March 14, 2017
The Neatest Little Paper Ever Read®
Issue 00309
• Armstrong • Cherryville • Coldstream • Fintry Please • Lavington Lumby454 • Spallumcheen • Vernon • www.tidbitsvancouver.com Westside Rd • Bold Medias Publishing For Advertising Call•(604) - 1387
Come along with Tidbits as we look at famous cases of people ahead of their time who were eventually entitled to say, “I told you so!”
ULCERS • In the 1980s, Barry Marshall was a doctor in Australia who was concerned because about 10% of adults suffered from stomach ulcers. At the time, doctors thought ulcers were caused by stress, smoking, and poor eating habits. But Dr. Marshall suspected ulcers were caused by a bacteria called H. pylori. • The problem was that he couldn’t infect any lab animals with H. pylori, not knowing at the time that this strain of bacteria infects only primates. • Papers he wrote were roundly ridiculed by gastroenterologists. Unable to experiment on animals, and prohibited from experimenting on people, he did what he had to do: he isolated a culture of H. pylori from a patient who had an ulcer, mixed it with broth, and drank it. Within days he developed a stomach ulcer. When the ulcer was confirmed, he cured himself with antibiotics. • From there, he proved that every person who had a stomach ulcer also had H. pylori. He later developed a breath test that can tell if a person is suffering from an H. pylori infection. In 2005 he was awarded a Nobel Prize for his efforts.
A BIG DITCH • In May of 1950, a catastrophic flood of the Red River in Manitoba, Canada, inundated the city of Winnipeg. Over 100,000 people had to be evacuated in the biggest evacuation in Canada’s history at the time. Duff Roblin was Manitoba’s Premier at the time and he decided the city should never again be subjected to such a flood. • His solution was to dig a 29-mile long (47 km)
Jill: What detergent do flood victims use to wash their clothes? Bill: Tide!
Want to run your own business? Publish a paper in your area, and become a part of the family. 1.866.859.0609
Make a difference in your community today. www.tidbitscanada.com .tidbitscanada.com • Advertising for Tidbits Vernon (250) 832-3361 •
® John Lasseter was an animator for Disney when he was fired for insisting that computer animation was the wave of the future. He then went to work for Lucasfilm, and then Pixar. When Disney bought out Pixar, Lasseter was given the position of Chief Creative Officer over all of Disney computer animation, 22 years after being fired.
Page 2
info@TidbitsVernon.com
“I Love that little paper!”
Call Today (250) 832-3361
“Get it all on record now – get the films – get the witnesses – because somewhere down the track of history some bastard will get up and say that this never happened.” – General Dwight D. Eisenhower, on future Holocaust denial
A RESTLESS PLANET
ditch around the city, designed to divert excess water from the Red River in times of flood. The project cost $63 million Canadian dollars, equivalent to approximately $360 million today, and took 7 years to complete. It was the second largest earth-moving construction project in history, next to the building of the Panama Canal. • Duff Roblin’s opponents and constituents ridiculed the project, dubbing it “Duff ’s Ditch” and predicting it would never be useful. No sooner had it been completed than it was put into use, saving the city from flooding in 1968. Since then, it’s been used twenty more times, saving Winnipeg from floods over and over again. Experts estimate it’s saved over $100 billion in cumulative flood damage, making it an excellent investment indeed.
• Alfred Wegener was a German scientist born in 1880. His research showed that the rock strata and the fossil record on one edge of a continent matched the rock strata and fossil record on the opposing edge of another continent separated by thousands of miles of ocean. He noticed that the continents seemed to fit together like a jigsaw puzzle: the eastern edge of South America fit into the gap of the western edge of Africa; the coasts of Australia and India matched the coast of Antartctica on so on.
A BIG WALL • Kotoko Wamura was a child in Japan when a 30-foot (9m) tsunami swept away the town of Fudai. He remembered tales of a 50-foot (15m) tsunami that hit in 1896. So when he was elected mayor of Fudai in the 1960s, he insisted a 50-foot seawall be built to protect the town. People were outraged at the cost and angry that it blocked their view of the sea. Others argued that a 30-foot wall would be tall enough. But Kotoko Wamura held firm, and the seawall was built. He died in 1987 so he didn’t live to see the day in March of 2011 when his 50-foot seawall saved his beloved town. • In 1912 he presented his hypothesis that all the continents had once been joined together in a single landmass that had drifted apart. He called the landmass “Urkontinent” which is German for “primal continent,” and coined the term “continental drift.” • Geologists all over the world ridiculed him. How could something as large as a continent move? What would cause the movement? Wegener hypothesized that the centrifugal force of the Earth’s rotation caused it, or
Marshal Ferdinand Foch, the commander of the French Army during World War I, was present at the signing of the Treaty of Versailles on June 28, 1919. As it was being signed, he declared, “This is not a peace. It is an armistice for twenty years.” Twenty years and 64 days later, Germany invaded Poland and World War II began.
