March 3, 2015

Daily Holidays - March 3

National Cold Cuts Day Cold Cuts Day is the day upon which anything and everything related to cold cut meats are celebrated. Noboday really knows where the celebration of such an essential part of the human diet (and fridge essential stocks!) came from, but frankly, it’s as good an excuse as any to get down with the Joey from Friends philosophy on life and yell, “nobody touches my food”! Folks, prepare your pants, it’s time to eat!

Cold cuts come in many shapes and forms whether it’s leftover ham, turkey or chicken, deli sliced pastrami, salami, chorizo, sausage or corned beef. The key to truly celebrating National Cold Cuts Day in style is lashings and lashings of cold cuts, freshly baked bread, salad and a creative flurry in the kitchen. Whack any cold cut you can find on the bread, top it with salad and a drizzle of oil, and tuck in!

https://www.daysoftheyear.com/days/cold-cuts-day/

I Want You To Be Happy Day Celebrated annually on March 3rd, it is National I Want You To Be Happy Day. This day was created as a day that encourages us to do something to make others happy.

Share a smile, share a laugh, pay a compliment, buy someone’s coffee, send some flowers, take someone to lunch, make cookies for a neighbor, play games with the kids, take the family to the park, visit a friend or maybe make a phone call. These are just a few of the many things that can be done to brighten up the day for someone. It can actually be as simple as just telling someone that you want them to be happy.

Have a good day and, We want you to be happy!
http://nationaldaycalendar.com/national-i-want-you-to-be-happy-day-march-3/

International Ear Care Day International Ear Care Day is an annual advocacy event held on 3 March. Designated at the First International Conference on Prevention and Rehabilitation of Hearing Impairment in Beijing, China in 2007, the Day aims to raise awareness and promote ear and hearing care across the world.

Each year, this Day addresses a specific theme and activities are carried out by WHO and its partners. In 2014, the theme was “Ear Care Can Avoid Hearing Loss”. This theme targeted all age groups and promoted hearing health through ear care. In conjunction with the Day, WHO released the report Multi-country assessment of national capacity to provide hearing care. Partners and countries across all regions hosted activities and events to mark the Day, including Bahrain, Bangladesh, China, Colombia, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Guatemala, Guinea, Indonesia, Kenya, Kuwait, Lesotho, Madagascar, Nicaragua, Nigeria, Peru, Qatar, Rwanda, Seychelles, Sri Lanka, Swaziland, United Republic of Tanzania and Zambia. In 2013 the theme was “Health Hearing, Happy Life – Hearing Health Care for Ageing People”. The Day was marked by the release of global data on the number of people with hearing loss.

In 2015, the theme for International Ear Care Day is ‘Make Listening Safe’. This theme will draw attention to the rising problem of noise-induced hearing loss. It raises the alarm that millions of teenagers and young people are at risk of hearing loss due to the unsafe use of personal audio devices, including smartphones, and exposure to damaging levels of sound at noisy entertainment venues such as nightclubs, bars and sporting events. It highlights that such recreational hearing loss has potentially devastating consequences for physical and mental health, education and employment. The following activities have been organized for the International Ear Care Day at WHO headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland: http://www.who.int/pbd/deafness/news/IECD/en/

World Wildlife Day The United Nations General Assembly has proclaimed 3 March – the anniversary of the adoption of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) – as World Wildlife Day. On this second observance of the Day, the UN system, its Member States and a wide range of partners from around the world are highlighting the simple yet firm message that “It’s time to get serious about wildlife crime”.
http://www.wildlifeday.org

http://www.famousbirthdays.com/march3.html

March 2, 2015

Daily Holidays - March 2

National Banana Creme Pie Day
Banana Cream Pie

Nearly one out of five (19%) of Americans prefer apple pie, followed by pumpkin (13%), pecan (12%), banana cream (10%) and cherry (9%)
Until the early 1900’s Pie was considered a breakfast food.
In England, Oliver Cromwell banned the eating of pie in 1644, declaring it “a pagan form of pleasure”
“Wet bottom” molasses pie, Shoo-fly pie, were not originally made to eat. They were used to attract flies from the kitchen. They would stick to the pies.

http://foodimentary.com/2013/03/02/march-2-national-banana-cream-pie-day/

Dr. Seuss Day On this day in 1904, Theodor Geisel, better known to the world as Dr. Seuss, the author and illustrator of such beloved children's books as "The Cat in the Hat" and "Green Eggs and Ham," is born in Springfield, Massachusetts. Geisel, who used his middle name (which was also his mother's maiden name) as his pen name, wrote 48 books--including some for adults--that have sold well over 200 million copies and been translated into multiple languages. Dr. Seuss books are known for their whimsical rhymes and quirky characters, which have names like the Lorax and the Sneetches and live in places like Hooterville.

