5-22-14


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Flagstaff Almanac: Day: 142  / Week: 21 
May Averages: 68° \ 34°
Today: Average Sky Cover: 60% due to smoke
    H 63° L 36° Ave. humidity: 24%
    Wind: ave:   17mph; Gusts:  30mph  
    Average High: 70° Record High:  85° (1984)
    Average Low: 35° Record Low:  21° (1972)
        
Quote of the Day
Today’s Historical Highlights

1455 - Opening battle in England's 30-year War of the Roses.
1570 - 1st atlas 'Theatrum Orbis Terrarum' (Theatre of the World), published-70 maps
1761 - 1st life insurance policy in North America issued in Philadelphia
1803 - 1st public library opens (Connecticut)
1807 - Former VP Aaron Burr is tried for treason in Richmond, Va (acquitted)
1843 - 1st wagon train, 1000+ depart Independence Missouri for Oregon
1863 - War Dept establishes Bureau of Colored Troops
1892 - Dr Washington Sheffield invents toothpaste tube
1900 - Associated Press organizes in NYC as non-profit news cooperative
1906 - Wright Brothers patent an aeroplane
1933 - Loch Ness Monster is 1st reportedly sighted by John Mackay
1936 - Aer Lingus (Aer Loingeas) is founded by the Irish government as the national airline of the Republic of Ireland.
1957 - South Africa government approves race separation in universities
1961 - 1st revolving restaurant (Top Of The Needle in Seattle) opens
1964 - LBJ presents "Great Society"
1973 - President Nixon confesses his role in Watergate cover-up

  Today’s Birthdays:   

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


My Free Rambling Thoughts   

I headed to the dentist about 9a to be greeted by a smoke filled town. The Oak Creek/Slide Rock fire is now over 4500 acres and growing—heading north towards Flagstaff. By noon it looked like an eclipse of the sun here at my place, with the smell of smoke everywhere. This is so unsettling. Air support had to be cancelled due to high winds today. The 2 day old fire containment is at 0%. We know that the forest is bone dry, yet idiots continue to have fire producing things in the forest. I am for closing the beautiful forest until the rain comes. My dentist, new to Flagstaff, believes that the forest should remain open. He babbled about being a good camper who enjoys taking the Boy Scouts out in the forest for camping. He is new to Flagstaff and has been here less than a year. He really has no idea what he is talking about. He said they should just catch the person who started it make them pay. Well, AZ has had some major fires and some starters have been caught. They always have a good trial story and usually get off. No amount of money will be able to return the trees and animals that are lost in such a fire. Hundreds of businesses and residents have been evacuated and more evacuations are expected. While money may rebuild any lost buildings, the memorabilia can’t be replaced. My dentist may be a good dentist, but certainly is not aware of the destruction of a forest fire. The many hot shot crews and firefighters are doing what they can, but the wind, dry conditions, and steep canyons are not helping in the fight.

I support my President; however, this VA scandal is becoming hard to swallow.  The speech today was great, but that is all it was…a speech. Our Vets have been having problems since before Obama came into office. The time for action is way overdue. Our previous few presidents had no problem putting our men and women of the armed service in harm’s way. Our congress has always approved money for killing citizens and leaders of other countries. No one has been paying attention to what these actions have on our troops. The soldiers seem to get a parade, lots of handshakes, even a lot of medals…but no one is offering them the care they need for medical issues or the training they need to get civilian jobs. The homelessness among our Vets is embarrassing. My dad, after WWII, and my friend Bob, after Korea had the GI bill to get an education and help in buying the American dream. Those things are not available to our troops today. We train them to fight, train them to kill, send them anywhere in the world to fight for America, then when they return wounded we offer them very little help, especially if the wound is not visible. Shame on the VA, shame on Congress, and shame on our leader.

Game  Center (answers at the end of post)

Brain Teasers
The U.S. Presidents made some horrible political decisions. They decided to hide from the mob coming after them by hiding in these five sentences. You are hired as a private sleuth to find each of them. Can you find their last names in these five sentences?

