6-15-11

Ø  TODAY’s “Geez”:

·        1219 - Dannebrog - oldest national flag in the world - and flag of Denmark. According to legend, fell from the sky during the Battle of Lyndanisse (now Tallinn) in Estonia, and turned the Danes' luck

·        1934 - Great Smokey Mountains National Park dedicated

·        1955 - The Eisenhower administration stages the first annual "Operation Alert" (OPAL) exercise, an attempt to assess the USA's preparations for a nuclear attack

·        1967 - Gov Reagan signs liberalized California abortion bill

Ø  Free Rambling Thoughts…

I was able to find some great sales on shirts today. Then I picked up some color for my outdoor flowerpots. Nice day and not a lot of wind. The current fire in Eastern AZ and now Western NM has become the largest fire in AZ history. They caught the guy who started the previous largest fire, so there is hope that they will catch the crazy who started this one.

NCLB got another blow today. Only 12% of graduating seniors have a basic proficiency in American History. A couple of the tests will be in the trivia section for the next few days. They tested 4^th graders, 8^th graders, and seniors. Of course American History is not part of any of the proficiencies necessary to be proficient in NCLB, which means it just isn’t taught that much. As we have seen the past few years, many politicians, on both sides, make up history and make up facts. This is no way to continue a democracy.

Ø  Trivia Quiz…(answers at the end of post)

1. A consequence of Prohibition was

A) the failure of the Republicans in the 1928 presidential election

B) the growth of organized crime

C) the turning of public attention to pressing international issues

D) widespread popular support for further moral reform

2. North Korea was helped by this ally during the Korean War:

A) Japan

B) The Philippines

C) Hong Kong

D) China

3. President Franklin D. Roosevelt's goal in supporting the Lend-Lease Act of 1941 was to

A) Encourage Japanese Americans to relocate voluntarily

B) Use foreign investment as a way of stimulating the American economy

C) Maintain an isolationist stance by providing only limited aid to both sides of the European conflict

D) Assist Britain's war effort without violating United States neutrality laws

4. Before the Vietnam War, the Vietnamese broke free from this colonizer:

A) Britain

B) China

C) France

D) Russia

5. What main factors contributed to the growth of suburbs?

A) Increases in automobile ownership

B) The building of a modern highway system

C) Tax deductions for mortgage interest

D) All of the above

6. In the 1970's the United States economy was directly affected by

A) a sharp increase in the price of oil

B) an increase in the cost of solar energy

C) an overall decline in international trade

D) a rapid decline in prices of consumer goods

7. The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and the Warsaw Pact are best described as two

A) Organizations founded by the European Economic Community to promote trade between Europe and the United States

B) Treaties negotiated between the allies and the Central Powers at Versailles after the First World War

C)Bodies established by the United Nations to promote peace within multiethnic European countries such as Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia

D) Military organizations made up, respectively, of the United States and its allies and the Soviet Union and its allies during the Cold War

Ø  Zoom-ed in Picture…Can you Identify what this is? (Answer at end of post)

Ø  Hmmmmm…

·        Chance that a US $100 bill is currently held outside the country: 1 in 2

Ø  Somewhat Useless Information…

·        The Baccalaureate Ceremony origin is said to go back to 1432. The first Baccalaureate Ceremony commenced at Oxford University. At that time each student was required to deliver a sermon in Latin as part of his academic applications.

·        What we call today a "cap," which is worn by students and faculty in some cases, used to be called a “hood." The "hood" is believed to be dated back to the Celtic Groups. At that time in history only the Druid priests wore capes with hoods, symbolizing their superiority and higher intelligence. Today, the "hood" or "cap" is used to identify the student's academic institution and degree.

·        "Pomp and Circumstance" was composed by Sir Edward Elgar (b. 6/2/1857 d. 2/26/1934). It was first performed on October 19, 1901 in Liverpool, England.

Ø  Yeah, It Really Happened…

EDEN, N.C.  — An Eden woman stole a home pregnancy test and three water guns from the Walmart store in Eden on June 7, police said.

