Wednesday, July 31, 2013
PEOPLE BEING PEOPLE
A Tennessee man was arrested after he allegedly stole a box full of human ashes, thinking the powder was cocaine. Police said William “Billy” Cantrell, 28, snatched the box from a neighbor’s home. “He thought he’d done found him a box of cocaine is what he thought,” said Cantrell’s grandmother, Wanda Allen. Cantrell’s mother, Kathy, said he had not snorted the ashes, and hoped police would go easy on her son. “I’m not saying he’s not guilty,” she said, “but he didn’t know what he was stealing.”
16 WORDS THAT ARE OLDER THAN THEY SEEM
1. FRIEND, AS A VERBA common lament in pieces about "kids these days and their social whatsawhozits" is "when did 'friend' become a verb?!" The answer is: Sometime in the 1400s. In the earliest examples of the verb "friend" from the OED, it means to make friends. You could go to a place, and "friend" some people there. It also had the meaning of help someone out, be a friend to them, e.g., "Reports came that the King would friend Lauderdale," an example from 1698. (click below to read more)
NOW YOU KNOW
The average three-hour baseball game contains 17 minutes and 58 seconds of action such as pitches, balls in play, running, and throws. That’s a bit better than the average football game, which contains only 11 minutes of action time.
The Wall Street Journal
The Wall Street Journal
EAT UP!
The U.S. bought 57.6 million pounds of the trendy health food quinoa in 2012, up from 7.3 million pounds in 2007. Prices for the protein-rich grain have also tripled since 2006 and now average between $4.50 and $8 per pound.
The Washington Post
The Washington Post
TODAY IN HISTORY
July 31
| 904 | Arabs capture Thessalonica. | |
| 1703 | English novelist Daniel Defoe is made to stand in the pillory as punishment for offending the government and church with his satire The Shortest Way With Dissenters. | |
| 1760 | Ferdinand, Duke of Brunswick, drives the French army back to the Rhine River. | |
| 1790 | The U.S. Patent Office opens. | |
| 1882 | Belle and Sam Starr are charged with horse stealing in the Indian territory. | |
| 1875 | Former president Andrew Johnson dies at the age of 66. | |
| 1891 | Great Britain declares territories in Southern Africa up to the Congo to be within their sphere of influence. | |
| 1904 | The Trans-Siberian railroad connecting the Ural mountains with Russia's Pacific coast, is completed. | |
| 1917 | The third Battle of Ypres commences as the British attack the German lines. | |
| 1932 | Adolf Hitler's Nationalist Socialist German Workers' Party (Nazis) doubles its strength in legislative elections. | |
| 1944 | The Soviet army takes Kovno, the capital of Lithuania. | |
| 1962 | Federation of Malaysia formally proposed. | |
| 1971 | Apollo 15 astronauts take a drive on the moon in their land rover. | |
| 1987 | An F4 tornado in Edmonton, Alberta kills 27 and causes $330 million in damages; the day is remembered as "Black Friday." | |
| 1988 | Bridge collapse at Sultan Abdul Halim ferry terminal in Butterworth, Malaysia, kills 32 and injures more than 1,600. | |
| 1990 | Bosnia-Hercegovina declares independence from Yugoslavia. | |
| 1991 | US and USSR sign a long-range nuclear weapons reduction pact. | |
| 1999 | NASA purposely crashes its Discovery Program's Lunar Prospector into the moon, ending the agency's mission to detect frozen water on Earth's moon. | |
| 2006 | Fidel Castro temporarily hands over power to his brother Raul Castro. | |
| 2007 | The British Army's longest continual operation, Operation Banner (1969-2007), ends as British troops withdraw from Northern Ireland. |
AND I QUOTE
"After I'm dead I'd rather have people ask why I have no monument than why I have one."
- Cato the Elder (234-149 BC)
Tuesday, July 30, 2013
MOON PARKS
Congress is considering establishing national parks on the moon. The House of Representatives last week introduced the Apollo Lunar Landing Legacy Act, which would preserve the six sites where NASA missions landed from pirates and souvenir hunters who might land on the moon in the future.
USA Today
USA Today
KEEP WORKING
A new study by French researchers has found that people who delay retirement can reduce their risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease and other types of dementia. Scientists say each additional year of work can reduce the risk of getting dementia by 3.2 percent.