1. Ice pops taste the best on hot afternoons.
2. The weird dictator said that he would build magenta dams.
3. The man told his mother that he wouldn't be home for dinner.
4. I have to fill more of the holes our dog dug in the yard.
5. I was going to take the bus home, but I missed it.


Lifestyle  Substance:     

Found on You Tube with some relevance to today





OK Then…
Harper’s Index 

Amount Afghanistan spent on government programs last year: $5,300,000,000

Portion of that spending funded by government revenue: 2/5

Unusual Fact of the Day

Churchill Downs, Yankee Stadium, the Rose Bowl, the Roman Coliseum, and Vatican City could all fit inside Indianapolis Motor Speedway – at the same time!

Top Reasons Poverty is on the Rise…

1. Low Social Mobility
The fabled “American Dream” relies on upward mobility within society, enabling advancements in stature beyond the birthright limitations holding people back in other parts of the world. Opportunity is at the heart of the notion, including access to education and funding for entrepreneurial endeavors. In reality, however, American mobility is faltering, with class stagnation increasingly undermining the Land of Opportunity.

*NEW* Top 5 Most Educated Movie Stars in Hollywood…

#5 Dolph Lundgren
Action star Dolph Lundgren is famous for his work in films such as "The Expendables." One wouldn't guess from the laconic characters he plays that the Swedish-born actor has a master's degree in chemical engineering from the University of Sydney, or that he was awarded a Fulbright Scholarship to MIT. While in the United States for academics, he met drama coach Warren Robertson and became interested in acting. He has since starred in more than 50 action films.

Travel Destination Info… 

7) United Kingdom - $30.7 billion
The UK takes in some $30,7 billion dollars per year from international tourists. Popular tourist attractions in the United Kingdom include Stonehenge, Buckingham Palace, the Tower of London, castles, Roman Baths and ancient Roman ruins.

*NEW*  Top 5 Poorest Countries…

5--Eritrea
Eritrea may have gold and copper to mine, but 80 percent of its citizens farm and fewer than seven out of 10 can read and write. In this land that borders Sudan and Ethiopia along the Red Sea, farmers struggle with repeated droughts and a lack of labor caused by the government's strict military draft. Eritrea's poverty is evidenced by its per capita GDP of $777

Joke-of-the-day

Fun Things To Do In An Elevator:

1. Crack open your briefcase or purse, and while peering inside ask: "Got enough air in there?"

2. Grimace painfully while smacking your forehead and muttering: "Shut up, all of you just shut UP!"

3. Whistle the first seven notes of "It's a Small World" incessantly.

4. Sell Girl Scout cookies.

5. On a long ride, sway side to side at the natural frequency of the elevator.

6. Greet everyone getting on the elevator with a warm handshake and ask them to call you Admiral

7. When at least 8 people have boarded, moan from the back: "Oh, not now, motion sickness!"

8. Meow occasionally.

9. Wear a puppet on your hand and talk to other passengers "through" it.

10. Draw a little square on the floor with chalk and announce to the other passengers that this is your "personal space." 

Rules of Thumb:   

BUYING A BICYCLE LOCK
The lighter the bicycle, the heavier the lock should be.

Yeah, It Really Happened

WASHINGTON (UPI) - An updraft of solar winds ripped a hole in the sun's outer atmosphere with remarkable geometric precision, creating a nearly perfect square. The dark spot, seen in the video and picture, is known as a "coronal hole." It is the gap made when solar winds rip up, out and away from the sun's surface at astonishing speeds -- the solar winds taking advantage of a cooler, weakened spot in the sun's magnetic field. NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory -- a satellite that focuses its gaze on the sun while orbiting Earth, capturing high resolution imagery of the mother star -- recorded a video of the square hole last week. Officials released the video over the weekend. "Inside the coronal hole you can see bright loops where the hot plasma outlines little pieces of the solar magnetic field sticking above the surface," SDO officials wrote in a news release. "Because it is positioned so far south on the sun, there is less chance that the solar wind stream will impact us here on Earth."

Somewhat Useless Information   

In the very first season of Sesame Street, Grover, the cuddly blue creature everyone loves, was actually brown. In addition, Oscar made his debut as an orange grouch, not the green grump we know him as today.

