5-20-14

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Flagstaff Almanac: Day: 140  / Week: 21 

May Averages: 68° \ 34° Fire Weather Warning
Today: Average Sky Cover: 1%
    H 70°… L 43°… Ave. humidity: 23%
    Wind: ave:   19mph; Gusts:  34mph  
    Average High: 69° Record High:  84° (2008)
    Average Low: 36° Record Low:  18° (1899)
        
Quote of the Day

Today’s Historical Highlights

1493 - Civil war battle among Cakchiquel Maya takes place in Guatemala.

1639 - Dorchester Mass, forms 1st school funded by local taxes
1830 - 1st railroad timetable published in newspaper (Baltimore American)
1861 - North Carolina becomes 11th & last state to secede from Union
1862 - Homestead Act provides cheap land for settlement of West
1873 - Levi Strauss and Jacob Davis patent first blue jeans with copper rivets
1875 - International Bureau of Weights & Measures forms by treaty
1900 - 2nd modern Olympic games opens in Paris (lasted 5 months)
1902 - Cuba gains independence from Spain
1916 - Saturday Evening Post cover features Norman Rockwell painting
1926 - Congress passes Air Commerce Act, licensing of pilots & planes
1927 - Charles Lindbergh takes off from NY to cross Atlantic for Paris
1932 - Amelia Earhart leaves Newfoundland 1st woman fly solo across Atlantic
1954 - Chiang Kai-shek becomes president of Nationalist China
1959 - Ford wins battle with Chrysler to call its new car "Falcon"
1967 - 10,000 demonstrate against war in Vietnam
1969 - US troop capture Hill 937/Hamburger Hill Vietnam
1970 - 100,000 march in NY supporting US policies in Vietnam
1980 - In a referendum, 59.5% of Quebec voters reject separatism
2013 - Church of Scotland allows openly gay men and women to be ministers

♫  Today’s Birthdays: ♫  

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

My Free Rambling Thoughts   

Clear blue sky, warm temps, and our infamous wind. The dry humidity set off another Red Flag day for us. Very hard to enjoy a day with the high wind.

I decided it was laundry day…so spent most of the late morning and early afternoon taking care of that. The bug spray guy came around and sprayed outside our units, then the grounds keeper came around a picked up blowing trash. Still haven’t done much about the pine needles. I did have the windows open until the bug spray guy came around, then reopened them about an hour after he left.

A travel friend from CO who worked for the school district where I went to school has been posting some petitions regarding the current school board. So today I decided to look up my old schools on the district web site. My old elementary school is now K-4…instead of K-6; my Jr. High has a new mascot…not the old farmer but a wolf…and a new name serving 5-8 students; and my high school is now 9-12 instead of 10-12. Times change. The district is huge and still seems to have very high standards, good test scores, and an 89% graduation record.  Interesting to see but no real ties to any of them anymore.

AZ hits the news again…a Republican Congressional candidate for my district was in a debate on Saturday and told the people there that 99% of the mass shooters in our country have been Democrats. Today, two days later he tells the media that his facts were incorrect and should not have been said…duh. His opponent has demanded that he resign from the campaign as this is not his first ‘foot in mouth’ blunder. I doubt the Tea Party guy will withdraw…it’s AZ after all.

Game  Center (answers at the end of post)

Brain Teasers

In a sylasearch I give you a syllable-starter, which is the first syllable in the words you are to find. I will also give you a listing of the other syllables that you must use to figure out the 8 words.

Syllable List - al, cute, fec, form, fume, i, ma, mis, mit, nent, se, sion, son, tion, ty
Syllable-starter: per

How many syllables each word has:

1. (2)
2. (2)
3. (2)
4. (3)
5. (3)
6. (3)
7. (3)
8. (5)

Lifestyle  Substance:     

Found on You Tube with some relevance to today

Cher - If I Could Turn Back Time

Gilda Radner] Miss Emily Litella

Hey Paula by Paul and Paula

Joe Cocker - With A Little Help From My Friends

OK Then…

Harper’s Index 

Number of the 882 SATE takes from Camden, NJ in 2012 who were scored college ready: 3

Unusual Fact of the Day

When the American Civil War broke out, the seceding Confederate states snatched up a good bit of government property. This included everything from forts to arsenals to thousands of post offices stocked full of stamps. Not wanting the enemy to profit off their goods, the Union recalled every U.S. stamp ever issued and declared them invalid for postage. Instead, people were allowed to exchange their old stamps for replacements, which the government had quickly printed with new designs.

Top Reasons Poverty is on the Rise…

3. Stalled Recovery

One of the most prominent features of the recent economic meltdown was the mortgage and lending industry component, which shattered the real estate market and exposed untold numbers of ill-advised financial practices in these industries. While certain markets are showing robust activity in real estate, the rest of the country continues to reflect less than ideal conditions.

Despite gains, the housing market currently represents the lowest share of the GDP that it has ever occupied in the post-war period. And individual investment in real estate is also historical low. For these reasons, the housing market appears to be the prevailing obstacle for full economic recovery in the United States. Mortgage conditions and housing supply are normalizing, to some extent, but home building and buying rates are not showing signs of growth necessary to support long term economic health.

Oldest Trees in the World…

General Sherman

Believed to be around 2,500 years old, General Sherman is the mightiest giant sequoia still standing. The volume of its trunk alone makes it the largest non-clonal tree by volume in the world, even though its largest branch broke off in 2006, smashing part of its enclosing fence and cratering the pavement of the surrounding walkway. Perhaps this was a sign that General Sherman could not be caged in? Sherman can be found in Sequoia National Park in California, where five of the 10 largest trees in the world exist.

