Spring Breezes

For April 4th

Warm winds breathe new life into dry ground,

encourage green shoots to thrust upward.

Storm clouds ride on the gusts then drop

voluminous amounts of life-giving water.

Young folk mill around and project their

hormonal prowess and power. Older

ones deal with it or stay out of the way.

But they still watch, admire and reminisce.

The outdoors bursts into life once again,

promising so much, and in some cases

taking everything away in one fell swoop

of a tornado or fallen tree limb.

Hopes and dreams push us forward,

through balmy spring breezes,

or gale-force winds, until we reach

summer's boundary and complain about heat.

See you at the old swimming hole on June 21^st.

www.createspace.com/5346916

- end

Projection of the Possible

For April 3:

He projected positivism in a unique way,

postulated possibility thinking from his

Crystal Cathedral in Orange City, CA.

This church could be attended in your

living room as well as in the Golden State.

A refreshing rarity to me: a nonjudgmental

religious institution, that was a pleasure to

watch on a Sunday morning. It felt like

a concert with an uplifting tone and beat.

Many others must have agreed.

His congregation grew to international

stature and breadth. Funds came rolling in.

Unfortunately it all unraveled after a bad

family transition: these things happen.

But the man will go down in history,

however you credit what he built.

Along with Norman Vincent Peale,

Robert Schuller promoted positivism.

This titan of the 20^th century will be missed

and long remembered – I am positive about that.

www.dycen-alexander.com     

 

Deal or No Deal

for April 2

Hard decisions had to be reached,

international teams negotiated late..

Secretary of State Kerry haggled all night long

with his Iranian counterpart. Ultimately

a path was worked out towards an agreement.

Sacrifices were made on both sides,

With other nations participation.

After tedious and intricate bargaining,

A way was found towards securing

an Iran free of nuclear weapons.

Hopeful? Positive? Makes the world safer?

Yes, if the US Congress does not destroy it.

Opposition party congress-critters over here

threaten to undo or sabotage the very agreement

the USA pioneered and promoted.

As usual, this mottled mess of a nation

is showing the world that we have little to

fear from the rest of them:

Once again,

we are our own worst enemy!

-end
www.dycen-alexander.com
 

Authors Fair coming to Ankeny

ON April 11th  (Saturday) from 9 A.M. to Noon, there will be Fifty authors present, signing their books and talking about their work.  It takes place at the Pinnacle Club, 4100 NE Otter Creek Drive in Ankeny.  Otter Creek drive is just off of the 36th Street exit of I-35.  You turn right or north and just follow the drive into the parking lot.   Come one - come all.   Free refreshments available.   Hope to see you there.

Happy April 1

Iran sunk a US aircraft carrier,

war rages on in the middle east.

Russian and US reinforcements moving in.

The Dow Jones dropped 5,000 points.

Justin Beiber became a Baptist Minister,

Muhammad Ali just signed for another fight;

China offered to combine resources with the ISS,

And promised full safety compliance at all factories.

Ford Motor co agreed to be bought out by GM,

and Chrysler Motors turned a huge profit.

IBM is investing in Indian abacus factories,

believing this is the future of energy-efficient computing.

Anything is possible in April-fools world,

let your imagination soar, and play.

But good luck convincing anyone else

of your fictions – it's probably been tried before –

Last April Fools Day.

May as well enjoy it anyway!

- end

Sawing

Sinew and muscle and strain and bone,

I cut away bit by sawdust bit on the limb.

Breath coming in gasps, heart thumping along.

Showered by bark dust, shaking wobbly ladder.

Rest a while, catch my breath, then saw some more.

Staccato beat in my chest, wheezing breaths fast,

My mind wants to keep going, my body wants rest.

The brawny limb refuses to give way,

been there a hundred years, who am I to say.

But it broke and is hanging, will fall any day.

Determined old elm tree groans out in protest,

how dare you try and amputate me?

I grunt and gasp in response:

Your time has come and gone, old limb,

It is time for you to be finished off.

(addendum: It finally fell, after three days of sawing).

swimming in facebook space

and getting so comfortable there, I made a new nest.  Would you like to see?  Here it is:

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Mike-Wilson-Author/334209793355510?ref=aymt_homepage_panel

Thanks for checking it out, and have a wonderful day.

Not one more war

No War,

No More.

Nethanyahu take your plans home,

leave us out of another killing zone.

Jews and Arabs and Persians

all have their very own versions

of right, twisted by hate perversions.

We do not want more of our kid's blood

dripping off of deaths altars in a flood.

Our nation is already bursting with

ill veterans who fought for your myth.

Take your war-kill-hate-the others home with you,

Our scarred land needs some respite from shrews.

The sun is shining on our worn and tired shores,

This Sunday is a good one for peace, not more wars!

Desperate people walking hungry decaying streets

desire nothing but a meal for the family, and Peace.

