June 21

FYI: Click on any blue text for a link to more information!

Today’s  Historical  Highlights

1633: Galileo Galilei is forced by Inquisition to "abjure, curse, & 

           detest" his Copernican heliocentric views

1749: Halifax, Nova Scotia, is founded

1898: Guam becomes a territory of US

1963: Pope Paul VI (Giovanni Battista Montini) succeeds John XXIII

1968: Supreme Court Chief Justice Earl Warren resigns

1975: "Jaws" by Steven Spielberg opens

1982: John Hinckley found not guilty of 1981 attempted 

           assassination of President Reagan by reason of insanity

2004: SpaceShipOne becomes the first privately funded 

           spaceplane to achieve space flight

♪Happy Birthday To: ♪ 

                   

 

Free Rambling Thoughts   

I got a very surprising phone call today. It seems my dearly departed Mom had an annuity that was not in her records anywhere. Somehow they tracked me down 4 years after her passing and are sending paperwork to get a $12K annuity. Nice, as my brother said “She just keeps on giving.”

As summer continues to beat down on Flagstaff, we need some moisture, badly. My place was 90° today. This is drying out everything. Our fear of forest fire increases every day. Idiots continue to found daily, in the forest, with campfires. I don’t understand why they are set free with a warning, by claiming they don’t live in Flagstaff and were unaware of the ban of fires. Are they being air dropped into the forest? Signs are everywhere.

Our new conservative city council was sworn in yesterday and their first order of business was to stop the rate hike planned on property taxes. The tax would have cost average homeowners a whopping additional $10/year. Now the budget is not balanced and cuts are ahead. Hold on for big changes here in our little town.

Game   Center: (answers at the end of post)

Brain Game—A close up picture of what?

NPR Sunday Puzzle Going Down to R-I-O

Every answer is a seven-letter word or name that contains the consecutive letters, R-I-O, somewhere in it. For example, if the clue is "inquisitive," the answer is "curious."

1.     A lover of one’s country:

2.     Toronto’s province:

3.     Not joking around:

4.     Baseball team that plays at Camden Yards:

5.     Screamingly funny: hilarious,

6.     A man experienced in battle:

7.     Very angry:

8.     Vehicle in Ben Hur:

9.     A light French roll:

10.  Highly caustic criticism:

11.  Diverse or assorted:

12.  An ancient trumpet or its shrill sound:

13.  Richard, Mayor of LA:

14.  Deductive, as in reasoning (2 words):

15.  Informal British good bye:

What is the answer?

What do the following words have in common?
WORK HOBBY WAR SEA RACE

4X4 Word Boxes

The answer to 1 across is the same word as the answer to 1 down; 2 across is the same as 2 down; etc. Can you solve these Word Boxes? Each answer is 3 letters.

1.     a three-handed card game
2.     money, or a hardy cabbage
3.     Ladd, or an obsolete term for "wolfhound"
4.     serve

Lifestyle  Substance     

One Hit Wonders of the 1950’s

• Sea of Love, Phil Phillips, 1958

• The Battle Of Kookamonga,Homer and Jethro, 1959

• Only You, Frank Purcel, 1959

• Here Comes Summer, Jerry Keller, 1959

Harper’s Index         

Estimated amount of money Hezbollah laundered through US used-car dealers between 2007 nad 2011: $329,552,000

Found on You Tube 

Interesting Facts About Planets Uranus, Neptune & Pluto, And Their Moons

Planet Earth—

Joke-of-the-day

A young child walked up to her mother and stared at her hair. As mother scrubbed on the dishes, the girl cleared her throat and sweetly asked; "Why do you have some grey strands in your hair?"

 The mother paused and looked at her daughter. "Every time you disobey, I get one strand of grey hair. If you want me to stay pretty, you better obey."

The mother quickly returned to her task of washing dishes. The little girl stood there thinking. She cleared her throat again. "Mother?" She sweetly asked again.

 "Yes?" Her Mother replied. "Why is Grandma's hair all grey?"

Rules of Thumb   

Easy shortcuts to make an ‘educated’ guess

When you order Chinese food, order one entree less than the number of people in the group to avoid unwanted leftovers.

