Meme Scholar with Madness (PhD)

[EndtheMadnessNow]

According to the July 12, 1874 Pioche Record, the Nevada State Bible Society was "endeavoring to supply the whole State with bibles."




The Circus Room Casino opened at Stateline, NV at Lake Tahoe in 1952. The Nevada Artists' Association held their First Annual Lake Tahoe Art Show at the Circus Room (Jul 16-18, 1954).




During the Solomon Islands campaign, a Marine on night sentry duty heard someone approaching in the jungle and fired a few bursts from his machine gun. A voice called out: "Hold up your fire! We are Americans. I am bringing in my platoon." The Marine responded by blasting away with his weapon, wiping out a Japanese patrol. When asked how he knew they were the enemy, he explained that they were "Just too damned grammatical to be Marines."




July 12, 1943: Battle of Prokhorovka, one of the largest tank battles in history, occurred. It was part of the Battle of Kursk. The Red Army suffered high tank losses but the Germans could not build on this tactical victory and suffered successive defeats in the USSR during 1943.

Prokhorovka and the Myth of the Largest Tank Battle

Published: 18 July 2017 by Ian Hudson

For decades the Battle of Kursk has been widely believed to be the largest tank battle in history.

In particular the fighting at Prokhorovka on the 12th July is often reported to have involved anywhere from 1200 to 2000 tanks clashing at point blank range, resulting in the destruction of up to 1200 vehicles.

However since the end of the Cold War extensive research by historians in the Soviet and German archives have analysed records of the units that took part.  As a result it’s now generally accepted that these numbers have been greatly exaggerated and that Prokhorovka wasn’t the largest tank battle.

This post gives a very brief overview of the results of this research.  The numbers presented here are taken from ‘Kursk 1943:  A Statistical Analysis’ by Niklas Zetterling and Anders Frankson and ‘Demolishing the Myth’ by Valeriy Zamulin.

...
This research has also led to the numbers of lost tanks being revised drastically downwards.  Soviet records suggest that the 5th Guards Tank Army lost 359 tanks and assault guns on the 12th, of which 207 couldn’t be repaired.  German records suggest the equivalent figures for II SS Panzer Corps and III Panzer Corps are 193, with just 20 completely lost.  However different definitions of ‘lost’ between Soviet and German records make a direct comparison difficult.

Human losses are similarly difficult to determine.  The 5th Guards Tank Army lost 2240 men killed and 1157 missing (who would most likely have been killed) between the 12th and 16th July.  During the same period II SS Panzer Corps lost 503 killed and 57 missing.

Why then, did such exaggerated figures appear and take root?

They can be traced back to Soviet propaganda.  The Soviets knew they had taken heavy losses during the fighting.  Although the exact numbers were classified, there was still a need to make sure the population believed the casualties were justified.  Exaggerating the size of the German forces and their losses accomplished this and boosted morale.
....

So if Kursk wasn’t the largest tank battle in history, what was?

It’s now generally accepted that it was the fighting around Brody and Dubno between the 26th and 29th July 1941, rather than Kursk.  This was part of the border battles fought at the beginning of the German invasion of the Soviet Union.  It involved up to 3500 Soviet and 750 German tanks.  The battle was a heavy Soviet defeat, they lost hundreds of tanks and thousands of soldiers.  Indeed by early July most of the units involved had been reduced to less than 10% of their tank strength.

The World War II Office of Civil Defense (OCD) was established by Executive Order in May 1941. On July 12, 1944, the OCD presented a "Certificate of National Security" award to F.O. Case, the General Manager of Basic Magnesium Inc.



Magnesium Maggie of WWII


Las Vegas History - Magnesium Maggie

Magnesium Maggie

Call her "Magnesium Maggie"


MAKERS – Women in Nevada History | 05 Magnesium Maggie




USA #1 on this day in 1969: Zager & Evans - In The Year 2525. Only 500 years to go...



UK #1 on this day in 1981: The Specials - Ghost Town
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RZ2oXzrnti4


July 12, 1975: Happy Days! Under Senate Bill 95 also known as the "Moscone Act Cannabis Reform", California decriminalizes the possession of less than one ounce of cannabis or marijuana.




July 12, 2005: Groundbreaking ceremony for $300M, 64-story Trump International Hotel and Condominium tower in Las Vegas, NV was held. "So we are moving ahead with a second tower which will have a 35 percent price increase." - Donald Trump, 2005


"The brand name is important for 'The Ivana' because it's not located in the Golden Mile area," said Bruce Hiatt, owner of Luxury Realty Group, a brokerage firm specializing in high-rise condos. 'The pricing per square foot is also very aggressive." PDF

Recall on the New Year's morning 2025, a Tesla Cybertruck exploded in front of the hotel's main entrance, and the driver was killed.



No, none will work in your benefit, nor get you whatever you think is the better outcome, right or left. TPTB will bend anyone to their will no matter what.

Pres Trump is now claiming that Obama, Clinton, Biden, FBI's Comey and CIA's Brennan "created" the Epstein files. He's about to pivot to "Epstein was framed by Crooked Hillary" and it's gonna be the funniest thing that could happen. And he has to know what he's doing when he calls Epstein "a guy who never dies". Also, MAGA crowd having a meltdown...



If you want to know what’s really going on in a society or ideology, follow the money. If money is flowing to advertising instead of musicians, journalists, and artists, then a society is more concerned with manipulation than truth or beauty. If content is worthless, then people will start to become empty-headed and contentless.
— Jaron Lanier

[EndtheMadnessNow]

July 13, 1923: Just a $21,000 billboard

The Hollywood sign begins life as a temporary advertisement for a new housing development in the Hollywood Hills. Its precise date of construction is unknown: by the end of 1923, a few news reports in Los Angeles mention, in passing, a giant sign reading "Hollywoodland", illuminated with electric lights. The Hollywood sign was only supposed to stay up for 18 months, but the rising popularity of American cinema in LA turned the sign into an international symbol of the golden age of Hollywood.


Each of the original 13 letters was 30ft wide and approximately 43ft tall, constructed of 3ft by 9ft metal squares rigged together by an intricate frame of scaffolding, pipes, wires and telephone poles,” according to the sign trust’s website. “At night the Sign blinked into the Hollywood night: first ‘Holly’, then ‘wood’, and finally ‘land’, punctuated by a giant period.

The sign cost $21,000, about $395,000 today according to the Hollywood Sign Trust, and the developers behind it included Harry Chandler, the publisher of the Los Angeles Times. Battered by wind and weather, the Hollywood sign falls into disrepair. At one point, the H was blown down (see photo below) or "smashed down", according to urban legend when the the sign’s official caretaker took out the letter H, when he drunk drove his car off the cliff and smashed into it. The caretaker wasn’t injured, but his 1928 Ford Model A was a total loss.

Whatever the case, that “made a cockney out of Hollywoodland”, the Los Angeles Times reported in 1944, with the sign reading “OLLYWOODLAND”. There were public debates over whether the sign should be torn down or repaired. Finally, in 1949, the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce finally succeeds in making a deal to rebuild the H, while simultaneously removing the “LAND”, making the sign a refurbished advertisement for Hollywood itself. The 4,000 light globes were forsaken too, since the Chamber didn’t want to foot the electrical bill.

