Here are more clues to the location of the image we included in our last post showing an elderly couple reacting to three killer whales just out of reach next to her rubber raft. Admittedly, telling you it was on the equator did not narrow down the possibilities much.

Today, we will add that we were west of Equador on a small boat tour. Half the passengers were alumni from our college and the other half were members of a fraternity, fortunately for us, a physics honorary fraternity.

I cannot remember if the gentleman above is a fellow alumnus or a physicist, but I will reveal that he is photographing a blue footed boobie. And, that none of the animals we saw were the least bit intimidated by our presence.

We are visiting a variety of islands renowned for their ecological diversity. The man who put these islands on the map changed the world view and had this to say about discovery:

Yeah, I am not sure what he is saying either but it sounds like something you might try to do while sheltered in place. But, one last image and then back to our question.

Can you tell where in the world we are?

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All photos and text are copyright Clinton Richardson. If you like these posts, please tell your friends about the Venture Moola blog at Readjanus.com. And, feel free to share this blog. The more readers the better.  Click here if you would like to get a weekly email that notifies you when we release new entries. Or, click in the side column to follow us on Facebook or Twitter.

We start a new series today to celebrate the world at large while we are all shuttered in place. Back when borders could be crossed and social distancing was not universal, we took images of that remind us of just how big and beautiful the world can be. 

Can you guess where we are in this picture? And, what we are doing?

I will give you one hint. We are not far from equator. Send us your guesses and we will give you our answer when we post our next image in the series.

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All photos and text are copyright Clinton Richardson. If you like these posts, please tell your friends about the Venture Moola blog at Readjanus.com. And, feel free to share this blog. The more readers the better.  Click here if you would like to get a weekly email that notifies you when we release new entries. Or, click in the side column to follow us on Facebook or Twitter.

Need a break from Covid 19-all-the-time?

Here we look back to an earlier entry about the Clinton Presidency, grown men in chicken suits, and plain clothes FBI agents. It all starts with enthusiastic voter-business owner, a visit to downtown Atlanta where a crowd awaits a Presidential motorcade.

I GOT THE CALL while driving up the expressway after work one Friday. President Bill Clinton was visiting our city and I had a very excited client on the phone.

"Clint! You've got to look for me on the local news tonight! I should be on a story about President Clinton."

"What?" I replied. "You hate President Clinton."

"I know but you have to watch! My brother and I were wearing our chicken suits along the motorcade and something happened. We were interviewed by reporters."

This was when I learned that my valued client, paragon of the community, successful entrepreneur and businessman had a side to him I did not know.

It turns out he was politically active. No, he was politically passionate. How could I not know that?

And, he explained, he took great offense during Bill Clinton's campaign against George H. W.  Bush in 1992 when Clinton operatives started showing up at Bush rallies in chicken suits carrying "Chicken George" signs. It made him so mad that he bought two chicken suits that he and his brother would wear at Clinton rallies and events carrying "Chicken Willie" signs. This had been going on for a long time. It was years since Bill Clinton had first been elected.

"I was along the motorcade route in my chicken suit with my sign having a great time talking with people. But the motorcade was delayed and then more delayed. And, then someone tapped me on my shoulder."

"When I turned around it was a tall guy in a black suit holding and Secret Service badge. He asked me if it was my box labeled Chicken Suit in the stairwell of a nearby office building."

"I knew this was no time to lie."

My client, we will call him Mike, explained he had carried his chicken suit in the box and changed in the stairwell. The Secret Service found the box and called the bomb squad. The President's motorcade was rerouted. The news crews caught the his meeting with the Secret Service but it did not make the nightly news to Mike's disappointment.

So, what's my point? Mike was a successful entrepreneur, whose success created hundreds of jobs. He created a great business from an idea, perseverance, and passion while he was still in college. He is someone to be admired. And, at least in this one respect, he was a bit eccentric.

People who take on the challenge of building and growing a great business are not milk toast. Many of them have quirks. Some (not Mike)  are downright difficult to deal with.

But most of them share one trait. They are passionate about what they do. And they act when they see something that needs to be fixed.

Like Chicken Willie.

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All photos and text are copyright Clinton Richardson. If you like these posts, please tell your friends about the Venture Moola blog at Readjanus.com. And, feel free to share this blog. The more readers the better.  Click here if you would like to get a weekly email that notifies you when we release new entries. Or, click in the side column to follow us on Facebook or Twitter.

Yes, I know. It is not an inspired pun. But, stay with me as we review the life of an American patriot and founding father and raise a somewhat surprising monetary question.

