From: Will Ford

From: Will Ford To: undisclosed-recipients:; Bee: "Ma `Ma> Subject: Mar 4th tidbits & quotes Date: Mon, 04 Mar 2013 15:24:15 +0000 "This is the mark of a really admirable man: steadfastness in the face of trouble." - Ludwig van Beethoven The Iditarod is an annual dogsled race held in March between Anchorage and Nome, Alaska. It started as a short race of 56 miles in 1967 and in 1973 became the current race of nearly 1,100 miles. The racecourse partially follows the old Iditarod Trail dogsled mail route blazed from Knik to Nome in 1910. (The Iditarod also commemorates an emergency mission to get medical supplies to Nome during a 1925 diphtheria epidemic.) Competitors cross two mountain ranges (the Alaska and the Kuskokwim), run along the Yukon River for 150 miles, and cross frozen waterways. The first race in 1973 took the winning musher about 20 days, but now the winning time has been reduced by almost half. Iditarod is from Holikachuk hudenhod, for which no etymology is given. "I have as much authority as the Pope, I just don't have as many people who believe it." - George Carlin This year Forbes has uncovered a record 1,426 billionaires. That is 200 more than they found in 2012, another record breaking year. It is also nearly 10x as many in 1987, the year tracking began. The group is worth $5.4 trillion, an astounding 17% jump from a year ago. The average net worth of a Forbes billionaire is $3.8 billion, $100 million more than a year ago. EFTA00394418