Facts and Trivia About Being A Lefty

By Maria Vultaggio

Aug. 13 is International Left Handers day, which means those 10 percent who always feel like they’re getting elbowed aside have a day to feel special. Continue reading to find out some fun facts and trivia about being a lefty.



--Even though the body in generally symmetrical, there are some aspects that leave it one-sided: like whether a person if a lefty or a righty for instance.
--Aug. 13 was designated as Left-Hander’s Day in 1996 to bring awareness to the difficulties of being a lefty in a right-handed world.
--Their hand gestures are perceived as more polite. As per the Telegraph: "Research this week suggested that right-handed politicians have a disadvantage
in television debates because their hand gestures are interpreted more
negatively by audiences."
--Left-handers are better swimmers. According to LeftHandersDay.com, "Left-handers adjust more readily to seeing underwater." Sorry, they offered no actual proof of this.
---The lot of left-handers are smarter than right-handers. Or their IQ is extremely low. ABCNews touts: "Tests conducted by Alan Searleman from St Lawrence University in New
York found there were more left-handed people with IQs over 140 than
right-handed people." Famous left-handed thinkers include Albert
Einstein, Barack Obama and four of the five original designers of the Macintosh computer.
 --Left-handers may be better fighters. "It has long been thought that, in the days when arguments were resolved by hand-to-hand combat, being left-handed gave people the benefit of surprise against a right-handed opponent," according to AnythingLeft-Handed.co.uk.
 --They make their family smarter. "Stephen Christman and Ruth Propper at the University of Toledo, Ohio, claim that people with 'lefties' in the family have a larger corpus callosum—the connection between the brain hemispheres. This makes you better at certain memory tasks, but worse at others, they believe," according to AnythingLeft-Handed.co.uk. -Brynn Mannino, Assistant Editor
--Mothers who give birth over the age of 40 are 128 percent more likely to have a child with left-handedness than a woman who has a baby in her 20s.
--Lefties have been traced back to the caveman days. Archaeologists believe that some cave paintings were created by a left- handed artist.
--Lefties are more likely to be geniuses. 
--Throughout history, being left-handed was seen as a trait marking creativity and musical ability.
--Left-handedness runs in the family, the British royal family namely. The Queen Mother, Queen Elizabeth II, Prince Charles, and Prince William are or were all lefties.
--Lefties are more likely to loathe spiral notebooks.
--It’s not sure what makes a person become a lefty. Some scientists say it could be more testosterone in utero; others say it could be the hand babies prefer to have in their mouths.
--Some researchers believe lefties are better at handling stimuli, which means they’re naturally better at video games.
--Some scholars say lefties are the last unorganized minority in society because they don’t have a collective power or real sense of common identity.
--Lefties tend to be more susceptible to negative emotions like depression and anger because they engage in the right side of their brains more aggressively.
--Some scholars say lefties generally die nine years earlier than righties.
--Nearly 30 million people in the U.S. are left-handed.

Left-Handed U.S. Presidents
James A. Garfield  (1831-1881) 20th
Herbert Hoover  (1874-1964) 31st
Harry S. Truman  (1884-1972) 33rd
Gerald Ford  (1913-    ) 38th
Ronald Reagan  (1911 -    ) 40th
George H.W. Bush  (1924-    ) 41st
Bill Clinton  (1946-    ) 42nd
Barack Obama  (1961-    ) 44th

