5-19-14


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Flagstaff Almanac: Day: 139 / Week: 21 
May Averages: 68° \ 34°
Today: Average Sky Cover: 70%
    H 72° L 45° Ave. humidity: 27%
    Wind: ave:   13mph; Gusts:  31mph  
    Average High: 68° Record High:  81° (1920)
    Average Low: 35° Record Low:  20° (1971)
       
Quote of the Day
Today’s Historical Highlights

1568 - English queen Elizabeth I arrests Scottish queen Mary
1780 - About midday, near-total darkness descends on much of New England, only now known to be caused by forest fires in Canada
1796 - Game protection law restricts encroachment on Indian hunting grounds
1848 - 1st department store opens
1848 - Mexico gives Texas to US, ending the war
1856 - Sen Charles Sumner, Mass, spoke out against slavery
1884 - Ringling Brothers circus premieres
1906 - Federated Boys' Club (Boys' Club of America) organizes
1913 - Webb Alien Land-Holding Bill passes, forbidding Japanese from owning land
1921 - Congress sharply curbs immigration, setting a national quota system
1928 - 51 frogs enter 1st annual "Frog Jumping Jubilee" (Angel's Camp, Cal)
1951 - UN begins counter offensive in Korea
1967 - US bombs Hanoi
1991 - Willy T Ribbs becomes 1st black driver to make Indianapolis 500

  Today’s Birthdays:   

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

Lazy, windy Sunday. Did a little light cleaning, read the Sunday paper and got in all my Sunday news shows, a good day.

I get a few emails every so often asking me If I remember…with a bunch of pictures from the 50’s and 60’s. I usually remember most or all of them, smile, and move on. Today I was watching a story on political campaigns. It reminded me how much this country has really changed. Today, with all the partisan politics that is going on, more and more wealthy political people and PACS and SuperPACs are donating money to specific campaigns in various states. Many times the only interest they have in the campaign is to get someone who thinks like them into office. The people that are represented by that Representative or Senator have very little voice in who gets voted in. The donators put millions into ad campaigns that tear down the opponent, mostly with questionable ‘facts’. Neither party is exempt from this horrific practice. This is not the democracy I grew up in. Every campaign has always had some dirty politics, some mudslinging, and some outright lies about candidates. I just don’t like the idea of someone from afar with no interest in my state and its needs paying for ads for our national offices. The worst part of this political shenanigans is that once one candidate does it, the others have little choice but to join in. Local and state elections (even for US Rep and US Senator) should be run with local and state donations only.

Phoenix metro area is having a big problem…wrong way freeway drivers. Some lasting over 30 miles, all killing innocent people simply driving the right way on the freeways. There have been 3 such crashes in as many days. The first killed a police officer driving home after his shift. The news says there were lots of 911 calls for each incident, but the police couldn’t get there fast enough. This is sure a bad mark on all the metro police in the Phoenix area.

Game  Center (answers at the end of post)

Brain Teasers

Five words that contain WL as a letter pair have had all of their other letters removed and placed into a pool. Put those letters back in their proper places. What are the words? Five words that contain WL as a letter pair have had all of their other letters removed and placed into a pool. Put those letters back in their proper places. What are the words?

**WL, **WL**, ****WL, **WL***, ***WL****WL, **WL**, ****WL, **WL***, ***WL****WL, **WL**, ****WL, **WL***, ***WL**

Pool: A, A, B, C, C, E, E, G, H, I, K, O, O, O, P, R, R, R, S, T
                                                      
Lifestyle  Substance:     

Found on You Tube with some relevance to today





OK Then…
Harper’s Index   

Portion of white US students taking AP math exams last year who received passiong scores: 2/3

Of black US students: 1/3

Unusual Fact of the Day

Chinese Checkers is not Chinese. It was created in America to circumvent the patent for a popular boardgame called Halma, invented by a Boston surgeon named George Howard Monks.

Top Reasons Poverty is on the Rise…

Economic Inequity
The uneven division of wealth in America supports ongoing poverty. Half the population of the United States resides near the poverty level, with the richest 1% holding a disproportionate share of the country’s wealth. The gap between the richest members of society and its poorest citizens widens annually, in a self-perpetuating cycle that mires poor people in a constant struggle to get ahead. Stagnant wages and underemployment complicate the equation for those without sufficient capital to grow wealth and increase their economic mobility

Oldest Trees in the World…

Chestnut Tree of One Hundred Horses
This tree, located on Mount Etna in Sicily, is the largest and oldest known chestnut tree in the world. Believed to be between 2,000 and 4,000 years old, this tree's age is particularly impressive because Mount Etna is one of the most active volcanoes in the world. The tree sits only 5 miles from Etna's crater. The tree's name originated from a legend in which a company of 100 knights were caught in a severe thunderstorm. According to the legend, all of them were able to take shelter under the massive tree. It is listed by Guinness World Records as having the "greatest tree girth ever," at 190 feet in circumference

Travel Destination Info… 

Italy - $40.2 billion
With $40.2 billion in international tourist receipts Italy ranks 4th on the list. Visitors go to Italy for its great art, culture, cuisine, beautiful coastlines and mountains but especially to see the ancient monuments from the great Roman Empire like the Coliseum. Led by Rome and Vatican City Italy is full of great cities to visit.

