9/6/23 Report - Fakes, Counterfeits, Deception and Illusion and the New Technologies. NHC Cone For Hurricane Lee.

 

Written by the Treasureguide for the exclusive use of the Treasure Beaches Report.

Cone for Lee.
Source: nhc.noaa.gov

You can see from the illustration above that Lee is expected to get stronger and become a major hurricane.  It is headed in our general direction but is still far away and there is reason to believe it could turn north well before getting to Florida.

Following the ECWMF model on Windy.com produced the following image.

Lee's Position on Friday a Week From Now as Determined by the ECMWF Model on Windy.com.

]

If you follow the model, you'll see they currently have it turning north well before hitting Florida.  Yet, that is only the product of one model and the actual outcome might be significantly different.

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I've written before about the prevalence of counterfeit coins and artifacts, but it seems to me that the information age has turned into an age of illusion and delusion as well as misinformation.

Online estimates reveal that consumers spend millions of dollars buying valuable or rare coins, but most receive near-worthless foreign-made counterfeits. An increasing number of counterfeit coins are being seized at US ports-of-entry. For example, in April 2021, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers at Chicago’s international mail facility seized 279 shipments from China containing counterfeit coins and currency. In 2020, CBP seized over $1.64 million in counterfeit cash and coins at Chicago O’Hare International Airport.

Scammers capitalized on the financial uncertainty and nation-wide coin shortage brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic to take advantage of amateur investors online. Many victims find purchasing online an easy method to make investments, as they can easily find what they are looking for, pay cheaper prices and have their investments delivered right to their door. Do not let online scammers rob you of your investment. Protect your wallet and your personal data by purchasing from reputable, registered coin dealers. If you decide to purchase outside this venue, ensure that the coins are tested by a certified organization, before making a purchase...  

Here is that link.  Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) | The FBI Warns the Public of Counterfeit Coin Scams)

The PCGS web site says, In recent days, counterfeit coins in counterfeit PCGS slabs have begun to appear on eBay, the online auction site. All of the counterfeit coins/holders seen so far are coming out of China. Alert members of the PCGS Message Boards were the first to notify PCGS of the counterfeit coins/holders.

The coins themselves range from poor-quality counterfeits to well-made fakes. The counterfeit PCGS holders are well-executed, but with minor differences from a genuine holder. PCGS anticipates that authentic coins will eventually be placed into counterfeit PCGS holders in the future, perhaps with elevated grades and/or inappropriate designators (Full Bell Lines, Prooflike, etc.), although none have been seen to date.

(For tips on identifying fake coins, you might want to read Treasure Beaches Report: Pt. 2. (2020 and Beyond). : 1/3/22 Report - Fakes, Counterfeits and Imitation Coins. Some Examples and Signs to Look For. (tbr2020.blogspot.com))

And for the aspiring counterfeiter, Coinworld.com says, A Chinese online distributor of counterfeit United States coins is now offering what amount to “starter kits” of counterfeit Professional Coin Grading Services holders with fake grading labels.

PCGS President Don Willis said little can be done legally to combat the counterfeiting until the material hits American soil.

So now you can purchase PCG holders to make your own counterfeits more convincing.

A report published in 2017 says most antiquities sold online are probably either fake or looted. 
Source:  The Vast Majority of Antiquities Sold Online Are Probably Looted or Fake, a New Report Says (artnet.com)  

But the coin and antiquities market is only a part of the problem.  

I was watching a magic act on YouTube.  I don't know how I got onto that, but I stumbled onto it somehow.  At first, I thought maybe advanced large-scale holograms were being used, but after watching a few more videos of magic acts by same group, I discovered that the illusion was even bigger than that.  I noticed that the audience reactions showed the same old clips of the same people in the same clothes reacting exactly the same over and over again even though the performances were supposedly from a variety of different dates.  It became obvious that besides the staged magic tricks, there was a lot of other faking going on that took it to another level.  The audience reactions were fake and could not all have been in response to the particular tricks that they seemed to be reacting to.   I had to wonder how much, if any of what the video showed, was real.  Then I had to remember that the I was watching the entire video on a digital display screen.  I often heard that the media is the message, but never knew exactly what that meant.

