Mar 12

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

Today’s  Historical  Highlights

1622 - Ignatius of Loyola declared a saint

1755 - 1st steam engine in America installed, to pump water from a mine

1868 - Congress abolishes manufacturer's tax

1884 - Mississippi establishes 1st US state college for women

1933 - FDR conducts his 1st "fireside chat"

1945 - NY is 1st to prohibit discrimination by race & creed in employment

1964 - Malcolm X resigns from Nation of Islam

1970 - US lowers voting age from 21 to 18

2003 - Zoran Đinđić, Prime Minister of Serbia, is assassinated in Belgrade

♪Happy Birthday To: ♪                     

 

Free Rambling Thoughts   

A tad windy with lots of sunshine… We had a great discussion last night. Ever wonder who owns the internet? Well it seems the answer is nobody, everybody, anybody.  The discussion centered around how guidelines, rules, regulations can be placed on it. Since it is global, culture has to play a role in anything that changes the entire Internet. Then one has to look at various governments—theocracy, monarchy, democracy, a combination of varying degrees of each. How does one describe ‘pornography’ beyond ‘I know it when I see it’. In the US the baring of female breasts and/or male or female genitals is considered soft core porn, but in Islamic countries, showing a post puberty woman’s hair, arms or legs is forbidden. Paintings of Jesus are OK for most, but pictures of Mohammad are forbidden. Some countries do not want their population to learn about the world, others think it is necessary. Some countries don’t want ‘hate’ against a group of people available. Then, there is the cyber security issue…is it OK for some governments to pay for programs that might destroy Iranian reactors to stop them from getting an atomic bomb but not OK for others to pay for programs that destroy power grids of their enemies? We discussed the issue of a cyber attack on America. How would everyday Americans get anything from power, to money, to food, to water. When the power goes out, very few business, if any, can serve customers…this includes grocery stores, gas stations, banks, and just about everything else. The Feds have a plan if there is a major cyber attack on our systems…shut down everything at once…and within two weeks to six weeks, slowly bring everything back on line with clean computers. Of course there are many safeguards to prevent any large scale cyber attack…and most of us sure hope they work. Finally we discussed various groups that hack corporate and government computer systems for information they can make public—everything from ‘secret’ memos and deals to personal information. It was a lively discussion to say the least.

I watched Game Change today. Interesting. Reminded me of the ’08 election. Guess the Republicans have as much right to fight it out this year as the Dems did back then. One difference is that in ’08 we knew we were getting a new president, no matter which party won.

Game   Center   (answers at the end of post)

Brain Game

NPR Sunday Puzzle

This puzzle involves meditation. Every answer is a familiar two-word phrase that starts with the initials "O-M." For example: protection for the hand while cooking? Answer: oven mitt.

1.      Kid’s card game:

2.      What you should maintain while considering a new idea:

3.      Big name in hot dogs and lunch meats:

4.      A fruity preserve you might put on toast:

5.      It might propel a boat carrying a water skier:

6.      Chain of peaks in Arkansas and Missouri:

7.      Supervisor for secretaries and administrative assistants:

8.      Nickname for a southern University:

9.      What a conservative jurist looks to in the constitution to decide cases:

10.   NBA team that Shaq first played for:

11.   Cry equivalent to ‘good Heavens’:

Wuzzles  What concept or phrase do these suggest?

Lifestyle  Substance     

Planet Earth—Mayan

Found on You Tube         

"R. Buckminster Fuller: THE HISTORY (and Mystery) OF THE UNIVERSE"

Harper’s Index         

Percentage of unemployed people in the US who are covered by primary unemployment insurance: ¼

Joke-of-the-day

Peter called his doctor’s office for an appointment. “I’m sorry,” said the receptionist, “we can’t fit you in for at least two weeks.” “But I could be dead by then!” “No problem. If your wife lets us know, we’ll cancel the appointment.”

Rules of Thumb   

Easy shortcuts to make an ‘educated’ guess

If you see a school of porpoise, the water is free from sharks.

Somewhat Useless Information    

A molecule is the smallest unit of a substance that retains the properties of that substance.

Neutrons are particles with no charge. Protons are particles with a positive charge, and electrons are particles with a negative charge.

