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Almanac: Week: 49 \ Day: 338
December
Averages: 44°\17°
86004 Today: H 51°\L 37°
Ave. humidity: 89% Average Sky Cover: 99%
Wind ave: 4mph\Gusts: 16mph
Ave. High: 45° Record
High: 67° (1965)
Ave. Low: 18° Record
Low: -4° (1955)
Holiday Observances
Today:
Ashura: Tenth Day (Islamic
- begins at sundown)- More on Ashura
¤
¤
National
Cookie Day
National
Dice Day
World
Wildlife Conservation Day
Santas' List Day- he makes his lists today
Wear Brown Shoes Day
Observances This
Week:
1-7
Cookie
Cutter Week
International Coelenterate Biology
Week
3-9
Clerc-Gallaudet
Week
7-13
National Hand Washing Awareness
Week
Recipe Greetings For The Holidays
Week
Computer Science Education Week
• • • • • • •
Quote of
the Day
Historical
Highlights for Today
1110 - Syrian harbor city Saida (Sidon) surrenders
to Crusaders
1534 - Turkish sultan Suleiman occupies Baghdad
1674 - Father Marquette builds 1st dwelling in what
is now Chicago
1745 - Bonnie Prince Charles reaches Derby
1791 - Britain's Observer, oldest Sunday newspaper
in the world, 1st published
1816 - James Monroe (VA), elected 5th pres,
defeating Federalist Rufus King
1829 - Britain outlaws "suttee" in India
(widow burning herself to death on her husband's funeral pyre)
1844 - James K. Polk elected 11th US President
1881 - The first edition of the Los Angeles Times
is published
1906 - Alpha Phi Alpha, 1st Black Greek Letter
Fraternity, forms
1923 - Cecil B DeMille's 1st version of "Ten
Commandments" premieres
1927 - Duke Ellington opens at Cotton Club in
Harlem
1942
- FDR orders dismantling of Works
Progress Administration
1952 - Killer fogs begin in London, England;
"Smog" becomes a word
1954 - The first Burger King is opened in Miami,
Florida, USA
1968 - Following a civil rights march in Dungannon,
Northern Ireland, there is a violent clash between Loyalists and those who are
taking part in the march
1981 - Reagan Executive Order on Intelligence
(No 12333) that allows CIA to engage in domestic counter-intelligence
1984 - Hezbollah militants hijack a Kuwait Airlines
plane, killing four passengers
1991 - Pan American World Airways ceased operations
1996 - NASA's 1st Mars rover launched from Cape
Canaveral
• • • • • • •
♫
Birthdays Today: ♫
How many can you identify? Answers below in Birthday’s Today
My
Rambling Thoughts
Weatherman scores---woke up to a dull gray sky and rain falling.
The rain continued most of the day. So glad to see it, we need this so bad.
What is going on with the various police in cities? There needs to
be a new understanding of ‘excessive force’ after a Staten Island man died from
a chokehold because he was selling loose cigarettes on the street. Grand Jury
does not issue indictment. Religious leaders are trying so hard to keep
everyone non-violent.
• • • • • • •
Brain
Teasers
(answers at the end of post)
What
is represented below?
S V
K E
I S
P S
P E
E L
R
Found on
You Tube with some relevance to today
OK Then…
• • • • • • •
Paraphernalia
4 the Brain:
Actor
Facts…
¤ Jon Heder was paid only $1,000 for his role in Napoleon
Dynamite.
¤ Until he turned 12,
Robert Pattinson's elder sisters dressed him up as a girl and introduced him as
"Claudia" to strangers.
December
Holiday Facts
*Christmas-Christian
¤ The traditional three colors of Christmas are green, red, and
gold. Green has long been a symbol of life and rebirth; red symbolizes the
blood of Christ, and gold represents light as well as wealth and royalty.
¤ Two weeks before Christmas is a popular time for couples to
break up
*Hanukkah-Jewish
Giving of
gifts
As part of the celebration, children received gelt (Yiddish term
for "money") during each of the eight days in order for them to learn
about charity. More recently, the tradition of children receiving a small gift
each of the eight nights has become more popular. This gift giving is
frequently associated with the Christian Christmas tradition of gift giving.
