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Image Credit & Copyright: Wally Pacholka (TWAN)
Explanation: Aloha and welcome to a breathtaking skyscape. The dreamlike panoramic view looks out from the 4,200 meter volcanic summit of
Mauna Kea, Hawai'i, across a layer of clouds toward a starry night sky and the rising Milky Way. Anchoring the scene on the far left is the dome of the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope (CFHT), with north star Polaris shining beyond the dome to the right. Farther right, headed by bright star Deneb, the Northern Cross asterism is embedded along the plane of the Milky Way as it peeks above the horizon. Both Northern Cross and brilliant white Vega hang over a foreground grouping of cinder cones. Near the center are the reddish nebulae, stars and dust clouds of the central Milky Way. Below, illumination from the city lights of Hilo creates an eerie, greenish glow in the clouds. Red supergiant star Antares shines above the Milky Way's central bulge while bright Alpha Centauri lies still farther right, along the dusty galactic plane. Finally, at the far right is the large Gemini North Observatory. The compact group of stars known as the Southern Cross is just left of the telescope dome. Need some help identifying the stars? Just slide your cursor over the picture, or download this smaller, labeled panorama.
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Image Credit & Copyright: Nicole Ottawa & Oliver Meckes / Eye of Science / Science Source Images
Explanation: Is this an alien? Probably not, but of all the animals on Earth, the tardigrade might be the best candidate. That's because tardigrades are known to be able to go for decades without food or water, to survive temperatures from near absolute zero to well above the boiling point of water, to survive pressures from near zero to well above that on ocean floors, and to survive direct exposure to dangerous radiations. The far-ranging survivability of these extremophiles was tested in 2011 outside an orbiting space shuttle. Tardigrades are so durable partly because they can repair their own DNA and reduce their body water content to a few percent. Some of these miniature water-bears almost became extraterrestrials recently when they were launched toward to the Martian moon Phobos on board the Russian mission Fobos-Grunt, but stayed terrestrial when a rocket failed and the capsule remained in Earth orbit. Tardigrades are more common than humans across most of the Earth. Pictured above in a color-enhanced electron micrograph, a millimeter-long tardigrade crawls on moss.
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Toyota i-Road happily cruises the French seaside
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Researchers find the legendary sunstone
A rough, whitish block recovered from an Elizabethan shipwreck may be a sunstone, the fabled crystal believed by some to have helped Vikings and other medieval seafarers navigate the high seas, researchers say.
In a paper published earlier this week, a Franco-British group argued that the Alderney Crystal – a chunk of Icelandic calcite found amid a 16th century wreck at the bottom of the English Channel – worked as a kind of solar compass, allowing sailors to determine the position of the sun even when it was hidden by heavy cloud, masked by fog, or below the horizon.
That’s because of a property known as birefringence, which splits light beams in a way that can reveal the direction of their source with a high degree of accuracy.
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"A farmer in Oregon was eaten by his pigs. The pigs ate the farmer. But in the overall race, humans are still way ahead." -Jay Leno
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"You know what Portland has lot of? Microbreweries. I think they are like regular breweries, but only serve midgets." -Craig Ferguson
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"There's a new technique that lets doctors perform kidney transplants in 45 minutes. Because when you're getting a kidney transplant, your main concern is always, 'Can you do it in less than an hour?'" -Jimmy Fallon
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"A farmer in Oregon was eaten by his pigs. The pigs ate the farmer. But in the overall race, humans are still way ahead." -Jay Leno
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"You know what Portland has lot of? Microbreweries. I think they are like regular breweries, but only serve midgets." -Craig Ferguson
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"There's a new technique that lets doctors perform kidney transplants in 45 minutes. Because when you're getting a kidney transplant, your main concern is always, 'Can you do it in less than an hour?'" -Jimmy Fallon
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The Dog Needs Some Exercise
The veterinarian told the blonde that her dog needed some exercise.
"You need to make sure the dog runs around," the doctor said. "Try playing a game of fetch."
"I can't play fetch with my dog," the blonde said.
"Why not?" the doctor asked.
"Because," she replied, "He can't throw."
The veterinarian told the blonde that her dog needed some exercise.
"You need to make sure the dog runs around," the doctor said. "Try playing a game of fetch."
"I can't play fetch with my dog," the blonde said.
"Why not?" the doctor asked.
"Because," she replied, "He can't throw."
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Susan Boyle singing Wild Horses on America's Got Talent 2009
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"Doc I can't stop singing 'The Green, Green Grass of Home'"
"That sounds like Tom Jones syndrome."
"Is it common?"
"It's not unusual."
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"That sounds like Tom Jones syndrome."
