Tuesday August 31

This is Week 35 of 2010►Day 243 with 122 days left.

FREE RAMBLING THOUGHTS

Computer success today. My very cool brother gave me an iPod before my 1st ocean crossing. I downloaded some great music, a couple of audio books, and a bunch of my favorite CD’s. It was great for the trip, even better for my morning walks. Since I am an older guy, I don’t buy a lot of music anymore. I like that the iPod lets me buy a song, without buying the whole album. It reminds me of my long discarded 45 collection, without the hassle of that big hole and all the adaptors. Anyway, my computer died a couple of months ago. I remember hearing, when I got my iPod about 4 years ago that it was synched to one computer and that it was difficult to transfer stuff to another computer…thanks to all the hackers that had been downloading illegal music or were sharing purchased music with others. It also has to do with Apple’s domination of the on-line legal music. Producers and Artists would not let Apple have the music if there was any way to copy the music to another player. So, when my computer died, I figured my music was basically gone if I ever tried to synch my iPod and computer—a necessary thing to add new stuff to the iPod. Well, my trip is coming up and I need some new music and at least one book. So this afternoon I decided that it was time. Google quickly found me a site with instructions. Everything needed was free. In the time between my getting the iPod and needed in make it work on a new computer, the wonderful people at Apple have made it easy. Download a couple of programs, synch everything and it’s done. I guess I’m not the only iPod owner who has to buy a new computer before the iPod itself breaks. Cool. Very cool. It is too bad that AOL doesn’t make the change so easy. I still can’t retrieve my emails that were saved on my old computer. All I really wanted was the various itinerary emails for my overseas trips. I now know that AOL really does suck, and save those type of emails as Word Documents, which are easy to retrieve.

I am so thankful that some journalists are finally speaking out about the Mosque issue in NYC. We are fighting a war in two—or maybe only one—country so that those people can have a democratic government, hopefully based on the US Constitution. Our enemy is Al-Qaeda which is a radical fundamentalist Islamist group founded back in 1989. They want to destroy those who do not follow strict Muslim teachings. They have lots of examples that non-Muslims want to see them destroyed. They use lots propaganda to make their voice heard. They take news stories from around the world to show their young energetic recruits how bad the world outside their group really is. Because we have so many crazies in our country demanding that the Mosque in NYC not be built, a crazy somewhere in the south having a Koran Burning Bonfire, several towns throughout the US demanding that no Mosque be built in their town Al-Qaeda is listening. They are using these sound bites as proof that what we say is not what we do. The very real concern now is that young impressionable American Muslims hear all this crap, and decide that it is wrong. They are correct, it is wrong. This press coverage and the loud mouthed crazies are becoming a very good recruiting tool for Al-Qaeda. Many young moderate American Muslims hear that Americans are against their religion, their beliefs, and therefore them. It is not a big jump to understand that some of them may join Al-Qaeda. The bottom line is that our constitution says we have freedom of religion. Any citizens who believe that this really says freedom of religion for Christians is wrong. Their rhetoric is helping the Al-Qaeda side of the War on Terrorism. Very sad, very disturbing, and very real.

Flagstaff City Council is having a special meeting tonight to determine if the city should sell drinking water to our local ski area to make snow. While many believe tonight’s vote will be definitive in answering the 30 some year debate, I see it as just the next vote in the endless votes and the endless controversy. We live in the desert. We have been in a drought for many years. The ski area will never become a ski resort. Flagstaff will never become a ski resort town. The neighboring tribes see the mountain as sacred that should not be changed by man. The environmentalists say that selling drinking water is not a good idea. The business community wants to bring tourists who will spend money to our mountain town. No matter how the vote goes tonight, I predict another lawsuit. For a town that is struggling to stay afloat, this certainly is a major distraction.

Flag had another windy day. No rain. High: 69°, 24mph steady winds with 30 mph gusts. Sure hope all this wind brings something to our fair city.

QUOTE FOR THE DAY

Ralph Waldo Emerson: Let the stoics say what they please, we do not eat for the good of living, but because the meat is savory and the appetite is keen.

HOLY MACKEREL: 1942 “Look! Up in the sky! It’s a bird! It’s a plane! It’s Superman!” Able to leap tall buildings in a single bound ... the caped crusader started on network radio on the Mutual Broadcasting System. Bud Collyer, later of TV’s Beat the Clock, played Clark Kent aka Superman on the radio series

SOMEWHAT USELESS INFORMATION on White Castle

§White Castle was founded in 1921 in Wichita, Kansas. The 6name was chosen carefully with “White” signifying purity, and “Castle” signifying strength, stability and permanence.

