5-1-14


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Flagstaff Almanac: Day: 121 / Week: 18 
Today: L 32°H 54° Ave. humidity: 26%
    Wind: ave:   13mph; Gusts:  49mph  
    Average High: 63 Record High:  80° (1947)
    Average Low: 31° Record Low: 17 ° (1972)
 
Quote of the Day
 

Today’s Historical Highlights
1328 - Treaty of Edinburgh-Northampton - the Kingdom of England recognizes Kingdom of Scotland as an independent state.
1707 - England, Wales & Scotland form United Kingdom of Great Britain
1867 - Howard University chartered
1867 - Reconstruction of South begins, black voter registration
1869 - Folies Bergère opens in Paris
1883 - "Buffalo Bill" Cody put on his 1st Wild West Show
1883 - Amsterdam World's Fair opens
1889 - Bayer introduces aspirin in powder form (Germany)
1893 - World Columbian Exposition opens in Chicago
1919 - Mount Kelud (Indonesia) erupts, boiling crater lake which broke through crater wall killing 5,000 people in 104 small villages
1931 - Empire State Building opens in NYC
1940 - The 1940 Olympics are cancelled
1941 - "Citizen Kane", directed & starring Orson Welles, premieres in NY
1941 - General Mills introduces Cheerios
1948 - North Korea proclaims itself People's Democratic Republic of Korea
1950 - Pulitzer prize awarded to Rodgers & Hammerstein (South Pacific)
1961 - 1st US airplane hijacked to Cuba
1961 - Pulitzer prize awarded to Harper Lee (To Kill a Mockingbird)
1994 - Charles Kuralt retires as CBS newsman (On the Road)
2003 - "Mission Accomplished" speech, "major combat operations in Iraq have ended" 
2009 - Same-sex marriage is legalized in Sweden.
  Today’s Birthdays:   
How many can you identify? Answers in Today’s Birthdays below
 
My Free Rambling Thoughts   
While the temps weren’t that bad, the wind chill made it feel about 10° lower than it showed. The hard wind gusts have been going on and off, mostly on, since sunrise. Not a good day to spend much time outside. I went out to feed the birds in my slippers and short cuts early this morning, not a good idea. Birds were happy to get new food and some fresh water, but I should have put on shoes and long pants. Our local guy who keeps us up to date on police calls on Facebook had two separate postings for trees that had fallen and blocked a road here in Flag…has to be wind-related in some way. While I am not real happy with this weather, my brother is in Mexico where it is 97° and raining. He can’t do much outside work at the hacienda with weather like that.
I am having some tech issues with my blog site, so the banner can’t be changed for May. Guess I will figure it out sometime during the month. Each month I make several changes in the layout and never can remember how to change the banner. The problem is with my Windows 8 setup, which for some reason the blog site doesn’t like. I think I made some changes from my iPad, but not sure until I post today’s blog. I’ll see then if the changes worked.
 
Our retirement group may be headed to the Rez for lunch tomorrow…looking forward to a Navajo Taco at Cameron. We haven’t gone there for a long time so it should be a nice trip…about 55 miles one way, but well worth the trip. We are planning to meet a friend from Tuba for lunch, but she hasn’t responded. And all this wind may make a change in our plans too. There is a high vehicle wind warning for the area and while it is not a problem for us in cars, it is a problem when you have to follow or pass a big rig.
 
Our great city council played politicians last night. Rather than voting to follow the county’s new no cell while driving rule, they all said they were for the ban, but figured their minds were better than the county supervisor’s minds and would prefer writing their own small town ordinance that would be better for the many citizens of Flagstaff. Talk about small town mentality. Hopefully they will miss the deadline to opt out of the county decision…and have to do what the county is doing. Any new more strict or more liberal ordinance for Flag will only have everyone confused. Few people know where the exact city line is, so enforcement will be difficult. One member of the board wondered how the police would be able to prove a driver was actually using their phone if stopped. The cop said that if the individual did not let the cop look at the phone log, they would have to get a warrant to see it and probably no judge would issue such a warrant. Hmmm
 
Game  Center (answers at the end of post)
Brain Teasers
I am a set of three words, all with the same four letters.
First I am a type of carriage.
Then switch my middle letters, and I am a cover often useful on a diamond.
Now switch my end letters ...
When you see me, you also see hair.
 
