In other news, Donald Trump's Trump Corporation is behind on its rent for two townhouses in Trump Plaza to the Trump Plaza Owners Co-op. Eviction proceedings have begun.

The La Familia drug cartel in Mexico, which is accused of several murders, some very grizzly indeed, requires members to attend prayer meetings, prohibits their using drugs and alcohol, and has required classes in "ethics" and "personal improvement."

In "adopt a highway" programs, where an organization adopts the roadway for the sake of cleaning it up a few times a year, state and local authorities may not show discrimination by disallowing any organization that asks from participating. Authorities can, however, name the stretch of highway anything they choose. That is why, in Springfield, Mo., a neo-Nazi organization has adopted what has now been named the Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel Memorial Highway.

Finally, to show that strange but true (and sometimes downright karmic) things happen even close to home (as in, in my neighborhood): Two men were going around our neighborhood, knocking on front doors. If they received no reply, they went to the back door, knocked, and, if there was still no reply, kicked in the back door. The burglarized 3 houses, including our neighbor and good friend just a few houses away on our street, taking valuables and even scoring birth certificates and passports.

Then they decided not to push their luck in one area for too long and went to the neighborhood across the highway. The first house they tried, they used their usual tactic but ran into a little problem; the owner of the house, an off duty sheriff's deputy, was in the shower when they first knocked and by the time they broke in through the back, he was out of the bathroom and armed and waiting for them.

All items stolen were recovered within 2 hours of being taken.


Today is:

Baba Au Rhum Day

Bratwurst Festival

Elvis Presley Day

Festival of the Minstrels, Tutbury Castle, UK

Harmonic Convergence Day

Independence Day, Cyprus

Joe Miller's Joke Day

Madonna del Voto Day, Italy (a/k/a Palio of the Contrade)

Monty Python Day

National Airborne Day

National Tell a Joke Day

National Rum Day

Restoration of the Republic, Dominican Republic

St. Joachim's Day

St. Stephen of Hungary Day (Patron Saint of Hungary)

Watermelon Festival


Birthdays Today:

Angela Bassett, 1958
Madonna, 1958
James Cameron, 1953
Kathie Lee Gifford, 1953
Leslie Ann Warren, 1946
Eydie Gorme, 1932
Frank Gifford, 1930
Ann Blyth, 1928
Fess Parker, 1925
Menachem Begin, 1913
Hongxi Emperor of China, 1378


Today in History:

Jack Broughton formulates the earliest code of rules for boxing, 1743
Chang and Eng Bunker, the original "Siamese" twins, arrive in Boston to be exhibited, 1829
Signing of the Emancipation Proclamation, 1863
Gold is discovered in the Klondike, at Bonanza Creek, 1896
Edwin Prescott patents the roller coaster, 1898
In Valparaiso, Chile, an 8.6 earthquake followed by fire destroys the city and kills 20,000, 1906
Democrats nominate Adlai E. Stevenson as presidential candidate, 1956