§Burgers were 5 cents in 1921 and that price was reduced and increased over the next several years. A big jump occurred in December of 1950 when burgers went from 10 cents to 12.

§In 1931, White Castle hired a renowned food scientist from a Big Ten university to run tests to determine the nutritional value of White Castle Sliders. One medical student lived on nothing but White Castle burgers and water for 13 weeks. Studies show conclusively that the student maintained good health.

§The burgers have five holes because they help the patties cook faster and more evenly while eliminating the need to turn them over.

§During World War II, White Castle sold hot dogs and eggs due to meat rationing.

GREY MATTER PUZZLE 1—Jeopardy Answers

$200-The official news agency of the Soviet Union

$400-Harvard Lampoon alumnus, by 1937 he owned 25 daily newspapers & a California castle

$600-First published in 1889 by the Dow Jones Co.

$1000-It carries the motto "All the news that's fit to print"

UNUSUAL NEWS ITEM

AREZZO, Italy - An Italian priest is pleading with church-goers to help fill the pews at poorly attended funerals. The Rev. Marcello Colcelli wrote to members of his Arezzo church asking them to join his "Company of the Departed" to fill seats at funerals that are often poorly attended or even completely empty, ANSA reported. Colcelli wrote he has encountered many services attended "only by a few relatives and acquaintances," and sometimes he found himself alone with the deceased. "I often have to do everything on my own: the readings, the rites, even the mourning," Colcetti wrote in the letter, which was printed in the La Nazione daily. "I could carry on like this but I ask myself: Where's the community?" The cleric said he was drafting a document for possible members of the Company of the Departed, including "an obligation (when possible) to take part in funerals, guaranteeing a minimum funeral service including readings, offerings and incense."

A LITTLE LAUGH

A hunter visited another hunter and was given a tour of his home. In the den was a stuffed lion. The visiting hunter asked, "When did you bag him?"

The host said proudly, "That was three years ago, when I went hunting with my ex-wife."

"What's he stuffed with," asked the visiting hunter.

"My ex-wife." replied the hunter.

GREY MATTER PUZZLE 2--Riddle

I say everything I hear to others around. I’m not an animal, nor part of the human race. I will, immediately, repeat after you; but only if my tail is in place. What am I?

FOUND ON ‘YOU TUBE’

Skeet Shooting lesson See It Hear!

GREY MATTER PICTURE

This is a close up of what object?

SOME CALENDAR INFORMATION

♦ Weekly Observances ♦

25-31: Be Kind To Humankind Week

29-9/4: Minority Enterprise Development Week

♦ Today’s Observances ♦

National Trail Mix Day

Love Litigating Lawyers Day

Afghanistan: Pashtunistan Day since 1951 dispute over border land between Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Malaysia: Independence Day 1957 from UK

Moldova: Day of Our Language or Limba Noastra since 1989

Trinidad & Tobago: Independence Day (1962)

Poland: Day of Solidarity and Freedom since 1980 ending of worker’s strike

♦ Hit Songs on this date ♦

1929 ...Little Pal…Al Jolson (not original) Hear It Here!

1939 ... Sunrise Serenade…Glen Gray (not original) Hear It Here!

1949 …You're Breaking My Heart…Vic Damone Hear It Here!

1959 … The Three Bells…The Browns

1969 … Honky Tonk Women…The Rolling Stones

1979 … My Sharona…The Knack Hear It Here!

♦ Today’s Births ♦

• The Arts

Debbie Gibson, 40, singer…born Brooklyn, NY

Alan Jay Lerner, lyricist composer (Lerner & Leowe-My Fair Lady) …born 1918…NYC, NY

George Ivan ‘Van’ Morrison, 65, singer (Here Comes the Night) …born Belfast, Northern Ireland

