Thursday, free shipping from as many as 700 online merchants.
Among the companies on board: Aeropostale, American Eagle Outfitters, Apple Store, Aerie, Amazon, Borders, Kmart, JC Penney, Zappos, Toys R Us, Wolf Camera, Uniden, Under Armour, UGG, Dell, Old Navy, Target, and J. Crew.
Consumer Reports Money & Shopping Blog has more details.
Those bags with sand and candles that are a New Mexico Christmas Eve tradition; the correct name for them is farolitos.
Often farolitos are called luminarias. Lumanarias traditionally were actually small bonfires.
Farolitos (literally “little lanterns”) replaced lumanarias (actual meaning is altar lamps) as towns became more densely populated. The purpose of both was to light the path to midnight mass.
Farolitos are the coolest Christmas decoration ever, especially when whole neighborhoods line their sidewalks, driveways and even roof-lines with them.
Buy some sand (for ballast), some votive candles and some lunch bags and bring a beautiful New Mexico tradition to your neighborhood this year. Get your neighbors to join you. You could become famous if it’s never been done in your area. And the kids love it.
[This one is for you, Anthony.]
How about the Olive Garden’s innocuous-sounding Spaghetti with Meatballs…well, it’s got roughly the same calories and saturated fat as three Quarter-Pounders. Macaroni Grill’s dish is twice as bad — six Quarter-Pounders. So clearly, why not just pull through your local drive-through and order the family, I dunno, a couple of dozen Quarter-Pounder[s] and eat those instead?
Info from the Center for Science in the Public Interest as reported at the mental_floss Blog.
The year 2009 is now coming to a close, and it’s time to take a look back over the past 12 months through photographs. Historic elections were held in Iran, India and the United States, some wars wound down while others escalated, China turned 60, and the Berlin Wall was remembered 20 years after it came down. Each photo tells its own tale, weaving together into the larger story of 2009. This is a multi-entry story, 120 photographs over three days. Please see also part 1 and part 2. (40 photos total)
FAIL Blog is a great place to go to waste time and be amused.
But go here too and see some Failblog Pics of the Decade. The first one (the mommy one) is priceless. And the school bus pic just below that gives a whole new meaning to the little bus. And the text message.
The last three of the 16 are mildly NSFW.
If you like the graphics Google has on holidays and others commemorations, you’ll enjoy Doodlewatch.
Elaine at Five Acres with a View had the link.
“It’s funny that ‘wake up and smell the coffee’ is a negative thing because how great to wake up and there’s already coffee?”
Dan
First posted this date in 2006:
If you’d like to become rich, NewMexiKen suggests you invent the self-cleaning refrigerator. I don’t mean the self-defrosting refrigerator, although lord knows that was a breakthrough right up there with Velcro. No, I mean self-cleaning: throws out the time-dated food, cleans up the nasty spills underneath the produce drawers, refreshes the ice bin (some of those cubes may be old enough for geologists to take core samples).
As you might gather I just cleaned out my refrigerator. Just a cursory wipe out and jettison of the older stuff. It doesn’t really need a super cleaning. Hell, I’ve only lived here 7-1/2 years.
There was some strange stuff in there though, stuck in the back. A loose egg. I wonder where that came from. Better yet, I wonder when that came from. There were some spills of food that really didn’t look familiar. Must have been from the previous owners.
Why, you say, did I get the impulse to clean my refrigerator early on Saturday morning? (Go ahead, say it.) It was either that or address these damn Christmas cards.
Sad commentary: NewMexiKen’s two produce drawers contain a total of one-half lime. Of course, one-half lime is enough to wet several Margarita glass rims. 🙂
Born on this date were
… Jane Austen (1775-1817). Best known for her novels about young women yearning to get married, she was never married.
… George Santayana (1863-1952). “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”
… Margaret Mead (1901-1978). “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.”
Arthur C. Clarke (1917-2008). Clarke’s laws:
Broadcast journalist Lesley Stahl is 68.
TV producer Steven Bocho is 66.
Billy Gibbons of ZZ Top is 60.
Benjamin Bratt is 46.
It was on this date in 1773 that the Boston Tea Party took place. Fortunately for the future of America, the populace at that time was not encumbered with Christmas shopping or sports on TV and could pay attention to public affairs.
In 1770, the British Parliament ended the Townshend Duties — taxes on the sale of lead, glass, paper, paints and tea — ended them for all but tea. The tax on British tea and a boycott of it in many of the colonies continued.
Tea was a hot commodity in the colonies, however, and considerable foreign tea was smuggled into America to avoid the tax. Some four-fifths of the tea consumed in America was brought in by smugglers.
In 1773 Parliament, in an effort to both prevent the bankruptcy of the East India Company and raise tax revenue, reduced the tea tax but gave the company a monopoly in the American tea business. The price of tea would be lower than smugglers could match, Americans would buy East India tea, the company would revive, and the tax, though lower, would be paid on vastly more tea. Win-win.
Continue reading The Real Tea Party
While traversing America’s highways, it’s interesting to watch the signs when you leave one U.S. state and enter another. Some states offer billboards and welcome stations, making a huge production out of the fact that you’re now within their sacred borders. Others display only a tiny “state line” sign that you might miss if you’re not paying attention. Here are ten U.S. state pairs that may or may not lie next to one another. Can you identify whether or not these states share a common border?
Costco is selling two Super Bowl Upper Level End Zone Tickets including three nights at the JW Marriott and more.
All for just $5,999.99.
