A Writing System 4,000 Years Old

This bull-head vessel spout is from Susa and dates back around 4,000 years. Linear Elamite was used in the same time and place. (Image credit: Photo courtesy of the Metropolitan Museum of Art)



A mysterious ancient writing system called Linear Elamite, used between about 2300 B.C. and 1800 B.C. in what is now southern Iran, might have finally been deciphered, although some experts are skeptical about the findings. 

What's more, it's unclear whether all the artifacts used to decipher the writings were legally acquired.

Only about 40 known examples of Linear Elamite survive today, making the script challenging to decode, but researchers say they've largely accomplished just that, they wrote in a paper published in July in the journal Zeitschrift für Assyriologie und Vorderasiatische Archäologie(opens in new tab) (German for the "Journal of Assyriology and Near Eastern Archaeology"). 

Key to their decipherment was the analysis of eight inscriptions on silver beakers.

Other research teams had previously decoded different Linear Elamite inscriptions, and the new study's authors built on this previous work by comparing the writing system in the eight Linear Elamite inscriptions with cuneiform (an already-deciphered script used in what is now the Middle East) texts that date to around the same time period and likely contain the names of the same rulers and their titles and use some of the same phrases to describes the rulers.  READ MORE...

Dog & Kitten

 

As Our Planet Burns

While nations rally to reduce their carbon emissions, and try to adapt at-risk places to hotter conditions, there is an elephant in the room: for large portions of the world, local conditions are becoming too extreme and there is no way to adapt. People will have to move to survive.

Over the next fifty years, hotter temperatures combined with more intense humidity are set to make large swathes of the globe lethal to live in. Fleeing the tropics, the coasts, and formerly arable lands, huge populations will need to seek new homes; you will be among them, or you will be receiving them. 

This migration has already begun—we have all seen the streams of people fleeing drought-hit areas in Latin America, Africa, and Asia where farming and other rural livelihoods have become impossible.

The number of migrants has doubled globally over the past decade, and the issue of what to do about rapidly increasing populations of displaced people will only become greater and more urgent as the planet heats.

We can—and we must—prepare. Developing a radical plan for humanity to survive a far hotter world includes building vast new cities in the more tolerable far north while abandoning huge areas of the unendurable tropics. 

It involves adapting our food, energy, and infrastructure to a changed environment and demography as billions of people are displaced and seek new homes.  READ MORE...

KItten Attacked

 

Talking to Voyager Again

NASA’S VOYAGER 1 is on a fraught and unknowable journey into deep space. Some 14.6 billion miles from Earth, it and its sister craft, Voyager 2, are the furthest human-made objects from our planet, having made it beyond the edges of the Solar System and out into the interstellar medium. 

At such distances, anything can go wrong. Add to that the fact that these are old craft: The Voyagers launched in the 1970s. 

So when Voyager 1 started to send home weird, garbled nonsense instead of telemetry data in May of this year, NASA engineers might have been forgiven for calling it a day and pouring one out for perhaps the most successful space mission of all time.


But that’s not how NASA works. Instead, they started working on a remote diagnosis and fix for the record-breaking spacecraft. Now, some four months later, they are triumphant. 

Voyager 1 is back online and communicating perfectly with ground control as if it never happened. In fact, the fix turned out to be relatively simple — or as simple as anything can be with a 22-hour communications lag in each direction and billions of miles of space in between.  READ MORE...

Birds

 

America Is No Longer America

While this sounds a little hard to believe especially because America will always be America until the name is changed...  its core has been changed and she will never be the same...  so let me explain...

It all started with WHITE WEALTH and WHITE ARROGANCE...  believing that whites were somehow better than everyone else as if we had a God given right to believe that...

Whites persecuted Native Americans

Whites persecuted African Americans

Whites persecuted the poor and uneducated

But the biggest issue facing America was that the WEALTHY felt that they were above the law in all respects and used their wealth to manipulate politics and business into their direction and according to their will.

For years there was a silent majority that kept their mouth's shut and did what they were told but resented it.

Then in 2015, Trump came on the scene and he represented this silent majority and they saw him as their savior/leader and responded accordingly.

Trump was an outsider and did not play by the rules and instantly encountered this intense animosity against him.

And that when THE SHIT HIT THE FAN and America got turned upside down.

The mainstream media joined the liberals and progressives to do whatever they needed to do to STOP TRUMP, STOP his POWER and Stop his INFLUENCE on the PUBLIC...

