February 20, 2001 - All the Rest

ALL THE REST – February 20

Today's Quotations — ADVICE

Good advice is something a man gives when he is too old to set a bad example.

— La Rouchefoucauld

I have found the best way to give advice to your children is to find out what they want and then advise them to do it.

— Harry S Truman

Advice is what we ask for when we already know the answer but wish we didn't.

— Erica Jong

A wise man will hear and increase in learning, And a man of understanding will acquire wise counsel,

Proverbs 1:5

It is very difficult to live among people you love and hold back from offering them advice.

— Anne Tyler

The advice of friends must be received with a judicious reserve; we must not give ourselves up to it and follow it blindly, whether right or wrong.

— Pierre Charron

Today's Word – ADMONISH

ad·mon·ish transitive verb ad·mon·ished, ad·mon·ish·ing, ad·mon·ish·es. 1. To reprove gently but earnestly. 2. To counsel (another) against something to be avoided; caution. 3. To remind of something forgotten or disregarded, as an obligation or a responsibility. [Middle English amonishen, admonishen, alteration of amonesten, from Old French amonester, admonester, from Vulgar Latin *admonestłrełre, from Latin admon¶re : ad-, ad- + mon¶re, to warn]

Dig -dig -dig -until an impatient movement from one of the two passengers
would admonish him to pull up the window, draw his arm securely through the leathern strap, and speculate upon the two slumbering forms, until his mind lost its hold of them, and they again slid away into the bank and the grave

A Tale of Two Cities
Charles Dickens

Definitions from American Heritage Dictionary

Today's Fact

Over the next several days the facts here on the DM will be about Serendipitous Discoveries.
This is the first fact on this subject.

Serendipity
Discoveries
Nonnutritive
Sweeteners

Serendipity, or chance discovery. This has been the means of a number of scientific discoveries both great and small.

SERENDIPITY 5
Until very recently, serendipity has been responsible for the discovery of every artificial - nonnutritive sweetener. Earlier the discovery of saccharin was described. It was the earliest artificial sweetener discovered. Ira Remsen discovered saccharin in the United States more than a century ago while he was researching sulfur-nitrogen molecules. In those days it was usual to report the taste of new chemicals, and sweet-tasting compounds were rare. Soon saccharin was used as an artificial sweetener, shown to be harmless by the simple expedient of getting volunteers to eat 5,000 milligrams a day for six months.

Another artificial sweetener - cyclamate - was discovered accidentally by Michael Sveda in 1937. He was a smoker, and one day when he rested his cigarette on the edge of his laboratory bench it picked up a few crystals of the compound. He noticed the sweet taste of his cigarette and cyclamate was discovered. By the mid-Sixties cyclamate was the world' s most popular artificial sweetener. The FDA pulled cyclamate off the market in the US because it was claimed that a few rats fed high doses had developed bladder cancer. A media panic ensued as the story of the tests reached the public. The tests were later found unacceptable due to the large dose of cyclamates fed to the rats and in 1984 the FDA announced that cyclamate was not carcinogenic after all.

Aspartame was discovered in 1965 by James Schlatter who was making compounds for testing as anti-ulcer drugs and joined two amino acids together, aspartic acid and phenylalanine. Again an instance of serendipity. Aspartame is 200 times sweeter than sugar. Unlike other sweeteners, it carries a warning because it contains phenylalanine. Phenylalanine is an essential amino acid without which we cannot live. The warning is there for the few people who suffer from phenylketonuria. They lack the enzyme which disposes of surplus phenylalanine in their body, and so must monitor what they eat, such as meat and dairy products, which are also rich in this amino acid.

The main competitor to saccharin and cyclamate is likely to become acesulfame-K. Like saccharin it is another sulphur-nitrogen sweetener. It was discovered in Germany in 1967 when a research scientist, Karl Claus, licked his finger to pick up a piece of filter-paper and found it was sweet. Ace-K, trade-named Sunett, is close to obtaining FDA approval for use in nonalcoholic liquid beverages. The product, is considered 200 times sweeter than sugar, has already received approval for a variety of uses. Acesulfame- K is now used in more than 2,000 products around the world, mainly as a blend. This sweetener has a synergistic effect with the leading sweetener, aspartame, which means that each boosts the sweetness of the other. Used in combination, much less of either is required to achieve the same intensity of taste.

Sources: Encyclopaedia Britannica | The New Shell Book of Firsts


The Daily Miscellany Times

February 20, 1437
Old News = History

Scotland's king murdered in his bed

Scotland's King James I, has been assassinated by a group of nobles seeking to place a rival king on the throne. He was 42 years old. James was staying at the Dominican Friary in Perth. He was assassinated by a group of conspirators led by Walter, Earl of Atholl, who aspired to win the crown for himself. No general uprising followed the murder, and the king's widow quickly had the conspirators captured and executed. The king's son is to succeed him.

