Eye-Catchers of the Day
- Best zingers of the night from comedian Stephen Colbert at the Al Smith white-tie
charity dinner, the annual gathering of New York’s Roman Catholic brass.
The New York Times:
Addressing
the populist bent of Pope Francis, saying that if the new pope had planned the
event, “we wouldn’t be in white-tie at the Waldorf — we’d be in sweat pants at
the corner booth of the IHOP.”
If
Pope Francis had attended on Thursday, “His Humbleness would be out washing the
feet of the coat-check guy or something,” Mr. Colbert said, adding, “We get it,
you’re modest.”
- There are
29.8 million people living as slaves right now, according to new
report issued by the Australia-based Walk Free Foundation. http://is.gd/fTYbyZ
- Council
on Foreign Relations: “Student loan
debt passed $1 trillion dollars in 2013—quadrupling since 2004—and was the
only household debt that rose during the recent recession, surpassing auto
loans and credit card debt. Only home
mortgage debt was larger, at $8.5 trillion. Moreover, student loans have
had the highest ninety-day delinquency rate among all loan types since
mid-2012, according to the New York Federal Reserve.''
STATS OF the DAY
- The
Seattle Seahawks are 6-1 for the first time in franchise history. - ESPN
STATS: Since start of July, Boston Red Sox flame thrower Koji Uehara has a MLB-best 0.37 ERA and has
walked 2 of 161 batters faced, including the postseason. - 4 of the 5 ALCS games have been decided by one
run. - Youth
unemployment in Spain (16 to 24 yr olds) has surged to 55.13%-BBC News - Cook
Political Report: “House Democrats
would need to win between 6 and 7 % more votes than House Republicans
nationally in order to win the barest
possible majority of 18 seats. ‘’ - NASA had spent
$878,000 in the past two years on research into ways to deflect or neutralize asteroids that risk collision with Earth. - AOL
topped Google as the property with the most video ads watched last month, with 3.7 billion views compared to the
YouTube parent's 3.2 billion. - 40% Of
YouTube traffic is mobile, up from 25% in 2012: Source: Tech Crunch: http://is.gd/NtkjIK - The
Social Security Administration paid benefits to about 61.9 million people in 2012. - According to the Global Peace Index (GPI) from
the Institute For Economics & Peace, the
drug war in Mexico claimed twice as many lives as the conflicts in Iraq and
Afghanistan. - Over the last decade, employees' share of health care costs—including employee contributions
and out-of-pocket costs—will have increased almost 150 percent from $2,011 in
2004 to $4,969 in 2014. Source: Aon
plc, the leading global provider of risk management services, insurance and
reinsurance brokerage. http://is.gd/hVchZ2
Surveys/Polls
- Poll: Pew
Research Center for the People & the Press: The Tea Party is less
popular than ever, with even many Republicans now viewing the movement
negatively. Overall, nearly half of the
public (49%) has an unfavorable opinion of the Tea Party, while 30% have a
favorable opinion.
Top 25 Cities in the
World
- Readers'
Choice Awards as voted by CONDÉ NAST TRAVELER Readers
***
Today in History
October 18, 1954,
Texas Instruments announced plans to sell the first transistor radio, which
received AM stations for $49.95, the equivalent of more than $400 today. One
year after the release of the transistor, sales approached the 100,000 mark. The
radio receiver (technically known as n-p-n grown junction germanium triodes) measured
5 x 3 x 1 1/4 inches – the smallest set commercially available – with the
semiconductor devices themselves occupying less than 1/10 of a cubic inch. The Regency
TR-1 featured four germanium transistors operating on a 22.5-volt battery that
provided over 20 hours of life
Word Origin
Politics
Politics comes
from two Greek words: polis (city)
and polites (citizen). Gradually the
word came to be used to describe the art and science of government, as in “political
science’’ including the day to day professional management of political affairs
both in local government as well as at the national level.
Looking For a Good
Quote?
“If only God would
give me a clear sign! Like making a
large deposit in my name at a Swiss bank.’’
–Woody Allen
-Bill Lucey
October 18, 2013
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