Mar 7, 2013

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Flagstaff Almanac:  Week: 10/ Day: 66   

Today: H   48°…L 22° Averages: H  54° L 25° Records: H   68°(1910)…L -2°(1935)

Wind: ave:   20mph; Gusts:  32mph  Ave. humidity:  59%

Quote of the Day

Today’s Historical Highlights

1st homicide at Disneyland, 18 year old is stabbed to death►1981

Alexander Graham Bell patents telephone►1876

British House of Commons votes to make the upper chamber, the House of 

     Lords, 100% elected►2007

Capt James Cook 1st sights Oregon coast, at Yaquina Bay►1778

First democratically elected Palestinian parliament is formed►1996

Glamour magazine begins publishing►1939

Guy Lombardo & Royal Canadians 1st record "Auld Lang Syne"►1939

Mary Martin as "Peter Pan" televised►1955

Massachusetts establishes 1st 2-chamber legislature in colonies►1644

United States attacks San Juan del Sur in Nicaragua►1984

US Navy issues 1st permanent order assigning women on combat ship►1994

US sent 20,000 troops to Mexican border►1911

♪  ♪   Happy Birthday To: ♪. ♪   

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

Free Rambling Thoughts   

A little too windy for my taste, but not a cold wind so survivable. Nice day for an afternoon walk.

 

I have never been a fan of ‘drone’ attacks in the Middle East. One reason is that the ‘pilots’ are sitting at a computer screen in the US to direct them. Another reason is that no matter what the government says, we all know that there is collateral killing of innocents. My parent’s generation was in WWII. During that time, ALL Germans and ALL Japanese and I suppose ALL Italians were trying to destroy the US. I grew up after the war. It was so hard for my dad when a German couple, from Germany, moved in across the street. Over the years, as their family grew we all became good friends. Then a Japanese couple moved in down the street. That too was hard for my dad. Then in college I had a Japanese roommate and my dad had a man-to-man with me to stay alert. It was always hard for him to change the beliefs he received in the Army and Navy. He mellowed a lot, but never really changed. Now the Attorney General has said that the President has the power to use drown strikes against enemies on US soil. While I try to support our President, this is just plain wrong. If for no other reason than if a drone was used there would be collateral damage that would most likely include innocent Americans. For example, say a ‘terrorist’ lives in my townhouse complex. We never meet, but they are ‘plotting’ in their unit. A drone aimed at their unit would easily destroy several units on either side. This is not the America I have grown up in, and it is not the America that I want to continue. Every so often we hear about a small plane that crashes into an innocent person’s home. It almost always damages or destroys several homes and people are killed. Drones would be the same. While I am not a Rand Paul fan, his filibuster is making a good point.  Before the President talks more about his power to use drones on US soil, against American citizens, he should force the military to provide Americans with the actual body count of drones we are using in the Middle East. Sure we know how many ‘terrorists’ are killed, but we have no idea how many innocents are being killed at the same time.

 

Mary left for Phoenix this morning to sign the final papers and begin the move in to her new home. She is certainly excited…and I can’t blame her. She calls it a second home, but I figure she will be spending a lot of time there during our cold winters.

 

Again, America is reminded that wild animals are WILD! A young intern at a wildlife park is mauled by a lion. She died. Then they killed the lion. When are we going to learn that WILD means just that. It doesn’t matter if the WILD animal is raised from birth in a loving environment, it will always be WILD. In all my trips to Africa, that is pounded into our minds daily. Our drivers are prepared to escape quickly. We never get out of a vehicle where there are any wild animals. When we are staying in huts with wild animals around, we never walk around without an armed guard. We are sometimes even given whistles in case any animal attempts to get into our tent. Guards with rifles walk around all night. There are usually animal tracks in the morning. I currently see no reason for the lion to have been killed. There are other ways to deal with the situation. If nothing else is learned…Lions are WILD animals.

Game  Center (answers at the end of post)

Brain Teasers

What is 3/7 chicken, 2/3 cat and 1/2 goat?

Lifestyle  Substance:     

Found on You Tube with some relevance to today

• Magic Realism (The Art of Carel Willink)

• Stanley Kubrick's Speech

• Tammy Faye Bakker sings Amazing Grace

Ok, then?

Getting old-er

As a new, young MD doing his residency in OB. I was quite embarrassed when performing female pelvic exams. To cover my embarrassment I had unconsciously formed a habit of whistling softly. The middle-aged lady upon whom I was performing this exam suddenly burst out laughing and further embarrassing me. I looked up from my work and sheepishly said. . .I'm sorry. Was I tickling you?

'She replied with tears running down her cheeks from laughing so hard . . . 'No doctor but the song you were whistling was .. . .'Oh, I wish I was an Oscar Mayer Wiener.'

Dr. wouldn't submit his name

Picture of the Day: Mountains of the world

Harper’s Index         

Number of Washington DC cops arrested in the past four years: 93

Unusual Fact of the Day

While Santa’s sleigh seems to make pit stops the world over, he might need to cross Saudi Arabia off his to-do list. According to law, the country bans anything and everything having to do with Christmas, including putting up Christmas lights and trees.

Ancient Things

The Origins of Halloween: Samhain and the Celtic Time of Spirits

The Jack O’ Lantern is actually thought to represent a severed human head captured in battle?  In Mexico, some people sleep on the graves on their ancestors on the night before Halloween?

Joke-of-the-day

Nurse: Good morning Mr. Smith, you seem to be coughing much more easily this morning. Mr. Smith: That’s because I’ve been practicing all night.

