Today is........

NDNation · July 30, 2015

Love my In-laws! They mind their own business..lol

Octfeb · August 1, 2015

We are 26,25 days away from the start of the Texas High School Football Season and today is...

On this day in History Aug.1

1961

Texans head for the thrills at Six Flags

On this day in 1961, amusement park lovers “head for the thrills” as Six Flags Over Texas, the first park in the Six Flags chain, opens. Located on 212 acres in Arlington, Texas, the park was the first to feature log flume and mine train rides and later, the first 360-degree looping roller coaster, modern parachute drop and man-made river rapids ride. The park also pioneered the concept of all-inclusive admission price; until then, separate entrance fees and individual ride tickets were the standard. During its opening year, a day at Six Flags cost $2.75 for an adult and $2.25 for a child. A hamburger sold for 50 cents and a soda set the buyer back a dime.

The park, which took a year and $10 million to build, was the brainchild of Texas real estate developer and oilman Angus Wynne Jr., who viewed it as a short-term way to make a buck from some vacant land before turning it into an industrial complex. Wynne reportedly recouped his personal investment of $3.5 million within 18 months and changed his mind about the park’s temporary status. With 17.5 million visitors in its first 10 years, the park became the Lone Star State’s top for-profit tourist attraction. Today, average annual attendance at the park is over 3 million.

One of Six Flags’ unique aspects was that it wasn’t just a random collection of rides; it was developed around a theme: the history of Texas. The park’s name was a nod to the six flags that had flown over the state at various times–France, Spain, Mexico, the Confederacy, Texas and the United States. The park’s rides and attractions were grouped into six themed sections that represented the cultures of these governments and enabled visitors to experience everything from cowboy culture to Southern belles and pirates. Originally, the park was to be called Texas Under Six Flags, before it was decided that Texas should never be under anything.

Angus Wynne sold Six Flags in 1969 and in the coming years, the company expanded and was resold. Today, Six Flags, Inc. is the world’s largest regional theme park company and owns and operates 30 theme, water and zoological parks in North America. In 2005, almost 34 million people spent a combined 250 million hours at Six Flags parks.

Octfeb · August 3, 2015

We are 24 days away from the start of the Texas High School Football Season and today is....

International Forgiveness Day
August 2, 2015 in the World

International Forgiveness Day takes place on August 02, 2015. It takes place on the first sunday in August each year. Forgiveness is the renunciation or cessation of resentment, indignation or anger as a result of a perceived offence, disagreement, or mistake, or ceasing to demand punishment or restitution. The Oxford English Dictionary defines forgiveness as 'to grant free pardon and to give up all claim on account of an offence or debt'.

The concept and benefits of forgiveness have been explored in religious thought, the social sciences and medicine. Forgiveness may be considered simply in terms of the person who forgives including forgiving themselves, in terms of the person forgiven or in terms of the relationship between the forgiver and the person forgiven. In most contexts, forgiveness is granted without any expectation of restorative justice, and without any response on the part of the offender. In practical terms, it may be necessary for the offender to offer some form of acknowledgment, an apology, or even just ask for forgiveness, in order for the wronged person to believe himself able to forgive.

Most world religions include teachings on the nature of forgiveness, and many of these teachings provide an underlying basis for many varying modern day traditions and practices of forgiveness. Some religious doctrines or philosophies place greater emphasis on the need for humans to find some sort of divine forgiveness for their own shortcomings, others place greater emphasis on the need for humans to practice forgiveness of one another, yet others make little or no distinction between human and divine forgiveness.

Mr. Buddy Garrity · August 3, 2015

Aint no forgiveness from the heat tomorrow on them practice fields.

Octfeb · August 3, 2015

We are 23 days away from the start of the Texas High School Football Season, and today is....

International Assistance Dog Week

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International Assistance Dog Week (IADW) was created to recognize of all the devoted, hardworking assistance dogs helping individuals mitigate their disability-related limitations.

Assistance dogs transform the lives of their human partners with debilitating physical and mental disabilities by serving as their companion, helper, aide, best friend and close member of their family.

During International Assistance Dog Week, we recognize and honor the hardworking assistance dogs; raise awareness and educate the public about how these specially trained animals are aiding so many people in our communities; honor the puppy raisers and trainers of assistance dogs; and recognize heroic deeds performed by assistance dogs in our communities. The celebration takes place each year, starting on the first Sunday of August. In 2015, International Assistance Dog Week will be August 2-8.

