Mar 3

 

 

Mar 3, 2021 Week: 9    Day: 62                Visibility: 10 miles

Local: H 52°\ L 24°\Ave. Sky Cover: 5 %   Wind:  9mph/ Gusts:  14mph

Nearest Lightning: 1129mi.                 Moderate Risk of Fire:  Active fire:  249mi

Record: 66°[1910]  Record: -9°[1915]      Mar. Averages: 53°/23° (6 days with moisture)            

Today’s Quote

I believe that every human mind feels pleasure in doing good to another.

~Thomas Jefferson

Random Tidbits

Unless you're a real science geek, chances are you never knew these elements even existed. Nonetheless, many of them form the foundations of modern life.

Beryllium (Be)

Beryllium is recognized as a carcinogen by the International Agency for Research on Cancer. In another form, however, beryllium is highly desirable, even priceless. When combined with trace amounts of chromium, beryllium takes on a beautiful green hue as the gemstone commonly known as the emerald.

A Little Humor

Why did the lettuce get arrested?

For disturbing the peas!

.....

I was camping last weekend...it was intense.

Monthly Observations

 

International Black Women in Jazz & The Arts Month Link International Ideas Month International Listening Awareness Month International Mirth Month Irish-American Heritage Month Mad for Plaid Month Malignant Hypertension Awareness & Training Month Music In Our Schools Month Link

 

Weekly Observations

Lent [Christian]	Thru 4/3
National Pasty Week Cancelled	Thru 3/6
National School Breakfast Week: 1-5	1-5
Hearing Awareness Week Link LGBT Health Awareness Week Link National Cheerleading Week Nat’l Write A Letter of Appreciation Week National Ghostwriters Week National Invest in a Veteran Week  Link National Pet Sitters Week Link Return the Borrowed Books Week Telecommuter Appreciation Week Universal Human Beings Week Link Will Eisner Week   Link World Hearing Awareness Week Link	1-7

 

Today’s Observations

Caregiver Appreciation Day

I Want You to be Happy Day
If Pets Had Thumbs Day  

International Ear Care Day
National Anthem Day[US]

National Cold Cuts Day

National Moscow Mule Day

National Mulled Wine Day  Link
Peach Blossom Day

Princess Day Link
Simplify Your Life Day
Soup It Forward Day Link Cancelled
What If Cats and Dogs Had Opposable Thumbs? Day
World Birth Defects Day
World Hearing Awareness Day  Link
World Math Day Link
World Wildlife Day Link 

 

My Sometimes-Long-Winded Thoughts

Warming up nicely and was able to take a walk through the neighborhood.

The Senate hearing with the FBI director was not very encouraging…He pointed out the quite real threat of domestic terrorists. So unbelievable and so disturbing.

I texted my brother last night, it seems that he gets a little better each day. That’s good.

This is far from new news but I’m tired of politicians and executives who seem to believe that their position gives them certain sexual privileges. Disgusted. Do your job and nothing more.

Six Dr. Seuss books will not be printed anymore by his foundation because they have negative racial stereotypes. Educators have known for decades that children’s thinking is influenced by books. Growing up in a white world as a white child/man, I didn’t notice the negative stereotypes in his books. What is more saddening is that Asian and African American children probably didn’t notice them either, but those images did influence their lives. Racial stereotypes are wrong and everyone needs to become more aware of them. The Dr. Seuss Foundation is doing the right thing.

Thank you to the California traffic court judge who stopped a virtual court procedure because the defendant was performing an operation, in a hospital operating room while attempting to get out of his ticket.  I hope the AMA takes note and the doctor is punished by them.

Daily Puzzle

Answer: bottom of the page

Jack is looking at Anne. Anne is looking at George. Jack is married, George is not, and we don’t know if Anne is married. Is a married person looking at an unmarried person?

Historical Events

1873 – US Congress passed the ‘Comstock Law’, making it illegal to send any “obscene, lewd, or lascivious” books through the mail.

1885 – American Telephone and Telegraph Company was incorporated as a wholly-owned subsidiary of American Bell.

1901 – The office of Standards, Weights and Measures was created by an act of the US Congress.

1915 – Birth of a Nation made its east coast debut in NYC.

1915 – NACA (National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics), the predecessor of NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration), was founded.

1919 -The first US international airmail service began, between Seattle, Washington and Victoria, B.C., Canada.

1923 – Time magazine published the first issue.

1931 – President Herbert Hoover made Francis Scott Key’s “The Star-Spangled Banner” the official national anthem of the United States.

1951 – Watch Mr. Wizard debuted on NBC.

