Ever heard of Shawmut, or Pigs Eye Parrat? There are - or were - real places. But, with the march of time, it seems everything is changing. Robots are replacing doctors. Mail has been usurped by email… and text… and tweet. The 5 and Dime, became Kmart, and then Walmart – then who knows what’s next? 

Heck… it seems in some ways that the gladiators of the past have been replaced by Professional Wrestling, which has further morphed into Politics, with its showmanship and to-the-death enemies. Even the ever-trusted paper map has been replaced by GPS, and the encyclopedia has been booted into obscurity by Google. 

And where are you from? 

 

https://www.ranker.com/list/us-cities-renamed/tracey-graham 

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

https://languagecentre.sun.ac.za/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/List-of-City-Name-Changes-Wikipedia.pdf 

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 Have you ever had one of those days when everything goes wrong?  
You know, the kind of day when your toast is burnt; and on top of that you are out of butter and somebody finished off the OJ. So, you toss the toast, head for work, and stop for a breakfast sandwich - and your credit card won’t work – and you used the last of the free-floating change in the car yesterday to get a soda.

What are the odds?

It does happen, but it’s not going to end you. It might make you a little warry –but, you probably won’t be taking any ‘death defying’ chances today, as the odds are obviously not in your favor.

However, for many of those things we fear, have nightmares about, and might worry might take us out, the actual likelihood is actually quite low.

References:
https://www.ksl.com/article/26336838/florida-man-bitten-by-shark-punched-by-monkey-twice-struck-by-lightning-bitten-by-snake
https://www.business-standard.com/article/news-ani/death-cheater-us-man-survives-lightning-strike-snake-and-shark-bites-113080700416_1.html
https://www.npr.org/2013/08/10/210759508/man-survives-attack-by-shark-snake-lightning
Different Man - https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-43858481  (Snake, Bear, Shark)
Another Man Roy Sullivan - https://www.newsleader.com/story/news/local/history/2016/08/07/park-ranger-struck-lightning-7-8-times-history/88377364/  (8 times with lightning)
Statistics: https://ourworldindata.org/causes-of-death#:~:text=The%20most%20common%20causes%20of%20death%20globally%20%E2%80%94%20shown%20in%20blue,and%20aren't%20infectious%20themselves.
https://www.who.int/data/gho/data/themes/mortality-and-global-health-estimates 

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 Some things are easily observable in the desert. The unobstructed vistas can stretch out for tens and even hundreds of miles. It can be very tough to guess just how far away – or how close – things can be.

And, whenever there is something going on, dust gets thrown up into the air – you can see it for miles. And the dust cloud is carried downwind. The column of a little dust devil can be visible for miles. The dust from a pick-up driving along a dirt road, a construction site, and even a dirt bike zipping along on a trail miles away – can be seen. You may be so far from the source you have no idea what is kicking stuff up.

Looking out to the rest of the world, it is true that activity kicks up dust, that drifts about until somewhere downwind it again falls to the ground. This happens literally and figuratively. But you can’t always see it.
Everything that happens has an impact on whatever is downwind – downwind in geography, and in time. 

A large portion of the New Mexico, Nevada, and Utah deserts were subject to the nuclear fallout that drifted downwind of the ongoing tests. Tests that continued for decades. 

Back then, people were assured if they stayed out of the fallout, and brushed it or washed it away, it was perfectly safe. However, specific cancers became much more common throughout those regions in the years that passed after that first, and the subsequent years of testing of nuclear weapons.