CBSNews.com
CBSNews.com
MORE IS NOT ALWAYS BETER
A New York City woman set off 21 bug bombs inside her apartment, causing an explosion that collapsed her five-story building, injuring 14 people
NOW YOU KNOW
Mexico overtook the U.S. as the world’s fattest nation. Thanks to a rapidly worsening diet of fizzy drinks and cheap fast food, 32.8 percent of Mexican adults are now classified as obese, compared with 31.8 percent of Americans.
TODAY IN HISTORY
July 30
| 1619 | The House of Burgesses convenes for the first time at Jamestown, Va. | |
| 1787 | The French parliament refuses to approve a more equitable land tax. | |
| 1799 | The French garrison at Mantua, Italy, surrenders to the Austrians. | |
| 1864 | In an effort to penetrate the Confederate lines around Petersburg, Va. Union troops explode a mine underneath the Confederate trenches but fail to break through. The ensuing action is known as the Battle of the Crater. | |
| 1919 | Federal troops are called out to put down Chicago race riots. | |
| 1938 | George Eastman demonstrates his color motion picture process. | |
| 1940 | A bombing lull ends the first phase of the Battle of Britain. | |
| 1960 | Over 60,000 Buddhists march in protest against the Diem government in South Vietnam. | |
| 1965 | President Lyndon Johnson signs the Medicare Bill into law. | |
| 1967 | General William Westmoreland claims that he is winning the war in Vietnam, but needs more men. | |
| 1975 | Teamster leader Jimmy Hoffa disappears, last seen coming out of a restaurant in Bloomingfield Hills, Michigan. | |
| 1988 | King Hussein dissolves Jordan's Parliament, surrenders Jordan's claims to the West Bank to the Palestinian Liberation Organization. | |
| 1990 | Baseball Commissioner Fay Vincent forces George Steinbrenner to resign as principal parter of the New York Yankees. | |
| 2003 | The last of the uniquely shaped "old style" Volkswagen Beetles rolls off the assembly line in Mexico. | |
| 2012 | Blackout in India as power grid failure leaves 300 million+ without power. |
TRIVIA Q & A
Name the writer who died in 2004, his only three novels published posthumously, to become best sellers.
(click below for the answer)
(click below for the answer)
THE FIRST WORD
zymic
PRONUNCIATION:
(ZAI-mik) 
MEANING:
adjective: Relating to fermentation.
ETYMOLOGY:
From Greek zym- (ferment). Earliest documented use: 1817.
USAGE:
"The figs squelched and split apart, emitting a zymic gas that made her mouth and nose curl back."
Paul David Adkin; Purgatory; Nubooks; 2013.
Paul David Adkin; Purgatory; Nubooks; 2013.
Monday, July 29, 2013
THE BOTTOM LINE
The U.S. now has 5 million “zero TV” households—that is, homes with no cable and no broadcast antenna—up from 2 million in 2007, as more people watch their favorite shows over the Internet.
The Wall Street Journal
The Wall Street Journal
NOW YOU KNOW
About 35 percent of married women in their 20s and 30s are keeping their own last names—a big increase over previous generations, according to a study by Facebook. Among married women in their 60s, only 9 percent kept their own last names.
Salon.com
Salon.com
LIVE LONG AND PROSPER
“Eighty! I can hardly believe it. My father, who lived to 94, often said that the 80s had been one of the most enjoyable decades of his life. He felt, as I begin to feel, not a shrinking but an enlargement of mental life and perspective. One has had a long experience of life, not only one’s own life, but others’, too. One has seen triumphs and tragedies, booms and busts, revolutions and wars, great achievements and deep ambiguities, too. One is more conscious of transience and, perhaps, of beauty. I do not think of old age as an ever grimmer time that one must somehow endure, but as a time of leisure and freedom, free to explore whatever I wish, and to bind the thoughts and feelings of a lifetime together.”
Oliver Sacks in The New York Times
Oliver Sacks in The New York Times
WASTE MANAGEMENT
British scientists invented a cellphone battery powered by urine. This “is about as eco as it gets,” said one researcher, noting that urine is a renewable resource.
