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July 31, 2020
The Outrageous Gore Vidal
Gore Vidal
Gore Vidal
October 3, 1925 – July 31, 2012

    
I used to be a much more liberal mindset that I am presently.

I tolerated other libtards in my midst to a much greater degree than I do now. One of those was Gore Vidal. He was a hoity toity man of aires and pretentiousness who was a fairly prolific author with a writing style entirely too similar to my own ...

He practiced all manner of activism and debauchery during his life time. His political inclinations were downright nauseating.

Eugene Luther Gore Vidal was an American writer and self agrandizing intellectual known for his succinct and often clever witty reparte and aphorisms, aristocratic manner, and a writing style which exhibited those characteristics to a tee.

He was openly bisexual and his novel works often flaunted the LGBT lifestyle to the point that he set a precendent for such drivel at the time ... hence my utter disdain.

He pursued political office several times having been the products of conception of a political family. His commentary and essays portrayed The Republic as that same type of decadent and debauched thing he was.

He was all over the magazines of the time anxious to relate any and all manner of the liberal and profane.

He passed from pneumonia and the consequences of a neurologic disorer at the advanced age of 86 years. He was memorialized in New York which is like Los Angeles — precisely where he belonged.

I've read several of his books over the years and though our politics and attitudes differ by a great margin he made his mark on the world whereas I have not even attempted go there, opting for a low profile as it were.

Good riddance to the pervert and that stain and taint he placed upon the humanity.

Tags: people, places, things, politics, endings
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July 30, 2020
On this day in 1975 Jimmy Hoffa disappears
    Jimmy Hoffa

I recall the disappearance of Jimmy Hoffa as related on the news. However, the news is always painfully unaware of the facts behind what they broadcast or print and lately they've taken to making up their own material in an effort to sway the opinion of the massess ...

This was a particularly dark time in my existence with me attempting to find my way through those myriad mistakes that layed waste to my life and it was a long and hard journey which persisted well after the memories of Hoffa's murder faded in my memory.

In what was a personal tragedy for his family, Jimmy Hoffa, activist and president of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT) from 1957 until 1971 disappeared from the face of the earth never to be seen again.

The speculation was much and varied with the general consensus in the end that he was killed by his competition for the leadership of the union. This whack went down in the parking lot of the Machus Red Fox restaurant in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, near Detroit, at around 2:30 pm.

The saddest part of the entire mess was that lack of sympathy for the man I felt radiated from those discussing the matter. I suppose this was the beginning of people losing their humanity and empathy for their fellows and though Hoffa might well have deserved what he got in the eyes of many; still he paid a tough price for his political inclinations.

He disappeared on July 30, 1975 and believed to have been murdered by the Mafia. He was declared legally dead in 1982. That which he was and how he ended have been and remain matters of protracted debate.
 

Tags: politics, people, places, things, endings
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July 29, 2020
International Tiger Day 2020
Never have been one to pursue the presence of apex predators. Something about some animal as large as me viewing me as lunch is simply not the comforting thought I would actively seek.

Today is International Tiger Day, aka 'Global' Tiger Day. It is a yearly observance held to raise awareness for tiger conservation.

Each July 29 it attempts to promote a goal of protecting the natural habitats of tigers and to raise public awareness and support for tiger conservation issues internationally.

The day began in 2010 under the auspices of the Saint Petersburg Tiger Summit.

While I don't wish ill for any endangered beast of the world; I likewise don't wish to become nourishment for them either.

Tiger

Tags: things
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July 28, 2020
Female Attraction and Me
Lois Griffin    
Well ... the jury remains out on women who are attracted to we larger stature of the human male.

Not really being a 'fatty fat fat' as I may have been in childhood, I have evolved yet again into quite the corpulent fellow from more of a mesomorphic than endomorphic body type with the addition of those consequences of age and low T.

I keep reading about women who are attracted to so-called 'big guys' such as myself but I really haven't found that to be a target rich environment in my lifetime; however ...

