Lightning can heat the air to 50,000° F — five times hotter than the surface of the sun.

“How hot is lightning?” is a bit of a trick question. Lightning itself doesn’t have a temperature, because it’s just the movement of electrical charges in the atmosphere. (You can think of it as one big spark of electricity that happens when positive and negative charges build up within a cloud, between clouds, or between a cloud and the ground.) But that doesn’t stop lightning from heating up whatever it passes through — in this case, air. Air is a poor conductor of electricity, so it heats up tremendously when lightning strikes. In fact, lightning can heat the air to 50,000 degrees Fahrenheit, which is five times hotter than the surface of the sun.

Suffice to say that the air stays extremely hot near Venezuela’s Lake Maracaibo, home of what’s been dubbed the “everlasting lightning storm.” Known locally as Relampago del Catatumbo, or the Lightning of Catatumbo (named for a nearby river that enters into the lake), the phenomenon has been recognizedby the Guinness Book of World Records as involving the most lightning strikes (250) per square kilometer of any spot in the world. Ten-hour lightning storms occur some 150 times per annum, and lightning itself can be seen up to 300 nights every year.

Efforts were made to remove Trump from state ballots based on his alleged criminal activity and the fact that many felt he is unfit to serve. Now we have two states that want to remove Biden from the ballot because of convention timing and little else. The first situation mentioned caused all kinds of calls of unconstitutional and election interference, the second situation has not yet seemingly caused a ripple in the pond.
Everything that has to do with the Trump campaign is a problem of huge consequence if it does not go well. An ad put out by the party members that are not Trumpers show that by Trump and his staff that you are either in all the way or you are out and the gates to “Heaven” have been locked. So much of what we are seeing from the GOP and the religious right is intolerance for any view, opinion, action that does not adhere to the dictates of the leaders, be that Trump or one of the equally fanatical religious leaders.
Please take a look at the world from a political perspective and note what nations are progressing and which are either stagnant or going backwards. Nations that have citizens that are encouraged to bring forth ideas and present different courses of action are progressing and growing, they are democratic nations. The ones that seem to be stuck in a time warp are the ones that only one view is accepted and that is the view of the leader.
Not all ideas that are presented are good or acceptable but we may well need to have them presented so that debate and compromise are possible. We must tolerate some things that may seem unnecessary or unfair in order to keep the wheels turning. Many believe that the use of alcohol is unacceptable, and in excess it is not good. However, it has been around for longer than anyone can remember and people are unwilling to stop using it so it is part of our social makeup. The same can be said of other practices, some that have been accepted in many nations but not all.
Our nation needs to keep all lines of communications open. We cannot afford to have any one person or group determine what is right for all of us. The efforts to subvert the rights of our citizens so that one element of society dictates what news you hear, what medical treatments you may have, who is allowed to be different or not, and the persecution of anyone that is critical of the state is not to be tolerated. The dictators of the world need to be put back into the cages they are building to house those that do not agree.
We have spent far to long being politically correct and allowing others to take advantage of the system. A segment of our population has been able to dominate by claiming they are the victims when they are in fact the perpetrators of the problems. Time to pin the tail back on the donkey.

Though it’s nearly ubiquitous today, wearing pants was considered highly uncivilized in ancient Greece and ancient Rome, where tunics and cloaks, such as togas and chitons, were the norm. The anti-pants sentiment had little to do with clothes themselves, and was more a result of xenophobia toward the cultures that traditionally wore them. Ancient Greek texts deride pants on Persians and Scythians, two groups who were frequently at war with Greece, and in ancient Rome, pants were associated with the Gauls, who fought Rome in the Gallic Wars.

Even academic texts are full of trouser trashing. In his treatise De aere aquis et locis (Air, Waters, and Places), written around the fourth or fifth century BCE, famed Greek physician Hippocrates belittled the Scythian people by calling them “the most impotent of men,” in part “because they always wear trousers and spend most of their time on their horses.” In the early second century CE, Roman historian Tacitus wrote that Roman general Aulus Caecina Alienus offended the public when he rode through Italy wearing trousers in 69 CE. And in the fifth-century-BCE text The Histories, ancient Greek historian Herodotus quoted a “wise man”giving advice to the king of Lydia about conquering Persia, which, he said, had “no luxury and no comforts.” As evidence, he pointed out that they “wear trousers of leather”— a pretty high-priced item today. (For the record, the pants-wearing Persians ended up conquering Lydia in that conflict.)

Anti-pants rhetoric persisted even as the fashion tide changed. The Theodosian Code, a set of Roman laws published in the fifth century CE, banned wearing trousers, punishable by exile — although many Romans had started wearing pants by that time because they were practical, warm, and much more comfortable than bare legs for riding horseback. By the medieval period, pants were a staple garment throughout Europe.

Lyle Northey (Silent/Boomer)

     The article in the Seattle Times reported that the state GOP convention produced some troubling movement. Namely they, the GOP attendees, want to be less democratic. They wish to limit voting rights in the state and to eliminate voting for Senate positions, have them appointed by an anointed insider group. 

    Without being a total dick about the entire thing, I personally hope they fall on their face. The removal of rights of citizens is not great for making friends or influencing people. Every move to restrict others is like building another jail and throwing people in for no reason at all. Are we destined to enter the camp with the sign “Your work will set you free” above the gate? 

    Yes we have differences of opinion and we need to use civility and common sense to resolve those issues, not take the view that the only right is my right and everyone else will do as they are told or else. The damage that has been done to our Democracy is the result of far to many people that have gained power believing they have the right to now make their ideas and ideals what everyone should follow. That attitude is very much the realm of dictators, ego maniacs and many religious leaders.

