Harvest, falling leaves of many colors, crisp evenings, pumpkin carvings, trick-or-treaters.
Many boomers may remember when It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown (1966) premiered 60 years ago. It was classic Peanuts of the magical childlike belief in the Great Pumpkin--the Halloween "Santa Claus."
A favorite Bugs Bunny (Warner Bros.) cartoon was a suave, overly romantic French skunk with a thick accent, Pepe Le Pew. This polecat definitely had a very high opinion of his lady-killing charm.
Typical plot formula: A female tuxedo cat (later named Penelope Pussycat) accidentally gets a white stripe painted down her back. Then Pepe would see her--love at first sight. He ardently pursues her with florid, romantic declarations and advances, such as wanting her to run off with him to the Casbah.
Meanwhile, the unwilling pussycat is fighting to get away from the odor of this skunk. But Pepe believes she is flirting and playing hard-to-get, and he enjoys the thrill of the chase.
Go back a few years, before World War Two to the introduction of another character.
Pepe le Moko
In the first half of the 20th century, one of the movie heartthrobs was Charles Boyer. He was a lady-killer with a French accent, which could make his female fans swoon.
In 1938, an American crime/romance drama Algiers, made the big screen starring Charles Boyer as Pepe le Moko. This suave Frenchman was the inspiration for Pepe Le Pew, no doubt.
This Pepe was a notorious French jewel thief, hiding in the Casbah (the native quarter) of Algiers, where he was virtually untouchable. Yet, it was an effective prison of his own making. Meanwhile, French police were determined to arrest him, and they waited for the right moment to pounce.
The girls in the Casbah were wild about Pepe. But he had developed a strong attraction for one beauty, Gaby, unhappily married to a wealthy man, who was visiting the Casbah.
Gaby reminded Pepe of the Paris life and freedom he can no longer have. In the end, Pepe was drawn toward risking everything to leave the Casbah for Gaby. When he ran to Gaby's departing ship, the police pounced and shot him.
One note: Hedy Lamarr made her Hollywood debut as Gaby, the woman Pepe died for.
This is the same Hedy Lamarr who was the co-inventor of a frequency-hopping technology during World War Two. Later, this tech would be an important foundation for wireless communications such as Bluetooth and Wi-Fi--which is how you are reading this blog.
The latter half of the 18th century spawned two notable revolutions:
* The American Revolution
* The French Revolution
One replaced a monarchy with a successful republic, whose continuing form of government is in place to this day. The other replaced a monarchy with the guillotine, the Reign of Terror, anarchy, then an emperor followed by several types of government.
The different results of each social experiment can be summed up by these three reasons:
1. Understanding of human nature:
America: Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness
Inalienable rights protect the people from the tyranny of government. The worldview was based on the Judeo-Christian concept of human nature as flawed. Government needs checks and balances, be bound by law, and be subject to religious instruction to restrain corruption.
France:Liberty, Equality, Fraternity
The leaders of the new republic despised religion, with a worldview that reason alone could remake society from the ground up. But forced Equality does not permit liberty or fraternity. Liberty was turned to revenge, resulting in the Reign of Terror and the guillotine.
George Washington saw himself as a servant of the republic, resigned his commission at the end of the war, served as president when called upon by the people, and retired after two terms.
The republic descended into anarchy, replaced by a strong man, Napoleon.
3. Experience of Self-Government
America:
Before the revolution, the colonies experienced two centuries of self-government. Hence, at that time, these colonies were the freest in the civilized world, least governed, least taxed, and least bound by class distinction
France:
Before the revolution, class was destiny, most denizens were heavily taxed, and social mobility was impossible. The people had no experience of self-government. In the end, the monarchy was replaced by an emperor.
In conclusion:
The American Revolution since King George III changed the world for the better. This constitutional republic has the oldest written national constitution still in continuous use. (reference: legalknowledgebase.com)
The French Revolution changed the world for the worse. And since Luis XVI, France has had 10 to 13 forms of government, from republics to empires to monarchies to puppet governments under Nazi occupation.
