admin | April 8, 2013
The free world lost a great leader today — the Iron Lady; the 87 year old late 20th century UK Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher died after suffering complications due to a stroke according to news sources early this morning. She was the necessary right hand and closely aligned friend to U.S. leaders assisting to bring [...]
RichC | March 25, 2013
In the 1980s I worked for a division of Knight Ridder Newspapers in Akron, Ohio call Portage Newspaper Supply Co. (now McClatchy Company). Portage handled central purchasing for the chain’s 58+ newspapers with nearly everything that was needed to produce the printed paper, as well as a few independent products (I believe all that is [...]
RichC | February 24, 2013
Every once in a while, actually a lot lately, someone will include something from the past in their books, articles or blog which reminds me of the challenges we face in becoming independent thinkers. A couple sailing friends of mine who have and are currently living a life out of the mainstream and shared a [...]
RichC | February 4, 2013
Interesting story. LONDON—Researchers on Monday said the long-lost remains of King Richard III have been found and identified—after sitting under what is now a parking lot in the English Midlands for more than 500 years. The findings appear to solve a centuries-old mystery involving one of England's most-storied rulers, who has remained in the public [...]
RichC | January 15, 2013
If you enjoy reading history and military biographies, the new General Stanley McChrystal autobiography My Share of the Task will be your “cup of tea Joe.” I ordered an ebook version last week after reading a couple short reviews and found it difficult to put down. In fact, I found myself rewinding the Tivo buffer [...]
RichC | December 27, 2012
Here’s a great bit of Lamborghini history shared by Jay Leno in his garage – a 1968-69 four-cylinder 5-Liter air-cooled 85HP diesel tractor … the Lamborghini R485. (history)
RichC | November 22, 2012
We’ve survived another bitter election and our country remains strong. Americans, and those who reside within our borders, are fortunate to live in the freest and most prosperous nation in the world. There isn’t another country which attracts immigrates the way the United States of America does (and will continue to do) and many of [...]
RichC | November 12, 2012
It would be nice to be off today, but I will be spending most of the day driving in the rain. Minus that, I should be enjoying dinner tonight with a WWII vet (my father-in-law) so that will be respecting at least the Federal holiday, Monday following Veterans Day. "To us in America, the reflections [...]
RichC | September 11, 2012
Today is Patriot Day and National Day of Service and Remembrance; it is a day to remember the 2,977 killed in the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. After congress unanimously passed Joint Resolution 71 on October 25, 2001 and President George W. Bush signed it into law on December 18, 2001, we now remember and [...]
RichC | August 12, 2012
After posting the gentile dolphin video clip for today’s blog post, I remembered that Sunday is actually the beginning of Shark Week 2012 on the Discovery channel … and it’s not just any week, but the 25th anniversary. The attraction is most likely programming such as “Air Jaws” highlighting video of the Great White Sharks [...]
RichC | July 11, 2012
For those wondering about the government’s Constitutional power to tax as it relates to “Obamacare,” here’s an excellent history lesson OpEd. In 1935, Secretary of Labor Frances Perkins was fretting about finding a constitutional basis for the Social Security Act. Supreme Court Justice Harlan Fiske Stone advised her, “The taxing power, my dear, the taxing [...]
RichC | July 6, 2012
After reading a little more about finding the dead pilots and Turkish military jet in the Mediterranean Sea that was shot down in Syrian airspace, I was curious where this occurred and started searching on Google Maps, etc. Eventually I ran across a few border towns along the Syrian and Israel line and eventually noticed [...]
RichC | June 14, 2012
As a casual flag flier, I often wonder if I’m respectful enough of our stars and stripes? Disclosure: I’ve always had a flag, portable staff or flag pole and initially decided to raise our flag and illuminated it 24/7 after 9/11 out of respect for those serving our country. I committed to keep it flying until [...]
RichC | April 24, 2012
Google’s latest doodle is a zipper down the center of the search engine’s homepage marking the birthday of Gideon Sundback, the Swedish-American electrical engineer creating the “zipper” which revolutionized the clothing industry. How many times have you “zipped” without thinking that some inventor created this.
