MY WRITING JOURNAL

Sunday, August 15

Only in California

California may legalize human composting, a process in which the body breaks down into soil over the course of about 30 days

Is there a greener way to honor those who have died?

Humans have caused unprecedented and irreversible changes to the climate in our time on Earth – pollution that continues even in death. But, across the US, some are posing an alternative: human composting.

Traditional after-death options such as burial and cremation can be tough on the environment, either by taking up land and emitting chemicals into the ground or by using fossil fuels and gas.

That’s why California lawmakers are considering legislation that would allow for human composting, or the natural organic reduction of human remains to soil.

It’s not the first state to do so. Washington state legalized natural organic reduction in 2020, allowing the human soil to be used in a forest as well as given to families.

Colorado has enacted similar legislation – restricting the soil from being used to grow crops that people will eat – as has Oregon. Delaware, Hawaii and Vermont are considering natural organic reduction bills.

Recompose, a Seattle-based company, was the first company in the US to get into the human composting business. READ MORE

What a Voice

Biden's Blue Hydrogen

Infrastructure bill includes $8bn to develop ‘clean hydrogen’ but study finds large emissions from production of ‘blue’ hydrogen

The large infrastructure bill passed by the US Senate and hailed by Joe Biden as a key tool to tackle the climate crisis includes billions of dollars to support a supposedly clean fuel that is potentially even more polluting than coal, new research has found.

The $1tn infrastructure package, which passed with bipartisan support on Tuesday, includes $8bn to develop “clean hydrogen” via the creation of four new regional hubs.

The White House has said the bill advances Biden’s climate agenda and proponents of hydrogen have touted it as a low-emissions alternative to fuel shipping, trucking, aviation and even home heating.

But a new study has found surprisingly large emissions from the production of so-called “blue” hydrogen, a variant being enthusiastically pushed by the fossil fuel industry and probably falling under the definition of clean hydrogen in the Senate bill. READ MORE

The Racoon Means Business

Saturday, August 14

Populist Press

Hiding the Problem

Back Porch Recollections

Some people question my need to discuss stupid politics when there is not a damn thing that I or anyone like me can do about it... but, I tell them that it is my right to speak out... and while I am not displaying any form of civil disobediance, I am opposed to the assinine behavior of so-called intellectual democrats and wonder why they are so hell-bent to F_ _ K up this country...

Many of are worried about BLM and CRT but these are just temporary FADS that are designed to pacify these minorities until the wealthy have a chance to decide what the hell they want to do with them...

One of our biggest concerns is:

IMMIGRATION

which is followed by

INFLATION

which is followed by

CHINA's ECONOMIC THREAT TO USA

which is followed by

OUR NATIONAL DEBT

which is followed by

OUR DIVIDED COUNTRY

which is not really followed by anything else because this is enough shit for us to concern ourselves with at one time...

Now here's another question: Do you think any of our MILLIONAIRES or our BILLIONAIRES are really worried about any of this... HELL NO... and, why should they be... none of this is really going to impact them in any way shape or form...

What happens and has been happening in this country for the last 100 years is the fact that the MIDDLE CLASS and the LOWER CLASSES are the ones that actually DO ALL THE WORK and the ones that DO ALL THE SUFFERING... whether it be health wise or financially...

AND YET, the wealthy in their cleverness has arranged this current situation where we are fighting ourselves INSTEAD OF THEM... and, it would not surprise me at all if they are sitting in their estates laughing their asses off at us...

East TN Living

Each day that I wake up in East TN and watch the morning news on FOX News, I am thankful that this is where I live and decided to live over 30 years ago... but more importantly, with all these crime increases take place in larger cities and police retiring and the availability of drugs...

My health is stable but there is always the stress of it hanging over my head the fact that my cancers could go aggressive any day... so, each day is not just a blessing for which I am thankful, but a day that I try to appreciate each and every minute which seems rather dramatic but it is true.

After 73 years of life, I have enjoyed 639,480 hours on this earth or 38,368,800 minutes...

And, while it may seem a little silly to figure out these numbers, it instills inside me the value of my life in terms of something other than money or financial wealth as a measure of life.

Each day that I am above ground, I try to look at that day as not just something special but as a day where I try to enjoy and appreciate every single minute... not just the hours but the minutes... which means I try never to be bored but that does not mean I have to do something each minute... but to appreciate each minute...

I watch the news

I prepare my meals

I cook my meals

I watch the news

I watch a couple of episodes of a series

I play with the cats

I post articles to my blogs

I find material for my blogs

I write emails

I read articles

I reflect and contemplate

I discuss the news

I write in a journal

I work outside in the yard

I go to doctor's appointments

I go shopping

I do inside the house chores

I go on vacation

I visit with family and friends

I go to procedures and treatments

I go eat dinner at a restaurant

I sleep each night

There is a lot to like about East TN just as there is a lot to dislike about East TN as well... but, the point of my day is to live that day without any regrets and to keep myself busy... it is not difficult even though living like this may take a little practice...

Modern Slaves

Spending Democrats

Democrats

Populist Press

Daily Sailor Moon

The Flip

Transmitting Sensitive Data

Jack Wallen addresses the challenging question of which browser is best to use for transmitting encrypted data.

The most secure browser for encrypted data is Tor. But there's a catch, and it's a big one.

You might work within a company LAN that doesn't allow for the Tor browser to function. And unless you can get your IT department to open up the network to allow Tor to function, you're out of luck.

But for everyone else, Tor is definitely the browser to beat when it comes to encrypted transmitted data.

Let me offer up a simple example.