"Is it common?"
"It's not unusual."
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A guy walks into the psychiatrist wearing only gladwrap for shorts.
The shrink says, "Well, I can clearly see you're nuts."
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The shrink says, "Well, I can clearly see you're nuts."
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Two huge 11 foot + gators fighting at The Eagles Golf Course in Tampa, FL. – May 2011
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There was a knock on the door this past Saturday morning.
I opened it to find a young, well-dressed man standing there who said : "Hello sir, I'm a Jehovah's Witness."
So I said "Come in and sit down."
I offered him a fresh cup of coffee and asked "What do you want to talk about?"
He said,
I opened it to find a young, well-dressed man standing there who said : "Hello sir, I'm a Jehovah's Witness."
So I said "Come in and sit down."
I offered him a fresh cup of coffee and asked "What do you want to talk about?"
He said,
"Beats the shit out of me, nobody ever let me in before."
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RANDOM TIDBITS
In 1690, the Massachusetts Bay Colony issued the first paper money in the colonies which would later form the United States.
In 1775, American colonists issued paper currency for the Continental Congress to finance the Revolutionary War. The notes were backed by the "anticipation" of tax revenues.
In 1781, to support the Revolutionary War, the Continental Congress chartered the Bank of North America in Philadelphia as the nation's first "real" bank.
In 1791, after adoption of the Constitution in 1789, Congress chartered the first Bank of the United States until 1811 and authorized it to issue paper bank notes to eliminate confusion and simplify trade. The bank served as the U.S. Treasury's fiscal agent, thus performing the first central bank functions.
In 1861, on the brink of bankruptcy and pressed to finance the Civil War, Congress authorized the United States Treasury to issue paper money for the first time in the form of non-interest bearing Treasury Notes call Demand Notes.
In 1877, the Department of the Treasury's Bureau of Engraving and Printing started printing all U.S. currency.
A shoplifter was caught red-handed trying to steal a watch from an exclusive jewelry store. "Listen," said the shoplifter, "I know you don't want any trouble either. What do you say I just buy the watch, and we forget about this?"
The manager agreed and wrote up the sales slip. The crook looked at the slip and said, "This is a little more than I intended to spend. Can you show me something less expensive?"
In 1690, the Massachusetts Bay Colony issued the first paper money in the colonies which would later form the United States.
In 1775, American colonists issued paper currency for the Continental Congress to finance the Revolutionary War. The notes were backed by the "anticipation" of tax revenues.
In 1781, to support the Revolutionary War, the Continental Congress chartered the Bank of North America in Philadelphia as the nation's first "real" bank.
In 1791, after adoption of the Constitution in 1789, Congress chartered the first Bank of the United States until 1811 and authorized it to issue paper bank notes to eliminate confusion and simplify trade. The bank served as the U.S. Treasury's fiscal agent, thus performing the first central bank functions.
In 1861, on the brink of bankruptcy and pressed to finance the Civil War, Congress authorized the United States Treasury to issue paper money for the first time in the form of non-interest bearing Treasury Notes call Demand Notes.
In 1877, the Department of the Treasury's Bureau of Engraving and Printing started printing all U.S. currency.
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Random thoughts
- If you carpeted the inside of your van, would you get a lot of static for it?
- If you hoard mortar on the border does that make you a Mortar Border Hoarder?
- Here's a great name for a sporting goods store: "Balls, Sticks, and Jocks!"
- Common sense is not too common. Neither is common courtesy. Or common knowledge.
- Is whiskey at any point during its production come in contact with a whisk?
I don't know karate, but I know ka-razy!
- If you carpeted the inside of your van, would you get a lot of static for it?
- If you hoard mortar on the border does that make you a Mortar Border Hoarder?
- Here's a great name for a sporting goods store: "Balls, Sticks, and Jocks!"
- Common sense is not too common. Neither is common courtesy. Or common knowledge.
- Is whiskey at any point during its production come in contact with a whisk?
I don't know karate, but I know ka-razy!
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Paying the Price
A shoplifter was caught red-handed trying to steal a watch from an exclusive jewelry store. "Listen," said the shoplifter, "I know you don't want any trouble either. What do you say I just buy the watch, and we forget about this?"
The manager agreed and wrote up the sales slip. The crook looked at the slip and said, "This is a little more than I intended to spend. Can you show me something less expensive?"
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Genius! ----- 1-2-3 Cake. I love this idea!!!
You need two boxes of cake mix. One can be any flavor you prefer, but the other MUST be Angel Food cake mix. Mix them together (shake them in a big bowl). Then simply store the mixture in an airtight container until you get the urge for dessert. Then just put three Tbsp. of the dry mixture in a big coffee mug and stir in 2 Tbsp of water. Microwave it for one minute and you will have a single serving of cake! Top with fruit, ice cream, whipped cream or whatever! Awesome for those of us who want something sweet every now without making an entire cake!