International Assistance Dog Week was established due to the efforts of Marcie Davis, a paraplegic for over 35 years and CEO of Davis Innovations, a consulting firm based in Santa Fe, NM. Davis is the author ofWorking Like Dogs: The Service Dog Guidebook, a resource book that captures personal stories, checklists and practical tips to provide the reader with an A-Z guide about service dogs and she is the host of the Internet radio program, Working Like Dogs, at petliferadio.com. As a member of a service dog team, she founded Working Like Dogs to honor assistance dogs around the world and is sponsoring International Assistance Dog Week.

For more information about assistance dogs, please visit:

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ADI is a coalition of not for profit organizations that train and place assistance dogs.

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IAADP is a non-profit, cross-disability organization representing people partnered with guide, hearing and service dogs.

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WLD is a resource for people with working and service dogs, or who would just like to learn more about them.

liltex · August 4, 2015

This reminds me of the years my marine combat friend=Sgt Joe Whittington(silver star recp)& wife Cricket w/2 service dogs=Pvt Buster Bob(bulldog)& Princess a born 3 legged poodle &,they brightened the days of children w/handicaps,disabled vets,seniors in nursing homes.Here's to You=Thanks God Bless,Pvt Buster Bob was adopted by the USMC & recieved several service medals pinned on his chest of custom fit US Marine Corps Dress Blues.Recently passed of old age=Semper Fi,Princess grieved to her death,now training 2 new service dogs

Octfeb · August 4, 2015

Purple with white ghost flames..

Edited August 4, 2015 by Octfeb

Octfeb · August 4, 2015

We are 22 days away from the start of Texas High School Football Season and today is...

U.S. Coast Guard Day

U.S. Coast Guard Day honors the military branch that protects our waters and shorelines. The U.S. Defense Department suggests that this day is largely an internal celebration for all Coast Guard personnel and their families, past and present. But, we'd like to encourage everyone to honor the brave members of this important branch of the military.

Celebrate U.S. Coast Guard Day by learning more about the responsibilities and functions of the U.S. Coast Guard. They are now playing an even more extensive role in Homeland Security to protect our country.

We salute Coast Guard personnel today and every day. We hope you do, too.

Origin of U.S. Coast Guard Day:

On August 4, 1790, the Revenue Cutter Service was created by the U.S. Congress. Congress authorized the construction of ten cutters. These ships were built to to enforce U.S. tariff laws. The Revenue Cutter Service was the predecessor the U.S. Coast Guard. The name "Coast Guard" was first used in 1915.

Octfeb · August 6, 2015

we are 21, 20 days away from the start of the Texas High School Football Season and today is.....

HOT! .....And

August 6, 2015 is

National Root Beer Float Day

It’s National Root Beer Float Day! Between the creamy vanilla ice cream and the frothy root beer foam, how can anyone resist this sweet refreshment? Today we celebrate this tasty summer treat.

At the end of the 19th century, a man named Frank Wisner invented the first root beer float. This early version was also known as a “black cow.” To make one of these delicious beverages, just add a scoop of vanilla ice cream to a tall glass of root beer. (Note: If you reverse the directions and add the root beer to the ice cream you’ll end up with a big mess!)

Today, enjoy this delicious American tradition and make your own float for National Root Beer Float Day!

Octfeb · August 9, 2015

We are 19, 18, 17 days away from the start of the Texas High School Football Season, and today is......

National Hand Holding Day – August 9

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Everybody has their preferred technique: some like interlocking, others prefer cupping. Some like the pinky-link while others prefer being on top…others on the bottom. Some swing both ways.

When it comes to holding hands it is not all about romance. When you hold the hands of another you are sending the message that the other person is valued, important and noticed.

James Coan of the University of Virginia found that when people hold hands, their brains don’t work as hard to cope with stress. When we hold hands, (or hug and touch), our bodies release oxytocin. Its role is to calm and destress, and it is thought that touch triggers the body into producing this hormone.

Touch stimulates the production of oxytocin which, in turn, promotes a desire to touch and be touched. In another study, researchers from the University of North Carolina told couples they would have to give speeches. Before they did so, 100 of the couples sat holding hands for a short time, then they embraced for 20 seconds. Another group of couples rested quietly and were separated from their partners. During their speeches, heart rates and blood pressure rose twice as high in the second group compared to the hand-holders. Research further suggests that oxytocin is the chemical that can give marriage its beneficial effect on health over those that are single.

To hold someone’s hand is to offer them affection, protection or comfort.

A poll of 3,000 people by Abbeyfield in the UK showed that more than half of people couldn’t remember the last time they held their grandparents hand and more than a quarter had never done so. However, almost a fifth of respondents, when asked whose hands they would most like to hold, said it would be the hand of a grandparent who has died.

