Survivalist Tip: We’ve reached another milestone in the countdown – less than a hundred days to go before the apocalypse. Battling these allergies all year long has made me realize the importance of something else: nasal sprays. Along with eye drops, this will be another essential element in your arsenal of supplies. With the sudden reversal of the Earth’s axes and the chaos in the environment, there will be plenty of dirt and debris flung about. The same stuff that will clog your eyes and cloud your vision will fill up your nasal cavities. That won’t just aggravate the crap out of you; it could induce panic attacks, even in the hardiest of survivalists. Not being able to breathe can ruin a really good day – and in the midst of the upheaval, you won’t have too many of those anyway. Nasal sprays come in a variety of forms, many of them over the counter. Others are prescription strength, but obviously are more costly. All decongestants have such ingredients as oxymetazoline, xylametazoline, fluticasone and azelastine. Don’t worry about pronouncing these words; just know that they all reduce inflammation of the sensitive tissue lining the nasal walls and dry up loose mucus that forms in reaction to all that pollen and dust. Stockpile as many bottles of nasal sprays as you can. Clear nasal passages just won’t help you breathe better and therefore, relax more; it’ll help you sniff out things like chocolate and wild deer.
Monthly Archives: June 2012
June 10 Notable Birthdays
If today is your birthday, “Happy Birthday!”
Defense attorney – author F. Lee Bailey is 79.
Singer Shirley Owens Alston (The Shirelles) is 71.
TV commentator Jeff Greenfield is 69.
Actor Andrew Stevens (Code Red, Dallas, Emerald Point N.A.S., Illicit Dreams, Scorned) is 57.
Actress Elizabeth Hurley (Christabel, Orchid House, Passenger 57) is 47.
Actor Doug McKeon (On Golden Pond, Turnaround, Breaking Home Ties, Mischief) is 46.
Figure skater Tara Lipinski (Olympic gold medalist, Nagano, Japan, 1998) is 30.
Filed under Birthdays
On June 10…
1692 – In Salem Village in the Massachusetts Colony, Bridget Bishop became the first of several people executed by hanging after being found guilty of practicing witchcraft.
1752 – Benjamin Franklin flew a kite during a thunderstorm and collected a charge in a jar when lightning struck the kite.
1775 – During a meeting of Congress in Philadelphia, John Adams proposed the formation of a Continental Army.
1854 – The U.S. Naval Academy at Annapolis, MD, graduated its first class.
1895 – Actress Hattie McDaniel (Gone with the Wind, Judge Priest, The Little Colonel, Showboat, Saratoga; first African-American to win an Oscar) was born in Wichita, KS.
1901 – Composer Frederick Loewe (Gigi, My Fair Lady, Brigadoon, Camelot, Paint Your Wagon) was born in Berlin.
1922 – Actress – singer Judy Garland (The Wizard of Oz, Meet Me in St. Louis, A Star is Born, Easter Parade, The Harvey Girls, Judgment at Nuremberg) was born in Grand Rapids, MN.
1924 – The first political convention on radio was presented by NBC. Graham McNamee provided coverage of the Republican National Convention from Cleveland, OH.
1928 – Children’s author – illustrator Maurice Sendak was born in New York City.
1935 – In New York City, two recovering alcoholics, Dr. Robert Smith and William G. Wilson founded Alcoholics Anonymous.
1940 – As Norway surrendered to Germany during World War II, Italy declared war on France and Great Britain.
1954 – General Motors announced that the first successful gas-turbine bus had been produced.
Filed under History
Petition Update
As I first reported back on April 4, Arizona Senators Jon Kyl and John McCain proposed Senate Bill 2109, the “Navajo – Hopi Little Colorado River Water Rights Settlement Act of 2012,” this past February, which would give Arizona corporations total control over the state’s waters. Mining interests were a key player in the bill’s development. More importantly, though, the bill would require the residents of the Navajo and Hopi communities to relinquish all rights to ground and subterranean water, including the right to sue for damages resulting from possible water contamination.
It’s one of the most egregious pieces of legislation to come before the U.S. Senate. Kyl and McCain obviously think the Navajo and Hopi people will just roll over and let this become law. I started a petition shortly after learning about this on Change.org to demand the bill be removed from consideration. It’s garnered close to 10,000 signatures, but I’d like to see it reach and surpass that goal. Please forward this on to interested parties and invite them to take action. Regardless of whose livelihood is at stake, mining companies have a poor history of community welfare. This situation could happen anywhere in the nation. It already has in some locations, such as Oklahoma’s Tar Creek area, which I know a lot about. I lived and worked in that area for nearly 4 months in early 2005. Trust me when I tell you that mining companies have no problems wreaking havoc on the environment and leaving surrounding communities to deal with the adverse health effects. Thank you all who have supported this petition.
