Yes, that’s me in 1977, in my 1940 Taylorcraft BC-65, N24408
Category Archives: News! Is it new? Is it news? It’s new! It’s News!
Are we alone? Of course not. Will we ever prove that? Of course …NOT.
Are we alone? Of course not. Will we ever prove that? Of course …NOT.
I propose that the planetary characteristics necessary not only for the evolution of life, but for its ability to persist and so eventually develop complexity and intelligence, are extremely rare. In fact, so rare that even in the almost literally infinite immensity of the known universe and the similar scale of deep time it would be unlikely that humanity would be so fortunately positioned to ever detect such alien life. I think this is the only reasonable explanation of the Fermi Paradox.
I include as an important factor in evaluating a planet’s ability to nurture the possibility of the evolution of life the capture of a large moon early in its formation. A moon large enough that it provides stabilization of the earth’s rotation characteristics such as rate and the “wobble” of axial tilt (or precession), protection from large impacts, tidal effects and so many other vitally important “life friendly” features of our planet that make it so unique. If you multiply the “astronomically” remote possibilities of such rare billiard ball type glancing impact with the perfect “english” to these other probabilities, even in an almost infinite universe, it would be highly improbable (at least in in the Milky Way or any “close” neighboring galaxies, much less near space) And I’m not even going into the need for a giant planet like Jupiter to be present to stabilize all the other smaller planet’s orbits and clear out the solar system of extinction event debris! These and so many other clearly unique characteristics of our planet and its solar system are too numerous to mention in such a brief essay. Now, with the immensity of the universe and of time, even such rare coincidences and occurrences can’t be unique, and in fact may be relatively numerous, that’s obvious, so there must be other planets that support life, even intelligent life SOMEWHERE IN THE UNIVERSE. But even in the immensity of creation, of almost literally infinite time and space, is it reasonable for humanity to arrogantly assume that it will be in our vicinity?
Putting aside the actual question of the existence of alien life, much less an alien intelligence, what relevant meaning does that same existence have to our civilization IF WE NEVER CONTACT THEM (other than the philosophical implications of the knowledge that we are “not alone”?) If they are out there, are they going to be close enough for their existence to be really meaningful, i.e. for us to be able to detect them, much less communicate any realistic manner? Yes, the same immensity of time and space that makes alien life “somewhere” inevitable also insures that it’s almost literally a certainty that we will NEVER actually have evidence of their existence, much less be in contact. The speed of light constrains our knowledge of the universe to such a small sphere of SPACE TIME that the odds of being close enough to another advanced civilization, in a coincident time frame is almost nil (yes, we can see almost back to the big bang but we can’t really “see” anything far away (in reference to the limitations of causality) that would be useful for communication much less the detection of advanced civilizations. Unless we were almost literally “neighbors” which, as my previous my previous argument explains, are extremely unlikely. Worse yet, as our universe expands, eventually to the point that other galaxies are beyond the “edge” of the know and visible universe, this problem is only exacerbated. Eventually the Milky Way be almost literally alone in the detectable universe. We will be accompanied by the Andromeda galaxy, which is gravitationally bound to our galaxy and so immune to the expansion of space time which only occurs in intergalactic space. This is due to the overwhelming influence of such a large collection of gravitationally bound baryonic matter on dark energy. Actually, in a few billion years we will have collided and become one irregular galaxy, but only after our sun has burned out and destroyed the ear
The most important and very relevant question is that, even if intelligent life is common, unless those civilizations last million or even billions of years, what are the odds that a current civilization exists so close to one another as to be detectable? The Fermi paradox is, like Moore’s law, seemingly an incontrovertible rule and hard to discount. Imagine the universe pictured as a movie as it travels through time to the present. Now, imagine the existence and expansion of an intelligent star traveling civilization as a bright expanding light, a flash in the darkness. First, keep in mind the speed of light and the immense distances. Now, fast forward. What will you see? Bursts of light flashing and expanding everywhere but eventually and inevitably fading away, as if they were antique flashbulbs popping up briefly only to disappear, unseen. As time progresses, others “briefly” brighten and die in uncounted multitudes over millions and billions of years. But NEVER at the same time at the same place! Close your eyes and imagine this as a movie in your mind. How often will these bright bursts of intelligence and expansion last before they fade away. Will they be close enough and also persist long enough for each one to be able detect one another within the limitations of causality? Remember, these flashes expand at the speed of light and the universe is “Billions and Billions” (and even more and more billions) of light years across. And this is a worst case scenario. What if it IS possible to travel faster than light? The expansion of a galactic civilization would be exponentially faster. Get it?
