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Things You'll Never Need To Know About the 4th of July

7/1/2022

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Since next Monday is the Fourth of July, I wanted to blog on the topic of US Independence Day. But alas, after I did some preliminary research, I realized there isn’t much to write about the important history and relevance of the Fourth of July that everyone doesn’t already know. Bummer! That makes for a very short blog, which might be good. 

Image Source: nashvillelife.com/4th-of-July-Parades

Instead of keeping silent on the issue, I looked up articles entitled “Interesting [or fun] Facts” about the holiday. Alas², none of them were particularly “fun,” although I did learn a few thing I never knew or didn’t remember after a hiatus of sixty years plus… and it’s kind of fun to see how many “known facts” on the internet disagree with each other.
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​IN A NUTSHELL
Just like today, it was all about taxes. "Taxation without representation!"
At the beginning of the Revolutionary War [April 1775], not many of the colonists wanted complete separation from Great Britain, but gradually the population began to favor complete independence. You all remember that, right?

Of course you do. And you remember, when Richard Henry Lee introduced his motion to the Continental Congress for independence, it was tabled and a five-man committee appointed [Thomas Jefferson of Virginia, John Adams of Massachusetts, Roger Sherman of Connecticut, Benjamin Franklin of Pennsylvania and Robert R. Livingston of New York] to draft a formal statement justifying the break with Great Britain. Maybe you recall hearing that, too.

On July 2nd, 1775, the Continental Congress voted in favor of Lee’s resolution for independence in a near-unanimous vote [NY delegation abstained] and on July 4th, the Continental Congress formally adopted the Declaration of Independence, written primarily by Thomas Jefferson.
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“Declaration of Independence” painting by John Trumbull 1818
 https://acei-global.blog/2013/07/03/20-fun-facts-about-the-4th-of-julyindependence-day/

​THINGS YOU WILL NEVER NEED TO KNOW ABOUT FOURTH OF JULY
I found these facts interesting although not significant in terms of the history of the United States. They are in no particular order and, as you can see, are not memorable nor would I call them particularly “fun" facts.
 ▼ Image Source: acei-global.blog/20-fun-facts-4th-of-july
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● John Adams believed July 2nd was the correct date on which to celebrate the birth of American independence, and would reportedly turn down invitations to appear at July 4th events in protest.
​
● John Adams and Thomas Jefferson, the only two signers of the Declaration of Independence who later became presidents, both died within hours of each other on July 4, 1826—the 50th anniversary of the adoption of the Declaration of Independence​.

● According to the editors of Encyclopedia Britannica, “Jefferson’s inveterate shyness prevented him from playing a significant role in the debate within Congress. John Adams, a leader in those debates, remembers that Jefferson was silent even in committee meetings, though consistently staunch in his support of independence…” 
https://www.britannica.com/topic/Declaration-of-Independence

That was news to me. I never thought of Jefferson as being shy.

● “Only two Founding Fathers signed the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776. The majority of signers penned their signatures on August 2, 1776.”
http://www.rfdtv.com/story/32328872/4th-of-july-fun-facts#.WwhI_0gvzcc

Or was it only one?
● “Only John Hancock actually signed the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776. All the others signed later.”
https://acei-global.blog/2013/07/03/20-fun-facts-about-the-4th-of-julyindependence-day/

● The Declaration of Independence was signed by 56 men from 13 colonies. Of those 56, eight were born in Great Britain.
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● Benjamin Franklin, the oldest signer of the Declaration of Independence [70], proposed the turkey as the national bird but was overruled by John Adams and Thomas Jefferson, who recommended the bald eagle.

​Image Source: acei-global.blog/20-fun-facts-about-4th-of-july

● The youngest signer was Thomas Lynch, Jr. [27] of South Carolina.
acei-global.blog/20-fun-facts-about-4th-of-july
Or was he?
● “…Edward Rutledge was the youngest at age 26.”
thepioneerwoman.com/fun-and-learning/
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● The original draft of the Declaration of Independence was lost.
rfdtv.com/story/4th-of-july-fun-facts

Oh, well. I’m sure they have a copy of the one that was adopted and signed.

     Image Source:  loc.gov/exhibits/treasures/ ►​
● Congress made Independence Day an official unpaid holiday for federal employees in 1870. It didn’t become a federal paid holiday until 1938.

● The first Independence Day celebration took place in Philadelphia on July 8, 1776. This was also the day that the Declaration of Independence was first read in public after people were summoned by the ringing of the Liberty Bell.

The Liberty Bell was cast at London’s Whitechapel Bell Foundry. It arrived in Philadelphia in August, 1752. The metal was too brittle and it cracked during the test strike. It was recast twice by local workmen. In its early years the bell was used to summon lawmakers to legislative sessions and to alert citizens about public meetings and proclamations.
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● Every 4th of July the Liberty Bell in Philadelphia is tapped [not actually rung] thirteen times in honor of the original thirteen colonies.

●  The tune of the National Anthem was originally an English drinking song called “To Anacreon in Heaven.” The words have nothing to do with consumption of alcohol but the “melody that Francis Key had in mind when he wrote those words did originate decades earlier as the melody for a song praise of wine.”  http://www.colonialmusic.org/Resource/Anacreon.htm

LAST BUT NOT LEAST
On June 29, 2013, Parade Magazine ran an article by Ken Jennings entitled “America 101: Take Our Fourth of July Quiz”. The following photos, which I blatantly borrowed from Parade, with the following caption was part of that article.
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We had some fun with John Trumbull's classic painting 'Declaration of Independence.' Now it's our turn. ParadeMagazine - (1818 / Declaration of Independence by John Trumbull / Image by © PoodlesRock/Corbis)
JUST SAYIN’!
Sources:
https://parade.com/24863/kenjennings/america-101-take-our-fourth-of-july-quiz/
https://acei-global.blog/2013/07/03/20-fun-facts-about-the-4th-of-julyindependence-day/
https://www.history.com/topics/holidays/july-4th
http://www.pbs.org/a-capitol-fourth/history/history-independence-day/
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/07/02/fireworks-american-history_n_5552960.html
https://acei-global.blog/2013/07/03/20-fun-facts-about-the-4th-of-julyindependence-day/
http://thepioneerwoman.com/fun-and-learning/twenty-interesting-things-about4th-of-july/
http://www.rfdtv.com/story/32328872/4th-of-july-fun-facts#.WwhI_0gvzcc
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THE U.S. SPACE FORCE

6/17/2022

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Image credit: Staff Sgt. James Richardson Jr.  |  VIRIN: 210823-F-GO452-0001.JPG
Image Source: spaceforce.mil/Multimedia/Photos/i
On Armed Forces Day I ran onto something I’m sure I had heard about, but didn’t register at the time. Among the honored branches of military was The U.S. Space Force. I rolled the name around in my mouth. It felt and tasted strange. Guardians of the Galaxy? What did I miss?

As Margaret Hartmann said in an article she wrote about its creation, “Perhaps there was no way for the U.S. military to create a service focused on space without eliciting giggles and incredulity, as Americans have been fed a steady diet of militaristic science fiction for decades.”

THE COLOFUL BIRTH OF THE U.S. SPACE FORCE
Although the U.S. Space Force was created by President Donald Trump when he was in office, the idea of a Space Force or similar service had been kicked around in high military places since 1958. A similar idea was considered in 1982 by President Regan.
​
In 2001, after the U.S. began to employ satellites during ground combat, a proposal was considered by a commission chaired by former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. The Commission argued for the creation of a Space Corps between 2007 and 2011, and a bipartisan proposal in the U.S. Congress would have created a U.S. Space Corps in 2017 but no one seems really enthusiastic until… 
Image Source:  washingtonpost.com/news/checkpoint
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President Trump publicly proposed the creation of the new branch of the military in 2018 in San Diego while addressing the Marines. I am sure we heard about it on the news here. I’m also sure I passed it off as another laugh from the President and forgot about it.

Research indicates Trump’s statement was an ad-lib that went like this. “I was saying it the other day — ’cause we’re doing a tremendous amount of work in space — I said, ‘Maybe we need a new force. We’ll call it the Space Force…. And I was not really serious. And then I said, ‘What a great idea. Maybe we’ll have to do that.’”

And he did. In June 2018, he directed the Pentagon to start planning for the new branch, declaring, “We must have American dominance in space.” Actually, that’s not a bad idea. The way things are going we will most likely need that protection… not from aliens, of course, but from other humans. This political cartoon from 2018 shows one of the possible responsibilities of the Space Force.            Image Source: cosmiclog.com/2019/trump-signs-the-space-force
The branch was officially established by the 2020 National Defense Authorization Act, which Trump signed into law on December 20, 2019.

The history of the U.S. Military in space is not this simplistic, and there have been various steps leading up to the Space Force creation over many years. But Donald Trump gets the credit.
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​Image Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mdEegBUrDgQ

WHAT IS THE SPACE FORCE?
The United States Space Force (USSF) is the space service branch of the U.S. Armed Forces, and the world’s only independent space force. It was the first new branch of the armed forces created in 73 years. It is understandably the smallest.

According to defense.gov/NewsArticle/2462396/ in January, 2021, there were 16,000 military and civilians assigned to the Space Force ‒ that number is expected to be 20,000 in the next couple two years ‒ and operating 77 space craft.

USSF is one of the one of the eight U.S. uniformed services [Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, Space Force, Coast Guard, Public Health Service Commissioned Corps, and NOAA Commissioned Officer Corps]. The Air Force and the Space Force are under the Department of the Air Force, one of the three civilian-led military departments within the Department of Defense.
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The military head of the Space Force is the Chief of Space Operations, General John W. "Jay" Raymond, who is the most senior Space Force officer. The Chief of Space Operations exercises supervision over the Space Force's units and serves as one of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. For such a young agency, its organization seems overcomplicated, but what do I know? Space is a complicated thing.                                        Image Source: John W. Raymond - YouTubeLink
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Image source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Structure_of_the_United_States_Space_Force~

​WHAT DOES THE SPACE FORCE DO?
According to the USSF webpage, “The U.S. Space Force defends our country and freedom to operate in space, keeping it secure, stable and accessible for military space power and new waves of innovation. Once the new frontier, it now defines our daily lives and ways of war — on air, land and sea. From GPS to strategic warning and satellite communications, we defend the ultimate high ground.”

