Ladies and Gentlemen?

 Without getting into the political correctness issue why aren't there gentleman bugs? There are ladybugs but the males are also called ladybugs...imagine their bruised little psyches and if that isn't enough to give them personal problems the females are also bigger than the males. Of course insects in general are mainly differentiated by their chromosomes and the females tend to be larger than the males. Then you get to bees and that rule goes out the window. Why is something so seemingly simple so complex? and since spiders aren't insects we aren't even going there. 

  

another way to tell

Make It Make Sense

Recently a massive half ton metal separation ring from a rocket  crashed into a village in Kenya, the bad news is that this kind of space debris crashing to Earth is becoming more frequent. In May of 2024 a piece of debris from a SpaceX craft struck a man's roof in North Carolina, a month earlier two pieces of space junk were discovered on a farm in Canada, plus a hunk of metal from the ISS crashed into a home in Florida. There are more than 170 million of space debris orbiting our planet and even though some of those will burn up before they fall back to Earth what does that do to our atmosphere? Why don't we slow down on putting more stuff into space until we can clean up our own planet instead of making more problems? It's past time to clean up our act. 

Shrinktionary

 With new words being coined to keep current with the times older words that aren't used much lose their place in our dictionaries. Today's post will look at a few of the words we recently lost. Snollygoster originated in the 19th century as political slang meaning a manipulative individual who enters politics for personal gain. Hmm, I'm not sure this word is ready to be deleted. The next word for the scrap pile is lanspresado, and no it's not a lesser known artisanal espresso, instead it means someone who arrives at an event without money, aka mooch or freeloader. These two don't seem like they are ready to go, how about we get rid of some of the newer words? Do we get a vote? 

Predictions

 Today's post explores some predictions for 2025 that were made in 1925, some are fairly accurate while others aren't.  A British Nobel prize winner in medicine predicted people would live to at least 150 if not longer. H. G. Wells thought there would not be numerous nations but only three great masses of people, the United States of America, the United States of Europe and China. A British scientist believed there would be radio alarm clocks to avoid oversleeping and house and public clocks would be synchronized by signals sent several times a day, he also believed women would compete equally with men in all branches of science and would also scorn being called the "fair" sex. A few more random predictions:

  A substitute for sleep would be found. Its chief ingredient would probably be acid sodium phosphate.

∎ Chemistry would be used to produce synthetic foods, making them chiefly out of nitrogen from the atmosphere.

∎ People would use a pocket-sized apparatus for communications to see and hear each other without being in the same room.

∎ There would be world peace, a common world currency and universal free trade.

How are we doing so far??

Testers?

 Starting in 2025 and continuing through 2039 we will have a new generation, Gen Beta. It's only logical that Beta comes after Alpha but it still seem like a somewhat degrading name for this generation. On the plus side some of the Gen Betas will live into the 22nd century and their parents (Millennials and Gen Zers) will hopefully impress upon their Betas the importance of climate change to a sustainable planet. With that said here is a list of the generation names of the last hundred years.

 ◾ Greatest Generation: 1901-1927

◾ Silent Generation: 1928-1945 (age 80+)

◾ Baby Boomers: 1946-1964 (age 61-79)

◾ Generation X: 1965-1979 (age 46-60)

◾ Millennials: 1980-1994 (age 31-45)

◾ Generation Z: 1995-2009 (age 16-30)

◾ Gen Alpha: 2010-2024 (age 15 and younger)

Resolve

 Though New Year's resolutions have been around since 2000 B.C. they have changed with the times, in the early days common resolutions were mostly about returning borrowed farm equipment and knight renewing their vow of chivalry. Since resolutions are mainly done at the first of the year, Janus the Roman god who January was named for comes into play as he represents looking both back and forward allowing for both reflection and resolution and he is the one you're promising your resolution to. Now for a look at how resolutions have evolved. 

Resolutions From 1947 - Gallup Poll
1. Improve my disposition, be more understanding, control my temper
2. Improve my character, live a better life
3. Stop smoking, smoke less
4. Save more money
5. Stop drinking, drink less
6. Be more religious, go to church more often
7. Be more efficient and do a better job
8. Take better care of my health
9. Take a greater part in home life
10. Lose (or gain) weight

Today’s Resolutions
1. Lose weight
2. Get organized
3. Spend less, save more
4. Enjoy life to the fullest
5. Stay fit and healthy
6. Learn something exciting
7. Quit smoking
8. Help others fulfill their dreams
9. Fall in love
10. Spend more time with family

A surprising statistic 68% of the people who make resolutions keep them! 

For those AI readers today...Spam Alert! 

Ready?

Are we all set to start a new year? Let's wipe the slate clean and make the most of it.

1/1 World Day of Peace 

1/2 National Buffet Day 

1/3 Festival of Sleep Day 

1/4 Trivia Day 

1/5 Whipped Cream Day 

1/6 Bean Day 

1/7 National Bobblehead Day 

1/8 Snuggle a Chicken Day 

1/9 National Cassoulet Day 

1/10 Houseplant Appreciation Day 

1/11 Eagle Day 

1/12 Kiss a Ginger Day 

1/13 Rubber Ducky Day 

1/14 World Logic Day 

1/15 National Hat Day 

1/16 National Nothing Day 

1/17 Popeye Day 

1/18 Thesaurus Day 

1/19 National Popcorn Day 

1/20 National Cheese Lovers Day 

1/21 Mariachi Day 

1/22 Roe vs. Wade Day 

1/23 National Pie Day 

1/24 Belly Laugh Day 

1/25 Fruitcake Toss Day 

1/26 Clashing Clothes Day 

1/27 National Geographic Day 

1/28 National Kazoo Day 

1/29 National Puzzle Day 

1/30 Croissant Day 

1/31 Street Children Day