I hope he gets a ton of extra credit for this

A Canadian schoolboy has just stunned archaeologists with an amazing discovery.

A Canadian schoolboy appears to have discovered a lost Mayan city hidden deep in the jungles of Mexico using a new method of matching stars to the location of temples on earth. 

William Gadoury, 15, was fascinated by the ancient Central American civilization and spent hours poring over diagrams of constellations and maps of known Mayan cities.

And then he made a startling realisation: the two appeared to be linked.

“I was really surprised and excited when I realised that the most brilliant stars of the constellations matched the largest Maya cities,” he told the Journal de Montréal.

In hundreds of years of scholarship, no other scientist had ever found such a correlation. 

When he applied his theory to a 23rd constellation, he found that two of the stars already had cities linked to them but that the third star was unmatched.

William took to Google Maps and projected that there must be another city hidden deep in the thick jungles of the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico.

The Canadian Space Agency agreed to train its satellite telescopes on the spot and returned with striking pictures: what appears to be an ancient Mayan pyramid and dozens of smaller structures around it.

If the satellite photographs are verified, the city would be among the largest Mayan population centers ever discovered.

It fell to William to christen the new city and he chose the name K’aak Chi, meaning Fire Mouth, and the teenager said he hoped to one day see the ruins with his own eyes.

There's more at the link.

That's fascinating!  To think that a 15-year-old came up with a correlation that generations of scientists had never envisaged or considered is truly amazing.  What's even more amazing is that a civilization like that of the Maya should conscientiously build their cities according to a map of the stars, rather than more practical considerations like access to water or proximity to trade routes.  I don't think any other human civilization has ever done that.

I hope his school gives Mr. Gadoury a ton of extra credit for his insight and industry.  Well done, sir!

Peter

The establishment vs. Donald Trump

I've been both amused and bemused by the torrent of vitriol being unleashed by the establishment and their paid lackeys in the news media against Donald Trump, now that he's effectively clinched the Republican Party's Presidential nomination.  There's been a veritable blizzard of negative propaganda against him, and a great deal of it is coming from those who are (at least nominally) Republicans!  Talk about shooting your own party in the foot . . .  Their time to act against him was when he had not yet secured the nomination.  Too late for that now.  Unite behind him, or see your party perish.

(Oh - and it doesn't matter a damn to me whether your party survives or perishes.  I don't vote for the party.  I vote for the individual.)

As for Trump himself, I remain uncertain whether or not he'd be a good President or not.  Nevertheless, I'm forced to agree with Ted Nugent, who said back in March:

At this time I do not endorse Donald Trump anymore than I endorse Ted Cruz as I admire both gentlemen. But these points are SO damn special!

• Obama is against Trump
• The Media is against Trump
• The establishment Democrats are against Trump
• The establishment Republicans are against Trump
• The Pope is against Trump
• The UN is against Trump
• The EU is against Trump
• China is against Trump
• Mexico is against Trump
• Soros is against Trump
• Black Lives Matter is against Trump
• MoveOn.Org is against Trump
• Koch Bro's are against Trump
• Hateful, racist, violent Liberals are against Trump
  

Bonus points:

• Cher says she will leave the country
• Mylie Cyrus says she will leave the country
• Whoopi says she will leave the country
• Rosie says she will leave the country
• Al Sharpton says he will leave the country
• Gov. Brown says California will build a wall
  

Sounds like the kinda president the US needs!

Methinks Mr. Nugent has a point or three there . . .

Peter

"Whites and blacks in Chicago are living in two totally different cities"

That's the title of an article in the Washington Post, referencing an earlier survey and article in the New York Times.  The Post's Wonkblog says:

Nearly half of parents with children at home said they would like to leave the city. Three-quarters of all respondents said they believed the city had seriously gotten on the wrong track.

The data, though, is particularly revealing for what it says about the very different experiences in Chicago of blacks and whites, who, because of largely decades-old patterns of segregation, largely inhabit separate sides of the city. Whites and blacks offered bluntly different responses to many questions. Sixty-three percent of blacks said they thought the biggest problem facing the city was crime, violence or gangs; just 35 percent of whites said the same (they're more likely to cite economic and budget issues). Forty-six percent of blacks said they'd made changes to their daily routine as a result of the recent rise in violent crime; only about half as many whites report having done so.

Twenty-three percent of blacks said they believe they've been denied housing they could afford because of their race. Two percent of whites said the same.

Down to their experience of their own neighborhoods — and whether they believe the city services, parks and schools there are good — blacks and whites in Chicago have notably different perceptions.

. . .

The difference between these two realities is the city's biggest challenge yet.

There's more at the link.  It's seriously worth reading the whole thing, as well as keeping an eye on the Post's Wonkblog column.  It has some good stuff from time to time.

I've had the (mis)fortune to work in several inner-city areas of some of America's most blighted cities, including Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia and New Orleans.  It's a scary experience if you don't know what to expect, because in some of those areas it's literally like being in a foreign country.  One of the reasons I was able to get results working there was that I regarded such areas as similar to tribally divided suburbs in some African cities I've known.  If you treat the gangs as tribes, warring with each other, a lot of things become clear about the society and culture you find in such areas.

The article also highlights - without meaning to - why some popular movements are widely popular among the black community, but not nearly as much among whites.  A good example is the 'Black Lives Matter' movement.  To many blacks, the reality of the situation is unmissable and inescapable.  They're treated to what amounts to legalized police harassment every day, and they resent it bitterly, particularly when it leads to a disproportionate number of incidents of police violence against members of their racial group.  (Largely white) police officers and their supporters, on the other hand, argue that such treatment is inevitable because crimes are disproportionately committed by blacks, and that they're therefore being treated as they deserve.  Neither side is completely right . . . but, sadly, neither side is completely wrong, either.  Unfortunately, their perspectives are so far apart that there's virtually no chance of reconciling them.  Therefore, the disputes, the arguments - and the violence - are likely to continue unabated.

We're living in a divided society.  It's getting more divided, too, as Hispanic and other groups occupy their own areas of our cities.  They aren't forming 'ghettos' as such, but effectively it's the same.  In a major city near me I can clearly identify areas occupied by blacks;  different groups of Hispanics (i.e. Mexican, Honduran, Cuban, etc.);  Vietnamese;  and other racial and ethnic groups.  It's a different version (with different skin colors) of what used to be the case in 'white' cities, where Poles, Italians, Irish, etc. would form their own neighborhoods in the same way.  It's only after World War II that such ethnic enclaves began to break down in the white community, and some are still there.  I've visited them.

Of course, this also affects crime and security.  That's something of which all of us need to be aware, for our own safety's sake.  Follow those six links for more information and food for thought.

Peter

A cross between justice and indentured servitude?

This case strikes me as raising all sorts of constitutional issues.

After serving nearly two years for criminal sexual contact with a minor, Brown, 26, enrolled at Minneapolis Community and Technical College and began searching for a stable job and a place to live.

