Strange (and Rare) Clouds

     In June of last year stormchaser Mike Olbinski, who chases storms across the United States to collect footage of supercells, lightning, tornados, was northeast of Bismarck, North Dakota and as storms were dying out, he and his crew decided to check out a lone cell on the backside of a line of storms. They knew it had a hail core on it and was hoping for some nice sunset colors and some lightning. 
     There appeared undulatus asperatus clouds, a rare phenomenon. The Cloud Appreciation Society was formed to get recognition for a new category of cloud called the undulatus asperatus. 
     For years, individuals from across the world had been sending its founder, Gavin Pretor-Pinney, pictures of the unusual formations which had no official name, trying to figure out what they were. It took nine years, but the World Meteorological Organization finally recognized Pretor-Pinney’s clouds in the updated version of the International Cloud Atlas, though the name was shortened to “asperitas.” 
     The formation is described as “localized waves in the cloud base, either smooth or dappled with smaller features, sometimes descending into sharp points, as if viewing a roughened sea surface from below. Varying levels of illumination and thickness of cloud can lead to dramatic visual effects. Asperitas clouds tend to be low-lying, and are caused by weather fronts that create undulating waves in the atmosphere. 
     In Olbinski's case, they crew had a storm with hail in front of them and flashing lightning. Then the sun slowly appeared from behind some clouds to the west and lit up the storm like nothing they had ever seen before.

Hazel Carter

     During the American Civil War, an unknown number of women disguised themselves as men and fought on the front lines. These women were looking for adventure, higher wages, involvement in a cause they believed in, or they wanted to follow sweethearts or family members. While it may be difficult to fathom how a woman could get away with passing herself as a man during the Civil War day in and day out, stories and books have been written about the women who did just that. It seems impossible that women could get away with disguising themselves as men what with medical examinations (unknown in the Civil War) and the closeness that living in the field involves, but it happened as late as World War One. 
     Hazel Carter (nee Blauser) was born in 1894 and died July 12, 1918. She was a stowaway and writer from Douglas, Arizona. During World War I, she stowed away on a ship to France to stay with her soldier husband, Corporal John J. Carter. Later, she wrote about her experience for the Bell Syndicate. 
     Carter was born in the Huachuca Mountains outside of Douglas, Arizona and was known as a skilled hunter and farmer. According to her father Peter Blauser, she graduated from college but chose to live a life on a ranch where she tended to 200 cattle and 16 horses.
     She married John J. Carter on December 12, 1916. When her husband was sent to France with the first American contingent of soldiers, she first tried to join the Red Cross in Douglas, but was not accepted. She then cut her hair short and stole an Army uniform and went to the train station where she mingled with the men. She boarded the same train as the one carrying her husband and went undetected for two days. Carter claimed her husband did not know of her presence on the train until they neared Chicago. 

     When she was discovered and forced off the train and told to go back to Douglas. However, she got back on the train and when it arrived at the port she was able to get onto a ship as a stowaway. The ship was five days at sea when her identity was discovered; her voice aroused suspicion and when a Captain asked her to remove her shirt the secret was out. 
     Hazel was then held in a stateroom and upon arrival in Europe she was not permitted to disembark from the ship. Her request to remain as a nurse was refused. Her husband was demoted from corporal to private as a result. 
     Carter said her mother did not know she was stowing away until after she left. Her mother wrote to her saying, “If you wanted to be a soldier and fight with your man, it was all right with us. We’re proud of you. You’re an honor to the blood, and that has been fighting blood since before the Civil War.” Her Civil War veteran grandfather remarked how proud he was of her stating, "I knew she would do it…That girl sure has grit. I wish she could stay and fight the Germans. You ought to have seen her in uniform. She made a better looking soldier than John, I do believe. She can handle a rifle better than most men. They sure should have let her stay." 
     After arriving back in the States she was detained and questioned by the police in Hoboken, New Jersey. She then moved on to Atlantic City, New Jersey. She was provided women’s clothes and a wig prior to being sent home to Arizona. In some old newspaper articles she was even referred to as Private Hazel Carter (retired). 
     Back home she received a hero's welcome and was met by a brass band and supporters. She also wrote about her experiences and her account was published by The Bell Syndicate. She also authored a series of four articles detailing her experience that were serialized nationally by several newspapers.
     She intended on earning enough money to return to France to serve as an Army nurse, but she died in Lordsburg, New Mexico, on July 11, 1918, after being ill for two days. Her husband was still fighting overseas when she died.
     Friends claimed that her health declined after her return and they believed she died of a broken heart. Her body was returned to Douglas for burial and she was given a military funeral with a military chaplain and six soldiers as pallbearers. In 1918 after the funeral it was reported that Carter's was the first military funeral held in the United States for a woman. 
     For further reading about the 400 women who are known to fight a men in the Civil War, the following sites are of interest.

