Salute Our Stars and Stripes
 The U.S. flag’s presence is ubiquitous, yet many citizens don’t know the basics of purchasing or maintaining one. In honor of Flag Day, June 14, AmericanFlags.com offers some tips on these topics:

Quality: Low-cost flags are often foreign-made and wear quickly. Thus, they will often cost more in the long run due to frequent replacement.
Fabric: Nylon is the most popular fabric because it’s durable, lightweight and flies well in even the slightest breeze. Cotton is traditional, but it wears more quickly and is heavier.

  

Size: Size should vary according to a flag’s flagpole height. The typical size of a flag on a 20-foot flagpole or home kit is 3 feet by 5 feet.

Direction: If you’re displaying the flag over the middle of a street, fly it with the union (the stars) to the north on an east-and-west street or to the east on a north-and-south street.

Disposal: Never fly a flag that’s damaged or worn. When it is time to dispose of an old flag, contact your local American Legion hall, Veterans of Foreign Wars chapter or Boy Scout troop. They can dispose of a worn flag properly.

—NewsUSA

 

“Fish and guests stink in three days.”
—Benjamin Franklin

 “No human being, however great, or powerful, was ever so free as a fish.”
—John Ruskin

 “No good fish goes anywhere without a porpoise.”
—Lewis Carroll

 “In the morning, be first up, and, in the evening, last to go to bed, for they that sleep catch no fish.”
—English proverb

 “Beware of fishing for compliments—you might come up with a boot.”
—Carol Weston

 “When you fish for love, bait with your heart, not your brain.”
—Mark Twain

Friday the 13th Doesn’t Have to Be Unlucky

 For 17-21 million Americans, June 13 will be a day for staying in bed, refusing to fly or avoiding the start of a new venture. Why? They’re afflicted with paraskevidekatriaphobia, an irrational fear of Friday the 13th.

According to Dr. Donald Dossey, the psychotherapist who coined the term, paraskevidekatriaphobics exhibit symptoms from mild anxiety to panic attacks.

The dread of Friday the 13th as a day of bad luck is a combination of two separate fears— the number 13 and Fridays. Neither aversion has a scientific basis, but both have roots in early Western culture, especially in Christian theology.

 

For Christians, they represent both the number of people present with Jesus at the Last Supper and the day of his crucifixion.

 Ancient Norse mythology also played a past role in this supposedly unlucky day. Balder, the god of joy and gladness, was killed at a banquet by an uninvited 13th guest. Subsequently, one of the most-rooted false beliefs regarding this date is that 13 people eating a meal together will bring misfortune.

People aren’t the only ones affected by the age-old evil folklore of 13 and Friday. According to Dossey, more than 80 percent of high-rise buildings forgo a 13th floor, while many hospitals and hotels have no room number 13.