HOLLYWOODLAND sign in "The Rocketeer" ending:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lxtj-wRLWaw


July 13, 1955: Ruth Ellis (age 28) became the last woman to be hanged in Britain for the murder of her lover David Blakely. A petition to the British Home Office asking for clemency was signed by 50,000 people but was rejected by Gwilym Lloyd George, the Home Secretary.




July 13, 1975: Staff at the Embassy of North Korea in Australia accidentally crash their Mercedes while driving in Canberra. They go to the nearest house to seek help, but they’re appalled to find that they’ve knocked on the door of the South Korean Ambassador to Australia. Then they go to Canberra’s only Mercedes dealership, but the last car has been sold - to the South Korean legation. LMAO!

I'm not sure of exact date of incident, but reportedly did occur in 1975 when the NKORS had an embassy in Australia... which lasted less than a year.

THERE is no North Korean embassy in Canberra the reason has been the topic of speculation and myth for more than 40 years.

Most explanations centre around a shortage of vehicles on the showroom floor of a local car dealership, and one rebel theory highlights a thrown axe.

North Korea had a diplomatic post here from 2003 to 2008, when five staff were packed up and the offices in the Canberra suburb of O’Malley shut.

An official explanation was that the post, with a rent of $2000 a week, was too expensive for then-President Kim Jong-il’s liking. An unofficial explanation was that the expected revenue from smuggling drugs and other contraband into Australia through diplomatic channels wasn’t paying off.

The first North Korean embassy, opened in 1974, lasted just a year.

Famed Canberra Times columnist, the late Alan Fitzgerald, reported that in 1975 the envoys of the North had wanted to buy a stately Mercedes Benz for official business.

They went down to the local Merc dealer and found just what they were looking for on the showroom floor. However, there was a catch.

The dealer had to tell them the car had already been sold — to the Embassy of South Korea.

This was an insult too great for the men serving President Kim il-Sung and they swiftly left.

There is another account of the Mercedes story involving a road accident. A variation is that the original North Korean vehicle had been damaged in a crash and that’s why they needed a new one.

In 2000 the ABC’s Philip Williams outlined a different story with even greater diplomatic farce.

In 1975 the North Koreans packed up and were so reckless speeding to the airport they crashed their Mercedes. This happened outside the South Korean ambassador’s residence, or so goes the story, adding to the humiliation.

Why the haste?

According to Williams, a short time before the diplomatic departure, American troops just outside the demilitarised zone separating North and South Korea wanted to remove a tree blocking their view of opposing forces.

Someone was sent in with an axe to do the job, but things got out of hand as, apparently, did the axe. The North Koreans accused the woodsman of attacking their soldiers with the implement, and in turn they hacked him to death.

Part of this story is a claim the ill-fated woodsman threw the axe at the Northern folk, and that it was marked, “Made in Australia”.

Thus a major military and diplomatic incident involved Australia.

However, after some consideration a translation error was admitted. The axe had been made in Austria, but it was too late to halt the trail of North Korean envoys and wrecked vehicle in Canberra 10,000 kms away from the DMZ.

News & Views Down Under

July 13, 1977: 8:34 p.m. EDT New York City experiences an electrical blackout due to lightning strikes on deficient infrastructure which lasted 24 hours that leads to widespread fires and over 1600 buildings looted or destroyed. The Blackout was to many a metaphor for the gloom that had already settled on the city. An economic decline due to severe financial crisis, coupled with rising crime rates, and the panic-provoking (and paranoia-inducing) Son of Sam murders, had combined to make the late 1970s New York’s Dark Ages.

The blackout took place at the start of a 9-day heat wave, which would begin on July 13 with temperatures reaching 93 °F (34 °C), and last until July 21 at 104 °F (40 °C), just two degrees off the all-time record high of 106 °F (41 °C), set on July 9, 1936, which occurred during the 1936 North American heat wave, part of the Dust Bowl.

The blackout also caused complications for the producers of the film Superman, who were shooting in the area.

On July 13, 2019, on the 42nd anniversary of the event, a Con Edison blackout occurred, affecting 73,000 people on Manhattan's West Side.




Speaking of NYC, ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK was released 44 years ago this week.

After the Watergate scandal broke in 1976 and made global headlines, young filmmaker John Carpenter was inspired to write a script that reflected the public’s lack of faith in the government. Influenced by Death Wish, he penned a screenplay he called Escape From New York.

However, no studio was interested because, according to Carpenter “it was too violent and too weird.” Then, in 1978, Carpenter directed Halloween. It was one of the biggest hits of the year and Carpenter was the hottest young filmmaker in Hollywood.


Carpenter signed a multi-picture deal with AVCO Embassy Pictures. The first title was The Fog and AVCO President Robert Rehme wanted Carpenter to follow it up with an adaptation of Charles Berlitz’s paranormal book The Philadelphia Experiment. Carpenter started the adaptation but decided there wasn’t a story there worth telling. He went back to Rehme and suggested they produce his finished script for Escape From New York. Based on the title and Carpenter’s 2-minute pitch, Rehme said “Sure, let’s do it.”

A few years earlier, when making TV movie Elvis, Carpenter had told his lead actor the plot of Escape From New York and all about its lead character, Snake Plissken. The actor was Kurt Russell and he told Carpenter if he ever made the film, he’d be interested in playing Snake.

At the time, Russell was best known for his early Disney roles. The studio wanted a seasoned tough guy as Plissken and instead asked Carpenter to consider Chuck Norris, Nick Nolte, Tommy Lee Jones, and Charles Bronson. Carpenter was convinced Russell was the right guy and, backed by producer Debra Hill, lobbied hard to cast him. The studio eventually caved.

In creating the character, Russell took inspiration from Clint Eastwood’s iconic performances as The Man With No Name in The Dollars Trilogy. It was also Russell’s idea to wear an eye patch, which Carpenter agreed was a good character detail.

Carpenter had worked with Donald Pleasence on Halloween and wanted him to play U.S. President John Harker. He pitched it to Pleasence by describing Harker as "the love child of Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher". In portraying the imprisoned President, Pleasence drew on his own World War II experiences as a prisoner of war. He’d drawn on this when he had appeared in The Great Escape too. Pleasence was very aware of his British accent in playing an American and suggested a backstory where the dystopian USA had rejoined the British empire. Carpenter said it was interesting and if it helped Pleasence then great, but no way he wouldn’t be putting it in the movie.

Carpenter was keen on casting Isaac Hayes as The Duke as he thought Hayes had “a great face.” And he said for years after, he’d receive messages from Hayes saying “The Duke’s alive and he wants a sequel!”

Carpenter didn’t make up the name Snake Plissken. A friend of Carpenter’s told him about a tough guy he went to school with. His surname was Plissken and he had the nickname Snake because of a tattoo. Carpenter said "Anybody with a snake tattooed on them is my kinda hero."

A scene was filmed that shows us why Snake starts the film in prison. He and an accomplice rob a high-security bank, leading to Snake’s arrest and sentence to New York City. It was cut from the film but appears in the novel adaptation. You can watch it here.

The film was a co-writing credit, where Carpenter wrote with Nick Castle. The two had previous experience working together. Castle played the psychotic killer from Halloween – Michael Myers.

Production designer Joe Alves said it will cost a lot to make New York look ruined so went on a scouting mission. He found East St. Louis, Illinois, which had New York-style buildings that had been destroyed in a huge fire. So that’s where they filmed. Joe Alves and his team would find props by taking several dump trucks to local landfills and filling them up with junk like broken refrigerators and bombed out cars. He said this is where they found almost all of the set dressing and movable objects.

