On-line Opinion Magazine…OK, it's a blog

La fête du
Canada
Day

Thank you for not yet building a fence along your southern or western border, and for brewing great beer.

This is the 157th anniversary of the signing of the Constitution Act of 1867.

Schedule of Ottawa events and some background.

Position: 20.0N 96.2W [10:00PM CDT 0300 UTC].
Movement: West [280°] near 13 mph [20 kph].
Maximum sustained winds: 40 mph [ 65 kph].
Wind Gusts: 50 mph [ 80 kph].
Tropical Storm Wind Radius: 70 miles (110 km].
Minimum central pressure: 1005 mb ↓.

Currently about 105 miles [ 165 km] Southeast of Tuxpan, Mexico.

A Tropical Storm Warning is in effect from Cabo Rojo south to Puerto Veracruz.

Here’s the link for NOAA’s latest satellite images.

[For the latest information click on the storm symbol, or go to the CATEGORIES drop-down box below the CALENDAR and select “Hurricanes” for all of the posts related to storms on this site.]

Position: 11.5N 58.1W [10:00PM CDT 0300 UTC].
Movement: Westt [280°] near 18 mph [30 kph].
Maximum sustained winds: 130 mph [215 kph].
Wind Gusts: 145 mph [235 kph].
Tropical Storm Wind Radius: 115 miles (185 km).
Hurricane Wind Radius: 30 miles [ 45 km].
Minimum central pressure: 959 mb ↑.

Currently about 150 miles [ 240 km] Southeast of Barbados..

A Hurricane Warning is in effect for Barbados; St Lucia; St. Vincent and the Grenadine Islands; Grenada; Tobago.

A Tropical Storm Warning is in effect for Martinique; Trinidad.

A Tropical Storm Watch is in effect for Dominica; the south coast of Dominican Republic from Punta Palenque westward to the border with Haiti; the south coast of Haiti from the border with the Dominican Republic to Anse d’Hainault.

Here’s the link for NOAA’s latest satellite images.

[For the latest information click on the storm symbol, or go to the CATEGORIES drop-down box below the CALENDAR and select “Hurricanes” for all of the posts related to storms on this site.]

Position: 10.4N 51.2W [10:00PM CDT 0300 UTC].
Movement: West [280°] near 20 mph [31 kph].
Maximum sustained winds: 85 mph [140 kph].
Wind Gusts: 95 mph [155 kph].
Tropical Storm Wind Radius: 70 miles (110 km).
Hurricane Wind Radius: 15 miles [ 30 km].
Minimum central pressure: 986 mb ↓.

Currently about 595 miles [ 955 km] East-Southeast of Barbados.

A Hurricane Warning is in effect for Barbados; St Lucia; St. Vincent and the Grenadine Islands; Grenada

A Tropical Storm Warning is in effect for Martinique; Tobago.

A Tropical Storm Watch is in effect for Dominica.

Here’s the link for NOAA’s latest satellite images.

[For the latest information click on the storm symbol, or go to the CATEGORIES drop-down box below the CALENDAR and select “Hurricanes” for all of the posts related to storms on this site.]

Position: 9.3N 43.6W [10:00PM CDT 0300 UTC].
Movement: West [275°] near 18 mph [30 kph].
Maximum sustained winds: 40 mph [ 65 kph].
Wind Gusts: 50 mph [ 80 kph].
Tropical Storm Wind Radius: 45 miles ( 75 km).
Minimum central pressure: 1006 mb ↓.

Currently about 1110 miles [1785 km] East-Southeast of the Barbados.

Here’s the link for NOAA’s latest satellite images.

[For the latest information click on the storm symbol, or go to the CATEGORIES drop-down box below the CALENDAR and select “Hurricanes” for all of the posts related to storms on this site.]

Position: 22.3N 102.0W [ 4:00PM CDT 2100 UTC].
Movement: West [270°] near 24 mph [39 kph].
Maximum sustained winds: 30 mph [ 45 kph].
Wind Gusts: 40 mph [ 65 kph].
Minimum central pressure: 1000 mb ↑.

Currently about 260 miles [ 420 km] West of Tampico, Mexico.

The National Hurricane Center has issued its last public advisory on this system.

Here’s the link for NOAA’s latest satellite images.

[For the latest information click on the storm symbol, or go to the CATEGORIES drop-down box below the CALENDAR and select “Hurricanes” for all of the posts related to storms on this site.]

Today at 3:50PM [CDT] is the Summer Solstice, technically considered the “first day of Summer”, but the mid Summer by much of Europe.

Many Wiccans celebrate the day as Litha, while computer programmers honor their predecessors, the druids, who built the first solid-state computing devices, the megaliths, like Stonehenge.

The Slavs celebrate St. John’s Night, Иван Купала [Ivan Kupala], the battle between the White god [Белобог – Belobog] and the Black god [Чёрнобог – Chyornobog] for control of the Sun. The Black god always wins and the night begins to expand.

The sound track to the battle is Иванова Ночь на Лысой Горе [Night on Bald Mountain ] by Модест Петрович Мусоргский [Modest Petrovich Mussorgsky], which everyone should play very loudly.

Position: 21.5N 95.9W [10:00PM CDT 0300 UTC].
Movement: West [260°] near 9 mph [15 kph].
Maximum sustained winds: 50 mph [ 85 kph].
Wind Gusts: 60 mph [ 95 kph].
Tropical Storm Wind Radius: 460 miles (740 km).
Minimum central pressure: 993 mb ↓.

