My memes mostly come at night. Mostly.

Just for fun, enjoy this tasty sampling of memes with your choice of an imaginary side dish. Mmmm...hot and fresh from the Strongarm Lab kitchen.

The images for Creepy Bacon, Protest Sign, Golden Shower, are Special Occasions are originals taken by me. Feel free to share their meme forms.

 

 

Planet X, you say?

 (Image copyright NASA. Artist’s conception based upon how nice dark blue looks. Pretty.)

Headlines and news vids around the net recently announced the findings of two California Institute of Technology (Caltech) scientists which point toward the possible existence of a Neptune sized planet well beyond the orbit of Pluto. Dubbed “Planet Nine”, this object, if it exists, fits the mathematical models Mike Brown and Konstantin Batygin used to explain some of the more unusually organized behavior of known objects in the massive, debris filled area called the Kuiper Belt.

Think of it this way. You are playing pinball. You are in the zone intertwined with ball and the board on the way to claiming that sweet, sweet high score. But something is wrong. With unusual regularity, the pinball moves in a way it should not. In an open area of the board the ball moves as if it is striking an invisible bumper. You drop quarter after to quarter in order to study its movements before coming to the inescapable conclusion that there IS a bumper there, just not visible to the naked eye. That’s what these researchers did. The wobbles of these celestial objects were so regular that the only logical explanation that fit the math was the existence of a Gas Giant class planet well beyond the orbit of the dwarf planet Pluto tugging and pushing its neighbors with its gravitational well. The object is so far out, according to their simulations, that its orbit would take anywhere from 10, 000 to 20,000 years to complete.[i] That’s still a better margin of error then some weather forecasters. 

(Read out loud in using your best Christian Bale impression.)

The public has responded with its usual lackluster response to space news. “Come on,” people carp. “It’s a bazillion miles away and the Middle East is burning and Trump is a lunatic and Bernie is a communist and the Oscars are too white and I’m getting older and I can’t shed these last ten pounds and my spouse hasn’t touched me in weeks and blah blah blah.” Nobody cares about what’s out there because of all the crazy we have to sort through right here.

Well, not everyone.

Around the globe, a not so small group of humans with a penchant for the unconventional fell off their collective chairs when the news hit. Most stood back up on shaky legs but some stayed on the floor rocking to and fro in a tight fetal position. 

Planet Nine could actually be PLANET X. 

(Artist Unknown. Image not to scale.)

This next bit is a simplification of a great deal of information. My goal here is to whet your appetite so you peruse libraries, bookstores, and the Interwebs to learn more on your own because the subject of Planet X, in both mainstream and fringe studies, has a long history. There have been dozens of books written on the subject, along with hundreds of hours of video produced. Most of it planted enjoyably on the fringe side of the aisle. 

The idea of planets in the outer reaches of the solar system is not new. Astronomer Percival Lowell in the early 1900’s was one of the first who brought the idea of a Planet X-like object to the larger public. The idea itself, however, dates back to the mid-1800’s and the work of European astronomers who, like the pinball metaphor above, noticed Neptune’s obit was not regular. While Lowell’s work poured the foundation for the discovery of Pluto, he was known during his lifetime largely as a proponent of life on Mars and then a proponent of the Planet X theory. He built the observatory which bears his name in the hopes of finding this new world. He never did. Lowell died in 1916, but in 1930 a researcher using newer tech did find a celestial body whose initials are a nod to Lowell. Pluto, however, was found to be far too small to explain what astronomers were seeing. The search continued. Mainstream astronomers paid fleeting attention to the Planet X theory during the next few decades. But our next actor in the drama earned a degree in economics before teaching himself the Sumerian system of Cuneiform writing. Enter stage left, Zecharia Sitchin.

 

(Sitchin)

Cuneiform was a method of writing, as well as a style. It was largely done by pressing shapes representing letters or concepts into a clay tablet. If left undisturbed, clay tablets have a fantastic lifespan. Sitchin translated the origin stories of the Sumerians (which date before 2500 B.C.) in the frame of mind of alternate historians/ancient alien theorists like Erich von Däniken who claim ancient humans documented, as best they could, actual events using the words and concepts at their disposal. Sitchin, therefore, postulated if the Sumerian text said a god flew down on a fiery chariot then that’s exactly what happened within the contextual and technological understanding of the observer. No metaphors. No symbolism. Just the facts, ma’am. It is a tempting way of looking at stories and legends from the past, if you think about it. Ask yourself how often you knowingly chose symbolism as your means of documenting your life. Not often, I’d wager. Try if for a week on social media and see how it flies. See how long it takes before friends ask you to stop screwing around and say what you’re trying to say. That’s something to remember when we’re tempted by the ‘those dumb people in the past’ siren. We may have more facts and the accompanying larger vocabulary than our ancient brethren, but we aren’t smarter. I coined the phrase “temporal-centricity” in a novel I wrote to describe the, “My time is the most enlightened time!” fallacy.[ii] Lest we forget, one day, we will be those ‘those dumb people in the past’. 