EVERYTHING that is going on in America which includes:

• Stopping Dependence on Oil
• Stop Producing Domestic Gasoline
• BLM - CRT - WOKENESS - Cancel Culture
• White Supremacy
• Bad Cops Hurting Blacks
• Crime and Violence
• Going Green
• Illegal Immigration
• Illegal drugs pouring into the US
• No worries about North Korea
• Not interfering in Ukraine
• Letting Iran become Nuclear
• Support China in doing whatever
• Spending money out the ass
• Forgiving student debt
• Raising taxes

All of this is BECAUSE OF TRUMP and who he is and how he has been able to influence 50% of the American population...

The other side is trying to end this influence regardless of the cost to the country...

TRUMP's ACTIONS and subsequent reactions to his actions is destroying this country quicker than stink on shit and unless we stop it soon, we will reach a point of no return...  and will start regretting our actions and all their unintended consequences.

All the illegal immigrants that are coming into the US from Mexico...  do you think they are going to live like we do?

No, they are going to continue to live like they did in Mexico or they did in other countries.

Our neigborhoods will begin to have areas that look like the slums and will lower property values...  but, by then it will be too late because all we cared about was STOPPING TRUMP.

How easily the American public has been able to become so easily influenced by Trump and then influenced again by those who HATE TRUMP...

The Older Customer

I purchased an HP computer because it was cheaper than the rest and I thought that since I was doing just word processing, it would not be a problem...

WRONG...

After a week, I wanted to throw the HP into the trash and buy a Dell or Lenovo, both of which I have had before and found them both acceptable just more expensive.

My first problem is that the keyboard is not the same nor is the operating system and the damn computer wants to go to Google Docs rather than MS.  GD is inferior in my opinion to MS and is not acceptable for Kindle Publishing on Amazon.

The second big issue was that, the computer is slower than molassas and the touch screen does not work half the time and when it does there is a 15 second delay in reaction time, especially when you are trying to close out a window or a doc.

Of course, after 6 month of annoyance, one gets familiar and all is accepted but not forgiven and then next time I look to buy, HP will e the last brand name on the list.  I was to told by the people at BB that there would be no problems...  some 20 something geek who knew more than me at age 9 than I know at 74...  of course, he has no problem...  but the employee did not have enough experience to properly interface with the older customer.

That does not happen often at BB as I find these people very good and helpful when talking with older buyers...  but it does make you wonder where BB might be going.

This is the world we created for ourselves and this is the world that we must live in until a group of leaders realize they were wrong and sets about changing it back.

College Bound or NOT...

Just because Biden has forgiven current student debt does not mean this government forgiveness will continue...  in case you are considering going to college after high school.

But, is this something you really want to do?

• Were you a good student?
• Did you like to learn?
• Did you want to retain knowledge?
• Did you learn more on your own?

Granted, going to college today is not like going to college was 50 years ago...   and, that is the problem that I want to discuss.

College today is watered down so that students can pass through easily and colleges and universities can increase their revenues.

The other issue is that when more and more students graduate from college, there will be less and less jobs for college students...  Great supply, low demand, mean salaries go down...  the labor market become diluted with too many college students...  and, because the courses have been watered down, companies have to teach student what they did not learn in college.

Needless to say, that will piss your employer off.

You don't need a college degree to be a:

• Restaurant manager
• Building contractor
• Computer programmer
• Open your own food market
• Repair foreign cars
• Refurbish houses - home repair

Truck drivers like 18-wheelers who have their CDL can make $150,000 to $200,000 annually.

Before I left North Carolina in 1990, plumbers and electricians were making so much money that most of them own half a dozen or more rentals properties that provided them with an extra income that they did not need, so they built their home on the lake...  just like the multimillionaires...  piss the millionaires off big time...

One of my college roommates dropped out of college and started flipping houses.  By the time I got out of college with my 4 year degree 7 years later because I went into the military for a couple of years, this dropout had stopped flipping houses and was flipping apartment complexes.  He was already worth several millions of dollars if he were to sell off his property and pay off his debt.

When I was 48 years of age, he had already retired and was living off interest from $10 million or $4,000 each month.

Here is something to think about.

My neighbor is a 60 year old legal Mexican immigrant who has been in this country a little over 20 years.  He started out in Mexico as a cabinet maker and when he immigrated to Texas, he got on a crew building house.  Five years later he move to TN because his wife is from this area and started his own home building company with him and 2-3 others.

In 2022, he is building his last house for himself and his wife.  He owns and rents 10 houses which gives him an income of $10000 each month.  Or, he can end his rental contracts and sell his houses with no debt to pay off.

He has no college degree and no technical or trade degree...  all his knowledge and experience comes from on-the-job.

