Tuesday, April 29, 2014

Mother's Day

A man stopped at a flower shop to order some flowers to be wired to his mother who lived two hundred miles away.

As he got out of his car he noticed a young girl sitting on the curb sobbing.

He asked her what was wrong and she replied, “I wanted to buy a red rose for my mother and I don’t have enough money.”

The man smiled and said, “Come on in with me. I’ll buy you a rose.”

He bought the little girl her rose and ordered his own mother’s flowers.

As they were leaving he offered the girl a ride home. She said, “Yes, please! You can take me to my mother.”
She directed him to a cemetery, where she placed the rose on a freshly dug grave.

The man returned to the flower shop, canceled the wire order, picked up a bouquet and drove the two hundred miles to his mother’s house.

Author Unknown

Kid's Say Some Of The Funniest Things

A little boy got lost at the YMCA and found himself in the women's locker room.
When he was spotted, the room burst into shrieks, with ladies grabbing towels
and running for cover. The little boy watched in amazement and then asked,
"What's the matter, haven't you ever seen a little boy before?"



While working for an organization that delivers lunches to elderly shut-ins,
I used to take my 4-year-old daughter on my afternoon rounds.
She was unfailingly intrigued by the various appliances of old age,
particularly the canes, walkers and wheelchairs.
One day I found her staring at a pair of false teeth soaking in a glass.
As I braced myself for the inevitable barrage of questions,
She merely turned and whispered, "The tooth fairy will never believe this!"


A mother was driving with her three young children one warm summer evening
when a woman in the convertible ahead of them stood up and waved.
She was stark naked!
As mama was reeling from the shock,
she heard her 5-year-old shout from the back seat,
'Mom, that lady isn't wearing a seat belt!'


A woman was trying hard to get the ketchup out of the jar.
During her struggle the phone rang so she asked her 4-year-old daughter
to answer the phone.. "Mommy can't come to the phone to talk to
you right now, she's hitting the bottle."


While taking a routine vandalism report at an elementary school,
I was interrupted by a little girl about 6 years old.
Looking up and down at my uniform, she asked,
'Are you a cop? Yes,' I answered and continued writing the report.
My mother said if I ever needed help I should ask the police.
Is that right?" "Yes, that's right," I told her.
'Well, then,' she said as she extended her foot toward me,
"would you please tie my shoe?"


It was the end of the day when I parked my police van in front of the station.
As I gathered my equipment, my K-9 partner, Jake, was barking, and I saw a
little boy staring in at me. 'Is that a dog you got back there?' he asked.
'It sure is,' I replied.
Puzzled, the boy looked at me and then towards the back of the van,
finally he said, "What'd he do"


A little girl was watching her parents dress for a party.
When she saw her dad donning his tuxedo,
she warned, "Daddy, you shouldn't wear that suit."
"And why not, darling?"
"You know that it always gives you a headache the next morning."


While walking along the sidewalk in front of his church, our minister
heard the intoning of a prayer that nearly made his collar wilt.
Apparently, his 5-year-old son and his playmates had found a dead robin.
Feeling that proper burial should be performed,
they had secured a small box and cotton batting,
then dug a hole and made ready for the disposal of the deceased.
The minister's son was chosen to say the appropriate prayers and with
dignity intoned his version of what he thought his father always said:
"Glory be unto the Father, and unto the Son, and into the hole he goes."


A little boy opened the big family Bible.
He was fascinated as he fingered through the old pages.
Suddenly, something fell out of the Bible. He picked up
the object and looked at it. What he saw was an old leaf that
had been pressed in between the pages.
"Mama, look what I found," the boy called out.
"What have you got there, dear?"
With astonishment in the young boy's voice, he answered,
"I think it's Adam's underwear!"
A little girl had just finished her first week of school.
"I'm just wasting my time," she said to her mother.
"I can't read, I can't write, and they won't let me talk!"

Did You Ever Wonder....,

Why does the sun lighten our hair, but darken our skin?
Why can't women put on mascara with their mouth closed?
Why doesn't glue stick to the inside of the bottle?

Why don't you ever see the headline "Psychic Wins Lottery"?
Why is "abbreviated" such a long word?
Why is a boxing ring square?

Why is it called lipstick if you can still move your lips?


Why is it considered necessary to nail down the lid of a coffin?
Why is it that doctors call what they do "practice"?
Why is it that rain drops but snow falls?
Why is it that to stop Windows 95, you have to click on "Start"?

