Friday, December 31, 2010
PEOPLE BEING PEOPLE
Imagine the surprise in November when a burglar rummaging through the St. Benno Church in Munich, Germany, was suddenly attacked. He had bent down to open the donation box, and just then, a statue of St. Antonius fell on top of him, momentarily knocking him to the floor and forcing him to flee empty-handed. [The Local (Berlin), 11-24-10]
AND I QUOTE
- "If one sticks too rigidly to one's principles, one would hardly see anybody."-Agatha Christie
TODAY IN HISTORY
DECEMBER 31
1999:In accordance with the treaty signed by President Jimmy Carter and Panamanian Gen. Omar Torrijos in 1977, control of the Panama Canal and the Panama Canal Zone reverts back to Panama.
1862: President Abraham Lincoln approves West Virginia’s application for admission to the Union under the provision that it will abolish slavery, following its secession from Virginia during the Civil War. West Virginia will be officially granted statehood on June 20, 1863.
1879: Inventor Thomas Edison performs the first public demonstration of his incandescent light bulb in his laboratory in Menlo Park, N.J.
1862: President Abraham Lincoln approves West Virginia’s application for admission to the Union under the provision that it will abolish slavery, following its secession from Virginia during the Civil War. West Virginia will be officially granted statehood on June 20, 1863.
1879: Inventor Thomas Edison performs the first public demonstration of his incandescent light bulb in his laboratory in Menlo Park, N.J.
A HOLIDAY TRADITION UNLIKE ANY OTHER
Darlene Love, has been named to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame; Rolling Stone Magazine calls this the #1 R&R Christmas Song of All Time; and Darlene Love has performd this song on the final live Letterman show before Christmas since 1986, over the span of nearly a quarter-century. And Darlene keeps on kicking out the merry-merry jams...
Thursday, December 30, 2010
CONNECTION FOR SERVICE
Rotarians are encouraged to reach out to one another, both locally and internationally, to establish relationships and long-term partnerships, which can lead to effective and sustainable service projects. But how do you begin to make those connections? (more after the break)
SHEEP FOR RENT
Image via WikipediaIn a Tale That Wags Dog Owners, They Rent Flocks for Bored ColliesCompulsive Sheep Herders Need a 'Job' to Entertain Them; 'That'll Do'
BATTLE GROUND, Wash.—Sue Foster knew what she needed to do when her border collie, Taff, was expelled from puppy school for herding the black Labs into a corner.
She rented some sheep.(more after the break)
TUNE IN TONIGHT
REQUIEM FOR A HEAVYWEIGHT
TCM, 9:30 p.m. ET
In 1956, Rod Serling’s live TV drama was the second production of CBS’s Playhouse 90, starring Jack Palance, Keenan Wynn and Ed Wynn in a hit that cemented Serling’s reputation as one of the Golden Age’s finest dramatists. Six years later, this movie was made from Serling’s screenplay, starring Anthony Quinn, Jackie Gleason and Mickey Rooney. The TV version is superior, but the 1962 movie features, in a small supporting role, a real-life boxer who was about to become heavyweight champ: Cassius Clay, before he changed his name to Muhammad Ali.
PEOPLE BEING PEOPLE
The Cabral Chrysler dealership in Manteca, Calif., was so desperate for a sale in October that one of its employees picked up potential customer Donald Davis, 67, at his nursing home, brought the pajamas-and-slippers-clad, dementia-suffering resident in to sign papers, handed him the keys to his new pickup truck (with the requested chrome wheels!), and sent him on his way (even tossing Davis' wheelchair into the truck's bed as Davis sped away). Shortly afterward, Davis led police on a high-speed chase 50 miles from Manteca. He was stopped and detained (but at a hospital the next morning, he passed away from heart failure). The Cabral salesman said Davis had called him twice the day before, insisting on buying a new truck. [KXTV (Sacramento), 11-1-10]
TODAY IN HISTORY
DECEMBER 30
1922:Vladimir I. Lenin proclaims the existence of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics at the First All-Union Congress of Soviets, transforming the Russian Empire into the communist Soviet Union with the confederation of Russia, Belarus, Ukraine and Transcaucasia.
1986: The British government announces plans to phase out the use of more than 200 canaries in coal mines, replacing the birds that had alerted miners to toxic underground gases since 1911 with modern carbon monoxide detectors.
