12-29-11

FYI: Blue text is a link… click on any blue text for more information!

Today’s  Historical  Highlights

• 1813 - British burn Buffalo, NY during War of 1812
• 1845 - Texas admitted as 28th state
• 1851 - 1^st American Young Men's Christian Association chapter opened (Boston)
• 1852 - Emma Snodgrass arrested in Boston for wearing pants
• 1930 - Fred P Newton completes longest swim ever (1826 miles), when he swam in the Mississippi River from Ford Dam, Minn, to New Orleans
• 1972 - Life magazine ceases publication
• 1982 - Bob Marley postage stamp issued in Jamaica

♫Happy Birthday To: ♫                     

 

Free Rambling Thoughts   

I ran a few errands today…fridge was empty from the trip. Weather was great, and stores were not too crowded. Can’t believe it was almost 60° today….and it’s December…I’m not complaining, just observing.

I also caught up on email, pictures, etc. I had some great pics of the Laura’s sister’s kids. They are such fun…as are the mom and dad. Kids certainly make Christmas. I’d post some, but mom and dad are a little shy about FB pics. I get it.

There is all this hoopla about the Iowa caucus…OK, but any registered voter—Rep, Dem, Independent, can cast a vote. I had stopped listening to the Republican candidates back in August. So many were making such outlandish statements, spouting incorrect historical facts, and IMHO trying to see who was the farthest out there on the fringe. Now I heard that the average caucus voter is 65 years old. Nothing against old-er people, but in the latest census, those 65+ made up 12% of the total population. We have a voice, but we don’t pick the President. So it’s only the news reporting crazies that are following the Iowa caucus.

Lifestyle  Substance  (any answers at the end of post)

NPR Sunday Puzzle

Each word you are given conceals the name of a U.S. president in left-to-right order, but the letters are not consecutive. For example, given the clue "hairdressing, in seven letters," the answer would be "Harding."

1.     Blue fish: 4 letters:

2.     Daydreams: 5 letters:

3.     Monochrome: 6 letters:

4.     Storyteller: 5 letters:

5.     Transfixion: 5 letters:

6.     Triumphant: 6 letters:

7.     Registrant: 5 letters:

8.     Maldistribution: 7 letters:

9.     How so ever: 6 letters:

10.  Pot luck: 4 letters:

11.  Culmination: 7 letters:

12.  Talkfest: 4 letters:

13.  Papier mache: 6:

Wuzzles  What concept or phrase do these suggest?

   

Rules of Thumb   

Easy shortcuts to make an ‘educated’ guess

• Back in the days when every firearm was made by hand and every firearm was a muzzle-loader, the starting powder charge for a new firearm was determined thusly: Place the proper sized bullet in your palm and pour just enough powder over it to cover it completely. That amount of powder twill be a safe starting charge that can be adjusted for accuracy. Works today with modern muzzle-loaders too!

Harpers Index         

• Percentage of Americans who think the federal government has too much power: 58

That lobbyists do: 71

Yeah, It Really Happened                 

OGDEN, UT - Two people cited for allegedly shoplifting in Ogden, Utah, in turn discovered just minutes later they were victims of theft, police said. Korin Vanhouten, 47 and Eldon Alexander, 36, were stopped shortly after leaving a WinCo by a police officer who suspected they left without paying for cotton swabs, makeup and batteries, the Ogden Standard-Examiner reported Friday. The officer cited them for shoplifting. When the pair returned to Alexander's pickup truck in the store's parking lot, they noticed someone had entered the unlocked truck and stole a stereo amplifier, a drum machine and cigarettes. Police Lt. Tony Fox said he had never seen anything like it in his entire career. The items the two were suspected of shoplifting were worth $26, while the worth of their stolen possessions was about $60, Fox estimated. Police were investigating.

Joke-of-the-day

An Israeli doctor says: "Medicine in my country is so advanced that we can take a kidney out of one man, put it in another, and have him looking for work in 6 weeks."

A British doctor says: "That is nothing; we can take a lung out of one person, put it in another, and have him looking for work in 4 weeks."

A Canadian doctor says: "In my country, medicine is so advanced that we can take half a heart out of one person, put it in another, and have them both looking for work in 2 weeks."

A Nigerian doctor, not to be outdone, says: "You guys are way behind...... We just took a man with NO brain, made him President, and now the whole country is looking for work.

New! Old-er people in the News

March 11th, 2008 - Florida cops last Saturday administered a solid tasering to a 65-year-old man who decided to go for a naked wander through a Sarasota neighbourhood.

