Monday, September 30, 2013
An Article By Moyers & Company About Odd Facts About This Financial Crisis
Seven Deadly Foods
"7 of the most unhealthy and potentially cancer causing foods never eat these again!" published by The Quotes Posts:
http://www.thequotedposts.com/7-of-the-most-unhealthy-and-potentially-cancer-causing-foods-never-eat-these-again/
Bill Moyers To Interview Wendell Berry
“The world and our life in it are conditional gifts. We have the world to live in and the use of it on the condition that we will take good care of it. And to know it and to be willing to take care of it, we have to love it.”
~Wendell Berry
The entire conversation will air on Friday, October 4th - a little less than a week from now! Mark your calendars!
It definitely appears like it will be worth watching!
Wendell Berry: Poet & Prophet September 4, 2013:
http://billmoyers.com/segment/wendell-berry-poet-prophet/
~Wendell Berry
The entire conversation will air on Friday, October 4th - a little less than a week from now! Mark your calendars!
It definitely appears like it will be worth watching!
Wendell Berry: Poet & Prophet September 4, 2013:
http://billmoyers.com/segment/wendell-berry-poet-prophet/
The Mall Shooting in Kenya
I thought that this article was pretty informative regarding the recent Kenyan mall shooting.
It does seem a little odd that, given the fiasco that seemed to last a very long time, the Kenyan president claimed a decisive victory. Seems to me that the terrorists definitely caused more than a few headaches.
Sometimes, the complete inhumanity of monsters like those guys truly is staggering!
Kenya President Declares Victory Over Terrorists in Mall Carnage By ANTHONY CASTELLANO and RUSSELL GOLDMAN | Good Morning America – September 24, 2013
http://gma.yahoo.com/kenya-president-declares-victory-over-terrorists-mall-carnage-143107554--abc-news-topstories.html
It does seem a little odd that, given the fiasco that seemed to last a very long time, the Kenyan president claimed a decisive victory. Seems to me that the terrorists definitely caused more than a few headaches.
Sometimes, the complete inhumanity of monsters like those guys truly is staggering!
Kenya President Declares Victory Over Terrorists in Mall Carnage By ANTHONY CASTELLANO and RUSSELL GOLDMAN | Good Morning America – September 24, 2013
http://gma.yahoo.com/kenya-president-declares-victory-over-terrorists-mall-carnage-143107554--abc-news-topstories.html
An Article on Income Disparity Over the Last Few Decades
Here is an article from "Moyers & Company" about income disparity over the last few decades, based on education levels:
For Two Decades Only College Grads Have Seen Their Incomes Rise September 26, 2013 by Matt Bruenig
http://billmoyers.com/2013/09/26/for-two-decades-only-college-grads-have-seen-their-incomes-rise/
For Two Decades Only College Grads Have Seen Their Incomes Rise September 26, 2013 by Matt Bruenig
http://billmoyers.com/2013/09/26/for-two-decades-only-college-grads-have-seen-their-incomes-rise/
On This Day in History - September 30 Elie Wiesel Born
Once again, it should be reiterated, that this does not pretend to be a very extensive history of what happened on this day (nor is it the most original - the links can be found down below). If you know something that I am missing, by all means, shoot me an email or leave a comment, and let me know!
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history
Sep 30, 1399: Henry IV proclaimed
Henry Bolingbroke is proclaimed King Henry IV of England upon the abdication of King Richard II.
Henry was the eldest surviving son of John of Gaunt, duke of Lancaster. While his father was away in Spain, Henry joined other lords in opposing King Richard II's rule. Richard later regained the upper hand and in 1398 banished Henry from the kingdom. When John of Gaunt died in February 1399, Richard seized the Lancastrian estates, thus depriving Henry of his inheritance. Claiming to be defending the rights of the nobility, Henry invaded England in July 1399, and Richard surrendered to him without a fight in August.
Upon becoming king of England, Henry imprisoned Richard in Pontefract Castle in Yorkshire, where the former king died of undetermined causes in February 1400. After a turbulent reign, Henry was succeeded by his son Henry V, the second of England's three Lancastrian kings.
Sep 30, 1928: Elie Wiesel, Holocaust survivor and best-selling author, is born
On this day in 1928, Eliezer “Elie” Wiesel, the human rights activist and Nobel Peace Prize-winning author of more than 50 books, including “Night,” an internationally acclaimed memoir based on his experiences as a prisoner in Nazi concentration camps during World War II, is born in Sighet, Transylvania (present-day Romania).
In May 1944, the Nazis deported 15-year-old Wiesel and his family to Auschwitz, a concentration camp in Poland. Wiesel’s mother and the youngest of his three sisters died at Auschwitz, while he and his father later were moved to another camp, Buchenwald, located in Germany. Wiesel’s father perished at Buchenwald just months before it was liberated by Allied troops in April 1945.
Following the war, Wiesel spent time in a French orphanage, studied at the Sorbonne in Paris and went on to work as a journalist in France. In the early 1950s, he broke a self-imposed vow not to speak about the atrocities he witnessed at the concentration camps and penned the first version of “Night” in Yiddish, under the title “Un di Velt Hot Geshvign” (“And the World Remained Silent”). At the encouragement of Nobel laureate and prominent French writer Francois Mauriac, Wiesel reworked the manuscript in French. However, even with Mauriac’s help in trying to land a book deal, the manuscript was rejected by multiple publishers, who believed few people at the time were interested in reading about the Holocaust. The book was eventually released in 1958 as “La Nuit”; an English translation, “Night,” followed in 1960. Although initial sales were sluggish, “Night” was generally well reviewed and over the decades gained an audience, eventually becoming a classic of Holocaust literature that has sold millions of copies and has been translated into more than 30 languages. In 2006, TV talk show host Oprah Winfrey selected “Night” for her famed on-air book club, and traveled with Wiesel to Auschwitz for an episode of her show.
Since the publication of “Night,” Wiesel has written dozens of works of fiction and non-fiction, lectured widely and crusaded against injustice and intolerance around the world. A professor at Boston University since the 1970s, he was instrumental in the founding of the Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C., and has received numerous awards, including the 1986 Nobel Peace Prize.
Sep 30, 1938: Hitler appeased at Munich
On this day in 1938, Adolf Hitler, Benito Mussolini, French Premier Edouard Daladier, and British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain sign the Munich Pact, which seals the fate of Czechoslovakia, virtually handing it over to Germany in the name of peace. Upon return to Britain, Chamberlain would declare that the meeting had achieved "peace in our time."
Although the agreement was to give into Hitler's hands only the Sudentenland, that part of Czechoslovakia where 3 million ethnic Germans lived, it also handed over to the Nazi war machine 66 percent of Czechoslovakia's coal, 70 percent of its iron and steel, and 70 percent of its electrical power. It also left the Czech nation open to complete domination by Germany. In short, the Munich Pact sacrificed the autonomy of Czechoslovakia on the altar of short-term peace-very short term. The terrorized Czech government was eventually forced to surrender the western provinces of Bohemia and Moravia (which became a protectorate of Germany) and finally Slovakia and the Carpathian Ukraine. In each of these partitioned regions, Germany set up puppet, pro-Nazi regimes that served the military and political ends of Adolf Hitler. By the time of the invasion of Poland in September 1939, the nation called "Czechoslovakia" no longer existed.