There are extenuating circumstances with which a female of the species might find contentious if they become engaged in my sphere of existence.

There's a propensity for me to be somewhat the loner and I appreciate my down time and my solitude at times. This often comes off as aloofness when in fact I'm typically quite approachable and gregarious when engaged socially at any moment. Even if I'm 'cranky' it is typically not a problem for those in my midst as I have been working on this for some 40 years now.

My interests are sometimes described as esoteric and I'm afraid that some of the females I encounter simply could not care less for those things which interest me on a regular basis.

   
Age is also a factor. There was a time which I may have felt a twinge of desire periodically in matters of pairing off and interpersonal relations from a standpoint of coupling and I dare say those days will likely never pass this way again.

So in the total absence of despiration what is left is who I am and what I do and those brief interludes of conversation have me thinking that some ladies for whom there is no attraction whatsoever are indicating that they think I wish to make unwanted advances. Pah-tooey

I'd be personally offended if I didn't think it was so funny otherwise. When I think of what I have and what they have juggling their six toddlers from obviously different fathers I am left wondering if priorities even exist sometimes.

So who I am is what I am and I could be a good mate were it in the cards. The bulk of what I do precludes much in the way of pursuing other interests and that solitude thing is something I could consider factorial.

Those who I engage both understand the nature of who I am and have an appreciation for those aspects of my existence which intersect their own interests.

I have a penchant for the finer points of lovey dovey which is easily satisfied in a number of scenarios and this is a fairly well known fact as well and is exploited by the initiated to our mutual advantage.

Also, I don't view anyone so acceptable as to surrender my lifestyle in compromise at this juncture. Like the concept of "I'm glad you came but now you've got to go" is more important to me than pack your bags and move in ... it's just not happening out of the blue like it could have earlier in the great scheme of things.

   
This is not to say that I don't cheerfully accept my fair share of rejection either. My most recent attempt at some modicum of relationship was thwarted by the object of my affection such that all I could do is retreat ... and so I did.

    pork belly
It must be too late for me and I must be too satisfied otherwise because I really don't lose any sleep over any level of acceptance or lack thereof.

Whereas I was more relationshp centric early on I'd just as soon sleep alone these days with the occasional guest from time to time ... when she's of the minimal requirements I set for intimate company. I wasn't always so picky but that was then and this is now. It's been this way since about 1980 and the advent of deadly STDs available to the foolhardy.

Top 5 Male Body Shapes Women Rate in the Bedroom

Overweight / plus-size men:38%
Athletic / muscley men:21%
Tall men (taller than 6 foot):13%
Short men (shorter than 5 foot 8):10%
Slim / petite men:

9%
Top 5 Reasons Why Women Rate ‘Overweight / Plus-Size Men’ Between the Sheets

They seemed more eager to please me than themselves:42%
They were more caring and gentle:42%
They made me feel less self-conscious about my body:27%
I had better orgasms:19%
They were more adventurous and willing to try new things:14%

5 Scientific Reasons Why Women Love Fat Guys
https://www.fatherly.com/health-science/romantic-advantages-for-fat-guys

Tags: things
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July 27, 2020
Teevee Robots and Me
So I recall the advent of sex robots and my contempt for them, their inventors, and the poor pitiful customers willing to spend great quantities of cash on their acquisition.

Yes, the socialization and interpersonal abilities of the manufacturers as well as the customers have been the subject of pondering in my mind for I believe that people should partner with other people and that these types of relationships are not suited to automatons nor lower life forms.

    Arisa from Better than Us
I have been watching a Russian television series called Better than Us which is streaming on Netflix.

In the immediate future robotics have become commonplace in the lives of people. They help in matters of child raising, operate personal conveyences, act as security personnel, and yes ... lovers for those who purchase them.

The bulk of the people in the series consider these "Bots" as soulless machines attending to a never ending stream of routine duties ... then also become capable of emotions.

A group of people called "The Liquidators" reject this automation in humanity and have declared war on the machines and those who support their use.

