IRS

It happened on this day in 1862. It started with the the high cost of the the US at war with itself. To help pay for the Civil War, Congress established the Bureau of Internal Revenue. President Abraham Lincoln signed the bill into law, for the  feds to collect a three percent tax on incomes ranging from $600 to $10,000, and five percent on incomes over $10,000. It was passed as a temporary law.

The Bureau became the Internal Revenue Service in 1913 when the 16th amendment was added to the Constitution permitting the Government to collect a tax on income. How ironic that a few days before we celebrate our independence, they took away our independence from taxes.

Three Flag Facts for the Fourth of July

The historic photo and film footage of the American flag being raised at Iwo Jima actually shows the second flag erected on the Japanese island. The U.S. had suffered more than 4,500 casualties during its 1,000 yard advance to capture Mt. Suribachi. Lt. Col. Chandler Johnson ordered a patrol up the mountain and handed Lt. George Schrier a 54” x 26” flag, saying “If you get to the top, put it up.” Schrier’s 40-man patrol snaked its way up to the mountain’s summit and propped up Old Glory with an abandoned piece of drain pipe and some rocks.

Sensing a historic moment, the colonel sent an assistant to fetch a larger (96″ x 54″) flag that had flown on one of the ships bombed at Pearl Harbor. Johnson handed it to Pfc. Rene Gagnon and ordered him to replace the original, smaller flag, “So every son of a bitch on this whole cruddy island can see it.” Associated Press photographer Joe Rosenthal snapped the Pulitzer Prize-winning photo of the second flag being raised.

2 - The flag patch on the right sleeves of some U.S. military uniforms may appear to be backwards, as do the decals on the right side of U.S. aircraft and other vehicles. There’s a perfectly legitimate reason for this, of course: flag protocol dictates that the Stars and Stripes should always be displayed as if the flag was flying in a breeze. This practice dates back to the earliest days of the U.S. Army, when one soldier was designated as the “standard bearer.” As the standard bearer marched forward into battle, the flag would naturally unfurl behind him, away from the staff. The canton, or the area with the stars, should always be depicted facing forward.

3 - The Parade of Nations, now a traditional part of the Olympic opening ceremonies, was first added to the program at the 1908 Games in London. As the teams passed the Royal Box, each nation’s flag-bearer was expected to dip his nation’s banner to King Edward VII. Ralph Rose, who was carrying the U.S. flag, refused to do so. As a proud Irish-American, Rose had no particular affection for the British anyway, but when questioned about keeping his nation’s flag vertical, his reply was simple: ”This flag dips for no earthly king.” The U.S. flag bearers at the 1912, 1924 and 1932 Games weren’t so staunch in their patriotism, and lowered Old Glory when passing the head of state, even though the “no dip” rule was part of the official Flag Code adopted in 1923. The United States was the only nation to not dip its flag while passing Adolf Hitler in the stands during the Parade of Nations at the 1936 Games in Berlin, and the tradition has remained steadfast since then.

Six Grades of Beef

This might be handy for holiday grillers. Let's start with the Angus beef. Angus is not a quality grade. In fact Angus cattle are the most commonly used cattle in the US. Contrary to the advertising hype, buying Angus means that you are buying the most common type of beef available. It is like advertising, 'Made from real cows'. "Certified Angus Beef' is another designation that comes from the American Angus Association and is not a USDA designation.

It must be proven to have 51% Angus origin in order for a cow or bull to be called Angus. So the bottom line is that meat coming from an animal that is at least 51% the most common in the US can be called Angus. Wow, that is worth the price increase. Caveat Emptor and happy grilling.

Quality Grades:

• Prime grade - is produced from young, well-fed beef cattle. It has abundant marbling and is generally sold in restaurants and hotels. Prime roasts and steaks are excellent for dry-heat cooking (i.e., roasting, broiling, and grilling).
• Choice grade - is high quality, but has less marbling than Prime. Choice roasts and steaks from the loin and rib will be very tender, juicy, and flavorful and like Prime, suited to dry-heat cooking. . . .
• Select grade - is very uniform in quality and normally leaner than the higher grades. It is fairly tender, but, because it has less marbling, it may lack some of the juiciness and flavor of the higher grades.
• Commercial, Utility, and Cutter - These are store grade, with cutter used for hot dogs, filler, etc.

