5-25-14


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Flagstaff Almanac: Day: 145  / Week: 22 
May Averages: 68° \ 34°
Today: Average Sky Cover: smoky
    H 57° L 37° Ave. humidity: 37%
    Wind: ave:   3mph; Gusts:  22mph  
    Average High: 71° Record High:  84° (1951)
    Average Low: 36° Record Low:  18° (1980)
        
Quote of the Day
Today’s Historical Highlights

1521 - Edict of Worms outlaws Martin Luther & his followers
1776 - US Congress resolves it be "highly expedient" if they can engage Indians to fight on their side of the Revolutionary War.
1787 - Constitutional convention opens at Phila, G Washington presiding
1825 - American Unitarian Association founded
1878 - Gilbert/Sullivans opera "HMS Pinafore," premieres in London
1895 - The Republic of Formosa is formed, with Tang Ching-sung as the president
1932 - Goofy, aka Dippy Dawg, 1st appears in 'Mickey's Revue' by Walt Disney
1935 - Track and field athlete Jesse Owens equals or breaks 6 world records in 45 minutes 
1961 - JFK sets goal of putting a man on Moon before the end of decade
1977 - Original "Star Wars" movie released
1986 - 30,000,000 people watch "Live Aid", a benefit concert for the Ethiopian famine
1989 - Mikhail Gorbachev elected Executive President in the Soviet Union
2009 - North Korea allegedly tests its second nuclear device. 

  Today’s Birthdays:   

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


My Free Rambling Thoughts   

So the fire keeps burning and increasing in size. Now about 11,000 acres and 15% contained. The smoke disappears at night then returns in the afternoons. I got a little bit of rain…about 20 minutes of light rain…around noon, but seems to be scattered isolated showers throughout the area. Not helping with the fire suppression. As the fire grows, it is out on open plains and is not threatening any new structures. It has remained overcast and it is hard to tell the cloud cover from the smoke in the area.

Woke up this morning to yet another story of mass shooting by a crazy person. When I checked the news some 10 hours later a lot of information was out that this man was very disturbed, his parents knew it, many had sought help for him. He left a very long life story that is being reviewed on TV. One father gave a passionate speech that the NRA was to blame. I have known my share of mentally imbalanced people through my work. It is almost impossible to get these people help, especially if the person doesn’t want help. One mother held a knife to her son’s throat, was finally arrested, spent 30 days ‘getting help’ and returned to the family. An employee went home early and found his wife in bed with another man. He was convicted of her murder and spent 15 years in jail. After killing his wife, he returned to work at the school and wasn’t arrested for several days.  An aide left school, went to the local KFC and sat in her car with a gun to her head, threating suicide, with one of her own children in the vehicle. She was finally arrested, spent a month in ‘a facility’, and returned to work after her release. We are always giving people another chance. Sometimes it works, other times it doesn’t.  No one wants to believe that someone they know is capable of such horrific acts, until it is too late.

Game  Center (answers at the end of post)

Brain Teasers
What is this common phrase?

Thought: "One, two, three, four..."

Lifestyle  Substance:     

Found on You Tube with some relevance to today








OK Then…

Harper’s Index 

Factor by which the amount Britons owe in mortgage debt has increased since 1999: 2.6

Unusual Fact of the Day

In 1835, John Wilkes Booth’s father Junius threatened to kill President Andrew Jackson.

*NEW*Strange Things That Washed Up On Beaches…

5 A Japanese Fishing Boat
A small fishing boat washing up on the beach would be nothing remarkable under normal circumstances. But in this case, the boat in question was from Japan and the beach in question was in California! In April of 2013, the tiny, open boat was found on a beach in northern CA, having spent over two years adrift on the Pacific Ocean following the tsunami that ravaged Japan in March of 2011.

*NEW* Presidential Fun Facts…

BARACK OBAMA is our 44th president, but there actually have only been 43 presidents: Cleveland was elected for two nonconsecutive terms and is counted twice, as our 22nd and 24th president.
**
EIGHT PRESIDENTS were born British subjects: Washington, J. Adams, Jefferson, Madison, Monroe, J. Q. Adams, Jackson, and W. Harrison.

Top 5 Most Educated Movie Stars in Hollywood…

#2 Mayim Bialik
Anyone who watched the 1990s TV series "Blossom," the movie "Beaches" or is a fan of the current TV series "The Big Bang Theory" is familiar with Mayim Bialik. What's less known is that the actress is a real-life scientist with a Ph.D. in neuroscience. Her doctoral dissertation focused on obsessive compulsive disorders among people with Prader-Willi syndrome and how their overactive hypothalamus affects their behavior. Bialik has also written a book about parenting, "Beyond the Sling," based on her studies about hormones, and designed a middle school curriculum for teaching children about neuroscience.

Travel Destination Info… 

10) Austria - $20.5 billion
Austria rounds out the list with some $20.5 billion dollars being spent by international tourists in 2009. People go to Austria to visit the beautiful resort towns and hotels located in the gorgeous Alps Mountains as well as to see the beautiful city of Vienna with its Cathedral and Belvedere Palace.

Top 5 Poorest Countries…

2 - Liberia
Nearly two-thirds of Liberians live on less than $1 a day. This civil-war-ridden country, about the size of Tennessee, has a per capita GDP of $490. Located along the Atlantic coast of Africa, Liberia has an ideal climate for agriculture—its primary industry—and rice, its number one crop. Timber harvesting and diamond mining represent prime opportunities for Liberia to capitalize on its natural resources.