It was Neville Chamberlain who would be best remembered as the champion of the Munich Pact, having met privately with Hitler at Berchtesgaden, the dictator's mountaintop retreat, before the Munich conference. Chamberlain, convinced that Hitler's territorial demands were not unreasonable (and that Hitler was a "gentleman"), persuaded the French to join him in pressuring Czechoslovakia to submit to the Fuhrer's demands. Upon Hitler's invasion of Poland a year later, Chamberlain was put in the embarrassing situation of announcing that a "state of war" existed between Germany and Britain. By the time Hitler occupied Norway and Denmark, Chamberlain was finished as a credible leader. "Depart, I say, and let us have done with you!" one member of Parliament said to him, quoting Oliver Cromwell. Winston Churchill would succeed him as prime minister soon afterwards.
Here's a more detailed look at events that transpired on this date throughout history:
The following links are to web sites that were used to complete this blog entry:
http://www.historyorb.com/today/events.php
http://on-this-day.com/onthisday/thedays/alldays/sep30.htm
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history
http://www.infoplease.com/dayinhistory
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history
Sep 30, 1399: Henry IV proclaimed
Henry Bolingbroke is proclaimed King Henry IV of England upon the abdication of King Richard II.
Henry was the eldest surviving son of John of Gaunt, duke of Lancaster. While his father was away in Spain, Henry joined other lords in opposing King Richard II's rule. Richard later regained the upper hand and in 1398 banished Henry from the kingdom. When John of Gaunt died in February 1399, Richard seized the Lancastrian estates, thus depriving Henry of his inheritance. Claiming to be defending the rights of the nobility, Henry invaded England in July 1399, and Richard surrendered to him without a fight in August.
Upon becoming king of England, Henry imprisoned Richard in Pontefract Castle in Yorkshire, where the former king died of undetermined causes in February 1400. After a turbulent reign, Henry was succeeded by his son Henry V, the second of England's three Lancastrian kings.
Sep 30, 1928: Elie Wiesel, Holocaust survivor and best-selling author, is born
On this day in 1928, Eliezer “Elie” Wiesel, the human rights activist and Nobel Peace Prize-winning author of more than 50 books, including “Night,” an internationally acclaimed memoir based on his experiences as a prisoner in Nazi concentration camps during World War II, is born in Sighet, Transylvania (present-day Romania).
In May 1944, the Nazis deported 15-year-old Wiesel and his family to Auschwitz, a concentration camp in Poland. Wiesel’s mother and the youngest of his three sisters died at Auschwitz, while he and his father later were moved to another camp, Buchenwald, located in Germany. Wiesel’s father perished at Buchenwald just months before it was liberated by Allied troops in April 1945.
Following the war, Wiesel spent time in a French orphanage, studied at the Sorbonne in Paris and went on to work as a journalist in France. In the early 1950s, he broke a self-imposed vow not to speak about the atrocities he witnessed at the concentration camps and penned the first version of “Night” in Yiddish, under the title “Un di Velt Hot Geshvign” (“And the World Remained Silent”). At the encouragement of Nobel laureate and prominent French writer Francois Mauriac, Wiesel reworked the manuscript in French. However, even with Mauriac’s help in trying to land a book deal, the manuscript was rejected by multiple publishers, who believed few people at the time were interested in reading about the Holocaust. The book was eventually released in 1958 as “La Nuit”; an English translation, “Night,” followed in 1960. Although initial sales were sluggish, “Night” was generally well reviewed and over the decades gained an audience, eventually becoming a classic of Holocaust literature that has sold millions of copies and has been translated into more than 30 languages. In 2006, TV talk show host Oprah Winfrey selected “Night” for her famed on-air book club, and traveled with Wiesel to Auschwitz for an episode of her show.
Since the publication of “Night,” Wiesel has written dozens of works of fiction and non-fiction, lectured widely and crusaded against injustice and intolerance around the world. A professor at Boston University since the 1970s, he was instrumental in the founding of the Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C., and has received numerous awards, including the 1986 Nobel Peace Prize.
Sep 30, 1938: Hitler appeased at Munich
On this day in 1938, Adolf Hitler, Benito Mussolini, French Premier Edouard Daladier, and British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain sign the Munich Pact, which seals the fate of Czechoslovakia, virtually handing it over to Germany in the name of peace. Upon return to Britain, Chamberlain would declare that the meeting had achieved "peace in our time."
Although the agreement was to give into Hitler's hands only the Sudentenland, that part of Czechoslovakia where 3 million ethnic Germans lived, it also handed over to the Nazi war machine 66 percent of Czechoslovakia's coal, 70 percent of its iron and steel, and 70 percent of its electrical power. It also left the Czech nation open to complete domination by Germany. In short, the Munich Pact sacrificed the autonomy of Czechoslovakia on the altar of short-term peace-very short term. The terrorized Czech government was eventually forced to surrender the western provinces of Bohemia and Moravia (which became a protectorate of Germany) and finally Slovakia and the Carpathian Ukraine. In each of these partitioned regions, Germany set up puppet, pro-Nazi regimes that served the military and political ends of Adolf Hitler. By the time of the invasion of Poland in September 1939, the nation called "Czechoslovakia" no longer existed.
It was Neville Chamberlain who would be best remembered as the champion of the Munich Pact, having met privately with Hitler at Berchtesgaden, the dictator's mountaintop retreat, before the Munich conference. Chamberlain, convinced that Hitler's territorial demands were not unreasonable (and that Hitler was a "gentleman"), persuaded the French to join him in pressuring Czechoslovakia to submit to the Fuhrer's demands. Upon Hitler's invasion of Poland a year later, Chamberlain was put in the embarrassing situation of announcing that a "state of war" existed between Germany and Britain. By the time Hitler occupied Norway and Denmark, Chamberlain was finished as a credible leader. "Depart, I say, and let us have done with you!" one member of Parliament said to him, quoting Oliver Cromwell. Winston Churchill would succeed him as prime minister soon afterwards.
Here's a more detailed look at events that transpired on this date throughout history:
1199 - Rambam (Maimonides) authorizes Samuel Ibn Tibbon to
translate Guide of Perplexed from Arabic into Hebrew
1399 - King Richard II of England abdicates throne
1452 - 1st book published, Johann Guttenberg's Bible
1520 - Suleiman I succeeds his father Selam I as sultan of
Turkey
1544 - King Henry VIII draws his armies out of France
1555 - Oxford Bishop Nicholas Ridley sentenced to death as a
heretic
1619 - Remonstrant Society forms in Antwerp
1626 - Battle between king Bethlen Gabor & earl
Mansfeld-Wallenstein ends
1649 - Last Swedish troops vacate Prague
1659 - Robinson Crusoe is shipwrecked (according to Daniel
Defoe)
1659 - Peter Stuyvesant of New Netherlands forbids tennis
playing during religious services (1st mention of tennis in US)
1681 - Netherlands & Sweden sign treaty
1730 - Duke Victor Amadeus XI of Savoye resigns
1744 - France and Spain defeat the Kingdom of Sardinia at
the Battle of Madonna dell'Olmo.
1777 - Congress, flees to York Pa, as British forces advance
1787 - 1st US voyage around the world - Columbia leaves
Boston
1791 - Mozart's opera "Magic Flute" premieres in
Vienna
1791 - The National Constituent Assembly in Paris is
dissolved; Parisians hail Maximilien Robespierre and Jérôme Pétion as
incorruptible patriots.
