Close Proximity

They discovered a new planet the other day, or was it last year?

Close by, only 4.2 light years a stone's throw in galactic terms.

Find myself wondering, do they have Saturday morning lines at

the grocery stores? Do they have grocery stores? Do they have mouths?

I doubt they would be concerned with our petty concerns and squabbles.

The top draft pick for the Yankees wouldn't register on their “radar.”

Middle east wars would not concern them;

The Kardashians wouldn't make them bat a purple eyelash.

Transgender correctness probably wouldn't faze a race with

who knows, eighteen genders? Hard to tell from this distance.

No, the Proximans at Proxima B would have only one thing on their minds.

How to survive an annual season of only eleven days!

Doesn't give much chance to plant crops or prepare for Christmas.

Since they are probably microbes anyway, these things shouldn't matter.

Maybe someday we'll send a spacecraft over the find out.

Have a good day, Earthlings, and try and stay dry in this miserable April weather.

-end

If It Were up to Me

I would delegate any responses to the use of chemicals by Syria on its people to the United Nations.

Or in case a response is blocked, then allow France and the UK to flex their muscles. Sick and tired of American soldiers being expended, used up, killed for every brush-fire skirmish in the world. Enough of being the World Police. If Russia is so eager to be the beat cop of the world, let them pay the price, in lives lost and lives ruined, and enormous financial burdens. “You want it? Here you go, Putin – you take over everything.” Then we can sit back and throw rocks while they bleed out treasure and lives year after year. The US has done enough for an unappreciative world. Let Russia and China bleed out for a time, and we can take a rest. Take a different tack, for once.

But no, arrogant, blind leaders will unleash more destruction, and kill more people. And it will solve nothing. A complete waste of time, human life, and treasure. Good luck.

Don't Shoot the Messenger

Absence of Belief = Presence of Mind

      The absence of belief in the supernatural, without any kind of definitive proof, indicates the full presence of intelligent mind. No invisible devils whispering in your ear, or making you sick. No invisible cherubim or seraphim. No robed man in the sky, no barefoot bearded man living in your heart. The real universe is so much more vast, nearly infinite in scale, distances so vast it is difficult to comprehend with our human brains. And it is all a product of natural selection. We do not know what started it all, the big bang, but a bearded man in flowing robes most likely was not responsible.

Humanity is not the center of the universe. The Earth is not the center of the universe. Not by any stretch of the imagination. 

       Present proven reality is much more vast than any medieval priests or Roman writers could have dreamed up. Logical, reasonable methods of investigation and reporting have shown the distances between our sun and planets, our solar system and the center of our galaxy, and even approximations of the size of the known universe.

       Man brought God into being in our image, not the other way around. As our understanding grows, so does the distance between some imagined god and ourselves. In olden times, the sky was the fabric of heaven, and God was just overhead. As the years and discoveries progressed, the concept of Gods did too. From early spirits living in trees and rocks, to the concept of One god, to the Trinity. Perhaps the godlike properties of natural phenomena can be looked upon with wonder bordering on worship. Even if this is so, it is with an understanding that there is no supernatural being behind it all.

Hey, don't shoot the messenger.

Dive Right In!

The computing ocean is deep and wide,

many locations for an explorer to scout.

From the shoreline, shallow material abounds.

Windows OS commands, Webpage clicks, Social Media hangouts.

Further out, the water gets deeper.

System settings, device managers, device drivers.

As the continental shelf drops off, we go deeper still.

Coding languages, system programming, Unix and

Linux shell programming, penetration testing, debugging.

Eventually you make it down to the deepest trench,

if you are still conscious at this point...

Assembler and machine language coding.

EEPROM burning, hardware modifications.

Various oceanic currents can take you around the world:

Seeking out bugs in hosted Webpage code,

writing Perl and Java scripts to embed in HTML;

Penetration testing against web servers.

E-commerce integration and aggregation.

Reverse IP lookups to trace messages,

encoding Trojans and viruses to unleash.

Just as there are several named oceans,

so there are many named areas of expertise in IT.

You can dive deep and get lost in any one, or all.

Just bring an extra tank of technical support,

better yet a buddy who knows more than you do.

Good luck plumbing the depths, and remember:

those deep waters are all just ones and zeroes.

Machine language, C, Unix, Linux, Ubuntu, Mint, Kali.