Police said Amber Shaquille Duncan also made off with a can of cashews, a box of fruit snacks, a pack of water balloons and a box of granola bars.

The stolen items were worth $39.63, police said.

Duncan also had an outstanding warrant for failure to appear in court on a charge of resisting a public officer.

Ø  Guffaw…or at least smile…

Only in America... can a pizza get to your house faster than an ambulance.

Only in America... are there handicap parking places in front of a skating rink.

Only in America... do drugstores make the sick walk all the way to the back of the store to get their prescriptions while healthy people can buy cigarettes at the front.

Only in America... do people order double cheese burgers, large fries, and a diet Coke.

Only in America... do banks leave both doors to the vault open and then chain the pens to the counters.

Only in America... do they leave cars worth thousands of dollars in the driveway and put our useless junk in the garage.

Only in America... do they use answering machines to screen calls and then have call waiting so they won't miss a call from someone they didn't want to talk to in the first place.

Only in America... do they buy hot dogs in packages of ten and buns in packages of eight.

Only in America... do they use the word "politics" to describe the process so well; "Poli" in Latin meaning "many" and "tics" meaning "bloodsucking creatures".

Only in America... do they have drive-up ATM machines with Braille lettering

Ø  Searchin’ “You Tube” I found…

 First Motion Picture Horse, 1878

Ø  Daybook Information…

…Happening This Week:

10-17

·        Superman Week

·        Nursing Assistants Week

12-18

·        National Flag Week

·        Men's Health Week

14-20

·        Universal Father's Week

·        US Open Golf Championship

Ø  TODAY IS

Lunar Eclipse

Native American Citizenship Day  

Nature Photography Day

Magna Carta Day

Smile Power Day

World Elder Abuse Awareness Day

Arkansas: Admission Day (1836 as 25^th state)

Ø  Today’s Events:

…  IN ARTS

1878 - 1st attempt at motion pictures (used 12 cameras, each taking 1 picture) done to see if all 4 of a horse's hooves leave the ground

1963 - "Sukiyaki" hits #1

1965 - Bob Dylan records "Like a Rolling Stone"

…  IN ATHLETICS

1928 - Ty Cobb, 41, steals home for 50th & final time

1951 - Joe Louis scored his last knockout victory

…  IN BUSINESS

1851 - Jacob Fussell, Baltimore dairyman, sets up 1st ice-cream factory

1911 - Tabulating Computing Recording Corporation (IBM) is incorporated

1943 - Congress of racial Equality (CORE) forms

… IN EDUCATION

1877 - Henry O Flipper becomes 1st black graduate at West Point

1916 - Boys Scouts of America forms

1962 - Students for a Democratic Society complete the Port Huron Statement

…  FOR INDIGENOUS PEOPLE

1873 - Sioux attack Fort Abraham Lincoln, in central North Dakota, again. The garrison repels them

1924 - Native Americans are proclaimed US citizens

…  IN INTERNATIONAL POLITICS

1094 - Rodrigo Diaz de Vivar [El Cid] occupies Valencia on the Moren

1215 - King John signs Magna Carta at Runnymede, England

1908 - World congress for Woman's rights opens in Amsterdam

… IN RELIGION

▬

…  IN SCIENCE

1844 - Goodyear patents vulcanization of rubber

1869 - Celluloid patented by John Wesley Hyatt, Albany, NY

1876 - Tsunami's after earthquake floods NE coast of Japan, kills 28,000

…  IN US POLITICS

1775 - George Washington appointed commander-in-chief of American Army

1804 - 12th amendment ratified; deals with manner of choosing president

1864 - Robert E Lee's home area (Arlington, VA) becomes a military cemetery

1898 - US marines attack Spanish off Guantánamo Cuba

1924 - J Edgar Hoover assumed leadership of the FBI

1982 - Supreme Court rules all children, regardless of citizenship, are entitled to a public education

1994 - Ruth Bader Ginsburg, sworn in as Supreme Court Justice

… ARTISTS:  AUTHORS:  COMPOSERS…

1888 - Ramon Lopez Velarde, Mexican poet (La Sangre Devota)

