Sep 16

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Sept  16, 2018 Week: 38 \ Day: 259

86004 Today: H 82° \ L 49° \ Average Sky Cover: 25% 

Wind:   16mph\Gusts:  0mph Visibility: 10 mi

Record High: 88°[2000]   Record Low: 28°[1971]

Sep Averages: 74°\42°

Today’s Quote

     Nobody made a great mistake than

     he who did nothing because

     he could do only a little

    Edmund Burke

Harper’s Index

     68

     Estimated percentage by which the Chinese engineered

     version of the Predator drone is cheaper than the US

     version

     $1,200,000

     Value of military equipment that the Pentagon gave

     to a fictitious law enforcement agency created by the

      GAO

Observances This Week

12-16  National Guitar Flat-Picking Days  Link

Hummingbird Celebration Link

15-22  Farm Animal Awareness Week

Balance Awareness Week Link   

Build A Better Image Week

Observances for Today

American Legion Day

Collect Rocks Day

Guacamole Day

International Clean Hands Week

Mexican Independence Day

National Farm & Ranch Safety and Health Week

National Historically Black Colleges & Universities Week

National Indoor Plant Week

National Rehabilitation Awareness Week

National Security Officer Appreciation Week

National Love Your Files Week Link  

National Play Doh Day

National Singles Week

National Women's Friendship Day

Step Family Day

Tolkien Week

            Working Parents Day

Today’s Significant US Historical Events

Today’s Significant International Historical Events 

1600’s                                         

1630 Massachusetts village of Shawmut changes its name to Boston

1700’s                                         

1782 Great Seal of the United States of America used for the first time

1900’s                                         

1901 French painter Paul Gauguin settles in Atuona in the Marquesas Islands

1906 Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen discovers the Magnetic South Pole

1919 American Legion incorporated by an act of US Congress

1940 FDR signs Selective Training & Service Act (1st peacetime draft)

1959 French President Charles de Gaulle recognizes Algerian right of self determination

1968 Richard Nixon appears on "Rowan & Martin's Laugh-in"

1974 US President Gerald Ford announces conditional amnesty for US Vietnam War deserters

1976 American Episcopal Church approves ordination of women as priests & bishop

1987 Pope John Paul II's ends his Los Angeles tour with an interfaith meeting at Dodger Stadium with leaders of Judaism, Islam, Buddhism and Hinduism

2000’s                                         

2012 Mayor of Chicago, Rahm Emanuel, seeks a court order to resolve a week long teachers strike

My Rambling Thoughts

Yesterday was a busier than expected day. While shopping I ran into a student I had taught in 3^rd grade and later supervised at Tonalea where he was an aide. We chatted about 30 minutes. He is a security guard at the clinic in Inscription House. It was nice to see he was living the good life.

Since forever, local school boards have set policy, hired and fired, and selected text books and curriculum. Since Texas has one of the largest student populations, they basically determine the texts for most school districts in the US. One of my favorite historical things was that many children in the south were taught about the War of Northern Aggression, while the rest of use learned about the Civil War. Well they are at it again. The committee to set curriculum standards for Social Studies has voted to drop Hillary Clinton as the first woman to run for President by a major political party from the curriculum. They are also dropping Helen Keller from the 3^rd grade curriculum to have time to teach more ‘modern’ concepts.  The head of the committee claims his personal beliefs were not in play. He believes that the earth is only 6000 years old and that dinosaurs were on the ark, but admits it was baby ones. Luckily he is not yet on the science curriculum committee.

Birthdays Today

@-  indicates age at death

90’s

@95►James Cash Penney, American department store founder (J C Penney), born in Hamilton, Missouri (d. 1971)

@91►Lee Kuan Yew, Founding father of modern Singapore and 1st Prime Minister of Singapore (1959-90), (d. 2015)

80’s

@89►B.B. King (Riley B. King), guitarist (d. 2015)

@89►Lauren Bacall, actress

70’s

@78►H.A. Rey, American children's author, creator of "Curious George" (d. 1977)

@77►Alfred Noyes, British poet and essayist (Loom of Years, Highwayman), born in Wolverhampton, England (d. 1958)

60’s

66►Mickey O’Rourke (Philip Andre Rourke Jr), actor

62►David Copperfield [Kotkin], American magician, born in Metuchen, New Jersey

50’s

54►Molly Shannon, comedian (SNL)

50►Marc Anthony (Marco Antonio Muniz), singer

40’s

47►Amy Poehler, comedian, actress

Historical Obits Today

80’s

@88►2016 Edward Albee, American playwright (Who's Afraid of Virgina Woolf?)

@85►2005 Gordon Gould, American physicist (inventor of the laser)

50’s

@53►1977 Maria Callas, American-born prima donna, heart attack

@50►1736 Daniel G Fahrenheit, Prussian/Neth physicist (thermometer)