≈Week 18 of 2010: 118 days this year… 247 days remain≈
≈ Something To Think About
The bank is something more than men, I tell you. It's the monster. Men made it, but they can't control it.
~John Steinbeck’s Grapes of Wrath--Chapter 5 (1st published in 1939)
≈ Random Fact
Orcas (killer whales), when traveling in groups, breathe in unison
• Holy Mackerel: On this day in 1947 ►Thor Heyerdahl & "Kon-Tiki" sail from Peru to Polynesia
≈ Free Ramblings
Every big issue gets their 15 minutes of fame. I really thought AZ had its decades ago when our governor and legislature would not make MKL a state holiday. After losing a super bowl bid and over $100 million in tourist dollars, the governor finally saw the light of day and approved the holiday. Millions had to be lost in the tourist business before the day became a holiday. The current 15 minutes is going to cost us millions more. One big difference is that this time, the state needs every dollar it can find. Tourism dollars and AZ’s trade with Mexico are two big chunks of money. Many groups and individuals are calling for a tourist boycott. Mexico, the country to our south, has issued a tourist warning that travel to Arizona is difficult. Something about always carry your papers and expect to be stopped for no real reason and that hours may be lost to straighten out the paperwork. Those of us who have traveled outside the US know that it is always important to have your papers in order. Few will travel to a place where you are warned that the state police might stop you for no reason. I just hope that our 15 minutes ends soon with a repeal of this law. I have to say, non-elected Governor Brewer made her stand clear in this statement: “I have come under fire from President Obama, Mayor Phil Gordon, the liberal east coast media, Al Sharpton and others who want us to back down from securing our borders. Rest assured, we will not back down until our borders are secure.”
Yesterday that horrific oil slick was the size of Manhattan Island; today it’s the size of W. Va. It is now bigger than the Exxon Valdez oil slick. We may never know what caused the explosion that started the slick. We certainly won’t forget the problems it is bringing. As nothing is working to stop mother earth from sending an infinite amount of the sweet oil [less sulfur and better to make gasoline] into the ocean, now they are talking about burning parts of the slick. The foul fumes are believed to be less harmful to all than letting the slick grow and reach land. This reminds me of an old movie, where all the drillers were covered with black gold when they hit a gusher. Capping that gusher was difficult and dirty, but after it was capped, everyone grabbed a bottle of liquor, took a swig, and sang a song. Capping the current gusher, that is 5000’ under water may be a lot more difficult. Where are all the ‘Drill Baby Drill’ people today? Turns out there really aren’t any laws that say the drillers have to have a safety protocol in place, just in case the rig sinks, leaving the hole wide open and spewing. All them those tree huggers seem to have gotten this one right. Maybe they are on to something.
I had my first hay fever/allergy attack in years. I woke up about 3am with a runny nose and stuffed up head. My nose ran most of the rest of the night. When I got up, it continued. Most of the day I was stuffed up, but the wind came and cleared the air and my sinus. I had heard that this was a bad year for pollen…now I believe it. Hopefully this has nothing to do with my stopping the Singular a few weeks ago. While I wasn’t taking it for allergies, the stopping may or may not have something to do with today’s attack.
Our expected wind arrived about 4pm this afternoon in its full fury. I was so hoping that it would just miss our area. No such luck. The only good thing is that we are having a beautiful sunset. We made it to 69° before the wind arrived. The wind dropped out temperature about 10° in about 30 minutes. The wind continued but the temperature drop stopped.
≈ A Quick Smile…
Dad is from the old school, where you keep your money under the mattress—only he kept his in the underwear drawer. One day I bought my dad an unusual personal safe—a can of spray
paint with a false bottom—so he could keep his money in the workshop. Later I asked Mom if he was using it.
"Oh, yes," she replied, "he put his money in it the same day."
"No burglar would think to look on the work shelf!" I gloated.
"They won't have to," my mom replied. "He keeps the paint can in his underwear drawer."
≈ Puzzle
The number next to the acronym helps solve what the acronym means... e.g. 365 DIAY = 365 days in a year, and 366 DIALY = 366 days in a leap year.