But, the reader may ask, what if these civilizations last millions of years and expand into multiple galaxies? Well, how likely do you think that is? Yes, may there be type 1 civilizations that harness entire Galaxy’s energies, even Galaxy clusters? Possibly. But even galaxy clusters are like grains of sand in the immensity of the universe, and like grains of sand that are miles apart, not conveniently nestled together on a beach. So many people carry the analogy, “There are more stars than there are grains of sand on a beach” too far and tend to ignore the ramifications of the immensity of the universe. This becomes clear when one stretches the but the analogy to the breaking point by the realization that the beach is not the crowded expanse of an oceans beach full of sand. Realize, each of those grains of sand are exploded into space and each grain is separated by immense distances. Enter again the villain, the speed of light, causality. And if you consider the concept of Von Neumann machines as technology that is almost certainly to be developed by any advanced technological civilization, why hasn’t the universe already been “pollinated”? This incontrovertible absence literally ensures that the Fermi Paradox question of “why are they not “already here” even more relevant. Even with the immensity of the universe, the accompanying immensity of time makes it statistically impossible for us to not to be essentially alone.
Are there other worlds with intelligent life and civilizations? Statistically, considering the age and size of the universe, the probably is near unity, or 100%. Will we ever know? The probability of them being close enough to have any meaning or impact on our civilization i.e. for us to detect and communicate with them are close to null, or 0%. For that to occur they would have to be so common that we would already have detected them, the paradox so eloquently proposed by Fermi himself. Several years ago, Dr. Paul Davies, of the Beyond Institute at ASU quoted a study by SETI which revealed that, considering the current progress in detection capabilities, if we do not detect* other civilizations (by radio waves) in the next 20 years, WE NEVER WILL!
To summarize, I think that evolution of alien life would be such an extremely rare event so to be almost impossible for humanity to discover. Considering the facts presented herein, if simple life has occurred in the hostile environment of the universe it is even more unlikely for such life to have survived long enough to become complex, much less to have evolved into an intelligent form. Has this event occurred in this almost literally infinite universe? Undoubtedly. However, for our civilization to be fortunate enough to detect such life or intelligence one must consider that it would also need to exist in close enough proximity to the Earth in space AND in our current time frame. The Fermi paradox seems not to be so paradoxical after all?
Yes, they exist. No, we’ll never know!
*Don’t take this to mean that I think Dr Davies has unequivocally stated that “they” are not out there, it just means that it has been demonstrated statistically that if we (SETI) do not detect them in this time period we’ll never find their radio signals (whether because they’re not there OR nobody out there really uses radio for very long, advancing to better technology.)
T.A.Kiehl©2016
(REPOSTED 20 APR 2020)
“ALONE IN THE UNIVERSE: Why Our Planet Is Unique” by John Gribbin
Here are some good videos I think support my theory that the “dual planet “Earth/Moon system is a necessity for complex life to evolve, making intelligent life a truly rare event even in such an immensity of our galaxy that it is improbable we will ever detect such.