A Civil War woman soldier

American Battlefield
Smithsonian

The Mysterious Track 61

     Track 61 is an abandoned subway station beneath the Waldorf-Astoria hotel in New York City. It was built along with the rest of Grand Central Terminal and it was intended to be a powerhouse and storage area for unused New York Central Railroad cars and not a passenger station. That's interesting because contrary to popular belief, Track 61 is not part of the New York City Subway system, but is actually part of the old New York Central Railroad. This explains they so called “mystery” of why it does not appear on subway maps. 
     Today everything at the station is coated with grime and dirt and there is still an antique train car permanently parked in the hidden powerhouse. Back in the day President Franklin D. Roosevelt had his armor-plated Pierce Arrow car transported to the station which was then lifted right into the Waldorf’s garage. Roosevelt is also rumored to have entered and exited via the station in order to hide his worsening case of polio. 
     Track 61 likely hid the comings and goings of a number of Presidents over the years and was confirmed to be prepped for a quick getaway route for George W. Bush while he attended meetings at the Waldorf. Rumor has it that military generals to celebrities have uses Track 61 for clandestine movements, but given all the secrecy involved, the rumors are hard to confirm. Some claim that the unmarked brass door at the Waldorf’s street level which leads to the station proves that important people still use it. 
     Track 61 has been out of service for decades, but in September of 1929, the NY Times reported on the new hotel's private railway siding underneath their building. The Times described how guests with private rail cars could have them routed directly to the hotel instead of to the Pennsylvania Station or the Grand Central Terminal. There was a special elevator that would take them directly to their suites or to the lobby. 
     This was made possible because the New York Central tracks passed directly beneath the block and it was obtained by the Hotel Waldorf-Astoria on a sixty-three-year leasehold, the lease being only for the "air rights" on the site. 

Fax Without A Fax Machine

     If you have a document in electronic format, you can fax it using the Internet and your laptop's Wi-Fi connection. There are a number of sites from which a fax can be sent, but one of the easiest to use is FaxZero, a Web-based service for sending faxes, for free, in the United States or Canada. 
     It's not the most polished and the service is somewhat slow, more on that shortly. But...FaxZero will get your fax out free. You will have to put up advertisements or pay per fax to make them go away. It is a lightweight option if you have infrequent faxing needs. It is not a site you will want for heavy faxing, nor can you receive faxes. 
     You can only send three pages plus the cover page for free, however FaxZero gives you up to five faxes a day. Of course, the pages will be branded with a FaxZero logo. The alternative is to pay $1.99 per fax (via PayPal), for up to 25 pages and a choice of a cover page or no cover page; paying means you'll get no FaxZero branding. 
     Since you don't have a fax number to receive faxes, you go to the Web page, enter the required information, and you're good to go. If you pay for the branding-free service, or for an international fax, you'll do so using a one-time PayPal payment. 
     On the site you will be shown a form that supports DOC, DOCX or PDF files, but you can also attach ODT, RTF, PNG, XLS, XLSX, TXT, HTML, TIFF, BMP, GIF, PPT and VSD files. You're limited to three attached files.
     The online form is easy to follow. Simply enter the required sender information (your name, email and phone number) and receiver information (name and fax number). Then choose the files to attach, enter text for the cover page, and enter a confirmation code generated by the site to prove you are a human. 

     To send, you choose the free or paid option at the bottom of the screen. If you're sending a free fax you can send only three pages, plus the cover page. Tap the button on the lower left page to send your free fax (up to five free faxes per day). That’s a total of 15 pages. 
     On the down side, you fax doesn't send instantly. You have to wait for an email with a link to your fax and then click on the link to deliver it.  Waiting on the confirmation fax can take anywhere from 5 to 15 minutes. 
     FaxZero may suit your needs adequately if you don't mind a little branding, a limited number of pages or file types and don't mind waiting a few minutes to actually send it. If you are looking for more, then there are other sites that offer much more...for a price.

Dark Chocolate...Good Stuff!!

