Thurs 5-27

≈Week 21 of 2010: 147 days this year… 218 days remain≈

≈ Something To Think About  

Education is what survives when what has been learned has been forgotten.

--B.F. Skinner

≈ Random Fact    

Nancy Drew was created by a man, Edward Stratemeyer, who died only two weeks after the series debut in 1930. Carolyn Keene is a pen name for various ghostwriters who have written the books over the years. The first Carolyn Keene was Mildred Wirt Benson, who wrote 23 of the first 30 Nancy Drew books.

• Holy Mackerel: On this day in 1679 ►Habeaus Corpus Act (no false arrest & imprisonment) passes in UK

≈ Free Ramblings    

I am just about ready to say good bye to the place I have get my glasses. Some will remember they messed up my prescription about 6 months ago. At that time I was really upset with the young girl who just kept adjusting them, when I kept telling her there was something wrong. Finally I went to the ophthalmologist and found the lenses were wrong. Yesterday I went in to get a quick adjustment. My glasses were loose. I waited as another young girl finished up with an elderly lady who was buying three pairs of glasses. I sat down and showed the lady what was wrong. She bent the bows, bent the nose pieces and they appeared to be much tighter. This morning, about 10am, I realized that they were pinching my nose and checked and had two big dents in my nose that were getting bright red. I went back and got another young girl. She said the problem was nose pieces that were too small and the fact that wire frames are ‘almost impossible’ to adjust correctly. That is crap, since I have worn wire frames for at least 15 years and never had that problem. The bigger nose pieces had the glasses feel like they were sticking way out on my nose. She said I’d get used to it. I told her that I had prisms in the lenses and I was concerned that they were off a little. She took the glasses back to the guy who makes the glasses. He marked the prism and brought them out. I put them on and he said, “Do they feel like they are sticking out from your face?” When I told him yes, he moved the nose pieces a little and now I have glasses that fit again. I am not happy with having to go back, I am not happy with the incompetence. Mostly, this is the first business that I have dealt with that really makes me feel ‘old’. All the young ladies I have worked with seem to treat me like I am old man who really doesn’t know what he wants, doesn’t really know what is going on, and certainly they don’t want to waste time with me. I’m now keeping my eyes open for a new place to buy my glasses.

I saw a great news piece tonight that hardly makes me feel good, but certainly opened my eyes. It turns out that back in 1979 there was another oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. The drilling was being done by the same company that is responsible for this one. This was a oil well drilled by Mexico. The spill began when the blow out failed and the rig caught fire. That spill sent out about ten thousand gallons a day. The company tried to put a cap on the well. That didn’t work. They put out a series of buoys to contain the oil. They sent planes to drop dispersant on the oil. They did all the same procedures that are being done today. It took three months to drill the relief well, just like today. The difference is that the 1979 spill was in 200 feet of water and less oil was being released into the open Gulf. The oil companies claim to have made huge technological advances since 1979 and are now drilling at over 5000 feet of water. The scary part is that their R&D people have not made any technological advances on what to do when everything doesn’t work according to plan. BP is following almost the exact same emergency measures, using the exact same type of technology some 31 years later. Turns out that, at the same time of the 1979 rig fire, the Alaskan Pipeline had to be shut down because of a leak. Today there was an oil leak on the Alaskan Pipe line that cut production down to 20%. Too bad our government never seems to learn from history. For more information, just Google ’1979 gulf oil spill’. Oh, Permex has morphed into Transocean between 1979 and 2010.

Flagstaff had a great weather day. We made it to 70°, there was only a light breeze. The sky remained fairly clear. Spring is here and I am luvin’ it.

≈ A Quick Smile…    

The district attorney was cross-examining the murderess on the witness stand.

"And so after you had poisoned the coffee and your husband sat at the breakfast table partaking of the fatal dosage, didn't you feel any qualms? Didn't you feel the slightest pity for him knowing that he was about to die and was wholly unconscious of it?"

"Yes," she answered. "Come to think of it...there was just a moment when I sort of felt sorry for him."

"And, when was that?"

"When he asked for the second cup."

≈ Puzzle 1    

A man is trapped in a room. The room has only two possible exits: two doors. Through the first door there is a room constructed from magnifying glass. The blazing hot sun instantly fries anything or anyone that enters. Through the second door there is a fire-breathing dragon. How does the man escape?

≈ Side Show Stories    

BEMIDJI, Minn. - A Minnesota couple said their son was born while his mother was behind the wheel of her car en route to the hospital. Amanda McBride, 29, said she left work at about 11:30 p.m. May 18 when she began feeling labor pains and picked up the child's father, Joseph Phillips, 33, on her way to North Country Regional Hospital in Bemidji, the Bemidji Pioneer reported. McBride said she had to drive the car because Phillips suffers seizures, but the couple said Phillips had to grab the wheel when McBride's water broke mid-drive.

"She yelled at me to grab the wheel," Phillips said. "And then, all of a sudden, I heard this little waaa (cry)." The mother, who has two older sons, said the birth was quick. "The baby just came right out," she said. "I was just sitting on the seat and he just slid out. It really wasn't bad at all."

The family made it to the hospital with McBride and baby still in the driver's seat and Phillips steering from the passenger side. The baby, Joseph Dominick Phillips, was found to be healthy and weighed 8 pounds, doctors said.

