Sunday, September 30, 2012
UNITED NATIONS EVENT INSPIRES
By Joe Clark, past governor of District 7230 (Bermuda, part of New York, USA)
Recently, two Rotarians who are polio survivors, a past district governor who had just returned from a Subnational Immunization Day in Pakistan, and I attended the United Nations General Assembly side event where world leaders, Rotarians, and global polio eradication partners met to voice their commitment to ending polio. (click below to read more)
THE ICE-CREAM VIGIL
The key to successful weight-loss diets may have less to do with controlling your intake of healthy foods than with focusing on how much unhealthy food you eat.
Consumers who carefully monitor their diets eat fewer unhealthy foods, such as cookies and candies, because they reach satiety more quickly, researchers found. When consumers with poor self-control closely watched their unhealthy-food consumption, they ate less because just paying attention sped up their feelings of satisfaction. Dieters should focus on the amount of unhealthy food they eat, relaxing more about healthy dishes, the researchers said.
Joseph P. Redden and Kelly L. Haws, "Healthy Satiation: The Role of Decreasing Desire in Effective Self-Control," Journal of Consumer Research (forthcoming)
TODAY IN HISTORY
SEPTEMBER 30
1949:After completing more than 277,000 flights to deliver over 2.3 million tons of food and supplies to the Soviet-blockaded city of West Berlin, the Western Allies' Berlin Airlift comes to an end.
1938: British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain proclaims that "peace for our time" has been secured, after signing the Munich Agreement with Nazi leader Adolf Hitler, Italian dictator Benito Mussolini and French Prime Minister Edouard Daladier. While the agreement meets Hitler's demands for German annexation of the Sudetenland region of Czechoslovakia, it would not prevent the impending World War II.
1998: President Bill Clinton announces that the United States has made a "landmark achievement" and reached a budget surplus, expecting the nation to come out $70 billion ahead for fiscal year 1998.
1962:Labor leader Cesar Chavez founds the National Farm Workers Association, which later became the United Farm Workers (UFW)
1988:IBM ships its 3 millionth PS/2 personal computer.
1955:American film icon James Dean, star of "Rebel Without A Cause," dies in car collision
THE FIRST WORD
ramify
PRONUNCIATION:
(RAM-i-fy) 
MEANING:
verb tr., intr.: To divide into branches.
ETYMOLOGY:
From Latin ramus (branch). Ultimately from the Indo-European root wrad- (root) which also sprouted words such as root, wort, licorice, radical, radish, rutabaga, eradicate, andderacinate. Earliest documented use: 1425.
USAGE:
"Andrew offered to read me a handful of passages from the manuscript ... which had ramified so uncontrollably that it was turning into several distinct projects."
Nicolas Rothwell; The Red Highway; Black Inc.; 2009.
Nicolas Rothwell; The Red Highway; Black Inc.; 2009.
Saturday, September 29, 2012
RIDE TO END POLIO
For more than 20 years, Rotarians and their friends have worked tirelessly to keep our promise to the world’s children to eradicate polio. We’re almost there, but as in any race, the last mile is the hardest.
On 17 November — to honor those who strive to reach the historic goal of eradicating a human disease for only the second time in history — my wife, Marga, and I will join Rotarians in the Tuscon, Arizona, area to raise money for Rotary’s PolioPlus Program at El Tour de Tucson. It’s one of the top U.S. cycling events, and it attracts more than 9,000 cyclists a year. (click below to read more)
PEOPLE BEING PEOPLE
A Florida man has been accused of stealing a truck and a trailer to build an underground survival bunker in his yard. Police say the man used a backhoe to dig a large hole and bury the two vehicles, so they could be converted into a doomsday bunker. The man allegedly told police he was “preparing for the worst.”
PROFITS VS PLEASURE
Many of us think careful planning will result in more money for retirement. Think again, a study suggests. But there's this consolation: It also found that a bigger nest egg doesn't mean more happiness.
Christopher Hsee, of the University of Chicago's Booth School of Business, and colleagues used a lab simulation of real life called the Retirement Game, in which people must make decisions about how much to work, for what rewards, and when to quit. Some volunteers were asked beforehand to forecast what optimal rewards they'd want, while others were permitted to work toward the reward without conscious deliberation. The results: Those who stopped to think about the future—and how much wealth they'd really need—earned less over their "lifetime" than those who did not deliberate.
