10/18/13

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Flagstaff Almanac:

Week: 42/ Day: 291   

Today: L 19°…H 62°… Ave. humidity: 49%

Wind: ave:   5mph; Gusts:  21mph  

Average Low: 30° Record Low:  10° (1971)

Average High: 62° Record High:  78° (1921)

Quote of the Day

Today’s Historical Highlights

1st commercial long-distance phone line opens (Chicago-NY)…1892

1st US labor organization forms (Boston Shoemakers)…1648

African-American poet Phillis Wheatley freed from slavery…1775

Belgium annexes Congo Free State…1908

Benazir Bhutto, after 8 years in exile, returns to her homeland Pakistan…2007 

Boundary between MD & PA, Mason Dixon line, agreed upon…1767

British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) forms…1922

Church of the Holy Sepulcher completely destroyed by the Fatimid caliph 

     Al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah…1009

Circus Circus opens in Las Vegas…1968

Federal government bans use of cyclamates artificial sweeteners…1969

In a NY bar decorated with bird tail, customer orders "cock tail"…1776

Texas Instruments announces the first Transistor radio…1954

Walt Disney's "Jungle Book" is released…1967

♫  Today’s Birthdays: ♫   

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

My Free Rambling Thoughts   

Quite a shock this morning when I stepped outside to get my morning paper…it was 19°. Sure wasn’t expecting it to be that cold. But in typical Flagstaff tradition, it was in the 50’s very soon.

 

We found a new lunch place. Great Panini’s at a good price. Nice atmosphere, good conversation…an enjoyable day. I was commenting on the number of Medicare supplement ads that were coming into my mailbox…usually 2 or 3 each day. Cheryl let me know that after those stop, it is ads for cemetery plots and cremation options. WOW.

 

I finally get it, thanks CNN crossfire. I have been having a hard time with the Tea Party tactics, like voting to close the government. At the same time I remember back to the 1960’s and the turmoil of those times. I couldn’t find a real difference with people standing for something they believed in. Then CNN hit it…back in the 60’s the people who closed down the universities, or marched, or tried to change the world took personal responsibility for what they were doing. Many went to jail. The current Tea Party antics always blame the other side. It’s always ‘THEY DID IT’.  The Tea Party really are just little kids.

Game  Center (answers at the end of post)

Brain Teasers

Three 5-letter words, Anagrams of each other. One is a cloth, The second a spot, The third is at home with the Father. What are the three words?

Lifestyle  Substance:     

Found on You Tube with some relevance to today

• THE FILMS OF GEORGE C. SCOTT

• Peter Boyle Tribute – 2006

• Inger Stevens: The Farmer's Daughter Gets Married

• Wynton Marsalis: Defining Jazz

Hmmmm…Fearsome Phobias

If you have an irrational fear of... Genitals, female
You're suffering from... Kolpophobia Ancient Greek κόλπος kolpos ‘bosom, womb’

If you have an irrational fear of... Genitals, male
You're suffering from... Phallophobia Greek phallo ‘the penis’

OK Then…

Harper’s Index 

• Percentage change in the number of Walmart stores nationwide since 2008: +13

• In the size of Walmart’s retail workforce: 0

Amazing Facts About The Human Body

Nail’s: Each finger and toenail takes six months to grow from base to tip.

Unusual Fact of the Day

Some marine fish change gender, Clownfish, wrasses, moray eels…

Joke-of-the-day

A 17th Century captain was sailing along with his crew when a pirate ship came over the horizon. The captain says, "Cabin boy, get me my red shirt." So, he gets his red shirt and they victoriously battle the pirates.

Several days later, they spot another pirate ship off the port bow. "Cabin boy," says the captain "get me my red shirt." They again battle the pirates and are victorious.

Later when things had settled down, the cabin boy asks, "Captain, why do you always want your red shirt just prior to battle?"

The captain responds, "Well, in case I am inflicted with a wound, I don't want the crew to see my injury and lose spirit."

"I see," says the cabin boy.

A few days later, they sight 20 pirates in the distance the captain yells out, "Cabin boy, get me my brown pants."  

Rules of Thumb:   

Easy shortcuts to make an ‘educated’ guess

CARING FOR A HORSE

You should allow at least one hour per day to feed and groom a horse.    

Yeah, It Really Happened

Men trying to conceive may want to hold off on the bacon.

According to a new study from Harvard University, the intake of processed meat is associated with lower semen quality in men. Researchers from the Harvard School of Public Health presented on the link between bacon and male fertility at the 2013 American Society for Reproductive Medicine conference Monday.

