07/20 Open Thread - The Pyréolophore
![[Glenn Curtiss, Driving, and Passenger in Ambulance Speed Boat]](https://live.staticflickr.com/4389/36348764011_3f3bc9a543_w.jpg)
~~ speedboat
On July 20, 1807, Nicéphore Niépce got a patent for arguably the world's first "internal combustion engine": the Pyréolophore. The engine did not operate as we today visualize such things, as near as I can tell, and was very much integrated into the propulsion system of the boat it powered. It did have a combustion chamber into which fuel was introduced and within which it was ignited. There things get a bit strange. It did have a piston, to operate all of the linkages valves, and whatnot that governed the introduction of fuel and air and the ignition flame, but the motive power all came from the exhaust. The exhaust pipe was underwater and naturally filled with water. The engine's exhaust forced the water out of the exhaust pipe, moving the boat forward by reaction, and the pipe refilled while awaiting the next shot of exhaust. Apparently the water was sucked in from the front of the boat before being expelled from the rear, non unlike ye classic Berkeley Jet Drive. Nonetheless, it was pulsed and henxce sounds very much like an aquatic V-1 buzz bomb built with steampunk technology. Whatever, it did work, though it was very much directly limited to nautical propulsion as configured.
On July 20, 1848, the first Women's Rights Convention in Seneca Falls, New York, ended> It would be nice to describe all the progress they made, and that which followed, but women in the US are still really seriously deprived of basic civil rights, starting with self ownership, the fundamental right from which others flow. In the US control over women's bodies passes from their fathers, brothers, uncles, random priests and sacerdotes and such to their husbands, doctors, legislators,and, of course, random priests and sacerdotes, etc. There have been attempts to grant women equal rights under the constitution since at least 1923, 103 effing years ago, but, so far, nada. Yet, the Epstein class roams the globe criticizing other nations for their alleged human rights failings, such as jailing the insurgents we sneak into their countries to try to effect regime change. Sorry ladies, maybe in the year 3030, as in "political power comes from ..."
On this day in history:
1402 – Timur defeated forces of the Ottoman Empire sultan Bayezid I at Ankara This led to the Ottoman interregnum, possibly saving Europe's bacon.
1738 – French Colonist/adventurer Pierre Gaultier de Varennes et de La Vérendrye reached the western shore of Lake Michigan.
1807 – Nicéphore Niépce was awarded a patent for the Pyréolophore, the world's first internal combustion engine, after it successfully powered a boat upstream on the river Saône in France.
1810 – Citizens of Bogotá, New Granada declared independence from Spain.
1848 – The first Women's Rights Convention in Seneca Falls, New York, ended
1871 – British Columbia joins the confederation of Canada.
1917 – The Corfu Declaration, which led to the creation of the post-war Kingdom of Yugoslavia, was signed by the Yugoslav Committee and Kingdom of Serbia.
1922 – The League of Nations awarded mandates of Togoland to France and Tanganyika to the United Kingdom.
1934 – Police in Minneapolis fired upon striking truck drivers, killing two and wounding sixty-seven.
1934 – Police tear gassed and clubbed 2,000 striking longshoremen in Seattle, and the governor of Oregon called out the National Guard to break a strike on the Portland docks.
1936 – The Montreux Convention was signed in Switzerland, authorizing Turkey to fortify the Dardanelles and Bosphorus but guaranteeing free passage to ships of all nations in peacetime.
1940 – Denmark left the League of Nations.
1940 – California opened its first freeway, the Arroyo Seco Parkway.
1941 – Stalin consolidated the Commissariats of Home Affairs and National Security to form the NKVD. Kind of like the the way we created DHS as an umbrella over our vastly more numerous "security" organizations.
1960 – Ceylon elected Sirimavo Bandaranaike Prime Minister, the world's first elected female head of government.
1960 – A Polaris missile was successfully launched from a submarine for the first time.
1961 – French military forces broke the Tunisian siege of Bizerte, but eventually ceded the base anyway..
1968 – The first International Special Olympics Summer Games were held at Soldier Field in Chicago.
1969 – Apollo 11's crew successfully made the first manned landing on the Moon; Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin became the first humans to walk on the Moon six and a half hours later.
1976 – The Viking 1 lander successfully lands on Mars.
1977 – The Central Intelligence Agency released documents under duress which showed that it had engaged in mind-control experiments, but see May 14, 2026.