Why is it that when you're driving and looking for an address,
 you turn down the volume on the radio?
Why is lemon juice made with artificial flavor,
and dishwashing liquid made with real lemons?

Why is the man who invests all your money called a broker?
Why is the third hand on the watch called a second hand?

Why is the time of day with the slowest traffic called rush hour?
Why isn't there a special name for the tops of your feet?
Why isn't there mouse-flavored cat food?

How come we drive on parkways and park on driveways?

How come sheep don't shrink when it rains but a wool sweater does when you wash it?

Chick-fil-A Update

Two  years    ago Chick-fil-A made national headlines when company president Dan Cathy spoke out in support of traditional marriage. Liberals and gays came unglued and launched massive protests against the restaurant chain. 
 
Several mayors  spoke out saying they would not allow any more Chick-fil-A's to be built in their  cities.
     
They tried boycotting the Christian owned  company, but that backfired. Instead, Chick-fil-A had a world record day with many locations selling out of food to the hundreds of thousands of supporters.  Is it any surprise that the only news the liberal mainstream media has reported concerning Chick-fil-A has only been the negative?
 
Remember last week when the ice storm hit the south? The mainstream media showed  footage of miles of cars stranded on the frozen interstates.  Several  national news broadcasts that I saw reported about school kids trapped on buses for almost 24 hours because of all of the ice and parents goi ng frantic wondering where their kids were.
 
In all of the icy gloom and doom, I bet you didn't hear about the heroic and generous actions of a Chick-fil-A  along Highway 280 in Birmingham, Alabama, did you?
 
Mark Meadows,  owner of the Chick-fil-A closed early the day of  the storm and sent all of his employees home.  However, the employees and Meadows soon discovered that they were not going to be able to get home with all of the stranded motorists stuck on the roads.  Some of the cars near the restaurant had been stranded for up to 7 hours.
     
Audrey Pitt, manager of the Chick-fil-A described the conditions: 

"Our store is about a  mile and a half from the interstate and it took me two hours to get there.  It was a parking lot as far as I could    see.  At one point there  were more people walking than driving." 
 
Meadows and his employees fired up the kitchen and began preparing chicken sandwiches  as fast as they could. They prepared several hundred sandwiches and then Meadows and his staff headed out and began distributing the hot meals to the stranded  motorists on both sides of Highway 280.
 
Some of the drivers tried to pay them for the sandwiches, but Meadows and his employees refused to take a single  penny. Pitt explained why: "This company is based on taking care of people and loving  people before you're worried about money or profit. We were  just trying to follow the mod el that we've all worked under for so long and the model that we've come to love. There was really nothing else we could have done but try to help people any way we could."
 
However, Meadows and Pitt were not through with their Good Samaritan efforts.  They helped push cars off the roads, up inclines and whatever else they could do to help. Then they kept the restaurant open overnight so that stranded motorists could have a warm place to be.  A number of motorists slept in booths or on
the benches.
  
Then in the morning, they again fired up the kitchen and prepared chicken biscuits for their overnight guests and once again they refused to accept any payment.  
 
During that 24 hour period,  this Chick-fil-A restaurant opened their kitchen, their doors and their hearts to hundreds of stranded motorists and they did so refusing to accept any payment.  As one source put it, Meadows and his staff lived up to the  words Jesus spoke in  Matthew 25:35 which states:
 
"For I was hungry,  and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me something to drink; I was a stranger, and you  invited Me in."
 
There actions were truly generous and heroic as they also braved the frigid temperatures to hand out hundreds of hot meals to complete strangers. And I bet you never heard anything from the mainstream media. Their actions were never heard about in the public.
 
Had it been a group of homosexuals or atheists,  it would have been all over the news from coast to coast. It was  too  much  against their liberal standards to report  a Christian company doing something so positive for so many.
 
We  need to support this and all Christian  companies.
      
Pass this along and bypass the media!

The Rules Of Chocolate

 
 If you get melted chocolate all over your hands,
 you're eating it too slowly.

Chocolate covered raisins, cherries, orange slices
 and strawberries all count as fruit,
so eat as many as you want.

The problem:
How to get two pounds of chocolate home
 from the store in a hot car.

The solution: Eat it in the parking lot.

Diet tip: Eat a chocolate bar before each meal.

It'll take the edge off your appetite and you'll eat less.