Top Countries to get Dual Citizenship

Dominica
Not to be confused with the Dominican Republic, the Commonwealth of Dominica in the Caribbean offers an Economic Citizenship program to “investors.” To become a citizen, you simply have to pay the government a $100,000 investment. The government also offers package deals, just like the burger joint in town. Citizenship for you and your spouse is $175,000, but if you’re married and have two minor children, you only have to pay $200,000.

Joke-of-the-day

At a divorce court a family of bears is waiting for the judge to grant custody of little bear.
The judge asks the baby bear; “do you want to live with papa bear?”
The baby bear replied; "No he beats me."
The judge asked, so do you want to live with mommy bear!
The baby bear said, "No she beats me too."
The judge asked, "Then whom do you want to live with?"
The baby bear says, "The Chicago bears, they don't beat anyone!"

Rules of Thumb:   

RAISING MONEY 
University fund raisers plan on getting one-third of their money from 10 big contributors, one-third from 100 medium contributors and one-third from everyone else. 

Yeah, It Really Happened

PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. (UPI) - Florida police officers who were attempting to catch a suspected car thief got a little help when an alligator decided to cross the road. Port St. Lucie police were on the lookout for a man they suspected had taken at least five cars from parking lots at Walmart, Sam's Club and Publix. Officers eventually spotted Calvin Rodriguez in a Honda Civic and tried to stop him. Unfortunately, the car "began driving at a high rate of speed and was lost sight of." That's when the alligator stepped in. Police were able to catch up with Rodriguez when he hit the alligator and was stopped. "The Honda was later discovered to have crashed into an alligator, causing it to crash into a median," according to a police report. "This shows that Calvin was in control of the Honda that struck the alligator and the median." Rodriguez is charged with five counts of grand theft auto but is not facing animal cruelty charges for hitting the alligator. "It's pretty unimaginable that police officers would be at that point in time looking for these suspects and that an alligator unfortunately just happens to cross the road and assist us in catching these criminals," Det. Keith Boham told WPTV.

Somewhat Useless Information   

Star Wars' original title was "Adventures of Luke Starkiller as taken from the Journal of the Whills, Saga I: The Star Wars" It was eventually shortened and Luke's name was changed to Luke Skywalker.

Frank Oz, the actor who voiced Yoda, also voiced Miss Piggy on the Muppets.

The sound of Darth Vader's strenuous breathing was reportedly created using a scuba regulator.

Chewbacca, the gentle, hairy, non-English-speaking co-pilot, was inspired by George Lucas seeing his own dog sitting up on the passenger seat of his car. The dog, named Indiana, also inspired the name of the lead character in Lucas' another film franchises - Indiana Jones. (Chewbacca is derived from 'Sobaka', the Russian Word for dog.)

It took three actors to portray Darth Vader. James Earl Jones did the voice, Sebastian Shaw was his face, and David Prowse was his body.

The Millennium Falcon, the fictional spacecraft used in the Star Wars, is said to be inspired by the shape of a hamburger with an olive in its side.

Calendar Information        

This Week’s Observances:

13-19
Salvation Army Week 
Neuropathy Awareness Week

National Stuttering Awareness Week


18-24
National Safe Boating Week
EMS (Emergency Medical Services) Week
National New Friends, Old Friends Week

World Trade Week 

19-26
National Backyard Games Week
National Educational Bosses' Week 
National Medical Transcription Week  
International Coaching Week
Recreational Water Illness and Injury Prevention Week


Today Is  

Accountant's Day or Accounting Day
Boys Club Day
Frog Jumping Jubilee Day
May Ray Day—to enjoy the sun’s rays
National Asian & Pacific Islander HIV/AIDS Awareness Day
][
Youth and Sports Day (Turkey)
                                                      
Today’s Events through History  

1571 - Miguel Lopez de Lagazpi founded Manilla in the Phillipines
1898 - Post Office authorizes use of postcards
1992 - US VP Dan Quayle attacks Murphy Brown for being a single mother and as a poor example of family values
                      
Today’s Birthdays                                                           

James Charles Lehrer, news anchor (McNeil-Lehrer Report) is 80
David Hartman, TV personality (Good Morning America) is 79
Nancy Kwan, Hong Kong, actress (Flower Drum Song) is 75
Peter Townshend, rock guitarist/vocalist/composer (The Who) is 69

Remembered for being born today

1795-1873 - Johns Hopkins, philanthropist, founded Johns Hopkins University
1861-1931 - Dame Nellie Melba. Australian opera singer  
1890-1969 - Ho Chi Minh [Nguyễn Sinh Cung], President of North Vietnam  
1919-2009 - Betty Jameson, LPGA golfer (1947 US Women's Open)
1925-1965 - Malcolm X, [Little], human rights activist; founder: Black Muslims
1928-1998 - Pol Pot, Cambodian dictator  

Today’s Historical Obits                                                           

Ogden Nash, poet, Crohn's disease, 1971, @68
Nathaniel Hawthorne, writer (Scarlet Letter), stomach pain, 1864, @58
Anne Boleyn, Queen of England/wife of Henry VIII, beheaded, 1536, @32ish

Brain Teasers                                         

HOWL, BOWLEG, SPRAWL, COWLICK, TRAWLERHOWL, BOWLEG, SPRAWL, COWLICK, TRAWLER

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.