Jan 12

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Jan. 12, 2020 Week: 1  Day:12

86004:   H 37° \ L 12° \ Average Sky Cover: 5%

Nearest lightning:  1305mi.; Nearest active fire:  681mi.  

Wind:   6mph\Gusts:  10mph  Visibility: 10 mi

Record High: 59°[2002]   Record Low: -20°[1963]

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

Today’s Einstein Quote

I know not with what weapons World War III will be fought, but World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones.

Random Tidbits

Bananas are curved because they grow towards the sun.

Bananas go through a process called “negative geotropism.” Instead of growing towards the ground, they start growing towards the sun.

The fruit grows against gravity, which gives the banana its familiar curved shape.

Observations This Week

Cuckoo Dancing Week: 11-17

National Mocktail Week: 12-18

Observations for Today

Feast of Fabulous Wild Men Day

Kiss A Ginger Day Link (Red Heads)
National Curried Chicken Day

National Glazed Doughnut Day

National Hot Tea Day
National Marzipan Day
 National Pharmacist Day

National Sunday Supper Day Link 

My Rambling Thoughts

It’s a chilly, windy, stay-inside type day. I spent the morning cleaning knick-knacks I inherited…including a brass piggy bank from my childhood and a snuff box with Queen Victoria’s picture, and several crystal candy dishes. They all shine now. More time than I expected to get into the nooks and crannies of each piece.

As the census is coming up, many minorities have some real trepidation about being counted. While it is well publicized that the count helps fund many programs for the minorities, the fear of identifying as a minority, or worse, an illegal, has many not planning on being counted. Trump added to the fear last year when he wanted the census to have a question about legality in the US. I agree that it would help all Americans if we knew how many legal and illegal immigrants were in the country. There is just no way right now to get that information. A few decades ago, the 1950’s, the Indian Agents on the Navajo Reservation were directed to take a census of the livestock on the reservation. The idea was to help the Navajo stop overgrazing that was leading to many more problems for the Navajo. The result was far from the initial idea. The Navajo basic economy was based on sheep. The more sheep one had, the richer one was. The government came in and set up grazing permits that would determine the number of sheep one could have. The rich became poorer and the poor became richer. Families today are still arguing over grazing permits and grazing land…all because of the 1950’s idea. Most minority groups have a long-held fear of ‘the government’. These fears are ignited every time ‘the government’ comes up with an idea that will change the status quo. The Right has long come up with ideas that have not helped our minority population and that fear will continue. Sad.   

Today’s Puzzle

Answer at the bottom of the page

It takes five cats five minutes to catch five mice. How long will it take for 100 cats to catch 100 mice?

Historical Events

1906 - Dow Jones closed over 100 for the 1st time.

1926 - Original Sam 'n' Henry premiered on WGN (Chicago) radio and later renamed Amos 'n' Andy in 1928.

1948 Mahatma Gandhi begins his final fast

1959 American record company Motown is founded by Berry Gordy Jr. as Tamla Records

1962 Operation Ranch Hand begins, a US Air Force operation to spray South Vietnamese forests with defoliants such as Agent Orange

1963 - #1 Hit: Steve Lawrence - Go Away Little Girl

1965 - Hullabaloo premiered on NBC.

1966 - ABC's Batman television series premiered.

1967 - Dr. James Bedford was the first person to be cryonically preserved with intent of future resuscitation. He is still frozen at the Alcor Life Extension Foundation.

1971 - All In The Family aired for the first time on CBS

1974 - #1 Hit: Steve Miller Band - The Joker

1988 - Dynasty debuted on ABC

1989 Ex-dictator of Uganda Idi Amin expelled from Zaire

1991 US Congress gives George H. W. Bush authority to wage war against Iraq

2001 - National Geographic Channel debuted American cable

2006 - A stampede during the Stoning of the Devil ritual on the last day at the Hajj in Mina, Saudi Arabia, killed at least 362 Muslim pilgrims.

2010 Earthquake devastates Haiti, killing approximately 160,000 and destroying the majority of the capital Port-au-Prince

2017 US President Barack Obama in surprise presentation awards Vice President Joe Biden with the Presidential Medal of Freedom

Birthdays Today

@91-Henry Youngman, comedian

@87Ray Price, singer (d.2013)

87-Glenn Yarborough, singer

69-Kirstie Alley actor (1951)

69-Rush Limbaugh, talk show

@68- Woodward Maurice "Tex" Ritter (heart attack)

68-Ricky Van Shelton, singer

@67-Joe Frazier heavy weight champ (d. 2011; liver cancer)

66-Howard Stern, talk show

@56-John Hancock

56-Jeff Bezos (Amazon)

@40-Jack London (born John Griffith Chaney) (dysentery)

Puzzle Answer:

It takes one cat five minutes to catch one mouse. If we have 100 cats, they will need also five minutes each to catch 100 mice.

Jan 11

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

Jan. 11, 2020 Week: 1  Day:11

86004:   H 33° \ L 11° \ Average Sky Cover: 5%

Nearest lightning:  751mi.; Nearest active fire:  287mi.  