You need two boxes of cake mix. One can be any flavor you prefer, but the other MUST be Angel Food cake mix. Mix them together (shake them in a big bowl). Then simply store the mixture in an airtight container until you get the urge for dessert. Then just put three Tbsp. of the dry mixture in a big coffee mug and stir in 2 Tbsp of water. Microwave it for one minute and you will have a single serving of cake! Top with fruit, ice cream, whipped cream or whatever! Awesome for those of us who want something sweet every now without making an entire cake!
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Q and A Quickies
Q: What did one vampire say to the other as they were passing the morgue?
A: Let's stop in for a cool one.
Q: Which day is stronger, Sunday or Monday?
A: Sunday. Monday is a weekday.
Q: What does an envelope say when you lick it?
A: Nothing. It just shuts up.
Q: What did one vampire say to the other as they were passing the morgue?
A: Let's stop in for a cool one.
Q: Which day is stronger, Sunday or Monday?
A: Sunday. Monday is a weekday.
Q: What does an envelope say when you lick it?
A: Nothing. It just shuts up.
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Our lives are defined by opportunities. Even the ones we miss. ~ F. Scott Fitzgerald
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As amazing and complex as the human body is, we are blind and deaf to most of the world around us. Consider...
Humans can see less than 1 percent of the electromagnetic spectrum and hear less than 1 percent of the acoustic spectrum.
The existence of the rainbow depends on the conical photo-receptors in your eyes. To animals without cones the rainbow does not exist. So you don't just look at a rainbow, you create it.
Humans can see less than 1 percent of the electromagnetic spectrum and hear less than 1 percent of the acoustic spectrum.
The existence of the rainbow depends on the conical photo-receptors in your eyes. To animals without cones the rainbow does not exist. So you don't just look at a rainbow, you create it.
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Every photographer wishes they might capture moments like these ...
TY Brian
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Nobody made a greater mistake than he who did nothing because he could do only a little.--Edmund Burke~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"A team of British engineers have developed a car that runs on human waste. I'll bet that new car smell doesn't last very long." -Jay Leno
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Also known as 'women's intuition,' this sixth sense thing is no myth. Women seem to know what's going on in their man's lives almost better than they do.
Why is this?
In the early 80's researchers discovered that women have more connections between the brain's two hemispheres than men do. It's these connections that allow them to put together a puzzle from seemingly unconnectable pieces...
That, and they go through your shit while you're in the shower.
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Also known as 'women's intuition,' this sixth sense thing is no myth. Women seem to know what's going on in their man's lives almost better than they do.
Why is this?
In the early 80's researchers discovered that women have more connections between the brain's two hemispheres than men do. It's these connections that allow them to put together a puzzle from seemingly unconnectable pieces...
That, and they go through your shit while you're in the shower.
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Boy, 7, suspended over pastry shape
BALTIMORE - A Maryland father said it was "insanity" to suspend his 7-year-old son from school for chewing his breakfast pastry into the shape of a gun. Josh Welch, a second-grader at Park Elementary School in Baltimore, said he was trying to chew his breakfast pastry into the shape of a mountain during breakfast at the school Friday, WBFF-TV, Baltimore, reported Monday. "It was already a rectangle and I just kept on biting it and biting it and tore off the top and it kinda looked like a gun but it wasn't." the boy said. "All I was trying to do was turn it into a mountain but, it didn't look like a mountain really and it turned out to be a gun kinda." However, he said he knew he was in "big trouble" when a teacher saw what he created. B.J. Welch, the boy's father, said he was shocked when Josh was suspended for two days. "I would almost call it insanity. I mean with all the potential issues that could be dealt with at school, real threats, bullies, whatever the real issue is, it's a pastry ... ya know?" The school sent a note home with students Friday afternoon. "A student used food to make an inappropriate gesture," the note read.
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"[Water is] the only drink for a wise man."- Henry David Thoreau
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"Every moment of one's existence one is growing into more or retreating into less." - Norman Mailer
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Death and Finances: Eight Things to Do After a Loved One Passes Away
Compiling these facts about the way things were in the past made me think about how much things change - and how quickly it happens. I was reading a list the other day about things I used when I was growing up in the 1990s, and top on the list were cassette tapes and video tapes for the VCR. Now, you'd be hard-pressed to even find either of these, let alone a VCR. I can only imagine how much things will continue to change in the next 20 years...