Bacon Potato Pie

Now McDonald's Japan is serving bacon potato pie, made with mashed potatoes mixed with bacon and deep fried. Why not serve that here?

An Internet Minute

You probably have heard the expression, 'A New York Minute' meaning fast. Here is an 'Internet Minute'. Forgive me because this is a bit long, but thought it might be interesting to show what happens on the internet, every minute of every day. You may not understand all of the terms, but a look at the numbers shows an astounding amount of activity every minute.

According to Shanghai Web Designers, on average, this is what transpires every sixty seconds on the Web.

- Search engine Google answers more that 694,445 queries
- 6,600+ pictures are uploaded to Flickr
- 600 videos, equal to 25 hours of content are uploaded to YouTube
- 695,000 status updates, 79,364 wall posts and 510,040 comments are published on Facebook
- 70 new domains are registered (web sites)
- More than 168 million emails are sent
- 320 new accounts and 98,000 tweets are generated on Twitter
- Thirteen thousand  iPhone applications are downloaded
- 20,000 new posts are published on Tumblr
- FireFox web browser is downloaded more than 1,700 times
- 100 accounts are created on LinkedIn
- 40 new questions are asked on YahooAnswers.com
- 100+ questions are asked on Answers.com
- 1 new article is published on Associated Content
- 1 new definition is added on UrbanDictionary.com
- 1,200+ new ads are created on Craigslist
- 370,000+ minutes of voice calls done by Skype (phone alternative) users

Yep, all this activity every minute of every day and some of the content is actually useful and interesting. Now, aren't you glad you only have to deal with my Friday Thoughts summary from all that activity.

Best Hot Dogs

Hot dogs are a staple for summer holidays and July fourth is no different. There is a web site that has posted what it says are the 20 best hot dogs. LINK Interesting to note that all 20 were packaged dogs. All but a few were beef dogs and most had the casing which produced a crunch when bitten into. Winner was Hebrew National Reduced Fat Beef Franks and the runner up was Nathan's Kosher Premium Beef Franks. Not surprising, Oscar Mayer had seven contenders in the running.

Personally, I find meat market hand made dogs to be ultimately more tasty and flavorful. Also, a bit of pork thrown in adds to the flavor and diversity of taste. The person that thought of adding turkey to hot dogs is just as bad as the person that first added non meat fillers to hot dogs. Blasphemy!

Stephen Collins Foster

July 4 is important to U.S. history and on July 4, 1826, in addition to being the 50th Anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, it was also the date both Thomas Jefferson and John Adams died. It was also the birth date of Stephen Collins Foster.

Foster has been often cited as the father of American music and was the pre-eminent songwriter of the 19th century in the United States. He published his first song when he was only 18. His songs remain popular to this day, with such favorites as "Oh! Susanna," "Camptown Races," "Old Folks at Home" (known as "Swanee River"), "My Old Kentucky Home," and "Beautiful Dreamer." Foster was born and lived in what is now Pittsburgh (Lawrenceville). Doo Dah, Doo Dah!

Duct Tape and Warts

A study was conducted by a military pediatric clinic in Cincinnati hospital a few years ago and the results showed that duct tape was more effective than cryotherapy (freezing) warts.

A total of 51 patients (age range, 3-22 years) completed the study. Patients were randomized using computer-generated codes to receive either cryotherapy (liquid nitrogen applied to each wart for 10 seconds every 2-3 weeks) for a maximum of 6 treatments or duct tape occlusion (applied directly to the wart) for a maximum of 2 months. Patients had their warts measured at baseline and with return visits.

