Thursday, June 30, 2022

Philadelphia

Philadelphia was founded by William Penn, for whom Pennsylvania is named (Penn's Woods). Think of Philadelphia as a grid. The main north-south street is Broad Street. The main east-west street is Market Street. Where these two streets meet, in the figurative center of Philadelphia, is City Hall. Nearby is Independence Hall, where the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence were drafted. The following scenes begin in the courtyard of Philadelphia City Hall.

There are multiple scenes following. To see the scenes, after the first one, you must first click the up arrow, ^, before you can move on to the next scene by clicking the right or forward arrow, >, After clicking the up arrow, you can then hide the previews of successive scenes, if you wish.

https://www.google.com/maps/@39.9524048,-75.1635508,2a,75y,160.37h,90t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1smNC4dWXFJvEcIA0coWH-gw!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo1.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3DmNC4dWXFJvEcIA0coWH-gw%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D164.70935%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i13312!8i6656

This is Logan Square, through which runs Ben Franklin Parkway. On the square is the Franklin Institute. Ben Franklin also began the University of Pennsylvania which teamed with the British Museum to amaze the world by excavating the ancient city of Ur. The Cathedral Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul, made of dark red stone, was visited by Pope John Paul not long after he became pope.

https://www.google.com/maps/@39.9581218,-75.170475,2a,75y,317.22h,90t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1s7qW7XdW8vUGjZHLxjeuwmg!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo1.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3D7qW7XdW8vUGjZHLxjeuwmg%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D324.6478%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i13312!8i6656

Remember that we saw in "America And The Modern World Explained By Way Of Paris" how the Philadelphia Central Library on Logan Square is a replica of the building on Place Concorde, Hotel Crillon, where Ben Franklin first got diplomatic recognition for the new United States from a foreign country.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parkway_Central_Library#/media/File:The_Free_Library_of_Philadelphia.jpg

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H%C3%B4tel_de_Crillon#/media/File:DSC_7353-Hotel-Crillon-Pari.jpg

The Art Museum is Philadelphia's version of the Louvre. From the Art Museum you can see along Ben Franklin Parkway, through Logan Square to City Hall. The Franklin Institute is a science museum.

https://www.google.com/maps/@39.9643393,-75.1792341,2a,75y,316.89h,90t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sVAntUWD7cQ7L2hmpkIhTfg!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo0.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3DVAntUWD7cQ7L2hmpkIhTfg%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D324.34454%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i13312!8i6656

The U.S. Marines actually began in a tavern in Philadelphia, the Tun Tavern. This is near Independence Hall. The following scenes are of that site and the nearby waterfront.

https://www.google.com/maps/@39.9473403,-75.14257,3a,15y,200.17h,90.8t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1s0wWa1jB8rAcAYAaET237aA!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

This is in central Philadelphia, beginning outside the Reading Terminal Market.

https://www.google.com/maps/@39.9536816,-75.1578846,3a,75y,105.13h,90t/data=!3m5!1e1!3m3!1srrpnUYcPu0k1_kSctieC7w!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo3.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3DrrpnUYcPu0k1_kSctieC7w%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D109.431816%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100

This is the district known as Brewerytown.

https://www.google.com/maps/@39.9743356,-75.1815464,3a,75y,321.56h,90t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sBjiR6v710FzGAaP-CHLbxg!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo3.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3DBjiR6v710FzGAaP-CHLbxg%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D328.68506%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i13312!8i6656

I once had a meal at the Broad Street Diner in South Philadelphia. There are so many of those old-style row houses that Philadelphia is known for.

https://www.google.com/maps/@39.9365716,-75.1670233,3a,75y,112.4h,90t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1szbuP929TvgHxiw_KMMirWw!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo2.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3DzbuP929TvgHxiw_KMMirWw%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D118.255974%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i13312!8i6656

The Delaware River forms the state boundary between Pennsylvania and New Jersey. In the Philadelphia metropolitan area, but across the river in New Jersey, is the city of Camden. The first thing that Camden brings to mind is Campbell's Soup. It is directly across from downtown Philadelphia. The suspension bridge connecting the two is the Ben Franklin Bridge.

The following views begin on board the U.S.S. New Jersey. Camden used to be world-renowned for shipbuilding. Most of the views are looking across the river at the skyline of Philadelphia.

https://www.google.com/maps/@39.9394484,-75.1330734,3a,75y,106.55h,90t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sAF1QipOrpJlwRweAGd5_g04d3dQxqDthrUULIkmoWH1v!2e10!3e11!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipOrpJlwRweAGd5_g04d3dQxqDthrUULIkmoWH1v%3Dw203-h100-k-no-pi-0-ya111.18861-ro-0-fo100!7i8000!8i4000

The following scenes are of Camden.

https://www.google.com/maps/@39.9424313,-75.1168391,3a,75y,148.41h,90t/data=!3m5!1e1!3m3!1sbB_jTTlTlvtUL3ZcHLT_Rw!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo1.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3DbB_jTTlTlvtUL3ZcHLT_Rw%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D154.7586%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100

Just north of the Philadelphia metropolitan area is Trenton. It is the state capital of New Jersey.

https://www.google.com/maps/@40.2201315,-74.7640516,3a,75y,6.71h,90t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sHPjCsbl7aUoQgbdX5U6jaw!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo0.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3DHPjCsbl7aUoQgbdX5U6jaw%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D5.135036%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i13312!8i6656

"MR. PHILADELPHIA"

Ben Franklin, one of the founders of the United States, could be given the title of "Mr. Philadelphia", although he was not born there. He was never president but, with the exception of George Washington, his name is the best-known of the early Americans today. His name is certainly better-known than the presidents who followed Washington, John Adams, James Madison, James Monroe, John Quincy Adams, and even Thomas Jefferson.

I actually think it would have diminished his legacy if he had been president because he would have been defined by what happened during his term as president and it would taken his attention away from the other things that he did.

Ben Franklin only went to school for a few years but he relentlessly educated himself by reading. One of his many interests was electricity. He was the one who named the positive and negative electric charges. I consider that as more important than anything else that he did. My cosmology theory has the entire universe being made of these two electric charges that Ben Franklin defined.

Another thing that he did was to chart the Gulf Stream. It was known before his time but he is the one who charted it. Ships took longer to move westward through the English Channel because they were going against the current.

There was once a U.S. state named Franklin, until it became part of Tennessee.

Just as Moslems have prayers five times a day, Ben Franklin wanted to start similar daily prayers in the United States. But it seems as if his plan was for only once a day.

America Allows The Banning Of Abortion

The U.S. Supreme Court ruling this week overturned the 1973 ruling in favor of abortion. The Religious Right is delighted. A really important posting is " The Great Revolution Of Our Time", January 2017. What has really happened is that the Iranian Revolution has arrived in America.

Thursday, June 23, 2022

The Robb And Ten Connection

I don't know why I am the one that notices things like this.

In 1979 there was a song by the Irish band "The Boomtown Rats" titled "I Don't Like Mondays". The song was number one in Britain for several weeks, although it wasn't quite as popular in the U.S.

The song was inspired by a school shooting in San Diego. A teenage girl named Brenda Ann Spencer fired a gun, from inside her home, at children waiting to enter Grover Cleveland Elementary School across the street. Several children were wounded and two adults were killed. Fortunately Monday was garbage collection day and the police managed to quickly have a garbage truck parked in front of her house.

While the girl was barricaded inside the house a reporter called and talked to her on the phone. She gave her reason for the shooting as "I don't like Mondays. This will liven up the day". Police finally got her to surrender by promising her a meal from Burger King.

One police officer had been wounded. His name was Robert ROBB. Robb is not exactly a common name.

