July 2nd, 2021

 An awesome story

Inside the C.I.A., She Became a Spy for Planet Earth

Linda Zall is disclosing how she toiled anonymously within the intelligence agency to help scientists intensify their studies of a changing planet.

By William J. Broad

• Jan. 5, 2021, 2:59 a.m. ET

Linda Zall played a starring role in American science that led to decades of major advances. But she never described her breakthroughs on television, or had books written about her, or received high scientific honors. One database of scientific publications lists her contributions as consisting of just three papers, with a conspicuous gap running from 1980 to 2020.

The reason is that Dr. Zall’s decades of service to science were done in the secretive warrens of the Central Intelligence Agency.

Now, at 70, she’s telling her story — at least the parts she’s allowed to talk about — and admirers are praising her highly classified struggle to put the nation’s spy satellites onto a radical new job: environmental sleuthing.

“It was fun,” she said of her C.I.A. career. “It was really a lot of fun.”

Dr. Zall’s program, established in 1992, was a kind of wayback machine that looked to as long ago as 1960. In so doing, it provided a new baseline for assessing the pace and scope of planetary change. Ultimately, it led to hundreds of papers, studies and reports — some classified top secret, some public, some by the National Academy of Sciences, the premier scientific advisory group to the federal government. The accumulated riches included up to six decades of prime data on planetary shifts in snowfall and blizzards, sea ice and glaciers.

“None of this would have happened without her,” said Jeffrey K. Harris, who worked with Dr. Zall as director of the National Reconnaissance Office, which runs the nation’s fleet of orbital spies. “You have to decide if you’re going to break down the wall or climb over it, and she did a little bit of both.”

The MEDEA Program: Opening a Window into New Earth Science Data

The Forgotten Life of Einstein's First Wife

She was a physicist, too—and there is evidence that she contributed significantly to his groundbreaking science

Milena Marić Einstein and husband, 1912. Credit: ETH Zurich Archives (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Know their names, black people killed by the police in the US

Pupper pranking

The Man Who Inspired Disney - Heinrich Kley ORIGINAL Sketchbook Tour

Rehearsal of the concert program. Igor Moiseyev Ballet

Shuffle dance at EDC ORLANDO

Group shuffle in China

Stacey Ryan covers 

Just the Two of Us - Bill Withers/Grover Washington Jr.

No More Poison Ivy Rash

How to never have a serious poison ivy rash again

A happy assortment, Thursday, August 6th 2015

A real treat, a large archive of Old Time Radio.

There are shows, advertisements, songs, talks, comedy, talks, historic speeches, all free.

Wonderful for doing housework, company while one does chores or goes to sleep. Fun listening. A few examples:

Bing Crosby and Rosemary Clooney

WWII swing music on the American forces Radio show

Suspense

Casblanca

Ida Rentoul Outhwaite (Australian illustrator, 1888-1960) ~ 'Anne Rides on a Nautlis Shell'

A Fairy and a Bird Embracing- Ida Rentoul Outhwaite (Australian illustrator, 1888-1960)

If you like butterflies, this is important to know.

Butterfly Bushes Aren’t Good for Butterflies

The ecologically correct thing to do, to help butterflies thrive, is to find plants native to your area and plant them. Here is a website to find plants native to your area in the USA.
Find Native Plants

Useful to know.

The language of lying

Zip Lookup. What your zip code says about you.

The Pay Phone Repairmen of New York City

Crazy about this Colombian salsa dancing. Wow, his body is electric! Knees on fire!
SALSA CALEÑA


And Colombian salsa as it looks danced with couples in a club, sizzling
Colombian Style Salsa at a Club in Cali, Colombia


Love this vintage Indian filmi song in Telegu, her joyous plumpness, the passion
AADAVE MAYURI, the famous old rare master piece song of K Viswanath's creation


Another old Telegu romantic song that makes my heart flutter with tenderness

Nannu Dochu Kunduvate


Japanese doll making. Gentle and beautiful.
鳴子系こけし／こけしの岡仁 from dmp on Vimeo.


Online police auctions. Interesting browsing.

