Mar 22

FYI: Click on any blue text for a link to more information!

Today’s  Historical  Highlights

1622 - 1st American Indian (Powhattan) massacre of whites Jamestown Virginia, 347 slain

1630 - 1st colonial legislation prohibiting gambling enacted (Boston)

1765 - Stamp Act passed; 1st direct British tax on colonists

1784 - The Emerald Buddha is moved with great ceremony to its current place in Wat Phra Kaew, Thailand

1882 - Congress outlaws polygamy (again) Edmunds Act

1903 - Niagera Falls runs out of water because of a drought

1935 - Blood tests authorized as evidence in court cases (NY)

1960 - 1st patent for lasers, granted to Arthur Schawlow & Charles Townes

1972 - Congress approves Equal Rights Amendment (never ratified)

1984 - Teachers at the McMartin preschool in Manhattan Beach, California are charged with Satanic ritual abuse of the children in the school. The charges are later dropped as completely unfounded.

1988 - Congress overrides Reagan's veto of sweeping civil rights bill

♪Happy Birthday To: ♪                     

 Returns tomorrow

Free Rambling Thoughts   

Most of my icicles have melted off the awning…that’s good. It means warmer days. My Colorado blue spruce is not back to its full magnificence.  I stayed around the house today, doing laundry and some minor cleaning. I’ve got errands to run tomorrow and can now go out with clean clothes.

The death of that 17 year old in Florida has placed all 23 state laws that allow people to legally shoot another under question. AZ has such a law, and now with talk of our ‘volunteer militia’ I’m sure we too will be in the news. Even the authors of these bills are saying that their goal was for people to protect themselves when confronted…and were not written to allow people to pursue anyone someone who hasn’t threatened you personally. My dad was a Neighborhood Watch organizer back in the 70’s when they moved to a townhouse. He never would have done it had it involved carrying a gun. He basically got people to sign up, got signs put up around the neighborhood, and set up meetings with the local police on what, how, when to report suspicious activity. Sadly, things have certainly changed since those days. Checking the old internet, Flagstaff doesn’t have any NW programs and there is only one in all of the county.

I get that the times they are a changin’. But a local story from NAU really shows it. Some future employers are asking potential employees for their social networking passwords. This doesn’t seem possible. First of all, why would they need your password? I get that they might ask to ‘friend’ or ‘follow’ you to see what you are posting to the public. Giving out your password gives the ‘company’ the ability to post, change, add or delete things on your account. Since the story didn’t list any of the companies that are using this practice, I’m not real sure it is accurate.  As jobs are hard to find in this economy, I’m sure some will give out their passwords. Wonder what else the company will want if you are hired. As one NAU students said ‘it’s the same thing as giving the potential employer a key to your house and copies of all your journals.’ The summer I graduated from college, I needed a new job for the summer. I applied at several grocery stores. One manager said he would hire me if I would shave off my mustache. I asked him why and he said he didn’t hire hippies. I didn’t shave, but found another job the next day, and after two months, was offered a managerial position. I declined and became a teacher. Sometimes an employer has a very strange set of requirements and as I see it, they are the losers.

Game   Center   (answers at the end of post)

Brain Game

NPR Sunday Puzzle

Each clue is a pair of words. For each pair, find a word that can follow the first word and precede the second one so that, in each case, it will complete a familiar two-word phrase. For example, given "hand" and "talk," the answer would be "jive," as in "hand jive" and "jive talk." Each answer will begin with ‘j’

1.      Disc; shorts:

2.      Jumbo; black:

3.      Tire; frost:

4.      Clip; custody:

5.      Tomato; bar:

6.      Grape; beans:

7.      Crown; case:

8.      Puddle; cables:

9.      Space; food:

10.   Paper; session:

11.   Book; lapel:

12.   Poetic; department:

13.   Nose; interview:

Wuzzles  What concept or phrase do these suggest?

Lifestyle  Substance     

Planet Earth—

Found on You Tube         

Marcel Marceau Remembered

Michael Jackson meets Marcel Marceau

Harper’s Index         

Number of times the average British woman will fall in love: 1

Joke-of-the-day

His father sends a small boy to bed. Five  minutes later.... "Da-ad...."

 "What?"

"I'm thirsty. Can you bring drink of water?"

"No. You had your chance. Lights out."

 Five minutes later: "Da-aaaad....."

 "WHAT?"

 "I'm THIRSTY. Can I have a drink of water??"

 "I told you NO!" If you ask again, I'll have to spank you!!"

 Five minutes later......"Daaaa-aaaad....."

 "WHAT!"