Of the 51 patients completing the study, 26 (51%) were treated with duct tape, and 25 (49%) were treated with cryotherapy. Twenty-two patients (85%) in the duct tape arm vs 15 patients (60%) enrolled in the cryotherapy arm had complete resolution of their warts. The majority of warts that responded to either therapy did so within the first month of treatment. The results showed that duct tape therapy was significantly more effective than cryotherapy for treatment of the common wart. Hopefully the warts were on parts of the body that were able to be covered. Am sure some enterprising soul will come out with flesh colored duct tape and charge twice as much, because it is 'medical'.

Happy Friday

May you always have Love to Share, Health to Spare, and Friends who Care.

With love, health, and friends I always have a Happy Friday!

Cola Facts

Coke makes so many different beverages that if you drank one per day, it would take you over 9 years to try them all. Coca-Cola has more than 3,500 beverages (and 500 brands), spanning from sodas to energy drinks to soy-based drinks and water. It sells more than 1000 kinds of juice drinks, including: Simply, Minute Maid, Fruitopia, Hi-C, Fuze and Odwalla

Pepsi vs, Coke - Although Coca-Cola revenue was 38% less than PepsiCo's last year, Coke generated more in soft drink revenue -- around $28 billion vs. $12 billion

Pepsi owns non-drink brands like Frito-Lays and Quaker Oats.

There are 33 non-alcoholic brands that generate over $1 billion in revenue. Coca-Cola owns 15 of them

Origin of French Toast

Contrary to the name, French toast was not invented in France, in fact, it was invented before there was a France.

Bread has been a staple food for most cultures since food first began being prepared. Soaking bread was a way to make stale bread a bit more palatable, like gravy bread, bread pudding, and other recipes. Soaking stale bread in milk and egg and then cooking it is just another variation of the theme.

The earliest reference for 'French' bread dates back to 4th century Rome. Romans would take bread and soak it in a milk and egg mixture and cook it, typically frying it in oil or butter, much as it is still prepared.

Ten Uses for Coffee Grounds

Dry them out on a cookie sheet and then put them in a bowl in your refrigerator or freezer, or rub them on your hands to get rid of food prep smells.

Airplane attendants have used bags of unused coffee grounds in restrooms on planes to help neutralize odors. This also works in kitchen cabinets. Just place some grounds on a plate and stick in the cabinet.

Plants such as rosebushes, azaleas, rhododendrons, evergreen and camellias that prefer acidic soils will appreciate the leftovers from your morning cup. Also, grounds can add nutrients to your compost pile.

Sprinkle old grounds around places you don’t want ants, or on the ant piles themselves. The little buggers will move on or stay away. Used grounds are also said to repel snails and slugs.
By steeping grounds in hot water, you can make brown dye for fabric, paper and even Easter eggs.You can even apply steeped grounds liquid to furniture scratches with a Q-tip.
Because they are slightly abrasive, grounds can be used as a scouring agent for greasy and grimy stain-resistant objects.
To keep kitty from using the garden as her personal powder room, sprinkle grounds mixed with orange peels around your plants.
Before you clean out the fireplace, toss wet coffee grounds over the ashes to keep the ash dust under control.

Five Tire Facts

Charles Goodyear invented vulcanized rubber in 1844 that was later used for tires. (Rubber bands were invented the next year, 1845).
John Dunlop invented the air-filled, pneumatic tires, in 1888 for bicycles.
André Michelin was the first person to use pneumatic tires on an automobile in 1895.
In 1911, Philip Strauss invented the first combination tire and air filled inner tube.
P.W. Litchfield of the Goodyear Tire Company patented the first tubeless tire in 1903, but it was never commercially exploited until 1954 on a Packard. Interesting that during the past 160 years, we have not been able to find a more economic substitute, that never goes flat. BTW - the name "rubber" comes from the use of the natural substance as a pencil eraser (invented in 1770) that could “rub out” pencil marks and is the reason that it was then re-named “rubber.”

Car Options

There is an option for BMW's Mini Cooper that will tell you how long your convertible top has been down. It is called the openometer and it keeps track of the minutes and hours that you have your top down. At the other end of the spectrum, the Rolls Royce Phantom Coupe has a feature that creates the illusion of a convertible at night. Hand sewn into the headlining are 1600 fiber optic lights that create the illusion of a starry night overhead.