TODAY IN HISTORY
July 29
| 1588 | The Spanish Armada is sighted off the coast of England. | |
| 1602 | The Duke of Biron is executed in Paris for conspiring with Spain and Savoy against King Henry IV of France. | |
| 1603 | Bartholomew Gilbert is killed in Virginia by Indians, during a search for the missing Roanoke colonists. | |
| 1693 | The Army of the Grand Alliance is destroyed by the French at the Battle of Neerwinden. | |
| 1830 | Liberals led by the Marquis of Lafayette seize Paris in opposition to the king's restrictions on citizens' rights. | |
| 1848 | A rebellion against British rule is put down in Tipperary, Ireland. | |
| 1858 | Japan signs a treaty of commerce and friendship with the United States. | |
| 1862 | Confederates are routed by Union guerrillas at Moore's Mill, Missouri. | |
| 1875 | Peasants in Bosnia and Herzegovina rebel against the Ottoman army. | |
| 1915 | U.S. Marines land at Port-au-Prince to protect American interests in Haiti. | |
| 1921 | Adolf Hitler becomes the president of the Nationalist Socialist German Workers' Party (Nazis). | |
| 1945 | After delivering parts of the first atomic bomb to the island of Tinian, the U.S.S.Indianapolis is sunk by a Japanese submarine. The survivors are adrift for two days before help arrives. | |
| 1981 | Prince Charles marries Lady Diana. |
Sunday, July 28, 2013
SINGING FOR ONENESS
As choir singers harmonize, their breathing and heartbeats synchronize in time with the music—creating a rewarding feeling of oneness. That’s the conclusion of a new study by Swedish researchers, who strapped heart-rate monitors on 15 young choral singers. The singers were asked to perform three exercises: humming, singing a popular national hymn, and chanting a mantra.(click below to read more)
A NEW MEDICAL TECHNOLOGY
A British ambulance racing to the hospital hit a large rut, throwing patient Ray Lee in the air. When Lee came down, the jolt reset his racing heartbeat from a potentially fatal 190 beats a minute to 60. “The paramedic looked at me in disbelief,’’ said Lee, 65. Lee said that he used to complain about local roads, “but now I never want them to fill in another pothole.”
GREAT CITIES ON TWO WHEELS
Thanks to an explosion in bike-share systems and a general appreciation for bike culture, making cycling a central part of your travels is becoming easier and easier. You don't have to throw down, pack your bicycle and head off on a full cycle tour to get the pleasure of seeing a place on two wheels; there are plenty of cities around the world that are bike-friendly and perfect for anyone who enjoys the thrills of riding in a new place.
Here are the ten best places to explore by bike. (click below to read more)
CHARITY OF THE WEEK
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The Melanoma Research Foundation (melanoma.org) is the world’s largest independent organization devoted to addressing melanoma, the fastest-growing form of skin cancer. The MRF supports medical research to find effective treatments and eventually a cure for melanoma, which can also occur in the eyes, in mucous membranes, and beneath fingernails and toenails. As well as educating patients and physicians about the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of melanoma, the MRF advocates for the melanoma community and raises awareness of the disease. It urges everyone to check their skin regularly for suspicious moles or lesions and to apply sunscreen, since most melanomas are attributed to exposure to ultraviolet light. The MRF’s website is the premier source for those seeking information about melanoma.
The charity has earned a four-star overall rating from Charity Navigator, which rates 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 rating.