Just one in twenty respondents had held the hand of their grandma in the last month and only one in twenty five made this contact with their granddad. The report revealed a similar gender trend with parents, while only six percent of those surveyed had never held hands with their mother, twice as many had never held hands with their father.

The poll also revealed that the older you get, the more you regretted that lack of contact. Almost half (48 percent) of respondents over 55, when asked whose hand they would most like to hold, said it would be that of a departed parent.

The majority of respondents (80 percent) associated holding hands with romance but this contact was most popular amongst the young. Of those surveyed aged 17 and under, 64 percent most wanted to hold hands with someone they were attracted to. This figure decreased with age until only 21 percent of those over 55 wanted to hold hands for romance. This older group were most likely to associate holding hands with dying. (15 percent compared to less than two percent of those surveyed aged 17 and under)

Loneliness and depression are rampant in today’s society. Holding someone’s hand, especially of someone who is isolated, dealing with an illness or elderly can help them to be more resilient against the impact of stress, promote better health and combat their feelings of isolation.

Octfeb · August 10, 2015

We are 16 days away from the start of the Texas High School Football Season, and today is...

Lazy Day

Lazy Day is your chance to goof off, and definitely not work. And, it definitely comes at a good time. Hot, muggy weather makes it easy to kick back and be lazy for a day. If summer chores are not done by now, they can just wait one more day. It is best spent on a hammock, along with your favorite summer beverage.

Whoever said "There's no lazy days...just lazy people." Well, we respectfully disagree. Today is proof positive. It is indeed a Lazy Day. And, we consider that a good thing.

If you enjoy the intent of today, you will also look forward to

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. It is coming up soon.

LumRaiderFan · August 10, 2015

We are 16 days away from the start of the Texas High School Football Season, and today is...

Lazy Day
Lazy Day is your chance to goof off, and definitely not work. And, it definitely comes at a good time. Hot, muggy weather makes it easy to kick back and be lazy for a day. If summer chores are not done by now, they can just wait one more day. It is best spent on a hammock, along with your favorite summer beverage.
Whoever said "There's no lazy days...just lazy people." Well, we respectfully disagree. Today is proof positive. It is indeed a Lazy Day. And, we consider that a good thing.
If you enjoy the intent of today, you will also look forward to

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Mr. Buddy Garrity · August 10, 2015

We are 16 days away from the start of the Texas High School Football Season, and today is...

Lazy Day
Lazy Day is your chance to goof off, and definitely not work. And, it definitely comes at a good time. Hot, muggy weather makes it easy to kick back and be lazy for a day. If summer chores are not done by now, they can just wait one more day. It is best spent on a hammock, along with your favorite summer beverage.
Whoever said "There's no lazy days...just lazy people." Well, we respectfully disagree. Today is proof positive. It is indeed a Lazy Day. And, we consider that a good thing.
If you enjoy the intent of today, you will also look forward to

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any time its 100 degrees its a Lazy Day lol

NDNation · August 10, 2015

Wish i could be lazy on a Monday. Its always the busiest day at work. People have all weekend to sit and think of crazy mess to call me with on Monday...all day. (tired face)

Mr. Buddy Garrity · August 10, 2015

Wish i could be lazy on a Monday. Its always the busiest day at work. People have all weekend to sit and think of crazy mess to call me with on Monday...all day. (tired face)

retire

NDNation · August 10, 2015

retire

Thats about the only thing left, that I can say I'm to YOUNG to do. (kid face)

Octfeb · August 11, 2015

We are 15 days away from the start of the Texas High School Football Season and today is................

Presidential Joke Day

A president walks into a bar...and gets to crack his own jokes for a change.

Presidential Joke Day is celebrated every year on August 11, and despite how it sounds, it's not a day designated for poking fun at the president (that's the

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). This is a day to salute

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.

The holiday was created in honor of an infamous joke cracked by

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on August 11, 1984.

During a sound check before a Saturday radio broadcast, Reagan said, "My fellow Americans. I'm pleased to announce that I've signed legislation outlawing the Soviet Union. We begin bombing in five minutes."

Reagan was unaware, however, that the feed was live. Word quickly made its way to the Soviets, who put their military on high alert. Those Ruskies never did have much of a sense of humor.

In celebration of Presidential Joke Day, we've compiled some of the

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throughout history. A sampling:

"When they call the roll in the Senate, the Senators do not know whether to answer 'present' or 'not guilty.'" —President Teddy Roosevelt

"Being president is like running a cemetery: you've got a lot of people under you and nobody's listening." —President Bill Clinton

"These stories about my intellectual capacity really get under my skin. You know, for a while I even thought my staff believed it. There on my schedule first thing every morning it said, 'Intelligence Briefing.'" —President George W. Bush

LumRaiderFan · August 11, 2015

Reagan...when he spoke, people listened.

