Tuesday July 13

This is Week 28 of 2010, Day 194 with 171 days left. It is Day 85 of the BP Mess.

FREE RAMBLING THOUGHTS

After weeks of hearing about the AZ Immigration mess, finally, the facts. ASU’s Morrison Institute for public policy released a report. First, every source I checked states that the Morrison Institute is non partisan, independent, and a reliable source. With facts from a variety of sources they basically disproved everything Arizonians have been led to believe about the immigration issue. There is no credible source that says that illegal immigrants in Arizona are mostly drug dealers and/or human smugglers. There was no credible source that they are draining funds for our schools and our healthcare system. The dang fence isn’t going to stop illegal immigration. What a nice breath of fresh clean air.

I heard another interesting story from Spain. Many small towns and larger cities are busy making laws to forbid the wearing of a burqa. Muslims have played a big role in the history of Spain. One local was interviewed and said the burqa scared her because everything is covered and you can’t tell if a man or woman is under the clothing. One small town with a population of 109 people with no Muslims passed a ban on burqas. They fully admitted that they have never seen anyone in their town wearing a burqa. In that same town one of the wiser residents said he was surprised they didn’t also ban the polar bear. I must say that while I was in Egypt, I did see Saudi tourists at several hotels. The women were all wearing burqas. It is not a mode of dress I was used to seeing. However, they were tourists. They stopped at shop windows, pointed, giggled, laughed and were having a good time. They were raised that this was what they wear in public. It is, and never has been what they wear in their homes.

Fear seems to make politicians popular. Fear that Anglos will soon be taken over by a minority in AZ or fear that strictly observing a religious dress code leads to crime always seems to get votes. Facts seldom play a role in fear.

Today was hot. We had clouds. We didn’t get any rain at my place, but others around town did. We climbed to 84°. Ah, you say, not too hot. Well the weather service also says we had 49% humidity. I guess I should say it felt really hot today.

HOLY MACKEREL: On this date in 1832 ►Source of Mississippi River discovered (Henry R Schoolcraft) 

MY QUOTE FOR THE DAY

Emily Dickinson: The soul should always stand ajar, ready to welcome the ecstatic experience.

SOMEWHAT USELESS INFORMATION

The Hawaiian alphabet only has 12 letters. (a, e, i, o, u, h, k, l, m, n, p, w) plus ‘

GREY MATTER PUZZLE 1

Given the word STANDARD, take away two letters and add three digits to make a logical sequence.

UNUSUAL NEWS ITEM

LAS CRUCES, N.M. — A 47-year-old man's friends set his prosthetic leg on fire after he lost a drinking bet, causing him to suffer severe burns to his buttocks and lower back. Dona Ana County sheriff's deputies found the man naked on the side of U.S. Route 70 with his prosthetic leg in flames. Deputies learned that the man and his friends were drinking Monday and bet that whoever drank the least would be set on fire. The man told investigators that at six beers, he drank the least, and agreed to let his friends set him on fire.

He said his friends ignited his prosthetic leg, and the flames spread to his body.

The sheriff's office said the man took his clothes off because of the pain and his friends decided to take him to the hospital. But they got nervous and instead dropped him off on the side of the highway.

The man was taken to a Texas burn treatment center.

A LITTLE LAUGH

Part of rebuilding New Orleans caused residents often to be challenged with the task of tracing home titles back potentially hundreds of years. With a community rich with history stretching back over two centuries, houses have been passed along through generations of family, sometimes making it quite difficult to establish ownership. Here's a great letter an attorney wrote to the FHA on behalf of a client: You have to love this lawyer...

A New Orleans lawyer sought an FHA loan for a client. He was told the loan would be granted if he could prove satisfactory title to a parcel of property being offered as collateral. The title to the property dated back to 1803, which took the lawyer three months to track down. After sending the information to the FHA, he received the following reply.

(Actual reply from FHA):

"Upon review of your letter adjoining your client's loan application, we note that the request is supported by an Abstract of Title. While we compliment the able manner in which you have prepared and presented the application, we must point out that you have only cleared title to the proposed collateral property back to 1803. Before final approval can be accorded, it will be necessary to clear the title back to its origin."