A nice box of chocolates can provide your total
daily intake of calories in one place. Isn't that handy?

If you can't eat all your chocolate, it will keep in
the freezer. But if you can't eat all your chocolate,
 what's wrong with you?

If calories are an issue, store your chocolate on top
 of the fridge. Calories are afraid of heights, and they
will jump out of the chocolate to protect themselves.

Money talks. Chocolate sings.
 
Chocolate has many preservatives.

 Preservatives make you look younger.

Why is there no such organization as
 Chocoholics Anonymous?

Because no one wants to quit.

Put eat chocolate at the top of your list of things to do today.

 That way, at least you'll get one thing done.

A Few Of My Favorite Things

 (Sung To The Tune To: The Sound of Music)

Maalox and nose drops and needles for knitting,
 Walkers and handrails and new dental fittings,
 Bundles of magazines tied up with string,
 These are a few of my favorite things.

Cadillacs, cataracts, hearing aids, eye-glasses,
 Polident, Fixodent, false teeth in glasses,
Pacemakers, golf carts and porches with swings,
 These are a few of my favorite things.

When the pipes leak, When the bones creak,
 When the knees go bad,
Then I remember my favorite things
 And then I don't feel so bad.

Hot tea and crumpets, and corn pads for bunions,
 No spicy hot food nor food cooked with onions,
Bathrobes and heat pads and hot meals they bring,
 These are a few of my favorite things.

Back pains, confused brains, and no fear of sinnin',
 Thin bones and fractures and hair that is thinnin'.
And we won't mention our short shrunken frames
 When we remember our favorite things.

When the joints ache, when the hips break,
 When the eyes grow dim,
Then I remember the great life I've had,
 And then I don't feel so bad.

Thursday, April 24, 2014

Baked Stuffed Apples


baked apples
I used to love these when I was a little girl! They look so pretty and are like your very own special little apple pie! Well, I happened to have 3 apples left and a sheet of frozen pie pastry in the freezer to use up quickly before the apples got forgotten and turned to applesauce…on their own. There’s nothing more sad when fruit gets misplaced and goes bad and you have to pitch it to the birds. The birds of course are appreciative, but there’s nothing I hate more than food waste. Besides giving me a terrible guilt complex, it’s a shameful waste of money! Yes, I’ve been known to pinch pennies until Lincoln’s eyeballs are popping out, and being wasteful is just plain a pet peeve!

So what to do with them? Dinner was already planned. Actual homemade applesauce seemed silly with only 3 apples, our internet was down all day and I had searched about every cookbook I own for ideas and nothing sounded good. So, hours later, that sheet of pastry in the freezer that kept getting shoved to the back was finally looking like a darned good idea!

baked apples 2

Finally an idea hit me…Eureka! Baked stuffed apples!! I re-opened about a dozen cookbooks for a recipe and baking times/temps but couldn’t find a single one! So I stubbornly gave up and decided to just wing-it. I was tired of racking my brain, no internet all day was frustrating enough, and I just wanted my quest to finally be done! Put a plan into some kind of action and finally have fun! 

baked apples 4
So after hollowing out the cores, I just eyeballed the space and figured the brown sugar to a "T". I was determined by now that this was not only going to work, it was going to be perfect and fabulous.   If  I messed up coring them…. I’d chop them. If I tore the pastry beyond use…I’d make rustic tarts. The day was going to turn around and I was going to make it happen! 

baked apples 3
And they turned out beautiful! Just like the ones I remembered from when I was a little girl at my Grandma’s house on a hot summer day! The only things missing was some homemade, hand-churned ice cream, and her. And Grandpa, who would whistle soft songs to the birds and toss a few small pieces out to them to enjoy, too.

Sitting on the porch with my Grandparents and my own little perfect “apple pie.”. Such warm, wonderful memories.

I hope these remind you of your fondest childhood memories, too! And don’t forget to pick up, or make, some good vanilla ice cream!