As we celebrate the 250th anniversary of the United States of America, may we remember the people who were here before the pilgrims, colonialists, and settlers.
Native Americans
In so many ways, the diverse tribes contributed to the tapestry of our unique American culture, which is protected by freedom in the Constitution and the Bill of Rights.
It's been a while since I've posted on this subject--Ham Radio.
In the early days, ham radio had been the cutting edge of tech and worldwide communications. Hearing a voice or a signal on the other side of the planet seemed like a miracle.
But the times are changing, especially with the ubiquitous cell phones and the internet. And during these times, ham radio with its old demands of morse code and passing tests to operate seems to be on the outs.
When cell towers go down and power is out, ham radio can still get through with messages on emergency power. And the thrill of making contact with evolving innovations still draws many to the hobby.
There is an annual exercise to prepared for a worst-case disaster scenario. It's called Field Day, coming up every fourth weekend of June: Field Day - ARRL
Ham radio operators are a fraternity/sorority. In my area, the local club, CPREG, Cloud Peak Radio and Electronics Group: Join Our Ham Radio Club Today!
The early days of World War II have been described as England's darkest hour.
Yet, there was a plan to encourage the people and help them cope in case the unthinkable happened. But that plan was suppressed as the Allies won the war, and it was almost forgotten.
After September 11, 2001, and the turmoil that followed, the message was resurrected and struck a chord with our darkest hours.
She was a renowned scientist in the late 19th to early 20th century, an era when it was difficult for women to pursue these fields. Yet, not only was she the first woman to be awarded the Nobel Prize, but also awarded it in two different scientific fields, Physics and Chemistry. To date, no one else has accomplished that.
What was the secret to her genius?
Here are some tips any of us can follow to pursue excellence in our chosen field of study:
As we approach America’s 250th anniversary, this July 4, 2026, let’s
have a look at one of our founding fathers, Benjamin Franklin.
He was not only key in winning the American Revolution, but also in drafting
the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and supporting the
Bill of Rights, ensuring our rights as free citizens.
Ben Franklin embodied the American dream—poor boy who made good—publisher, inventor, writer, scientist, postmaster, diplomat, statesman. At the time of the Revolutionary War, he was the most famous American overseas whereas no one heard of George Washington. Ben Franklin loved London, had a residence there, the most prominent colonial (non-British) scientist elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society of London.
Though the colonists had grievances with the Crown, such as the Stamp Act, “Taxation without Representation”, the Boston Massacre, Franklin remained a loyal British subject and had a vision that the Crown could patch us their differences with the colonists and expand the British Empire into North America.
But when London got news of the Boston Tea Party, Ben Franklin was called into the Privy Council of Parliament, a place called the “cockpit” (Henry VIII had cock fights there). There, he endured vicious personal verbal attacks and was stripped from his position of Deputy Postmaster of North America.
Franklin kept quiet during the long tirade of insults against him. It
was said that day he went into the “cockpit” as a loyal British
subject, but he came out as an American.
The Revolution? He was all
in!
First, he helped draft and edit the Declaration of Independence. He
changed the phrasing to “We hold these truths to be self-evident”
then signed it, saying: “We must all hang together, or most assuredly we shall all hang separately.”
Allies were needed to fight the mighty British Army. As a key
American diplomat, Franklin secured an alliance with France, and
later Spain and the Dutch Republic, making the Revolutionary War a
global war. France recognized the United States as a nation and
provided military support.
The climax was in Virginia. The Americans cornered the British Army
in the west and the French fleet bottled them up in the harbor to the
east. Thus, General Cornwallis surrendered to General Washington and
the French at Yorktown in 1781. The Americans were formally
recognized their independence by the Treaty of Paris in 1783.
