Meme Scholar with Madness (PhD)

[EndtheMadnessNow]

Happy Winter Solstice, Comrade Rogue's




Dec 21, 1937: The Disney animated feature "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" premiered in Los Angeles, the first full-length cel-animated feature in motion picture history. It was based on the 1812 German fairy tale by the Brothers Grimm. The story was created by a number of Disney’s storyboard artists.



From the 'Snowden' movie around 33 min mark:

Sol: "Um, KEYword selectors. So think of it like a google search, except instead of searching only what people make public, we're also looking at everything they don't, so emails, chats, SMS, whatever."

Snowden: "Yeah but which people?"

Sol: *Looks back at snowden* "The whole kingdom Snow White." *smiles*
Snowden: *Looks on in disbelief*

"Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" was a nickname for IBM and its mainframe competitors in the 1960s. The other seven major American computer companies: Burroughs, Univac, NCR, CDC, GE, RCA, and Honeywell. By the 1970s the nickname became less relevant as the remaining five companies were known as "the BUNCH", based on their initials: Burroughs, Univac, NCR, Control Data, and Honeywell. Control Data was a sponsor of the cult classic movie, THEY LIVE (1988).

Operation Snow White was a criminal conspiracy by the Church of Scientology during the 1970s that "successfully" infiltrated the CIA.



Christmas gift suggestion that was published December 21, 1961 in the Reno Gazette-Journal... Cold War times.

If The Bomb Falls (A Recorded Guide To Survival)




Dec 21, 1961: "Convicts Test Fallout Shelter Survival Diet." Story published on this day in the Mount Vernon, Illinois Register-News.


Joliet film trivia of Life imitates art::
In the 1980 John Landis film The Blues Brothers, John Belushi's Jake Blues is nicknamed "Joliet Jake" as he was imprisoned at the now closed Joliet Correctional Center. The Joliet Prison has been a site for many other films and television shows, such as the film Let's Go to Prison, and the opening season of Fox's Prison Break was filmed predominately at the Joliet Prison, at which time part of the prison was still in use.

On August 12, 1998, poor Elwood self-destructed 40 seconds into launch due to an electrical short in the guidance system and the secret satellite was destroyed.


Dec 21, 1968: Apollo 8 was launched from Cape Kennedy, carrying the first humans to orbit the Moon. Frank Borman (Commander), James A. Lovell Jr. (Command Module Pilot), William A. Anders (Lunar Module Pilot, though no Lunar Module was flown on this mission). Entered lunar orbit on December 24, 1968, becoming the first humans to see the far side of the Moon.
Christmas Eve Broadcast: From lunar orbit, the crew made a live television broadcast showing images of the Earth and Moon, ending with the crew reading from the Book of Genesis. This was one of the most watched TV broadcasts in history at that time.




Launch of the Apollo 8 Saturn V spacecraft.




Men Of The Year Reunite After 50 years To Reflect On A Historic Moon Voyage | Short Youtube vid from TIME


.44 Magnum Night: Dec 21, 1971: The World Premiere of DIRTY HARRY in San Francisco. The premiere benefited the Police Athletic League (or P.A.L.).
"A man's gotta do what a man's gotta do!" and "Go ahead, make my day!"



Here's a KPIX news footage of the event: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hiCwUb1AK_k


December 21, 1973: FANTASTIC PLANET opened in Czechoslovakia on this day.

Cult movie in France, not about future ... but about past. Probably the weirdest, ultra trippy, mind-bending Sci-fi psychedelic animated film you'll ever see. NO shrooms required! On a faraway planet where blue giants rule, oppressed humanoids rebel against their machine-like leaders.

On the planet Ygam, the Draags, extremely technologically and spiritually advanced blue humanoids, consider the tiny Oms, human beings, descendants of Terra’s inhabitants, as ignorant animals. Those who live in slavery are treated as simple pets and used to entertain Draag children; those who live hidden in the hostile wilderness of the planet are periodically hunted and ruthlessly slaughtered as if they were pesky vermin to control their population.


In more recent times it has been postulated this film represents Humans as Pets Theory of Art symbolic of a past RESET! And even more precient given the past 4 years of our ruling lunatics! You can find the full film on Youtube or other streaming platforms in English, French, German. If you reside in the UK, I believe it's streaming for free on PlutoTV.

Wiki page and you can find many online reviews.

Five years in the making, the film was an international co-production between companies from France and Czechoslovakia. Russia's invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1968 delayed production.

The film has an incredibly long number of music tracks by Alain Goraguer Et Son Orchestre.

Alain Goraguer – La Planète Sauvage (The Fantastic Planet) soundtrack, 1973
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jjfWq0DMnCg

The first animated movie to be rated PG in the United States.

In 2016, Rolling Stone magazine named this the 36th greatest animated film of all time.

Included among the "1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die", edited by Steven Schneider.


December 21, 1979: THE BLACK HOLE had its general release.

"The U.S.S. Cygnus is perched precariously at the edge of a black hole -- the vast, empty nothingness where space and time end. Anything that crosses its border enters a universe of the complete unknown. And so begins a story that only Disney's film magicians could tell. A story of robots and humanoids. Of human genius and madness. And a spectacular descent into nature's ultimate mystery -- The Black Hole.

"Directed by Gary Nelson
Cinematography by Frank Phillips
Production Design by NAME
Starring Maximilian Schell, Anthony Perkins, Robert Forster, Joseph Bottoms, Yvette Mimieux.

The movie The Black Hole (originally known as "Space Probe One") is a forgotten classic, but stands as a landmark film in science fiction cinema. Back in 1979, The Walt Disney Company was known for it's all-ages rated films, but this film was Disney's first PG-rated production, and Buena Vista Distribution's second release with that rating. It also marked the first time Disney had made a straight sci-fi film and was the most expensive picture Disney ever made because of it's ground-breaking effects. While the movie got mixed reviews because of it's metaphysical and quasi-religous themes it still inspires film-makers generations later. One of the artists that helped develop the unique look of the film, that predated the production of Star Wars by the way, was the late Robert T. McCall.


Robert T. McCall was a professional art director and conceptual artist who worked on Hollywood films like Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979), 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) and Future Flight (1987).

V.I.N.CENT ("Vital Information Necessary CENTralized")

V.I.N.CENT (Roddy McDowall): A wolf remains a wolf, even if it has not eaten your sheep.

Dr. Hans Reinhardt (Maximilian Schell): The word "impossible", Mr. Booth, is only found in the dictionary of fools.

    [after first seeing the black hole]
Lieutenant Charles Pizer: Every time I see one of those things I expect to spot some guy dressed in red with horns and a pitchfork.

Captain Dan Holland: It's a monster, all right.

V.I.N.CENT: A rip in the very fabric of space and time.

Lieutenant Charles Pizer: [DELETED SCENE, SHORTLY AFTER OPENING CREDITS] ... I'm starving. What's on the menu for Christmas Eve?

V.I.N.CENT: Dehydrated turkey, with dehydrated oyster stuffing. Also dehydrated cranberry sauce, dehydrated gravy and giblets, dehydrated sweet potatoes in dehydrated orange sauce, dehydrated vegetable salad, dehydrated mince pie, dehydrated...

Lieutenant Charles Pizer: [firmly cutting him off] I envy you, VINCENT.

V.I.N.CENT: That's not surprising. Why?

Lieutenant Charles Pizer: Because you don't have any taste buds.

V.I.N.CENT : We have to go!

B.O.B. (Slim Pickens): Nope, I can't make it! My main circuits are gone, my anti-grav-systems blown, and both backup systems are failing.

V.I.N.CENT : You *can* make it!

B.O.B. : It's no use, V.I.N.CENT! My useful days are finished! But part of me goes with ya. You'll never be obsolete.


Portable Computing Magazine, December 1983 and 1983 Christmas tech.




38 years ago, December 20th on SNL, William Shatner told Star Trek fans to "get a life."




