Jan 4 2013

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Flagstaff Almanac:  Week: 01/ Day: 4   

Today: H   25°…L 15° Averages: H  42° L 17° Records: H   62°(1918)…L -19°(1937,1912)

Wind: ave:   31mph; Gusts:  39mph  ave. humidity:  54%

Quote of the Day:

Today’s Historical Highlights:

"Night Court" starring Harry Anderson premieres on NBC TV—1984

1st elected Jewish governor, Moses Alexander, takes office in Idaho—1915

Columbia University founded, as Kings College—1754 

Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control

     and Prevention removed HIV infection from its list of communicable

     diseases of public health significance—2010

Former professional wrestler Jesse Ventura is sworn in as

     governor of Minnesota—1999

Nancy Pelosi elected as the first female Speaker of the House—2007

Nixon refuses to hand over tapes subpoenaed by Watergate Committee—1974

Ralph Bunche appointed 1st Negro official in US State Department—1944

US pres Cleveland grants amnesty to Mormon polygamy—1893

♪  ♪   Happy Birthday To: ♪. ♪   

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

Free Rambling Thoughts:   

A cold and windy day…wind chill drops temps about 15°…yeah, I  know…COLD. 

We had our weekly retirement lunch. Very nice at our favorite Mexican place. Mary had a good time in Phoenix, but returned to hurt her back somehow. She is really in pain and taking steroids to get it back to normal. Should be about a week, if all goes well. Cheryl had a good time in CA with her son and his family. Everyone seemed to have had a great time with family. We all ran into Tuba people at odd places and caught up on the gossip…times have changed so much in education, that it is hard to figure out what is going on. Leave it with neither teachers nor administrators are happy at this time. Admin wants everyone teaching the same thing on the same day at the same time…teachers want to be educators who work with children, not test scores. Tuba has very little turn over, so teachers are sometimes set in their ways that work. Administrators come and go with their ‘recycled’ ideas to make things better.

 

My sinus continues to run, so tomorrow, if it isn’t better, I head for the walk in so I will be clear for my trip next week.

Game  Center: (answers at the end of post)

Hidden Countries

Find two countries in the sentence

The king and queen eat breakfast and lunch in a fine palace. 

Lifestyle  Substance:     

Found on You Tube with some relevance to today:

• "Cement Mixer" / Slim Gaillard

• Gerry Rafferty - Baker Street
 

Ok, then?

Read This Carefully!!

In a Podiatrist's office: "Time wounds all heels."

Picture of the Day: Downton Abbey is back!

Bet You Didn’t Know…from History Channel

The catastrophic 1889 flood that struck Johnstown, Pennsylvania, in May 1889 killed more than 2,200 people and was the first natural disaster relief effort handled by the newly formed American Red Cross, led by Clara Barton.

Harper’s Index:         

Portion of adults worldwide who don’t meet Word Health Organization standards for physical activity: 1/3  

Unusual Fact of the Day:

"K" is an important letter to pronounce correctly when chatting with a Russian bartender. Voda is water, while Vodka is a beverage that's just a little bit stronger.

Joke-of-the-day:

Q: Why did the man fall off the building? A: He tripped.

***Bonus***

A man came home and was greeted by his wife dressed in a very sexy nightie. 'Tie me up,' she purred, 'and you can do anything you want.'
So he tied her up and went golfing.

Rules of Thumb:   

Easy shortcuts to make an ‘educated’ guess

FOLLOWING FARMERS

Every six farmers that go broke take a rural business with them.    

Yeah, It Really Happened

LONDON - A British health and safety watchdog criticized teachers for banning yo-yos on a playground, saying safety concerns are based on myth. The Health and Safety Executive, a non-governmental public agency, said teachers at the school -- whose name was not reported -- went "over the top" in banning children from paying with yo-yos on the playground, The Sun reported Tuesday.

