Her Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress, known as the Tower of London, is a historic castle located on the north bank of the River Thames in central London.  It lies within the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, separated from the eastern edge of the square mile of the City of London by the open space known as Tower Hill.  It was founded towards the end of 1066 as part of the Norman Conquest of England.  The White Tower, which gives the entire castle its name, was built by William the Conqueror in 1078, and was a resented symbol of oppression, inflicted upon London by the new ruling elite. The castle was used as a prison from 1100 (Ranulf Flambard) until 1952 (Kray twins), although that was not its primary purpose.   A grand palace early in its history, it served as a royal residence.  As a whole, the Tower is a complex of several buildings set within two concentric rings of defensive walls and a moat.  There were several phases of expansion, mainly under Kings Richard the Lionheart, Henry III, and Edward I in the 12th and 13th centuries.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tower_of_London

The Builders by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807-1882)

All are architects of Fate, Working in these walls of Time;
Some with massive deeds and great, Some with ornaments of rhyme.

See the whole poem at http://thereaderonline.co.uk/2011/07/25/featured-poem-the-builders-by-henry-wadsworth-longfellow/

Each of these words beginning with epi- (from the Greek word for "upon") has multiple definitions, but here are the most common meanings:  An epigram is a brief, witty statement in prose or verse,  An epigraph is a brief quotation set at the beginning of a text (a book, a chapter of a book, an essay, a poem) to suggest its theme.   An epitaph is a brief inscription in prose or verse on a tombstone or monument.  Richard Nordquist  http://grammar.about.com/od/alightersideofwriting/a/epigramgloss.htm

Link to tax proposals of major 2016 presidential candidates at http://www.taxpolicycenter.org/

February 28, 2011  Speaking during a performance with Motown artists Steve Wonder and Smokey Robinson, along with Seal, John Legend criticized December 2010’s deal to extend the Bush-era tax rates.  “People fought to give me—a millionaire—a tax cut this year,” he said, according to the Associated Press.  “I didn’t need it, and all the other millionaires didn’t need it either.”  The Grammy-winning performer described how he had benefited from government-subsidized community choirs and arts councils over the years, many of which are likely to end up on the budget chopping block.  Some other prominent wealthy people, such as multibillionaire Warren Buffett, have also said they would support the expiration of the Bush-era tax cuts for upper-income taxpayers.  In November, 2010 a group of 45 millionaires signed a letter to President Obama urging him to allow the Bush tax cuts to expire for those earning over $1 million a year.  Michael Cohn  http://www.accountingtoday.com/news/Singer-John-Legend-Offers-Give-up-Tax-Cuts-57430-1.html

January 2, 2013  The George W. Bush tax cuts, born in 2001, reach a new milestone.  Originally scheduled to expire at the end of 2010, they are now permanent (or most of them, anyway).  Congress voted to extend the income tax cuts for most families earning under $450,000 a year, while taxing capital gains, dividends and tax breaks at higher rates for upper-income earners.  See legacy of tax cuts in four charts at https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2013/01/02/the-legacy-of-the-bush-tax-cuts-in-four-charts/  See description, beneficiaries, fiscal effects, and economic effects of Bush tax cuts at http://www.taxpolicycenter.org/briefing-book/background/bush-tax-cuts/

The area code system was developed by AT&T and Bell Laboratories in the 1940's, and went into effect in 1947.  It was called the North American Numbering Plan (NANP) and included the United States and Canada.  In 1947, states and provinces that had a single area code were  assigned three digit codes with 0 as the middle number, such as 203 for Connecticut and 305 for Florida.  There were 86 area codes at that time.  States and provinces that had more than one area code distributed to them were given three digit codes with 1 as the middle number, such as 916 and 213 for various sections of California, and 212 and 518 for various sections of New York.  The first and third digits were allotted according to population density in the city or region the area code was going to, with the most populated areas getting the lowest numbers.  The New York City area, for example, was assigned 212, while the surrounding suburbs were assigned 914.  Find the original area codes for Canada and the United States at http://www.area-codes.com/area-code-history.asp  Find a list of future area codes in the North American Numbering Plan, which are intended to be used as needed for additional telephone numbers in various locations at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_future_North_American_area_codes