1985 – The government of Aruba passes legislation to secede from the Netherlands Antilles, a notorious tax haven of long standing.
1989 – Burma's ruling junta put opposition leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi under house arrest.
2005 – The Civil Marriage Act legalized same-sex marriage in Canada.
2015 – The United States and Cuba briefly resumed full diplomatic relations
Some people who were born on this day:
Five enemies of peace inhabit with us - avarice, ambition, envy, anger, and pride; if these were to be banished, we should infallibly enjoy perpetual peace.
~~ Petrarch
356 BC – Alexander the Great
1304 – Petrarch, poet and scholar
1591 – Anne Hutchinson, Puritan preacher banished from Boston for thoughtcrime
1804 – Richard Owen, biologist, anatomist, and paleontologist
1822 – Gregor Mendel, monk, geneticist and botanist
1847 – Max Liebermann, painter and academic advocate for impressionism
1864 – Ruggero Oddi, physiologist and anatomist (Oddi's sphincter)
1873 – Alberto Santos-Dumont, pilot inventor, and aircraft designer
1882 – Olga Hahn-Neurath, mathematician and philosopher, part of Vienna circle
1918 – Cindy Walker, country music singer, songwriter, and dancer
1933 – Buddy Knox, singer, songwriter, and guitarist
1933 – Cormac McCarthy, novelist, playwright, and screenwriter
1935 – Sleepy LaBeef, rockabilly singer and musician
1936 – Alistair MacLeod, novelist and short story writer
1939 – Judy Chicago, painter, sculptor, and promoter of feminist art
1944 – T. G. Sheppard, country music singer and songwriter
1945 – Kim Carnes, singer and songwriter
1945 – John Lodge, singer, songwriter, bass player, and producer
1947 – Carlos Santana, singer, songwriter ,and guitarist
1953 – Dave Evans, singer and songwriter
1953 – Marcia Hines, singer and actress
1954 – Jay Jay French, guitarist and producer
1955 – Jem Finer, banjo player and songwriter, creator of the now playing "Longplayer"
1956 – Paul Cook, drummer
1958 – Mick MacNeil, keyboard player and songwriter
1959 – Radney Foster, singer, songwriter, guitarist, and producer
1964 – Chris Cornell, singer, songwriter, and guitarist
1966 – Stone Gossard, singer, songwriter, and guitarist
1967 – Courtney Taylor-Taylor, singer, songwriter ,and guitarist
Some people who died on this day:
Don't let it end like this. Tell them I said something.
~~ Pancho Villa
1616 – Hugh O'Neill, Earl of Tyrone, rebel soldier
1866 – Bernhard Riemann, mathematician and academic
1897 – Jean Ingelow, poet and author
1922 – Andrey Markov, mathematician and theorist
1923 – Pancho Villa, general and politician, Governor of Chihuahua
1937 – Olga Hahn-Neurath, mathematician and philosopher from the Vienna Circle
1937 – Guglielmo Marconi, physicist and engineer
1945 – Paul Valéry, author and poet
1965 – Batukeshwar Dutt, activist
1972 – Geeta Dutt, singer and actress
1980 – Maria Martinez, San Ildefonso Pueblo potter
2013 – Helen Thomas, journalist and author
2015 – Wayne Carson, singer, songwriter, and producer
2015 – Dieter Moebius, keyboard player and producer
2017 – Chester Bennington, singer
2024 – Jerry Miller, songwriter, guitarist, and vocalist
Some Holidays, Holy Days, Festivals, Feast Days, Days of Recognition, and such:
Nap Day
Moon Day
National Fortune Cookie Day (in bed)
International Chess Day
National Lollipop Day
Global Hug Your Kids Day
Today's Tunes
Buddy Knox
Sleepy LaBeef
Kim Carnes
John Lodge
Carlos Santana
Marcia Hines
Jay Jay French
Jem Finer
Paul Cook
Mick MacNeil
Chris Cornell
Courtney Taylor-Taylor
Pancho Villa
Guglielmo Marconi,
Chester Bennington
Ok, it's an open thread, so it's up to you folks now. What's on your mind?
Cross posted from http://caucus99percent.com
Open Thread, Pyréolophore, Womens Rights, Bizerte, CIA, Petrarch, Pancho Villa, Carlos Santana, Dandy Warhols, Buddy Knox, Twisted Sister
Comments
What a boat!
