Old Sailors' Almanac - Week 12, 2020 (Fluid Design based on percentage of screen platform

Annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation on March 18, 2014

Annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation: On this day Russia formally incorporated Crimea as two federal subjects of the Russian Federation.

In late February 2014, just days after the end of the Maidan Revolution and Victor Yanukovych’s flight from Kyiv, “little green men” - a term coined by Ukrainians—began seizing key facilities on the Crimean peninsula. The little green men were clearly professional soldiers by their bearing, carried Russian weapons, and wore Russian combat fatigues, but they had no identifying insignia. Vladimir Putin originally denied they were Russian soldiers; that April, he confirmed they were.

By early March, the Russian military had control of Crimea. Crimean authorities then proposed a referendum, which was held on March 16. It proved an illegitimate sham. To begin with, the referendum was illegal under Ukrainian law. Moreover, it offered voters two choices: to join Russia, or to restore Crimea’s 1992 constitution, which would have entailed significantly greater autonomy from Kyiv. Those on the peninsula who favored Crimea remaining a part of Ukraine under the current constitutional arrangements found no box to check.

The referendum unsurprisingly produced a Soviet-style result: 97 percent allegedly voted to join Russia with a turnout of 83 percent. A true referendum, fairly conducted, might have shown a significant number of Crimean voters in favor of joining Russia. Some 60 percent were ethnic Russians, and many might have concluded their economic situation would be better as a part Russia.

It was not, however, a fair referendum. It was conducted in polling places under armed guard, with no credible international observers, and with Russian journalists reporting that they had been allowed to vote. Two months later, a member of Putin’s Human Rights Council let slip that turnout had been more like 30 percent, with only half voting to join Russia.

Regardless, Moscow wasted no time. Crimean and Russian officials signed a “treaty of accession” just two days later, on March 18. Spurred by a fiery Putin speech, ratification by Russia’s rubberstamp Federation Assembly and Federation Council was finished by March 21.

Attempts to Justify

Moscow’s actions violated the agreement among the post-Soviet states in 1991 to accept the then-existing republic borders. Those actions also violated commitments to respect Ukraine’s sovereignty, territorial integrity, and independence that Russia made in the 1994 Budapest Memorandum on Security Assurances for Ukraine and 1997 Ukrainian-Russian Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Partnership.

In late March 2014, Russia had to use its veto to block a U.N. Security Council resolution that, among other things, expressed support for Ukraine’s territorial integrity (there were 13 yes votes and one abstention). The Russians could not, however, veto a resolution in the U.N. General Assembly. It passed 100-11, affirming Ukraine’s territorial integrity and terming the Crimean referendum invalid.

Russian officials sought to justify the referendum as an act of self-determination. It was not an easy argument for the Kremlin to make, given the history of the two bloody wars that Russia waged in the 1990s and early 2000s to prevent Chechnya from exercising a right of self-determination.

Russian officials also cited Western recognition of Kosovo as justification. But that did not provide a particularly good model. Serbia subjected hundreds of thousands of Kosovar Albanians to ethnic-cleansing in 1999; by contrast, no ethnic-cleansing occurred in Crimea. Kosovo negotiated with Serbia to reach an amicable separation for years before declaring independence unilaterally.

There were no negotiations with Kyiv over Crimea’s fate, and it took less than a month from the appearance of the little green men to Crimea’s annexation.

Brookings.edu / Wikipedia / Encyclopedia Britannica / Cambridge University Press.org / Radio Free Europe.org / BBC / Annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation on March 18, 2014 (YouTube)

Understanding Military Terminology

Operational area

(DOD) An overarching term encompassing more descriptive terms (such as area of responsibility and joint operations area) for geographic areas in which military operations are conducted.

Also called OA.

The Old Salt’s Corner

“The Rime of the Ancient Mariner”

PART III

There passed a weary time. Each throat

Was parched, and glazed each eye.

A weary time! a weary time!

How glazed each weary eye,

When looking westward, I beheld!

A something in the sky.

The ancient Mariner beholdeth a sign in the element afar off.

At first it seemed a little speck,

And then it seemed a mist;

It moved and moved, and took at last

A certain shape, I wist.

