Here is a list of Blogs ordered by Last Edited, posted by members. A Blog is a journal you may enter about your life, thoughts, interesting experiences, or lessons you've learned. Post an opinion, impart words of wisdom, or talk about something interesting in your day. Update your blog on a regular basis, or just whenever you have something to say. Creating a blog is a good way to share something of yourself with others. Reading blogs is a good way to learn more about others. Click here to post a blog.
online today!
Is it really worth the money?
US Mercenaries Killed in Ukraine
Reports about Americans killed in the Ukrainian conflict zone started surfacing in media mere weeks after the conflict’s escalation.
A CNN article from April 2022 reveals the details of one Willy Joseph Cancel, a 22-year old corrections officer from Tennessee and former US Marine who signed up with a “private military contracting company” not long before February 2022.
In March 2022, Cancel entered Ukraine from Poland to fight against Russian forces as part of a group comprised of men from “all different countries,” only to be killed about a month later. His mother, Rebecca Cabrera, complained that her son’s teammates were unable to recover his body.
On May 15, a 52-year old US Army veteran Stephen Zabielsky got killed in Zaporozhye Region after stepping on a land mine, if a Rolling Stone article from June 2022 is to be believed.
Zabielsky was reportedly operating in the Ukrainian conflict zone as part of a 13-man multinational squad called Wolverines – likely a reference to the 1984 movie “Red Dawn” where a bunch of plucky American teenagers band together to fight a fictional Soviet invasion of the US.
Cancel and Zabielsky thus became referred to by media outlets as the first and the second American citizens (respectively) killed in the Ukrainian conflict.
A 50-year old US Marine veteran Grady Kurpasi was operating in Ukraine as part of a foreign militant group in April 2022 when he and another British fighter went on a scouting mission near the observation post their unit was manning – that was the last time he was seen alive by his fellow mercenaries.
Kurpasi’s skeletal remains were discovered and identified only a year later and were shipped to the US for burial in May 2023.
A friend of Kurpasi who assisted with the effort to recover the ex-Marine’s remains told the newspaper that the US State Department was “absolutely awful” in that situation, and that “it was probably beneficial” that the said government agency was not involved with the retrieval of what was left of Kurpasi.
Yet another report on CBS News reveals the fate of two US citizens named Luke Lucyszyn and Bryan Young who got killed after running afoul of a Russian tank on July 18, 2022.
The duo’s commanding officer reportedly said that Lucyszyn, who was supposedly volunteering as a medic for the Ukrainian forces, first got injured by shelling and when Young and others rushed to help him, both of them got killed by Russian tank fire. Two other foreign militants – a Swede and a Canadian – were also killed in that attack.
In August 2022, a 24-year old US Army veteran Joshua Alan Jones was killed in Ukraine while fighting as part of a militant unit called the Norman Brigade that is apparently comprised of foreign militants fighting for the Kiev regime.
Russian media said at that time that Jones was killed in action near the village of Yegorovka in the Donetsk People’s Republic, with local authorities saying that they are willing to help return the militant’s body to his country of origin.
In October 2022, the death of one Dane Partridge was reported by US media. A 34-year old native of Idaho and a former US Army soldier, Partridge was serving as part of a unit for the Kiev regime that included at least several other foreign militants, according to an American propaganda broadcaster.
Reports about Americans killed in the Ukrainian conflict zone started surfacing in media mere weeks after the conflict’s escalation.
A CNN article from April 2022 reveals the details of one Willy Joseph Cancel, a 22-year old corrections officer from Tennessee and former US Marine who signed up with a “private military contracting company” not long before February 2022.
In March 2022, Cancel entered Ukraine from Poland to fight against Russian forces as part of a group comprised of men from “all different countries,” only to be killed about a month later. His mother, Rebecca Cabrera, complained that her son’s teammates were unable to recover his body.
On May 15, a 52-year old US Army veteran Stephen Zabielsky got killed in Zaporozhye Region after stepping on a land mine, if a Rolling Stone article from June 2022 is to be believed.
Zabielsky was reportedly operating in the Ukrainian conflict zone as part of a 13-man multinational squad called Wolverines – likely a reference to the 1984 movie “Red Dawn” where a bunch of plucky American teenagers band together to fight a fictional Soviet invasion of the US.
