Today is Edmund Burke’s birthday (b.1729, d. 1797) He was a British politician, and his most famous speech here in the US was his Speech on Conciliation with the American Colonies. Famous quotations (not necessarily from that speech) are:

All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.

Never despair; but if you do, work on in despair.

Your representative owes you, not his industry only, but judgment; and he betrays, instead of serving you, if he sacrifices it to your opinion.

I finished reading The Last Jihad. There’s a sequel out in bookstores, The Last Days.