9/2/13

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Almanac: Flagstaff:  Week: 36/ Day: 245   

Today: H 75°…L 52°

Wind: ave:   5mph; Gusts:  17mph  

Ave. humidity:  87%

Record Low: 33° (1962)

Record High: 91° (1948)

Average Low: 47°

Average High: 77°

Quote of the Day

Today’s Historical Highlights

1st automatic teller machine in the US is installed in Rockville Center…1969

CBS & NBC expand network news from 15 to 30 minutes…1963

Decades-long ban on veiled female news presenters is lifted from State television 

     in Egypt…2012

Great Fire of London begins at 2am in Pudding Lane, 80% of London is destroyed…1666

Great Smoky Mountains National Park dedicated…1940

Machine gun 1st used in battle…1898

Philips introduces CD-video…1987

Solar super storm affects electrical telegraph service…1859

US Treasury Department established by Congress…1789

VP Theodore Roosevelt advises, "Speak softly & carry a big stick"…1901

♫  Today’s Birthdays: ♫   

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

My Free Rambling Thoughts   

High puffed up clouds with some gray and very dark bottoms did not bring us any rain today. Yesterday’s downpour and flooding around town was enough for most of us. Nice to read the Sunday paper out on the deck while watching the two squirrels play around on the tree.

 

I seldom stop at any fast food restaurant. So here in Flag I have no idea what people work in them. As I watch the news reports I find out that it might not be my memory of either high school kids or the elderly making a few bucks, staying out of trouble, and having a little extra money for school or retirement. From the news reports there seems to be a lot of family breadwinners who are trying to raise a family on their wages. On this Labor Day I have to wonder how these people can get better wages. A Rez friend, who left the Rez to find his fame and fortune in Phoenix has a job a one of the casinos. He didn’t have the funds to raise his kids from that job, so they grew up with grandma and grandpa on the Rez. Yesterday he posted a picture of himself hold up some clothes on a hanger with the caption: These are made in China, why can’t they be made on the Navajo Rez? If he thinks fast food jobs or casino jobs have low wages, try the foreign textile business. The Chinese made shirts sell for about $20 whereas American made shirts are about $60. Hamburgers at a decent restaurant are about $10 compared to the couple of bucks at the fast food place. As we celebrate this Labor Day, let us all remember that workers are what built this country on the dreams of the entrepreneurs. Business has always tried to get the most from its workers for the least amount of money with the least amount of money spent on worker comforts. The Unions only began and gained strength because of the horrific work conditions, the low wages, the long hours with no overtime pay. Today’s CEOs make up to a thousand times more per hour than their average worker in their company. Somehow this was not the American Dream that I grew up with. It is time to reevaluate the dream.

Game  Center (answers at the end of post)

Brain Teasers

Each of the clues below describes a famous pair (example: Salt & Pepper). Can you name each pair?

1. Jingly sound makers & accompanying sounds heard on the Seven Dwarfs commute 2. Corny phrase used by photographers & thin crisp wafers 3. Small spherical play toy & a letter propagated to many people threatening bad luck unless forwarded 4. Mayberry's deputy sheriff & hollow round percussion instrument 5. A cheery, cheerful or joyous disposition & a unit of company stock 6. Long slender conifer leaf & message board continuous chain of postings 7. Kevin of "Six Degrees" trivia fame & chicken predecessors 8. Writing implement loaded with ink & bank employee that receives or pays out money 9. A paste made from ground goober peas & sweet spread prepared from Concord Grapes

Lifestyle  Substance:     

Found on You Tube with some relevance to today

• "The Good, The Bad and The Ugly" by Hugo Montenegro

• JRR Tolkien on Film

• Dobie Gillis punches Bob Denver--but can he win a fight?

• Troy Donahue

Hmmmm…Fearsome Phobias
If you have an irrational fear of... Bed, going to
You're suffering from... Clinophobia [clinoid 'resembling a bed']

If you have an irrational fear of... Bees
You're suffering from... Apiphobia, apiophobia [Latin apis for "honey bee"]

It is Illegal…

It Is Illegal To Rob A Bank and Then Shoot at the Bank Teller with A Water Pistol In Louisiana

Privileges granted to people in the U.S. (and many western nations) for being Christian…

A bumper sticker supporting your religion won’t likely lead to your car being vandalized.

Ok, then?

Harper’s Index    

Number of US states whre the highest-paid public employee is a sports coach: 37

Unusual Fact of the Day

Created in 1994, the Comic Sans font was inspired by Batman and Watchmen comic books.

Joke-of-the-day

At a party of professionals, a Doctor was having difficulty socializing. Everyone wanted to describe their symptoms, and get an opinion about diagnosis. The Doctor turned to a Lawyer acquaintance, and asked, "How do you handle people who want advice outside of the office?"

"Simple," answered the Lawyer, "I send them a bill. That stops it."

The next day, the Doctor, still feeling a bit reserved about what he had just finished doing, opened his mailbox to send the bills; there sat a bill from the Lawyer.