TODAY IN HISTORY
July 28
| 1540 | Henry VIII of England marries Catherine Howard; Thomas Cromwell is beheaded on Tower Hill in England. | |
| 1615 | French explorer Samuel de Champlain discovers Lake Huron on his seventh voyage to the New World. | |
| 1794 | Robespierre is beheaded in France. | |
| 1808 | Sultan Mustapha of the Ottoman Empire is deposed and his cousin Mahmud II gains the throne. | |
| 1835 | King Louis-Philippe of France survives an assassination attempt. | |
| 1863 | Confederate John Mosby begins a series of attacks against General Meade's Army of the Potomac. | |
| 1868 | The 14th Amendment to the Constitution, which guarantees citizenship to all those born or naturalized in the United States, is adopted. | |
| 1898 | Spain, through the offices of the French embassy in Washington, D.C., requests peace terms in its war with the United States. | |
| 1914 | Austria-Hungary declares war on Serbia, beginning World War I. | |
| 1920 | Pancho Villa surrenders to the Mexican government. | |
| 1932 | The Bonus Army of impoverished World War I veterans is violently pushed out of Washington, D.C. | |
| 1941 | A Japanese army lands on the coast of Cochin, China (modern day Vietnam). | |
| 1945 | A B-25 bomber crashes into the Empire State Building in New York City, killing 13 people. | |
| 1965 | President Lyndon Johnson sends an additional 50,000 troops to South Vietnam. | |
| 1988 | Israeli diplomats arrive in Moscow for the first time in 21 years. | |
| 1990 | A fire at an electrical substation causes a blackout in Chicago. Some 40,000 people were without power for up to three days. | |
| 1996 | Discovery of remains of a prehistoric man near Kennewick, Washington, casts doubts on accepted beliefs of when, how and where the Americas were populated. | |
| 2005 | Irish Republican Army (IRA) announces an end to its 30-year armed campaign in Northern Ireland. | |
| 2005 | Britain experiences its most costly tornado to date, causing 40 million Sterling Pounds of damage to Birmingham in just four minutes. There were no fatalities. |
AVOIDING SCREEN FATIGUE
Take more eye naps. People blink two thirds less often when they’re looking at computer or other display screens, causing dryness and irritation. To keep eyes moist, “use the 20-20-20 rule”: Develop a habit of looking at something at least 20 feet away for at least 20 seconds every 20 minutes.
Try a different font. Check your computer’s default font. Fonts like Times New Roman that adorn letters with small tails, or serifs, can strain eyes by slowing word recognition. Sans-serif fonts that provide ample space between letters—such as Arial or Verdana—can be easier on the eyes.
Keep screens clean. Your eyes have to cross inward every time you focus on an image close to you. Since fingerprint smudges and dust make the focusing more difficult, wipe your screen once daily with a microfiber cloth.
TRIVIA Q & A
What object is typically used to seal a Codd-neck bottle? (Other than the washer)
(click below for the answer)
(click below for the answer)
THE FIRST WORD
olid
PRONUNCIATION:
(O-lid) 
MEANING:
adjective: Foul-smelling.
ETYMOLOGY:
From Latin olere (to smell) which also gave us an opposite of today's word: redolent. Earliest documented use: 1680.
USAGE:
"Ducks' blood smells no less olid than pig's blood."
Merilyn Oniszczuk Jackson; A Sow of Violence; The Massachusetts Review (Amherst); Autumn 2004.
Merilyn Oniszczuk Jackson; A Sow of Violence; The Massachusetts Review (Amherst); Autumn 2004.
Saturday, July 27, 2013
PEOPLE BEING PEOPLE
Wanda Podgurski of California fled rather than face California charges of insurance fraud, taunting a prosecutor with a tweet reading, “Catch me if you can.” Police used her Twitter account to trace her to Mexico, where she was arrested.
A NAME CHANGE FOR THE PHILIIPPINES?
Does the Philippines need a new name? asked Conrado de Quiros. A government commission has proposed changing the country’s official designation to Filipinas, short for Las Islas Filipinas, our original Spanish name. But that would still leave us named for King Philip II, whose forces colonized the islands in the 16th century. (click below to read more)
BIG BROTHER STRIKES AGAIN
China has made it a crime for adult children to neglect their elderly parents. Millions of Chinese workers now live thousands of miles away from their parents, and the tradition of filial piety has lapsed. Under a law that took effect last week, those who fail to visit or call can be fined. The law doesn’t spell out how many visits are required, though, so it’s up to disgruntled parents to lodge complaints. Almost immediately, vendors on Taobao, China’s largest e-commerce website, began offering to send strangers on filial visits. “We offer services such as chatting, celebrating birthdays, and even performances,” one vendor told the Shanghai Daily.
YOUR NEXT HOUSE
DO YOU REMEMBER?
When it comes to scholastic studies, most kids loathe having to memorize things. When it comes to song lyrics, however, most kids can master them after only hearing the words a handful of times. With this in mind,Schoolhouse Rock debuted in 1972, catching children off-guard with their infectious little tunes that taught important lessons about history, science and grammar – without most kids ever realizing what was going on. How well did it work? Well, decades later, many of us can still remember the lyrics to some of our favoriteSchoolhouse Rock segments as if it were yesterday. Let’s take a look back at these perpetually-popular educational shorts. (click below to read more)
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