info@TidbitsVernon.com The Neatest Little Paper Ever Read® Call Today (250) 832-3361
Page 3
sea floor could be mapped, a big expanding rift was discovered in the Pacific. By the 1960s, the theory of plate tectonics was well developed, “Urkontinent“ was re-named Pangea, and Wegener was vindicated long after his death. • Today, the Alfred Wegener Medal is awarded by the Alfred Wegener Institute to researchers in the field of geoscience each year. With advances in GPS technology, the movement of the continents is now precisely tracked.
GET THE LEAD OUT
SEE $25
SA SAW IT Y YOU IN TID BITS
THE GEEKS
Computer Support
Windows • Apple • Android
OFF PC or M TUNE ac UP
SEE Book your appointment online, anytime! Trusted • Convenient • Affordable • Secure
www.iseethegeeks.com
Proudly supporting the Okanagan for over 22 years
1.855.558.GEEK
astronomical influences, or a rift under the PLANT NAMES ocean that was spreading apart. His theories were almost universally rejected. He died on • Chamomile came from the Greek words a polar expedition in 1930 without gaining “chamai” meaning “on the ground,” and “melon” meaning “apple.” recognition for this discovery. • By the 1950s, evidence in favor of continental • Columbine comes from the Latin word drift was beginning to accumulate. When sonar “columba” meaning “dove” because the flowers technology advanced to the point where the resemble a circle of doves. • Geraniums were named from the Greek word “geranos” meaning “crane,” because the seed pods are pointed like the bill of a crane. • “Pasque” was the old French word for Passover and Easter, and the Pasque flower was so named because it blooms around that time of year. • “Pentstemon” is Greek and means literally “five stamens.” • Pansy comes from the French word “pensée” which means “thoughtful,” because the flower looks somewhat like a pensive face. • Clematis comes from the Greek word “klema” meaning “vine branch.” • Aster comes from the Latin word for star. • Daisy comes from “days eye,” referring to its habit of opening in the morning and closing at dusk. • “Gladiolus” is Latin for little sword, and from it we get gladiator, a sword-wielding fighter, and gladiolus, which has sword-shaped leaves. • The Virgin Mary had many plants named for her, including “Mary’s Gold,” which is now marigold. • Hollyhock was once used to make a concoction Chris Willan that reduced the swelling in the ankle, or hock, of a horse. Head Geek • “Impatiens” is the Latin word for impatient, referring to the flower’s violent explosion of seeds.
Toll Free . CA . US . MX
1. What capacity was William Seward serving in when he convinced Pres. Andrew Johnson to purchase Alaska, known as “Seward’s Folly”? 2. How many years did Galileo spend under house arrest for his claim that the Earth was not the center of the Universe? 3. This cycling champion was ridiculed when he insisted that Lance Armstrong was doping years before it was proven. 4. How many years before Bernie Madoff was arrested did financial investigator Harry Markopolos warn the SEC about Madoff ’s schemes? 5. How many years did Australian mother Lindy Chamberlain spend in prison before evidence arose that determined she was telling the truth when she said a dingo ate her baby?
