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Happy 300th Birthday Benjamin Franklin
Guinnessy writes "Benjamin Franklin was born on 17 January 1706 in Boston, Massachusetts. Franklin was a man of diverse talents: publisher, inventor, ambassador, politician, wit with some human frailities says NPR. In Physics Today, Philip Krider presents Franklin's work on electricity and the development of the lightning rod, work whose fame helped Franklin obtain aid from the French against the British. In the same magazine, Joost Mertens considers Franklin's explorations of the calming effects of oil on water. Those investigations, it turns out, had a less than calming effect on Dutch scholars. Philadelphia is planning a series of events celebratng Franklin's life throughtout the year."
and kiss your $100 bills!
-Sj53
Without Benjamin Franklin's entreaties to the French for aid in the American Revolutionary War, the Continental Army would certainly have suffered defeat at the hands of the British. For a man to tirelessly crusade for his country like Franklin did at his age and in a time when travel was no simple matter is astounding. Anyone with a quarter of that man's patriotism, devotion, and tenacity could move mountains.
This sig, aah-ah, is comin' like a ghost-sig...
Some great quotes from Poor Richard's Almanack:
He that falls in love with himself will have no rivals.
Setting too good an example is a kind of slander seldom forgiven.
Experience keeps a dear school, yet fools will learn in no other.
Write with the learned, pronounce with the vulgar.
Necessity never made a good bargain.
Three may keep a secret, if two of them are dead.
Dost thou love life? Then do not squander time; for that's the stuff life is made of.
If your Riches are yours, why don't you take them with you to t'other World?
A good conscience is a continual Christmas.
God heals, and the doctor takes the fee.
Early to bed and early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise.
Laws too gentle are seldom obeyed; too severe, seldom executed.
If you'd know the value of money, go and borrow some.
When befriended, remember it. When you befriend, forget it.
He who knows best knows how little he knows. - Thomas Jefferson
And certainly NEVER do it in front of a Web cam.
Rich And Stupid is not so bad as Working For Rich And Stupid.
After all I don't see the little Google doodle commemorating it, therefore it never happened.
- A Message From The President Of Google Groupies
Anyone with a quarter of that man's patriotism, devotion, and tenacity could move mountains.
And the thought that in modern times he'd be locked up under the PATRIOT act is truly sad...
This guy's the limit!
I wonder how many brilliant ideas came about after a relaxing romp at the ol' Hellfire Club?
Sehr geehrter Toilettenbenutzer!
but not for The Burninator? The injustice!
Monstar L
Also of note for those who follow intellectual property issues, when he invented the "Franklin stove," he refused the offered patent preferring that the design be available to anyone.
Saw this in a few press-releases, and it seems to work pretty well.
http://ben.clusty.com/
Has a neat timeline of his accomplishments and has resources for teachers and students.
A scientist, an advocate of separation of church and state, an opponent of "intellectual property" (he never patented any of his inventions), and a true patriot to boot!
(I still can't believe he didn't win that "greatest American" contest the History Channel ran a while back...)
"[Regarding the 'cloud,'] ownership was what made America different than Russia." -- Woz
Flamebait? No. It's the truth.
He first agitated for, and then actively participated in, the armed overthrow of the government, using an army of unlawful combatants backed by a rouge state.
Franklin, along with all the great founders of the United States of America, was undoubtedly guilty of high treason. Of course, as Shakespeare observed, if it prospers none dare call it treason; so Franklin's a hero. Certainly had things gone a little differently there would today be celebrations in the honour of the brave patriot Benedict Arnold.
Real Daleks don't climb stairs - they level the building.
Happy birthday, but... I just hope the coffin is large enough to let him comfortably spin in it, as I'm sure that's what he does if he has any idea of what's going on in the US government now.
I think Benjamin Franklin was very good, and I am glad to see him remembered.
... when the people shall become so corrupted as to need despotic government, being incapable of any other ?
Something I got from the website www.politicalcompass.org/:
Q:
Which founding father said of the proposed American Constitution This is likely to be administered for a course of years and then end in despotism
A:
Benjamin Franklin in a speech to delegates to the US Constitutional Convention prior to the final vote.
- Jax
This sig has absolutely no significance and serves only to take up screen space and waste the time of the reader.
Thankfully, his legacy now lives on with today's youth; they are reminded of the man through music videos featuring performers waving green bank notes bearing his lithograph and referencing his name. Yes, indeed, it is all about the Benjamin.
