whocanibe
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Memory is the diary, we all carry with us.
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Post by whocanibe on Mar 20, 2014 2:17:47 GMT -5
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the flying reindeer
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Rest in Peace, Peg
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Post by the flying reindeer on Mar 20, 2014 14:52:08 GMT -5
National Cherry Blossom Festival Good afternoon my friends Today is a day of mixtures - partly sunny to mostly cloudy to overcast and back again. And then there's the weather forecast with temps going down and the strong possibility of snow. Happy 1st day of spring to all you eager New Yorkers.
Spring has sprung, astronomically speaking, but that's cold comfort here in New York at the tail end of one of the roughest winters in decades. As for the Cherry Blossom Festival, the National Park Service estimates the blossoms won't hit their peak until mid-April, about a week later than average. On the other hand, long-term temperature trends suggest that the typical signs of spring will be coming earlier due to climate change. And if you missed out on the East's Big Chill, you're probably already getting a taste of that future. "I would bet anyone that we'll have warmer and warmer winters," Compton Tucker, a climate scientist at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland, said. "Three out of four winters, three out of five, will be warmer." So be careful what you wish for - you just might have it in your future.
March Madness has finally started producing its upsets - with the first game of round 1, oops, I mean round 2 - #11 seed Dayton has beaten #6 Ohio State, which should also give them a good chance at #1 in the state!! Right now I'm going back and forth between #3 Syracuse and #14 Western Michigan and #5 Cincinnati and #12 Harvard (leading Cincinnati at halftime). In what would be a mild upset, $9Pittsburgh is leading *8 Colorado 69-41 with a little over 7 minutes left in the game.Who knows - maybe this will be the year a #16 seed with beat a number on (as long as it isn't Michigan State or Louisville - my picks for the championship game). I love it when the underdog beats up on one of the big boys!!
While Pres. Obama deals with some rather warm foreign relations , namely Russia vs. Ukraine, his wife and daughters are on a goodwill visit to China. They arrived in Beijing today to begin a week-long visit to promote education and cultural ties. Michelle Obama, who is accompanied by her daughters (Sasha and Malia)) and her mother (Marian Robinson), is expected to spend tomorrow with China's charismatic first lady, Peng Liyuan, admired at home as a glamorous songstress and fashion icon. Also scheduled is a visit to the western historic city of Xi'an and the southern city of Chengdu, where they will visit a panda reserve. I envy them. I would love to be able to visit China, but at least I can vicariously through my DIL who has made two visits to China for educational purposes. Her descriptions of her experiences in such a foreign country are fascinating.
Thought for Today: "Set your course by the stars, not by the lights of every passing ship." --Omar Bradley (1893-1981) US general who commanded US ground forces in the Normandy invasion in World War II,
Dangerous liaison bearded iris Happy Thursday everyone
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whocanibe
Senior Member
Memory is the diary, we all carry with us.
Joined: Dec 7, 2011 7:20:54 GMT -5
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Post by whocanibe on Mar 21, 2014 1:47:59 GMT -5
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Icelandic Woman
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Location: Colorado
Favorite Drink: Strawberry Lemonade
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Post by Icelandic Woman on Mar 21, 2014 10:08:40 GMT -5
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the flying reindeer
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Rest in Peace, Peg
Joined: Mar 3, 2012 10:30:57 GMT -5
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Post by the flying reindeer on Mar 21, 2014 11:05:23 GMT -5
World Down Syndrome Day Good afternoon my friends. The 2nd day of spring is overcast and gloomy - not much of a change from most of winter except - it's warmer with a temp high in the lower 40s. But that white stuff is in the forecast.
March Madness: The first day of games was full of surprises - Dayton beating Ohio State set the stage for a really terrific day of basketball, that included a tournament-record four, yes I mean four, overtime games - #12 North Dakota State beat #4 Oklahoma, #5 Saint Louis beat #12 North Carolina State, #11 Dayton beat #6 Ohio State and #7 Texas beat @10 Arizona State. However, Trevor Cooney shot 4-for-8 from beyond the arc, scoring 18 points in the South Region to lead #3 Syracuse in a relatively easy 77-53 win over Western Michigan. I can't imagine today's slate of games could be any better. The first game (Mercer vs. Duke) begins in a few minutes and I'll be glued to the TV for the rst of the day.
