Posted on 08/13/2006 6:59:53 AM PDT by socal_parrot
In the iconic TV show "The Simpsons," Homer Simpson is constantly jealous of his neighbor Ned Flanders' prosperity -- so jealous that when the left-handed Flanders opens a store for left-handed people (the Leftorium), Simpson never tells any of his left-handed friends about it.
"My kingdom for a left-handed tin opener," yells Mr. Burns, the richest man in the fictional town of Springfield, but Simpson keeps quiet as the Leftorium shuts down for lack of customers.
It turns out that college-educated left-handed men earn almost 15 percent more on average than right-handed men with similar educations, according to a recent study.
That's why Flanders has the nice house, and all Homer has is schadenfruede.
(Excerpt) Read more at sacbee.com ...
- 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
- Left-Handed U.S. Politicos
Senator Bill Bradley, Rhodes scholar, basketball star
McGeorge Bundy, presidential advisor
Benjamin Franklin, statesman/publisher/scientist
Steve Forbes, businessman/publisher
Jean-Marc Froidevaux ?, Suiss politician
Ruth Bader Ginsberg, Supreme Court Justice
Senator Daniel Inouye
Anthony Kennedy, Supreme Court Justice
Brigadier Gen. Lee Hsien Loon, Deputy Prime Minister of Singapore
Robert S. McNamara, Secretary of Defense
Col. Oliver North, White House aid
H. Ross Perot, businessman
William Perry, Secretary of Defense
Nelson Rockefeller, Vice President
Senator Hugh Scott
Robert Wagner, New York mayor
Henry Wallace, Vice President
[Senator Bob Dole - switched to left due to injury]
- Miscellaneous Left-Handers
Joan of Arc (?), French heroine
Lloque Yapanqui (?), Inca monarch
Ramses II (?), Egyptian pharaoh
Tiberius (?), Roman emperor
Alexander the Great
Charlemagne, Holy Roman emperor
Julius Caesar, Roman general
Napoléon Bonaparte (?), French emperor
Josephine de Beauharnais
King Louis XVI of France
Queen Victoria of England
King George II of England
King George VI of England
Prince Charles of England
Prince William of England
Fidel Castro, Cuban leader
Benjamin Netanyahu, Israeli prime-minister
Nicole d'Oresme, mathematician
Henry Ford, automobile manufacturer
David Rockefeller, banker
Dwight F. Davis, founder of the Davis Cup in tennis
Helen Keller, advocate for the blind
Dr. Albert Schweitzer, physician/missionary
August Piccard, inventor of stratosphere, bathosphere
Edwin Buzz Aldrin, astronaut
Wally Schirra, astronaut
Dr. Mark Silver, surgeon
Paul Prudhomme, chef
Cecil Beaton, photographer/costume designer
Lord Baden-Powell, founder of the Boy Scouts (ambidexterous)
Dave Barry, 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
Uri Geller, psychokinetic performer
Richard Simmons, exercise guru
Euell Gibbons, naturalist
Marie Dionne, one of the Dionne quintuplets
General H. Norman Schwarzkopf
Clarence Darrow, lawyer
F. Lee Bailey, lawyer
Melvin Belli, lawyer
Marcia Clark, lawyer
Alan Funt, television producer
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
N.B. Forrest, Confederate general
John Dillinger, criminal/bank robber
Boston Strangler (Albert Henry DeSalvo), serial killer
Jack-the-Ripper, serial killer
John Wesley Hardin, Western gunslinger
Bart Simpson, cartoon character
[King Edward III of England, due to stroke]
Prince Charles and Ron Reagan "Jr."? are those the exceptions that prove the rule or something?
This list from Yahoo! ain't pretty...
Top 20 Left-handers
50 Cent
Eminem
Nicole Kidman
Oprah Winfrey
Kate Hudson
Angelina Jolie
Scarlett Johansson
Tom Cruise
Dane Cook
Ne-Yo
George Michael
Jay-Z
Katharine McPhee
Denise Richards
Bob Dylan
Keanu Reeves
Goldie Hawn
Julia Roberts
Paul McCartney
Will Ferrell
Wow! I'd give my right arm to be left handed.
However I have never missed every fairway on the back nine(2006 US Open).
Jeesh, if you're gonna write a silly article, at least understand the cartoons you mention. Flanders is a success because he's a straitlaced Christian. And the store for left handed people went belly up.
Pretty miserable group of people there.
Be careful what you wish for, left-handedness used to be thought of as a sign of mentle defishencee.
MotleyGirl70 ;)
I also cut my dinner food with my right hand; however, when I prepare food for cooking using my chef's knife I slice/chop with my left.
It's all normal for me :)
Read my post below yours.
Hendrix was left-handed too.
John Dillinger, criminal/bank robber
Boston Strangler (Albert Henry DeSalvo), serial killer
Jack-the-Ripper, serial killer
John Wesley Hardin, Western gunslinger
That's just great. Being even remotely associated with Bill Clinton is kind of disconcerting, but this group, competent as they were, makes one wonder if Satan himself would be left-handed.
No, this is a bonafide genetic predisposition. And its strong in me whereas its less noticable with my siblings.
If anyone wants the full research paper, you can download it here:
http://www.nber.org/papers/w12387
for five bucks.
I used to be able to write left handed, but stopped. I do eat left handed though, always have.
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