6-27-11

Ø  TODAY’s “Geez”:

·        1652 - New Amsterdam (now NYC) passes 1st speed limit law in US

·        1942 - FBI captures 8 Nazi saboteurs from a sub off NY's Long Island

·        1950 - US sends 35 military advisers to South Vietnam

·        1967 - The world's first ATM is installed in Enfield, London.

·        1985 - Route 66 (Chicago to Santa Monica), is decertified

Ø  Free Rambling Thoughts…

It’s a small world. I’m Facebook friends with three of the safari guides from South Africa. They all have moved around to various venues since I was there. When I was watching the news clips I thought one of the guides looked familiar. This morning he posted on his wall that he in fact was one of four guides that took our first lady, the two kids, and grandma on a safari. Obama remains very popular with the South Africans. He was pretty happy about the experience.

Later in the day I got sad news that one of the cops I knew from the Rez had been shot and killed when responding to a family disturbance in Kaibeto. When I was a Kaibeto, he had a small room with a phone line, and a police radio in one of the non-functioning dorms. He was a good guy. Prayers go to the family of Sgt. Darrell Curley.

Then, when I got on FB this evening I discovered that our governor is writing a book--Scorpions for Breakfast: My Fight Against Special Interests, Liberal Media and Cynical Politicos to Secure America’s Border."  Great! I get that she has an agenda. It just doesn’t seem right that she is doing this while she is governor. She has talked numerous times about how hard it is to be governor. Now she has time to write a book. Really? While I am sure she will be the Lady in Shining Armor who is put in office when the elected governor went to DC, who is saving our state. Of course, all this will bring more bad press to AZ as people will believe her stories of beheaded people in our desert, drug runners hiring kids as mules, and how, without her our state would be a mess. It’s being published by Broadside Books which is a new subsidiary of Harper Collins that advertises publishing non-fiction conservative books for today’s conservative.  We all have to wait until Nov. 1 to get our own copy.

Bob, my traveler on the called and is back from Italy. The group had a great time. Now he is getting ready for the Colorado River trip.  Sounds good to me.

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

1.      The Strait of Gibraltar connects the Atlantic Ocean with which Sea?

2.      The airline Danair is based where?

3.      Which mountainous European country is divided into cantons?

4.      Portugal lies east of which ocean?

5.      Which English location would the French call Douvres?

6.      In Greenland, a native of the country might be called Inuit or what?

7.      Which country is also called the Hellenic Republic?

8.      In Norway, a fjord is made up largely of what?

9.      Majorca is part of which group of islands?

10.   Tuscany is part of which country?

11.   What is Europe's most mountainous country?

12.   The province of Calabria is at the southernmost tip of which county?

13.   What is the currency of Spain?

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

Ø  Hmmmmm…

·        Date that the United Farm Workers began ‘Take Our Jobs’—a campaing asking legal US residents to work as farm laborers: 6/24/2010

Ø  Somewhat Useless Information…

·        Benjamin Franklin was the first head of the United States Post Office.

·        The first macaroni factory in the United States was established in 1848. It was started by Antoine Zegera in Brooklyn, New York.

·        The first telephone book ever issued contained only fifty names. It was published in New Haven, Connecticut, by the New Haven District Telephone Company in February, 1878.

·        The A&P was the first chain store business to be established. It began in 1842.

·        The Adventures of Tom Sawyer was the first novel ever to be written on a typewriter. It was typed on a Remington in 1875 by Mark Twain himself. Twain did not want that fact known because he didn't want to write testimonials or answer questions about this "newfangled thing."

·        King George VI of England became the first British monarch to set foot on American soil when he visited the World's Fair in New York City in 1939.

Ø  Yeah, It Really Happened…

BOULDER, Colo. - Police in Colorado said a man spotted in the tank of a portable toilet at the Hanuman Yoga Festival escaped capture while "covered in feces." Boulder police said a woman who entered the portable toilet Friday suspected there was someone hiding under a tarp in the tank, which had been heavily used, and informed a security officer, The Denver Post reported Wednesday. The officer witnessed a man police said was shirtless, shoeless and "covered in feces" exit the portable toilet a short time later, but the suspect successfully fled on foot. The man, described as white and about 20 years old, was identified by some witnesses as a transient who calls himself Sky. Boulder police spokeswoman Kim Kobel said investigators do not know how the man, estimated to be between 6-foot-4 and 6-foot-8, managed to fit into the small tank. The man is being sought on a charge of criminal attempt to make unlawful sexual contact.