The story he found through his translations, and which he argued for and expanded upon for the rest of his life is, is that we are a created race. Humans were literally crafted by combing alien DNA with proto-humans some 450,000 years ago in order to create a slave race for the purposes of mining gold. Our creators are a race called the Anunnaki. They harken from, wait for it, a planet that lurks most of time in the far reaches of the solar system called Nibiru. I say most of the time because Nibiru reportedly has a wide orbit that brings it into the core of our system every 3,600 years. You may be thinking to yourself, “Self (which is an odd way to start a sentence), that sounds like that is a very BAD thing.” You and yourself would be right. The gravitational forces would cause wide weather disruptions at best and possible planetary destruction at worst. Some veins of the Nibiru story suggest the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter used to be a planet which fell victim to Nibiru. So you can understand why some believers of the Nibiru theory think its closing time for the human race. Need more reason to worry? David Bowie died. Some believers are so going far as to claim the recent rash of celebrity deaths (Bowie, Rickman, Lemmy, Angelil, Haggerty, and Frey) is all part of an elaborate escape plan by the elite! I know what you’re thinking Dan Haggerty? Grizzly Adams? An Elite? I only report on this stuff. Don’t stone the messenger. But. Why else would David Bowie name his “last” album BLACK STAR while the track most closely inspired by his impending death, LAZARUS, is titled after a man who died and then stood back up?[iii]  And then there’s this tidbit. On January 7^th, three days before Bowie’s death, NASA stated it has, “… formalized its ongoing program for detecting and tracking near-Earth objects (NEOs) as the Planetary Defense Coordination Office (PDCO).”[iv]  Planetary Defense Coordination Office. What a great name. What a great What aren’t they telling us? sort of name. Just a coincidence of timing, I’m sure. Yes. Move along citizen…    

So, there’s the landscape for you to digest. We have mainstream theories about a massive, far flung dark world whose gravity makes Neptune wobbles like a drunk freshman. We have fringe theories about a far flung planet whose inhabitants not only messed with Earth in the distant past, but whose existence could spell doom for us all. Both parties seemingly had a major breakthrough with the announcement of Planet X. I find that fascinating. It is why I wrote this blog, honestly. I wanted to put forth both schools of thought in the hope you, gentle reader, might use them as a springboard into enjoying both main street science along with the free range thinking of the fringe. It doesn’t have to be one or the other. We can enjoy both. The world is a much stranger and wonderful and unknown then we give it credit for. I say kudos to expanding our knowledge while flexing our cross-referencing skills to mix and match ideas that normally would not be caught dead together.

NOW GO EXPLORE!

Two quick notes before you GO EXPLORE! First, Sitchin’s own niece Janet Sitchin doesn’t think Planet X is Nibiru due to the difference in the orbit durations: 3600 vs. 10,000 to 20,000 years. Unless something, she notes, happened to Nibiru.[v] Yikes. Maybe the gold the needed to fix their atmosphere didn’t work. Second, here’s a link to a song by one of the most interesting creators I’ve ever found. He called himself Doctor Phineas Waldolf Steel . His music and videos productions introduced me to the Anunnaki theory amongst other things. In fitting fashion he retired/disappeared several years ago and has not formally been heard from again. I interviewed him once. Here’s the link. http://strongarmlabs.blogspot.com/2008/12/strongarm-interview-3-dr-steel.html

 

Fan made video of Planet X Marks the Spot https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s0dOUX46e2o

The Lyrics:

Mission Control, this is Mars Two-Niner-Five, ready for departure.
Uh, Earth. The planet Earth.
Roger, countdown is go in T Minus five, four, three, two, one.

Through space I shall roam
From the base to my home
In my rocket I soar in a daze

Blastin' the asteroid field
I'm trying not to get killed
I'm dodging Mars bars and old Milky Ways

This planet's stinky
I should call up Enki
And say "What were you thinkin'?
Look at the mess you made!"