When I asked a magician how David Blaine, who did street magic for TV, did his levitation trick on the street in front of an audience, I was told he used video editing.  That means the audience reactions would have been fake too because the audience would not have seen the trick in the same way the TV viewer would. 

We all know that you can accomplish a lot with basic video editing, but now technologies such as AI are taking it to still another level.  I hope you know about how AI is used to simulate voices of loved ones for phone scams, but AI is now used for even more impressive deceptions.

Probably close to fifteen years ago, I watched a hologram of a famous actor doing a presentation at Universal Studios.  It seemed very much like the actor was actually there.  It was amazingly realistic, but that was years ago and the technology has undoubtedly been improved a lot since then.  Actors and writers are afraid of being replaced.  That is part of the reason for the strikes.

... Technology that replicates individuals’ faces and voices is becoming more prominent in Hollywood...

The actors’ concerns highlight a broader anxiety among entertainers and people in many other creative professions. Many fear that, without strict regulation, their work will be replicated and remixed by artificial intelligence tools, and that such a transformation will both cut their control over their work and hurt their ability to earn a living...  (Source: Actors vs. AI: Strike brings focus to emerging use of advanced tech (nbcnews.com))

Just after watching the Youtube video of the magicians, I stumbled upon a video of a supposed conversation between Jim Caviezel and Jordan Peterson, both of whom are very famous.  Jordan Peterson is a very hot social media personality, and you probably know of Jim Caviezel as the lead in The Passion of the Christ and other movies.   A video of a conversation between those two personalities would certainly attract a lot of attention, but in my opinion, the video of their conversation looked fake.  

Then I stumbled onto a treasure hunting YouTube video in which a masked treasure hunter explored extensive ancient ruins and found amazing ancient treasures.  It was fake too.  If it was not, it was a clear case of looting.  

The artifacts looked very fake.  The holes they were extracted from looked very fake.  As if it were not odd enough to watch a masked treasure hunter (a full-face mask, not a Covid mask), to camera angles were odd, but facilitated the illusion as the artifacts came out of vacuous holes filled with loose dirt.  Of course, you never saw the camera crew although they were obviously there.  

My point today is the tools of deception are more elaborate and effective than ever.  It can be very difficult to tell fact from fiction, and with the current decline in morals, those seeking to benefit will use any opportunity to use them.  It is said that power corrupts, and although I was never particularly convinced of that, even if power does not corrupt, power provides the greatest opportunity for the greatest abuse and those seeking it will be drawn to power, so you will tend to find the greatest abuse to power where the greatest power resides.  

For treasure hunting and metal detecting, it can be difficult to identify fakes, but you can refine your skills.  There is so much deception in the modern world, that those same observational and discernment skills will often prove of benefit.

Do not be deceived.  Your discernment will be tested.

===

There are several reasons I try to provide sources along with my posts.

One is simply for additional reading if you want more depth or details than can be provided in a short blog post.

Another reason is to support what was said, and to show that the same thing or something similar has been said elsewhere, sometimes by very authoritative sources.

Sometimes it is simply to credit the original author or source.

And sometimes it is to provide an alternative view.  

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I went on a little bottle hunt a couple days ago and found nothing other than some uninteresting bottles, most of which were covered with barnacles.  

Of course, I'll continue to follow Lee and any other weather or events that might affect Treasure Coast or Florida metal detecting conditions.   I have some additional posts already planned.

I'm hoping that we get something that removes a lot of sand from our beaches, but I don't want to see us get a direct hit by a hurricane.

Somebody asked if the original TreasureBeachesReport was still active.  It is and has been getting thousands of views daily.  He suggested I put a link to it on this blog, which I will be doing.  Until then you can always go directly to it by using treasurebeachesreport.blogspot.com.

Good hunting,

Treasureguidee@comcast.net

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I've studied more than 5,000 near death experiences. My research has convinced me wihout a doubt that there's life after death. (msn.com)

How Julia Ward Howe wrote ‘Battle Hymn of the Republic’ — despite her husband - The Washington Post

Disney’s Trouble Gets Worse (msn.com)

Disney's Decline at the Box Office Revealed in One Jaw-Dropping Stat (msn.com)

9/6/23 Report - A Very Strong Storm That Could Affect the Treasure Coast. Valuable Ancient Coins Melted. Data and Modeling.

 

Written by the Treasureguide for the exclusive use of the Treasure Beaches Report.