A lot of matte paintings were used and the effects team included a young James Cameron. He worked on many of the matte paintings and produced a lot of the scale models and miniatures. Before CGI, the digital map was a physical creation. Cameron helped draw a matte version of the skyline that was painted black and white to look like a computer image. A model was constructed and a camera went through the model light to produce the effect.

Special effects head was Robert Skotak and he had to work to a tight budget. Most miniatures were made with cardboard and to get the detail on buildings, photos were stuck on the cardboard. There wasn’t budget for colour prints so the photos were coloured in with pencils.

The opening narration, and the computer's voice in the first prison scene, were provided by an uncredited Jamie Lee Curtis.

To allow filming to take place, Carpenter bought the Old Chain of Rocks Bridge in St Louis for $1 from the government and returned it to them for the same after filming was completed. He also managed to persuade federal officials to grant filming access to Liberty Island.

Professional wrestler Ox Baker played Slag, who fights Snake. Baker hit Russell for real a few times. When Russell had had enough he hit Baker in the groin. Baker then calmed down. The scene was filmed in the abandoned hall of St. Louis Union Train Station.

The film came out as a big success. On a budget of $6m it grossed $25.2m. And over the years it has grown in stature to be a cult classic and considered among John Carpenter’s greatest films.



July 13, 1983: VP Bush cast the Senate's tie-breaking vote to save president Reagan's plan to resume production of nerve gas.




July 13, 1985: The "Live Aid" concerts for famine relief in Ethiopia began at Wembley Stadium, London. The concert opened with Status Quo singing, Rocking All Over The World. The highlight of the London concert were performances by Queen, David Bowie, U2, Phil Collins. It Continued at JFK Stadium in Philadelphia (where Joan Baez famously kicked it off by telling the crowd "Good morning, children of the 80's. This is your Woodstock, and it's long overdue!") Following that opening, Baez sang Amazing Grace, and Live Aid Philadelphia was underway. The 17-hour "superconcert" was globally linked by satellite to more than a billion viewers in 110 nations.



Over 60 artists performed between London and Philadelphia (some like Phil Collins attended both) for Live Aid including The Hooters, Black Sabbath, Run-D.M.C., Crosby, Stills and Nash, The Beach Boys, Madonna, R.E.O. Speedwagon, Tom Petty, Neil Young, Eric Clapton, Phil Collins, Led Zeppelin, Patti LaBelle, Hall & Oates, Mick Jagger & Tina Turner, Duran Duran, Judas Priest and Bob Dylan. Stars such as Jack Nicholson and Chevy Chase also helped promote the event. An incredible 100,000 people packed into Philadelphia’s JFK Stadium and 72,000 attended the Wembley concert.

Live Aid was one of the biggest global television events of all time. An estimated 1.9 billion people across the world tuned in for the concert broadcast, and it was estimated that the TV telecast reached more than 500 million of the world's approximate 600 million TV sets, including in the Soviet Union and China (which was unprecedented at the time in the 1980s).

In a triumph of technology and good will, the event raised more than $100 million in famine relief for Africa. Live Aid was the brainchild of Bob Geldof, the singer of an Irish rock group called the Boomtown Rats.

MTV's concert coverage broadcast kicked off just before 7AM ET in Philadelphia with VJ's Martha Quinn, Mark Goodman, Alan Hunter and Nina Blackwood.

Live Aid MTV Introduction (MTV - Live Aid 7/13/1985)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sammXPNJ2Fw

The Hooters - Full Performance (Live Aid)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-GiS6yMxGlA&t=184s

Black Sabbath feat. Ozzy Osbourne - Paranoid (Live Aid 1985)



Live Aid's official opening act was a local favorite, The Hooters, who had just released their debut album on Columbia Records entitled Nervous Night. Even though the BBC TV announcer got the venue WRONG and said that The Hooters were playing at Wembley, Joe Piscopo and Chevy Chase got it right when they introduced The Hooters on ABC TV...



Crosby, Stills & Nash - Teach Your Children (Live Aid 1985)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pH3nROuAY10

At Wembley Stadium, Queen performed Bohemian Rhapsody
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vbvyNnw8Qjg


That evening in Philadelphia, Phil Collins took the stage at JFK Stadium to sing "In The Air Tonight." Phil hopped aboard the British Airways Concorde supersonic jet and flew from London to JFK Airport in New York, where he then took a helicopter to Philly...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DEWu59OPAbQ

Mick Jagger and Tina Turner paired up for an amazing performance of State of Shock.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d2c4114eKGQ

Philadelphia's own Patti LaBelle brought the house down late at night with her rendition of John Lennon's timeless classic, Imagine.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gXTJ5tNm03s

Led Zeppelin - Live Aid, JFK Stadium 1985 (Reunion after John Bonham's death)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dpdmoo9vMK4


Live Aid's Finale in Philadelphia was an amazing once in a lifetime collection of all of the musical artists who performed at JFK Stadium throughout the day singing "We Are World" in front of 100,000 people.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=00OeznNG4hM

Most 18 year olds who graduated from high school in 1985 simply wanted to just go experience Live Aid in person. Bernard Watson aka David Weinstein from Miami wanted to play at Live Aid! So Watson drove to Philly, camped out in JFK Stadium's parking lot for 2 weeks, and relentlessly pursued Live Aid promoter, Bob Geldof, to play at Live Aid. He auditioned in the parking lot, and his persistence paid off when Geldof invited Watson to be the unofficial opening act of Live Aid in Philadelphia, even though Watson had never played for an audience larger than 800 people at his high school in Miami. This 1985 news story is fascinating, including how Watson broke a guitar string, dropped his guitar pick, and had his voice crack. But Watson was unfazed, humble and grateful... the show must go on and it did!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gUUGOZXwmbw

The Weather in Philly that day was hazy, super Hot & Humid. The Philadelphia Fire Department had set up open air showers on the field, and also sprayed fire hoses into the crowd in an attempt to cool down the sweltering audience. When viewing some of the videos of the performances, the field of JFK Stadium looked like a beach with many in shorts and bathing suits.

MTV's Mark Goodman officially ended MTV's 17+ hour Live Aid concert coverage broadcast with MTV VJs and crew from an empty JFK Stadium in Philadelphia after the 100,000 concertgoers had departed.

Live Aid MTV Conclusion
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LWNREkHiCBg



July 13, 1987: Day 27, Congressman Jack Brooks tried to question Lt Col Oliver North about Rex ’84 and "continuity of government." He was immediately cut off by the Democratic co-chairman, Senator Inouye. The exchange went as follows:




July 13, 2000: The French Government introduced a reparation measure to compensate 12,600 Jewish orphans whose parents were deported and killed in extermination camps, most of whom are now in their 60s or 70s. I guess better late than never.


The measure was extended to all orphans, who were children of victims of Nazi barbarity by a decree dated June 27, 2004. In 2015, orphans who are still alive can now apply for compensation from a $60 million dollar reparation fund for victims who were transported to Nazi death camps aboard French trains.


July 13-15, 2001: The 9th edition of the annual hacker conference, DefCon, began in Las Vegas, NV at the Alexis Park Hotel & Resort.
DefCon28 was held online in "safe mode" in 2020.
DefCon33 (Aug 7-10, 2025) will be held at the Las Vegas Convention Center.

[EndtheMadnessNow]

Frank Reade Weekly Magazine - Strange Adventures With his Airship.