Today we know, through formerly classified documents, that the United States Government knew the situation was not at all benign. And that hundreds of thousands of lives of downwinders (Down Winders) had been, and yet will be, impacted.

https://www.nti.org/atomic-pulse/downwind-of-trinity-remembering-the-first-victims-of-the-atomic-bomb/
https://thebulletin.org/premium/2023-07/collateral-damage-american-civilian-survivors-of-the-1945-trinity-test/
https://www.history.com/news/atomic-bomb-test-victims-new-mexico-downwinders 

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 Have you ever seen some new gadget and thought to yourself. “I should have thought of that! Somebodies gonna make a fortune on that!”
But great ideas – everybody has them. Those bright flashes in our brains that illuminate some fantastic new concept in a new way. You know, the better mousetrap. “We’ll be selling them like hot-cakes! Man, I need to get a patent on this.”
Well, some newfangled mousetraps are better than others.
Novel ideas can be hard to judge at the moment. Some things seem like a good idea at the time – and then time passes.
Some folks have call them Vampire Ideas. They seem totally genius – until the light of a new day rises, and they melt – like a vampire in the sun.
Here are 7 examples of stellar inventions, that, upon further review – didn’t work out as one might have thought – or maybe they did. 

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 This is one of those episodes that might freak you out a bit. If you don’t like to hear about some of the lesser known, but kind’a yucky realities of life. You might want to skip this one.

Some really smart biologist stated that humans are massively outnumbered and out gunned by a presence right here on our own planet, right now. 
In fact, they out number us 1.4 billion to one.

It is a presence we’ve already been at war with, on and off, for eon’s. Sometimes we’ve been seriously decimated by the enemy. They’ve attacked with disease, chemical warfare, and wiped-out crops, and destroyed homes.
But, it’s not like humans haven’t gotten in some licks of their own. We have employed everything from close quarters combat to chemical warfare, and even genetic engineering.

The Enemy – insects: Like fleas, mosquitos, ants, bees, aphids, termites, and so many others. They have been eating our crops, spreading disease, stinging and biting us – even drinking our blood. And they won’t be stopping anytime soon. Ewe –

But a new day has come. And, well, some, understandably, are not completely comfortable with it – including me.

Here’s the latest - Now they are talking about adding even more bugs; and doing it on purpose. In fact, they have already been doing it for quite a while. Want to know more? Check out the video.

Also See:
https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/the-bugs-of-the-world-could-squish-us-all/ 
https://www.boredpanda.com/people-freak-out-about-processed-foods-include-bug-ingredients-after-app-goes-viral/
https://www.miragenews.com/foods-you-didnt-know-are-of-insects-1005795/#google_vignette 
https://www.bbc.com/news/business-43786055
https://academic.oup.com/af/article/13/4/16/7242408 

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 Your life, our world, is filled with analogous examples of ‘test pancakes’.

You can learn a lot from a test pancake. It is an unavoidable and irreplaceable part of breakfast – and most of life. 
What can you learn from a Pancake? Stick with me and check it out.
Have you ever made pancakes? For breakfast… or any other meal? They are a most definitely a delectable staple of our culinary repertoire in the United States. A true and hearty breakfast is not complete without a hot cake or two. 

However, properly made, a simple pancake is fully capable of standing on its own. Hot off the griddle, there is a comfort to their texture and guileless flavor that is both pleasant, peaceful, and re-assuring. A certain familiarity that is a like a never changing foundation of flavors.

All of us will get the opportunity for numerous ‘test pancake’ events in our lives. They happen all the time. They can also be referred to as “firsts”. And, they might be hard or sweet experiences; and at the same time immediate revelations. Each one will generate experience; experience provides learning, perspective, and understanding; and hopefully wisdom. 

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 Have you ever noticed that most folks (including ourselves) like to pretend we will beat the odds of a bad outcome when making a foolish choice. Most every time anyone who chooses a bad path figured they’d be the exception too. That they had a plan, an angle, an advantage, that would give them the edge.

Just like everyone else, most criminals are also to trying to game the system and beat the odds. Seems most who have chosen that path has found their expectations of glamour and excitement go unfulfilled. And they just end up exposed and humiliated.

Have you ever considered a life of crime? You will want to reconsider after hearing about these 7. 

