Things you were curious about and finally researched

[roadman65]

I was always curious about which New Jersey county has the most municipal governments over all. I guessed Bergen, but checked and it was a lucky guess as Bergen County is home to 70 municipalities with 56 of them incorporated boroughs. It is the most in the Garden State.

On another curiosity, Illinois leads the 50 states with over 2,828 municipalities and Hawaii the least with only 21 corporations.

What were you curious about that you finally decided to research?

[7/8]

Skibidi Toilet. I'd seen it referenced in memes, but had no idea what it meant.

[Rothman]

Skibidi Toilet. I'd seen it referenced in memes, but had no idea what it meant.

^Well-played.  Looked that one up myself when TikTok went nuts over it a month or so ago.

More recently, I'm reading On The Road and wondered were "Mill City" was.  Looked it up and seems to make sense given the narrative.

[Max Rockatansky]

Right now researching the history of the Yosemite Stage Road is yielding some results of kick ass roads to drive and hikes.

[kphoger]

The context of Ben Franklin's quote:
"Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety."

*

I started hearing this quote quite a bit at the beginning of COVID lockdowns, by people (like me) bucking at government mandates.  They used the quote as a defense against a strong government exerting its power to restrict individuals' freedom in the name of the common safety of the state.  But I never looked up to see the context.  I recently did.

In 1755, the French and Indian War was dragging on and developing into what amounts to the first world war:  the British and French empires fighting a war on the other side of the ocean.  When there were Indian attacks in several locations in the Susquehanna Valley, the Governor of Pennsylvania called for militia law, and arms and ammunition and troops were sent to the border to try and contain the violence.  However, securing the border in this way quickly became an expensive proposition.

Meanwhile, the Shawnee and Delaware tribes allied themselves with the French, and several Quaker members of the Pennsylvania Assembly sought to right whatever wrongs had led them to defect.  In pursuit of such peacemaking efforts, they called for a tax to be levied on all properties within the territory of Pennsylvania.  The Governor, not being too keen on the idea of raising £60,000 to assuage "the Indians now engaged in laying waste the Country, and butchering the Inhabitants", promptly had a hissy fit and notified the Assembly that he and a quorum of his Council would head for the border instead of sticking around to deal with what he considered to be a bunch on nincompoops in the Assembly.

Now, one prominent family of Quaker landowners wasn't too happy about the prospect of having to pay this proposed tax on their lands.  You may have heard of them:  the Penn family.  So they came back with a tempting counteroffer:  they would pay an enormous sum of money toward the peacekeeping and peacemaking efforts, as a one-time lump sum, in exchange for which they expected the Assembly to admit that it had no authority to tax their lands.  This was an alluring offer:  in exchange for immediate funding, all they had to concede was basically the status quo.

But Ben Franklin, among others, advocated against their taking them up on the offer.  To that committee, the Assembly's doing so would be to make a mockery of itself.  A government which voluntarily laid down its ability to tax its inhabitants, even in exchange for the greater good, wasn't really a government at all.  What, after all, is a government if it cannot govern its people?

And so this committee drafted a response on November 11, 1755.  In part, it reads:

But surely the Proprietaries Conduct, whether as Fathers of their Country, or Subjects to their King, must appear extraordinary, when it is considered that they have not only formally refused to bear any Part of our yearly heavy Expences in cultivating and maintaining Friendship with the Indians, tho' they reap such immense Advantages by that Friendship; but they now, by their Lieutenant, refuse to contribute any Part towards resisting an Invasion of the King's Colony, committed to their Care; or to submit their Claim of Exemption to the Decision of their Sovereign.

In fine, we have the most sensible Concern for the poor distressed Inhabitants of the Frontiers. We have taken every Step in our Power, consistent with the just Rights of the Freemen of Pennsylvania, for their Relief, and we have Reason to believe, that in the Midst of their Distresses they themselves do not wish us to go farther. Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety. Such as were inclined to defend themselves, but unable to purchase Arms and Ammunition, have, as we are informed, been supplied with both, as far as Arms could be procured, out of Monies given by the last Assembly for the King's Use; and the large Supply of Money offered by this Bill, might enable the Governor to do every Thing else that should be judged necessary for their farther Security, if he shall think fit to accept it.

