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Hi Ice, well might have known I would find my way here on national look up at the sky day.....my kind of day.

BTW great thread ICE.

Friday 15 April 2016

Day Of Silence



What is the GLSEN Day of Silence?

The GLSEN Day of Silence is a student-led national event that brings attention to anti-LGBT name-calling, bullying and harassment in schools. Students from middle school to college take a vow of silence in an effort to encourage schools and classmates to address the problem of anti-LGBT behavior by illustrating the silencing effect of bullying and harassment on LGBT students and those perceived to be LGBT.

What is GLSEN?

GLSEN is the leading national education organization focused on ensuring safe schools for all students. Established in 1990, GLSEN envisions a world in which every child learns to respect and accept all people, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity/expression.

For more information visit www.glsen.org

And

Microvolunteering Day



Be Inspired. Be Involved! Woohoo, it's Microvolunteering Day today

Microvolunteering Day is a unique opportunity for microvolunteering platforms, volunteer involved organisations and individuals to join together and demonstrate the empowering potential of the microvolunteering concept.

Good Days to acknowledge, ICE. 

The therapeutic value of vows of silence, of stillness, is well documented in history.  My favorite quote from historian Will Durant:

"Nothing is often a clever thing to do, and always a clever things to say."  Many American Indian tribes valued moments of silence in their oratory, it was part of what they had to say.  Wish some of the members of the various "political" round tables could take a moment to stop talking over each other.  

I'm not sure as to the effectiveness of observance of the day to kids obliged to derogate or bully LGBT.  But you never know who you might reach with a thought.  

best Spanker

Saturday 16 April 2016

Save The Elephant Day



Why World Elephant Day?

Because the world’s elephants are in trouble and need your help. Elephant numbers have dropped by 62% over the last decade, and they could be mostly extinct by the end of the next decade.

An estimated 100 African elephants are killed each day by poachers seeking ivory, meat and body parts, leaving only 400,000 remaining. An insatiable lust for ivory products in the Asian market makes the illegal ivory trade extremely profitable, and has led to the slaughter of tens of thousands of African elephants.

Between 2010 and 2014, the price of ivory in China tripled, driving illicit poaching through the roof.

If the elephants are to survive, the demand for ivory must be drastically reduced. As of 2011, the world is losing more elephants than the population can reproduce, threatening the future of African elephants across the continent.

Bull elephants with big tusks are the main targets and their numbers have been diminished to less than half of the females.

Female African elephants have tusks and are also killed, which has a terrible effect on the stability of elephant societies, leaving an increasing number of orphaned baby elephants.

And

Wear Your Pajamas To Work Day



Each year on April 16th, the day after taxes are due in the United States, it is time to let go of the stress and wear your pajamas to work.

After all, it is National Wear Your Pajamas To Work Day.

What some people are calling “the best holiday of the year,” this day was created as a fun holiday. It is a day to celebrate and unwind from the long hours and hard work of those whose job is to prepare taxes and the anxiety of the last minute tax filers.

National Wear Your Pajamas to Work Day allows you to sleep in a little later than you normally would. Once you get up, you do not have to take the time getting dressed as you are already dressed for your day.

Sunday 17 April 2016

Ford Mustang Day



The Ford Mustang, a two-seat, mid- engine sports car, is officially unveiled by Henry Ford II at the World’s Fair in Flushing Meadows, New York, on April 17, 1964.

That same day, the new car also debuted in Ford showrooms across America and almost 22,000 Mustangs were immediately snapped up by buyers.

Named for a World War II fighter plane, the Mustang was the first of a type of vehicle that came to be known as a “pony car.” Ford sold more than 400,000 Mustangs within its first year of production, far exceeding sales expectations.

The Mustang was conceived as a “working man’s Thunderbird,” according to Ford. The first models featured a long hood and short rear deck and carried a starting price tag of around $2,300. Ford general manager Lee Iacocca, who became president of the company in October 1964 (and later headed up Chrysler, which he was credited with reviving in the 1980s) was involved in the Mustang’s development and marketing.

The car’s launch generated great interest. It was featured on the covers of Newsweek and Time magazines and the night before it went on sale, the Mustang was featured in commercials that ran simultaneously on all three major television networks.

One buyer in Texas reportedly slept at a Ford showroom until his check cleared and he could drive his new Mustang home. The same year it debuted, the Mustang appeared on the silver screen in the James Bond movie “Goldfinger.” A green 1968 Mustang 390 GT was famously featured in the 1968 Steve McQueen movie “Bullitt,” in a car chase through the streets of San Francisco.

