 | "There's Justice In The Universe" |
| Posted 5/13/2009 8:47 PM CDT Occasionally we need to remind ourselves of the vastness of the universe in order to contemplate infinity. Observe --- 1st: http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap090508.html 2nd: http://www.atlasoftheuniverse.com/superc/perpsc.html 3rd: http://www.atlasoftheuniverse.com/superc.html |
| Posted 5/11/2009 6:33 PM CDT In thinking about the Pope and Obama going to the Middle East to extend the hand of peace and good will to the Muslim world, I'm given 'cause to pause'. It certainly has its merits, but the 'ebb and flow' of conflict in that part of the world is so long standing that it's biblical even --- which brings me to reviewing a point of origin of the schism between Islam and Judeo-Christianity / the Semitic story of Abraham and his first born son Ishmael (mother: Hagar) and his 'first-born' son Isaac (mother: Sarah) & the resulting conflict as to defining who the 'chosen' people are based on God's promise to Abraham (Genesis 12:1-3) www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isaac www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ishmael Essential Old Testament Stories: www.bible-people.info/ 1) Abraham www.bible-people.info/Abraham.htm 2) Isaac www.bible-people.info/Isaac.htm 3) Jacob www.bible-people.info/Jacob.htm 4) Joseph www.bible-people.info/Joseph.htm 5) Moses www.bible-people.info/Moses.htm In my opinion, naming Isaac's lineage as the chosen heir to Abraham's legacy has been justified by his role in bringing "monotheism" to the fore. Ishmael's descendants didn't come to monotheism until Mohammad 2000+ years later.... which is tied up with the history of Jerusalem... which brings us back to the Pope and Obama: www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerusalem Note: All of the above is made mote once you realize that being God's 'chosen' people means 'chosen' to keep more laws. "G-d offered the covenant to all the nations, but not all chose to accept it unconditionally. Finally the Jews agreed. They 'chose' G-d, so G-d 'chose' them in return... 'chosen' doesn't mean 'superior'. Judaism teaches that all humans are equal." |
| Posted 5/9/2009 5:59 PM CDT Every 62 million years, something bad happens to Earth's biodiversity. Paleontologists have built up large data sets of all the animals in the fossil record --- which show periodic drops in biodiversity that correspond to the sun's bobbing up and down through the Milky Way's galactic plane. When we rise above the plane of the disk, diversity plunges. Our galaxy's 'top side' points at the Virgo cluster (enormous nearby gathering of galaxies) that we're falling towards at 120 miles per second. This causes a powerful shock wave to form ahead of it, which creates energetic subatomic particles called 'cosmic rays'. [Such radiation helps drive mutations & drops in diversity (some extinctions) which clears the decks for evolutionary changes.] Note: The next cosmic ray episode is about 10 million years away. [Maybe enough time for our descendant species to evolve to the point of being able to depart these earthly shackles and/or develop an underground life style?] Discover Magazine; May 2009 http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2007/04/070420-extinctions.html Note: Another destructive cycle related to the 'bobbing up and down' of our sun through the galactic plane is one caused by the Oort Cloud's comets being disturbed every time our solar system does so. www.tinyurl.com/cnaous Note: I doubt that this effect has any beneficial effect on the 'asteroid belt' or the Kuiper Belt. http://www.ronyerby.com/ss/ssimages/kuiper2%20NASA.jpg |
| Posted 5/8/2009 2:23 PM CDT We've all heard of tax dodgers using tax havens to "shelter" their income from taxes. From around the world there are countless crooks, corporations and even some retirees who have hidden $12+ trillion of their assets in 40 different countries that have a "don't ask, don't tell" banking policies in order to lure foreign money into their lands. USA corporations such as American Express, AIG, Bank of America and Citigroup are major players in illegitimately preventing $100 billion worth of U.S. taxes from being paid annually. And this doesn't count the legal nonpayment of taxes on foreign earnings allowed under U.S. law. http://www.theweek.com/article/index/96016/Where_money_goes_to_hide |