Source: nhc.noaa.gov.

I was getting a little tired of covering all the storms and took a couple days off during a lull, but now we have another one that could be headed towards Florida and possibly the Treasure Coast.

Lee is expected to become a major hurricane very soon if it hasn't already by the time you read this.  It is headed in our general direction but could turn north and miss Florida entirely.  It is too early to tell for sure.  If it turns north, it could still possibly send us some good north winds and waves.  Keep watching.  Prepare for the worst, even if it might not happen.

I ran the ECMWF model on windy.com.   The model showed the hurricane nearing Puerto Rico in about a week, as shown below.  The projected track will probably change a bit one way or another before it is all over.

Product of ECMWF Model Showing Projected Position of Hurricane Lee Next Tuesday Morning.
Source:  Windy.com.

For what it's worth, and that is probably not very much, the GFS model shows the storm tracking just a touch more to the north.

It looks like a very strong and dangerous storm, so keep watching.

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When thieves steal jewelry or coins in the movies they try to fence them for what value they can get. In real life such stolen objects may not do so well. It is easier to melt the objects for their intrinsic value, which also makes it more challenging for law enforcement to trace and identify what was stolen.

This, unfortunately, appears to be the fate of 483 Celtic gold coins stolen Nov. 22, 2022 from the Celtic and Roman Museum in Manching, Bavaria. The trove has been considered to be the largest find of Celtic gold found in the 20th century. The coins were discovered during a 1999 archaeological dig near Manching...

Here is the link for more about that.  

Stolen Gold Coins Melted - Numismatic News

Thanks to SuperRick for that link.

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After questioning the value of general mask-wearing early in the COVID-19 pandemic, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention decided the practice was so demonstrably effective that it should be legally mandated even for 2-year-olds. A new review of the evidence suggests the CDC had it right the first time.

That review, published by the Cochrane Library, an authoritative collection of scientific databases, analyzed 18 randomized controlled trials that aimed to measure the impact of surgical masks or N95 respirators on the transmission of respiratory viruses. It found that wearing a mask in public places “probably makes little or no difference” in the number of infections...

New research shows CDC exaggerated the evidence for masks to fight COVID - Chicago Sun-Times (suntimes.com)

I remember when Fauci and Birx came out very early during the pandemic and attributed the smaller than predicted number of Covid cases to actions taken by the public.  I'm not saying there was a small number of Covid cases because there were many, but the model they presented was way off and they failed to acknowledge the amount of error in the model but instead attributed the difference between the number of actual and predicted cases as being due to observance of their prescribed actions.  That was when I knew they were being intellectually dishonest, and I said they should resign or be fired.   Some people may not have liked that, but I didn't like our health officials misleading the public.  Models are not totally accurate, whether you are talking about disease models or weather.  As with the models used for hurricane tracking, some amount of error is to be expected.  It is dangerous to not acknowledge or misattribute the error factor.

The politically obsessed may take that as being about politics, but it is really about other things, such as data and modeling.  We all use mental models to some extent when we are involved with metal detecting.   We have our ideas about how the beach works, how weather will affect the beaches and the distribution of treasure, etc. etc.  We have to deal with error and revise our models.  That is how we learn.  

It always amazes me how people that are obsessed with politics make everything about politics and then blame others for talking politics.

---

Here is a video I highly recommend.   It is long, so you might want to break it down into multiple viewings, but it addresses an important question that most people attempt to deal with in one way or another.

(1) The Loud Absence: Where is God in Suffering? | John Lennox at Harvard Medical School - YouTube

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Keep watching Lee.  It might affect the Treasure Caost and possibly beach metal detecting conditions, but it won't be for several days yet.

Good hunting,

Treasureguide@comcast.net

9/5/23 Report - Gruesome Discoveries. AARO Mil Reporting Site. Pirates False Flag Operations. Heading Our Way (Maybe).

 

Written by the TreasureGuide for the exclusive use of the Treasure Beaches Report.

Source: Wikipedia.

The Battle of Visby was a violent Medieval battle near the town of Visby on the Swedish island of Gotland, fought between the inhabitants of Gotland and the Danes, with the latter emerging victorious. The battle left a lasting archaeological legacy; masses of slaughtered soldiers and citizens lay scattered across what was once a blood battle field. Slashed and broken bones, skeletons still in their chain mail and armor, and smashed skulls, some still with spears and knives protruding out of them. One can only imagine what they endured before they breathed their last breaths...

