Daffodil Lane

July 1, 2008

Gettysburg

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February 8, 2007

I am Lucius Quinctius Cincinnatus

I know what your thinking, "No Jamison, you are Jamison. Dear God he's slipped completely off the deep end." Bear with me for a moment, I promise I will make sense in a little bit. First, why did this thought come into my head. I was in my fourth meeting of the day on Thursday, I'd been in one meeting or another for 5 hours at that point doing planning of one sort or another for either work or politics. So my brain was a little bit tired at that point and I was asked what I would have normally treated as a rhetorical question, what are your political ambitions. My answer is always the same, None. But my exhausted brain suddenly connected two pieces of data that had alluded me completely up until that point. Now for a quick history lesson for those of you that went to an American educational institution.

Lucius Quinctius Cincinnatus was a Roman dictator, appointed by the Senate after the current dictator of Rome and the entire Roman army had been captured by one of the barbaric tribes. Lucius was a farmer and who as the story goes was plowing in his field when he was informed that he had been given absolute authority over the Roman people to ensure the safety of the Republic for six months. He knew that leaving his crops untended could lead to hardship for his family, but he answered the higher calling and set about to defend Rome from her enemies. What makes him impressive is that it only took him 16 days to defeat the enemies of Rome, at which time he yielded all the authority he had been given back to the Senate and went back to tend his fields.

Which brings us back to the modern day and why I cause the radical right wingnuts heartburn. None of them seem to know that I have no long term political ambition, this is not what I want to do with my life. I don't stay awake at night plotting my next chance to grab power and move up the chain. I personally despise politics, it's dirty work and by all measures beneath me. I was asked to defend my country from a evil cancer that has descended upon it. Like my father before me, I left my life of quiet solitude and went to do battle with the enemies of the Republic. For me this is all the simple exercise of morality, I fight the bad guys because I have too. But for the radicals it's a baffling thing, because I don't hold back and don't triangulate like Democratic politicians. Mainly it's because I'm not one. I don't have to talk in half measures because I don't have to make it back to the "center" for election day. Trust me, I'm equally despised by the Establishment Democrats as I am by the radical extremists that make up the Republican party. It's because I lack the moral relativism that defines both of them. Right and wrong are easy for me to distinguish, just like it is for most Americans that aren't politicians. It doesn't profit me to have my beliefs change with the wind, because then I wouldn't believe in anything at all. In the market place of ideas, I have no fear that my stands on any issue would make it impossible for most Americans to call me a fellow citizen. In the end, America is about pleasing 50% +1 voter, I could care less about pleasing extremists on either side of the aisle, I'd rather stand with the American people and preserve the Republic.

So for those that spend their nights fretting about why can't he just give up and become a cowardly politician, I have to tell you it's not in my DNA. I'm a soldier, I fight, it's just all I do, it's all I know how to do. Moral certainty is an offensive thing to those without it, and for that all I can do is apologize that you are deficient. But even if I were the last American left on the planet, I would still gravitate back towards the principals of our founding in a world of total chaos, because it's just who I am. No amount of money or time can change that reality, and believing otherwise is a fool errand at best and jousting with windmills at worst. I believe Theodore Roosevelt said it best "If a man does not have an ideal and try to live up to it, then he becomes a mean, base and sordid creature, no matter how successful." I think our friends on the radical right have confused power for principal and have confused what's good for themselves and what good for the Republic. America was founded as a liberal democracy, crazy liberal ideas like one man, one vote are written into the constitution. We stood up to kings, monopolies, and dictators to build this great country and we will not be abandoning those principals anytime soon no matter what the radical right wants us to do. America has stumbled from time to time through out her history giving in to our baser fears and desires, but we've always stood back up and stood for something again. The rise of the radical Conservative movement is no different a stumble.

In the end, I will be the best American I can be. I strongly believe that living by the principals that made this country great, will lead us back to greatness. I'm confident that the people of America, want to get back to our greatness. And despite the GOP's continuous assertions to the contrary, I'm confident that the American people will know the difference between rhetoric and ideology. I will be Lucius Quinctius Cincinnatus and stand by my nation even when all others seek to abandon it.

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Posted by: Moni at February 13, 2007 3:32 PM

February 7, 2007

Prehistoric lovers found locked in eternal embrace

ROME, Italy (AP) -- It could be humanity's oldest story of doomed love.

Archaeologists have unearthed two skeletons from the Neolithic period locked in a tender embrace and buried outside Mantua, just 25 miles south of Verona, the romantic city where Shakespeare set the star-crossed tale of "Romeo and Juliet."

