Jan 29, 2015
Posted by AAfterwit on Jan 29, 2015 | 0 comments
Image Courtesy of the Jewish Virtual Library.
January 27, 2015 was given official notice as the “Holocaust Memorial Day.” The day marks 70 years since the liberation or Auschwitz, the Nazi concentration camp.
The Auschwitz concentration camp complex was the largest of its kind established by the Nazi regime. It included three main camps, all of which deployed incarcerated prisoners at forced labor. One of them also functioned for an extended period as a killing center. The camps were
located approximately 37 miles west of Krakow, near the prewar German-Polish border in Upper Silesia, an area that Nazi Germany annexed in 1939 after invading and conquering Poland. The SS authorities established three main camps near the Polish city of Oswiecim: Auschwitz I in May 1940; Auschwitz II (also called Auschwitz-Birkenau) in early 1942; and Auschwitz III (also called Auschwitz-Monowitz) in October 1942.
On January 27, 1945, the Soviet army entered Auschwitz, Birkenau, and Monowitz and liberated around 7,000 prisoners, most of whom were ill and dying. It is estimated that the SS and police deported at a minimum 1.3 million people to Auschwitz complex between 1940 and 1945. Of these, the camp authorities murdered 1.1 million.
One point one million people.
How? Why?
We have always been interested in history, especially the American Revolutionary War, the US Civil War, and World War II. Our interest in the first two was motivated by the area in which we grew up in. There were plenty of sites, museums, and battlefields to visit on the weekends. Out interest in WWII was mostly due to our dad serving in the Marines during that time.
In 10th grade, we were assigned an 900 page book on one of the other Nazi concentration camps named “Treblinka.”
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Jan 28, 2015
Posted by AAfterwit on Jan 28, 2015 | 0 comments
Another one of those “max the screen and crank up the sound” videos showing what an amazing and beautiful world in which we live.
Aurora australis and aurora borealis (northern lights) as viewed from the International Space Station. Auroras are caused by charged particles entering the atmosphere from above causing ionisation and excitation of atmospheric constituents as they collide with the earth’s magnetic field.
Jan 28, 2015
Posted by SeaBee on Jan 28, 2015 | 0 comments
There’s a storm brewing, well, maybe more like a volcano erupting, on the north end of Cocoa Beach.
It seems someone in our local city government gave FPL permission to remove all of the tall Washingtonia palms that have greeted residents from the center median for decades on N. Banana River Drive, the road running parallel and to the west of A1A.
To say that local residents are outraged they weren’t notified in advance, nor given any opportunity to make their voices heard on the issue would be a huge understatement.
It’s the hot topic in local grocery stores. Social media forums are exploding with comments by outraged citizens and accusations are even being hurled by some who seem to have a political ax to grind. Others, like us, have taken to blogging.
The big mystery is, who made this decision?
In a TV interview last Friday night, which included concerned citizens, Commissioner Skip Williams stated the decision was not made by the city commission as it was never brought before them and that it should not have been executed without resident approval.
We scoured the city website and finally discovered this notice from January 6, 2015 posted in the archives of Cocoa Beach News Network (CBNN, the city’s e-newsletter by subscription), that the palm trees would be “trimmed”.
Then, on January 15, another notice appeared stating only that FPL would be “trimming” the trees.
Five days later, on January 20, a notice was posted at 4:27pm that the tall, skinny palms were being “removed… today and over the next few days” and that FPL was picking up the tab.
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Jan 27, 2015
Posted by AAfterwit on Jan 27, 2015 | 0 comments
All that you thought you knew about getting sick may be wrong.
A weekly show where we debunk common misconceptions. This week, Elliott discusses some misconceptions about getting sick.
Jan 25, 2015
Posted by AAfterwit on Jan 25, 2015 | 0 comments
From the files of the “Mind Blowing, Head Shaking, WTF?” comes this from the Washington Post:
Over 80 percent of Americans support “mandatory labels on foods containing DNA”
A recent survey by the Oklahoma State University Department of Agricultural Economics finds that over 80 percent of Americans support “mandatory labels on foods
containing DNA,” about the same number as support mandatory labeling of GMO foods “produced with genetic engineering.” Oklahoma State economist Jayson Lusk has some additional details on the survey. If the government does impose mandatory labeling on foods containing DNA, perhaps the label might look something like this:
WARNING: This product contains deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA). The Surgeon General has determined that DNA is linked to a variety of diseases in both animals and humans. In some configurations, it is a risk factor for cancer and heart disease. Pregnant women are at very high risk of passing on DNA to their children.
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Jan 24, 2015
Posted by AAfterwit on Jan 24, 2015 | 0 comments
Classic George W.
Former president George W. Bush and wife Laura Bush bring humor to the unveiling of their official White House portraits.
Jan 24, 2015
Posted by AAfterwit on Jan 24, 2015 | 0 comments
With “Deflategate” in the news, the irrelevant and insufferable NFL Pro Bowl this weekend, and the Super Bowl a week away, we all need a laugh.
“…and then you invented dirt lumps.” More of what COULD have been said in the NFL.
Who comes up with these things?
