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[Tiredretiredlawyer]

https://nationaldaycalendar.com/aviatio ... ay-may-24/

AVIATION MAINTENANCE TECHNICIAN DAY | MAY 24

We all know the story of Orville and Wilbur Wright, Kitty Hawk, and the experiment of human flight. But how many of us know the name, Charles Edward Taylor? He came to work for the Wrights in 1902 when the research turned to powered flight. The automobile companies couldn’t supply an engine both light enough and powerful enough for flight.

Enter Taylor. A machinist by trade, with a metal lathe, drill press, and other hand tools, he built the 12-horsepower engine, which propelled the Wright’s aeroplane 20 feet above the wind-swept North Carolina beach. The longest flight lasted 59 seconds for a distance of 852 feet. It took Taylor 6 weeks to build the engine, and yet, history books rarely mention the man who helped make the historic December 17, 1903, flight possible.

Being on the cusp of the aeronautics industry, Taylor continued to design aircraft engines for the Wright brothers as well as teaching them to build their own. When the first airport was established (by the Wrights), he was named the airport manager.

The partnership continued when the Wright brothers were awarded a military contract for the first military plane with Taylor designing and building the engine.

[Foggy]

That's extremely cool, TRL.

[RTH10260]

https:// twitter.com/cnnbrk/status/1529178017171443716

CNN Breaking News?t=MEt6YHGKF3mHBYx13rfcMQ@cnnbrk
An Iraqi national has been arrested and charged in an alleged plot to assassinate former President George W. Bush
cnn.com

FBI investigating plot to assassinate former President George W. Bush
The FBI has been investigating an alleged plot to assassinate former President George W. Bush that involved an Iraqi national in the United States whose reconnaissance included driving to the...

9:10 PM · May 24, 2022

Iraqi national? Another attempt at throwing a shoe?

[raison de arizona]

https:// twitter.com/cnnbrk/status/1529178017171443716

CNN Breaking News?t=MEt6YHGKF3mHBYx13rfcMQ@cnnbrk
An Iraqi national has been arrested and charged in an alleged plot to assassinate former President George W. Bush
cnn.com

9:10 PM · May 24, 2022

Iraqi national? Another attempt at throwing a shoe?

Nah, it's an assassination attempt. Probably an explosive shoe.

[Tiredretiredlawyer]

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2022/5 ... ton-Hughes

Black Music Sunday: Let's talk about jazz, the blues, and Langston Hughes

May 22 marks the 1967 passing of one of America’s foremost literary giants: James Mercer Langston Hughes. Born in February 1901 in Joplin, Missouri, Langston Hughes would publish his first poem, “The Negro Speaks of Rivers,” in the June 1921 issue of The Crisis, the magazine of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). He was just 20 years old at the time. Hughes would go on to become a leading light of the Harlem Renaissance, publishing not only poetry, but essays, plays, novels, and short stories, as well.

For today’s Black Music Sunday, let’s explore Hughes’ intimate relationship with jazz and Black music. He was the progenitor of what came to be known as “jazz poetry.” With that in mind, join me in celebrating not only Langston Hughes, but the entire genre of jazz poetry he spearheaded.

“The Weary Blues”

Droning a drowsy syncopated tune,
Rocking back and forth to a mellow croon,
I heard a Negro play.
Down on Lenox Avenue the other night
By the pale dull pallor of an old gas light
He did a lazy sway . . .
He did a lazy sway . . .
To the tune o’ those Weary Blues.
With his ebony hands on each ivory key
He made that poor piano moan with melody.
O Blues!
Swaying to and fro on his rickety stool
He played that sad raggy tune like a musical fool.
Sweet Blues!
Coming from a black man’s soul.
O Blues!
In a deep song voice with a melancholy tone
I heard that Negro sing, that old piano moan—
“Ain’t got nobody in all this world,
Ain’t got nobody but ma self.
I’s gwine to quit ma frownin’
And put ma troubles on the shelf.”
Thump, thump, thump, went his foot on the floor.
He played a few chords then he sang some more—
“I got the Weary Blues
And I can’t be satisfied.
Got the Weary Blues
And can’t be satisfied—
I ain’t happy no mo’
And I wish that I had died.”
And far into the night he crooned that tune.
The stars went out and so did the moon.
The singer stopped playing and went to bed
While the Weary Blues echoed through his head.
He slept like a rock or a man that’s dead.

https://poets.org/poem/weary-blues

[Frater I*I]

The Charles Taylor award is one of the rarest government awards, it requires one to have worked as an aircraft mechanic for 50 years before even getting considered...

[Tiredretiredlawyer]

Happy AV Day!!!!!!!

[Frater I*I]

Happy AV Day!!!!!!!

[northland10]

Has any former president ever been assassinated?

Teddy Roosevelt was shot at a campaign event when he was campaigning in the three-way race between him, Taft, and Wilson. He was saved by the speech and eyeglasses case in his pocket.