Ø  Guffaw…or at least smile…

At a bar, one patron to another: “Excuse me but I think you owe me a drink.”

Why?

 “You’re so ugly that I dropped mine when I saw you”

Ø  Searchin’ “You Tube” I found…

Dark Shadows - Barnabas & Burke

Ø  Daybook Information…

…Happening This Week:

26-7/2

·        National Mosquito Control Awareness Week

·        National Prevention of Eye Injuries Awareness

·        Fish Are Friends, Not Food! Week

Ø  TODAY IS

·        Decide To Be Married Day

·        "Happy Birthday To You" Day

·        National Columnists Day

·        National HIV Testing Day

·        Please Take My Children To Work Day

·        Djibouti: Independence Day (1977 from France)

Ø  Today’s Events:

…  IN ARTS

1964 - Jan & Dean release "Little Old Lady From Pasadena"

1966 - 1st sci-fi soap opera, "Dark Shadows," premieres on ABC-TV

1974 - "Flip Wilson Show," last airs on NBC-TV

…  IN ATHLETICS

1939 - Brooklyn Dodgers tie Boston Braves, 2-2, in 23 innings

…  IN BUSINESS

1693 - 1st woman's magazine "Ladies' Mercury" published (London)

1929 - 1st color TV demo (NYC)

1955 - 1st automobile seat belt legislation enacted (Illinois)

1977 - 5-4 Supreme Court decision allows lawyers to advertise

… IN EDUCATION

1833 - Prudence Crandall, a white woman, arrested for conducting an academy for black females at Canterbury Conn

1922 - Newberry Medal 1st presented for kids literature (Hendrik Van Loon)

…  FOR INDIGENOUS PEOPLE

1879 - The Drifting Goose Reserve will be created out of townsites number 119, 120, and 121 north, of range 63 west in the Dakota Territory today. It is created for the "MAG-A-BO-DAS or DRIFTING GOOSE Band of the Yankton Sioux "

…  IN INTERNATIONAL POLITICS

1542 - Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo claims California for Spain

1990 - Salman Rushdie, condemned to death by Iran, contributes $8600 to help their earthquake victims … IN RELIGION

▬

…  IN SCIENCE

1923 - Capt. Lowell H. Smith and Lt. John P. Richter perform the first ever aerial refueling in a DH-4B biplane

1954 - 1st atomic power station opens (Obninsk, near Moscow, Russia)

…  IN US POLITICS

1934 - Federal Savings & Loan Association created

1950 - North Koreans troop reach Seoul, UN asks members to aid South Korea, Truman orders Air Force & Navy into Korean conflict

1963 - Pres Kennedy spent 1st full day in Ireland

1969 - Police raid Stonewall Gay Bar in Greenwich Village, NY, about 400 to 1,000 patrons riot against police, it lasts 3 days

… ARTISTS:  AUTHORS:  COMPOSERS

1808 - Everhardus J Potgieter, Dutch writer/publisher (The Guide)

…ATHLETES

Johnny Estrada, American baseball player, turns 36

1913 - Willie Mosconi, world champion pool player (1941-57)

…ENTERTAINERS (ACTORS/SINGERS…)

Drake Bell, actor, songwriter turns 25

Julia Duffy , actor , turns 60

1862 - May Irwin, US comedienne/singer (Hot Time in the Old Town)

Khloe Kardashian, actress, real estate , turns 27

1927 - Bob Keeshan, aka Capt Kangaroo/Clarabelle (Good Morning)

Tobey Maguire, actor turns 36

1907 - John McIntire, actor (Naked City, Wagon Train, Virginian)

1959 - Trisha Yearwood, singer (She's in Love With the Boy), turns 52

… ENTREPRENEUR & EDUCATORS

1905 - Ruby Middleton Forsythe, teacher (50 years in 1 room school in SC)

1869 - Emma Goldman, anarchist/publisher (Mother Earth)

