VACATION!

Well, I am now on vacation. I had hoped to be in Virginia meeting my new nephew, but finances dictated otherwise. I suppose it is a good thing though. I have had a terrible headache for the past few days and on Sunday morning, THE ATTACK OF THE GALLBLADDER (insert scary music here) happened, and I was not in shape to get out of bed. 

Today though mom, T and I are gonna go see the new Harry Potter movie. I am feeling much better, and need to get out and DO something. 

 I'll let you know how the movie was.....

cool picture!

I'm sure R has seen this many times, but us earthbound folks find this stuff fascinating!!! 

Robert Roy Britt
Editorial Director
LiveScience.com – Tue Jun 30, 9:35 am ET

The breaking of the sound barrier is not just an audible phenomenon. As a new picture from the U.S. military shows, Mach 1 can be quite visual.

This widely circulated new photo shows a Air Force F-22 Raptoraircraft participating in an exercise in the Gulf of Alaska June 22, 2009 as it executes a supersonic flyby over the flight deck of the aircraft carrier USS John C. Stennis.

The visual phenomenon, which sometimes but not always accompanies the breaking of the sound barrier, has also been seen with nuclear blasts and just after space shuttles launches, too. A vapor cone was photographed as the Apollo 11 moon-landing missionrocketed skyward in 1969.

The phenomenon is not well studied. Scientists refer to it as a vapor cone, shock collar, or shock egg, and it's thought to be created by what's called a Prandtl-Glauert singularity.

Here's what scientists think happens:

A layer of water droplets gets trapped between two high-pressure surfaces of air. In humid conditions, condensation can gather in the trough between two crests of the sound waves produced by the jet. This effect does not necessarily coincide with the breaking of the sound barrier, although it can. 

Here we go.......WTF???

RI closer to changing state name over slavery

By RAY HENRY, Associated Press Writer – Thu Jun 25, 9:53 pm ET

PROVIDENCE, R.I. – The country's smallest state has the longest official name: "State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations."
A push to drop "Providence Plantations" from that name advanced farther than ever on Thursday when House lawmakers voted 70-3 to let residents decide whether their home should simply be called the "State of Rhode Island." It's an encouraging sign for those who believe the formal name conjures up images of slavery, while opponents argue it's an unnecessary rewriting of history that ignores Rhode Island's tradition of religious liberty and tolerance.
The bill permitting a statewide referendum on the issue next year now heads to the state Senate.
"It's high time for us to recognize that slavery happened on plantations in Rhode Island and decide that we don't want that chapter of our history to be a proud part of our name," said Rep. Joseph Almeida, an African-American lawmaker who sponsored the bill.

Banished from the Massachusetts Bay Colony for his unorthodox religious views, minister Roger Williams set out in 1636 and settled at the northern tip of Narragansett Bay, which he called Providence Plantations. Williams founded the first Baptist church in America and became famous for embracing the separation of church and state, a legal principle enshrined in the Bill of Rights a century later.
Other settlers made their homes in modern-day Portsmouth and Newport on Aquidneck Island, then known as the Isle of Rhodes.
In 1663, English King Charles II granted a royal charter joining all the settlements into a single colony called "The Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations." The name stuck. Rhode Island used that royal charter as its governing document until 1843.
Opponents of the name charge argue that "plantations" was used at the time to describe any farming settlements, regardless of slavery.
Rhode Island merchants did, however, make their fortunes off the slave trade. Slaves helped construct Brown University in Providence, and a prominent slave trader paid half the cost of its first library.
Still, Stanley Lemons, a professor emeritus of history at Rhode Island College, said changing the state's name ignores the accomplishments of Williams, whose government passed laws trying to prevent the permanent servitude of whites, blacks and American Indians.
"There are different meanings for this word," Lemons said. "To try to impose their experience on everyone else wipes out Roger Williams."

cactus flower

The huge cactus in front of the hose was covered with what must have been a hundred blossoms this year! I unfortunately, did not get a photo of the whole thing in bloom, as I have misplaced my camera along with one of the books D gave me for Christmas( the holiday, not the dog) I am of the belief that both items may have been inadvertently been added to our local land fill. :-E. Long story short, I drove the Ford to work one day, transferring afore mentioned items in an HEB grocery bag. I have not seen the camera or book since daddy and I went to the dump last. Yes, I have kicked myself several times. Please, feel free to add to my misery by poking fun! :-b

British WWI veteran becomes world's oldest man

LONDON (Reuters Life!) – British World War One veteran Henry Allingham is the world's oldest man at 113 following the death of the previous holder of the title, Japan's Tomoji Tanabe, Guinness World Records said on Friday.
"Henry Allingham is now officially the oldest man in the world," said a spokeswoman for the organization widely recognized as the authority on record-breakers.
Tanabe, who ate mostly vegetables and believed the key to his longevity was not drinking alcohol, died on Friday aged 113 and had held the record for the oldest living male since January, 2007.
Allingham was born in London on June 6, 1896, and took the British title on January 19, 2007 aged 110 years 227 days, Guinness World Records said in a statement.
"We're pleased to see an English man take the world record -- the last time someone from England held the title was Frederick Butterfield, who died on March 9, 1974, aged 110," said Craig Glenday, Editor-in-Chief of Guinness World Records.
Allingham is one of only two surviving World War One veterans in the United Kingdom and the last surviving founder member of the Royal Air Force, according to British media.
His friend and chaperone, Dennis Goodwin, said: "It's staggering. He is philosophical. He will take it in his stride, like he does everything else."
Allingham's life has spanned three centuries and six monarchs, starting with Queen Victoria. He has five grandchildren, 12 great-grandchildren, 14 great-great grandchildren and one great-great-great grandchild.
Guinness World Records said the oldest living person is American Gertrude Baines, 115, who was born on April 6, 1894.
(Reporting by Mike Collett-White; Editing by Steve Addison)

cougar attack!

A cougar is seen at a zoo. Using nothing but her quick wit and bare hands, a Canadian mother fought off a cougar that had pinned down her three-year old daughter in a forest north of Vancouver, police said Wednesday. (AFP/File/Miguel Alvarez)

another for the "WTF???" file

A Very Costly Kiss: Senior Denied Diploma
by Mike Krumboltz

For teens, there is no greater joy than graduating high school. Shaking off the shackles of education and claiming that hard-fought diploma is truly an epic day. Unfortunately, for several students at Bonny Eagle High School in Maine, their natural exuberance has led to some surprisingly serious problems.

On Friday night, when the senior class was waiting to graduate, excitement began to grow. Students bounced a large inflatable rubber duck. The noise level rose. And then came "the kiss." When called, one student walked on stage to receive his diploma and blew a kiss to his family. The school administrator, clearly not the sentimental sort, sent the student back to his seat ... sans diploma.

The seemingly harsh punishment has sent the Web all aflutter. Searches on "student denied diploma" and "bonny eagle high school" are both through the roof. Additionally, blogs and news papers are chiming in with opinions on whether or not the administration overreacted. The student's mother has given interviews and is quite upset at her son's treatment. According to an article from Fox News the outraged mother said, "A bow, a kiss to your mom is not misbehavior."

But the administrators feel they were just enforcing the rules that students agreed to. At a meeting following the debacle, school superintendent Suzanne Lukas said that "if a student doesn't adhere to the expectations, then the consequences are clearly spelled out."

This isn't the first time that rambunctious (dare we say "fun"?) behavior affected a graduation ceremony at Bonny Eagle. "Four years ago we had some issues with silly string and beach balls," said Lukas.