Stephen Hawkins: We are Destroying Our Planet.

Steven Hawkings, the world-famous physicist, stated that we should be looking for another planet because we are destroying planet Earth.

If true, then nature has a way of "self correcting".   We will simply become extinct in our own toxic waste, and nature will try again in another few million years, with some other new, more intelligent species. Any maybe they (whoever "they" are) will do better than us, but I doubt it.

I like to think we are working our way out of our current mess.  We are maturing as a species because we have become aware of our own impact on the planet, and we will use advanced technologies to correct the mistakes of the past. 

Remember that we are still very young (as a species).  The dinosaurs ruled the planet for about 180 million years, but most anthropologist  say our primitive ancestors walked the earth five to seven million yeas ago.  We only made flint tools about two and a half million years ago.  The Renaissance occurred about six thousand years ago with the Age of Enlightenment, and the Industrial Revolution just started about three hundred years ago. 

Most would agree that modern technology did not really start until after Edison invented the light bulb about 1880 and we electrified much of the planet.  Remember, Rutherford didn't split the atom until 1919, about one hundred years ago.  Since that time, we have created plastics, semiconductors,  antibiotics, nuclear power, birth control pills, electronic computers, carbon steel, concrete, skyscrapers, contact lenses, nanotechnology, Teflon, solar panels, the internet, e-mail, wind turbines and electric cars. We put men on the moon and we put communication satellites in orbit. We have the science to know what we are doing right and wrong.  We can and will, fix our mistakes.  (As an example, do you remember the problem with phosphates?  Fixed it.  DDT?  Fixed that too.   How about the Ozone Hole?)

We know we must work our way off of fossil fuels, and will will.   No, I am not worried about whether or not man will save the planet.  We will fix it if we have the time. I am more worried about the prospects of nuclear war as our numbers get too large and we run out of resources.

What do YOU think?


R. Allan Worrell
Author:  Father John's Gift

e-mail: alw3141@gmail.com

Struggling with Isses! Hearing Another Viewpoint.

In this digital age of Face Book, Google and Twitter, people flock to find others who agree with them.  It's easy and comfortable to be around those who agree with you. We all know that birds of a feather flock together.

But while it is great to be able to find common ground with others, there is great benefit in finding out how we differ with each other as well.  If we listen to others with whom we disagree, then maybe, just maybe, we can come to understand a different point of view.  We might even begin to change our mind.  However, even if we don't change our mind on a subject, just hearing another's viewpoint can help us clarify our own point of view, and help us to understand why we believe the things we do.

What do you think?


R. Allan Worrell
Author: Father John's Gift
e-mail: alw3141@gmail.com

The Republican Tax Bill and Elizabeth Warren, The Next President of the United States!!!

Today I watched Elizabeth Warren's Democratic response to the Republican Tax Bill put forth by the House of Representatives.   She convinced me that once again, the Republicans do not have the best interest of the country at heart.  They will try to tell you the new tax bill is designed to bring jobs back home to America.   How?   By lessening taxes earned overseas.  This is BS.  Read on.

Somebody ought to explain to our Congressmen how taxation works!  If you don't want something, you should tax it. For example, if you want to discourage and decrease smoking, you increase taxes on cigarettes.  The reverse is true also.  You can encourage behavior by decreasing taxes on it.  So, by decreasing the taxes paid by international companies on overseas workers, it will only serve to increase the number of jobs overseas!!!  (And in all probability it will decrease jobs here at home.)

The Tax Bill still has a way to go and it will be negotiated with members of the Senate.  But if left largely in its current form, it will be a giveaway to Corporate America and the super rich will get richer. What's worse is we can ill afford it.  In case you haven't noticed, we are running a National Debt of 20 Trillion Dollars and we haven't had a balanced Federal Budget since the Clinton administration!

Elizabeth Warren is one smart lady and an advocate of the middle class.  She was a major contributor of the Dodd-Frank Bill following the 2008 financial disaster and is something of a financial wizard.  I hope the American people will listen to her and defeat the current Republican Tax Bill.  And I hope they will elect Elizabeth as President in the 2020.

After getting Trumped in 2016, we should now have clear 2020 vision and elect E. Warren in 2020!!!

I would vote for her in a heartbeat!


Here is a link to Elizabeth's Biography:

https://www.biography.com/people/elizabeth-warren-20670753



R. Allan Worrell
Author: Father John's Gift
e-mail:  alw3141@gmail.com

"The Day the Earth Stood Still" (A 1951 Science Fiction Black and White Movie.)

If you have never seen the movie,"The Day the Earth Stood Still", I highly recommend you take the time to watch it.  It is classic science fiction in every sense of the word.

Yes, it was made in 1951 and it is a black and white film.  Believe it or not, that is part of the appeal.  There are so many great aspects to this movie I hardly know where to begin.

First, let me say most of the acting is superb.  Oh, there are a few minor shots done by "fill-in" actors that look and feel like they are made of cardboard.  (And I can even smile or laugh at how corny they are.)  But the star performers, Patricia Neal, Michael Rennie and Sam Jafee are nothing short of fantastic.

Secondly, one must consider the time period in which the film was made.  The special effects are good for the period, but are nothing like the computer generated art we take for granted in today's science fiction thrillers.  But the effects are good enough to pull off the story, and they are good enough to scare young children with vivid imaginations.  (My next door neighbor told me he was scared by the movie as a kid.)