Once this last house is done, we will play chess and drink non-alcoholic Sangria.

Think long and hard if you want to go to college and make sure that you really understand what you are getting yourself into.

T. G. I. F.

There is something about Friday arriving that completely changes the work week around from being miserable to somewhat acceptable.  Just one more day of working for the man...  that is to say, unless you are the man.

While college and university professors don't make that much money, they really have the best jobs for what they are being asked to do and how much actual time they are working.

Most colleges and universities want you to teach 12 hours a week or 4 three-hour courses.  At most small college or universities that results in Monday through Thursday with only a half day on Friday especially if you are in the Business Department.

So, in addition to teaching, you must put in about 2 hours per day as office hours in case the student(s) want to come talk with you.  So, now we are looking at 22 hours of work.  You can use those office hours to grade papers or prepare for your classes.

Most colleges and universities then require you to serve on 2 committees that meet each week or each month for 2 hours...  so, if it is weekly then that is another 4 hours or 26 hours of work.  Sometimes these meeting last 3 hours so typically if you count all of it up, college and university professors work 30 hours a week or less.

If you are a department head, then you teach less, but you are pretty much guaranteed you will be working 40-50 hours each week.

Now, if you are a professor, you don't work when the students are not there.  So, you have several days at Thanksgiving, a couple of weeks at Christmas.  And, during the summer, you don't work at all unless you volunteer for summer classes.

Now, the students have a fall and spring break for a week and during those breaks you are required to work 40 hours each of those weeks.

But, there is a catch.

If you want tenure, then you must publish and that requires you to spend those weekly hours from 30-40 researching to become published.  Once you have tenure, you cannot be fired...  but, you have to continue publishing.  Tenured faculty are also required to teach less hours in the classroom as an incentive...  maybe only 9 hours each week and lots of those classes can be taught by grad students.

The last 5 years of my 45 year career was teaching business classes at a small college that became a university.  It was a great way to end one's career.  Plus, I only lived 2 miles from the campus.

Sea Animals

 

A Bald Eagle Named Clark

On Monday, a bald eagle named Clark was seen traveling home after making a special appearance at High Point University's convocation Sunday in North Carolina.

Twitter user @ElijahWhosoever shared a video of Clark making his way through the TSA checkpoint at Charlotte Douglas International Airport, which has now garnered more than 120,000 views.

Clark was bred at the World Bird Sanctuary in Missouri 20 years ago in the conservation department, according to the organization's website. 

He was initially supposed to be released into the wild, as the species was endangered at the time, the website states, and due to Clark's feet deformities, he wasn't able to join his siblings in the wild.

"Clark's feet would not be properly protected from the cold during the winter, and he would suffer from things like frostbite and loss of toes," the organization states.

High Point University tweeted its support of Clark after some users questioned why he was allowed to enter the TSA checkpoint.  READ MORE...

Majestic Cat

 

Traveling in an Electric Vehicle

Driving long distances in an electric car isn’t as bad as some of the naysayers might have you think. Provided, of course, the car in question has a solid range estimate. 

But what if your car doesn’t have particularly good range? What if your electric car is just like mine?

I am currently the owner of a Nissan Leaf with a 40 kWH battery. It’s the smallest battery Nissan currently offers in a Leaf, and has an EPA-tested range of 149 miles. 

The Nissan Leaf is a perfectly good city car, with a few questionable hardware choices, but it is categorically not built for road trips. Especially with high-speed highway driving.

It’s a fact that was living rent-free at the front of my mind as I prepared to take the car on a road trip. Because the choice was either that, pay about $140 to fuel my girlfriend’s car, or spend even more renting a more long-distance-friendly EV. 

Taking the Leaf seemed like the best option available, and now that the trip is over I still can’t decide whether I did the right thing.  READ MORE...

Rainy Day

 

Cottonmouth's Eating Pythons

The ecosystem in which the Burmese python (Python bivittatus) has made its home in the Florida Everglades is fighting back as native species are eating the invasive snakes. 

Scientists studying the big constrictor in Florida have documented the American alligator (Alligator mississippiensis), the Gulf Coast indigo snake (Drymarchon couperi) and the bobcat (Lynx rufus) as consumers of these snakes. 

The Florida black bear (Ursus americanus floridanus) is also possibly a consumer of the Burmese python.

Now scientists with Zoo Miami have confirmed at least two cases of adult Florida cottonmouth (Agkistrodon piscivorus conanti) snakes eating young Burmese pythons. 