1880 - Helen Keller, blind-deaf author/lecturer

…POLITICIANS

1938 - Bruce E Babbitt, secretary of interior, AZ governor , turns 73

1930 - H Ross Perot, billionaire/presidental candidate (1992) , turns 81

…SCIENTISTS / THEOLOGISTS

1946 - Sally Priesand, 1st us woman rabbi , turns 65

Ø  Today’s Obits:

2002 - John Entwistle, bass-player with The Who dies in his sleep of a heart attack at 57

1987 - Jackie Gleason, comedian (Ralph Kramden-Honeymooners), dies of diabetes and phlebitis at 71

2005 - Frank Harte, Traditional Irish Singer and song collector dies at 72 ( The Traveler All Over The World)

1776 - Thomas Hickey, plan to hand George Washington to British, executed

2001 - Jack Lemmon, American actor dies at 76

1986 - Don Rogers, of Cleveland Browns, dies of cocaine poisoning at 23

1829 - James Smithson, his will establishes Smithsonian Institute. Dies after long illness at 65

1844 - Joseph Smith Jr, founder/leader (Mormon Church), shot by mob at 38

2009 - Gale Storm, TV Personality dies at 87

Ø  ANSWERS:

Ø  Trivia Quiz

 1.      The Strait of Gibraltar connects the Atlantic Ocean with which Sea?

Mediterranean

2.      The airline Danair is based where?

Denmark

3.      Which mountainous European country is divided into cantons?

Switzerland

4.      Portugal lies east of which ocean?

Atlantic

5.      Which English location would the French call Douvres?

Dover

6.      In Greenland, a native of the country might be called Inuit or what?

Eskimo

7.      Which country is also called the Hellenic Republic?

Greece

8.      In Norway, a fjord is made up largely of what?

Water

9.      Majorca is part of which group of islands?

Balearics

10.   Tuscany is part of which country?

Italy

11.   What is Europe's most mountainous country?

Switzerland

12.   The province of Calabria is at the southernmost tip of which county?

Italy

13.   What is the currency of Spain?

Peseta

Ø  Close Up Picture

Ø  …AND THAT’S ALL FOR NOW

6-26-11

TODAY’s “Geez”:

1721 - Dr Zabdiel Boylston gives 1st smallpox inoculations in America

·      1900 - Dr Walter Reed begins research that beats Yellow Fever

·        1974 - The Universal Product Code is scanned for the first time to sell a package of Wrigley's chewing gum at the Marsh Supermarket in Troy, Ohio

Ø  Free Rambling Thoughts…

Another Red Flag Day. This is getting very concerning. Bring on the monsoons…soon.

&;·      

Our discussion group was small last night, when two people couldn’t make it due to illness.  Our topic was ‘do sanctions work?’ Our country seems to operate on diplomacy, until that doesn’t work, then moves to economic sanctions until that doesn’t work, then to military intervention. At least that how is used to be. The two ways that sanctions can work are ‘makes you feel good’—that is we are doing something and ‘actual change in the country’s policy’. The feel good ones almost always work; the other one not so much. We discussed many of the sanctions that took place from the Wilson era until today. Then we moved to why the US puts sanctions on another country. The most common sanction seems to be to get a country to join the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons. Again, it’s the ‘haves’ telling the ‘have nots’ what we want.

The difficulty with sanctions in the technology age is that all countries know what all the other countries are doing. No way is France going to place sanctions on their former colony of Libya because they need the oil. No way is China going to put sanctions of N Korea because they fear that if the government fails, millions will seek refuge in China. No way is Italy going to put sanctions on Tunisia for the same reason. Thankfully the current administration in the US is working really hard on the diplomacy role, something we didn’t do during the previous administration. From a humanitarian point, sanctions harm the general population much sooner than harming the government. The next time I hear that our government is talking about sanctions, I will certainly pay closer attention.

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

1.     The island of Rhodes belongs to which Mediterranean country?

2.      Is Scandinavia in the north or south of Europe?

3.      Which Mediterranean island's capital is Valletta?

4.     Eurotunnel links which two countries?

5.     La Scala is the world's most famous what?

6.      Andorra is at the foot of which mountains?

7.      Flemish is an official language of which kingdom?

8.      Which Arctic country's Finnish name is Lapin Li?

9.      Which country is known locally as Osterreich?

10.   The Left Bank generally refers to the Left Bank of the Seine in which city?

11. ;Which German city is known locally as Koln?