In 1940, a gang threatened Milwaukee's Sears Roebuck stores with a bombing campaign unless $100,000 was dropped in Lake Michigan by plane. Walter Paul Minx, his brother and brother-in-law planned to surface in a home built midget submarine, grab the money, then submerge to escape. The plan was abandoned when the sub failed to work during a test dive. The gang was later arrested for attempted extortion.


The Great Sub Flub of 1940 - Apparently, prison cured his wild ill days as after his release Walter goes on to lead a quiet happy life till his death in 2009.


July 14, 1978: Ufologists Meet UN Sec. Gen. Eric Gairy, accompanied by ufologists J. Allen Hynek, Jacques Vallée, David R. Saunders, Leonard H. Stringfield, and Claude Poher, meet with UN Secretary General Kurt Waldheim to organize a steering committee to develop plans for possible UN involvement in UFO research.




Anyone remember these good times...


At Rally, Thousands — Billions? — Respond

Rally To Restore Sanity


Cheez-Its, pre-packaged uncrustables, preservative fruit cups (not taken) … garbage food in school programs is not a win. Also, the NY witch being this close to kids should be a crime.




In 2015, the boomer USS Kentucky (SSBN-737) performed the first flight test of the upgraded thermonuclear W88 warhead (Alt 370), a night launch of a Trident II D5 ballistic missile for the US Navy Strategic Systems Program’s 26th Demonstration and Shakedown Operation (DASO-26). Being a night launch off the coast of California on Nov 7, 2015 caused quite a stir with widespread UFO speculation.






You can use Grok to war game scenarios.

Write a story about China taking out the U.S. electrical grid, pipelines and other virtual infrastructure with drones smuggled in for 5 years along with targeting U.S. military logistical assets, AWACS & tankers, C-17s, etc. before invading Taiwan. Also include Naval bases.

The Silent Swarm

For five years, they moved in shadows, unnoticed. China’s Ministry of State Security had orchestrated a plan so subtle, so insidious, that even the NSA’s vast surveillance network missed it. Drones—small, unassuming, and disguised as commercial tech—trickled into the United States through ports, warehouses, and even hobbyist supply chains. They were smuggled in shipping containers, mislabeled as consumer electronics, or assembled in covert factories hidden in rural America. Each drone was a marvel of engineering: lightweight, modular, and equipped with AI capable of autonomous operation. They lay dormant, waiting for the signal.

By 2025, the U.S. was a house of cards, its infrastructure brittle from decades of underinvestment and political gridlock. The electrical grid, a patchwork of aging transformers and outdated substations, was a prime target. Pipelines crisscrossing the continent, carrying oil and gas, were equally vulnerable. The Pentagon, distracted by domestic unrest and geopolitical posturing, had underestimated China’s long game.

Phase One: The Blackout

On July 13, 2025, at 2:00 AM EST, the signal went out. Thousands of drones, hidden in forests, abandoned warehouses, and suburban garages, activated simultaneously. They swarmed power substations across the Midwest, Northeast, and West Coast. Each drone carried a small electromagnetic pulse (EMP) device, designed to fry transformers without explosives. By 3:00 AM, 60% of the U.S. electrical grid was offline. Cities plunged into darkness. Hospitals scrambled for backup generators. Communication networks faltered as cell towers lost power.

The drones didn’t stop there. Pipeline control systems, reliant on SCADA networks, were next. Drones equipped with hacking modules infiltrated these systems, overriding safety protocols. Valves shut down, pumps failed, and pressure surges triggered explosions along key pipelines in Texas, Oklahoma, and North Dakota. The U.S. energy supply chain was crippled in hours.

Phase Two: Crippling the Military

While civilians grappled with blackouts, China’s drones turned on U.S. military assets. AWACS planes at Tinker Air Force Base and C-17 Globemasters at Dover and Travis were targeted by swarms of kamikaze drones. These weren’t the crude explosives of past wars but precision machines that burrowed into avionics bays, detonating charges to disable critical systems. Tankers at Fairchild and McConnell Air Force Bases suffered similar fates, their fuel lines severed by drones that had infiltrated base perimeters months earlier, posing as maintenance bots.

Naval bases were hit hardest. Norfolk, San Diego, and Pearl Harbor saw coordinated attacks. Drones, launched from offshore containers disguised as fishing vessels, targeted radar arrays, communication hubs, and docked warships. The USS Gerald R. Ford, America’s prized carrier, was rendered inoperable when drones destroyed its satellite uplinks and fire control systems. The Navy’s Pacific Fleet, already stretched thin, was effectively blind.

Phase Three: The Taiwan Gambit

With the U.S. reeling, China moved. On July 14, 2025, the People’s Liberation Army Navy launched a full-scale invasion of Taiwan. Amphibious assault ships, supported by hypersonic missiles and fifth-generation fighters, overwhelmed Taiwan’s defenses. The U.S., unable to project power without its logistical backbone, could only watch. AWACS and tankers, critical for coordinating air operations, were grounded. C-17s, meant to ferry troops and supplies, sat useless. The Pacific Fleet, hamstrung by the loss of its bases, couldn’t deploy in time.

Taiwan’s air defenses held for 72 hours before collapsing. China’s drone swarms, now battle-tested, dominated the skies, overwhelming U.S.-supplied Patriot systems. By July 20, Taipei was under PLA control.

The Aftermath

The U.S. scrambled to respond, but the damage was done. The grid outages persisted for weeks, crippling the economy. Fuel shortages grounded civilian and military transport. The Pentagon, humiliated, faced a public demanding answers. China, meanwhile, consolidated its hold on Taiwan, presenting the invasion as a fait accompli to a fractured UN.

The drones, China’s silent army, had been the perfect weapon—cheap, deniable, and devastating. For five years, they’d hidden in plain sight, a testament to patience and deception. The U.S., once the world’s unchallenged superpower, now faced a new reality: its vulnerabilities had been exposed, and the cost of rebuilding would be measured in decades.

********

Notes: This is a fictional scenario, grounded in plausible but speculative tactics. Real-world cybersecurity, military preparedness, and international dynamics are far more complex. If you’d like me to explore specific aspects—like technical details of drone tech, U.S. countermeasures, or geopolitical fallout—let me know!

Strange looking AWAC...


RAF's first Wedgetail reveals new colours

Turkey has one too...




Over 700 listed...


Is your family member or client at Alligator Alcatraz?


I just remembered this incredible image from 2019 I had posted on ATS. Pre-AI era.

[EndtheMadnessNow]

July 14, 1789: the Bastille was stormed in Paris, a key turning point of the French Revolution. 3.5 years later Louis XVI was executed by guillotine. Here's a look at the deluge of blood, err prints that emerged depicting his death.




Posters for Harry Kellar (1849–1922) the hugely popular US magician who inspired the likes of Harry Houdini, and reportedly acted as model for the bald-headed wizard in the The Wonderful Wizard of Oz published in 1900. He was famous for his large stage shows during which he'd perform tricks such as the "The Levitation of Princess Karnac" and "Self Decapitation", in which his head seemed to float apart from his body. To accompany his shows he produced a series of artistic promotional posters.


Posters & photos in Library of Congress - not all have been digitized, of course.

In 1907, he became the first person to be named Dean of American Magicians. When Kellar retired in 1908, Howard Thurston (1869-1936) became his successor and transformed Kellar's stage act into "The Wonder Show of the Universe." He was a longtime customer of the Martinka Magic Company (America's longest running magic company since 1877), which built many of his illusions and sets, including the "Blue Room".

