PIX OF THE DAY

SNAPSHOT

A REAL "BIG" BAND SOUND

The Thai Elephant Orchestra may be literally the biggest band in the world. The players, all retired work elephants based in Lampang, Thailand, have been trained to play supersized percussion instruments with their trunks. The orchestra was co-founded by Columbia University neuroscientist David Sulzer, who built an enormous xylophone, marimbas, and drums, along with mallets for the pachyderms to strike them with. The band’s three albums are so accomplished, Sulzer claims, that one music critic was convinced he was hearing professional musicians. “[He] said, ‘I bet it’s a new music group from Asia.’ I said, ‘You got it.’”

KOREANS JOIN WORLD'S BIGGEST COMMERCIAL

By Oh-Sin Kwon, Rotary Public Image Coordinator for Zone 9, 10A Korea

I was shocked, and a little ashamed, to learn in early December that only a handful of Korean Rotarians had taken part in the efforts to make The World’s Biggest Commercial. South Korea, home to more than 60,000 Rotarians, is a strong Rotary country and has contributed more than US$10 million annually to The Rotary Foundation in the last three years.I knew I had to take steps immediately to reverse this situation. I share some of these here in the hope of inspiring other Rotarians to get involved, and get others involved, in this important campaign. (click below to read more)

CHANGE FOR THE BETTER

A man who was once one of the most notorious jewel thieves in the U.S. has cleaned up his act enough to become an honorary police officer—the first ex-con in the country to receive the honor. Larry Lawton spent 11 years in a federal prison after being convicted of racketeering. The grim experience of being in jail led him to change his life, and since his release in 2007 he has become a motivational speaker discouraging young people from turning to crime. Lawton, 52, was sworn into the Lake St. Louis, Mo., police department this week.

ONE QUESTION BEFORE YOU EAT

ROTARACT MEMBERS FIGHTING ZOMBIES

YOUR NEXT HOUSE

Edgewood, Wash.: This four-bedroom home is set on 4.6 acres with panoramic views of Mount Rainier. Interior details include a custom marble fireplace, a gourmet kitchen with cherry cabinets, a breakfast nook with French doors, and a separate guest area with kitchen. The fully fenced property also features fruit trees, a pool, and a patio. $1,245,000.

TODAY IN HISTORY

August 31

1303		The War of Vespers in Sicily ends with an agreement between Charles of Valois, who invaded the country, and Frederick, the ruler of Sicily.
1756		The British at Fort William Henry, New York, surrender to Louis Montcalm of France.
1802		Captain Merriwether Lewis leaves Pittsburgh to meet up with Captain William Clark and begin their trek to the Pacific Ocean.
1864		At the Democratic convention in Chicago, General George B. McClellan is nominated for president.
1919		The Communist Labor Party is founded in Chicago, with the motto, "Workers of the world unite!"
1928		Kurt Weill's The Threepenny Opera opens in Berlin.
1940		Joseph Avenol steps down as Secretary-General of the League of Nations.
1942		The British army under General Bernard Law Montgomery defeats Field Marshal Erwin Rommel's Afrika Korps in the Battle of Alam Halfa in Egypt.
1944		The British Eighth Army penetrates the German Gothic Line in Italy.
1949		Six of the 16 surviving Union veterans of the Civil War attend the last-ever encampment of the Grand Army of the Republic, held in Indianapolis, Indiana.
1951		The 1st Marine Division begins its attack on Bloody Ridge in Korea. The four-day battle results in 2,700 Marine casualties.
1961		A concrete wall replaces the barbed wire fence that separates East and West Germany, it will be called the Berlin wall.
1965		US Congress creates Department of Housing & Urban Development.
1968		The Dasht-e Bayaz 7.3 earthquake in NE Iran completely destroys five villages and severely damages six others.
1970		Lonnie McLucas convicted of torturing and murdering fellow Black Panther Party member Alex Rackley in the first of the New Haven Black Panther Trials.
1980		Polish government forced to sign Gdansk Agreement allowing creation of the trade union Solidarity.
1985		Police capture Richard Ramirez, dubbed the "Night Stalker" for a string of gruesome murders that stretched from Mission Viejo to San Francisco, Cal.
1986		A Russian cargo ship collides with cruise ship Admiral Nakhimov, killing 398.
1987		Longest mine strike in South Africa's history ends, after 11 people were killed, 500 injured and 400 arrested.
1990		East and West Germany sign the Treaty of Unification (Einigungsvertrag) to join their legal and political systems.
1990		Ken Griffey and Ken Griffey Jr. become first father and son to play on same team simultaneously in professional baseball (Seattle Mariners).
1994		Last Russian troops leave Estonia and Latvia.
1994		The Irish Republican Army (IRA) announces a "complete cessation of military operations," opening the way to a political settlement in Ireland for the first time in a quarter of a century.
1997		Diana, Princess of Wales, dies in a Paris car crash along with her companion Dodi Fayed and driver Henri Paul while fleeing paparazzi.
1997		New York Yankees retire Don Mattingly's #23 (first baseman, coach, manager).
2006		Edvard Munch's famed painting The Scream recovered by Norwegian police. The artwork had been stolen on Aug. 22, 2004.

