12-12-12

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Flagstaff Almanac:  Week: 50/ Day: 347   

Today: H   49°…L 10° Averages: H  43° L 17°

Records: H   68°(1950)…L -11°(1961)

Wind: ave:   8mph; Gusts:  14mph Today’s ave. humidity:  47%

Quote of the Day:

Today’s Historical Highlights:

"Mona Lisa," stolen from Louvre Museum in 1911, recovered—1913

1st case of plague on Oahu, Hawaii—1899

Arthur Ashe becomes 1st black to be ranked #1 in tennis—1968

Carlos the Jackal, "professional revolutionary" goes on trial in Paris—1997

Frank Sinatra Jr returned after being kidnapped—1963

Gale Sayers of Chicago Bears scores 6 TDs, ties NFL record—1965

Joseph Pulitzer begins publishing "St Louis Dispatch"—1878

NBA referees return to work after striking—1995

Peugeot produces its last car—2006 

PLO leader Arafat accepts Israel's right to exist—1988

Sara Jane Moore pled guilty to trying to kill Pres Gerald Ford—1975

Tide detergent introduced—1946

UN Committee on Peaceful Use of Outer Space is established—1959

United States Supreme Court releases its decision in Bush v. Gore—2000

♪  ♪   Happy Birthday To: ♪. ♪   

How many can you identify?…answers in Today’s Birthdays

Free Rambling Thoughts:   

Another cold night. Day was much better once it warmed up.

 

Went out and did a little Christmas shopping at the local Marketplace. Not a bad time. At one store I paid for my stuff, and the ‘computer froze’. The genius at the register called for help but alas, no one came. Finally she just punched a bunch of buttons and the machine said that the transaction was cancelled. It did print a receipt stating the same. Then she started over with my card. Like any good worker, she had asked for my ID when I gave her my card. The second time she did it she asked for my ID again. I asked why, and she said that we were on cameras and that she has to check the ID for every transaction. But…never mind, here it is. As I’m leaving the store, the security alarm goes off. She takes my purchase and slides it over the counter to deactivate whatever. Gives it back to me, and as I’m leaving, the alarm still sounds. She says, it’s OK, just go. If I were a thief, this is a good thing to remember, my pockets could have had lots of stuff in there and she never would have known. So much for their security.

 

"War Is Hell" is a common phrase dating back at least as far as a speech by William Tecumseh Sherman. And yet our country continues to enter wars. The sad part is the Vets who return. The VA now has a 6 month wait to determine if benefits are deserved…and up to a 3 year wait to get them. During that time the Vets, who fought for our country, are left to ‘fend for themselves’. It is proven that continued deployments lead to many mental issues. These kids, now men, have learned to follow orders without question, then they arrive home with few transferable job skills, and many with physical and emotional damage. For all the politicians who voted to send these soldiers to war, please do something to honor them with the necessary help.

Game  Center: (answers at the end of post)

Duplicate Letter Puzzles

Find common words with certain letters duplicated in the given positions. V stands for a duplicated vowel, C stands for a duplicated consonant, L stands for any duplicated letter, and _ stands for any letter

C _ C C V V

Lifestyle  Substance:     

Old Saying Explained:

RESTING ON YOUR LAURELS, LOOK TO YOUR LAURELS

In the ancient world winning athletes and other heroes and distinguished people were given wreaths of laurel leaves. If you are resting on your laurels you are relying on your past achievements. If you need to look to your laurels it means you have competition.

Ok, then?

Movie Theme Songs you may remember:

The Wizard of Oz 'Over the Rainbow''

Read This Headline Carefully!!

On the main road to Mombasa, leaving Nairobi:

TAKE NOTICE: WHEN THIS SIGN IS UNDER WATER, THIS ROAD IS IMPASSABLE

Coptic Christian Art:

Bet You Didn’t Know…from History Channel

By the 1480s, the Aztec city of Tenochtitlan (modern-day Mexico City) had a larger population than either Paris or London

Harper’s Index:         

• Percentage of American workers who are immigrants: 16
• Percentage of American small business owners are: 18

Ruminations:

It’s amazing how much ‘baggage’ you are willing to overlook, once you have some of your own.

Unusual Fact of the Day:

The Pittsburgh Pirates were originally known as the Pittsburgh Alleghenies. In 1880, after stealing away second-baseman Louis Bierbauer from the Philadelphia Athletics, a local newspaper called the team “a bunch of pirates.” The nickname suited them just fine, and they’ve been flying the Jolly Roger ever since.

Found on You Tube: 

• Aretha Franklin - Lift Every Voice & Sing

• Where The Boys Are

Joke-of-the-day:

A mother carefully explained to her young daughter how children were created. She used the expression “carrying a child” instead of “pregnant,” but the girl seemed satisfied.

Sometime later, a terrible fire broke out in the neighborhood, and the girl stood by watching. Here is how she described the scene to her parents: “There was this big fire, and a fireman ran into the house, and when he came out, he was pregnant.”

Rules of Thumb:   

Easy shortcuts to make an ‘educated’ guess

SHOOTING ON A PENALTY SHOT…When playing ice hockey, if you have a break away or a penalty shot, watch where the goalie plays. If s/he comes out of the net, then you should deke (fake out) with the puck. If the goalie stays in the net then take your best shot before you get in too close to the net.   

