Tuesday July 27

This is Week 30 of 2010►Day 208 with 157 days left.

It is Day 98 of the BP Mess. Day 11 with no leaks.

FREE RAMBLING THOUGHTS

So BP is going to make an American its CEO and the Crazy Brit is headed for Russia’s BP offices. Hmmm. Don’t think I would want the CEO job. Maybe BP is just showing that they are multi-national. Somehow I don’t think so. Certainly the American should be able to explain things better to Americans than the Brit. What is odd to me is that everyone involved with ‘safety’ in BP is keeping their jobs. Somehow, changing the head will not change the body. Somehow those billions of gallons of oil that leaked have now ‘disappeared’. Hello??? Just because it has stopped rising to the surface doesn’t mean it is gone. Mother Nature has been busy trying to make things better and that is good. This seems to show that humans do not know what they are doing when it comes to off shore deep well drilling. Many seem to be holding on to the hope that the ‘ocean’ has cleaned itself, and this is not a big deal. That would be great. If that has happened, are we now to believe that ‘next time’ it will work the same way? I hope that somebody actually figures out where all that oil went before another well is drilled.

The news has had lots of information about “Wikileaks”. They have posted almost 100,000 documents regarding ‘secret’ American intelligence about the Afghan War. I needed to more about the website. Background: ‘wiki-anything’ simply deals with a website that allows viewers to edit the content live. I learned long ago that any ‘wiki’ site should be viewed with some understanding that information found there is not necessarily factual. Anyone can write something and put it on a wiki site. Sometimes, others will correct errors in information, sometimes not. A ‘wiki’ site is only there to express information—true, false, sort of true, or sort of false. Wikipedia is one of the most popular ‘wiki’ sites. I use Wikipedia for some of my information—and when I read something that just doesn’t sound right, I check it with other on line encyclopedias. So this afternoon I took some time to learn more about ‘wikileaks’. It is a Swedish website. It has no connection with Wikipedia. It started out as a whistleblower website, where anyone can blow that whistle on anything. They say they were started by a group of Chinese dissidents, International journalists, and mathematicians from the US, UK, Taiwan and South Africa. According to its site its "primary interest is in exposing oppressive regimes in Asia, the former Soviet bloc, Sub-Saharan Africa and the Middle East, but we also expect to be of assistance to people of all regions who wish to reveal unethical behavior in their governments and corporations." All posts can be anonymous.

With the recent posts on Wikileaks almost everyone is calling foul. It is putting our troops in danger in Afghanistan. It is threatening our relations with all other nations, as Top Secret no longer means Top Secret. It is showing Americans that war is horrific. It is showing that our ‘friends’ are sometimes only that way because we give them money. Only time will tell how all this plays out. Technology has certainly changed the way we all see the world. After my career with the Federal Government I know that technology has never been its strong suit. Thanks to some future thinkers, it took very little time and a lot of money to get every BIA school onto the Internet. It was possible to get all the students on the web, while it was not possible to get the administrators on the web. What? Yeah, the Cobell lawsuit on trust money kept the Bureau administrators from using the web. About two months ago that time consuming legal battle was settled and Ms Cobell won her case. Finally. Well, not exactly, this week the House refused to appropriate the necessary funding to pay the litigants. So now that battle is back on.

Flagstaff had a huge thunderstorm today. Luckily it was mainly in Flagstaff and did not cause additional flooding in the fire area. The local paper says that some areas got about 2” of rain during the storm. Yeah, that much rain in such a short time would cause street flooding. They were quick to post that the Peaks did not get that much rain and that the area recently hurt by flooding, did not get anywhere near that much. I ran some errands early this morning and got home just before the rain started. There was street flooding on both sides of town—east and west. It was cool this morning so I took a 2 mile walk about 8am. Then I headed out to run errands. This storm brought lots of lightning and thunder, and thankfully I didn’t lose my electricity. Of course the computer and TV were off during the storm. All I need now is a power surge to blow out all my electronics. I have good surge suppressors on everything, but can’t be too careful.

MY QUOTE FOR THE DAY

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow: The best thing one can do when it's raining is to let it rain.

HOLY MACKEREL: 1947 Yogi Berri starts record 148 game errorless streak

SOMEWHAT USELESS INFORMATION about farming

>Today's American farmer feeds about 155 people worldwide. In 1960, that number was 25.8.

>Soybeans are an important ingredient for the production of crayons. In fact, one acre of soybeans can produce 82,368 crayons.

>One pound of wool can make 10 miles of yarn. There are 150 yards (450 feet) of wool yarn in a baseball.

>Turkeys originated in North and Central America, and evidence indicates that they have been around for more than 10 million years. Mature turkeys have more than 3,500 feathers.

GREY MATTER PUZZLE 1

Can you find an anagram of PROBATIONS?

