Mar 2, 2013

FYI: Any blue text is a link. Click to check it out!

Flagstaff Almanac:  Week: 09/ Day: 61   

Today: H   54°…L 17° Averages: H  47° L 21° Records: H   67°(2009)…L -10°(1997)

Wind: ave:   16mph; Gusts:  25mph  Ave. humidity:  36%

Quote of the Day

Today’s Historical Highlights

"King Kong," premieres at Radio City Music Hall & RKO Roxy NYC►1933

1st time Jay Leno appears on Tonight Show►1977

Americans begin shelling British troops in Boston►1776

Bette Davis is 1st woman to receive Life Achievement Award►1977

Compact Disc recordings developed by Phillips & Sony introduced►1983

Ho Chi Minh elected president of North Vietnam►1946

Martha Washington Hotel, catering to women only, opens in NYC►1903

NAVAJO Code Talker Monument is erected►1989

Pres McKinley signs bill creating Mt Rainier Natl Park (5th in US) ►1899

Territory of Washington organized after separating from Oregon Territory►1853

Time magazine debuts►1923

US approves screening test for AIDS►1985

US Congress creates the Department of Education►1867

♪  ♪   Happy Birthday To: ♪. ♪   

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

Free Rambling Thoughts   

A really nice Friday here in Flag-town. Warm, not too windy, able to take a nice walk. Getting ready for a great weekend.

 

I sure wish I could have been a fly on the wall when Obama met with the Congressional leaders today. I just have the feeling that leadership was missing during that meeting. Our DC system is broken very badly. So there are all these rich guys, some by hard work, some by being from a rich family, who never knew or have forgotten what it is like to be middle class. I’m really getting the feeling that everyone in that room was saying that these across the board cuts would be painful, but in the long run would be the only way to fix the budget…and agreed that in the short term the Republicans would be blamed, but in the long run it would be good for the country that has a very short memory of who was to blame since things ‘will all be better’ before the next election. Of course, their salary is not changed, nor is that of their assistants. This is not leadership, it’s just plain crazy.

Game  Center (answers at the end of post)

Brain Teasers

Some anagrams are almost too good to be true. The letters in the capitalized words or phrases can be rearranged in delightful ways to fill the gaps!

e.g. Is my lovely _____ really a WOMAN HITLER?
Answer: mother-in-law

1. The _____ Church can be BEST IN PRAYER.
2. The school bully gave his victim NINE THUMPS as a _____.
3. Someone with BAD CREDIT can still manage to pay with a _____.
4. If you missed it last time, keep waiting, for _____ SHALL YET COME!
5. Perhaps because _____ could be a NICE SILKY WOMAN, a president fell for her!

The hint will give you the starting letters of all words. It will make the teaser quite easy, so only check if really necessary!

******************************************************

1. P__
2. P__
3. D__ C__
4. H__ C__ (around 2061!)
5. M__ L__

Lifestyle  Substance:     

Found on You Tube with some relevance to today

• Carpenters -We've Only Just Begun

• Dusty Springfield - Son of a preacher man

• King Tut - The Boy King's Treasures

Ok, then?

Picture of the Day: Deserts of the world

Harper’s Index         

Average out-of-state tuition surcharge a resident child of illegal immigrants must pay to attend a Florida state university: $14.521

Unusual Fact of the Day

Leslie Nielsen's father was a Canadian Mountie and his brother was a member of Canadian Parliament.

Ancient Things

Ancient Rome on Film, Part 1: From Spartacus to the Fall of the Empire With the recent announcement that Starz, a successful cable network, was promoting a new version of Spartacus, fans of the sword and sandals genre everywhere are foaming at the mouth.

Joke-of-the-day

If you can’t find a lawyer who knows the law, find a lawyer who knows the judge.  

Rules of Thumb:   

Easy shortcuts to make an ‘educated’ guess

TESTING A DIRECT-MAIL CAMPAIGN

For a reliable direct-mail test, you should mail enough pieces to get at least 300 responses.

Yeah, It Really Happened

HONG KONG - A 101-year-old man who has been in nine marathons since taking up distance running when he was 89 said he retired after a weekend race in Hong Kong. Fauja Singh, whose running and style of dress earned him the title "Turbaned Tornado," said Sunday's 6.2-mile race was his final competitive run, CNN reported Monday. Singh said he completed the Hong Kong event in 32 minutes and 28 seconds, shaving 4 minutes off his time from last year. "Five or six kilometers into the race, I really decided to go for it," he said. "I had lots of power today because I was very happy." Singh said he moved from India to Britain following the death of his son and began running marathons in 2000. He became the first centenarian to complete a marathon when he ran the Toronto Waterfront Marathon in 8 hours, 11 minutes and 6 seconds in 2011. "It's because of the happiness I get out of it. If something makes you happy, you'll do it well," Singh said.  

