Monday, November 17, 2008
red shift, why?
Premise – Quasars are so bright because they are so far away, and so huge.
Problem – If that was the case, based on red shift many or most of them would be far brighter for their distance than even the largest supernova, and maintain that brightness level for a very long time. This would be highly unlikely.
Solution – Quasars are not that far away, but as the steady state crowed show, they may very well be within the range of the companion galaxies.
Problem – If that was the case, how do you account for the red shift shown in the quasars relative to the galaxies, or for that matter, account for the red shift in the galaxies themselves. Something has to be causing it.
Solution – We know gravity can effect light over the short term, we have observed the manipulation of light around stars from background galaxies. We understand how that works, but what are the effects of gravity on light over thousands of years? If a Galaxy is dense or sparse would that effect the light coming from the galaxy? Can that cause a red shift we observe? And a quasar being very dense in deed, have a greater effect on the light leaving it?
How many items have a blue shift? There are catalogs of millions of galaxies all with various red shifts, but how many have a blue shift? Reality is there are an incredibly small number, and most are very low compared to the apparent red shift of so many other objects. This should indicate that of the millions of red shift items and dozens of blue shift items, the math of the big bang does not work there either. There should be quite a few more. If gravity is causing the red shift, then to get a blue shift items would need to have a specific heading, and relatively high speed in order to show.
M31 has one of, if not the largest blue shift of any galaxy in the sky. Why?
Does any of this rule out a Big Bang? no. Does any of this prove a Big Bang? No.
I deal in logic, and often I find an answer simply by thinking my way through the problem. This is not something I can do that on. There seems to be a lack of science or at least easily available material on this whole problem. Sometimes I have a hard time sleeping after these kind of think sessions. Perhaps someone can recommend reading on this subject. And yes I do understand much but not all of the math involved. After all I do not have a Physics degree.
Thursday, September 18, 2008
Watergate 2008 : Obama on the hotseat
I’m not saying he did, but there is at least as much information linking him to this person in Tennessee as there was Nixon to the Watergate break-ins. There should be a serious investigation RIGHTNOW into exactly who talked to this person, and timeline between their conversation and the initial hack of the email account. When was this person or was this person in contact with the Obama team in Tennessee and they with Obama? Or is it more direct than that? We don’t know yet.
Sarah Palin’s Email was not hacked because she is a random person, it was hacked because she is a political figure standing against Obama, this is without question.
EDIT - Others seem to be bloging that his father is not only a strong supporter of Obama, but has in fact raised a lot of money for Obama. Is a high ranking member of Obama's team in Tennessee.
I want a federal attorney to subpoena Obama, immediate staff, Mike Kernell, his son, and staff mail, email, and phone records TONIGHT. I don't want to wait until Obama asks Hillary how to shred documents the right way. This needs to be resolved in 72 hours.
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
Political Season Starts
2nd Timothy 4:3-5 - For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths. But you, keep your head in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry.
Every four years the circus comes around, and every four years we get to choose the liar we want to represent us for the next 4 years. This year the differences between the two can not be greater.
One wants to get out of Iraq, but doesn’t care if we win, or the whole middle east goes into turmoil. The other wants to win, but is vague on what that really means, or how that can be achieved.
One thinks no one in the country should have money, jobs, or anything except him and the government should just pay everyone, like France/Germany. ( we have a 5.5% unemployment rate which is historically good, France has a 8.2% Germany has 12.6%. ) Something makes me think modeling us after failed smaller countries would not be a wise move.
The other isn’t sure and says he doesn’t know economics. Not really a good choice either, and certainly not what we need.
One has no experience at leading anything, until 2 years ago, he had never lead a toast, or been in sports, refuses to wear our flag, refuses to say our anthem, refuses to say anything positive about the country.
The other served in a previous War, and was captured, tortured, and released after 7 years in captivity.
One professes Christianity, but only allows one race to participate in his church. Goes to a church that is for only one race. Where is this in the Bible? Jesus came for all people. If you fit into the category of Jew or Non-Jew than Jesus is for you.
The other is a devout Baptist who openly professes Jesus is lord.
Somehow I do not think I will be voting for the inexperienced racist, who does not believe in this country enough to wear our flag, or speak our anthem. When it comes right down to it, those are the only issues that count anyway.
Thursday, April 17, 2008
Chinese Olympics
However I think supporting the US Olympic Team is a totally different story, and we SHOULD NOT pull out of the Olympics as a nation. The Olympics are the climax of many of those athletes lives. It is their 5 minutes of fame. I have met some past athletes who did and did not win metals, years ago, and once this is over, they go on to have real lives in offices, and stores, and schools. This is their moment.
