Thoughts

A few thoughts and facts today to go with your Saturday morning cup of coffee.

Tell me this is a bad joke. Reports out of Hollywood say that Jane Fonda has been selected to play Nancy Reagan in an upcoming movie. Hanoi Jane, the same despicable actress who visited the North Vietnamese troops and mocked our own military during the Vietnam War? She has been selected for a role depicting one of the most elegant and dignified women in American history? I'll believe it when I see it.

Airports at higher altitudes require a longer airstrip due to lower air density.

I didn't think the NFL's replacement refs were that much worse than the regular officials. Last Sunday, when the regular officials returned to action, there were still many blown calls. In fact, one call late in the game on what should have been ruled a fumble recovery, almost cost the Green Bay Packers another last minute defeat.

The University of Alaska spans four time zones.

Just in time for the playoffs. My three-year-old grandson, Sean, knows all the words to "Take Me Out to the Ballgame". We sing it every day. It's root, root, root for the Yankees, if they don't win it's a shame.

The tooth is the only part of the human body that cannot heal itself.

The Tamaqua area suffered a huge loss when Nick and Anna Mae Young died last weekend. Their contributions to their community will long be remembered and appreciated. My memory of Nick goes back to the 1960s when I was an aspiring sports writer and Nick was a basketball coach at Tamaqua High. He was a good coach, but importantly, he was a good guy. I'll always remember the respect he showed me when I was working on a story.

In ancient Greece, tossing an apple to a girl was a traditional proposal of marriage. Catching it mean she accepted.

If you believe the pollsters, this presidential election is over four more years of Obama no matter how you felt the debates went.

Warner Communications paid $28 million for the copyright to the song Happy Birthday.

Tiger Woods really came up big in last week's Ryder Cup competition against the European team, didn't he? He didn't contribute a single point to the American score, and for the seventh time in the last nine competitions the U.S. came on the short end of the matches.

Intelligent people have more zinc and copper in their hair.

I don't know how many games Penn State's football team is going to win this year, but I like what Coach Bill O'Brien has been doing so far. He has dug the team out of all the adversity they faced concerning the Jerry Sandusky scandal.

The thing I like the best about O'Brien's team, is they play with great intensity, especially on defense.

A comet's tail always points away from the sun.

The best game scheduled today West Virginia against Texas. Don't be surprised if the two teams combine for well over a hundred points.

The Swine Flu vaccine in 1976 caused more death and illness than the disease it was intended to prevent.

Summit Hill residents are going to miss not having a community bank after First Niagara closes its facility in December. Here's hoping another banking institution takes over the facility.

Caffeine increases the power of aspirin and other painkillers. That is why it is found in some medicines.