TEN years after this school shooting there was another school shooting at a different school with the same name. Both schools were named for U.S. President Grover Cleveland, although there is no evidence that this was a factor in the second shooting. This second shooting was in Stockton, in northern California.

Grover Cleveland was from Buffalo, NY. TEN people were killed in a supermarket shooting there. TEN days after the supermarket shooting in Buffalo came the horrific massacre at the ROBB Elementary School in Texas.

The modern era of senseless mass shootings is generally considered to have begun with the shooting from the tower of the University of Texas, in 1966. Charles Whitman first killed his wife and his mother. Then he climbed to the top of the tower, barricaded himself, and then began shooting at people below. The siege lasted about 90 minutes until the shooter was shot and killed.

The Uvalde School Shooting was a virtual reenactment of the University of Texas shooting, except that it was done in an elementary school and there was no tower. 

Charles Whitman first killed his wife and mother and then proceeded to the shooting site. The Uvalde school shooter first shot his grandmother and then proceeded to the shooting site.

Both shooters barricaded themselves in the school, Charles Whitman barricaded the entrance to the tower and the Uvalde school shooter barricaded himself in a classroom and in a closet in the classroom.

The layout of both shootings is similar, law enforcement eventually getting through the barricade and killing the shooter. In the case of the Uvalde shooting it was getting the classroom door unlocked. Both shooting scenarios lasted roughly the same amount of time, about 90 minutes.

The president at the time of the University of Texas shooting was Lyndon Johnson. His daughter, Lynda, graduated from the university. Her husband's name was Chuck ROBB, who would later be governor of Virginia.

History Repeats Itself Again

Did you notice a simple example this week of how history repeats itself? History is so important because we tend to repeat it, often without realizing it.

It was in the news this week that a Russian intelligence agent attempted to gain access to the International Criminal Court (ICC) in the Netherlands, by applying to be an intern.

What do you notice here? This follows exactly the same pattern as Peter the Great, the best-known tsar of the Romanov Dynasty, moving to the Netherlands and getting a job working incognito in a Dutch shipyard, in order to learn ways to best modernize his own country.

Here is a link to the compound posting on this blog, "How History Repeats Itself":

www.markmeeksideas.blogspot.com/2019/11/how-history-repeats-itself.html?m=1

Thursday, June 16, 2022

Nairobi, Kampala And, Kigali

Nairobi is the capital and largest city of Kenya. It's location is high in elevation. Despite it's importance as a global city, Nairobi is barely a century old.

Here is central Nairobi. The Kenyatta International Conference Center is named for the founder of Kenya, Jomo Kenyatta. At the time of this writing, his son Uhuru is president. Another familiar name from Kenya is that of it's second president, Daniel Arap Moi. The first scene is the helipad, on the roof.

There are multiple scenes following. To see the scenes, after the first one, you must first click the up arrow, ^, before you can move on to the next scene by clicking the right or forward arrow, >. After clicking the up arrow, you can then hide the previews of successive scenes, if you wish.

https://www.google.com/maps/@-1.2887573,36.8231644,3a,75y,25.53h,90t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sAF1QipMwpp0Q_P9san2fsvzgIpmDExIqlfLtIDzOD9H6!2e10!3e11!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipMwpp0Q_P9san2fsvzgIpmDExIqlfLtIDzOD9H6%3Dw203-h100-k-no-pi-0-ya278.52518-ro0-fo100!7i9216!8i3618

This is the area around Uhuru Park, across the street from the Kenyan Parliament Buildings. Uhuru means "freedom" in Swahili.

https://www.google.com/maps/@-1.29026,36.8181381,3a,75y,136.62h,90t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sAF1QipOhefoCehA8eGAEMXzs7XOSEeMOpmrz-hWtCDmR!2e10!3e11!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipOhefoCehA8eGAEMXzs7XOSEeMOpmrz-hWtCDmR%3Dw203-h100-k-no-pi-0-ya60.629055-ro-0-fo100!7i8192!8i4096

This is the northern part of Nairobi.

https://www.google.com/maps/@-1.2624519,36.801971,3a,75y,97.5h,90t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sAF1QipOjHOX1FOw5hIKRgbW-EBaMf8tXLe5dgMJWrjiz!2e10!3e11!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipOjHOX1FOw5hIKRgbW-EBaMf8tXLe5dgMJWrjiz%3Dw203-h100-k-no-pi-0-ya36.5-ro-0-fo100!7i8192!8i4096

Kampala, the capital city of neighboring Uganda, is known as an exceptionally nice place to live. This is central Kampala.

https://www.google.com/maps/@0.3151313,32.5817941,3a,75y,210.57h,90t/data=!3m5!1e1!3m3!1svO1XPbQhjMxM_ddirAB-YQ!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo3.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3DvO1XPbQhjMxM_ddirAB-YQ%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D210.5731%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100

There is actually a semi-autonomous kingdom that exists within Uganda. It was once abolished, after Ugandan independence, but later allowed to be reinstated. The kingdom is known as Buganda, and it has a king and queen. The following scenes begin at the entrance way to the Kabaka Palace of Buganda. It is within the city of Kampala.

https://www.google.com/maps/@0.3027364,32.5655315,3a,75y,138.01h,90t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1s9u2I7ZLc5BinF819wPCiTg!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo2.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3D9u2I7ZLc5BinF819wPCiTg%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D138.01517%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i13312!8i6656

This is a residential area of Kampala.

https://www.google.com/maps/@0.3408899,32.603091,3a,75y,175.5h,90t/data=!3m5!1e1!3m3!1sX22NB7zC-i4uutFFVzL6PQ!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo2.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3DX22NB7zC-i4uutFFVzL6PQ%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D175.5%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100

For a small and pleasant country, Uganda used to be in the news all the time. The news usually revolved around some very colorful characters.

Milton Obote was president of Uganda until he was overthrown, in 1971, by an army officer named Idi Amin, who may have been the world's most colorful character of the 1970s. In 1972, Amin expelled tens of thousands of Asian residents who were not citizens of Uganda, almost all Indians. Most observers now say that this was very detrimental to the country, as the Asian settlers had run a lot of businesses.

In late June, 1976, an Air France jet was hijacked by the Popular Front For The Liberation of Palestine. The passengers and crew would be freed in exchange for a list of prisoners being held in Israeli jails. Idi Amin, who had previously been a supporter of Israel, surprised everyone by welcoming the plane to Entebbe Airport, just south of Kampala. Entebbe would soon become probably the most famous airport in the world.

The majority of the hostages were freed but more than a hundred, who had a connection to Israel or who declined to be released, were held in a building at the airport. The hijackers included two German leftists, and Idi Amin personally visited them.

In a sudden operation, on July 4 while America was celebrating it's bicentennial, Israel dispatched about 100 commandos aboard planes which landed at the airport at night. Two of the hostages were killed in error, being mistaken for hijackers, but the rescue operation was a success. Part of the operation included a man that resembled Idi Amin in a Mercedes.

The only Israeli commando killed in the mission happened to be the brother of Benjamin Netanyahu, the former prime minister of Israel.

There were a lot of repercussions to the raid. The president of neighboring Kenya had allowed the Israeli planes to refuel at Nairobi. Idi Amin retaliated by having more than two hundred Kenyans who were living in Uganda killed. That is the side of Entebbe that is not well-known.

South of Kampala, on a peninsula extending into Lake Victoria, this is the area around Entebbe Airport. All looks peaceful and quiet today.

https://www.google.com/maps/@0.0391051,32.4491766,3a,75y,238.1h,90t/data=!3m5!1e1!3m3!1scfnw3vTwqo6_68xPy_Hf6g!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo1.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3Dcfnw3vTwqo6_68xPy_Hf6g%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D238.0984%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100

The colorful era of Idi Amin could not last forever. Ugandans who were opposed to his rule, including Milton Obote who Amin had overthrown, had sought sanctuary in neighboring Tanzania. The government of Idi Amin retaliated by seizing a border area of Tanzania. The government of Tanzania responded by sending it's army, along with the Ugandan exiles, into Uganda. I remember watching the news that they had captured Kampala and Idi Amin left the country by helicopter.

