11/24/13

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Flagstaff Almanac:

Week: 48 / Day: 328   

Today: L 32°…H 34°… Ave. humidity: 95%

Wind: ave:   6mph; Gusts:  20mph  

Average Low: 20° Record Low:  -7° (1902)

Average High: 48° Record High:  68° (1970)

Quote of the Day

Today’s Historical Highlights

1st live murder on TV-Jack Ruby shoots Lee Harvey Oswald…1963

1st time since 1800, residents of Wash DC permitted to vote…1964

1st US absentee voting law enacted by Vermont…1896

Air Force One, 1st US Presidential airplane, christened…1954

American Woman's Suffrage Association forms…1869

Brady bill passes establishing 5-day waiting period for handgun sales…1993

Charles Darwin publishes "On the Origin of Species"…1859

Clyde Coleman of NYC patents automobile electric starter…1903

Gangnam Style becomes the most viewed YouTube video; 808+ million views…2012

Ireland votes for independence from UK…1948

Ireland votes to end 70-year-old ban on divorce (50.28% to 49.72%)…1995

John Steinbeck's novel "Pearl" published…1947

Lt William L Calley charged with massacre of over 100 civilians in My Lai Vietnam…1969

National Rifle Association organized (NYC)…1871

New York City experiences the smoggiest day in the city's history. 400 die…1966 

Un-American Activities Committee finds "Hollywood 10" in contempt…1947

US admits troops in Vietnam were exposed to the toxic Agent Orange…1979

♫  Today’s Birthdays: ♫   

How many can you identify? Answers in Today’s Birthdays

 

My Free Rambling Thoughts   

So excited….got to read the newspaper and the comics with no problem.  So cool. Also read up for tonight’s Great Decisions discussion group. The topic is Changing Demographics. Should be good as we are talking about age groups, life expectancy, birth rates, immigration and emigration in various parts of the world. Somehow I wish that our current Congress and state legislature members could be present. They all seem so short sighted in their world view. Without understanding the impact of demographics on just about everything, one can hardly be a leader.

Game  Center (answers at the end of post)

Brain Teasers

Mr. Black, Mr. Gray, and Mr. White are fighting in a truel (duel with three people). They each get a gun and take turns shooting at each other until only one person is left. Mr. Black, who hits his shot 1/3 of the time, gets to shoot first. Mr. Gray, who hits his shot 2/3 of the time, gets to shoot next, assuming he is still alive. Mr. White, who hits his shot all the time, shoots next, assuming he is also alive. The cycle repeats. If you are Mr. Black, where should you shoot first for the highest chance of survival?

Lifestyle  Substance:     

Found on You Tube with some relevance to today

• Ragtime Piano : SCOTT JOPLIN . " The Entertainer " (1902)

• Firing Line with William F. Buckley Jr.

• Actor Pat Morita on being held in a Japanese Internment camp

• Arthur Hailey: Storyteller (1979)

• The inspiration for Murdock

Very Strange Laws…Oklahoma

• One may not promote a “horse tripping event”.

• It is illegal for the owner of a bar to allow anyone inside to pretend to have sex with a buffalo.

• Oral sex is a misdemeanor and is punisable by one year in jail and a $2,500 fine.

• Anyone arrested for soliciting a hooker must have their name and picture shown on television.

• Females are forbidden from doing their own hair without being licensed by the state.

• It’s statutory rape for a man over 18 to have sex with a female under the age of 18, provided she’s a virgin.

• Dogs must have a permit signed by the mayor in order to congregate in groups of three or more on private property.

• Tattoos are banned. (Repealed, Effective 11/1/2006.

• Oklahoma will not tolerate anyone taking a bite out of another’s hamburger.

• No one may spit on a sidewalk.

• It is against the law to read a comic book while operating a motor vehicle.

• It is illegal to wear your boots to bed.

• Whaling is illegal.

• It is illegal to have sex before you are married.

• It is illegal to have the hind legs of farm animals in your boots.

• Fish may not be contained in fishbowls while on a public bus.

• Residents are taxed for the furniture in their homes, and any other personal belongings.

• Tissues are not to be found in the back of one’s car.

• People who make “ugly faces” at dogs may be fined and/or jailed.

• Cars must be tethered outside of public buildings.

• Ada--If you wear New York Jets clothing, you may be put in jail.

• Bartlesville--If ones dog is run over by a car, the owner must pay for the dog’s disposal. /No person may own more than two adult cats. /It is illegal to cause “annoying vibrations” in the city limits. /Persons may not play catch on any city street.

• Clinton--Any person who leans against a public building will be subject to fines. /Molesting an automobile is illegal.

• Hawthahorne--It is unlawful to put any hypnotized person in a display window.

• Moore--It is illegal to drive with a trailer hitch on your vehicle.

• Oklahoma City--The mayor may not go on strike. /While it is legal to serve alcohol in a pool hall, all intoxicated persons must leave the premises. /One may not tip over a casket at a funeral. /It is illegal to own a stink bomb. /No one may walk backwards downtown while eating a hamburger.

• Tulsa--You may not open a soda bottle without the supervision of a licensed engineer. /Elephants are not to be taken into the downtown area.

