With so many things going on in our world today I step up on to my soapbox to say….

Today we mourn the passing of a beloved old friend, Common Sense, who has been with us for many years. No one knows for sure how old he was, since his birth records were long ago lost in bureaucratic red tape.

He will be remembered as having cultivated such valuable lessons as knowing when to come in out of the rain, why the early bird gets the worm, life isn’t always fair, and maybe it was my fault. Common Sense lived by simple, sound financial policies (don’t spend more than you earn) and reliable parenting (adults, not children, are in charge). His health began to deteriorate rapidly when well-intentioned, but overbearing, regulations were set in place.

Reports of a six-year-old boy charged with sexual harassment for kissing a classmate, teenagers suspended from school for using mouthwash after lunch and a teacher fired for reprimanding an unruly student, only worsened his condition. Common Sense lost ground when parents attacked teachers for doing the job they had themselves failed to do in disciplining their unruly children. It declined even further when schools were required to get parental consent to administer paracetamol, sun lotion or plaster to a pupil, but could not inform the parents when a pupil became pregnant and wanted to have an abortion.

Common Sense lost the will to live as the Ten Commandments became contraband, churches became businesses and criminals received better treatment than their victims. Common Sense took a beating when you couldn’t defend yourself from a burglar in your own home, but the burglar could sue you for assault because you protected yourself and your own.

Common Sense finally gave up the will to live after a woman failed to realise that a steaming cup of coffee was hot. She spilled a little in her lap and was promptly awarded a huge settlement.

Common Sense was preceded in death by his parents, Truth and Trust, his wife, Discretion, his daughter, Responsibility and his son, Reason. He is survived by three stepbrothers; I Know My Rights, Someone Else is to Blame, and I’m A Victim. Not many attended his funeral because so few realised that he was gone.

If you still remember him, pass this on. If not, join the majority and do nothing.

Author Unknown

The forgotten legend behind the world’s most famous tongue twister.

FeaturedInstant ArticlesNewsAug 26, 2016 Ian Harvey

For most of us, tongue twisters are simply an amusing childish wordplay. Nevertheless, little did we know there was quite some significant history behind one of the world’s most famous tongue twisters of all.

“She sells seashells by the seashore” this tongue twister take us back to the 19th century when the woman referred to simply as “she” was a real person, and carried the name of Mary Anning.

Anning was born on 21 May 1799, in Dorset, southwest of England. Her family had a rather unusual way of earning money for living. It involved digging up fossils and selling them to people who visited the coast. Although this might sound strange, but back in the 19th century, rich and middle-class people loved having curio cabinets as showpieces in their living rooms. These cabinets were often decorated with various natural relics including fossils, most of them souvenirs brought from abroad.

Portrait of Mary Anning with her dog Tray – Natural History Museum, London

Drawing of Mary Anning’s house in Lyme Regis, Dorset, England.

June Fun Facts

The 6th month of the year brings us Summer, Father’s Day, Flag Day, and the Summer Solstice.

In the Georgian calendar, the calendar that most of the world uses, June is the sixth month. However, according to the early Roman calendar, June was actually the fourth month and had only 29 day. In 46B.C, Julius Caesar gave June 30 days instead of 29 when he reformed the Roman calendar. June was named after the Roman goddess Juno, who is the wife of Jupiter. However, others say that its name actually came from the Latin word iuniors. It means the younger ones, which is opposed to majors or elders which May’s name was originated from. In June, spring ends and summer begins in the Northern Hemisphere. During this time, all the flowers and plants are very beautiful. In the southern hemisphere, winter begins in June.

