The Amazing Things You Learn On Twitter

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About Tony Heller

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50 Responses to The Amazing Things You Learn On Twitter

  1. Disillusioned says:

    What a mental midget looks like.

  2. gator69 says:

    I wonder if Stefano knows that the former head of the IPCC was a railroad engineer, and is now known as ‘the defendant’? Among other things…

  3. richard says:

    From that one observation I see more climatologist in Mark Twain than that bunch of pretend climatologists today.

  4. And it’s not even right. Mark Twain was not an author. Mark Twain was an author’s pen name. 😛

  5. DGP says:

    Is there actually a #MarkTwain on Twitter?

  6. Stephen Richards says:

    So Stephano, do you think that authors can’t count or that they don’t recognise a change in weather or ……. something else

  7. TomE says:

    The more I read stupid comments made on Twitter the more I realize I will never have a twitter account.

  8. Michael 2 says:

    Whereas I am almost tempted to subscribe to Twitter for its entertainment value. That is to say, it might rise to the level of temptation, and a bit more rise to actually do it.

    I suppose if I knew its purpose, beyond insulting other people, I might be more interested.

  9. darrylb says:

    Mark Twain was an author, Now Samuel Clemens on the other hand…

    Actually I used a Mark Twain quote at the beginning of first year chemistry—It was part of a hand out dealing with errors and beginning statistical analysis of results

    In his usual cynical humor he began with an outlandish story which concluded with (as I remember)…
    THERE IS SOMETHING FASCINATING ABOUT SCIENCE,
    ONE GETS A WHOLESALE RETURN OF CONJECTURE ON SUCH A MINIMAL INVESTMENT OF FACT.

    And in the case of climate science, too often even the facts are missing or twisted.

  10. sfx2020 says:

    The entire quote

    “In the space of one hundred and seventy-six years the Lower Mississippi has shortened itself two hundred and forty-two miles. That is an average of a trifle over one mile and a third per year. Therefore, any calm person, who is not blind or idiotic, can see that in the Old Oolitic Silurian Period, just a million years ago next November, the Lower Mississippi River was upwards of one million three hundred thousand miles long, and stuck out over the Gulf of Mexico like a fishing-rod. And by the same token any person can see that seven hundred and forty-two years from now the Lower Mississippi will be only a mile and three-quarters long, and Cairo and New Orleans will have joined their streets together, and be plodding comfortably along under a single mayor and a mutual board of aldermen. There is something fascinating about science. One gets such wholesale returns of conjecture out of such a trifling investment of fact.
    – Life on the Mississippi”

    • AndyG55 says:

      Seems Mark Twain had quite a good understanding of how “climate science™” works, even back then.

    • Menicholas says:

      Sounds like perhaps he was making fun of a survey of oxbow lakes and other such vestiges which occur as a mature river in the natural state periodically takes a new path through it’s floodplain. One the river was channelized and levees constructed, this natural process was halted. I believe the Mississippi has now become so distorted by the steps taken to contain it in it’s present channel, that the bottom of the river is well above the surrounding land. Note what occurs if a levee does break nowadays.
      OT I know, forgive me. Physical Geography is a truly fascinating subject of study.

      • gator69 says:

        The last lock and dam is located near St Louis, and they are not required below that. The river is only above ground level down in the delta region, except during floods. The levee system has opened up vast areas of farmland that previously would flood annually, this constriction has made modern floods worse as the water cannot spread out, and can only go up.

        Above the confluence of the Missouri River (Just north of St Louis), the Mississippi takes on a very different character, and improved water quality. Over half of the sediment that empties into the Gulf of Mexico comes from one river, the Missouri.

        • I used to live on that turd highway (the Missouri, I mean). Many years ago the Anheuser-Busch marketing yobs rented a few billboards that said “Budweiser and the Might Missouri River: two Kansas City Classics”. Needless to say, many of us were just a bit surprised they dared to finally come clean about the source of their unique flavour. Trade secrets & all that.

        • rah says:

          The levies can only do so much. When the Mighty Mississip gets a bone in her teeth there is no stopping it. Just about four years ago I think it was I was driving by crews sand bagging and pumping to keep I-55 open in SE Missouri for a couple weeks as I made my way back and forth from Laredo, TX.

        • gator69 says:

          I used to help sandbag, and once helped the Corp of Engineers determine the sandbag height needed to save Clarksville Missouri. You could literally see the water rising.

