IN MEMORIUM: NEIL ARMSTRONG, 1930-2012

Armstrong, before historic flight in 1969

The first Human being to walk upon Earth's moon has passed away.
Astronaut Neil Armstrong, along with Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins, were the crew of the historic Apollo 11 mission that landed on the lunar surface July 20, 1969.
Six hours later Armstrong, followed a short time later by Aldrin, set foot upon the lunar surface.

"That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind."

While Armstrong never made another space flight, amongst his other endeavors in private life, he urged Congress on several occasions (most recently earlier this year) to increase NASA's funding for more manned space flights to the moon and beyond, even offering his services as commander for any manned missions to Mars.

Stepping stone to the great beyond!

This coming Friday (August 31) is the next full moon.
When that orb is up in the starry sky this weekend, stop and think of Neil Armstrong and the other astronauts who dared to boldly go into the unknown, and then ask yourself WHO will be the next to answer the challenge and take that giant leap?


(Images courtesy of Wikipedia)

SUNDAY FUNNIES: IT'S NATIONAL DOG DAY! PUPPY POWER!

PUPPY POWER!

Hello Everybody! Autumn the Puppy here!

Today is National Dog Day and I've got to tell you folks, I LOVE BEING A DOG!
Granted, it's not like I had a whole lot of choices coming into this life, but what good would complaining accomplish anyway?
Besides, it's great being a dog!

*No one expects me to take a bath every day.
*I never have to pay for my meals or anything else I need or want.
*When the weather's bad, I can lie around the house all day without anyone complaining about me being lazy.
*Whatever itches I can scratch, no matter where it is on my body; and no one ever complains about me scratching some of my more private places in public.
*I always have a fur coat on and people never complain about me being "politically incorrect".
*No one ever tells me to wipe my nose when it's wet.
*No matter where I live, I technically own the place, yet I never have to worry about any rent, mortgage, or property taxes.
*I love it when people come over. That means more petting and the possibility of more food getting dropped on the floor when everyone eats.
*I can drink out of the toilet, as long as no one's looking and the bowl water is clean.

Yep, it's a dog's life, and I'm enjoying it to the fullest!
So don't bark about what you don't have folks, appreciate and enjoy what you do have!

We'll, that's it for now. Have a great week everybody and please be back here next weekend for more Sunday Funnies!-AtP.

THE WEEK IN REVIEW: AUGUST 19-25, 2012

THOSE IN THE PATH OF HURRICANE ISAAC ARE URGED TO TAKE EVERY POSSIBLE PRECAUTION, UP TO AND INCLUDING EVACUATING IF NECESSARY!

The Free Choice E-zine is currently conducting a reader's survey as to whether or not we should support a Presidential candidate this fall or maintain journalistic integrity and stay neutral.
E-mail YES (to support someone) or NO (to stay neutral) in the subject line of an e-mail to FreeChoiceEzine@gmail.com
If voting yes, it's not necessary to suggest which one right now. That will be a separate survey later if yes wins.

Amongst events that have happened around the world this past week...
*The GOP is having to do some serious public relations work after the comments of Senator Todd Akin ("A woman's body shuts down to prevent pregnancy in the case of legitimate rape"). Women across America are uniting against the Republican Party in light of this and the party's current campaign promises that would reduce women's rights if Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan win the Presidential election this fall.
*Russia and Vanuatu have formally joined the World Trade Organization.
*An until now unknown recording of Doctor Martin Luther King, Junior talking with a friend has been discovered in a Chattanooga, Tennessee USA attic. The reel to reel taping was made December 21, 1960 according to the label on the box.
*Aeroflux has created a workable hovercraft prototype, based upon the speeder bikes in Star Wars: Return of the Jedi.
*Tom Hanks starred in The Terminal, inspired by the seventeen year stay of Mehran Karini Nasseri at the Charles de Gaulle International Airport, but the Saxton family of Virginia found nothing amusing about having to hang around the Salt Lake City International Airport for almost a week. They kept getting bumped off of flights because there was no seats available on their "stand by" status, with every plane full of passengers without any last minute vacancies.
*Civil unrest continues in Syria, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Yemen.
*Comedienne Phyllis Diller has passed away at age 95 of natural causes.
*For whatever reason, film director Tony Scott successfully committed suicide earlier this week.