But those who slowed down and thought about these issues—work, wealth, need—were happier than the others. The more people earned, the less happy they were.
Christopher Hsee and two other authors, Psychological Science (forthcoming)
VOTE FOR BATMAN
As election day draws near, Brazilian voters are considering candidates with names like James Bond and Wolverine. Brazilian law allows politicians to run for office under assumed names, and many choose pop-culture references. Among the thousands of candidates in municipal races across the country are five Batmans and 16 Obamas, as well as a Ladi Gaga and an Elvis Didn’t Die. “Using nicknames is an easy way to draw attention,” political consultant Justino Pereira told The New York Times, “but doesn’t necessarily make a lasting effect.” Christ of Jerusalem, for example, lost in 2008.
TODAY IN HISTORY
SEPTEMBER 29
1829: Scotland Yard opens as the official headquarters of London's Metropolitan Police Service. The police officers are often called "bobbies" after Sir Robert Peel, the home secretary at the time.
1982: The so-called Tylenol Killer claims his or her first victim, 12-year-old Mary Kellerman of Elk Grove, Ill. A total of seven people would die around the Chicago area after taking Extra-Strength Tylenol capsules laced with cyanide. The Tylenol Killer would never be found, but the incident would spur widespread use of tamper-proof packaging on sealed products.
1966:The Chevrolet Camaro is introduced to the public, formerly named Panther
1997:TV Newsman David Brinkley retires
Friday, September 28, 2012
PRESIDENTS AND PSYCHOPATHS
Psychopaths and successful U.S. presidents may share some common psychosocial territory.
Both possess "fearless dominance," a trait of swagger or extreme confidence that may contribute either to criminality and violence or to successful leadership, a new study suggests. The analysis drew upon personality assessments of 42 presidents through George W. Bush, compiled by Steven Rubenzer and Thomas Faschingbauer for their book "Personality, Character and Leadership in the White House."
More than 100 experts, including biographers, journalists and scholars who are established authorities on one or more U.S. presidents, evaluated their target presidents using standardized psychological measures of personality, intelligence and behavior.
Theodore Roosevelt ranked highest in fearless dominance, followed by John F. Kennedy, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Ronald Reagan, Rutherford Hayes, Zachary Taylor, Bill Clinton, Martin Van Buren, Andrew Jackson and George W. Bush.
Scott O. Lilienfeld and five other authors, "Fearless Dominance and the U.S. Presidency," Journal of Personality and Social Psychology (September)
FAR, FAR, AWAY
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| Voyager 2 20120613 01 (Photo credit: Apojove) |
PEOPLE BEING PEOPLE
480-pound convicted murderer Ronald Post petitioned to cancel his scheduled execution in Ohio, arguing that lethal injection of an obese man might not work, resulting in “serious physical and psychological pain.’’
TODAY IN HISTORY
SEPTEMBER 28
1924:U.S. Army Air Service airplanes Chicago and New Orleans, piloted by Lt. Lowell Smith and Lt. Erik Nelson, land in Seattle after completing the first around-the-world flight. The trip takes 175 days. Two other planes that began the journey are destroyed.
1542: Searching for a legendary water route across the North American continent, Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo, a Portuguese navigator sailing for Spain, becomes the first European explorer to reach California when he arrives in present-day San Diego Bay.
1955: NBC broadcasts the World Series in color for the first time, as the New York Yankees beat the Brooklyn Dodgers, 6-5, in the first game.
1962In Brisbane, Australia the Paddington tram depot fire destroys 65 trams
1941:Ted Williams finished the baseball season with .406 average
MENSA Q & A
This name refers to an Old Testament book and means "compassion."
(click below for the answer)
(click below for the answer)
Thursday, September 27, 2012
MEETING PROGRAM SEPTEMBER 27, 2012
Regions Bank Mortgage Loan Originator, Michelle Price, explains the Home Affordable Refinance Program that is available to anyone whose mortgage is held by either Freddie Mac or Fannie Mae.
