Dec 30, 2012

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Flagstaff Almanac:  Week: 52/ Day: 365   

Today: H   34°…L 1° Averages: H  42° L 17° Records: H   62°(1945)…L -13°(1988)

Wind: ave:   4mph; Gusts:  22mph  ave. humidity:  68%

Quote of the Day:

Today’s Historical Highlights:

"Let's Make A Deal," debuts on NBC-TV—1963

1st coffee planted in Hawaii (Kona) —1817

1st US music concert (Peter Pelham's great room in Boston) —1731

1st use of 24-sec shot clock in pro basketball—1954 

California's 1st freeway, (Arroyo Seco Parkway), opens—1940

Congress authorizes Kennedy half dollar—1963

Japan dedicates 1st subway in Orient—1927 

John E Hoover decides to be called J Edgar Hoover—1918

Tokyo hit by Earthquake; about 37,000 die—1703

Vatican recognizes Israel—1993

♪  ♪   Happy Birthday To: ♪. ♪   

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

Free Rambling Thoughts:   

A quiet Saturday, catching up in on ‘stuff’ after my week in Chicago. Yeah, even retired people have ‘stuff’ to do. The wind made it a little chilly to spend much time outside this afternoon.  

I can’t believe that we have such hacks in DC. They are all interested in only their own way of thinking, their own way of doing things. This congress has one of the lowest approval ratings in the history of our country; they have basically become the ‘do nothing’ congress. Their time is almost up, the country’s citizens will have increased taxes, and some new people will come in soon. Don’t expect a lot of change.

 

As an adoptee I probably have different views about the Russian adoption news. As an educator who worked with the culturally diverse I have views too. The idea that it is OK to take a child from their home country, their home language is troublesome. I get that the adopting parents really believe they are going to give the child a better life than what they currently have. There is no promise of teaching the children about their homeland, their language, their culture. That would probably change my feelings. Native American kids cannot be adopted by non-tribal members for a reason. As much as I believe in the ‘salad bowl’ in America, it has a long ways to go. I hope that politicians are able to work this out for the good of the children and of the adoptive parents.

 

I’ve been following Idle No More on Facebook. I mentioned this to the in laws in Chicago. They are politically aware, for the most a little left of center, yet none of them had heard of it. It continues to amaze me how Natives of this continent are treated so poorly and are so invisible. One thing that offers hope for me is that many US Natives have picked up on the cause of their ‘relatives’ in Canada. While a couple of centuries ago they were fighting each other, now they are uniting for their treaty rights. A good sign.

Game  Center: (answers at the end of post)

Hidden Countries

Find two countries in the sentence

Have you ever heard an animal talk in dialect? 

Lifestyle  Substance:     

Ok, then?

Read This Headline Carefully!!

Hotel, Zurich:

BECAUSE OF THE IMPROPRIETY OF ENTERTAINING GUESTS OF THE OPPOSITE SEX IN THE BEDROOM, IT IS SUGGESTED THAT THE LOBBY BE USED FOR THIS PURPOSE.

Countdown to 2013 begins:

Bet You Didn’t Know…from History Channel

In 1815, Thomas Jefferson sold his 6,700-volume personal library to Congress for $23,950 to replace books lost when the British burned the U.S. Capitol during the War of 1812.

Harper’s Index:         

Portion of college students who reported experiencing ‘phantom’ cell phone vibration in a July survey: 9/10

Unusual Fact of the Day:

Underneath the striped fur of a tiger is striped skin (which preserves the camouflage effect).

Found on You Tube: 

• I Am the Very Model of a Modern Major-General

• Monkees - Daydream Believer

Joke-of-the-day:

A garage mechanic comes out to rescue a broken down car. Out of respect for other drivers the mechanic leaves his hazards on while parked on the side of the road. The exhaust from the broken down car has fallen off and needs tying up before the car can be driven onto the mechanic's trailer. The mechanic tells the car owner "As it is only 3:00pm I should be able to have the car ready for you by 5pm". At 5:10pm the mechanic rings the car owner. "Sorry I didn't ring you by 5:00pm, but I only got back to the garage 5 minutes ago. "Why, what happened?" asked the car owner. "My vehicle battery went flat, and I had to ring the garage to ask for another mechanic to come out and rescue me," replied the mechanic.  

Rules of Thumb:   

Easy shortcuts to make an ‘educated’ guess

REPEATING AN EXPERIMENT

If you can't repeat your own experiment, you are probably not doing science. If no one else can repeat your experiment, you are probably lying.    

