Breakfast for dinner--or 'brinner'--is nothing new.  For the restaurant goer, three of the finest words you can read on a menu are 'all day breakfast'.  The brinner concept was immortalised in the film Juno when Paulie Bleeker's mother admonishes him skipping a family meal with the line, "But Paulie, it's your favourite--breakfast for dinner!"  Alaina Vieru  Link to recipes at http://www.houseandgarden.co.uk/collections/breakfast-for-dinner-brinner-recipes-ideas

The Constitutional Dictionary contains words, phrases, and concepts used in the United States Constitution, including double jeopardy, emolument, ex post facto, habeus corpus, impeachment, impost and pro tempore.  http://www.usconstitution.net/glossary.html

Every government has as much of a duty to avoid war as a ship's captain has to avoid a shipwreck.  Guy de Maupassant, short story writer and novelist (1850-1893)

If Trees Could Sing is a Nature Conservancy program that brings together a diverse array of musical artists to talk about trees and their benefits for people.  Choose from 29 videos including:  Reba McIntire  1:37 http://www.nature.org/photos-and-video/video/if-trees-could-sing-reba-mcentire-the-pin-oak   Ketch Secor & the Osage Orange  2:29  http://www.nature.org/photos-and-video/video/if-trees-could-sing-ketch-secor-the-osage-orange  Deanie Richardson & the Shagbark Hickory  2:39  http://www.nature.org/photos-and-video/video/if-trees-could-sing-deanie-richardson-the-shagbark-hickory and The Fisk Jubilee Singers & the Bald Cypress  1:39  http://www.nature.org/photos-and-video/video/if-trees-could-sing-the-fisk-jubilee-singers-the-bald-cypress

16th Century Book Can Be Read Six Different Ways by Sara Barnes   It’s not everyday you see a book that can be read in six completely different ways, and this small book from the National Library of Sweden is definitely an anomaly.  According to Medieval book historian Erik Kwakkel, this 16th century text has a special sixfold dos-à-dos (or “back to back”) binding with strategically placed clasps that makes it possible for six books to be neatly bound into one.  This particular book contains devotional texts, including Martin Luther’s Der kleine Catechismus, which was printed in German between the 1550’s and 1570’s.  See pictures at http://www.mymodernmet.com/profiles/blogs/16th-century-book-bound-dos-a-dos

QUOTES ABOUT ARTS AND ARCHITECTURE  Bridges are America's cathedrals.  Author unknown; reported in Respectfully Quoted:  A Dictionary of Quotations (1989).  When, in architecture, one uses a fixed unit and combinations of it, to produce harmony, the effect should be most striking and apparent... as it is in music by the measured beat and in poetry by the cadence and rhythm.  Ernest Flagg, Small Houses:  Their Economic Design and Construction (1922)  Dancing and architecture are the two primary and essential arts.  The art of dancing stands at the source of all the arts that express themselves first in the human person.  The art of building, or architecture, is the beginning of all the arts that lie outside the person; and in the end they unite.  Havelock Ellis, The Dance of Life (1923).  I call architecture frozen music.  Attributed to Johann Wolfgang von Goethe and Friedrich Schiller  "Conversations with Goethe in the Last Years of His Life", page 282; by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Johann Peter Eckermann, Margaret Fuller; Translated by Margaret Fuller  Ah, to build, to build!  That is the noblest of all the arts.  Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Michael Angelo, Part I, II, line 54.  https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Architecture

The surplus of sodium in the American diet contributes to a host of cardiovascular problems, from high blood pressure and stroke to heart attack, heart failure, and more.  Cutting back on salt is generally good for the heart and arteries.  But could this strategy have the unintended consequence of making some Americans deficient in iodine?  That’s not likely, because salt provides only a fraction of daily iodine intake for most Americans.  In the 1950s and 1960s, the use of iodine-based disinfectants in the dairy industry and iodine-based conditioners in the commercial baking industry put many Americans on track to getting too much iodine.  The situation has stabilized in recent years, with national nutrition surveys showing that most Americans get enough iodine, and only small numbers get too little or too much.  Most Americans take in more sodium than they need.  Almost all of it comes from salt.  But here’s the rub:  between 75% and 90% of sodium in the average American’s diet comes from prepared or processed food, and most food companies don’t use iodized salt.  The so-called hidden salt in processed food is a great place to start trimming sodium from your diet, and cutting back on it will have little effect on your iodine intake.  To get all your iodine from salt, you would need more than half a teaspoon of iodized salt a day.  That’s two-thirds of the daily allotment of sodium (1,500 milligrams) recommended by the American Heart Association.  It makes more sense to get your iodine from food.  That way you can cut back on salt and not worry about losing out on this important element.  Ocean-caught or ocean-farmed fish and shellfish tend to be naturally rich in iodine.  Other good sources include milk, cheese, yogurt, eggs, and vegetables grown in iodine-rich soil.  Read much more at http://www.health.harvard.edu/heart-health/cut-salt-it-wont-affect-your-iodine-intake