Yeah, It Really Happened

Riverside, CA: Ana Lee Spray, 23, said she was awakened Saturday morning by the sound of her three Chihuahuas barking at the top of their tiny lungs at the opening of her garage.
Spray said she looked out her daughter's window to investigate the ruckus and was shocked to see her gang of 3-pound dogs had cornered an angry-looking cougar in the garage.
The homeowner said the Chihuahuas’ barking kept the animal, which appeared to be foaming at the mouth, at bay for 45 minutes until Riverside County Sheriff's deputies arrived.
"When they saw the dogs they said 'These little things?' When they saw the mountain lion their jaws dropped," Spray said. "They radioed, 'This is a full-size mountain lion and it is not happy to see us.'"
Spray said the cougar made a run for it after officers from the Department of Fish and Game shot it with tranquilizers and she did not see the eventual capture.                 

Somewhat Useless Information   

• In the United States, there is little difference between the terms “college” and “university.” However, the term “college” in other countries, such as Canada, refers to a junior college or trade college, where as a “university” is larger, more research focused, and usually contains multiple colleges.

• The word “alumnus” is Latin meaning “a pupil” and, literally, a “foster son.”

Calendar Information        

Happening This Week:

14-21

   Nursing Assistants Week
17-23

   Universal Father's Week
   Meet A Mate Week
   Old Time Fiddlers Week
21-24 

   Watermelon Seed Spitting Week

Today Is                                                                      

Atheists Solidarity Day

Cuckoo Warning Day Hearing one today means a wet summer

Go Skateboarding Day

Midsummer (Wiccan) Recess At Work Day

World Handshake Day

World Humanist Day

Greenland: National Day  

Today’s Other Events                                                             

1500’s

1547: Great fire in Moscow

1600’s

1607: 1st Protestant Episcopal parish in America established, Jamestown

1674: Chatot Trive have a mission established for them today west of the Apalachicola River

1700’s

1734: In Montreal in New France (today primarily Quebec), a black slave known by the French name of Marie-Joseph Angélique, having been convicted of the arson that destroyed much of the city, is tortured and hanged by the French authorities in a public ceremony that involved her disgrace and the amputation of a hand

1788: US Constitution goes into effect as NH is 9th to ratify

1800’s

1856: Non-hostile Indians along the lower Rogue River, and at Fort Orford, in southwestern Oregon, are put on a boat to be moved to a new reservation between the Pacific Ocean, and the Wallamet River. It will be called the Grande Ronde Reservation

1879: F W Woolworth opens 1st store (failed almost immediately)

1900’s

1939: NY Yankees announce Lou Gehrig's retirement

1942: Seinheuer throws female world record spear (47.24m)

1962: USAF Maj Robert M White takes X-15 to 75,190 m

1964: 3 civil rights workers-Michael H Schwerner Andrew Goodman & James E Chaney-disappeared after release from a Mississippi jail found dead later in the day

1969: Zager & Evans release "In the Year 2525"

1983: Tennis ace Arthur Ashe undergoes double bypass heart surgery

1986: Bo Jackson, Heisman Trophy winner, singns with KC Royals

2000’s

2002: Lennox Lewis retains boxing's WBC world Heavyweight crown with an eight round knockout over Mike Tyson

2006: Pluto's newly discovered moons are officially named Nix & Hydra

Today’s Birthdays                                                           

Remembered for being born on this day

Benazir Bhutto, 1st female leader of a Moslem nation (Pakistan) in 1953

Judy Holliday, NYC, comedienne/actress (Born Yesterday, Adam's Rib)

Charles Thomas Jackson, American scientist, polymath in 1805

Milward Kennedy, British public servant and mystery writer in 1894

Increase Mather, New England Puritan minister in 1639

Jean Paul Sartre, existentialist/writer (Le Mur, Nobel 1964; declined) in 1905

Maureen Stapleton, Troy NY, actress (Airport, Coccoon, Plaza Suite) in 1925

Carl Burton Stokes, Cleveland, (Mayor-Cleve)/TV newscaster in 1927

Jane Russell, Bemidji MN, full-figured actress (Outlaw) in 1921

Martha Washington, 1st, 1st lady in 1731

In their 80’s

Margaret Heckler, US Secretary of Health & Human Services is 81

Lalo [Boris] Schifrin, Buenos Aires Argentina, composer (Mission Impossible theme) is 80

