The 1985 Titanic search was really covert distraction

More mystery shrouds the Titanic:

The U.S. didn’t want the Soviets to locate and exploit two sunken submarines - USS Thresher and the USS Scorpion.

When oceanographer Bob Ballard uncovered the world's most famous shipwreck in 1985, he grabbed the globe's attention. But in reality the explorer's search for the Titanic was a cover-up for a top-secret mission for the U.S. government.



Ballard reveals he was hired to use his advanced robotic sub to check on the status of two nuclear submarines, the USS Thresher and the USS Scorpion, that sank in the Atlantic in the 1960s.

The Navy didn't want the Soviets to know they were looking for these nuclear subs.

The guise of searching for the Titanic's wreckage provided a perfect alibi for the intensified presence of U.S. ships on the Atlantic.

The Navy made a deal with Ballard. After his submarine search was concluded, it would fund an expedition to find the Titanic and now a National Geographic documentary called "Titanic: The Final Secret" follows the true story of the search and recovery of the 1912 shipwreck.

More of the story here.

New uncontacted indigenous tribe spotted in Brazil

Another uncontacted indigenous tribe has been spotted in one of Brazil's deep jungles.

The photo was released by Survival International, showing uncontacted Indians of the Ethno-Environmental Protected Area along the Envira river, in the Brazilian state of Acre, close to the border with Peru, photographed during a flight in May 2008.

(click on picture to enlarge)

The picture shows tribesmen, painted red head to toe, aiming longbows at the aircraft circling above.

The government foundation known as Funai said it photographed "strong and healthy" warriors, six huts and an area of crops. It is not known which tribe the group belonged to.

Funai does not make contact with indigenous people and prevents invasions of their lands, to ensure total autonomy for the tribes, the foundation said.

Fiona Watson, campaign co-coordinator for Survival International, said the tribesmen are likely "fragments" of what was once a much larger group.

Watson said contact with outsiders could even be fatal for these tribespeople, who would be vulnerable to diseases.

"These people are very isolated, they have no immunity to common things like the cold and flu and they could die very quickly," Watson told Newsnet.

Link

Susan Sarandon will move to Italy or Canada if McCain elected

Actress Susan Sarandon appeared in three films last year including a TV movie "Bernard and Doris." Sarandon is still not a happy camper, however.

She says if John McCain gets elected, she will move to Italy or Canada.

Italy would be good. It’s farther away.

Link

War of the worlds? UFO’s?

(click on picture to enlarge)

Beams of light over Milan Italy. The lights are placed at locations where new important buildings will be erected.

Claimed he bought marijuana to make compost

Police in Iowa City, Iowa caught a man with a large quantity of marijuana.

But the 30-year- old man explained. He told police that he planned to turn several large bags of marijuana into compost and that all he had in mind was recycling.

Officers didn't buy the compost story. The suspect remained in jail Sunday without posting $14,000 bail on a charge of possessing marijuana with intent to distribute.

Link

Ambient sound generator helps you sleep

If you have trouble falling to sleep because of intermittent or continuous annoying sounds such as ticking clocks, traffic noise, etc., this gadget may help.

This “sound machine” produces a gentle whooshing noise that will allow you to relax and fall asleep easily.

It can also be used during the day to mask distracting sounds for anyone requiring a quiet environment for concentration.

Sleep machine is fully adjustable for tone and volume and has two frequency levels for broader range.

This should really help on a trip to block out hotel noises. And what about people who put ticking clocks in their guestrooms to insure you won’t return too often?

Link here.

Will they just go away now?

Too punny for words…

-----------------------------------------
Two hydrogen atoms met

The first atom said, “Ive lost my electron.”

The second atom said, “Are you sure?”

The first atom replied, “Yes, I’m positive.”
-----------------------------------------

Touch screen Widows to replace the mouse?

Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates (upper picture) said its next operating system will be made for touch screen applications, an alternative to the computer mouse.

An iPhone-like touch-screen operating system that could be the start of mouse-less computing.

Gates, along with his Chief Executive Officer Steve Ballmer (lower picture) defended their last operating system Vista.

Bill Gates said he has never been 100 percent satisfied with any Microsoft product, and that the company prides itself on fixing shortcomings in later versions.

Gates us not alone. I think it is safe to say that most Microsoft Windows users have not been 100 percent satisfied either.