December 2004: the CONELRAD campaign to get DUCK AND COVER inducted into the Library of Congress's National Film Registry succeeded.

[EndtheMadnessNow]

December 21, 2011: Joe Biden's Letter to Santa Claus





Department of Christmas Affairs


Well, THAT Utopia didn’t last long. Once Al-Qaeda, always Al-Qaeda. Welp, we can see where this is headed.


Syria’s New Fundamentalist Government


"I don't have to tell you things are bad. Everybody knows things are bad. It's a depression. Everybody's out of work or scared of losing their job. The dollar buys a nickel's worth, banks are going bust, shopkeepers keep a gun under the counter. Punks are running wild in the street and there's nobody anywhere who seems to know what to do, and there's no end to it. We know the air is unfit to breathe and our food is unfit to eat, and we sit watching our TVs while some local newscaster tells us that today we had fifteen homicides and sixty-three violent crimes, as if that's the way it's supposed to be. We know things are bad - worse than bad. They're crazy." ...And then we have a MISSING congress critter...


‘Missing’ GOP Congresswoman has been found


Are we taking back the Panama Canal?




LOL! True...




LOL!




This happens so often, you’d think more people would recognize the basic pattern by now.




YES. LMAO!




Merry Drone Christmas.

[EndtheMadnessNow]

Belated entry due to database Christmas gremlins.

Dec 22, 1882: Invention of Christmas lights: American inventor Edward H. Johnson, who was vice president of the Edison Electric Light Company, had the idea to use electric lights for Christmas decorations. He hand-wired 80 red, white, and blue light bulbs and wrapped them around a Christmas tree in his New York City home.


Aside from Christmas lights only for the super wealthy, there was also a common feeling of mistrust in electricity at the time akin to witchcraft, which didn’t help matters.

So early on, Christmas tree lights were only available to the wealthy. For example, in 1900 one had to pay out $12 for a string of 16 bulbs, which would be approximately 450 bucks today!!! So, the poor peasants had to continue with using candles which of course caused many fires. It wasn't until the 1930s when America was being run by corporate giant General Electric that Christmas tree lights became affordable to 'most' people, that would be those that were able to dodge the Great Depression era.

A Christmas Lights story




Early History of Electric Christmas Lighting in America

Stories Behind the Great Traditions of Christmas (2003) By Ace Collins

James Newburn, 67, is the great-great grandson of Christmas tree light inventor Edward Johnson


Removal of the Bellamy salute occurred on December 22, 1942, when Congress amended the Flag Code language (due to resemblance of Nazi salute according to loud voices) first passed into law on June 22, 1942.


What event(s) happened between the time that the top (2) photograph's was taken and the bottom one?


December 22, 1962: The Tornados became the 1st UK pop group (and second British act) to gain a US #1 with their instrumental Telestar. The record was named after the Telstar communications satellite which was launched into orbit on 10 July 1962.



USA No.1 on this day in 1962: The Tornados - Telstar





December 22, 1965: An "experimental" speed limit of 70mph (112kmph) was introduced by outgoing Minister of Transport Tom Fraser on motorways in England. The experiment initially lasted four months, but the limit was made permanent in 1967 by incoming Transport Minister Barbara Castle. Like Income Tax Act in 1799 this was to be a temporary measure. It’s still in force.


New 70 mph speed limit on Britain's motorways – archive, 1965

A Brief History of the UK Speed Limit



“For some time I have been disturbed by the way CIA has been diverted from its original assignment. It has become an operational and at times a policy-making arm of the Government. This has led to trouble and may have compounded our difficulties in several explosive areas." ... "I never had any thought that when I set up the CIA that it would be injected into peacetime cloak and dagger operations." ... "There is something about the way the CIA has been functioning that is casting a shadow over our historic position and I feel that we need to correct it." - Wrote former president Harry Truman in an Op-ed entitled "Limit CIA Role to Intelligence" in the Washington Post on December 22, 1963.



It was published in the early morning edition and then immediately retracted. No doubt by order of Allen Dulles.

Truman's post in WaPo from Mae Brussell's website:

Context & additional details:
Are Presidents Afraid of the CIA? By Ray McGovern; December 29, 2009.


First flight of SR-71A Blackbird on December 22, 1964.
Air Force Plant 42, Palmdale, CA
Pilot: Bob Gilliland, Lockheed



Super size SR-71 image


1962 Lockheed 1329 JetStar rotting away at Roswell International Air Center, New Mexico.
Aircraft Serial No. 5016
FAA Registration No. N-20TF
Onboard television with RCA VCR player
Purchased by Elvis Presley on December 22, 1976 for $840,000
Sold at auction for $260,000 in 2023.


1962 Lockheed 1329 JetStar


Asma: Not happy in Moscow.
Assad: Coming soon to a Moscow window.




I guess we're gonna do the Panama thing...




LOL. Air drop'em over Jackson Lake, Wyoming with cement shoes.

[Bally002]

Couple of cool vids amongst that lot.

Thanks.  Bit of Nostalgia.

Bally and all the best for xmas from us.

[EndtheMadnessNow]

How many of you have the unfortunate super power of WEDEROGNOMONIA?
Do you suffer from the GRUEN EFFECT?
How many of you take in delectation in being known as a Rogue YULESHARD every year? Guilty as charged!

Huh? More on them obscure words at bottom of this post.


Dec 23, 1928: the Danish owned British built five-masted barque København disappeared during a voyage in the South Atlantic from Buenos Aires on 14 December 1928 to Australia, with 26 crew and 45 cadets (ages 14-20) on board. Used for hauling bulk cargo it primarily served for training of young cadets. On the 22nd December the København exchanged radio messages with the Norwegian steamer William Blumer, indicating they were about 900 miles from Tristan da Cunha and that "all is well" and the cadets were preparing to celebrate Christmas, which they planned to do so as they passed south of the Cape of Good Hope. She would never be seen or heard of again. That was the final message from the ship. Built in Scotland for the Danish East Asiatic Company, the København was the largest sailing vessel in the world when it was completed in 1921. The fate of the ship and crew remains a mystery.

She was officially announced "missing" by Lloyd's of London on 1 January 1930.



After years of searching for any wreckage public interest began to wane, but in April 1934, on arrival in Adelaide, Captain Soderlund of the Finnish-flagged grain ship Lawhill told newspapers that he had sighted wreckage from the København floating in the Great Australian Bight, but had failed to retrieve it.

Then in September, the NY Times reported a message in a bottle that had been picked up by a whaling ship on the Bonvel Islands, reputing the ship had been blown into the Antarctic and the crew and boys put ashore on the ice, to watch her be driven by the winds to her destruction.

It quickly transpired that the "diary" entries found in the bottle were copied out of a Spanish novel by a Danish journalist, who passed them off as genuine. A statement from the families of the lost boys read:

"We know our boys are dead, but it is terrible not to know how and why and where the tragedy happened. Perhaps, too, there are some who cherish a faint hope against their better judgement that some day they will come back."

You can read more about the København if interested:

The thread about the København; the enigmatic Leith-built sailing ship that mysteriously disappeared in the South Atlantic, never to be seen again

Photos of the Kobenhaven model:
National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, London]https://www.rmg.co.uk/collections/objects/rmgc-object-66020]National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, London

Dutch site: S/S COPENHAGEN The world's largest school ship

Australian vid about a Four Masted Barque rounding Cape Horn 1928, filmed & narrated by Captain Irving. Gives you a good idea of life onboard these massive Tall sailing ships and the harsh sea conditions one had to endure. Video is from NSW Maritime Museum. Fantastic storyteller!





Here's a masterpiece documentary: The Last Cape Horners



Description: "Gustaf Erikson of Finland owned the last great fleet of sailing ships the world would ever see. We have rare first hand accounts from men who sailed from Europe to Australia to load grain and return to Europe by way of the treacherous Cape Horn. These sailings were known world wide as The Last Grain Gaces."