 

OK Then…

Harper’s Index 

• Chances a US public school had a full-time security guard in 1997: 1 in 17
• Today:  1 in 3

Unusual Fact of the Day

Whiskey is clear when it is first distilled. It gets it's color and much of it's taste from the oak barrels in which it is aged.

Joke-of-the-day

Q: Why can't idiots make Kool-Aid? A: They can't get a quart of water to stay in the envelope  

Rules of Thumb:   

Easy shortcuts to make an ‘educated’ guess

TIME TO SEASON FIREWOOD

For hardwoods, season wood for 1 year if split and for 2 years if not split prior to burning.    

Yeah, It Really Happened

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. - A Florida man who wore a sweatshirt bearing a recipe for crack cocaine to court pleaded no contest to narcotics trafficking charges. Christopher Patterson, 27, who previously served time for felony cocaine possession, entered no contest pleas Tuesday in a Fort Lauderdale courtroom to distribution and conspiracy charges related to the sale of the painkiller Oxycodone to an undercover investigator, The Smoking Gun reported Thursday. Patterson, who sentenced to three years in prison, was photographed in a courtroom last year wearing a hooded sweatshirt bearing a cartoon-like recipe for crack cocaine and a caption reading, "Stack Paper Say Nothing." The sweatshirt had a zipper pull in the shape of a handgun. The picture was taken by a lawyer who noticed the sweatshirt's images in the courtroom.  

Somewhat Useless Information   

• The Bible  is a canonical collection of texts considered sacred in Judaism as well as in Christianity. 

• Out of the 6,800 languages in the world, the complete Bible has been translated into 438. It is also estimated that the total worldwide sales of the Bible comes up to six billion.

• Did you know that during the celebration ‘Saturnalia’ in ancient Rome masters used to provide table service for their slaves due to a social egalitarianism spirit? Saturnalia was is honor of the deity Saturn held in the 17th of December of the Julian calendar and the Greek equivalent was ‘Kronia’.

Calendar Information        

Happening This Week:

22-28: National Farm-City Week
24-30: Better Conversation Week / Church-State Separation Week / National Bible Week / National Family Week  /National Game & Puzzle Week

Today Is                                                                      

·        Celebrate Your Unique Talent Day

·        D.B. Cooper Day: 1971 plane jump

·        Mother Goose Day

Today’s Events through History  

"Guys & Dolls" opens at 46th St Theater NYC for 1200 performances…1950

1st Lutheran pastor ordained in America…1703

Abel Janzoon Tasman discovers Van Diemen's Land (Tasmania)…1642

Dan "DB" Cooper parachutes from a Northwest AL 727 with $200,000…1971

FBI Crime Lab officially opens…1932

Joseph F Glidden patents barbed wire…1874

Rabbi Nathan ben Yehiel of Rome completes Talmudic dictionary…1105

River Thames freezes…1434

River Thames freezes…1715

Wilt Chamberlain pulls down 55 rebounds in a game (NBA record)…1960

Today’s Birthdays                                                           

Oscar Robertson [The Big O], NBA guard Olympic-gold-1960 is 75

Pete Best, British drummer (Beatles) is 72

Dwight Schultz, actor (A-Team) is 66

Damon Evans, actor (Lionel-The Jeffersons) is 63

Katherine Heigl, actress (Grey's Anatomy) is 35

Remembered for being born today

Zachary Taylor, (Whig) 12th Pres [1784-1850]

Thomas Dick, Scottish scientific teacher and writer [1774-1857]

Collodi, [Carlo Lorenzini], Italian author (Pinocchio) [1826-1890]

Scott Joplin, ragtime entertainer and composer (The Entertainer) [1867-1917]

Dale Carnegie, author (How to Win Friends & Influence People) [1888-1955]

Ted Bundy, Burlington VT, serial murderer [1946-1989]

Howard Duff, actor (Flamingo Road, Knots Landing) [1913-1990]

William F. Buckley Jr, conservative author and commentator [1925-2008]

Today’s Historical Obits                                                           

Arthur Hailey, British-born author (Hotel)…2004…@84

George Raft, actor (Scarface, Johnny Angel, Mr Ace)…leukemia…1980…@79

Pat Morita, actor (Happy Days, Karate Kid)…renal failure…2005…@73

James J Kilroy, tank inspector (Kilroy was here)…1962…@60

Héctor Camacho, Puerto Rican boxer…gunshot injuries…2012…@50

Lee Harvey Oswald, JFK's assassinator…shot by Jack Ruby…1963…@24

Brain Teasers

He should shoot at the ground.

If Mr. Black shoots the ground, it is Mr. Gray's turn. Mr. Gray would rather shoot at Mr. White than Mr. Black, because he is better. If Mr. Gray kills Mr. White, it is just Mr. Black and Mr. Gray left, giving Mr. Black a fair chance of winning. If Mr. Gray does not kill Mr. White, it is Mr. White's turn. He would rather shoot at Mr. Gray and will definitely kill him. Even though it is now Mr. Black against Mr. White, Mr. Black has a better chance of winning than before.

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  §