Thursday

Now that our Representatives are back in their homes, they are holding town hall meetings. Many are being lambasted by people who interrupt their meetings with yelling. Health Care is a big issue in this country. It is a bigger issue for the older portion of the population than it is the younger ones. As we get older, our health becomes a bigger issue to our daily lives. As we get older, the idea of big change is harder to accept. There is so much information out there about the changes proposed in several bills, it is basically impossible for the average citizen to understand. Some are playing on that. I’ve heard people suggest that the current bills will require the elderly to give up their plans. I have heard that the government will determine if a patient is worth the money needed for care. I have heard that Medicare benefits will be cut drastically. I have even heard way too many saying that the government has no business in Health Care. Most of these people add that no law should change Medicare.

I guess Fear has always worked in this country. Whenever many can’t get a handle of something, the fear mongers come out. Look at the Native Americans, the Japanese during WWII, The NRA and it’s ‘pry it out of my cold dead hand’ campaigns. I fully understand that an issue this important must be discussed. I just am getting tired of all the drama of the worst case scenarios. I wish many of these people would have been able to be as loud when we invaded Iraq and did all those ‘worst case scenario’ things. I also know that all these scare tactics will fall by the wayside when our elected representatives vote on a final bill. Until then, I guess I will let the democratic process play out.

Congratulations to Justice Sotamayor.

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Random Fact…


The deepest hole ever made in the world is in Texas. It is as deep as 20 empire state buildings but only 3 inches wide.

The Interstate System requires that one-mile in every five must be straight. These straight sections are usable as airstrips in times of war or other emergencies.

The water of Angel Falls (the World's highest) in Venezuela drops 3,212 feet. It is 15 times higher than Niagara Falls.

Crazy Stuff In The News…

A man and a woman in their early 30s were arrested after they stripped naked and began having sex in front of tourists on the lawn of Britain’s Windsor Castle. The queen was in residence, but her living quarters are at the opposite end of the castle, and she missed the spectacle.

Month long events in August

Edinburgh Festival is an internationally famous arts festival that takes place during August National Immunization Awareness Month… National Psoriasis Awareness Month… Women's Small Business Month... National Back to School month…American Adventures Month…Golf Month…National Inventor’s Month…National Win with Civility Month…What will be your legacy Month

Week of Aug 6…

Hobo Week

7 Aug…

219 days so far this year…146 days remain in 2009
Purple Heart Day
Professional Speakers Day
Lighthouse Day
*Columbia: Battle of Boyaca Day
*Cote d’Ivoire [Ivory Coast]: Republic Day [1960]
*Kiribati [Pacific Island Nation]: Youth Day

BIRTHS ON THIS DAY…

1598…..Georg Stiernhielm "father of Swedish poetry" (Hercules)

1779…..Carl Ritter cofounder of modern science of geography

1876…..Mata Hari (Gertrud Margarete Zelle) dancer/courtesan/spy (WW I)
1885…..Billie Burke Washington DC, actress (Glinda-The Wizard of Oz)
1886…..Louis Hazeltine inventor (neutrodyne circuit, making radio possible)

1903…..Louis Leakey anthropologist
1904…..Ralph J Bunche a founder & UN diplomat
1926…..Stan Freberg LA Calif, satirist
1942…..B.J. Thomas singer Raindrops …)
…….…..Garrison Keillor PBS radio personality
1960…..-David Duchovny actor: The X-Files

Events on this day…

1670…..Apache or Navajos attack the ancient Zuni Pueblo of Hawikuh. They burn the church, and kill the resident missionary.

1782…..George Washington creates Order of the Purple Heart

1820…..1st potatoes planted in Hawaii
1882 .....Hatfields of south WV & McCoys of east Ky feud
1888…..Theophilus Van Kannel of Philadelphia went around and around with the U.S. Patent Office for a time, but, finally, got a patent for the revolving door

1928 …..The U.S. dollar began to shrink. New bills, one third smaller than previous bucks, were issued by the U.S. Treasury Department.
1934…..The United States Court of Appeals rules that James Joyce's novel "Ulysses" is not obscene and may be brought into the U.S.
1947…..In a re-creation of a possible prehistoric migration, Norwegian explorer Thor Heyerdahl lands his balsa raft, the Kon-Tiki, on a Polynesian island after a journey from Peru.
1970…..1st computer chess tournament
1984…..Japan beats US for olympic gold medal in baseball



Word Fragment Puzzle

In each of these puzzles, a word fragment is given, and you must think of an English word that contains the fragment -- that is, you must form a word by adding letters to the beginning and/or the end of the fragment. You may not add letters to the middle of the fragment, nor may you rearrange the letters given. Multiple solutions are given for several word fragments (although we omitted most alternate solutions that rely on variations of the same word). To solve the puzzles, however, you only need to find one word for each fragment.

1. ngue [3]
2. peec [1]
3. cuto [4]
4. tesse [3]
5. oribu [1]
6. tatis [1]
7. rigu[1]
8. iang[1]
9. ssaf[1]
10. poch[1]
• Bonus: albe[3]

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Answers:

1. harangue meringue tongue
2. speech
3. cutoff cutout executor prosecutor
4. delicatessen quintessential tessellate
5. moribund
6. statistics
7. intrigue
8. triangle
9. sassafras
10. epoch
*Bonus: albeit coralberry halberd

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