Source: wildflourskitchen

Sunday, April 13, 2014

Words Of Inspirations


  1. Accept that some days you're the pigeon, and some days you're the statue.
  2. Always keep our words soft and sweet, just in case you have to eat them.
  3. Always read stuff that will make you look good if you die in the middle of it.
  4. Drive carefully..It's not only cars that can be recalled by their maker.
  5. If you can't be kind, at least have the decency to be vague.
  6. If you lend someone $20 and never see that person again, it was probably worth it.
  7. It may be that your sole purpose in life is simply to serve as a warning to others.
  8. Never buy a car you can't push.
  9. Never put both feet in your mouth at the same time, because then you won't have a leg to stand on.
  10. Nobody cares if you can't dance well. Just get up and dance.
  11. Since it's the early worm that gets eaten by the bird, sleep late.
  12. The second mouse gets the cheese.
  13. When everything's coming your way, your in the wrong lane.
  14. Birthdays are good for you. The more you have the longer you live.
  15. Some mistakes are too much fun to make only once.
  16. We could learn a lot from crayons. Some are sharp, some are pretty and some are dull. Some have weird names and all are different colors, but they all have to live in the same box.
  17. A truly happy person is one who can enjoy the scenery on a detour.
  18. Have an awesome day and know that someone has thought about you today.


Today someone asked me if I liked you all. I laughed and said, “Ha! That's funny!! I absolutely Love them!! They're funny, caring, crazy as heck, sweet, beautiful, they're reading this right now & I love them!!”

Be the kind of person that when your feet hit the floor each morning the devil says “Oh darn, they're up!”

Saturday, April 12, 2014

You Need To Read This!

You just can't make this stuff up.

President Obama just appointed Sylvia Burwell to take over Obamacare, the disastrous beast under which our entire health care system and 1/6 of our nation's economy is forever fundamentally transformed.

Remember last year when America's war memorials, national parks, patriotic amenities, student White House tours, etc. were shut down because the Obama administration's spending priorities are so out of whack? Americans were told the Federal government didn't have enough of our tax dollars to allow WWII vets to walk across a public sidewalk to visit a statue honoring these heroes. This, during the "shutdown" when crony capitalism, earmarks, and waste and fraud continued to fill the swamp. This, while the first family continued to live elaborately large and some in Congress had the gall to whine that they aren't paid enough.

This, while the people's will continued to be arrogantly ignored.

What a cold and callous bureaucrat it was who'd direct that quite revealing fiasco, an episode over which the Obama Administration never recovered in the court of public opinion.

Who would do such a thing? Who would punish patriotic Americans? Who sent the email initiating all this?

The political operative Sylvia Burwell.

It's Sylvia's stain on the ash heap of history. And along with Sylvia's stain comes her disturbing, punitive priorities as she takes over our health care coverage. Yeah, nothing can go wrong with that.

You can't make this stuff up.

- Sarah Palin

Time Is Like A River...,

Time is like a river. You cannot touch the water twice, because the flow that has passed will never pass again.
Written by a USMC Vet. (I can't argue with any of it. Passing it along as it was received.)

He wrote:

The American Dream ended (on November 6th) in Ohio. The second term of Barack Obama will be the final nail in the coffin for the legacy of the white Christian males who discovered, explored, pioneered, settled and developed the greatest Republic in the history of mankind.

A coalition of Blacks, Latinos, Feminists, Gays, Government Workers, Union Members, Environmental Extremists, The Media, Hollywood, uninformed young people, the "forever needy," the chronically unemployed, illegal aliens and other "fellow travelers" have ended Norman Rockwell's America.

The Cocker Spaniel is off the front porch... The Pit Bull is in the back yard. The American Constitution has been replaced with Saul Alinsky's "Rules for Radicals" and Chicago shyster, David Axelrod, along with international Socialist George Soros will be pulling the strings on their beige puppet to bring us Act 2 of the New World Order.

Our side ran two candidates who couldn't even win their own home states, and the circus fatster Chris Christie helped Obama over the top with a glowing "post Sandy" tribute that elevated the "Commander-in-Chief" to Mother Teresa status. (Aside: with the way the polls were run, he didn't need any help!)

People like me are completely politically irrelevant, and I will never again comment on or concern myself with the aforementioned coalition which has surrendered our culture, our heritage and our traditions without a shot being fired.

You will never again out-vote these people. It will take individual acts of defiance and massive displays of civil disobedience to get back the rights we have allowed them to take away. It will take Zealots, not moderates & shy not reach-across-the-aisle RINOs to right this ship and restore our beloved country to its former status.

Those who come after us will have to risk their lives, their fortunes and their sacred honor to bring back the Republic that this generation has timidly frittered away due to "white guilt" and political correctness...

An American Veteran…………………. Semper-Fi

Got the guts to pass it on?

