Mar 7, 2013


FYI: Any blue text is a link. Click to check it out!
Flagstaff Almanac:  Week: 10/ Day: 66   
Today: H   48°L 22° Averages: H  54° L 25° Records: H   68°(1910)L -2°(1935)
Wind: ave:   20mph; Gusts:  32mph  Ave. humidity:  59%

Quote of the Day

Today’s Historical Highlights
1st homicide at Disneyland, 18 year old is stabbed to death1981
Alexander Graham Bell patents telephone1876
British House of Commons votes to make the upper chamber, the House of 
     Lords, 100% elected2007
Capt James Cook 1st sights Oregon coast, at Yaquina Bay1778
First democratically elected Palestinian parliament is formed1996
Glamour magazine begins publishing1939
Guy Lombardo & Royal Canadians 1st record "Auld Lang Syne"1939
Mary Martin as "Peter Pan" televised1955
Massachusetts establishes 1st 2-chamber legislature in colonies1644
United States attacks San Juan del Sur in Nicaragua1984
US Navy issues 1st permanent order assigning women on combat ship1994
US sent 20,000 troops to Mexican border1911

     Happy Birthday To: ♪. ♪   
How many can you identify?…answers in Today’s Birthdays

Free Rambling Thoughts   
A little too windy for my taste, but not a cold wind so survivable. Nice day for an afternoon walk.
 
I have never been a fan of ‘drone’ attacks in the Middle East. One reason is that the ‘pilots’ are sitting at a computer screen in the US to direct them. Another reason is that no matter what the government says, we all know that there is collateral killing of innocents. My parent’s generation was in WWII. During that time, ALL Germans and ALL Japanese and I suppose ALL Italians were trying to destroy the US. I grew up after the war. It was so hard for my dad when a German couple, from Germany, moved in across the street. Over the years, as their family grew we all became good friends. Then a Japanese couple moved in down the street. That too was hard for my dad. Then in college I had a Japanese roommate and my dad had a man-to-man with me to stay alert. It was always hard for him to change the beliefs he received in the Army and Navy. He mellowed a lot, but never really changed. Now the Attorney General has said that the President has the power to use drown strikes against enemies on US soil. While I try to support our President, this is just plain wrong. If for no other reason than if a drone was used there would be collateral damage that would most likely include innocent Americans. For example, say a ‘terrorist’ lives in my townhouse complex. We never meet, but they are ‘plotting’ in their unit. A drone aimed at their unit would easily destroy several units on either side. This is not the America I have grown up in, and it is not the America that I want to continue. Every so often we hear about a small plane that crashes into an innocent person’s home. It almost always damages or destroys several homes and people are killed. Drones would be the same. While I am not a Rand Paul fan, his filibuster is making a good point.  Before the President talks more about his power to use drones on US soil, against American citizens, he should force the military to provide Americans with the actual body count of drones we are using in the Middle East. Sure we know how many ‘terrorists’ are killed, but we have no idea how many innocents are being killed at the same time.
 
Mary left for Phoenix this morning to sign the final papers and begin the move in to her new home. She is certainly excited…and I can’t blame her. She calls it a second home, but I figure she will be spending a lot of time there during our cold winters.
 
Again, America is reminded that wild animals are WILD! A young intern at a wildlife park is mauled by a lion. She died. Then they killed the lion. When are we going to learn that WILD means just that. It doesn’t matter if the WILD animal is raised from birth in a loving environment, it will always be WILD. In all my trips to Africa, that is pounded into our minds daily. Our drivers are prepared to escape quickly. We never get out of a vehicle where there are any wild animals. When we are staying in huts with wild animals around, we never walk around without an armed guard. We are sometimes even given whistles in case any animal attempts to get into our tent. Guards with rifles walk around all night. There are usually animal tracks in the morning. I currently see no reason for the lion to have been killed. There are other ways to deal with the situation. If nothing else is learned…Lions are WILD animals.
Game  Center (answers at the end of post)
Brain Teasers
What is 3/7 chicken, 2/3 cat and 1/2 goat?
Lifestyle  Substance:     
Found on You Tube with some relevance to today

Ok, then?