The Windows 7 operating system, which will use touch screen technology, is scheduled for release in late 2009. If history repeats itself, Windows 7 may stay in beta until 2011 so don’t be in a hurry to throw your mouse.

Link

What to do with your blog while on vacation?

Do you have a blog and are wondering what to do when you’re travelling?

Here are a few things I have tried in the past:

1. Do some advance posting before you leave. If your blog platform accepts post-dated entries (most of them do) you can work up postings before you leave home that will show up on your blog on a date and time you specify.

Obviously his doesn’t work with date-sensitive material. This can also be a problem if the story you posted has an unexpected anticlimax before the posting appears on your blog.

2. Blog from the road while you are on vacation. This is easy if you have an Internet card. I don’t so we must rely on other ways to connect along the way.

Last summer, we were able to connect from my brother’s house logging into his wireless network.

Other places to connect would be at restaurants or hotels that provide Internet service. Some are free - many are not.

Some hotels as well as participating McDonald’s restaurants require a Wayport membership to log on at a cost of $30 per month (annual membership is about $50).

Starbucks recently changed from T-Mobile to AT&T as their WiFi provider. The old T-Mobile charge to use Internet service at Starbucks was $6 per hour or $10 per day.

The new AT&T Internet service at Starbucks is $4 for a two-hour session. It’s free if you are an AT&T subscriber. That’s how Starbucks is able to advertise ‘free’ WiFi service.

Some rest stops on Interstate roadways provide Internet service but it is seldom free.

My favorite WiFi hotspots are located in Panera Bread restaurants. They have free WiFi for customers. Stop in for a sandwich or one of their yummy soups and check your e-mail or post to your blog. If it’s not mealtime, get a bagel and coffee while you log on to the Internet.

3. Resurrect a few prior postings from your archives. By revisiting a few of your older postings, you can give the reused stories a post-dated time to reappear on your blog while you are on vacation.

Depending on how old the revisited postings are, here may be link URL’s that may no longer be valid.

4. Put your blog on vacation while you’re on vacation. This is the easiest and possibly the best solution. However, the longer you are gone, the more readers you will lose.

Number of uninsured US young adults grows

Young adults represent a major portion of the American population without health coverage.

Based on census data, 13.7 million people aged 19 to 29 had no health insurance, either public or private, in 2006, up from 13.3 million in 2005, according to a report by the Commonwealth Fund, a private foundation that researches health policy.

Men and women in this age group accounted for 17 percent of the under-65 U.S. population, but made up almost 30 percent of the uninsured, according the study released Friday.

"If you ask young adults, as we do in our survey, if you've ever had problems accessing health care because of cost -- not filling a prescription, not seeing a specialist -- two thirds of uninsured young adults say yes," Collins said.
Hispanic and black young adults were at greater risk of being uninsured than whites, the report showed.



While 23 percent of whites ages 19 to 29 lacked insurance, the figure was 36 percent of blacks and 53 percent of Hispanics.

Taxes paid by white middle class America already pays for much of the welfare payments paid to blacks and Hispanics.

Now the burden will be even greater as the percentage of blacks and Hispanics without health insurance continues to grow.

Link to the uninsured young adult story here.

Group wants Wi-Fi banned from public buildings

A group in Santa Fe, New Mexico wants Wi-Fi banned from public buildings.

The group says the city is discriminating against them because they say that they're allergic to the wireless Internet signal.

Arthur Firstenberg says he is highly sensitive to certain types of electric fields, including wireless Internet and cell phones.

"I get chest pain and it doesn't go away right away," he said.

Firstenberg and dozens of other electro-sensitive people in Santa Fe claim that putting up Wi-Fi in public places is a violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act.

City Councilor Ron Trujillo says the areas are already saturated with wireless Internet.

"It's not 1692, it's 2008. Santa Fe needs to embrace this technology, it's not going away," Trujillo said.

Link

Do publication editors have tapeworms?

Editors always use the first person personal pronoun “we” instead of “I”
Does that mean they have tapeworms? Or fleas?
… just wondering …

Condos made from metal shipping containers

Detroit is planning to build a 17-unit condominium complex using shipping containers. It will be constructed on lots now vacant or containing burned-out homes.

According to the Detroit Free Press, "The project would stack empty containers four high, cut in windows and doors, install plumbing, stairways and heating, and add amenities such as balconies and landscaped patios."

Architect Steven Flum says that "it solves several problems at once, including the need to build environmentally sensitive buildings cheaply.