…ATHLETES

Wade Boggs, Red Sox/Yank 3rd baseman (AL bat champ 1985-88) turns 53

…ENTERTAINERS (ACTORS/SINGERS…)

Brett Butler, comedian (Grace Under Fire) turns 54

Courteney Cox actress turns 47

Ice Cube [O'Shea Jackson], rap singer/actor (Boyz in the Hood, Anaconda) turns 42

1921 - Erroll Garner,  jazz pianist (Misty)

Neil Patrick Harris, Albuquerque NM, actor (Doogie Howser MD, How I Met Your Mother) turns 38

Helen Hunt actress turns 48

1937 - Waylon Jennings, country singer/guitarist (Ramblin' Man)

1917 - Al "Lash" La Rue, cowboy actor (Black Lash, Lash of the West)

1941 - Harry Nilsson, singer/guitarist (Midnight Cowboy)

Leah Remini actress turns 41

1949 - Jim Varney, American actor (Ernest Goes to Jail, Hey Vern

… ENTREPRENEUR & EDUCATORS

Xaveria Hollander, [DeVries], Surabaya Indonesia, auth (Happy Hooker) turns 68

…POLITICIANS

Mario M Cuomo,  (Gov-D-NY, 1982-94) turns 79

1767 - Rachel Donelson Jackson, wife of Pres Andrew Jackson

…SCIENTISTS / THEOLOGISTS

1902 - Erik H Erickson, psychologist (Existentionalist)

Ø  Today’s Obits:

1993 - John Connally, (Gov-D/R-Texas), dies at 76

2003 - Hume Cronyn, Canadian actor dies at 92

1996 - Ella Fitzgerald, singer, dies at 78

1989 - Victor French, actor (#44-Get Smart, Highway to Heaven), dies of cancer at 54

1849 - James Knox Polk, 11th Pres (1845-1849), dies of cholera at 53

1965 - E. A. Speiser, American Bible scholar dies at 63

1381 - Wat Tyler, leader of English Peasants' Revolt, beheaded at 50

1984 - Meredith Willson, composer (Music Man), dies at 82

Ø  ANSWERS:

Trivia Quiz

1. A consequence of Prohibition was

B) the growth of organized crime

2. North Korea was helped by this ally during the Korean War:

D) China

3. President Franklin D. Roosevelt's goal in supporting the Lend-Lease Act of 1941 was to

D) Assist Britain's war effort without violating United States neutrality laws

4. Before the Vietnam War, the Vietnamese broke free from this colonizer:

C) France

5. What main factors contributed to the growth of suburbs?

D) All of the above

6. In the 1970's the United States economy was directly affected by

A) a sharp increase in the price of oil

7. The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and the Warsaw Pact are best described as two

D) Military organizations made up, respectively, of the United States and its allies and the Soviet Union and its allies during the Cold War

Close Up Picture

Geode

Ø  …AND THAT’S ALL FOR NOW

6-14-11

Ø   TODAY’s “Geez”:

·        1951 - 1st commercial computer, UNIVAC 1, enters service at Census Bureau

·        1953 - Eisenhower condemns McCarthy's book burning proposal

·        1954 - Pres Eisenhower signs order adding words "under God" to the Pledge

Ø  Free Rambling Thoughts…

I got all my errands run this morning and had time to get a haircut to boot. Great way to start the week. It was a nice day outside, a little breeze and warm. The fires in AZ continue to grow. More fires a burnin’. They are all in Southern and far Eastern AZ. This is fire season, as we in AZ wait for the monsoons, still several weeks away. The difference this year is that the fires are so much bigger than usual.

An interesting poll came out today. For all the candidates on the Republican side only one candidate, Gary Johnson the former governor of NM, has a bigger percentage of his home state voters saying yes than no. All the other candidates are in single digits of approval of their run from voters in their home state. Looks like the old ‘favorite son’ candidate is way gone. When we finally get to the convention, next summer, it might be interesting to see if the candidate’s home state makes that nomination. At some point in time the candidates were popular enough to be elected to national office and now they do not have the support of their home state. These are the voters who picked them, lived through their time in office, and now don’t want them at the highest office. Very strange.