I will not watch the opening ceremony.
I will not support the television sponsors. It is already on a network I don’t watch much anyway.
I suggest EVERYONE carefully look at who sponsors these games television broadcast and think twice about it. Make this a loser for the network,
Friday, April 11, 2008
Greenpeace
Here is a story my grandfather told me about in
Normally they have a group of people go through the area, and find the trees most ready to be harvested. If there is a group close together they pick one, and leave the rest. If one tree is picked, the ones on either side are spared. They wrap a colored plastic wrap around the trees to be cut. Once they are removed, they plant 2 trees at least in different areas around the place the tree was, and put down a layer of topsoil (usually over the whole area, but sometimes only over part that needs it). Somewhere between monthly and quarterly the areas underbrush is cleared away, leaving the ground, and grass clean and preventing forest fires. The whole area is maintained, and wildlife is left to flourish. Hunting is prohibited in their private land, because a bullet in the wood could damage a high power saw used to cut the tree when the time comes. Still land nearby is highly sought after for hunting due to large amounts of game.
At some point in the 80s, I am not sure the exact date, since my Grandfather has now passed, I can not exactly ask him. Greenpeace came to town to protest the cutting of trees by the lumber companies. They had a little march, a small protest, and are salads at the all “you can eat” Catfish Dinner at the local joint. Everyone laughed, had a good time, and they left. No one had a second thought.
Two weeks later they began cutting the trees, and after a couple of trees were complete without error, a blade on a high power saw broke mid chain, and whipped around nearly severing a mans arm. If it hit a little higher it would have killed him. After weeks of therapy he was finally able to do normal things around the house, but would never be able to lift anything heavy again.
That sort of thing doesn’t happen, so all the saws were inspected, and new blades put on all of them. This took a couple weeks, in the mean time all these guys were without work, and had been waiting for this season to open so they can earn a living for the year.
They started up again, and after a few trees, a chain breaks again. This time it hits a guy in the side and back. Less damaging to him, but still no picnic. This man recovered fine, but the investigation found the problem. A long staple made of tungsten carbide in the tree. Just below the surface, under the bark, so it was just a month or so old. (about the time Greenpeace was there).
So now they stop work again, and X-Ray all the trees, this takes more than a month. More than half the trees in the area are found to have these staples. The company has no choice. They can not risk mens lives. They bring in heavy equipment and clearcut the whole forrest. Because the staples would damage saw blades at the mill, they can not be used for lumber. So some of the best lumber Pine in the world is crushed and turned into paper. So much the company can’t sell all of it before it drys out, so the rest they grind up and dump in a landfill.
In the meantime Several hundred people lost their jobs for 20 years while the trees grow. Several hundred more at the mill lost their jobs since they had nothing to cut. Greenpeace went on, and a community suffers.
Do I think Greenpeace meant to do this? No. It was eco-terrorists in their ranks.
The problem with Greenpeace is if you preach hate toward a group, (business) then that feeds the hate of the extremists. See the Moslem faith. They are not all terrorists, or even a small percentage are. Problem is when you tell people to hate, that is all they know.
Wednesday, April 9, 2008
SAVE THE TROOPS LIVES
For years now people have been asking why the troops are not protected. The Military blames Congress, who blames the President who says he is approving what the military asks for. Somewhere in there, someone claims costs are a factor, someone else says we have the best there is, and someone does a show on something better. Round and round we go, and the people in
Yesterday Bush posthumously presented a Navy SEAL, Michael Monsoor the Metal of Honor. A great American who also earned a Silver Star. And one of the reasons it was posthumously, was because the military still does not have adequate body armor for the troops.
Oh, there is blame to go around, but lets begin with what the military has now as a standard body armor. Interceptor body armor is a single sheet of carbon-carbon ceramic that is very strong, but not strong enough. It does not pass Level IIIA testing by the military, which other armors have. It will stop a 7.62x51 NATO at range, but close up is another question. In 2005 the whole line of them in use by the Marines were pulled and sent back to the manufacturer when it was found they could not stop a standard 9mm pistol round, in fact the manufacturer found some of their units to not be able to stop any round.
