wine, is an alcoholic beverage that is produced by fermenting a solution of honey and water. It may also be produced by fermenting a solution of water and honey with grain mash, which is strained after fermentation. Depending on local traditions and specific recipes, it may be flavored with spices, fruit, or hops (which produce a bitter, beer-like flavor). The alcoholic content of mead may range from about 8% ABV[5] to 18%. It may be still, carbonated, or naturally sparkling, and it may be dry, semi-sweet, or sweet. Its origins are lost in prehistory. "It can be regarded as the ancestor of all fermented drinks," Maguelonne Toussaint-Samat has observed, "antedating the cultivation of the soil." Find history, varieties, festivals and use in literature at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mead

In wildness is the preservation of the world. Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862)
http://www.quotationspage.com/quote/26296.html

The Basic Health Program (BHP) is an optional coverage program under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) that allows states to use federal tax subsidy dollars to offer subsidized coverage for individuals with incomes between 139-200% of the federal poverty level (FPL) who would otherwise be eligible to purchase coverage through state Health Insurance Exchanges. States can use the BHP to reduce the cost of health insurance coverage for these low-income consumers, a highly price-sensitive population with high rates of uninsurance. Depending on how it is designed, the BHP also can help consumers to maintain continuity among plans and providers as their income fluctuates above and below Medicaid levels.
See brief by the Kaiser Family Foundation at: http://www.kff.org/healthreform/upload/8283.pdf

James Madison warned in the Federalist Papers about laws "so voluminous that they cannot be read, or so incoherent that they cannot be understood." If only he had lived to see the Medicare and Medicaid programs. "Picture a law written by James Joyce and edited by e.e. cummings," wrote Chief Judge Royce Lamberth of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, in a January ruling in a Medicare case. Last September, Judge Gilbert S. Merritt Jr. of the Sixth Circuit lamented Medicare's "tortuous text." "An aggravated assault on the English language," is how the Supreme Court characterized the Medicaid statute in a 1981 opinion, quoting a federal judge in New York. A typical provision of Medicare, for instance, reads like this: "In the case of a plan for which there are average per capita monthly savings described in section 1395w–24 (b)(3)(C) or 1395w–24 (b)(4)(C) of this title, as the case may be, the amount specified in this subparagraph is the amount of the monthly rebate computed under section 1395w–24 (b)(1)(C)(i) of this title for that plan and year (as reduced by the amount of any credit provided under section 1395w–24 (b)(1)(C)(iv) [2] of this title)." Congress passed the Medicare and Medicaid laws in 1965 as amendments to the Social Security Act. The laws span several hundred pages, and additional provisions are scattered elsewhere in the federal code. Joe Palazzolo http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204571404577253734216831386.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

What's Large Where in the United States List includes all 50 states--includes artichoke in California and Hercules Beetle in Colorado. http://www.worldslargestthings.com/wllist.htm

Moored in Brooklyn just under the Brooklyn Bridge, Bargemusic presents music up to five days a week, every week of the year. Walk across the gangplank of a renovated coffee barge into a "perfect chamber music hall" with "thrilling views of lower Manhattan and excellent acoustics.” See calendar and more at: http://bargemusic.org/

Also under the Brooklyn Bridge: The River Café with sweeping views of the New York skyline and the Statue of Liberty and its own spectacular garden.
http://www.rivercafe.com/

The term "electoral college" does not appear in the Constitution. Article II of the Constitution and the 12th Amendment refer to "electors," but not to the "electoral college." In the Federalist Papers (No. 68), Alexander Hamilton refers to the process of selecting the Executive, and refers to "the people of each State (who) shall choose a number of persons as electors," but he does not use the term "electoral college." The founders appropriated the concept of electors from the Holy Roman Empire (962 - 1806). An elector was one of a number of princes of the various German states within the Holy Roman Empire who had a right to participate in the election of the German king (who generally was crowned as emperor). The term "college" (from the Latin collegium), refers to a body of persons that act as a unit, as in the college of cardinals who advise the Pope and vote in papal elections. In the early 1800's, the term "electoral college" came into general usage as the unofficial designation for the group of citizens selected to cast votes for President and Vice President. It was first written into Federal law in 1845, and today the term appears in 3 U.S.C. section 4, in the section heading and in the text as "college of electors." Reference sources indicate that over the past 200 years, over 700 proposals have been introduced in Congress to reform or eliminate the Electoral College. There have been more proposals for Constitutional amendments on changing the Electoral College than on any other subject. The American Bar Association has criticized the Electoral College as "archaic" and "ambiguous" and its polling showed 69 percent of lawyers favored abolishing it in 1987. But surveys of political scientists have supported continuation of the Electoral College. Public opinion polls have shown Americans favored abolishing it by majorities of 58 percent in 1967; 81 percent in 1968; and 75 percent in 1981. http://www.archives.gov/federal-register/electoral-college/faq.html

Q. How many times has the candidate who lost the popular vote become president? A. Four times: 1824, 1876, 1888 and 2000.

Little Free Library news http://www.littlefreelibrary.org/news.html
Find a little free library http://www.littlefreelibrary.org/find-a-library.html

This Week's Sky at a Glance Some daily events in the changing sky for March 9–17
See descriptions and images of Venus and Jupiter at: http://www.skyandtelescope.com/observing/highlights/141918503.html