May 28

 

 
Daily Almanac for Flagstaff
Week 22 Day: 148 \ Ave. sky cover: 20% \ Visibility: 10 miles Flagstaff Today 84° \46° 
Wind: 5mph \ Gusts: 15mph
Extreme risk of fire \ Nearest active fire: 10mi \ nearest Lightning: 608mi
May Averages for Flagstaff: 68° \ 34°  (3 days of moisture)

 

Today’s Quote

 

Weekly Observations

17-28 Cannes Film Festival

22-28   National Backyard Games Week National Safe Boating Week World Schizophrenia Awareness Week  Link Healthy and Safe Swimming Week Link

23-6/5   National Seat Belt Reinforcement Week Link

24-29 Mule Days  Link

25-30 Fleet Week

25-31 Week of Solidarity With The People of Non-Self-Governing Territories

26-31 Fleet Week (NY)

26-29   Old-Time Player Piano Weekend   Link

27-30   Mudbug Madness Days

27-29 National Polka Weekend  Link

28-6/3  Black Single Parents Week

 

Daily Observations

My Sometimes-Long-Winded Thoughts

A very nice spring day.  Doors and windows open letting in the spring.

Texas is certainly in the spotlight. After such a horrific incident, some are very good at Monday morning quarterbacking. Even the head of the Texas Rangers on scene said ‘Of course, it was the wrong decision.’ This is very small town, about 16,000 citizens. The people of that town deserve answers. It is sad that it has taken this long to get important information out to the public. I certainly hope they get those answers.

Keeping up with facts is a difficult endeavor. According to CNBC, in 2020, Pro-gun lobbyists spent $19.5 million…including money from the NRA. Gun control lobbyists spent $37.4 million.

Our discussion group meets on Saturday to discuss ‘Drug Wars’. Should be an interesting discussion. I have lots of reading to do before our evening meeting.

Favorite Memes

 

Humor

What vegetable needs a plumber?

A leek.

Trivia

v Massive swarms of over 1,000 basking sharks spotted off the northeastern U.S. are puzzling scientists.

v National Geographic reports that the shark swarms were noticed during aerial surveys to locate endangered North Atlantic Right Whales. Typically they are solitary creatures, the throngs of basking sharks have surprised experts.

v Although fearsome looking, the basking sharks, which can grow up to 32 feet long, are not a threat to humans. Other varieties of sharks are another story.

v For every human killed by a shark, humans kill a million sharks.

Historical Events

Ø    585 BC – A solar eclipse occurred, as predicted by the Greek philosopher and scientist Thales. Knowing this exact date helped historians find other exact and near-exact historical dates.
Ø    1830 – President Andrew Jackson signed the Indian Removal Act which denied Native Americans their land rights and forcibly relocated them.
Ø    1892 – In San Francisco, California, John Muir organized the Sierra Club.
Ø    1897 – Jell-o was introduced.
Ø    1902 – Owen Wister’s The Virginian was published by Macmillan Press. The book made the American Cowboy an icon.
Ø    1935 – John Steinbeck’s first successful novel, Tortilla Flat, was published.
Ø    1934 – In Ontario, Canada, the Dionne quintuplets were born to Oliva and Elzire Dionne
Ø    1937 – The Golden Gate Bridge, San Francisco was officially opened to vehicles
Ø    1937 – Gesellschaft zur Vorbereitung des Deutschen Volkswagens mbH, later renamed Volkswagenwerk, or Volkswagon was founded.
Ø    1936 – Alan Turing published On Computable Numbers.
Ø    1961 – Peter Benenson’s article The Forgotten Prisoners was published in several internationally read newspapers.
Ø    1964 – The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) was formed.
Ø    1987 – Matthias Rust, a 19-year-old amateur pilot from West Germany, took off from Helsinki, Finland, in his Cessna, and landed in Red Square, the heart of the Soviet Union.
Ø    1998 – Former Saturday Night Live actor and comedian Phil Hartman was shot and killed by his wife Brynn, in a murder/suicide. 
Ø 2002 – The last steel girder was removed from the original World Trade Center site, officially ending the cleanup with closing ceremonies at Ground Zero in Manhattan, New York City.

Birthdays Today

84 – Jerry West, NBA Hall of famer.

78 – Rudy Giuliani, American lawyer and politician

78 – Gladys Knight, soul singer\

@65 – Jim Thorpe, Sac & Fox decathlete, football player, and coach (d. 1953; heart failure)

@56 – Ian Fleming, English journalist and author (d. 1964; heart attack)

45 – Elisabeth Hasselbeck, American talk show host and author

44 – Jake Johnson, American actor

@20 – Cameron Boyce, American actor (d. 2019; seizure at night)