samhexum

The Biebs won the All-Star Game MVP!

Lorraine Cortés-Vázquez is commissioner of the New York City Department for the Aging. Prior to joining the de Blasio administration, she served in executive leadership roles with AARP, EmblemHealth and other organizations. She also served as New York’s first Latina Secretary of State. After serving as a senior adviser to Mayor Bill de Blasio, I am honored to serve as the new Commissioner of the New York City Department for the Aging and to serve the city’s 1.6 million diverse older adults. I plan to highlight and address critical priorities for older New Yorkers, like social isolation. In a city of nearly 9 million people, many will endure loneliness – especially as they age. In fact, 1 in 5 older adults are socially isolated, which can lead to depression and a decline in physical health. Carrolyn Minggia, 64, is among them. She battles a syndrome that causes her immune system to attack her nerves. Since the death of her aunt, whom she moved to New York to care for, she also battles loneliness. We recently gave Minggia a robotic dog to ease that loneliness. The dog has sensors, responds to touch, barks and nuzzles and provides comfort. But technology isn’t the only way to fight the widespread problem of social isolation. Low-tech approaches, like acknowledging and greeting people or checking on older neighbors, go a long way. In 2017, we launched our ThriveNYC Friendly Visiting Program, which pairs trusted and trained volunteers with isolated older adults. In just a few years, we have provided more than 50,000 hours of in-home visits. Beyond those visits, the program allows for intergenerational exchange in which strong bonds are formed between visitors and program participants. Older adults who wish to explore options outside of the home can visit more than 200 senior centers across the city, many representing the languages and cultures that make New York City strong. The centers are safe places to socialize, have a meal with friends, take fitness and wellness classes, enjoy art classes, and attend cultural activities. Senior center membership is free to anyone age 60 or older. The Department for the Aging also plans to launch a campaign that highlights the problem of social isolation in order to encourage more people to explore resources that are available to them through the City of New York. If you are isolated, call 311 for more information about available services. The Department for the Aging is here to help.

Burger King brings back tacos for a limited time with new $1 Crispy Tacos For a limited time, the home of the Whopper will also serve tacos. Burger King announced Tuesday that participating restaurants nationwide are introducing a $1 Crispy Taco. Prices will be higher in Alaska and Hawaii. “We’ve seen success with tacos in our West Coast restaurants and knew it was time to bring this West Coast favorite nationwide,” Chris Finazzo, Burger King's president for North America, said in a statement. “The Crispy Taco adds variety to our snacking items and truly hits the spot.” According to Burger King, the taco features a “crispy, crunchy tortilla filled with seasoned beef, shredded cheddar cheese and crisp lettuce, all topped with just the right amount of our savory taco sauce.” In a commercial, The King, Burger King’s mascot, shows off the new tacos in a commercial shot in Austin, Texas. “This is Burger King, this is not Taco King here,” one person in the commercial says. Some locations starting selling the tacos before Tuesday's official launch, according to social media reports. Twitter user @palmqueezy tweeted Monday "@BurgerKing we need to taco bout this... Who let this happen?" Burger King's Twitter account responded simply: "Corporate." This is not the first time Burger King has offered tacos nationwide. According to Comicbook.com, the tacos exited most locations nearly a decade ago in 2010. Burger King also isn't the first burger chain to serve tacos. Jack in the Box said on its website that tacos have been a permanent menu item since the mid-1950s.

Burger King brings back tacos for a limited time with new $1 Crispy Tacos For a limited time, the home of the Whopper will also serve tacos. Burger King announced Tuesday that participating restaurants nationwide are introducing a $1 Crispy Taco. Prices will be higher in Alaska and Hawaii. “We’ve seen success with tacos in our West Coast restaurants and knew it was time to bring this West Coast favorite nationwide,” Chris Finazzo, Burger King's president for North America, said in a statement. “The Crispy Taco adds variety to our snacking items and truly hits the spot.” According to Burger King, the taco features a “crispy, crunchy tortilla filled with seasoned beef, shredded cheddar cheese and crisp lettuce, all topped with just the right amount of our savory taco sauce.” In a commercial, The King, Burger King’s mascot, shows off the new tacos in a commercial shot in Austin, Texas. “This is Burger King, this is not Taco King here,” one person in the commercial says. Some locations starting selling the tacos before Tuesday's official launch, according to social media reports. Twitter user @palmqueezy tweeted Monday "@BurgerKing we need to taco bout this... Who let this happen?" Burger King's Twitter account responded simply: "Corporate." This is not the first time Burger King has offered tacos nationwide. According to Comicbook.com, the tacos exited most locations nearly a decade ago in 2010. Burger King also isn't the first burger chain to serve tacos. Jack in the Box said on its website that tacos have been a permanent menu item since the mid-1950s.

