FYI December 14, 2023

Filed under FYI

On This Day

1287 – St. Lucia’s flood: The Zuiderzee sea wall in the Netherlands collapses, killing over 50,000 people.[3]
St. Lucia’s flood (Sint-Luciavloed) was a storm tide that affected the Netherlands and Northern Germany on 13/14 December 1287 (OS),[1][circular reference] St. Lucia Day and the day after, killing approximately 50,000 to 80,000 people in one of the largest floods in recorded history.

This disaster was similar to the North Sea flood of 1953, when an intense European windstorm coinciding with a high tide caused a huge storm surge. The St. Lucia flood had a major influence on the subsequent history of the Netherlands.

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Born On This Day

1332 – Frederick III, German nobleman (d. 1381)
Frederick III, the Strict (Friedrich III. der Strenge; 14 December 1332, in Dresden – 21 May 1381, in Altenburg), Landgrave of Thuringia and Margrave of Meissen, was the son of Frederick II, Margrave of Meissen and Mathilde of Bavaria.[1]

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FYI

NASA: Astronomy Picture of the Day

EarthSky News

This Day in Tech History

This Day In History

Interesting Facts

Word Genius: Word of the Day

By James Clear: 3-2-1: How friendship shapes you, improving along the way, and how to handle your doubts

Know anything about these blankets?
Emergency Fire Blanket

By Ernie Smith, Tedium: Diet Facebook A browser extension I’m using has me really surprised about how much junk Facebook feeds me. I hate that we’re stuck with it.

By Ernie Smith, Tedium: Interference Wars The electric vehicle finds itself in the middle of the big debate over the future of AM radio. Could the AM dial get pushed off to the side?

By Ernie Smith, Tedium: A Incomplete Picture A recent scandal around a popular YouTuber’s nonprofit foundation has created a lot of drama, but what it’s missing are voices that understand the nonprofit sector.

By Ernie Smith, Tedium: Waking Up The Regulators While regulators have long struggled with how to attack big tech, a landmark ruling and a big disclosure suggests that big tech is finally getting noticed. Finally.

Domino’s® is Plowing for Pizza: Snowy Roads Shouldn’t Get in the Way of Hot Pizza

Customers can visit Plowingforpizza.com to submit the zip code of their hometown for a grant. The nomination period is open from Dec. 4, 2023, – Jan. 21, 2024, and is limited to one submission per email address. Domino’s will name selected towns on a rolling basis throughout the program to make sure grants are awarded during the winter season; towns chosen will be announced as soon as mid-January.

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By Rocky Parker, Beyond Bylines: Some Tricky AP Style Punctuation Rules to Remember

Recipes

Common Ground Alaska: HOMEMADE ALASKA CRANBERRY JUICE – TWO OPTIONS

Common Ground Alaska: Cooking on your Wood Stove – Alaska Winter Skills

Just the Recipe: Paste the URL to any recipe, click submit, and it’ll return literally JUST the recipe- no ads, no life story of the writer, no nothing EXCEPT the recipe.

DamnDelicious

Spinach French Onion Cob Dip – Australia’s favourite dip! June 19, 2026
Meet Australia’s favourite dip!!! This Spinach French Onion Cob Dip is made using a French Onion Soup mix and is served in a cob bread loaf. It is unapologetically retro, gloriously unfashionable, breaks every real-food rule I preach, and is completely addictive!! Spinach French Onion Cob Dip This dip has been a fixture at Australian... […]
Nagi
Easy Slow Cooker BBQ Shredded Beef June 16, 2026
Slow Cooker BBQ Shredded Beef is what you make when you want a big batch of crowd-pleasing food with relatively little effort. The succulent pulled beef is smothered in an incredible homemade barbecue sauce, and there’s so many ways to serve it – pile into sliders, heap onto plates or stuff into baked potatoes! Easy... […]
Nagi

E-book Deals:

BookGorilla

The Book Blogger List

BookBub

The Book Junction: Where Readers Go To Discover Great New Fiction!

Love Swept & The Smitten Word

Mystery & Thriller Most Wanted

Pixel of Ink

The Rock Stars of Romance

Book Blogs & Websites:

Alaskan Book Cafe

Alternative-Read.com

Stacy, Carol RT Book Reviews

Welcome to the Stump the Bookseller blog!