The project is going to cost about $1.8 million, about 25% less than a normal condo project of similar quality would run."

The photo shows an example of multiple-unit container housing.

However it turns out, it will be better than an area of burned-out homes.

Link

Fox News Channel outfoxes others - again

TVNewser reports on the cable channel viwership race:

For the 77th consecutive month, FNC finished first in total day and prime time ratings during May. FNC was the sixth highest rated cable network on all of basic cable during prime time for the month (CNN and MSNBC finished 19th and 26th) and the seventh rated network in total day (CNN and MSNBC were 19th and 27th).

It is interesting that conservative political programs such as the popular The O'Reilly Factor on Fox always draw more viewers than all of the ‘Bush hating’ programs (Keith Olbermann,
Chris Matthews, Dan Abrams, etc) on MSNBC added together!

The O'Reilly Factor was the #1 program in cable news for the 90th consecutive month, and saw gains in Total Viewers year-to-year (26%).

Amercia's Newsroom (9-11amET) was up 30% year-to-year, with the program averaging more viewers than CNN and MSNBC combined during the time period.

Meanwhile, On the Record with Greta Van Susteren has been #1 for 73 consecutive months in Total Viewers while Hannity & Colmes has been #1 in its timeslot for 54 consecutive months.

Link

Rules for writing short stories by Kurt Vonnegut

The following is great advice on writing short stories from Kurt Vonnegut's book “Bagombo Snuff box” found here.

= = = = = = = = = = = = = = =

1. Use the time of a total stranger in such a way that he or she will not feel the time was wasted.

2. Give the reader at least one character he or she can root for.

3. Every character should want something, even if it is only a glass of water.

4. Every sentence must do one of two things -- reveal character or advance the action.

5. Start as close to the end as possible.

6. Be a sadist. No matter how sweet and innocent your leading characters, make awful things happen to them -- in order that the reader may see what they are made of.

7. Write to please just one person. If you open a window and make love to the world, so to speak, your story will get pneumonia.

8. Give your readers as much information as possible as soon as possible. To heck with suspense. Readers should have such complete understanding of what is going on, where and why, that they could finish the story themselves, should cockroaches eat the last few pages.

Cool Relativity watch - relatively speaking

This Relativity watch is relatively bizarre.

It’s a watch with numbers that are in constant motion rotating counter-clockwise.

The hands are in the correct position but the numbers seem to have minds of their own.
.
This certainly is a different way to look at time.

This strange watch is $30 in case you want one to amuse your friends.

note: at the time of this writing, the watch was temporarily out of stock.

Link

Fritz Kahn draws man as ‘industrial palace’

German author and artist Fritz Kahn made this poster in 1926 depicting the human body as an ‘industrial palace’ by turning it into a complicated chemical plant using metaphors of 1920’s industrial life.



I find Kahn’s almost morbid ‘dream anatomy’ very interesting. His mechanical visualization of the inner workings of the human body reminds me of a somewhat similar illustration I loved to look at when I was in the fourth grade.

I found a ‘mechanical inner man’ illustration in an old three-volume encyclopedia in the school library. It was less complicated than the Kahn poster (pictured) but as a fourth grader I was intrigued by it and often drew my own versions (wish I’d kept those drawings).

More on Kahn’s ‘body machines’ here.

The cutting edge

Flood or not, the lawn needs mowing!

Car dealer gives free gun with car purchase

A Butler, Missouri car dealer is holding a controversial promotion involving handguns.

Max Motors in Butler is offering anyone who buys a car the choice of $250 in gas or a free semi-automatic handgun.

"Like I say, it's a choice -- protection or gas," said Walter Moore with Max Motors.

The handgun is the more popular choice with 80% choosing the gun.

Moore said the dealership will hand the customer a certificate to get the gun, but you must pass a background check.

The local police chief said he is OK with the promotion as long as the weapons aren't handed out at the dealership.

Link

McDonald’s fries now free of trans fat

McDonald's Corp announced last Friday, it has switched to cooking oils free of trans fats in all of its restaurants in the United States and Canada.

Consumption of trans fats -- often in the form of partially hydrogenated vegetable oils -- increases the risk of coronary heart disease, according to health authorities.

Wendy’s, KFC and Taco Bell made the switch last year.

Burger King still uses trans fat cooking oils but promises to make the change this year.