NPR ran a good story on fixing our educational system. Ever since I joined the educational work force I have heard that change is necessary because we are no longer an agrarian society that needs the kids on the farm and in the fields during the summer. A few school systems have gone to year round school, but even those districts don’t increase the time in school, only when the kids are in school. Our fair schools in Flag added extra snow days to this year’s calendar after they ran out of snow days the previous year. This year had less snowfall. So in May kids were given several three day weekends so they could use up the snow days without having to change graduations. As a former administrator and a former teacher, I know firsthand how hard it is to bring change to any school system. School staff and low level administrators are offered contracts each year. They spell out the number of days with students, the number of days for enrichment, the number of holidays and the number hours required to be on campus and lots of other stuff. Without a hook I haven’t heard in over 40 years, no legislature or congress is going to lengthen the school year or the school day without commensurate salary and benefit package changes. Public education will just continue to muddle along and complain.NPR was interviewing seniors from schools that were trying something different…longer school days—up to 9 hours every day, longer school years up to 10.5 months and required  Saturday study sessions. The students were very excited about learning, claiming in their old traditional schools, that the bar was way too low. Many of these students came from economically deprived areas while others came from middle class schools. These were not ‘last chance’ high schools but were either magnet schools or charter schools that held a lottery in the spring for incoming freshman, due to the number of students who applied.  Something needs to happen so this generation of NCLB doesn’t become an generation of students not ready for the real world.

Ø  Trivia Quiz…(answers at the end of post)

1.      What is in brackets in the title of Cher's The Shoop Shoop Song?

2.      Which American city links songs by Bruce Springsteen and Elton John?

3.      What type of creature was Michael Jackson's pet Muscles?

4.      What job did Del Shannon take on when he came out of the US Army?

5.      Which senior star released an album in 1996 called Strong Love Affair?

6.      What was Peter Cetera's first solo NO 1 single?

7.      What was Bruce Springsteen's first Top Ten Single?

8.      Spice Girl Mel C joined which artist on the hit When You're Gone?

9.      Which Michael Jackson album had the subtitle Past Present and future Book 1?

10.   Which name links Stigers and Mayfield?

11.   What was Madonna's next No 1 after Like A Virgin?

12.   In which decade was superstar Michael Bolton born?

13.   Where was John Denver born?

14.   Who had an 80’s No 1 with You Keep Me Hangin' On?

Ø  Zoom-ed in Picture…Can you Identify what this is? (Answer at end of post)

Ø  Hmmmmm…

·        Number of the four top spending congressional candidates in 2010 elections who lost: 3

Ø  Somewhat Useless Information…

·        The Australian Gippsland Earthworm grows to 12 feet long and can weigh 1-1/2 pounds.

·        There are approximately 2,700 different kinds of earthworms.

·        In one acre of land, there can be more than a million earthworms.

·        Worms tunnel deeply in the soil and bring subsoil closer to the surface mixing it with the topsoil. Slime, a secretion of earthworms, contains nitrogen. Nitrogen is an important nutrient for plants. The sticky slime helps to hold clusters of soil particles together in formations called aggregates.

·        Worms are hermaphrodites. Each worm has both male and female organs. Worms mate by joining their clitella (swollen area near the head of a mature worm) and ex-changing sperm. Then each worm forms an egg capsule in its clitellum.

·        Even though worms don't have eyes, they can sense light, especially at their anterior (front end). They move away from light and will become paralyzed if exposed to light for too long (approximately one hour).

Ø  Yeah, It Really Happened…

AMHERST, Ohio - Authorities in Ohio said a man arrested after behaving violently and growling at sheriff's deputies blamed his actions on a scratch from a wolf.

