Scientific breakthrough proves there's water on Mars!

Credit & Copyright: Ellen Roper (GCC)

Heil! America? THE ORIGINAL PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE SALUTE

 

I don't remember saluting the flag at all when I was in elementary school in the 1950s. We did put our hand over our hearts however. I find it interesting that this was the way American's saluted the flag prior to the Nazi's infamous salute. You learn something new every day...

From Slightly Warped Curiosities...

When the Pledge of Allegiance was originally written in 1892 by Francis Bellamy, who was - ironically - a socialist magazine writer, he included instructions on how to properly salute the flag while reciting his oath.

Dubbed "The Ballamy Salute" after its creator, school children were instructed to recite the pledge with the right arm out in a stiff salute outstretched to the flag.  This practice actually was adopted and continued until the early 1940's when it was noticed that the American salute bore a striking resemblance to a salute that another country was using.

Naturally, the salute quickly fell out of style and was replaced by placing the right hand over your heart as we do today.

Using the outstretched salute is a tradition that goes all the way back to the Romans, but after the Nazis, it's unlikely we'll see a resurgence of the original Pledge of Allegiance salute anytime soon.

FOLLOW THESE INSTRUCTIONS and get in touch with your inner kid!

  ATTENTION ALL GROWNUPS!

 Your "inner child" has long been waiting for a chance to usurp control of your body and force it to perform certain actions.

The time is now at hand. Read and follow the these instructions 

  The secret of genius is to carry the spirit of childhood into maturity."  -   T. H. Huxley

John Moran's: River of Dreams - Fireflies on the Ichetucknee

"...Night settles in and the fireflies begin their flickering dance in the woods. Rising at my feet, the endless gushing waters of a living planet complete the seduction. Once again, the river affirms that magic still happens in the dark."

John Moran's, Florida Nature Photography studio, offers some beautiful original works like the one above.

 

What would you pay for a heart-shaped watermelon?

Having mastered the art of making square watermelons and even pyramid watermelons, Japanese farmers turned to making heart-shaped watermelons.

These 15,750 yen ($160) watermelons were grown by a couple and took three years to perfect down to the point where they were good enough to convince people to pay $160 for them. There's only 20 melons in this batch, but we're sure Mr. and Mrs. Hiroichi Kimura will grow more next season. image/story via Gizmoda via Asahi via Japan Probe via Inventor Spot via Boi

Drive-In Memories: Car Culture meets movies for successful run

I can clearly recall going to the "outside movies" during the 1950s and 1960s, with my siblings and parents. We'd stop at McDonalds and load up on 15 cent burgers and fries (they were cheaper than the movie snack bar), and head to the show.

Us kids use to spend our time on the playground on the swings or the merry-go-round, while sometimes stopping to see what was happening on the big screen. I had an appendix attack when I was 10-years-old while playing on the playground. I went down writhing in pain so my sister ran back to the car to get Dad.

He didn't know what to think but rushed me to the hospital where I had my appendix removed that night! Oh the memories! In the 1960s, I took more than one young lady to a drive-in movie, as it was an established place to make out!

From badfads.com ... 

The first drive-in movie was shown in the driveway of Richard Hollingshead's Camden, New Jersey home. Hollingshead sat in his car while his 16 millimeter projector displayed a movie on a screen he projected.

He took this concept and expanded it with the idea of allowing hundreds of people to watch a movie from the privacy of their own automobiles.

On June 7, 1933, Hollingshead opened the world's first drive-in movie theater in Camden. Within the fan shaped, tiered parking lot and inclined ramps, more than 400 cars in eight rows came to watch a movie on a 30 x 40 foot screen. The theater was an immediate success and Hollingshead and his cousin created a drive-in movie theater franchise throughout the United States

Click here for the rest of the story.

image via badfads.com

Just 'Monkeying' Around: Near Great Ape Escape Causes Zoo Closure

 Here's some monkey shines to start the week with a smile. Karta, the orangutan, shows keepers just how smart she is when she successfully short-circuits an electric fence surrounding her enclosure! 

FROM News.com.au

 "An ingenious orangutan short circuited electrical wires and climbed a fence using a makeshift ladder in an aborted escape attempt from Adelaide Zoo today.

  The elaborate plot by 27-year-old Karta got her to within meters of the public, and resulted in the closure of the zoo on one of its busiest days of the year."

 photo via news.com.au

From China with Curiosity: Blog Visitors, and Ruminations

This blog was visited by a viewer from Beijing, China this morning, who looked at the post "It Took Nine Years & 24 Generations To Get These Little Pigs!" I imagine anything to do with generations is interesting to someone in China with their rich long history. This is a picture of tourists at The Temple of Heaven.

I picked 10 international visitors from the last 24 hours to feature:

Someone from Warsaw, Poland viewed the post "Underground Living: What Do You think?" I think the Polish people had to learn how to live underground (off and on) since the Nazi invaded them in 1939. So I can see a post like this being of some interest.

Every now and then, someone from the Islamic Republic of Iran stops by and reads this blog (along with Homeland Security no doubt!) Today the Iranian viewer checked out the post "The Latest Pot Scare Refuted." I wonder what the laws are in Iran regarding smoking the Ganja? I wouldn't be surprised if it was illegal and body parts get lopped off if caught with the green bud!

