12 Aug
Weather
Expectations
Week 33
Day
224 Flag Today 82°/56°
Wind 6 mph
Gusts 6 mph
Risk of fire: Low Active
Fire: 64 miles away
Nearest Lightning: 185 miles
away Humidity: 47%
Air Quality: Moderate Sunshine
July Averages: Temps: 82°\51° 9
days with rain
Today’s Observances:
IBM PC
Day
International Youth Day
Middle Child Day
Milkman Day Link
Home Sewing Machine Day
Vinyl Record Day
World Elephant Day Link
Weekly Observances:
Sturgis
Rally: 7-16 Link
Elvis Week: 8-16 Link
Assistance Dog Week: 9-15
National Resurrect Romance Week: 9-15
Weird Contest Week: 9-15
National Bargain Hunting Week: 9-15
World
Karaoke Championships: 10-13 Link
Safe + Sound Week: 10-16 Link
Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over: 12-9/7 Link
World
Photography Week: 12-26 Link
Fresh Quotation:
Today’s Reflection:
Another nice summer day. Hoping for rain this afternoon. Today is
the first day of school for Flag. Neighborhood is very quiet! I had an easy
blood draw to check my kidney function. Phlebotomist did a good job. She had a
new hire watching and learning. The new hire was a middle-aged Native lady who
had never seen an ultrasound draw. She was very impressed.
Trump took a secret flight last week after his meeting last week.
It’s OK, it kept the President safe. Trump doesn’t seem aware that the press on
Air Force One would have also been in danger. Simply no empathy.
As I’m writing this, there are currently over 100 wildfires in the US
with more than 30,000 firefighters on the front lines. What a great service for our country.
A solar eclipse with a meteor shower should be fantastic for Spain
and Iceland tomorrow. Parts of the US will see a partial eclipse. The internet
will show it to me.
Historical events
Cool to know:
The odds of getting a royal flush are exactly 1 in 649,740.
Poker fiends have a slightly better chance of laying down a
straight flush: Try 72,192 to 1. Out of the 7,462 distinct five-card poker
hands, you have a 42% chance of getting a single pair though.
Today in
Science:
The US National
Institutes of Health (NIH) has begun turning away research grant applications
for which the “primary function” is informing policymakers and legislators,
according to internal documents seen by Nature. This means that the
agency is likely to fund fewer projects assessing how public policies affect
human health.
It’s a major departure
for the
world’s largest public funder of biomedical research. The NIH has a strong
reputation for funding projects relevant to policymakers, including those
evaluating the health impacts of firearm regulations,
abortion limits and environmental protections.
“Policymakers are not
considered a stakeholder group within the scope of NIH’s mission,” the internal
documents say. “NIH-funded research must empower decision-making by NIH
mission-relevant stakeholder groups”, which the documents list as including
patients, health-care workers, hospitals and scientists. The change has not yet
been formally announced, and there is a lack of clarity inside the agency about
how it will be implemented, say NIH officials, who requested anonymity because
of the risk of retaliation.
Removing policy-focused projects from the agency’s portfolio
ignores the reality that policies and social factors fundamentally shape human
health, some scientists say. Even the most advanced medical breakthroughs
cannot help people if poorly designed distribution policies or social barriers
prevent them from reaching the individuals who need them, they say.
“Public policy that is blind to current evidence risks safety and
effectiveness,” says Meredith Matone, a health-services specialist at the
University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia.
The NIH did not respond to Nature’s queries about the
change or the agency’s rationale for the move.
Picture of the Day:
Hu’s winning image uses light trails to give the illusion of speed,
evoking a scene reminiscent of Star Wars against the dramatic
backdrop of a mountain peak rising above the fog.
“I love the juxtaposition of the star trails against the clear peak
of the mountain. The motion of the clouds adds to the drama,” Hu says.
Harper’s Index from Funny Times:
Portion of Republicans under the age of 50 who
describe themselves as antisemitic: ¼
That say
they are racist: 3/10
Today’s Birthdays:
Yvette
Nicole Brown TV Actress 55 years old
Birthplace
East Clevland, OH
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Casey Affleck Movie Actor
51 years old
Yvette
Nicole Brown TV Actress 55 years old
Birthplace
East Clevland, OH
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King George IV [1762-1830 @67
Yvette
Nicole Brown TV Actress 55 years old
Birthplace
East Clevland, OH
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That’s
All for Now
