Wed December 01

This is Week 48 of 2010►Day 335 with 30 days remaining

25 Days until Christmas
Flagstaff Weather:
TODAY’S QUOTE—
All the really valuable things you own are things you can't photograph.

FREE RAMBLING THOUGHTS
The past few days have been very cold. This is fairly unusual for this early in the winter season. I only hope that we won’t look back on the last week of November as being warm. We are usually in the low 20’s for an average low temperature in November. I won’t be surprised it this year it is in the high teens. I know other places have been hit harder, but we just aren’t used to this many days of really cold nights.

I had lunch with Mary and Cheryl. We all had a great Thanksgiving. Cheryl had her son, daughter-in-law, and grandkids and Mary went to Phoenix where her Chicago daughter, son-in-law and grandson joined her son and his family. Mary was happy to get back to Flag as the Phoenix twins (aged 4) and the Chicago boy (2) had more than their fair share of territory issues. Cheryl is doing very well and had soup with us. She discovered another benefit; lunch is now much less expensive. We had some great conversation, a few laughs, and a good time.

Obama seems ready to piss off just about everybody with his latest announcement. He has frozen Federal salaries for two years. Except for the military. We retirees had already been warned not to expect much more than coal this year in our Christmas stocking. Now it is official. President Ronnie did the same thing when I was working. I am not against doing my fair share—either as a retiree or as a Federal worker. Of course, this freeze doesn’t freeze our health care costs for two years. So in actuality we had our salary reduced. This won’t make many headlines. It certainly won’t bring the brightest and the best to Federal service. It may let some know that our economy is still in the ditch. Federal employees, in general, make much less than their counterparts in the private sector. Now, for two years, even less than less. Whatever this announcement does in politics, it means that if will be even harder to recruit the best and brightest. I fully admit that when I joined the Federal Service I was happy to have a job. My career was successful by any measurement. I probably could have made more money if I had become a principal or a superintendent. However, I wouldn’t have been as happy. The caveat to this announcement is that the non-civilian military personnel will continue to get pay raises. There is quite a cadre of civilian military personnel throughout the world. They won’t get raises, but the soldiers will continue to get raises. Why they were singled out is beyond me. It is a voluntary military. The sell lines for joining the military include good education for easy movement to the private sector, being one of the ‘few’, helping the world citizens live in democracy, helping citizens in third world countries. I agree that no one working full time for the Federal government should have to get food stamps to survive. I know families that are separated for months and months during deployment. I know the grief of families when their son or daughter die fighting. I know quite a few who have joined the military and come back with the discipline and mind set to be successful. I just wonder why a president who campaigned to get us out of two wars hasn’t done it. I wonder why that president now believes that only our military personnel deserve to be paid more. If everyone has to continue to tighten their belts, then everyone has to do that.

HOLY MACKEREL: 1958 Our Lady of Angels School burns, killing 92 students & 3 nuns (Chicago)

∞ JEOPARDY PUZZLE—(SuperJeopardy Answers) from 1990 COOKING
►Snail butter, which can be served on other foods, is usually made with 1 or 2 cloves of this
►Traditionally, this vegetable put the “red” in red flannel hash
►This school was founded in 1895 to teach cooking to wealthy young Frenchwomen
►This Penn. dish, made with scraps of pork mixed with corn meal, is shaped into loaves & then sliced & fried
►In Mexican cooking this spicy sauce made with chilies & chocolate is often served over poultry

SOMEWHAT USELESS INFORMATION—Thanksgivng
The first American Thanksgiving was celebrated in 1621, to commemorate the harvest reaped by the Plymouth Colony after a harsh winter. In that year Governor William Bradford proclaimed a day of thanksgiving. The colonists celebrated it as a traditional English harvest feast, to which they invited the local Wampanoag Indians.
***
During the mid-1800s, poet and editor Sarah J. Hale began lobbying for a national Thanksgiving holiday. In 1863 President Abraham Lincoln gave his Thanksgiving Proclamation, declaring the last Thursday in November a day of thanksgiving.
***
At one time, the turkey and the bald eagle were each considered as the national symbol of America. Benjamin Franklin was one of those who argued passionately on behalf of the turkey. Franklin felt the turkey, although "vain and silly", was a better choice than the bald eagle, whom he felt was "a coward".

UNUSUAL NEWS ITEM
LONDON — Author Rowan Somerville won literature's little-coveted Bad Sex in Fiction Prize Monday for the use of unsettling insect imagery in his novel "The Shape of Her."
Judges of the annual literary award said they were especially impressed by a passage comparing lovemaking to "a lepidopterist mounting a tough-skinned insect."
The animal imagery continues elsewhere in the novel, a tale of desire and memory set on a Greek island. One character's fingers are described as "tender enough to hold a tiny bird."
The prize, founded in 1993 by Literary Review magazine, aims to draw attention to "the crude, tasteless, and often perfunctory use of redundant passages of sexual description in contemporary novels."
Somerville, who was born in Britain and lives in Ireland, took his victory in good humor, noting that "there is nothing more English than bad sex."
He said he was honored to be shortlisted alongside authors like Australia's Christos Tsiolkas — for "The Slap" — and American writer Jonathan Franzen, nominated for the best-selling "Freedom."
Previous winners include such literary heavyweights as Sebastian Faulks, Tom Wolfe, Norman Mailer and the late John Updike, who was awarded a lifetime achievement Bad Sex prize in 2008.
Last year's winner was "The Kindly Ones" by American author Jonathan Littell, which described a sex act as "a jolt that emptied my head like a spoon scraping the inside of a soft-boiled egg."

A LITTLE LAUGH
I'm the postmaster for a small town in Pennsylvania. One of my regular customers, Jeff, bought several sheets of newly released commemorative stamps.
Soon after he left, a woman came in carrying two crisp sheets of Harry Houdini stamps she'd found in the parking lot.
The next morning, I gave Jeff the sheets of stamps he'd lost. "You know," Jeff said to me, "I'm not at all that surprised the Houdini stamps reappeared."