          After surveying the coming water level, I saw a group of women dressed in khakis and t-shirts who appeared to need a hand, and I jumped in thinking they were a local garden club. They were very friendly and obviously enjoyed my company. Later one said to me, “Just don’t get on the bus with us at the end of the day”. I was puzzled for a moment until I saw an armed prison guard about 50 feet away. 😆

      • Anthony S says:

        Where the Atchafalaya River branches off from the Mississippi, The Mississippi’s bed is 30 ft above the Atchafalaya, and were it not for a battery of spillway control structures, the Mississippi would have diverted down the Atchafalaya some decades ago. Interestingly, this condition was caused by an artificial oxbow cutting and clearing a log jam, which accelerated water flow. If a flood were to destroy the spillways, it is likely that the shift in flow down the Atchafalaya would be permanent.

        https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Geomorphology_of_Old_River.jpg
        https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_River_Control_Structure

    • gator69 says:

      Great quote from a truly great author and thinker.

      The Cairo to which he referred is at the Southern tip of Illinois (pronounced ‘Kay-roe’) by the locals, and was predicted to be bigger than Chicago (Due to its proximity to major river confluences). North-east of Cairo is a ghost town called ‘America’, all that is left there now are a few run down houses and a historical marker. After the British burned DC during the War of 1812, it was proposed that we move the nations capital to a less vulnerable location, and one closer to the new nation’s center. A wealthy land owner, who also owned a large mine nearby, lobbied congress to consider his ground for this move. This bit of history has been almost completely forgotten, and I only learned about it in my college days, exploring that region looking for new trails to hike, and historic towns to photograph.

      Cairo itself is little more than a large ghost town, with beautiful 19th century homes and buildings from its boom time, mostly falling down.

      https://focusmidwest.files.wordpress.com/2009/07/cairo-illinois1.jpg

      http://images.topix.com/gallery/up-QDNIP8VFLT4G9M8L.jpg

      http://images.fineartamerica.com/images-medium-large/bass-sales-co-cairo-illinois-grant-groberg.jpg

      http://facweb.bhc.edu/academics/science/harwoodr/rhweb/Illinois2008/Images/D075-118.jpg

      During the steamboat era, between river and rail traffic it was thriving, if a bit smoky.

      http://www.lib.niu.edu/2001/ihy0104482.jpg

      • Kozlowsky says:

        Amazing pictures. Thanks for sharing. & sorry if all OT.

      • rah says:

        Not much different than most of the old river towns of the Midwest and elsewhere. Most of them show vestiges of their past wealth and grandness if one takes the time to really look.

        But when I think of Cairo I am always reminded of the Pook Turtles and the remains of the USS Cairo at Vicksburg. http://www.nps.gov/vick/learn/historyculture/uss-cairo-gunboat.htm

        • gator69 says:

          The levee system actually wiped out many river towns. One of the things I collect is old maps (I spent some time as a cartography student for my Remote Sensing degree), and there were entire river towns that were literally buried beneath the levees. A few were moved back a mile or so, but the original towns are gone.

          Some day I will have to visit the Vicksburg Park, and see that old boat.

        • rah says:

          Suggest you go with someone familiar with the field to gain the best understanding. Vicksburg is the most difficult battlefield to interpret of the NPS Civil War battlefield parks IMO and I’ve been to all of them. The lines moved to and fro until it settled into a long siege and to make matters worse the Mississippi river changed course in 1876.

          The story of Pook and his turtles is a great one. The Confederacy never built any River boat that could match those iron clads and so the initiative and deep pockets of a patriot combined with the genius and expertise of the builder materially changed the course of the Civil war.

        • gator69 says:

          I had planned to go with my father, before he passed, and just really haven’t felt as compelled to go now that he is gone.

          My mother’s side of the family had a revolutionary war officer, who was granted what is now East Ridge Tennessee and the Dalton Georgia area for his services. He built a home by an enormous spring that is now used as a water source for the city of Chattanooga. Later that house was used as a field hospital during the Battle of Chickamauga, and the house is still there.

          That’s one reason why I love the Chattanooga area.

      • In Lincoln’s time, the lower part of Illinois was referred to as Egypt. I don’t know if it still is.