Over much of the Earth's surface, compass needles point roughly north.  However, because of the complex shape of the Earth's magnetic field there are few places where a compass needle will point exactly north.  A compass lines up with the horizontal component of the magnetic field in a direction called magnetic north.  True north, on the other hand is the direction from a given location to the north geographic pole.  The angle between magnetic north and true north is called magnetic declination.  Many people believe that a compass needle points at the North Magnetic Pole.  This is not true; if you follow your compass needle you will eventually arrive at the North Magnetic Pole, but not by the most direct route.  Both declination and variation are used to describe the angle between magnetic north and true north.  The term deviation is also used from time to time.  Here is an explanation of the differences between the three terms.  Declination  This is the term preferred by those who study the magnetic field; it is also the term most commonly used by land navigators.  Sometimes the term "magnetic declination" is used.  Variation  This term is preferred by mariners and pilots because the word "declination" also has an astronomical usage--the angle of a star or planet above the celestial equator.  However, the word "variation" is used by geomagneticians to refer to time changes in the magnetic field.  Deviation  In a vehicle such as a ship or aircraft, a compass is influenced by the magnetism of the iron used in the construction of the vehicle as well as the Earth's magnetic field.  This causes the compass needle to point in the wrong direction.  This directional error is called "deviation".  Many people incorrectly use deviation when they mean declination.  The first known determination of magnetic declination was made by the Chinese in about 720 AD.  In Europe, the concept of declination was known in the early 1400s, but the first precise measurement of declination was not made until 1510, when Georg Hartman determined the declination in Rome.  The importance of declination for navigation was obvious.  Mariners quickly devised methods for determining it and began compiling declination values from locations around the world.  In 1700 Edmund Halley came up with the idea of showing declination as contour lines on a map; he used this novel concept to produced the first declination chart of the Atlantic Ocean.  Declination charts have been produced on a regular basis ever since.  Read more and see graphics at http://www.geomag.nrcan.gc.ca/mag_fld/magdec-en.php

http://librariansmuse.blogspot.com  Issue 1340  August 19, 2015  On this date in 1848, the New York Herald broke the news to the East Coast of the United States of the gold rush in California (although the rush started in January).  On this date in 1909, the first automobile race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway was held.

Pommy  noun  A British person  Origin: Early 20th century--apparently a shortening of pomegranate, rhyming slang for 'immigrant'.  http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/us/definition/american_english/Pommy  Pommyland means Britain, especially England.

The Library of Congress began a multiyear “Celebration of the Book” before the September 2012 National Book Festival with an exhibition on “Books That Shaped America.”  The initial books in the exhibition are displayed at http://www.loc.gov/bookfest/books-that-shaped-america/

What olive oil, nuts, beans, and sardines are to the Mediterranean, canola oil, berries, root vegetables, and cod are to Scandinavia.  Find New Nordic Diet with 10 guidelines and link to 10-point manifesto at http://qz.com/322049/the-mediterranean-diet-is-out-and-the-nordic-diet-is-in/

When two or more metaphors (or cliches) are jumbled together, often illogically, we say that these comparisons are "mixed."  In Garner's Modern American Usage, Bryan A. Garner offers this classic example of a mixed metaphor from a speech by Boyle Roche in the Irish Parliament:  "Mr. Speaker, I smell a rat.  I see him floating in the air.  But mark me, sir, I will nip him in the bud."  This sort of mixed metaphor may occur when a speaker is so familiar with the figurative sense of a phrase ("smell a rat," "nip in the bud") that he fails to recognize the absurdity that results from a literal reading.  More examples:  "So now what we are dealing with is the rubber meeting the road, and instead of biting the bullet on these issues, we just want to punt."  (Chicago Tribune, cited by The New Yorker, August 13, 2007)  "[T]he bill is mostly a stew of spending on existing programs, whatever their warts may be."  (The New York Times, January 27, 2009)  "A friend of mine, talking about the Democratic presidential candidates, tossed out a wonderful mixed metaphor:  'This is awfully weak tea to have to hang your hat on.'"  (Bob Herbert, "Behind the Curtain," The New York Times, November 27, 2007)  Richard Nordquist  http://grammar.about.com/od/qaaboutrhetoric/f/QAmixmetaphor.htm

Nephrops norvegicus is a shrimpy-looking crustacean in the lobster family.  Its body can grow up to ten inches long, but it’s basically just the delicious tail meat that has chefs from Copenhagen to Vegas in a full-on frenzy. ”Nothing highlights the elegance and bounty of the sea better than langoustines,” waxes Esben Holmboe Bang, chef of Maaemo in Oslo.  “They have a more complex and delicate taste than lobster.  The flavor is sweet, elegant.  Lobster is rustic by comparison.”  The real-deal, super-primo langoustine specimens come from the northeastern Atlantic Ocean, particularly the clear, frigid waters off the coasts of Iceland, Scotland, and Norway.  That same species of langoustine, however, ranges as far south as Portugal, and can be found in parts of the Adriatic sea.  Close cousins exist all over the world, notably Metanephrops challengeri, which can be found off the coasts of New Zealand and is sometimes marketed as the genuine article.  Amiel Stanek  http://www.bonappetit.com/test-kitchen/ingredients/article/langoustine