Thursday, April 10, 2014

No, You Shouldn’t Change Your Passwords Just Yet

Revelations that 500,000 sites have been deemed vulnerable have sparked suggestions users should change their passwords. Here’s why you shouldn’t do it, at least not yet.

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Users who change their passwords before websites update any security vulnerabilities may put their data at more risk. Heartbleed / Via heartbleed.com
An enormous security flaw called Heartbleed that has left more than 500,000 sites vulnerable to attackers has resulted in many commentators suggesting that internet users should change their passwords to any websites that might be at risk. These include the likes of Facebook, Tumblr, and Google, according to a list on Mashable.
But internet security experts have said people should not change their passwords just yet. Instead, they should wait until the company sends them a message, such as the one sent by If This Then That on Wednesday night.
A security researcher with Rapid7, Mark Schloesser, told The Guardian that users could leave themselves in a worse situation if they change their passwords before any vulnerabilities are fixed, revealing both their former and new passwords in one go.
He said: “The estimate is that the larger providers all get patched within the next 24–48 hours [Thursday to Friday afternoon] and I would agree that people should change their credentials when a provider has updated their OpenSSL versions.”
Trey Ford, also at Rapid7, added that users should avoid entering any sensitive information on vulnerable sites.
This is because the flaw in the SSL keys means an attacker could intercept communication between the user and the server.
Ford said: “Until this is done, attacks may still be able to steal cookies, sessions, passwords, and the key material required to masquerade as the website.”
But there are a number of websites that have already updated their security flaws and recommended for users to update their passwords.
Here’s a list:

1. Tumblr.

1. Tumblr.
Tumblr / Via staff.tumblr.com
“Bad news. A major vulnerability, known as ‘Heartbleed,’ has been disclosed for the technology that powers encryption across the majority of the internet. That includes Tumblr.
We have no evidence of any breach and, like most networks, our team took immediate action to fix the issue.”

2. Facebook.

2. Facebook.
Facebook / Via facebookbrand.com
“We added protections for Facebook’s implementation of OpenSSL before this issue was publicly disclosed. We haven’t detected any signs of suspicious account activity, but we encourage people to … set up a unique password.”

3. Google.

3. Google.
“We have assessed the SSL vulnerability and applied patches to key Google services.”

4. Yahoo.

4. Yahoo.
Yahoo / Via info.yahoo.com
“As soon as we became aware of the issue, we began working to fix it … and we are working to implement the fix across the rest of our sites right now.”

5. Dropbox

5. Dropbox
Dropbox / Via dropbox.com
“We’ve patched all of our user-facing services & will continue to work to make sure your stuff is always safe.”

6. OkCupid

6. OkCupid
OkCupid
“We, like most of the Internet, were stunned that such a serious bug has existed for so long and was so widespread.”

A new website has been released that allows users to see whether your favourite sites have been affected by the security flaw.

A new website has been released that allows users to see whether your favourite sites have been affected by the security flaw.
Filippo Valsorda / Via filippo.io

Source: buzzfeed.com

The Department Of Transportation Made A Short PSA About Teens Who Text While Driving And It’s Brutal

If this won’t make you think twice about picking up that phone, who knows what will.

Last week, the Department of Transportation launched its first-ever national campaign against distracted driving.

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The Department Of Transportation Made A Short PSA About Teens Who Text While Driving And It’s Brutal

If this won’t make you think twice about picking up that phone, who knows what will.

Last week, the Department of Transportation launched its first-ever national campaign against distracted driving.

Its first advertisement is a 30-second clip of teenagers using their cell phones while driving.

Its first advertisement is a 30-second clip of teenagers using their cell phones while driving.

In the clip, the driver gets a text and goes to answer it while blowing through a stop sign.

Only to be hit by an oncoming truck.

The fairly blunt anti-texting-while-driving ads will run nationally during the middle of April.

Television, radio and digital advertisements using the phrase U Drive. U Text. U Pay. will run from April 7-15, which coincides with a nationwide law enforcement crackdown in states with distracted driving bans.

 “This campaign puts distracted driving on par with our efforts to fight drunk driving or to encourage seatbelt use,” said Secretary Foxx. “Across the country, we’re putting distracted drivers on notice: If you’re caught texting while driving, the message you receive won’t be from your cell phone, but from law enforcement - U Drive. U Text. U Pay.”
Source: buzzfeed.com

Watch What This Dog Does Alone With the Piano. It May Surprise You.

