Sheer Indiference.

From where did Groundhog's Day come? Amazing how a furry little animal can have such an influence on people. Well, this morning, Punxsutawney Phil has come out of his home and therefore predicts a shortlived Winter. His Canadian counterpart in Nova Scotia, Shubenacadie Sam had determined the same thing only an hour or two prior. Those Canadians, always one time zone ahead of the U.S.

Now that this is settled, I'm going back to bed so I can try and ignore this again tomorrow.

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Figure #2: Benjamin Banneker

Mr. Banneker was a mathematician, astronomer and surveyor 9 Novemeber 1731 in Ellicott's Mills, Maryland. He has been called the first African-American intellectual. A self-taught man, he learned astronomy well enough to correctly predict a solar eclipse in 1789. From 1791 to 1802 he published several alamacs in which tide tables, future eclipses, and medicinal formulae had been detailed by him. It is believed to be the first scientific book published by an African American. Also a surveyor and mathematician, Banneker was appointed by President George Washington to the District of Columbia Commission, which was responsible for the survey work that established the city's original boundaries. When the chairman of the committee, Pierre Charles L'Enfant, suddenly resigned and left, taking the plans with him, Banneker reproduced the plans from memory, saving valuable time. A staunch opponent of slavery, Banneker sent a copy of his first almanac to then Secretary of State, Thomas Jefferson, in counterargument to Jefferson's belief in the intellectual inferiority of blacks.