Q:  When I make a big mistake, my wife warns me I will "buy the farm" if I do it again.  What will happen to me?
A:  Well, it's not a good way to get into agriculture.  It generally means dying in the military or in an accident.  The full phrase seems to come from World War II.  Some say battle-weary pilots talked about settling down on a farm.  So, dying would be "buying the farm early."  The same saying applied, at least for a late soldier, if his family used his GI life insurance to pay off the mortgage on the farm.  In 1963, Ed Miller's novel "Exile to the Stars" says, "The police dispatcher says a plane just bought the farm."  Others say the term "to buy it," meaning to die, goes back to 1825 and the purchase was understood to be a cemetery plot.  The farm was added later.  http://www.thecourier.com/Opinion/columns/2013/Sep/JU/ar_JU_093013.asp?d=093013,2013,Sep,30&c=c_13 

Strange maps--Hands as locators for Michiganders

http://greatlakesecho.org/2010/08/09/monday-mashup-the-michigan-hand-map/ and http://bigthink.com/strange-maps/454-michigan-the-hands-on-state 

Recently, I read a novel claiming there are no deserts in Oregon.  But there are high deserts there.  "Approximately one-third of the Earth's land surface is desert, arid land with meager rainfall that supports only sparse vegetation and a limited population of people and animals."  See What is a Desert? by the United States Geological Survey (USGS) at:  http://pubs.usgs.gov/gip/deserts/what/

There are many great vistas in Central Oregon, but rarely can you to look into the past and still see that present.  That's possible at the High Desert Museum.  The museum, located three miles south of Bend on Highway 97, is much more than a history center.  "We're a museum, zoo and discovery center all rolled into one," says museum spokeswoman Lisa Olsiewski.  "We always have a story to tell.  Behind each story, our mission is to promote thoughtful decision-making to sustain the region and its heritage," Olsiewski says.  "We try to present all sides of a story."  The museum originally was founded 1974 as the Western Natural History Institute.  The institute opened the Oregon High Desert Museum in 1982.  "We quickly realized our scope was much larger than just Oregon," Lisa Olsiewski says.  With that, "Oregon" was dropped from the name.  Today, the museum attracts more than 100,000 paid visitors a year.  With each exhibit and special event, the museum staff strives to present all sides of an issue to encourage people to be more involved.  A good example of this effort shown in two permanent exhibits, "Spirit of the West" and "By Hand Through Memory."  Each exhibit provides a perspective on the high desert--a region that extends from eastern Washington through central and eastern Oregon and into Nevada and California.  http://web.oregon.com/attractions/highdesert/index.cfm 

The Dardanelles, formerly known as Hellespont, literally "Sea of Helle"), is a narrow strait in northwestern Turkey connecting the Aegean Sea to the Sea of Marmara.  It is one of the Turkish Straits, along with its counterpart, the Bosphorus.  It is located at approximately

WikiMiniAtlas40°13′N 26°26′E / 40.217°N 26.433°E / 40.217; 26.433.  The strait is 61 kilometres (38 mi) long but only 1.2 to 6 kilometres (0.75 to 3.7 mi) wide, averaging 55 metres (180 ft) deep with a maximum depth of 103 metres (338 ft.  Water flows in both directions along the strait, from the Sea of Marmara to the Aegean via a surface current and in the opposite direction via an undercurrent.  Like the Bosphorus, it separates Europe (the Gallipoli peninsula) from the mainland of Asia. The strait is an international waterway, and together with the Bosphorus, the Dardanelles connects the Black Sea to the Mediterranean Sea.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dardanelles 