AND I QUOTE

“A goal is a dream with a deadline.”-Napoleon Hill

PIX OF THE DAY

SMILE

There was this guy in his car who had ten peguins in the back seat, and a cop came up to him and said "It's illegal to have those penguins, you need to take them to the zoo."

The next day the cop saw the man again with the same penguins in the back seat except they had sunglasses and towels.

The cop said "Hey, I thought I told you to take those penguins to the zoo!"

The guy said "I did, today I'm taking them to the beach!"

SNAPSHOT

THE BOTTOM LINE

Although the gap is slowly closing, the average American woman’s retirement account is worth 38.25 percent less than the average man’s.
PBS.org

WE'RE # 1

Newark, N.J., which was voted the world’s unfriendliest city by readers of Condé Nast Traveler, edging out Islamabad (No. 2) and Oakland (No. 3). Newark residents denied that they’re rude. “You’ve got a lot of people who will speak to you,” said one local, “even the people who are homeless.”

OLD BADGES, MEET THE NEW ONES

TRAVEL NO NO'S

The British Foreign Office has released a warning about strange foreign laws after a report revealed that nearly a third of Britons seeking consular assistance were arrested or detained abroad. They say many travelers don't realize that activities that are perfectly legal at home could get you locked up or fined in another country.

A few of the unusual foreign laws they highlighted include:
Venice: It's illegal to feed pigeons here. (click below to read more)

TODAY IN HISTORY

August 30

30 BC		Cleopatra VII, Queen of Egypt, commits suicide.
1617		Rosa de Lima of Peru becomes the first American saint to be canonized.
1721		The Peace of Nystad ends the Second Northern War between Sweden and Russia, giving Russia considerably more power in the Baltic region.
1781		The French fleet arrives in the Chesapeake Bay to aid the American Revolution.
1813		Creek Indians massacre over 500 whites at Fort Mims Alabama.
1860		The first British tramway is inaugurated at Birkenhead by an American, George Francis Train.
1861		Union General John Fremont declares martial law throughout Missouri and makes his own emancipation proclamation to free slaves in the state. President Lincoln overrules the general.
1892		The Moravia, a passenger ship arriving from Germany, brings cholera to the United States.
1932		Nazi leader Hermann Goering is elected president of the Reichstag.
1944		Ploesti, the center of the Rumanian oil industry, falls to Soviet troops.
1961		President John F. Kennedy appoints General Lucius D. Clay as his personal representative in Berlin.
1963		Hot Line communications link installed between Moscow and Washington, DC.
1967		US Senate confirms Thurgood Marshall as first African-American Supreme Court justice.
1976		Tom Brokaw becomes news anchor of Today Show.
1979		First recorded instance of a comet (Howard-Koomur-Michels) hitting the sun; the energy released is equal to approximately 1 million hydrogen bombs.
1982		Yasser Arafat, leader of the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) forced out of Lebanon after 10 years in Beirut during Lebanese Civil War.
1983		Lieutenant Colonel Guion S. Bluford, Jr., becomes the first African-American astronaut to travel in space.
1986		KGB arrest journalist Nicholas Daniloff (US News World Report) on a charge of spying and hold him for 13 days.
1983		Eiffel Tower welcomes its 150 millionth visitor, 33-year-old Parisian Jacqueline Martinez.

TRIVIA Q & A

Within 25 feet, how many feet are in 1 kilometer?
(click below for the answer)

THE FIRST WORD

aspirate

PRONUNCIATION:

(verb: AS-puh-rayt, noun: AS-puhr-it) 

MEANING:

verb tr.:
1. To pronounce a sound with an exhalation of breath.
2. To pronounce the h sound at the beginning of a word as (hwich) for which.
3. To inhale something (such as a fluid) into the lungs, as after throwing up.
4. To draw a fluid from a body cavity by suction.

noun:
1. The sound represented by h.
2. A speech sound followed by an audible puff of breath.
3. The matter removed from a body cavity by suction.

ETYMOLOGY:

From Latin aspirare (to breathe, blow). Earliest documented use: 1669.

USAGE:

"Woody Allen's tone is often aspirated and screechy, lacking the clarinet's melted chocolate smoothness."
Steven Mirkin; Woody Allen and His New Orleans Jazz Band at UCLA; The Hollywood Reporter; Dec 31, 2011.

