Meme Scholar with Madness (PhD)

[EndtheMadnessNow]

Happy birthday to the Mother of Gods and Monsters, author of the iconic "Frankenstein" or "The Modern Prometheus", the legendary Mary Shelley.




August 30, 1146: Supposedly, "A European conference outlawed the use of the crossbow." It was hoped this might stop wars, but the ban proved ineffective, as it was interpreted as not applying to Christians. Oh the irony after nearly 900 years.

If you search the above quote you'll find yourself going down an endless circular rabbit hole.

This page is ordinarily reserved for a date tie-in - an interesting tidbit of historic information which sometimes is even actually connected to the topic being examined, and sometimes just calls out to me that it wants to be commemorated on the specific date of the uploading of this column. This time the event I've chosen has limited historic significance, but is interesting just the same. About 120 web sources tell us that on this date, in 1146,

    A conference of European leaders outlawed the crossbow, thinking to end wars for all time.

Needless to say, that perhaps well intentioned attempt wasn't successful. Wars are still with us. Also still with us is a tendency to keep the information flowing, regardless of its accuracy.

I'm not questioning the accuracy of the claim that on August 30, 1146 the crossbow was outlawed. For all I know, that may be true. But I don't know, and none of the perhaps 120 web pages that relate this information seem to know either. The vast majority of them simply copy and distribute the information, and none of them offer a source, either printed or electronic.

Who were these European leaders? Were they kings, princes, tribal chiefs? Did they represent different countries, different clans, different tribes? Where did they meet? For how long? Did they sign a written agreement, and if so, where can we find a copy of it? When dealing with an event that took place 850 years ago it's understandable that the information available about it is rather sparse, but still, one would expect a bit more detail.

A couple of the sites that note the date try and do a bit more. One of these links to a picture and to a short explanation of what a crossbow is - a commendable practice. Another, a school site, uses the date as a jumping off point to suggest to teachers what might be done with the information:

    Make a class list of the wars that were fought since then!

though there are probably numerous better catalysts for such an activity, and of course judging by the number of wars fought since then, the class activity sounds more like busy work in order to give the teacher a rest for perhaps a week.

So? I'll readily admit that the event has a certain ring to it. I'd even like it to be true. Sadly, even if it is, as a one-shot non-commital sentence stuck somewhere in an innocuous web site (or a hundred of them) it's rather useless information. If anyone wants to use the date, go right ahead, but please don't say you found it here.

Over and over and over again

Senior Policy Director John Erath wrote an op-ed in Geopolitical Monitor about arms control throughout history.

Around 1096, the Pope issued a decree banning crossbows as murderous and un-Christian weapons.  Although a later Pope clarified that it was still allowable to kill heathens with crossbows, all Christian nations were supposed to refrain from the use of such devices in warfare or suffer eternal damnation.  Unsurprisingly, the Pope’s attempt at medieval arms control failed, and Swiss action hero William Tell became a legend. In 12th century Europe, the primary threat to security came from armored warriors, and a crossbow could penetrate the armor of the time.  If one wanted to secure one’s castle from being stormed by armored enemies, a few crossbows on the walls would have been an effective deterrent.

Op-ed: From Crossbows to Nuclear Weapons: Arms Control in an Imperfect World

Vid description:

Genoese crossbowmen were some of the most sought-after mercenaries in Europe for much of the Middle Ages. They earned a reputation as fierce, reliable and effective warriors by defending their home republic and by serving in many of Europe’s armies. When their emblem, the banner of St. George, appeared on the horizon, many brave soldiers trembled and quite a few commanders changed their strategy at the last moment. Their most famous battle as well as their greatest defeat was the Battle of Crécy in 1346.

August 30, 1955: an Australian pilot cranked the propeller of an Auster Autocar J-5G training aircraft but was unable to get in the plane before it rolled down the runway and took off. The pilotless plane flew around Sydney for 3 hours before two Royal Australian Navy Sea Fury pilots shot it down. A jolly good show...



Vid description:

THE BATTLE OF SYDNEY: Sabres, Meteors, Sea Furies And Two Blokes With A Bren Gun Battle A Runaway

On the morning of the 30th of August, Anthony Thrower of Lavinia Street, Granville was out for a pleasure flight when his Auster Archer decided to make a break for freedom. What followed was a madcap three hour chase involving four jet fighters, two Hawker Sea Furies and two blokes with a Bren Gun.

Given that this incident pre-dated the more famous Battle Of Palmdale by a year, I thought it was interesting to compare how more conventionally armed aircraft fared against a slow, but determined piston-engined intruder. I hope you find it entertaining. I have to admit that as a Brit, I enjoyed poking a little fun at my Australian friends... hopefully they can take it in the spirit it's intended.

