10/4/13

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Almanac: Flagstaff:  Week: 40/ Day: 277   

Today: H 65°…L 37°…Ave. humidity: 52%

Wind: ave:   25mph; Gusts:  42mph  

Average High: 68° Record High:  83° (1947)

Average Low: 35° Record Low:  15° (1908)

Quote of the Day

Today’s Historical Highlights

1st American volunteer firemen established …1648

1^st complete English-language Bible (the Matthew Bible) is printed…1537

1st issue of Esquire magazine…1933

1st meeting of the Boys' Brigade in Glasgow, Scotland…1883

1st public elevator (London's Earl's Court Metro Station) …1911

1st time, entire World Series broadcast over radio (WJZ & WGY) …1922

Agriculture Secretary Earl Butz resigns due to telling a racial joke…1976

Dick Tracy comic strip by Chester Gould debuts…1931

Dinosaur National Monument in Colorado & Utah is established…1915

Orient Express' 1st run, linking Turkey to Europe by rail…1883

University of California founded in Los Angeles…1880

US government closes down due to budget problems…1984

USSR launches Sputnik I, 1st artificial Earth satellite…1957

♫  Today’s Birthdays: ♫   

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

My Free Rambling Thoughts   

Great Mexican lunch today. Cheryl had a great trip to CA, Mary had a good time in Phoenix last weekend. I didn’t spend a lot of time outside, since the wind is a real pain. Thankfully it isn’t a cold wind and it doesn’t contain sand.

I finally reached a point where I needed to do some research on the Tea Party to see who they are and who they represent. Since this caucus is holding the American government hostage and hurting so many Americans around the country. Here is a great map showing the Caucus members districts. So few with so much perceived power. Scary. This is more of squeaky wheel gets the grease than what the American people want.

Our local homeless shelter is in need of $20K to open, as usual, for the winter on Oct. 15. This is a good worthwhile organization that is in great need of some leadership. Why do they suddenly need $20K as our winter approaches? The local paper says that there are several reasons: discourse within the ranks of management last year that has now been solved, the opening of a women’s shelter last year, a mix up in an agreement with Goodwill for the use of their showering facilities, missing a deadline for a block grant, and unexpected lower funding of grants they have. The city may have the needed emergency funding and I agree that the shelter needs to open on time. However, before the city gives any money, it seems to me that there needs to be a whole lot more oversight of how the funding is used. I knew someone who was working at the shelter during the discourse last year. The people showing up at the shelter are usually very dirty and in need of clean clothes and a shower at the very least before they can even eat in the shelter. Many of the people are in dire need of mental health services before they can get back on their feet. The hearts of the volunteers at the shelter are huge and do everything possible to help people, sometimes from people who don’t want help. To prevent any more needless hypothermia deaths this winter, I think two things need to happen. First, the shelter should have more oversight of their spending and second, the local paper should start a new daily ‘box’ on the front page that shows how many people were at the shelter the night before, how many were turned away due to lack of space or unable to meet the shelter’s basic requirements. Let the people of Flagstaff know that this is a real problem that we have to deal with. Then the citizens will realize how we need to deal with this issue.

Game  Center (answers at the end of post)

Brain Teasers

What is the next letter in this fairy tale sequence? G, D, S, B, H, S, ??

Lifestyle  Substance:     

Found on You Tube with some relevance to today

• Leroy Van Dyke - Walk On By

• Why the F-word Works - Roy Blount, Jr.

• Charlton Heston; From My Cold Dead Hands

• Graham Chapman

• Anne Sexton reading her poem "All My Pretty Ones"

• Janis Joplin - Me & Bobby McGee

Hmmmm…Fearsome Phobias

If you have an irrational fear of... Excrement
You're suffering from... Coprophobia Greek kopros 'dung'

If you have an irrational fear of... Eyes
You're suffering from... Ommatophobia Greek omma 'eye'

Interesting Disney

Harper’s Index    

• Percentage of global GDP, adjusted for purchasing power, produced by developing economies in 1980: 31

• Today: 50

Unusual Fact of the Day

In all of Shakespeare's works, only one word starts with an "X" - Xanthippe, Socrates wife. He uses her name in The Taming of the Shrew.

