Gunsmoke and Knitting

Once upon a time, when our politicians didn’t tend to apologize for our country’s prior actions, here’s a refresher on how some of our former patriots handled negative comment about America…

JFK’s Secretary of State, Dean Rusk, was in France in the early 60’s when DeGaulle decided to pull out of NATO.  DeGaulle said he wanted all U.S. military out of France as soon as possible.

Rusk responded: “Does that include those who are buried here?”

DeGaulle did not respond… You could have heard a pin drop.

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When in England, at a fairly large conference, Colin Powell was asked by the Archbishop of Canterbury if our plans for Iraq were just an example of ’empire building’ by George Bush.

Powell replied:  “Over the years, the United States has sent many of its fine young men and women into great peril to fight for freedom beyond our borders.  The only amount of land we have ever asked for in return is enough to bury those that did not return.”   …You could have heard a pin drop.

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There was a conference in France where a number of international engineers were taking part, including French and American.  During a break, one of the French engineers came back into the room saying, “Have you heard the latest dumb stunt Bush has done?  He has sent an aircraft carrier to Indonesia to help the tsunami victims.  What does he intend to do, bomb them?”

A Boeing engineer stood up and replied quietly, “Our carriers have three hospitals on board that can treat several hundred people; they are nuclear powered and can supply emergency electrical power to shore facilities; they have three cafeterias with the capacity to feed 3,000 people 3-meals a day, they can produce several thousand gallons of fresh water from sea water each day, and they carry have a dozen helicopters for use in transporting victims and injured to and from their flight deck.  We have eleven such ships; how many does France have?”…

You could have heard a pin drop.

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A U.S. Navy Admiral was attending a naval conference that included Admirals from the U.S., English, Canadian, Australian and French navies.  At a cocktail reception, he found himself standing with a large group of officers that included personnel from most of those countries… Everyone was chatting away in English as they sipped their drinks, but a French admiral suddenly complained that whereas Europeans learn many languages, Americans learn only English.  He then asked, “Why is it that we always have to speak English in these conferences rather than speaking French?”

Without hesitating, the American Admiral replied:  “Maybe it’s because the Brit’s, Canadians, Aussies and Americans arranged it so you wouldn’t have to speak German.”… You could have heard a pin drop.

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Patriotism should NEVER go out of style.

*Thanks to GP at Pacific Paratrooper for this post https://pacificparatrooper.wordpress.com/

Landlord doesn’t allow pets? You can build yourself one – or many!

Jekca is a Japanese company that sells building kits for cats, dogs, birds, and many other things. I have no connection to the company – they are just fun.

Photo credit: Uros Fink

I love the Northern Lights. These celestial light shows triggered by solar activity are compelling. Please see the gallery from the 2024 Northern Lights Photographer of the Year event sponsored by Capture the Atlas.

Hats off to D.S. Cakes Sweet Cafe. We sampled their cupcakes at a party this summer and have been meaning to get to their store. That happened this weekend and it was certainly worth it. Here are a few photos. The cupcakes are truly outstanding and we are looking forward to a return trip to this charming bakery for lunch in the cafe. I understand their chicken salad is also a home run.

The wait in line to vote was a little over 2 hours long, however, the sun was shining. The was nice energy among the people waiting to vote. Much chatting, sharing experiences, someone came by with leftover Halloween snacks. And then, as we were turning the corner and nearing the door to go in to vote, a young man set up his audio system and drum set on the lawn to entertain those still waiting in line. The line did not shorten the whole time we were there – it was a great turn out of citizens exercising their right to vote.

This ia rather grim, but then, so is this one…

Did you know that the Statue of Liberty was dedicated on October 28, 1886.

That is the one in New York harbor was dedicated on that day.

It turns out there are lots of other Statues of Liberty in addition to the one in New York. For example, there is a smaller replica in Paris.

There is also one in the middle of the Susquehanna River, in Pennsylvania. You can see it from the train as you ride past.

There is one in a church yard in Newton Falls, Ohio.

There is one outside a law office in downtown Cleveland, Ohio.

There is one in Cranberry Township, Pennsylvania (I’ll have to get a photo of that one) and there is one in Norway.

I would bet that there are many others – she is such an inspiring sight.

Don’t grab a box. My favorite is made with Eagle Brand Milk:

1 can Eagle Brand®Sweetened Condensed Milk 

¼ cup milk 

4 squares unsweetened baking chocolate – break it up so that it melts better

2 Tbsp cornstarch 

2 tsp pure vanilla extract 

Add up to 1 1/2 cup chocolate chips and top with whipped cream, if desired

Directions

1: Place sweetened condensed milk and baking chocolate to a medium sauce pan over boiling water.

2: Stir to combine and to melt the chocolate

3: Stir the cornstarch into the milk and add to the chocolate mixture

4: Cook mixture, stirring frequently, on medium heat until slightly thickened, about 8-10 minutes. Remove from heat and add vanilla. Stir in chocolate chips using.

 5: Spoon into individual serving dishes and chill.Wrap with plastic wrap and chill in refrigerator 1 hour.

6: Top with whipped cream if desired.

History of Avogadro’s Number 

Avogadro’s number, or Avogadro’s constant, is the number of particles found in one mole of a substance. It is the number of atoms in exactly 12 grams of carbon-12. This experimentally determined value is approximately 6.0221 x 10²³ particles per mole. Avogadro’s number may be designated using the symbol L or N_A. Note that Avogadro’s number, on its own, is a dimensionless quantity.

In chemistry and physics, Avogadro’s number usually refers to a number of atoms, molecules, or ions, but it can be applied to any “particle.” For example, 6.02 x 10²³ elephants are the number of elephants in one mole of them! Atoms, molecules, and ions are much less massive than elephants, so there needed to be a large number to refer to a uniform quantity of them so that they could be compared relative to each other in chemical equations and reactions.

Avogadro’s number is named in honor of the Italian scientist Amedeo Avogadro. Although Avogadro proposed that the volume of a gas at a fixed temperature and pressure was proportional to the number of particles it contained, he did not propose the constant.

In 1909, French physicist Jean Perrin proposed Avogadro’s number. He won the 1926 Nobel Prize in physics for using several methods to determine the value of the constant. However, Perrin’s value was based on the number of atoms in 1 gram-molecule of atomic hydrogen. Later, the constant was redefined based on 12 grams of carbon-12. In German literature, the number is also called the Loschmidt constant.

Helmenstine, Anne Marie, Ph.D. “Avogadro’s Number: Definition.” ThoughtCo, Jun. 25, 2024, thoughtco.com/definition-of-avogadros-number-604379.