yule log

and speaking of......Yule Log. A Yule log is an enormous log that is typically burned during the Twelve Days of Christmas (December 25-January 6). Some scholars suggest that the word yule means 'revolution' or 'wheel,' which symbolizes the cyclical return of the sun. A burning log or its charred remains is said to offer health, fertility, and luck as well as the ability to ward off evil spirits. www.RandomHistory.com

our largest city

and speaking of......Facts. The largest city in area in the United States is Juneau, Alaska! With 2593.6 square miles it is much bigger than the second-largest, Anchorage (1697.6 square miles). The rest of the top ten are: Jacksonville, FL; Butte-Silver Bow, MT; Oklahoma City; Houston; Nashville-Davidson, TN; Los Angeles; Phoenix; and Suffolk City, VA. Provided by Reference.com

thanksgiving

and speaking of......Thanksgiving. As we gather around our Thanksgiving tables again this year, it is a fitting time to reflect on how the events of our rich history have affected those we care about and those who came before us. Thanksgiving has become a day when Americans extend a helping hand to the less fortunate. Long before there was a government welfare program, this spirit of voluntary giving was ingrained in the American character. Americans have always understand that, truly, one must give in order to receive. Wikiquote

the great depression

and speaking of......the depression. During the worst years of the Depression (1933-1934) the overall jobless rate was 25% (1 out of 4 people) with another 25% taking wage cuts or working part time. The gross national product fell by almost 50%. It was not until 1941, when WWII was underway, that unemployment officially fell back below 10%. Provided by RandomHistory.com

fast food

and speaking of......fast food. The rise in the fast food industry has been linked to rising cases of obesity. The CDC estimates that 248,000 Americans die prematurely due to obesity and considers obesity as the number two cause of preventable death in the US (the number one cause is smoking). Provided by RandomHistory.com

beware of the 'dear' deer

and speaking of......Deer. In North America, you might fear the grizzly, but it's white-tailed deer that kill an average of 130 Americans per year by causing auto accidents. Deer collide with cars more than 1.5 million times per year. Provided by The World Almanac 2011

the 'mighty' heart

and speaking of......the heart. Though weighing only 11 ounces on average, a healthy heart pumps 2,000 gallons of blood through 60,000 miles of blood vessels each day. And......Blood is actually a tissue. When the body is at rest, it takes only six seconds for the blood to go from the heart to the lungs and back, only eight seconds for it to go the brain and back, and only 16 seconds for it to reach the toes and travel all the way back to the heart. Provided by RandomHistory.com

kansas

and speaking of......Kansas. Kansas is the geographic center of the 48 states - marked in a pasture in Lebanon, by the Nebraska border. Forty miles away is the magnetic/geodetic center of North America - the reference point for all land survey in the U.S., Canada, and Mexico. Provided by: Reference.com

the proper way

and speaking of......the proper way. To do a proper place setting: large dinner fork to the left of the napkin, smaller salad fork to the left of the dinner fork, knife to the right with the cutting edge toward the plate, small spoon to the right of the knife, and soup spoon to the right of the small spoon. Provided by Reference.com

permanent move

and speaking of......permanent move. According to a recent Gallup poll three years in the making, 700 million people worldwide, or about 16% of the world's population would, if given the chance, leave their own country and move permanently to another one. A move to a country in Europe was the most popular choice among those polled (210 million), followed by America (165 million) and Canada (45 million). Source: The World Almanac 2010

sin

and speaking of ......sin. The worst sin towards our fellow creatures is not to hate them, but to be indifferent to them: that's the essence of inhumanity. George Bernard Shaw (1901)

calories

and speaking of......calories. Burger King's Double Whopper with cheese contains 923 calories. A man would need to walk for about nine miles to burn it off. Adding french fries and a large cola brings the total calories to an amazing 1,500 calories (2/3 of an adult man' s recommended daily caloric intake). Provided by RandomHistory.com

high and low

and speaking of......high and low. The highest world temperature ever recorded was 136 degrees fahrenheit at El Azizia, Libya, on September 13, 1922. The lowest was minus 129 degrees fahrenheit at Vostok Station, Antarctica, on July 21, 1983. Provided by The World Almanac

tomato

and speaking of......tomato. The tomato is technically a fruit, not a vegetable. It was also the first whole product to be genetically engineered, being first marketed in 1994. Since then, more than 50 other genetically engineered foods have been deemed safe by the FDA. And, it makes a mighty fine sandwich, whether with B & L or not. Provided by RandomHistory.com

