TODAY’s HOLY MACKEREL: 1953 A census bureau report indicated that 239,000 farmers had quit tilling the soil and planting crops (giving up farming) over the previous two years.
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MY FREE RAMBLING THOUGHTS
I admit that I do not do as much driving as I did when I was working. Even in town, I plan my trips so that I don’t have to run all around. My dad would be so proud. The price of gas is rising very fast. The real reason seems to be greed. There is no shortage of oil coming into the US. The US uses about 20 million barrels a day and produces about 7 million barrels a day. There is certainly tension in the oil areas in Africa. That has NOT stopped the flow of oil, only the potential is there. The speculators always seem to assume the worst case scenario. That quickly raises the cost of a gallon of gas. I heard today that Montana has the lowest gas prices in the country. I don’t get that at all. Now some conservative congress people are pushing to open up the floodgates of our emergency tanks. This is crazy so it will probably happen. There is no emergency. There is only the possibility of an emergency. What will we do if, in a few months we have a real emergency? Yeah, no one likes to pay these ridiculous prices, but opening up our reserves won’t fix the problem.
Along the same line, some in congress are talking seriously about a no fly zone for Libya. Just what we need—a third war. I am disturbed by what is happening in Libya. Gaddafi is, and always has been a dictator. It is pretty certain that he is not in control of himself or his country. It has been this way for quite a while. The Bush Administration even had him come to DC. He started some trade with the regime. If there was any leadership of the revolutionaries were asking for our help, we should be treading very carefully. So far, there is no leadership in Libya asking for our help. Only congress people who see war as a way to solve any problem are talking about a no-fly zone or invasion. An invasion would be crazy!
NPR had a very good discussion on the differences between our current military and the military I grew up with—that had the draft. The use of contractors in war zones and at home has completely changed the military. My dad who was in the military before and during WWII didn’t talk much about his experiences, but did not like the KP stuff for sure. Well, turns out the volunteer army doesn’t have KP duty anymore, it is contracted out. It is widely agreed that today’s soldiers join to be fighters. According to the panel, if the menial tasks of a war or even of daily military menial tasks, the number of those volunteering would fall way below the number needed. The contractors do all that menial stuff that keeps the military working make it possible for the volunteer army to work. It also keeps the American populous removed from the war. Sons and daughters are not being drafted to fight. Those who volunteer know what they are volunteering for and so do their families. This does not diminish the grief when a soldier is lost. It does stop the protests against the killing, because those who kill and those who are killed did volunteer. Until this changes it looks like we will continue to exert our military force around the world. I hope that sanity prevails and we don’t start another war.
My friend from Tuba headed to Phoenix this morning to be close to his sister. It sounds like they have stopped much of her treatment but she is still hanging in there. I believe that sons and daughter have to tell her that they will survive if she goes. She has raised them to be semi-dependant on her financially and mentally, I believe she needs to hear that so she can go. Thankfully, it is not my place to say anything. The kids continue to ask for prayers that their mom will recover. I get that. It takes a lot of strength to tell a parent that it is OK to let go. All my prayers are for the family to have strength in this very difficult time.
The winds have died down from the 45mph we had this morning. The snow that has been falling on and off all day is not sticking. The sticking part will probably change during the night. The weather guy says the storm will be gone sometime tomorrow morning.
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DID YOU KNOW THAT…
The classic breath freshener, and powerful antiseptic, can also do a number on blisters. Moisten a cotton ball with Listerine and dab it on your blister 3 times a day until the area dries out and no longer hurts.
To determine whether an egg is fresh, immerse it in a pan of cool, salted water. If it sinks, it is fresh - if it rises to the surface, throw it away.
SOMEWHAT USELESS INFORMATION…
The oldest continuously inhabited city, Damascus, Syria, was inhabited at least as early as 2000 B.C.
In 8000 B.C. (about 500 years after the beginnings of agriculture, northeast of the Tigris River) there were approximately as many humans on earth as there are living in New York today.
In a 2004 poll, 12 percent of respondents confessed to having sex in the workplace, while another 10 percent said they have fantasized about it.
