Happy New Year from Illinois! I have just drank a toast of very good amontillado and, sure enough, hear fireworks in the distance. I'm also happy that I got my end-of year donations complete, even though thanks to the Republicans the date no longer matters for tax purposes.
listener's husband is right, of course. There was n year 0. The decade that began with the year 1 ran through the year 10, and every subsequent decade has done the same. Similarly, of course, the third millennium began in 2001.
Wil and I watched our staple New Year's Eve movie: While You Were Sleeping. We attempted to watch the ball drop in NYC, but the station only showed the crowd instead of the ball dropping! Duh! We toasted in the New Year, with Moscato. I am holding so much in my heart as 2020 begins. In ten years, our grandchildren will be ages 23, 22, 20, 16, 14, 13, 11.5, and 9 1/3, plus our two special grand nephews 14 and 12. I hold so many hopes for positive change, the righting of the ship, the saving of the planet, the nation's soul, and humanity's compassion. We can do this. 307 days to Rock the Vote!!
The conjugation of old verbs is basically identical in German and English; the "regular" conjugations are newer and follow different patterns in the two languages. It's also very interesting that there are huge numbers of irregular conjugations in Spanish, but almost none in Latin, its parent language. Having studied both languages I realized that it is because short vowels disappeared in the evolution of Spanish, making many words that were clearly different in Latin indistinguishable in Spanish. The vowel shift taking place in the US upper Midwest calls for similar adjustments.
The millennium bug was real but was gorssly overhyped by companies seeking to profit from panic. An extreme example was talk about the computers in your refrigerator failing, although the clocks in those computers had nothing to do with the date. It may also be noted that IT departments often used attention to the Y2K problem to lobby for other upgrades they considered needed, and these costs were often attributed to Y2K.
But the current threats the guy is talking about have nothing to do with the date. They mostly reflect vulnerability to hostile attack.
I only know of one chemical reaction that will turn skin orange, and am pretty sure it could be caused by the propellant and oxidizer in a Scud C, which was probably in development in 1959. The reaction is a qualitative test for protein that was mentioned in the classical organic chemistry classes, and probably disappeared from all the textbooks shortly after I learned about it, in 1965. I will dig up documentation and see if I can get it to the author of the BBC video.
I sent an e-mail to the BBC asking to get in touch with the author of the lost hikers. Here is some more about my idea.
Nitric acid, applied to a protein (e.g. skin or fingernail) will produce a yellow color. Subsequent exposure to a base (e.g. ammonia fumes) will turn the yellow color to orange. The oxidizer in the Scud C, deployed in 1965, was fuming nitric acid, and the fuel was asymmetric dimethyl hydrazine, which is basic. The Nike Ajax missile, deployed in 1954, used fuming nitric acid and hydrazine--very similar. One of the illustrations in the dead skiers case indicates that the bodies were found in a depression, where vapors denser than air could accumulate. So a top-secret prototype of the Scud C could have malfunctioned and crashed, the fuel and oxidizer vapors killing the hikers. An animal probably took the missing eyeball, and the various injuries could well have been suffered by falling on stones as the victims attempted to flee from the poisonous fumes.
Thanks, Alan. That does sound like the most probable explanation. The ubiquity of the injuries is surprising, but not outside the bounds of statistical probability. And it must have taken the government a few weeks to connect the death to the rocket mishap.
Thank you, Bill. I think it checks enough boxes, and is the only one to explain the orange skins of the decedents. It would be nice if the BBC editors don't just write me off as a crank; if they do, I will attempt to contact someone involved in the film or research directly.
Two columns by Peter Beinart: The Embassy Attack Revealed Trump’s Weakness [Click] “By abandoning diplomacy, the president risks war, humiliation, or both—and has put himself at Iran’s mercy.” Very well put column.
Yeah, let’s see... Russia has a new potent weapon, and North Korea is working in a missle that could hit California, so DT decides to poke Iraq. What could possibly go wrong?
The Republican way of staying in power is to start a war. He’ll do anything.
This has been a warmer winter than usual; I don't think we have had any frost so far, and there are still hummingbirds about, albeit fewer than during the summer. They ought to be in Mexico at this time of year. We didn't refill the feeder for a while to encourage them to go south, but felt compelled to refill it when it seemed clear they were staying.
One thing to rem3mber is that no donation to a campaign can exceed $2700. When you hear about larger donations either they represent bundling -- getting a bunch of your friends to donate -- or contributions to PACs.
He is far too shady for me. He or his team published some stuff about all the black support he has and then used stock photos of a woman in Kenya. Also read that his team let big money people know that they should get in on the ground floor with donations to secure influence. I admire Pete's linguistic ability but nothing else.
