Today in Black History – 02/25/20

Hiram Rhodes Revels of Mississippi was sworn in as the first Black U.S. Senator on this date in 1870.

Cassius Clay, boxing legend, changed his name to Muhammad Ali after converting to Islam on this date in 1964 immediately after winning his first heavyweight title (KO of Sonny Liston, round seven).

Elijah Muhammad, activist and founder of the Nation of Islam, died at age 77, in Chicago, on this date in 1975.

Daniel “Chappie” James, Jr., the first Black Four-Star General in the U.S. Air Force, died at the Air Force Academy in Colorado on this date in 1978.

Edgar Daniel “E.D.” Nixon, civil rights leader and primary figure in the Montgomery Bus Boycott, died in Montgomery, AL, on this date in 1987.

Courtesy of Yenoba.com and Google

Cryptoquote Spoiler – 02/25/20

“I can excuse everything but boredom.  Boring people don’t have to stay that way.”   —   Hedy Lamarr

(Ah!  Brains and beauty!  Back in the day she was called a Bombshell, but her advances in communication technology led to the developments of Wi-Fi, GPS and Bluetooth technologies.  Of course, the good ol’ boys in the military – during WWII – dismissed her idea of “frequency hopping”, but they did finally utilize it sometime in the 1960s.  She wasn’t formally acknowledged for her contributions until 1997, but by then she was an 82 year old recluse.  Thankfully, we’re getting better about acknowledging all forms of genius, regardless of sex, race and creed.  For those “good ol’ boys” . . . Times Up!  Be well and do good, friends.)   —   YUR

Image courtesy of Google

Jumble Spoiler – 02/25/20

Visual Description:  Toxic boss.

UPNTI  =  INPUT,  FOTYL  =  LOFTY,  LARSIO  =  SAILOR,  DEGAAN  =  AGENDA   —   Giving us:  TLOILNA

Clue/Question:  The pessimist had such a negative attitude, that everyone considered him to be a – – –

Answer:  “NO“-IT–ALL

(Aah!  Another great classic stinky pun!  Those are my favorites, because they make the “sophisticated” snooty types groan.  Their painful groans give your sadistic Uncle great pleasure, like Lord Yabu, in “Shogun”, revelling in the sounds of the Dutch sailor being boiled alive.  Well, that might be taking things just a tad too far, but you get the picture.

There were no new clue words today.  However, all of the jumbles do appear to be new.  The only on that gave me trouble was “larsio”.  I skipped it, came back to it, said the Hell with it, and then thought I’d back into it.  But, with only five of the seven answer letters, I wasn’t coming up with the final answer either!  So, I went back to it again and finally saw it.  I believe I’ve had trouble with “sailor” before.  I have no idea why.  The answer letter layout was a cryptic and concise seven letter jumble.  Not obvious, to me.  I wasn’t anticipating this answer at all.  But, I soon saw NO, and from the TLILA I figured out the rest.

Nice office scene cartoon.  That boss looks like a real bastard.  Someone should put a couple of eye drops in his beverage of choice.  Don’t actually try this folks!  It can be much worse than just giving someone diarrhea.  It can make some folks violently ill.  Be well and do good, friends.  And, do no harm!  Even if you think they deserve it.)   —   YUR

Images courtesy of Google, and the Washingtonpost.com