You probably recognize our Founding Father from the image above. It is  a close up of a life-size bronze sculpture, completed in 2009, that greets you as you board the bus takes you up the hill to see Thomas Jefferson's mansion.

Jefferson's Monticello home is famous for its architecture and furnishings as well as for being the home of the author of the Declaration of Independence, our third President, Ambassador to France, and author of Virginia's first law preserving religious freedom. It is visited by citizens from around the world.

As President, Jefferson commissioned the Lewis and Clarke expedition and completed the Louisiana Purchase which instantly doubled the land mass of the United States. In retirement, he founded and designed the University of Virginia, watching over construction with a telescope from the elevated setting of Monticello.

He was a man of accomplishment who nourished a personal library so significant that when the Library of Congress was torched during the War of 1812, his books were used to reestablish the Library's collection. Jefferson was curious, inventive and well read to an extent that rivaled Benjamin Franklin.

His home at Monticello is full of innovation and reflections of his deep curiosity about the world. The front entryway is full of souvenirs from the Lewis and Clarke Expedition as well as an inventive clock that uses weights and gravity to keep track of hours and days.

Jefferson was ambitious and could  be ruthless, setting a low-bar standard in his successful Presidential campaign against Adams that survived unchallenged until recent times. He was also pragmatic and idealistic, as when he crafted the message for the Declaration of Independence and fought to limit church influence over the Virginia legislature.

He was also a complicated man. He was not openly religious, believing a man's belief was a private matter. And yet, he committed in correspondence with his good friend Benjamin Rush, who thought Jefferson to be too secular for  his own good, to commit his beliefs to writing at some  time.

It was near the end of his life that he took on the project, compiling in four languages what he called The Life and Morals of Jesus of Nazareth. To complete the task, he purchased six bibles that he cut into clippings and arranged into a private volume.

That volume, commonly called the Jefferson Bible, now resides in the Smithsonian's collection and is available to the public in a richly authentic reproduction produced in 2011. The images above are from that reproduction.

Jefferson lived in an extraordinary time. The impact of his actions in support of the American Revolution and in securing religious freedom through the separation of church and State are still felt today, almost 250 years later.

But like many Southern landowners, he was also the owner and master of hundreds of enslaved people, it taking more than 150 slaves to keep his home and plantation operating at any one time.

Most of the enslaved people lived near the fields and out of site from the Jefferson's home. Those who worked around the house, like Sally Hemings who also bore children attributed to Jefferson, lived nearby in structures like this reconstructed cabin.

Jefferson purported to abhor the institution of slavery in his personal letters but did not extract himself from it. His home, his lifestyle and his ability to influence the greater world were inextricably tied to his participation in a system that extracted wealth from enslaved people. His plantation could not run profitably without enslaved people to work its fields.

It was his world. One where he was a master over enslaved people with no power. One where a plantation that supported only six or eight free persons might require the forced labor of more than 150 enslaved people to operate. It was a world where so many people were enslaved that it required legislative approval to free a person from slavery.

While he relied on slavery for his livelihood, Jefferson also designed his beloved Monticello to hide the institution and his reliance on it as much as he could. On his plantation, many features were included - like back hallways, underground corridors, and  dumbwaiters - to keep the work of slaves out of sight.

So, where am I  going with this? Am I going to question whether Jefferson should be removed from the  nickle because he owned slaves?

No, I have a more modest question to consider. Thomas Jefferson was a statesman, an eloquent spokesperson for separation of church and State, and the author of a Declaration of Independence that has inspired millions over the centuries.

But, he was also the owner of an unprofitable plantation that left him deep in debt when he died. And, as he freed only a few of the Heming children upon his death, almost all of his slaves remained enslaved after his death.

Hundreds of them were rounded up and sold on the steps of Monticello to the highest bidder to pay off his debts. It must have been an anguishing time for the enslaved individuals and families who worked on the Monticello plantation.

So when you next look at a nickle, you will see the great Jefferson and his architectural wonder of Monticello. But, when you look at Monticello you will also be looking at the steps where hundreds of enslaved people were sold.

Does the nickle need a change? With all of Jefferson's accomplishments, would an image of the Declaration of Independence or a map of the Louisiana Purchase be more fitting for the reverse side of the coin?

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All photos (except for the stock image nickle) and text are copyright Clinton Richardson. If you like these posts, please tell your friends about the Venture Moola blog at Readjanus.com. Want to plan your own safari? If so, feel free to check out the outfitter we used at Porini.com.

And, feel free to share this blog. The more readers the better.  Click here if you would like to get a weekly email that notifies you when we release new entries. Or, click in the side column to follow us on Facebook or Twitter.