What are the words?
Lifestyle  Substance:     
Found on You Tube with some relevance to today
 
 

OK Then…
 
 
Harper’s Index 
 
Percentage of fee-charging open access medical journals that accepted a spoof cancer drug study for publication last year: 52
 
Number of patients over that past decade who participated in clinical trials based on research that was later retracted: 473,847
 
Unusual Fact of the Day
Chimpanzees are excellent tool makers and have been documented to make very primitive spears to kill galagos (bush babies) hiding in the trees at night.
 
Number One Country in the world…  
Venezuela: Beautiful Women
By far Venezuela has the most ‘Big 4’ Beauty Pageant wins with 19: five more than America (the second place winner) and 11 more than India, the third place winner. The Big 4 Pageants are: Miss World (founded in 1951), Miss Universe (1952), Miss International (1960) and Miss Earth (2001)
 
Joke-of-the-day
An idiot decided to start a chicken farm, so he bought a hundred chickens to start. A month later, he returned to the dealer for another hundred chickens because all of the first lot had died. A month later he was back at the dealers for another hundred chickens for the second lot had also died. "But I think I know where I'm going wrong," said the idiot. "I think I am planting them too deep."
 
Rules of Thumb:   
DRIVING IN HEAVY TRAFFIC
When stopped at a red light with a long line of traffic ahead of you, if your car begins to move before the light turns red, you'll make it through the light on the next cycle.
 
Yeah, It Really Happened
TORONTO (UPI) - Librarians at the Toronto Public Library were asked to remove copies of Dr. Seuss' 1963 children's book "Hop on Pop" from the establishment's collection because it allegedly promotes violence. A document detailing the seven books the library has been asked to remove over the past year was posted online on Monday. The book "encourages children to use violence against their fathers," according to the complaint. In addition to apologizing to fathers in the Toronto area, the complainant also asked that the library "pay for damages resulting from the book." The Materials Review Committee pointed out that the book is "humorous," "well-loved" and that it has "appeared on many 'Best of' children's book lists." The MRC also pointed out that the children in the Pulitzer Prize-winning author's book are actually told not to hop on pop. Despite the complaint, the library opted to retain the book in the children's collection.
 
Somewhat Useless Information   
 
On average, cats spend 2/3 of every day sleeping. That means a nine-year-old cat has been awake for only three years of its life.
 
Every year, nearly four million cats are eaten in Asia.
 
Calendar Information        
This Month’s Observances
ALS Awareness Month  (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis or Lou Gehrig's Disease) 
American Wetlands Month 
APS Awareness Month 
Arthritis Awareness Month
Asian American & Pacific Islander Heritage Month
Awareness of Medical Orphans Month
Better Hearing & Speech Month 

Borderline Personality Disorder Month 

Brain Tumor Awareness Month 

Building Safety Month 
Celiac Awareness Month 
Chip Your Pet Month 
Clean Air Month

Community Living Month (Ontario, Canada)
Creative Beginnings Month
Cystic Fibrosis Awareness Month 

Drum Month 

EcoDriving Month 

EDS (Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome) Awareness Month 
Family Wellness Month
Fibromyalgia Education and Awareness Month
Freedom Shrine Month 

Gardening for Wildlife Month
Get Caught Reading Month
Gifts From The Garden Month
Global Civility Awareness Month
Global Health and Fitness Month 

Go Fetch! Food Drive for Homeless Animals Month
Haitian Heritage Month
Heal the Children Month
Healthy Vision Month
Home Schooling Awareness Month
Huntington's Disease Awareness Month
International Audit Month 

International Business Image Improvement Month
International Civility Awareness Month
International Mediterranean Diet Month
International Victorious Woman Month
Jewish-American Heritage Month
Latino Books Month
Lupus Awareness Month 
Melanoma/Skin Cancer Detection & Prevention Month
Motorcycle Safety Month
National Allergy/Asthma Awareness Month 

National Barbeque Month
National Better Hearing Month 

National Bike Month 

National Egg Month 
  
National Foster Care Month 

National Good Car Keeping Month
National Guide Dog Month 

National Hamburger Month 

National Hepatitis Awareness Month
National High Blood Pressure Education Month  

National Inventors Month 

Neurofibromatosis Awareness Month (aka NF Month) 

