John Fray on Monday, February 10, 2025:
PRESIDENT TRUMP WARNS HAMAS TO COMPLY BY
NOON ON SATURDAY OR THERE WILL BE BLOOD.
Today, the President disclosed that he has
warned Hamas to comply with the terms of the
agreed-to cease fire and hostage return or
else the Palestinians are going to
pay a heavy price.
John Fray on Sunday, February 9, 2025:
PRESIDENT TRUMP LIED IN AN INTERVIEW
WHICH WAS TELEVISED THIS AFTERNOON.
The President stated in the interview that
the Defendants which he pardoned regarding
the January 6, 2021, attack on the nation's
Capitol were not violent, but, rather, he said,
were victims at the hands of the police.
THAT IS A LIE. The rioters sprayed police
with bear repellant, threw a metal cylinder
which struck an officer, squeezed an officer
with a swinging door, hit officers with a
flag staff, shoved officers, knocked them
over, caused one officer to suffer a fatal
stroke two days later, and caused one of more
officers to commit suicide in the following week.
John Fray on Saturday, February 8, 2025:
COME ON, REPUBLICAN POLITICIANS!
STOP MUSK!
Musk is on the verge of seizing control of the
United States government with his newly-built
AI facility in Memphis, Tennessee. If you
Republican Senators and House members care
about saving the U.S. from tyranny,
join with the Democrats to pass legislation
to keep Musk out of our Government!
John Fray on Friday, February 7, 2025:
Today, Elon Musk has brought back to DOGE the
25-year-old member who resigned yesterday
because his past web racist postings
were revealed.
Also today, the
improper actions of another
DOGE member regarding his tenure
as an employee with a web company
were revealed. He had disclosed confidential
information to a competitor of his employer.
In his defense, he stated that, after his
dismissal, he could have wiped out his
employer's database if he had wanted
to because he retained access to the system.
He said he would never have done that because
doing so would be contrary to his nature.
I have no reason to believe these young men are
spies or are otherwise up to no good in their accessing
of the Treasury data. I have greater
fear of Musk's intentions. In my opinion,
security protocols have been breached. No
individuals lacking proper vetting and background
checks should be allowed to be in a position
to rob the Treasury via cyber theft and to
provide sensitive information to our enemies. The
DOGE model allows Musk and his agents,
these five or six young men, unfettered
access to personal and financial data of
American citizens. The Republican Senators
and House Members could stop this
national security breach, but they cow
to the President and to Musk.
John Fray on Thursday, February 6, 2025:
Last week, Elon Musk and his young team of
DOGE computer engineers bullied their
way into the U.S. Treasury and connected their
electronic devices to the Department's
computer servers.
All of the sensitive personal and financial
information which the Treasury has on all of
us U.S. citizens is at risk to be transferred
to cyber criminals and enemies of our country.
Today, one of the team members resigned because it
was made known that he had advanced racist
views on the web last year. Click the image
below to read the news story.
February 2, 2025, 7:25 AM
Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania:
Punxsutawney Phil Sees His Shadow.
Six More Weeks Of Winter To Follow.
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John Fray on Monday, Jan. 27, 2025, 2:00 AM
THE WRECKAGE OF AMELIA EARHART'S PLANE HAS
BEEN PINPOINTED ON NIKUMARORO ISLAND.
In 2020, a web sleuth was examining satellite images
of Nikumaroro Island. He discovered something there
which should not have been. In the lagoon, multiple long
metal objects were plainly visible on its east side,
directly across from the channel leading to the ocean.
Word got around, resulting
in an intense effort to examine images dating as far back
as 1937. Sure enough, the objects appeared, to varying
degrees of clarity, in the archived images. As it turns
out, a typhoon in 2015 caused the objects to be revealed
from their mucky resting places long enough for the image
which the web sleuth discovered in 2020 to be snapped.
An expedition is planned for this year to make
positive identification of the aircraft. As far as I am
concerned, the mystery is solved. On July 2, 1937, Amelia
Earhart and navigator Fred Noonan landed on Nikumaroro
where they survived as castaways for at least five days
before perishing.
The above image shows the Taraia Peninsula on the lagoon.
Two long, blurry images can be seen in the water. They are
the fuselage and rear wings of the plane. For reference,
there is an overlay of scale sketches of those two components
of the plane.
