5-9-14

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Flagstaff Almanac: Day: 129  / Week: 19 

Today: L 36°…H 57°… Ave. humidity: 63%
    Wind: ave:   6mph; Gusts:  25mph  
    Average High: 65° Record High:  81° (1934)
    Average Low: 32° Record Low:  14° (1930)
       
Quote of the Day

Today’s Historical Highlights

1386 - Treaty of Windsor between Portugal and England (the oldest diplomatic alliance in the world which is still in force)

1735: The first debate on "The Walking Purchase" takes place
1754 - 1st newspaper cartoon in America-divided snake "Join or Die"
1887 - Buffalo Bill Cody's Wild West Show opens in London.
1899 - Lawn mower patented
1936 - Italy takes Addis Abba, annexing Absynnia (Ethiopia)
1944 - 1st eye bank opens in New York
1960 - Nigeria becomes a member of British Commonwealth
1960 - US 1st country to use the birth control pill legally
1977 - Patty Hearst let out of jail
1991 - Michael Landon appears on Tonight Show to talk about his cancer
1997 - 1st US ambassador since Saigon fell arrives in Vietnam
2005 - Liberal commentary website The Huffington Post is launched

♫  Today’s Birthdays: ♫  

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

My Free Rambling Thoughts   

Mary and I headed over to Williams for Cheryl’s birthday. She was happy with my candle and tea and happy with Mary’s two yard ornaments. We had a great homestyle lunch with great pie for dessert. Then it was off to Bearizona, the local animal attraction. We’ve been going there twice a year since it opened about 3 years ago. Each visit is always better than the last. There are constantly building and making it a real tourist destination of Northern AZ. They only have only 1 cub this year, as they lost one to an infection. So they brought in four new cubs that will be available for all to see next week. The bobcat had a cub last night, but it too was isolated from the main area. The teenage bears are lots of fun to watch. The otter was having a great time in its river. They now have 5 white buffalo and 4 bison, all of whom were tired and relaxing beside the road. A great afternoon in Williams.

Woke up this morning with a dusting of snow on the ground, but it was gone by 7a. Not the warmest day, but not bad as there was very little wind.

A friend and former colleague from Tonalea is also a friend on FB. Last week a couple of posts from her friends wished her Get Well wishes.  Then yesterday her friend’s posts sounded much more ominous…like ‘Prayers to you’, ‘you will recover in time’. Since I didn’t know what was going on, I IM-ed her on FB. She called me about 8pm last night. Turns out she has been in the hospital for about 3 weeks after suffering a debilitating stroke. She has lost control of her left side but has only a small speech problem and no mental loss. She does have a long road ahead, but is one of the most positive people I have ever known and she is still remaining very positive. She had just retired last spring after a long career in BIA and DOD.  

Game  Center (answers at the end of post)

Brain Teasers

What does this message say? (Hint: this is a Caesar’s box)

G T Y O R J O T E O U I A B G T

Lifestyle  Substance:     

Found on You Tube with some relevance to today

Returns tomorrow!

OK Then…

Harper’s Index 

Number of US states that make undisclosed exposure to HIV a criminal offense even in cases where a condom is used: 36

Number of states in which it is a felony for HIV positive person to spit on a police officer: 5

Unusual Fact of the Day

Hawaii is the only U.S. state that grows coffee commercially.

Largest Animals in the world…

The Largest Reptile in the World: The Saltwater Crocodile

The saltwater crocodile (Crocodylus porosus), is the largest of all living reptiles. It is found in suitable habitats from Northern Australia through Southeast Asia to the eastern coast of India. An adult male saltwater crocodile’s weight is 409 to 1,000 kilograms (900–2,200 lb) and length is normally 4.1 to 5.5 metres (13–18 ft). However, mature males can exceed 6 metres (20 ft) and weigh more than 1,000 kilograms (2,200 lb) and this species is the only extant crocodilian to regularly reach or exceed 4.8 metres (16 ft). The saltwater crocodile is an opportunistic apex predator capable of taking nearly any animal that enters its territory, either in the water or on dry land.    

Joke-of-the-day

A fifth grader class was on an educational trip. As they rode along in the school bus, the teacher noticed that one boy was lying face down in the aisle of the bus with his hands over his eyes. “Why are you lying in the aisle like that.”

“Well,” said the boy, “if you don’t see anything, you don’t have to write anything.”

Rules of Thumb:   

FORECASTING THE WEATHER

When ants travel in a straight line, expect rain. When they scatter, expect fair weather.

