THE FIRST WORD

bumbledom

PRONUNCIATION:

(BUHM-buhl-duhm) 

MEANING:

noun: Behavior characteristic of a pompous and self-important petty official.

ETYMOLOGY:

After Mr. Bumble in Charles Dickens's novel Oliver Twist. Bumble was a fussy, self-important beadle (a minor parish officer) of the workhouse where Oliver Twist was born. Earliest documented use: 1856.

USAGE:

"We regret to record the death of Albury-Wodonga with a hyphen. ... Bumbledom in the two councils has decreed the hyphen must go from stationery and signs."
Howard Jones; Political Doublespeak is Sad Legacy for Border Folk; The Border Mail (Wodonga, Australia); Aug 23, 2007.

PIX OF THE DAY

AROUND THE GLOBE

WHAT WE CAN LEARN FROM NAKED MOLE RATS

Naked mole rats—hairless rodents that reside underground in East Africa—have amazed scientists with their longevity. Though they are the same size as their mice cousins, they can live for 30 years, whereas mice live only about two. Now researchers have discovered one possible reason for the mole rats’ extraordinary lifespan: They are extremely accurate at producing proteins, the building blocks of cells. In humans and other animals, the accumulation of proteins that contain errors, known as “junk” proteins, clogs cells and leads to signs of aging: sagging skin, slower metabolism, and diseases such as Alzheimer’s. But in producing proteins, naked mole rats make up to 10 times fewer mistakes than mice do. Researchers say understanding how mole rats stave off aging could lead to new treatments for people. “Every time we look at the naked mole rat,” study author Vera Gorbunova of the University of Rochester tells LATimes.com, “there’s something unexpected and something that could be potentially useful to humans.” Another example: Mole rats never get cancer.

JUST FOR PUN

"Always trust a glue salesman. They tend to stick to their word.”

PEOPLE BEING PEOPLE

A Czech man who was kicked out of a restaurant used a chain saw to cut his way back in so he could finish his dessert. Petr Svacha, 36, was halfway through his chocolate pudding when the eatery’s staff told him to leave, saying it was closing time. The disgruntled diner walked out, and returned with a chain saw. “He sliced a hole in the door, climbed inside, and went to his table,” said a police spokesman. A waiter tackled -Svacha and held him until police arrived and arrested him.

SNAPSHOT

A DIFFERENT KIND OF BRIDGE

ROTARY FLASH MOB

PEOPLE BEING PEOPLE

Massachusetts police seized a computer belonging to suspected bank robber Sarah McLoud, and allegedly discovered it had been used for Web searches that included: “What happens if you rob a bank” and “If you’re going to rob a bank.”

HEY BOYS, WHERE'S THE BEEF?

TODAY IN HISTORY

November 1

79		The city of Pompeii is buried by eruption of Mt. Vesuvius.
1512		Michelangelo's painting on the Sistine Chapel ceiling is exhibited for the first time.
1582		Maurice of Nassau, the son of William of Orange, becomes the governor of Holland, Zeeland and Utrecht.
1755		A great earthquake at Lisbon, Portugal, kills over 50,000 people.
1765		The Stamp Act goes into effect in the British colonies.
1861		Lieutenant General Winfield Scott, 50 year-veteran and leader of the U.S. Army at the onset of the Civil War, retires. General George McClellan is appointed general-in-chief of the Union armies.
1866		Wild woman of the west Myra Maybelle Shirley (Belle Starr) marries James C. Reed in Collins County, Texas.
1869		Louis Riel seizes Fort Garry, Winnipeg, during the Red River Rebellion.
1911		Italian planes perform the first aerial bombing on Tanguira oasis in Libya.
1923		Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company buys the rights to manufacture Zeppelin dirigibles.
1924		Legendary Oklahoma marshal Bill Tilghman, 71, is gunned down by a drunk in Cromwell, Oklahoma.
1936		Italian Fascist leader Benito Mussolini announces the Rome-Berlin axis after Count Ciano's visit to Germany.
1936		The Rodeo Cowboy's Association is founded.
1943		American troops invade Bougainville in the Solomon Islands.
1945		John H. Johnson publishes the first issue of Ebony magazine.
1950		Two members of a Puerto Rican nationalist movement attempt to assassinate President Harry S Truman.
1951		Algerian National Liberation Front begins guerrilla warfare against the French.
1967		The first issue of Rolling Stone hits the streets.
1968		President Lyndon B. Johnson calls a halt to bombing in Vietnam, hoping this will lead to progress at the Paris peace talks.
1968		The Motion Picture Association of America officially introduces its rating system to indicate age-appropriateness of film content.
1973		Leon Jaworski appointed as new Watergate Special  Prosecutor.
1981		Antigua and Barbuda gain independence from the United Kingdom.
1982		Honda opens a plant in Marysville, Ohio, becoming the first Asian automobile company to produce cars in the US.
2000		Serbia joins the United Nations.

AND I QUOTE

"Friendship makes prosperity more shining and lessens adversity by dividing and sharing it."-Cicero, 44 B.C.