Getting old-er
As a new, young MD doing his residency in OB. I was quite embarrassed when performing female pelvic exams. To cover my embarrassment I had unconsciously formed a habit of whistling softly. The middle-aged lady upon whom I was performing this exam suddenly burst out laughing and further embarrassing me. I looked up from my work and sheepishly said. . .I'm sorry. Was I tickling you?
'She replied with tears running down her cheeks from laughing so hard . . . 'No doctor but the song you were whistling was .. . .'Oh, I wish I was an Oscar Mayer Wiener.'
Dr. wouldn't submit his name
Picture of the Day: Mountains of the world

Harper’s Index         
Number of Washington DC cops arrested in the past four years: 93
Unusual Fact of the Day
While Santa’s sleigh seems to make pit stops the world over, he might need to cross Saudi Arabia off his to-do list. According to law, the country bans anything and everything having to do with Christmas, including putting up Christmas lights and trees.
Ancient Things
The Jack O’ Lantern is actually thought to represent a severed human head captured in battle?  In Mexico, some people sleep on the graves on their ancestors on the night before Halloween?
Joke-of-the-day
Nurse: Good morning Mr. Smith, you seem to be coughing much more easily this morning. Mr. Smith: That’s because I’ve been practicing all night.
Rules of Thumb:   
Easy shortcuts to make an ‘educated’ guess
RACING A BOBSLED
In bobsled competition, every second lost at the start costs three seconds at the finish. On a luge run, the time lost at the start is multiplied by four times at the finish.   
Yeah, It Really Happened
BALTIMORE - A Maryland father said it was "insanity" to suspend his 7-year-old son from school for chewing his breakfast pastry into the shape of a gun. Josh Welch, a second-grader at Park Elementary School in Baltimore, said he was trying to chew his breakfast pastry into the shape of a mountain during breakfast at the school Friday, WBFF-TV, Baltimore, reported Monday. "It was already a rectangle and I just kept on biting it and biting it and tore off the top and it kinda looked like a gun but it wasn't." the boy said. "All I was trying to do was turn it into a mountain but, it didn't look like a mountain really and it turned out to be a gun kinda." However, he said he knew he was in "big trouble" when a teacher saw what he created. B.J. Welch, the boy's father, said he was shocked when Josh was suspended for two days. "I would almost call it insanity. I mean with all the potential issues that could be dealt with at school, real threats, bullies, whatever the real issue is, it's a pastry ... ya know?" The school sent a note home with students Friday afternoon. "A student used food to make an inappropriate gesture," the note read.  
Somewhat Useless Information   
  • In 1970, movies that contained some adult content were rated "GP" for "General Patronage - All Ages Admitted/Parental Guidance Suggested." The designation was later changed to "PG" to avoid confusion with the more kid-friendly "G."
  • Gasoline prices peaked at $1.38 per gallon back in 1981. 
  • Prior to 1951, long-distance telephone calls could not be dialed directly; they had to be placed through an operator. Depending on the distance between the two parties, it could take up to 20 minutes for the connection to be made.
  • PhoneMate introduced its Model 400 answering machine in 1971. The machine weighed about 8 pounds and held 10 minutes worth of messages on a reel-to-reel tape.
  • When a federally mandated 55 mph nationwide speed limit was established in 1974, many automakers adjusted speedometers to match by changing the usual sequence (10, 20, 30...) to end in "5" (15, 25, 35...). The 55 mph point was either shaded or indicated by a special visual mark.
  • When VCRs first gained popularity in the late 1970s, the units themselves weren't the only expense. The retail price of a single blank videocassette was initially around $20, while "video club" memberships typically ran in the hundreds of dollars.

