Mind Soup

This actually made my day today. I'm so glad that Outlook has been aiming up to its full potential lately.

The plastic things on the end of shoelaces are called aglets . (right) The word "nerd" was first coined by Dr. Seuss in "If I Ran the Zoo." There are twice as many kangaroos in Australia as there are people. The kangaroo population is estimated at about 40 million. According to suicide statistics, Monday is the favored day for self-destruction. There are 10 human body parts that are only 3 letters long: eye, hip, arm, leg, ear, toe, jaw, rib, lip, gum . The largest number of children born to one woman is recorded at 69. From 1725-1765, a Russian peasant woman gave birth to 16 sets of twins, 7 sets of triplets, and 4 sets of quadruplets. Flying from London to New York by Concord, due to the time zones crossed, you can arrive 2 hours before you leave.

I am free. But my country is still a prisoner of war. There has been a lot of talk about the action and about the person who took it, and about the hero and the heroic act, and the symbol and the symbolic act. But, simply, I answer: what compelled me to act is the injustice that befell my people, and how the occupation wanted to humiliate my homeland by putting it under its boot. Over recent years, more than a million martyrs have fallen by the bullets of the occupation and Iraq is now filled with more than five million orphans, a million widows and hundreds of thousands of maimed. Many millions are homeless inside and outside the country. We used to be a nation in which the Arab would share with the Turkman and the Kurd and the Assyrian and the Sabean and the Yazid his daily bread. And the Shia would pray with the Sunni in one line. And the Muslim would celebrate with the Christian the birthday of Christ. This despite the fact that we shared hunger under sanctions for more than a...

What's the ideal gift for a basketball-obsessed president? Try a size 23 sneaker personally autographed by Shaquille O'Neal. The Phoenix Suns center couldn't be around himself when President Barack Obama arrived at Sky Harbor International Airport Tuesday afternoon. So when the president stepped off of Air Force One, Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon's son Jake made the presentation at the foot of the stairs. The orange-and-white sneaker made a big impression. Obama set it on the ground next to his own, much smaller shoe, and grinned as photographers captured the moment. Then Obama scooped it up and took it with him as he stepped into the presidential limo. In Sunday's NBA All-Star game, O'Neal shared MVP honors with Kobe Bryant of the Los Angeles Lakers.