They don’t take the ‘paper-or-plastic’ debate too seriously.
Today’s Birthdays
Television journalist Roger Mudd is 84.
Singer-songwriter Carole King is 70.
Actor Joe Pesci is 69.
Author Alice Walker is 68.
Actress Mia Farrow is 67.
Country singer Travis Tritt is 49.
Filed under Birthdays
On February 9 …
1825 – The U.S. House of Representatives decided the 1824 presidential elections, when it selected John Quincy Adams to be president over Andrew Jackson who had won more popular votes.
1870 – Congress authorized the United States Weather Bureau, later renamed the National Weather Service (NWS).
1942 – Congress instituted daylight savings time, then called “war time.”
1963 – The first Boeing 727 took off from Renton Field in Renton, Washington.
1969 – The Boeing 747 made its first test flight at the Boeing plant in Everett, Washington, ushering in the age of the jumbo jet.
1987 – Twenty years after the first woman was admitted to the New York Stock Exchange, the Exchange Luncheon Club decided to install a women’s restroom! Before then, women had to walk down a flight of stairs.
2001 – The U.S.S. Greeneville, a Pearl Harbor-based nuclear-powered, fast-attack submarine, collided with the Japanese fishing vessel Ehime Maru, sinking the fishing boat and killing 9 of the 35 persons aboard. The Greeneville was surfacing when it struck the Japanese ship.
Filed under History
February 9, 2012 – 315 days Until Baktun 12
Survivalist Tip: As December 21st approaches, begin stockpiling chocolate. It’s well-documented that chocolate was – and still is – a food of the Mayan deities. It was reserved strictly for Mayan royalty who would use chocolate in various ceremonial practices. They even created chocolate enemas! And, as a result, they were able to chart stars in the night skies and develop complicated math formulas. But, chocolate isn’t just a comfort food; it’s a top antioxidant. Loaded with caffeine, it’s also a good source of energy, which will help you on those long treks across barren wastelands. And, if any member of your posse gets out of hand, just ram a chocolate bar up their ass.
Filed under Mayan Calendar Countdown
Picture of the Day
Krispy Kreme doughnut cheeseburgers. Where’s Michelle Obama when you need her?!
Filed under News
Quote of the Day
“I don’t think we did anything wrong. I never had one of these sex abuse cases.”
– Roman Catholic Cardinal Edward Egan withdrawing his 2002 apology for child molestation scandals exposed when he was Archbishop of New York.
Filed under News
February 8 Birthdays
Composer-conductor John Williams is 80.
Actor Nick Nolte is 71.
Author John Grisham is 57.
Rock singer Vince Neil (Mötley Crue) is 51.
Actor Seth Green is 38.
Filed under Birthdays
On February 8…
1587 – Mary, Queen of Scots, was beheaded.
1910 – The Boy Scouts of America was incorporated.
1918 – The Stars and Stripes, the weekly newspaper of the American Expeditionary Forces, was published for the first time.
1924 – John Joseph Carty of the Bell Telephone System gave a speech in Chicago, IL, that was carried across the nation on the first coast-to-coast radio hookup. An estimated 50-million people heard the speech.
1960 – U.S. Congressional investigators began exploring the influence of payola in the radio and record industries. Alan Freed and American Bandstand host, Dick Clark, among others, were called to testify.
1963 – Lamar Hunt, owner of the American Football League franchise in Dallas, TX, moved the operation to Kansas City. He named the new team the Chiefs. Dallas got possession of an NFL franchise known as the Cowboys.
1971 – NASDAQ, the world’s first electronic stock exchange, conducted its initial trading day.
1984 – The XIV Winter Olympics opened in Sarajevo, Yugoslavia (now Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina). The Olympic facilities have since been all but destroyed by the war in Bosnia.
1992 – The XVI Winter Olympic Games opened in Albertville, France.
Filed under History
Josefina Vazquez Mota Is Mexico’s First Female Presidential Candidate
Josefina Vazquez Mota, a 51-year-old economist and former Mexican congresswoman, became the first female presidential candidate from any of México’s major parties when she won 55% of the vote in Sunday’s primary for the National Action Party (PAN), with 89% of polling stations counted. Although it’s just the primary, her victory marks a milestone for women in a country that didn’t grant them the right to vote until 1953. The first female governor did not take office until 1989, and only a handful of women have been elected to political office since. México’s presidential elections will be held on July 1. Vasquez-Mota sounded confident when she proclaimed, “I will be the first woman president of México in history.”
PAN scored a major triumph in 2000 when Vicente Fox won the presidency; a significant achievement because the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) had ruled México for 71 years. PAN also hopes México will follow Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Costa Rica and other Latin American countries that have elected female leaders in recent years.
It would be an interesting political coup if México elects a female president, considering the United States – which champions itself as the leader of the free world and progressive on women’s rights – really hasn’t come close. If you ponder the vice-presidential runs of Geraldine Ferraro in 1984 and Sarah Palin in 2008, it’s even more depressing.
February 8, 2012 – 316 days Until Baktun 12
Survivalist Tip: Buy a compass. According to some predictions, the Earth’s magnetic fields will make a gigantic somersault on December 21st – which means North will become South, up will become down, gift cards will convert to cash, etc. A compass, therefore, will help you keep things straightened out. If you’re a homosexual, don’t get offended; it’s just a figure of speech. If you’re bisexual, I guess you’re only half-way offended, but I still don’t care. If you don’t know what you are, just drink some wine and buy a damn compass anyway! You’re running out of time, bitch!
Filed under Mayan Calendar Countdown
