Today in history, greetings, and social banter here. (More)
Romulus celebrated Rome’s first victory, defeating the Caeninenses after the Rape of the Sabine Women, today (752 BCE). Also, the Unitas Fratrum was established in the village of Kunvald on the Bohemian-Moravian borderland (1457), the massacre of 23 Huguenots by French Catholics in Wassy marked the start of the French Wars of Religion (1562), the city of Rio de Janeiro was founded (1565), the Uppsala Synod was summoned to standardize the Lutheran Church of Sweden (1593), Georgeana, Massachusetts, now York, Maine, became the first incorporated city in what would be the U.S. (1642), local magistrates questioned Sarah Good, Sarah Osborne, and Tituba, starting the Salem Witch Trials (1692), Sweden began using the Swedish Calendar (1700), reverted to the Julian Calendar (1712), and adopted the Gregorian Calendar (1753), the Continental Congress adopted the Articles of Confederation (1781), the first U.S. census was authorized (1790), Ohio became our 17th state (1803), the U.S. Senate acquitted impeached Supreme Court Justice Samuel Chase (1805), Michigan abolished capital punishment (1847), Nebraska became our 37th state and the city of Lancaster was renamed Lincoln and designated the capital (1867), Yellowstone National Park was established as the world’s first national park (1872), E. Remington and Sons began producing the first practical typewriter (1873), Nikola Tesla gave the first public demonstration of radio in St. Louis, Missouri (1893), Henri Becquerel discovered radioactivity (1896), 96 people were killed when an avalanche buried a Great Northern Railway train in northeastern King County, Washington (1910), Albert Berry made the first parachute jump from a moving airplane (1917), the Hoover Dam was completed (1936), the Bank of England was nationalized (1946), the International Monetary Fund began operations (1947), Lolita Lebrón and three other Puerto Rican nationalists opened fire in the U.S. Capitol, wounding five House members (1954), the International Air Transport Association finalized a draft of the Radiotelephony spelling alphabet (1956), President John Kennedy established the Peace Corps on the same day Uganda became self-governing and held her first elections (1961), the Venera 3 Soviet probe crashed on Venus, the first spacecraft to land on another planet (1966), a Washington, D.C. grand jury indicted seven former White House aides for conspiracy to obstruct the investigation of the Watergate burglary (1974), the U.S. Secret Service raided the office of Steve Jackson Games, prompting the formation of the Electronic Frontier Foundation (1990), Bosnia and Herzegovina declared its independence (1992), Yahoo! was incorporated (1995), the current Constitution of Finland took effect (2000), Spain discontinued the peseta and adopted the euro (2002), the International Criminal Court held its inaugural session in The Hague (2003), and the Jordanhill railway station article became the one millionth entry in the English language Wikipedia (2006). And 10 people died in protests over the Armenian presidential election (2008).
+++++
The Janitor Professor of Astrology was appropriately whelmed, neither over- nor under-, by today’s history in researching this week’s Bippiescopes….
Pisces: Enjoy a tranquil weekend. Unless you visit Venus.
Aries: Be honest this weekend. Unlike the Watergate Seven.
Taurus: Build relationships this weekend. Or build a big dam.
Gemini: Don’t try to be perfect this weekend. Unless you’re skydiving.
Cancer: Let your intuition lead this weekend. But not to The Hague.
Leo: This is a weekend for action. But don’t be Old Faithful.
Virgo: Cooperate with others this weekend. Whiskey Tango Foxtrot.
Libra: Discipline will pay off this weekend. Witch trials won’t.
Scorpio: Prepare for the long haul this weekend. Take a radio.
Sagittarius: Embrace change this weekend. Put up the new calendar.
Capricorn: Plan for success this weekend. For the millionth time.
Aquarius: Check off your to-do list this weekend. Hide the evidence.
+++++
Good morning! ::hugggggs::
March 1, 2013 at 6:01 am
Yesterday on Campus
Morning Feature – Valuing Work, Part I: Working vs. Employment?
Midday Matinee – triciawyse with Fursdai Furries
Campus Question – Have Beltway media lost public trust?