“The Most Important Collision Ever” https://youtu.be/pjn4nLUnNCw
“What if there was no Moon” https://youtu.be/QHwLopLUrB8
“Evolution of life without a Moon” https://youtu.be/p-YZAIECTrA
Here is a series of lectures from SETI with more scientific information:
http://www.seti.org/weeky-lecture/rotation-moonless-earth-who-needs-moon
Unintended consequences of today’s draconian opioid policy
The writer poses these opinions as a trained toxicologist with a BS degree in both Chemistry and Biology who understands drugs and metabolism and who neither drinks, smokes nor ever abused recreation or misused prescription drugs. Who, as a victim suffering from chronic pain has, for over fifteen years, taken opioids regularly and as prescribed, in intelligently varying dosages as the acute and chronic pain waxed and waned. On many days, as the pain relented, often taking none, and on the worst days taking at the most, 60mg. A typical 30-day prescription often lasting three months. Now denied opioids, even after an auto accident with three broken 3 ribs and probable exacerbation of preexisting shoulder and spinal injuries and damaging joints already ravaged by generalized osteoarthritis. Because of this struggle with chronic pain and injuries and seeking relief through the only thing that has been effective, opioid pain management to be perjuriously and prejudicially labeled as a “drug seeker”. Forever and unjustly, without the due process of a rigorous diagnostic procedure utilizing the guidelines of the DSM IV branded a drug seeking addict and so not only repeatedly denied requests for palliative measures consistently refused any method to redress the error by a formal evaluation by a specialist to confirm the diagnosis and if needed, receive treatment for this phantom addiction. Instead, condemned to be forced to take dangerous and debilitating drugs like Haldol or abandoned into a hopeless, life draining limbo of hellish pain with no choice and no place to escape
Because of today’s media hyped and politicized anti-opioid hysteria, we’ve “thrown the baby out with the bathwater”. Abandoning chronic pain patients who can now no longer manage their condition has resulted in needless suffering. Many of these with a history of properly managing their medication for literally years with no hint of problems. People with little chance of becoming addicted, who would never dream of substance abuse, forced to enduring unending pain, are now being driven ever closer & closer to suicide. But this suicidal ideation isn’t just depression. Such self-death is more seen rather as euthanasia to end suffering, not as a retreat from life (although pain & depression are synergistic).
Opioids were once passed out like popcorn by over-prescribing DOCTORS initiating a spasm of addictions, expanding opioid misuse. An overzealous, politicalized CDC initiated an impetuous & drastic hysterical to an epidemic already past its peak. Unbiased modern research indicates over-prescription of opioid pain meds is no longer sustaining this “epidemic”, it’s now driven by illicit Fentanyl and heroine. Among other nations, this country stands alone in this heartless vendetta and we as a people must stop this victimization of innocent victims of not only chronic pain, but of outright persecution. We must STOP the rampant and unwarranted punishment, shaming and humiliation of chronic pain patients at the same time that we add injury to insult by denying them the needed relief from their suffering.
This is a problem that has not only been overlooked but exacerbated by a radicalized CDC with the overzealous and reactionary polices & the guidelines they’ve inspired. The CDC must become part of a solution to this problem of overlooked unintended consequences of their actions and find a way to end the mistreatment of the innocent victims of their overreach who are already the victims of the terrible disease of chronic pain. The windfall government funding has been awarded to organizations devoted to the research on negative consequences of could be shared with institutions devoted to finding more effective treatments for chronic pain through improved use of opioids and should include other promising drugs such as Ketamine, etc. which is almost impossible due to the fact that many of these promising new drugs are classified needlessly as Cat 1 drugs with no medical uses. The NSC, CDC and other agencies MUST stop their politicized policies and agenda that has resulted in regulation without oversight or restraint. The same goes for an uncontrolled sensationalized mass media who, in collusion with these reactionary politicians and bureaucrats, are guilty of stoking the fires of hysteria. Let us put an end to discrimination and the widespread dissemination of nonsensical and sometimes patently false information that is not only unsupported by research but most surely stems from pure ideological roots and for which they repeatedly refuse to publish the original research papers or list authors of these studies quoted so prolifically. Congress must stop refusing to hear the testimony of the Pain Advocacy groups that have requested to be allowed to testify in congressional hearings or in drug policy meetings on the false pretense that these organizations are merely paid shills of “Big Pharma”.
