Week: 51 Day: 353
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Today’s Quote
Weekly Observations
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5-24 |
Andisop
(Meterological Fiddling) Link |
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14-1/5 |
Christmas Bird Count Week: Link |
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14-28 |
Halcyon Days |
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16-24 |
Posadas |
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17-23 |
Saturnalia |
Daily Observations
Favorite Memes
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Have a laugh
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What did the artist draw before he went to bed?
The
curtains! |
Arizona Trivia
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·
Famous labor leader and activist Cesar Chavez was born in
Yuma. ·
In 1912,
President William Howard Taft was ready to make Arizona a state on February
12, but it was Lincoln's birthday. The next day, the 13th, was considered bad
luck so they waited until the following day. That' how Arizona became known
as the Valentine State. ·
When
England's famous London Bridge was replaced in the 1960s, the original was
purchased, dismantled, shipped stone by stone and reconstructed in Lake
Havasu City, Arizona, where it still stands today. ·
Mount
Lemmon, Tucson, in the Santa Catalina Mountains, is the southernmost ski
resort in the United States. ·
Rooster
Cogburn Ostrich Ranch in Picacho, Arizona is the largest privately-owned
ostrich ranch in the world outside South Africa. ·
If you cut
down a protected species of cactus in Arizona, you could spend more than a
year in prison. ·
The
world's largest to-scale collection of miniature airplane models is housed at
the library at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Prescott, Arizona. |
My Sometimes-Long-Winded Thoughts
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Nice day, if you like very cool weather. This will
be my last blog until I return from Mexico. Tomorrow is packing day. I’m
hoping to get everything into a carry-on but will find out if that works tomorrow. Shopping
completed this morning. E-cards sent. Passport and vaccination card ready.
The shuttle picks me up at 5AM on Monday. I arrive in Merida by 7PM their
time…5PM my time. Trevor
Noah did an interesting story on China in Africa. After visiting there
numerous times, I knew that China was loaning money for infrastructure in
many countries. I knew the loans were
interest free or as China says, ‘No Strings Attached.’ Noah’s piece was
discouraging. While the loans are interest free, the many governments have
agreed to give China the infrastructure if they can’t pay the loan. Many Western
countries do not offer these African countries loans because they are seen as
too volatile. Also China sends many workers to oversee projects at very high
wages while hiring locals at very low wages. Now some of these countries are
ready to default on the loans. In one case an international airport in Uganda
may become Chinese owned if they can’t pay. While the early colonization from
Europe was ‘We are here, you are ours, bow to our will’, the financial colonization
of China may be much worse. If there are a lot of defaults, the world power
dynamic will shift quietly and quickly. The other
day I mentioned the long sentence for the driver on I-70 who killed 4 a few
years ago with one being a classmate from high school. Now 3.4million people
have signed a petition that will be sent to the Colorado governor to commute
his sentence to time served. I will be following this closely. I’m ready
for winter as I have flipped my mattress a little early since I will be in
Mexico when the seasons change. I also put a new toothbrush on my Sonic
toothbrush. Have a
great holiday season. I get back late the 27th and will start
posting again on the 28th. |
Historical Events
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1776
– Thomas Paine published one of a series of pamphlets in The Pennsylvania
Journal entitled The American Crisis. 1998 – President Bill Clinton was
impeached by the United States House of Representatives, becoming the second
President of the United States to be impeached. 1917 – The first NHL Games took place.
Montreal Canadians vs Ottawa Senators (7-4 final) and Montreal Wanders beat
the Toronto Arenas (10 to 9 final). 1950 Chinese invasion of Tibet forces
the Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama to flee 1984 Chinese Premier Zhao Ziyang and
British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher sign the Sino-British Joint
Declaration to transfer Hong Kong back to China in 1997 2007 The Lakotah people, a Native
American tribe, proclaim independence and withdraw all their treaties with
the United States. Establish the Republic of Lakotah, as a separate country. 2018 First use of a drone to deliver
vaccines - to island of Erromango, Vanuatu, by Unicef 2019 Earliest fossilized trees, 386
million years old, found at a quarry in Cairo, New York, study published in
"Current Biology" |
Birthdays Today
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@96 – Cicely Tyson, American
actress (d. 2021) 77 – Tim Reid, American actor, comedian 58 – Jennifer Beals, American actress 54 – Criss Angel, American magician 52 – Richard Hammond, English
journalist and TV presenter 49 – Alyssa Milano, American actress @47 – Édith Piaf, French
singer-songwriter and actress (d. 1963) 41 – Jake Gyllenhaal, American actor 34 – Ronan Farrow, American journalist |
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