2-13-14

Tucson Weather Today

____________________

I had just finished composing and laying out almost the entire blog entry for today, which had taken me a couple hours or so, when I suffered a fat-fingered incorrect keystroke that completely wiped out the entire file. And I could not retrieve it. So I had to do the whole thing over. Which means that I am only guessing whether or not I have reproduced it as it first appeared.

Whatever . . .


Oh Good Grief; I do not feel like getting back into the creative groove at this moment in a futile attempt to come up with a totally new, and interesting, commentary.

So I won't.

_____

Did You Know . . .?

The correct term for a group of baboons is a troop, not a congress as is sometimes incorrectly reported.

_____

HISTORICAL EVENT

On this day in 1633, Italian philosopher, astronomer and mathematician Galileo Galilei arrives in Rome to face charges of heresy for advocating the 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.

Today, Galileo is recognized for making important contributions to the study of motion and astronomy. His work influenced later scientists such as the English mathematician and physicist Sir Isaac Newton, who developed the law of universal gravitation.

It was not until 1992 that the Vatican formally acknowledged its mistake in condemning Galileo.

_____

WORD FOR TODAY

condemnation
noun
1.  the expression of very strong disapproval; censure.
2.  the action of condemning someone to a punishment; sentencing.

The actual condemnation of Galileo is a short but quite interesting item to read. It can be found at the link below:

Papal Condemnation of Galileo

_____

CELEBRITY BIRTHDAYS

Peter Tork

(born February 13, 1942)

Peter Tork is an American musician and actor, best known as the keyboardist and bass guitarist of The Monkees.

Stockard Channing

(born February 13, 1944)

Stockard Channing 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.

Charles Elwood "Chuck" Yeager

(born February 13, 1923)

Chuck Yeager is a retired brigadier general in the United States Air Force and noted test pilot. In 1947, he became the first pilot to (officially) travel faster than sound.

Kelly Ann Hu

(born February 13, 1968)

Kelly Hu is an American actress and former fashion model. She was Miss Teen USA 1985 and Miss Hawaii USA 1993. Hu is best known for her role as Dr. Rae Chang on Sunset Beach (1997). She has since starred in numerous TV shows and films including Nash Bridges (1997–1998), The Scorpion King (2002), Cradle 2 the Grave (2003), X-Men 2 as Yuriko Oyama/Lady Deathstrike (2003), Underclassman (2005), The Tournament (2009), The Vampire Diaries (2010–2011) and White Frog (2012). She currently stars as China White on the CW series Arrow (2012–present) and Abigail Cho on the SyFy Network series Warehouse 13 (2013–present)

__________

We cannot change anything until we accept it. Condemnation does not liberate, it oppresses.
--Carl Jung

NASA TV

This Is Who I Am

   

Rights Actually ARE Alienable

    

Tucson Weather Today

_________________

 

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.

_____

 

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.

. . .

_____

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.

_____

William Shatner

 

 Comment Regarding Reddit

_____

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

 

Today, Galileo is recognized for making important contributions to the study of motion and astronomy. His work influenced later scientists such as the English mathematician and physicist Sir Isaac Newton, who developed the law of universal gravitation. In 1992, the Vatican formally acknowledged its mistake in condemning Galileo.

More

_____

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

 

Heresy is an opinion or doctrine at variance with the orthodox or accepted doctrine, especially of a church or religious system.

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.

_____

BORN ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY


Tennessee Ernie Ford

 

 Born: Feb 13, 1919
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

 

Kim Novak

 

 Born Feb 13, 1933
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).

Chuck Yeager

 

 Born Feb 13, 1923
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.

Stockard Channing

 

 Born Feb 13, 1944
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.

__________

“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