But just four months into his probation, Brown was sent back to prison. His offense: failing to enter sex offender treatment that he could not afford.

Attorneys and therapists say his case has exposed a major gap in Minnesota’s system of treatment for the nearly 1,600 convicted sex offenders who live under supervision in the community after leaving prison.

In Minnesota, sex offenders are often ordered by local judges to pay for their own treatment as a condition of probation. Yet many walk out of prison too broke to afford the co-payments. Brown was homeless, jobless and so destitute that his probation officer suggested he sell his blood to cover his $42 co-payment, court records show.

Last month a state appeals court panel upheld the revocation of Brown’s probation, triggering denunciations by prisoner advocates and public defenders. In an unusually blistering dissent, Chief Judge Edward Cleary said that preventing indigent sex offenders from obtaining treatment, due to lack of funds, sets them up for failure and undermines public safety. Quoting a Charles Dickens novel, “Martin Chuzzlewit,” the judge wrote: “Dollars! All their cares, hopes, joys, affections, virtues, and associations seemed to be melted down into dollars.”

There's more at the link.

I can see the point of requiring paroled sex offenders to enter treatment (although, in this specific case, Brown's crime was sleeping with a 15-year-old - a statutory violation, not a violent criminal act).  However, if they can't afford to pay for the treatment because they can't find a job, to put them back in jail seems like a sort of post-conviction double jeopardy - being punished twice for the same offense.  It's not their fault, so why blame them?

I think this will have to be sorted out by a series of higher court rulings.  It's going to be a complicated issue.

Peter

That debt thing again . . .

We've discussed the economic impact of debt many times before in these pages.  The latest warning is no exception . . . except that the situation appears to be getting worse.

Corporate debt has reached extreme levels across much of the world and now far exceeds the pre-Lehman financial bubble by a host of measures, the global banking watchdog has warned in a deeply-disturbing report.

“As the credit cycle ages, following years of record-setting bond issuance, there are growing concerns about signs of stress in corporate balance sheets,” said the Institute of International Finance in Washington.

The body flagged a double threat: a five-fold rise in company debt to $25 trillion in emerging markets over the past decade; and record junk bond issuance in US and Europe, along with shockingly-irresponsible levels of US borrowing to buy back shares and pay dividends.

The warning came as the Hong Kong Monetary Authority aired its own grim concerns that the global system is dangerously over-stretched after years of easy money, with Asia’s entire financial edifice potentially in danger.

. . .

The IIF said the ratio of net debt to earnings (EBITDA) for US companies has doubled to 1.4 from 0.7 at the top of the subprime bubble in 2007.  Firms continued to borrow as if there were no tomorrow even after their profits began to crumble in 2014.

“For the most part, this very significant amount of debt has been used to pay dividends, buy back shares and fund M&A transactions, rather than financing capital spending, which has been on a declining trend since 2012 (and fell 3.5pc in the first quarter on 2016)," it said.

Companies on both sides of the Atlantic have issued $1.9 trillion of junk bonds over this cycle, with volumes running at double the pre-Lehman pace.

The weakest CCC-rated debt has grown in share and is already under stress, with yields spiking to 20pc in February. “The number of corporate defaults has reached the highest level since the financial crisis. It is not restricted to the energy sector,” said the report.

. . .

What emerges is a split market, divided into cash-rich giants and an army of smaller companies up to their necks in debt. Total corporate leverage is 70pc of GDP in the US and 100pc in Europe.

Excesses in emerging markets are even greater, concentrated in Turkey, Brazil, Russia, and Indonesia, and above all in China where it has reached 175pc of GDP “This is the highest ratio in the world,” said the IIF.

This has happened even as the rate of return on equity in emerging markets collapses – from 18pc to 12pc since 2010 – and the efficiency of new credit halves. Earnings of Chinese firms listed in Shanghai have fallen 10pc in the last year.

There's more at the link.

If we ran our household budgets the way some companies (and nations) run their affairs, we'd all be bankrupt and in the streets.

Peter

The A-10 gets it done . . . again

I can understand why the USAF is trying (yet again) to get rid of the A-10 Thunderbolt II close support and ground attack aircraft.  It's never particularly liked that mission, and wants to have all its jets to be high-speed, high-altitude, stealthy, sexy beasts.  Nevertheless, the A-10 is beloved of the grunts on the ground, and can still put its ordnance on target with precision and deadly results.

Here's one of the more recent examples.  What's described as an ISIL terrorist was riding a motorcycle when an A-10 caught up with him.  WARNING:  The slow-motion replay is fairly graphic.  Don't watch it if you're squeamish.

I think that sort of attack is where the A-10 excels.  I wouldn't like to see that capability lost.

Peter

I laughed out loud

Courtesy of It Ain't Holy Water, who titled his post "Happy Mother's Day!"

Peter

Just to prove that the lowly .22LR is no slouch . . .

. . . here's evidence of how deadly it can be.  Remember this when someone dismisses the round contemptuously as "Oh, that's only a .22!"  It can still kill you.

I wrote a couple of years ago about '.22LR as a defensive round', pointing out that with proper training, it could be deadly efficient and effective.  I've seen no reason to change my opinion of it since then - and I still have more firearms chambered for .22LR in my gun safe than for any other cartridge.

Peter

Remembering 1945, and Victory in Europe Day

On May 8th, 1945, World War II in Europe came to an end.  That date has been known ever since as Victory in Europe Day, or simply VE Day.

To commemorate this year's anniversary, the Telegraph has put up short obituaries of what it calls the 'Ten most inspiring World War II veterans'.  It provides an interesting European perspective to American readers, who've probably never heard of the people involved.  I highly recommend clicking over there to read it.

To whet your appetite, here's an excerpt from the obituary of Captain Charles Upham, one of the ten.  He earned not one, but two Victoria Crosses during the war (equivalent to two Medals of Honor, for US readers).

For all his remarkable exploits on the battlefield, Upham was a shy and modest man, embarrassed when asked about the actions he had been decorated for. "The military honours bestowed on me," he said, "are the property of the men of my unit."

In a television interview in 1983 he said he would have been happier not to have been awarded a VC at all, as it made people expect too much of him. "I don't want to be treated differently from any other bastard," he insisted.

When King George VI was conferring Upham's second VC he asked Maj-Gen Sir Howard Kippenberger, his commanding officer: "Does he deserve it?"

"In my respectful opinion, Sir," replied Kippenberger, "Upham won this VC several times over."

. . .

Upham won his first VC on Crete in May 1941, commanding a platoon in the battle for Maleme airfield. During the course of an advance of 3,000 yards his platoon was held up three times. Carrying a bag of grenades (his favourite weapon), Upham first attacked a German machine-gun nest, killing eight paratroopers, then destroyed another which had been set up in a house. Finally he crawled to within 15 yards of a Bofors anti-aircraft gun before knocking it out.