According to Tampa Bay Online, Duncan Kirk (right), of Bradenton, was spotted in his birthday suit about 7.30pm making his way through locals' back gardens. When deputies duly arrived, he was found "sitting inside a home's screened-in patio", as Sgt Darin Bankert later explained.

The old timer then decided to make a run for it, but was quickly apprehended. He resisted officers' attempts to cuff him, even when hit with a dose of gel-based pepper spray, so cops tasered him twice.

Kirk was charged with "prowling and resisting arrest with violence", and released on Sunday from Manatee County Jail after coughing $1,200 bail.

Somewhat Useless Information   

• Emily Dickinson (1830-1886), America's most famous female poet, published only seven poems in her lifetime; all were published anonymously and against her will. It wasn't until after her death, at 56, that her nearly 2000 poems were discovered.
• Sharks and rays share the same kind of skin: instead of scales, they have small tooth-like spikes called denticles. The spikes are so sharp that shark skin has long been used as sandpaper.
• During the first 90 years of this century, the USA dominated the race for the title of the tallest building in the world. In 1974 Chicago's Sears Tower was completed, and generally seen as the 'tallest building' in the world. Sears Tower held on to that title for over 20 years.
• More than 50 percent of the people who are bitten by venomous snakes in the United States and who go untreated still survive.
• A mile on the ocean and a mile on land are not the same distance. On the ocean, a nautical mile measures 6,080 feet. A land or statute mile is 5,280 feet.
• To clean tarnished copper bottoms of pots and pans, spread a little ketchup onto the bottom. Let it sit for about one minute. Wipe it clean and rinse.

Found on You Tube          

New World's Tallest Building - the Burj Dubai (Burj Khalifa)

Calendar Information        

…Happening This Week:

25-31

It's About Time Week 

26-1/1 Kwanzaa

29^th: Nia (Purpose): To make our collective vocation the building and developing of our community in order to restore our people to their traditional greatness.

Today Is                                                                       

• Pepper Pot Day: commemorates the creation of this thick spicy soup, which was served to the Continental Army during the cold, harsh winter of 1777-1778
• Mongolia: 100^th anniversary of National Liberation Revolution from Qing Dynasty

Today’s Other Events                                                             

1100’s

1170 - Thomas Becket: Thomas Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury, is assassinated inside Canterbury Cathedral by followers of King Henry II

1700’s

1778 - English troops occupy Savannah, Georgia

1782 - 1st nautical almanac in US published by Samuel Stearns, Boston

1800’s

1812 - The USS Constitution under the command of Captain William Bainbridge, captures the HMS Java off the coast of Brazil after a three hour battle

1830: Nine local missionaries, issue a proclamation defending the Cherokee against the actions of Georgia. Georgia is trying to remove the Cherokee from their lands, in New Echota

1835 - The Treaty of New Echota is signed, ceding all the lands of the Cherokee east of the Mississippi River to the United States

1837 - Steam-powered threshing machine patented, Winthrop, Maine

1848 - Gas lights 1st installed at White House (Polk's administration)

1862 - Bowling ball invented 1885 - Gottlieb Daimler patents 1st bike (Germany)

1890 - US 7th Cavalry massacre 200+ captive Sioux at Wounded Knee, SD

1900’s

1911 - Proclamation restores "Dei Gratia" (by the grace of God) from Canada's coins

1911 - Sun Yat-sen becomes the first President of the Republic of China

1913 - 1st movie serial, "Adventures of Kathlyn," premieres in Chicago

1929 - Police arrest Sukarno & 100s PNI-leaders

1947 - Ship carrying Jewish immigrants driven away from Palestine

1948 - US State Dept announces work on placing objects into Earth orbit

1955 - Barbra Streisand's 1st recording "You'll Never Know" at age 13

1967 - Star Trek's "Trouble With Tribbles" 1st airs

1983 - US announced withdrawal from UNESCO

1989 - Wayne Gretzky & Martina Navratilova, named athletes of decade by AP

1997 - Hong Kong begins slaughtering all its chickens to prevent bird flu

1998 - Leaders of the Khmer Rouge apologize for the 1970s genocide in Cambodia that claimed over 1 million

Today’s Birthdays                                                           

In their 30’s

Jude Law, actor is 39

Diego Luna, actor is 32

In their 40’s

Winona Ryder, [Horowitz], actress (Heathers, Edward Scissorhand) is 40

In their 50’s

Herman Ronald Frazier, Phila, 400m/4x400m runner (Olympic-gold-1976) is 57

In their 60’s

Ted Danson, actor is 64

Richard Dreyfuss, actor (Jaws, Nuts, Mr Holland's Opus) is 64

Peter Green, [Peter Greenbaum], rocker (Fleetwood Mac) is 65

Kate Jackson, actress (Rookies, Charlie's Angels) is 63

Denny Laine, [Brian Hines], rock guitarist (Moody Blues, Wings) is 67

Melba Moore, [Beatrice], singer/actress (Ellis Island) is 66

In their 70’s

Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, President of Liberia is 73

