Tuesday July 20

This is Week 29 of 2010►Day 201 with 164 days left.

It is Day 92 of the BP Mess.

FREE RAMBLING THOUGHTS

This morning one of my FB ‘friends’ posted a debate from a couple of weeks ago It was put on by the Clean Elections Committee for District 2 state candidates. The debate had two who were running for Representative and three running for Senator. When it started I had no idea it would be over an hour long, but it was well worth listening to. All five candidates pointed out how Arizona has always been known for Diversity. I’m sure most were talking about the 23 Native Tribes we have here in AZ, but they also touched on the larger issue of diversity with the immigration problem. As I listened, I did remember a time when we embraced certain diversity. For sure it was on the surface level—with the old Flagstaff Pow Wow that brought many Natives to town for a week of celebration, family reunions, dances, parades, horse races and the rodeo. Too many Flagstaff residents didn’t embrace the great cultural experience and only looked at the hard work and the alcohol problems to end the annual event. Back in the day, the NAU homecoming was a city wide event. The Homecoming Parade went through downtown, lots of blue and gold adorned the store fronts. That too was a lot of work. Our small mountain town with one main road decided that closing that road for a couple of hours was not worth the hassle. So, for many years now, the Homecoming Parade is now limited to the Campus and South Side streets. I get that times change and so do traditions. I also get that these two events took a lot of coordination which led to a lot of work. The Pow Wow quietly died after being moved outside Flagstaff proper. The Homecoming is now little more than an NAU event. Our State Legislative District is very diverse. The district is not color blind. Many in the district are more liberal than the rest of the state, but there are many conservatives living in the district too. I hope that all the candidates who talked about the greatness of diversity will carry their message to the halls and chambers of our state government and work equally hard to keep diversity as one of our state’s strengths.

Another day of clouds without any rain. We were 88° with only 33% humidity. Not a muggy but still warm. My hope is for more rain tomorrow.

MY QUOTE FOR THE DAY

Maya Angelou: “We all should know that diversity makes for a rich tapestry, and we must understand that all the threads of the tapestry are equal in value no matter what their color.”

HOLY MACKEREL: On this date in 1942 ►The first members of the WAACS, the Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps began training at Fort Des Moines, IA. In 1943, the name was changed to WACS (Women’s Army Corps) and the organization became a part of the U.S. Army. All WAACS were given the choice of joining the new WACS (and joining the army) or returning to civilian life (75% stayed on).

SOMEWHAT USELESS INFORMATION

Studies have been done on many different animals, and they all show the same brain waves during dreaming sleep as humans. That means if Fido barks or moves his paws in his sleep, he is probably having a dream!

GREY MATTER PUZZLE 1

Your task here is to change one letter in each of the following words, in order to find three (3) words with a common theme.

STEER CRASS PESTER

UNUSUAL NEWS ITEM

JACKSONVILLE, FL— Let them eat cake. The wedding cake eating contest may have been a bit unconventional, but what else would guests expect when the groom is one of the world's top competitive eaters. Hall Hunt, who can down 63 Krystal burgers in eight minutes, and Emily Wright served burgers at their wedding reception in north Florida last month in a nod to Hunt's past time. The civil engineer has eaten his way to $60,000 in the past five years.

The No. 1-ranked competitive eater in the world, Joey Chestnut was also a guest at the wedding. The hot dog eating champs' presence was too good to pass up. The bride, groom and Chestnut were challenged to a cake eating contest — using forks — at the reception. The bride won.

A LITTLE LAUGH

Morons?

1. AT&T fired President John Walter after nine months, saying he lacked Intellectual leadership. He received a $26 million severance package. Perhaps it's not Walter who's lacking intelligence.

2. Police in Oakland , CA spent two hours attempting to subdue a gunman who had barricaded himself inside his home. After firing ten tear gas canisters, officers discovered that the man was standing beside them in the police line, shouting, 'Please come out and give yourself up.'

3. An Illinois man, pretending to have a gun, kidnapped a motorist and forced him to drive to two different automated teller machines, wherein the kidnapper proceeded to withdraw money from his own bank accounts.

4. A man walked into a Topeka , Kansas Kwik Stop and asked for all the money in the cash drawer. Apparently, the take was too small, so he tied up the store clerk and worked the counter himself for three hours until police showed up and grabbed him.

5. Police in Los Angeles had good luck with a robbery suspect who just couldn't control himself during a lineup. When detectives asked each man in the lineup to repeat the words: 'Give me all your money or I'll shoot', the man shouted, 'that's not what I said!'

GREY MATTER PUZZLE 2

During the recent BrainBashers cipher convention, a binary code contest took place. The contest consisted of a binary code transmission where the spaces between the letters were missing and there was no punctuation. Each letter of the alphabet was translated into its binary equivalent based on its position in the alphabet.

a=1 b=10 c=11 d=100 e=101 f=110 g=111 h=1000 i=1001 j=1010 k=1011 l=1100

m=1101 n=1110 o=1111 p=10000 q=10001 r=10010 s=10011 t=10100 u=10101 v=10110 w=10111 x=11000 y=11001 z=11010

Can you find 10 boy's names?