A company called Pinnacle Armor has gone to great lengths to market their armor to the military as being greater. In fact it has passed every III test, except it failed two shots of 7.62x63mm 166gr APM2, which is part of the Level IV test and not level III. Even then, the military testers had fits arguing where to test the armor since it is flexible, unlike anything else they had tested, and one tester said they shot it in a non-protection area. However the armor did fail after being subjected to heat for several hours, the separate disks slide around and the adhesive holding them in place melts. This leaves large areas without protection, and the prime reason for failures. Frankly I find this an easy fix, with a phone call to 3M who has more than enough experience with adhesives, both military and otherwise. Still the protection from Dragon skin is unlike anything else on the market, but so is the price. Interceptor is $1585 per unit, and Dragon skin is almost $4000. Still in an area where we pay $250,000 or more for training a soldier, is $4,000 really a lot?
Dragon Skin on the Discovery Channel show Future Weapons took a full clip of 9mm fired from an MP5, and AK-47 and LAYING ON A GRENADE. The soldier would have trauma to be sure, and be injured from shrapnel, but the armor took the force and the soldier would likely have lived.
California SWAT demonstrated a vest taking .308 sniper rounds, and still taking 30 rounds of MP5 point blank. Also on a separate armor shoed it stopping 200 rounds from MP5s and 40 rounds from an AK-47 without failure. There is no other armor that can do this, and Dragon Skin is flexable, which means you can move in it freely.
Why is Dragon Skin not used by the military? Politics. If you think the United States Congress is political, visit the pentagon. If the Army likes it, the Marines hate it. If the Airforce wants it, the Navy rejects it. Not matter what it is. Lives saved is the bottom line, but it is the group who wanted holes on the side of the Bradley so you could shoot out it. We are talking about the same group who wanted bright colored clothing for soldiers as an attempt to cut down on friendly fire. Just because we have the best and brightest military doesn’t mean everyone is a genius.
Special forces who can choose anything equipment wise, choose Dragon Skin.
Monday, March 31, 2008
Gas Prices Climbing
So here we are, gas prices are going up, and the cost of everything is climbing due to higher gas prices. Everyone is decrying politicians fault, but no one is listening. The problem is not a lack of oil. There is 25% more supply than demand, and that will remain for quite some time. The problem is not politicians fault. I don’t see them drilling or selling oil. The market is scared, not of high oil, but of what might, maybe happen in 20 years if a billion Indians all get cars, and 1.5 billion Chinese all get cars. Then we would see more demand than supply, and the price today is rising because that might, maybe happen some time in the future if nothing changes.
Here are my solutions :
1) Big rig trucks. Little has changed to engines, and almost nothing to air efficiency in 30 years. You can make trucks FAR more aerodynamic and save 20-40% of the fuel costs without even touching the engine. Not just with Hybrid, but with new designs for engines, you can increase efficiency even more. It is not impossible to have a big rig getting 3x the current miles on a tank. There are Hybrids out there, but very few, and truckers have not even considered them in mass.
2) Nothing. The market will correct itself. As gas goes up, more people will look at getting a car rather than the super duty 3500 to haul groceries and pickup the kids. Every time I see a soccer mom in a dually I laugh a little. Even a minivan gets 25mpg, that super duty is about 12mpg on a good day. (I know someone with a F250 and his onboard computer shows 11mpg all the time.)
3) Research. E85 and Hybrids are only stopgap measures. Fuel cell or Electric direct are solutions. Until solutions hit the market working, and workable long term, we will still use oil.
What about beyond oil? Well we could use Methane ice from the ocean floor. There is around 50x as much of it as the world has oil and coal combined.
Or we can follow the lead of the new movie 11th hour and simply allow the UN to systematically eliminate all but 1 billion people, remove all industrial equipment, including concrete, and all exotic metals, and everyone go back to 1400’s technology. The movie asserts the most people earth can support is 1 billion pre industrial, and that is all we should ever have.
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
Brazilian Children (The next generation)
On Orkut, a friend was asked by another friend about child poverty in Brazil. Now, I have friends in Brazil who know far better than me, and I don't pretend to know more than them, but I do have some ideas, and knowledge after being down there a couple times.
First thing to think about is parents. Child poverty is not a question of children, but families. If parents are impoverished, then the children will grow up in a impoverished home. One thing leads to another. With northern
Second, one generations poverty propagates itself on a second and third generation by restricting, and limited education to the next generations. One problem
In the end it all comes down to money. to implement either of these, Brazil would need large sums of money and they have never had an over abundance of it. At the same time as all of this, since Columbia has been doing a good job fighting drug dealers, and Venezuela is becoming harder to export out of since the US and Europe are not treated as nice by the current government as previous governments, Drug Czars and their influence is moving across into far northern Brazil. If anything, the US/UN/EU needs to make sure the Brazilian government is strong so we don't end up with what we had in Columbia in the 80s again.
