TODAY’s HOLY MACKEREL: 1925 - Afrikaans is established as an official language in South Africa
MY FREE RAMBLING THOUGHTS
Another great day in Flag…this is why I live here. It was warm, it was calm, the doors and windows could be open. NICE!!!
I ran some errands this morning and found just what I was looking for…amazing. I got some new stuff for my deck, a slip cover for my too comfortable recliner and some groceries.
I was able to take a nice walk, enjoy the beauty of Flagstaff and its forest. It is dry, very dry. We could use some rain. I would even settle for some wind, if it would bring in some rain. It doesn’t have to be a thunderstorm. Just a nice gentle rain for several hours to soak the ground. It probably won’t happen, but sure would be nice.
I saw a report on the use of robots in the two wars we are in. It included a report of the ‘stealth’ helicopter used in the recent attack. Living in the flight pattern for the rescue helicopters here in Flag, I know how loud they can be. Hardly a week goes by that at least one helicopter doesn’t leave the hospital helipad and head up 89.They are loud. They can be heard long before they are seen and long after they are out of site. I did wonder how the helicopters made it into and out of Pakistan without warnings. Well, the military has ordered and had delivered a helicopter that sounds like it is leaving and no one on the ground thinks it is close. That is why it was so important to blow up the one of three that broke down. No one else has this technology. Then there are the predator drones that now have as many as 30 real time cameras with amazing zoom capacity that can show the ‘pilot’, sitting inside the US somewhere, the faces of people on the ground while flying quietly above and out of sight and out of hearing.
While I am not for the killing, I am amazed at the growth of technology during these wars that will filter back into our daily lives. If the military were business savvy, they would find a way to let all of America know how their contracts for military devices make their way back into our everyday lives. Somebody tried with Tang, the drink of astronauts back in the 60’s. It’s time to do that again. Most of us would be very surprised as much of this technology can be used in peaceful endeavors.
Trivia Quiz […answers at bottom…] Now with 12 Questions
What body part is low-density lipoprotein most likely to clog?
What's wire rope most often called?
What delta-winged supersonic transport is the fastest passenger plane?
What comet was first sighted by the Chinese in 240 B.C.?
What does "SPF" mean on sunscreen containers?
What M-word is defined as "a device that changes sound into electric current"?
What brand became the first sugar-free sugar substitute, in 1957?
What colorless gas is essential in the production of fertilizers and light bulbs?
What weapon did German gunsmith August Kotter unload on the world in 1520?
What explosive jelly is combined with gasoline to make incendiary bombs?
What did Dr. Heinrich Dreser hype as a non addictive substitute for morphine in 1898?
What did the Nimbus-7 satellite monitor changes in the depth of?
What body part is low-density lipoprotein most likely to clog?
What's wire rope most often called?
CLOSEUP PICTURE: Can you identify this close up picture?
Hmmmm…
>Percentage of developing nations whose economies have grown faster that the US since 2001: 89
>Percentage that did so between 1991 and 2000: 48
FIRST TIME…
>André-Jacques Garnerin 1797 --- 1st parachute jump. Dropped from a balloon, about 6,500 ft. over Monceau Park in Paris in a 23-ft.-diameter parachute made of white canvas with a basket attached (Oct. 22).
>Benjamin Stoddert 1798 --- 1st Secretary of the US Navy
>Count de Grisley 1799 --- 1st magician to perform the trick of sawing a woman in half .
SOMEWHAT USELESS INFORMATION…
>Before reaching for the insect bite cream if you get a mosquito bite, try rubbing the affected area with the inside of a banana skin. Many people find it amazingly successful at reducing swelling and irritation.
>Many other cultures see bananas as a 'cooling' fruit that can lower both the physical and emotional temperature of expectant mothers. In Thailand , for example, pregnant women eat bananas to ensure their baby is born with a cool temperature.
>The banana is used as the dietary food against intestinal disorders because of its soft texture and smoothness. It is the only raw fruit that can be eaten without distress in over-chronicler cases. It also neutralizes over-acidity and reduces irritation by coating the lining of the stomach.