Dec 23, 1968: the crew of USS Pueblo crossed "The Bridge of No Return" after 11 months of captivity in North Korea. The Pueblo is still held by North Korea but remains an officially commissioned ship in the U.S. Navy. Among USN commissioned ships, only USS Constitution is older. Filmed by a Swiss Army officer of the UN command on 8MM film. No sound.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hai53hfxAhI


Dec 22, 1991: The same day the Orlando Sentinel announced the Soviet Union doesn't exist, they published a fascinating article on a secret Mount Dora, Florida community fallout shelter (known as "the Catacombs") built in 1961.



Here's a 3-part story all about it:
MOUNT DORA'S BIGGEST SECRET: THE CATACOMBS


"Christmas 2001: A Space-Age Adventure" by Flo Price, Light Records, 1979, cover by Jim Lamb.


"Now take an imaginary interplanetary trip with us in our "Mobile Time Machine". Just step inside. It might make you think...just a little bit more about the wonderful God we serve." – Flo Price


I came across this via Russian media...


British soldiers successfully test drone killer radiowave weapon for first time

Soon that "single person" will be replaced by AI hybrid (cyborg).
QinetiQ is the British version of DARPA and Q has acquired numerous American Defense technology companies. "Qinetiq" (pronounced kinetic) is an invented name. "Qi" is supposed to reflect the company's energy, "net" its networking ability, and "iq" its intellectual resources. The name was adopted in early 2001 as a marker of Defence Evaluation and Research Agency (DERA) privatisation; the rebranding reportedly came at a cost of £400,000. They are traded on the London Stock Exchange as "QQ".

The Americans, the British, the Russians, the Chinese, French, Germans, and Aussies are all developing their AI brain chip.

You worry about them New Jerseys drones, earthlings? Well, lookie here...

AI MOUSE THAT ROARED: BRAVE NEW WORLD:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XS_sNeq8o9c


Yes, enhanced ape will rule man. Believe it says Zippy!




They been working on energy weapons a long time...


Final Report of the Defense Science Board Task Force on Directed Energy Weapon Systems and Technology Applications (Dec 2007)



That's some major bragging rights... and likely a big promotion in 2025...


For First Time, Australian Submariner Earns US Dolphins


Words for Christmas Week Extravaganza...



Last Minute Scramble
A yuleshard scrambles, delay—that’s his vice:
Hangs holyverds, wraps gifts, checks lists at least twice.
Pulling on boots, he meggles through snow,
Belsnickle busy with just hours to go.

[EndtheMadnessNow]

‘Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse; The stockings were hung by the chimney with care, In hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there....


Time for a Visit from St. Nicholas

A visit from St. Nicholas (full 1864 book in images or PDF)


Twas the night before Christmas,
and all through my home
Not a creature was stirring,
not even my clone.



Keyser Soze wishes you a Merry Christmas and remember, Kill Them With Kindness...




December 24, 1914: A Christmas Eve Contrast

This illustration entitled, "A Christmas Eve Contrast", by cartoonist Clifford Berryman, which appeared in the Washington Evening Star on December 24, 1914, depicts the feeling of many Americans on Christmas Eve for those suffering through the war in Europe, while enjoying a time of peace and prosperity at home.

Cartoonist Clifford Berryman shares the thoughts of many Americans on this Christmas Eve. Americans enjoyed economic prosperity from the war in Europe while maintaining minimal involvement in the conflict. Even though the United States was not involved in the war, it appeared that it was on nearly every American's mind. Berryman captures the mood with two children sitting by a roaring fire, their stockings hung from the mantle. But in their minds is a scene from the war zone of two other children with an empty basket looking at bombed out house.

This series represents one of the finest collections of graphic art dealing with Congress and American politics from the late 1890s to the 1940s covering an era of sweeping legislative transformation. 

Clifford Kennedy Berryman was Washington's best known and most admired graphic commentator on politics in the first half of the 20th century.  Berryman's drawings showed the power of cartoons to enhance, explain, and interpret the inside game of Washington's politics.  His detailed drawings illustrated the personalities, politics, and process behind major events, without belittling its targets.  Berryman was something of a "court" cartoonist for Congress, capturing the rich culture of the legislative branch at work. Politicians considered him a friend and his unrivaled work earned him a Pulitzer Prize.

National Archives Series: Berryman Political Cartoon Collection

Berryman Political Cartoon Collection, 1896–1949

Dec 24, 1924: A one-room schoolhouse in rural Oklahoma burns down during a Christmas pageant, killing 36 people, most of them children. The Babbs Switch School is crowded with 150 to 200 people—far in excess of its capacity—when candles on a Christmas tree ignite the blaze. A teen student dressed as Santa Claus is concluding the program at the school by handing candy to younger children when he disturbs the candles tied to the branches. Flames envelop the dry tree, shoot to the ceiling and flash along a fresh coat of paint.

The crowd surges toward the sole door in front, but because it opens inward, this exit becomes impassable amid the crush. In the mad rush to escape, some people smash windows—but these have been covered with wire mesh to prevent burglaries.

Among the heroes of the disaster are Florence Hill, a teacher who calmly escorts her pupils out of danger and dies in the fire. In some cases, entire families are killed. A section of the Babbs Switch cemetery contains the graves of 20 children who perished in the school.

“It is hardly conceivable that conditions could have been worse, even in so rudimentary a structure as this one-story building,” an investigation by the National Fire Protection Association concludes. The tragedy brings a nationwide push for schools to have multiple exits.


Site of Babbs Switch Tragic School Fire

SURVIVORS’ STORIES

The fire gave rise to a hoax. Because three-year-old Mary Edens's body was not recovered, her parents hoped that she had somehow survived the fire. In 1957, Grace Reynolds of Barstow, California came forward, claiming to be the long-lost child. Reynolds and the Edens family were reunited on the air during an episode of the Art Linkletter's House Party television program. Reynolds later wrote a book about her experiences entitled Mary, Child of Tragedy: The Story of the Lost Child of the 1924 Babbs Switch Fire. A local newspaper editor knew the story to be fraudulent, but withheld the information until 1999 at the request of Mary Edens's father, who believed his wife could not endure losing her child a second time.

Journalist honors pledge to family of missing girl


Entering the US public domain in 2025: English translation of Erich Maria Remarque’s 1929 "All Quiet on the Western Front" with the 1930 film adaptation set to do so in 2026.


Newly entering the public domain in 2025 will be:


Works by people who died in 1954, for countries with a copyright term of “life plus 70 years” (e.g. UK, Russia, most of EU and South America)

Works by people who died in 1974, for countries with a term of “life plus 50 years” (e.g. New Zealand, and most of Africa and Asia)

Films and books (incl. artworks featured) published in 1929 for the United States.

The remainder of the Roaring 20s about to join the public domain


December 24, 1955: NORAD began tracking Santa in what would become an annual Christmas Eve tradition. And 4 years later The NORAD Noradaires Commanders Orchestra was born.

Ever wonder who did the original NORAD Santa news updates? He is Lee B. Mozley (1935-1985), once known as the "Voice of NORAD." R.I.P. Trivia: he also appeared in THE GREEN SLIME (1969).




Listen to Mozley's 1970 NORAD TRACKS SANTA updates here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J0aw-RU1Yh4

From the Public Service Use Only record "Santa Tracking Reports and Holiday Music Special" issued to US radio stations in 1970 by The North American Air Defense Command.

A-Side states: (Use only on December 24, 1970)  Eight (8) news-type reports of NORAD tracking Santa through the day.

Back cover states: NOTE TO BROADCASTERS: This album is produced for the sole purpose of helping to gain understanding of the NORAD mission. Your assistance in telling the NORAD story in conjunction with playing music on this record will be greatly appreciated.