Link

Will you give Google all of your medical records?

Google Health is now open for business. The service will allow users to link information from a handful of pharmacies and care providers, including Quest Diagnostics labs.

Similar offerings include Microsoft Corp.'s HealthVault and Revolution Health, which is backed by AOL co-founder Steve Case.

Google Health differentiates itself from the pack through its user interface and things like the public availability of its application program interface, or API, said Marissa Mayer, the Google executive overseeing the service.

Google hopes you will use their online filing cabinet to store all of your medical records.

Link

Remembering the old telephone Exchange names

We only had one telephone number with an exchange name. We were living in Lincoln, Nebraska and our exchange name was Ivanhoe. Our number was IVanhoe 9-xxxx (can’t remember the last four digits).



When the exchange names were dropped in the early 1960’s, our number remained the same but was dialed as 489-xxxx.

Glenn Miller's tune "PEnnsylvania 6-5000" made telephone exchange names famous. The telephone number in the song was for New York's Hotel Pennsylvania

The ‘PE’ was changed to ‘73’ when telephone companies dropped exchange names.

We thought exchange names added a little class to phone numbers and we hated to see them go.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - -

We had that same phone number for several years until we moved from College View to Colonial Hills. Even though the move was less than three miles we had to change phone numbers.

Click here to see how our son Norm and his friends dealt with the number change in a 2005 posting we called Telephone Tag.

Monster from Kashyyyk?

No, this is really not a mask worn by a monster from the planet Kashyyyk.

(click on picture to enlarge)
It’s the nose of a nuclear submarine as it rolls through a small British town.

It is from a British Astute class nuclear submarine seen on the streets of Barrow-In-Furness, a town in west central England several months ago.

‘Slugging’ on the rise as gas prices soar

What is ‘slugging’ anyway? Is it more than modern day hitchhiking?

Actually, “slugging” is a term used to describe a unique form of commuting found in the Washington, DC area that may spread to other metro areas as gas prices soar.

Each weekday morning, in large parking lots in the Washington, D.C., suburbs, hundreds of people stand in lines waiting for free rides to work from total strangers.

According to slug-lines.com:

The system of slugging is quite simple. A car needing additional passengers to meet the required 3- person high occupancy vehicle (HOV) minimum pulls up to one of the known slug lines.

The driver usually positions the car so that the slugs are on the passenger side. The driver either displays a sign with the destination or simply lowers the passenger window, to call out the destination, such as “Pentagon” “L’Enfant Plaza” “14th & New York.”

The slugs first in line for that particular destination then hop into the car, normally confirming the destination, and off they go.

No money is exchanged because of the mutual benefit: the car driver needs riders just as much as the slugs need a ride.

Each party needs the other in order to survive. Normally, there is no conversation unless initiated by the driver; usually the only words exchanged are "Thank you" as the driver drops off the slugs at the destination.

Link here and here.

Dr. Krauthammer reports on Obama's metastatic gaffe

Charles Krauthammer says in a recent Washington Post report that an unmistakable sign that election-year discourse has entered the realm of the surreal is when a presidential candidate makes a gaffe, then, realizing it is too egregious to take back without suffering humiliation, decides to make it a centerpiece of his foreign policy.

Before the Democratic debate of July 23, Barack Obama (pictured) had never expounded upon the wisdom of meeting, without precondition, with Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Bashar al-Assad, Hugo Chavez, Kim Jong Il or the Castro brothers.

But in that debate, he was asked about doing exactly that. Unprepared, he said sure -- then got fancy, declaring the Bush administration's refusal to do so not just "ridiculous" but "a disgrace."

After that, there was no going back. So he doubled down. What started as a gaffe became policy. By now, it has become doctrine. Yet it remains today what it was on the day he blurted it out: an absurdity.

Should the president ever meet with enemies? Sometimes, but only after minimal American objectives -- i.e., preconditions -- have been met.

The Shanghai communique was largely written long before Richard Nixon ever touched down in China. Yet Obama thinks Nixon to China confirms the wisdom of his willingness to undertake a worldwide freshman-year tyrants tour.

Obama incorrectly said that Franklin Roosevelt and Harry Truman as presidents who met with enemies.

The woefully inexperienced Obama proved by that statement that he doesn’t know history -- or is he trying to change history?

Neither Roosevelt nor Truman ever met with any of the leaders of the Axis powers.