 "When you come in to spank me, can you bring a drink of water?"

Rules of Thumb   

Easy shortcuts to make an ‘educated’ guess

If a taxi driver talks a lot, let him; if he doesn't talk, don't ask him to; and if he laughs all the time, never ask him why.

Somewhat Useless Information   

As a child, Albert Einstein seldom spoke. When he did, he spoke very slowly. According to accounts, Einstein did this until he was nine years old. Einstein's parents were fearful that he was retarded.

At 17, Albert Einstein applied for early admission into the Swiss Federal Polytechnical School (Eidgenossische Technische Hochschule or ETH). He passed the math and science sections of the entrance exam, but failed the rest (history, languages, geography, etc.). Einstein had to go to a trade school before he retook the exam and was finally admitted to ETH a year later.

Yeah, It Really Happened                 

PADUA, Minn. - Two male firefighters didn't let their off-the-shoulder, floor-length dresses stop them from doing their duty during the weekend, Minnesota fire officials say. Sauk Centre Fire Chief John Egan told WCCO-TV, Minneapolis, the two Sedan Fire Department firefighters were dressed in drag for Saturday's parade in Padua. Despite the "hot" numbers they were wearing -- one a bright coral gown and the other turquoise -- the two firefighters jumped into action when flames erupted from a nearby pickup truck and spread to a second vehicle. They used a fire hose to extinguish the blaze.

 Calendar Information        

…Happening This Week:

18-24

National Animal Poison Prevention Week

National Inhalant and Poisons Awareness Week

19-25

Act Happy Week

American Chocolate Week

Wellderly Week

21-25

YoYo and Skill Toys Week

21-27

Week of Solidarity with People's Struggling Against Racism & Discrimination

Today Is                                                                      

American Diabetes Association Alert Day

As Young As You Feel Day

International Day of The Seal

International Goof-off Day

World Day for Water (aka World Water Day)

Puerto Rico: Emancipation Day (Slavery Abolition Act 1833)
India: New Years Day

Today’s Other Events                                                             

1300’s

1349 - Townspeople of Fulda Germany massacre Jews (blamed for black death)

1400’s

1457 - Gutenberg Bible became the 1st printed book

> 

1600’s

1621 - Massasoit, Quadequina, Samoset (a PEMAQUID), Squanto, and 60 warriors visit the Plymouth colony with great ceremony. They will freely give lands to the pilgrims. According to some calendars, this will happen on April 2nd.

1700’s

1733 - Joseph Priestly invents carbonated water (seltzer)

1764: A slave held by the English flees and take refuge with the TUNICA Indians. The English set up a small expedition to retrieve the slave. Tunica, Ofo, Avoyel, and some Choctaw attack a group of small boats carrying the English. Six of the English are killed, and they abandon their attempt.

1790 - Thomas Jefferson becomes the 1st US Secretary of State

1800’s

1841 - Cornstarch patented (Orlando Jones)

1861 - 1st US nursing school chartered

1900’s

1933 - FDR makes wine & beer with up to 3.2% alcohol legal

1944 - 600+ 8th Air Force bombers attack Berlin

1945 - Arab League forms with adoption of a charter in Cairo Egypt

1946 - 1st US rocket to leave the Earth's atmosphere (50 miles up)

1954 - 1st shopping mall opened in Southfield, Mich

1965 - US confirms its troops used chemical warfare against the Vietcong

1972 - Kareem Abdul-Jabbar named NBA MVP

1975 - A fire at the Browns Ferry Nuclear Power Plant in Decatur, Alabama causes dangerous lowering of cooling water levels

1977 - Indira Gandhi resigns as PM of India

1978 - Karl Wallenda of the The Flying Wallendas dies after falling off a tight-rope between two hotels in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

1990 - Anchorage jury finds Capt Hazelwood innocent of Valdez oil spill

2000’s

2004 - Ahmed Yassin, co-founder and leader of the Palestinian Sunni Islamist militant group Hamas, and bodyguards are killed in the Gaza Strip when hit by Israeli Air Force AH-64 Apache fired Hellfire missiles

 2006 - ETA, armed Basque separatist group, declares permanent ceasefire

2006 - Three Christian Peacemaker Teams Hostages are freed by British forces in Baghdad after 118 days captivity and the death of their colleague, American Tom Fox.

2009 - Mount Redoubt, a volcano in Alaska began erupting after a prolonged period of unrest.

