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Saturday, 02 February 2013

INTERESTING STUFF: 2 February 2013

100TH ANNIVERSARY OF GRAND CENTRAL STATION
One hundred years ago today, Grand Central Station opened for business in New York City. It is a magnificent building – breathtakingly beautiful – and as much as I hated my four-and-a-half hour commute for three years, I never tired of walking through the main hall twice a day.

Here is a video with a few of the secrets of Grand Central:

The narrator of the video is The New York Times urban correspondent, Sam Roberts, who has written a book celebrating the station's centennial, Grand Central: How a Train Station Transformed America.

You can read more about the station here.

GIVING GUNS TO CHILDREN
Americans have been thinking a lot about guns and gun control recently. Last Sunday, The New York Times published what struck me as a truly shocking investigative story about training children to use automatic weapons:

”Threatened by long-term declining participation in shooting sports, the firearms industry has poured millions of dollars into a broad campaign to ensure its future by getting guns into the hands of more, and younger, children,” writes reporter Mike McIntire.

“The industry’s strategies include giving firearms, ammunition and cash to youth groups; weakening state restrictions on hunting by young children; marketing an affordable military-style rifle for 'junior shooters' and sponsoring semiautomatic-handgun competitions for youths...”

It's a stunning article that everyone should read. You can do that here.

15-YEAR-OLD KILLED IN DRIVE-BY SHOOTING
Hadiyah Pendleton, a 15-year-old majorette who marched in President Barack Obama's inaugural parade was shot to death in the back last Tuesday as she was standing with friends in a Chicago park after school.

Read the whole story here.

TODAY'S ACCIDENTAL SHOOTINGS
Connecticut man accidentally shoots himself while walking

Georgia Hospital Contractor Accidentally Shoots Himself In Hospital Parking Lot

Kansas Man Accidentally Shot While Hunting

Alabama Man Dies In Hunting Accident

Those are just four of the many headlines this week at the Today's Accidental Shootings website. My friend Jim Stone introduced me to it and we agreed that as diligent as the site's owner is in tracking these down to publish, there are probably more each day. Take a look.

HAVA NAGILA TEXAS STYLE
My friend Kent McKamy sent this along. For the first minute or two, it seems to be an ordinary church choir doing a fine job of singing the traditional Jewish folk song. But hang in there; halfway through it takes on a whole different sound.

SECRETARY CLINTON'S STATS
Hillary Clinton officially retired this week from the Department of State. Gail Collins at The New York Times listed some of the secretary's “official” statistics:

Traveled 956,733 miles

Visited 112 different countries

Conducted 1,700 meetings with world leaders

Ate 570 airplane meals

At this blog, we strive to give you the important stuff. Read more here.

STATE AND LOCAL TAX GRAPH
This graph shows the state and local tax distribution paid by non-elder residents as a percentage of income in 2010. The chart represents the 50 state (and District of Columbia) average. Via firedoglake. Click here for larger version.

PREVIEW OF TACO BELL SUPER BOWL AD
A big thank you to Steve Garfield for this look at the Taco Bell Super Bowl commercial that will play during the game tomorrow, Sunday. You're gonna love it.

GOOD MOOD BOOSTS BRAIN POWER IN ELDERS
We were talking about our short-term memory problems this week when along comes this report emailed by Cop Car of Cop Car's Beat blog:

"Researchers found that easy mood-boosters - like giving people a small bag of candy - helped seniors do significantly better on tests of decision-making and working memory.

"This is the first study to show the power of positive moods in helping older people with these brain tasks."

Some good news for a change about some help we can give our memories. Read more here.

CAT HELPS WITH THE LAUNDRY
It has become tradition by now that there is always at least one cat story on Saturdays. I don't know how we managed last week without one but I think this makes up for it.

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Interesting Stuff is a weekly listing of short takes and links to web items that have caught my attention; some related to aging and some not, some useful and others just for fun.

You are all encouraged to submit items for inclusion. Just click “Contact” in the upper left corner of any Time Goes By page to send them. I'm sorry that I probably won't have time to acknowledge receipt and there is no guarantee of publication. But when I do include them, you will be credited and I will link to your blog if you have one.

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