“Maybe your purpose on this planet isn’t on this planet.” Become a Guardian!
That invitation to join makes it sound like Space Force Guardians will be flying around defending us in outer space. The Outer Space Treaty prohibits weapons of mass destruction, but there are military concerns such as intelligence gathering, secure communication, and navigation.

The service’s responsibilities so far are closer to home, right here on earth, like keeping China or North Korea from blowing U.S. Satellites or stopping Russia from jamming GPS signals. In other words, defending space-based systems already in operation. Their areas of defense include:
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Source of Images: ▲   https://www.military.com/daily-news/ ▲          Image Source: media.defense.gov/2021 ▲
                                                                                                                                         Space Force's first astronaut 
​    ▼                                   Image Source: ▼leonarddavid.com/u-s-space-force      ▼Colonel Michael S. Hopkins
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● GPS
Advance GPS technology to secure and improve communication across all military branches.
● Engineering
Build global networks to employ security of military space assets and offensive capabilities.
● Cyber
Defend communication satellites from potential threats through space and ground tactics.
● Space Operations
Support the movement of military equipment, from launching rockets to tracking space debris.
● Intelligence
Provide focused threat analysis and comprehensive space domain awareness, from access to execution.
● Communication
Seamlessly coordinate battlefield operations across all war-fighting domains and hostile environments.

To me this sounds like duplication of effort. However, since government agencies, and particularly military branches, are known for skipping kindergarten and never learning to share, it probably makes sense. At least it gives them another department to blame if something goes wrong.

However, most of us agree that unfettered access to space is vital to national defense and to our lives down below on earth. Many folks may not think about how much space systems affect our daily lives and the economics of the country and the world, but they do. For example, satellites power the GPS technology that we use daily. Don’t our lives “depend” on that smart phone? I’m glad forward thinking people have seen this soon enough to begin to make preparations.
​
In the mean time, NASA is still responsible for going out to the planets [for now], seeking out new life and civilizations and going somewhere no one has gone before. In fact, there is a signed Memorandum of Understanding acknowledging the joint role of both agencies.
A FEW LAUGHS AT THE EXPENSE OF THE NEWBIES
Well, a little teasing goes with the territory, and then-President Trump’s enthusiasm about the new branch led to a few snafoos, so to speak. Much of it has to do with resemblances to space-oriented TV shows and movies.

In August 2018, when the Pentagon was still working on proposals for how the new branch might function, the Trump reelection campaign invited supporters to vote on the Space Force logo. When President Trump personally unveiled the logo it was immediately compared to Star Trek’s logo. At the time, The Atlantic pointed out that it was a “prime example of how Trump undermined the legitimacy of the service” before it even got started.

Being a Trekie myself, I don’t have a problem with the similarities in the logo. Star Trek is part of the American culture by now and has contributed in several ways to real space science. Spock, however, took exception [at least in this cartoon] and George Takei joked on Twitter about getting some royalties.
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    U.S. Space Force                   Starfleet Command
To make matters worse, the early uniforms also looked reminiscently like one of the uniforms from the TV series “Battlestar Galactica.”
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   First Space Force Uniforms            Battlestar Galactica Uniform              Space Force Everyday Uniform
                                                                                                     Image Source:spaceforce.mil/News/us-space-force
Since April; 1, 2021, US Space Force members must wear the Operational Camouflage Pattern as the official service duty uniform.
 
CONTROVERSY STILL
There are still those in branches of the military that believe that the US Space Force is not necessary, but it looks like the serviced is here to stay.

JUST SAYIN!
□
Sources:
https://www.military.com/space-force
https://cosmiclog.com/2019/12/20/trump-signs-the-space-force-into-existence/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Structure_of_the_United_States_Space_Force
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mdEegBUrDgQ
https://nymag.com/intelligencer/article/space-force-guide.html?regwall-newsletter-signup=true
https://www.brookings.edu/events/space-force-the-pros-and-cons-of-creating-a-new-military-branch/
https://www.reddit.com/r/SpaceForce/comments/d3n6lp/space_force_dress_uniform/
https://doctorweasel.wordpress.com/2018/09/27/space-force-part-1-arguments-for-and-against/
https://connectusfund.org/18-biggest-advantages-and-disadvantages-of-space-exploration
https://swfound.org/news/all-news/2018/07/the-pros-and-cons-of-creating-a-space-force/
https://gizmodo.com/space-force-uniform-logos-insignia-emblems-military-1848839370
https://www.military.com/daily-news/2020/08/27/space-force-now-has-official-uniform.html
https://www.planetary.org/articles/0823-space-force-explainer
https://www.military.com/daily-news/2020/08/27/space-force-now-has-official-uniform.html
https://www.space.com/nasa--space-force-moon-planetary-defense-collaboration.html

https://www.defense.gov/News/News-Stories/Article/Article/2321670/space-challenges-prompt-dod-response-space-superiority/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Space_Forcehttp:/nymag.com/intelligencer/2022/05/poorly-conceived-biden-disinformation-board-put-on-pause.html
https://www.spaceforce.mil/News/Article/2793972/space-force-selects-more-than-900-personnel-to-transfer-fy22/#:~:text=ARLINGTON%2C%20VA%20%28AFNS%29%20--%20The%20Space%20Force%2C%20working,into%20the%20Space%20Force%20during%20fiscal%20year%202022.
https://www.defense.gov/News/News-Stories/Article/Article/2462396/space-force-senior-enlisted-advisor-talks-future-of-enlisted-force/#:~:text=There%20are%20currently%2016%2C000%20military%20and%20civilians%20assigned,next%20couple%20of%20years.%20Spotlight
https://www.defense.gov/News/News-Stories/Article/Article/2462396/space-force-senior-enlisted-advisor-talks-future-of-enlisted-force/#:~:text=There%20are%20currently%2016%2C000%20military%20and%20civilians%20assigned,next%20couple%20of%20years.%20Spotlight
https://www.spaceforce.mil/News/Article/2453127/us-space-force-enters-year-2-with-momentum-and-soaring-expectations/
https://www.leonarddavid.com/u-s-space-force-sixth-branch-of-the-armed-forces/https:/www.leonarddavid.com/u-s-space-force-sixth-branch-of-the-armed-forces/

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FLAG DAY: It’s A Good Thing There Are No Flag Police

6/10/2022

0 Comments

 
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THE AMERICAN FLAG
American citizens, and even those who live in the United States perma-nently who are not citizens, should revere the American flag out of a deep sense of our national heritage and the freedom the flag stands for. Our flag reflects the America's pledge to uphold freedom and work for
  Image Source:               peace throughout the world.
 gabpauto.com/af2030.html?msclkid 
 
“It is America's strength in honor, as dignified in the stars and stripes of the flag, which helps to establish the moral character of our national foundation.” http://usa-the-republic.com/flag

Our flag symbolizes the love and pride that Americans have as a nation and serves a reminder of our fortune to live in a country which values freedom above all else. That is the reason we honor the flag.

FLAG DAY
Flag Day, celebrated on June 14, commemorates the adoption of the flag of the United States which occurred on June 14, 1777, by resolution of the Second Continental Congress.
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Image Source: timetoast.com/timelines/continental-congress
It wasn't until 1916 that the president of the United States issued the proclamation which officially established Flag Day, but not as a national holiday.

YES, VIRGINIA! THERE IS A GOVERNMENT FLAG CODE
Why are you not surprised? We have laws and codes for just about everything imaginable.

One hundred and forty-six years passed before Congress decided the country needed a code to guide the presentation and handling of the American flag. I guess our forefathers had other, more important things to do.

On June 14, 1923 a National Flag Code was adopted by the National Flag Conference, attended by representatives of the Army and Navy which had evolved their own procedures, and some 66 other national groups. This purpose of providing clear guidance based on the Army and Navy procedures relating to display and associated questions about the U. S. Flag was adopted by all organizations in attendance. usa-the-republic.com/items

Almost ten years later, on June 22, 1942, Congress passed a joint resolution which was amended on December 22, 1942 to become Public Law 829, Chapter 806. This law contains the precise rules and regulations for the use and display of the flag. It also addresses similar regulations for playing the National Anthem, the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag, and Manner of Delivery were included.

THERE ARE NO FLAG POLICE
This Public Law did not impose penalties for misuse of the US Flag, but left it up to each state and the District of Columbia to adopt their own laws to enforce the code. However, before 1989, Title 18 of the US Code imposed criminal penalties for certain acts of desecration to the flag.
​
Since we have become a litigious people, a law suit ensued and the Supreme Court held the statute unconstitutional. This statute was amended when the Flag Protection Act of 1989 imposed a fine and/or up to I year in prison for knowingly mutilating, defacing, physically defiling, maintaining on the floor or trampling upon any flag of the United States. Again the Flag Protection Act of 1989 was struck down by the Supreme Court decision on United States vs. Eichman, June 11, 1990.
So much for the states. The original adopted Flag Code in Public Law 829 is still intact.

THE MEANING OF THE US FLAG
While the code does not articulate any definition of what the flag is supposed to mean, it is generally thought of as representing the principles of liberty, justice, and humanity, and the patriotic ideals and spiritual qualities of the citizens of the US.

FLAG MYTHS
Most American know a little about the US flag. Some remember that the thirteen stripes in white and red represent the thirteen colonies and the stars on the field of blue [originally 13 and now 50] represent the union of the states under one federal government.

And we all have heard, been taught, learned, that Betsy Ross sewed the first US Flag. This is one of a number of myths, or at least misinterpretations, related to the US Flag. 
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● Betsy Ross made the first American Flag.
That's what I was taught back in the day. And back then, if it was in print, it had to be correct. Right?
Actually, there is no historic evidence that Elizabeth Claypoole [her maiden name] Ross was involved in either the design or production of the flag that made its debut in 1777. It appears that this myth found fertile ground in 1870 when Betsy Ross' grandson
                                                                             William Canby, first made this claim [100
​ Betsy Ross presenting the 1st American flag to             years after the fact].                                       to General George Washington - painting by
 by Edward Percy Moran, c. 1917
 Image Credit: United States Library of Congress's Prints and Photographs division
 Image Source:commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=119710

It's true that Ross made flags in Philadelphia in the late 1770, along with many other women, but most historians now believe the story about the first flag as pure legend.
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● The red, white, and blue colors
ymbolize American sacrifice.