LOST ART?
*While trying to save costs, a Norwegian gallery has lost a Rembrandt etching valued at $8600 US Dollars when it was shipped via regular mail! There is no word on the art's current location.
*Cecilla Gimenez was originally only hired to work on just the cloak of "Ecce Homo (Behold the Man)" a 19th century fresco of Christ by Elias Garcia Martinez. But she attempted to restore the whole artwork and now has both the art world and the church alarmed at her results. However Cimenez claims the priest knew what she was doing and worked in full view of passersby. Professionals have been called to examine the painting and see if it can be restored.

IN SPORTS:
*Golf fans are wondering if Tiger Woods will manage to stay within the Barclays competition after straining his back in the second round Friday.
*The Los Angeles Dodgers and the Boston Red Sox are allegedly close to completing a nine player deal, including pitcher Josh Beckett, outfielder Carl Crawford, and first baseman Adrian Gonzales going to the west coast team! While nothing is official yet, all the Red Sox players involved have been told they are not playing in the game tonight against the Kansas City Royals.
*Former professional baseball pitcher Roger Clemens is trying to stage a comeback by starting with a minor league team.
*Penn State's former president denies any prior knowledge of Jerry Sandusky's misconduct or a cover up to protect the university before the ex-coach was arrested on multiple sex crime charges, despite an FBI investigation saying otherwise.
*Cyclist Lance Armstrong has decided not to contest a ruling by the United States Anti-Doping Agency that would ultimately strip him of all titles, including his seven Tour de France victories, and ban him from competition for life.

For more news at any time, either scroll down to our IN OTHER NEWS feature at the bottom of your screen, or visit any other reputable news source.

THE PUZZLE CORNER: AUGUST 25, 2012

Another weekend is upon us. Let's have some enigma fun.

REBUS
Something familiar is represented in the image below. Do you know what it is?

SKELTON

COMMON BONDS
Do you know what the items in each subset below have in common?

01. {coat, taco}
02. {skate, steak}

We'll reveal all next weekend. But for now, let's peek inside THE ANSWERS BOX and discover the results from our August 18th Puzzle Corner salute to author Harry Harrison.

AKA (ALSO KNOWN AS)
Harrison's book Make Room, Make Room was made into the 1973 movie Soylent Green, starring Charlton Heston and Edward G. Robinson.

TRIVIA TIME
The book title was changed for the movie because MGM feared any potential audience would confuse it with the Danny Thomas sitcom Make Room For Daddy.

THE SUNDAY FUNNIES: FOR THE GIRLS...

I am girl, hear me roar!

Hello Everybody. Ms. Waxy Dragon here.
Now, I've talked plenty of times in the past about how it is for me to be a dragon, but there's one subject I haven't talked about before.
What it's like being a GIRL!
Now I'm just a young girl at the moment, but someday (century?) I will be a full adult woman dragon, so I've seen and heard all kinds of things the older female dragons have to deal with, as well as the women of other species.
So from this unique point of view, let's talk.
For example, there's some things women know that guys don't.

Women can read a cat's facial expressions, especially us female dragons, because felines are some of our best buddies.
Believe it or not, there is a LOT more on a cat's mind besides eating and sleeping, but I promised my furry friends not to betray any confidences. I can tell you that the cats are not planning to take over the world.
Yet.

Us ladies can travel without trying to beat our best time doing so.
Believe it or not, we are willing to stop and smell the roses instead of zooming right past them like we're in the middle of a race.
And if we get lost, females are willing to stop and ask for directions!

We know our colors!
Believe it or not guys, there IS a difference between beige, ecru, cream, off-white, and egg shell!

Scales can be inaccurate!
I'm not talking about my body scales, but those devices that proclaim how much they think you weigh.
I have never gotten two scales to agree on my weight in the same day.
As long as I'm healthy, does it truly matter whether I'm a couple of pounds over or under what someone else thinks my "ideal" weight is?