Cancel and Zabielsky thus became referred to by media outlets as the first and the second American citizens (respectively) killed in the Ukrainian conflict.
A 50-year old US Marine veteran Grady Kurpasi was operating in Ukraine as part of a foreign militant group in April 2022 when he and another British fighter went on a scouting mission near the observation post their unit was manning – that was the last time he was seen alive by his fellow mercenaries.
Kurpasi’s skeletal remains were discovered and identified only a year later and were shipped to the US for burial in May 2023.
A friend of Kurpasi who assisted with the effort to recover the ex-Marine’s remains told the newspaper that the US State Department was “absolutely awful” in that situation, and that “it was probably beneficial” that the said government agency was not involved with the retrieval of what was left of Kurpasi.
Yet another report on CBS News reveals the fate of two US citizens named Luke Lucyszyn and Bryan Young who got killed after running afoul of a Russian tank on July 18, 2022.
The duo’s commanding officer reportedly said that Lucyszyn, who was supposedly volunteering as a medic for the Ukrainian forces, first got injured by shelling and when Young and others rushed to help him, both of them got killed by Russian tank fire. Two other foreign militants – a Swede and a Canadian – were also killed in that attack.
In August 2022, a 24-year old US Army veteran Joshua Alan Jones was killed in Ukraine while fighting as part of a militant unit called the Norman Brigade that is apparently comprised of foreign militants fighting for the Kiev regime.
Russian media said at that time that Jones was killed in action near the village of Yegorovka in the Donetsk People’s Republic, with local authorities saying that they are willing to help return the militant’s body to his country of origin.
In October 2022, the death of one Dane Partridge was reported by US media. A 34-year old native of Idaho and a former US Army soldier, Partridge was serving as part of a unit for the Kiev regime that included at least several other foreign militants, according to an American propaganda broadcaster.
EDELWEISS - Vol. I: The ALGORHYTHM - XXXVIII
EDELWEISS
***
- Chapter I:
The ALGORHYTHM
XXXVIII.
“For the ignorance of modern men and women, their children have no future except Slavery taken to extremes. These times are coming down harder and harder for the generation in which all what is human is being perverted up to such level of madness and evil as never known in history of mankind, because these times are special: there are the necessary means for mass enslavement, and all began with compliance of masses to the ruling state; few generations before, were trained specially for social engineering taken to new levels, to which is attached genetics, nano-technology and robotics, in re-designing the future of mankind. The blinded people, follow the govern indoctrination where driven by ignorance, dream of a hyper-technological future in which humans to make use of machines and whole world to benefit upon these inventions, without to realize they are being used for mass enslavement in a tyranny to come in which human beings – most of the common, working class, and including even those among rich ones, will be subjected to what is being called under development as Artificial Intelligence, which will be like a sentient to overwatch the new elaborated System of the New World Order that takes place in these times, – and, of course, the implications are wide, into destruction of everything what means a Human Being which is far net superior to any invention or machinery designed to take its place in hierarchy. Blinded people, trained since childhood, to receive these sci-fi illusions of a world in which mankind using machines will attain a reign of glory, a world of peace and prosperity for everyone, a world of justice, law and order. But everyone out there, is being used for evil purposes, for once all are designed and set on the go, the new System built will truly set in chains everyone who would follow, willingly or coerced. People do not imagine what their future would look like, in such technological chains from which they can never get away, and thus, are lured into a trap which unfortunately, would become for everyone else attached to the System, an eternal damnation and sufferance, – one can not compare the harm that is being done by now – so far – and very few actually understand what is already happening with this world, and how people are being turned against their own nature. The idea of conspiracy theory – a vague term which does not mean anything than a sinister way to hide in plain sight what is already obvious, – ambiguous terminology and wording who upon deeper analysis show antagonism and contradiction – is being used and promoted in the same time, to generate not only mass confusion, but even based on the principle of denial, leading further the cognition of a human being to suffer, not being able to discern what is truly real of what is false, – deepening the upcoming traumas which will be present in each man or woman when confronted with Reality, one who can not be changed. When the waves of tyranny will start hitting worldwide, nobody can not change the harm that’s being done, in the name of progress and evolution, nobody will be able to counter the evil that is being propagated into the world, nor its spreading, and the shock will come for all social classes, on all levels, without any possible way to avoid the impact. “
[ … ]
- Shall be continued…
2022 © Th3Mirr0r
EDELWEISS - Vol. I/Chapter I: The ALGORHYTHM
P.S: For a time period, not defined, I will not be posting; thus, I will continue after the break.
