Global "Goldfish" News

Global "Goldfish" News!

Good morning Rotarians.  As your guest reporter, this week here is the Bottom of the News from around the world. 

British Grandmother Fined With Curfew for Selling Goldfish to Minor

A 66-year-old grandmother and pet shop owner from London is being fined by police for selling a goldfish to a 14-year-old boy, violating Britain’s animal protection laws.

This grandmother had previously sold a gerbil to another teenager who dropped the animal into a cup of coffee.  The incident was reported to police and they set up a ‘sting’ operation to catch the pet shop owner in the act.  A 14-year-old boy was hired to buy the fish, and the owner sold the fish without asking the boyhis age or how he planned to care for the fish.

The owner pleaded guilty to selling an animal to a minor and was ordered pay a fine of £1000 ($1640 USD).  She also had to follow a daily curfew of 6 pm to 7 am and had to wear a tracking bracelet so police could monitor and enforce her curfew.

German Woman Gives Birth to Baby on Sidewalk

According to a Berlin newspaper, a German woman gave birth to a baby on the sidewalk in the Berlin suburb of Womelsdorf.  Witnesses were shocked when they said the woman seemed to collapse while yelling that her baby was “on the way!” 

Another witness took a photograph which shows the woman lying on the sidewalk and in front of her is a woman kneeling with a baby in her arms, while another woman is holding her head.  Mother and child were rushed to a local hospital and both are apparently okay.

Italian Pizzerias Suspected of Using Wood from Coffins for Ovens

Italian prosecutors suspect that pizza shops and restaurants in Naples are burning wood in their ovens from dug-up coffins in order to cut down their costs.

Some cooks like to fire their ovens with apple or hickory wood. Others, apparently, like casket wood, which gives their pizza a “special” flavor.

According to Italian newspaper Il Giornale, “A gang may have set up a market for selling coffin wood to owners of pizzerias looking to save money.”  The investigation is still ongoing in Naples.

And this is your Daybreak “international” Bottom of the News for this Friday, February 8^th, 2013.  Thank you!  ###

This Week in History... Packers Champions!

Packers 1^st Super Bowl Champions!

Good morning my fellow Rotarians.  This week in history is one that includes newsworthy and interesting events…   

Jan 17, 1994…  Earthquake rocks Los Angeles on this day, at 4:31 am, a 6.7 magnitude earthquake rocked Los Angeles, CA killing 54 people and causing billions of dollars in damages. The Northridge quake was one of the most damaging in U.S. history.  I will never forget the phone call I got from my brother, 20 minutes after the quake hit shaking him out of bed.  It was his first earthquake experience.

Jan 18, 1975…  "Mandy" is Barry Manilow's first #1 pop hit.  Barry Manilow scored his first #1 single with "Mandy" on January 18, 1975. This was the beginning of selling 75 million records over the course of his career.  At the height of Manilow's popularity, Frank Sinatra was quoted as saying that Manilow would be more popular than Sinatra himself. I clearly remember this day because I was the music director at the UNI campus radio station and our group of student broadcasters received recognition as the first college radio station in the country to predict ( 2 months earlier I might add) that Mandy would be Manilow’s break out song and would be #1.  Man, we were a bunch of radio geeks! 

     

Jan 15, 1967… The Packers face Chiefs in first Super Bowl at the Los Angeles Coliseum.  The Packers won 35-10 led by MPV quarterback Bart Starr.  Did you know that this first-ever world championship was NOT a sell out with only 61,946 people in attendance.  And it was NOT actually even officially called the “Super Bowl.”  It was the AFL vs the NFL World Championship Game.  Super Bowl came along in 1969.  I will always remember this game because as a 7^th grader it was when I officially became a Bart Starr and a Packer fan.  And still am to this day.  Go Pack go! 

There you go, this week in history as the Bottom of the News for Friday, January 18, 2013!   

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Pre-Schooler New Year's Resolutions

Pre-Schoolers New Year's Resolutions

Good morning my fellow Rotarians.  Well, Happy New Year is in order!  As a new year begins many people make New Years resolutions.  So, how about your kids?  Here are some resolutions that recently came from a group of pre-schoolers… 

Little girls…

1.    I will stop being so picky about my clothes and agree to wear something other than pink

2.    I will let Mommy brush my hair without screaming.

3.    I will try new foods and vegetables without gagging.

4.    I will try talking in a new voice, other than the WHINY voice.

5.    I will try to stop pulling on my mom's pants constantly.

Little boys…

1.    I will eat my food slowing so I can enjoy it instead of eating like I've been starved for several days.

2.    I will go to the bathroom less than 5 seconds before it's too late

3.    I will put my toys away with as much enthusiasm as I had destroying my room. 

4.    I will learn English so I can communicate a few things instead of always screaming.

5.    I will stop telling everyone we meet that my younger sister still has to wear a pull up at bed time.

There you have em, resolutions of pre-schoolers.  Do you think any of these really have a chance of happening?  Happy New Year from the Bottom of the News for this Friday, January 4, 2013!   

