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- August 17, 2017
- The First US Attempt at Lunar Orbit
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This day in 1958 marks the initial attempt at placing a satellite in orbit of the moon. Pioneer 0 was the name of the craft and it was also the first launch attempted outside earth orbit by any nation in the world.
The launch vehicle was the first Thor DM-18 Able rocket; which failed. I have always wondered if this rocket was named for Valiant Thor, an alien said to be working with the Pentagon since being captured in a UFO incident years prior. He is said to have an IQ of 1200 and provide technological subject matter expertise. Some call him a prisoner; but I doubt that anyone that advanced would have much trouble evading earth bound confinement ... but I digress yet again.
The hardware was manufactured by TRW Space Technology Laboratories. It was launched at Cape Canaveral LC-17A. Thor-Able 1 as the mission is sometimes called was designed to enter the moon's orbit with various scientific equipment payloads featuring a magnetometer, micrometeoroid impact detector, and a television.
It was deployed in conjunction with the first IGY (international geophysical year). The probe was ultimately to be known as Pioneer 1 prior to the post USAF launch failure of Thor missile number 127 at 12:18:00 UTC on August 17, 1958 — precluding that from happening. Destruction was 73.6 seconds into the mission and was the result of a first stage explosion for which the Air Force was "not surprised".
Not surprisingly, that was the last Pioneer mission conducted by the Air Force with subsequent launches being handled by NASA.
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- August 16, 2017
- Elvis Passed in 1977
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I was never the "fan" type of person. I have a lot of friends who were fans of "The King". Pop culture and all of those trappings were something which repulsed me during the seventies as I was attempting to come into my own as it were and had little time for who I was as I pursued who I wanted to be.
Elvis Presley died on this day in 1977 as the result of a heart attack. The international star that he was gave him resources for that overindulgence and pursuits which ultimately became his downfall. Even in his decline his public loved him. He died too young at age 42.
Elvis Aaron Presley
January 8, 1935 - August 16, 1977
American Singer and actor
pop, rock and roll, rockabilly, country, blues, rhythm and blues, gospel
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- August 15, 2017
- The Citadel and Shannon Faulkner
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Trailblazers often catch a lot of flack. When you become "the first" at anything there is likely to be resistance and various forms of impedence ... particularly when you encroach of institutions of one kind or another.
Such was the unsuccessful advent of Shannon Faulkner as first female in the corps of cadets at The Citadel. Her adventure in bucking the system began while I was with Bechtel as a support analyst learning the true meaning of "valuelessness" and ended for all practical intents and purposes for about a week prior to the advent of preparation for the litigation which was to follow.
Yes, on this day in 1995, Shannon Faulkner joined the corps of cadets at The Citadel. Having won a legal battle to enroll she completed about 4 hours of military training before reporting to the infirmary where she stayed for the rest of the week. She rsigned afterwards claiming psychological and emotional abuse in conjunction with physical exhaustion.
There was a celebration by the remainder of the corps of cadets upon her departure.
An interview two years later with a prominent Charleston newspaper stated that her departure was precipitated by threats to kill her parents by a person present on her first day.
Author Pat Conroy provided her with funding for her education upon her departure from The Citadel. She became a middle school teacher and The Citadel has graduated hundreds of female cadets since she was run off by that relentless raging fury that slathers itself upon those considered outcasts from the that cadre known as The Military College of South Carolina.
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- August 14, 2017
- Pulling the Rug from beneath Somebody's Life
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That devastation which we may do to others is astounding. I've done it. Others have done it to me. Much of this even transpires in the absence of guilt on the part of the perpetrator.
I wasn't so lucky in that regard. Those pangs of guilt still hit me from time to time. The underlying cause of my transgression feels no pain about it at all, however. This is because he is without conscience.
This would make him a psychopath in my opinion. The fact that he is stupid and without character or redeeming qualities is neither here nor there. The fact that I was so stupid to entrust him with importance in my life is an astounding shortcoming on my part — and one my late father could not fathom a single iota.
Poor choices can make you subject to the whims of others who do not have anything except their own profiteering at heart. Their inabilities and exaggerations in conjuction with the continual circular logic simply prolong the inevitable.