Below are some fun facts about June:

1. The birthstones for June are the pearl, alexandrite, and moonstone.
2. The birth flower for June is the rose.
3. The zodiac signs for June are Gemini (May 21 – June 20) and Cancer (June 21 – July 22)
4. On June 1, 1792, the state of Kentucky, also known as the Bluegrass state, became the 15th state of the United States.
5. On June 1, 1796, Tennessee, also known as The Volunteer State became the 16th state of the United States.
6. On June 5, 1947, George C. Marshall, the Secretary of State, described the Marshall Plan.
7. On June 14, 1777, the flag of the United States was adopted by the Continental Congress.
8. June 14, 1900 – Hawaii was organized as a territory
9. On June 15, 1215, the Magna Carta was granted by King John.
10. On June 15, 1775, George Washington was appointed the commander in chief of the Continental Army.
11. On June 15, 1836, Arkansas also known as the Natural State, became the 25th state of the United States.
12. Finland’s Flag Day is celebrated on the Saturday closest to June 24.
13. On June 6th, Sweden celebrates its national holiday, Flag Day.
14. On June 12, The Philippines’ Independence Day is celebrated.
15. On June 18, 1812, the United States declared war on Great Britain.
16. National Candy Month
17. National Dairy Month
18. National Iced Tea Month
19. June 5 – World Environment Day
20. June 20 – Father’s Day

I am the Flag….

Flag Day   June 14, 2017
I am the Flag

I am the flag of the United States of America.

My name is Old Glory.

I fly atop the world’s tallest buildings.

I stand watch in America’s halls of justice.

I fly majestically over institutions of learning.

I stand guard with power in the world.

Look up … and see me.
I stand for peace, honor, truth and justice.

I stand for freedom.

I am confident.

I am arrogant.

I am proud.
When I am flown with my fellow banners,

my head is a little higher,

my colors a little truer.
I bow to no one!

I am recognized all over the world.

I am worshiped

I am saluted.

I am loved

I am revered.

I am respected

and I am feared.
I have fought in every battle of every war

for more then 200 years.

I was flown at Valley Forge,

Gettysburg, Shiloh and Appomattox.

I was there at San Juan Hill,

the trenches of France,

in the Argonne Forest,

Anzio, Rome, and the beaches of Normandy.

Guam, Okinawa, Korea and

KheSan, Saigon, Vietnam know me.

I was there.
I led my troops.

I was dirty, battle worn and tired,

but my soldiers cheered me

And I was proud.

I have been burned, torn and trampled

on the streets of countries I have helped set free.

It does not hurt, for I am invincible.
I have been soiled upon, burned, torn

and trampled on the streets of my country.

And when it’s by those whom I’ve served in battle..it hurts.

But I shall overcome..for I am strong.
I have slipped the bonds of Earth

and stood watch over the uncharted frontiers of space

from my vantage point on the moon.

I have borne silent witness

to all of America’s finest hours.

But my finest hours are yet to come.
When I am torn into strips and used as bandages

for my wounded comrades on the battlefield,

When I am flown at half-mast to honor my soldier,

Or when I lie in the trembling arms of a grieving parent

at the grave of their fallen son or daughter,

I am proud.
My name is ‘Old Glory’!

Long may I wave

o’er the land of the free

and the home of the brave.
Publisher :- Howard Schnauber

WHAT you need to know

STROKE AWARENESS MONTH

Stroke AwarenessMay is American Stroke Month, and to show our support we are wearing red and challenge you to join us and share your photo on Facebook. 

Our goal this month is to raise awareness on risk factors and diseases which can lead to stroke and encourage you to evaluate your own personal risk for such diseases, including carotid artery disease and atrial fibrillation.

We have put together some information on stroke and prevention to share with you throughout the month. Here are a few quick facts on stroke, but be sure to check back each week to learn more!

Quick Facts on Stroke

Stroke is the number 5 cause of death and leading cause of disability in the U.S.1, making it a serious condition.

Studies show that almost 80% of all strokes are preventable and nearly 85% of all strokes that occur show NO warning signs.
Risk Factors 

Risk factors may be hereditary, due to lifestyle choices, health conditions or a combination of all. Some common risk factors that can lead to stroke include:

Family History

Smoking

High blood pressure

High cholesterol

Diseases

Certain diseases or health conditions may increase your risk for stroke, including:

Carotid Artery Disease

Atrial Fibrillation

Diabetes

Heart Disease

Learn more about stroke risk factors and disease that can lead to stroke.

