1-9-13

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Flagstaff Almanac:

Week: 01 / Day: 009   

Today: L 18°…H 50°… Ave. humidity: 46%

Wind: ave:   10mph; Gusts:  22mph  

Average Low: 16° Record Low:  -9° (1937)

Average High: 43° Record High:  61° (1996)

Quote of the Day

 

Today’s Historical Highlights

1493 - 1st sight of manatees (by Christopher Columbus)

1839 - Daguerreotype photo process announced at French Academy of Science

1847 - 1st SF newspaper published (California Star)

1879 - Cheyenne prisoners led by Dull Knife revolt at Ft Robinson

1903 - Wind Cave National Park, SD established

1908 - Muir Woods National Monument, California established

1956 - Abigail Van Buren's "Dear Abby" column 1st appears in newspapers

1969 - 1st trial flight of Concorde

2001 - Apple announced iTunes at the Macworld Expo in San Francisco

2007 - Apple Inc CEO, Steve Jobs announces the iPhone.

♫  Today’s Birthdays: ♫   

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

 

My Free Rambling Thoughts   

Nice day…beautiful blue sky…not a cloud in site. Nice winter day.

 

Can’t get too upset about the current NJ situation involving the governor. Sure seems to fit the NJ stereotype of years past. Eventually someone will become the fall guy and life will go on for Christie. There will be lots of investigations and finally someone will take the blame for closing the bridge. It will be interesting to see how the NJ people and the people of Fort Lee will vote in November.

 

Fifty years after LBJ declared the war on poverty; it continues to be an issue. Better than it was, but a long way to go. Back then the CEO’s of the US made 25 times their average worker. Today it is 354 times their average worker. Duh….that seems to be a problem that can be solved.

Game  Center (answers at the end of post)

Brain Teasers

The groom said, "Pack your bikini, Darling. I'm taking you to the tallest mountain in the world, and you'll need it for the nearby beaches."
Where was he taking Darling?

Lifestyle  Substance:     

Found on You Tube with some relevance to today

• Wind Cave National Park

• RAWHIDE Theme song

• Joan Baez - We shall overcome

• Bewitched-The Best Of Uncle Arthur

Suggested New State Mottos:

New Jersey: You Want A ##$%##! Motto? I Got Yer ##$%##! Motto Right Here!

Something to Ponder in your free time…

• Why do we say something is out of whack? What is a whack?
• Why do "slow down" and "slow up" mean the same thing?

OK Then…

Harper’s Index 

• Number of book publishers in the United States in 1972: 1,205

• In 1982: 2,001

Unusual Fact of the Day

The metal band that joins the eraser to a pencil is a called a "ferrule." It is also the same name of the metal band at the end of a cane.

Joke-of-the-day

A Spanish teacher was explaining to her class that in Spanish, unlike English, nouns are designated as either masculine or feminine.

"House" for instance, is feminine: "la casa."

"Pencil," however, is masculine: "el lapiz."

A student asked, "What gender is 'computer'?"

Instead of giving the answer, the teacher split the class into two groups, male and female, and asked them to decide for themselves whether "computer" should be a masculine or a feminine noun.

Each group was asked to give four reasons for its recommendation.

The men's group decided that "computer" should definitely be of the feminine gender ("la computadora") because:

1. No one but their creator understands their internal logic.

2. The native language they use to communicate with other computers is incomprehensible to everyone else.

3. Even the smallest mistakes are stored in long term memory for possible later retrieval; and

4. As soon as you make a commitment to one, you find yourself spending half your paycheck on accessories for it.

The women's group, however, concluded that computers should be masculine ("el computador") because:

1. In order to do anything with them, you have to turn them on.

2. They have a lot of data but still can't think for themselves.

3. They are supposed to help you solve problems, but half the time, they ARE the problem; and

4. As soon as you commit to one, you realize that if you had waited a little longer, you could have gotten a better model.

The women won.

Rules of Thumb:   

Easy shortcuts to make an ‘educated’ guess

THE BEST MOMENT TO SWAT A FLY

Wait for the bluebottle/fly to land on a hard surface…wait for it to move its front two legs to its face in a feeding/cleaning action - then swat it. By the time it puts its legs back down to push itself off you've got it.    