The NORAD Band was formed in 1959 as a 90-member touring orchestra known as The NORAD Noradaires Commanders Orchestra with members from the U.S. Army, Navy, Air Force, and the Canadian Royal Air Force. Performances were billed as a "Cavalcade of Music". The band retired in 1979, but the USAF component continued on as the 504th Air Force Band Of The Golden Gate. In 1991 it was re-designated "America's Band In Blue." On 1 July 1994, the band was inactivated, with all personnel and equipment reassigned to the "Air Mobility Command Band of the Golden West" at Travis Air Force Base, CA.

Claus: NORAD Tracks Santa (1975) Cool video!




On Christmas Eve 1971, 17-yr old Juliane Koepcke boarded the LANSA Flight 508. She survived the deadliest lightning strike in aviation history, one that sucked her out of the plane. She fell 2 miles to the ground, while strapped to her seat, & survived 10 days in the Amazon Jungle.



Wings of Hope (1998) (German: Julianes Sturz in den Dschungel, literally "Juliane's Freefall into the Jungle") is a 1998 made-for-TV documentary directed by Werner Herzog.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=msipyM4vyLg


Dec 24, 1979: the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan. A few months later, acerbic Washington Post TV critic Tom Shales dubbed Dan Rather as "Gunga Dan."




Interfaces from that 1988 Christmas movie:




December 24, 1992: senior operations CIA officer Duane Ramsdell "Dewey" Clarridge (April 16, 1932 – April 9, 2016) received a Christmas Eve pardon before his trial was finished by George HW Bush for the Iran-Contra Affair.


CIA chief Duane Clarridge explains how the crimes of Pinochet were "worth it" and that the US will overthrow democratically elected governments whenever it wants. When told that's a violation of foreign populations, his reply is clear: "well that's just tough."

Duane Claridge was head of the CIA Latin American in the early 1980's. Watch as Pilger asks (2:25) What right do you have to do what you do in other countries?
Claridge responds: National Security interest!

Duane Clarridge Defends the Empire
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kXlf9lQWr7w

[EndtheMadnessNow]

Merry Christmas, Joyeux Noël, Fröhliche Weihnachten, Nollaig Chridheil, Feliz Navidad, Vrolijk Kerstfeest, Rozhdestvom Khristovym, Nollaig shona daoibh.

December 25, 350: Pope Julius I chose December 25th for the "Feast of the Nativity" (now Christmas Day), to mark the birth of Jesus Christ. No one is sure why this date was selected, but it was very close to the popular Roman pagan festival Saturnalia and to the Winter Solstice.


I didn't get the truth so I'm gonna burn this place down!


104-year-old Alfred Anderson, the last known survivor of the Christmas Truce of 1914, is interviewed by the BBC at home in Scotland.

They ask what he thinks about the idea of Christmas. Anderson said:

  "I'll give Christmas Day 1914 a brief thought, as I do every year. And I'll think about all my friends who never made it home. But it's too sad to think too much about it. Far too sad."

Alfred Anderson (25 June 1896 – 21 November 2005) was a Scottish joiner and veteran of the First World War. He was the last known holder of the 1914 Star (the Old Contemptibles), the last known combatant to participate in the 1914 World War I Christmas truce, Scotland's last known World War I veteran, and Scotland's oldest man for more than a year.



Christmas Day truce 1914 | BBC Obit | Oldest war veteran reaches 106 |  Wiki

Apparently, some Scots of a certain bloodline have Highlander genetics. Damn, 109, WoW!!


"Today...is Christmas!" The "magic show" mentioned by Gunnery Sergeant Hartman in this scene from FULL METAL JACKET is Marine slang for a religious service.




December 25, 1924: 100 years ago, Rod Serling is born.


As he put it: “I was a Christmas present that was delivered unwrapped.”




An IBM computer plays “Jingle Bells” at Arlington State College in Texas, December 1965.




IBM Grok Christmas



Here is the first prompt of two, "Render an IBM computer from the 1965 era, but have it transformed into a large mech-robot. Note the IBM computer does not have a monitor or keyboard, as it was only a console with lights and switches. The IBM logo should be visible, along with the slogan "Think". It's also decked out in Christmas output (red and white winter clothes). But it's head should be the IBM computer, and it's not a human-like head, should look boxy like the 1960's style IBM computers. The scene should look as realistic as possible, with darker natural lighting."

Grok kept using a monitor and modern-keyboard to compose the image, which was not desired, so I kept trying to correct it, repeating this second prompt until I got one image that didn't have the irrelevant peripherals: "In the last images you used a monitor and keyboard in the images. Please re-render, but do not use a monitor and keyboard. The original IBM computers had a console of lights and switches, and no monitor or keyboard."


December 25, 1997: THE POSTMAN arrived.


Aside from Arizona, the primary filming locations was in & around Bend, Oregon.


"The Black Clock of Time," a "nuclear holocaust novel" - author Louis Greene (John Hodgman) in S3.E3 of BORED TO DEATH (HBO). IMDB




WSJ: 'Twas the night of Two fairy tales published?




242 years later Senate bill S.4610 makes the bald eagle the official USA bird. The bald eagle has landed in the U.S. code after Joe Biden signed a bill on Christmas Eve making the predator the official national bird.
Although the bird of prey is prominently displayed in the Great Seal of the United States, the country has never had an official bird in its 248-year history.

What took so long?


Press Release: Bill Signed: HR 663


MOVIES MADE BY AI? WE’RE BASICALLY THERE NOW

Every shot in The Heist was created with Google Veo 2’s text-to-video AI.

No cameras. No sets. Just words turned into film.

Jason Zada handled the sound, editing, and music, but the visuals? Pure AI.

As we've been seeing we’re on the brink of AI-made movies becoming the norm. Think about it, storyboards to screen without ever picking up a camera. Will become a lost art, sadly.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lFc1jxLHhyM

I believe all of us here have said this is coming for past few years. Human actors, film sets, & human art will be something of the past and I think the only human action will be of those who have captivating unique voices. But, even that can easily be mimicked/duplicated by AI. However, in AI created vids it gets a lot of things wrong. Such as in this vid (link above) the 70s muscle car appears to have front wheel drive (at 50 second mark).  Course the younger generations won't know that.


From the same AI company, Secret Level, a next-generation entertainment studio powered by AI produced 85 minutes of content in less than 3 weeks:


https://x.com/secret__level/status/1871614378912710660

A few years from now it may/will be much harder to differentiate AI from real.

"What is real? How do you define 'real'? If you're talking about what you can feel, what you can smell, what you can taste and see, then 'real' is simply electrical signals interpreted by your brain."
- Morpheus


Christmas words... I'm kedge-gutted on my favorite sonrock.

[EndtheMadnessNow]

Ok, half of today's post is dedicated to Bally and anyone else here residing in the land down under. Ya'll sure do have spectacular natural beauty! Wow, this place is definitely on my bucket list!

Corindi Beach, New South Wales, Australia

Corindi Beach, pronounced Cor-in-"dye" although Cor-in-"dee" is sometimes used, historically also known as Pipeclay Beach until a name change in 1954, Corinda until a forced change to be provided postal service to avoid confusion or by Red Bank as Corindi River was formerly known, is a beach and small seaside farming town located on the Mid North Coast of New South Wales, Australia.

Corindi is surrounded by the Tasman Sea to the east and the Pacific Highway to the west. The 30° south latitude line runs just north of Corindi Beach.

At the 2021 census, Corindi Beach had a population of 1,802. It is the site of the Yarrawarra Aboriginal Cultural Centre which provides information on the Gumbayngirr Aboriginal people's history and customs. Corindi and surrounds has become a major blueberry producer, with many locals and tourists working during the peak seasons picking fruit.

Corindi has a strong Aboriginal culture, celebrated through the Aboriginal local community and the Aboriginal cultural centre. The place is known to local Gumbaynggirr people as Blood Rock and many members of the tribe's descendants now avoid the area as a consequence.

Gumbaynggir land for at least 30,000 years, possibly 120,000 years, based on recent research.

Corindi Beach, New South Wales

Of course beauty has its dark side down under...

