Think Dogs Are the Best Trackers? Nope!

Posted on July 21, 2016 by wordcloud9

Elephants Have 2,000 Genes for Smell, the Most Ever Found

 African Elephant (Loxodonta Africana)

According to research published in the journal Genome Research  comparing 14 mammal species, African Elephants have over twice as many olfactory genes as indomestic dogs, and five times more than in humans, who have about 400. The previous record-holder was rats, which have about 1,200 genes dedicated to smell.

http://voices.nationalgeographic.com/2014/07/22/animals-elephants-smell-trunks-genes-africa-science/

African Elephant photo by Beverly Joubert

Posted in Biology | Tagged , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

A Tribute to Isaac Stern

Posted on July 21, 2016 by wordcloud9

Happy Birthday, Isaac Stern!

Isaac Stern

At the Polar Music Prize Banquet in 2000, 80-year- old Isaac Stern played “Liebeslied” by Fritz Kreisler. He and Bob Dylan were that year’s recipients.

Isaac Stern was born on July 21, 1920, in what is now the Ukraine. His family moved to San Francisco the following year. He gave his first public performance at age 15.

In 1951, Stern was the first American violinist to tour the Soviet Union, but later announced he would not return until all Soviet artists were allowed to come and go freely. He had close ties with Israel, and often performed there. He never played publicly in Germany.

As a world-renowned violinist, he used his fame and influence to save Carnegie Hall when it was threatened with demolition in the 1960s.

He died on September 22, 2001, leaving his third wife, three children, and five grandchildren, and a marvelous recorded repertoire as his legacy to the world.

Posted in Classical Music | Tagged , , , , , | Comments Off on A Tribute to Isaac Stern

ON THIS DAY: July 21, 2016

Posted on July 21, 2016 by wordcloud9

July 21st isPuppy in pet store cage

No Makeup Day

National Junk Food Day

ASPCA No Pet Store Puppies Day

USATWA Tug-of-War Tournament Day

WORLD FESTIVALS AND NATIONAL HOLIDAYS

Belgium – National Dayinternational Flags

Canada – Vancouver Bard on the Beach

Guam – Liberation Day

Iraq – Government Holiday (Excessive Heat)

UK – Cambridgeshire Secret Garden Party (1st day)

On This Day in HISTORY

356 BC – Ephesus Temple of Artemis, ancient world Seven Wonder, destroyed by arson

365 – Alexandria, Egypt, devastated by tsunami from 8.5 earthquake on Crete

1645 – Qing regent Dorgon orders Han men to braid their hair into queue like Manchus

There’s MORE! Hemingway, Robin Williams & Janet Reno, just click

Continue reading →

Posted in History, Holidays, On This Day | Tagged , , , , , , | Comments Off on ON THIS DAY: July 21, 2016

Political Correctness & how plagiarism goes off the light rails at the RNC

Posted on July 20, 2016 by ann li-summers

train_wreck

By ann summers

Apparently the revolution will be televised, but the counter-revolution comes from a “series of tubes”. And it will be led by a pernicious Political Correctness (PC) that can only be eradicated by a strong, fearless, leader for the genuinely uninformed.

Tony (Art of the Deal) Schwartz’s ghost-writing successor is apparently the official éminence grise for Melania’s RNC speech text, other than Donald Trump’s third wife who said: “I read it once over, and that’s all because I wrote it with as little help as possible.”

Donald J. Trump

✔@realDonaldTrump

Good news is Melania’s speech got more publicity than any in the history of politics especially if you believe that all press is good press!

11:31 AM – 20 Jul 2016

 

Unfortunately “All press is good press” is not the same as “There is no such thing as bad press”. But ignorance is now a PC virtue.

macgruberx_1_.jpg

In working with Melania Trump on her recent First Lady speech, we discussed many people who inspired her and messages she wanted to share with the American people. A person she has always liked is Michelle Obama. Over the phone, she read me some passages from Mrs. Obama’s speech as examples. I wrote them down and later included some of the phrasing in the draft that ultimately became the final speech.

I did not check Mrs. Obama’s speeches. This was my mistake, and I feel terrible for the chaos I have caused Melania and the Trumps, as well as to Mrs. Obama. No harm was meant.

http://www.snopes.com/meredith-mciver-exists/

Donald Trump books ghost written by Meredith McIver

  • Trump: Think Like a Billionaire
  • A Pocket Guide to Trump: How to Get Rich
  • Trump: How to Get Rich
  • Trump Never Give Up

Continue reading →

Posted in 2016 Election, Celebrity, Conservatives, Conspiracy, Education, Fraud, Free Speech, Government, History, Humor, Internet, Media, Presidential Elections, Propaganda, RNC, Society, Tea Party, Uncategorized | Tagged , , | 4 Comments

Soul Sacrifice

Posted on July 20, 2016 by wordcloud9

Happy Birthday, Carlos Santana!

Carlos Santana was born on July 20, 1947, in Autlán de Navarro, Mexico. He moved to San Francisco in the early 1960s.

Carlos-Santana-2015

This guitarist-songwriter formed the Santana Blues Band in 1966, but it became known later as Santana. His music blends Latin-infused rock, jazz, blues, salsa and African rhythms.