Yeah, It Really Happened

HARPENDEN, England - British researchers say they've been able to genetically modify a biofuel crop to produce components of fish oils beneficial for cardiovascular health. The flesh of oily fish such as mackerel and salmon are good sources of omega-3 fatty acids, known to reduce the risk of heart disease, but supplies are limited and unsustainable at current fishing levels, they say. Looking to create an alternative, sustainable source, scientists at Britain's Rothamsted Research took seven genes that algae use to produce these fatty acids and inserted them into the genome of the plant Camelina sativa. The seeds of the modified plant yielded oil that, when purified, contained around 12 per cent of the fatty acid EPA and 14 per cent DHA, the same proportions as in fish oil, they said. The Camelina plant oil could be available commercially within 10 years, they said. "We're never going to replace that 1 million tons a year from the sea, but if we could supply even 10 percent, we would significantly take the pressure off fish stocks," researcher Johnathan Napier told NewScientist.com.  

Somewhat Useless Information   

• In the United States, there is little difference between the terms "college" and "university." However, the term "college" in other countries, such as Canada, refers to a junior college or trade college, where as a "university" is larger, more research focused, and usually contains multiple colleges.

• The term bachelor in "bachelor's degree" most likely is from the Medieval Latin term baccalaureate, which is a play on the Latin words bacca lauri or laurel berries. The word is also a re-Latinization of the French word bachelor, which means a "youthful knight" or a "novice in arms."

Calendar Information        

Happening This Week:

5-11

Home Office Safety and Security Week
National Folic Acid Awareness Week
National Lose Weight/Feel Great Week
7-10

International 3-D Week
8-11

Elvis' Birthday Celebration Week
8-14

Universal Letter Writing Week  

Today Is                                                                      

·        Balloon Ascension Day

·        National Static Electricity Day

^^^^^^

·        Martyrs' Day (Panama)

Today’s Events through History  

1768 - Philip Astley stages the first modern circus in London.

1799 - British Prime Minister introduces income tax for funds for the war against Napoleon.

1880 - 6' (1.8 meters) of snow falls in Seattle in 5 days

1942 - US Joint Chiefs of Staff created

1959 - "Rawhide" with Clint Eastwood premieres on CBS TV

Today’s Birthdays                                                           

Judith Krantz, NYC, author (Scruples, Princess Daisy, Dazzle) is 86

Bart Starr, NFL quarterback/coach (Green Bay) is 80

Joan Baez, Staten Island, folk singer/human rights advocate is 73

Kate Middleton, Duchess of Cambridge and wife of Prince William is 32

Remembered for being born today

1728 - Thomas Warton, poet laureate of England (Pleasures of Melancholy)

1859 - Carrie Chapman Catt, founder (League of Women Voters)

1913 - Richard Nixon,  37th President (R) of the United States  

1914 - Gypsy Rose Lee, [Rose Hovick], burlesque actress (Gypsy)

1915 - Fernando Lamas, Buenos Aires Argentina, actor ("You look marvelous")

1925 - Lee Van Cleef, actor (For a Few Dollars More, Escape from NY)

1935 - Bob Denver, actor (Gilligan's Island)

Today’s Historical Obits                                                           

Caroline Herschel, "1st lady of astronomy" in 1843 @97

James M. Buchanan, American economist and noble laureate in 2013 @93

Paul Lynde, actor (Bye Bye Birdie, Bewitched) of heart attack in 1982 @55

Brain Teasers

He was taking Darling to Mauna Kea in Hawaii. Mauna Kea (or "White Mountain") has the remnants of glacial terrane from the last global ice age on its summit, and snow in the winter. From base to summit, at over nine kilometers, the volcano Mauna Kea is the world's tallest mountain. Most of Mauna Kea happens to be below water, and its summit is only a couple of hours from a beach. Mt. Everest is the highest but not the tallest because it stands on the high Tibetan plateau, and also there are no ocean beaches near by the mountain.

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  §