The organization's "myth busters" panel, which criticizes organizations for taking safety measures deemed to be based in myth, said there is no real reason to ban the traditional toys. The group questioned other recent restrictions, including the case of a charity chop banning knitting needles to prevent people from stabbing themselves and airlines ceasing to sell boiled sweets in case passengers choke on them.  

Somewhat Useless Information   

• All types of ducks are part of the bird family Anatidae, and there are species of ducks found worldwide on every continent except Antarctica.

• Ducks are precocial, which means that ducklings are covered with down and able to walk and leave the nest just a few hours after hatching.

• A duck's bill is specialized to help it forage in mud and to strain food from the water. A hard nail at the tip of the bill helps with foraging, and a comb-like structure on the sides of the bill strains small insects and crustaceans from water.

• It is a myth that a duck's quack won't echo. This has been conclusively disproved through different scientific acoustic tests, and was even featured as "busted" on an episode of the Discovery Channel show Mythbusters.

• Ducks have been domesticated as pets and farm animals for more than 500 years, and all domestic ducks are descended from either the mallard or the Muscovy duck.

• Ducks are omnivorous, opportunistic eaters and will eat grass, aquatic plants, insects, seeds, fruit, fish, crustaceans and other types of food.

Calendar Information        

Happening This Week:

1-7

New Year's Resolutions Week

Celebration of Life Week

Diet Resolution Week

Silent Record Week

2-8

Someday We'll Laugh About This Week

3-7

Women's Self Empowerment Week

National Cowboy Poetry Gathering Week

National Medical Group Practice Week

International Hoof Care Week

US National Snow Sculpting Week

Today Is                                                                      

Dimpled Chad Day
Humiliation Day
Pop Music Chart Day
Tom Thumb Day
Trivia Day
World Braille Day
World Hypnotism Day

**

~Myanmar Independence Day (1948 from Britain)
~US-Utah: Admission Day (1896-45^th state)

Today’s Events through History  

1st automated (unmanned) subway train (NYC) —1962

4 wheeled roller skates patented by James Plimpton—1863

Billboard magazine publishes its 1st music hit parade—1936

Golden Gate Bridge closed for 3rd time by fierce storm—1982

Last sighting of an eastern cougar (Ontario) —1884

LBJ's "Great Society" State of the Union Address—1965

Newt Gingrich (R) becomes speaker of the House—1995

Palace of Whitehall in London, the main residence of the English monarchs,

     is destroyed by fire—1698

Samuel Colt sells his first revolver pistol to the United States government—1847

Titus Labienus defeats Julius Caesar in the Battle of Ruspina—46BC

Today’s Birthdays                                                           

In their 80’s

Don Shula, winningest NFL coach (Miami Dolphins) is 83

In their 70’s

Gao Xingjian, Chinese-born French novelist and dramatist, Nobel laureate is 73

In their 50’s

Dave Foley, actor/comedian (Kids In The Hall, Dave Nelson-NewsRadio) is 50

Remembered for being born today

Louis Braille, Coupvray France, developer (reading system for blind) (1809-TB-1852)

Everett Dirksen, American politician (Sen-R-Ill) (1896-1969)

Slim Gaillard [Bulee], Edinburgh, Scotland, American Jazz singer/songwriter (1916-1991)

Today’s Historical Obits                                                           

Elizabeth Ann Bayley Seton, 1st native-born American saint—TB—1821—at 46

Albert Camus, French author (Stranger)—auto accident—1960—at 46

Iron Eyes Cody [Espera Oscar de Corti], American actor —1999—at 94

T S Eliot, poet and Nobel laureate (Washed Country)— emphysema—1965—at 76

Barry Fitzgerald, actor (Going My Way)—1961—at 72

Gerry Rafferty, British musician and songwriter—liver failure—2011—at 63

Cornelius Vanderbilt, US robber baron—1877—at 82

Answer: Hidden Countries

The king and queen eat breakfast and lunch in a fine palace. 

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  §