RichC | April 18, 2012
In the late 60s and 70s, polyester clothing was popular (think leisure suits) and plastics were making their way in to products that were traditionally made of natural materials. Back then, we would joke about ranchers herding up the wild “Naugas” to fill the demand for naugahyde (the pleather of the day). But the fake [...]
RichC | April 17, 2012
It is still quite remarkable to see NASA haul around a giant space shuttle piggybacked on a modified Boeing747, this time it is Discovery heading to its final Washington DC Smithsonian home. For those of us who grew up with the entire space program it is indeed a sad end to an adventurous and exciting [...]
RichC | March 14, 2012
As is blatantly obvious in my business (printing), publishing history and information to paper is becoming as obsolete as recording sound to vinyl or video to magnetic tape. The Encyclopedia Britannica, which has been in continuous print since it was first published in Edinburgh, Scotland in 1768, said Tuesday it will end publication of its [...]
RichC | February 29, 2012
Hmm … I’ve never given much thought to filling out a U.S. Customs form when returning from space??? I found this one from the little trip by Apollo 11 in 1969 humorous (form below). Probably should have included “Bock” by name.
RichC | February 28, 2012
My EAA friend Steve posted this aviation history video to his site and I wanted to share and archive it on my site too. Probably should make a copy in case it disappears from YouTube …hmm?
RichC | January 16, 2012
There are only a handful of leaders that come along in one’s lifetime and for my generation, one of them is Martin Luther King, Jr (January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968). Most know the history of Mr. King and the civil rights movement around challenging the laws particularly in the south, but I enjoyed a [...]
RichC | December 31, 2011
In tying up loose ends in closing out the year, one story that made a big impact on technology followers was the death of Steve Jobs. He was an inspirational and creative marketing wizard with oddities all too common with those we associate with the “genius” label … and would have been my pick for [...]
RichC | December 7, 2011
Today is the day Americans remember those who served and were killed during the Empire of Japan’s surprise attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941 – a somber day for 2403 lives cut short. In a statement, President Obama proclaimed Wednesday "National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day" and reflected on those who rose to the occasion. He [...]
RichC | November 29, 2011
As someone who has spent a few days working with type (printing), I thought it apropos to share an interesting bit about the “origins of punctuation marks” from a G+ post on my blog … besides I’m too lazy to write something original today. Question Mark ? Origin: When early scholars wrote in Latin, they [...]
RichC | November 24, 2011
Who would have thought that we would adopt the folksy term Turkey Day for Thanksgiving considering the first pilgrims and Wampanoaq Indians most likely didn’t serve turkey. I figured there might have been Wild Turkey? Perhaps not according to most historians. The account we have of the feast — Mourt’s Relation by Edward Winslow and [...]
RichC | November 13, 2011
A long time CBS journalist and 60 Minutes commentator Andy Rooney died this week after an iconic career in both reporting and “curmudgeon” commentary, or at least that’s the word I’ve heard bantered around this week. He commented after his last appearance that he was “lucky” in his career … and having noted that he [...]
RichC | November 11, 2011
My son made his father proud today by recognizing Veteran’s Day 11/11/11 in this way … he posted a nice note to his Facebook page.
RichC | September 19, 2011
This was posted in late 2010, but I found the tracking of our two-party voting pretty interesting sped up over time. While trying to remember my American history, it is interesting to watch the political swings in ideology over the years. The swings between too much centralized government and regulation … and unregulated capitalism has [...]
RichC | September 11, 2011
I knew reflecting on the tenth year anniversary of 9/11 was going to be difficult to capture in a single blog post — I have been mulling what to archive. Watching the names scroll by on FoxNews coverage on 9/11/2011 The obvious would be to reflect on those Americans who were killed and are the [...]
RichC | September 5, 2011
It is odd how my “simple mind” works when contemplating a blog post on Labor Day. As I grappled with the history of the holiday, my thoughts drifted to present day directional changes our country is making – some reminiscent of the reasons that triggered our end of summer holiday. In reading about our nation’s [...]
RichC | August 25, 2011
"I believe Apple’s brightest and most innovative days are ahead of it, and I look forward to watching and contributing to its success in a new role.” – Steve Jobs (56), resigning CEO continuing Chairman of the Board Although for the most part, my Apple loving days are probably in the past, I’m saddened to [...]