So I cut ties with them. I stopped the project they had interrupted so much that it was ruined. I withdrew to that nether region called not keeping your word. It has been a life of shame for me ever since.
Since that day that the bell tolled for me. All those punishments that others have attempted to lay upon me remain. Those falsehoods designed to mould the situation further than what it really was were a formidable fray for many years.
But I weathered it all and attempted to grow.
And now I have fewer friends. Now I trust far fewer people. Those companies I formerly enjoyed for hours on end do not enter my picture anymore because they are unwelcome due to those colors they first displayed then splashed all over me.
In the end that reputation those I hurt sought to ruin withstood the onslaught. The person that I am rose above the base innuendo and fabrications. What I did was bad enough. The way it was characterized made it appear even more morbid than it ever was.
Sometimes while collecting my thoughts at the end of the day I recall that darkest time in my existence. Have I forgiven anyone? Not hardly. Not even myself. Will I ever forget? Unlikely. The stuff of errors of judgement adhere to the heart like so much JB Weld. That stuff never lets go. I probably won't either.
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- August 13, 2017
- International Lefthanders Day
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I am predominately right handed but can use my left hand for most any task, including writing as required. While I would not claim to be perfectly ambidexterous; I have cultivated ability in my left arm beginning with that moment of discovery that I was using my right for everything ... sometime in the early 20s or so.
That slight hemi hyprotrophy I have has resulted from favoring my right arm and my late efforts to amend the situation have helped little in the physical appearance department, but greatly in the added functionality I now enjoy when using my left arm.
Today is "International Lefthanders Day" and has been observed since 1976, commencing about a month and a half after I enlisted into the Navy. The day is a promotion of left handedness and those problematic aspects of life in a "right handed" world. Many left handed persons must adapt to using implements designed for right handed people.
It also promotes the special needs of left handed children. I know in the public school system left handed children used to be 'forced' into right handedness by an institutional ignorance for the propriety of people and the way they inherently are.
It is said that left handed people are naturally more intelligent than right handed people. I wonder if that was postulated by a lefty or a righty.
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- August 12, 2017
- World Elephant Day
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One of the biggest tragedies today is the killing of big game in light of their dwindling numbers.
You would think that we would take our trophies with cameras instead of rifles, but alas ... all we seem to be able to do as human beings is act as some would-be apex predator in lack of any need whatsoever.
Today is World Elephant Day. It is an annual observance for the protection of all of the elephants of the world. It began in 2011 and was initiated by Patricia Sims and Michael Clark who are film makers with a company known as Canazwest Pictures in conjunction with one Sivaporn Dardarananda, who is Secretary-General of an organization known as Elephant Reintroduction Foundation of Thailand. It is now supported by a large number of private citizens and wildlife organizations and lead by Ms Sims, the aforementioned film maker.
The issues of World Elephant Day are many including loss of habitat, poaching, human conflicts with the animals, and the mistreatment of captive animals. It is my hope that either people cultivate an appreciation for these magnificent creatures before they become extinct, or the authorities take control and deal with the criminal acts perpetrated by humans which cause them to die.
Sometimes we fail to realize that the earth does not belong to us even though our baser instincts sometimes prevail and we feign possession of that which isn't ours to claim.
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- August 11, 2017
- The Trump Superlative Bark
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So Asia is in a bit of a snit over President Trump's "fire and fury" statements directed at Kim Jong Un and his banty rooster posturing and threats.
original photo credit Associated Press
Seeing how I was familiar with Mr Trump's proclivities in the way of speaking to others viz a viz about himself I was not really fazed with much which has the democrats in a foaming-at-the-mouth frenzy over anything and everything he says or does.
I find this particularly hypocritical given the overbearing and crimes committed by Mr Obama are much more severe than ANYTHING Mr Trump has uttered and where was the media during the Obama abomination's pillage of the United States anyway?
Hydrophobic democrats and progressives not withstanding, I would have preferred that Mr Trump stayed off of Twitter and toned down his rhetoric — even opting for silence in many situations he chose to spout off various baits to the opposition. When dealing with a little megalomaniac like Kim Jong Un one should act more and speak less.
