4-21-14


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Flagstaff Almanac: Day:  111 / Week: 17 

Today: L 39°H 63° Ave. humidity: 63%

     Wind: ave:   0mph; Gusts:  3mph  

     Average Low: 30° Record Low:  12° (1972)

    Average High: 60° Record High:  78° (1989)

           

Quote of the Day

It is horrifying that we have to fight our own government to save the environment.

Ansel Adams

Today’s Historical Highlights

 753 BC - Romulus and Remus found Rome (traditional date).

1509 - Henry VIII becomes King of England

1806: The Department of War establishes Superintendent of Indian Trade. 

1857 - Alexander Douglas patents the bustle

1862 - Congress establishes US Mint in Denver, Co

1869: Donehogawa (Ely Samuel Parker) is appointed as the first Indian to be Commissioner of Indian Affairs. 

1878 - First Lady Lucy Hayes begins egg rolling contest on White House lawn

1918 - Baron Manfred von Richthofen, "The Red Baron", is shot down and killed

1960 - Brasilia becomes capital of Brazil

1966 - Emperor Haile Selassie (Ethiopia) visits Kingston Jamaica

   Today’s Birthdays:   

How many can you identify? Answers in Today’s Birthdays below
My Free Rambling Thoughts   

A rather overcast day again, but still not any moisture. The paper listed all the subdivisions of Flagstaff proper and their fire danger as of today. My area was listed as HIGH.  I guess that is better than EXTREME but still frightening. There are at least 50 very tall pine trees in our complex and a fire would be devastating. At least we don’t have really hot temps to add to our problems.

I had a nice conversation with my brother. He and Laura are headed to Russia next month on a business trip to Moscow and St. Petersburg…cool. Later in the summer they are headed to Sicily for a ‘real vacation’, as their many trips to Mexico are ‘work’ at the hacienda. They are also having their tiny dog fixed so he can spend some time at day care in NYC. Turns out the doggie day care places only accept dogs that have been fixed.

Just watched the most recent VICE, a news show about troubled areas throughout the world. Israel was one of the stories. Certainly I knew that the Jewish groups in the US were pushing for Israel, both financially and politically. Little did I know that the most money and most political support for Israel is coming from the Evangelical Christians, especially in the Bible Belt of our country. Evangelical churches are sending millions of dollars to the Israeli groups who want the Arabs out of all of Israel, the West Bank, and the Gaza Strip. That group is fighting the Obama Administration in finding a two state solution. These Evangelicals believe that the Rapture will begin in Israel and that the time of the Rapture is upon us. In their minds the Muslim prophet came centuries after the Christian prophet and it only makes sense that the Muslim prophet is wrong. They believe that a United Israel, without any Muslims or Palestinians will be the next sign of the second coming. Anyone who wants a Palestinian state is then an anti-Christ. And yet we keep believing that there is a separation of church and state in our country.

Game  Center (answers at the end of post)

Brain Teasers
The phrase "From the heart" has been known to bring thoughts of love and passion to many. However, if you rearrange the 12 letters, you can come up with two 6 letter words that are opposite of each other, but also bring about thoughts of love and passion to many. What are those two words?

Lifestyle  Substance:     
Found on You Tube with some relevance to today




OK Then…

People who think they know everything are a great annoyance to those of us who do. Isaac Asimov

Harper’s Index 

Amount two Somali women raised for the terrorist organization Al Shabab by going door-to-door in Minnesota: $15,000

Number of AK 47’s that amount will buy on the Mogadishu black market: 12

Unusual Fact of the Day

A person of average size and weight burns about 60 to 70 calories each hour just by sitting and watching television.          

Joke-of-the-day

A man was just waking up from anesthesia after surgery, and his wife was sitting by his side. His eyes fluttered open and he said, “You are beautiful.” Then he fell asleep again. His wife had never heard him say that, so she stayed by his side. A few minutes later, his eyes fluttered open and he said, “You are cute!” The wife was disappointed because instead of “beautiful,” it was now “cute.” She said, “What happened to ‘beautiful’?”

Her husband replied, “The drugs are wearing off!”

Rules of Thumb:   

NO MINOR ACCIDENTS

 There is no such thing as a minor accident on a motorcycle.