1986: The British government announces plans to phase out the use of more than 200 canaries in coal mines, replacing the birds that had alerted miners to toxic underground gases since 1911 with modern carbon monoxide detectors.
Wednesday, December 29, 2010
A NEW FLAVOR MATCH-CAULIFLOWER AND CHOCOLATE
Image via WikipediaA Matchmaker for Your Taste BudsTo savor "The Flavor Thesaurus" fully it helps to think of its author, Niki Segnit, as a culinary marriage broker. An imaginative but practical matchmaker, she has a gift for pairing sometimes lackluster ingredients in a way that brings out the best in them and makes them more appealing as a couple than they ever were as loners.
Starting with almost 100 ingredients—fruits, vegetables, meat, poultry and seafood—Ms. Segnit develops 980 pairings, including complete recipes, and then divides them into 16 favor categories—e.g., "Earthy" and "Berry & Bush." Even experienced home cooks will find much that is new and challenging here: a horseradish-spuds pairing livens up the usual bland mashed potatoes or potato salad; an anchovy-beef union adds an extra dimension to routine beef stew; and a ginger-cabbage match puts zing and spicy-sweet edge into a simple stir fry.(more after the break)
TODAY IN HISTORY
DECEMBER 29
1989:Concluding the Velvet Revolution’s nonviolent overthrow of the communist government, playwright Václav Havel is elected president in Czechoslovakia’s first democratic elections in over 40 years.
1170: Archbishop Thomas Becket is murdered in Canterbury Cathedral by four knights possibly under the orders of King Henry II, who disagreed with Becket about the role of the church. Pope Alexander III will canonize Becket as a saint in 1173.
1890: Two weeks after the murder of Sioux chief Sitting Bull, the U.S. Army’s 7th Cavalry, led by Col. James Forsyth, massacres some 300 unarmed Native Americans, mostly women and children, on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in Wounded Knee, S.D.
1170: Archbishop Thomas Becket is murdered in Canterbury Cathedral by four knights possibly under the orders of King Henry II, who disagreed with Becket about the role of the church. Pope Alexander III will canonize Becket as a saint in 1173.
1890: Two weeks after the murder of Sioux chief Sitting Bull, the U.S. Army’s 7th Cavalry, led by Col. James Forsyth, massacres some 300 unarmed Native Americans, mostly women and children, on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in Wounded Knee, S.D.
Tuesday, December 28, 2010
THE TRADITION CONTINUES
Image via Wikipedia Since 1890, the Tournament of Roses has been ushering in the new year with a parade of spectacular floats and enthusiastic marching bands down the streets of Pasadena, California, USA.
Rotary became a part of the pageantry in 1923, when the Rotary Club of Pasadena entered a float in the 34th annual Rose Parade.
The club participated in three more Rose Parades – 1927, 1946, and 1966 – before making it an annual tradition in 1980. That year, recognizing the parade’s potential for promoting Rotary to an audience of millions worldwide, clubs in the western United States decided to sponsor a float in honor of the organization’s 75th anniversary. The Rotary Rose Parade Float Committee was later formed and continues to coordinate the fundraising for and construction of the float today.
Putting together a float is an ambitious undertaking, not least because parade rules dictate that the entire surface be covered with organic materials such as flowers, fruits and vegetables, or seeds. Hundreds of Rotary, Rotaract, and Interact club members from the United States, as well as Canada and Mexico, donate their time to build and decorate the float.
Float themes have reflected Rotary’s efforts to eradicate polio, its commitment to service, and its humanitarian programs. The theme of the 1998 float, “Bringing the World Together,” celebrated the 50th anniversary of Rotary Foundation Ambassadorial Scholarships and highlighted the Foundation’s work to build peace.
The 2001 theme, “Recognizing Tomorrow’s Leaders,” celebrated the many young people Rotary has channeled into positive leadership roles through the Rotary Youth Leadership Awards program.
On 1 January, the Rotary Rose Parade Float Committee will celebrate 32 consecutive years in the parade with a float proclaiming the 2010-11 RI theme, Building Communities -- Bridging Continents .
Rotary International does not fund the float; the Rotary Rose Parade Float Committee receives donations from individual clubs and Rotarians.
