19 April 2010~~Week 17 of 2010: 109 days this year… 256 days remain
‡ Something To Think About
The challenge of social justice is to evoke a sense of community that we need to make our nation a better place, just as we make it a safer place.
--MARIAN WRIGHT EDELMAN—founder of Children’s Defense Fund
• Holy Mackerel: On this day in 1951 ►General Douglas MacArthur spoke before Congress. The highlight of this memorable address was General MacArthur stating, “Old soldiers never die, they just fade away.”
‡ Free Ramblings
I hope the new format of this blog is easier to read. I have been looking for months go get rid of all that junk on the right or left. Today I figured it out. I can still do color and stuff, but the other space taking information is now at the bottom. I am just a little too ADD when it comes to working on a computer problem. I can start out fine, but it I’m not taking giant steps, I quickly find myself unable to concentrate on the issue. I will just leave it, and come back to it at a later date.
In some reading today I learned that the US war in Afghanistan has lasted longer than the Viet Nam War. I found that hard to believe until I realized Viet Nam, prior to 1964, the US role was that of advisor. In 1964, LBJ gave the go-ahead for actual fighting. Nixon ended it in 1973. We started fighting in Afghanistan in October of 2001. The Soviet War with Afghanistan lasted over 10 years, with their final troop withdrawal in 1989. So, in the last thirty one years—half of my life—Afghanistan has been involved in an on the ground war for over twenty years. Afghanistan has a life expectancy of 44 years (US is 78.8); the average Afghani woman has 7.4 children (US is 2.05); 57% of Afghani women are married before 16 years old; over one million are widows. Most importantly, the median age of the 30 million Afghanis is 17.6 years old (US is 37.6). That is ½ the population is older and one half the population is younger. More than half of their population has lived their entire life in war. The UN has labeled the Karzai government the second most corrupt nation in the world. (First on that list is Somalia—which basically has no central government.) If peace ever returns to Afghanistan, it will take several generations for the country to rebuild.
Yet another great spring day in Flagstaff. We made it to 66° and it was great to be outside. My windows were open most of the afternoon. I cleaned up some of the pine needles in the front and in the back…again. I was even able to read the Sunday paper out on the deck. It’s been a long time since I’ve been able to do that.
‡ A Quick Smile…
Looking down the stairs at a football game, a fan spots an open seat on the 50-yard line. He asks the man sitting next to it if the seat is taken.
"No," he replies. "I used to take my wife to all the games, but ever since she passed away, I come alone."
"Why don't you invite a friend?"
"I can't. They're all at the funeral."
‡ Random Fact
The word "samba" means "to rub navels together."
‡ Puzzle
Heteronyms are words that are spelled identically but have different meanings when pronounced differently. For example: Lead, pronounced LEED, means to guide. However, lead, pronounced LED, means a metallic element.
1. to act against; a fight or disagreement
2. to allow some event to occur; a document giving permission
3. not valid; an ill person
‡ Side Show Stories
TRACY CITY, Tenn. - Election officials in a Tennessee county said a town elected a deceased candidate mayor in a landslide -- 268 votes to the incumbent's 85. Donna Basham, administrator of the Grundy County Election Commission, said Tracy City voters elected Carl Robin Geary, who died suddenly a few weeks ago, over Mayor Barbara Brock, who took office about a year ago after the death of the last mayor, WTVC-TV, Chattanooga, Tenn., reported Thursday. Basham said Geary's death was widely reported in the town. She would not speculate as to the reasons for his posthumous victory. The administrator said the city council will appoint a mayor to serve a four-year term.
‡ Calendar Information
• Observance Weeks in April•
18-24
Administrative Professionals Week
Cleaning For A Reason Week
Coin Week
National Crime Victims Rights Week
National Volunteer Week
Sky Awareness Week
19-25
Astronomy Week
Consumer Awareness Week
Fish Fry Week
National Inspirational News Week
Police Officers Who Gave Their Lives In The Line of Duty Week
National Paperboard Packaging Week
National Window Safety Week
Turnoff Week
• 14 April Observances—US/UN/World •
Garlic Day
National Hanging Out Day
Oklahoma City Bombing Commemoration Day
Boston Marathon
US : John Parker Day (1775) honors minutemen
US: Dutch-American Friendship Day
• 14 April Observances—by country •
Bicycle Day: Swiss chemist Albert Hofmann in the Sandoz (now Novartis) laboratories in Basel, Switzerland took first LSD trip—yep on a bicycle.
