Age of Aquarius

What is the Age of Aquarius, and when does it begin? The Age of Aquarius isn’t part of astronomy. It’s an astrological age, which occurs because of a real motion of Earth known as precession. Precession is what causes the identity of the Pole Star to change over time. The cycle of precession lasts 25,800 years, and there are 12 constellations of the zodiac. So, roughly every 2,150 years, the sun’s location in front of the background stars – at the time of the March, or vernal, equinox – moves in front of a new zodiacal constellation. The Age of Aquarius begins at the point when the sun is no longer in front of the constellation Pisces at the time of the March equinox. At that point – sometimes called the March equinox point, or vernal equinox point – the equinox sun will be in front of the constellation Aquarius.

It seems as if there should be a clear cut answer to these questions.

• When will the sun be in front of Aquarius at the time of the March equinox?
• When will the Age of Aquarius begin?

There are no clearcut answers.

The International Astronomical Union (IAU) – which in the 20th century assumed the duty of officially naming and defining all things astronomical – created official constellation boundaries in 1930. From the perspective of astronomy, then, the beginning of the Age of Aquarius is based upon IAU constellation boundaries, which astrologers or New Age practitioners might or might not choose to use in their computations.

According to the Belgian astronomer and mathematical wizard Jean Meeus, who does adhere to the IAU’s definitions, the sun at the March equinox passed from being in front of the constellation Aries to being in front of the constellation Pisces in 68 B.C. Looking ahead, again according to Jean Meeus, the March equinox will cross over into the constellation Aquarius in 2597. Once again, these are the astronomical dates, based on IAU constellation boundaries established in 1930.

The constellations as defined by the IAU are different sizes. Astrologers often like to divide the zodiac into twelve equal sections. For example, the constellation Pisces – as defined by the IAU – spans more than 30 degrees along the ecliptic, or sun’s annual path in front of constellations of the zodiac. Astrologers, though, might disregard the span of the constellation Pisces on the sky’s dome, and instead regard an astrological age as a precise 30 degree shift of the March equinox in front of the backdrop stars.  SOURCE:  EarthSky.org

Setting the Tone/Mood

Many people watch TV shows, Cable Series, and Movies with the simple understanding that they are sitting in the seat watching what is taking place for shear pleasure and/or enjoyment.  They observe the characteristic with neutrality and don't try to understand the plot or the subplots or even analyze them to see if they make sense.  They don't question motives or say anything critical about the acting or the lack thereof.

I, on the other hand, do look at stuff like that and do not really look at the time spent as wasted or not wasted but as time that was simply spent doing something.  As I sit there and watch, I do look at the quality of the acting, the quality of the sets, the storyline and if it makes sense or is logical, especially if the theme of the movie is dealing with a science fiction theme.

One issue that has always bothered me is that everyone is always drinking alcohol, either beer or whiskey and sometimes Vodka.  Everyone always drinks after work...  and, if there is a meal involved as part of the Director's methodology, everyone always drinks wine with their meal...

When I was working...  I never drank wine with my meal except for a special occasion like over the Holidays.  I never had a drink or a beer or two after work...  and, when I talk with other people, they basically say the same thing...  so, what do movie directors think that it is important to have everyone drink alcohol?

Is Hollywood trying to create a society of potential alcoholics?

COVID Vaccine

By the end of this week, I will have received my second COVID Vaccine shot using the Moderna Vaccine...  the shot is in the muscle and my first shot had no side effects except for a sore arm for a few days.  My shots are being delivered by our local health department while my wife receives her first shot from a local pharmacy.  I signed up in January and was called at the end of February and my wife called yesterday (Monday) and will be receiving her shot two days (Wednesday) later...  so, I am not sure who had the best approach although her request was processed quicker.

Last night, we discussed what we would be doing this summer now that we both will have been vaccinated and decided that by April, we should start making plans to visit the beach for a few days and while we will still wear our masks and socially distance, we will both feel more comfortable being out in public.

Last year in the Spring we went to Myrtle Beach and were both very concerned and very careful with our activities in that, we would not share an elevator.  When we first got to our room, we put on masks and gloves and cleaned the room even after it had already been cleaned.  We put the remote for the TV in a plastic bag and washed our hands often.  Were we lucky???

This spring/summer, we are going to the Gulf Coast of Florida at least once maybe twice and we are now planning to go the Myrtle Beach at least twice...  However, we have no plans to fly anywhere nor do we have plans to go on a cruise anytime soon if ever again.  No matter where we go we will plan to wear face masks and continue to socially distance.