Once upon a time, I was hired by a new client. Now, this client didn't exactly engender much in the way of trust in me, but they were willing to pay a premium for me to generate content for them.

But lodged in the back of my mind was this sense I couldn't trust them 100%. So, what did I do? I created a virtual network, detached from my primary network and then deployed a virtual machine attached to that network.

On that virtual machine (running Ubuntu Desktop), I installed the Tor browser.

With that setup, I felt absolutely confident nothing untoward could happen... unless I was dealing with serious hackers. READ MORE

Large and Small

George Harrison on Life

It is perhaps the biggest question of them all: What is the purpose of life?

It led Fyodor Dostoyevsky to proclaim that it is about “finding something to live for,” it prompted Kurt Vonnegut to say, “I tell you, we are here on Earth to fart around, and don’t let anybody tell you different,” and it called for Karl Pilkington to posit, “There isn’t a meaning of life, or if there is don’t worry about it, you’re here now, get on with it! It does my head in!”

All of which are valid, but the more opinions you can get on this sort of thing, the better.

With that in mind, what exactly did the ‘Quiet One’ have to say about it all? George Harrison’s spiritual journey began, at least in earnest, in very peculiar circumstances.

As it turned out, it started while filming the oddball movie Help! back in 1965.

The band spent most of their time on set smoking copious marijuana and gorging on cheeseburgers; however, there was one profound moment foisted upon Harrison by the universe’s fateful happenstance division in amongst it. READ MORE

Out of Control Tool

Rather Disturbing

A photo showing a little girl playing while a group of latex-clad men interact behind her has won a top prize at a Pride competition in Amsterdam.

Amsterdam media AT5 reports the photo, titled, “Imagine What Will Hopefully Stay Taken for granted,” taken by Jan van Breda, won “Most aesthetic photo” out of more than 13,000 entries.

A photo showing a little girl playing while a group of latex-clad men interact behind her has won a top prize at a Pride competition in Amsterdam.

Amsterdam media AT5 reports the photo, titled, “Imagine What Will Hopefully Stay Taken for granted,” taken by Jan van Breda, won “Most aesthetic photo” out of more than 13,000 entries.

The photo shows a little girl smiling at someone off-camera as she plays by a swing on a front porch patio. All the while, nine men behind her outfitted in latex kink-wear appear to be getting ready for a pride parade, with one of the men eerily smiling at the camera.

According to Pride Amsterdam, the contest called for “the most iconic, meaningful and aesthetic photos.”

The three top prize winners each received 2,500 euros. READ MORE

Is She Sick or Something?

Friday, August 13

Momma's Gotta Squeeze Box... Daddy Doesm't Sleep At Night...

Government Involvement

Evidence

Populist Press

Skywatchers

The bright Perseids are perhaps the most popular meteor shower of the year, and they've just begun! With clear skies, you could see what some consider the most spectacular cosmic light show.

Spectators can expect to see the greatest number of meteors during the shower's peak between Aug. 11-13 this year, according to Earthsky.org.

Every year, Earth passes through the path of Comet Swift-Tuttle from July 17 to Aug. 24, with the shower's peak — when Earth passes through the densest, dustiest area — occurring Aug. 11-13.

That means you'll see the most meteors in the shortest amount of time near that time. Years without moonlight see higher rates of meteors per hour, and in outburst years (such as in 2016) the rate can be between 150-200 meteors an hour.

This year, you can expect to see up to 60 meteors per hour at the shower's peak, according to Earthsky.org.

Last year, the bright moonlight didn't obscure the view of the meteor shower too badly, but the moon's glow is a continuing concern for skywatchers looking for a clear view. Even though the Perseids are especially bright, moonlight can make viewing a bit tricky.

You can see the Perseid meteor shower best in the Northern Hemisphere and down to the mid-southern latitudes, and all you need to catch the show is darkness, somewhere comfortable to sit and a bit of patience. READ MORE

It's 5 O'clock Somewhere... right?

Music

TIme Crystals

Lately, it has been in the news that Google quantum computing researchers (and numerous university researchers) have created the first true time crystal in a quantum computer.

While it sounds like something out of a Marvel movie, time crystals are a real phenomenon.

The crystals flip back and forth between two states periodically in time which mimics the regularity of the spacing of molecules in a crystal.

There have been a lot of misconceptions thrown about whether time crystals violate the laws of thermodynamics: conservation of energy or the tendency for entropy to increase.

Some have even suggested that they achieve the dream of perpetual motion.

This is false and shows an ignorance of the fine print attached to the laws of thermodynamics as well as the real requirements for achieving a time crystal.

First off, time crystals are not perpetual motion machines in that (a) they cannot do mechanical work and (b) they do not exist in a ground or equilibrium state.

Rather, they are quantum systems that do no work and cannot reach a ground state. READ MORE

A Few GIFs

Fish With Human Teeth

Last week (Aug 3), anglers at Jennette's Pier in North Carolina pulled up something unexpected — and uncanny — from the Atlantic: a fish with human teeth.

Yes, this fish — and its teeth — are real. But fortunately, there's nothing human about it.

It's called a sheepshead fish (Archosargus probatocephalus) — also known as a convict fish for the dark stripes running down its gray body, reminiscent of a stereotypical prison jumpsuit, according to the Maryland Department of Natural Resources.

The fish is commonly found swimming along the Atlantic coast, from New York to Brazil, and gave Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn, its name.

They can grow up to 3 feet (91 centimeters) long and dine on a variety of oysters, clams, crustaceans and the odd bit of plant matter. Hence, the teeth. READ MORE

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Sunday, August 15

Saturday, August 14

Friday, August 13