Small potatoes make the steak look bigger.
Also of note for those who follow intellectual property issues, when he invented the "Franklin stove," he refused the offered patent preferring that the design be available to anyone.
Lest anyone suddenly get the idea that Ben Franklin was an early "information wants to be free" sort of guy, don't forget that the only way he was able, in his early forties, to "retire" from the daily grind and turn his attention towards science, diplomacy, and nation-building was because he made himself relatively wealthy as a publisher. He set up printing franchises that made money off of publishing private works, and he took a share of the proceeds in his capacity as the guy helping to finance the operations and marketing thereof. He was very "modern" in that sense - a literary agent, a publisher/distributer, an investor in potentially lucrative creative material... intellectual property was exactly how he became wealthy. The "healthy and wise" part was how he lived long enough and well enough to put his proceeds to work for him, rather working for them. But without an early career in the sale of creative works, there would have been no Ben Franklin, Founding Father.
Don't disappoint your bird dog. Go to the range.
Not to mention that he'd be diametrically opposed to everything the current Administration stands for. Between the PATRIOT Act ("those who would give up essential liberty..."), "Faith-based initiatives" and the Kansas school board, and the media industry's stranglehold on copyright and patent law, he must be spinning in his grave!
"[Regarding the 'cloud,'] ownership was what made America different than Russia." -- Woz
The podcast:l
http://www.sciencefriday.com/audio/scifriaudio.xm
The MP3:0 11325.mp3
http://libsyn.com/media/sciencefriday/scifri-2006
"unlawful combatants backed by a rouge state" I always thought those states were more red than rouge in the voting maps.....
There are MUCH older proponents of this separation. In the Augsburg Confession (penned by Melanchthon to reperesent the early views of the nascent Lutheran movement to the princes of Germany and the Roman Catholic Church), the following was stated (rather colorfully!):
Therefore, since the power of the Church grants eternal things, and is exercised only by the ministry of the Word, it does not interfere with civil government; no more than the art of singing interferes with civil government . For civil government deals with other things than does the Gospel. The civil rulers defend not minds, but bodies and bodily things against manifest injuries, and restrain men with the sword and bodily punishments in order to preserve civil justice and peace.
he must be spinning in his grave!
Hmm, maybe we could hook up a turbine up to him and generate some electricity. That would be properly honoring Franklin's inventive spirit.
Facts do not cease to exist because they are ignored.
The letters back and forth with his various amours aren't explicit, but Ben was no prude, not by a mile, at any point in his life. (You're right that he was, er, active as a young man; he visited "houses of ill repute" in England.)
For that matter he married in a relatively informal way -- Deborah Reid and he sort of moved in together and presented it as a marriage, and so it was accepted as a common law thing. Not that unusual back then.
"Fundamentalism" isn't about divine morality. It's about human authority.
A number of US brewpubs are serving their own batches of Poor Richard's which was formulated to the researched preferences of Bejamin Franklin
FWIW: its an "Open Recipe" beer.
(mmmmmm, beeer)
Lurking in the desert
After all, he was a geek who got laid!
That is all.
Flamebait? No. It's the truth.
He first agitated for, and then actively participated in, the armed overthrow of the government, using an army of unlawful combatants backed by a rouge state.
Oh, you mean that treason is part of the Patriot act and not the constitution?
Let's not be foolish about this. Stop trying to pin this on the Patriot act, it's one of the oldest laws on the books. As for speaking out against the government, it happens everyday. I don't see people being locked away for it.
What is sad here is that I'll probably get labled as troll when the truth is Franklin would agree with me even if he supported a current day revolution. Instead the parent post got modded as insightful for simply invoking the name of an unpopular law instead of being based on fact.
Dedicated Cthulhu Cultist since 4523 BC.
If it wasn't for the French, you guys would be speaking British!
"They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety." - Ben
My favorite quote of his, and quite fitting.
"The greatest obstacle to discovery is not ignorance - it is the illusion of knowledge." - Daniel Boorstin
The man deserves to be on the half dollar far more than a dead Kennedy
Jello Biafra is on a coin now? Wow, things are getting pretty liberal.
Dedicated Cthulhu Cultist since 4523 BC.
From wikiquote
In these sentiments, Sir, I agree to this Constitution, with all its faults, -- if they are such; because I think a general Government necessary for us, and there is no form of government but what may be a blessing to the people, if well administered; and I believe, farther, that this is likely to be well administered for a course of years, and can only end in despotism, as other forms have done before it, when the people shall become so corrupted as to need despotic government, being incapable of any other.