Today on Campus
Morning Feature – Valuing Work, Part II: Employment, Power, and the Guaranteed Basic Income
Noontime News at noon
Midday Matinee – triciawyse with Frieday Critters
Campus Question at 6pm ET
March 1, 2013 at 6:12 am
I should note that the Rape of the Sabine Women did not involve sexual assault. “Rape” is the traditional English translation of the Latin raptio, which can also be translated abduction or even seduction (“enraptured” has the same root). Roman men wanted to marry Sabine women from nearby towns, but the Sabine men forbade such unions. Romulus, the first king of Rome, led a group of Romans into Caenina, offering to guarantee the safety of any woman who wished to return to Rome and be married. He also promised that they and their children would be free Roman citizens. Apparently many women liked the idea, and their departure outraged the Sabines. An army from Caenina invaded Rome to reclaim ‘their’ women, and the defeat of that invasion was celebrated today in 752 BCE.
Good morning! ::hugggggs::
March 1, 2013 at 6:59 am
Very interesting! When I read that “enraptured” had the same root I thought of the Left Behind series. The seduction of souls came to mind.
I read one of the books because the women in my aunt’s church were most upset with them and got them taken out of the Methodist Church library. At least I get the jokes about “please leave your keys in your car.”
March 1, 2013 at 7:53 am
You actually read an entire book from this series. I bought one to find out what the deal was and made it less than 20 pages before it hit the waste basket.
And I never throw books away.
March 1, 2013 at 8:58 am
Bessie was wondering what her granddaughter was reading. She was appalled. To get the church library to banish them she asked a bunch of us to read them and appear at a church council meeting.
March 1, 2013 at 8:00 am
For a while there was a popular bumper sticker:
Which of course prompted a response bumper sticker:
Good morning! ::hugggggs::
March 1, 2013 at 8:07 am
March 1, 2013 at 6:53 am
Good Morning. My early morning news scan indicates that Massachusetts is not happy with Chief Justice Roberts’ characterization of their voting records. Facts matter and so do the sources from which you get your facts.
Oh dear. It appears that what works on Fox News does not work so well in the Supreme Court. I hope the people of Massachusetts email him with their displeasure.
March 1, 2013 at 7:56 am
And this is our Chief Justice????? OMG.
March 1, 2013 at 8:08 am
I understand that Supreme Court Justices are not trained statisticians, but they do have clerks and it seems like they could find someone who can parse data:
Honestly, sample-size comparison is very basic statistics. We should expect better from our nation’s highest Court.
Good morning! ::hugggggs::
March 1, 2013 at 12:18 pm
Do the lawyers get to file a round of additional briefs after the oral arguments?
March 1, 2013 at 7:09 am
Morning. 36 now, headed for a predicted high of 41. Busy day today – we’re closing on 5 units today. 3 rentals and 2 handyman special sales. I don’t have to do anything with the sales, but I had to do checks on all the rentals and have minor things to fix on 2 of them – about 5 minutes on each one. Did the major stuff yesterday.
The weekend will bring more electrical – go figure.
Well, I’d better hit it. Have a good one, everybody!
March 1, 2013 at 7:57 am
Hope you’re surviving the extra duty, trs. Sounds like your hands are truly full.
March 1, 2013 at 8:10 am
“[H]eaded for a predicted high of 41.” I shivered just reading that. Or maybe that was the iced latte. Either way, I shivered.
Good morning! ::hugggggs::
March 1, 2013 at 7:31 am
Good morning! It’s currently a partly cloudy 27 degrees, with some light snow moving in. We’re expected to get another 2″ over the next day or so. It looks like a snowy weekend. It seems like March is coming out like a lion, so here’s hoping it leaves like a lamb.
March 1, 2013 at 7:43 am
Is your area on track for a normal snow year? It seems like every other day it is snowing there. Could just be that I am a bit envious.
March 1, 2013 at 7:54 am
Believe it or not, somewhat less than normal.
We usually have more in December and January than we did this year, so the “overall” is less. While we’re getting regular snow fall days, we’re not getting as much as usual. Around is is more normal or higher.
March 1, 2013 at 7:58 am
I’m plugging Norbrook’s blog post on “The Conservative Cult.” It’s an excellent read.
