Hedy Lamarr: Silly Bimbo? Or Inventor?

Nobody Answers: Last week I promised to get back to Elder George on whether Hedy Lamarr, actually should get any credit for inventing anything besides thinking up a name to replace her real one, which was, Hedwig Eva Maria Kiesler.

And before I start, I must admit my egregious error in calling Hedy a “blond” bimbo. She was no such thing. She was, as Elder George remembered her perfectly, a stunning raven-haired beauty. A beauty who said, “Any girl can be glamorous, all you have to do it stand still and look stupid.”

Well, easy for her to say. I stand still and look stupid all the time, it doesn't make me glamorous.

Last week, my “genius” friend, Jack Lander, who himself has 11 patents, is an established engineer, and actually works with inventors in developing their products, got back to me.

Jack goes around the country and sets up whole factories, and designs the machines in them. Trust me, Jack knows his stuff.

He also has been writing for Inventor’s Digest as their technical advisor for years.

Because he is a “man” and therefore might beg more credence with Elder George than anything I might say, I quote him here:

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“Yes, as far as we know, Hedy did invent a radio-control device for torpedoes. Her husband at the time was a manufacturer of torpedoes, and one of the problems was that those that were radio controlled could be driven off course by transmitters on the target ship. It was easy to locate the control frequency, and then send a counter signal, etc. (not the composer)

Hedy came up with the idea of using a second frequency, quite low, maybe even in the sound range, to alter the torpedo’s radio frequency. The second frequency was a synchronized between the transmitter and the receiver on the torpedo. Essentially, it was frequency modulation---a kind of vibrato that caused the radio frequency to wander all over the place, but in perfect sync between transmitter and receiver.

I doubt Hedy worked out the exact circuitry. (As do I.) She most likely invented the concept, and had an electronics specialist work out the tuning mechanism. But she deserves the lion’s share of the credit because one requirement for a patent is that the device not be obvious to anyone skilled in the art. Once the technician had a definition of what Hedy wanted, the rest is routine (obvious to one skilled in the art of making radio transmitters and receivers). But the concept of a synchronized wandering radio frequency was not obvious to the technicians and engineers or they would have thought of it first.

Lots of women are excellent inventors, and it’s only that they’ve come to accept the myth of male superiority in the area of inventing that holds them back.

I recently read an account of how tryouts used to be done for musicians to be hired for symphony orchestras. Inevitably the men were picked, and only if no men were available might a woman have a chance. Then, an orchestra was looking for a cello player, I believe, and the directors’ daughter was such a player. To make sure that there was no favoritism shown, they had the players play behind a screen. And the young woman was chosen over a number of men. This was a revelation, and certain orchestras began using it (grudgingly) for all tryouts. Today, there is little prejudice in the selection of such musicians, and we see a good mix of men and woman---young and old---white, black and Asian.

There was a time when women couldn’t own property. Apparently intellectual property was included. A woman who invented something traditionally surrendered it to her husband to patent as the inventor. One such woman invented a feather duster, which was challenged in court. When her husband had to testify about the invention, he fell on his butt, and it came out that it was his wife’s invention.

Finally, one of our “great American heroes,” Eli Whitney, didn’t invent the cotton gin engine at all. He went to work as a tutor for the kids of a Civil War general who died in action. The wife invented the cotton gin, and showed it to Whitney, who eventually fraudulently patented it.”

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There you go. Jack presents us with some very interesting facts.

Nevertheless, in agreement with EG, history reports that not many women ever did anything worth of reporting, at least in inventions.

But, could it be that history was mostly written by men? (Yes.)

We will never know just how many women thought up great ideas, only to have them made by their husbands. Certainly, the record would report at least a few more “ideas” from women than we know.

That’s why it’s so important for all the fathers out there to encourage any daughter that has a proclivity that seems to aim toward a “manly” subject, I say---give her a chance.

So, Mr. Elder: If a man had thought of this idea…would he be given the fame for the concept, even if he had to hire an engineer to work out his designs in his head?

