New Fair Food: Fried Butter On A Stick!

The Iowa State Fair has hit a new gluttonous low.

Just when you thought that there was nothing left to fry, a vendor at the Fair has cooked up something new: a fried stick of butter.

Yes, it's been done before (who can forget Paula Deen's Butter Balls?), but according to the Daily Mail, this is the first time a full stick has made its fair debut. (Though fried butter first appeared at the Texas State Fair in 2009.)

Vendors at the fair take an eighth of a pound of butter, cover it in cinnamon and honey and dip it in the fryer. The result is a heart attack-inducing diabetic feast on a stick.

Watch the video at http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/08/11/fried-butter-stick-iowa-state-fair_n_924768.html

Photographs Every Day

Guy photographs himself every day for 6 years

everyday from Noah K. on Vimeo.

Lose Some Weight

Wow, those people need to lose some weight.

Dancing Goop

A non-newtonian fluid is a liquid that doesn't display properties of liquids or solids. It's a simple solution of cornstarch and water, and when you put it on top of a speaker it totally parties down.

Purpose of Technology

President Henry B. Eyring at the dedication of the BYU-Provo Broadcasting Building:

"The Lord's plan is to advance ever more rapidly His word and His works and the effects of His gospel throughout the world." The Lord "has revealed the technology that enables the Church to take full advantage of these advances," but added that while technology can and does bless lives, "never forget that while we have computers, cameras, microphones, fiber-optic networks, clouds, and satellites, we have failed if we do not rely on the Holy Ghost."

He said, "If our technology does not improve the lives of others and help bring them home to [the Lord], we have missed the mark."


See http://dld.bz/amEAF

Please do not watering this plant

Crazy Grandma

This is one of the funniest gags I've ever seen:
 

It is Impossible to Make Your Waist Slender

Dyslexics

Synonym

Synonym - a word to replace the one you couldn't spell.

Charities Who Help Best

As you dig into your pockets to help people in disasters and crises, you may want to research charities before donating to them.

Charity Navigator (charitynavigator.org) is a helpful place to evaluate the relative efficiency of organizations. They have various lists of highly efficient and inefficient organizations. For example, with HomeAid Orange County, only 30 cents on the dollar actually makes it to the cause and 70 cents goes to fundraising and administrative expenses. I wouldn't donate to them.

Forbes also provides information about America's Biggest Charities. Their list shows that some of the most inefficient at fundraising are Veterans of Foreign Wars of the US (58%), Girl Scouts of the USA (62%), American Diabetes Association (70%), and Operation Smile (72%). A good alternative to Operation Smile is the International Children's Surgical Foundation, where the principal draws only a modest living allowance.

Here are some examples to consider from Charity Navigator:

The American Red Cross

• 92.1% of your donations go to the cause. Of their annual revenue (6/2010) of $3.5 billion, $3.2 billion goes toward their programs and $280 million is eaten up in administrative expenses.
• Salary of their President and CEO - almost $1 million, plus personal, medical and pension expenses.

United Way of Salt Lake City

• Only 75.9% of your donations go to the cause. Of their annual revenue (6/2009) of nearly $15 million, a little over $11 million goes toward their programs and $4 million is eaten up in administrative expenses.
• Salary of their President and CEO - over $200,000 base salary, along with numerous benefits.

The best charity I know of is:

LDS Philanthropies

• 100% of every dollar goes to the cause!
• No salary is paid to administrators or volunteers. All administrative and overhead costs are paid by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.

You may also find the following article useful: "How To Handle Charities Donation Callers"

What do they sell there?

Who Helps Best?

This post has been updated with verified information. Please see Charities Who Help Best.

Market Research

“If I’d asked people what they wanted, they’d have asked for a faster horse.” - Henry Ford

Analysis of this quote, and two other good quotes on market research: http://www.foolproof.co.uk/three-old-chestnuts-cracked/

Video: Made for Life

Made for Life is a short interview-based film recently produced for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops on the uniqueness of marriage as it relates to children.

Made for Life is the second film in the Marriage: Unique for a Reason series, and is told from the perspectives of actual married couples and single parents addressing the necessity of sexual differences in creating and fostering life. Made for Life explores the individual strengths a mother and father each bring to the life of a child and how those strengths complement one other to form the best environment in which to raise a child.

Made for Life follows the successful 2010 release of Made for Each Other, a film exploring the nature and importance of sexual difference in marriage.

In response to concerns about how young adults view the role of marriage today, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops commissioned Design4 in 2009 to develop this film series along with viewers guides, teaching materials and a website based on the theme of Marriage: Unique for a Reason.

The series is directed to young adults in their twenties and explores the role of marriage as an elemental institution of life, the unique beauty of spousal love, the importance of sexual difference in marriage to both husband and wife and for their children and the foundational role of marriage in building community. Design4 initially conducted nationwide focus groups, then developed messaging, scripting, direction and full line production including post-production editing, music, motion graphics and sound engineering.

For more information, see marriageuniqueforareason.org.

Ski Shop in Banff, Canada

I’m shrinking!

Have you heard the one about the man who rushes into a doctor’s office and shouts, “Doc! I think I’m shrinking!”

To which the doctor calmly responds, “Settle down. You’ll just have to be a little patient.”