hurricanes

and speaking of......hurricanes. The Hurricane of 1900 made landfall on the city of Galveston, Texas on September 8, 1900. It had estimated winds of 135 mph at landfall, making it a Category 4 storm. The hurricane caused great loss of life with the estimated death toll between 6,000 and 12,000 individuals; the number most cited in official reports is 8,000. At the time of the 1900 storm, the highest point in the city of Galveston was only 8.7 ft above sea level. The hurricane had brought with it a storm surge of over 15 ft, which washed over the entire island. The surge knocked buildings off their foundations, and the surf pounded them to pieces. This hurricane is to date the deadliest natural disaster ever to strike the United States. Lets all hope and pray for better results as Hurricane Irene barrels north toward the outer banks, New York City and New England at this very moment. (Note: This event was before the advent of storm names. Courtesy: Wikipedia)

did you know

and speaking of......did you know. That a 42-U.S. gallon barrel of crude oil provides slightly more than 44 gallons of petroleum products. This gain from processing the crude oil is similar to what happens to popcorn, which gets bigger after it's popped. The gain from processing is more than 5%. One barrel of crude oil, when refined, produces about 19 gallons of finished motor gasoline, and 10 gallons of diesel, as well as other petroleum and miscellaneous products such as plastics, etc.

belief

and speaking of......belief...... If you always believe What you have always believed, You will always feel the way you have always felt. If you always feel The way you have always felt You will always think the way you have always thought. If you always think the way you have always thought, You will always do what you have always done. If you always do what you have always done, You will always get what you have always gotten. If there is no change - There is no change. Unknown Author

love

and speaking of......love. One of the greatest predictors of love is proximity. Physical closeness leads to increased emotion, and it is not unusual to hear stories of bosses falling in love with their secretaries. On the other hand, scientists now think that at a critical time in childhood (sometime between ages 4-6), boys and girls who live in close proximity lose their ability to fall in love with each other, perhaps preventing the destructive act of mixing one's DNA with close kin. Credits: RandomHistory.com

your heart

and speaking of......your heart. The average heart beats 100,000 times per day -- in an average life span, this amounts to as many as 3 billion heart beats. The heart pumps blood through a series of vessels ranging in size from the aorta, which is as thick as a garden hose, to capillaries, which are so small a dozen of them could fit inside a human hair. Every 24 hours, the body's blood travels about 12,000 miles, a trip that comes close to equaling the Earth's circumference at the equator, around 24,800 miles. Credits: The World Almanac 2010

common sense again

and speaking of......common sense. The following sentence should be patently obvious to even the most most mentally challenged of us. According to one study, using a cell phone while driving can be just as dangerous as driving while intoxicated, causing drivers to miss traffic signals and react more slowly to driving conditions. Frighteningly, the NHTSA estimates that more than 100 million U.S. drivers use their cell phone while driving and about 8% of drivers on the roadway at any given daylight moment are either conversing or texting on their cell phone. and speaking of......common sense.......... credits: www.randomhistory and me

roses

and speaking of......roses. Roses are a traditional symbol of love and, depending on their color, can suggest different nuances of love. For example, red roses indicate passion and true love. Light pink suggests desire, passion, and energy; dark pink suggests gratitude. Yellow roses can mean friendship or jealousy. A lavender or thornless rose can mean love at first sight. White roses mean virtue or devotion - and some roses even combine colors to creat more complicated meanings. credit: www.randomhistory.com

favorite foods

and speaking of...... favorite foods. Mine would be the hamburger. Those of us who share a love for this "delicacy" have our own ideas as to the best toppings. There was a time that I liked them best basically unadorned, just mayo and a tad of onion along with a cold (real cold) glass of milk. First tried it this way upon recommendation of a waitress at 'Bulldog Restaurant' on I-85, Commerce, Georgia. Absolutely the best ever, before or since. The 'Bulldog' became a required stop for many years thereafter on trips up and down I-85. Still love a plain burger, but have refined my tastes somewhat, to sometimes dress them up with some combination of cheese, lettuce, tomato, bacon, mustard or maybe even pickles. Course being a southerner, adding coleslaw (good) and chili (good) can sometimes be hard to beat. My wife, on the other hand, has a sweet tooth and her favorite food, for the most part, would be any dessert. As a matter of fact, she asked me to include this favorite recipe: Frozen Lemon Pie 1 small frozen lemonade 1 large cool whip 1 can eagle brand milk 2 graham cracker crusts Mix, pour into crusts and freeze Remove about 5 minutes before serving Sounds like a burger and slice of pie could be a real winner. Let us hear some of your favorites.............

presidential facts

and speaking of......facts. The presidential faces on Mount Rushmore are as high as a five-story building, about 60' from chin to top of the head. The pupils of eyes are 4' across and the mouths are 18' wide. The carving took 14 years, from 1927-1941. The total cost was about $990,000. A total 450,000 tons of stone was removed. Imagine what today's cost would be.

