Roaring 20s

 

Remembering Vietnam Veterans

 I am a Vietnam Veteran...  1969-1975...  I was in the US Navy in the area of communications...  I was stationed in Little Creek, VA just right around the corner from the Norfolk Naval Base, VA...

I remember that when I was wearing my uniform in the city of Norfolk or in the airport, having other American spit on me or throw trash in my direction, or call me hateful names...  none of these people actually knew me...  but they lumped me into the category of hating all people who were in the military...

Because I was in the military during the Vietnam War (that they call a conflict), I received the entire GI Bill...  and not only was my undergraduate degree paid for but my graduate degree was paid for except for $500.

Was the price I paid worth it?

YES!!!

Because of my time spent in the military serving this country, I have the RAMBO mentality...  I don't believe in war...  nor do I think war is the only solution when countries disagree...  BUT, if you hit me first, then I am going to KICK THE SHIT OUT OF YOU...  so you don't do it again...  or even think that you could do it again.

Because of our FREEDOMS here in America, I will always defend YOUR RIGHT to HATE AMERICA...  but will not stand by and let you destroy her...

Let's remember the Vietnam War as WHAT NOT TO DO...  America has no business sticking their nose into other people's wars...  and say, that we are here to protect OUR DEMOCRACY...  that's just bullshit...  people around the world don/'t want our brand of democracy because for 100 years or more we rubbed their noses in our democracy...  and, they dislike us...  and, rightly so...  I would hate us too if I were them.

America was founded to get away from the control of Great Britain...  and now, like Great Britain, we are trying to control other countries because we think our way is better...  maybe it is or maybe it isn't but that is YOUR CHOICE not OUR CHOICE TO MAKE FOR YOU...

Let's remember the Vietnam War, but let's remember it in light of what we did wrong...  not in terms of what we should do throughout the rest of the world.

AMEN TO THAT...

BUDDHISM 101

 

There are four main beliefs in Buddism that revolve around TRUTH...

the truth of suffering

the truth of the cause of suffering

the truth of the end of suffering

the truth of the path that leads to the end of suffering

Now, I understand the concept of TRUTH as truth is oftentimes a slippery slope but I don't understand the concept of suffering from the standpoint that all their beliefs revolve around the concept of suffering...

Life is a celebration even though there are aspects of the celebration that revolve around suffering...  There is too much beauty and joy in life to see it as nothing more than learning how to end suffering.

There are 3 branches of Buddhism:  THERAVEDA, MAHAYANA, and VAJRAYANA and these are the vehicles that carry pilgrims from suffering to enlightenment.

So, enlightenment is reached (so to speak) when one's suffering ends or when one learns how to take the path that leads to the end of suffering...  although, I suppose that there are no guarantees that suffering will end or that enlightenment will actually be reached.  How can one be 100% confident that enlightenment has been reached since no one really knows what is inside the mind of another human being?

There are 5 precepts of Buddhism that one can easily see are similar to Christianity...

1. Refrain from taking life
2. Refrain from taking what is not given
3. Refrain from the misuse of one's senses
4. Refrain from wrong speech
5. Refrain from intoxicants

There are 4 stages that take one away from the sensory world...

1. Detach oneself from consciousness
2. Suppression of reason and investigation
3. The passing away of joy
4. Entering a state of pure possession

One might also refer to this as a form of meditation where one is completely oblivious to one's outside environment...

When one is in this state of semi-consciousness, one is not only oblivious to what is going on around them, but one has no consciousness or awareness at all...  one is in a void of emptiness where absolutely NOTHING is taking place...  you are as empty as you were before being born...  and probably more so because babies are aware of their mother's presence in the womb.

While it might be nice to achieve complete and total enlightenment...  what is that kind of level of consciousness or unconsciousness good for outside of emptying one's mind of anxiety for example?

What do you do with enlightenment except tell others that you have been there...

Crystal World

 

Self-Esteem at age 5

Self-esteem could be set at a surprisingly young age — so what influences it? At the age of just five, children have developed a sense of self-esteem as strong as adults, a study finds.

Self-esteem tends to remain stable over the lifespan. This suggests self-esteem could be set very early on. Professor Andrew Meltzoff, one of the study’s authors, said: “Some scientists consider preschoolers too young to have developed a positive or negative sense about themselves. Our findings suggest that self-esteem, feeling good or bad about yourself, is fundamental. It is a social mindset children bring to school with them, not something they develop in school.”

Until now it has been difficult to test the self-esteem of young children. Dr Dario Cvencek, the study’s lead author, explained: “Preschoolers can give verbal reports of what they’re good at as long as it is about a narrow, concrete skill, such as ‘I’m good at running’ or ‘I’m good with letters,’ but they have difficulties providing reliable verbal answers to questions about whether they are a good or bad person.”  READ MORE...

Dinosaur

 

Is Gardening Cheaper?

 

With food costs rising, many people are contemplating starting a garden. This makes sense, since human beings have been growing their own food for thousands of years. The stuff just comes out of the ground and literally grows on trees. Gardening offers a lot of benefits: It can be spiritually and emotionally fulfilling, improves the look of your property, and provides delicious sustenance. The potential to save money doesn’t hurt, either.