From the Finger Lakes in New York
Wave Jumper The waves were rocking, as the wind blew across Seneca Lake one afternoon. As cold and breezy as it was, the weather created perfect waves for Jason Gordon who was out on his kite board. Photo by Joni Dibble
My Backyard A wintry scene from a backyard in Seneca County during last week's winter storm. Photo by Kathryn Lewis
The Close of an Irruption Year The opportunity to sight snowy owls is becoming less by the moment as this is the time of year they head back to their breeding grounds of the high arctic in this exceptional irruption year. Photo by Laurie Dirkx
Such a Flirt This time of year the breeding plumage of birds can melt the strongest of us. Taken at Irondequoit Bay Outlet Bridge. Photo by Laurie Dirkx
Thought for Today: "Words can sting like anything, but silence breaks the heart." --Phyllis McGinley (1905-1978) 1961 Pulitzer Prize-winning American author of children's books and poetry
Yellow lilies in memory of Sparkle TGIF my friends
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the flying reindeer
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Rest in Peace, Peg
Joined: Mar 3, 2012 10:30:57 GMT -5
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Post by the flying reindeer on Mar 22, 2014 11:34:29 GMT -5
International Day of the Seal Good afternoon my friends Another gloomy day, albeit warmer but there's snow in the forecast with a drop in temps. Gawd, I'm tired of this!!
March Madness: And the upsets continue. This time the shocker was #14 Mercer's 77-71 victory over #3 and perennial winner Duke to start off the day. It came to an end when #12 Stephen F. Austin took down $5 Virginia Commonwealth 77-75 in overtime. And for a short time, I wondered if we were going to finally have a #1 team go down to a #16 when Coastal Carolina seemed to be winning, but in the end, Virginia won. One #1 team, Wichita State, rolled easily past their opponent 64-37 Cal Poly-San Luis Obispo. All in all it was a fun day, proving once again that this is a great sporting event. And please stop tinkering with it.
Flight 370 UPDATE: China has reported finding satellite images of a floating object, measuring 74 ft x 43 ft in the southern Indian Ocean search area. The Australian Maritime Safety Authority said the spot of the sighting was within Saturday's search area, but that the object was not found. Searchers will take the Chinese information into consideration as they design their search for Sunday, AMSA said. The floating object was about 77 miles from where earlier satellite images spotted floating debris. I hope that they finally are able to spot some of this debris and determine whether it is connected to the missing airliner or not.
Thought for Today: "You don't have to travel around the world to understand that the sky is blue everywhere." --Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832) German playwright, poet and novelist
Dangerous mood neglecta bearded iris Have a satchel full of fun Saturday
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whocanibe
Senior Member
Memory is the diary, we all carry with us.
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Post by whocanibe on Mar 24, 2014 1:52:30 GMT -5
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the flying reindeer
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Rest in Peace, Peg
Joined: Mar 3, 2012 10:30:57 GMT -5
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Post by the flying reindeer on Mar 24, 2014 11:59:57 GMT -5
National Chocolate Covered Raisins Day Good afternoon my friends It's a mostly cloudy day with occasional glimpses of the sun. It snowed lightly overnight AGAIN. And the temp hasn't reached 20F yet. So where is this spring that I've been hearing about??
Flight 370 UPDATE: Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 went down over the southern Indian Ocean, Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak said, citing a new analysis of satellite data by a British satellite company and accident investigators, and apparently ending hopes that anyone survived. The Prime Minister based his announcement on what he described as unprecedented analysis of satellite data sent by the plane by British satellite provider Inmarsat and the British Air Accidents Investigation Branch. He didn't describe the nature of the analysis. But he said it made it clear that the plane's last position was in the middle of the remote southern Indian Ocean, "far from any possible landing sites."
March Madness: OK, we've finished the first weekend of the tournament and 16 teams are free to move on to play this coming Thursday. Dayton has proven that it's win over Ohio State was no fluke by beating Syracuse. The first No. 1 seed, Wichita State, was beaten by perennial power Kentucky's gang of one-and-done freshmen, proving that talent can beat experience. My two picks for the championship game (on Saturday) Louisville and Michigan State made it through to next week. How are all of you doing?