This last month marked the one year anniversary of my mom's death at age 93. You might say she was taken from us but that word has a much bigger meaning in our family history.

Pins, like the one above, were available to Naval officers during World War II to give to their girlfriends or fiancés. This particular pin was given by my dad to my mom. They met while he was on leave in Detroit and she was working at the USO. It led to a nickname that stuck with my mom for the rest of her life.

I could tell you the story but you can hear it from her in the video below, produced by Museum of History and Holocaust Education at Kennesaw State University,

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The video is part of the Georgia Legacies of World War II Exhibit at the Museum. If you are interested, the Museum's profile of mom and her WWII experience can be found at this link.

Her background includes years at a Canadian boarding school, college interrupted by World War II, work at the FED and USO, a whirlwind romance that changed her name and resulted in a family with four boys, and induction into the American Rosie the Riveter Association. That's her below working at the USO.

The first photo and text are copyright Clinton Richardson. If you like these posts, please tell your friends about the Venture Moola blog at Readjanus.com. More of  our images can be found on our companion website at trekpic.com. Feel free to share this blog with your friends. The more readers the better. 

Click here if you would like to get an email notification when we release new entries. Or, click in the side column to follow us on Facebook or Twitter.

My apologies to all those who will be offended by this post but this is all just for fun. How often in these tense times do we get to focus on something as inconsequential as Presidential tan lines.

It seems like ages ago that this photo went viral after a Presidential tweet. But, actually, it was just earlier this week that this image was posted and then made viral by a Presidential response.

A copy of this image was tweeted by Donald J. Trump @realDonaldTrump with the following message: "Fake news. This was photoshopped, obviously, but the wind was strong and the hair looks good? Anything to demean!"

So the question of the day is whether the photo was altered, or this just a film or camera adjustment issue?  Judge for yourself. Here is a second image taken about the same time by another photographer.

My personal opinion is that this is a contrast adjustment, a difference between cameras, or maybe what photographers call a White Balance adjustment and nothing more. Was it contrasted up to overemphasize the color difference? Perhaps so. What do you think?

In any event, it is certainly not altered as dramatically as the image below. The second image is definitely altered using a photo editing program. Inspired, perhaps, by Dustin Hoffman's portrayal of Tootsie in the film by the  same  name?

The President's tweet about the image was pretty mild by Trumpian standards. It did not call for punishing the photographer and did not insult the photographer. Perhaps, he is comfortable with his spray tan and with everyone knowing about it.

And, maybe tans will become de rigueur for future Presidents. Apparently, though, tan quality is not an advantage in a Presidential election as the two images below show. Clearly, Senator Romney sports the better tan.

But, perhaps the most pressing tan issue at the moment following Bernie Sanders plurality in New Hampshire, is whether the Vermont Senator will up his tan game if he gets the Democratic nomination. And, yes, this is obviously photo edited.

From a historical perspective, no Presidential tan can match the permanent tan Roman emperors achieved when they minted gold coins in their image. Could this be the look the President is going for?

As you are probably aware, Kirk Douglas died the other day at the age of 103. He was a Hollywood legend, a prolific actor and producer who created memorable roles and iconic films.

You may remember him from his movie Spartacus and the iconic catch phrase from the  scene at the end of the movie when the Roman General Marcus Crassus looks out over a field of defeated slaves and demands that Spartacus give himself up only to be met with defiance as condemned slave after condemned slave stands and proclaims that "I am Spartacus!"

A great film moment to be sure. But, did you know there was real courage behind the movie as well? In fact, the making of Spartacus by Kirk Douglas, was an act of profound courage. It was, as you can read below, an act of defiance itself that had helped end a dark chapter of American history.

That dark chapter was the 1950s witch hunt of Senator Joseph McCarthy and legal counsel Roy Cohen that blacklisted and imprisoned many law abiding Americans accused of affiliating with the Communist Party. Accusations, lies, and intimidation from McCarthy and Cohen created a state of paranoia and fear throughout the country.

What follows is the story of how Kirk Douglas defied the blacklists when he produced Spartacus and why it mattered. The narrative comes largely from my book about ancient personalities who shaped our common history -  Ancient Selfies - History Revealed Through the World's First Social Media - Ancient Coins,  available on Amazon.com.

The success the slave rebellion led by Spartacus against Rome’s legions and the size of the slave army struck fear into the hearts of Rome’s citizens. Many Romans feared for the very survival of the Republic. Rome, itself, depended on slave labor for its very survival.

