PIX

IT'S ALL GOOD

When schoolkids pull pranks, there’s usually hell to pay. But not so for the one students at Hingham Middle School in Massachusetts pulled last week on their retiring principal, Roger Boddie. The kids tricked Boddie into climbing to the school’s roof under the pretense of making a video about its new construction program. When he got there, he saw hundreds of students and teachers in the playground below, performing a “flash mob”–style dance and holding up signs saying, “Thank You for Believing in Us.” Boddie joked, “These kids will do anything to get out of class.”

CAREFUL MOVING, MAYBE? DRIVING, NOT SO MUCH.

FOR THOSE THAT HAVE EVERYTHING

The Local River aquarium functions as both “an alternative to the standard (boring) fish tank” and “a fully functional refrigerator.” Freshwater fish can be raised in the tank, and their water will be cleaned by the plants above, which grow by feeding off the fish’s waste. Devoted locavores thus eventually need travel only a few steps from their kitchen to harvest enough fish and greens for dinner. And even if you don’t use the Local River tank as a source for food, it’s “pretty cool looking.”
From $10,493, mathieulehanneur.fr 
Source: JustLuxe.com

TIME FOR FELLOWSHIP

NOW YOU KNOW

In a massive act of social engineering, China plans to relocate 250 million of its citizens from farms and tiny villages to newly constructed small cities over the next 12 years. The urbanization project—designed to modernize China and boost its economy—is equivalent to moving the entire population of the world’s 12 largest metropolitan areas.
The New York Times

CHARITY OF THE WEEK

Trout Unlimited (TU​.org) is the nation’s oldest and largest coldwater-fishery conservation organization. Nearly 50 years after its founding, TU now consists of 150,000 volunteers working from Maine to Alaska to protect vanishing freshwater habitats so that trout and salmon can flourish. Stream damming, development, deforestation, pollution, and climate change all endanger coldwater fish. Warming streams alone may halve the populations of many species in the near future. Abandoned mines also pose a threat to freshwater fish, because they often leak acidic runoff into surrounding watersheds. Since 2005, TU has completed over 60 mine cleanup projects, removing solid wastes, draining mine water, and sealing outlets. TU also employs a team of scientists, lawyers, and policy experts who fight for far-sighted, responsible water policies.

The charity has earned a four-star overall rating from Charity Navigator, which ranks not-for-profit organizations on the strength of their finances, their control of administrative and fundraising expenses, and the transparency of their operations. Four stars is the group’s highest ranking.

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WILL YOU BE MOVING TOMORROW?

MONTREAL—To most Canadians, the first of July is a day spent celebrating Canada Day. Except in Montreal, where everybody is too busy moving. Rooted in centuries of tradition, July 1 is the day tens of thousands of Montrealers move to new homes—an annual rite of passage for Canada's second-biggest city. It's also one big municipal headache. (click below to read more)

TODAY IN HISTORY

June 30

1520		Montezuma II is murdered as Spanish conquistadors flee the Aztec capital of Tenochtilan during the night.
1857		Charles Dickens reads from A Christmas Carol at St. Martin's Hall in London–his first public reading.
1859		Jean Francois Gravelet aka Emile Blondin, a French daredevil, becomes the first man to walk across Niagra Falls on a tightrope.
1908		A mysterious explosion, possibly the result of a meteorite, levels thousands of trees in the Tunguska region of Siberia with a force approaching twenty megatons.
1934		Adolf Hitler orders the purge of his own party in the "Night of the Long Knives."
1936		Margaret Mitchell's novel, Gone With the Wind, is published.
1948		John Bardeen, Walter Brattain, and William Shockley demonstrate their invention, the transistor, for the first time.
1960		Alfred Hitchcock's film, Psycho, opens.
1971		Three Soviet cosmonauts die when their spacecreaft depressurizes during reentry.

CARTOON

THE FIRST WORD

itabirite

A verdant valley nestled in the mountains, Minas Rio held over 5.8 billion tons of iron ore locked inside a rock called itabirite, nicknamed blue dust, that glistens like the steel it will become.

Itabirite is named for Itabira, a city in Minas Gerais, Brazil.

PIX

WRONG PLACE, WRONG TIME

A burglar trying to steal a bicycle in West Seattle last week was chased down by a marathon-running mom. Sarah Tatterson, an accomplished long-distance runner, pursued the man after seeing him take her husband’s bike from the garage. She yelled at neighbors to call the police and gave chase. When the suspect demanded that she “back off,” Tatterson said, “My response was, I was going to run six miles today, but I could probably do 12.” The cops caught the suspect 10 blocks from Tatterson’s house.

THE BOTTOM LINE

The average American spends an estimated $144 celebrating Mother’s Day, but only an average of $82 commemorating Father’s Day. 
The New Republic

SNAPSHOT

WE WELCOME RHONDA AS OUR NEW PRESIDENT

YOU BET!

