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MY FREE RAMBLING THOUGHTS
It was a good day today. The weather was nice enough for a walk. There was a little breeze but it was just cool, not bitter cold.
I was glad to hear that most of Cairo’s antiquities are closed, protected by the army. The Giza pyramids are closed. The museum is closed. Other areas are also closed. This seems like a good step to prevent any looting or destruction. ABC news ran a story of a Mississippi lady, about 65, who was interviewed at the Cairo airport. She was leaving after her lifelong dream of seeing the antiquities. She had seen the pyramids from behind a military barrier and was unable to see the museum. She was upbeat but disappointed for sure. The ABC crew went to the government’s head of antiquities and told him her story. He agreed to have her return, at his expense, and would give her a private tour of the Giza pyramids. There are good people throughout Egypt and this story shows that. I’m sure ABC will be with the lady when she returns in the future. Sadly, the very poor country of Egypt has lost about $9billion USD in tourist money since the demonstrations began. Much of that figure includes Euros and Yen. Much of that money goes directly to the vendors, restaurants, and coffee houses. With the pyramids closed all the camel drivers are unemployed. When I was visiting, there must have been at least 100 camel riding vendors, each with four or five camels. They were all family businesses, with younger kids learning from their father or uncle. The rides are amazing and to be sitting atop a bouncy camel as you approach the pyramids is breathtaking. These subsistence living vendors still have to feed the camels, get water for the camels, and care for them. It’s been two weeks and camels are not domesticated, so they still have to be ridden every day. My understanding from Hamdy is that these closures are only happening in the Cairo area. The other antiquities are still open, but again not many tourists. No tourists means no tourist money and that will lead, if fear, to more unrest.
Arizona finally impeached its governor over the Martin Luther King holiday. People had voted twice and the governor still wouldn’t recognize the holiday. Many tourist boycotts were started. The final straw was the Super Bowl pulling out of its Phx date. It was all about the money lost from tourists. I was reading today about some of the insane bills being introduced into the AZ legislature. If any of these bills actually become law, more boycotts are certainly on the horizon. Another side is that some legislators seem to have a desire to head for seceding from the US. One bill will require any candidate for State or Federal Office to provide our Secretary of State with proof of citizenship. This would override the Federal law for Federal candidates. Another is proposing a 2/3 vote of the citizens for the Federal government to raise the debt ceiling. The list goes on and on. So far no legislator has proposed that no Federal money will allowed in their district for anything, but I’m sure that is coming. Only in AZ.
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DID YOU KNOW THAT…
○ Have scuff marks on your vinyl luggage? Try rubbing lemon extract over the area to remove those annoying scuff marks.
○ Have Houseplants? Have snow in your yard? Get some snow place in a pail or pitcher. Let melt and use the melted snow to water your plants! Did you know that snow has minerals in it that plants love?
SOMEWHAT USELESS INFORMATION…
○ More than 90 percent of samples of consumer apples, peaches, nectarines, and strawberries tested positive for detectible pesticides, even after being rinsed or peeled.
○ Citrus Red No. 2 is often used to give Florida oranges their bright color. This dye has also been banned food processing because studies have shown that it causes cancer.
PUZZLE: Who Wants To Be a Millionaire […answers at bottom…]
1. Which of the following would most likely burn you?
Water Air Your boss Fire
2. Which of the following does not live in water?
Goldfish Humuhumunukunukuapuaa Hummingbird Salmon
3. What creature is known to make a hissing sound?
Snake Frog Dog Ant
4. In Roman numerals, what represents 5?
X V I C
5. What is usually the nearest planet to the sun?
Venus Earth Mars Mercury
6. What country has a city named Hamburg?
Spain Germany France Italy
7. President James K. Polk was a member of what political party?
Independent Republican Democratic Whig
8. How many years did the War of 1812 last?
5 1 3 0
9. The word 'zigzag' is derived from what language?
Arabic Latin French Greek
10. What is the correct plural form of the word 'Cyclops'?
Cyclopes All of these have been acceptable plurals Cyclopses Cyclops
11. In the 1990s commercials for 'Tootsie Roll Pops', how many licks did it take for the giant skeleton to get the Tootsie Roll?