Here is a link for more about that.

Battle of Visby: Medieval Massacre Leaves Behind Harrowing Remains of Fallen Soldiers | Ancient Origins (ancient-origins.net)

Source: Ancient Origens.

Thanks to William K. for alerting me to that story.  William mentioned what it might be like to be out metal detecting and digging up something like that.

This story would have made a great Halloween post, but Halloween is a still several weeks away.

Here is another link about that.

How the bones of 1185 soldiers became part of the largest battlefield skeletal collection – Strange Remains

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UFO Caught While Photographing Bottle.

You might remember this picture.  I posted it a couple times before.  ( The Treasure Beaches Report Direct From Florida's Treasure Coast.: 5/18/11 Report - 1715 Fleet Shipwreck Screw Top & Treasure Coast UFO Photo???)

I was taking photos of the bottle and when I looked at one of the photos and noticed the other object.  I didn't take it too seriously at the time, but since then UFOs have become more mainstream, including by our government.  But that doesn't add much credibility. Our intelligence agencies are, after all, experts at disinformation and false flag operations.  

By the way, you might be surprised to learn of the origin of the term false flag operation. 

The term was famously used to describe a ruse in naval warfare whereby a vessel flew the flag of a neutral or enemy country in order to hide its true identity. The tactic was originally used by pirates and privateers to deceive other ships into allowing them to move closer before attacking them. It later was deemed an acceptable practice during naval warfare according to international maritime laws, provided the attacking vessel displayed its true flag once an attack had begun. (Source: Wikipedia).

But what I was getting to is the web site entitled, ALL-D O M A I N   A N O M A LY   R E S O LU T I O N   O F FI C E   UAP Reporting Trends   1996-2023. 

The site provides the characteristics of UFO reports, including the shape, altitude, location, etc. of logged sightings. 

Here is the link.

PowerPoint Presentation (aaro.mil)

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Source: nhc.noaa.gov.

I saw this starting to develop a couple days ago but wanted to take a little time off from following storms and thought it was a little early to start talking about it anyway.  There is, however, a system developing that could affect us eventually even though it is still a long way off and could very well go up into the Atlantic rather than hitting us.  At this time, there is way too much uncertainty to say if it will affect us at all, but it is something to watch because it seems to be headed in our general direction.  It is called Invest 95 and is expected to become a major hurricane.

Showers and thunderstorms associated with an area of low pressure 
located over the central tropical Atlantic about 900 miles 
west-southwest of the Cabo Verde Islands have become a little 
better organized over the past several hours.  Environmental 
conditions are conducive for further development, and a tropical 
depression or tropical storm is expected to form over the next day 
or so while the low moves toward the west-northwest at 15 to 20 mph 
across the central tropical Atlantic.  Additional strengthening, 
possibly to a hurricane, is likely later this week while the system 
moves over western portions of the tropical Atlantic, near or to the 
northeast of the northern Leeward Islands. 

Here is a link to for more about Invest 95.

Forecasters expect a major hurricane to approach the Caribbean this weekend (msn.com)

The surf is still running around four or five feet on the Treasure Coast, but will be decreasing a foot or two for a few days..

Surf Chart for Vero Pier Area of the Treasure Coast
Source: SurfGuru.com.

Good hunting,

Treasureguide@comcast.net

9/4/23 Report - Four Methods of Recovering Treasure Tested and Compared on Fossils But With Implications For Finding Other Types of Treasure.

 Written by the TreasureGuide for the exclusive use of the Treasure Beaches Report.

Four Groups of Fossils Collected by Four Different Methods.
Source: Charleston Fossil Adventures (link below).

I've never done this kind of thing before, but I happened to see a study of four methods for finding shark's teeth on a beach.  I was looking for something else on Youtube when I stumbled upon an interesting video.  Although I do occasionally post about fossils, particularly those found on the Treasure Coast, my interest in this video was more about the comparison of four search methods.  I've tried some of the same methods when hunting coins and other things besides fossils, including both coins and bottles.  

