10 Sep

 

 

Daily Almanac for Flagstaff
Week 37 Day 252 \ Ave. Sky Cover 70% \ Visibility 10 miles Flagstaff Today 82° \52° 
Wind 5mph \ Gusts 9mph  Air Quality Moderate
Moderate Risk of fire \ Nearest active fire 257mi \ Nearest Lightning 119mi
Sep Averages for Flagstaff: 74° \ 42° (5days of moisture)
 

Today’s Quote 

Weekly Observations

Thru 9/11 US Open Tennis Championships

1-10  Substitute Teacher Appreciation Week

3-11  Link International Air Ambulance Week

4-10  Suicide Prevention Week National Waffle Week

6-10  Play Days

7-10   Minimally Invasive Surgery Week  Link

8-10  Popcorn Days Link

9-11  National Days of Prayer & Remembrance

10-11  Mushroom Days Link

Daily Observations

Banana Day Link    
Farmers' Consumer Awareness Day   Link
International Drive Your Studebaker Day 
National Day of Remembrance for Aborted Children Link 
National Hollerin' Day Link 
National Iguana Awareness Day  Link    
National TV Dinner Day Link
Prairie Day
Sewing Machine Day
Swap Ideas Day
Swap Ideas Day
(World) Suicide Prevention Day  Link

My Sometimes-Long-Winded Thoughts

Clouds have settled in…maybe some precipitation this afternoon.

The pavement crew was here at 7am. At 8a two tow-trucks arrived for the two vehicles that hadn’t moved. One guy came out and moved his vehicle before the tow-truck had hooked up. The other car got towed. They were finished by 11:30 so now just waiting for the curing before vehicles are back on the parking lot. It sure looks nice.

The Secretary of Interior has been one busy lady. Today she announced that, after consultation with the various tribes, some 650 public land names with the name ‘squaw’ are being officially changed. There term is considered derogatory. It is the Anglo pronunciation of an Algonquin word for female genitalia and the use of the word spread throughout the US. Glad it is being retired.

I am disappointed that banning books is now a thing again. In 2021 the ALA [American Library Assoc.] recorded 729 challenges targeting 1697 titles. That is the highest number since data was data was recorded in 2000. The 2021 figure was double the challenges of 2020. Several libraries have offered electronic library cards where anyone in the US can check out a digital copy of any banned book.

Favorite Memes

Moon Facts…

  The U.S. Flags Are All Still Standing

Starting with Apollo 11, every Apollo mission planted an American flag at their landing spot. A source of pride, the hope is that they would be there forever or, at least, a very long time. Well, that doesn’t seem to be quite true. Aldrin reported that he saw the famed Apollo 11 flag get knocked over by the rocket blast as the astronauts departed. In 2008, Tony Reichhardt of Air & Space Magazine postulated that this probably means the flag has long since deteriorated. After all, it was purchased for $5.50.

In 2012, NASA reported that the other five flags are still standing... but are probably all badly faded due to the harsh ultraviolet light and sudden temperature changes on the lunar surface. In other words, they are all likely ragged, washed-out pieces of white cloth. So much for the stripes and stripes flying forever.

Myth Buster

Christopher Columbus discovered America

The history books are clear. Christopher Columbus discovered America in 1492. In fact, Indigenous peoples, whose ancestors had crossed a strip of land that once connected Siberia to Alaska, were already living there. Furthermore, historians report that Irish monks and Basque whalers had landed in America before leaving shortly afterward. Similarly, around the year 1000, Viking chief Leif Eriksson tried to settle there, but was quickly pushed back by the Indigenous peoples. Not only did Christopher Columbus fail to discover anything, he instigated colonization of the continent, which he believed was the Indies until his dying day.

Historical Events

1846 – Elias Howe was granted a patent for the sewing machine.
1913 – The Lincoln Highway opened as the first coast-to-coast paved U.S. Highway.
1965 – The first National Geographic Special, the 1963 US expedition to Mount Everest, aired on CBS.
1990 – New York’s Ellis Island reopened as a museum.
2002 – Switzerland, traditionally a neutral country, became a full member of the United Nations.
2008 – The Large Hadron Collider at CERN was powered up in Geneva, Switzerland.

Birthdays Today

@91 – Robert Wise, American director, producer (d. 2005)
@87 – Arnold Palmer, golfer (d. 2016)
@85 – Karl Lagerfeld, German-French fashion designer, and photographer (d. 2019)
@79 – Marie Laveau, American Voodoo practitioner (d. 1881)
77 – José Feliciano, blind Puerto Rican singer-songwriter
“Now everybody has been doing the national anthem in their own style, but in 1968 I was the one that took the heat. It cut my career for quite a while.”– Jose Feliciano
73 – Bill O’Reilly, American pundit, author
@72 – Isaac K. Funk, American minister, co-founded Funk & Wagnalls (d. 1912)
@62 – Charles Kuralt, American journalist (d. 1997; lupus)
62 – Colin Firth, English actor
“I’m fully aware that if I were to change professions tomorrow, become an astronaut and be the first man to land on Mars, the headlines in the newspapers would read: `Mr. Darcy Lands on Mars.”– Colin Firth
58 – Jack Ma, Alibaba
54 – Big Daddy Kane, American rapper
“I won’t say I’m the baddest, or portray that role, but I’m in the top 2, and my father’s gettin’ old.”– Big Daddy Kane
54 – Guy Ritchie, English director, producer, screenwriter
“If you change the rules on what controls you… you will change the rules on what you can control.”– Guy Ritchie
@51 – Roger Maris, American baseball player and coach (d. 1985; lymphoma)
“I don’t want to be Babe Ruth. He was a great ballplayer. I’m not trying to replace him. The record is there and damn right I want to break it, but that isn’t replacing Babe Ruth.”– Roger Maris
48 – Ryan Phillippe, actor
40 – Misty Copeland, American ballerina