June 25

 

 

Daily Almanac for Flagstaff
Week 26 Day: 176 \ Ave. Sky Cover: 55% \ Visibility: 10 miles Flagstaff Today 81° \51° 
Wind: 8mph \ Gusts: 11mph  Air Quality: FAIR
High Risk of fire \ Nearest active fire: 10mi \ Nearest Lightning: 56mi
June Averages for Flagstaff: 80° \ 43° (1 day of moisture)

 

Today’s Quote

Weekly Observations

Thru Sep.5 National Marina Days (From Memorial Day to Labor Day)  Link

17-30   National Little League Week: Link

19-25   Animal Rights Awareness Week: Link Link Greencare For Troops Awareness Week National Play Catch Week Carpenter Ant Awareness Week Fish Are Friends, Not Food! Week Link   Lightning Safety Awareness Week Link  Universal Father's Week National Mosquito Control Awareness Week

20-26   National Pollinator Week: Link  National Insect Week

20-25  Old Time Fiddlers Week

23-26  Watermelon Thump Seed Spitting Week

Daily Observations

 

My Sometimes-Long-Winded Thoughts

A little more monsoon rain expected today. We need it.

The 2 local fires:  Pipeline is 80% contained; Haywire compound is 65% contained. Looking very good.

Our discussion group meets tomorrow night to discuss Climate Change. Should be a great discussion.

So Roe v Wade is no more…. it’s up to the states to decide. Sad that the SC has become so political…since two of the justices seemed to say that Roe was settled law at their confirmation hearing yet voted to overturn it. I hate to break this to the court, but sex is a normal, natural activity throughout the animal kingdom. Humans found a way to have sex not lead to procreation. For all the anti-abortion people, I have questions: How are YOU going to help the unwanted child? How are you going to ensure that the sperm donor is also made legally responsible for the child? What new services are you going to provide to rape victims or incest victims who now may have to bring their pregnancy to term? What new laws are you going to pass to make adoptions easier? What ad campaigns are you going to have to encourage your constituents to apply to be adoptive parents for those children who can’t or won’t be raised in a safe environment? How are you going to help the pregnant women who choose not to complete a pregnancy? You got what you wanted, now you need to deal with the consequences. Please remember, Roe did not require any woman to get an abortion.

 

Favorite Memes

Earth’s Secrets

We Don't Know Who "Named" the Earth

Unlike other planets, no real historical data can be found on the person (or group) that named our planet "Earth." The term Earth comes from Old English and High Germanic and is the only planet not named after a Greek or Roman god.

US Flag Myths

The familiar story of George Washington walking into a shop and asking Betsy Ross to sew a flag originated with William Canby, a grandson of Ross, said Peter Ansoff, president of the North American Vexillological Association, a group devoted to the study of flags. Canby presented his tale with little supporting evidence to the Pennsylvania Historical Society in 1870, nearly a century after the original flag was created. He claimed Ross told him the story right before her death in 1836, when he would have been around 11 years old.

"Obviously, he was still a youngster at the time, and he was writing this much later than that,” Ansoff said. “There are many discrepancies in the story — some things that just don't make sense."

Since Washington was out in the field commanding the army, for example, he didn't spend much time in Philadelphia, where Ross’ upholstery shop was located. Additionally, flags were first made not for ground troops but for naval forces, which Washington had little to do with, Ansoff said. The true creator of the first American flag is likely lost to history. 

Historical Events

Ë 1788 – Virginia became the tenth state to ratify the United States Constitution.
Ë 1867 – Barbed wire was patented (#66,182) by Lucien B. Smith of Kent, Ohio.
Ë 1876 – Native American forces, led by Chiefs Crazy Horse and Sitting Bull, defeated the US Army troops lead by Lieutenant Colonel George Armstrong Custer in a battle near southern Montana’s Little Bighorn River.
Ë 1910 – The US Congress passed the Mann Act, which prohibited interstate transport of females for “immoral purposes.”
Ë 1910 – Igor Stravinsky’s ballet The Firebird premiered in Paris.
Ë 1950 -The Korean War began with the invasion of South Korea by North Korea.
Ë 1978 – The rainbow flag representing gay pride was presented for the first time during the San Francisco Gay Freedom Day Parade.
Ë 1997 – The National Hockey League approved expansion franchises for Nashville (1998), Atlanta (1999), Columbus (2000), and Minneapolis-Saint Paul (2000).
Ë 2009 – Michael Jackson died after suffering from cardiac arrest caused by a fatal combination of drugs given to him by his personal doctor, Conrad Murray.

Birthdays Today

97 – June Lockhart, American actress
77 – Carly Simon, American singer-songwriter
75 – Jimmie Walker, American comedic actor
@64 – Peyo, Belgian author, illustrator, created The Smurfs (d. 1992; heart attack)
@61 – Anthony Bourdain, chef (d. 2018; suicide)
61 – Ricky Gervais, English comedian, actor, director, producer
56 – Dikembe Mutombo, Congolese-American basketball player
@53 – George Michael, English singer-songwriter (d, 2016; heart issues)
@46 – George Orwell, British novelist, essayist, critic (d. 1950; burst artery in lungs)