An Ebola outbreak has killed at least 59 out of 80 people in Guinea, UNICEF said, as the deadly hemorrhagic fever has quickly spread from southern communities in the West African nation. Experts in the country had been unable to identify the disease, whose symptoms -- diarrhea, vomiting and fever -- were first observed last month. "In Guinea, a country with a weak medical infrastructure, an outbreak like this can be devastating," the UNICEF representative in Guinea, Dr. Mohamed Ag Ayoya, said in the statement. The international medical charity Medecins Sans Frontieres announced on Saturday it was reinforcing its medical and logistics teams in Guinea in response to the epidemic. It is also flying in 33 tons of medicines and equipment and setting up isolation units in the three affected areas in the country. 50 out of 80 infected have died? That's over 50% fatal!! Hopefully, all the steps the nation and charities are taking will prevent a greater outbreak.
Thought for Today: "Our scientific power has outrun our spiritual power. We have guided missiles and misguided men." Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. (1929-1968) Nobel Peace Prize winning African American preacher and civil rights activist
Dark drama plicata bearded iris Have a madcap Monday
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the flying reindeer
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Rest in Peace, Peg
Joined: Mar 3, 2012 10:30:57 GMT -5
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Post by the flying reindeer on Mar 25, 2014 13:35:27 GMT -5
Vaffeldagen (Waffle Day) Good afternoon my friends. It snowed lightly last night but most is almost gone now with the temp reaching 32F in what has turned out to be a fairly sunny day. For late March, it's not too bad!!
Chinese citizens are feverishly snapping up face masks as worsening air pollution fuels a multi-million dollar industry where many products fail to provide even basic protection, drawing calls for better oversight and standards. The country's worsening air quality is at the top of the list of concerns of China's stability-obsessed leaders, anxious to douse potential unrest as a more affluent urban population turns against a growth-at-all-costs economic model that has poisoned much of the country's air, water and soil. Another study has concluded that 1 out of every 8 deaths is related to air pollution. Given those facts, it's about time that the rulers of China did something to decrease the awful pollution their country has been producing. Our country had air pollution problems, such as smog in California over a decade ago and passed things like the Clean Air Act and prosecuted those who broke it. So how about it China? Show that you truly care about the health of your citizens.
A Norwegian museum says it has agreed to return a Matisse once looted by Hermann Goering to the family of Jewish art dealer Paul Rosenberg. The 1937 painting, "Woman in Blue in Front of a Fireplace," has been the centerpiece of the Henie Onstad Art Center near Oslo since the museum was established in 1968 by shipping magnate Niels Onstad and his wife, Olympic figure-skating champion Sonja Henie. Now worth an estimated $20 million, the painting was taken by Goering after Rosenberg fled to New York in 1940, and sold to a Parisian art dealer later convicted of dealing in Nazi looted art. It was acquired from a different French gallery in 1950 by Onstad, who was apparently unaware of its provenance. The museum said in a statement Thursday that although it acquired the painting in good faith, it has "chosen to adhere to international conventions and return the painting to Rosenberg's heirs." Bravo to the museum for doing what was right even though it diminishes its holdings significantly. It's nice to have something like this to remind us that there is good will in the world.
Thought for Today: " Ask advice only of your equals." --Danish Proverb
Sword lily in memory of Sparkle Have a truthful Tuesday
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whocanibe
Senior Member
Memory is the diary, we all carry with us.
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Post by whocanibe on Mar 26, 2014 1:08:45 GMT -5
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whocanibe
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Memory is the diary, we all carry with us.
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Post by whocanibe on Mar 27, 2014 1:42:24 GMT -5
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the flying reindeer
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Rest in Peace, Peg
Joined: Mar 3, 2012 10:30:57 GMT -5
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Post by the flying reindeer on Mar 27, 2014 9:54:00 GMT -5
Women's History Month Good afternoon my friends. Almost all the snow is melted and the forecasted temps for the next seven days are in the 40s and 50s!! WHOOPEE!! Spring is almost here!!
Today is the 50th anniversary of the largest earthquake in US history - the great Alaska earthquake. It killed 15 people and created a tsunami that killed 124 more from Alaska to California. It was a magnitude 9.2 quake that hit Anchorage, Alaska on Good Friday morning, turning the soil beneath parts of Anchorage into jelly, collapsing buildings not built to withstand the force of colliding continental plates. Lasting nearly three minutes, it was the most powerful recorded earthquake in U.S. and North American history, and the second most powerful ever measured by seismograph. Property damage was estimated at about $311 million ($2.28 billion in current U.S. dollars). There were thousands of aftershocks for three weeks, following the main shock. In the first day alone, eleven major aftershocks were recorded with a magnitude greater than 6.2. Nine more occurred over the next three weeks. It was not until more than a year later that the aftershocks were no longer noticed.