Th3Mirr0r
***
- Chapter I:
The ALGORHYTHM
XXXVIII.
“For the ignorance of modern men and women, their children have no future except Slavery taken to extremes. These times are coming down harder and harder for the generation in which all what is human is being perverted up to such level of madness and evil as never known in history of mankind, because these times are special: there are the necessary means for mass enslavement, and all began with compliance of masses to the ruling state; few generations before, were trained specially for social engineering taken to new levels, to which is attached genetics, nano-technology and robotics, in re-designing the future of mankind. The blinded people, follow the govern indoctrination where driven by ignorance, dream of a hyper-technological future in which humans to make use of machines and whole world to benefit upon these inventions, without to realize they are being used for mass enslavement in a tyranny to come in which human beings – most of the common, working class, and including even those among rich ones, will be subjected to what is being called under development as Artificial Intelligence, which will be like a sentient to overwatch the new elaborated System of the New World Order that takes place in these times, – and, of course, the implications are wide, into destruction of everything what means a Human Being which is far net superior to any invention or machinery designed to take its place in hierarchy. Blinded people, trained since childhood, to receive these sci-fi illusions of a world in which mankind using machines will attain a reign of glory, a world of peace and prosperity for everyone, a world of justice, law and order. But everyone out there, is being used for evil purposes, for once all are designed and set on the go, the new System built will truly set in chains everyone who would follow, willingly or coerced. People do not imagine what their future would look like, in such technological chains from which they can never get away, and thus, are lured into a trap which unfortunately, would become for everyone else attached to the System, an eternal damnation and sufferance, – one can not compare the harm that is being done by now – so far – and very few actually understand what is already happening with this world, and how people are being turned against their own nature. The idea of conspiracy theory – a vague term which does not mean anything than a sinister way to hide in plain sight what is already obvious, – ambiguous terminology and wording who upon deeper analysis show antagonism and contradiction – is being used and promoted in the same time, to generate not only mass confusion, but even based on the principle of denial, leading further the cognition of a human being to suffer, not being able to discern what is truly real of what is false, – deepening the upcoming traumas which will be present in each man or woman when confronted with Reality, one who can not be changed. When the waves of tyranny will start hitting worldwide, nobody can not change the harm that’s being done, in the name of progress and evolution, nobody will be able to counter the evil that is being propagated into the world, nor its spreading, and the shock will come for all social classes, on all levels, without any possible way to avoid the impact. “
[ … ]
- Shall be continued…
2022 © Th3Mirr0r
EDELWEISS - Vol. I/Chapter I: The ALGORHYTHM
P.S: For a time period, not defined, I will not be posting; thus, I will continue after the break.
Th3Mirr0r
From the horse's mouth ONLY
I can't be the only one bored to tears over the stupid pointless lies being told about Trump, some of them rolled out again and again. So annoying when they are corrected on one blog and the OP simply starts another with the same blatant misinformation. 
So here's a challenge. His own words ONLY. Tweets, videos, anything you like. A brief covering comment (for those who can't be arsed to follow links) and then the link or Tweet. Let the man speak for himself.
I'm kicking off with his views on wikileaks. Starts with a comment in 2019, but clips go back to that much-watched debate with Ms Clinton in 2016. Does he know nothing about it (2019) or does he love it? Let him tell you himself, from 2016.
This should be a nice quiet blog, everyone prefers to drone on with their own interpretations but this is ONLY what he says himself, that's the deal. I don't, by the way, care either way, so links that make him shine are also fine. I'm just sick of whiney regurgitated massaged cherry-picked gum-bumping and those are the ONLY comments I will probably delete when I'm next in.
Oh, and anything that accuses me of being a Biden-lover. Nuh-UH. The only person in American politics who is more dreary than Trump is Biden
(so if you want a Biden equivalent blog, start it yourself.)
So here's a challenge. His own words ONLY. Tweets, videos, anything you like. A brief covering comment (for those who can't be arsed to follow links) and then the link or Tweet. Let the man speak for himself.
I'm kicking off with his views on wikileaks. Starts with a comment in 2019, but clips go back to that much-watched debate with Ms Clinton in 2016. Does he know nothing about it (2019) or does he love it? Let him tell you himself, from 2016.