Stump the Bookseller is a service offered by Loganberry Books to reconnect people to the books they love but can’t quite remember. In brief (for more detailed information see our About page), people can post their memories here, and the hivemind goes to work. After all, the collective mind of bibliophiles, readers, parents and librarians around the world is much better than just a few of us thinking. Together with these wonderful Stumper Magicians, we have a nearly 50% success rate in finding these long lost but treasured books. The more concrete the book description, the better the success rate, of course. It is a labor of love to keep it going, and there is a modest fee. Please see the How To page to find price information and details on how to submit your Book Stumper and payment.

Thanks to everyone involved to keep this forum going: our blogging team, the well-read Stumper Magicians, the many referrals, and of course to everyone who fondly remembers the wonder of books from their childhood and wants to share or revisit that wonder. Isn’t it amazing, the magic of a book?

bias in science--6/18/2026 June 18, 2026
Today's encore selection -- from Science Delusion by Rupert Sheldrake. The physical sciences rarely employ methodologies to ensure objectivity in their research: “Peter Medawar was an articulate British biologist who won the Nobel Prize for Medicine. In a witty talk on BBC radio in 1963, he asked, 'Is the scientific paper a fraud?' and answered, […]
famous financial bubbles --6/16/2026 June 16, 2026
Today's selection-- from The Great Man by Edward Pearce. In 1720, there were two massive, era-defining financial calamities that happened at almost the same historical moment. In France, it was the Mississippi Company, the brainchild of John Law, and in Britain, the emulative South Sea Company: “As the historian of the Bubble, John Carswell, remarks, […]

Recent Research Spreadsheets
Our students have compiled research in three topic areas. Below are the links to their research tables that can be downloaded for searching and viewing. For a state-by-state review of Mandatory Reporter laws, click here. For a state-by-state review of Background Check laws, click...
feigleycommunications
Legislative Drafting Students
Our students spend the summer working on the research project of the LDICP. Through their extensive research, massive databases of information on state statutes regarding the abuse of children have been created and will be posted here as their work is finalized. Here are...
feigleycommunications

Smorgasbord Summer Book Fair – #Memoir #Teaching Pete Springer, #Memoir #Leonbergers Thomas Wikman, #Christmas #Cookbook Carol Taylor June 21, 2026
Today some memoirs with a common theme… a passion for something very important in the author’s lives… teaching, Leonbergers and cookery The first book is what I consider to be the gold standard for teaching the youngest members of our … Continue reading →
Smorgasbord - Variety is the Spice of Life.

Sunny Ann Starling, July 2, 1943 - January 6, 2023 January 10, 2023
All-American patriot, artist, designer, entrepreneur, flower arranger, chef, and joyful servant, Sunny Lou Starling, was carried on the wings of angels to the arms of her savior, Jesus Christ, on Friday, January 6, 2023. She once said her mission was to “Gather and feed all you can, as often as you can, because you never know if […]
Unknown
WASP Final Flight February 28, 2022
WASP Deanie Bishop Parrish, 44-W-4"Failure isn't failure unless you let it be. It's simply a change in direction. Just count your many blessings move on. With God's help, anything is possible!"Deanie Bishop Parrish passed away peacefully in her home in Waco, Texas, on February 24, 2022, just one day shy of her 100th birthday. She met every challenge […]
Unknown

Four Fun Kodachrome Car Image Series No. 519 October 30, 2024
Editors Note: After posting over five thousand features and twenty five thousand images over the last thirteen years, the time has come to end posting weekly features here on The Old Motor. At this point, the site’s future hasn’t been decided, although it will remain online for the foreseeable future. There may be future updates...
David Greenlees
Four Fun Kodachrome Car Image Series No. 518 October 23, 2024
In this weekly series, we ask our readers to tell us the year, make, and model of all of these vehicles along with the location where the image was taken and anything else you find of interest in the photos. You can look back on all the earlier parts of this series here. The photos are via Americar....
David Greenlees

Shellubrication: 1950s June 28, 2025
From a discarded negative collection that belonged to a San Diego area barber. 120 format. View full size.
Cazzorla
Mill Town Aughts May 22, 2025
My great-grandfather was a Textile League ball player in the little mill village of Tucapau, South Carolina, in probably the late aughts. He didn't care what the mill job was as long as he could play on their team. The story in the family is that one of his upcountry cousins was also a Textile […]
hj808

re: Why a reading circle? June 20, 2026
In reply to Hot Daily: 1943: My dad was hired as a copy editor at the Grand Rapids [MI] Press in 1968. His team had a circle of desks. It was a brand-new very-briefly state-of-the-art building where reporters pinned their typewritten copy to a conveyor which zipped it to the copy editors. The fine-tuned content […]
JeffK
My Kitchen June 12, 2026
In reply to The Salmon Kitchen: 1964: Except for the salmon pink color and the vintage appliances, that could pass for my current kitchen.
Schmthaus

