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Today’s “Geez“
- 1617 - Spanish viceroy Hernando Arias de Saavedra founds provinces Rio de la Plata (Argentina)/Guaira (Paraguay)
- 1631 - Mount Vesuvius, Italy erupts, destroys 6 villages & kills 4,000
- 1811 - The New Madrid earthquake takes place today on the Mississippi River. Many tribes will tell tales of this event for generations
- 1773 - Boston Tea Party
- 1905 - "Variety," covering all phases of show business, 1st published
- 1915 - Albert Einstein publishes his "General Theory of Relativity"
- 1944 - Battle of Bulge begins in Belgium
- 1949 - Sukarno becomes president Indonesia
- 1953 - 1st White House Press Conference (Pres Eisenhower & 161 reporters)
- 1970 - 1st successful landing on Venus (USSR)
- 1973 - O J Simpson becomes 1st NFLer to rush 2,000 yard in a season
- 1978 - Ronald Reagan denounces Pres Jimmy Carter's recognition of China PR
♪♪ Happy Birthday
To:♪♪
Free Rambling
Thoughts
So many times a news
story will inform us with good news and bad news all at once. It happened a lot
today:
Iraq war ended: 4500
American soldiers and over 100,000 Iraqi civilians and 50,000 Iraqi combatants died
in the 8 year war.
Navajos have the most
speakers of any Native Tribe in the US: One in two Navajos does not know basic
Navajo
Dept of Justice issued a
report on Sheriff Joe that calls for many changes in the practices to stop some
of the worst discrimination seen by one expert or legal action will follow:
Sheriff Joe called the report a blatant political ploy by Obama and says our
President wants a sign on the border that says “Welcome to Your Country.”
In this season, I wish
we could just get good news.
It was a nice day with
the next storm, a much smaller one, rolling in about sunset. We shouldn’t get a
lot of moisture, and that won’t hit until Saturday evening. Our retirement
group may have lunch tomorrow, but the weather will determine that.
NPR Sunday
Puzzle (answers
at the end of post)
Every answer is a
simile, in the form "___ as a ___." You are given a rhyme for the
first and last words. For example, given "dead as a street," the
answer would be "red as a beet."
1.
Snappy
as a tram:
2.
Green
as a thistle:
3.
Queer
as a smell:
4.
White
as a tether:
5.
Frail
as a host:
6.
Mute
as a glutton:
7.
Dry
as a box:
8.
Lit
as a griddle:
9.
Mental
as a ram:
10. Bright as a thumb:
11. Lazy as a coon:
12. Sweet as a fin:
Wuzzles What concept or
phrase do these suggest?
Rules of Thumb
Easy shortcuts to make
an ‘educated’ guess
- A road must carry traffic of at least 400 cars per day for a reflective centerline to be a cost-effective improvement.
Hmmmmm
- Date on which US studnt-loan debt was expected to reach $1,000,000,000, 000 ($1 Trillion): 12/1/11
Somewhat Useless Information
- Macaroni and Cheese is the #1 cheese recipe in America. In any given twelve-week period, approximately one-third of the population of the U.S. will eat mac and cheese at least once.
- The average American ate 30 lbs of cheese in the year 2000, up from 11 lbs in 1970.
Yeah, It Really
Happened
WEST VALLEY CITY, Utah -
Police in Utah said a man who had taken a substance destroyed the inside of his
father's home because he was convinced his girlfriend was trapped in the walls.
West Valley City police
said the man, who had apparently overdosed on a substance, called for help
Saturday afternoon and told officers he had heard his girlfriend calling from
help from behind the walls of the home, the Salt Lake Tribune reported Monday.
Police said they found
the man had destroyed the interior of the home, which belongs to his father,
who was out of town at the time of the incident. Investigators said they found
the girlfriend was vacationing in Texas and was unaware of the incident.
A Laff or at
least smile
Q: What's the definition
of mixed emotions?
A: When you see your
mother-in-law backing off a cliff in your brand new car.
Found on YouTube
Daybook
Information
…Happening This Week:
10-17
Human Rights Week
15-29
Halcyon Days
16-24
Posadas [is
Spanish for "lodging", or "accommodation"; it is said in
plural because it is celebrated more than one day in that period. The nine day
novena represents the nine months of pregnancy: a nine-day celebration with
origins in Spain, now celebrated chiefly in Mexico, Guatemala and parts of the
Southwestern United States[, beginning December 16th and ending December 24th,
on evenings (about 8 or 10 PM)]
Today Is
- Barbie and Barney Backlash Day: the one day each year when mom and dad can tell the kids that Barbie and Barney don’t exist
- National Chocolate-covered Anything Day
- National Re-Gifting Day
- Stupid Toy Day
- Zionism Day : ‘Zionist triumph’ of 1948 Palestine partition plan
- Underdog Day
- Bahrain: National Day [اليوم الوطني ] Accession Day for the late Amir Sh. Isa Bin Salman Al Khalifa]
- Bangladesh: Victory Day [ বিজয় দিবস Bijôe Dibôsh] 1971, Pakistani Army surrendered to the Indo-Bangladeshi High Command in Dhaka, ending the 9 month-long Bangladesh Liberation War
- Kazakhstan: Independence Day (1991 from USSR)
- South Africa: Reconciliation Day (1994 after the end of apartheid)
Today’s Events
Arts
1913 - Charlie
Chaplin began his film career at Keystone for $150 a week
Athletes
1930 - Golfer
Bobby Jones wins James E Sullivan Award
1940 - Joe Louis
KOs Al McCoy in 6 for heavyweight boxing title in Chicago
1962 - NY Giant YA
Title sets NFL season touchdown pass record at 33 with 6 touchdowns vs Dallas
(41-31)
Business
1835 - Fire
consumes over 600 buildings in NYC
1908 - 1st
credit union in US forms (Manchester NH)
Education
--
Indigenous People
1834 - Signed at
Pottwatamie Mills, Indiana, a treaty ceding 2 parcels of land for $700 [2010 US
$15,087.63] and the canceling of
some outstanding debts by the Potawatomi and William Marshall.