 Joke-of-the-day

A man found a magic genie who would grant him one wish. The man said to the genie,” I wish that I had a non-stop bridge from here to Hawaii." The genie said,” I’m sorry, but that's going to be very hard. Do you have another wish?" The man answered, "Of course! I want the power to understand all women." The genie thought for a minute. He replied, "How many platforms did you want on that bridge?" 

Rules of Thumb:   

GETTING ORGANIZED
After you attend a funeral, expect to go into a cleaning and organizational frenzy when you get home.

Yeah, It Really Happened

PRESTWICH, England (UPI) - A "cheating" husband in England is the target of a negative poster campaign that is being carried out by his wife. The alleged adulterer's wife is putting posters all over town in Prestwich that show her cheating husband's face and list his name, date of birth and phone number. "Local lying cheating scumbag. Married, father of 2," the poster reads. "Ran out on family + left a note to inform them." "I work in Prestwich and I'd spotted a couple pinned up on walls just up the road earlier in the day but hadn't really stopped to read it until I was getting my bus home," Maria Jansen told the Manchester Evening News. "Good on her I say, if he's done that he wants naming and shaming and I hope he's suitably embarrassed." The posters have been put up at bus stops and place on lampposts and many people have seen them. "I think it's hilarious. It serves him right if he's left his wife like that, he shouldn't just be allowed to get away with it," said local resident Carla Moore. "I doubt he'll be happy about it, but so what? It's the perfect revenge."

Somewhat Useless Information   

The ancient Greek mathematician and philosopher Pythagoras taught the number 12 had divine, mystical meanings, and he might have been right, because we are practically drowning in examples of use of the number 12.

The United States of America is divided into 12 Federal Reserve Districts (Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Cleveland, Richmond, Atlanta, Chicago, St. Louis, Minneapolis, Kansas City, Dallas, and San Francisco).

Additionally, typically 12 people are appointed to sit on a jury for felony trials, twelve men have walked on the moon and Alcoholics Anonymous has 12 steps, 12 traditions, and 12 concepts for world service.

The number 12 is highly symbolic in the Bible. It is mentioned 189 times.

  - The Tree of Life inside the City of Heaven yields 12 different kinds of fruit.
  - The City of Heaven is described as having three gates in each corner, making 12 in all.
  - The first recorded words of Jesus occurred when he was 12 years old.
  - Jesus had 12 apostles, which represented the 12 tribes of Israel.

Calendar Information        

This Week’s Observances:

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


22-25
Mudbug Madness Week
National Polka Weekend

Old-Time Player Piano Weekend

25-31
Week of Solidarity With The People of Non-Self-Governing Territories
Hurricane Preparedness Week

Black Single Parents Week


Today Is  

Cookie Monster's Birthday
Indianapolis 500
National Missing Children's Day
National Tap Dance Day
National Missing Children's Day
National Senior Health and Fitness Day

Nerd Pride Day or Geek Pride Day 
Towel Day 
<> 
Poetry Day (Fla)
African Freedom Day
(since 1958-
Egypt, Ethiopia, Ghana, Liberia, Libya, Morocco, Sudan, Tunisia, and Cameroon.)
Independence Day (Jordan-1946-from British Mandate)


Today’s Events through History  

     1962 - Isley Brothers release "Twist & Shout"
1968 - Rolling Stones release "Jumping Jack Flash"
1968 - Unicorn by The Irish Rovers hits #7
1969 - "Midnight Cowboy" released with an X rating
1983 - 1st National Missing Children's Day is proclaimed

Today’s Birthdays                                                           

Ian McKellen, England, actor (Keep, Plenty, Scarlet Pimpernel) is 75
Leslie Uggams, singer/actress (Leslie Uggams Show, Roots) is 71
Jessi Colter, [Miriam Johnson], Phoenix, country singer is 71
Frank Oz, Muppetteer (Grover-Sesame Street, Muppet Show) is 70
Karen Valentine, actress (Love American Style, Room 222) is 67
Connie Selleca, Bronx, actress (Hotel, Capt America II) is 59
Mike Myers, Canada, comedian (SNL, Wayne's World) is 51
Anne Heche, actress (Donnie Brasco) is 45
Cillian Murphy, Irish actor is 38

Remembered for being born today

1803-1882 - Ralph Waldo Emerson, US, essayist/philosopher  
1878-1949 - Bill "Bojangles" Robinson, actor (Stormy Weather)
1898-1971 - Bennett Cerf, publisher (Random House) (What's My Line)
1898-1978 - Gene Tunney, world heavyweight boxing champion (1926-30)
1921-2012 - Hal David, lyricist (Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head)
1926-1994 - Claude Akins, actor (BJ & Bear, Movin' On, Lobo)
1929-2007 - Beverly Sills, [Belle Miriam Silverman], Brooklyn, Opera soprano
1939-2010 - Dixie Carter, actress (Designing Women, Edge of Night)

Today’s Historical Obits                                                           

Gabriel Vargas, Mexican cartoonist (La Familia Burron), 2010, @95
Vic Tayback, actor (Mel-Alice), heart attack, 1990, @60
Buck, dog (Married with Children), 1996, @13

Brain Teasers                                         

It's the thought that counts.

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.