5 7 6 2
12. In what year was Bill Gates born?
1955 1977 1944 1966
13. U Nu was a political leader in what country?
Laos China Myanmar Pakistan
14. In Greek mythology, which was not a name of a titan or a titaness?
Hyperion Mnemosyne Kritios Iapetus
15. Attila the Hun is also known as Etzel in what German mythological epic?
Nibelungenlied Gotterdammerung Volsungasaga Rheingold
UNUSUAL NEWS ITEM…STOCKHOLM, Sweden
-- A pilot for an airline based in Sweden fell asleep during a flight from Denmark to Sweden while his co-pilot was using the lavatory.
The Scandinavian Airlines System Group pilot wrote in his report he fell asleep during the Copenhagen to Stockholm flight because he was "extremely tired" from having only slept four 4 the previous night, Swedish news agency Tidningarnas Telegrambyra reported Thursday. The pilot said he fell asleep while his co-pilot was using the toilet and the co-pilot had to buzz the door several times before he woke up and was able to open the cockpit. The flight last year was kept on course by the plane's autopilot. An SAS manager said the airline is not planning any disciplinary action against the pilot.
A LITTLE LAUGH…
On my way to a picnic, I stopped at a fast-food place to order a quart of potato salad. "We don't sell it by the quart," the clerk snapped. "Okay, then give me two pints, please," I replied.
I'm proud to say I held my tongue when she asked, "Do you want it in one container?"
TOP 10 HISTORICAL FINDS… 4. Peking Man
Peking Man or Beijing Man was a previously unknown type of Prehistoric man discovered by Canadian anatomist Davidson Black in a cave at Zhoukoudian, China in 1927. Between then and 1937, 14 partial craniums, 11 lower jaws, many teeth, and skeletal bones were found at the site. It is believed that the cave was home to about 45 individuals. From extensive studies of the remains made by Black and his predecessor German anatomist Franz Weidenreich, we know that Peking Man stood erect, made stone tools, understood how to use fire, had a heavy brow ridge and large teeth. In 1941, while being shipped to the United States for safety during World War II, the original fossils disappeared and have yet to be found. However, casts and descriptions remain and since the end of the war, other Peking Man fossils have been found at the site and at other sites throughout China.
Importance: Before Black had uncovered Peking Man, many scholars believed that the remains of Java Man were actually the remains of a deformed ape. The finding of tool usage and fire at Zhoukoudian proved that both Java Man and Peking Man were members of the same broad stage of human evolution and thus filled out the edges of our evolutionary picture.
CLOSEUP PICTURE…
Can you identify this close up picture
FOUND ON ‘YOU TUBE’
♫ Rock Anthems ♫
Click on Song Title to see and hear
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DAYBOOK INFORMATION
¤…THIS WEEK…¤
1-7 ► Children's Authors & Illustrators Week ♥ National Patient Recognition Week ♥ Solo Diners Eat Out Weekend ♥ Women's Heart Week
3-9 ► Boy Scout Anniversary Week
4-6 ► International Snow Sculpting Week
6-12 ► Dump Your Significant Jerk Week ♥ Freelance Writers Appreciation Week ♥ International Coaching Week ♥ Jell-O Week
¤…TODAY IS…¤
Boy Scouts Day (1910) ♥ Lame Duck Day ♥ Dump Your Significant Jerk Day ♥ International Day of Zero Tolerance to Female Genital Mutilation ♥
Finland and Scandinavia: Sami National Day (Arctic Indigenous Tribe)
New Zealand: Waitangi Day-New Zealand Day (1840 founding of country)
Switzerland: Homstrom-celebrates end of winter
US: California: Ronald Reagan Day
US: Massachusetts: Ratification Day (1788)
Today’s Births
○ AUTHORS/COMPOSERS
1564 - Christopher Marlowe poet, dramatist: The Tragical History of Doctor Faustus
○ ATHLETES
1895 George Herman (Babe) Ruth baseball great (Yankees)