Harry Kellar’s “Blue Room” illusion is one that exemplifies the affinity between science, stage magic, and some of the prominent issues circulating within Victorian culture. It involves a series of appearances, disappearances, and transformations that occur within a small, curtained chamber.

The Blue Room and Metempsychosis transformations were created by employing a carefully-choreographed series of undetectable stage reconfigurations centered around a partially-mirrored pane of glass. The mirrored glass was carefully prepared with the silvering gradually scraped away so that the pane, from one end to the other, went from entirely transparent to entirely reflective.

For much more on the details of this "Blue Room", see this 10 page PDF:
Interrogating the Blue Room: Reflections on a Turn-of the-Century Magic Show and the Veracity of the Senses

The Amazing Randi gives a tour of the Martinka Shop with Jackie Flosso, circa 1970s:



Rare Al Flosso interview, the Coney Island Fakir and one time Martinka owner with Bob McAllister. Circa 1970s >  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8gs9OvXxIao

“There is an optical illusion about every person we meet.”
— Ralph Waldo Emerson



Before Element 115 there was "apergy"

Centering around the creation of a substance called "apergy", a form of anti-gravitational energy, Percy Greg's novel details a flight to Mars taken in 1830. They discover the planet to be inhabited by diminutive beings who, convinced that life couldn't exist any where else apart from on their world, refuse to believe that the unnamed narrator is actually from Earth - deciding instead he is an unusually tall Martian from some remote corner of their planet.

The book is notable as containing what is probably the first alien language in any work of fiction to be described with linguistic and grammatical terminology. It also contains what is possibly the first instance in the English language of the word "Astronaut", which features as the name of the narrator's spacecraft. In 2010 a crater on Mars was named Greg in recognition of his contribution to the lore of Mars. Volume 2 available here.

Across the Zodiac: the Story of a Wrecked Record (1880)


July 14, 1908: Hard times...a poor unknown hungry man, possibly with the surname Ross, died in Goldfield, NV after consuming a pint of library paste, apparently. His headstone in the Pioneer Cemetery at Goldfield, NV, from a Jul 21st article on front page of Carson City Daily Appeal.




July 14, 1938: Future Las Vegas resident Howard Hughes completed his Around the World flight in 91 hours (a new record). A parade was held in his honor on Jul 15, 1938 in New York City.





15 year-old Elizabeth Taylor on the cover of the July 14, 1947 issue of LIFE




July 14, 1955: the experimental XP6M-1 Martin P6M SeaMaster strategic bomber flying boat flew for the first time. The SeaMaster was intended to give the Navy a strategic nuclear strike aircraft superior to the B-52. The program was canceled in August 1959 in favor of the Polaris submarine-launched ballistic missile. Due to the political shenagians at the Pentagon, the Navy promoted the P6M primarily as a high speed minelayer. And the big daddy BUFF B-52 lives on to this day...projected funding out to year 2050!


The Martin P6M SeaMaster – What Might Have Been - Big, fast, beautiful, and doomed.


July 14, 1972:




"Lou Grant will not be presented tonight..." William Forrest has posted the full 1981 CBS News Reports special series: THE DEFENSE OF THE UNITED STATES. Here's part 2: "The Nuclear Battlefield" that aired June 15, 1981:



Bonus: includes original commercials! In hindsight this 1hr vid is quite interesting.
(the nuclear battlefield is... Europe)


I thought they always had their private jets? Oh wait, those were rented rendition aircraft. FBI already has something like $11 billion budget so why not. "We are doing important works for the taxpayer and need to move around greater distances, alot, faster."

“The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) requires an ultra-long-range business jet aircraft to support rapid global transportation of Department of Justice (DOJ) personnel in response to counterterrorism, high-risk operations, and other sensitive missions. The aircraft will also support executive transportation requirements for the FBI Director and the U.S. Attorney General".”

The solicitation was posted on July 11, the same day FBI deputy director Dan Bongino allegedly refused to show up to work after a blow out fight with Attorney General Pam Bondi and FBI director Kash Patel. According to widespread reports, the dust up resulted from the DOJ’s botched roll up of Jeffrey Epstein’s dirty laundry.

The order is curious, given the FBI directors past disdain for top DOJ officials flying private on the Tax Payer’s dime. The FBI should "ground Chris Wray's private jet that he pays for with taxpayer dollars to hop around the country," Patel said during an episode of "Kash's Corner" podcast in 2023.

According to a report by CBS news, the FBI has refused to confirm “Patel's flight schedule and would not confirm his presence on a number of flights to destinations where he later appeared. During the first weekend in April, for instance, a Boeing 757 owned by the Department of Justice made two round trip flights from Washington to New York.”

As voters of all stripes scream for more disclosures regarding the death of Jeffrey Epstein and the guests that flew on HIS private jet, it looks like America’s top law enforcement officials will continue a long tradition of flying private, away from the maddening crowd.

See the story for more:
Exclusive: FBI Is Buying A Private Jet For DOJ Executives

Aside from getting away from the "maddening crowd", it could be more about avoiding sabotage operations (sleeper cells) by foreign hostile nations.


A tragic loss of the Grand Canyon Lodge at the North Rim in the Dragon Bravo Fire. The rustic lodge was completed in 1937 after the original 1928 inn burned down in 1932. The dragon was hungry...


Dragon Bravo Fire destroys historic Grand Canyon Lodge

[EndtheMadnessNow]

It's well known that Trump had ties or dealings with the mob back in 70s-80s as well as the FBI. It was unavoidable if you were a high finance real estate mogul. Not saying that was bad because nobody knows all the details & circumstances. I mean Trump tower required a lot of concrete back when the unions (among many other businesses) in NYC were controlled/strong-armed by the mob. Plus his personal lawyer Roy Cohn was about as deep state connected as one could possibly get. Before Epstein there was the Brownstone Operation (sex trafficking young boys), rumored to have been run by Roy Cohn.


Shapiro Homicide Investigation



Les Wexner signed over power of attorney of his estate (including a lot of his finances) to Epstein within months of a prosecution memo detailing his Mafia relationships compiled after his tax attorney's brutal murder. That is at least one source of Epstein's wealth. He sold his multi-million dollar Manhattan condo to Epstein for $1 dollar. Why? Blackmail? Who knows. That condo was previously owned by the Rothschild family.

One of the reasons (at least to me) Epstein is so important is because his shady intelligence connections offer a clear example of how organized crime transformed from underground criminal networks into visible businesses (big finance, real estate, etc.) in the 1990s and beyond. Around 1990-91 timeframe is when Epstein partnered with Ghislaine Maxwell.

I don't think Epstein was that intelligent or talented. He had a weakness (pedo) that was exploited by the IC from here to Israel. In the dark shadows of the intelligence community characters like him are known as "legends". They have connections to everyone and the counterintel spooks put these type of people where they are needed for whatever. Similar to Jack Ruby. They are moved around a lot and do as they're told until they're no longer a useful asset; then disposed of. The constant media carpet bombing of the sex stuff is just cover icing. The real crimes are far darker & deeper such as hidden finance and all the compromised players from bankers to congress critters.

The Epstein Timeline is not a rabbit hole. It's an abyss.

Similar to watching too much msm dirty laundry, staring into the Epstein abyss for too long will break your brain.