The devastating EPIDEMIC OF CHRONIC PAIN grows rapidly, faster even than the already waning opioid “epidemic and is costing the US much more in lives and economic loss than ALL addiction. Worse than economic losses, the unintended consequence of a rising suicide rate overwhelms the dwindling number of opioid overdose deaths (CDC’s DRACONIAN and politicized data collection policies also encourage faulty statistical methods being applied which consistently over count accidental recreational drug overdoses by failing to separate suicidal overdoses and other unintended misuse from these addict’s unfortunate deaths that are almost literally impossible to end by regulation. Legalization and removal pf the stigmatization of these and all drugs make them easier to regulate and help prevent unscrupulous dealers from adulterating already dangerously high recreational dosages with concoctions of lethal amounts of harmful and unknown additives.
Timothy A. Kiehl Glendale, AZ June 2018
EPIDEMIC Of CHRONIC PAIN
FROM: Timothy A, Kiehl
TO: Physicians for Responsible Opioid Prescribing, et al.
I have a Chemistry degree and worked in the Arkansas State Crime Lab as a toxicologist. I do not drink or smoke and have NEVER abused recreational drugs or misused prescription drugs. I understand the mode of action and metabolism of drugs, especially of the class I and II categories. As I also suffer from chronic pain and, until recently, had been taking very low doses of periods, intelligently varying my daily dosage as the pain waxed and waned, regularly for the past 15 years. I NEVER took more than 40-60mg even on the worst days. My opioid usage was so low and controlled that it was not unusual me to find my typical 30-day prescription prescriptions lasted over three months. However, recently I have been denied opioid pain medications, even after breaking three ribs and injuring my shoulder after an auto accident, having been mysteriously labeled as a “drug seeker”. I have repeatedly requested that, if I am indeed diagnosed as drug seeking or having a problem with drugs, I be seen and evaluated by a specialist and have been refused time and again. So now I’m stuck here in a limbo of pain, misdiagnosis and fearmongering with nowhere to turn.
I wish ask your organization, Physicians for Responsible Opioid Prescribing and others involved in this “crusade”; what you are doing to ensure that doctors and hospitals do not “throw the baby out with the bathwater” impacting the community of people who suffer chronic pain and no longer have means to manage their condition because of all the extra, needless and unnecessary debilitating pain and suffering. Why do people like I, who have no problem regulating my medication use and have little or no chance of becoming addicted and would never even dream of substance abuse of any kind at any time have their lives overturned and to suffer like this? Indeed, I have actually been driven closer and deeper into suicidal ideation. But not from merely due to suicidal depression. Instead, thinking of self-death as more of a euthanasia to end my suffering than actual suicide because of depression (although the pain and depression are synergistic).
It is my belief that an overzealous politically motivated CDC has initiated an impetuous, drastic and extreme over reaction to an epidemic that has already started to subside and which most research indicates is not being caused by over-prescribing opioid pain medication AT THE PRESENT TIME. Yes, ten years ago opioids where passed out like popcorn and that irresponsible over-prescribing definitely did initiate a spasm of new addictions cases that lead to the opioid crisis. But that time has passed and I think we all need to step back and be sure we are not continuing to spiral in an out of control overreaction and hurting people needlessly.
I hope this will shed some light on a problem that I feel has so far not only been overlooked but exacerbated by these radical and far-reaching guides and the policies they have inspired. Please respond with your thoughts and suggestions and become part of a solution to this part of the problem.
We all need to work together to end this unnecessary and devastatingly real EPIDEMIC OF CHRONIC PAIN before the unintended consequence of higher suicide rates overwhelm the already dwindling number of deaths by opioid overdose (many of which were probably NOT addiction related but rather SUICIDES CAUSED by this DRACONIAN drug policy).
Timothy A. Kiehl Glendale, AZ June 2018
DAMN YOU HILLARY CLINTON! alternately: Thank you(?) for President Trump?