*Kwanza-African-American
Red,
Black and Green
The colors of Kwanzaa are a reflection
of the Pan-African movement representing “unity” for peoples
of African descent worldwide: Black for the people, red for
the noble blood that unites all people of African ancestry,
and green for the rich land of Africa.
*12 Days of Christmas
Two
Turtle Doves
The Old and New Testaments, which together bear witness to God's
self-revelation in history and the creation of a people to tell the Story of
God to the world.
Flagstaff,
AZ History…
100 YEARS
AGO
The Ideal Rooming House is open and ready for all business as per
usual, not withstanding reports to the contrary. Neat, new, homelike and always
ready to give its patrons the best service. Mrs. J. E. Denver. Ph. 162.
Flagstaff’s
Iconic 50…
Kachina
A Kachina (/kəˈtʃiːnə/; also katchina, katcina, or katsina; Hopi:
katsina /kətˈsiːnə/, plural katsinim /kətˈsiːnɨm/) are spirit beings in western
Pueblo religious beliefs. The western Pueblo, Native American cultures located
in the southwestern United States, include Hopi, Zuni, Tewa Village (on the
Hopi Reservation), Acoma Pueblo, and Laguna Pueblo. The Kachina concept has
three different aspects: the supernatural being, the Kachina dancers, masked
members of the community who represent Kachina at religious ceremonies, and Kachina
dolls, small dolls carved in the likeness of Kachina given as gifts to
children.
The exact origin of the Kachina is not completely known, but according
to one version of Hopi belief, the Kachina were beneficent spirit-beings who
came with the Hopis from the underworld. The underworld is a concept common to
all the Pueblo Indians. It is a place where the spirits or shades live: the
newly born come from there and the dead return there. The Kachina wandered with
the Hopis over the world until they arrived at Casa Grande, where both the
Hopis and the Kachina settled for a while. With their powerful ceremonies, the Kachina
brought rain for the crops and were in general of much help and comfort.
Unfortunately, all of the Kachina were killed when the Hopis were attacked by
enemies (Mexicans) and their souls returned to the underworld. Since the sacred
paraphernalia of the Kachinas were left behind, the Hopis began impersonating
the Kachina, wearing their masks and costumes, and imitating their ceremonies
in order to bring rain, good crops, and life's happiness.
The Kachina live at the San Francisco Peaks near Flagstaff.
Harper’s
Index…
Gigatons of cement used in the US in the 20th century:
4.4
Gigatons used in China in the past three years: 6.1
Rules of
Thumb…
TURNING
OFF YOUR ENGINE
It pays to turn off
your engine if it will be idling for more than one minute.
Unusual
Fact of the Day…
Call
of the Wild author
Jack London ran for mayor of Oakland, California, on a socialist party ticket
in 1901 and 1905. He lost both times.
• • • • • • •
Joke-of-the-day
Yep, It
Really Happened
WEYMOUTH,
Mass. (UPI)
A Massachusetts man who bought a desk for $40 at an auction said a
search for a missing knob turned up at least $127,000 worth of bonds. Phillip
LeClerc, 60, of Weymouth, said he bought the desk for $40 on Nov. 19 at a
Kelley Auctions sale and he went searching through the desk's many compartments
when a knob came loose from a small drawer and fell off. LeClerc said he
discovered the first envelope poking out from a small gap beneath a drawer and
he soon had a stack of bonds that matured in 1992 and have since accumulated
interest. He estimated the stack of bonds is worth a total of at least
$127,000. LeClerc contacted Marge Kelley, president of the auction company.
Kelley said the bonds were returned to a man who said the money will go toward
caring for his 94-year-old father. "I've been doing this for 10 years and
every day the stories get stranger and better and [more] fabulous," Kelley
told the Boston Globe. "The gentleman whose family the bonds belong to, he
can't even believe it. He said, 'I'm over the moon.'"
