Month: November 2024

28NOV2024 – Quote of the Day

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I wish we could derive the rest of the phenomena of nature by the same kind of reasoning from mechanical principles; for I am induced by many reasons to suspect that they may all depend upon certain forces by which the particles of bodies, by some causes hitherto unknown, are either mutually impelled towards each other, and cohere in regular figures, or are repelled and recede from each other; which forces being unknown, philosophers have hitherto attempted the search of nature in vain; but I hope the principles here laid down will afford some light either to that or some truer method of philosophy.

Isaac Newton

Tom’s World – 27NOV2024 – The Sailing Ship Juan Sebastian De Alcano

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Tom | Flickr

TomD

 

The Sailing Ship Juan Sebastian De Alcano

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This ship, the JS De Alcano, is owned and operated by the Escuela De Guardias Marinas, the Spanish equivalent of the US Naval Academy. Each summer, the ship makes what is essentially a world tour stopping at various ports, using the Midshipmen from the Academy as the sailors. Florida, including Pensacola, was a Spanish possession until 1822. Pensacola reflects the Spanish influence in a number of ways including some of the major street names, like Palafox, Cervantes, Cordova, Texar and a bunch of others.

The ship is one of the largest remaining sailing vessels in existence. It was built in Britain (some irony there) in the early 1920’s and has been in continuous operation since. It docks in Pensacola every 5 years or so for a several day stay. It was last here in May 2023 though, several of these pictures were taken in 2009

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I think the subject of each shot is obvious and doesn’t need individual descriptions. Though I was amused at the labeling on the engine control.

The Spanish obviously have a loooong history of Maritime Tradition.

 

TomD

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Here’s a shot of a much smaller sailing vessel, a replica of a Spanish Galleon. I’m convinced that a true sailing master of a large sailing vessel needed to be a genuine genius.

There also had to be a designer.

Also, the sailors in the rigging had to be mentally quite a bit above the near retarded levels pictured in historical descriptions of the ships crew. Actually, that’s depressing. We like/need to think of the people subjected to such horrific circumstances/privations/dangers as brutes.

I just noticed two very unusual elements of this galleon design: the sail and an observation platform on the bow sprint. I’ve not seen that before and definitely not on Dutch, British or French designs of the time.

Stop the World and Let Me Off

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Okay, it’s enough.  I’ve watched my last screaming progressive video.  It’s not fun anymore.  And I’m good with the Trump cabinet picks and his agenda.  Honestly, that’s his problem.  He’s responsible for avoiding weasels and psychopaths.  That’s what we hired him to do.  Every once in a while it will be interesting to note how that’s all going.

I will admit I’m watching very intently the madness in Ukraine.  Apparently, the neo-cons running the war have decided to start WW III before they are physically dragged out of office.  And, I assume this is also the case for the Pentagon.  So, I can’t say I’m done with Ukraine because it’s not done with us yet.  But I restrict my attention to a few daily checks on some YouTube channels that cover the war.  So, until the mushroom clouds blossom over Dunwich I’ll take a watch and wait approach.  Which is about as much as I can logically hope to do.

So, what does that leave for me?  Well, as I’ve been reminded, I’m supposed to finish up that book.  And, lo and behold, I have been doing some work.  I put together a list of changes and additions to round it up and I’m rereading it to find any weaknesses or mistakes in the story.  And I’ve recognized a few.  Connors’ role in Iraq needs to be clarified and justified.  After all mega-billionaires aren’t usually strolling around forward operating bases of a war zone as if it were Silicon Valley.

And I have to inject more personality into my main characters.  This means I have to invent scenarios where they interact beyond strategizing how to pick off evil intelligence officers and their goons.  And, heaven help me, I might even have a relationship break out between Connors and Grace.  It would tie up some loose ends and add to the emotional interest in the story.  And so, I’m looking at those things.  But what I’ve noticed is that when you start a story by the braille method (that is, without a somewhat detailed outline) it’s hard to tack an outline onto it once it’s gotten beyond a certain point.  It’s like an off-the-rack suit that doesn’t quite fit in a bunch of places.  Trying to make it fit requires a lot of alterations.  And some of these alterations feel awkward or rub the author the wrong way because they seem antithetical to the way you originally saw a character or an event.  It’s a very uncomfortable activity.