FOUND ON ‘YOU TUBE’

∞ UP CLOSE PICTURE
This is a close up of what object?
CALENDAR INFORMATION
♦ December Observances ♦
December's flower is the narcissus or holly. December's birthstones are turquoise, lapis lazuli, zircon, topaz (blue), or tanzanite. In Latin, decem means "ten". December was also the tenth month in the Roman calendar until a monthless winter period was divided between January and February. December is the month with the shortest daylight hours of the year in the Northern Hemisphere and the longest daylight hours of the year in the Southern Hemisphere. In the Northern hemisphere, the beginning of the meteorological winter is 1 December.
__________________________________________________________________________________
World Aids Month►Bingo's Birthday Month►Colorectal Cancer Education and Awareness Month►Love Your Neighbor Month►National Drunk & Drugged Driving (3D) Prevention Month►National Write A Business Plan Month►National Tie Month►Operation Santa Paws►Quince and Watermelon Month►Rising Star Month►Root Vegetables and Exotic Fruits Month►Safe Toys and Gifts Month►Spiritual Literacy Month►Take a New Year's Resolution to Stop Smoking (TANYRSS)►Tomato and Winter Squash Month►Universal Human Rights Month►

♦ Weekly Observances ♦
1-7: Cookie Cutter Week ¤ Tolerance Week ¤ Recipe Greetings For The Holidays Week

1-9: Chanukah (Hanukkah)
♦ Today’s Observances ♦
National Pie Day
Eat A Red Apple Day
Bifocals at the Monitor Liberation Day
Day With(out) Art Day
Special Kids Day
World Aids Day (since 1991)
Hanukkah begins at sundown
Rosa Parks Day arrested in 1955 for not sitting in the back of the bus
Azores: Independence Day (Administrative from Portugal 1895)
Cape Verde: Restoration Day (1968)
Central African Republic: Independence Day (1958 from France)
Costa Rica: Military Abolition Day
Iceland: Independence Day (1918 from Denmark)
Liberia: Matilda Newport Day (1822 an ex-slave who helped build Liberia)
Myanmar: National Day
Portugal: Independence Day (1640 from Spain)
Portuguese Guinea: Youth Day
Romania: National Day
Thailand: Damrong Rajanubhab Day: to honor the founder of Thailand education
♫ One Hit Wonders—1966 ♫
Click on Song Title to see and hear the original
♦Today’s Births♦
ARTS
1933 Lou Rawls (Louis Allen), Grammy Award-winning singer
1634 John-Erasmus Quellinus [Quellien] Flemish painter
1886 Rex Stout mystery writer (Nero Wolf)
***
Woody Allen (Allen Stewart Konigsberg), 75, filmmaker (Oscar for Annie Hall; Manhattan, Hannah and Her Sisters), actor
1929 David Doyle, actor: Charlie’s Angels
1913 Mary Martin actress (Peter Pan) Larry Hagman's mom
Bette Midler, 65, singer, actress (Beaches, For the Boys, Down and Out in Beverly Hills)
1940 Richard Pryor, comedian, actor
1923 Dick Shawn (Richard Schulefand), comedian, actor
Treat Williams, 58, actor (“Everwood”; Hair, Smooth Talk)
ATHLETICS
1925 Cal ‘Buster’ McLish (Calvin Coolidge Julius Caesar Tuskahoma McLish), baseball: pitcher: Dodgers, Pirates, Cubs, Indians [all-star: 1959], Reds, White Sox, Phillies
Reggie Sanders, 43, baseball (Reds, Padres, Braves, Diamondbacks, Giant, Cardinals, Pirates, Royals)
Lee Buck Trevino, 71, golfer
BUSINESS & EDUCATION
1904 W A "Tony" Boyle United Mine Workers president
1912 Minoru Yamasaki architect (World Trade Center, New York)
POLITICS
1844 Alexandra Danish princess/Queen of Great Britain/Ireland
SCIENCE & RELIGION
1932 Robert T Herres  USAF/astronaut
1743 Martin H Klaproth German chemist (uranium)
♦Today’s Obituaries♦
Henry I Beauclerc, king of England (1st king that could read), food poisoning @ 67 in 1135
Aleksandr I Romanov, czar of Russia (1801-25), mysteriously @ 47 in 1825
James Arthur Baldwin, writer (Another Country), esophageal cancer @ 63 in 1987
David Ben-Gurion, founding father of Israel, @ 87 in 1973
Philip Spencer, 1st US naval officer condemned for mutiny, hanged @ 19 in 1842
♦Today’s Events♦
ARTS
1879 Gilbert and Sullivan’s operetta, H.M.S. Pinafore, opened
1982 Michael Jackson releases "Thriller"
ATHLETICS
1981 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar surpassed Oscar Robertson as pro basketball’s second all-time leading scorer (second to Wilt Chamberlain)
BUSINESS & EDUCATION
1913 1st drive-up gasoline station opens (Pittsburgh)
1913 Continuous moving assembly line introduced by Ford
1917 Boys Town founded by Father Edward Flanagan, west of Omaha NE
1921 US Post Office establishes philatelic agency
1929 Game of BINGO invented by Edwin S Lowe
1951 Golden Gate Bridge closes due to high winds
INDIGENOUS PEOPLE
1805 To renegotiate the flint River Treaty of November 3, 1804, the United States invites 6 CREEK Chiefs to Washington to meet with Secretary of War Henry Dearborn. They agree to pay the CREEKs $206,000 for their two million acres instead of $200,000. But, the payments will be made over ten years, instead of in cash. The CREEK also agree to allowing a road through their lands.
1831 Peter Pitchlynn, and 400 other CHOCTAWs, board the steamer Brandywine in Memphis today. The steamer will transport them up to the Arkansas Post on the White River.
POLITICS (US)
1824 U.S. presidential election, 1824: Since no candidate had received a majority of the total electoral college votes in the election, the United States House of Representatives is given the task of deciding the winner in accordance with the Twelfth Amendment to the United States Constitution.
1942 Gasoline rationed in US
1978 President Carter more than doubles national park system size
POLITICS (International)
1919 Lady Nancy Astor sworn-in as 1st female member of British Parliament
1943 FDR, Churchill & Stalin agree to Operation Overlord (D-Day)
1965 South Africa government says children of white fathers are white
SCIENCE & RELIGION
1909 1st Israeli kibbutz founded, Deganya Alef
1930 Ruth Nichols becomes 1st woman pilot to cross the continent
1941 US Civil Air Patrol (CAP) organizes
1959 12 nations sign a treaty for scientific peaceful use of Antarctica
1959 The 1st color photograph of Earth received from outer space
1982 Barney Clark becomes the first person to receive a permanent artificial heart.
1987 Digging begins to link England & France under the English Channel

ANSWERS
∞ JEOPARDY
Snail butter, which can be served on other foods, is usually made with 1 or 2 cloves of this
What is garlic?
Traditionally, this vegetable put the “red” in red flannel hash
What are beets?
This school was founded in 1895 to teach cooking to wealthy young Frenchwomen
What is the Le Cordon Bleu?
This Penn. dish, made with scraps of pork mixed with corn meal, is shaped into loaves & then sliced & fried
What is scrapple?
In Mexican cooking this spicy sauce made with chilies & chocolate is often served over poultry
What is mole?
∞ PICTURE
A Rutabaga
╬╦╦╦╩╩╩╬
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Tues Nov 30

This is Week 48 of 2010►Day 334 with 31 days remaining

Flagstaff Weather:
TODAY’S QUOTE—
All the really valuable things you own are things you can't photograph.

