Welcome
- August 24, 2017
- International Strange Music Day
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One of those things I have always taken pride in are my esoteric tastes in artistic pursuits. I am teased at work over the electronic pieces of ambient and psych music I listen to routinely because they invoke some counter culture visions in a few of my cohorts.
Be all of this as it may, I certainly do not intend to stop listening to them and I find much of those selections a source of soothing relaxation in the midst of a tumultuous work day of code and technical issues surrounding me.
Strange Music Day is a vision of professional musician Patrick Grant. Among his endeavors are Strange Music Inc, a vehicle through which he releases compelling works and recordings. The crux of the theme of Strange Music Day involves listening to recordings you've never heard before ... and he is quite the broad spectrum diversified Julliard graduate involved in marking this day since August 24, 1998.
Over the years his celebration has been embraced by a number of radio stations and school programs and it never hurts to immerse yourself in something new and artistically relevant as well as technically worthy.
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- August 23, 2017
- Birthdays
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A birthday is an anniversary of the birth of a person or other entity in our midst. Celebrating one's birth is wide spread and crosses many cultural boundaries and has many inherent traditions depending where you are.
Often there is a gift or party or some rite of passage which transpires during the event. Religions are replete with celebrations of birthdays — such as that of Christ, Buddha, and others notable to the founding of the various religious sects.
While the birthday is a recurring occasion, the birthdate is totally singular. Contrast the recurring celebration such as August 23 being my sister's birthday while August 23, 1956 was her birth date.
The birthdays recur while the birth date remains static.
Damn she's old.
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- August 22, 2017
- Confiscating Technology
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There is a disturbing reality whereby the shadow government will confiscate technology — even existing patents in order to promote the continued use of fossil fuels and maintain a status quo of technological stagnation while the military industrial complex profits at the expense of the tax payer.
Those who invent innovating technological marvels thinking the world will come to their doorstep are right ... only the murderous thugs enforcing the whims of those who supersede the president himself in that hierarchy which is those in charge of those in charge while the bulk of the media has been infiltrated by various agents assigned the task of insuring the truth is suppressed and those innovations once invented remain unrealized in favor of those profits the war machine deems essential to their existence.
The wherefore and the why extend back to the Truman and Eisenhower administrations when the control was first lost to the persons placed in charge of technological matters of the Roswell kind. The situation has snowballed through the Kennedy debacle right on up through our modern era with presidents claiming to be "told" what they may and may not say or pursue in their administrations.
Then you have the annual private Bilderberg Group and the Committee of 300, aka "The Olympians" a c 1727 construct alleged to have been founded by some members of the British aristocracy all trying their hand at steering us toward some globalization manifest in that failure of constructive action called the United Nations. I personally choose not to be ruled by some international entity out to take my freedoms and impart their burdens borne of irresponsible conduct onto me.
Couple this with the casual overstepping of our own thugees in government such as the late Nelson Rockefeller and his ilk, the too many Bushes in the mix, the profiteering Clintons who enter politics to monetize it for their own gain, and the brigand Barack Obama and what is left ? With leadership like this we might as well make George Soros president and just give up on everything except that stupidity called socialist evil.
Some day the educators will stop talking about safe spaces and globalization and again teach about our real history and why we don't wish to be doomed to repeating it. The educators are the root of all the misinformed evil in the United States of America. We have educators infusing nonsense in to those who will ultimately take over. We have educators decrying the Republic and providing false information with that liberal spin which will carry us straight to the sewer as it's doing presently. Before you may educate you must first be able to think. We lack critical thinking and evaluation of the evidence anymore. Manufactured facts are something else not reality.
I only hope enough of us wake up before it's too late.
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- August 21, 2017
- Pretty Spectacular
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A few minutes ago I witnessed the full total eclipse to my amazement. The photosphere was masked by the shadow of the Earth and the corona displayed like a ring of fire in the sky.
The darkness of the moment was striking with the total absence of birds and squirrels and as the phase passed and the light again became apparent I went back inside to ponder the moment.
All in all it was a wonderful thing and I can fully understand the terror of ancient peoples who must have thought something horrible had gone amiss with the universe upon being immersed in the early afternoon darkness as I was a very few moments ago.