At just two days after birth, babies are already able to process language using processes similar to those of adults.  International School for Advanced Studies of Trieste (SISSA) researchers have demonstrated that they are sensitive to the most important parts of words, the edges, a cognitive mechanism which has been repeatedly observed in older children and adults.  It is well-known that, in general, people better remember the edges of sequences and particularly in language, when we must remember and recognize words, the brain gives greater weight to information at the beginning and the end of the word.  "The syllables at the beginnings and the ends of words often carry important information.  For example, the parts of words that contain information about plurality of objects or verb tense are almost always found at the beginning or at the end of words in all known languages," says Alissa Ferry, researcher at SISSA and author of the study.  "The infants heard a sequence of six syllables and we examined if they could discriminate it from a very similar sequence, in which we switched the positions of two of the syllables.  When we switched the edge syllables, the newborns' brain responded to the change, but when we switched the two syllables in the middle, they did not respond to the change.  This suggests that the newborns better encoded the syllables at the edges of the sequence," says Perrine Brusini, a SISSA researcher and one of the study's authors.  http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/07/150721081725.htm

Soap making has remained unchanged over the centuries.  The ancient Roman tradition was to take rain water, potash and animal tallow, turning it into a cleansing agent.  Making soap was a long and arduous process.  First the fat had to be rendered, that is melted and filtered to remove any non-fat solids.  Then the potash solution was added to the hot fat.  Since water and oil do not mix, this mixture had to be continuously stirred and heated sufficiently to keep the fat melted. Slowly a chemical reaction called saponification would take place between the fat and the hydroxide which resulted in a liquid soap.  When the fat and water no longer separated, the mixture was allowed to cool.  At this point salt, such as sodium chloride, was added to separate the soap from the excess water.  The soap came to the top, was skimmed off, and placed in wooden molds to cure.  It was often aged many months to allow the reaction between the fat and hydroxide to run to completion.  All soap is made from fats and alkaline solutions. There are many kinds of fats, both animal and vegetable.  Animal fats are usually solid at room temperature, but many vegetable fats are liquid at room temperature.  Basic (alkaline) solutions all contain a metal and a hydroxide ion.  The most common bases are those produced by the reaction of a group I metal plus water.  Even though all soap is made by the chemical combination of lye, water and fat; which is called saponification, soaps differ from one another depending on the type of fat and lye that is used and the amount.  For instance, lye made from wood ash produces a soft soap.  Commercial lye produces a hard soap.  http://homepage.smc.edu/walker_muriel/making_soap_Procedure.htm

The Cartoon History of the Universe is a book series about the history of the world.  It is written and illustrated by American cartoonist, professor, and mathematician Larry Gonick.  Each book in the series explains a period of world history in a loosely chronological order.  Though originally published in limited runs as comic books, the series is now published in trade paperback volumes of several hundred pages each.  While seeking a publisher, Gonick received early support from Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, who worked as an editor at Doubleday and championed The Cartoon History of the Universe's publication.  Beginning with its original comic book Volume 1 in 1977, the complete series covers world history through 2008.  Gonick, Larry (1990).  The Cartoon History of the Universe - From the Big Bang to Alexander the Great (Volumes 1-7).  Doubleday. p. 368.  ISBN 0-385-26520-4.  Gonick, Larry (1994).  The Cartoon History of the Universe II - From the Springtime of China to the Fall of Rome (Volumes 8-13).  Doubleday. p. 305.  ISBN 0-385-42093-5.  Gonick, Larry (2002).  The Cartoon History of the Universe III - From the Rise of Arabia to the Renaissance (Volumes 14-19).  Doubleday. p. 300.  ISBN 0-393-32403-6.  Gonick, Larry (2006).  The Cartoon History of the Modern World - Volume 1:  From Columbus to the U.S. Constitution. Collins. p. 272.  ISBN 0-06-076004-4.  Gonick, Larry (2009).  The Cartoon History of the Modern World - Volume 2:  From the Bastille to Baghdad. Collins. p. 272.  ISBN 0-06-076008-7.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cartoon_History_of_the_Universe

 http://librariansmuse.blogspot.com  Issue 1339  August 17, 2015  On this date in 1807, Robert Fulton's North River Steamboat left New York, New York, for Albany, New York, on the Hudson River, inaugurating the first commercial steamboat service in the world.  On this date in 1907,  Pike Place Market, a popular tourist destination and registered historic district in Seattle, Washington, opened.  On this date in 1908,  Fantasmagorie, the first animated cartoon, created by Émile Cohl, was shown in Paris, France.

