Ø TODAY’s “Geez”:
· 1815 - 1st natural gas well in US is discovered
· 1996 - US Senate approves 90 cent raise to $4.25 minimum wage
· 1997 - Mike Tyson is banned from boxing, for biting Holyfield's ear
Ø Free Rambling Thoughts…
We had a morning of rain….so nice. It was raining when I got up about 6 and was still raining about 11a. It was a nice female rain most of the time, which gives it time to soak in. About 10a the clouds just opened up and dumped. This afternoon was fairly calm and the sun was a shinin’. Gotta love Flag.
·
I turned on CNN and there was Nancy Grace doing a report. I am not a fan. But this is worth mentioning. We all have seen the memorial set up for Caylee near her home. Well, today, a storm came in and a bolt of lightning hit the tree at the memorial. No one was injured. Nancy has decided that ‘someone’ else is upset by the verdict. The Navajos had beliefs about lightning hit a tree. It is not a good sign for the Navajo either.
·
I certainly watched the final Space Shuttle launch this morning. A friend of mine, from my BIA days, is the cousin of the scientist in charge of the fuel mechanism. Sharon and her husband were invited to watch this launch—from the closest place allowed. They were closer than the press corps. She posted a fantastic shot and will post video as soon as she figures out how to do it from her phone. They have been at the launch before, but never that close. How exciting, to be part of the history made today as the last shuttle took off.
·
I have always tried to see the big picture. At times it certainly isn’t an easy task. A classroom, a school, a district, a state or a national government can’t operate without looking at the big picture. Seems that isn’t true in TX. They executed a Mexican National without giving him a chance to contact his country. He was tried and found guilty and given the death penalty. The Obama Administration notified them that they should not execute until he was given a chance to talk to Mexico. TX didn’t listen and executed him yesterday. Today the UN notified DC that we had broken an International Accord that we had signed years ago. I happen to like that Accord. I travel outside the US at least once a year. If by some chance I am arrested in one of those countries, I know that I will have the US Embassy on my side. I also know that they will let me contact them. That may not be a sure thing in the future. Since the US doesn’t abide by the Accord they signed, others may decide that they don’t have to either. I’m all for States Rights that are listed in the US Constitution. I am not for states like TX deciding that they don’t have to follow International Accords, or for AZ when they start enforcing Immigration because they don’t like what the Feds are doing. What will happen if LA or OR decide that they want their states to go back to the lines drawn during the LA purchase or the OR territory? I wish more of our politicians KNEW the Constitution and all the amendments. If they want to change something that is in that document, there is a process. They should follow it.
Ø Trivia Quiz…(answers at the end of post)
1. Which Gwen won Olympic gold on the athletics track?
2. Kitty Kelley wrote an Unauthorized Biography about which First Lady?
3. Which American athlete fell over during the final of the 3000 meters at the LA Olympics?
4. Which heptathlete was born on exactly the same day as footballer Herschel Walker.
5. How was choreographer William Busby Enos better known?
6. What is the name of Margaret Thatcher's husband?
7. Who was the first black tennis player to win the Australian Open?
8. Who led a jazz band called The All Stars?
9. Who did Cassius Clay beat to win the world heavyweight title for the first time?
10. Who was Marilyn Monroe's last husband?
11. Michael Flately was dubbed Lord of the what?
12. What was boxer Joe Louis's nickname?
Ø Zoom-ed in Picture…Can you Identify what this is? (Answer at end of post)
Ø Hmmmmm…
· Percentage change in stales of birth control for women in the US since 2007: +13
Ø Somewhat Useless Information…
· James Bond wasn't a successful book series in America until JFK included From Russia with Love on a list of his favorite books in 1961.
Bonus:
· Casino Royale is the first Bond film not to feature a female dancing silhouette in the opening titles.
Ø Yeah, It Really Happened…
Seattle WA: For 28-year-old Ikenna Njoku, what should have been the simple act of cashing a check turned into four days in jail and the loss of his car and job.
A year ago Njoku, a construction worker, had just purchased his first home and qualified for a federal rebate for first-time home buyers on his tax return.
He says he requested to have the rebate deposited directly into his Chase bank account in Auburn, Wash., but when the IRS rebate arrived, he found out that Chase had closed his account because of overdrawn checks. The bank deducted $600 to cover what he owed and mailed Njoku a cashier's check of $8,463.21 to make up the difference.
When Njoku arrived at the bank to cash the Chase check, he says the teller immediately became suspicious.
“When I walked in, the teller looked me up and down and asked if I worked for Chase,” he said. “She asked me questions like where did I get the check from. I sat there for half an hour while they researched the check.”
Njoku got impatient and said he would run an errand and return.
