TODAY’s “Geez”:
1721 - Dr Zabdiel Boylston gives 1st smallpox inoculations in America
· 1974 - The Universal Product Code is scanned for the first time to sell a package of Wrigley's chewing gum at the Marsh Supermarket in Troy, Ohio
Ø Free Rambling Thoughts…
Another Red Flag Day. This is getting very concerning. Bring on the monsoons…soon.
&;·
Our discussion group was small last night, when two people couldn’t make it due to illness. Our topic was ‘do sanctions work?’ Our country seems to operate on diplomacy, until that doesn’t work, then moves to economic sanctions until that doesn’t work, then to military intervention. At least that how is used to be. The two ways that sanctions can work are ‘makes you feel good’—that is we are doing something and ‘actual change in the country’s policy’. The feel good ones almost always work; the other one not so much. We discussed many of the sanctions that took place from the Wilson era until today. Then we moved to why the US puts sanctions on another country. The most common sanction seems to be to get a country to join the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons. Again, it’s the ‘haves’ telling the ‘have nots’ what we want.
The difficulty with sanctions in the technology age is that all countries know what all the other countries are doing. No way is France going to place sanctions on their former colony of Libya because they need the oil. No way is China going to put sanctions of N Korea because they fear that if the government fails, millions will seek refuge in China. No way is Italy going to put sanctions on Tunisia for the same reason. Thankfully the current administration in the US is working really hard on the diplomacy role, something we didn’t do during the previous administration. From a humanitarian point, sanctions harm the general population much sooner than harming the government. The next time I hear that our government is talking about sanctions, I will certainly pay closer attention.
;Ø ;Trivia Quiz…(answers at the end of post)
1. The island of Rhodes belongs to which Mediterranean country?
2. Is Scandinavia in the north or south of Europe?
3. Which Mediterranean island's capital is Valletta?
4. Eurotunnel links which two countries?
5. La Scala is the world's most famous what?
6. Andorra is at the foot of which mountains?
7. Flemish is an official language of which kingdom?
8. Which Arctic country's Finnish name is Lapin Li?
9. Which country is known locally as Osterreich?
10. The Left Bank generally refers to the Left Bank of the Seine in which city?
11. ;Which German city is known locally as Koln?
12. Which country was divided into East and West between the 1940s and 1990s?
Ø Zoom-ed in Picture…Can you Identify what this is? (Answer at end of post)
&Ø Hmmmmm…
&l· Chance that an American worker plans to change jobs when the recession ends: 1 in 3
&Ø Somewhat Useless Information…
&;· Only 6% of the autographs in circulation from members of the Beatles are estimated to be real.
&l· While Let It Be was the last album to be released by The Beatles before their breakup, most of it was recorded before Abbey Road, their second to last album.
&lØ Yeah, It Really Happened…
BLOOMINGTON, Minn. - A Minnesota woman accused of concealing a stolen mink coat in her underwear for three days pleaded guilty to a theft charge. Bloomington police said Stephanie Moreland, 46, was arrested on a felony theft charge on New Year's Eve after employees at the Alaska Fur Company accused her of stealing the short mink coat, valued at $6,500, WCCO-TV, Minneapolis, reported Wednesday.
A sales associate at the store took down Moreland's license plate number and police located the woman and her car a short time later, but the only sign of the coat was an empty hanger, police said. Moreland was booked into jail and she admitted three days later to having stolen the coat, but she claimed it had already been sold. However, when told she would be taken to the Hennepin County Jail downtown, Moreland lifted up her dress and revealed the coat had been shoved into her underwear.
"She had modified her underwear. She actually cut the rear of the underwear out so that from the back it appeared she was not wearing underwear and then stuffed it down the front," Bloomington Police Cmdr. Mark Stehlik said. Moreland pleaded guilty to the theft charge Monday and is due to be sentenced Aug. 8.
&lØ Guffaw…or at least smile…
Tech Support: "I need you to right-click on the Open Desktop."
Customer: "Ok."
Tech Support: "Did you get a pop-up menu?"
Customer: "No."
Tech Support: "Ok. Right click again. Do you see a pop-up menu?"
Customer: "No."
Tech Support: "Ok, sir. Can you tell me what you have done up until this point?"
Customer: "Sure, you told me to write 'click' and I wrote click'."
&Ø Searchin’ “You Tube” I found…
Images of Pine Ridge Reservation
&;Ø Daybook Information…
…Happening This Week:
23-26
· Watermelon Seed Spitting Week
26-7/2
· National Mosquito Control Awareness Week
· National Prevention of Eye Injuries Awareness
· ;Fish Are Friends, Not Food! Week
&lØ TODAY IS
· America's Kids Day
· Descendants Day
· International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking
· International Day in Support of Victims of Torture
· Log Cabin Day
· Madagascar: Independence Day (1960 from France)
· National Chocolate Pudding Day
t;Ø Today’s Events:
… IN ARTS
1896 - 1st movie theater in US opens, charging 10 cents for admission
1946 - Fred Allen's last radio show, his guest is Jack Benny
… IN ATHLETICS
1968 - Executive Council decides both AL & NL to divide into 2 divisions
… IN BUSINESS
1797 - Charles Newbold patents 1st cast-iron plow. He can't sell it to farmers, though, they fear effects of iron on soil!