A speck, a mist, a shape, I wist!

And still it neared and neared:

As if it dodged a water-sprite,

It plunged and tacked and veered.

At its nearer approach, it seemeth him to be a ship; and at a dear ransom he freeth his speech from the bonds of thirst.

continued ...

~ Samuel Taylor Coleridge

(originally published in Lyrical Ballads, 1798)

Full Poem

“I’m Just Sayin”

“The bitterest tears shed over graves

are for words left unsaid

and deeds left undone.”

“Perhaps it is impossible for a person

who does no good

to do no harm.”

“The past, the present and the future are really one:

they are today.”

~ Harriet Beecher Stowe

“Thought for the Day”

“No society can surely be flourishing and happy,

of which the far greater part of the members are poor and miserable.”

“On the road from the City of Skepticism,

I had to pass through the Valley of Ambiguity.”

“I had to pass through the Valley of Ambiguity.

no other animal does this -

no dog exchanges bones with another.”

~ Adam Smith

“What I Learned”

“Turn your face to the sun

and the shadows fall behind you.”

“Everybody wants to go to heaven,

but nobody wants to die.”

“Better to remain silent and be thought a fool

than to speak out and remove all doubt.”

~ Anonymous

Second Hand News: Articles from Week 12 - March 16, 2020 - March 22, 2020

Pandemic will necessitate a deficit of $2Trillion to $5Trillion, economists say • Easter canceled: Coronavirus pandemic upends traditions • Virus builds back borders that European Union demolished

Navy readies 1,000-bed hospital ships and Defense Health Agency prepares for civilian support role • Coronavirus will kill over half of small businesses in three months • CNN commentator Chris Cuomo admonished President Trump for repeatedly calling the coronavirus “The Chinese Virus” - “It could have come from anywhere”"

Obama White House lawyers fight Carter Page’s DNC lawsuit by defending 'gist' of British ex-spy Christopher Steele's controversial dossier • Gone digital: Trump campaign suspends all live events • Sixth delayed primary will postpone Biden claim to presumptive nominee status

MOST READ: Adam Schiff fights to keep impeachment subpoena records secret • White House 'concerned' about reports from Italy and France on young people 'getting seriously ill' • Republicans win three special Pennsylvania House races, including a 'Hillary district' • Trump eyes grounding jets, halting stock trading, and ordering shelter in place • Baltimore mayor asks residents to stop shooting each other so coronavirus patients can have hospital beds Washington Examiner

The Media Are Embarrassing Themselves Over Trump’s Use Of ‘Chinese Virus’ • Trump On Wuhan Virus Preparation: Only Thing We Weren’t Prepared For Was The Media • CNN Downplayed Swine Flu Under Obama, Went Gonzo On Wuhan Flu Under Trump

• Democrat Dark Money Groups To Spend Millions Politicizing Wuhan Flu • Thanks To Capitalism, Grocery Shelves Keep Getting Restocked During Emergencies • Neither Biden Nor Sanders Would Have Saved American Lives With Travel Bans Like Trump Did • Will The Costs Of A Great Depression Outweigh The Risks Of Coronavirus?

MOST READ: Iran And Italy Are Paying A Hefty Price For Close Ties With Communist China • 17 Diseases Named After Places Or People • No, The Average American Doesn’t Use Three Rolls Of Toilet Paper Per Week • On ABC’s “The View” - Whoopi Goldberg Says Stop Blaming China: ‘Mother Nature Did This To Us’

Former acting FBI Director Andrew McCabe Admits Top National Security Officials Plotted Coup Against Trump • Obama’s Homeland Security Inspector General Indicted On Fraud, Theft Charges • Senator Dianne Feinstein’s Ties To Communist China Go Way Deeper Than An Alleged Office Spy The Federalist

Revealed: Four senators dumped millions in stocks while Capitol Hill was being briefed on the coronavirus threat but BEFORE markets started tanking • California governor Gavin Newsome issues statewide 'Stay At Home' order for 40 million people with NO END DATE - after warning 26 million WILL catch coronavirus in next eight weeks • State Department tells all Americans they should come home IMMEDIATELY and can NOT expect government help to get back if global travel shuts down • Scientists discover antibody in blood of patient who fought off SARS that could NEUTRALISE coronavirus

