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“A mind once stretched by a new idea never regains its original dimensions.”
I’ve come to believe that each of us has a personal calling that’s as unique as a fingerprint – and that the best way to succeed is to discover what you love and then find a way to offer it to others in the form of service, working hard, and also allowing the energy of the universe to lead you. – Oprah Winfrey, 1954-present
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We had a tour of the outside of the house yesterday and decided to make a start on all the little annoying jobs that have been put off. One job we had intended to have completed by now involved getting a quote and we decided to ask a Spanish gent. The gentleman arrived and we had a jolly good chat for at least 30 minutes before he left promising an estimate. Four weeks later we still hadn’t received the estimate so we made the call only to be told that he was now too busy to do the work for us. Would he ever have bothered to ring us? I doubt it. Despite this experience and for the entente cordial we contacted a second Spanish company………………what will happen?
We had a lovely day yesterday with sun and lttle cloud but it was also a manageable 29 degrees. Let’s look at the week ahead……
| Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Saturday | Sunday |
 30° C | 22° C
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31° C | 23° C
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 30° C | 23° C
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30° C | 22° C
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 30° C | 23° C
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| Partly Cloudy | Partly Cloudy | Clear | Clear | Scattered Clouds |
Is the Western world losing it?
Johnny Concepcion is 42 years old. After divorcing his wife, she was found stabbed to death in their home, suffering at least 15 stab wounds. Concepcion reportedly confessed to his friends that he killed his wife, and he soon found himself the subject of a city-wide manhunt in New York City. On the run from authorities, Concepcion decided to kill himself by drinking a container of rat poison.
But that’s not where this story gets weird. The weird part is that after the rat poison destroyed his liver, Concepcion found himself at the top of a liver transplant list at a hospital in New York City. With over 16,000 other people waiting for a liver — many of whom undoubtedly are not murderers — somehow Concepcion was chosen to receive the next available liver from an organ donor. Full Story
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Push to medicate infants
We pass laws to keep child molesters away from schools and playgrounds… maybe soon we’ll have to do the same to keep the psychiatrists at bay.
These kooks are now out to diagnose newborn babies with schizophrenia based on some obtuse brain measurement — but let’s call this what it really is: A sad and desperate attempt to create more patients and sell more meds.
Researchers took MRI and ultrasound measurements of the brains of 26 newborn babies born to schizophrenic mothers, and found that boys had larger brains and larger lateral ventricles (those are the brain’s fluid-filled spaces).
Impressed? Me neither. Never mind the little fact that no brain measurement or test has ever been able to diagnose schizophrenia — these researchers are so excited their prescription pads are quivering.
“It allows us to start thinking about how we can identify kids at risk for schizophrenia very early and whether there are things that we can do very early on to lessen the risk,” lead study author John H. Gilmore, director of the UNC Schizophrenia Research Center, wrote in a press release.
Give you one guess what those “things” are. Hint: It rhymes with bugs. And it bugs the hell out of me, especially when you consider how badly flawed this study is.
First, there’s the little matter of the little girls. Their brains had no differences at all, according to the study in the American Journal of Psychiatry. The researchers tried to write that off by saying women have less severe and fewer cases of schizophrenia, but that’s a convenient copout. At the end of the day, just as many women ultimately come down with schizophrenia as men.
Then, there’s the ridiculous notion that a baby born to a schizophrenic is doomed to the disease. Simple math — too hard for a shrink, apparently — shows that 90 percent of children born to schizophrenics don’t come down with the condition.
That means big brains or not, nearly all of the kids in this study will never suffer from schizophrenia.
Finally, there’s the simple fact that ZERO kids in this study actually developed schizophrenia, because they’re all still babies.
Talk about jumping to conclusions!
But the researchers are threatening to correct that last oversight — they ominously wrote that “this is just the very beginning… we’re following these children through childhood.”
Poor kids. Better pass those laws soon!
W. C Douglas
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Music Stuff July 28th
1956, Gene Vincent made his first appearance on national TV in the US on The Perry Como Show. Vincent had released ‘Woman Love’ the previous month, but it was the B-side, ‘Be-Bop-A-Lula,’ that eventually made the top 10. The song had been purchased from a fellow hospital patient when Vincent was recovering from leg injuries.
1960, Cliff Richard and the Shadows were at No.1 on the UK singles chart with ‘Please Don’t Tease’
1966, James Brown appeared at The Apollo Theatre in New York City.
1966, Chris Farlowe and the Thunderbirds were at No.1 on the UK singles chart with the Mick Jagger and Keith Richards song ‘Out Of Time’.
1969, police in Moscow reported that thousands of public phone booths had been vandalised after thieves were stealing parts of the phones to convert their acoustic guitars to electric. A feature in a Russian youth magazine had shown details on how to do this.
1979, ‘I Don’t Like Mondays’ gave The Boomtown Rats their second UK No.1 single. Bob Geldof wrote the song after reading a report on the shooting spree of 16-year-old Brenda Ann Spencer, who fired at children playing in a school playground across the street from her home in San Diego, California. She killed two adults and injured eight children and one police officer. Spencer showed no remorse for her crime, and her full explanation for her actions was “I don’t like Mondays, this livens up the day.”
1990, Elton John started a five-week run at No.1 on the UK album chart with ‘Sleeping With The Past’, his fifth No.1 album.
1990, Partners In Kryme started a four-week run at No.1 with ‘Turtle Power’ the first rap chart topper in the UK. The one hit wonders track was featured in the film Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
1996, Marge Ganser from The Shangri-Las died of breast cancer. The group scored over ten hits during the 60′s including the 1964 US No.1 ‘Leader Of The Pack.’
2000, Five and Queen were at No.1 on the UK singles chart with ‘We Will Rock You’, the classic Queen song was only a B-side in 1977 and this new version featured boy band Five and Queen guitarist Brian May and drummer Roger Taylor.
2003, the wine Sir Cliff Richard made from his Algarve estate started a UK supermarket battle. Fans were asking all the stores when the wine would go on sale with the Tesco chain saying they would be the first, but the Waitrose shops had been selling the £8.49 a bottle red for the last week.
2004, American soul singer George Williams from The Tymes died of cancer. Had the 1975 UK No.1 single ‘Ms Grace’.
2008, Amy Winehouse was rushed to hospital after she started to have fits at her home in Camden North London. A spokesman said it appeared the singer had suffered a reaction to medication she was taking to help her off hard drugs.
Birthday Boys and Girls July 28th
1935, Simon Dee (Cyril Nicholas Henty-Dodd), British TV and radio presenter, hosted a twice-weekly chat show ‘Dee Time’ during the 1960’s, with musical guests including Jimi Hendrix and Lulu.
1938, George Cummings, steel guitar, Dr Hook
1945, Rick Wright, keyboards, vocals, Pink Floyd
1949, Peter Doyle, singer, The New Seekers
1949, Simon Kirke, drums, Free,
1949, Steve Took, percussion, T Rex
1962, Rachel Sweet, singer, (1978 UK No.35 single ‘B-A-B-Y’).
1965, Nick Banks, drums, Pulp,
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