Home

My wife and I have owned our current home for over twenty years and have eliminated our debt and mortgage payment for over 15 years.  We saved and did without so that we could become debt free and have more financial flexibility should the economy go "south".   

So, what does "home" mean to me?

Home means what I own...  this includes "renting" if it is considered to be a somewhat permanent residence as sometimes renting is a more preferable financial arrangement than owning since with owning one is responsible for repairs and preventive maintenance.

Home is my personal permanent residence where I live...  it gives me security and shelter and a since of serenity when it comes to getting away from the public.  I say public because the public is basically a group of people whose only agenda concerns themselves and they appear not to give a damn about other people.

It bothers me that people are like that now because this behavior is what I typically have associated with NEW YORKERS....  and, I say New Yorkers because this is exactly what I experienced every single time I visited New York and I have visited New York a couple of dozen times.

This behavior was not seen or experienced in the SOUTH...  but now, it appears that this behavior is EVERYWHERE in the USA.

My home keeps me away from the public.

My home is where I sleep

My home allows me to dress anyway I want

My home allows me to eat when I want

My home lets me be myself without annoying others

TAXES

The requirement to pay taxes to the Federal Government will never work like it was intended until our Federal Government does two issues....

First --  remove all the tax loopholes that allow individuals to shelter their money

Second  --  eliminate the ability for wealthy people to hide their money in offshore bank accounts in the Caymans

Right now we have a PROGRESSIVE TAX STRUCTURE that increases with one's taxable income, and many people favor a FLAT TAX that incorporates no deductions.

TAXES in America are not FAIR and EQUIABLE because we allow deductions and exemptions and oftentimes, the wealthy actually pay less taxes that do the not so wealthy.

WHY"

Because the wealthy can influence the politicians with their contributions to their re-election campaign.  Politicians care more about their re-election than they do about doing WHAT'S RIGHT for the American People.

Gadgets for 2021

Throw out your road flares, these discs are amazing!

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21 Hottest Gadgets of 2021...   READ MORE

Quantum Entanglement

Frank Wilczek of Quanta Magazine writes:

Quantum entanglement is thought to be one of the trickiest concepts in science, but the core issues are simple. And once understood, entanglement opens up a richer understanding of concepts such as the “many worlds” of quantum theory.

An aura of glamorous mystery attaches to the concept of quantum entanglement, and also to the (somehow) related claim that quantum theory requires “many worlds.” Yet in the end those are, or should be, scientific ideas, with down-to-earth meanings and concrete implications. Here I’d like to explain the concepts of entanglement and many worlds as simply and clearly as I know how.

Entanglement is often regarded as a uniquely quantum-mechanical phenomenon, but it is not. In fact, it is enlightening, though somewhat unconventional, to consider a simple non-quantum (or “classical”) version of entanglement first. This enables us to pry the subtlety of entanglement itself apart from the general oddity of quantum theory.

Entanglement arises in situations where we have partial knowledge of the state of two systems. For example, our systems can be two objects that we’ll call c-ons. The “c” is meant to suggest “classical,” but if you’d prefer to have something specific and pleasant in mind, you can think of our c-ons as cakes.

Our c-ons come in two shapes, square or circular, which we identify as their possible states. Then the four possible joint states, for two c-ons, are (square, square), (square, circle), (circle, square), (circle, circle). The following tables show two examples of what the probabilities could be for finding the system in each of those four states.  TO READ ENTIRE ARTICLE, Click Here...

For The Gender Confused

 

COVID Relief and Inflation

Opponents of the package, which included all Republican members of Congress, accused the bill of being a Trojan Horse used by Democrats to usher in partisan priorities under the guise of pandemic relief.

But Republican lawmakers haven't been the only ones to raise concerns. The sheer magnitude of the fund has prompted lively discussions within economic and political circles about whether it is too large for its own good, and whether inflation is now in the cards.

"I agree that too much is better than too little and we should aim for some overheating. The question is how much," economist and former chief economist for the International Monetary Fund Olivier Blanchard wrote on Twitter in February, responding to the proposed bill. "Much too much is both possible and harmful. I think this package is too much."

"This would not be overheating; it would be starting a fire," he wrote.

Over the last decade, the rate of inflation in the US has only occasionally gone above the Federal Reserve's target of 2%. For anyone born after 1960, it might be difficult to imagine what a US ravaged by exploding consumer prices might look like. But in the 1970s, overly loose monetary policy, the introduction of wage and price controls, and a series of energy crises pushed the inflation rate into the double digits and plunged the US into a painful recession.