That’s what all inventors do. They come up with stuff that no one has thought of before, (not obvious to one skilled in the art) and if they do not have the “mechanical” expertise to make it, they hire a prototype maker, and explain the concept in drawings. Even Bill Gates did not “build” his many concepts.

The main point as Jack points out, is that no one else had thought of the idea…but Hedy did.

Most artists and creative people will tell you that sometimes, ideas just seem to come out of space….and these “ideas” do not care if you are a man or women.

So Mr. George…I said I’d get back to you…what do you think?

I would also like to thank Jack Lander for taking the time to give me his expert “opinion.”

Nobody’s Perfect: Hedy was married six times. She said in response to her bad record: “I must quit marrying men who feel inferior to me. Somewhere there must be a man who could be my husband and not feel inferior. I need a superior inferior man.” (Amfortas, where were you?)

Nobody Knows; Jack Lander not only has talent in the field of inventing, he has just written a fabulous book called “Not in This Desert.” It’s not in the stores…YET...but it really is an outstanding first novel. I’ll let you know when it comes out. I’ve had a peek at it…lucky me.

Nobody Cares; Because I had a mother who ran a printing company, with thirty employees underneath her…and she could do every job in the plant but lift the paper to feed into the press…

And because I, her daughter, worked in over forty bands, (As a drummer) which consisted of all male musicians…and they always hired me because I was usually the best out of the pick of tryouts…

It’s very hard for me not to believe that women cannot compete with men. (In some jobs of course.)

And that’s why I agree with Jack---Hedy Lamarr was the sole inventor of the idea.

And that’s why she gets the credit, by most all the experts. If the men in Boeing think she was pretty smart, then who is this nobody to argue?

A Parade of Prophets

Nobody’s Opinion: Since I would hate to repeat the obvious putative commentaries on the fact that on this year’s Fourth of July, more than most Americans were extremely frustrated with the “State of the Union,”---I’m willing to bet there was not one single politician anywhere near a public place.

So, because of this I thought I would write about my more personal day. After all, there is only so much you can take of watching Bill and Hillary trying to present themselves as good ol’ country bumpkins who just love Iowa…ah sucks…

Bill even put on worn-out blue jeans for the occasion.

I turned off the TV, the radio, and thought to myself, “Let them all be damned.” which is proof that I am still an American…and got myself out of bed early to go see my very first Fourth of July parade.

My husband and I talked about this.

“Well, have you ever seen a parade?”

“No…not a REAL one…Does Mardi Gras count?"

“No, that’s mostly a bunch of drunk people on floats that all look the same, throwing out beads to drunk people…no….I don’t think so.”

“I used to watch swamp buggy parades in Naples, Florida when I was a kid…where all the swamp buggies would line up to go to the big race….the high school band would play.”

“No…that’s not a real one either.”

“Well, we’d better go. I’m not getting any younger.”

So downtown we went.

I don’t know how many readers have ever been to St. Louis, but the whole city should be condemned. Oh…you might be coming up to it, and see the Arch, the new baseball stadium, a few boats on the Mississippi…but my advise is---don’t leave your car.

Drive under the arch and go… "Look Jack, there’s the Arch!" ---and keep going.

Why vast shells of thousands of empty, burnt-out, broken-down, rat infested, buildings have been left up to rot in the sun, for more than 100 years…I have no idea. It’s always been a mystery to me.

Some of downtown St. Louis looks like Chernobyl on drugs.

But there are two days in St. Louis you can go downtown without fear of being killed…and that’s on St. Patrick’s day, and July the Fourth.

So there we were downtown, July the 4th,… at nine o’clock in the morning, walking down the street, and we sat on the first “benches” we came to.

Because well... we didn’t really want to stand in the hot sun, or walk any further than we had to. Hey, we didn’t get to be out-of-shape Americans for nothing.

We had no idea that these benches were for family members of the top “Masonic” families. There weren’t any signs saying, “Only Masonic families allowed here.” We didn’t figure it out until we saw almost all the people on the floats and clowns, the people holding the balloons waving at our section; in fact, it seemed only the horses did not know someone in our small section of benches.

“Hi Fred! Hey…I talked to Louis! Hey Mike…there’s Mike…HEY!”