Rules of Thumb:   

Easy shortcuts to make an ‘educated’ guess

RACING A BOBSLED

In bobsled competition, every second lost at the start costs three seconds at the finish. On a luge run, the time lost at the start is multiplied by four times at the finish.   

Yeah, It Really Happened

BALTIMORE - A Maryland father said it was "insanity" to suspend his 7-year-old son from school for chewing his breakfast pastry into the shape of a gun. Josh Welch, a second-grader at Park Elementary School in Baltimore, said he was trying to chew his breakfast pastry into the shape of a mountain during breakfast at the school Friday, WBFF-TV, Baltimore, reported Monday. "It was already a rectangle and I just kept on biting it and biting it and tore off the top and it kinda looked like a gun but it wasn't." the boy said. "All I was trying to do was turn it into a mountain but, it didn't look like a mountain really and it turned out to be a gun kinda." However, he said he knew he was in "big trouble" when a teacher saw what he created. B.J. Welch, the boy's father, said he was shocked when Josh was suspended for two days. "I would almost call it insanity. I mean with all the potential issues that could be dealt with at school, real threats, bullies, whatever the real issue is, it's a pastry ... ya know?" The school sent a note home with students Friday afternoon. "A student used food to make an inappropriate gesture," the note read.  

Somewhat Useless Information   

• In 1970, movies that contained some adult content were rated "GP" for "General Patronage - All Ages Admitted/Parental Guidance Suggested." The designation was later changed to "PG" to avoid confusion with the more kid-friendly "G."

• Gasoline prices peaked at $1.38 per gallon back in 1981. 

• Prior to 1951, long-distance telephone calls could not be dialed directly; they had to be placed through an operator. Depending on the distance between the two parties, it could take up to 20 minutes for the connection to be made.

• PhoneMate introduced its Model 400 answering machine in 1971. The machine weighed about 8 pounds and held 10 minutes worth of messages on a reel-to-reel tape.

• When a federally mandated 55 mph nationwide speed limit was established in 1974, many automakers adjusted speedometers to match by changing the usual sequence (10, 20, 30...) to end in "5" (15, 25, 35...). The 55 mph point was either shaded or indicated by a special visual mark.

• When VCRs first gained popularity in the late 1970s, the units themselves weren't the only expense. The retail price of a single blank videocassette was initially around $20, while "video club" memberships typically ran in the hundreds of dollars.

Calendar Information        

Happening This Week:

1-7

National Cheerleading Week:
National Ghostwriters Week
National Write A Letter of Appreciation Week
Universal Human Beings Week
2-19

Iditarod Race
3-9 

Severe Weather Preparedness Week
Celebrate Your Name Week
National Consumer Protection Week
National Procrastination Week
National Schools Social Work Week
National Sleep Awareness Week
National Words Matter Week
Professional Pet Sitters Week
Save Your Vision Week
Telecommunicator Appreciation Week
Read an E-Book Week
Return The Borrowed Books Week
Women in Construction Week
Newspaper in Education Week
National School Breakfast Week
Share A Story - Shape A Future Week

Today Is                                                                      

Cereal Day

Fun Facts About Names Day

Nametag Day

National Be Heard Day

World Math Day

Australia/Tasmania: Eight Hour or Labor Day

Today’s Events through History  

1st surface photos of Pluto (photographed by Hubble Space Telescope) ►1996

ANC chief Nelson Mandela rejects demand by white right-wingers for separate 

     homeland in South Africa►1994

BBC broadcasts the news for the first time in color on television►1968

British troops invade Abyssinia (Ethiopia) ►1941

Charles Miller patents 1st US sewing machine to stitch buttonholes►1854

Daniel Webster endorses Compromise of 1850►1850

Game of "Monopoly" invented►1933

Massachusetts enacts 1st state voter registration law►1801

Royal Institution of Great Britain founded; dedicated to scientific research

     and education►1799

Yugoslavia government of Tito forms►1945

Today’s Birthdays                                                           

In their 80’s

Lord Snowdon, [Anthony Armstrong-Jones], London, photographer is 83

In their 70’s

Daniel J Travanti, actor (Frank Furillo-Hill St Blues) is 73

In their 40’s

Wanda Sykes, actress, comedienne is 49

Rachel Weisz, English actress and fashion model is 43

Remembered for being born today

Tammy Faye Bakker, gospel singer/wife of Jim Baker (PTL) [1942-2007]

Luther Burbank, horticulturist [1849-1926]

Anthony Comstock, New Canaan Ct, anti-vice crusader/philatelist [1844-1915]

Henry Draper, Virginia, astro-spectro-photographer (Moon, Jupiter) [1837-1882]

Judocus Smits, Dutch Catholic newspaper pioneer/founder (The Time) [1813-1872]

 [Albert] Carel Willink, Dutch painter (magic realism) [1900-1983]

Today’s Historical Obits                                                           

Thomas Aquinas, Italian thelogian/saint-1274-at 48

Aristotle, Greek philosopher-natural causes-322BC-at 61ish

Jacob K Javits, (Sen-R-NY)-1986-at 81

Stanley Kubrick, film director-heart attack-1999-at 70

Divine, [Harris Milstead], female impersonator (Pink Flamingos)-enlarged heart-1988-at 42

Alice B. Toklas, American companion to Gertrude Stein-1967-at 89

Paul Winfield, actor-heart attack-2004-at 64

Answer: Brain Teasers

Chicago. 3/7 chicken= CHI 2/3 cat = CA 1/2 goat= GO

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  §