Filed under News
The Legacy of the Plumed Serpent in Ancient México
Beginning July 29, 2012, the Dallas Museum of Art will present “The Legacy of the Plumed Serpent in Ancient México,” an artistic exploration of indigenous Mexican societies and one of their most prominent deities, Quetzalcoatl, an incarnation of the spirit forces of wind and rain and the real-life quetzal bird. The quetzal is native to Central America and southern México and is best known for its resplendent colors and twin tail feathers that grow up to 3 feet on the males. The bird has always been sacred to the indigenous peoples of these regions. Mayan and Aztec royalty and religious leaders adorned themselves with the quetzal’s lengthy tail feathers during ceremonies.
The exhibition features 150 objects – such as painted codices, turquoise mosaics and gold ornaments – loaned from museums and private collections in México, Europe and the United States. The artworks in the “Plumed Serpent” collection trace the development of Mesoamerican societies and prove how complex and advanced they were.
They include the “Codex Zouche-Nuttall,” one of a small number of known Mexican codices dating to pre-Hispanic times. Codex is the technical name for an ancient book or manuscript, before the invention of the printing press. Mesoamerican societies recorded various events and religious ceremonies using this technique, sometimes in rock or stone. A writing system arose in central México around 600 B.C.; one of only two places in the world that historians have identified where writing appeared completely and independently of any outside influences. Mesopotamia is the other. Europeans destroyed many Mesoamerican codices, believing they bore some satanic elements.
The “Codex Zouche-Nuttall” is made of deer skin and comprises forty-seven leaves. One side relates the history of important centers in the Mixtec region, while the other side records the genealogy, marriages and political and military feats of the Mixtec ruler “Eight Deer Jaguar-Claw.” First published in 1902, the “Codex Zouche-Nuttall” is one of the few Mesoamerican pictorial documents to have escaped destruction.
“The Legacy of the Plumed Serpent in Ancient México” was organized by the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and is made possible by the National Endowment for the Humanities. The Dallas exhibit runs through November 25, 2012.
Filed under Art Working
June 9 Notable Birthdays
If today is your birthday, “Happy Birthday!”
Actor Joe Santos (The Rockford Files, The Panic in Needle Park, Shamus, The Friends of Eddie Coyle, Blue Thunder) is 81.
Comedian – actor Jackie Mason (Jacob Moshe Maza; Chicken Soup, The World According to Me, The Jerk) is 76.
Sportscaster and basketball analyst Dick Vitale (ABC, ESPN; author: Time Out, Baby!) is 73.
Author Patricia Cornwell (Kay Scarpetta series) is 56.
Actor Michael J. Fox (Back to the Future, The Secret of My Success, Bright Lights Big City, Doc Hollywood, Greedy, For Love or Money, Family Ties) is 51.
Actor Johnny Depp (Pirates of the Caribbean series, Arizona Dreams, Nick of Time, Dead Man, Ed Wood, Donnie Brasco, Don Juan DeMarco, What’s Eating Gilbert Grape) is 49.
Actress Gloria Reuben (ER, Timecop, Shaft) is 48.
Actress Natalie Portman (Mars Attacks!, The Prince of Egypt, Black Swan) is 31.
On June 9…
1534 – French explorer Jacques Cartier became the first European to navigate the St. Lawrence River in present-day Québec, Canada.
1781 – George Stephenson, developer of the steam locomotive, was born in Wylam, Northumberland, England.
1790 – The first copyright for a book was given to The Philadelphia Spelling Book.
1973 – Secretariat became the first horse in 25 years to win the Triple Crown: the Kentucky Derby, the Preakness and the Belmont Stakes.
Filed under History
Video of the Day
The Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) is the most advanced spacecraft ever designed to study the sun. Since being launched by NASA in 2010, it has steadily examined the sun’s atmosphere and magnetic field. On June 5, 2012, the SDO gathered images of one of the rarest celestial events: the “Transit of Venus.” This video is a compilation of those extraordinary images.
Quote of the Day
“Nobody has seen a communist in over a decade.”
– Former President Bill “Puff Daddy” Clinton, mocking Republicans for failing to reprimand Rep. Allen West, R-FL, when he charged that as many as 80 Democrats in Congress are members of the Communist Party.
I have to agree. I haven’t seen a communist since I got laid off from a major bank in 2001.
Filed under News



































