Mar 10

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

Today’s  Historical  Highlights

   418 - Jews are excluded from public office in the Roman Empire

1862 - US issues 1st paper money ($5, $10, $20, $50, $100, $500 & $1000)

1864 - Grant is named commander of the Union armies

1933 - Nevada becomes 1st US state to regulate narcotics

1969 - James Earl Ray pleads guilty in murder of Martin Luther King Jr

1977 - Rings of Uranus discovered during occulation of SAO

♪Happy Birthday To: ♪                     

 

Free Rambling Thoughts   

A lazy Friday after a late night watching movies. Relaxing. Our own environmental issue—reclaimed water to make snow—is just not going away. The ski resort owners are planning to make artificial snow this week, so that means another court order. Lil’ Flag so wants to be a ‘ski destination’ they won’t give up. The city manager renewed the authorization to use reclaimed water for snow for another 5 years. The manager says that there are over 60 contracts for reclaimed water on the books, and a public hearing for the ski area was not needed. He failed to mention that the other contracts are used to water grass and each has to have signs throughout the watered area have to have signs that say that it is not potable water and not to drink it or get wet with it. Somehow the snow thing seems a little different…it’s hard to ski and not get wet and to ‘eat’ a little snow now and again. Maybe the new ski gear will be hazardous suits with masks that don’t allow wet snow to get into the skiers mouth. And at the end of the day, just stand in an outdoor shower with the suit on to get all the gunk off your suit. Yeah, that will work at a ski area. 

At the same time, the Snowboard Festival that closed several residential and business streets for four days drew lots of participants and observers but didn’t make much money for anybody and cost overrides cost our little town important dollars. Some business did report more foot traffic to their stores and a few reported increased sales.

 Then the news that our outdoor entertainment venue that is owned by a Phoenix company missed its revenue predictions by 2/3. Big promises from Big City…and we fell for it. We didn’t lose money on this one, just didn’t get our pot filled as much as promised. The local guy who had previously ran the venue didn’t get his contract renewed because he had more realistic figures for profit. Ahh—the dreams of a small town wanting to join the big time. 

I did spend some time preparing for tomorrows Cyber security presentation. I’ll be ready to lead the discussion.

Game   Center   (answers at the end of post)

Brain Game

NPR Sunday Puzzle

Each answer starts with a clue for a six-letter word. If you drop the first letter and read the remaining letters backward, you'll get a five-letter word that answers a second clue. For example, if the clues are "flower parts" and "roofing material," the answers would be "petals" and "slate." (Remove the "p" of "petals" and read the rest backward to get "slate.")

1.      To state positively; a lock of hair:

2.      A hotel employee who carries bag; an old fashion that is in again:

3.      Calamitous; a prop for Groucho Marx:

4.      A big number; section in supermarket with milk and butter:

5.      Attic; Latin for earth:

6.      The lowest part: all for one and one for all for example:

7.      A Leftist European political party; the look on a villain’s face:

8.      2 words: means or signifies; one of the five senses:

Wuzzles  What concept or phrase do these suggest?

Lifestyle  Substance     

Planet Earth—Mayan

Found on You Tube         

Harriet Tubman and the Underground Railroad

Harper’s Index         

Percentage increase in the number of Chinese students applying to US graduate schools this year: 21

Joke-of-the-day

A male frog goes to a psychic. The psychic tells him, "You are going to meet a beautiful young girl who will want to know everything about you."
The frog becomes excited, "This is great! Will I meet her at a party?"
 "No," says the psychic, "in her biology class." 

Rules of Thumb   

Easy shortcuts to make an ‘educated’ guess

To determine where the sidewalks for a new building on campus should be, construct the building without sidewalks and wait for one year. Then put the sidewalks on the paths the students have made.

Somewhat Useless Information    

According to Catherine Durant, her husband saw the inspiration for the Chevrolet "bow tie" logo not on some French wallpaper (as legend has it) but in a newspaper ad while they were vacationing in Hot Springs, Virginia. Researchers believe the company responsible was an Atlanta-based coal supplier known as Coalettes.

The familiar Mercedes-Benz logo is a three-pointed star designed by Gottlieb Daimler to represent the dominance of his company's motors across land, on sea, and in the air.