The redback spider (Latrodectus hasselti), also known as the Australian black widow, is a species of highly venomous spider believed to originate in Australia but now, Southeast Asia and New Zealand, it has also been found in packing crates in the United States with colonies elsewhere outside Australia.

The redback spider has been historically responsible for more envenomations requiring antivenom than any other creature in Australia. However, by 2017 the spider was blamed for only 250 envenomations requiring antivenom annually. Estimates of the number of people thought to be bitten by redback spiders each year across Australia range from 2,000 to 10,000.

Indigenous Australians in New South Wales mixed the spiders' bodies with the venom of snakes and pine tree gum to form a broth used to coat spear tips.
Redback spider

Just reading the wiki page on that spider made the hair on the back of my neck stand up. Although, the wiki said fatal bites are eXtremely rare...But not zero! OK, Bally, if I come across any of these Aussie Black Widows in my parts I'm going to ship them back to you. LOL. Or maybe I'll ship them to Ninurta for his Boar spear.


Oh, here we go... Matilda Bay Brewing Company produces a wheat beer called Redback, with the distinctive red stripe as the logo.


"Hoppy Flavors Fit Company for Food" (23 August 1988)

Would the real first Matilda Bay beer please stand up?

Red Rock is a small hamlet in the northern beaches of the Coffs Harbour coast beside the banks of the Corindi River on the Mid North Coast of New South Wales, Australia, and is surrounded by National Parks. It is in the City of Coffs Harbour local government area. At the 2016 census, Red Rock had a population of 303 people.

The headland is the site of a massacre of the Gumbaynngir indigenous people in the mid 19th century. A memorial has been erected at the base of the headland to honour the victims and survivors of the massacre. The massacre began at Blackadders Creek when mounted police entered the camp. They started shooting and then pursued the survivors to the Corindi River where they continued shooting. Some people were then driven off the headland. The headland may have been named Red Rock because the river went red from the blood of the indigenous people.

Red Rock, New South Wales

Red Rock, small coastal village- NSW Australia | Stunning 4K Footage
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0nyzx_A1oh0

Arrawarra Beach NSW Australia in 4K
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G0U3FRCLQnc

At the southern end I found the London Bridge at the coastal town of Port Campbell in Victoria, Australia. The town is on the Great Ocean Road, west of the Twelve Apostles, in the Shire of Corangamite.


The Twelve Apostles reminds me of sections on the Oregon Coast.
The natural bridge span closer to the shoreline sparked comparisons with the nursery rhyme of the same name ("London Bridge Is Falling Down") and collapsed unexpectedly on 15 January 1990, leaving two tourists stranded on the outer span before they were rescued by police helicopter. No one was injured in the event.

The Canberra Times (17 Jan 1990)


From the Gold Coast, about 8200 miles to the east...

Dec 23, 2024: Two Pyroclastic Flows Caught on Camera at Santa Maria Volcano (Santiaguito), Guatemala. The camera is about 8km away from Santa Maria / Santiaguito. At about the 3:00 min mark you'll see camera shake of what appears to be a small earthquake tremor. Spectacular footage!



Location: Western Guatemala, near the city of Quetzaltenango
Elevation: Santa María - 3,772 meters (12,375 feet); Santiaguito dome complex - about 2,500 meters (8,200 feet)
Type: Stratovolcano with an active lava dome complex
Activity: Frequent and continuous dome-building eruptions.


December 26, 1874: Boxing Day became an official Bank Holiday in England, Wales and Ireland, but not in Scotland until 1974. The name originated from the custom of Lords giving servants and tenants Christmas boxes. Boxing Day occurs on the same day as Catholic St Stephen's Day.

It originated in the United Kingdom and is celebrated in several Commonwealth nations. The attached bank holiday or public holiday may take place on 27 or 28 December if necessary to ensure it falls on a weekday; but of course. There are competing theories for the origins of the term, none of which is definitive.

The Oxford English Dictionary gives the earliest attestation from Britain in 1743, defining it as "the day after Christmas day", and saying "traditionally on this day tradespeople, employees, etc., would receive presents or gratuities (a "Christmas box") from their customers or employers."

The term "Christmas box" dates back to the 17th century, and among other things meant:

    A present or gratuity given at Christmas: In Great Britain, usually confined to gratuities given to those who are supposed to have a vague claim upon the donor for services rendered to him as one of the general public by whom they are employed and paid, or as a customer of their legal employer; the undefined theory being that as they have done offices for this person, for which he has not directly paid them, some direct acknowledgement is becoming at Christmas.

In Australia, Boxing Day is a public holiday in all jurisdictions except the state of South Australia.

Boxing Day

Here in America, Boxing Day means (at least for the man) avoid any and all big box stores like Walmart unless you enjoy being in close proximity to wackos, psychos, karens, meth head zombies, extreme frustration, fighting, yelling, screaming irate children, stress inducing ulcers, long lines that'll make you wish you didn't skip lunch to return that $9.99 gift and scenes you thought only happened in the movies. Happy Boxing Day my arse. Just stay home till after New Years.

Yes, Down Under I'd be on beach today with my mates.


https://x.com/7NewsBrisbane/status/1872199919521734864



USA #1 on this day in 1968: Marvin Gaye - I Heard It Through The Grapevine




December 26, 1975: Jaws directed by Steven Spielberg finally arrives to terrorize the UK. It had been released in USA on June 20, 1975.




December 26, 1982: A computer became the 1st non-human to win the Time magazine Person of the Year. The award in 1982 was recognition of the dawning awareness of the computer as a force in modern life. The 2nd non-human recipient of the Time award was the planet Earth in 1988.




R.I.P. Pearl Harbor survivor Warren "Red" Upton who passed away on Christmas Day at the age of 105. Upton was a radioman aboard USS Utah when the battleship was hit by torpedoes on 7 December 1941. As the Utah began to roll over, he abandoned ship and swam to Ford Island, towing a shipmate who did not know how to swim. Her rusting hulk remains in Pearl Harbor, partially above water; the sailors killed when Utah sank were never removed from the wreck, and as such, she is a war grave.

Upton, however, told The Mercury News that he had no plans to inter his cremated remains in the sunken hull of the Utah, an honor available to the crew members who survived the sinking.

“I got off there once,” he told the newspaper. “I’m not going back.”


Last survivor of USS Utah, sunk during Pearl Harbor attack, dies at age 105

[Bally002]

Thanks very much.

Corindi is a nice part of the coast and we occasionally go there to stay or perhaps camp at Red Rock.  We both like the beach and fishing.  I caught 2 Pelicans at Red Rock.  The buggers dived at the fish I caught and took off with them at different times.  Had to reel them in, untangle them and stick my arm down their gullets to get the fish and hooks out.

True Love works at Halfway Creek Roadhouse on the highway not far from there.

Corindi Beach has a lengthy section of beach where we can take and unleash the dogs otherwise from home here in Nymboida we travel west  further inland and camp along the Nymboida and Boyd rivers.

I showed true love the pics.  She recognised the first pic where we sit in the shade eating fish and chips.  The local pub is great with views out across the ocean.  Last time there I won the chook raffle.  2 Chicken Marylands' plus a large bird.  

Love all your pics mate.

Bally)))

P.S. The Funnel Web Spider is our deadliest.

[BIAD]

Well done, EndTheMadnessNow!

[EndtheMadnessNow]

Happy Friday Rogues! As we venture into the last weekend of the year.




Dec 27, 1949: The US Air Force terminated Project GRUDGE, claiming no evidence of UFOs exist. Case closed, go home.

Amid mounting UFO sightings, the Air Force continued to collect and evaluate UFO data in the late 1940s under a new project, GRUDGE, which tried to alleviate public anxiety over UFOs via a public relations campaign designed to persuade the public that UFOs constituted nothing unusual or extraordinary. UFO sightings were explained as balloons, conventional aircraft, planets, meteors, optical illusions, solar reflections, or even "large hailstones." GRUDGE officials found no evidence in UFO sightings of advanced foreign weapons design or development, and they concluded that UFOs did not threaten US security. They recommended that the project be reduced in scope because the very existence of Air Force official interest encouraged people to believe in UFOs and contributed to a "war hysteria" atmosphere. On 27 December 1949, the Air Force announced the project's termination.