When he returned the bank was closed, so he says he called Chase's customer service, who told him to return the next day. But when he did, bank officials insisted the check was fake. The police soon arrived to arrest Njoku on forgery charges. Njoku was held in jail four nights, even though Chase called the Auburn police detective handling the case and left a message saying the arrest was a mistake, according to Njoku's lawyer. But it was that detective's day off, so Njoku stayed in jail through the weekend.
"He had two forms of valid ID, a check issued by Chase, he walked in there during normal business hours. I don't see any valid basis for suspicion in the first place," said Felix Luna, Njoku’s lawyer. The Seattle attorney took on Njoku’s case about two months ago. The story was reported this week by KING 5 News.
Njoku, who was born in Seattle and whose family is from Nigeria, says he was extremely embarrassed by the situation.
Njoku’s car, which he drove to the bank the day he was arrested, was towed and ultimately auctioned off because he couldn't pay the impound fees to get it back. Because he needed the car to get to his job, he lost the temporary construction job he had as well. Now Njoku uses his mother's car and gets construction work wherever he can find it.
Luna, who has not yet filed any litigation, said he believes the bank may have violated federal laws prohibiting discrimination in banking transactions based on race or presumed national origin.
Even after admitting its mistake, the bank did not immediately reissue another cashier's check to Njoku or give him the more than $8,000 they were retaining, Luna said. It took about a month before Njoku received the money after the Auburn police department released the original cashier's check to him.
Despite repeated efforts to contact Chase, Njoku and his lawyer said they heard from the bank for the first time this week, more than a year after the June 2010 event. Luna said a Chase lawyer contacted him Wednesday saying he would look into the case and be in touch.
Soon after the story aired on KING 5 news this week, a Chase spokeswoman issued an apology to Njoku, the station reported. That would mark the first and only apology he has received.
"This is a very unfortunate and unusual situation," Darcy Donahoe-Wilmot of Chase wrote to KING 5. "We apologize to Mr. Njoku and deeply regret what happened to him. We are working quickly to understand all the details so we can reach a fair resolution."
A manager at the Chase branch in Auburn declined further comment to msnbc.com.
Njoku now holds an account with Wells Fargo instead. He said he just wants Chase bank to fix the way they do things.
“It shouldn’t take them a day and a half to research a check,” he said.
Ø Guffaw…or at least smile…
The photographer for a national magazine was assigned to get photos of a great forest fire. Smoke at the scene was too thick to get any good shots, so he frantically called his home office to hire a plane.
"It will be waiting for you at the airport!" he was assured by his editor. As soon as he got to the small, rural airport, sure enough, a plane was warming up near the runway. He jumped in with his equipment and yelled, "Let's go! Let's go!"
The pilot swung the plane into the wind and soon they were in the air. "Fly over the north side of the fire," said the photographer, "and make three or four low level passes."
"Why?" asked the pilot.
"Because I'm going to take pictures! I'm a photographer, and photographers take pictures!" said the photographer with great exasperation.
After a long pause the pilot said, "You mean you're not the flight instructor?"
Ø Searchin’ “You Tube” I found…
The Equal Rights Amendment: Phyllis Schlafly; Ann Scott
Ø Daybook Information…
…Happening This Week:
· 1-4 International Chicken Wing Week
· 1-7 National Unassisted Homebirth Week
· 3-9 Be Nice To New Jersey Week
· 4-10 Freedom Week
Nude Recreation Weekend
Ø TODAY IS
· National Sugar Cookie Day
· Bald In-Bald Out Day: to investigate the history, and medical improvements of being bald
· Carver Day: @ George Washington Carver National Monument in MO
· Hop A Park Day: Nat’l Parks hold special events
· Alaska: Flag Day
· Argentina: Independence Day (1816 from Spain)
· Morocco: Youth Day
Ø Today’s Events:
… IN ARTS
1956 - Dick Clark's 1st appearance as host of American Bandstand
… IN ATHLETICS
1877 - 1st Wimbledon tennis championship is held
1922 - Johnny Weissmuller swims 1st 100 m free style under 1 minute
1933 - Frankford Yellowjackets sold, rechristened Philadelphia Eagles
1991 - South Africa readmitted to Olympics
2000 - Pete Sampras wins his 13th Grand Slam tennis title at Wimbledon
… IN BUSINESS
1852 - Fire destroys 1,100 construction sites in Montreal Canada & no one die
1872 - Doughnut cutter patents by John Blondel, Thomaston, Me
… IN EDUCATION
▬
… FOR INDIGENOUS PEOPLE
1609 - Samuel de Champlain, two Frenchmen, and sixty Algonquin and Huron Indians, attack 200 Mohawks near Ticonderoga, in New York.