○ BUSINESS & EDUCATION
Tom Brokaw, 71, journalist
○ ENTERTAINERS (ACTORS/SINGERS/…)
Natalie Cole, 61, singer
Fabian, 68, singer, actor, born Fabian Forte
Mike Farrell, 72, actor (“M*A*S*H,” “Providence”)
Rip Torn, 80, actor (“The Larry Sanders Show,” Men in Black)
Mamie Van Doren, 78, actress
○ POLITICIANS
1756 Aaron Burr 3rd US Vice-President (1801-05), dueler
1536 Toyotomi Hideyoshi 2nd of three unifier of Japan in 16th century
1911 Ronald Reagan Illinois, actor (Bedtime for Bonzo)/40th President (1981-89)
1665 Anne Stuart Queen of England (1702-14)
○ SCIENCE & RELIGION
1913 Mary Nicol Leakey palaeontologist
Today’s Obituaries…
1685 Charles II King of England/Scotland/Ireland (1660-85), apoplexy @ 54
1996 Guy Madison actor (Wild Bill Hickok), emphysema @ 74
1981 Hugo Montenegro Orchestra leader emphysema @ 56
1989 Barbara Tuchman historian (Guns of August-Pulitzer), @ 77
1998 Carl Wilson rock vocalist (Beach Boy), lung cancer @ 51
Today’s Events…
○ ARTS
1843 The first minstrel show in America, the Original Virginia Minstrels, opened at the Bowery Amphitheatre in New York City.
1959 Fidel Castro is interviewed by Edward R Murrow
○ ATHLETICS
1932 Dog sled racing happened for the first time in Olympic competition
1968 The Xth Winter Olympic games opened in Grenoble, France
1995 Darryl Strawberry suspended from baseball for 60 days
○ BUSINESS & EDUCATION
1693 Royal charter granted College of William & Mary, Williamsburg VA
1911 1st old-age home opened in Prescott AZ
1935 Board game "Monopoly" goes on sale for the 1st time
○ INDIGENOUS PEOPLE
1854 The State of Texas passes a law which allows the United States to pick sites for 2 Indian reservations in Texas. One will be on the main fork of the Brazos River. The other, will be on the Clear Fork of the Brazos River.
1861 Cochise leaves Lt.George Bascom a note offering to exchange hostages. Bascom agrees to the exchange if Cochise will include the kidnapped boy Feliz Tellez. Cochise says he never had the boy, and the exchange does not take place. Cochise's hostages will be found dead in a few days.
○ POLITICS (US)
1869 Harper's Weekly publishes 1st picture of Uncle Sam with chin whiskers
1933 20th Amendment goes into effect; Presidential term begins in Jan not March
1998 Washington National Airport was renamed Ronald Reagan National Airport
○ POLITICS (International)
1778 France recognizes US, signs treaty of aid in Paris; 1st US treaty
1935 1st election to allow women to vote in Turkey
1942 – World War II: The United Kingdom declares war on Thailand.
○ SCIENCE & RELIGION
1959 At Cape Canaveral, Florida, the first successful test firing of a Titan intercontinental ballistic missile is accomplished.
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ANSWERS
Millionaire ANSWERS…
1. Which of the following would most likely burn you? Fire
2. Which of the following does not live in water? Hummingbird
3. What creature is known to make a hissing sound? Snake
4. In Roman numerals, what represents 5? V
5. What is usually the nearest planet to the sun? Mercury
6. What country has a city named Hamburg? Germany
7. President James K. Polk was a member of what political party? Democratic
8. How many years did the War of 1812 last? 3
9. The word 'zigzag' is derived from what language? French
10. What is the correct plural form of the word 'Cyclops'? All of these have been acceptable plurals
11. In the 1990s commercials for 'Tootsie Roll Pops', how many licks did it take for the giant skeleton to get the Tootsie Roll? 2
12. In what year was Bill Gates born? 1955
13. U Nu was a political leader in what country? Myanmar
14. In Greek mythology, which was not a name of a titan or a titaness? Kritios
15. Attila the Hun is also known as Etzel in what German mythological epic? Nibelungenlied
Close up Picture…
Kitchen Knives
« AND THAT’S ALL FOR NOW »