When the advance had been completed he helped carry a wounded man to safety in full view of the enemy, and then ran half a mile under fire to save a company from being cut off. Two Germans who tried to stop him were killed.

The next day Upham was wounded in the shoulder by a mortar burst and hit in the foot by a bullet. Undeterred, he continued fighting and, with his arm in a sling, hobbled about in the open to draw enemy fire and enable their gun positions to be spotted.

With his unwounded arm he propped his rifle in the fork of a tree and killed two approaching Germans; the second was so close that he fell on the muzzle of Upham's rifle.

During the retreat from Crete, Upham succumbed to dysentery and could not eat properly. The effect of this and his wounds made him look like a walking skeleton, his commanding officer noted. Nevertheless he found the strength to climb the side of a 600 ft deep ravine and use a Bren gun on a group of advancing Germans.

At a range of 500 yards he killed 22 out of 50. His subsequent VC citation recorded that he had "performed a series of remarkable exploits, showing outstanding leadership, tactical skill and utter indifference to danger". Even under the hottest fire, Upham never wore a steel helmet, explaining that he could never find one to fit him.

His second VC was earned on July 15 1942, when the New Zealanders were concluding a desperate defence of the Ruweisat ridge in the 1st Battle of Alamein. Upham ran forward through a position swept by machine-gun fire and lobbed grenades into a truck full of German soldiers.

When it became urgently necessary to take information to advance units which had become separated, Upham took a Jeep on which a captured German machine-gun was mounted and drove it through the enemy position.

At one point the vehicle became bogged down in the sand, so Upham coolly ordered some nearby Italian soldiers to push it free. Though they were somewhat surprised to be given an order by one of the enemy, Upham's expression left them in no doubt that he should be obeyed.

By now Upham had been wounded, but not badly enough to prevent him leading an attack on an enemy strong-point, all the occupants of which were then bayoneted. He was shot in the elbow, and his arm was broken. The New Zealanders were surrounded and outnumbered, but Upham carried on directing fire until he was wounded in the legs and could no longer walk.

Taken prisoner, he proved such a difficult customer that in 1944 he was confined in Colditz Castle, where he remained for the rest of the war. His comments on Germans were always sulphurous.

For his actions at Ruweisat he was awarded a Bar to his VC. His citation noted that "his complete indifference to danger and his personal bravery have become a byword in the whole of the New Zealand Expeditionary Force".

There's more at the link.

We are honored and uplifted by the presence of such men among us.

Peter

Verily, the mind doth boggle

Courtesy of Australian reader Snoggeramus, we learn of a student who has a unique approach to funding her studies.

A UNIVERSITY fresher who blew her entire student loan on partying has launched an online campaign asking for donations to clear her overdraft.

The Sun reports Emma McCormick spent the cash on alcohol, clubbing and trips to other cities — running up a grand of extra debt.

The 18-year-old has only managed to raise £20 [about US $29] so far but she remains hopeful that people will “help a student out”.

. . .

Despite her partying habits, Ms McCormick adamantly stresses that not all her loan went on herself.

A student can typically borrow £1,500 [just under US $2,200] in the first year of their studies and Ms McCormick said most of the money went on visiting friends in other UK cities.

. . .

The cheeky undergrad said she wanted to go travelling so thought she might as well eradicate her overdraft.

“I really want to do South America,” she said.

“Lots of people have done Thailand in their gap year.

“And I kind of want to take a year out after my degree and see as much of the world as possible.”

There's more at the link.

I'm left shaking my head at the sheer chutzpah of expecting total strangers to not only make up the wasted money of her past spendthrift ways, but in doing so to help fund her future travels.  I can only imagine that she really does believe money grows on trees!




Peter

Some great near-space video

A number of readers were kind enough to send me the link to this video.

On November 6th, 2015 UP Aerospace Inc. launched the 20-foot (6 meter) tall SL-10 rocket into near-space. The mission: deploy the Maraia Capsule testing the aerodynamics and stability of the payload on re-entry to the atmosphere. The rocket reached an altitude of 396,000ft (120,700 meters) and speeds up to Mach 5.5 (3800mph or 6115km/h) at engine burnout.

Thanks to all of you.  It's well worth watching.  Use full-screen mode for best results.

That's some pretty spectacular photography.

Peter

In Africa, everything bites . . .

That was a favorite saying of the late Peter Capstick, the well-known author and professional big-game hunter and guide in Africa.  It's just been proven true again with the near-death of a six-year-old boy in South Africa.

A leopard at a South African game reserve snatched a six-year-old boy and ran off with him.

Little Kellan Denny was attacked and dragged away by the big cat at Kruger National Park.

As the male leopard ran off with the youngster, his father Justin chased the big cat and screamed out: “No! No! No! This can’t be happening.”

Kellan was dragged 30 metres by the leopard who had sunk his teeth into the boy’s shoulder before he was recovered.

Justin was able to retrieve his son after the leopard dropped the boy from his jaws. Kellan, who is said to be ‘quite traumatised’ is now recovering at home.

There's more at the link.

What I can't understand is this:  if the family was South African, they've surely been taught that predators are opportunists, and will go for the weakest targets that can't fight back.  If they didn't know that, they were criminally negligent, because when I was growing up, every South African knew about the dangers of local wildlife.  It wasn't even a matter for speculation.  Everyone knew.

The fact that the victim was a six-year-old boy is also instructive.  In most of the tourist-friendly game farms and cheetah breeding centers in South Africa, there'll be a height chart next to the enclosures where tourists are allowed to enter and mingle with the animals.  It'll state that people under a certain height are not admitted - no matter what.  No exceptions.  The reason is that most African predators distinguish an easy meal from a difficult one by size.  Small and succulent equals good eating, irrespective of species;  therefore, small and succulent aren't allowed in with them.  This incident proves, once again, the wisdom of that policy.

Thanks be to God that the child was saved.  I reckon he'll grow up sadder, but wiser.

Peter

Water fast update: suspended for a few days

For those following my water fasting efforts, I found my blood glucose level was dangerously low when I tested it yesterday afternoon.  I've been watching that carefully, and knew what to do.  I immediately suspended the fast, and ate some berries and cherries for a quick sugar boost.  My blood glucose recovered to a safe level within an hour.  I had a green salad (with very little dressing) for supper, and a so-called 'protein scramble' at a local diner for breakfast (eggs, meat, and no carbs at all except what few were in the vegetables involved).  For the next three days I'll be on a low-carb, high-fat diet with moderate portion sizes, to ensure I stay in ketosis;  then I'll go back to the fast on Monday.

This wasn't an unexpected development.  I researched likely problems very thoroughly before starting the fast, and I've had medical input as well.  I know the danger signs and what to look for, and I'm monitoring everything I can at home.  I did extensive blood tests before I began, and follow-ups are planned every month.  Some commenters on my previous posts about fasting have expressed concern, but really, folks, I wasn't born yesterday.  This has been planned for a long time.