 

Late Winter Reading

New Venture -

Two young men stake their future on settling an asteroid out in the Kuiper Belt.  But they soon encounter something that changes the course of human history.      (adult material contained within.)
https://www.createspace.com/5346916

The Osmotics

A young man decides he does not want to be a part of a reverse-evolution experiment, and goes off in search of reversal surgery.  On the way, he encounters life-changing experiences.  (LGBT title).
www.createspace.com/4661301

A Strange Enterprise

A collection of speculative fiction.  What if we skipped Mars altogether and went for Jovian Moon exploration?   An alt-history romp, and other tales for your enjoyment.    (general reading)
www.createspace.com/4281639

Whatever you end up reading, enjoy it.

Discontent

It was 2015 already

and

The winter would just not quit...

There was that local city councilman who

called and got a ticket fixed – exposed by local news.

The tax hike pushed and passed by Republicans –

Then they promptly announced a new highway project.

Washington, D.C. legalized marijuana – and the mayor

got threatened by members of Congress.

There was Obama trying to get immigration reform done,

being fought tooth and nail by opposing forces.

That NFL player getting slapped down for swatting

his young son with a wooden stick.

Another famous person stripped down on stage,

during the Oscar awards celebration no less.

Scandal after scandal fueled much discontent.

and oh, yes, the weather was bitterly cold;

The outdoor environment was lousy too.

But –

Spring is right around the corner;

hopefully things will improve,

indoors and out.

 - end

Incremental wins the day

     It caught my attention the other day when some government RFP circulated for “game-changer” technology proposals for something or other, on a technology mailing list. Well, seems to me that most significant progress has been made in small steps. Rocketry had to start with black powder, then with rudimentary cryogenics. Scaled up to say, the V-2, it still took years to perfect. Then, scaled up further still, to orbit an astronaut. More years of hard work were required. From the early days of rocketry up to the first orbiting “Sputnik” took around 100 years.

The Internet could be said to have started with Morse code – the first effective transmission of information over wires, predating voice transmission. Sometime later the Baudot code was adopted for most teletype transmissions. This was a five-bit scheme of sorts. This was surpassed by other, denser communications technologies, culminating in the TCP-IP protocols used in the Internet today. From the earliest adoption of Morse Code up to early Internet experiments took over 100 years. (1844 to 1969-70).

The natural laws of physics we all are enfolded and entrapped by require us to go about things in a certain way. There is no “free lunch.” We must incrementally walk our development forward, in small steps. Eventually we get there. But the huge, amazing breakthroughs? Very rare, far and few in between. And often it seems we only make a major breakthrough because researchers have painstakingly laid the groundwork for us to do so.

Stunning game-changers would be nice. But it is the incremental groundwork that wins the day – in my humble opinion. Thanks for reading.

Cuttting Edges

Isis is the name of a two-edged sword,

with ideology to kill those it cannot convert.

The sword that slices will turn on its owner,

who will be diced and chopped by the errant

hands of fools wishing for paradise.

They rolled the dice and instead will be sliced,

sent to hell by those they would stick with malice.

The two-edged sword will turn on its owner,

slicing and dicing authors of religion by force.

Armaments of the west will crush the life out

of these desert vermin, leave remains for insects.

Sword that would slice, eaten by mere lice.

The worst human vice is to kill for paradise.

More charred, burned bodies in the desert.

Human flesh waste rots in the name of what?

No sense nor logic in fanatic religious beliefs,

they always seem to bring suffering and grief.

- end

distracted

Cold
Vacation fun
in a land of warmth and cacti and traffic.
Distracted
by all that life has to offer
and everything thrown at me

Takes time to duck and run,
or confront and deal with.
Takes all of my energy
to cope with the necessary.

So if you do not find a lot written lately,
it is because the author is on the front lines of life
dodging bullets
and firing a few of his own.
Peace out peace out peace out.

The state of Space Exploration

On the occasion of the good news I saw the other day – the fact that Obama is going to actually request an increase for the FY 2018 NASA budget – it seemed as good a time as any to ruminate on the state of all things space nowadays.

When one thinks of the unmanned probes and rovers, things are looking pretty good. Between the ESA and NASA, we have recently visited or are orbiting nearly every planet in the Solar System.   (The Voyager probes did fly by every outer planet except Pluto)  Messenger went to Mercury recently. The ESA orbited Venus with a sophisticated imaging probe for quite a while. Of course, NASA has rovers crawling around on the surface of Mars, and a couple of orbiters as well. The ESA sent an orbiter-lander combo a few years ago (Mars Express) , and their orbiter is still working. There is a JPL probe around Jupiter. Cassini was orbiting Saturn until very recently, and sent back huge amounts of information. The Huygens probe successfully landed on Saturn's moon Titan, and sent back photos.

In the Asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter, the Dawn spacecraft is approaching Ceres, after visiting Vesta. These are the two largest planetary bodies in the “inner belt.” Then you get all the way out to Pluto, where the New Horizons spacecraft is rapidly approaching to snap some photos. A lot of robotic spacecraft are gathering reams of science data and images these days.

There are also some sun-orbiting observatories, and many Earth-observing craft.

The manned, or human-crewed expeditions are far fewer. Crews of three will travel to and from the ISS from time to time, and they are working on many science experiments. As of this writing, a Russian and an American are going to spend a full year in space, to see how people can do for that long in weightlessness.