In their 70’s

Ron Ely, actor (Tarzan, Doc Savage) is 74

Mariette Hartley, NYC, actress (Polaroid spokesperson, Marooned) is 72

Bernie Kopell, NYC, actor (Love Boat, Get Smart, That Girl) is 79

In their 60’s

Meredith Baxter,  actr (Family Ties, Bridget Loves Bernie) is 65

Michael Gross, Chicago Ill, actor (Family Ties, FBI murders) is 65

In their 50’s

Tom Chambers, NBA forward, center (Seattle SuperSonics, Phoenix Suns) is 53

In their 30’s

Chris Pratt, American actor is 33

Prince William, Duke of Cambridge, London, England, son of Prince Charles & Lady Diana turns 30

Today’s Obits                                                           

Niccolo Machiavelli, Florentine statesman/author, dies in 1527 at 58

Carroll O'Connor, American actor (All In the Family) of heart attack in 2001 at 76

Leland Stanford, American business tycoon and founder of Stanford University dies of heart failure in 1893 at 69

Leon Uris, American writer dies in 2003 at 79

Answers                                                                                                                                            

Brain Game: Close Up Picture

What is the answer?

Each may be followed by HORSE to make a new word

NPR Sunday Puzzle

1.     A lover of one’s country: patriot

2.     Toronto’s province: Ontario

3.     Not joking around: serious

4.     Baseball team that plays at Camden Yards: Orioles

5.     Screamingly funny: hilarious, riotous

6.     A man experienced in battle: warrior

7.     Very angry: furious

8.     Vehicle in Ben Hur: chariot

9.     A light French roll: brioche

10.  Highly caustic criticism: vitriol

11.  Diverse or assorted: various

12.  An ancient trumpet or its shrill sound: clarion

13.  Richard, Mayor of LA: Riordan

14.  Deductive, as in reasoning (2 words): a priori

15.  Informal British good bye: cheerio

4X4 boxes

SKAT

KALE

ALAN

TEND

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  ☺

June 20

FYI: Click on any blue text for a link to more information!

Today’s  Historical  Highlights

1675: Start of "King Philip's war1782: Congress approves Great Seal of US & eagle as its symbol

1840: Samuel Morse patents his telegraph

1911: NAACP incorporates (NY)

1947: Pres Harry Truman vetoes Taft-Hartley Act

1967: Muhammad Ali convicted of refusing induction into armed services

1988: Supreme Court upholds a law that made it illegal for private clubs to discriminate against women & minorities

1990: Nelson Mandela lands in NYC to begin a tour of US

♪Happy Birthday To: ♪ 

                   Returns tomorrow

 

Free Rambling Thoughts   

We had our weekly lunch early as Mary leaves for a month in Oregon on Thursday. Great lunch at the best Mexican Restaurant in AZ. Still family owned and operated with much of the same great wait staff that has been there for decades. Nice. Mary got her SS thing straightened out or at least understood. She retired in May, turned 62 in July and someone put the wrong income in her forms. She had earned too much money in that year and should not have got paid anything from SS that year. Since they paid her, now they want that money back. She sent the check off today. Cheryl is getting ready for summer visits from her son and his family and as soon as they leave, her sister will fly in for a couple of weeks. So everyone will be busy for the next month.

Egypt is certainly having its problems with their new democracy. I am so thankful that I was able to visit and see the beautiful country with all its history before the Arab spring began. It is such a difficult time for all the people who live there. While we were assured that all the military escorts and tourist police who were with us whenever we left the hotel were just for ‘show’ and was Mubarak’s way of providing jobs. Not so sure that was all true now. All our security was friendly and provided us with help from the most aggressive vendors. They were armed and ready. One security guard who was with us most of the trip in Cairo talked a little right at the end of the trip and said he had never had to draw his weapon, but had been trained if necessary. Hmmm

Game   Center: (answers at the end of post)

Brain Game—A close up picture of what?

NPR Sunday Puzzle

Every answer is a word starting with the letter V. Use an anagram of the clue to find the answer. For example, if the clue is "serve," the answer would be "verse."

1.     Rival:

2.     Lovely:

3.     Caveat:

4.     Devote:

5.     Irving:

6.     Livery:

7.     Selves:

8.     Latvian:

9.     Savior:

10.  Observe:

11.  Octavian:

12.  Dovetail:

13.  Levantine:

What is the answer?

Rearrange the following letters to give the title of a popular song.

ECHO IN MUDDY LANE

4X4 Word Boxes

The answer to 1 across is the same word as the answer to 1 down; 2 across is the same as 2 down; etc. Can you solve these Word Boxes? Each answer is 3 letters.