Horseracing and gaming are related activities that often appeal to a similar demographic.  The development and increased legalization of casino/slots-style gaming and the establishment of state sponsored lotteries have increased competition for gambling/gaming dollars across the country.  The relationship between racetrack and casino/slots-style gaming and the development of “racinos”, a hybrid of racetrack and casino, are explored in this 35-page paper from Journal of Case Research in Business and Economics at http://www.aabri.com/manuscripts/08058.pdf

German-born Abstract Expressionist Hans Hofmann famously said, “In nature, light creates the color.  In the picture, color creates the light.”  This idea is beautifully manifested in the work of Stanley Whitney (b. 1946), whose compact but exhilarating survey exhibition—28 pictures on canvas and paper from 2008 to now—is on view at the Studio Museum in Harlem through October 25, 2015.  The show’s title, “Dance the Orange,” derives from the poetry of Rainer Maria Rilke and is as joyously applicable to Mr. Whitney’s paintings as are Hofmann’s words. The exhibition’s eponymous painting from 2013 is a 4-foot-square oil-on-linen picture—a modest size for Mr. Whitney, whose paintings range up to 8 feet on a side.  Four horizontal rows of rectangles—one of the middle ones packed with slightly vertical, brightly colored forms, the bottom row looking like a narrow peek into an elevator stopped between floors—nudge one another into a casual harmony.  Peter Plagens  http://www.wsj.com/articles/stanley-whitney-dance-the-orange-review-1439332061?tesla=y  The Studio Museum is located at 144 W. 125th St. in Manhattan.  Phone:  (212) 864-4500  See also http://www.studiomuseum.org/

The Exploratorium is a museum in San Francisco whose stated mission is to change the way the world learns.  It has been described by the New York Times as the most important science museum to have opened since the mid-20th century, an achievement attributed to "the nature of its exhibits, its wide-ranging influence and its sophisticated teacher training program".   Characterized as "a mad scientist's penny arcade, a scientific funhouse, and an experimental laboratory all rolled into one", the participatory nature of its exhibits and its self-identification as a center for informal learning has led to it being cited as the prototype for participatory museums around the world.  The Exploratorium was founded by physicist and educator Frank Oppenheimer and opened in 1969 at the Palace of Fine Arts, its home until January 2, 2013.  On April 17, 2013, the Exploratorium reopened at Piers 15 and 17 on San Francisco's Embarcadero.  The Exploratorium at Pier 15 was designed by architecture firm EHDD.  The piers had been neglected for decades leading up to the Exploratorium’s move, and extensive renovation and repair was required.  Nearly two thirds of the pilings under Pier 15 were repaired, including almost every piling needed to provide structural integrity, and new pilings were sunk.   The use of natural light whenever possible challenged exhibit designers relying on carefully controlled light levels; this was solved by using curtains and glare-reducing paint colors.  Other conflicts between construction and energy use included the glass in the Observatory, which would have presented a problem in cooling the building on warm days.  This was overcome by adding fritted glass to the windows in thin horizontal lines through the panes to decrease the transparency without affecting the views.  The fritting also makes the reflective surfaces of the Bay Observatory safe for birds.    Despite being generally thought of as a science museum, the Exploratorium has always incorporated both science and art.  As early as 1966, Frank Oppenheimer presented a paper discussing the connections between art and science, and the role of a museum in appealing to both casual visitors and serious students of all ages.  The formal artist in residence program was started in 1974, but artworks such as Bob Miller’s Sun Painting were commissioned shortly after the museum was opened in 1969.  Since the founding of the artist in residence program, over 250 artworks in various disciplines have been created.  Each year, the museum invites ten to twenty artists to participate in residencies ranging from two weeks to two years.  Artists-in-residence work with staff and the visiting public to create original installations, exhibits, or performances.  Artists are given a stipend, housing, travel expenses, and technical support, and they have at their disposal the Exploratorium's full array of metal and woodworking shops and materials.  Two artists-in-residence who went on to become staff members have been awarded MacArthur Fellowship "genius" grants:  Walter Kitunduand Ned Kahn.  The new Embarcadero campus opened with more than 40 pieces by prominent artists, including Douglas Hollis, Golan Levin, Lucky Dragons, Amy Balkin, and Fujiko Nakaya. The Center for Art and Inquiry, a new project at the new location, is an initiative to catalyze and orchestrate art across the museum.  The Exploratorium has an equally long history with musical, film and other performances.  Participating artists and performers included Laurie Anderson, John Cage, Philip Glass, Steve Reich, Brian Eno, Ali Akbar Khan, Trimpin, and The Mermen.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exploratorium  See also http://www.exploratorium.edu/ and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fritted_glass

