May 16TH, 2022 has arrived. The 1.6 million miles this small planet on the edge of the Milky Way will travel on this day will be smooth and uneventful. On the surface the chaos continues. We will soon forget the shootings in Buffalo because we’ve become used to them. Since there’s no point in worrying about what I can’t change, I’ll move on. Today is Love A Tree Day, National Coquilles St. Jacques Day, National Mimosa Day, National Sea Monkey Day, National Wear Purple for Peace Day, and National Piercing Day. The first historical footnote of interest is in 1792 on this day when Denmark abolished the slave trade. This is the day in 1866 that the US Congress authorized the nickel 5 cent piece to replace the silver half-dime. Also, on this same day, Charles E. Hires invented “Hires Root Beer”. On this day in 1918 The Sedition Act of 1918 was passed by the U.S. Congress, making criticism of the government a crime punishable by a fine of $10,000 or imprisonment for not more than twenty years, or both. The Act was repealed by Congress in 1921. Wow. Finally, this is the day in 1965 that the Campbell Soup Company introduced SpaghettiOs. This is the day in 1990 that we lost Sammy Davis Jr. Sammy said, “You have to be able to look back at your life and say, “Yeah, that was fun.” This is the day in 1944 that George Ade died. George was a syndicated newspaper columnist. Since I love sarcasm, I like George who said, “A lot of smart young people have come out of Indiana. The smarter they are, the faster they come out” and “Moral: it all depends.” Think about that one for a minute. The definition of “Moral” is concerned with the principles of right and wrong behavior and the goodness or badness of human character. “It all depends” seems to fit pretty well. Abide.