PEOPLE BEING PEOPLE
Jeff Fleming of Reno, Nev., got so sick of people hitting his home next to a golf course with errant shots that he allegedly blasted one duffer with a shotgun, causing minor wounds. “I’m not really sure what finally set him off,’’ said police Lt. Keith Brown.
ONE LOYAL DOG
PROMOTING ROTARY VIA FACEBOOK ADS
Whether or not you’re active on social media you understand that the nature of communication is undergoing a revolution. If they were a country, Facebook’s 955 million active users would be the world’s third largest, only behind China and India. (click below to read more)
TODAY IN HISTORY
SEPTEMBER 27
1954:Steve Allen hosts Tonight Starring Steve Allen during its national network debut on NBC. The interview and variety program that would become known as The Tonight Show is the first late-night talk show of its kind, and has run for nearly 60 years, with five main hosts and countless comedians and musical guests.
1825: Locomotion Number 1, built by engineer George Stephenson, is the first steam locomotive to power a passenger train, carrying wagons filled with coal, flour and people over 26 miles on the Stockton and Darlington Railway in northeastern England.
1968: Tim Curry is among the cast of the so-called American tribal love-rock musical Hair on its opening night at the Shaftesbury Theatre in the West End of London, only one day after a centuries-old theater censorship law is lifted. The hippie musical, which raises eyebrows with its nudity, drug use and strong anti-Vietnam War message, would run for 1,998 performances until the theater's roof collapses in July 1973.
1938:"Queen Elizabeth" ship launched in Glasgow
1905:The physics journal Annalen der Physik receives Albert Einstein's paper and the equation E=mc^2
1962:After dismantling of Ottoman Empire, Yemen Arab Republic established.
THE FIRST WORD
kora
Pilgrims prostrate themselves on wooden planks, making a clockwise procession, called a kora, around the perimeter. In Tibetan, kora means circumambulation around a holy object or place.Wednesday, September 26, 2012
WHAT DO YOU DO WITH 109,000 HATS?
Brimming With Pride, Son Seeks Resting Place for Dad's Hat Hoard
Collector Amassed 109,000 Toppers; A Shot at History With Jolly Green Giant
Some children find themselves overwhelmed by a dead parent's boxes of photo albums or an attic brimming with not-so-valuable antiques.
Scott Legried is hampered by hats.
More than 109,000 baseball caps. All lovingly collected by his father, Roger "Buckey" Legried, a corn and soybean grower and farming-equipment salesman in Frost, Minn. (click below to read more)
YOUR MOST EMPATHETIC FRIEND
Dogs really may be man’s best friend—ranking even higher than our fellow humans in empathy. British researchers put pet dogs of different ages and breeds in a room with their owners or a stranger. Then they had the people either hum, talk, or pretend to cry. They found that the dogs responded most strongly to people who cried, submissively nuzzling and licking the crier—the canine version of offering comfort—whether they knew the person or not.(click below to read more)
DO YOU REMEMBER?
TODAY IN HISTORY
SEPTEMBER 26
1996:American astronaut Shannon Lucid returns to Earth aboard the NASA space shuttle Atlantis, having lived and worked for six months aboard the Mir space station with two Russian cosmonauts. Lucid is the first American woman to live on a space station, and her 188 days in space sets records for the longest stay in space by an American and longest stay in space by a woman.
1960: Cuban Prime Minister Fidel Castro delivers the longest speech in United Nations history at the General Assembly in New York, speaking for 4 hours 29 minutes about the "aggression" of the United States.
1975: The Rocky Horror Picture Show, starring Tim Curry, Susan Sarandon and Meat Loaf, is released in U.S. movie theaters. Although the film would flop, cinematic cult history would never be the same again, as dedicated fans have flocked to midnight showings to dress up and shout at the screen ever since.
1962: CBS premieres the comedy show "Beverly Hillbillies"
1960:The first televised debate is held in Chicago between presidential candidates Nixon and J.F.K
THE FIRST WORD
alligator fruit
Once called "alligator fruit," avocados have gone from novelty to produce staple, stocked in aisle end caps, supermarkets' prime selling space, along with tomatoes and grapes.The avocado is also called an "alligator pear," which should not be confused with the alligator apple, a relative of the soursop and cherimoya. The alligator apple is edible but has a flavor often compared with that of turpentine.
Tuesday, September 25, 2012
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