And now a food question. I have been making breakfast burritos for several years. A dozen eggs, 1 lb of Jimmy Dean sausage and 2 c. of mild cheddar. I wrap the filling in tortillas and it makes about 21 or so burritos. The problem: since idiot trump is going to let sausage makers put anything they want into "sausage" and still call it "sausage" son #2 does NOT want me to continue to buy sausage meat. I'm wondering if I could cook Morningstar Farms sausage patties, which do taste just like sausage, crumble them up and use them in the recipe. Morningstar Farms does actually make veggie sausage crumbles, but I can only buy them a WALMART and I refuse to shop there.
I can't give any advice on burritos or sausage, Susan; but I went looking for information about Dear Leader's plan for sausage and couldn't find it. Can you give a reference, or any other information?
Happy New Year from Illinois! I have just drank a toast of very good amontillado and, sure enough, hear fireworks in the distance. I'm also happy that I got my end-of year donations complete, even though thanks to the Republicans the date no longer matters for tax purposes.
ReplyDeleteWell, here's one for Alan to parse.
DeleteGrammatically speaking, isn't it:
I drink
I drank
I have drunk
?
What are our regional differences on this?
Gee, this waiting for the west coast to chime in is good practice for November 3rd, eh?
DeleteHappy New Year, Bill! Nice to have you this side of midnight!
I've just checked the grammars, and listener is right. But somehow "have drunk" sounds to far to the past to go with "just now."
DeleteI think I must have invented a new tense: immediate perfect.
Deletelistener's husband is right, of course. There was n year 0. The decade that began with the year 1 ran through the year 10, and every subsequent decade has done the same. Similarly, of course, the third millennium began in 2001.
ReplyDeleteEven so, it sure feels more like marking a significant change as the numbers jump to the next group of tens.
DeleteWil and I watched our staple New Year's Eve movie: While You Were Sleeping. We attempted to watch the ball drop in NYC, but the station only showed the crowd instead of the ball dropping! Duh! We toasted in the New Year, with Moscato. I am holding so much in my heart as 2020 begins. In ten years, our grandchildren will be ages 23, 22, 20, 16, 14, 13, 11.5, and 9 1/3, plus our two special grand nephews 14 and 12. I hold so many hopes for positive change, the righting of the ship, the saving of the planet, the nation's soul, and humanity's compassion. We can do this. 307 days to Rock the Vote!!
ReplyDeleteThe millennium bug was real – and 20 years later we face the same threats [Click]
ReplyDeleteAnd 2020 seems to have sneaked right past me; it's 0017 hrs Jan. First now.
I did have to restrain myself from saying "snuk" in stead of "sneaked."
Delete🙂
DeleteFunny that we’re supposed to use “have drunk” but not “have snuck.” What a crazy mixed up language!
The conjugation of old verbs is basically identical in German and English; the "regular" conjugations are newer and follow different patterns in the two languages. It's also very interesting that there are huge numbers of irregular conjugations in Spanish, but almost none in Latin, its parent language. Having studied both languages I realized that it is because short vowels disappeared in the evolution of Spanish, making many words that were clearly different in Latin indistinguishable in Spanish. The vowel shift taking place in the US upper Midwest calls for similar adjustments.
DeleteThe millennium bug was real but was gorssly overhyped by companies seeking to profit from panic. An extreme example was talk about the computers in your refrigerator failing, although the clocks in those computers had nothing to do with the date. It may also be noted that IT departments often used attention to the Y2K problem to lobby for other upgrades they considered needed, and these costs were often attributed to Y2K.
DeleteBut the current threats the guy is talking about have nothing to do with the date. They mostly reflect vulnerability to hostile attack.
A Soviet Mystery [Click]
ReplyDelete
DeleteWow. That is really strange, and sad. I hope the truth comes out yet.
I thought it was remarkably mysterious.
DeleteAnother mystery:
DeleteHeadless torso found in cave 40 years ago identified as murderer who escaped jail in 1916. [Click] Remains found in Idaho 40 years ago finally identified as belonging to outlaw who killed his wife – but who killed the outlaw?
I only know of one chemical reaction that will turn skin orange, and am pretty sure it could be caused by the propellant and oxidizer in a Scud C, which was probably in development in 1959. The reaction is a qualitative test for protein that was mentioned in the classical organic chemistry classes, and probably disappeared from all the textbooks shortly after I learned about it, in 1965. I will dig up documentation and see if I can get it to the author of the BBC video.
DeleteI sent an e-mail to the BBC asking to get in touch with the author of the lost hikers. Here is some more about my idea.