My blood glucose levels (and my insulin resistance, which is high and is one of my metabolic problems) will determine the way forward.  If I can continue with a long-term fast, I'll do so.  If not, I'll switch to a 5-2 fast;  fasting for 5 days on water alone, with an occasional glucose booster if I find I need it, followed by two days of eating moderate-portion low-carb high-fat foods, then back to another 5-day fast.  That way I can potentially achieve results almost as good as a long-term fast, but put my body under less stress.  The latter will be the deciding issue.  I'll go with what my body tells me will work for me.

So far, so good.  As of this morning I'm down over 18 pounds since I began.  That's a stellar result compared to every other diet and exercise routine I've ever tried.  I think this is going to do good things for me, provided that I'm sensible and don't try to exceed my body's limits.  Keep your fingers crossed for me.

Peter

So much for "white privilege"

Ben Shapiro demolishes the entire concept.

Well said, sir!  If we ever meet in the flesh, I'll buy you a beer and a meal for that.

Peter

A very interesting perspective on Donald Trump

My political views are far from Camille Paglia's, but I always enjoy reading her incisive commentary on current events.  In an article for Salon today, she offered this perspective on Donald Trump.  Bold, underlined text is my emphasis.

Trump has knocked the stilts out from the GOP establishment and crushed the pretensions of a battalion of political commentators on both the Left and Right. Portraying him as a vile racist, illiterate boob, or the end of civilization as we know it hasn’t worked because his growing supporters are genuinely motivated by rational concerns about border security and bad trade deals. Whether Trump, with his erratic impulses and gratuitous crudities, can morph toward statesmanship remains to be seen.

. . .

In their focus on Trump’s real-estate tycoon father, the media seem to have missed that the teetotaling Trump’s deepest connection was probably to his strong-willed, religious mother. Born in the stark, wind-swept Hebrides Islands off the western coast of Scotland (the next North Atlantic stop is Iceland), she was one tough cookie. She and her parents were Gaelic speakers, products of a history extending back to the medieval Viking raids. I suddenly realized that that is Trump’s style. He’s not a tribal Highlander, celebrated in Scotland’s long battle for independence from England, but a Viking, slashing, burning, and laughing at the carnage in his wake. (Think Kirk Douglas flashing his steely smile in the 1958 Hollywood epic, The Vikings.) Trump takes savage pleasure in winning for its own sake—an attribute that speaks directly to the moment, when a large part of the electorate feels that the U.S. has become timid and uncertain and made far too many humiliating concessions to authoritarian foreign powers like China, Saudi Arabia and Iran.

There's more at the link.

That's not a bad description of the way Mr. Trump has conducted himself - or, at least, developed his public persona - during the campaign thus far.  What's next?  And will Hillary be able to offer any effective counter to the "pillage, then burn" antics of her opponent?

It's going to be an interesting Presidential election campaign . . .

Peter

Water fast report-back: Week One

I reported last week that I was about to start a water fast in an effort to kick-start my metabolism after years of medical problems.  This involves eating nothing and drinking mostly water, with an occasional cup of black, unsweetened coffee or tea, and one mug of bouillon broth per day.  I began last week on Thursday.  As of this morning, it's been seven full days since I ate anything.  I've had some pretty severe cravings for food, but (as I wrote earlier) since the alternative to losing weight is an early death, that's been a pretty strong motivator to keep them under control!

The weight loss has been remarkable, but I know most of it is water weight, not fat.  I'm down more than fourteen pounds.  That rate won't last - in fact, it's already slowed considerably.  From now on, as my body consumes fat rather than getting rid of excess water, weight loss is likely to be less than a pound a day.  Still, if I can maintain a good rate, I'll be happy.

I began the fast with the most comprehensive set of blood diagnostic tests I've ever undergone.  The results have formed a baseline for me to continue testing myself every day, and recording the results.  Weight, waist size, blood pressure, pulse rate, oxygen uptake, ketosis level and blood sugar are all being logged daily.  If I drop below safe limits on any one of them, I'll immediately seek medical help and probably suspend the fast;  but I haven't had to do that yet.  I'll do another set of diagnostic tests a couple of weeks after the end of the fast, to see how things have changed (and, hopefully, improved).

One eye-opener has been the effect of my prescription medications on body functions that I wouldn't have suspected.  My blood glucose has dropped from 97 to 68 - both figures within the safe zone, but respectively on the high end and the low end of the scale.  Investigating this very large drop, I learned that three of my prescription medications are known to reduce blood glucose levels;  and in combination, they're clearly ganging up on me.  I'll probably have to stagger the times (and perhaps the days) on which I take them, to reduce their combined effect to a minimum.  That's worth learning.

I've got a long way to go still.  I'm planning to continue the water fast for at least 30 days, and possibly as long as 45, depending on medical indications and advice.  I'd like to lose up to 50 pounds on it, then try to lose more through a low-carb, high-fat diet.  After a few weeks of eating, I'll try another fast, then see out the year with more LCHF diet and a few shorter-duration fasts as I feel up to it.  My target is to lose at least 100 pounds this year.  Depending on progress, I may do another long-duration fast during the first quarter of next year - we'll have to see.

At any rate, so far, so good.  Thanks to everyone who's sent good wishes and prayers.  Here's hoping!

Peter

Doofus Of The Day #904

Today's award goes to a young man in Portugal.

A young man's attempt to take a selfie snapshot with the statue of a 16th century Portuguese king ended badly when the 126-year-old statue crashed to the ground and shattered, police said on Wednesday.

The man, whom police did not identify, accidentally toppled Dom Sebastian's statue after climbing up to its pedestal outside the ornate Rossio railway station in central Lisbon just before midnight on Tuesday.

He tried to flee the scene but police caught him. He will appear before a judge at a later date.

There's more at the link.

There's a legend about King Sebastian.  It's unclear that his body was ever found, although Philip II of Spain asserted that he'd buried his remains.  Pretenders later arose, claiming to be him, but all were exposed as fraudulent.  It was long believed (and may still be believed by the more credulous) that Sebastian was/is a Portuguese version of the legend of the 'sleeping king', who will return to save his country in its hour of need.

All I can say is, after the way his statue has just been treated, he may think twice about returning . . .




Peter

In memoriam: Pat Rogers

One of the top firearms and tactics instructors in the USA, Pat Rogers (whom we've met in these pages before) has died.  It was apparently completely unexpected, and may have involved complications after an unrelated medical procedure.  I hope to learn more in the coming days.

To give you some idea of the fullness of Pat's life, here's his bio from Panteao Productions, who produced his training videos.

