Feb 25

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Flagstaff Almanac:  Week: 09/ Day: 56   

Today: H   28°…L 16° Averages: H  46° L 21° Records: H   66°(1904)…L -4°(1909)

Wind: ave:   15mph; Gusts:  34mph  Ave. humidity:  64%

Quote of the Day:

Today’s Historical Highlights:

16th Amendment ratified, authorizing income tax—1913

1st Pan American Games opens (Buenos Aires Argentina) —1951

1st performing monkey exhibited in America, NYC (admission 1 cent) —1751

6th Winter Olympic games close at Oslo, Norway—1952

Fáil-led Irish government suffered the worst defeat of a sitting government 

     since the formation of the Irish state in 1921—2011

Immigrant Adolf Hitler gets German citizenship—1932

Muhammad Ali (Cassius Clay) TKOs Sonny Liston in 7 for heavyweight boxing title—1964

Oregon is 1st state to tax gasoline (1 cent per gallon) —1919

Palenque Maya Lord Kan - Xul I ascends the throne—529

Paper currency (greenbacks) introduced in US by Pres Abraham Lincoln—1862

Seminoles & black allies shipped from Tampa Bay Florida, to West—1839

World Health Organization removes India from the list of polio endemic countries—2012

♪  ♪   Happy Birthday To: ♪. ♪   

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

Free Rambling Thoughts:   

Our discussion group had a really great discussion. We have a few new members and this led to much more discussion on the topic. I wasn’t able to get my act together enough yesterday to do the discussion and do my blog. One of our new members was a grad school teacher who did an exchange with NAU to teach in Monrovia, Liberia. She has some great perspectives on Africa and I’m sure on other topics we discuss. Margaret has to have a shoulder replacement next week and our new member is having hip replacement the same day. Both will be at the Flag hospital. Wish them both successful surgeries.

 

So our congress is ending its 9 day vacation today. What a joke. If just about any working American took a vacation with a looming deadline like the one Congress has, they would either be denied the leave or would simply be fired. Many believe that this whole sequester thing is a made up problem. That sounds plausible, but sure makes it hard for the thousands of working government employees and the thousands more who have contracts with the government. While congress farts around and will probably just extend the deadline, these people have to worry and make plans for furloughs and ends of contracts. Maybe congress needs to be furloughed for a couple days a week, on a rotating basis so that work can still be done but enough to drop their pay. Saturday could be the one day a week that no one is furloughed, so bills could be voted on that day.

Game  Center: (answers at the end of post)

Brain Teasers

What phrase is this?

Interrogator."Who stole the gold?" Parsley."..." Sage. "..." Rosemary. "..." Thyme. "It was Basil."

Lifestyle  Substance:     

Found on You Tube with some relevance to today:

• Pierre-Auguste Renoir

• Enrico Caruso - O Sole Mio

Ok, then?

Read This Carefully!!

City Unsure Why Sewer Smells

Picture of the Day: Deserts of the world

Harper’s Index:         

Average number of times each week US surgeons operate on the wrong patient or body part: 40

Unusual Fact of the Day:

For one day in 1998, Topeka, Kansas, renamed itself “ToPikachu” to mark Pokemon’s U.S. debut.

Joke-of-the-day:

A student burst into his professor’s office and says; "Professor Stigler, I don't believe I deserve this F you've given me."

To which Stigler replied, "I agree, but unfortunately it is the lowest grade the University will allow me to award."

Rules of Thumb:   

Easy shortcuts to make an ‘educated’ guess

LEADERS CONFIDENCE IN UNDERLINGS

When a leader declares having 'full confidence' in one of their minions (this works for football coaches, prime ministers, executives), that minion has an average remaining time in office of about two weeks.    

Yeah, It Really Happened

PENLAN, Wales - A 5-year-old Welsh boy whose disappearance sparked a massive police search turned out to be napping under a bean bag chair, his parents said. Andrew Lorey, 29, and Samantha Thomas, 28, of Penlan, Wales, said their son, Jenson Lorey, vanished from the family's living room Monday night while his father was in the kitchen and his mother was at the gym, walesonline.co.uk reported Thursday. 

"I started screaming and running around the street," Thomas told the South Wales Evening Post. "I thought the worst had happened." "We had 12 police officers out looking for him, police dogs and the helicopter," Andrew Lorey said. 

"They searched the attic, they searched everywhere. Everyone who knew me was out looking but even people who didn't know me were looking too. It was just incredible -- the support we had was phenomenal." 

After more than an hour of searching, the couple's daughter, Sienna, 6, discovered her brother sleeping beneath a beanbag chair in the living room, The Mirror reported. Thomas said the beanbag had been moved several times during the search, so the boy could not have been under it the entire time. 