Milton Obote regained his presidency, but was ultimately overthrown again by Yoweri Museveni, the current president. He would not allow Idi Amin to return without facing justice. Uganda is much quieter now, and is hardly ever in the news except as a nice place to visit.

Idi Amin, after time in Libya, spent the rest of his life in exile in Jeddah, on the Red Sea coast of Saudi Arabia. He died in 2003.

The first lady of Uganda, who Idi Amin had married when she was a teenager in a widely-publicized wedding, eventually settled into running a restaurant in London.

Another colorful character of Uganda is Joseph Kony, of the Lord's Resistance Army. He claimed to be a prophet of God and wanted to make Uganda into a Christian fundamentalist state, but his era seems to now be over.

Uganda's southern neighbor, Rwanda, is another beautiful country that has unfortunately been in the news. In 1994, there was a deadly conflict between the two primary ethnic groups, the Hutu and the Tutsi. The conflict began when a plane carrying both the presidents of Rwanda and neighboring Burundi was shot down upon approach in Rwanda, killing both presidents.

The Hutu, the majority of the population, thought that the Tutsi wanted to revive their former monarchy under which the Hutu would be serfs while the Tutsi would be the nobility and royalty. The conflict continued until the Tutsi Rwandan Patriotic Front managed to suppress the violence.

This is the central area of Kigali, the capital city of Rwanda.

https://www.google.com/maps/@-1.9444291,30.0621675,3a,75y,171.47h,90t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sAF1QipNtt6pgrZlBZGatEPoRbRcfUIa_qVYraqLHU2vB!2e10!3e11!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipNtt6pgrZlBZGatEPoRbRcfUIa_qVYraqLHU2vB%3Dw900-h600-k-no-pi0-ya117.9723630718909-ro0-fo100!7i7680!8i3840?entry=ttu&g_ep=EgoyMDI0MTEyNC4xIKXMDSoASAFQAw%3D%3D

Here is more of the central part of Kigali.

https://www.google.com/maps/@-1.9511833,30.0613823,3a,75y,91.5h,92.93t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sAF1QipPitl3PR2nmk1I3mQW3IWKIEsSSo8CL2x9ONzea!2e10!3e11!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipPitl3PR2nmk1I3mQW3IWKIEsSSo8CL2x9ONzea%3Dw203-h100-k-no-pi-2.9338646-ya11.500011-ro-0-fo100!7i8192!8i4096

Inflation Then And Now

Inflation is the highest that it has been in forty years. What I would like to do is compare inflation now to that in the late 1970s and early 1980s.

Inflation, a general increase in prices, can be caused by a number of factors. Whatever the cause the usual way to combat inflation is to raise interest rates, which makes borrowing more expensive. This has the effect of increasing the value of money, relative to that of goods, thus lowering inflation.

While the inflation of today brings back memories of forty years ago, I find that the root cause of the inflation is very different. What is interesting is that, while all of the western countries were wracked with inflation, forty years ago it was lower in America while today it is higher in America, when compared to other western countries.

The inflation of forty years ago was based on wages. Labor unions were powerful and kept pushing for pay raises. The result is that millions of well-paid unionized factory workers were earning more than their labor was really worth, according to the Law of Supply and Demand, and the economy adjusted by way of inflation. It is certainly no coincidence that inflation and the number of people working in manufacturing both peaked in the same year, which was 1979. 

Margaret Thatcher, in Britain, and then Ronald Reagan, in America, both went after powerful labor unions. A turning point for the power of unions in America was Reagan's firing of the striking air traffic controllers, in 1981. 

Both purposely induced nasty recessions because that was the only way to stop inflation. By the mid-1980s inflation had been tamed but Ronald Reagan unfortunately stuck to his rightward economic policies well after the problem had been solved, and that is what caused the market crash of 1987 by hindering consumer spending.

For decades the word "inflation" brought back memories of the late 1970s and early 1980s. Now inflation is back with a vengeance, but it's root causes are different.

Handing out money for pandemic relief is certainly among the causes of today's inflation, as is probably increases in the minimum wage in recent years. But the main cause of the inflation today is the cost of fuel. 

Forty years ago the cost of fuel was still low, but when fuel gets expensive it makes everything else expensive. When you buy an item at the store the price has to include the cost of transporting the raw materials to the factory, and then of transporting the finished product to the store. Forty years ago we had primarily wage-based inflation while today we have primarily fuel-based inflation.

Just as the recession of the early 1980s was artificially induced because it was the only way to stop inflation, we might wonder if at least part of the soaring cost of fuel is also artificial, for the purpose of pushing people to buy electric cars.

We can see that this is fuel-based inflation by the fact that it is generally higher in America than in other western countries, whereas forty years ago it was the reverse. Most other western countries, particularly in Europe, are geographically compact. This greatly lowers the cost of transportation when fuel gets expensive.

Canada and Australia are comparable to America geographically but the population of Canada is very concentrated along it's border with the U.S. making it, in effect, more compact. The population of Australia is heavily concentrated near the east coast, east of the Great Dividing Range, and the cities that aren't, such as Perth and Adelaide, are on the coast so that they are accessible by ship. The cities of America, in contrast, are geographically dispersed and far apart. That is why America leads in this fuel-based inflation. It costs a lot of money to move things from one part of America to another.

Straight Lines And The Shape Of The Universe

There are often discussions as to the "shape" of the space in the universe. An illustration of what the space of the universe might be shaped like revolves around what happens to a spacecraft, or a beam of light, that travels outward into space.

If the light or the spacecraft, moving at a constant velocity, continually gets further and further away, at a constant rate, then the shape of space in the universe is considered to be "flat".

If the light or the spacecraft, moving in a straight line, eventually returns to it's starting point then the shape of space in the universe is referred to as "closed". The question of whether the universe is "flat" or "closed" is related to the question of whether it is finite or infinite. With a flat universe it could be infinite but a closed universe implies that it is finite.

There is also a debate as to whether the universe is "open" or "closed", although this is not the same thing as the shape of space in the universe, it refers to the expansion of the universe. If the matter of the universe will ultimately fall back together by it's mutual gravity, the universe is referred to as "closed", if not then it is "open".

The analogy that is naturally used for the closed universe is the surface of the earth. From any given perspective on the earth's surface it appears to be flat. But if we continue in a straight line for long enough we eventually end up back at our starting point. This means that the earth's surface is closed and finite, even though it has no boundaries.

Although the shape of space appears to us, at first glance, to obviously be flat the argument in favor of a closed universe is that the default gravitational form in the universe, for stars and planets, is a sphere. Since these spheres are within the space of the universe, then shouldn't that space have the same form? 

Einstein's General Theory of Relativity, as opposed to the Special Theory which deals with the speed of light, explains how space is curved by gravity. An object in orbit is defined as actually moving in a straight line but through curved space. The space being curved by the mass of the star or planet around which the orbit is taking place.

The space of the universe does not necessarily have to be either "flat" or "closed", these are just the examples at either end of the scale. The space of the universe might have a negative curvature, as opposed to the positive curvature of a sphere, this would give it a "saddle" shape. There are other ideas that the space of the universe might have some kind of torus shape. This means, like the closed sphere, that the space of the universe is finite yet has no boundaries. 