House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan will unveil a 10-year budget blueprint in the next few weeks that will champion fiscal austerity, a theme party leaders hope will energize conservative voters. But crafting a budget that can bring together fractious Republicans could be a challenge for Ryan, who will need to bridge divisions within the party over defense spending and wrestle with a separate dilemma over the funding of popular social welfare programs such as Medicare. He has tried this before and failed, but things might change if the Republicans win control of both sides of Congress in the November elections. And will the cuts to the military side of the budget continue? Or will the Republican warhawks insist on increasing military spending at the cost to programs like food stamps and others acting as safety nets for the poor (who are becoming more numerous in this country of plenty - a disgrace)?
Thought for Today: "Every man is guilty of all the good he didn't do." Voltaire (1694-1778) French philosopher and writer who is consider one of France's greatest authors,
Sea urchin cactus [ Lat. Echinopsis tubiflora] in memory of Sparkle Happy Thursday
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whocanibe
Senior Member
Memory is the diary, we all carry with us.
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Post by whocanibe on Mar 28, 2014 2:19:29 GMT -5
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Icelandic Woman
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Post by Icelandic Woman on Mar 28, 2014 12:03:50 GMT -5
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the flying reindeer
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Rest in Peace, Peg
Joined: Mar 3, 2012 10:30:57 GMT -5
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Post by the flying reindeer on Mar 28, 2014 13:59:04 GMT -5
Barnum & Bailey Day Good afternoon my friends OMG, it may be a gloomy day but the temp is pushing 50F!! I love it. Maybe the forsythia and daffodils will start blooming soon, maybe?
March Madness: The first teams to reach the round of Elite 8 were chosen last night and everyone's favorite Cinderella team, No. 11 Dayton, beat No. 10 Stanford to be the first one. Otherwise, the top seeds won the other three games - Florida (overall No. 1), Arizona (No. 1) and No. 2 Wisconsin. Tonight the rest of the Elite 8 will be chosen - No. 1 Virginia/No. 4 Michigan State, No. 3 Iowa State/No. 7 Connecticut, No. 8 Kentucky/No. 4 Louisville and finally, No. 11 Tennessee/No. 2 Michigan. I'm rooting for Michigan State and Louisville (they're my pick for the championship game).
Just like every U.S. president since Dwight D. Eisenhower, Pres. Obama had a formal audience with Pope Francis yesterday, giving him as a gift a box of seeds in a container made from timber from the first cathedral to open in the United States, in Baltimore, In return, the pope gave him two medallions -- one symbolizing the need for peace and solidarity between the two hemispheres -- and a copy of "Evangelii Gaudium," or "The Joy of the Gospel." The book was penned by the Pope and calls for a new era of evangelization and a renewed focus on the poor. The tokens of goodwill underscored the goal of the meeting: Focus on areas where two of the world's most influential men agree, and gently tread ground where they differ (such as contraception and abortion). The private meeting lasted for over an hour.
Thought for Today: "Happiness always looks small while you hold it in your hands, but let it go, and you learn at once how big and precious it is." --Maxim Gorky (1868-1936) Russian novelist and playwright
Dark Vader bearded iris TGIF everyone
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the flying reindeer
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Rest in Peace, Peg
Joined: Mar 3, 2012 10:30:57 GMT -5
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Post by the flying reindeer on Mar 29, 2014 15:14:04 GMT -5
International Listening Weekend Good afternoon my friends. It's gloomy and overcast today and there has been a drop in temps into the 30s. What is worse is tonight's forecast for a possible 4-6 inches of SNOW!!!
Now they have announced that women who drink 2 or more diet drinks a day are more liable to develop heart disease. Really? At the end of the article they also note that they were also more likely to smoke, to be overweight, to have diabetes and to have high blood pressure, Perfect candidates for heart disease with or without consumption of diet drinks!! What a waste of money on the research and my time reading the article!! BTW, I drink less than a can of diet soda a day. Usually no more than 4 per week and I have congestive heart failure, high blood pressure and diabetes.
March Madness: Well, I'm gone. My choice for the NCAA Champion was Louisville and last night they lost to their intrastate rival, Kentucky 69-74. In the other games, Michigan State beat No. 1 seed Virginia 61-59, Connecticut beat Iowa State 91-76, and No. 2 Michigan squeezed out a win against Tennessee 73-71. So tonight Florida plays Dayton and Michigan State goes against Connecticut. Tomorrow it will be Arizona vs. Wisconsin and Kentucky vs Michigan. Should be interesting games. Will Dayton's run end tonight when they go up against the tournaments No. 1 overall Florida and make the Final Four and play on April 5th or will they go home tonight?