Rules of Thumb:   

Easy shortcuts to make an ‘educated’ guess

SETTING YOUR HOURS

If a person's job ends at 5, it's a job. If it goes beyond that time, it's a career.    

Yeah, It Really Happened

DENVER - A Colorado mother and daughter were sentenced to prison for an Internet scam that tricked victims into sending money to people they thought were U.S. soldiers. Colorado Attorney General John Suthers says Karen Vasseur and her daughter, Tracy, both Brighton residents, defrauded their victims of at least $1 million, KCNC-TV, Denver, reported Friday. They targeted women looking for romance on online dating sites. "Not only did this mother-daughter duo break the law, they broke hearts worldwide," Suthers said in a statement. "It is fitting that they received stiff sentences for their unconscionable crimes committed in the name of love and the United States military." Tracy Vasseur received a 15-year sentence Monday, ABC News reported. Her mother was sentenced to 12 years in July. Suthers said at least 374 people in 40 countries were cheated. They got involved in online relationships with people they believed to be U.S. soldiers serving in Afghanistan and would then be asked to send money so their boyfriends could travel to meet them or for satellite phones. Investigators say they do not yet know who the women were working for or how they became involved in the scheme. Most of the money was wired to Nigeria, although some went to other countries, including Britain, Ecuador, the United Arab Emirates and elsewhere in the United States.  

Somewhat Useless Information   

• Sea snakes are the most poisonous snakes in the world.

• Adult male giraffes bang their long necks together in a form of ritual fighting, during which no harm is done to either giraffe.

• The stonefish, which lives off the coast of Australia, is the most poisonous fish in the world.

• The black-necked cobra, which lives mostly in Africa, spits its venom into the eyes of its victim, to cause it blindness.

• When two lovebirds appear to be kissing, they are actually grooming each other with their bills to keep clean and neat.

• A bird called the bee eater in areas of Africa thinks that riding around on the backs of other animals is fun!

Calendar Information        

Happening This Week:

1^st-7^th

International Enthusiasm Week
National Nutrition Week

National Waffle Week
Self-University Week
National Payroll Week

Today Is                                                                       

·        Bison-ten Yell Day: Honoring the “bicentennial” of the birth of Bison-Ten-Yell, imaginary inventor of a set of 10 battle yells as signals, based on the traditional memory aid system eventually adopted by football players.

·        National Beheading Day an opportunity to reflect on capital punishment and examine this method of execution (now retired in most civilized governments), and it’s use throughout history.

~~~

·        US: Labor Day since 1894 creation of the labor movement and is dedicated to the social and economic achievements of American workers

·        US: V-J Day: 1945 Ceremony and formal signing of surrender

·        Vietnam: Independence Day (1945 from France)

Today’s Events through History  

Alabama Gov George C Wallace prevents integration of Tuskegee HS…1963

Gas lighting introduced to Hawaii…1859

General John Sullivan, and his force of 4,500 men continue their attacks on Indians 

     in New York who he suspects are British Allies…1779

McCall magazine 1st published…1897

Nehru forms government in India…1946

Unilever forms by merger of Margarine Union & Lever Bros…1929

Today’s Birthdays                                                           

Terry Bradshaw, NFL QB (Pittsburgh Steelers)/announcer (CBS, FOX) is 65

Jimmy Connors, tennis (US Open-78, 82, 83 Wimbledon-74, 82) is 61

Mark Harmon, actor (NCIS) is 62

Salma Hayek, Veracruz, Mexico, actress (Desparado) is 47

Lennox Lewis, London. boxer (Olympic-gold-1988, WBC boxing champ) is 48

Linda Purl, actress (Gloria-Happy Days, Matlock) is 58

Keanu Reeves, Beirut, actor (Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure, Speed) is 49

Remembered for being born today

Hugo Montenegro, American composer and bandleader [1925-1981]

Albert Spaulding, baseball player/founded Spaulding sports company [1850-1915]

Today’s Historical Obits                                                           

Christiaan Barnard, South African heart surgeon…asthma…2001…at 78

Hernán Cortés, Spanish general defeated Aztec Indians…dysentery…1547…at 61ish

Bob Denver, actor (Gilligan's Island)…cancer…2005…at 70

Troy Donahue, actor…cancer…2001…at 65

Bob Mathias, American athlete and congressman…cancer…2006…at 75

Pheidippides, Greek hero and inspiration for the modern marathon…490BC…50ish

John R R Tolkien, British story writer (Hobbit)…ulcer…1973…at 81

Franz Xaver, Baron Von Zach, Austrian astronomer…1832…at 78

Brain Teasers

1. Bells & Whistles 2. Cheese & Crackers 3. Ball & Chain 4. Fife & Drum 5. Sonny & Cher 6. Needle & Thread 7. Bacon & Eggs 8. Penn & Teller 9. Peanut Butter & Jelly

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  §