23 Jan

23 January 2023

Daily Almanac for Flagstaff
Week 4 Day 23 \ Ave. Sky Cover 40% \ Visibility 19 miles Flagstaff Today 47° \6°  Wind 8mph \ Gusts 13mph 
Air Quality: Fair\VeryLow Risk of fire \ Nearest active fire 655mi \ Nearest Lightning 1472mi
Jan Averages for Flagstaff: 44° \ 16° \5 Days of moisture
Cloudy

Today’s Quote

 

Weekly Observations

17-23
National Fresh Squeezed Juice Week
18-25
Week of Christian Unity
National Soccer Coaches of America Week
19-29
Sundance Film Festival
22-28
Clean Out Your Inbox Week
Data Privacy Week Link
National CRNA (Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetists) Week
National Handwriting Analysis Week
National School Choice Week Link 
Snowcare for Troops Week
Snowcare for Troops Week
23-28
National Medical Group Practice Week

Daily Observations

Measure Your Feet Day
National Handwriting Day Link
National Pie Day Link  Link  
Paul Pitcher Day  Link
Snowplow Mailbox Hockey Day

My Sometimes-Long-Winded Thoughts

Sun was shining early, but now the next storm is moving in. This one should bring us about 6” of snow…adding to January snowfall.

The Arkansas governor has banned the use of ‘LatinX’ in any state documents. For context, the term LatinX is in response to Latino and Latina, both of which place gender on the noun in Spanish. The ‘X’ means null and therefore drops gender from the noun. LatinX has been around a few years and has not become popular among the various Latin communities.

The Navajo Nation has lifted its mandated mask requirements. The new administration said that people should still be cautious when in large groups.

I read an article about the Debt Ceiling yesterday. After reading it, I sent an email to my newly elected Conservative Congressional Rep. The article was pointing out the debt ceiling allows the government to pay the bills it has already occurred. It does not increase the Federal debt or increase spending. Not raising the debt ceiling would cause the country to default on its loans. That would crash the value of the US dollar here and around the world. This is not something politicians should make political. Even delaying the necessary rise in the debt ceiling has consequences. The last time we came close to default, the US credit rating dropped. That means that the US now pays a higher interest rate on any money it borrows. That increase comes right out of taxpayers pockets.

The Big 5 of Africa…lions, leopards, elephants, African buffalo, & rhinoceroses

Arizona is a great state…NEW

·        Arizona has 3,928 mountain peaks and summits, more mountains than any one of the other Mountain States (Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming).

·        All New England, plus the state of Pennsylvania would fit inside Arizona.

·        Arizona became the 48th state and last of the contiguous states on February 14, 1912.

Facts…

Number of Times Square New Year’s Eve Ball designs since 1907--7

Weight (in pounds) of the current Times Square New Year’s Eve Ball--11,875

Year “Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve” aired for the first time--1972

Typical number of revelers packed into Times Square each New Year’s Eve--58,000 

Slang Origins

1972: Retro

Meaning: related to the styles and fashions of the past

Kids wearing retro clothes today may be wearing styles from the 1970s, but the 21st century doesn’t have a monopoly on the term. Though it’s not always clear what makes an article of clothing or piece of furniture retro as opposed to vintage, the teenagers of 1972 were going through their parents’ clothes in hopes of making yesterday’s fashion the style of the future.

UNESCO sites…

The Tower of Hercules Is the World's Oldest Lighthouse That Is Still Standing

Built around the second century CE, the Tower of Hercules is considered to be the world's oldest functioning lighthouse. It is located on the northwest coast of modern-day Spain, on a promontory overlooking the harbor of A Coruña. The tower itself rises approximately 190 feet above the sea to shine its light across the northern Atlantic Ocean. The Tower of Hercules is the only remaining lighthouse of Greco-Roman antiquity to have retained its structural integrity, and it was named a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2009.

Historical Events

1556 – The Shaanxi earthquake struck in Shaanxi province, China. The death toll may have been as high as 830,000, the deadliest earthquake in history.
Walter Frederick Morrison sold the rights (Design Patent #D183,626) to his flying disc to the Wham-O toy company, which later renames it the “Frisbee”.
1998 – Netscape announced Mozilla, with the intention to release Communicator code as open source.

Birthdays Today

@94 – Wally Parks, founded the National Hot Rod Association (d. 2007)
@89 – Randolph Scott, American actor (d. 1987)
80 – Gil Gerard, American actor
@74 – Anita Pointer, American R&B/soul singer-songwriter (d. 2022)
71 – Robin Zander, American rock singer-songwriter
59 – Mariska Hargitay, American actress, and producer
Being fearless means busting down those walls of fear and being who you are, not who someone else thinks you are.– Mariska Hargitay
@56 – John Hancock, American general and politician (d. 1793)
A chip on the shoulder is too heavy a piece of baggage to carry through life.– John Hancock 49 – Tiffani Thiessen, American actress
@42 – Ernie Kovacs, American comedic actor and game show host (d. 1962; auto crash)
There’s a standard formula for success in the entertainment medium, and that is: Beat it to death if it succeeds.– Ernie Kovacs
@20 – XXXTentacion (Jahseh Dwayne Ricardo Onfroy), American rapper (d. 2018; shot)
You can’t do good if you’re wishing bad on others.– XXXTentacion