today is Uncle Sam’s birthday

Uncle Sam's image was first used on this day in 1813.

It’s also National Lazy Moms Day,

a day for hard working moms to do what they want to do.

And since this is Friday,  we had a visit from the Animal Services Center of the Mesilla Valley.  Meet Shelly-

  

She’s a chocolate lab mix, about a year and a half old and has lots of energy as well as a very engaging personality.  She’s been at the center since January.  Do you know of someone who could give her a good home?

The 101 number one song of the day was written by the most successful songwriter of all time. He was asked if any of the many different characters created for those songs were real. He said that the character featured in today’s chart-topper was a real live relative of his.  While people such as “Michelle,” Eleanor Rigby, Lady Madonna and others were figments of his imagination, there was a man he knew who used to quote the bible to everyone when he got drunk. He used to read from the bible to make those quotes and it was the only time he read the bible. It’s probably not a big mystery that the songwriter to which I’m referring is Paul McCartney but what about the bible quoting relative? His name is the first name used in the song that was number one in America on September 3rd, 1971 – It was Paul’s real live “Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey.”

Russian Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin…

…is urging his country's citizens to smoke more cigarettes and drink more alcohol, as indulging those habits can apparently do wonders for the local economy. The unconventional advice comes just as Russia prepares to raise excise duty on both tobacco and alcohol sales -- and higher consumption of both commodities could help lift tax revenues for spending on social services. "People should understand: Those who drink, those who smoke are doing more to help the state," Kudrin said as quoted by the Interfax news agency. "If you smoke a pack of cigarettes, that means you are giving more to help solve social problems such as boosting demographics, developing other social services and upholding birth rates."

 

and this is freaky - 93-year old Zsa Zsa Gabor is struggling to survive – being taken to the hospital again this week. Interesting side-note, her husband says he plans to ‘plastinate’ her body when she dies. That controversial German artist that encases human bodies in plastic has already been contacted. Gabor’s husband, Frederic von Anholt said his wife always dreamt her beauty would be immortal.

Maybe they should have started the process a lot earlier…

Have a Happy (and safe) Labor Day!