National Lame Duck Day

On February 6 National Lame Duck Day recognizes the ratification of the 20th Amendment on February 6, 1933 to the United States Constitution, or the Lame Duck Amendment.
The term 'lame duck' originated as a description of stock brokers in 1700s England who could not pay off their debts. The term later carried over to businessmen who, while known to be bankrupt, would continue to do business.
The official record of the United States Congress of January 14, 1863 read, "In no event ... could [the Court of Claims] be justly obnoxious to the charge of being a receptacle of 'lame ducks' or broken down politicians." In politics a lame duck is a person currently holding a political office who has either: lost a re-election bid, chose not to seek another term, was prevented from running for re-election due to a term limit, or the office held has been eliminated.
Prior to the ratification of the 20th Amendment to the United States Constitution there was, for Congress a 13 month delay between election day and the day the newly elected officials took office. In the case of a lame duck, this was a 13 month notice his or her job was terminating, crippling his or her influence. Hence the lame or injured duck. The 20th Amendment shortened this period from 13 months to 2 months and changed the dates for the beginning of the new Congress to January 3 and when the newly elected president took office from March 4th to January 20th.
During a lame duck session, members of Congress are no longer accountable to their constituents. It is possible for their focus to switch to more personal gain instead of acting on behalf of their constituents with an eye toward re-election. Lame duck Congresses have declared war, impeached a president, censured a senator, and passed the Homeland Security Act among other actions. Lame duck Presidents have pardoned many criminals, issued executive orders, confiscated land to create national parks, declared areas to be newly opened or newly restricted from drilling for oil, created additional federal judges, executive clemency for family members, and more.

Jimmy Carter's administration published more than 10,000 pages of new rules between Election Day and Ronald Reagan's Inauguration Day. When President George W. Bush took office in 2001, his administration acted to block the implementation of 90 final rules that were issued in the final months of the Clinton administration, but that had not yet gone into effect.


Incidentally, unlike the United States Congress, there is no 'lame duck session of Parliament in most Commonwealth countries between the general election and swearing in of elected officials.

National Presidential Joke Day

This “unofficial” US national holiday is celebrated annually and began on August 11, 1984 when President Ronald Reagan was doing a microphone test and made a joke not realizing that the microphone was on. Am sure there are many throughout history who qualify as presidential jokes.

National Senior Citizens Day

This is celebrated on August 21 with various events and activities held across the United States, in recognition of National Senior Citizens Day. This day was created as a day to support, honor, and show appreciation to our seniors and to recognize their achievements and the contributions they make to our communities.

On August 19, 1988, President Ronald Reagan signed Proclamation 5847 declaring August 21 as National Senior Citizens Day. Someday I may be forced to grow up and celebrate this day, but for now, every day is a good day to celebrate the achievements of others.

Four Kinds of Irony

Verbal irony: This is when the speaker says one thing but means another (often contrary) thing. The most well known type of verbal irony is sarcasm. For example: “He is as funny as a broken rib”.

Tragic irony: Tragic irony occurs only in fiction. It is when the words or actions of a character contradict the real situation with the full knowledge of the spectators. For example: In Romeo and Juliet, Romeo mistakenly believes that Juliet has killed herself, so he poisons himself. Juliet awakens to find Romeo dead so she kills herself with his knife.

Dramatic Irony: In drama, this type of irony is when the spectator is given a piece of information that one or more of the characters are unaware of. For example: in Pygmalion, we know that Eliza is a prostitute, but the Higgins family does not.

Situational Irony: Situational irony is when there is a difference between the expected result and the actual result. Take for example this account of the attempted assassination of Ronald Reagan: As aides rushed to push Reagan into his car, the bullet ricocheted off the bullet-proof car, then hit the President in the chest, grazed a rib and lodged in his lung, just inches from his heart. The bullet proof car was intended to protect the president, but nearly caused his death by deflecting the bullet.

TV History

As we look to the new year, it is interesting to look back on how TV has changed our lives, for better or worse.

Philo Farnsworth, Idaho, invented television and filed for patent in 1927.

The first commercial TVs were produced in the US in 1938.

RCA 12 inch TV, 1939. Cost $600 (that would be like $9,337.00 in 2009).

The first public broadcast was made in London in 1936 and 1939 (on a 6 inch screen) in New York.

The FCC declares 1941 as the actual first broadcast and declares anything before that as 'experimental'. Also, the first commercial, from Bulova watch was seen in 1941. Maybe that is what made the FCC change its mind.

TVs were not produced from 1942 - 1945, due to the war, and tv stations broadcast only 4 hours per week.

Howdy Doody premiered on TV in 1947, The Lone Ranger in 1949, and the first coast-to-coast TV broadcast was 1951.

Commercial color TV was first seen in 1953, but less than 1 percent of TVs could view color. Most of the country had 4 VHF stations to watch, and none were available 24 hours a day. They ended the day with the national anthem, or the following. Then they showed test patterns until the next day's broadcast.

Do you remember -  "Oh! I have slipped the surly bonds of Earth
And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings;
Sunward I've climbed, and joined the tumbling mirth
Of sun-split clouds, - and done a hundred things
You have not dreamed of . . . " John Gillespie Magee Jr.

LINK to "High Flight" above from KSAT TV signoff. Poem begins at about 1 minute in.

Ronald Reagan was host of "General Electric Theater" from 1953 - 1961.

1955 ushers in the first TV remote control from Zenith. Whoopee!

NBC announced in 1965 that 96% of its programming was in color, but it wasn't until 1977 that 75% of TVs in homes could receive color. Color TV sales first outsell black and white in 1972.

First pay TV was 1972 and it caused an uproar.

Cable TV broadcasting came in during the 1940s and 1950s for stations owners, first home cable, 1948, and was deregulated in 1984. Cable reaches 50 percent of households in 1987. CNN is first cable 24 hour programming. UK produces first 24 hour broadcasts in 1987.

1991 begins the first real-time commercial broadcast of war (the Persian War) and most major advertisers pull their spots as they were not willing to sponsor war coverage. NBC lost millions in advertising. Viet Nam coverage was all from film, not live broadcast.

18 inch satellite dishes are introduced in 1996. First web TV is introduced in 1996.

98% of households have at least one TV in 1998 and 67% have cable.

In 2005 A 42" Plasma HDTV usually retails for $4,500.00 - $7,000.00, with regular plasma flat screen of 42' at about $1,400.

LCDs surpassed sales of old CRT type televisions in 2008.

All digital TV is the only type of TV available as of 2009. As of 2009 you can also watch TV on your cell phone.