The mathematical rules of geometry are different for different shapes of space. Ordinary textbook geometry is known as "Euclidean" geometry, for the ancient Greek named Euclid. A presumption of Euclidean Geometry is that the surface is flat. Euclidean Geometry does not apply for surfaces that are not flat, and non-Euclidean geometries have been developed for non-flat surfaces.

As a simple example in Euclidean Geometry the three interior angles of a triangle always add up to 180 degrees. But if we take a curved surface, like the surface of the earth, the rules change. If we consider a triangle of two lines of longitude, from the equator to the north pole, and the stretch of the equator between them, the angles add up to more than 180 degrees. The intersection of each line of longitude with the equator forms two 90 degree right angles, so we already have 180 degrees, plus the angle between the two lines of longitude at the north pole, giving us more than 180 degrees.

The general consensus today is that the shape of space in the universe is "flat". This means, again, that a rocket or beam of light that is sent out into space in a straight line will forever continue getting further and further away from us. But what I wanted to do today is to add my input to it.

What we have to consider, in deciding on the shape of space in the universe, is the actual nature of straight lines. A straight line being defined as the shortest possible distance between two points. A straight line is not as absolute as it may seem.

Straight lines are a matter of dimensions. If we, confined as we are to three-dimensional space, see a straight line it may in fact be curved in higher-dimensional space and we would in no way be aware of it. 

If there could be a two-dimensional sheet of plastic, and a two-dimensional being lived inside the sheet of plastic, it would always perceive itself as moving in a straight line in going from one side of the plastic to the other. No matter how we might bend and twist the sheet of plastic the being could not be aware of it, since that would require the two-dimensional being to be aware of the third dimension.

A straight line can also mean the least energy expenditure between two points, although in space that would usually mean the same thing as the shortest distance between the two. If an electron could think it would always perceive itself as moving in a straight line as it moved through a wire as part of an electric current, no matter how the wire might zig-zag across the floor.

The trouble with our general conclusion that the space of the universe is "flat" is that we rely on light and other electromagnetic radiation, specifically the leftover radiation from the Big Bang, to bring us our information about the universe. But we get our very definition of what a straight line is by the path of light. 

Since we rely on light, and other electromagnetic radiation for information, we will always perceive that radiation as moving in a straight line. While it is true that the light would follow the path of least expenditure of energy, because we know that the universe always seeks the lowest energy state, there may be other possible definitions of what a straight line is.

Just as an example humans are of the scale that we are and this gives us a certain perspective. We define the electromagnetic spectrum as ranging from very short-wavelength gamma rays to longwave radio waves. But couldn't there be, due to our scale perspective, still longer waves that we cannot detect? Isn't it possible that the shorter waves that we depend on for information, particularly visible light, are affected by the longer wavelengths as they move through space? What if the shorter wavelengths "ride" the longer wavelengths, somewhat like a duck paddling across the waves in water so that it also moves up and down as it proceeds along?

That would mean that light actually "zigzags" through space. But since we are dependent on light for information we will always perceive it as moving in a straight line. 

Einstein's General Theory of Relativity showed that gravity bends light. So why shouldn't there be other things that bend light that we haven't yet found? What about magnetism? It has been found that the sun lacks a south magnetic pole. We know that the sun is a second-generation star and this means that it has come back together gravitationally but not magnetically. 

The former south magnetic pole of the star that preceded the sun, until it exploded in a supernova, must exist somewhere else. Since electromagnetic radiation is so-called because it is electric and magnetic in nature, couldn't this affect it from moving in what would otherwise be defined as a straight line?

Now, let's get back to the debate about the shape of space in the universe. Since we are dependent on electromagnetic radiation for information about the universe, and since this means that we will always perceive electromagnetic radiation to be moving in a straight line, this will always make it seem as if the space in the universe is "flat", since that is the only model of space where light moves in straight lines.

Just for something to ponder suppose that the space in the universe is "closed". This means that a beam of light sent out into space will eventually return to us from the opposite direction. Just as if you traveled in a straight line on the earth's surface you would eventually return to your starting point from the opposite direction. 

This means, at least theoretically, that, if we had a powerful enough telescope, we should be able to see our own earth by looking out into space. But that gets complicated too. If the number of different objects made of matter is finite, but yet the universe is infinite, this means that objects made of matter must repeat themselves. This then would mean that there would have to actually be an infinite number of identical earths in identical solar systems, in orbit around identical suns.

The point of all this is that we cannot be so quick to say that the shape of space in the universe is flat.

Vladimir Putin And The Romanovs

Vladimir Putin recently compared himself to Peter the Great. Putin is from St. Petersburg and we saw in the visit, "St. Petersburg And The Romanovs" October 2021, that this was the city that was specially built as the Romanov capital and named for Peter the Great. The Romanovs were ultimately displaced by the Communists but, as we saw in that visit, the Communist flag is gone and the Romanov flag again flies over Russia.

That would make Putin the tsar of Russia. We saw in the posting, "The Theory Of Kings" April 2022, that nations have been ruled by kings for thousands of years and monarchy is not going to just go away. A leader can be a king-in-fact no matter what his actual title and, as we saw in that posting, Putin definitely falls into the "king" category.

Thursday, June 9, 2022

Tribute To Queen Elizabeth

The celebration of the Queen's Platinum Jubilee was outstanding. The Elizabeth Line, of the London Underground, was completed just in time to be named for our Queen as the celebration began.

The Queen wore just the right colour (color) for her surprise appearance on the balcony of Buckingham Palace.

Credit: Screenshot from BBC news video.

The Swahili Coast And Somalia

Dar Es Salaam is the largest city, although no longer the capital, of Tanzania. Dar Es Salaam is on the coast of the Indian Ocean. What can you tell about Dar Es Salaam just by the name of the city? Tanzania is in southern Africa, but Dar Es Salaam sounds like an Arabic name. That tells us that this was an important city in maritime trading, particularly with the Arabian Peninsula far to the north.

The following scenes begin in the central part of the city.

There are multiple scenes following. To see the scenes, after the first one, you must first click the up arrow, ^, before you can move on to the next scene by clicking the right or forward arrow, >;. After clicking the up arrow, you can then hide the previews of successive scenes, if you wish.

https://www.google.com/maps/@-6.8222766,39.2733866,3a,75y,316.5h,92.93t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sAF1QipMelltbpaI-BhGOiieMYlPUQB0BkNiPXRXqDARC!2e10!3e11!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipMelltbpaI-BhGOiieMYlPUQB0BkNiPXRXqDARC%3Dw203-h100-k-no-pi-2.9338646-ya316.5-ro-0-fo100!7i5660!8i2830

This is further north, in the Oyster Bay area of Dar Es Salaam.

https://www.google.com/maps/@-6.7633427,39.277492,3a,75y,337.5h,113t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sAF1QipNeppoK-5p6moo7oTHwZTe3JIppOs3TNZFIG3ko!2e10!3e11!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipNeppoK-5p6moo7oTHwZTe3JIppOs3TNZFIG3ko%3Dw203-h100-k-no-pi-23-ya343.5-ro-0-fo100!7i8704!8i4352

In 1964 Tanganyika, which was what is now the mainland part of Tanzania, merged with island Zanzibar to form Tanzania. You can see that the name of "Tanzania" is formed by a combination of the two names. Zanzibar was a former Islamic sultanate. After the sultanate was overthrown Zanzibar was briefly a Communist country, "The People's Republic Of Zanzibar", before being merged with Tanganyika, on mainland Africa, to form Tanzania.

