Stephen Hawking, 1942 - 2018

Rest in peace, sir.

May we try to live up to your guidance and advice.

Do You Really Know All the Weather Events Taking Place This Week Across the Planet?

Let's evaluate what has happened and what''s going on of late, shall we?

The United States' fourth largest city and a good section of Southeast Texas is under water and will be for some time.

Flooding stretches for miles in east Texas 

- Videos - CBS News

There have been and are floods and flooding over a large swath of Bangladesh and Sierra Leone.  More than 1000 were killed in those mudslides in Sierra Leone, according to Al Jazeera, while at least 1200 have been killed in the Bangladeshi floods.

Floods in India, Bangladesh and Nepal kill 1,200 and leave millions homeless

At least 41 million people affected in floods in India, Bangladesh and Nepal, UN says

Back in another part of the US, a blistering heat wave gripped California this week with firefighters, statewide, tackling massive wildfires that forced thousands of people to flee their homes.

LADWP sees highest demand ever as Angelenos roast in record-breaking heat wave

And people want to ignore or deny what the scientists have said, are saying about man made climate change and how much carbon dioxide we're pumping into the atmosphere, warming the planet?

Really?

Links:

How Climate Change Likely Heightened 

Hurricane Harvey's Fury

Global Warming May Play Role in Hurricane Intensity

Warmer oceans could produce more powerful superstorms

We Are One

From Carl Sagan, Nov. 9, 1934 - Dec. 20, 1996

Links:

The Carl Sagan Portal

Carl Sagan - Wikipedia

Quote of the Day -- Sunday Edition

Look again at that dot. 

That’s here. 

That’s home. 

That’s us. 

On it everyone you love, everyone you know, everyone you ever heard of, every human being who ever was, lived out their lives. The aggregate of our joy and suffering, thousands of confident religions, ideologies, and economic doctrines, every hunter and forager, every hero and coward, every creator and destroyer of civilization, every king and peasant, every young couple in love, every mother and father, hopeful child, inventor and explorer, every teacher of morals, every corrupt politician, every ‘superstar,’ every ‘supreme leader,’ every saint and sinner in the history of our species lived there — on a mote of dust suspended in a sunbeam.

The Earth is a very small stage in a vast cosmic arena. Think of the rivers of blood spilled by all those generals and emperors so that, in glory and triumph, they could become the momentary masters of a fraction of a dot. Think of the endless cruelties visited by the inhabitants of one corner of this pixel on the scarcely distinguishable inhabitants of some other corner, how frequent their misunderstandings, how eager they are to kill one another, how fervent their hatreds.

Our posturings, our imagined self-importance, the delusion that we have some privileged position in the Universe, are challenged by this point of pale light. Our planet is a lonely speck in the great enveloping cosmic dark. In our obscurity, in all this vastness, there is no hint that help will come from elsewhere to save us from ourselves.

The Earth is the only world known so far to harbor life. There is nowhere else, at least in the near future, to which our species could migrate. Visit, yes. Settle, not yet. Like it or not, for the moment the Earth is where we make our stand.

It has been said that astronomy is a humbling and character-building experience. There is perhaps no better demonstration of the folly of human conceits than this distant image of our tiny world. To me, it underscores our responsibility to deal more kindly with one another, and to preserve and cherish the pale blue dot, the only home we’ve ever known. 

-- Carl Sagan

This Sunday Night -- One Busy Moon and Night Sky

This Saturday night, we will not only have what's called a "blood moon" but we are also to have a total lunar eclipse.

First, that blood moon:

Total Lunar Eclipse - Blood Moon

What is it?

A "blood moon" is a full moon that also goes through a total eclipse so that the shadow from the Earth, thrown on the moon makes that same moon turn rather red in the sky. If you've never seen one, it is, they are beautiful.

I remember there was one, once, on my birthday night, many years ago. The red is brilliant. It's a lot of fun and very different.

It's this Sunday evening.

NASA Scientist Sheds Light on Rare Sept. 27 Supermoon Eclipse 

The total eclipse will last one hour and 12 minutes, and will be visible to North and South America, Europe, Africa, and parts of West Asia and the eastern Pacific. Viewers can see the supermoon unmasked after nightfall. Earth’s shadow will begin to dim the supermoon slightly beginning at 7:11 p.m. CDT. A noticeable shadow will begin to fall on the moon at 8:07 p.m., and the total eclipse will start at 9:11 p.m.
Links:

Sunday's lunar eclipse will also feature a 'Supermoon'

Super Blood Moon 2015: When and Where to See the Eclipse

Super Blood Moon eclipse on night of September 27-28

Viewing Conditions: Supermoon to Coincide With Lunar Eclipse in Rare Celestial Event Sunday Night

When and Where to Watch This Weekend's Total Lunar Eclipse

Happy Spring

The Time Has Come for International Recycling

I've held this opinion for quite some time that all cities in the US need to require we recycle.

