“This cat hits its prey, startles it, and then grabs the neck immediately and then holds on for about five minutes. Doesn’t move a muscle, except for right – every energy – every bit of energy’s put right into the choking.”
– Jack Hanna, Director Emeritus of the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium.
Filed under News
“Families must be off limits on campaigns, and I personally believe stay at home moms work harder than most of us do.”
– Stephanie Cutter, President Obama’s deputy campaign manager, in response to the ongoing debate.
Filed under News
Filed under News
“What you have is Mitt Romney running around the country, saying, ‘Well, you know, my wife tells me that what women really care about are economic issues, and when I listen to my wife, that’s what I’m hearing.’ Guess what? His wife has actually never worked a day in her life.”
– Hilary Rosen, Democratic strategist criticizing Romney, on CNN’s “Anderson Cooper 360.”
Filed under News
Survivalist Tip: Yesterday I discussed the importance of maintaining the integrity of the tires on your vehicle. In the event you should have to change a tire, of course, you’ll a tire jack. And, just like a vehicle without good tires, a vehicle without a solid car jack is akin to eating pizza with low-fat cheese. Why bother? Your vehicle should come equipped with a tire jack. If it doesn’t, you got jacked (pun intended) and need to buy one. It’s bad enough changing a flat or disintegrated tire; changing one in the midst of the chaos at the start of the new Baktun will be especially hazardous. Regardless, safety is important. So, while a member of your posse stands nearby with a shotgun to fight off any politicians, reality TV show stars, or other lower-than-pond-scum forms of life that might survive, here are some safety tips for operating a basic tire jack.
As I’ve stated several times before, your vehicle may be your life line away from danger or greedy in-laws. A tire jack is just one of the many assets to ensure a safe drive. Besides, it makes a great disciplinary tool for anyone in your crew who gets out of line.
Filed under Mayan Calendar Countdown
If your birthday is today, “Happy Birthday!”
Ethel Skakel Kennedy, widow of Robert Kennedy, is 84.
Actor – singer – dancer Joel Grey (Cabaret, Stop the World – I Want to Get Off, Man on a Swing) is 80.
Actress Louise Lasser (Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman, Frankenhooker, Rude Awakening) is 73.
Actor Peter Riegert (The Mask, Oscar, Crossing Delancey) is 65.
Singer – songwriter Lisa Stansfield (All Around the World, You Can’t Deny It, This is the Right Time) is 46.
Filed under News
1803 – John Stevens patented a twin-screw propeller steamboat. The boat was 25 feet long and four feet wide.
1814 – Napoleon Bonaparte was exiled to the island of Elba.
1908 – Jane Bolin, the first Black female graduate of Yale School of Law and the first Black female judge in the nation was born in Poughkeepsie, NY.
1921 – KDKA radio in Pittsburgh broadcast the first live sports event, a lightweight boxing match between Johnny Ray and Johnny Dundee.
Johnny Ray
Johnny Dundee
1945 – The U.S. Army liberated the Buchenwald concentration camp near Weimar, Germany.
1947 – Jackie Robinson became the first Black player in major-league baseball history when he played in an exhibition game for the Brooklyn Dodgers.
1956 – Elvis Presley reached the top spot on the Billboard music chart with his first double-sided hit: Heartbreak Hotel and I Was the One. The RCA Victor record stayed at number one for eight weeks. Elvis also made the country and R&B charts.
1970 – The third lunar mission, Apollo 13, was launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida. The mission was aborted when an oxygen tank exploded aboard the spacecraft.
1979 – Ugandan dictator Idi Amin fled the capital of Kampala, as forces from Tanzania and the Uganda National Liberation Front approached.
Filed under History
A nomadic herder tussles with a reindeer in Hovsgol, Mongolia. Hovsgol is the northernmost of Mongolia’s 21 provinces, shadowing Russia’s border and sharing the great Siberian taiga (subarctic coniferous forest). Lichens in bright greens and oranges color 10,000-foot passes, while sacred rivers, rumored to never freeze, feed lakes framed by snow-tipped mountains. Photograph by Hamid Sardar, National Geographic.
Filed under News
Visitors at the entrance of the Dinosaur Valley State Park in Glen Rose, TX
“Most everyone in Glen Rose that I know believes man and dinosaurs coexisted. The only conflict we have is when people move from metropolitan areas and have different value systems. I think some don’t have a strong [religious] belief system, and they’re more likely to go with science than faith.”
— Alice Lance, a resident of Glen Rose, Texas.
Glen Rose, about 40 miles south of Fort Worth, is home to some of the best-preserved dinosaur tracks in the world. It’s also a heavily Christian community where many locals interpret the book of Genesis literally. Note to self: search for Elvis and Jim Morrison on next visit to Glen Rose; bring Jewish and Muslim friends, too.
Chief Writing Wolf 