Mar 29, 2013


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Flagstaff Almanac:  Week: 13/ Day: 88   Today: H 58°L 32°
Averages: H  53° L 25° Records: H 68°(1971)L -7°(1975)
Wind: ave:   6mph; Gusts:  22mph  Ave. humidity:  41%

Quote of the Day


Today’s Historical Highlights
1st Lt William L Calley Jr found guilty in My Lai (Vietnam) massacre1971
1st permanent white settlement in Delaware (Swedish Lutherans)1638
23rd Amendment ratified, allows Wash DC residents to vote for pres1961
Meat, butter & cheese rationed in US during WW II1943
Niagara Falls stops flowing for 30 hours due to an ice jam1848
United Kingdom annexes the Punjab1849
US troops leave Vietnam, 9 yrs after Tonkin Resolution1973

     Happy Birthday To: ♪. ♪   
How many can you identify?…answers in Today’s Birthdays


Free Rambling Thoughts   
A little cloudy today for my liking, but still a nice day. We did our weekly lunch today and had great food and great conversation. Mary is enjoying her new place in Phoenix during the weekends. Cheryl has been busy keeping Williams in line. We are all ready for Easter. Mary is having it with her grandkids and others in Phoenix…lots of Easter egg hunting. Cheryl is having a quiet Easter in Williams. I’m planning on a quiet Easter here in Flagstaff. Can’t get any better than that.
 
So the Pope went to a juvenile delinquent prison to wash feet on Holy Thursday. A first again in so many ways…not held at the Vatican, not washing the feet of priests, washing Christian and Muslim feet, and washing a female detainee’s feet. This Pope is sure changing the view of the Pope.
 
Listening to NPR I learned something again…As all the press is covering the Supreme Court DOMA discussions…I knew that Obama had come out of against it, and was not sending the Attorney General’s staff to argue for it. This has been done before when the Executive Branch determines that a case has no merits to help the government. What is a first…the Republican members of the House hired a law firm to argue for DOMA. This is a first in American history. In fact the SC listened to arguments for several hours a few weeks ago to determine if this law firm had a reason to be  at the DOMA arguments. They did allow this, however; just like their ‘corporations are a person’ decision a few years ago this will, I fear, lead to nothing but trouble in the future. It may become moot if the court throws out DOMA, but if DOMA prevails, it opens so many doors that do not need to be opened.
Game  Center (answers at the end of post)
Brain Teasers
Oxy the Moron set out into the world and learned a big word, OXYMORON!!! After searching about this new word for a some time, he came up with a teaser made especially for you!
Can you figure out which well known oxymorons these words are?
Ex) Initial facsimile = original copy
1) solitary option 2) approximately precise 3) trivial calamity 4) accurate approximation 5) authentic duplication

 Lifestyle  Substance:     
Found on You Tube with some relevance to today

from Cracked.com
Ridiculous Gun Myths Everyone Believes (Thanks to Movies)
  • Silencers Turn Gunfire Into a Gentle Whisper
  • Machine Guns are Magical Death Machines
  • Bulletproof Vests Are Magical Force Fields
  • Bullets Explode Everything

Ok, then?


Harper’s Index    
  • MInutes the average US worker must work to pay for 12 ounces of beer: 3.3
  • For the average Indian worker: 36

Picture of the Day: Dine’ Land [Navajo]