• Clair Patterson spent many years working as a chemist for the California Institute of Technology. He focused on working with lead, a heavy metal that is toxic when inhaled or ingested. • When uranium decays, it turns into lead. The half-life of uranium is over 4 billion years, so by measuring the decay of uranium/lead, scientist can estimate the age of minerals in the same sort of way carbon dating is used to measure the age of organic material. In 1956, Patterson was the first person to use uranium-lead dating to estimate the age of the Earth at 4.55 billion years, a figure that is still considered accurate. • The focus of Patterson’s career was tracking the geo-chemical evolution of the Earth. While measuring the chemicals in ice core samples taken from Greenland, he noted an alarming increase in the amount of lead that coincided with the date in the 1920s that gasoline companies began adding lead to gas in order to stop engines from knocking. When he compared the lead content of skeletons of people buried in the 1600s (none) to the amount of lead in the skeletons of people who had died recently (high), he became alarmed. He proved that after lead was added to gasoline, the amount of lead being deposited in the environment was 80 times greater than it had been previously. • In 1965, Patterson began a concerted effort to have lead removed from gasoline. Gasoline companies fought back hard. He was ridiculed and his research was disparaged. But his efforts paid off : lead was phased out of American gas products by 1986. • Patterson then led the charge to have lead removed from tin cans, and it was subsequently also removed from paint. • By the time Patterson died in 1995, the level of lead in the blood of Americans had dropped by 80%. Amazing Plants
Page 4
info@TidbitsVernon.com
“I Love that little paper!”
• Primrose means “first rose” in Latin because it appears so early in the season. • The hydrangea bush absorbs up to twelve gallons of water per day and its name comes from “hydro,” the Greek word for water. • The Dutch borrowed the word “tulip” from the French (“tulipan”), who borrowed it from the Turks (“tulbend”), who noted that the shape of the flower reminded them of a “turban.” • Lilac comes from the Persian word for “blue.” • Joel Poinsett was a diplomat from South Carolina in the 1800s. While serving in Mexico he collected specimens of a wild shrub and shipped them back to America, where they became known as poinsettias. • The magnolia was named after French botanist Pierre Magnol who devised the botanical scheme of classification. • Leonard Fuchs was a botanist who wrote a book about plants in the year 1542. The plant (and the color) fuchsia is named after him. • The dahlia was named after Swedish botanist Anders Dahl, who was a student of Carl Linnaeus, who devised the modern system of naming organisms. • Camellia was named by Linnaeus to honor fellow botanist Joseph Kamel. • Scottish botanist Alexander Garden was honored by having the gardenia named after him. • The begonia was named to honor Michel Bégon, an official in French King Louis XIV’s court who became governor of Canada. • Nicotiana is the genus that includes smoking tobacco and flowering tobacco. It is named after Jean Nicot, the French ambassador who introduced tobacco to France. • Narcissus is named for the Greek god who saw his reflection in a pond and fell in love with himself. The peony is named for Paeon, the Greek physician to the gods.
ODD ODDS
1. Wegener hypothesized that the continents moved about 100 inches (2.5 m) per year; how far do they really move? 2. How many main tectonic plates are there on the planet?
• Chances of being struck by lightning: 1 in 600,000 • Number of kids under 15 who end up in the hospital for bike wrecks annually: 385,000 • Percent of teenagers who do not wear a seatbelt: 56 • Percent of accidents at home that happen in the bathroom: 25 • Average number of times a human blinks
Maybe you can’t get Jack Nicklaus to personally come and help your business, but you can sponsor “Play Better Golf with JACK NICKLAUS” and have this popular feature in Tidbits working for you every week, all year long! Call Jean 250-260-3600 Jean@tidbitsvernon.com
Call Today (250) 832-3361
info@TidbitsVernon.com The Neatest Little Paper Ever Read® Call Today (250) 832-3361
w
1. ANIMAL KINGDOM: What is the world’s slowest mammal? 2. HISTORY: Which was the only Confederate state capital east of the Mississippi that did not fall to the Union Army during the Civil War? 3. LITERATURE: Who wrote the novel “Catch-22”? 4. MOVIES: What famous movie had the tagline, “In space no one can hear you scream”? 5. GENERAL KNOWLEDGE: Who does the Swiss Guard protect? 6. MEDICINE: What is an otolaryngologist more commonly known as? 7. MUSIC: Which 1980s song featured the lyrics, “Risin’ up, straight to the top, had the guts, got the glory”?
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
per minute: 25 Average number of times a human inhales per day: 23,000 Average number of people attacked by sharks in the U.S. each year: 5 Average number of people killed by cows in the U.S. each year: 22 Average number of murders in the U.S. each year: 16,000 Chance of being told to “Come on down!” for audience members during the game show “The Price is Right”: .027% Percent of people who buy exercise equipment who use it more than once a week: 17 Chances of contracting polio in the year 1950: 22% Chances of contracting polio in the U.S. today: 0% Percent of American households where women pay the bills: 75 Percent of new businesses that fail in the first five years: 50 Percent of tax returns audited by the IRS: 1.3 Average number of pounds gained by people who quit smoking: 8 Average pounds of cheese consumed by the average American in a year: 26 Percent of Americans who wear glasses: 52 Percent of days that Juneau, Alaska is drizzly: 60
Q: What did the flood say to Japan? A: Nothing, it just waved!
