This is Week 46 of 2010►Day 321 with 44 days left.
Flagstaff Weather: H—54°; L—28°; RH—40%; —mostly sunny sky and wind—18 mph
QUOTE FOR THE DAY—Ralph Waldo Emerson
If you would lift me up you must be on higher ground
FREE RAMBLING THOUGHTS
I ran some errands this morning and went a little crazy at Sam’s. One guy living alone doesn’t need the 64 rolls of toilet paper, but there are still many smaller packages of other things that one can buy that save big bucks. Of course I now have enough food items to last several months…good I have a chest freezer. Pantry staples are good for a little longer.
When I was in Taiwan, I found out that most of their tourists come from the mainland. I then knew I had to do some learning about what is going on in China. My brother’s trip over there last year, on business, opened my eyes a little. They met with the CEO of a furniture maker who was going to make some of Laura’s pieces. They met in a small apt. Both Laura and my brother left with a memory of little more than being cold. There was very poor insulation, and there was a heating stove in the middle of the living room that didn’t seem to give off much heat. The CEO lived south of an imaginary line drawn on a map. Those north of the map get much more and much less expensive heating fuel. Those south of the line have a hard time getting any fuel for the heater. It was not a issue of money, it was an issue of quantity. Richard commented that it was like me, living in the South part of the US, I would have a hard time getting heating fuel—even though I lived at 7000’. This week, ABC news is in China. Whoa…I have so much to learn. Almost every school is teaching English in K-12. The students spend about 30% more time in school than American kids. One little girl asked how many American children were leaning Chinese in school. It turns out that 1600 school districts in the US are offering courses in Mandarin. That’s 4% of our school districts. There are more billionaires in China than in the US. Only 4-6% of the internet is censored. Jack Ma started alibaba, an e-commerce site that now has over 25,000 employees. It is like Amazon, if you buy in large quantities. One of Mr. Ma’s insights is that in America we love to debate about everything which leads to wasting a lot of time in getting things done. He says that in China they say—just get it done. China is on the move. In many situations, they want to be like Americans—especially in business. Whatever they are doing right now, it sure seems to be working.
Sadly, the Celtic Tiger—Ireland is not doing very well economically. They rose out of poverty and were living the good life for almost a decade. Greece is having similar problems. According to the news reports, businesses are closing everywhere throughout Ireland. If China business follows the Irish or the Greeks, the entire world will be in great financial difficulty. I need to learn more about what actually happened—beginning in the 1970’s until today.
I had to laugh a little today while watching the news. First there is a new representative in DC who campaigned against Obamacare to get elected. While he was in an orientation seminar for all new reps he asked a couple of questions about the House Health care options. He was shocked to find out that he could get coverage when he was sworn in—not when he was elected. In his follow-up question he learned that after he enrolls, he has to wait 30 days before it takes effect. He asked the presenter what he was supposed to do if he or his family got sick between now and February. He was disappointed when he found out that he would have to buy his own insurance from a private company for that timeframe. DUH. Welcome to the real world Mr. Representative. I’m sure he will be disappointed again when he finds out that when he is covered, he still has to pay for it. Another funny…A Faux news panel was discussing Sarah Palin’s TLC’s Alaska mini-reality series. They thought they had gone to a commercial when one of the panelists said that she had heard the new series was like The Sound of Music without the singing, without the Nazis, and without the romance. Hmmm. Oops. I have seen some clips from the show and will probably watch some of it, for the beauty of Alaskan wilds. The clips have been pretty awesome photography.
HOLY MACKEREL: 1968»The ‘Heidi Game’ happened on TV. The New York Jets/Oakland Raiders football game was cut off to begin a family show (Heidi) on NBC. The TV audience missed Oakland’s two touchdowns (in nine seconds) to win the game 43-32. NBC was flooded with calls and the concept of program delay was instituted immediately by the networks.
