August 30, 2016

Aug 31

FYI: Any blue text is a link. Click to check it out!
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8.31.16 Week: 35 \ Day: 244
August Averages: 80°\49°
86004 Today: H 75° \ L 44° Average Sky Cover: 45% 
Wind ave:   5mph\Gusts:  20mph Visibility: 10 mi
Record High: 89°[1950]   Record Low: 35°[1957]
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Quote of the Day
Tis better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all.
~Alfred Lord Tennyson
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Observances Today                                                  
International Overdose Awareness Day Link
Love Litigating Lawyers Day
National Matchmaker Day  Link

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Constitution Day (Kazakhstan)
Freedom Day (Malaysia)
Independence Day (Kyrgyzstan-1991-from USSR)
Independence Day (Trinidad,Tobago-1962-from Great Britain)
La Tomatina (Spain)
National Language Day (Moldova)

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Observances This Week
Be Kind To Humankind Week: 25-31

World Water Week: 28-9/2  Link

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US Historical Highlights for Today
1142 Possible date for establishment of the Iroquois (Haudenosaunee) League - with the aid of Hiawatha and Deganawidah
1778 British kill 17 Stockbridge Indians in Bronx during Revolution
1842 US Naval Observatory authorized by an act of Congress
1881 1st US men's single tennis championships (Newport, RI)
1887 Thomas Alva Edison patents Kinetoscope (produces moving pictures)
1897 Thomas Edison patented his movie camera (Kinetograph)
1910 Theodore Roosevelt makes a speech in Kansas advocating a 'square deal': property shall be 'the servant and not the master of the commonwealth'
1935 FDR signs an act prohibiting export of US arms to belligerents
1954 Hurricane Carol hits New England, 70 die, Costliest ever hurricane at the time and 1st storm name to be retired.
1955 1st sun-powered automobile demonstrated, Chicago, Ill
1965 US Congress establishes Department of Housing & Urban Development
1985 Angel Cordero becomes 3rd jockey to ride horses earning over $100 M
1988 5-day power blackout of downtown Seattle begins
2012 Apple loses its patent dispute with Samsung in Tokyo, Japan
2015 President Obama officially re-designates Alaska’s Mt. McKinley as Denali, its native American name
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World Historical Highlights for Today
1745 Jacobite Rising 1745: Bonnie Prince Charlie reaches Blair Castle, Scotland
1917 In China, Sun Yat-sen and his supporters' 'rump' parliament establishes a military government and elects Sun Yat-sen as commander-in-Chief
1920 Belgium starts paying old age pensions
1939 Japanese invasion army driven out of Mongolia
1951 1st 33 1/3 album introduced in Dusseldorf
1980 Poland's Solidarity trade union federations forms and is offically recognised by the Polish government
1994 Sinn Fein proclaims ceases fire in Northern Ireland
1997 Diana, Princess of Wales, dies in a car crash in a road tunnel in Paris
2000 - The world’s largest fishing vessel arrives in Dublin after completing its maiden voyage from Norway. "Atlantic Dawn", which took over two and a half years to build in a Norwegian shipyard, cost Irish owner Kevin McHugh £50 million
2006 Stolen on August 22, 2004, Edvard Munch's famous painting "The Scream" is recovered from a raid by Norwegian police. The painting was said to be in a better-than-expected condition.
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My Rambling Thoughts
Weatherman says monsoon will return for the weekend, but looking outside now, it seems to be returning a tad early.

Set out to do some grocery shopping and found everything I needed in one stop. Amazing!

One my way I stopped to vote. Not a lot of choice on my ballot, but was able to support those I see as leaders, even when they had no one running against them in the primary. Thankfully, no lines at the polling place with only one other person their voting. I was number 22 at 10am. Not sure why more people don’t vote in the primary or for that matter in the general election. Even when the ballot has no one I like for an office, I still vote…sometimes writing in Mickey Mouse or Donald Duck. The way I see it, if I don’t vote, I have no room to complain about the results…and I have to be able to do that when the elected official does things I don’t agree with.

On an historical note, while we were traveling through Paris in our tour bus, be approached a tunnel and we were told this was the scene of the accident that killed Princess Diana. There is a small plaque in the tunnel at the point of collision. Strange.
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Brain Teasers
(answers at the end of post)
The Shining
Riddles are little poems or phrases that pose a question that needs answering. Riddles frequently rhyme, but this is not a requirement.

I with borrowed silver shine,
What you see is none of mine.
First I show you but a quarter,
like the bow that guards the Tartar;
Then the half, and then the whole,
ever dancing around the pole;
And true it is, I chiefly owe
my beauty to the shades below. 

Who am I?

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Today’s Trivia Hive
(answers at the end of post)
How many troops does the U.S. currently have in Afghanistan?
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…Harper’s Index…
150,000 – Minimum number of Beging residents living in underground bomb shelters
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2 jokes for the day
Workin' Out


I finally realized that I needed to get in shape, so I made plans to join a club and work out for one full year.
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(Cousin) IT Has It! 


