Friday, July 13, 2007

JULY 13, 2007

YIKES! IT'S FRIDAY THE 13th!
A Friday occurring on the 13th day of any month is considered to be a day of bad luck in English, German, Polish and Portuguese-speaking cultures around the globe. Some people are so paralyzed by fear that they are simply unable to get out of bed when Friday the 13th rolls around. It's even been estimated that $800 to $900 million is lost in business whenever this date crops up because people refuse to fly or conduct the business they would normally do.

However, No one really knows why this date has been associated with such bad luck. Before the 20th century, although there is some evidence that the number 13 and Friday were both considered unlucky, but there was no link between them. The first documented mention of a "Friday the 13th" is generally listed as occurring in the early 1900's. However, many popular stories exist about the origin of the concept.One of these is conmnected with The Last Supper, when Judas numbered among the thirteen guests (Jesus plus his 12 apostles), and that the Crucifixion of Jesus occurred on a Friday. However, Judas was not actually present for the latter part of the meal.

Another theory, recently offered in the novel The Da Vinci Code, holds that it came about not as the result of a convergence, but a catastrophe, a single historical event that happened nearly 700 years ago.The catastrophe was the decimation of the Knights Templar, the legendary order of "warrior monks" formed during the Christian Crusades to combat Islam.

Some Friday the 13th unlucky events? Hurricane Charley made landfall in Florida on Friday, August 13, 2004... Lake Storm "Aphid" - an out-of-season snowstorm that decimated the Buffalo, New York area took place on Friday, October 13, 2006.... The asteroid 99942 Apophis will make its close encounter on Friday, April 13, 2029...

WHY DRINK BOTTLED WATER?
In 1976, the average American bought 1.6 gallons of bottled water per year. Today, 31 years later, that's up to 28.3 gallons, per person, per year.

According to most experts, bottled water, more than pretty much any other product, is ALL about marketing hype. We've been trained to think that bottled water is a status symbol, and that it's healthier than tap water, so we buy it.

But it's not healthier. In fact, it's regulated LESS than tap water is. A study found that 33% of the bottled waters violated state microbiological purity standards. . . standards that tap water HAS to meet, by law.

Not only is bottled water not healthier than tap water. . . sometimes, it IS just tap water. Dasani, by Coca-Cola, and Aquafina, by Pepsi, are both just BOTTLED TAP WATER.

Drinking water out of the tap costs about one-one-hundredth of a penny per glass. Buying that same water in a Dasani or Aquafina bottle runs $1.25.

Bottled water IS contributing to the TRASH PROBLEM, though. The U.S. throws away 2.5 million plastic bottles EVERY HOUR. And our landfills close at a rate of one PER DAY, because they're full or leaking toxic material into the water.

POP SONGS OR LULLABIES?
Apparently, more than two out of every five sets of parents think that the best way to gently soothe their newborn child to sleep is by singing Carrie Underwood's "Before He Cheats" or some other current tune!

According to a survey of more than 1,200 parents by a polling company called MyVoice, 44% say they sing pop songs or TV theme songs to their kids. . . instead of lullabies or nursery rhymes.

And, 40% of parents with young children say they couldn't even teach their kid nursery rhymes if they wanted to. . . because they don't know the words to a SINGLE ONE.

Of the parents who DO know nursery rhymes, 19% know Jack and Jill and 17% know Humpty Dumpty.

75% of parents agreed that singing to young children is a good way to help them learn English.