Disposable humans that you made from a monkey
This planet has gone to the apes

Planet X marks the spot
Planet X marks the spot

So I'm ditchin' and hitchin' a ride
I got my Sitchin guide
He's my Nibiru guru

To endure three thousand, six hundred years
Is far too long, I'm gone
I'm knock, knock, knocking on heaven's door

Planet X marks the spot
Planet X marks the spot
Planet X marks the spot
Planet X marks the spot

Walk through the gate
(Eeaaa)
Welcome the creature you made
(Eeaaa)
Embrace your disgrace
(Eeaaa)

You took your pinches of clay
You made us, raised us in days
And then you threw us away

And now you're scouting with Greys
And simply counting the days
Down till you cruise back by and blow us away

And we dance
Blissful unawareness as we dance

Planet X marks the spot
Planet X marks the spot
Planet X marks the spot
Planet X marks the spot
Planet X
Planet X
Planet X, X, X
Planet X[vi]

---

[i] http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/news/2016/01/21/caltech-researchers-find-evidence-of-a-real-ninth-planet

[ii] http://strongarmlabs.blogspot.com/2014/08/this-book-is-free.html

[iii] http://beforeitsnews.com/christian-news/2016/01/elite-preparing-to-escape-nibiru-planet-x-celebrity-death-connection-the-bowie-breakaway-lazarus-space-flowers-gods-wrath-2522280.html

[iv] http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.php?release=2016-007

[v] http://www.sitchin.com/

[vi] http://lyrics.wikia.com/wiki/Dr._Steel:Planet_X_Marks_The_Spot

A clean slate for the New Year.

This year I resolve to eliminate negative influences in my life. 
Happy 2016!

Home(stead) for the Holidays

 

Friends and family gather at the Holidays to share stories, exchange gifts, and to check out overly explored haunted sites. Am I right, or am I right?

Meet the Saratoga County Homestead. This little darling sits in Providence, NY. From what I learned online it was built around 1912 and opened in 1914 as a treatment facility for tuberculosis. It closed in 1960 after medical science had nearly eradicated the illness in the U.S. thanks to advancements in antibiotics. In 1961 it reopened as the Saratoga County Infirmary. The facility remained open until 1979 serving as the county nursing home. The brick structures in my photos were built about 1932 to replace the original wood buildings. (Many of the sites I found while researching the place basically had cut-n-pastes of the Wiki page, just FYI[i].)

 

The drive was uneventful as we passed through small Adirondack town who have seen better days. The narrow roads were populated by homes built well apart from each other. The town centers that still exist consisted largely of either a church or a convenience store at a crossroads. This is the first glimpse of the structure we saw and it came as quite a shock given the dense pine forests we just drove through.

Looking to the left greets you with this little fixer-upper. The old caretaker’s home. We learned this from a very friendly local woman who arrived with equally shocking speed after we parked. Within no more than five minutes (perhaps shorter) we had neighbors down the road checking us out, we had the aforementioned female motorist accompanied by a quiet passenger and a cute Shih Tzu stop to chat, and a black SUV with very impressive flashing lights mounted on its dash pacing up and down the road. The SUV driver never approached us, but he did park very sternly from time to time -at a safe distance- with his headlights pointed at us. Incidentally, the woman claimed her father died in the facility in the early sixties from a non-TB lung ailment brought on by industrial population where he worked. She said she remembers climbing the grand staircase located just inside the main doorway as a little girl. She also said the faculty staff were not…caring. I’ll just leave it at that.

The place is quite large and quite rundown. I am all for exploring but I believe the signs adorning the fence warning of poison inside the building. We did not go in for that and other reasons. I’ve seen photos of its rooms. They are covered with thick dust from the crumbling walls and ceilings. A good amount of that dust is likely to be asbestos given the age of facility. Asbestos was used in everything from wiring to insulation to sounds proofing until the 1980’s. So yeah, a building built to treat a disease of the lungs could potentially give you lung cancer. I’m just saying.

Looking at the windows tells you the people around here: A. Hate windows. And B. Come and go with regularity. Yet, the only death I could find linked to exploring the facility was from a car crash. A group of high schoolers from a nearby town were reportedly passing another vehicle at high speeds when the driver lost control tragically killing a passenger.  Authorities made it known they suspected the teens were in the area due to the Homestead, but it was never concretely proven[ii].  I did however find an independent horror film from 2008 called The Expedition on IMDB[iii].  I can’t find a scrap of primary evidence on this “based on a true story” thriller about a missing Canadian paranormal investigator. The reviews on Amazon are worth reading[iv]. Here a link to the trailer on Youtube. It was narrated by Batman, if that helps. 

https://youtu.be/CPP9bmjsQEE  

And we transition…

To the children’s wing. Sights like this make me sad. Anyway, the symbol over the doorway adorning the shield is the Cross of Lorraine. You may recognize it as the symbol of the American Lung Association. The ALA originated from the fight against tuberculosis in 1904[v].

