Outlook tonight: dark, with gradual brightening by morning

Here’s the current weather warning for northern and central New Mexico:

SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ARE NOT ANTICIPATED TODAY OR TONIGHT. HOWEVER…
STRONG THUNDERSTORMS CAN BE EXPECTED ACROSS PORTIONS OF THE STATE
TODAY WITH HAIL UP TO ONE HALF INCH IN DIAMETER…WINDS UP
TO 55 MPH…AND HEAVY TO VERY HEAVY RAIN. RAINS WILL RESULT IN
LOCALIZED FLOODING OF ARROYOS AND SMALL STREAMS…AS WELL AS SOME
LOW LYING AREAS AND STREETS IN THE URBAN AREAS.

Hail to half an inch, 55 mph winds, very heavy rain and flooding. But severe storms are NOT anticipated.

“Severe” thunderstorms must include frogs, boils, locusts and death of the first born.

Which Reminds me of a Story…

Functional Ambivalent pokes a little fun at NewMexiKen —

Best blog buddy NewMexiKen is celebrating actual rain after months or years or maybe decades of little or none in his home town of Albquerque, New Mexico. Which, I feel obligated to point out, is in the middle of a desert. Still the normally sensible NewMexiKen seems shocked and disturbed that it doesn’t rain there.

but goes on to tell a funny story about L.A. TV weathermen. (Whose ranks once included Pat Sajak.)

Best line of the day, so far

“Oh, for crying out loud.

“The whole point of America is that you can burn the flag. Nothing sums up her greatness so succinctly.”

Andrew Tobias

Fort Union National Monument (New Mexico)

… was created on this date in 1954, when President Eisenhower signed a bill authorizing the Secretary of the Interior to acquire the site and remaining structures.

Fort Union was established in 1851 by Lieutenant Colonel Edwin V. Sumner as a guardian and protector of the Santa Fe Trail. During it’s forty-year history, three different forts were constructed close together. The third and final Fort Union was the largest in the American Southwest, and functioned as a military garrison, territorial arsenal, and military supply depot for the southwest. Today, visitors use a self-guided tour path to visit the second fort and the large, impressive ruins of the third Fort Union. The largest visible network of Santa Fe Trail ruts can be seen here.

Fort Union National Monument

Archduke Franz Ferdinand

… was assassinated in Sarajevo on this date in 1914, igniting what we know as World War I.

Franz Ferdinand was the nephew of Emperor Franz Josef of Austria-Hungary. After the Emperor’s son had committed suicide and Ferdinand’s own father had died, Ferdinand was first in succession to the Emperor. He was considered likely to be a reformer, which upset Balkan nationalists.

In all, there were seven assassins along the route of the Archduke’s car, all Bosnian Serbs. The third of the seven, Nedelko Cabrinovic,

threw a bomb, but failed to see the car in time to aim well: he missed the heir’s car and hit the next one, injuring several people. Cabrinovic swallowed poison and jumped into a canal, but he was saved from suicide and arrested. He died of tuberculosis in prison in 1916.

The seventh was Gavrilo Princip.

Princip heard Cabrinovic’s bomb go off and assumed that the Archduke was dead. By the time he heard what had really happened, the cars had driven by. By bad luck, a little later the returning procession missed a turn and stopped to back up at a corner just as Princip happened to walk by. Princip fired two shots: one killed the archduke, the other his wife. Princip was arrested before he could swallow his poison capsule or shoot himself. Princip too was a minor under Austrian law, so he could not be executed. Instead he was sentenced to 20 years in prison, and died of tuberculosis in 1916.

It was the Archduke and Sophie’s fourteenth wedding anniversary. The Archduke’s last words were, “Sophie dear, Sophie dear, don’t die! Stay alive for our children.”

In the aftermath of the assassination, diplomatic efforts failed, perhaps because both Austria and Serbia feared loss of national prestige. Austria declared war on Serbia. Germany sided with Austria; Russia supported Serbia as required by treaty. France was obligated to support Russia in any war with Germany or Austria-Hungary. Britain was obligated to support France in an any war with Germany.

Source for quotes and some background: The Balkan Causes of World War One

Best line of the day, so far

“Heavy rains caused so much flooding in Washington, D.C. they had to close down the National Archives where they keep the Constitution. Luckily, the Bush administration’s not using the Constitution anymore.”

Jay Leno