Gifts from Mexico: corn, potatoes, beans, tobacco, chocolate, cotton, tomatoes, peanuts, avocados, chilies, pineapples, prickly pear, limes, soursop, sweet potatoes, chiclet (gum), papayas, chilies, chokecherries, tomatillos, chayote and jicama. 

Saul Steinberg's Country Noises

NASA's planned missions through 2030

Via CookSmarts.com

Let’s get to know each other... Life would become easier

Jaan Pehechan Ho

"Jaan Pehechan Ho" is a popular Indian rock & roll song, composed by famous Indian music director duo Shankar Jaikishan, lyrics by Shailendra, and sung by Mohammed Rafi.

It's taken from the Bollywood film, Gumnaam. 

"the singer and his beloved are playing some kind of game. They both know what it is, and they both know the intensity of the situation, but they're still just staring at each other, indirectly hurting the other, terrified that they will fall deeply in love with each other and yet, wanting to love.

It's about being afraid of love, and craving it, at the same time."

May there be familiarity

May there be familiarity,
Living would be easy,
The heart stealers,
Don't miss my gaze,
Tell me your name.

The night is young,
And may it not be lost,
The night is young,
And may it not be lost.
It won't be coming back on anybody's call (x2)

May there be familiarity,
Living would be easy,
May there be familiarity,
Living would be easy,
The heart stealers,
Don't miss my gaze,
Tell me your name.
May there be familiarity,
Living would be easy.

Tell me this now, won't you?
Are you done with signs and signals?
Tell me this now, won't you?
Are you done with signs and signals?
It's a straight wound to my heart.

May there be familiarity,
Living would be easy,
May there be familiarity,
Living would be easy,
The heart stealers,
Don't miss my gaze,
Tell me your name.
May there be familiarity,
Living would be easy.

Silently staring,
Are our crazy eyes,
Silently staring,
Are our crazy eyes,
And maybe this little incident will spin out our stories (x2)

May there be familiarity,
Living would be easy,
May there be familiarity,
Living would be easy,
The heart stealers,
Don't miss my gaze,
Tell me your name.
May there be familiarity,
Living would be easy.

Submitted by  lifehousegocentric on Sun, 23/02/2014 - 00:38

Taken from http://lyricstranslate.com/en/jaan-pehechaan-ho-may-there-be-familiarity.html#ixzz3dXVZO6AF

So sing along! 

Hindi

Jaan Pehechaan Ho

Jaan pehechan ho,
Jeena aasaan ho,
Dil ko churane walon,
Aankh na churavo,
Naam tho batavo..

Aaj ki yeh shaam javan,
Yun na chali jaaye,
Aaj ki yeh shaam javan,
Yun na chali jaaye,
Phir se na aayegi yeh kisi ke bulaaye,
Phir se na aayegi yeh kisi ke bulaaye..

Jaan pehechan ho,
Jeena aasaan ho,
Jaan pehechan ho,
Jeena aasaan ho,
Dil ko churane walon,
Aankh na churavo,
Naam tho batavo..
Jaan pehechan ho,
Jeena aasaan ho,

Bolo yeh na bolo tum,
Hogaye ishaare,
Bolo yeh na bolo tum,
Hogaye ishaare,
Sidi sidi chot huve dil pe hamaare,
Sidi sidi chot huve dil pe hamaare..

Jaan pehechan ho,
Jeena aasaan ho,
Jaan pehechan ho,
Jeena aasaan ho,
Dil ko churane walon,
Aankh na churavo,
Naam tho batavo..
Jaan pehechan ho,
Jeena aasaan ho,

Chup chup dekha dekhi,
Nazaren diwani,
Chup chup dekha dekhi,
Nazaren diwani,
Zara si yeh baat ban jaaye na kahani,
Zara si yeh baat ban jaaye na kahani..

Jaan pehechan ho,
Jeena aasaan ho,
Jaan pehechan ho,
Jeena aasaan ho,
Dil ko churane walon,
Aankh na churavo,
Naam tho batavo..
Jaan pehechan ho,
Jeena aasaan ho..