Hungarian Wax Peppers October 18, 2024
Here’s an old Italian recipe for canning peppers, one of my husband’s favorites. Searching the internet, you’ll come across many variations — all probably good — but here’s a basic recipe to start you on your course. The kids and I canned these using the boiling method, though pressure canners might make the process easier. Not sure how, […]
gardenfrisk
Easy Microgreens June 13, 2023
Microgreens seem to be all the rage these days and for good reason: they are packed with nutrients and easy to grow! The USDA and University of Maryland found that leaves from microgreens had more nutrients than the mature leaves of the same plants. And great flavor. Plus, you don’t need a lot of space […]
gardenfrisk

Chicken Fajita Quesadillas June 13, 2026
This post may contain affiliate links. Please see our privacy policy for details. 30 minute chicken quesadillas with onions and bell peppers using leftover rotisserie chicken (huge time-saver!). So quick, so easy, so good! Why you’ll love chicken fajita quesadillas what is the best cheese to use for quesadillas? Always opt for a cheese with […]
Chungah
Lemon Butter Fish May 29, 2026
This post may contain affiliate links. Please see our privacy policy for details. Tender, juicy, flaky fish with a lemon-garlic sauce that will knock your socks off. A 20 minute dinner recipe – so fast, so easy, so good! Why you’ll love this lemon butter fish recipe key ingredients in lemon butter fish Butter Use […]
Chungah

Air Force relocates recon drone squadron to Japan June 20, 2026
Three of the Air Force’s large RQ-4 Global Hawk drones will be permanently stationed in Yokota Air Base. The post Air Force relocates recon drone squadron to Japan appeared first on Task & Purpose.
Nicholas Slayton
Navy lifts blockade, will keep ships around the Strait of Hormuz June 19, 2026
American forces will stay in the area to monitor the ceasefire, U.S. Central Command said. The post Navy lifts blockade, will keep ships around the Strait of Hormuz appeared first on Task & Purpose.
Nicholas Slayton

Spring Fling 2026- Days 49 - 51: Homeless in Mansfield, OH June 19, 2026
Tuesday, June 16There we were, motoring along southbound Interstate 71 in Ohio, heading for a Harvest Host location for the night. Suddenly, all the gauges in the RVs dashboard turned off! They turn back on immediately and we motored on wondering what was going on.Less for a couple miles later, the gauge needles went down […]
redlegsrides
Spring Fling 2026- Day 48: COE Camping near Clark, PA June 16, 2026
We left the Saxtons Distillery Harvest Host just before 7AM and made it to the Pennsylvania border at 940 AM. It felt good to leave New York.By noon we were at the Shenango Recreation Area Campgrounds, which is run by the COE: Corps of Engineers (US Army). Not too far from the interstate though we […]
redlegsrides

Come Find Me At Substack! June 25, 2025
Hi all, I should have posted this a while ago—I’m now on Substack. I love the platform and respect and appreciate the company’s adherence to principles of free speech.You can find The Heart of the Matter—my ruminations on politics, geopolitics, and media, plus the odd book and movie review—here. My author newsletter—only about my new book […]
Barry Eisler
American Exception March 7, 2025
Wow.As Blade said in the eponymous movie, “The world you live in is just a sugar-coated topping. There is another world beneath it—the real world.”American Exception is about the real world.It is deeply researched, coherently presented, cogently argued. By the time you’re done reading, you’ll wonder how you ever could have believed that things are […]
Barry Eisler

Kashevaroff Mountain April 6, 2019
Long before we were a sailing family, Alisa and I were a young couple in love with adventuring in Alaska. The opportunity to introduce Eric and Elias to the delights of outdoor living in the Great Land was one of the big bright sides of our return to Alaska. Earlier this winter, the boys and […]
Letting go March 20, 2019
So...this beautiful island is our home. See the barky? The boys just had their spring break. A week off from school and nothing to keep us from buggering off in Galactic. The weather was generally poor - nothing like the pics above for the most part - so we just snuck off to the west […]

Back From the Dead, Off& On Wins a place on FeedSpot list of 60 best Parkinson’s Blogs March 29, 2026
If only life were normally this undemanding. I didn’t post anything in 2025, and here I find this blog at #30 on a List of the 60 top Parkinson’s blogs Web-wide, compiled by aggregator FeedSpot. This recognition of my awesome blogging skills suggests that the less I publish, the better my blog will be. So I probably […]
Peter Dunlap-Shohl
PDS on PBS II Cross post from "Frozen Grin" April 5, 2024
Here is a link to a story about my struggle to draw with Parkinson's Disease. the story is from "The Daily Cartoonist" a Web journal concerning the world of professional cartooning. It was occasioned by the release of the documentary "Matters of Mind, My Parkinson's" which follows three families and their efforts to cope […]
Peter Dunlap-Shohl