FREE RAMBLING THOUGHTS
Another chilly day here in Flag. It was 11° when I got up. I did run some errands today. Over the weekend I ran across an Advent Calendar. In my youth my brother and I always had one. Back in the day, you opened each door or window of a religious Christmas scene and found a small picture of something Christmas-y. Some were more religious than others. The funny part was my mom never knew what would be behind the door or window either. I recall lots of good memories and one that wasn’t so cool for little kids—it was bible verses for each day. Not that it wasn’t nice to read Bible verses; but we wanted pictures. Well times have certainly changed in the past 50 years. The ones I found are now neither religious nor healthy. The only pictures are Santa doing something. Then, when you open each window you get a piece of candy. The packaging still calls it an Advent calendar. I bought two and mailed one to my brother and his wife today. It won’t get there until the 3rd—as I wasn’t going to pay $26 for overnight mail. Since they are now in Miami Beach, I’m sure they will enjoy the Santa in the snow scene. I also got one for myself. So beginning on the 1st I will be opening a door or window each day until Christmas, and probably eating the candy.

I did learn a little more about the WikiLeaks thing today. It turns out to be a long and complicated maze. The military arrested a Marine soon after the first leaks were announced. He is one of 600,000 Americans who had access to all these files. Since 9-11 there has been a greater sharing of information within the Intelligence community. This was to help the various agencies work from the same information. It occurred when the Dept. of Homeland Security was established, placing many different agencies under one head. This 22 year old Marine had access and wanted the American citizens to see what was really going on within the Intelligence community. This kid had moved up one whole rank since joining the Marines. He used a flash drive to do this, while lip-synching to Lady Gaga, in case cameras were watching him. He was being paid a whopping $1642/month for his service. I am certainly not happy that these classified documents have been made public. I also get that sometimes, while working for the government, one reads things that are embarrassing to an official, to an agency, to a bureau. I get that he was trying to do a good thing—remember Daniel Ellsberg and his release of information about Viet Nam. In the current techno age, it is much easier to release information. The WikiLeaks founder, Julian Assange, is a 38 year old Australian who wants to open up governments. He has released documents from many governments and we are just hearing about it because now he is releasing our secrets. He has to live ‘on the run’ since he started releasing many documents back in the early 1990’s. I get his goal. The world would be a better place if governments didn’t keep secrets. The argument is that other governments won’t play fair. We will probably never know, because everyone has bought into that argument. The more I read about the goals, the less angry I am. Maybe his leaks will change some of the government to government dealings in our world. That would be a good thing. Only time will tell if these leaks bring about change.

HOLY MACKEREL: 1988 Soviets stop jamming Radio Liberty; 1st time in 38 years

∞ JEOPARDY PUZZLE—(SuperJeopardy Answers) from 1990 LITERATURE
He spent 5 years as a slave in north Africa before he began work on the first modern Spanish novel
Dublin Theatre formed from the Irish Literary Theatre founded by W.B. Yeats & Lady Gregory
Milan Kundera, a Czech, lived in France when he published “The Unbearable Lightness of” this
In some versions of the story, he was unable to look at the Holy Grail after his adulterous affair
The 3 sections that comprise Dante's “Divine Comedy”

SOMEWHAT USELESS INFORMATION—
The Macy’s parade was first televised in New York in 1945, and that same year the Macy's parade began using the route that is still followed today.
***
Floats must travel through the Lincoln Tunnel to get to Manhattan for the parade. A 24 foot wide, 40 foot high float has to fold up to an 8 foot wide and 12 1/2 food high float in order to get through.
***
There was a helium shortage in 1958 that forced the balloons to be filled with air and hung from cranes instead of the traditional floating and bobbing.

UNUSUAL NEWS ITEM
EVANS CITY, PA. — Emergency crews in Butler County were called to rescue the driver of a pickup truck that ended up stuck 30 feet off the ground in a tree.
Channel 4 Action News' Amber Nicotra reported police said Erin Dawn Bowser, 33, was driving westbound on Route 68 in Evans City.
Police said Bowser hit a car, a guardrail and a pole before bouncing over the rail and becoming stuck in a tree over Connoquenessing Creek.
"She was completely alert and as calm as can be for her situation. She was fine, she was talking clearly. She did an excellent job of not panicking when we were going off the ground," said rescue worker Ken Wagner.
Rescue crews used ropes and ladders to reach Bowser, who removed from the vehicle in a rescue basket and taken to Butler Hospital with minor injuries.
The rescue effort closed Route 68 for several hours Monday morning. The road reopened to traffic around 11:30 a.m.
Nicotra reported that Bowser, is facing several citations in connection with the wreck, including driving too fast for road conditions. Nicotra reported that police said Bowser told them the road was icy.

A LITTLE LAUGH
I was nervous the night my husband and I brought our three young sons to An upscale restaurant for the first time. My husband ordered a bottle Of wine with the meal. When the waitress brought it, our children became quiet as she began the ritual uncorking.
She poured a small Amount for me to taste, and then our six-year-old piped up, "Mom usually drinks a lot more than that!"

FOUND ON ‘YOU TUBE’