12.   Which country was divided into East and West between the 1940s and 1990s?

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

&Ø  Hmmmmm…

&l·        Chance that an American worker plans to change jobs when the recession ends: 1 in 3

&Ø  Somewhat Useless Information…

&;·        Only 6% of the autographs in circulation from members of the Beatles are estimated to be real.

&l·        While Let It Be was the last album to be released by The Beatles before their breakup, most of it was recorded before Abbey Road, their second to last album.

&lØ  Yeah, It Really Happened…

BLOOMINGTON, Minn. - A Minnesota woman accused of concealing a stolen mink coat in her underwear for three days pleaded guilty to a theft charge. Bloomington police said Stephanie Moreland, 46, was arrested on a felony theft charge on New Year's Eve after employees at the Alaska Fur Company accused her of stealing the short mink coat, valued at $6,500, WCCO-TV, Minneapolis, reported Wednesday.

A sales associate at the store took down Moreland's license plate number and police located the woman and her car a short time later, but the only sign of the coat was an empty hanger, police said. Moreland was booked into jail and she admitted three days later to having stolen the coat, but she claimed it had already been sold. However, when told she would be taken to the Hennepin County Jail downtown, Moreland lifted up her dress and revealed the coat had been shoved into her underwear.

"She had modified her underwear. She actually cut the rear of the underwear out so that from the back it appeared she was not wearing underwear and then stuffed it down the front," Bloomington Police Cmdr. Mark Stehlik said. Moreland pleaded guilty to the theft charge Monday and is due to be sentenced Aug. 8.

&lØ  Guffaw…or at least smile…

Tech Support: "I need you to right-click on the Open Desktop."

Customer: "Ok."

Tech Support: "Did you get a pop-up menu?"

Customer: "No."

Tech Support: "Ok. Right click again. Do you see a pop-up menu?"

Customer: "No."

Tech Support: "Ok, sir. Can you tell me what you have done up until this point?"

Customer: "Sure, you told me to write 'click' and I wrote click'."

&Ø  Searchin’ “You Tube” I found…

Images of Pine Ridge Reservation

&;Ø  Daybook Information…

…Happening This Week:

23-26

·        Watermelon Seed Spitting Week

26-7/2

·        National Mosquito Control Awareness Week

·        National Prevention of Eye Injuries Awareness

·        ;Fish Are Friends, Not Food! Week

&lØ  TODAY IS

·        America's Kids Day

·        Descendants Day

·        International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking

·      International Day in Support of Victims of Torture

·        Log Cabin Day

·        Madagascar: Independence Day (1960 from France)

·      National Chocolate Pudding Day

t;Ø  Today’s Events:

…  IN ARTS

1896 - 1st movie theater in US opens, charging 10 cents for admission

1946 - Fred Allen's last radio show, his guest is Jack Benny

…  IN ATHLETICS

1968 - Executive Council decides both AL & NL to divide into 2 divisions

…  IN BUSINESS

1797 - Charles Newbold patents 1st cast-iron plow. He can't sell it to farmers, though, they fear effects of iron on soil!

1919 - NY Daily News begins publishing

… IN EDUCATION

▬

…  FOR INDIGENOUS PEOPLE

1876 – Battle of Little Big Horn ends

1975 - Two FBI agents and a member of the American Indian Movement are killed in a shootout on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota; Leonard Peltier is later convicted of the murders in a controversial trial.

…  IN INTERNATIONAL POLITICS

1718 - Tsarevich Alexei Petrovich of Russia, Peter the Great's son, mysteriously dies after being sentenced to death by his father for plotting against him.

