Meme Scholar with Madness (PhD)

[EndtheMadnessNow]

September 18, 1793: President George Washington, along with eight other Freemasons dressed in masonic regalia, laid the cornerstone, which was made by silversmith Caleb Bentley. This event marked the construction of one of the most iconic and important buildings in the U.S. The cornerstone contains a time capsule, which, according to records, might hold items like newspapers and a George Washington-autographed Bible, although its exact contents remain a mystery as it has never been opened.

We know from that newspaper article, and from Masonic ritual, that Washington placed an inscribed silver plate under the cornerstone at the southeast corner of this building. However, we do not know whether that meant the southeast corner of the Senate wing, the first section of the building to be completed, or the southeast corner of the whole building as intended, which would locate it over on the House side. More than two centuries later, the Architect of the Capitol is still searching for that cornerstone. Metal detectors have failed to locate the silver plate.
George Washington Lays the Cornerstone of the Capitol

The newspaper invitation announcing the cornerstone ceremony was directed to the Masonic fraternity:

    The Capitol is in progression—the southeast is yet kept vacant that [the] cornerstone is to be laid with the assistance of the brotherhood [on] the 18th Inst. Those of the craft however dispersed are requested to join the work. The solemnity is expected to equal the occasion.

The procession joined Masonic lodges from Maryland and Virginia, and all marched two abreast, "with music playing, drums beating, colors flying, and spectators rejoicing," to the site of the Capitol about a mile and a half away. There the procession reformed and Washington, flanked by Joseph Clark (the Grand Master) and Dr. E. C. Dick (the master of the Virginia lodge), stood to the east of a "huge stone" while the others formed a circle west of it. Soon, the engraved plate was delivered and the inscription read:

This South East corner stone, of the Capitol of the United States of America in the City of Washington, was laid on the 18th day of September, in the thirteenth year of American Independence, in the first year of the second term of the Presidency of George Washington, whose virtues in the civil administration of his country have been as conspicuous and beneficial, as his Military valor and prudence have been useful in establishing her liberties, and in the year of Masonry 5793, by the Grand Lodge of Maryland, several lodges under its jurisdiction, and Lodge 22, from Alexandria, Virginia.

Thomas Johnson, David Stuart and Daniel Carroll, Commissioners
Joseph Clark, R. W. G. M.—P. T.
James Hoban and Stephan Hallate, Architects
Collen Williamson, M. Mason

The plate was handed to Washington, who stepped down into the foundation trench, laid the plate on the ground, and lowered the cornerstone onto it. With the president were Joseph Clark and three "worshipful masters" bearing the corn, wine, and oil used to consecrate the stone. Chanting accompanied Washington’s ascent from the trench. Clark gave a speech punctuated by numerous volleys from the artillery. Following the formal exercises, a 500 pound ox was barbequed and those in attendance "generally partook, with every abundance of other recreation." By dark, the festivities had ended.

Architect Of The Capitol

In 1991, an extensive search & dig was conducted to find the cornerstone, but it was never found and still a mystery to this day. Wonder if they ever asked 33rd degree Freemason Sen Chuck Grassley.

The International Time Capsule Society has recently (2021) cataloged George Washington’s 1793 Cornerstone with newly adopted time capsule archiving technology.

George Washington’s Cornerstone (1793) NotForgotten Time Capsule Registry Certificate


September 18, 1851: The New-York Daily Times published its first issue. Founded by Henry Jarvis Raymond and former banker George Jones, it aimed to deliver news objectively, which differed from the era's sensationalist journalism. The paper adopted the mantra "All the News That's Fit to Print" in 1896, showing its commitment to unbiased reporting. It has since become one of the most influential newspapers in the United States and around the world, winning numerous Pulitzer Prizes.

Sold for a penny, the inaugural edition attempted to address various speculations on its purpose and positions that preceded its release:

Upon all topics,-Political, Social, Moral and Religious, we intend that the paper shall speak for itself; and we only ask that it may be judged accordingly. We shall be Conservative, in all cases where we think Conservatism essential to the public good;—and we shall be Radical in everything which may seem to us to require radical treatment and radical reform. We do not believe that everything in Society is either exactly right or exactly wrong;—what is good we desire to preserve and improve;—what is evil, to exterminate, or reform.