Cuba : Bay of Pigs Victory Day (1961)
England : Primrose Day death of British statesman and prime minister Benjamin Disraeli
Sierra Leone : Republican Anniversary Day (1971)
Uruguay : Landing of the 33/Desembarco de los "Treinta y Tres" (1825 when 33 ‘easterners’ landed to begin a revolution)
Venezuela : Declaration of Independence Day/Day of Indian
•Number One Songs in…
1940► In the Mood; Glenn Miller
1950► If I Knew You Were Comin' (I'd've Baked a Cake); Eileen Barton
1960► Stuck on You; Elvis Presley
1970► ABC; The Jackson 5
1980► Call Me; Blondie
1990► Nothing Compares 2 U; Sinead O'Connor
• 14 April Happenings•
In The Arts
1847 – New portico at British Museum opened
1987 – The Simpsons premieres as a short cartoon onThe Tracey Ullman Show
In Athletics
1897 ►1st Boston Marathon won by John McDermott of New York in 2:55:10
1960 ►Baseball uniforms begin displaying player's names on their backs
1982 ►Rosie Ruiz, marathon race cheater, arrested for forgery
In Business or Education
1928 ►The 125th and final fascicle of the Oxford English Dictionary is published.
1960 ►Students in South Korea hold a nationwide pro-democracy protest against their presidentSyngman Rhee, eventually forcing him to resign.
In Politics
1859 ►Ft.Mojave is establsihed today to "protect" the area from theMOJAVE and PAIUTEs. 1587 ►Sir Frances Drake sails into Cadiz Spain & sinks Spanish fleet
1770 ►Captain James Cook 1st sees Australia
1775 ►Minutemen Captain John Parker orders not to fire unless fired upon—Lexington, starts Revolutionary War
1928 ►The combined nationalist Northern Armies under Chiang continue drive onto Peking as part of the Civil war continuing in China
1932 ►President Herbert Hoover suggests 5 day work week
1993 ►An assault on the Waco cult headquarters of the Branch Davidian sect near Waco, Texas
1995 ►Truck bomb outside Alfred P Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, kills 168 & injures 500
In Science/ Religion
1919 ►Leslie Irvin of US makes 1st successful parachute jump & free fall
1971 – Launch of Salyut 1, the first space station.
2005 ►Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger has been elected Pope
• 14 April Births •
Artists, Writers, and Composers
José Echegaray y Eizaguirre, 1832, mathematician/dramatist (Nobel 1904)
Athletes
Carlos Reyes, 41, pitcher (A's)
Maria Sharapova, 23, Russian born tennis player
Entertainers
Tim Curry, 64, actor (The Rocky Horror Picture Show; stage: Spamalot, Amadeus, My Favorite Year), born Cheshire, England
Elinor Donahue, 73, actress (Betty:“Father Knows Best”)
Kate Hudson, 31, actress (Fool’s Gold)
Ashley Judd, 42, actress (High Crimes)
Jayne Mansfield [Vera Jane Palmer], 1933, actress
Dudley Moore, 1935, actor (10, Arthur, Bedazzled)
Hugh O’Brian, 80, actor (“The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp”)
Dick Sargent, 1933, actor (Darrin, #2-Bewitched)
Al Unser, Jr, 48, race car driver, born Albuquerque, NM
Business, Education Leaders
Andrew Carnie, 41, Linguistics Professor at the University of Arizona (Scot-Gaelic Languages)
Political Leaders
Lucretia Rudolph Garfield, 1832, US 1st lady
Eliot Ness, 1903, untouchable (Prohibition Agent for Department of Treasury-Chicago)
Scientists /Religious Leaders
Ole Evinrude, 1877, inventor (outboard marine engine)
Glenn T Seaborg, 1912, head of Atomic Energy Commission/chemist
discovered Plutonium/Nobel 1951
discovered Plutonium/Nobel 1951
• 14 April Obits •
Benjamin Disraeli, 1881, 1st Earl (Beaconsfield)/novelist @ 77
Charles Funk, 1957, Encylopediest (Funk & Wagnalls), @ 76
Alfred [Joseph] Hitchcock, 1980, horror movie producer, renal failure @ 80
‡ ANSWERS to puzzle
1. Conflict kunFLIKT- to act against; KAHNflict- a fight or disagreement
2. Permit perMIT- to allow some event to occur; PERmit [although both pronunciations are listed]- a document giving permission
3. Invalid inVALLid- not valid; INvallid- an ill person
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