Prior to 1933, the distinctive intertwined "RR" grille logo of Rolls-Royce was red. Upon the passing of founder Sir Henry Royce, the logo's color was permanently changed to black as a symbol of mourning.

What consumers call "hood ornaments," those in the automobile business refer to as "mascots." These were originally designed as decorative alternatives to the traditional exposed radiator caps that stuck out in front of the hood. Among logos displayed in this fashion is the "Ram" icon of Dodge Trucks.

Franz Reimspiess was the engineer at Volkswagen who submitted the classic "VW" logo design in a 1930s company-wide competition. Reimspiess's winning entry earned him about 35 dollars.

Cadillac redesigned its emblem in 1998, omitting the six ducks that had appeared in it since the company's inception. The merlettes had "come to life" in an advertising campaign for the automaker's ill-fated Catera, and the company wanted to distance itself from that failure.

Yeah, It Really Happened                 

Seattle, WA- A Seattle-area corrections officer has been charged with bigamy after his two wives learned about each other on Facebook, prosecutors say.
Alan O’Neill, 41, married his first wife in 2001, when he was known as Alan Fulk, according to The News Tribune of Tacoma.  The couple split up eight years later, and Fulk moved out, but the pair never divorced, the newspaper reported.Last December, he reportedly petitioned to have his name changed to O’Neill before marrying his second wife.The first wife allegedly learned about the second wife when Facebook recommended the two women become “friends,” Prosecutor Mark Lindquist told The News Tribune.O’Neill, who has worked as a Pierce County corrections officer for five years, has been placed on administrative leave and is scheduled to appear in court March 22 on the felony charge.Lindquist told the newspaper that the first wife alerted authorities to the dual marriages after he asked her to keep quiet about it while he fixed the situation.Apparently, she wasn’t convinced.“It’s not the crime of the century, but it is a crime,” Lindquist told the newspaper.

Calendar Information        

…Happening This Week:

3-18

Iditarod Race

4-10

 Celebrate Your Name Week

National Consumer Protection Week

National Procrastination Week

National Schools Social Work Week

National Words Matter Week

Professional Pet Sitters Week

Save Your Vision Week

Read an E-Book Week

Return The Borrowed Books Week

Teen Tech Week

Women in Construction Week

5-11

National Sleep Awareness Week

8-11

World Rattlesnake Round-up

8-14

Universal Women's Week

Today Is                                                                      

Army Day

Festival Of Life In The Cracks Day

Genealogy Day

Harriet Tubman Day

International Day of Awesomeness

International Fanny Pack Day

Land Line Telephone Day

Mario Day: a gamer holiday for the video game: Mar10 looks like Mario

Name Tag Day

US Paper Money Day

Women & Girls HIV/AIDS Awareness Day

Today’s Other Events                                                             

Before 1000CE

241 BC - First Punic War: Battle of the Aegates Islands - The Romans sink the Carthaginian fleet bringing the First Punic War to an end

1600’s

1681 - English Quaker William Penn receives charter from Charles II, making him sole proprietor of colonial American territory Pennsylvania

1700’s

1762 - French Huguenot Jean Calas, who was wrongly convicted of killing his son, dies after being tortured by authorities; the event inspired Voltaire to begin a campaign for religious tolerance and legal reform

1800’s

1801 - First census in Great Britain

1849 - Abraham Lincoln applies for a patent; only US president to do so

1865: The Ponca sign a treaty regarding 30,000 acres of land (14 stat.675).

1876 - 1st telephone call made (Alexander Graham Bell to Thomas Watson)

1900’s

1902 - A United States court of appeals rules that Thomas Edison did not invent the movie camera

1910 - China ends slavery

1922 - KLZ-AM in Denver CO begins radio transmissions

1930: Today, under authority of an act passed by Congress (24 stat. 388-89) on February 8, 1887, an executive order will be issued which will extend the trust period on land allotments made to members of the "Prairie Band of Potawatomi Indians in Kansas."

