Jeff

Human resource guy. OFD.

[Interesting STEM @InterestingSTEM]

The Silver Snoopy Award- A highly coveted pin awarded to employees of NASA that go above and beyond “to ensure flight safety and mission success.”

Since 1968, the Silver Snoopy pin has been awarded to employees who contributed the most for astronauts safety from Earth

[Baseball’s Greatest Moments @BBGreatMoments]

Nolan Ryan against the Boston Red Sox on June 14th, 1974: 235 pitches 13 IP 19 strikeouts

[Amazing Nature @AmazingNature00]

Deep in Sequoia National Forest stands a natural wonder like no other, the General Sherman Tree. It may not be the tallest or the widest tree in the world, but by volume, it is the largest living single-stem tree on Earth.
This giant sequoia is truly massive. It stands about 275 feet (83 meters) tall and has a base diameter of over 36 feet (11 meters). Its enormous size gives it a volume of more than 52,000 cubic feet, making it the biggest tree by total wood volume.
The General Sherman Tree is also incredibly old. Scientists estimate it to be around 2,000 to 2,500 years old, meaning it was already standing long before many ancient civilizations rose and fell.
Despite its age, the tree is still alive and continues to grow slowly each year. Protected within Sequoia National Park, it attracts thousands of visitors who come to witness its incredible size and natural beauty.
The General Sherman Tree is a powerful reminder of nature’s strength, endurance, and the incredible scale of life on Earth. 🌲

[National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum ⚾ @baseballhall]

King Solomon White’s skills as a player made him a star. But his writing made him one of the most important figures in baseball history.

The Hall of Famer and author of “History of Colored Base Ball” was born on this date in 1868.

[Milwaukee Brewers @Brewers]

The Miz is on a special, special run

Jacob Misiorowski is your NL Player of the Week ‼️

[Rob Friedman @PitchingNinja]

Nolan McLean, 91mph Cutter, 84mph Sweeper and 81mph Curveball (3 pitch K), Individual Pitches + Overlay

[THIS DAY IN METAL @ThisDayInMETAL]

Fans around the world are coming together to celebrate the legacy of Ozzy Osbourne. 🖤

Join the movement to make July 22nd officially recognized as Ozzy Osbourne Day and honor the Prince of Darkness for his impact on music and generations of metal fans everywhere.

Sign the petition:
https://t.co/r2oVjHqUYp

Would you support an official Ozzy Osbourne Day? 🤘

#OzzyOsbourne #OzzyOsbourneDay #PrinceOfDarkness #HeavyMetal #BlackSabbath #Metalhead #RockLegend #MetalMusic #ThisDayInMetal

[Massimo @Rainmaker1973]

End of shift of a tower crane operator

[Jeff @jpdowgo]

@ESPNInsights The anecdotal accusations attributing Roger Clemens' performance to “DNA evidence” are circumstantial. The allegations are unsubstantiated. His case remains one of uncorroborated slander versus an unblemished record. The HOF remains a hollow shell without his deserved presence.

[ESPN Insights @ESPNInsights]

On this day in 2008, Greg Maddux recorded his 350th career victory in the Padres' 3-2 win vs the Rockies at Petco Park ⚾

Maddux is one of three pitchers in MLB history to record at least 350 wins and 3,000 strikeouts 👏

[ArchaeoHistories @histories_arch]

The sanitation systems of medieval castles, such as the "garderobe," were surprisingly sophisticated for their time. These small chambers, often seen as protrusions on the exterior walls of fortresses, allowed waste to fall through a shaft directly into a moat or a cesspool below. This design utilized gravity to maintain hygiene within the living quarters of the nobility.

Architecturally, these shafts were integrated into the thick stone walls to ensure they did not compromise the castle's defensive integrity. In some instances, the shafts were positioned so that the waste would wash away with the tide or a nearby stream. While primitive by today's standards, these systems were a significant improvement over the open gutters found in many crowded medieval towns.

Maintenance of these systems was a difficult and unpleasant task, often assigned to workers known as "gong farmers." These individuals were responsible for cleaning the cesspits and ensuring the shafts remained clear. The existence of these structures debunks the myth that medieval people had no concept of waste management or personal hygiene.

#archaeohistories

[Fascinating @fasc1nate]

A rare shot of the Statue of Liberty taken from the balcony at its torch. The entrance to it has been closed since 1916.

More rare historical photos: https://t.co/W7jIvOHun5

[Baseball In Pics @baseballinpix]

19-year-old Sandy Koufax. He signed with the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1954 as a "bonus baby". Despite the raw talent, he struggled with control early in his career. From 1955-1960, Koufax went just 36-40 with a 4.10 ERA, walking 405 batters in 691⅔ innings. He was nearly ready to quit baseball, but stuck with it to become an eventual hall of famer.

[Jeff @jpdowgo]

Ranked: Who Uses the World’s Coal? https://t.co/1qfT2qqzaP via @visualcap

[Jeff @jpdowgo]

https://t.co/ufW1Jx2rLg

[Rob Friedman @PitchingNinja]

Payton Tolle, 99mph Fastball and 90mph Cutter, Overlay.

[Glenn Beck @glennbeck]

At 15 years old, Liv Perrotto’s biggest dream was to meet @elonmusk. She had even written out a list of questions to ask him. Her mother @rebeccaperrotto told me that just days before she passed away from cancer, she had a chance to speak with Elon, but she was too tired and asked him to call later. The questions still sit on her nightstand, unanswered. Liv's mother shared them with me in hopes that Elon would change that today.