Flu Cases Are On The Rise
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MEMBERS OF THE LEGENDARY
WYNN / KEENAN ACTING FAMILY
Family Tree Prepared By
John Fray, Jan. 28, 2025
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Frank Keenan
(1858-1929)
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Ed Wynn, Husband
(1900-1966)
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Hilda Keenan, Wife
(1891-1940)
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Keenan Wynn (1916-1986)
Son of Ed & Hilda
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Edwyna Wynn
Daughter of Keenan Wynn
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Tracy Keenan Wynn,
Son of Keenan Wynn
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Ned Wynn,
Son of Keenan Wynn
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Jessica Keenan Wynn
Daughter of Edwyna Wynn
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ON THIS DATE, JANUARY 25.
1945: The Allies Were Victorious in the Battle of the Bulge.
1938: The Aurora Borealis put on what may have
been its widest, most intense
display known in recorded history.
One hundred years ago, a solar eclipse line of totality
cut through NYC.
January 24, 1925, scientists set up cameras and other equipment
in northern New York City in order to observe the precise line
on earth which separated observing the total eclipse from the
partial eclipse. The newspapers alerted the public to the
rare phenomenon. On some streets, observers on one side
could see a full eclipse, whereas observers on the other side
saw a partial eclipse.
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$TRUMP
John Fray on Why Some Meme Coins Are Not Crypto Coins
January 26, 2025
Crypto coins are of a digital nature. They exist in a virtual
sense. There is no tangible aspect to their nature. Meme
coins are of a digital nature as well. Confusion arises
over the fact that some meme coins are indeed crypto coins,
whereas others are not.
The most famous crypto coin is the bitcoin, which is currently
trading at around $104,000. A given crypto coin is recognized
to exist, virtually, after somebody mines it. The mining process
entails discovering a digital block which fits into a blockchain.
After the block is discovered and proved to be a fit, the miner
is awarded a pre-determined fraction of a bit coin. The remaining
number of bitcoins to be mined is finite.
The most famous meme coin which is a crypto coin is the Doge coin.
The word "Doge" refers to a barking dog. Doge coins are mined.
There is a limit as to how many of them can be mined. Currently,
a Doge coin is trading at about $0.35. It fits the classification of
a meme coin because its name and dog-themed trademark are
whimsical. Also, a meme coin can be classified as such due to
its connection with a particular subject, cause or celebrity.
The most famous meme coin which is not a crypto coin is that
which was released a week ago by our country's current president.
It is not a mined coin. The coins are already allotted. The number
of coins is fixed at one billion. Businesses controlled by
the president own 800,000,000 coins. The remainder of the 200,000,000
coins are in virtual circulation. The coin is currently trading
at about $32. The president's businesses earn a commission on every trade
of one of the coins.
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THERE'S SOMETHING ABOUT TUMBLEWEED
Contrary to a remark which was reported in the news,
tumbleweed can not remain in a verdant condition.
The DNA of the shrub dictates that its twigs
and greenery die within a matter of a few years.
The dead, above-ground portion of
the shrub breaks away from its root when subjected
to strong winds.
The rolling dead shrub sheds its seeds and
spores for the purpose of propagating new shrubs.
This is the marvel of creation with regard to
this shrub, it must die in order to propagate.
There is no way by which it can be made to
remain in a verdant state.
John Fray, Jan. 25, 2025
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Monday, February 10, 2025, 8:30 PM.
Enjoying a delicious Made-To-Order burger
and a tasty cup of Columbian Blend
coffee at the Ellwood City Sheetz.
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The year 1972 saw the release of many great
classic rock recordings. The song "Easy Living" by
the British Band Uriah Heep was released in September 1972.
The recording reached No. 30 on the U.S. Billboard chart.
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Who Is The Black Dahlia?
1975 ABC TV Movie
Lucie Arnaz as Elizabeth Short
Ephrem Zimbalast, Jr., as Det. Hansen
This movie chilled me thoroughly when I caught it in
a re-broadcast on ABC TV in the summer of 1976.
January 14, 2025, marks the 78th anniversary of the crime.