1952 – In a 6-3 decision, the US Supreme Court upheld a New York state law that prohibited communists from teaching in public schools.

1991 – Rodney King was severely beaten by police officers in Los Angeles, CA. The footage was filmed by observers and then broadcast on television in the U.S. The incident led to massive riots by African-Americans in the city of Los Angeles.

2005 – After 67 hours, the first solo non-stop and fastest flight around the world without refueling ended when Steve Fossett landed at the Salina Municipal Airport, which he had left on February 28, 2005.

2015 "Under the Dome" a documentary on pollution in China by Chai Jing has been viewed over 150 million times in 3 days on Tencent.

2019 SpaceX's Dragon capsule successfully docks with the International Space Station during its demonstration run.

2020 US Federal Reserve makes its largest rate cut in a decade, short-term interest rates by 0.5% to protect economy against COVID-19

Birthdays Today

@85 – James Doohan, Canadian-American actor [Star Trek Scotty] (d. 2005)

@75 – Alexander Graham Bell, American inventor (d. 1922)

@66 – George Pullman, engineer and businessman (d. 1897; heart attack)

@66 – Charles Ponzi, Italian businessman (d. 1949)

62 – Ira Glass, American radio host

47 – David Faustino, American actor

@42 – Dorothy Dandridge, African-American film and radio actress (d. 1987; OD)

39 – Jessica Biel, American actress

`, American actress (d. 1937; kidney failure)

Puzzle Answer

Yes. If Anne is married, then she is married and looking at George, who is unmarried. If Anne is unmarried, then Jack, who is married, is looking at her. Either way, the statement is correct.

 

Mar 2

 

Dear Spring: Please stop hiding.

Mar 2, 2021 Week: 9    Day: 61                Visibility: 10 miles

Local: H 44°\ L 19°\Ave. Sky Cover: 5%    Wind:  5mph/ Gusts:  10mph

Nearest Lightning: 983mi.                          Moderate Risk of Fire:  Active fire:  500mi

Record: 66°[2009]  Record: -1°[1971]

Mar. Averages: 53°/23° (6 days with moisture)             

Today’s Quote

I believe that every human mind feels pleasure in doing good to another.

~Thomas Jefferson

Random Tidbits

Unless you're a real science geek, chances are you never knew these elements even existed. Nonetheless, many of them form the foundations of modern life.

Scandium (Sc)

In the 1970s, metallurgists found that aluminum-scandium alloys are strong and lightweight, making it useful in aerospace components. It wasn't long before sporting-equipment manufacturers started using the alloys in everything from baseball bats to lacrosse sticks.

A Little Humor

A jumper cable walks into a bar. The bartender says- I'll serve you- but you better not start anything!

True Things

Naked man carrying Bible shot in Florida

A naked man knocking on doors at a South Florida apartment complex was shot by someone who then called 911 to turn himself in, police said. The man was carrying a Bible and knocking on doors at the Sunshine Garden Apartments when he was shot, Pembroke Pines police Major Al Xiques reported. Police said that officers found the man bleeding and on the ground. He was taken to a hospital in critical condition. Officers were already on their way to investigate calls about a naked man at the complex when a 911 caller said he had just shot the man. "[The shooter] wanted to surrender himself to police," Xiques said. "He was detained by police and is being questioned." The identities of the man and the person who turned himself in were not immediately released.

Monthly Observations

 

Deep Vein Thrombosis (DVT) Month Link Deaf History Month (3/13 to 4/15) Developmental Disabillities Awareness Month  Link Employee Spirit Month Endometriosis Month Link Expanding Girls' Horizons in Science & Engineering Month Link Honor Society Awareness Month Link Humorists Are Artists Month

 

Weekly Observations

Lent [Christian]	Thru 4/3
National Pasty Week Cancelled	Thru 3/6
National School Breakfast Week: 1-5	1-5
Hearing Awareness Week Link LGBT Health Awareness Week Link National Cheerleading Week Nat’l Write A Letter of Appreciation Week National Ghostwriters Week National Invest in a Veteran Week  Link National Pet Sitters Week Link Return the Borrowed Books Week Telecommuter Appreciation Week Universal Human Beings Week Link Will Eisner Week   Link World Hearing Awareness Week Link	1-7

 

Today’s Observations

Dr. Seuss Day
Free Dentistry Day Link 

National Banana Cream Pie Day

NEA's Read Across America Day
Old Stuff Day

Peace Corps Day Link 
World Teen Mental Illness Day Link 

My Sometimes-Long-Winded Thoughts

Thankfully, there is much less wind today, but still not as warm as I had hoped.

I’m just enjoying a kinda lazy day.