Calendar Information        
Happening This Week:
1-7
National Cheerleading Week:
National Ghostwriters Week
National Write A Letter of Appreciation Week
Universal Human Beings Week

2-19
Iditarod Race
3-9
 
Severe Weather Preparedness Week
Celebrate Your Name Week
National Consumer Protection Week
National Procrastination Week
National Schools Social Work Week

National Sleep Awareness Week
National Words Matter Week
Professional Pet Sitters Week
Save Your Vision Week
Telecommunicator Appreciation Week
Read an E-Book Week

Return The Borrowed Books Week
Women in Construction Week

Newspaper in Education Week
National School Breakfast Week
Share A Story - Shape A Future Week

Today Is                                                                      
Cereal Day
Fun Facts About Names Day
Nametag Day
National Be Heard Day
World Math Day
Australia/Tasmania: Eight Hour or Labor Day

Today’s Events through History  
1st surface photos of Pluto (photographed by Hubble Space Telescope)1996
ANC chief Nelson Mandela rejects demand by white right-wingers for separate 
     homeland in South Africa1994
BBC broadcasts the news for the first time in color on television1968
British troops invade Abyssinia (Ethiopia)1941
Charles Miller patents 1st US sewing machine to stitch buttonholes1854
Daniel Webster endorses Compromise of 18501850
Game of "Monopoly" invented1933
Massachusetts enacts 1st state voter registration law1801
Royal Institution of Great Britain founded; dedicated to scientific research
     and education1799
Yugoslavia government of Tito forms1945

Today’s Birthdays                                                           
In their 80’s
Lord Snowdon, [Anthony Armstrong-Jones], London, photographer is 83
In their 70’s
Daniel J Travanti, actor (Frank Furillo-Hill St Blues) is 73
In their 40’s
Wanda Sykes, actress, comedienne is 49
Rachel Weisz, English actress and fashion model is 43

Remembered for being born today
Tammy Faye Bakker, gospel singer/wife of Jim Baker (PTL) [1942-2007]
Luther Burbank, horticulturist [1849-1926]
Anthony Comstock, New Canaan Ct, anti-vice crusader/philatelist [1844-1915]
Henry Draper, Virginia, astro-spectro-photographer (Moon, Jupiter) [1837-1882]
Judocus Smits, Dutch Catholic newspaper pioneer/founder (The Time) [1813-1872]
 [Albert] Carel Willink, Dutch painter (magic realism) [1900-1983]

Today’s Historical Obits                                                           
Thomas Aquinas, Italian thelogian/saint-1274-at 48
Aristotle, Greek philosopher-natural causes-322BC-at 61ish
Jacob K Javits, (Sen-R-NY)-1986-at 81
Stanley Kubrick, film director-heart attack-1999-at 70
Divine, [Harris Milstead], female impersonator (Pink Flamingos)-enlarged heart-1988-at 42
Alice B. Toklas, American companion to Gertrude Stein-1967-at 89
Paul Winfield, actor-heart attack-2004-at 64

Answer: Brain Teasers
Chicago. 3/7 chicken= CHI 2/3 cat = CA 1/2 goat= GO
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 6, 2013


FYI: Any blue text is a link. Click to check it out!
Flagstaff Almanac:  Week: 10/ Day: 65   
Today: H   52°L 20° Averages: H  48° L 22° Records: H   68°(1910)L -5°(1948)
Wind: ave:   11mph; Gusts:  17mph  Ave. humidity:  51%

Quote of the Day

Today’s Historical Highlights
1st college orchestra in US founded, at Harvard1808
3,000 Mexicans beat 182 Texans at the Alamo, after 13 day fight1836
Census Bureau forms1902
Dred Scott Decision: Supreme Court rules slaves cannot be citizens1857
Edgar Allen Poe removed from West Point milt academy1831
Jack Nicklaus, passes Arnold Palmer as golf's all-time money winner1972
Magellan discovers Guam1521
Silly Putty invented1950
US naval boat "Cyclops" disappears in Bermuda Triangle1918
USAF begins daylight bombing of Berlin1944

     Happy Birthday To: ♪. ♪   
How many can you identify?…answers in Today’s Birthdays