Annoyed, the lawyer responded as follows:

(Actual response):"Your letter regarding title in Case No.189156 has been received. I note that you wish to have title extended further than the 206 years covered by the present application. I was unaware that any educated person in this country, particularly those working in the property area, would not know that Louisiana was purchased by the United States from France in 1803, the year of origin identified in our application. For the edification of uninformed FHA bureaucrats, the title to the land prior to U.S. ownership was obtained from France, which had acquired it by Right of Conquest from Spain . The land came into the possession of Spain by Right of Discovery made in the year 1492 by a sea captain named Christopher Columbus, who had been granted the privilege of seeking a new route to India by the Spanish monarch, Queen Isabella. The good Queen Isabella, being a pious woman and almost as careful about titles as the FHA, took the precaution of securing the blessing of the Pope before she sold her jewels to finance Columbus 's expedition. Now the Pope, as I'm sure you may know, is the emissary of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, and God, it is commonly accepted, created this world. Therefore, I believe it is safe to presume that God also made that part of the world called Louisiana. God, therefore, would be the owner of origin and His origins date back to before the beginning of time, the world as we know it, and the FHA. I hope you find God's original claim to be satisfactory. Now, may we have our damn loan?"

The loan was immediately approved.

GREY MATTER PUZZLE 2

What is represented by getgetgetgetmenot

FOUND ON YOU TUBE

Happy Birthday Cheech Marin: Click Here!

GREY MATTER PICTURE

This is a close up of what common object?

SOME CALENDAR INFORMATION

► Weekly Observances ◄

10-12: International Chicken Wing Week

11-17: National Farrier’s Week: Horseshoe People

…………Sports Cliché Week

► Today’s Observances ◄

Fool's Paradise Day

Embrace Your Geekness Day

Gruntled Workers Day

Japan : Bon Festival starts

Rhodesia : Founder's Day/Rhode's Day

► Hit Songs on this date ◄

Daddy: Sammy Kaye in 1941

Too Young: Nat "King" Cole in 1951

Tossin' and Turnin': Bobby Lewis in 1961

It's Too Late/I Feel the Earth Move: Carole King in 1971

Bette Davis Eyes: Kim Carnes in 1981

► Born today ◄

…The Arts

Cameron Crowe, 53, director, screenwriter (Fast Times at Ridge-mont High, Jerry Maguire, Oscar for Almost Famous), born Palm Springs, CA

Cheech Marin, 64, writer, actor (Cheech and Chong films, “Nash Bridges”), born Los Angeles, CA

Wole Soyinka, 76, Nobel Prize–winning author (The Lion and the Jewel, The Strong Breed), born Abeokuta, Nigeria

+++

Bob Crane, actor (Hogan's Heroes) born in 1928 Waterbury Ct

Dave Garroway, TV host born in 1913 Schenectady, NY

Harrison Ford, 68, actor (Witness, The Fugitive, the first Star Wars trilogy, the Indiana Jones films), born Chicago, IL

Louise Mandrell, 56, country and western singer, born Corpus Christi, TX

Patrick Stewart, 70, actor (“Star Trek: The Next Generation,” X-Men films, ..), born Mirfield, England

…Athletics

Michael Spinks, 54, former boxer, born St. Louis, MO

…Business & Education

Erno Rubik, 66, inventor of the Rubik’s Cube, born in a hospital air raid shelter, Budapest, Hungary

…Politics

--

…Science / Religion

Father Edward Joseph Flanagan, Catholic priest, founder of Boys Town, Omaha NE born in 1886 Ballymoe, County Roscommon, Ireland

► Obituaries today ◄

Lon Chaney Jr, actor (Hawkeye, Pistols 'n' Petticoats), heart failure @ 67 in 1973

Ruth Ellis, last woman executed in UK for murder hung @ 29 in 1955

► Events ◄

…The Arts

1985 ►The Live Aid Concert was a series of rock concerts held to raise funds for famine relief in Ethiopia around the world in cites including London, Philadelphia, Sydney and Moscow.

…Athletics

--

…Business & Education

1865 ►Horace Greeley advises his readers to "Go west young man"

…Indigenous People

1878 ►First Cavalry, Twenty-First Infantry and Fourth Artillery soldiers, under Captain Evan Miles, fight a group of Indians at Umatilla Agency, Oregon. According to army documents, two soldiers are killed. This is a part of the Bannock War.

…Politics (US)

1787 ►Congress establishes Northwest Territory (excludes slavery)

…Politics (outside US)

1960 ►Senator John F. Kennedy of Massachusetts is nominated for the presidency

1970 ►FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover named the Black Panther party the most dangerous terrorist group in existence today

…Science / Religion

1917 ►Vision of Virgin Mary appeared to children of Fatima, Portugal

1977 ►A lightening strike strikes a substation on the Hudson River, tripping two circuit breakers in Westchester County, then a second lightning strike caused the loss of two 345,000 volt transmission lines causing a 25hrs blackout of the New York City area

GREY MATTER ANSWERS

…1

Take away the A's to leave ST ND RD. Then add 1, 2, and 3: 1ST 2ND 3RD.

…2

Forget-me-not (a flower).

…Photo

Box of No. 2 Pencils

TODAY’S PHOTO SHOT

Victoria Falls

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