There are a number of good and interesting people born on this day. Last year I talked about Ruth Bader Ginsburg. She’s notable for being the only liberal on the Supreme Court. I know, you probably think there are four liberal members of the Court. But there aren’t. It runs like this: one liberal, three moderates, two conservatives, and three (for lack of a better term) fascists. Just saying. And truly, I had to stop myself from talking about David Cronenberg today. He’s one of my favorite film directors. Videodrome and eXistenZ are two unquestionably great films. That’s two more than almost all film directors have made.

The great musician Sly Stone is 71 today. Back in 2011, there was a whole bunch of news that Stone was homeless and living in a van (Down by the river?) in Los Angeles. That does not appear to be true. But there is no doubt that the business side of the music business has been bad to him. He is such a great talent, and it speaks to what a terrible society we are that he’s gone so neglected all these years. We should treat him like a king.

I still listen to Sly and the Family Stone’s album Stand! all the time. There really isn’t anything better. Here is “Everyday People” performed live on The Ed Sullivan Show:

Happy birthday Sly Stone!