Economist Milton Friedman on This Day in History

This day in history: American economist Milton Friedman was born on this day in 1912. The Economist described him as "the most influential economist of the second half of the 20th century ... possibly of all of it". Friedman was an advisor to Republican President Ronald Reagan and Conservative British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. His political philosophy extolled the virtues of a free market economic system with minimal intervention. He was certainly a great and quotable communicator:

"Nothing is so permanent as a temporary government program."

"Inflation is taxation without legislation."

"Hell hath no fury like a bureaucrat scorned."

"The government solution to a problem is usually as bad as the problem."

"A society that puts equality... ahead of freedom will end up with neither."

"Only government can take perfectly good paper, cover it with perfectly good ink and make the combination worthless."

"If you put the federal government in charge of the Sahara Desert, in 5 years there'd be a shortage of sand."

"When everybody owns something, nobody owns it, and nobody has a direct interest in maintaining or improving its condition. That is why buildings in the Soviet Union -- like public housing in the United states -- look decrepit within a year or two of their construction."

“The great virtue of a free market system is that it does not care what color people are; it does not care what their religion is; it only cares whether they can produce something you want to buy. It is the most effective system we have discovered to enable people who hate one another to deal with one another and help one another.”

See also The History & Mystery of Money & Economics-250 Books on DVDrom

Jimmy Hoffa on This Day in History

Hoffa Assassination Scene

This day in history: Teamster's Union leader Jimmy Hoffa disappeared from the parking lot of the Machus Red Fox restaurant in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan on this day in 1975. He was never seen or heard from again. There are many theories as to what happened to him, and the most popular is that he was buried in Giant's stadium (he was not officially declared dead until July 30, 1982). The truth is hard to come by because of his involvement in the mafia. According to history dot com, his disappearance is one of the 6 greatest mysterious disappearances of all time, including Amelia Earhart, D.B. Cooper, Joseph Force Crater, the Lost Colony on Roanoke Island and the mystery ship Mary Celeste. 

Sherlock Holmes creator Arthur Conan Doyle wrote a fictionalized story on this ship called: J. Habakuk Jephson's Statement 

See also: The Mystery Ship "Mary Celeste" by John E Watkins 1919
https://thebookshelf2015.blogspot.com/2017/11/the-mystery-ship-mary-celeste-by-john-e.html

See also The Ghost of the Mary Celeste by Valerie Martin – review
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/feb/19/ghost-mary-celeste-valerie-martin-review

Lasagna on This Day in History

This day in history: Today is National Lasagna Day. Lasagna originated in Naples, Italy in the Middle Ages. The word “lasagna” referred to the pot in which the food was cooked. It is thought that the word “lasagna” is derived from the Greek word for "chamber pot." It is possible to make lasagna in the dish washer. All you have to do is put the ingredients together in a dish, cover the dish tightly with aluminum foil, then use the heated dry and sanitize cycle on your dishwasher to cook the lasagna. The most expensive lasagna is the $100 'Diamond and Gold' Lasagna at Portofino. This particular lasagna is stuffed with porcini mushrooms, Iberico ham and Prosciutto di Parma as well as 24-month-aged Parmigiano-Reggiano, buffalo mozzarella and Kobe Bolognese and is topped with Alfredo sauce infused with foie gras. However, the most famous lasagna in the world is John Chandler's Lasagna, a Texas lasagna described as "an artery-clogging tower of sweet Italian sausage, ground beef and ricotta cheese."

Vivaldi, Bach (and Alexander Hrustevich) on This Day in History

Alexander Hrustevich play Vivaldi

This day in history: Italian violinist and composer Antonio Vivaldi died on this day in 1741, and German composer Johann Sebastian Bach died on this day in 1750. Bach is known for many great pieces of music, while Vivaldi is mainly known for one series of 4 pieces...the Four Seasons. Now, take just TWO minutes out of your day to listen and watch a young man, Alexander Hrustevich, play the a section of the Four Seasons in the accompanying video on accordion. Those two minutes will blow your mind. This is definitely the best accordion performance I have ever seen and heard.

See also: The Science & Appreciation of Classical Music - 175 Books on DVDROM

Vincent van Gogh on This Day in History

This day in history: Vincent van Gogh shot himself on this day in 1890. This man was an over-rated nutjob alcoholic who previously cut off his own ear. His most famous piece was painted inside an insane asylum. Van Gogh was of course not the only crazy artist. His buddy, the suicidal Paul Gaugin suffered from severe bouts of depression, as did Michelangelo, Mark Rothko, and Nicolas de Staël. Richard Dadd believed his father was the devil and that he was taken hostage by the ancient Egyptian god Osiris. Georgia O’Keefe suffered a nervous breakdown, as did Edvard Munch.

Learn to Draw, Paint and Sketch - Over 100 Books on DVDrom

https://thebookshelf2015.blogspot.com/2015/09/learn-to-draw-paint-and-sketch-over-100.html

The Americans with Disabilities Act on This Day in History

This day in history: The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 was signed into law by President George H.W. Bush on this day in 1990. "The ADA is known as 'attorney’s dreams answered' because it, and similar state laws modeled on the law, have spurred hundreds of thousands of lawsuits, often for violations of arcane architectural standards. As early as 1995, one federal judge denounced an ADA case as 'a blatant attempt to extort additional money' — something for which the law is now notorious."~James Bovard

For instance, a P.F. Chang's was sued because the coat hook was too high in bathroom stalls. A strip club in Los Angeles had to close a shower stall on its stage because it wasn't accessible to strippers in wheelchairs...never mind that weren't any such strippers. Many swimming pools had to close because they couldn't afford expensive automated spatulas. Target paid $6 million in a lawsuit because their website wasn't sufficiently accessible to blind customers.

Because of fears over ADA lawsuits, businesses now hire less disabled people as well. "It's difficult to think of a piece of legislation that failed more abysmally than the ADA."~David H. Auto

Mozart's 40th Symphony on This Day in History

This day in history: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart completes his Symphony No. 40 in G minor (K550) on this day in 1788. I actually have a ringtone of this piece. According to wikipedia this song ranks as #33 of "The 50 Greatest Pieces of Classical Music." Mozart appears 6 times on the list, and if my count is right, that is more than anyone else on the list.

The 1984 movie based on Mozart, Amadeus, is one of my favorite movies and is still included in the American Film Institutes top 100 movies of all time.

And who can forget the 1985 German rap song, Rock Me Amadeus by Falco?

See also: The Science & Appreciation of Classical Music - 175 Books on DVDROM