Identifying Devil’s Club Plant August 10, 2023
Devil’s Club is a common wild plant in Alaska that’s large & covered in hidden sharp thorns, growing everywhere from remote forests to even well-groomed Anchorage city trails. Just because you’re “in town” doesn’t mean you won’t run into devil’s club. It’s smart to stay on the trails, particularly if you’re not confident spotting it. […]
Ashley
Pumpkin BOO-berry Muffins (Fun Halloween Toddler Snacktivity!) October 21, 2022
Here’s a delicious fall-time spin on classic blueberry muffins. If you’re a solo adult who likes good food, this recipe is for you. Or if you’ve got extra kitchen “helpers” around (read: kids who need entertainment), turn baking these Halloween muffins into a fun toddler snacktivity. Pumpkin BOO-berry Muffin Recipe Ingredients: 2 boxes Jiffy brand […]
Ashley

"Home" vs. "Away" May 20, 2022
I’m home now. I’m looking at the flea market couch I brought up from California; I had cushions made three times over the years till I got it just right. Now it’s just right. It’s been in my life 42 years. Tim has been in my life 34 years, but he had to be out of […]
CloudyinAK
Goodbye, Toronto May 10, 2022
I’m saying my goodbyes to Toronto. I’ve seen my last Hot Docs Festival film, and I’m just back from my last author program. I’ve probably had my last roti, checked out my last book at my local branch library, gone to my last art workshop. Horror of horrors, I’ve even watched my last play. The thing […]
CloudyinAK

Malnourished launches today January 21, 2020
It’s here. The big day. My memoir, the one I spent 15 years struggling over, launches today from Raised Voice Press. I’m feeling very exposed, very vulnerable. This is not at all similar to when Dolls Behaving Badly launched from Hachette Book Group. That was a novel, and while some of it was based on… […]
cinthiaritchie
Book review: Secondhand Summer by Dan Walker December 1, 2019
I had had Alaska writer Dan Walker’s YA novel SECONDHAND SUMMER on my list for a long time, and two weeks ago finally had the chance to dive in. I wasn’t disappointed. Walker’s book, geared for middle school readers (but still immensely enjoyable for adults), follows 14-year-old Sam’s move to Anchorage from the small fishing… […]
cinthiaritchie

Sitka Nature Show #361 – Starling Birch (encore) February 23, 2026
Download Radio Show The February 22nd show featured a conversation with Starling Birch, videographer and mountain adventurer. Originally recorded and aired in August 2023, we talked about the pleasure and pain of adventuring into the mountains. We also considered the motivations that drive us to put ourselves in often unpleasant and potentially regretful circumstances when […]
matt goff
Sitka Nature Show #360 – State of the Sound February 9, 2026
Download Radio Show The February 8th show featured a conversation with Lauren /Bell, Lauren Wild, and Ellen Chenoweth, organizers of the first (annual?) State of the Sound community event scheduled for later this month. We talked about the intentions for the event, what is planned, and how folks can participate. If you have questions or […]
matt goff

Sandra’s Overnight Artisan 10" Cast Iron Soft Bread-No Knead March 2, 2024
INGREDIENTS3-1/4 cups all-purpose flour1 teaspoon active yeast (not rapid or instant)1-1/2 teaspoons kosher salt1-1/2 cups slightly warm water (tepid)--2 teaspoons canola oil (For top and bottom of dough ball so it doesn't stick or form crust while rising)-2 TB butter melted in ramekin, with brush (set aside)--10” Seasoned Cast Iron SkilletMETHODAdd flour to bowl. Add yeast […]
sandra
Sandra's Fresh Apple Pecan Cake (9x13") September 18, 2023
My husband loves this cakeso much he had two pieces 'after' eating lunch...Ingredients2 Eggs1 ½ cup Canola Oil2 cups Granulated Sugar3 cups A-P Flour2 teaspoons Ground Cinnamon½ teaspoon Ground Nutmeg½ teaspoon Kosher Salt1 ½ teaspoons Baking Soda4 cups Chopped Apples (peeled and cored): measure after chopping1 cup chopped Pecans: measure after chopping1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract⅔ […]
sandra