1. 10 MIAC
2. 11 PIAFT
3. 12 POAJ
≈ Side Show Stories
Philadelphia police say Matthew Clemmens, 21, intentionally vomited on a man and his 11-year-old daughter at a Phillies game last week. He was apparently upset after one of his fellow rowdy fans got the boot from the game, shoved a couple of fingers down his throat and hurled on the man and his daughter.
He also punched the man in the face, according to the Associated Press... who turned out to be a police captain.
≈ Calendar Information
• Observance Weeks in April•
24-30
National Scoop The Poop Week
• 26 April Observances—US/UN/World •
31 Cent Scoop Night: at Baskin Robbins
Great Poetry Reading Day
Kiss-Your-Mate Day
Worker’s Memorial Day: To remember all workers who died while working or from work-related disease
Maryland : Ratification Day (1788)
• 26 April Observances—by country •
Barbados: National Heroes Day
•Number One Songs in…
For anyone interested, all these songs are available on iTunes.
1944 ►It's Love-Love-Love; Guy Lombardo
1954 ►Wanted; Perry Como
1964 ►Can't Buy Me Love; The Beatles
1974 ►The Loco-Motion; Grand Funk
1984 ►Against All Odds (Take a Look at Me Now); Phil Collins
1994 ►Bump N' Grind; R. Kelly
• 26 April Happenings•
In The Arts
1940 ►Pennsylvania 6-5000, the classic Glenn Miller signature song, was recorded
1968 ►"Hair" opens at Biltmore Theater NYC for 1750 performances
In Athletics
1962 ►The fourth American runner to break the four-minute mile was Jim Grelle.
1967 ►Muhammad Ali refuses induction into army & stripped of boxing title
1993 ►Zambian plane crashes at Libreville Gabon, 30 soccer players die
In Business or Education
1855 ►1st veterinary college in US incorporated in Boston
1937 ►1st animated cartoon electric sign displayed (New York NY)
In Politics
1788 ►Maryland becomes the 7th state to ratify the constitution
1925 ►Kurd rebels surrender to Turkish army
1975 ►Last Americans evacuated from Saigon
2004 ►The first photos of the Abu Ghraib prisoner abuse scandal were shown on CBS' "60 Minutes II."
In Science/ Religion
1686 ►1st volume of Isaac Newton's "Principia" published
1932 ►Yellow fever vaccine for humans announced
• 26 April Births •
Artists, Writers, and Composers
Robert Anderson, 1917, playwright: Tea and Sympathy, Sand Pebbles
Nelle Harper Lee, 84, author (To Kill a Mockingbird)
Ian Rankin, 50, author (Black and Blue, The Hanging Garden), born Cardenden, Fife, Scotland
Athletes
John Daly, 44, golfer
Mark Harris, 40, wide receiver (San Francisco 49ers)
Entertainers
Jessica Alba, 29, actress
Lionel Barrymore (Blythe), 1878, Academy Award-winning actor
Ann-Margret, 69, actress
Penelope Cruz, 36, actress
Carolyn Jones, 1929, actress: The Addams Family
Jay Leno, 60, television talk show host
Sidney Toler, 1874, actor: Charlie Chan movies
Business, Education Leaders
--
Political Leaders
Saddam Hussein [At-Takriti], 1937, President of Iraq
James Monroe, 1758, 5th US President
Scientists /Religious Leaders
K. Barry Sharpless, 69, American chemist, Nobel laureate
Eugene M. Shoemaker, 1928, American planetary scientist, much of his work done in Flagstaff: in 1999 some of his ashes were left on the moon.
• 26 April Obits •
Benito Mussolini, 1945, Fascist leader (Italy), captured, tried, & shot @ 61
Jim Valvano, 1993, basketball coach (North Carolina State), cancer @ 47
≈ ANSWERS to puzzle
1. 10 MIAC = 10 millimeters in a centimeter
2. 11 PIAFT=11 Players in a football team
3. 12 POAJ = 12 People/Peers on a jury
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