• Elite gymnast Kerri Strug was badly injured at a meet at which her father was present. Someone told her father, “Dr. Strug, don’t worry. She’ll be fine for the U.S. Championships.” Dr. Strug got mad and replied, “I don’t care about any gymnastics meet or anything but Kerri right now. I don’t care if she ever walks into a gym again. I want to know if she’s ever going to be able to walk. I want to know if she’s ever going to be able to have children and hold her children in her arms.” Fortunately, Ms. Strug did recover with no ill effects — and she won a team gold medal at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta.
• Bob Newhart is a family man as well as a comedian and a comic actor. While making The Bob Newhart Show, he owned a very large watch instead of one of the small digital watches that were then becoming popular. When Oliver Clark, who played Mr. Herd on the sitcom, asked why he had bought such a large watch, Mr. Newhart replied that around 3 or 4 p.m. he would take a look at his watch, very obviously and very significantly, to let the people around him know that he was ready to go home and see his children. For that particular purpose, he needed a big watch.
• After lesbian comedian Kate Clinton came out to her father (he was good about it — he told her that he wanted her to be happy, to be safe, and to get health insurance), she invited him to dinner with her and some of her lesbian friends. No topics for discussion were off limits, except for one. For her own comfort, she told her friends not to talk about sex. Near the end of the meal, one of her friends asked her father, “Well, Mr. Clinton, what do you think we as gay people can do to make more bridges to straight people?” Her father replied, “Keep talking.”
• Financial writer Andrew Tobias knows two very intelligent gay parents. One father is American; the other father is French. That means that their two daughters are growing up bilingual in English and French. In addition, their housekeeper is Spanish and the only TV the two daughters were allowed to watch when they were younger was Spanish-language Disney tapes. The result: the girls are trilingual. By the way, the two girls were shocked when they visited a young friend. They came home and shouted, “Daddy! Papa! Penelope’s TV speaks English!”
• Golfer Peter Jacobsen’s voice was used in the game Golden Tee Golf, which was very popular in bars. One day, Mr. Jacobsen’s two daughters, Kristen and Amy, were in a bar. Both were college students, both were underage, and both were using fake IDs to buy alcohol. Suddenly, they heard their father’s voice saying, “It’s great to be here.” “Oh, my God!” Amy said. “Kristen, Dad’s here!” Both daughters ducked under the bar table, hoping that their father had not seen them, then discovered that they were sitting next to a Golden Tee game.
• Christy Hauptman started skydiving as a teenager, but she had a rocky — and terrified — start. Her father took her up in an airplane, and she was supposed to jump out at 15,000 feet. Instead, she started cursing and screamed at her father, “There’s no way I’m stepping out of this plane! I’ll die if I do!” (Many expletives have been deleted from that quotation.) This was the first time she had ever cursed that much — especially in front of her father. However, she decided to jump, she enjoyed it, and she has jumped hundreds of times since then.
• When Makeda Zook was in the third grade, a class project was to make a Father’s Day card. However, young Makeda had two lesbian mothers — her father was a sperm donor. Knowing this, her teacher asked her for which male in her life she would like to make a Father’s Day card. The choice was difficult — she could make a Father’s Day card for either her late grandfather, or for her guinea pig, which was a male. In the end, the card was gifted to Chocolate the guinea pig.
The first time an Atlantic tropical cyclone was officially designated using a masculine name was July, 1979. What was the name of that noteworthy hurricane?
Existing in oceans for almost 300 million years, and among the most successful of all early animals, what is the official state fossil shared by Ohio, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania?
Trilobites (meaning "three lobes") are a group of extinct marine artiopodan arthropods that form the class Trilobita. Trilobites form one of the earliest-known groups of arthropods. The first appearance of trilobites in the fossil record defines the base of the Atdabanian stage of the Early Cambrian period (521 million years ago), and they flourished throughout the lower Paleozoic before slipping into a long decline, when, during the Devonian, all trilobite orders except the Proetida died out. The last extant trilobites finally disappeared in the mass extinction at the end of the Permian about 252 million years ago. Trilobites were among the most successful of all early animals, existing in oceans for almost 300 million years.