There are three sub plots:

• My personal favorite, that of Arisa and the family whom she adopts.

• Another plot involves The Liquidators, and their involvment with the only son of Arisa's family.

• Finally, the intrigue of Viktor Toropov who is the head of CRONOS, involved in concealing the fact that his company cannot make another automated empath such as the superior Arisa.

Arisa is beautiful, caring, smart, and powerful. She has the ability to fight, use weapons, and has built in countermeasures in the face of adversity and danger.

The portrayal of Arisa by Russian actress Paulina Andreeva is nothing less than stunning with the robotic look portrayed and the abilities to engage in warfare with firearms and tactical weapons and remain unscathed functionally.

The humanity projected from this automaton is the part that touches me with her ability to detect and thwart subterfuge and attempts to make her hurt others.

Tags: technology, people, places, things
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July 26, 2020
Regis Philbin passed at age 88
Regis Philbin    
One of those television personalities who were "always there" was Regis Philbin.

He had a morning am television program I watched intermittently back in those days when I was watching the mainstream media prior to departing for hell on stupidity scorched earth aka Midlands Technical Collage Harbison campus.

He had some decline in the state of his recent health with orthopedic, cardiac and circulatory system procedures and he enjoyed a longer run than I'll probably have.

Bottom line here is he could do television without the personal attacks to which the mainstream media has devolved and projected a niceness we no longer see on television anymore.

His was a kinder, gentler, more polite form of televison.

On July 24, 2020 Regis Philbin died of natural causes at the age of 88.

Rest in peace.

Tags: people, places, things, endings
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July 25, 2020
Steve Rubell Kicked Off on This Day in 1989
Steve Rubell was an American entrepreneur and co-owner of the New York disco Studio 54 back in my Navy days. I read of the antics of this character in the various New York newspapers circulated aboard ship by my cohorts who hailed primarily from "the city" as they called it ... and they were all interesting fellows and each one with a distinct rude yankee persona all their own.

I loved yapping with these guys from time to time because you could never win with them. Whether it was an argument or a bit of wrestling in the compartment there was nothing which could stop them ... ever. It simply wasn't worth trying to engage them regarding anything for which they had an opinion nor challenging them to some manner of horseplay.

The were all pretty relentless.

So Steve Rubell was part of that time in my life because of the contingent of New Yorkers with whom I cohabitated in the tin can Navy. I was fine with him during this time frame because of his distance and disparate circumstances.

After brief stints in the military and some time at a brokerage as well as two restaurants in the great northeast Yankee land the Studio 54 phase of his life went into effect.

This was the phony patent leather era of shitty music called 'disco' and all the air head females who had nothing more to do than either go out dancing or preparing for going out dancing during the remainder of their lives.

My kingdom for a woman who can converse intelligently. They were more sparse than anything else in the waning days of Studio 54, disco, and the stupid closet case Steve Rubell.

Steve Rubell
Steve Rubell
December 2, 1943 – July 25, 1989
    
Studio 54 was opened in the old CBS Studio on West 54th Street that the network sold to them.

Rubell became the front man standing outside the building and spending his time wielding that great power he imagined having by turning people away and only allowing entry to those who met his narrow, boring, perverse standards.

Rubell also handled Studio 54's celebrity patrons, with over the top parties and things proved profitable early on with the joint making some $7 million during its premiere year.

The mouthy nature of Steve Rubell proved problematic and his bragadoccio earned him raids on the property and various criminal charges and it's said that the owners engaged in a "cash skim" policy when netted them almost 2.5 million dollars which ended up as unreported income. Prison time became the order of the day.

In 1985, Rubell, who was a closeted homosexual for the bulk of his life discovered he had contracted HIV and this evolved to full blown AIDS.

He began taking AZT, but continued recreational drug use and drinking reeked havoc on his already compromised immune system.

Shortly prior to dying Rubell checked into Beth Israel Medical Center in New York City under an alias to seek treatment for hepatitis, kidney failure, and severe peptic ulcers.