Navajo: March is the sixth month in the traditional Diné calendar. It is the month when the eaglets scream, bighorn sheep drop their young, first thunder rumbles and the deer and elk shed their antlers. The heart of this month is becha na'chil, sudden spring storms, and the bear and thunder constellations, while it's feather is dibéʼniiʼí, the mountain sheep bird. When these birds are seen it is spring. Niłchidootłizh, the blue wind of warmth, is carried back from the south by the hummingbirds, while niłchidiłhił, the dark wind blanket of cold and sickness, is carried back north with the migrating geese and swans. The first leaves come forth and ceremonies are held to bless the fields before the seeds are planted.

This time of the year has many names in Diné Bizaad as it is a time of great seasonal change from winter to spring. Here in southern Navajo the old ones once used the word of dee nahaałdaas, 'falling antlers', for the month of March as during this period of the year dzééh (elk) and bįįhtsoh (mule deer) would be seen shedding their antlers.

Another name once used was dibé iiłchííh, 'birthing time of the sheep', as the bighorn sheep (dibé) would be seen in the canyons, and atop the mesas and mountains with newborn lambs at their side.

Ii'ni' ts'ósí, small thunder, was another older name used by our people. The thunder beings it was said would make themselves known during this time of the year by rumbling above or striking the ground below to waken the plants and animals from their long sleep and to alert the people to cease the winter ceremonies until fall time.

Wóózhchį́į́d, eaglets crying horsely, is the name generally used today by a majority of our people for the month of March. This is the time of the year when the eaglets born in January or February have begun to grow out their little feathers and can be heard crying out loudly above in their nests from which the name of 'wóózhchį́į́d' derives from.

I had a good conversation with my brother…actually several over the past few days. He has been under the weather with body aches and fatigue. He was tested and negative for Covid. Not sure what is messing with his body, but yesterday afternoon he was improving a lot. Hope it continues.

One of the cool things about Facebook is discovering how former students are doing. At least 5 former students, whom I am not ‘friends’ with, posted when a former student who is a friend wished me a happy birthday. They reminisced about why they remembered me teaching them. Nice memories, some were pretty funny. Thanks to all who posted. Some posted on Old School TCBS group site.

After watching the news on CPAC, I guess my hope that our country’s division would cease after Trump lost was little more than a fantasy. America needs a Nelson Mandela now more than ever.

 

Daily Puzzle

Answer: bottom of the page

Five people were eating apples, A finished before B, but behind C. D finished before E, but behind B. What was the finishing order? 

Historical Events

1657 – The Great Fire of Meireki in Edo (now Tokyo), Japan, caused more than 100,000 deaths and lasted three days.

1807 – The US Congress passed an act to “prohibit the importation of slaves into any port or place within the jurisdiction of the United States… from any foreign kingdom, place, or country.”

1863 – The US Congress authorized a track width of 4-feet, 8-1/2 inches as the standard for the Union Pacific Railroad, which became the standard width for most of the world.

1933 – King Kong (film) opened at New York’s Radio City Music Hall.

1949 – The first round the world nonstop airplane flight was completed in a US Air Force B-50 Superfortress bomber, the Lucky Lady II headed by Captain James Gallagher. They landed back at Carswell Air Force Base, Fort Worth, Texas, which they had left on February 26, about 94 hours earlier.

1960 – Lucille Ball filed for divorce from Desi Arnaz, ending their marriage as well as the Lucille Ball-Desi Arnaz Show franchise on CBS.

1962 – Wilt Chamberlain scored 100 points in a single basketball game against the New York Knicks. Final score: 169-147, at the Hershey Arena. Although there were only about 6,000 tickets sold, guesstimates are that almost 50% of male sports fans born in the Philadelphia area between 1925 and 1958 claim to have been at the event.

1969 – The Concorde SST Supersonic jet aircraft, prototype 001, made its first flight from Toulouse airport in France.

1983 – Compact discs and players are released for the first time in the United States and other markets. (They had previously been available only in Japan.)

1978 – Charlie Chaplin’s body was stolen from a cemetery in the Swiss village of Corsier-sur-Vevey, near Lausanne, Switzerland. The grave robbers (and the re-buried body) were found a few weeks later.

1985 – Sheena Easton the first and still only recording artist to score top-10 singles on all five major Billboard singles charts: Pop, Country, Dance, Adult Contemporary and R&B with her hit Sugar Walls.

1990 – Nelson Mandela was elected deputy President of the African National Congress.

2000 Former Chilean dictator General Augusto Pinochet heads home after being told the UK would not extradite him on torture charges

2014 President Vladimir Putin receives unanimous approval from Russia's parliament to send troops to the Ukraine.

2016 US astronauts Scott Kelly and Russian cosmonaut Mikhail Kornienko return to earth after nearly a year (340 days), setting an ISS record.