Obama must be referring to the pictures he's seen of Roosevelt and Stalin at Yalta, and Truman and Stalin at Potsdam. Does he not know that at that time Stalin was a wartime ally?

During the subsequent Cold War, Truman never met with Stalin. Nor Mao. Nor Kim Il Sung. Truman was no fool.

Mr. Obama talks about John Kennedy meeting with Nikita Khrushchev as another example of what he intends to do.

That Vienna summit of a young, inexperienced, untested American president was disastrous, emboldening Khrushchev to push Kennedy on Berlin -- and then nearly fatally in Cuba, leading almost directly to the Cuban missile crisis.

John F. Kennedy was probably lucky to have gotten away with meeting with an enemy of the United States.

Would Barack Obama be just as lucky? Probably not since he wants to meet with several enemies of the United States. A very sobering thought!

Link

Sunglasses do more than make you look cool

Tip for the summer: routine use of sunglasses may promote better eye health.

You don't have to be Joe Cool to realize the benefits of wearing sunglasses on a consistent basis. Most people remember to slather on the sunscreen during hot summer months to protect their skin from burning. Unfortunately many also forget to wear proper sunglasses to protect their eyes from excessive exposure to UV rays.

The same rays that can burn your skin can also damage your eyes, resulting in multiple conditions including cataracts.

If you are someone who spends any length of time outdoors you should invest in ample eye protection. Did you know you can actually burn the cornea of your eye, resulting in temporary vision loss?

If you don’t wear sunglasses, now is a great time to start - and then keep wearing them all summer.

If you do wear sunglasses, are you wearing the kind that will really protect your eyes?

When it comes to your eyes, a 99 cent pair of sunglasses often won't cut it.

There are certain features you should look for when investing in a pair of sunglasses to make sure you get the most bank for your buck while protecting your eyes the best way possible.

Click here for the criteria for selecting sunglasses.

Stubborn as a …

(click on cartoon to enlarge)

Stubborn as a mule donkey.

Online newspapers strong but Drudge tops list again

The Newspaper Association of America reports the latest Nielsen traffic results for online news. Details at the link below.

Newspaper web sites had a strong showing but Drudge Report came out on top.

Matt Drudge (pictured) even outfoxed second place Fox News Digital Network.

The top 10:

1. drudgereport.com
2. Fox News Digital Network
3. Daily Kos^
4. CNN Digital Network
5. AOL News
6. Yahoo! News
7. MSNBC Digital Network
8. Real Clear Politics
9. Star Tribune
10. NYTimes.com

Link

Lost parrot talks his way back home

An African grey parrot named Yosuke flew out of his cage and got lost.

Police rescued the parrot two weeks ago from a neighbor's roof in the city of Nagareyama, near Tokyo.

After spending a night at the station, he was transferred to a nearby veterinary hospital while police searched for clues, local policeman Shinjiro Uemura said.

He kept mum with the cops, but began chatting after a few days with the vet.

"I'm Mr. Yosuke Nakamura," the bird told the veterinarian, according to Uemura. The parrot also provided his full home address, down to the street number, and even entertained the hospital staff by singing songs.

They checked the address, and sure enough, a Nakamura family really lived there.

Yosuke literally talked his way back home once he got to the veterinary hospital. He evidently just didn’t want to talk to the police.

Link

Have a great Memorial Day

A time to remember…

…a time to honor.

Birthplace of Memorial Day

The seeds of Memorial Day were planted in 1865 when Waterloo, New York pharmacist Henry Welles joined the jubilant crowds at welcome-home parades for Civil War soldiers.

The seeds took root on May 5, 1866 as the woolen mills along the canal shut down for the day. Banks and grocery stores did too.

Scores of villagers marched in mourning. Some visited all three cemeteries to decorate each veteran's grave with a floral cross.

More than two dozen communities around the United States, from Boalsburg, Pa., to Macon, Ga., and Carbondale, Ill., to Richmond, Va., claim to be the birthplace of Memorial Day. Yet the official distinction, signed into law by President Johnson in 1966, is held by Waterloo, NY.

Link

Movie star before and after makeup

Goldie Hawn before and after makeup. Does she wear tank tops all the time?

Most surveilled nation on Earth to get more spy cams

England is the most surveilled nation on Earth. Now the UK wants to install another series of spy cameras.

This time the cameras will be attached to the lollipop shaped signs of the school crossing guards in Britain.

