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The fossil of a 180-million-year-old ichthyosaur from the Jurassic era has been discovered and it contains evidence of blubber and skin, making the creature more similar to modern-day dolphins than previously thought. The team of researchers from North Carolina State University and Sweden’s Lund University used molecular and microstructural analysis to determine that the creature, described by National Geographic as a "sea monster," was likely warm-blooded and potentially could use its coloration to help it hide from predators. “Ichthyosaurs are interesting because they have many traits in common with dolphins, but are not at all closely related to those sea-dwelling...

On November 30, 2018, George H.W. Bush, 41st President of the United States, died of vascular Parkinsonism, a disease with many of the same risk factors as those for strokes and a heart attack. However, he did not have the two major risk factors for heart attacks: He was not overweight and he exercised regularly (and vigorously, at least in his younger days). -snip- details -snip_ He Did Everything Right Readers of my biographical articles on the deaths of notable people often comment on how frequently I criticize my subjects for their self-destructive lifestyle choices -- lack of exercise, a...

Nearly 20 years ago, former President George H.W. Bush wanted to sponsor a Filipino boy named Timothy through Colorado Springs-based nonprofit Compassion International — but first, he needed a pseudonym. “He’s passed away now, so it’s probably not a classified name anymore — it was George Walker,” said Wess Stafford, Compassion president emeritus. “That’s the same name that he used, apparently, whenever he checked into a hospital and they needed to have it unknown that he was in there.” Bush’s security team was worried about Timothy’s safety, said Stafford. If word had gotten out that the child was communicating with...

Most everyone watching the live coverage of yesterday’s George H. W. Bush’s memorial service was touched by the comments made about the man. However, interesting enough, I overhead two 50 something (assumed to be liberal) women talking about former Congressman Alan Simpsons comments about the former President and it struck me as to how different we think, men vs. women / conservative vs. liberal. What Alan Simpson said was, “George H. W. Bush hated no one.” He went on to say, “hatred corrodes the container it’s in.” That was an amazing statement about a man that the media had put...

The new Australian dinosaur, named Weewarrasaurus pobeni, was about the size of a large dog. The ancient creature was an ornithopod dinosaur, part of a group of small plant-eating species that moved around on two legs and that were particularly abundant on the Cretaceous floodplains of eastern Australia.A fragment of the jawbone of Weewarrasaurus pobeni was found deep in an underground mine at the Wee Warra locality close to the Grawin/Glengarry opal fields, approximately 25 miles (40 km) southwest of Lightning Ridge, central-northern New South Wales.The fossil was analyzed by a team of paleontologists from the Australian Opal Centre and...

Cat memes may be incredibly popular online today – but perhaps they've been around longer than you thought. These amusing photographs – dating back to the early 1900s – could be seen as the original LOLcats. They were taken by Harry Whitter Frees, an American photographer known for taking pictures of posed cats and dogs. The Pennsylvania native became famous for his cutesy shots of kittens, puppies and even rabbits and chickens dressed as people after he started making them from 1905. Their incredible popularity led him to create novelty postcards, magazine spreads and children's books using them. He would...

"Past is the Hour," a poem of a jilted lover, was published by Henry Livingston, the author of "Night Before Christmas" in the 6 Aug 1794 issue of the New York Weekly Museum under the pseudonym "R." The music "Ah, Sure" is from Henry's music manuscript. The poem is read by Byron Nilsson, who played Henry in "The Trial Before Christmas." Vintage postcard illustrations. Byron has also narrated a letter from Henry to his grandson, Sidney Breese, later US Senator from Illinois and Chief Justice of the Illinois Supreme Court. Wav file only, for now. Henry's letters were saved in...

The State funerals of Senator, John McCain & FLOTUS, Barbara Bush were proper and dignified, but they were not responded to by large segments of the American people as they should have been. Again, my belief that at the end of life one "reaps, what one sows" and when the First family of POTUS, Donald J. Trump was not officially invited to either funeral, it diminished these two events drastically. However, the Bush family, with great dignity, sense of history and respect, on the passing of Ex-POTUS, George H.W. Bush recognized the need for all of the present and Ex-Presidents...

Amendment XIII to the Constitution of the United States is ratified.