Which brings this post to the topic of self image.
Girls, no matter what your age, there will always be someone somewhere with an opinion about what you do look like versus what you "should" look like.
Health issues are one thing, and you should always listen to your doctor, but NEVER decide on something just because it's "in fashion", it's "hot", or someone says they'll like you better if you do.

TO THY OWN SELF BE TRUE!

Someday I'll be a lady dragon, but in all honesty, I'm in no rush to grow up. I'm having too much fun being me as it is. I hope you are enjoying being you too.

Well, I have to fly off now. Take care everyone and please be back here next weekend for more Sunday Funnies!-wd.

THE WEEK IN REVIEW: AUGUST 12-18, 2012

The Free Choice E-zine is asking our readers whether or not we should endorse a Presidential candidate this fall. Within the subject line of an e-mail, either put YES to endorse a candidate (who to endorse will be our next survey if this option wins) or NO if we should maintain our journalistic integrity and remain neutral and e-mail us at FreeChoiceEzine@gmail.com
Poll results will be announced after Labor Day.

Amongst events that have happened around the world this past week...
*While there is no concrete evidence that it is Amelia Earhart's plane, searchers hoping to solve the mystery of her 1937 disappearance have discovered a debris field off the Nikumaroro Reef in the Pacific Ocean.
*The Curiosity Rover has safely landed on Mars and has started preliminary exploration of the red planet.
*While Wikileaks has released evidence claiming that the United States government has been spying on civilians, the website has suffered a continuous online attack. Meanwhile, Wikileaks founder Julian Assange has taken refuge at an Ecuadorean embassy after being granted asylum. Great Britain is hoping to legally block his passage to Ecuador so Assange can stand trial for sex crime charges.
*Civil unrest continues in Syria, Afghanistan, and Bahraini.
*Two new, potential sites of previously undiscovered pyramids, have been discovered in Egypt.
*Helen Gurley Brown, a leader of the 1960s' sexual revolution and editor-in-chief of Cosmopolitan magazine, has passed away at age 90.
*Moscow has banned "gay pride" events from being held for the next 100 years.

IN SPORTS:
*The final medal count for the 2012 Summer Olympics, Top 5 Countries are:
01. USA: 46 Gold, 29 Silver, 29 Bronze
02. China: 38, 27, 23
03. Great Britain: 29, 17, 19
04. Russia: 24, 26, 32
05. South Korea: 13, 8, 7
*This year's Summer Olympics marks the first time every participating nation had at least one female athlete on their team.
*The 2012 Summer Paralympics will begin in London August 29.
*Felix Hernandez pitched a perfect game (no hits, no runs) for the Seattle Mariners professional baseball team August 15 against the Tampa Bay Rays at Safeco field.

IN ENTERTAINMENT NEWS:
*Actor William Shatner is set to return in a new series of commercials as the "Price Line Negotiator".
*Actor Michael J. Fox, who has cut back on acting roles over the past decade to concentrate on family and fighting Parkinson's Disease, plans to return to the forefront by starring in a new sitcom for the 2013 season.
*Actor Ron Palillio, perhaps best known for playing Arnold Horshack on the sitcom Welcome Back, Kotter has passed away at age 63 from a sudden heart attack.

For more news at any time, either scroll down to our IN OTHER NEWS feature at the bottom of your screen or visit any other reputable news source.

THE PUZZLE CORNER: AUGUST 18, 2012

This past week, we lost noted science fiction author Harry Harrison. This Puzzle Corner is themed in his memory.

AKA (ALSO KNOWN AS)
Harrison's book Make Room, Make Room was filmed as what science fiction cult classic?

TRIVIA TIME
If you know the answer to our AKA question, then why the name change?

We'll reveal all next weekend. But for now, let's open THE ANSWERS BOX and discover the results of our Summer Olympics themed Puzzle Corner from August 11.

TRIVIA TIME
This year's Summer Olympics marked the first time in Olympics history that EVERY participating country had at least one female athlete amongst their contestants.

THE LETTER SHUFFLE
Out of the letters in the word OLYMPICS, you can spell the following words:
Clip(s), coil(s), cop(s)
I, is
Limo(s) an accepted slang for limousine; limp(s), limpy
Mop(s), my, myopic (an eye condition)
Olympic (singular form of our starting word), oil(s)
Slim, slip, slop, sly, soil, soy, <and> spy

Other words besides the 25 listed above are possible.

