Mullet Over #460

Ouch!  A corporate finance study has revealed that the loss of an employee’s laptop will often cost a business firm more than $25,000 (for legal expenses, lost productivity, missing data, etc.).

I have learned from delivering a few speeches that yawning is contagious amongst humans.  Those who study animal behavior are saying that yawning has also proven to be contagious in primates (especially chimpanzees) and canines.

Paleontologists have discovered the remains of a goat-sized extinct animal that has been named Tiarajudens eccentricus. I mention this particular beast because it had a pair of 5 inch fangs, yet all its other teeth indicate the creature was a vegetarian. Some speculate the saber-like teeth were for frightening predators. The scare-thingy would have worked on me.

It turns out that Momma was right again: researchers at Yale University claim their data indicates that people who regularly consume complex carbohydrates, contained in many vegetables, have measurably better “cognitive functioning” (I “think” that means “thinking”) than those who feast principally on meat and simple carbs.

In a classic example of bad taste: on the first of April in 2003, the Iraqi ambassador to Russia addressed a group of international news reporters and said “The Americans have accidentally fired a nuclear missile into British forces, killing seven.” After a minute of stunned silence, the “funny man” shouted “April Fool!”

Mick Jagger (1943) of The Rolling Stones is older than Israel (1948).

Should the planet be renamed? Absolutely no mercury has been detected on the planet called Mercury.

Bob Hope and Isaac Asimov were both immigrants who entered the U.S.A. through Ellis Island.

A favorite phrase in Russia is “kusat’ sebe lokti” which translates as “don’t bite your elbows.” The idiom supposedly means “do not get upset over things you cannot do.”

Toadskin, Bullfrog and Spaghetti are actual names of computer programming languages.

In 1967, the serving prime minster of Australia disappeared and was never found. Harold Holt was apparently last seen alive as he swam not far from Melbourne, just off Cheviot Beach. Popular speculation is that the unfortunate man was swept out to sea and drowned. However, some Australians believe he was taken by a large shark or was murdered by political rivals.

George Washington, James Buchanan, Andrew Jackson, James Polk and James Madison are the five U.S. presidents who never had children of their own.

Well, listen to Momma (eat your veggies) and you should have a good week.