▼ 9-8-15

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Almanac: Week: 37 \ Day: 251
September Averages: 74°\42°
86004 Today: H 76° \ L 50° Average Sky Cover: 85% 
Wind ave:   4mph\Gusts:  23mph
Ave. High: 76° Record High: 88°[1977] Ave. Low: 44° Record Low: 33°[1935]
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Observances Today:                         
Another Look Unlimited Day
Nixon Pardon Day
Pediatric Hematology/Oncology Nurses Day Link
World Physical Therapy Day Link
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Independence Day (Macedonia)
Virgin Mary Day (birthday)  (Christian)
Observances This Week:
6-12
National Waffle Week                                                
Substitute Teacher Appreciation Week                        
Suicide Prevention Week

Play Days
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Quote of the Day 

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US Historical Highlights for Today
1565 - 1st permanent non-indigenous settlement in US forms (St Augustine, Florida)
1858 - Abraham Lincoln supposedly says in a speech "You may fool all the people some of the time; you can even fool some of the people all the time; but you can’t fool all of the people all the time"
1886 - Geronimo and his band were assembled and marched from Fort Bowie to Bowie Station where they boarded trains bound for Florida
1892 - 1st appearance of "Pledge of Allegiance" (Youth's Companion)
1900 - 6,000 killed when a hurricane & tidal wave strikes Galveston, Texas
1916 - US President Wilson signs the Emergency Revenue Act, doubling the rate of income tax and adding inheritance and munitions profits tax
1930 - 1st appearance of comic strip "Blondie"
1930 - NYC public schools begin teaching Hebrew
1952 - Ernest Hemmingway's "Old Man & the Sea" published
1955 - Earliest clinching of an NL pennant (Brooklyn Dodgers)
1960 - Nationwide release (US) of Alfred Hitchcock's "Psycho"
1966 - "Star Trek" premieres on NBC-TV
1968 - 1st official (88th overall) U.S. Open (formerly known as U.S National Championships): Arthur Ashe beats Tom Okker (14-12, 5-7, 6-3, 3-6, 6-3)
1971 - John F Kennedy Center for Performing Arts opens in Washington, D.C.
1974 - US President Gerald Ford pardons former President Richard Nixon of all federal crimes
1985 - "USA Weekend's" 1st issue, appears in 255 newspapers
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World Historical Highlights for Today
1504 - Michelangelo's David is unveiled in Florence
1522 - Spanish navigator Juan de Elcano returns to Spain, completing 1st circumnavigation of the globe (expedition began under Ferdinand Magellan)
1545 - English Earl of Hertford leads retaliatory mission against Scotland
1954 - SE Asia Treaty Org (SEATO) forms to stop communist spread in SE Asia
2011 - Fashion designer John Galliano is found guilty of anti-Semitic remarks in a Paris court and fined €6,000
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Birthdays Today:
How many can you identify? Answers below in Birthdays Today 

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My Rambling Thoughts
Great Labor Day. Monsoon hit hard this afternoon. Started out as a nice summer rain, then the clouds opened, the lightning and thunder began and we had a real downpour for about 30 minutes.
School has started and the media is picking up on education stories. Heard a good report on NPR this morning saying that if the US really wants to raise the test scores it need to increase the number of days students are in class…the typical 180 simply is not enough. Educators are suggesting at least 190 and want 200. It is a good idea. Another story talked about adding an extra hour of reading at the end of the school day for students who are behind in reading. Of course both of these are good ideas, but it is the state legislators and Congress that need to get behind reform and come up with the $$ to make the change happen. Most teachers I knew/know do 10+ hour work days already with planning and grading. Of course these hours aren’t part of their salary. They do it to improve kid’s educational experience. The third story was local, but I’m sure other places have the same story…AZ used a new end of year test this past year. It was done totally on line. Scores are not that good. Before releasing the scores for each school, the superintendent in our little mountain town had a front page story in the paper. It was to tell parents that scores are bad, but not to panic or blame. It was a new test and students were not used to taking it, so their scores are low. I agree that taking an on-line test is different than a paper and pencil test.  I had to take several in-service workshops on line. I had to read some stuff, watch some video clips and then take a test. One could take the test 3 times to pass. I passed on the first try with a good score. I had never taken an on line test before. I talked to several Bureau teachers at various schools on how they were preparing their students for the on line test. They worked on computer skills and found tests on line that students could take. The Bureau already released the scores for their schools and the kids did the same or a little better than they had done on paper and pencil tests. Not sure why our mountain town kids didn’t do well, but part of it is probably lack of prep by the students.  Whatever the reason, as administrators, who want to keep their jobs, some believable excuse has to be found.  Sad.
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Brain Teasers
(answers at the end of post)
Can you decipher this:

issues
issues
issues
issues
issues
issues
issues
issues
issues
issues

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Found on You Tube with some relevance to today
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…Amazing Facts…
The most push-ups ever performed in one day was 46,001 by Charles Servizio.

Scientists trained a group of fish to walk on land and, over a period of 8 months, their body shape adapted to the terrestrial lifestyle.
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…Flagstaff, AZ History…
25 YEARS AGO-1990
After two years on the back burner the city council has finally taken action on a proposal to require homeowners to replace any air polluting wood stoves with a clean burning efficient one.

