Jun 2

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Jun. 2, 2019 Week: 22 \ Day: 153

86004:   H 70° \ L 40° \ Average Sky Cover: 15% 

Nearest wildfire:  10mi. Nearest lightning:  232mi

Wind:   5mph\Gusts:  9mph

Visibility: 10 mi

Record High: 86°[1977]   Record Low: 22°[1955]

Jun Averages: 78°\42° (1 day with rain)

Today’s Quote

Be not simply good - be good for something.

Henry David Thoreau

Random Tidbits

The May pole is thought by some to (not so subtly) represent the masculine, while the decorations of flowers, wreaths and ribbons are thought to symbolize the feminine. Although many scholars assert that sometimes a tree is just a tree - the pole was not a phallic symbol, but rather a nod to the sacred nature of the tree.

Persecution of May Day festivities began as early as the 1600s, and in 1640 the Church ruled against the debauchery when the British Parliament banned the traditions as immoral. A much tamer version was brought back in 1644 under the rule of Charles II.

Some beliefs held that May Day was the last chance for fairies to travel to the Earth

Observances This Month

Adopt-A-Cat Month Link  Link
Adopt A Shelter Cat Month
African-American Music Appreciation Month Link
Alzheimer's and Brain Awareness Month Link
Antiphospholipid Antibody Syndrome Awareness Month (APS) Link
Audio Book Appreciation Month
Beautiful in Your Skin Month Link
California Avocado Month  Link
Cancer From The Sun Month
Caribbean-American Heritage Month
Cataract Awareness Month
Celibacy Awareness Month
Child Vision Awareness Month
Children's Awareness Month
Country Cooking Month Link

Observances This Week

Ramadan 5/5-6/4

National African Violet Week: 26-6/2

Black Single Parents Week: 28-6/3

International Clothesline Week: 1-8 
National Lemonade Days: 1-9 Link

Bed Bug Awareness Week: 2-8
Black Single Parents Week: 2-8 
Community Health Improvement Week (CHI): 2-8  Link
End Mountain Top Removal Week:  2-8  Link 
National Business Etiquette Week:  2-8 
National Headache Awareness Week: 2-8  Link 
National Sun Safety Week: 2-8  Link
Pet Appreciation Week: 2-8  Link

Observances for Today

Artichoke Days
Leave the Office Early Day

National Animal Rights Day  Link
National Bubba Day
National Cancer Survivors Day Link 
National Gun Violence Awareness Day
National Rocky Road Day

National Rotisserie Chicken Day Link
Yell "Fudge" at the Cobras in North America Day
Children's Awareness Memorial Day 

My Rambling Thoughts

It’s been a busy few days. We had our weekly lunch on Thursday. Good conversation. Then a friend from my old working days called and was passing through town. Friday, we did the tourist thing around Flag and had a very nice dinner. Very enjoyable after many years. And the weather was perfect for moving around town.

Our Focus Travel leader had a fall and hurt her pelvis. Hoping she has a speedy recovery.

On June 1, 1868, the Navajo signed a treaty that ended their incarceration and set up the Navajo Nation.  Last week it was announced that the Navajo Nation Museum will be able to display one of the three remaining copies of the original treaty. Lots of stipulations, but still a great accomplishment for the tribe.

There is a wildfire close to Flag. It is burning old dead ground cover, making lots of smoke. As of now, the Forest Service is just letting it burn. Smoke settles in at night but dissipates after sunrise. At various times, I can smell it at my house.  It’s one of the downsides to being surrounded by National Forest.

Since most educated Americans realize that tariffs cost the citizens I have some simple questions that need to be answered: Why am I being punished? Who gets the tariffs that are collected? What does the receiver of the tariffs do with all that money? I remember learning that before income tax came into being, most of the US government’s funding came from tariffs. The new tariffs on good coming from Mexico are insane. Why? Imagine that a tariff is placed on something you make. You then charge the consumer more for the product. Then imagine that the President says he will lift the tariff when you stop something you have no control over and he doesn’t even tell you when he will be satisfied enough to stop the tariff. It just doesn’t make any sense.

PUZZLE OF THE DAY

Answer at the bottom of this page

Monday, six friends went camping. Tuesday, John, Jack, and James cooked some mushrooms. Wednesday came and they ate the mushrooms. Thursday found them dead. Exactly one friend survived, how come?

