One thing I’ll say for the greater Washington, D.C., area is that you never know what’s going to happen next.
Here’s a good example. The story is from the NBC 4 television station’s website:
>>It’s one thing to see dogs, cats and squirrels around neighborhoods.
But imagine the surprise when Loudoun County homeowners spotted zebras roaming their streets.
That’s exactly what happened Monday in Leesburg near Route 15.
One woman snapped pictures of the exotic animals in front of her yard. Investigators say the animals escaped from the Leesburg Animal Park Petting Zoo nearby.
>>SONOMA COUNTY (CBS SF) — A Sacramento man apparently made himself at home for the holidays Sunday in a Sonoma County residence, a county sheriff’s sergeant said.
Jonathon Humphrey, 20, is suspected of burglarizing the Fremont Diner in Sonoma Valley and a residence less than two blocks away on South Central Avenue, Sgt. Dave Thompson said.
Sheriff’s deputies responded around 3:45 p.m. to an alarm at the diner at 2698 Fremont Drive southeast of Sonoma, Thompson said.
The suspect forced the door open and took cash, Thompson said.
>>Some demonstrators are planning to occupy retailers on Black Friday to protest “the business that are in the pockets of Wall Street.”
Organizers are encouraging consumers to either occupy or boycott retailers that are publicly traded, according to the Stop Black Friday website.
The goal of the movement is to impact the profits of major corporations this holiday season.
“The idea is simple, hit the corporations that corrupt and control American politics where it hurts, their profits, ” states the Occupy Black Friday Facebook page.
As I get older, I keep trying to remember as much as I can, but sometimes I go to another room and forget why I went there in the first place. Turns out I’m not alone in that experience.
>>We’ve all experienced it: The frustration of entering a room and forgetting what we were going to do. Or get. Or find.
New research from University of Notre Dame Psychology Professor Gabriel Radvansky suggests that passing through doorways is the cause of these memory lapses.
“Entering or exiting through a doorway serves as an ‘event boundary’ in the mind, which separates episodes of activity and files them away,” Radvansky explains.
“Recalling the decision or activity that was made in a different room is difficult because it has been compartmentalized.”
>>COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — The sprawling pile of hundreds of thousands of tires isn’t easy to spot from the ground, sitting in a rural South Carolina clearing accessible by only a circuitous dirt path that winds through thick patches of trees. No one knows how all those tires got there, or when.
But, Calhoun County Council Chairman David Summers says of this giant rubber menace, “You can see it from space.”
Authorities have charged one person in connection with the mess of roughly 250,000 tires, which covers more than 50 acres on satellite images. And now a Florida company is helping haul it all away.
Litter control officer Boyce Till said he contacted the local sheriff and state health department, which is investigating who had been dumping the tires. But the worst possible penalty that could be imposed locally? A single $475 ticket for littering.
For many people, Thanksgiving is the kick-off for the Christmas/Holiday Season, but I like to enjoy it for its own personality. After all, before we receive, it’s good to appreciate what we already have, seems to me!
This weekend, I thought I’d share some videos that you might enjoy, so here’s the first, which is the beginning sequence from the Peanuts Thanksgiving animated special:
>>Students, tests and cash were the perfect variables to fatten high school math teacher Jeff Spires’ wallet, officials said, but administrators pulled the plug on him after several students brought his alleged pay-for-grades scheme to their attention.
Spires, who taught at Charlotte County High School in Charlotte County, Fla., was suspended without pay on Oct. 14 and resigned two weeks later.
He had been a teacher in the district since 2002 and told school officials he changed grades for money because he was having financial trouble amid a bankruptcy, arrests and jail time.
“Maybe I see the kids are as desperate as I am,” he told the school’s investigators.
It seems that we’re living longer these days because we’re eating better foods and exercising more than we had been. Does that mean that we are going to last longer?
“So many Americans are living past 85 that it may push the designation of ‘oldest of the old’ from 85-plus to 90 and older, according to a Census Bureau report released Thursday.
By 2050, the United States is likely to have 9 million people 90 and older, the report projected. In 1980, only 720,000 Americans were around who had lived past their 90th birthdays. That number grew to 1.9 million last year.
“Can 90 be the new 85?” asked Dr. Richard Suzman of the National Institute on Aging at the National Institutes of Health.
“Because of increasing numbers of older people and increases in life expectancy at older ages, the oldest segments of the older population are growing the fastest,” added Suzman, whose agency commissioned the report.
I thought this week, in honor of the hour-long debut of Green Lantern: The Animated Series on Cartoon Network on Friday night, I’d vary the weekend format and post videos about the show. I’m a big fan of it, but then, I loved the live-action Green Lantern movie that flew into theaters. Honestly, I’ve met a LOT of people like me who hope for more GL!
Of course, the comics continues soaring right now, with Geoff Johns writing! Hal Jordan remains one of DC Comics’ most popular characters!
Green Lantern: The Animated Series features the voicework of Josh Keaton, Tony Todd, Kevin Michael Richardson and many others. Here’s more information about the series: “Green Lantern: The Animated Series is an American computer-animated television series based on DC Comics’ superhero Green Lantern. The series is set to air on Cartoon Network, as part of their ‘DC Nation’ television block. The series will be the first independent television series based on Green Lantern, not having the Green Lanterns making only guest appearances or share plot with other different superheroes. A total of 26 episodes have been ordered for the first season. The program will focus on the adventures of Hal Jordan, the Green Lantern of Sector 2814, and his fellow warrior ally, Kilowog against the series’ main antagonists, the Red Lanterns, led by the villain Atrocitus, and the Manhunters. Carol Ferris, Salaak, Sayd, Saint Walker, and Zilius Zox will be supporting characters in the series.“
First up, here’s a very brief commercial for the series:
