On September 17, 1787 the Constitution of the United States of America was finalized and signed in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.  The Constitution replaced the Articles of Confederation that had proved unsuccessful.  The Articles of Confederation gave the federal government limited powers, leaving the states with a considerable amount of control regarding matters such as finance, defense and trade.  George Washington described the existing government under the Articles of Confederation as “little more than the shadow without substance.”  Without the ability to sufficiently regulate commerce, impose taxes and enforce laws, the federal government was functioning on a depleted treasury.  On February 21, 1787, Congress resolved that delegates appointed from the thirteen states meet in Philadelphia to revise the Articles of Confederation.  The delegates believed that creating a nation with a strong central government and enforceable powers was essential.  The delegates agreed to create three separate branches of government:  legislative (to be composed of two houses), judicial, and executive.  Each branch was intended to have the ability to balance the power centralized in the others.  The composition of the two legislative houses garnered much debate between the delegates.  In general, delegates representing larger states argued for proportional representation in the legislature based on the state’s population, whereas representatives from the smaller states wanted equal representation.   After much debate, the “Great Compromise” was reached:  in the House of Representatives, seats would be allocated based on each state’s population, whereas in the Senate, every state would have equal representation with two seats each.  After the Constitution was finalized and signed on September 17, 1787, the ratification process began.  Nine states were required to ratify the Constitution.  The first state to ratify the Constitution was Delaware, followed by Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Georgia and Connecticut.  The Constitution was narrowly ratified in Massachusetts, with several members suggesting that the Constitution be amended.  Several other states followed suit and requested similar amendments.  Most notably among the proposed amendments was the inclusion of a Bill of Rights.  This political pressure helped to initiate the process in which the Bill of Rights was later added to the Constitution.  The Constitution was next ratified by Maryland, South Carolina and New Hampshire, completing the nine state ratification requirement in 1788.  However, New York and Virginia, two powerful and influential states, and North Carolina and Rhode Island remained undecided.  A series of newspaper articles, later collected as The Federalist, written by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison (who is considered the father of the Constitution) and John Jay under the pseudonym Publius, became influential in New York and Virginia, helping lead to narrow ratifications in those states in 1788.

https://depts.washington.edu/constday/history/  

See the U.S. Constitution with links to its 7 articles and 27 amendments at http://constitution.findlaw.com/

A small red berry called the miracle fruit, Synsepalum dulcificum, is native to West Africa and has been known to Westerners since the 18th century.  The berry rewires the way the palate perceives sour flavors for an hour or so, rendering lemons as sweet as candy.  The cause of the reaction is a protein called miraculin, which binds with the taste buds and acts as a sweetness inducer when it comes in contact with acids, according to a scientist who has studied the fruit, Linda Bartoshuk at the University of Florida’s Center for Smell and Taste.  Patrick Farrell and Kassie Bracken    See pictures and read much more at http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/28/dining/28flavor.html?_r=0  Anyone looking to commercialize miraculin will have to overcome significant regulatory hurdles.  In 1974, the U.S. Federal Drug Administration declared that miraculin was an additive, meaning that the berries cannot be sold as a sugar substitute without further testing.  Health Canada takes a similar stance.  In the 1970s a U.S. company called Miralin was on the verge of introducing the miracle berry into food as a sugar replacement until the FDA's controversial ruling effectively shut it down.  Reversing that decision would require years of testing.  The Globe and Mail  August 13, 2014  p.  L1  http://v1.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/GIS.Servlets.HTMLTemplate?tf=tgam/common/FullStoryPrint.html&cf=tgam/common/Generic.cfg&configFileLoc=tgam/config&dateOffset=&hub=rickSalutin&title=Rick_Salutin&cache_key=rickSalutin&current_row=54&start_row=54&num_rows=1

Acclaimed screen writer, children’s and young adult author and poet, Gabrielle Prendergast has been named Vancouver Public Library’s tenth writer in residence.  Prendergast, the author five highly praised novels – Hildegarde (2002); Wicket Season (2012), Audacious (2013), Capricious (2014) and the soon to be released Frail Days (2015), began her residency in August 2014 by sharing her vast experience and inspiring young writers at the VPL’s annual Writing & Book Camp.  During her four-month tenure, Prendergast will spend 25 percent of her time mentoring emerging writers, appearing at library and community events and conducting workshops that encourage participants to explore incorporating more cultural diversity into their stories and writing verse novels for young adults.  Her remaining time will be focused on working on her own projects, including a new novel, The Boy Who Fell to Earth, inspired by Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield.  http://www.vpl.ca/news/details/news_release_award-winning_author_gabrielle_prendergast_named_vpls_2014_wri 

