21 Days until Christmas
Flagstaff Weather:
To keep the heart unwrinkled, to be hopeful, kindly, cheerful, reverent--that is to triumph over old age.
FREE RAMBLING THOUGHTS
We had a great weather day here in Flag. I spent some time outside walking and that was nice, since I haven’t done that for several days because of the cold weather.
I am so glad that I haven’t had to trudge through the Medicare hassles, yet. Just like the Open Season in the government plans, this is Open Season for Medicare. A friend stopped by with a stack of proposals for Part something or other. I guess I better start trying to learn a little more. I was basically no help to her. One hassle is that I have never really studied Health Insurance policy. When I was in college I signed up for BCBS as a students on campus. When I got my first job after college, I just kept BCBS. It has been good to me. Much better in the past when I didn’t visit a lot of physicians. Still good while I visit an array of doctors. I still consider health insurance as a backup in case I get sick. Something to help me pay the bills. Well, now that I have to see more than my primary care physician, a dentist and an ophthalmologist once or twice a year, I need to start figuring out how this whole system works. My government program changes in a few years when I become eligible for Medicare. I can keep BCBS as my secondary and at a much lower cost. Guessing what will happen to one’s health in the future is a daunting task. One seems to be guessing how to pay the least amount of money for the most coverage of what health issues are expected to have in the next year. Had I known that I would need two crowns in one year, I could have gotten dental insurance and probably saved a bunch of bucks. Since I didn’t know what year this would be, I could have paid several years of insurance and not needed it. If I got the dental insurance, had no problems, and therefore dropped it, I would have paid for useless insurance and then the high cost of the crowns. It will be a journey I am not looking forward to.
If you really want something you have to fight for it. I heard that as I was growing up. Fight did not mean physical brawling, it meant something like working hard. As Americans we take our freedoms pretty seriously. We work hard to keep them. Sometimes we leave our borders to help others work for those freedoms. We have been in Afghanistan for a decade, with the stated goal of giving the people a democracy. Today, one of the top Afghan military leaders said that he wants his country to have a democracy, but believes it will take time—at least another decade—to get there. It doesn’t sound to me like many of the Afghans want to have a democracy and many are not willing to work for it. Sadly, many third world countries have fallen into a cycle of poverty, corruption, and the ‘poor me’ syndrome. Without a leadership that believes in democracy and a voice of the people that believe in democracy, it will never happen. Democracy by definition can’t be forced on people who don’t want it. As the world power for democracy, we did not learn the lesson of previous nation’s troops in Afghanistan. We somehow decided that we could do it where others failed. I don’t have a lot of faith that this will change by 2012—our current pull out date or by 2022, the new date from the Afghanistan military leader. Another saying I grew up with was: When you find yourself in a hole, stop digging. Also: There is a point when you have to stop throwing good money after bad.
HOLY MACKEREL: 1843 Manila paper (made from sails, canvas & rope) patented, Massachusetts
∞ JEOPARDY PUZZLE—(SuperJeopardy Answers) from 1990 THE QUEEN'S ENGLISH
►A telephone in use isn't busy, it's this
►When an English mummy wants an English daddy to change baby's diaper, she asks him to change this
►A leg break bowler may deliver a flipper in this sport
►A doctor's office, whether or not operations are performed there
►If you bridged the Atlantic & wanted to borrow a wrench, ask for one of these
SOMEWHAT USELESS INFORMATION—
The largest bill ever printed was the $100,000 bill; it was actually a Gold Certificate issued in 1934. These notes were used for transactions between Federal Reserve banks and were not circulated among the general public. President Woodrow Wilson was depicted on the bill.
***
The so-called "all-seeing eye" that sits atop the pyramid on dollar bills was included as a reflection of divine providence. This was not the only option that was considered to fulfill that desired theme. A depiction of the Children of Israel in the Wilderness was also discussed as a possibility.
***
Our so-called "paper currency" is actually not paper, but is made of cotton/linen material. It consists of a 75% cotton/25% linen blend with silk fibers running through it.
UNUSUAL NEWS ITEM
LONDON — As Arctic blizzards swept across southeast England, stranding hundreds in their cars and bringing motorways to a virtual halt in whiteout conditions, Kent police received a strange call on their emergency number.
"I haven't been out to check on him for five hours but I went outside for a fag (cigarette) and he's gone," said the female caller.
When the operator asked who had gone she replied: "My snowman. I thought that with it being icy and there not being anybody about he'd be safe.
"It ain't a nice road, but you don't expect anybody to nick your snowman," she added.
Police were most definitely not amused.
"This call could have cost someone's life if there was a genuine emergency and they couldn't get through. It was completely irresponsible,' said Chief Inspector Simon Black.
A transcript of the call was released by the force to highlight what they said was misuse of the emergency number 999 system.
A LITTLE LAUGH
A wealthy man had a falling out with his two sons. It was serious enough that he decided to change his will.
At his lawyer's office, he threw his will on the table and said, "This needs an heircut."
FOUND ON ‘YOU TUBE’
∞ UP CLOSE PICTURE
This is a close up of what object?