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"I don't give a damn for a man that can only spell a word one way."- Mark Twain
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Aliens in a Box
http://www.addictinggames.com/puzzle-games/aliens-in-a-box-game.jsp
From Addicting Games.com: Aliens like to travel, but some are cheap. So they ship themselves by Galactic Parcel Service! Use your mighty powers of gravity to drop the little green dudes into the box. Speed counts, because these aliens absolutely, positively need to be there overnight. Serious.
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From Addicting Games.com: Aliens like to travel, but some are cheap. So they ship themselves by Galactic Parcel Service! Use your mighty powers of gravity to drop the little green dudes into the box. Speed counts, because these aliens absolutely, positively need to be there overnight. Serious.
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Drinks Are On Me
One night, a drunk comes stumbling into a bar and says to the bartender: "Drinks for all on me including you, bartender." So the bartender follows the mans orders and says: "That will be $36.50 please." The drunk says he has no money so the bartender slaps him around and throws him out.
The next night the same drunk comes in again and orders a drink for everyone in the bar including the bartender. Again the bartender follows instructions and again the drunk says he has no money. So the bartender slaps him around and throws him out.
On the third night he comes in, the drunk orders drinks for all except the bartender. "What, no drink for me?" replies the bartender. "Oh, no. You get violent when you drink."
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"Pope Benedict is officially retired. Apparently there was some last-minute tension at the Vatican because they wouldn't give the Pope his security deposit back." -Craig Ferguson
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"Sequesters; any idea what those are? The star of 'Rocky' was Sequester Stallone. That's about as close as I can come." -Dave Letterman
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"Sequesters; any idea what those are? The star of 'Rocky' was Sequester Stallone. That's about as close as I can come." -Dave Letterman
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Thanks Rich
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Dubbed “The Punisher,” Alexei Volkov takes a zero-tolerance approach to being cut off while driving his bus on Russia’s roads.
Day or night, rain, snow or shine, whenever an errant driver gets in his way, Volkov rams his bus into the offending vehicle without apology — and records it all on his dashboard camera.
The bus driver then documents the collisions by posting the video footage on YouTube.
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Have You Ever Seen This Fruit Before – Pandanus Tectorius
looks yummy and kinda like a super nova.
Pandanus tectorius is a species of Pandanus
... The fruit has many uses: food, leaves of the tree can be tied around food and cooked within, leaves can be weaved into items from baskets to boat sails, medicince and even clothing.
Click the Link to read about it
http://
Pandanus tectorius is a species of Pandanus
... The fruit has many uses: food, leaves of the tree can be tied around food and cooked within, leaves can be weaved into items from baskets to boat sails, medicince and even clothing.
Click the Link to read about it
http://
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Q and A Quickies
Q: What did the fisherman say to the magician?
A: Take a cod, any cod.
Q: Why don't you ever see chickens in the zoo?
A: Because they can't afford the admission.
Q and A Quickies
Q: What did the fisherman say to the magician?
A: Take a cod, any cod.
Q: Why don't you ever see chickens in the zoo?
A: Because they can't afford the admission.
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Have you ever heard the phrase, "Never bring a knife to a gun fight?" If you believe in the validity of this sage advice you might also think it would be poor judgment to bring a toy to a gun fight.
The perpetrator in today's story would agree with you.
34-year-old Michael Oliva was charged in federal court in connection to an attempted bank robbery in Trimble, MO. According to an affidavit Oliva entered the bank, allegedly pulled on a black mask and pointed what appeared to be a handgun at a bank employee and ordered her to give him the money in her teller drawer.
Instead of complying the employee dropped to the floor behind the teller station and began shouting for help. As she was crawling away, the affidavit says, she saw Oliva lean over the teller station and point his "weapon" at her.
A second bank employee, who was in an office, heard the shouts for help. He saw Oliva pointing a handgun at the first bank employee and retrieved a Smith & Wesson .357 revolver.
But instead of a shootout what occurred was a near execution, because Oliva didn't have a handgun, he had a plastic toy. Not knowing this, the second employee fired two rounds, the first shot striking Oliva in the face.
Apparently being shot in the face with a .357 was enough for him because he turned and fled. He was arrested a short time later with no money but in possession of an extra bullet.
Who says gun laws don't work?
The perpetrator in today's story would agree with you.
34-year-old Michael Oliva was charged in federal court in connection to an attempted bank robbery in Trimble, MO. According to an affidavit Oliva entered the bank, allegedly pulled on a black mask and pointed what appeared to be a handgun at a bank employee and ordered her to give him the money in her teller drawer.
Instead of complying the employee dropped to the floor behind the teller station and began shouting for help. As she was crawling away, the affidavit says, she saw Oliva lean over the teller station and point his "weapon" at her.