1805 - Napoleons army draws into the Rhine
Fictional Character Robinson CrusoeFictional Character
Robinson Crusoe 1808 - Covent Garden Theatre Royal destroyed by fire
1813 - Battle of Bárbula: Simón Bolívar defeats Santiago
Bobadilla
1818 - Congress of Aken: Russia, Austria, Prussia, France
& England
1841 - Samuel Slocum patented the stapler
1846 - Anesthetic ether used for 1st time (Dr Wm Morton
extracts a tooth)
1857 - US occupies Sand, Baker, Howland & Jarvis Is
south of Hawaii
1862 - First Battle of Newtonia (American Civil War), Newton
County, Missouri
1864 - Battle of Preble's Farm VA (Poplar Springs Church)
1864 - Black Soldiers given Medal of Honor
1867 - Midway Islands formally declared a US possession
1868 - Spain's Queen Isabella is deposed, flees to France
1877 - 1st US amateur swim meet (NY Athletic Club)
1878 - 1st Portuguese immigrants arrive in Hawaii
1880 - Henry Draper takes that 1st photograph of Orion
Nebula
1885 - Bechuanaland becomes a British protectorate
Military and Political Leader Simon BolivarMilitary and
Political Leader Simon Bolivar 1887 - Start of Sherlock Holmes Adventure
"Five Orange Pips" (BG)
1887 - Volunteer (US) beats Thistle (Scotland) in 8th
America's Cup
1888 - "Jack the Ripper" butchers 2 more women,
Liz Stride & Kate Eddowes
1895 - France proclaims a protectorate over Madagascar
1898 - City of NY established
1903 - New Gresham's School officially opened by Field
Marshal Sir Evelyn Wood.
1904 - White Sox lefty Doc White, pitches his 5th shutout in
18 days
1906 - Real Academia Galega, Galician language biggest
linguistic authority starts working in Havana.
1907 - Cards Ed Konetchy steals home twice & Joe
Delahanty also steals home for record 3 steals of home (vs Boston)
1908 - Maurice Maeterlinck's "L'oiseau Blue,"
premieres in Moscow
1915 - Red Sox clinch AL pennant by beating Detroit
1916 - Giants lose to Braves 8-3, ends 26 consecutive win
streak
1919 - Avery Hopwood's "Gold Diggers," premieres
in NYC
1919 - Race riot at Elaine Arkansas
1920 - Time Square Theater opens at 217 W 42nd St NYC
Author and Nobel Laureate Maurice MaeterlinckAuthor and
Nobel Laureate Maurice Maeterlinck 1922 - Government of Alexandros Zaimis forms
in Greece
1922 - Yanks clinch pennant #2, beating Boston 3-1
1923 - Canton Bulldogs win 1st on way to 17-0 season
1924 - Allies stop checking on German navy
1925 - General Pangulos disbands Greek parliament
1926 - German/French/Belgian/Luxembourg steel cartel closes
1927 - Babe Ruth hits record setting 60th HR (off Tom
Zachary)
1928 - Le Sifflet publishes 1st precursor of Kuifje (Tintin)
1928 - Leon Vanderstuyft of Belgium cycles record 76 mi 604
yds in 1 hr
1929 - 1st manned rocket plane flight (by auto maker Fritz
von Opel)
1931 - Start of "Die Voortrekkers" youth movement
for Afrikaners in Bloemfontein, South Africa.
1933 - Berlin/Hart/Heyman/Myers ballet "As Thousands
Cheer," premieres in NYC
1934 - Babe Ruth's final game as a Yankee, goes 0 for 3
1934 - FDR dedicates Boulder Dam (Hoover Dam)
1934 - St Louis Card clinch pennant as Dizzy Dean wins his
30th of year
32nd US President Franklin D. Roosevelt32nd US President
Franklin D. Roosevelt 1935 - Gershwin's "Porgy & Bess" premieres
in Boston
1935 - The Hoover Dam, astride the border between the U.S.
states of Arizona and Nevada, is dedicated.
1936 - Intl Commission of Straits (Dardanelles &
Bosphorus) ends
1936 - Pinewood Studios opens in Buckinghamshire England
1937 - 6th Ryder Cup: US, 8-4 at Southport & Ainsdale,
England
1938 - British premier Chamberlain arrives in Munich
1938 - Munich Agreement-forced Czechoslovakia to give
territory to Germany
1939 - 1st televised college football game (Fordham vs Waynesburg
at NYC)
1939 - 41 U-boats sunk this month (153,000 ton)
1939 - Germany & Russia agree to partition Poland
1939 - White Sox reliever Clint Brown sets record of 61st
relief appearance
1939 - Britain first evacuates citizens in anticipation of
war.
1940 - 47 German aircrafts shot down above England
1940 - 59 U-boats sunk this month (295,000 tons)
1941 - 3,721 Jews are buried alive at Babi Yarravine (near
Kiev) Ukraine
1941 - 53 U-boats sunk this month (202,000 tons)
1941 - German assault on Moscow: operation-Taifun, begins
1942 - 98 U-boats sunk this month (485,000 tons)
US Admiral Chester NimitzUS Admiral Chester Nimitz 1942 -
Admiral Nimitz B-17 finds Guadalcanal using National Geographic map
1942 - SS exterminates 3,500 Jews in Zelov Lodz Poland in 6
week period
1943 - Pope Pius XII encyclical on Divine spirit
1944 - -Oct 1] Failed attack on German officers near Putten
Neth
1944 - Calais reoccupied by Allies
1944 - Dutch General Mine Workers Union (ABWM) forms
1945 - Hank Greenberg's final day HR wins pennant for Tigers
1945 - Bourne End rail crash, Hertfordshire, England killed
43
1946 - 22 Nazi leaders found guilty of war crimes at
Nuremberg
1946 - Von Ribbentrop & Hermann Goering sentenced to
death by Nuremberg trial
1947 - Yanks beat Dodgers 5-3-largest WS crowd 73,365-1st WS
televised
1949 - Berlin Airlift ends after 277,000 flights
1949 - Pirates Ralph Kiner hits his 54th HR & NL record
16th in September
1950 - 1st congress of International Astronautical Federation
opens in Paris
1950 - Radio's "Grand Ole Opry" is broadcasted on
TV for 1st time
Nazi Politician Hermann GoeringNazi Politician Hermann
Goering 1950 - WSM TV channel 4 in Nashville, TN (NBC) begins broadcasting
1953 - Auguste/Jacques Piccard dives with bathosphere to
3150 m (record)
1953 - Earl Warren appointed Chief Justice of the Supreme
Court
1953 - Robert Anderson's "Tea & Sympathy,"
premieres in NYC
1953 - WICS TV channel 20 in Springfield, IL (NBC) begins
broadcasting
1953 - WMT (now KGAN) TV channel 2 in Cedar Rapids-Waterloo,
IA (CBS) begins
1954 - "Boy Friend" opens at Royale Theater NYC
for 483 performances
1954 - Nautilus, 1st atomic-powered vessel (sub),
commissioned by the Navy
1956 - Phillies Robin Roberts gives up a major league record
46th HR
1956 - White Sox Jim Derrington, 16, is youngest to start a
game (he loses)
1957 - French government of Mauroy, resigns due to Algeria
1957 - WKYT TV channel 27 in Lexington, KY (CBS) begins
broadcasting
1958 - French Guinee becomes independent republic Guinea
1958 - USSR performs nuclear test at Novaya Zemlya USSR
1960 - Flintstones premieres (1st prime time animation show)
1960 - On Howdy Doody's last show Clarabelle finally talks
"Goodbye Kids"
1960 - West Germany signs trade agreement with East Germany
1961 - Bill for Boston Tea Party is paid by Mayor Snyder of
Oregon who wrote a check for $196, the total cost of all tea lost
1962 - A's Bill Fischer ends 84 1/3 consec innings pitched
without a walk
1962 - JFK routes 3,000 federal troops to Mississippi
1962 - James Meredith registers for classes at University of
Mississippi
1962 - KCRL TV channel 4 in Reno, NV (NBC) begins
broadcasting
US President John F. KennedyUS President John F. Kennedy
1962 - KMEX TV channel 34 in Los Angeles, CA (IND) begins broadcasting
1962 - Mickey Wright wins LPGA San Diego Golf Open
1962 - NY Mets lose record 120th game as Cubs turn triple
play & beat NY 5-1
1962 - Mexican-American labor leader César Chávez founds the
United Farm Workers.