CAST YOUR VOTE FREE CHOICE READERS!

As we approach the Democratic and Republican conventions later this month to officially kick off the 2012 United States Presidential campaign, The Free Choice E-zine wants to hear YOUR opinion on a very important editorial decision.

Should this e-zine take a position and endorse a specific candidate (who can be debated later), or take the journalistic high road and stay neutral?

All you have to do is e-mail us at FreeChoiceEzine@gmail.com with either one of two words in the subject line.

YES, to endorse a candidate, or
NO, to stay neutral

It's that simple!
The reader's choice will be announced after Labor Day weekend, 2012.
America casts its vote for President November 6, 2012.

Remember: this is YOUR e-zine! We just "work" here.

REMAINING MONKEES TO TOUR!

The complete quartet, circa 1980s

Back in March, we reported the rumor (http://www.thefreechoice.info/2012/03/rumor-mill-monkees-to-reunite.html) that the surviving Monkees, pictured counter-clockwise: Michael Nesmith, Mickey Dolenz, and Peter Tork; were talking about reuniting to remember their recently departed band mate Davy Jones (reported here:http://www.thefreechoice.info/2012/02/davy-jones-1945-2012.html).

Well now it's official!

The trio WILL be on a brief, 12 stop concert tour between November and early December 2012. The multi-media show will include a solo set featuring just Nesmith, Dolenz, and Tork; as well as present a tribute to the memory of Jones.
For more information, visit www.monkees.com

THE SUNDAY FUNNIES: HOW OBSERVANT ARE YOU?

"I'm back!"

Hello Everybody! Autumn the Puppy here!
Sorry for missing last weekend, but we had modem problems.
But everything is working again with the new modem in place and I now get to present to you the column I would have posted last weekend.

HOW OBSERVANT ARE YOU?
We all walk through life and at times think we see things that might not actually be there. I'm not talking about Unidentified Flying Objects. Of course if we knew what they were, they wouldn't be unidentified.
I'm talking about things we might see out of the corners of our eyes, or things that are right in front of us that we don't really pay attention to.

For example, take a good look at the picture below.
Go ahead. Take all the time you need. I'll wait.

How observant are you? Have you noticed what's unique about this image?

Ready?
Now then.
What did you notice about the image at left?

Younger people might say it's a picture of a beautiful day, but only the most observant will notice that she is crossing a busy street.

Older people might figure she is on her way to work or somewhere important, at least to her.

Wiser people will ponder what was going through the photographer's mind when taking such a beautiful picture, and be thankful that they got to see it.

A lot of people will make some comment: good, bad, or indifferent, about how the woman is dressed.

Some of you might be distracted by the lady in white herself, and that's okay. But this is a family oriented e-zine, so we won't discuss what might be on your mind about her right now.

But guess what?
There's something else going on in that picture too.
Do you know what it is?

Only children and the extremely intelligent will have noticed that the taxi is being driven by a dog!
Take another look if you don't believe me.

But what I want to know is, how did my fellow canine manage to afford auto insurance, let alone reach the pedals and still be able to see over the steering wheel!

A very special thanks to astute Free Choice E-zine reader Nancy A. Hansen for bringing this to my attention.
Have a great week everybody, and please be back here next weekend for more Sunday Funnies!-AtP.

THE WEEK IN REVIEW: AUGUST 5-11, 2012

*Modem problems kept The Free Choice E-zine from posting last weekend. Our humblest apologies to our readers for any inconvenience.
*Today is Chad's Independence Day.
*This weekend marks the peak of the annual Perseids meteor shower.
*The 2012 Summer Olympics conclude Sunday night with the closing ceremonies.