Today’s Significant Historical Events

1700’s

1763 Pontiac's Rebellion: At what is now Mackinaw City, Michigan, Chippewas capture Fort Michilimackinac by diverting the garrison's attention with a game of lacrosse, then chasing a ball into the fort

1800’s

1835 P. T. Barnum & his circus begin 1st tour of US

1855 The Portland Rum Riot occurs in Portland, Maine

1863 Harriet Tubman leads Union guerrillas into Maryland, freeing slaves

1873 Construction begins on Clay St (San Francisco) for world's 1st cable railroad

1875 Alexander Graham Bell makes first sound transmission

1896 Guglielmo Marconi applies to patent the radio, accepted 2 July 1897

1900’s

1910 Pygmies discovered in Dutch New Guinea

1919 Pulitzer prize awarded to Carl Sandburg (Cornhuskers)

1920 Pulitzer prize awarded to Eugene O'Neill (Beyond the Horizon)

1924 President Calvin Coolidge signs the Indian Citizenship Act, declaring all Native Americans to be American citizens

1928 Kraft, building on the original 1918 design, rolls out Velveeta cheese

1953 Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in Westminster Abbey, London, England

1986 Regular TV coverage of US Senate sessions begins

1988 61st National Spell Bee: Rageshree Ramachandran wins spelling elegiacal

1989 10,000 Chinese soldiers are blocked by 100,000 citizens in Tiananmen Square, Beijing, protecting students demonstrating for democracy

2000’s

2004 Ken Jennings begins his 74-game winning streak on the syndicated game show Jeopardy!

2015 US Congress passes new legislation to reform National Security Agency procedures, restricting gathering of phone records

2017 "Wonder Woman" directed by Patty Jenkins released, earns over $100 million in North American in its opening weekend - domestic record for a female director

Birthdays Today

0’s

1731 Martha Washington,

(d. 1802: @70)

1st US First Lady (1789-97),

born in Kent County, Virginia

1740 Marquis de Sade,

(d. 1814: @74)

French philosopher and writer (Justine). The words sadism and sadist are derived from his name.,

born in Paris, France

1840 Thomas Hardy,

(d. 1928: @87)

poet and novelist (Far from the Madding Crowd),

born in Higher Bockhampton, Dorset

1857 Edward Elgar,

(d. 1934: @74: cancer)

English composer (Coronation Ode, Pomp and Circumstance),

born in Lower Broadheath, Worcestershire

1904 Johnny Weissmuller,

(d. 1984: @79: pulmonary edema)

American actor (Tarzan), swimmer (5 Olympic gold 1924, 28),

born in Freidorf, Romania

1930 Charles Pete Conrad Jr,

(d. 1999: @69: motorcycle accident)

USN/astro (Gem 5 11, Ap 12, Skylab 2),

born in Philadelphia

80’s

82- Sally Kellerman,

actress (M*A*S*H, Back to School),

born in Long Beach, California

70’s

78- Charlie Watts,

drummer (Rolling Stones),

born in London, England

80’s

51-Andy Cohen,

TV host

40’s

47- Wayne Brady,

American actor and comedian

(The Wayne Brady Show, Whose Line Is It Anyway?),

born in Columbus, Georgia

Historical Obits Today

90’s

@99-2018 Paul D. Boyer,

American biochemist and Nobel Prize Laureate for research on the "enzymatic mechanism underlying the biosynthesis of adenosine triphosphate (ATP)" (1997)

@92-2001 Imogene Coca,

American actress

80’s

@82-1990 Rex Harrison,

English actor (My Fair Lady),

dies of cancer

70’s

@79-2008 Bo Diddley,

Ellas McDaniel (born Ellas Otha Bates)

American musician

@74-1882 Guiseppi Garibaldi,

Italian general and nationalist (Risorgimento) who helped unify Italy

40’s

@45-1979 Jim Hutton,

actor (Ellery Queen),

dies of liver cancer

30’s

@37-1941 Lou Gehrig,

American Baseball Hall of Fame first baseman

(6 x World Series, 2 x AL MVP),

dies of motor neurone disease (ALS)

Puzzle answer:

The six friends are called John, Jack, James, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. John, Jack, James, and Tuesday cooked the mushrooms. Wednesday joined them and they ate the mushrooms. Thursday was the one to find them dead, so he is the survivor.