Living in space weightless is hard on the human body. Bones degrade, fluids move around, sleep and well-being are affected. We need to better understand how to counteract these problems before more folks can live and work in space permanently. But the upshot is, there are currently no human missions to anywhere other than low earth orbit. There is always talk of visiting Mars with astronauts, or going back to the Moon. Testing is going on with NASA's Orion spacecraft, with a Human-crewed test slated for around 2017.

It is easy to envision a future filled with Asteroid mining, space colonies orbiting the Earth or on the Moon, or on Mars. Getting there will be a long, hard road. But it should be a fascinating journey, and this old baby boomer will be watching as long as he can draw a breath.

For more info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_active_Solar_System_probes

or just go to www.space.com or www.spacedaily.com .     Thanks for reading.

Taking Stock

Oh the soaring hopes felt with each purchase,

“how fine it will be to make easy money!”

You just know those companies will go

up in value, and make thousands for you.

But then reality comes crashing in,

with each day of triple-digit loss.

They drop and your heart sinks too.

“Patience,” counsels a better voice.

To participate in a financial world

run by minds far sharper than ours

is always a risky proposition...

seems like we only make money if they do.

Everyone has a stake in the markets,

and even experts cannot fully predict

which way it will go for sure. But

it is not a game for faint-hearted souls.

As I clench my desk with sweaty hands,

seeing each new days losses, I am left to

wonder: Just how faint-hearted am I?

   - end

Bad Moves in River City

It is not a good thing to be poor in Des Moines, Iowa. Poor as in working poor all the way to unemployed and broke. You see, there used to be some outlets for a guy who is bored but with not very much cash. You could go fishing along the river near downtown. Or walk some wooded trails along the river, taking in nature. There were some options for the not-so-rich and not-so-pretty folk, of whom there are a lot. Even if all you had was a broken-down jalopy or bus fare or a bike to get you to the river area – you still could enjoy the water and greenery.

But then at some point in time, the city fathers or powers that be decided they wanted a chic new sparkling riverfront. The first to suffer the consequences were the homeless people. All they wanted was to live simply, outdoors by the river. But the new trail-user class decided they were unsightly and had to go. All of a sudden, after around 150 years of being incorporated as a city, the powers that be insisted that the homeless pay “rent” or get out.

Oh sure, there is a splendid homeless shelter. You can make use of it if you reserve a bed by 6 PM, refrain from any use of alcohol and adhere to various other rules. (I'm sure the powers that be are not always refraining from alcohol use in their homes.) What they don't seem to understand is that for a certain subset of people, they cannot tolerate rules. They are not any kind of threat, but rather they want to make good the promise of living in “freedom.” Freedom to do what they want, even if it is destruction of their bodies through substance abuse. Who are others to tell them they cannot? They are adults, after all, making adult choices.

So the homeless were evicted from riverfront wooded areas. Then, the people who fish along both sides of the Des Moines River downtown were next to go. They left trash and dead fish, it was said. They were loud and obnoxious, it was said. We just can't have that next to our pristine walkers and joggers. So the fisher-people were forbidden to fish along the river. Another segment of the public was denied access to our river areas downtown.

Now, recently, they have removed the drive on the east side of the river as part of a beautification effort at the Botanical center. And barricaded portions of West River Drive. More areas of the river cut off from the simple folks. No, you have to own a dog and go to the dog park, or be a paying guest of the botanical center on the East side of the river. No longer can people drive to the riverfront to fish, or simply take a walk along the water and clear one's head. No, this is a new city now, a special city. Only the elite can go to areas formerly open to everyone.

I'm wondering when they will charge tolls to ride the bike trails, or do inspections of your bicycle to ensure it is up to the standards of some uptight committee. Inspect your person perhaps? We have become so risk-averse and panicky today, we cannot allow public access to our own 'wilderness' areas. This is an affront to the principles our nation was founded on, and an insult to the public who must pay taxes and obey rules, but is now denied the enjoyment of public areas. Bad moves, Des Moines. 

     - end

Deflationary Trend

Gas prices drop at the pump,

give us all some happiness;

Natural gas also takes a dump,

helps maintain US consumer bliss.

Some other prices have dipped,

even though many remain high.

Beef buyers feel they are gypped,

small herds are a stated reason why.

But one object was never meant

to be deflated at a crucial time:

A Football is a key instrument,

Not tampered with, left sublime.

When 11 are deflated in one game,

the offending team is truly defamed!

They should all be ashamed.

- end.

Expensive lesson

The innocuous look on the young lady distracted me. As did her conversation about liking clothes. I thought, “OK, a bored young person, stuck working on a Saturday. Fine – whatever.”

She finally finished recording my purchases, then said, “Ok, you are done,” and I just moved on. She was obviously not very experienced at her job, or did not care. I missed the fact that she rang up a shirt twice.

So, after visiting with some friends in a nearby city, I returned to the huge outlet mall. I took my purchases and receipt in, and asked a kind young man who was at the register to take off the charge. He did so, without a problem. But he had removed the shirt from my bag to scan the tag, and then apparently forgot to return the shirt to my bag. There were other people coming up in line, and so on. So, after he had finished, I thanked him, and moved away, not aware that my nice new shirt was missing. I had neglected to make sure my shirt was returned to my sack, and he had apparently missed it too.