Travel Destination Info… 

5) China - $39.7 billion

International tourists spent $39.7 billion dollars while visiting China in 2009. Great tourist attractions in China include the Great Wall, the Terracotta Army, the Three Gorges, the Temple of Heaven, the Forbidden City and Hong Kong.

Top Countries to get Dual Citizenship

St. Kitts and Nevis

The islands of St. Kitts and Nevis in the Caribbean have a neat little thing called the Citizenship-by-Investment program where you can purchase citizenship for you and your dependents. To prove that you’re a worthy, you have to invest at least $400,000 in U.S. dollars in certain real estate developments and pay a fee of at least $200,000. If you have the cash, becoming a citizen is a cinch. Ireland

One of the simplest ways to gain Irish citizenship is to live in Ireland for at least five years. The government, however, may waive the time requirement if you can prove you are of Irish decent or if you have certain Irish associations. Just having an Irish grandparent can make you an automatic Irish national. In some instances, to get naturalized, you have to continue to reside in the country for a certain number of years.

Joke-of-the-day

A young man, who was also an avid golfer, found himself with a few hours to spare one afternoon. He figured that if he hurried and played very fast, he could get in 9 holes before he had to head home. Just as he was about to tee off, an old gentleman shuffled onto the tee and asked if he could accompany the young man as he was golfing alone. Not being able to say no, he allowed the old man to join him.

To his surprise, the old man played fairly quickly. He didn't hit the ball far, but plodded along consistently and didn't waste much time. Finally, they reached the 9th fairway and the young man found himself with a tough shot. There was a large pine tree right in front of his ball and directly between his ball and the green. After several minutes of debating how to hit the shot, the old man finally said, "You know, when I was your age, I'd hit the ball right over that tree."

With that challenge placed before him, the youngster swung hard, hit the ball up, right smack into the top of the tree trunk and it thudded back on the ground not a foot from where it had originally laid.

The old man offered one more comment, "Of course, when I was your age, that pine tree was only 3 feet tall." 

Rules of Thumb:   

YO-YOING

With regard to the length of the string, most of the pro's use a belly button height string. This is the best length for the greatest variety of tricks.

Yeah, It Really Happened

ARCHER CITY, Texas (UPI) - An 18-year-old Texas high school senior already has his post-graduation job lined up. Kelvin Green was sworn in as the mayor of Archer City, Texas, on Friday, becoming the youngest mayor in town history since it was founded in 1888. No one else entered the race, so Green won the office by default. "The city wanted me in this position even though there was not an election," Green told NewsChannel 6 prior to being sworn in. "It's more or less a childhood dream. As it's gotten closer I've become more excited and I'm ready to take on the task for sure." The small town is currently battling a stage four drought, so that will be one of the first issues that Green has to tackle now that he has taken office. In addition to that responsibility, Green also plays shortstop for the Archer City High School Wildcats baseball team and will be helping the team make a run at the state baseball title in the coming weeks. "It's a good feeling too, it gives you something good to wake up about in the morning," Green said.

Somewhat Useless Information   

"Superhero" has been jointly trademarked by DC Comics and Marvel comics.

Kryptonite made its first appearance on the Superman radio show, not in the comic book.

Muhammad Ali once appeared in a DC Comics edition. He knocked out Superman to save him from aliens.

Wonder Woman's creator, William Moulton Marston, invented the polygraph.

Marvel comics put a hyphen in Spider-Man's name so he wouldn't be confused with Superman.

Captain Marvel's appearance was modeled after actor Fred MacMurray.

Calendar Information        

This Week’s Observances:

13-19

Salvation Army Week 
Neuropathy 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

Today Is  

Eliza Doolittle Day

Everybody Draw Mohammed Day 
International Virtual Assistants Day
National Defense Transportation Day
Weights and Measures Day
World Autoimmune Arthritis Day 
][
Teacher's Day (US-FL)
Independence Day (East Timor—2002 from Indonesia)
                                      
 Today’s Events through History  

1845 - 1st legislative assembly convenes in Hawaii

1861 - Cornerstone of University of Washington laid in Seattle
1910 - Funeral for Britain's King Edward VII
2013 - Yahoo purchases Tumbler for $1.1 Billion

Today’s Birthdays                                                           

Paula, [Jill Jackson], singer (Hey Paula) is 70

Joe Cocker, rock vocalist (Little Help From My Friends) is 70
Cher [Cherilyn Sarkisian], singer and actress is 68
Bronson Pinchot, actor (Perfect Strangers, Beverly Hills Cop) is 55

Remembered for being born today

1759-1828 - William Thornton, architect (Capitol building, Wash DC)

1768-1849 - Dolley Dandridge Payne Madison, 1st lady
1806-1873 - John Stuart Mill, UK, philosopher/political economist/Utilitarian
1818-1881 - William George Fargo, founder (Wells Fargo)
1908-1997 - Jimmy Stewart [James], actor (Wonderful Life)
1918-2004 - Edward B. Lewis, American geneticist, Nobel laureate (d. 2004)

Today’s Historical Obits                                                           

Max Klein, inventor (paint by numbers), 1993, @77

Robin Gibb, British singer song-writer, cancer, 2012, @62
Randy Savage, American Pro-Wrestler, heart attack, 2011, @58
Christopher Columbus, explorer, gout, 1506, @55
Gilda Radner, comedienne (SNL, Haunted Honeymoon), cancer, 1989, @42

Brain Teasers                                         

Perfume (per fume)
Permit (per mit)
Perform (per form)
Permission (per mis sion)
Permanent (per ma nent)
Persecute (per se cute)
Perfection (per fec tion)
Personality (per son al i ty)

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  §