In the 1860s, under the threat of colonization by Western powers, the Japanese government undertook an urgent modernization project.  Their efforts affected countless facets of Japanese daily life, from the development of a European-style military to smaller changes such as the installation of street lamps.  With a large readership curious about foreign cultures and the new technologies that their nation was rapidly adopting, Japanese publishers rose to the occasion, churning out a vibrant array of books and woodblock prints for the public.  In one such work, the 1873 A Guide to World Customs, author Nakagane Masahira and his Tokyo publisher included an illustration of Newton’s discovery of gravity after he saw an apple fall from a tree.  But, what was an apple, anyway?  No such fruit was for sale in Tokyo.  The publisher obviously thought it would be easier to replace the unknown foreign fruit with something more familiar, such as a Japanese plum.  As illustrators were carving the woodblocks for this image of Newton, the Japanese were just beginning to cultivate the island’s first apple trees.  Their efforts would result in a booming domestic apple market, and eventually, the creation of one of the most popular apple varieties in the world:  the Fuji.  Read much more and see wonderful pictures at https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/japanese-apples 

Ricotta is listed among the worst cheeses to freeze on our guide to freezing cheese.  But just because it's not ideal doesn't mean it's impossible.  You can freeze ricotta cheese, but just know that previously frozen ricotta cheese is only going to work for certain recipes.  Find instructions for freezing ricotta at https://www.allrecipes.com/article/how-to-freeze-pasta-sauce/ 

In the beginning of the 19th century, development of American cities often took a compact, mixed-use form, reminiscent of that found in places like old town Alexandria, Virginia.  With the development of the streetcar and affordable rapid transit, however, cities began to spread out and create streetcar suburbs.  The later invention of the automobile further increased this decentralization from the central city which later led to separated land uses and urban sprawl.  New Urbanism is a reaction to the spreading out of cities.  The ideas then began to spread in the late 1970s and early 1980s, as urban planners and architects started to come up with plans to model cities in the U.S. after those in Europe.  In 1991, New Urbanism developed more strongly when the Local Government Commission, a nonprofit group in Sacramento, California, invited several architects, including Peter Calthorpe, Michael Corbett, Andres Duany and Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk among others, to Yosemite National Park to develop a set of principles for land use planning that focused on the community and its livability.  The principles, named after Yosemite's Ahwahnee Hotel where the conference was held, are called the Ahwahnee Principles.  Within these, there are 15 community principles, four regional principles and four principles of implementation.  Each one, however, deals with both past and present ideas to make cities as clean, walkable and livable as possible.  These principles were then presented to government officials in late 1991 at the Yosemite Conference for Local Elected Officials.  Shortly thereafter, some of the architects involved in creating the Ahwahnee Principles formed the Congress for the New Urbanism (CNU) in 1993.  Today, CNU is the leading promoter of New Urbanist ideas and has grown to over 3,000 members.  It also holds conferences yearly in cities across the U.S. to further promote New Urbanism design principles.  Amanda Briney  https://www.thoughtco.com/new-urbanism-urban-planning-design-movement-1435790 

William J. Fallon (1886–1927), christened The Great Mouthpiece by the press, was a prominent defense attorney during the 1920s who defended the gangster Arnold Rothstein and his accomplice Nicky Arnstein during the trial for the fixing of the 1919 World Series.  Fallon died at the early age of 41 on April 29, 1927 from complications of his excessive lifestyle.  Four years after his death a popular biography was written by Gene Fowler was published, which inspired the Warner Brothers films The Mouthpiece (1932), The Man Who Talked Too Much (1940) and Illegal (1955).  He has been cited as one of the inspirations for the celebrity lawyer Billy Flynn in the popular musical Chicago.  He is also portrayed for six episodes by David Aaron Baker in the HBO television series Boardwalk Empire.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_J._Fallon_(attorney)#:~:text=Fallon%20(January%2023%2C%201886%20%E2%80%93,of%20the%201919%20World%20Series.  

The 1929 play Mouthpiece by Frank J. Collins was adapted again in 1940 as The Man Who Talked Too Much starring George Brent.  This adaptation has a different ending.  A third adaptation was released in 1955 as Illegal starring Edward G. Robinson.  The Mouthpiece is a 1932 American pre-Code crime drama film starring Warren William and directed by James Flood and Elliott Nugent.  It was produced and distributed by Warner Bros.  The film is currently available on DVD in the Forbidden Hollywood series.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Mouthpiece  See also http://www.tcm.com/this-month/article.html?isPreview=&id=489423%7C489455&name=The-Mouthpiece