Lesson learned for me. An expensive lesson. Watch what they are doing, watch the amounts, and make sure you have your purchases in hand. For I have reached the age of easily lulled that all is well. The age I have to be doubly on guard. The age that the young think I am old and stupid (in the last case they would be right). I have reached the age of unfortunately needing to be constantly vigilant when making purchases.

I realize that you can't always trust retail situations. And it may be an innocent mistake on their part. Fatigue from checking people through all day, boredom, etc. I need to watch out for myself, and watch them. Unfortunate. It would have helped if a manager would have been around, keeping an eye on the employees and all there – they might have caught that.

Watch those clerks :-) 

 

Book teaser

Thanks for taking a moment to check out my books for sale:

Experimental Tales www.createspace.com/4973862

The Osmotics www.createspace.com/4661301

Mirror Worlds www.createspace.com/3633147

A Strange Enterprise www.createspace.com/4281639

Future Property www.createspace.com/3859469

Shadow Intersection www.createspace.com/4113022

- and hope you have a good day.

A Frozen State

Politicians love to pontificate,

Sum up all their accomplishments;

They call this speech the “state of the state,"

Ignore the other party's admonishments.

The state of our state

would be first-rate

if only the subzero cold

would get gone post-haste.

Springtime will bring the best

that Iowa has to offer – bless

our winter-weary souls as much

as politician-free TV would impress!

Stay warm everyone.

- end

What everyone else is talking about

Some links of interest of all kinds.  Have fun  :-)

Over-policing mania proves flawed

http://www.salon.com/2015/01/10/americas_over_policing_bombshell_how_new_data_proves_stop_frisk_critics_were_right_all_along/

Trans Teen and pancakes inspire the internet.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/gay-voices/''

Possessed and out with it now.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/domenick-scudera/i-am-possessed-by-a-demon_b_6436274.html?utm_hp_ref=gay-voices

Bad gay porn acting

http://www.buzzfeed.com/mjs538/bad-gay-porn-acting-is-all-you-really-need-right-now#.axDbw20V3

Cumber baby OMG

http://www.buzzfeed.com/elliewoodward/omg-a-cumberbaby-im-not-okay-someone-hold-me-oh-lord-my-feel#.olEQ4wYNK

31 photos that are kind of, well, uncomfortable...

http://www.buzzfeed.com/lukebailey/uncomfortably-silver#.vqE34PVge

Last surviving rescue dog from the 9-11 disaster

http://i.imgur.com/UwW5cCn.jpg

Australian newspaper publishes Mohammed cartoon

http://www.pmnewsnigeria.com/2015/01/10/australian-newspaper-publishes-mohammed-cartoon/

Catch!

http://i.imgur.com/h1WXhp9.gif

Taken off my pants in most malls

http://www.reddit.com/r/Showerthoughts/comments/2r0ek6/ive_taken_off_my_pants_in_most_malls_that_ive/

- never ending

Je Suis Charlie

Terrorists fleeing a printing plant got shot full of holes today.

Good riddance to more of the scourge of humankind.

They don't stand a chance against democratic traditions;

Their hatred rages, uncaring and blind.

Freedom of expression, especially speech, is a cherished value of democracies. Even though it often seems  offensive, vile, repulsive and repugnant, nevertheless it is important to allow people this freedom. Dictatorships over time have tried to repress it, without success. They have fallen every time. Democracies, however, appear to have stood the test of time. 

The danger in the West seems to have been, up until now, a major corporate or political interest affecting the media, putting forth a too-conservative or too-liberal message. The terrorists in Paris showed us there is a greater threat to ourselves than each other!
     Fanatical religions that advocate violence are a real threat to us all, no matter what religion it is they claim. If they force their will upon the weaker members of society, using some supposed interpretation of a holy book, they are wrong. If they mutilate or torture women in the name of some pride or prophet, they are wrong. Religion and government should always remain separate – when someone tries to combine the two, disaster always seems to follow. Fanaticism is a threat to us all.

We all stand with France against the evil that these terror groups represent. I am glad they finally got the terrorists today, and am sorry that innocent lives had to be lost. I hope we can rid the world of these terror-pushing vermin and make it safer for everyone else. Time will tell. Thanks for reading.

Hawks Shot Down

Off they go,

our heroes in black and gold.

Ready to play in a bowl game;

Also to brave sunny elements

on Florida beaches and taste

delicacies in restaurants.

They have fought hard all year,

gone through grueling practices,

even won some games on the road.

Now they face the most difficult

opponent of all – their own selves.

The warming sun saps their edge,

good food and drink puts them at ease.

Their coach gladhands the press

trying at the very least to appease.

So they take to the field,

full of good hospitality,

their hard edges blunted...

And lose horribly.

Run after run penetrates their lines,

score after score puts them behind.

They attempt rally after rally,

finally scoring on sheer will.

But the damage is done, victory

easily won by the opposition.

Maybe next time we might want

to confine them to their rooms until

after the game.

A victory would be rewarded,

with beach time, meals and fun.

A defeat would be met with a

silent plane or bus ride home.

Something to consider as our

beloved Hawkeyes flap home

with tail-feathers drooping.

Either way, they have the

rest of their lives to

recover from defeat,

or celebrate victory.

