More Stuff

(Check out American History Revised by Seymour Morris, Jr.)

01. President Kennedy

Gore Vidal once was asked, "What would have happened in 1963 had Krushchev and not Kennedy been assassinated."

Vidal answered, "With history one can never be certain, but I think I can say that Aristotle Onasis would not have married Mrs. Krushchev."   

02.  Massive Yard Sale

In 1848, under the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, which ended the Mexican-American War, the Mexicans accepted $15 million for California, Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico, Utah and parts of Colorado and Wyoming!

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That's enough.. too much going on.

 More Hidden Notes

01.  Aris Allen

No, not the dance shoes brand, but a remarkable person that I'm proud to say I knew.

One day in the 1980's a tall, distinguished-looking Afro-American man suddenly appeared at a Toastmasters meeting.

He said that he wanted to become a better public speaker.  That was a bit hard to understand, because he had represented Anne Arundel County, Maryland in Congress in the 1970's, where he served as the Republican majority whip.

Although we were of different political persuasions, we became good friends.  As part of Aris' Toastmasters membership,  Aris regaled us with stories of his interesting life.

He spent his early life in segregated Texas. He delivered newspapers from his bicycle and did odd jobs until he located to Washington, D.C.  He attended Howard University and received an M.D.  Through the years he administered to the poor and needy.       

One day, Aris did not show for a meeting.  I found out that he had been diagnosed with cancer.  He did not want to put his wife through all of the problems that cancer treatments would entail, so he committed suicide at the age of 80.

There is a statue and a thoroughfare dedicated to him in Annapolis, Maryland. 

Rest in Peace, dear friend!

                                                                                    02. Old Age

Cicero wrote:

"Each part of life has its own pleasures.  Each has its own abundant harvest, to be garnered in season.

We may grow old in body, but we need never grow old in mind and spirit,

We must take a stand against old age.  We must atone for its faults by activity.  

We must exercise the mind as we exercise the body, to keep it supple and buoyant.  

Life may be short, but it is long enough to live honorably and well.  Old age is the consummation of life, rich in blessings."   

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More from my hidden files:

01.  Bull Hockey

A large group of baboons is called a congress.

(Get the picture?)

Deja moo = the feeling that you've heard this bull before.

02.  "Real" Estate

A realtor company in Westminster, Maryland, advertised the properties they have sold recently.  I was surprised to learn that they had sold a famous Italian building.

03.  "Did I have fun?  I can't remember."

A Delaware man sued a New York strip club, claiming he could not remember what he did there.

He remembers drinking two alcoholic beverages and being led into a private room by a lap dancer.

He doesn't remember how he spent the next 90 minutes, except for a Credit Card charge of $21,620.60.

04.  Grammar School Jokes

a.  Why did the lady put make-up on her forehead?

She couldn't make up her mind.

b.  What does the Easter bunny get for a basket?

Two points, the same as everybody else.

c.  What's the difference between in-laws and outlaws.

The outlaws are wanted.

d.  What's the difference between an elephant and a flea?

An elephant can have fleas, but a flea can't have an elephant.

e.  What begins and ends with "e" but has only one letter?

An envelope.

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 More Presidential Facts You May Have Missed

(REF:  Facts and Fun About The Presidents by George Sullivan)

01.  Large Offshoots

William Henry Harrison (9th President) fathered a group of 10 children. 

(He had the shortest presidency.  He died just 31 days after inauguration.)  

His Vice President, John Tyler assumed the presidency.  Tyler, dubbed "His Accidency" had fathered his own group of 15 children.

(BTW, my maternal Grandfather, Arthur S, Vaughan, also fathered 15 children, and then brought me up.)

02. Birthdays

No President was born in June.

Most Presidents (6) were born in October.

03.  Presidential Food

Ulysses S. Grant enjoyed cucumbers soaked in vinegar.

John F. Kennedy insisted on a breakfast of 2 eggs boiled for exactly 4 minutes.

Richard Nixon thrived on cottage cheese topped with ketchup.

04.  Pets in the White House

Theodore Roosevelt and his children had lots of pets that came to keep them comfortable at the presidential abode:

dogs

cats

squirrels

raccoons

rabbits

Guinea pigs

a badger

a black bear

a rat

a parrot

a green garter snake

a pony

WOW!

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 Mea  Stupida!