Gotta love that extra 99 cents.
Tim Conway is 76 today, Dave Clark of the Dave Clark Five 67, and Don Johnson 60.
Nero, the fifth and final Roman Emperor of the Julian-Claudian dynasty, was born on this date in 37. He was Emperor from 54-68. Nero was descended from Mark Antony and Octavia Minor on both sides of his family. And one of his great great grandfathers was Augustus (1st Emperor), Octavia’s brother.
Nero killed his mother. She, Agrippina, probably had it coming. She was the sister of Caligula (3rd Emperor), wife of Claudius (4th Emperor and her uncle) and mother of Nero (5th Emperor). The mother probably poisoned Claudius, so that her son, Nero, could become Emperor at age 17. (Nero was the adopted son of Claudius, as well as his great nephew.) Agrippina herself was killed (beaten to death by an assasin) in 59. What goes around, comes around.
The verdict on whether Nero set fire to Rome as a large urban renewal project is unclear. He did organize vast relief efforts using his own funds. But he also blamed the Christians for the fire when the populace began to suspect him. Nero did not fiddle while Rome burned. There were no violins (although he did play the lyre).
Nero killed himself at age 30. His inattention to important political matters, his self-indulgence and his gene pool had caught up with him.
The year 2009 is now coming to a close, and it’s time to take a look back over the past 12 months through photographs. Historic elections were held in Iran, India and the United States, some wars wound down while others escalated, China turned 60, and the Berlin Wall was remembered 20 years after it came down. Each photo tells its own tale, weaving together into the larger story of 2009. This is a multi-entry story, 120 photographs over three days. Please watch for part 3 tomorrow and have a look back at part 1 from yesterday. (40 photos total)
“As the health care debate continues, many Democrats are coming to the conclusion that Al Gore just might have made a worse choice for his running mate than John McCain.”
Janice Hough, Palo Alto, Calif.
… died of lung cancer on this date in 1966. He was 65.
The Walt Disney Family Museum formerly provided in-depth background.
Was Walt frozen?
No researcher has discovered where this myth began, but it certainly is widespread. Quite the opposite, Walt’s daughter Diane recalls that her father spoke frequently about his desire to be cremated — and in fact he was. When Disney archivist Robert Tieman researched the issue, he discovered that the first attempts at freezing a person weren’t even discussed until after Walt’s death. In any case, the people who knew Walt and loved him never heard him utter a word about trying it out himself. What’s more, his family lingered around him for some time after his death. No white-smocked physicians rushed his body off to some kind of freezing chamber as would undoubtedly have been the case if he was being preserved.
… was ratified by Virginia on this date in 1791, and thereby became part of the Constitution of the United States as its first ten amendments.
Originally 12 amendments were proposed to the legislatures of the 14 states by the First Congress. Numbers three through twelve were ratified, beginning with New Jersey in November 1789, and culminating with Virginia, the eleventh (i.e., three-quarters of the states), on this date in 1791. (The amendments were ultimately ratified by the remaining three legislatures of Massachusetts, March 2, 1939; Georgia, March 18, 1939; and Connecticut, April 19, 1939.)
The draft first amendment concerned the numbers of constituents for each representative. It has never been ratified. The draft second amendment was ratified by the required number of states in 1992. It took effect as Amendment XXVII (”No law, varying the compensation for the services of the Senators and Representatives, shall take effect, until an election of Representatives shall have intervened.”)
The image is of the actual document with the 12 proposed amendments. Click image for larger version.
The Bill of Rights
Amendment I
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
Amendment II
A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.
Amendment III
No Soldier shall, in time of peace be quartered in any house, without the consent of the Owner, nor in time of war, but in a manner to be prescribed by law.
Amendment IV
The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.
Amendment V
No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the Militia, when in actual service in time of War or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offence to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.
Amendment VI
In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the Assistance of Counsel for his defence.
Amendment VII
In suits at common law, where the value in controversy shall exceed twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be preserved, and no fact tried by a jury, shall be otherwise reexamined in any Court of the United States, than according to the rules of the common law.
Amendment VIII
Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.
Amendment IX
The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.
Amendment X
The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.
Is this a great country, or what?
“If all 45,000 of the people cited by that famous Harvard study who will die for lack of a decent health-care system dropped dead on his f**king lawn tomorrow morning, Joseph Lieberman would not CARE.
“He would step over their bodies to get to a fundraiser. ”
The year 2009 is now coming to a close, and it’s time to take a look back over the past 12 months through photographs. Historic elections were held in Iran, India and the United States, some wars wound down while others escalated, China turned 60, and the Berlin Wall was remembered 20 years after it came down. Each photo tells its own tale, weaving together into the larger story of 2009. This is a multi-entry story, 120 photographs over three days. Please watch for part 2 and part 3 tomorrow and the next day. (40 photos total)
Incredible, as you would expect.
In the study, researchers analyzed information from 18 studies on coffee and diabetes and another 13 studies that included data on decaffeinated coffee and tea drinking and diabetes. Overall, the studies involved nearly a million participants.
The results showed that people who drink more coffee, whether it’s regular or decaffeinated, or tea appear to have a lower risk of developing type 2 diabetes.
When the information from the individual studies was combined, researchers found each additional cup of coffee drunk per day was associated with a 7% lower risk of diabetes. People who drank three to four cups per day had about a 25% lower risk than those who drank two or fewer cups per day.
Coffee is an acquired taste that many do not wish to acquire, but tea comes in all kinds of types and flavors. No excuse.