Nothing in the statues mentions an official reason or explanation for the colors of our flag. When people say the colors symbolize something, they are probably referring to the explanation given by Charles Thomson, secretary of the Continental Congress, about the meaning of the colors in the Great Seal of the United States which are also red, white, and blue.
Thomson's report to the Congress in 1782, says the "white signifies purity and innocence; red, hardiness and valor; and blue signifies vigilance, preservation, and justice."
​                                                                                    Image source:  reservedtothestates.com/2016  ▼
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​● It is illegal to burn the American Flag.
Burning the flag was illegal until 1989, when the Supreme Court ruled 5 to 4 in Texas vs. Johnson that burning the flag is a form of symbolic speech protected by the First Amendment.

The Supreme Court’s decision invalidated a 1968 national flag-desecration law, as well as similar laws in 48 states (all except Wyoming and Alaska). In response, Congress passed the Flag Protection Act, but that law was also challenged and wound up in the Supreme Court. The court in 1990 essentially affirmed its earlier ruling, stating that any law banning flag burning violated free speech. 
● It's Okay to wear clothing with the Stars and Strips
Wait! Don't buy that T-shirt yet. The US Flag Code states the flag "should not" be display-
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​displayed on any article of merchandise. [Other references say the words are "Shall never".]

The Code also states that the flag should never be used for advertising purposes in any manner whatsoever and goes on to say specify a number of things. Technically, if you wear garments or use beach towels bearing replicas of the US Flag, you are violating the Flag Code.
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But don't worry! The law doesn't have any provisions for enforcement, so are there are no Flag Police lurking around the corner to fine you. However, I may be a dinosaur, but I still believe we should respect the flag, and I don't believe this type of garment is very respectful.

● The Pledge of Allegiance has been recited in Congress and other governmental bodies for a long time.
The Pledge was written by Francis Bellamy [a magazine editor] in 1892, and was recited in public schools before 1898. The Pledge wasn't recited on the floor of the House of Representatives until 1988. The Senate began using it as part of the opening ritual in 1999.

● The US Has 51 [or 52?] States.
The good old USA has only 50 states. The last one added was Hawaii in 1959. Apparently, some people [mostly outside the US] believe that the federal District of Columbia, Washington DC, is a state, which it is not. Others may include the unincorporated territories like Puerto Rice, Guam, and American Samoa, to name just a few.

OTHER FLAG CODE RESTRICTIONS
● The flag code does prohibit the display a US flag with fewer than 50 states A flag that has been used to cover a casket cannot be used for any other proper display purpose.

● A flag that has been used to cover a casket cannot be used for any other proper display purpose. There was no indication if this was intended to also mean displaying in the private home by the family of a service man or woman who had had a military funeral. 

● CCRs (condominium requirements and restrictions) cannot prohibit the display of the US flag.

● The flag should not be displayed on days when the weather is inclement, except when an all weather flag is displayed.

● It is the universal custom to display the flag only from sunrise to sunset on buildings and on stationary flagstaffs in the open. However, when a patriotic effect is desired, the flag may be displayed 24 hours a day if properly illuminated during hours of darkness.

● The flag should never touch anything beneath it, such as the ground, the floor, water, etc.

​JUST SAYIN!
□
Sources:
2022
https://www.timetoast.com/timelines/continental-congress-to-constitution
 http://www.revolutionarywararchives.org/betsyross.html
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=119710
http://www.reservedtothestates.com/2016/11/29/trump-and-flag-burning/
https://www.gabpauto.com/af2030.html?msclkid=83dea0d02ac31d7f1df0c2ac304b0dc9&utm_source=bing&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=Shopping%20Campaign&utm_term=4584826050698863&utm_content=All%20Products
http://usa-the-republic.com/items%20of%20interest/flag%20code.html#:~:text=This%20code%20is%20the%20guide%20for%20all%20handling,state%20has%20its%20own%20flag%20%20%20law.
Prior Sources
http://www.answers.com/Q/What_does_the_United_States_Flag_Represent
http://www.usflag.org
https://www.nyhistory.org/web/crossroads/gallery/all/pewterers_banner.html
https://www.senate.gov/reference/resources/pdf/RL30243.pdf
http://search.excite.com/excite8/search/web?fcoid=417&fcop=topnav&fpid=27&q=flag%20etiquette
https://www.timeanddate.com/holidays/us/flag-day
http://www.debunkingmandelaeffects.com/51-or-52-states-in-the-united-states-of-america/
https://www.legion.org/flag/flagmyths
https://www.reference.com/geography/51-states-fa0d9935e4f12b61
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“AND I APPROVE THIS MESSAGE.”

6/3/2022

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Primary elections are upon us next week, at least in California, and nationwide you will be hearing this sentence many times before the November final election day. Some of you have been hearing it for a while.
​
I’m already tired of it, and we still have months to go. Most of all, “I Approve This Message” is getting really stale and irritating. When did this statement become such a thing? Why do all the candidates
  Photo source: cagle.com/jason-stanford/                    say this?
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​​STAND BY YOUR AD
Believe it or not, this is a legal mandate! Of course it is! You knew that. I mean … after all … we’re talking about government,  aren’t we?!

The SBYA (Stand By Your Ad) Provision is part of the “Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act” adopted in 2002 which amended the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to require candidates for federal political office, as well as interest groups and political parties supporting or opposing a candidate, to include in radio and television advertising the statement that the candidate has approved the statement.

The provision was intended to minimize the “Attack Ads” which began to proliferate in the 1960s, criticizing an opponent's political platform and has since become a slandering contest. It was an attempt to force candidates to associate themselves with the attacks in such ads (rather than do it anonymously) and to discourage defamation of character as a campaign strategy.

Representative David Price of North Carolina, proposer of the amendment, stated:
"The American people are sick of the relentlessly negative tone of campaigns, particularly in presidential races. ‘Stand By Your Ad’ isn't just about restoring civility to campaigns. It's also about restoring people's faith in our political process."
wikipedia.org/Stand_by_Your_Ad_provision

In my opinion, that would be a good thing. Unfortunately, it hasn’t seemed to achieve its purpose, but at least the public knows who is saying what.

THE “BAD TIMING AWARD” GOES TO….
As Jon Levine says in mic.com/articles/, “Despite noble intentions, the major flaw of the Stand By Your Ad provision wasn't in the text but its timing.” Adoption preceded subsequent actions which rendered it somewhat ineffective.

The Legislation addresses only radio and television ads without anticipating the popularity of the internet and social media. Also, the Supreme Court allowed unlimited donations to super PACs, not named in the SBYA statute. “Now, rather than any single person, massive political ad campaigns are often bankrolled by groups with names like ‘Security is Strength’” and not subject to the disclosure.

Violation of the “Stand By Your Ad” provision can result in penalties levied by the Federal Election Commission and the loss of lowest rates for campaign ads. Attempts have been made to broaden the text to include internet ads, but the original bipartisan support has fallen victim to the ever-expanding schism between political parties and platforms.
I predict a long and full life for the words “I’m ---, and I approve this message.”

MUDSLINGING: AN AMERICAL POLITICAL TRADITION
I also predict the American Political System will not betray the long tradition of negative campaign rhetoric.                                                                         Image credit: Cartoonist Hachfeld
                                                                                                                                 Image Source: New Britain Herald (2006)
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​Most likely, the first presidential election in the United States of America (1788–89) is the only one not plagued by badmouthing the other candidates. That’s because no one else ran against George Washington. Washington had no political party and did no campaigning. He was our first, last, and only non-partisan president.
​
By the election of 1800, between John Adams and Thomas Jefferson, influential outsiders and journalists took up the torch. There is a long backstory to the election, which I won’t bother you with other than to give some of the quotes.
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The President of Yale publicly suggested that if Jefferson were elected “we would see our wives and daughters the victims of legal prostitution.” A newspaper in Connecticut stated that “Jefferson would create a nation where ‘murder, robbery, rape, adultery and incest will openly be taught and practiced.”

Others in the Adams camp called Jefferson "a mean-spirited, low-lived fellow, the son of a half-breed Indian squaw, sired by a Virginia mulatto father.”

Not to be left out, an influential journalist and supporter of Jefferson, named Callender, wrote that Adams was “a rageful, lying, warmongering fellow; a ‘repulsive pedant’ and ‘gross hypocrite’ who ‘behaved neither like a man nor like a woman but instead possessed a hideous hermaphroditical character.’”

An interesting side note to the above story: Callender expected to be named postmaster as a reward for his support. When Jefferson appointed someone else, Callender wrote a series if articles charging the new president with having fathered children with a slave named Sally Hemings. In this election, no one was exempt and the candidates’ wives were also subjected to public name-calling. In the words of one historian, the election of 1828 boiled down to: “do you want to vote for someone whose wife is a whore or do you want to vote for someone who pimped for the czar of Russia?”

ALL’S WELL THAT ENDS WELL
Jefferson was elected, and later he and Adams mended fences and became close friends, but the tradition lived on.

Things seemed to reach the anonymous-ad boiling point in 1988 with the Willie Horton TV ad consisting of a mug shot of convicted murderer William Horton. This criminal was released as part of the weekend furlough program, escaped, and committed more crimes.
The ad was produced by supporters of a candidate without his authorization, and devastated the other candidate, setting the later stage for the bipartisan adoption of the as part of the SBYD in 2002… twenty years ago.

But the relentless, undying ingenuity of the American Political System has found ways to continue the example set by our forefathers who, after all, were just human beings like everyone else.  That’s my message and I’m sticking with it.