This should be a nice quiet blog, everyone prefers to drone on with their own interpretations but this is ONLY what he says himself, that's the deal. I don't, by the way, care either way, so links that make him shine are also fine. I'm just sick of whiney regurgitated massaged cherry-picked gum-bumping and those are the ONLY comments I will probably delete when I'm next in.
Oh, and anything that accuses me of being a Biden-lover. Nuh-UH. The only person in American politics who is more dreary than Trump is Biden
(so if you want a Biden equivalent blog, start it yourself.) 
online today!
Drummer Stewart Copeland...
I've increased my YouTube music obsession lately. The channel Drumeo came up on my suggested list. They offer drum lessons and do detailed videos on many famous drummers, breaking down equipment, background and a little documentary of the drummers they feature in each episode.
Stewart Copeland was one I enjoyed watching.
Best known as the drummer for the British rock band Police, I knew he had a unique style of syncopation and drumming rhythms that was key in the success of Police. Other than an American musician in England, I didn't know his background.
He's very open about family travels, his exposure to music from different cultures and very down-to-earth of his success as a drummer.
It's a 20 minute video and will probably watch it again a few times.
Stewart Copeland was one I enjoyed watching.
Best known as the drummer for the British rock band Police, I knew he had a unique style of syncopation and drumming rhythms that was key in the success of Police. Other than an American musician in England, I didn't know his background.
He's very open about family travels, his exposure to music from different cultures and very down-to-earth of his success as a drummer.
It's a 20 minute video and will probably watch it again a few times.
Nature versus nurture in the anaylsis of Trump's perception
I came across a discussion of Trump's press opportunity with the Trump edition gun where he was recorded saying he wanted to buy one.
Steve Cheung, Trump's campaign spokesperson posted on social media that Trump bought a gun; Brian Glenn, Director Of Programming at Right Side Broadcasting Network and Marjorie Taylor Greene's partner, boasted on Right Side that Trump had bought a gun.
And then CNN pointed out the federal statute that no one can sell you a gun, you can't travel with a gun, you can't take a gun across state lines, etc. if under federal felony indictment. It's typically a condition of pre-trial release that you cannot posess a gun.
There followed a flurry of deletions, claims of erroneous reporting and denials that Trump had actualy bought a gun.
Other public performance related anomalies were raised: Trump typically turning up in restaurants before rallies booming "Pizzas for everyone!" for the photo shoot, yet journalists claiming no one from the Trump campaign ever actually paying for anything; Trump travelling to East Palestine to distribute food aid which consisted out of date water bottes from Mar-a-Largo and tins of Goya beans.
The discussion focussed on the performative nature of the Repubican and Trump's campaigning. One presenter surmised that the performance pretence is a function of Trump's life of extraordinary wealth: he pretends to relate to ordinary people's lives, without having any depth of understanding.
The presenter went on to say that Trump in his Narcissistic Personality Disordered way, pretended to be the president and pretends to be a defendent without any real perception that he might be found guilty and end up in a federal prison.
The bit that the presenter missed out is the depth of the lack of empathy that personality disordered people may experience. Most of us navigate our everyday lives using our sense of empathy, whether that's patience in a shopping queue, interacting with colleagues, listening to the radio, whatever.
Cognitive and emotional empathy is how we build a picture of ourselves, our worlds and how we fit into it all. Without the ability to empathise people have to invent a persona and often alter their persona in a bid to find their place in a bewildering environment.
People who lack empathy are forced to pretend and perform because they lack the skills they need to simply be.
Steve Cheung, Trump's campaign spokesperson posted on social media that Trump bought a gun; Brian Glenn, Director Of Programming at Right Side Broadcasting Network and Marjorie Taylor Greene's partner, boasted on Right Side that Trump had bought a gun.
And then CNN pointed out the federal statute that no one can sell you a gun, you can't travel with a gun, you can't take a gun across state lines, etc. if under federal felony indictment. It's typically a condition of pre-trial release that you cannot posess a gun.
There followed a flurry of deletions, claims of erroneous reporting and denials that Trump had actualy bought a gun.
Other public performance related anomalies were raised: Trump typically turning up in restaurants before rallies booming "Pizzas for everyone!" for the photo shoot, yet journalists claiming no one from the Trump campaign ever actually paying for anything; Trump travelling to East Palestine to distribute food aid which consisted out of date water bottes from Mar-a-Largo and tins of Goya beans.