Finally, gay couples in England and Wales get to say "I do." After the clock struck midnight on Friday, the first men marrying men and women marrying women occurred in a range of ceremonies across England and Wales as a historic law legalizing same-sex marriage finally came into force. The marriage law was the final victory in a long battle that has secured the same age of consent as heterosexuals and the right to adopt. England and Wales are now among 15 countries as well as parts of the US and Mexico that allow same-sex marriage. The Netherlands was the first in 2001, and last year Brazil, Uruguay, New Zealand and France also joined the list. It's slow going but little by little things are changing, at least here in the western world.
Thought for Today: "Knowledge slowly builds up what Ignorance in an hour pulls down." George Eliot [a.k.a. Mary Ann Evans] (1819-1880) English Victorian novelist
Pink daisies in memory of Sparkle Have sunny Saturday
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the flying reindeer
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Rest in Peace, Peg
Joined: Mar 3, 2012 10:30:57 GMT -5
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Post by the flying reindeer on Mar 30, 2014 13:26:26 GMT -5
Pencil Day Good afternoon my friends Winter returned with a vengeance last night, dropping several inches of the white stuff on us, and more is in our forecast for today. I'm beginning to get the feeling that winter will keep coming back all year long!!
March Madness: Last night Florida and Wisconsin made it into the Final Four Today's games are between Michigan State & Connecticut and Kentucky vs. Michigan. I'm conflicted over Michigan State vs Connecticut. I want both to win!! But that's impossible. I can't decide which one to root for!!.
What is happening in California. On Friday, an earthquake struck the Los Angeles area, 5.1 in magnitude, followed by two dozen aftershocks. Then a 4.1 magnitude shake struck the area yesterday. The quakes came on the heels of a magnitude-4.4 tremor that hit near downtown Los Angeles a week ago. It shook nearby buildings but did not cause significant damage. Could this be a buildup to another major quake like the 6.7 magnitude quake that struck in 1994 that killed dozens and caused $42 billion in damages - the 2nd most costly disaster in US history?
Thought for Today: "When we long for life without difficulties, remind us that oaks grow strong in contrary winds and diamonds are made under pressure" --Peter Marshall (b.1927) American TV game show host
Darling beware bearded iris Have a satisfying Sunday everyone
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whocanibe
Senior Member
Memory is the diary, we all carry with us.
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Post by whocanibe on Mar 31, 2014 0:52:45 GMT -5
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the flying reindeer
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Rest in Peace, Peg
Joined: Mar 3, 2012 10:30:57 GMT -5
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Post by the flying reindeer on Mar 31, 2014 9:59:56 GMT -5
National "She's Funny That Way" Day Good afternoon my friends. Today it's blue skies and sunshine, teasing us once again with the promise of spring, but the snow from yesterday is still out there. Foolish me for even believing for half a mo' that spring is arriving.
Flight 270 UPDATE: The US is sending its black box detector to the latest search zone and is the best hope for finding the crash site. An Australian ship fitted with a pinger locator from the U.S. is on its way to the search area. It's expected to arrive Thursday. But will it be the right area? And will the black box battery still be working? Frankly, I'm not counting on this tactic to be any more successful than previous tries. The plane is lost and it's time to start dealing with the aftermath of such a disaster. And that includes the families and their grief. It's time to let go and realize that your loved ones are lost, so start to shape your lives without your family member.
The UN;s International Court of Justice has ruled that Japan can no longer continue its annual whale hunt, rejecting the country's argument that it was for scientific purposes, taking advantage of a loophole in the law that permits the killing of the mammals for scientific research. Will Japan abide by the court ruling or will it continue to hunt whales, drumming up some other phony excuse? After all, whale meat is commonly available for consumption in Japan. Money still rules above all other considerations, right? BTW, it was the Australian government that challenged the Japanese program in court. \
A: This game show is celebrating 50 years. Q: What is 'Jeopardy!'? Yes, for 50 years the famed answer-and-question show has maintained a steady popularity, through an 11-year network run, a short-lived reboot and, finally, a syndicated version with Alex Trebek that debuted in 1984. 50 years!! I can remember watching Jeopardy when Art Fleming was its first moderator/host. It has always been my favorite game show right from the beginning. And, so far, no one has beaten Ken Jennings, Utah software engineer and winner of 74 consecutive episodes, although Arthur Chu's recent winning streak was a thrill too. May "Jeopardy" last another 50 years.