JUST SAYIN'!
□
sources:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stand_by_Your_Ad_provision
https://www.mic.com/articles/126897/when-the-hell-did-i-approve-this-message-become-a-thing
https://www.marketplace.org/2016/10/17/where-did-i-approve-message-come/
https://www.chicagotribune.com/opinion/commentary/ct-campaign-mud-slinging-history-flashback-perspec-1002-md-20160930-story.html
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2019/nov/04/facebook-and-google-asked-to-suspend-political-ads-before-general-election
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Campaign_advertising
https://www.heraldcourier.com/news/the-presidential-election-had-plenty-of-mudslinging/article_309eebb2-efc5-5e70-a9e7-5225158b8101.html
https://westfieldfinancialplanning.com/mudslinging-political-tradition/
https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2008/10/ten-most-awesome-presidential-mudslinging-moves-ever/
https://www.cagle.com/jason-stanford/2012/10/confessions-of-a-political-junkie
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THINGS YOU RARELY GET TO SEE

5/27/2022

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This blog is taken directly from several websites that feature endless blogs on fascinating topics, including, on occasion, photographs of sights the average person ‒ and even the unaverage person ‒ rarely gets to see.

My thanks to the following sites, the sources of these unusual photographs. I am sharing them in the hope that my readers will visitthe sites themselves. These photos are only a taste.
boredpanda.com, brain-sharper.com, ebaumsworld.com, and happyfacts.me/news.
 
The text of Bored Panda reminds us “We often forget wh.com at a wondrous world we live in. While getting caught up in our hectic schedules makes us oblivious to things around us…” boredpanda.com/fascinating-rarely-seen-things/

Sometimes these photos are taken because someone just happens to be in the right place at the right time … fortunately with a camera capable to capturing the sight. Other shots have been in the making for some time. They are all things most of us would rarely have the opportunity to see, even in photographs. That’s saying a lot considering the times in which we live.

Photos from boredpanda.com: boredpanda.com/fascinating-rarely-seen-things/
The photographers are not specified with each photo. I believe they are submitted to Bored Panda from a variety of sources and rated for publication. Go visit the site.
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 ▲ Bioluminescence phytoplankton        ▲ Grains of salt under an                   ▲ When it is cold enough to see
 in the Persian Gulf                                     electron microscope                           the Melody
​
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▲Sun Hitting Freshly-Paved Road just    ▲Ice Eggs, a rare phenomenon that            ▲ Butterfly with
right makes a real-life rainbow road          occurs when ice is rolled over by wind       transparent wings.
through polarized lenses                            and water (Northern Finland)
​
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        ▲ Aspen forest, Colorado                ▲ A 30-second long exposure of            ▲ Truck Door Handle On A
                                                                    airliner departing from runway.               Frosty Morning

Photo By TV Technology News                  Photos From brain-sharper.com
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 ▲UFO over BBC Building - June 27, 2011        ▲Sand grains from Hawaiian beach     ▲Bashkir Curlies' unique gene is
 London, England                                                 Magnified 100 to 300 times                     responsible for curly hair.
 Image Credit: TV technology News 

Photos From brain-sharper.com  
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 ▲Baikal Dzen is a rock on a lake.     ▲ Cat named Soren has dreamy eyes   ▲A split lobster is a half male,       The Baikal lake freezes, rock sits     of unusual blue. Soren in blind.              half female. The condition called 
 on ice, rock warms in sun, sinks,                                                                         gynandromorphy, occurs in one
 lake freezes, etc. etc. etc..                                                                                     in 50 million lobsters. Blue side is
                                                                                                                                  female.

 Photo From ebaumsworld.com
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▲ A type of Sea slug that, like a          ▲ A Sperm whale has sockets in           ▲Closeup of an elephant’s tail
 plant, uses photosynthesis to             its jaw for its large teeth.     
 draw energy from the sun. 

Photos From happyfacts.me
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▲ An image of an ant’s face under     ▲The skin shed by a lizard.            ▲Inside your Bar-B-Q Grill 
​an electron microscope. 

IT”S A MARVELOUS WORLD WE LIVE IN
Take some time a visit these sites. You’ll be amazed at what you find.

JUST SAYIN!
■
Sources:
https://www.tvtechnology.com/news/ufos-spotted-flying-over-the-bbc-building
https://www.ebaumsworld.com/pictures/32-fascinating-things-you-rarely-get-to-see/85916369/

https://www.boredpanda.com/fascinating-rarely-seen-things/?fbclid=IwAR3auQ0QG8bnBuxwqvWN1tn-b-BBwEvl2Z8pQUwmCOgH2J02ypt_iaD4VeE&utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=organic

https://brain-sharper.com/science/fascinating-things-rarely-seenhttps://brain-sharper.com/science/fascinating-things-rarely-seen-yh/2/#:~:text=%2035%20Fascinating%20Things%20That%20Are%20Rarely%20Seen,sight.%20Basically%2C%20it%20is%20a%20rock...%20More%20

https://www.happyfacts.me/news/18-photos-things-most-people-have-never-seen/
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”THE RELIGIOUS PREFERENCE OF ANTS" by Mark Twain: from “Behavior Readings In Organization And Human Performance”

5/20/2022

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Mark Twain, born Samuel Langehorne Clemens in 1835, was a famous American humorist and novelist who came to be considered a national treasure. 
No change in the result: the 45 travelled back and forth in a hurry persistently and continuously visiting each fane, but never entering.
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He captured world attention through his stories about boyhood adventure, the Mississippi River, his travels in the west, and humanist commentary.

A keen observer of human nature, he wrote probing commentaries on man’s faults, humorous but delving into the depths of human behavior, and was the first and foremost American realist and humanist.

Detail of photo by Mathew Brady, February 7, 1871.
Image Source:  pbs.org/foodm/mark-twain

READINGS IN ORGANIZATION BEHAVIOR AND HUMAN PERFORMANCE
Ever since I was a kid, Mark Twain has been one of my favorite authors. I can’t tell you have many times I read “A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court” and the imaginative thinking it inspired.

Unfortunately, when I was young I never read much about Twain’s studies in human behavior, so when, as a professional architect and urban planner, I took a management class which included reading the book “Readings in Organization Behavior and Human Performance." I found there a piece by Mark Twain which I still cherish and want to share. I intend no offence to anyone or their religious preferences.

ON EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN by Mark Twain
"I constructed four miniature houses of worship and placed them in a row.
●a Mohammedan mosque,
●a Hindu temple,
●a Jewish synagogue,
●a Christian cathedral.

I then marked l5 ants («fourmis») with red paint and turned them loose. They made several trips to and fro, glancing in at the places of worship, but not entering. I then turned loose l5 more painted blue; they acted just as the red ones had done. I now gilded 15 and turned them loose.
No change in the result: the 45 travelled back and forth in a hurry persistently and continuously visiting each fane, but never entering.
This satisfied me that these ants were without religious prejudices -- just what I wished; for under no other conditions would my next and greater experiment be valuable.
 
I now placed a small square of white paper within the door of each fane.
● Upon the mosque paper I put a pinch of putty,
● Upon the temple paper a dab of tar,
● Upon the synagogue paper a trifle of turpentine,
● Upon the cathedral paper a small cube of sugar. 
First I liberated the red ants. They examined and rejected the putty, the tar and the turpentine, and then took to the sugar with zeal and apparent sincere conviction.

I next liberated the blue ants, and they did exactly as the red ones had done. The gilded ants followed. The preceding results were precisely repeated.
 
This seemed to prove that ants destitute of religious prejudice will always prefer Christianity to any other creed.
 
However, to make sure, I removed the ants and put putty in the cathedral and sugar in the mosque. I now liberated the ants in a body, and they rushed tumultuously to the cathedral.
 
I was very much touched and gratified, and went back in the room to write down the event. But when I came back the ants had all apostatized and had gone over to the Mohammedan communion.
 
I saw that I had been too hasty in my conclusions, and naturally felt rebuked and humbled. With diminished confidence I went on with the test to the finish. I placed the sugar first in one house of worship then in another, till I had tried them all.
 
With this result: whatever Church I put the sugar in, that was the one the ants straightway joined.
 
This was true beyond a shadow of doubt, that in religious matters the ant is the opposite of man, for man cares for but one thing; to find the only true Church; whereas the ants hunt for the one with the sugar in it."

From Mark Twain, "On Experimental Design " in Scott W.K. and L.L.
Cummings, Readings in Organizational Behavior and Human
Performance, Irwin: Homewood, Ill., p.2, (l973)
​​Image Source: publicdomainpictures.net/mark_Twain
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MARK TWAIN'S FIVE TIPS
These are  ark Twain's five tips for living a "kick-ass life".

1. You only need your own approval - “A man cannot be comfortable without his own approval.”

2. Perceived difficulty or lack of ability is often all in your head - “Age is an issue of mind over matter. If you don’t mind, it doesn’t matter.”
 
3. Never take things too seriously, have fun with it - “Humor is mankind’s greatest blessing.”
 
4. Rid yourself of angry thoughts - “Anger is an acid that can do more harm to the vessel in which it is stored than to anything on which it is poured.”

5. Recognize that the world doesn’t owe you anything - “Don’t go around saying the world owes you a living. The world owes you nothing. It was here first.”

JUST SAYIN!

​Sources:
​"Behavior Readings In Organization And Human Performance”
https://intellectualtakeout.org/2016/08/mark-twains-top-5-tips-for-living-a-kick-ass-life/
https://www.woodenbowties.com/blog/the-bow-tie-in-history-mark-twain/
https://www.publicdomainpictures.net/en/view-image.php?image=261083&picture=mark-twain-vintage-photo
https://www.pbs.org/food/the-history-kitchen/mark-twain-little-bill-fare/
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TODAY IS THE DAY: Superstitions

5/13/2022

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Do you avoid walking under ladders or opening umbrellas inside a building? There are some vey practical reasons for not doing either of those things. But what about sleeping with your feet towards the door, or cutting your fingernails in the evening?

If asked if you are superstitious, what would you say? If you say “no”, you’re probably not being completely honest with yourself.

BAD LUCK SUPERSTITIONS
Most superstitions deal with the hope of staving off bad luck and having good luck. This must reflect a basic human need. Every culture seems to have superstitions about days and numbers that are considered, lucky or unlucky. Fridays and the number thirteen have traditionally been tagged as bad luck in many Western countries, such as England, Ireland, Canada, Germany, and the US.

The exact origin of the superstition is unknown, but according to Mental Floss, it may stem from that being the day the Romans typically held crucifixions — and therefore is thought to be the day Jesus was crucified. But that is just one speculation.

