12/5/13


FYI: Any blue text is a link. Click to check it out!
Flagstaff Almanac:
Week: 49 / Day: 339   
Today: L 27°H 38° Ave. humidity: 62%
Wind: ave:   17mph; Gusts:  48mph  
Average Low: 18° Record Low:  -1° (1953)
Average High: 45° Record High:  67° (1989)

Quote of the Day

Today’s Historical Highlights
French Franc is created…1360
1st US fraternity, Phi Beta Kappa (William & Mary College), forms…1776
George Washington re-elected as US president…1792
Thomas Jefferson re-elected US pres/George Clinton vice-pres…1804
Former US President John Q Adams takes his seat as a member of House of Representatives…1831
Andrew Jackson re-elected President of US…1832
Jefferson Davis is elected to the US senate, his first political post…1847
1st electric car (built in Toronto) could go 15 miles between charges…1893
1st US football uniform numerals used (University of Pittsburgh)…1908
Historic bus boycott begins in Montgomery Alabama by Rosa Parks…1955
Herschel Walker of Georgia wins Heisman Trophy…1982
Astronauts begin repair of Hubble telescope in space…1993

  Today’s Birthdays:   
How many can you identify? Answers in Today’s Birthdays

My Free Rambling Thoughts   
Thankfully, I guess, the 6” of snow didn’t arrive here…looks like the really cold temps and the huge amount of snow is North and East of us. I have to say that a few years ago we had a series of storms that dropped about 3 feet of snow and kept us all homebound for a couple of days. The a crew came in to clear our roofs. That was actually worse, as an avalanche came off the roof putting about 4’ of block ice/snow right at my front door. It took them about 2 hours and a chainsaw to get my neighbor and I dug out. Now every time there is a lot of snow coming down, I revert to that horrible storm. It’s crazy, but I can’t help remembering.

As I was sitting at home watching our snow…all two inches of it…fall from the sky I was listening to NPR. That too was scary. Diane was interviewing a guy who just wrote a book about congress today. First a poll of representatives says that they spend 70% of their time on fundraising for the next election. Second, the committees are actually ranked in the House by how much fundraising benefit the committee has. Sadly, the Veteran’s Committee is low on that list; therefore no one wants to be on it…even though they have to approve funding for all our continuous military action…because that committee is not seen as a committee that will help with fundraising. Most of the co-sponsored bills are based on how much money can be raised by supporting a bill. Finally, many bills that lead to good fundraising through support or nonsupport are usually time limited to a couple of years, so that when it is time to renew the bill, more fundraising can take place. It is certainly a time for a change in DC, and sadly, the media is not even talking about votes are being ‘bought’ or ‘swayed’ by the votes fundraising capacity instead of what is good for the county. Scary

Game  Center (answers at the end of post)
Brain Teasers
Solve the 10 clues. Take each initial letter, to form a new 10 letter word.
1. Polite greeting 2. Opposite of begin 3. It comes from a bulb 4. Eskimo's home 5. Another name for an axe (or ax) 6. Black Sabbath front man 7. Where a child may play 8. Large vessel for liquids 9. To change something 10. Neither left, nor wrong
Lifestyle  Substance:     
Found on You Tube with some relevance to today

Very Strange Laws…Washington
  • The harassing of Bigfoot, Sasquatch or other undiscovered subspecies is a felony punishable by a fine and/or imprisonment.
  • It is illegal to attach a vending machine to a utility pole without prior consent from the utility company.
  • No person may walk about in public if he or she has the common cold.
  • Destroying a beer cask or bottle of another is illegal.
  • It is illegal to entice girls away from the Maple LaneSchool for girls.
  • X-rays may not be used to fit shoes.
  • You cannot buy meat of any kind on Sunday.
  • All lollipops are banned.
  • A law to reduce crime states: “It is mandatory for a motorist with criminal intentions to stop at the citylimits and telephone the chief of police as he is entering the town.
  • It is illegal to paint polka dots on the American flag.
  • People may not buy a mattress on Sunday.
  • All motor vehicles must be preceded by a man carrying a red flag (daytime) or a red lantern (nighttime) fifty feet in front of said vehicle.
  • It is illegal to pretend that one’s parents are rich.
  • You are not allowed to breastfeed in public. (Repealed, 2001)
  • One may not spit on a bus.
  • When two trains come to a crossing, neither shall go until the other has passed.
  • Bellingham--Single-use plastic carry out bags are prohibited
  • Bremerton--You may not shuck peanuts on the street
  • Everett--It is illegal to display a hypnotized or allegedly hypnotized person in a store window.
  • Lynden--Dancing and drinking may not occur at the same establishment.

OK Then…


Harper’s Index 
  • Percentage of the current unemployment rate attributable to uncertainty about federal economic policy: 17

Unusual Fact of the Day
In car design circles, a hood ornament is properly called a "mascot." The first American automobile to sport a mascot was the 1912 Cadillac.


Joke-of-the-day
A guy is reading his paper when his wife walks up behind him and smacks him on the back of the head with a frying pan.
He asks, "What was that for?"
She says, "I found a piece of paper in your pocket with 'Betty Sue' written on it."
He says, "Jeez, honey, remember last week when I went to the track? 'Betty Sue' was the name of the horse I went there to bet on." She shrugs and walks away. Three days later he's reading his paper when she walks up behind him and smacks him on the back of the head again with the frying pan.
He asks, "What was that for?"
She answers, "Your horse called." 

