Another good day for music!

 "A man's greatness lies not in wealth and station, as the vulgar believe.  Nor does it lie in his intellectual capacity, which is often associated with the worst moral character - the most abject servility to those in high places and arrogance to the poor and lowly.  But a man's true greatness lies in the consciousness of an honest purpose in life, founded upon a just estimate of himself and everything else.  On frequent self-examination, and a steady obedience to the rule which he knows to be right - without troubling himself, as the emperor says he should not, about what others may say , or whether they do or don't do that which he thinks and says and does." - Marcus Aurelius

A great article about inflation

 

 This is the kind of news article that you rarely find in a major US newspaper.  This is a hard-hitting and accurate article about price inflation and the Federal Reserve.  The US sees all problems as things that can be fixed with better PR.  Some things, like inflation, cannot be fixed with PR.

Article is here.

Also, I highly recommend reading the Asia Times routinely.  It gives a different perspective, and provides an alternative to the nearly identical articles put out by US based news.   

"To vax, or not to vax, that is the question:"

 "The essence of philosophy (of stoicism) is that a man should so live that his happiness shall depend as little as possible on external things." - Epictetus

Three Strikes

 "Fate leads the willing and drags along the reluctant." - Lucius Annaeus Seneca

Firing up the limbs

 "A city is not adorned by external things, but by the virtue of those who dwell in it." - Epictetus

Submarine KRI Nanggala-402 - updated

 No stoic quote for this post.  

Just a quick note here:  The above Indonesian submarine appears to have sunk, taking 53 souls with her to the bottom. Fifty three more men on eternal patrol :(

The news report says that the ship went down in 600-700 meter deep water, which would be right at the crush depth of a very robust military submarine.  Test depth is believed to be just 250 meters for this ship, and so it's unlikely that there are survivors.  An oil slick has developed, which is likely propulsion lubricants or diesel fuel from ruptured tanks, indicating that the hull was likely breached.

 Sad business, and a terrible way to exit this sorry world.  Rest in peace, brothers.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-04-22/australia-defence-help-rescue-mission-indonesian-submarine-crew/100087082

UPDATE 4-22-21

The approximate location of the missing submarine has been released.  Maps are provided below.

Below:  The red pin is Bali, Indonesia.  The large island on the right is New Guinea, and the continent at the bottom is the Northern part of Australia.  The string of islands going left to right and the large one up top belong to Indonesia

Below: The sub is believed to lie a short distance North of the island of Bali.

The news articles state that search teams have found a magnetic signature - possibly the submarine - in 100-150 meters of water, and also mention that air for the crew will run out in approximately 24 hours.  This clashes with other reports that the sub went down in 600-700 meter deep water.  There is nothing wrong with haste in attempting to locate and rescue any possible survivors, but I'm not optimistic about that at all.  A realistic assessment would probably conclude that the entire crew passed.  Sad tidings.

Update 7 May 2021

The wreckage of Nanggala-402 has been located, at the coordinates 7°48′56″S 114°51′20″E.  You can find images of the wreckage elsewhere on the internet, but not on my blog.  Out of respect for the crew and their families, I will not post those.

She was lost during a live-fire military practice exercise, similar to what the Russian submarine Kursk was doing when it was lost.  Kursk was lost when a warhead is believed to have exploded in the torpedo room - but it is still unclear what caused Nanggala to be lost.

One current theory is that the submarine lost all electrical power.  My problem with this theory is that even if a submarine loses electrical power, the crew can still blow the ballast tanks to gain buoyancy and emergency surface.  Whatever the event was, it probably happened very quickly, or the crew would have been able to save the ship.

China has offered assistance to Indonesia, and perhaps even raise the wreckage.  The ship has broken into three sections, and it is a small ship to begin with, so the process should not be too difficult.  I will do further updates as more information is available.

Just a song

 "We are mad, not only individually but nationally.  We punish manslaughter and isolated murders, but what of war and the much-vaunted crime of slaughtering whole peoples?" - Lucius Annaeus Seneca

Trees!

 "Men do not care how nobly they live, but only for how long.  Although it is within the reach of every man to live nobly, but within no man's power to live long." - Lucius Annaeus Seneca

Time for a post!

 Hippocrates cured many illnesses - and then fell ill himself and died. 

The Chaldeans predicted the deaths of many others - in due course their own hour arrived.

Alexander the great, Pompeii, Ceasar - who utterly destroyed so many cities, cut down so many thousand men and horse in battle - they too departed this life.

Heraclitus often told us the world would end in fire, but it was moisture that carried him off; he died smeared with cow shit.

Democritus was killed by ordinary vermin, while Socrates was killed by the human kind.

And you?  You boarded, set sail, you've made your passage.  Time to disembark.

If it's for another life, well, there's nowhere without gods on that side either.

If to nothingness, then you no longer have to put up with pain and pleasure, or go on dancing attendance on this battered crate, your body - so inferior to that which serves it.

One is mind and spirit, the other earth and garbage. - Marcus Aurelius.