March 1, 2013 at 8:14 am
A few years ago we had a March that “came in like a lion.” I don’t remember exactly what the Big Bad Weather was at the end of the month, but it was Big and Bad enough that a local forecaster quipped: “Well, lambs are wooly too.”
Good morning! ::hugggggs::
March 1, 2013 at 8:23 am
Well, we’re actually in (for now) “drought conditions” according to the drought map. What I’m hoping is that we don’t have a repeat of 2011, where the snow held on until the end of April, then suddenly melted. 500 year floods are not a fun thing. Then again, neither are droughts.
March 1, 2013 at 7:42 am
Good morning,
To counter the pundits — I’m looking at you George Will — who deny that the sequester will have unmanageable and deleterious effects, I bring you the 2% Medicare reimbursement cut.
Hundreds of U.S. non-profit hospitals operate on the slimmest of margins and these hospitals have been balancing their books with their fingers crossed for years. The hospitals that Rick Scott ran don’t have to worry, but look for bad news from the non-profits.
O.K. short stay today, getting ready for a trip up I-95 to visit Ms LI Mike’s Republican sister and her sister’s equally Republican husband.
March 1, 2013 at 7:45 am
I do hope your in-laws have other redeeming qualities.
March 1, 2013 at 8:25 am
Such as, um, they got mad and quit voting years ago…?
March 1, 2013 at 8:58 am
March 1, 2013 at 7:57 am
The biggest problem with the sequester, besides the cuts, is that it isn’t something obvious like a shutdown. I’m seeing a lot of idiot comments on various boards about how “less government is a good thing, right?”
and so on. The sequester is a cut where the effects will take time to show up, and the overall impact won’t be felt until later.
March 1, 2013 at 8:01 am
Some effects will be felt immediately from what I saw last night, such as air traffic slowdowns. Major delays at airports are expected to have a lot of people up in arms within the next few weeks.
Then there’s the cutting and furloughing of civilian labor at military bases. That’s going to start soon too….
March 1, 2013 at 8:26 am
Yes, but it’ll be, in terms of “impact,” a slow roll-out.
That is, local businesses won’t see the immediate impact until the labor & bases starts cutting back spending, then it’ll take a while for them to decide to cut back, which will have further ripple effects ….
It’ll be a slide instead of a drop. (sigh)
March 1, 2013 at 7:59 am
Thanks for telling us about the non-profits, Mike.
I hope you have fun today, although I suspect it will be hard to avoid politics given the current situation.
Good luck!
March 1, 2013 at 8:16 am
Depending on how long it lasts, the sequester is about to change many Americans’ impressions of what “government” does. A lot of it is like plumbing: you only notice it when it breaks.
Good morning! ::hugggggs::
March 1, 2013 at 8:34 am
A couple of years ago, I pointed to Colorado Springs as a typical case where the impressions don’t fit reality. It’s a haven of the evangelical right and various Tea Party groups, big on “less government and low taxes.”
The missed point? The whole reason it’s a city in the first place, and the reason it has a relatively stable economy, is because of massive government spending in the area. When you’re surrounded by an Army fort, Air Force bases, an Air Force Academy, and several national parks, saying you’re against government spending is pretty dumb.
March 1, 2013 at 8:22 am
Good morning!
We have fresh snow and 32 degrees. The Food Fair went very well yesterday, IMO. Pastor prayed for “good weather” at the monday night meeting, apparently the Almighty understood that to mean we didn’t want the frozen stuff to thaw…….
Anyway, despite the cold, we had an excellent turnout of volunteers and served, by my rough estimate, over 100 households.
Planted some peas yesterday early. We are sprouting them inside, and planting once they’ve sprouted. Have about 8′ of row planted so far…..
Have a decent day!
Best, G
March 1, 2013 at 8:36 am
Praying for good weather is general enough that it should cover everything short of severe events like, um, tornadoes?
Glad the Food Fair went so well. I hope the peas do as well or better. From where I sit, it’s hard to believe it’s already planting time again. Or sprouting time….
Have a great day, Gardener!
March 1, 2013 at 9:02 am
I am declaring a Snow Day!
March 1, 2013 at 8:56 am
Bonus points for the use of multiple emoticons! I’m glad your food pantry has enough to serve so many people but it is kinda sad that so many are in need.