The Blue Fugates of Troublesome Creek: family mystery solved

  Good Day Humboldt County!

Today, we’re taking a stroll down memory lane. Are you feeling blue?

Remember when a despondent Kermit the Frog sang "It's not easy being green"?

Well it isn’t easy being blue either. I mean literally blue-skinned. People with the condition have no connection to so-called Blue Bloods.” No, the blue-skinned people we’re talking about today all belong to one family!

News Snippet: 

“Benjamin "Benjy" Stacy so frightened maternity doctors with the color of his skin -- "as Blue as Lake Louise" -- that he was rushed just hours after his birth in 1975 to University of Kentucky Medical Center.

As a transfusion was being readied, the baby's grandmother suggested to doctors that he looked like the "blue Fugates of Troublesome Creek." Relatives described the boy's great-grandmother Luna Fugate as "blue all over," and "the bluest woman I ever saw."

In an unusual story that involves both genetics and geography, an entire family from isolated Appalachia was tinged blue. Their ancestral line began six generations earlier with a French orphan, Martin Fugate, who settled in Eastern Kentucky.”  (Read the rest of the story here.)

Time for me to walk on down the road…

Flat Green Surface Becomes 3D!

 

 

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The artist behind this monumental achievement is François Abelanet.

See more of his work here.

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Turkeys Took over TV: Why did we let it happen folks?

                         You may have noticed.

Turkey’s are running and programing TV programs throughout the country.

All TV programs. From the news full of views, to rednecks catching big ugly fish with their fists, there’s been a movement afoot. Turkey scratchings showing senseless images of people doing stupid things.

Somehow, rafters of turkeys have consolidated their clueless agendas into our lives while we sat drooling in front of the vast panorama of boob tubes stretched across the country.

It was bound to happen. Minds were turned to mush the moment the American family gathered around little oval screens in huge cabinets and watched blurry black-and-white images of commercials selling Alka Seltzer and Ipana tooth paste.

I didn’t just notice. I just decided to vent about it. To lament the dumbing down of America. To sigh with sadness as little girls dressed up like slutty women parade on shows that must be considered “candy” to pedophiles. Where have we gone so wrong?

The turkeys don’t have limits. Nothing is too half-baked, or raw, to make a hit series. No amount of shows humiliating fat people, little people, or just plain stupid people (I’m thinking “Jackass”) seems to be enough. There’s constantly new shows coming out trying to butter up an increasingly jaded public.

As It Stands, the final irony is we have met the turkeys…and they are us! Gobble, gobble, gobble…

art source

A California Culinary Cult: ‘In-N-Out’ burgers expanding to Texas

During my high school days in Azusa, California, my favorite hamburger came from “In-N-Out,” not from the nearby McDonalds. It was the FIRST In-N-Out location. Someday, the building should be enshrined as a place to visit the birth of the best hamburger in the state.

Back in those days, a cheeseburger and fries from In-N-Out cost a tiny bit more than McDonalds, so most of the kids I knew went to Mickie’s D’s for financial reasons. I went to Mickie D’s most of the time for the same reason. But, when I wanted a treat, it was off to the In-N-Out on Azusa Ave. My future brother-in-law lived in a little green house right next to it. Whenever my friends and I visited him he’d buy us those wonderful burgers and fries.

In-N-Out has always had a mystique based on quality, scarcity (fewer than 250 locations), and apocryphal tales of secret menus and lavish, six-figure pay for employees. It's a quintessential southern California attraction— the first stop for savvy out-of-towners on the way out of LAX. The rare restaurant opening has been known to alter a city's traffic patterns and bring hours-long lines and news helicopters buzzing overhead.

In-N-Out is welcomed where other fast food outlets are not. Love for the double-double burger is publicly professed by chefs like Gordon Ramsay and Thomas Keller and influential food writers like Gourmet's Ruth Reichl and Jonathan Gold. Even Fast Food Nation's muckraking Eric Schlosser gives it a thumbs-up.

 There are no freezers, microwaves, or heat lamps at an In-N-Out. Nothing is ever frozen—even the hamburger beef is butchered at their own SoCal site, which has kept outlets within a day's drive of that location. No meal is prepared until the customer orders it, the fries are cut by hand in the store, the shakes are real ice cream, and burger prices hover around $3. Except for the addition of 7-Up and Dr. Pepper, the menu has barely changed in its 60 year history.