Very different from Fulton's steam boat.
Fulton’s Folly Changed Transportation and Interstate Commerce Forever
On a different note, last week I heard Alastair talk about:
Zoroastrianism, ancient pre-Islamic religion of Iran that survives there in isolated areas and, more prosperously, in India, where the descendants of Zoroastrian Iranian (Persian) immigrants are known as Parsis, or Parsees.
The Iranian prophet and religious reformer Zarathushtra (flourished before the 6th century bce)—more widely known outside Iran as Zoroaster (the Greek form of his name)—is traditionally regarded as the founder of the religion. Zoroastrianism contains both monotheistic and dualistic features. It likely influenced the other major Western religions—Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.
From the pagan version of "Old Time Religion"
We will pray to Zarathustra
And we'll pray just like we usta
I'm a Zarathustra boosta!
And that's good enough for me!
Hope you're doing well, and thanks for the OT and all the music!
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
Good morning Lookout, thanks for dropping in. I find it
interesting that the pylophore motor was based on the explosivity of powder aerosols, such as used to happen now and then at grain silos.
Zoroastrianism was arguably somewhat foundational to a lot of "western religions", though filtered through Egypt to some extent. The brief quote from the song is pretty good, but I found the full ditty, as linked, so tedious as to be oppressive, but that's just me.
be well and have a good one
That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --
Are we still pondering this stuff in the same way?
At 4:00 we have "even if they have a peace agreement this would be a very fragile peace..."
What part of "fight to the death" do people not understand? Wesley Clark discussed this ages ago. It was on the document. The listed nations are to be destroyed. Iraq, Syria, Libya, etc. and now Iran, from 2003. As the Mafiosi used to say, this is just business.
Is it that people want to pretend that it's otherwise? From Yves Smith:
"The US empire’s downfall comes at a time of late stage capitalism when more than 99 percent of the public are effectively disenfranchised while factions of reactionary billionaires vie for control." -- Conor Gallagher
Good morning Cass, thanks for reading and for posting
that clip and all.
The battlefield is in & on Iran's territory which should give the US some theorectical advantage, but that is offset by the US need for oil, it's outrageous lines of communication and the fact that it is effectively limited to bombing campaigns and blockades. It doesn't help that the US populace doesn't really have any use for this stupid war, except for the Epstein class and other elites.
be well and have a good one.
That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --
Who likes this war
A recent interview with an analyst on this site (forget this name) claimed something interesting to me. Trump needs to win the midterms. Democrats won’t vote for him so he doesn’t care what they think. His only hope depends on what MAGA voters he has left. The analyst has spent time with these people and says they are loyal to him, but ONLY if he’s seen as a winner. The recently-deceased MOU was a document of surrender. Thus Trump needed to throw everything at this risky effort to win this war which he already lost. The elites and deep-state bankers and such profit from the war, but it appears to me we are also still in this stupid war to win the hearts and minds and votes of FOX News viewers.
Anya
Good morning Anya. Thanks for the information and
analysis. As a rule there are two main drivers of to look into; 1) cui bono and 2) religion. The benefit part of the picture need not be solely money, but that is very ften a major piece. Religion, in the broadest sense includes all afactual, faith based truth systems and thus all ideologies and idolatries as well.
be well and have a good one
That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --
el thanks for the OT. Niepce is quite the character.
His home in Chalon-sur-Saône is the location of a museum dedicated to his work on early photography.
French Father of Photography
Chalon is a nice small city on the Saône River. Very walkable and charming. Swans live on the waterfront there where the river has the same feel as the Willamette River in Portland, Oregon.
Oh and Chalon is one of the northern-most areas of the Burgundy wine region. Mmmmm.
ETA:
The wine-producing communes of the Côte Chalonnaise are, from the north: Bouzeron, the only communal AOC for Aligoté still wine; Rully, which has 23 premier cru vineyards and is known for its white wines as well as being a center for Crémant sparkling wines production; Mercurey, which with 30 premier cru vineyards is the largest volume producer of the region, its wines being nearly all red; Givry, with 17 premier cru vineyards producing mostly red wines; and Montagny, which produces only white wines in its 49 premier cru vineyards.[2]
My favorite area is the small local small vineyard endoit of Givry. So so good.
A society grows great when old men plant trees in whose shade they know they shall never sit. Allegedly Greek, but more possibly fairly modern quote.
Consider helping by donating using the button in the upper left hand corner. Thank you.