∞ UP CLOSE PICTURE
This is a close up of what object?
CALENDAR INFORMATION
♦ Weekly Observances ♦
--
♦ Today’s Observances ♦
Stay At Home Because You're Well Day
Cities for Life Day: Since 1786 to end the death penalty in countries
Computer Security Day
National Meth Awareness Day
Saint Andrew's Day: Patron Saint of Scotland: born: Latha Naomh Anndra
Barbados : Independence Day (1966 from UK)
Benin : National Day
Iran : Qadir Khom Festival: Muslim Holiday
Philippines : Andres Bonifacio Day/Heroes' Day (1863) [leader of 1896 revolt against Spain
Scotland: National Day
Yemen PDR : Independence Day (1967)
♫ One Hit Wonders—1965 ♫
Click on Song Title to see and hear the original
♦Today’s Births♦
ARTS
Richard Wagstaff Dick Clark, 81, longtime host of “American Bandstand,” entertainer, producer
1835 Samuel Clemens [Mark Twain], author (Tom Sawyer, Huckleberry Finn)
Billy Idol, 55, singer, songwriter, born William Michael Albert Broad
David Mamet, 63, dramatist (American Buffalo, Glengary Glen Ross, Oleanna, Things Change)
1924 Allan Sherman parody singer/songwriter (Hello Muddah, Hello Faddah)
Noel Paul Stookey, 73, singer, songwriter (Peter, Paul and Mary)
***
1926 Richard Crenna, actor (Rambo, Summer Rental, Sand Pebbles)
Robert Guillaume, 83, actor (“Soap,” “Benson”)
1920 Virginia Mayo, actress (Out of the Blue, White Heat)
Sandra Oh, 40, actress (Under the Tuscan Sun, Sideways, “Grey’s Anatomy”), born Nepean, ON, Canada
Mandy Patinkin, 58, actor (Tony for Evita; Sunday in the Park with George, “Chicago Hope”)
Ben Stiller, 45, actor, director
Efrem Zimbalist Jr, 87, actor (77 Sunset Strip, FBI, Scruples)
ATHLETICS
Vincent Edward “Bo” Jackson, 48, former baseball player, former football player
1931 Bill Walsh, Pro Football Hall of Famer: Bengals, Chargers; football coach: Stanford, 49ers: Super Bowl XVI, XIX, XXIII
Paul Westphal, 60, NBA guard (Celtics, Suns)
BUSINESS & EDUCATION
Joan Ganz Cooney, 81, founder of the Children’s Television Workshop and creator of “Sesame Street,”
G. Gordon Liddy, 80, convicted Watergate coconspirator, radio talk show host
POLITICS
1924 Shirley Chisholm (D-Rep-NY), 1st black congresswoman/presidential candidate
1874 Sir Winston Churchill (C) British PM (1940-45, 1951-55, Nobel 1953)
1936 Abbie Hoffman, 1960s cultural revolutionary [Yippie]; one of the Chicago Eight; author: Revolution for the Hell of It, Steal this Book;
SCIENCE & RELIGION
1915 Henry Taube chemist (Nobel 1983)
♦Today’s Obituaries♦
Cleopatra, Egyptian queen, suicide @ 39 in 30BCE
Norman Cousins, editor (Saturday Review), heart failure @ 75 in 1990
Herbert B. Khaury Tiny Tim, singer with the falsetto warble and ukulele ("Tiptoe Through the Tulips" ), heart failure @ 64 in 1996
Marcello Malpighi, father of microscopic anatomy, apoplexy @ 66 in 1694
Herbert Manfred Zeppo Marx, comedic actor, cancer @ 78 in 1979
♦Today’s Events♦
ARTS
2004 Longtime Jeopardy! champion Ken Jennings of Salt Lake City, Utah finally loses, leaving him withUS$2,520,700, television's biggest game show winnings.
ATHLETICS
1948 Baseball's Negro National League disbands
1956 Archie Moore was defeated by Floyd Patterson.
BUSINESS & EDUCATION
1886 1st commercially successful AC electric power plant opens, Buffalo
1998 Exxon and Mobil sign a $73.7 billion USD agreement to merge, thus creating Exxon-Mobil, the world's largest company.
INDIGENOUS PEOPLE
1769 Gaspar de Portolá has led an expedition to explore parts of the central California coastline. While near San Jose Creek, a group of local Indians provides them with some food.
1836 The United States signs a treaty (7 stat. 527) with the Wahpaakootah, Susseton,and Upper Medawakanton tribes of Sioux Indians.
POLITICS (US)
1804 Impeachment trial of Supreme Court Justice Samuel Chase begins
POLITICS (International)
1782 Britain signs agreement recognizing US independence
1803 Spain cedes her claims to Louisiana Territory to France
1947 Day after UN decree for Israel, Jewish settlements attacked
SCIENCE & RELIGION
1954 In Sylacauga, Alabama, United States, the Hodges Meteorite crashes through a roof and hits a woman taking an afternoon nap in the only documented case of a human being hit by a rock from space.

ANSWERS
∞ JEOPARDY
He spent 5 years as a slave in North Africa before he began work on the first modern Spanish novel
Who was Cervantes?
Dublin Theatre formed from the Irish Literary Theatre founded by W.B. Yeats & Lady Gregory
What is The Abbey?
Milan Kundera, a Czech, lived in France when he published “The Unbearable Lightness of” this
What is Being?
In some versions of the story, he was unable to look at the Holy Grail after his adulterous affair
Who was Lancelot?
The 3 sections that comprise Dante's “Divine Comedy”
What are The Inferno, Il Purgatorio, Il Paradiso
∞ PICTURE
A straw hat
╬╦╦╦╩╩╩╬
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Mon Nov 29

This is Week 48 of 2010►Day 333 with 32 days remaining

Flagstaff Weather:
TODAY’S QUOTE—
Experience is what you get when you do not get what you want.

FREE RAMBLING THOUGHTS

I woke up this morning to about 2” of snow and it snowed on and off all day. Guess it’s time to get ready for winter. While we were in the 20’s most of the day, the wind chill was in the low teens. We need the moisture so this is a nice way to get it. It snows, most of it melts, it snows again. Gotta love Flagstaff.

I watched a Public TV special fund raiser today…Paul Stoockey and Peter Yarrow and others. It wasn’t the same as PP&M but was very enjoyable. They are still putting out good music, just using a variety of female singers. I’m a fan of folk music so I enjoyed it.

Broncos lost today, so I’m glad I didn’t get to see it. The Cards play tomorrow.

I did a about 4 loads of laundry today, so I’m caught up for a little while. Not a lot to do with all the snow. Even the birds were staying undercover today. They stopped by a couple of times, when the wind died down, but sure didn’t stay very long. I guess I only feed the smart birds.

Today is my friend Bob’s 80th birthday. He is having a big party up in Loveland, CO. I’ll call him tomorrow when things calm down a little. I forgot to call this morning, before the festivities began. I know he had a great day.

I need to learn more about how the US got involved in private contracting for the various war efforts. Our volunteer military has been sent to foreign countries to fight against locals. Much of the training of the military and police in these countries were being trained by private contractors. The National Police force is currently about 80% illiterate and about 25% are getting high while on duty and while being trained. Recent figures show that they make more money through bribes than they do as police officers. So many times, especially in third world countries, bribes are a way of life and getting a government job is the best way to get more bribes. Watching some training videos on 60 minutes reminded me of Asian culture. So many times the polite Asians will nod ‘yes’, say ‘yes’ and agree with Westerners just to avoid conflict. Once the Westerner has moved on, the Asian will continue to do whatever they were doing. It is just part of the culture. The Afghan police being trained in the video cuts had that same smile on their faces. When will we ever learn that we can’t enter a country and change the culture in less than a generation. If we learn nothing from the last decade + of war, I hope that it is soldiers fight wars and private contractors make money and little else. We need to acknowledge that many of the private contractors are really mercenaries. These contractors are doing their work for money and nothing else. Soldiers are taught that they are fighting for OUR country. We will never win a war with mercenaries because they by definition always offer their expertise to the highest bidder. It is so frustrating that our intelligence community believes in mercenaries. Our military doesn’t.