Joke-of-the-day

A man and a woman are eating in a restaurant. Suddenly, the woman got something stuck in her throat, causing her to choke. The man rushes outside, cuts a limb off a tree and whacks the woman across the back with it, dislodging the object in her throat. The headline in the paper read "Man gives woman the hemlock maneuver"

Rules of Thumb:   

Easy shortcuts to make an ‘educated’ guess

DESIGNING ROCKET FUELS

A rule of thumb is that for every ten-percent increase in efficiency for rocket fuel, the payload of the rocket can double.   

Yeah, It Really Happened

FAIRBANKS, Alaska - Thousands of dinosaur tracks found in a remote area on the Yukon River are "evidence of an extinct ecosystem," University of Alaska researchers say. The tracks were discovered by a team from the university's Museum of the North in Fairbanks after a 500-mile boat trip, the university said last week. Earth Sciences Curator Pat Druckenmiller said the tracks were left by a diverse group of dinosaurs, both carnivores and herbivores. "We found a great diversity of dinosaur types, evidence of an extinct ecosystem we never knew existed," Druckenmiller said. Paul McCarthy of the department of geology and geophysics said he has seen dinosaur footprints elsewhere in Alaska. But those were not as numerous. "We found dinosaur footprints by the scores on literally every outcrop we stopped at," he said. McCarthy said the tracks in the Yukon are probably 25 million to 30 million years older than those in Denali National Park, hundreds of miles to the south. The species that have been identified are also different from earlier finds in Alaska.

Somewhat Useless Information   

• Starting in 1976, the United States Federal Government has shut down on 18 occasions. The first was in 1976 when President Gerald Ford vetoed a funding bill for the United States Department of Labor and the United States Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, leading to a partial government shutdown. The most recent (excluding the last couple days) was in 1995-1996 when Republicans demanded that President Clinton propose a budget with the seven-year timetable using Congressional Budget Office numbers, rather than Clinton's Office of Management and Budget numbers. However, Clinton refused.

• Congress faces a big deadline on raising the debt ceiling on October 17. Without the ability to borrow money, the federal government won't have some of the money it needs to pay the bills it delays during a shutdown. However, if you have a bond or contract with the federal government you will be paid.

Calendar Information        

Happening This Week:

1-7

Universal Children's Week
World Dairy Expo
3-10

No Salt Week
4-7

Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta
National Storytelling Weekend
4-10

World Space Week

Today Is                                                                      

·        Blessing of The Animals Day 

·        Improve Your Office Day

·        Lee's National Denim Day

·        National Diversity Day

·        National Taco Day

·        Ten-Four Day

·        Vodka Day

·        World Animal Day

·        World Smile Day

~~~~

·        Lesotho (Formerly Basutoland): Independence Day (1966 from UK)

·        Sweden: Kanelbullens Dag (Cinnamon Roll Day)

Today’s Events through History  

"Leave It to Beaver," debuts on CBS…1957

New Orleans Tribune, 1st black daily newspaper, forms…1864

Today’s Birthdays                                                           

Leroy Van Dyke, country singer (Walk on By) is 84

Anne Rice, author (Interview with a Vampire) is 72

Roy Blount, Jr., humor writer is 72

Susan Sarandon, [Tomaling], actress (Bull Durham) is 67

Liev Schreiber, actor, producer, director, and screenwriter is 46

Alicia Silverstone, actress (Clueless, Batman Forever) is 37

Remembered for being born today

Richard Cromwell, lord protector of England [1626-1712]

Rutherford Birchard Hayes, 19th US pres [1822-1893]

Sidney Paget, British illustrator (Sherlock Holmes) [1860-1908]

Buster [Joseph F] Keaton, actor (Navigator, Steamboat Bill, Jr) [1895-1966]

Dottie West, country singer [1932-1991]

Jan Murray, comedian (Treasure Hunt, Who Killed Teddy Bear) [1916-2006]

Charlton Heston, Ill, actor (10 Commandments, Ben Hur, NRA) [1923-2008]

Today’s Historical Obits                                                           

Max Weber, Polish/Russ/US cubist painter…1961…@80

John Lowry, NYC builder (Radio City)…1962…@79

Al Smith, American politician…heart attack…1944…@70

Graham Chapman, comedian (Monty Python)…cancer…1989…@48

Anne Sexton, US poet (Pulitzer 1967)…suicide…1974…@45

Janis Joplin, rock singer (Down on Me)…overdose…1970…@27

Secretariat, race horse…1989…@19

Brain Teasers

D. These are the first letters of Disney's seven dwarfs: Grumpy, Dopey, Sneezy, Bashful, Happy, Sleepy, Doc

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  §