1963 - "Student Gypsy" opens at 84th St Theater
NYC for 16 performances
1963 - 56th Postmaster General: John A Gronouski of Wis
takes office
1964 - "Oh What a Lovely War" opens at Broadhurst
Theater NYC for 125 perfs
1965 - Donovan's 1st US TV appearance (Shindig)
1965 - LA Dodger Don Drysdale (23-12) wins 13th straight
game, 7 by shutouts
1966 - Botswana (Bechuanaland) gains independence from
Britain (Natl Day)
1966 - USSR performs underground nuclear test
1967 - BBC starts their own popular music radio station
1967 - Palace of Fine Arts reopens (1st time during 1915
exposition)
1967 - USSR's Kosmos 186 & 188 complete 1st automatic
docking
1968 - 1st Boeing 747 rolls out
Farm Labor Leader Cesar ChavezFarm Labor Leader Cesar Chavez
1968 - AL & NL umpires form a new Association of Major League Umpires
1968 - Sharon Miller wins LPGA Seven Lakes Golf Invitational
1968 - Supremes release "Love Child"
1969 - Atlanta's 10th straight win, clinches NL West pennant
1970 - New American Bible published
1971 - -11/6] Rome: 3rd bishop synod
1971 - Last Wash Senator home game, Yanks win career 5th
forfeit game Yanks trailing 4-2 in 9th with 2 outs, fans rush field
1972 - Passenger train derails killing 48 (Rust Stasie South
Africa)
1972 - Roberto Clemente, is 11th to get 3,000 hits
1973 - 3rd NYC Women's Marathon won by Nina Kuscsik in
2:57:07
1973 - 4th NYC Marathon won by Tom Fleming in 2:21:54
1973 - Mel Gray begins NFL streak of 121 consecutive game
receptions
1973 - Sandra Palmer wins LPGA Cameron Park Golf Open
1973 - USSR performs underground nuclear test
1973 - Yanks close 50th year at Yankee Stadium losing 8-5,
Ralph Houk
Baseball Player Roberto ClementeBaseball Player Roberto
Clemente 1973 - resigns as manager
1974 - Gen Francesco da Costa Gomez succeeds Gen Spinola as
pres of Portugal
1975 - 5 drown in flash flood of sewer & water tunnel
(Niagara Falls NY)
1975 - The Hughes (later McDonnell-Douglas, now Boeing)
AH-64 Apache makes its first flight.
1977 - Dutch Antillean government-Evertsz resigns
1977 - Ringo releases "Ringo the 4th" album
1977 - USSR performs nuclear test at Novaya Zemlya USSR
1977 - Due to US budget cuts, the Apollo program's ALSEP
experiment packages left on the Moon are shut down.
1977 - Philippine political prisoners, Eugenio Lopez, Jr.
and Sergio Osmeña III successfully escaped from Fort Bonifacio Maximum Security
Prison in the Philippines
1978 - Major Indoor Soccer League grants 1st 6 franchises to
Cincinnati
1978 - Phillies clinch NL East title
1978 - Cleveland, Houston, NY, Philadelphia & Pittsburgh
Phillies win 3rd consecutive NL East Division title
1979 - Milwaukee Brewers lose 5-0 ending 213 straight games
without a shutout
1979 - Nancy Lopez wins LPGA Mary Kay Golf Classic
1980 - 1,754 turn out to see Phillies play NY Mets at Shea
Stadium
1980 - A's Rickey Henderson sets AL stolen base record at 98
en route to 100
Iraqi President Saddam HusseinIraqi President Saddam Hussein
1980 - Iran rejects a truce call from Iraqi President Saddam Hussein
1980 - USSR performs nuclear test at Eastern
Kazakh/Semipalitinsk USSR
1980 - Ethernet specifications published by Xerox working
with Intel and Digital Equipment Corporation.
1981 - Last game at Minn's Metropolitan Stadium, lose to KC
5-2
1981 - Seoul, South Korea is selected to host 1988 Summer
Olympics
1982 - National railroad strike in Belgium
1984 - California Angels Michael Witt is 11th to pitch a
perfect baseball game
1984 - Bowie Kuhn ends career as Baseball Commissioner
1984 - Browns set a team record for allowing most sacks
(11), KC wins 10-6
1984 - California Angel Mike Witt, pitches a perfect game
over Texas Rangers, 1-0
1984 - NY Yankee Don Mattingly wins AL batting crown with
.343 avg
1985 - Howard Stern gets fired from WNBC AM (NY)
1986 - US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
1986 - US releases soviet spy Gennadiy Zakharov
1986 - Mordechai Vanunu, who revealed details of Israel
covert nuclear program to British media, was kidnapped in Rome, Italy.
Radio shock jock Howard SternRadio shock jock Howard Stern
1987 - Suriname constitution ratified
1988 - Andrei A Gromyko retires
1988 - Dave Stieb, loses 2nd consecutive no hitter bid with
2 outs in 9th
1988 - IBM announces shipment of 3 millionth PS/2 personal
computer
1988 - Louise Ritter, US, jumps 6'8" to win Olympic
gold medal
1988 - Robin Givens & Mike Tyson appear on Barbara
Walter's Show
1988 - LA Dodger Orel Herschiser breaks former Dodger Don
Drysdale mark by pitching 59 consecutive scoreless innings
1989 - NASA closes down tracking stations in Hawaii &
Ascension
1989 - Nolan Ryan's perfect game broken in 8th, but gets his
300th strikeout
1989 - Senegambia separates back into Gambia & Senegal
1989 - Toronto Blue Jays wins AL East title
1989 - Foreign Minister of West Germany Hans-Dietrich
Genscher's speech from the balcony of the German embassy in Prague.
1990 - Chicago White Sox beat Seattle 2-1 in last game at
Comiskey Park
1990 - Pittsburgh Pirates wins NL East title
1990 - The Dalai Lama unveils the Canadian Tribute to Human
Rights in Canada's capital city of Ottawa.
1991 - Rev Jean Betrand Aristide ousted as president of
Haiti
1992 - 26th Country Music Association Award: Garth Brooks
wins
1992 - KC Royal George Brett gets 4 hits to become 18th to
get 3,000 hits
1992 - Mariel Hemmingway appears nude on TV show Civil Wars
1993 - 6.4 earthquake at Latur, India, 28,000 killed
1993 - General Colin Powell retires at 56
1993 - MS Dos 6.2 released
1994 - NHL goes on strike
1994 - Space shuttle STS-68 (Endeavour 7), launches into
orbit
1994 - Sylvestre Ntibantunganya elected president of Burundi
1994 - Vladimir Meciars HZDDS wins Slovakia parliamentary
election
1995 - Cleve Indian Albert Belle hits his 50th home run of
season
1997 - 1st time 3 cons HRs in post season-Raines, Jeter,
O'Neill (NY Yankees)
1997 - Hooters agrees to pay $2 million in discrimination
suits
1997 - Microsoft Corp releases Internet Explorer 4.0
1997 - Yanks Tim Raines, Derek Jeter & Paul O'Neill are
1st to hit 3 consecutively homers in post season (Yanks beat Indians 8-6)
1999 - Japan's worst nuclear accident at a uranium
reprocessing facility in Tōkai-mura, northeast of Tokyo.