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The movie, "The Right Stuff" (1983) is a 193-minute masterpiece
weaving the histories of the U.S. Mercury space flights and
the heroics of experimental aircraft pilots, notably Chuck Yeager.
The above scene is my favorite of the movie. The canteen owner,
Pancho Barnes (a real-life test pilot in the 1940s and 1950s)
is having none of the bragging of Mercury Space Program astronaut
Gordon Cooper.
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Cases of Influenza ("The Flu') are spiking across the area. I came down
with symptoms on Monday morning. The first few days were miserable
with a nagging dry cough and fatigue. I am thankful that I am
coming out of my bout with it. Click the above image for
information on how to fight Influenza Type A.
John Fray, Jan. 9
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The outside temperature may be in the mid-twenties, but the
basement workshop is now warm thanks to the newly-installed
natural gas heater.
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The King of Denmark has approved a re-designed Coat of Arms for
his country. The purpose of the revision is to place the
icons of the polar bear and goat in separate quadrants, thus
making them more prominent than in the previous design which
had them sharing the lower left quadrant. The polar bear is
the symbol of Greenland, and the goat is the symbol of
The Faroe Islands. Both locations are territories of Denmark.
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ENJOYING A TASTY CUP OF COFFEE
AT THE ELLWOOD CITY SHEETZ
ON NEWS YEAR'S DAY MORNING.
Had an active time celebrating
yesterday evening - NOT!
I am too old for all the revelry.
Coca-Cola and a 11:00 PM bedtime
were the order for the evening.
HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL!
May you receive blessings of
good health & happiness.
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LIGHTNING STRIKES THE U.S. CAPITOL
TUESDAY, DECEMBER 31, 2024, 8:30 PM
CLICK IMAGE FOR VIDEO OF STRIKE
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NOSTALGIA FOR THE 1950s-1960s
HUMAN CENTRIFUGES
Back in the 1950s-1960s, amusement parks featured centrifuge rides.
The riders would enter a cylindrical-shaped room and stand against
the curved wall. After everyone assumed their desired places,
the door closed and the room began to spin. As the rotation reached
its top speed, the riders felt themselves forced to the wall.
It was possible for a rider to wriggle around a bit and change
positions, but doing so required a good bit of effort to counter
the significant force of the ride. To add to the extraordinary effect,
the floor would drop down. I rode one of these attractions at an
amusement park in the 1960s. There are newer rides which offer
a somewhat similar experience, but the riders are positioned in
individual slots, each having a backward leaning slope. I think
the 1950s-1950s centrifuge rides were more interesting.
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DELICIOUS MONDAY SPECIAL AT CHRISTY'S:
TENDER BRAISED STEAK WITH
MASHED POTATOES & GRAVY
The generous serving of braised steak was sumptious.
Mashed potatoes with gravy is my favorite side.
Green beans balanced the delicious meal.
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CELEBRATING ARRIVAL OF THE NEW YEAR:
Accessing a YouTube stream of classical music is a reflective
approach to spending a few hours on New New's Eve.
Last year, I bought a bottle of ten-year-aged
Laphroaig Scotch whisky for the occasion, but it remains in
my cabinet still in its unopened paperboard tube.
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PROGRAMMING THE MASSES: HOW KDKA RADIO
SHAPED THE WAY PITTSBURGHERS VIEWED
THE CHRISTMAS SEASON.
For decades, KDKA radio, 1020 on the AM
dial, was the titan of the Pittsburgh Radio
market. The era I wish to focus on in this
post is from 1968 through 1975. The time of
year I wish to address is the Christmas
Season, and the broadcast hours which I feel
merit discussing are weekdays from 6:00 AM
to 12:00 PM. In the four or five weeks before
Christmas, the morning disc jockey, Jack Bogut,
(who started with the station in 1968), would
anchor the station's broadcasts from the
front window of the Joseph Horne Department
Store. The one Christmas song which I associate
best with the era is "Ring Christmas Bells"
(1962) by the Ray Coniff singers. That recording (as
well as the song itself) is
unusual, and to some people's tastes, downright bizarre.
However, it set the tone (in an unauthentic sense)
for traditional Christmases, seemingly rooted
in British observances. Mr. Bogut led the station's
appeal for donations to Children's Hospital. That
initiative was co-sponsored by a Pittsburgh
newspaper and was branded "The Old Newsboys' Drive."
