Monthly Archives: February 2016
Today in History – February 29
Since this is Leap Year, here are some events that happened on February 29 in previous Leap Years.
1504 – Christopher Columbus uses his knowledge of a lunar eclipse that night to convince Native Americans to provide him with supplies. Much of science appears as magic to the uneducated. It’s how I make my living as a wizzard.
1940 – For her role as Mammy in Gone with the Wind, Hattie McDaniel becomes the first African American to win an Academy Award.
2004 – Jean-Bertrand Aristide is removed as President of Haiti following a coup. this is politics as usual in Haiti.
An Extra Song
Just because Denny does this almost every weekend:
J. S. Bach, Prelude BWV 998 by Tatyana Ryzhkova:
Beautiful. the music’s good, too.
Considering Hillary
The media and her handlers are ‘proving’ that she can survive a ‘hard-fought’ (like dodging sniper fire in Bosnia) primary campaign in her quest for the perfect presidency while on the OTHER side, the republican establishment is ‘leaking’ reports that if it doesn’t get its way (Rubio) then it will commit ritual seppuku by dragging Mitt “I lost to Obama” Romney out and running him again.
Invest in precious metals such as copper, brass and steel.
The Name Game #430
Fifty-five degrees at eight AM this morning. I opened the paper past gleeful reports that our state’s budget situation is improving because taxes are going up.
After I finished grumbling, I found the birth announcements in the Sunday paper. The big hospital across the river reports fifty-two new births between February 11 and February 22. I start grumbling again. Over half, thirty-two, are to unwed couples and four are to little darlings who don’t remember which one might be the baby daddy. Its not a 100% guarantee, but this is close – a guaranteed ticket onto ‘government’ – meaning it comes from MY pocket – aid.
Let’s look at the monkeys:
Wayne H. & Kassondra(!) S. tag a daughter with Abaigeal Grace. I mean, if you can’t get on-board with ‘Abigail’, your bubble’s stuck off-center.
I’m gonna set away from my normal rule of not providing a full surname for parents because this one’s just too rich – Cool Song (!-yep! That’s it!) & Kelvisha(!) B. name a son Karter Carlice.
Johnathon(!) P. & Quentessia(!) C. perpetuate the travesty wth their son Johnathon Jr.
First apostrophe high comma shows up as Nedrick(!) L. & Kaymarah(!) A. present little Ne’Kiyah. Note that these ‘parents’ adhere to the ‘Capitalize the first letter after the goofy-assed punctuation’ rule.
Next apostrophe high comma shows up when Anthony & Tara P. do up their daughter as Ariel Ka’Marie.
This one’s more about the daddy’s name – Lynnquithis(!!!) J. & Brittany C. present their son Kingsley Lynn.
Marvin D. &Jamee'(!) L. fabricate an African-sounding name for their son, Kamari Ahmad, celebrating the people who sold their ancestors into slavery.
Roberto B. & Rachel B. (different surnames) get oh so clever with their daughter Nevaeh Belle. “That’s ‘heaven’ spelled backwards, yahknow!” “Yeah? Okay. Parse ‘ssabmud’ then, darlin’.”
Miss Paige K. celebrates her hebraic heritage by naming her son Kohen Michael.
Terence C. II & Shalynn(!) L. do get tryndeigh with their daughter Haylei Noelle.
Dexter & Shawanda(!) B. exude spirituality onto their daughter, little Heavyn Faith.
Jacob ‘n’ Jennifer S. reach into the Scrabble bag and pull out Dwennon Paul for their son.
And the last apostrophe high comma for the week shows up as Miss Brianna G. confers a life of sophistication on her daughter by naming her I’liyah Naomi. Not that she doesn’t follow the ‘Capitalize the first letter after the goofy-assed punctuation’ rule.
Clifford N. & Corinthians(! – Why not Deuteronomy?) R. triple up on their daughter, little Zacorie Elizabeth Lashaa.
And that’s a good place to stop for this week.
Today in History – February 28
1784 – John Wesley charters the Methodist Church.
1827 – The Baltimore & Ohio Railroad is incorporated, becoming the first railroad in America offering commercial transportation of both people and freight. Without government funds.