But what if he doesn't want you to be gentle? :D

My building is not individually metered (NYC no longer allows such construction), so I don't pay for utilities, just $180/yr per a/c ($15/mo all year long). Mine go on in early June (late May if necessary) and go off sometime after Labor Day. Oddly enough, it's the fourth straight such apartment that I've lived in. I last paid a utility bill in 1986.

A cockatoo named Snowball was able to choreograph 14 fly dance moves on his own — including headbanging, and even Vogueing — showing that spontaneously moving to music isn’t unique to humans, a study published Monday found. The prancing parrot rose to YouTube fame a decade ago over a video of him foot-tapping and head-bobbing to “Everybody” by the Backstreet Boys. Now, the study published in the journal Current Biology, shows the yellow-crested bird wasn’t just mirroring his owner, but can actually impulsively move to music, creating a variety of steps on his own. “What’s most interesting to us is the sheer diversity of his movements to music,” said senior author Aniruddh Patel, a psychologist at Tufts University and Harvard University, noting that Snowball developed the elaborate moves without training. A study on Snowball from 2009 showed he anticipates the beat of a song and moves to it — a natural ability that is present in humans but absent in other primates. Soon after, the parrot’s owner, and a co-author on the new paper, Irena Schults, noticed Snowball pulling off movements she hadn’t seen before. So researchers decided to study similarities between Snowball’s dancing and that of humans, including body parts used to respond to music and the diversity of steps. by the researchers shows Snowball grooving to ’80s hits like Queens’ “Another One Bites the Dust” and Cindy Lauper’s “Girls Just Want to Have Fun,” by bobbing, swinging and circling his head in different ways, sometimes coordinating the moves with foot lifts. The video, which was analyzed by the study’s first author R. Joanne Jao Keehn, a cognitive neuroscientist and a trained dancer, shows Snowball completing a repertoire of 14 dance moves. “He has this incredible repertoire. His movements to music are amazingly diverse,” Patel told The Guardian. “There are moves in there, like the Madonna Vogue move, that I just can’t believe.” Researchers are now probing whether Snowball will dance if there’s no one watching. “People are fine listening to music on their own, but when it comes to dancing, people want to do that with friends rather than put music on in their living room and dance by themselves,” Patel said. “We’ll see if Snowball is the same.”

I remember busting out laughing when that song started playing in MURIEL's WEDDING.

Shouldn't you have added "control + alt +" to the title?

http://synd.imgsrv.uclick.com/comics/cl/2019/cl190708.gif

Have you tried...

Wendy was the hot topic as she returned from a 5 week hiatus with a new long blonde wig and tales of what she did during her time off. She visited Chez Kardashian and Kim answered the door herself. Wendy also dished about the 27 year old she's seeing. She seems to be digging the single life.

I resemble that remark. :(

BUMP! Some Independent Animals for Independence Day!