2004 - The first images of a live giant squid in its natural
habitat are taken 600 miles south of Tokyo.
2004 - The AIM-54 Phoenix, the primary missile for the F-14
Tomcat, retired from service. Almost two years later, the Tomcat retires.
2005 - The Parliament of Catalonia passes with 120 plus
votes and 15 against, the Project of New Catalan Statute of Autonomy,
proclaiming in its article 1, "Catalonia is a nation".
2005 - The controversial drawings of Muhammad are printed in
the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten.
2006 - the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia
adopted the Constitutional Act that proclaimed the new Constitution of Serbia.
2012 - Two opposition Venezuelan politicians are shot dead a
week before the presidential election
2012 - Car bomb blasts kill at least 32 people across Iraq
Baseball Player Derek JeterBaseball Player Derek Jeter 2012
- Melbourne Storm defeat the Canterbury Bulldogs in the 2012 NRL Grand Final
2012 - Europe defeat the US 14.5-13.5 in the 39th Ryder Cup
1399 - Henry Bolingbroke became the King of England as Henry IV. 1777 - The Congress of the United States moved to York, PA, due to advancing British forces. 1787 - The Columbia left Boston and began the trip that would make it the first American vessel to sail around the world. 1846 - Dr. William Morton performed a painless tooth extraction after administering ether to a patient. 1861 - Chewing gum tycoon William Wrigley, Jr. was born. 1868 - Spain's Queen Isabella was deposed and fled to France. 1882 - In Appleton, WI, the world's first hydroelectric power plant began operating. 1927 - George Herman "Babe" Ruth hit his 60th homerun of the season. He broke his own record with the homerun. The record stood until 1961 when Roger Maris broke the record. 1930 - "Death Valley Days" was heard for the first time on the NBC Blue radio network. 1935 - "The Adventures of Dick Tracey" debuted on Mutual Radio Network. 1935 - "Porgy and Bess" premiered in Boston. 1938 - The Munich Conference ended with a decision to appease Adolf Hitler. Britain, and France allowed Czechoslovakia's Sudetenland to be annexed by the Nazis. 1939 - "Captain Midnight" was heard for the first time on the Mutual Radio Network. 1946 - An international military tribunal in Nuremberg, Germany, found 22 top Nazi leaders guilty of war crimes. 1947 - The World Series was televised for the first time. The sponsors only paid $65,000 for the entire series between the Brooklyn Dodgers and the New York Yankees. 1949 - The Berlin Airlift came to an end. The airlift had taken 2.3 million tons of food into the western sector despite the Soviet blockade. 1951 - "The Red Skelton Show" debuted on NBC-TV. 1954 - The U.S. Navy commissioned the Nautilus submarine at Groton, CT. It was the first atomic-powered vessel. The submarine had been launched on January 21, 1954. 1954 - Julie Andrews made her first Broadway appearance in "The Boy Friend". 1962 - James Meredith succeeded in registering at the University of Mississippi. It was his fourth attempt to register. 1963 - The Soviet Union publicly declared itself on the side of India in their dispute with Pakistan over Kashmir. 1966 - Albert Speer and Baldur von Schirach were released at midnight from Spandau prison after completing their 20-year sentences. Speer was the Nazi minister of armaments and von Schirach was the founder of Hitler Youth. 1971 - The Soviet Union and the United States signed pacts that were aimed at avoiding an accidental nuclear war. 1971 - A committee of nine people was organized to investigate the prison riot at Attica, NY. 10 hostages and 32 prisoners were killed when National Guardsmen stormed the prison on September 13, 1971. 1976 - California enacted the Natural Death Act of California. The law was the first example of right-to-die legislation in the U.S. 1980 - Israel issued its new currency, the shekel, to replace the pound. 1983 - The first AH-64 Apache attack helicopter was rolled out by McDonnell Douglas Helicopter Company. 1982 - "Cheers" began an 11-year run on NBC-TV. 1984 - Mike Witt became only the 11th pitcher to throw a perfect game in major league baseball. 1984 - "Doonesbury" by Garry Trudeau returned. The comic strip had not been printed in nearly 20 months. 1986 - The U.S. released accused Soviet spy Gennadiy Zakharov, one day after the Nicholas Daniloff had been released by the Soviets. 1987 - Mikhail S. Gorbachev retired President Andrei A. Gromyko from the Politburo and fired other old-guard leaders in a shake-up at the Kremlin. 1989 - Thousands of East Germans began emigrating under an accord between the NATO nations and the Soviet Union. 1989 - Non-Communist Cambodian guerrillas claimed that they had captured 3 towns and 10 other positions from the residing government forces. 1990 - The Soviet Union and South Korea opened diplomatic relations. 1991 - Haiti's first freely elected president, Jean-Bertrand Aristide, was overthrown by Brigadier General Raoul Cedras. Aristide was later returned to power. 1992 - George Brett of the Kansas City Royals reached his 3,000th career hit during a game against the California Angels. 1992 - Moscow banks distributed privatization vouchers aimed at turning millions of Russians into capitalists. 1993 - U.S. chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Colin Powell retired. 1994 - The space shuttle Endeavor took off on an 11-day mission. Part of the mission was to use a radar instrument to map remote areas of the Earth. 1997 - France's Roman Catholic Church apologized for its silence during the persecution and deportation of Jews the pro-Nazi Vichy regime. 1998 - Gov. Pete Wilson of California signed a bill into law that defined "invasion of privacy as trespassing with the intent to capture audio or video images of a celebrity or crime victim engaging in a personal of family activity." The law went into effect January 1, 1999. 1999 - The San Francisco Giants played the Los Angeles Dodgers in the last baseball game to be played at Candlestick Park (3Com Park). The Dodgers won 9-4. 1999 - In Tokaimura, Japan, radiation escaped a nuclear facility after workers accidentally set off an uncontrolled nuclear chain reaction.
1791 Mozart's opera The Magic Flute premiered in Vienna, Austria. 1927 Babe Ruth hit his 60th home run. The record stood until Roger Maris hit 61 in 1961. Mark McGwire beat Maris's record in 1998 by hitting 70 and Barry Bonds topped this in 2001 with 73. 1938 Britain and France surrendered to Germany's demands concerning the Sudetenland, and signed the Munich Pact. 1946 Twenty-two Nazi leaders were found guilty at the Nuremberg trials. 1949 The Berlin Airlift came to an end. 1955 Actor James Dean was killed in a car crash. 1966 Botswana gained its independence from Great Britain.
The following links are to web sites that were used to complete this blog entry:
http://www.historyorb.com/today/events.php
http://on-this-day.com/onthisday/thedays/alldays/sep30.htm
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history
http://www.infoplease.com/dayinhistory
Sports Update for September 30th
2013-14 NFL Season Week 4 Review
Well, the Giants played a lot better this weekend, so I am not as disgusted with their performance as I was last weekend.
Yes, I know that the final score was 31-7, which suggested that this was a blowout. And yes, the Giants are still winless, off to their worst start since the 1987 season, whey they started their title defense of their '86 season by losing their first five games (although three of those were with the scab replacement players during that strike shortened season).
