Quintillis

Welcome to July. Hard to believe it's already here. But it is. And it's also (Tuesday, Mangal-waar, Seshanbeh, yawm-ath-thalatha, Fidal, dydd Mawrth, Boomtime). At one point in all of our lives July was a great month, Summer vacation was really starting to get rolling, there was still over a month left of it before school began again. I miss those carefree days when all you had to worry about was...nothing. And now? It's just another day much like any other day. The weather's warmer today than others and the sun is shining. But I'm sitting at my desk at work and it could be any other day.

In 251 the Goths defeated the Romans at the Battle of Abrittus. In 1097 the Crusaders defeated the Seljuks at the Battle of Dorylaeum. In 1520 an Aztec army defeated some Conquistadors. In 1569 the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth was formed. The motto of this rather large country was Si Deus Nobiscum Quis Contra Nos, or "If God is with us, then who's against us". Sounds like good ol' GW. Funny how progressive the worldview of our leaders have become, ey? In 1863 the Battle of Gettysburg began. In 1870 the US Dept. of Justice was formed. In 1881 the first international phone call took place b/t the US and Canada. In 1916 during WWI 20,000 British troops died in one day. That's incredible. And we freak out everytime one soldier dies in Iraq or Afghanistan. We've become so weak. In 1931 United Airlines began service. In 1963 Zip codes came into use. ZIP is an acronym for Zone Improvement Plan, never knew that. Three years later the first color tv show was broadcast in Canada. In 1972 the first gay pride march in England occurred. In 1979 Sony introduced the Walkman. I saw a guy with a Walkman the other day and I thought it was funny. Now it's IPods and MP3's, smaller than a cell phone. Walkmans were so clunky, but damn they were so cool at the time... In 1980 "O Canada" became the official national anthem up north replacing God Save the Queen. In 1984 the PG-13 rating came into effect which still makes no sense to me. In 2002 a Bashkirian Airlines flight collided with a German cargo plane killing 71 people. And last year smoking was banned in all indoor public places in England.

Today is Canada Day. No one cares.

It is Republic Day in Ghana, which means "warrior king". The capital of this W. African nation is Accra and there are 23 million people who live in the country. 63% are Christian and the major exports are gold, timber, cocoa, and diamonds.

Happy Birthday: Estee Lauder; Sydney Pollack; David Duke; Dan Akroyd, Canadian; Princess Diana; Pamela Anderson; Missy Elliott; and ultra-hot Liv Tyler, meow. Yeah, I said it.

Have a good day and Happy July (and Canada Day).