Friday

The Cash for Clunkers Program is a really big success. You trade in your old gas guzzler and get $4500 from the government towards the purchase of a more fuel efficient vehicle. It started last week, and in less than a week, the $2 billion dollars is gone. That means about 225,000 people took advantage of it. If each one bought a $20K car, that just put $4.5 billion into the car industry. The one million was supposed to last until November. It was gone in a week. So Congress today proposed another $2 billion for the program. Some are calling this a great success. The $2 billion will come from other energy saving programs that aren’t off the ground yet. Maybe the recession has bottomed out. I personally can’t grasp any of the numbers. I do get the $4500. If I had a clunker, I would probably join in. I also get that the Flagstaff car dealers were complaining that the rebate web site kept crashing the last few days. It takes several hours for the dealership to do one rebate, with all the crashes. Now, the money is gone, unless Congress actually passes the latest bills.

The monsoon brought lots of thunder and lightning to our area, but didn’t drop any rain here. Probably dropped it around town in various places…thus the term isolated thunderstorms. I can’t complain, it never got over 80°. The traffic is building up for the weekend here. So many families heading toward Flag from the extreme heat of Phoenix. Just hope they spend lots of money to help our local economy.

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Random Fact…

The world's youngest parents were 8 and 9 and lived in China in 1910.

The term 'The Big Apple' was coined by touring jazz musicians of the 1930's who used the slang expression 'apple' for any town or city. Therefore, to play New York City is to play the big time - The Big Apple.

There are more Irish in New York City than in Dublin, Ireland; more Italians in New York City than in Rome, Italy; and more Jews in New York City than in Tel Aviv, Israel..

There are no natural lakes in the state of Ohio, every one is man made.

The smallest island with country status is Pitcairn in Polynesia , at just 1.75 sq. miles.

In the 1500’s they used to use urine to tan animal skins, so families used to all pee in a pot & then once a day it was taken & sold to the tannery.......if you had to do this to survive you were "Piss Poor" But worse than that were the really poor folk who couldn't even afford to buy a pot...........they "didn’t have a pot to piss in" and were the lowest of the low.

Crazy Stuff In The News…

SWANSEA, Wales - After stealing about $1,154 in liquor, two burglars decided to celebrate and got so drunk they fell asleep instead of escaping, police in Swansea, Wales, said. Burglars Keith Cullen and Paul Wiggins stacked up the stolen booze outside the store and then went in to have a drink. Police found them asleep in the store the next morning, The Sun newspaper reported. A Swansea prosecutor said closed circuit television recorded the entire theft of the Kuehne Nagle Drinks Logistics depot.
Police said Cullen turned up for his hearing at Swansea magistrates’ court so drunk he was prohibited from entering the building. Wiggins disappeared from the court.
Neither returned so both were tried in absentia. Cullen, 33, and Wiggins, 45, were convicted of burglary and theft and will be sentenced later.

August:

August is the eighth month of the year in the Gregorian Calendar and one of seven Gregorian months with the length of 31 days. This month was originally named Sextilis in Latin, because it was the sixth month in the ancient Roman calendar, which started in March about 735 BC under Romulus. It became the eighth month either when January and February were added to the beginning of the year by King Numa Pompilius about 700 BC or when those two months were moved from the end to the beginning of the year by the decemvirs about 450 BC (Roman writers disagree). It was renamed in honor of Augustus in 8 BC because several of the most significant events in his rise to power, culminating in the fall of Alexandria, fell in this month. Lore claims August originally had 29 days in the Roman Republican calendar. Augustus took two days from February and gave it to August when Sextilis was renamed in his honor. August's flower is the gladiolus or poppy, and its birthstone is the peridot. In common years no other month starts on the same day of the week as August, though in leap years February starts on the same day. August is the only month without a major federal holiday in the United States.

Month long events in August

Edinburgh Festival is an internationally famous arts festival that takes place during August National Immunization Awareness Month… National Psoriasis Awareness Month… Women's Small Business Month... National Back to School month…American Adventures Month…Golf Month…National Inventor’s Month…National Win with Civility Month…What will be your legacy Month

Week of Aug 1…
World Breastfeeding Week…Simplify Your Life Week

1 Aug…
213 days so far this year…152 days remain in 2009
Respect Your Parent’s Day…Sweet Corn Day…World Wide Web Day…National Mustard Day

BIRTHS ON THIS DAY…
1744 Jean-Baptiste Lamarck believed in inheritance of acquired traits
1770 William Clark explorer: Lewis and Clark Expedition
1779 Francis Scott Key composer (Star-Spangled Banner)

1819 Herman Melville US, author (Moby Dick, Billy Budd)

1933 Dom DeLuise NY, comedian, actor (End, Cannonball Run, Fatso)
1936 Yves Saint-Laurent fashion designer (Opium, Obsession)
1942 Jerry Garcia SF, rocker (Grateful Dead)
1948 Cliff Branch football Univ of CO grad
1961 Bart Conner US, parallel bars gymnast

Events on this day…

1619 1st black Americans (20) land at Jamestown, Virginia

1774 Priestly discovers oxygen
1790 1st US census (population of 3,939,214)

1831 London Bridge opens
1869 1st voyage down Colorado River
1876 Colorado becomes 38th state

1944 13-year-old Anne Frank made the last entry in her diary
1953 Calif introduces sales tax (for education)
1960 Chubby Checker releases "The Twist"
1972 1st article exposing Watergate scandal (Bernstein-Woodward)
1982 Greg Louganis, US becomes 1st diver to score 700 in 11 dives

Puzzles return tomorrow…
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