There's a nationwide tortilla shortage at Taco Bell Stay strong, burrito fans! Taco Bell fans hoping for a cheesy, bean-filled burrito over the long holiday weekend may be pretty disappointed by the chain's latest announcement. Due to a supplier issue, Taco Bell is experiencing a shortage of tortillas at many of its locations across the country. The shortage affects several of the fast-food eatery's most popular items including burritos of all types, quesadillas and specialties like the Crunchwrap Supreme. “While some Taco Bell restaurants are experiencing supplier shortages, we are working diligently to replenish the supply of our tortillas (used for products like quesadillas and burritos) in those restaurants," a representative for the chain said in a statement shared with TODAY Food over email. While the supplier issue is being resolved, the chain is encouraging Taco Bell lovers "to try any of our other delicious menu items like the Power Menu Bowl or Cheesy Gordita Crunch in the meantime." Many on Twitter have taken note of the fact that the chain is unable to serve some of their favorites and they are pretty unhappy — to say the least. The shortage is basically forcing the affected Taco Bell locations to severely limit in-store offerings. For example, at one location in Huntsville, Alabama, a note was posted outside warning customers that many items ranging from burritos and quesadillas to Quesaritos, XXL Burritos, Chalupas and nacho fry boxes would not be available, WAAY reported. The spicy outrage has boiled over onto Reddit, too, where one thread started by an anonymous Taco Bell employee decries a "tortillapocalypse." Employees from other locations have chimed in saying that they have never seen anything like it. Perhaps this is a good time to try some nacho fries and a crunchy taco or two.

Why not? I've been on an impossible diet forever.

Sixteen-year-old center fielder Jasson Dominguez, perhaps the most highly regarded prospect from Latin America in a decade, signed with the New York Yankees on Tuesday morning in a deal that includes a $5.1 million bonus. The 5-foot-11, 195-pound Dominguez is a powerful switch-hitter with top-end speed and a well-regarded throwing arm -- a classic five-tool player. Dominguez will not be eligible to play games until next season but will immediately join the Yankees' top echelon of prospects. The team's devotion of nearly 95% of its bonus pool to one player -- the Yankees have just shy of $5.4 million to spend in their fixed international free-agent pool -- shows their regard for Dominguez. The sentiment is shared around the industry. When the Yankees became favorites to sign Dominguez, other teams -- including the Texas Rangers,Tampa Bay Rays and Los Angeles Angels -- lamented the loss of the chance at a player whom evaluators believe will be a star. Since he arrived at the academy of trainer Ivan Noboa as a 13-year-old, Dominguez has stood out for his developed physique and ability to hit balls far. Scouts took to calling him El Marciano, or The Martian, because they said there was no way he was from this world. In addition to his $5.1 million bonus, Dominguez will receive $250,000 in potential scholarship money from the Yankees should he choose to further his education.

"back in the day" WHAT singular day are you talking about? I want the date, day of the week, time, temperature, etc., if you're going to be that specific.

THE WANDERING PUSSY VIXEN (that's what female foxes are called) Arctic fox astounds scientists by trekking 2,176 miles in 76 days - from Norway to Canada Logging nearly 30 miles per day, an Arctic fox has trekked from the Svalbard Islands in Norway to Inuit territory in the northern reaches of Canada, astounding scientists. That’s 2,176 miles in 76 days. The young female had been tracked via a GPS device installed by researchers at the Polar Institute in Norway, releasing her into the wild in March 2018, BBC News said. Twenty-one days later she had reached Greenland, about 940 miles from her starting point. A mere 76 days after she left Svalbard, the fox was found on Ellesmere Island in Nunavut, Canada. Her speed across the Greenland ice sheets was especially noteworthy. The fox trotted 96 miles a day across that country, said the findings, which were published in the Polar Research Journal. At 1.4 times speedier than the pace of an adult male Arctic fox tracked in Alaska, this fox logged the “fastest movement rate ever recorded for this species,” the report said. The Arctic fox is a fluffy, white, dark-eyed creature weighing between 6.5 and 17 pounds, according to National Geographic. Its head and body can run from 18 to 26.75 inches, its tail to 13.75. Their round, compact bodies not only make them resemble compact wads of fur but also give them less surface area, meaning less exposure to their cold habitat’s temperatures, according to Defenders of Wildlife. The same goes for their short muzzles, ears and legs, combined with their thick, deep fur – including on their paws, which enables them to walk on snow and ice, Defenders of Wildlife says. Even with all that insulation and adaptation, this fox had moxie. While the Arctic fox tends to migrate in the winter to forage, this one had gone way beyond the norm, “crossing extensive stretches of sea ice and glaciers,” the Norwegian Polar Institute’s Eva Fuglei told New Scientist. “We couldn’t believe our eyes at first,” study co-author Fuglei told Norwegian public broadcaster NRK. “We thought perhaps it was dead, or had been carried there on a boat, but there were no boats in the area. We were quite thunderstruck.”