About Thanksgiving..celery and olives were considered standard appetizers for over 100 years. There are actually 12 claims to where the “first” Thanksgiving took place: two in Texas, two in Florida, one in Maine, two in Virginia, and five in Massachusetts. President Jefferson called a federal Thanksgiving proclamation “the most ridiculous idea ever …
I've observed that getting old in our society is not handled very well. Not that there aren't galliant efforts by businessess to serve a population that lives longer. Assisted care facilities, rehab, extended stay, senior housing all designed to improve the quality of life. The decisions on what to do and where to go are relatively simple. Howeve …
From the wacky side of life...a 91-year-old woman in Poland was declared dead on November 6 and sent to a funeral home, only to wake up 11 hours later in cold storage. Now she’s home and doing fine. “I checked the pulse on the forearm artery, carotid artery also,” the doctor said. “I listened to the heart, to the breathing. I also examined the pu …
So I'm traveling to Buffalo last night to visit my Mother-in-law for her birthday. I get on the plane and as we are taxiing on the ground I stow my phone in the seat back in front of me. Just after we take off I notice the faint glow of my phone and wonder why. I pick it up and see that an unknown caller left a message. Out of curiosity, I click th …
Happy November 1st! Just to remind you we have an obligation to vote next week. As you consider who you're going to vote for this Tuesday, consider this: Studies have shown that more attractive politicians get greater press coverage and more air time Voters see more rotund male candidates as more trustworthy and even more inspiring than their thi …
Ebola Hazmat costumes. It's the new rage for Halloween this year. The CEO of a company in California that's selling Ebola Hazmat costumes says "people want that shock and awe." Most costume retailers carry the hazmat suits because of the "Breaking Bad" craze that was popular during Halloween of last year and now many people are planning to repurp …
An article in the Wall Street Journal today stated "A third of Kurdish Fighters are Women, Defying Mideast Attitudes and Altering Kurdish Sociatey." These Kurdish women are training and fighting on the front lines against the Islamic State and having success. It is such a total departure for the role women play in the Middle East. They have joine …
Malala Yousafzai became the youngest winner of the Nobel Peace Prize ever at 17 years old. If you remember, she was shot in an attempted assination because she was going to school. At that time she was 11 years old and rebelling against the Taliban's orders for all girls to wear burqas and stay home. The Nobel committee also awarded the Peace Pri …
If you watch TED talks, I would recommend taking a look at Angela Duckworth's discussion on the formost predictor of success and I would guess it's not what you think. She studied Chicago public schoolchildren from a wide variety of social and ecnonomic situations. "It wasn't talent or brains. It wasn't social intelligence. It wasn't good looks. …
I'm embarassed to say that this is my first vacation (more than one work day) in over three years. I was nervous and scared before I left. Seems silly to write but it's the truth. I enjoy my work, most of the time, and am devoted to it. I'm on Watch Island which is one of the 1,000 islands on the St. Lawrence river between the US and Canada. It's …
Or did they... Last Tuesday we witnessed the much anticipated launch of the iPhone 6 with bigger screens. Most people I talk to are preordering them. They even launched something unexpected...ApplePay. Now, once you've scanned your credit card into your iPhone, you'll be able to just point click and pay at participating retailes everywhere. But …
Joan Rivers passed away this week. She was 81 but with plastic surgery she looked a lot younger albeit different. I remember her signature catchphrases "Can we talk?" and "Grow up!" She broke ground for female comedians. Her quick comebacks, sharp wit and biting humor was never out of style. She made millions on QVC, was on the Tonight Show 72 …
Apple is just about to introduce some new stuff on September 9th which is very exciting. A new larger screen and possibly a wearable device. But the more interesting news to me coming out of Apple is that they lowered the minimum age of developers that attend their developer conference from 18 to 13. That's right 13 years old. Right down the stre …
IMHO most people tend to dwell on negative issues. They complain about the weather, business, food...whatever. News outlets use bad news as a method to gain viewers and readers. In fact, the ratio of bad news to good news on a typcial broadcast can be as much as 17 to 1. I know that people seem to discount joy and happiness. They choose to push i …
Drone strikes have been around since the first recorded use of one in 1849 when the Austrians used pilotless balloons against revolutinary citizens in Venice. However, since 9/11 we have used drones to kill suspected terrorists in Pakistan, Afghanistan, Yemen, Somalia, and other countries. Those who are for using drones say that they have decim …
It's Saturday...and anything goes.