 

Here’s the same building in 1941 sometime before the road we used was made[vi].

Finally, here’s a peek inside the building found on YouTube. Note the staircase at 1:30. I believe that is the same staircase our friendly motorist remembers climbing to visit her father before he died. There are a number of similar vids uploaded to the site, of course. 

https://youtu.be/Io_qtVqnbdM

Would you do everyone a kindness and please DO NOT trespass to explore the place. I genuinely don’t think it is safe (Remember the asbestos, not to mention all the glass and debris.) and I genuinely think you will get arrested. Exploring the unknown safely while respecting legal boundaries is the best way to stay an explorer and not add to the ghostly or prison populations.

Now you know and knowing is half the battle!

---

[i] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saratoga_County_Homestead

[ii] http://www.dailygazette.com/news/2012/mar/20/0320_hospital/

[iii] http://www.imdb.com/media/rm4151674880/tt1457759?ref_=tt_ov_i 

[iv] http://www.amazon.com/The-Expedition-Unavailable/dp/B001DTD39M

[v] http://www.lung.org/about-us/mission-impact-and-history/our-history.html 

[vi] http://www.saratogacountyny.gov/departments/saratoga-county-clerk/the-way-we-were/the-way-we-were-town-of-providence/

I am Very Offended that I could not come up with a better title for this blog.

 

“Only two things are infinite - the universe and human stupidity.”

-Incorrectly attributed to Albert Einstein. He never said it.

“Only two things are infinite - the universe and the human capacity to find new ways to take offense.”

-Me.

Not sure how the world will become a better place by piling words and ideas on the altar of THAT WHICH MUST NEVER BE MENTIONED. Never worked that great in the past. I might be wrong but I see anger more than anything else growing from these latest iterations of an artificial womb, like Safe Spaces (love that term), because they fail to address the underlining stresses or problems. People in these bubbles[i] know they are temporary, at best, and that an entire world lurks outside in the shadows whispering concepts and notions frightfully different from their own. This makes many scared or mad, two emotions a famous philosopher warned us about a long time ago.

The solution is spreading their bubble further and further to block/condemning yet more words and ideas (Law of Unintended Consequences anyone?) until it inevitably brushes against someone else’s bubble. We then have COMBAT BY DISCOMFORT with the victor being determined by greatest level of offence. All the while real problems like, oh, hunger, disease, and child abuse are left almost untouched by critical thought or analysis, and therefore bereft of real action or solution. They continue to run amok.

For example, college campuses (in theory) are places of intellectual diversity and exploration built to birth and nurture new ideas and concepts. A type of abstract battleground of words, if you will, designed to strengthen the student’s mind. Instead we find comedians (the people whose job it is to make people laugh) shunning campuses due to the rising waters of political correctness[ii]. A chill wind of sameness is winding its way into classroom and boardroom. I can’t help but wonder what pioneers of free thought and speech like Lenny Bruce or George Carlin, whatever their faults, would make of this. And thought comes first, don’t forget. Thought precedes speech and action, which is why I elected to mention colleges. Think about that, won’t you.

Stick and stone will break my bones, but names will never hurt me. Yes and No. I dare say we’ve all had our feelings crushed by the words of another at some time. We’ve all been called horrible names, been lied to and about, had our hearts broken, had jerk bosses, so on and so forth. These are unfortunately some of the typical results of humans existing. My life has been no different. I have emotional scars from words. The challenge is to not take our individual grievances and elevate them to the same level of importance as society. It is not society’s job to protect me from hurt feelings. It is, however, my job to become a fully developed human being secure in my self-worth DESPITE the best efforts of the large number of human sphincters walking about the planet. How about we accept the fact assholes (not to be confused with truly evil, hateful Bastards) roam the planet and always will. How about instead of running from uncomfortable ideas we instead stand our ground. A bit more BRING IT!, philosophically speaking.

Just a thought.

Sorry if it offends you…

---

[i] To clarify, I am not singling out one group or political ideology. I see intellectual isolationism in MANY schools of thought and worldviews. No group is immune from it, and no group is 100% free from it because all groups are made from people, kind of like Soylent Green.

[ii] https://www.thewrap.com/comedians-avoiding-campus-when-did-universities-lose-their-sense-of-humor/

All memes found via Google image search. No copyrights claimed.