1716 - The Mission of Nuestra Senora de Guadalupe is established for the Nacanish and Nocogdoche Indians in what becomes Texas.
… IN INTERNATIONAL POLITICS
1401 - Mongol monarch Timur Lenk destroys Baghdad
1974 - Trudeau's Liberal Party wins Canadian parliamentary election
2002 - The African Union is established in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The first chairman is Thabo Mbeki, President of South Africa
… IN RELIGION
1572 - 19 Catholic priests hanged in Gorcum
1980 - 7 die in a stampede to see Pope in Brazil
… IN SCIENCE
1595 - Johannes Kepler inscribes geometric solid construction of universe
1815 - 1st natural gas well in US is discovered
1910 - Walter Brookins becomes 1st to pilot an airplane to 1 mile altitude
1950 - 13.15" (33.40 cm) of rainfall, York, Nebraska
1957 - Discovery of element 102 (Nobelium) announced
1968 - 15.68" (39.83 cm) of rainfall, Columbus, Miss (state 24-hour record)
… IN US POLITICS
1846 - Capt Montgomery claims Yerba Buena (SF) for US
1846 - The territory of the District of Columbia south of the Potomac River (39 mi² or about 100 km²) is returned to Virginia through an Act of Congress
1978 - Nearly 100,000 demonstrators march on Wash DC for ERA
1987 - Col Oliver North admits to shredding Iran-Contra evidence
… ARTISTS: AUTHORS: COMPOSERS
1858 - Franz Boas, anthropologist/linguist (Mind of Primitive Man)
1721 - Johann Nikolaus Götz, German poet
1936 - June Jordan, US playwright/poet (His Own Where)
1945 - Dean R[ay] Koontz, , sci-fi author (Star Quest, Beastchild) turns 66
…ATHLETES
▬
…ENTERTAINERS (ACTORS/SINGERS…)
Chris Cooper actor turns 60
Brian Dennehy actor turns 72
Scott Grimes actor turns 40
Tom Hanks actor turns 55
Courtney Love will be 47
Kelly McGillis actor (Top Gun) will be 54
Fred Savage actor turns 35
Jimmy Smits actor turns 56
Richard Roundtree, actor (Getting Even, Shaft) turns 72
John Tesh, New age pianist/TV host (ET) turns 59
Robin Williams, comedian turns 59
… ENTREPRENEUR & EDUCATORS
1802 - Thomas Davenport, invented 1st coml electric motor
1856 - Daniel Guggenheim, US (Guggenheim Museum)
1819 - Elias Howe, invented sewing machine
1686 - Philip Livingston, American businessman and politician
…POLITICIANS
1911 - Lord Lovat, [Shimi], Scottish cattle breeder/14th leader of clan Fraser
1932 - Donald Rumsfeld, politician (involved in Watergate and so much more) turns 79
…SCIENTISTS / THEOLOGISTS
1943 - John H Casper, USAF/astronaut (STS 36, 54, 62, 77) turns 68
Ø Today’s Obits:
2008 - Séamus Brennan, Irish politician dies after lengthy illness at 60
1990 - Howard Duff, actor (Kramer vs Kramer), dies of a heart attack at 76 1737 - de' Medici, last Medici-grand duke of Toscane, dies
1992 - Eric Savareid, News correspondent (CBS), dies at 79
2002 - Rod Steiger, American actor dies at 77
1850 - Zachary Taylor, 12th pres (1849-50), dies in White House (of bilious diarrhea, or a bilious cholera or acute gastroenteritis at 65
1988 - Barbara Woodhouse, dog trainer, dies of a stroke at 78
Ø ANSWERS:
Ø Trivia Quiz
1. Which Gwen won Olympic gold on the athletics track?
a. Torrence
2. Kitty Kelley wrote an Unauthorized Biography about which First Lady?
a. Nancy Reagan
3. Which American athlete fell over during the final of the 3000 meters at the LA Olympics?
a. Mary Decker
4. Which heptathlete was born on exactly the same day as footballer Herschel Walker.
a. Jackie Joyner Kersee
5. How was choreographer William Busby Enos better known?
a. Busby Berkeley
6. What is the name of Margaret Thatcher's husband?
a. Dennis
7. Who was the first black tennis player to win the Australian Open?
a. Arthur Ashe
8. Who led a jazz band called The All Stars?
a. Louis Armstrong
9. Who did Cassius Clay beat to win the world heavyweight title for the first time?
a. Sonny Liston, of Denver CO
10. Who was Marilyn Monroe's last husband?
a. Arthur Miller
11. Michael Flately was dubbed Lord of the what?
a. Dance
12. What was boxer Joe Louis's nickname?
a. The Brown Bomber
Ø Close Up Picture
Ø …AND THAT’S ALL FOR NOW
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