Mary Tyler Moore, actor, comedian is  75

Jon Voight, actor is 73

Remembered for being born on this day

James Boswell, Scotland, Samuel Johnson's biographer, born in 1740

Fanny Brice, singing comedienne (Ziegeld Follies, Baby Snooks) born in 1891

Charles Ebbets, (namesake of Ebbets Field, Brooklyn) born in 1859

[Paul] Joseph Goebbels, Nazi propagandist born in 1897

Bernard Gordon, American writer and producer born in 1918

Edmund Halley, astronomer (Halley's Comet) born in 1656

Bela Lugosi, Hungarian horror actor (Dracula, Body Snatcher) born in 1884

William Henry ‘Bill’ Mauldin, political cartoonist (Pulitzer-1945, 59) born in 1921

Today’s Obits                                                           

Euell Gibbons, American outdoorsman & proponent of natural diet dies of aneurysm at 64 in 1975

Tim Hardin, US singer/song writer (If I were a Carpenter), dies of a drug overdose at 39 in 1980

[Maurice] Harold MacMillan, PM of Great-Britain (1957-63), dies at 92 in 1986

Answers                                                                                                                                            

NPR Sunday Puzzle

1.     Blue fish: 4 letters: Bush

2.     Daydreams: 5 letters: Adams

3.     Monochrome: 6 letters: Monroe

4.     Storyteller: 5 letters: Tyler

5.     Transfixion: 5 letters: Nixon

6.     Triumphant: 6 letters: Truman

7.     Registrant: 5 letters: Grant

8.     Maldistribution: 7 letters: Madison

9.     How so ever: 6 letters: Hoover

10.  Pot luck: 4 letters: Polk

11.  Culmination: 7 letters: Clinton

12.  Talkfest: 4 letters: Taft

13.  Papier mache: 6: Pierce

Wuzzle

• Missing link
• Unfinished tasks
• Big bully

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  ☺

12-28-11

FYI: Blue text is a link… click on any blue text for more information!

Today’s  Historical  Highlights         

• 1832 - John Calhoun becomes 1st VP to resign (differences with Pres Jackson)
• 1846 - Iowa becomes 29th state
• 1895 - World's 1st movie theater opens in Paris
• 1942 - Robert Sullivan becomes 1st pilot to fly Atlantic 100 times
• 1945 - Congress officially recognizes "Pledge of Allegiance"
• 1975 - "Hail Mary Pass"-Cowboys beat Vikings 17-14 on last second pass

♫Happy Birthday To: ♫                     

 

Free Rambling Thoughts   

Sure hope everyone is having or has had a great holiday time.

I had a great break in Chicago…no flight problems, no snow, sunshine every day. Certainly not the usual Chicago Holiday event. My sister-in-law and her family are so kind to me. We played with a three year old and a seven year old, had three opening presents events, I gave each little kid a toy and as an afterthought, a slinky. Amazingly the slinky-s were the biggest hit at the first party, and somehow made it to every other party too. The three year old told everybody I gave the best presents. Hardly true, but sure a hit. We also took the kids ice skating at Millennium Park downtown. While there we visited ‘the bean’ . I had seen it at night, but in the daytime it is really amazing. All in all it was a great trip. Now to get ready for Mexico next week.

Lifestyle  Substance  (any answers at the end of post)

NPR Sunday Puzzle

Each answer is a familiar word that starts with A-D and is an anagram of the given letters. For example, given the "pat," the answer would be "adapt."

1.     Led:

2.     Tim:

3.     Nor:

4.     Juts:

5.     Riot:

6.     Frit:

7.     Manta:

8.     Learn:

9.     Serve:

10.  Nether:

11.  Shimon:

12.  Octave:

13.  Balmier:

14.  Dilation:

15.  Event timers:

Wuzzles  What concept or phrase do these suggest?

   

Rules of Thumb   

Easy shortcuts to make an ‘educated’ guess

• People who wear their hair short will generally need a haircut within a week after their hair looks perfect.