PIX OF THE DAY

DON'T TEXT AND DRIVE AROUND THIS GUY

MEETING PROGRAM AUGUST 29, 2013

Adam King shares his passion for, and the success of, the Wine To Water Program. The program helps to  provide clean water to some of the 1 billion people who lack access to. Additional information can be found on the web site www.winetowater.org

WELL SAID

ONLY IN AMERICA

Los Angeles private schools are hiring celebrity photographers to take student yearbook photos. Photographer Vince Bucci, who has taken portraits of Kim Kardashian and Avril Lavigne, makes elementary-school kids look like stars, so other schools are jumping on the trend. “Last year we had a parent apply to the school based on the amazing photos in the yearbook,” says a teacher at Hollywood Schoolhouse.

ALL I DO IS COLLECT YOUR TAXES

GRANDMOTHER WOULD BE PROUD

A maximum-security prison in Brazil offered its inmates a new way to win early release: knitting. The convicts—who include armed robbers and murderers—get a day off their sentence for every three days they spend knitting.

TODAY IN HISTORY

August 29

70		The Temple of Jerusalem burns after a nine-month Roman siege.
1526		Ottoman Suleiman the Magnificent crushes a Hungarian army under Lewis II at the Battle of Mohacs.
1533		In Peru, the Inca chief Atahualpa is executed by orders of Francisco Pizarro, although the chief had already paid his ransom.
1776		General George Washington retreats during the night from Long Island to New York City.
1793		Slavery is abolished in Santo Domingo.
1862		Union General John Pope's army is defeated by a smaller Confederate force at the Second Battle of Bull Run.
1882		Australia defeats England in cricket for the first time. The following day a obituary appears in the Sporting Times addressed to the British team.
1942		The American Red Cross announces that Japan has refused to allow safe conduct for the passage of ships with supplies for American prisoners of war.
1945		U.S. airborne troops are landed in transport planes at Atsugi airfield, southwest of Tokyo, beginning the occupation of Japan.
1949		USSR explodes its first atomic bomb, "First Lightning."
1950		International Olympic Committee votes to allow West Germany and Japan to compete in 1952 games.
1952		In the largest bombing raid of the Korean War, 1,403 planes of the Far East Air Force bomb Pyongyang, North Korea.
1957		US Congress passes Civil Rights Act of 1957 after Strom Thurmond (Sen-D-SC) ends 24-hour filibuster, the longest in Senate history, against the bill.
1960		US U-2 spy plane spots SAM (surface-to-air) missile launch pads in Cuba.
1964		Mickey Mantle ties Babe Ruth's career strikeout record (1,330).
1965		Astronauts L. Gordon Cooper Jr. and Charles "Pete" Conrad Jr complete 120 Earth orbits in Gemini 5, marking the first time the US set an international duration record for a manned space mission.
1966		The Beatles give their last public concert (Candlestick Park, San Francisco).
1968		Democrats nominate Hubert H Humphrey for president at their Chicago convention.
1977		Lou Brock (St Louis Cardinals) breaks Ty Cobb's 49-year-old career stolen bases record at 893.
1986		Morocco's King Hassan II signs unity treaty with Libya's Muammar Gadhafi, strengthening political and economic ties and creating a mutual defense pact.
1991		USSR's parliament suspends Communist Party activities in the wake of a failed coup.
1992		Thousands of Germans demonstrate against a wave of racist attacks aimed at immigrants.
1995		NATO launches Operation Deliberate Force against Bosnian Serb forces.
2003		A terrorist bomb kills Ayatollah Sayed Mohammed Baqir al-Hakim, the Shia Muslim leader in Iraq, and nearly 100 worshippers as they leave a mosque in Najaf where the ayatollah had called for Iraqi unity.
2005		Rains from Hurricane Katrina cause a levee breech at the Industrial Canal in New Orleans, causing severe flooding.
2012		The Egyptian Army's Operation Eagle results in the deaths of 11 suspected terrorists and the arrest of another 23.

AND I QUOTE

"A creative man is motivated by the desire to achieve, not by the desire to beat others."- Ayn Rand

PIX OF THE DAY

SNAPSHOT

POLIO ERADICATION IN NIGERIA

By Obiya Williams, a member of the Rotaract Club of Abakaliki, Nigeria

During the second week of January, I was invited by a friend to a seminar in Abakaliki organized by the World Health Organization to train youth to assist in monitoring immunization efforts. At the end of the program, they conduct a test. (click below to read more)

WORKIN' THE ROOM

THE REACH OF SOCIAL MEDIA

IT WORKED

Gryffin Sanders, 10, took control of a speeding car when his great-grandmother passed out behind the wheel, and steered the vehicle to safety. The Colorado boy credited his driving skills to the hours he’d spent playing Mario Kart.