Left handed celebraties
Albert Einstein, really smart guy
Napoléon Bonaparte, French emperor
Prince Charles of England
Prince William of England
Benjamin Netanyahu, Israeli prime-minister
Henry Ford, automobile manufacturer
David Rockefeller, banker
Helen Keller, advocate for the blind
Edwin Buzz Aldrin, astronaut
Wally Schirra, astronaut
Paul Prudhomme, chef
Cecil Beaton, photographer/costume designer
Lord Baden-Powell, founder of the Boy Scouts (ambidexterous)
Dave Barry, journalist
David Broder, journalist
Edward R. Murrow, correspondent
Ted Koppel, journalist
Forrest Sawyer, journalist
Ray Suarez, journalist
John F. Kennedy, Jr., lawyer/publisher
Caroline Kennedy, lawyer/author
Ron Reagan, son of Ronald Reagan
Vin Scully, sports broadcaster
David Letterman, host
Jay Leno, host
Lenny Bruce, comedian
Allen Ludden, host
Joel Hodgson, host of Mystery Science Theater 3000
Wink Martindale, game show host
Euell Gibbons, naturalist
General H. Norman Schwarzkopf
F. Lee Bailey, lawyer
Marcia Clark, lawyer
Alan Funt, television producer

Left handed artists

Michelangelo 
LeRoy Neiman
Raphael 
Leonardo da Vinci
Milt Caniff, cartoonist
Bill Mauldin, cartoonist
Cathy Guisevite, cartoonist
Matt Groening, cartoonist
Jean Plantureux (Plantu), political cartoonist
Pat Oliphand, political cartoonist Ronald Searle, cartoonist
Pat Robertson, evangelist/politician
John Dillinger, criminal/bank robber
Bart Simpson, cartoon character
Ray Tharaldson, artist, photographer & videographer

Left-Handed Musicians
Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, composer 
David Byrne (Talking Heads) 
Glen Campbell
Vicki Carr
Natale Cole
Kurt Cobain (Nirvana)
Phil Collins (Genesis)
Billy Corgan (Smashing Pumpkins) 
Dick Dale (guitarist)
Don Everly (The Everly Brothers)
Phil Everly (The Everly Brothers)
Bela Fleck, jazz musician 
Glenn Frey (the Eagles)
Eric Gale, guitarist
Noel Gallagher (Oasis) 
Errol Garner, jazz pianist
Judy Garland
Crysal Gayle
Kevin Griffin, guitarist & lead singer (Better than Ezra)
Thomas Hedley, vocalist/musician 
Jimi Hendrix
Isaac Hayes
Tony Iommi, guitarist (Black Sabbath)
Albert King, guitarist
Melissa Manchester
Chuck Mangione, trumpet
Martina McBride, country music singer 
Paul McCartney (the Beatles; Wings)
Christie Marie Melonson (opera) 
George Michael (Wham!)
Peter Nero, conductor
Joe Perry (Aerosmith) 
Robert Plant (Led Zepplin)
Cole Porter, song-writer
Sergei Rachmaninoff , composer 
Maurice Ravel, composer
Lou Rawls
John Lydon a.k.a. Johnny Rotten (Sex Pistols / Public Image Ltd.) 
Rich Szabo, trumpeter
Seal 
Ringo Starr (the Beatles)
Paul Simon (Simon & Garfunkel)
Tiny Tim
Rudy Valee
Lenny White, drummer
Paul Williams, song-writer