How the UN could do anything about this, I’m not sure. Takes the UN 20 years to agree that snow exists, and 50 years to agree that a coat is good to wear in snow. Christmas is slow in coming every year. Congress takes years to do anything. The UN takes decades.
Just some ideas I have. Maybe I’m nuts. Ask Erika, she may agree that I’m nuts!
Missing Hiker
About twice a year someone is ‘lost’ on
Now someone else is missing, on
Here are some things to take with you in a backpack.
Extra shirt
Waterproof overpants
Sweater
Water Proof Jacket
Small/medium LED waterproof flashlight
Extra pair of socks
A rapid charge battery for your cell phone.
Pocketknife
Separate leatherman tool
2 small ½ liter bottles of water
2 power bars or granola bars
1 apple/banana/etc
The biggest problem you need to worry about isn’t weather changing, it is you breaking a leg, or falling and twisting your ankle, or something where you can not make it back down. That is when these things come in handy. If you are missing, a flashlight at night would be a beacon to any helicopter or rescue worker. LED Flashlights last for thousands of hours of use. You could keep it on and pointed somewhere all night for several nights.
Even if you have no cell phone service leaving it on could help rescue workers find you, but only if it has power. I personally never had a problem, but it would happen the one time my battery was low or something.
Why waterproof if it gets cold? Well Snow and Ice melts. For 24 hours your body heat with 2 shirts, sweater, and waterproof jacket is more than fine.
Obviously this is in addition to what you plan on eating and drinking on the hike. So if you are stuck. Save this till day 2. Have 1 bottle of water and 1 bar a day. This will give you quite a few days of life. Between the flashlight, cell phone, and as long as you are ON a trail, then this should be more than good enough to allow a ranger to find you.
AND PLEASE PLEASE ALWAYS CHECK WEATHER BEFORE YOU GO UP! Mountains are not like valleys. I have been in
UPDATE --- The hiker was found dead, I am VERY sorry to hear this. My prayers go out to the family. I wish there was better news.
Monday, March 10, 2008
CO2
Let me go over this again. There still seems to be enough people clamoring for blood over Man Made Global Warming. I do not argue there is no warming, I ague that man-kind is not the blame.
I do not reject CO2 as a greenhouse gas, it is one, a minor one, but one. So is water vapor and about half a dozen other elements in the atmosphere. Humans are not the only source for CO2 however. Livestock, and animals produce quite a healthy amount, and the oceans extrude ginormous amounts of CO2. Other things like Volcano’s, and dieing vegetation also give off CO2. Last year CO2 in the atmosphere went up by 0.52%, what percentage was manmade and what was the other items? Oceans are by far the largest contributor, but even if man was half, say 0.26%. Has our output gone up 100% in the last few years? Because just a few years ago it was 0.42% increase yearly. If the others remain the same at 0.26, then man in 5 years has gone from 0.16 to 0.26. Problem is the others have not stayed the same. Oceans are producing more, and 2007 was a very active volcano year globally.
In the last few months the global temperature has dropped significantly. More so than any time in 150 years, does that mean coming iceage? No.
I also like it when talking heads on TV say a 5 degree change (equal to 5 centuries like the 20th) will melt the poles. Do these people understand the temperature there? Highs were -27C and -41C the other day. COME ON !!! 5 degrees means -22C and -36C as a high. I think water is still frozen at those temperatures.
Personally I think a global cooling is far worse for us than warming. Warming means more crops later in the season, and more farmland opening up. Cooler means the opposite. Warming means we can feed 8-12 billion people, cooling means we can feed 5, so the rest just die.
Also, I live in a wood frame house. I am typing on a wood table. My bed frame is made mostly of wood (it has some large screws and corner pieces that are metal). All of this is taking carbon OUT of the atmosphere.
How many years of driving a V6 does it take to equate the carbon removed by building a house and furniture our of wood and wood products? (not counting all the wood in offices, banks, etc.)
Sometime I’ll tell you about something that happened in
Friday, March 7, 2008
Hacking the Pentagon
Every hacker worth 2 cents has claimed (legit or not) to have gained access to the CIA, FBI, Pentagon, or Whitehouse at some point. 99.9% of these have been hacking the public web site, or BBS in the early days. In neither case was anything remotely sensitive at risk unless someone from the inside made it so. The remaining 0.1% about 99% of them were people hacking an outlying network, or server, again not associated with isolated, internal communications. There have been a couple of complete legitimate hacks, but from what I heard, neither were prosecuted. In fact, both resulted in jobs.
