Meme Scholar with Madness (PhD)

[EndtheMadnessNow]

February 28, 1942: Brian Jones was born in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England. He was best known as the founder and original leader of the Rolling Stones. He sunk into alcohol and drug problems and was found dead by drowning in the swimming pool at his home at the age of 27 on July 3, 1969.


Brian Jones is supposedly the 14th member to join the pop culture conspiratorial 27 Club.


February 28, 1966: Liverpool’s original Cavern Club on 10 Matthew Street, known as "The birthplace of The Beatles" was forced into liquidation. The club reopened under new management but closed permanently in March 1973 and was demolished on 5 June 1973. The Cavern Club opened on January 16, 1957 as a jazz club, later becoming a centre of the rock and roll scene in Liverpool in the late 50s and early 1960s. Soon after the Cavern club closed again in '73, a new Cavern club opened at 7 Mathew Street, later renamed the Revolution Club. This club would later shut down and be reopened as Eric's Club in 1976, which itself became a notable local music venue in the late 1970s. However, a replica was built on the same site and reopened in 1984. Cavern Club was temporarily closed again from 1989 to 1991, and has been open ever since.

The club hosted its first performance by the Beatles on Thursday, 9 February 1961. Brian Epstein, the Beatles manager who secured the group's first recording contract, first saw the group perform at the club on 9 November 1961. Inspired by the group, Epstein made moves to take over their management.


Confusing as directly across the narrow walkway street is the Cavern Pub.



Above VIDEO: Sign outside the Liverpool's Cavern Club 'where it all began'. GV. Crowd outside. CU. Boys combing long hair. SV. Crowd carrying banners against Beatles. SV. People going into club, & CU. SV. Prime Minister Harold Wilson arriving with Socialist MP for Liverpool, Mrs Bessie Braddock, Mrs Wilson and son Giles. SV. As they go into club. LV. Interior as Prime Minister comes in and onto stage LV. Crowd in the club. CU. Jimmy Saville. CU. Comedian Ken Dodd. LV. Mr Wilson speaking, & CU. SV. Crowd. SV. Mr Wilson unveils plaque. CU. Plaque. SV. Pan, the Hideaway group playing. SV. Girls dancing. CU. Black girl dancing, & CU. CU. Group playing. CU. The girl with her hands over her ears. CU. Girl with very brief bikini top. CU. Another girl dancing. SV. The girl dancing with her back to camera. SCU. Jimmy Saville, Mr Wilson and Bessie Braddock watching. Got freaked out when Jimmy's face popped on screen.


February 28, 1973: Thomas Pynchon's novel Gravity's Rainbow was published. Best obscure one-volume history of the 20th Century, but the most difficult to read. C-ya on the outer side.




February 28, 1975: A Northern Line underground train crashed at Moorgate station, killing 43 people. The train, arriving from Drayton Park, was packed with commuters when it overshot the platform and ploughed into a dead-end tunnel. It remains an unresolved tragedy.


Moorgate tube crash (BBC)

1975: Dozens killed in Moorgate Tube crash

Moorgate tube crash (wiki)

B&W Photos from London Transport Museum

A brief history of the Underground



Feb 28, 1985: 40 Years ago today, John Connor, future leader of the human resistance against the machines, was born. Happy 40th John!




Feb 28, 1991: USS Missouri (BB-63) and USS Wisconsin (BB-64) ended their bombardment of Iraqi targets in Kuwait after firing a combined 1,102 16-inch rounds during the war. The Wisconsin's final salvo was the last time that a battleship fired her big guns in anger.



USS Missouri Documentary - BB-63 - Desert Storm
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4C2aHUYxKJs


Feb 28, 2018: The X-Files S11E07 "Rm9sbG93ZXJz" aired.
At 42:23 Scully's mobile displays the following text: From Harry Reid/ Subject UFOs/ Message: NYT knows about Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program. If they find you... DENY EVERYTHING.


"VGhlIFRydXRoIGlzIE91dCBUaGVyZQ=" is a base64 string that decodes to "The Truth is Out There". The artificial intelligence bot that was tricked into posting racist and insensitive tweets on Twitter on March 23, 2016, as described in the opening prologue, is Microsoft's Tay chatbot. The title "Rm9sbG93ZXJz" is a base64 string that decodes to "Followers." The sushi restaurant where Mulder and Scully eat is named FOROWA, which is the word for Follower in Japanese.


Earlier today on the world stage (Oval Office), Trump got into quite a heated discussion with Zelensky.


VP Vance: "Do you think that it's respectful to come to the Oval Office of the United States of America and attack the administration that is trying to prevent the destruction of your country?"

Trump: "You don't have the cards right now. With us, you start having cards ... You're gambling with the lives of millions of people! You're gambling with World War III!" (My guess is Trump was actually referring to China, not Russia)

Trump: "I gave you the Javelins to take out all those tanks. Obama gave you sheets... You got to be more thankful because let me tell you, you don't have the cards. With us, you have the cards — but without us you don't have any cards."

Trump: “You either make a deal or we are out.”

Ukraine without U.S. support?




Full vid from the White House Reality TV show:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cmgHM7oxVIw

Fox news reporting on Zelenskyy getting kicked out of the White House: "That was so disrespectful! You go right to your room this instant, mister! No lunch for you! And don’t you come back out until you are ready to talk about peace! The White House staffers ate the lunch." - Jacqui Heinrich, Senior White House Correspondent.

Trump had announced a strategic economic partnership deal will be signed with Ukraine on rare earth elements, but Zelensky left the building before signing.

Zelensky's appearance at the Hudson Institute in DC was abruptly CANCELLED after he was kicked outta the big house.

Meanwhile, Zelenskyy is heading to London tomorrow.

Sec Marco Rubio: "There's real concern that Americans' speech... could fall under the hands of British — or any country's jurisdiction... What unites us with Europe is these shared values, and one of them being free speech. And so, if Americans are threatened by it, we're going to need to take action."

Rubio sounds like classic D.C. doublespeak. "Shared values" with Europe on free speech? Last I checked, the UK was arresting people for tweets. If Rubio is serious about protecting American speech, he should take action on the real threat: government overreach right here at home.

The Free Speech Protection Act would actually stop bureaucrats from colluding with Big Tech to censor Americans. But I guess it's easier to point fingers across the pond than clean up our own backyard.

VP Vance: on conversations with UK officials about free speech: "We believe Americans have the right to speak their mind. Even if we in this room disagree with them, they have the right to speak their mind in the public square, which is often online these days. And we are going to defend that right as it pertains to American companies and American citizens."

Trump is planning to sign an executive order making English the official language of the United States. Huh? Why is an EO needed for that??

Time for that song once more...




Time to step outside and look up...


A rare planetary alignment of 7 planets is happening tonight (Feb 28).
Saturn, Mercury, Neptune, Venus, Uranus, Jupiter, and Mars will line up after sunset. Visible anywhere with clear skies. If you miss it tonight don’t worry: you can still catch it tomorrow. Best viewing date from London is March 2. If you don’t see it, don’t worry: you can see it in 2040.