(World) Lyme Disease Awareness Month 

National Meditation Month
National Mediterranean Diet Month 

National Mental Health Month
National Military Appreciation Month 

National Moving Month
National Pet Month
National Osteoporosis Prevention Month
National Photo Month
National Physical Fitness & Sports Month
National Physiotherapy Month 

National Preservation Month
National Salad Month
National Salsa Month 
(the food)
National Service Dog Eye Examination Month  

National Smile Month  

National Stroke Awareness Month
National Sweet Vidalia Onions Month
National Toddler Immunization Month 

National Tuberous Sclerosis Month 

National Water Safety Month 
Toxic Encephalopathy and Chemical Injury Awareness Month 

National Vinegar Month
National Youth Traffic Safety Month 

Neurofibromatosis Awareness Month 
Older Americans Month
Personal History Month 

Pet Cancer Awareness Month 
Prader-Willi Syndrome Awareness Month
Preeclampsia Awareness Month 
React Month
Revise Your Work Schedule Month
Social Security Education Awareness Month
Skin Cancer Awareness Month  

Spiritual Literacy Month
Strike Out Strokes Month
Teen CEO Month
Tennis Month
Tay-Sachs and Canavan Diseases Month 

Ultra-violet Awareness Month
Women's Health Care Month
Young Achievers of Tomorrow Month

This Week’s Observances:
1-7
Choose Privacy Week  
Today Is
Amtrak Day
Batman Day
Beltaine
 

Executive Coaching Day
Global Love Day
 
Keep Kids Alive! Drive 25 Day
Law Day
Lei Day (in Hawaii since 1926)
Loyalty Day
May Day
Mother Goose Day
 
National Bubba Day
National Dance Day
National Infertility Survival Day
National Day of Prayer  
National Day of Reason
 
National Purebred Dog Day
 
New Homeowner's Day
Satchmo Days-4
  (See also April)
School Principals' Day
Silver Star Day
 

Stepmother's Day: Executive Coaching Day
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Festival of Saint Efisio (Italy)
International Labor Day
Yom Hashoah (Israel - Holocaust Day)                                                                     
    
Today’s Events through History  
1704 - Boston Newsletter publishes 1st newspaper advertisement
1863 - Confederate congress passed resolution to kill black soldiers
1873 - 1st US postal card issued
1901 - Pan-American Exposition opens in Buffalo
1939 - Pulitzer Prize awarded to Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings (Yearling)
1944 - Pulitzer prize awarded to Martin Flavin (Journey in the dark)
1960 - Pancho Gonzalez retires from tennis
1963 - 1st American (James Whittaker) conquers Mount Everest
1966 - Last British concert by Beatles (Empire Pool in Wembley)
1978 - Naomi Uemura became 1st to reach North Pole overland alone
1997 - Tony Blair elected Prime Minister of UK
 
Today’s Birthdays                                                           
Judy Collins, singer (Send in the Clowns, Clouds) is 75
Rita Coolidge, singer (Higher & Higher, We're All Alone) is 69
Tim McGraw, American musician is 47
 
Remembered for being born today
1825-1894 - George Inness, US landscape painter (Delaware Water Gap)
1852-1903 - Calamity [Martha] Jane [Burke], frontier adventurer
1907-1986 - Kate Smith, American singer  
1913-2005 - Louis Nye, comedian and actor (d. 2005)
1916-2006 - Glenn Ford, Quebec, actor (Cade's County, Midway)
1918-2004 - Jack Paar, television host
1919-2005 - Dan O'Herlihy, Ireland, actor (Fail Safe, Robocop)
1925-2013 - Scott Carpenter, Boulder, CO, pilot and astronaut  
1939-1988 - Max Robinson, broadcast journalist (ABC Evening News)
 
Today’s Historical Obits                                                           
John Glover, English chemist (production sulfuric acid), 1902, @85
Gene Sheldon, actor (Bernardo-Zorro), heart attack, 1982, @72
John Dryden, English poet/playwright (Rival Ladies), 1700, @68
Eldridge Cleaver, American activist, cancer, 1998, @62
Antonín Dvorak, Czech composer (Slavic Dancing), 1904, @62
David Livingstone, British physician/explorer (Africa), malaria, 1873, @60
Paul Joseph Goebbels, Nazi minister of propoganda, suicide, 1945, @47
 
Brain Teasers 
                                        
trap = a light one-horse carriage
tarp = a canvas cover, one use is to protect a baseball diamond from rain
part = the line that divides hair, as when combing
 
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.