DAMN YOU HILLARY!
alternately: Thank you (?) for President Trump
ALL I CAN SAY IS THAT IT’S THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY AND HILLARY’S FAULT THAT WE NOW HAVE A TRUMPISH* AMERICA. SHE SHOULD HAVE SEEN THE HANDWRITING ON THE WALL LAST SPRING WHEN BERNIE ELOQUENTLY EXPRESSED THE PEOPLE’S DREAM AND RAN A CAMPAIGN WITH IT, BUT HILLARY COULD NOT SWALLOW HER PRIDE AND TAME HER BLIND AMBITION TO BOW OUT FOR THE GOOD OF THE COUNTRY AND GIVE THE NOMINATION TO THE PERSON WHO COULD HAVE BEAT TRUMP. INSTEAD SHE AND HER MINIONS PULLED EVERY DIRTY POLITICAL TRICK AND PEDDLED BEHIND THE SCENE INFLUENCE TO SNUFF OUT THE TRUE, REAL AND GENUINE HOPE GENERATED BY THE SANDERS MOVEMENT. A MOVEMENT THAT WOULD HAVE CHANGED OUR NATION BACK TO THE ENLIGHTENED PATH PLANNED BY OUR FOUNDERS.
WHEN BERNIE INSPIRED SO MANY PEOPLE WITH SUCH A SHOESTRING GRASS ROOTS CAMPAIGN AND AGAINST ALL ODDS FOUGHT HER TO A LITERAL STANDSTILL IN LESS THAN A YEAR WITH NO MEDIA SUPPORT IT WAS OBVIOUS HE SHOULD HAVE BEEN THE NOMINEE. BUT THE CORRUPT POLITICAL SYSTEM CONTROLLED BY THE CLINTON FACTION’S ARROGANT MACHINATIONS WOULD NOT ALLOW IT. SO NOW WE ALL PAY! AND PAY WE WILL.
IF THE DEMOCRATS HAD ACCEPTED IT’S NOT “POLITICS AS USUAL” WE’D HAVE PRESIDENT SANDERS RIGHT NOW. EVERYONE KNEW SHE NEVER REPRESENTED REAL CHANGE LIKE BERNIE DID AND SO SHE CONDEMNED US TO THIS NEW TRUMPISH WORLD. IT’S HILLARY’S TYPE OF POLITICS THAT HAS SOURED THE ELECTORATE AND PAVED TRUMPS PATH.
AND IT’S NOT JUST THE PRESIDENCY, WE LOST THE CONGRESS AND WILL LOOSE BIG TIME IN THE SUPREME COURT. HER ARROGANCE HAS SET THIS COUNTRY BACK 50 YEARS.
ALL I CAN HOPE IS THAT, LIKE SUSAN SARANDON SAID (last spring in an interview with Chris Hayes on MSNBC) A TRUMP PRESIDENCY WILL JUST MAKE THE REAL REVOLUTION HAPPEN SOONER!
WE COULD HAVE HAD SANDERS!
DAMN YOU CLINTON!
IT’S YOUR FAULT!
DAMN YOU HILLARY!
NO, I DIDN’T VOTE FOR TRUMP. DAMN YOU HILLARY!
I SWALLOWED BITTER BILE AND WITH TEARS OF REGRET RUNNING DOWN MY CHEEKS I VOTED FOR CLINTON. BUT THAT WAS DONE WITH THE UNDERSTANDING THAT PNEUMONIA OR TB WAS FIGURATIVELY THE ONLY GOOD CHOICE AND THAT ONLY BECAUSE THE ALTERNATIVE WAS TERMINAL LUNG CANCER.
YES, WE COULD HAVE HAD A SANDERS PRESIDENCY!
SO, THANK YOU HILLARY, FOR GIVING US A TRUMPISH* AMERICA, OH, AND HILLARY, MY DEAR …DAMN YOU TO HELL!
* https://airplayn.wordpress.com/2016/10/13/what-a-trumpish-world-tumpish-get-out-your-dictionaries/
What a TRUMPISH world! TRUMPISH? Get out your dictionaries.
Once upon a time, Stephen Colbert coined a new word that caught on like wildfire…
“truthiness”.
In the same spirit I’d like to introduce a few of my own “coinages” here below.
