News: Tejano Monument. FB. Nazis. Flying? Good Texting. Water. Math. Kangaroo Care. Economic Hitman. Fur. Eiffel Tower.

News: Some New, Some Old:

 

Texas officials unveil Tejano Monument at state Capitol

"Workers erect a monument at the Texas Capitol to Tejano settlers, Spanish and Mexican explorers who trailblazed what would become the Lone Star State." March 29, 2012.

Houston— "Officials gathered Thursday on the grounds of the Texas Capitol for the unveiling of the state’s Tejano Monument, 11 life-size bronze statues crafted by Laredo artist Armando Hinojosa commemorating the contributions of Texas’ Spanish and Mexican settlers.

Gov. Rick Perry, who attended the unveiling, said the monument "reflects a larger truth about the origins of Texas, about the contributions of so many Hispanic citizens to the creation of the state we love."

Q: Where does the word “Tejano” come from?

A: The way the people who have been involved in constructing the monument describe “Tejano” is that it is the direct translation of Texan into Spanish. It is the most popular term of reference by Mexican people in Texas who have long-lasting ties to the land. It’s basically a regional self-reference by people who see themselves as people of the soil, descendants of settlers in this area in the 16, 17, 1800s.

Q: What does it mean to be “Tejano” as opposed to Mexican American?

A: “Tejano” is a regional variant of Mexican American or Mexicano, akin to Californiano and Nuevo Mexicano." More at: http://www.latimes.com/news/nation/nationnow/la-na-nn-tejano-monument20120329,0,1782310.story

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Facebook's Death Spiral: It's Inevitable (and Already Starting)

"As Facebook heads toward the public markets, it is already skating on thin ice because of privacy issues. This week, the headlines were about employers asking for job applicants' Facebook passwords. Earlier this year, the concern of the moment was Google's privacy statement changes. If Facebook isn't careful, it could overreach privacy boundaries and alienate customers.
At the same time, the company needs to increase revenue, and the way to do that is by using consumer information to target ads to its users. That business model relies on loyal Facebook users openly sharing private information. They have to trust the company to protect that data. Too many ads -- or worse, overly personal ads -- and Facebook will alienate its loyal users and handicap its revenue stream.
Apathy, Defections Have Already Begun
First your uncle asks to be your friend, then your mom, next thing you know Grandma has a Facebook page and Facebook has become "so 2010." Such is the life cycle of every "cool" thing -- Zubaz, Crocs, and MySpace. They were cool for a while, but when everyone adopted them, they weren't so cool anymore." More at: http://www.dailyfinance.com/2012/03/30/facebooks-death-spiral-its-inevitable-and-already-starting/

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Headstone of Hitlers' Parents' Grave Removed

"The tombstone marking the grave of Adolf Hitler's parents, a place of pilgrimage for neo-Nazis, has been removed from an upper Austrian village cemetery at the request of a descendant, and the grave is ready for a new burial, officials said Friday. Leonding itself first assumed cult status for his followers after Hitler visited his parents' grave and the nearby family house following the 1938 annexation of Austria by Nazi Germany.

Anti-extremist groups say neo-Nazis, sometimes coming in groups, placed flowers and Nazi symbols on the grave.  "A lot of flowers and wreaths were deposited there from people who clearly were admirers," he said. "It had to do with the son and not the parents."  Brunner, the mayor, said he was "happy with the decision," to remove the tombstone and Eiter said most Leonding residents also supported it." From: http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/headstone-hitlers-parents-grave-removed-16035906

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Safety Talk!

"I was on a Thomson flight last week, and the announcement came we are now going to do the safety feature...yeah we all know how boring these can be, but I do always pay attention....well the IFE screens dropped down and on came this video.... Take a look and Alice & Co and see what you think."

"Well, what a breath of fresh air...this certainly captured the passengers attention, I have never seen so many people glued to a safety video and smiling and laughing...well done Thomson (TUI) you have certainly got this one right"

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Park rangers give techno tips to save your life

"Rangers at Utah's Zion National Park say that technology has proven a godsend for some visitors who've gotten into trouble. No, we're not talking GPS systems, but rather, the simple use of cellular telephones. Here's an example:
A Virginia man tried descending a steep in darkness the man stepped off the trail to urinate. He lost his balance and fell onto the switchback below, breaking his leg. Unable to stand, he crawled and reached as high as possible for cell signal to send two brief text messages to his friends who called rangers for help.
This season alone, Zion's rangers have dealt with several hiking and canyoneering incidents with the aid of text messaging. These include canyoneering parties have gotten ropes stuck, were unable to find rappel anchors, and who were under-prepared for the route and conditions.

Why is text messaging some helpful? Voice contact from the canyon floors is often impossible due to the nature of the terrain and noise of flowing water. Though cell service is quite limited to non-existent in the park's terrain of deep, narrow canyons, texting has worked when calls couldn't. Text messaging has helped rangers respond quicker, and often spare themselves unnecessary danger."  From: http://digitalrv.rvtravel.com/2011/07/park-rangers-give-techno-tips-to-save.html

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 Drinking Water Proven to Help Weight Loss

 

A new study has found that obese dieters who drank two cups of water before each meal lost 5 pounds more after three months. A year later, they also kept more of the weight off.

The dieting technique is well known, but this study may be the first hard evidence that increasing your water intake is a useful weight-loss strategy.

