TODAY’S QUOTE—Richard Lamm, former Gov of CO
Christmas is a time when kids tell Santa what they want and adults pay for it. Deficits are when adults tell the government what they want and their kids pay for it
FREE RAMBLING THOUGHTS
Santa’s elves were really out today. I don’t go to the mall very much anymore. But Penny’s, Dillards, and Sears are there and at this time of year the mall is filled with seasonal kiosks. I basically was able to finish my shopping. When I was in Borneo, on the ship, I learned this very strange game with pebbles and cups. It is a two player game and the object is to take turns in getting all your pebbles into your house. It starts off fast, slows down, then can really get going. There is a definite strategy and not a lot of rules to remember. The TV commentator taught it to us and four of us really really got into it. I was not the champion but sure had a good time playing. It is called Mancala and has been played in various forms in Africa and Asia for centuries. The oldest remnants of the game pieces have been found in Ethiopia. While I was in Botswana I saw people playing it on small tables outside their homes. They got really loud when playing, as did the audience watching. On the ship, we were a little more refrained, but only had one Native playing. A kiosk had an inexpensive set—like chess the board and pebbles can run from $10 to thousands, depending on what the pebble are made of and what the board is made of. The sales guy wanted to know where I learned to play. He had learned in Japan. He was surprised it was played in Malaysia and Africa too. I’ll give it to my brother and his wife and keep a set for myself. Like any good kiosk he had games, games, games and hundreds of calendars. So he became a one-stop shop for me. Then there was the crazy Israeli lady who was selling skin products from the Dead Sea. I am usually pretty good at avoiding the aggressive kiosk salesperson, but somehow fell into her trap. Before I knew what was happening, she was rubbing some stone on one of my fingernails. Suddenly she was removing the dirt and pollution from the top of the nail. In about 15 seconds she wiped the fingernail and it was all shiny. Just what I wanted, a shiny fingernail. And then she told me that it would be that way for two weeks with this magic stone. Whee. She tried to get me to buy a bunch of lotions and sea salt cleaners for a mere $59, off from the regular $90. I told her my wife would come back and get what she wanted. She was way too aggressive and way to inquisitive and won’t ever have my business, no matter how important it is to do all that crap with my skin, finger and toenails. I’ve lived six decades without it, and don’t plan to start using it now. I also stopped at the Verizon kiosk and almost bought an Android phone. Before my Blackberry the idea was to keep getting smaller and smaller phones. Now they seem to be getting bigger. The Android is thinner but a little taller than my Blackberry. I’ll probably get one as soon as all my Elf shopping is finished, assuming that my middle finger fingernail isn’t still shiny.
It was a good shopping trip and when I got home, I made piles of the gifts for each person getting something. Now the job of wrapping awaits.
Back during my time at Shonto, we had a full hour lunch hour. The dorm aides came to the school at 12N and took all the students, then at 1pm they brought them all back to the school. Many of the ladies would rush home to watch some soap opera. Then they would discuss the events after school before we all went home. What is happening in DC right now reminds me of those days. The Congress has a full plate before Christmas. Just when one thinks that a bill will finally get a vote, it is pulled and everyone is told it is strategy. I am tired of the games. We need START passed, we need the DREAM act passed, we need the government bill passed so the government can keep operating, we need DADT voted on—and hopefully passed. There aren’t many days left. Stop the Soap Opera, vote and let the cards fall where they may. Waiting for the new Congress will only mean another year of no action while the new members get their footing. They all talked big about how to fix the country, but we can already see the returning people won’t let that happen—from either party.
HOLY MACKEREL: 1932 San Francisco's coldest day (27ºF) - snow falls
∞ JEOPARDY PUZZLE—(SuperJeopardy Answers) from 1990 LANDMARKS
☼The president of Venezuela has his offices in the Miraflores Palace in this city
☼This historic New York fort overlooks both Lake George & Lake Champlain
☼To honor W. Churchill, London's Church of St. Mary the Virgin was moved stone by stone to this Mo. Town
☼The Cappella della Sacra Sindone was built in the 17th century to house this relic
☼The famous Oracle of Delphi was located on the lower slope of this sacred Greek mountain
SOMEWHAT USELESS INFORMATION—
In the movie "A Christmas Story," when Flick's tongue sticks to the flagpole, a hidden suction tube was used to safely create the illusion that his tongue had frozen to the metal.
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In the movie "Elf," the costumes for the elves were modeled after those used in the 1964 television special "Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer."
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In Mexico, wearing red underwear on New Year's Eve is said to bring new love in the upcoming year.
UNUSUAL NEWS ITEM WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. —
A camel and its rider are unhurt after toppling onto audience members during a rehearsal for a costumed Christmas pageant at a South Florida church.
The camel named Lula Bell walked down the aisle and was supposed to stop and kneel. Instead, the animal balked and then stumbled sideways. It fell onto several pews and the rider was also tossed into the audience.
No one was injured during the Thursday night rehearsal at the First Baptist Church of West Palm Beach. But the pastor organizing the pageant says the camel won't be in any shows.
The camel was on loan from Animals in Motion, a Florida company that trains and transports animals for movies, shows and parties.
A LITTLE LAUGH
When it comes to wine I'm very particular about what I buy. There are two things I look for before making my selection.