By the time trilobites first appeared in the fossil record, they were already highly diversified and geographically dispersed. Because trilobites had wide diversity and an easily fossilized exoskeleton, they left an extensive fossil record. The study of their fossils has facilitated important contributions to biostratigraphy, paleontology, evolutionary biology, and plate tectonics.
Trilobites are the state fossils of Ohio (Isotelus), Wisconsin (Calymene celebra) and Pennsylvania (Phacops rana).
Source
Mark. was first, and correct, with:
Trilobite.
Mac Mac said:
Trilobites
Billy in Cypress U.S.A. wrote:
Trilobite
Alan J answered:
Trilobite.
Dave responded:
Trilobite.
Jim from CA, retired to ID, replied:
Isotelus Trilobite
mj wrote:
We have one sitting on a shelf
His name is Don, after a former boss (who we liked very much). Don on
the shelf is a trilobite.
Stephen F said:
Trilobite
Jon L answered:
Gotta guess Trilobite.
zorch responded:
Trilobite.
Leo in Boise replied:
Trilobite
Cal in Vermont wrote:
The humble Trilobite. Finally some respect!
DJ Useo responded:
I had a keen interest in fossils as a lad. I'm surprised to find I remember the answer is "Trilobite".
Trilobites are a group of extinct marine artiopodan arthropods that form the class Trilobite.
Sadly, they were terrible at tests, & the entire class failed.
Jacqueline said:
Isotelus, which is the largest of the Trilobites, is Ohio's
Dave in Tucson took the day off.
Roy the (now retired) hoghed took the day off.
John I from Hawai`i took the day off.
Deborah, the Master Gardener took the day off.
David of Moon Valley took the day off.
Rosemary in Columbus took the day off.
Michelle in AZ took the day off.
Bob from Mechanicsburg, Pa took the day off.
Roy, my favorite libtard snowflake friend in E. Texas took the day off.
Barbara, of Peppy Tech fame took the day off.
Doug in Albuquerque, New Mexico, took the day off.
George M. took the day off.
Ed K took the day off.
Joe S (We resisted, we voted, we won. Get over it) took the day off.
Gary K took the day off.
Tony DeN took the day off.
Gateway Mike took the day off.
Stephen aus Oz (& peppy tech, too) took the day off.
Kevin K. in Washington DC, Where Republicans cannot see sedition clearly, even now, took the day off.
-pgw took the day off.
Kenn B took the day off.
Micki took the day off.
Angelo D took the day off.
Harry M. took the day off.
Saskplanner took the day off.
Steve in Wonderful Sacramento, CA, took the day off.
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Paul of Seattle took the day off.
Brian S. took the day off.
Gene took the day off.
Tony K. took the day off.
Noel S. took the day off.
James of Alhambra took the day off.
BttbBob has returned to semi-retired status.
~~~~~
Info: All music, lyrics, performance, and production by Ryan Garrett.
“Follow up to 2018's THE GOAT ALBUM, DON'T LET THE BASTARD WIN pushes the boundaries of independent americana to include elements of everything from synthpop to heavy metal. All while maintaining a steady rock foundation that's been a standard on every Ryan Garrett record so far. From folk ballads like ‘The Ghost,’ to funky, 7-string guitar shredding on ‘Low Ground,’ the album offers something for everyone.
“Lyrics on the album cover multiple grounds of emotional distance, apologetic confessions, and even a few sociopolitical statements. The album’s title is taken from a M*A*S*H quote in which the bastard is referring to ‘death.’ I hope that this message can be taken as a hopeful statement against suicide and addiction, much like the bonus track ‘Merry Christmas Again’ depicts. You are loved here. You will get through this. Don't let the bastard win.”
Price: $1 (USD) for track; $7 (USD) for 12-track album.”
Plumber installed the new gas valve, and the stove installers are supposed to be here Wednesday.
Tonight, Saturday:
CBS begins the night with the FRESH'The 52nd NAACP Image Awards', followed by '48 Hours'.
NBC opens the night on the East Coast with LIVE'Figure Skating', followed by 'Dateline', then an old 'SNL'.