1844 – A gun on USS Princeton explodes while the boat is on a Potomac River cruise, killing eight people, including two United States Cabinet members. Today’s cabinet is more likely at risk from carbon monoxide poisoning from a badly tuned gasoline-powered sex toy.
1849 – Regular steamboat service from the west to the east coast of the United States begins with the arrival of the SS California in San Francisco Bay, 4 months 21 days after leaving New York Harbor. Due to the Panama Canal being some distance in the future, this trip goes all the way around the Horn.
1933 – Gleichschaltung: The Reichstag Fire Decree is passed in Germany a day after the Reichstag fire. Generate a crisis, then use it to pass laws that shut down your opponents. Worked then. Is it working now?
1935 – DuPont scientist Wallace Carothers invents nylon.
1942 – In the dark opening days of American participation in World War II, he heavy cruiser USS Houston is sunk in the Battle of Sunda Strait with 693 crew members killed, along with HMAS Perth which lost 375 men.
1954 – The first color television sets using the NTSC (Never Twice the Same Color) standard are offered for sale to the general public, for a mere $1,295, or $11,200 in today’s dollars.
1956 – Forrester issued a patent for computer core memory. And why did they call it ‘core’ memory? Because the data was stored as the magnetic state of tiny little ferrite donut ‘cores’, written and accessed by tiny little copper wires. Interesting stuff,that.
1993 – Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms agents raid the Branch Davidian church in Waco, Texas with a warrant to arrest the group’s leader David Koresh. Four BATF agents and five Davidians die in the initial raid, starting a 51-day standoff. Is your church approved by the BATFE?
Stopping Trump
Looks like the republican establishment will stop at nothing to stop Trump:
Bombshell: Roger Stone reveals establishment using Mitt Romney as Plan B if Rubio fails!
Kit Daniels | Infowars.com – February 27, 2016Insiders who were at a recent meeting between the Koch Bros. and Marco Rubio leaked intel on how exactly they’re going to try and steal the election from Donald Trump, GOP strategist Roger Stone revealed.
The Koch Bros. met with GOP millionaires and billionaires Thursday night to pool together over $75 million to stop Trump and are going to use Mitt Romney as ‘Plan B’ if Rubio fails to gain traction on Super Tuesday, according to moles who were inside the meeting.
Yep! That’s always the key to success – drag up Mister Charisma himself to mobilize the masses. This is the same Romeny who couldn’t convince America to vote for him after FOUR YEARS of obama, yet the republican establishment thinks that they can do a better job of trotting out yet another establishment loser.
“$75 million to stop Trump and $25 million to Marco Rubio, but they gave Rubio a condition: he’s got to win the Florida primary or he’s out and Mitt Romney’s in,” Stone revealed. “That’s the plan.”
“First they’ll ramp up an enormous, negative campaign on TV against Trump and they’re going to hit this phony Trump University issue,” he continued. “They claim to have personal dirt on Trump – I doubt that – and they are also going to try and delve into his business affairs, but if Rubio fails to grab the Florida primary, then Rubio’s out and Mitt Romney’s in.”
“The plan is for Romney to file for the New Jersey, New York and California primaries in an all-out ditch effort to stop Donald Trump and you heard it here on Infowars.com.”
Additionally, Marco Rubio’s wife called Ted Cruz’s wife, Heidi, to desperately beg Cruz to exit the race and aid Rubio, but Heidi said no, Stone said.
“The power structure’s desperate, the Rubio and Cruz teams are going back and forth but they can’t agree as to who will be the candidate,” he added. “I still believe Mitt Romney is totally dressed up, already made up, waiting in the wings… to step in as the last, best hope of the ‘stop Trump’ movement, and frankly I think Trump will bulldoze him as well.”
I’m beginning to think that nothing short of revolution is going to work.
Food for Thought – 27 February 2016
Saturday Song #134
A stray neuron fired and ‘ocarina’ came out. I haven’t seen one in years. They used to be somewhat common, when every kid took a run at music in one fashio or another. It’s a silly little thing. In the proper hands, though…
Evenstar from Lord of the Rings:
Or perhaps something a bit sprightly, like an Irish reel:
Today in History – February 27
1776 – American Revolutionary War: the Battle of Moore’s Creek Bridge in North Carolina breaks up a Loyalist militia. You have to understand that there are a lot of people who will fight to keep the status quo.