After almost three years of success, Spartacus and his army were finally defeated by a group of Rome’s legions under the command of Marcus Crassus, Magnus Pompey and Julius Caesar. Following the defeat, Crassus marched the defeated slaves along the Appian Way toward Rome, crucifying many of them along the roadside. Thousands of Spartacus’ compatriots were hung out to die, 17 per mile or 6,000 in total by one estimate. The action was intended to strike fear into the slave population of Rome.

Intimidation as a Roman method of control. The coin shown above was issued in that same year to celebrate the end of the slave war by honoring an earlier Senator who had played a role in putting down an earlier slave revolt thirty years earlier. The coin’s image of a conquered slave and triumphant legionnaire was intended to remind Rome's freemen and slaves of the horrible fate inflicted on the conquered slave army of Spartacus. More than 6,000 defeated slaves were crucified and left to die and rot along the Appian Way.

How this ancient story came to modern America.  But, while Spartacus and his army of slaves did not win freedom from Rome, their story would help bring an end to an era of persecution in America 2,000 years later. In 1951, at the height of the Communist witch hunts led by U.S. Senator Joseph McCarthy, one bestselling American author would self-publish a novel about Spartacus and a Hollywood leading man would make his book into a movie in a series of events that would help end the McCarthy era.

Howard Fast, the author of Spartacus, had been a bestselling author for years when he found himself needing to self-publish his work after his name appeared on Senator McCarthy’s blacklist of communist sympathizers. Notwithstanding the difficulties of promoting, publishing and distributing his work, Fast’s Spartacus became an instant success. Not only did it reach number one on the New York Times Bestseller List, it also spawned the blockbuster movie by the same name.

The book was controversial because of its author and content. McCarthy’s followers claimed it was popular reading among Communists.

Douglas acquires the film rights to Spartacus. The actor Kirk Douglas, upset at losing the role of Ben Hur to Charlton Heston in the movie of the same name, bought the screen rights to the book from Howard Fast. Douglas, who had declined the role of Ben Hur’s enemy rather than to play second banana to his rival Heston, admitted that his disappointment in losing the role of Ben Hur led him to purchase the rights to Spartacus.

Douglas also took the controversial step of hiring Dalton Trumbo, one of the members of the Hollywood Ten, to write the screenplay. Trumbo had been jailed for refusing to cooperate with the House Un-American Activities Committee and had been forced to write scripts under a pseudonym for a decade.

Douglas not only hired Trumbo to write the screenplay but also included his name in the movie’s credits. It was the  first time Trumbo's name appeared in a movie's credits since he had been blacklisted.

Reaction to Spartacus the movie. When the film was released in 1960 with Trumbo's name in the credits, influential Hollywood columnist Hedda Hopper denounced Douglas for hiring Trumbo. The American Legion joined in the condemnation and picketed the movie’s Los Angeles premiere. Douglas responded by hiring Trumbo to write two more screenplays.

And then a thoughtful young President weighed in. Newly elected President John Kennedy crossed the  American Legion picket line to view the film and praised it afterward. The film went on to become a blockbuster hit, earning more money at the box office than any movie before or for the next decade.

The events unleashed by Kirk Douglas' courage marked a turning point in the power of McCarthy’s blacklists in Hollywood. And so, in this way, the very real Spartacus from two centuries earlier, helped inspire a bestselling author and a feisty Hollywood actor to collaborate in a way that would help end persecution in twentieth century America.

Thank you Kirk Douglas for a life of courage. You were Spartacus personified!

Postscripts.  One, and perhaps the  most influential, person in crafting the methods of intimidation and misinformation that created the hysteria and fear that gripped America during the McCarthy era was the legal counsel to the House Un-American Committee, Roy Cohen. He is seen above counseling Senator McCarthy during a House Committee hearing in the 1950s and, later, chatting with his longtime client and protege Donald Trump.

A knowledgeable friend attributes the following quote to George Orwell and his book 1984 about a (then) future dystopian society of thought police and oppression.

The Party told you to reject all evidence of your eyes and ears.
It was their final, most essential command.

The Party referred to is not the  Republican Party. Although, you are forgiven if you think so after the recent impeachment trial in the U.S. Senate,

Nero was wild about chariot races and games. So much so, that he even drove a ten horse chariot in the Olympic Games much to the dismay of his advisors. His charioteer haircut bothered his advisors and members of the Senate. It was not fitting for the  ruling emperor, or at least they said when he was not listening. 

Of  course, Nero did not  care what his advisors or the Senate thought. Nero ruled without the restraint of an independent Senate, He was absolute emperor and wielded power confidently and sometimes ruthlessly.