Cookie Monster wasn't an amateur when he joined the Sesame Street cast. He had appeared as "The Wheel Stealer" in an unaired General Foods commercial almost three years prior. Cookie Monster is also the only Muppet character who has five fingers. Everyone else has four.

Ernie's song "Rubber Ducky" was released as a single in 1970, and made it to #16 on the Billboard chart. Ernie is also the only Sesame Street Muppet to have a built in smile.

The word "sesame" was meant to invoke a sense of excitement and mystery, as in the old Arabian Nights saying, "Open Sesame!" The word "street" was used because of the show's urban setting.

Elmo didn't debut until 1984, but he's worked as a background Anything Muppet since the early 1970s. Twenty-five years after he appeared on the scene, Elmo is still only 3 1/2 years old.

From 1971 to 1985, Snuffleupagus was Big Bird's imaginary friend. It wasn't until 1985 that he became a character on the show that everyone could see.

Calendar Information        

This Week’s Observances:
 
13-19
Salvation Army Week  
Neropathy Awareness Week

National Stuttering Awareness Week


18-24
National Safe Boating Week
EMS (Emergency Medical Services) Week
National New Friends, Old Friends Week

World Trade Week 

19-26
National Backyard Games Week
National Educational Bosses' Week 
National Medical Transcription Week  
International Coaching Week
Recreational Water Illness and Injury Prevention Week


20-23                       
National Stationery Week

22-25
Mudbug Madness Week
National Polka Weekend

Old-Time Player Piano Weekend

Today Is  

Buy-A-Musical-Instrument Day
Canadian Immigrants Day
Harvey Milk Day
International Day for Biological Diversity
National Maritime Day
National Museum Day 
World Goth Day 

][
Neighbor Day (Rhode Island)
Canadian Immigrants' Day (Canada)
National Day (Yemen
-1990 unifying N & S Yemen)
National Heroes Day (Sri Lanka)

                                          
Today’s Events through History  

1370 - Jews are expelled/massacred from Brussels, Belgium
1915 - Local train collides with troop train killing 226 (Gretna, Scotland)
1927 - 8.3 earthquake strikes Nan-Shan China, 200,000 killed
1943 - 1st jet fighter is tested
1947 - "Truman Doctrine" goes into effect, aiding Turkey & Greece
1990 - Microsoft releases Windows 3.0
1992 - Johnny Carson's final appearance as host of Tonight Show

Today’s Birthdays                                                           

Bernard Shaw, news correspondent (CBS, CNN) is 74
Barbara Parkins, Vancouver, actress (Peyton Place) is 72
Betty Williams, Northern Irish political activist, Nobel Peace Prize is 71
Naomi Campbell, London, model/actress is 44
Apolo Anton Ohno, American short track speed skater is 32

Remembered for being born today

1813-1883 - Richard Wagner, Leipsig Germany, composer (Ring)
1844-1926 - Mary Cassatt, US, Impressionist painter (Woman Bathing)
1859-1930 - Arthur Conan Doyle, UK, author--Sherlock Holmes
1910-1985 - Johnny Olson, TV announcer (Price is Right)
1922-2012 - Judith Crist, NY, movie critic (TV Guide)
1922-1987 - Quinn Martin, American television producer
1930-1978 - Harvey Milk, Woodmere, NY, politicians and gay activist  

Today’s Historical Obits                                                           

Victor(-Marie) Hugo, French writer (Les Miserables), 1885, @83
Margaret Rutherford, English actress, 1972, @80
Rocky Graziano, boxer/writer/actor, heart failure, 1990, @71
Langston Hughes, American poet \ playwright, surgery complications, 1967, @65
Joan Davis, actress (I Married Joan), heart attack, 1961, @53

Brain Teasers                                         

1. Ice pops taste the best on hoT AFTernoons.

2. The weird dictator said that he would build magentA DAMS.

3. The man told his mother that he wouldn't be home FOR Dinner.

4. I have to FILL MORE of the holes our dog dug in the yard.

5. I was going to take the BUS Home, but I missed it.

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.