BAD LUCK DAYS IN OTHER COUNTRIES
Just as a sample, here are some other beliefs taken from rd.com/list/unluckiest-days-world/:

   ● China: April 4th
The Chinese word for the number four sounds remarkably like the word for death. (This is also true in Japan.) Therefore, April 4 ‒ 4/4 ‒ is the unluckiest day of the year.
   ● Greece: Tuesday the 13th
Greeks dislike Tuesday because their word for the day is Triti, which also means “third” ‒ and bad luck comes in threes. The culture’s dislike of the number 13 ‒ and Tuesdays ‒ stems from the fall of Constantinople, which apparently took place on Tuesday the 13th.
   ● Italy: Friday the 17th
For this superstition, we have to involve Roman numerals: 17 (XVII) is dangerously close to VIXI which means “I have lived” and implies death in the present. The Italian's bad-luck number seventeen has been around since the early Romans. I lived in Rome and know there are many buildings which do not have 17th floors a room #17 and so on.
​   ● Japan: September 9th
In Japanese, the word nine sounds similar to the Japanese word for torture or suffering, making September 9 (or 9/9) a lousy day for a birthday.
   ● Spain: Tuesday the 13th
Like the Greeks, Spaniards really hold it against the Ottoman Turks, who took Constantinople on Tuesday the 13th during the Fourth Crusade. Martes, the Spanish word for Tuesday, comes from the god of war, Mars, adding to its ominous reputation.
   ● India: August 8th
Eight is the number of the Hindu god Shani, who happens to be the god of breakups and strife ‒ and he has a lethargic personality. That means 8/8 is an inauspicious date in Indian culture.

While all of these resonate like reasonable explanations, I  can't help wondering if many of these bad-luck days are fairly recent in origin. The calendar that most of the world uses today has not existed from ancient times. The early calendars didn't have the same number of months as we do now, and they had different names, so how do we end up with the eighth day of the eighth month or the fourth day of the fourth month?

FRIDAY 13TH THEORIES and PRACTICES
In Ancient Times
   ● The word Friday represents the Norse goddess Frigg [Freyja or Freya], the goddess of love and war. She had many other talents as well. Some historians believe the Teutonic people called Friday unlucky because of Freyja, perhaps because one of her talents was magic.
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       Norse goddess Frigg [Freyja or Freya],                       Adam and Eve by Lucas Cranach the Elder, 1533
         Image Source: pinterest.com/pin/3729612165448912/                         Image Source: blogs.timesofisrael.com/apologizing
   ● Some believe that the 13th, or Friday the 13th, was the day Eve tasted the forbidden apple from the Tree of Knowledge. I'm not sure how that figures, since humankind at the time didn't have a calendar with either Fridays or Friday the 13th, but what do I know?
   ● In the New Testament, thirteen people attended Jesus' last supper on Maundy Thursday, the day before Christ's crucifixion on Good Friday. Judas was the thirteenth to be seated.
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   ● Numerology first appears in written records in Egypt and Babylon, and in numerology, the number 13 is considered unlucky. However, while 13 meant death to the ancient Egyptians, it was a joyous time when the person ascended into eternal life. Death was not considered bad luck to them.
   ● On  Friday , October 13, 1307, officers of King Philip IV of France arrested hundreds of the Knights Templar, a powerful religious and military order formed in the 12th century for the defense of the Holy Land. Imprisoned on charges of various illegal behaviors ‒ but in truth because the king wanted access to their financial resources ‒ many Templars were later executed. Some cite the link with the Templars as the origin of the Friday the 13th superstition, but like many legends involving the Templars and their history, the truth remains murky.

In The Middle Ages
   ●This is a more likely time for such superstitions to be tied to Christian beliefs surrounding the last supper and crucifixion.
  ● In the 14th century Geoffrey Chaucer wrote in his Canterbury Tales the first reference to Friday as being unlucky.
  ●While some historians point to evidence of both Friday and the number thirteen being considered unlucky, there are no references connecting the two before the 19th century.

In The Nineteenth and Twentieth Century
   ● Henry Sutherland Edward's 1869 biography of composer Gioachino Rossini, is credited with the first documented reference to Friday the 13th. According to Edwards, Rossini regarded Friday as an unlucky day, thirteen as an unlucky number, and died on a Friday, November 13, 1868.  Actually, Italians consider 13 a lucky number. Go figure! 
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   ● Another early reference comes from a club [The Thirteen Club] formed by William Fowler, whose intention was to debunk the superstitions about the number thirteen as baseless.

The group dined regularly on the 13th day of the month in room 13 of the Knickerbocker Cottage, a popular watering hole Fowler owned from 1863 to 1883. Before sitting down for a 13-course dinner, members would pass beneath a ladder and a banner reading “Morituri te Salutamus,” Latin for “Those of us who are                  William Fowler
about to die salute you.” Four former U.S. presidents joined the                      Image Source:
Thirteen Club’s ranks at one time or another.                                                                      exemplore.com/The-Thirteen-Club
"REESE'S PEANUT BUTTER CUP OF BAD LUCK"
Quote: Kathy Padden [todayifoundout.com]

Once the day Friday and the number thirteen combined, the superstition blossomed and filled much of the western world. Once singled out, it's easier to go hunting for bad things that happened on that date. Perhaps just as much bad luck occurs on other days and dates, but we're not looking at those.

WHY DO PEOPLE BELIEVE IN SUPERSTITIONS?
Off hand, most people might respond with one word. “Ignorance.” While that is a valid answer, it is not totally the case.

You would think that in these modern times when technical advancements are being made daily and knowledge is so easily available from all parts of the world, our enlightenment would take us beyond the realm of superstition, but belief in superstitions persists even today.

All of us, including the highly educated, to one extent or another believe in a few absurd superstitions. Sometimes, it’s just laziness that keeps us from studying the matter and finding the scientific explanation. Even when we know better, sometimes we acquiesce, at least minimally, with the comment “just in case” or “What can it hurt?”

Historically Speaking
From the dawn of human existence, people have held superstitious beliefs. These are the irrational beliefs that an object, action or circumstance not logically related to a course of events influences its outcome… Beliefs that result from ignorance and fear of the unknown. Many superstitious practices are due to the false interpretations of natural events.
​
The influences most responsible for proposing and perpetrating superstitions are: Leaders/Governments, Elders / parents, Cultures, Imaginative stories, Scholars, myths and, as stated, misinterpretation of nature and real events.

Human possess a natural curiosity regarding all things that are hidden from us or are still in the future. We have to know. This trait leads us to fill in the unknown with our own explanations, usually ungrounded in reality or facts.

Types of Superstitions
There are basically three types of superstitions.
   ● Religious Superstitions
All religious beliefs and practices may seem superstitious to the person without religion. Most religions teach followers to believe in something they cannot perceive with human senses. The variety of superstitions is enormous.
   ● Cultural Superstitions
Every known civilization that ever existed on earth had something common in them ‒ the myths and superstitions that were a crucial part of their cultures. Nearly all cultures, throughout history, have held seriously irrational beliefs concerning methods of warding off ill or bringing good, foretelling the future, healing, and preventing sickness and accidents.
   ● Personal Superstitions
Again, curiosity and the need to know causes people to develop their own personal superstitions. If a student writes a good form of literary piece with a certain pen, from that moment the pen is lucky. Many people carry and believe in good luck charms.
Why People Tend To Become Superstitious?Many superstitions are widespread, such as associating good luck with a horseshoe. Others are peculiar to certain countries or regions.

A superstition is any belief or practice considered by non-practitioners to be irrational or supernatural, attributed to fate or magic, perceived as supernatural influence, or fear of that which is unknown. It is commonly applied to beliefs and practices surrounding luck, amulets, astrology, fortune telling, spirits, and certain paranormal entities, particularly the belief that future events can be foretold by specific unrelated prior events.

Why would people today go for that?

● Stress and Fear of Unknown
Believe it or not, stress makes people “more superstitious”. First, people are always seeking a “reason” why things happen, particularly misfortunes. Superstitions can comfort people by blaming the misfortune on something they can’t control, often to cover their own mistakes, if they even realize they have made a mistake.

People are more likely to attribute an event to a superstitious cause if it is negative rather than positive. This is the kind of reaction the fuels conspiracy theories and leads people to “see” things that actually don’t exist.

● A Feeling of Lacking Control
Feeling of lack of control over their life encourages many people’s desire to impose their own order on the world. The less control people have over their lives, the more likely they are to try to regain control through mental gymnastics. Superstitions seem to satisfy some deep psychological need.

WHAT NOT TO DO ON FRIDAY THE THIRTEENTH
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● Don't cut your hair or someone in your family will die. [And you don't get to choose]
● Don't give birth.  A child born on Friday the 13th will be unlucky for life.
● Don't set sail. Ships that set sail on Friday will have bad luck.
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● Don't let a funeral procession pass you, or you will be next to die.
●Don't start anything that represents the beginning or start of a new venture.​
● Don't get up for the first time on Friday if you have been ill.
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● Don't start a trip or you will encounter misfortune.​
● Don't move your residence on a Friday, or you won't stay in the new location very long.
● If you break a mirror, you will have seven years bad luck.
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● Don't get married on a Friday.
● Don’t drop a dishcloth, or you will have bad luck.
●Don’t eat from the pot, or it will rain at your wedding ceremony. [That’s in case you decide to get married in spite of the warning. Besides, it's hard to imagine this being a problem.]
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● And for goodness sake, don't invite 13 guests or sit 13 people at a dining table.

​

Others Bad Luck Superstitions
● If a dog howls at night, death is near.
● It is bad luck to see an owl in the sunlight.
● If a bat flies into your house it is bad luck. [I’m inclined to believe this one.]
● It is bad luck to open an umbrella in the house.
● It is bad luck to let milk boil over.
● Cutting your nails after sunset will bring bad luck.
● If you dream about a dog, you will have a lot of enemies.
● You have to get out of the bed on the same side you got in on or you will have bad luck.
● It is unlucky to rock an empty rocking chair
● If your left hand itches, you will lose money.
● If you sleep with your feet towards the door, a nightwalker will steal your soul.
● If you whistle at night, a nightwalker will come to your home.
● When a cat sneezes three times indoors, it will rain in 24 hours.
● If an owl hoots in your garden, it brings you bad luck
● If you leave a hat on the bed, someone will die.