Pat was born in Brooklyn NY in 1946. He has worked shining shoes; delivering newspapers; pumping gas; working on a ride in Coney Island; driving a taxi; a sport parachute instructor, a photographer, and for an airline company that serviced the Far East. He served in the active and reserve components as a United States Marine starting in 1963. He served in the former Republic of Vietnam with 3rd Marine Division. He was an 1811 Tank Crewman; 0311 Rifleman; 0369 Infantry Unit Leader; 8531 Primary Marksmanship Instructor; 8662 Parachutist; 5702 NBC Specialist; 5702 NBC Officer. He served for 5 years in the Foreign Material Acquisition Exploitation Unit, and finished as Chief Warrant Officer 2. He was a NYC Correction Officer; a NYC Police Officer, serving in Patrol; Street Narcotics Enforcement Unit; Anti-Crime; investigator in Manhattan Robbery Squad, Central Robbery Division. As a Sgt he served in Patrol; Anti-Crime; in the Chief of Detectives Office; as a supervisor in the Technical Assistance Response Unit, and as a Hostage Negotiator. He was decorated 54 times, to include the Medal of Valor. He worked as an IC with the Counter Terrorism Center of OGA. He was an SME evaluating the DOS Anti-Terrorist Assistance Program. He was a Rangemaster at Gunsite for 12 years. He has been the principal at EAG since 1989. He was the 464th person in the US to accrue 1000 Free Fall Parachute Jumps (USPA Gold Wings #464), the 203rd to accrue over 2000 Free Fall Parachute Jumps (USPA Diamond Wings #203) and the 131st person in the US to accrue over 12 hours in freefall (USPA Gold Free Fall Badge # 131). He is an NRA High Master Rifle, and CMP Distinguished Rifleman. He learns something new every day.

Pat was above all recognized as a preeminent instructor in the use of the carbine, particularly the AR15 family of weapons, for personal defense.  I've mentioned him before in that context.  He's taught thousands of students, and many current instructors in the field owe him a debt of gratitude for laying the foundations on which they and their students could build.

Pat's sense of humor was legendary.  Here's an example.  Language alert - Pat wasn't afraid to use four-letter words from time to time.

Classic!  Pat at his best.

He will be sorely missed.  The shooting world is poorer for his passing.  May his sins be forgiven him, and may he rest in peace.

Peter

Star Wars - tongue-in-cheek edition

Preachers and Horse Thieves has a great collection for Star Wars Day ("May the Fourth be with you!") of Star Wars-themed memes.  Some had me laughing out loud.  Here are a few to whet your appetite.

There are many more at the link.  Enjoy!




Peter

Awwww!

Courtesy of C. W. Swanson, here's a baby bear doing his bruin thing.  Watch it in full-screen mode for best results.

Inexpressibly cute . . . at least, at this age.  However, they grow up - and then they're not so cute and much more dangerous.

Peter

So prove it!

I'm getting fed up with fantastical claims by pseudo-scientists who offer only models and extrapolations to support them, rather than actual, verifiable, repeatable numbers.  The latest comes from a study of the number of life forms on Earth.

Humans have been living on Earth for a very long time, and yet, we almost know nothing about other living organisms that inhabit our planet. A new study suggests that Earth may be holding nearly 1 trillion species of organisms, but only one-thousandth of 1 percent of those organisms is identified, which means that 99.99 percent of all life forms are yet to be discovered.

. . .

The result is considered to be the largest compilation of its kind representing over 5.6 million microscopic and non-microscopic species from 35,000 locations across all the world's oceans and continents, except Antarctica.

Researchers also discovered that the scaling law, which is used to accurately predict species numbers for plant and animal communities can also be applied to microbes, making it easier for the researchers to safely predict the total number of microbe species on the planet.

There's more at the link.

This strikes me as resembling the claims of probiotic vendors about their products.  Here are three examples from a field stuffed with them.  Note the ringed numbers.

Those figures are claimed to be the number of probiotic microorganisms contained in each dose of the product.  My immediate question is:  Who counted them?  Clearly, that's impossible to accomplish physically.  No-one sat down, drew them up in a straight line, and started counting, "One, two, three..." until they reached a total in the billions.  The numbers must have been obtained by extrapolation from something - but what?  We aren't told.  Did someone count how many bacteria could fit into the volume occupied by the head of a pin, calculate how many pinheads could fit into one of the product capsules, multiply the results together, and hey presto! - another advertising claim?  For all we know, that may well be how the numbers above were obtained.  Frankly, I don't believe any of them.

The same question applies to this study of life forms.  Who or what says there are - or may be - a trillion of them on Earth?  It's impossible to know that on the basis of any experimentally derived, verifiable evidence.  It's another extrapolation.  For all the scientific language used in the report, it's nothing more or less than educated guesswork.  In the old days we used to call that a SWAG - a "scientific wild-assed guess".  I guess the term still applies, even though the researchers involved would probably resent it being applied to their results.  SWAG's do, indeed, have their place, and intuition is a powerful force among educated professionals - but let's make it clear that's what's happening, not publish a research report making a claim that's empirically unverifiable.

I also object vehemently to SWAG's being used to motivate promote extort funding for individuals and institutions.  "Look at these results!  They prove how important is the research we conduct!  Give us more money for more research and more researchers!"  Sorry.  Let's deal with real numbers and verifiable, repeatable results, not models or guesswork.  The latter is what's given rise to the climate change controversy - and that's the biggest scam in history, financially speaking.

Peter

Back in town

Miss D. and I went up to Amarillo yesterday.  I was invited to speak to a local school class about my experiences in Africa, and what it was really like in that continent.  Their textbook was riddled with errors, and their teacher knew that I'd be able to set them straight.  You might say so . . . some of them looked rather shocked to learn of the true state of affairs.  I hope I did some good.

The journey up and back was relaxing.  The grass is green and flourishing along US Highway 287 at present, so the view is pleasant - not dry and brown as it will be later in summer, when the heat fries everything to a crisp.  (Wichita Falls has a cycling event called the "Hotter 'n Hell 100" in August, which is well named and sums up the northern Texas summer very well!)

We're back home now.  I queued up several blog articles to post automatically in my absence, so I hope you were duly entertained.  Regular posting will now resume.

Peter

A painful reminder

Here's a reminder and a warning to all those who reload their ammunition.  (I used to do that in South Africa, but I've never had the time to get back to it in the USA.  Maybe one day . . .)

A man almost lost the use of his right hand, and did suffer terrible injuries to his fingers. All because he picked the wrong bottle of powder off the shelf.

The shooter, Denny K., was assembling some rounds for his brand new 7mm-08 Savage hunting rifle. He thought he was loading with Hodgdon Varget. Instead he had filled his powder measure with Hodgdon TiteGroup, a fast-burning pistol powder. The labels are similar, so the mistake is understandable. But the results were devastating.

Posting on the Firing Line, in a thread entitled “Lucky to Be Alive”, Denny writes:

“This is the hardest post to post. I know if I had read it a week ago my comment would have been: ‘You have no business reloading’. I had everything perfect, except pouring the wrong powder in the powder measure. I type this slowly with my left hand, embarrassed but … possibly saving someone else a tragedy or, like me, a long drive to the Emergency Room and surgery to save my finger.”