Somewhat Useless Information   

• Pirates have been around since humans first built boats. Julius Caesar was twice captured by a group of Mediterranean pirates. He treated them with utter contempt and promised to crucify them when they let him go. They thought he was joking. Several days after his release, he returned and carried out his promise. 

• The most important source of pirate lore is the 1724 book A General History of the Robberies and Murders of the Most Notorious Pyrates by a "Captain Charles Johnson" (who was probably Daniel Defoe). The other source of popular pirate myths was Robert Louis Stevenson's Treasure Island (1883). Stevenson's novel introduced the pirate map (with X marking the spot), buried treasure and the ineluctable pirates' curse, the Black Spot. 

• The 1724 book mentions the pirate's flag, the Jolly Roger, for the first time. It didn't always carry a skull and crossbones - Blackbeard's had a skeleton and a bleeding heart. Nor was it the most feared flag - that was the "Bloody Red", which signified "no quarter" i.e. that no life would be spared.

• Only one pirate, William Kidd (c.1645-1701), is ever recorded as having buried any treasure. It is known that Kidd buried some of his wealth on Gardiners Island, off the coast of Long Island. He had hoped to use it as a bargaining tool to clear his name. However, he'd given the details to one of his backers, who dug it up and used it in evidence against him. Kidd was found guilty of piracy and murder and was hanged in Wapping. His body remained on show in a cage over the Thames for 20 years. 

• Hardly any pirate booty was "treasure". Most was food, water, alcohol, weapons and clothing. People were also "pirated" - during the 17th century, more than a million Europeans were captured and sold into slavery by "Barbary" pirates from Algiers. 

• Two privateers (though no pirates) are known to have had wooden legs: the 16th-century Frenchman Francois Le Clerc, known as Jambe de Bois, and Cornelis Corneliszoon Jol (1597-1641), nicknamed Houtebeen ("Pegleg"). There is no historical evidence for any pirate ever owning a parrot.  

Calendar Information        

Happening This Week:

1-7

National Cheerleading Week:
National Ghostwriters Week
National Write A Letter of Appreciation Week
Universal Human Beings Week
2-5

American Council on Education:
2-19

Iditarod Race

Today Is                                                                      

Dr. Seuss Day

NEA's Read Across America Day

~US: Texas: Independence Day (1836 from Mexico to become Texas Republic)

Today’s Events through History  

1st automatic street light (New Milford, Ct) ►1949

1st Reconstruction act passed by US Congress►1867

Congress standardizes US weights & measures►1799

Former Chilean dictator General Augusto Pinochet heads home after being told

     the UK would not extradite him on torture charges►2000

Loves of Mars and Venus becomes the first ballet performed in England►1717

Pennsylvania ends prohibition of theatrical performances►1789

Red Cross is denied access to provide relief to the Baba Amr district in Homs 

    by the Syrian army►2012

Rutherford B Hayes (R) declared president despite Samuel J Tilden (D) 

    winning the popular vote, but is 1 electoral vote shy of victory►1877

Salman Rushdie divorces Marianne Wiggins►1993

Territory of Arkansas organized►1819

US passed its 1st immigration law►1819

Walt Disney World logged its 50 millionth guest►1976

Today’s Birthdays                                                           

In their 80’s

Mikhail Gorbachev, Privolnoye USSR, General Secretary of the Communist Party is 82

In their 50’s

Jon Bon Jovi, rocker (Bon Jovi-Give Love a Bad Name) is 51

Ken Salazar, Sec. of Interior, is 58

In their 40’s

Daniel Craig, actor [007] is 45

Remembered for being born today

Desi Arnaz . actor, band director [1917-1986]

Karen Carpenter, vocalist/drummer (We Only Just Begun) [1950-1983]

Dr Seuss, [Theodor Geisel], children's author (Horton Hears a Who!) [1904-1991]

Sam[uel] Houston, 1st president of Texas [1793-1863]

Pius XII, [Euhenio MGG Pacelli], 260th Pope [1876-1958]

Today’s Historical Obits                                                           

Howard Carter, Brit archaeologist/Egyptologist (King Tut)- lymphoma-1939-at 65

David Herbert Lawrence (DH), poet/writer (Lady Chatterley's Lover)-1930- at 44

Dusty Springfield, English singer-breast cancer-1999-at 59

John Wesley, English co-founder of Methodism-1791-at 87

Answer: Brain Teasers

1. Presbyterian 2. Punishment 3. Debit Card 4. Halley's Comet 5. Monica Lewinsky

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  §