CIA's Role in the Study of UFOs, 1947-90 (Studies In Intelligence Vol. 01 No. 1, 1997)

However, a short time later (in the 50s) a certain alphabet agency realized the UFO phenomenon mixed with bits & lies might induce public hysteria and would make for a fantastic psychological warfare program. The masters of obfuscation & deception.


https://x.com/CIA/status/549643808166526981


Of course that short URL has been long dead. The true URL is:
https:// www.cia.gov/library/center-for-the-study-of-intelligence/csi-publications/books-and-monographs/the-cia-and-the-u-2-program-1954-1974/u2.pdf

Which of course slaps you with a 404 not found.

Here's the working LINK (for now) if you're curious, titled: "The CIA and the U-2 Program 1954-1974", which of course still has redactions, mostly IMPORTANT names & locations they don't want you to know about, ever.

The HuffPost scoundrels were apparently the only mainstream outlet to pick up on it. Though, everyone was on the their way to getting plastered for ushering in a new year. Course, the whole UFO subject was still a taboo topic in 2014 concerning mainstream news.

Obviously, this never ended, both the research & psyop warfare. It merely evolves and morphs into something else, like myths.



In 1954, a TV station aired a film distributed by the US Navy titled "This Is Your Navy". Unfortunately, the film had been mislabeled and was actually the extremely graphic hygiene 1942 film "USS VD: Ship of Shame". One shocked viewer said she would never watch TV again.


When I was in the Navy it was MANDATORY to watch one of these VD films (updated with AIDS) before I could set foot in the Philippines or Thailand. Horrible but it worked, mostly. LOL.


Italian singer Adriano Celentano released a funk soul song in 1972 with nonsensical lyrics meant to sound like American English—to prove that Italians would just love any American song.

And it was a hit.

Prisencolinensinainciusol




Gives new meaning to "Lost in translation..."
The generated sub titles are experiencing technical difficulties. LOL.

Adriano later explained what kind of language this was, as no-one seemed to understand the lyrics.

"So you do not understand? Congratulations! You got the message!
Because it does not matter in what language you are talking; all that matters is that you speak up!"

Adriano Celentano, born in Milan, Italy in 1938 and apparently still rockin, though never learned to speak English.

Proof that sometimes it's not the words, but the vibe, that truly captivates an audience! Celentano's intention with the song was not to create a humorous novelty song but to explore communication barriers.

Experimental rock band "Tub Ring" did a great cover of this song.


Oh great, more crapola...
Netflix execs tell screenwriters to have characters "announce what they’re doing so that viewers who have a program on in the background can follow along."

They also have thousands of micro-genres including "casual viewing" which is used for movies/TV that go down best when you’re not paying attention. Why does it have to keep getting worse?


Casual Viewing

Instead of just trying to make good movies that would deserve someone’s attention, they’re going to make even more half-assed movies for people who don’t even want to pay attention to the movie in the first place.


No guts, No glory: In 1984, Robert J. Moriarty flew his V-tail Beechcraft Bonanza underneath the Eiffel Tower in Paris. He had a French news agency cameraman with him filming the event.



Moriarty (born September 9, 1946) was a US Marine Corps F-4B fighter pilot achieving the rank of captain at age 22 who holds the record as the youngest naval aviator (at age 20) in the Vietnam War where he flew 824 missions. WoW!!

Moriarty says the French were eminently reasonable about the whole thing. “If I had landed in Paris and said ‘Hey, look at me—aren’t I cool?’ I would have had some difficulty departing the country. As it was, we reached an agreement that as long as I stayed out of France for a few years no one would give me grief.

“Somebody did it again about three years ago,” he adds. “The French contacted me and said, ‘Was it you?’ I told them, ‘Why would I do it twice?’ ”

Stupid Plane Tricks (Air & Space Magazine, November 2001)

After clearing the city of Paris, I landed at a small dirt strip north of the city and dropped off the cameraman.

The French authorities censored the story and no one printed a word about it until about 10 days later when the news value had died to near zero. People magazine did a story in the United States in late April of 1984.

I made only one mistake. Instead of doing the flight on the 31st of March, I should have waited one more day.

– Robert J. Moriarty

A Bonanza in Paris – Under the Eiffel Tower

The media has Morning Insurrection Fever...


Congress has the power to block Trump from taking office

The Hill with it's comical disclaimer and the two clown authors, Evan Davis (a NY commie) and David Schulte (an Obama supporter & a Yale classmate of Hillary Clinton).

I find it hilarious that Left-wing propagandists are now:

- Denying elections
- Openly demanding for an insurrection
- Refusing to participate in the peaceful transfer of power

Poetic justice.



Over in the Corruption Chronicles...

NY Post

Related?


Biden pardons Chinese spies convicted of stealing American tech secrets



My cat is a feisty one especially if dinner is late, but he's also an Olympic standard hurkle-durkler. I'm an Olympic gold medalist when it comes to Scurryfunging, especially when the annual ‘In-law’ visit comes to town.




Words for the final Weekend of 2024...

[EndtheMadnessNow]

Happy New Year!!! Hope yours was great. Mine sucked.




Jan 1, 1983: The ARPANET officially switches over to using Transfer Control Protocol/Internetwork Protocol (TCP/IP) standard, the Internet Protocol, marking the birth of the modern-day Internet. The engineers called it the TCP Transition.





January 1, 1951: Chicago broadcaster Paul Harvey begins his national radio program "Paul Harvey News and Comment" from WENR-AM for the ABC network. At the peak of his career, he reached more than 24 million listeners on more than 1,200 radio stations & charged $30,000 per speech.

"The Rest of the Story" was introduced in 1976, this segment was a series where Harvey would tell stories with a twist at the end, revealing famous people or events in an unexpected light. It became immensely popular, leading to books and even a television adaptation.

"Paul Harvey News and Comment" held the title for the longest running network radio show of its kind, with Harvey continuing to broadcast until his death in 2009.





Hello darkness my old friend came to visit me again at the end of 2024 and still with me now in 2025. Damn this cold flu!! I'm sick & tired of being sick & tired!

USA #1 on this day in 1966: Simon & Garfunkel - The Sound of Silence




January 1, 1972: America's Gatekeeper, a federal agency named Defense Investigative Service was created. In 1999, the agency changed its name to the Defense Security Service. In July 2019, DSS was reorganized as DCSA or Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency, located on Marine Corps Base, Quantico, Virginia. It is the largest counterintelligence and security agency in the federal government and has 167 field offices across the United States.

The National Access Elsewhere Security Oversight Center or NAESOC (Yea, it's a thing) provides consistent security oversight and security management for select companies in the National Industrial Security Program (NISP) that do not possess classified information onsite..."access elsewhere". DCSA administers the NISP on behalf of the Department of Defense and 34 other federal agencies. There are approximately 12,500 contractor facilities that are cleared for access to classified information under DCSA’s security oversight responsibilities.

These nispy-wispy characters and their acronyms. Learn more: DCSA Special Access Programs (SAP) Office is located in National Operations, Industrial Security Directorate.

The first issue of the 2023 DCSA Gatekeeper magazine (PDF) featuring a cover story on expanded Field Operations and Support.


Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency


Jan 1, 1962: the U.S. Navy SEALs were established. The SEALs were an extension of the Underwater Demolition Teams created in 1943 after submerged obstacles had caused heavy casualties during the amphibious assault on Tarawa. Now, even sea lion pups want to be SEALs.




January 1, 1973: The UK officially became a member of the European Economic Community (EEC). The Daily Mail was very enthusiastic about Britain’s entry at the time.