NOW YOU KNOW
Europe and the Pacific were the two primary arenas in World War II, but the battle was also one of technological achievement. Airplanes, submarines, and of course the development of the atomic bomb were core markers to the arms race within the War. Similar, tank warfare was as much a function of innovation as it was anything else. Allied forces readily admitted that the enemy German tanks, such as the Tiger and Panther, were superior to their own. The big question for Allied forces, then, was not how to counter the Tiger and its progeny, but how many tanks Germany was able to produce.(more after the break)
IT'S TIME TO SHARE
Share your iTunes library on your network
Chances are, there are multiple computers in your home. You and your spouse probably each have one. Then your kids might share a computer. Or maybe they each have their own.
If you're all iTunes users, you already know how challenging it can be to share music. There's a long list of steps to get it set up.
MediaRover changes all of that. It's a free program that ensures your household's media is accessible from any machine.
Just install the programs on the computers you want to share with. Then it starts linking all of your libraries. Everything from songs to playlists to metadata is synced.
MediaRover also makes it easy to stream content to set-top boxes and game consoles. Have an Xbox 360 or a Boxee Box? Awesome! MediaRover can share your iTunes library with them as well.
Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7, and Mac OSX
LINK HERE
TODAY IN HISTORY
DECEMBER 28
1945:Congress officially recognizes the Pledge of Allegiance and encourages its recitation in schools. Although the oath of loyalty to the United States and its flag was originally written by Francis Bellamy in 1892, the words “under God” will not be added until 1954.
1832: Vice President John C. Calhoun resigns from office over differences between himself and President Andrew Jackson. An avid defender of slavery and states’ rights, Calhoun will fill a vacant seat for South Carolina in the U.S. Senate.
1973: Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn publishes The Gulag Archipelago in Paris. The three-volume work exposes the repressive Soviet police state and, although it is an instant success in the West, the inflammatory nature of the book leads to Solzhenitsyn being stripped of his citizenship and deported from the Soviet Union.
1832: Vice President John C. Calhoun resigns from office over differences between himself and President Andrew Jackson. An avid defender of slavery and states’ rights, Calhoun will fill a vacant seat for South Carolina in the U.S. Senate.
1973: Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn publishes The Gulag Archipelago in Paris. The three-volume work exposes the repressive Soviet police state and, although it is an instant success in the West, the inflammatory nature of the book leads to Solzhenitsyn being stripped of his citizenship and deported from the Soviet Union.
Monday, December 27, 2010
NOW YOU KNOW
The image above is not of a squash.
The yellow fruit (actually, an "accessory fruit") is called a marañón, and unless you're already familiar with the picture, you've probably never eaten it. It's edible (even though urban legend has it as poisonous). It tastes and smells sweet and is very juicy, but the skin is thin and fragile, making it unsuitable for transport or importation. And while the fruit's name is Spanish, the picture above comes from India. The food is very common.
So common, in fact, that while you've likely never eaten a marañón, you probably have eaten what's inside the green part. The green section is the casing of a seed which we typically think of, incorrectly (in the botanical sense) as a nut.
Yep: That's what a cashew looks like.
The yellow fruit (actually, an "accessory fruit") is called a marañón, and unless you're already familiar with the picture, you've probably never eaten it. It's edible (even though urban legend has it as poisonous). It tastes and smells sweet and is very juicy, but the skin is thin and fragile, making it unsuitable for transport or importation. And while the fruit's name is Spanish, the picture above comes from India. The food is very common.
So common, in fact, that while you've likely never eaten a marañón, you probably have eaten what's inside the green part. The green section is the casing of a seed which we typically think of, incorrectly (in the botanical sense) as a nut.
Yep: That's what a cashew looks like.
TODAY IN HISTORY
DECEMBER 27
1904:J.M. Barrie’s play Peter Pan, the story of a young boy who refuses to grow up, opens at the Duke of York’s Theatre in London.
1932: With a five-hour stage spectacle featuring Martha Graham and Ray Bolger, Radio City Music Hall opens to the public. Today the art deco-style venue inside Rockefeller Center in New York, designed by Edward Durell Stone and Donald Deskey, is the largest indoor theater in the world and has welcomed more than 300 million visitors.
1979: Soviet troops invade Afghanistan to enforce the new government of President Babrak Karmal, following the execution of Hafizullah Amin. The Soviet Union will maintain a costly military presence in Afghanistan over the next nine years but will have little success in suppressing the antigovernment Mujahideen rebels.