Now the big news is that In-N-Out is planning for expansion. The company is opening a regional office and second distribution center in Dallas, making it possible to open new outlets within driving range of the fresh hamburger patties it produces in Texas. Three new locations will be up and running this spring. Maybe by April 1st. And that's no joke.

Family stumbles across the rarest collection of football cards in America

                         Good Day Humboldt County!

  As we walk down the road of life, we sometimes stumble upon good fortune. A side road to riches  not traveled by others. A turn of events that can change our lives. As surprising as a Jack-in-the-Box, these moments pop up when we least expect them.

       Today’s story is a good illustration of what I’m talking about:

 “A Michigan family was cleaning out an old farmhouse and accidentally stumbled across a long-sought after collection of football cards worth thousands of dollars and considered perhaps the rarest such collection in history. The set is highlighted by an "anonymous" card of former Harvard football player John Dunlop, which was first issued in 1894.

The Dunlop card alone is reportedly worth $10,000, according to Lou Brown, president of Legends Sports and Games. "If it was in the right condition, it could be worth up to $60,000," Brown told Yahoo! News in a phone interview.

There are only 10 Dunlop cards known to still exist, with some valued as high as $18,000. The entire collection is the first ever to dedicated to football players. And since there was no NFL at the time, the set focused entirely on the nation's 35 best Ivy League college players, according to the site FootballCardShop.com. You can view some of the other rare cards from the collection here.

Time for me to walk on down the road…

Consumers Beware: Smartphone & Social Newtwork I.D. thefts up

Beware Smartphone users! Ominous rumblings from tech experts, Javelin Strategy & Research: Identity thieves are back in bigger numbers than ever before after last years slight decline.

Right now, this very moment, someone is checking to see if you, or some other unsuspecting Smartphone user are using a screen password. This new research claims Smartphone users are 30 percent more likely to report being hit by I.D. fraud in 2012. The survey said about 36 millions Americans have been victimized.

Disclaimer: I’m clueless when it comes to mobile phones. Smart and dumb ones. I have a dumb one that doesn’t access the internet. I still have trouble with it when it comes to make the slightest changes. I don’t text, but my wife says my phone is set up for texting.

But, I do read a lot, and after reading this article this morning I informed my tech savvy wife that her phone was at risk. She immediately took steps to rectify the situation. If I may be so bold, it would be a good idea for you to protect yourself and use a screen password if you have a Smartphone. Of course, if you already do, then you can just yawn and move on.

If, however this is news to you, consider taking action to protect your I.D. Don’t feel bad if you weren’t aware of this threat. According to the researchers, 62 percent of Smartphone users say they do not use a screen password to protect their devices.

Finally, the survey suggests some connection between active use of social networks and ID theft. Slightly more than 10 percent of LinkedIn users say they were hit (10.1 percent), while 7 percent of Google+ users and 6.3 percent of Twitter users reported being victims -- all three above average. Facebook users, at 5.7 percent, were barely above the national average of 4.9 percent.

14th Amendment: how far does it’s promise of ‘equal protection’ go?

        Good Day Humboldt County!

Call me a cynic, but I have a strong feeling that the Supreme Corporate Court is preparing to turn the clock back on race diversity in higher education.

They’re confronting the issue of race in university admissions once again. This time, there’s an appeal by a white student who says she was denied a spot at the flagship campus of the University of Texas.

“A broad ruling in favor of the student, Abigail Fisher, could threaten affirmative action programs at many of the nation's public and private universities,” said Vanderbilt University law professor Brian Fitzpatrick in a recent interview.

Erwin Chemerinsky, a constitutional law scholar and dean of the University of California Irvine's law school, has called the Fisher case "potentially momentous."

The challenge:

To what extent does the Fourteenth Amendment’s guarantee of “equal protection of the laws” permit race to be used as a factor in efforts to achieve greater diversity in higher education?

For more than three decades, the Supreme Court has said that although race may be one of numerous factors taken into account, it cannot be the predominant consideration in an admissions process. I suspect tea party groups across the country are supporting this appeal.

As It Stands, what do you think the chances are that the Supreme Corporate Court will rule in her favor?

Coffee Bean Man Optical Illusion …

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Can you spot the hidden face in this “Coffee Bean Man Illusion?”

Once you find the face in this coffee beans pile, every next time you look at this picture you will see it immediately!

