President Grover Cleveland (Interesting)

 

When Grover Cleveland ran the first time for President, one newspaper gave its readers four reasons to vote for the Democratic nominee: 1. He is an honest man. 2. He is an honest man. 3. He is an honest man. 4. He is an honest man.

Stephen Grover Cleveland, the only chief executive to serve nonconsecutive terms — 22nd and 24th Presidencies — was an honest man, but honesty alone does not make a good president.

By 1863, Cleveland, born on March 18, 1837, was assistant district attorney in Buffalo, New York. Then he was drafted for military service in the Civil War, but paid another man to go in his place so that he could stay at home to support his mother and sister. After the war, he was elected sheriff, but devoted most of his time to his law practice.

Cleveland began his meteoric rise to the Presidency in 1881, when he became the reform mayor of Buffalo. He proved so successful that the Democrats nominated him for governor in 1882 and he handily won that race.

In 1884, the Republicans nominated veteran Senator James G. Blaine of Maine. The Democrats countered with the fresh face of Cleveland. The campaign that followed was a very nasty one, but in the end, Cleveland managed to win.

During his first term Cleveland ran into trouble, when he filled every federal office he could with “deserving” Democrats, rather than people of merit. He also rejected a package of veteran benefits; this hurt Cleveland a lot with powerful veterans’ groups. Cleveland had not served in the Civil War and in the 1888 election, veterans supported Republican Benjamin Harrison, a Union general.

Harrison defeated Cleveland but made such a mess of his own Presidency that four years later, in 1892, Cleveland ran again and won.

On taking office for the second time, Cleveland had to handle a major economic crisis. In trying to prevent a national depression, Cleveland divided his own party. His use of federal troops to break up a strike against the Pullman Company in Chicago lost him the support of the Democrats. In 1896, the Democrats nominated William Jennings Bryan for president. Cleveland retired and continued pressing for government reforms until his death on June 24, 1908.

 

source://http://www.strange-facts.info

Great Activities You Can Enjoy With Your Dog

Here is an introduction to some great things people do with their dogs. Most activities welcome all dogs, whether purebred or of mixed breed heritage. Some of these activities are classed as “working dog” activities, but are also done on a recreational basis, or as a public service. Some dog activities are purely recreational in nature, while others are competitive dog sports. Many of these activities may be new to you. I have chosen my links based upon how welcoming they are to the merely curious.

People who play with their dog, stay with their dog.

Why do dog activities matter? Why promote them? Dog activities matter because they help dogs keep their homes.

When people and dogs do things together it is good news all around. Many of these activities provide the structure that helps people learn to better communicate with their dogs. The dogs have a better opportunity to learn good manners. That makes them easier to live with and less likely to be given up. The activities help people get in touch with one another to share information. That also helps people to learn about dogs, to avoid problems, and to solve them in a healthy way. The activities provide exercise in a fun way that boosts the relationship. The exercise, in turn, reduces boredom. A dog that exercises with its human is less likely to have behavior problems. A wonderful side benefit is that these activities can be a mental boost for humans and dogs alike.

Do we need lessons on having fun with our dogs?

All the evidence is, yes, we need to learn how to have fun with our dogs. Too many people just don’t know how much fun their dog can be. Their relationship is one way; they haven’t learned to communicate. They need help learning how to have fun with their dog. When they enjoy their dog they are motivated to work through problems, to solve them instead of giving up on the dog.

And yes, your mutt can play too.

The big surprise to me was how many activities I can do with my mixed breed dogs. And the variety of sports, games, and just plain good times was also an eye opener. Many of the activities listed here will be new to you. Some of them you may have seen on TV, but never thought of getting involved in yourself. Well plunge right in and explore. You and your dog will be glad you did.

Canada introduces new ‘super visa’ for families

Canadian officials on Friday announced a new two-year, multi-entry “super visa” for parents and grandparents of immigrants settled in Canada.

The move came after wait times for sponsorship of “family class” applications had grown to an unwieldy seven years or longer.

“Without taking action, those times will continue to grow, and that is unacceptable,” said Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism Minister Jason Kenney in announcing the move.

“Action must be taken to cut the backlog, reduce the wait times, and ensure that the parents and grandparents program is sustainable over the long run,” Kenney said.

The multiple-entry “Parent and Grandparent Super Visa” will be valid for up to 10 years, officials said, and allow applicants to remain in Canada for 24 months before needing seek visa renewal.

The new visas will begin on December 1 and the will be issued, “on average, within eight weeks of the application,” officials said.

SRK’s RA.One earns Rs 170 crore at BO

For almost a year ahead of tonight’s official release of Shah Rukh Khan’s sci-fi/superhero event film, Ra.One, the man himself has been working his fingers to the bone building up this night to be a game changer for Hindi cinema.  Ra.One is the most expensive Indian film to date, much of the budget put forward by SRK’s own production house, Red Chillies.  The film was initially slated to release in early June, but massive post-production demands pushed the release back four months, well into October and the heart of the Diwali season, Indian film’s equivalent of Memorial Day weekend. All of this hype started to feel a little bit overwhelming as scores of people like me began to wonder if perhaps Ra.One could ever live up to the massive expectations it had created.  I’m happy to say, though, that the film largely lives up to the hype and is a rousing and often breathtaking spectacle that not only marks a high water mark for Hindi film, but also for contemporary international action film.

At its core, Ra.One is a story about a father and his son.  The father, played by SRK in a ridiculous looking curly wig, is Shekhar Subramanium, a video game designer in London who is a lovable geek.  The son, Prateek, is played by newcomer Aman Verma. Prateek is a typical pre-teen who wants nothing to do with his geeky Dad, and he escapes by jumping into the world of online gaming under the handle Lucifer. Shekhar does everything he can to win Prateek’s affection, but it isn’t until he takes his son’s suggestion of creating a game with an unbeatable villain, that Shekhar finally becomes cool in his son’s eyes.  This being a sci-fi film, this unbeatable villain, named RA.One (short for Random Access Version One and a play on Ravaan, the demon lord of the Ramayana), breaks out of the mainframe and comes looking for the last person to defeat him online.  Who could that be? Why, it’s Lucifer of course, and the chase is on.

However,SRK’s RA.One earns Rs 170 crore at BO

 

NASA

When NASA first started sending up astronauts, they quickly discovered that ballpoint pens would not work in zero gravity. To combat the problem, NASA scientists spent a decade and $12 billion to develop a pen that writes in zero gravity, upside down, underwater, on almost any surface including glass and at temperatures ranging from below freezing to 300°C. 

The Russians used a pencil.