. . .

Denny wrote: “The seven-hour period it took to go to ER, transport to Trauma Center and surgery made me think it was a Savage rifle issue. Brand new rifle, new brass, triple-checked loading data. The next day I was humbled when I realized the Varget powder was still sealed.”

There's more at the link, including a photograph of the victim's rather gruesomely injured hand.  Not for the squeamish.

Reloading is fun, interesting, and a lot cheaper than buying factory ammunition . . . but it has its dangers.  They can involve powder, like the tale above;  or they can involve carelessness in other ways.  My favorite is a friend of mine in South Africa who smoked a pipe.  One day, while reloading, he happened to spill a box of primers on the floor.  While picking them up and returning them to the box, he accidentally dropped one without noticing it.  It fell into his open tobacco pouch on the table below his hands.  Next time he filled his pipe, he stuffed the primer in along with the tobacco.  A few minutes after lighting the pipe, there was a loud noise and it blew apart in his hands, sending fiery tobacco shards all over the living-room carpet.  Fortunately, apart from stinging from the impact, his hand wasn't injured;  but his better half was NOT amused . . .

Peter

Armed UAV's and precision weapons are spreading like wildfire

I've commented before about the dangers to US and European forces posed by high-technology weapons proliferating around the world.  Terrorist movements now use anti-ship and anti-aircraft missiles with virtual impunity (see, for example, Hezbollah - despite Israel trying to bomb every convoy that delivers such weapons to them, inevitably some get through).  So-called 'rogue' nations are striving to develop weapons that can target their enemies at a distance, some equipped with weapons of mass destruction.  (See, for example, North Korea.)

To make matters more complicated, many nations are now developing for themselves the technologies that the US has previously relied on to give it an edge.  Unmanned aerial vehicles equiped with laser- and GPS-guided bombs, and other cutting-edge equipment, are now commonplace.  To name but a few examples:

•  Drones similar in capability to the US Predator and Reaper UAV's have been developed in Israel, China, South Africa and several other nations.  More advanced drones are in development by multiple nations (see, for example, this joint European program).
• The decades-old Hydra 70mm. rocket has been turned into a precision weapon by the development of guidance kits, which are being produced in several countries.  This weapon can be found all around the globe in huge quantities.  Now, by simply buying a guidance kit, any country can make it far more lethal.  What's more, the proliferation of such small electronic devices is very hard to track, as they're often listed simply as 'electronics' in international trade documentation - so one can't be sure whether or not a potential enemy has them.
• The US JDAM guided bomb kit has been copied and/or emulated by several countries, including Russia, China, South Africa, Abu Dhabi, India, Turkey and others.
• The US Hellfire missile has been duplicated (and sometimes exceeded in performance) by other countries.  One example is South Africa's Mokopa missile.  There are several more.

Many of these, and many other smart weapons, are available for sale to anyone with enough money and the right political connections.  Some countries will ask fewer questions than others, and are willing to assist nations and movements that share their theological and/or ideological perspective, whether or not such assistance is legal (or desirable to the rest of the world).

The latest example of this technological proliferation is Turkey's launch of a Roketsan MAM-L miniaturized guided weapon from its indigenous Bayraktar TB2 UAV.  Here's a video clip of the test.

Note that the Erdogan government in Turkey (which is notoriously corrupt) is Islamist in orientation.  That would suggest that weapons systems like the MAM-L are likely to be made available to countries and movements with a similar outlook, with few or no questions asked.  (Consider, for example, Turkey's support for ISIL.  Think of the havoc that terrorist movement could wreak with UAV's and/or 'smart weapons' at its disposal!)

US forces are going to have to learn to fight in a world where their enemies are increasingly likely to have the same precision targeting and attack capabilities as themselves.  That's not going to be a pleasant experience for those on the receiving end.

Peter

Welcome to 'death panels', UK style

It's emerged that tens of thousands of elderly and infirm hospital patients in Britain are effectively being condemned to death by their doctors - without them or their families ever being informed.  The Telegraph reports:

As many as 40,000 patients a year are having “do not resuscitate orders” secretly imposed on them without their families ever being told, it can be disclosed.

A national audit of dying patients has highlighted a failure by authorities to tell relatives of plans put in place for their loved ones.

. . .
The same study showed that in 16 per cent of cases, there was no record of a conversation with the dying patient, or explanation for the lack of one, for the decision to put in place a do not resuscitate order.

. . .

Prof Sam Ahmedzai, chairman of the audit and author of recent guidelines on care of the dying, said: “When a decision has been taken [not to resuscitate], it is unforgivable not to have a conversation with the patient – if they are conscious and able – or with the family.

“If a doctor was dying they would expect this. We need to show the same respect to our patients.” he said. Prof Ahmedzai also said doctors also needed to be far more open with patients who were facing death.

“Not enough people are being told that there are biological indications they may be nearing the end of their lives,” he said.

There's more at the link.

This is the inevitable result of 'socialized medicine' or 'single-payer healthcare'.  When the State pays for medical care, the bureaucrats administering the program don't care about the human beings involved.  They care about forms, and budgets, and organizational power-building.  Inevitably, doctors and nurses end up spending more time concentrating on meeting the requirements imposed on them by those who pay them than they do on caring for the patients they are sworn to help.  The Hippocratic Oath becomes no more than a formality to be disregarded (or discarded) as a matter of expediency.

This means that cost inevitably triumphs over compassion.  It's quicker and cheaper to let a patient die than to continue (often very expensive, time-consuming and resource-intensive) treatment.  Therefore, let the weakest go to the wall.  Reserve those things for younger and/or more healthy patients who have a better chance of being able to benefit from them.  When money talks, the financial utility of life-saving measures becomes paramount.  People with little life left to live are of less 'utility' to society than those who are younger, and who therefore have more time to be potentially productive members of society.  Respect for the individual is replaced by respect for utility.

As we grow older, each and every one of us will be faced with this reality.  Obamacare is one small shaved hair away from having precisely the same mentality.  Already, if you're suffering from a terminal disease, you're likely to find your medical insurance reluctant to pay for expensive treatments, because they know you're unlikely to survive very long even if you receive them.  They're looking at a cost-benefit analysis - and, from their perspective, it's hard to blame them.  On the other hand, we pay for medical insurance on the expectation that it'll be there when we need it.  Increasingly, that's no longer the case.  (A recent example from my own experience is when I wanted to have extensive blood tests done prior to fasting, as part of a weight-loss and health-improvement program.  My medical insurance was willing to pay out tens of thousands of dollars for bariatric surgery . . . but it adamantly refused to pay for [much, much cheaper] blood tests that would help me fast and diet to achieve precisely the same result as the surgery.  Go figure.)