According to Discovery News:

“The reason could be physical. According to some research, water consumption might spark the body to produce more heat, boosting metabolism and burning more calories. Or, drinking more water might simply make people less likely to drink a lot of high-calorie sugar-filled beverages.”    From: http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2010/09/18/drinking-water-proven-to-help-weight-loss.aspx

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Even this monkey knows: Water is life.

"Life is water. There is no way around it. Drinkable water for Earthlings will be a much bigger problem than the high price of oil you face today.

The cause of your water shortages is simple. There are over six billion water-thirsty humans on planet Earth. Earthlings are using water faster than the Earth's water reservoirs can replenish the supplies. Water tables are falling on every continent as demand for water grows faster due to population growth. Overpumping of water is now widespread in China, India and United States. These three Earthly countries together make nearly half of the world’s grain harvest." Read more about water. 

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Beauty of Mathematics

Jake of http://jatexas.com/ shared this, I really like it, I hope you do too.

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'Kangaroo' Alternative to Incubators for Preemies.

A mother in the Philippines used the warmth of her body to nurture her prematurely born daughter.

"Kangaroo care has been widely studied. A trial in a Bogota hospital of 746 low birth weight babies randomly assigned to either kangaroo or conventional incubator care found that the kangaroo babies had shorter hospital stays, better growth of head circumference and fewer severe infections ...   Sometimes, the best way to progress isn’t to advance — to step up with more money, more technology, more modernity.  It’s to retreat.

When a mother holds her newborn against her bare skin:

• The baby's temperature is regulated by the close contact -- in fact, a woman's breasts will change in temperature depending on whether the baby needs more or less warmth.
• The mother's breathing and heartbeat helps the baby's heart and respiratory rates to stabilize.
• The mother produces more milk and the baby breastfeeds earlier, gaining more weight.
• Emotional bonding is encouraged.

Babies who receive kangaroo care also show:

• Gains in sleep time
• Decreased crying
• More successful breastfeeding
• Improved oxygen saturation levels
• More regular breathing patterns
• More rapid weight gain
• Earlier hospital discharge

A separate study also revealed that when mothers initiated skin-to-skin contact with their newborns 15 to 20 minutes after birth, the infants slept longer and more peacefully, using positions that indicated less stress.  After the contact ended, the effects of the skin-to-skin contact seemed to continue even four hours later, as the babies displayed less stressful body movements after spending several hours in the nursery.

The researchers suggested that the most dangerous and stressful events that occur during the human life cycle take place during the transition from the womb to the real world, therefore mothers who made a point of giving their infants skin-to-skin contact would help their newborn adjust to their new unfamiliar surroundings.   Proof that more money and more technology isn’t always the answer.

Aspects of kangaroo care are now in use even in wealthy countries — most hospitals in the United States, for example, have adopted some kangaroo care practices. But its real impact has been felt in poor countries, where it has saved countless preemies’ lives and helped others to survive with fewer problems." From:  http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/12/13/the-human-incubator/?nl=todaysheadlines&emc=ab1. and:http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2010/12/30/kangaroo-alternative-to-dangerous-incubators-for-preemies.aspx

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Economic Hitman

"John Perkins is a former Economic Hitman and he has written a book called 'Confessions of an Economic Hitman'. John Perkins talks about the role Economic Hitmen have in our society."  A look into how corrupt our world is.

Part 2 of 3:

Part 3 of 3: 

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Speaking of Hitmen, see this video:  Warning graphic!

It doesn't matter where the fur comes from, the animals are still cruelly treated.  Who would want a dead animal around their neck, anyway?

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On This Day:      Eiffel Tower opens, Mar 31, 1889:

"On March 31, 1889, the Eiffel Tower is dedicated in Paris in a ceremony presided over by Gustave Eiffel, the tower's designer, and attended by French Prime Minister Pierre Tirard, a handful of other dignitaries, and 200 construction workers.

In 1889, to honor of the centenary of the French Revolution, the French government planned an international exposition and announced a design competition for a monument to be built on the Champ-de-Mars in central Paris. Out of more than 100 designs submitted, the Centennial Committee chose Eiffel's plan of an open-lattice wrought-iron tower that would reach almost 1,000 feet above Paris and be the world's tallest man-made structure. Eiffel, a noted bridge builder, was a master of metal construction and designed the framework of the Statue of Liberty that had recently been erected in New York Harbor.

The Eiffel Tower is 984 feet tall and consists of an iron framework supported on four masonry piers, from which rise four columns that unite to form a single vertical tower. Platforms, each with an observation deck, are at three levels. Elevators ascend the piers on a curve, and Eiffel contracted the Otis Elevator Company of the United States to design the tower's famous glass-cage elevators.

The Eiffel Tower remained the world's tallest man-made structure until the completion of the Chrysler Building in New York in 1930. Incredibly, the Eiffel Tower was almost demolished when the International Exposition's 20-year lease on the land expired in 1909, but its value as an antenna for radio transmission saved it. It remains largely unchanged today and is one of the world's premier tourist attractions."

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Yesterday:

It was supposed to rain, but it didn't, but it sure felt like it wanted to. Then I realized that I was wearing a T-shirt containing polyester, and I always feel clammy wearing made-made fabrics. I try to find clothes that are 100% cotton.

Ray and I put up the back trim on the cargo trailer. It was time-consuming as we were careful to line up the screws with the previous holes in the rubber roof and metal of the siding.

Ray was having trouble with a brake on his car, and wanted it fixed before the weekend.  When he finally found someone to do it, we rolled up the tools, and I followed him over there. It was fixed in two hours. This mechanic also works on lawn mowers, so we dropped mine off there, too.  But he can't start on it until Monday.