Next was forming a government without a king. That took a few years.
As the oldest delegate at the Constitutional Convention, Ben Franklin
signed the Constitution in 1787. Franklin supported adding the Bill
of Rights, though he did not live to see it happen. In his youth, he
was surrounded by people, including his father, who vividly
remembered the Salem Witch Trials of 1692. The mass hysteria of those
trials, which resulted in executions of innocents, served as a
cautionary tale during the debates of the Constitution as well as the
Bill of Rights. It demonstrated what can happen with unchecked
government power, religious fanaticism, and lack of legal safeguards.
Thus, the Bill of Rights corrected the Salem injustices with rights:
trial by jury, no self-incrimination, right to confront accusers and
cross-examination, right to a speedy and public trial, ban on cruel
and unusual punishment. Also, the First Amendment guaranteed freedoms
of religion, speech, press, and assembly.
But it was the Second Amendment, the right to keep and bear arms,
that put teeth into the Bill of Rights as the enforcer of the rest of
the rights.
The winning of the American Revolution and our Rights as a free
people hung on Ben Franklin. Loyal British subject turned American.
Signer of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution.
Supporter of the Bill of Rights. Diplomat to create global alliances
that won the war. And the face of our $100 bill.
These are the characters of my new mystery series: Jane's Buns Mystery.
Book 1: The Missing Ingredients
It’s Christmas season. Jane is busy baking buns and other holiday treats. Some things are missing: people and ingredients.
Jane Meyer and Alfie Dawkins are working for an impoverished Duke on one of the UK’s failing estates. The Duke’s son has gone missing, raising alarms within the British government. Meanwhile, vagrant Burt Duffy, Jane’s friend, has disappeared without a trace.
Alfie hatches an out-of-this-world plan, combined with Jane’s baking skills, to hunt for Burt as well as track down the Duke’s son.
Will the missing ingredients be found in time for Christmas?
------------------------
In this series, Jane Meyer and Alfie Dawkins are aspirational heroes whom ordinary people can aspire to be.
Alfie takes on the role of the handyman and helps out the widow ladies.
Buns are Jane's forte.
Check out this English recipe below--something Jane might make.
By December 1776, the prospects of victory for the Continental Army seemed remote. The British had driven General Washington from New York to retreat to Pennsylvania. The annual enlistments of American soldiers were expiring at the end of the year, and funds and morale were low. If there was ever a need for a Christmas miracle, it was needed in 1776.
In this bleak setting on Christmas Day, General Washington made a daring move to attack the enemy, crossing the Delaware River into New Jersey. The day after Christmas, Washington caught the Hessians by surprise and won the Battle of Trenton. That victory boosted the morale of the Continentals and spurred the troops to continue fighting and eventually win the war.
During the darkest days of the American Revolution, George Washington made a bold move on Christmas Day in 1776 by crossing the Delaware River.
The JFK assassination was a shock to our nation as well as the world. And the news hit the peoples, on both side of the Atlantic, hard.
Our strongest ally overseas was the late Queen Elizabeth II. To pay her respects, the Queen bequeathed an acre of land of English soil near London in perpetuity to the American people:
The Kennedy Memorial.
This acre was in Runnymede Park where King John of England signed the Magna Carta over 800 years ago in 1215. That document was significant in that it limited the king's absolute power, establishing a precedent that even a king was not above the law. The act began a movement toward elected governments, universal rights, and freedom.
Later, England spawned America. Then in 1964, the longest reigning monarch, Queen Elizabeth II, signed the JFK Memorial Act, which expanded the US global territory by one acre. Now a piece of America is encompassed by England.
How far it from the UK to the US?
Technically, one step.
But that's one giant step in good Anglo-American relations.
On this quest, Data is introduced to poker, an ongoing game with senior officers. Then later, on the ship's holodeck, Data engages in a game with renowned physicists of the past, whose work contributed to the theories of gravity:
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