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Dec. Averages: Temps: 43°\20° Moisture:4 Days moisture 0.7” Flagstaff Today 57°: 31° Week 51 Day 351 Wind: 2 mph Gusts 4 mph Nearest lightning: 1235 miles away Active Fire: 324 miles away Risk of
Fire: High Air Quality: Moderate Sunshine |
Weekly Observations
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Andisop (Meterological
Fiddling Link 10-17 Human Rights Week 11-1/1/26 Drive Sober or Get Pulled
Over Link 14-22 Chanukah 14-1/5/26 Christmas Bird Count Week Link |
14-20 Gluten-free Baking Week Halcyon Days 15-19 Cookie Exchange Week 16-24 Posadas 17-23 Saturnalia |
Daily Observations
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A
Christmas Carol Day (Story) |
Today’s Quotes
Today’s Memes
My Thoughts for the day
It is so difficult to realize it is mid-December. Our temps feel like
late fall. I am enjoying this weather.
I am still awaiting Congress to realize that Trump is stretching the law
to a breaking point. Killing fishermen in the Caribbean, not ending the Ukraine
war, not helping struggling Americans with the cost of necessities, making off
the wall posts on social media, and on and on. Every day seems to make it
harder to be a proud American. I know America will survive, but the question is
when.
I live in a townhouse at Christmas Tree Estates. There are about 65 units
in the entire complex. There is a very active HOA. I just received the ‘new’
Rules and Regulations from the HOA. It is 4 full pages of single-spaced lawyer
talk regarding what cannot be done at the property. A quick check shows that townhouses
for sale are from $350,000 to $400,000. When I moved in years ago, the price
was about $180,000. The property opened in 1983.
The new rules say ‘No window fans, box fans, or swamp coolers are
permitted on any Dwelling Unit or Lot.’ ‘Except for landscaping and plants
installed by the Declarant, no alterations, including landscaping, to the front
yard, side yard and back yard areas of any lot shall be permitted.’ ‘Window
coverings may be drapes, curtains, or blinds. Posters, display signs murals,
bed sheets or bedspreads and makeshift coverings are not permitted. ‘Garage
sales are not permitted.’
I get that the property should
look good, but some of these seem a little extreme.
Wild West Myths that never happened…
The West
Was Mostly Desert
The
stereotypical Wild West landscape is dusty, barren, and dry. However, the
American West encompassed a wide range of environments, from lush forests and
fertile valleys to snowy mountains and river plains.
Settlers
farmed in regions like the Great Plains, which became America’s breadbasket.
Mining towns thrived in mountainous areas, while ranching was common in
grasslands. The variety of geography shaped diverse lifestyles across the
frontier.
Cinematic
backdrops in Arizona and Nevada gave rise to the “desert West” image, which
didn’t represent the full picture of the frontier. Many settlers experienced
climates that were far more hospitable than the desert stereotype.
Cities that changed their names…
Leopoldville
→ Kinshasa (Democratic Republic of the Congo)
Leopoldville
was named after Belgium’s King Leopold II, whose regime exploited the Congo
beyond measure. In 1966, six years after independence, the city cast off that
name for “Kinshasa,” drawn from a local village that predated colonization. The
renaming was part of a broader effort to reclaim Congolese identity, replacing
symbols of domination with words of belonging.
The Congo River still runs through it, but its capital no longer carries the
name of its oppressor — a small but profound act of healing through language.
Random Thoughts…
No one
has ever seen themselves with their eyes closed until the invention of the
camera.
If we
have never fallen over a cliff before, how can our bodies sense and experience
the scene when we fall off a cliff in a nightmare?
Do aliens
exist, and if so, do they study and send their beings to our planet in the same
way that we study and send ours to theirs?
Historic Events
1777 - France recognized
American independence.
1791 - A traffic regulation in New York City
established the first street to go "One Way."
1944 - The U.S. Army announced
the end of its policy of excluding Japanese-Americans from the West Coast which
ensured that Japanese-Americans were released from detention camps.
1969 - The U.S. Air Force closed
its Project "Blue Book" by concluding that there was no evidence of
extraterrestrial spaceships behind thousands of UFO sightings.
1976 - WTCG-TV, Atlanta, GA, changed its call
letters to WTBS, and was uplinked via satellite. The station became the first
commercial TV station to cover the entire U.S.
1992 - U.S.
President George H.W. Bush, Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney and
Mexican President Carlos Salinas de Gortari signed the North American Free
Trade Agreement.
1997 - U.S. President
Clinton signed the No Electronic Theft Act. The act removed protection
from individuals who claimed that they took no direct financial gains from
stealing copyrighted works and downloading them from the Internet.
2002 - McDonald's Corp. warned that they
would report its first quarterly loss in its 47-year history.
2004 - U.S.
President George W. Bush signed into law the largest overhaul of U.S.
intelligence gathering in 50 years. The bill aimed to tighten borders and
aviation security. It also created a federal counterterrorism center and a new
intelligence director.
Birthdays
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1945 Chris
Matthews (80 years old), American journalist (Hardball with Chris Matthews),
born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ 1946 Canadian
comic actor, and
writer (SCTV; American Pie; Schitt's Creek), born in Hamilton, Ontario ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ 1947 Wes Studi (78
years old), Native American actor (The Last of the Mohicans, Dances with
Wolves), born in Nofire Hollow, Oklahoma ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ 1953 American actor (Sommersby,
League of their Own, Independence Day), born in Hornell, New York ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ 1966 Christopher
A. Wray(59 years old), American lawyer, F.B.I. Director, born in New York
City ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ American actress (Studio 60
on the Sunset Strip; American Horror Story), born in Tampa, Florida ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Ukrainian-American actress (The Fifth
Element; Resident Evil), born in Kyiv, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Filipino boxer, only fighter in
history to win 12 major world titles in 8 different weight divisions and the
lineal championship in 5 different weight divisions, born in Kibawe,
Bukidnon, Philippines |
French physician,
bacteriologist, immunologist who developed the 1st diphtheria vaccine and
co-founded the Pasteur Institute, born in Confolens, France ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Arthur Fiedler,
American conductor (Boston Pops), born in Boston, Massachusetts (d. 1979; ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Willard Libby(d.1980; @71; blood clot) American chemist who
developed radiocarbon dating (Nobel 1960), born in Grand Valley, Colorado ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ William Safire(d.2009;
@79, cancer) American
political columnist (NY Times) and speech writer (Nixon), born
in New York City ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Bob Guccione(d.2010;
@79, cancer) American
publisher (Penthouse, Omni), born in Brooklyn, New York ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ George
Lindsey, American actor (The Andy Griffith Show), born in Fairfield, Alabama
(d. 2012; @83) ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Catholic Pope (2013-25), 1st
Jesuit pope, 1st from the Americas and 1st non-European pope since Syrian
Gregory III in 741, born in Buenos Aires, Argentina |
…The End for today…
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