The following scenes are of Zanzibar.

https://www.google.com/maps/@-6.1613488,39.1873245,3a,75y,259.5h,93t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sAF1QipNz3mMMWAEQ_g9l7IGotaih-S-FzUrLkfzCFDJO!2e10!3e11!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipNz3mMMWAEQ_g9l7IGotaih-S-FzUrLkfzCFDJO%3Dw203-h100-k-no-pi-2.9999962-ya303.50003-ro-0-fo100!7i10716!8i5358

Here is some more of Zanzibar.

https://www.google.com/maps/@-6.1612519,39.1996969,3a,75y,349.5h,92.93t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sAF1QipP8QSRWfILYJNddcBlMhRjtyqyQMlOspDtQJ0fu!2e10!3e11!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipP8QSRWfILYJNddcBlMhRjtyqyQMlOspDtQJ0fu%3Dw203-h100-k-no-pi-2.9338646-ya101.5-ro-0-fo100!7i10240!8i5120

No symbol of Africa is more important than Mount Kilimanjaro, which is in Tanzania.

https://www.google.com/maps/@-3.0780364,37.3625814,3a,75y,13.14h,89.13t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sAF1QipOhVEY1kuccV3hwBt93XQCp3lo9lVSYAROa6MHw!2e10!3e11!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipOhVEY1kuccV3hwBt93XQCp3lo9lVSYAROa6MHw%3Dw203-h100-k-no-pi-0-ya40.44331-ro-0-fo100!7i8704!8i4352

Mombassa is on the Indian Ocean coast of Kenya, built around a good natural harbor. Unlike Nairobi, which is Kenya's capital and largest city, Mombassa is a very old city. Many people have migrated to Mombassa over the centuries, and it was visited by the legendary traveler Ibn Battuta. Probably the most popular sight in Mombassa is Fort Jesus, built in the shape of a human. It is not as old as the city itself, but was built in the late 16th Century. The following scenes are of the area around Fort Jesus.

https://www.google.com/maps/@-4.0625631,39.6800422,3a,75y,102.9h,90t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sAF1QipN3AcIsqh_1zvCIhubVQLTFih-HwKyMVJz2JbQ3!2e10!3e11!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipN3AcIsqh_1zvCIhubVQLTFih-HwKyMVJz2JbQ3%3Dw203-h100-k-no-pi-0-ya37.93017-ro-0-fo100!7i2508!8i1254

Here is the central part of Mombassa. The main road in this part of the city is Moi Avenue, named for Kenya's long-time president Daniel Arap Moi, who followed the founder of the country Jomo Kenyatta.

https://www.google.com/maps/@-4.0605636,39.668663,3a,75y,34.5h,92.93t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sAF1QipMaNTKP4yjEYkO5fuC3Pks-eE5IQ4M1J9fhXW6U!2e10!3e11!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipMaNTKP4yjEYkO5fuC3Pks-eE5IQ4M1J9fhXW6U%3Dw203-h100-k-no-pi-2.9338646-ya34.500004-ro-0-fo100!7i5660!8i2830

Mogadishu, the capital of Somalia, is further north if we continue on from the Swahili Coast. It was a great medieval city and the destination of much trade by sea. What is now Mogadishu used to be an ancient city called Sarapion. Ibn Battuta visited here, and it was the site of the first known contact between Africa and China. It was visited by Admiral Zheng He.

During medieval times, Somali traders traveled all over the Indian Ocean by ship. We saw the Phoenicians in our visit to "Beirut", and we can consider the Somalis as the "Phoenicians of Africa". There was regular trade with India and China and many other distant lands. The people in Mediterranean Europe thought that Somalia itself was the source of all kinds of valuable spices and other products. In fact, Somalis were importing these products, to be resold at a tidy profit, from all over Asia.

Seafaring is not all that was pioneered by Somalis, it is believed by many that Somalia was where camels were first domesticated.

We saw in our visit to neighboring Ethiopia how it is a land of many legends. Somalia has a great legend also. The ancient Egyptians used to send ships to trade with a land called Punt. The land became very special to them and a lot of people in Egypt came to believe that Punt was their ancestral homeland. Today, it is not known for sure where Punt was actually located. Some believe that it could have been Ethiopia, a few believe it to have been on the Arab side of the Red Sea, others believe that it was further south on the coast of Africa.

But a part of Somalia has been named Puntland for it, even though it cannot be certain that this is where it was.

The following scenes are of Somalia's capital city of Mogadishu.

https://www.google.com/maps/@2.0360198,45.3334264,3a,75y,100h,100t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sAF1QipOwH57ACh6ChBeMPtS_7F-dziveqqVvMnOCaqVf!2e10!3e11!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipOwH57ACh6ChBeMPtS_7F-dziveqqVvMnOCaqVf%3Dw203-h100-k-no-pi-10-ya100-ro-0-fo100!7i4608!8i2304

This is further north, along the coast of the Indian Ocean, in Mogadishu. 

https://www.google.com/maps/@2.0423628,45.3050991,3a,75y,340h,100t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sAF1QipNOTPV2-7uaGGM1SExlohquH_qe8xx78YJ4jQr1!2e10!3e11!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipNOTPV2-7uaGGM1SExlohquH_qe8xx78YJ4jQr1%3Dw203-h100-k-no-pi-10-ya73-ro-0-fo100!7i8192!8i4096

This is the town of Eyl in Somalia. This town is another ancient port on the Indian Ocean, far to the north of Mogadishu. In the very early Twentieth Century, Eyl was a stronghold of what was known as the Dervish State. The Dervish became renowned as warriors across the world as they did battle with the British, Italians and, Ethiopians. The stone castle was a Dervish fortress.

https://www.google.com/maps/@7.978601,49.8169946,3a,75y,115.19h,90t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sAF1QipPdiyhHTWfdhuif937SPkq88eiMuEugN1cud1fg!2e10!3e11!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipPdiyhHTWfdhuif937SPkq88eiMuEugN1cud1fg%3Dw203-h100-k-no-pi0-ya1.140799-ro-0-fo100!7i8704!8i4352

Do Buffalo, New York area readers know that the former president of Somalia, Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed, graduated from the University of Buffalo, used to teach at Erie County Community College, and worked at the Buffalo Municipal Housing Authority and the New York State Department of Transportation, in Buffalo? He resigned as prime minister of Somalia, went back to Buffalo, but then returned to Somalia upon being elected as president. The then-future president used to live on Grand Island, NY.

Heliocentrism And Modern Physics

"Heliocentrism" means that the earth, and the other planets, revolve around the sun.

Since ancient times people have studied the night sky and made detailed records of the stars, which varied widely in brightness. Five objects were visible that moved among the stars. These came to be known as "planets", for the ancient Greek word for "wanderer".

All kinds of interpretations were given for the movement of the planets against the many immovable stars. These interpretations are collectively known as astrology. The stars are randomly scattered across the night sky but groups of stars that reminded people of things were given names. These patterns of stars are called constellations. Astrology was the interpretation of the planets moving against the backdrop of the constellations.

The most obvious objects in the sky were the sun and moon. Day and night were clearly caused by the presence or absence of the sun. It was observed that days and nights vary in length, relative to each other, but always add up even over the course of a year.

It was known that the daily path of the sun across the sky gradually shifted northward and southward throughout the course of a year. Days were longest, and shadows were shortest, when the sun was highest in the sky. Shafts facing skyward could be constructed so that the sun would shine directly down the shaft on only one day out of the year.

Eclipses were well-known. By making observations over long periods of time the cycles of both lunar and solar eclipses was charted. Some ancient civilizations were able to predict eclipses.

The sun, throughout the course of the year, and the planets did not move at all at random. They followed a predictable path across the sky. This path was called the Ecliptic and the constellations of stars along the ecliptic were known as the Zodiac. All planets had predictable movements, but all of the planets moved through their cycle of movement at different rates.

There was a dense band of mostly-faint stars across the sky. This band of stars became known as the Milky Way. But it wasn't at all in the same plane across the sky as the Ecliptic.