Thought for Today: "An inventor fails 999 times, and if he succeeds once, he's in. He treats his failures simply as practice shots." --Charles F. Kettering (1876-1958) American engineer, inventor of the electric starter
Camellia in memory of Sparkle Have moisture-free Monday
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whocanibe
Senior Member
Memory is the diary, we all carry with us.
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Post by whocanibe on Apr 2, 2014 0:08:47 GMT -5
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the flying reindeer
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Rest in Peace, Peg
Joined: Mar 3, 2012 10:30:57 GMT -5
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Post by the flying reindeer on Apr 2, 2014 14:32:31 GMT -5
International Children’s Book Day Good afternoon my friends. Today it's another day of blue skies and sunshine with temps supposed to reach 50. But I won't believe spring has arrived until after Easter. Too many times we have had a major snowstorm/blizzard the week before Easter.
Flight 370 - I refuse to do any more updates on this story unless or until there is actually some real news concerning the search. > > > >
Now it's Chile's turn as an 8.2-magnitude earthquake struck in Iquique, a northern coastal city of nearly 200,000 people near where the quake struck in the Pacific Ocean. The damage from the quake was light and the tsunami it caused lifted fishing boats onto city streets and sunk others in the port of Iquique, but no other major damage from the sea was apparent. On the other hand, the quake was so strong that the shaking experienced in Bolivia's capital about 290 miles away was the equivalent of a magnitude-4.5 tremor, authorities there said, But Tuesday night's quake was not the big one seismologists expect eventually. Chile is one of the world's most earthquake-prone countries because just off the coast, the Nazca tectonic plate plunges beneath the South American plate, pushing the towering Andes cordillera to ever-higher altitudes. Nowhere along this fault is the pressure greater than in far northern Chile, an area known as the "Iquique seismic gap". The US Geological Survey says the seismic gap last saw a major quake in 1877, when a magnitude-8.8 quake unleashed a tsunami that caused major damage along the Chile-Peru coast and fatalities as far away as Hawaii and Japan. Another quake of similar force hit just north of the area in 1868. So who do you think will get hit first - California or Chile?
Some more art treasures recovered - Italy's Culture Ministry unveiled two paintings by the French artists Paul Gauguin and Pierre Bonnard yesterday. The paintings, worth millions of euros, were stolen from a family house in London in 1970, abandoned on a Paris-to-Turin train and then later sold at a lost-property auction, where an Italian factory worker paid 45,000 Italian lire for them -- roughly equivalent to $30.00 - and hung them on his kitchen wall for approx. 40 years, first in Turin and than Sicily after he retired. There, a friend became suspicious of their worth. The Gauguin painting, titled "Fruits sur une Table ou Nature au Petit Chien" ("Fruits on a Table or Still Life with a Small Dog"), is said to have been painted in 1889 and thought to be worth between 10 million and 30 million euros, police said. The Bonnard painting is titled "La Femme aux Deux Fauteuils" ("Woman with Two Armchairs"). Bonnard is regarded as one of the greatest colorists of modern art. It is unclear to whom the paintings now belong. The original owners have died and left no heirs. So they are now sitting in an Italian police safe.
Thought for Today: "As you think, so shall you become." --Bruce Lee (1940-1973) American (born in San Francisco, Calif.) actor and martial arts expert.
Easter lily in memory of Sparkle Happy Wednesday
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the flying reindeer
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Rest in Peace, Peg
Joined: Mar 3, 2012 10:30:57 GMT -5
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Post by the flying reindeer on Apr 3, 2014 11:33:30 GMT -5
Adopt A Greyhound Month Good afternoon my friends Hope really DOES spring eternal. Today is overcast like so many winter days, but it's April and I'm going to think about spring and birds and flowers. I've heard the sound of Canadian geese overhead and that means they are on their way back to their northern feeding grounds. Welcome Spring!!
12 newborns at Bayfront Baby Place on the Tampa Bay Rays' Opening Day were granted four tickets each to all future Rays home openers for the rest of their lives. Now there is a perfect gift for diehard baseball fans!! Rays reliever Heath Bell and utility player Sean Rodriguez presented the vouchers as part of the "Rays Fan for Life" program announced before Tampa Bay's 9-2 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays at Tropicana Field to begin the season. In addition, balloons and baby baskets were presented to the mothers. A special day = a special prize from the country's national pastime. I hope they get to enjoy their prizes for many years to come.