I am not a wikileaks fan. The latest ‘leaks’ simply show that what government officials say to the press and to the people is not what they say to each other. And many times it is not what they believe. It is going to take decades to rebuild any trust with many of our ‘friends’. The release is making public many of the behind the scene players in our foreign policy. It must be very difficult for our State Department personnel to find a way out of this latest release. I’m a fan of Mark Twain and agree that “If you tell the truth, you don’t have to remember anything.” Too many diplomats don’t believe that and it looks like they are stuck with their decision now. Diplomats now know that everything they put in writing is going to be made public someday soon. The entire diplomatic process is based on various degrees of trust. Many of our government leaders talk about the difficulty of dealing with N Korea or Iran or Cuba because we can’t trust the leadership. Ooops. Now in some cases we are the ones who can’t be trusted.

HOLY MACKEREL: 1877 Thomas Edison demonstrates the hand-cranked phonograph

∞ JEOPARDY PUZZLE—(SuperJeopardy Answers) from 1990--AFRICA
These little people who inhabit the Ituri Forest in Zaire may have been its first inhabitants
In 1962 the northern half of Ruanda-Urundi became Rwanda & the southern half became this nation
Explorers from this country claimed Mauritius in 1598 & named it for Prince Maurice of Nassau
Most of the Asians in this country live in Natal, where their ancestors worked on sugar plantations
Mozambique is a leading producer of this bean-shaped nut related to poison ivy

SOMEWHAT USELESS INFORMATION—
Just under half of the notes printed by the Bureau of Engraving and Printing are $1 notes. In fiscal year 2009, the exact percentage was 42.3%.
***
Martha Washington is the only woman whose portrait has appeared on a U.S. currency note. It appeared on the face of the $1 Silver Certificate of 1886 and 1891, and the back of the $1 Silver Certificate of 1896.
***
No portraits of African Americans have appeared on paper money, but commemorative coins were issued in the 1940s bearing the images of George Washington Carver and Booker T. Washington, followed more recently by the release of a Jackie Robinson coin.

UNUSUAL NEWS ITEM
ATHENS, GA - Police in Georgia said a man attempted to steal several deodorant sticks from a pharmacy that was struck by a similar crime a week earlier. Athens-Clarke County police said the man was caught on a security camera fleeing the store Friday with nine sticks of deodorant in four varieties stuffed into his cargo pants, the Athens Banner-Herald reported Monday. Police said the incident took place exactly one week after employees stopped a woman from stealing 12 deodorant sticks from the shelves. Police were searching for the latest thief.

A LITTLE LAUGH
After I asked for a half-pound trout fillet at my supermarket's seafood counter, the clerk picked one out of a pile and set it on the scale. It weighed precisely eight ounces.
Impressed, I asked, "How did you know?"
Looking pleased with himself, he declared, "I'm psychotic."

FOUND ON ‘YOU TUBE’

∞ UP CLOSE PICTURE
This is a close up of what object?
CALENDAR INFORMATION
♦ Weekly Observances ♦
--
♦ Today’s Observances ♦
Square Dance Day
Cyber Monday
Electronic Greetings Day
Albania: Liberation Day (1944 from Nazi)
Liberia: President William Tubman's Birthday: Father of Modern Liberia
UN: International Day of Solidarity With The Palestinian People
♫ One Hit Wonders—1960’s ♫
Click on Song Title to see and hear the original
1964 Have I The Right? The Honeycombs (note the female drummer)
♦Today’s Births♦
ARTS
1832 Louisa May Alcott, author (Little Women)
1918 Madeleine L’Engle, author: A Wrinkle in Time
1898 C.S. (Clive Staples) Lewis, Christian novelist, columnist, author: Chronicles of Narnia, Out of the Silent Planet
Chuck Mangione, 70, musician, composer (Grammy for “Bella-via”)
Dr David Reuben, 77, writer (Everything You Wanted to Know about Sex)
Garry Shandling, 61, comedian (“The Larry Sanders Show”)
1907 Merle Travis, country singer (16 Tons)
***
Don Cheadle, 46, actor (Talk to Me, Hotel Rwanda, Crash, Ocean’s Eleven)
Diane Ladd, 78, actress (Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, Ramblin’ Rose), born Rose Diane Ladner
Howie Mandel, 55, actor, comedian, game show host (“Deal or No Deal”)
ATHLETICS
Don January, 81, pro golfer (1976 Vardon Trophy)
Vincent Edward (Vin) Scully, 83, sportscaster
BUSINESS & EDUCATION
1818 George Brown, Canadian publisher (Toronto Globe), PM (L) (1858)
POLITICS
Jacques Rene Chirac, 78, former President of France
Janet Napolitano, 53, US Secretary of Homeland Security, former Governor of Arizona
1811 Wendell Phillips women's suffrage/antislavery/prison reformer
SCIENCE & RELIGION
1803 Christian Doppler discovered Doppler Effect (color shift)
1849 Sir Ambrose Fleming inventor (diode)
♦Today’s Obituaries♦
Ralph Bellamy, actor, @ 87 in 1991
Cary Grant, actor, @ 82 in 1986
Rav Aaron Kotler, Orthodox Talmudic scholar @ 71 in 1962
Maria Theresa, leader of Austria (last of House of Hasburg), edema @ 63 in 1780
Giacomo Puccini, Italian composer, cancer/heart attack @ 66 in 1924
Howard Pyle (Gov-AZ, 1951-55), @ 81 in 1987
Natalie Wood, actress, drowns @ 43 in 1981
♦Today’s Events♦
ARTS
1825 Rossini’s Barber of Seville was presented in New York City. It was the first Italian opera to be presented in the United States.
ATHLETICS
1962 Major-league baseball decided to return to playing only one All-Star Game a year beginning in 1963. There had been two games each year since 1959.
BUSINESS & EDUCATION
1901 East 182nd Street in the Bronx is paved & opened
1933 1st state liquor stores authorized (Pennsylvania)
1967 US Secretary of Defense McNamara becomes President of the World Bank
INDIGENOUS PEOPLE
1691 The Abenaki sign a peace treaty with the British and agree to keep the British aware of the movements of the French in the area.
1864 Colorado militia kills 150 peaceful Cheyenne Indians
POLITICS (US)
1887 US receives rights to Pearl Harbor, on Oahu, Hawaii
POLITICS (International)
1952 President-elect Eisenhower visits Korea to assess the war
1994 The city of Seoul celebrated its 600th anniversary as the capital of Korea.
SCIENCE & RELIGION
1950 National Council of the Church of Christ in US established
1961 Mercury-Atlas 5 carries a chimp (Enos) to orbit
1964 Roman Catholic Church in US replaces Latin with English
ANSWERS
∞ JEOPARDY
These little people who inhabit the Ituri Forest in Zaire may have been its first inhabitants
Who are the Pygmy?
In 1962 the northern half of Ruanda-Urundi became Rwanda & the southern half became this nation
What is Burundi?
Explorers from this country claimed Mauritius in 1598 & named it for Prince Maurice of Nassau
What is Netherlands?
Most of the Asians in this country live in Natal, where their ancestors worked on sugar plantations
What is South Africa?
Mozambique is a leading producer of this bean-shaped nut related to poison ivy
What is the cashew?
∞ PICTURE
A compass
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Sun Nov 28