And it is in the humble opinion of this narrator that this is not just "Something That Happened. This cannot be 'One of Those Things.' This, please, cannot be that...This was not just a matter of chance. Oh, these strange things happen all the time." — Ricky Jay, Magnolia (1999).




This kinda tracks. At the end of The Rock, after all, Cage solves the JFK assassination.




This read likes a Babylonbee headline...


Spain awards Huawei contracts to manage intelligence agency wiretaps


Iran rebranded 'Pepsistan' in new Pepsi-Pentagon strategic partnership.
In a significant development in both foreign policy and snack branding, President Donald Trump announced today that all future U.S. military strikes on Iran will be officially sponsored by PepsiCo.


Under the terms of the groundbreaking agreement, Pepsi has secured exclusive branding rights to the country and renamed it "Pepsistan" following the first airstrike. In exchange, the company will pay $5 million upfront and up to $20 million in deferred snack-based incentives over the next 25 years — a deal Trump called "unbelievable, historic, and very, very fizzy."

Also as part of the agreement, American pilots must now say "This bombing run brought to you by Pepsi" before deploying ordnance.

"I almost walked away, but then they offered me unlimited Funyuns," Trump said from his Pepsi-a-Lago compound in Florida, describing the negotiations as "tough but beautiful."

"Did you know Pepsi owns Funyuns? Also Gatorade. And possibly Qatar."

He added: "Pepsi negotiators, very tough people, very smart, almost as smart as me, not quite but close, good brains, and great snacks by the way, Pepsi makes other snacks. Pringles, Ritz, Juicy Fruit, Purina, Hot Pockets—tremendous, tremendous foods. But we made it happen, great people at PepsiCo."


They can delay for all eternity. Nothing truthful or meaningful will ever be disclosed.




I ignored this earlier because I thought it was just someone's meme.


Shocker, it's real. Well, the film is but that's about it. Congress critter Tim Burchett is in it. The director/writer/actor Blake Cousins is known for Rising Dead (2007), Countdown to Disclosure: The Secret Technology Behind the Space Force (2021) and The 1st Earth Battalion (2018).

Started streaming worldwide, June 24, 2025.

Trailer:



July 13: Happy 83 candles to Roger McGuinn.

[EndtheMadnessNow]

Tuesday Thoughts...




Tuesday Trivia: During WWII, the Berkeley Carteret Hotel and the Monterey Hotel in Asbury Park, New Jersey, became the Royal Navy stone frigate HMS Asbury. HMS Asbury was used as barracks for British sailors sent to collect ships built or repaired in U.S. dockyards.




July 15, 1915: Trust Monopolies because the evil Justice Department says they're being good...

And here we are a century later ... they don't even try to pretend.




July 15, 1925: Robert Shroyer is given 10 lashes across the back for the crime of beating his wife, in a punishment administered in the Frederick, Md., jail. Maryland is one of two states, including Delaware, where whipping is an official penalty, and only for wife-beating.


Maryland's whipping provision is repealed in 1953, and in Delaware in 1972.


July 15, 1925: The prosecution opens and rests its case against John T. Scopes for teaching evolution, all in a day. The testimony in Dayton, Tenn., court comes mostly from witnesses who agree that Scopes read to his high school class about evolution from a biology textbook.

With conditions as hot and stuffy as ever in court, Judge John Raulston opens the day by denying Scopes' motion to quash his indictment and upholding Tennessee's ban on evolution in schools. Prosecutor Thomas Stewart then gives an opening statement that is two sentences long:

Scopes, he says, violated the law by teaching that "mankind is descended from a lower order of animals." Therefore, he has taught a theory which "denies the story of divine creation of man as taught in the Bible," he says, using the exact wording of the statute in question.

In the defense opening, Dudley Field Malone says that while Scopes did indeed teach evolution, he could not violate the key stricture against denying the Bible. "There are millions of people who believe in evolution and in the story of creation as set forth in Bible and who find no conflict between the two. The defense maintains that this is a matter of faith and interpretation, which each individual must determine for himself." He says the defense intends to call witnesses who will show religion and science can be reconciled.


The prosecution then presents its witnesses, of whom two were students in Scopes' science class. Howard Morgan, a solemn-looking 14-year-old, recounts being taught humans descended from one-celled organisms, and are mammals classified with horses, dogs and monkeys.

"Did he tell you anything else that was wicked?" defense attorney Clarence Darrow asks the boy on cross-examination. The courtroom erupts in laughter, with even William Jennings Bryan, the most famous man on the prosecution team, joining in. Morgan answers no.

As the defense's first witness, Darrow calls a zoologist, Maynard Metcalf, and asks him to explain what evolution is. The prosecution objects. The judge excuses the jury: Metcalf can keep testifying, but a decision will be made later as to whether the testimony is admissible.


No idea if anyone still reads Maxwell Bodenheim, but he's a fine enough American bohemian writer and poet: haughty, drunken, girl crazy, a keen Imagist poet and co-founder of The Chicago Literary Times. In New York he became known as the King of Greenwich Village Bohemians. His writing brought him international notoriety during the Jazz Age of the 1920s. Alcohol and vagrancy took their toll and sadly Bodenheim and his wife Ruth were murdered in a Manhattan flophouse in 1954.


Weinberg was judged insane (sociopathic) and sent to a mental institution.

Maxwell "Bogey" Bodenheim


July 15, 1949: Happy birthday Trevor Horn.


Still a banger. The very first music video that aired on MTV, August 1, 1981.





July 15, 1969: Boris The Animal committed multiple murders, including that of Roman the Fabulist.




Janet Blair...

Janet Blair (April 23, 1921 – February 19, 2007) petite strawberry-blonde who could range from sweet and demure to sharp and peppy, Janet Blair had an ability to outshine stars on occasion but never quite became a star herself. She hoofed her way through Broadway (1942), a gangster story about the Great White Way with George Raft, and was cast opposite Cary Grant in his role as a luckless producer who hires a dancing caterpillar in Once Upon a Time (1944). She played second lead to Rita Hayworth in Tonight and Every Night, a ludicrous tale of the saucy Windmill Theatre in London.

Janet Blair proved a stalwart supporter of the Allied cause, posing in tight sweaters to aid the war effort, and presenting Lord Halifax, the British ambassador in Washington, with a bronze plaque commemorating the entertainers who worked on during the Blitz. When she crossed the Atlantic in 1945 to publicise Tars and Spars, the story of a wartime revue, wan Londoners were struck by her healthy complexion, which had earned her an award for wearing the least make-up in Hollywood.

Back home again she earned plaudits for her part in The Fuller Brush Man, a murder comedy with Sid Caesar (1946) and provided the love interest in The Fabulous Dorseys, about the bandleader brothers Tommy and Jimmy Dorsey (1946). But after The Black Arrow (1948), a disappointing swashbuckler in which she played a haughty Lady Joanna, she was not entirely sorry to have her contract with Columbia ended. "All I got were princess parts," she recalled. "A girl gets tired of being a princess all of the time."

Janet Blair's later work included the television series Smith Family, in which she played the wife of a detective played by Henry Fonda, and such films as Walt Disney's The One and Only, Genuine, Original Family Band, with Buddy Ebsen, and Won Ton Ton, a spoof on the canine star Rin Tin Tin.

Her best film was Night of the Eagle (1962), a supernatural thriller made with Peter Wyngarde in Britain, in which she played a wife who dabbles in witchcraft.