"Buckyballs" are microscopic spheres of 60 atoms of pure carbon in a spherelike structure that resembles a geodosic dome. Also called fullerenes or buckminsterfullerenes, they were named after R. Buckminster Fuller who invented the geodosic dome. 

Buckyballs are of great interest to scientists because they contain a cavity large enough to hold other elements, even whole molecules. Once an element has been deposited into the cavity, it cannot emerge without being heated to high temperatures. This technology may someday be used to deliver medication to specific locations within the body.

Yeah, It Really Happened                 

OXFORD, England - Residents of a British town said they are rolling their eyes after workers misspelled the word "school" on the road outside an elementary school. Parents dropping their children off at Wolvercote Primary School in Oxford, England, Thursday said they noticed the crews who replaced the tarmac Wednesday after performing cable work under the road had written "schoul" on the road instead of "school," The Sun reported Thursday. "How embarrassing," said Annalie Cox, who has an 11-year-old and a 6-year-old at Wolvercote. "I hope that by the time my children leave this school they will be able to spell such basic words." An Oxfordshire County Council spokesman said contractors are believed to be behind the error.

Calendar Information        

…Happening This Week:

3-18

Iditarod Race

8-14

Universal Women's Week

11-17

Girl Scout Week

Turkey Vultures Return to the Living Sign

National Agriculture Week

12-18

International Brain Awareness Week

Wildlife Week

13-19

Campfire USA Birthday Week

Today Is                                                                      

Genealogy Day

Girl Scout Birthday Day--1912

Alfred Hitchcock Day

International Fanny Pack Day

Napping Day 

Gabon: National Day

Lesotho:  Moshoeshoe's Day (commemorate the death of the country’s founder-1870)
Mauritius:  Independence Day (1968 from UK)

Spain: Fiesta de las Fallas (Las Fallas literally means "the fires" in Valencian. The focus of the fiesta is the creation and destruction of ninots (“puppets” or “dolls”), which are huge cardboard, wood, paper-machè and plaster statues. The ninots are extremely lifelike and usually depict bawdy, satirical scenes and current events.)

Today’s Other Events                                                             

1300’s

1350 - Orvieto city says it will behead & burn Jewish-Christian couples

1400’s

1496 - Jews are expelled from Syria 1609 - Bermuda becomes an English colony

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1600’s

1619 - Dutch settlement on Java changes name to Batavia

1664 - 1st naturalization act in American colonies

1700’s

1737 - Galileo's body moved to Church of Santa Croce in Florence, Italy

1800’s

1850 - 1st US $20 gold piece issued

1858: The Ponca sign a treaty (12 stat.997) on this date which grants them a permanent home on the Niobrara River, and protection from their enemies, both white and Indians. For these privileges, the Ponca give up a part of their ancestral lands. Unfortunately, several years later, a mistake by a government bureaucrat will force them to share land with the Sioux.

1900’s

1930 - Mohandas Gandhi begins 200m (300km) march protesting British salt tax

1938 - Nazi Germany invades Austria 

1947 - Pres Truman introduces Truman-doctrine to fight communism

1959 - US House joins Senate approving Hawaii statehood

1969 - 11th Grammy Awards: Mrs Robinson, By the Time I Get to Phoenix wins

1977 - Sadat pledges to regain Arab territory from Israel

1980 - Jury finds John Wayne Gacy guilty of murdering 33 in Chicago

1984 - British ice dancing team, Torvill & Dean, become 1st skaters to receive 9 perfect 6.0s in world championships

1989 - 2 cyanide-contaminated Chilean grapes found (Philadelphia)

1999 - Former Warsaw Pact members the Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland join NATO

2000’s

2003 - Elizabeth Smart, was found after having been missing for 9 months

2011 - A reactor at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant melts and explodes and releases radioactivity into the atmosphere a day after Japan's earthquake

Today’s Birthdays                                                           

In their 80’s

Edward Albee, playwright (Virgina Woolfe, Zoo Story) is 84

Andrew Young, US ambassador to UN (1977-79)/(Mayor-D-Atlanta) is 80

In their 70’s

Barbara Feldon, actor: Agent 99 - Get Smart is 71

Salvatore "the Bull" Gravano, mobster (testified against Gotti) is 70

Johnny Rutherford, auto racer (26 championship races) is 74

In their 60’s

Liza Minnelli, singer and actor is 66

Mitt Romney, 70th Governor of Massachusetts is 65

Jon Provost, actor (Timmy-Lassie) is 62

James Taylor, vocalist/guitarist (Up on the Roof) is 64

In their 50’s

Darryl Strawberry, LA California, baseball right fielder (Mets, Dodgers, Yankees) is 50