NBC opens the night early on the left coast with LIVE'Figure Skating', followed by a LIVE'SNL', then an old 'SNL'.
'SNL' is FRESH with Maya Rudolph hosting, music by Jack Harlow.
ABC starts the night with a RERUN'Shark Tank', followed by a RERUN'American Idol'.
The CW offers a couple old 'Friends', then a couple old '2½ Men'.
Faux has a RERUN'The Masked Singer', followed by a RERUN'Game Of Talents'.
MY recycles an old 'Weather Gone Viral', followed by an old 'Storm Of Suspicion'.
A&E has the movie 'Jack Reacher: Never Go Back', followed by the movie 'Jack Reacher'.
AMC offers the movie 'The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey', followed by the movie 'The Hobbit: The Desolation Of Smaug'.
BBC -
[6:00AM - 12:00PM] WEIRD WONDERS
[1:00PM] ENCHANTED KINGDOM
[3:00PM] PLANET EARTH: ONE AMAZING DAY
[5:00PM] WILD INDIA
[6:00PM - 5:00AM] PLANET EARTH: THE BLUE PLANET (ALL TIMES ET)
Bravo has 'Below Deck', followed by the movie 'The Shawshank Redemption'.
Comedy Central has the movie 'Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story', followed by the FRESH'52nd Annual NAACP Image Awards'.
FX has the movie 'Bad Moms', followed by the movie 'The Hangover Part III'.
History has the 'Barrett-Jackson Live Auction', 'American Pickers', another 'American Pickers', and still another 'American Pickers'.
IFC -
[6:00am] The Three Stooges - Punchy Cowpunchers
[6:15am - 12:45pm] Saved By The Bell
[1:15pm] The LEGO Movie
[3:30pm] Talladega Nights: The Ballad Of Ricky Bobby
[6:00pm] Transporter 2
[8:00pm] Escape Plan
[10:30pm] Transporter 2
[12:30am] Escape Plan
[3:00am] Kingpin
[5:45am] The Three Stooges - Three Little Beers (ALL TIMES ET)
Sundance -
[6:00am - 10:30am] the andy griffith show
[11:00am - 3:30pm] hogan's heroes
[4:00pm] conan the destroyer
[6:30pm] conan the barbarian
[9:00pm] twins
[11:30pm] hancock
[1:30am] groundhog day
[4:00am] monk - Mr. Monk Goes To Group Therapy
[5:00am] monk - Happy Birthday, Mr. Monk (ALL TIMES ET)
SyFy has the movie 'Harry Potter & The Prisoner Of Azkaban', followed by the movie 'Harry Potter & The Goblet Of Fire'.
Senator Bernie Sanders joined the drive Friday to unionize Amazon workers in Alabama as clashes intensified between lawmakers and the e-commerce giant ahead of a deadline for a vote that could lead to the first union on US soil at the massive tech company.
The visit by Sanders, joined by actor Danny Glover and rapper "Killer Mike" Render, marks the latest high-profile appearances in the contentious organizing effort for some 5,800 employees at Amazon's warehouse in Bessemer which culminates next week.
"If Amazon workers in Alabama can prevail in forming a union, it can be done all over this country," said Sanders, a former presidential candidate with a loyal following among progressives.
The months-long drive led by the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union has sparked national attention and intense debate over workplace conditions at Amazon, which has more than 800,000 US employees.
Amazon has argued lied that most of its workers don't want or need a union, and that it already provides more than most other employers, with a minimum $15 hourly wage and other benefits.
The Museum of Science in Boston is paying tribute to city native Leonard Nimoy with a 20-foot sculpture shaped like Mr. Spock’s split-fingered “live long and prosper” hand gesture, the museum and the late “Star Trek” actor’s family announced Friday.
The stainless steel monument, designed by artist David Phillips, will be placed in front of the museum. The announcement was made on the same day former Mayor Marty Walsh proclaimed Leonard Nimoy Day in the city.