CALENDAR INFORMATION
♦ Weekly Observances ♦
1-7: Cookie Cutter Week ¤ Tolerance Week ¤ Recipe Greetings For The Holidays Week
1-9: Chanukah (Hanukkah)
♦ Today’s Observances ♦
Wear Brown Shoes Day
National Cookie Day
National Dice Day
Skywarn Recognition Day; Nat’l Weather Service and Ham Operators cooperation since 1999
Coats and Toys for Kids Day
India: Navy Day
Italy: Navy Day
México: Day of the Artisans
Thailand: Thai Environment Day
Tonga: Proclamation Day
♫ One Hit Wonders—1968 ♫
Click on Song Title to see and hear the original
♦Today’s Births♦
ARTS
1835 Samuel Butler, English author (Erewhom, Way of All Flesh)
Freddy Cannon [Picariello], 71, rocker (Palisades Park)
Chris Hillman, 68, musician (the Byrds, the Desert Rose Band)
1934 Wink [Winston Conrad] Martindale, TV game show host; singer Remember this?
1944 Dennis Wilson, drummer/vocalist (Beach Boys
* * *
Max Baer, Jr, 73, actor (“The Beverly Hillbillies”), producer (Ode to Billy Joe)
Tyra Banks, 37, model, actress, talk show host
Jeff Bridges, 61, actor (The Contender, Starman, The Last Picture Show)
1934 Victor French, actor: Choices, Little House on the Prairie
Marisa Tomei, 46, actress (In the Bedroom, Oscar for My Cousin Vinny)
ATHLETICS
1930 Harvey (Edward) Kuenn, baseball: Tigers [American League Rookie of the Year: 1953/all-star: 1953-1959], Indians [all-star: 1960], Giants [World Series: 1962], Cubs, Phillies; manager: Brewers: American League Manager of the Year [1982]
BUSINESS & EDUCATION
1822 Frances Crabbe, British feminist founded Anti-Vivisection Society to end animal testing on products
1858 Chester Greenwood, inventor: ear muffs
Charles Keating, 87, district attorney (Los Angeles CA); finance fiasco
POLITICS
1912 Pappy (Gregory) Boyington, aviator: USMC: commanding officer of WWII Black Sheep Squadron
SCIENCE & RELIGION
1584 John Cotton, Puritan clergyman in Massachusetts Bay colony
1908 A D Hershey, biologist, worked with bacteriophages (Nobel 1969)
♦Today’s Obituaries♦
[Auguste-]Maurice Barrès French writer/parliament leader, heart attack @ 61 in 1923
Jakob Kaplan French head rabbi (1955-81), @ 99 in 1994
Bert Lahr [Irving Lahrheim] US comic (Wizard of Oz), cancer @ 72 in 1967
Margaret Landon US author (Anna & the King of Siam), @ 90 in 1993
Itzhak Rabin (יִצְחָק רַבִּין ) PM of Israel (1968-73), assassinated @ 73 in 1995
Shunryu Suzuki (祥岳俊隆) Zen teacher, founder of San Francisco Zen Center, @ 67 in 1971 "Our tendency is to be interested in something that is growing in the garden, not in the bare soil itself. But if you want to have a good harvest, the most important thing is to make the soil rich and cultivate it well."
Frank V Zappa music/composer (Mothers of Invention), cancer @ 52 in 1993
♦Today’s Events♦
ARTS
1955 As part of an NBC-TV special, mime artist Marcel Marceau appeared on television for the first time
1981 "Falcon Crest" premieres on CBS-TV
ATHLETICS
1947 USSR joins International Amateur Athletic Union
1977 NFL's 5,000th game, Cincinnati beats Kansas City 27-7
1997 NBA suspends Latrell Sprewell for 1 year for attacking his coach
BUSINESS & EDUCATION
1791 Britain's Observer, oldest Sunday newspaper in world, 1st published
1932 “Good evening, Mr. and Mrs. North and South America and all the ships at sea. Let’s go to press!” The Walter Winchell Show, later The Jergens Journal and still later, Kaiser-Frazer News, was first heard on the NBC Blue network.
1952 Killer fogs begin in London England, "Smog" becomes a word
INDIGENOUS PEOPLE
1598 Spanish and ACOMA forces engage in a fight.
2000 Secretary of Energy Bill Richardson signed an agreement which returns to the NORTHER UTEs approximately 85,000 acres of land in Utah. The land had been appropriated by the U.S. Congress taken from them eighty-four years ago.
POLITICS (US)
1933 FDR creates Federal Alcohol Control Administration
POLITICS (International)
1655 Middelburg Netherlands forbids building of synagogue
1745 Bonnie Prince Charles reaches Derby
1941 Nazi ordinances places Jews of Poland outside protection of courts
1991 Muslim Shiites release last US hostage Terry Anderson (held 6½ years)
SCIENCE & RELIGION
1563 Council of Trent holds last session, after 18 years
1843 Manila paper (made from sails, canvas & rope) patented, Massachusetts
1864 Romanian Jews are forbidden to practice law
1930 Vatican approves rhythm method for birth control
ANSWERS
∞ JEOPARDY
A telephone in use isn't busy, it's this
What is engaged?
When an English mummy wants an English daddy to change baby's diaper, she asks him to change this
What is a nappy? (or napkin)
A leg break bowler may deliver a flipper in this sport
What is cricket?
A doctor's office, whether or not operations are performed there
What is surgery?
If you bridged the Atlantic & wanted to borrow a wrench, ask for one of these
What is a spanner?
∞ PICTURE
A staple remover
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