     There is in Loma Linda, California a university, Loma Linda University Adventist Health Sciences Center, that is a nonprofit religious corporation (Seventh-day Adventists) that is the umbrella organization for its core and affiliate organizations. They have recently published findings from two new studies that show dark chocolate consumption reduces stress and inflammation, while improving memory, immunity and mood. 
     Findings show that consuming dark chocolate that has a high concentration of cacao (minimally 70 percent cacao, 30 percent organic cane sugar) has positive effects on stress levels, inflammation, mood, memory and immunity.
     While it is well known that cacao is a major source of flavonoids, this is the first time the effect has been studied in human subjects to determine how it can support cognitive, endocrine and cardiovascular health. For more information and a buyer's guide to dark chocolate you can visit the Healthline. 
     The head of research at the School of Allied Health Professions pointed out that for years, researchers have looked at the influence of dark chocolate on neurological functions from the standpoint of sugar content, but this researcher looked at the impact of large amounts of cacao in doses as small as a regular-sized chocolate bar. 
     These studies show that the higher the concentration of cacao, the more positive the impact. Some natural remedy sources have long made claims for dark chocolate, but now they are being shown right by research at Loma Linda.
     Dark chocolate is loaded with nutrients that can positively affect your health. Made from the seed of the cocoa tree, it is one of the best sources of antioxidants on the planet. Good quality dark chocolate with a high cocoa content contains a decent amount of soluble fiber and is loaded with minerals. A 3-1/2 ounce bar of dark chocolate with 70-85 percent cocoa contains iron, magnesium, copper, manganese ranging from 58 to 98 percent of the recommended daily require and smaller amounts of potassium, phosphorus, zinc and selenium. Of course, 3-1/2 ounces is a pretty good sized bar that comes with 600 calories and moderate amounts of sugar, so eating that much every day is over doing it. By comparison, the extra large Hershey Bar weighs 4-1/4 ounces. 
     The fatty acid profile is excellent. The fats are mostly saturated and monounsaturated, with small amounts of polyunsaturates. It also contains stimulants like caffeine and theobromine, but is unlikely to keep you awake at night as the amount of caffeine is very small compared to coffee. 
     Dark chocolate is loaded with antioxidants, even more than blueberries and Acai berries. Some studies reported that dark chocolate can improve blood flow and lower blood pressure, but the effects are usually mild and in some cases ineffective. 
     It also increases HDL and lowers LDL in men with elevated cholesterol and reduces insulin resistance, which is another common risk factor for many diseases like heart disease and diabetes. 
     It is plausible that regular consumption of dark chocolate can reduce the risk of heart disease. Studies show that cocoa can improve blood flow to the skin and protect it against sun-induced damage. Cocoa may also significantly improve cognitive function in elderly people with mental impairment. It also improves verbal fluency. Cocoa also contains stimulants which may be a key reason cocoa can improve brain function in the short term. 
     So, while there is considerable evidence that consuming dark chocolate in modest amounts is good for you, that does not mean you should be eating it every day because it's still loaded with calories. 
     Also, most of the stuff on the market is crap; you need organic, dark chocolate with 70 percent or higher cocoa content. Visit Livingstrong's site to read about the best dark chocolate gars.

Tinkertoys

     Stonemason Charles Pajeau and partner Robert Petit dreamed up the “Thousand Wonder Toy” in the early 1910s after watching children create endless abstract shapes with sticks, pencils, and old spools of thread. They improved on the kids' idea by adding holes for the sticks on a round spool and named their invention “Tinkertoy.” 
     The main part of the set is a wooden spool roughly two inches in diameter with holes drilled every 45 degrees around the perimeter and one through the center. Different length sticks were intended to be based on the Pythagorean progressive right triangle. 
     After that, it was just a matter of creating advertising displays in the Chicago area in which shop owners built elaborate displays and Tinkertoy was off to match other construction toys in the early 20th century such as Lincoln Logs and Erector Sets. The toys were promoted to parents as toys that would help kids to learn by exercising what is now called spatial intelligence. The fact is though, they were just plain fun to play with. 
     Originally Tinkertoy was intended for younger boys, but after 1919 Tinkertoys attracted budding engineers through the addition of an electric motor. The toys even came with instruction for creating elaborate mechanical tools such as printing presses, lathes, airplanes, and power saws. 
     Color was introduced in the postwar boom years of the 1950s. The new version featured colored plastic parts with each set designed to create particular objects. 
     Tinkertoys were used by Danny Hillis to build a computer that plays tic-tac-toe-playing computer (!) and they have been used to create other equally complex machines. 