Buried between 5,000 and 6,000 years ago, the prehistoric pair are believed to have been a man and a woman and are thought to have died young, as their teeth were found intact, said Elena Menotti, the archaeologist who led the dig.

"As far as we know, it's unique," Menotti told The Associated Press by telephone from Milan. "Double burials from the Neolithic are unheard of, and these are even hugging."

Oh the story that may be hidden here! Did one die and the other couldn't go on? Did they die together? Did they die together in a Romeo and Juliet type scenario?

Oh the possibilities! A very unique find indeed!

Found via CNN.

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Posted by: Moni at February 8, 2007 12:18 PM

January 28, 2007

Remember

Today is the anniversary of the Challenger explosion. Check out the Wikipedia entry for more information. Also take a look at NASA's page on the subject.

21 years...I still remember the day like it was yesterday.

Posted by Dianne at 1:14 PM

January 2, 2007

On This Day In History...

Alice Sanger became the first female staffer for the White House in 1890. And who says you don't learn anything from the Farmer's Almanac? ;o)

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December 7, 2006

Remember

December 7, 1941 - a date which will live on in infamy...
- Franklin D. Roosevelt, Address to Congress, Dec. 8, 1941 32nd president of US (1882 - 1945)

65 years later...Remember.

Posted by Dianne at 8:21 AM

August 3, 2006

Nostradamus: 500 Years Later

The history channel is running a fascinating special on Nostradamus entitled Nostradamus: 500 Years Later. I TiVoed it the other day and ended up watching it today when Miss G took her nap. The are rerunning it Sunday afternoon at 12 eastern if anyone is interested in seeing it yourself. It's two hours long, but if you record it it's more like an hour and a half. Plus it's so interesting you won't notice the time passing!

Read more over at the History Channel's Website.

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Posted by: dar at August 3, 2006 3:45 PM

March 30, 2006

Loose Change - 2nd Editon

For years I've had a lot of doubts about what actually went down on 9/11. The pieces of the puzzle just don't fit together and as evidence continues to come out daily it shows that those of us who have had some doubts were right to do so. How did a plane crash into a 16 foot hole in the side of the Pentagon? Where did the wings and the rest of the plane go? Why were there no big plane pieces left? Why did the buildings implode down on themselves in New York? Why were there so many reports of other explosions especially right before the buildings imploded? Where is the wreckage from flight 93? When a plane crashes there is always debris, even planes that were blown up in mid air like the one over Lockerbie leave large chunks of aircraft, so where were the pieces of flight 93? These are but a few of the questions that need to be answered, so why is there such a cover up?

Loose Change - 2nd Edition is an excellent documentary! Get a copy. It's points out a lot of inconsistencies with the "official" 9/11 "story" that have bugged me all along and puts together information that may surprise you.

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February 11, 2006

A Long-Buried Tomb Is Opened in Egypt

That's right folks! 84 years after King Tut, they've found an undisturbed tome in the Valley of the Kings again. There were 5 mummies in the tomb. But of course, Alexis was only interested in the Sphinx. Kids these days!! ;o)

Read more over at the New York Times.

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December 7, 2005

A Day That Will Live in Infamy

Remembering December 7, 1941.

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October 11, 2005

Juilliard toasts 100 years as bastion of arts

New York

Juilliard, the performing arts school which boasts such illustrious alumni as cellist Yo-Yo Ma and actors Kevin Spacey, Laura Linney and Robin Williams.

Even Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan studied there, playing the clarinet before he turned from music to economics.

As Juilliard celebrates its 100th anniversary this year, the school's President Joseph Polisi says much has changed since it was founded in 1905 as the Institute of Musical Art.

The disciplines of dance and drama were added in 1951 and 1968 respectively, and Juilliard moved in 1969 to the city's premier arts complex, the Lincoln Center, where its neighbors include the Metropolitan Opera and the New York City Ballet.

I've always been fascinated by Julliard. Of course I was never talented enough in the arts that are taught there to even consider attending, but I think at some point I would have jumped at the chance if I had been given the opportunity. Here's hoping they have many more 100 year anniversaries to come.

Read more here.

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September 14, 2005

Annapolis Harbor

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Maryland Capital Building

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August 9, 2005

Another Dark Day in History

NAGASAKI, Japan

The second and last city ever attacked by an atomic bomb marked the 60th anniversary of its devastation Tuesday with a Catholic Mass, a moment of silence and an impassioned plea for a global ban on nuclear arms.

About 6,000 people, including hundreds of aging bomb survivors, crowded into Nagasaki's Peace Memorial Park, just a few hundred yards from the center of the blast, for a solemn remembrance and moment of silence.