Jan 1, 2000: As part of a bold new reality TV social experiment called Castaway 2000, where 36 British men, women, and children are placed on Taransay, a remote uninhabited Scottish island, about 2 miles off the west coast of Harris, Outer Hebrides, where they will remain for one year. The castaways were to build a sustainable self-sufficient community from scratch (apart from some buildings which were already there, and some which had been placed there for them). They were to grow their own vegetables, kill their own animals and become a community for the year.

Candidates for the program were selected and trained by survival expert John "Lofty" Wiseman (retired British special forces unit, SAS) to represent a cross-section of British society.

Off to a rough start there was an outbreak of flu early in the year and soon afterwards they were offered antibiotics because of a nearby outbreak of meningitis. Some were transferred off island to a nearby warm hotel. Due to a diverse number of participants from many varying ways of life, there were many arguments on the island. One notable clash was between a family of devout Seventh-day Adventists and a gay man. the oldest man, the gay man, and a black family had enough and quit early. The gay man later sued the BBC & the TV station and won.



How Castaway made my life hell

The groundbreaking social experiment that created TV's first reality stars (March 2024)

Here's episode 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tLsceo8pwow

And here's Charlie Brooker's Daily Mail Island (parody clip)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xPlEIryW8zA


You come at the king, you best not miss.


2 Oregon men searching for Sasquatch found dead

That whole area in the winter time is extremely treacherous even if you're well prepared.


Well, the New Year rolls in with bloodshed & a Bang.

A Tesla Cybertruck blew-up in flames in front of Trump Tower Vegas, questions swirling, and speculation running wild.

New Orleans is reeling from an attack by a U.S. Army veteran, Shamsud Din Jabbar, with IEDs and reports of an ISIS flag in his truck. New Orleans Terror truck crossed Eagle Pass, TX border on Nov 16th.



Official FBI Statement

Moment Tesla Cybertruck explodes outside Trump hotel

Fox News vid: https://x.com/nicksortor/status/1874610639823335781

Just a couple of crazy desert dudes with too many fireworks.


Helluva a cool shot of a stealth bomber flying over the Rose Bowl parade this morning...




Ships on vigor of the waves are skimming
Barren summits to the verdant plains
Each horizon is a new beginning
Rise and reign

Far from the fjords and the ice cold currents
Ravens soar over new frontiers
Songs and sagas of a fate determined
Shields and spears

Vows of favour or the thrill of plunder
Pull together for the clan and kin
Clank of hammers and the crash of thunder
Pound within

Oh-ho-oh
The echoes of eternity
Oh-ho-oh
Valhalla calling me

Into 2025 we go...

[Bally002]

And a very happy New Year to Barbara Eden with many more to come. (Snoggy Snog Snog)

On the other side of the ditch I express the same to Joanna Lumley.  (Yummy yum yum).

Also to my True Love who is a mixture of both.

Kind regards,

Bally))))

[BIAD]

Always a classic!

[EndtheMadnessNow]

@BIAD - LMAO! That's a great classic!

Taking the night off from my usual posting here as I had a long hard day (see comment in shoutbox) plus I'm still getting over this damn cold.

Unless I get buried tonight in snow again (it's possible according to the weather boys) I'll return tomorrow.

[Bally002]

Always a classic!

It's was the truth as Sir Humphrey alludes to.

Loved the series.

Kind regards,

Bally.

[EndtheMadnessNow]

Welp, in fact I did get semi buried and it's still snowing hard at the moment. Didn't have the energy to do anything about it today so tomorrow is going to be another brutal day. Mailbox is fully buried so will have to find it if I want any mail delivered. The wind whipped up so now have 4 foot snow drifts across the driveway. Probably be 6 feet by morning. 2025, coming in extra white & heavy. Does look like a winter fantasyland.


January 4, 1890: The Daily Graphic was launched. It was Britain’s 1st daily illustrated paper. It was originally illustrated with line drawings and was published until October 16, 1926 when it was incorporated with the Daily Sketch.

The Daily Graphic: An Illustrated Evening Newspaper was the first American newspaper with daily illustrations. It was founded in New York City in 1873 by Canadian engravers George-Édouard Desbarats and William Leggo, and began publication in March of that year. It continued publication until September 23, 1889.




Residents outside their frozen flats in Birmingham, during the big freeze of 1963...


The fun part about lake effect snowstorms in that part of the country is that you NEVER know how much is going to fall until it's over.



'Protection ... against spray attack' — American illustration from the Second World War (1943) showing a woman shooting at a plane during a gas attack.



The illustration featured in a 1944 calendar - illustrated by William G. Day - showing pin-up girls with messages reminding personnel to take care of their equipment and be wary of the smells of different gases. The publisher/distributor is named in full at the bottom as 'Training Aids Division - Office of the Assistant Chief of Air Staff Training Headquarters Army Air Forces'.


William Day also designed a few other gas-themed posters (bottom two) during the war.


Jan 3, 1967: Jack Ruby - Dallas nightclub owner and murderer of Lee Harvey Oswald - died of complications from pneumonia and cancer. The Texas Court of Appeals had overturned his death sentence two months earlier and a new trial was set to begin in February.




Did You Know the FBI used to put out a monthly company magazine called "The Investigator", which included a centerfold of their hot employee of the month. Also from a copy of The Investigator from the month J Edgar Hoover died...a tribute cartoon and the weird poem on the back cover.


FBI Memorial Issue = "The Investigator" on J. Edgar Hoover


MOVIE DATES::
Jan 4, 1967: An archival film featuring Darryl Revok, leader of the underground ring of Scanners was recorded.

Jan 4, 1978: While on the launch pad ready for take-off, the crew of the Capricorn One were removed from the spacecraft. The launch then continued, with the public unaware the ship was empty. The crew were later forced to stage a fake Mars landing.




Special agent seductress Noreen Patricia Riols passed away Jan 2, 2025 at age 98.


A former Special Operations Executive (SOE), a British espionage and sabotage organisation as a member of the French section during WWII. One of her jobs as a honey trap was to deceive British spies for their final test on home soil. If they spilled secrets to her pretty face, that was the end of their career as a spy!

Noreen Riols | The Spy Who Loved Me (2015) tells her story:




Strategic Chaos Engine for Planning, Tactics, Experimentation and Resilency (SCEPTER)


Charles River Analytics Acquires DARPA Contract for SCEPTER program


All around me are familiar faces
Worn out places, worn out faces
Bright and early for the daily races
Going nowhere, going nowhere
Their tears are filling up their glasses
No expression, no expression
Hide my head, I wanna drown my sorrow
No tomorrow, no tomorrow
And I find it kind of funny
I find it kind of sad
The dreams in which I'm dying
Are the best I've ever had
I find it hard to tell you
I find it hard to take...

UK #1 on this day in 2004: Gary Jules - Mad World

[EndtheMadnessNow]

Dystopian UK today... New Truthstream Vid: The war on freedom of speech is turning into a real-life Monty Python sketch, especially in what used to be Great Britain where a cop told a man he was being arrested because his social media post caused someone "anxiety".

The War on Speech Is Turning into a Monty Python Sketch



A noted comment was left:




“Everyone Who Can Exit The UK Is Leaving” - Konstantin Kisin

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QrCqsYqbuAc


2025 on X platform thus far...



2025 so far...





Agnotology, Agnomancy, and Religion



Agnomancy: Conjuring Ignorance, Sustaining Belief by Jack David Eller.


Weekend Words...




Two words everyone will learn in 2025:




Hidden Citizens ft. Ruelle - Nothing Is As It Seems

[EndtheMadnessNow]

The 12 Christian days of Christmas began on 25 December. The 12th Night occurs on the night of 5 January (Eve of Epiphany). For the superstitious, the 12th Night is viewed as the correct date to take down Christmas decorations and avoid bad luck for the rest of the year. It’s traditional to eat a Simnel Cake on Epiphany which is tomorrow. You can use a fruit cake as a substitute.


