This is Week 31 of 2010►Day 219 with 146 days left.
It is Day 110 of the BP Mess.
FREE RAMBLING THOUGHTS
There are still some sane minds in Arizona regarding the illegals. More and more we are getting facts about this ‘election year crisis’. I learned some fairly startling facts: Most of the 12 million illegals are here after passing through regular border crossings. They have outstayed their visits or work permits. Border violence incidents are mostly anecdotal and are statistically atypical. In the first six months of 2010 more than 136,000 criminal illegals were deported, a 40% increase over the same time period last year. Property crimes in the US have declined 30% since 1995, yet in Arizona, it has decreased by 43%. Murder rates and kidnapping rates in Arizona are no greater than similar areas in the US. Immigrants tend to commit less crime than native born Americans. Border crossings---legal or illegal--into the US have declined due mainly to the fall of the world’s economy. Most amazing to me is that none of the proposals to stop the illegal crossings has any way to measure when the border is closed. Maybe that shouldn’t be surprising. It’s like the drug war. There is no way to know when it is over, so it can continue to be an issue forever. Our government, like many others around the world, does not have a good tracking system for visitors who enter their country, stay, and then leave or stay and don’t leave. All those lines, all those stamps on your passport, all those cards one fills out on the plane may or may not make it into the system to show one came and then one left the country. Illegals have become a sound bite issue—the real issue—tracking who is here and who has left—is not a sound bite issue, so it isn’t discussed that much. Thanks to our local paper for a great editorial on this issue. We all need facts, not rhetoric, to make informed decisions.
While running errands today I picked up stuff to really clean my ride. We can’t wash our vehicles in the parking lot. Since I moved in, I have taken my vehicle to many a car wash—the kind you drive up to, pull in, park, and the machine washes, rinses, waxes, and blows the vehicle dry. I have vacuumed the inside, and cleaned the inside. I haven’t spent the couple of hours it takes to really clean the inside, or the couple of hours it takes to wax the vehicle. Well, as my last car payment looms ahead in a couple of months, I decided it is time. So, now I have all the necessary stuff. The right day is just around the corner.
Flagstaff was really nice again today. No rain, but a few clouds. We were 79° at our warmest, 53° at our coolest. There was very little breeze. The wild birds keep me busy as they are empting the feeders quickly. I am still amazed at the number of finches that found my seed socks. Seldom do I look out there during the day that there aren’t at least five brightly colored finches feeding on each sock. Larger, but less colorful birds are at the two tube feeders. The birdbath usually has one or two birds drinking or bathing. They are all very enjoyable to watch. I haven’t gotten any pictures, but will keep trying.
QUOTE FOR THE DAY
William Faulkner: Gratitude is a quality similar to electricity: it must be produced and discharged and used up in order to exist at all.
HOLY MACKEREL: 1934 US Court of Appeals upheld lower court ruling striking down government attempt to ban controversial James Joyce novel "Ulysses"
SOMEWHAT USELESS INFORMATION on Hot Air Balloons
>Hot air balloons were discovered in France in 1783. At that time, in the laboratory, it was discovered that a fabric bag filled with hot air could rise.
>In the beginning, to test for safety, balloons without passengers were sent up and observed. The next step was to send animals up to experiment with different weights. Sheep, chickens and ducks were used.
>When everything was proven safe, a balloon with two men traveled over Paris for 5.5 miles, staying up 23 minutes.
>Hot air balloons do not fly in the rain because balloon heat can cause water to boil at the top of the balloon, and boiling water can destroy the fabric.
> If a balloon is in a controlled air space, it must meet air-traffic control requirements and pilots must have radio contact with controllers.
>Depending on balloon size, area balloon operators can carry from two to 10 passengers at a time.
GREY MATTER PUZZLE 1 Jeopardy answers
The "coq" in coq au vin
A British variety is called "bangers", a Mexican variety, "chorizo"
Jewish crepe filled with cheese
French for a toothsome cut of beef served to a twosome
UNUSUAL NEWS ITEM
PORTLAND, OR— After a county inspector squeezed out a kid's lemonade business, so many Oregonians puckered up in disgust that the county chairman had to pour on a little sugar.
The apology sweetened up some sour feelings and made 7-year-old Julie Murphy eligible to resume selling her Kool-Aid and water concoction for 50 cents a cup.
Last week at a local arts fair, Julie and her mother were surprised when a county inspector asked to see their restaurant license.
They didn't have one. The inspector told them they would face a fine of up to $500 if they didn't stop selling lemonade.
Other vendors urged Julie and her mother not to leave. A second inspector arrived and the two inspectors were surrounded by a crowd of vendors supporting Julie and her mother.
Ultimately, Julie and her mother packed up the stand, and as Julie left the fair she was crying.
But Julie has prevailed.
Jeff Cogen, chairman of Multnomah County, says the health inspectors were "just following the rule book" but they should have given the girl and her mom a break. On Thursday, he talked with Julie's mom to apologize.