Read interview by Denise Ryan with Gabrielle Prendergast, Vancouver Public Library’s tenth writer in residence at http://www.vancouversun.com/news/Meet+Vancouver+Public+Library+writer+residence/10122838/story.html

Chihuly Garden and Glass provides a look at the inspiration and influences that inform the career of artist Dale Chihuly.  Located at Seattle Center, Chihuly Garden and Glass includes an Exhibition Hall, the centerpiece Glasshouse and a lush Garden.  The Exhibition Hall contains eight galleries and three Drawing Walls, offering visitors a comprehensive look at Chihuly’s significant series of work; the Glasshouse presents a suspended 1,400-piece, 100-foot-long sculpture; and the Garden is a backdrop for four monumental sculptures and other installations.  See pictures at http://www.chihulygardenandglass.com/ and http://www.spaceneedle.com/news/2012/11/chihuly-garden-and-glass/

A.Word.A.Day with Anu Garg

Philadelphia lawyer  ((fil-uh-DEL-fee-uh LOI-yuhr)  noun  A shrewd lawyer, one who is adept at exploiting legal technicalities.  The term is said to have been inspired by Philadelphia-based Andrew Hamilton's successful defense of the New York printer John Peter Zenger from libel charges.  This decision helped establish the idea that truth is a defense in a libel accusation and affirmed the freedom of the press in America.  Though the incident took place in 1735, the earliest documented use unearthed so far is from 1788.

Include is the opposite of exclude, but intend is not the opposite of extend.  Delist is the opposite of list, but devote is not the opposite of vote.  To redo something is to do it again, but to recapitulate is not to capitulate again.
recapitulate  (ree-kuh-PICH-uh-layt)  verb tr., intr.: To recap or to repeat.  From Latin recapitulare (to sum up), re- (again) + capitulare (to draw up under headings), from capitulum (little head, chapter), from caput (head).  Ultimately from the Indo-European root kaput- (head), also the origin of head, captain, chef, chapter, cadet, cattle, chattel, achieve, biceps, mischief, and occiput.  Earliest documented use:  1551.

August 28, 2014  Elmore Leonard, who died almost exactly one year ago, was probably the most cinematic novelist in the English language, known for his unerringly spare prose and ear-pleasing dialogue.  Despite this, his writing suffered notoriously bumpy transitions from the page to the screen.  It wasn’t for lack of trying:  More than two dozen of Leonard’s novels and short stories have been adapted for film or television.  Among the most successful of these adaptations, as I argued in this essay, has been FX’s Justified, which will enter its sixth and final season next year.  To coincide with its publication of Elmore Leonard: Four Novels of the 1970s, the Library of America sent The Atlantic a video of Timothy Olyphant, the star of Justified, reading a passage from one of those novels, Swag.  Published in 1976, Swag is the story of two men, Frank Ryan and Ernest “Stick” Stickley.  The two meet when Stick boosts a car from the dealership where Frank is working.  Frank initially identifies Stick to the police but later, at trial, changes his mind, enabling Stick to get off.  He does this in part due to the coincidence of their first names.  As he explains, “I started thinking about that old saying about being frank and earnest.  You be frank and I’ll be earnest.”  But the principal reason Frank allows Stick to stay out of jail is that he’s looking for a partner with whom to undertake a series of armed robberies.  Frank has it all thought out, right down to a list of “10 rules for success and happiness” by which the two men should abide in order to make their criminal enterprise a success.  (The initial title of the published novel was Ryan’s Rules.)  It’s no coincidence that these rules bear a notable resemblance to the 10 rules on writing that Leonard later offered to the New York Times, which placed a heavy emphasis on concision.  As Frank explained in his admonition number two:  “Never say more than is necessary.”  Christopher Orr   Link to video at http://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2014/08/timothy-olyphant-reads-elmore-leonard/379248/

http://librariansmuse.blogspot.com  Issue 1185  September 1, 2014  On this date in 1902, A Trip to the Moon, considered one of the first science fiction films, was released in France.  On this date in 1905, Alberta and Saskatchewan joined the Canadian confederation.