Yeah, It Really Happened

LONDON (UPI) - A High Court judge in England told an "insensitive" father that he must stop emailing his children in all capital letters because it looks like he is yelling at them. The Israeli father is in a custody dispute involving his 13-year-old son and 9-year-old daughter. During the dispute, the children have been moving back and forth between England and Israel. The judge ordered that the father's old style of emails, which were "equivalent to him shouting," needed to be improved upon with the help of a family assistance officer. "He needs help to make his messages appropriate and child friendly," the judge said. "There's nothing worse than an email suggestive that the sender is shouting at you." Due to the communications problems, the relationship between the children and their father will be restored "at a distance." The parents of the children also need to work on their communications skills. "It is all about respect and a willingness to start again in the process of trying to interact as parents in a way which will enhance rather than harm their children," the judge said. "I wish them every success in that endeavor."

Somewhat Useless Information   

“Mythicism” is not a religion. It has to do with the idea that many gods, goddesses and other heroes and legendary figures were not “real people” but are in fact mythological characters.

According to D.M. Murdoch, the word “Mythicism” is used these days particularly to define scholars, researchers and others who investigate whether or not the New Testament character of Jesus Christ was a real, historical person or a myth along the lines of the gods, godmen and heroes of other cultures, such as Hercules, Mithra or Horus.

Did you know that there is a resort in Finland, where you can sleep and see the Northern Lights from the ceiling? The Igloo Village of Hotel Kakslauttanen in Finland is consisted of  20 thermal glass igloos that allow visitors to enjoy  views of the Aurora Borealis from the warmth and comfort of their own hut. Work is an undoubtedly important part of our lives and even if we sometimes link it to routine, we could not enjoy our lives without working at all (at least some of us!).

Here are five top quotes about work:
“Television is not real life. In real life people actually have to leave the coffee shop and go to jobs.” Bill Gates

“Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life.” Confucius

“By working faithfully eight hours a day you may eventually get to be boss and work twelve hours a day.” Robert Frost

“The only place success comes before work is in the dictionary.” Vince Lombardi

“Work is the curse of the drinking classes.” Oscar Wilde

Nuclear thermal rocket engines by NERVA (Nuclear Engine for Rocket Vehicle Application) were considered to be exceptionally reliable and safe for space exploration back to 60s and 70s.

However, although the latest NERVA engine NRX/XE was tested to be appropriate for a Mars mission in 1972 and was deemed ready for integration into a spacecraft, the mission was cancelled.

The program met or exceeded the expectations for a Mars mission and it is unknown why it was cancelled by the Nixon Administration.

Calendar Information        
Today Is 
Kindergarten Day

National High Five Day

National Teach Children to Save Day

San Jacinto Day (Tx-1836-independence from Mexico)
   
Today’s Events through History  

1789 - John Adams sworn in as 1st US VP (9 days before Washington)

1980 - 84th Boston Marathon won by Bill Rodgers of Mass in 2:12:11

1986 - Geraldo Rivera opens Al Capone's vault on TV & finds nothing

Today’s Birthdays                                                           

Elizabeth Alexandra Mary Windsor, Elizabeth II, Queen, is 88

Iggy Pop, [James Osterberg], rocker (Zombie Birdhouse) is 67

Tony Danza, Brooklyn, (Taxi, Who's the Boss) is 63

Tia Jackson, WNBA forward (Phoenix Mercury) is 42

Tony Romo, NFL quarterback is 34


Remembered for being born today

1864-1920 - Max Weber, German sociologist/economist/historian

1905-1996 - Edmund G "Pat" Brown, (Gov-D-California)

1915-2001 - Anthony Quinn, Mexico, actor, (Zorba, Lawrence of Arabia)

Today’s Historical Obits                                                           

Charles 'Buddy' Rogers, actor and musician, 1999, @90 

Gummo [Milton] Marx, US comic (Marx Brothers), 1977, @83

Jimmy "The Greek" Snyder, oddsmaker/sportscaster, heart attack, 1996, @76

Mark Twain [Samuel Clemens], author (Huckleberry Finn), heart attack, 1910, @74

Nina Simone, singer and pianist, cancer, 2003, @70

Francois "Doc" Duvalier, dictator of Haiti, 1971, @64

"Red Baron", [Manfred von Richtofen], shot down, 1918, @25

Brain Teasers        

FATHER & MOTHER

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  §

 

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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.