Cousin It was getting tired of being just the hired hand around the Addams family household. The family had moved to the feudal nation of Armenia and It decided to run for feudal lord. While not quite a democracy, elections were still the path to choosing the next leader who would exercise power and authority over the nation.

With Gomez, Morticia and Festus fiercely campaigning for their beloved candidate, Election Day arrived. The precincts opened, ballots were cast, and the votes were counted. The polls had showed a close contest between the four candidates running, but when the final tally was announced, Cousin It had received the most votes. 

With all the Addams family and his supporters cheering him on, Cousin It was beside himself as he approached the podium. 

"I won! I won!" It screamed. "Bring me the wine. I'm serving!"

With glass raised, Gomez shouted, "When IT reigns, IT pours!"

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Somewhat Useless Information
The Dog Days of summer traditionally begin July 3 and end August 11, according to the Old Farmer's Almanac. These dates coincide with the ancient heliacal (at sunrise) rising of the Dog Star, Sirius.
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Jay Holberg observes that the ancient Greek poets Hesiod and Aratus refer in their writings to "the heat of late summer that the Greeks believed was actually brought on by the appearance of Sirius," a star in the constellation that the later Romans and we today refer to as Canis Major, literally the "greater dog" constellation.
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The highest temperature ever recorded in the U.S. was in California's Death Valley. The temperature reached 134 degrees. The hottest record on Earth took place in El Aisisa, Libya. That temp was 136F.
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It's not just the heat. It really is the humidity! According the Heat Index, 100 degrees F at 60 percent relative humidity will warm the human body as much as heat at 136 degrees F at 0 percent humidity. When the heat index gets above 90, it's time to take some precautions. About 175 people die in this country every year due to excessive heat.
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Vitamin C can be used as an effective sun screen by either ingesting it or allowing it to diffuse in water and then applying to the skin.
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Contrary to popular belief, crime rates do not increase during the summer. However, the types of crimes change as the seasons change. For example, during the summer, bike thefts and items stolen from cars increase.
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Warmer weather does cause certain diseases to peak during the summer, such as Valley Fever, West Nile Lyme Disease, and food poisoning.
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Birthdays Today
“[ ]” indicates age at death
[93Daniel Schorr,
broadcast journalist (CBS) [d-2010]
85Dan Rather,
news anchor (CBS-TV)
[81] Maria Montessori,

Italian educator (spontaneous response), born in Chiaravalle, Marche, Italy (d. 1952)
[78Buddy [Leonard] Hackett,
Bkln, comedian (God's Little Acre, Music Man) [d-2003]
[77Frederic March [Ernest Frederick McIntyre vBickel],
Racine, Wisconsin, American actor (Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, The Best Years of Our Lives) [d-1975]
[74James Coburn,
Laurel Nebr, actor (Our Man Flint, Magnificent Seven) [d-2002]
71Itzhak Perlman,
Tel Aviv Israel, violinist/polio victim (14               Grammys)
[70Richard Basehart,
        esville Oh, actor (Voyage to Bottom of Sea)         [d-1984]
[67Alan Jay Lerner,
lyricist composer (Lerner & Loewe-My Fair Lady) [d-1986]
67- Richard Gere,
actor (Breathless, Cotton Club, Pretty Woman), born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
63Marcia Clark, [Kleks],
LA DA (OJ Simpson Case), born in Berkeley, California
[62Eldridge Cleaver,
Black Panther turned Republican [d-1998]
46Deborah (Debbie) Gibson,
singer (Only in My Dreams), born in Brooklyn, New York
33Larry Fitzgerald,
AZ Cardinal football player
[28] Caligula [Gaius Caesar],
3rd Roman Emperor (37-41 AD), born in Anzio, Italy (d. 41)
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Historical Obits Today
@79-1973 John Ford,
US director (Mary of Scotland, Stagecoach)
@74-2013 David Frost,
British broadcaster, heart attack
@59-1688 John Bunyan,
preacher/novelist/author (Pilgrim's 
Progress), fever
former heavyweight champ, plane crash
prostitute, was found stabbed to death in London, 1st of at least five murders by Jack the Ripper
@42-1869 Mary Ward,
Irish scientist, first automobile accident
vvictim
Princess of Wales, car crash in Paris
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Brain Teasers Answers
The Moon
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Trivia Hive  Answers
9,800
According to ABC, the Pentagon doesn't like to disclose numbers in regards to who is where doing what. It makes sense. Why reveal your hand? What we do know is that as of July 9th, the U.S. had approximately 9,800 troops in Afghanistan. The goal, however, is to reduce our presence by about 1,400 by the end of the year. Of course, this goal really kind of depends on who jumps into the White House seat come November. We shall see how this plays out! Source: ABC News
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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 contains mistakes and sadly once 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.

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