| Posted 5/6/2009 4:05 PM CDT The Santorini volcanic mega-eruption (aka Minoan eruption) in the Aegean Sea was the largest eruption in recorded history / ten times bigger than Krakatoa (this smaller eruption changed Earth's climate for two years). The Santorini explosion changed the course of Western civilization -- besides vaporizing its island of Thera, it caused a huge tsunami and also lofted stupendously far reaching and large amounts of volcanic ash that destroyed Crete's Minoan civilization & lay waste to communities in the eastern Mediterranean (besides influencing global climate). The eruption gave rise to Greek myths (destruction of Atlantis) and caused turmoil in Egypt (relating to the plagues associated with the Exodus). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santorini http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minoan_eruption This story and others are well presented on the History Channel's series 'Mega Disasters'. Many other video clips are available at: http://www.history.com/video.do?action=home |
| Posted 5/5/2009 12:07 PM CDT Even though I don't suffer from being overweight, I know many who are fighting the "battle of the bulge". The following tips come from Military.com: 10 Rules Of Weight Loss 1. To lose 10 pounds of body fat a year, you need to eat 100 calories less per day. Cutting too many calories from your daily intake will sap your energy level and increase your hunger, making you more susceptible to splurging on high-calorie foods. 2. Don't skip breakfast. Eat within two hours of waking. 3. In fact, eat more breakfast than you think you should. Trade in some of your dinner calories for more calories at breakfast. 4. Don't allow yourself to get hungry. Eat at least every four hours, and split a meal in half to make sure you properly fuel up pre- and postrun. For example, eat part of your breakfast before your morning run (a banana) and the rest of your breakfast afterward (a bagel with peanut butter). 5. Eat at least three kinds of food each meal from these four categories: breads, cereals, and grains; fruits and vegetables; low-fat dairy and soy; and lean meats, fish, and nuts. Breads, cereals, and grains should be the foundation of each meal, with protein as an accompaniment. For #6 - 10, read: www.tinyurl.com/cjsgnb Obesity Problems: www.tinyurl.com/c6uymw |
| Posted 5/2/2009 2:49 PM CDT ...you’re casting a vote for the kind of world you want.” Exxon, with $442.8 billion in 2008 revenue, bumped Wal-Mart into 2nd place in the Fortune 500 list of public companies. Meanwhile, Bank of America reported a $2.81 billion profit in the first quarter of 2009 (that’s more than twice a year ago). These 3 companies manifest part of what’s wrong with the American psyche. Though not in the same class as Monsanto, we need to remember that we’re looking at our own reflections when we look at them. Oldie: www.tinyurl.com/clvbqz |
| Posted 5/1/2009 3:22 PM CDT The recent shifts in Antarctic glaciers has released a new microbe that had been imprisoned in a pool of extremely briny water 1200 feet below the Taylor Glacier. Originally trapped millions of years ago, these near-alien bacteria have evolved into something that may help better understand microbes that thrive without light and no normal source of food. They were found in a trickle of blood-red water that is newly escaping the glacier. They are found to get energy from chemical reactions between sulfur and iron compounds. This might help explain how life could arise on other planets, such as Mars. The Week; Issue May 1, 2009 http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/80beats/tag/glaciers/ |
| Posted 4/29/2009 6:03 PM CDT Despite the fact that the achievement test scores for both minority and white students have increased lately, the overall scores (averaged across all groups) remain unchanged --- which is because of the dramatic increase of minority class students (who do score below whites). [Note: When one takes into account the shift in demographics, all is as one would expect. However, ‘social welfare’ mentalists want to use this as an excuse to “require” high-quality teachers to be shifted more into poor neighborhoods. Not a good idea. Incentives are already being offered to facilitate this. Requiring high-quality teachers to be shifted will simply result in fewer such teachers. The Republicans are already doing their bit to discourage quality people from coming into the teaching field by insisting on keeping the GPO / WEP provisions… which is a topic I’d blogged on extensively in the past.] |
Posted 4/26/2009 6:42 PM CDT
"Despite his energy investment funds losing $1 billion during this past year’s market collapse and his personal loss of about $270 million, famed oilman T. Boone Pickens still looks to turn his attention from “black gold” to “blue gold.” The billionaire tycoon recently supplemented his property holdings in Roberts County, Texas with 200,000 acres of land atop the Ogallala Aquifer. Under Texas law, this purchase entitles Mesa Water, Pickens’ new company, to take more than 320,000 acre-feet of water, equivalent to more than 104 million gallons, from the property. Pickens plans to pump the water from his land in the state’s north- eastern panhandle and pipe it to Lubbock, El Paso, San Antonio or the Dallas-Fort Worth area...."
www.tinyurl.com/cftyb9
www.tinyurl.com/cftyb9