UNUSUAL NEWS ITEM:
CLAY, N.Y. — An ill-timed, inadvertent 911 call led police to three larceny suspects overheard planning break-ins in upstate New York.
Onondaga County Sheriff Kevin Walsh says police already looking for a suspicious person got the unlikely assist when one of the men "pocket dialed" his cell phone's emergency number while driving near the scene of an earlier heist.
As a dispatcher relayed the conversation to deputies, the men discussed their plans, described their surroundings and even commented, "there go the cops now."
Walsh says that was enough for a deputy to turn around and stop the Kia Sportage full of tools stolen from a business in the Syracuse suburb of Clay. The dispatcher then heard the driver being asked for his license and registration.
The men arrested April 26 face grand larceny and stolen property charges.
A LITTLE LAUGH:
I was flying between Maui and Oahu. It's only a 30 minute flight and so, to save money, I flew with a small airline in a little, twin-engine plane. About eight minutes into the flight the pilot announced that we were going to have to turn back due to some engine trouble.
The nervous passenger I was seated next to turned to me and said, "Oh my God! If we loose an engine, how far do you think the other one will take us?"
I told him, "One engine? Oh, I'm sure it'll take us all the way to the scene of the crash. Heck, we'll probably make good time too. I bet we beat the paramedics there by at least 20 minutes!"
FOUND ON ‘YOU TUBE’:
♫ Rock and Roll Hall of Fame ♫
1987 Inductee: From 1956 to 1961, the Coasters released a string of classic singles that reflected the life of the American teenager with keen wit and hot, rocking harmonies. Invariably those songs were written, produced and arranged by the duo of Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller. The union of a black vocal group with two Jewish songwriters was one of the most propitious in rock history. MORE INFO
Click on Song Title to see and hear it.
DAYBOOK INFORMATION
«THIS WEEK
1-7
Bread Pudding Recipe Exchange Week * Be Kind To Animals Week * National Correctional Officer's Week * Children's Mental Health Week * Drinking Water Week *Flexible Work Arrangement Week * Goodwill Industries Week * Kids Win Week * National Anxiety & Depression Awareness Week * National Family Week * National Hug Holiday Week * National Pet Week * North American Occupational Safety & Health Week *Update Your References Week
2-8
Astronomy Week * Children's Book Week * Dating and Life Coach Recognition Week *National Wildflower Week * Spring Astronomy Week * Teacher Appreciation Week * Work At Home Moms Week
«TODAY IS
Cartoonists Day
Childhood Stroke Awareness Day
Cinco de Mayo: 1862 - French army intervenes in Puebla, Mexico
International Midwives' Day
Martin Z. Mollusk Day; Moorlyn Terrace Beach, Ocean City, NJ. If Martin Z. Mollusk, a hermit crab, sees his shadow at 11 AM, EST, summer comes a week early in Ocean City—if he doesn’t, summer begins on time.
National Day of Prayer
National Day of Reason
National Hoagie Day
Occupational Safety & Health Professional's Day
Totally Chipotle Day
Ethiopia Patriots Victory Day
Japan Children's Day
Netherlands Liberation Day
South Korea Children's Day
Today’s Events:
… ARTS
1891 - Music Hall (Carnegie Hall) opens in NY, Tchaikovsky as guest conductor
1926 - Sinclair Lewis refuses his Pulitzer Prize for "Arrowsmith"
1947 - Pulitzer prize awarded to Robert Penn Warren (All the King's Men)
1952 - Pulitzer prize awarded to Herman Wouk (Caine Mutiny)
1958 - Pulitzer prize awarded to James Agee for (Death in the Family)
… ATHLETICS
1904 - Cy Young of Boston pitches perfect game against Phila A's (3-0)
1935 - Jessie Owens of US, sets then long jump record at 26' 8½"
… BUSINESS & EDUCATION
1809 - Mary Kies is 1st woman issued a US patent (weaving straw)
1865 - 1st US train robbery (North Bend Ohio)
1893 - Panic of 1893: Great crash on NY Stock Exchange
1941 - Chanel No. 5 was released
1962 - West Side Story soundtrack album goes to #1 & stays #1 for 54 weeks which is more than 20 weeks longer than any other album
1997 - "Married With Children" final episode on Fox TV
… INDIGENOUS PEOPLE
1763 - Near Fort Detroit, Ottawa Chief Pontiac addresses a group of Huron, Ottawa, and Potawatomi warriors. He asks them to join him in his fight against the British.