Sarah Palin was derided for warning of Obamacare's so-called 'death panels' - but in a very real sense, she was right.  They're active in Britain now.  It's worse in the Netherlands and Belgium.  In so many words, it's legalized or legally tolerated murder - and it's coming here, too. Those of us who are older or in poor health need to start asking ourselves, "What am I and/or my family going to do about it?"  If we don't know the dangers, we can't do anything to avoid or avert them.  It's going to take far more intensive family intervention and monitoring of medical treatment (or the lack thereof) to avoid becoming part of the euthanasia statistics.

Peter

Quote of the day

Courtesy of By Other Means:

The snark! It burns!




Peter

Outsiders often see it . . . locals often don't

I was struck by comments from a former Cuban filmmaker this weekend.

Filmmaker and American citizen Agustin Blazquez never thought his native Cuba would become a communist country, but now he sees the same radical shift happening in America.

In this exclusive video interview for The Daily Caller News Foundation, he says the left has been clever by using “very non-threatening words,” like liberal, progressive and concerned citizens, for advancing government control of American lives. The truth about Cuban politics is hard to find because of media spin and propaganda dominating American discourse.

For Blazquez, watching American youth embrace avowed socialist Sen. Bernie Sanders for president, strikes him as “absurd.” It is the end result, he says, of the cultural marxist education and media propaganda that has anesthetized too many Americans who do not defend the values that made America exceptional.

There's more at the link.

I'm forced to agree with Mr. Blazquez.  As an outsider, I look at American politics, society and culture and wonder how it's possible for people to be so blind to the external influences that have slowly but steadily taken over so much of this nation already.  The so-called 'long march through the institutions' has been very successful indeed in this country.

Sarah Hoyt and I have talked about this at some length.  She came to this country from Portugal, where she experienced a Communist revolution that took over the country.  (She's written about it extensively;  see here for a selection of her articles on the subject.)  I came to America from South Africa, and I've traveled extensively in sub-Saharan Africa.  Throughout the continent I saw at first hand the inevitable results of communist and socialist governments (economic chaos and national impoverishment, political stagnation, and the rule of ideology rather than law).  I've fought Communists on the battlefield, and seen refugees from Communist victories flee with little more than the clothes on their backs, after being forcibly deprived of everything they owned by the victors.  Many had been beaten up, raped, shot, and worse.  (Yes, there are worse things.  No, I'm not going to tell you more about them in this post.  It wasn't pretty, and one doesn't forget.  For example, I described one such incident here - just one out of many I saw or experienced.  The perpetrators were terrorists belonging to an avowedly Communist movement.  They are now 'good Communists', in the classic sense of the term.)

Sarah and I have discussed the subject in fairly strong terms (to the resigned tolerance of our respective US-born spouses, who haven't been through what we've experienced).  We're astonished, and can hardly believe, that so few people see how deep the tentacles of communism (thinly 'disguised' as leftist, progressive or socialist ideology) have already penetrated so much of US society.  It seems that only those who are middle-aged or older have a clear understanding of what's going on, because they've experienced (and have a better understanding of) history and what it means.

Many of us feel powerless to do anything about it.  Fortunately, that's not true.  We can stand up and be counted, not just in national, regional and local elections (which we should certainly do), but also by speaking out against the politically correct claptrap that infests daily discourse.  If we point it out for the nonsense that it is (see 'newspeak'), we expose those behind it as well.  When we do, they scurry like cockroaches, because they can't stand the light of day truth and reality.

Let's have at it!

Peter

Things to ponder

I've come across several articles over the past few days that don't fit into any one blog post on their own, but which nevertheless interested me.  I thought I'd throw them out there and see whether any of them resonated with you, too.

# # #

First, from an unabashedly left-wing/progressive point of view, Lance Simmens tells us "Why Our Children should Hate Us".  It presses all the populist left-wing buttons, but even though I don't agree with most of the viewpoints he expresses, I think there's an uncomfortable truth behind his words.  We've failed our children because we haven't challenged conventional 'wisdom' enough (if at all), and therefore allowed ourselves and our society to be 'railroaded' according to the agenda of pressure groups and spin-doctors.  That applies to all of us, of any and every political persuasion.  Here's a brief excerpt.

As a father of two millennials, I have been bombarded with what has turned out to be a warranted cynicism, criticism, and rejection of government. As one who devoted nearly 40 years to the promotion of public service and government, I have come to reassess my initial reluctance to such criticisms. The kids have every right to be cynical and critical and as hard as it is for parents to accept it, probably know more than we do.

. . .

I have worked in numerous governmental agencies at senior levels where I attempted to defer to the scientific expertise when contemplating major policy decisions affecting millions of people. To see the systemic corruption that is occurring in government agencies like the Environmental Protection Agency, Department of Energy, Department of Health and Human Services including the Centers for Disease Control and the Food and Drug Administration not only makes me sad but it makes me mad.

# # #

We've spoken before in these pages about the iniquitous practice known as asset forfeiture.  CopBlock claims that 'The Drug War is State-Sanctioned Theft', alleging that the war on drugs has led to the explosion of this practice across America, and caused harm to thousands of innocent people.

While using cash out of preference or necessity is a perfectly legal activity, it is politically expedient for law enforcement agencies to pretend otherwise because they have incentives to do so. Civil asset forfeiture allows law enforcement agencies to take money, cars, houses, and other property that they suspect of being purchased with the proceeds from criminal activity or of being used in connection with criminal activity. The agencies then either keep or sell the property and use it or the proceeds for their own purposes. It’s such a huge cash cow for law enforcement that in 2014, the amount federal agencies netted through civil asset forfeiture, $5 billion, exceeded the amount Americans lost through burglaries, $3.5 billion. The actual amount seized is even higher than this, since this figure does not include the amounts taken by state and local law enforcement agencies.

Taking money from bad guys, sounds great, right? Oh, there’s a catch.  Cops don’t have to actually prove you committed any crime. They don’t even have to charge you with one. You, on the other hand, need to go to court and jump through whatever hoops the government requires to prove your innocence and get your property back.

# # #

According to Geopolitical Futures, things are getting tense in China between government and military.  Their study is titled 'The Chinese Central Committee and the People’s Liberation Army Face Off'.

Sources in China have been reporting increasing tension between the Communist Party and the People’s Liberation Army. In many ways, these are reports of the obvious. While the anti-corruption campaign that has been waged by President Xi Jinping is ongoing, he has now shifted his focus to the PLA.

. . .

Xi knows that there is a danger of resistance. Hence the widespread purge letting everyone know who is in charge and how vulnerable everyone is to the Party. Businessmen are readily intimidated by force. But the problem Xi has is that he is also challenging the PLA, which is not nearly as intimidated by force because it is in the end the ultimate force.

Therefore, Xi must come to an agreement with the PLA and any such understanding must begin with the PLA first knowing where the ultimate power lies. Trying to explain to millions of heavily armed men that the ultimate power lies in the hands of people who have far fewer men and weapons at their disposal is a risky business.