He passed there on July 25, 1989 with an official cause of death is listed as hepatitis and septic shock complicated by AIDS.

His was a private funeral attended mostly by celebrity customers of Studio 54. He is interred at Beth Moses Cemetery in Farmingdale, New York.

Later, Mike Myers portrayed Steve Rubell in the 1998 drama film 54. Golly gee, casting an insufferable asshole to play an insufferable asshole in a movie. Life's little ironies. Go figure.

Good Riddance.

Tags: people, places, things, health, endings
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July 24, 2020
COVID-19 results in 59% of Americans Not Planning Gym Renewals
So, in a story that hits home with me it seems that more than half of gym memberships will not be renewed directly as the result of the so-called COVID-19 pandemic.

A survey published Thursday, the online broker TD Ameritrade states that 59% of Americans releate they don’t intend to renew their gym memberships once the pandemic is over.

Barbell
As IF the pandemic will ever be over. This so-called pandemic is the stuff of leftist libtard government officials trying to seize power over the populace ... why they are being allowed to live is well beyond me.

Even my blessed mother has said she will not be returning to her gym classes and these were things she enjoyed prior to the world allowing China to unleash this plague upon the world and then doing nothing.

It is said the primary driving factor behind this statistic is that the 'pandemic' has caused individuals to seek and find more cost effective mechanisms of fitness in their personal lives.

The impact of government intervention has further impeded gym businesses and the cold hard facts remain that too many of the wrong people were elected to office ... so you're pretty much reaping the suffering your democratic libtard attitude has sowed into the fabric of The Republic.

You who allowed this to happen can just suffer with the rest of us who spoke out against it all by electing President Trump.

Tags: world, people, places, things, health
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July 23, 2020
Essential Types of Documents
palm frond  
Power of Attorney (POA) – This document allows the person that you appoint as your agent to make financial transactions for you while you’re still alive but unable to do so yourself. For example, if you’re diagnosed with dementia, or have a car accident, having this document in place will allow someone to go to the bank for you or pay your bills. This document is only valid while you are alive.

Health care proxy – This person, or agent as it’s often called, is basically a “medical power of attorney.” He or she can make medical decisions for you if you are unable. For example, if you suffer from a disability and can’t speak to doctors or consider the medical information being given to you, your health care proxy can do it for you.

Living will – This document details your wishes for the advanced stages of your life. The health care proxy can use this list to understand what you want to happen in different situations of illness. For example, if you are incapacitated or need a feeding tube, you can stipulate in your living will what you would like to happen. Do you want to be kept on life support? Do you want to receive pain medications? It is helpful to think ahead about what you want and assist your health care proxy in making decisions for you if you’re unable.

Living trust – In some states, trusts are very common because they allow the trustee to bypass the court and the probate process that comes with a will. The trust can also continue on after your death. For example, you could name yourself the trustee and after your death or if you’re no longer able to hold the position of trustee, someone else can step up to the plate to manage your assets.

Last will and testament – This is a traditional will where, among other things, you will outline where you would like your investments and money to go upon your death.

Letter of instruction – This is not a legal document, but it is a great way to put down on paper your wishes for your funeral and other personal desires about cremation, burial and ceremony.

Insurance documents – In order to get the full benefit of your insurance plans, whether they be life or long term care, it's a good idea to compile the policy papers to make for easy reference. Draw up your own at-a-glance overview that includes company name, policy numbers, dates issued, benefit terms, contact information for the agents who issued the policies. Make it easy to access the benefts of these valuable plans and to pass them along to loved ones when need be.

Here are some helpful tips when considering all documents:

Update docs periodically – Review these documents every 3 to 5 years, especially if there is a major life change. Examples include a divorce, a death, a new child or a change in friendship or business relationship with one of your executors.

Name successor agents – Each time you name an agent as your power of attorney or health care proxy, it’s possible to list more than one in order of succession. This gives you options should one of your agents become unable to perform the duties you have asked him or her to do.