Read more here.

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August 5, 2005

Dark Day In History

Hiroshima Marks Atomic Bomb Anniversary

HIROSHIMA, Japan - With water and flowers for the dead, Hiroshima is remembering how a flash in the early morning sky 60 years ago turned life to death for more than 140,000 people and forever changed the face of war.

To mark the 60th anniversary Saturday of the world's first atomic bomb attack, tens of thousands were expected at Peace Memorial Park, the spiritual epicenter of the global anti-nuclear movement for one day each year.

After a moment of silence at 8:15 a.m., the instant of the blast, Hiroshima Mayor Tadatoshi Akiba was to appeal for all nuclear powers to give up their arsenals. And at a simple, arch-shaped stone monument in the park, wreaths and ladles of water were to be offered.

Read more here.

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May 18, 2005

25 Years Ago Today

Today is the 25th anniversary of the 1980 eruption of Mt. Saint Helens. Check out the Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument website for more information on the eruption itself and the anniversary.

Below I've pasted in a case study I wrote for a research paper this past semester concerning Mt. Saint Helens. Check it out if you're interested.

When Mt. Saint Helens violently erupted on May 18, 1980 it set off a series of events that ultimately affected overall global air quality. The side effects of this particular eruption were far reaching. In order to understand what ultimately transpired in terms of air pollution we must first take a brief look at the eruption itself. The way the eruption occurred gives a larger picture of the actual global implications of the volcano erupting.

Mt. Saint Helens is one of fifty active volcanoes located in the United States and is known as a subduction volcano. On May 18, 1980 Mt. Saint Helens erupted in a violent explosion that destroyed a land area the size of Austin, Texas. The explosion was 700 times more powerful than the atomic bomb that destroyed Hiroshima during World War II. The explosion was so powerful that the top 1,300 feet of the mountain disappeared in the initial explosion due to sheer force. This amounts to the mountain losing roughly one-seventh of its original height, tumbling from 9,700 feet to a mere 8,400 feet. (The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration [NOAA], ND) To put that in perspective the gaping hole that was left is roughly 625 meters deep, 2 kilometers wide and 2.7 kilometers long. (Boer & Sanders, 2002)

The primary blast wave from the explosion moved at speeds of around 600 miles per hour snapping trees and destroying everything in its path, including animals, homes and even human beings. A total of 57 people were confirmed dead. The mushroom cloud created by the violent explosion took mere minutes to travel high into the atmosphere. It rose at a mile a minute or roughly translated 15 miles into the atmosphere in a matter of approximately 15 minutes.

The eruption cloud eclipsed the sun in Yakima which is roughly 150 miles away from the mountain itself, and the ash choked cities thousands of miles away as the volcanic plume traveled all the way around the globe, taking the pollution it carried with it. The eruption also created a lehar (a volcanic mudslide consisting of mud, rock and water that is much like wet concrete) that traveled 100 miles from the blast zone and also destroyed most everything in its path. Some even argue that lehars are the most lethal part of a volcanic eruption, although others argue that it is actually the pyroplastic flow. (The Discovery Channel [TDC], 2005) The above description of what occurred at Mt. Saint Helens on May 18, 1980 leaves little room to imagine that a volcanic eruption is anything but violent.

Although the amount of ash that was produced by the 1980 eruption was small compared to other historic eruptions, it still caused many problems. In Washington and Idaho 8 inches of ash fell. The ash caused short circuits in electrical transformers onboard aircraft that flew through the ash cloud, it caused air filters in vehicles to clog thus rendering police and ambulance services inoperable, it brought ground traffic in the area to a standstill, closed highways, turned day into night and affected the ability to breath causing those in the area to have to wear masks in order to breath. The ash itself caused air pollution that clearly affected the human respiratory system. (Boer & Sanders, 2002)

As mentioned above the ash cloud from the May 1980 eruption of Mt. Saint Helens circled the globe. With this came the spread of not only particulate mater, but also of SO2, which as mentioned before is reactive with water vapor in the air to produce H2SO4. These aerosols directly affected global weather patterns in the year following the eruption, though not on an extremely large scale. (Ritchie& Gates, 2001)

Overall the 1980 eruption of Mt. Saint Helens has been one of the most studied volcanic eruptions of our time. Through this study Mt. Saint Helens has given a more in depth understanding of the many aspects of volcano phenomena, but most importantly it has shed more light on air-blast explosions. Mt. Saint Helens is far from meeting her demise and in fact in late 2004 she awoke again with several small eruptions. No one is sure what the future of Mt. Saint Helens holds, but it is certain that she will erupt again, perhaps with a larger VEI than in 1980.