2017 US Attorney General Jeff Sessions recuses himself from the investigation into Trump campaign contacts with Russia after revelations he met Russian ambassador

2020 Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan says Turkey can no longer enforce 2016 deal with EU to stop migrants entering Europe, warns millions may try. 

Birthdays Today

90 – Mikhail Gorbachev, Russian lawyer and politician, Nobel Prize laureate

@87 – Dr. Seuss [Theodor Seuss “Ted” Geisel], children’s book writer, poet, illustrator (d. 1991)

79 – John Irving, American novelist and screenwriter

@70 – Sam Houston, American soldier and politician, 1st President of the Republic of Texas (d. 1863)

@69 – Desi Arnaz, Cuban-American actor, singer, producer (d. 1986; lung cancer)

69 – Mark Evanier, American author and screenwriter

68 – Russ Feingold, American lawyer and politician

59 – Jon Bon Jovi [John Francis Bongiovi Jr.], singer-songwriter, guitarist, producer, actor

53 – Daniel Craig, English actor

41 – Rebel Wilson, Australian actress 

Puzzle Answer

CABDE. Putting the first three in order, A finished in front of B but behind C, so CAB. Then, we know D finished before B, so CABD. We know E finished after D, so CABDE.

 

Mar 1

 

I am more than ready for Spring!

Mar 1, 2021 Week: 9    Day: 60                Visibility: 10 miles

Local: H 30°\ L 17°\Ave. Sky Cover: 5%    Wind:  9mph/ Gusts:  17mph

Nearest Lightning: 888mi.                          Moderate Risk of Fire:  Active fire:  337mi

Record: 67°[2009]  Record: -10°[1997] 

Mar. Averages: 53°/23° (6 days with moisture)            

Today’s Quote

Fire is the test of gold; adversity, of strong men.

~Martha Graham

Random Tidbits

Unless you're a real science geek, chances are you never knew these elements even existed. Nonetheless, many of them form the foundations of modern life.

Europium (Eu)

Euro paper banknotes contain tiny amounts of this hard, silvery metal as an anti-counterfeiting measure. It is also used to produce a strong, rich red color in television and computer screens.

A Little Humor

Why can't a bike stand on its own? It's two tired

True Things

Man sues female boss for discrimination…

A man in South Wales is suing the "woman-dominated" firm where he worked for 'extreme discrimination against males', claiming that his female boss told him to "man up" among other sexist comments and actions. Daniel Price claims that his manager Ashleigh Knowles told him "men are less organized" and that he was repeatedly ordered to "go away" during "girls-only" conversations. Mr. Price says he was the only worker instructed to carry boxes, being told "because you're a man". He once refused, due to a hernia, but was ordered to "man up and get on with it." Mr. Price said she once threatened him with disciplinary action for insubordination after he told her tasks should not lie solely with him because he was a man. An employment judge in Cardiff ruled he has an "arguable case" for sex discrimination and ordered a full hearing.

Monthly Observations

 

Action & Skill Toys Month Adopt A Rescued Guinea Pig Month Link Alport Syndrome Awareness Month American Red Cross Month or Red Cross Month  Link  or  Link Asset Management Awareness Month  Link Brain Injury Awareness Month Link Child Life Month Link Clap 4 Health Month Colic Awareness Month Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month (Different sponsor from  National Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month) Credit Education Month

 

Weekly Observations

 

Lent [Christian]	Thru 4/3
National Pasty Week Cancelled	Thru 3/6
National School Breakfast Week: 1-5	1-5
Hearing Awareness Week Link LGBT Health Awareness Week Link National Cheerleading Week Nat’l Write A Letter of Appreciation Week National Ghostwriters Week National Invest in a Veteran Week  Link National Pet Sitters Week Link Return the Borrowed Books Week Telecommuter Appreciation Week Universal Human Beings Week Link Will Eisner Week   Link World Hearing Awareness Week Link	1-7

 

Today’s Observations

Asiatic Fleet Memorial Day Link
Baby Sleep Day
Casimir Pulaski Day (First Monday in March) Link 

Dadgum That's Good Day (Masterbuilt food products & cookbooks)
Endometriosis Day or Wear Yellow Day
National Black Women in Jazz & The Arts Day  Link
National Horse Protection Day
National Peanut Butter Lover’s Day Link

National Pig Day

Peace Corps Day

Pig Day
Plan a Solo Vacation Day

Refired, Not Retired Day
Saint David's Day Link
Self-injury Awareness Day  Link
World Compliment Day

Zero Discrimination Day Link

My Sometimes-Long-Winded Thoughts

Chilly and windy as a cold-front blows through.