Stroke Prevention

The important thing to remember is there are ways you can minimize your risk of stroke, including:

Healthy lifestyle choices

Proper management of health conditions, like high blood pressure

Knowing and understanding your risks and health

For more information on stroke prevention visit, CDC Preventing Stroke: What You Can Do. – See more at: http://www.lifelinescreening.com/Community/Health-Facts/Health-News/American-Stroke-Awareness-Month

Happy Mom’s Day

Mother’s Day is a holiday honoring motherhood that is observed in different forms throughout the world. The American incarnation of Mother’s Day was created by Anna Jarvis in 1908 and became an official U.S. holiday in 1914. Jarvis would later denounce the holiday’s commercialization and spent the latter part of her life trying to remove it from the calendar. While dates and celebrations vary, Mother’s Day most commonly falls on the second Sunday in May and traditionally involves presenting mothers with flowers, cards and other gifts.

Celebrations of mothers and motherhood can be traced back to the ancient Greeks and Romans, who held festivals in honor of the mother goddesses Rhea and Cybele, but the clearest modern precedent for Mother’s Day is the early Christian festival known as “Mothering Sunday.”

Once a major tradition in the United Kingdom and parts of Europe, this celebration fell on the fourth Sunday in Lent and was originally seen as a time when the faithful would return to their “mother church”—the main church in the vicinity of their home—for a special service.

Over time the Mothering Sunday tradition shifted into a more secular holiday, and children would present their mothers with flowers and other tokens of appreciation. This custom eventually faded in popularity before merging with the American Mother’s Day in the 1930s and 1940s.

DID YOU KNOW?

More phone calls are made on Mother’s Day than any other day of the year. These holiday chats with Mom often cause phone traffic to spike by as much as 37 percent.

ANN REEVES JARVIS AND JULIA WARD HOWE

The origins of Mother’s Day as celebrated in the United States date back to the 19th century. In the years before the Civil War, Ann Reeves Jarvis of West Virginia helped start “Mothers’ Day Work Clubs” to teach local women how to properly care for their children.

These clubs later became a unifying force in a region of the country still divided over the Civil War. In 1868 Jarvis organized “Mothers’ Friendship Day,” at which mothers gathered with former Union and Confederate soldiers to promote reconciliation.

Another precursor to Mother’s Day came from the abolitionist and suffragette Julia Ward Howe. In 1870 Howe wrote the “Mother’s Day Proclamation,” a call to action that asked mothers to unite in promoting world peace. In 1873 Howe campaigned for a “Mother’s Peace Day” to be celebrated every June 2.

Other early Mother’s Day pioneers include Juliet Calhoun Blakely, a temperance activist who inspired a local Mother’s Day in Albion, Michigan, in the 1870s. The duo of Mary Towles Sasseen and Frank Hering, meanwhile, both worked to organize a Mothers’ Day in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Some have even called Hering “the father of Mothers’ Day.

Last Hindenburg survivor, 88, recalls: ‘The air was on fire’Published May 05, 2017 Associated Press

TRENTON, N.J. – Thunderstorms and wind had delayed the Hindenburg’s arrival in New Jersey from Germany on May 6, 1937. The father of 8-year-old Werner Doehner headed to his cabin after using his movie camera to shoot some scenes of Lakehurst Naval Air Station from the airship’s dining room.

FILE – In this May 6, 1937 file photo, the German dirigible Hindenburg crashes to earth in flames after exploding at the U.S. Naval Station in Lakehurst, N.J. Only one person is left of the 62 passengers and crew who survived when the Hindenburg burst into flames 80 years ago Saturday, May 6, 2017. Werner Doehner was 8 years old when he boarded the zeppelin with his parents and older siblings after their vacation to Germany in 1937. The 88-year-old now living in Parachute, Colo., tells The Associated Press that the airship pitched as it tried to land in New Jersey and that “suddenly the air was on fire.” (AP Photo/Murray Becker, File) (1937 AP)

“We didn’t see him again,” recalled Doehner, now 88 and the only person left of the 62 passengers and crew who survived the fire that killed his father, sister and 34 other souls 80 years ago Saturday.