Lollipop ladies, like the one pictured, face abuse and aggression from drivers every day.

But now lollipop Ladies have been given a new weapon against reckless or angry motorists. Video cameras are being built into their lollipop poles.

Lollipop ladies, along with the children they are helping across roads, are often abused and sworn at.

Drivers also hoot, rev their car engines, drive too close and too fast, or ignore a request to stop altogether.

As with almost everything else in Britain that doesn’t work, they tend to throw a few hundred cameras at the problem.

Are the thousands of spy cameras in the UK actually helping to reduce crime?

Link to the lollipop cameras here. The spy-cam failure story is here.

Strange place to plant corn

Willies Willys is pure biodiesel

Named for country music singer and biodiesel advocate Willie Nelson, the“Willie’s Willys” is a biodiesel-powered recreation of a 1941 Willys pickup truck (shown here).

Each Willie Willys is powered by a 6.5-litre, twin-turbo diesel engine with the production version generating 350 horsepower. The transmission is a six-speed automatic.

The truck has spark plugs, unusual for a diesel engine, which the designers state will help reduce particulate emissions. Tests indicated the truck should average thirty-eight miles per gallon.

While the frame is made of conventional stainless steel and the truck bed is oak, the body is made of a soy-based resin.

Treehugger would say: “this bright red truck is pure green.”

Each of the 500 limited-edition Willie Willys trucks will cost $97,000.

Link here.

Group to have 50,000 demonstrators at DNC

A group called “Re-create '68” has secured a permit to use the Colorado State Capitol grounds on the eve of the Democratic National Convention.

The group expects as many as 50,000 people to take part in the protests.

The leader of the group said the name of his group "Re-Create '68" shouldn't cause people to brand it as a group in favor of using violent means “to get society to its desired ends.”





The very name "Re-Create '68" sounds ominous because it refers to the riots at the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago as shown in the photos above.

Link

1870 writing ball typewriter

OK, let’s see who can type 65 words per minute on this typewriter.

Hansen writing ball from 1870

Link

Are candidates’ spouses fair game?

Obama says ‘lay off my wife, can’t chivalry exist in a campaign?'

Obama's comments about his wife come after Tennessee Republicans called into question some remarks Michelle Obama made on the campaign trail earlier this year.

In February, referring to the sense of excitement among Democrats over her husband's candidacy, Michelle Obama said, "For the first time in my adult life, I am proud of my country."



Said the state GOP: "The Tennessee Republican Party has always been proud of America."

Obama's warning to his wife's critics drew a harsh response from the McCain campaign, with aides pointing out that the DNC has repeatedly blasted Cindy McCain for not releasing her tax returns.

"I think Obama should get his party under control before he starts issuing edicts," said Jill Hazelbaker, a McCain spokeswoman.

"Instead of attacking John McCain today, maybe Obama ought to spend the day talking to Howard Dean about what is appropriate in this campaign."

If the spouse of a candidate speaks out, thereby taking an active roll in the campaign, they should definitely be ‘fair game.’

If Obama wants to insist on ‘laying off’ his wife, he should insist she stay out of the campaign.

Link

Evidence can show up in the strangest places

Kids names in black and white

Listed at the link below are the 20 most popular names for children in the following groups:

Most popular names for white girls
Most popular names for white boys
Most popular names for black girls
Most popular names for black boys

Link

Perks of retirement

Wrinkle free trousers - $49

Dress shoes - $89

Freedom to spend the summer in jean shorts and sneakers - Priceless

Hillary listened to hour-long sermon about adultery

Did thoughts of ‘all the president’s women’ race though Hillery’s mind as she sat through the hour-long sermon focused on the sin of committing adultery?

When things couldn't be looking worse for Sen. Hillary Clinton's bid for the presidency in 2008, as her rival Barack Obama closes in on gaining enough delegates to secure the nomination, the former first lady attended a church service in Bowling Green, Ky., Sunday featuring a sermon about lust and adultery.

Bill Clinton has had adulterous affairs with many women from White House interns to movie stars.

How many of the names below went through Hillary’s mind as she listened to the hour-long sermon about adultrey?

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Gennifer Flowers, Paula Jones, Monica Lewinsky, Juanita Broaddrick, Kathleen Willey, Elizabeth Ward Gracen, Sally Perdue, Dolly Kyle Browning, Judy Gibbs, Deborah Mathis, Cristy Zercher and Elizabeth Ward.