The video produced by a fossil hunter and guide, compared four different methods for hunting shark teeth on a beach known to produce shark teeth and other fossils.  The four methods were as I would describe them are (1) what I would call "eyeballing" in dry sand, (2) eyeballing the swash and wet sand, (3) sifting in a shell pile, and (4) sifting an area of plain sand.

I'll comment on the four types of hunting below, but you should keep in mind that the four methods apply to hunting more than fossils. 

First of all, you have to take into account that the area where the tests were done was an area known to produce plenty of fossils.  You cannot choose any area randomly and expect the same results.  There are beaches where you can use all four methods and find none of the types of things you are seeking.

The first method was eyeballing in shell or gravel piles, or as the author says, "surfacing collecting outside the waves."  As is the case when eyeballing, he was hunting where there were visible signs of the right types of materials.  There was gravel and shells as well as the fossils.  

This is the method that resulted in the most fossil finds.  They are shown in the top left section of the illustration shown at the top of this post.  

As I've said numerous times before, you can scan a lot of area surface area visually - much more than you can metal detect in the same amount of time.  Of course, you get depth with a metal detector, which compensates some for the smaller amount of area covered by your coil.  Of course, depth matters more or less depending upon the type of target.  Some targets are surface targets, other targets tend to be deeper, such as coins.  Beach fossils under these circumstances are basically surface targets.  Coins, of course, tend to be buried.  You can find surface coins under some circumstances, but the percentage of surface coins is small.

I've done many posts in the past on eyeballing.  Here is one link The Treasure Beaches Report Direct From Florida's Treasure Coast.: 9/6/11 Report - Visual Detecting, Mule Train & Meteorites.  You might want to search treasurebeachesreport.blogspot.com for additional posts on eyeballing.

For bottle hunting along waterways, eyeballing seems to be the best method.  On dry land, many bottles can be found by digging in the right spots.  The best method depends upon the type of target as well as the circumstances or nature of the location.

The second method evaluated in the Youtube video was also eyeballing, but instead of searching exposed piles, the moving water along the waterline or swash was searched, or as the fellow in the video describes it, "walking along the shoreline as the waves are washing through gravel."

The second method produced the group of finds shown on the top right section of the illustration.  This method produced the second greatest number of fossils, but if you'll notice, it also produced some of the larger examples, including a couple of big verts.  That is an important piece of information that should be taken into account if you are looking for certain things instead of just going for the most finds.

I think the author mentioned somewhere in the video a correlation between size of shells or other debris and the size of the fossils found.  That would make sense.  The size of shells does generally correlate with the type, size and amount targets.  Coins, for example, are more often found in shell piles with large shells, but seldom in piles composed of small or broken shell bits.

The third method used in the tests employed what looked like a gold pan with a screen bottom to sift where shells were visible.  As before, this is a beach where fossils are plentiful.

So shifting in a promising shell pile area produced the third greatest number of fossil finds.  I'm not sure if surface fossils in this area, if there were any, were included in the count.

He could have used a larger sifter, depending upon the laws.  The author explained that South Carolina, where he was at, had a strict laws against using tools so he couldn't use a shovel or anything bigger.

I've done a lot of posts on sifting, and I've done some sifting but not at the ocean beach.  He did find fossils that way, but not as many as using either of the eyeballing methods.

The fourth method he tested was sifting where there weren't apparent surface shells.  He dug down and sifted the material. The results were meagre, as you can see at the bottom right of the illustration.  He only sifted about a cubic foot of sand.  It was a time-consuming method.  You can see the details in the video.

When digging a small amount of sand to be sifted, the author noticed layers of darker sand where there were a few fossils.  A lot of different kinds of materials get classified in various layers.

I did something similar looking for bottles.  I didn't try it often of for long, but I dug holes along the wet sand where no bottles were visible.  I found no buried bottles doing that.  I did find buried bottles while digging for metal targets on dry land, but it takes a really long time and a lot of effort for a few finds.  It would not be worth the effort unless you had reason to believe there was a concentration of buried bottles.  You could probe first, or maybe see evidence of buried targets if anything has been exposed by erosion.  

In general, I suspect the results would be replicated in many situations, but I'm sure there would be situations when the results might not be the same.   

The tests were conducted to provide information relative to fossil hunting, but they provided information that might be applied to other types of hunting.  

Below is the link for the video discussed today.