[Volkonski]

Has any former president ever been assassinated?

Teddy Roosevelt was shot at a campaign event when he was campaigning in the three-way race between him, Taft, and Wilson. He was saved by the speech and eyeglasses case in his pocket.

Yes, but he was still politically active. GWB not so much.

[northland10]

Yesterday was Google Street View's 15th birthday and Pegman (or Pegperson) was decked out in a party hat and balloons. This morning, while bouncing around, the labels all vanished (though satellite view was still working). I noticed Pegperson was still wearing the hat and holding balloons.

I think Google Maps has a hangover.

[Tiredretiredlawyer]

[Tiredretiredlawyer]

https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/tennis ... ar-AAXAVZu

Serena Williams Trading Card Makes History in Record Sale

Goldin Auctions founder Ken Goldin tweeted Sunday a 2003 Serena Williams NetPro signed patch rookie card sold for a historic $266,400 on Saturday night. According to The Athletic, the sale set a new mark for the highest-priced trading card featuring a female athlete, more than doubling the previous mark of $117,000.

In case you were wondering, Williams, 40, also owned the previous record after a bidder purchased a July 1999 SI For Kids Serena Williams rookie card in January.

Although Williams was not a rookie in 2003, the NetPro pack containing her card was the first tennis set made available to the public in nearly a decade, per The Athletic. Other notable names included in the ’03 release are Venus Williams, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal.

Williams, a 23-time Grand Slam winner, is in need of one more win for the all-time record. She has not played since last year’s Wimbledon. Williams dismissed the idea of retirement in April after hinting at a possible return to this year’s edition of the event.

[AndyinPA]

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/202 ... -three-men

The actor Kevin Spacey has been charged with four counts of sexual assault against three men, the Crown Prosecution Service said.

The CPS said the 62-year-old had also been charged with causing a person to engage in penetrative sexual activity without consent.

The alleged incidents took place in London between March 2005 and August 2008, and in Gloucestershire in April 2013.

[Volkonski]

[Volkonski]

[northland10]

I just spent 2 heavy hours on my organ and now I'm drained and my hands are really sore.

There is really no way to describe what I do without making it sound dirty.

[Dave from down under]

Not a downer article unless one lands on you...

https://www.abc.net.au/news/science/202 ... /101100890

Salamanders' ability to 'skydive' in California redwood forests discovered by scientists

In the crowns of the tallest trees in the world, an amphibian has carved out an unlikely niche.

Key points:
Wandering salamanders can slow their descent and glide directionally
They don't appear to have any physical traits that would give them gliding ability, surprising scientists
Other ground-dwelling species flailed about and had no real control when released into the wind tunnel
The wandering salamander, more closely related to a frog than the lizards it resembles, feeds on small invertebrates in the canopies of California's giant redwoods, nearly 100 metres above the forest floor.

But living so high off the ground comes with a unique set of challenges, not least of which is falling.

Rather than clinging on for dear life, scientists have observed the wandering salamander — Aneides vagrans — leaping from the canopies when disturbed.

Now they've figured out how the salamander avoids going splat when it reaches the ground.

[Sam the Centipede]

I just spent 2 heavy hours on my organ and now I'm drained and my hands are really sore.

There is really no way to describe what I do without making it sound dirty.

I once rubbed down a piece of pipe or similar with sandpaper, harder with than I expected, and after finishing I thought "ow! my hand hurts!" then realisation dawned@ "oh, so that must be 'wanker's cramp'!"

You know what you're doing I'm sure, but have a look at your hand posture and check that you haven't acquired bad habits. Love those carpal tunnels! I think your tarsal tunnels are safe enough unless your pedalwork is unusually delicate and refined. Or you sir upside-down and play the keys with your toes and the pedals with your hands – which I won't believe without photographic evidence!

[Tiredretiredlawyer]

I just spent 2 heavy hours on my organ and now I'm drained and my hands are really sore.

There is really no way to describe what I do without making it sound dirty.

Those who play piano understand.

[AndyinPA]

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/202 ... sachusetts

It took more than three centuries, but the last Salem “witch” has been officially pardoned.

Massachusetts lawmakers on Thursday formally exonerated Elizabeth Johnson Jr, clearing her name 329 years after she was wrongly convicted of witchcraft in 1693 and sentenced to death at the height of the Salem witch trials.

Johnson was never executed, but neither was she officially pardoned like others wrongly accused of witchcraft.

Lawmakers agreed to reconsider her case last year after a curious eighth-grade civics class at North Andover middle school took up her cause and researched the legislative steps needed to clear her name.

[Sam the Centipede]

Orly Taitz should apply for similar exoneration.

[jcolvin2]

Orly Taitz should apply for similar exoneration.

I would hazard to guess that Taitz weighs more than a duck. Pardon eligible!

[raison de arizona]

Orly Taitz should apply for similar exoneration.

And in 329 years, it should be duly granted.

[AndyinPA]