"There's a real possibility that within the year, we're going to be dealing with the most serious incipient inflation problem that we have faced in the last 40 years," former US Treasury Secretary Larry Summers told Bloomberg News in February.  READ MORE

Unbridled inflation is bad enough on its own terms. But it's also self-perpetuating. The faster people try to spend their depreciating money, the quicker it will lose value. If this were to happen in the US, the Fed would have to step in and consciously inflict pain on the economy. This would take the form of higher interest rates meant to increase unemployment, forcing a stop to the spending frenzy on the most unpleasant terms.

Tep Zepi: Egyptian Creation

Ancient Egyptian creation myths are the ancient Egyptian accounts of the creation of the world. The Pyramid Texts, tomb wall decorations and writings, dating back to the Old Kingdom (2780–2250 BC) have given us most of the information regarding early Egyptian creation myths.  These myths also form the earliest religious compilations in the world.  The ancient Egyptians had many creator gods and associated legends. Thus, the world or more specifically Egypt was created in diverse ways according to different parts of the country.  Some versions of the myth indicate spitting, others masturbation, as the act of creation. The union between the first divine couple brought forth another brother-sister pair, Geb and Nut, who in turn created Osiris, Isis, Seth and Nephthys. An extension to this basic framework was the Osiris myth involving god, his consort Isis, and their son Horus. The murder of Osiris by Seth, and the resulting struggle for power, won by Horus, provided a powerful narrative linking the ancient Egyptian ideology of kingship with the creation of the cosmos.

In all of these myths, the world was said to have emerged from an infinite, lifeless sea when the sun rose for the first time, in a distant period known as zp tpj (sometimes transcribed as Zep Tepi), "the first occasion".  Different myths attributed the creation to different gods: the set of eight primordial deities called the Ogdoad, the self-engendered god Atum and his offspring, the contemplative deity Ptah, and the mysterious, transcendent god Amun. While these differing cosmogonies competed to some extent, in other ways they were complementary, as different aspects of the Egyptian understanding of creation.  SOURCE:  Wikipedia

According to modern historians, the earliest dynasty of Egypt began with the reigns of the proto-dynastic pharaoh Narmer or perhaps his predecessor King Scorpion who united the two lands of Upper and Lower Egypt around 3,100 BCE. The ancient Egyptians, however, saw their origins in the mythic Tep Zepi—the “first time”—believed to be the golden age when the gods lived upon the earth. Was the Tep Zepi a distant memory of their prehistoric ancestry?

Alternative historian Robert Bauval in his book Black Genesis: The Prehistoric Origins of Ancient Egypt argues that Egypt grew out of a sophisticated African civilization that existed for millennia prior to the civilization of the pharaohs. This theory is not new—it was first proposed by 19th century European explorers as well as the eminent Egyptologist Sir Wallis-Budge in 1911 who wrote that the religion of ancient Egypt was derived from the indigenous peoples of Northeastern and Central Africa.

Budge found numerous similarities between ancient Egyptian and modern African religion and magic: ancestor worship, veneration of animals and cattle, funerary customs, pantheons of gods, use of fetishes, etc. He reasoned that since many of the African tribes he surveyed had probably never had contacts with the Egyptians, cultural influences must have originated with them and spread north up the Nile. Budge’s colleagues dismissed his theory as impossible, instead espousing the theory that invading Caucasoids conquered Egypt and founded the first dynasties.  SOURCE:  TreeofVisions

The three main human races are:  Caucasian (Causasoids), Mongoloids (Chinese, Japanese, Korean and Native American), and Negroid.  Minor human races are:  Capoids and Pacific races (Aborigines, Polynesians, Melanesians, and Indonesians).

Komic Korner Kartoons

 

Double Standards

My first exposure to this concept of double standards came when I was a young boy living in my parent's home and was often told:  DO AS I SAY NOT AS I DO...  now, don't get me wrong, I love my parents and was very upset when they both passed away, but the fact remains they set the stage for me resenting those people who display or have behavior that represents a set of double standards.

A recent and flagrant example of this can be seen by looking back at the Kavanaugh hearings in the Senate and how many female legislatures, Kamala Harris in particular, were extremely vocal with their comments making the claim that they believed the females accusing Kavanaugh of sexual harassment instead of Kavanaugh who denied it...  Their claims revolved around the notion that because these women came forward they must be believed.

Now, Kamala Harris is SILENT when it comes to Governor Cuomo even though7 women have come forward and make accusations.

This is a BIG REASON why I am no longer a Democratic even though I have still retained all of my liberal attitudes and beliefs.

President Biden HATES TRUMP so much that neither he nor his administration is giving any credit to Trump for his WARP SPEED COVID VACCINE program...  in fact, they are saying that there were no vaccines when Biden started his Presidency even though he was vaccinated with the COVID vaccine before he took office.

