Giving a Hand Out

A businessman who needed millions of dollars to clinch an important deal went to church to pray for the money.

By chance he knelt next to a man who was praying for $100 to pay an urgent debt.

The businessman took out his wallet and pressed $100 into the other man's hand.

Overjoyed, the man got up and left the church.

The businessman then closed his eyes and prayed, "And now, Lord, that I have your undivided attention...."

Being in the right place at the right time

A chance meeting has reunited identical twin sisters who were separated at birth nearly 15 years ago — and touched off a legal dispute over how two doctors adopted one of the girls.
Petita Penaherrera says she did not know she had twins until she and her daughter Andrea came face-to-face with Marielisa Romo four months ago in the southern Ecuadorean town of Milagros — "miracles" in English.
Andrea and Marielisa shared the same dark eyes, the same hair, the same ... everything. Marielisa was accompanied by Roberto Romo and Isabel Garcia, the doctor couple who had delivered the twin babies — and then raised one.
Investigations began and, in June, Penaherrera and her husband, Augusto Freire, sued the doctors, saying they never mentioned Andrea's twin. Romo and Garcia told Ecuavisa television the biological mother knew about the twins but only wanted to keep one. "One day I hope to live with my two daughters," Freire said. But Marielisa has said she wants to stay with the only parents she knows.

Now You Know.......

How was time recorded before Christ?

Were the years and days shorter?

Many calendars have been used throughout history, both before and after Christ. The earliest calendars were based on the movements of the moon; most lunar calendars had months about 29 days long, with occasional leap months to keep them in step with the seasons. Egyptians were probably the first to adopt a calendar based on the sun; they came up with a 365-day year, divided into 12 months. The Babylonians divided days into 24 hours, hours into 60 minutes and minutes into 60 seconds. The ancient Romans had a 10-month calendar for a time, with several weeks in winter apparently ignored, according to the World Book. In 46 B.C., Julius Caesar ordered it reformed, and the Julian calendar was widely used for 1,500 years. But it wasn't perfect, and the Gregorian calendar, the one used now in the West, came into use starting in 1582.

What city is directly in the middle of the United States?
The geographic center of the lower 48 states is usually considered to be a spot just to the northwest of the little town of Lebanon, Kan. There's a marker and a small park there. When Alaska and Hawaii are taken into account, the center is often reckoned to be a spot some 17 miles west of Castle Rock, S.D.

7+7+7+7+7+7x3

DENVER, IOWA---- If seven is really as lucky of a number as they say, then 7-day-old Chloe Marie Bloker, born to Jessica Borwig and Roger Bloker of Denver, is the luckiest baby around. Born on Saturday, 7/7/07, Chloe weighed 7 pounds, 7 ounces when she was born at 7:41 p.m. at Allen Hospital in Waterloo.She was also 21 inches long --- or, as her mother pointed out, "three sevens."


"Isn't it crazy?" said Borwig. She took a picture of her daughter on the scale, because she thought no one would believe her. Borwig's due date was originally June 30, and family and friends said she should wait for the lucky day. She had no intentions of doing so, but Chloe had other plans."Sure enough, she came a week later," Borwig said. "And she brought a few extra sevens with her. "Chloe came home Tuesday from the hospital, and already has a legion of fans."Everyone wants her to go gambling with them when she's old enough," Borwig said.


http://www.wcfcourier.com/articles/2007/07/15/news/metro/ccdb5f7937ccf84186257318001d4995.txt

Some people should not be parents.

I don't care if he was a professional.
The fact is parents put these babies at risk.
What would happen if he tripped or miscalculated his jump?

Japanese soak in their noodles

July 14, 2007

The Japanese love their noodles so much that some of them are literally ready to dive in to their bowl of ramen.
A Japanese spa on Saturday opened special baths meant to resemble ramen, complete with bath salt shaped like the dangling delicacy, a giant pair of chopsticks overhead and water the aroma of pepper.
"The aroma of pepper is said to have the effects of refreshing your mind, warming your burned-out heart and inflaming your passion," explained a statement by spa complex Hakone Kowakien Yunessun in Hakone, one of Japan's most popular hot spring resorts.
Ramen lovers in bathing suits turned into ingredients in the broth, jumping into the three tubs shaped like ramen bowls underneath noodle decorations hanging over their heads.
"Customers may have been puzzled first, but I think they enjoyed it ... because the hot water smells good, like pepper," said Yusuke Sato, a spa employee who poured in the noodle-looking salt.
Hakone Kowakien Yunessun has offered a variety of creative baths including some filled with wine and coffee. Last year it came up with one resembling curry.
"I want to think of more ideas that surprise people," Sato said.