Huge iPhone monolith in space.




Happy Bell Riots Day to all who celebrate.

"Past Tense" today ("Star Trek: Deep Space Nine," season 3, episodes 11 & 12) of the Bell Riots result in a political/cultural shift in the US, paving the way for the values which the Federation are founded upon. And sure, a lot of bad stuff happens later; like a nuclear war that would have been even worse without the uprising's influence. Sisko, Bashir, & Dax are wandering around San Fran right now.


Bell Riots


Interesting in hindsight that the Pentagon carried out a Mass Casualty Exercise (a tabletop simulation) of a plane hitting the Pentagon that took place in Secretary of Defense William Cohen's office in October 2000.

Washington, D.C., Nov. 3, 2000 — The fire and smoke from the downed passenger aircraft billows from the Pentagon courtyard. Defense Protective Services Police seal the crash sight. Army medics, nurses and doctors scramble to organize aid. An Arlington Fire Department chief dispatches his equipment to the affected areas.

Don Abbott, of Command Emergency Response Training, walks over to the Pentagon and extinguishes the flames. The Pentagon was a model and the "plane crash" was a simulated one.

The Pentagon Mass Casualty Exercise, as the crash was called, was just one of several scenarios that emergency response teams were exposed to Oct. 24-26 in the Office of the Secretaries of Defense conference room.

On Oct. 24, there was a mock terrorist incident at the Pentagon Metro stop and a construction accident to name just some of the scenarios that were practiced to better prepare local agencies for real incidents.


To conduct the exercise, emergency personnel hold radios that are used to rush help to the proper places, while toy trucks representing rescue equipment are pushed around the exercise table.

Cards are then passed out to the various players designating the number of casualties and where they should be sent in a given scenario.

To conduct the exercise, a medic reports to Army nurse Maj. Lorie Brown a list of 28 casualties so far. Brown then contacts her superior on the radio, Col. James Geiling, a doctor in the command room across the hall.

Geiling approves Brown's request for helicopters to evacuate the wounded. A policeman in the room recommends not moving bodies and Abbott, playing the role of referee, nods his head in agreement.

"If you have to move dead bodies to get to live bodies, that's okay," Abbott says as the situation unfolds.

Geiling remarked on the importance of such exercises.

"The most important thing is who are the players?" Geiling said. "And what is their modus operandi?"

Brown thought the exercise was excellent preparation for any potential disasters.

"This is important so that we're better prepared," Brown said. "This is to work out the bugs. Hopefully it will never happen, but this way we're prepared."

An Army medic found the practice realistic.

"You get to see the people that we'll be dealing with and to think about the scenarios and what you would do," Sgt. Kelly Brown said. "It's a real good scenario and one that could happen easily."

A major player in the exercise was the Arlington Fire Department.

"Our role is fire and rescue," Battalion Chief R.W. Cornwell said. "We get to see how each other operates and the roles and responsibilities of each. You have to plan for this. Look at all the air traffic around here."

Each participant was required to fill out an evaluation form after the training exercise.

"We go over scenarios that are germane to the Pentagon," Jake Burrell of the Pentagon Emergency Management Team said. 'You play the way you practice. We want people to go back to their organizations and look at their S.O.P. (standard operating procedure) and see how they responded to any of the incidents."

Burrell has coordinated these exercises for four years and he remarked that his team gets better each year.

Abbott, in his after action critique, reminded the participants that the actual disaster is only one-fifth of the incident and that the whole emergency would run for seven to 20 days and might involve as many as 17 agencies.

"The emergency to a certain extent is the easiest part," Abbott said. He reminded the group of the personal side of a disaster. "Families wanting to come to the crash site for closure."

In this particular crash there would have been 341 victims.

Contingency planning Pentagon MASCAL exercise simulates scenarios in preparing for emergencies

Hinckley is following Reagan again...




Potential solution for BIAD. This company will put sunlight on your location...at night. LOL!




Imagine working for a major bank and dying in your cubicle and no one finds your body for FOUR DAYS...


NBC News

When I worked in a corporate labyrinth of cubicles there was this older guy a few rows over from me that would often burst out in anger when his computer acted up, followed by a screaming phone call to IT. One day he had a battle with his keyboard (he went through many keyboards) and about 30 minutes later a few of us heard a dull THUMP on the floor. Nobody thought anything of it until someone walked by his cube and noticed he was lying face down on the floor. He had a heart attack and died right there with the keyboard on the floor beside his body. We inferred the keyboard had enough abuse and took drastic action.


Weekend words...




C.S. Lewis wrapping up The Chronicles of Narnia...