Dumb, Dumb, Dumb!

01.  I had prepared an entry for yesterday, and then I lost it!

02.  To cover for that, I tried another... and I lost that one too.

03.  I gave up.

04.  Today was too busy to try to develop another 

05.  I'll try to catch up tomorrow.

06.  Last night I screwed up and took my morning pills .. that meant that I did not sleep even one hour!

Are you crying yet?

Can I have some cheese with my whine?

See ya!

 Let's get Presidential

George Sullivan wrote a fun book about U.S. Presidents in 1987 for the Scholastic Program. Let me mention a few things he found out:

01.  Size

Our tallest President, of course, was Abraham Lincoln, at 6'4". 

Our shortest President was James Madison, at 5'4".

02.  Next in Line

In case the President is incapacitated or dies in office there is a line of succession.

At first, the Vice President takes over. If that isn't workable, the following line of succession takes over:

1. Speaker of the House

2.  President Pro Tempore of the Senate.

3.  Secretary of State.

4.  Secretary of the Treasury.  

Followed by all the secretaries in order until the last in line:  Secretary of Education.

Remember:  When Nixon was forced to resign, nobody wanted crooked Vice President Spiro T. Agnew to become President so he was given a choice:  Resign or go to jail on corruption charges. 

He chose to resign, giving the next in line, Gerald Ford, Speaker of the House, the job of President.

Elaine and I watched a movie a while ago, where the President and others were all killed, leaving this last in line Secretary of Education to run the country. I think he did a good job.

I don't think this was related to the Succession HBO movie.  I could be wrong.

03.  Salary

Presidential compensation:

George Washington through Ulysses S. Grant's first term; $25,000.

Ulysses S. Grant's second term through Theodore Roosevelt;  $50,000.

William H. Taft through Franklin D. Roosevelt: $75,000 salary plus $25,000 travel allowance

Harry S. Truman through Lyndon B. Johnson; $100,000 salary plus $40,000 Travel and Entertainment and $50,000 Expense Account

Richard M. Nixon through Ronald Reagan; $200,000 plus $40,000 Travel and Entertaiment and $50,000 Expense Account.

As of January 20, 2001, the President's salary was increased to $400,000 with an expense account of $50,000.

04. Education

These Presidents did not attend college:

George Washington 

Andrew Jackson

Martin Van Buren

Zachary Taylor

Millard Fillmore

Abraham Lincoln

Andrew Johnson

Grover Cleveland

Harry Truman

These Presidents attended College but didn't graduate:

William H. Harrison

William McKinley

Warren G. Harding

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 Here are some examples of authors I admire:

Ogden Nash

Which the Chicken, which the egg?

He drinks because she scolds, he thinks;

She thinks she scolds because he drinks,

And neither will admit what's true,

That he's a sot and she's a shrew.

George Burns

Will Rogers

It's amazing how far he got just standing on the stage, twirling his rope and talking. 

But that talk of his was pretty sharp.  One of the things he said was that no one could be as funny as the politicians in Washington.  He was wrong.  He was funnier.

Bennett Cerf

Mayflower

Elders of the Pilgrim colony of Massachusetts had good cause to remember the morning their hitherto impeccable Mr Standish got fresh with a fair young maiden.  it was from this moment onwards that Mr Standish was always referred to by Pilgrims in the know as "Naughtical Myles."

  

Ambrose Bierce

Leviathan

An enormous aquatic animal mentioned by Job* Some suppose it to have been the whale, but that distinguished ichthyologer, Dr. Jordan, of Stanford University maintains with considerable heat that it is a species of tadpole (Thaddeus Polendensis) or polliwog (Maria pseudo-hirsuto.)

*Jonah?

Roy Blount Jr.

Mistletoe

The good news:  the toe part comes from an old English word meaning "twig."  So nothing to do with kissing feet.

The bad news:  the mist part derives from Germanic words for "dung."  Mistletoe seeds, apparently indigestible, are deposited, and in the process fertilized by birds that eat the berries.

George Washington

Delicious Food

George said that one of his favorite menus was as follows:

Cream of Peanut Soup

Mashed sweet potato with coconut

String beans with mushrooms

Martha Washington's Whiskey cakes

(The kind of teeth that George needed. Instead, he suffered through with all kinds of teeth fashioned out of animal tusks and whale bone.)