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Blessings of Christmas

Blessings of Christmas

Good morning my fellow Rotarians.  With the holidays it is easy to get caught up in the hustle and bustle of the season, especially when it comes to helping those less fortunate.  Our club does a great job in this area, but sometimes we may miss how simple acts of kindness can change lives forever.  This is a short story from Norman Vincent Peale.

Dr. Peale, a noted minister and author, tells the story of a young girl from Sweden who was spending the holiday season in New York City while living with an American family.  Her chores included helping around the house, but she didn't have much money. So she knew she couldn't buy nice Christmas presents for her host family—besides, they already had so much, with new gifts arriving every day from family and friend.

With just what little money she had, she went out and bought an outfit for a small baby, and then set out on a journey to find the poorest part of town and the poorest baby she could find. At first, she received only strange looks from people when she asked them for help. But then a kind stranger, a Salvation Army bell-ringer, guided her to a poor part of town and helped her deliver her gift.

On Christmas morning, instead of giving her host family gifts, she told them about her act of kindness done in their name. Everyone was speechless, and yet everyone was blessed—the girl for giving, the wealthy family for seeing others with new eyes, and the poor family for receiving an unexpected gift.

We all have many opportunities to show kindness, especially at Christmastime. We can help strangers by delivering gifts to needy kids or serving homeless families at a soup kitchen. Or we can simply look for everyday ways to be kind, like allowing someone to go ahead in a long line, or giving that bell-ringer a little extra change and a few encouraging words.

Maybe our gift-giving mode inspires us to give to others at Christmas.  Maybe the season makes us more aware of our families, friends and those in our communities. Or maybe it's because two thousand years ago, the earth received the most perfect, most loving gift of all; God’s son, Jesus Christ.   This is a special time of year to remember this special gift.  Christmas begins with CHRIST, the real reason for this season.   

Whatever your reason, this Christmas show kindness, it is what we do as Rotarians, because it is truly more blessed to give than to receive.

To you and your family I wish you a very Merry Christmas a blessed New Year!  And that’s the bottom of the news on this Friday December 21, 2012.  

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Christmas Laughs

Christmas Laughs

Good morning my fellow Rotarians. The Christmas season is well upon us and for our news this morning, I thought I’d share a few humorous Christmas stories…

Trust Him?
On the Sunday before Christmas Reverend Billy Graham was visiting a town where he was to give a Christmas message. That afternoon he went to visit a parishioner; however, he needed to drop a package off and asked a young boy where he could find the post office. When the boy gave him directions, Reverend Graham thanked him and said, 'If you'll come to the Church this evening, you can hear me telling everyone how to get to heaven.'

The boy replied, 'I think I'll pass sir. If you don't even know your way to the post office, how do you know the way to heaven?'

Christmas Spirit
It was just before Christmas and the magistrate was in a happy mood. He asked the prisoner who was in the dock, 'What are you charged with?' The prisoner replied, 'Doing my Christmas shopping too early.' 'That's no crime', said the magistrate. 'Just how early were you doing this shopping?'

'Before the shop opened', answered the prisoner.

Mirror Image
On Christmas Eve, Nathan thought it would be nice to buy his wife a little gift for the next day. Always short of money, he thought long and hard about what to buy.' Unable to decide, Nathan visited the cosmetics section of a local store and asked the clerk, 'How about some perfume?' She showed him a bottle costing $150. 'Too expensive,' he muttered.

The young lady returned with a smaller bottle for $75. 'Oh dear,' Nathan groused, 'still far too much.'

Growing rather annoyed, the sales girl brought out a tiny $20 bottle and offered it to him. Nathan became really agitated, 'What I mean', he whined, 'is I'd like to see something really cheap.'

So, the sales girl handed him a mirror.

So, guys, how is your shopping coming along? And that’s the bottom of the news on this Friday December 14, 2012.

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Reindeer Exposed!

Good morning my fellow Rotarians. Since we have now officially entered the Christmas season I want you all to know that as your Rotary Reporter I take my responsibility very seriously to honestly report things so you understand fact from fiction.