      - end

Happy New Year

A year of new possibilities,

fun experiences with friends,

travel to warm places,

seeing some new faces.

Adventures,

vacations,

work ordeals aplenty.

Cool waters in hot sun,

happiness radiating everywhere.

Intimacy amidst the joy.

Shared moments of warmth

poetry

of physical release,

motion, action, reaction,

rest –

bliss.

Sleep,

repeat,

endless...

life is fun,

and then the rest;

a bright future beckons us.

     - end

I see

I see the smiling faces, warm greetings of loved ones to each other.

I see the happy scampering kids running around mothers.

I see the occasional frown of a shopkeeper beneath their smile.

I see many entrepreneurs, all offering free samples, all hoping for a good day.

I see smiles painted on, plastered on, varying, waffling – facades strong and weak

I see gray skies and gray ground outside of the warm pleasant shopping mall.

I see reality underpinning artifice everywhere I look.

I see we have done a good job applying our veneer of civilization.

I see a few birds swimming in a thawed December river; they are in formation.

I see formations everywhere, in nature and humankind.

I see a military world at war with itself, and yet wondrously holding together.

I see blurs in the morning before the cyber-news impresses and depresses my soul.

I see pictures of despair and occasional shoots of hope.

I see greedy markets gyrate, resonating with the greed in me.

I see little hope, but sometimes I see a little more.

I see the endless stretch of days and wonder how to make them mean something.

I see how fortunate I am, at least some of the time.

I see how powerless I am to change, and wonder that I have done as well as I have.

I see you, and how sometimes that makes this day truly special.

I see the priceless value of another human soul resonating with mine somehow.

I see how little an artificial currency really means when I have the real you.

I see a thrashing universe, and sometimes tiny bits clinging together.

I see time slowed to a crawl, and us clinging so tight we cannot separate.

I see darkness and I see light.

I see.

Vast new resources

Out at the edge of our Solar System lies the Kuiper belt. Thought to be full of the leftover material from the formation of our Solar System, this is an area studded with millions, perhaps billions of small worldlets and planetoids. Many are thought to be coated with water ice, as well as frozen hydrocarbons. This class of objects is also known variously as Trans-Neptune Objects, or Scattered Disk Objects (referring to the gravitational effect from Neptune's orbit). We are discovering more and more about this region of space all the time. There are undoubtedly a lot of valuable metal ores on many of these bodies. Someday in the distant future, humanity will be out there, studying, surveying and eventually mining and colonizing them.

Closer in, orbiting Saturn, are also many moons. We have discovered a total of 53 natural satellites so far, many in just the last ten years (thanks to the Cassini probe and ground observations). Each one has unique characteristics. Some sweep through or near the rings, creating gaps between the rings. There may come a time when we have automated outposts on the stable moons in Lagrangian orbits surrounding Saturn.

When humanity is able to construct outposts along the way, perhaps on Jovian Moons, and then Saturnian Moons, the way will be paved to go all the way out the Kuiper belt. Even then, we will have barely “scratched the surface” in finding and harvesting resources. For beyond the Kuiper belt, surrounding it and the rest of the Solar System, is an even larger mass of cosmic debris called the Oort Cloud. It is theorized that this cloud, which overlaps the Kuiper belt at its closest point, extends all the way out to a half of a light-year from the Sun or more.

The distance between the Earth and our Sun is 93 million miles. This is also known as “one AU” for astronomical unit. The Kuiper belt is around 50 AU distant from Earth. The Oort cloud is theorized to extend all the way out to 100,000 AU. These asteroids, worldlets and planetoids are not densely packed, but rather a fair distance from each other. Remember, we have sent several space probes through the inner asteroid belt, just beyond Mars, without hitting any rocks. These have made it to Jupiter, Saturn and even to the edge of the Solar System and beyond (Pioneer and Voyager spacecraft).

Our Solar System is so vast, and contains so much wealth, it boggles the mind.

The vastness and richness of Space makes our Earthly problems seem tiny in comparison, at least to me. All this wonder is beckoning the human race to come and partake. Here is hoping that we will discover the resolve and will to do so.

My upcoming book, “New Venture” will touch on some of the possibilities – and of course,the perils and dangers too. New Venture is due out sometime next year. Thanks for reading.

(Facts and figures taken from Wikipedia and NASA informational pages freely available on the Net.)

Universal Shorthand

Quote from a song:

“Mathematics is the language of love”

In the spirit of fascination with math's ability to describe our universe in shorthand, here are a few old formulas – and some new stuff from the imagination.

π – Greek letter and symbol meaning the ratio of a circumference of a circle to its diameter. The number goes on forever, but a popular designation is 22/7 (22 over 7) or 3.14159.... One of the irrational numbers, and mentioned in such movies as “Contact” based on the book by Carl Sagan.

An irrational number is any real number that cannot be expressed as a ratio of integers. Most real numbers are therefore irrational. Some have theorized that someday a “superior mathematics” will arise where most irrational numbers become rational.

Einstein's famous formula: E=MC2 or energy = matter converted, squared. A small amount of matter can be converted to a large amount of energy, especially in nuclear fission and fusion, or even nuclear bombs.