This is Week 48 of 2010►Day 332 with 33 days remaining

Flagstaff Weather:
TODAY’S QUOTE—Benjamin Disraeli
How much easier it is to be critical than to be correct.

FREE RAMBLING THOUGHTS
I had a day of rest today. I didn’t feel like going out in the wind and chilly temps, and since I had no real reason to go anywhere, I didn’t. I caught up on some emails; I cleaned a little, read some magazines, and fed the birds. That was it. It is nice to have a day like this every so often.

As we move into the last days of 2010 many language people review the year to talk about how our language changed during the past year. The Global Language Monitor says these words had new prominence in our English vocabulary:

1. Spillcam — The BP Spillcam instantly beamed the immensity of the Gulf Spill around the world to the dismay of environmentalists, BP’s PR staff and the President.
2. Vuvuzela — Brightly colored plastic horns that first came to prominence at the South African World Cup.
3. The Narrative – Though used at least since The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass in 1845, ‘The Narrative’ has recently been gaining traction in the political arena, virtually replacing the need for a party’s platform. (Cf. to ‘truthily’.)
4. Refudiate — Conflation of “refute” and “repudiate” (un)officially coined by Sarah Palin.
5. Guido and Guidette — Hey! All things Jersey are hot, capish? (Actually, capisci in standard Italian.)
6. Deficit – A growing and possibly intractable problem for the economies of most of the developed world.
7. Snowmagedden (and ‘Snowpocalypse’) — Portmanteau words linking ‘snow’ with ‘apocalypse’ and ‘armageddon’, used to describe the record snowfalls in the US East Coast and Northern Europe last winter.
8. 3-D – Three-dimensional (as in movies) is buffo box office this year, but 3-D is being used in new ways generally describing ‘robustness’ in products (such as toothpaste).
9. Shellacking – President Obama’s description of the ‘old-fashioned thumpin’ in George W. Bush’s words, that Democrats received in the 2010 US Mid-term elections.
10. Simplexity – The paradox of simplifying complex ideas in order to make them easier to understand, the process of which only adds to their complexity.

It is no wonder that well educated foreign guests have such a hard time understanding our ever changing language. As we enter a new decade there will be many more a comin’.

HOLY MACKEREL: 1922 Capt Cyril Turner (RAF) gave 1st skywriting exhibition (NYC). Turner spelled out "Hello USA. Call Vanderbilt 7200." 47,000 called

∞ JEOPARDY PUZZLE—(SuperJeopardy Answers) from 1990-CELEBRITIES
To avoid being confuse with B. Bel Geddes, she signs autographs as “J.R.'s Real Mother”
This founder of the National Review debuted as a harpsichordist with the Phoenix Symphony in 1989
This leading actress' first film with Michael Douglas was “Romancing the Stone”
She also played the offstage voice of Annie Sullivan's brother in the play “The Miracle Worker”
She said of “Laura”, “People remember me less for my acting job than as the girl in the portrait”

SOMEWHAT USELESS INFORMATION—
Macy's employees staged the first parade in 1924 - it was so successful that they decided to make it an annual event.
***
The first character balloon to make an appearance at the parade was Felix the Cat in 1927. In 1934 Macy's worked with Disney for the first time to create the original Mickey Mouse balloon.
***
The only interruption in the parade's history was from 1942-44. Macy's gave their parade balloons to the war effort since rubber was so scarce.

UNUSUAL NEWS ITEM
SAN CLEMENTE, CA - A California wave rider set a world record by surfing for 26 consecutive hours, his employer said. Surf gear maker Michael Figueroa said his employee, Bill Laity, 37, of San Clemente, broke the previous Guinness World Record of 24 hours by surfing for a full 26 consecutive hours off the Huntington Beach Pier with 5 minute breaks per hour, The Orange County (Calif.) Register reported Monday. Figueroa said Laity braved wind and rain during his attempt, which ended Sunday at 9:26 a.m. The attempt is being submitted to Guinness.

A LITTLE LAUGH
How not to become a member of senior management:
During a meeting, our bosses held a contest to name a new project. As members of the management team read through the entries, our CEO picked one out and asked, "Who knows what a phoenix is?"
A junior manager answered, "It's a bird in Harry Potter."