JEOPARDY PUZZLE—(SuperJeopardy) from 1990—‘B’ in Geography
$200-Strait separating Alaska & the Soviet Union
$400-The Ganges & Irrawaddy are among the rivers emptying into this large bay
$600-Region of France between the Seine & Marne Valleys famous for its soft white cheese
$800-Alpine Pass connecting Innsbruck, Austria & Bolzano, Italy
$1000- With Hercegovina it forms 1 of Yugoslavia's 6 republics
SOMEWHAT USELESS INFORMATION—
» The Amazon River is so wide that from its mouth pours one-fifth of all the moving fresh water on Earth. Its discharge runs at 7,200,000 cubic feet of water per second; greater than the next ten largest rivers combined!
»Less than 3 percent of the water on earth is fresh water. Approximately 1.6 percent is usable.
UNUSUAL NEWS ITEM
PARMA, Ohio — Two Parma middle school teachers are on unpaid administrative leave following a lesson on acupuncture.
The incident happened at Hillside Middle School during a lesson on Chinese culture in a seventh-grade social studies class last month.
Parma schools said the teachers at the school in Seven Hills were placed on leave “for introducing acupuncture in an inappropriate way to their students.”
According to Parma schools, Doug Ziemiankski put needles into his arm and the arm of co-teacher Gail Tatockenko. Ziemianski put needles into students’ hands, arms and necks, and a total of seven students were punctured during the day, the school system said.
Parma schools said the needles where individually sealed in packages and no needles was used more than once. The students used alcohol to clean their skin before using the needles.
The school system placed the teachers on leave based on their involvement in the incident. One teacher was given a three-day unpaid suspension. The other teacher was given a 21-day unpaid suspension.
"These are good teachers and good people who made an error in judgment. Unfortunately, it involved the safety of children. Good people sometimes make bad decisions. Fortunately, no one was hurt, but this kind of classroom activity is unacceptable,” said Parma City Schools Superintendent Jeff Graham, in a news release on Tuesday.
The school district said the administration found out about the lesson after a parent called the school. The administration also notified children’s services.
A LITTLE LAUGH
Once I'd finished reviewing my daughter's homework, I gave her an impromptu quiz. "What is a group of whales called?"
I asked. "I'll give you a hint—it sounds like something you use to listen to music."
"An iPod?" she guessed.
"Close," I said. "But what I'm thinking is a little smaller."
"A Shuffle!"
FOUND ON ‘YOU TUBE’
GREY MATTER PICTURE
This is a close up of what object?
SOME CALENDAR INFORMATION
¤ Weekly Observances ¤
14-20: American Education Week, Geography Awareness Week, National Hunger & Homeless Awareness Week, National Global Entrepreneurship Week
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 ¤
Take A Hike Day
Homemade Bread Day
GIS Day (Geographic Information Systems)
International Students' Day
National Educational Support Professionals Day
Czech Republic and Slovakia: Struggle for Freedom and Democracy Day
Greece: Polytechnic or Πολυτεχνείο—for the 1973 bloody demonstration against the junta.
Japan: Shogi Day, formerly celebrated on the 17th day of Kannazuki (Godless month): shogi is a game similar to chess.
