Political Hacks

The supreme court is behaving exactly as ultra conservative republicans would behave. 

Ultra conservative republicans do not base their opinions in law either. 

The Universe Is Trying To Tell Us Something

Truth is the reward for our courage to face the unknown.

Truth is the reward for our courage to face not knowing. 

The pursuit of truth is the only thing that will expand understanding, compassion, humility.

Truth, the pursuit of truth, is the only way we can grow. 

How can a galaxy, a tree, or even a single leaf, ever again be just backdrop to human folly once you have seen them, truly seen them, for what they are. There is beauty within beauty within beauty, complexity within complexity. Knowing then, lends perspective in ways that tear down false frames of reference that foster egocentrism and shallow human construct - helping us to the truths beyond.

Love in Paris

Montmatre, Paris
Photo by Tadji Kretschmer, 2022 

How does one make a roof vent, a speaker, and loosely placed colored lights, charming? Ask the French.

Yuliya and I sat outside this restaurant one evening along with an older couple a few tables away. 

Charming evolved into magical, as darkness fell.

The old couple held hands the entire time.

 

The Emperor Has No Clothes

Shortly after announcing his intent to acquire Twitter Mr. Musk laid out his vision: “Free speech is the bedrock of a functioning democracy, and Twitter is the digital town square where matters vital to the future of humanity are debated.” 

Town halls occur in one place - town halls. Everyone at the town hall must listen to everything being said, to include opposing viewpoints. This tends to bring people together. 

You know, sort of the opposite of what occurs on Twitter, where people choose to read only that which supports their own viewpoints thus dramatically amplifying divisiveness and anger.

If Mr. Musk is really that naïve, or clueless, is it any wonder he is about to single-handedly destroy the world's largest social media platform? 

Mr. Musk has exhibited genius over the years, possessing a spectrum of brilliance. But understanding people - be it on social media, his own employees, or society in general – does not appear to be on his spectrum.

Mr. Musk, you want to save Twitter? - leave. 

Say Hello to God

Space is not continuous to zero. The smallest distance possible is 1.616255(18)×10−35 m = Plank's length. 

In other-wards space is pixelated. 

Pixelation usually implies display and/or digital format.

A universe consisting of holographic display or digitized information argues for simulation. 

Whew

Today I flew over the Chicxulub crater left by an asteroid that struck the earth 66 million years ago. The asteroid slammed into the earth on the northern tip of the Yucatan peninsula, killing off most, if not all, of the dinosaurs.

Just think, had I left just slightly earlier (geologically speaking) that asteroid would have first hit my plane, wiping out me and all on board. 

Whew!

.

MillenniAll/MillenniMe

Me me

me, me, me, me

MEEEE!!!

me,me, me-me 

me me me me me, me me

MEEEEE!!!!'

Ripe For Fascism

Bubba don't care about democracy no mo

cuz bubba don't know what it is

Sheeet, lection was stole 

Well at least I ain't no brown hoard 

libs are morans

God Bless Merica 

Thankyou For Your Service

In the first year of the covid pandemic in the US, 3600 healthcare providers died of the disease. Most were nurses exposed while caring for their covid patients. They knew the risks and stepped up and cared for these patients anyway.

In that same time period there were 18 combat deaths in all of the US military. 

And yet it is the military we let on airplanes first, and go out of our way to thank for their service, every chance we get.

Says alot about our society, our love of war, and our attitudes towards female predominant professions. 

As an intensive care physician I can tell you the 1 million covid deaths our nurses have had to face deeply traumatized them. How about we, at the least, honor and thank them for their service.

Greed in Healthcare

Corporate greed in healthcare demoralizes providers by hindering their jobs causing people to die unnecessarily or to needlessly suffer. 

Labor is a major expense and so hospital administrations chronically understaff and underpay, as policy - even when they are widely profitable.

Materials and tools needed to care for patients if not a money maker are perpetually in short supply, or nonexistent.

There are almost no direct feedback channels to corporate leaders from the average nurse or provider - purposefully designed that way - giving no real avenue to problem solve in order to improve care or the working environment.

Corporate owned hospital's main administrations are not located locally and thus not really answerable to the community - purposefully so. 

Highly trained and experienced ICU nurses might make $80,000 if lucky. Corporate Healthcare CEO's? - somewhere in the 50 to 700 times that range.

I'd like to see this sort of greed become criminal. These CEO's and their corporations are making this sort of money off of the death and human suffering of their customers and off of our society that subsidizes them. At the least more proper compensation should be enacted for those highly skilled healthcare providers who actually do the work, take the risks, and do the bulk of the suffering.