1932: With a five-hour stage spectacle featuring Martha Graham and Ray Bolger, Radio City Music Hall opens to the public. Today the art deco-style venue inside Rockefeller Center in New York, designed by Edward Durell Stone and Donald Deskey, is the largest indoor theater in the world and has welcomed more than 300 million visitors.
1979: Soviet troops invade Afghanistan to enforce the new government of President Babrak Karmal, following the execution of Hafizullah Amin. The Soviet Union will maintain a costly military presence in Afghanistan over the next nine years but will have little success in suppressing the antigovernment Mujahideen rebels.
IT'S NOT TOO LATE TO DONATE
It is not too late to get a deduction on your 2010 income taxes by making a year-end donation to The Rotary Foundation.
According to IRS rules, contributions are deductible in the year they are made. Checks count for 2010 as long as they are mailed in 2010 and clear shortly thereafter. Donations charged to a credit card before the end of the year count for 2010 even if the bill isn't paid until 2011.
When you contribute to the Foundation, you advance world understanding, goodwill, and peace through the improvement of health, the support of education, and the alleviation of poverty. Find out ways your contributions are making change possible. Read more.
Wire transfers: Must be initiated before 31 December 2010 and received by Monday, 3 January 2011. For wire transfer account details, please e-mail Foundation staff .
Credit cards: Via www.rotary.org or fax (+1-847-556-2139) must be authorized before 31 December 2010, midnight (CST).
Make a contribution now
United States
The Rotary Foundation
14280 Collections Center Dr.
Chicago, IL 60693
Canada The Rotary Foundation (Canada) -- Box B9322
P.O. Box 1900
Postal Station F
Toronto, ON M4Y 3A5
According to IRS rules, contributions are deductible in the year they are made. Checks count for 2010 as long as they are mailed in 2010 and clear shortly thereafter. Donations charged to a credit card before the end of the year count for 2010 even if the bill isn't paid until 2011.
When you contribute to the Foundation, you advance world understanding, goodwill, and peace through the improvement of health, the support of education, and the alleviation of poverty. Find out ways your contributions are making change possible. Read more.
Deadlines
Checks: Must be postmarked no later than 31 December 2010 and received by The Rotary Foundation by Wednesday, 5 January 2011.Wire transfers: Must be initiated before 31 December 2010 and received by Monday, 3 January 2011. For wire transfer account details, please e-mail Foundation staff .
Credit cards: Via www.rotary.org or fax (+1-847-556-2139) must be authorized before 31 December 2010, midnight (CST).
Make a contribution now
United States
The Rotary Foundation
14280 Collections Center Dr.
Chicago, IL 60693
Canada The Rotary Foundation (Canada) -- Box B9322
P.O. Box 1900
Postal Station F
Toronto, ON M4Y 3A5
Sunday, December 26, 2010
TODAY IN HISTORY
DECEMBER 26
1966:Maulana Ron Karenga, today a professor of Africana Studies at California State University, Long Beach, establishes the holiday of Kwanzaa with a celebration lasting until Jan. 1, 1967. Karenga hoped that the holiday, with roots in African harvest celebrations, would foster a strong sense of African American community and culture.
1908: Jack Johnson becomes the first African American heavyweight boxing champion with a 14-round knockout of Canadian boxer Tommy Burns in Sydney, Australia. Johnson, who brazenly defied Jim Crow laws in the United States, will defend his title against a string of white boxers, including James Jeffries, the “Great White Hope,” until Johnson finally loses a fight to Jess Willard in 1915.
1966: Jimi Hendrix writes the famous lyrics to “Purple Haze” while backstage in his dressing room at the Upper Cut Club in London. “Purple Haze” will be released as the lead single off the Jimi Hendrix Experience’s debut album, Are You Experienced, in the spring of 1967.
1908: Jack Johnson becomes the first African American heavyweight boxing champion with a 14-round knockout of Canadian boxer Tommy Burns in Sydney, Australia. Johnson, who brazenly defied Jim Crow laws in the United States, will defend his title against a string of white boxers, including James Jeffries, the “Great White Hope,” until Johnson finally loses a fight to Jess Willard in 1915.
1966: Jimi Hendrix writes the famous lyrics to “Purple Haze” while backstage in his dressing room at the Upper Cut Club in London. “Purple Haze” will be released as the lead single off the Jimi Hendrix Experience’s debut album, Are You Experienced, in the spring of 1967.
Friday, December 24, 2010
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