Lincoln's Birthday
 

It's Lincoln Mania! Along with Darwin, he turns 200 today.

Obama pays his respects

I'm thinkin' Lincoln, today.

I just remember when we used to have 2 three-day weekends, not just one. Somewhere along the line we got the short shaft.

Some places still celebrate Lincoln's separately. My coworker also works at an elementary school and they're closed today, but open on Friday, so that's kind of sucky.

We were supposed to have Monday off. Due to budget cuts, that's no longer a paid holiday. Instead we have been strongly encouraged to take tomorrow and Monday as vacation days.

Do you get MLK's birthday off?

Actually, I get off any day I don't feel like getting paid - but I work for myself.

There's a hooker joke in there somewhere.

I read a very interesting piece about Lincoln, which included some info I was unaware of.

Certainly a "minority view".

It is a valid point but that "minority view" gets air time every February. W.E.B. Du Bois quite famously started the tradition in 1922 (though he did it to raise the point that he loved Lincoln despite his contradictions rather than using the contradictions as a reason to hate him).

A sentiment first expressed by Frederick Dogulas at the dedication of the Freedmen's Monument in 1876.

When do we celebrate Lincoln's Doctor's Dog?

Very true. But I think it was Du Bois's widely read article that rekindled the idea in black circles (while the cultural fad in the 1900-1930 period of glamorizing antebellum Southern culture was doing it in white circles) after several decades of black hagiography (see, for example, Booker T. Washington).

The first redesigned penny (the front stays the same) was released today with the other 3 to follow throughout the year.

Cool!

It looks cheap.

It's a penny.

A cool penny.

(I like the last one best, mostly because "one cent" is written straight across rather than curved or off to the side. I can't think of another coin that has it like that-- I find it very aesthetically pleasing.)

A penny that costs 2 cents to produce, no doubt.

And that they'll sell collector mint editions of for 25 cents.

True, but for reasons having nothing to do with the design on it.

I thought they were considering removing the penny from general circulation

no? just a rumor?

I haven't taken the time to look, but as I've been hearing about the pending penny-removal since I was eight years old, and always as a spoken word notion from friends and family members, I'm inclined to treat it as an urban legend until further notice.

Snopes' take on the cost of penny production.

There has been talk of it, but mostly just speculation and support one way or the other (some links here).

The GAO did some research on the subject and you can review the 24-page PDF version of the report here.

There have been various movements to eliminate the penny. It comes from the same general movement to get us converted to coins for small dollar denominations.

It has never made it very far, though it is a proposal I'd generally support. The general response is that the ability to charge (and pay) to the cent (as opposed to the nickel) is a god-given right.

The world did not end, however, when the halfpenny was taken out of circulation in the 1850s.

I really like the idea of a $1 coin (and no bill) and $2 bill.

I do not. If you've spent any time in Europe, all it means is that you are constantly carrying several kilos worth of change at any one time. It gets annoying.

I've spent time in Europe. I liked it and did not find myself carrying more change. In fact I was much more likely to actually spend the change I was carrying anyway (here I just grap the paper, there I was looking for the 1 euro coin so I might as well use the 20 cent coin too).

I came to my opinion after spending time in Canada experiencing this. The only reason one would need a pocket full of change is if you have too many $1 coins. Since there is a $2 bill, theory holds that the most of the $1 coin one would need is 1, maybe a couple of them if you anticipate needing them for tips.

MUCH preferred the $1 coin/$2 bill combination.