Today’s Birthdays                                                           

In their 80’s

Al Neuharth, newspaper founder (USA Today) is 88

Pat Robertson, televangelist (700 club, Pres candidate-R-1989)) is 82

William Shatner actor (Star Trek, T J Hooker will be 81

In their 70’s

Glen Campbell, singer (By the Time I get to Phoenix, Galveston) is 74

In their 60’s

Wolf Blitzer, American television journalist  is 64

Bob Costas sportscaster/talk show host (Later)will be 60

Jeremy Clyde, singer (Chad and Jeremy) will be 68

Andrew Lloyd Webber, London, composer (Phantom of the Opera, Cats) is 64

Remembered for being born on this day

Jack Boyle, American baseball player in 1866

Louis D L'Amour, Jamestown ND, author (Hondo, Jubal Sackett) in 1908

Chico Marx, [Leonard Martin], NYC, comedian (Marx Brothers) in 1887

Marcel Marceau, Strasbourg France, mime (Barbarella, Silent Movie) in 1923

Karl Malden, actor (Mike-Streets of SF, American Express) in 1912

Ross Martin, Grodek Poland, actor (Mr Lucky, Wild Wild West) in 1920

Anthony Van Dyck, Flemish painter (Charles I of England) in 1599

Today’s Obits                                                           

James W. Black, Scottish Nobel Prize-winning doctor and medical research scientist dies at 86 in 2010

Jonathan Edwards, theologian/philosopher (Original Sin), dies after small pox inoculation at 54 in 1758

J W Goethe, writer, dies at 82 in 1832

Karl Wallenda, falls to death walking high-wire in PR at 73 in 1978

Ahmed Yassin, Palestinian co-founder of Hamas assassinated at 67 in 2004

Answers                                                                                                                                            

Brain Game

NPR Sunday Puzzle

1.      Disc; shorts:

a.      jockey

2.      Jumbo; black:

a.      jet

3.      Tire; frost:

a.       jack

4.      Clip; custody:

a.      joint

5.      Tomato; bar:

a.       juice

6.      Grape; beans:

a.      jelly

7.      Crown; case:

a.      jewels

8.      Puddle; cables:

a.       jumper

9.      Space; food:

a.      junk

10.   Paper; session:

a.      jam

11.   Book; lapel:

a.      jacket

12.   Poetic; department:

a.      justice

13.   Nose; interview:              

a.      job

Wuzzle

Equal rights

Lying down on the job

Middle ground

Disclaimer: All opinions are mine…feel free to agree or disagree.

All ‘data’ info is from the internet sites and is usually checked with at least one other source, but I have learned that every site has mistakes and sadly once out the information is out there, many sites simply copy it and is therefore difficult to verify. Also for events occurring before the Gregorian calendar was adopted [1582] the dates may not be totally accurate.

☺    And That Is All for Now  ☺

Mar 21st

FYI: Click on any blue text for a link to more information!

Today’s  Historical  Highlights

1824 - Fire at Cairo ammunitions dump kills 4,000 horses

1866 - Congress authorizes national soldiers' homes

1883 – Chiricahua Apache are raiding American locations then returning to Mexico. Chato, Bonito and Chihuahua raid a mining town near Tombstone. This is just the pretext General George Crook needs to mount a raid into Mexico to find the Apache.

1925 - Edinburgh's Murreyfield Stadium officially opens

1935 - Persia officially renamed Iran

1947 - Pres Truman signs Executive Order 9835 requiring all federal employees to have allegiance to the United States

1951 - Julius & Ethel Rosenberg convicted of espionage

1970 - The first Earth Day proclamation is issued by San Francisco Mayor Joseph Alioto.

1975 - Ethiopia ends monarchy after 3000 years

1980 - President Jimmy Carter announces US boycott of Moscow Olympics

1983 - Only known typo on Time Magazine cover (control=contol), all recalled

♪Happy Birthday To: ♪                     

 

Free Rambling Thoughts   

A beautiful sunny, cool day here in Flag. I was out and about for a couple of hours and while needing a jacket, enjoyed the day.

 My roof still has amazing, bending icicles. The bending is from the wind we experienced during the storm. Nice too look out my office window through them. Enjoy these taken from the second story office window!

Frightening earthquake outside Mexico City. A friend from my brother’s b-day party works in the city. Sure hope he is OK. Damage doesn’t seem bad, but lots of frightened people.

Game   Center   (answers at the end of post)

Brain Game

NPR Sunday Puzzle

Each clue is a list of three things. The answer is what they all have in common. For example, if the clues are: "a college graduate, a thermometer and longitude," the answer would be "degrees." Hint: Every answer, like "degrees," is a seven-letter plural.

