28 Aug

 

 
Daily Almanac for Flagstaff
Week 36 Day 240 \ Ave. Sky Cover 30% \ Visibility 10 miles Flagstaff Today 78° \50° 
Wind 2mph \ Gusts 4mph  Air Quality Moderate
Moderate Risk of fire \ Nearest active fire qmi \ Nearest Lightning 13mi
Aug Averages for Flagstaff: 79° \ 50° (9days of moisture)

 

Today’s Quote 

Weekly Observations

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

18-9/6   Ride Sober or Get Pulled Over Link

22-28   National Composites Week Link

23-9/1   World Water Week Link

25-31 Be Kind To Humankind Week

27-28  International Bat Night

27-9/4 National Chuckwagon Races

Daily Observations

Bow Tie Day
Cherry Turnovers Day
Crackers Over The Keyboard Day
Go Topless Day Link 
International Bat Night
National Power Rangers Day Link
National Thoughtful Day Link
National Weed Out Hate Day
Pony Express Day 
Power Rangers Day
Race Your Mouse Around the Icons Day
Radio Commercials Day
Rainbow Bridge Remembrance Day (lost pets) Link
Red Wine Day

My Sometimes-Long-Winded Thoughts

A nice summer day. Clouds say more moisture ahead, weatherman, not so much.

I learned something new today about student loans. When one goes to buy a new vehicle, the customer knows how much the vehicle is, the interest rate, and the amount of each payment…including interest. Sometimes the customer agrees, full well knowing, that making the monthly payments will be difficult…unless they suddenly inherit a boat load of money. The current default rate on car loans is almost 6%. The High School grad and the parents apply for a college loan. They are never told what the loan repayment monthly cost will be, nor are they told how long it will take to repay. For decades the grad and the parents have been told ‘college is the answer to ending poverty.’ The family takes out, on average, $29,000 for tuition. With interest rates on a fixed loan anywhere from 2.9% to 7.96% annual interest, it usually takes about 20 years to repay the loan. It seems to me, a loan of that magnitude, with possible high interest rates, the customer should be able to easily understand the repayment schedule before deciding to take the loan. Now that I know most students had no idea how the system worked and really had no way to find out, I am understanding the loan repayment plan Biden has proposed.

After reading the articles for tonight’s discussion, I much better understand Putin and his leadership style. He is still angry over the fall of the USSR and simply wants to return Russia to the days of Soviet domination. His dream will continue as long as he remains in power. The big dilemma is how to keep peace and work with Russia.

Favorite Memes

One Hit Wonders

  "Kung-Fu Fighting," Carl Douglas (1974)

As we hit the mid-1970s portion of this list, we're obviously getting into disco territory. Like it or not, disco truly has never died, even though it eventually fell out of the mainstream. One of the early hits of the genre, Douglas' single sold roughly 11 million copies, hit No. 1 on the Hot 100, and helped increase the popularity of the martial arts film genre. The song also defined the music career of Douglas, who did earn more modest success in the U.K., but has pretty much lived off this massively popular track.

Historical Events

1833 – The Slavery Abolition Act 1833 received Royal Assent, abolishing slavery through most of the British Empire.
1845 – The first issue of Scientific American magazine was published.
1898 – Caleb Bradham invented the carbonated soft drink that would later be called “Pepsi-Cola”.
1922 – The first radio ad took place on WEAF in NYC. It was a real estate commercial paid for by the Queensbosr Realty Corporation.
1955 – 14-year-old Emmett Till was beaten and killed for a reputed flirtatious comment to a white girl, in Money, Mississippi.
1963 – The March on Washington was attended by 250,000 people and where Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. made his “I Have a Dream” speech.
1996 – Charles, Prince of Wales, and Diana, Princess of Wales got divorced.

Birthdays Today

@81 – Ben Gazzara, American actor (d. 2012)
One of the pleasures of being an actor is that it takes you places you wouldn't ordinarily go, and you don't enter as a tourist, you really enter the life of the place.-Ben Gazzara
79 – David Soul, American actor
@78 – Charles Boyer, French-American actor (d. 1978; suicide)
@69 – Nancy Kulp, American actress (d. 1991; cancer)
@66 – Roxie Roker, American actress (d. 1995; breast cancer)
66 – Luis Guzmán, Puerto Rican-American actor
64 – Scott Hamilton, American figure skater
“I had a ninth-grade teacher who told me I was much smarter and much better than I was allowing myself to be.”– Scott Hamilton
61 – Jennifer Coolidge, American actress
57 – Shania Twain, Canadian singer-songwriter
53 – Jack Black, American comedic actor
“I played, like, a year of piano until I learned the Pink Panther theme. That was my goal. Once I was good enough, I quit. Now my music has to have some rock.”– Jack Black
53 – Jason Priestley, Canadian actor
@46 – Elizabeth Ann Seton, American nun, and saint, co-founded the Sisters of Charity Federation in the Vincentian-Setonian Tradition (d. 1821)
“Live simply, so that all may simply live.”– Elizabeth Ann Seton
40 – LeAnn Rimes, American singer-songwriter
36 – Armie Hammer, American actor
36 – Florence Welch, English singer-songwriter