Toad Suck, Arkansas, Voted as Having ‘Most Unfortunate’ Town Name in the U.S.
Toad Suck, Arkansas, was voted as having the, quote, “most unfortunate” town name in the U.S. in a new poll from genealogy site Findmypast.com that surveyed people across seven English-speaking countries: the U.S.; U.K; Ireland; Canada; Australia; New Zealand; and South Africa. The Yahoo! News blog The Sideshow says that Toad Suck reportedly got its name from a once-popular drinking spot for boaters on the Arkansas River, where nearby residents said of them: “They suck on the bottle ’til they swell up like toads.” The top 10 town names in the poll were:
- Toad Suck, Arkansas
- Climax, Georgia
- Boring, Oregon
- Hooker, Oklahoma
- Assawoman, Maryland
- Blechertown, Massachusetts
- Roachtown, Illinois
- Loveladies, New Jersey
- Squabbletown, California
- Monkey’s Eyebrow, Kentucky
Mother Selling 2009 Note from Obama to Help Son Transition to New Life
A Pennsylvania woman is selling a treasured handwritten note from President Obama in order to help her son transition to a new life after five years in the military. NBCNews.com reports that Cynthia Arnold wrote to the president in January 2009 after a call from her son Matthew, then an Army private, during which he asked that she or his father handle the funeral arrangements if he were to die while on duty. Arnold asked the president in her letter, “I beg you to spare other mothers from taking a call such as mine from their sons and daughters. Use the power that has been given you to bring our troops home as quickly and safely as possible.” A few weeks later, she got a note from Obama on White House stationery that read, “I will do everything in my power to make troops like Matthew my priority. Please tell him ‘thank you for your service’ from his Commander-in-Chief!” Arnold is now selling the note for $8,500 to help Matthew buy a car for his family as he transitions into civilian life. There have been other recent instances of people selling their notes from the president: Earlier this year, unemployed former Marine Charles Oliver sold a letter from Obama for $2,500 to help pay bills; Destiny Mathis sold an Obama letter last year for $11,000 to avoid eviction; and Jennifer Cline sold a letter from the president in 2010 for $7,000 to help pay for her cancer treatment and for a down-payment on a house.
Big Duh… In person bullying worse than cyberbullying
Traditional in-person bullying is more common than cyberbullying — despite the increasing attention paid to cyberbullying. Attendees at the American Psychological Association’s convention recommend that traditional bullying should be the primary focus of prevention programs. “Claims by the media and researchers that cyberbullying has increased dramatically and is now the big school bullying problem are largely exaggerated,” psychologist Dan Olweus of the University of Bergen, Norway, said. “There is very little scientific support to show that cyberbullying has increased over the past five to six years, and this form of bullying is actually a less frequent phenomenon.” In a new study, an average of 18 percent of students said they had been verbally bullied, while about 5 percent said they had been cyberbullied. (UPI)
First High Quality Images From Curiosity Rover
NASA on Tuesday (August 7th) released the first color image beamed back by the rover Curiosity after completing its tricky landing on Mars early Monday morning. The picture, which was hazy because of dust on the camera lens, showed a pebbly, rust-colored landscape, with the rim of the crater where Curiosity landed in the distance. Also released was a video NASA put together from nearly 300 low-quality thumbnail images captured by a video camera on Curiosity of the final moments as it plunged through the Martian atmosphere. The video begins with the Curiosity’s protective heat shield falling away and ends with dust being kicked up as the rover was lowered by cables onto the surface. Click Here For Pics
Olympic Update
U.S. Gymnast Ali Raisman Wins Gold on Floor, Bronze on Beam: U.S. gymnast Ali Raisman, who missed out on the bronze in the all-around competition because of a tiebreaker, scored one of the medals on Tuesday (August 7th) in the balance beam individual apparatus competition, and then added a gold medal for good measure in the floor exercise, the first for a U.S. woman. Raisman had actually initially finished fourth in beam, but her coach challenged the score and her difficulty mark was bumped up, putting her in a tie with Romania’s Catalina Ponor. But this time the tiebreaker went Raisman’s way and she nabbed bronze. She then turned in a stellar floor exercise to win the event. All-around champion Gabby Douglas had another bad night after finishing last in the uneven bars competition Monday, putting herself out of contention when she fell on the balance beam. And Jordyn Wieber’s difficult Olympics continued, as the world champion who failed to qualify for the all-around competition came in seventh on floor exercise.
Women’s Beach Volleyball Final Will Be All-American: The U.S. is assured of winning the gold medal in women’s beach volleyball, since two American teams will be playing against each other in the final today (August 8th). The all-American gold medal match was set up when Jennifer Kessy and April Ross upset world champions Juliana Felisberta and Larissa Franca of Brazil on Tuesday. Two-time Olympic champions Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh advanced to the final by defeating China’s Zhang Xi and Xue Chen.
Americans Dawn Harper, Kellie Wells Take Silver and Bronze in 100-Meter Hurdles, Lolo Jones Fourth: American Dawn Harper, who won gold in the 100-meter hurdles in Beijing in 2008, won silver in the same event yesterday behind gold medalist and world champion Sally Pearson of Australia. Kellie Wells of the U.S. took bronze. American Lolo Jones, who famously hit the next-to-last hurdle in the race in Beijing as she had been headed to the gold, finished out of the medals in fourth place.
Injury Ruins Champion Chinese Hurdler’s Olympics for Second Straight Games: China’s Liu Xiang became a national hero after he won the 110-meter hurdles in 2004 in Athens, but his attempt to repeat four years ago on home turf in Beijing was ruined when Liu’s right Achilles tendon and hamstring gave out on a false start and he withdrew. Incredibly, it happened again yesterday, when he slammed into the first hurdle with his lead foot in his preliminary heat with what’s believed to be another Achilles injury. After the fall, Liu began to hop on one foot towards the finish, and was helped by fellow hurdlers who ran over to support him.
Last American Male Boxer Loses: The final American male boxer still left in competition was eliminated on Tuesday, making the London Games the first Olympics without a medal for the U.S., the most decorated nation in the sport. Welterweight Errol Spence lost 16-11 to Russian Andrey Zamkovoy in his quarterfinal, following his eight U.S. teammates out of the Games. Four years ago in Beijing, the U.S. won only one bronze.
No Medals for Ann Romney’s Horse Rafalca: There will be no Olympic medals for Rafalca, the dressage horse partly owned by Ann Romney, wife of presumptive Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney. Rafalca and rider Jan Ebeling didn’t score high enough in the Grand Prix Special part of the dressage finals on Tuesday to advance. In team dressage, with scores from the individual horses’ competitions used to decide the medals, the U.S. team came in sixth. Dressage is a series of intricate, detailed movements performed by the horse that’s been described as “horse ballet.”
Seven Athletes from Cameroon Missing: Seven of Cameroon’s athletes were missing from the Olympic Village yesterday, and the chief of the African nation’s delegation said they may be trying to seek asylum in Britain. Five boxers, a swimmer and a soccer player left the village over the weekend and didn’t return. Britain’s Home Office said it could not comment on whether any of the seven had applied for asylum.
MEDAL COUNT: The U.S. has 70 medals overall — 30 gold, 19 silver and 21 bronze — in second place behind China, which has 73. Russia and Great Britain are tied in third with 48. The U.S. is also in second place in gold medals behind China, which has 34. Great Britain is third with 22.
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