Rules of Thumb:   
Easy shortcuts to make an ‘educated’ guess
IN RANGE [military term]
If the enemy is in range, so are you.   
Yeah, It Really Happened
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. - U.S. researchers say a new computer model can explain why Jupiter's Great Red Spot, which should have quickly dissipated, has lasted hundreds of years. One of the solar system's most mysterious landmarks, the giant storm on the surface of the gas planet should have disappeared centuries ago -- at least given what scientists understand about fluid dynamics. "Based on current theories, the Great Red Spot should have disappeared after several decades," Pedram Hassanzadeh, a postdoctoral fellow at Harvard University, said. "Instead, it has been there for hundreds of years." Many processes normally combine to dissipate vortices like the Red Spot, he explained; the turbulence and waves in and around the Red Spot sap the energy of its winds, it loses energy by radiating heat, and it sits between two strong jet streams that flow in opposite directions and should slow down its spinning. Hassanzadeh and Philip Marcus, a professor of fluid dynamics at the University of California, have built a new computer model that takes into account forces they say most previous models didn't take into account -- vertical flows within the vortices. "In the past, researchers either ignored the vertical flow because they thought it was not important, or they used simpler equations because it was so difficult to model," Hassanzadeh said. However, the two researchers said, the vertical motion turns out to hold the key to the Red Spot's persistence. As the vortex loses energy, they said, the vertical flow transports hot gases from above and cold gases from below the vortex toward its center, restoring part of its lost energy. The same vertical flow phenomenon could explain why oceanic vortices on Earth, such as those formed near the Straits of Gibraltar, can last for years in the Atlantic Ocean, Hassanzadeh said. Hassanzadeh will present the research at the annual meeting of the American Physical Society's Division of Fluid Dynamics in Pittsburgh Nov. 25. 
Somewhat Useless Information   
The word "energy" comes from the Greek energeia, meaning operation, activity. It is an important word and an important concept to all of us. Researchers note that energy is the key to the advancement of civilization and that energy is the catalyst that allows human societies to evolve. According to the World Fact Book 2008, the world's oil reserves will last until 2052 and gas reserves will last until 2065. Meanwhile, the top seven oil consumers combined use more than half of the world's total. The United States alone uses more than a quarter.

Calendar Information        
Happening This Week:
1-7: Clerc-Gallaudet Week~~Cookie Cutter Week~~International Coelenterate Biology Week~~National Handwashing Awareness Week~~Recipe Greetings For The Holidays Week~~Tolerance Week

Today Is                                                                      
·        AFL-CIO Day
·        Bathtub Party Day
·        Columbian International Day of The Reef
·        International Ninja Day
·        International Volunteer Day for Economic & Social Development
·        Repeal Day - The 21st Amendment ends Prohibition 1933
~~~~~~
·        Austria: Krampuslauf (Santa’s dark side, scaring children by drunken revelers)
·        Haiti: Discovery Day (1492 by Chris)
·        Thailand: King's Birthday [1927] and National Day ()

Today’s Events through History               
Earthquake strikes Naples; about 35,000 die…1456
Pres Polk triggers Gold Rush of 1849, confirms California gold discovery…1848
1st American bicycle college opens (NY)…1868
AFL & CIO merge, with George Meany as president…1955
47th Heisman Trophy Award: Marcus Allen, Southern Cal (RB)…1981
Salman Rushdie, author, ordered to death by Iran for blasphemy, appears in public for 1st time in 2 years…1990
Charles Keating Jr (Lincoln Savings & Loan fraud), found guilty…1991
Human remains previously found in 1991 are finally identified by Russian and American scientists as those of Tsar Nicholas II…2008
Georgia Guard will arrest CHEROKEE Principal Chief John Ross at his home andhistorian John Howard Payne. Payne, the author of the song "Home, Sweet Home", was writing a history of the CHEROKEE people. They are be arrested so they will not be able to attend the "New Echota Treaty" conference…1835

Today’s Birthdays                                                           
Jim Messina, rocker (Loggins & Messina-Your Mamma Don't Dance) is 66
Jim Plunkett, NFL quarterback (New England, Oakland) is 66
Margaret Cho, actress/comedienne (Face/Off) is 45
Nick Stahl, actor is 33
Frankie Muniz, actor (Malcolm in the Middle) is 28

Remembered for being born today
Martin Van Buren, 8th pres [1782-1862]
George Armstrong Custer, Mjr General (Union volunteers) [1839-1876]
Walter Elias Disney, animator (Mickey Mouse) [1901-1966]
Otto Preminger, Austria, director/producer (Laura, Exodus) [1905-1986]
Abraham L Polonsky, US writer/director (Tell them Willie Boy is Here) [1910-1999]
[Steve James] Strom Thurmond, (Sen-D/R-SC) [1902-2003]

Today’s Historical Obits                                                            
Dave Brubeck, American jazz pianist…2012…@91
Claude Monet, French impressionist…1926...@86
Gerardus Mercator, Flemish philosopher/cartographer…1594…@82
Don Meredith, football player and broadcaster…stroke…2010…@72
Roone Arledge, American sports broadcasting pioneer…cancer…2002…@71
Alexandre Dumas, French writer…1870…@68
Richard Speck, mass murderer…heart attack in prison…1991…@49
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, composer…bedridden…1791…@35

Brain Teasers
HELICOPTER
1. Hello
2. End 3. Light 4. Igloo 5. Chopper 6. Ozzy (Osborne) 7. Park 8. Tank 9. Edit 10. Right

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  §

Followers

Total Pageviews

Blog Archive

About Me

My photo
Flagstaff, Arizona, United States
I retired in '06--at the ripe old age of 57. I enjoy blogging, photography, traveling, and living life to it's fullest.