12-22-14

FYI: Any blue text is a link. Click to check it out!
Almanac: Week: 52 \ Day: 356 
December Averages: 44°\17°
86004 Today: H 55°\L 28°
Ave. humidity: 65%     Average Sky Cover: 40%
Wind ave:   5mph\Gusts:  24
Ave. High: 43° Record High:  64° (1901)
Ave. Low: 16° Record Low:  -16° (1968)

Holiday Observances Today:
National Haiku Poetry Day
National Date Nut Bread Day 

Observances This Week:
14-28
Halcyon Days
15-31
Christmas Bird Count Week 
16-24

Posadas
17-24 
Chanukah
Saturnalia
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Quote of the Day



Historical Highlights for Today
1769 - The SHAWNEE capture Daniel Boone
1849 - The execution of Fyodor Dostoevsky is called off at the last second
1882 - 1st string of Christmas tree lights created by Thomas Edison
1962 - 1,000,000th NBA point scored
1974 - The Irish Republican Army announces a Christmas ceasefire
• • • • • • •
  Birthdays Today:
How many can you identify? Answers below in Birthday’s Today
 Returns tomorrow
My Rambling Thoughts
Football and Netflix today. Quiet, easy, enjoyable!
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Brain Teasers
(answers at the end of post)
What 3 words can the following 3 words start with? Once you work it out, you must find a relation between the 3 ADDED words.

1. _ _ _ scotch
2. _ _ _ _ child
3. _ _ _ _ suit


Found on You Tube with some relevance to today
           Returns tomorrow
OK Then…


• • • • • • •
Paraphernalia 4 the Brain:     
December Holiday Facts
* Christmas Carol videos in Native Languages


*Christmas-Christian
¤ Christmas is a contraction of “Christ’s Mass,” which is derived from the Old English Cristes mæsse (first recorded in 1038). The letter “X” in Greek is the first letter of Christ, and “Xmas” has In Germany, Heiligabend, or Christmas Eve, is said to be a magical time when the pure in heart can hear animals talking.
¤  been used as an abbreviation for Christmas since the mid 1500s
¤ In 1962, the first Christmas postage stamp was issued in the United States.
¤ The Viking god Odin is one precursor to the modern Santa Claus. According to myth, Odin rode his flying horse, Sleipnir (a precursor to Santa’s reindeer), who had eight legs. In the winter, Odin gave out both gifts and punishments, and children would fill their boots or stockings with treats for Sleipnir.

Flagstaff, AZ History…
100 YEARS AGO
During the last few days, my house has been broken into, my shop window has been broken and the lock on my water closet broken. I give notice that if I see anyone prowling about my house, I will be unable to recognize man or boy. I am 79 years old and cannot run after them. However, I can and will shoot. -- J. W. Power.
           
Flagstaff’s Iconic 50…
Agassiz Peak
Agassiz Peak is the second-highest mountain in the U.S. state of Arizona at 12,360 feet (3,767 m). It is located in the San Francisco Peaks in the Coconino National Forest north of Flagstaff, Arizona. The peak was named for Louis Agassiz, the celebrated naturalist.

Harper’s Index…
Percentage of US counties in which the proportion of rational minorities has grown in 2010: 94             
Rules of Thumb…
Returns tomorrow 
Unusual Fact of the Day…
Used during the Vietnam War, Agent Orange wasn't orange. Only the strip on the canister containing the herbicide was orange. Used during the Vietnam War, Agent Orange wasn't orange. Only the strip on the canister containing the herbicide was orange.
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Joke-of-the-day
You Know you are Addicted to the Internet When... 
· You step out of your room and realize that your parents have moved, and you don't have a clue when it happened. 
· Your wife drapes a blond wig over your monitor to remind you of what she looks like. 
· All of your friends have an @ in their names. 
· Your dog has its own home page. 
· You can't call your mother... she doesn't have a modem. 
· You wake up at 3 a.m. to go to the bathroom and stop and check your e-mail on the way back to bed. 
· You buy a Captain Kirk chair with a built-in keyboard and mouse. 
· You get a new suit that says, "This best viewed with Netscape 4.01 or higher." 
· The last girl you asked out was only a jpeg. 
· Your wife says communication is important in a marriage... so you buy another computer and install a second phone line so the two of you can chat.         