The scientists have radiograph verification of the venomous snake eating a radiotelemetered Burmese python in 2020 and in 2021. The 2020 observation took place in the Picayune Strand State Forest in Florida and the 2021 observation took place in the state’s Big Cypress National Preserve. 

Both young Burmese pythons were radio tagged for research purposes.

The first cottonmouth was captured via the radio-tracker and sedated and transported to a lab until the transmitter was expelled. 

It measured 63 cm Snout to vent length, 74 cm total length, and 317 g. The snake, a female, was then released back into the location in which it was captured.

The second cottonmouth snake consumed the Burmese python tail first. The snake was captured and released the same day. 

It measured between 87 cm SVL and 108 cm total length. No other data was collected.

It has been documented that the venomous snake is known to eat 27 snake species, including other cottonmouth snakes.  READ MORE...

Be All You Can Be

 

Just A Day Trip

My wife and I went on a little day trip up to Greeneville, TN about 50-60 miles north of us to visit an Omish Market and see what they had to offer.  We picked up several handmade items including soup starter kits which was the original reason for driving up there.  While in Greeneville we filled up the car with gasoline as it was $.25/gallon cheaper up there than at home...

So, my first question might be Why?

And, the obvious answer is that city and county taxes are less up there than they are where we live... 

I knew that because when I first moved over to TN from NC, I lived in Greeneville but I did not pay that much attention to local taxes until the Biden Administration and began experiencing a lot of inflation.

And, while $.25/gallon is not much, if you fill up once a week and get 10 gallons that is $2.50/week or $130/year.

For those of us on a fixed income $130 is a lot of money...  we could go out to dinner 4 times in Knoxville and spend less than $150...

If you are lucky enough to have a job or have the desire to even work in the first place, then the money that you spend is not that much of a concern...  I say this because, gasoline prices have doubled in the last year, and while many have cut back on how much they drive, the drivers that I am around have no desire to save money by driving the speed limit.

It does not take a brain surgeon to realize the faster one drives the more gasoline is burned or consumed by the vehicle's engine...  yet, no one wants to slow down.

On the Interstate, our speed limit is 70 and if I want to stay with the pack of cars around me, I need to drive 85-90+.  On rural roads, the speed limit is 55 but if I want to stay with the pack of cars around me, I need to drive 75-85+.  In town, the stop lights and the volume of traffic slows the cars down but if there is little traffic, then the cars don't even come close to the posted speed limit of 35 mph.

Gasoline companies want us to drive fast because we buy more gas and they become more wealthy...  and then we bitch because of all the wealthy people we created by our habits.

Follow the Leader

 

An Ice Age Bison

Gold miners discovered the mummified Steppe Bison now called "Blue Babe." Researchers believe it is more than 55,000 years old. Unfortunately, radiocarbon dating tools can't measure any further back that.  University of Alaska Museum of the North



In 1979, researchers unearthed the mummified body of a 55,000-year-old Steppe bison in the Alaskan tundra. Shortly after, they sliced off a piece of its neck — to eat!

Here's a news story told in rhyme:
This is not a traditional story.
Not many names or dates, so don't worry.

It's also not incredibly timely,
But it's about an ice age Steppe bison
And a man whose thought process defies me.

Let's start with the creature, lived more than 55,000 years ago
Was brought to his knees by a lion-ancestor foe.

Down went the bison on permafrost ground,
Which kept him from being eaten or found.

Neither predator nor man disturbed the behemoth mass
As it remained encased in a protective frozen glass.

Leaping forward to 1979,
a team of explorers venture out to mine

Gold is what they are on the lookout for,
on the spot where the bison hit the floor

With a hydraulic mining hose, they melted away,
Some frozen sludge, 'til someone said, Whoa! Stop! Hey!

They reported their findings to University of Alaska Fairbanks officials
Dale Guthrie, led the excavation, limiting interstitials.

The skeleton, the skin, the muscles — all in near-impeccable condition,

Guthrie named it Blue Babe, then sliced off a piece for a culinary mission.

"You know what we can do?," he asked
Host a dinner party and with cooking the meat, I'll be tasked.

The Blue Babe neck steak served eight,
With veggies and spices, and lots of booze they ate

Years later, writing about the taste,
Guthrie said, When thawed, one could mistake

The aroma for beef, not unpleasantly earthy.
But once in the mouth, his wife, Mary Lee Guthrie,
Told podcasters from Gimlet, it was worse than beef jerky.

Still, it was a great party, she fondly remembered,
A dreamy symbolism of the meal that endured.

It was a feast; by all counts a true celebration
An "imagining of the human experience on earth!,"
She said, with elation.