The discussion focussed on the performative nature of the Repubican and Trump's campaigning. One presenter surmised that the performance pretence is a function of Trump's life of extraordinary wealth: he pretends to relate to ordinary people's lives, without having any depth of understanding.
The presenter went on to say that Trump in his Narcissistic Personality Disordered way, pretended to be the president and pretends to be a defendent without any real perception that he might be found guilty and end up in a federal prison.
The bit that the presenter missed out is the depth of the lack of empathy that personality disordered people may experience. Most of us navigate our everyday lives using our sense of empathy, whether that's patience in a shopping queue, interacting with colleagues, listening to the radio, whatever.
Cognitive and emotional empathy is how we build a picture of ourselves, our worlds and how we fit into it all. Without the ability to empathise people have to invent a persona and often alter their persona in a bid to find their place in a bewildering environment.
People who lack empathy are forced to pretend and perform because they lack the skills they need to simply be.
online today!
I Dreamt This One Night lol
My cat was giant sized and terrorizing the community destroying houses and eating people. I kept chasing her saying "no Darcy, no Darcy, no Darcy" 
Russia's 2024 draft of it's budget allocates 1/3 to the military.
From Reuters:
"Oct 2 (Reuters) - Defence spending will account for almost one third of Russia's total budget expenditure in 2024, the government's draft plans show, as Moscow diverts ever more resources towards prosecuting its war in Ukraine.
Russia also plans to ramp up state borrowing to help fund what it calls a "special military operation" in Ukraine in the coming years and is counting on a recovery in oil and gas revenues to pre-invasion levels to do so.
Spending under the "national defence" section of Russia's budget will total 10.78 trillion roubles ($109 billion) next year, or 29.4% of total planned expenditure of 36.66 trillion roubles, according to the finance ministry's budget documents that outline the government's fiscal plans for 2024-2026.
In 2021, the year before Moscow launched its invasion of Ukraine, defence spending totalled 3.57 trillion roubles, 14.4% of total spending. In 2022, the share of defence spending rose to 17.7%, data on Russia's electronic budget page showed earlier this year.
Spending figures for 2022 were subsequently removed from the online budget portal. The most up-to-date data for 2023 was published as part of the finance ministry's 2024-26 budget plans.
The finance ministry has allocated 6.41 trillion roubles to defence in 2023, or 21.2% of total budget expenditure of 30.27 trillion roubles, but Finance Minister Anton Siluanov last week said total spending would be above plan at around 33.5 trillion roubles.
That may mean that defence spending will also be significantly higher than first envisaged.
Moscow doubled its target for defence spending in 2023 to 9.7 trillion roubles, Reuters reported exclusively in August, citing a government document.
"The budget's structure shows that the main emphasis is on ensuring our victory - the army, defence capability, armed forces, fighters - everything needed for the front, everything needed for victory is in the budget," Siluanov said last week.
"This is a big strain for the budget, not a small one, but it is our absolute priority."
EDUCATION, HEALTHCARE FREEZE
As defense spending in 2024 triples from pre-invasion levels, the share of spending on "national security", which covers funding for law enforcement agencies, is also rising, set to reach 9.2% in 2024, the documents showed.
To compensate for those increases, Moscow will effectively freeze spending on education and healthcare. The share of spending on "national economy", encompassing roads, infrastructure and construction, will decrease to 10.6% in 2024, the lowest share since 2011.
"Social policy", traditionally the leading spending area on state salaries, pensions and benefits, will account for less spending than defence at 7.73 trillion roubles in 2024, and with its lowest share of spending since 2011 of 21.4%.
Spending on those areas will nominally rise, but below inflation, meaning real-term cuts.
Chief Economist, Russia and CIS, at Renaissance Capital Sofya Donets said that taking defence and national security spending to almost 40% of all Russia's expenditure pending may have a strong short-term impact, but will contribute little to growth in the long-term due to their minimal impact on tax revenues.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov last week said increasing defence spending was "absolutely necessary" for the budget because Russia is living "in a state of hybrid war".
Russia argues that the West is fighting a hybrid war against it to sow discord and ultimately carve up its vast natural resources, allegations that Western leaders deny, saying Moscow's decision to invade Ukraine was unprovoked.
