Everything is Interesting
Area code 321 is the area code serving Brevard County, Florida and home to the Kennedy Space Center. It has been in use since November 1, 1999, and was assigned to the area after a successful petition drive due to the Space Coast’s impact on the county (if pronounced properly – ‘three, two, one’– the code resembles the countdown which launches the many spacecraft from Cape Canaveral).
The Scramble for Africa, also known as the Race for Africa or African fever, was a process of invasion, attack, occupation, and annexation of African territory by European powers during the New Imperialism period, between 1881 and World War I in 1914. As a result of the heightened tension between European states in the last quarter of the 19th century, the partitioning of Africa may be seen as a way for the Europeans to eliminate the threat of a Europe-wide war over Africa.
Popular European ideas in the 19th century also aided the partitioning of Africa. The eugenics movement and racism helped to foster European expansionist policy. The last 20 years of the nineteenth century saw transition from ‘informal imperialism’ of control through military influence and economic dominance to that of direct rule. Many African polities, states and rulers (such as the Ashanti, the Abyssinians, the Moroccans and the Dervishes) sought to resist this wave of European aggression.
The Omnivore’s Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals is a nonfiction book by Michael Pollan published in 2006.
As omnivores – the most unselective eaters – humans are faced with a wide variety of food choices, resulting in a dilemma. Pollan investigates industrial food, organic food, and foraged food.
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The Masters of Beef Advocacy (MBA) is an industry-funded program that trains college students to promote agribusiness. Since its launch in March 2009, the MBA has trained nearly 3,000 students and farmers to spread the ‘positive beef message.’ Daren Williams, the communications director for the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, helped start the MBA with $240,000 from the Beef Checkoff program.
The MBA program is a self-directed online training program designed to equip beef producers and industry allies with the information they need to be everyday advocates for the beef industry. MBA candidates will be required to complete six courses in beef advocacy, including: Modern Beef Production, Animal Care, Beef Safety, Beef Nutrition, and Environmental Stewardship.
Checkoff organizations collect funds, sometimes called checkoff dollars, from producers of a particular agricultural commodity and uses these funds to promote and do research on the commodity. The organizations must promote their commodity in a generic way, without reference to a particular producer. These organizations are responsible for familiar American advertising campaigns, including ‘Milk Does a Body Good,’ ‘Got Milk?’, ‘Pork. The Other White Meat,’ ‘The Incredible, Edible Egg,’ and ‘Beef: It’s What’s for Dinner.’
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Jury nullification occurs when a jury reaches a verdict contrary to the weight of evidence. Widely, it is any rendering of a verdict by a trial jury contrary to the letter of the law—that is, of an official rule, and especially a legislative enactment. Jury nullification need not disagree with the instructions by the judge—which concern what the law (common or otherwise) is—but it may rule contrary to an instruction requiring the jury to apply the law to the defendant in light of the facts in evidence.
A jury verdict contrary to the letter of the law pertains only to the particular case before it; however, if a pattern of identical verdicts develops in response to repeated attempts to prosecute a statutory offense, it can have the de facto effect of invalidating the statute. A pattern of jury nullification may indicate public opposition to an unwanted legislative enactment.
Teetotalism [tee-toht-l-iz-uhm] refers to either the practice of or the promotion of complete abstinence from alcoholic beverages. A person who practices or advocates teetotalism is called a teetotaler (plural teetotalers or teetotalli). The teetotalism movement was first started in Preston, England in the early 19th century. Some common reasons for choosing teetotalism are religious, health, family, philosophical, or social reasons, and, sometimes, as simply a matter of taste or preference.
Contemporary and colloquial usage has somewhat expanded teetotalism to include strict abstinence from most recreational intoxicants (legal and illegal). Most teetotaler organizations also demand from their members that they do not promote or produce alcoholic intoxicants.
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Bacha Bazi (literally ‘playing with children’), also known as bacchá, is a practice recognized as sexual slavery and child prostitution in which prepubescent and adolescent boys are dressed as girls and sold to wealthy or powerful men for entertainment and sexual activities.
This business thrives in southern Afghanistan, where many men keep them as status symbols. The bacchá tradition, historically more common, waned after World War I, was forced out by Victorian era prudery and colonial powers. The reverse of bacha bazi is bacha posh, where girls are dressed up as boys.
Bacha posh is a cultural practice in areas of Afghanistan where a family in which there are no sons may have a girl dress in characteristic male clothing and have her hair cut short, occupying an intermediate status in which she is treated as neither a daughter nor fully as a son. In Afghan culture, pressure exists to have a son to carry on the family name and to inherit his father’s property. In the absence of a son, families may dress one of their daughters as a male, with some holding the superstition that having a bacha posh will make it more likely for a woman to give birth to a son in a subsequent pregnancy.
As a bacha posh, a girl is more readily able to attend school, escort her sisters in public places and find work, in addition to helping overcome the shame that a family experiences at not having any male children. The girl’s status as a bacha posh usually ends when she enters puberty. Women raised as a bacha posh often have difficulty making the transition from life as a boy and adapting to the traditional constraints placed on women in Afghan society. The reverse of bacha posh is bacha bazi, where boys are dressed up as girls.
Mother Hero was an honorary title in the Soviet Union awarded to all mothers bearing and raising 10 or more children. It was awarded upon the first birthday of the last child, provided that nine other children (natural or adopted) remained alive. Children who had perished under heroic, military or other respectful circumstances, including occupational diseases, were also counted.
Mother Heroes were entitled to wear a badge, which was a gold star with silver straight rays between the arms; it was suspended on a metal, red-enameled ‘ribbon’ bearing the words ‘Мать-героиня.’ They were also entitled to a number of privileges in terms of retirement pension, the payment of public utility charges, and the supply of food and other goods. Around 430,000 women were awarded this title during its existence. The only man to be awarded the title was Veniamin Petrovich Makarov from Orenburg, who raised 12 adopted boys.
The Congressional Space Medal of Honor was authorized by the United States Congress in 1969 to recognize ‘any astronaut who in the performance of his duties has distinguished himself by exceptionally meritorious efforts and contributions to the welfare of the Nation and mankind.’ The highest award given in NASA, it is awarded by the President of the United States in Congress’s name on recommendations from the NASA Administrator. The award is a separate decoration from the Medal of Honor, which is a military award for extreme bravery and gallantry in combat.
Although the Congressional Space Medal of Honor is a civilian award of the United States government, it is authorized as a military decoration for display on U.S. military uniforms due to the prestige of the decoration. In such cases, the Congressional Space Medal of Honor is worn as a ribbon following all United States Armed Forces decorations. The Congressional Space Medal of Honor may also be presented posthumously to those astronauts who die while performing a United States space mission, and as of 2008 all 17 astronauts killed on U.S. missions have been awarded the medal.
The Confederate States of America dollar was first issued into circulation in April 1861, when the Confederacy was only two months old, and on the eve of the outbreak of the Civil War. At first, Confederate currency was accepted throughout the South as a medium of exchange with high purchasing power. As the war progressed, however, confidence in the ultimate success waned, the amount of paper money increased, and their dates of redemption were extended further into the future.
The inevitable result was depreciation of the currency, and soaring prices characteristic of inflation. For example, by the end of the war, a cake of soap could sell for as much as $50 and an ordinary suit of clothes was $2,700. Near the end of the war, the currency became practically worthless as a medium of exchange. When the Confederacy ceased to exist as a political entity at the end of the war, the money lost all value as fiat currency.
The Daily Omnivore 