Remembered for being born on this day

George Berkeley, Ireland, philosopher/bishop of Cloyne in 1685

Jane Delano, US, nurse/teacher/founder (Red Cross) in 1862

Tony "Two-Ton" Galento, Orange NJ, boxer/actor (On the Waterfront) in 1910

Jack Kerouac, Beat writer (On the Road, Mexico Blues) in 1922

George W. Mason, American industrialist in 1891

Gordon MacRae, singer/actor (Oklahoma, Carousel) in 1921

William Perkin, inventor (1st artificial dye) in 1838

Walter M Schirra Jr, Capt USN/ast (Mer 8, Gem 6, Ap 7) in 1923

Richard Steele, Irish writer and politician in 1672

Clement Studebaker, automobile pioneer (Studebaker) in 1831

Today’s Obits                                                           

Anne Frank, diarist (Diary of Anne Frank), killed in Belsen Camp at 15 in 1945

Gregory I the Great, Pope (590-604), dies at 64 in 604

Innocent I, Italian Pope (401-417), dies in 417

Charlie "Bird" Parker, US jazz saxophonist, dies of cirrhosis at 34 in 1955

Cherokee Chief Tahchee (Captain William Dutch) dies in 1848

Throughout his life, one of the original groups of Cherokee to move west of the Mississippi river, a major political force in the "old settler party". He fought many fights with the Osage who leaved near the Cherokee. Eventually, he would become a scout for the U.S. Army, where he reached the rank of Captain

George Westinghouse, US engineer (Westinghouse Electric), dies at 67 in 1914

Sun Yat-Sen (孫文) , Chinese revolutionary president, dies of liver cancer at 58 in 1925

Answers                                                                                                                                            

Brain Game

NPR Sunday Puzzle

1.      Kid’s card game:

a.      Old Maid

2.      What you should maintain while considering a new idea:

a.      Open mind

3.      Big name in hot dogs and lunch meats:

a.      Oscar Mayer

4.      A fruity preserve you might put on toast:

a.      orange marmalade

5.      It might propel a boat carrying a water skier:

a.      outboard motor

6.      Chain of peaks in Arkansas and Missouri:

a.       Ozark Mountains

7.      Supervisor for secretaries and administrative assistants:

a.      Office manager

8.      Nickname for a southern University:

a.      Ole Miss

9.      What a conservative jurist looks to in the constitution to decide cases:

a.      original meaning

10.   NBA team that Shaq first played for:

a.      Orlando Magic

11.   Cry equivalent to ‘good Heavens’:

a.      Oh my

Wuzzle

• Raised eyebrows
• Stayed right around home
• Worry over nothing

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 11

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

Today’s  Historical  Highlights

1669 - Volcano Etna in Italy erupts killing 15,000

1812 - Citizenship granted to Prussian Jews

1823 - 1st normal school in US opens, Concord Academy, Concord, Vt

1824 - US War Dept creates the Bureau of Indian Affair, Thomas McKenney is appointed its first head

1918 - Save the Redwoods League founded

1941 - FDR signs Lend-Lease Bill (lend money to Britain)

1986 - 1 million days since traditional foundation of Rome, 4/21/753 BC

2009 - Winnenden school shooting - 17 people are killed at a school in Germany

♪Happy Birthday To: ♪                     

  Returns tomorrow

Free Rambling Thoughts   

What a good day…got some copies made for tonight’s discussion…then off for snacks..all done in less than an hour…cool. Since I’m the moderator tonight, this blog will be a little shorter but don’t despair, anything missing will return tomorrow. Yeah, I know, Daylight time starts for most of America…but not for us in AZ, except for the Navajo Nation. Many in AZ believe that if God had wanted us on Daylight time, he would not have made Southern AZ so hot in the summer. I’m not one, but there are many down there who do believe that…kinda explains a lot.