At first blush, this might seem like an obvious win: Once you get a tomato plant going, for example, you get free tomatoes as opposed to having to buy them all the time like a sucker. But gardens have hidden costs, and not all crops are the same in terms of cost-effectiveness. Can you really save money by growing your own food? The answer is yes, but you have to be thoughtful about it.

Do some garden math
Once again, your high school algebra teacher wins. This is yet another moment in your life where you will use math.

The starting point is your initial investment. The good news here is that gardens are relatively cheap. A few years ago, the National Gardening Association conducted a costs survey and concluded that most home gardens required about $70 in initial investment. That money goes toward seeds, soil and/or fertilizer, cages, covers, water, tools, and fences, if those are necessary. 

The better news is that you can expect an annual return of about $600 and moving forward, seeds are incredibly cheap compared to grown fruits and veggies in the grocery. Tomatoes on the vine cost about $2 a pound, but a packet of seeds will be about $4 and each plant that grows is capable of yielding anywhere from eight to 30 pounds of tomatoes (though there’s no guarantee you’ll get that much, of course).  READ MORE...

Showoff

 

Speed of Sound on Mars

Scientists have confirmed the speed of sound on Mars, using equipment on the Perseverance rover to study the red planet's atmosphere, which is very different to Earth's.

What they discovered could have some strange consequences for communication between future Martians.

The findings suggest that trying to talk in Mars' atmosphere might produce a weird effect, since higher-pitched sound seems to travel faster than bass notes. Not that we'd try, since Mars' atmosphere is unbreathable, but it's certainly fun to think about!

From a science perspective, the findings, announced at the 53rd Lunar and Planetary Science Conference by planetary scientist Baptiste Chide of the Los Alamos National Laboratory, reveal high temperature fluctuations at the surface of Mars that warrant further investigation.

The speed of sound is not a universal constant. It can change, depending on the density and temperature of the medium through which it travels; the denser the medium, the faster it goes.

That's why sound travels about 343 meters (1,125 feet) per second in our atmosphere at 20 degrees Celsius, but also at 1,480 meters per second in water, and at 5,100 meters per second in steel.

Mars' atmosphere is a lot more tenuous than Earth's, around 0.020 kg/m3, compared to about 1.2 kg/m3 for Earth. That alone means that sound would propagate differently on the red planet.

But the layer of the atmosphere just above the surface, known as the Planetary Boundary Layer, has added complications: During the day, the warming of the surface generates convective updrafts that create strong turbulence.  READ MORE...

An Angry Cat

A Prospective Teacher's Comments

After being interviewed by the school administration, the prospective teacher said:

"Let me see if I've got this right.

You want me to go into that room with all those kids, correct their disruptive behavior, observe them for signs of abuse, monitor their dress habits, censor their T-shirt messages and instill in them a love for learning.

You want me to check their backpacks for weapons, wage war on drugs and sexually transmitted diseases, and raise their sense of self-esteem and personal pride.

You want me to teach them patriotism and good citizenship, sportsmanship, and fair play, and how to register to vote, balance a checkbook, and apply for a job.

You want me to check their heads for lice, recognize signs of antisocial behavior, and ensure that they all pass their final exams.

You also want me to provide them with an equal education regardless of their handicaps, and communicate regularly with their parents in English, Arabic or any other language, by letter, telephone, newsletter, and report card.

You want me to do all this with a piece of chalk, a blackboard, a bulletin board, a few books, a big smile, and a starting salary that qualifies me for "New Start."

You want me to do all this, and then you tell me......

I CAN'T wear a necklace with a little cross, mention God, or say "Merry Christmas" because someone might take offense...  " Well, you know what you can do with your job."

First Ever...

You are simply not going to believe this shit...  and, being from the South, we all know that them northerners do some crazy shit, but this shit is the craziest shit that I have ever seen...

Them northern have gone and created a Masters degree program in HAPPINESS STUDIES...  it's a New Jersey university named Centenary University and it only costs $17,700...

Now this is right out of the horse's mouth...  University President Bruce Murphy said in his March 18 announcement: "This online, 30-credit graduate degree is an interdisciplinary program designed for leaders who are committed to personal, interpersonal, organizational, and societal happiness. Grounded in science and research, this new degree will study happiness and resilience to prepare graduates to make an impact in a wide range of fields."

This one of a kind program is the byproduct of the Happiness Studies Academy...

The academy's mission "is to lead the happiness revolution by educating leaders who are themselves dedicated to personal, interpersonal and communal flourishing," according to its website.

"When we're talking about happiness, we're talking about cultivating resilience, the ability to deal with hardships, with difficulties, and there's plenty to go around today," Ben-Shahar told Fox News. "Whether you're talking pandemic, whether you're talking war, uncertainty, whether it's on the economic level, the emotional level."

