MY WRITING JOURNAL

Sunday, August 22

Nuclear scientists using lasers the size of three football fields said Tuesday they had generated a huge amount of energy from fusion, possibly offering hope for the development of a new clean energy source.

Experts focused their giant array of almost 200 laser beams onto a tiny spot to create a mega blast of energy – eight times more than they had ever done in the past.

Although the energy only lasted for a very short time – just 100 trillionths of a second – it took scientists closer to the holy grail of fusion ignition, the moment when they are creating more energy than they are using.

"This result is a historic advance for inertial confinement fusion research," said Kim Budil, the director of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, which operates the National Ignition Facility in California, where the experiment took place this month.

Nuclear fusion is considered by some scientists to be a potential energy of the future, particularly because it produces little waste and no greenhouse gases.

It differs from fission, a technique currently used in nuclear power plants, where the bonds of heavy atomic nuclei are broken to release energy.

In the fusion process, two light atomic nuclei are "married" to create a heavy one. In this experiment, scientists used two isotopes of hydrogen, giving rise to helium. READ MORE

Hoping Our Country Will Unites

Saturday, August 21

Live & Let Live

Personally, I am sick and tired and hearing about how the USA has failed in Afghanistan... what's done is done... and, presenting it constantly on the news is not going to change anything... it is time to return to our own lives, our own problems, and those solutions over which we have some control... let the Taliban have Afghanistan... and if, terrorism around the world increases, then we will deal with it then...

Immigration
Inflation
Economy
Racism
Military
Homeland security
Critical Race Theory
National Debt
COVID
Education

These are the issues with which we should be concerned...

It is going to be very difficult for our enemies to conquer us unless we invite them to do so... It is hard for me to believe that AMERICANS will give up their:

illegal drugs
alochol
extramarital affairs
coning the public
professional sports
NASCAR
muscle cars
television sitcoms
recreational activities
big screen movies
broadway plays
musical varieties
credit cards
vacations
obesity

Personally, I am retired and I want to enjoy my retirement as I have already enjoyed it... before COVID, my wife and I traveled around Europe, went on numerous cruises, vacationed in Alaska and Hawaii... we don't need to go anywhere anymore... we've done that and got that T-shirt...

I don't even care about CENSORSHIP as it really does not matter anymore... not to me... if my conservative liberal voice is censored, I'll simply spend more time writing my novels and doing research of GOOGLE...

IT'S ALL GOOD...

The Remembering Truck

Political Nonsense

Greeks in Pompeii Skeletons

Archaeologists in the ancient city of Pompeii have discovered a remarkably well-preserved skeleton during excavations of a tomb that also shed light on the cultural life of the city before it was destroyed by a volcanic eruption in AD 79.

A skull bearing tufts of white hair and part of an ear, as well as bones and fabric fragments, were found in the tomb in the necropolis of Porta Sarno, an area not yet open to the public that is located in the east of Pompeii's urban center. The discovery is unusual since most adults were cremated at the time.

An inscription of the tomb suggested that its owner, a freed slave named Marcus Venerius Secundio, helped organize performances in Greek in Pompeii. Experts said it was the first confirmation that Greek, the language of culture in the Mediterranean, was used alongside Latin.

"That performances in Greek were organized is evidence of the lively and open cultural climate which characterized ancient Pompeii," the director of the Archaeological Park of Pompeii, Gabriel Zuchtriegel, said in a statement announcing the discovery.

In an interview with The Associated Press, Zuchtriegel said Marcus Venerius clearly had been able to make a living for himself after he was freed as a slave, given the "monumental" size of his burial tomb. "He didn't become super rich, but certainly he reached a considerable level of wealth," Zuchtriegel said. READ MORE

Support the Arts

Seeing Galaxies

Astronomers have captured some of the most detailed images ever seen of galaxies in deep space. They are in much higher definition than normal and reveal the inner workings of galaxies in unprecedented detail.

Many of the images could yield insights into the role of black holes in star and planet formation. The researchers say that the pictures will transform our understanding of how galaxies evolve.

The images are of the radio waves emitted by the galaxies. Researchers often study the radio waves from astronomical objects rather than the visible light they give off because it enables them to see things that would otherwise be blocked by the Earth's atmosphere or dust and gas in faraway galaxies.