Drawing their male subjects from Massachusetts General Hospital Fertility Center, the team analyzed sperm samples of 156 volunteers and compared them to each participant's food intake, as reported on a food intake questionnaire. After adjusting their statistical models for other factors, such as age and body mass index, the team found a negative association between processed meat -- including hamburgers, hot dogs and bacon -- and sperm quality.

"Processed meat was associated with lower sperm concentration and morphology," lead researcher Dr. Myriam Afeiche, of the university's Department of Nutrition, wrote in an email to The Huffington Post. (Morphology refers to the structure and appearance of the sperm.)

While the team found that eating more than one serving of bacon, or other processed meats, related to diminished semen quality, the study also noted a positive association between male fertility and fish consumption.

According to the research, white meat fish like cod and halibut were associated with a higher percentage of normal sperm. Salmon, tuna and other dark meat fish, on the other hand, were related to a higher total sperm count.

Somewhat Useless Information   

• A star has been found moving closer to the sun. In a million years a star named Gliese 710 will have moved to within 6/10ths of a light year from the sun. This is more than six times closer than today’s nearest star, Alpha Centauri, which is over 4 light years away.

• Stars viewed through even the largest telescopes look like tiny points of light. But astronomers, using the Hubble Space Telescope to photograph a star called Betelgeuse (pronounced “beetle jooze”), have now been able to see the surface of another star. Betelgeuse is a red, giant star located at the left shoulder of the constellation Orion and is the largest known star in our galaxy.

• Not all stars are found inside galaxies. Astronomers have found stars moving between the galaxies, which are millions of light years apart. These stars may even have planets, possibly with intelligent life on them. If they do, these beings would see a lonely sky with just one star (its own sun) and a few faint galaxies.

Calendar Information        

Happening This Week:

13-19

Bullying Bystanders Unite Week
Earth Science Week
Freedom From Bullies Week
Getting The World To Beat A Path To Your Door Week
National Chestnut Week 
National Food Bank Week
Teen Read Week
YWCA Week Without Violence
14-18

National School Lunch Week
YWCA Week Without Violence 
17-24

Food & Drug Interactions and Awareness Week

Today Is                                                                      

·        Mammography Day

·        National Chocolate Cupcake Day

·        World Menopause Day

~~~~

·        Azerbaijan: Independence Day (1991 from USSR)

·        Canada: Persons Day (1929 allowing women to serve in Senate)

·        US: Alaska: Alaska Day (1867; transfer from Russia to US)

Today’s Events through History  

American flag raised in Puerto Rico…1898

Congress authorizes bi-centennial quarter, half-dollar & dollar coin…1973

Pennsylvania will purchase several sections of land from the Deleware Tribe…1683

Simon & Garfunkel reunite on Saturday Night Live, sing "My Little Town"…1975

Willie Thrower becomes 1st black NFL quarterback in modern times…1953

Today’s Birthdays                                                           

Chuck Berry, rocker (Roll over Beethoven) is 87

Pam Dawber, actress (Mindy-Mork & Mindy, My Sister Sam) is 62

Erin Moran, actress (Happy Days, Joanie Loves Chachi) is 53

Jean-Claude Van Damme, Belgian actor (Kickboxer, No Retreat) is 53

Wynton Marsalis, jazz trumpeter (Grammy 1983) is 52

Zac Efron, Disney actor is 26  

Remembered for being born today

Lee Harvey Oswald, New Orleans, Louisiana, assassin (JFK) [1939-1963]

Inger Stevens, Stockholm Sweden, actress (Katy-Farmer's Daughter) [1934-1970]

Victor Sen Yung, actor (Hop Sing-Bonanza, Bachelor Family) [1915-1980]

Laura Nyro, Bronx, singer/songwriter (Eli's Coming, Stoney End) [1947-1997]

George C. Scott, actor/director (Patton, Dr. Strangelove) [1927-1999]

Pierre Elliott Trudeau, (L) 15th Canadian PM [1919-2000]

Peter Boyle, actor (Joe, Candidate, Everybody Loves Raymond) [1935-2006]

Today’s Historical Obits                                                           

Bess Truman, 1st lady …1982…@97

Thomas Alva Edison, inventor…1931…@84

Walt Kelly, comic strip artist (Pogo)… diabetes complications…1973…@60

Jon-Erik Hexum, actor (Bear)…gun loaded with blanks…1984…@26

Brain Teasers

Satin - a silky fabric  Stain - a discoloration or spot  Saint - a spirit in Heaven 

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  §