THE BEST Method to Find Shark Teeth on the Beach!! (Professionally Tested & Approved!) - YouTube

You might also be interested in some of my posts on fossil hunting.  Here are a few links showing Florida fossil finds.

The Treasure Beaches Report Direct From Florida's Treasure Coast.: 11/14/12 Report - Fascinating Artifact Whatzit & Fossils on the Beach

The Treasure Beaches Report Direct From Florida's Treasure Coast.: 5/28/15 Report - Unique Beach Treasures. Fossil Shells With Calcite Crystals

The Treasure Beaches Report Direct From Florida's Treasure Coast.: 5/16/19 Report - One Way To Accelerate Your Learning Curve. Beaches Where You Can Find Fossils. Finds. Trash and Treasure.

You will also find posts about sifting for coins in treasurebeachesreport.blogspot.com.

There is some new weather in the Atlantic that I'll be watching for future Treasure Coast metal detecting.

Good hunting,

TreasureGuide@comcast.net

9/2/23 Report 2 - Beach Check UPDATE.

 

Written by the Treasureguide for the exclusive use of the Treasure Beaches Report.

John Brooks Saturday Morning.

I went out this morning to check a couple beaches.  There were no surprises.  My earlier post this morning predicted high tides and mild northeast winds with the surf hitting the beach directly, and that is what I saw.  

Above you can see John Brooks.  The following photo shows how far back the water got at high tide.

High Tide Line Near Dunes At John Brooks Beach Saturday Morning.

With the water reaching near the dunes, there could be some places where the water got to the dunes, but it would likely be where a beach has already been depleted.

John Brooks Beach Saturday Morning.

At Blind Creek there were some nicer surfing waves that were breaking on a sand bar pretty far out.

Blind Creek Beach Saturday Morning.

Notice how far out the waves are breaking.  That shows where the sand is built up in front of the beach.

At the time I was there, it was about half way to the next high tide.

Blind Creek Saturday Morning.

I didn't expect any cuts.  And the sand was being pushed up the beach front.  The water didn't get as close to the dunes at Blind Creek.  As I said, the waves were breaking farther out.

I haven't been using SurfGuru for my reports very long, so was glad to see exactly what I expected from the information they provided.

I wanted to get out this morning while it was still cloudy, but I was too late for low tide.

If you didn't see my earlier post this morning, you'll want to continue reading.

9/2/23 Report - Silver Antiquities. Stone Effigies. Metal Detecting Amusement Rides. Atlantic Still Busy.

 

Written by the TreasureGuide for the exclusive use of the Treasure Beaches Report.

Source: See LiveScience link below.

Olaf Popkiewicz, an archaeology video content creator on YouTube, spotted the jewelry — two silver necklaces; two silver fibulae, or brooches; and beads that once belonged to a third necklace — while walking along the Wda River. He notified a team of park archeologists who excavated the site, which sits within the protected Wda landscape park in central-northern Poland...

Here is the link for more about that.

Vast Goth cemetery brimming with grave goods and ornate silver jewelry discovered in Poland | Live Science

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Source: See LiveScience link below.

Archaeologists in Mexico City have unearthed a collection of stone figurines depicting humans — carvings that the Aztecs likely used as offerings.

The 15 objects were discovered tucked inside a stone chest buried on the former site of the Templo Mayor, which once served as the temple complex of Tenochtitlan, the capital of the AZtec Empire.  Spanish forces destroyed the temple in 1521, and the site is now home to the Mexico City Metropolitan Cathedral, according to a translated statement...

Here is the link for more about that.

Stone human 'effigies' unearthed at Aztec temple in Mexico City were likely looted in battle and offered to the gods | Live Science

===

A man lost his iphone out of his pocket while riding an amusement park ride

Here is an excerpt from the article.

The disaster that almost cost me a fortune occurred when I went on a roller coaster ride with my friend. I hadn't seen her in a while and we were busy chatting as we waited for the ride so I neglected to take my phone out of my pocket before getting on. I thought nothing of it, until the ride came to a stop and the people behind me announced: "Hey, I think your phone fell out over the lake!"

Sure enough, my phone was not in my pocket anymore...

Fortunately, it turned out it fell just before the lake and a very nice maintenance person was able to retrieve it for me the next day. But, while disaster was averted, I learned an important lesson...

Here is the link for the rest of the story.