1.      A kite, a marionette, an orchestra:

2.      Pool table, kangaroo, pants: pockets

3.      A word, the Post office, school’s top athlete:

4.      A disc jockey, a hospital, an ex-con:

5.      A credit card, the calvary, an ion:

6.      A jack in the box, a stream, a mattress:

7.      April, a bride to be, a locker room:

8.      A candy store, An octopus, a line at a side show:

9.      A porch, a computer, suntan lotion:

10.   The Parthenon, spreadsheet, a newspaper:

11.   A cigarette, a swimming pool, a coffee maker:

12.   Ping pong, a canoe, a fraternity member:

Wuzzles  What concept or phrase do these suggest?

Lifestyle  Substance     

Planet Earth—

Found on You Tube         

vida de Benito Juarez (Spanish Only)

Harper’s Index         

Number of times the average British male will fall in love, according to a recent study: 3

Joke-of-the-day

While taking a routine vandalism report at an elementary school, the policeman was interrupted by a 6 year-old looking up and down his uniform, she asked. “Are you a policeman?”

“Yes,” he answered and continued writing the report.

“My mother said if I ever needed help I should ask the police. Is that right?”

“Yes, that’s right, the policeman told her.

“Well, then,” the little girl said as she extended her foot toward him, “would you please tie my shoe?”

Rules of Thumb   

Easy shortcuts to make an ‘educated’ guess

A standard spherical soft contact lens will correct astigmatism up to one diopter and it is much cheaper than a toric one.

Somewhat Useless Information   

The game of jacks started out as dibstones and was played using pebbles or even sheep's knuckles. When a player captured a piece, he would call out "I've got dibs!" which led to the contemporary usage of the expression.The world's largest croquet complex is located in West Palm Beach, Florida, and covers 10 acres.The jump rope game Double Dutch is as old as the craft of rope making. In ancient Egypt and China, rope makers walked backward, twisting the various strands of rope into uniformity, while runners jumped and dodged their way across the cluttered floors supplying the spinners with hemp.Badminton originated as a child's game in India called "battledore and shuttlecock." When British soldiers took the game back with them to the UK, it became a favorite of the Duke of Beaufort and eventually took on the name of his country estate, Badminton.Hopscotch was created as a training exercise for soldiers during the Roman Empire. In order to improve their footwork, they had to traverse a 100-foot-long course in full armor.In the 14th century, billiards - or the precursor to it - was played on outdoor lawns. Eventually, folks got tired of bending over, so they moved the game indoors and reduced it to the size of a tabletop. The green felt cover is a nod to the sport's outdoor origins.

Yeah, It Really Happened                 

MSNBC” You would think a drug runner would know better than to get into a car with a personalized license plate with the letters S-M-U-G-G-L-E-R. Or that she would think twice before booking a room at the Smuggler's Inn, a mere sprint from the Canadian border.
Homeland Security agents received a tip in December about a cocaine deal at a Pizza Hut in Bellingham, Wash., the SeattlePI.com reported, citing recently released court documents. They set up surveillance at the Pizza Hut and watched as a GMC Yukon with a driver and two passengers pulled in. The license plate read SMUGGLER.Agents followed the SUV to the Smuggler’s Inn, pulled it over and found, in a wrapped box, nine bricks of cocaine weighing just under 24 pounds, the P-I reported.One of the passengers, Jasmin Klair, 20, admitted that the illicit cargo was hers and agreed to cooperate with law enforcement officials, according to court documents. She explained to agents that she had been told to book at a bottom-floor room facing Canada at the Smuggler’s Inn, a bed and breakfast with rooms named "Al Capone" and "DB Cooper." Klair wanted the "Captain's Room," about 150 feet from the border.While agents interviewed her, she started receiving text messages from two men who had given her the job, the Vancouver Sun reported. Authorities prevailed on her to beckon the two men to the Smuggler’s Inn.They arrived within minutes, the Sun reported, and made a run for it when police ordered them to stop.One of the two men, Narminder Kaler, allegedly told agents that he would have received $2,000 for the deal, according to the Sun. He sorely needed it, he is alleged to have said, to pay off a $325,000 debt for losing 115 pounds of marijuana a year and a half ago.Klair, 20, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court to conspiring to distribute cocaine, the P-I reported. She will be sentenced on May 29. Kaler and Gurjit Sandhu are in jail and face similar charges, according to the P-I.