11010010111101011

10101110110110011

101011001111111110

100111010010110110101

1001101101001100

100001011010010110010

11100010010100110011

1010111111110

10111011011010011110

1010010100111110

Hint below:

Hint: The first letters of the names are F, J, J, S, D, P, C, J, k, B.

FOUND ON ‘YOU TUBE’

Alcatraz Island: AIM takeover believing an old treaty returned the land to Natives when the Prison closed: Click Here for Pics!

GREY MATTER PICTURE

This is a close up of what common object?

SOME CALENDAR INFORMATION

► Weekly Observances ◄

15-21: Rabbit Week: to raise awareness of rabbits as pets

18-25: Restless Leg Syndrome (RLS) Education & Awareness Week

………..Captive Nations Week

………..National Independent Retailers Week

► Today’s Observances ◄

Ugly Truck Contest Day

National Lollipop Day

Argentina: Friend's Day
Columbia( from Spain)-1819; Tunisia( from France)-1956: Independence Day

US : Moon Day (1969)

► Hit Songs on this date ◄

Woody Wood-Pecker Kay Kyserin 1948 Click Here to Hear It!

Hard-Headed Woman Elvis Presley in 1958 Click Here to Hear It!

Grazing in the Grass Hugh Masekela in 1968 Click Here to Hear It!

Shadow Dancing Andy Gibb in 1978

Hold On to the Nights Richard Marx 1988

► Born today ◄

…The Arts

Thomas Berger, 86, novelist (Vital Parts, Little Big Man), born in Cincinnati, OH

Kim Carnes, 64, singer, songwriter, born Hollywood, CA

Judy Chicago, 71, artist, feminist, born Judy Cohen at Chicago, IL

Cormac McCarthy, 77, author (The Road, No Country for Old Men, All the Pretty Horses), born Providence, RI

Carlos Santana, 63, musician, born Autlan, Mexico

+++

Diana Rigg, 72, actress (Tony for Medea; King Lear, Bleak House, “The Avengers”), born Doncaster, Yorkshire, England

Natalie Wood [Natasha Gurdin Zacharenko], actress, born in San Francisco, CA, 1938

…Athletics

Michael Ilitch, 81, sports executive, former minor league baseball player, born Detroit, MI

…Business & Education

Nelson Doubleday, Jr, 77, publisher(Doubleday)/owner(NY Mets), born in Long Island, NY

…Politics

Barbara Ann Mikulski, 74, US Senator (D, Maryland), born Baltimore, MD

…Science / Religion

Sir Edmund Hillary, one of 1st 2 men to scale Mt Everest, born in Auckland, New Zealand 1919

► Obituaries today ◄

Abdullah Ibn Hussein, Jordan's King assassinated in Jerusalem @ 69 in 1951

Frank Reynolds, news anchor (ABC Evening News), hepatitis @ 59 in 1983

Francisco Villa (Pancho Villa), Mexican Revolutionary, assassinated in car @ 45 in 1923

► Events ◄

…The Arts

1950 ►"Arthur Murray Party" premiers on ABC TV (later DuMont, CBS, NBC)

…Athletics

--

…Business & Education

1878 ►1st telephone introduced in Hawaii

…Indigenous People

1528 ►After spending almost a month in the Apalachee village of Ivitachuco, the Narvaez expedition leaves. They set out in their quest for gold looking for the village of Aute, near present day St. Marks. Accompanying Narvaez is Aztec Prince Tetlahuehuetzquititzin. The Prince, also known as Don Pedro, fought with the Spanish against Montezuma. He is killed by Apalachee warriors during this search for gold.

1676 ►Captain Benjamin Church has been joined by the Sakonett Indians, in the war with King Philip. They attack Philip's main camp, and almost capture Philip. His wife and child are captured. They are sold as slaves. As many as 170 Indians are killed in the fighting.

1881 ►Sioux Indian leader Sitting Bull, surrenders to federal troops

1970 ►1st baby born on Alcatraz Island: Wovoka was born during the AIM occupation

1995 ►Native Canadian Indians are blocking roads, threatening sit-ins and challenging government authorities. They are angry that Government Departments are bypassing the Chiefs and going to local bands to negotiate treaty rights because they are not as strong. The Indian Chiefs believe the government should negotiate with the chiefs which represent 500,000 Indians in Canada, and not take their fishing and hunting rights by using a divide and conquer strategy.

…Politics (US)

1861 ►Confederate state's congress began holding sessions in Richmond, Va

1948 ►President Harry Truman issued a proclamation today calling for a peacetime military draft because of rising tensions between the United States and the Soviet Union

…Politics (outside US)

1773 ►Scottish settlers arrive at Pictou, Nova Scotia (Canada)

1871 ►British Columbia becomes 6th Canadian province

1982 ►Bombs planted by Irish Republican Army explode in 2 London parks

…Science / Religion

1872► Mahlon Loomis receives patent for wireless ... the radio is born

1969 ►1st men on Moon, Neil Armstrong & Edwin Aldrin, Apollo 11

GREY MATTER ANSWERS

…1

Each new word is an alloy. STEER --> STEEL: CRASS --> BRASS: PESTER --> PEWTER

…2

Frank, James, Jason, Steve, David, Peter, Chris, Jacob, Kevin, Brian.

…Photo

Engine on back of jet fighter plane.

TODAY’S PHOTO SHOT

Scottish Highland Cow
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