03/22/21 is World Water Day

Today is day 81 of the Gregorian Calendar year, Sweetmorn, Discord 8, 3187 YOLD And let us not forget 13.0.8.6.12 mlc (the Mayan Long Count)

Water, water, every where,
And all the boards did shrink;
Water, water, every where,
Nor any drop to drink.

It is World Water Day It's also 224 miles from Flint Michigan to Cleveland Ohio, about three and a half hours by car.

YouTube Video

Potable water is getting scarcer and scarcer, especially on a per capita basis. Aquifers and water tables are dropping and even if they weren't we're poisoning them, along with our rivers, lakes, seas and oceans and it's not something one can fix with a little bit more chlorine.

While the US is far luckier than many other places such as India, things still aren't at all rosy. The Oglalla Aquifer which supplies about 30% of the groundwater used for irrigation in this country and about 80% of the drinking water for about 2.3 million people could be depleted by 2028. 2028 - 2021 is simply too damn soon for comfort.

Consider that it takes twice as much water to make a plastic water bottle as it will eventually hold, and, in the end, almost all of them are simply thrown away. Of course, some water is wasted in filling and shipping them too. An interesting overview on the hidden water in things may be found here: https://www.watercalculator.org/footprint/the-hidden-water-in-everyday-products/

On this day in history:

1508 – Ferdinand II of Aragon made Amerigo Vespucci chief navigator of the Spanish Empire. 1622 – Algonquians killed 347 English colonists around Jamestown in reprisals for colonist raids, attacks and massacres. 1630 – The Massachusetts Bay Colony outlawed cards, dice, and gaming tables. 1638 – Anne Hutchinson was exiled from Massachusetts Bay Colony for heresy 1713 – The Tuscarora War came to an end 1739 – Nader Shah occupied Delhi, sacked the city, and stole the jewels of the Peacock Throne. 1765 – The British Parliament passed the Stamp Act 1784 – The Emerald Buddha was moved to its current location 1794 – The Slave Trade Act of 1794 banned the export of slaves from the US 1872 – Illinois became the first state to require gender equality in employment. 1873 – The Spanish National Assembly abolished slavery in Puerto Rico. 1895 – Auguste and Louis Lumière demonstrated movie film technology for the first time in public. 1945 – The Arab League was founded 1960 – Arthur Leonard Schawlow and Charles Hard Townes received the first patent for a laser. 1972 – The United States Congress sent the Equal Rights Amendment to the states for ratification. 1972 – The Supremes ruled that unwed persons have the right to own contraceptives. 1995 – Cosmonaut Valeri Polyakov returned to earth after 438 days in space. 2004 – The Israeli Air Force murdered Ahmed Yassin, two bodyguards, and nine civilian bystanders using Hellfire missiles.

Born this day in:

I do not ask for my rights. I have no rights. I have only wrongs.

~~ Caroline Norton

1394 – Ulugh Beg, astronomer and mathematician 1503 – Antonio Francesco Grazzini, Italian author and educator 1517 – Gioseffo Zarlino, Italian composer 1599 – Anthony van Dyck, painter and etcher 1615 – Katherine Jones, Viscountess Ranelagh, scientist 1785 – Adam Sedgwick, scientist 1808 – Caroline Norton, feminist, social reformer, and author 1812 – Stephen Pearl Andrews, Aauthor and activist 1822 – Ahmed Cevdet Pasha, sociologist, historian, scholar, statesman and jurist 1846 – Randolph Caldecott, illustrator and painter 1868 – Robert Andrews Millikan, physicist, Nobel Prize laureate 1884 – Arthur H. Vandenberg, journalist and politician 1892 – Charlie Poole, banjo player 1901 – Greta Kempton, painter 1902 – Johannes Brinkman, architect, designed the Van Nelle Factory 1903 – Bill Holman, cartoonist 1908 – Louis L'Amour, novelist and short story writer 1909 – Gabrielle Roy, author and educator 1910 – Nicholas Monsarrat, sailor and author 1912 – Agnes Martin, painter and educator 1914 – John Stanley, author and illustrator 1917 – Irving Kaplansky, mathematician and academic 1919 – Bernard Krigstein, illustrator 1920 – Fanny Waterman, pianist and educator 1920 – Katsuko Saruhashi, geochemist 1923 – Marcel Marceau, mime and actor 1924 – Al Neuharth, journalist and author 1929 – Yayoi Kusama, artist 1930 – Stephen Sondheim, composer and songwriter 1931 – Burton Richter, physicist and academic 1935 – Galina Gavrilovna Korchuganova, test pilot and aerobatics champion 1936 – Ron Carey, trade union leader 1936 – Roger Whittaker, singer-songwriter and guitarist 1937 – Jon Hassell, trumpet player and composer 1940 – George Edward Alcorn, Jr. physicist and inventor 1941 – Billy Collins, poet 1941 – Jeremy Clyde, singer-songwriter and guitarist 1942 – Jorge Ben Jor, singer-songwriter 1943 – George Benson, singer-songwriter and guitarist 1943 – Keith Relf, singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer 1946 – Rudy Rucker, mathematician, computer scientist, and author 1946 – Harry Vanda, singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer 1948 – Andrew Lloyd Webber, composer, cat fancier, and director 1957 – Stephanie Mills, actress and singer 1973 – Beverley Knight, singer-songwriter and producer

Died this day in:

None are more hopelessly enslaved than those who falsely believe they are free

~~ Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

1144 – William of Norwich, child murder victim 1602 – Agostino Carracci, painter and educator 1772 – John Canton, physicist and academic 1832 – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, novelist, poet, playwright, and diplomat 1840 – Étienne Bobillier, mathematician and academic 1976 – John Dwyer McLaughlin, painter 1991 – Dave Guard, singer-songwriter and guitarist 1994 – Dan Hartman, singer-songwriter, and producer 1994 – Walter Lantz, animator, director, and producer 1996 – Don Murray, drummer 1996 – Billy Williamson, guitarist 2004 – Janet Akyüz Mattei, astronomer and academic 2005 – Rod Price, guitarist and songwriter 2005 – Kenzo Tange, architect 2006 – Pío Leyva, singer and author 2007 – U. G. Krishnamurti, philosopher and educator 2008 – Cachao López, bassist and composer 2010 – James Black, biologist and pharmacologist 2012 – David Waltz, computer scientist and academic (b. 1943) 2013 – Bebo Valdés, pianist and composer 2013 – Derek Watkins, trumpet player and composer

Holidays, Holy Days, Festivals, Feast Days, Days of Recognition, and such: World Water Day (International)

Music goes here, iirc, well, With apologies ;-)

Gioseffo Zarlino

Charlie Poole

Chico Marx

Roger Whittaker

Jon Hassel