Free Rambling Thoughts   
A nice quiet day at home. No need to do anything, anywhere. Caught up on some mail, a little cleaning. Nice. 
I feel so much safer when I am flying…they are now permitting carry-on knives that are less than 2.36 inches long and less than one-half inch wide. TSA will also permit sports equipment such as billiard cues, ski poles, hockey sticks, lacrosse sticks and two golf clubs. Souvenir, novelty and toy baseball bats -- such as wiffle-ball bats – while pitchforks, grenades, swords, nunchucks, stun guns, ammo and spears remain on the no-fly list. Some sports enthusiasts must be happy, except golfers, who really can’t play golf with two clubs. I expect an outcry from farmers who fly, since their pitchforks are still banned. Those who do reenactments are probably upset that their spears are still not carry on. In a few of the smaller planes I have flown the newly allowed items will still have to be checked, since the overhead is not large enough to accommodate them. And we still have to take off our shoes.
Game  Center (answers at the end of post)
Brain Teasers
Below are incomplete words. Place two letters in each bracket so that you can complete the word on the left and begin the word on the right. Good luck.
Perfu (--) rge Barb (--) itor Again (--) ain Sta (--) sture Giraf (--) deral Featu (--) medy

Lifestyle  Substance:     
Found on You Tube with some relevance to today

 Ok, then?

Getting old-er
A nurse was on duty in the Emergency Roomwhen a young woman with purple hair styled into a punk rocker Mohawk, sporting a variety of tattoos, and wearing strange clothing, entered. It was quickly determined that the patient had acute appendicitis, so she was scheduled for immediate surgery. While she was completely disrobed on the operating table, the staff noticed that her pubic hair had been dyed green and above it there was a tattoo that read . . . 'Keep off the grass.' Once the surgery was completed, the surgeon wrote a short note on the patient's dressing, which said 'Sorry . . . had to mow the lawn. 'Submitted by RN, no name
Picture of the Day: Mountains of the world

Harper’s Index         
Ratio of US tax breaks to tax revenue in 2011: 1:1
Unusual Fact of the Day
A sardine is not a species of fish, but a name that can apply to many small varieties of pickled fish, including herring and pilchard.
Ancient Things
The Great Wall of China has become so mythologized by in our imagination that we don’t realize it was actually the most extreme cultural barrier ever created. 
Joke-of-the-day
A forester and a lawyer were in car accident and showed up at the pearly gates together.
St. Peter greets them at the pearly gates and takes them to the homes where they will spend all of eternity. They get into St. Peter's holy vehicle and head on down a gold road, which turns into a platinum road, which turns onto an even grander road paved with diamonds, to a huge mansion where St. Peter turns to the lawyer and says, here is your home for the rest of eternity, enjoy! And if there is anything you need, just let me know.
Then St. Peter took the forester to his home, back down the diamond studded boulevard, down the platinum highway, down the street of gold, down an avenue of silver, along a stone alley and down an unpaved footpath to a shack. St Peter says, "Here you go" and goes to leave when the forester says "Wait minute! How come the lawyer gets the big mansion and I get this shack?"
St. Peter says: "Well, Foresters are a dime a dozen here, we have never had a lawyer before."
Rules of Thumb:   
Easy shortcuts to make an ‘educated’ guess
KEEPING A FRIEND
Never loan a friend more than you can afford to give away.   
Yeah, It Really Happened
Marc Bradly Johnson, an MFA student at New York's School of Visual Arts, had a great idea for his thesis project: he would fill 68 vials with his own semen, place them in a refrigerator in one of SVA's galleries, advertise the display on Craigslist, and then give away his semen to any interested members of the public.
Because it's art.
But, as the Daily Intelligencer reports, health-concerned administrators at SVA temporarily confiscated the project once it was brought to their attention.
"I've been working on this for months," Johnson told Daily Intelligencer, "Somewhat ironically - it's just masturbating and calling it artwork." He said his professors were well aware and that he'd shown the work multiple times in class critiques.
"This isn't unprecedented," he said. "There is plenty of bio-hazardous work in the art world."
So the refrigerator full of semen was seized and locked in an administrator's office until a waste-management firm could pick it up. Johnson claimed censorship.
Somewhat Useless Information   
  • In 1690, the Massachusetts Bay Colony issued the first paper money in the colonies which would later form the United States. 
  • In 1775, American colonists issued paper currency for the Continental Congress to finance the Revolutionary War. The notes were backed by the "anticipation" of tax revenues. 
  • In 1781, to support the Revolutionary War, the Continental Congress chartered the Bank of North America in Philadelphia as the nation's first "real" bank. 
  • In 1791, after adoption of the Constitution in 1789, Congress chartered the first Bank of the United States until 1811 and authorized it to issue paper bank notes to eliminate confusion and simplify trade. The bank served as the U.S. Treasury's fiscal agent, thus performing the first central bank functions. 
  • In 1861, on the brink of bankruptcy and pressed to finance the Civil War, Congress authorized the United States Treasury to issue paper money for the first time in the form of non-interest bearing Treasury Notes call Demand Notes. 
  • In 1877, the Department of the Treasury's Bureau of Engraving and Printing started printing all U.S. currency.