Somewhat
Useless Information
¤
In most people, 60-70 percent of their cholesterol is carried in LDL particles,
which are considered "bad" cholesterol. LDL particles are not all
"bad," however, because they act as ferries, taking cholesterol to
parts of the body that need it. LDL cholesterol becomes "bad" if
there is too much in the body in which case, it starts depositing cholesterol
into the blood stream.
¤ High-density lipoproteins (HDLs) are typically labeled "good"
cholesterol because they have more protein than fat and, instead of ferrying
cholesterol around the body as LDL does, HDL sucks up as much excess
cholesterol as it can and takes it back to the liver.
¤
High cholesterol itself typically does not have any symptoms, so many people
are unaware they are at risk for heart attacks, strokes, and other heart
diseases.
¤ Major risk factors that increase high LDL levels include cigarette smoking,
high blood pressure, low HDL cholesterol (below 40 mg/dL), family history of
early heart disease, obesity, and age (men: 45 years or older, women: 55 years
or older).
¤ Research shows that stress increases "bad" cholesterol levels. In
contrast, the better a person copes with the stress, the higher his
"good" cholesterol levels are.
¤ Studies show that breast-fed babies have lower levels of cholesterol as
adults.
¤
Additionally, breast milk is rich in healthy cholesterol and fats, which help
prevent adult heart and central nervous system diseases.
•
• •
¤
The banana tree is not a true fruit at all but a giant herb, and the banana is
actually its berry. A banana plant produces only one bunch or "hand"
in its life, but that bunch may have between 100 to 400 bananas.
¤
White chocolate actually contains no chocolate. Its ingredients are; sugar,
cocoa butter, milk, vanilla and lecithin.
• • • • • • •
Today’s
Events through History
1489 - Battle of Baza - Spanish army captures Baza
from Moors
1961 - Tanganyika becomes 104th member of UN
1965 - Gemini 7 (Borman & Lovell) launched
2005 - Tens of thousands of people in Hong Kong
protest for democracy and call on the Government to allow universal and equal
suffrage.
• • • • • • •
Birthday’s
Today
Max Baer
Jr, actor (Jethro-Beverly Hillbillies) is 77
Freddy
Cannon, [Picariello], rocker (Palisades Park) is 74
Jeff
Bridges, actor (Against All Odds) is 65
Marisa
Tomei, Brooklyn, actress (My Cousin Vinny) is 50
Jay-Z (Shawn
Corey Carter), Brooklyn, rapper (Reasonable Doubt) is 44
Tyra
Banks, model/actress (Fresh Prince of Bel Air) is 41
•
• •
Remembered
for being born today
Thomas
Carlyle, Scotland, essayist/historian (French Revolution) [1795-1881]
Crazy
Horse [Tashunka Witko], , Oglala Sioux chief [1840-1877]
Francisco
Franco [ y Bahamonde], Spanish General\Dictator [1892-1975)
Victor
French, actor (Highway to Heaven) [1934-1989]
Dennis
Wilson, drummer/vocalist (Beach Boys-My Room) [1944-1983]
• • • • • • •
Historical
Obits Today
Thomas
Hobbes, English philosopher, 1679, @91
Omar
Khayyám, Persian poet, astronomer, mathematician, and philosopher, 1123,
@82ish
Bert Lahr, [Irving
Lahrheim], US comic (Wizard of Oz), pneumonia, 1967, @72
Shunryu
Suzuki, Zen teacher, founder of SF Zen Center, 1971, @67
Frank V
Zappa, musician/composer (Mothers of Invention), cancer, 1993, @52
Charles
Dow, journalist (Dow Jones & Company - Wall Street Journal),
1902, @51
John Gay, English
poet (Beggar's Opera), 1732, @47
• • • • • • •
Brain Teasers Answers
The captain goes down with the ship.
Skipper is another word for captain. Vessel is another word for
ship. These two words both go down.
• • • • • • •
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 contains mistakes and sadly once 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…§