Well, I have my own jewel for Daniel Webster that I would propose, “TRUMPISH”. We now live in a TRUMPISH society, in a TRUMPISH world. A world where intolerance and greed outweigh civility and decency, where the base venality of a minority of ignorant and hateful ideologues have allowed, no encouraged, corporations and government to overrun that very society. The new found ability of a population of powerful special interests, with not only too much power, but with a disgraceful villainous lust for yet more power. More power than any human could every wield, much less need … or deserve. These are the heinous “Cheneys and Kochs” of the world, and their numerous vile spawn, such as their minions like Bill O’Reilly. Among this plethora of ever rapacious monstrosities, toothful gaping mouths of their slavering hunger grinning in an imagined victory of gluttony of hate, are found the Trumps of this TRUMPISH new wave of infection. This TRUMPISH trash of our brave new TRUMPISH world (and their enthusiastic followers), are not just symptoms of America’s fall from grace, its betrayal of our Enlightenment heritage, they are the disease and filthy vectors of contagion. The ability to “admanage” (noun: to manipulate or manage public opinion via media, syn; propaganda)* the population with Goebbels like efficiency has birthed an evil demon that gobbles up and destroys what little scraps of hope and dignity that might be left in us. Not only America, but the entire world.
Yes, we do seem to live in a TRUMPISH world, don’t we?
(*and if TRUMPISH catches on, what about “ad-manage? Well, just a greedy thought I had just in case TRUMPISH catches on)
And of course, if we’re in a TRUMPISH world where there are so many idiots who LOUDLY trumpet the same old moronic TRUMPISMS in their brassy tones, it would be follow and so be literally appropriate to call these brash Trump supporters “TRUMPITES” wouldn’t it? LOL
By my crystal ball I see, yes, I see, Oh no, NO!! AARRGGHH!!
In my crystal ball I see, all that is eternity and… what? What’s that? I see, I…see, oh! OH!! I seeeee!!, no! NO!! AARRGGHH!!!
Which nominee will become POTUS for the next full term?
Neither I say. Neither! Neither? Yes, and I say MARK MY WORDS! (screams?)
Yes, I prognosticate that neither candidate will survive the first year much less the first 100 days in office. Here’s why I can almost promise you this…
For chilling reasons my legitimate concern is that we have ignored the insidious threat of so the two so called harmless VP candidates, and that’s dangerous. Why, you ask? WHY??
Well, if dumb and dumber gets the vote and Trump actually is elected by the power of stupidity (and cupidity. Did I say culpability?) he will, rapidly and without a doubt, become so overwhelmed that he will either freak out and run away screaming, or he won’t find being POTUS entertaining any more …and so resign (like Sarah Palin). If not, he’ll most likely then bumble around ineffectively until he fucks up so egregiously they have no choice but to impeach him, and, viola, we’ll have a ultra consrvative, right wing religious fanatic VP become POTUS
On the other side, of the possibilities, if Hillary succeeds, I doubt the first woman POTUS will last long enough to actually do any damage, like start a war with Iran or approve the TPP (even though her handlers have that on the top of the agenda). Because of the lunatic fringe Trump has stirred up (which will forever be his only legacy) there has been an extremely unstable element activated. With so much repressed anger and hatred that has been stirred and mixed and heated to boiling in the type of people Trump has attracted and united under one banner of “Lunatics United” what number of his crazies will be stumbling over each other to get out their arsenal and be the American hero with the honor and privilege to save or declining nation by literally assassinating the hell outta’ “evil” Hillary. Again, a’ viola, a merely acceptable Milquetoast VP selected to be an inoffensively invisible running mate, unsuitable for the same reason he was selected, becomes POTUS.
Both of these candidates are marked with this terrible mark of Cain. The Republican’s Frankenstein monster willfully created and animated in their laboratory of hate their political party has become will undoubtedly explode and break apart, fracturing into splinters of spiteful micro-armies, sparking a wave of uncontrollable and no doubt violent lunacy either way the election goes.