PUZZLE: Trivia Quiz […answers at bottom…] SCIENCE
Note: Due to the website repeating so many questions, each day will be a different topic
1. The Tilia is the Latin name for what type of tree?
2. Which mammal can live the longest without water?
3. The comma bacillus causes what disease?
4. An array is a group of what?
5. Who invented the 'punched cards' that were used in early computing, in the 1800's?
6. Who invented the television?
7. Karl Lienstater discovered what medical breakthrough in 1901?
8. Bristlemouths are the world's most common what?
9. Which French philosopher created analytical geometry?
10. What animal provides 50% of all the protein eaten in Peru?
UNUSUAL NEWS ITEM:
HAZARD, Ky. — A man in eastern Kentucky charged with stealing an ambulance says he just needed a ride home.
A Perry County ambulance crew was inside a hospital in Hazard for only a few minutes Friday night and left the keys in the ignition. WYMT-TV reports that when they came out, the vehicle was gone.
City Police Sgt. Randy Napier says an off-duty Kentucky State Police detective saw the ambulance being driven erratically pulled it over.
Napier says 26-year-old Shane Hale told the detective he only needed a ride home and was going to call the ambulance service the next day and report where the vehicle was. Hale was jailed on DUI and other charges.
A LITTLE LAUGH:
At a wedding ceremony that I was performing, I raised my hand to give the final blessing.
The bride misunderstood my gesture and surprised me with a high-five.
Not wanting to exclude the groom, I offered him a high-five, too.
I was finally able to get my blessing in, amid the laughter of the guests.
Top 10 In The World:
CLOSEUP PICTURE: Can you identify this close up picture?
FOUND ON ‘YOU TUBE’:Old U.S. Mint - New Orleans, Louisiana
The only building in America to have served both as a U.S. and Confederate Mint
♫ 60’s Rock ♫
Click on Song Title to see and hear it.
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DAYBOOK INFORMATION
►THIS WEEK◄
5-20► Iditarod Race ♣
6-12► Celebrate Your Name Week ♣ National Consumer Protection Week ♣ National Pancake Week ♣ National Words Matter Week ♣ Save Your Vision Week ♣ Read an E-Book Week ♣ Return The Borrowed Books Week ♣ Teen Tech Week ♣ Women in Construction Week ♣
7-13► Newspaper in Education Week ♣ National Procrastination Week ♣ National Sleep Awareness Week ♣ National School Breakfast Week ♣ Telecommuter Appreciation Week ♣ Universal Women's Week ♣
►TODAY IS◄
Be Nasty Day
Day for Women's Rights & International Peace
Girls Write Now Day
International Women's Day since 1911
International Working Women's Day
International Pancake Day (IHOP)
Mardi Gras continues
Shrove Tuesday (Absolution of sin by confession)
Catholic: Fat Tuesday: to eat rich foods before beginning a fastEstonia and Finland: families go sledding and eat split pea and ham soupIceland : Sprengidagur (Bursting Day): eating salt meat and peas.Ireland: Máirt Inide: Pancake TuesdayLithuania : Užgavėnės ; pancakes (blynai) and Lithuanian-style doughnuts called spurgesPennsylvania Dutch: Fastnacht Day: fried potato dough and served with dark corn syrupScotland: Festy cock: a ball of finely ground meal, wetted and patted, rolled into a pancake shape, then roasted in the hot ashes from a mill kiln
Organize Your Home Office Day
Unique Names Day
♣ ♣ ♣ ♣
Egypt, Libya, Syria: Syrian Revolution Day (1963)
US: Memphis TN: Cotton Carnival (held for 5 days)
■…AUTHORS/COMPOSERS/ARTISTS
1899 Eric Linklater Scottish novelist/poet/historical writer (Blue Swallows)
■…ATHLETES
Mike Moriarty, 37, American baseball (Orioles)
■…BUSINESS & EDUCATION
1865 Frederick William Goudy US, printer/type designer
Kathy Ireland, 48, model