Epiphany 2025


January 5, 1941: Record-breaking British pilot Amy Johnson’s plane went off course in foggy weather over the Thames Estuary. She bailed out before the plane crashed and she was presumed dead, but her corpse was never recovered from the river. She was only 37. Amelia Earhart was declared dead January 5, 1939. Her body, that of her co-pilot, and her plane were all never found.




January 5, 1925: Nellie Tayloe Ross was sworn in as the Governor of Wyoming, thereby becoming the 1st woman to govern a US state and the only woman to date to govern Wyoming. The New York Times noted that she defied precedent by wearing hat and gloves while remaining what she said was "ever feminine, never a feminist." She was also the 28th and first female director of the United States Mint from 1933 to 1953.


Her great-granddaughter Nellie Tayloe Sanders is the current Oklahoma Secretary of Education since January 24, 2024.



January 5, 1919: The German Workers’ Party (DAP), led by Anton Drexler (13 June 1884 – 24 February 1942), was founded in Munich, Germany. Its chief aim was to win over the masses from socialism by stressing nationalism. It was this party that became the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in February 1920.




January 5, 1950: Mikel Conrad’s science-fiction film The Flying Saucer is released to US theaters. It is the first feature film to deal with UFOs, although it turns out that the saucers are the invention of an American scientist.



Here's the classic Flying Saucer movie:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XUtbvrmMO6w



January 5, 2009: Morristown UFO hoax. Starting at 8:15–9:00 pm Mysterious floating red lights in the sky are reported near Morristown, New Jersey. The red lights are also observed on January 26, January 29, February 7, and February 17. The events are later revealed as a hoax perpetrated by Joe Rudy and Chris Russo, who are conducting a social experiment to expose ufology as a pseudoscience and raise consciousness around the unreliability of eyewitness claims.

They release five flare lights attached to helium balloons. Reports are concentrated in the towns of Hanover Township, Morristown, Morris Plains, Madison, and Florham Park. On April 7, Russo and Rudy plead guilty to charges of disorderly conduct and are sentenced to fines of $250 and 50 hours of community service.


How We Staged the Morristown UFO Hoax

YOUTUBE::

How We Staged the Morristown UFO Hoax, Part 1: The Setup

How We Staged the Morristown UFO Hoax, Part 2: The Launches

How We Staged the Morristown UFO Hoax, Part 3: The Reactions


LOL! Sure, just another 50 more years...


Robert C. Carr on The Saucers That Time Forgot


Jan 5, 2000: Today in IC History - Special Access Programs (SAP). Bill Sweetman writes in Jane’s International Defense Review that there are approximately 150 "special access programs" within the Pentagon at the close of 1999, many of which are unacknowledged. They often have completely independent systems of classification, with total control exercised by the program manager. He concludes that most are dominated not by Defense personnel but by private contractors. He has no idea how they are funded. How about that MISSING 2.3 Trillion on Sept 10, 2001.


"In search of the Pentagon's billion dollar hidden budgets - how the US keeps its R&D; spending under wraps" By Bill Sweetman.



SAS Rogue hero just might get a VC...


Ex-defence chiefs lead calls for SAS legend Paddy Mayne to be posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross

I been watching Season 2 of SAS Rogue Heroes past few nights. Paddy Mayne was a super badass like no other.


Nothing to see here, move along. We're getting close to that special date.


NorthCom Commander has directed ALL military installations to immediately implement heightened security measures due to New Orleans and Las Vegas terror attacks.

CODE RED Base is closed due to, yep you guessed it...WEATHER.


Flying Saucer Blues...

[EndtheMadnessNow]

January 6, 1839: Judgement night! The most damaging storm in 300 years swept across Ireland known as "The Night of the Big Wind". It destroyed 20% of houses in Dublin alone, 42 ships were wrecked and 250–300 fatalities.

The Night of the Big Wind became part of Irish folk tradition. Irish folklore held that Judgment Day would occur on the Feast of the Epiphany, 6 January. Such a severe storm led many to believe that the end of the world was at hand.

By March 1909, over 80,000 "British" pensioners were registered of whom 70,000 were Irish. When a committee was sent to investigate this imbalance, it transpired that few births in Ireland were registered before 1865. As such, the Irish Pensions Committee decreed that if someone's age had "gone astray" on them, they would be eligible for a pension if they could state that they were "fine and hardy" on the Night of the Big Wind.

One such applicant was Tim Joyce of Co Limerick. "I always thought I was 60," he explained. "But my friends came to me and told me they were certain sure I was 70 and as there were three or four of them against me, the evidence was too strong for me. I put in for the pension and got it."

The calm before the Big Wind of 1839 was particularly eerie

As the story goes, after demonstrating his vehicle which used an "atmospheric generator" in Denver in 1921, C. E. Ammann was reportedly arrested on charges of “stealing energy from the grid” upon arrival at the Patent Office in D.C.


C. Earl Ammann's Mysterious Invention

Also, it’s an interesting synchronicity that this so-called free energy running automobile article is next to an add discussing the Pierce-Arrow, which is supposed to be the car that Tesla drove around with some wireless free energy as well. Although, most of what is claimed about the Tesla Pierce-Arrow story is complete fraud and misinformation, it is interesting.

....

J. N. Davis, the proprietor of the Davis Electric Garage company, at 921 East 14th Avenue, and one of the oldest electrical men in Denver, made a thorough study of the generator.

Electrical Man Has Faith In It ~

“I believe that Mr. Ammann has at least made the invention which will revolutionize power”, Mr. Davis said. “Of course, we don’t know what is inside of the generator and the inventor would be foolish to show us. We have long known that certain minerals exist, which if properly arranged together, would furnish power. That, in substance, according to the blueprints of the invention, is the basis of the whole thing.

“If the generator has been perfected to the extent that it will propel an automobile, the rest of its work is assured. It will be the greatest invention of the age. The electricity obtained from the air, first passing through the generator, would be available for any use”. So impressed was Mr. Davis that he offered the use of his building for Mr. Ammann’s headquarters. Ammann, who is but 28 years old, came to Denver from Spokane, Washington. He is an electrical engineer and lives at the Argonaut Hotel.

Ammann Atmospheric Generator

100 years later...Electricity out of thin air...


Air-Powered Car? New Tech Pulls Electricity Out of Thin Air — Better Than EVs and Gas


Power generation from ambient humidity using protein nanowires.





January 6, 1948: Flying Birdman of Cascadia. At 3:00 p.m. Bernice Zaikowski, 61, of Chehalis, Washington, hears a “sizzling and whizzing” sound and looks up to see a “birdman” hovering 200 feet above her barn.

It's common knowledge that the Republic of Cascadia was home to the first modern sightings of paraterrestrial craft, colloquially known as UFOs. Although the 1947 sighting of "flying saucers" near Mount Rainier is the most famous, that was actually the second sighting following an incident three days earlier on Maury Island that also marked the operational debut of the Men in Black.

Not as commonly known though is that Cascadia was home to some of the first sightings of Unidentified Flying Humanoids (UFHs) -- mysterious individuals employing personal flying devices of unknown technology toward inscrutable ends.

It all started with a curious encounter on Jan. 6, 1948 by Chehalis, Washington resident Bernize Zaikowski (reported here from the Jan. 21 Walla Walla Union-Bulletin):

The Birdmen of Cascadia

Six years before Leonard Nimoy's 1962 telegram (with his then-wife) to President John F. Kennedy in which he protests atmospheric nuclear testing, he was JFK's cabbie in Los Angeles.





Incubus Limited Edition 4K UHD


Also by Ron Goulart (Shatner's ghostwriter)...




USA #1 on this day in 1973: Carly Simon - You're So Vain




The replies are pure joy...


https://x.com/RepJasonCrow/status/1876340645364732257


Although this is hilarious, there is a sizable portion of the American electorate that sincerely believes this with all their heart.




Apparently our friends to the North finally received a bit of good news, on a Monday! Not sure how they feel about joining the USA.