Punch Cards, Paper Tape, Magnetic tape, Cartridges, Diskettes, Thumb drives.

Machine Language, Assembler, C++, Cobol, Perl, Java, Python.

Relays, Vacuum Tubes, Transistors, Printed Circuits, VLSI, Submicron memory.

Control panels, Punchcards, Keyboards, VDTs, Mouse clicks, spoken input.

Chips embedded in human brains. Direct brain augmentation. Human-machine hybrids.

Biological processors – enhancing children, or retro-fitting supplementation/enhancement.

Can you teach an old boomer new tricks if you implant them in his brain?

You never know.

Data Enumeration in the 21st Century

The BIOS beeps through its routines,

faster than you can say “boo!”

Then the initial splash screen flashes.

Another session of the latest flavor of

Windows ™ is under way  - Ten!

All of the processes, services, schedulers,

threads and multithreads are flowing fast.

Soon, you see your login screen with a

lavish nature scene as a backdrop.

It will not be long now,

only a few more moments and then

you will be on the worldwide Internet.

Wondrous at one time, perhaps now a bit archaic.

A smartphone will get you there even faster.

But the possible foibles have just begun.

A protocol stack in memory is funneling

your packets to far-flung servers all over.

The responses flung back your way may

contain good data, or they might be viruses,

trojans, malware, any one of a thousand baddies.

Thus, everything coming back into your machine

gets channeled through a firewall, and antivirus software.

The mass data dance is underway, full speed ahead.

Those thousands of interacting code and data pieces all

must do their part just so. Most of the time, they do.

To someone working in a time of punch cards,

paper tape, magnetic tape reels, it would be

magical to do it all from the palm of your hand.

Even that single-line monochrome message box

that an IBM ™ technician held back in 1986 seems

pitifully quaint nowadays.

An antique, an anachronism.

Now that we are all interconnected,

bad actors from around the world can

savage our advanced civilization –

for they have little to lose compared to us.

Enjoy the magic, but beware.

and...

I hope we all get lucky tonight.

At the Nelson-Atkins Museum

The Assyrian Apiashal eyes something to the side,

while Ramses II, Egyptian counterpart, poses in a dress.

A venerable temple frieze several feet wide

displays some forgotten battle, won or lost.

Fragmented statuary from Greece and Rome,

household tools and jewelry decoration,

Crude to us but once decorating some fine home,

Last remnants of highly-accomplished civilizations.

The hieroglyphics and cuneiform have long

since been replaced, yet hint at past majesties;

the proud power projection of old kingdoms

has given way to crumbled, looted tragedies.

Our cracked smartphones, shattered TVs, remnants of laptops

might have future museum patrons scratching their brainboxes.

    - 

Monday No Relief

Run to the bathroom 1 2 3,

as if to music, A B C.

Fighting this cold and ejecting germs,

run to the bathroom, glad it's not worms.

Hurry to the restroom but it is piss,

not hard or runny stuff oh what bliss.

Second nap of the day is concluded,

a quick toilet stop must be included.

Perhaps another cup of coffee for me,

twenty minutes later, yup, gotta pee.

Being sick on a late winter day

is certainly not all happy and gay.

Even though I find myself getting well,

these runs to the bathroom seem like hell.

Surely there is a light at the end of this tunnel,

and not thinking about a spacecraft piss funnel.

Okay, maybe I am, for the family car.

Can there be a restroom not too far?

Surely this grim Monday will soon pass,

these restroom visits are a pain in the ass!

  - end

School shootings etc

What has happened to us?

High school used to be such

an innocent adventure.

Dramas were not deadly,

just embarrassing.

Acne, being turned down for a date,

school dance gyrations,

Fun parties after school or on weekends.

Never saw any kind of gun at my school.

Now it seems they should issue Freshmen

Kevlar vests along with school lockers.

Perhaps issue a pistol to each student,

so they will have some means of defense?

Not so far-fetched anymore,

when mass carnage takes place often.

Will Level 1 trauma centers replace the

school infirmary?

We exist in a state of hyper-vigilance.

The new normal

is amped-up and always looking over our shoulders.

Something has got to change.

Mental Health for troubled teenagers is number one.

More and better mental health can impact these events.

Early warning of threatening posts can help too.

Stay safe out there.

- end 

The Mall - Memories

The heady taste of whipped orange,

air-scented with cinnamon rolls.

