FRIDAY 18th DECEMBER 2015 07:14 GMT

Read my book - ENLIGHTENMENT FOR ORDINARY FOLK
 
Also available - EMOTIONAL MANAGEMENT FOR ORDINARY FOLK
 
WISDOM, HUMOUR, AND LOTS OF OTHER INTERESTING STUFF CAN BE FOUND ON MY PINTEREST PAGE and FACEBOOK PAGE
TO FIND OUT WHAT I DO, CHECK OUT MY WEBSITE

1. ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY
18th December 1912
The Piltdown Man Hoax
The Piltdown Man was a hoax in which bone fragments were presented on 18.12.1912 as the fossilised remains of a previously unknown early human. These fragments consisted of parts of a skull and jawbone, said to have been collected in 1912 from a gravel pit at Piltdown, East Sussex, England. The Latin name Eoanthropus dawsoni ("Dawson's dawn-man", after the collector Charles Dawson) was given to the specimen. The significance of the specimen remained the subject of controversy until it was exposed in 1953 as a forgery, consisting of the lower jawbone of an orangutan deliberately combined with the cranium of a fully developed modern human.

The Piltdown hoax is one of the most infamous hoaxes ever to have been perpetrated. It is prominent for two reasons: the attention paid to the issue of human evolution, and the length of time (more than 40 years) that elapsed from its discovery to its full exposure as a forgery. 

For a further half-century after 1953 there was no firm evidence who perpetrated the hoax, but in 2003 evidence came to light of Dawson's long history of making fakes. It was almost certainly Dawson who perpetrated the hoax, motivated by greed and the desire for fame.

2. TODAY IN MY LIFE
Blogging
Shift 1 of the Weekend Job
TV Comedy Night

Twitter Followers = 2,044 (up 1)
Non-followed eliminated = 0
-
Unfollowers eliminated = 0
-
New Followers followed back = 0
-
Spammers not followed back = 1
@ScBdb

3. TODAY'S SELF-OBSERVATION

One of the most notable signs of ageing is the failure of "auto-memory" - things that I would remember to do without a reminder I am now starting to forget. Shopping, which is planned to be one trip, ended up this week with several visits to the local convenience store due to forgotten stuff. This loss comprises one of the big three losses, along with virility and 20/20 vision. 

All of them of course can be compensated for - with glasses, magic blue tablets and a note book! Having already got used to being well-stocked in the medicine cabinet and taking glasses everywhere, i now need to get used to writing EVERYTHING down! 

A less bothersome ageing symptom is loss of muscle tone - muscles get easily torn if I jerk them, and I get spontaneous attacks of excruciating toe-cramp. Since I simply don't do stuff likely to pull muscles, this is less of a problem. I have had to introduce a toe exercise regime to avert the dreaded cramp. Research informed me it's due to one set of muscles in the toe being much weaker than the other, causing the toes to lock. The only cure is to work the toe muscles to build them up - so I'm sat here wiggling them!

4. TODAY'S QUESTION FOR YOU
Do you practice the disciplines of release and acceptance?

5. TODAY'S WEATHER IN BRADFORD
Dry, cloudy and unseasonably mild throughout with a moderate southwesterly wind
Max Temp = 12 degC at midnight
Min Temp = 10 degC at 7am
Sunrise at 08:21
Sunset at 15:46
Moon: 

Weathertrack: Britain is in a run of mild south-westerly air
Air Pressure: 1012 millibars and static

6. TODAY'S ONELINER
Now that oil is so cheap, we should start drilling for black printer ink :D

7. NOW THAT'S FUNNY!
Mel Blanc interviewed in 1981 by David Letterman

8. TRIVIA
Bears do not urinate while they hibernate. Their bodies convert urine into protein and use it as food.

9. ZEN WISDOM
Key to dialogue is respect for the other person, a willingness to listen, and a readiness to learn from them.