Calendar Information        

…Happening This Week:

18-24

National Animal Poison Prevention Week

National Inhalant and Poisons Awareness Week

19-25

Act Happy Week

American Chocolate Week

Wellderly Week

21-25

YoYo and Skill Toys Week

Today Is                                                                      

Fragrance Day

Kick Butts Day

International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination

Memory Day

National Common Courtesy Day

Spring Fairy Fun Day

World Downs Syndrome Day

Australia: Canberra Day (commemorates Canberra’s official founding in 1913 and highlights a major festival in the territory)
Namibia:  Independence Day (1990 from South Africa)
South Africa: Human Rights Day

Today’s Other Events                                                             

1300’s

1349 - 3,000 Jews killed in Black Death riots in Efurt Germany

> 

1600’s

1697 - Czar Peter the Great begins tour through West-Europe

1700’s

1788 - Fire destroyed 856 buildings in New Orleans Louisiana

1800’s

1841: According to government documents, 220 "Tallahassee Seminole" prisoners will board a boat in Tampa Bay, today. They are being sent to the Indian Territory. Fifteen of the Indians will die in transit.

1900’s

1924 - 1st foreign language course broadcast on US radio (WJZ, NYC)

1951 - 2,900,000 US soldiers in Korea

1962 - A bear becomes the 1st creature to be ejected at supersonic speeds

1968 - "Royals" chosen as the name of new KC AL franchise

1968 - Israeli forces cross Jordan River to attack PLO bases

1972 - US Supreme Court rules states can't require 1-yr residency to vote

1979 - Egyptian Parliament unanimously approve peace treaty with Israel

1984 - Part of Central Park is named Strawberry Fields honoring John Lennon

2000’s

2002 - In Pakistan, Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh along with three other suspects are charged with murder for their part in the kidnapping and killing of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl.

2004 - In Malaysia, the 11th Federal and State elections are held, returning the ruling coalition Barisan Nasional to power with an increased majority.

2006 - Immigrant workers constructing the Burj Dubayy in Dubai, The United Arab Emirates and a new terminal of Dubai International Airport join together and riot, causing $1M in damage.

Today’s Birthdays                                                           

> 

In their 60’s

Timothy Dalton, actor North Wales, (James Bond-Living Daylights) is 68

In their 50’s

Matthew Broderick, actor (War Games, Biloxi Blues) is 50 

Rosie O'Donnell, talk show host is 50

Gary Oldman, actor  is 54

> 

In their 30’s

Kevin Federline, American dancer/hip hop artist is 34

Remembered for being born on this day

Johann Sebastian Bach, Eisenach Germany, composer (Mattheus-Passion) in 1685

James Coco, actor (Man of La Mancha, Murder by Death) in 1929

Jean-Baptiste-Joseph Fourier, mathematician/Egyptologist in 1768

Benito Pablo Juarez, Oaxaca Mexico, president of Mexico (1858-72) in 1806

John D Rockefeller III, billionaire philanthropist (oil) in 1906

Today’s Obits                                                           

Macdonald Carey, actor (Days of Our Lives), dies of cancer at 81 in 1994

Thomas Cranmer, archbishop of Canterbury, burned at stake at 66 in 1556

Dean Paul Martin, actor (Billy-Misfits of Science), dies in National Guard training flight  at 35 in 1987

Pocahontas, Native American, daughter of Powhatan dies in England at 21 or 22 in 1617

Dack Rambo, actor (Jack Ewing-Dallas), dies from AIDs at 52 in 1994

Michael Redgrave, actor (Goodbye Mr Chips, Mr Arkadin), dies at 77 in 1985

Answers                                                                                                                                            

Brain Game

NPR Sunday Puzzle

1.      A kite, a marionette, an orchestra:

a.      strings

2.      Pool table, kangaroo, pants:

a.      pockets

3.      A word, the Post office, school’s top athlete:

a.      letters

4.      A disc jockey, a hospital, an ex-con:

a.      records

5.      A credit card, the calvary, an ion:

a.      charges

6.      A jack in the box, a stream, a mattress:

a.      springs

7.      April, a bride to be, a locker room:

a.      showers

8.      A candy store, An octopus, a line at a side show:

a.      suckers

9.      A porch, a computer, suntan lotion:

a.      screens

10.   The Parthenon, spreadsheet, a newspaper:

a.      columns

11.   A cigarette, a swimming pool, a coffee maker:

a.      filters

12.   Ping pong, a canoe, a fraternity member:

a.      paddles

Wuzzle

• tenants
• much ado about nothing
• bib overalls 

Disclaimer: All opinions are mine…feel free to agree or disagree.

All ‘data’ info is from the internet sites and is usually checked with at least one other source, but I have learned that every site has mistakes and sadly once out the information is out there, many sites simply copy it and is therefore difficult to verify. Also for events occurring before the Gregorian calendar was adopted [1582] the dates may not be totally accurate.

☺    And That Is All for Now  ☺