PARTY CRASHER

TODAY IN HISTORY

August 28

1676		Indian chief King Philip, also known as Metacom, is killed by English soldiers, ending the war between Indians and colonists.
1862		Mistakenly believing the Confederate Army to be in retreat, Union General John Pope attacks, beginning the Battle of Groveten. Both sides sustain heavy casualties.
1914		Three German cruisers are sunk by ships of the Royal Navy in the Battle of Heligoland Bight, the first major naval battle of World War I.
1938		The first degree given to a ventriloquist's dummy is awarded to Charlie McCarthy–Edgar Bergen's wooden partner. The honorary degree, "Master of Innuendo and Snappy Comeback," is presented on radio by Ralph Dennis, the dean of the School of Speech at Northwestern University.
1941		The German U-boat U-570 is captured by the British and renamed Graph
1944		German forces in Toulon and Marseilles, France, surrender to the Allies.
1945		Chinese communist leader Mao Tse-Tung arrives in Chunking to confer with Nationalist leader Chiang Kai-Shek in a futile effort to avert civil war.
1963		One of the largest demonstrations in the history of the United States, the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, takes place and reaches its climax at the base of the Lincoln Memorial when Dr. Martin Luther King delivers his "I have a dream" speech.
1965		The Viet Cong are routed in the Mekong Delta by U.S. forces, with more than 50 killed.
1968		Clash between police and anti-war demonstrators during Democratic Party's National Convention in Chicago.
1979		Irish Republican Army (IRA) bomb explodes under bandstand in Brussels' Great Market as British Army musicians prepare for a performance; four British soldiers wounded.
1981		John Hinckley Jr. pleads innocent to attempting to assassinate Pres. Ronald Reagan.
1982		First Gay Games held, in San Francisco.
1983		Israeli's prime minister Menachem Begin announces his resignation.
1986		Bolivian president Victor Paz Estenssoro declares a state of siege and uses troops and tanks to halt a march by 10,000 striking tin miners.
1986		US Navy officer Jerry A. Whitworth given 365-year prison term for spying for USSR.
1993		Two hundred twenty-three die when a dam breaks at Qinghai (Kokonor), in northwest China.
2003		Power blackout affects half-million people in southeast England and halts 60% of London's underground trains.
2005		Hurricane Katrina reaches Category 5 strength; Louisiana Superdome opened as a "refuge of last resort" in New Orleans.

TRIVIA Q & A

What extinct animal appears as a supporter to the Coat of Arms of Mauritius?
(click below for the answer)

THE FIRST WORD

syncope

PRONUNCIATION:

(SING-kuh-pee) 

MEANING:

noun:
1. The shortening of a word by omission of sounds or letters from its middle. For example, did not to didn't or Worcester to Wooster.
2. Fainting caused by insufficient blood flow to the brain.

ETYMOLOGY:

From Latin syncope, from Greek synkope (contraction, cutting off), from syn- (together) + koptein (to cut). Earliest documented use: c. 1400.

USAGE:

"There were important books on vowel syncope in Greek and Indo-European."
Robert Coleman; Oswald Szemerenyi -- Hungary's Eclectic Cockney Linguist; The Guardian (London, UK); Feb 24, 1997.

PIX OF THE DAY

SERIOUSLY?

 A Czech man was allowed to wear a colander on his head for his driver’s license photo, claiming the headgear was required by his religion, Pastafarianism. Officials cited the nation’s religious equality laws in granting the request.

PEOPLE BEING PEOPLE

Tina Marie Garrison, 37, and her son Junior Lee Dillon, 18, of Preston, Minn., were charged in June with stealing almost $5,000 worth of gopher feet from the freezer of a gopher trapper in Granger, Minn., and selling them for the local offered bounty of $3 per pair. Garrison, Dillon, and the victimized trapper were friends, and it was not clear why the thinly populated gopher-foot market would not have deterred Garrison and Dillon. [Post-Bulletin (Rochester, Minn.), 6-18-2013]

HERE'S A THOUGHT

HALF-BAKED BAGUETTE

PARIS—Dominique Anract, a baker in Paris's 16th arrondissement, sells about 1,500 baguettes every day, and most of them he wouldn't want to eat himself. The vast majority of his customers, he says, choose the whitest, least-baked baguette on display. So he and his team take 90% of the loaves out of the oven before they are done. "If those were for me, we'd keep them all in two to three minutes longer," he says. "But that's not my call—it's the customer's." (click below to read more)

FRESH QUACAMOLE

TOMORROW