Yeah, It Really Happened

The Canadian Radio-television & Telecommunications Commission in March reprimanded three pornography broadcast stations -- not for excessively erotic fare, but for violating Canada's protectionist, patriotic rules requiring that at least 35 percent of all content be of Canadian origin. According to its notice, the 24-hour AOV Adult Movie Channel, XXX Action Clips and Maleflixxx were falling short of the 8 1/2 hours a day of north-of-the-border sex action (and, in an additional charge, were failing to provide enough closed captioning to accompany the "Yeah's" and "Oh, baby's"). [National Post, 3-5-2014]

Somewhat Useless Information   

Contrary to popular belief, Einstein never failed math in school. In fact, by fifteen he had already mastered differential and integral calculus.

Scots didn’t wear kilts until three centuries after the period depicted by the film “Braveheart.”

There is no evidence that Jesus was born on December 25. The Bible never claims a date of December 25, but may imply a date closer to September. The date may have initially been chosen to correspond with either the day exactly nine months after Christians believe Jesus to have been conceived, the date of the Roman winter solstice, or one of various ancient winter festivals.

Calendar Information        

This Week’s Observances:

3-11

Dystonia Awareness Week
National Tourism Week

4-10
Be Kind To Animals Week
Children's Mental Health Week
Dating and Life Coach Recognition Week
Drinking Water Week 
Flexible Work Arrangement Week 
Goodwill Industries Week 
Kids Win Week
NAOSH Week 
National Alcohol & Drug Related Birth Defects Awareness Week
National Anxiety & Depression Awareness Week
National Correctional Officer's Week
National Family Week 
National Hug Holiday Week 
National Occupational Safety & Health Day  
National Pet Week
National Post Card Week
National Raisin Week 
North American Occupational Safety & Health Week  
PTA Teacher Appreciation Week 
Public Service Recognition Week  

5-11
Screen-Free Week
Spring Astronomy Week
Teacher Appreciation Week
Update Your References Week
National Wildflower Week
Spring Astronomy Week

6-12
National Nurses Day and Week      

Today Is   

Child Care Provider Day

Fintastic Friday: Giving Sharks A Voice
Lost Sock Memorial Day
Military Spouse Appreciation Day
National Moscato Day (encourages people to toast the refreshing, fruitful wine by engaging in a fun and educational conversation)
National Special-abled Pets Day
Occupational Safety and Health Professionals Day 
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Victory Day (Russia-1945 over Nazi)
                                                      
Today’s Events through History  

1785 - British inventor Joseph Bramah patents beer-pump handle

1932 - Piccadilly Circus, 1st lit by electricity
1962 - Laser beam successfully bounced off Moon for 1st time
1989 - VP Quayle say in United Negro College Fund speech: "What a waste it is to lose one's mind" instead of "a mind is a terrible is thing to waste"

Today’s Birthdays                                                           

Albert Finney, actor (Dresser, Under the Volcano) is 79

Glenda Jackson, actress (Women in Love) is 79
Candice Bergen, actress (Murphy Brown) is 69
Billy Joel, Bronx, rock vocalist is 65
Rosario Dawson, actress is 36

Remembered for being born today

1800-1859 - John Brown, revolutionary abolitionist  
1837-1895 - Adam Opel, German manufacturer (cycling, motorcars)
1873-1939 - Howard Carter, British archaeologist and Egyptologist (King Tut's tomb)
1893-1947 - William M Marston, psychologist, writer (co-creator, Wonder Woman)
1882-1967 - Henry J. Kaiser, ship builder and industrialist (Jeeps, Boulder Dam)
1910-1988 - Barbara Woodhouse, dog training expert
1918-2012 - Mike Wallace, newscaster (60 Minutes)
1928-1995 - Richard A "Pancho" Gonzalez, tennis star  

Today’s Historical Obits                                                           

Lena Horne, American singer and actress, 2010, @92 

Marion Lorne, actress (Aunt Clara-Bewitched), 1968, @84
Vidal Sassoon, British hairdresser and businessman, 2012, @84
Alice Faye, actress (Barricade), 1998, @83
A[lbert] A[braham] Michelson, US physicist (1907 Nobel), 1931, @78
Tenzing Norgay, Tibetan Sherpa (Mount Everest 1953), stroke, 1986, @71
Aldo Moro, 5 times PM of Italy, assassinated, 1978, @61
James Jones, writer (From Here to Eternity), heart failure, 1977, @55

Brain Teasers                                         

"Great Job You Got It"

This type of code is known as a Caesar Box (Julius Caesar was the first to write codes this way.) To decipher the message, simply divide the code into four groups of four (you can also divide them into groups such as 5 groups of 5 or 6 groups of 6 depending on the number of letters in the phrase), and rearrange them vertically like this...
G T Y O
R J O T
E O U I
A B G T

Then you read vertically column by column.

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  §