Mermaids, Beer, and Common Sense.

My daily “This Day in History” email headline:
1493: Columbus mistakes manatees for mermaids.
Trying to find a tie between this and the Knights of Moleskine, Spirit, and Ale, I assumed that he must have been one drunken sailor.

Moving down other events on this date I found something of a little more interest:
1776: Writer Thomas Paine publishes his pamphlet “Common Sense.”

Few documents have so well served the needs of a nation in birth as this eye-opening pamphlet setting forth his arguments in favor of American independence. I can imagine him sitting in a raucous pub with a writing quill in one hand and ale in the other (Paine, not the pub).

Beer! It seems that the colonists could put up with a lot of crap, but when the British began to tax beer, patriots -- including Sam Adams – initiated the movement to refuse the Crown’s order and unite the colonists to new acts of resistance.

So today, Knights (no matter which side of the pond you call home), raise a mug of ale to TP and write your own pamphlet outlining ways to be sovereign ruler of your own life and improve yourself. May your good works ripple throughout the world.

Paine also wrote:
“These are the times that try men’s souls.”
“An army of principles can penetrate where an army of soldiers cannot.”
“Lead, follow, or get out of the way.”
“If we do not hang together, we shall surely hang separately.”

"Look boys, a mermaid!" (Just seeing if you're awake).

Sir Bowie of Greenbriar