How Paul Begala Wants to Bring Back the Stocks

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A short, funny, light piece about how Paul Begala wants to bring back the stocks.

Click here:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/paul-begala/bring-back-the-stocks_b_160185.html
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From Homeless to Hollywood Film, and Sherlock Holmes to Home...

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A bit of a rags to riches New Year's story...

Which Sherlock Holmes may not have thought so "elementary," after all...

A homeless man in Manchester, England gets discovered one day, stars in a Sherlock Holmes film the next day, and now has an agent, and a flat to boot...

For a good story and pictures, click here:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-1103466/Rags-Ritchie-Trip-cinema-earns-homeless-man-Guys-Sherlock-Holmes-film.html
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Highly Recommended: Pie (in the name of love)

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I read a lot, and capturing the rapture of my attention is a feat; I can usually stop reading, and come back later... not this time! I couldn't stop reading...

Vincent Rossmeier delights in this luscious piece of pie love.

Click here to feast on such dessert:

http://www.salon.com/mwt/feature/2008/12/20/pie_love/
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Highly Recommended: The Wind in the Willows at 100

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Gary Kamiya does great justice to the classic in Salon.

Click here:

http://www.salon.com/opinion/kamiya/2008/12/16/wind_in_the_willows/index.html
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Highly Recommended: Mom Goes to Whole Foods

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This is a very funny piece, a gift from author "tequilaanddonuts," and Open Salon.

Tens of thousands have already read it - see why...!

Click here:

http://open.salon.com/content.php?cid=50028
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Nurturing Plays Big Role in Survival and Thriving

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Studies show that nurturing plays a major role in survival. Researchers removed a gene from mice that is central to nurturing, and this is what they found:

"Initially, the researchers were puzzled by their findings. Despite the lack of fosB, the first generation of mutant mice seemed perfectly normal. But when they mated and gave birth, their litters died within a day or two. Jennifer Brown, a graduate student who conducted the experiments, noticed that the mothers behaved oddly. Unlike normal mice, which gather their pups together in the nest and crouch over them to nurse them and keep them warm, the mutants left their newborns scattered about and ignored them. The babies, unfed, untended and probably cold, could not survive."

"Subsequent studies showed that the mothers were physically capable of nursing and that later offspring were healthy at birth; removed from the mothers and raised by normal females, the pups thrived. The only possible explanation for the deaths lay in the mutant mothers' failure to take care of their young."

"The researchers said that fosB and related genes might help regulate nurturing in higher mammals as well. FosB is clearly present in human beings, Dr. Greenberg said. But he declined to speculate about its possible role in human behavior."

-- The New York Times, "Gene May Be Clue to the Nature of Nurturing"

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E03E5DD1739F935A15754C0A960958260
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Recommended: Thoreau Is Rediscovered as a Climatologist

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Blooms with a vue...

Thoreau kept exquisite records of nature as it bloomed in his favorite woods around Walden pond. Today they are giving researchers vital observations for understanding environmental changes...

Click here:

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/28/science/earth/28wald.html?_r=1&em&oref=slogin
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Tea with Barack Obama's Sister

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This is a highly recommended, enjoyable personal view.

Click here:

http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2008/10/23/obama_sister/

(If you don't get to the article right away, just click on "Enter Salon" in the top right corner.)
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When in Rome: A 106 Year-Old American Nun Who Has Only Voted Once in Her Life Is Voting for Obama...

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I love this story:

She last voted in 1952, she's been living in Italy for 50 years, and she is: "encouraged by" Obama.

Click here:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7665925.stm
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Comic or Cute and Fluffy Relief?

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We could all use some laughs and relief. So here are two entertaining links:

The first is cute and fluffy:

http://www.cuteoverload.com/

The second is Saturday Night Live's must-see spoof of the debate. Tina Fey is amazing as Sarah Palin:

http://www.nbc.com/Saturday_Night_Live/video/clips/vp-debate-open-palin-biden/727421/

*Enjoy!*

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Highly Recommended: Paul Newman

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This is a great, must-read article about Paul Newman by someone who worked at his summer camp and knew him.

Click here:

http://www.slate.com/id/2201116/

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Have You Had Your Hadron Rap Today?

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Now that's Funked-out Fusion and a Matter of Antimatter: Have you had your Hadron Rap today?

The Rap does it best - click here for the video and an article about its origins:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/main.jhtml?xml=/earth/2008/08/26/scirap126.xml

And for more details about the Hadron Collider:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Large_Hadron_Collider

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3 Minutes You Must Hear - So Funny! This Week's Unger Report

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Brian Unger's "Unger Report" is especially funny this week. 3 minutes you shouldn't miss! This is fun you need to have. You'll see - hear...!

It's titled: "What To Do About Evil." It was on NPR, so it's an audio piece.

Here is the link:

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=93697475

*Bon audio fete!*

(Yes, I just made that up...)
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*Some Very Interesting Bumper Stickers!*

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We have lots of entertaining ones around here:

The other summer evening, there was a sleek, shiny, sporty new black Toyota, pulling away in front of me. I noticed a lot of anti-Bush/Cheney bumperstickers, on the back: "Don't Blame Me - I Didn't Vote For..." "Invade Iraq? NO!" "Invade Iran? NO!" on the one side of the car: 'The America I Love Would Never Torture People,' on the other side: 'Impeach Bush/Cheney,' and then... a more intricate one with an official looking seal, and smaller print: "Proud Mother of A U.S. Marine." She was blonde, around sixty, and looked of potential German descent...

That was very interesting...!

And then on the way home, right in front of me at one point:

"This Christian Did Not Vote for George Bush!"

I had never seen that one before...!

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Moko, An Incredible Dolphin Tale...

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Dolphins are amazing, they have all our best human qualities in abundance; they thrive on being playful, gentle, and caring...

Here is a truly incredible dolphin tale where a dolphin voluntarily "talks" to and rescues two beached whales. His name is Moko, and he regularly plays with swimmers off the beach (there is video of him too):

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/7291501.stm

Some Dolphin facts:

Dolphins have been measured diving as deep as 1000 ft

Some dolphin species can swim as fast as 25 miles an hour for long periods, more than 3 times faster than any humans

Dolphins can jump as high as 20 feet out of the water

Here is a way you can help dolphins off Japan's shores:

http://www.savejapandolphins.org/

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