1945 - Japan declares Vietnam Independence

1945 - The Army Air Force firebombs Tokyo, and the resulting firestorm kills more than 100,000 people, mostly civilians

1951 - FBI director J Edgar Hoover declines post of baseball commissioner

1962 - Due to it's no black policy, Phillies leave Jack Tar Harrison Hotel & move to Rocky Point Motel, 20 miles outside Clearwater, Florida

1963 - Wilt Chamberlain of NBA SF Warriors scores 70 points vs Syracuse

1966 - North Vietnamese capture US Green Beret Camp at Ashau Valley

1971 - Senate approves amendment lowering voting age to 18

1975 - Dog spectacles patented in England

1982 - The United States places an embargo on Libyan petroleum imports because of their support of terrorist groups

1991 - Eddie Sutton is 1st NCAA coach to lead 4 schools into playoffs

2000’s

2000 - The NASDAQ Composite stock market index peaks at 5132.52, signaling the beginning of the end of the dot-com boom

2006 - Mass unrest by the PCC started in São Paulo (the biggest city in Brazil) which would eventually kill more than 152 people

Today’s Birthdays                                                           

In their 70’s

Wayne Dyer, psychologist (Universe Within You) is 72

Chuck Norris [Carlos Ray], OK, martial arts actor (Missing in Action) is 72

Gary Owens, announcer (Laugh-in) is 77

In their 50’s

Sharon Stone, actress (Basic Instinct, Sliver, Casino) is 54

Shannon Tweed, actress, PMOY is 55

In their 40’s

Jasmine Guy, actress (Whitley-Different World) is 49

In their 30’s

Shannon Miller, Rolla MO, gymnast (Oly2 gold-2 silver/3 bronze-92, 96) is 35

Under 30 years old

Carrie Underwood, country singer (Temporary Home ) is 29

Remembered for being born on this day

Jethro Burns, country singer (Homer & Jethro) in 1920

Samuel Ferguson, Irish poet in 1810

Barry Fitzgerald, Dublin Ireland, actor (Acad Award-Going My Way) in 1888

Osama bin Laden, Islamic militant in 1957

John Playfair, Scotland, clergyman/geologist/mathematician in 1748

Jakob Wassermann, Germany, novelist (My Life as German & Jew) in 1873

Joseph Williamson, English philanthropist and tunnel builder in 1769

Today’s Obits                                                           

Konstantin Chernenko, party leader/pres of USSR (1984-85), dies at 73 in 1985

Glenn Cunningham, US world record miler dies at 78 in 1988

Charles Gordon Curtis, inventor of (Curtis-steam turbine), dies at 92 in 1953

Andy Gibb, singer, dies of heart infection at 30 in 1988

Corey Haim, Canadian actor dies of accidental OD at 38 in 2010

Ray Milland, actor (Lost Weekend-Acad Award 1945), dies at 81 in 1986

Herman Tarnower, doctor (Scarsdale Diet), killed by Jean Harris, his wife at 69 in 1980

Harriet Tubman, abolitionist, conductor on Underground RR, dies at 93 in 1913

Answers                                                                                                                                            

Brain Game

NPR Sunday Puzzle

1.      To state positively; a lock of hair:

a.      assert; tress

2.      A hotel employee who carries bag; an old fashion that is in again:

a.      porter; retro

3.      Calamitous; a prop for Groucho Marx:

a.      tragic; cigar

4.      A big number; section in supermarket with milk and butter:

a.      myriad; dairy

5.      Attic; Latin for earth: garret  ;terra

6.      The lowest part: all for one and one for all for example:

a.      bottom; motto

7.      A Leftist European political party; the look on a villain’s face:

a.      greens; sneer

8.      2 words: means or signifies; one of the five senses:

a.       gets at: taste

Wuzzle

• Script writer
• Three strikes against him
• Eisenhower

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 9

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

Today’s  Historical  Highlights

1776 - Publication of the economics book The Wealth of Nations by Adam Smith

1959 - Barbie, the popular girls' doll, debuted, over 800 million sold

1976 - 1st female cadets accepted to West Point Military Academy

Bobby Sands, IRA member born today in 1954

Mickey Spillane, [Frank], Brooklyn NY, mystery writer (I the Jury)  born today in 1918

♪Happy Birthday To: ♪                     

  Returns tomorrow

Free Rambling Thoughts   

Semi-annual checkup went well with my PCP.  While I have no major health issues, he got all Zen during the exam…as he often does…and said that his job is not to cure, but to make the path to the inevitable as pleasant as possible. Hmmm, sure glad I’m healthy. Had a nice lunch with Cheryl as Mary is busy watching her grandkids in Phoenix. Cheryl is getting excited about her Hawaiian getaway with her son and his family next Friday. It’s the first plane flight for the little ones so should get some great stories when she gets back.
 Big news today was the launching of my brother’s website .   Some amazing designs. Of course, no prices and I know what that means…if you have to ask the price, you can’t afford it. So proud of his accomplishments.  And yes, the Sumner table is named after me. The solar flare was only a slow ball, not the hard ball expected…just to keep us all on our technology toes, more are expected as the Sun is in a solar flare 11 year cycle. Great….more to come.