credits: www.randomhistory.com & me

dogs

and speaking of......dogs. A Dalmatian named Milly who herself was born in a huge and rare litter of 16 puppies has proved lightning can strike twice after she also gave birth to 16 beautiful spotted pups six weeks ago. Milly's new arrivals were delivered at Newlands Veterinary Clinic in Ludlow, Shropshire, U.K.

candy

and speaking of.....candy. M&M’s were created by Forrest Mars (the son of the founder of Mars, Inc.) and his business partner, Bruce Murrie (the son of the president of the Hershey company). Because both their last names started with “M,” they called their new candy M&M’s. The original colors were red, yellow, green, orange, brown, and violet.

interesting facts

and speaking of.......interesting facts.

The answer to the eternal question "Is it better to be a jock or a nerd?":

Michael Jordan having "retired," with $40 million in endorsements, he makes $178,100 a day, working or not.

• If he sleeps 7 hours a night, he makes $52,000 every night while visions of sugarplums dance in his head.
• If he goes to see a movie, it'll cost him $7.00, but he'll make $18,550 while he's there.
• If he decides to have a 5 minute egg, he'll make $618 while boiling it.
• He makes $7,415/hr more than minimum wage.
• He'll make $3,710 while watching each episode of Friends.
• If he wanted to save up for a new Acura NSX ($90,000) it would take him a whole 12 hours.
• If someone were to hand him his salary and endorsement money, they would have to do it at the rate of $2.00 every second.
• He'll probably pay around $200 for a nice round of golf, but will be reimbursed $33,390 for that round.
• Assuming he puts the federal maximum of 15% of his income into a tax deferred account (401k), his contributions will hit the federal cap of $9500 at 8:30 a.m. on January 1st.
• If you were given a penny for every 10 dollars he made, you 'd be living comfortably at $65,000 a year.
• He'll make about $19.60 while watching the 100 meter dash in the Olympics, and about $15,600 during the Boston Marathon.
• While the common person is spending about $20 for a meal in his trendy Chicago restaurant, he'll pull in about $5600.
• This year, he'll make more than twice as much as all U.S. past presidents for all of their terms combined.

Amazing isn't it? However...

If Jordan saves 100% of his income for the next 450 years, he'll still have less than Bill Gates has today.

Game over. Nerd wins.

drunk driving

and speaking of......drunk driving. Drunken drivers cause approximately one-third of all traffic fatalities in the United States and on average, someone in the U.S. is killed by a drunk driver every 40 minutes. The deadliest drunk-driving accident in the U.S. occurred in 1988 on Interstate 71 in Kentucky when a drunk driver with a BAC level of .24 g/dL caused a head-on collision with a church activity bus. The crash and ensuing fire killed 27 people (most of them children) and injured 34 others. Credits: www.randomhistory.com & me

bridal veil

and speaking of......bridal veil. Have you ever pondered the origins of the bridal veil throughout generational history? Thought so, me neither! ........ But for what its worth, came across the answer the other day and here it supposedly is: The bride's veil traditionally symbolized her youth and virginity. Veils also hid the bride from jealous spirits or the Evil Eye. In the past, veils could be red, blue, or yellow (the color of Hymen, the Greek god of marriage). The modern white veil became popular during the Victorian era as a symbol of purity and modesty. A white veil also connoted that a bride was wealthy enough to wear white.

credits: www.randomhistory.com & me

dumb and dumber

and speaking of......dumb and dumber. The following article gleaned from philly.com would seem to reach the height of absurdity -

Spit Happens : Arrest Happens

The two wasted South Jersey guys that broke into a Radnor, Pennsylvania constable's van over the weekend and took goofy photos of themselves pretending to get arrested - really did get arrested when they accidentally locked themselves inside and smoked cigarettes and "spit saliva all over" - to pass the time. When an inebriated friend arrived to rescue them, he, too, was confounded by the vehicle's lock system and called 9-1-1 for help, ensuring that the men would not only get out of the locked vehicle, but also that they'd get locked right back up. "It was un-freaking-believable," said Radnor Constable Mike Connor, whose van the men burglarized. Both were charged with attempted theft of a motor vehicle, public drunkenness and criminal mischief, police said.