Euler's Identity:

eix π

e denotes exponential progression, and π denotes the perfect symmetry of a circle. Both are “transcendental” numbers – they go on forever. Someone named Euler combined their quantities to describe space and time. There is an article in the current issue of Wired magazine that goes over it in detail – very fascinating stuff.

For someone with patience and smarts, mathematics offers endless challenge and entertainment – a miniature universe in our minds, reflecting the macro universe 'out there' . And with major discoveries, for instance the discovery and usage of the value zero, new vistas open up. There is no telling what we will discover in the future. But if the past is any guide, there is no real limit to the expansion capability of the human race.

While thinking about things like math formulas, I came up with an idea for a shorthand for emotions. There is another person who wrote a book on this subject, but I'm just throwing out my 2 cents (not for profit. )

If we assign a symbol or value to common emotions, say a delta symbol for happiness, or a minus symbol for sadness, then it may become possible to run some simple “emotional equations” to reduce common human emotional experiences etc to equations. Then it is not such a stretch to assume one can program a computer with said equations, and have it (or a robot face) express said emotions.

It is all mathematical symbols and equations, and as people have shown, these can be coded and run on computers very well.

We Feel emotions, at a foundational level inside. But deep in our brains, are they not simply patterns of electrochemical pulses, ordered surges of chemicals? Serotonin, dopamine, norepinepherine. Sodium and potassium. Ordered firings and surges of chemicals. Someday we may reduce emotions and feelings themselves down to seemingly simple mathematical formulae. At that point we may be said to have evolved from homo sapiens sapiens, since we will have codified and resolved our own emotional processes. The same could be said for memory encoding in the brain. And researchers are working on deep understanding of these processes as I type this. 

When all this will happen, however, is anybody's guess. I get emotional just thinking about it! 

Thanks for reading.

Sinuous no more

I was born in an analog world,

clock faces, radio signals, even car ignitions.

Electromechanical ways were sophisticated 

enough to drive society.

Today I sit and survey the past,

here in a world where every moment

of time is sliced and diced into a million

million pulses. Music is digitized,

sampled and played back -- yet still sounds good.

Pictures, sound, videos, news all streams of

discrete bits, on and off and on again.

Present reality is digitized from top to bottom.

No gentle undulations, only harsh divisions.

Segmented, separated experience so efficient

but in a way so much less mysterious.

Abundance in an absence of romance.

Little did we know – so we took the chance,

bet our future on cybernetic controls.

Here we are, like it or not.

But it is not so bad, really, most of the time,

with the world at my fingertips. 

Loss of analog technology 

seems insignificant today.

     - end

Thanks Cityview for printing my article

http://www.dmcityview.com/guest-commentary/2014/11/26/des-moines-37-years-of-change/

- end

Links in a chain of scribery

Some book links:

Experimental Tales www.createspace.com/4973862

The Osmotics www.createspace.com/4661301

Mirror Worlds www.createspace.com/3633147

A Strange Enterprise www.createspace.com/4281639

Future Property www.createspace.com/3859469

Shadow Intersection www.createspace.com/4113022

   - end

 

 

Race Divide by Zero

The blacks riot in the streets and scream at

a sea of grim faces behind riot helmets.

Whites pontificate and speculate,

wring hands and bemoan realities.

The Asians who were once virtual slaves

to build railroads and industries are not complaining.

No marches or cries for justice or burn baby burn.

They quietly work and build new foundations –

Homes, businesses and industries. China makes

most everything in our households, but we still

blame each other and delude ourselves.

The Asians will own us all, and laugh their

way to their shiny new banks, while we

squabble and fight over scraps. A few

of us might be able to afford to visit their

casinos on the Moon, but most will just

try to get a job there, to make ends meet.

- end

Things to be thankful for

I have a nice home to live in, and a job,

a car and a cat – many things to be thankful for.

Good to count our blessings as well as shortcomings.

Others are all too willing to count the failures -

I will count blessings and benchmarks and achievements.

There is also this tech revolution I'm privileged to watch:

The ability to select and watch so many programs,

stop, record, save and repeat them on diverse platforms.

The ability to call up information on almost any subject,

save it, record it, print it, and forward it.

Libraries are being rendered obsolete,

and other technologies once stand-alone

are absorbed by this enormous presence called the WWW.

Applications are moving over to cellphones.

Smartphone owners now hold a ticket to the world

in their overworked fingers. Ever-changing reality.

Time to catch the breath, and marvel at the wonders;

taste the goodness our collective table delivers.

Thanksgiving day we can pause, sit and enjoy

good food and company, maybe even put away handheld toys.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone.