Ramesses the Great by John Ray  Ramesses II fought the Hittites and signed the world's first official peace treaty.  He undertook an unparalleled building programme, had over one hundred children and reigned for 67 years.  Ramesses has gained a multimedia afterlife:  his mummy is flown from Cairo to Paris to be exhibited and re­autopsied, and a series of airport­lounge best­sellers by a French writer, Christian Jacq, gives a soap­opera version of his life.  Yul Brynner captured the essence of his personality in the 1956 film The Ten Commandments, and in popular imagination Ramesses II has become the Pharaoh of the Exodus.  A form of the king's throne­name passed into Classical tradition as Ozymandias, and was immortalised as a symbol of ostentatious tyranny by the poet Shelley.  http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/ancient/egyptians/ramesses_01.shtml  

See the poem Ozymandias by Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792-1822) at http://www.poets.org/poetsorg/poem/ozymandias

Dreaming of Xanadu:  A Guide to Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s poem “Kubla Khan” by Bob Holman and Margery Snyder  Read about Kubla Khan and link to the poem at  http://poetry.about.com/od/poems/a/kublakhanguide_3.htm  

See also The Abyssinian Paradise in Coleridge and Milton at http://www.jstor.org/stable/432654?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents

The ketchup is a vegetable controversy refers to proposed United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) regulations, early in the presidency of Ronald Reagan, that intended to provide more flexibility in meal planning to local school lunch administrators coping with National School Lunch Plan subsidy cuts enacted by the Omnibus Regulation Acts of 1980 and 1981.  The regulations allowed administrators the opportunity to credit items not explicitly listed that met nutritional requirements.  While ketchup was not mentioned in the original regulations, pickle relish was used as an example of an item that could count as a vegetable.  A similar controversy arose in 2011 when Congress passed a bill prohibiting the USDA from increasing the amount of tomato paste required to constitute a vegetable; the bill allowed pizza with two tablespoons of tomato paste to qualify as a vegetable.  The Omnibus Reconciliation Act of 1980, signed into law by President Jimmy Carter, reduced the Federal School Lunch and Child Nutrition Programs budget by approximately eight percent.  Building upon these reductions, the Omnibus Reconciliation Act of 1981 (passed as the Gramm-Latta Budget) made further spending cuts to the Federal School Lunch Program decreasing its fiscal year 1982 budget by 25 percent.  To administer the requirements made by both Omnibus Reconciliation Acts of 1980 and 1981, the USDA's Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) was tasked with proposing ways to implement the regulations while maintaining nutritional requirements for school lunches despite the lower funding.  Among the recommendations made by the Food and Nutrition Service's September 3, 1981 regulations was a proposal to give local school lunch administrators flexibility in accrediting substitute food items that met FNS nutritional requirements and regulations.  The report stated an item could not be counted as a bread that was not enriched or whole-grain, "but could credit a condiment such as pickle relish as a vegetable."  While ketchup was not specifically mentioned as a potential substitute, critics demonstrated outrage in Congress and in the media against the Ronald Reagan administration for cutting school lunch budgets and allowing ketchup and other condiments to count as vegetables.  The Food and Nutrition Service proposed regulations had roots in four previous pieces of legislation:  the National School Lunch Act of 1946, the Child Nutrition Act of 1966, the Omnibus Reconciliation Act of 1980, and the Omnibus Reconciliation Act of 1981.  In 2011, Congress passed a bill that barred the USDA from changing its nutritional guidelines for school lunches.  The proposed changes would have limited the amount of potatoes allowed in lunches, required more green vegetables, and declared a half-cup of tomato paste to count as a serving of vegetables, rather than the current standard of 2 tablespoons.  The blocking of these proposed higher standards meant that the smaller amount of tomato paste in pizza could continue to be counted as a vegetable in school lunches.  The move resulted in widespread mockery, with headlines saying Congress had declared pizza to be a vegetable.  The blocking legislation was criticized heavily, since the change had also been lobbied for by food companies such as ConAgra, and the block was a substantial blow to efforts to make school lunches healthier. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ketchup_as_a_vegetable

37 amazing images of the 2015 Perseid meteor shower 

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/37-amazing-images-of-the-perseid-meteor-shower-10453590.html

http://librariansmuse.blogspot.com    Issue 1338  August 14, 2015  On this date in 1888, an audio recording of English composer Arthur Sullivan's "The Lost Chord", one of the first recordings of music ever made, was played during a press conference introducing Thomas Edison's phonograph in London, England.  On this date in 1893, France became the first country to introduce motor vehicle registration.

August 2, 2015  The Federal Trade Commission recently issued a scam alert warning government employees, contractors and others affected by hacks to look out for imposters pretending to be from the FTC and offering compensation to data-breach victims.  According to Lisa Weintraub Schifferle, an attorney for the FTC’s Division of Consumer and Business Education, here’s how one scam works:  A man, who identifies himself as Dave Johnson, calls and says he’s from the FTC and the government is offering compensation to people affected by the personnel office breach.  He says he’s from the agency’s Las Vegas office.  But to get the money, you have to provide some personal information.  “Stop,” Schifferle writes in a blog post.  “Don’t tell him anything.  He’s not from the FTC.”  • Say nothing.  You’ve got to develop a blanket policy of not giving out any of your personal information if you have not initiated a call or email. • Do nothing.  If a caller ever asks you to wire money or load money onto a prepaid debit card, don’t.  • Don’t believe what you see.  It’s easy to alter what appears on someone’s caller ID, so don’t trust a number you see that may appear to be from the FTC or any other government agency.  If you get a call or email relating to the personnel office breaches, let the FTC know by going to https://econsumer.ftccomplaintassistant.gov/ .  Send any suspicious emails to the Department of Homeland Security’s Computer Emergency Readiness Team at phishing-report@us-cert.gov.  Michelle Singletary  http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/business/2015/08/02/01-first-comes-hack-then-comes-scam.html