Janet Blair Obit

Izzatullah Wasifi was caught selling heroin to an undercover detective in Las Vegas, NV on July 15, 1987 (on his 29th birthday). He would later become Afghanistan's Anti-corruption chief.
"I was a youngster and youngsters do stuff... I was a Las Vegas boy." Can't make this up!


How anti-corruption chief once sold heroin in Las Vegas


New single by Laramie, Wyoming punks, Teenage Bottlerocket. They were on the bill at $1,000 ticket for the unvaxxed concert in Florida in May 2021.

[EndtheMadnessNow]

July 16, 1925: A mock Scopes evolution trial is held at the Rotary Club in Orange, N.J.  "The trial broke up in disorder when S. Fred Wright, Chief Boy Scout Executive of the Oranges, appeared dressed as an ape and leaped from table to table."




July 16, 1925: "U.S. Spends Little For Human Safety"... And just look where we are today...




July 16, 1925: And a Little Child Shall Lead Them...


Reminds me of a more recent little girl with pigtails.


July 16, 1945: What the hell was that big kabOOm!?? Our big daddy Gov reported it as just an Army ammo depot exploded. Nothing to see here, move along citizen.

Manhattan Project: The Atomic Age begins when the United States successfully detonates a plutonium-based Trinity test nuclear "gadget" weapon near Alamogordo, New Mexico.



In 2019, "Atom Central" released a shock 'n awe restored B&W footage of the Jul 16, 1945 Trinity test, which was conducted in New Mexico’s aptly-named Jornada del Muerto desert (translates from Spanish as "Dead Man's Journey"). The cleaned-up film reveals a remarkable amount of detail previously unseen.




Archibald Skillman moved from Shermantown, NV to Eureka, NV and began publishing the Eureka Sentinel on July 16, 1870. And still publishing today.


The White Pine news (Treasure City, Nev.), July 19, 1870 welcomes The Eureka Sentinel.

Eureka Daily Sentinel, Eureka weekly sentinel, and The Eureka sentinel

The small mining camp that eventually became known as Eureka was established in 1864 by prospectors who had discovered rich lead-silver deposits in a canyon 70 miles east of Austin, Nevada. At first, smelting the mixed ore proved difficult, and mining languished until the construction of new local furnaces that were adapted to lead-silver smelting techniques. When the news of this success reached the neighboring districts there was a rush to the camp, and a flurry of new mining activity followed.

In 1871 the Eureka Daily Sentinel reported that Eureka mining stock was on the rise in San Francisco (despite the financial dislocation caused by the Chicago Fire): “at no time in the history of the district has property looked so well on the San Francisco market . . . though long delayed this appreciation of the actual worth of our mining interests  is none the less welcome . . .  Soon we may hope to see Eureka stocks of all kinds attract the attention of speculators they so well deserve, and rival the famous ones of the Comstock lode.”

In 1873, the new county of Eureka was carved out of the three neighboring counties with the town of Eureka serving as its seat. With the consolidation of mining operations into two large companies, the construction of new furnaces, and the completion of the Eureka & Palisade and Eureka & Ruby Hill Railroads, Eureka by 1878 had become the second largest city in Nevada. 

The Eureka Sentinel was first established in 1870 when Archibald Skillman moved his press from Shermantown, where he had very briefly published the Shermantown Reporter, to the new booming camp of Eureka.  With his partner and editor, Dr. L.C. McKenney, A. Skilman and Co. published a weekly paper that prospered with the town.

In 1871, the Eureka Sentinel was bought by Fred Ellott, a printer and writer, and George W. Cassidy, the late editor of the Hamilton Inland Empire, who expanded the Sentinel to a triweekly with an actively Democratic editorial policy. Cassidy, a senator and later congressman from Nevada, turned over the editorship to John H. Dennis in 1874 to concentrate on his political career. Dennis published the Eureka Sentinel as a daily.

In 1876, Archibald Skillman returned to Eureka from Hamilton, where he had published the White Pine News. He bought out Dennis’s interest in the Eureka Sentinel andran the paper with Cassidy until the latter’s death in 1892. In 1879, Skillman and Cassidy added a weekly addition to the daily, and ran both editions until 1887 when they suspended the daily.

The Eureka Sentinel survived a number of disasters: in 1873, a fire burned down most of the town and totally destroyed the printing plant. While the publishers waited for new equipment and supplies to arrive from San Francisco, they launched the Eureka Daily Sentinel Supplement to meet their requirement of publishing the new county’s legal notices. The next year flash floods swept through the canyon inundating the town of Eureka and its newspaper.

By 1885, the district’s ore deposits were exhausted, and by 1890, the smelters had closed down. When the two competing mining companies merged in 1906, there was a brief recovery, but the local railroads were washed out by flash floods in 1910.  Eureka never fully recovered from these losses despite sporadic mining activity.

Archibald Skillman managed the Eureka Sentinel as sole owner and editor until his death in 1900. The Sentinel passed to his son, Ed Skillman who ran it until his death in 1940, and his son after him, until the paper was finally sold in 1944.

From Nevada Ghost Towns & Mining History website:

Eureka Sentinel Museum, "Battle Born" Nevada

The Eureka Sentinel is still active today. The following is a historical excerpt from there website: "Following the death of his partner at the Shermantown Reporter in the Hamilton area in 1870, G.A. Brier moved his press and equipment to the new camp town of Eureka. Together with Dr. L.C. McKenney, a former journalist, they began publishing the Eureka Sentinel July 16, 1870.

It became a daily in 1871. A weekly paper was added to the daily August 20, 1879, and the two editions ran concurrently until the daily was suspended in 1887." Both Shawn Hall and E Clampus Vitus list a man named A. Skillman or Abraham Skillman as a founding party. The following is an excerpt from the historical plaque on the old sentinel building. This plaque was put up by the Lucinda Jane Saunders 1881 Chapter of E Clampus Vitus (Elko).

"When A. Skillman closed the Shermantown Reporter at Hamilton he moved his printing press to Eureka. Together with Dr. L.C. McKenny they started the Sentinel as a weekly paper in July 1870. It became a daily in June 1871 reporting local and international news via telegraph dispatches. The Sentinel's reporting of mining and other opportunities helped bring people and investors to this once great Nevada mining district. Originally located at No. 5 Buel Street it relocated here in August 1879.

Last published on June 12, 1960 by editor. Publisher and owner Edward James Mowle who died two days after the last issue." The two stories are almost identical, with one exception. One version calls the man G.A. Brier. The other version calls him Abraham Skillman. I found a website called skillmansofamerica. This appears to be a multi-generational, genealogical website for the Skillman family. They claim that Skillman was an editor (but not a co-owner or founder) at the Eureka Sentinel from 1870-1900. They also list him as a co-owner of the White Pine News in Hamilton between 1873-1878. They also state that he emigrated to Virginia City in 1868. They do not list anything about him spending time in White Pine County prior to 1870.

According to their website, Skillman would have been in Virginia City during the immediate time period prior to 1870. With that said, I have no idea how accurate the Skillman website is. A written description of the Eureka Sentinel from the University of Nevada Las Vegas also uses the version with Abraham Skillman. I'm just putting the information out there. I'm not taking a side on which version is correct. Today, the building that was utilized by the Sentinel starting in 1879 is an active museum. There are all kinds of artifacts from the early days of Eureka. The old lodge regalia from the Masons, Odd Fellows and Knights of Pythias is very impressive. There are also some very cool, original era artifacts from the Eureka Fire Departments. It is well worth the visit.