Get recommendations – If you’re using a lawyer to complete the documents, talk to family and loved ones about who they had prepare their documents. It’s best to also check rates so you are careful about who you use and the total cost. Consider using a certified elder law attorney if you’re preparing documents late in life.

Tags: people, things, world, endings
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July 22, 2020
Judy Garland passed on this day in 1969
    Judy Garland
When I was a younger kid I was all about Judy Garland. I suppose it was due to her portrayal of Dorothy Gale in The Wizard of Oz. At any rate the allure lasted throughout my childhood up until that time that I gained more social awareness of those pitfalls associated with fame and fortune ...

Namely those frailties which surface involving relationships and drug abuse. She was the archetypal actress/superstar of her era and I was on the tail end of that time.

Judy Garland was born Frances Ethel Gumm and grew from a singer, vaudevillian and dancer with the Gumm Sisters to an international star for both musical and dramatic roles.

She was also a recording artist and received many awards throughout her lifetime and she enjoyed the acclaim and esteem for the bulk of her rapidly waining years.

Struggles associated with her personal life plagued her early on and she likely was given bad self image from film executives who had the audacity and unmitigaged gall to voice that they considered her unattractive.

Her issues ran the gamut from owing back taxes through various and sundry other financial and interpersonal instabilities which impeded what could have and should have been a wonderful life with a public who adored her.

She turned to alcohol and other substance abuse and passed in London from an accidental barbiturate overdose on June 22, 1969. She was a mere 47 years old.

Still, when she crosses my thoughts I have flashbacks of her singing "Over the Rainbow" and I wish her life had worked out more in her favor instead of those with whom she surrounded herself.

Rest in peace.

Tags: people, things, endings
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July 21, 2020
Jay Silverheels Gets Star in 1979
Harold Jay Smith aka Jay Silverheels    
When I was a kid I watched The Lone Ranger religiously. Clayton Moore and Jay Silverheels were staples of my childhood for the entirety of at least their first run ... and likely well in to syndication as well.

I wasn't so much a fan of westerns per se, but more so a fan of characters and theirs struck a cord in my television watching and thusly I persisted thoughtout my childhood. They were simply always there; a standard to which other programs were compared.

Harold Jay Smith aka Jay Silverheels was a Mohawk (also, an Aboriginal Canadian and superb athlete) and is noteworthy being the first Native American to get a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. It was on this day in 1979 he got his star.

That would have placed me a month or so out of the Navy and so I really wasn't all that I would become at that point.

Dr Ted Rotz the radiologist called me a "late bloomer".

    Jay Silverheels Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame
He was a horseman who raised, bred and raced Standardbred horses in his off time. He was once asked if he would consider racing Scout, his steed from the television series in a race to which he responded that he could outrun the horse, ie, likely not.

He was married in 1945 and the father of four daughters named Marilyn, Gail, Pamela, and Karen, and a son, Jay Anthony Silverheels Junior who followed his father into acting.

His end came after a stroke in 1976 — from which he lingered for years before passing in 1980. He was cremated and his remains returned to the Six Nations Reserve in Ontario.

Thus ended a pillar of my childhood. Soft spoken but a powerful and effective portrayer of Native Americans I have always remembered Jay Silverheels as a symbol of dignity over the years.

Tags: people, endings
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July 20, 2020
International Chess Day 2020
Chess Set    
When I was a child I enjoyed chess. A period of my life had me thinking I was a full-fledged aficionado due to the indulgence of my parents with teaching chess sets that showed the moves and pamphlets containing instructionals with various tactics thrown into the mix.

I dare say the allure became lost upon me over the years to the point that I actually remember my last two chess games.

They were with my Navy buddy, the late Jerry R Landry from Barnstable, MA and we had two games because the first was a definite draw ... as was the second most likely.

I never played another game since that time which was something circa 1978 or so in the missile radar control room while we were out at sea on either a North Atlantic or Mediterranean.

I would not have played those games had Jerry not requested it and the blinding boredom with which we both were obviously stricken.