Left-Handed Actors
Don Adams
Dan Aykroyd 
Eddie Albert
Tim Allen
June Allyson
Harry Anderson
Robert Blake
Matthew Broderick
Carol Burnett
George Burns, comedian
Ruth Buzzi, comedienne
Keith Carradine
Charlie Chaplin 
George Gobel, comedian
Chuck Conners
Tom Cruise
Matt Dillon
Marty Engles, comedian
Olivia de Havilland
Robert DeNiro
Fran Drescher, comedian 
Richard Dreyfuss
W.C. Fields
Larry Fine (of the Three Stooges)
Peter Fonda
Greta Garbo 
Terri Garr
Paul Michael Glaser
Whoopie Goldberg
Betty Grable
Cary Grant
Peter Graves
Mark Hamill
Rex Harrison 
Goldie Hawn
Jim Henson, puppetteer
Kermit the Frog
Rock Hudson
Angelina Jolie
Shirley Jones
Gabe Kaplan
Danny Kaye
Diane Keaton
George Kennedy
Nicole Kidman 
Lisa Kudrow 
Michael Landon
Hope Lange
Joey Lawrence 
Peter Lawford
Cloris Leachman
Hal Linden
Shirley MacLaine
Kristy McNichol
Steve McQueen
Howie Mandel, comedian 
Marcel Marceau, mime 
Harpo Marx
Marsha Mason
Marilyn Monroe
Robert Morse
Anthony Newley
Kim Novak
Ryan O'Neal
Sarah Jessica Parker
Estelle Parsons
Anthony Perkins
Ron Perlman
Luke Perry
Bronson Pinchot
Joe Piscopo, comedian
Robert Preston
Michael J. Pollard
Richard Pryor, comedian
Robert Redford
Keanu Reeves
Don Rickles, comedian
Julia Roberts
Mickey Rourke
Eva Marie Saint
Telly Savalas
Jean Seberg
Jerry Seinfeld, comedian
Christian Slater
Dick Smothers, comedian
Slyvester Stallone 
Rod Steiger
Alan Thicke 
Terry Thomas, comedian
Emma Thompson 
Rip Torn
Peter Ustinov
Rudy Vallee
Dick Van Dyke
James Whitmore
Bruce Willis
William Windom
Oprah Winfrey
Joanne Woodward
Keenan Wynn
Stephanie Zimbalist

Left-Handed Athletes
Francis X. Gorman (diving)
Greg Louganis (diving)
Mark Spitz (swimming)
Bruce Jenner (decathlon)
Dorothy Hamill (skating)
Phil Esposito (hockey)
Oscar de la Hoya (boxing)
Reggie Johnson (boxing)
Rafael "Bazooka" Limon (boxing)
Freddie Miller (boxing)
Jacker Patterson (boxing)
Pernell "Sweet Pea" Whitaker (boxing)  

University stops students from handing out Constitution

Robby Soave

Two students are suing the University of Hawaii for violating their First Amendment rights after administrator prevented them from distributing copies of the U.S. Constitution — demonstrating a frightening lack of knowledge about the very legal document they were attempting to censor.

Students Merritt Burch and Anthony Vizzone, members of the Young Americans for Liberty chapter at UH-Hilo, were prevented from handing out copies of the Constitution at a recruitment event in January. A week later, they were again informed by a censorship-minded administrator that their First Amendment-protected activities were in violation of school policy.

The students were told that they could only distribute literature from within UH-Hilo’s “free speech zone,” a small, muddy, frequently-flooded area on the edge of campus.

Administrators further clarified their level of respect for students’ free speech rights, making comments like, “This isn’t really the ’60s anymore,” and “people can’t really protest like that anymore,” according to the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education.

The First Amendment has not been modified since the 1960s, however, and robustly protects the rights of students at public universities to hold non-disruptive protests, speak their mind and distribute literature.

Administrators also maintained that university policy took precedent over Constitutional rights, according to the complaint.

“It’s not about your rights in this case, it’s about the University policy that you can’t approach people,” said Ellen Kusano, director of Student Affairs, according to the complaint.

Greg Lukianoff, president of FIRE, could not immediately be reached for comment, but wrote in a statement that UH’s action were “absolutely unacceptable.”

Safeguard Properties Internal Documents Reveal Rampant Complaints Of Thefts, Break-Ins

Ben Hallman

Outside in the world, Safeguard Properties was supposed to be protecting millions of homes that had slid into foreclosure, shoring up and repairing abandoned properties for the banks that were responsible for tending to all this real estate gone bad.

But inside the offices of Safeguard’s complaint department, Kevin Kubovcik says he gained a starkly different perspective on his company's pursuits as allegations of incompetence, malevolence and larceny rolled in day after day.

People with legal title to their property called to complain that Safeguard contractors had broken into their homes and carted off family heirlooms, valuable artwork and weapons, he recalled. People living next door to foreclosed properties complained that Safeguard mixed up the addresses and locked them out of their own homes.