1.     crossbow ammunition

2.     do what you're told

3.     jump

4.     category

Lifestyle  Substance     

One Hit Wonders of the 1950’s

• He’s Got the Whole World in His Hands, Laurie London, 1958

• Volare, Domenico Modugno, 1958

• To Know Him Is To Love Him, Teddy Bears, 1958

• Rockin’ Robin, Bobby Day, 1958

Harper’s Index         

Percentage increase in anti-Muslim hate crimes in the US: 50

Found on You Tube 

        Returns tomorrow

Planet Earth—

Joke-of-the-day

Earl and Bob, both obsessed with baseball, never missed their favorite team’s game. They promised, whoever died first, and went to heaven, would come back to earth and tell the other if there was baseball in heaven. One day, Earl died. Bob waited for him to come back. Finally Earl did. He said to Bob. "I have good news and bad news. I'll tell you the good news first. There is baseball in heaven." Bob said, "That’s the best news!" Then Earl said, time for the bad news....”You're pitching tomorrow night."

Rules of Thumb   

Easy shortcuts to make an ‘educated’ guess

If a choking person can verbally request the Heimlich maneuver, he or she doesn't need it.

Yeah, It Really Happened

 Lincoln, NE (AP) --A handgun stolen from a Lincoln store nearly five years ago has turned up during the arrest of a man after a traffic stop in Northern California, officials said.The .40-caliber semiautomatic handgun was one of 79 handguns and rifles stolen in fall 2007 when two teenagers broke into the Scheels store at South Pointe Pavilions shopping center in Lincoln.The gun was found Monday in the center console of a car after a 25-year-old man was pulled over for speeding down U.S. Highway 101 in Petaluma, the Lincoln Journal Star reported.
The driver told police he had been using the gun for target practice but that it belonged to his uncle. The driver was arrested on suspicion of possessing a loaded gun.Two people were eventually convicted of breaking into Scheels. Cleophus Collier, 22, is in prison. Dominique Barton, 22, has been assigned to a community corrections program.Authorities have recovered 50 of the weapons stolen on Oct. 1, 2007."It's amazing how far these guns have ended up," said Lincoln Police Sgt. Jeri Roeder.Four of the rifles and 26 handguns were recovered the morning after the break-in, police said. Twenty more have turned up in various spots across the country, including Boulder County, Colo., and Phoenix. A soldier from Phoenix who had served in Afghanistan used one of the stolen semiautomatics to kill himself.Twenty-nine of the guns have not been recovered, and it's likely more have ended up in California.Trista Frederick, a spokeswoman for the Kansas City Division of Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, said California has stricter gun controls than some other states. Criminals buy weapons elsewhere and move them surreptitiously into California to sell on the black market, Frederick said.

Somewhat Useless Information    

British children have their own version of Santa Claus. Called Father Christmas in the United Kingdom, he traditionally wore a green hooded cloak. But as American culture slowly worked its way across the Atlantic in the 1930s, Father Christmas started wearing the traditional red fur coat associated with the iconic American Santa Claus.Thirteen-year-old Charles Manson was sent to Father Flanagan's Boys Town in 1947. Within a week of arriving, he and another boy escaped and committed two armed robberies.According to the American Retail Association, Americans spend about $2 billion less on gifts for Dad on Father's Day than they do for Mom on Mother's Day. However, more collect calls are placed on Father's Day than any other day of the year.The hymn "Eternal Father" is known in the United States as The Navy Hymn" because it has been sung at each Sunday's Divine Services in Annapolis since 1879. It was Franklin D. Roosevelt's favorite hymn, and the Navy Band played it as John F. Kennedy's body was carried up the stairs of the Capitol to lie in state.Humorist Ralph Schoenstein has many books to his credit, including the I Hate Preppies Handbook, but one of his most popular publications doesn't even list his name on the cover. Schoenstein was the ghostwriter responsible for Bill Cosby's mega-selling book Fatherhood.
Some historians believe that Father Time is actually based on Cronus, the Titan god of agriculture, who carried a scythe for harvesting purposes. Perhaps it's because of this agricultural connection that Father Time is often depicted as being married to Mother Nature.