Since then, Mustangs have appeared in hundreds of movies. Within three years of its debut, some 500 Mustang fan clubs had cropped up. In March 1966, the 1 millionth Mustang rolled off the assembly line. In honor of the Mustang’s 35th anniversary in 1999, the U.S. Postal Service issued a stamp commemorating the original model. In 2004, Ford built its 300 millionth car, a 2004 Mustang GT convertible 40th anniversary model. The 2004 Mustangs were the final vehicles made at the company’s Dearborn production facility, which had been building Mustangs since their debut. (Assembly then moved to a plant in Flat Rock, Michigan.)

And

Bat Appreciation Day



Bats do a whole lot more than cruise the skies at night. They play an important role in balancing our ecosystem, eating harmful insects and acting as natural pest control. And although some people think bats are freaky looking, there are hundreds of reasons to love these flying mammals.

5 Fun Bat Facts For Bat Appreciation Day

01. Bats are the only flying mammals. Talk about bragging rights! These guys can cruise up to 60 miles per hour.

02. Bats use echolocation. Consider bats the dolphins of the sky. They use echolocation not for communication, but for finding food in the dark.

03. A quarter of all mammals are bats. There are over 1,000 bat species in the world, making up 1/4th of all mammals! However, over 50 percent of these species are declining, either already endangered or on their way.

04. Bats have only one baby per year. Similar to humans, bats typically only have one bat baby (called a pup) per year. Just like people, bats will occasionally have twins.

05. Bats often eat their body weights—daily. Insect-eating bats can consume over 1,000 insects every night. That’s one efficient mosquito trap!

Unfortunately, many once-abundant bat species in the U.S. are now endangered, and all of them are threatened.

@Ice Wizard. Wear your pajamas to work day. ha ha That would be great! Especially if everyone got involved! Talking about taking the stress off the day!

(04-17-2016, 07:25 AM)IceWizard Wrote: [ -> ]Sunday 17 April 2016

Ford Mustang Day



The Ford Mustang, a two-seat, mid- engine sports car, is officially unveiled by Henry Ford II at the World’s Fair in Flushing Meadows, New York, on April 17, 1964.

That same day, the new car also debuted in Ford showrooms across America and almost 22,000 Mustangs were immediately snapped up by buyers.

Named for a World War II fighter plane, the Mustang was the first of a type of vehicle that came to be known as a “pony car.” Ford sold more than 400,000 Mustangs within its first year of production, far exceeding sales expectations.

The Mustang was conceived as a “working man’s Thunderbird,” according to Ford. The first models featured a long hood and short rear deck and carried a starting price tag of around $2,300. Ford general manager Lee Iacocca, who became president of the company in October 1964 (and later headed up Chrysler, which he was credited with reviving in the 1980s) was involved in the Mustang’s development and marketing.

The car’s launch generated great interest. It was featured on the covers of Newsweek and Time magazines and the night before it went on sale, the Mustang was featured in commercials that ran simultaneously on all three major television networks.

One buyer in Texas reportedly slept at a Ford showroom until his check cleared and he could drive his new Mustang home. The same year it debuted, the Mustang appeared on the silver screen in the James Bond movie “Goldfinger.” A green 1968 Mustang 390 GT was famously featured in the 1968 Steve McQueen movie “Bullitt,” in a car chase through the streets of San Francisco.

Since then, Mustangs have appeared in hundreds of movies. Within three years of its debut, some 500 Mustang fan clubs had cropped up. In March 1966, the 1 millionth Mustang rolled off the assembly line. In honor of the Mustang’s 35th anniversary in 1999, the U.S. Postal Service issued a stamp commemorating the original model. In 2004, Ford built its 300 millionth car, a 2004 Mustang GT convertible 40th anniversary model. The 2004 Mustangs were the final vehicles made at the company’s Dearborn production facility, which had been building Mustangs since their debut. (Assembly then moved to a plant in Flat Rock, Michigan.)

And

Bat Appreciation Day



Bats do a whole lot more than cruise the skies at night. They play an important role in balancing our ecosystem, eating harmful insects and acting as natural pest control. And although some people think bats are freaky looking, there are hundreds of reasons to love these flying mammals.

5 Fun Bat Facts For Bat Appreciation Day

01. Bats are the only flying mammals. Talk about bragging rights! These guys can cruise up to 60 miles per hour.

02. Bats use echolocation. Consider bats the dolphins of the sky. They use echolocation not for communication, but for finding food in the dark.

03. A quarter of all mammals are bats. There are over 1,000 bat species in the world, making up 1/4th of all mammals! However, over 50 percent of these species are declining, either already endangered or on their way.

04. Bats have only one baby per year. Similar to humans, bats typically only have one bat baby (called a pup) per year. Just like people, bats will occasionally have twins.

05. Bats often eat their body weights—daily. Insect-eating bats can consume over 1,000 insects every night. That’s one efficient mosquito trap!

Unfortunately, many once-abundant bat species in the U.S. are now endangered, and all of them are threatened.