My Trip to the Amusement Park Almost Cost Me a Surprise $1,000. Here's Why (msn.com)

I always think of the things that could be lost from carnival and amusement park rides, and I always enjoyed metal detecting the fairgrounds early in the morning just after the carnival left.  There usually wasn't much expensive found, but there were tons of coins, and most required no digging.  I would find dollars' worth of coins where the ticket booths were.  

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Source: nhc.noaa.gov.

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Still a lot to watch in the Atlantic.  Four named storms and a new one coming off of Africa.  The new one is the one to watch, but there will be a few days before it gets to us, if it does.

Here is the SurfGuru surf chart for the Fort Pierce Inlet area..

Source: SurfGuru.com.

The surf chart doesn't vary a lot along the Treasure Coast.  Maybe a foot or so here or there, but not a lot.

Notice that now the peak surf is predicted for Monday and Tuesday, with a northeast wave direction.  

The tides are still high too.

Good hunting,

Treasureguide@comcast.net

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Fed Chair Has Some Bad News for Biden's Rosy Economic Assessment (msn.com)

Wabassso Surf Report and Wabassso Beach Surf Forecast - Florida Surf Cams (surfguru.com)

CoinSnap is a mobile application using AI-driven image recognition technology to identify coins. In addition to what the Coin Market section of Numismatic News online, you want to consider the PCGS CoinFacts, Newman Numismatic Portal, CoinNews.net, NGC World Price Guide, Heritage Auctions and GreatCollections websites for coin values

===

There has to be things lost off the wilder rides, and I always think about that when I see them.

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I recently saw a YouTube video in which Neil deGrasse Tyson was making fun of statements dumb statments made by some famous people. One, for example, was about student achievement levels.  The statement was something like, "Half of the students were performing below average."  He was saying that was a stupid statement because you would expect half of the students to perform below average, becausse, as he said, that is how the average works.  Forgive my imprecise quote, but that I think that is the gist of it.  But an average does not mean half of the population is below average.  

Take four students with the following scores.  90, 80, 70 and 40.  The average is 70, but only one student is below average.   Fifty percent of the people are not always below average.   It depends upon the shape of the distribution.  While he was making fun of a statement made by someone else, his was just as bad.  

1. Defer Judgment 

Creative spaces are judgment-free zones—they let ideas flow so people can build from each other's great ideas.

2. Encourage Wild Ideas

Embrace the most out-of-the-box notions. There’s often not a whole lot of difference between outrageous and brilliant.

 

3. Build on the Ideas of Others

Try to use “and” instead of “but," it encourages positivity and inclusivity and leads to tons of ideas.

 

4. Stay Focused on the Topic

Try to keep the discussion on target. Divergence is good, but you still need to keep your eyes on the prize.

5. One Conversation at a Time

This can be difficult—especially with lots of creative people in a single room—but always think about the challenge topic and how to stay on track.

 

6. Be Visual

Use colored markers and Post-its. Stick your ideas on the wall so others can visualize them.

 

7. Go for Quantity

Crank your ideas out quickly. For any 60-minute session, you should try to generate 100 ideas.

Divergent thinking.  

9/1/23 Report - When Was America Ever Great? A Must Read. Idalia Departing With Little Effect To Treasure Coast.

 

Written by the TreasureGuide for the exclusive use of the Treasure Beaches Report.

Source: nhc.noaa.gov.

There is a lot of activity out still out there, but for the first big threat, Idalia did not come out way.  It did however do a lot of damage and there are people in need.  You might want to contribute or do whatever you can to help them.

For the Treasure Coast, there is no immediate threat, but there are some BIG tides to go along with some not so big surf.  In most places there is a lot of sand that needs to be moved, but in other places that are more vulnerable for one reason or another, the tides and surf might be enough to make some good finds.

If you work shallow water, instead of waiting for low tide, you might want to go at sunrise to catch the smooth water before the wind picks up.  It is easy to work smooth water, even if it is a little deeper.

There are places where hunting will be amazing after Idalia.  The Big Bend and Panhandle areas, for example, and I would suspect some great hunting at select spots on the Outer Banks.  Closer to home, the better spots will be scattered and scarce, yet if you have the time to explore or have been out enough this summer to be in touch with the more vulnerable areas, you might be able to find some good spots.

Source: Windy.com.