Politics [International]
1653 - Oliver
Cromwell sworn in as English Lord Protector
1689 - English
Parliament adopts Bill of Rights after Glorious Revolution
1838 - Boers
beat Zulu chieftain Dingaan in South Africa
1850 - The
Charlotte-Jane and the Randolph bring the first of the Canterbury Pilgrims to
Lyttelton, NZ
1991 - UN reverses
ruling that Zionism is racism by 111-25 (13 abstain) vote
Politics [US]
1864 - Battle
of Nashville ends after 4400 causalities
1912 - 1st US
postage stamp picturing an airplane, 20 cent parcel post, issued
1950 - Truman
proclaims state of emergency against "Communist imperialism"
1976 – Gov’t halts
swine flu vaccination program following reports of paralysis
1988 - Political
cult leader Lyndon LaRouche convicted of tax, mail fraud
Religion
1890 - Negro
Methodist Episcopal Church founded in Jackson, TN
Science
1707 - Last
recorded eruption of Mount Fuji in Japan
1811 - Earthquake
hits New Madrid, Missouri, causing widespread damage
1897 - 1st
submarine with an internal combustion engine demonstrated
1920 - 8.6
earthquake destroys 15,000 square miles and kills over 180,000 in Kansu China
Today’s Birthdays
Artists: [Authors,
Composers]
1775 - Jane Austen,
English novelist (Pride and Prejudice)
Steven Bochco, prod
(Hill St Blues, LA Law, St Elsewhere, NYPD Blue) is 68
1899 - Noel Coward,
English playwright (In Which We Serve-1942 Acad Award)
1928 - Philip
K[indred] Dick, sci-fi author (Hugo-1963, Blade Runner)
1863 - George
Santayana, Spanish philosopher/poet/humanist (Last Puritan)
Athletes
William "The
Refrigerator" Perry, NFL defensive back (Chicago Bears) is 49
Clifford Robinson, NBA
center (Phoenix Suns, Portland Trail Blazers) is 45
Entertainers [Actors,
Singers…]
Benjamin Bratt, actor is 48
Sam Robards. Actor is 50
Liv Ullmann, actor is 72
Entrepreneurs &
Educators
Lesley Stahl,
newscaster/correspondent (CBS) is 70
Political Figures
1485 - Catherine
of Aragon, Spanish princess/1st wife of Henry VIII
Morris Dees, founder of
the Southern Poverty Law Center is 75
Scientists &
Theologians
1901 - Margaret
Mead, anthropologist (Coming of Age in Samoa)
Today’s Obits
1858 - Richard
Bright, British Dr (Bright's disease/nephritis), dies of heart disease at 69
2009 - Roy E.
Disney, American businessman dies at 79
1859 - Wilhelm
Grimm, writer, dies at 73
1965 - William
Somerset Maugham, English author (Razor's Edge), dies at 91
1687 - William
Petty, English scientist and philosopher dies at 64
1916 - Grigori
Rasputin, a powerful Russian monk, murdered
1980 - Harland
"Colonel" Sanders, founder Kentucky Fried Chicken, dies at 90
1989 - Lee Van
Cleef, US actor (Good, Bad & Ugly), dies at 64
Answers
NPR Sunday Puzzle
1.
Snappy
as a tram: happy as a clam
2.
Green
as a thistle: clean as a whistle
3.
Queer
as a smell: clear as a bell
4.
White
as a tether: light as a feather
5.
Frail
as a host: pale as a ghost
6.
Mute
as a glutton: cute as a button
7.
Dry
as a box: sly as a fox
8.
Lit
as a griddle: fit as a fiddle
9.
Mental
as a ram: gentle as a lamb
10. Bright as a thumb: tight as a drum
11. Lazy as a coon: crazy as a loon
12. Sweet as a fin: neat as a pin
Wuzzle
- Leniency
- Balanced diets
- Absentee ballot
Disclaimer: All
opinions are mine…feel free to agree or disagree.
All ‘data’ info is
from the internet sites and is usually checked with at least one other source,
but I have learned that every site has mistakes and sadly once out the
information is out there, many sites simply copy it and is therefore difficult
to verify. Also for events occurring before the Gregorian calendar was adopted
[1582] the dates may not be totally accurate.
§ And
That Is All For Now §