# # #

Less than ten days ago I noted that the looming pensions crisis in the USA was about to bite hard.  Now the case in question looks set to cost UPS billions of dollars.

UPS told investors that if Treasury approves the CSPF plan to cut benefits, the company would have to take a charge of approximately $3.2 to $3.8 billion.

. . .

While any income statement impact will be adjusted out by analysts, it will be a significant drain on UPS' cash flow (UPS generated $5 billion in free cash flow in fiscal 2015) as it funds the benefit gap over time.

If it gets bad enough, the Big Brown Truck of Happiness may not be around in its present form for much longer.  That sort of capital outflow can cripple a company.

# # #

David Stockman's Contra Corner blog points out that the Fed's zero interest rate policies have led to a significant downturn in the sale of new homes.

ZIRP has ... caused raging housing inflation which has caused median monthly mortgage payments for new homes to rise by 20% since 2009. ZIRP has enabled corporate CEOs to game the stock market to massively increase their own pay while encouraging them to cut worker salaries and shift higher paying jobs overseas. That leaves the US economy to create only low skill, low pay jobs that do not pay enough for workers to be able to purchase new homes.

The perverse incentives of ZIRP are why the housing industry languishes at depression levels.

# # #

In a nasty, ill-mannered spat, Bloomberg and Zero Hedge are at each other's throats.  Bloomberg published a so-called 'exposé' which claimed to 'unmask' the men behind Zero Hedge.  In response, Zero Hedge published personal details about Bloomberg's source, alleging him to be a disgruntled former employee with serious personal difficulties (including alcohol), and alleging that Bloomberg's piece was nothing more or less than a hit job.  It's unsavory on both sides, but does illustrate the extent of the rivalry between supposedly reliable sources in the financial industry.  A lot of money rides on such credibility (or the lack thereof).  From that point of view, it's interesting.

# # #

The Last Refuge points out that Donald Trump threatens the well-laid plans of vested interests, claiming that there are 'trillions at stake'.  I think the author's perspective is somewhat alarmist, but he's right to demonstrate the extent to which the 'establishment' will go to defend its turf.  (It also reinforces my earlier point that the 'establishment' in America is wealth.)

# # #

Thought-provoking reading.

Peter

American accents, and where they came from

As part of my research for my Western novel, which employs dialect speech rather than the "Queen's English", I did a lot of research into mid-19th century accents, dialects and so on.  It was very interesting.  I found YouTube very helpful, with many videos dealing with different American accents and patterns of speech.  I thought you might be interested in a few of them.

To start with, why do pre-World-War-II movie actors sound odd to modern ears?

Next, the famous Appalachian 'hill country' speech - what is it and where did it come from?

Finally, how many dialects or versions of English are there in the USA?  One professor says there are no less than 15 - but the language is changing fast.

I don't know about you, but I find the subject very interesting.  I hope you enjoyed the videos.

Peter

More about that classic Prince guitar solo

In marking the passing of Prince a couple of weeks ago, I embedded a video clip of a performance of George Harrison's famous song "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" during Prince's induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2004.  He completely dominated the second half of the song, with one of the finest and most creative exhibitions of guitar work ever recorded by any artist.  (I've embedded it again at the foot of this post, if you missed the first one.)

I've since come across two articles that provide additional background to that performance, and to Prince's contribution.  Both are well worth your time to read in full.  The first is from Jon Wiederhorn.

The night was never meant as an opportunity for Prince to show how dazzling and virtuosic he was on the guitar. For a star-studded performance of the Beatles’ “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” at the 2004 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony, Prince was scheduled to play one of several solo spots to honor George Harrison.

. . .

Following some fairly gentle, bluesy leads from Lynne’s lead guitarist Marc Mann, Prince took over around halfway through the song with a jaw-dropping combination of Jimi Hendrix-style pyrotechnics, Eric Clapton sentimentality, and Eddie Van Halen shredding that left the musicians onstage and everyone watching in awe.

What made Prince’s guitar solo so fantastic was the way it was structured and how it paid reverence to Harrison while injecting a previously unexplored energy into the mid-paced classic. His dynamite stage presence didn’t hurt, either.

. . .

As the band finished, Prince stepped on a flanger effect pedal that made his guitar whoosh in waves, and he removed the instrument and tossed it in the air. Strangely, the guitar never returned to the ground. Either someone above the camera sightlines caught it, or it disappeared into the ether. Either way, it’s KISS member Gene Simmons’s favorite part of the solo.

Petty’s drummer Steve Ferrone was also blown away by Prince’s showmanship. “That whole thing with the guitar going up in the air. I didn’t even see who caught it,” he told the New York Times. “I just saw it go up, and I was astonished that it didn’t come back down again. Everybody wonders where that guitar went, and I gotta tell you, I was on the stage, and I wonder where it went, too.”

There's more at the link.

The second article is by Finn Cohen.

Prince, who essentially stood in the dark for most of the performance, burned the stage to the ground at the song’s end.

His three-minute guitar solo is a Prince milestone, a chance to see him outside of the purple-tinted (for once, he is dressed in red) context of his own meticulous studio craft. This was Prince the Lead Guitarist ... And when he tossed his instrument into the air at the very end of the song, it never appeared to land; it was almost as if Mr. Harrison had grabbed it himself in midair to signal, “That’s enough of that.”

Several people who were onstage or at the ceremony that night recalled Prince’s involvement and performance. These are edited excerpts from the conversations.

. . .

CRAIG INCIARDI (Curator at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Museum):  You hear all this sort of harmonics and finger-tapping, sort of like what you’d hear Eddie Van Halen do. He runs through all these different sort of guitar techniques that are sort of astonishing. You hear what sounds like someone cocking a shotgun. There’s all these strumming power chords that really, really connected. Then he plays his version of the Eric Clapton solo. He evokes Eric’s solo in very sort of truncated fashion. As he ends the song, he plays this flourishing thing that sort of ends up sounding a little bit like Spinal Tap, but in a good way.

TOM PETTY (shared lead vocals with Jeff Lynne on “While My Guitar Gently Weeps”):  You see me nodding at him, to say, “Go on, go on.” I remember I leaned out at him at one point and gave him a “This is going great!” kind of look. He just burned it up. You could feel the electricity of “something really big’s going down here.”

Again, more at the link.

If you're a fan of rock music, I strongly urge you to read both articles in full.  They shed new light on what's become an absolutely iconic performance, and are a fitting tribute to Prince's musical greatness.  He may not have been a Beethoven or Bach (to put it in classical terms), but if he'd been alive in their day, he'd unquestionably have been a sought-after solo performer for their orchestral pieces.  The man was simply head and shoulders above most of his peers.  I say that even though I don't really like much of his music.  Credit where credit is due.  Rolling Stone ranks Prince at number 27 on its list of the 100 Greatest Artists, and I think that's well deserved.

Here's that wonderful performance again.

Classic!

Peter