FOUND ON ‘YOU TUBE’
∞ UP CLOSE PICTURE
This is a close up of what object?
CALENDAR INFORMATION
♦ Weekly Observances ♦
21-28: National Bible Week, National Family Week, National Game & Puzzle Week, National Teens Don't Text and Drive Week, Better Conversation Week, Church/State Separation Week
♦ Today’s Observances ♦
Pins And Needles Day: Originally to celebrate the opening of the pro-labor play “Pins and Needles” in 1937, now about being ‘anxious’
Advent: Western Christian Festival: Latin means ‘coming’: in preparation of birth of Jesus
Eid-Al-Adha: Islam Festival of Sacrifice—recalling Abraham’s willingness to sacrifice his son Ishmael
Albania: Independence Day (1912 from Ottoman Empire)
Burundi: Republic Day (1966 as Tutsi PM overthrew monarchy): 4th poorest nation in world: ave. income: $401/yr
Chad: Republic Day (1996)
Mauritania: Independence Day (1960 from France)
Panama, Canal Zone: Independence Day (1821 from Spain; remained under Columbia)
US: Massachusetts: John F. Kennedy Day
♫ One Hit Wonders—1963 ♫
Click on Song Title to see and hear the original
♦Today’s Births♦
ARTS
1757 William Blake, English poet/painter (Songs of Innocence & Experience)
1628 John Bunyan, English cleric/author (Pilgrim's Progress)
1820 Friedrich Engels, German social philosopher; Marx's collaborator
Randy Newman, 67, singer, songwriter (“Short People”), composer (film scores for Ragtime, The Natural)
Paul Shaffer, 61, bandleader (“Late Night with David Letterman”), comedian
Jon Stewart, 48, writer, comedian (“The Daily Show”), born Jonathan Stuart Leibowitz
***
1923 Gloria Grahame, (Hallward), Academy Award-winning actress: The Bad and the Beautiful [1952]; Oklahoma!, It’s a Wonderful Life
S. Epatha Merkerson, 58, actress (“Law & Order,” Lackawanna Blues)
Judd Nelson, 51, actor (The Breakfast Club, St. Elmo’s Fire, “Suddenly Susan”)
ATHLETICS
1942 - Paul Warfield, Pro Football Hall of Famer: Dolphins: Super Bowl: VI, VII, VIII; Browns
BUSINESS & EDUCATION
1866 Henry Bacon, architect (Lincoln Memorial)
Berry Gordy, Jr, 81, record and motion picture executive (cofounder of Motown)
1967 - Anna Nicole Smith, model: Playboy Playmate [May 1992], Playmate of the Year [1993]; actress
POLITICS
Gary Hart, 72, former US Senator, former presidential candidate, born Gary Hartpence
SCIENCE & RELIGION
1908 Claude Levi-Strauss, Belgian social anthropologist (Structure Anthro) 1805 John Stephens, US archeologist; founded study of Central America
♦Today’s Obituaries♦
Dwight Davis, donator of the Davis cup, @ 66 in 1945
Choh Hao Li, bio-chemist prof (isolated growth hormones), @ 74 in 1987
James A Naismith, creator of basketball, hemorrhage @ 78 in 1939
Rosalind Russell, actress, breast cancer @ 69 in 1976
Shinran親鸞, founder of Japan's True Pure Land Buddhist sect, @ 89 in 1262
Wasfi Tal وصفي التل, Jordan's PM, assassinated by Black September in Cairo @ 52 in 1971
Queen Mother Wilhelmina of Netherlands, @ 82 in 1962
♦Today’s Events♦
ARTS
1932 Groucho Marx performed on radio for the first time
1948 "Hopalong Cassidy" premiers on TV
1988 Picasso's "Acrobat & Harlequin" sells for $38.46 million

ATHLETICS
1895 America's 1st auto race starts; 6 cars, 55 miles, winner averages 7 MPH
1925 Famed NHL goalie Georges Vezina collapses in a game & dies of TB 4months later
1981 Bear Bryant wins his 315th game to out distance Alonzo Stagg & become college football's winningest coach
BUSINESS & EDUCATION
1942 Coffee rationing began in the United States, lasting through the end of World War II.
INDIGENOUS PEOPLE
1729 The Natchez are very upset with the new commander at Fort Rosalie. Commander Etcheparre Chepart is incapable of command. The Natchez attack and destroy the fort, and begin a revolt in the area. Approximately 200 whites are killed in the attack on the fort, which begins today. This is called The Fourth War with the Natchez, by the French. Chepart is killed while hiding in his garden. Chepart has received a warning of the impending attack from Natchez Sun (Queen) Stung Arm; but, he refused to believe it.
1745 The old frontier settlement of Saratoga, New York is near modern Schuylerville. 220 Indians, and 400 French attack the settlement. Most of the town, and the fort, is burned, 100 settlers are captured, and another thirty are killed during the fighting.
POLITICS (US)
1853 Olympia established as capital of Washington Territory
1861 Confederate congress officially admits Missouri to the CSA
1963 U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson announced in a televised address that Cape Canaveral would be renamed Cape Kennedy
POLITICS (International)
1795 US pays $800,000 & a frigate as tribute to Algiers & Tunis
1943 FDR, Churchill & Stalin met at Tehran to map out strategy
SCIENCE & RELIGION
1520 Ferdinand Magellan begins crossing Pacific Ocean
ANSWERS
∞ JEOPARDY
To avoid being confuse with B. Bel Geddes, she signs autographs as “J.R.'s Real Mother”
Who is Mary Martin?
This founder of the National Review debuted as a harpsichordist with the Phoenix Symphony in 1989
Who is William F. Buckley?
This leading actress' first film with Michael Douglas was “Romancing the Stone”
Who is Kathleen Turner?
She also played the offstage voice of Annie Sullivan's brother in the play “The Miracle Worker”
Who is Patty Duke?
She said of “Laura”, “People remember me less for my acting job than as the girl in the portrait”
Who is Gene Tierney?
∞ PICTURE
Center of a DVD case
╬╦╦╦╩╩╩╬
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Sat Nov 27

This is Week 47 of 2010►Day 331 with 34 days remaining

Flagstaff Weather:
TODAY’S QUOTE—Vince Lombardi
The quality of a person's life is in direct proportion to their commitment to excellence, regardless of their chosen field of endeavor.

FREE RAMBLING THOUGHTS
Black Friday has become Electronics Friday. I am well set up with TVs, radios, mp3 player, computer stuff, cameras,… I did go out about 9am to see what was out there. I found Home Depot to be the best stop. I got LED lights, a poinsettia and a few new decorations for amazing prices. While there I stopped at World Market and found some more bargains. The mall and the attached strip mall had fairly full parking lots, but the stores had plenty of service people and shopping was not the hassle I had expected. The good news for them is that people were buying. Everyone was buying the loss leaders—the items that were being sold very cheaply—but every cart seemed to have other stuff too and that is why the stores do the loss leaders. I didn’t go to Best Buy, but they too looked pretty busy. All the Christmas stuff and music did put me into the Christmas mood, so sometime this weekend I will be putting away all the Fall decorations and turning the inside and outside into my own little winter wonderland. I can’t forget last Christmas, when all my outdoor lights stayed outside until almost May, due to the snow piles. I refused to dig through the ice to take the lights off the bushes or stand a ladder on the ice to remove the lights on the porch. Maybe this year will be a little easier.

Obama got elbowed during a basketball scrimmage this morning. He ended up getting 12 stitches in his lip. I’m waiting for Faux news to say something outrageous. Most all of the news commentators are on a break and by Monday it will probably not be news. I’m sure someone will see this common basketball injury as additional proof that his financial policies will fail. Heal quickly Mr. President.

Thankfully the N/S Korea mess has not led to any more gunfire. I did see on middle aged Korean man who was moving off the island after his house was destroyed by the bombing earlier this week. He told the American news reporter in Korean, “All you reporters are welcome to stay here as long as you like. I’m protecting my family and leaving. Maybe they won’t bomb you.” Such a tough time for those living there. The US and our allies are moving forward with our ‘war games’ nearby. I have to wonder what would happen if Iran or China or N Korea decided to have ‘war games’ a few hundred miles from Hawaii or Guam? Would we see that as a threat? If the other side said they were not planning any attack, but just checking to see if their ships could sail in the water near Hawaii, would we trust or believe them?