Now is the time to reveal the truth about Santa’s reindeer.

Recently a report was released by the Alaskan Fish and Game Department. The report states that both male and female reindeer grow antlers in the summer each year. The male reindeer drop their antlers during the early winter, usually around late November to mid December. Female reindeer, however, retain their antlers until after they give birth in the spring.
 
Therefore, according to every historical rendition depicting Santa’s reindeer, from Rudolph to Comet to Donner and Biltzen… every one of them has to be female.
 
We should have known this.
 
Think about it. Only women would be able to drag a fat man in a red velvet suit all around the world in one night and not get lost!
 
And there you have it, the truth exposed about Santa’s reindeer. So, here’s my question for the guys… can you handle this revelation?
 
And that is the Bottom of our News on this Friday, December 7, 2012.
 
PS... May we never forget the 2400 Americans who died at Pearl Harbor on this day, December 7, 1941.

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Honoring Zig Ziglar

Honoring Zig

Good morning my fellow Rotarians.  Today I’m honoring a man who motivated millions around the world.  Zig Ziglar died this past Wednesday at the age of 86.

Many consider Zig Ziglar one of the most inspirational people of our time.  He was a legendary motivational speaker and business consultant with a 40-year speaking career where he consulted with Fortune 500 companies and advised American presidents and other world leaders for decades.

When he returned from World War II, he landed a job selling pots and pans door to door.  And the stories he told about his days in sales were humorous and instructional.  Once he was stopped for speeding and ended up going to the officer’s house to sell his wife a set of pans for their daughter’s upcoming wedding.  

Few people knew of the famous Ziglar back then, yet it was during those early years when he developed a curiosity about human nature and he turned that interest into a thriving career as a motivational speaker and author.  He wrote nearly 30 books – my favorite was “See You at the Top.” 

As a motivational speaker, author, businessman, father, husband and devout Christian he would often ask his audiences, “Of all these positions I carry, which one do you think matters the most to me today?”

Zig and his wife Jean, just celebrated their 66^th anniversary four days ago, November 26^th.  He always called his wife “the red head.” 

Two of Zig’s thought-provoking quotes include, “If you can dream it, you can achieve it.” and, “Your attitude, not your aptitude, will determine your altitude.”  His most famous re-quoted quote was, “You can have everything in life that you want if you will just help enough people get what they want.”

And he said, “The chief cause of failure and unhappiness is trading what you want most for what you want right now.”  And he would go on to ask the pointed question, “What are you trading in today?”

To my dad, Zig was his all time favorite “sales guy.”  I remember as a kid how he would get excited and share ideas he had learned from Zig.  In 1998 I had the privilege to meet Zig for the first time at a Zig Rally in Omaha, NE.  We talked few minutes and I had his undivided attention even though hundreds were waiting to talk with him.  He was genuine, sincere and encouraged people whenever he spoke. 

And finally, I leave you with this Zig quote…  “Even in tragedy, God through His word offers hope for those who seek and believe. It starts with the promise of a better tomorrow, of life everlasting, of eternal peace. It’s called faith, and it offers hope where none existed.”

Zig Ziglar, a man whose words will live on and continue to inspire.  And that is the Bottom of our News on this Friday, November 30, 2012.  ###

Haircuts & Politicians

Haircuts & Politicians

Good morning my fellow Rotarians.  Thought I would share some political humor one last time before the election.  This is a story called “The Haircut”…

One day a florist went to a barber for a haircut.  After the cut, he asked about his bill, and the barber replied, 'I cannot accept money from you; I'm doing community service this week.' The florist was pleased and left the shop.

When the barber went to open his shop the next morning, there was a 'thank you' card and a dozen roses waiting for him at his door.

Later, a cop comes in for a haircut, and when he tries to pay his bill, the barber again replied, 'I cannot accept money from you, I'm doing community service this week.' The cop was happy and left the shop.

The next morning when the barber went to open up, there was a 'thank you' card and a dozen donuts waiting for him at his door.

Then a Congressman came in for a haircut, and when he went to pay his bill, the barber again replied, 'I can not accept money from you. I'm doing community service this week.' The Congressman was very happy and left the shop.

The next morning, when the barber went to open up, there were a dozen Congressmen lined up waiting for a free haircut.

And that, my friends, illustrates the fundamental difference between the citizens of our country and the politicians who run it.

As wise man once said, ‘Remember this, both politicians and diapers need to be changed often.’

So, make sure you are informed and then vote in this important election.  And that’s the Bottom of our News on this Friday, November 2, 2012.   

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