Ukraine vows to eject every last Russian soldier from its territory, and casts the invasion as an imperial-style land grab by Russia.
See the whole article at
The final budget has yet to be released.
"Oct 2 (Reuters) - Defence spending will account for almost one third of Russia's total budget expenditure in 2024, the government's draft plans show, as Moscow diverts ever more resources towards prosecuting its war in Ukraine.
Russia also plans to ramp up state borrowing to help fund what it calls a "special military operation" in Ukraine in the coming years and is counting on a recovery in oil and gas revenues to pre-invasion levels to do so.
Spending under the "national defence" section of Russia's budget will total 10.78 trillion roubles ($109 billion) next year, or 29.4% of total planned expenditure of 36.66 trillion roubles, according to the finance ministry's budget documents that outline the government's fiscal plans for 2024-2026.
In 2021, the year before Moscow launched its invasion of Ukraine, defence spending totalled 3.57 trillion roubles, 14.4% of total spending. In 2022, the share of defence spending rose to 17.7%, data on Russia's electronic budget page showed earlier this year.
Spending figures for 2022 were subsequently removed from the online budget portal. The most up-to-date data for 2023 was published as part of the finance ministry's 2024-26 budget plans.
The finance ministry has allocated 6.41 trillion roubles to defence in 2023, or 21.2% of total budget expenditure of 30.27 trillion roubles, but Finance Minister Anton Siluanov last week said total spending would be above plan at around 33.5 trillion roubles.
That may mean that defence spending will also be significantly higher than first envisaged.
Moscow doubled its target for defence spending in 2023 to 9.7 trillion roubles, Reuters reported exclusively in August, citing a government document.
"The budget's structure shows that the main emphasis is on ensuring our victory - the army, defence capability, armed forces, fighters - everything needed for the front, everything needed for victory is in the budget," Siluanov said last week.
"This is a big strain for the budget, not a small one, but it is our absolute priority."
EDUCATION, HEALTHCARE FREEZE
As defense spending in 2024 triples from pre-invasion levels, the share of spending on "national security", which covers funding for law enforcement agencies, is also rising, set to reach 9.2% in 2024, the documents showed.
To compensate for those increases, Moscow will effectively freeze spending on education and healthcare. The share of spending on "national economy", encompassing roads, infrastructure and construction, will decrease to 10.6% in 2024, the lowest share since 2011.
"Social policy", traditionally the leading spending area on state salaries, pensions and benefits, will account for less spending than defence at 7.73 trillion roubles in 2024, and with its lowest share of spending since 2011 of 21.4%.
Spending on those areas will nominally rise, but below inflation, meaning real-term cuts.
Chief Economist, Russia and CIS, at Renaissance Capital Sofya Donets said that taking defence and national security spending to almost 40% of all Russia's expenditure pending may have a strong short-term impact, but will contribute little to growth in the long-term due to their minimal impact on tax revenues.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov last week said increasing defence spending was "absolutely necessary" for the budget because Russia is living "in a state of hybrid war".
Russia argues that the West is fighting a hybrid war against it to sow discord and ultimately carve up its vast natural resources, allegations that Western leaders deny, saying Moscow's decision to invade Ukraine was unprovoked.
Ukraine vows to eject every last Russian soldier from its territory, and casts the invasion as an imperial-style land grab by Russia.
See the whole article at
The final budget has yet to be released.
online today!
THIS IS ONLY A TEST...
At 2:20 Eastern Daylight Time today, FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) will be conducting an test of the wireless emergency system over the cellphones and TV's across America. This way, when there's an actual emergency, you will be notified.
It will happen across time zones:
2:20 p.m. EDT
1:20 p.m. CDT
12:20 p.m. MDT
11:20 a.m. PDT
10:20 a.m. ADT
8:20 a.m. HST
When I was a kid, we had 'duck & cover' tests in school. This is the modern version.
Crouching down and putting your head between your legs is optional!
Link:
It will happen across time zones:
2:20 p.m. EDT
1:20 p.m. CDT
12:20 p.m. MDT
11:20 a.m. PDT
10:20 a.m. ADT
8:20 a.m. HST
When I was a kid, we had 'duck & cover' tests in school. This is the modern version.
Crouching down and putting your head between your legs is optional!
Link:
online today!
VINYL LP's...