Many regions of space that are dark to our eyes, actually burn brightly in the radio waves they give off. This allows astronomers to peer into star-forming regions or into the heart of galaxies. READ MORE

Motion

The Most Dystopian SciFi Movie Ever

IN THE WAVE OF SCIENCE-FICTION that came just before Star Wars, the future was frightening. Films like Planet of the Apes, A Clockwork Orange, Soylent Green, and 2001: A Space Odyssey imagined bleak realities of total authoritarianism or utter barbarism.

In the future, there were either way too many rules or none of it.

Star Wars, albeit a medieval fantasy (set “a long time ago,” even), also followed suit in its story of a hippie rebellion against fascist dominance.

But with cool things like lightsabers and whirring TIE fighters everywhere, it was hard not to want to live inside George Lucas’ textured environments.

But before Star Wars, there was another science-fiction film with a far smaller legacy that also depicted a rotten-yet-appealing future.

In a twist to the usual tropes that the old maintain a vise grip over the young, this film instead mused on the values of time, wisdom, and experience. It is also eerily prescient, even if none of its “predictions” about the future actually came true.

LOGAN’S RUN, directed by Michael Anderson (Around the World in 80 Days), is the movie you need to stream before it leaves HBO Max on August 31.

Here’s why, and what you should know before you start watching. READ MORE

Lava Flow

Friday, August 20

Afternoon Thoughts

Like always, each morning since 2015, I have been watching FOX NEWS and it does not matter if I have cable or HULU... and, each morning recently, I have been amazed at how incompetent the Biden Administration seems to be in the face of one crisis after another... and, while it is somewhat of a shame how all this shit happened at once but it could not have happened to a better person, especially after hearing that Biden and his adminstration are blaming former President Donald Trump for everything that has been happening... it would seem like to me that scenario has played out enough... it is logically and statistically impossible to blame the previous administration especially since the current administration has overturned almost everything that Trump put into place... that overturning directly takes the blame off of Trump unless you are too blinded to see the obvious.

We have the following items that are becoming to cause at least half the population to be concerned:

Immigration
Inflation
Inappropriate spending
Afghanistan
Increasing crime and violence
defunding the police
unemployment benefits
Divided Americans
Critical Race Theory
Increased racism

AND... the fact remains that NONE OF THIS SHIT really has any bearing on how I enjoy my retirement... adequate monies have been set aside for unexpected expenses like:

inflation
heat pump
new pool
new vehicle
new furniture
new appliances

AND... once one has anticipated several unintended consequences, then one does not really care if those unintended consequences actually happen...

AND... see what is happening in Afghanistan, there is not doubt in my mind that terrorists will regroup in that country and that terrorist attacks will begin to take place all over the world... including the US of A believe it or not... as terrorists can either enter the USA through Canada or they can enter through our southern border like the rest of the illegal immigrants are doing.

AND... if a terrorist activity happens in the US of A, it will not happen in East TN... it will happen in much larger cities and highly populated urban areas to inflict the most damage and the most lives lost.

Many people are thinking that in 2022, the Republicans will take back the House and the Senate and in 2024, Trump will be elected to a second term... and... what I say is that I don't give a damn anymore... whatever is going on in the US of A, is going on because we did this shit to ourselves and while we have the ability to make choices, we have have the ability to live with the consequences of those choices. What we have today is exactly what we wanted to have today... WE DID THIS SHIT TO OURSELVES...

Populist Press

Save our Babies (Afghanistan)

Taliban

China Controls the USA

Truman

Education

The average annual cost to attend a Community College (2 years) is about $4,000 and if you took 5 classes each semester, each course would roughly cost $400 as compared to the average cost of a 4 year college being about $2,500 for each course.

A student's first two years are general education courses and most students do better at a Community College for these courses than at a traditional college.

So, now you first two years is under $10,000 plus you have acquired an Associates Degree.

PLUS... it is much, much easier to transfer to a traditional college in your first year than in your first year where the entry requirement are substantially HIGHER.

It does not matter what your grades are or were at a Community College, when a student is transfering all grades transfer as "C's".

I have known many people to go to a community college for their first two years then transfer to an IVY LEAGUE college or university for their last two years, and receive a degree from a school that WILL OPEN DOORS for you for the rest of your life.

Additionally, instead of having college debt in the neighborhood of $200,000, it is now only around $100,000.

Your employer is not going to look at your first two years, only that you have a 4 year degree and at what school that degree was earned.