Calendar Information        
Happening This Week:
1-7
National Cheerleading Week:
National Ghostwriters Week
National Write A Letter of Appreciation Week
Universal Human Beings Week

2-5
American Council on Education:
2-19
Iditarod Race
3-9
 
Severe Weather Preparedness Week
Celebrate Your Name Week
National Consumer Protection Week
National Procrastination Week
National Schools Social Work Week

National Sleep Awareness Week
National Words Matter Week
Professional Pet Sitters Week
Save Your Vision Week
Telecommunicator Appreciation Week
Read an E-Book Week

Return The Borrowed Books Week
Women in Construction Week

Newspaper in Education Week
National School Breakfast Week
Share A Story - Shape A Future Week

Today Is                                                                      
Oreo Cookie Day
Learn What Your Name Means Day
~Ghana: Independence Day (1957 from UK)

Today’s Events through History  
1st time the British flag is flown over Buckingham Palace1998
Barry Sadlers' "Ballad of the Green Berets" becomes #11966 
Elijah Muhammad renames Cassius Clay, Muhammad Ali1964
Picasso's painting Tête de Femme is stolen from a London gallery, and 
     is recovered a week later1997
Walter Cronkite signs-off as anchorman of "CBS Evening News"1981
Yul Brynner appears in his 4,500th performance of "King & I"1985

Today’s Birthdays                                                           
In their 80’s
Alan Greenspan, economist/presidential advisor (FRB) is 87
In their 70’s
David Spielberg, actor (Jessica Novak, The Practice) is 74
 In their 60’s
Martin Kove, Bkln NY, actor (Victor-Cagney & Lacey) is 67
Rob Reiner, actor/director (All in the Family, Stand By Me)  is 66
 In their 50’s
Tom Arnold, actor is 54
Darryl Lynn ‘D.L.’ Hughley, American comedian and actor is 50
In their 40’s
Shaquille O'Neal, NBA center (Magic, Lakers, Oly-gold-96) is 41

Remembered for being born today
Cyrano de Bergerac, famous nose, playwright (Voyage to the Moon) [1619-1655]
Leroy Gordon Cooper Jr, USAF/astronaut (Mer 9, Gem 5) [1927-2004]
Lou Costello, , comedian/actor (Abbott & Costello) [1906-1959]
Ed McMahon, TV host (Johnny Carson Show, Star Search) [1923-2009]
Michelangelo, Italian painter (David) [1475-1564]
Bob Wills, actor (Lone Prairie, Tornado in the Saddle) [1906-1975]

Today’s Historical Obits                                                           
Louisa May Alcott, US author (Old-fashioned Girl)-stroke-1888-at 55
Jim Bowie, American pioneer and soldier-at Alamo-1836-at 40
Pearl S[ydenstricker] Buck, author (Good Earth-Nobel 1938)-1973-at 80
Davy Crockett, US pioneer (Alamo), killed at Alamo-1836-at 49
Nelson Eddy, US baritone/actor (Phantom of the Opera)- cerebral hemorrhage-1967-at 65
William Hopper, actor (Paul Drake-Perry Mason)-stroke-1970-at 55
Georgia O'Keefe, US painter (Flowers)-1986-at 98
Ayn Rand (Alisa Zinov'yevna Rosenbaum), author-philosopher-heart failure-1982-at 77
John Philip Sousa, US composer (Stars & Stripes Forever)- heart failure-1932-at 77

Answer: Brain Teasers
Perfume - merge Barbed - editor Against - stain Stage - gesture Giraffe - federal Feature - remedy
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  §

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Flagstaff, Arizona, United States
I retired in '06--at the ripe old age of 57. I enjoy blogging, photography, traveling, and living life to it's fullest.