9/3/13

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Almanac: Flagstaff:  Week: 36/ Day: 246   

Today: H 77°…L 50°

Wind: ave:   3mph; Gusts:  16mph  

Ave. humidity:  75%

Record Low: 91° (1948)

Record High: 91° (1948)

Average Low: 46°

Average High: 76°

Quote of the Day

Today’s Historical Highlights

1st night bombing of London by German fighter planes…1917

1st automobile to exceed 300 mph, Sir Malcolm Campbell (301.337 mph)…1935

1940 Olympic site changed from Tokyo Japan to Helsinki Finland…1938

Beslan School massacre ends approximately 344 people, mostly teachers and 

     children die…2004

Canadian troops liberate Abbeville, France…1944

Cotton pickers organize union & staged strike in Texas…1891

eBay founded…1995

Frederick Douglass escapes from slavery disguised as a sailor…1838

Wilderness Act signed into law by President Lyndon B Johnson…1964

US adopts Gregorian calendar (becomes Sept 14)…1752

♫  Today’s Birthdays: ♫   

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

My Free Rambling Thoughts   

What a nice Labor Day here in Flag…blue sky, warm temps, no rain, a few clouds. Nice to be on the deck and enjoy this beautiful weather.

 

I refrained from going to any stores on this holiday. When I was in college we did work on Labor Day for triple time pay. Not so anymore. While we honor the labor that built our country, it seems unsettling that all of the stores are open and most are not paying their staff anything extra. The trash man was here as every other Monday. A few years ago we would get a notice that there was no trash pickup on holiday Mondays and that trash would be picked up Tuesday. Now the trash guy gets no holiday. Times have changed and Labor Day has become little more than cook outs for those lucky enough to have the day off. I don’t think this is the dream of Labor Day was made an official US holiday back in the 1890’s. I read a story about ‘never wear white after Labor Day’ which kinda makes sense. Back in the day, the very wealthy would spend their summers at the beach or vacationing at some resort. They would return to the very filthy city after Labor Day where white clothes would quickly become gray from the soot in the air. Hmmm

 

Someone posted on FB posted a Glen Beck video demanding that everyone listen to the short video. Being a good person who always does as told…NOT…I decided to watch it, even though I am not now, nor have I ever been a Glen Beck fan. Strangely he was calling out the Hawks of both parties about getting involved in Syria. He was showing a video clip that was very graphic of a Syrian rebel who shot one of the Syrian military. It is a civil war after all. Then the rebel cut open the chest and pulled out some vital organ and took a bite out of it. Beck’s plea was not to support these cannibals. I did some digging and found a BBC broadcast of this rebel discussing his cannibalistic act. He was saying that he was ‘caught up in the moment’ and needed to show the Army that he and his men were not afraid of the Army. While other rebel groups have denounced this violent act, they are doing nothing to stop the guy. I learned that the Syrian Civil War is not like our Civil War where it was the North vs the South with tribes and other countries picking sides and fighting. The Syrian Civil War is the government vs a whole lot of rebel groups that are not really connected at all. Sometimes the rebels are even fighting each other over conquered land and civilians. If the US decides to bomb government facilities in Syria, we are in fact helping the rebels overthrow a horrific dictator who gasses his own citizens AND we are helping the rebels, including the ‘cannibal’, take over the country. This is a mess that we better be very careful before picking sides. A simple bombing will not end our involvement. It will lead to troops on the ground when more horrific killing happens no matter whom is in charge.  

Game  Center (answers at the end of post)

Brain Teasers

Pick the word from List B which best completes the group of words in List A.

List A: Eighth, _____, Height, Beau, Eulogy

List B: Aesop Beauty Client Masseur Painter

Lifestyle  Substance:     

Found on You Tube with some relevance to today

• Ho Chi Minh: Vietnamese Independence

• What it Takes to be Number One by Vince Lombardi

• The Paul Kane Project

• 10 Questions for Shaun White

• Beslan School Massacre, Dramatic Scenes, 2004

Hmmmm…Fearsome Phobias
If you have an irrational fear of... Birds
You're suffering from... Ornithophobia [ornitho is Greek (meaning bird)]

If you have an irrational fear of... Blood
You're suffering from... Hematophobia, hemaphobia, homophobia [Greek hemato- 'blood']

It is Illegal…

Fishing While Sitting on a Giraffe’s Neck is Forbidden in Illinois

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

You can practice your religious customs without being questioned, mocked, or inhibited.

Ok, then?

Harper’s Index    

• Number of US educators who have signed up for the Armed Teacher Training Program: 1475

• Date on which Nelson, Georgia passed The Family Protection Ordinance, mandating gun ownership: 4/1/2013 and this was not an April Fool’s Joke

Unusual Fact of the Day

A 1975 slang dictionary defines "gay-cat" as a hobo znot wise to the ways of hobo life, and considered unacceptable by his fellows.

Joke-of-the-day

COMPUTER TERMS - TEXAS TRANSLATION:

• LOG ON: Making a wood stove hotter.

• LOG OFF: Don't add no more wood.

• MONITOR: Keeping an eye on the wood stove.