Yeah, It Really Happened

BARNARP, Sweden - Residents of Barnarp, Sweden, had been trying for years to close a local strip club without success, so they bought it, village officials said. The Cafe Musfaalan -- Mousetrap Cafe -- had been a source of noise, littering and harassment complaints since it opened, The Local.se reported. The last straw was the decision last month by the strip club's owners to change the name to Heaven "where we knead the buns together." "It has been a great inconvenience for residents in Barnarp," Commissioner Mats Green said. The community Friday ponied up 3 million Swedish kronor ($470,000) to buy the property so it could evict the tenants. No word on what the property will be used for next.  

Somewhat Useless Information   

• The first golf car was invented in the late 1940s strictly for people with disabilities.

• The first vending machines in the United States were installed on New York City train platforms in 1888 and dispensed Chewing gum.

• Buddy was the name of the FIRST SEEING EYE DOG in America, brought to the U.S. in 1928 from Switzerland by owner Morris Frank.

• Cartoon character "Pebbles" Flintstone was born on February 22, 1963. To help celebrate the event, the Mattel toy company manufactured over 250,000 "Pebbles" dolls, which were among the company's hottest-selling toys that year. 

• To insure a worldwide audience, Alfred Hitchcock filmed his opening and closing remarks in English, French and German. He also drew the famous profile of himself that he steps into before each episode of ALFRED HITCHCOCK PRESENTS. 

• In 1964, HASBRO introduced an 11 1/2-inch doll called G.I. JOE, with 21 movable parts to "move G.I.JOE into action positions" First-year sales for the doll and his equipment reached $10 million.

Calendar Information        

Happening This Week:

25-31> It's About Time Week

Today Is                                                                      

Bacon Day
Falling Needles Family Fest Day
Festival Of Enormous Changes At The Last Minute
National Bicarbonate Of Soda Day
No Interruptions Day
Oh My! Day

Today’s Events through History  

"Wonderful World of Disney," last performance on NBC-TV—1980

American Metrological Society forms (NYC) weights, measures & money—1873

Carter holds 1st news conference by US pres in Eastern Europe—1977

Fire at Chicago's Iriquois Theater kills 602—1903

Gilbert & Sullivan's "Pirates of Penzance," premieres—1879

Gold discovery in Ga, Cherokees forced to move across Miss—1835

Madrid Barajas International Airport is bombed—2006

Premier Mugabe elected president of Zimbabwe—1987

Pres Nixon halts bombing of North Vietnam & announces peace talks—1972

United Auto Workers stage 1st sit-down strike—1936

Today’s Birthdays                                                           

In their 80’s

John Hillerman, Denison Tx, actor (Magnum PI, Blazing Saddles) is 80

In their 70’s

Sandy Koufax, Dodger pitcher (Cy Young '63, '65, '66, perfect-1967) is 77

Michael Nesmith, Houston, rocker (Monkees-Last Train to Clarksville) is 70

Paul Stookey, singer/musician (Peter, Paul, & Mary) is 75

In their 50’s

Ben Johnson, 100m runner (Olympic-gold-1988-disqualified) is 51

Matt Lauer, TV host (Today Show) is 55

Meredith Vieira, tv journalist is 59

In their 30’s

Laila Ali, boxer is 35

Tiger Woods, Cypress, California, golfer (16 Major and 74 PGA wins) is 37

Remembered for being born today

Bo Diddley, [Ellas Bates], Miss, rock `n' roll pioneer (1928-2008)

Simon Guggenheim, philanthropist (1867-1941)

Davy Jones, singer (Monkees-Last Train to Clarksville)(1945-heart attack-2012)

Rudyard Kipling, Bombay, author (Jungle Book, Gunga Din-Nobel 1907), (1865-1936)

Jack Lord, American actor (Steve McGarrett-Hawaii 5-0, God's Little Acre) (1920-1998)

Bert Parks, [Jacobson], Atlanta Ga, TV host (Miss America) (1914-1992)

Del Shannon, American singer (1934-1990)

Today’s Historical Obits                                                           

Saddam Hussein, deposed Iraqi dictator—hanged—2006—at 69

~Ling-Ling, 1st panda China gave US—1992—at 23

Sonny Liston, World heavyweight boxing champion (1962-64)—found dead—1970—at 38

John Francis Regis, French saint— pneumonia—1640—at 43

Richard Rodgers, composer (Rogers & Hammerstein)—1979—at 77

Answer: Hidden Countries

 Have you ever heard an animal talk in dialect? 

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  §