Earthquake, Arctic melting...The sky is falling!!

Been a little crazy around the Kafe and haven't had time to post. Just about the time I was going to post yesterday, California was hit with an earthquake. I did some checking at my normal spots and saw that CA got a good shake but thankfully no major damage or injuries. I saw this morning that a 7 square mile chunk of ice broke off an Arctic ice shelf near Edmonton, Alberta. It stated that a crack was first noticed in 2002. It's not the first chunk of ice to break off and Greenland has had major melting for several years now. I really believe Mother Nature is trying to tell us 'she's had enough, already!' We have abused our planet and resources. I mean, think about it, floods, droughts, unusual weather, earthquakes, polar melting...she's trying to tell us something, cause and effect. I know, I know, I sound like Chicken Little, "The sky is falling!"

Hubby got to go home early yesterday (work is slow) which made me jealous. I would love to not have to work but again....cause and effect...if we want to eat, we better earn some money. As I'm driving home and get near the house I see our pine tree is gone! Not only did he get another dead tree down but the last of the brush is burning in the fire pit. What a good boy, huh? No sign of Hubby, though. I get into the house and there he is in the bathroom with my baster?! He gets 'swimmer ear' from time to time so we keep ear drops and the little 'squirting thing' (it's like the thing they give you at the hospital after having a baby to suction their nose out) on hand. Seems his ear clogged up and he couldn't find the 'little squirting thing' so he was TRYING to use my baster! Good grief, he had water everywhere but his ear LOL I went and got the squirter and soon things were fine again. Just an other day in the life....
Oh, one more thing! Our gas prices have dropped dramatically! Highest was $4.19 a couple weeks ago and today it's $3.72!! It's sad that $3.72 seems like a bargain!

This Day in History:

July 30, 1932

Disney's first color cartoon

Walt Disney releases his first cartoon in color. The cartoon, Flowers and Trees, was made in three-color Technicolor; Disney was the only studio that used the process for the next three years, because of an exclusive contract.

July 30, 1945

USS Indianapolis bombed

On this day in 1945, the USS Indianapolis is torpedoed by a Japanese submarine and sinks within minutes in shark-infested waters. Only 317 of the 1,196 men on board survived. However, the Indianapolis had already completed its major mission: the delivery of key components of the atomic bomb that would be dropped a week later at Hiroshima to Tinian Island in the South Pacific.

The Indianapolis made its delivery to Tinian Island on July 26, 1945. The mission was top secret and the ship's crew was unaware of its cargo. After leaving Tinian, the Indianapolis sailed to the U.S. military Pacific headquarters at Guam and was given orders to meet the battleship USS Idaho at Leyte Gulf in the Philippines to prepare for the invasion of Japan.

Shortly after midnight on July 30, halfway between Guam and Leyte Gulf, a Japanese sub blasted the Indianapolis, sparking an explosion that split the ship and caused it to sink in approximately 12 minutes, with about 300 men trapped inside. Another 900 went into the water, where many died from drowning, shark attacks, dehydration or injuries from the explosion. Help did not arrive until four days later, on August 2, when an anti-submarine plane on routine patrol happened upon the men and radioed for assistance.

On August 6, 1945, the United States dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan, inflicting nearly 130,000 casualties and destroying more than 60 percent of the city. On August 9, a second atomic bomb was dropped on Nagasaki, where casualties were estimated at over 66,000. Meanwhile, the U.S. government kept quiet about the Indianapolis tragedy until August 15 in order to guarantee that the news would be overshadowed by President Harry Truman's announcement that Japan had surrendered.

In the aftermath of the events involving the Indianapolis, the ship's commander, Captain Charles McVay, was court-martialed in November 1945 for failing to sail a zigzag course that would have helped the ship to evade enemy submarines in the area. McVay, the only Navy captain court-martialed for losing a ship during the war, committed suicide in 1968. Many of his surviving crewmen believed the military had made him a scapegoat. In 2000, 55 years after the Indianapolis went down, Congress cleared McVay's name.

July 30, 2003

Last classic "Bug" rolls off the line

The last “classic” Volkswagen Beetle rolled off the production line at VW’s Puebla, Mexico, plant on this day in 2003. The car, part of the 3,000-unit final edition, was sent to a museum in Wolfsburg, Germany, where Volkswagen is headquartered.

Ironically, the car that became a symbol of flower-power Hippies in the 1960s and inspired Disney’s Herbie the Love Bug has its roots in Nazi Germany. In the 1930s, Adolf Hitler commissioned a design from Ferdinand Porsche for an affordable, efficient “people’s car.” After World War II, the Beetle’s popularity began to grow internationally and by 2002 over 21 million cars had been produced.

In 1977, however, the Beetle, with its rear-mounted, air-cooled-engine, was banned in America for failing to meet safety and emission standards. Worldwide sales of the car shrank by the late 1970s and by 1988, the classic Beetle was sold only in Mexico. Volkswagen decided to discontinue production of the classic bug in 2003 due to increased competition from other manufacturers of inexpensive compact cars. However, this event did not mark the end of the Beetle. In 1998, Volkswagen introduced a redesigned “new” Beetle, which resembles the classic version but is based on the VW Golf; the car is popular in the U.S. and abroad.

Take care...until next post...