Another shooting at Fort Hood leaving 4 more dead and 13 wounded. Not as bad as the previous tragedy, but definitely another incident to chalk up against our failure to do anything about strengthening gun control measures. The soldier-killer was able to buy a gun recently with no check that included his treatment for mental illness by the Army. Fort Hood forbids guns on the base but can't check cars to make sure that the edict is being followed. Fort Hood is home to America's armored units and numbers 50,000 people. To check each car would cause an immense traffic jam each day. Two Republican Congressmen want the ban lifted and everyone allowed to carry concealed weapons. So then we could have a shootout between the would-be killer and his victims with who knows how much collateral damage (people getting shot by accident). Now wouldn't that be a grand spectacle? NOT!! In this case, the killer committed suicide when confronted by an armed woman MP, shooting himself instead of her.
Queen Elizabeth and Pope Francis, two of the world’s most popular leaders, met for the first time during a private meeting at the Vatican. It was part of the 87-year-old queen's first foreign visit in two years. The queen and Pope Francis represent more than three billion people between them. Elizabeth is the figurehead leader of the Church of England, which heads the worldwide Anglican Communion, while the Pope leads the world's 1.2 billion Catholics. The Anglican church separated from Roman Catholics in the 16th century following the divorce of King Henry VIII in order to marry his second wife, Ann Boleyn. In support to improve relations between the Anglican and Roman Catholic churches. Queen Elizabeth has met with two other pontiffs at the Vatican during her reign — John XXIII and John Paul II — and met with Pope Pius XII in 1951, a year before she became monarch. The queen also has met with Pope Emeritus Benedict when he visited Britain in 2010. I'd love to be a fly on the wall and hear what the two said to each other.
Thought for Today: "A man can fail many times, but he isn't a failure until he begins to blame somebody else." --John Burroughs (1837-1921) American naturalist & essayist
Dating a royal bearded iris Happy Thursday everyone
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Icelandic Woman
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Post by Icelandic Woman on Apr 4, 2014 10:45:22 GMT -5
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the flying reindeer
Senior Member
Rest in Peace, Peg
Joined: Mar 3, 2012 10:30:57 GMT -5
Posts: 3,083
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Post by the flying reindeer on Apr 4, 2014 12:51:41 GMT -5
Car Care Month Good afternoon my friends. Another overcast day with some occasional sprinkles. At least it's not snow since the temp is 46F. But I wish I could see some sunshine.
Since the opening of the 2014 baseball season, there's been a brouhaha over Daniel Murphy's choice to take the 3-day paternity leave he's entitled to (part of baseball's negotiated player agreement). He chose to miss the opening series of this year's season in order to be at the birth of his first child. There have been some pretty insensitive things written and said over the radio about his choice. So today, there is an article about the birth of T.J. Oshie’s baby girl, Lyla Grace, who was born March 17. She had gastroschisis,” a serious birth defect that would need to be corrected surgically as soon as she was born. It's a condition in which an infant is born with the intestines on the outside of the body. In case you don't remember, T.J. Oshie was the St Louis Blues player in the Sochi Olympics who scored the Winning overtime goals against Russia. And, unlike Murphy whose playing season has just begun, the NHL is nearing the end of its regular season with the playoffs about to begin. Yet no one is expressing any outrage over his missing any NHL games. BTW baby Lyla has come through her surgery with flying colors and all is well with her.
New data from NASA's Cassini spacecraft suggests that an ocean at least as large as Lake Superior lies below a thick layer of ice on Enceladus, a small moon of Saturn, This discovery puts it in an exclusive club of extraterrestrial worlds in the solar system that appear to have a subsurface water ocean. The others are Titan, another moon of Saturn, and Europa, a moon of Jupiter. Callisto and Ganymede, also moons of Jupiter, may also have oceans under ice. Cassini found that fractures called "tiger stripes" in the south polar region emit water vapor jets rich in salt. Cassini has also detected organic molecules, which can come from biological or non-biological sources, near the tiger stripes and in dust grains in the region. Does this mean that this small moon may be a prime candidate for signs of life in our solar system? Unfortunately, I probably will never know.