For a while the ECMWF model was showing some good north winds as Idalia moved out into the ocean, but now all I'm seeing is northeast winds that will be hitting perpendicular to the Treasure Coast.  See above.

I'm still looking for some slightly higher surf tomorrow.  Here is the surf chart showing a slightly higher surf for tomorrow.

Source: SurfGuru.com.

The most recent chart for the Fort Pierce Inlet area shows a five-to-six-foot surf for Saturday.  That is typical for the various Treasure Coast areas.  SurfGuru provides charts for quite a variety of areas.

In recent years we've had some good hunting in November.  It can take a while do move the summer overburden.

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Maybe you've heard someone ask, "When was America ever great?"  I've seen that question asked, and some people have trouble answering it.  One of the reasons for that is youth and lack of education, but one answer to consider is America was great when it stopped Hitler?  If you are a Marxist, Communist or Nazi, you might not think that was a good thing, but I think it was pretty great.

I recently discovered some absolutely fascinating history you should see.  Just after World War II ended there was an amazing world-wide treasure hunt.  The hunt was to recover the American fathers, sons, brothers and daughters that were lost on battlefields around the world.  It was called the Return of the Dead Program, which resulted in the recovery of over 280,000 American bodies.  

Below is a brief introduction to that program.

Congress unanimously approved the "Return of the Dead Program" in May 1946 and President Harry Truman immediately signed off on an initial $92.5 million for the work. The job fell to the American Graves Registration Service, the Transportation Corps, and thousands of civilian employees. Moving from country to country, they located graves, disinterred and formally identified remains, prepared bodies for permanent burials, and sent them home by ships and trains. It was gruesome, sober work. It also was honorable work that followed an American tradition of the return of overseas war dead that began with the Spanish-American War.

The government let families decide whether to have their loved ones brought home or buried overseas. Polling the families was followed by delays in staffing and equipment, including steel and coal strikes that waylaid casket manufacturing, meaning the first war dead did not reach American shores until October 1947. When the inaugural shipload of bodies from Europe arrived in New York, more than 400,000 people turned out to pay tribute.

"One mother offered to sell her house to pay for the return of her son’s body."

US troops found my grandfather’s body in 1946 in a Viennese cemetery where German troops had buried downed airmen. American soldiers gathered his remains and flew them to a temporary US military cemetery in eastern France for burial. In 1948, the body was unearthed again, moved to Antwerp, Belgium, and hoisted aboard an Army transport ship bound for New York harbor. A train then carried the coffin to a distribution center in Ohio, where a military escort met it. Another train took the escort and casketed remains on to Indiana in January 1949, when my grandmother, mother, and other relatives gathered to see my grandfather buried for a third and final time. They had waited more than four years to say goodbye...

Here is the link for the rest of that article, but there is also a more detailed ebook listed below.

Gruesome but Honorable Work | Perspectives on History | AHA (historians.org)

If you are interested in history, you will want to read the ebook, Final Disposition of World War II Dead, 1945-51.

Here is that link.

#5 - Final disposition of World War II dead, 1945-51 ... v.2:4. - Full View | HathiTrust Digital Library

Every American should know about this part of our history.  It is a part of our history that is seldom discussed. 

I highly recommend it.  

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If you give an answer to the question, then some idiots will ask, what about this and what about that.  How can America be great when it did such and such?  Then I'd ask them when they were ever great, and if they managed to come up with anything at all, I'd ask about their faults other than pride and moral blindness.  They changed the standard of the question from greatness to perfection.  Great Super Bowl winning teams, lost games, but that doesn't remove their greatness.   Individual instances of imperfection do not cancel greatness.  The original question was about a large general thing - an entire country - and a very general concept - greatness.  The original question was not about perfection or individual faults.  

My next response to the question would be to suggest going to the Mexican border and asking those coming into the country, why they are giving up so much to come to the United States.  If the immigrants are coming to such a flawed country, you would do them a favor by sending them somewhere better.

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I do hope you'll read the very enlightening #5 - Final disposition of World War II dead, 1945-51 ... v.2:4. - Full View | HathiTrust Digital Library.

Idalia is moving away from the Treasure Coast but with all the other activity in the Atlantic, you won't want to miss any big developments.  In recent years, October and November have produced some great hunting.

Good hunting,

Treasureguide@comcast.net