Zaire: Army Day
¤ Top 10 songs of ___ ¤
Click on Song Title to see and hear the original
05. Patricia » Perez Prado: I don’t get the pictures!
08. Tequila » Champs
¤ Today’s Births ¤
╬ THE ARTS
Archie Campbell, comedian (Hee Haw)—in 1914
Gordon Lightfoot, 72, singer, songwriter, born Orilla, ON, Canada Canadian Railroad Trilogy
Lorne Michaels, 66, producer (“Saturday Night Live”)
Titian Ramsey Peale, artist/naturalist (American Ornithology)—in 1799
Martin Scorsese, 68, director (Mean Streets, The Color of Money, Raging Bull, Goodfellas)
Lee Strasberg (Israel Strassberg), director; teacher of method acting at Actor’s Studio—in 1901
♦♦Actors♦♦
Danny DeVito, 66, actor (“Taxi,” Twins), director (Throw Mama from the Train)
Daisy Fuentes, 44, actress, television personality
Rock Hudson, actor (Pillow Talk, A Farewell to Arms)—in 1925
Lauren Hutton, 66, model, actress (American Gigolo)
Dean Paul Martin, actor (Billy-Misfits of Science; son of Dean Martin—in 1951
RuPaul, 50, model, actor, born RuPaul Andre Charles
╬ ATHLETICS
Bob Mathias, decathalete (Olympic-gold-1948, 52)—in 1930
George Thomas (Tom) Seaver, 66, Hall of Fame baseball player, broadcaster
╬ BUSINESS & EDUCATION
Grace Abbott, social worker (US Children Bureau)—in 1878
╬ POLITICS
Howard Dean, 62, former chairman of the Democratic National Committee, former Governor of Vermont
Bernard L Montgomery, British general (WW II-African campaign)—in 1887
╬ SCIENCE & RELIGION
August Ferdinand Mobius, German mathematician, inventor (Mobius strip)—in 1790
¤ Today’s Obituaries ¤
Arthur Vining Davis, CEO (Alcoa-1910-57), @ 92 in 1962
Sheilah Graham, gossip columnist, @ 84 in 1988
John Grascock, of Jethro Tull, heart surgery @ 27 in 1979
Jimmy Ritz, of Ritz brothers, heart failure @ 81—in 1985
Auguste Rodin, sculptor (The Thinker) @ 77 in 1917
¤ Today’s Events ¤
╬ THE ARTS
1966»Woody Allen’s first play, Don’t Drink the Water, opened on Broadway.
╬ ATHLETICS
1884»Cops arrest John L Sullivan in 2nd round for being "cruel"
1940»Green Bay Packers become 1st NFL team to travel by plane
╬ BUSINESS & EDUCATION
1853»Street signs authorized at San Francisco intersections
╬ INDIGENOUS PEOPLE
1764»Part of Pontiac's army surrenders at the Muskingham River.
1938»An election is authorized to approve a Constitution and By-Laws for the Thlopthlocco Tribal Town of the Creek Indian Nation of the State of Oklahoma by Oscar Chapman, Assistant Secretary of the Interior
╬ POLITICS (US)
1800»Congress held 1st session in Washington DC
1993»US Congress votes for NAFTA
╬ POLITICS (International)
1278»680 Jews arrested (293 hanged) in England for counterfeiting coins
1558»Elizabeth I ascends English throne upon death of Queen Mary
1796»Battle of Arcole-Napoleon I's French forces beat Austrians in Italy
1869»Suez Canal opens (Egypt)
1913»Panama Canal opens
1977»Egyptian President Sadat formally accepts invitation to visit Israel
1994»Irish Taoiseach (Prime Minister) Albert Reynolds resigns
╬ SCIENCE & RELIGION
1875»American Theosophical Society founded by Mme Blavatsky & Col Olcott ( is a branch of a world fellowship and membership organization dedicated to promoting the unity of humanity and encouraging the study of religion, philosophy and science so that we may better understand ourselves and our relationships within this multidimensional universe. The Society stands for complete freedom of individual search and belief.)
1913»1st US dental hygienists course established, Bridgeport, Ct
1927»Tornado hit Washington DC
1959»De Beers firm of South Africa announces synthetic diamond
1967»Surveyor 6 becomes 1st man-made object to lift off the Moon
GREY MATTER ANSWERS
↔ JEOPARDY
$200-Strait separating Alaska & the Soviet Union
What is the Bering Strait?
$400-The Ganges & Irrawaddy are among the rivers emptying into this large bay
What is the Bay of Bengal?
$600-Region of France between the Seine & Marne Valleys famous for its soft white cheese
What is Brie?
$800-Alpine Pass connecting Innsbruck, Austria & Bolzano, Italy
What is Brenner?
$1000- With Hercegovina it forms 1 of Yugoslavia's 6 republics
What is Bosnia?
↔ PICTURE
A wafer cookie
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