Barely There

If you put all 6 billion people on earth in one place and then removed all the empty space in and between their atoms, what volume would they then occupy?

A cube slightly smaller than a lump of sugar.

Stupid is as stupid does

A car bomb killed a nuclear scientist in Tehran’s Wednesday morning rush hour this week.  The driver of the car, Mostafa Ahmadi Roshan, a 32-year-old father of three, was at least the fifth scientist with nuclear connections to be killed since 2007; a sixth scientist, Fereydoon Abbasi, survived a 2010 attack.

“The United States had absolutely nothing to do with this,” said Tommy Vietor, a spokesman for the National Security Council. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton took it even further, “categorically” denying “any United States involvement in any kind of act of violence inside Iran.” I think two things about that:
1. They know who did do it and thus are complicit by saying nothing.
2. That the lady doth protest too much, methinks.

It appears Israel is behind much of this. I would  be very surprised if the US was not abetting them despite publicly denouncing the attacks.

Mind you this is not a Matt Damon drama filled action movie. Innocent human beings are being murdered. Men who have committed no crime. Men with families. And it's not ok.

Justified as an alternative to war, it is not - it is murder. It is terrorism. And it is unlikely to accomplish anything other than to slow Iran's effort while strengthening their resolve. Gary Sick, a specialist on Iran at Columbia University says “It’s important to turn around and ask how the U.S. would feel if our revenue was being cut off, our scientists were being killed and we were under cyber-attack. Would we give in, or would we double down? I think we’d fight back, and Iran will, too.”

Israel denies involvement but hints at justification if they WERE involved. One former Israeli official  offered this “In Arabic, there’s a proverb: If you are shooting, don’t complain about being shot,” he said. Right out of the mouths of Iran's leaders when they go to murder us and our allies in retaliation. 

Do I want Iran to gain nuclear weapons capability?
Of course not.
But there are ways of seeing that doesn't happen that are legal and humane and at least somewhat in the spirit of international law and basic decency. 
Does clandestine murder of people who have committed no crimes against humanity or for that matter any other crime make you swell with patriotic pride?
Doesn't me.

It is inhumane, it is illegal, and it is stupid.

Loves Abyss

Swaying bodies in the heat
Mind is focused and then it's free
Day and night is all the same
Drops of rain where the shadows lay 
 
Aching heart comes home again...
 
Once again your spirit's high
Not a cloud in the sky
 
The time will come when we're once more
Will feel our presence no more
 
Just swaying movements and 
the breeze
and
timeless ancient love abyss 

by Yuliya Phillips 

Ready, Set

Aging is a biologic mechanism, not a natural consequence of time. It is programmed into cells and may have not always have been so. Scientists have recently identified a billion-year-old mechanism that appears to regulate aging in mice and other animals - perhaps even humans. Now this begs the question, why did such mechanisms, why did aging, evolve? Put another way what is the evolutionary advantage to aging and death?

Evolution is based on random genetic mutation and survival of the fittest.The system would favor limiting lifespan so as to make way for subsequent generations as a way to promote genetic adaptation to changing environments. Aging and death then would favor survival of the species as a whole.

But what if a species could learn to manipulate its own genetic apparatus so as insure adaptation perhaps in ways 'nature' could never concoct. What purpose aging then? Good question since this is our fate.

It is highly likely we will learn how to stop or reverse aging. We already know that blocking key steps in the aging mechanism in both animal and human studies reduces the incident of age related illnesses - diabetes, certain cancers, osteoporosis, Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, heart muscle degeneration, and macular degeneration. It is likely then that 'curing' the aging process will result in better health, energy, and outlook making living longer pleasurable, providing a 'physical' youth and a brain elastic, energized and receptive to experience tempered only by what we do to each other and the boundless human capacity for self harm.

There probably is no good reason not to extend life and 'cure' the aging process. Here's the thing - this is likely to occur in your or your children's lifetime.

Are you ready?

Doctors All

They wear 19th century costumes, saturate and separate themselves with tradition and noble intent
Drawn to a profession of costume, false prestige and rewards for having a good memory
many lack an intuitive sense of people - a wisdom if you will
I find many of them two dimensional and entirely too level headed
lacking in depth and just as judgmental
They confuse good memory for intelligence and as in many professions reward the ability to dazzle and dance and all that attracts rather than skill and inherent ability
And then there are the few
Those precious few, stunning in their ways, their talents and keenness of mind
Those that possess what can never be taught - those that can make all the difference
Those that I strive to be like
Taken as a whole they do the very best they can
Without them many of you would be lost
Despite their shortcomings, perhaps because of them when taken in context of what they can collectively accomplish
I am oh so glad to know them
Doctors all

No Where To Go But Up

People have been underestimating me my entire life.
Makes for fine ambushing.

The Future of You

Over the next few decades our intelligence will become increasingly non-biological and trillions of times more powerful than it is today. We will witness the dawning of a new civilization that will enable us to transcend our biological limitations and amplify our creativity.
An analysis of the history of technology shows that technological change is exponential, contrary to the common sense "intuitive linear" view. So we won't experience 100 years of progress in the 21st century -- it will be more like 20,000 years of progress (at today's rate).  Within a few decades, machine intelligence will surpass human intelligence; leading to technological change so rapid and profound it represents a rupture in the fabric of human history. The implications include the merger of biological and non-biological intelligence, immortal software-based humans with ultra-high levels of intelligence that will reside within the fabric of space-time itself.
(As paraphrased from unknown author)