        • gator69 says:

          There is still a part of Southern Illinois referred to as Little Egypt…

          “The nickname “Egypt” may have arisen in the 1830s, when poor harvests in the north of the state drove people to Southern Illinois to buy grain. Others say it was because the land of the great Mississippi and Ohio River valleys were like that of Egypt’s Nile delta. According to Hubbs, the nickname may date back to 1818, when a huge tract of land was purchased at the confluence of the rivers and its developers named it Cairo /?k??ro?/ Today, the town of Cairo still stands on the peninsula where the Ohio River joins the Mississippi. Other settlements in the area were also given names with Egyptian, Greek or Middle Eastern origins: The Southern Illinois University Salukis sports teams and towns such as Metropolis, Thebes, Dongola, Palestine, Lebanon, New Athens /nju? ?e???nz/, Sparta, and Karnak show the influence of classical culture. (Greek names were also related to the contemporary national pride in the new republic of the early 19th century, and were given to towns throughout the Midwest.) Egyptian names were concentrated in towns of Little Egypt but also appeared in towns further south. For instance, about 100 miles (200 km) south of Cairo, along the Mississippi, lies Memphis, Tennessee, named after the Egyptian city on the Nile.

          Although Illinois was a free state prior to the American Civil War, in Little Egypt some residents still owned slaves. Illinois law generally forbade bringing slaves into Illinois, but a special exemption was given to the salt works near Equality.

          http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southern_Illinois#Origin_of_.22Little_Egypt.22_name

          Decades ago I visited what is called ‘The Old Slave House’ near Garden of the Gods, and it was nearly demolished because of its horrific history. But like Auschwitz, the citizens realized its importance as a reminder of how evil humans can be, and a warning to future generations. It is currently closed to the public for archaeological exploration…

          Landowner and slave trader John Hart Crenshaw leased the state-owned salt works[5] located at the Illinois Salines, two saline springs along the Saline River near Equality that were important sources of salt since prehistory.[6] Salt was vital to the early American frontier economy, both as a nutrient and as a means to preserve food. Illinois was a free state, and the Illinois State Constitution bans slavery. However, the law permitted the use of slaves at the salt works since the labor was so arduous that no free men could be found to do it.[citation needed] As the lessee of the salt works, Crenshaw was therefore the only Illinois resident legally entitled to keep slaves, and Crenshaw became remarkably wealthy. At one point, Crenshaw’s taxes amounted to one-seventh of the revenue of the entire state. Crenshaw owned thousands of acres of land, in addition to the 30,000 acres (120 km²) he leased from the state, and more than 700 slaves.[7] In 1838, Crenshaw and his brother Abraham used this wealth to build the mansion on Hickory Hill, a few miles from the salt works near the town of Junction.

          The Crenshaw House was a “station” on the Reverse Underground Railroad that transported escaped slaves and kidnapped free blacks back to servitude in slave states. The home’s third floor attic contains 12 rooms long believed to be where Crenshaw operated a secret slave jail for kidnapped free black and captured runaway slaves.

          http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crenshaw_House_%28Gallatin_County,_Illinois%29#/media/File:The_Old_Slave_House.jpg

          http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crenshaw_House_%28Gallatin_County,_Illinois%29

          Crenshaw had a prime stud of a slave known as Uncle Bob, was said to have fathered as many as 300 children. The history of this house is unique, and grotesque. Lincoln stayed the night there in 1840. The back of the house had a secret door large enough for a horse drawn carriage to enter, and a secret stairway that led up to slave holding cells in the attic.

      • gregole says:

        Awesome photos and history Gator. Thanks!

        • gator69 says:

          Thanks! I am a history geek, and tried not to dominate this page. Glad you appreciated my geekyness.

        • What else can one do with a thread about Stefano nothing, especially since there’s nothing we can do about it?

          I enjoyed your diversion, Gator (once I was done realizing that Mark Twain was an author).

  11. nielszoo says:

    … and as someone who grew up along the shores of the Mississippi I thought “mark twain” meant two fathoms. Funny, that’s also what Samuel Clemens thought it meant as well when he took it as his pen name. I’m so glad we have liberals and Twitter to sort out all these complicated things.

  12. sfx2020 says:

    “Mark Twain” (meaning “Mark number two”) was a Mississippi River term: the second mark on the line that measured depth signified two fathoms, or twelve feet—safe depth for the steamboat.

    http://bancroft.berkeley.edu/Exhibits/MTP/mississippi.html

  13. Hugh K says:

    I see this as a breakthrough – Even if briefly, abandoning fantasyland for reality, one lib at a time.

