Reclaiming the Night Sky
In the beginning was the Big Bang, and then the galaxies and stars were created. The stars lived their lives and exploded, scattering life-stuff all over the place. Some of it came together to form our own blue and white planet, along with a star for it to orbit. If we walk out on our planet-home at night with no clouds or moon and look up, we can see the stuff from which we were created.
Or maybe we can't. More likely the pale light of Sirius is drowned out by the blaring lights of a garish auto dealership; the delicate glow of the celestial road of the Milky Way is hidden from our sight by the line of screaming blaring light on the roads of the suburban business district. More and more the lights of our homes, our institutions, and our highways are blinding us to the glories of the universe. That includes the lights of my, the lights in your subdivision and your home, and the lights at my home. There is light pollution all over the place. It is time we reclaimed our night sky. It would be nice if for two hours, the entire nation, or at least half of it, could turn out its lights so we can see the night sky.
A high school student from Midlothian, Virginia, is trying to get us to do just that. She is Jennifer Barlow, and her web site is http://www.nationaldarkskyweek.htmlplanet.com I found out about this energetic, enterprising young woman through the Richmond Astronomical Society I belong to, and she gave a talk to our group on Monday night. She has declared the week of 2003 April 1-8 to be National Dark Sky Week, and is asking us to turn out all outside lights and bright indoor lights between 10 pm and midnight every night during this week. I feel that this is a good way to get to know and appreciate the night sky. So therefore I urge us to turn out our lights during this time. Perhaps we could urge our neighbors and community associations to take part in this endeavor. This is our view of the Cosmos that is being ruined - the Universe from which we all came. So I urge us all to take part in this project this April.
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2003/02/11
September 11 Ambiguity
For a while I have been saying that one should not call Planeattack, the terrorist attacks of 2001 September 11, "September 11". This is because it maligns people who were born on a September 11. But there is another reason, too. "September 11" is inherently ambiguous. 57 days of my life have been called "September 11". This is why a major event should not be referred to by its month/day date. I found a headline in the newspaper this morning that read "Terror threat greatest since September 11." Which September 11? Both are plausible. 2002 September 11 was the last time that an Orange terrorism state was declared. 2001 September 11 was the date of Planeattack. The headline should have read "Terror threat greatest since terror attacks of 2001", or "Terror threat greatest since Planeattack", provided enough people understand "Planeattack". So please don't call the terror attacks of a year and a half ago "September 11". There's been another September 11.
For a while I have been saying that one should not call Planeattack, the terrorist attacks of 2001 September 11, "September 11". This is because it maligns people who were born on a September 11. But there is another reason, too. "September 11" is inherently ambiguous. 57 days of my life have been called "September 11". This is why a major event should not be referred to by its month/day date. I found a headline in the newspaper this morning that read "Terror threat greatest since September 11." Which September 11? Both are plausible. 2002 September 11 was the last time that an Orange terrorism state was declared. 2001 September 11 was the date of Planeattack. The headline should have read "Terror threat greatest since terror attacks of 2001", or "Terror threat greatest since Planeattack", provided enough people understand "Planeattack". So please don't call the terror attacks of a year and a half ago "September 11". There's been another September 11.
Politician Logic
It seems that much of what politicians say are lies. There are Clinton's denials of involvement with Monica, Nixon's denial of involvement in Watergate, Saddam's denial of possession of weapons of mass destruction, US Government's denial of health problems caused by nuclear testing in the 1950s, and so forth. It makes me think that there is a separate logic to people in power that says that the statements they make are false. An example of this logic would be:
Hypotheses:
1. A prominent US politician says that Iraq has biological weapons.
2. A prominent British politician says that Iraq has chemical weapons.
3. Saddam says that Iraq does not have any chemical, biological, or nuclear weapons.
Conclusion:
Iraq has nuclear weapons.
Proof: In this type of logic we assume the negation of the hypotheses because, since they come from politicians, they are false. Therefore, Iraq does not have biological weapons from 1, and does not have chemical weapons from 2. Number 3 says that Iraq must have at least one of these, but since it does not have chemical or biological weapons, it must therefore have nuclear weapons. QED.
Remember now that the conclusion is reached only if the hypotheses are assumed.
It seems that much of what politicians say are lies. There are Clinton's denials of involvement with Monica, Nixon's denial of involvement in Watergate, Saddam's denial of possession of weapons of mass destruction, US Government's denial of health problems caused by nuclear testing in the 1950s, and so forth. It makes me think that there is a separate logic to people in power that says that the statements they make are false. An example of this logic would be:
Hypotheses:
1. A prominent US politician says that Iraq has biological weapons.
2. A prominent British politician says that Iraq has chemical weapons.
3. Saddam says that Iraq does not have any chemical, biological, or nuclear weapons.
Conclusion:
Iraq has nuclear weapons.
Proof: In this type of logic we assume the negation of the hypotheses because, since they come from politicians, they are false. Therefore, Iraq does not have biological weapons from 1, and does not have chemical weapons from 2. Number 3 says that Iraq must have at least one of these, but since it does not have chemical or biological weapons, it must therefore have nuclear weapons. QED.
Remember now that the conclusion is reached only if the hypotheses are assumed.
