OCTOBER 6, 2010
Yesterday, October 5, 2010, is the number one birthday in America. I wonder if that is because it is nine months after Jan. 5, or so, which is generally bad weather. What else do you do when snowed in or to break up the monotony of cabin fever.
“Every hour, three species go extinct on Earth, be they plants or animals.” I read this in an article on LiveScience Blog. Even the author finds it hard to believe. The estimate is based on climate change, loss in habitat, natural selection and guesswork. I think a lot of guesswork is involved. I also read once that we discover over five new species every day. These could be a plant with a different number of leaves and there is only one but it is a new species. Science, which is supposed to be based on fact, is ever changing. Apparently scientists are to ready to accept a fact since they are always changing the science. Science should be called theory or ‘that’s what we think today’. It is a more descriptive name.
A guy in Morris, IL rolled a perfect game while bowling on September 15, 2010. This is uncommon but it happens every day somewhere. The difference with this bowler is he is blind and has been since birth, 58 years go. Ron Gooch rolled the perfect game at Echo Lanes in Morris, IL. Way to go Ron.
It was nice to see a Judge in New York City was doing her job and the right thing in the sentence she handed down to the inept terrorist who tried to set off a bomb in Times Square earlier this year. The Pakistan born Muslim, I will not name him, was brought into the Courtroom of United States District Judge Miriam Goldman Cedarbaum in handcuffs and wearing a blue skull cap, Mr. Snappy Dresser if I ever seen one. He instructed his attorney not to speak at the hearing, another example of this coward’s Mensa Society credentials.
The Judge told the terrorist to spend some of his life in prison reading the Quran to find the part that tells him to kill lots of people. He told the Judge and the Court “…we are proud terrorists and we will keep on terrorizing you” He said this right after he said “We are only Muslims…”
Only six signatures exist, that we are aware of, of William Shakespeare. Three are on his Will. The other three also have a legal tie-in. One is on the deed to his house, one is on the mortgage and another one is on his testimony given in a legal case. No signed manuscripts have been found of his writings. It is estimated an autograph of William Shakespeare would bring 5 million dollars but none are for sale.
Another sought after and expensive autograph is that of Abraham Lincoln. Many more of his autographs exist but the most expensive ones are those on handwritten documents. Five copies of the Gettysburg Address, in Lincoln’s handwriting exist we know of. Two were written contemporaneously with him writing the speech. The other three were written by Lincoln as gifts well after he gave the speech. For that reason, none of the five copies are identical in the wording.
It has long been suspected, or at least hoped, a sixth copy exists. If it were to surface and be authenticated, it would likely be the most valuable piece of signed handwriting in history with a value estimated at over 100 million dollars. The only competition this piece would have would be a signed copy of a William Shakespeare manuscript. Surprisingly, no handwritten manuscripts by Shakespeare exist. If one were found, it could have a value of 500 million dollars.
Look in the attic and every garage sale you see. A fortune awaits whoever finds one of these gems.
BRUCE A. BRENNAN
