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Category: Uncategorized

Toppling of the ancient tree Prometheus in 1964, leads to thoughts of Ray Culp and Phillies trades of the same era!!

The stump (lower left) and some remains of the Prometheus tree (center), in the Wheeler Bristlecone Pine Grove at Great Basin National Park near Baker, Nevada

The stump (lower left) and some remains of the Prometheus tree (center), in the Wheeler Bristlecone Pine Grove at Great Basin National Park near Baker, Nevada from Wikipedia

 August 6, 1964 – Prometheus, a bristlecone pine and the world’s oldest tree, is cut down

The other day as I looked over the events that happened on August 6th throughout history, I came across a now, that worked out real well, didn’t it” moment or maybe a “What was I thinking moment! It seems that back in 1964 Donald Currey was sampling Bristlecone Pine Trees (Pinus longaeva) near Wheeler Peak in eastern Nevada. One of the trees that Currey was evaluating was Prometheus (recorded by Currey as WPN-114) Prometheus had been named by Naturalists back in 1958 or 1961. Currey wasn’t able to get a definitive core  used for aging the tree, for whatever reason, and it was decided that the tree down would be cut down. When the tree was toppled it was discovered that the tree was the oldest known non-clonal organism, and was at east 4,862 years old, possibly more than 5000 years old!! Oops! My bad!…. Whether or not Currey and/or Forestry personnel knew the age of the tree or even if Currey had to or should have cut the tree down is up for debate. You can read the whole story here at Wikipedia! Read More

This Day in History – August 4, 1964 – The Bodies of Three Slain Civil Rights Workers Found in Mississippi!

James Chaney, Andrew Goodman, and Michael Schwerner(top to bottom)

James Chaney, Andrew Goodman, and Michael Schwerner(top to bottom)

On the night of June 21-22 in 1964 three American civil rights workers, James Earl Chaney, Andrew Goodman, and Michael “Mickey” Schwerner were shot at close range and killed.   The workers had been working on the “Freedom Summer” campaign, attempting to register African-Americans to vote. On today’s date August 4th, their bodies  were found in an earthen dam near the murder site. Read More

Fredric Wertham and the Comic Code Authority Making Comic Books Safe for Kids!!

One of the books that I am reading is Harold Schecter’s The Mad Sculptor: the maniac, the model and the murder that shook the nation. The Mad Sculptor is Robert Irwin, prior to committing the murder (I haven’t gotten that far yet) Irwin is committed to Bellevue hospital, after an attempt at a little self-emasculation (he stopped because of the pain). While he was there one of the psychiatrists who saw him was Fredric Wertham.
Frederic Wertham
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Today in History – July 31, 1200 – Byzantine's Game of "Broken"Thrones starring John "the Fat" Komnenos

On this day in the year 1201 or 1200? John Komnenos nicknamed “the Fat” attempted to usurp the imperial Byzantine throne from Alexios III Angelos – pizza (- sorry my mind just thinks pizza when it hears Angelos) Below is a map of the Byzantine Empire *circa 1204…..

Byzantium1215

Map to show the partition of the empire following the Fourth Crusade, c.1204. The overall outcome of the Crusades leaving the Empire permanently weakened.

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Thoughts Re:Tom Petty Billboard Interview, Huckabee's Vicious Dog Comment, and Gov. Deval Patrick's Compassion!

 

tom_petty_billboard_cover_a_p

From The Hollywood Reporter


The other day I read a post about Tom Petty’s recent interview in Billboard. In the interview Petty spoke about  the church, and sex abuse, which forms the controversial message behind his new song “Playing Dumb”. Petty related that the song addresses the way that the church sat idly by, while child after child was sexually assaulted by members of the clergy, essentially “playing dumb” while children were hurt! Some of Petty’s quotes from the interview include Read More

Thoughts Re:Tom Petty Billboard Interview, Huckabee’s Vicious Dog Comment, and Gov. Deval Patrick’s Compassion!

tom_petty_billboard_cover_a_p

From The Hollywood Reporter

The other day I read a post about Tom Petty’s recent interview in Billboard. In the interview Petty spoke about  the church, and sex abuse, which forms the controversial message behind his new song “Playing Dumb”. Petty related that the song addresses the way that the church sat idly by, while child after child was sexually assaulted by members of the clergy, essentially “playing dumb” while children were hurt! Some of Petty’s quotes from the interview include Read More

Exploring Indonesia’s Election of Joko Widodo as the Nation’s 7th President!

On Tuesday 0f  this week Joko Widodo, often better known by his abbreviated name Jokowi was named President-elect of Indonesia. Jokowi collected 53% of the vote over his opponent Prabowo Subianto, who withdrew from the race prior to the completion of the count and is contesting the election! Currently, Jokowi is Governor of Jakarta, a post to which he will return, until the start of his official term as the 7th President of Indonesia, which begins on October 20, 2014. Read More

Exploring Indonesia's Election of Joko Widodo as the Nation's 7th President!


On Tuesday 0f  this week Joko Widodo, often better known by his abbreviated name Jokowi was named President-elect of Indonesia. Jokowi collected 53% of the vote over his opponent Prabowo Subianto, who withdrew from the race prior to the completion of the count and is contesting the election! Currently, Jokowi is Governor of Jakarta, a post to which he will return, until the start of his official term as the 7th President of Indonesia, which begins on October 20, 2014.
Now the question becomes two-fold, first who is this Joko Widodo and the second does an election in Indonesia really matter. Well, maybe the second question should really come first, does an election in Indonesia matter, to answer that question let’s explore a little about Indonesia. From Wikipedia” Read More