    All the noise about the left and right is an attempt to get those of us that understand we need to be in the middle of the road to pick a side and enforce that position. It is unnecessary to be that closed minded to others opinions. Options need to be available for all just like the menu in a restaurant. Most places allow you to choose the side dish with the main course, life is the main course but we all don’t want french fries with everything, so options should be available. 

    Yet another wrinkle in the face of freedom, voter suppression units going through minority neighborhoods making threats and trying to intimidate people to get them either to not vote or vote the way they are told to vote. It is great that we have once again slipped off the scales of truth and justice to satisfy an over inflated ego. 

    It would truly serve these sorry people right if all they caused was a massive turnout of voters placing ballots in the box for the person they don’t want elected. A total landslide for the person and party that has the decency to appreciate winning and conceded to not winning when they don’t. If the result of 2024 is in favor of Trump then not only the USA lost but the entire world as he will destroy everything for the sake of personal wealth.

    Turning to the arguments presented before the Supreme Court we do not find that the Justices realize the potential for total anarchy with a decision to allow immunity. With that kind of power we would have armed thugs at polling places telling people how to vote, kind of like what we are told is going to happen this year. We would have crime bosses running for office, some of whom already have puppets in Congress, and the President would run the biggest crime syndicate in the world. Who would stop him? The violence seen on Jan 6 would seem like child’s play to what would be going on in DC as a norm. 

    Get ready for some really bad times if our future allows for anyone, especially the President, to have no checks put on what he does while in office. The religious right will think they have won a prize and yet they may be the first to feel the sting of that power when someone like Trump decides to rewrite the Bible with a Trump version. The Constitution and Bill of Rights has already been added to one version by someone so anything is possible. We can only hope that somewhere in that body of indecisive jelly someone has the courage to stand up and make certain that unlimited immunity is not a possible or acceptable position or status for any official in the government.

Lyle Northey (Silent/Boomer)

  More crap coming from the Supreme Court. These very corrupt and incompetent individuals all need to be removed from their positions. We have seen manipulation of words before, and what does this mean or that mean, but these attempts to shield themselves from the wrath of a former President is really pathetic. 

  If he gets back in office, hopefully not, what is he going to do to these fools? If the current President can not fire them, or Congress can not take action against them, how are they going to be harmed? Is it possible that the mob will seek vengeance for not giving the right answer, or is there some other fear? The fear should be that they all end up on trial for being bought and paid for and the purchasers should also be put away for doing the buying. 

  We, the people, deserve better than to have our entire country turned into another example of elitist game pool. This was not the intent of the founders even though they too had some unrealistic ideas about how to determine who could vote. 

  Now the effort is being put forth to not certify votes so that the Presidency is determined by the House of Representatives. There is also the issue of armed individuals being at polling places to challenge voters. This all be smacks of the kind of thing that should be resolved with a declaration of Marsh Law and the continuation of the current President until the Constitution can be once again the basis of law for our nation. Those individuals that wish to challenge should be challenged and denied their rights. The people that are making the decision to withhold certification should be investigated and if they are found to be doing this for an invalid reason should be treated as criminals and locked up. All we have heard for forever is election interference and that is just what the Republican Party is advocating in order to put a criminal back in the White House. 

  Heard speculation that Trump might be offered a pardon if he removes himself from politics and I would add that he must remove himself from the US for the next 20 years. Where would he go, or who would want him in their country? Maybe Russia although I doubt that would work, perhaps Saudi, big question mark. It is sure the Scots don’t want him and unless someone is willing to put up with an oversized whiny child where would he go? His major skill set is to make trouble and hand out insults, not the most appealing traits to have when you are looking to find a place to live.

  In the meantime we have him calling for protests around the courthouse in New York and no one showed up. Will this be the same result when he calls for the Civil War when he loses again? Are the followers burned out from funding his problems and legal battles and not ready to bet their lives and futures on this lame horse again? Only the very wealthy can afford to keep throwing money in the wishing well. The rest of us have to look and see if what we have is going to let us keep a roof over our heads and food in our children’s stomachs. 

  For all our sakes may common sense and self preservation become everyone’s goal.

Beatlemania Provided a Diversion to a Nation in Mourning

In February 1963, Chicago DJ Dick Biondi became the first disc jockey to introduce U.S. listeners to the Beatles when he played “Please Please Me,” the band’s first U.S. single. The song was picked up by other radio stations, but it was months before the Fab Four caught on in America. On the morning of November 22, 1963, CBS News aired a story about the Beatles’ popularity in England, but the segment on the band slotted for that evening was shelved when President John F. Kennedy was assassinated later that day. 

A few weeks later, Walter Cronkite decided the country could use a break from their collective grief and decided to finally air the Beatles story.Marsha Albert, a 15-year-old girl from the suburbs of Washington, D.C., saw the segment and wrote to WWDC radio to request they play more of the band’s music. Disc jockey Carroll James had also seen the report, got a copy of the track “I Want to Hold Your Hand,” and invited Albert to come to the studio to introduce the song on December 17. Radio stations in other major markets followed suit, and Capitol Records, which had been planning to release the single in January, decided to rush-release it on December 26. The label originally planned for200,000 copies to be pressed, but that jumped to 1 million — all of which were sold by January 10, 1964. Beatlemania had taken hold in the U.S. and the British Invasion was on its way.