The Inca had two calendars.  One was a solar calendar or day time calendar, and the other one was lunar calendar or night time calendar.  The day time calendar was based on the solar cycle.  They counted approximately 365 days in this calendar.  This calendar was used for economic activities such as agriculture, mining, warfare and construction.  This calendar was very important to Inca people, since they depend on this to fix the days on planting.  The night time calender was based on the moon cycle and had 328 days.  It was used to mark the days of all the festivals.   

http://www.machupicchu-inca.com/inca-calendar.html

Mock-epic, also called mock-heroic, is a form of satire that adapts the elevated heroic style of the classical epic poem to a trivial subject.  The tradition, which originated in classical times with an anonymous burlesque of Homer, the Batrachomyomachia (Battle of the Frogs and the Mice), was honed to a fine art in the late 17th- and early 18th-century Neoclassical period.  A double-edged satirical weapon, the mock-epic was sometimes used by the “moderns” of this period to ridicule contemporary “ancients” (classicists).  More often it was used by “ancients” to point up the unheroic character of the modern age by subjecting thinly disguised contemporary events to a heroic treatment.  The classic example of this is Nicolas Boileau’s Le Lutrin (1674–83; “The Lectern”), which begins with a quarrel between two ecclesiastical dignitaries about where to place a lectern in a chapel and ends with a battle in a bookstore in which champions of either side hurl their favourite “ancient” or “modern” authors at each other.  Jonathan Swift’s “Battle of the Books” (1704) is a variation of this theme in mock-heroic prose.  The outstanding English mock-epic is Alexander Pope’s brilliant tour de force The Rape of the Lock (1712–14), which concerns a society beau’s theft of a lock of hair from a society belle; Pope treated the incident as if it were comparable to events that sparked the Trojan War.  Most mock-epics begin with an invocation to the muse and use the familiar epic devices of set speeches, supernatural interventions, and descents to the underworld, as well as infinitely detailed descriptions of the protagonist’s activities.  Thus, they provide much scope for display of the author’s ingenuity and inventiveness.  An American mock-epic, Joel Barlow’s The Hasty Pudding (written 1793), celebrates in three 400-line cantos his favourite New England dish, cornmeal mush.

http://www.britannica.com/art/mock-epic  An example of a mock-heroic narrative poem is Casey at the Bat.

World’s Top 21 Retirement Destinations Revealed in Annual Index   “For the second year running, Algarve, Portugal, takes top honors, thanks to its low cost of living, low cost of real estate, great weather, established expat community, new retiree residency program, and endless options for how to meaningfully fill your days and evenings.  Rounding out the top five are destinations in Europe and Central America.  Puerto Vallarta, Mexico – Developed, luxury-level Pacific Ocean resort town with history and charm  Cayo, Belize – Leave the-world-behind, embrace-the simple-life, off-grid paradise  Languedoc, France – French country living at its best and most affordable  Abruzzo, Italy – Like Tuscany, but at half the cost  Rounding out the 2015 Retire Overseas Index are 16 destinations, grouped by region:  Six in Central America/Caribbean: #10 El Valle, Panama; #12 Granada, Nicaragua; #13 Ambergris Caye, Belize; #14 San Miguel de Allende, Mexico; #15 Las Terrenas, Dominican Republic and #17 City Beaches, Panama  Five in Asia: #7 Hua Hin and #8 Chaing Mai, Thailand; #11 George Town, Malaysia; #20 Cebu, Philippines and #21 Da Nang, Vietnam  Three in South America: #6 Medellin, Colombia; #9 Cuenca, Ecuador and #19 Buenos Aires, Argentina  Two in Europe: #16 Istanbul, Turkey and #18 Barcelona, Spain

http://www.liveandinvestoverseas.com/press-release/2015-retire-overseas-index.html

The RedBall Project will appear in 10 different Toledo locations over 10 days, beginning Friday, August 14 at the Glass Pavilion and finishing on the Peristyle Terrace on Sunday, August 23.  The public art project is part of the summer exhibition Play Time.  On Friday, August 14 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., TV and radio media will be present to cover the RedBall Project and to welcome artist Kurt Perschke.  Performance Locations:

August 14 - Toledo Museum of Art Glass Pavilion | 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.
August 15 - Toledo Farmer’s Market | 8 a.m. to 3 p.m.
August 16 - Across from Fifth Third Field | 1 p.m. to 8 p.m.
August 17 - Toledo Edison Building | 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.
August 18 - ProMedica Steam Plant | 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.
August 19 - Roulet Jewelers | 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.
August 20 - North Erie and Adams Streets | 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.
August 21 - Boyd’s Retro Candy Store | 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.
August 22 - Side Cut Metropark | 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.
August 23 - Toledo Museum of Art Peristyle Terrace | 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. 

or see http://redballproject.com/cities/toledo/

Ann McGovern, a prolific author for children whose work ranged over women’s history, adaptations of folk tales and her own exploits as a globe-trotting adventurer, died on August 8, 2015 at her home in Manhattan. She was 85.  The author of more than 50 titles that have collectively sold millions of copies, Ms. McGovern was known in particular for “Stone Soup,” her 1986 retelling of the traditional story, with illustrations by Winslow Pinney Pels.  Her books carried artwork by some of the foremost picture-book illustrators of the era, among them “Too Much Noise” (1967), illustrated by Simms Taback; “Zoo, Where Are You?” (1964), illustrated by Ezra Jack Keats; “Nicholas Bentley Stoningpot III” (1982), illustrated by Tomie dePaola; and “Little Wolf” (1965), with pictures by Nola Langner, a friend since grade school who illustrated a half-dozen of Ms. McGovern’s books.  Before turning to writing full time, Ms. McGovern was a children’s book editor in New York.  She also wrote four volumes of poetry for adults.

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/12/books/ann-mcgovern-author-is-dead-at-85-she-made-stone-soup-a-school-staple.html?_r=0

Web traffic to Alphabet.com increased by more than 5000% following Larry Page's announcement that Google would become the largest subsidiary of a new holding company called Alphabet.  The problem is, that domain name is owned by BMW.  A Google search for Alphabet does not bring up that website, which currently has no content besides a landing page, but offers the BMW-owned website as the top result.  Lauren Davidson  http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/mediatechnologyandtelecoms/11800672/Alphabet-website-traffic-soars-after-Google-announcement...-but-its-owned-by-BMW.html

Percent vs. per cent   The one-word percent is standard in American English.  Most publications still prefer the two-word per cent.  The older forms per-cent, per cent. (per cent followed by a period), and the original per centum have mostly disappeared from the language (although the latter sometimes appears in legal writing).  There is no difference between percent and per cent. Choosing between them is simply a matter of preference.  http://grammarist.com/spelling/percent-per-cent/

http://librariansmuse.blogspot.com  Issue 1337  August 13, 2015  On this date in 1820, George Grove, English musicologist and historian, was born.  On this date in 1860, Annie Oakley, American target shooter and performer, was born.

The Grant Birthplace in Point Pleasant, Ohio was the birthplace of President Ulysses S. Grant, who was born there in 1822.  The home was built in 1817, and in 1821 Jesse Root Grant wed Hannah Simpson Grant (Ulysses’s parents) and they moved into the home where they paid $2 a month rent.  This was the home of the future president for the first 18 months of his life.  Ulysses S. Grant, named by his parents Hiram Ulysses Grant, was born April 27, 1822, in the clapboard home.  The house where Grant was born was not recognized as a noteworthy building until after Grant’s death in 1885.  Soon after that, the little home was lifted from its foundation and moved by boat to Cincinnati for public exhibition.  From 1885 to 1896 the home was on the move across the state and the nation for expositions, state fairs, and other events  Between 1896 and 1936 it sat on the Ohio State Fairgrounds, sheltered in a limestone and glass pavilion.  After 50 years on the road, in 1935, the Clermont County legislators and the Ohio Historical Society secured the passage of an act authorizing the Society to move the building back to its Point Pleasant original location.  It was moved and dedicated in 1936.  See picture of the birthplace at http://afkgeocaching.com/us-grant-birthplace/  Sandbags placed in the attic helped save the house from being swept into the river during the flood of 1937.

The Ohio River Great Flood of January 1937 surpassed all previous floods during the 175 years of civilized occupancy of the lower Ohio Valley.  Much of the excessive rains across the lower Ohio Valley came in the 11 day period from January 13-24.  Over 16 inches of rain fell along and south of the Ohio River from Cairo, Illinois to Louisville.  In Louisville, the river rose 6.3 feet on the 21st of the month.   See pictures and statistics at http://www.weather.gov/media/lmk/pdf/posters/GreatFlood1937_Poster.pdf

Ulysses S. Grant was a very accomplished painter and paid a lot of attention to detail.  While he was a cadet at West Point, he completed many paintings and sketches which still survive.  Though self-effacing, Grant was proud of his ability to paint, and as President spoke of the satisfaction he derived from producing something "artistic."  In the 1870's, he told his neighbor, George Childs, that he had liked painting and drawing while he was at West Point.  Grant always used watercolors in his work.  Many of his works are privately owned and there are several others on display in museums.  http://www.granthomepage.com/grantartist.htm  See also http://www.sparknotes.com/biography/grant/section2.rhtml