Mr. Bogut provided humorous stories. Some of those
were of a far-fetched nature, such as the search for
the mythical perfect farkleberry tree. It was the era
of the Vietnam war with horrendously high weekly number
of U.S. soldiers killed in action. Somehow, KDKA
led its listeners to believe that adhering to
traditional Christmas tenets was worthwhile.
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Christy's: The Meals Are Superb. On
Dec. 24, Christmas Spirit Prevailed.
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MY THOUGHTS ON THE 1896-1897 AIRSHIP SIGHTINGS:
I believe that the many published reports of airship
sightings from about September 1896 through April 1897
are rooted in hoaxes, perpetrated in part by newspapers
seeking to increase their readership. I hope that I am
wrong and that at least some of the reported sightings were real.
I think is is neat to believe that there existed
a real mystery at play and that it will remain
unsolved for a long time, perhaps forever.
As I previously posted on this website, a
New Castle newspaper reported on April 23, 1897 that
a cigar-shaped airship was observed speeding south at a
relatively low altitude over the village of Energy, halfway
between New Castle and Ellwood City. The description of
the airship matched those from reports from the Midwest
which abounded in the weeks beforehand. The newspaper
article references reports which had come in the preceding
days from observers in Mercer County and in
counties in Eastern Ohio.
If we want to have fun and engage in silly speculation,
we could posit that the airship was real and that it was
headed to Rock Point where work was in progress to reopen
the amusement park which had fallen in disrepair.
In 1897, the owners of the site were about to open
"The New Rock Point" amusement park which would remain
in existence until about the year 1910.
As for land travel between New Castle and Ellwood
City in the year 1897, there was very little.
If there existed a highway which roughly followed
what is now Route 65, it was not highly traversable.
It would have been earthen and subject to becoming
very muddy in the spring. A few years later,the
streetcar track would be constructed along that route.
One purpose of this post is to give pause to
think of the fine
people who inhabited our area over 125 years ago.
They did not have comfortable transportation, let
alone utilities. They developed the land through
hard manual work. It is nice to read of first-hand
reports from them, even if they have the ring of
fantasy to them.
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View Coming out of Christy's Restaurant
Monday, December 23, 2024, 9:35 AM
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These two fellows wind up
at the brink of exhaustion.
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December Night Sky Check-In.
Nothing much to report from me. The sky was clear on Tuesday evening,
December 17, at 9:06 PM. In the above photo, the moon is seen two
days after fullness.
Out of view in the photo is the planet Mars. It was about five degrees
to the lower left of the moon. In the span from December 2024 through
early March 2025, Mars is in retrograde. During that span, Mars will
be moving from the constellation Leo into the constellation Cancer.
Happy sky watching!
John Fray, December 18, 2024
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What Became of Flight 19?
On December 5, 1945, a unit (i.e., a small squadron) of five torpedo bombers flew east
from Fort Lauderdale, FL, on a routine training exercise. As planned,
they dropped their mock ordinance at a location of small islands in the Atlantic Ocean
about 70 miles east of their departure site. Thereafter, the unit flew another
70 miles east to a point at which it was to turn left and proceed NNW a distance of
100 miles (over Big Bahama) and then turn sharp left and proceed SW 130 miles back
to Fort Lauderdale. Something went wrong. The squadron disappeared.
It is thought that the squadon commander mistook a small group of Bahama islands for
the Florida Keys and took a path northeast hoping to find mainland
Florida. Contributing to the confusion was a sudden storm which diminished visibility.
Apparently, the planes ran out of fuel north of the Bahamas and about 200 miles east of
Daytona Beach, and they ditched in the Atlantic Ocean. Interestingly, at sometime
in 1963, old wreckage of a Navy plane containing the remains of two crew members was
found in a swampy area near Sebastian, Florida. The rumour is that the plane was
from Flight 19. The Navy and Marines have never issued a definitive
statement as to the identity of the wreckage and its crew.
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Leona Lewis Sings
"One More Sleep"
From Her 2013 Album
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China House Restaurant
Serves Great Entrees For
Dining Or For Carryout
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Melissa Manchester Sings
"Just Too Many People"
From Her 1975 Album
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Pearl Harbor, Dec. 7, 1941
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