Complaints came in seemingly without end. "I'd pick up the phone, put it down, and then it would ring again," Kubovcik said.

A recent Huffington Post investigation focused on Safeguard as the largest player in a little-scrutinized industry spawned by the American housing bust: the contractors tasked with the gritty work of maintaining a veritable empire of distressed real estate. Safeguard has been the target of dozens of lawsuits alleging that its contractors have wrongly broken into properties and carted off people’s property.

In response to previous questions from HuffPost about break-ins at occupied properties, Safeguard dismissed such incidents as "extremely rare" compared to the sheer volume of jobs the company manages. But Kubovcik, who logged and investigated complaints for more than two years until he left the company in April 2010, said his experience attests to precisely the opposite.

"It was a constant barrage," he said.

Kubovcik provided HuffPost with Excel spreadsheets that he said he had personally maintained during the time that he tracked complaints. Though the records are incomplete -- a four-month stretch from September through December of 2009 is missing -- they provide a detailed window into the frequency and types of complaints flowing into the company at the peak of the foreclosure crisis.

The complaints came from homeowners, mortgage companies and neighbors of the properties Safeguard managed. Between January and August of 2009, Kubovcik logged 682 such cases, according to his records, or about 85 per month. During the first three months of 2010, the pace increased to nearly 100 a month. The records show that more than two dozen mortgage companies hired Safeguard to perform work that led to a complaint. Citigroup, HSBC and Aurora Loan Services (now part of Nationstar) are the most frequent clients named in the records.

Safeguard CEO Robert Klein told HuffPost that his company has implemented procedures to avoid the sorts of troubles outlined in the complaints. He dismissed the validity of accounts from former employees.

"I would not take their word as gospel," he said, while declining to address the substance of Kubovcik's documents. "I'm comfortable that when we report a property as vacant, that it really is vacant. The vast majority of properties we maintain are being done so correctly."

For Kubovcik, one particularly hectic day stands out: March 18, 2010. On that day alone, his documents show nine separate complaints. One was from an unnamed tenant of a property in Georgia who returned home allegedly to find "numerous missing items." Another was made by a representative of a mortgage company in Arizona who complained that a contractor had taken a washer and dryer from a foreclosed or bank-owned home.

Also included in the day's tally were complaints made by three different people who apparently had the misfortune to simply live near a foreclosed or defaulted property. One in Michigan said that his property had sustained water damage, likely from work being done next door. Two others, in Ohio and Oregon, claimed that a contractor had "secured" their home in error, meaning a contractor had forced its way inside and then installed a lock on at least one door that would allow easy access for anyone with a passkey.

A fourth complaint, this one from Florida, alleged that a contractor had removed an entire roof in error.

"I tried my best to keep things like this from hitting the media," Kubovcik said.

Kubovcik said that he investigated the claims and sometime negotiated payouts, though often the company forced the contractors to pick up the tab. The most common strategy, he said, was to stall -- ignore the claim for as long as possible with the hope that the person who had called in would give up. "We would wear them down with paperwork and make them go away," he said.

As the lone member of the department, Kubovcik simply didn't have the capacity, he said, to fully investigate and resolve each case. "Whoever screamed the loudest got the attention," he said.

Kubovcik said he does not recall how the specific issues recorded that March 18 were resolved.

The most memorable claim Kubovcik recalled came from a family that had recently purchased a foreclosed home in Michigan. Though they were not behind on their mortgage payments, contractors from Safeguard broke into the house and secured their property anyway, he said. Contractors allegedly helped themselves to a daughter's wedding presents and Coach handbags meant for her bridesmaids, he said.

Kubvocik said decisions about whether to force entry into a private home should not be left to contractors, many of whom are poorly paid and trained. Too often, he said, they make the wrong decision, which even if nothing is removed can leave homeowners feeling vulnerable and frightened.

