“The Almanac - Oct. 7 - Post Chronicle” plus 4 more

The Almanac - Oct. 7 - Post Chronicle
Colder than normal, but less snowy - Gloucester Daily Times
NC conservative talker focuses on Obama so far - WLOS.com
The almanac - United Press International
Book drive boosts shelves at Pukalani Elementary School - Maui News

Posted: 07 Oct 2009 04:12 AM PDT

Today is Wednesday, Oct. 7, the 280th day of 2009 with 85 to follow.

The moon is waning. The morning star is Mercury, Venus, Mars and Saturn. The evening stars are Neptune, Jupiter and Uranus.

Those born on this date are under the sign of Libra. They include poet James Whitcomb Riley in 1849; Grand Ole Opry star Uncle Dave Macon in 1870; Danish atomic physicist Niels Bohr in 1885; actor Andy Devine in 1905; singer/bandleader Vaughn Monroe in 1911; actress June Allyson in 1917; actor/singer Al Martino in 1927 (age 82); South African archbishop and Nobel Peace Prize winner Desmond Tutu in 1931 (age 78); Oliver North, the former White House aide who became the center of the Iran-Contra controversy, in 1943 (age 66); rock singer John Mellencamp in 1951 (age 58); classical cellist Yo-Yo Ma in 1955 (age 54); and singer Toni Braxton in 1967 (age 42).

On this date in history:

In 1913, for the first time, Henry Ford's entire Highland Park automobile factory was run on a continuously moving assembly line.

In 1916, in the most lopsided football game on record, Georgia Tech humbled Cumberland University, 222-0.

In 1949, less than five months after Britain, the United States and France established the Federal Republic of Germany in West Germany, the Democratic Republic of Germany (East Germany) was proclaimed within the Soviet occupation zone.

In 1968, the U.S. movie industry adopted a film ratings system for the first time: G (for general audiences), M (for mature audiences), R (no one under 16 admitted without an adult) and X (no one under 16 admitted).

In 1985, four Palestinian terrorists commandeered the Italian cruise ship Achille Lauro with 511 passengers and crew off Egypt and threatened to blow it up unless Israel freed Palestinian prisoners. The hijackers, who surrendered in Port Said two days later, killed an American passenger.

Also in 1985, a mudslide in Ponce, Puerto Rico, killed an estimated 500 people in the island's worst disaster of the 20th century.

In 1991, Iran freed U.S. telecommunications engineer John Pattis, ending five years of captivity on charges of spying for the CIA.

Also in 1991, U.N. inspectors discovered an Iraqi nuclear weapons research center intact.

And in 1991, Slovenia and Croatia formally declared secession from Yugoslavia.

In 1992, U.S. President George H.W. Bush and the leaders of Mexico and Canada signed the North American Free Trade Agreement. The pact would create the world's largest trading bloc.

In 1994, U.S. President Bill Clinton announced he was sending the Navy and Marines in response to an Iraqi military build-up along the Iraqi-Kuwaiti border.

In 1997, scientists announced they had found one of the most massive stars known, behind a dense dust cloud in the Milky Way that had previously concealed it. The star was 25,000 light-years from Earth.

In 1999, American Home Products, the makers of the diet drug combination known as "fen-phen," agreed to a $3.75 billion settlement of a class-action lawsuit stemming from the drugs' use, which was linked to heart valve problems.

In 2000, Vojislav Kostunica was sworn in as Yugoslavia's new president.

In 2001, in the war on terror, the United States and Britain began a series of nightly attacks on targets in Afghanistan.

In a pre-recorded tape played on this date, 2001, Osama bin Laden warned, "America will not live in peace" until peace came to "Palestine" and "until the army of infidels depart the land of Mohammed."

In 2002, the sniper terrorizing the Washington area struck again, critically wounding a 13-year-old boy as he was being dropped off at school in Bowie, Md.

In 2003, Californians voted to recall Democratic Gov. Gray Davis and elected actor Arnold Schwarzenegger, a Republican, as their new governor.