Geisel, who was born on March 2, 1904, in Springfield, Massachusetts, graduated from Dartmouth College, where he was editor of the school's humor magazine, and studied at Oxford University. There he met Helen Palmer, his first wife and the person who encouraged him to become a professional illustrator. Back in America, Geisel worked as a cartoonist for a variety of magazines and in advertising.

The first children's book that Geisel wrote and illustrated, "And to Think That I Saw It On Mulberry Street," was rejected by over two dozen publishers before making it into print in 1937. Geisel's first bestseller, "The Cat in the Hat," was published in 1957. The story of a mischievous cat in a tall striped hat came about after his publisher asked him to produce a book using 220 new-reader vocabulary words that could serve as an entertaining alternative to the school reading primers children found boring.

Other Dr. Seuss classics include "Yertle the Turtle," "If I Ran the Circus," "Fox in Socks" and "One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish."
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/dr-seuss-born

Fun Facts About Names Day Fun Facts About Names Day encourages you to learn about the historical meanings and influences behind your name and the names of your friends and families. Uncover historical and religious influences, who you were named after, and see how name trends have changed over generations! https://www.daysoftheyear.com/days/fun-facts-about-names-day/

NEA’s Read Across America Day Oh, the Places You'll Go when you read! March 2, 2015 is NEA's Read Across America Day and this year, the book is the Seuss classic, Oh, The Places You'll Go. To make your event Seussational, go to Plan a Reading Event for Read Across America for tips and ideas to plan your own event. Be sure to follow Read Across America on Facebook and Twitter with #readacrossamerica. http://www.nea.org/grants/886.htm

http://www.famousbirthdays.com/march2.html

March 1, 2015

Daily Holidays - March 1

National Peanut Butter Lover’s Day
It takes about 540 peanuts to make a 12-ounce jar of peanut butter.
There are enough peanuts in one acre to make 30,000 peanut butter sandwiches. Find out how peanuts grow.
Delta Airlines purchased 69.6 million packs of peanuts for its passengers in 2013
By law, any product labeled “peanut butter” in the United States must be at least 90 percent peanuts.
http://nationalpeanutboard.org/the-facts/fun-facts/

Plan a Solo Vacation Day Plan a Solo Vacation Day is a celebration designed for those people who like to view the world alone. Rather than being constrained by the demands and foibles of friends and family, people like this prefer the intensity of an individual adventure.

The day itself varies in actual date, but there is no doubt about the seriousness of its purpose. Solo travellers are rarely highlighted by travel companies, who prefer to focus their marketing on families, couples and groups.

The solo traveller is a special breed, though. More spontaneous than many travellers, he or she does not like to have their travel agenda shaped by others.

While formally celebrating the day at a social occasion would defeat the object, the best way to mark Plan a Solo Vacation Day is to take a trip. Simply by planning to hit the road alone, anyone can become a part of this international celebration. https://www.daysoftheyear.com/days/plan-a-solo-vacation-day/

World Compliment Day http://www.worldcomplimentday.info

Zero Discrimination Day This year, for the first time, 1 March will be a moment to celebrate diversity and recognize that every person counts. HIV responses should leave no one behind.
UNAIDS launched its Zero Discrimination Campaign on World AIDS Day in December 2013, which picks up momentum with a Zero Discrimination Day on 1 March 2014. UNAIDS chose the butterfly as its transformative symbol. Calling for a transformation to achieve zero discrimination is no small task as it is often deeply rooted, yet ending discrimination will be the game changing factor in the journey towards ending AIDS by 2030.
UNODC has long called for greater attention to the HIV plight of key populations and more precisely to the stigma and discrimination they face every day. People who use drugs and people in prisons face stigma and discrimination in various forms starting from systematic denial of access to basic health services to physical and mental abuse. The stigma and discrimination that they face is often in essence the way the general community views and values them; it comes from their peers, family members, neighbours and from health service providers.
"Eliminating discrimination is the one step that can enable the world to achieve the UN General Assembly's 2011 target of a 50 per cent reduction of HIV infection among people who use drugs by 2015," said UNODC Executive Director Yury Fedotov. "Take that step, say yes to #zerodiscrimination, commit, transform and let's reach the target." http://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/frontpage/2014/February/1-march-is-zero-discrimination-day---join-the-transformation.html

http://www.famousbirthdays.com/march1.html

February 28, 2015

Daily Holidays - February 28

National Chocolate
 Soufflé Day A real chocolate pick-me-up - February 28 is National Chocolate Soufflé Day!

Soufflés may be the only thing to rival the kind of lift many women achieve with gallons of hairspray - not to mention the fact that they taste like heaven.

The flavorful base is usually made with a French crème pâtissière (pasty cream), but the secret to this lightly baked cake is whipped egg whites. The name comes from a French verb, souffler, which literally means to "blow up" or "puff up," and that's exactly the magic that happens when you bake custard and egg whites together.