Sparkling electronics with sale signs eyed,

a salesperson scoots over to offer assistance.

Walking along, eying storefronts,

dodging other shoppers. A mall experience

was a Saturday delight, made all the better by

the Montgomery Wards charge card in wallet.

The possibilities seemed endless.

Who cared about the snarky, sarcastic girls

in packs roaming near the batches of boys,

who were trying to look tough and nonchalant?

The only thing that mattered was that

brand-new vacuum, complete with

extra bags and a maintenance agreement.

That and the miniature television on layaway.

The things that kept a young man enthralled

back in 1978 would hardly elicit a sneer now.

But it was all we had, all we knew. When

Personal Computers showed up, it was an

earthquake of modernity.

blanketed again

Here we are blanketed again,

set inside, next to you, my friend.

Temps are going down to single digits,

A warm house, hot food a good blend..

Let's see what is on the cable channels,

cheer our favorite teams on to victory,

 or at least console each other in defeat.

There will always be another outcome

tomorrow, and the day after, and next season....

Winter seems to drag on forever,

but is made tolerable by a lover,

sharing the pleasurable and the dire.

We will make it through this February,

just like all the miserable ones before.

Only six more weeks until spring!

- end

The Elan of Elon

Twenty-seven motors fired in unison,

a mighty triple stack lifted to space.

Myriad systems orchestrated perfectly,

three booster rockets fired, then landed.

On top of it all sat a Tesla Roadster,

an electric car complete with a dummy.

“Starman” sat in the driver's seat,

while a certain David Bowie song played.

The Roadster is headed to a heliocentric

orbit around the sun, whizzing past Mars.

It will end up in the Asteroid Belt –

a human hubris artifact for the ages.

A monumental feat for the consummate

twenty-first century industrialist baron.

He sent one of his products into outer space.,

atop another of his products.

Who else can come close to such a feat?

Will they erect a statue of him on the first

established city on Mars? Sorry, Ray B.

First metropolis may be named Musk City.

Someday bored students may ponder

mystifying math problems in some

classroom at Elon Musk High School,

perhaps erected in Valles Marinaris.

They may wish they were famous like him,

and so could get out of doing homework;

Overlooking the fact that because he did his,

his name is on many institutions of higher learning.

My thanks go out to this uber-industrialist,

who has given our journey to the future a

vigorous kick in the backside.

We may yet be able to live and work

permanently in outer space.

A six-inch shocker

The weather was clear this morning,

roads smooth and debris-free all the way.

But roads were snow-packed this evening,

stuck cars and semis littered area highways.

Massive pileups showed how little we recall

from larger snows of several years ago;

Angry traffic maneuvers left others appalled,

Some people just will not take it slow!

Just making it home from work is a relief

when there are accidents and traffic jams

all over the city – downtown snarls beyond belief.

Loudest impact I heard was my car door slam.

We will recover and get the roads cleared off,

then next time we get 3” everyone will scoff.

An Alien Sestina

A sestina is a poetry form that uses six common words at the end of sentences, and moves them around in a shifting pattern.    The subject matter was inspired by the film  "Patient Seventeen."


A Non-Cosmetic Implant

The tingling pain in a certain man's leg felt alien,

different, the cause not normal, extraterrestrial?

At “first glance” one wouldn't think of an unearthly implant.

But it would be a stealthy way for Them to gain control.

Some advanced super-race managing their human harvest,

in a bid to perhaps perform future exobiology experiments.

Who can say what kind of bizarre science experiments

the creatures might perform – hard to fathom an alien.

Is it thoughts, feelings, hormones they want to harvest?

How do you predict the actions of some distant extraterrestrial?

Some seek out a surgeon to remove the offending implant.

One could always use a high-powered telescope on the implant,

An electron microscope and some carefully devised experiments.

The objects show an attachment to living tissues for control;

the objective and operation of said devices is completely alien.

Seems like humans may be connected by something extraterrestrial.

Perhaps to manipulate the organs that they will ultimately harvest.

Willing subjects influenced remotely will submit to harvest,

Nanotechnology tissue-interface exerts influence from implant.

We could study this technology, and learn from those extraterrestrials,

since we too understand science and could devise useful experiments.

Someday we may have to deploy forces to face the mighty aliens.

How dare they subject our once-free race to this form of control!

It is time for the human race to reassert our local control

over our own destiny – deny these interlopers their harvest.