But yet no one knew exactly what the stars were. A predominant theory was that there was some kind of canopy high in the sky, with light beyond it, and the stars were holes in that canopy which let light in from beyond.

The stars were not actually static. Aside from the planets moving against the fixed stars, but at rates which differ from one another, there were unpredictable comets. Sometimes a "new star" would appear which came to be called a "nova", meaning "new". Sometimes it seemed that stars were falling to earth, which were called simply "falling stars". At predictable times of year there would be showers of such " falling stars". But when it was over the same fixed stars would still be there.

The sky was a mystery that was thousands of years old. But there was some clues as to what was really going on, starting on earth. It was easy to measure how high in the sky the sun was simply by pushing a stick into the ground. The longer the shadow it cast the lower the sun was in the sky. On any given day of the year there was a point, on a north-south line, where the sun was highest in the sky. If we went either directly north or directly south of that point the sun got progressively lower in the sky. What that seemed to indicate was that the earth was a sphere.

The next clue was that the moon goes through a cycle of phases, from new moon to full moon and back again, which lasts 29 days. The moon's position in the sky, relative to the sun, varies during this lunar cycle. What we can see is that the further the moon is from the sun in the sky the more of the moon's surface is lit. The full moon is only seen when the moon is diametrically opposite the sun in the sky. If the earth is spherical then this makes it seem like the moon is revolving around the earth, and the sun is further away.

Another clue as to what is really happening with regard to the night sky is that the stars we see from night to night do not remain completely constant. There is a different set of stars for each of the four seasons, which starts over again with the following year.

Finally a scientist named Copernicus introduced the idea that the sun, rather than the earth, was at the center and that the earth revolved around the sun, rather than the earth being at the center as had previously been believed. The moon revolved around the earth, going through it's phase cycle due to the light from the more distant sun. 

The movement of the planets was thus explained as the earth being one of them and all revolving around the sun, but at different rates according to their distance from the sun. Eclipses, both solar and lunar, happened periodically when the earth, moon and, sun all lined up. That doesn't happen every 29 days because the geometric planes of the earth's orbit around the sun, and of the moon's orbit around the earth, are not exactly the same.

The reason that the stars in the sky are different through the course of the year is that the earth is facing different directions in space as it revolves around the sun. But the stars close to the celestial north and south poles, known as "circumpolar", remain the same throughout the year. The planets, as well as the sun and moon, seem to adhere to a path across the sky against the background stars, known as the ecliptic, because the planets revolve around the sun in roughly the same geometric plane.

This was not an entirely new idea, having first arisen in ancient Greece along with the idea that the earth is spherical, rather than flat. The earth's seasons were thus explainable by the earth being tilted on it's axis, by 23 1/2 degrees, as it revolves around the sun.

Later it was found that the sun was just a typical star, which was part of a great structure of stars known as a galaxy. There were more stars in our galaxy than we could possibly count. Our galaxy was determined to be a barred spiral galaxy and the dense band of faint distant stars, that we refer to as the Milky Way, is looking along the plane of our galaxy. Although this galactic plane is not the same thing at all as the ecliptic.

Not only was our sun just a typical star among countless stars in our galaxy, but our vast galaxy was just one among countless galaxies throughout the universe. In fact, it was found that there are actually more galaxies in the universe than there are stars in our galaxy.

Nuclear physics explained why stars shine. Electron repulsion usually keeps adjacent atoms apart, as the electrons of both atoms are negatively-charged. But when a tremendous amount of matter is brought together by it's mutual gravity it is possible to overcome the electron repulsion and force atoms together. The new larger atom has less overall internal energy than the smaller atoms that were crunched together to form it. The excess energy is released as radiation, and that is why stars shine.

As this fusion process in the center of the star continues, with successively-heavier elements being fused together, more energy per time is released. This upsets the equilibrium between the inward pressure of gravity and the outward pressure of the energy released by fusion. This can cause the star to blast off it's outer layers, known as a nova. If that does not restore the equilibrium, by slowing down the fusion process by reducing the inward force of gravity, the entire star can explode from the center in a supernova, although this only happens in the largest stars.

When a large star explodes in a supernova it's component matter, including the heavier elements that were fused in it's core, are scattered across space. Some of the matter may fall back together again, by it's mutual gravity, to form a second-generation star. We know that the sun is such a second-generation star because it already contains heavier elements that are beyond it's current stage in the fusion process, which is fusing four hydrogen atoms into one helium atom and releasing the excess energy as radiation.

The heavier elements from the previous star is what forms most of the mass of the planets. The ordinary fusion process, the S-process for "slow", only goes as far as iron, which is why iron is so abundant in the inner Solar System, and is the most abundant element in the earth by mass. Elements heavier than iron are formed only during the brief time that the supernova is actually taking place, the R-process for "rapid". 

This is why elements that are heavier than iron, such as gold, silver and, uranium, are exponentially less common than elements below iron. Some of these heavy elements that are forced together by the energy released in the supernova are less-than-stable and gradually release particles or radiation while trying to reach a more stable state. These emissions are known as radioactivity. 

Light molecules that are abundant in the Solar System, such as water, methane and, ammonia, were put together by the energy of the one, or more, nova that preceded the supernova. A nova that preceded the supernova of the large star that preceded the sun is why elements in our atmosphere, such as oxygen and hydrogen, are found in diatomic, or molecular, form. When we use hydrogen as fuel we are releasing the energy that was originally released by the nova of the previous star.

So the mysteries of the universe, that were thousands of years old, started to fall into place with the realization that we need to get outside our own perspective. It seemed to us that the earth was flat and that everything in the sky revolved around it. But that view made it impossible to explain the universe, even though detailed measurements were made of it, and it's motions could be predicted. It was only when we found our way outside our own perspective that the universe started to fall into place for us.

Today we understand the structure of the universe but we have found more that cannot be explained. Just like back in ancient times we have science that we can predict, and take careful measurements of, but yet cannot explain.

There are the newer sciences of Relativity and Quantum Physics. Both have tenets that cannot be explained by ordinary physics, but yet can be demonstrated and proven beyond a doubt by experiments. Not only are both Relativity and Quantum Physics incompatible with ordinary science, in addition the two contradict each other. But yet the tenets of both can be clearly demonstrated by experiments.

There are two separate theories of Relativity, both by Albert Einstein. The Special Theory of Relativity, from 1905, describes how the speed of light is absolutely unchanging, and other things are variable if we travel at velocities approaching the speed of light. The General Theory of Relativity, from 1915, describes how gravity curves space. An object in orbit actually is moving in a straight line, but through curved space.

In the Special Theory of Relativity, which has been abundantly proven to be correct, the speed of light is always constant. As an object nears the speed of light it requires an ever-increasing amount of energy to accelerate it to greater velocities. At the speed of light it would require an infinite amount of energy to accelerate the object to greater velocities which is, of course, impossible. It would show up as the object's mass increasing until reaching infinity at the speed of light. This means that nothing can ever move faster than the speed of light.

Not only does the mass of an object approach infinity as it approaches the speed of light, time slows down until it stops altogether at the speed of light. The length of the object shortens, until it reaches zero at the speed of light. None of this can be explained by conventional physics but yet has been abundantly proven to be correct.

Many have tried, with little success, to unite Relativity and Quantum Physics. The great dividing line between the two is the speed of light. In Quantum Physics, the speed of light is not even a factor at all. Information moves between two entangled photons instantaneously, no matter how far apart they are, with no speed of light limitation.

Furthermore, in Quantum Physics even the act of observing or measuring something affects it's outcome. In the famous double-slit experiment, if we do not observe light passing through two parallel slits we can see by the diffraction pattern that photons of light passed through both slits. But if we do observe it, the absence of a diffraction pattern shows that photons passed through only one of the two slits. This is completely alien to both classical physics and Relativity.