The Eureka Sentinel Museum located on Highway 50 in Nevada, also known as "The Loneliest Road in America".

Hwy 50 is longer (Ely to Fallon, 250 miles), but I would argue Hwy 95 from Winnemucca to Rome Oregon (140 miles) is far lonelier and a whole lotta nothing with very long straight as an arrow stretches that seem eternal. If you travel this route make damn sure you bring coffee, energizer drinks, snacks and at least 2 hours of good road-trip music to keep yourself awake. I pulled a 38 footer fifth wheel on this stretch and thought I must have gone through a portal to another world. NEVER travel this route at night because nobody is going to save you.


Entertainer Judy Garland opened five weeks of shows at the New Frontier in Las Vegas, NV on July 16, 1956. Her performances there were so successful that her run was extended an extra week, ending Aug 19, 1956. She performed a five-week stand for a salary of $55,000 per week ($650,000 today), making her the highest-paid entertainer to work in Las Vegas to date.



Video excerpt of her performance of Lucky Day in Las Vegas:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LgKoKwMVtuU

Judy Garland: The Day-by-Day Chronicle of a Legend By Scott Schechter

Judy Garland...Just Imagine
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1HPbxhafxsU


Opened as the Last Frontier on the Las Vegas Strip in 1942. It was the second property built on the famous Las Vegas Strip, the venue where Elvis Presley made his Las Vegas debut in 1956. It also housed entertainers like Siegfried and Roy, and Wayne Newton; was once owned by eccentric billionaire Howard Hughes, and featured one of the longest union strikes in U.S. history. Changed ownership several times. It closed as the New Frontier at midnight on July 16, 2007 after 65 years.
Note: The New Frontier was imploded on Nov 13, 2007.

TIMELINE::

• Pair-O-Dice opened on July 4, 1931.
  
• Became Ambassador Night Club in 1936.
  
• Became 91 Club in 1939.
  
• 91 Club is integrated into the Hotel Last Frontier.
  
• Hotel Last Frontier opened on October 30, 1942.
  
• Little Church of the West opened on May 22, 1943 on the north side of the property.
  
• Last Frontier Village opened in 1948.
  
• Golden Slipper Saloon and Gambling Hall opened in 1950 within the Last Frontier Village.
  
• Golden Slipper Saloon and Gambling Hall renamed Silver Slipper in 1950.
  
• Little Church of the West relocated to the south side of the property in 1954.
  
• A new casino is built and renamed New Frontier in 1955.
  
• Hotel Last Frontier is demolished in 1966.
  
• Last Frontier Village demolished in 1966.
  
• A 7-story hotel tower is built in 1967.
  
• A second 7-story hotel tower is built in 1967.
  
• Hotel Last Frontier became The Frontier in 1967.
  
• Little Church of the West relocated to the Hacienda Hotel Resort and Casino in 1979.
  
• Silver Slipper closed on November 28, 1988.
  
• Silver Slipper demolished in 1988.
  
• Atrium Tower is built in 1989.
  
• On September 21, 1991, the Culinary Workers Union 226, Bartenders 165, Teamsters 995, Operating Engineers 501, and Carpenters 1780 staged a strike against the Frontier. The strike ended on February 1, 1998.
  
  
• The Frontier became New Frontier in 1998.
  
• New Frontier closed on July 16, 2007.
  
• New Frontier imploded in 2007.
  

KabOOm!




July 16, 1956: Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus closes its last "Big Tent" show in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania due to changing economics, all subsequent circus shows will be held in arenas. As of Jan 2017 "The Greatest Show on Earth" ceases to exist. But, the show must go on and in it's place we now have lunatic democrats, looney tunes media & the circus White House to keep you entertained.




How much would you spend to vacation on the Moon?
Out of today's space research come unexpected by-products—perhaps even space travel for the average citizen...



Silly sheeple, you're not going anywhere.


July 16, 1969: "LIFT-OFF! We have a lift-off, 32 minutes past the hour. Lift-off on Apollo 11."


Top sequence photo is from LIFE magazine (July 25, 1969).
NASA Audio clips, pics, transcripts

"It is clear that the individual who persecutes a man, his brother, because he is not of the same opinion, is a monster. Beware of the words “internal security,” for they are the eternal cry of the oppressor. The most important decision you make is to be in a good mood. Cherish those who seek the truth but beware of those who find it."
— Voltaire

[EndtheMadnessNow]

Atomic Infantry Weapon - Heavy version of the Davy Crockett



Northrop "tough little SD-1 drones from Radioplane perform mission after mission training troops in the tactical use of drone aerial surveillance."




Jacques Vallée's garage, circa 1950s...




July 16, 1973: "Mr. Butterfield, are you aware of the installation of any listening devices in the Oval Office of the President?"

One second.
Two seconds.
Three seconds.
Four seconds.
Five seconds.

"I was aware of listening devices; yes, sir."


Senate Watergate Committee Testimony

(Note also the Cambodia news headline) Who would have guessed that Senator Fred Thompson would go on to become the DA a few decades later on Law & Order.


July 16, 2024: My property was hit by a tornado. Miraculously my house was spared. Today it was a scorcher with absolutely no breeze and the power did NOT go out. It was a good day.










"Are these people still talking about Jeff Epstein real cane sugar in the Coke formula? They’ve been talking about this for years."


Coca-Cola never completely stopped using real sugar cane globally, but the shift from sugar to high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS) in the United States began around 1980. By 1984, most U.S. bottlers had fully transitioned to HFCS due to its lower cost and availability, though the exact date varies by region and bottler.

While standard US Coca-Cola has used HFCS since 1984, exceptions exist. Mexican Coke, sweetened with cane sugar, became available in the US in the early 2000s, with Costco offering it by 2005. This version gained a cult following, with consumers noting a perceived better taste, as mentioned in the EarthSky article from 2012.

Additionally, annually during Passover, Coca-Cola produces a limited edition with cane sugar, identifiable by yellow caps, to comply with Jewish dietary laws, as detailed in the Delish article, "People Are Scrambling To Find Coca-Cola Bottles With Yellow Lids—Here's Why" published in 2025.

Internationally, Coca-Cola often uses cane sugar, particularly in markets like Mexico, the UK, and Australia. This contrast highlights regional sweetener policies, with the US (politicians) favoring HFCS due to corn subsidies, while other countries maintain cane sugar for taste or regulatory reasons.

The Secret History of Why Soda Companies Switched From Sugar to High-Fructose Corn Syrup


Before the age of influencers there were...




I guess the demon doll got sick of "Devils on the Run tour" and wants a new owner...


Paranormal investigator dies on US tour with allegedly haunted doll Annabelle


"Hot Rod Lincoln” is a song by American singer-songwriter Charlie Ryan, first released in 1955. It was written as an answer song to Arkie Shibley’s 1950 hit "Hot Rod Race" (US #29). A 1971 version, by country rock band Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen on their album Lost in the Ozone, became the most successful version of “Hot Rod Lincoln”, reaching No. 9 on the Billboard Hot 100, No. 28 Adult Contemporary, No. 7 in Canada, and was ranked No. 69 on the U.S. Billboard Year-End Hot 100 singles of 1972. The song peaked at number 45 in Australia. This version maintained most of the lyrical changes from Johnny Bond’s version but changed them further while maintaining the original story.