Submitted by  ian.nottingham on Tue, 11/02/2014 - 11:37

Taken from http://lyricstranslate.com/en/jaan-pehechaan-ho-may-there-be-familiarity.html#ixzz3dXVfqkCh

An intelligent interpretation of the song's lyrics by the author of the thoughtful and interesting blog, 

GRABBINGSAND

Bali,Borneo in the 1910's, 1920's,1930's, 1940's, wandering around the Tropenmuseum website

Some beautiful images, photographs of Bali.

Bali in the 1910's, 1920's,1930s and 1940's

Wayang Wajang Wong Dancer "Ontoseno"

Western travelers there were pretty astonished by the Balinese lifestyle, the topless women, the extraordinary, tropical paradise beauty of the island and its interesting customs. The images below ere taken from the Wikimedia Commons site, which took them in turn from the Dutch Tropenmuseum library of images. About the Tropenmuseum. The Dutch colonized Bali and Indonesia for about 150 years, from 1800 to about 1950. It was once called the Dutch East Indies.

Here is a brief but interesting 1930's film, Legong: Dance of the Virgins


Setting the mood with a glimpse of the magic of the culture of Bali.
The Legong dance with young girls. A little about Legong.
This is a mesmerizing dance with gamelan music playing. 



Understanding Balinese dance

This is an amazing Balinese dance, called Kecak. Also known as the Ramayana Monkey Chant, the piece, performed by a circle of 150 or more performers wearing checked cloth around their waists, percussively chanting "cak" and throwing up their arms, depicts a battle from theRamayana.

Wow.

Balinese Legong dancer

with the evil witch, Rangda

For images of vintage Bali I went to the Tropenmuseum online collections, which are really marvelous.

The Tropenmuseum (English: Museum of the Tropics) is an anthropological museum located in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, and established in 1864.

One of the largest museums in Amsterdam, the museum accommodates eight permanent exhibitions and an ongoing series of temporary exhibitions, including both modern and traditional visual arts and photographic works. The Tropenmuseum is owned and operated by the Royal Tropical Institute, a foundation that sponsors the study of tropical cultures around the world.

Balinese Legong dancer

Balinese girls heading to
the temple with offerings

Tropenmuseum, Balinese dancers, 1929

Memorial to Thomas Stamford Raffles wife Olivia, who died in Java 1814.Erected by him along theKanarielaan in Lands Plantentuin (now Bogor Botanical Gardens)  inBuitenzorg (now Bogor),West Java.

Balinese dancers

Rice fields near Yogyakarta

A farmer who carries a plow on his shoulders, in the middle: cattle crossing a ditch / cooling of in the ditch.
Photo: O. Kurkdjian & Co. - 1890-1916

Fishermen at the beach

Photo: O. Kurkdjian & Co. - 1910

Balinese dancer

(Love the cat, sitting patiently.) Tropenmuseum, traditional selametan. A Selametan in a mosque in Cibodas, with tumpeng as its main menu. ca. 1907. The slametan (or selametan, slamatan, and selamatan) is the communal feast from Java, symbolizing the social unity of those participating in it. 

Kris dancers in a trance, 1949

Kris dancers all fallen down in a trance, 1930-1940

Kecak Dance, Bali

In tropical countries,

 trees are often painted

with lime to protect them from "sun scald"

Below this are vintage photographs of the Dayak people, in Borneo


Tropenmuseum,Talini of Bawomataluwo in costume, unknown date

Tropenmuseum, "A headhunter with a skull on his belt, which is used at parties to drink, a woman with a big blangai pot and behind them piles of killing festival Tiwah, Borneo"

A group of children and a husband with megaliths1930

A Dayak from Apokajanstam of Makulits with a shield and a spear, East Borneo. Unknown date.

Tropenmuseum, Icon in a Dayak village 1898-1900

Tropenmuseum  Two Zaiwo male dancers with sword and shield, Sumba, 1930

Portrait of a Dayak warrier, 1900-1940

Batukaran village in Batak country, taken by Tassilo Adam.

Wandering around the http://collectie.tropenmuseum.nl/

Oohing and ahhing at their wonderful online collections.

Indonesian textile, sarong