My cosmological theory actually has a simple explanation. A basic presumption of science is that we have an unbiased view of the universe, we can completely rely on our measurements and observations. One of the most important points of my theory is that we do not have an unbiased view of the universe, we see the universe as we do not only because of what it is but also because of what we are.

There are two possible universes that we might see:

A) The universe with us.

B) The universe without us.

We know that the earth is not flat and that the astronomical bodies do not revolve around the earth. But then why do we see it that way if we know otherwise?

The answer is that to see the earth as spherical and revolving around the sun, we have to get ourselves out of the picture. If we see with our own eyes, with ourselves in the picture, we will see the earth as flat with the astronomical bodies revolving around it.

The flat earth with all of the astronomical bodies revolving around it is the universe with us.

The spherical earth revolving around the sun is the universe without us.

Now, let's move on to the development of Relativity and Quantum Physics. The two are not compatible with classical physics, or with each other. But considering the above example of the apparent flat earth and earth-centered universe, wouldn't it be logical that this is another case of "The universe with us" against "The universe without us"?

We know that the classical physics of the spherical earth revolving around the sun, and not vice-versa, represents "The universe without us" that displaced the flat earth with everything apparently revolving around us of "The universe with us". Given that, wouldn't it seem that the first place to look at why Relativity and Quantum Physics have such a contradiction with classical physics is that maybe those two represent "The universe with us"?

For another thing, none of these three branches is able to explain that time actually is. Relativity explains how time is affected as an object moves at speeds approaching the speed of light, but still doesn't tell us exactly what time is. Classical physics and Quantum Physics don't have much at all to say about what time is.

What about my cosmology theory? Have you ever thought that maybe what we perceive as particles of matter, such as electrons, are really strings in four-dimensional space and our consciousnesses are moving along the bundles of strings comprising our bodies and brains at what we perceive as the speed of light? That is why the speed of light is so absolutely constant and everything seems to revolve around it and no one can explain what time is in terms of physics.

Relativity is "The universe with us", which is why it cannot be explained by the classical physics of "The universe without us". Time is something that is within us, which is why it has never been explained by classical physics. That is why I named my cosmology theory "The Theory Of Stationary Space", because everything is really still and it is only our movements and the movement of our consciousness that is the only "new" motion in the universe.

Electrons are one-dimensional strings in space. Light is two-dimensional waves in the multi-dimensional background matrix of alternating negative and positive electric charges that comprise empty space. The only way that we can see, or measure or receive light in any way, is to have it interact with matter. 

When light interacts with matter it must absorb some of the energy in the light. Electrons are in orbitals around atoms so light interacting with matter usually means with an electron. But since light is a two-dimensional wave while electrons are only one-dimensional strings, that means that matter can absorb only one of light's two-dimensions.

Quantum physicists describe light as having both a wave and a particle nature, which seems contradictory and alien to classical physics. But since matter interaction, including seeing, involves contact with one-dimensional electrons, that means that one dimension of the light must be left over. Since my cosmology theory has what we see as particles as really one-dimensional strings, that explains the particle nature of light and the particles that we see as photons.

A photon is light where one of the two dimensions has been absorbed by interaction with matter. That explains the mysterious double-slit experiment. The only way that we can observe or measure light is to have it interact with matter, and this means absorbing one of it's two dimensions.

The speed of light is not a factor in Quantum Physics because time is really within us, the movement of our consciousness along the bundles of strings comprising our bodies and brains, and while that is a factor when we are moving, it is not a factor when we are seeing. Quantum physics is also "The universe with us", which is why it can never be explained by the classical physics of "The universe without us".

Relativity and Quantum Physics both, unlike classical physics, involve our perspective.

The Special Theory of Relativity is the effects that we observe revolving around the fact that our consciousness is moving along the bundles of strings that compose our bodies and brains at what we perceive as the speed of light. Matter is really strings in four-dimensional space but we perceive them as particles, such as electrons, in three-dimensional space because we perceive the fourth dimension of space as time.

Quantum Physics is the effects that we observe revolving around the fact that light, or any electromagnetic radiation, consists of two-dimensional waves, while the electrons in orbitals around the atoms in our eyes and measuring devices are one-dimensional strings. When light interacts with matter an electron absorbs energy from the light. But it can absorb only one of the two dimensions and this leaves the one-dimensional "particles" of light that we refer to and perceive as photons. This explains the wave-particle duality of light.

What we perceive as particles are really one-dimensional strings because we perceive one of the four dimensions of space as time. This is why information can move instantaneously between two entangled photons, without being bound at all by the speed of light.

I see my cosmology theory not as another branch, but as the way to link these three branches together.

This concept of two views of the universe, one with us and one without us, means that we have to be more careful about deciding that one scientific theory is correct, while another is incorrect. it might be that one is describing the universe with us while the other is the universe without us.

If humans once could make intricate measurements of what they saw in the sky but simply couldn't explain it, at least until they found their way outside their own perspective, then what should be unusual about finding ourselves in that situation again as science advances?

We can make intricate measurements in the new sciences of Relativity and Quantum Physics, but we simply cannot explain them. Doesn't it make sense that we need to get outside our perspective again? We will never explain these new sciences with ordinary physics because what we are seeing is our own nature reflected back at us.

Relativity and Quantum Physics is like a prehistoric person seeing a strange form in water. It is impossible to explain the form but yet there it is. Until one day the person realizes that the form is his own reflection.

This is a link to the posting that I use to introduce my cosmology theory:

Thursday, June 2, 2022

Commentary On Mass Shootings

Here is a commentary on two mass shootings, one recently and the other fifty years ago.

THE UNTOLD STORY OF THE UVALDE SCHOOL SHOOTING

There is something about the recent horrible school shooting in Uvalde, Texas that the media doesn't seem to have caught. It is about how history repeats itself. Crimes like this are an area where history is especially repetitive.

The modern era of senseless mass shootings is generally considered to have begun with the shooting from the tower of the University of Texas, in 1966. Charles Whitman, who looks like the last person who would do something like this, first killed his wife and his mother. Then he climbed to the top of the tower, barricaded himself, and then began shooting at people below. The siege lasted about 90 minutes until the shooter was shot and killed.

The Uvalde School Shooting was a virtual reenactment of the University of Texas shooting, except that it was done in an elementary school and there was no tower. But both shootings took place in a school.

Charles Whitman first killed his wife and mother and then proceeded to the shooting site. The Uvalde school shooter first shot his grandmother and then proceeded to the shooting site.

Both shooters barricaded themselves in the school, Charles Whitman barricaded the entrance to the tower and the Uvalde school shooter barricaded himself in a classroom and in a closet in the classroom.

The layout of both shootings is similar, law enforcement eventually getting through the barricade and killing the shooter. In the case of the Uvalde shooting it was getting the classroom door unlocked. Both shooting scenarios lasted roughly the same amount of time, about 90 minutes.

Another interesting fact about reenactments is that just before the Uvalde School Shooting was the Alabama Prison Escape, of a female deputy with a male prisoner. The two were eventually caught, in Indiana, when police and Marshals managed to force their car into a ditch. When the Uvalde school shooter drove to the site of the shooting he also drove his vehicle into a ditch. The two ditches were very similar, except that the one in Texas was lined with concrete.

THE LOD AIRPORT MASSACRE OF 1972

We have just passed the fiftieth anniversary at what was then-called Lod Airport, at Tel Aviv in Israel. The shooting massacre was planned by the PFLP, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. The attack was actually carried out by three members of the Japanese Red Army, who carried their weapons in musical instrument cases.

The airport, now named for Israel's founding father and first prime minister, David Ben Gurion, is the busiest airport in Israel. Five years before Israel had captured the Old City of Jerusalem, in the 1967 Six-Day War, and pilgrims were arriving from all over the world to visit the holy sites.