Robert W. Gore, whose invention of what created the breathable-yet-waterproof fabric known as Gore-Tex revolutionized outdoor wear and helped spawn uses in numerous other fields, died September 17, 2020.  He was 83.  Gore was president of W. L. Gore & Associates for almost 25 years and company chairman for 30 years.  Gore discovered a new form of a polymer in 1969 at a company lab in Newark, Delaware.  His father, who began the company, asked Bob Gore to research a new way to manufacturer plumber’s tape at a low cost using PTFE, commonly known as DuPont’s Teflon, The News Journal of Wilmington reported.  The son figured out that by stretching PTFE with a sudden yank, the polymer expanded by 1,000 percent.  The resulting product, known as ePTFE, created a microporous structure.  The introduction of Gore-Tex technology came seven years later.  “It was truly a pivot point in this company’s history,” Greg Hannon, W.L. Gore & Associates’ chief technology officer, said last year.  “Without which we would be much less significant of an organization than we are today.”  The membrane within Gore-Tex fabric has billions of pores that are smaller than water droplets, leading to waterproof but breathable raincoats, shoes and other clothing.  The patents ultimately led to countless other uses with medical devices, guitar strings and in space travel, the company said.   https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/robert-gore-inventor-gore-tex-fabric-dead-83-73117856 

Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the demure firebrand who in her 80s became a legal, cultural and feminist icon, died September 18, 2020.  The Supreme Court announced her death, saying the cause was complications from metastatic cancer of the pancreas.  The court, in a statement, said Ginsburg died at her home in Washington surrounded by family.  She was 87.  "Our nation has lost a justice of historic stature," Chief Justice John Roberts said.  "We at the Supreme Court have lost a cherished colleague.  Today we mourn but with confidence that future generations will remember Ruth Bader Ginsburg as we knew her, a tired and resolute champion of justice."  Architect of the legal fight for women's rights in the 1970s, Ginsburg subsequently served 27 years on the nation's highest court, becoming its most prominent member.  She learned Swedish so she could work with Anders Berzelius, a Swedish civil procedure scholar.  Through the Columbia Law School Project on International Procedure, Ginsburg and Berzelius co-authored a book.  In 1963, Ginsburg finally landed a teaching job at Rutgers law school, where she at one point hid her second pregnancy by wearing her mother-in-law's clothes.  The ruse worked; her contract was renewed before her new baby was born.  While at Rutgers, she began her work fighting gender discrimination.  In 1971, she would write her first Supreme Court brief in the case of Reed v. Reed.  Ginsburg represented Sally Reed, who thought she should be the executor of her son's estate instead of her ex-husband.  The constitutional issue was whether a state could automatically prefer men over women as executors of estates.  The answer from the all-male supreme court:  no.  It was the first time the court had ever struck down a state law because it discriminated based on gender.  And that was just the beginning.  Read more and see pictures at https://www.npr.org/2020/09/18/100306972/justice-ruth-bader-ginsburg-champion-of-gender-equality-dies-at-87 

Article III, Section 1 of the Constitution establishes the Supreme Court of the United States.  Currently, there are nine Justices on the Court. Before taking office, each Justice must be appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate.  Justices hold office during good behavior, typically, for life.  The Constitution states that the Supreme Court has both original and appellate jurisdiction.  Original jurisdiction means that the Supreme Court is the first, and only, Court to hear a case.  The Constitution limits original jurisdiction cases to those involving disputes between the states or disputes arising among ambassadors and other high-ranking ministers.  Appellate jurisdiction means that the Court has the authority to review the decisions of lower courts.  Most of the cases the Supreme Court hears are appeals from lower courts.  Parties who are not satisfied with the decision of a lower court must petition the U.S. Supreme Court to hear their case.  The primary means to petition the court for review is to ask it to grant a writ of certiorari.  This is a request that the Supreme Court order a lower court to send up the record of the case for review.  All opinions of the Court are, typically, handed down by the last day of the Court's term (the day in late June/early July when the Court recesses for the summer).  With the exception of this deadline, there are no rules concerning when decisions must be released.  Typically, decisions that are unanimous are released sooner than those that have concurring and dissenting opinions.  While some unanimous decisions are handed down as early as December, some controversial opinions, even if heard in October, may not be handed down until the last day of the term.  A majority of Justices must agree to all of the contents of the Court's opinion before it is publicly delivered.  When there is a tie vote, the decision of the lower Court stands.  This can happen if, for some reason, any of the nine Justices is not participating in a case (e.g., a seat is vacant or a Justice has had to recuse).  https://www.uscourts.gov/about-federal-courts/educational-resources/about-educational-outreach/activity-resources/supreme-1  See also https://www.supremecourt.gov/ 

A THOUGHT FOR SEPTEMBER 21  Good books don't give up all their secrets at once. - Stephen King, novelist (b. 21 September 1947) 

WORD OF THE DAY FOR SEPTEMBER 21  Sleep of the just noun  A deep and worry-free sleep.  September 21 is designated by the United Nations as the International Day of Peace, which is dedicated to world peace. 

http://librariansmuse.blogspot.com  Issue 2260  September 21, 2020