Transhumanism

I recently became acquainted with it.  Seems optimistic, hopeful, and worthwhile.  See the below table.  Definitely food for thought.
----------------------------------------------

TABLE OF TRANSHUMANIST VALUES

Core Value

•         Having the opportunity to explore the transhuman and posthuman realms

Basic Conditions

•        Global security
•        Technological progress
•        Wide access

Derivative Values

•         Nothing wrong about “tampering with nature”; the idea of hubris rejected
•         Individual choice in use of enhancement technologies; morphological freedom
•         Peace, international cooperation, anti-proliferation of WMDs
•         Improving understanding (encouraging research and public debate; critical thinking; open-mindedness, scientific inquiry; open discussion of the future)
•         Getting smarter (individually; collectively; and develop machine intelligence)
•         Philosophical fallibilism; willingness to reexamine assumptions as we go along
•         Pragmatism; engineering- and entrepreneur-spirit; science
•         Diversity (species, races, religious creeds, sexual orientations, life styles, etc.)
•         Caring about the well-being of all sentience
•         Saving lives (life-extension, anti-aging research, and cryonic 
•                                               - end

Epiphany at work

It just occurred to me while going through my usual routine today.   There will always be folks making critical or catty remarks, humorous or not.  But real history is always made by those who kept doing things, making things happen.  Like Henry Ford, T. Edison, N. Tesla, Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, and so on.  The critics and rock-throwers are not remembered for trying to stop the doers.  The Doers are remembered for persisting, and changing our world. 

Poem like a Comet

We landed on a comet the other day,

after a billion-plus mile journey;

The little guy is named Philae,

set down on the surface with “no worries.”

Another step outward for humanity,

Billion-mile destination achieved

after a long convoluted trajectory,

Accomplishment hardly to be believed.

Someday people will walk on these worlds,

Digging samples and snapping pictures.

“Asteroid for sale” signs will be unfurled,

New homes for many, no longer obscure.

What excuse will we come up with for war now?

“Lebensraum” no longer a reason to start a row.

- end

marking history

     Today the human race sent a spacecraft to orbit a comet traveling towards the Sun.  It detached a small lander, which successfully landed on the surface.    The orbiter is called Rosetta, the lander Philae.  Both are names taken from another historic time, the finding of the Rosetta stone in the early 1800's.  This helped us decode ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics.
     A historic time we live in, taking these first small steps.   The Dawn probe visited a minor planet in the Asteroid belt, and is on its way to another.  Other probes have visited every planet out to Neptune, and now New Horizons is speeding on towards Pluto and the Kuiper belt  (due to arrive in 2015).   Heady times.   Perhaps future occupants of a greater Solar System presence will celebrate our historic first steps - or at least make schoolchildren remember the dates.
     A hearty congratulations goes out to the ESA for their accomplishment.  Eagerly awaiting first photographs from the surface of the comet.   
     - end

Winters blast

     As I struggle to insulate my house against the coming onslaught of winter, it is difficult to keep it all in perspective.   The surface of the comet that the Rosetta space probe will be sending a lander to is much colder.  Perhaps as cold as 300 degrees below zero.  The surface of Pluto is minus 350 degrees.  In some regions of space it goes down to minus 400-some.  Compared to that, our overnight low of 35 degrees seems positively balmy.  
     Just counting my (chilled) blessings here in the Midwestern US. 

     On another note, I read that DARPA is supposedly working on computer programmer code that would autocomplete, much as word processors and smartphones do now.  In my humble opinion, we have gone far enough.  I can't type anything anymore without some stupid program thinking I am stupid and trying to suggest what word it thinks I want to type.  It is wrong most of the time, and just makes me angry and frustrated.  So much of the 'autocomplete' technology just makes a lot of people angirer and more frustrated.  Why do this to people?  It is just not right.

     Next thing you know, our cars will be loaded with auto-drive.    You will drive to the store, and a few other places.  Then, when you try to go to work, the wheel will spin left instead of right or whatever, and take you to the grocery store, auto-completing for you, assuming you are not smart enough to drive your own vehicle.  F*** autocomplete and autocorrect - I loathe both of them.  Thanks for reading.

Post-election reminder

Republican winners:  From the early 1930's up until the early 1970's, the US economy underwent the largest expansion ever. Our standard of living increased greatly, our life expectancy increased, and our sens of well-being increased. I can remember my dad saying that back in the 1930's, Nobody had any money. Nobody. We were all poor. By the early 1970's many people had a comfortable standard of living. Sure, we had poor, but we also had a thriving middle class, with good union-scale wages.

Interestingly enough, there was also a large expansion of social programs. Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, Food stamps. Other assistance to the poor.

Compassion and taking care of the least of us paid off pretty well, it would seem. Try not to cut the throat of the workers who will bear the brunt of our economy – you may be cutting your own throats as a result.  Thanks for reading.

Talented chef link

Follow this for some wonderful meal ideas, complete with screenshots.

http://briantaylorcarlson.wordpress.com/

Enjoy.

Honey, my honey

Why do you scamper about so?

I try to bring you in before dark,

cold, damp dusk descends unsafe

about you, but you stay on your lark.

Hope that you come to the door,

but check it every twenty minutes,

just in case you get hungry.

What a troublesome bundle of fluff!

Every other time you do show up,

hungry or bored or chilled, and mewl loud,

accusing me of neglect or abandonment.

But might this time be a first?

Hit by a car?

Grabbed by a hawk or owl?

Stolen and carried afar?

Nabbed by animal control?

Just have to live with my fears again,

since I am too soft on you,

and let you outside every time

you cry “please” to me.

Not sure who is more guilty here.

Oh wait, what is that I hear at the door?