• DOWNLOAD: Gettin' the farwood off the truck

• MEGA HERTZ: When yer not keerful gettin' the farwood

• FLOPPY DISC: Whatcha git from tryin to carry too much farwood

• RAM: That thing tha splits the farwood

• HARD DRIVE: Gettin' home in the winter time

• PROMPT: What the mail ain't in the winter time

• WINDOWS: What to shut when it's cold outside

• SCREEN: What to shut when it's black fly season

• BYTE: What them dang flies do

• CHIP: Munchies fer the TV

• MICRO CHIP: What's in the bottom of the munchie bag

• MODEM: Whatcha did to the hay fields

• DOT MATRIX: Old Dan Matrix's wife

• LAP TOP: Where the kitty sleeps

• KEYBOARD: Where ya hang the dang truck keys

• SOFTWARE: Them dang plastic forks and knives

• MOUSE: What eats the grain in the barn

• MOUSE PAD: That's hippie talk fer the mouse hole

• MAIN FRAME: Holds up the barn roof

• ENTER: Northerner talk fer "c'mon in, y'all"

• RANDOM ACCESS MEMORY: When ya can't 'member what ya paid fer the rifle

Rules of Thumb:   

Easy shortcuts to make an ‘educated’ guess

RIDING A BUS

 On a Greyhound bus, the side with the bathroom has more leg-room than the side with the driver.   

Yeah, It Really Happened

MITCHELL, Ontario - Police in Ontario said a man arrested on a drunken driving charge was found driving a riding lawnmower down the middle of a street. Authorities said an off-duty officer spotted the 64-year-old man, whose name was not released, driving a John Deere riding mower down the center of a public road in Mitchell, OMI Agency reported Thursday. The man was showing signs of impairment and failed two breath tests administered by on-duty officers summoned to the scene by the off-duty officer, police said. The man is scheduled to appear in court Sept. 30 on charges including impaired driving and driving while disqualified.

Somewhat Useless Information   

• Labor Day in Canada began in 1872 in Toronto but quickly made its way south to the U.S. Originally it began as a significant demonstration demanding rights for workers.

• The first U.S. Labor Day was celebrated on Tuesday, September 5, 1882, in New York City, planned by the Central Labor Union. The Labor Day parade of about 10,000 workers took unpaid leave and marched from City Hall past Union Square uptown to 42nd street, and ended in Wendel's Elm Park at 92nd Street and 9th Avenue for a concert, speeches, and a picnic.

• Oregon was the first state to make Labor Day a holiday in 1887.

• On June 28, 1894, Congress passed an act making the first Monday in September of each year a legal holiday in the District of Columbia and the territories.

• In the late 1800s the average American worked 12-hour days and seven-day weeks to eke out a basic living. Children as young as 5-6 years old worked in factories and mines.

• The year in which the 8-hour day was firmly established was 1916 with the passage of the Adamson Act. This was the first federal law regulating hours of workers in private companies.

Calendar Information        

Happening This Week:

1^st-7^th

International Enthusiasm Week
National Nutrition Week

National Waffle Week
Self-University Week
National Payroll Week

3rd -7th  

Play Days

Today Is                                                                       

·        Another Look Unlimited Day: encourages you to take another look through what you’re getting rid of to identify things which could be donated to charity, given to friends, or recycled in another way.

·        Skyscraper Day: to appreciate and admire the world's tallest skyscrapers

~~~~

·        San Marino: National Day (Founding of the Republic: 301 by the Saint Marino)

Today’s Events through History  

Battle at Worcester-Oliver Cromwell destroys English royalists…1651

700 soldiers avenge the Grattan Massacre attack Sioux village, killing 100 men, 

     women, and children…1855

Hurricane kills 2,000, injures 4,000 (Dominican Republic)…1930

Final episode of "What's My Line?," hosted by John Charles Daly…1967

Today’s Birthdays                                                           

Mitzi Gaynor, actress/vocalist (Les Girls, South Pacific) is 82

Costas Mandylor, Greek Australian actor (Saw) is 48

Dick Motta, NBA coach (856 wins, Its not over 'til the fat lady sings) is 82

Valerie Perrine, American actress and model (Steam Bath, Superman, Lenny) is 70

Charlie Sheen, [Carlos Estavez], actor (Wall St, Platoon) is 48

Shaun White, snowboarder (Olympic gold - 2006, 2010) is 27

Remembered for being born today

Eileen Brennan, actress (Laugh-In, Pvt Benjamin) [1932-2013]

Kitty Carlisle, American actress and television personality [1910-2007]

Albert DeSalvo, The Boston Strangler [1931-1973]

Bill Flemming, sportscaster (ABC's Wide World of Sports) [1926-2007]

Marguerite Higgins, reporter and war correspondent, Pulitzer prize winner [1920-1966]

Paul Kane, Canadian painter [1810-1871]

Alan Ladd, actor (Shane, Carpetbaggers) [1913-1964]

Ahkal Mo' Naab' II, Maya King [523-570]

Ferdinand Porsche, German car inventor (Porsche, Volkswagen) [1875-1951]

Abraham Trembley, Swiss naturalist [1710-1784]

Today’s Historical Obits                                                           

Oliver Cromwell, British general (1653-58)/Lord Protector…malaria…1658…at 59

e[dward] e cummings, US poet (Tulips & Chimneys)…stroke…1962…at 67

Vince Lombardi, football coach (Packers)…cancer…1970…at 57

Ho Chi Minh [Nguyễn Sinh Cung], revolutionary/President of North 

     Vietnam…heart failure…1969…at 79

Sun Myung Moon, Korean evangelist…2012…at 92

Duncan Renaldo, actor (Cisco Kid, Guns of Fury)…cancer…1980…at 76

Brain Teasers

Aesop

Each of the words in List A includes the letter "e" blended with another letter or letters to make the sound of one of our five vowels.

Eighth (A) Aesop (E) Height (I) Beau (O) Eulogy (U)

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  §