A second bank employee, who was in an office, heard the shouts for help. He saw Oliva pointing a handgun at the first bank employee and retrieved a Smith & Wesson .357 revolver.
But instead of a shootout what occurred was a near execution, because Oliva didn't have a handgun, he had a plastic toy. Not knowing this, the second employee fired two rounds, the first shot striking Oliva in the face.
Apparently being shot in the face with a .357 was enough for him because he turned and fled. He was arrested a short time later with no money but in possession of an extra bullet.
Who says gun laws don't work?
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"This horse meat scandal just keeps growing. In fact, in South Africa more than two-thirds of the meat products tested contained undeclared ingredients. Or as we call that in this country, a hot dog." -Jay Leno
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Something Wrong With Your Back
Quasimodo goes to a doctor for his annual checkup.
"I think something is wrong with your back," the doctor says.
"What makes you say that?" Quasimodo asks.
"I don't know," the doctor replies. "It's just a hunch."
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How About That Dance?
A rather awkward freshman finally got up the nerve to ask a pretty junior for a dance at the homecoming. She gave him the once-over and said, "Sorry, I won't dance with a child."
"Please forgive me," responded the underclassman, "I didn't realize you were pregnant."
How About That Dance?
A rather awkward freshman finally got up the nerve to ask a pretty junior for a dance at the homecoming. She gave him the once-over and said, "Sorry, I won't dance with a child."
"Please forgive me," responded the underclassman, "I didn't realize you were pregnant."
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"You can't believe how much hard work it is to con people into thinking that you're productive when you're unemployed. Always thinking up things to tell them you're going to do tomorrow, having to exaggerate every minute of your nowhere day...it's worse than having a job. At least when you're employed, when people ask about your day you can tell them to shut up and mind their own business." --Drew Carey
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Our 25-year-old son moved back home with an eye toward socking away money to buy a condo. We never bothered asking how long he'd planned to stay, but I got a pretty good idea when I walked into his room recently. In the corner was a milk jug with a few coins in it and a label that read "Condo down payment."
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QUOTE: "If your success is not on your own terms, if it looks good to the world but does not feel good in your heart, it is not success at all."
HINT: (1952-), American author, journalist, and opinion columnist whose New York Times column, Public and Private, won the Pulitzer Prize for Commentary in 1992.
HINT: (1952-), American author, journalist, and opinion columnist whose New York Times column, Public and Private, won the Pulitzer Prize for Commentary in 1992.
ANSWER: Anna Quindlen.
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Some people bend over backward not to insult others. A while ago, I overheard my sister, a travel agent, confirm her client's flight this way: "Your confirmation code is F as in Foxtrot, R as in Romeo, and I as in, uuuh, Native American."
Be curious, not judgmental.--Walt Whitman
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Out beyond ideas of wrong-doing and right-doing, there is a field. I'll meet you there.--Rumi
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But what is liberty without wisdom and without virtue? It is the greatest of all possible evils; for it is folly, vice, and madness, without tuition or restraint. Those who know what virtuous liberty is, cannot bear to see it disgraced by incapable heads, on account of their having high-sounding words in their mouths. --Edmund Burke
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Be curious, not judgmental.--Walt Whitman
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Out beyond ideas of wrong-doing and right-doing, there is a field. I'll meet you there.--Rumi
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It is ordained in the eternal constitution of things, that men of intemperate minds cannot be free. Their passions forge their fetters.--Edmund Burke
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A young man married a beautiful woman who had previously divorced 10 husbands. On their wedding night, she told her new husband to ‘Please be gentle; I’m still a virgin’.
‘What?’ said the puzzled groom.
‘How can that be possible if you’ve been married ten times.?’
‘Well, husband #1 was a Sales Representative; he just kept telling me how great it was going to be.
Husband #2 was in Software Services; he was never really sure how it was supposed to function; but he said he’d look into it and get back with me..
Husband #3 was from Field Services; he said that everything checked out diagnostically but he just couldn’t get the system up.
Husband #4 was in Telemarketing; even though he knew he had the order, he didn’t know when he would be able to deliver.
Husband #5 was an Engineer, he understood the basic process but he wanted three years to research, implement, and design a new state of the-art method.
Husband #6 was from Administration; he thought he knew how but he wasn’t sure whether it was his job or not.
Husband #7 was in Marketing; although he had a product, he was never sure how to position it.
Husband #7 was in Marketing; although he had a product, he was never sure how to position it.
Husband #8 was a Psychiatrist; all he did was talk about it.
Husband # 9 was a Gynecologist; all he did was look at it. .