Imagine what kind of taxes would be imposed by aliens!

How would they like it if we assaulted their bodies with an implant?

How would they like it if we drugged them and did experiments?

But I don't suppose human logic would make sense to an extraterrestrial.

Media documentaries reminds one of many things extraterrestrial,

lodges uncertainty in one's head, makes one fear other-worldy control.

Why who knows, during your sleep They could perform experiments!

Your gonads could have been pierced for a seedy harvest!

And you would forget it all, aided by their implant....

Humanity must awaken and unite against these malicious aliens.

No bold extraterrestrial had better attempt any kind of harvest.

No way they are gonna control me with an implant.

This corpus will use a 9MM to refuse experiments by aliens!

- end

Chill February - Darn Groundhog anyway

Brrr – just when we get used to balmy breezes,

wear thick over-shirts, and no heavy coats,

Chill temps rush back, bring coughs and wheezes,

Old man winter hovers over us and gloats.

Snow once again glitters over the landscape,

Drivers will have to remember how to maneuver.

Chilly air and poor conditions will grate;

Welcome to February, close those window louvers.

Even Wall Street caught a chill and dropped deep,

as an overdue dose of reality finally sets in;

Consequences of economic manipulations are steep,

experts will witness the coming disaster with chagrin!

Only seven more weeks until the arrival of spring,

We have made it before – just think of sunshiny things.

- end

Political Humor for a Friday

Just joking....kind of.  Read on.

The dot-coms flocked to our willing State,

offering plenty of land, water and electricity.

Smart workers in abundance, paid the going rate.

They set up several data farms quite easily.

State officials gladly gave you tax breaks,

Did you need new roads with that free land?

Just promise us to hire twenty or thirty techies,

We will all be eating crumbs out of your hands.

But wait, now we are broke, bankrupt, out of money.

There is no more to give, our piggy banks are empty.

No more corporate presents this year or next, honey.

It is our turn to request some financing and empathy.

Please Mr. Dot-Coms, the State of Iowa needs your help!

We are broke and in need, our budget is collapsing.

We are destitute enough to make elected officials yelp;

Please transfer all you can before our reserve is maxed.

Any help you give we will deeply appreciate,

State buildings renamed for your companies sake.

Our rewards are difficult to approximate,

but rest assured your fine reputation bespake.

And the sooner the better! TIA, Iowa

- end

thirty minus one

Twenty-nine Short Stories - Science Fiction and misc

https://www.amazon.com/Twenty-Nine-Stories-Mike-Wilson-ebook/dp/B0714D14JD

Thanks for taking a look.

Simple Pleasures

Why fold arms all dignified and mature,

when you can cuddle a calico cat?

What's with the sense of pretension,

when a walk in the woods will do?

Stuffed animals on the couch make

better companions than some difficult person,

A good book or engrossing movie can

pass an evening easier and cheaper than

any loud, obnoxious nightclub.

Sometimes the simple pleasures

reward miniscule effort the most.

A pleasant payoff,

the price is low,

safety and chance of recurrence

are both very high.

“Simple-minded, childish, irresponsible,

socially inept,”

on and on the labels will go.

Fuck em all.

No matter what “They” say,

enjoy a simple pleasure today.

To pass the time there are worse ways,

and you will live to fight another day.

- end

Local History Fun

    There is a small building, a petite brick one-story with some decorative masonry on the exterior. Located at E. 5^th south of Court avenue in Des Moines. For many years, it and a small addition were utilized as small warehouse space, storing who-knows-what. But every so often, someone would remark on its decorative exterior and ask, what did this used to be? The answer surfaced for me a couple years ago on Facebook. It was a Wabash railroad passenger boarding station. Several railroads went through Des Moines, notably the Rock Island and the Union Pacific. So it appears to me the Wabash had to locate its terminal in an area away from the other traffic, in some accessible spot. The terminal was only active a few years, then it was shuttered, sold off, and used for storage.

Many buildings around my city, or any city for that matter, have a historical past. Some more dull and pedestrian than others. But they all have a story to tell. A story of how thing were when they were constructed. A story of the hopes and dreams of the populace in that city in those days. For example, there is one Iowa town named Grand Junction. It was so named since it was located at the junction of two railroads, and was hoped this would lead to booming growth and prosperity. An opera house went up, and several other buildings. Nowadays, only freight railroads go through Grand Junction, and most of the population has moved away. That story has repeated itself over and over in small towns all over the Midwest. But still, the history of the past can tell a fascinating tale, and a cautionary lesson as well.