Lorain County sheriff's deputies said Thomas Stroup, 20, was arrested at about 12:30 a.m. Sunday after they received a call of a "very violent" male attacking people at the Timber Ridge Campground in Amherst, The Chronicle-Telegram, Elyria, Ohio.

Deputies said a friend of Stroup who was at the scene told them the suspect had consumed a large amount of alcohol and fought with other campers, who left before deputies arrived. Stroup was found sleeping under a trailer and growled at the deputies before being placed under arrest.

The deputies said Stroup apologized for his behavior while en route to the Lorain County Jail and told them he had consumed too much vodka and his violent behavior was the result of a wolf scratch that drives him to act violently during the full moon. Stroup was charged with underage consumption.

Ø  Guffaw…or at least smile…

A man lying on his deathbed called to him, his lawyer, his doctor, and his pastor. "I am going to die tonight," and I want to prove that when you go to heaven you can take it all with you. So to my three most trusted friends, you three of course, I am leaving 50,000 dollars in these envelopes. When I die you must come to my funeral and put the envelopes in my coffin with me." The man handed the three men identical envelopes.

A day later they each received news that, that night the old man had died . So each knew they must go to his funeral and fulfill his death wish.

Standing over the coffin one week later the pastor confessed, " I can't hide what I've done. I took 10,000 dollars from the envelope because the church needed to be painted."

Then as he did so the doctor also started to fidget then finally confessed “I took 30,000 dollars from my envelope because the hospital needed a new wing."

Ten the lawyer said plainly “You bunch of crooks! I wrote him a check for the full amount!"

Ø  Searchin’ “You Tube” I found…

Old Yeller (Sing Along Songs)

Ø  Daybook Information…

…Happening This Week:

10-17

·        Superman Week

·        Nursing Assistants Week

12-18

·        National Flag Week

·        Men's Health Week

14-20

·        Universal Father's Week

·        US Open Golf Championship

Ø  TODAY IS

·        Family History Day

·        Pause for the Pledge Day

·        Pop Goes The Weasel Day

·        US: Flag Day

·        Japan: Rice Planting Festival

·        World: Blood Donor Day

Ø  Today’s Events:

…  IN ARTS

1923 - Recording of 1st country music hit (Little Old Log Cabin in the Lane)

1942 - Walt Disney's "Bambi" animated movie is released 

1967 - Steve Allen Show," premieres on CBS-TV

…  IN ATHLETICS

1933 - Lou Gehrig & Joe McCarthy thrown out of game, McCarthy suspended 3 games but Gehrig isn't, so he continues his streak at 1,249 games

1989 - Nolan Ryan becomes 2nd pitcher to defeat all 26 teams

2005 - Asafa Powell of Jamaica sets a new Men's 100 meters world record of 9.77 at the Athens Olympic Stadium

…  IN BUSINESS

1834 - Isaac Fischer Jr patents sandpaper

1881 - Player piano patented by John McTammany Jr (Cambridge, Mass)

1942 - 1st bazooka rocket gun produced Bridgeport Ct

… IN EDUCATION

1642 - 1st compulsory education law in America passed by Massachusetts

1973 - 46th National Spelling Bee: Barrie Trinkle wins spelling vouchsafe

…  FOR INDIGENOUS PEOPLE

1671 - France claims most of America

1877 - During their forced march from their old reservation to Indian Territory, the Poncas arrive at the Otto reservation. Taking pity on the Poncas, the Ottos give them some horses to help carry their people.

…  IN INTERNATIONAL POLITICS

1381 - Richard II in England meets leaders of Peasants' Revolt on Blackheath. The Tower of London is stormed by rebels who enter without resistance.

1958 - Nelson Mandela weds Winnie Madikizela

1962 - The European Space Research Organisation is established in Paris - later becoming the European Space Agency.

