Today is April 26th. On this date in 1514, Copernicus recorded his first observations of Saturn. He concluded that God must have liked it, because “he puteth a ring upon it.” Also on this date, in 1711, David Hume was born in Scotland. His “Idea of a Perfect Commonwealth” essay was a big influence on the drafting of the U.S. Constitution. Also, he could out-consume both Schopenhauer and Hegel. On this date in 1865 Abraham Lincoln’s assassin John Wilkes Booth was killed by Union soldiers at a Virginia farm. His final words, apparently directed at his hands, were “useless, useless.” To this day, historians are unsure why both of Booth’s hands had the same name. And finally, today is National Richter Scale Day, in honor of the birth of seismologist Charles Richter in 1900. Says David Caruso: I guess you could say he really … [puts on sunglasses] shook things up. YEEAAAAAHHHH! Consider this an Open Thread.

Exclusive: Red State Founder Erickson Fires Back At Sen. Mcconnell | Big Journalism
“This was essentially an attack not just on Erickson, but on the new media as a whole. It suggests that those on the internet have no credibility, and that they can be talked down to by their betters in the political bigwig world.”

EPA: Hey, sorry about that whole “crucify” thing | Hot Air
“The EPA has scrambled to contain the damage from the clip highlighted by Morgen Richmond this morning, which went viral yesterday, showing an EPA administrator bragging about crucifixion as a means to impose the EPA’s will on American subjects, er, citizens.”

Meet The Left-Wing ALECs | Free Beacon
“The progressive groups leveling charges that the American Legislative Exchange Conference (ALEC) is ‘shadowy’ and ‘nefarious’ rely on hidden donors and overheated rhetoric to attack ALEC and ignore similar activities by liberal organizations.”

The Assault on Food | John Stossel
“But the scientific question should not overshadow the more fundamental issue. Who should decide what you can eat: you? Or the state?”

Today’s Word of the Day comes via Dictionary.com.
macaronic (mak-uh–ron-ik): adjective 1. composed of or characterized by Latin words mixed with vernacular words or non-Latin words given Latin endings. 2. composed of a mixture of languages. 3. mixed; jumbled.