Good morning DM, thanks for reading. Most of my
experience with actual French wines is with imports, which is problematic. I do like pinot noir and hence red burgs, and did like the one or two real Chablis that I've had. I abid white burgs because I'm more of a sauvignon blanc fan, and, overall, also more of a bordeaus fan, but only the (left?) bank with the Cabs and not the Merlot side. Nonetheless, Chalone sounds wonderful.
be well and have a good one
That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --
I'm with you on the Chablis: unlike it's cheap version the
vraiment Francais Chablis is one of the best. For reds I tend to like the more complex Beaujolais varieties which are very close here. Some can be insipid, but the richer herb toned versions are wonderful. Served and drunk not cold but slightly chilled. Yummmm.
We have had trouble finding Bordeaux that are not paint by numbers. Thanks to a French friend who loves Bordeaux we are slowly finding some we really like.
Our favorite reds from our neck of the woods are Saint Joseph, Brouilly, and Cote de Brouilly. They can be a bit pricey but overall we find very drinkable wine between 10 and 15euros. We watch the bins at the stores: when we see one going fast we give it a try. French people know what they like.
A society grows great when old men plant trees in whose shade they know they shall never sit. Allegedly Greek, but more possibly fairly modern quote.
Consider helping by donating using the button in the upper left hand corner. Thank you.
Given our preferred white varietal, we are likely to go for
sancerre for a white unless a Chablis is called for, we rarely find them on local menus here and when we do they carry a premium.
be well and have a good one
That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --
Hey Dawn
.
sounds like you have become a wine expert.
When in France, do as the French do!
Cheers
Zionism is a social disease
Hey, Cap'n, thanks for that version. I alsway wind up
listening to the UB40 version.
be well and have a good one
That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --
The whole idea of an engine fart
.
being the motive force of a vessel is a bit unusual.
Modern jet drives use a similar concept, except they
use turbines to force the water thru.
I have run a few of these boats. The buckets at the outlet are for reversing thrust. The advantages are very
shallow operation (less than 12 ") as opposed to conventional propellors digging down about 3 feet.
The drawback is the intakes getting fouled by surface debris. Can cause problems.
And the engines have to maintain a fairly high RPM instead of idle speeds.
Thanks for the OT!
Zionism is a social disease
Good morning Cap'n Q. I thought the similarity to Jet Drive
boats might interest you. In my younger days Jet drives was practically synonymous with Berkeley Jet Drives, which were actually headquartered in their original plant in West Berkeley. The shallow draft, second only to airboats was their selling point, but with all the drawbacks that you noted.
be well and have a good one
That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --
Good afternoon, el!
Ron Paul has a good column about how to honor the dead soldiers and a true smack down of the war.
https://ronpaulinstitute.org/how-to-honor-the-dead-us-service-members/
As for boats,
Wine in The French Quarter
Thanks for the OT, friend!
"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981
Good morning otc. Interesting column indeed, thanks.
Thanks too for the music.
be well and have a good one
That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --
This is interesting
.
those clever Chinese have engineered a system of harnessing
solar energy without using batteries for the carry-over during the
night time. Molten salt is the medium used.
Solves a couple of problems, but having the existing grid in place is key. Got it covered already.
Zionism is a social disease
Molten salt has been a known storage option for ages, but
seems to have never got past the discussion stage. I suppose that the key has been in the engineering and materials science realm.
Thanks for the video
be well and have a good one
That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --
Had a morning visitor
.
A grey heron stop by and landed on the dock about 5AM.
Just checking out the scene.
Zionism is a social disease
Thanks for the picture. n/t
That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --
Trump on Truth Social simply regurgitates a message sent
to him by Bibi.
The level of delusion is obvious
.
being experienced by the madman who posted this BS.
What is concerning is the inability to reflect on how far away
from rationality his 'audience' can perceive the consequences.
Zionism is a social disease
Hmm!
The warnings have been floated for quite some time
but the west has ignored them.
Saudis are going to take the hit
and it will not be pretty for the ROW.
The aggressors know not how to stop.
Beyond stupid.
Zionism is a social disease
I find this to be
most amusing. The fact that this snub is getting worldwide attention, as it should, probably hurts the orange fart cloud/attention whore more than losing a few billion dollars in paper gains...
https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/fifa_world_cup/spain-and-fifa-edit-dona...
Twice bitten, permanently shy.