Zach Thibodeaux, 9, cuddles with Natura at his father’s home in Addison, TX. Zach is slowly losing his sight – the result of cone-rod dystrophy, a disease that’s destroying the cells of his retina and for which there is no cure. Natura, a yellow Labrador retriever trained to be Zach’s guide, arrived from California this past January.
Filed under News
“Jerusalem is an insane place in some ways. It overwhelms people, and it has for centuries. The city is seductive, and people who are highly suggestible can succumb to this seduction. I’m always envious of people who live in San Diego, where history barely exists.”
— Yoram Bilu, an Israeli psychological anthropologist at the University of Chicago Divinity School, discussing “Jerusalem Syndrome,” where visitors to the city begin to believe they are the Messiah.
Like a typical foreigner – whether from Europe or the Middle East – Bilu shows what a historical idiot he is about the Western Hemisphere. Hell, a lot of Americans are that way! Even a cursory examination of San Diego will prove it has an extensive past – dating back some 20,000 years. But, who am I to try to reason with a psychologist?
Filed under News
Survivalist Tip: Every good survivalist has a tent in their cache of goods and therefore, so should you – especially if you plan to be on foot during the upheaval. A high quality tent is made of sturdy polyester fabric with PVC (polyvinyl chloride) coating. PVC is the result of recycled paper and beer cans; thus, it’s environmentally friendly. And, that’s a good thing, considering the Mayan gods are already ticked off with the extreme waste in our society. Exceptional waste is one reason why most people in Beverly Hills won’t survive the apocalypse. A tent with PVC coating will stand up to most anything: rain, hail, wind, zombies, politicians, etc. It will provide you with a sense of security, as chaos reigns around you. And, while people are fighting off zombies and politicians, you can relax in your tent with some chocolate and lager!
Filed under Mayan Calendar Countdown
The blaze at its peak the night of March 8. Photo courtesy One Laptop per Child.
This is incredibly heart-breaking. A fire at Peru’s main state educational materials warehouse last week destroyed roughly half a million textbooks, 61,000 laptop computers and 6,000 solar panels that had been destined for schools in the nation’s poor rural communities. Education Minister Patricia Salas estimated the loss at $103 million. The blaze comes just as Peru’s school year begins. Salas told reporters that the overnight blaze “affects prospects for thousands of Peruvian children to begin classes with the materials and services the state had for them.”
Officials are still investigating the blaze, which broke out around 9 P.M. local time last Thursday, March 8, and took 11 hours to control.
The destroyed computers were purchased from the U.S.-based nonprofit One Laptop per Child Association, which has provided low-cost computers to the world’s most isolated and poorest children for the past five years. Peru is the program’s largest recipient in Latin America. The computers are rugged, low-power, white-and-green XO laptops.
Many of the destroyed books were in indigenous languages, such as Quechua and Ashaninka. They had been written for children ages 3 – 5 living in Peru’s eastern regions where the majority of the country’s native languages speakers are concentrated. Peru has about 9 million students in a public education system ranked among the poorest in the Western Hemisphere.
The warehouse was unrecognizable afterwards. Photo courtesy One Laptop per Child.
Singer Jan Howard (The One You Slip Around With, Evil on Your Mind) is 82.
Songwriter – record producer Mike Stoller (Smokey Joe’s Cafe, Up on the Roof) is 79.
Actress Leslie Parrish (The Manchurian Candidate, Sex and the Single Girl) is 77.
Singer – songwriter Neil Sedaka (Oh! Carol, Calendar Girl) is 73.
Singer Donny York (Sha Na Na) is 63.
Actress Deborah Raffin (Foul Play, Noble House) is 59.
Actress Glenne Headly (Mr. Holland’s Opus, The Purple Rose of Cairo ) is 57.
Bass guitarist Adam Clayton (U2) is 52.
Filed under Birthdays
1781 – English astronomer William Hershel identified Uranus, the first planet to be discovered with a telescope.
1865 – In a desperate measure against battle losses during the Civil War, the Confederacy approved the use of Negro troops.
1868 – The impeachment trial of President Andrew B. Johnson began.
1877 – Chester Greenwood of Farmington, ME received a patent for the earmuff.
1881 – Czar Alexander II of Russia was killed in St. Petersburg by a bomb thrown by a member of the revolutionary “People’s Will.”
1930 – Clyde W. Tombaugh discovered Pluto while looking for another planet in the solar system from the Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff, AZ.
1942 – The Quartermaster Corps of the U.S. Army began training dogs for the newly established War Dog Program, or “K-9 Corps.”
1987 – Jack Morris, pitcher with Sparky Anderson’s Detroit Tigers, received the largest arbitration settlement in professional baseball. He was awarded $1.85 million to play for the Tigers in 1988.
Filed under History
Researcher Maurizio Seracini (foreground) views video from behind a Giorgio Vasari mural in Florence. Art researchers are wondering if an undiscovered painting by Leonardo da Vinci is hidden behind a 16th century mural by fellow artist Giorgio Vasari. Photo courtesy of National Geographic.
Filed under News
“I am trying to say y’all and I like grits and things. Strange things are happening to me.”
— Mitt Romney joking to a Mississippi audience last week and apparently trying in vain to appeal to Republican voters there and in neighboring Alabama.
It’s bad enough the Republican Party has a virtual stranglehold on the Southeastern U.S. – mainly because of the 1965 Voting Rights Act that dared to guarantee Negroes and Indians the right to vote – but then politicians have to prove their insincerity with this kind of goofiness.
Filed under News
Chris Faraone starts off with a great piece of business advice from his father: “develop a compelling product, sling it like your kid is starving, and never trust distributors.” I couldn’t offer better wisdom to any kind of business entrepreneur – especially to us writers. Self-publishing – once the bastion of desperation for writers – has become more than fashionable; it’s become competitive. It’s now a viable alternative to any scribe who’s tired of trying to appeal to the right book agent or publisher with just the right proposal at just the right time. Self-publishing is a leech on traditional book publishing – but it’s the proverbial “Holy Grail” for the independent writer. It puts the power of publishing in the hands of the right people – the writers themselves. It doesn’t make the actual task of writing any easier; nor does it simplify the equally difficult job of marketing. But with self-publishing, writers at least have complete control over their work. Faraone learned about the business from his father who, ironically, operated his own book publishing company. And, although the younger Faraone concentrates a good deal of his editorial on the “Occupy Wall Street” movement, I see a perfect analogy. If you don’t like the way something is, work to change it! That’s how progress is made.
Filed under News
Chief Writing Wolf 