Apr 9

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Apr 9, 2019 Week: 15 \ Day: 99

86004:   H70 ° \ L 31° \ Average Sky Cover: 5% 

Wind:   3mph\Gusts:  6mph Visibility: 10 mi

Nearest wildfire:  347mi. Nearest lightning:  1041mi

Record High: 75°[1989]   Record Low: 9°[1953]

Mar Averages: 59°\28° (3 days with rain)

Today’s Quote

When people talk to me about the weather,

I always feel they mean something else.

-- Wilde

Random Tidbits

Atkins and Taylor made preliminary measurements of the Redwoods using professional laser equipment based on goniometry, and found not one, not two, but three trees that were taller than the Stratosphere Giant.

The tallest of the lot, named Hyperion, was found to be a good 10ft taller than the Giant, standing at a whopping a 379 ft.

When Atkins and Taylor announced their discovery, a team of scientists led by Humboldt State University ecologist Steve Sillett arrived at the park to measure it again. They were aiming for more accuracy, so they used a tape. They actually climbed to its very top and dropped the tape to the ground. The epic stunt was filmed for National Geographic.

Observances This Week

Hate Week: 4-10
National Robotics Week: 6-14 Link 
Bat Appreciation Week: 7-13 
Consider Christianity Week: 7-13 
National Blue Ribbon Week:  7-13  Link  (Child Abuse)
National Crime Victims Rights Week: 7-13  Link
National Library Week: 7-13  
National Public Health Week:  7-13 
National Volunteer Week: 7-13
National Window Safety Week:   7-13 
Oral, Head and Neck Cancer Awareness Week: 7-14 Link
Passion Week: 7-13
Passiontide: 7-20
American Indian Awareness Week:  8-12  Link
National Dental Hygienest Week: 8-12  Link (Second Week)
National Work Zone Safety Awareness Week: 8-12  Link
National Youth Violence Prevention Week: 8-12 Link 
The Masters Tournament: 8-14
Undergraduate Research Week: 8-12  Link  
Week of The Young Child: 8-12 Link

Observances for Today

Appomattox Day Link
Free Cone Day (Ben & Jerrys)  Link
Jenkins Ear Day
Jumbo Day  (Elephant came to US and created the word for big in our language.)
Name Yourself Day

National Be Kind To Lawyers Day Link  
National Cherish An Antique Day
National Chinese Almond Cookie Day

National Former Prisoner of War Recognition Day
National Library Workers Day
National Library Day Link 
Winston Churchill Day

My Rambling Thoughts

This spring weather is fantastic. Great day for a long walk.

Taxes…Got good news as I am getting a nice chunk of money back. I know it my money, owed to me, and that the Feds got to hold it for a long time, with no interest…but…I still would rather overpay than have to pay a bill.

Good news:

Happy to hear that the American woman kidnapped in Uganda has been released, along with her guide. Looks like the Tour Company paid a ransom, but the amount was not announced. Still want to hear the whole story.  I wonder why the Canadian tourist in the vehicle weren’t taken and why was the unarmed guide taken. I’ve been on a good number of safaris with Focus and there always the guide, and the ‘wing man’ (the guy who sat on the front fender). I wonder how there was just a guide? And how was he unarmed? On every safari, at least one of the guys was armed.

NYU School of Medicine is tuition free. Very positive story on 60 minutes last night. Great for students who now can spend their time studying medicine and not having to work on the side to pay the tuition. Great for America.

Not Good News:

Not a big fan of the DHS Secretary and her family separation mess, but now that she is fired, someone worse is sure to rise to the top. I’m just confused about another action: the firing of the head of the Secret Service. It seldom happens when a lower level person screws up (letting a potential spy into Mar Lago) that the head guy is fired. This is staying  very crazy.

PUZZLE OF THE DAY

Answer at the bottom of this page

The police found a murdered man in a car. The windows of the car were raised, the doors were locked, and the keys were inside, in the man’s hands. The man was shot several times with a gun, but there were no holes anywhere on the car. How is this possible?

Today’s Significant Historical Events

1600’s

1682 Robert La Salle claims lower Mississippi (Louisiana) for France

1700’s

1731 British mariner Robert Jenkins' ear cut off by Spanish Guarde Costa in the Caribbean, later catalyst for war between Britain & Spain

1768 John Hancock refuses to allow two British customs agents to go below deck of his ship, considered by some to be the first act of physical resistance to British authority in the colonies

1800’s

1833 1st US tax-supported public library in Peterborough, Noew Hampshire

1900’s

1914 "World, the Flesh & the Devil", 1st color film, shown in London

1923 In 'Adkins vs Children's Hospital', the US Supreme Court finds that the minimum wage law for women and children, adopted by the District of Columbia, is unconstitutional

1947 Atomic Energy Commission confirmed

1963 Winston Churchill becomes 1st honorary US citizen

1968 Martin Luther King Jr., buried in Atlanta

2000’s

2003 Baghdad falls to U.S. forces, ending the invasion of Iraq, but resulting in widespread looting

2017 Twitter footage of passenger forcibly removed from United Airlines flight in Chicago after flight overbooked causes outrage

Birthdays Today

1898 Paul Robeson,

(d. 1976: @77: stroke)

American singer (Old Man River), actor and civil rights activist,

born in Princeton, New Jersey

1903 Ward Bond,

(d. 1960: @75: heart attack)

American actor (Wagon Train, It's a Wonderful Life),

born in Benkelman, Nebraska

1903 Gregory Pincus,

(d. 1967:@64:  rare blood disorder)

American biologist and inventor (birth control pill),

 born in Woodbine, New Jersey

1905 J. William Fulbright,

(d. 1995: @89)

American senator from Arkansas, known for opposition to the Vietnam War),

born in Sumner, Missouri

1926 Hugh Hefner,

(d. 2017: @91)

American magazine publisher and businessman (Playboy),

born in Chicago, Illinois

1932 Carl Perkins,

(d. 1998: @65: throat cancer)

American singer and songwriter (Blue Suede Shoes),

born in Jackson, Tennessee

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80’s

86- Jean-Paul Belmondo,

French actor (Casino Royale, Magnifique),

born in Paris, France

80- Michael Learned,

American actress (Olivia in The Waltons, Nurse),

born in Washington, D.C.

60’s

65- Dennis Quaid,

American actor (Big Easy, Dreamscape, Right Stuff),

born in Houston, Texas

50’s

56- Joe Scarborough,

American television personality,

born in Atlanta, Georgia

53- Cynthia Nixon,

American actress (Sex and the City),

 born in NYC, New York

20’s

29- Kristen Stewart,

American actress (Bella Swan-The Twilight Saga),

born in Los Angeles, California

Historical Obits Today

80’s

@89-1959 Frank Lloyd Wright,

American architect (Guggenheim) recognized as "the greatest American architect of all time"

60’s

@65-1626 Francis Bacon,

English statesman and philosopher,

dies from pneumonia

30’s

@35-1976 Phil Ochs,

American anti-war folk singer (Draft Dodger Rag),

commits suicide

Puzzle answer:

The car was convertible, with the top retracted back.