Quite a show !
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- August 21, 2017
- Total Solar Eclipse
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Monday August 21 a total solar eclipse will transpire. My hometown is in the direct path. The weather is projected to be cloudy.
In that thing which substitutes for infinite wisdom, I have decided to forego work on Monday in an effort to avoid the influx of eclipse viewers who will either be ecstatic or in various stages of disappointment and/or rage secondary to cloud cover at some inopportune time.
Interstate traffic has been heavy the few days prior to the eclipse and it is my understanding that a lot of tourist dollars have infused into the area as the result of this event. I sure hope there isn't a disappointing show for all the people coming for the astronomical fete.
As for me ... I intend to kick back and perhaps take in a bit of the ole NASA streaming or some other relevant high definition news source available.
Ready or not, weather or not ... it's not going to be stopping just because some aspect of the environment may not be ideal.
West Columbia, South Carolina, USA
August 21, 2017
Total solar eclipse visible (100.00% solar coverage)Magnitude 1.0114 Duration 2 hours, 53 minutes, 11 seconds Totality 2 minutes, 30 seconds Partial begins 1:13:06 pm Full begins 2:41:48 pm Maximum 2:43:03 pm Full ends 2:44:18 pm Partial ends 4:06:17 pm Times shown in local time (EDT)
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- August 20, 2017
- World Mosquito Day
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In our modern world it is sometimes shocking to see those illness we or our companion and draft animals may contract which prove difficult to either prevent up front or cure after the fact. Mosquito borne illness vectors such as:
• Malaria
• Chikungunya
• Dog Heartworm
• Dengue and Yellow Fever
• Eastern Equine Encephalitis
• St Louis Encephalitis
• LaCrosse Encephalitis
• Western Equine Encephalitis
• West Nile Virus
• Zika Virus
in particular render the medical establishment helpless in so many instances.
Today is World Mosquito Day, an annual observation commemorating British physician Sir Ronald Ross and his 1897 discovery that female mosquitos transmit malaria to humans.
Dr Ross is the orign of the day stating that day marking his discovery should be known as World Mosquitio Day for posterity. This commemoration was assumed by The London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine which holds celebrations with parties and events since about 1930 or so.
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- August 19, 2017
- National Aviation Day
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Now I don't REALLY have a fear of flying. It's more a fear of FALLING. I recall flying at 45,000 feet to Chicago once at night at how small the twinkling lights on the surface of the earth appeared and how intent I was on listening for anything irregular coming from the engines.
Let us say that at the moment I was not too enthused at the thought of being on the safest conveyance in modern travel and visions of fiery impact predominated my free fall thoughts for much of that trip.
It's National Aviation Day commemorating manned flight and corresponding to the anniversary of Orville Wright's birthday. Proclaimed in 1939 by Franklin D Roosevelt it became part of the United States Code and any sitting President may proclaim the day and order federal resources to fly the US flag and inspire the citizens to hold activities on the day which promote the field of aviation.
With the new convergence of the airplane and space vehicle whereby landings are said to become runway affairs where you embark and disembark like an airline passenger perhaps I'll grow more warm to the notion of the wild blue yonder or the final frontier.
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- August 18, 2017
- Tensile Times
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Monday we have the big eclipse event which will pass through as a result of astronomical fate. Like several others in my building I am opting to take the day off to avoid the people who are coming into town to witness the event ... or the clouds which may obscure it.
At any rate, I decline to wade through the happy or otherwise throngs of people I expect to be up town for this thing and cannot believe that my bank is closing for it as well.
Then there is the lottery which has ballooned to 510 million dollars which compels me to buy extra tickets even though each one improves the odds for my winning quite a minute percentage ... next to zero or so.
Is it any wonder that the distractions creep in like so much high tide of preoccupation seizing my "now" with the "what ifs" and "if onlys" I act so hard to ignore.
So, what have we learned about current events. We know that I really don't give a rip about the eclipse and will overspend on the lottery yet again in an attempt at that pie in the sky prize I've sought and lost so many times.
What is that thing they say about repeating past mistakes ?
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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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