I’m having a very nice birthday. I’ve gotten several phone calls, lots of emails, and messages on FB. The virus means no party or gathering. This is the second year my celebration with friends hasn’t happened. Even so, getting older is so much better than the alternative.

CPAC sure is strange. Someone has pointed out that the stage setup resembles a Nazi propaganda symbol. Trump got a 97% approval rating for his term. He also leads the poll at CPAC as the 2024 nominee (54%) for President. Guess they are right, it ain’t over till the fat lady sings. Several attendees have stated they expect America to become the next Myanmar with a coup to put Trump back in.

Minimum wage has been in the news. Dems waned $15/hr while Republicans wanted about $10/hr. As an older person, who started working for minimum wage at 16, it is important to see how our country has changed. When I started at the grocery store a loaf of bread was 25cents, gasoline was about 35 cents and the vast majority of minimum wage workers were teenagers at their first job. Looking at inflation, that $1.25 should be $14.38. Today 691 per 1000 workers 16-24 make minimum wage. AND 401 per 1000 workers 25-34 make minimum wage, 187 per 1000 workers make minimum wage, 187 for workers 35-44, 156 for workers 45-64, 118 for workers 55-64, and 50 for workers 65+. Today many minimum wage earners are trying to raise a family. I can’t imagine the difficulty that causes.

Daily Puzzle March will have logic puzzles.

Answer: bottom of the page

There are two ducks in front of a duck, two ducks behind a duck and a duck in the middle. How many ducks are there?

Historical Events

1516 Printing is completed of Erasmus' "Novum Instrumentum omne", first published New Testament in Greek

1628 Writs are issued in February by Charles I of England mandating that every county in England (not just seaport towns) pay ship tax by this date.

1692 Sarah Goode, Sarah Osborne, & Tituba arrested for witchcraft in Salem, Massachusetts.

1780 Pennsylvania becomes 1st US state to abolish slavery (for newborns only)

1845 US President John Tyler signs a resolution annexing the Republic of Texas

1870 War of the Triple Alliance finally ends with the Battle of Cerro Corá and the death of Paraguayan Dictator Francisco Solano López after over 5 years of bloodshed between Paraguay and Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay.

1890 1st US edition of Sherlock Holmes' first story "A Study in Scarlet" by Arthur Conan Doyle published.

1896 Battle of Adwa: 80,000 Ethiopians destroy 20,000 Italians in Ethopia, killing two generals and capturing General Matteo Albertone.

1927 Bank of Italy (later Bank of America) becomes an American National Bank

1932 The "Lindbergh kidnapping", 20-month-old son of Charles and Anne Lindbergh kidnapped from home in East Amwell, New Jersey, found dead 12 May

1945 US President Franklin D. Roosevelt announces success of Yalta Conference.

1954 US explodes Castle Bravo, a 15 megaton hydrogen bomb at Bikini Atoll, which accidentally became the most powerful nuclear device ever detonated by the US

1961 US President JFK establishes the Peace Corps

1967 US House of Representatives expels Rep Adam Clayton Powell Jr (307 to 116)

2014 US President Barack Obama warns Russian President Vladimir Putin over involvement in Ukraine.

2016 Forbes Richest List released, Bill Gates No. 1 with $75 billion, number of world's billionaires shrinks to 1,810.

2016 US primary elections: Super Tuesday - both Republican Donald Trump and Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton win seven state races each

2018 Vladimir Putin in his annual state address claims Russia has an "invincible” intercontinental cruise missile.

2018 US President Donald Trump says he will impose 25% steel, 10% aluminium import tariffs, raising fears of a trade war.

2020 First known COVID-19 case identified in New York, a health care worker returning from Iran

Birthdays Today

@92 Archer John Porter Martin, English chemist, Nobel laureate, (d. 2002)

@73 Yitzhak Rabin, Prime Minister of Israel (1974-77 and 1992-95), 1994 Nobel Peace Prize winner (d. 1995; assassinated)

67 – Ron Howard, Director, actor

@65ish -- Sandro Botticelli, Florentine Renaissance painter (Birth of Venus), (d. 1510)

55 – Don Lemon, Commentator

52 -- Javier Bardem, actor

47 -- Mark Paul Gosselaar, TV actor

38 -- Lupita Nyong'o, actor

33 – Kesha, singer

27 – Justin Bieber, pop star

Puzzle Answer

Three. Two ducks are in front of the last duck; the first duck has two ducks behind; one duck is between the other two.