my most popular posts of the past year

how to support me

If you enjoy my content and live close to a Western Union, you can send me money that way. 

***

500,000 locations

Western Union has over 500,000 locations worldwide, with a combined network of approximately 455,000 agent locations in 200 countries and territories. In the United States alone, there are about 68,458 locations.

***

Donors will be anonymous unless they specify otherwise. Also, I'll take suggestions from donors about content (articles, illustrations, etc.). 

My email is: harty.thomas@gmail.com

I want to keep this blog ad free. 

heat map of my blog readership from 2008 to the present

It's interesting that I have more readers in Russia than Ukraine. And also that I'm a heavy hitter in Asia. 

I estimate that about 10,000 people in Vietnam read my novella which can be found here:

Derpetology: I, Soldier - part 1

https://platedlizard.blogspot.com/2024/02/i-soldier-part-1.html

The most popular posts on this blog:

My blog was read on 6 continents this year, and I'm sure it's been read in every country. 

Derpetology: My blog - read on 6 continents

Not sure how to get penguins to read my blog. Maybe with this?

Democratic Penguins Republic - Trade War (Official Music Video)

the all-time most read posts on this blog

Greetings to my readers in my home country, the good ol' USA

A musical medley for y'all

Jimi Hendrix - The Star Spangled Banner [ National Anthem ] ( Live at Woodstock 1969 )

Army Strong METAL!

If you turn up the play back speed, you get the Army Strong nightcore version.

May the Flying Spaghetti Monster bless America from sea to shining sea. 

At any given time, people from about 40 countries are reading my blog

Screenshot from my stats page a few minutes ago:

I expect this will keep NSA (my former employer) and any other part of the US government from antagonizing me. 

Greetings to my readers in Vietnam

Not sure what I wrote that got so much attention from your country recently. While I dislike communism intensely, I can admire the fact that the Vietnamese fought several powerful countries (China, France, Japan, US) back-to-back and emerged victorious. Even counting the atomic bombs, Vietnam is the most bombed country in history. And yet today it flourishes and has friendly relations with its former enemies. There's a lesson in that.

 

Here is a famous song by an American soldier. There was a Vietnamese beer called 33, which in Vietnamese sounds like bah-moy-bah. In the song, it got garbled into ba-mi-ba.

Bamiba

This North Vietnamese propaganda film was captured and translated by US military intelligence:

1960s North Vietnamese Propaganda Film Reveals Some Of Their Tactics. Frightening! - YouTube

And here it is, the big cheese: the fall of Saigon, now Ho Chi Minh City:

The fall of Saigon

Ex GIs and VC forgive each other:

Forgiveness in Vietnam - Vietnam Vets Meet a Former Enemy

US medic returns bones to VC whose arm he amputated:

Vietnam Veteran Soldier Reunited With Arm Bones

Perhaps someday I will visit. Until then, I will enjoy pho soup and other such delicacies from time to time. 

My blog - read on 6 continents

 

I've gotten hits from every country, but the map only shows the top 20 for the past year. 

Greetings to my readers in Brazil

 Congrats, you knocked Singapore and Russia off their perch to claim the number 2 spot. 

This Bud's (or Xingu, your pick) for you:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dht_3NziwSw

This one too:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3XnQYHlXuEY

My global audience for the past 6 months

 

Salaam to my readers in Iran

Inshallah, I look forward to the day when my country (the US) and yours have normal diplomatic and trade relations. 45 years of hostility is enough. In his 12th poem in the Rubaiyat, Omar Khayyam wrote that all he needed to be happier than a king was a book of poems, a jug of wine, a loaf of bread, some free time, a quiet place, and a friend. In my experience, even if you can only get two or three of those things, you can still be content. 

I'm pretty sure this says:

***

I'm going to write a book!

Hip-hip hooray!

***

I'm not so great at reading Persian or Arabic calligraphy.  The second line is a loose translation. 

Greetings to my readers in Hong Kong

Congrats, you guys are number one, for the past 30 days at least. I wonder how many of those hits are from PLA Unit 61398 using VPNs based in Hong Kong. Wikipedia says:

***

PLA Unit 61398 (also known as APT1, Comment Crew, Comment Panda, GIF89a, or Byzantine Candor; Chinese: 61398部队, Pinyin: 61398 bùduì) is the Military Unit Cover Designator (MUCD)[1] of a People's Liberation Army advanced persistent threat unit that has been alleged to be a source of Chinese computer hacking attacks.[2][3][4] The unit is stationed in Pudong, Shanghai[5], and has been cited by US intelligence agencies since 2002.

***

I hope Hong Kong keeps its semi-autonomy and relative freedom. Its history is proof that the rule of law, civil liberties, and free markets bring prosperity and stability to all who embrace those ideas. 

Greetings to my readers in Russia

I was a bit surprised you guys came in 3rd place. I expected English-speaking countries to take all the top slots. It's unfortunate that the end of the Cold War did not lead to lasting improved relations between us. Russia has enriched the world through its music, literature, science, and technology. I should add that the Russian people were very brave during WW2. Most countries in the same situation would have surrendered, and many did. The Germans lost more men capturing one apartment building in Stalingrad (Pavlov's House) than Paris. Pavlov's House held out longer than all of France. It's puzzling that the USA has good relations with countries we bombed like Japan, Germany, Italy, and Vietnam, but not with a former ally like Russia. Hopefully, there will be a lasting peace someday. 79 years of hostility is enough.

The statistics refer to all the visitors to this blog since 2008.

Greetings to my readers in Singapore

David Hasselhoff is big in Germany and I am sorta famous in Singapore. The map is based on hits to my blog from the past year.

Greetings to my British readers

You almost beat Singapore over the last 24 hours. Rule Britannia or something. I'm not sure why my blog is so popular in Singapore. 

My Global Audience this week, including 5 out of the 10 most populous countries

Not bad for a small-time blogger! 

Greetings to my readers in Turkmenistan

I'm not sure why my blog was so popular in Turkmenistan this week, but I appreciate the clicks. If I ever make it over there, I'd love to see that Gates of Hell place in Darvaza. A friend of mine from elementary school was a Peace Corps volunteer in Turkmenistan. 

Here is the map for the top countries since my blog began:

My blog is read in about 140 countries. I'm definitely on the path to world domination.

VICTORY IS MINE!

My Global Audience

 I've gotten hits in the past week from 50+ countries. Yay me. 

Hello, Institute of Chemistry of the Slovak Academy of Sciences!

It appears my chemistry research has gotten their attention. Yesterday, I got a spike in hits from Slovakia.

From Wikipedia:

***

The research activities of the Institute of Chemistry of the Slovak Academy of Sciences are aimed at the chemistry and biochemistry of saccharides. The main fields of interest may be classified into the following directions:^[1]

• Synthesis and structure of biologically important mono- and oligosaccharides and their derivatives
• Structure and functional properties of polysaccharides, their derivatives, and conjugates with other polymers
• Structure, function, and mechanism of action of glycanases
• Development of physicochemical methods for structural analysis of carbohydrates
• Gene engineering and nutritional and biologically active proteins
• Glycobiotechnology
• Ecology, taxonomy, and phylogenesis of yeasts and yeasts-like fungi
• Development of technologies for isolation of natural compounds and preparation of saccharides and their derivatives for commercial purposes

***

My dictionary of organic compounds is nearing completion. I hope chemists everywhere find it useful.