1801 – Pursuant to the District of Columbia Organic Act of 1801, Washington, D.C. is placed under the jurisdiction of the U.S. Congress. From that bright hope, we come to today’s “wretched hive of scum and villainy.”
1844 – The Dominican Republic gains independence from Haiti. This is a brilliant move. Like “night” separating from “day”.
1864 – American Civil War: The first Northern prisoners arrive at the Confederate prison at Andersonville, Georgia.
1933 – Reichstag fire: Germany’s parliament building in Berlin, the Reichstag, is set on fire. I halfway expect something of similar nature here before long. Cynical? Who, me?
1951 – The Twenty-second Amendment to the United States Constitution, limiting Presidents to two terms, is ratified. If only it included Congress.
1986 – The United States Senate allows its debates to be televised on a trial basis, with unexpected consequences. Today the most dangerous place in Washington is between Chuck Schumer and a TV camera.
Food for Thought – 26 February 2016
Today in History – February 26
1848 – The Second French Republic is proclaimed. The first one started with a bloodbath, went on to a dictatorship and finished as a monarchy. This one lasts until the French are again deluded by the name ‘Napoleon’, this one being Napoleon III and declare the Second Empire. The Germans realign their thinking in 1870.
1863 – U.S. President Abraham Lincoln signs the National Currency Act into law. This put us solidly on the road to a paper currency backed by the whim of banks.
1917 – The Original Dixieland Jass Band records the first ever jazz record for the Victor Talking Machine Company in New York. “Victrola” used to be almost synonymous with “record player”.
1935 – Adolf Hitler orders the Luftwaffe to be re-formed, violating the provisions of the Treaty of Versailles. Imagine that! A dictator with plans for increased domination ignores international treaty. I’m SOOOO glad that doesn’t happen today…
1936 – Hitler introduces Ferdinand Porsche’s “Volkswagen”, the precursor to the the VW Type 111, or “Beetle”, a particularly delightful car. I owned several.
1952 – United Kingdom Prime Minister Winston Churchill announces that his nation has an atomic bomb.
1960 – A New York bound Alitalia airliner crashed into a cemetery at Shannon, Ireland, shortly after takeoff, killing 34 of the 52 persons on board. Irish rescue crews recover 347 bodies.
1970 – National Public Radio incorporates as a non-profit corporation, assuring the Left of a free forum for its ideas.
1983 – Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” album goes to #1 &stays #1 for 37 weeks, proving the popularity of prancing fop pedophiles.
1993 – World Trade Center bombing: In New York City, a truck bomb parked below the North Tower of the World Trade Center explodes, killing 6 and injuring over a thousand, but it’s only a law enforcement matter.
Food for Thought – 25 February 2016
Today in History – February 25
1836 – Samuel Colt receives an American patent for the Colt revolver.
1870 – Hiram Rhodes Revels, a Republican from Mississippi, is sworn into the United States Senate, becoming the first African American ever to sit in the U.S. Congress.
1919 – Oregon places a 1 cent per U.S. gallon tax on gasoline, becoming the first U.S. state to levy a gasoline tax. This is known as the camel’s nose under the tent…
1932 – Adolf Hitler obtains German citizenship by naturalization, which allows him to run in the 1932 election for Reichspräsident. See what happens when you work around that birth certificate thing?
1933 – The USS Ranger is launched. It is the first US Navy ship to be built solely as an aircraft carrier. Her first combat action is against the French in North Africa.
1954 – Gamal Abdel Nasser is made premier of Egypt, after having Israel kick his butt in 1948. He tries two rematches, 1956 and 1967, loses those, too.
1956 – In his speech On the Personality Cult and its Consequences Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev denounces the cult of personality of Joseph Stalin. What!??! There are consequences to a personality cult?
1964 – Speaking of personality cults, North Korean Prime Minister Kim Il-sung calls for the removal of feudalistic land ownership aimed at turning all cooperative farms into state-run ones. This single brilliant move turns North Korea into a cornucopia of riches. South Koreans line up at the DMZ, clamoring to get in. Right?!?
1991 – The Warsaw Pact is declared disbanded. After all those years of me and a million other American soldiers waiting for them to come streaming through the Fulda Gap…