Yeah, It Really Happened

If you were considering shelling out $500 for a pound of donkey cheese, we're sorry. The world's supply has dried up and Novak Djokovic is to blame.

Djokovic, the number-one ranked singles tennis player in the world, has purchased the entire global supply of Pule, a rare cheese produced from donkey milk that can cost over $500 per pound, ABC News reports.

Djokovic reportedly bought the annual output of Pule from the world's sole producer, a donkey farm 50 miles west of the Serbian capital Belgrade. Djokovic plans to use the white, crumbly cheese, which recently set the record for the world’s most expensive cheese, in a chain of restaurants he’s opening.

The Serbian farm also produces donkey soap and bottled donkey milk, which is said to contain 60 times more vitamin C than cow’s milk, according to the Daily Mail.

Cleopatra was rumored to have maintained her beauty by bathing in donkey’s milk, the British newspaper notes.

To make Pule, farmers must milk donkeys by hand up to three times a day.

Somewhat Useless Information   

• Many scholars argue the word "vampire" is either from the Hungarian vampir or from the Turkish upior, upper, upyr meaning "witch." Other scholars argue the term derived from the Greek word "to drink" or from the Greek nosophoros meaning "plague carrier." It may also derive from the Serbian Bamiiup or the Serbo-Crotian pirati.

• The Muppet vampire, Count von Count from Sesame Street, is based on actual vampire myth. One way to supposedly deter a vampire is to throw seeds (usually mustard) outside a door or place fishing net outside a window. Vampires are compelled to count the seeds or the holes in the net, delaying them until the sun comes up.

• One of the most famous "true vampires" was Countess Elizabeth Bathory (1560-1614) who was accused of biting the flesh of girls while torturing them and bathing in their blood to retain her youthful beauty.

• Vampire hysteria and corpse mutilations to "kill" suspected vampires were so pervasive in Europe during the mid-eighteenth century that some rulers created laws to prevent the unearthing of bodies. In some areas, mass hysteria led to public executions of people believed to be vampires.

• Thresholds have historically held significant symbolic value, and a vampire cannot cross a threshold unless invited. The connection between threshold and vampires seems to be a concept of complicity or allowance. Once a commitment is made to allow evil, evil can re-enter at any time.

• The legend that vampires must sleep in coffins probably arose from reports of gravediggers and morticians who described corpses suddenly sitting up in their graves or coffins. This eerie phenomenon could be caused by the decomposing process.

Calendar Information        

Happening This Week:

10-17> Human Rights Week

Today Is                                                                      

Gingerbread House Day
National Ding-A-Ling Day-- or wackos, lunatics, and others who are off their rocker
Poinsettia Day

~Kenya: Indepence Day (from UK-1963)
~Mexico: Day of Our Lady of Guadalupe
~Russia: Constitution Day (1993 for Russian Federation)
~Turkmenistan: Neutrality Day (1995 by UN)

Today’s Events through History  

1st Canadian coins circulated (1 cent, 5 cent, 10 cent & 20 cent) —1858

1st Crusaders capture & plunder Mara Syria—1098

Anti-Jewish violence breaks out in Bucharest Romania—1897

Ludwig Von Beethoven (22) receives 1st lesson in music composition f

     rom Franz Joseph Haydn—1792

Martin Luther King Jr & 700 demonstrators arrested in Albany Ga—1961

Mexico officially recognized as an independent nation by US—1822

National Negro Anthem, "Lift Every Voice & Sing," composed—1900

NBC & RCA sends 1st mobile-TV vans onto the streets of NY—1937

Pope Clement VII approves Organization of Jewish Community of Rome—1524

Rev Edward Flanagan forms Boys Town outside Omaha, Neb—1917

US's copyright law amended to include computer programs—1980

Washington DC established as capital of US—1800

Today’s Birthdays                                                           

In their 80’s

Bob Barker, Darrington Wash, game show emcee (Price is Right) is 89

In their 70’s

Connie Francis, Newark NJ, singer/actress (Where the Boys Are) is 74

Dionne Warwick, East Orange NJ, singer (Solid Gold, Way to San Jose) is 72

In their 60’s

Cathy Rigby, gymnast (Olympic-4th-1968) is 60

In their 50’s

Sheree J Wilson, Rochester MN, actress (Our Family Honor, Dallas) is 54

Remembered for being born today

Gustave Flaubert, France, novelist (Madame Bovary) (1821- cerebral hemorrhage-1880)

Edward G Robinson, [Goldenberg], Romania, actor (10 Commandments) (1893-1973)

Frank Sinatra, Hoboken, vocalist/actor (old blue eyes), (1915-1998)

Henry Wells, founder (American Express Co & Wells Fargo & Co) (1805-1878)

Today’s Historical Obits                                                           

Tallulah Bankhead, actress (All Star Revue)—pneumonia—1968—at 65

Anne Baxter, actress (Myra-Marcus Welby, Victoria-Hotel)— aneurysm—1985—at 62

Peter Boyle, actor (Everybody Loves Raymond)— myeloma—2006—at 71

Robert Browning, English poet (Ring & Book)—1889—at 77

Van Johnson, American actor—2008—at 92

Johnny Lee, actor (Calhoun-Amos 'n' Andy)—1965—at 67

Ike Turner, American singer, former husband of Tina Turner— cocaine OD—2007—at 76

Mo Udall, American politician—1998—at 76

Answer: Duplicate Letter Puzzles

TATTOO

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  §