General Motors, Ford and Elon Musk offer to make ventilators as US faces critical shortage amid coronavirus crisis - despite shuttering their plants over fears for workers • How Germany is beating the coronavirus survival odds: Country has 10,999 infections but just TWENTY deaths and a 0.18% mortality rate • Terrifying footage inside Italy's crisis wards shows coronavirus patients unable to breathe as doctors warn their best efforts are 'not enough' after fatalities soared by 475 to 3,405 - even more than China

American Airlines takes out a $1BILLION loan, slashes 55,000 flights and warns staff 'we are in the fight of our lives' amid coronavirus pandemic - as flight attendants slam the firm for offering pilots paid leave but not them • Chilling microscope images reveal the horrific reality of coronavirus as it emerges from the surface of cells • Dash to the border 'before it closes': Hundreds of drivers rush to cross from Mexico into the U.S. with only a handful going the other way amid reports it will be closed TODAY to all but essential travel

Mitch McConnell unveils $1,200 checks for every American earning under $75,000-a-year as part of Republicans' $1 trillion coronavirus bailout plan - as Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi back the plan • 'Millennials are not immune to this': Kylie Jenner, 22, tells her 166 million followers that many coronavirus sufferers are young - and to stay home and do PUZZLES after Surgeon General asked her to intervene • Washington Post photographer's photo of Trump's notes show he crossed out 'corona' and replaced it with 'Chinese' as the PRESS call it a 'racist' term during press briefing about COVID-19 Daily Mail UK

Mr. Answer Man Please Tell Us: Why is the Passenger Seat Called “Shotgun”?

We’re taught a lot about proper social behavior growing up, from not chewing with our mouths open to excusing ourselves after a productive burp. But nothing is as important as knowing to call “shotgun” when you’re about to enter a motor vehicle.

“I call shotgun” is, at least in the United States, the widely-understood declaration that the speaker has claims on “shotgun”, or the front passenger seat. For a trip with multiple passengers, calling “shotgun” affirms one’s place in the most desirable spot in the car, with more legroom and a better view than the passengers stuffed into the backseat.

If you think the slang term has its roots in the Old West, you’re half-right.

When stagecoaches were common sights in the 1880s, the driver would typically assign his adjoining seat to a weapon-toting colleague whose job it was to ward off any thieves or plunderers encountered along the way. These passengers often carried shotguns, since a roaring blast from one would make it easier to hit one or more assailants from a jostling carriage. It’s natural to assume the seat grew to be known as “shotgun” for this reason alone.

And it did—just not in the Old West. No contemporaneous records exist of anyone using the term “shotgun” to describe the side seat in a stagecoach. It wasn’t until mass media became preoccupied with Western tales that the phrase began to work its way into the American vernacular, with pulp and television writers using the term “riding shotgun” to describe the presence of an able-bodied, buckshot-spitting comrade.

One of the earliest mentions came in a 1921 short story, “The Fighting Fool”, by Dane Coolidge, where a character is said to be ”ridin’ shotgun for Wells Fargo.” The phrase was also used in the 1939 John Wayne film Stagecoach, featuring the open decree “I’m gonna ride shotgun.”

It’s likely that these modern references to historical events led to the phrase becoming commonplace beginning in the middle of the 20th century, particularly as the new medium of television began to grow overstuffed with primetime Westerns. (In 1954, André De Toth made a feature with Randolph Scott called Riding Shotgun.)

Although rules vary from region to region, it’s commonly accepted that calling shotgun only counts when it's called outside, and in view, of a car. And if there’s a mom present, all other calls are null and void—moms always ride shotgun.

Mental Floss / Wikipedia / Quora / Phrases.org. UK / Shotgun Rules / Why is the Passenger Seat Called “Shotgun”? (YouTube)

NAVSPEAK aka U.S. Navy Slang

Light off: To literally light the fire in a boiler. Incorrectly, but nearly universally, applied to turning anything on.

Like a Big Dog: Doing something in a big way; Something larger than life that is happening; Being aggressive, mean with a loud growl.