“The ‘live long and prosper’ symbol represents a message that my dad believed so strongly in,” his daughter, Julie Nimoy, said in a statement. “My dad always loved Boston and he would be honored knowing that the Museum of Science would be the permanent home to this memorial. The sculpture not only depicts one of the world’s most recognized and loved gestures for peace, tolerance, and diversity, but it will also be a beautiful tribute to my dad’s life and legacy.”
Nimoy, born in the West End just blocks from the museum, had a 60-year Hollywood career as an actor, director, producer, writer, recording artist and photographer. He died in 2015 at age 83.
The idea for the half-human, half-Vulcan’s hand gesture originated from Nimoy himself, who was inspired by an ancient blessing he saw in his synagogue as a youth, the museum said.
The Wonder Years reboot has found its narrator. Don Cheadle has been tapped to play adult Dean Williams in ABC’s single-camera pilot from Saladin Patterson, the original series’ Fred Savage, and Lee Daniels.
Written by Patterson and directed by Savage, the reboot of the classic 1980s family comedy-drama is set in the same era as the original. It looks at how the Williamses, a Black middle-class family in Montgomery, AL, in the turbulent late 1960s made sure it was the Wonder Years for them too.
The new Wonder Years centers on the family’s teenage son Dean Williams (Elisha “EJ” Williams), much like the original series focused on Kevin Arnold (Savage). Both iterations are narrated by adult versions of the lead character. Cheadle is taking on adult Dean while Daniel Stern narrated the original as adult Kevin.
Dulé Hill and Saycon Sengbloh star as Dean’s parents. Laura Kariuki is Kim Williams, Dean’s teenage sister. Patterson and Savage executive produce along with Daniels and Marc Velez via Lee Daniels Entertainment. The original series’ co-creator Neal Marlens serves as a consultant. 20th Television is the studio.
U.S. Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Dog Lover) was named the recipient of the John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award on Friday for splitting with his party and becoming the only Republican to vote to convict former President Donald Trump during his first impeachment trial.
The award was created by the family of the late president to honor public figures who risk their careers by embracing unpopular positions for the greater good, and is named after Kennedy's 1957 Pulitzer Prize-winning book, “Profiles in Courage."
“Senator Romney's commitment to our Constitution makes him a worthy successor to the senators who inspired my father to write ‘Profiles in Courage,' ” Kennedy's daughter, Caroline Kennedy, said in a statement from the JFK Library Foundation. “He reminds us that our Democracy depends on the courage, conscience and character of our elected officials.”
Romney, 74, said he is inspired by the memory of his late father, George Romney, an automotive executive and governor of Michigan.
After the Jan. 6 attempted insurrection by Trump's supporters at the U.S. Capitol, Romney called on his fellow Republican senators to stand up for the truth about the election. At Trump’s second impeachment trial, Romney was one of seven Republican senators who voted to convict the former president of inciting the attack.
During a phone interview with The Ingraham Angle Thursday night, former President Donald Trump (R-Lock Him Up) defended the insurrectionists who stormed the Capitol on January 6 in an attempt to stop certification of the presidential election. Despite Capitol police officer Brian Sicknick dying as a result of the attack, and hundreds more officers sustaining injuries in the violent attack, many of them severe, Trump grossly mischaracterized the events of that day.
“It was zero threat. Right from the start, it was zero threat,” Trump said. “Look, they went in, they shouldn't have done it. Some of them went in, and they’re hugging and kissing the police and the guards, you know, they had great relationships.”
Trump also derided the fact that authorities are in the process of arresting hundreds of his supporters for their part in the attack, falsely claiming that they were waved in. Nearly 400 have already been arrested with more arrests expected in the coming weeks.
“A lot of the people were waved in, and they walked in and they walked out,” Trump said, “and I'll tell you what, they are doing things to those — they’re persecuting a lot of those people, and some of them should be — some things should happen to them.”
“They go after people that, I guess you’d call them ‘lean toward the right,’ and they wave American flags,” Trump said, “in many cases, they are waving the American flag, and they love our country. And to those people, they’re arresting them by the dozens.”
Dominion Voting systems, one of the largest election equipment manufacturers in the U.S. and the subject of false conspiracy theories by conservative figures, has sued Fox News for $1.6 billion.