In 2004, at least 56 people were killed and about 100 others injured when three bombs exploded at Egyptian resort areas near the Israeli border.

In 2005, the International Atomic Energy Agency and its director general, Mohamed ElBaradei, were awarded the 2005 Nobel Peace Prize.

In 2006, three former congressional pages joined two others in accusing former U.S. Rep. Mark Foley, R-Fla., of making "sexual approaches" over the Internet. Foley resigned a week earlier when the first of the reports surfaced.

In 2007, more than 1 million people were evacuated from China's southeastern coast ahead of a powerful typhoon that killed five in northern Taiwan.

In 2008, a federal immigration raid on a poultry processing plant in South Carolina netted the arrest of about 300 people as part of a 10-month criminal investigation into alleged illegal employment practices.

Also in 2008, anti-government protests in Thailand turned deadly with two deaths in fighting with security forces. More than 400 were injured.

A thought for the day: in "Don Quixote," Spanish novelist Miguel de Cervantes wrote, "Diligence is the mother of good fortune." (c) UPI

Colder than normal, but less snowy - Gloucester Daily Times

Posted: 07 Oct 2009 03:00 AM PDT

Predicting the weather has been a human pursuit for hundreds of years. After all, weather is important. Farmers need to plant, fertilize and harvest during certain weather. Even those of us who have never grown so much as a pea plant in biology class prefer to know whether to don an overcoat or whether to take the umbrella along. So, in addition to science having gained a bit of ground, increasing the percentage of time that we are right about the weather, a lot of folklore has grown up around forecasting, some of which people still seem to want to rely upon.

In places like Gloucester, the phrase "Red sky in the morning, sailor take warning, red sky at night, sailor's delight," is probably very familiar. But, there are others, perhaps more attuned to a rural life, such as "If ants move their eggs and climb, rain is coming any time." Or, "When grass is dry at morning, look for rain before the night."

Anyone of a certain age, who has arthritis, will probably tell you that aching bones predict rain. "When chairs squeak, of rain they speak." So, perhaps our similarly squeaky joints have been talking to the chairs and decided to chime in to let us know we should keep a raincoat handy.

If you ask people who their favorite all time TV weather forecaster is, you will likely hear names such as Al Kaprelian, Don Kent, Dick Albert, Bruce Schwoegler, Mike Wankum, Barry Burbank, and J.C. Monahan. But, you won't hear those names from the same person. If one viewer thinks a certain person is very accurate in their forecasts, the next person may tell you that the person never got it right.

Oddly, many of the forecasters have about the same rate of accuracy as The Old Farmer's Almanac, a staple publication on family farms in New England for what seems like forever. The familiar yellow book is printed in Dublin, N.H., and is currently available for sale. While the almanac boasts 80% accuracy, it's interesting to note that it started forecasting weather from a secret formula that was devised by the founder of the Almanac, Robert B. Thomas, in 1792. (Thomas believed that weather on Earth was influenced by sunspots.) Notes about that formula are locked in a black box in the almanac's offices. Nowadays, they also employ some additional scientific techniques as well. If you are reading this on Wednesday, which is the usual day this column is printed, then The Old Farmer's Almanac predicts, in their short term forecast, that there will be a chance of showers, with highs in the upper 60s and lows in the mid 40s. (How'd they do?)

A little known fact about The Old Farmer's Almanac is that it was once published right here in Gloucester, by Proctor Brothers, Publishers, and was later moved to Dublin by Robb Sagendorph after he bought the publication in 1939.

For more information on this iconic publication that many of you may remember, and even treasure, go to http://new.almanac.com/. Of course, there's much more inside the almanac than weather, but to answer the question on everyone's mind: colder than normal, but less snowy!

Anne Springer is the public relations director of SeniorCare Inc., your local Area Agency on Aging. To reach SeniorCare, call 978-281-1750.

NC conservative talker focuses on Obama so far - WLOS.com

Posted: 07 Oct 2009 12:58 AM PDT

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Associated Press Writer

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The almanac - United Press International

Posted: 07 Oct 2009 12:37 AM PDT