Wed 5-12

≈Week 19 of 2010: 132 days this year… 233 days remain≈

≈ Something To Think About 

A company that fails to take steps to produce a climate conducive to positive work-related ethical attitudes may create a vacuum in which employees so predisposed may foster a frontier-style, everyone for themselves mentality.

--Thomas Dunfee, Professor of Wharton Business School

≈ Random Fact       

Just one in three consumers pays off his or her credit card bill every month.

• Holy Mackerel: On this day in 1879►When the US tried to forcibly remove the Poncas from their homeland in Nebraska to an Oklahoma reservation, their chief, Standing Bear, brought suit to prevent it. The US claimed that Standing Bear could not bring suit because as a Native American he had no legal standing in US law. In Standing Bear v George Crook at US District Court, Judge J. Dundy ruled on this day that “an Indian is a PERSON within the meaning of the laws of the United States.” This landmark decision was appealed by the US to the Supreme Court, which dismissed it. Standing Bear was not forced to move his tribe, but other Native Americans were unable to use the decision to their advantage in other disputes with the US.

≈ Free Ramblings    

Being a bureaucrat for much of my professional career, I am very familiar with finger pointing, covering one’s own ass and the ass of the Bureau, and trying to smile while doing it. The horrific oil mess in the Gulf is a lesson for those who aren’t familiar with the process. Everything BP has done so far has failed, and failed pretty badly. They obviously did not have a plan for a worst case scenario—or even a plan for a bad scenario. They seem to just figure that they could drill a hole in the earth’s crust and the oil will just come out into their pipes and everyone will be better off with our own oil. A cement box didn’t work. Hair in panty hose didn’t work. Golf balls and chunks of rubber tires hasn’t worked yet. I caught a little of the senate hearings today. BP leaders said they weren’t to blame, but it was the company that built the thing that did the drilling. Those guys said it was Haliburton’s fault because they were hired for safety. Haliburton—Dick Cheney’s old company and already a household word from the Middle East mess said they had to work within the parameters of BP. This is a typical bureaucratic ploy—blame the other guy, move the spotlight off you and your company. I really don’t see how any law can fix this cultural event. How can bureaucrats write a law that will stop other bureaucrats from following one of the basic premises of a bureaucracy? We don’t have a Harry Truman in Congress. We don’t have a Harry Truman in big business. In the 21st century no one is going to say “The Buck Stops Here”. All those Americans who are losing their livelihood, all those living creatures that are dying, and all those who can no longer enjoy a day at a beach may never be able to recoup their loss because this oil spill just happened and no one will man up and take the blame.

Alternative energy is the battle cry that is coming around again. Living in a wind belt—Northern Arizona, I used to think that wind energy would be a great alternative. A few years ago I traveled much of the US from Flagstaff to Arkansas. On that trip we passed numerous huge wind farms. There were these huge wind turbines, lined up in rows, slowly turning around and around. It appeared that under windy conditions, they turned faster than in less windy conditions. Since that trip, every time I see an article or hear someone on the radio talking about wind power I perk up and listen. What I have learned is that wind power may create more problems than one expects. The biggest problem is migration of flying animals. Many birds and many varieties of bats are not expecting these turbines. As result, during migration they are killed and found in large numbers on the ground. No scientist has figured out a successful way to warn these flying creatures of the impending doom. It seems that every technology has a downside and when looking for quick solutions it is not always the best for the planet.

We learned today in our local paper that the majority of illegal immigrants in the US are people who have extended their visits and have expired visas. Our visa system is so antequated and understaffed that the government doesn't even know for sure that most of the people with expired visas are even in the US. Turns out that filling out that form when you enter or leave our borders may not make it to the correct data encoderr. And most of these illegals have a high education and are working in low paying jobs out of their field becasue their visa expired. It's time for our nation to get educated about immigration, legal and illegal immigrants, and figure out why we live in fear.

Wind continues to be our way of life here. A steady wind of 20mph and gusts to 40mph kept our high at 49°. I had planned to do some grocery shopping, but decided against it as wind takes all the fun out of any dreary task.

≈ A Quick Smile…    

Out in space two alien forms are speaking with each other.

The first spaceman says, "The dominant life forms on the earth planet have developed satellite-based weapons."

The second alien, who looks exactly like the first, asks, "Are they an emerging intelligence?"

The first spaceman says, "I don't think so...They have them aimed at themselves."

≈ Puzzle   

Take the given words, and by moving a single letter from one word to the other, make a pair of synonyms, or near synonyms. For example, given: Boast - Hip, move the 's' from 'Boast' to 'Hip' creating two synonyms: Boat - Ship.

1. East - Up

2. West - Oak

3. Blog - Ranch

4. Over - Plaint

5. Outage - Ranger

≈ Side Show Stories    

BRECKENRIDGE, Colo. - A Colorado man who claimed he was trying to defend himself from a mugger when he shot himself in the groin has been convicted of illegal discharge of a firearm. Investigators said there was no evidence to substantiate David Leroy Blurton's self-defense claim and jurors convicted the 50-year-old on Wednesday. The shooting happened at the parking lot of a grocery store in Dillon, Colo., in May 2009. Prosecutors say Blurton had been drinking.