Husband #10 was a Stamp Collector; all he ever did was …
God I miss him.
God I miss him.
‘But now that I’ve married you, I’m so excited’.
‘Wonderful’, said the husband, ‘but why?
To which she replied, ‘You’re with the ‘GOVERNMENT‘ . .. This time I KNOW I’M gonna get SCREWED.
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RANDOM TIDBITS
In 1970, movies that contained some adult content were rated "GP" for "General Patronage - All Ages Admitted/Parental Guidance Suggested." The designation was later changed to "PG" to avoid confusion with the more kid-friendly "G."
Gasoline prices peaked at $1.38 per gallon back in 1981.
Prior to 1951, long-distance telephone calls could not be dialed directly; they had to be placed through an operator. Depending on the distance between the two parties, it could take up to 20 minutes for the connection to be made.
PhoneMate introduced its Model 400 answering machine in 1971. The machine weighed about 8 pounds and held 10 minutes worth of messages on a reel-to-reel tape.
When a federally mandated 55 mph nationwide speed limit was established in 1974, many automakers adjusted speedometers to match by changing the usual sequence (10, 20, 30...) to end in "5" (15, 25, 35...). The 55 mph point was either shaded or indicated by a special visual mark.
When VCRs first gained popularity in the late 1970s, the units themselves weren't the only expense. The retail price of a single blank videocassette was initially around $20, while "video club" memberships typically ran in the hundreds of dollars.
In 1970, movies that contained some adult content were rated "GP" for "General Patronage - All Ages Admitted/Parental Guidance Suggested." The designation was later changed to "PG" to avoid confusion with the more kid-friendly "G."
Gasoline prices peaked at $1.38 per gallon back in 1981.
Prior to 1951, long-distance telephone calls could not be dialed directly; they had to be placed through an operator. Depending on the distance between the two parties, it could take up to 20 minutes for the connection to be made.
PhoneMate introduced its Model 400 answering machine in 1971. The machine weighed about 8 pounds and held 10 minutes worth of messages on a reel-to-reel tape.
When a federally mandated 55 mph nationwide speed limit was established in 1974, many automakers adjusted speedometers to match by changing the usual sequence (10, 20, 30...) to end in "5" (15, 25, 35...). The 55 mph point was either shaded or indicated by a special visual mark.
When VCRs first gained popularity in the late 1970s, the units themselves weren't the only expense. The retail price of a single blank videocassette was initially around $20, while "video club" memberships typically ran in the hundreds of dollars.
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QUOTE: "The past is a foreign country; they do things differently there."
HINT: (1895-1972), British novelist and short story writer.
HINT: (1895-1972), British novelist and short story writer.
ANSWER: L. P. Hartley.
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Giant anaconda photographed underwater in Brazil
I found the photo at imgur, but it took a while to trace its provenance in order to confirm its authenticity. Finally found this in Brazil Dispatch in 2012:
CAMPO GRANDE, Brazil – Images of a giant anaconda being photographed underwater created a stir this week on Facebook Brazil. After the amazing images were posted and shared, many Facebook users posted comments doubting the authenticity of the photographs... Biologist Daniel De Granville, who took the pictures, assured the G1 network that the images of the huge reptile, which he estimated to be about seven meters (23 feet), are genuine and that he captured them in the Formoso River, in Bonito, 300 km (186 miles) from Campo Grande... De Granville says that the photos are original and made in a natural environment without any digital manipulation beyond the basic settings for color, sharpness and saturation. The images were captured in August 2010 in a place away from the city’s tourist attractions and in an area restricted to most visitors.More details at the link.
this ten-minute documentary video of the anaconda shown in the photo above.
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There are two owls in this picture
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Issei Sagawa took an unlikely path to fame — after killing and cannibalizing a Dutch woman in Paris in 1981, he wrote a fictionalized account of the crime, In the Mist, that sold 200,000 copies in his native Japan:
There is a loud sound and her body falls from the chair onto the floor. It is like she is watching me. I see her cheeks, her eyes, her nose and mouth, the blood pouring from her head. I try to talk to her, but she no longer answers. There is blood all over the floor. I try to wipe it up, but I realize I cannot stop the flow of blood from her head. It is very quiet here. There is only the silence of death.
Since his release from a Japanese psychiatric hospital in 1985, Sagawa has parlayed his reputation into a ghoulish industry. He has produced four novels, written a weekly column for a Japanese tabloid, appeared on the cover of a gourmet magazine, and is a regular subject of television documentaries. His crime inspired the Rolling Stones’ song “Too Much Blood.”
“The public has made me the godfather of cannibalism, and I am happy about that,” he said. “I will always look at the world through the eyes of a cannibal.”