Freedom for the Thought That We Hate:  A Biography of the First Amendment is a 2007 non-fiction book by journalist Anthony Lewis about freedom of speech, freedom of the press, freedom of thought, and the First Amendment to the United States Constitution.  The book starts by quoting the First Amendment, which prohibits the U.S. Congress from creating legislation which limits free speech or freedom of the press.  Lewis traces the evolution of civil liberties in the U.S. through key historical events.  He provides an overview of important free speech case law, including U.S. Supreme Court opinions in Schenck v. United States (1919), Whitney v. California (1927), United States v. Schwimmer (1929), New York Times Co. v. Sullivan (1964), and New York Times Co. v. United States (1971).  The title of the book is drawn from the dissenting opinion by Supreme Court Associate Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. in United States v. Schwimmer.  Holmes wrote that "if there is any principle of the Constitution that more imperatively calls for attachment than any other, it is the principle of free thought—not free thought for those who agree with us but freedom for the thought that we hate."   Lewis warns the reader against the potential for government to take advantage of periods of fear and upheaval in a post-9/11 society to suppress freedom of speech and criticism by citizens.  The book was positively received by reviewers, including Jeffrey Rosen in The New York Times, Richard H. Fallon in Harvard Magazine, Nat Hentoff, two National Book Critics Circle members, and Kirkus Reviews. Jeremy Waldron commented on the work for The New York Review of Books and criticized Lewis' stance towards freedom of speech with respect to hate speech.  Waldron elaborated on this criticism in his book The Harm in Hate Speech (2012), in which he devoted a chapter to Lewis' book.  This prompted a critical analysis of both works in The New York Review of Books by former Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freedom_for_the_Thought_That_We_Hate 

The Woolworth Building:  The Cathedral of Commerce by Philip Sutton, Milstein Division of United States History, Local History and Genealogy, Stephen A. Schwarzman Building, New York Public Library   April 24th, 2013 was the one hundredth anniversary of the opening of the Woolworth Building, at 233 Broadway.  In 1913 the Woolworth Building was the tallest inhabited building in the world, and would remain so until the opening of the Chrysler Building, in 1929.  The term skyscraper, according to the Oxford English Dictionary, had been around for years before it was used to describe a "high building of many stories, esp. one of those characteristic of American cities."  (O.E.D.)   It was used to describe tall men, race horses, sailing ships, tall hats, big hits in baseball, and even tall stories.  Seemingly anything deemed lofty in stature.  Synonymous with cities in the United States, the early leaders in the development of the skyscraper was the city of Chicago.  Between 1880 and 1900 a number of skyscrapers were built there, amongst them the first skyscraper, commonly thought to be William Le Baron Jenney's ten-story Home Insurance Building.  The first skyscraper in New York City was the Tower Building (Bradford Gilbert), built in 1889.  More followed, including famously, the Flat Iron Building (1903), the Singer Tower (1908), and the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company Tower (1909).  The Woolworth Building (1913) was the last of the great early skyscrapers built before the First World War.  Read about Frank Winfield Woolworth (1854-1919), Woolworth Building architect Cass Gilbert (1859-1934), construction of the building, and see images  at:  http://www.nypl.org/blog/2013/04/22/woolworth-building-cathedral-commerce 

From a laboratory in New Orleans emerged the comfy wrinkle-free shirt that American white-collar workers—and cotton growers—craved.  Scientist Ruth Benerito, who died Oct. 5, 2013 at age 97, developed the "easy-care cotton" process that led to wash-and-wear clothing, also popularly known as permanent press.  In 1953, Dr. Benerito joined the USDA's Southern Regional Research Center in New Orleans, where she led a project sponsored by the U.S. Surgeon General to develop an emulsion used for intravenous feeding.  She then turned to the cotton project, which in addition to wrinkle-resistance involved new ways of cleaning cotton that eliminated the use of caustic lye.  The same chemistry that makes cotton wrinkle-resistant also makes it possible to incorporate flame retardants into children's sleepwear, mattresses and uniforms for firefighters and the military.  Building on Dr. Benerito's research, scientists developed chemicals that can help cotton dry faster and resist stains.  Dr. Benerito held more than 50 patents, most involving cotton chemistry, and was the recipient of numerous awards, including the Lemelson-MIT Lifetime Achievement Award, given to inventors.  "She was a great role model for women and girls interested in the sciences," said Rini Paiva, executive director of the National Inventors Hall of Fame, into which Dr. Benerito was inducted in 2008.  Stephen Miller  http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304441404579121812668739776.html 

Take one freshly roasted chicken, add a few ingredients and you've got a quick, easy and tasty meal.  Here are 25 ideas, including Thai pasta, tortilla soup and Sloppy Joes.  Noelle Carter  http://www.latimes.com/food/la-fo-rotisserie-chicken-dinner-20130928,0,5323424.story