8. FOOD & DRINK: What is sauerkraut made from? 9. AD SLOGANS: What product featured the slogan, “When it rains, it pours”? 10. FAMOUS QUOTES: Which U.S. president once said, “Tact is the ability to describe others as they see themselves”? Answers 1. The three-toed sloth 2. Tallahassee, Florida 3. Joseph Heller 4. Alien (1979) 5. The pope 6. Ear, nose and throat doctor 7. “Eye of the Tiger” 8. Cabbage 9. Morton Salt 10. Abraham Lincoln (c) 2017 King Features Synd., Inc.
• Number of fog particles it would take to fill a teaspoon: 7 billion • Percent of people age 18 – 24 who say they are satisfied with life: 53 • Percent of people age 55 and older who say they are satisfied with life: 72 • Percent of Americans who report having seen a UFO: 10 • Percent of Americans who have had a supernatural experience: 6 • Percent of field goals kicked in pro football that make it: 67 • Percent of pro baseball players who get thrown out while trying to steal a base: 30 • Percent of pro football injuries that involve the knee: 58 • Average length of an American marriage, in years: 7 • Percent of American marriages that will celebrate their 50th anniversary: 12 • Percent of all roses that are sold around Valentine’s Day: 70 • Percent of pregnancies that result in twins: 2 • Percent of bills introduced in Congress that are turned into law: 8 • Percent of Americans who live in rural areas: 23 • Percent of British who live in rural areas: 9 • Percent of people in Nepal who live in rural areas: 91 • Percent of Americans who never drink alcohol: 33
Page 5
Page 6
info@TidbitsVernon.com * Hang brooms and mops to preserve their useful life. The bristles of a tightly packed broom are better at sweeping than loose bristles.
* Clean the stainless steel surface of your kitchen appliances with Pledge or similar furniture polish. Fingerprints are banished, and just watch them shine! * “For those of us who use a lot of hairspray when styling, we end up with a thin layer on our hairbrushes. After removing any hair from the brush, I spray mine with laundry spot remover, then toss it in the dishwasher. It comes out clean and free of buildup.” -- T.D. in Georgia * High five if you’re using refillable water bottles instead of plastic disposable ones. To keep them fresh, rinse weekly with a 10 percent bleach and water solution. Let them air dry completely, then simply fill with water and stash in the fridge for easy access! * “I had a rather large piece of fabric that I didn’t need anymore. I cut it up into large rectangles, and made a small hole in the center of each. I slipped them over the few hanging jackets we have in our hall closet. They don’t get much use except during our ‘winter,’ so this keeps the dust off of them until next year!” -- F.L. in Florida * “Use a large planter to store your garden hose coiled up rather than in a messy pile. As you coil, be sure to go with the hose’s natural curve. This will lessen the chance of kinks, too.” -- W.A. in Kansas Send your tips to Now Here’s a Tip, 628 Virginia Drive, Orlando, FL 32803. (c) 2017 King Features Synd., Inc.
Sweet Potato Fries If you love sweet potatoes like I do, try these fries. You’re in for a real treat. 2 tablespoons thawed orange juice concentrate 1 teaspoon onion powder 1/2 teaspoon table salt 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper 1 pound sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/2inch sticks 1. Heat oven to 375 F. Spray a large baking pan with butter-flavored cooking spray. In a large bowl, combine orange juice concentrate, onion powder, salt and cayenne pepper. Add potato sticks. Mix well to coat. 2. Arrange coated potato sticks on prepared baking pan. Bake for 10 minutes; turn carefully and continue baking for 10 minutes more or until tender. Divide into 4 servings. * Each serving equals: 80 calories, 0g fat, 1g protein, 19g carbs, 322mg sodium, 36mg calcium, 3g fiber; Diabetic Exchanges: 1 Starch; Carb Choices: 1. (c) 2017 King Features Synd., Inc.
“I Love that little paper!”