Game   Center   (answers at the end of post)

Brain Game

NPR Sunday Puzzle

From two given four-letter words, rearrange the letters of one of them to get a synonym of the other. For example, given "each" and "pain," the answer is "ache," because "ache" is an anagram of "each," and it means "pain."

1.      Peal, grin:

2.      Bare, dune:

3.      Gear, fury:

4.      Burn, arch:

5.      Oven, link:

6.      Felt, gone:

7.      Info, sewn:

8.      Rove, atop:

9.      Rapt, role:

10.   Whip, golf:

11.   Thin, clue:

Wuzzles  What concept or phrase do these suggest?

Lifestyle  Substance     

Planet Earth—Mayan

Found on You Tube         

Gerry Adams Documentary

Harper’s Index         

Returns tomorrow

Joke-of-the-day

A young man just had his first customer, which turned out to be a BIG BURLY truck driver. The young man walked up to the table where the truck driver was sitting and asked; “Can I take your order sir?” The truck driver replied, “sure kid I want three flat tires and two headlights.”
The young man was very puzzled and said, “I beg your pardon? “The truck driver said again, “Look kid; I want three flat tires and two headlights.”
The young man was still puzzled, but replied; “Yes sir, whatever.”
The young man then took the request to his boss who was the head cook.He told him about the truck driver's order, and that he wanted three flat tires and two headlights, “I think he's in the wrong place.”
The head cook said, “I know what he wants, he wants three flap jacks and two eggs sunny side up; the truck driver is just trying to be smart, I know him.”
The cook said to the waiter here, “Take this bowl of beans, give it to him and say this.
The truck driver said, “Listen kid, I didn't order this; I said I wanted three flat tires and two headlights.” The waiter replied, “Well sir, the head cook said while you wait for your parts, you can gas up!”

Rules of Thumb   

Easy shortcuts to make an ‘educated’ guess

When you are working in the vicinity of high voltage, keep 1 foot of distance between you and the power source for each 1,000 volts. For instance, stay 13 feet away from a 13,000 volt power source.

Somewhat Useless Information    

Returns tomorrow

Yeah, It Really Happened                 

BOURNEMOUTH, England - A British man who took his step-daughter to a public pool said he was barred from swimming because his swim trunks were too long. Andy Toms, 45, said he took his stepdaughter, Annie, 11, and one of her friends to the pool at the Littledown leisure center in Bournemouth, England, and a lifeguard told him he couldn't swim because his trunks were too long, The Sun reported Thursday.
Toms said the lifeguard told him the trunks posed a hygiene risk."I've used that pool for years and worn my three-quarter length trunks before," he said. "They offered a pair from lost property but if the problem's hygiene it's not very hygienic to wear somebody's lost trunks."
A spokesman for the leisure center said officials are concerned about bacteria. "These are not classed as swimwear and may have been used for other things like running in a field, which could mean bacteria going into the pool," the spokesman said.

Calendar Information        

…Happening This Week:

3-18

Iditarod Race

5-11

National Sleep Awareness Week

8-11

World Rattlesnake Round-up

8-14

Universal Women's Week

11-17

Girl Scout Week

Turkey Vultures Return to the Living Sign

National Agriculture Week

Today Is                                                                      

Check Your Batteries Day

Daylight Saving Time Begins

Dream 2012 Day

Girl Scout Sunday

Johnny Appleseed Day

World Plumbing Day

Worship of Tools Day

US: Canisteo Valley, Canisteo, NY: Turkey Vultures Return to the Living Sign Traditionally turkey vultures return to their roosting sites in and around the world-famous living sign, as mentioned in “Ripley’s Believe It or Not.” The sign spells out “Canisteo” using 250 trees on a ridge above Greenwood Street

US: Texas: South by Southwest (SXSW): Annual Film Festival and more

Today’s Other Events                                                             

Before 1000CE

537 - Goths lay siege to Rome

…

1300’s

1302 - Romeo & Juliet's wedding day, according to Shakespeare

…

1600’s

1665 - NY approves new code guaranteeing Protestants religious rights

…

1800’s

1845 - The Flagstaff War: In New Zealand, Chiefs Hone Heke and Kawiti lead 700 Māoris to chop down the British flagpole and drive settlers out of the British colonial settlement of Kororareka because of breaches of the 1840 Treaty of Waitangi