WHY these DOUBLES STANDARDS?

China's New Future

According to Arjun Kharpal at CNBC...

GUANGZHOU, China — China is looking to boost research into what it calls “frontier technology” including quantum computing and semiconductors, as it competes with the U.S. for supremacy in the latest innovations.

In its five-year development plan, the 14th of its kind, Beijing said it would make “science and technology self-reliance and self-improvement a strategic pillar for national development,” according to a CNBC translation.

Premier Li Keqiang said on Friday that China would increase research and development spending by more than 7% per year between 2021 and 2025, in pursuit of “major breakthroughs” in technology.

China’s technology champions such as Huawei and SMIC have been targeted by U.S. sanctions as tensions between Beijing and Washington have ramped up in the past few years.

As such, China has concentrated on boosting its domestic expertise in areas it sees as strategically important, such as semiconductors. And now it has laid out seven “frontier technologies” that it will prioritize not just for the next five years, but beyond too.

These areas are:

1. Artificial Intelligence
2. Quantum Information
3. Integrated Circuits
4. Brain Science
5. Genomics and Biotechnology
6. Clinical Medicine and Health
7. Deep Space, Deep Earth, Deep Sea, & Polar Research

Living Overseas

I saw an article on Google News where this person moved to a beach town in Thailand because he could live there on $2,500/month.  And...  as I read through the article, I got the impression how lucky he was to have found a place like that in which to live...  and, a beach town at that...

INTERESTLY...  and, somewhat disappointing I fear to this individual is the FACT that I live in East TN for $2,500/month as well and while I am not living in a beach town, I am living 30 minutes away from a University Hospital...

Of course, I have to pay IRS taxes and I am sure this person does not...  however, I would think the efficacy of THAILAND is less than the efficacy of East TN...  but, I could be wrong.

After traveling throughout Europe and seeing how those people live and what they have available to them, I cannot imagine that I would ever want to live outside the USA no matter how CHEAPLY living there can be...

On My Back Porch

Music of the 1960's and 1970's plays in my ears as I contemplate what it is like to again be out on my back porch enjoying the warming weather while listening to the Cream and Hendrix softly whispering into my imagination and memories of what it was like to be a teenager again...  for me, it was not like what others endured because I was white and theoretically was being raised on white privilege...  curiously, my parent's house was smaller than the house my wife and I live in 60 years later.  

We had one bathroom with a shower for 5 of us to use and our outside yard could be mowed in about 30 minutes.  We lived in a community that was considered to be in the country...  4 miles south of Alexandria and 8 miles south of Washington, DC.  My father walked two blocks to catch the bus into Washington where he worked.  My mother did not work and we had 1 car that did not have a heater or an air conditioner because those features increased the base price.  We wore coats and sweaters in the car in the winter and rolled the windows down in the summer.

However, my parents lived better with children than they had lived in North Carolina as children with their parents...  BUT, according to the critics, both my parents and I were raised on white privilege.

WHERE PRIVILEGE ENTERED THE PICTURE was when I attended high school in Cairo, Egypt and attended classes with students of all colors from countries all over the world.  Our 1966 graduating class was 28 in number with 15 different nationalities; in fact, the VALEDICTORIAN of our senior class was a HUNGARIAN COMMUNIST who was flown to Russia after he graduated.  Whites, Blacks, Browns, Asians, Africans, Canadians, Europeans, Chinese, Japanese shared life together, never realizing we were different in color or different in our religious beliefs, or different in our political ideologies.

In the summers and since we could not work, groups of us 10-15 would travel through Europe for 30-60 days.  At that time, we could travel through Europe between $3-$5/day.  We oftentimes purchased a EURAIL PASS that gave us UNLIMITED mileage for 30 days for about $100.  So, the total cost of traveling throughout Europe was about $500.  And...  the education we received was invaluable and had nothing to do with white privilege...  as color was present all around us...   if your parents worked for the US EMBASSY, then you were privileged...  there were just as many blacks as there were whites...

After graduating from high school whatever privileged I had previous enjoyed VANISHED into the thin air of LIFE.  I worked while I attended college because I no longer wanted my parents to control me and require that certain grades be achieved.  I dropped out of college and ENLISTED into the US NAVY and there is no privilege associated with being an enlisted man in the military.

After two years, I was honorably discharged from the active duty military but had to continue 4 more years as a RESERVIST.  Using the GI BILL, I finished my undergraduate degree and also had enough money to complete an MBA.  There was no white privilege there either as I earned the right to have the government pay for my education, especially since we were engaged in the Vietnam War at the time.

