Rest in Peace, poet Maya Angelou

Colette Bancroft, book editor of the Tampa Bay Times has written an excellent remembrance of the esteemed poet: "America is not a nation much given to honoring its poets, but Maya Angelou is an exception. Ms. Angelou, who was 86, died Wednesday at her home in Winston-Salem, N.C., after a period of failing health." The article continues here.

Happy birthday, Emperor Marcus Aurelius

It is the birthday of Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius (121 AD), who is remembered as the philosopher king. His personal writing he called To Myself became a celebrated 12-book philosophy series, Meditations, that recorded his ideas on Stoic philosophy, a school of thought that held that the truly wise were unaffected by emotion, thus avoiding the errors in judgement that might be caused by such external factors. Aurelius also addressed his ideas on duty and a government of service. His work has been highly regarded by such leaders as Frederick the Great and Bill Clinton. Scholars believe Aurelius wrote most of his work during ten years beginning in 170 AD while he was planning military campaigns.