Bats are way cool Ice.  i used to carry a slingshot and a baggie with some grape nuts cereal when camping and backpacking.  If the elevation and time were right, I could shoot a load of grape nuts into the air and watch the bats go after them. 

Spank

Monday 18 April 2016

Pet Owners Independence Day



Pet Owners Independence Day is celebrated on April 18, 2016. It's a holiday for all of those who have pets.

If you are a pet owner, be proud and celebrate yourself on this day!

You should do this by taking off the day for work and send your pet(s) to work in your place pets.

Enjoy the life by switching into a pet's perspective by sleeping and eating all day long.

And

Amateur Radio Day



Every April 18, radio amateurs worldwide take to the airwaves in celebration of World Amateur Radio Day.

It was on that day in 1925 that the International Amateur Radio Union was formed in Paris. Amateur Radio experimenters were the first to discover that the short wave spectrum — far from being a wasteland — could support worldwide propagation.

In the rush to use these shorter wavelengths, Amateur Radio was “in grave danger of being pushed aside,” the IARU’s history has noted.

Amateur Radio pioneers met in Paris in 1925 and created the IARU to support Amateur Radio worldwide. Just two years later, at the International Radiotelegraph Conference, Amateur Radio gained the allocations still recognized today — 160, 80, 40, 20, and 10 meters.

Since its founding, the IARU has worked tirelessly to defend and expand the frequency allocations for Amateur Radio. Thanks to the support of enlightened administrations in every part of the globe, radio amateurs are now able to experiment and communicate in frequency bands strategically located throughout the radio spectrum.

From the 25 countries that formed the IARU in 1925, the IARU has grown to include 160 member-societies in three regions.

IARU

Region 1 includes Europe, Africa, the Middle East, and Northern Asia.

Region 2 covers the Americas, and

Region 3 is comprised of Australia, New Zealand, the Pacific island nations, and most of Asia.

The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) has recognized the IARU as representing the interests of Amateur Radio.

Today, Amateur Radio is more popular than ever, with over 3,000,000 licensed operators!

Tuesday 19 April 2016



National Hanging Out Day

Each year on April 19, Project Laundry List works with hundreds of other organizations to sponsor National Hanging Out Day.

This day was set aside as a day to encourage communities to learn about the benefits, both financially and environmentally, of using a clothesline for drying laundry.

According to Project Laundry Lists’ website, clothes dryers account for an astonishing six to ten percent of residential energy consumption.

Hanging your clothes out has several benefits:

Good for the environment.

Saves you money

It is therapeutic because being outdoors in the fresh air has benefits to your health.

And

Bicycle Day



Today is Bicycle Day, but before you start wheeling out the deadly treadly, you might want to look a bit closer at what the day actually marks.

Bicycle Day celebrates Swiss scientist Albert Hofmann's discovery of lysergic acid diethylamide or LSD in 1943, and the subsequent, and at times harrowing, ride home on his bicycle after deliberately ingesting a dose of the drug.

Stephen Bright from Curtin University's School of Psychology conceded it might seem a little odd to celebrate the discovery of an illegal drug, but said there was much more to LSD than many people realised.

Dr Bright said the discovery of LSD's psychedelic properties led to a new understanding of the brain, and a paradigm shift in psychiatry.

"LSD itself was also found to be effective in treating a range of mental disorders in the context of psychotherapy, including addiction, anxiety and depression," he said. "Just one or two sessions of LSD-assisted psychotherapy were found to have profound, rapid and long-lasting positive effects with little need for further interventions.

"So by the early 1970s there were over 1,000 papers published on LSD, and it had been given to at least 10,000 patients." Dr Bright said LSD was a very safe drug when given in controlled doses in a controlled setting. "LSD is has a very, very low acute toxicity," he said. "There's been no reported overdose in the literature from LSD, and the same cannot be said of psychiatric medications that are currently being used today."

He also said LSD did not cause dependence and could represent a possible cure, unlike many medications which were designed only to treat symptoms.

But he said LSD had become a victim of US President Richard Nixon's war on drugs in the 1970s, a campaign which had resulted in a legacy of misinformation.

"In the past 10 years there's been an international psychedelic science renaissance," Dr Bright said. He said a Swiss study showed LSD-assisted psychotherapy was effective at reducing anxiety among people with end-stage cancer.

And a paper from the Imperial College in London demonstrated that a dose of LSD improved people's mood for about two weeks without causing any long term psychological damage.

Dr Bright said it had also been shown that LSD could benefit people with treatment-resistant depression. He said recently released brain imaging studies from Imperial College London provided clues about why this might be.

"It was because LSD leads to powerful changes in neural pathways in the brain, and this might be leveraged to assist people to see the world in a different way, and disengage entrenched beliefs that are leading to their depression or their addiction," Dr Bright said.

yeah, those My Little Pony's had something on their tongue. argh!!

Intriguing.