… IN RELIGION

▬

…  IN SCIENCE

1834 - Hardhat diving suit patented by Leonard Norcross, Dixfield, Maine

1938 - Chlorophyll patented by Benjamin Grushkin

…  IN US POLITICS

1775 - US Army founded

1777 - Continental Congress adopts Stars & Stripes replacing Grand Union flag

1846 - California (Bear Flag) Republic proclaimed in Sonoma

1864 - Congress rules Black soldiers must receive equal pay

1900 - Hawaiian Territorial Government begins

 … ARTISTS:  AUTHORS:  COMPOSERS…

1811 - Harriet Beecher Stowe, author (Uncle Tom's Cabin)

1884 - John McCormack, Irish/US singer (Irish folksongs)

…ATHLETES

1984 - Lorenzo Booker, American football player turns 27

1969 - Steffi Graf, Bruhl West Germany, tennis player (Grand Slam 1988) turns 42

…ENTERTAINERS (ACTORS/SINGERS…)

1921 - Gene Barry, actor (Bat Masterson, Name of the Game, Burke's Law)

Yasmine Bleeth actress turns 43

1895 - Cliff Edwards, "Ukulele Ike", singer (When You Wish Upon a Star)

Marla Gibbs actress turns 80

1909 - Burl Ives, folk singer/actor (Cat on a Hot Tin Roof)

1918 - Dorothy McGuire, actress (Old Yeller, Summer Magic)

1988 - Kevin Michael McHale, American singer turns 23

1961 - "Boy George" O'Dowd, androgynous vocalist & druggie (Culture Club) turns 50

… ENTREPRENEUR & EDUCATORS

Donald Trump businessman turns 65

1925 - Pierre Salinger, newsman (ABC)/press secretary (John Kennedy)

…POLITICIANS

1932 - Joe Arpaio, sheriff of Maricopa County, Arizona turns 79

1928 - Ernesto "Che" Guevara Serna, Arg/Cuba revolutionary (Cuba)

1529 - Ferdinand, archduke (Austria)

1855 - Robert Marion La Follette, Wisconsin, pres candidate (Progressive)

…SCIENTISTS / THEOLOGISTS

1864 - Alois Alzheimer, Germany, psychiatrist/pathologist (Alzheimer Disease)

Ø  Today’s Obits:

1801 - Benedict Arnold, Revolutionary War general, dies of dropsy at 60

1946 - John Logie Baird, Scottish television pioneer dies of stroke at 58

2009 - Bob Bogle, founding member of The Ventures dies of lymphoma at 75

1926 - Mary Cassatt, American artist dies at 83

1986 - Alan Jay Lerner, Broadway librettist, dies of lung cancer at 67

1994 - Henry Mancini, composer (Pink Panther, Moon River), dies of pancreatic cancer at 70

1986 - Marlin Perkins, TV host (Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom), dies at 81

1977 - Alan Reed, actor (Fred Allen)/voice (Fred Flintstone), dies of heart attack at 69

2007 - Kurt Waldheim, Austrian politician and statesman dies at 89

Ø  ANSWERS:

Trivia Quiz

1.      What is in brackets in the title of Cher's The Shoop Shoop Song ?

It's In His Kiss

2.      Which American city links songs by Bruce Springsteen and Elton John?

Philadelphia

3.      What type of creature was Michael Jackson's pet Muscles?

Snake

4.      What job did Del Shannon take on when he came out of the US Army?

                      Carpet salesman

5.      Which senior star released an album in 1996 called Strong Love Affair?

Ray Charles

6.      What was Peter Cetera's first solo NO 1 single?

Glory Of Love

7.      What was Bruce Springsteen's first Top Ten Single?

Light Of My Life

8.      Spice Girl Mel C joined which artist on the hit When You're Gone?

Bryan Adams

9.      Which Michael Jackson album had the subtitle Past Present and future Book 1?

History

10.   Which name links Stigers and Mayfield?

Curtis

11.   What was Madonna's next No 1 after Like A Virgin?

Crazy For You

12.   In which decade was superstar Michael Bolton born?

1950s

13.   Where was John Denver born?

New Mexico

14.   Who had an 80sNo 1 with You Keep Me Hangin' On ?

Kim Wilde

Close Up Picture

scale

Ø  …AND THAT’S ALL FOR NOW