UNUSUAL NEWS ITEM

HOLIDAY, FL - Authorities in Florida said a woman arrested for allegedly growing a marijuana plant told deputies she only kept the plant because it was "cute." The Pasco County Sheriff's Office said a deputy passing by the Holiday, Fla., home of Jacqueline Moore, 55, Tuesday noticed a 2-foot-tall uprooted marijuana plant by the curb and asked Moore about it, the St. Petersburg (FL) Times reported Thursday. Moore told the deputy she does not smoke marijuana and she received the plant as a "baby plant" from a neighbor a few months ago. The deputy quoted Moore as saying she kept the plant because it was "cute" and she put it on the curb with the trash because it was growing too big. Moore was arrested and charged with cultivation of marijuana. She was taken to the Land O'Lakes jail with bail set at $2,000.

A LITTLE LAUGH

A study conducted by UCLA's Department of Psychiatry has revealed that the kind of face a woman finds attractive on a man can differ depending on where she is in her menstrual cycle. For example: If she is ovulating, she is attracted to men with rugged and masculine features. However, if she is menstruating, or menopausal, she tends to be more attracted to a man with duct tape over his mouth and a spear lodged in his chest while he is on fire. No further studies are expected.

GREY MATTER PUZZLE 2

Lucy's mom has 5 children; Tom, Max, Mary, Faye. What is the name of the last child?

FOUND ON ‘YOU TUBE’

Korean War Memorial Click Here!

GREY MATTER PICTURE

This is a close up of what object?

SOME CALENDAR INFORMATION

► Weekly Observances ◄

25-31 National Salad Week

► Today’s Observances ◄

National Korean War Veterans Armistice Day

Barbie-in-a-blender Day

Take Your Houseplant For A Walk Day

Walk on Stilts Day

Finland: National Sleepy Head Day

Philippines: Iglesia Ni Cristo Day: founding of Church of Christ

Puerto Rico: José Celso Barbosa Day: founder of Federalist Party and advocate of statehood

North Korea: Victory Day

► Hit Songs on this date ◄

On the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Johnny Mercer in 1945

Rock Around the Clock Bill Haley & His Comets in 1955

(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction The Rolling Stones in 1965

One of These Nights The Eagles in 1975

► Born today ◄

…The Arts

Thomas Campbell, Scottish poet, born in 1777 Glasgow, Scotland

Norman Lear, 88, television scriptwriter, producer (“All in the Family,” “Maude”), born New Haven, CT

+++

Bobbie Gentry, 68, singer, songwriter (“Ode to Billie Joe”), born Roberta Streeter at Chicasaw County, MS

Maureen McGovern, 61, singer, actress, born Youngstown, OH

Nick Reynolds, folk singer: group: The Kingston Trio, born in 1933 San Diego, CA

Jonathan Rhys-Meyers, 33, actor (August Rush, Match Point, Elvis, “The Tudors”), born County Dublin, Ireland

Jerry Van Dyke, 79, actor (“Coach,” “Teen Angel”), born Danville, IL

Kennan Wynn, actor (Dr Strangelove, Absent Minded Professor) , born in 1916, New York, NY

…Athletics

Peggy Gale Fleming, 62, Olympic gold medal figure skater, sports-caster, born San Jose, CA

Leo Durocher, baseball manager (Dodgers, Giants), born in 1906 West Springfield, MA

Dennis Ralston, 68, tennis: youngest Wimbledon champ [age 17] , born in Bakersfield, CA

Alex Rodriguez, 35, baseball player, born New York, NY

…Business & Education

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…Politics

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…Science/Religion

Sheikh Muszaphar Shukor, 38, first Malaysian in space, born in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

► Obituaries today ◄

Montgomery Blair, lawyer (Dred Scot V Sandford), @ 70 in 1883

Bobby Day, rocker (Rockin' Robin), cancer 2 60 in 1990

James Mason, actor, heart attack @ 75 in 1984

► Events ◄

…The Arts

--

…Athletics

1924 8th Olympic games closes in Paris

1947 Yogi Berri starts record 148 game errorless streak

…Business & Education

1586 Sir Walter Raleigh brings 1st tobacco to England from Virginia

…Indigenous People

1757 Ottawa warriors, and a few French soldiers attack a group of twenty-two barges commanded by British Lieutenant Colonel John Parker on Lake George in New York. The British forces have 160 men killed, and almost 150 men captured. Only two of the barges escape the fighting.

…Politics (US)

1919 Chicago race riot (15 whites & 23 blacks killed, 500 injured)

1995 The Korean War Veterans Memorial in Washington D.C. opened to the public

…Politics (outside US)

1689 Jacobite Scottish Highlanders defeat royal force at Killiecrankie

1694 Bank of England chartered

1953 The armistice agreement that ended the Korean War was signed at Panmunjon, Korea.

…Science / Religion

1501 Copernicus formally installed as canon of Frauenberg Cathedral

1775 Benjamin Church began his service as the first Surgeon General of the Continental Army.

GREY MATTER ANSWERS

…1

Absorption

…2

Lucy!

…Photo

A letter opener

TODAY’S PHOTO SHOT

River Garry Pass of Killiecrankie Perth and Kinross, Scotland

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