Jurors also convicted Blurton of "prohibited use of a weapon — drunk with a gun" and reckless endangerment. Prosecutors said they will request that Blurton be sentenced to probation.

Blurton maintained that someone hit him in the back of the head and he was trying to defend himself.

≈ Calendar Information    

• Observance Weeks in May•

6-12

National Nurses Day and Week

8-16

National Tourism Week

9-15

National Nursing Home Week

National Police Week

National Return To Work Week

National Women's Health Week

Reading is Fun Week

Salute to Moms 35+ Week

10-16

National Etiquette Week

Salvation Army Week

Universal Family Week

Children's Book Week

National Stuttering Awareness Week

• Today’s Observances—US/UN/World •

Limerick Day

Donate A Day's Wages To Charity

International Nurses Day, commemorating the birthday of Florence Nightingale in 1820.

National Nutty Fudge Day

National School Nurse Day

National Hospital Day (1921)

National Night Shift Workers Day

National Third Shift Workers Day

Receptionists Day

• Today’s Observances—by country •

Abbotsbury Dorsetshire England : Garland Day: originally children made flower garlands and took them out into the fishing areas and dropped them in the sea. Since WWI children parade around town and leave the garlans at war memorials

Finland : Snellman Day (1806): Johan Vilhelm Snellman teacher, statesman, journalist and philosopher who worked for Finnish to become the Nat’l language.

Khmer Republic : Constitution Day (1972)

• 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.

1944 ►I Love You; Bing Crosby

1954 ►Wanted; Perry Como

1964 ►My Guy; Mary Wells

1974 ►The Streak; Ray Stevens

1984 ►Hello; Lionel Richie

• Today’s Happenings•

In The Arts

1932 ►Goofy, aka Dippy Dawg, 1st appears in 'Mickey's Revue' by Walt Disney

In Athletics

1970 ►Ernie Banks hits his 500th home run

In Business or Education

1777 ►1st ice cream advertisement (Philip Lenzi-New York Gazette)

1792 ►Toilet that flushes itself at regular intervals is patented

In Politics

1310 ►Fifty-four Knights Templars were burned at the stake as heretics in France.

1858 ►Comanche Chief Iron Jacket (Po-hebitsquash) is killed in a fight with Texas Rangers on the Canadian River.

1928 ►Mussolini ends woman's rights in Italy

1932 ►Body of kidnapped son of Charles Lindbergh is found in Hopewell NJ

1937 ►King George VI was crowned at Westminster Abbey.

1949 ►After blocking all road traffic into West Berlin for 11 months after diplomatic meetings around the world the Soviet Union has lifted the blockade of road and rail links.

1967 ►H Rap Brown replaces Stokely Carmichael as chairman of Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee

In Science/ Religion

1978 ►From the And You Thought We Had This Straightened Out By Now file: The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced that it would alternate men’s and women’s names in the naming of hurricanes

• Today’s Births •

Artists, Writers, and Composers

Burt Bacharach, 81, composer (“Walk on By,” “Close to You,” “Raindrops Keep Fallin’ on My Head,” many film scores), born in Kansas City, MO

Leslie Charteris, 1907, English/US detective writer (Enter the Saint) born in Singapore to Chinese Mother and English Father

Edward Lear, 1812, landscape painter, (Complete Nonsense Book), limericks born in Holloway, England

Athletes

Lawrence "Yogi" Berra, 1925, Yankee catcher/coach/manager, Mets, Astros born in St. Louis, MO

Bob Goldham, 82, hockey: NHL: Maple Leafs, Blackhawks, Red Wings born in Georgetown, Ontario

Tony Hawk, 41, skateboarder, born in Carlsbad, CA

Entertainers

Stephen Baldwin, 44, actor (The Usual Suspects), born in Mass-apequa, NY

Bruce Boxleitner, 59, actor (How the West Was Won, “Scarecrow and Mrs King”), born in Elgin, IL

George Carlin, 1937, comedian (7 words you can't say on television, AM & FM, Carwash) born in Bronx NY

Emilio Estevez, 48, actor (The Breakfast Club, Repo Man), born in New York, N

Katharine Hepburn 1907, actress (African Queen, Adam's Rib, On Golden Pond) born in Hartford CT

Jocko Marcellino, 60, rocker (Sha Na Na) born in Quincy, MA

Steve Winwood, 62, musician, singer, born in Birmingham, England

Business, Education Leaders

Howard K Smith, 1914, TV newsman (ABC, Moderated Kennedy-Nixon debate) born in Los Angeles CA

Tom Snyder, 1936, broadcast journalist born in Milwaukie, WI

Political Leaders

Otto Frank, 1889, father of Anne Frank born in Frankfurt, Germany

Scientists /Religious Leaders

Justus Freiherr von Liebig, 1803, chemist (agricultural chemicals) born in Darmstadt, Germany

• Today’s Obits •

Dick Calkins, 1962, co-author (Buck Rogers), @ 67

Robert Reed, 1992, actor (Brady Bunch), AIDs @ 59

≈ ANSWERS to puzzle    

1. Eat – Sup

2. Wet - Soak

3. Log - Branch

4. Overt - Plain

5. Outrage - Anger

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