1843 - Hong Kong proclaimed a British Crown Colony

1945 - UN Charter signed by 50 nations in SF

1952 - Nelson Mandela & 51 others infringe South Africa curfew

1959 - Queen Elizabeth & Pres Eisenhower open St Lawrence Seaway

1972 - IRA proclaims resistant in North-Ireland

… IN RELIGION

▬

…  IN SCIENCE

1498 - Toothbrush invented

1553 - Christ's Hospital in England granted a charter

1990 - 122°F in Phoenix Arizona

1994 - 104°F (40°C) at Denver Colorado; 107°F (41.6°C) at Albuquerque New Mexico;  112°F (44.4°C) at El Paso Texas;  122°F (50°C) at Laughlin Nevada

1994 - 126°F (52.2°C) in Death Valley Calif

…  IN US POLITICS

1848 - 1st pure food law enacted in US

1870 - The Christian holiday of Christmas is declared a federal holiday in the United States.

1963 - Kennedy visits W Berlin "Ich bin ein Berliner" (I am a Berliner)

1997 - Supreme Court strikes down Internet indecency law

 … ARTISTS:  AUTHORS:  COMPOSERS

▬

…ATHLETES

1819 - Abner Doubleday, Mjr Gen (Union)/inventor (baseball)

1913 - Babe [Mildred Ella] Didrikson, hurdler (Oly-gold-32)

Derek Jeter baseball player turns  37

…ENTERTAINERS (ACTORS/SINGERS…)

Sean Hayes actor turns  41

Chris Isaak singer, actor turns  55

1964 - Zeng Jinlian, Hunan China, became tallest woman known (2.46 m, 8'1")

1904 - Peter Lorre, Hungarian/US, actor (M, Casablanca, Beast with 5 Fingers)

1933 - Pat Morita, [Noriyuki], Calif, actor (Arnold-Happy Days, Karate Kid)

Chris O'Donnell, actor turns 41

Eleanor Parker  actor turns  89

… ENTREPRENEUR & EDUCATORS

Milton Glaser, American Designer turns 82

1902 - William Lear, engineer/manufacturer/CEO (Lear Jet Corp)

1909 - "Col Tom" Parker, [Dries Van Kruijk], Neth, rock mgr (Elvis Presley)

…POLITICIANS

▬

…SCIENTISTS / THEOLOGISTS

1824 - Kelvin, [William Thomson], British physicist (Kelvin Scale)

1913 - Maurice Wilkes, inventor (stored program concept for computers)

<!--[if !supportLists]-->Ø  <!--[endif]-->Today’s Obits:

2007 - Liz Claiborne, Belgian-born American fashion designer dies at 78

1827 - Samuel Crompton, English inventor (mule-jenny), dies at 73

1984 - George H Gallup, pollster (Gallup Poll), dies at 82

2003 - Strom Thurmond, U.S. Senator dies at 99

<!--[if !supportLists]-->Ø  <!--[endif]-->ANSWERS:

<!--[if !supportLists]-->Ø  <!--[endif]-->Trivia Quiz

 1.      The island of Rhodes belongs to which Mediterranean country?

Greece

<!--[if !supportLists]-->2.      <!--[endif]-->Is Scandinavia in the north or south of Europe?

North

<!--[if !supportLists]-->3.      <!--[endif]-->Which Mediterranean island's capital is Valletta?

Malta

<!--[if !supportLists]-->4.      <!--[endif]-->Eurotunnel links which two countries?

England and France

<!--[if !supportLists]-->5.      <!--[endif]-->La Scala is the world's most famous what?

Opera house

<!--[if !supportLists]-->6.      <!--[endif]-->Andorra is at the foot of which mountains?

Pyrenees

<!--[if !supportLists]-->7.      <!--[endif]-->Flemish is an official language of which kingdom?

Belgium

<!--[if !supportLists]-->8.      <!--[endif]-->Which Arctic country's Finnish name is Lapin Li?

Lapland

<!--[if !supportLists]-->9.      <!--[endif]-->Which country is known locally as Osterreich?

Austria

<!--[if !supportLists]-->10.   <!--[endif]-->The Left Bank generally refers to the Left Bank of the Seine in which city?

Paris

<!--[if !supportLists]-->11.   <!--[endif]-->Which German city is known locally as Koln?

Cologne

<!--[if !supportLists]-->12.   <!--[endif]-->Which country was divided into East and West between the 1940s and 1990s?

Germany

<!--[if !supportLists]-->Ø  <!--[endif]-->Close Up Picture

<!--[if !supportLists]-->Ø  <!--[endif]-->…AND THAT’S ALL FOR NOW