1919 - NY Daily News begins publishing
… IN EDUCATION
▬
… FOR INDIGENOUS PEOPLE
1876 – Battle of Little Big Horn ends
1975 - Two FBI agents and a member of the American Indian Movement are killed in a shootout on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota; Leonard Peltier is later convicted of the murders in a controversial trial.
… IN INTERNATIONAL POLITICS
1718 - Tsarevich Alexei Petrovich of Russia, Peter the Great's son, mysteriously dies after being sentenced to death by his father for plotting against him.
1843 - Hong Kong proclaimed a British Crown Colony
1945 - UN Charter signed by 50 nations in SF
1952 - Nelson Mandela & 51 others infringe South Africa curfew
1959 - Queen Elizabeth & Pres Eisenhower open St Lawrence Seaway
1972 - IRA proclaims resistant in North-Ireland
… IN RELIGION
▬
… IN SCIENCE
1498 - Toothbrush invented
1553 - Christ's Hospital in England granted a charter
1990 - 122°F in Phoenix Arizona
1994 - 104°F (40°C) at Denver Colorado; 107°F (41.6°C) at Albuquerque New Mexico; 112°F (44.4°C) at El Paso Texas; 122°F (50°C) at Laughlin Nevada
1994 - 126°F (52.2°C) in Death Valley Calif
… IN US POLITICS
1848 - 1st pure food law enacted in US
1870 - The Christian holiday of Christmas is declared a federal holiday in the United States.
1963 - Kennedy visits W Berlin "Ich bin ein Berliner" (I am a Berliner)
1997 - Supreme Court strikes down Internet indecency law
▬
…ATHLETES
1819 - Abner Doubleday, Mjr Gen (Union)/inventor (baseball)
1913 - Babe [Mildred Ella] Didrikson, hurdler (Oly-gold-32)
Derek Jeter baseball player turns 37
…ENTERTAINERS (ACTORS/SINGERS…)
Sean Hayes actor turns 41
Chris Isaak singer, actor turns 55
1964 - Zeng Jinlian, Hunan China, became tallest woman known (2.46 m, 8'1")
1904 - Peter Lorre, Hungarian/US, actor (M, Casablanca, Beast with 5 Fingers)
1933 - Pat Morita, [Noriyuki], Calif, actor (Arnold-Happy Days, Karate Kid)
Chris O'Donnell, actor turns 41
Eleanor Parker actor turns 89
… ENTREPRENEUR & EDUCATORS
Milton Glaser, American Designer turns 82
1902 - William Lear, engineer/manufacturer/CEO (Lear Jet Corp)
1909 - "Col Tom" Parker, [Dries Van Kruijk], Neth, rock mgr (Elvis Presley)
…POLITICIANS
▬…SCIENTISTS / THEOLOGISTS
1824 - Kelvin, [William Thomson], British physicist (Kelvin Scale)
1913 - Maurice Wilkes, inventor (stored program concept for computers)
<!--[if !supportLists]-->Ø <!--[endif]-->Today’s Obits:
2007 - Liz Claiborne, Belgian-born American fashion designer dies at 78
1827 - Samuel Crompton, English inventor (mule-jenny), dies at 73
1984 - George H Gallup, pollster (Gallup Poll), dies at 82
2003 - Strom Thurmond, U.S. Senator dies at 99
<!--[if !supportLists]-->Ø <!--[endif]-->ANSWERS:
<!--[if !supportLists]-->Ø <!--[endif]-->Trivia Quiz
Greece
<!--[if !supportLists]-->2. <!--[endif]-->Is Scandinavia in the north or south of Europe?
North
<!--[if !supportLists]-->3. <!--[endif]-->Which Mediterranean island's capital is Valletta?
Malta
<!--[if !supportLists]-->4. <!--[endif]-->Eurotunnel links which two countries?
England and France
<!--[if !supportLists]-->5. <!--[endif]-->La Scala is the world's most famous what?
Opera house
<!--[if !supportLists]-->6. <!--[endif]-->Andorra is at the foot of which mountains?
Pyrenees
<!--[if !supportLists]-->7. <!--[endif]-->Flemish is an official language of which kingdom?
Belgium
<!--[if !supportLists]-->8. <!--[endif]-->Which Arctic country's Finnish name is Lapin Li?
Lapland
<!--[if !supportLists]-->9. <!--[endif]-->Which country is known locally as Osterreich?
Austria
<!--[if !supportLists]-->10. <!--[endif]-->The Left Bank generally refers to the Left Bank of the Seine in which city?
Paris
<!--[if !supportLists]-->11. <!--[endif]-->Which German city is known locally as Koln?
Cologne
<!--[if !supportLists]-->12. <!--[endif]-->Which country was divided into East and West between the 1940s and 1990s?
Germany
<!--[if !supportLists]-->Ø <!--[endif]-->Close Up Picture
<!--[if !supportLists]-->Ø <!--[endif]-->…AND THAT’S ALL FOR NOW