A Word About Ourselves (NY Daily Times, Sept 18, 1851)

On Sept 14, 1857, the newspaper officially shortened its name to The New-York Times. The hyphen in the city name was dropped on December 1, 1896. On April 21, 1861, The New York Times began publishing a Sunday edition to offer daily coverage of the Civil War.


First Versions



Sept 18, 1879: The Blackpool Illuminations are switched on for the first time. Blackpool Illuminations is an annual lights festival, founded in 1879 and first switched on 18 September that year, held each autumn in the British seaside resort of Blackpool on the Fylde Coast in Lancashire. Also known locally as The Lights or The Illuminations, they run each year for 66 days (since 2020, this has been extended to 100+ days). 1 September 2023 – 1 January 2024. Wiki



Sept 18, 1973: Future President Jimmy Carter filed a report with the International UFO Bureau, recalling a 1969 UFO sighting in Leary, Georgia. Carter, along with 10-12 witnesses, described a bright object changing colors in the sky before it disappeared. During his 1976 campaign, Carter promised to disclose all UFO information. However, once in office, however, he said releasing some of this information could have adverse “defense implications” and pose a threat to national security.


Yesterday was National Fox Day, and since a fox-shaped spirit is an omen of doom in Japanese folklore, the U.S. military developed a psychological warfare campaign during WWII that included releasing foxes sprayed with glow-in-the-dark paint in Japan. "Operation Fantasia" was never executed.

In the wake of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, “Wild Bill” Donovan, the leader of the Office of Strategic Services—America’s wartime intelligence agency—told his scientists to find a way to “outfox” the Axis enemies. In response, the scientists produced a number of dirty tricks, including explosive pancake mix, incendiary bombs strapped to live bats, truth drugs for eliciting information from prisoners of war, and a foul-smelling spray that mimicked the repulsive odor of fecal matter. In other words, desperate times called for desperate measures. Among these outlandish strategies, Operation Fantasia was the most desperate—and peculiar—of them all.

Operation Fantasia was the brainchild of OSS psychological warfare strategist Ed Salinger, an eccentric businessman who had run an import/export business in Tokyo before the war. Salinger’s business dealings had given him a cursory introduction to Japanese culture; he learned the language, collected the art and studied the superstitions—which is why the OSS hired him. Operation Fantasia, he pitched the organization in 1943, would destroy Japanese morale by exposing soldiers and civilians to a Shinto portent of doom: kitsune, fox-shaped spirits with magical abilities. “The foundation for the proposal,” Salinger wrote in a memo outlining his idea, “rests upon the fact that the modern Japanese is subject to superstitions, beliefs in evil spirits and unnatural manifestations which can be provoked and stimulated.”
....

The minutes of another OSS meeting that occurred near the end of the war reveal noticeable relief in the attendees, including Lovell, whenever the OSS cancelled the bizarre project. They concluded, “This problem of Fantasia has been mercifully completed.”

When Wild Bill Donovan had earlier told them to find a way to “outfox the Nazis and the Japs,” he didn’t mean it quite so literally.

The Unsuccessful WWII Plot to Fight the Japanese With Radioactive Foxes

Sept 18, 1996: a taxi driver spotted an abandoned North Korean submarine stuck off the coast of Gangneung, South Korea. For 49 days, the ROK Army pursued the DPRK infiltrators. 24 infiltrators were killed and one was captured. One may have made it back to North Korea.




Sept 18, 2001: First mailing of anthrax letters from Trenton, New Jersey in the 2001 anthrax attacks. 22 years ago today we were being sold Amerithrax, which would be used to put in place the measures used in 2020 for Corona.




So, NASA & its Council of Nine only has blurry photos and needs our cell phone videos, and the Air Force just lost a $81 million fighter jet and needs our help to find it too. Truly, interesting times we live in.





Improving F-35 Mission Capability with the C3 AI Platform

Remember the F-35 knows where it is at all times even when you don’t.

Update: Please report any sightings of missing F-35. It might have changed it’s appearance and is possibly armed and dangerous!