Think about it.

All the paper, plastic, glass and aluminum we use?

Right now, far, far too much simply goes into wastebaskets first, then dump trucks, then into landfills.

How does that make any sense?

And the ones the worst at it?

Chain restaurants.

But all of us need to do this.

Then, I got thinking bigger and more broadly. I got to thinking statewide. Then, why stop there? We need this nationally.

But again, I got thinking bigger yet.

We need all nations, all people around the world to recycle. It only makes sense.

We don't have the room to just dump all this waste. And the fact is, it doesn't have to be waste. We can reuse it. And we know we can. Some of us have recycled for years.

Now? We all need to.

And like "Obamacare", Americans won't like being told what to do. They won't like it even if it's the next president in the White House and not this one. Being told what to do just goes against our grain. We're far too proud for that.

But in the meantime, take a quick look at what all this waste of paper, plastic, glass and aluminum is getting us. I saw this article yesterday. It's from ABC News:

Startling Images of the Tons of Trash in the World's Oceans

It just makes no sense to continue as we have until now. There's more here, this time on those waste dumps we've created, all around the world:

Community, Globalization, and Tons of Trash

The time has come.

This makes too much sense. It makes far too much sense. We even need to do it just for ourselves but we need to do it for our children and grandchildren, as well, certainly.

And heads up, folks. It would create jobs, too.

Let's get this party started.

Quote of the day -- on a thriving planet

Quote of the day

Your religion? Geographic

Aren't you special?  (click on picture for easier reading)

Quote of the day--on America

Perspective

"Outside, pre-dawn: be still, be quiet; face the east; breathe slowly, calmly, and wait. When the sun rises, imagine the truth: the sun is not rising, the earth is turning.

 

You are riding the earth as it turns, and you are looking out at a giant nuclear furnace blazing 8 light minutes away, hanging in an unfathomable void.

 

Realize how special that is.

 

Love life.

 

Share this sense of wonder.

 

Repeat as desired."

 

--James Pomeroy, FB friend

Inspiration

A New Story of the People from Sustainable Man on Vimeo.

And now, a little perspective

Peace on Earth, goodwill toward men

"We, in this country, in this generation, are - by destiny rather than by choice - the watchmen on the walls of world freedom. We ask, therefore, that we may be worthy of our power and responsibility, that we may exercise our strength with wisdom and restraint, and that we may achieve in our time and for all time the ancient vision of 'peace on earth, good will toward men.'"

--President John F. Kennedy, November 22, 1963 (Prepared, Not Delivered)

Perspective

We really are all in this together, folks.

But we knew that.


Enjoy your Sunday, y'all.

Quote of the day

In 1854, the "Great White Chief" in Washington made an offer for a large area of Indian land and promised a reservation for the Indian people.
The following was Chief Seattle's reply.

How can you buy or sell the sky, the warmth of the land? The idea is strange to us.
If we do not own the freshness of the air and the sparkle of the water, how can you buy them?

Every part of the earth is sacred to my people. Every shining pine needle, every sandy shore, every mist in the dark woods, every clearing and humming insect is holy in the memory and experience of my people. The sap which courses through the trees carries the memories of the red man.

The white man's dead forget the country of their birth when they go to walk among the stars. Our dead never forget this beautiful earth, for it is the mother of the red man. We are part of the earth and it is part of us. The perfumed flowers are our sisters, the deer, the horse, the great eagle, these are our brothers. The rocky crests, the juices in the meadows, the body heat of the pony, and man - all belong to the same family.

So, when the Great Chief in Washington sends word that he wishes to buy our land, he asks much of us. The great Chief sends word that he will reserve us a place so that we can live comfortably to ourselves. He will be our father and we will be his children. So we will consider your offer to buy our land.

But it will not be easy. For this land is sacred to us.

This shining water that moves in the streams and rivers is not just water but the blood of our ancestors. If we sell you land, you must remember that it is sacred, and you must teach your children that it is sacred and that each ghostly reflection in the clear water of the lakes tells of events and memories in the life of my people.
The water's murmur is the voice of my father's father.