Your best bet for baking individual or even one large chocolate soufflé is the ramekin. When you're ready to take them out of the oven, it will be puffy and fluffy - and then deflate a little about ten minutes later. But, don't worry! It's supposed to do that.

Get fancy and even if you're not in trouble with your significant other, make them feel special and bake an individual chocolate soufflé for your sweetie. One little investment of your time can go a long way. http://eatocracy.cnn.com/2012/02/28/national-chocolate-souffle-day/

Floral Design Day Take out the flowers! Flower Design Day is all about appreciating floral design as a unique and creative art form.

It all started with the idea to create a special way of celebrating the birthday of Carl Rittner, founder of the Rittner School of Floral Design in Boston. And yes, the day is official – the Governor of Massachusetts William F. Weld proclaimed it in 1995. History lesson aside, today is an excuse to go wild about flowers and let your inner creativity spark. There are so many things that can be done with flowers – the sky’s the limit. On this day, show off your floral talent and create a spectacular floral design with flowers – real, dried or fake. Draw pictures of floral designs and get the kids involved. Guys can get in on the fun too. Why not arrange an impressive floral bouquet for your leading lady? https://www.daysoftheyear.com/days/floral-design-day/

International Sword Swallowers Day Dangerous, exciting and alluring, Sword Swallowers Day showcases the art of sword swallowing. Every year, the Sword Swallowers Association International organise events in association with Ripley Entertainment. Do we even need to tell you not try this at home? https://www.daysoftheyear.com/days/sword-swallowers-day/

National Tooth Fairy Day For hundreds of years people have shared mystical legends, stories, and traditions about the loss of baby teeth. The early Europeans buried children’s teeth so witches and evil spirits couldn’t use them for voodoo. The Vikings believed that children's teeth had magical powers that could help them fight in battle. They would pay their children for their lost baby teeth and string them onto necklaces and other jewelry.

Over time, people began to share stories about a Tooth Mouse who scampers around town and steals children's teeth in the middle of the night. The story of the mouse evolved into the story of the Tooth Fairy who leaves treasures under children's pillows in exchange for their lost teeth.

Tooth Fairy traditions are still popular today. Kids all over the world place their lost baby teeth under their pillows at night and look forward to a wonderful surprise in the morning. Happy National Tooth Fairy Day! http://www.punchbowl.com/holidays/national-tooth-fairy-day

Open That Bottle Night Since the millennium, one night in the dull, dark month of February has been immeasurably brightened for wine-lovers by the creation of a special day to celebrate cherished bottles of wine, champagne and spirits. Open That Bottle Night is dedicated to making sure that those bottles of fine wine put away for a special occasion, are used and enjoyed.

Created in 2000 by ‘Tastings’ columnists Dorothy J. Gaiter and John Brecher, ‘Open That Bottle Night’ is an annual occasion that aims to motivate people to reconnect with each other over a bottle, and create good memories with friends and family. https://www.daysoftheyear.com/days/open-that-bottle-night/

http://www.famousbirthdays.com/february28.html

February 27, 2015

The Spy Who Fired Me: The human costs of workplace monitoring

Last March, Jim Cramer, the host of CNBC’s Mad Money, devoted part of his show to a company called Cornerstone OnDemand. Cornerstone, Cramer shouted at the camera, is “a cloud-based-software-as-a-service play” in the “talent-management” field. Companies that use its platform can quickly assess an employee’s performance by analyzing his or her online interactions, including emails, instant messages, and Web use. “We’ve been managing people exactly the same way for the last hundred and fifty years,” Cornerstone’s CEO, Adam Miller, told Cramer. With the rise of the global workforce, the remote workforce, the smartphone and the tablet, it’s time to “manage people differently.” Clients include Virgin Media, Barclays, and Starwood Hotels.

Cornerstone, as Miller likes to tell investors, is positioning itself to be “on the vanguard of big data in the cloud” and a leader in the “gamification of performance management.” To be assessed by Cornerstone is to have your collaborative partnerships scored as assets and your brainstorms rewarded with electronic badges (genius idea!). It is to have scads of information swept up about what you do each day, whom you communicate with, and what you communicate about. Cornerstone converts that data into metrics to be factored in to your performance reviews and decisions about how much you’ll be paid.

http://harpers.org/archive/2015/03/the-spy-who-fired-me/

February 27, 2015

Employee Monitoring Might Explain Your Missing Packages

As day to day office work becomes more and more digital, an increasing number of corporations and institutions are monitoring the movements and communications of office workers. Esther Kaplan uncovers many of these disturbing and intrusive behaviors, which inform hiring and firing decisions, and can push employees to their limits, in her article for Harper's, "The Spy Who Fired Me." For instance, UPS workers are tracked and monitored to meet increasingly burdensome quotas, which is why some UPS workers will leave a notice form on your door instead of trying to deliver a package, in order to save minutes on a delivery route.

http://www.wnyc.org/story/spy-who-fired-me-esther-kaplan/?utm_source=Newsletter%3A+WNYC+Daily+Newsletter&utm_campaign=9e0768650b-Daily_Brief_July_4_20141_26_2014&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_edd6b58c0d-9e0768650b-68917289&mc_cid=9e0768650b&mc_eid=5777d10816

February 27, 2015

St. Louis County to launch health survey of residents near the Bridgeton Landfill

The Saint Louis County Department of Health is launching a survey to assess the health of people living near the Bridgeton Landfill.