     With a younger generation able to find what they want, when they want, at their fingertips, history becomes ever more accessible. Now, oftentimes one can see a place like it was 20, 50, 100 years ago. That seems to be useful. “Look how it was, look how it is. What are the advantages and disadvantages? What can we do to make it even better tomorrow?”

Cities are beginning to put up a lot of residences downtown again, and enhance mass transit systems. (Just like they did a century ago) Perhaps for greater efficiencies. Especially given increasing populations in larger cities. Learning the history of a locale can be entertaining, fascinating, and instructive. Who knows, there may be a few older buildings in your community that have not yet been demolished. Happy researching out there.

Dallas Buyers Club

What the F.....?
What a movie!

Not even a homophobic thug

could counteract a tiny virus.

He had to quit hating and join

the masses fighting the disease.

1980-2018

Angry straights and frightened gays

had to join forces to combat the scourge.

Sometimes blocked and frustrated by a

slow testing process, they made an end-run

around the medical establishment.

They saved many lives and moved the

needle of progress forward, case by bloody case.

What other war saw so many lives sacrificed

on a field of battle in hospitals and clinics

all on our home soil?

Even a quilt took to the field,

helped sway reluctant lawmakers to act.

Like with many other wars,

the current generation can only

imagine the devastation, the courage,

the sacrifice and victories along the way.

Now they can take a prep pill, and play.

Or take a daily pill if they, too, get infected.

Hopefully the next enemy fought is not so

stealthy it sneaks up and strikes down the

best of several generations, like HIV did.

Hopefully.

Get tested.

Politics vs Financial status musing

    Forget Republican vs Democrat, or old vs young. The hidden dichotomy permeating our society, like the invisible 800-pound gorilla, is the have's versus the have-nots. You can couch it in nice language all you want. “He is going through a difficult patch. She is in career transition. He is exploring employment alternatives.” Meanwhile the broke folks suffer resource depletion, or stress on their financial corpus, or bankruptcy, even homelessness.

     A low-income person has very limited options. They can't contribute to political campaigns – not very much, maybe a few bucks. They must always lowball things, shop for the cheapest groceries, clothes, necessities. Especially if they have children. The effect of limited income is not unlike a prison sentence, in that all of your choices are very limited.

     High-income folks, or even trust fund babies, have much more freedom. They can get better medical and dental care, better clothes, more healthy foods. They live in safer, calmer neighborhoods, and drive safer, better vehicles. They have many more choices and options in life. And most cannot understand what the problem is with the others. Why can't they just get a better job, go to school, etc?. What is wrong with them? The answer is that they are not suited, not able, not gifted. They are what they are.

     This is the dichotomy in society that not many mention, but that affects us all. A wealthy Democrat living in the best neighborhood has little in common with his poorer party members.

     A wealthy Republican has nothing in common with someone living on social security, who may even suffer as a result of their comrades votes in Congress, except a common political philosophy. There is partisan politics, and then there is the financial underpinning governing our actions, that many seem to tolerate or ignore. To be fair, there are many compassionate people in both parties who help their less-fortunate fellows, and these certainly deserve recognition. (A lot of people have helped me over the years). Thanks to this compassion, our society is significantly less rough than it could be.

Granted, many people want their shot at the “brass ring” or the big money score. Maybe they might win the lottery, maybe they will inherit, maybe their business will take off. In any case, many folks are reluctant to speak out against social inequities.

     I wish I knew of a solution to this division of the have's versus have-nots. But it seems like capitalism has inequality built-in. That is one of the main motivators for some who want to get ahead, to be one of the “have's.” All one can do is endure, unless we are sufficiently capable in some way or other to change our lot. I doubt that too many want to become poor, seriously poor. But there are a lot of poor that would like to better their situation one way or another. So casinos and lotteries keep doing a booming business.

     It just seems strange that, behind the veneer of political party affiliation lies financial “affiliation” and that seems to count for a whole lot more – always more than meets the eye.

As I write this the Powerball jackpot is projected to exceed a half-billion dollars. May be time to stop writing and go buy a ticket. Good luck out there.

(Addendum: Some 20-year-old in Florida won it. Lucky guy.)