NOTED

Income inequality even extends to the world of rock ’n’ roll. Between 1982 and 2003, the top 1 percent of popular musicians doubled their share of concert revenue, from 26 percent to 56 percent. The top 5 percent collected nearly 90 percent of all concert income.
The Washington Post

YOUR NEXT HOUSE

Sarasota, Fla.: Overlooking the Gulf of Mexico, this five-bedroom home has French, Polynesian, and Japanese details. Features include a master bedroom with floor-to-ceiling glass doors and a large ipe wood deck with a pool and summer kitchen. A two-story cypress-wood guesthouse is surrounded by Japanese gardens. $10,900,000.

TODAY IN HISTORY

June 29

1236		Ferdinand III of Castile and Leon take Cordoba in Spain.
1652		Massachusetts declares itself an independent commonwealth.
1767		The British parliament passes the Townshend Revenue Act, levying taxes on America.
1862		Union forces, falling back from Richmond, fight at the Battle of Savage's Station.
1880		France annexes Tahiti.
1888		Professor Frederick Treves performs the first appendectomy in England.
1903		The British government officially protests Belgian atrocities in the Congo.
1905		Russian troops intervene as riots erupt in ports all over the country, leaving many ships looted.
1917		The Ukraine proclaims independence from Russia.
1925		An earthquake ravages Santa Barbara, California.
1926		Fascists in Rome add an hour to the work day in an economic efficiency measure.
1932		Siam's army seizes Bangkok and announces an end to the absolute monarchy.
1938		Mesa Verde National Park, Colorado, and Olympic National Park, Washington, are founded.
1950		President Harry S. Truman authorizes a sea blockade of Korea.
1951		The United States invites the Soviet Union to the Korean peace talks on a ship in Wonson Harbor.
1955		The Soviet Union sends tanks to Pozan, Poland, to put down anti-Communist demonstrations.
1966		The U.S. Air Force bombs fuel storage facilities near Hanoi, North Vietnam.
1967		Israel removes barricades, re-unifying Jerusalem.
1970		U.S. troops pull out of Cambodia.
1982		Israel invades Lebanon.

AND I QUOTE

“The desire not to be anything is the desire not to be.”

Ayn Rand

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PIX

NO COMMENT NEEDED

PEOPLE BEING PEOPLE

An escaped Nebraska prisoner was recaptured after his getaway driver—his girlfriend—threw him out of her car. Police said Dylan Aufdengarten, 27, snuck away from his work-release job at an animal shelter, and jumped into the waiting car of his girlfriend, Jennifer Harmon, 29. But they began arguing, and she kicked Aufdengarten out of the car five miles down the road and told police where to find him. Aufdengarten was charged with escape from custody, and Harmon with aiding an escapee.

DEPRESSION FUELS OBESITY

If feeling sad makes you reach for an extra helping of ice cream, your taste buds may be more to blame than your willpower. A new study shows that intense feelings can make us more sensitive to taste but less sensitive to how much fat we’re consuming. (click below to read more)

CEREMONIAL PASSING OF THE 50-50 BUCKET

CARTOON

TODAY IN HISTORY

June 28

1635		The French colony of Guadeloupe is established in the Caribbean.
1675		Frederick William of Brandenburg crushes the Swedes.
1709		Russians defeat the Swedes and Cossacks at the Battle of Poltava.
1776		Colonists repulse a British sea attack on Charleston, South Carolina.
1778		Mary "Molly Pitcher" Hays McCauley, wife of an American artilleryman, carries water to the soldiers during the Battle of Monmouth.
1839		Cinque and other Africans are kidnapped and sold into slavery in Cuba.
1862		Fighting continues between Union and Confederate forces during the Seven Days' campaign.
1863		General Meade replaces General Hooker three days before the Battle of Gettysburg.
1874		The Freedmen's Bank, created to assist former slaves in the United States, closes. Customers of the bank lose $3 million.
1884		Congress declares Labor Day a legal holiday.
1902		Congress passes the Spooner bill, authorizing a canal to be built across the isthmus of Panama.
1911		Samuel J. Battle becomes the first African-American policeman in New York City.
1914		Austria's Archduke Francis Ferdinand is assassinated at Sarajevo, Serbia.
1919		Germany signs the Treaty of Versailles under protest.
1921		A coal strike in Britain is settled after three months.
1930		More than 1,000 communists are routed during an assault on the British consulate in London.
1938		Congress creates the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) to insure construction loans.
1942		German troops launch an offensive to seize Soviet oil fields in the Caucasus and the city of Stalingrad.
1945		General Douglas MacArthur announces the end of Japanese resistance in the Philippines.
1949		The last U.S. combat troops are called home from Korea, leaving only 500 advisers.
1950		General Douglas MacArthur arrives in South Korea as Seoul falls to the North.
1954		French troops begin to pull out of Vietnam's Tonkin province.
1964		Malcolm X founds the Organization for Afro-American Unity to seek independence for blacks in the Western Hemisphere.
1967		14 people are shot during race riots in Buffalo, New York.
1970		Muhammed Ali [Cassius Clay] stands before the Supreme Court regarding his refusal of induction into the U.S. Army during the Vietnam War.
1971		The Supreme Court overturns the draft evasion conviction of Muhammad Ali.
1972		Nixon announces that no new draftees will be sent to Vietnam.
1976		The first women enter the U.S. Air Force Academy.