"All we know is he was sleeping soundly when we found him," she said.  

Ancient Things

Largest Anglo-Saxon treasure since Sutton Hoo, discovered in England…Experts say the collection of gold and silver pieces, completely reshape our understanding of the Dark Ages. The find  containing almost fifteen hundred gold and silver items thought to date from the 7th or 8th century,  staggering archeologists with it’s unparalleled in size and may be worth millions.  It has been declared treasure by South Staffordshire  meaning it belongs to the Crown. A hoard of this historical importance is a national treasure and therefore will be destined to go into a museum for the benefit of the nation. Click here for more

Somewhat Useless Information   

• Salt is mentioned more than 30 times in the Bible.

• Scholars estimate that the 66 books of the King James version of the Bible were written by some 50 different authors.

• Seven suicides are recorded in the Bible.

• Some biblical scholars believe that Aramaic (the language of the ancient Bible) did not contain an easy way to say 'many things' and used a term which has come down to us as 40. This means that when the bible -- in many places -- refers to '40 days,' they meant many days.

• Strict Puritan laws had their origins from practical reasons. Smoking was banned - farmers would raise badly needed food crops instead of tobacco. Cooking was banned on Sundays - to prevent house fires during the long hours the family was at church. Young men were banned from hunting - to prevent weapons from falling into Indian hands.

Calendar Information        

Happening This Week:

21-25
Read Me Week

24-3/2
National Secondhand Wardrobe Week
Telecommuter Appreciation Week 
Telecommuter Appreciation Week
Peace Corps Week

Today Is                                                                      

Pistol Patent Day (Samuel Colt-1836)

Kuwait: National Day (1991 from Iraq)

Today’s Events through History  

"Your Show of Shows" with Sid Caesar & Imogene Coca premieres—1950

Congress passes "An Act Making Appropriations for Defraying the Expenses 

      Which May Arise in Carrying into Effect Certain Treaties Between the United 

      States and Several Tribes or Nations of Indians." —1799

Dutch US colonists kill Algonquin—1643

Irish captain Walter Devereaux kills duke Wallenstein—1634

Lone Wolf, and his followers, after the battle of Palo Duro Canyon, head across 

     the plains. But after a relentless search by the Army, on this date Lone Wolf, 

     and 252 Kiowas, finally surrendered at Fort Sill—1875

New Orleans' Pete Maravich sets NBA record for a guard with 68 pts—1977

US proclaims protectorate over Dominican Republic—1907

US Showman Phineas Taylor Barnum exhibits African American slave Joice Heth—1836

US Supreme Court upholds (5-4) affirmative action—1897

Today’s Birthdays                                                           

In their 70’s

Diane Baker, Hollywood California, actress (Diary of Anne Frank, Marnie) is 75

Karen Grassle, Berkeley Ca, actress (Caroline-Little House on Prairie) is 71

Sally Jessy Raphael, Easton, Pennsylvania, American TV talk show host (Sally) is 78

Bob Schieffer, Austin Tx, newscaster (CBS Weekend News) is 76

In their 40’s

Tea Leoni, NYC, actress (Flying Blind, Naked Truth) is 47

Remembered for being born today

Jim Backus, Cleve, actor (Mr Magoo, Thurston Howell III-Gilligan Is) (1913-1989)

Enrico Caruso, Naples Italy, operatic tenor (Faust) (1873-1921)

John Foster Dulles, US Secretary of State (1888-1959)

George Harrison, rocker (Beatle/Travelling Willberries-My Sweet Lord) (1943-2001)

 [Herbert] Zeppo Marx, NYC, comedian/actor (Marx Brothers) (1901-1979)

Pierre Auguste Renoir, Limoges France, Impressionist painter/sculptor (1941-1919)

Robert Lorimer "Bobby" Riggs, US tennis star (US Open 1939, 41) (1918-1995)

Faron Young, country singer/actor (Hidden Guns, Daniel Boone) (1932-1996)

Today’s Historical Obits                                                           

James Coco, actor (Joe-Dumplings)—1987—at 56

George Minot, American physician, Nobel laureate—1950—at 64

Thomas Moore, Irish writer (Utopia)—1852—at 72

Elijah Muhammad, leader of Nation of Islam—heart failure—1975—at 78

Tennessee Williams, playwright and writer (Streetcar Named Desire)—choked—1983—at 71

Christopher Wren, England, astronomer/architect—1723—at 90

Answer: Brain Teasers

“Only time will tell”….who stole the gold

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  §