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.