Thursday, January 23, 2014

   
[1737 - John Hancock, patriot, President of Continental Congress, born in Quincy, Massachusetts]

       
[1832 - Edouard Manet, impressionist painter, born in Paris]

      
[1855 - John Moses Browning, weapons inventor, born in Ogden, Utah]

[1888 - Leadbelly (Huddie Ledbetter), blues singer,
songwriter, born in Mooringsport, Louisiana]

   
[1898 - Randolph Scott (Crane), actor, born in Orange County, Virginia]

>           
[1899 - Humphrey Bogart, Academy Award-winning actor, born in New York City]

[1900 - David (Dodd) Hand, film animator,
born in Plainfield, New Jersey]

   
[1907 - Dan Duryea, actor, born in White Plains, New York]

[1910 - Django Reinhardt, Gypsy jazz guitarist, born in Belgium]

[1915 - Potter Stewart, Supreme Court Justice,
born in Jackson, Michigan]

[1916 - Sol Price, big-box store pioneer,
born in the Bronx]

   
[1919 - Ernie Kovacs, actor, comedian, born in Trenton, New Jersey]

   
[1925 - Martin Louis 'Marty' Paich, pianist, composer, arranger, born in Oakland, California]

[1964 - The Poll Tax is abolished -
The 24th Amendment is ratified by South Dakota]

Of The People?

The only truly legitimate purpose of government is to protect the weak against the tyranny of domination by the strong. To the extent that government substitutes the rule of law for the law of the jungle, it is valid. The further the government strays from this underlying justification, the more suspect it becomes, and the more closely it should be subjected to our intense scrutiny.

Never forget that the alpha males and females on this planet have not changed their spots over the recorded history of the human race. One can search a long time for an example of the individual who rose to power only to voluntarily relinquish it. A free society remains so only if it vigilantly guards itself from the predators within. In the good old USA, the special interests (corporate and otherwise) now own all the branches of our government. The President cuts deals with them, the Congress is bought and paid for, and The Supreme Court blithely elevates their imaginary rights over those of individual US citizens.

William's Whimsical Words:

I think I hear my neighbors sharpening their pitchforks.

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