My blog today is about vinyl LP's. It's been 40 years since digital CD's hit the market. I remember they professed it would be the kiss of death to vinyl LP's. CD's are the best and the worst in the music industry all in the same breath. When first released around 1982, people were forced to switch gears and buy new players. People weren't happy. They went through upgrades in 8-track tapes, cassettes and digital cassettes.
The good thing about CD's is you could fit more music on a CD than an LP. I knew a DJ who used to carry boxes and boxes of LP's to his gigs. When he switched to CD's it was only 2 cases.
Play a CD a thousand times and have no loss of quality. No scratching, no skipping. Physically, taking less space for storage, easy to send in the mail. Yet some people hated them.
CD's were easy to rip and download to a hard disk or digital storage. Now, DJ's only need a portable drive... or an iPhone with extended memory for hundreds of songs in their library.
Oh, if you don't have that special request, you can easily down load it from an online library through your cellphone data plan!
All these great things about CD's, but the 2 major drawbacks (that I can think of) is all the visual media is now compressed from 12" to 5" so albums selling merely because they have a cool looking cover has diminished and that warm analog sound of vinyl was replaced by a cold sterile digital representation.
Some people can hear the difference between the same music on an LP compared to a CD. For the most part, it's not important to 95% of the music listeners, so it is what it is.
That said, some artists actually have a small number of vinyl albums pressed and available for the music purists.
I know rap DJ's have CD digital turntables and emulate the 'scratch' sounds they popularized using old turntables.
I had forgotten about vinyl records for a while. Moving storage boxes last weekend I found my collection and oddly while walking through Walmart today, I found a rack of vinyl LP's as proof... vinyl ain't dead!
The good thing about CD's is you could fit more music on a CD than an LP. I knew a DJ who used to carry boxes and boxes of LP's to his gigs. When he switched to CD's it was only 2 cases.
Play a CD a thousand times and have no loss of quality. No scratching, no skipping. Physically, taking less space for storage, easy to send in the mail. Yet some people hated them.
CD's were easy to rip and download to a hard disk or digital storage. Now, DJ's only need a portable drive... or an iPhone with extended memory for hundreds of songs in their library.
Oh, if you don't have that special request, you can easily down load it from an online library through your cellphone data plan!
All these great things about CD's, but the 2 major drawbacks (that I can think of) is all the visual media is now compressed from 12" to 5" so albums selling merely because they have a cool looking cover has diminished and that warm analog sound of vinyl was replaced by a cold sterile digital representation.
Some people can hear the difference between the same music on an LP compared to a CD. For the most part, it's not important to 95% of the music listeners, so it is what it is.
That said, some artists actually have a small number of vinyl albums pressed and available for the music purists.
I know rap DJ's have CD digital turntables and emulate the 'scratch' sounds they popularized using old turntables.
I had forgotten about vinyl records for a while. Moving storage boxes last weekend I found my collection and oddly while walking through Walmart today, I found a rack of vinyl LP's as proof... vinyl ain't dead!
online today!
Touron...
By definition, a Touron is a derogatory term combining the words "Tourist" with "Moron" to describe any person who, while on vacation, commits an act of pure stupidity.
There are several websites with videos documenting such activity.
Hot spring geysers can reach temperatures over 300 degrees Fahrenheit, but that doesn't stop some curious tourists from going over the safety railings to actually touch the boiling waters making them tourons...
Story link:
Website link:
There are several websites with videos documenting such activity.
Hot spring geysers can reach temperatures over 300 degrees Fahrenheit, but that doesn't stop some curious tourists from going over the safety railings to actually touch the boiling waters making them tourons...
Story link:
Website link:
A Blog is a journal you may enter about your life, your thoughts, interesting experiences, or lessons you have learned. It's your own page on Connecting Singles that you can update on a regular basis, or just whenever you have something to say. You can write about an opinion, impart words of wisdom, or talk about something interesting in your day. Creating a blog is a good way to share something of yourself with Connecting Singles members. Reading blogs is a good way to learn more about members you have met here. Please be sure to read the blog rules before posting.
Would YOU like to post a blog on Connecting Singles? Have you written blogs that you'd like to share with other members? Posting your blogs shows your skill and creativity and helps members get to know you better. Your blog will appear on the Connecting Singles Blogs page and also in a link on your profile page. Click here to post a blog »