It was only then that I looked behind me and saw the big giant “M” on a glass plated door. Oh….rich people. Well, we fit right in.

It also didn’t take us long to figure out that the whole Fourth of July parade, really had a deeper history. Here in St. Louis, it’s called the Veiled Prophet Parade…and it’s actually our town’s version of Skull and Bones.

The very first float had nothing to do with Independence Day…Standing at the very head were some men from the Masonic Lodge, with secret veils on, holding long staffs and dressed in long pope looking robes.

No one knows who these guys are; or why they don’t want to be seen, or what law they had to break to get the job.

And on the float was a court of Rainbow Girls, all daughters of Masonic Father’s.

I was waiting for Fred and Barney Flintstone.

I’m thinking, “Maybe there IS something to this illuminati thing.”

Anyway, they have a “ball” that goes along with this Veiled Prophet thing called the Veiled Prophet Ball, and only the richest families get invited to it.

This is like a “coming out” of the rich daughters of the city. And the man who pays the most money, you guessed it… his daughter gets to be queen.

Kind of like our “election” of the United States President.

And then the rich boys get to meet the rich girls, and then they hopefully get married and become lawyers, politicians, or judges. So lots of money is raised and goes to the parade…which is to celebrate…July the Fourth, except it’s really for the lodge.

Got it?

This makes one wonder if Skull and Bones has a parade, or if it just has “balls??”

Yes, the secret Masonic lodges are still very much alive, even if they are a real puzzlement.

In fact, my grandfather belonged to the Masonic here, and his business made millions during the depression. My suspicions are that because he was a mason, he had the connections he needed to make money.

My grandfather never even learned to dial a telephone, and had an eight grade education. But back then, you could start up a business…and if you knew the right people in town, you would prosper.

So, I’m not knocking the Masons…it’s just, it’s all so secret, isn’t it?

Well, anyway, we did see a Statue of Liberty balloon, and an Uncle Sam balloon, and librarians walking book carts in military precision, and clowns, and guys having a great time speeding around in go-carts, throwing candy to all the great little kids.

We even saw some high school bands, from small Midwestern towns. And every single one of these kids were standing so proud, and some fool had made them do Michael Jackson’s moon walk and try to play at the same time…unbelievable.

And it was also the first time I was up close to the drummers (remember I was a drummer for years) echoing through the shells of the old city’s buildings.

These kids…from the small towns of America have brothers and sisters proudly serving in Iraq now. I was proud of every one of them. They gave me hope…and that’s not easy.

It was like I felt I was witnessing the preservation of something very precious.

Of course, I completely embarrassed every adult in the rich crowd (including my not really rich husband) by yelling and whistling and saying as loud as I could, “You guys are great!” to the drum solo one band did in front of us. I was, sadly, the ONLY one in the crowd applauding.

It was not something rich people do.

But, frankly, I really don’t care. Those kids did not make one mistake.

After the parade, we walked around under the Arch, and the place was practically deserted. Everyone must have gone home after the parade. In face, most people stayed home here. Money is tight…and the weatherman made it sound like Zeus himself was going to come out and strike each and every single person dead if they dared to come out to any firework display.

So we climbed up on the roof, and watched from afar…it was a perfect night, it was perfect weather…Of course it was.

And even though fireworks are outlawed here…I’ve never heard so many being blasted off in our neighborhood….

Guess there aren’t many mason’s in my neighborhood. And that’s okay with me.

But I’m not holding that against them, they put on a great parade. Next year I plan to go, sit in the same place, and yell, “Hey take off your mask!”

You can only pretend to be something you’re not for so long.

Nobody’s Perfect: I quit the Rainbow Girls a long time ago. It was so secretive--- I couldn’t for the life of me see the point. I mean, they don’t actually tell young girls that the only purpose of them going to meetings too look at silly pictures of rainbows..is to be looked over for possible future brides for rich sons.

I don’t think my grandfather ever forgave me.

The American Originals

Nobody Flashes: There is nothing like an American original: The original American Marilyn Monroe, the original American Thomas Edison Light Bulb: the original American Bill Gates's Microsoft: the original American landing on the Moon: The very original American movies; The original American railroads: The original Empire State Building, the Statue of Liberty. The Original Wright Brothers....the American Music...