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pilcrow
n. the paragraph sign
n. the paragraph sign
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We find this culinary folly of the last century in the third edition of The Art of Cookery, by a Lady, 1748. ‘Lay it (the butter) in salt and water two or three hours; then spit it, and rub it all over with crumbs of bread, with a little grated nutmeg; lay it to the fire, and as it roasts, baste it with the yolks of two eggs, and then with crumbs of bread, all the time it is roasting: but have ready a pint of oysters stewed in their own liquor, and lay it in the dish under the butter; when the bread has soaked up all the butter, brown the outside, and lay it on your oysters. Your fire must be very slow.’
– John Timbs, Things Not Generally Known, Familiarly Explained, 1859
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These were created by blocking the light on two glass doors with big paper, cutting out holes, and then placing diffraction grating over the holes.We have prisms in our windows. Now I want to find some diffraction grating.
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There was a young man from Honshu
Who tried limericks in haiku,
But
Who tried limericks in haiku,
But
– Doug Holyman, in Word Ways, May 2007
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Roll Call
In 1938, University of North Carolina folklorist Arthur Palmer Hudson published a collection of unusual African-American names, most gathered through personal interviews but others “unimpeachably attested” by state bureaus of vital statistics:
Comer Mercantile Company
Castor Oil
Morphine
Dr. Root Beer
Oleomargarine
Artificial Flowers
Elevator
Dill Pickle
League of Nations
Toledo Ohio
Positive Wasserman (after a hospital wrist tag)
Jesus Hoover Christ (“the family was a beneficiary of the Red Cross when Hoover was director”)
Jesse James Outlaw
James All Virtuous
Sandy Alexander Soap Fish and Tobacco Box
Susan Anna Banana Green Doosenberry Watson
Rosa Belle Locust Hill North Carolina Beauty Spot Evans
Frank Harrison President of the United States Eats His Lasses Candy and Swings on Every Gate Williams
Pneumonia and Neuralgia (twins)
Flat Foot Floogie
State Normal and Industrial College (“Snic”)
No Parking
Lake Erie Banks
Cleopatra Blue
Castor Oil
Morphine
Dr. Root Beer
Oleomargarine
Artificial Flowers
Elevator
Dill Pickle
League of Nations
Toledo Ohio
Positive Wasserman (after a hospital wrist tag)
Jesus Hoover Christ (“the family was a beneficiary of the Red Cross when Hoover was director”)
Jesse James Outlaw
James All Virtuous
Sandy Alexander Soap Fish and Tobacco Box
Susan Anna Banana Green Doosenberry Watson
Rosa Belle Locust Hill North Carolina Beauty Spot Evans
Frank Harrison President of the United States Eats His Lasses Candy and Swings on Every Gate Williams
Pneumonia and Neuralgia (twins)
Flat Foot Floogie
State Normal and Industrial College (“Snic”)
No Parking
Lake Erie Banks
Cleopatra Blue
In the 1850s, a Stanly County, N.C., slave was named Sunday May Ninth “to guarantee the bearer’s remembrance of his birthday.” “This name proved useful to the ex-slave in establishing his status with reference to a monetary claim.”
Hudson seems to have been enchanted by unusual names generally — among the UNC alumni he found a white student named Shively Dewilder Accus Baccus Dulcido.
(Arthur Palmer Hudson, “Some Curious Negro Names,” Southern Folklore Quarterly 2:4, December 1938, pp. 179-193.)
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There is also another matter to be mentioned for which both present and future ages have good reason to bless the name of Jonas Hanway. He was the first person who had the courage to hold an umbrella over his head in walking along the streets of London. ‘The eighteenth century,’ writes Chambers, ‘was half elapsed before the umbrella had even begun to be used in England. General Wolfe, writing from Paris in 1752, remarks: “The people here use umbrellas in hot weather to defend them from the sun, and something of the same kind to save them from the snow and the rain. I wonder that a practice so useful is not introduced in England.” Just about that time, however, a gentleman did exercise the moral courage to use an umbrella in the streets of London. He was the noted Jonas Hanway, then newly returned form Persia, and in delicate health, by which, of course, his using such a convenience was justified both to himself and to the public. “A parapluie,” we are told, defended Mr. Hanway’s face and wig. For a time no other than dainty beings, then called “Macaronies,” ventured to carry an umbrella; and any one doing so was sure to be hailed by the mob as a “mincing Frenchman.” One John Macdonald, a footman, who has favored the public with his memoirs, found as late as 1770 that, on appearing with a fine silk umbrella which he had brought from Spain, he was saluted with the cry of “Frenchman, why don’t you get a coach?”‘
– “Jonas Hanway, the Philanthropist,” Frank Leslie’s Popular Monthly, April 1884
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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6 SMOKING TRIGGERS
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This metabolism-boosting meal plan gets results
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Everyone wants a healthy heart. Still, cardiovascular disease affects more than
1 in 3 adults. The good news is that simple changes make a big difference. Here
are the worst habits for your heart, and how to avoid them.