In 990AD, the Archbishop of Canterbury named Sigeric the Serious had a more practical reason to walk to Rome. Having risen into his prestigious office, he needed to visit the Vatican to be ordained and collect his official garments. At the time he made the journey, there were many different paths to Rome. But Sigeric, who’d left from Canterbury, wrote down his route home through Italy, Switzerland, France and into the UK, cataloguing the towns he stayed in on his journey. The route he took now makes up the official Via Francigena. The only part that cannot be completed on...

Socialists and Fascists Have Always Been Kissing Cousins By Bradley J. Birzer • November 9, 2018 In 1939, the same year the Germans and the Russians mutually consented to rape Poland, T.S. Eliot rather famously (or, I suppose for some, infamously) declared: “If you will not have God (and He is a jealous God), you should pay your respects to Hitler or Stalin.” Eliot, of course, could not have been more correct. In 1936, you had three choices: National Socialism, international socialism, or dignity.In 2018, we find ourselves in similar circumstances, even if they aren’t quite as clear cut as...

A Lord Mayor has removed a portrait of a politician linked to the slave trade from her office and replaced it with the picture of an African-American woman. Cleo Lake took down the 'dull and dated' portrait of Lord Nugent holding the 1750 Act of Parliament, painted by Thomas Gainsborough, from the walls of City Hall in Bristol. The Mayor has replaced the portrait with a painting of Henrietta Lacks, whose cancer cells became the source of the HeLa cell line and central to modern medicine.

 2 years ago I posted Fruit Wagon Gal by Slim Harbert & His Okey Boys. Yesterday i received a request for their 1942 recording of Who Comes In At My Back Door, which is our tune today. THE WESTERNER https://thewesterner.blogspot.com/ Ranch Radio on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/RanchRadio4U/

The XXI Amendment to the Constitution becomes effective. The XXI Amendment repeals the XVIII Amendment to the Constitution.

Pretty much anyone on the planet who studies firearms or military history has heard of the pistol known as the 1911. In continual service and production for over 100 years, it is the longest serving handgun in US military history and one of the longest serving weapons in world history.With such longevity, there are naturally many myths, legends, and stories attached to the 1911.The pistol was designed in the early 1900s for a US Army contract. It was a product of the fertile mind of John M. Browning, a man considered to be one of the most important and...

The incredible story of Robert Timm, and John Cook's 1958 flight that set the World record for flight endurance.

Russian Ambassador to Israel Anatoly Viktorov told the Times of Israel on Nov. 9 that Russia does not view Hamas a terrorist group, but consider it part of Palestinian society. “We are keeping contacts with Hamas,” he added, saying the group “is a legitimate political force in Palestine.” Viktorov said labeling Hamas as a terrorist group undermines the political process, suggesting that the movement “should be involved in a possible political solution.” He further said that Israel should engage with Hamas. These statements are important for two reasons. First, the Russian ambassador is in Tel Aviv and represents the policy...

Henry Livingston's poetic letter to his brother Beekman, illustrated with old postcards. Music is "Guardian Angels" from Henry's music manuscript. You can also listen to Henry's letter to his grandson Sidney Breese, July 2, 1820, who became the US Senator from Illinois and Chief Justice of the Illinois Supreme Court.

As we pause to remember the Holocaust and mourn the six million Jewish lives it took, we should also commemorate those who attfleempted to save some of Hitler’s victims. While most of the world looked away and ignored the plight of Europe’s Jews, a small emerging country thousands of miles away resolved to rescue as many as possible. The Philippines, a nation of some 7,000 islands in the South China Sea, was one of the few countries to open its doors to Jews fleeing the Holocaust. The Philippine government was willing to grant more than 10,000 visas to Jews, and...

'We are proud to be part of this great nation and it will always be in our hearts and prayers.' In an exclusive video taken at a then-14-year-old Meghan's middle school graduation, the precocious teenager can be seen delivering a passionate speech about the valuable life lessons she and her peers learned during her time at the school... The video, which was taken at Immaculate Heart Middle School in Los Angeles on June 5, 1995, and obtained exclusively by DailyMailTV, is early evidence that the Duchess, now 37, has always had a knack for public speaking, as well as a...