The original American invention of the car.

The original Atom bomb. And the original McDonalds. (and on and on and on)

All this American ingenuity grew because a govenment that started on this day...July 4th...(actually 2nd) in 1776, gave the exact freedom that was needed to plant the seeds of growth.

The world needs to stop and thank the American originals, instead of hating us all...don't you think?

Because there has never been anything ever written like the original American Declaration of Independence, and thank goodness for the world for that.

Happy Birthday to us all.

Taking Back Our Eagle

Nobody’s Opinion: Here it is…July the 3rd, and all I heard all day being reported was the money “contest” between Obama and Hillary Clinton. The excitement was on who could raise the most money for their campaign to become President.

As if it was just another “American Idol” contest.

Obama is winning in that department, (winning by over ten million) so Hillary had to bring out the “KING” of raising money…his global initiative highness himself…Bill Clinton---to prance down a Middle American Iowa street with her, and use his vast political popularity to get them both back into office.

Which, by the way, is completely against our constitution…Clinton has had his two turns. He is just using his wife, ambitious as she is, to get back into office.

If ever there was a deceptive ploy of dictatorship, they have done it. They just found a perfect loophole in the Constitution.

Lawyers are good at that.

And since nobody is actually talking about this fait accompli, maybe we deserve the impending doom.

Not that Obama’s surge in money is going to help him. The Clintons not only have Hollywood, Unions, Lawyers, Raza, the blacks, and vast political organizations up and running and in place for YEARS…sending them money, they also have whole nations probably sending them money laundered through Cayman Island accounts. After all, it was the money from the Chinese government that got them elected before.

Our founders would have considered that treason, and they would both have been shot. George Washington would not have given it a second thought.

Ahh…but a man like George Washington today, would not even make front page news.

Hillary Clinton coming out today and saying that Bush’s “cronyism and ideology trump competence and justice” really makes you wonder if our water supply is not being drugged with some kind of “memory” inhibitor…because the Clinton administration had so much cronyism and incompetence throughout their “reign” that one wonders just how any two people could have ever gotten so much power?

Bush pardoned Scooty Libby today… a man who did what? I’m still not sure…but Bill Clinton lied before the whole nation, under oath…and well….that’s about sex, so it’s okay.

And when did Bill Clinton became King of the drug cartels?--- Being as he pardoned so many cocaine suppliers---he probably tripled the cocaine business just by his actions.

I can remember on the fiftieth day of the celebrations of the United Nations; which I watched in the middle of a sleepy afternoon…every single country’s leader in the world walked up a long set of stairs and bowed and shook Bill Clinton’s hand. I think that’s when I knew the end game.

Globalization.

And on this July the 4th, I was thinking...I didn’t think then it would get worse, but it has.

Now in 2007, in the great country of America, a country founded upon a Republic, to represent “the people”--- the office of the Presidency is sold to the highest bidder.

Yes, let’s not be stupid, our political offices are “sold.” And some are also brought by the multinational companies, along with other countries…like China...

Our media is so well controlled, and we have been so dumbed down, that most people in America have come to accept the fact that 95 percent of the country is not represented in any way. They have convinced us all that they (those multi-millionaires who rule us) are the ONLY ones to lead us into this new globalization. We have to sacrifice America…to save the world,-- which does not even have drinking water.

That’s you and me folks, and our kids, and their children.

We must sacrifice our hopes and dreams so that major multinationals companies can make even more money…but they need the American worker to fund it.

Sadly, most of our politicians are just as corrupt as any small time dictators. And soon, the camera’s going up on our streets, will be coming into our homes.

So, we must ask ourselves…while we are watching the fireworks…what power do we really have anymore? Is it possible for a whole people to take back their own country? Do we sit back and let these elite politicians hand over OUR freedoms, for their own greed and power?

It’s been happening every day. We’ve all seen it. We’ve all felt it. Those of us who lived through the sixties, can mark the slow decline. Even today, I felt like I was in Russia.