Octfeb · August 12, 2015

We are 14 days away from the start of the Texas High School Football Season and today is.....

2015 International Youth Day: Youth Civic Engagement

Mexican Youth Build Sculpture for Disarmament: UN Photo/Evan Schneider

On 17 December 1999, in its

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, the United Nations General Assembly endorsed the recommendation made by the World Conference of Ministers Responsible for Youth (Lisbon, 8-12 August 1998) that 12 August be declared International Youth Day.

The theme of International Youth Day, 12 August 2015, is “Youth Civic Engagement.” The engagement and participation of youth is essential to achieve sustainable human development. Yet often the opportunities for youth to engage politically, economically and socially are low or non-existent.

There has been recent increasing attention and policy and programming focus on youth civic engagement by governments, UN entities, regional and multilateral organizations, CSOs, youth and researchers. As part of its celebrations for International Youth Day, the Inter-Agency Network on Youth Development, led by the co-chairs, DESA and UNDP, is running an online campaign in the lead up to International Youth Day 12 August 2015.

robanadana · August 13, 2015

We are 19, 18, 17 days away from the start of the Texas High School Football Season, and today is......

National Hand Holding Day – August 9

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Everybody has their preferred technique: some like interlocking, others prefer cupping. Some like the pinky-link while others prefer being on top…others on the bottom. Some swing both ways.
When it comes to holding hands it is not all about romance. When you hold the hands of another you are sending the message that the other person is valued, important and noticed.
James Coan of the University of Virginia found that when people hold hands, their brains don’t work as hard to cope with stress. When we hold hands, (or hug and touch), our bodies release oxytocin. Its role is to calm and destress, and it is thought that touch triggers the body into producing this hormone.
Touch stimulates the production of oxytocin which, in turn, promotes a desire to touch and be touched. In another study, researchers from the University of North Carolina told couples they would have to give speeches. Before they did so, 100 of the couples sat holding hands for a short time, then they embraced for 20 seconds. Another group of couples rested quietly and were separated from their partners. During their speeches, heart rates and blood pressure rose twice as high in the second group compared to the hand-holders. Research further suggests that oxytocin is the chemical that can give marriage its beneficial effect on health over those that are single.
To hold someone’s hand is to offer them affection, protection or comfort.
A poll of 3,000 people by Abbeyfield in the UK showed that more than half of people couldn’t remember the last time they held their grandparents hand and more than a quarter had never done so. However, almost a fifth of respondents, when asked whose hands they would most like to hold, said it would be the hand of a grandparent who has died.
Just one in twenty respondents had held the hand of their grandma in the last month and only one in twenty five made this contact with their granddad. The report revealed a similar gender trend with parents, while only six percent of those surveyed had never held hands with their mother, twice as many had never held hands with their father.
The poll also revealed that the older you get, the more you regretted that lack of contact. Almost half (48 percent) of respondents over 55, when asked whose hand they would most like to hold, said it would be that of a departed parent.
The majority of respondents (80 percent) associated holding hands with romance but this contact was most popular amongst the young. Of those surveyed aged 17 and under, 64 percent most wanted to hold hands with someone they were attracted to. This figure decreased with age until only 21 percent of those over 55 wanted to hold hands for romance. This older group were most likely to associate holding hands with dying. (15 percent compared to less than two percent of those surveyed aged 17 and under)
Loneliness and depression are rampant in today’s society. Holding someone’s hand, especially of someone who is isolated, dealing with an illness or elderly can help them to be more resilient against the impact of stress, promote better health and combat their feelings of isolation.

I hold hands with liltex at Dayton games....

liltex · August 13, 2015

I hold hands with liltex at Dayton games....

Welp so sorry purple makes you dizzy(it's speed headaches)every return Gary closes his eyes, ya'll just don't know,robanadana uses that spray disinfectant each time he grabs a purple or white worm out of the tackle box

Octfeb · August 14, 2015

We are 13 days away from the start of the Texas High School Football Season and today is....

Happy Left Handers Day

Experts Explain 7 Things You Probably Didn't Know About Handedness

August 13 is Left Handers day, celebrating the 11 percent of the world that uses their left hand for tasks like writing, eating and holding things.

Some things we can say for sure about handedness: 13 percent of men are left-handed, while it’s just 10 in women; handedness generally falls on a scale instead of hard and fast left or right; and six of the past 12 presidents have been lefties.

Patch spoke with two respected researchers in psychology and handedness. Here are seven things they explained to help you know your left-handedness from your right.