First, the word "Wine" must appear somewhere on the label. This is something I insist on.
Second, I look for a sign nearby that says "On Sale."
Follow these two rules and you won't go far wrong.
FOUND ON ‘YOU TUBE’
DAYBOOK INFORMATION
♦ THIS WEEK ♦
6-12: National Handwashing Awareness Week
10-17: Human Rights Week
♦ TODAY IS… ♦
Day of The Horse
International Mountain Day
International Shareware Day
National Noodle Ring Day
UNICEF Birthday since 1946
Geneva Switzerland : Scaling Day/Escalade (1602, 1816)
US: Indiana: Admission Day (1816—19th state)
Upper Volta: Republic Day (1958)
Wales: Remembrance Day of Llywelyn II (Llywelyn ap Gruffydd or Llywelyn Ein Llyw Olaf which means Llwelyn Our Last Leader)
♫ Academy Awards Best Original Song—1940’s ♫
Click on Song Title to see and hear
♦Today’s Births♦
ARTS
1904 Marjorie (Henderson) Buell cartoonist: Little Lulu
Mos Def, 37, rapper, actor (16 Blocks, The Italian Job), born Dante Terrell Smith
David Gates, 70, singer (Bread), songwriter ’Goodbye Girl’
Brenda Lee, 66, singer, born Brenda Mae Tarpley
1918 Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn Russian writer (Cancer Ward, Nobel 1970)
1849 Ellen Key Swedendish theory/author/feminist (Courageous Woman)
1926 Willie Mae ‘Big Mama’ Thornton blues singer: pre-Elvis version of Hound Dog
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Teri Garr, 61, actress (Young Frankenstein, Tootsie, The Black Stallion)
Rita Moreno, 79, singer, actress (Oscar for West Side Story; Tony for The Ritz)
ATHLETICS
1976 Shareef Abdur-Rahim, basketball (Grizzlies, Trail Blazers, Hawks, Kings)
1969 Viswanathan Anand, Indian chess grandmaster, current World Chess Champion
BUSINESS & EDUCATION
1889 Walter Knott, American farmer, Knott’s Berry Farm
POLITICS
Tom Hayden, 70, journalist, activist, politician
John F. Kerry, 67, US Senator (D, Massachusetts), born Denver, CO
1882 Fiorello LaGuardia ‘Little Flower’: politician: NYC mayor
SCIENCE & RELIGION
1781 Sir David Brewster Scottish physicist/inventor (kaleidoscope)
1863 Annie Jump Cannon astronomer: discovered five stars
1843 Robert Koch German bacteriologist (TB, cholera, Nobel 1905)
1475 Leo X [Giovanni de' Medici] Italy, Pope (1513-21)
♦Today’s Obituaries♦
Sam Cooke singer (You Send Me, Sad Moon), slain @ 33 in 1964
Robert Q Lewis comic/TV panel member (RQL Show), emphysema @ 70 in 1991
Robert Shelton (Shapiro) journalist, @ 69 in 1995
♦Today’s Events♦
ARTS
1882 The Bijou Theatre in Boston, MA became the first theatre to be lighted by electricity.
ATHLETICS
1951 Joe Dimaggio announces his baseball retirement
1981 Muhammad Ali's 61st & last fight, losing to Trevor Berbick
BUSINESS & EDUCATION
1919 Boll weevil monument dedicated in Enterprise AL
INDIGENOUS PEOPLE
1620 103 Mayflower pilgrims land at Plymouth Rock
1753 French, under Legardeur de Saint-Pierre, are at Fort le Boeuf on French Creek, near present day Waterford, in northwestern Pennsylvania. Major George Washington arrives today delivering a message from Virginia Governor Dinwiddie. The message says the French are trespassing, and to leave.
1833 Captain Page and almost 700 Choctaws reach their destination at Fort Towson, in eastern Indian Territory. The others in the group had split off and gone to Fort Smith.
POLITICS (US)
1906 US President Roosevelt attacks abuses in the Congo
POLITICS (International)
1792 France's King Louis XVI went on trial, accused of treason
1931 British Statute of Westminster gives complete legislative independence to Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Ireland, Newfoundland
1941 Japanese attack Wake Island (only failed WWII-landing)
1961 Adolf Eichmann is found guilty of war crimes, in Israel
1967 People's front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) established
SCIENCE & RELIGION
1719 1st recorded display of Aurora Borealis in US (New England)
1844 1st dental use of nitrous oxide, Hartford CT
1972 Astronauts Cernan & Harrison become 11th & 12th on the Moon
1992 Nor'easter storm hits New York, doing $650 million+ worth of damage
ANSWERS
∞ JEOPARDY
☼The president of Venezuela has his offices in the Miraflores Palace in this city
What is Caracus?
☼This historic New York fort overlooks both Lake George & Lake Champlain
What is Ticonderoga?
☼To honor W. Churchill, London's Church of St. Mary the Virgin was moved stone by stone to this Mo. Town
What is Fulton?
☼The Cappella della Sacra Sindone was built in the 17th century to house this relic
What is the Shroud of Terin?
☼The famous Oracle of Delphi was located on the lower slope of this sacred Greek mountain
What is Mount Parnassus?
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