The 4th usually means an outside family bar-be-que and that means lots of corn on the cob…well..here you can get local farmer's corn at the store, but it sure doesn’t taste like much. I haven’t been able to buy frozen corn anywhere for months.

And you want to bar-be-que chicken? Good for you…I hope you can find a whole one to cook, because for three weeks I've searched all over...all I could find was at my local grocery stores were bags of chicken thighs.

I cannot EVER remember a time when you couldn’t buy a whole chicken at my local store.

And don’t even talk about the high price of your grocery bill. They tell us it’s because now every fifth row of corn is going for ethanol. ANd the chicken and cows eat corn...therefore, this new ethanal will mean we will get less food.

Tell, me…when is the milk going to disappear?

Is this Russia? Boy, I can’t wait to hear what Al Gore has to say, can you?

No one is really talking about this yet, because you can still go to KFC…
But it’s happening…our food and water will be controlled very soon, along with our toilet paper. Somehow I don’t think that was just a “flippant” remark by some airhead.

We won’t be much different than any other communist state, except that we won’t know it, because we have never felt “shortages” before. Well, not counting the gas shortage during Carter.

And the shortages of gas that always seem to happen right before national holidays, when everyone is driving. We now just expect it.

What's going on?

Can 300 million people take back a country, before it’s too late?

Are there enough decent, honest, and intelligent people to fight for the best country that ever happened in history? Can enough of us be unified to fight back?

Or will they continue to do what they are best at…besting black against white, men against women, rich against poor…and now, getting rid of English?

Have you noticed how many Americans will be losing their jobs because they can’t speak Spanish?

Well, once upon a time, a very small nation went up against an Empire. They did not have the internet. They did not have telephones, and cell phones, and the vast educational wealth of knowledge at their fingertips.

But they got to a point when they said…no more. No more. We are decent people, and you do not represent us…and we will take it no more.

We may be poor…but we love our country…and our forefathers gave their lives for this moment. If spreading “freedom” all over the world means we lose ours…

We lose America...

We should say…like the men who once stood up against a much bigger threat…

No more.

We want our country back...and you cannot buy it, because it’s not for sale.

This nobody says to the “rich” who are dreaming of sacrificing our freedoms for their own power and glory.

Go globalize yourself.

And leave America alone.

And to all the American Soldiers all over the world tonight…HEY…all us nobodies love ya! Send up a big firework for yourself…America exist today because of YOU!

And we are proud of you all! And we are all sending you our prayers...

So...Happy 4th of July! Hoo-ya!

Nobody’s Perfect: Okay, Joyanna has had her 4th of July rant…blame my ancestors.

Nobody’s Knows: I do plan to enjoy the fireworks…and since the 4th is my very most favorite day of the year…I truly hope everyone at MND and all the readers everywhere have a really great day! Eats lots of food, and drink lots of water (and other fun stuff) …and have a great time with families and friends…because we are still Americans! Any country that puts up with Rosie O'Donnell ever day can't be all bad.

Pass the ketchup. (At least we still have hamburgers!)

Nobody Cares; Don’t forget the watermelon, and don’t forget to toast George, John, Paul, Tom, and Ringo…no, I mean…James, and Otis, and Hancock, and Dolly…and…

Bring Out The Light Saber

Nobody Flashes: Ever since Rupert Murdoch decided, that when he takes over the Wall Street Journal, he is going global--it seems FOX NEWS and it's pundits have gotten new marching orders; Rupert is all for immigration, and the merging of the three countries.

It's also why he is supporting Hillary Clinton, along with Warren Buffet.

Oh...so it's all about the money Rupert?

When Bill O'Reilly did a 180 degree turn about on immigration, I was shocked. When the Beltway Boys start attacking talk radio hosts as Darth Vaders, I was disgusted.

But, when today, on FOX news, a British reporter ACTUALLY blamed the recent terrorist attacks in England on America, and compared the conservatives here as bascially NO different than Al Qaida..and the interviewing reporter just nodded...

Then I say, it's time to bring out the light sabers. I'm getting mine out of the closet, if I can get my cat to move.