"A lemonade stand is a classic, iconic American kid thing to do," Cogen told The Oregonian. "I don't want to be in the business of shutting that down."
And how does Julie feel about this?
Her mother, Maria Fife, said she and her daughter appreciates the apology.
But the sweet and sour tale of lemonade stands at the Portland art fair might not yet be over.
According to the Oregonian, one vendor at the local arts fair is planning a "lemonade revolt" the next time the fair is held — later this month.
Cogen says he doesn't know what he'll do if a bunch of fair vendors try selling lemonade without a license.
A LITTLE LAUGH
Don goes into business for himself. He buys a hotdog cart and sets it up in a prime spot on a busy downtown corner, right near a large bank.
One day, his friend Jim approaches him and asks Don if he can lend him some money.
Don refuses.
"But why?" asks Jim. "Everyone knows you're doing well, and I'm not asking for much."
"Well, Jim, in order to get this spot I had to sign a Non-competition Agreement with that bank over there. According to the terms of the agreement, they're don't sell hot dogs, and I don't lend money."
GREY MATTER PUZZLE 2
You can make me; You can take me; You can watch me; But you can never stop me.... What am I?
FOUND ON ‘YOU TUBE’
Stan Freberg on the USA: Click Here!
GREY MATTER PICTURE
This is a close up of what object?
SOME CALENDAR INFORMATION
♦ Weekly Observances ♦
1-7: World Breastfeeding Week…Simplify Your Life Week…National Clown Week…National Fraud Awareness Week…Single Working Women's Week
2-6: Exhibitor Appreciation Week…Intimate Apparel Market Week…Psychic Week
4-7: Rock for Life Week
6-9: Hobo Week
♦ Today’s Observances ♦
Lighthouse Day
National Mustard Day
Particularly Preposterous Packaging Day
Professional Speakers Day
Purple Heart Day
Columbia: Battle of Boyac (1819: led to Independence from Spain)
Ivory Coast: Independence Day (1760 from France)
♦ Hit Songs on this date ♦
To Each His Own Eddy Howard 1946
My Prayer The Platters 1956
Summer in the City The Lovin' Spoonful 1966
Don't Go Breaking My Heart Elton John & Kiki Dee 1976
Glory of Love Peter Cetera 1986
♦ Today’s Births ♦
• The Arts
Stan Freberg, 84, satirist, born Pasadena, CA
Garrison Keillor, 68, humorist, producer, host (“The Prairie Home Companion”), author (Lake Wobegon Days), born Anoka, MN
~~~
Mary William Ethelbert Appleton "Billie" Burke, actress (Glinda-The Wizard of Oz) …born in 1885 Washington DC
David Duchovny, 50, actor (“The X-Files,” “Californication”), born New York, NY
Billy Joe (B.J.) Thomas, 68, singer (“Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head”), born Houston, TX
• Athletics
--
• Business & Education
Georg Stiernhielm, "father of Swedish poetry" (Hercules)…born in 1598 Svartskär, Sweden
• Politics
Ralph J Bunche, a founder & UN diplomat (Nobel 1950) …born in 1904 Detroit, MI
Mata Hari (Margaretha Geertruida "Grietje" Zelle MacLeod), dancer/courtesan/spy(?) (WW I) …born in 1876 Leeuwarden, Friesland, Netherlands
• Science/Religion
Carl Ritter, cofounder of modern science of geography…born in 1779 Quedlinburg, Germany
Louis Leakey, anthropologist (1964 Richard Hooper Medal) …born in 1903 British East Africa (now Kenya)
♦ Today’s Obituaries ♦
Oliver Hardy, comedian of Laurel & Hardy, stroke @ 65 in 1957
♦ Today’s Events ♦
• The Arts
--
• Athletics
1974 French daredevil Philip Petit tightroped his way between the twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York.
• Business & Education
1970 1st computer chess tournament
• Indigenous People
1670 Apache or Navajos attack the ancient Zuni Pueblo of Hawikuh. They burn the church, and kill the resident missionary.
1758 According to some reports, a peace conference is held for the next two days between representatives of the British in New Jersey and the Minisink Indians.
• Politics (US)
1782 George Washington creates Order of the Purple Heart
• Politics (International)
1998 A pair of major explosions near U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania killed 224 people
• Science / Religion
1947 Balsa raft Kon Tiki crashes into a Polynesian archipelago reef
GREY MATTER ANSWERS
↔ 1
The "coq" in coq au vin: What is chicken?
A British variety is called "bangers", a Mexican variety, "chorizo": What is sausage?
Jewish crepe filled with cheese: What is blintz?
French for a toothsome cut of beef served to a twosome: What is chateaubriand?
↔ 2
Time
↔ Picture
Mickey Mouse "Fantasia" statue
TODAY’S PHOTO SHOT
Kon Tiki
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