All - Leep Calendar

The thunder of chainsaws, the quick-footed birlers, the brute strength of sawyers and choppers, and the agility of pole climbers will keep your heart pounding throughout this fantastic world championship event! The Lumberjack World Championships® is the premiere global timber sports event where lumberjacks and lumberjills from around the world compete for a prize pool of over $60,000 and the title of World Champion. PLEASE NOTE: Treat all televised and venue-specific events (sporting, concerts, trade shows, etc.) as estimated. Several factors can cause an event to move dates at the last minute, including weather, strikes, natural disasters, political upheaval, conflicting programming, pandemics, and current events. Because of this, always verify the event with the promotor before committing resources. LEEP often estimates dates based on the previous year's schedules, as the final dates are unknown until a few months, weeks, or days before the event. If the date is known to be estimated, you will see an (est) following the date in the title.

Africa

Jul

Mac & Cheese Day, Ntl.: July 14

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Cheese-covered pasta, baked to a golden brown crust, food doesn't get much better than that. Macaroni and cheese, or simply mac and cheese, is a universally loved casserole you'll find worldwide. Kraft boxed it in 1937, becoming an instant hit with harried mothers. The actual origin of this dish traces back to the Italians (no surprise there), with some recipes dating back to the mid-13th century. Today it can be either a side dish or the main meal. It simply needs cheese and macaroni, the two base ingredients to be called mac and cheese. What you add to it makes it your own.

Africa

Jul

Macaroni Day, Ntl.: July 7

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Macaroni is a wheat-based tube-shaped pasta that can be short and fat or long and skinny. It is one of the critical ingredients of a stalwart of American cuisine, macaroni, and cheese. Pasta originated in Sicily in the year 1154. The dried noodles can be boiled or baked.

Africa

Jul

Made in the USA Day: July 2

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Made in the USA Day encourages American consumers to appreciate the goods produced in the United States and exercise their options to support American manufacturers and service providers. This day occurs during the July 4th Independence Day celebrations.

Africa

Jul

MAGA Month: July

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MAGA Month originated with a company marketing MAGA paraphernalia and is promoted by far-right acolytes in Congress and the media. MAGA disciples are encouraged to purchase and wear these products while flying American flags throughout the month. WHAT IS MAGA? Being conservative or a Republican does not make a person MAGA; however, nearly all MAGA people self-identify as conservative and Republican. MAGA, or "Make America Great Again," is the acronym mantra of the far-right authoritarian movement in the United States loyal to the 45th President, who was twice impeached and defeated in the 2020 presidential election. In November 2022, their leader announced he was again running for President, despite being impeached twice and indicted on an ever-growing list of criminal charges in the United States. MAGA purists promote a version of the United States based on extreme white Christian nationalism, misogyny, xenophobia, and conspiracy theories. Their vision seeks to eliminate or curtail environmental protections and civil rights while reorganizing support for the arts and education. The movement is hostile to the media, scientific, and historical facts, and Puritanical in its strict definitions of who and what is American, an attitude best displayed in its zealotry in banning information and selective historical revisionism. MAGA devotees believe they are victims and support democracy, yet their actions work against it. They are staunchly pro-gun, pro-forced birthing, and vocal in their disgust of government-funded social programs supporting families, individuals, and marginalized communities. Ironically, the states with the highest concentration of MAGA supporters are the states that benefit the most from government-funded social programs, illustrating an overt cognitive dissonance within the movement. FROM MOVEMENT TO CULT Supporters of MAGA, a movement created during the 2016 American presidential election, embrace all ten symptoms of a cult. 1) Their leader is their ultimate authority: lies are truth, and the truth is lies. 2) Skepticism is squashed. 3) Delegitimization, public ridicule, and shaming are used on all persons who speak against the group. 4) Paranoia, conspiracies, and a belief in victimization are prevalent. 5) MAGA followers reject anything that doesn't fit their narrative, shaming or threatening violence to hold the line. 6) They believe their beloved leader, the 45th president, is above the law. 7) Thought and opinion reinforcement occurs through a media ecosystem supporting their views; communication includes a unique language and symbols like "Let's go, Brandon" and "RINO." Anything not approved by the cult is labeled fake news, conspiracy, or lying. 8) There is little or no financial transparency. Money is sent to support specific actions, like a legal fund, and diverted to other uses. 9) MAGA devotees believe they're the only true Americans, pure patriots, and above all others. 10) Rallies, rituals, and rites are part of the social construct necessary to support group-think and inclusion. You're either in or out, loyal or not. PHILOSOPHY AUGMENTATION Disciples of MAGA treat the US Constitution the same way they treat parables in The Bible, using the lens of literalism. Rather than take the words in the context of the times and according to their historical writing styles, MAGA's interpretation is absolutist and politically informed by groups created in response to the rise of the mid-late twentieth-century civil rights movement. These groups include the John Birch Society (1958), the Cato Institute (1977), the Heritage Foundation (1973), and the Federalist Society (1982). Unlike its name, the Federalist Society has very little in common with the Federalist Papers it purports to represent. The others advocated for "freedom" and "liberty," nubilous descriptions of Orwellian euphemisms. Propagandists love the ambiguity of words like freedom and liberty because they're easy to rally behind, and each person has their definition. DISTORTION OF FAITH The MAGA version of Christianity relies on an absence of tolerance, an idea in direct contrast to the teachings of Jesus Christ. MAGA culture nurtures a belief of an impending armageddon, in which only they are "saved" via an idea invented in 1832 called "the rapture." This belief of impending doom plays a significant role in a MAGA disciple's positions on various issues, including the environment, vaccines, foreign affairs, immigration, education, etiquette, and societal support. It comes from an offshoot of Christianity that began in the 19th century called dispensationalism, which became the primary belief system of evangelicals upon publishing the Scofield Reference Bible in 1908. For dispensationalists and MAGA enthusiasts, the faster the world ends, the sooner they will be saved. Why work to make the world better? These are the End Times, they believe. A WELL-WORN PATH The rise of MAGA and its cult following falls in line with authoritarian movements of the early-mid 20th century. 1) Xenophobic attitudes create a threat via the "other" to rally support behind a common cause. 2) Extreme nationalism. 3) Promotion of violence. 4) Distrust of media, academia, and the sciences. 5) Loyalty to a person over the state. 6) Isolation and attacking minority groups. 7) Black-and-white thinking. These delegitimizing tactics leveled at a democratic government are well-documented steps to authoritarianism. Whether MAGA devotees realize it (most do not), they are a cult, and the path they seek to pave destroys democracy. MAGA Month exists to market to this cult and assists in its objectives. For more information on cults, see: https://medium.com/@zelphontheshelf/10-signs-youre-probably-in-a-cult-1921eb5a3857 https://freedomofmind.com

