Saturday,
February 4 is World Cancer Day 2017. The day is celebrated to
raise awareness of all types of cancer and to encourage the
prevention and treatment of cancer. The idea is to become aware
and push for actions that will reduce premature deaths, improve
quality of life, and increase cancer survival rates. More info
here http://www.worldcancerday.org/faq

On February 6 National Lame Duck Day recognizes the
ratification of the 20th Amendment on February 6, 1933 to the
United States Constitution, or the Lame Duck Amendment. The term 'lame duck'
originated as a description of stock brokers in 1700s England
who could not pay off their debts. The term later carried over
to businessmen who, while known to be bankrupt, would continue
to do business. The official record of
the United States Congress of January 14, 1863 read, "In no
event ... could [the Court of Claims] be justly obnoxious to the
charge of being a receptacle of 'lame ducks' or broken down
politicians." In politics a lame duck is a person currently
holding a political office who has either: lost a re-election
bid, chose not to seek another term, was prevented from running
for re-election due to a term limit, or the office held has been
eliminated. Prior to the
ratification of the 20th Amendment to the United States
Constitution there was, for Congress a 13 month delay between
election day and the day the newly elected officials took
office. In the case of a lame duck, this was a 13 month notice
his or her job was terminating, crippling his or her influence.
Hence the lame or injured duck. The 20th Amendment shortened this period from
13 months to 2 months and changed the dates for the beginning of the new
Congress to January 3 and when the newly elected president took
office from March 4th to January 20th. During a lame duck
session, members of Congress are no longer accountable to their
constituents. It is possible for their focus to switch to more
personal gain instead of acting on behalf of their constituents
with an eye toward re-election. Lame duck Congresses have
declared war, impeached a president, censured a senator, and
passed the Homeland Security Act among other actions. Lame duck
Presidents have pardoned many criminals, issued executive
orders, confiscated land to create national parks, declared
areas to be newly opened or newly restricted from drilling for
oil, created additional federal judges, executive clemency for
family members, and more.

Jimmy Carter's
administration published more than 10,000 pages of new rules
between Election Day and Ronald Reagan's Inauguration Day. When
President George W. Bush took office in 2001, his administration
acted to block the implementation of 90 final rules that were
issued in the final months of the Clinton administration, but
that had not yet gone into effect.

Incidentally, unlike
the United States Congress, there is no 'lame duck session of
Parliament in most Commonwealth countries between the general
election and swearing in of elected officials.

Holy
Disaster - US bacon reserves hit 50-year low. Prices continue to
go up in a sizzle. The average price of bacon across America has
risen 14 percent since June of last year, according to the
Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Analysts are reporting
an 18% increase in the wholesale price of pork, with the surge
expected to have a continued rise on the price of bacon and
sausages.

Pig farmers can't keep
up with the world's sizzling appetite for those fatty, juicy,
smoky strips of sheer eating pleasure. US Department of
Agriculture, “Today’s pig farmers are setting historic records
by producing more pigs than ever,” said Rich Deaton, president
of the organization. “Yet our reserves are still depleting.”

Hog farmers export
approximately 26 percent of total production, the Bacon Council
said. China still produces almost four times the amount of pork
as the US, so the US may need to reduce exporting in order to
satisfy local demand or risk rising imports. Bottom line,
eat more bacon now before the next increase.

Some common terms we use come from falconry. For instance, the
term, 'under your thumb’ comes from the falconry way of holding
the bird's talons under ones thumb to keep it from flying away.A falcon is fitted with
a small leather hood over the bird’s eyes and head to keep it
from being distracted. From this we get the term ‘hoodwinked’.

Falconers regularly
give their bird a small treat when landing on their hand. Each
time the bird goes to find game, like rabbits, and returns it is
given another treat. After a few sessions the bird is full and
no longer wants to go hunt. It is said the bird is ‘fed up’.

If you want to quickly convert between miles and kilometers,
you can use the Fibonacci sequence to make a conversion with a
good degree of accuracy. The Fibonacci sequence, which is the
basis for the golden ratio (1.618), begins like this: 0, 1, 1,
2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55, 89, 144

Each number in the sequence after the first two is the sum of
the previous two numbers. Look at any number in the sequence as
a number of miles and the next number in the sequence is
approximately that same distance in kilometers. For example, 55
miles equals about 89 kilometers. Conversely, 34 kilometers
equals about 21 miles.

The conversion of miles to kilometers is 1.609. The small
difference between that and 1.618 will cause higher numbers to
not equal, but the numbers would need to be quite high to make a
difference. When in your car, check your speedometer for a quick
comparison.

Starting February 6 ending February 28, Krispy
Kreme will provide customers with a free original glazed
doughnut when they purchase a coffee in any size. No coupon is
required, and customers may take advantage of as many free
doughnuts as they can handle while the deal is valid.

The company is
relaunching its coffee with a choice of two flavors: Smooth and
Rich. The former is described as best for "subtle, easy
drinking," while the latter is darker and comes with a "more
bold experience."