Monday, January 25, 2021

Monday Musings - January 25, 2021

 


1. It is hard to comprehend, but this is the fourth and final Monday of January 2021. The first month of the new year is nearly complete and the year does not feel so "new" anymore.

2. Kansas City will meet New England (err, Tampa Bay, I mean) in Super Bowl LV in two weeks. It just seems so normal for Brady to be a Super Bowl quarterback. The NFL Season is actually going to end on time despite COVID-19.

3. Despite the lack of travel, I remain thankful for my workout cycle. I have been cycling in Patagonia, Argentina this week.

4. January has been relatively mild so far, but that is likely to change in the coming week as sleet, rain, ice, and snow make their way into the region. 

5. I miss looking out the back window at palm trees.

6. I realized that because of COVID-19, I only wrote two Out the Hotel Window entries last year.

7. I smoked some chicken last evening to eat while watching Kansas City defeat Buffalo. It was a good game and I enjoyed the outcome. For those unaware, during my youth growing up in Central New York I was a fervent Kansas City fan! I distinctly remember the stinging taste of defeat as Miami defeated Kansas City in the longest NFL game ever played on Christmas Day 1971.

8. Today in History. On January 25, 1905, at the Premier Mine in Pretoria, South Africa, a 3,106-carat diamond is discovered during a routine inspection by the mine’s superintendent. Weighing 1.33 pounds, and christened the “Cullinan,” it was the largest diamond ever found.

Frederick Wells was 18 feet below the earth’s surface when he spotted a flash of starlight embedded in the wall just above him. His discovery was presented that same afternoon to Sir Thomas Cullinan, who owned the mine. Cullinan then sold the diamond to the Transvaal provincial government, which presented the stone to Britain’s King Edward VII as a birthday gift. Worried that the diamond might be stolen in transit from Africa to London, Edward arranged to send a phony diamond aboard a steamer ship loaded with detectives as a diversionary tactic. While the decoy slowly made its way from Africa on the ship, the Cullinan was sent to England in a plain box.



How West Virginia Became a U.S. Leader in Vaccine RolloutHow West Virginia Became a U.S. Leader in Vaccine Rollout - The New York Times

Is Space the Next ‘Great Power’ Contest Between the U.S. and China? - The New York Times

For Wars of the Future, Pentagon Looks to Distant Past: the B-52 - The Wall Street Journal

Biden to Lift Restrictions on Transgender Military Service Members - The Wall Street Journal

Trump made 30,573 false or misleading claims as president. Nearly half came in his final year. - The Washington Post

Pandemic aftershocks overwhelm global supply lines, threatening higher prices for consumers - The Washington Post

Australians Can’t Get Home, but Tennis Players Fly in From Covid-19 Hot Spots - The Wall Street Journal 

Japan likely to hit COVID-19 herd immunity months after Olympics - researcher - Reuters

China says U.S. military in South China Sea not good for peace - Reuters


Ronald Reagan Quote for the Week

We have every right to dream heroic dreams. Those who say that we're in a time when there are not heroes, they just don't know where to look. You can see heroes every day going in and out of factory gates. Others, a handful in number, produce enough food to feed all of us and then the world beyond. You meet heroes across a counter, and they're on both sides of that counter. There are entrepreneurs with faith in themselves and faith in an idea who create new jobs, new wealth and opportunity. They're individuals and families whose taxes support the government and whose voluntary gifts support church, charity, culture, art, and education. Their patriotism is quiet, but deep. Their values sustain our national life.

  Ronald Reagan First Inaugural Address - January 20, 1981


-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD

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