Jan 7

FYI: Any Blue text is a link. Click to check it out!

Jan. 7, 2020 Week: 1  Day:7

86004:   H 42° \ L 21° \ Average Sky Cover: 5%

Nearest lightning:  1409mi.; Nearest active fire:  329mi.  

Wind:   13mph\Gusts:  21mph  Visibility: 10 mi

Record High: 66°[1914]   Record Low: -17°[1913]

Jan. Averages: 43°\16° (22” days with snow)

Today’s Quote

Every day I remind myself that my inner and outer life are based on the labors of other men, living and dead, and that I must exert myself in order to give in the same measure as I have received and am still receiving.

     Albert Einstein

Random Tidbits

Banging your head against a wall for one hour burns 150 calories.

Alternatively, you can walk your dog for 45 minutes, which also burns 150 calories – and is much less painful.

Observations This Week

Diet Resolution Week: 1-7

New Year's Resolutions Week: 1-8 

Silent Record Week: 1-7

Someday We'll Laugh About This Week: 2-8

Home Office Safety and Security Week: 5-11 

National Folic Acid Awareness Week: 5-11

Dating & Life Coaches Recognition Week: 5-11

National Lose Weight/Feel Great Week: 5-11

International Consumer Electronics Show: 7-10

No Tillage Week: 7-10

Observations for Today

Harlem Globetrotter's Day
I'm Not Going To Take It Anymore Day
International Programmers' Day Link 
Old Rock Day Link
Orthodox Christmas
National Bobblehead Day Link
National Tempura Day Link

My Rambling Thoughts

Lots of football and friends yesterday. Enjoyed the visitors and saw some good games. Food was good too.

Many religions want their dead buried before sunset of the day of death. I’m confused with the current Soleimani incident. I thought the government was conservative Muslims. Why is his casket being paraded throughout the country? Why is the Ayatollah allowing this to happen? I need to learn more about politics and religion in that region.  

As a world traveler, I do not believe that cultural sites, anywhere, should be destroyed by war.

So difficult to watch the destruction in Australia. The immensity of these fires is unbelievable.

I read an interesting article on incarcerated people, voting, and the census. Currently, prisoners are not allowed to vote in elections. Felons, after release, haven’t been able to vote. The times, they are a changin’. Some states are now allowing Felons to vote in elections after they have served their terms. But what about the census. Obviously, prisoners are counted. This means that small communities with large prisons, get to count those prisoners as citizens in their community which in turn helps with the number of representatives in the Congress and also in the state. Those incarcerated have no vote, and are not individually adding to the local economy, other than the giving prison staff jobs. Now, with ‘private prisons’ that only get money for each prisoner that is incarcerated, they are working hard to get laws passed to increase their prison population. This then gives local non-incarcerated citizens a big opportunity to get more representation in state and local government. While this is very convoluted, it also appears to be unfair. Only time will tell if this is even addressed by lawmakers.

Sunday was a nice day, but the cold has returned as people turn to their first working day on 2020. I could certainly use a few more days of temps in the 50’s.

Today’s Puzzle

Answer at the bottom of the page

If you had only one match and went into a very cold and dark room, what would you light first?

Historical Events

1608 - Fire destroyed the settlement of Jamestown, Virginia

1610 – Galileo Galilei made his first observation of the four Galilean moons: Ganymede, Callisto, Io and Europa,

1714 - The world's first patent (#395) for a "Machine for Transcribing Letters" was granted in England by Queen Anne to Henry Mill. This first planned typewriter was never actually produced.

1830 - The 1st U.S. Railroad Station opened in Baltimore, MD

1927 - Commercial telephone service, via radio, began between New York and London.

1929 - Drawn by Hal Foster, Edgar Rice Burroughs' Tarzan comic strip 1st appeared

1929 - Buck Rogers, illustrate by Dick Calkins, appeared in newspaper comics.

1927 - The Harlem Globetrotters played their first game in Hinkley, Ill.

1950 - #1 Hit: Gene Autry - Rudolph, The Red-nosed Reindeer

1962 - The Avengers premiered in ITV, in the UK

1980 - President Jimmy Carter authorized legislation giving $1.5 billion in loans to bail out the Chrysler Corporation.

1990 - The Leaning Tower of Pisa was closed, citing safety concerns, and after some repairs, reopened on June 16, 2001.

2002 - The Apple iBook was released.

2004 - The Apprentice premiered on NBC

2012 - #1 Hit: LMFAO - Sexy and I Know It

2015 – Two terroists attacked the offices of Charlie Hebdo Magazine in Paris, killing twelve people, and wounding eleven others.

2018 Sydney, Australia has its hottest day for 80 years as Penrith reaches 47.3 degrees

2018 It snows in the Sahara desert - 15 inches reported in Aïn Séfra, Northwest Algeria

2019 Amazon overtakes Microsoft to become the world's most valuable listed company for the first time, worth $797 billion

Birthdays Today

@103 - Adolph Zukor, Hungarian-American film producer, co-founded Paramount Pictures

      (died in 1976)

@85 - Alan Napier, English actor (died in 1988)

@74 - Millard Fillmore, American politician,

      13th President of the United States

      (died in 1874)

@76 - Charles Addams, American cartoonist, created The Addams Family

      (died in 1988)

72 - Kenny Loggins, American singer-songwriter

64 - David Caruso, American actor

63 - Katie Couric, American television journalist

57 - Rand Paul, American ophthalmologist and politician

57 - Nicolas Cage, American actor

Puzzle Answer:

You would light the match first, how else would you start up the lamp, fire, or stove?