New genre:  Alterna history  "The Man in the High Castle" grabs you first visually.  It's 1962 New York City, all vintage clothes and cars, and yet there is nothing nostalgic about this radically disturbing, history-altering place where a giant neon swastika towers over Times Square.  Amazon's new series, adapted from a Philip K. Dick novel, is set in an America where the Allies lost World War II.  The nation has been divided into three zones:  the Greater Nazi Reich of the East Coast, the Japanese Pacific States of the West Coast and a neutral zone in the middle (and, FYI, maps indicate that Michigan and its Midwest neighbors are under German control).  The concept is so overwhelming that you could leave the first episode stunned by the details alone:  the street signs in German and Japanese, a TV game show clip with a contestant who's a Hitler Youth alum, a glimpse of an aging, very alive Fuhrer on the news.  Julie Hinds  http://www.freep.com/story/entertainment/movies/julie-hinds/2015/11/14/man-high-castle-chilling-alterna-history-amazon-philip-kdick/75603320/  Other alterna history examples:  Abraham Lincoln:  Vampire Hunter,  Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell, and Last Stop Vienna.

December 10, 2015  President Obama called it "a Christmas miracle.  A bipartisan bill signing right here."   The "right here" was the South Court Auditorium, part of the White House complex.  More importantly, the bipartisan bill being signed was the Every Student Succeeds Act — a long-overdue replacement of the unpopular federal education law known as No Child Left Behind.  The new law changes much about the federal government's role in education, largely by scaling back Washington's influence.  While ESSA keeps in place the basic testing requirements of No Child Left Behind, it strips away many of the high stakes that had been attached to student scores.  The job of evaluating schools and deciding how to fix them will shift largely back to states.  Gone too is the requirement, added several years ago by the Obama administration, that states use student scores to evaluate teachers.  The new law, which passed the House and Senate with rare, resounding bipartisan support, would also expand access to high-quality preschool.  Before the signing, President Obama made clear that he believed the goals of NCLB — namely high standards, accountability and closing the achievement gap — were the right ones.  But in practice, he said, the law fell short.  "It often forced schools and school districts into cookie-cutter reforms that didn't always produce the kinds of results that we wanted to see," Obama said.  NCLB was signed by President George W. Bush in early 2002 and was, itself, an update of a much older law — the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965.  While ESSA officially marks the end of the NCLB era, the majority of states have for several years received waivers from the Obama administration, exempting them from some of the law's toughest requirements.  http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2015/12/10/459219774/president-obama-signs-education-law-leaving-no-child-behind

In August of 2011, 342 Akron (Ohio) third grade students made a promise to LeBron James.  They promised him him they would go to school, be respectful to their parents, teachers and peers, be active and make good decisions.  In return, he promised them that he would be the best role model he could be on and off the court.  Link to the Akron I Promise Network (AIPN) at http://lebronjamesfamilyfoundation.org/post/category/aipn  LeBron James is now trying to help Akron adults get their GEDs by using the same basic principles his charitable foundation designed to help children stay in school and graduate.  That program, called Wheels for Education (for grades 3-5) and the Akron I PROMISE Network (sixth grade and up), now has more than 1,000 enrolled and free college scholarships to attend the University of Akron waiting for those who graduate from an Akron high school and fulfill some additional requirements beginning in 2021.  James seeks to inspire the children by writing to them personally and engaging them on social media.  Children and their families are also eligible for prizes, often in the form of gifts (from one of James' corporate sponsors, such as a Samsung tablet) or cash for groceries.  The new program for adults is called "I PROMISE, Too" and so far counts nine adults – who will be taught by instructors from Project Learn.  Again, only parents or guardians of children in James' mentorship program are eligible.  In the new program, enrollees received an inspirational letter from the Cavaliers superstar basketball player, HP laptop computers that they can keep if they finish the classes, and free bus passes and parking to attend class.

http://www.cleveland.com/cavs/index.ssf/2015/09/lebron_james_akron_adult_liter.html

http://librariansmuse.blogspot.com  Issue 1392  December 11, 2015  On this date in 1916, Pérez Prado, Cuban-Mexican singer-songwriter, pianist, and bandleader, was born.  On this date in 1919,  Marie Windsor, American actress and singer, was born.