1. Nobody is exactly sure if handedness is totally genetic or not

Dr. Clare Porac, a professor of Psychology at Penn State who is writing a book called Laterality: Exploring the Enigma of Left-Handedness, said, “There’s consensus that there’s a genetic component,” but it’s not always predictive.

In identical twins, if one is left-handed, the other is left-handed only 75 percent of the time, according to Daniel Casasanto, an assistant professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of Chicago who has done extensive research on handedness.

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Environmental factors play a major role too.

Porac said that a child is more likely take after their mother’s handedness. Many theorize that this happens because children traditionally see their mother more during childhood and take after their actions.

2. No, lefties aren’t necessarily smarter or cooler than righties

There is a popular notion that since motor activity is controlled by the opposite side of the brain, left-handers are right-brained, where things like music and visual art are processed.

Sorry lefties, that isn’t the case.

“They really don’t have many cognitive differences from right-handers,” Porac said. “Having your handedness controlled by the right brain does not give you special abilities.”

So, that whole president thing, she says, “is probably just a coincidence.”

And Casanato, whose first paper was published debunking this myth, takes that theory a step further, saying that even the ideas of being “left-brained” and “right-brained” are blown out of proportion.

“The idea that lefties are right-brained and righties are left-brained doesn’t make any sense,” Casasanto said. “Because the idea of being left-brained or right-brained is blowing a few facts way out of proportion.”

3. Humans have had dominant hands for a long time

There’s actually a history of humans favoring one hand or the other.

“If you look at the anthropological record, back to the early hominids, there’s always been a percentage of left-handers,” Porac said.

According to Porac, some scientists believe that handedness evolved when humans split from chimpanzees and started using sounds for communication. Because the brain was using its speech-controlling left side more, motor skills on the right side became more developed.

But there was a survival advantage for lefties.

When early humans engaged in hand-to-hand combat, the left-handers were at an advantage since righties aren’t used to fighting their dominant hand counterparts, a phenomenon we still see today in fencing and boxing.

4. It’s not too hard to switch hands with some tasks

If you wanted to switch handedness, you could, in theory, make it work. At least with small tasks.

“I would imagine that the more skilled and stereotyped activities like writing are going to be really hard,” Casasanto said, while things like brushing your teeth or eating wouldn’t be too hard.

Handwriting For Heroes deals with this firsthand. They work with amputees who lost their dominant hand to teach them how to write,

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. It’s an intensive course that promises to get you writing with your non-dominant hand within six weeks.

Casasanto was conducting one experiment, and a subject who identified as a lefty was showing a lot of traits common in righties.

It turns out the subject was a basketball player who’d had his left arm in a cast for months and had adapted much of his life to his right hand in a short amount of time.

“It appears some of these things can be switched rapidly,” he said.

5. There are subconscious effects

An even handedness distribution across party lines in recent presidents made for a ripe field of some research in this area.

Casasanto studied spontaneous hand-gestures during the 2004 and 2008 presidential debates. Barack Obama and John McCain were both lefties. John Kerry and George Bush were righties.

The candidates tended to gesture with their dominant hand for positive statements and non-dominant hands for negative statements.

“If you ever see Obama gesturing with his right hand,” Casasanto said. “That’s an indication, perhaps, of how he really feels about something.” Translation: not good.

6. Handedness can influence your decision-making

Casasanto ran an experiment where he showed subjects random drawings of alien creatures and asked them which appeared smarter, happier or more friendly.

On average, subjects chose the creature on the side of their dominant hand.

“People tend to feel positively about things that they encounter on their dominant side of space,” he explained.

This phenomenon—righties like things on the right, lefties on the left—has wide-ranging implications that have been tested in similar studies.

People gravitate toward product descriptions on their dominant side of a page. Hiring managers were more likely to pick the resume on their dominant side.

Even in elections, candidates on the right side of the ballot get a small bump from righties because of this bias, and vice versa.

“The hands shape the mind,” Casasanto said.

Rolf Reber, a psychology professor at the University of Oslo, aptly described it in a paper title: “Beauty is in the Processing Experience of the Beholder.”

7. …but it can be manipulated

In another experiment, Casasanto brought subjects into a lab and had right-handers randomly handicapped with a bulky ski glove on one hand, with the empty glove clipped to it to make things even harder.

They were assigned to carefully arrange dominoes on a table according to certain patterns.

Immediately afterwards, he gave them the alien test again. The ones that were still using their free right hands showed that same right-side preference.

The others, though, showed bias as strong people who had been left-handed their entire lives.

“You can at least temporarily change this bias in the order of 12 minutes of restricted activity,” he concluded.

So, for true Democracy, we should all just wear gloves when we vote

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