You would think that a dog might just curl up on the piano chair, but not this one. Tucker, a 1.5 year old Schnoodle, loves playing the piano. He loves it so much that he practices three to four times a day. Sure, he may not be the next Beethoven, but you can't blame a dog for trying! You gotta fake it til you make it! Go Tucker!

<iframe width="640" height="360" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/PiblYasnzWE?feature=player_embedded" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Source: youtube.com

You Go Grandma! This Grandma Got Moves You Won't Want To Miss!

A total must see. Amazing!

<iframe width="640" height="360" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/Ny-Hivfagc8?feature=player_embedded" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Source: youtube.com

Sunday, April 6, 2014

Could You Pass The U.S. Citizenship Test?

Click Here to take the test.

Source: HuffingtonPost.com

15 “Summer Camp Style” Friendship Bracelets You Can Make Right Now


1. The Double Wave

The Double Wave
The double wave is a beautiful choice for a summer at the beach. The tutorial can be found here.

2. The Hearts

The Hearts
Want to wear your heart on your sleeve? Learn how to make this adorable bracelet here.

3. The Knotted

The Knotted
A guide for this classic look can be found here.

4. The Beaded

The Beaded
This one just happens to be super easy. Check out the instructions here.

5. The Painted Rainbow

The Painted Rainbow
Easily customize these leather bracelets. The tutorial can be found here.

6. The Braided Bead

The Braided Bead
Here’s a bracelet that looks legitimately store-bought. Tutorial can be found here.

7. Summer Camp Chevron

Summer Camp Chevron
This chevron style will bring back memories of rainy days at camp. A DIY guide can be found here.

8. The Polka Dot

The Polka Dot
The polka dot bracelet is great for a small pop of color. A step by step guide can be found here.

9. The Checkers

The Checkers
Add a little shimmer to your arm party with the checkered look. Instructions can be found here.

10. The Skinny Chevron

The Skinny Chevron
If the chevron option is too thick, try the skinny version. Better yet, mix and match them. The DIY guide can be found here.

11. The Fishtail

The Fishtail
A DIY guide can be found here.

12. The Embellished

The Embellished
Update your old jewelry by incorporating them into your friendship bracelets. The tutorial can be found here.

13. The Diamond

The Diamond
Diamonds are forever with this bracelet. Grab the instructions here.

14. The Simple Braid

The Simple Braid
The original braid is an oldie but goodie. The guide can be found here.

15. The Camp Mary Atkinson

The Camp Mary Atkinson
These embellished bracelets are a great modern twist on the classic design. An easy tutorial can be found here.

 A DIY guide to the original arm party.

Source: Buzzfeed.com

Tuesday, April 1, 2014

'12 Years A Slave' Author's Death Still A Mystery


12 Years A Slave
A Solomon Northup historical marker is seen on Thursday, March 13, 2014, in Saratoga Springs, N.Y. Northup was the author of

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. (AP) - Historians know where Solomon Northup was born, where he lived and where he worked. They know whom he married and how many children he had. They know he played the fiddle and spent 12 years enslaved in the South before being freed.

What historians don't know about the author of "12 Years A Slave" is when and how he died and where he is buried. It's a lingering mystery in the final chapter of the life of the 19th-century free-born African-American whose compelling account of enforced slavery in pre-Civil War Louisiana was made into the Oscar-winning film of the same title.

"That's sort of a big blank spot in the story, for sure," said Rachel Seligman, co-author of "Solomon Northup: The Complete Story of the Author of Twelve Years a Slave," published last year.

This month, "12 Years A Slave" took home the Academy Awards for best picture, best adapted screenplay and best supporting actress. The accolades have sparked new interest in Northup's story, which was little known until recent years even in the upstate New York communities where he spent most of his life.

Northup was born July 10, 1807, in what is now the Essex County town of Minerva, in the Adirondack Mountains. His father, a former slave, moved the family to neighboring Washington County, eventually settling in the village of Fort Edward, on the Hudson River 40 miles north of Albany. Northup married Anne Hampton in the late 1820's, and the couple lived in an 18th-century house in Fort Edward that is now a museum.