Now some Chinese guys who spend all day in WoW say they got into the Pentagon. I say, ‘whatever’. If they did, it sure wasn’t the internal network. Most people on the outside have no idea how they isolate the network. Lets just say you can’t get there from here. The only way in, is through a computer on the inside.
It grabs headlines, and make more of a political statement, but the real fear isn’t some hacker on the Internet accessing a network with no ties to the Internet. The big fear is someone getting a job at the Pentagon, or at a subcontractor who has direct access to the DARPA network directly. Some times I just wish the media would hire someone who knows SOMETHING about computers, and networks before they run with a story about them.
Maybe I’m asking too much.
Friday, February 1, 2008
Britney Spears
Ok, Britney Spears has a lot of issues. It started when she was 13, and no one had ever said ‘NO’ to her. Today we have a spoiled brat with more money than since, minimal education, zero street smarts who thinks the world revolves around her, and millions of young girls using her missteps as a role model for how to live their lives.
I do not really think we need to go over the problems she has had finding underwear, or choice of friends, or anything else. Being an adult, it is impossible to prevent her from further destroying her life. I really do feel sorry for her. She is/was a very beautiful woman, and now she is a wreck.
I was talking about her the other day with some friends from work. We all agree, someone needs to take her to a place the poperotsi can’t find her. We have 3 guaranteed locations we came to mind. I think mine is best. But either way, she needs to get away, and stay away for at least a few months, and when she comes back, stay out of the spotlight for months more, and give people time to forget. Say 2 years from now come out with a new album and start over. Lord knows she has plenty of money.
The biggest problem with her just staying out of the spotlight is the people around her (freeloaders mostly). She likely has 2-3 real, and good friends, and 20+ leeches clamoring for scraps. That is one reason I have never wanted to be famous. Rich is ok, but famous is nuts. If she could separate friend from leech, she would be far better off. Problem is from her perspective it’s blurred. It is not easy to tell who is a friend and who is a drain. Asking one friend causes problems with the others, that is why I say just leave.
Now her sister is pregnant, and may not even be her regular boyfriends? Ok, so she is only 16 years old, and is going to have more problems than Britney much earlier. Someone needs to really help these girls.
Monday, January 28, 2008
Soccer, er I mean Futbol.
The whole time I watch it, I want soccer like this in the US. Don't get me wrong we do have MLS, and they have some good teams and good players, and often I catch their games on ESPN2 or other networks. It just isn't the same level as Europe. I would watch some Central/South American games but I have a hard time following Spanish commentators.
btw, the movies Goal and Goal 2 are totally AWESOME. I highly recommend people watch them if you like soccer at all. I can't wait for the 3rd to come out later this year. I heard it will be about the World Cup and Argentina.
Sunday, January 20, 2008
GET OUT and See The World
I was watching TV the other day and there was this show on called “1000 Places To see Before You Die”. Was a really good show, but the thing that suck with me was the intro. ‘You see only 936 full moons, and experience only 312 seasons in an average lifetime.’ That is profound and shocking when you think of how fleeting our time on Earth really is.
There are a lot of things I have yet to do, and many things looking back I should not have tried, but none of it has stopped me from trying. The couple staring in the show takes 6 months out of their lives to go globe hopping, and that’s great for them, they likely spend $10 million doing it to. Personally I don’t have that kind of money, and neither does most people I know. Most people with money are so busy making it, they can’t enjoy it.
Anyone out there have a few million to donate to my ‘Adventure Fund’?
On a more serious note, You really should cease the moment. Every day, every hour will never come again. If there is something you want to try and do, you should go for it. Problem is people are inherently evil and do not do right. I admit, when I see a pretty women, first thing I think about is sexual in nature. Often even married women if I turn around and see one that is attractive, my mind will lapse into sex for a minute, or two, or ten. Mathew 7 begins with
1"Do not judge, or you too will be judged. 2For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.
3"Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? 4How can you say to your brother, 'Let me take the speck out of your eye,' when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? 5You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye.
It’s a delicate balance for a Christian in this day and age. It's hard to keep a level head. There is so much to see and do, so little time to do it in, and for the first time in history, possible to do it.
Still I managed to go to
Sunday, January 6, 2008
Global Warming is a Theory
I figured I would just jump right out and say how I feel on this subject. GLOBAL WARMING IS NOT PROVEN. Global Warming, and Man Made Global Warming, and CO2 Based Global Warming are theories. This is not a religion, and those who are skeptical are not heretics. It is not certain, or likely, but plausible.