CASE IN POINT – I ask you to lean from history. Truman, a Midwestern haberdasher who was the last person FDR would have thought capable of completing his world vision was inadvertently swept into POTUS with literally know idea of what was going on behind the scene of power. He did not even know there was an atomic bomb! FDR told him nothing, shared not one iota of his plans, seemingly unable to comprehend his own mortality.The 1944 party convention apparatchiks picked Truman as FDR’s running mate as a last minute replacement for exactly those reasons so as to eliminate the controversial Smith, FDR’s long time friend and VP for all previous administrations, and finally crush this abhorrent twelve year experiment in publican revolution. Smith was a man who, otherwise was confident that he already had the nomination in the bag as the favorite son and legitimate heir to carry on FDR’s progressive legacy. Because FDR was obviously not going to strive the fourth term, the Right Wing political machine, both Republican and hidden in the Democratic Party, he had alienated with his progressive policies couldn’t risk nominating the ultra-progressive, in fact truly radical, Smith. So even with the delegations repeated chanting “SMITH, SMITH,SMITH” the gavel rang down with undue haste, without even a proper motion, ending the convention. SMITH had already walked to the platform and stepped on the stars leading to the podium to speak, at which time he would have literally swept Truman into oblivion. HOWEVER SMITH WAS WAY TOO PROGRESSIVE, TO RADICAL, and MUCH TOO POPULAR. He had to be stopped!
So, Truman was swept into POTUS under the wire (and rug), the bomb was dropped and Truman bumbled us into the cold war, bullied by hardliner generals. Truman took their advice and threatened Stalin with our new bomb, treating him as if he were a mere peasant. Stalin, a man not even second to Hitler in the ruthless use of power and who had, with only the barest assistance from the Allies, ravaged Hitler’s armies until they could no longer put up any resistance, and almost literally single-handed. This destroyed the relationships FDR had nurture and guaranteed hostility …and the cold war.
LOUDLY “TRUMPETING” NONSENSE
LOUDLY “TRUMPETING” NONSENSE
I am so dreadfully tired of the too often repeated and so overused complaint that government by its own nature as a bureaucracy is too bloated and inefficient to solve the problems we face. What bureaucracy, indeed, what human invention that attempts to organize on any large scale, does not become inefficient and bloated after a time? These unthinking comments only serves to reemphasize and may even encourage the propagation of that moronically evil myth that government is just another one of the problems and cannot be a solution.
In these times after the almost literal deification of that senile American tragedy, Reagan has been followed by more right wing demagogues religiously wedded to a dogmatic acceptance of his oversimplified ideology. Their alternative to responsible governance of the people, by the people and for the people that is now so obnoxiously “Trumpeted”* in such a shamelessly strident and brassy manner is their other right wing god, the brass idol of capitalistic private enterprise. However, as are any large scale efforts to organize human affairs, even as their behemoth is prone to the same inefficiencies found in any large human enterprise it is also cursed with the negative burden of its primary emphasis on profit. There is no place in these selfish groups for a viewpoint encompassing such lofty ideals as the promotion of a public good. On the other hand, an enlightenment age government does, in principle, have as an integral part of its reason to exist, a mandate to act for the good of the people governed, even if still plagued by all the common failings and imperfections of any such large scale human endeavor.
* how do you like my timely new coinage of the term, “TRUMPET” for the act of loudly disseminating idiotic nonsense? I think the repeated reference to the “brass” and “brassy” nature of the trumpeted noise and the reference to the metal itself only serves to emphasize and accentuate the pun. Let me know in the comments section.
