2010 – Page 2 – the quick Sliver

5.25.10 Mary’s House

May 25, 2010 Mike Keeler

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This Memorial Day, we remember a different kind of war tragedy. Mary was born in Virginia in 1807, eight years after the death of her famous grandfather. She was lovely and vivacious, could speak Latin and Greek, and single-handedly edited and published her family’s letters. She was pursued by many…

5.14.10 Arizona, Redacted

May 14, 2010 Mike Keeler

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This week Arizona Governor Jan Brewer signed a controversial law prohibiting public schools from offering courses which highlight the historic contributions of “ethnic groups.” OK, then. The following is the result: the Governor’s (redacted) primer on her home state. The first humans arrived in Arizona from Asia around 15,000 B.C. …

2010 Arizona Governor Jan Brewer immigrant immigration

5.7.10 The Patriot’s Price

May 7, 2010 Mike Keeler

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Can you put a price tag on your heritage? Take, for example, the case of the Old Barracks. The Colony of New Jersey built five military barracks in 1758; the one in Trenton was at that time the largest building in town. In 1776, the “Old Trenton Barracks” was captured…

2010 American Revolution Battle of Trenton budget crisis George Washington New Jersey The Old Barracks Trenton

3.26.10 March Madness

March 26, 2010 Mike Keeler

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There’s a reason it’s called “March Madness.” As the NCAA basketball tournaments tipped off, researchers at The Institute of Diversity and Ethics in Sports did a little research. They looked at the graduation rates of the 65 men’s and 64 women’s teams, utilizing a metric called the APR (Academic Progress…

2010 APR basketball graduation rate March Madness NCAA

3.19.10 The Miracle of Capistrano

March 19, 2010 Mike Keeler

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This is about the rise, and perhaps the fall, of a cultural miracle. Father St. John O’Sullivan was a Catholic priest who arrived at the San Juan Capistrano mission in 1910. Sent there for relief of chronic tuberculosis, Father O’Sullivan immediately realized the place was in worse shape than he…

2010 Bugs Bunny D.W. Griffith Father Serra's Church Father St. John O'Sullivan Leon Rene Mary Pickford San Juan Capistrano swallows When the Swallows Come Back to Capistrano

3.12.10 Genius in 236 Words

March 12, 2010 Mike Keeler

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OK aspiring writers, this one’s easy. Maybe too easy. Your assignment today is to write a story of only about 1500 words. But there’s a catch: all the words in your story have to be two syllables or less, OK? Oh, there’s one other thing: you can only use…

2010 Cat in the Hat Dr. Seuss Ted Geisel

3.12.10 Genius in 236 Words

March 12, 2010 Mike Keeler

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2010 Cat in the Hat Dr. Seuss Sally Theodore Geisel

3.5.10 The Madness of Johnny Depp

March 5, 2010 Mike Keeler

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NO, it’s a lie! We at quickSilver are not responsible for Johnny Depp’s crazy behavior. OK, we admit it, quicksilver is another name for mercury. And as far back as the Greeks, folks have known that mercury is unique and creepy stuff. They called it “hydragyrum” or “liquid silver.” Yes,…

2010 Alice in Wonderland Johnny Depp Kate Moss Mad Hatter mercury Milan millinery Pirates of the Caribbean quicksilver Vanessa Paradis Winona Ryder

2.26.10 Painting Holi Pink

February 26, 2010 Mike Keeler

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As winter takes a last nasty bite, it’s time to conjure up spring by painting the town…pink. The custom is so old that no one is sure how it all got started. But it wasn’t always fun and games. One popular tale is that long ago in India, there was…

2010 Hindu holi Holika india krishna Prahalad vishnu

2.19.10 Snow in 50 States

February 19, 2010 Mike Keeler

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They are calling it the upside-down winter. There’s hardly any snow at the Winter Games in Vancouver, but it’s piling up throughout the south. There’s more snow in Charlotte than in Boston. A week ago, the folks at the Portland Maine Winter Festival had to cancel the event as there…

2010 Hawaii Mauna Kea Snow states