"Dumb, Dumber, and Dumbest," to the extreme.............

hemingway

and speaking of......hemingway. We remember Ernest Miller Hemingway mainly for his undeserved reputation as a high living, boozing, and sometimes cantankerous old 'has been writer,' living out his life in decadent Key West. However, few men have been more maligned and misunderstood. He was actually an American giant of literature, as a much acclaimed and accomplished author and journalist. His distinctive writing style influenced 20Th-century fiction as did few others. Many of his works are classics of American literature and in 1954 he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature. While on an African safari in 1952, he was almost killed in a plane crash that left him in pain or ill-health for much of the rest of his life. Click to the Wikipedia entry for a well rounded and enlightening account of his half century of accolades and accomplishment........

fifteen minutes

and speaking of......fifteen minutes. Where's mine??? Have been searching for it ever since Andy Warhol said in 1968 that "In the future, everyone will be world-famous for 15 minutes." I started searching, with much enthusiasm, immediately thereafter. Over the years there have been numerous interpretations and derivations of his phrase, with probably the most familiar, being; "my fifteen minutes." That's the one that me and umpteen millions of other seekers like to use. All of us in this 'informal club' are still searching. Boy, its sure nice having so much company on my journey to fame. Every now and then me and the others start to despair, then Wham!, along comes someone like, say, Casey Anthony or maybe even the Octomom. Hmmm!!!, lets see who else that we might want to emulate, Hmmm!, maybe Charlie Sheen or even John Edwards. And maybe, "NOT". They all got theirs, where's ours? Hmmm!!; 'but' - maybe we don't really want it bad enough after all, me and the others. Still searching, me and the others................ Credits: http://en.wikipedia.org/ & me

political scenario

and speaking of political scenario......Republicans are said to be conservative. Democrats are said to be liberal. President Clinton is a Democrat and President Bush '43 is a Republican --- Upon leaving office Clinton left Bush '43 with a budget surplus that the Congressional Budget Office projected in January 2001, would entirely pay off the national debt before 2010. Still with me? --- Bush '43 and a Republican Congress added over $7 trillion to the deficit, by giving huge tax cuts to their fat-cat wealthy friends, and funding two trumped up wars, while further increasing the debt by at least $1.3 trillion in borrowed money - and in total raised the debt ceiling 7 times during the decade. It all came home to roost during the watch of Bush '43, with the great recession and financial meltdown in the Fall of 2008. Still with me? --- Now... given the above scenario, which by the way is easily verifiable, it would logically follow that the much touted conservative/liberal labels of the presidents and their respective parties have been completely reversed, leaving the political parties in a state of total disarray; which by the way, is precisely the state that they are in as of this date.......................

common sense

and speaking of......common sense. It has been said that, "common sense is decidedly uncommon". Can this be true? Albert Einstein said that "all 'common sense' is nothing more than a collection of prejudices acquired by age eighteen". How's that for a simpletonian phrase from an individual acclaimed the world over to be a genius? I prefer this unattributed quote: I am strongly in favor of common sense, common honesty and common decency, and therefore this makes me forever ineligible to to run for any political office. Too bad this credo can not be universally applied to politics as a whole. Credits: Wikipedia & Me

wars again

and speaking of......wars again. Fifty years ago, President Eisenhower warned the world of the dangers of the 'military-industrial complex'. We all listened, but a crying shame that nobody remembered. What a waste of precious lives and resources, and all for the power and enrichment of a power hungry few. Makes you wonder about the state of humanity.............

costly wars

and speaking of......costly wars. The following article perfectly reflects my sentiments concerning our continuing involvement in the two no-win wars and relentless meddling in the affairs of other sovereign nations. The article appeared as a Letter to the Editor in the Greensboro News & Record, July 15, 2011............ Costly Wars Contribute to Escalating Deficit --- Another Washington hoax. The so-called “debate” on reducing the $14 trillion debt is being used to cut vital programs of education, Medicare and Social Security. Any budget “deal” won’t end obscene tax breaks for the wealthy or massive corporate tax loopholes that enable many corporations to pay no taxes.Meanwhile, what is the true monetary cost of the wars in Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan? President Obama proclaimed that the wars have cost $1 trillion.

A recent nonpartisan study from Brown University puts the cost of the wars at $4 trillion, plus another $1 trillion of interest for this war debt.

Starting with Republican Bush and continuing with Democrat Obama, the government has invaded sovereign countries to defend U.S. oil companies. These criminal wars, based on lies, inflict unspeakable crimes against other peoples. The same study estimates 225,000 (mostly civilians) killed by direct conflict and 7.8 million displaced. Now the war comes home through austerity programs directed at workers, the poor, the elderly and the young as bailed-out Wall Street laughs all the way to the bank.

Mark Dimondstein
Greensboro, NC

summer

and speaking of......summer. It's hot, getting hotter by the day, and I love it. My wife, on the other hand, definitely does not agree. Imagine that! With my ideal temperature at 76+ and hers at 67-, life can sometimes become very interesting indeed. Life experience tells me that this situation isn't at all unusual within marriages. Ah!, the lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer. Gotta love it............