Here is a list of our top ten offenders, bonuses not included: 

1. Ascension CEO $59.1 million
2. Kaiser CEO $29.8 million 
3. Banner CEO $29.6 million 
4. Advocate Health CEO, $27.8 million
5. Memorial Hermann Special Advisor/CEO $27.3 million
6. Northwestern Memorial COO $15.3 million
7. Trinity Healthcare CEO $24 million 
8. HCA Healthcare CEO $20 million 
9. Ascension Health CEO $13.6 Million 
10. Common Spirit Health CEO $4.0 million 

Squandering Paradise

The idea that the people of the United States would elect a republican majority to the House after everything the republicans have done, hand in hand with the amorality, criminality, and antidemocracy of Trump, tells me two things. 

     1. Republicans cheat. 

     2. The US deserves them. 

Self Made Worlds

The arrogance of stupid astounds.

On The Edge Of Sanity

Did you ever go in so deep you couldn't breathe? 

An old oak tree, it's 300,000 leaves gently shimmering in the light summer breeze. Its trunk's bark, thick, cool, comforting in the shade.

For years this tree has awoken from winter's long dormancy, transforming dirt and air into an explosion of delicate leaves, renewing itself so beautifully, year, after year, after year. 

Hold just a single one of its leaves in your hand and begin to get lost in its complexity and beauty. Its veins, pores, stoma, cells, deeper to its chloroplasts - little organelles within the cells, where photosynthesis occurs. Using the power of sunlight - 10 quadrillion (a million billion) photons per second, per leaf, these organelles transform carbon dioxide from the air, into carbon chains of sugars, starches, and cellulose. These are then transported throughout the tree nourishing and maintaining its life. Along the way the process releases oxygen, so that we may all breathe. This has occurred trillions of times in just this single tree, within these delicate leaves, each summer day, for a hundred years.

Go deeper still, deep into the immensity that is our galaxy - so deep you feel your brain begin to unhinge - as what you have understood to be you and your place in this universe begins to dissolve away as the true nature of everything begins to unveil itself to you - its unbelievable vastness, ancientness, endless complexity, and beauty.

Hold tight as your imagined coordinates, frames of reference, even your sense of self, everything you have ever known or thought you knew about yourself and your place in this universe, comes slowly undone  - welcoming you to the edge of your sanity. 

There is beauty, within beauty, within beauty, complexity within complexity. Knowing then, truly knowing, lends perspective - helping one to the truths beyond. Shallow human construct - everything you have ever known and used to define yourself and your world - money, power, wealth, nation, religion, prestige - all of it - human invention - all of it - make believe and magic. None exist except as people believe they do. If nation were real - where did the Soviet Union go? And as such all of it will fade away as you come to know the true nature of your universe  - leaving you vulnerable and confused - the price to pay for truth. 

But it is a price well worth it, for how can a galaxy, a tree, or even a single leaf, ever again be just backdrop to silly human folly once you have seen them, truly seen them, for what they are? 

Hear the Mechanical Footsteps

Full automation is coming. Automation is for the most part cheaper and more efficient than humans, so there will be no stopping it. 

We are not talking about typesetters, or automated looms, or even industrial robots bolted to assembly lines. This sort of automation has nearly always created as many jobs as it has replaced. But full automation may not. 

Full automation will be directed by artificial intelligence (AI) and will thus work its way into nearly every job and profession there is. Furthermore, it will become completely autonomous. AI directed machines will harvest their own energy and raw materials, refine and process them, then assemble and distribute every material need people require for high quality life. Employing robotics these machines will become self- repairing as well, and so will attain complete autonomy from humans. 

How then will this full automation impact our economy? More importantly, how will it impact society as a whole? If everything can be provided for by machines, what will people do? 

This is not that far off into the future. It is beginning to occur now, today, and could be nearly complete within fifty years. 

Im going to go out on a limb here and suggest the world may want to begin planning for it now. 

The Future is Bright

Do not weary, for all things are possible. 

These plants can transform soil, air, and water, into a delicate petal or a leaf amoung a myriad of leaves, arranged in endless patterns of beauty. Simple dirt transformed into such stunning richness.

Everything is a miracle. 

Everything.

Apocalyptically Stupid

Ever noticed how the preferred vehicles of survivalists are souped up miltary camouflaged jeeps or huge oversized trucks? Apparently anything that gets better than ten miles per gallon is out. So where is all that gas coming from after the apocalypse? 

Obviously their vehicles need to be electric. 

Now try imagining one of these fools in a Leaf. 

Our Republican Party

Ladies and gentleman. May I present the leader of the republican party.