6-30-11

Ø  TODAY’s “Geez”:

·        1908 - Giant fireball most likely caused by the air burst of a large meteoroid or comet impacts in Siberia (Tunguska Event)

·        1914 - Mahatma Gandhi's 1st arrest, campaigning for Indian rights in S Africa

·        1936 - 40 hour work week law approved (federal)

·        1956 - United DC-7 & TWA collide over Grand Canyon killing 128

·        1984 - Last sixpence minted in Great-Britain (in use since 1551)

Ø  Free Rambling Thoughts…

Thankfully the humidity was much higher today, so while we had major wind, it was not a Red Flag Day. 2011: The summer of wind. It was again, really warm, but the wind made it feel a little cooler.

I made my SS appointment. It only took about 45 minutes to get me done. I am preparing a letter for our representative about how a law passed in 2005 cut my SS by about 40%.  For those wondering, for the past years I got a SS statement every year informing me that I would be receiving about $340/month. There was never anything in this letter that said anything about Civil Service people would receive substantially less. Surely that great computer should have known that I had many years of no SS tax, and when I did, it was minuscule. Did that computer actually think that I was living on that few dollars all those years. Nothing I can do about it. I also found out that SS sees me without the ‘III’ at the end of my name. The lady asked if my SS card had the III on it. I said yes. Then she said, well a long time ago, they used to type the name on the card with a typewriter. As if that is an excuse. Anyway, it took about 20 more minutes to get the information for my SS card. Now I will have a brand new card—made by a computer, which, as we all know, never makes a mistake. The only good news today out of this meeting is that my checks start in July. That is faster than the BIA when I retired for sure. It took BIA about 3 months to get me the right amount. In the meantime I got 80% of my check. Then I finally got a ‘make-up’ check. No big deal, and the $151/month will be a little added income. I’m sure glad that that is not my only income.

Ø  Trivia Quiz…(answers at the end of post)

Returns tomorrow…the website I get these questions from is down.

Ø  Zoom-ed in Picture…Can you Identify what this is? (Answer at end of post)

Ø  Hmmmmm…

·        Percentage of Afghans in a survey who said they believed NATO forces were in their country do rebuild the country: 1

·        Percentage who said NATO was there to destroy Islam: 9

Ø  Somewhat Useless Information…

·        In ancient Japan public contests were held to see who in a town could break wind loudest and longest. Winners were awarded many prizes and received great acclaim.

·        The pilgrims in Massachusetts used a special tool in church, a wooden ball attached to a long string on a stick. If anyone fell asleep during a sermon (which might go on seven or eight hours) a specially appointed member of the clergy would hoist the pole over the reprobate's head and whack him with the wooden ball.

·        When ancient Egyptians priests held a banquet, a large mummy was often carried into the feast chamber and propped up at the table where all the priests could see it, a reminder that even while at pleasure, death was ever near.

·        In Elizabethan England the spoon was such a novelty, such a prized rarity, that people carried their own folding spoons to banquets.

·        When gentlemen in medieval Japan wished to seal an agreement, they urinated together, crisscrossing their streams of urine.

·        At Versailles, during the reign of Louis XIV, it was considered gauche to knock on a door with the knuckles. Instead one scratched with the little finger of the left hand, and for this purpose courtiers let that particular nail grow long.

Ø  Yeah, It Really Happened…

BRIDGEWATER, Ohio - Authorities in Ohio, responding to a report of a domestic dispute, said a woman sprayed them with her breast milk while they were attempting to detain her. The Delaware County Sheriff's Office said they were called to the Bridgewater Banquet & Conference Center early Saturday on a report of a domestic dispute and a man there told them he had been attending a wedding with his wife, who he said became drunk and struck him multiple times, WBNS-TV, Columbus, reported Monday.

County Sheriff Walter Davis III said the woman, Stephanie Robinette, 30, of Westerville, had locked herself in a car and deputies attempted to coax her out, but she was uncooperative. "When deputies attempted to remove Robinette from the vehicle, she advised the deputies that she was a breast-feeding mother and proceeded to remove her right breast from her dress and began spraying deputies and the vehicle with her breast milk,"

Davis said. Davis said Robinette was arrested and charged with domestic violence, assault, obstructing official business, resisting arrest and disorderly conduct.

Ø  Guffaw…or at least smile…

This farmer had a wife who nagged him all the time. One day while he was outside plowing the field, she came out and started nagging him. While she was doing this, the mule kicked her and she died. At the funeral, the ladies came up and talked to the farmer.

The farmer nodded his head "yes". The men came up and talked to him and the farmer nodded his head "no”.

Well this other man wondered why he nodded his head "yes" to the ladies and "no" to the men. Then, he went up to the farmer and asked him why.

The farmer replied,” Well, when the ladies came up, they told me how pretty my wife's dress was and how pretty she looked. When the men came up, they asked,’ That mule for sale?'