What it’s made me aware of is that starting a story with a good road map ahead of time is an invaluable asset to finishing the story.  So, the lazy lout in me says, “Well, put this story aside and start another one from scratch with a good outline.  But I know myself too well.  That’s terrible advice.  What needs to be done is to bite the bullet and put in the work and wrestle with the problems until they’re resolved in a creatively satisfying way.  So that’s what I’m going to try to do.

What it will require me to do is put a few hours in every morning to get it done.  And that’s few hours every morning that won’t be devoted to reading the news and political stuff.  Well, I guess the world will survive with me at half strength.  You folks may notice a certain slackness on the site but I guess it can’t be helped.

Anyway, let’s give it a try.

Next Stop, 2025

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Where are we headed?  And by we, I mean the non-leftists in this country.  I’m not saying “conservatives” because according to many people on the Right, there is no such thing as conservative.  And I don’t need to fight that war of words.  It doesn’t matter what label we end up with.  I can define myself by what I’m not.  I’m not a progressive.  I think the traditional definitions of things are sufficient to describe the world.  I think the traditional institutions like marriage, family and nation are valid and sufficient for people to live their lives in a meaningful way.

I also like the “rights” that were spelled out in the United States Constitution two-hundred-some-odd-years ago.  I like the idea of having freedom of speech, religion, self-defense, and to live my life as I choose as long as I don’t try to tell you how to live.  And to associate with people that agree with me on how to live.  All that seems very desirable to me.  And it seems quite believable that it can be maintained as it was in the early years of the republic.

This month by some incalculable miracle Donald Trump won re-election.  It’s as improbable to me as that Space-X booster that was falling out of the sky and then in one graceful arc lands in the cradle like an egg that a cook places in an egg cup.  It’s inconceivable.  But it happened and I guess there is an equally unlikely chance that Trump succeeds in doing all the things he’s said he will do.  Basically, he’s sworn to fix the country and make it great again.  And by great I think he means free and prosperous.

Well, I guess after his Houdini act, I should give him the benefit of the doubt and let him try to fix America.  If he does then the answer to my original question, “Where are we headed?” is easy.  We’re going back to the heaven on Earth that was this country a hundred years ago.  Now I’m sure the folks on the far-right will remind me that we’re not the same people we were back then, what with demographic change and women voting and all that jazz.  And they’re right.  We are different.  Whatever changes in culture and demographics have wrought won’t be erased.  Even the descendants of Old America have changed.  Their ancestors were religious people.  Their descendants are for the most part atheists or at least agnostics.  So, we have to acknowledge that.

My answer is that different people can play the same game and even though there will be differences in style and skill level if they play by the same rules, then basically it’s still the same game.  So, from my way of looking at things we’re most likely to get back mostly the same kind of country if we make everyone play by the original rules.  This I believe is known as civic nationalism.

Well, that’s a lot of ifs.  Trump is battling the most powerful accumulation of power since the Romans conquered the Mediterranean after knocking off the Carthaginians.  The Deep State and the vested interests that are their clients are the people Eisenhower called the military-industrial complex.  He warned us about them sixty-five years ago and they’ve only become more powerful over time.  They now also operate the surveillance state that knows everything we write, say or maybe even think.  They essentially control Silicon Valley because they are their paymasters.  They are not going to just roll over and play dead.

All this means there is a range of outcomes next year that runs the gamut from complete Trump failure to complete victory.  Of course, the most likely outcome is something in the middle where neither side totally wins or totally loses.  But Trump has earned the privilege of us watching and waiting to see what he can manage.  I don’t expect perfection.  I do expect him to make my life better and mercilessly torture his enemies and make their lives a living hell.  I think he owes that to himself and to me.

I want him to restore all of our rights under the Constitution including freedom of association.  And I want him to eliminate affirmative action from all aspects of American life.  If he does all that, he will be a success in my book.