Anyway, I'd give anything to be able to sit with him and play yet a third game and laugh and yap as we did during the first two.

Today is International Chess Day. It is observed each July 20 which marks the founding of the International Chess Federation (FIDE) was founded in 1924.

Though I doubt I shall ever engage another game of chess in my lifetime. Those times from my childhood and the games I played with my friend Jerry are precious memories for me in this now of my existence.

Tags: people, places, things
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July 19, 2020
Thwarting GPS
Navigation Technology Satellite 2 (NTS-2)
I'm not a big fan of GPS.

I have been known to cut a cable in a cell phone, pop a soldier pad with a heat pencil, and generally cause GPS to fail on my personal electronics as a countermeasure against triangulation attempts to ascertain where I am.

I recall one day when I called the Highway Patrol regarding an accident at malfunction junction how the officer speaking with me was curious as to why she couldn't get a fix on my location ...

I kept it to myself, but that was a GPS cable in my cell phone meeting up with my trusty industrial xacto knife with the ultrasharp carbon steel blade.

Global positioning has lost it's allure for me mostly because google can't get it right to save their stupid leftist libtard asses.

Never in my existence have I seen a tech company so inept with accurate IP to geolocation ... I mean to be a company supposedly immersed in high tech and all.

I keep wondering why they squander their budget on the lackluster innacuracy of the provider they are utilizing for GPS, Geolocation, and in particular IP Geolocation because they simply do not appear to have a clue. They wonder why I firewall them from my networks on a frequent and interemittent basis. It's because I have a low tolerance for stupid and that is their main claim to fame anymore.

And to think of how I held them in the highest esteem early on; you know — when they operated a "real" search engine where you could find what you want instead of this ad mechanization monstrostity which is all they're good for anymore.

On this day in 1977 a first in GPS signalling went down from Navigation Technology Satellite 2 (NTS-2) to Rockwell Collins in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, right about 12:41 am EST.

It's a shame all google can do is screw it up because it's been around a long time now.

BOO !

Tags: technology
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July 18, 2020
Where I was on this day twice in history
Nadia Comaneci    
I used to sometimes envision myself at some historical event. In a moment of fantasy I would simply speculate regarding the intimate details of such goings on and it was insigificant to me personally as well as being neither here nor there.

Two items which come to mind are:

1976 when Nadia Comăneci became the first person in Olympic Games history to score a perfect 10 in gymnastics at the 1976 Summer Olympics and in

1984 with the McDonald's massacre in San Ysidro, California where James Oliver Huberty opens fire, killing 21 people and injuring 19 others before being shot dead by police.

In 1976 I was in class at the Recruit Training Command in Orlando Florida. I don't recall the topic, it was some navy specific information being disseminated and the instructor came in spouting off game scores and other sports news to the delight of the rest of those in my company. After a number of scores, stats, and team commentary — which amazed me by the way, he went on to the olympics and the Nadia Comăneci tidbit. So that's where I was during that historical event.

     San Ysidro Aftermath
     San Ysidro Aftermath
The 1984 event was much more proximal to me in that I was returning from a visit to Tiajuana (one of my most favorite places to visit at that time) while working a medical clinic in El Toro up the coast. The news came on with a story regarding a massacre at the McDonalds in San Ysidro which I recall passing some 15 minutes earlier. I shudder to think what I might have seen had there be a small deviation in the time index one way or another ... and that's where I was during that historical tragedy.

So you never know where fate might land you in moments of triumph or travail. The carnage at San Ysidro was devastating in the documentary footage I became drawn to knowing just how close I was to it all on the day it happened.

I was always taken aback by what I perceived as a touch of sadness projected by Nadia Comăneci. Her victory smile which often appeared subdued to me personally and I felt she was not really "happy" after the fact ... but I could be wrong.

Personally, I can do without being close to any more history, particularly when that history involves the destruction imparted by the idiotic cancel culture which is part and parcel of a generation of burger flippers reproducing then applying their dismal lack of raising to their own progeny.

Tags: people, places, things, weapons
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