The suit highlights the number of times Fox News segments contained false claims that Dominion equipment was used to rig the 2020 election, that it was tied to the late Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, or that it paid off U.S. government officials.
“Fox took a small flame and turned it into a forest fire,” the 441-page lawsuit reads. “As the dominant media company among those viewers dissatisfied with the election results, Fox gave these fictions a prominence they otherwise would never have achieved. With Fox’s global platform, an audience of hundreds of millions, and the inevitable and extensive republication and dissemination of the falsehoods through social media, these lies deeply damaged Dominion’s once-thriving business.”
The suit is the fifth billion-dollar lawsuit filed by an election company over false claims that the 2020 election was rigged, and the fourth by Dominion. Dominion has sued Rudy Giuliani and Sidney Powell, lawyers affiliated with former President Donald Trump, as well as MyPillow Founder and Trump supporter Mike Lindell for their roles in sharing false claims about the company.
“The disinformation campaign waged against our company has caused us severe damage and undermined trust in American democratic institutions,” John Poulos, Dominion’s CEO, said in an email. “These lies also have threatened the personal safety of our employees and customers. No amount of money will repair the damage done.”
Police who were stumped by the theft of a rare pine tree in November from the University of Wisconsin Arboretum said Friday that they have cracked the case.
UW-Madison police said three 19-year-old university students stole the tree as part of a “pledge” activity for the former Chi Phi fraternity, which hasn't been recognized as an official student organization since 2015.
Police said they acted on a tip, and that the three admitted to purchasing a chainsaw, renting a U-Haul and stealing the 25-foot Algonquin Pillar Swiss Mountain pine. The stolen tree was about 30 yards (30 meters) from a street that runs through the arboretum, which is a popular spot for walkers, joggers, bicyclists and nature lovers.
After learning how rare the tree was, and that police were investigating, the students destroyed it and disposed of it outside of the city, university police said.
Each of the students was cited for removing the tree, which is punishable by a $200 fine.
For generations, Brian Sackett's family has farmed potatoes that are made into chips found on grocery shelves in much of the eastern U.S.
About 25% of the nation's potato chips get their start in Michigan, where reliably cool air during September harvest and late spring has been ideal for crop storage. That's a big reason why the state produces more chipping potatoes than any other.
But with temperatures edging higher, Sackett had to buy several small refrigeration units for his sprawling warehouses. Last year, he paid $125,000 for a bigger one. It's expensive to operate, but beats having his potatoes rot.
The situation here illustrates a little-noticed hazard that climate change is posing for agriculture in much of the world. Once harvested, crops not immediately consumed or processed are stored — sometimes for months. The warming climate is making that job harder and costlier.
The window for unrefrigerated storage is also narrowing for apples in the Northwest and Northeast, peanuts in the Southeast, lettuce in the Southwest and tomatoes in the Ohio valley, according to follow-up research published last year by plant physiology scientist Courtney Leisner at Auburn University.
An analysis of European monarchs between the years 990 and 1800 has found that how inbred a king or queen is and how effective they were as a ruler are linked.
Throughout history, the European royal families have been quite partial to massive crowns and inbreeding. Royals through the continent would get strategically married to close relatives. This is ideal if your goal is to consolidate power, but not if you're also interested in producing healthy offspring and the avoidance of incest.
The results of inbreeding could be seen on the faces of the families, infamously in the distinctive Habsburg Jaw which was likely the product of generations of incest.
In order to assess the performance of the 331 European monarchs studied, the researchers used previous analysis by US historian Adam Woods, who set about "grading" individual royals on their intelligence based on the writings of many other historians. This was combined with a second, more objective measure of performance: changes in area controlled by the rulers during their reigns. A larger area being acquired during a reign was seen as successful, and losing area the sign of a less effective reign.
To measure levels of inbreeding, the team not only looked at the parents of the ruler but at the inbreeding of their ancestors as well, as sourced from a genealogical database of European monarchs. Using Carlos II of Spain as an example – the individual they identified as having the highest coefficient of inbreeding – the team say he was "more inbred than offspring of siblings would be" despite his parents being "merely" uncle and niece.
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has returned to semi-retired status.
In memory.