But the Giants actually fought hard in this one. They did not just simply get pushed around, like last weekend. The final score would indicate a blowout, but the G-Men were actually still in it fairly deep in the fourth quarter, trailing 17-7, and trying to prevent the Chiefs from scoring the clinching score. Kansas City managed, with a bit over five minutes left to play, and the other touchdown was when the game was already decided. Yes, they lost, but the Giants played fairly well, and just lost to a better opponent. They can look to next week's division rival game against Philadelphia as another must win, as they try to climb out of the depths. Ironically, in the week NFC East, New York is still in the race, being one game behind both Philly and Washington, and two behind Dallas. the Cowboys will face Denver next weekend, which will be tough. And then
The Giants are not the only team struggling. Another team that won multiple Super Bowls in recent years is also playing horribly, and went winless in the month of September for their efforts. The Pittsburgh Steelers went to London to play another winless team, the Minnesota Vikings. But at the end of the game, it was Minnesota who walked away with the "W", and Pittsburgh who had the long flight home, still searching for that first victory, like the Giants.
Yet another team that enjoyed success in recent years, but is struggling mightily this season, are none other than the Atlanta Falcons - my pick to go the Super Bowl this season (I had them losing to Denver in my NFL Season prediction from August 5, 2013). I knew it felt weird picking them, and should have figured it would turn out badly. They are never a consistent winner, it seems, and although they have rarely been favorites to go deep into the playoffs, Tonight, they played a tough game against the New England Patriots. This was a game that I thought could go either way, because both teams are tough. That said, I gave the nod to Atlanta, because they are always tough at home, and also because it seemed they were overdue for a win like this.
Wrong. The Patriots proved more resilient than even I gave them credit for (and I always credit them for being resilient under Belichek). Amazingly, considering the disastrous postseason the Patriots had to endure, they are one of the few remaining undefeated teams at 4-0! This has to be considered their most impressive win so far, for that matter! As for the Falcons, well.....they still have a chance to recover. But losing at home in a must win is not a good sign. It does get easier at least for them, though! Next week on Monday Night, they host the Jets! ; )
Speaking of the Jets, a lot of people were expressing skepticism that their sudden surge to competitiveness so far early in the season was actually for real. They did little to quell those fears, losing badly at Tennessee, 38-13. They now trail New England by two, and depending on what Miami does tonight, they might be trailing two teams by two entering next weekend, when they have to go to Atlanta, which is not an easy place to play by any means!
The Ravens had a chance to jump ahead in the AFC North. But the Bills seem a lot tougher this season than in years past, and this is particularly true at home. Buffalo managed to hold the defending champs off - just barely. So now, Baltimore stands at 2-2, their wining streak done. With the Bengals loss to the suddenly hot, resurgent Browns, there is a three-way tie for first in the division, with each team at 2-2, save for the 0-4 Pittsburgh Steelers.
Another division leader had a chance to make a jump on the rest of the teams in their division: the Dallas Cowboys. With both the Giants and Washington winless entering the week at 0-3, and the Eagles at 1-2 in the unenviable position of having to go on the road against Denver, Dallas looked to have a good opportunity to widen theid lead to a solid two games, and be in a comfortable position early on of already enjoying a multiple game lead in the division race. And in the first half, that was exactly what it looked like Dallas was doing, as they took what seemed to be a commanding 21-10 lead. Sure, the Chargers got a field goal to cut it to 21-13 for halftime, but it still seemed Dallas was in a good position. Who knew that this field goal would be the first of 20 unanswered points the rest of the game for the Chargers, who took the game, and also kept within two games of the undefeated Chiefs and Broncos in the AFC West. For the Cowboys, it has to be considered a missed opportunity.
But that is the way things have been going in the NFC East all season. Dallas is in first place with a record of 2-2. The winless Giants, who look closer to being one of the worst teams in the league than one of the best at 0-4, are only two games out of first, and definitely still alive. If they were in the same division as, say, the Seahawks or the Saints, they likely would already be realistically out of the division race. But in the NFC East, which used to be considered the best division not long ago, they are still in it. In fact, the NFC East has shown their inferiority to the AFC West now this season not just one weekend, but two weekends. Yes, it's a young season, but just two weekends ago, there were three match-ups between AFC West teams, and NFC East teams. The AFC West swept those three games. Yesterday, there were four games between AFC West teams and NFC East teams. I already mentioned the Giants losing to the Chiefs, and the Cowboys losing to the Chargers. And of course, nobody was surprised that the Eagles got walloped in Denver. But Washington managed to get their first victory against Oakland, and on the road to boot. So, instead of being winless, the NFC East managed a 1-3 record in head to head match-ups between those divisions this weekend. Pretty meager.
For Denver and Kansas City, this season is obviously going very well. I think they are feeding off of one another's success, as the urgency of keeping face and not falling behind serves as extra motivation. This might be particularly true in the case of Kansas City, who were really not supposed to be this good, this deep into the season. I also mentioned that the New England Patriots remained unbeaten at 4-0 as well, holding off the Falcons in Atlanta.
But in the NFC, the Seahawks pulled off a huge win on the road in Houston, defeating the suddenly reeling Texans, who lost badly at Baltimore in week three, and then followed that up by losing at home against Seattle. The Seahawks already had a tough test against the San Francisco 49ers a few weeks ago, and passed that with flying colors, blowing the "Whiners" out. But yesterday was simply amazing! Seattle was 3-0, and attempting to reach 4-0 for the first time in franchise history. But they would have to do it on the road against a tough Texans team that many expected to be a serious Super Bowl contender this year. It looked hopeless when they fell behind 20-3, with all of those raucous fans. But they kept their composure, chipping away at the sizable lead in the second half with a field goal, and then a Lynch rushing touchdown. Then, with just under three minutes to play, Schaub threw another pick six for a tying score to send the game to overtime. The Seahawks eventually won it with a field goal, deep into overtime. The offense was hardly explosive today, but the defense, after initial lapses during a horrendous second quarter, where they gave up all twenty of the Texans points in that quarter alone, toughened up and showed their true character, and allowed them to stay in the game, and eventually, to win it! They are looking more and more real with each passing week, although they have yet another tough test next week, when they travel to Indy to take on Luck and the surging Colts.
Speaking of Indy, they absolutely had their way with Jacksonville, the team that cements their status as the worst team in the NFL with each passing week. the Jaguars were destroyed before their home fans, 37-3. The Colts look not only very solid on offense, predictably, but have looked rather tough on defense, which is a bit of a surprise. Granted, this weekend's opponents were the lowly Jaguars, but if you combine the last two games the Colts won (they beat up San Francisco last weekend), the Colts have won by a whopping combined score of 64-10. Pretty dominant! But Seattle should prove a tougher test next weekend!
Another intriguing match-up took place in Detroit, where the 2-1 Lions hosted the 3-0 Bears. Early on, it looked like it was going to be a back and forth game, as Chicago held their own. But the Detroit just absolutely exploded in the second quarter, pounding their weaker opponents and scoring 24 straight points, to turn it into a route. The final score of 40-32 is not indicative of how lopsided this game was, as the Bears scored two touchdowns int eh final four minutes, with the two point conversions. But the Lions were comfortably ahead from the second quarter onward, and managed to win a big game, because the Bears were threatening to take a two-game lead over both the Packers and the Lions with a win. Instead, Chicago and Detroit are now tied for first, with Green Bay nipping on their heels.