Wind:   3mph\Gusts:  8mph  Visibility: 10 mi

Record High: 63°[1990]   Record Low: -23°[1913]

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

Today’s Einstein Quote

Common sense is the collection of prejudices acquired by age eighteen.

Random Tidbits

7% of American adults believe that chocolate milk comes from brown cows.

That actually works out at 16.4 million American adults.

Observations This Week

Home Office Safety and Security Week: 5-11 

National Folic Acid Awareness Week: 5-11

Dating & Life Coaches Recognition Week: 5-11

National Lose Weight/Feel Great Week: 5-11

Elvis' Birthday Celebration Week: 8-11

Cuckoo Dancing Week: 11-17

Observations for Today

Cigarettes Are Hazardous To Your Health Day
Eagle Day
Learn Your Name in Morse Code Day Link
National Hot Toddy Day

National Human Trafficking Awareness Day Link
National Milk Day

National Vision Board Day

Step in a Puddle and Splash Your Friend's Day

My Rambling Thoughts

Our weekly retirement group lunch lasted a long time as we all shared stories of pics of our Christmas adventures. All good, as I really enjoy hearing the enthusiasm in their story telling. Mary also had some great stories about her every-two-week lunch with her church elderlies. Mary is the youthful one as all others are over 80 and four are over 90. They do separate checks when they order. Then when the order comes, most have forgotten what they ordered. Then the bill comes after the meal. Lots of digging for change, comments on how this or that was good, but very expensive and ‘I didn’t order that, this is not my bill’. It always ends well as they plan their next luncheon.

It started snowing early last evening.  I had just done a quick $5 car wash the day before to get all the road gunk off my ride from the previous storm. By this morning, the sun was shining. Weatherman sez we got about 3-1/2” of the white stuff, but by noon, most was melted. And my clean car ain’t clean no more.

An astronomer friend sent me a great article about Vera Rubin. She passed in 2016 @88, but during her career she did amazing studies of black holes and dark matter. Some of that work was done right here at Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff. Her work, over decades, is being recognized by naming a new observatory in Chile after her. Very cool.

Last year the Power Plant near Lake Powell, and the coal mine near Kayenta permanently closed after decades of operation. Not only did the mine and plant provide much needed jobs for several generations of Navajo, it also provided much needed coal for local Navajo and Hopi at basically no cost. They just had to load up the coal by pulling their vehicle under a dump spot and let the coal fall in. Prior to the mine opening, Navajo had wood stoves for cooking and heat. Many switched to coal as it burned and heated better than local wood, and was much less labor intensive to get. Now, with the mine closed, hundreds of Navajo and Hopi families have to return to wood. The elderly are in need of help, and the younger generations have never had to find, chop, or haul wood before for the cold winter nights. We are all aware that times change, and the hope is always that the change will make life more convenient. In this case, they are turning to the pre-1960’s and life suddenly got much harder. Sad.

Today’s Puzzle

Answer at the bottom of the page

How many birthdates does the average Japanese woman have?

Historical Events

1908 - The Grand Canyon National Monument was created.

1922 - Leonard Thompson (1908-35) was the first person to receive an injection of insulin as a treatment for diabetes.

1927 - Louis B. Mayer, head of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM), announced the creation of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, at a banquet in Los Angeles, California.

1935 - Amelia Earhart became the first person to fly solo from Hawaii to California.

1949 - It snowed in Los Angeles for the first time (that we know of)

1958 - #1 Hit: Danny & the Juniors - At The Hop

1964 - US Surgeon General Dr. Luther Leonidas Terry, M.D., published the first governmental report saying that smoking may be hazardous to health.

1973 - Major League Baseball owners voted to approve of the American League adopting the designated hitter position.

1995 - The WB Television Network was launched.

2005 - The iPod Shuffle (1st generation) was released.

2007 Author J. K. Rowling finishes the 7th and last Harry Potter novel in room 552 of the Balmoral Hotel, Edinburgh

2018 US President Donald Trump causes worldwide controversy when it is reported he called African countries "shitholes" during immigration meeting

Birthdays Today

@102 - Albert Hofmann, Swiss chemist and academic, discoverer of LSD (died in 2008)

@89 - Carroll Shelby, American race car driver, engineer, and businessman, founded Carroll Shelby International (died in 2012)

@84 - James Paget, English surgeon and pathologist (died in 1899)

@82 - David L. Wolper, American director and producer (died in 2010)

74 - Naomi Judd, American singer-songwriter and actress

@68 - William James, American psychologist (died in 1910)

67 - Lee Ritenour, American guitarist

@58 - Darryl Dawkins, American basketball player and coach (died in 2015; heart attack?)

49 - Mary J. Blige, American singer-songwriter

@47 - Alexander Hamilton, Nevisian-American, American politician, 1st United States Secretary of the Treasury (died in 1804; shot in duel)

36 - Matt Mullenweg, American web developer, co-created WordPress

33 - Scotty Cranmer, American Professional BMX rider

Puzzle Answer:

According to the World Health Organization, Japanese women tend to have the highest life expectancy. However, Japanese women, like women in the rest of the world, only have "one" birthdate (the day that they were born).