1856: The Nez Perce join Col. Cornelius for a fight against the Yakima

1864 - The Great Sheffield Flood: The largest man-made disaster ever to befall England kills over 250 people in Sheffield

1867 - The first performance of Don Carlos written by Verdi

1892 - 1st public basketball game (Springfield, Mass)

1897 - A meteorite enters the earth's atmosphere and explodes over New Martinsville, West Virginia. The debris causes damage but no human injuries are reported

1900’s

1917 - British troops occupy Baghdad 1918 - Moscow becomes capital of revolutionary Russia

1918 - First confirmed cases of the Spanish Flu are observed at Fort Riley, Kansas

1927 - 1st golden gloves tournament

1948 - Reginald Weit became the 1st black to play in the US Tennis Open

1953 - 1st woman army doctor commissioned (FM Adams)

1958 - Charles Van Doren finally loses on TV game show "21"

1959 - "Raisin in the Sun," 1st Broadway play by a black woman, opens

1963 - Somalia drops diplomatic relations with Great Britain

1968 - Otis Redding posthumously receives gold record for " Dock of the Bay"

1991 - Monica Seles ends Steffi Graf's streak of 186 weeks ranked as #1

1995 - Sinn Fein party leader, Gerry Adams, arrives in US

2000’s

2003 - The International Criminal Court holds its inaugural session in The Hague

2004 - Terrorists explode simultaneous bombs on Madrid's rail network ripping through a commuter train and rocking three stations, killing 190

2006 - Michelle Bachelet is inaugurated as first female president of Chile

2011 - An earthquake measuring 9.0 in magnitude strikes 130 km (80 miles) east of Sendai, Japan, triggering a tsunami killing thousands of people. 

Today’s Birthdays                                                           

In their 80’s

Rupert Murdoch, Australia, publisher (NY Post)/CEO (FOX-TV) is 81

In their 70’s

Sam Donaldson, , ABC White House correspondent (Prime Time) is 78

…

In their 40’s

Jesse Jackson, Jr., American politician is 47

Johnny Knoxville, TV personality is 41

…

Remembered for being born on this day

Ralph Abernathy, civil rights leader (Southern Christian Leadership) in 1926

Malcolm Campbell, 1st auto racer to travel 5 miles/min (8 km/min) in 1885

J. C. R. Licklider, American computer scientist and Internet pioneer in 1915

Ezra Jack Keats, children's literature author (The Snowy Day) in 1916

John McLean, U.S. Supreme Court Justice in 1785

Henry Benedict Stuart, pretender to the throne of Great Britain in 1725

Henry Tate, English sugar producer (Tate Gallery) in 1819

Lawrence Welk, orchestra leader (Lawrence Welk Show) in 1903

Today’s Obits                                                           

Vince Edwards, actor (Ben Casey), dies of cancer at 67 in 1996

Erle Stanley Gardner, US writer (Perry Mason), dies at 80 in 1970

[Wayne] Woody Hayes, football coach (Ohio State), dies at 74 in 1987

Betty Hutton, American actress and singer dies at 86 in 2007

Merlin Olsen, American football player / Actor of mesothelioma dies at 70 in 2010

Manuel Jose Quintana, Spanish author/poet (A la paz), dies at 84 in 1857

Charles Sumner, a white civil rights leader, dies of heart attack at 63 in 1874

Revd Benjamin Waugh, activist, National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children at 69 in 1908

Answers                                                                                                                                            

Brain Game

First equation: 8 - 7 = 12 - 3 - 4 - 4Second equation: 8 - 35 - 2 = 6 - 1 - 34

NPR Sunday Puzzle

1.      Peal, grin:

a.      ring

2.      Bare, dune:

a.      nude

3.      Gear, fury:

a.      rage

4.      Burn, arch:

a.      char

5.      Oven, link:

a.      kiln

6.      Felt, gone:

a.      left

7.      Info, sewn:

a.      news

8.      Rove, atop:

a.      over

9.      Rapt, role:

a.      part

10.   Whip, golf:

a.      flog

11.   Thin, clue:

a.      hint

Wuzzle

• Backfield in motion
• Parodies
• Crosswise

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  ☺