For the past few days I have been feeling a bit poorly, as my grandfather used to say. But now that bout of mental funk and digestive discomfort has lessened and hopefully will not recur in the near future. What the cause for this periodic malady is, is most probably a matter of my lack of control over my eating habits. When I eat too much over a prolonged period, both my mental acuity lessens and my physical energy level drops, and I start to feel, well... ill. Then I lose my incentive for physical activity, which in turn lowers my desire to do anything more than merely to sit and watch TV or lie atop the covers on my bed and read from my Kindle. And sleep.
That is what they call a vicious circle.
And I just have to do something about it.
As much as I hate to admit it, being 73 years old might have something to do with my health problems. But that just means that I have to work harder than my creaky old body wishes to work.
Now that's a not-so-surprising bit of insight.
In physics, a force is said to do work when it acts on a body so that there is a displacement of the point of application, however small, in the direction of the force. Thus a force does work when it results in movement. The work done by a constant force of magnitude F on a point that moves a distance d in the direction of the force is the product, W=Fd.
Which means, does it not, that if I use mental Force to stimulate bodily movement, then Work will be produced? If I tell' myself (mental force) that at ten o'clock in the morning I must go out each and every day for a two-mile morning walk, and then at ten o'clock I leave the house and perform this two-mile walk (Work) then all will be well and my life will again be all hunky-dory.
Something like that . . .
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HISTORICAL CLIP
On February 28,1993, at Mount Carmel in Waco, Texas, agents of the U.S. Treasury Department's Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (ATF) launch a raid against the Branch Davidian compound as part of an investigation into illegal possession of firearms and explosives by the Christian cult. As the agents attempted to penetrate the complex, gunfire erupted, beginning an extended gun battle that left four ATF agents dead and 15 wounded. Six Branch Davidians were fatally wounded, and several more were injured, including David Koresh, the cult's founder and leader. After 45 minutes of shooting, the ATF agents withdrew, and a cease-fire was negotiated over the telephone. The operation, which involved more than 100 ATF agents, was the one of the largest ever mounted by the bureau and resulted in the highest casualties of any ATF operation.
Following the unsuccessful ATF raid, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) took over the situation. A standoff with the Branch Davidians stretched into seven weeks, and little progress was made in the telephone negotiations as the Davidians had stockpiled years of food and other necessities before the raid.
On April 18, U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno approved a tear-gas assault on the compound, and at approximately 6:00 a.m. on April 19 the Branch Davidians were informed of the imminent attack and asked to surrender, which they did not. A few minutes later, two FBI combat vehicles began inserting gas into the building and were joined by Bradley tanks, which fired tear-gas canisters through the compound's windows. The Branch Davidians, many with gas masks on, refused to evacuate, and by 11:40 a.m. the last of some 100 tear-gas canisters was fired into the compound. Just after noon, a fire erupted at one or more locations on the compound, and minutes later nine Davidians fled the rapidly spreading blaze. Gunfire was reported but ceased as the compound was completely engulfed by the flames.
Koresh and at least 80 of his followers, including 22 children, died during the federal government's second disastrous assault on Mount Carmel.
David Koresh
More about David Koresh . . .
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WORD FOR TODAY
proselytize
verb
- Convert or attempt to convert (someone) from one religion, belief, or opinion to another.
- Advocate or promote Example: "Davis wanted to proselytize his ideas".
Many Christians consider it their obligation to follow what is often termed the Great Commission of Jesus, recorded in the final verses of the Gospel of Matthew: "Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen."
Born Feb 28, 1948
Age: 64 years old
Age: 64 years old
Bernadette Peters is an American actress, singer and children's book author from Ozone Park, Queens, New York. Over the course of a career that has spanned five decades, she has starred in musical theater, films and television, as well as performing in solo concerts and recordings.
She is particularly noted for her roles on the Broadway stage, including in the musicals Mack and Mabel, Sunday in the Park with George, Song and Dance, Into the Woods, Annie Get Your Gun and Gypsy.
Peters first performed on the stage as a child and then a teenage actor in the 1960s, and in film and television in the 1970s. She was praised for this early work and for appearances on The Muppet Show, The Carol Burnett Show and in other television work, and for her roles in films like Silent Movie, The Jerk, Pennies from Heaven and Annie.
Born Feb. 28, 1923
Die: Dec. 24, 2012
Die: Dec. 24, 2012
Charles Edward Durning was an American actor, with appearances in over 200 movies, television shows and plays. Durning's memorable roles included the Oscar-winning The Sting (1973) and crime drama Dog Day Afternoon (1975), along with the comedies Tootsie, To Be or Not to Be and The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, the last two of which earned him Academy Award nominations for Best Supporting Actor. He also won a Tony award for his portrayal of Big Daddy in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof in 1990.
Born Feb 28, 1969
Age: 43 years old
Age: 43 years old
Robert Sean Leonard (born Robert Lawrence Leonard; February 28, 1969) is an American actor. He is best known for playing Dr. James Wilson on the television series House, M.D. and Neil Perry in the 1989 movie Dead Poets Society. He regularly stars in Broadway and off-Broadway productions.
Born Feb 28, 1955
Age: 57 years old
Age: 57 years old
Gilbert Gottfried is an American actor, voice actor and stand-up comedian best known for his trademark comedic persona of speaking in a loud, grating tone of voice and squinting. He has played numerous roles in film and television, perhaps most notably voicing the parrot Iago in Disney's Aladdin (1992), and co-starred in the Problem Child movies. He is also known for voicing Digit in the children's cartoon/educational math-based show Cyberchase, and the Aflac Duck until 2011.
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“I think I am better than the people who are trying to reform me.”
--E.W. Howe
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