1877 - Indian Wars: Sitting Bull leads his band of Lakota into Canada to avoid harassment by the United States Army under Colonel Nelson Miles
… INTERNATINOAL POLITICS
1260 - Kublai Khan becomes ruler of the Mongol Empire
1646 - King Charles I surrenders at Scotland
1809 - Citizenship is denied to Jews of Canton of Aargau Switzerland
1941 - Emperor Haile Selassie returns to Addis Ababa
1944 - Gandhi freed from prison
1955 - West Germany granted full sovereignty by 3 occupying powers
… SCIENCE & RELIGION
1816 - American Bible Society organized (NY)
1847 - American Medical Association organized (Philadelphia)
2000 - Conjunction of Sun, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn & Moon
… US POLITICS
1942 - US begins rationing sugar during WW II
… ARTISTS: AUTHORS: COMPOSERS…
1865 - Nellie Bly, American journalist and writer
1903 - James Beard, US, culinary expert/author (Delights & Prejudices)
1813 - Soren Kierkegaard Danish religious philosopher
1818 - Karl Marx, philosopher (Communist Manifesto, Das Kapital)
1846 - Henryk Sienkiewicz, Poland, author (Quo Vadis, Nobel 1905)
1863 - Frederik A Stoett, linguist (Dutch Proverbs)
…ATHLETES
1883 - Charles Bender, only American Indian in baseball's Hall of Fame
…BUSINESS & EDUCATION
1830 - John Batterson Stetson, American hat manufacture
…ENTERTAINERS (ACTORS/SINGERS…)
Pat Carroll, Actress, turns 84
1899 - Freeman Gosden, Richmond Va, radio actor (Amos-Amos 'n' Andy)
1908 - Rex Harrison, [Reginald Carey], Engld, actor (My Fair Lady, Cleopatra)
Michael Palin, Actor, comedian (Monty Python), turns 68
1913 - Tyrone Power, Cleve, actor (Mark of Zorro, Alexander's Ragtime Band)
…POLITICIANS
1905 - Arnold Meijer, Dutch leader of fascist Dutch National/Black Front
…SCIENCE & RELIGION
1892 -Dorothy Garrod English archaeologist
1887 - Lord Geoffrey Fisher of Lambeth, archbishop of Canterbury
Today’s Obits:
1886 - Joseph Albert, German photographer (Albertotype), dies at 61
1821 - Napoleon I Bonaparte, emperor France (1799-1815), dies in St Helena at 51 of ?stomach cancer, ?arsenic poison
1921 - Alfred H Fried, Austrian/German pacifist (Nobel 1911), dies of lung infection at 57
1981 - Bobby Sands [Roibeárd Gearóid Ó Seachnasaigh], IRA activist/terrorist dies in the 66th day of his hunger strike at 27
ANSWERS:
Trivia Quiz
What delta-winged supersonic transport is the fastest passenger plane?
The Concorde
What comet was first sighted by the Chinese in 240 B.C.?
Halley's Comet
What does "SPF" mean on sunscreen containers?
Sun Protection factor
What M-word is defined as "a device that changes sound into electric current"?
Microphone
What brand became the first sugar-free sugar substitute, in 1957?
Sweet' n Low
What colorless gas is essential in the production of fertilizers and light bulbs?
Nitrogen
What weapon did German gunsmith August Kotter unload on the world in 1520?
The rifle
What explosive jelly is combined with gasoline to make incendiary bombs?
Napalm
What did Dr. Heinrich Dreser hype as a non addictive substitute for morphine in 1898?
Heroin
What did the Nimbus-7 satellite monitor changes in the depth of?
The ozone layer
What body part is low-density lipoprotein most likely to clog?
Arteries
What's wire rope most often called?
Cable
Close Up Picture
…AND THAT’S ALL FOR NOW