     Originally they came packaged in mailing tubes to reduce shipping costs. The early versions even had an address label and space for postage. The packages came in different sizes and had numbers and names so customers could distinguish sizes. 
     In addition to the spools, the now standard Tinkertoy set includes wheels, which are thinner than spools, but larger in diameter, caps (cylindrical pieces with a single blind axial hole), couplings (small cylindrical pieces with a blind hole in either end and a through hole crosswise through the center of the part), pulleys, a "Part W" (a spool, but with perimeter holes 90 degrees apart, loose-fitting center holes, and four tight-fitting through-drilled holes parallel to the center hole) The Part W allows for free-spinning parts and gears. There are also fan blades and various other small parts. Most of the larger sets also include a driveshaft, an unfinished wooden rod without slotted ends that can be turned with a small plastic crank. 
     Sticks are slotted on each end, both to provide some give when inserted into snug-fitting holes, and to allow thin cards, flags, and strings to be inserted into the slots. They are color-coded by size.  
     While only a toy, there are benefits to kids who play with Tinkertoys, Erector Sets, Lincoln Logs and other similar toys. They help sharpen focus and patience as they ponder how to build whatever it is in their imagination. These toys develop motor skills that can be used in everyday mundane tasks like buttoning clothes or zipping up a jacket. Building toys is hands on and teaches children to use their imagination and helps them develop problem solving skills. 
     Another major advantage is that they are just plain FUN...even for adults. When I received not one, but two, Erector Sets for Christmas one year, I couldn't play with it Christmas day because my Dad was playing with it...he built a huge Ferris wheel. 

Take a gander at THESE Tinkertoy sculptures.

Windbags and Blowhards and Sophists

     Blowhard and windbag have slightly different definitions. A windbag is someone who talks a lot without saying anything worth hearing. A blowhard is someone who talks too much and is a braggart. A sophist is a person who reasons with clever but fallacious arguments.
     Hundreds of years BC Sophists had considerable influence in their time and were largely well-regarded. Instead of finding out the truth, they were more interested in winning arguments or making their point at all costs against anyone who challenged them. They argued for sheer triumph and, worse, charged fees for their services at the expense of the truth. 
     The Sophists challenged, criticized and destroyed the foundations of traditions, moral and social order and had nothing to put in place of what they destroyed, nor did they care too. 
     Sophists believed each person should decide for himself what true, good and beautiful. This approach appealed to the unthinking and conflicts were resolved through the use of power...might makes right. Does all this sound familiar? 
     The Sophists were silver-tongued orators and public speakers for hire who were highly skilled in the art of effective or persuasive speech. They challenged, questioned and did not care about arriving at good answers. What they cared about was winning public speaking contests, debates and lawsuits and they charged fees to teach others how to do what they did. The idea was that whoever presented the best case would win. 
     They were so good that they were able to convince a crowd that up was down, day was night, the wrong answer could be the right answer, good was bad and bad is good, even that injustice is justice and justice would be made to appear as injustice. 
     Among the courses they taught were topics that can be found in any bookstore in the self-help section. Things such as: 

# How to win no matter how bad your case is 
# How to win friends and influence people 
# How to succeed in business without really trying 
# How to fall into a pigsty and come out smelling like a rose
# How to succeed in life
# How to play to win 

     Many modern day televangelists are Sophists; they use references and quotations from the Bible for their own purposes and are not true believers in what they preach.  They put the individual human being and their wants and desires at the center of everything. To them there are no universal truths or values. 

     Politicians are Sophists.  They aim to convince voters they are the best man or woman for the job, but once they get elected, personal or party interests take over. When campaigning issues are unimportant, the goal is to make their opponent look bad and truth appear as falsehood and vice versa. They can turn a weak (or non-existent) argument into a strong one. They rely on misleading but persuasive arguments and appear to support of whichever side they believe will best serve their interests, or whichever side they are paid to argue for. They are concerned only with convincing voters to believe them, not with the truth.

     Lawyers are literally Sophists for hire. A defense lawyer is legally obligated to argue as persuasively as possible in the client’s best interests while the prosecution is duty bound to convince the court of the guilt of the accused. The truth isn't important. They argue for victory and for money. 
     Some things never change.

The M1 Rifle and the M1 Thumb

     The standard issue rifle for US Army and Marine Corps Infantry from 1936 to 1957 was the M1 Garand. During World War II approximately 5.4 million M1s were made. They were used by every branch of the United States military and General George S. Patton called it "the greatest implement of battle ever devised. 