DeleteNitric acid, applied to a protein (e.g. skin or fingernail) will produce a yellow color. Subsequent exposure to a base (e.g. ammonia fumes) will turn the yellow color to orange. The oxidizer in the Scud C, deployed in 1965, was fuming nitric acid, and the fuel was asymmetric dimethyl hydrazine, which is basic. The Nike Ajax missile, deployed in 1954, used fuming nitric acid and hydrazine--very similar. One of the illustrations in the dead skiers case indicates that the bodies were found in a depression, where vapors denser than air could accumulate. So a top-secret prototype of the Scud C could have malfunctioned and crashed, the fuel and oxidizer vapors killing the hikers. An animal probably took the missing eyeball, and the various injuries could well have been suffered by falling on stones as the victims attempted to flee from the poisonous fumes.
Thanks, Alan. That does sound like the most probable explanation. The ubiquity of the injuries is surprising, but not outside the bounds of statistical probability. And it must have taken the government a few weeks to connect the death to the rocket mishap.
DeleteThank you, Bill. I think it checks enough boxes, and is the only one to explain the orange skins of the decedents. It would be nice if the BBC editors don't just write me off as a crank; if they do, I will attempt to contact someone involved in the film or research directly.
DeleteTwo columns by Peter Beinart:
ReplyDeleteThe Embassy Attack Revealed Trump’s Weakness [Click] “By abandoning diplomacy, the president risks war, humiliation, or both—and has put himself at Iran’s mercy.” Very well put column.
The Left-Right Divide Isn’t the One That Matters [Click] Buttigieg compared to Macron. Very apt.
Yeah, let’s see... Russia has a new potent weapon, and North Korea is working in a missle that could hit California, so DT decides to poke Iraq. What could possibly go wrong?
DeleteThe Republican way of staying in power is to start a war. He’ll do anything.
This has been a warmer winter than usual; I don't think we have had any frost so far, and there are still hummingbirds about, albeit fewer than during the summer. They ought to be in Mexico at this time of year. We didn't refill the feeder for a while to encourage them to go south, but felt compelled to refill it when it seemed clear they were staying.
ReplyDeleteThat is so sad. It’s warmer here too. We keep getting ice instead of snow. Bad. And poor Australia!!!.
DeleteThe Chicago area is unpredictable as usual. We had snow unusually early and an unusually warm Christmas. Snow on the ground today.
DeleteSo, Buttigieg took in $24.7M this past quarter. What I wanna know is what was the average donation and how many were huge donations?
ReplyDeleteOne thing to rem3mber is that no donation to a campaign can exceed $2700. When you hear about larger donations either they represent bundling -- getting a bunch of your friends to donate -- or contributions to PACs.
DeleteHe is far too shady for me. He or his team published some stuff about all the black support he has and then used stock photos of a woman in Kenya. Also read that his team let big money people know that they should get in on the ground floor with donations to secure influence. I admire Pete's linguistic ability but nothing else.
DeleteAnd now a food question. I have been making breakfast burritos for several years. A dozen eggs, 1 lb of Jimmy Dean sausage and 2 c. of mild cheddar. I wrap the filling in tortillas and it makes about 21 or so burritos. The problem: since idiot trump is going to let sausage makers put anything they want into "sausage" and still call it "sausage" son #2 does NOT want me to continue to buy sausage meat. I'm wondering if I could cook Morningstar Farms sausage patties, which do taste just like sausage, crumble them up and use them in the recipe. Morningstar Farms does actually make veggie sausage crumbles, but I can only buy them a WALMART and I refuse to shop there.
I can't give any advice on burritos or sausage, Susan; but I went looking for information about Dear Leader's plan for sausage and couldn't find it. Can you give a reference, or any other information?
Deletehttps://www.dailykos.com/stories/2019/12/18/1906410/-New-Trump-rule-allows-feces-sex-organs-toenails-unwanted-hair-into-pork-products-NBC-news
DeleteSounds like The Jungle. [Click]
DeleteWhy The Witcher Is Better Than Game of Thrones [Click]
ReplyDeleteWOW! Fantasy dramas, books (well, a bit) and video games! I am now culturally enlightened!
What Does the Republican Party Stand For? [Click]
Touting 5 Million Individual Contributions, Sanders Campaign Celebrates Fundraising Milestone [Click]
ReplyDeleteEagle Rock church erases $5.3 million in medical debt for poor L.A. area families [Click] They better watch out—if they keep doing things like that, folks might think well of them! Reminds me of the sign at Aimee Semple McPherson’s food bank:
ReplyDelete"Everybody and anybody is somebody to Jesus"