Unusual Fact of the Day
Tennessee was originally known as Franklin; West Virginia was nearly named Kanawha, and Utah almost became the state of Deseret.
Joke-of-the-day
“Doc!” the man yells. I’ve lost my memory!” “Calm down, sir. When did this happen.” The man looked at him. “When did what happen?”
Rules of Thumb:   
Easy shortcuts to make an ‘educated’ guess
MIXING CONCRETE
 The largest stones in a batch of concrete should be one-fourth the thickness of the slab you are going to pour. A driveway six inches thick should have stones no larger than one and a half inches in diameter.    
Yeah, It Really Happened
GOTHENBURG, Sweden - A Swedish "hotel" is offering customers the chance to sleep in "rooms" including a dirty mattress under a bridge and a sleeping bag in a public park. Faktum Hotels in Gothenburg said the $15-per-night accommodations, which it began offering in November, are designed to highlight the hardships facing the city's homeless population, The Local.se reported Monday. "We asked several of our homeless contacts where they often slept, then we set up our rooms," said Aaron Israelson, editor of Faktum magazine, which runs the business. Faktum is sold on the street by poor and homeless in Gothenburg The "rooms," which include a dirty mattress beneath a bridge, a sleeping bag in a park and a floor lined with newspaper at an abandoned mill. "Few actually make it through the night and we had a very cold, harsh winter. But some really tried, with one woman managing to stay for about four hours," Israelson said. Israelson said the aim of the project is not to make money. "Our primary mission is to spread the word about the homeless situation in this city. Gothenburg is a tough place to be homeless," Israelson said.  
Somewhat Useless Information   
  • The eruption of the Grimsvotn volcano in November 2004 blasted gas emissions so high that airlines were forced to divert their flights.
  • The tin can was invented by Peter Durand in 1810. The modern can opener was not invented until 1856. Before the can opener, people used a chisel and hammer to open cans.
  • Cows are one of the main contributors to global warming. In the United States, cattle release some 5.5 million metric tons of methane annually. 
  • Frank Sinatra always carried a roll of dimes.
  • On December 16, 1811, an earthquake caused parts of the Mississippi to appear to flow backwards. 
  • The body creates and kills 17 million red blood cells per second.


Calendar Information        
Happening This Week:
24-30 
Tsunami Awareness Week
Pediatric Nurse Practioner Week
National Protocol Officer's Week
National Cleaning Week
Termite Awareness Week

Today Is                                                                      
Christians: Good Friday
Knights of Columbus Founders Day
National Day of Unplugging
National Mom & Pop Business Owner's Day
Texas Loves The Children Day
~Madagascar: Commemoration Day (memorializes deaths of 1947 rebellion against French colonization)
~Taiwan: Youth Day  

Today’s Events through History  
Appomattox campaign, VA , 7582 killed1865
Congress approves Lincoln Memorial1867
Jack Paar's final appearance on the "Tonight Show"1962
Nelson Mandela is acquitted after a 4½ year trial on treason charge1961
Republic of Ireland becomes the first country in the world to ban smoking in 
     all work places, including bars and restaurants2004
Republic of Switzerland forms 1804 - Thousands of Whites massacred in Haiti1798
US Congress discontinues aid to Nicaraguan contras1988

Today’s Birthdays                                                           
In their 70’s
Eric Idle, comedian/actor (Monty Python) is 70
Vangelis, [Papathanasiou], composer/keyboardist (Chariots of Fire) is 70

In their 60’s
Walt "Clyde" Frazier, NBA guard (NY Knicks) is 68

In their 50’s
Elle MacPherson, Austrailian super model and actress (Sirens) is 50
Kurt Thomas, US, gymnist (Olympics), actor (Gymkata) is 57

In their 40’s
Lucy Lawless, New Zealand actress and singer is 45

Remembered for being born today
Billy Carter, brother of Pres Carter [1937-1988]
Edwin Drake, drilled 1st productive US oil well [1819-1880]
Lou Henry Hoover, 1st lady (1929-33) [1874-1944]
Eugene J McCarthy, Sen-D-Minn, pres candidate 1968 [1916-2005]
Karen Anne Quinlan, NJ, famous comatose patient (right to die case) [1954-1985]
John Tyler, Va, (D/W) 10th Pres [1790-1862]
Sam Walton, billionaire CEO (Wal-Mart) [1918-1992]

Today’s Historical Obits                                                           
John Jacob Astor, charted American Fur Company1848at 85
Paul [G J von] Henreid, Austrian actor (Laszlo-Casablanca)1992at 84
Annunzio Paolo Mantovani, orchestra leader (Mantovani)1980at 74
Robert Falcon Scott, British pole explorerAntarctica expedition1912at 43
Georges Seurat, French painter (Pointillism)unknown illnes1891at 31

Answer: Brain Teasers
1) only choice 2) almost exactly 3) minor crisis 4) exact estimate 5) genuine imitation
Disclaimer: All opinions are mine…feel free to agree or disagree.
All ‘data’ info is from the internet sites and is usually checked with at least one other source, but I have learned that every site has mistakes and sadly once out the information is out there, many sites simply copy it and is therefore difficult to verify. Also for events occurring before the Gregorian calendar was adopted [1582] the dates may not be totally accurate.
§    And That Is All for Now  §

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Flagstaff, Arizona, United States
I retired in '06--at the ripe old age of 57. I enjoy blogging, photography, traveling, and living life to it's fullest.