“No-one is above the law” (and other meaningless prattle)

After hearing the above harped about for the past four years: no further explanation is necessary.

Now on to better stuff. Happy Saturday morning. Got your coffee made?

You probably missed the fact that in the middle of this week (December 5th) Sinterklaas was busily spreading cheer, and gifts, to the kids in The Netherlands.

But since I brought up The Netherlands I want you to open up the attached YouTube. You absolutely will find it astoundingly informative and mind-blowing. You’ll want to pour an extra coffee and put up your feet, then sit back. Wow!

Were you aware that The Netherlands added enough land to create a brand-new Province – Flevoland? To gain Flevoland’s land, the only ‘war’ they fought was not with soldiers: their ‘troops’ were engineers. Then, have you heard of a Dutch company with the name of ASML? The base model of the machine they make is priced at $100million – and they have a years-long backlog! That Holland is the largest agricultural product producer in Europe. In part done with an area the size of Manhattan under cover and totally technology driven, growing fruits and vegetables far beyond what can be done with earth grown crops.

Is all of that enough of a teaser? Ok, here you go:

The Who – Mid week, 45 years ago, tragedy struck the ‘Nati. At the time it was a common practice to offer “General Admission” tickets – ‘first in’ standing room up front. The Who were going to be playing, and a large crowd had gathered outside Riverfront Coliseum. A final bit of a sound check made people think that the concert had started. The crowd surged! People got crushed! Eleven died!

The event caused a worldwide change in people management at these large events, i.e. no more “General Admission” tickets.

A boondoggle – It seems that our dear leader, Joe Biden, is apparently contemplating extending ‘prospective’ pardons. Folk such as Fauci, first brother James “Jim” Biden, Liz Chaney, Mayorkas, Representatives Schiff and Pelosi could be on such a ‘pardon’ list. This requires to be all hastily planned stuff; implemented prior to Trump getting inaugurated.

As has become the norm with this administration there is a bit of an issue. Although the pardon could be legal, in years past the Supreme Court ruled that the individual to be pardoned must admit to their wrongdoing and apologize for their action. Whoops. Spot the ‘monkey-wrench’ here?

Old Testament brought today – Last Monday I had the privilege of spending an evening with Dr. Jordan Peterson. It was a full house, and his insights were what the Brits would label as, “spot on.”

No cameras or audio possible, so instead, I believe this short piece of Dr. Peterson at Queen’s University will make my point:

Quote: “Of course I’m old, but that doesn’t mean I shouldn’t think young” ~ unknown with initials dp

Flying with Rattan – OK, this is a bit of a deep dive (and I hadn’t planned to post this on Pearl Harbor Day,  the day of the Japanese attack). Shortly after the end of WWII, and shortly after normalcy had set in, a (then) sleek, metal airplane flew into our town – it was a 3 engine Ford Tri-Motor or “Tin Goose”. It was a big deal since the world’s very first engine powered flight occurred just a mere 47-years earlier.

For a fee we could take a short ride above and around our city. My mother was a ‘no-go,’ so little me joined my dad, and we climbed aboard. I have two distinct memories: entering through a small door near the rear of the plane, and then climbing uphill to our seats. Second, the seats were cool looking rattan, something I’d never seen.

Over the years I have mentioned to family and friends these strange seats. They must have made a ‘yuuge’ impression since other than a lot of noise I have virtually no memory of the flight itself.

This week I ran across a photo of the interior exactly as I remember. Point of interest; let me know if you can spot a seatbelt anywhere.

Landing – Just a quick point of interest, SpaceX’s Falcon-9 reaches a flight rate 30 times higher than the Shuttle did, at 1/100th of the cost! Finally, here is the promise of; “in the future we’ll have quick and reuseable space launches”

This coming week Marcia and I will traipse north to Michigan. We’re really excited and looking forward to spending a little time with her sibs. This past week’s weather gave some concern (possible traveling issues), but now it looks perfect. OK, as you can see, Marcia is busily practicing her greeting since it’s been a while.

Hence: Next Saturday there will NOT be the regular Ramblings

Life is AMAZING!

Slán agus beannacht (Irish for: Goodbye and blessings to you all)

Dirk

BONUS POINTS:

Here are some antiquated “wintertide” terms from the 16th and 17th centuries that have fallen out of use. Which words are from these times?

1) “algid” – feeling cold
2) “crapulence” – overindulgence at feasts
3) “Ninguid” – area of much snow
4) “apricity” – feeling of sun on face in winter
5) “doniferous” – a time of gift bearing
6) “brumal” – meaning of or belonging in winter