Harpers Index         

• Minimum percentage of US electricity that is consumed by marijuana growers: 1

Yeah, It Really Happened                 

MIDLAND PARK, N.J. - A Midland Park, N.J., police officer was arrested for drunken driving after consuming alcohol during a state police class on DWI arrests, authorities say. During the Thursday class taught by the New Jersey State Police, Midland Park police officer Joseph B. Gaeta was given measured amounts of alcohol to test its effect on his physical abilities, the Midland Park Suburban News reported. After the class, Gaeta was driven home by another officer, Wyckoff police Chief Benjamin Fox said.

Once home, Gaeta, 31, got on his four-wheel all-terrain vehicle and began driving on a residential street, which authorities said is illegal. Gaeta was attempting to make a turn when he lost control of the ATV and flipped it. Fox said Gaeta sustained serious facial injures for which he was hospitalized. He had surgery Saturday. Gaeta, who had a blood-alcohol level of 0.13 percent, was charged with driving while intoxicated and given several other citations related to the illegal operation of an all-terrain vehicle.

"I've honestly never run across a situation like this in 43 years," said Midland Park police Chief John Casson. "I'm not sure at what point his status [with the department] could change."

Joke-of-the-day

One day an employee came in to work with both of his ears bandaged.

When his boss asked him what happened, he explained:

"Yesterday I was ironing a shirt when the phone rang and I accidentally answered the iron instead of the phone!"

"Well," the boss said, "that explains one ear, but what  about the other?"

"They called back!"

New! Old-er people in the News

ROYAL PALM BEACH: A 73-year-old man attacked an 81-year-old man with a pricing gun Sunday inside the Belvedere Road Wal-Mart, according to an arrest report.

Dennis O'Brien and John Esposito began arguing, and O'Brien swung at Esposito with the tool in his right hand, the report says. Esposito sustained a swollen left eye and cuts on his nose and mouth.

Esposito said he and O'Brien work at the Wal-Mart. He would not discuss the nature of their argument. Wal-Mart officials also would not comment.

O'Brien told a sheriff's deputy he acted in self-defense, but security tape showed O'Brien raising his hand first, striking Esposito in the face and then pushing him to the ground, according to the report.

Officials booked O'Brien into the Palm Beach County Jail on aggravated battery charges. He was released Monday on $3,000 bond.

Somewhat Useless Information   

• Did you know that celebrating the New Year is a tradition that dates back nearly 4000 years? If you had lived in Mesopotamia and Babylon 4,000 years ago (2000 B.C.), you probably would have celebrated the new year in mid-March, at the time of the Vernal (Spring) Equinox. If, however, you were an Egyptian, your new year began with the Autumnal Equinox and the flooding of the Nile. If you were Greek, the Winter Solstice began your new year celebrations. 

Bonus

• Today's Time Square New Year's Eve Ball was designed by Waterford Crystal. The Ball is a geodesic sphere, 11,875-pounds and 12-foot in diameter. The ball is lowered starting at 11:59:00pm and reaching the bottom of its tower 60 seconds.

Found on You Tube          

Westminster Abbey

Calendar Information        

…Happening This Week:

25-31

It's About Time Week 

26-1/1

Kwanzaa

• 26 The principle of Umoja (unity) speaks to our need to develop and sustain a sense of oneness, righteous and rightful togetherness in the small and large circles and significantrelations of our lives, from family and friendship to community and the cosmos
• 27 The principle of  Kujichagulia (Self Determination) instructs us to assert ourselves in self-defining and dignity-affirming ways in the world;  and  to create the miracles, monuments and meaningful relationships and achievements we want in our lives.
• 28 The principle of  Ujima (Collective Work and Responsibility) teaches us that we must build the good and sustainable communities, societies and world we all  want and deserve to live in and leave to those after us.

Today Is                                                                       

• Card Playing Day
• National Chocolate Day

Today’s Other Events                                                             

1000’s

1065 - Westminster Abbey opens in London

1600’s

1614 - Sperm whale beached at Noordwijk

1700’s

1732 - 1st known ad for "Poor Richard's Almanack" (Pennsylvania Gazette)

1791 – Cherokee Chief Bloody Fellow, and others, arrive in Philadelphia to meet with President Washington. The meeting will be delayed by Secretary of War Knox until the Cherokee have been outfitted in "more proper" clothing. The eventual meeting would lead to an addenda to the Holston Treaty which will be signed on February 17,1792.

1835: 2nd Seminole War: Wiley Thompson, Seminole Agent, Lt.Constantine Smyth, and Erastus Rogers, are killed by anti-removal Seminole at Fort King, near present day Ocala in the northcentral part of Florida. Major Francis L.Dade's company of troops are marching from Fort Brooke on Tampa Bay, to Fort King. Near the Little Withlacoochee River, near present day Bushnell. They will be attacked by 180 Seminole. Of a total of 112 soldiers, only 3 will survive. Chief Micanopy is credited by many as firing the first shot which killed Major Dade. Chief Jumper killed Dade's adjutant. Only 3 Seminole will be killed. Osceola led the Seminole on several skirmishes this day. Today will be considered the start of the Second Seminole War by the U.S. Army.