- end

October Woods

High tech so far away now

that I am deep in elm and ash,

swooshing through leaves

as I hunt down the right trail.

Problems recede under filtered

glare of October sunshine;

“What does anything matter?

Look at the beauty of nature!”

For a time the world's problems

get postponed as I breathe

leafy air and absorb bright color.

This, a last gift from Mother...

Before she slams us with snow,

punishes us with bitter cold and ice,

hides it all in darkness so we fall.

Spring will come hard, prayer by prayer.

But today I am gifted autumnal beauty.

Hurrah!

-end

New Gods

Wind turbines, wind turbines spinning away the day,

Busy blades chopping up particulate-laden air,

a harsh spin cycle

for the big polluters

chagrin.

Wind turbines, wind turbines catching bright suns rays,

spinning and tossing prism beams every which way.

Gleaming white towers topped by coruscating hopes.

Old windmills must have seemed like man’s prideful

assault on the gods - modern giants even more audacious

shred Odin’s beard, and rile up the denizens

of Asgard to no end. Bolts of lightning fury may

rain down upon them, yet to no avail.

Move over, obsolete deities --

the Alternative Energy gods have arrived;

They rule over all who have come before.

- end

Ballad of the new Pandemic

(tongue planted firmly in cheek - sense of humor on)

This is a tale of two doctors and a nurse,

who set out to help and came back much worse.

They went over to help, and brought back a plague.

One doctor went to Omaha and got a new serum,

He recovered and was cured, you should'a heard 'em.

They went over to help, and brought back the plague.

The other ended up in Texas and tragically died.

The relatives and the medical community cried.

They went over to help, and brought back the plague.

It was thought it stopped there, but alas was not to be;

A young nurse got infected, by some protocol breach.

They went over to help, and brought back the plague.

Now she is in isolation, and may not recover;

From the President on down, reassurances hover.

They went over to help, and brought back the plague.

Move over, climate change, forget the ISIS threat.

Any challenges from Russia will somehow get met.

They went over to help, and brought back the plague.

Economic disasters and stock market gyrations

do not really compare to pandemic mass infections.

For the time being a deadly virus has center stage,

Ebola threatens mortal fever, no matter your age.

 - end

Book Links Links Links

Experimental Tales www.createspace.com/4973862

The Osmotics www.createspace.com/4661301

Mirror Worlds www.createspace.com/3633147

A Strange Enterprise www.createspace.com/4281639

Future Property www.createspace.com/3859469

Shadow Intersection www.createspace.com/4113022

 

Happy X-ray Trails

The day we saw x-ray trails

out among some Messier objects,

enthusiasm for space was re-born.

Rejuvenated and enhanced was our

excitement for exploring the greater cosmos.

Alien exhaust plumes really got our BP up.

A building frenzy took place overnight,

New populations arose on Moon and Mars,

spinning colonies scattered like spores out

towards the Kuiper belt and Oort cloud.

Although many understood that natures laws

are immutable across the Universe and time,

traveling ship captains were still surprised when

who should greet them in the vast beyond but

replicas of themselves.

Bipedal humanoids succeeded on other worlds, too.

Replete with qualities (good and bad) similar to us.

The wars began soon after. Ultimately the whole galaxy was

trashed with the scattered debris of warfare.

We never learn, no matter where we are.

Only our religion, way of life, belief system

is correct – theirs is foreign, alien, wrong.

Let the shooting begin. Let the dying keep on.

No one ever wins, until the whole universe

winds down and ends – in another

Big

Bang!

Dissapearing Cranium

Where did you go,

Mysterious one - all head,

no body – no past - no future.

Why a girl?

You rose from flat to shimmer,

taking form and shape.

Although sculpted you

seemed to emerge from

another dimension,

Plensa's dexterous portal.

Wherever you went,

you carried the answers.

Left an empty space,

that filled up with questions

before someone shoved another

sculpture in to fill your place.

Poor substitute it is,

for your unending grace.

Perhaps someday we will

see you again, floating in space.

     - end

Hamming it up

I decided to build a Ham Radio today,

A homemade set to transmit and receive;

Can hear overseas news without delay.

Momentous events carried on the relay,

Transmitted faster than I could conceive;

I decided to build a Ham Radio today.

Many other household projects defrayed,

intricate wiring and soldering achieved;

Now I can hear distant news without delay.

Remote greetings and frivolity also conveyed,

Cultural exchanges of new ideas to be believed;

It was a good time to build a Ham Radio Today.

Precise assembly instructions duly obeyed,

Successful operation left me greatly relieved.

Now I follow worldwide events without delay.

How many new folks I have met is hard to say,

dozens of QSL cards have already been retrieved.

I decided it was time to build a Ham Radio today,

Now I can track world events without delay.

- end

Change in the Weather

Supposed to be sunny, they say.

Warm and balmy 70 degrees;

When morning arrives, so do the clouds.

Raindrops and wind soon follow.

Once in a while is forgivable,

but several times a week – condemnable.

Spring and Fall are unsettled of course,

so why don't they admit defeat and say,

“Folks we are just not sure what it will do.”

Honesty one can appreciate,

especially when assessing the weather.

Talking heads on TV can speculate,

turning leaves and caterpillars still do better.

- end