Ø  Searchin’ “You Tube” I found…

Billy Mills 10,000 Meter Gold Medal Final

Ø  Daybook Information…

…Happening This Week:

26-7/2

·        National Mosquito Control Awareness Week

·        National Prevention of Eye Injuries Awareness

·        Fish Are Friends, Not Food! Week

Ø  TODAY IS

·        Leap Second Time Adjustment Day

·        Meteor Day

·        National Bomp Pop Day

·        National Handshake Day

·        Guatemala--Armed Forces Day

·        Congo-- Independence Day (1960 from Belguim)

·        Sudan-- Revolution Day (1955)

Ø  Today’s Events:

…  IN ARTS

1936 - "Gone With the Wind" by Margaret Mitchell, published

1938 - Superman 1st appears in DC Comics' Action Comics Series issue #1

1951 - "Victor Borge Show," last airs on NBC

…  IN ATHLETICS

1559 - King Henry II of France is seriously injured in a jousting match against Gabriel de Montgomery

1859 - Charles Blondin is 1st to cross Niagara Falls on a tightrope

1933 - Card's Dizzy Dean strikes out 17 Cubs to win 8-2

1934 - NFL's Portsmouth Spartans become Detroit Lions

1962 - LA Dodger Sandy Koufax no-hits NY Mets, 5-0

1970 - Cincinnati's Riverfront Stadium opens, Braves beat Reds 8-2

…  IN BUSINESS

1755 - Philippines close all non-catholic Chinese restaurants

1896 - W S Hadaway patents electric stove

1953 - 1st Corvette manufactured

1960 - US stops sugar import from Cuba

1992 - 1st pay bathrooms in US open: 25 cents (NYC)

… IN EDUCATION

1860 - The 1860 Oxford evolution debate at the Oxford University Museum of Natural History takes place

…  FOR INDIGENOUS PEOPLE

1802 - A treaty with the Seneca Indians is concluded today on Buffalo Creek, in Ontario County, New York. All Seneca lands in Ontario County are ceded to the "Holland Land Company", and they will be given new lands on Lake Erie. Nineteen Indians will sign the treaty. A 2nd treaty is also signed today with the Seneca. They will receive $1200 for what is called "Little Beard's Reservation. John Taylor, and 12 Indians will sign this document.

…  IN INTERNATIONAL POLITICS

1894 - Korea declares independence from China, asks for Japanese aid

1934 - "Night of Long Knives," Hitler stages bloody purge of Nazi party

1981 - China's Communist Party condemns late Mao Tse-tung's policy

1990 - East & West Germany merge their economies

… IN RELIGION

▬

…  IN SCIENCE

1893 - Excelsior diamond (blue-white 995 carats) discovered

1930 - 1st round-the-world radio broadcast Schenectady NY

…  IN US POLITICS

1834 - Congress creates Indian Territory (now Oklahoma)

1865 - 8 alleged conspirators in assassination of Lincoln are found guilty

1906 - Pure Food & Drug Act & Meat Inspection Act adopted

1943 - Gen MacArthur begins Operation Cartwheel (island-hopping)

1972 - 1st leap second day; also 1981, 1982, 1983, 1985

1982 - Federal Equal Rights Amendment fails 3 states short of ratification

… ARTISTS:  AUTHORS:  COMPOSERS

1929 - James Goldman, American screenwriter

…ATHLETES

Sterling Marlin, American race car driver (NASCAR) turns 54

Billy Mills, Pine Ridge SD, 10k (Olympics-gold-64) turns 73

Michael Phelps, American swimmer, Olympic Gold turns 26

1912 - Dan F. Reeves, NFL team owner (Cleveland/LA Rams)

"Iron" Mike Tyson, youngest heavyweight boxing champ (1986-90) turns 45

…ENTERTAINERS (ACTORS/SINGERS…)

1943 - Florence Ballard, rocker (Supremes)

1934 - Harry Blackstone Jr, magician (Blackstone Book of Magic & Illusion)

Rick Gonzalez actor turns 32

1917 - Lena Horne, actress/singer (Stormy Weather, Wiz)

Dorothy Malone, actress (Peyton Place) turns 86

Vincent D'Onofrio, American actor, CSI TV franchise turns 52

1914 - David Wayne, actor (Adam's Rib, Andromeda Strain, 3 Faces of Eve)

… ENTREPRENEUR & EDUCATORS

▬

…POLITICIANS

1819 - William A Wheeler, (R) 19th VP (1877-81)

…SCIENTISTS / THEOLOGISTS

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Ø  Today’s Obits:

1961 - Lee de Forest, inventor (Electron Tube), dies at 87

1995 - Gale Gordon, comedian (Our Miss Brooks, Here's Lucy), dies at 89

2003 - Buddy Hackett, American comic dies at 79

1996 - Margaux Hemingway, model/actress (Lipstick), commits suicide at 41

1983 - Mary Livingstone, [Sadye Marks] Comedienne, (Jack Benny), dies at 77

2003 - Robert McCloskey, American children's book writer and illustrator dies at 88

1520 - Montezuma II, the last Aztec emperor, killed Spaniards at 54 for not bringing peace to Aztecs  

1953 - Charles William Miller, father of football in Brazil dies at 79

1785 - James Oglethorpe, English general and founder of the state of Georgia dies at 89

1670 - Henrietta Anne Stuart, Princess of England, Scotland, and Ireland dies of gastroenteritis at 26

1934 - Gustav Ritter von Kahr, Prime Minister of Bavaria killed in the Night of the Long Knives murders at 72

Ø  ANSWERS:

Ø  Trivia Quiz

Returns tomorrow

Ø  Close Up Picture

Ø  …AND THAT’S ALL FOR NOW