Wednesday, December 15, 2010

[1791 - Three-fourths of the states having ratified the ten Articles, the Bill of Rights was adopted,
amending the US Constitution]

   
[1832 - Gustave Alexandre Eiffel, engineer, designer, born in Dijon, Cote-d'Or, France]

   
[1892 - J. (Jean) Paul Getty, oil magnate, born in Minneapolis, Minnesota]

[1904 - Kermit Bloomgarden, Tony Award-winning
producer, born in Brooklyn]

   
[1912 - Stan (Stanley Newcomb) Kenton, orchestra leader, jazz pianist, born in Wichita, Kansas]

[1918 - Jeff Chandler (Ira Grossel), actor,
born in Brooklyn]

   
[1922 - Alan (Albert James) Freed, disc jockey, born in Windber, Pennsylvania]

[1961 - Adolf Eichmann is sentenced to death by an Israeli Jerusalem court]

To Horace, To Horace!

The Bush-Cheney administration and its seven years of horribly costly and stupidly prosecuted wars validated the words of the poet Horace, written in 23 B.C.:

Force without wisdom falls of its own weight.

Horace (Quintus Horatius Flaccus)
Odes, Book III, iv, line 65

It remains to be seen if a new President, with better advice and a more reasoned and honest approach, can avoid repetition of this history of bungling. His initial decision to double-down in Afghanistan does not auger well.

William's Whimsical Words:

Wisdom requires (at minimum) a sound plan for those conditions which follow the application of force, and a valid exit strategy.

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