And so on and so on. You've been warned!.
 
COME ON PEOPLE. GET A LIFE!
JUST SAYN!
□
2022 Sources:
https://www.history.com/topics/folklore/friday-the-13th
https://wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/101978806
https://whatculture.com/offbeat/the-truth-behind-10-common-superstitions
https://www.livescience.com/33507-origins-of-superstitions.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Superstition
https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/52696/why-friday-13th-considered-unlucky
https://www.rd.com/list/unluckiest-days-around-the-world/
https://www.destinationamerica.com/thehauntist/13-facts-about-friday-and-the-number-thirteen/
https://exemplore.com/legends/The-Thirteen-Club
https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/apologizing-to-eve/
https://www.pinterest.com/pin/3729612165448912/

Prior Sources:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Friday_the_13th
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/0/friday-13th-does-come-unlucky/
http://www.todayifoundout.com/index.php/2013/09/the-origin-of-friday-the-13th-as-an-unlucky-day/
https://www.timeanddate.com/calendar/13-things-friday-13.html
http://www.ibtimes.com/friday-13th-history-origins-myths-superstitions-unlucky-day-395108
http://www.snopes.com/luck/friday13.asp
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2004/02/0212_040212_friday13.html
http://www.macmillandictionary.com/buzzword/entries/paraskevidekatriaphobia.html
http://www.cogwriter.com/hebrew-calendar-postponements.htm
http://aboutnumerology.com/history-of-numerology/
http://gizmodo.com/why-people-think-friday-the-13th-is-unlucky-1306401570
http://norse-mythology.org/gods-and-creatures/the-vanir-gods-and-goddesses/freya/
http://norse-mythology.org/gods-and-creatures/the-vanir-gods-and-goddesses/freya/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freyja
http://www.goddessgift.com/goddess-myths/goddess-freya.htm
http://www.goddessgift.com/goddess-myths/goddess-freya.htm
https://www.allaboutcounseling.com/library/triskaidekaphobia/
http://www.rightdiagnosis.com/p/paraskavedekatriaphobia/misdiag.htm


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ORIGIN OF AMERICAN MOTHERS' DAY (It's not too late to read)

5/9/2022

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​Every month there is a Somebody-or-others’ Day. This month it’s Mother’s Day. Don’t get me wrong! I’m certainly not against honoring ones’ mother and father or their grandparents or long-lost nephew. But sometimes it seems like these “honor days” are made up by florists, candy makers, and jewelers. I mean, the commercialization is somewhat off-putting.

Most of the time, however, there is a story behind the scene, sometimes hard fought, to make these official honor days come about.

FIRST ATTEMPTS
Worldwide there are many different forms of celebrating Mothers’ Day, with different origins and traditions. Today, many have been swayed by the American Mothers’ Day.
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​After the Civil War, women peace groups originally formed to bring together mothers whose sons had fought or died on opposite sides of the Civil War, made an attempt to establish a formal “Mothers’ Day” with the same purpose in mind.
◄ Ann Reeves Jarvis - Image credit : E-Wv, The West Virginia Encyclopedia
Image Source: wvpublic.org/radio/-ann-jarvis-born-in-virginia

In 1868, Ann Jarvis created a committee to establish a “Mothers’ Friendship Day” with the purpose of bring together families separated during the Civil War. Jarvis was an organizer, and had already been successful putting together “Mothers’ Day Work Clubs” aimed at improving health conditions for both Union and Confederate military camps which were suffering an outbreak of typhoid. Jarvis wanted to expand this into an annual memorial for mothers, but died in 1905 before the idea had taken hold.
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​In 1872, Julia Ward Howe organized a “Mothers’ Day for Peace” event in Boston, which was accompanied by a Mothers’ Day Proclamation. The observance lasted about ten years in Boston under Howe’s supervision, but this effort also died out.
                                                                                Julia Ward Howe ►
                                  Image Source: explorepahistory.com/.php?imgId=1-2-158F


ANNA JARVIS
Meanwhile, Anna Jarvis, the daughter of Ann Jarvis, decided to continue her mother’s effort to have Mothers’ Day recognized as a national holiday. On May 10, 1908, Andrews Methodist Episcopal Church in Grafton and in Philadelphia, launching the observance of a general memorial day for all mothers, making Andrews the mother church of Mothers’ Day.
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In her campaign to have Mother's Day recognized as a national holiday, Anna called on clergymen, business leaders and politicians for help.

They succeeded and, in 1914, the U.S. House and Senate approved a resolution proclaiming the second Sunday of May as Mother's Day. President Woodrow Wilson endorsed it, and Secretary of State William Jennings Bryan proclaimed it.
◄ Anna Jarvis
Image Source: wesa.fm/arts-sports-culture/anna-jarvis
BITTER REGRETS
Before long, Jarvis became embittered by the commercialization of the holiday, and in 1923 filed a lawsuit  to stop a festival. She was arrested for disturbing the peace at a war mothers' convention where women sold white carnations - Jarvis' symbol for mothers - to raise money.

She spent the rest of her life going after those who she believed commercialized the holiday and took away its real meaning. Jarvis she had nearly three dozen Mother’s Day-related lawsuits pending, including one against a nonprofit organization run by the First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt. Obviously confused and annoyed, Roosevelt told the New York Times that “I think (Jarvis) misunderstands us. She wanted Mother’s Day observed. We want it observed, are working for its observance and are really aiding her.”

Jarvis also went after the US Postal Service because they issued a Mother’s Day stamp featuring a white carnation, which she thought was a blatant advertisement for the floral industry.

According to Wikipedia, “When she died in 1948 …. at age 84, Jarvis had become a woman of great ironies. Never a mother herself, her maternal fortune dissipated by her efforts to stop the commercialization of the holiday she had founded, Jarvis told a reporter shortly before her death that she was sorry she had ever started Mother's Day.”

A SAD STORY
Anna Jarvis’s story is, indeed, a sad one. Today, Jarvis would have a real fit.
I agree with Eleanor Roosevelt. Both Jarvis’ wanted us to honor our mothers for everything they are to all of us, and that is what most of us want to do. Yes, everything is too commercialized, but that still doesn’t spoil the meaning. Besides, each of us as individuals don’t have to take part in that and, just maybe, a bouquet of flowers is what mother wants.
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JUST SAYIN!
□
Note: Just out of curiosity, I made a list of the official honor days I could find easily.
January 24       National Poverty in America Awareness Day
January 26       National mentoring day
February 4       National Nieces' Day
March 4           Employee Appreciation Day
April 4              National School Librarian Appreciation Day
April 10            Sibling Day
April 16            Librarian appreciation day
April 18            Own worst Enemy Day
April 25            National Hairstylist Appreciation Day
April 27            Administrative Professionals Day (previously Secretaries Day)
June 5             Pet Appreciation Day
June 8             National Best Friends Day
June 19           Fathers Day
July 24             Parents’ Day
July 26             National Aunt and Uncle Day
August 17        Baby Boomers Recognition Day
August 17        National Black Cat Appreciation Day
August 26        Dog Appreciation day
September 11 Grandparents Day
October 1        International Day Of Older Persons
October 5        Teachers’ Day
October 9        Pastor Appreciation Day
October 17      National Boss’ Day
November 20  Universal Children's Day
And many more
 
Sources:
https://www.vox.com/2015/5/10/8575869/mothers-day-anna-jarvis-founding
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mother%27s_Day_(United_States)
https://www.wvpublic.org/radio/2019-09-30/september-30-1832-social-activist-ann-jarvis-born-in-virginia
http://explorepahistory.com/displayimage.php?imgId=1-2-158F
http://www.todayifoundout.com/index.php/2016/04/origin-of-mothers-day/
https://www.aucegypt.edu/news/stories/history-mothers-day-ancient-egypt-modern-times
https://www.aucegypt.edu/news/stories/history-mothers-day-ancient-egypt-modern-times
https://www.cnsnews.com/commentary/sam-rohrer/biblical-reasons-honor-mom-mothers-day
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May Day

4/29/2022

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MAY POLES and FLOWERS
Originally May Day was the Celtic festival of Beltane. The pagan Celtic religion comprised the beliefs and practices adhered to by the Iron Age people of Western Europe ‒ now known as the Celts ‒ roughly between 500 BC and 500 AD.
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May Day is one of the four ancient Celtic cross-quarter days, making it an astronomical holiday as it falls between the March equinox and June solstice. The Celts believed May 1 as the most important day of the year because it divided the year into “dark” (primarily winter) and “light” (growing season, spring and summer) or the return of life and fertility.
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During the middle ages villagers would enter the woods to find a maypole that was set up for the day in small towns (or sometimes permanently in larger cities). The day’s festivities involved merriment, as people would dance around the pole clad with colorful streamers and ribbons.
Image Source: learnreligions.com/beltane-rituals
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Historians believe the first maypole dance originated as part of a fertility ritual, where the pole symbolized male fertility and baskets and wreaths symbolized female fertility.

When the Roman conquered the British Isles they brought their own beliefs and festivals. For the most part, those integrated with the Celtic practices. Floralia was one of the festivals the Romans brought; a five day celebration devoted to Flora, the goddess of flowers, which took place between April and May. This festival merged with the Celtic Beltrane, since both were all about fertility.

Although popular in Europe, May Day celebrations and traditions hit a rough patch when brought to America by European immigrants. The Puritans didn’t approve, and while May Day celebrations continued to take place, it was certainly less widespread and less popular than across the pond.

In the 18th century, the Roman Catholic religion began celebrating May Day with various May devotions to the Blessed Virgin Mary. The first of May is also one of two feast days of the Catholic patron saint of workers St. Joseph the Worker, a carpenter and foster father of Jesus. Replacing another feast to St. Joseph, this date was chosen by Pope Pius XII in 1955 as a counterpoint to the communist International Workers' Day celebrations.
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These celebrations continue throughout Europe and the US. May pole dances still take place, but since the late 20th century the tradition of giving of "May baskets" ‒ small baskets of sweets or flowers, usually left anonymously on neighbors’ doorsteps ‒ has faded into non-existence in most places.
MAY DAY: THE ORIGINAL LABOR DAY
By the 19th century, while children in white danced around May poles, other children worked in coal mines and did other hard-labor work. The Second Industrial Revolution had numerous workers dying every day from terrible working conditions, and everyone breathed the smoke-filled air belching in black clouds from industrial smoke stacks.
Workers began to grumble about working conditions and labor organizations were springing up both in Europe and America. In 1866, the National Labor Union was formed in the US as people become vocal about their rights, the need for safer conditions, and shorter work hours.