Tampa remained winless, losing a defensive struggle against the Arizona Cardinals, 13-10.
And, of course, on Thursday night, San Francisco got back on track by absolutely spanking the Rams in St. Louis.
Rafal Nadal might have won more Grand Slam titles this calendar year (as well as overall) than Novak Djokovic, but Djoko is vowing that he will fight very hard to retain the number one ranking, which he still currently holds, and which he has held at the end of the last two calendar years prior to this. It should be interesting, and let's see what happens!
Well, the playoff race is just about over in baseball.
In the American League, the Boston Red Sox have the top seed, while the other division winners are the Detroit Tigers and the Oakland A;s. Cleveland clinched one wild card, while the Texas Rangers and the Tampa Bay Devil Rays will play an extra regular season tie break game to determine who gets the other wild card.
In the National League, the St. Louis Cardinals clinched the top spot, with the Atlanta Braves and LA Dodgers being the other division winners. The long suffering Pittsburgh Pirates and the Cincinnati Reds clinched the wild cards.
Well, the Giants played a lot better this weekend, so I am not as disgusted with their performance as I was last weekend.
Yes, I know that the final score was 31-7, which suggested that this was a blowout. And yes, the Giants are still winless, off to their worst start since the 1987 season, whey they started their title defense of their '86 season by losing their first five games (although three of those were with the scab replacement players during that strike shortened season).
But the Giants actually fought hard in this one. They did not just simply get pushed around, like last weekend. The final score would indicate a blowout, but the G-Men were actually still in it fairly deep in the fourth quarter, trailing 17-7, and trying to prevent the Chiefs from scoring the clinching score. Kansas City managed, with a bit over five minutes left to play, and the other touchdown was when the game was already decided. Yes, they lost, but the Giants played fairly well, and just lost to a better opponent. They can look to next week's division rival game against Philadelphia as another must win, as they try to climb out of the depths. Ironically, in the week NFC East, New York is still in the race, being one game behind both Philly and Washington, and two behind Dallas. the Cowboys will face Denver next weekend, which will be tough. And then
The Giants are not the only team struggling. Another team that won multiple Super Bowls in recent years is also playing horribly, and went winless in the month of September for their efforts. The Pittsburgh Steelers went to London to play another winless team, the Minnesota Vikings. But at the end of the game, it was Minnesota who walked away with the "W", and Pittsburgh who had the long flight home, still searching for that first victory, like the Giants.
Yet another team that enjoyed success in recent years, but is struggling mightily this season, are none other than the Atlanta Falcons - my pick to go the Super Bowl this season (I had them losing to Denver in my NFL Season prediction from August 5, 2013). I knew it felt weird picking them, and should have figured it would turn out badly. They are never a consistent winner, it seems, and although they have rarely been favorites to go deep into the playoffs, Tonight, they played a tough game against the New England Patriots. This was a game that I thought could go either way, because both teams are tough. That said, I gave the nod to Atlanta, because they are always tough at home, and also because it seemed they were overdue for a win like this.
Wrong. The Patriots proved more resilient than even I gave them credit for (and I always credit them for being resilient under Belichek). Amazingly, considering the disastrous postseason the Patriots had to endure, they are one of the few remaining undefeated teams at 4-0! This has to be considered their most impressive win so far, for that matter! As for the Falcons, well.....they still have a chance to recover. But losing at home in a must win is not a good sign. It does get easier at least for them, though! Next week on Monday Night, they host the Jets! ; )
Speaking of the Jets, a lot of people were expressing skepticism that their sudden surge to competitiveness so far early in the season was actually for real. They did little to quell those fears, losing badly at Tennessee, 38-13. They now trail New England by two, and depending on what Miami does tonight, they might be trailing two teams by two entering next weekend, when they have to go to Atlanta, which is not an easy place to play by any means!
The Ravens had a chance to jump ahead in the AFC North. But the Bills seem a lot tougher this season than in years past, and this is particularly true at home. Buffalo managed to hold the defending champs off - just barely. So now, Baltimore stands at 2-2, their wining streak done. With the Bengals loss to the suddenly hot, resurgent Browns, there is a three-way tie for first in the division, with each team at 2-2, save for the 0-4 Pittsburgh Steelers.
Another division leader had a chance to make a jump on the rest of the teams in their division: the Dallas Cowboys. With both the Giants and Washington winless entering the week at 0-3, and the Eagles at 1-2 in the unenviable position of having to go on the road against Denver, Dallas looked to have a good opportunity to widen theid lead to a solid two games, and be in a comfortable position early on of already enjoying a multiple game lead in the division race. And in the first half, that was exactly what it looked like Dallas was doing, as they took what seemed to be a commanding 21-10 lead. Sure, the Chargers got a field goal to cut it to 21-13 for halftime, but it still seemed Dallas was in a good position. Who knew that this field goal would be the first of 20 unanswered points the rest of the game for the Chargers, who took the game, and also kept within two games of the undefeated Chiefs and Broncos in the AFC West. For the Cowboys, it has to be considered a missed opportunity.
But that is the way things have been going in the NFC East all season. Dallas is in first place with a record of 2-2. The winless Giants, who look closer to being one of the worst teams in the league than one of the best at 0-4, are only two games out of first, and definitely still alive. If they were in the same division as, say, the Seahawks or the Saints, they likely would already be realistically out of the division race. But in the NFC East, which used to be considered the best division not long ago, they are still in it. In fact, the NFC East has shown their inferiority to the AFC West now this season not just one weekend, but two weekends. Yes, it's a young season, but just two weekends ago, there were three match-ups between AFC West teams, and NFC East teams. The AFC West swept those three games. Yesterday, there were four games between AFC West teams and NFC East teams. I already mentioned the Giants losing to the Chiefs, and the Cowboys losing to the Chargers. And of course, nobody was surprised that the Eagles got walloped in Denver. But Washington managed to get their first victory against Oakland, and on the road to boot. So, instead of being winless, the NFC East managed a 1-3 record in head to head match-ups between those divisions this weekend. Pretty meager.
For Denver and Kansas City, this season is obviously going very well. I think they are feeding off of one another's success, as the urgency of keeping face and not falling behind serves as extra motivation. This might be particularly true in the case of Kansas City, who were really not supposed to be this good, this deep into the season. I also mentioned that the New England Patriots remained unbeaten at 4-0 as well, holding off the Falcons in Atlanta.
But in the NFC, the Seahawks pulled off a huge win on the road in Houston, defeating the suddenly reeling Texans, who lost badly at Baltimore in week three, and then followed that up by losing at home against Seattle. The Seahawks already had a tough test against the San Francisco 49ers a few weeks ago, and passed that with flying colors, blowing the "Whiners" out. But yesterday was simply amazing! Seattle was 3-0, and attempting to reach 4-0 for the first time in franchise history. But they would have to do it on the road against a tough Texans team that many expected to be a serious Super Bowl contender this year. It looked hopeless when they fell behind 20-3, with all of those raucous fans. But they kept their composure, chipping away at the sizable lead in the second half with a field goal, and then a Lynch rushing touchdown. Then, with just under three minutes to play, Schaub threw another pick six for a tying score to send the game to overtime. The Seahawks eventually won it with a field goal, deep into overtime. The offense was hardly explosive today, but the defense, after initial lapses during a horrendous second quarter, where they gave up all twenty of the Texans points in that quarter alone, toughened up and showed their true character, and allowed them to stay in the game, and eventually, to win it! They are looking more and more real with each passing week, although they have yet another tough test next week, when they travel to Indy to take on Luck and the surging Colts.