1) Are you going to make your own phone?
2) Are you expanding the Tesla Diner to new areas?
3) Will there be any new games with any upcoming Tesla updates?
4) What is your favorite anime?
5) Have you ever been to Japan? What was your favorite place/thing there?
6) Do you know who Hatsune Miku is?
7) Was Ani inspired from Misa from Death Note?
8) Can you make Asteroid (the Shiba Inu zero-g indicator she designed for the Polaris Dawn mission) the mascot for SpaceX?

[OldTimeHardball @OleTimeHardball]

1976: Lou Pinella barrels into Carlton Fisk

Benches clear

[Palantir @PalantirTech]

Because we get asked a lot.

The Technological Republic, in brief.

1. Silicon Valley owes a moral debt to the country that made its rise possible. The engineering elite of Silicon Valley has an affirmative obligation to participate in the defense of the nation.

2. We must rebel against the tyranny of the apps. Is the iPhone our greatest creative if not crowning achievement as a civilization? The object has changed our lives, but it may also now be limiting and constraining our sense of the possible.

3. Free email is not enough. The decadence of a culture or civilization, and indeed its ruling class, will be forgiven only if that culture is capable of delivering economic growth and security for the public.

4. The limits of soft power, of soaring rhetoric alone, have been exposed. The ability of free and democratic societies to prevail requires something more than moral appeal. It requires hard power, and hard power in this century will be built on software.

5. The question is not whether A.I. weapons will be built; it is who will build them and for what purpose. Our adversaries will not pause to indulge in theatrical debates about the merits of developing technologies with critical military and national security applications. They will proceed.

6. National service should be a universal duty. We should, as a society, seriously consider moving away from an all-volunteer force and only fight the next war if everyone shares in the risk and the cost.

7. If a U.S. Marine asks for a better rifle, we should build it; and the same goes for software. We should as a country be capable of continuing a debate about the appropriateness of military action abroad while remaining unflinching in our commitment to those we have asked to step into harm’s way.

8. Public servants need not be our priests. Any business that compensated its employees in the way that the federal government compensates public servants would struggle to survive.

9. We should show far more grace towards those who have subjected themselves to public life. The eradication of any space for forgiveness—a jettisoning of any tolerance for the complexities and contradictions of the human psyche—may leave us with a cast of characters at the helm we will grow to regret.

10. The psychologization of modern politics is leading us astray. Those who look to the political arena to nourish their soul and sense of self, who rely too heavily on their internal life finding expression in people they may never meet, will be left disappointed.

11. Our society has grown too eager to hasten, and is often gleeful at, the demise of its enemies. The vanquishing of an opponent is a moment to pause, not rejoice.

12. The atomic age is ending. One age of deterrence, the atomic age, is ending, and a new era of deterrence built on A.I. is set to begin.

13. No other country in the history of the world has advanced progressive values more than this one. The United States is far from perfect. But it is easy to forget how much more opportunity exists in this country for those who are not hereditary elites than in any other nation on the planet.

14. American power has made possible an extraordinarily long peace. Too many have forgotten or perhaps take for granted that nearly a century of some version of peace has prevailed in the world without a great power military conflict. At least three generations — billions of people and their children and now grandchildren — have never known a world war.

15. The postwar neutering of Germany and Japan must be undone. The defanging of Germany was an overcorrection for which Europe is now paying a heavy price. A similar and highly theatrical commitment to Japanese pacifism will, if maintained, also threaten to shift the balance of power in Asia.

16. We should applaud those who attempt to build where the market has failed to act. The culture almost snickers at Musk’s interest in grand narrative, as if billionaires ought to simply stay in their lane of enriching themselves . . . . Any curiosity or genuine interest in the value of what he has created is essentially dismissed, or perhaps lurks from beneath a thinly veiled scorn.

17. Silicon Valley must play a role in addressing violent crime. Many politicians across the United States have essentially shrugged when it comes to violent crime, abandoning any serious efforts to address the problem or take on any risk with their constituencies or donors in coming up with solutions and experiments in what should be a desperate bid to save lives.

18. The ruthless exposure of the private lives of public figures drives far too much talent away from government service. The public arena—and the shallow and petty assaults against those who dare to do something other than enrich themselves—has become so unforgiving that the republic is left with a significant roster of ineffectual, empty vessels whose ambition one would forgive if there were any genuine belief structure lurking within.

19. The caution in public life that we unwittingly encourage is corrosive. Those who say nothing wrong often say nothing much at all.

20. The pervasive intolerance of religious belief in certain circles must be resisted. The elite’s intolerance of religious belief is perhaps one of the most telling signs that its political project constitutes a less open intellectual movement than many within it would claim.

21. Some cultures have produced vital advances; others remain dysfunctional and regressive. All cultures are now equal. Criticism and value judgments are forbidden. Yet this new dogma glosses over the fact that certain cultures and indeed subcultures . . . have produced wonders. Others have proven middling, and worse, regressive and harmful.

22. We must resist the shallow temptation of a vacant and hollow pluralism. We, in America and more broadly the West, have for the past half century resisted defining national cultures in the name of inclusivity. But inclusion into what?

Excerpts from the #1 New York Times Bestseller The Technological Republic: Hard Power, Soft Belief, and the Future of the West, by Alexander C. Karp & Nicholas W. Zamiska

https://t.co/8igjazz1On

[Jeff @jpdowgo]

The Curve of the Moon https://t.co/Y8trxcjKFu via @NASA