Sunday Funday - July 19, 2020

Sunday Funday

Hey Folks!!  It is Sunday, July 19th

Let’s see what we can find for today (and this week)

National Days!!

TODAY - July 19th - the Third Sunday of July - NATIONAL ICE CREAM DAY!!!

U.S. Ice Cream Facts

https://nationaldaycalendar.com/national-ice-cream-day-third-sunday-in-july/

• Ben Franklin, George Washington, and Thomas Jefferson enjoyed ice cream.

• 1813 -First Lady Dolley Madison served ice cream at the Inaugural Ball.

• 1832 – African American confectioner, Augustus Jackson, created multiple ice cream recipes as well as a superior technique to manufacture ice cream.

• 1843 – Philadelphian, Nancy Johnson, received the first U.S. patent for a small-scale hand-cranked ice cream freezer.

• 1920 – Harry Burt puts the first ice cream trucks on the streets.

An astonishing fact regarding Thomas Jefferson – his recipe for Old Fashioned Vanilla Ice Cream is believed to be the oldest recipe for ice cream in the USA.

In 1984, President Ronald Reagan proclaimed July as National Ice Cream Month and established National Ice Cream Day as the third Sunday in July.

And, if that wasn’t enough - Thursday, July 23rd is National VANILLA Ice Cream Day!!
https://nationaldaycalendar.com/national-vanilla-ice-cream-day-july-23/

And next Saturday, July 25th is National Hot Fudge Sundae day

https://nationaldaycalendar.com/national-hot-fudge-sundae-day-july-25/ 

And, just to round out your taste buds - Tuesday, July 21st is National Junk Food Day, and Thursday, July 23rd is National Hot Dog Day!!

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A couple in Trinidad have created a garden specifically to attract the island’s endangered hummingbirds, with 15 species spotted in the sanctuary. Their yard is sown with plants that hummingbirds enjoy and special nectar feeders — and they’ve even managed to treat some injured birds.

Q:  And, do you know why Hummingbirds Hum?  

A:  Because they forgot the words!!!

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Drugs - from China?

about 80 percent of the active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) used to make drugs in the United States are said to come from China and other countries like India

One expert said ““If you’re the Chinese and you want to really just destroy us, just stop sending us antibiotics,”

(Okay, I do have to comment.  I would like to only buy American goods, and I would also like to export American goods.  BUT, we have ended up in a global economy - and it can be pretty messy.  Last winter when President Trump suggested tariffs on Chinese goods, China threatened to stop importing American agricultural products.  Yes, I would like to see the balance of trade in our (US) favor, but it isn’t going to happen.)

And, while we are talking importing from China, one of the latest fears is the TikTok social media package - and how that data could be used by the Chinese company that supposedly has close ties to the Chinese government.

And, while we are here - what about 5G networks?

Barron’s Magazine had this article:

“This time, the outlet for frustration isn’t tariffs but technology. U.S. and China are locked in a race to dominate the next wave of wireless communications—and it just got ugly.

On Friday [May 15, 2020], the U.S. stepped up its efforts to block China’s development of fifth-generation, or 5G, communications, taking aim at Huawei Technologies, the privately held Chinese firm that’s now the world’s largest telecom-equipment maker and a leading supplier of 5G gear.

Communications, artificial intelligence, and data promise to shape the coming decades—and neither country wants to fall behind. It isn’t dissimilar to the U.S.-Soviet Union race into space and then to the moon.

Do you want your data to be going over lines developed and owned by Chinese companies?  In theory, the network doesn’t do data analysis, just passes things back and forth - like the United States Post Office only delivers the mail - and doesn’t read it.  And for what I do, who cares if my data goes over networks that use Chinese technology?

And … from over a year ago - so China gets our money and we get their products.  And, Chinese investors buy American stocks and bonds and even government treasury bonds.  Chinese-owned firms do have shares in a lot of American companies

Pass the bacon: “Smithfield Foods, Inc., is a pork producer and food processing company based in Smithfield, Virginia, in the United States, and a wholly-owned subsidiary of WH Group of China. Founded in 1936 as the Smithfield Packing Company by Joseph W. Luter and his son, the company is the largest pig and pork producer in the world.”

So, not all news is positive, but - hey - do celebrate the Ice Cream, Junk Food, and Hot Dogs days!!!

Hugs!!

Karen