Limp Dick: A sailor who can't do the simplest job. “Schmuckatelli is a Limp Dick.” Can also be used to describe someone or something that stopped functioning.

“So what happened on your watch?” “Well, one alfa main feed booster pump went limp dick so we put one bravo online.”

Living the Dream: A sarcastic term used when someone is asked how they are, they reply with this which sounds upbeat and a positive term, and they are actually miserable.

“How are you doing today PO Jones”.

“Living the dream Captain”.

Wiktionary.org

Just for you MARINE

Lima Charlie or Lickin' Chicken: Loud and Clear, an expression meaning that the communication has been received and understood; originally exclusive to radio traffic.

Line Company: Lettered Marine companies or the aviation term for ground units, originally, an infantry company.

Lipstick Lieutenant: Pejorative for warrant officer, so named from the appearance of their rank insignia: the addition of red to the gold and silver bars of a lieutenant.

Wikipedia.org

Naval Aviation Squadron Nicknames

HSC-21 Helicopter Sea Combat (HSC) Squadron TWO ONE - nicknamed the “Blackjacks”

United States Navy Naval Air Station - Helicopter Sea Combat (HSC), Naval Air Station - Helicopter Sea Combat (HSC), Naval Air Station North Island, Naval Base Coronado - San Diego, California / Coronado, California / Squadron Lineage: HS-11: October 1, 1977 - November 7, 2005 / HSC-21: November 7, 2005 - present.

Where Did That Saying Come From?

“A stitch in time saves nine:”

Meaning: A 'stitch in time' is a timely effort that will prevent more work later.

History: This is nothing to do with rips in the fabric of the space-time continuum, as some have ingeniously suggested. The meaning of this proverb is often requested at the Phrase Finder Discussion Forum, so I'll be explicit. The question usually asked is “saves nine what”?

The 'stitch in time' is simply the prompt sewing up of a small hole or tear in a piece of material, so saving the need for more stitching at a later date when the hole has become larger. Clearly the first users of this expression were referring to saving nine stitches.

This proverbial expression was obviously meant as an incentive to the lazy. It's especially gratifying that 'a stitch in time saves nine' is an anagram for 'this is meant as incentive'!

The Anglo Saxon work ethic is being called on here. Many English proverbs encourage immediate effort as superior to putting things off until later; for example:

“One year's seeds, seven year's weeds.”

“Procrastination is the thief of time.”

“The early bird catches the worm.”

The 'stitch in time' notion has been current in English for a very long time and is first recorded in Thomas Fuller's Gnomologia, Adagies and Proverbs, Wise Sentences and Witty Sayings, Ancient and Modern, Foreign and British, 1732:

“A Stitch in Time May save nine.”

As far as is known, the first person to state unambiguously that 'a stitch in time saves nine', rather than Fuller's less confident 'may save nine', was the English astronomer Francis Baily, in his Journal, written in 1797 and published in 1856 by Augustus De Morgan:

“After a little while we acquired a method of keeping her [a boat] in the middle of the stream, by watching the moment she began to vary, and thereby verifying the vulgar proverb, 'A stitch in time saves nine.'”

Phrases.org UK

Science & Technology

Astronomers spot the filaments of gas that feed the galaxies • Sugar-coated RNAs could ‘alter the face of biochemistry as we know it’—if they’re real • Windborne mosquitoes may carry malaria hundreds of kilometers • How the monarch butterfly evolved its resistance to toxic milkweed Science AAAS

Astronomers observe how two suns collect matter in a binary system • 3-D printing technique accelerates nanoscale fabrication 1000-fold • A new way to corrosion-proof thin atomic sheets • New metasurface design can control optical fields in three dimensions Phys.org / MedicalXpress / TechXplore

Bizarre News (we couldn’t make up stuff this good - real news story)

Could E.T. Have Bugged a Space Rock to Listen In on Earthlings?

Picture a hundred million years ago, an advanced civilization detects strange signatures of life on a blue-green planet not so far away from their home in the Milky Way. They try sending signals, but whatever's marching around on that unknown world isn't responding. So, the curious galactic explorers try something different. They send a robotic probe to a small, quiet space rock orbiting near the life-rich planet, just to keep an eye on things.