Speaking of Indy, they absolutely had their way with Jacksonville, the team that cements their status as the worst team in the NFL with each passing week. the Jaguars were destroyed before their home fans, 37-3. The Colts look not only very solid on offense, predictably, but have looked rather tough on defense, which is a bit of a surprise. Granted, this weekend's opponents were the lowly Jaguars, but if you combine the last two games the Colts won (they beat up San Francisco last weekend), the Colts have won by a whopping combined score of 64-10. Pretty dominant! But Seattle should prove a tougher test next weekend!
Another intriguing match-up took place in Detroit, where the 2-1 Lions hosted the 3-0 Bears. Early on, it looked like it was going to be a back and forth game, as Chicago held their own. But the Detroit just absolutely exploded in the second quarter, pounding their weaker opponents and scoring 24 straight points, to turn it into a route. The final score of 40-32 is not indicative of how lopsided this game was, as the Bears scored two touchdowns int eh final four minutes, with the two point conversions. But the Lions were comfortably ahead from the second quarter onward, and managed to win a big game, because the Bears were threatening to take a two-game lead over both the Packers and the Lions with a win. Instead, Chicago and Detroit are now tied for first, with Green Bay nipping on their heels.
Tampa remained winless, losing a defensive struggle against the Arizona Cardinals, 13-10.
And, of course, on Thursday night, San Francisco got back on track by absolutely spanking the Rams in St. Louis.
French Soccer Ligue 1 (standings according to yahoo! Sports:
Standings
| Rank | GP | GD | PTS | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Monaco | 8 | 10 | 18 |
| 2 | PSG | 8 | 8 | 18 |
| 3 | Marseille | 8 | 7 | 17 |
| 4 | Lille | 8 | 4 | 14 |
| 5 | Nice | 8 | 2 | 14 |
| 6 | Nantes | 8 | 3 | 13 |
| 7 | St. Etienne | 8 | 2 | 13 |
| 8 | Rennes | 8 | 1 | 12 |
| 9 | Lyon | 8 | 5 | 11 |
| 10 | Reims | 8 | 1 | 11 |
| 11 | Montpellier | 8 | -2 | 9 |
| 12 | Bastia | 8 | -3 | 9 |
| 13 | Evian | 8 | -4 | 9 |
| 14 | Toulouse | 8 | -4 | 9 |
| 15 | Guingamp | 8 | 0 | 8 |
| 16 | AC Ajaccio | 8 | -3 | 7 |
| 17 | Bordeaux | 8 | -4 | 7 |
| 18 | Lorient | 8 | -5 | 7 |
| 19 | Sochaux | 8 | -8 | 5 |
| 20 | Valenciennes | 8 | -10 | 3 |
MLS Standings (according to Yahoo! Sports):
GROUP EAST
| Rank | Played (H | A) | Won (H | A) | Drawn (H | A) | Lost (H | A) | GF | GA | GD | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  New York Red Bulls | 31 (15 | 16) | 15 (10 | 5) | 7 (3 | 4) | 9 (2 | 7) | 48 | 37 | 11 | 52 |
| 2 |  Sporting Kansas City | 30 (16 | 14) | 14 (8 | 6) | 6 (3 | 3) | 10 (5 | 5) | 43 | 29 | 14 | 48 |
| 3 |  Montreal Impact | 29 (15 | 14) | 13 (9 | 4) | 7 (3 | 4) | 9 (3 | 6) | 48 | 44 | 4 | 46 |
| 4 |  Houston Dynamo | 30 (14 | 16) | 12 (8 | 4) | 8 (3 | 5) | 10 (3 | 7) | 38 | 37 | 1 | 44 |
| 5 |  Philadelphia Union | 30 (15 | 15) | 11 (6 | 5) | 9 (5 | 4) | 10 (4 | 6) | 38 | 39 | -1 | 42 |
| 6 |  Columbus Crew | 31 (15 | 16) | 12 (7 | 5) | 5 (3 | 2) | 14 (5 | 9) | 40 | 41 | -1 | 41 |
| 7 |  New England Revolution | 30 (16 | 14) | 11 (7 | 4) | 8 (4 | 4) | 11 (5 | 6) | 42 | 34 | 8 | 41 |
| 8 |  Chicago Fire | 30 (16 | 14) | 11 (9 | 2) | 7 (3 | 4) | 12 (4 | 8) | 38 | 45 | -7 | 40 |
| 9 |  Toronto FC | 31 (16 | 15) | 5 (3 | 2) | 11 (8 | 3) | 15 (5 | 10) | 29 | 45 | -16 | 26 |
| 10 |  D.C. United | 30 (14 | 16) | 3 (3 | 0) | 6 (3 | 3) | 21 (8 | 13) | 20 | 52 | -32 | 15 |
GGROUP WEST
| Rank | Played (H | A) | Won (H | A) | Drawn (H | A) | Lost (H | A) | GF | GA | GD | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Real Salt Lake | 31 (15 | 16) | 15 (9 | 6) | 6 (3 | 3) | 10 (3 | 7) | 54 | 39 | 15 | 51 |
| 2 |  Seattle Sounders FC | 29 (15 | 14) | 15 (10 | 5) | 6 (4 | 2) | 8 (1 | 7) | 39 | 29 | 10 | 51 |
| 3 |  Portland Timbers | 30 (15 | 15) | 12 (10 | 2) | 13 (4 | 9) | 5 (1 | 4) | 46 | 31 | 15 | 49 |
| 4 |  LA Galaxy | 30 (14 | 16) | 13 (9 | 4) | 6 (3 | 3) | 11 (2 | 9) | 46 | 37 | 9 | 45 |
| 5 |  Colorado Rapids | 30 (15 | 15) | 12 (8 | 4) | 9 (4 | 5) | 9 (3 | 6) | 37 | 31 | 6 | 45 |
| 6 |  San Jose Earthquakes | 31 (15 | 16) | 12 (9 | 3) | 8 (5 | 3) | 11 (1 | 10) | 32 | 41 | -9 | 44 |
| 7 |  Vancouver Whitecaps | 30 (15 | 15) | 11 (8 | 3) | 8 (4 | 4) | 11 (3 | 8) | 42 | 39 | 3 | 41 |
| 8 |  FC Dallas | 30 (15 | 15) | 10 (8 | 2) | 10 (5 | 5) | 10 (2 | 8) | 42 | 46 | -4 | 40 |
| 9 |  Chivas USA | 31 (16 | 15) | 6 (5 | 1) | 8 (4 | 4) | 17 (7 | 10) | 29 | 55 | -26 | 26 |
Tennis
Rafal Nadal might have won more Grand Slam titles this calendar year (as well as overall) than Novak Djokovic, but Djoko is vowing that he will fight very hard to retain the number one ranking, which he still currently holds, and which he has held at the end of the last two calendar years prior to this. It should be interesting, and let's see what happens!
MLB
Well, the playoff race is just about over in baseball.
In the American League, the Boston Red Sox have the top seed, while the other division winners are the Detroit Tigers and the Oakland A;s. Cleveland clinched one wild card, while the Texas Rangers and the Tampa Bay Devil Rays will play an extra regular season tie break game to determine who gets the other wild card.
In the National League, the St. Louis Cardinals clinched the top spot, with the Atlanta Braves and LA Dodgers being the other division winners. The long suffering Pittsburgh Pirates and the Cincinnati Reds clinched the wild cards.