As a young boy James was sent to France by his father to escape the powerful and treacherous Robert Stewart, Duke of Albany. On the way, James was captured by English sailors and taken as a prisoner to the royal court in London. He was held prisoner for 18 years. While imprisoned he married Joan, a cousin of England's King Henry V. He assumed the throne in Scotland in 1424. During the 13 years (1424-37) in which he controlled the government, he established the first strong monarchy the Scots had known in nearly a century. He acquired the resources that he needed to run his government by confiscating the estates of his enemies, by eliminating graft in the collection of customs, and by bringing the chief financial officers of the realm under his personal supervision. His attempts to prevent church revenues from being sent to Rome involved him in a long series of disputes with the papacy.

James I will be remembered for his improvements in the administration of justice for the common people. James was also a highly cultured man. He is authored the long vernacular poem The Kingis Quair ("The King's Book").

"Source: On This Day | Britannica"

Today's SMILE

"What sunshine is to flowers, smiles are to humanity. These are but trifles, to be sure; but, scattered along life's pathway, the good they do is inconceivable."

Joseph Addison

A cheerful heart is good medicine,
but a crushed spirit dries up the bones.
Proverbs 17:22 (NIV)





Who Are They?

A young child was visiting a church for the first time. He was seen checking all the announcements and posters along the walls. When he came to a group of pictures of men in uniform, he asked a nearby usher, "Who are all those men in the pictures?"

The usher replied, "Why, those are our boys who died in the service"

Dumbfounded, the youngster asked, "Was that the morning service or the evening service?"

Nice Suit

A little boy opened the big and old family Bible with fascination, and looked at the old pages as he turned them. Suddenly, something fell out of the Bible, and he picked it up and looked at it closely. It was an old leaf from a tree that had been pressed in between the pages. The boy called out, "Momma, look what I found!"

His mother called back, "What have you got there, dear?"

With astonishment in the young boy's voice, he answered: "I think it's Adam's suit!"

Things You Never Hear in Church

Hey! It's my turn to sit in the front pew.

I was so enthralled, I never noticed your sermon went 25 minutes over time.

Personally I find witnessing much more enjoyable than golf.

I've decided to give our church the $500 a month I used to send to TV evangelists.

I volunteer to be the permanent teacher for the junior high Sunday school class.

Forget the denominational minimum salary, let's pay our pastor so he can live like we do.

I love it when we sing hymns I've never heard before!

Since we're all here, let's start the service early.

Pastor, we'd like to send you to this Bible seminar in the Bahamas.

Nothing inspires me and strengthens my commitment like our annual stewardship campaign!

The Real Story?

One day in the Garden of Eden, Eve calls out to God, "Lord, I have a problem!"

"What's the problem, Eve?"

"Lord, I know you've created me and have provided this beautiful garden and all of these wonderful animals, and that hilarious comedy snake, but I'm just not happy."

"Why is that, Eve?" came the reply from above.

"Lord, I am lonely. And I'm sick to death of apples."

"Well, Eve, in that case, I have a solution. I shall create a man for you."

"What's a 'man', Lord?"

"This man will be a flawed creature, with aggressive tendencies, an enormous ego and an inability to empathize or listen to you properly. All in all, he'll give you a hard time. But, he'll be bigger and faster and more muscular than you. He'll be really good at fighting and kicking a ball about and hunting fleet-footed ruminants, and not altogether bad in the sack."

"Sounds great," says Eve, with an ironically raised eyebrow.

"Yeah, well. He's better than a poke in the eye with a burnt stick. But, you can have him on one condition."

"What's that, Lord?"

"You'll have to let him believe that I made him first."

Bad News

A man hasn't been feeling well, so he goes to his doctor for a complete checkup. Afterward the doctor comes out with the results. "I'm afraid I have some very bad news," the doctor says. "You're dying, and you don't have much time left."

"Oh, that's terrible!" says the man. "How long have I got?"

"Ten," the doctor says sadly.

"Ten?" the man asks. "Ten what? Months? Weeks? What?"

"Nine..."

jokemaster@jokecenter.com (JokeMaster)

TRUE FACT ...

Humans begin laughing at two to three months of age. Six year olds laugh about 300 times per day, while adults laugh from 15 to 100 times per day.

SOURCE: NYT, Dr. William F. Fry, Stanford University

Sometimes I wake up grumpy;
Other times I let her sleep.

Daily Miscellany Comics

Have A Great Day

Phillip Bower

Soul Food February 20

Today in History February 20

Send Mail to pbower@neo.rr.com

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Copyright Information: Phillip Bower is not the author of the humor, and does not claim to own any copyright privileges to the jokes. Sources of jokes are listed when known. Birthday's and Happenings for the date, and quotations are public knowledge and collected from numerous sources. Quotations are public knowledge and sources are listed when known. Weekendspirations are written by Tim Knappenberger who has copyright privileges. Cathy Vinson authors Whispers from the Wilderness and owns copyright privileges. Weekendspirations and Whispers from the Wilderness are used with permission by the respective authors. Other devotions are written by Phillip Bower unless otherwise stated. In all cases credit is given when known. The Daily Miscellany is nonprofit. Submissions by readers is welcome.