A Star-Crossed Day

Today is a day with dark undertones in American history. It was on July 6, that two of the greatest artists the United States ever produced died: William Faulkner died on July 6, 1962, and nine years later in 1971, Louis Armstrong died. A dark day indeed. What could possibly make July 6 grimmer for Americans?

In other news, President George W. Bush was born on July 6, 1946. He turns sixty today. Interestingly enough, so does Sylvester Stallone. Bush was born in New Haven, Connecticut, while fellow birthday boy Stallone entered the world just down the road in New York City. Born on the same day, so close to each other– if there was anything credible about astrology, you'd expect that both men would have similar paths in life. Nonsense, of course. Stallone is a man of distinctly limited talents, who achieved great success by pandering to the lowest of the public's lowest common denominators. His name has become an international byword for violent, simpleminded solutions to problems. And despite that fact that a large part of his success comes from creating the persona of a fearless uber-patriotic warrior, Stallone himself made a concerted effort to avoid any possiblity of hearing shots fired in anger when he was eligible to serve his country, by securing a cushy job that kept him far away from the war in Vietnam. While President Bush on the other hand...

Excuse me, I have to run out and get a copy of my horoscope. I suddenly feel a great swell of faith in the stars.