"It's called breaking and entering," Kubovcik said

A private company, Safeguard does not disclose profits, but in recent years the 23-year-old business has captured an increasingly large share of this kind of inspection and preservation work, according to contractors and others who work in the industry. In 2012, its contractors carried out 14 million work orders, according to the company. Safeguard also acquired the field services arm of Bank of America last year, increasing its portfolio by as much as one-third.

The company employs about 1,200 workers in its headquarters in Valley View, Ohio. Thousands of contractors in communities across the country work either directly for the company or as subcontractors through another business entity.

Though American home values have appreciated in recent months and new foreclosure filings have finally abated, companies like Safeguard still have plenty of work on their hands. Banks and federal agencies, including the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, hold hundreds of thousands of homes on their books, and default and foreclosure rates remain historically high.

In March, representatives from Safeguard and similar companies visited at least 3.5 million properties, some multiple times, a figure based on the tally of foreclosed, defaulted and bank-owned properties provided by the online real estate company RealtyTrac.

Most of the allegations of abuse against Safeguard and others in the industry flow from one specific task required under most mortgage contracts: After a borrower falls behind by more than 45 days on mortgage payments, the bank is required to "inspect" the property -- usually at least once a month -- to determine if it has been abandoned. Left untended, abandoned homes can become dangerous eyesores. They also can fall into disrepair, eroding their value.

Industry rules prescribe that contractors check electric meters, talk to neighbors and look for other visible signs of neglect before reporting a house as abandoned. Yet contractors employed in the trade say that low pay -- typically $4 or $5 per inspection -- and poor oversight often yield shoddy or incomplete work. Some individuals don't even bother to get out of their car before determining that a property is abandoned, contractors say.

If a property is reported as vacant, a second contractor is scheduled to visit in order to change locks and take a series of steps to protect against damage, such as repairing broken windows. These contractors are also supposed to ensure that a house is truly abandoned before forcing their way inside, but often they don't, homeowners claim.

On Jan. 14, 2009, Kubovcik's records show, Christopher McLain called to complain that someone from Safeguard had broken into his Michigan home and taken, among other items, two guns.

In a recent interview, McLain, a single parent of four children, said that he fell behind on his mortgage payments after his business collapsed, but that he still took care of his lawn, and the house remained his legal possession.

A few days before McLain lodged his complaint, he said, a neighbor called to tell him that someone was removing possessions from his house. Among the missing items were two shotguns, hunting clothing, an expensive hunting bow and even family photos that were hanging on the wall, he said.

According to McLain, it should have been obvious to anyone entering that his place was not abandoned. He filed a police report and called his mortgage company, American Home Mortgage Servicing, he said. A representative at the mortgage company told him to call Safeguard and complain. He did, but never heard back from the company, he said. American Home did not respond to a request for comment.

Klein, the Safeguard CEO, said his company employs an "intensive quality control" process to avoid improper handling of properties. In the past year, he added, Safeguard has expanded its background check requirements to include both direct contractors and anyone they subsequently hire to perform the work.

"We make sure the people who work for us are 100 percent qualified," Klein said.

But complaints against his company and its contractors continue, according to homeowners.

Kara Lingenfelter was forced to leave her North Haven, Conn., home in a hurry this past November after a winter storm knocked out power to the region. At the time, she was negotiating with Bank of America for permission to short-sell her house, meaning to sell it for less than what she owed the bank.

She never moved back in, but also did not abandon the house, Lingenfelter said. Most of her belongings remained inside, she said.

On March 30 of this year, Lingenfelter returned to the property to discover that one of the door knobs had been replaced with a lock box, she said. She also discovered a long list of items missing, she asserted, including two pellet guns, an iPod, jewelry and her son's coin bank, which contained about $200 in change. Someone had even taken his Boy Scout badges and medals, she said.

"Every cabinet door, every box, every closet door was open," Lingenfelter said.