Call Today (250) 832-3361
info@TidbitsVernon.com The Neatest Little Paper Ever Read® Call Today (250) 832-3361
Page 7
by Samantha Weaver * It was 20th-century American author and playwright Rose Franken who made the following sage observation: “Anyone can be passionate, but it takes real lovers to be silly.” * There are only three places in the world that include St. Patrick’s Day among their official public holidays: Ireland (of course), the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador, and the Caribbean island of Montserrat.
• Big Bag Boy golf cart $25, •Right hand Medicus golf driver + putter trainer + instruction cd $60, •Wine rack holds 20 bottles $30, •Sanyo sterio cassette deck + manual $15 obo, • Royal Albert Silver Birch China call for price. (250) 550-8486 Call after 6:00 PM. ( Vernon)
* It’s not clear exactly how they do it, but, according to those who study such things, bald eagles mate while they’re in midair. * Do you ever get to the end of a relaxing weekend, only to feel depressed at the prospect of heading back to work Monday morning? Well, the Germans have a word for that: sonntagsleerung. It literally means “Sunday emptying.” * Some historians claim that President Andrew Jackson believed the world was flat. * If it could avoid its inevitable dissipation, the typical cloud could circumnavigate the earth in less than two weeks. * In the United States, nuns have a longer life expectancy than any other demographic group. Thought for the Day: “Science is more than a body of knowledge; it is a way of thinking. I have a foreboding of an America ... when the United States is a service and information economy; when nearly all the key manufacturing industries have slipped away to other countries; when awesome technological powers are in the hands of a very few, and no one representing the public interest can even grasp the issues; when the people have lost the ability to set their own agendas or knowledgeably question those in authority; when, clutching our crystals and nervously consulting our horoscopes, our critical faculties in decline, unable to distinguish between what feels good and what’s true, we slide, almost without noticing, back into superstition and darkness.” -- Carl Sagan (c) 2017 King Features Synd., Inc.
BOOK WAREHOUSE #35, Alpine Centre, 100 Kal Lake Road OPEN on WEDNESDAYS and SATURDAYS 9 AM TO 1 PM Quality used books & more, most priced $1 or less Supporting Special Olympics, Vernon & other local charities Phone 250-275-2676 for more info. VOLUNTEERS NEEDED
SPECIALITY SHARPENING
All your sharpening needs, and for your convenience, drop off and pickup at Vernon’s Water Store. 180, 4400 - 32 St (250)308-4866
Member benefits can save you money!
Build a Shaklee business online while keeping your present job, using your computer and phone. Go to www.naturalfreedom.net to learn more.
Success at the BC Boat & Sportsman Show! The Lumby Chamber booth stayed busy through the 3 day show in Abbotsford this past weekend, handing out over 1000 visitor guides for the area and fielding loads of questions from people interested in exploring our unique area :-)
YAM W E N I G H This famous writer was declared crazy and institutionalized when he insisted the FBI was following him. It turned out to be true.
• Employee Benefit plans • Electronic payment processing and merchant services • Online Payroll, and Human Resource programs • Hotels and Car Rentals -worldwide • Fuel discount programs • Business supplies • Online marketing management • Business training programs For information on GVCC membership contact Jamie Morrow at membership@vernonchamber.ca 250-545-0771
Annual V.J.H. Auxiliary Gift Shop Giftware Garage Sale. 2 days March 15 and 16th 10:00 am to 2:00 pm. Inside the south entrance to the Jubilee Building. .Marked down giftware--low prices. Come early for the best selection.
Save the Dates!! April 12th - 7 pm All Candidates Forum At the Armstrong Seniors Activity Centre 2520 Patterson Ave May 13 Armstrong Spallumcheen Community Excellence Awards Contact us for nomination forms and details. RSVP or questions? 250-546-8155 or staff@aschamber.com
1. William Seward was Secretary of State under Pres. Andrew Johnson when he purchased Alaska. 2. Galileo Galilei spent nine years under house arrest, from 1633 to his death in 1642. 3. Greg LeMond was ridiculed for claiming Lance Armstrong was doping. 4. Financial investigator Harry Markopolos warned the SEC about Madoff ’s pyramid schemes 8 years before Madoff was finally arrested. 5. Lindy Chamberlain spent three years in prison before being cleared in the death of her newborn daughter.
Page 8 info@TidbitsVernon.com “I Love that little paper!”
1. The continents move about one inch to six inches (2.5-12 cm) per year on average. 2. There are seven large tectonic plates and many smaller plates.
HEMINGWAY
Call Today (250) 832-3361