Speech to the Constitutional Convention (June 28, 1787)
When asked what form of government the founding fathers had agreed upon, Franklin replied, "A Republic, if you can keep it".
Unfortunately, we have not, we have decended into a democracy, which Madison called, "the most vile form of government".
Do yourself a favor: look into the difference.
Well, admitedly, people flying hijacked airplanes into buildings is less of a threat to your security than the ones Franklin faced (An army under the control of the current government looking to hang you personally); and I'd argue the threats to his freedom, pre-revolt, were lesser than the threats to ours today. So I'd agree we need a different world view; the Franklin quote is much, much, more relevant today than it was in his time.
The wiretapping certainly isn't about listening to Bin Laden's telephone calls. The wiretapping is about listening to the telephone calls of American citizens when you are not willing to even try to get a warrant, not even from a secret court that can issue warrants retro-actively, and has refused to issue them a couple times out of the hundreds they've been asked. Do you think a warrant could have been obtained for calls to the Axis leaders? Somehow I think so. The administration clearly does not think they can convince a notably sympathetic Judge (who they picked) that this wiretapping is justifiabale, even if they show him the facts. Instead, the whole country should just take their word for it. That has got to be the most obvious horse-shit I've ever heard.
By claiming he has the authority top order this wiretapping, the President is claiming that he has the authority to do anything he wants, without telling anyone, even if both Congress and the courts specifically say otherwise. What does this claim amount to other than saying "I am King."?
Yes, I think Franklin would have objected; I think he would have revolted.
How can a man be a patriot if he leads the violent overthrow of the rightful government of his country? The government of the time was accepted by the great majority of people in the British Empire, and by trying to undo law and order in the colonies, Franklin spurned the values of his country. If Franklin was a patriot, then Weather Underground and the SLA were patriots.
Along with Da Vinci, Thomas Jefferson, and Julius Caesar.
...for the serious Enquiry of learned Physicians, Chemists, &c. of this enlightened Age
Benjamin Franklin was an absolute genius. Not only was he responsible for the rediscovery of electricity. he was also responsible for many other scientific advances of historic proportions. Not only that, he was also partly responsible for drafting the founding document of one of the greatest nations in history. Unfortunately he would mostly be fighting mad at how his genius has been misused by the main two political parties of today along with their corporate and special interest paymasters. These entities have distorted the intent to help pay for innovation with laws that has brought innovation to a standstill. Both Democrats and Republicans have destroyed the legal protections which the U.S. Constitution provided for the inhabitants of the U.S. In fact, the U.S.A. should be no longer known by that name. It is more appropriate to call it the "Police States of Amerika." With not only free speech stifled by the abuse of copyright and patents, property rights are now virtually unprotect as any major corporation can have a local government force people to give up their own land for a pittance. Things can be changed though. It has to be done by people not doing what they normally do. In order to make any significant change for the better and have laws passed that protect freedom to hack and free software, people will have to register to vote. Not only will have have to register, they will have to register under an ALTERNATIVE political party instead of the republicrats or demicans. There are many parties out there that fit the different agendas of many who are Slashdotters. These parties are listed below in alphabetical order:
Constitution Party http://www.constitutionparty.org/
Green Party http://www.greenparty.org/
Libertarian Party http://www.lp.org/
Reform Party http://www.reformparty.org/
Socialist Party http://www.sp-usa.org/
Veteran's Party http://www.veteransparty.us/
Some of these parties I disagree with, however, I list them to give voice to diverse ideas. Isn't it time to register and vote for candidates based on their ideas and character instead of by which one will stand a chance of winning in order to keep out the "greater evil?" The corrupt, bullshit and lie spewing Democrats are just as bad as the corrupt bullshit and lie spewing Republicans. There are much better choices. Get behind them and support them while we have a few legal protections left.
Patriotism is a devotion towards one's country, and a country is made of citizens.
Remember this one thing as long as you can: you have a duty to your fellow man, not to your government. If government is hurting you, you owe them treason.
I don't get it.
It's sad that people seem to think blowing shit up was invented in 2001. Guy Fawkes and the Gunpowder Plot, anyone?
That's not what they're doing. They're listening to the phone calls of American citizens, without the Constitutionally required warrants.
Tom Swiss | the infamous tms | my blog
You cannot wash away blood with blood