Game   Center   (answers at the end of post)

Brain Game

NPR Sunday Puzzle

For each word given, add the letter "a" and rearrange all the letters to name a well-known island. For example, if the clue is "trees," add an "a" to get the answer: Easter.

1.      Mug +a :

2.      Kew +a:

3.      Amos +a:

4.      Crip +a:

5.      Gobot +a:

6.      Crisco +a:

7.      Danger +a:

8.      Stamina +a:

9.      Reposing +a:

Wuzzles  What concept or phrase do these suggest?

Lifestyle  Substance     

Planet Earth—Mayan

 returns tomorrow

Found on You Tube         

Returns tomorrow

Harper’s Index         

Number of chopsticks made each day by Georgia Chopsticks in Americus Georgia, for use in China: 2,100,000

Joke-of-the-day

A skydiver is enjoying his free-fall, when he realizes that he has reached the altitude where he must open his parachute, he pulls the ripcord, but nothing happens. “No problem,” he says to himself, “I still have my emergency chute.” So he pulls the ripcord on his emergency parachute, and once again, nothing happens. Now the man begins to panic. “What am I going to do?” He thinks. “I’m a goner.”Just then, he sees a man flying up from the earth toward him. He can’t figure out where this man is coming from or what he’s doing, but he says to himself, “I hope he can help me. If he can’t, then I’m in real trouble.”
When the man gets close enough to him, the skydiver cups his hands and shouts, “Hey, do you know anything about parachutes?” The man coming up cups his hands and yells back, “No! Do you know anything about gas stoves?”

Rules of Thumb   

Easy shortcuts to make an ‘educated’ guess

To move hot air out of an overheated sun room, you need a thermostatically controlled fan with a flow rate of four to six cubic feet per minute per square foot of glass in the sun room.

Somewhat Useless Information    

A 2009 study by a leading fossil expert suggests that modern humans hunted and ate Neanderthals, a sturdy species that mysteriously disappeared 30,000 years ago as modern humans began to migrate to Europe.

Capuchin monkeys often greet each other by showing off their erections.

Yeah, It Really Happened                 

LE VALLEY, Minn. - Police in Minnesota said a man seen erratically driving a Zamboni at an ice rink had a blood-alcohol content of 0.32 percent. The Apple Valley city attorney's office said police were called to the Hayes Ice Arena shortly after 8 p.m. Jan. 30 on a report of a man erratically driving the ice-smoothing machine and hitting the boards while resurfacing the ice between youth games, the Minneapolis Star Tribune reported Monday.
The driver, Joel Bruss, 34, told officers he had been drinking at his home earlier in the evening and had driven himself to the ice rink. He agreed to a urine test around 10 p.m. and was found to have a blood-alcohol content of 0.32 percent, four times the legal limit for driving, police said.
Bruss has now been charged with four counts of drunken driving and is due to appear in court April 19. He has prior drunken driving convictions from 2002 and 1999, court records show.

Calendar Information        

…Happening This Week:

3-18

Iditarod Race

4-10

 Celebrate Your Name Week

National Consumer Protection Week

National Procrastination Week

National Schools Social Work Week

National Words Matter Week

Professional Pet Sitters Week

Save Your Vision Week

Read an E-Book Week

Return The Borrowed Books Week

Teen Tech Week

Women in Construction Week

5-9

Newspaper in Education Week

National School Breakfast Week

Share A Story - Shape A Future Week

5-11

National Sleep Awareness Week

8-11

World Rattlesnake Round-up

8-14

Universal Women's Week

Today Is                                                                      

Barbie Day

Get Over It Day

Joe Franklin Day: The Joe Franklin Show was one of the longest-running TV talk shows in history