While most historians question whether Nero ordered the burning of Rome in 64  AD, others believe the massive fire that consumed Rome and killed many was a deliberate act of an emperor who wanted to make Rome great again by clearing the way for his own building projects. He was said to have sung The Sack of Illium in stage costume and played his lyre as he watched Rome burn.

After Rome's destruction, Nero made Christians the scapegoat and ordered the persecution of its members as punishment. Tradition holds that Christ's disciple Peter was among those caught up in Nero's persecution. In Peter's case, the belief is that he was crucified hanging upside down on a cross.

We cannot know the full picture of Nero's life with any certainty. The records are too old and incomplete to know everything about him. But the coin he authorized does give us one concrete glimpse of man.

And, it raises a question. We know why Nero wore his hair combed up and out, but why does Trump?

For those interested, here's a wrap up of Alaskan trip with links back to our earlier Alaskan posts. As we reflect back briefly on a journey we encourage you to consider for your future travels, we include a few favorite images from a very wild place.

Our first three posts set the stage for our trip into north central Alaska. Starting in Fairbanks where we first saw the Northern Lights moving in the night sky, we headed south to Denali National Park where a 20 m.p.h. bus ride along the 50+ mile Park road took us past grizzlies, caribou, towering Mt. Denali and incredible wild scenery.

After staying at lodge in the heart of the Park managed by a First Nation corporation, we made our way back out of the Park along the same one-lane gravel road. The moose were out early in a morning made light pink by the low lying Arctic sun.

From Denali, we head south first by train and then by van. Our ultimate destination is Katmai National Park but distances are great and we make several stops along the way.

Our stops include Talkeetna, the jumping off place for hikers determined to reach the top of Mt. Denali, then Seward, and Fox Island in the middle of the Kenai National Park. Along the way, we take a class 4 bus ride to see glaciers and pull off the road along Turnagain Arm to watch beluga whales in the wild.

As we make our way out of Seward harbor toward Fox Island, a large and aging otter floats by our boat and gives us a long look.

The protected wilderness and its grizzly bears are the focus toward the end of the trip. Above, a large grizzly works at bulking up for the winter hibernation. Below, two adults tussle not 50 yards from a foot bridge we pass.

Below, we close this journey with a few last images of the Katmai region grizzlies.

And, one reminder of Alaska's bright night skies.

All the postings in one place:       

Back from the Alaskan Wild. A preview of the series.
Alaska 1: Back in a Fog. More about a trip and logistics in the wild.
Alaska 2: The Grizzly Salmon Attraction. What makes it all possible.
Alaska 3: Peril on Mt. Denali. You have to read it to find out.
Alaska 4: Before the Beginning. In Fairbanks with the Northern Lights.
Alaska 5; Kantishna to Wonder Lake. In the heart of Denali.
Alaska 6: Bull Moose and Bus Bears. The ride back in Denali.
Alaska 7: Scenic Ride and a Class 4 Bus Ride. Traveling south toward Katmai.
Alaska 8: Fox Island Jellies. Travel south to Kenai Fjords and Fox Island.
Alaska 9: Off to Katmai. Share foot paths with wild grizzlies in a National Park.
Alaska 10: Fishing the Falls. Get close to grizzly fishing on a waterfall.
Alaska 11: Below the Falls. Even more wild grizzlies up close.
Alaska 12: High Grass and Charging Grizzlies. A bit too close for comfort?
Alaska 13: A Four Grizzly Wish. Our New Year's posting.
Alaska 14: Here They Come Again. More grizzlies approach us on the beach.
Alaska 15: Water Bear Reflections. Still on the ground walking with the bears.

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All photos and text are copyright Clinton Richardson. If you like these posts, please tell your friends about the Venture Moola blog at Readjanus.com. More of  our images can be found on our companion website at trekpic.com. Feel free to share this blog with your friends. The more readers the better. 

Click here if you would like to get an email notification when we release new entries. Or, click in the side column to follow us on Facebook or Twitter.

We are in the Katmai National Preserve, a place where Alaskan grizzlies, among the biggest in the world, roam free in a land rich with salmon and free of human hunters. It is early September and the bears are gathered, uncharacteristically close to one another, where the salmon are running.

As you can see, the bears are heavy already as they continue to fatten up for winter's hibernation. Some will begin there long sleep in just a few weeks.

But today, the weather is perfect. Slightly overcast and mild temperatures. It is a chance for us to walk among one of nature's great predators an reflect upon this extraordinary opportunity to see and be among these great creatures.

Next posting? An Alaskan wrap up.