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Another face of intolerance: Meet freshman Indiana state Rep. Bob Morris, R-Fort Wayne

See that beady-eyed little prig between the two women in the photo?

His name is Bob Morris, and he says the Girl Scouts are bent on promoting communism, lesbianism and subverting "traditional American family values."

Bet you didn’t know that, did you? Neither did I, but Morris talked to some well-informed constituents, and did a “small amount” of Web-based research, and what he found disturbed him.

The Girl Scouts of America and the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts "have entered into a close strategic affiliation with Planned Parenthood” he told his Republican House colleagues in a letter obtained by the Fort Wayne Journal Gazette.

Morris, who owns a chain of nutrition stores, claims there’s an agenda behind the cookies the Girl Scouts sell. That’s the reason he insists he won't go along with a resolution meant to honor the Girls Scouts on the organization's 100th anniversary.

As proof, Morris notes that the "radically pro-abortion" Michelle Obama is honorary president of Girl Scouts of America, which "should give each of us reason to pause before our individual or collective endorsement of the organization."

Michelle Tompkins, a spokeswoman for the Girl Scouts, responded to Morris' assertions by telling NBC station WISE of Fort Wayne, "Not only is Rep. Morris off the mark on his claims, it's also unfortunate in his limited research that he failed to discover that, since 1917, every first lady has served as the honorary leader of Girl Scouts, including Nancy Reagan, Barbara Bush and Laura Bush."

For its part, Planned Parenthood of Indiana called Morris' comments "inflammatory, misleading, woefully inaccurate and harmful," saying he'd insulted not only it but also the Girl Scouts and Obama.

"Planned Parenthood currently has no formal partnership with the Girl Scouts, but supports their mission and recognizes their century of contributions to our society," the organization said in a statement to NBC station WTHR of Indianapolis.

Here’s some reasons why I can relax today…

After nearly a week of suspense, I found out the name of Prince William and Duchess Kate’s puppy today. It’s Lupo, according to the Associated Press. I know. Pretty odd name, but it probably has royal significance to it. Lupo may have been a past king in Britain. Little Lupo (who was really named after the Latin word for wolf) has already become a viral sensation.

I can’t tell you how excited I was to hear the biggest BMW dealership in the world recently opened up for business in The United Arab Emirates. It’s located in Abu Dubai. Just knowing that we have a BMW dealership here in McKinleyville makes me feel connected with the universe…

and finally,

I can relax now that I know Elvis Presley’s was not part ape!

A Florida man today claimed to be Elvis Presley’s brother, and that he was also half orangutan. If true, it would have meant the King was part ape. I realize some people said he went ape when performing, but I don’t thing it’s the same thing.

After a call about a man flashing a handgun at a woman, police arrived on the scene. They reported the man said he "needed to call the 'Fusion Center' to ask about his monkey blood," according to the Naples Daily News. The arresting officer noted "that he had jurisdiction over me since he was the director of the CIA," in his report.

I have to agree with the officer's assessment that "it did not appear as if he was all there mentally," but have to admit I admire his delusional creativity.

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The future has arrived - Nevada is ready for autonomous vehicles

              Good Day Humboldt County!

  Our path today will take us down a road where cars don’t need drivers.

  I was 12-years old when the Jetsons animated sitcom originally aired in prime-time in 1962. I can remember sitting down with the whole family and watching it on Thursday nights.

  One of the things I thought was really cool was how their car drove itself. Mr. Jetson (or one of the others) would hop in a car and tell it where they wanted to go. The car took over from there. Flash forward to today’s news.

News snippet:

“This month Nevada became the first state in the nation to formally approve legislation authorizing the use of autonomous vehicles on its roadways.

The once far-fetched idea is becoming more and more grounded every day as manufacturers work to develop technology that could permit a motorist to plug in a destination and let the vehicle drive there automatically. Indeed, Google has become a leader in autonomous technology, with several prototypes already logging over 160,000 miles in test runs.

While most experts contend the technology is still years away from widespread application, Nevada lawmakers apparently couldn’t wait.  Last summer, lawmakers there ordered state regulators to establish rules covering the use of autonomous vehicles.

The regulations have now been finalized -- and the Nevada Department of Motor Vehicles will now have to formalize licensing procedures for companies that want to test their vehicles in the state.”

Read the rest of the story here.

Time for me to walk on down the road…