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Posted by: Monica at May 18, 2005 6:13 PM

February 7, 2005

Anything is Possible

This is an interesting, if not bizarre possible twist on history:

Former US soldier says he delivered Goering's poison pill

Stivers said he agreed to take "medicine" to a supposedly ailing Goering to impress a flirtatious local girl who approached him one day on the street.

In their first conversation she asked to keep the autograph of one of the prisoners which he showed her to prove he was one of their guards.

Another day, she introduced him to "a friend" who convinced him to take notes to Goering hidden inside a fountain pen on two occasions.

The third time, the man put a capsule in the pen.

"He said it was medication and that if it worked and Goering felt better, they'd send him some more," Stivers told the Times.

He returned the pen to the young woman after delivering the capsule, and never saw her again.

"I guess she used me," Stivers said.

"I would have never knowingly taken something in that I thought was going to be used to help someone cheat the gallows," he said.

Two weeks after the delivery, on October 15, 1946, Goering committed suicide and left a note bragging that he'd had a cyanide pill during his entire 11-month war crimes trial.

Read about it here.

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Posted by: ManDrake at February 7, 2005 4:45 PM

January 17, 2005

Martin Luther King, Jr.

As most of you know today is a celebration of the memory of Martin Luther King, Jr. and all the things he accomplished. This year this observance is especially poignant for us since we have once again had hate literature dumped on our front yard by the same worthless organization that did the dumping last time only this time the dump wasn't done in the cover of night, they had the nerve to drop the filth into our yard in broad day light! Even with all that Rev. King valiantly fought for in today's world we still have blatant racism and ignorance.

The History Channel has a good history of Rev. King that you can read here.

Stanford has a good page on Rev. King's papers you can check out here.

There are countless other sites across the Internet in which you can gain more information about Martin Luther King, Jr. Please do your best today to make sure you treat all humans equally. It's time to provide a good example for all.

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December 7, 2004

"A Date that will Live in Infamy!"

I thought I'd take a momentary study break and remind everyone, in case you had forgotten, what today's date means in history: on December 7, 1941 Pearl Harbor was attacked.

Check out the History Channel's section on this attack.

Also check out Roosevelt's speech:
"Yesterday, December 7, 1941--a date which will live in infamy--the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan." (U.S. Capitol, Washington, D.C., December 8, 1941)

That is all. Back to work!

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November 13, 2004

Lost City of Atlantis?

Have they found the lost city of Atlantis?

"NICOSIA (Reuters) - An American researcher on the trail of the lost city of Atlantis has discovered evidence of man-made structures submerged in the sea between Cyprus and Syria, a member of his team said Saturday.
Robert Sarmast, who is convinced the fabled city lurks in the watery depths off Cyprus, will give details of his findings Sunday.
'Something has been found to indicate very strongly that there are man-made structures somewhere between Cyprus and Syria,' a spokesperson for the mission told Reuters."

Read it all here.

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September 30, 2004

This Day in History

1955: James Dean killed in a car crash

Read it all here.

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August 16, 2004

Group Discovers John the Baptist Cave

"KIBBUTZ TZUBA, Israel - Archaeologists said Monday they have found a cave where they believe John the Baptist anointed many of his disciples — a huge cistern with 28 steps leading to an underground pool of water."

Fascinating! Read it all here.

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August 15, 2004

Berlin closing airlift airport

I didn't even know that Tempelhof was still alive and kicking to be honest. I'm divided on the conservation effort. My personal belief is the only good thing about yesterday is that it's over. So the notion of maintaining an artifact of a war that has long since past is just strange and alien. I don't mind them putting up a monument to it. We have them all over the place here in America, on this site in whenever, the following historic event took place. That's more than enough for me. I mean something like Tempelhof has been in news reels since the time it was built, so it's not like we don't have an archive of information built up about it. The physical buildings are irrelevant to what they represent and the role they played in history. Close it up, tear it down, and move on.

Read more here.

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July 29, 2004

Man who helped unlock DNA dies

"Francis Crick, who helped discover the double helix shape of DNA along with James Watson, has died aged 88 years. Professor Crick died at Thornton Hospital in San Diego, US, where he had been battling colon cancer."

Read all about it here or read his obituary here.

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On This Day In History

On this day in 1981 Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer began their ill fated marriage.

"Crowds of 600,000 people filled the streets of London to catch a glimpse of Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer on their wedding day."

I always like Princess Diana. She felt like a kindred spirit. We shared the same nickname and what girl doesn't pretend she's a princess at one time or another. Too bad the fairy tale ended the way it did.

Read it all here and here.

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