1800’s

1828 - 6.8 earthquake strikes Echigo Japan, 30,000 killed

1867 - United States claims Midway Island, the first territory annexed outside Continental limits

1869 - William Finley Semple of Mount Vernon, Ohio, patents chewing gum

1895 - The Lumiere brothers, 19th century film makers, held their first commercial screening

1897 - Edmond Rostand's "Cyrano de Bergerac," premieres in Paris

1900’s

1902 - Trans-Pacific cable links Hawaii to US

1905 - Intercollegiate Athletic Association of US founded (becomes NCAA in 1910)

1906 - Ecuador adopts its constitution

1928 - Last recording of Ma Rainey, "Mother of the Blues," made

1944 - Leonard Bernstein's musical "On the Town," premieres in NYC

1956 - Miss Frances [Horwich], last Ding Dong School on NBC-TV

1961 - Tennessee Williams' "Night of the Iguana," premieres in NYC

1963 - Merle Haggard 1st appearance on country chart with "Sing a Sad Song"

1964 - Principal filming of "Dr Zhivago," begins

1976 - Winnie Mandela banished in South Africa

1981 - The first American test-tube baby, Elizabeth Jordan Carr, is born in Norfolk, Virginia

1991 - Irene the Icon of Greek Orthodox church returns after being stolen

1991 - Ted Turner is named Time Magazine Man of Year

2000’s

2000 - U.S. retail giant Montgomery Ward announces it is going out of business after 128 years

2005 - A U.S. immigration judge orders John Demjanjuk deported to Ukraine for crimes against humanity committed during World War II

Today’s Birthdays                                                           

In their 30’s

John Legend, American musician is 33

Joe Manganiello, actor is 35

Seth Meyers, American actor, SNL is 38

Sienna Miller, actor, is 30

In their 50’s

Joe Diffie, country singer/guitarist (Pick Up Man ) is 53

Denzel Washington, actor (Dr Chandler-St Elsewhere and so much more) is 57

In their 60’s

Edgar Winter, rocker (They Only Come Out at Night) is 65

In their 70’s

Maggie Smith, actor is 77

In their 80’s

Stan Lee, comics artist/creator (Spiderman, Incredible Hulk) is 89

Martin Milner, actor (Route 66, Adam 12, Life of Riley) is 84

Remembered for being born on this day

1835 - Archibald Geikie, British geologist

1856 - [Thomas] Woodrow Wilson, (28 pres-1912-21, Nobel 1919)

1905 - Cliff Arquette, comedian (Charlie Weaver)

1911 - Sam Levenson, NYC, humorist (Sam Levenson Show, Masquerade Party)

1924 - Rod Serling, Syracuse NY, writer/host (Twilight Zone, Night Gallery)

Today’s Obits                                                           

Benazir Bhutto, Pakistani Prime Minister assassinated at 54 in 2007

Clarence Day, writer (Life with Father), dies at 61 in 1935

William Demarest, actor (My 3 Sons), dies in Palm Springs at 91 in 1983

Alexandre-Gustave Eiffel, engineer (Eiffel Tower), dies at 91 in 1923

Clayton Moore, American actor, Lone Ranger, dies at 85 in 1999

Jerry Orbach, American actor dies of prostate cancer at 69 in 2004

Sam Peckinpah, director, dies of cardiac arrest at 59 in 1983

Béla Schick, Hung/US children's physician (Scarlet Fever), dies at 90 in 1967

Susan Sontag, American writer dies of leukemia at71 in 2004

Dennis Wilson, drummer/singer (Beach Boys), drowns at 39 in 1983

Edith Bolling Galt Wilson, 1st lady (1915-21), dies at 89 in 1961

Answers                                                                                                                                            

NPR Sunday Puzzle

1.     Led: addle

2.     Tim: admit

3.     Nor: adorn

4.     Juts: adjust

5.     Riot: adroit

6.     Frit: adrift

7.     Manta: adamant

8.     Learn: adrenal

9.     Serve: adverse

10.  Nether: adherent

11.  Shimon: admonish

12.  Octave: advocate

13.  Balmier: admirable

14.  Dilation: additional

15.  Event timers: advertisement

Wuzzle

Twisted mind

A contract in writing

Turnip greens

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  ☺