Yep, It Really Happened
MARSEILLE, France (UPI)
Authorities said an aggressive monkey Tased after weeks on the loose had been subsisting on a diet of Kinder chocolates. Marseille police said the monkey had been the subject of more than a dozen calls to authorities from the Castellanne area in recent weeks, including one occasion when it "caused bedlam" at an elementary school and "scratched some children," but the primate always managed to flee before officers arrived. Police said they finally caught up to the monkey Monday and captured it using a Taser. Investigators said the monkey was apparently abandoned after being kept illegally. They said the animal had been subsisting on a diet of Kinder chocolates given to it by children. Malnutrition and suspected abuse from some children may have contributed to the monkey's aggressive behavior, police said. An investigation has been opened to identify the animal's owner and charges of illegal possession of a wild animal are possible, police said. The monkey, which was not seriously injured, was turned over to animal protection authorities and will join a zoo's exhibit following a quarantine period.     

Somewhat Useless Information
¤ The original name of the telephone was the harmonic telegraph.
¤ It took a year to connect the first telephone line from New York to San Francisco. Approximately 14,000 miles of copper wire and 130,000 telephone poles were needed to link the country.
¤ The busiest organization in the world is the Pentagon, which has 34,500 phone lines and receives one million calls a day. 
¤ One million threads of fiber-optic cable can fit in a tube one-half inch in diameter.
¤ Sweden has the greatest penetration of telephones. It has 229 phones for every 1,000 people.
¤ The longest phone cable is a submarine cable called Fiber-Optic Link Around the Globe (FLAG). It spans 16,800 miles
from Japan to the United Kingdom and can carry 600,000 calls at a time. The original name of the telephone was the harmonic telegraph.
¤ It took a year to connect the first telephone line from New York to San Francisco. Approximately 14,000 miles of copper wire and 130,000 telephone poles were needed to link the country.
¤ The busiest organization in the world is the Pentagon, which has 34,500 phone lines and receives one million calls a day. 
¤ One million threads of fiber-optic cable can fit in a tube one-half inch in diameter.
¤ Sweden has the greatest penetration of telephones. It has 229 phones for every 1,000 people.
¤ The longest phone cable is a submarine cable called Fiber-Optic Link Around the Globe (FLAG). It spans 16,800 miles from Japan to the United Kingdom and can carry 600,000 calls at a time.           

• • • • • • •
Today’s Events through History
1775 - Continental navy organized with 7 ships
1830 - State of Georgia prohibits whites from being on CHEROKEE land without a permit.
1975 - US President Gerald Ford signs the Energy Policy and Conservation Act (EPCA)
1980 - President-elect Ronald Reagan appoints J Kirkpatrick (UN)\James Watt (Interior)
• • • • • • •
Birthday’s Today
Hector Elizondo, actor is 78
Diane Sawyer, newscaster (60 Minutes, ABC Prime Time) is 69
Jordin Sparks, American singer and American Idol winner is 25

Remembered for being born today
Thomas Cook, England, tour director (Thomas Cook & Son) [1808-1892]
Giacomo Puccini, opera composer (La bohème) [1858-1924]
Connie Mack, HOF baseball executive/manager [1862-1956]
Claudia A "Lady Bird" Taylor Johnson, 1st lady [1912-2007]
Barbara Billingsley, American actress [1915-1999]
Gene Rayburn, Christopher Ill, TV game show host (Match Game) [1917-1999]
• • • • • • •

Historical Obits Today

John Newberry, English publisher, 1767, @54
Beatrix Potter, English children's writer and illustrator ("The Tale of Peter Rabbit") pneumonia, 1943, @ 77
Irna Phillips, creator of 5 TV soap operas, 1973, @72
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Brain Teasers Answers
1. HOPscotch: A children's game where they throw a stone on the ground the jump in the squares marked in the ground.

2. STEPchild: A stepson or stepdaughter.

3. JUMPsuit: One-piece garment of combined trousers and top.

Relation: The 3 steps in triple jump. And by total coincidence, this is the 3rd relativity puzzle.

• • • • • • •
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 contains mistakes and sadly once 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.