"We need some practical advice, evidence-based advice to help people deal with difficulties," he continued.  SOURCE:  FOX News

Personally, I think we could sure use some of this happiness down here in the south right about now, especially since we are dealing with all these illegal immigrants being shipped into our areas and to us deal with all the emotional trauma from higher gasoline prices and higher food prices, and the fact that our children are being taught something we don't want them to be taught...  this CRT nonsense...  a big ole dose of happiness would be just about right these days...

On Being White

 My daddy was white...

My mother was white...

Both of their parents were white as were their grandparents...

I come from a long line of white people....

In fact, all my cousins, aunts, and uncles on both sides of the family were all white as well...

My parents taught me many things and provided me with many lessons around which I have based my life...  but, they never taught me to be ashamed or feel guilty that I was born white.

My parents were my first teachers and they gave me integrity, honesty, honor, ethics, moral correctness, to stand up for that in which you believe, and they gave me the courage to have faith.

They taught me how to achieve whatever it was that I wanted through my own ability, using my own hands to open the doors to my future.

I was born white, but I was not born wealthy or privileged.  I worked my way through college and then used the GI Bill as I was a Vietnam Veteran.  Whatever I got in life, I got on my own...  and, there were numerous years throughout my career that I have very little or next to nothing...

I was laid off or fired several times during my career and that does not happen to white people of privilege according to those who are not white...

I will die a contented and satisfied white man, with no regrets and no desire of wishing that I had done something differently.

If all works out, I will die just as I was born into this world - broke.

Stanza Stark

 

5,000 Worlds Outside

In January 1992, two cosmic objects forever changed our galaxy.

For the first time, we had concrete evidence of extrasolar planets, or exoplanets, orbiting an alien star: two rocky worlds, whirling around a star 2,300 light-years away.

Now, just over 30 years later, that number has exploded. This week, March 21 marked the hugely significant milestone of over 5,000 exoplanets confirmed. To be precise, 5,005 exoplanets are now documented in the NASA exoplanet archive, every one with its own unique characteristics.

Each and every one of these exoplanets has appeared in peer-reviewed research, and been observed using multiple detection techniques or methods of analysis.

The pickings are rich for follow-up study to learn more about these worlds with new instruments, such as the recently launched James Webb Space Telescope, and upcoming Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope.

"It's not just a number," says astronomer Jessie Christiansen of the NASA Exoplanet Science Institute at Caltech. "Each one of them is a new world, a brand-new planet. I get excited about every one because we don't know anything about them."  READ MORE...

Remote Lifesaving

 

Microplastics in Human Blood

Many of us have plastic dust flowing through our veins.

The results of the latest study looking for microplastic pollutants in human tissues shouldn't come as a surprise by now. Virtually no place on Earth is free of the polymer fog, after all, from the highest of mountains down to our most intimate organs.

Yet knowing it permeates our very blood brings a new awareness of just how much plastic waste has become an expanding ecological issue.

Researchers from the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam and the Amsterdam University Medical Center analyzed blood samples taken from 22 healthy anonymous donors for traces of common synthetic polymers larger than 700 nanometers across.

After the team went to great lengths to keep their equipment free of contaminants and test for background levels of plastics, two different methods for identifying the chemical make-up and masses of particles uncovered evidence of several plastic species across 17 of the samples.

Though the exact combinations varied between samples, the microplastics included polyethylene terephthalate (PET) – commonly used in clothing and drink bottles – and polymers of styrene, often used in vehicle parts, carpets, and food containers.

On average, 1.6 micrograms of plastic material were measured for every milliliter of blood, with the highest concentration being just over 7 micrograms.

The researchers couldn't give a precise breakdown of the particle sizes due to the limitations of the testing methods. It's safe to presume, however, that smaller particles closer to the 700 nanometer limit of the analysis would be easier for the body to take in than larger particles exceeding 100 micrometers.  READ MORE...

Female Bodybuilder

 

Asteroid to Impact Earth

Most asteroids that have impacted Earth were discovered many years, often many millions of years, after the event. The evidence? Roughly 200 known craters scar Earth’s surface, telling an impactful story of how our planet, and life on it, has been dramatically shaped by violent collisions with ancient space rocks. On occasion – five in human history, to be precise – we discover an asteroid before it strikes.

At 19:24 UTC on March 11, 2022, astronomer Krisztián Sárneczky discovered a bright and fast-moving new object in the sky using the 60cm Schmidt telescope at the Piszkésteto observatory, Hungary. He collected four observations in quick succession, and just 14 minutes later reported his findings to the Minor Planet Center (MPC), initially designating the object ‘Sar2593’.

The results were quickly published and used by automatic impact assessment systems around the world to estimate the possibility of an impact: at the time, it seemed unlikely, at less than 1%.

Krisztián continued to observe the object, making a further 10 observations soon after the discovery and again submitting them to the MPC. These, however, resulted in an entirely different scenario. Almost exactly an hour after it was detected at 20:25 UTC, ESA’s “Meerkat” monitoring system triggered an alert to the Agency’s Near-Earth Object Coordination Centre (NEOCC) based on the accumulated observations.  READ MORE...

Mom & Son