The City Council has directed staff to seek more information on the small room (150 sq. ft.) rentals and the need for economical housing.
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…Harper’s Index…
4/5 - portion of US firefighters who are overweight or obese
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…Instagram Photo of the Day… 

natgeoPhotograph by @stefanounterthiner | Males ibex photographed in the #granparadiso NP (Italy) on assignment for @natgeo. In the past, the ibex was hunted for the meat; by 1821, fewer than 50 were left in the wild. Now the population of ibex in the Gran Paradiso NP is around 2800.
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…Foreigners Find These American Customs Offensive…
15. Drinking someone else's alcohol
© Provided by Business Insider-Apparently, it's rude to drink alcohol you didn't personally bring to a party in Norway. In the US, on the other hand, bringing a six pack of beer to a BBQ allows you access to anything else at the event.
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…Unusual Fact of the Day…
Dock Ellis, a pitcher for the Pittsburgh Pirates in the 1970s, threw a no-hitter while under the influence of LSD. At certain points during the game, Ellis said he couldn't see the batter or the catcher, and as a result, relied on the baseball to tell him where to throw it.
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2 jokes for the day
Little Johnny was not paying attention in class so the math teacher called on him and said, “Johnny! What are 5, 2, 28 and 40?”
Little Johnny quickly replied, “NBC, CBS, HBO, and Cartoon Network!”

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Jack met Claude in the street and noticed that Claude was carrying a small parcel.
“Been shopping, Claude?” he asked.
“Yes,” replied Claude, “I’ve just been to the perfumery to buy a present for the wife’s birthday tomorrow.”

“Oh, yes?” said Jack, “what did you get her, then?”
“A bottle of toilet water. Very expensive – this little bottle cost me twenty-five dollars!”
“Twenty-five dollars for a bottle of toiler water?” said Jack in amazement. “Why don’t you come home with me? You can have all you want for nothing!”
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Yep, It Really Happened
FRESNO, Calif. - A California man who ushered his wife and kids out of their home during an apartment complex fire said his first thought was to save his barbecue ribs. Robert Wright, ribs in hand, gave an interview to KMPH-TV after the fire at his Fresno apartment complex and told the reporter he was barbecuing at 3 a.m. when the fire erupted at the apartment next door. "The only thing I think first is make sure them ribs is right and I ran over and got my family man," Wright said. He said he carried his kids out of the apartment and was able to rescue his ribs. Wright explained why he was barbecuing so late at night. "It was three o'clock in the morning, I was hungry man, I was like put them ribs on there," he said. A woman and a child escaped from the fire next door to Wright and were treated for smoke inhalation. Wright said he didn't require any medical attention. "I didn't get any injuries except for all the smoke in my lungs, but I already had smoke in my lungs so I'm alright," he said.
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Somewhat Useless Information
Labor Day in Canada began in 1872 in Toronto but quickly made its way south to the U.S. Originally it began as a significant demonstration demanding rights for workers.

The first U.S. Labor Day was celebrated on Tuesday, September 5, 1882, in New York City, planned by the Central Labor Union. The Labor Day parade of about 10,000 workers took unpaid leave and marched from City Hall past Union Square uptown to 42nd street, and ended in Wendel's Elm Park at 92nd Street and 9th Avenue for a concert, speeches, and a picnic.

On June 28, 1894, Congress passed an act making the first Monday in September of each year a legal holiday in the District of Columbia and the territories.

What are we celebrating? The contributions and achievements of the 155 million men and women who are in the U.S. workforce.

The year in which the 8-hour day was firmly established was 1916 with the passage of the Adamson Act. This was the first federal law regulating hours of workers in private companies.

In the late 1800s the average American worked 12-hour days and seven-day weeks to eke out a basic living. Children as young as 5-6 years old worked in factories and mines.

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Birthdays Today
“()” indicates age at death
(96) - Frank Cady, actor (Mr Drucker-Green Acres) d. 2012
  73 - Bernie Sanders, American politician
(62) - Antonín Dvořák, composer (New World Symphony) d.1904
  58 - Heather Thomas, Greenwich Ct, actress (Jody-Fall Guy, Coed Fever)
(54) - Peter Sellers, England, actor and goon (Kato, Bobo, Pink Panther), d. 1980
  44 - David Arquette, actor, director and producer (Scream, Kiss & Tell)
  44 - Brooke Burke, American model, DWTS
(41) - Richard I, [Richard the Lion Hearted], King of England d.1199
  36 - Pink [Alecia Beth Moore], singer (Get the Party Started, Just Like a Pill)
(35) - [James Charles] Jimmie Rodgers, country singer/singing brakeman d.1933
  34 - Jonathan Taylor Thomas, Bethlehem PA, actor (Randy-Home Improvement)
(30) - Patsy Cline, Winchester Va, country singer (Crazy) d.1963
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Historical Obits Today
Francisco Gomez Quevedo y Villegas, Spanish author/poet-1645@64
Zero [Samuel J] Mostel, US actor (Fiddler on the Roof), aneurysm-1977@62
Bud Collyer, TV emcee (Beat the Clock, To Tell the Truth), long illmess-1969@61
Adam Opel, German manufacturer (motorcars)-1895@58
Ann Lee, Shakers religious leader-1784@48
Huey P Long, (Sen-La) assassinated-1935@42
Dorothy Dandridge, actress (Island in the Sun), OD-1965@42
Ephraim Williams, American philanthropist-1755@40
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Brain Teasers Answers
Tennis shoes.
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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

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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.