Calendar Information        

Happening This Week:

14-21

   Nursing Assistants Week
17-23

   Universal Father's Week
   Meet A Mate Week
   Old Time Fiddlers Week

Today Is                                                                      

American Eagle Day

Ann & Samantha Day is meant for reflection on Anne Franks and Samantha Smiths

Ice Cream Soda Day

National Daylight Appreciation Day

Summer Solstice

World Juggling Day

World Refugee Day

West Virginia Admission Day (1863—35^th state)

Argentina: Flag Day  

Today’s Other Events                                                             

Before 1000CE

451: Germans & Romans beat Atiila the Hun at Catalarinische Fields

1200’s

1214: The University of Oxford receives its charter

1500’s

1567: Jews are expelled from Brazil by order of regent Don Henrique

1600’s

1631: The sack of Baltimore: the Irish village of Baltimore is attacked by Algerian pirates

1675: Abenaki, Massachusetts, Mohegan & Wampanoag indians form anti-English front under Metacom

1700’s

1756: India rebels defeat Calcutta on British army

1780: British Captain Henry Bird commands a force of 1000 men, of which 850 are Indians. Today, they attack Ruddle's Station, Kentucky. Three hundred settlers have taken refuge in the station. Bird's forces have a cannon, and the settlers soon realize they are outmatched. They agree to surrender. When they settlers open the gate, the warriors rush in and start killing them. Before Bird could intercede, over 200 people will be killed. This will be called the "Ruddle's Station Massacre."

1787: Oliver Ellsworth moves at the Federal Convention to call the government the United States

1800’s

1819: 320 ton Savannah becomes 1st steamship to cross any ocean (Atlantic)

1863: 1st bank chartered in US (National Bank of Davenport Iowa)

1871: Ku Klux Klan trials began in federal court in Oxford Miss

1900’s

1919: Treaty of Versailles: Germany ends incorporation of Austria

1936: Jesse Owens of US sets 100 meter record at 10.2

1943: Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) founded

1963: US & USSR agree to set up "Hot Line"

1966: Sheila Scott completes 1st round-the-world solo flight by a woman

1968: Jim Hines becomes 1st person to run 100 meters in under 10 seconds

1969: 150,000 attend Newport '69, Jimi Hendrix gets $120,000 to appear

1994: OJ Simpson arraigned on murder of Nicole Simpson & Ronald Goldman

Today’s Birthdays                                                           

Remembered for being born on this day

Lord George ESMH Carnarvon, England, Egyptologist (Tutankhamen) in 1866

Errol Flynn, Hobart Tasmania, actor (Captain Blood, Robin Hood) in 1909

George Hickes, English linguistic (Old German Philology) in 1642

Audie Murphy, most decorated American WW II hero/actor (Joe Butterfly) in 1924

Jacques Offenbach, Cologne, French composer (Tales of Hoffmann) in 1819

Moses Waddel, American educator/minister and bestselling author in 1770

Betty Washington- sister of George Washington in 1733

In their 80’s

Olympia Dukakis, Lowell Mass, actress (Moonstruck, Cemetery Club) is 81

Martin Landau, actor (Mission Impossible) is 84

In their 70’s

John Mahoney, Manchester England, actor (Fraiser, Frantic, 8 Men Out) is 72

Brian Wilson, Inglewood California, vocalist (Beachboys-In My Room) is 70

In their 60’s

John Goodman, actor (Dan Conner-Roseanne, Babe) is 60

Lionel Richie, singer (Commodores, Hello, Penny Lover) is 63

In their 40’s

Nicole Kidman, actress (Dead Calm, Far & Away) is 45

Today’s Obits                                                           

Pieter Adams, architect of Rotterdam, dies in 1846 at about 67

Benjamin "Bugsy" Siegel (Benjamin Siegelbaum), gangster, shot dead in 1947 at 41

Bob Stump, American politician (AZ) dies of blood disorder in 2003 at 76

Answers                                                                                                                                            

Brain Game: Close Up Picture

What is the answer?

Unchained Melody

NPR Sunday Puzzle

1.     Rival: viral

2.     Lovely: volley

3.     Caveat: vacate

4.     Devote: vetoed

5.     Irving: Virgin

6.     Livery: verily

7.     Selves: vessel

8.     Latvian: valiant

9.     Savior: various

10.  Observe: verbose

11.  Octavian: vacation

12.  Dovetail: violated

13.  Levantine: Valentine

4X4 boxes

BOLT

OBEY

LEAF

TYPE

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  ☺