emergeART ™ T.A.Kiehl©2016
NO MORE FUKUSHIMAS? (if we build salt cooled nuclear reactors, the best technology for clean power generation, for generations to come)
NO MORE FUKUSHIMAS? (if we build salt cooled nuclear reactors, the best technology for clean power generation, for generations to come)
I’ve been trying to inform all my “Nuclear? NO!” acquaintances for years and the general public that the High Pressure Water (HPW) reactors which are 1950’s military technology and currently used in nuclear power plants are the problem. Those are the danger, NOT the concept of nuclear power itself. These obsolete and dangerous water cooled reactors were developed for the Navy’s nuclear submarines and since the military had deep pockets this was the ONLY reactor design technology given enough funds to be developed. But it’s easy to do while being inherently dangerous. Fast and cheap to implement but dangerous, exactly what the military would prefer for a weapons system crewed by soldiers, NOT qualifications for a civilian power plant. All other design research funding, already meager, was finally quashed by Nixon. This is why such a flawed technology was adopted for Power Stations, Not because it was the best design, or even safe. Think of your car radiator, it’s high pressure steam and what happens if there’s leak? STEAM? BOOM! That’s what happened a Fukushima. The liquid salt cooled reactor was originally designed, wait for it, for a nuclear powered aircraft. If not for the USAF this technology would probably never even been investigated. Here’s a nice documentary exposing “JUST THE FACTS”.
One of the great benefits of this solid salt cooled type of reactor is that IF there was a leak in the liquid salt cooling lines there or if the salt tubes cracked, they would NOT be under pressure and spew radioactive contamination, The salt is melted by the intense 2,000 degree heat so it flows like water allowing it to transfer heat. So the cooling “fluid” would literally FREEZE while still at the temperature of the steam used in our “modern” obsolete reactors, and so a leak or rupture would be self-repairing as the salt solidifies, plugging any holes. NO STEAM? NO EXPLOSION! (and no “Fukushima”). Also, the reaction is self-limiting, if it leaks, and so a leak would “freeze” at well above room temperate (it’s SALT remember?), cooling the reactor and ending the fission reaction.
These reactors also can have the fuel mixed in with the salt and so NO FUEL RODS are needed (the most expensive and dangerous part of HPW reactors). It also uses Thorium which is catalyzed by neutrons to finally decay into Uranium which then become the actual fuel as it undergoes fission to create heat and power. AND this “mixed” fuel load burns almost all the uranium fuel, unlike the solid ceramic Uranium fuel rods in High Pressure water reactors. These “spent” fuel rods are why HPW reactors produce so much dangerous radioactive waste. Also, Thorium is more plentiful and safer that using Uranium for fuel AND cannot be made into a fission bomb unlike Plutonium and Uranium.
PLEASE take the time to LEARN ABOUT SAFE AND NON POLLUTING NUCLEAR POWER ALTERNATIVES!
Don’t be and “knee jerk”, uninformed “anti-reactor reactor”. Unlike those ignorant celebrities and fools in the anti-vaccination crowd, LEARN the facts before you run off protesting every type of nuclear power and let us move to safe nonpolluting nuclear power.
What about Fusion? Fusion is a dream that is for the far future. Once, in a candid conversation I had with a fusion engineer, he revealed that a the actual fusion power plant itself would become totally radioactive after only 20 years exposure to the intense radiation, the metal parts all becoming brittle and the entire plant becoming unusable, a thousand ton monstrosity of radioactive steel and concrete that can’t be demolished or moved and will last hundreds of thousands of years into the future.
“World’s First Nuclear Salt Reactor” a BBC Science Documentary
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K3gYDo_38Bo
TAKiehl ©2016
update on Mr Deity DVD, Episode THREE of new season (and Santa?)
I finally received my "official" Mr. Deity DVD …maybe I’m way too skeptical and there IS a Santa after all? (naw, I bought it, well, more of a donation as I already have the episodes downloaded, but …"support your local Deity!" kinda like PBS LOL) BTW Everyone should check out the new FOURTH season which is now on EPISODE THREE! AND the "Larry/Deity Interviews" (an entertaining take-off on "Frost/Nixon") are online too. Actually, the DVD has a lot of "extras" such as commentaries and "making of" videos in all of which Brian’s humor shines throughout and make it worth having for all of us fans. I think Brian’s mix of edgy philosophy with very entertaining humor is a great method to disseminate interesting ideas in a manner people can appreciate and enjoy while encouraging us all to think!
Airplayn's Hangar 