But most importantly, the story works.  It makes sense on many levels, and it gives you a plausible concept to show our place in the universe.  The mere fact that a flying saucer shows up and parks itself in Washington DC speaks volumes, all by itself.   It screams the idea that we are NOT alone.  We share this galaxy with other intelligent, perhaps some of which may be technically superior to us.  Is that a scary idea?  Yes, because it represents a big unknown.

What would happen if uninvited creatures from outer-space would suddenly come for a visit?  No one can know what they will do.  I leave that idea to your imagination.  We can only hope that if they are superior to us that they will either be friendly, smile at how cute we are and share their technology with us, or go away and leave us alone. 

Let's just hope we don't have something they want.   Now there's a scary thought!


R. Allan Worrell
Author: Father John's Gift
e-mail:  alw3141@gmail.com

The World is Complex!!! There are No Simple Solutions!

I saw David Brooks' New York Times article, "When Politics Becomes Your Idol" which showed a picture of a woman with a sign which read, "Donald Trump is our Savior!"

You can see the picture and read his article here:
 When Politics Becomes Your Idol

Seeing Trump as "Our Savior" reminds me of people who look for one drug to cure them aging, or cancer, or .....whatever disease currently ails them. 

We all wish there was a simple single solution to all of our problems.  Unfortunately, the world doesn't work like that.  It is incredibly more complex and messy.   Solving big problems (world peace, nuclear fusion, interplanetary space travel) takes complex solutions which are not solved in a day, or a year, or a lifetime. 

But look at the progress we have made in the last 100 years!   Yes, we have created some new problems by solving older ones, but that is the nature of scientific progress.  You always have to weigh the benefits against the side effects.  If you can't life with the side effects, then you look for some other solution to your problem.

For Example:  Burning fossil fuels such as coal and oil to generate electricity was once a very good idea. We needed it and we did it for a long time.  But now we are smarter and we know we can't continue to pollute our air with heavy metals and warm the planet with CO2, a green house gas.  So we look for clean energy technology elsewhere.  Wind, solar, electric vehicles and energy conservation (Negawatts) are coming to the rescue.  In the future, we will learn how to be more efficient and do more with less.

The problems of the world are complex, and we will need smart people who can understand and embrace complex ideas to solve them.  (Express my sorrow to the lady with the sign, Donald Trump is not one of those guys.  He doesn't seem to "Get It.") 

Thoughts to ponder.

What do YOU Think?   Leave me a post!


R. Allan Worrell
Author: Father John's Gift
e-mail:  alw3141@gmail.com

Open Letter to General Motors Marketing Department.

Many of you know I have been a proponent of "Green Energy".   Yesterday, I wrote General Motors an e-mail letter which follows:

(Note: I was constrained by the total number of characters allowed in my feedback to GM.  I modified it below so as to not abbreviate some of the words.  The basic ideas expressed have not been changed from my original note.)


To  The General Motors Marketing Department

GM should partner with Solar Companies around the world to help people convert to Green energy (sustainable).

Electric Vehicle (EV) Consumers would benefit as follows:

1)  They (would) "Fix" the price of energy at the time they purchase their Solar panels.

2)  The Solar Panel payback period is decreased, because the electricity usage is increased.  (by buying Electric power instead of gasoline.)

3)  They eliminate forever the cost of buying gasoline, and are therefore immunized from future price hikes of gasoline.

4)  Once the Solar panels have paid for themselves (over the payback period) the owners can drive for free!  Their EV is charged everyday by Sunshine!

5)  With an intelligent charge controller, the homeowner can run his house appliances from his car battery when needed.  (This is NOT a new idea, but is still a good idea.)

6)  This is a patriotic idea because it helps to make our air and water cleaner, and it makes the USA less dependent on foreign oil.


I did receive a nice canned reply from the GM Marketing Department.


What do you think?   Join in the discussion.  Leave a comment below the blog entry!


R. Allan Worrell
Author:  Father John's Gift
e-mail:  alw3141@gmail.com

My (New) Heroine! Hedy Lamarr !!!!

I hadn't known about Hedy Lamarr except that she had been mentioned in a few Mel Brooks films.  Although I  never understood the references to her, I never forgot her unusual name.  I never heard of anyone named, "Hedy", before.

But this last week I read an article in Time Magazine about Hedy Lamar which blew my socks off!!!   It turns out that Hedy was a co-inventor (along with a music composer named, "George Antheil") of the spread-spectrum broadband algorithm which is present in WiFi, CDMA, GSM and Blue Tooth algorithms, incorporated in all wireless routers and cell phone products all over the world!

How, and why did Hedy do this?

It turned out that Hedy was once married to an Austrian engineer who worked for a munitions plant  which was taken over by the Nazis during WWII.   Hedy fled both her husband, and the Nazis and landed in Hollywood USA where she continued her acting career and was cast in several major movies and was billed as, "The Most Beautiful Woman in the World."   But she must have known a good deal about the Nazis' electronic communication protocol, and she wanted to help the Allies war effort by creating a torpedo communication protocol which would be immune to the Nazis electronic jamming techniques.  She, and her co-inventor patented the idea but gave their spread spectrum algorithm free of charge to the US Navy.

As they say, "the rest is history"!!!   It just goes to show you what you can do, and the impact that we can all have upon the world by having a unique idea and acting upon it.  Hedy Lamarr should be an inspiration to us all.


R. Allan Worrell
Author: Father John's Gift
e-mail:  alw3141@gmail.com



References:

1.  Ben Cosgrove, Time.com, http://time.com/3881293/hedy-lamarr-stardom-scandal-and-one-amazing-invention/ , accessed 11/01/2017.


2.  Author Unknown, Wikipedia.com, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hedy_Lamarr, accessed 11/01/2017.