In 2022, May 1 is not recognized in the US as “Workers’ Day” as it is in most of the world, but its origins took place in the US.

THE HAYMARKET RIOTS
Chicago had been a center of work-related agitation for some time, and a railroad strike in 1877 had ended in violence. In 1884, the Federation of Organized Trades and Labor Unions (FOTLU) chose to hold their national convention in Chicago where they issued an ultimatum that after May 1, 1886, the legal work day would be eight hours.

Two years later, when that FOTLU deadline approached, “an estimated quarter million workers in the Chicago area became directly involved in the crusade to implement the eight hour work day, including the Trades and Labor Assembly, the Socialistic Labor Party and local Knights of Labor,” according to an archived synopsis published by the Industrial Workers of the World in 1993. msn.com/en-us/the-real-history-of-may-day/
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​The generally quiet demonstration broke out in violence on May 3 at McCormick Reaper Works, where police and demonstrators clashed and set off a vicious scuffle that left several workers dead.
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The next day, a large crowd gathered at Chicago’s Haymarket Square to protest the previous day’s killings. At first, the proceedings were calm, and even Chicago mayor Carter     Image Source: https://www.thinglink.com                    Harrison attended. Then someone in the crowd
threw an explosive at the police. In reaction, law enforcement officers fired indiscriminately into the crowd which included workers and their own police officers.

Chaos and violence ensued between police and demonstrators with by standers in between. At least 7 policemen were killed and sixty others injured, and sources claim as many demonstrators and civilians were killed and injured (without giving statistics).

Reliable witnesses testified that all the pistol flashes came from the center of the street, where the police were standing, and none from the crowd. Moreover, initial newspaper reports made no mention of firing by civilians. A telegraph pole at the scene was filled with bullet holes, all coming from the direction of the police."
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The friction between U.S. authorities and the labor movement continued from there. Eight anarchists were arrested and convicted for murder for throwing the explosive at the police, even though only three were even present at Haymarket and those three were in full view of all when the bombing occurred.

In 1889, May Day was chosen as the date 
for  “International Workers’ Day” to  commemorate         The Eight Convicted of Murder
the Haymarket affair in Chicago  and the struggle      Image Source:pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/chicago-eight
 for an eight-hour working day.

THE PULLMAN STRIKE
The Pullman Strike was two interrelated strikes in 1894 that shaped national labor policy in the United States during a period of deep economic depression.

The Pullman Strike occurred in Illinois on May 11, 1894. Without going into the gory details, three thousand railroad workers went on a wildcat strike without the authorization of their union because of the way George Mortimer Pullman, founder and president of the Pullman Palace Car Company, treated his workers.
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      Image Source:  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pullman_Strike                                       Image Credit: illustration by Frederic Remington
                                                                                                                                                             https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Labor_Day
Ultimately, in trying to subdue the riots, thirty people were killed by the US Military and US Marshalls (some sources say hundreds, other say just a few). President Grover Cleveland made peace with the labor people, but fearing further conflict, the US Congress voted to approve rush legislation establishing Labor Day a national holiday. It was signed into law only six days after the end of the strike (July 20, 1894).

LABOR DAY IN THE US
In July 1894, President Grover Cleveland signed into law a piece of legislation that created a national Labor Day Holiday in early September. States and cities had been celebrating their own versions of Labor Day at different times at least since 1882, but this action set the date for a national holiday and moved the event away from the May 1 “Workers’ Day”, the recognized date for radical labor protests in Europe and the US. Congress feared the holiday would be associated with nascent Communist, Syndicalist and Anarchist movements and would appear to celebrate the labor riots of 1884, the Haymarket Affair in 1886, and other May Day riots.  Everything is political, isn't it?

Labour Day and International Worker’s Day
International Worker's Day recognizes the International Labor Movement and is celebrated on May 1 in at least eighty countries in the world, including most of Europe.
May 1 continues to be the day for protesting labor and other issues in these countries.
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France  ▲                                                  India  ▲                                                       Palestine ▲
Image Source: thenewamerican.com/may-day-protests        Image Source: newindianexpress.com/galleries/may/01/

Greece  ▼                                                 Pakistan  ▼                                                 Turkey  ▼  
Source of images: telesurenglish.net/multimedia/Workers-Right-Groups
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On Labor Day in the US we can kick back with a beer.  
JUST SAYIN!
□
Sources:
https://www.learnreligions.com/beltane-rites-and-rituals-2561678
https://www.livefromtheloungepodcast.com/post/ep-10-history-of-labor-day-pullman-strike-of-1894
www.thefreedictionary.com/May+Day
https://www.history.com/topics/holidays/history-of-may-day
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/May_Day
https://nationaltoday.com/may-day/
https://www.pinterest.com/pin/445082375663782263/
https://www.vintagechicagopostcards.com/2020/11/haymarket-square-clash-between-police.html
https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/chicago-eight-anarchists
https://daily.jstor.org/how-labor-lost-may-day/
https://history.house.gov/Historical-Highlights/1851-1900/The-first-Labor-Day/
https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/other/the-real-history-of-may-day/ar-BB1g7fq4?fullscreen=true&cvid=0c753a732e594f5293cc01dae5656548#image=1
https://www.telesurenglish.net/multimedia/Workers-Right-Groups-Commemorate-May-Day-Worldwide-20190501-0013.html
https://thenewamerican.com/traditional-may-day-protests-in-france-become-violent-riots/
https://www.newindianexpress.com/galleries/world/2017/may/01/may-day-in-pics-protesters-worldwide-demand-better-work-conditions-higher-wages-100415.html
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"Blind as a Kiwi!"

4/22/2022

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WILL THE REAL KIWI PLEASE STAND UP?
All of the above can be legitimately claim the name “Kiwi.” [The plural of the work can be either Kiwi or Kiwis]. However, none of them originated in New Zealand.

● First to arrive in what is now named New Zealand were the ancestors of the Kiwi Bird. There are three theories about how they arrived in New Zealand.
  1. The first is that the kiwi’s ancestor was already around when New Zealand broke away from Antarctica and Australia 60 million years ago.
  2. The second debate is that as the land broke away, kiwis walked from island to island as the land rose and fell, eventually arriving in New Zealand.
  3. The third is that the kiwi’s ancestor flew from island to island to reach New Zealand. There is growing evidence to suggest this is most likely.

● About 60 million years later, the second to arrive were the Maori, settlers from East Polynesia, who migrated by canoe to New Zealand in several waves of between roughly 1320 and 1350 AD. Over several centuries in isolation, these settlers developed their own culture, language, mythology, and art independent of eastern Polynesian cultures.

● Only a few hundred years after the first humans, Dutchman Abel Tasman was the first European to discover New Zealand in 1642. His men were the first Europeans to have a confirmed encounter with the Maori, and as might be expected, things didn’t go well.
At any rate, no one called New Zealanders Kiwis until World War II when Australian’s coined the name. New Zealander’s would use a boot shine with an image of a kiwi on the tin. The Australian’s noticed this and started calling them kiwis! The name caught on and is now used worldwide.

● Late comer on the scene is the Kiwi fruit. Its proper name is Chinese Gooseberry, and the plant is native to China. Seeds were brought to New Zealand in 1904 by Mary Isabel Fraser, the principal of Wanganui Girls’ College, who had been visiting mission schools in China. They were planted in 1906 by a Whanganui nurseryman, Alexander Allison, and the vines first fruited in 1910. People thought the fruit had a gooseberry flavor and began to call it the Chinese gooseberry, although it is not related to the  family to which gooseberries belong.

TODAY’S SUBJECT: THE KIWI BIRD
Kiwi are flightless birds native to and found only in New Zealand. The bird is the size of domestic chicken [approximately 2 to 4 pounds and 14” to 18”] and the smallest living ratite, a category of mostly large, flightless birds with a ratite breastbone, including the ostrich, rhea, emu, cassowary, and kiwi, together with the extinct moa and elephant bird.
The Kiwi’s closest relative is the extinct elephant bird of Madagascar.
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SPECIES OF KIWI​
​There are five recognized species of Kiwi birds: Brown Kiwi, Great Spotted Kiwi, Little Spotted Kiwi, Rowi and Tokoeka.

The Rowi is the rarest type of kiwi. There is a little confusion regarding the names and numbers of species because several have different names due to the area in New Zealand where they are found but are still the same species.


​Image credit: Grutness on en.wikipedia modified by Tony Wills - Own work. Originally from en.wikipedia; 
Image Source: wikipedia.org/wiki/Kiwi_(bird)
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  North Island Brown or Roroa                    Great Spotted Kiwi                   Okarito Brown Kiwi
Image Credit: Rod Morris, NE Dept. of Conservation         Image Source: tookooldoggies.blogspot.com/2012/08/
Image Source: nzbirdsonline.org.nz/species/north-island-brown-kiwi                                                                     Image Source: animals-unique.blogspot.com/
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​Southern Brown or Tokoeka                 Rowi Kiwi                                       ​Little Spotted Kiwi
Image Credit: Glen Fergus - Stewart Island, NZ          Image Source: doc.govt.nz/birds/birds-a-z/kiwi/rowi/
CC BY-SA 2.5,   Image Source:                                                                                                                                Image Source: birdingnz.co.nz/little-spotted-kiwi
  commons.wikimedia.org/index.php?curid
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​MEET MANUKURA - ONE OF A KIND
Rowi may be rare, and there are only 450 left in the world, but Manukura, a white kiwi, is the one known in the world. She was born at the National Wildlife Centre Pukaha, North Island of New Zealand, on 1 May 2011.

Manukura is not albino (where there is a lack of melanin that makes pigmentation white and features pink eyes), but, pure white, which means she is the rare progeny of two parents who carry the recessive white feather gene.