I personally would not choose to engage him on the public stage in the manner of Mr Trump. However, this being said I also KNEW what I was getting when I voted for Donald Trump. I cannot believe others are finding any of this surprising or outrageous. Mr Trump is President because he won the election.
He is also not a crook like the Clintons with their monetization of public office and influence for sale. He will also run his mouth as he chooses and isn't one to back down to an adversary. I think all too many sell him short and fail to recognize that what some may perceive as recklessness is calculated strategy and love him or hate him he is in charge of the constitutional government.
I also believe that he's not selling us out for donations, fees, and such in those best seedy traditions of the Clintons, et al ... and I'm fairly certain he won't attempt to leave the White House with a bunch of the furniture, either. What the shadow government and military industrial complex who exert the most control have to think about it is anyone's guess.
In the conventional world and politics of the United States, Mr Trump remains the alpha dog.
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- August 10, 2017
- Facial Recognition really stepping up the pace
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With the new iPhones touting improved facial recognition, the talk of facial recognition integration, facial recognition databases, facial recogntion this, facial recongition that ... it is a wonder why I go ballistic when someone posts a picture of me on facebook or anywhere else lately.
I have little tolerance for any social media endeavor but facebook in particular makes me want to hurt people. Much like the idiots on findagrave.com who feel this need to post the final resting places of everyone. These anal retentive types I'd like to see purged from the population as the mass intrusions they are.
In fact, I am so anti facial recognition, I have intentionally angled pictures I use online as well as processed through filters precisely to throw off those patterns recognized by software designed for such perception. Anyway — it's an ugly fact that facial recognition is in your future. All I can do is quash it's efficiency in the name of personal privacy as I do. I dare say that the cameras on the streets where I work don't get much of a clear shot of me anymore but they probably have me down pat anyway.
I don't need the surveillance and I'm glad that purging is a fact of life. Particularly when real time resources get reused as a function of daily use.
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- August 9, 2017
- Glen Campbell RIP
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When I was a kid of about 12, Glen Campbell hit the scene. He was an American singer, songwriter, musician, teevee personality, and actor. He had a string of hit songs in my youth ... some of which are dear to me because of others in my life who loved them.
Glen Travis Campbell
April 22, 1936 – August 8, 2017
For example, Mr Jack Estol Swinger, a teacher from Key West who taught me science and with whom I had homeroom was a big fan due to the song "Wichita Lineman" because he hailed from Wichita Kansas. He is interred there now.
I used to sing along with a number of his songs until I hit that brick wall called rock and roll and from that moment on I was more of a metal head than anything else.
Be all of this as it may, I knew something was amiss when he was being picked up by the police in various stages of disarray and confusion. Through those times I was hoping not to hear that ultimate bad news that he had Alzheimer's ... the scourge of which he endured in public and the tragedy of which his family bore with him the entire time and I respected the high level of dignity their support imparted to him in his illness.
So yesterday, Glen Campbell departed this earth no longer shackled by the infirmity of his life and I wish him and his family peace.
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- August 8, 2017
- Shirley Jackson
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When I was in the late Mrs Robinson's English class at Horace O'Bryant Junior High School in Key West, Florida we read a short story called The Lottery by Shirley Jackson.
Shirley Hardie Jackson
December 14, 1916 – August 8, 1965
American writer
best known for the short story "The Lottery" (1948)
It was a shocking tale which started out innocently enough with various towns people discussing the upcoming celebration and culminating the the crescendo of a lady being stoned to death as part of some ritual.
I associated it all with a pagan vein running through americana but in my temder young seventh grade orientation it was likely more of a thrill I received from the shocking notion of a town killing one of it's citizens.
The aftermath of my reading this story has been it's persistence in my memory and my favor for I have enjoyed it a number of times since the seventh grade over the years and will continue to do so in the future.
Shirley Jackson remains one of my favorite authors because of The Lottery. She passed on this day 52 years ago as the result of lifestyle dieases associated with heavy smoking and being overweight. Nonetheless she and her craft remain dear to me all these years.
