March 19, 2012
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Links here are good only for the week of March 19. After that... is anybody's guess.
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For some reason, "Sweet Sixteen" and college
basketball just do not seem to go together. But, maybe that's just us.
Nonetheless, that's where they are.
Meanwhile, March is preparing early to go out like a lamb. If this is
global warming... bring it on!
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In January, Hershel wrote about "Things to Come." On his list was the
coming scarcity of printed books. Last week, the publishers of
Encyclopedia Britannica announced that they have ceased the print edition
of the famous encyclopedia. Soon, Britannica will exist only on the
Internet. When the current stock runs out, they start saving trees.
At 1,400 bucks a set, we are amazed that it has lasted this long. But
Hershel pointed the way earlier this year. You can read his stories about
"Things to Come"
here.
Last week's Trivia Teaser:
1. First, our current events question: Last week the Obama Administration
awarded appliance-maker Philips $10 million for devising an affordable
alternative to today's 60-watt incandescent bulb. The standard
bulb sells today for about $1. The new, Philips alternative sells for how
much?
Hint: "The Department of Energy (DOE) created its so-called L-Prize to
encourage manufacturers to come up with energy-efficient LED
(light-emitting diode) alternatives to incandescent bulbs. To be deemed
the winner, a bulb had to be affordable."
So, according to the DOE, just what is "affordable"?
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30 cents
50 cents
$1
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$5
$50
$200
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$50 is affordable.... Ten million bucks says so.
2. We seldom borrow from any source for our trivia. But last week, the
"O'Reilly Factor" had a great question on Bill's "Great American News
Quiz." We enhanced the question slightly.
Richard Nixon announced his resignation from politics to the press ("You
don't have Nixon to kick around any more.") after losing what
election?
A. 1948 House seat
B. 1950 Senate seat
C. 1960 presidency
D. 1962 gubernatorial race
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E. 1968 presidency
F. 1972 presidency
G. 1974 Miss American pageant
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Take heart: both quiz kids got it wrong:
3. In our lead story... "it's not nice to fool mother nature." Where
have we heard that before? Oh yeah, a TV commercial... for what product?
Chiffon
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Three more coming up, below.
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BBHQ Shorts:
Quick Takes on Items in the News:
03/12: Dissing Tebow
02/21: The most glaring double standard in American life
02/09: ObamaCare - Oh, NOW you tell me!
Glance at the BBHQ Shorts
here.
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Here is some food for thought:
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People everywhere confuse what they read in newspapers with news.
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-- A. J. Liebling
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Now, more than ever before.
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The BBHQ "Monday Morning Upper" is now a regular feature of our
newsletter. But there's a twist. In most cases it will be available
ONLY on Monday. (After all, it's a Monday upper, not a mid-week
upper.)
You don't have to be a fan of country music to love Charlie Daniel's
"Devil Went Down to Georgia." Somebody worked up a very creative and
cute, animated video based on the song. We hope it will bring a smile to
your face on Monday.
Click the graphic for your Monday Morning Upper:
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This Week with the Chicowitz
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This week Hershel explains the coming scarcity of another wonderful
summer event:
Rather than attempting to swallow the expense, the Barclays have decided
to close all of their swimming pools and hot tubs. If their guests are
looking to cool off, they'll just have to turn down the thermostat in
their room and remember the good old days. The swimming pool goes the way
of the washboard, though for an entirely different reason.
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You can read the entire essay here.
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Here are three questions from the BBHQ Trivia Cloud:
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There
are no prizes here... it's all just for fun.
If the submit button does not work for you, you can take the quiz online
here.
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Members can play all of our trivia games in
The BBHQ Trivia Library.
The next
BBHQ Trivia Contest
cranks up Monday, April 2, at 6 p.m., eastern.
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Rebuilding the BBHQ Essay Collection
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We have hundreds of original essays written by our Boomer-in-Charge,
Hershel Chicowitz. We are busy adding multi-media content to these essays
and cleaning them up to make use of current Internet capabilities. It's
going to take a while to convert them all. As we progress, we'll feature
some of ones we have upgraded.
This week we feature another story in our "Teach, Preach, and Nag"
series.
Of Values and Legacies
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Miss Siley, my wise, old, former high school Spanish teacher lectured me
that people's moral values are set by the time they reach age 13. What
you have then, you will live with for the rest of your life.
It will take a quarter of a century to cleanse the ugly stain that
bled throughout our society in the last decade.
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Click here
to read this story.
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If you are not already a member, please consider joining us. Membership
at BBHQ provides you with access to lyrics to 750 boomer-era songs, a BBHQ
Time Capsule Report, access to hundreds of boomer stories... and lots
more. Come on... it's 9 bucks a year.
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The BBHQ Joke of the Week
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We call this one "On Being 63"
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After being retired for a couple of years and completing all the jobs
my wife had lined up for me, I began to feel somewhat useless and
decided to enroll in a couple of courses at the local adult-education
school. I noted, upon registration, that there was no tuition fee for
a person over 60.
As I handed my tediously-filled-out papers to the clerk, I announced,
"I'm 63." Then, pulling out my wallet, I asked if she wanted to see
my driver's license.
She replied, "No, that's OK."
A little surprised, I asked, "Oh, do I look honest?"
"No," she answered. "You look 63."
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Ouch!
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Brush Up Your Webster - featuring Madam Red Dot
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Newsletter subscriber Sandy noted that many people pump or comment on a
humorous story by saying it is "too funny."
Too funny for what?
That's another phrase that belongs in the vocabulary cemetery.
As I have said before, words are inexpensive. But they are cheap only
when you treat them as such.
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So... brush up your Webster!
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Have a great week. We'll share the fun again next Monday.
- the Boomer Crew at BBHQ
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