  14. Dave N says:

    In the Twitter, you can encounter millions of different kinds of stupid in 24 hours; Stefano S is just one of them.

  15. sfx2020 says:

    Twitter is worse than the internet. Because at least nobody (in the US) is censoring the internet.

  16. Athelstan. says:

    Stefano, thanks for sharing and letting slip a true intellect with remarkable powers of observation.

    Tough on you and all, no time for reading and stuff.

  17. Truthseeker says:

    More proof that Twitter is for twits …

  18. spren says:

    Twain also said “The coldest winter I ever experienced was the summer I spent in San Francisco.”

  19. kirkmyers says:

    Having no facts or argument to make, Stefano S resorts to the timeworn “Appeal to Authority.” By the way, Twain was a heckuva lot smarter than most of today’s babbling ignoramuses who labor under the title of “climatologist.”

  20. rah says:

    This day in 1862 saw the second day of the largest battle so far in the Civil War. That’s right, the first really big battle with the very high casualty figures that would characterize the big battles to come in the east, was fought in the west. And Confederate General Albert Sidney Johnston considered to be the best of the Confederate generals of that time was killed during the first days battle. It was the terrible casualties of this battle which swept aside the romantic notions of war and forced the people of both sides to face the reality of how costly the civil war could be.

    http://www.civilwar.org/battlefields/shiloh/maps/battle-of-shiloh-animated.html

    Grant was villified for what happened despite having ultimately won the battle. There were accusations that he was drinking again. Accusations that he should have had his Army dug in. And calls for Lincoln to relieve him of command. Lincoln, recognizing that Grant was a fighter, refused. It appears that much of the criticism Grant received originated with Maj. Gen.Henry W. Halleck and his political allies. Halleck was Grant’s superior as commander of the department under which Grant served. But Halleck coveted Grant’s field command and was jealous of his successes and the fact he was a rising star. Halleck was a great administrator and organizer but a failure as a general in the field. Once Lincoln promoted Halleck to Chief of Staff, a position for which he was well suited because of his organized and methodical ways, Grant really only had to answer to Lincoln.

    General Lew Wallace, the man who eventually went on to author Ben Hur, commanded a Division on the Union side during that battle. Because of messages arriving from Grant out of sequence of their issuance, and unfamiliarity with the terrain, his Division arrived hours later than expected after the fighting of the first desperate day was done. Wallace would never serve under Grant again but did continue to provide good service throughout the war. His house stands as a Museum in Crawfordsville, IN though the great tree under which he sat writing Ben Hur no longer stands having been lost in a tornado years ago.

    It was at this battle that Sherman was redeemed in the eyes of his peers and those in Washington. He would not have been there if not for his friend Grant.

    Eleven year old John Clem became a legend as the drummer boy of the 22nd Michigan Volunteer Infantry. He would eventually retire as a Brig. Gen.

    The battle occurred in the vicinity of a little log church named Shiloh. Shiloh was the Confederate name given the battle and is the most recognized name for that engagement. Shiloh is a Hebrew word that means peace.

    If any of you happen to be in SW Tennessee a visit to the very well preserved and marked field might not be a bad way to spend a day. My grandfather had an artillery shell he scavenged from the battlefield as a kid.

  21. gator69 says:

    Why does Twitter allow this, and ban singular accounts for non-infractions?

    There is on Twitter this thing called StopRush, and it’s people attacking me and this program much the way Indiana is being attacked today, and whatever conservative institution was attacked yesterday. What this group does is they go after local advertisers on local EIB affiliates, and they try to intimidate local businesses. This cake shop is an example, I don’t know if they’re one, but like this little mom-and-pop businesses. They just overwhelm them with complaint tweets, threatening tweets, a bunch of e-mails.

    It’s 10 people. We researched it. We know who the people are. We know where they live. Virtually 85% of all the so-called outrage e-mails and tweets are generated by 10 people, made to look as though they are thousands and thousands and thousands. It’s all fake. It’s all phony. It’s all part of a left-wing, massive smear operation. It’s defamation, it’s smear, it’s everything you can imagine. But it’s made to look legit, and it does look legit until you get into it. It just scares the hell out of people. So here’s this bakery shutting down because Twitter hummed with outrage.

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