Currently about 135 miles [ 220 km] East-Southeast of Tampico, Mexico.

A Tropical Storm Warning is in effect for 2he Texas coast from San Luis Pass southward to the mouth of the Rio Grande: the northeastern coast of Mexico south of the mouth of the Rio Grande to Tecolutla.

Here’s the link for NOAA’s latest satellite images.

[For the latest information click on the storm symbol, or go to the CATEGORIES drop-down box below the CALENDAR and select “Hurricanes” for all of the posts related to storms on this site.]

Juneteenth

… On the morning of Monday, June 19, 1865, Union Major General Gordon Granger arrived on the island of Galveston, Texas, to take command of the more than 2,000 federal troops recently landed in the department of Texas to enforce the emancipation of its slaves and oversee a peaceful transition of power, additionally nullifying all laws passed within Texas during the war by Confederate lawmakers. The Texas Historical Commission and Galveston Historical Foundation report that Granger’s men marched throughout Galveston reading General Order No. 3 first at Union Army Headquarters at the Osterman Building (formerly at the intersection of Strand Street and 22nd Street, since demolished), in the Strand Historic District. Next they marched to the 1861 Customs House and Courthouse before finally marching to the Negro Church on Broadway, since renamed Reedy Chapel-AME Church. The order informed all Texans that, in accordance with a Proclamation from the Executive of the United States, all slaves were free:

The people of Texas are informed that, in accordance with a proclamation from the Executive of the United States, all slaves are free. This involves an absolute equality of personal rights and rights of property between former masters and slaves, and the connection heretofore existing between them becomes that between employer and hired labor. The freedmen are advised to remain quietly at their present homes and work for wages. They are informed that they will not be allowed to collect at military posts and that they will not be supported in idleness either there or elsewhere.

Some people are attempting to make this something that it isn’t. Having Juneteenth as a Federal holiday has no impact on any other Federal holiday. Some people seem to believe if something new is created that something old is destroyed. They assume that life is a zero sum game. They are ignorant and pathetic, but there are a lot of them so they are dangerous.

Position: 22.5N 93.0W [10:00PM CDT 0300 UTC].
Movement: Northwest [305°] near 7 mph [11 kph].
Maximum sustained winds: 40 mph [ 65 kph].
Wind Gusts: 50 mph [ 80 kph].
Tropical Storm Wind Radius: 415 miles (665 km].
Minimum central pressure: 999 mb.

Currently about 320 miles [ 510 km] East-Southeast of La Pesca, Mexico.

A Tropical Storm Warning is in effect for 2he Texas coast from San Luis Pass southward to the mouth of the Rio Grande: the northeastern coast of Mexico south of the mouth of the Rio Grande to Puerto de Altamira.

Here’s the link for NOAA’s latest satellite images.

[For the latest information click on the storm symbol, or go to the CATEGORIES drop-down box below the CALENDAR and select “Hurricanes” for all of the posts related to storms on this site.]

Position: 20.8N 93.0W [10:00PM CDT 0300 UTC].
Movement: North [360°] near 7 mph [11 kph].
Maximum sustained winds: 40 mph [ 65 kph].
Wind Gusts: 50 mph [ 80 kph].
Minimum central pressure: 999 mb.

Currently about 370 miles [ 595 km] East-Southeast of La Pesca, Mexico.

A Tropical Storm Watch is in effect for the Texas coast from Port O’Connor southward to the mouth of the :io Grande: the northeastern coast of Mexico south of the mouth of the Rio Grande to Puerto de Altamira.

Here’s the link for NOAA’s latest satellite images.

[For the latest information click on the storm symbol, or go to the CATEGORIES drop-down box below the CALENDAR and select “Hurricanes” for all of the posts related to storms on this site.]

According to the James Joyce Center

Bloomsday is a celebration that takes place both in Dublin and around the world. It celebrates Thursday 16 June 1904, which is the day depicted in James Joyce’s novel Ulysses. The day is named after Leopold Bloom, the central character in Ulysses. The novel follows the life and thoughts of Leopold Bloom and a host of other characters – real and fictional – from 8am on 16 June 1904 through to the early hours of the following morning.

Why not?

John, by the grace of God, king of England, lord of Ireland, duke of Normandy and Aquitaine, and count of Anjou in the meadow which is called Runnymede, between Windsor and Staines, on the fifteenth day of June, 1215, signed the Great Charter in the presence of assorted heavily armed peers of the realm, who assured him it was the right thing to do.

The British Library has pictures of the Magna Carta available, but they are now requiring registration. Wikipedia has a nice discussion of the document.

The Magna Carta of 1297 is permanently residing in the US National Archives.

The Avalon Project has a translation of the 1215 version with an index and definitions.

John abided by the charter for several months, before he returned to business as normal, but the principle was established – no one is above the law.

Adopted as the flag of the United States of America by the Flag Resolution of 1777 enacted on 14 June, 1777.

The flag was first flown from Fort Stanwix, on the site of the present city of Rome, New York, on August 3, 1777. It was first under fire three days later in the Battle of Oriskany, August 6, 1777.

An official flag has a rise to run ratio of 1 to 1.9 [the flag should be 1.9 times as long as it is high] with the canton [the dark blue part] that rises over the top seven stripes with a run of 40% of the flag’s run.

The only time you will see a “correct” US Flag is if you see the official colors of a military unit. Most flags are 3’X5′ or 4’X6′ instead of 3’X5.7′ or 4’X7.6′.

Frances Bellamy, the Baptist minister and socialist who wrote the Pledge of Allegiance was from Rome, New York.