Africa

Jul

Make a Difference for Children Month: July

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A month to remind people of all the ways adults can be a positive influence on a child's life. Make a Difference for Children Month occurs each year in July, and this event first ran in 2006.

Africa

Jul

Make Your Own Sundae Day: July 11

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Created in 1992, Make Your Own Sundae Day is what it says: a day to get together with friends and make sundaes. It is a mid-summer excuse to get together, be creative, laugh, and eat a lot of ice cream!

Africa

Jul

Mangrove Day, Intl.: July 26

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International Mangrove Day raises awareness about a precious natural resource. Let me explain with a personal story. If you ever travel to Cinnamon Island in Sri Lanka, your tour guide will take you in a small skiff across the Koggala Lagoon to reach it. Before arriving at the island where cinnamon comes from, you'll slide into a long tunnel made of trees growing out of the water. The engine cuts and your world transforms, filled with the sounds of gently lapping water, bird calls, rustling reptiles, and buzzing insects shrouded in a cape of trees. For a minute or two, you drift through the mangrove tunnel, enchanted by sounds and gentle breeze. It's a magical experience unique to the ecosystem created by the mangrove tree. Mangroves grow near water throughout Asia and in the tropics. In 2015 UNESCO, seeking to preserve these precious natural resources, established International Mangrove Day. Then UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay explains: "Mangroves, located in tropical regions where land and sea meet, form unique ecosystems whose benefit for human beings, the environment, and biodiversity are considerable.[...] Yet today, the mangrove ecosystem is seriously threatened. It is estimated that global coverage of mangroves has been halved in 40 years, largely as a result of coastal development. [...] This International Day for the Conservation of the Mangrove Ecosystem is an invitation to renew our efforts to support the preservation of an ecosystem that is vital for our planet and its inhabitants."

Africa

Jul

Marine Week, Ntl. (UK): July 22 - August 6

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National Marine Week in the United Kingdom occurs the last week of July and into August. The week focuses on the UK's rich marine life and its diversity.

Africa

Jul

Marine/Oceans Day (JP): July 17

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Unsurprisingly, an island nation like Japan has a national holiday to celebrate the bounty and beauty of the sea. Marine or Oceans Day was first held in 1941 and is a national holiday.

Africa

Jul

Martyrdom of the Bab (1850): July 9

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Shirazi, Sayyid Ali Muhammad, referred to as The Bab, was a reformation leader in the Islamic faith who helped found the Baha'i faith. Considered their first prophet, he was executed on July 9, 1850, in Tabriz, Persia. Martyrdom of the Bab is a religious holiday in the Baha'i Faith.

Africa

Jul

Math 2.0 Day: July 8

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Math 2.0 Day celebrates the fusion of mathematics and STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) careers. Many knowledge careers in the 21st Century require a strong math and science background, and today is about exploring how mathematics and technology work together. Change the Equation shepherds this event, an Obama presidency initiative. Their website is no longer accessible. However, math and science professionals, teachers, and enthusiasts continue to support this day.

Africa

Jul

Meat Day, Independence From: July 4

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Independence from Meat Day is a vegetarian event directed at the BBQing public in the United States on Independence Day. Vegans and vegetarians encourage Americans to barbeque vegetables and forego meat. Sponsored by the Vegetarian Awareness Network.

Africa

Jul

Mid-Year Point: July 2

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July 2 is the mid-year point of the year, the 183rd day of the common year, or the 184th day of the leap year in the Gregorian calendar.

Africa

Jul

Milk Chocolate Day, Ntl.: July 28

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National Milk Chocolate Day celebrates the sweet and creamy version of chocolate favored by children known as milk chocolate. Adults prefer darker chocolate, which is higher in cocoa with less sugar. All chocolate contains the mood-enhancing properties of theobromine and anandamide, which create a sense of bliss. Milk chocolate was first available as a drink, created by Jordan & Timaeus of Dresden, Germany, around 1845. Daniel Peter mixed powdered milk and dark chocolate in 1875 and created the first milk chocolate candy bar that year called "Gala Peter." Milk chocolate was further enhanced in the coming years by Henri Nestlé, who happened to be a friend of Peter. Based upon the success of Gala Peter, they went on to found Nestlé Foods. Conching, or the process of heating and grinding chocolate solids to make the consistency creamier and effortlessly blended, was developed by Rodolphe Lindt. Milton Hershey economized the whole process, resulting in mass-produced milk chocolate. And, of course, the men mentioned above became millionaires from their foray with cocoa. Lindt, Nestlé, and Hershey continue to be household chocolate names.

Africa