Stories: Old West & Beyond 02/27/24
"The best way to make a dream come true is to wake up." -Dame Anna Wintour
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Good morning. It's Tuesday, Feb 27, 2024. This is The Big Breakfast Day and No Brainer Day.
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STORY MENU
The James Gang ... Skull & Bones ... Fake News ... Lost Treasures ... Lost Treasures ... Bluffing ... Friendship ... Pizza Dough Toss
WILD WEST
No bank in the country had ever been robbed in broad daylight during peacetime until the James Gang raided a bank in Clay County, Missouri. "DARING, DEADLY, AND DAYLIGHT"
Learn more about the legend of Jesse James at the Jesse James Museum.
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FIVE STORIES FROM HERE & THERE
1--SECRET SOCIETY
Skull and Bones is a secret society founded in 1832 for senior undergraduates at Yale University. Here's the inside scoop on the Bonesmen.
2--FAKE NEWS
The term fake news emerged several years ago and caught on with the public like wildfire. But phony news stories aren't just a contemporary creation. The birth of fake news dates back to 1835 and the Great Moon Hoax.
3--HISTORY
Read about the Amber Room and other lost legendary treasures of World War II.
4--LITERATURE
Sometimes, you may find yourself discussing books you've never read. Here's some advice on bluffing through five of the most common books people pretend to have read.
5--FRIENDSHIP
Philosopher Aristotle once wrote: "no one would choose to live without friends." Here are three lessons from Aristotle on friendship.
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I DID NOT KNOW THAT
Solutions to problems devised by the feds never cease to amaze me. For example: During prohibition, the U.S. government found a way to deter people from drinking. Let's envision a group of officials sitting at a conference table.
"What are we going to do about this issue? How can we discourage people from drinking."
"I've got an idea," one said."Let's poison the alcohol."
"Excellent!" several responded with naked enthusiasm.
In 1926, industrial alcohol manufacturers were ordered to "denature" their products with chemicals like kerosene, iodine, and chloroform. It not only made the alcohol taste worse than it already did but also made it deadly in many cases. Once Prohibition ended in 1933, some estimates claimed the program was responsible for the deaths of 10,000 people.
FOOD FOR THOUGHT
For those of you who have always wanted the ability to stretch pizza dough by tossing it into the air, here's how.
REFLECTION
"We judge ourselves by what we feel capable of doing while others judge us by what we have already done." -Longfellow