Someone from Barcelona, Spain checked in on the post "Recycling Woes." A post titled "Car Chop Shop Furniture Can Liven Up Your Life" caught the attention of a viewer from Campania, Italy. Hey...maybe it'll start a new fashion trend over there! I can imagine the viewer from Gloucestershire, United Kingdom, got a good laugh when they read the post "Officials Plan On Taping Magnets To Crocodile Heads to Disrupt their Homing Ability!" I know I had a good laugh posting it.

Perhaps it was an avid art collector from Belgorod, Russian Federation, who viewed the post "Classic Paintings Meet Classic Horror in these Works!" A really popular post these last few weeks has been the one titled "Willie the Parrot is Honored for Saving a Little Girls Life!" A visitor from Ontario, Canada checked it out, along with 75 other viewers in the last 24 hours.

I can't help wondering what the viewer from Al Iskandariyah, Egypt, thought when he/she viewed the post "75-Year-Old Woman to be W hipped for Letting in 2 Deliverymen Unrelated to Her!" I'll bet the person from Jakarta, Indonesia who viewed the post "Don't Get Froggy With These Guys if You Value Your Life!" was really paying attention. Some of the poisonous frogs mentioned were from his/her part of the world.

Someone from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia looked at the post "Messengers From Heaven: Do You Believe in Angels?" along with 35 other viewers this morning. This has been a popular post in the past and keeps re-emerging. Over five thousand viewers have checked it out since it was posted earlier this year.

And for the last of the dirty dozen for the day we have someone with a sense of humor from Santiago, Chile, who viewed the photo of a polar bear slipping and falling on the ice - with nearby sign warning "Caution-Slippery Ice." The caption read, "Peter Never Did Learn How to Read!" 

FINAL THOUGHT: 

I can't believe "my team, The Los Angeles Lakers, got beat by the Houston Rockets last night! The Rockets played without their star center Yao Ming so the Lakers must have thought they were going to lay down for them. Not! They kicked the Laker's ass! I hope it wakes them up. The series is now tied at 2-2 and goes back to LA Tuesday night.

Cheney Loves Rush: Democrats are Delighted with Neo-Con Match!

FROM The Washington Monthly...

CHENEY HEARTS RUSH.... The good news for Democrats is that Dick Cheney, despite assurances about exiting the stage, keeps talking. The better news for Democrats is the message the former vice president chooses to emphasize.

One of the main goals of the DNC this year, for example, has been to position Rush Limbaugh as a leader, if not the leader, of the Republican Party. Yesterday, Cheney helped move this argument forward.

Former Vice President Dick Cheney said on Sunday that he preferred Rush Limbaugh's brand of conservatism to former Secretary of State Colin L. Powell's, saying Mr. Powell had abandoned the Republican Party when he endorsed Barack Obama for president last year.

"Well, if I had to choose in terms of being a Republican, I'd go with Rush Limbaugh, I think," Mr. Cheney said in an interview on "Face the Nation" on CBS. "I think my take on it was Colin had already left the party. I didn't know he was still a Republican."

Mr. Cheney said he "assumed" Mr. Powell's support of Mr. Obama over Senator John McCain was "an indication of his loyalty and his interest."

This is, of course, music to the DNC's ears. Putting aside the question of whether Powell's image deserves rehabilitation -- there's ample reason to believe his Bush administration service tarnished his reputation beyond repair -- the former Secretary of State remains a respected public figure. For most of the country, I suspect, admiration for Powell dwarfs toleration for Limbaugh.

Which is why Cheney's comments yesterday were so helpful for the GOP's detractors. As the Republican Party shrinks, and more Americans would prefer to see more influence from moderates like Powell and less influence from right-wing radio hosts, a wildly unpopular former vice president publicly embraced the opposite line. Indeed, he effectively dismissed the very idea of Powell even being a Republican anymore, throwing his support to the loudmouth who wants to see the president and his policies fail.

Dick Cheney, the DNC's manna from heaven.

In the same interview, Cheney effectively argued that a failure to torture will kill Americans; said he may be willing to testify under oath about the administration's torture policies; conceded that Bush personally "signed off on" the torture program; and added that he has "no regrets" over his alleged wrongdoing.

If you missed yesterday's interview, you can a) watch it online; or b) wait for Cheney's next national television appearance, which if recent history is any guide, should be any day now.

Today's AS IT STANDS: Witnessing the resurrection of the WHIG PARTY

In today's Time-Standard...

They're back.

They are one of America's oldest political parties.

President Abraham Lincoln was one. So were four other presidents. The party was formed in 1833, and for the next 22 years they opposed the powerful Jacksonian Democrats.

They formed because there was no meaningful opposition to what they felt was Jackson's autocratic rule. They gave voters another choice: to support the legislative branch and states' rights.

The Whig Party, is now experiencing a rebirth. The Modern Whig Party officially announced on Lincoln's 200th birthday (Feb. 12, 2009), that they had members in 26 states and were growing daily. The current membership estimate is 20,000.

Click here to read the rest of the story.