Professor Ceiling Cat (Emeritus) is not feeling well today, which accounts for the late Hili dialogue, mostly prepared yesterday. It’s doubtful that I’ll write anything more today, but bear with me until I’m better.
Well, another work week has begun: it’s Monday, August 6, 2018, and National Root Beer Float Day. I have to say that I do enjoy a cold mug of root beer with a scoop of vanilla ice cream afloat, but I haven’t had one in years. In Japan it’s Hiroshima Peace Memorial Ceremony Day, marking the dropping of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima in 1945 (see below).
On August 6, 1825, Bolivia gained independence from Spain. And on this day in 1890, the murderer William Kemmler became the first person executed by the electric chair. By all accounts, the execution, which took place at Auburn Prison in New York, did not go well, with Kemmler taking several minutes to die. On August 6, 1914, World War 1 widened as Serbia declared war on Germany and Austria declared war on Russia. On this day in 1926, Gertrude Ederle became the first woman to swim across the English channel. Here’s a short video of her achievement:
Perhaps the most momentous event of this day is what happened in 1945, when the “Little Boy” atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima by the US: the first use of a nuclear weapon, and one of only two (Nagasaki was the other). 70,000 people were killed on the spot, and many thousands more died of radiation poisoning. Let us hope that this never happens again, but I do worry as so many nations have nukes. Could a terrorist get one? Here’s a scary BBC reenactment of the bombing:
On August 6, 1965, Lyndon Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which prohibited racial discrimination in voting. Finally, on this day in 1996, NASA announced that the ALH 84001 meteorite, thought to originate from Mars, carried evidence of primitive life forms. The bacteria-like inclusions in the meteorite are now thought to be artifacts and not evidence of life at all. Here’s one photo of the stuff that got scientists excited:
Notables born on this day include Johann Bernoulli (1667), Alfred Lord Tennyson (1809), Alexander Fleming, and the gangster Dutch Schultz (1901), who was later murdered in 1934 by other gangsters. It took him almost a day to die, and police transcribed his last words. From Wikipedia:
Schultz’s last words were a strange stream-of-consciousness babble, spoken in his hospital bed to police officers who attempted to calm him and question him for useful information. Although the police were unable to extract anything coherent from Schultz, his rambling was fully transcribed by a police stenographer. This includes the famous:
- A boy has never wept…nor dashed a thousand kim.
But the entire text [here] is much more rambling, for example:
- You can play jacks, and girls do that with a soft ball and do tricks with it.
- Oh, Oh, dog Biscuit, and when he is happy he doesn’t get snappy.
One of his last utterances was a reference to “French Canadian bean soup” (French Canadian pea soup is a popular dish that is still produced as canned goods by many food companies).
Others born on August 6 include Lucille Ball (1911), Andy Warhol (1928), mountaineer Chris Bonington (1934), M. Night Shyamalan (1970), and Vera Farmiga (1973).
Meanwhile in Dobrzyn: Hili finds solace in something strange.
Hili: The wind’s changed direction.Cyrus: So what?Hili: It’s better than nothing.
Hili: Zmienił się kierunek wiatru.
Cyrus: I co z tego?
Hili: Lepsze to niż nic.
Where am I supposed to dig around?
A tweet sent by my old friend Ivan:
I like to wear this shirt downtown walking my bike past the churches as services are letting out. One time a woman remarked to another woman, "I don't get it". Her friend responded, "That's ok you still have Jesus".
I almost died trying to control my laughter. pic.twitter.com/a9MdvPqb0T— NoSacredCow 🚫Trump (@NoSacredCow60) August 5, 2018
From reader Helian; the translation is “It is unbelievably hot, so please be sure that your cat doesn’t melt!”
https://twitter.com/adiz0r/status/1026164371767128069
From reader Gethyn, a superb example of pareidolia:
https://twitter.com/_youhadonejob1/status/1025907342859292673
Tweets from Grania:
Tom Watson: Labour faces ‘eternal shame’ over antisemitism https://t.co/5SWXcrd0GH
— The Guardian (@guardian) August 4, 2018
An article worth reading from an eloquent and diehard Leftist:
The brilliant @NickCohen4 articulates why many of us can’t stomach voting Labour with Corbyn in charge. https://t.co/d0HYlxqyYx
— Tim Atkin (@timatkin) August 5, 2018
News to come:
SOON: "SO WHAT IF WE COLLUDED?" https://t.co/7Nqj0g2DNK
— Rick Wilson (@TheRickWilson) August 5, 2018
When pigs fly!
To all of the haters that said this day would never come pic.twitter.com/BbJ45MZ4Fw
— Ruth Ann Crystal, MD (@CatchTheBaby) August 4, 2018
I haven’t read this article, but it may be worth a look:
Last #SarahJeong thought for the night.
A good part of Jeong's defense (both by herself & by others) is the notion that women are singled out for abuse on the Internet.
As I've been arguing for nearly 5 years (with solid data), this is utter bullshit.https://t.co/BAWkhM5IHs— Cathy Young (@CathyYoung63) August 5, 2018
Tweets from Grania: Tuna pillow!
Hello everyone, might I bless you today with the most wonderful sight from the cat café? pic.twitter.com/HqCxibF6ts
— La Rainne (@larainnepasion) August 2, 2018
Have a look at this amazing spaghetti-like tangle of freeways in China (it’s a video)
Drone footage of an amazingly intimidating interchange in #China. Impressive piece of civil engineering but it ain't for me… Source: https://t.co/AQPcrnyh7v pic.twitter.com/aDwMnKD0Vw
— Simon Kuestenmacher (@simongerman600) August 2, 2018
A ninja cat bests his friend:
https://twitter.com/OregonJOBS2/status/1025903737460510720
And from Matthew, a serendipitous conjunction of names and ancestry:
Part of a letter published by Darwin in Nature in 1882, describing a mollusk that makes its way around by attaching to the feet of a diving beetle. He thanks a W. D. Crick for sending him the specimen. W. D. Crick? Francis Crick's grandfather, a humble shoemaker in Northampton pic.twitter.com/nqTVHQvNi4
— Ash Jogalekar (@curiouswavefn) August 3, 2018