You see, it was the legislature's liberty that Franklin was writing about—not the citizens' liberty.  Those (legislators) who would give up essential Liberty (to exert itself upon the inhabitants of the territory under its governance), to purchase (by receipt of literal cash money) a little temporary Safety (in the form of arms and ammunition and soldiers), deserve neither Liberty nor Safety.

In today's context, people use this quote to advocate against a strong government's imposing itself upon the rights of individuals in the name of the greater good.  In its original context, though, it was written to advocate for the same.

[LilianaUwU]

Skibidi Toilet. I'd seen it referenced in memes, but had no idea what it meant.

Note how the Wikipedia article is a Good Article, meaning it is one of the best articles on the website.

[formulanone]

Skibidi Toilet. I'd seen it referenced in memes, but had no idea what it meant.

^Well-played.  Looked that one up myself when TikTok went nuts over it a month or so ago.

My son had me watch about 30 episodes and that was about...31 too many. But at least we had a good discussion about whether it's okay to just destroy annoying people and what constitutes an annoyance or personal intrusion in the first place.

More recently, I'm reading On The Road and wondered were "Mill City" was.  Looked it up and seems to make sense given the narrative.

Had to read that one in freshman literature/English and wasn't really impressed. Easy to read through, but also kind of easy to forget.

[mgk920]

I was always curious about which New Jersey county has the most municipal governments over all. I guessed Bergen, but checked and it was a lucky guess as Bergen County is home to 70 municipalities with 56 of them incorporated boroughs. It is the most in the Garden State.

On another curiosity, Illinois leads the 50 states with over 2,828 municipalities and Hawaii the least with only 21 corporations.

What were you curious about that you finally decided to research?

I recall reading several years ago that Wisconsin has the highest number of units of local government with taxing authority of all kinds, including municipalities, school districts, other special use districts, etc, per capita of all 50 USA states.  Yes, that's a LOT of small-time egos to feed and care for.

Mike

[Road Hog]

I was always curious about which New Jersey county has the most municipal governments over all. I guessed Bergen, but checked and it was a lucky guess as Bergen County is home to 70 municipalities with 56 of them incorporated boroughs. It is the most in the Garden State.

On another curiosity, Illinois leads the 50 states with over 2,828 municipalities and Hawaii the least with only 21 corporations.

What were you curious about that you finally decided to research?

I recall reading several years ago that Wisconsin has the highest number of units of local government with taxing authority of all kinds, including municipalities, school districts, other special use districts, etc, per capita of all 50 USA states.  Yes, that's a LOT of small-time egos to feed and care for.

Mike

That's surprising because Texas is a huge state with literally thousands of political subdivisions (starting with counties, cities and independent school districts or ISDs). It continues all the way down to more 3-letter acronym authorities like MUDs, SUDs, ESDs or -- one I recently learned of -- MMDs, which are like MUDs but state legislature-approved.

EDIT: I just saw you specified per-capita, which makes complete sense with the number you said.

[J N Winkler]

A while ago I wondered how common law differed between Scotland and England.  Although both countries underwent processes of Normanization that included their legal systems (England after the Norman conquest in 1066, and Scotland during the reign of David I from 1124 to 1153), there are enough differences that even today a person considering practicing law in one country is deemed better off if he or she seeks his or her legal training in that country.

Here are a couple of points:

*  Scotland does not have coverture in the same sense as England.  Thus, before female emancipation (accomplished mostly through statute law in both countries), a woman was considered to maintain an inheritance through marriage and her husband was not able to access it by right.

*  Heirs of the body have entrenched status in Scotland and are much more difficult to disinherit.