■…ENTERTAINERS (ACTORS/SINGERS)
1902 Louise Beavers actress; Beulah, the maid more than 125 films
1921 Cyd Charisse [Tula Ellice Finklea] dancer/actress (East Side West Side, Brigadoon)
Susan Clark, 71, actress (“Webster,” Babe)
Micky Dolenz, 66, singer, actor (“The Monkees”)
1918 Alan Hale [MacKahan] Jr actor (Skipper Jonas Grumby-Gilligan's Island)
Camryn Manheim, 50, actress (“Ghost Whisperer,” “The Practice”)
Freddie Prinze, Jr, 35, actor (Scooby-Doo, She’s All That)
1943 Lynn Redgrave actress (Georgie Girl) Weight-Watcher
James Van Der Beek, 34, actor (“Dawson’s Creek”)
■…POLITICIANS
1841 Oliver Wendell Holmes 59th Supreme Court justice (1902-32)
1783 Hannah Hoes Van Buren wife of President Martin Van Buren (1837-41)
■…SCIENCE & RELIGION
1886 Edward Kendall chemist, isolated cortisone (Nobel 1950)
1075 Abu 'l-Kasim Mahmud ibn Omar al-Zamachshari Arab theologist
1787 Karl Ferdinand von Grafe help create modern plastic surgery
Today’s Obits:
1874 Millard Fillmore 13th President (1850-53), stroke @ 74
1862 Nat Gordon last pirate to be hanged for stealing 1,000 slaves
1995 Paul George Vincent O'Shaughnessy Horgan novelist, @ 91
1971 Harold Lloyd US comic/actor (Why Worry), cancer @ 77
1930 William Howard Taft 27th US President (1909-13)/Chief Justice, @ 72
1917 Ferdinand von Zeppelin Dutch count/air pioneer, @ 78
Today’s Events:
■…ARTS
1979 Philips demonstrates the Compact Disc publicly for the first time.
■…ATHLETICS
1958 Silky Sullivan comes from 40 lengths back to win by 3 at Santa Anita
1966 Casey Stengel elected to Hall of Fame
■…BUSINESS & EDUCATION
1817 The New York Stock Exchange is founded.
1855 1st train crosses 1st US railway suspension bridge, Niagara Falls
1896 Volunteers of America forms (New York NY) 1913 Internal Revenue Service begins to levy & collect income taxes
1972 1st flight of the Goodyear blimp
1985 The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) taxed themselves to discover that 407,700 Americans were millionaires -- more than double the total of just five years before.
■…INDIGENOUS PEOPLE
1865 The WINNEBAGO sign a treaty regarding the Omaha reservation.
1880 Company K, 5th Mounted Infantry, from Fort Keogh, in east-central Montana, has been pursuing a band of Indians with stolen horses for 60 miles. They manage to cut the Indians off, and capture 13 horses, and 16 mules, north of the Yellowstone River.
■…POLITICS (International)
1930 Mahatma Gandhi starts civil disobedience in India
1943 335 allied bombers attack Nierenberg
1965 1st US combat forces arrive in South Vietnam (3,500 Marines)
■…POLITICS (US)
1838 US mint in New Orleans begins operation (producing dimes)
1862 Confederate ironclad "Merrimack" launched
1894 A dog license law was enacted in the state of New York: $2 ($48.92UDS in 2010)
■…SCIENCE & RELIGION
1887 Everett Horton, Connecticut, patents fishing rod of telescoping steel tubes
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ANSWERS:
Quiz
1. The Tilia is the Latin name for what type of tree? Lime
2. Which mammal can live the longest without water? Rat
3. The comma bacillus causes what disease? Cholera
4. An array is a group of what? Hedgehogs
5. Who invented the 'punched cards' that were used in early computing, in the 1800's?
Herman Hollerith
6. Who invented the television? John Logie Baird
7. Karl Lienstater discovered what medical breakthrough in 1901? A-B-O Blood Groups
8. Bristlemouths are the world's most common what? Fish
9. Which French philosopher created analytical geometry? Rene Decartes
10. What animal provides 50% of all the protein eaten in Peru? Guinea Pigs
Close Up Picture
Lane Closed Ahead
________AND THAT’S ALL FOR NOW________
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