Doehner and his parents, older brother and sister were returning from a vacation in Germany and planned to travel on the 804-foot-long Hindenburg to Lakehurst, then fly to Newark and board a train in nearby New York City to take them home to Mexico City, where Doehner’s father was a pharmaceutical executive.

The children would have preferred the decks and public rooms of an ocean liner because space was tight on the airship, Doehner said in a rare telephone interview this week with The Associated Press from his home in Parachute, Colorado.

Their mother brought games to keep the children busy. They toured the control car and the catwalks inside the hydrogen-filled Hindenburg. They could see an ice field as they crossed the Atlantic Ocean, he remembered.

As the Hindenburg arrived at its destination, flames began to flicker on top of the ship.
Hydrogen, exposed to air, fueled an inferno. The front section of the Hindenburg pitched up and the back section pitched down.

Mardi Gras 2017 – 9 Things You May Not Know About Mardi Gras

• Mardi Gras, which means “Fat Tuesday” in French, conjures up images of drunken revelers engaging in excesses of every kind. But although debaucherous partying is certainly part of the scene, so too is religion, culture, food, and history. As the Mardi Gras season comes to a close today, explore nine things you may not know about this pre-Lenten festival.

1. Mardi Gras and Carnival are the same celebration.
Though Mardi Gras technically refers only to Fat Tuesday, the Mardi Gras season actually begins on Epiphany, a Christian holiday celebrated on January 6 that is otherwise known as Three Kings Day or the Twelfth Day of Christmas. In Brazil and many other countries, this period between Epiphany and Fat Tuesday is known as Carnival. Whichever name you prefer to use, the revelries of Mardi Gras last until midnight tonight, when Ash Wednesday ushers in 40 days of Lent.

2. Mardi Gras may or may not have pagan roots.
A popular theory holds that Mardi Gras’ origins lie in ancient pagan celebrations of spring and fertility, such as Saturnalia and Lupercalia. Some experts contend, however, that Mardi Gras-type festivities popped up solely as a result of the Catholic Church’s discouragement of sex and meat during Lent. Church reformers may have helped to propagate the pagan rumors, these experts say, in the hope of dissuading pre-Lenten hedonism.

3. New Orleans did not host the first North American Mardi Gras.
Mardi Gras is believed to have arrived in North America on March 3, 1699, when the French-Canadian explorer Pierre Le Moyne d’Iberville camped about 60 miles downriver from the future site of New Orleans. Knowing it was Fat Tuesday back in France, Iberville named the spot Point du Mardi Gras and held a small gala. A few years later, French soldiers and settlers feasted and wore masks as part of Mardi Gras festivities in the newly founded city of Mobile (present-day Alabama). To this day, Mobile claims to have the oldest annual Mardi Gras celebration in the United States.

4. Mardi Gras in New Orleans survived early efforts at suppression.
Mardi Gras got going in New Orleans soon after the city’s founding in 1718. The Spanish, who ruled the Big Easy from 1762 to 1800, apparently cracked down on certain Mardi Gras rituals (though documentation from that period is scarce). U.S. authorities did much the same after taking control in 1803, banning both masked balls and public disguises. Nonetheless, they eventually accepted the festival’s existence. The first recorded Mardi Gras street parade in New Orleans took place in 1837, by which time the city had transformed from a small backwater into a major metropolis. Twenty years later, six men organized a secret society called the Mistick Krewe of Comus. By holding a parade with the theme of “The Demon Actors in Milton’s Paradise Lost,” along with a lavish grand ball, Comus reversed the declining popularity of Mardi Gras and helped establish New Orleans as its clear epicenter in the United States. This year, more than 1 million visitors are expected to attend.