And, if you’ve never wanted to attempt crime as a career choice, here are 7 perfect examples of why you should feel good about your choice.


https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1989-09-29-mn-100-story.html
https://www.newson6.com/story/5e3616132f69d76f6203e137/sneeze-helps-osage-nation-police-find-suspect
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/6431303/Dumb-American-criminals-attempt-robbery-with-permanent-marker-pen-disguises.html
https://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/oddities/stupid-criminal-of-the-day-pay-stub-bank-robber/1851933/
https://archive.nytimes.com/cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/03/31/bank-robber-left-behind-photo-id-police-say/
https://www.orlandosentinel.com/1997/03/21/accused-hiking-boot-thief-pleas-non-compos-footsis/
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/2602238/Burglar-left-hanging-upside-down-after-trapping-shoelace.html 

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 An inventor by the name of Gustave Whitehead claims to have achieved flight in August 1901. This claim predates the generally acknowledged first-in-flight achievement of Orville and Wilbur Wright in December 1903, by 2 years.

Since then - Historians have worked very hard to try to prove or discredit the claims that Gustave Whitehead was truly ‘first-in-flight’. Are Gustaves claims legitimate?

But, is it true? Did an immigrant and inventor, and a great storyteller, who arrived in the United States in 1894 from Leutershausen, Bavaria, really fly first? It seems two points of view can seem to completely contradict each other. Meaning, if one is true, the other must be false... Right?

Also See:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gustave_Whitehead
https://web.archive.org/web/20010217000744/http://airsports.fai.org/jun98/jun9805.html
https://www.wright-brothers.org/History_Wing/History_of_the_Airplane/Who_Was_First/Gustav_Whitehead/Gustav_Whitehead.htm
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/scientific-american-debunks-claim-gustave-whitehead-was-first-in-flight/
https://airandspace.si.edu/stories/editorial/flight-claims-gustave-whitehead 

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 (Just a quick note: If you are a little paranoid, this little commentary will only make it worse. You have been warned.)
Have you ever had a brief conversation about something you're interested in, in the privacy of your own home? Then, a few moments later while you are wasting time on Facebook, an add pops up advertising just what you were talking about?
I recently mentioned to my wife that it was time to replace the furnace air filter. That evening, several Google Ads started showing deals on air purifiers and filters for my HVAC system.
Most of us are already suspicious of our smartphones, smart speakers, and smart TVS. “Ya, I already know about that stuff. And if they want to snoop, they are going to get really board”, you might say. I get that, my lifestyle is pretty boring too.
However, as they say on the late-night infomercials, “But Wait – There's More”
It is not just the obvious suspects snitching on you. Oh, No!! There is more!

https://listverse.com/2019/04/29/10-things-you-wont-believe-can-spy-on-you-but-do/
https://www.wired.com/story/strava-heat-map-military-bases-fitness-trackers-privacy/
https://www.cpp.edu/cyberfair/poster-information/documents/vacuum-robot-abstract.pdf
https://www.fastcompany.com/90291265/reminder-all-those-smart-devices-are-a-growing-security-threat
https://securityaffairs.com/74592/hacking/hacking-smart-vacuums.html 

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 The human creature, in spite of its enormous brain power, can often glitch just a bit. For Example: looking for your car keys and realizing they are in your hand. Or, the moment you walk into a grocery store, you forget what you were planning to get.
Some street hustlers and politicians use this tendency we have to hyper focus on one thing to cause us to miss something else. Like a pickpocket team – while one bumps into the mark from the front, the one in the back lifts the wallet – the mark doesn’t have a clue that soon they will be canceling all their credit cards. 
Or sometimes there is the one who is in - head over heels – in so much that they can’t see that the other is just not that into them. Everyone else can see it – how did they miss it? 
There are times when distraction grabs us, and then we miss something critical. It can be a genuine problem.
This little parable comes from personal experience as a firefighter. The time I found myself standing in a tornado of fire - and not having a clue. 

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