She filed a police report and a report with the Better Business Bureau. On April 2, she spoke with a Safeguard representative -- likely the person who now has Kubovcik's job.

"We'll get back to you," Lingenfelter said she was told.

A double-duty lesson for Farmington sixth graders

By Michelle Leonard 

Occasionally, it helps to think outside the box. Especially when that box is a school building.

That’s what Farmington middle school media arts teacher Kjerstin Tharaldson did with her students last week. They thought about the area outside of their school buildings, and took the classroom outdoors.

Lots of teachers take their students outside when it’s nice. But Tharaldson decided that, since her students were already going to be outside, they might as well do something for the good of their community and the environment. So, they got a jump start on cleaning up around the Vermillion River.

Tharaldson had been doing a photography lesson with her students in recent weeks. She’d covered some basic photo concepts. Every day last week, she put up photographs from National Geographic, and started her classes by asking students for their thoughts. Her intent was to get students to start understanding how nature can play a role in life, and its value in photography.

She teaches sixth grade media arts at both Boeckman and Dodge middle schools. Both schools are near natural areas and are fairly close to the Vermillion River, so Tharaldson decided to take her students outdoors to take some photos of nature.

“In education, there’s a real disconnect to the environment,” she said. “Students need to get outside more. A lot of them didn’t even know Rambling River Park was there, or that the river was there because they’ve never gone past the schools.”

Since the snow had melted near the river, Tharaldson started seeing lots of debris lying along the trails, among the trees and on the shoreline of the river. That’s when she decided that, as part of Friday’s outdoor photography unit, her students would also do something good for the environment.

Tharaldson took five classes outside Friday. Students buddied up into groups of two and three before going outside. One student would hold the trash bag, one would collect the trash and the other would take the nature photos. Each class went to slightly different areas around their school buildings. Some went to the river. Others cleaned up the natural areas in front of their school buildings. But all of the students not only learned a little bit about photography, they learned how to be good stewards for their community.

“This is something I hope to be able to do every spring with the media arts students,” Tharaldson said. “This way the kids can get outside, help the community and take some photographs.”

Meb Keflezighi first American to win Boston Marathon since 1983

by John Connolly

Not only did Boston reclaim its marathon today, but for the first time in 31 years, an American man earned the winner’s laurel wreath in the historic run from Hopkinton to Boston.

Meb Keflezighi sped to an impressive 2:08:37 finish to become the first American man to win Boston since Greg Meyer did it in 1983. He is the first American runner to win since Lisa Larsen Weidenbach won the women’s race in 1985.

The significance of an American winning the race a year after bombs marred the event and stunned the entire country was not lost on the 38-year-old from San Diego.

"Every day since (the bombings), I wanted to come back and win it," Keflezighi said. "Since the Red Sox won and put the trophy right there (at the finish line), I wanted to do it."

Keflezighi kissed the ground and let out a victorious scream after crossing the line, bowing to the hysterical throngs lining Boylston Street at the finish, tears streaming down his face.

Kenya’s Wilson Chebet who finished fifth in the 2012 Boston Marathon, closed the gap to eight seconds on Beacon Street near Kenmore Square, but couldn’t get the kick needed to catch the American, who surged down Boylston Street to a deafening reception from the crowd.

"The last three to four miles, (the crowd) pushed me through it," Keflezighi said. "I'm so lucky to be the champion.

"It's not about me," he continued. "It's Boston Strong. Meb Strong."

Chebet finished second in 2:08:48. Frankline Chepkwony of Kenya finished third in 2:08:50. Americans Nicholas Arciniaga and Jeffrey Eggleston finished seventh and eighth, respectively.

Keflezighi seemed to take control of the race at the 25K mark in Newton.

Keflezighi won the 2009 New York City Marathon in 2009 (2:09.15) and has some impressive Olympic performances on his resume. He finished fourth in the 2012 marathon at the London Summer Games and won the silver medal in the 2004 Summer Games in Athens.