6 SMOKING TRIGGERS
You CAN kick the habit by avoiding these
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This metabolism-boosting meal plan gets results
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The thread at Reddit discusses some of the details of preparation, including how to remove the worms from the straws.
For maximum gross-out effect, mix the worms with "dirt" (crushed Oreos!!).
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The video shows cows being released from winter confinement to graze outdoors on the Beemster polder for the first time.
Beemster Graskaas is a rare, extra smooth cheese made in April from the first milking of the cows as they leave the barn for the first time after the cold, windy winter. The milk taken during the first weeks of Spring is the creamiest and is used to create a special edition cheese to be released at the Spring Cheese Festival.
Via Reddit.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A quick search confirms that that comment actually was made on television (by CNN anchor Deb Feyerick):
“We want to bring in our science guy, Bill Nye, and talk about something else that’s falling from the sky, and that is an asteroid,” the anchor said. “What’s coming our way? Is this the effect of, perhaps, global warming? Or is this just some meteoric occasion?”
Sigh...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Chris Hadfield (August 1959-) is a Canadian astronaut currently on assignment aboard the International Space Station. He will become the first Canadian Commander of the ISS when Expedition 35 takes
Hadfield has become an Internet-celebrity, using social media and YouTube to share what daily life is like aboard the ISS. He regularly tweets breath-taking photos of Earth (here is a selection of his best pics) and has a YouTube channel with videos on everything from how he operates a giant robotic arm to how he eats a peanut butter and honey pita sandwich (bread isn’t used because it makes too many crumbs). This particular quote is taken from a recent Redditt ‘Ask me anything’ session Hadfield took part in while aboard the ISS. A y oungster asked if Hadfield had any advice for an aspiring astronaut, and this quote was his reply.
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Have you ever wanted to walk across the bottom of the River, Lake or Ocean to see all the ships that have sunk? Well....
And it had already been starved of nearly 30yrs of water by 1989
|
In the 1960s, the Soviet Union undertook a major water diversion project on the arid plains of Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and Turkmenistan. The region’s two major rivers, fed from snowmelt and precipitation in faraway mountains, were used to transform the desert into fields for cotton and other crops. Before the project, the two rivers left the mountains, cut northwest through the Kyzylkum Desert—the Syr Darya to the north and the Amu Darya to the south—and finally pooled together in the lowest part of the desert basin. The lake they made, the Aral Sea, was once the fourth largest lake in the world.
Although irrigation made the desert bloom, it devastated the Aral Sea. The Northern Aral Sea (sometimes called the Small Aral Sea) had separated from the Southern (Large) Aral Sea. The Southern Aral Sea had split into eastern and western lobes that remained tenuously connected at both ends.
By 2001, the southern connection had been severed, and the shallower eastern part retreated rapidly over the next several years. Especially large retreats in the eastern lobe of the Southern Sea appear to have occurred between 2005 and 2009, when drought limited and then cut off the flow of the Amu Darya. Water levels increased in 2010 after the drought broke and then began to dwindle again in 2011.
As the lake dried up, fisheries and the communities that depended on them collapsed. The increasingly salty water became polluted with fertilizer and pesticides. The blowing dust from the exposed lakebed, contaminated with agricultural chemicals, became a public health hazard. The salty dust blew off the lakebed and settled onto fields, degrading the soil. Croplands had to be flushed with larger and larger volumes of river water. The loss of the moderating influence of such a large body of water made winters colder and summers hotter and drier.
In a last-ditch effort to save some of the lake, Kazakhstan built a dam between the northern and southern parts of the Aral Sea. Completed in 2005, the dam was basically a death sentence for the southern Aral Sea, which was judged to be beyond saving. All of the water flowing into the desert basin from the Syr Darya now stays in the Northern Aral Sea. Between 2005 and 2006, the water levels in that part of the lake rebounded significantly and very small increases are visible throughout the rest of the time period. The differences in water color are due to changes in sediment.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I am using my old desktop computer since Kiki (the not-so-dainty cat) ran by the power cord for my laptop computer, yanking it off the table, and sending the computer to the repair shop.
Paws will necessarily be shorter (the old computer is sooo slow, I swear you an hear it think), until I can replace or repair the laptop puter.
Ursa ~
ursarodinia@aol.com
ursarodinia@aol.com
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