Itzhak Perlman, 65, violinist…born Tel Aviv, Israel

~~~

Richard Basehart, actor (Voyage to Bottom of the Sea) …born1919 …Zanesville, OH

Buddy Hackett (Leonard Hacker), comedian, actor: The Love Bug, The Music Man; cartoon voices: The Little Mermaid…born 1924…Brooklyn, NY

• Athletics

Edwin Corley Moses, 55, Olympic gold medal track athlete…born Dayton, OH

Frank Robinson, 75, Baseball Hall of Famer: Cincinnati Redlegs, Cincinnati Reds Orioles Dodgers, Angels, Indians; first black baseball manager…born Beaumont, TX

• Business & Education

Arthur Godfrey, radio, TV host (Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scout) …born1903 …NYC, NY

Maria Montessori, educator: first woman to attend medical school, first female Doctor of Medicine in Italy, worked with handicapped and socially deprived children, developed unique educational method known as the Montessori method; Montessori Schools named for her…born 1870… Chiaravalle (Ancona), Italy

Daniel Schorr, broadcast journalist (CBS) …born 1916…Bronx,NY

• Politics

Eldridge Cleaver, Black Panther turned Republican…born 1935… Wabbaseka, Arkansas

Queen Mother Wilhelmina (Wilhelmina Helena Pauline Maria) of Netherlands…born 1880… The Hague, Netherlands

• Science/Religion

H. David Politzer, 61, American physicist, Nobel laureate…born NYC, NY

Pavel Vinogradov, 57, Russian cosmonaut…born Magadan, Russia

♦ Today’s Obituaries ♦

John Bunyan, preacher/novelist/author of "Pilgrim's Progress,", @ 60 in 1688

Nat (Sweetwater) Clifton, NY Knick, heart attack @ 65 in 1990

Leofric, husband of Lady Godiva, @ 34 in 1057

Rocky Marciano (Rocco Francis Marchegiano(, former heavyweight champ, plane crash @ 46 in 1964

Mary Ann Nicholls, prostitute, found stabbed to death in London, 1st of at least five murders by Jack the Ripper @42 in 1888

♦ Today’s Events ♦

• The Arts

1948 Actor Robert Mitchum is arrested in a Hollywood drug raid. He would later be found guilty of criminal conspiracy to possess marijuana and sentenced to 60 days in prison.

2006 Stolen on August 22, 2004, Edvard Munch's famous painting The Scream is recovered in a raid by Norwegian police.

• Athletics

1935 1st national skeet championship (Indianapolis)

1972 Olga Korbut, USSR, wins olympic gold medal in gymnastics in Munich

• Business & Education

1955 1st microwave TV station operated (Lufkin, Tx)

• Indigenous People

1666 Mohawk Chief Agariata is attending a peace conference in Quebec between the Iroquois and the French. Governor Alexandre de Proville asks, during a dinner, if anyone knew who killed his son a few months ago. Agariata brags that he did it. The governor becomes so angry, he has Agariata seized, and hung. This ends the peace process. Governor de Proville leads French troops against the Mohawks, himself.

• Politics (US)

1778 British kill 17 Stockbridge indians in the Bronx during Revolution

1842 US Naval Observatory authorized by an act of Congress

1852 The United States Congress passed legislation creating the first prestamped envelopes.

1954 Census Bureau established

• Politics (International)

1958 A parcel bomb sent by Ngo Dinh Nhu, younger brother and chief adviser of South Vietnamese President Ngo Dinh Diem, failed to kill Sihanouk of Cambodia.

1997 Diana, Britain’s Princess of Wales, was killed in an early-morning car crash in Paris, France

2005 A stampede on Al-Aaimmah bridge in Baghdad kills 1,199 people.

• Science / Religion

1535 Pope Paul II deposed & excommunicated King Henry VIII

1887 Thomas A Edison patents Kinetoscope, (produces moving pictures)

1955 1st sun-powered automobile demonstrated, Chicago, Ill

GREY MATTER ANSWERS

↔ 1

$200-The official news agency of the Soviet Union: What is TASS?

$400-Harvard Lampoon alumnus, by 1937 he owned 25 daily newspapers & a California castle: Who is William Randolph Hearst?

$600-First published in 1889 by the Dow Jones Co.: What is the Wall Street Journal?

$1000-It carries the motto "All the news that's fit to print": what is the New York Times?

↔ 2

Microphone

↔ Picture

A chinese checkers board

TODAY’S NATIONAL PARK PHOTO SHOTS

Acadia National Park: Maine, 16th National Park as of February 26, 1919: Covering most of Mount Desert Island and other coastal islands, Acadia preserves the tallest mountain on the Atlantic coast, granite peaks, ocean shoreline, woodlands, and lakes. There are freshwater, estuary, forest, and intertidal habitats

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