Middle Name Pride Day

Panic Day: the one day a year when it’s OK to panic

Registered Dietitian Day

Today’s Other Events                                                             

Before 1000CE

141 BC - Liu Che, posthumously known as Emperor Wu of Han, assumes the throne over the Han Dynasty of China

1400’s

1496 - Jews are expelled from Carintha Austria

1497 - Nicolaus Copernicus 1st recorded astronomical observation

1500’s

1562 - Kissing in public banned in Naples (punishable by death)

1700’s

1728 - The Yamassee have left their old lands in South Carolina, and moved to Florida. Many are now living near the Spanish Mission of Nombre de Dios near St. Augustine. Their anger at the Carolinians has not abated; and, they continue raiding the British settlements. Today, a force of 250 volunteers from Carolina, under Colonel John Parker, attack the mission. Thirty warriors will be killed, and many Yamassee will be taken as slaves.

1796 - Napoléon Bonaparte marries Joséphine de Beauharnais

1800’s

1839 - Prussian government limits work week for children to 51 hours

1862 - "Monitor" (Union) & "Merrimack" (Rebel) battle in Hampton Roads

1900’s

1907 - 1st involuntary sterilization law enacted, Indiana

1942 - Construction of the Alaska Highway began

1953 - Josef Stalin buried in Moscow

1954 - Edward R Murrow criticizes Sen Joseph McCarthy (See it Now)

1961 - 1st animal returned from space, dog named Blackie aboard Sputnik 9

1964 - 1st Ford Mustang produced

1979 - Bowie Kuhn orders baseball to give equal access to female reporters

1983 - Zimbabwe opposition leader Joshua Nkomo flees to Botswana

2000’s

2006 - Liquid water is discovered on Enceladus, the sixth largest moon of Saturn.

2007 - The US Justice Department releases an internal audit that found that the Federal Bureau of Investigation had acted illegally in its use of the USA Patriot Act to secretly obtain personal information about US citizens

2011 - Space Shuttle Discovery makes its final landing after 39 flights

Today’s Birthdays                                                           

In their 70’s

Mickey Gilley,  country singer (Urban Cowboy) is 76

Marty Ingels, comedian (I'm Dickens He's Fenster) is 76

Joyce Van Patten, actress (Good Guys, Don Rickles Show) is 78

In their 60’s

Charles Gibson, American television journalist is 69

In their 50’s

Camryn Manheim, American actress is 51

Under 30 years old

Bow Wow, rapper is 25

Remembered for being born on this day

Howard Aiken, American computing pioneer in 1900

Carl Betz, Pitts, actor (Alex Stone-Donna Reed Show) in 1920

William Cobbett, English journalist and author in 1763

David Davis, Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court in 1815

Bobby Fischer,  world chess champion (1972-75) in 1943

Will Geer, Frankfort Indiana, American actor (Grandpa Walton-The Waltons) in 1902

Pete Gray, one-armed outfielder (St Louis Browns) in 1915

George Hayward, US, surgeon, 1st to use ether in 1791

Paul Klipsch, American engineer, noted for his loudspeaker designs in 1904

Phoebe Knapp, American hymn writer in 1839

Amerigo Vespucci, Italian explorer (America) in 1454

Today’s Obits                                                           

Jack Beattie, Northern Irish politician dies at 74 in 1960

George Burns, American actor and singer dies at 100 in 1996

Richard Crane, actor (Surfside 6), dies of heart attack at 50 in 1969

St Frances of Rome, Italian nun dies at 56  in 1140

Chris LeDoux, American country singer dies of liver disease at 57 in 2005

Lawrence E Spivak, journalist (Meet the Press), dies at 93 in 1994

Fernando Rey, Spanish actor (French Connection), dies of cancer at 76 in 1994

Notorius B I G, [Biggie Small, Chris Walkin], rapper, shot dead at 24 in 1997

Answers                                                                                                                                            

Brain Game

 Dr. No, The Dark Knight, The Da Vinci Code

NPR Sunday Puzzle

1.      Mug +a :

a.      Guam

2.      Kew +a:

a.      Wake

3.      Amos +a:

a.      Samoa

4.      Crip +a:

a.      Capri

5.      Gobot +a:

a.      Tobago

6.      Crisco +a:

a.      Corsica

7.      Danger +a:         

a.      Grenada

8.      Stamina +a:

a.      Tasmania

9.      Reposing +a:

a.      Singapore

Wuzzle

1. Downright ornery
2. Lightning
3. Burning incense

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  ☺