The rivers are our brothers, they quench our thirst. The rivers carry our canoes, and feed our children. If we sell you our land, you must remember, and teach your children, that the rivers are our brothers, and yours, and you must henceforth give the rivers the kindness you would give any brother.

We know that the white man does not understand our ways. One portion of the land is the same to him as the next, for he is a stranger who comes in the night and takes from the land whatever he needs. The earth is not his brother, but his enemy, and when he has conquered it, he moves on.

He leaves his father's grave behind, and he does not care. He kidnaps the earth from his children and he does not care. His father's grave, and his children's birthright, are forgotten. He treats his mother, the earth, and his brother, the sky, as things to bought, plundered, sold like sheep or bright beeds. His appetite will devour the earth and leave behind only a desert.

I do not know. Our ways are different from your ways.

The sight of your cities pains the eyes of the red man. But perhaps it is because the red man is a savage and does not understand.

There is no quiet place in the white man's cities. No place to hear the unfurling of leaves in spring, or the rustle of an insect's wings.

But perhaps it is because I am a savage and do not understand.

The clatter only seems to insult the ears. And what is there to life if a man cannot hear the lonely cry of the whippoorwill or the arguments of the frogs around a pond at night? I am a red man and do not understand.

The Indian prefers the soft sound of the wind darting over the face of a pond, and the smell of the wind itself, cleaned by a midday rain, or scented with pinion pine.
The air is precious to the red man, for all things share the same breath - the beast, the tree, the man, they all share the same breath. The white man does not seem to notice the air he breathes. Like a man dying for many days, he is numb to the stench.

But if we sell you our land, you must remember that the air is precious to us, that the air shares its spirit with all the life it supports. The wind that gave our grandfather his first breath also receives his last sigh.

And if we sell you our land, you must keep it apart and sacred, as a place where even the white man can go to taste the wind that it is sweetened by the meadow's flowers.

So we will consider your offer to buy our land. If we decide to accept. I will make one condition: the white man must treat the beasts of the land as his brothers.
I am a savage and do not understand any other way.

I have seen a thousand rotting buffaloes on the prairie, left by the white man who shot them from a passing train. I am a savage and I do not understand how the smoking iron horse can be more important than the buffalo that we kill only to stay alive.

What is man without beasts? If all the beasts were gone, man would die from great loneliness of spirit. For whatever happens to beasts, soon happens to man. All things are connected.

You must teach your children that the ground beneath their feet is the ashes of your grandfathers. So that they will respect the land, tell your children that the earth is rich with the lives of our kin.

Teach your children what we have taught our children, that the earth is our mother. Whatever befalls the earth befalls the sons of the earth. If men spit upon the ground, they spit upon themselves.

This we know: the earth does not belong to man; man belongs to the earth. This we know.

All things are connected like the blood which unites one family. All things are connected.

Whatever befalls the earth befalls the sons of the earth. Man did not weave the web of life: he is merely a strand in it. Whatever he does to the web he does to himself.
Even the white man, whose God walks and talks with him as friend to friend, cannot be exempt from the common destiny. We may be brothers after all.
We shall see.

One thing which we know, which the white man may one day discover - our God is the same God.

You may think you own Him as you wish to own our land; but you cannot. He is the God of man, and His compassion is equal for the red man and the white. This earth is precious to him, and to harm the earth is to heap contempt on its Creator.

The whites too shall pass; perhaps sooner than all the other tribes. Contaminate your bed, and you will one night suffocate in your own waste.

But in your perishing you will shine brightly, fired by the strength of the God who brought you to this land and for some special purpose gave you dominion over this land and over the red man.

That destiny is a mystery to us, for we do not understand when the buffalo are all slaughtered, the wild horses are tamed, the secret corners of the forest heavy with the scent of many men, and the view of the ripe hills blotted by talking wires.


Where is the thicket? Gone.

Where is the eagle? Gone.

The end of living and the beginning of survival.

Quote of the day

"...the love of possession is a disease with them. These people have made many rules that the rich may break but the poor may not. They take their tithes from the poor and weak to support the rich and those who rule.

They claim this mother of ours, the Earth, for their own and fence their neighbors away; they deface her with their buildings and their refuse. The nation is like a spring freshet that overruns its banks and destroys all that are in its path." --Sitting Bull, Native American Lakota Sioux Chief

Link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sitting_Bull

Quote of the day

"Think of the earth as a living organism that is being attacked by billions of bacteria whose numbers double every forty years. Either the host dies, or the virus dies, or both die." --Gore Vidal, 1925-2012

Humankind's future

"...an organism at war with itself is doomed." --Carl Sagan