In addition to the partial list above, celebrities Barbara Streisand and Sharon Stone (pictured) have been linked romantically to Bill Clinton.

Link here for the adultery sermon report.

Wyoming man turned his car into stamp album in 1936

(click on picture to enlarge)

This story was published in the November, 1936 issue of Popular Science magazine.

A man from Casper, Wyoming created a very strange stamp album.

Five girls worked for six weeks to plaster the machine with the 10,000-odd specimens, which are covered with a protective coat of varnish to shield them from the weather.

Giant beetles from Taiwan seized at US Post Office

About two dozen giant beetles were seized by customs agents at a post office in Mohnton, Pennsylvania. Some of the beetles were the size of a child’s hand.

The large bugs arrived last week from Taiwan in a box whose contents were labeled as toys, gifts and jellies.



The postmaster suspected the package contained live organisms and notified authorities.

The package was sent to Philadelphia, where it was X-rayed and then opened.

A U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency spokesman said "They are highly destructive insect pests that can cause extensive damage to fruit and vegetable crops, trees, shrubs and turf grasses."

In all, authorities found 26 Hercules, rhinoceros and Goliath beetles. It is illegal to ship live beetles into the United States without a permit from the Department of Agriculture.

Seven of the beetles were in containers labeled by gender, which means they could have been intended for breeding.

Link

Segway mom today: soccer mom tomorrow

She may be a soccer mom when her child is older but right now she is a Segway mom.

We wonder how many moms use the gyroscopically balanced Segway “people transporter” for pushing baby strollers.

Velcro marks 50th anniversary

The distinctive r-r-r-rip of Velcro fasteners has been around for 50 years.

George de Mestral, a Swiss engineer, returned from a walk one day in 1948 and found some cockleburs clinging to his cloth jacket. When de Mestral loosened them, he examined one under his microscope.

The principle was simple. The cocklebur is a maze of thin strands with burrs (or hooks) on the ends that cling to fabrics or animal fur.

By the accident of the cockleburs sticking to his jacket, George de Mestral recognized the potential for a practical new fastener. It took eight years to experiment, develop, and perfect the invention, which consists of two strips of nylon fabric. One strip contains thousands of small hooks. The other strip contains small loops.

When the two strips are pressed together, they form a strong bond. VELCRO, the name de Mestral gave his product, is the brand most of us know.

Velcro has joined Thermos, Band-Aid and others brand names as a verb. We tend to call all hook-and-loop fasteners Velcor no matter who makes them.

Velcro hook-and-loop fasteners are often used to replace buttons, laces, zippers and buckles.

Link to story here. The enlarged Velcro photo is here.

SETI is all ears so speak up ET

SETI, an acronym for Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence, has an improved observatory to help in the search for sounds from outer space using several dozen new radio telescopes.





The late physicist Philip Morrison, one of the founding fathers of SETI, called the outer space search “the archaeology of the future,” an attempt to learn whether civilizations more advanced than ours exist.

So, speak up ET, SETI is waiting for your call.

Link

Holy cow!

This British cow named Chilli, is six feet, six inches tall, weighs more than a ton and is the size of a small elephant!

Chili may enter the Guinness World Records as the world's tallest cow.

Link

Evolution of the cellular phone

Brief history of the cellular phone:
1973 - Martin Cooper developed a brick-like 30-ounce mobile phone (upper picture) for Motorola.

1983 - Motorola introduces the 16-ounce mobile phone that sold for $3,500.

1996 - Motorola introduced the first flip phone.

1992 - Nokia introduces its first GSM phone.

1999 - The business-friendly BlackBerry introduced.

2004 - Motorola introduced the metal-clad RAZR V3

2007 - Apple introduces the iPhone (lower picture)

Piece of cake

When something is exceptionally easy it is often called a piece of cake, or a cakewalk.

The term is said to have originated from slaves doing a dance called "cakewalking," a dance to somewhat imitate intricate ballroom dancing but made to look effortless. Slave owners would sometimes reward the best performer with a piece of hoecake.

Hoecake (pictured) is thin unleavened johnnycake or cornpone made of cornmeal. It gets its name because it was often baked by field hands on the blade of a hoe over an open fire.

See a Honda Civic parallel park in 7 seconds flat

(click on picture to see video)

He parallel parks in 7 seconds using stick shift and emergency brake. Don’t try this at home.