5. Other secret societies quickly followed Comus’ lead.
In 1872 the Krewe of Rex and the Knights of Momus began paying for parades and balls of their own. They were followed a decade later by the Krewe of Proteus. Since these early societies were exclusively male and white, women and blacks formed their own groups, such as Les Mysterieuses and the Zulu Social Aid and Pleasure Club. Dozens of krewes of all types have proliferated since then, including the science fiction-themed Intergalactic Krewe of Chewbacchus, whose name is a hybrid of the “Star Wars” character and the Roman god of wine. Despite being less than three years old, this krewe convinced Peter Mayhew, the actor who played Chewbacca in the movies, to ride in its parade last month atop a Millennium Falcon float and alongside a mascot called Bar2D2.

6. Some krewes refused to racially integrate.
Racial exclusion has not been limited to the distant past. In 1992, after an acrimonious debate, the New Orleans City Council passed an ordinance that prohibited krewes from discriminating on the basis of race, religion, sexual orientation or national origin. Rex pledged to immediately integrate, but Comus, Momus and Proteus chose to stop parading rather than open up their ranks to blacks. Comus has not yet returned to the streets, Momus spun off into the Knights of Chaos and Proteus came back in 2000 after signing the non-discrimination pledge.

7. Mardi Gras occasionally gets cancelled.
Since Comus ushered in the modern era of Mardi Gras in 1857, the New Orleans festivities have been cancelled about a dozen times. Most of those cancellations came during the Civil War, World War I and World War II, though revelers also stayed home during an 1870s yellow fever outbreak. The last time it was called off completely was 1945. A scaled-down version even took place in 2006, just months after Hurricane Katrina flooded the Gulf Coast and killed over 1,800 people.

8. The Super Bowl interrupted the 2013 parade schedule.
New Orleans hosted both the Super Bowl and Mardi Gras in February 2013, a potentially overwhelming combination that some called “Super Gras.” In an effort at crowd control, the city expanded its 12-day parade season so that no one would be marching on February 3, when the San Francisco 49ers battled the Baltimore Ravens. January 28-31 and February 4-5 likewise were kept free of parades. In a similar attempt at preventing mayhem, official parades have been banned from the narrow, tourist-filled streets of the city’s French Quarter since the 1970s.

9. King Cake is only eaten during Mardi Gras.
Available only during the Mardi Gras season, king cake is typically made with brioche dough. Braided and laced with cinnamon, the dough is then glazed with purple, green and gold sugar or covered in icing in those same Mardi Gras colors. What really sets king cake apart from other desserts, however, is the small plastic baby hidden inside. Whoever finds the baby in his or her slice must buy the next cake or perhaps host the next party.

 

 

 

 

Eat a Paczki for me…..

Mardi Gras – Fat Tuesday

When is Fat Tuesday? February 28, 2017; February 13, 2018; March 5, 2019; February 25, 2020; February 16, 2021; Arch 1, 2022; February 21, 2023

It’s time to party it up, and ….eat!!

Fat Tuesday is the day before Ash Wednesday. It is also known as Mardi Gras Day or Shrove Day. It is a day when people eat all they want of everything and anything they want as the following day is Ash Wednesday, the beginning of a long fasting period for Christians. In addition to fasting, christians also give up something special that they enjoy. So, Fat Tuesday is a celebration and the opportunity to enjoy that favorite food or snack that you give up for the long lenten season.

Nowhere on the planet is Fat Tuesday celebrated more than on Bourbon Street in New Orleans. The day is celebrated with festivities and parades and of course much food and drink. While in New Orleans, a big tradition is in wearing Mardi Gras beads and giving them to others. And tradition requires that if a guy gives a girl some beads, she has to do something for him…..this can be just loads of fun………

Did You Know? On Bourbon street in New Orleans, store owners coat poles and columns with vaseline to keep wild and rowdy revelers from climbing them (and perhaps falling).