Posted in Fusion Music | Tagged , , , , | 3 Comments

ON THIS DAY: July 20, 2016

Posted on July 20, 2016 by wordcloud9

July 20th is

Moon DayFirst_Man_on_Moon_1969_Stamp

Space Exploration Day

National Lollipop Day

Ugly Truck Day

World Jump Day

International Cake Day

World Festivals and National Holidays

Columbia –Declaration of Independence Dayinternational Flags

Lao – Lao Womens Union Establishment Day

Morocco – Marrakesh Popular Arts Festival

U.S.A. – Key West Hemingway Days & Papa
……………Look-Alike Contest

On This Day in HISTORY

  • 1248 – The University of Oxford receives its Royal Charter
  • 1756 – British POWs interned in the “Black Hole of Calcutta”
  • 1782 – U.S. Congress adopts the Great Seal of the United States

great-seal-of-the-united-states-1782

  • 1837 – Queen Victoria succeeds to the throne of the British Empire

There’s More! Sitting Bull, Carlos Santana and Jaws, just click

Continue reading →

Posted in History, Holidays, On This Day | Tagged , , , , , , | Comments Off on ON THIS DAY: July 20, 2016

Music: First Heard on July 19, 1942

Posted on July 19, 2016 by wordcloud9

On July 19, 1942, Symphony No. 7, the “Leningrad” Symphony, by Dmitri Shostakovich, performed for the first time in the U.S. by Arturo Toscanini and the NBC Symphony Orchestra.

Shostakovich 7 Leningrad Toscanini 

 

Posted in Music | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on Music: First Heard on July 19, 1942

ON THIS DAY: July 19, 2016

Posted on July 19, 2016 by wordcloud9

July 19th is

Daiquiri Day

daquiri-frozen 

Flitch Day

The Dunmow Flitch Trials exist to award a flitch
(side) of bacon to married couples who can satisfy
the Judge and Jury of 6 maidens and 6 bachelors
that in ‘a twelvemonth and a day’, they have2hearts
‘not wisht themselves unmarried again’.
The Dunmow Flitch was even referenced in
The Wife of Bath’s Tale from Chaucer’s 14th century
Canterbury Tales. Held every 4 years in Great Dunmow,
Essex, England, located north-east of London

Raspberry Cake Day

Stick Out Your Tongue Day

World Festivals & National Holidays

England – Flitch Trial (leap years) international Flags

India & Nepal – Guru Purnima festivals

Myanmar – Martyrs’ Day

Nicaragua – Sandinista Revolution Day

Sri Lanka – Adhi Esalla Full Moon Poya Day

Thailand – Asalha Bucha Holiday

U.S.A. – NYC Shakespeare in the Park: Troilus and Cressida 

Dharma Day – Buddhists celebrate the day when Buddha gave his followers the Four Noble Truths and the Eightfold Path

On This Day in HISTORY

64 – Circus Maximus in Rome burns

In Ancient Rome, the Lucaria, Festival of the Grove, was celebrated on this day

1545 – The Tudor warship Mary Rose sinks off Portsmouth

1553 – Lady Jane Grey, “Nine Day Queen” of England, replaced by Mary I

1799 – The Rosetta Stone found in Rosetta, Egypt, by Pierre-François Bouchard

rosettastone-detail

1814 – Samuel Colt, future gun manufacturer, is born

NEXT: Edgar Degas, The Seneca Falls Convention, and ‘V for Victory’ –
just click

Continue reading →

Posted in History, Holidays, On This Day | Tagged , , , , , , , | Comments Off on ON THIS DAY: July 19, 2016

America, “a divided crime scene”, terminated with extreme vetting

Posted on July 18, 2016 by ann li-summers
rnc-road-closures-jpg-d537de8e31d1f8fe_1_.jpg

 

By ann summers

 

The GOP seeks a perfect storm to excite their base by scheduling an opportunity for Open Carry idiots to confront Cleveland protestors outside the secure zone in a surreal 8th grade reenactors’  version of Kent State. And then there’s the paramilitary boondoggle.

 

You can go to Cleveland again, but 1970s Tom Wolfe has now returned to the land of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, god-whistling in the dark, as the Koch-Brothers’ Heartland Institute references his text online.

What better speaker could one have than the silicon libertarian guy who bankrolled the bankruptcy of Gawker — and tonight is Benghazi Night! Will someone yell “fire” during the moment of silence. Or will they yell “ready, aim”.

www.cbsnews.com/…

“What kind of vice president are you going to be?” Lesley Stahl asked Indiana Governor Mike Pence in his first interview with Donald Trump since Trump selected Pence as his presidential running mate.

baioaschachi2_1_.jpg

 

Trump was the first to answer. “I would like somebody who is active,” says Trump. “I would like somebody that can go out and really do it,” as well as somebody well known in Washington, DC, and well liked by the Republican leadership. And on that score, Trump says he has already gotten important party approval for his choice of Pence. “[Speaker of the House] Paul Ryan called me up immediately and said, ‘What a great choice,'” Trump says.

cnmi7q2usaasrxa_1_

 

Continue reading →

Posted in 2016 Election, Celebrity, Free Speech, Government, Jurisprudence, Media, Ohio, Political Science, Politics, Presidential Elections, RNC, Society, Tea Party, Terrorism, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Official U.S. State Dogs: MASSACHUSETTS

Posted on July 18, 2016 by wordcloud9

The Boston Terrier (Canis familiaris bostenensis) was designated the Official State Dog of Massachusetts in 1979.

Boston-Terrier-brindled

The Boston Terrier is nicknamed the “American Gentleman” because of its dark body color with white markings which make it look like a formally dressed gentleman, and its friendly disposition. As the name implies, these dogs were developed in Boston.

Sometime around 1870, Robert C. Hooper bought a mixed breed dog named Judge, a mix of Bull and Terrier breeds. Renamed Hooper’s Judge, he is cited by the AKC as the ancestor of almost all true modern Boston Terriers.

Offspring were bred with one or more French Bulldogs, resulting in smaller dogs than Hooper’s Judge, whose weight was somewhere between 27 and 29 pounds. The modern-day Bostons usually weigh between 10 and 25 pounds.

Boston Terrier puppy

Continue reading →

Posted in Dogs, Massachusetts | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on Official U.S. State Dogs: MASSACHUSETTS