Amongst events that have happened around the world this past week:
*NASA's Curiosity rover has successfully landed on Mars!
*Republican Presidential candidate Mitt Romney has picked Wisconsin Republican Congressional Senator Paul Ryan as his Vice Presidential running mate.
* Comedienne Roseanne Barr has been chosen as the presidential candidate of the Peace and Freedom Party.
*Civil unrest continues in Syria and Bahraini.
*The United States has offered to assist Viet Nam in the clean up of Agent Orange residue remaining from the Viet Nam war.
*Composer Marvin Hamlisch (The Sting, A Chorus Line, The Spy Who Loved Me) has passed away.

THE 2012 SUMMER OLYMPICS
*As of Saturday morning, August 11, the Gold, Silver, and Bronze metal count for the Top 5 participating countries are:
01. The United States (41 Gold, 26 Silver, 29 Bronze)
02. China (37, 25, 21)
03. Great Britain (26, 15, 18)
04. Russia (19, 24, 29)
05. South Korea (13, 7, 7)
*Sally Pearson of Australia set a new Olympic record of 12.35 seconds while winning the 100meter hurdles.
*Usian Bolt of Jamaica has become the first athlete to win the 100meter and 200meter events in back to back Summer Olympics.
*David Rudisha of Kenya set a new track record of 1.40:91 while winning the 800meter event.
*Nicola Adams of Great Britain became the first female boxer to win a gold medal in that event's Olympics debut.
*The 2012 Summer Paralympic Games will be held in most of the same London, England venues between August 29 and September 9.

IN OTHER SPORTS:
*Shannon Eastin has become the first female referee in the history of the National Football League (American version) by officiating a pre-season game between the Green Bay Packers and the San Diego Chargers.

For more news at any time, either scroll down to our IN OTHER NEWS feature at the bottom of your screen or visit any other, reputable news source.

THE PUZZLE CORNER: AUGUST 11, 2012

Well, modem problems kept The Free Choice E-zine from being online last weekend, so we're picking up where we left off before the technical difficulties.
This week's (which should have been last week's) Puzzle Corner salutes the 2012 Summer Olympics.
Ready?

TRIVIA TIME
What MAJOR milestone was achieved this year that has never been done in a previous Summer Olympics?
Hint: Think bigger than a single event.

THE LETTER SHUFFLE
How many new words can you make out of the letters in OLYMPICS?

We'll reveal all next weekend, new modem willing.
But for now, let's crack open THE ANSWERS BOX and finally reveal the results from the July 28 Puzzle Corner's salute to classic television.

TRIVIA TIMEOn Adam-12, the badge number for Officer Pete Malloy (Martin Milner) was 744, which puts that character joining the force within a year of Sgt. Joe Friday on Dragnet; and Jim Reed (Kent McCord) was issued 2430.

IN OTHER WORDSUntil the 1980s, a series still in active production on network television could not send older episodes into syndication under the original series name. With that in mind, do you know what titles the programs listed below presented their reruns under?
01. The Andy Griffith Show (1960-1968) = Andy of Mayberry
02. Bonanza (1959-1973) = Ponderosa
03. Gunsmoke (1955-1975) = Marshall Dillion

WE'RE BACK!

Well, it took a while, but The Free Choice E-zine is back online!
It did turn out to be a faulty modem.
Seems like the one we had was on its last circuits, hence the sporadic nature of our Internet access.
But after buying a new modem, discovered that the replacement device was a lemon!
Unfortunately, this was Sunday night, so we had to wait until Monday morning to exchange the original replacement for a new one and try again.
However that one had programming problems that had to be overcome to get it in sync with our system and regain Internet access.
BUT WE ARE BACK ON LINE NOW!
Our regular features will resume this weekend, and our thanks to Blogger for their cooperation in this matter.

Sorry for any inconvenience.

The Free Choice E-zine Staff and Management.

OUR HUMBLEST APOLOGIES

Dear Free Choice E-zine Readers:

Due to circumstances beyond our control, our Internet access has been sporadic at best over the last 48 hours.
Our IT expert believes it to be an equipment problem, but in any event, we are working to correct the situation and hope to be dependently back on line soon.
However it does not look like the problem(s) will be completely fixed in time to post our regular weekend features.
Therefore The Puzzle Corner, The Week In Review, and The Sunday Funnies will resume next weekend at their regular times.
We apologize for the inconvenience.

Sincerely,
The Free Choice E-zine Staff and Management.