Israel's security forces were naturally watching for Arabs who might launch an attack. The use of Japanese attackers not only caught the Israelis off guard but also meant that, from that point on, they had to greatly increase security measures to check every visitor, from all countries. This was done to provoke a more hostile atmosphere for pilgrims, and dissuade people from visiting.

Most of the victims of the attack were not Israelis but foreign visitors, including seventeen pilgrims from Puerto Rico. This was also done purposely, to scare people away from visiting Israel.

Why did the attack happen when it did, in May 1972? The Olympics were soon to be held, in Munich, and another organization, Black September, was going to attack there. The two attacks go together, although I am not sure how much coordination there might have been between the two groups.

Israeli athletes were massacred at the Munich Olympics. The message was clear, and it complemented the message of the airport attack. Any country that was hosting Israelis, such as an Olympic team, was making itself a target.

We can see the same kind of objective in the attacks of 9/11. The hijackers were from countries that were traditionally considered as allies of America. Fifteen of the nineteen were Saudis. The other four were from the United Arab Emirates, Egypt and, Lebanon, and investigators had no great difficulty determining their identities.

This was done purposely, the objective being to turn Americans against their allies in the Middle East. It would also produce a backlash against those Moslems who would go to live in the west. It would help to shut globalization down, by making people afraid to fly, and might get America to throw it's democratic principles away. Most importantly, it would serve as a great recruiting tool to bring about further attacks in pursuit of the same purpose.


For those who read, "The Real Story Of The Alabama Prison Escape" May 2022, more has been added to it.

Stopping Mass Shootings

Of course, taking guns away is the way to stop mass shootings, but we know that isn't going to be happening anytime soon.

There is a cultural way to greatly reduce mass shootings. I noticed something interesting about mass shootings in my native Britain. There have been four mass shootings in recent decades, far less than in the U.S. but still four too many.

There has been a mass shooting in Britain about every twelve years, on average, beginning in 1987. There was Hungerford in 1987, Dunblaine in 1996, Cumbria in 2010 and, Plymouth in 2021.

One thing that virtually all young mass shooters have in common is that they are what is considered as a loser. That is what the problem is, the overriding pressure to be a winner. When someone finds themselves in the "loser" category there is one quick way out, to really make the world take notice of you, even if it means the loss of one's own life or freedom. Unfortunately that way is to commit a mass shooting. It is really about being a loser even if the shooting is done in the guise of some prejudice, cause or, ideology.

What I notice is that there was an era of "loser" songs in Britain's rock music era, which I have previously written about here. This era was the 1970s and early 1980s. Even the Beatles sang about being losers. What is so interesting is that the era of mass shootings began, in 1987, after the era of "loser" songs had ended.

Maybe that wasn't a coincidence. If we could be a little bit more welcoming to losers, maybe they wouldn't pick up guns.

Three months after I posted "Remembering Britain's Loser Songs", in May 2021, the Plymouth shooting took place. I really think that this would be a good time to review that posting.

REMEMBERING BRITAIN'S LOSER SONGS

During my youth, in the rock music era, British bands produced a number of what could be called "loser" songs. These were songs about generally being a loser, but with life in general and usually not having to do with romance.

Now I see the wisdom of these songs. There are a few examples that come to mind.

"Telephone Line", from 1977 by Electric Light Orchestra, is like the national anthem of loneliness and depression. It does involve romance but I classify it as a "loser" song because the singer is trying to telephone a girl and sinks deep into a gloomy mood. "I'm living in twilight", "I'll just sit tight with the shadows of the night", all because some girl isn't answering the phone.

There was "Superman" by the Kinks. This song involved the times, it was from the time of Britain's notorious strike-inflation spiral of late 1978. The winter of 1978-79 became known as Britain's "Winter of Discontent". The song is about a physically weak guy who wishes that he could be like Superman, "I want to fly but I can't even swim".

Another song was "I Wish I Could Be Like David Watts". It was about a less-than-stellar boy who wants to be like the star boy at school, whose name was David Watts. The Kinks did this song but, visiting Britain in the summer of 1978, I became familiar with the version by The Jam.

There is the song by The Kinks, "State of Confusion". This song seems to be about someone who is generally unable to cope with life. This makes it different from the earlier "Gimme Shelter", by the Rolling Stones, which is not a "loser" song because it is about the disintegration of society.

Gloomiest of all is the New Wave song "Are Friends Electric"? by Gary Numan. It is a futuristic song, supposedly taking place in future London. A guy's girlfriend is an electric robot but now she is broken. So he calls another robot girl to come over. I used to be fascinated by how the instrumentals convey a stark feeling of gloom.

But now I see what might be the point of songs like this. This life will be over before we know it. When the "winners" die they will be just as dead as the "losers".

Shouldn't we be more concerned with what comes after? Would you rather drift through life, but then go to Heaven for eternity, or be a real winner with everything that life has to offer, but then not go to Heaven?

Are we making too big of a deal about being "winners"? What difference will it make a hundred years from now? With very few exceptions you will be completely gone and forgotten a century from now. Of all the people who were alive in the 1920s how many can you name today?

Have you ever went to a job interview and were given a test to take while in the waiting room? Isn't this life really just taking a test in the waiting room? What really counts is what comes next. Maybe there is such a thing as taking this brief life too seriously.

What about the Apocalypse foretold in the Bible? We do not know exactly when it is going to happen and we are not to stop living because it is pending. But remember that this is like living on the Titanic. It would be wonderful to be a winner on the Titanic, but the ship is still going to sink anyway.

The values of the world define who is a winner and who is a loser. But if the world's values are in the right place then why is it heading toward the Apocalypse? Remember that Jesus said "The last will be first and the first will be last". This means that the world's values are upside-down and could be interpreted to mean that winners will be losers, and vice versa. When you face God all of your worldly status, which country you were part of, how popular and attractive you were, and how much money you had, will all mean absolutely nothing.

A part of being a "loser" is certainly willful. Whenever a society puts a lot of pressure on young people there is a rebellion against it. In China today there is the "Sang", or "Slacker" movement. In Japan there has long been the "Hikikomori". In the U.S. during the 1960s the catchphrase was "Turn On, Tune In, Drop Out".

Maybe it's healthier not to take life too seriously, and certainly some of society's values don't make sense. Where I live having a lot of friends is highly valued. Being surrounded by people is wonderful while being alone is terrible, which I consider as bizarre. It's more about control and "keeping an eye" on each other than about friendship. 

The "loser" songs are really a compliment to my native Britain. Only in a wealthy country that was confident of it's place in the world would people support music about their own people being losers. 

The "loser" songs, as well as the "state of the world" songs, are a reflection of the traditional Protestant dim view of both the world and human nature. But when we have too much respect for the way things have always been done we are less likely to notice better ways of doing things and when we see the world around us as having room for improvement it helps us to notice better ways of doing things, which is why traditionally Protestant societies have been so progressive.

With so many mass shootings today have you ever thought that if we would make losers feel a little bit more welcome they might be less likely to pick up a gun? There are movies about losers, but which usually have them committing violence. Songs like this make being a loser, at least as defined by the world, seem not so bad.

Besides music why don't we have one day a year to recognize and appreciate losers? Then they might be less likely to look for recognition by picking up a gun.

War In Ukraine

It was in Newsweek this week that Russian state television described the war in Ukraine as a "rehearsal", of the latest weapons, for World War Three.

This is what we saw recently in, "The War That We Really Should Understand" March 2022. This posting is about how the Spanish Civil War, which just preceded the Second World War, provided both sides with combat experience, and a chance to try out the latest weapons and tactics, before the great conflict that followed.