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Honoring tyrannicide was a part of civic ritual in classical Athens. Before drinking parties it was common for the party to sing a skolion to Harmodius and Aristogeiton, the two lovers who assassinated Hipparchus, one of the Peisistratid tyrants, ca. 514 BCE. The best-known skolion is attributed to the Athenian poet Callistratus. http://ift.tt/1GHUCoP – – – a toast – – – In a branch of myrtle I’ll bear my sword Just like Harmodius and Aristogeiton When they slew the tyrant, And enacted equality in Athens. Beloved Harmodius, you are not dead, I think, But in the Isles of the Blessed they say you are Where swift footed Achilles is And the son of Tydeus, the worthy Diomedes. In a branch of myrtle I’ll bear my sword Just like Harmodius and Aristogeiton, When at the sacrifices of Athena, They slew the autocrat Hipparchus. The renown of you two will live forever on the earth, Beloved Harmodius and Aristogeiton, Because you slew the tyrant And enacted equality in Athens.

“In the case of Cassius, then, they say this [personal resentment] was the chief reason for his plotting against Caesar; but it is not so. For from the outset there was in the nature of Cassius great hostility and bitterness towards the whole race of tyrants, as he showed when he was still a boy and went to the same school with Faustus the son of Sulla. For when Faustus blustered among the boys and bragged about his father’s absolute power, Cassius sprang up and gave him a thrashing. The guardians and relatives of Faustus wished to carry the matter into court, but Pompey forbade it, and after bringing the two boys together, questioned them both about the matter. Then, as the story goes, Cassius said: ‘Come now, Faustus, have the courage to utter in this man’s presence that speech which angered me, and I will smash your face again.’ . . .” Plutarch, Life of Brutus § 9

Happy Tyrannicide Day (observed)! http://ift.tt/1AH8hIa

Happy Tyrannicide Day (observed)! http://ift.tt/1AH8hIa

Denver police department body cams seem to malfunction at the funniest times. #JustOneSolution #AbolishThePolice

Denver police department body cams seem to malfunction at the funniest times. #JustOneSolution #AbolishThePolice

Good lord, no. π is not *equal* to 3.141592653. I can prove that it is not: http://ift.tt/1BEGfSm The symbol you are looking for is ≈.

In honor of Pi Day, read some math. Here is a one page proof of the irrationality of π.* http://ift.tt/1BEGfSm (* π was very extensively discussed throughout ancient mathematics, but the proof of its irrationality came very late and is one of the early great achievements of Enlightenment mathematics).

In honor of Pi Day, read some math. Here is a one page proof of the irrationality of π.* http://ift.tt/1BEGfSm (* π was very extensively discussed throughout ancient mathematics, but the proof of its irrationality came very late and is one of the early great achievements of Enlightenment mathematics).

Is this a rhetorical question? The answer is, of course that it is doing that because the FBI is, and always has been, a tool of social control, and violent racial repression. #HelloCOINTELPRO #AbolishTheFBI