FIVE SECOND STORIES

Fun fact: only one US State flag depicts the human female breast-the state of Virginia.

From Wiki:  The state flag was first adopted at the beginning of the Civil War in April 1861, readopted in 1912, and standardized by the General Assembly in February 1950. The standing allegorical female figure of virtue is shown having vanquished tyranny, symbolized by a fallen king at her feet. She has an exposed breast in the manner of classical depictions of Amazons, making this the only state flag in the U.S. depicting a form of toplessness. The motto Sic semper tyrannis means "Thus always to tyrants." This was yelled by John Wilkes Booth after he had shot President Lincoln and jumped to the stage. The same line spoken by Brutus when assassinating Julius Caesar.

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 After Beryl kicked some major tail for 6000 miles, folks readied for the next one. They have been in luck due to the Saharan Air Layer-dust from the North African desert has pushed out to the hurricane genesis region West of the continent. The result is the dust smothers the kind of atmospheric conditions necessary for hurricanes. Once the winds change dissipating the SAL-look out!

PS. 7/27-It looks like things are starting to ramp up!

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July 21, 22 marked the highest average global temperatures, measured at 62.88° F.

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How owl wing structure make them silent predators:

Jon G. Fuller Jr.

The serrations on the leading edge of the wing and the velvet-like surface have an effect on noise reduction and also lead to an improvement of aerodynamic performance. The fringes at the inner feather vanes reduce noise by gliding into the grooves at the lower wing surface that are formed by barb shafts.

Thomas Geyer

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Cute Buddy-roo pics:

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The ascension of Kamala breathes (some would say, cardioversioned) life back into the Democratic Presidential Campaign: on one level, booting Old Joe off the ticket and replacing him with a Californian Black/South Asian Woman to take on the Roach and his MAGA cult is politically crazy and suicidal. 

On the other hand, the move is fuckin' Audacious. Their "yeah, assholes, this is what we stand for and we ain't going back!" war cry is an all in, balls to the wall moment for the Progressive/Liberal movement. It's bringing in the younguns who were gonna sit the election out and fired up all sorts of folks of color. 

Failure, I fear will crush them and I think they know it as Roach has made it clear he plans retribution for his enemies.

It's gonna get very, very nasty. Stay tuned.

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Passing noted: John Mayall November 29, 1933-July 22, 2024.

Pioneer of British blues whose influential band the Blues Breakers was a springboard for stars including Eric Clapton. One of my all-time favs from The Beano album, 1966, covering Otis Rush's "Hideaway".

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Fun Vids:

"Bloody Hell!" English girl rages over cost of ice cream:

 Interesting doc about Banksy:

In 2005, Banksy and his team painted 7 murals on the Segregation Wall, Palestine. Here is one that reminded me of the "river to the sea" phrase.

In 2013, Banksy titled a new piece “’The banality of the banality of evil’ Oil on oil canvas, 2013,”  describing it on his website as  “A thrift store painting vandalized then re-donated to the thrift store.” With a whiff, I might add, of "Hitler in Springtime".

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M.C. Escher doc-supurb draftsman and printmaker beyond his well-known optical play. Worth the time to watch.

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The new generation of storm chasers are pushing the boundaries of  how close they get to tornadoes. I think it's the adrenaline rush like war combat that is pushing this. Older chasers, I think, respect the Beast more due to having seen the death they can bring. Ah, youth.