HOLY MACKEREL: 1945 C.A.R.E. (Cooperative for American Relief Everywhere) was founded

JEOPARDY PUZZLE—(SuperJeopardy Answers) from 1990 9-LETTER WORDS
It can mean to ponder on a subject or to purchase with the expectation of profit
A public officer who keeps the peace, or a British policeman of the lowest order
Semantics is the study of a word's meaning, this is the study of a word's history
The name of this children's game can serve as a verb meaning “to leap from place to place”
In ancient Greece, a politician who championed the masses; now it's one who plays on people's emotions

SOMEWHAT USELESS INFORMATION—
The first TV commercial showed a Bulova watch ticking onscreen for exactly 60 seconds.
***
In the original version of Cinderella the slipper was made out of fur, not glass.
***
In Mel Brooks' "Silent Movie," mime Marcel Marceau is the only person who has a speaking role.

UNUSUAL NEWS ITEM
SPARTANBURG, SC (AP) -- Some people lay flowers or notes at gravesites. A woman in South Carolina left a handgun.
Police in the northwestern county of Spartanburg say a 28-year-old woman who hadn't been feeling well consulted a spiritual adviser, who told her she needed to return something that was given to her to cleanse her soul.
So the woman left a .45-caliber handgun in a box at a man's grave at Good Shepherd Memorial Gardens. She told police the man had given her the weapon about 12 years ago and she hoped by returning it that she would feel better.
After police discovered the gun, the woman told them she wanted it destroyed.
Police are storing the gun at the sheriff's office. No charges have been filed.

A LITTLE LAUGH
I've never understood why women love cats. Cats are independent, they don't listen, they don't come in when you call, they like to stay out all night, and when they're home they like to be left alone and sleep. In other words, every quality that women hate in a man, they love in a cat.

FOUND ON ‘YOU TUBE’
For those who see Bruce Lee is a cardboard movie icon, check this out. He would be 70 today

UP CLOSE PICTURE
This is a close up of what object?
CALENDAR INFORMATION
♦ Weekly Observances ♦
19-25:National Farm-City Week
21-28: National Bible Week, National Family Week, National Game & Puzzle Week, National Teens Don't Text and Drive Week, Better Conversation Week, Church/State Separation Week
♦ Today’s Observances ♦
Pins And Needles Day
National Native American Heritage Day
International Aura Awareness Day
National Day of Listening
Yawm Arafat: Islamic Festival—day 9 of Hajj at the plain of Arafat, near Mecca, to remember others in prayer
Burma: National Day
Cuba: Martyrs' Day
India, Sri Lanka: Maaveerar Day—Hero’s Day to the Tamil People
Israel: Weizmann Day—birthday of Chaim Weizmann, Israel’s first President
♫ One Hit Wonders—1960’s ♫
Click on Song Title to see and hear the original
♦Today’s Births♦
╥ THE ARTS
1942 Jimi Hendrix, rock guitarist (Jimi Hendrix Experience-Purple Haze Along the Watchtower )
1912 David Merrick, Broadway producer (Hello Dolly)
1944 Eddie Rabbitt, country singer (I Love a Rainy Night)
Gail Henion Sheehy, 73, author (Passages)
1917 "Buffalo" Bob Smith, TV host (Howdy Doody) Smith on What's My Line
^^^
Robin Givens, 46, actress (“Head of the Class,” A Rage in Harlem)
1940 Bruce Lee (Lee Jun Fan), actor: martial arts cult star
Jaleel White, 34, actor (Steve Urkel : “Family Matters”)
╥ ATHLETICS
Jimmy Rollins, 32, baseball (Phillies)
Nick Van Exel, 39, basketball (Lakers, Nuggets, Mavericks, Warriors, Blazers, Spurs)
╥ BUSINESS & EDUCATION
1874 Charles A Beard, American historian (American Continentalism)
Caroline Kennedy Schlossberg, 53, JFK's daughter
╥ POLITICS
1874 Chaim Weizmann, Israeli statesman (1st President)
╥ SCIENCE & RELIGION
1857 Sir Charles Scott Sherrington, 1932 Nobel Laureate in Medicine & Physiology; coined "neuron" and "synapse"
♦Today’s Obituaries♦
John Carradine, actor, @ 82 in 1988
Horace (Quintus Horatius Flaccus), Latin poet & satirist, @ 57 in 8BCE
Baby Face Nelson (Lester Joseph Gillis), bank robber, murderer, shot by FBI agents @ 25 in 1934
Eugene O'Neill, playwright, alcoholism / Parkinson’s @ 65 in 1953
♦Today’s Events♦
╥ THE ARTS
1967 Beatles release "Magical Mystery Tour"
╥ ATHLETICS
1870 NY Times dubs baseball "The National Game"
1960 Gordie Howe becomes 1st NHLer to score 1,000 points
1961 Gordie Howe becomes 1st to play in 1,000 NHL games
╥ BUSINESS & EDUCATION
1779 The College of Pennsylvania became the University of Pennsylvania and the first legally recognized university in America.
1839 American Statistical Association organizes in Boston
╥ INDIGENOUS PEOPLE
1817 US soldiers attack Florida Indian village, beginning Seminole War
1915 Private Albert Mountain Horse is buried in Fort Macleod, Alberta. He is the only Blood Indian to go to the front lines in World War One. He dies due to exposure to poison gas on the battlefield.
╥ POLITICS (US)
1926 Restoration of Williamsburg, Virginia, begins
╥ POLITICS (International)
1815 Cracow (Poland) declared a free republic
1985 Republic of Ireland gains consultative role in Northern Ireland
╥ SCIENCE & RELIGION
1895 Alfred Nobel establishes Nobel Prize
1951 1st rocket to intercept an airplane, White Sands, NM
1970 Pope Paul VI wounded in chest during a visit to Philippines by a dagger-wielding Bolivian painter disguised as a priest
ANSWERS
∞ JEOPARDY
It can mean to ponder on a subject or to purchase with the expectation of profit
What is speculate?
A public officer who keeps the peace, or a British policeman of the lowest order
What is a constable?
Semantics is the study of a word's meaning, this is the study of a word's history
What is etymology?
The name of this children's game can serve as a verb meaning “to leap from place to place”
What is hopscotch?
In ancient Greece, a politician who championed the masses; now it's one who plays on people's emotions
What is a demagouge?
∞ PICTURE
An ink jet printer cartridge
╬╦╦╦╩╩╩╬
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Flagstaff, Arizona, United States
I retired in '06--at the ripe old age of 57. I enjoy blogging, photography, traveling, and living life to it's fullest.