An underground fire has been smoldering at the Bridgeton Landfill since 2010, causing odors emanating from the landfill to increase.

Residents as far away as Maryland Heights and St. Charles have complained about the foul smells — and about symptoms such as burning eyes, sore throats, headaches, nausea and nose bleeds. http://news.stlpublicradio.org/post/st-louis-county-launch-health-survey-residents-near-bridgeton-landfill

February 27, 2015

Daily Holidays - February 27

National Strawberry Day A gift from Chile in the 1700s, garden strawberry plants made their way to North America in the 1750s. The plant is fairly easy to grow and doesn't seem adverse to flourishing anywhere in the world. If you'd like your own homegrown strawberries this summer, make sure your plant has full sun and sandy soil - and your dogs don't eat off all the berries before you can pick a few.

If fresh strawberries aren't at their best in your grocery store, don't forget the many accessible forms you can always get your hands on. Frozen and dried strawberries can help in a pinch if you're creating in the kitchen. Strawberry preserves, ice cream, yogurt, smoothies and milkshakes are nothing to shake a stick at either.

But if you are one of the lucky folks who stumbled on some great fresh strawberries, you can whip up a strawberry pie, shortcake or even a simple dish of strawberries and cream.

We wish you a berry nice day, and strawberry fields forever. http://eatocracy.cnn.com/2012/02/27/national-strawberry-day/

National Kahlua Day Five Food finds about Kahlua

1. Kahlúa is the ‘original’ coffee liquor. First produced in 1936 by Veracruz, Mexico native Pedro Domeca.
2. The word Kah-lúa means “Heart of the Veracruz people”
3. The ‘Black Russian’ the worlds most popular Kahlúa mixed drink,was first created in 1949.
4. A 1 ounce serving of Kalúa contains 20% alcohol /42 proof, zero fat, 14 carbs, and 91 calories
5. It takes 7 years to create each bottle of Kalúa, from harvest of the coffee beans, vanilla, and sugar cane to bottle. http://foodimentary.com/2014/02/27/february-27-is-national-kahlua-day/

International Polar Bear Day International Polar Bear Day is a holiday celebrated every February 27 to raise awareness about the conservation status of the polar bear. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Polar_Bear_Day

http://www.famousbirthdays.com/february27.html

February 26, 2015

USA: Workers fight back against giant oil companies

US oil industry collective bargaining agreements expired starting 31 January. Since the industry has refused to offer a reasonable proposal, workers are now on strike at 15 facilities across the USA. The strike includes 7,000 workers at 12 refineries, representing about 1/5 of the total oil refining capacity in the whole country.

Health and safety issues are key to this dispute. In 1973, a predecessor of the USW won a hard-fought nation-wide strike against Shell Oil for improvements in health and safety. However, in the decades since then, those gains have been eroded by staff reductions, contracting out, and cost cutting.

Corners are cut on maintenance, equipment is purchased on “low bid”, and more and more skilled refining jobs are contracted out to lower-paid and more easily intimidated, usually non-union, temporary workers. This has left US facilities with less than a skeleton staff of professionals – in many cases, there are not enough staff on the site to deal safely with normal operations, let alone an unplanned emergency. Short staffing leads to inhuman shift schedules and chronic stress and fatigue.

The oil industry is one of the richest industries on the planet. Yet it consistently displays contempt for the health and safety of the people who earn their profits for them and those living in nearby communities.

http://www.industriall-union.org/usa-workers-fight-back-against-giant-oil-companies

February 26, 2015

Missouri legislators vote to lower workers’ wages

Jefferson City – Buoyed by an overwhelming Republican majority, the Missouri House, for the first time ever, approved a right-to-work bill Feb. 12 that curbs union rights.

The state’s Workforce Standards and Development Committee also took up two paycheck deception measures, also sponsored by Republicans.

The right-to-work measure combines House Bills HB116 and HB569 and would apply to all unions. But the 91-64 vote was far short of the 109 needed to withstand a veto from Democratic Gov. Jay Nixon.

The measure is moving to the Missouri Senate, where it faces a possible Democratic filibuster.

http://labortribune.com/missouri-legislators-vote-to-lower-workers-wages/