I want to see a long line of FBI executives with cardboard boxes in their hands walking out of the J. Edgar Hoover Building with really sad faces.  I want NPR defunded.  I want the Education Department closed.  I want men in dresses drummed out of the military in great bunches.  I want everyone whose name is associated with Ukraine in the State Department unemployed.  I want all the prosecutors at the Department of Justice who spent their last four years prosecuting J6 fired.  I want the military budget for weapons systems halved and the VA fully funded.  I want Fauci prosecuted and all his co-conspirators rounded up.  I want a true analysis of the “safety and efficacy of the COVID vaccines.  I want Trump to declare martial law at the borders and refuse to let anyone in without a valid visa.  And if the visa cases become backlogged the candidates will wait outside the country for their turn.  And I want him to deport a million aliens a month.  And I want him to make the wall solid and equipped with drones that catch people climbing it and throw them back onto the outside.

And that’s the start of what I want.  I guess this is my Christmas list, Santa Trump.  Do the best you can.

Don’t Cry Baby, Don’t Cry

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Don’t Cry Baby, Don’t Cry

Donald Trump takes office in about two months.  Can we avoid a nuclear confrontation with the Russians until then?

I’m really not sure.

 

Comcast is going to spin off MSNBC.  And Elon Musk has jokingly spoken about buying it and putting Joe Rogan, Tucker Carlson and Alex Jones on the air.  Is it just a joke?

I’m really not sure.

 

Donald Trump says he’s going to deport thirty million illegal aliens and rip the Deep State out of the federal government by the roots and put RFK Jr. in charge of the HHS and let him dig out the truth about modern medicine and eliminate DEI from the military and the rest of the federal government.  Can he do any of these things?

I’m really not sure.

 

There’s a sense of unreality about a lot of our world.  People claim that misinformation is the reason that so many things that we are told turn out not to be true.  But I don’t think that’s the only reason for this growing uncertainty in our environment.  I think that the system may be coming apart at the seams.  I think the “people in charge” are themselves unsure about which way things are headed and therefore unsure which way they should head.  And without the rich and powerful putting their weight behind a particular outcome, random factors and herd instinct has a greater influence on day-to-day happenings.

Take the first example above.  The United States and England both gave the Ukrainians permission to fire modern medium range missiles into the heartland of Russia.  These are very advanced weapons and in fact, the Russians know that the missiles are being fired by American and British technicians.  And the Russians have responded to these attacks by clarifying that they consider attacks with modern weapons that come from the Ukrainian territory are the same as attacks by nuclear powers and can be answered by striking back at those nuclear nations directly.  And to emphasize their seriousness they launched a new class of medium range multi-warhead ballistic missile into a target in a Ukrainian city.  Now of course this missile was not armed with nuclear warheads.  This was saber-rattling.  But that’s one hell of a saber.  Since that launch the Ukrainians have not used any more American ATACMS or British Storm Shadow missiles.  But the war is not going very well for the Ukrainians and many people say that the State Department and the Pentagon are determined to do everything they can to force the Trump administration into continuing the war.

Well, how far will they go with nuclear brinksmanship?  How well are they calibrating Putin’s willingness to ignore their provocations.  Or are they actually trying to provoke an attack on NATO bases outside of Ukraine?  Are they looking to let things go nuclear?  And who are they?  It’s a cinch that Biden isn’t calling the shots.  He can barely remember his name.  But is it even Blinken and the Joint Chiefs?  With things winding down is it even a lower-level cadre of idiots?  But whoever it is, are we staring down catastrophe because these weirdos lost an election and won’t get to play God in Ukraine anymore?

Once again, I’m really not sure.  And I’m beginning to believe no one else does either.

All the crazy stuff going on seems to be outside of the control of anyone with a lick of sense.  It’s almost as if every attempt to fix the problems elicits an even stronger and more dangerous response from somewhere.  But where?

 

We’re living in strange days.  If you’re the praying sort this might just be the right time to do it.  You could do worse.

 

“These are the days of miracle and wonder.  …   A loose affiliation of millionaires and billionaires …  and don’t cry baby, don’t cry, don’t cry, don’t cry.”