Thought for Today: "The scientific mind does not so much provide the right answers as ask the right questions." --Claude Levi-Strauss (1908-2009) French anthropologist and philosopher
Bellis parade in memory of Sparkle Happy TGIF
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the flying reindeer
Senior Member
Rest in Peace, Peg
Joined: Mar 3, 2012 10:30:57 GMT -5
Posts: 3,083
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Post by the flying reindeer on Apr 5, 2014 14:10:51 GMT -5
International Pillow Fight Day Good afternoon my friends It's another gloomy day here and is threatening either rain or snow. I just wish that spring would hurry up and come.
Vice Adm. Jan E. Tighe has made history with her appointment as head of the US Fleet Cyber Command and the US 10th Fleet, making her "the first female commander of a numbered fleet in U.S. Navy history," according to the US Navy. She's the fleet's third commander ever and had been its deputy commander since November.Born in Kentucky and raised in Plantation, Florida, Tighe graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy, learned Russian at the Defense Language Institute and earned advanced degrees in electrical engineering and applied mathematics from the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California. Kudos to the Navy and all women should cheer her on.
MH370 UPDATE: In what may be a breakthrough in the search for Flight 370, a Chinese patrol ship in the southern Indian Ocean heard a pulse signal used by back boxes. "The characteristics reported are consistent with the aircraft black box," Angus Houston, the chief coordinator of Australia's Joint Agency Coordination Centre, said in a prepared statement, adding that a number of white objects were sited about 56 miles (90 kilometers) away. Neither the Australian Maritime Safety Authority's Rescue Coordination Centre (RCC) nor the Australian Transport Safety Bureau can verify any connection to the missing aircraft, the statement said. Other experts cautioned that no confirmation had been made that the signal was linked to the missing plane. "It ought to be easy to rule it in or rule it out, and they ought to go do it," said Mary Schiavo, a CNN aviation analyst and a former inspector general for the U.S. Department of Transportation. I really hope that they may finally have picked up some real evidence and can find the plane's cockpit voice recorder and the flight data recorder and give all the families some kind of closure.
Thought for Today: "Absolute faith corrupts as absolutely as absolute power." --Eric Hoffer (1902-1983) American philosopher
Daughter of stars luminata bearded iris Have a satisfying Saturday
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whocanibe
Senior Member
Memory is the diary, we all carry with us.
Joined: Dec 7, 2011 7:20:54 GMT -5
Posts: 4,487
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Post by whocanibe on Apr 7, 2014 3:04:55 GMT -5
Good morning everyone, hope you all had a good weekend. Things are not too brilliant in this neck of the woods at the mo. I'm still waiting to hear back from the hossy about my MRI scan. Meanwhile the ringing in my right ear is driving me nuts and the headache is not doing much better. I'm now jobless as well as I threw a king size strop in work yesterday and walked out. Oh well all these things are sent to try us.
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the flying reindeer
Senior Member
Rest in Peace, Peg
Joined: Mar 3, 2012 10:30:57 GMT -5
Posts: 3,083
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Post by the flying reindeer on Apr 7, 2014 10:53:01 GMT -5
National Beer Day Good afternoon my friends. Still gloomy even if slightly warmer. <<sigh>>
For once there's good news in cancer treatment. Pfizer has a new experimental drug that has shown encouraging results in treating advanced breast cancer, and may also be found good for treating other cancer forms. Pfizer, the world's second largest drugmaker, said the drug prevented breast cancer from worsening for 20.2 months in a trial involving 165 patients. Current medications do so for 10.2 months. The drug, known as palbociclib, is among a new class of cancer drugs that target specific proteins to block tumors. In case you don't know, breast cancer is the most common cancer to affect women. Let's hope that more extensive research proves as rewarding.
OMG, one Japanese island has swallowed another. NASA's Earth Observatory reports that Niijima island, a volcano which broke through the ocean's surface last November, has now merged with a nearby island that formed from a volcano which last erupted 40 years ago. According to observations taken at the end of March, they now measure about six-tenths of a mile across. And at its highest point, the new island is almost 200 feet above sea level. That's triple the highest point observed in December, according to the NASA report. The new island sits on the Pacific "Ring of Fire," which stretches from the coast of Chile north to Alaska and Siberia and then south to New Zealand. A cannibalistic island - will wonders never cease!!
Thought for Today: "Each of us is meant to have a character all our own, to be what no other can exactly be, and do what no other can exactly do." --William Ellery Channing (1780-1842) American Unitarian clergyman and author
Midday Flower [Lat. Gazania] in memory of Sparkle Have a marvelous Monday
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