2003/02/10
Missing the Demonstration
I thought the Valentine Tree service we had at our church on Sunday was one of the better services of the year. We honored the people that meant the most in our lives by constructing a tree that bore love hearts. We also had some great music - Lydia Adams Davis playing "Song of Life". I bought one of her CDs afterwards and played some of her music on the way to a meeting tonight. I heard some other good tunes, such as "There's a Moon out Waiting for You", but what struck me the most was "Did I Miss the Demonstration?" It was the lament of a Vietnam War veteran, S. Brian Wilson, whose legs were cut off by a train during a demonstration in 1987.
She sings about the splitting noise of helicopter blades, whether he would live through it all, and the blood on his hands from the people he killed in Vietnam - soldiers, women, babies, and elders, to a movie that readily caught my ear. The person she is singing about this has written several moving pieces of prose on the Internet. The song has meaning to us now because our government is about to engage us in yet another conflict - Persian Gulf War II. What will happen in this war?
I received an email today that said a study was made of this war using various mathematical formulas. It estimates US casualties at about 79 and Iraqi casualties as about 3000 with a max possible of about 19,000. It does not make any estimation of civilian dead. It predicts the US will win.
Maybe so, but I regard it as too dangerous. France, Germany and Russia are seeking to block US efforts. They are trying to prevent a war from taking place, and are trying to maneuver things so that the dispute can be settled diplomatically, perhaps with Saddam getting exile and Iraq becoming a UN protectorate or something else. This is because war is horror no matter how it takes place. The best that can happen is a wild prosperous oil party for America in the middle of this decade. The worst that can happen is a tremendous catastrophe. Is it worth taking the risk?
Lydia should sing this song everywhere she goes now until this crisis is settled. I don't know of any case where a song stopped a war, but maybe it will work this time. I think she should give it a try.
I thought the Valentine Tree service we had at our church on Sunday was one of the better services of the year. We honored the people that meant the most in our lives by constructing a tree that bore love hearts. We also had some great music - Lydia Adams Davis playing "Song of Life". I bought one of her CDs afterwards and played some of her music on the way to a meeting tonight. I heard some other good tunes, such as "There's a Moon out Waiting for You", but what struck me the most was "Did I Miss the Demonstration?" It was the lament of a Vietnam War veteran, S. Brian Wilson, whose legs were cut off by a train during a demonstration in 1987.
She sings about the splitting noise of helicopter blades, whether he would live through it all, and the blood on his hands from the people he killed in Vietnam - soldiers, women, babies, and elders, to a movie that readily caught my ear. The person she is singing about this has written several moving pieces of prose on the Internet. The song has meaning to us now because our government is about to engage us in yet another conflict - Persian Gulf War II. What will happen in this war?
I received an email today that said a study was made of this war using various mathematical formulas. It estimates US casualties at about 79 and Iraqi casualties as about 3000 with a max possible of about 19,000. It does not make any estimation of civilian dead. It predicts the US will win.
Maybe so, but I regard it as too dangerous. France, Germany and Russia are seeking to block US efforts. They are trying to prevent a war from taking place, and are trying to maneuver things so that the dispute can be settled diplomatically, perhaps with Saddam getting exile and Iraq becoming a UN protectorate or something else. This is because war is horror no matter how it takes place. The best that can happen is a wild prosperous oil party for America in the middle of this decade. The worst that can happen is a tremendous catastrophe. Is it worth taking the risk?
Lydia should sing this song everywhere she goes now until this crisis is settled. I don't know of any case where a song stopped a war, but maybe it will work this time. I think she should give it a try.
2003/02/09
SUUSI schedule
The Winter NUUS of SUUSI, the mountain retreat that I go to every summer, is out. The nature schedule is already out. I really enjoyed a trip to Dismal Falls last year. So I was disappointed to find that you have to be a woman to go on such a hike this year. The only Dismal Falls hike listed was Dismal Women. However, Falls of the Little River was listed for Friday (July 25) and since that was a good trip a few years ago, I will pick that one. I also met a singer (http://www.LydiaAdamsDavis.com) who I think would be fantastic at SUUSI, so I referred her to that place. I don't know if I will see her there, but I like her children's songs and loved the two songs she sang at today's service.
The Winter NUUS of SUUSI, the mountain retreat that I go to every summer, is out. The nature schedule is already out. I really enjoyed a trip to Dismal Falls last year. So I was disappointed to find that you have to be a woman to go on such a hike this year. The only Dismal Falls hike listed was Dismal Women. However, Falls of the Little River was listed for Friday (July 25) and since that was a good trip a few years ago, I will pick that one. I also met a singer (http://www.LydiaAdamsDavis.com) who I think would be fantastic at SUUSI, so I referred her to that place. I don't know if I will see her there, but I like her children's songs and loved the two songs she sang at today's service.
The Valentine Tree
My congregation had an interesting service today. To demonstrate our love for someone, we were each given a pen and a Valentine red heart, and asked to write down someone who meant a lot in your life. I put down my piano teacher when I was 7 years old, since she introduced me to the world of music. We then all got up and put our hearts on a tree up front. Afterwards, the tree looked like it had born Valentine fruit. But you can't plant one of those hearts and hope to get a Valentine tree. It is love among all of us that grows the tree.
My congregation had an interesting service today. To demonstrate our love for someone, we were each given a pen and a Valentine red heart, and asked to write down someone who meant a lot in your life. I put down my piano teacher when I was 7 years old, since she introduced me to the world of music. We then all got up and put our hearts on a tree up front. Afterwards, the tree looked like it had born Valentine fruit. But you can't plant one of those hearts and hope to get a Valentine tree. It is love among all of us that grows the tree.
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