Northup worked on his father's farm and rafted timber on the Champlain Canal between Fort Edward and the southern end of Lake Champlain. The couple and their children moved to nearby Saratoga Springs when Anne got a job in one of the growing spa resort town's big hotels. Northup found work as a musician, and in 1841, two white men lured him to Washington, D.C., with the promise of more work. Instead, they kidnapped him and took him to New Orleans, where he was sold into slavery.

Northup endured the next 12 years enslaved on a Louisiana cotton plantation before friends in Saratoga finally won his freedom. In 1853, he published a memoir of his ordeal that led to a speaking tour supported by abolitionists. He got involved in the Underground Railroad, helping escaped slaves find freedom in the Northeast and Canada. But around 1863, the height of the Civil War, he dropped out of sight and was never heard from again. Even the movie notes at the end that "the date, location and circumstances" of Northrup's death remain unknown.

Theories abound about what may have happened to him. One scenario has him being captured and killed while serving as a spy for the Union Army. The man who helped rescue him said he believed Northup had taken to drink and was kidnapped yet again. Or Northup could have died in a place where no one knew him or cared to properly bury an African-American at a time when a war over slavery was tearing the nation apart.

"He may have just wandered around from place to place and died somewhere nobody knew who he was, and he was buried in a potter's field," said David Fiske, co-author the 2013 Northup book along with Union College professor Clifford Brown.

"There's no paper trail for him," Brown added.

Fiske said Northup's descendants also couldn't provide any documents or hard facts, so he has followed numerous threads while trying to track down where Northup may have been buried. He checked cemeteries in communities outside Saratoga and other upstate communities where Northup's wife and their children later lived, but came up empty. No death records have ever been found for him. Fiske, a former state librarian, points out that death records weren't kept in a systematic form in New York until the 1880's.

For Seligman, a museum curator at Skidmore College, host of this July's annual Solomon Northup Day, the mystery surrounding Northup's demise and resting place is part of the allure of being a historian.

"It's what keeps historians going," she said. "It's just a puzzle to be solved."
 
Source: aol.com

A New Solution That Stops Snoring And Lets You Sleep

A New Solution That Stops Snoring and Lets You Sleep
If you constantly feel exhausted, experience headaches for no obvious reason or have high blood pressure, it could be the result of snoring.

More than a simple annoyance, snoring is also the most common symptom of a potentially serious health problem—obstructive sleep apnea (OSA).

Over 18 million Americans snore, and it’s related to OSA. People who suffer from OSA repeatedly and unknowingly stop breathing during the night due to a complete or partial obstruction of their airway.  It occurs when the jaw, throat, and tongue muscles relax, blocking the airway used to breathe.  The resulting lack of oxygen can last for a minute or longer, and occur hundreds of times each night.

OSA has been linked to:
  • Acid reflux
  • Frequent nighttime urination
  • Memory loss
  • Stroke
  • Depression
  • Diabetes
  • Heart attack
People over 35 are at higher risk.

OSA can be expensive to diagnosis and treat — up to $5,000 — and those treatments can sometimes be quite painful. Plus, they're not always covered by insurance.

However, a recent study published by Eastern Virginia Medical School's Division of Sleep Medicine concluded that wearing a simple chinstrap while sleeping can be an effective treatment for OSA.

The chin strap, which is now available from a company called MySnoringSolution, works by supporting the lower jaw and tongue, preventing obstruction of the airway.  It’s made from a high-tech, lightweight, and super-comfortable material.  Thousands of people have used the MySnoringSolution chinstrap and reported better sleeping, and better health overall because of it.

An effective snoring solution for just $119

The “My Snoring Solution” Chinstrap is available exclusively from the company’s website, which is currently offering a limited time “2 for 1” offer.  The product also comes with an unconditional 90-day, money-back guarantee!

If you want to stop snoring once and for all, without expensive CPAPs or other intrusive devices, this may be the solution you’ve been waiting for.

Click here to learn more about this special $119 offer from MySnoringSolutions.

The statements and claims made about this product have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration (U.S.). This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent disease.

Source:  howlifeworks.com

Common Core Math


Thanks to the "brilliant" people who created this ridiculous curriculum our children have no idea what the heck there doing! I'd love to see them work out these math problems they way our kids have to! Why isn't the way we were not taught good anymore? How are we suppose to teach our children how to do word problems when they want the solutions to look so backwards! Example of math homework:



 Look at the old fashion way, and you will see the way that we learned math. Then check out the new way that they are teaching math. When you add up the cent row you will come up with the correct answer.

Go figure!