This week’s London riots have spread menacingly across the nation to Birmingham, Manchester and Liverpool.  Youthful rioters burned vehicles and buildings and looted shops and businesses. More than 100 police were injured and more than 1,000 youths were arrested—some as young as age 11!

The late Jerry Clower, a teller of funny stories, related a hilarious tale about the lady who went into an old-fashioned butcher shop. She said to the proprietor behind the refrigerated meat case, “I would like a 3½ pound frying chicken.” It was near the end of the day, and as the butcher reached down behind the counter into the chest full of ice that had contained the poultry, he found there was only one left. He plopped the chicken on the scale, and it weighed a little less than 3½ pounds.

Superstitions come in just about every stripe imaginable. While you may laugh at others’ superstitions, do you have your own?

Many people are superstitious. Some carry a lucky rabbit’s foot, coin, gem, or medal. Some knock on wood so as not to "jinx" the outcome of a statement they made, which ancient pagans also did to invoke the benevolent acts of the tree spirits.

On July 8, U.S. budget statistics revealed a slight increase in the official unemployment rate, to 9.2%.  For many of these people and others, the U.S. offers a “food stamp” program designed to provide minimal subsistence.  During the recent recession, participation in this program has soared.  As of April 2011, nearly 45 million, or one in seven Americans (14%) was participating in the food stamp program.

On September 12, 1962, President John F. Kennedy stated, "We choose to go to the moon. We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard, because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one which we intend to win, and the others, too."