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- August 7, 2017
- A British Child's Social Media Jones
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A British Child's Social Media Jones
Anne Longfield, children’s commissioner in Great Britain has roundly criticized those methods used by social media moguls to draw children into more time spent with tablets and smart phones on social media outlets.
She equates this to ingesting 'junk food' and indicates that like junk food is unhealthy for the body excessive time consumed in social media is unhealthy for the mind.
She views the children as going on social media binges and is admonishing parents to be more proactive in directing those activities of their children during summer breaks from school in an effort to curb the tide of social media excess.
It appears that those children in the 5 to 15 year range are spending 15 hours a week or more online.
Now then, I would pretty much find that far less than I spend online ... but I do not visit social media sites opting instead for news and information from sources I trust and I am very picky.
For example, CNN is out because I don't trust them. I would never indulge a facebook or twitter because let's face it ... it simply doesn't provide any ROI for time spent in my realm of technical support and development.
I no longer require any cultivation of customers and ever since that lady told me how I should be accessible from facebook "like I'm supposed to be" I have shunned any and every social media venue except for my own personal web presence which is visited by those I choose.
I don't need google and it's "buy your position in the search results" and I don' need anybody else offering search engine optimization and such because word of mouth is about the only reference I require for practical intents and purposes.
Were I a struggling young person trying to make it in the world things might be different; but now I feel puzzled when I get those requests to "friend" and such on facebook and linkedin when I simply decline to be there.
Call me old fashioned ... I call it disinterest.
I could have never been one of those problem children described by Ms Longfield in Great Britain. I "took the road less traveled" and "it has made all the difference".
The Road Not Taken
Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;
Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,
And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.
I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.
Robert Frost
From Mountain Interval, 1916
Public Domain
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- August 6, 2017
- Mowing for Johnny
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Today I am engaging in a favorite ritual which happens every two weeks or so ...
I go to the home of my late stepfather and mow his grass because he liked to keep it tidy and we want to honor him.
Then Mom and I will have a bite, perhaps visit Fort Jackson National Cemetery where he is interred and partipate in that recognition he so richly deserves for all he was to us.
We usually engage a few tasks on the computer and fiddle with various things around the homestead in preparation for Mom taking her leave for smaller quarters elsewhere.
We still miss Johnny a lot with all he had to offer and though it makes us sad to realize he is gone while we remain — we do these things in memory of him.
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- August 5, 2017
- Paying for Web Content
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It has been evident that the monetization of web sites has really become a priority. We have newspapers which are so crappy that they are losing delivered circulation to the point that hitting a page prompts you to buy a subscription to their web site.
Those yellow journalisn bastions seem to be the most adamant about it ... and I'm okay to go elsewhere. Once upon a time ad revenue was supposed to suffice to pay for your presence on the web but it seems that the quality has degraded to the point that McClatchy and others must resort to holding their readership hostage.
It would be a different matter if every story weren't slanted to present what can only be called op/ed pieces regardless of the subject matter. Some outlets simply cannot get by the fact that they aren't supposed to express their hirstute purple loving opinion in absolutely everything published within their purview.
Alas, objective reporting has gone the way of CNN and it's manufactured content designed to mould your opinions for you seeing how you're incapable of forming your own with a set of objective facts ... which you'll never get from them.
So you think I'm going to pay for your evangelizing manipulative drivel ?
Think again ...
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- August 4, 2017
- The case of the pilfered donuts
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Yesterday I procured 5 dozen donuts from Krispy Kreme with a coupon Teresa gave me. This brought what would have been a stupendous bill down to the $25 range and it was quite a stack of boxes containing 4 dozen glazed along with 1 mixed dozen which we placed on the counter in the kitchen at work upon arrival.
A couple hours later we walked in there and noticed that 3 dozen donuts had somehow mysteriously walked off from the premises and nobody saw anything and the cameras were not pointed properly to catch the exit with the loot.
After a brief spate of disappointment I ended up feeling admiration for whomever was able to walk off with the three boxes of glazed doughnuts without a trace. However, I will likely be more cautious in the future should I ever take the plunge again.
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