If a story like this played out at any moment in Earth's 4.5 billion-year history, it just might have left an archaeological record. At least, that's the hope behind a new proposal to check Earth's so-called co-orbitals for signs of advanced alien technology.

Co-orbitals are space objects that orbit the sun at about the same distance that Earth does. “They're basically going around the sun at the same rate the Earth is, and they're very nearby”, said James Benford, a physicist and independent SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence) researcher who dreamed up the idea that aliens might have bugged Earth via these co-orbitals while he was at a conference in Houston last year. If he's right, the co-orbitals could be a way to detect alien activity that occurred before humans even evolved, much less turned their attention toward the stars.

Nine Strange, Scientific Excuses for Why Humans Haven't Found Aliens Yet

“Scientists used a high-speed camera to record the moment the cork pops.”

To be clear, even SETI researchers who like the idea of checking out Earth's co-orbitals acknowledge that it's a long shot.

“How likely is it that alien probe would be on one of these co-orbitals, obviously extremely unlikely”, said Paul Davies, a physicist and astrobiologist at Arizona State University who was not involved in Benford's new paper on the idea, published in The Astronomical Journal. ‘But if it costs very little to go take a look, why not? Even if we don't find E.T., we might find something of interest.”

When humans began seriously contemplating how to find extraterrestrial intelligence in the 1950s, they began by simply listening, Davies said. Unfortunately, a half decade of scanning the heavens for radio or other transmissions from alien life has yielded only what Davies dubbed “the eerie silence” in his book of the same name (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2010). So recently, Davies told Live Science, the SETI field has become interested in “technosignatures”, or any sign of technology in the universe that wasn't created by humans.

Probes on co-orbitals would be a prime example. Little is known about co-orbitals themselves, Benford said. The first was discovered in 1997, and most of the 15 or so other known co-orbitals near Earth were found after 2010. They hover around Earth in weird configurations, some of which look like horseshoes or tadpoles, as they make their journeys around the sun. The closest, known as “Earth's Closest Companion”, is about 38 times as far away from Earth as the moon, and appears to be locked in a stable configuration with Earth that will last centuries, according to NASA. If co-orbitals stick by Earth for long periods, Benford said, they'd be a perfect spot for alien surveillance devices.

“Finding the bugs”

Earth's closest star other than the sun right now is Alpha Centauri, 4.37 light-years away. But every half million years or so, a star comes within about a light-year of Earth, Benford said, meaning that hundreds or thousands of stars (and their possible attendant planets) have been close enough to our planet during Earth's long history to make contact. Long-ago aliens may have observed nothing more exciting than photosynthesizing bacteria, or dinosaurs if they were lucky. But their probes could still be sitting on the co-orbital surface.

“This is essentially extraterrestrial archaeology I'm talking about”, Benford said.

The moon might seem a better candidate for alien spyware than some teeny space rocks; but any given point on the moon is in darkness for two weeks at a time, Benford said. A probe would have to be able to store energy until it could charge in the sun again. Still, he and Davies have both argued for taking a close look at the high-resolution images of the moon sent back by NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, just in case something is there.

Benford suggests observing Earth's co-orbitals with optical and radio telescopes as well as pinging it with planetary radar - potentially sending a signal to any extraterrestrial civilizations that might, just maybe, still be listening. Sending small spacecraft to the co-orbitals would also be relatively cheap and easy, he said. In fact, China's space agency announced plans in April to send a probe to Earth's Closest Companion.

Seeking signs of intelligent extraterrestrials close to Earth is informative even if the search comes up empty, Benford said. That no one's heard or seen any extraterrestrial signals in 50 years or so doesn't mean much, given the mind-boggling time span of Earth's history. A lack of evidence spanning hundreds, millions or even billions of years would be much more convincing.

“'If we don't find anything, that means no one has come to look at the life of Earth for over billions of years', Benford said. 'That is a big surprise, a stunning thing.'”

• 13 Ways to Hunt Intelligent Aliens

• The 12 Strangest Objects in the Universe

• UFO Watch: 8 Times the Government Looked for Flying Saucers

Live Science (09/26/2019)