All Those Techies Who Predicted the Demise of the Public Library Were Wrong  Americans still love libraries more than any other public institution  by Wayne Wiegand  Indisputable fact--Americans love their public libraries.  Evidence to support this statement abounds.  A 2013 report by the Pew Research Center’s Internet and American Life Project noted that in the previous decade “every other major institution (government, churches, banks, corporations) has fallen in public esteem except libraries, the military, and first responders.”  The study also found that 91% of those surveyed over sixteen years old said libraries are “very” or “somewhat” important to their communities, and 98% identified their public library experience as “very” or “mostly positive.”  Another Pew study found 94% of parents believe libraries are important for their children; 84% said because libraries develop a love of reading and books.  Although in the 1980s many evangelists of information technology predicted the demise of public libraries by the turn of the century, they’ve been proven wrong. 

http://www.alternet.org/books/all-those-techies-who-predicted-demise-public-library-were-wrong

Poetry quiz  What poems contain these lines:  "the shot heard round the world"   "My candle burns at both ends"   "They danced by the light of the moon"   "Home is the sailor, home from sea"   "raisin in the sun"   "Poetry arrived in search of me"   "I saw above me that endless skyway"   

Paul Dessau uses magazine shreds to create his pieces.  However, they are often so expertly applied to the canvas that they look like acrylic paintings.  Paul's artist statement touts:   “The need for resource and energy sustainability along with the re-use of obsolete manufactured goods has inspired me to create collages from recycled magazine shreds.  Furthermore, such collages should celebrate the leaders and trailblazers from our past as well as current people following their example.  This combination of sustainability and leadership, past and present is the driving inspiration behind my collage portraits.” Modern art can be a sum of all past art and this is true of Paul Dessau's art.  Each piece incorporates elements of Renaissance traditional perspective as well as cubism and abstract expressionism.”  In addition to being a collage artist, Paul has a Master's Degree in Mechanical Engineering, hand-crafts and constructs pipe organs, and other musical instruments.  He also serves as Vice President of Education for Empire Toastmasters and has achieved the highest award available in Toastmasters, the Distinguished Toastmaster award.  http://yubanet.com/regional/Local-Artist-Places-High-at-7th-Annual-Lottery-for-the-Arts.php#.VbTgvPlVhBc

Chocolate Garbanzo Bean Cake

http://www.food.com/recipe/chocolate-garbanzo-bean-cake-360396  Add grated apple or orange juice and zest http://www.ibreatheimhungry.com/2011/10/apple-and-garbanzo-cake-2.html

The Library of Babel as Seen from Within  by Jonathan Basile  Reproducing Borges’s imaginary library online.  Since I first read it in a high school Spanish class, I’ve been fascinated by the theory of language implicit in Borges’s “The Library of Babel.”  The story describes a universal library containing, in 410-page volumes, every possible permutation of twenty-two letters, spaces, commas, and periods—every book that’s ever been written and every book that ever could be, drowned out by endless pages of gibberish.  Its librarians are addicted to the search for certain master texts, the complete catalog of the library, or the future history of one’s own life, but their quest inevitably ends in failure, despair, even suicide.  Perhaps I was obsessed by the same desire for revelation, or haunted by the same subversion of all rational pursuit.  In either case, fifteen years later the idea came to me one night of using the vast calculative capacities of a computer to re-create the Library of Babel as a Web site.  For those interested in experiencing the futile hope of Borges’s bibliotecarios, I’ve made libraryofbabel.info, which now contains anything we ever have written or ever will write, including these sentences I struggle to compose now.  http://www.theparisreview.org/blog/2015/07/23/the-library-of-babel-as-seen-from-within/  Jonathan Basile is a fiction writer and computer programmer.  He created an onlineuniversal library and universal image archive. 

Alphabet Inc--Google's new parent company--will make the tech giant's activities "cleaner and more accountable", said its chief executive (and one of Google's original founders) Larry Page in an August 10, 2015 blog post "G is for Google" http://googleblog.blogspot.in/. http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-33862367  See also http://www.csmonitor.com/Technology/2015/0811/A-is-for-Alphabet-B-is-for-But-it-s-still-Google-video

The 2015 Perseid meteor shower will peak on August 11, 12 and 13.  A new moon on August 14, 2015 will create perfect conditions for watching the meteor shower.  The Perseids can be seen in the Northern Hemisphere.  Look between the radiant, which will be in the north-east part of the sky and the zenith (the point in sky directly above you).  See a table for best viewing times at http://www.timeanddate.com/astronomy/meteor-shower/perseid.html

http://librariansmuse.blogspot.com  Issue 1336  August 12, 2015   On this date in 1851, Isaac Singer was granted a patent for his sewing machine.  On this date in 1898, the Hawaiian flag was lowered from ʻIolani Palace in an elaborate annexation ceremony and replaced with the flag of the United States to signify the transfer of sovereignty from the Republic of Hawaii to the United States.