Throughout my 45 year career, I was FIRED because I challenged the incompetence of management and refused to kiss the ass of management or violate my integrity.  My behavior was not an example of white privilege...  in fact, it was an example of having no privilege at all.

At the age of 60 I experienced a serious heart attack and my Cardiologist recommended a triple bypass...  My brother was on the Board of Directors of NY Presbyterian Hospital and opened the door for me to fly to NYC and have my arteries cleaned out and five stents inserted over a period of 3 operations.  THIS WAS CLEARLY AN EXAMPLE OF PRIVILEGE and to be quite honest I am glad that MY BROTHER had been in a position to have forced this to happen.  And...  13 years later, my heart is responding perfectly for a man of my age.    

On my back porch, I reflect and remember a not so glamorous past and I wonder if I would have changed anything if given a second change since this is what actually happened and since this is what actually happened why would I ever want to change it?

Similarly...  what's happening now is what is happening...  and, when it is done, why would we ever wish for it not to have happened?  Life happens because it is supposed to happen... and, there is a reason for it to happen whether or not we understand it at the time.  If we loose our freedoms, we were meant to loose our freedoms.

Find These Offensive?

 

First Space Hotel

(CNN) — If you're daydreaming of future travels while stuck at home during the pandemic, why fantasize about the beaches of Bali or the canals of Venice when vacationing in space could be in your future?

Back in 2019, Californian company the Gateway Foundation released plans for a cruise ship-style hotel that could one day float above the Earth's atmosphere.  Then called the Von Braun Station, this futuristic concept -- comprised of 24 modules connected by elevator shafts that make up a rotating wheel orbiting the Earth -- was scheduled to be fully operational by 2027.

Fast forward a couple years and the hotel has a new name -- Voyager Station -- and it's set to be built by Orbital Assembly Corporation, a new construction company run by former pilot John Blincow, who also heads up the Gateway Foundation.

In a recent interview with CNN Travel, Blincow explained there had been some Covid-related delays, but construction on the space hotel is expected to begin in 2026, and a sojourn in space could be a reality by 2027.

"We're trying to make the public realize that this golden age of space travel is just around the corner. It's coming. It's coming fast," said Blincow.  TO READ ENTIRE ARTICLE, Click Here...

TURN... Turn... turn...

 

A Time For Every Purpose...  is sung as if the singer is as naive as the words...  and yet...  these words changed a generation into believing that peace in the world was possible...

The year was 1965 and the US was mired down in a war in Vietnam...  a losing war as it turned out and under President Nixon, the war eventually ended and the US left Vietnam in disgrace...  

And...  it was then that our country changed...  The US was vulnerable in a military sense even though we were the world's greatest economic power...  more importantly, citizens of the US saw for the first time since Slavery that they were wrong in what they had started.

Nixon resigned from the Presidency in disgrace as well and global opinions of the US were beginning to change.

THE USA WAS VUNERABLE...

Inside the US, divisions were beginning to develop as well.

Divisions between:

• males and females
• rich and the not so rich
• black and white
• management and labor
• liberals and conservatives
• north and south
• east and west
• educated and non educated

A Time For Every Purpose...  is the phrase and no longer is seen as innocent; in fact, the phrase is anything but innocent...  it is generational and biblical and has become an unintended consequence of FREEDOM in the USA...

Currently, the LIBERALS are trying to silence the CONSERVATIVES and it would appear that the time has finally come where that is a REAL POSSIBILITY...  and, once one party is silenced, we lose our FREEDOM to hear both sides of the story.  We have choice taken away from us because there is no choice.

A Time For Every Purpose...  is here and we are about to eat the forbidden fruits of that tree.

Mom and Dad

If I was a young lad growing up in the USA, I would not be able to refer to my parents as mom and dad or mother and father because those pronouns are gender specific and according to our COUNTER CULTURE culture, those pronouns are no longer appropriate...  At 73 years of age, I find this approach to referencing to parents rather absurd to say the least.  Using the term parents, folks, guardians, or whatever eliminates the intimacy between parents and their children.   Boys and girls are inappropriate as well and we should no longer distinguish between females and males...  but, the fact remains that they are different and will always be different... especially physically.

AND...  since they are physically different, males and females wear different clothes...  and, those clothes in particular is going to differentiate between the two genders.  However, there are a few males who want to be females and exercise that desire by taking female steroids to create breasts or have surgery for implants.  This is their choice...  but, once they have these breasts, can these males now use the female restrooms in public?

What if, a male who wants to be a female, also wants to play female sports...  does his male body give him the advantage over his female teammates?  And if the courts says YES...  he can do this...  what then are the rights for the females who have been put at a disadvantage?

Your Rights