Her parents came from predator-free Little Barrier Island along with 28 other kiwi in 2010. The purpose of the translocation was to boost kiwi population at Pukaha. The result of that breeding season was 14 healthy chicks, which were released into the wild. The Rangitane o Wairarapa iwi (the local tribe) saw the chick as a tohu (sign) of new beginnings and gave her the name ‘Manukura’, which translated means “of chiefly status”.

A LITTLE PREHISTORIC HISTORY
Part of the reason to pay particular attention to these birds is the way in which the Kiwi evolved somewhere else, made its way to New Zealand ‒ the only place in the world where they have existed since before the evolution of homo sapiens ‒ and adapted to its new home.

Originally, scientists believed the Kiwi was related to the Australian ratites [large flightless birds]. However, recent DNA research shows the Kiwi closely related to an extinct ratite from the Madagascar area, not Australia as previously believed.

Kiwi and the Madagascar elephant bird were rather close cousins which separated into their own individual families and genus about 50 to 60 million years ago. By this gime fhe continent of Gonwanda had broken into much smaller lands masses. and thefe would have been no land passage to New Zealand or Australia. Somehow they must have flown.  Source:  theconversation.com/rewriting-the-origin-of-new-zealands-kiwi-bird-history 

New Zealand was completely unoccupied by any humans until the Maori arrived in the 1300s in several large migrations. New Zealand had evolved with no land mammals except three species of bats. Bats were the only predators until Dutch explorer Abel Tasman discovered it (again) in 1642. European settlers and traders brought other animals and livestock. 

In the time the Maori had alone with the kiwi, the birds became an important part of their culture and religion. For Maori, kiwi are, in effect, our elder siblings. And, like a good older brother or sister, they are very protective of us. That's partly why in certain places, Maori patrol the forests nightly to keep the Kiwi safe.

ADAPTATION  NOVELTIES OF THE KIWI
● Flightless and Feathers
Like all flightless ratites [ostrich, emu, rhea, and cassowary], Kiwis have no keel on the sternum to anchor wing muscles. The vestigial wings are so small that they are invisible under the bristly, hair-like, two-branched feathers.
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         Kiwi Feathers - Image Source: almazrestaurant.com/do-kiwis-have-feathers/

​The bones of most other birds, when adults, are hollow with no marrow because of the minimization of weight for flight. Since Kiwis developed without flight, thus without weight constraints, they have bone marrow. Also, they also have no tails.

● Eyesight
Kiwis might as well be blind. Their eyes are the smallest relative to body mass in all avian species resulting in the smallest visual field as well. The eye evolved for a night time lifestyle, and kiwi rely more on their other senses. The Kiwi eye is so underdeveloped that blind specimens have been found in nature which are perfectly adapted to the lifestyle.

Writers: Now you can substitute “Blind as a Kiwi” for the tired “Blind as a bat.”

The kiwi's mostly nocturnal habits may be a result of habitat intrusion by predators, including humans. In areas of New Zealand where introduced predators have been removed, such as sanctuaries, kiwi are often seen in daylight.
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​● Beak and Sense of Smell
The Kiwi beak is long, pointed, and sometimes a little curved. They are unique among birds to have their nostrils at the end of the beak which gives Kiwis an exceptional sense of smell that is rare for birds. I couldn’t find good close-up photos which show the nostrils or beak details.

The beak is more than just an unusual shape .                        It functions as a vibration detector.  Sensory pits at              ImageSource: mercurybay.co.nz/local/kiwiinfo.            the tips of their beaks allow them to sense prey underground. They can locate worms, insects, and other prey buried several centimeters underground using their beaks and well-developed sense of smell. The cat-like whiskers at the base of the beak assist getting around at night. Kiwi also have a good sense of hearing and touch.
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 ● Mating and Reproduction
During mating season [June to March] the male kiwi will follow the female around, grunting at her until she notices him. If she is not interested, she will either run away or try and scare him off. If she is interested, they mate and will remain a monogamous couple for their entire lives ‒ which can be 25 to 50 years.

Once mated, they live in pairs and call to each other at night, and meet in the nesting burrow every three days. The relationship tends to be quite volatile and physical, the female generally calling the shots over her smaller partner. However, these relationships can last as long as 30 years.
Comparison of chicken egg to Kiwi egg
Image Source: pholder.com/u/siegward-the-thicc/
Picture
​At the peak of the breeding season, Kiwi will mate 2-3 times per night for 3 weeks until an egg is made.
Although females are usually larger than males, they carry only one egg… but what an egg! The Kiwi is about the same size as a chicken, but the Kiwi egg is six time larger than a chicken egg. The egg is about 20% of the female’s body size.
Picture
The kiwi's egg is so large relative to its body size that the female has considerable difficulty laying it. During the later stages of pregnancy, she can’t eat because there is no room for food in her body.

Once the female kiwi lays her egg, the male takes over and actually sits on the egg until it hatches while the female forages for food. Her stomach will have  shrunk  so much that she  needs to replenish herself.                    Image source: pinterest.com/pin/855402522950562018/ 

Because of the size of the egg, it takes about 80 days to hatch, leaving the male Kiwi more or less like Dr. Suess’s Horton the Elephant who is hatching an egg and is, “tired and bored and has kinks in his legs.”

Thanks to Dad, kiwi chicks hatch pretty much ready to run, with a belly full of yolk they can live off of for their first two and a half weeks of life. Brown Kiwi will leave the nest as young as 4-6 weeks old, forced out by their parents who often need the burrow for another egg. Great Spotted Kiwi may stay in the nest for a year or longer, and Rowi and Stewart Island tokoeka can remain with their parents for up to seven years.

ENVIRONMENTAL STATUS
Extinction rates for birds in New Zealand are high. According to the DOC, 34 per cent of endemic land and freshwater birds and five per cent of sea birds have already been lost. Today, more than a third of bird species are considered threatened—one step away from endangered. Several species of Kiwi have been on the endangered list, but through the effort of the New Zealand Department of Conservation, at least two species have now move from “endangered” to “threatened”.

Still, loss of habitat throughout the country threatens the continued existence of this bird. The natural habitat of the Kiwi is the subtropical and temperate areas with coniferous trees and shrubs or beech forests, but they are now being forced to adapt to different habitat, such as sub-alpine scrub, tussock grassland, and the mountains. Predators are also a major cause of depletion.

There are a number of kiwi predator-free sanctuaries throughout New Zealand, and the Department of Conservation relocation and breeding programs have been successful. Still, only about 68,000 kiwis are left in existence. On average, 2% of kiwi die each week (around 20 kiwi per week). It is estimated that only 5% of kiwi chicks survive to adulthood.
Hopefully, the kiwi will continue to survive in today’s world.

JUST SAYIN
□
NOTE: Collective nouns for birds.
A cacophony of of Kaka, A Tribe of Kiwi, A Cluster of Knots, A fling of Knots, and  A tangle of Knotsy.

​Sources:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kiwi_(bird)?msclkid=5342abaab84011ec909987622b7c7485
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=3509003
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kiwi_(bird)?msclkid=5342abaab84011ec909987622b7c7485
http://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=69887040
https://www.nzbirdsonline.org.nz/species/north-island-brown-kiwi
http://tookooldoggies.blogspot.com/2012/08/prey-of-dog-new-zealand.html
https://www.doc.govt.nz/nature/native-animals/birds/birds-a-z/kiwi/rowi/
http://animals-unique.blogspot.com/2012/06/kiwi-unique.html
https://www.birdingnz.co.nz/birds-of-new-zealand/little-spotted-kiwi
https://www.newzealand.com/int/feature/arrival-of-maori/
https://ainawgsd.tumblr.com/post/164109629934/kiwi-kiwi-or-kiwis-are-flightless-birds-native-to
https://pholder.com/u/siegward-the-thicc/
https://www.pinterest.com/pin/855402522950562018/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kiwi_(bird)?msclkid=5342abaab84011ec909987622b7c7485
https://www.svasthlife.com/fruits/faq-kiwi-fruit-native-to-which-country.html
https://www.learnz.org.nz/location192/bg-easy-f/european-discovery-of-new-zealand
http://mercurybay.co.nz/local/kiwiinfo.php
https://www.wayfaringkiwi.com/fun-facts-about-the-kiwi-bird/?msclkid=87dde45db84311ec975abefee085f081
https://kiwigrubbox.com/blogs/news/kiwi-bird-facts?msclkid=87de25bab84311ecb9b2b12b94cf5c97
https://www.newzealand.com/int/feature/arrival-of-maori/
https://ainawgsd.tumblr.com/post/164109629934/kiwi-kiwi-or-kiwis-are-flightless-birds-native-to
https://pholder.com/u/siegward-the-thicc/
https://www.pinterest.com/pin/855402522950562018/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kiwi_(bird)?msclkid=5342abaab84011ec909987622b7c7485
https://www.svasthlife.com/fruits/faq-kiwi-fruit-native-to-which-country.html
https://www.learnz.org.nz/location192/bg-easy-f/european-discovery-of-new-zealand
http://skifmnetwork.co.nz/2020/07/02/meet-manukura-the-worlds-only-white-kiwi/
https://www.liveanimalslist.com/birds/kiwis.php
https://theconversation.com/rewriting-the-origin-of-new-zealands-kiwi-bird-ancestors-27022#:~:text=It%20showed%20that%20the%20kiwi%20%E2%80%93%20the%20national,evolutionary%20mystery%20that%20has%20lasted%20for%20150%20years.?msclkid=1aafb15fbc1e11eca3d146
https://almazrestaurant.com/do-kiwis-have-feathers/#:~:text=How%20many%20feathers%20does%20a%20kiwi%20have%3F%20Their,small%20pygostyle.%20Why%20do%20kiwis%20have%20no%20wings%3F?msclkid=98145265bc2711ec951837be859d6af5
https://nzhistory.govt.nz/the-chinese-gooseberry-becomes-the-kiwifruit?msclkid=4717b9adbcff11ecb931a032507b5600
https://www.readersdigest.ca/culture/kiwi-bird/
Kiwis Facts, Flightless Bird Habitat, Diet, Information with Pictures (liveanimalslist.com)

 
 

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    Author R. Ann Siracusa

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