Q - Did I watch last night's great State Of The Union address?
A - Yes, but I learned nothing new from doing so, as expected.
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Opening of a the first draft of a Science Fiction Story -- a Work In Progress . . .
Deneb is the brightest star in the constellation Cygnus and one of the vertices of the Summer Triangle. It is the 19th brightest star in the night sky, with an apparent magnitude of 1.25. A blue-white supergiant, Deneb is also one of the most luminous nearby stars. However, its exact distance (and hence luminosity) has been difficult to calculate, so it is anywhere between 54,000 and 196,000 times as luminous as the sun.
Deneb
Proclamation To All From The United Nations
Our mighty conquerors from the Deneb system -
after having entered orbit around Planet Earth
and having demonstrated proof of their superior
technology and power, now announce that exactly
thirty Earth days from the exact instant of the 1st
Strobe -- all human heretics will be eliminated.
. . .
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Note: Natural and Legal rights are two different things, although it seems to me that most of the people with whom I am closely acquainted appear to think they are identical.
More on the subject another time.
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William Shatner
Comment Regarding Reddit
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HISTORICAL CLIP
On this day, February 13, in 1633, Italian philosopher, astronomer and mathematician Galileo Galilei arrived in Rome to face charges of heresy for advocating Copernican theory, which holds that the Earth revolves around the Sun. Galileo officially faced the Roman Inquisition in April of that same year and agreed to plead guilty in exchange for a lighter sentence. Put under house arrest indefinitely by Pope Urban VIII, Galileo spent the rest of his days at his villa in Arcetri, near Florence, before dying on January 8, 1642.
Galileo Galilei
More
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WORD FOR TODAY
inquisition
noun
- any harsh, difficult, or prolonged questioning.
- the act of inquiring; inquiry; research.
- an investigation, or process of inquiry.
- a judicial or official inquiry.
- an official investigation, especially one of a political or religious nature, characterized by lack of regard for individual rights, prejudice on the part of the examiners, and recklessly cruel punishments
Torture For Heresy
The Inquisition, as known today, was a group of decentralized institutions within the judicial system of the Roman Catholic Church whose aim was to "fight against heretics". It started in 12th-century France to combat the spread of heresy and error, and was later expanded to other European countries.
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Born: Feb 13, 1919
Died: Oct 17, 1991
Died: Oct 17, 1991
Ernest Jennings Ford, better known as Tennessee Ernie Ford, was an American recording artist and television host who enjoyed success in the country and Western, pop, and gospel musical genres. Today, he is best remembered for his hit recording of "Sixteen Tons".
Tennessee Ernie Ford singing Sixteen Tons
Born Feb 13, 1933
Age: 79 years old
Age: 79 years old
Kim Novak (born Marilyn Pauline Novak) is an American film and television actress.
Novak is possibly best known for her dual role in the 1958 Alfred Hitchcock film Vertigo. She also appeared in Picnic (1955), The Man with the Golden Arm (1955), Pal Joey (1957), Middle of the Night (1959), The Notorious Landlady (1962), and Kiss Me, Stupid (1964).
Born Feb 13, 1923
Age: 89 years old
Age: 89 years old
Charles Elwood "Chuck" Yeager is a retired major general in the United States Air Force and noted test pilot. He was the first pilot to travel faster than sound (1947). Originally retiring in 1975 as a brigadier general, Yeager was promoted to major general on the Air Force's retired list in 2005 for his military achievements.
Yeager's career began in World War II as a private in the United States Army Air Forces. After serving as an aircraft mechanic, in September 1942 he entered enlisted pilot training and upon graduation was promoted to the rank of flight officer (the World War II USAAF equivalent to warrant officer) and became a North American P-51 Mustang fighter pilot.
After the war, Yeager became a test pilot of many types of aircraft including experimental rocket-powered aircraft. As the first human to break the sound barrier on October 14, 1947, he flew the experimental Bell X-1 at Mach 1 at an altitude of 45,000 ft (13,700 m). Although Scott Crossfield was the first to fly faster than Mach 2 in 1953, Yeager shortly thereafter, set a new record of Mach 2.44.
Yeager's popularity soared in the 1980s, when he was prominently featured in Tom Wolfe's book The Right Stuff and in its 1983 movie adaptation, in which he was portrayed by Sam Shepard.
Born Feb 13, 1944
Age: 68 years old.
Age: 68 years old.
Stockard Channing (born Susan Antonia Williams Stockard) is a three-time Emmy and one-time Tony Award winning American stage, film and television actress.
She is known for her portrayal of First Lady Abbey Bartlet in the NBC television series The West Wing; for playing Betty Rizzo in the film Grease; and for her role as Ouisa Kittredge in the play Six Degrees of Separation and its later film version.
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“I don't argue things being spiritual vs scientific, because I've never met anyone who knows enough about either to be convincing.”
--S. Kelley Harrell
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