TRIVIA

What magazine featured Norman Rockwell’s Rosie the Riveter on the cover in 1943?
(click below for the answer)

CARTOON

THE FIRST WORD

scripophily

That's because there are collectors who seemingly throw good money after bad in their pursuit of a hobby known as scripophily, which loosely translates as love of paper.

Scripophily (collecting stock and bond certificates) and notaphily (collecting bank notes) are considered part of numismatics (the studying or collection of currency). Exonumia are coin-like items collected alongside money, like wooden nickels and arcade tokens.

MUSICAL SAW

PIX

SNAPSHOT

DONATING $1MILLION US TO POLIO CAMPAIGN

Sir Emeka Offor, of Nigeria, is chairman of the Chrome Group, a leading conglomerate in oil and gas services, power, logistics and telecommunications. A Rotarian, Offor is a member of the Arch C. Klumph Society, which honors those who give at least US$250,000 to the Foundation. On Monday, Offor announced he is giving another US$1 million to the Rotary Foundation for polio eradication. We caught up with Offor after his announcement at the PolioPlus Advocacy Workshop at the 2013 Rotary Convention in Lisbon. (click below to read more)

SEE YOU NEXT WEEK AT THE INSTALLATION DINNER

NOW YOU KNOW

An estimated 2.5 quintillion bytes of new data are created daily. Thanks largely to the proliferation of smartphones and other mobile devices, 90 percent of all the digital data in the world was created within the last two years.
The New York Times

THE NEXT BIG THING?

 PORTLAND, ORE. More exercise surely would put more spring in your step, but Adidas thinks its new shoe
   — the Springblade — also can give you a boost.
   The shoe has an unusual look with 16 “blades” extending from the sole, each blade composed of a transparent, highly elastic polymer that is intended to return energy forward with each step. The Techfit upper seems standard enough, but it’s those angled blades that grab attention from those who have seen the Springblades. (click below to read more)

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TODAY IN HISTORY

June 27

363		Roman Emperor Julian dies, ending the Pagan Revival.
1743		English King George defeats the French at Dettingen, Bavaria.
1833		Prudence Crandall, a white woman, is arrested for conducting an academy for black women in Canterbury, Conn.
1862		Confederates break through the Union lines at the Battle of Gaines' Mill–the third engagement of the Seven Days' campaign.
1864		General Sherman is repulsed by Confederates at the Battle of Kennesaw Mountain.
1871		The yen becomes the new form of currency in Japan.
1905		The crew of the Russian battleship Potemkin mutinies.
1918		Two German pilots are saved by parachutes for the first time.
1923		Yugoslav Premier Nikola Pachitch is wounded by Serb attackers in Belgrade.
1924		Democrats offer Mrs. Leroy Springs the vice presidential nomination, the first woman considered for the job.
1927		The U.S. Marines adopt the English bulldog as their mascot.
1929		Scientists at Bell Laboratories in New York reveal a system for transmitting television pictures.
1942		The Allied convoy PQ-17 leaves Iceland for Murmansk and Archangel.
1944		Allied forces capture the port city of Cherbourg, France.
1950		The UN Security Council calls on members for troops to aid South Korea.
1963		Henry Cabot Lodge is appointed U.S. ambassador to South Vietnam.
1973		President Richard Nixon vetoes a Senate ban on the Cambodia bombing.
1985		The U.S. House of Representatives votes to limit the use of combat troops in Nicaragua.

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NOTED

More than 4.9 million people—many of them working for private companies—have some level of access to classified U.S. government information. About 1.4 million have access to information classified as “top secret.”
USA Today

VINTAGE ADVERT-1969

THE BOTTOM LINE

In 2012, 37 percent of employers said they checked out job applicants’ social media accounts, including Facebook, Twitter, Google+, and LinkedIn, before deciding whether to hire them.
MarketWatch.com

SPACE

Rock Nest Panorama from Curiosity on Mars 
Image Credit: NASA, JPL-Caltech, MSSS, Mastcam Explanation: This is Mars -- have a look around. More specifically, this is one area picked for its promise of holding clues to the habitability of Mars to ancient life. To better search for telling leads, the robotic Curiosity rover took a series of detailed images from a location called Rock Nest. Over 900 of these images were then composed into one of the highest resolution images ever created of the red planet -- a composite containing over one billion pixels. Shown above, toward the middle of this image mosaic, is Mt. Sharp, the central peak of the large crater where the Curiosity rover landed and is currently exploring. An interactive and zoomable version of this image is available here. Over the next few years, Curiosity is scheduled to roll toward the peak of ancientMt. Sharp, all the while keeping a lookout for distinguishing geological and chemical markers.

CHRIS CLAIMS THE 50-50 JACKPOT. CONGRATS!