     The M14 rifle replaced the M1 as the US Army's standard service rifle in 1957, but the M1 continued to see usage through the 1970s. Additionally, the M1D was the official sniper rifle for the US Army until its replacement with the 7.62mm M21 Sniper Rifle in the mid 1960s and M1s saw service in Vietnam until the early to mid-1960s. The Army Reserve, Army National Guard, and Navy, continued to use Garands at least into the 1970s. The Fleet Marine Force finished a change from the M1 to the M14 in late 1962. 
     In 1968, that rat, Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara closed the Springfield Armory, in a decision that was personal, political, and controversial. The former armory is now a National Historic Site run by the National Park Service. 
     That was the same year he ordered the destruction of the tooling used to manufacture the SR-71 Blackbird. The Springfield Armory had its beginnings in 1777 when Springfield was chosen as a site for an arsenal to manufacture cartridges and gun carriages for the American Revolution. Then, in 1794, George Washington chose Springfield as site for a permanent armory. Production of arms began in 1795, as 40 workers produced about 245 flintlock muskets each month. Over the next 174 years, the armory was a key to the city's economic health, and for much of the 20th century, it was the region's largest employer. During World War II, as many as 15,000 people made arms there for American troops. 
     In 1964, McNamara announced that the armory was "excess to the needs of the federal government," believing that private arms suppliers would be more efficient. Because of the growing war in Vietnam, the snide and arrogant McNamara was hated by those who opposed the war. He could not have cared less about other people's opinions, including Congressmen, as he began closing military bases and slashed over 81,000 jobs with more to follow. 
     With the original Springfield Armory shut down by McNamara's decision in 1968, a small company in Texas used the name for its manufacturing of its M1A rifle series, a line of civilian models of the M14. Six years later, in 1974, the company was sold to a family that expanded its product line to include custom M1911 pistols. The company is Springfield Armory, Incorporated. It's located in Illinois, with no connection to the original federal armory. They manufacture and import a number of firearms. 
     In my day it was referred to as the plain old “M1.” And, I well remember the smashed thumbs, aka “M1 thumb.”

The Longest Drivable Distance on Earth

Vile and Filthy Words Are Not Funny

     ...at least not in my opinion. 
     While channel surfing the other day I stopped for a few minutes to watch a program on the Turner Broadcasting System (TBS) called Full Frontal with Samantha Bee that featured a woman named, well, Samantha Bee. 
     I never heard of her, but Samantha Jamie Bee (born October 25, 1969) is a Canadian-American comedian, writer, producer, political commentator, actress, and television host. 
     Bee rose to fame as a correspondent on The Daily Show, a late-night talk and news satire television program that describes itself as a fake news program drawing its comedy and satire from recent news stories, political figures and media organizations. In 2015, Bee left The Daily Show after 12 years to start her own show. 
     Bee became a US citizen in 2014, while retaining her Canadian citizenship. In 2017, Time Magazine named her one of the 100 most influential people in the world on their annual Time 100 list. I find it hard to believe that she has that much influence, but if Time says so, it must be true, right? 
     Bee recently has been taking flak for making a nasty comment about Ivanka Trump. One wonders why she can get away with what she says, but Roseanne Barr got fired for a racist “joke” about Valerie Jarrett, a former advisor to President Obama. Political advisors study topics such as public opinion, political decision-making, and ideology, analyze the structure and operation of governments, and various political entities, conduct public opinion surveys, analyze election results or analyze public documents then brief the President. 
     I never cared for Roseanne Barr and never watched any of her television programs because, to me, she seems rather crude and unfunny. Watching Samantha Bee for a few minutes left me repulsed. Words that come to mind are: rude, offensive, vituperative, caustic, vulgar, filthy and a host of other words I can think of, but funny isn't one of them.

    I don't have a problem with satire, but it's not clear to me why profanity is considered funny. Some time back we stopped briefly at a comedy show appearing on television and about one minute convinced us that the guy wasn't funny at all. The audience was busting a gut even though all the guy was doing was standing there shouting the F-word into the microphone. What's funny about that?! As I told my wife, I can hear that all day at work. Why is it funny when somebody screws up his face and shouts it into a microphone on stage?
     An article in The Telegraph opined, “A new generation of comedy shock jocks has substituted a tirade of filth and abuse for the subtleties of wit and wicked innuendo.” I can't really blame the comedians because it pays their bills and they make a lot of money doing what they do.