≈ Puzzle 2: Brain Food  

A certain crime is punishable if attempted but not punishable if committed. What is it?

≈ Calendar Information    

• Observance Weeks in May•

22-29

Cover the Uninsured Week

National Safe Boating Week

25-31

Week of Solidarity With The People of Non-Self-Governing Territories

26-30

International Whistler's Week

May 27–June 6
Largest annual festival of literature takes place: Hay-on-Wye, Powys, Wales.

• Today’s Observances—US/UN/World •

Body Painting Arts Festival

Cellophane Tape Day

• Today’s Observances—by country •

Afghánistán: Independence Day (1921 from UK)

Bolivia: Mother's Day or Día de la Madre

Guadeloupe, Saint Barthélemy, Saint Martin: Slavery Abolition Day since 1848

Nicaragua: Army Day

Nigeria: Children's Day

Turkey: Freedom & Constitution Day (1960, 1961)

• Today’s Number One Songs in…

For anyone interested, all these songs are available on iTunes.

"Music, once admitted to the soul, becomes a sort of spirit, and never dies." ~ Edward Bulwer-Lytton.

1924 ►It Ain't Gonna Rain No Mo'; Wendell Hall

1934 ►Cocktails for Two; Duke Ellington

1944 ►I Love You; Bing Crosby

1954 ►Wanted; Perry Como

1964 ►Love Me Do; The Beatles

1974 ►The Streak; Ray Stevens

1984 ►Let's Hear It for the Boy; Deniece Williams

• Today’s Happenings•

In The Arts

1933 ►Walt Disney's "3 Little Pigs" released

1995 ►Actor Christopher Reeve was thrown head first while riding his horse.

In Athletics

---

In Business or Education

1844 ►Samuel F.B. Morse completes 1st telegraph line

1895 ►British inventor Birt Acres patents film camera/projector

1936 ►The Cunard liner RMS Queen Mary leaves Southampton on her maiden voyage to New York

1937 ►Golden Gate Bridge, San Fransisco, dedicated 1943 ►The Ballpoint pen , is patented in America by Hungarian Laszlo Biro

In Politics

1607 ►Virginia has it's first significant battle between Indians and European settlers.
1703 ►St Petersburg (Leningrad) founded by Peter the Great

1941 ►The German battleship Bismarck is sunk in the Atlantic by the Royal Naval ships Dorsetshire and others

 (Click here for pics of sinking w/ Johnny Horton singing)

1985 ►Britain agrees to return Hong Kong to China in 1997

In Science/ Religion

1850 ►Mormon Temple in Nauvoo IL destroyed by tornado

1930 ►Richard Drew invents masking tape

1961 ►1st black light is sold

• Today’s Births •

Artists, Writers, and Composers

Rachel Louise Carson biologist/ecologist/writer (Silent Spring) , born 1907 Springdale, PA

Isadora Duncan, dancer: revolutionized the concept of dance, born 1878 San Francisco, CA

Herman Wouk, 95, writer (Marjorie Morningstar, The Winds of War), born New York, NY

Athletes

Sam Snead Hot Springs VA, PGA golfer (Masters 1949, 52, 54/PGA-1963, 65, 67, 70, 72, 73) , born 1912 Ashwood, VA

Entertainers

Todd Bridges, 45, actor (“Diff’rent Strokes”), born San Francisco, CA

Louis Gossett, Jr, 74, actor (Emmy for “Roots”; Oscar for An Officer and a Gentleman), born Brooklyn, NY

Christopher Lee, 88, actor (The Lord of the Rings films, Dracula, The Mummy), born London, England

Lee Ann Meriwether, 75, actress (“Barnaby Jones,” “Batman”), former Miss America (’55), born Los Angeles, CA

Vincent Price, horror actor, born 1911 St Louis MO

Business, Education Persons

Cornelius Vanderbilt millionaire (B & O railroad), born 1794 Staten Island, New York

Political Persons

Amelia Jenks Bloomer, women’s rights advocate; newspaper publisher: The Lily; social reformer; temperance advocate; led cause for more sensible dress for women: bloomer panties named after her, born 1818 Cortland County, New York

Christopher J. Dodd, 66, US Senator (D, Connecticut), born Willimantic, CT

"Wild Bill" Hickok [James Butler] cowboy/scout, born 1837 Homer, Illinois

Hubert Humphrey, Senator-MN; 38th Vice President, born 1911 Wallace, South Dakota

Henry Kissinger, 87, former Secretary of State, author, born Fuerth, Germany

Scientists /Religious Persons

Karl Bühler, German linguist and psychologist, born 1879 – Meckesheim Germany

• Today’s Obits •

Jean Caulvin [John Calvin] French priest/church reformer, fever @ 54 in 1564

Archibald Campbell Chief of Clan Campbell, beheaded for high treason @ 53 in 1661

Jawaharlal Nehru the founder of modern India and prime minister, @ 74 in 1964

≈ ANSWERS to Puzzle 1    

He waits until night time and then goes through the first door.

≈ ANSWERS to Brain Food  

Suicide or Coup d'etat

≈ Something you might enjoy…  

In 2005, YouTube changed the internet forever. It is now available in 22 languages. Check out this one…

Here is a plane view of Golden Gate Bridge that opened today in 1937. Click HERE!

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