The San Francisco Bay Area

The San Francisco Bay area is known primarily for being probably the most important center in the world of the computer industry. Like Los Angeles and San Diego, far to the south, San Francisco began with the founding of a Spanish mission in the Eighteenth Century.

In 1849, there was a gold rush to the area. That is why today San Francisco's professional football team is known as the Forty-Niners, named for the people who arrived during the gold rush. This gold rush also led to the founding of Wells Fargo Bank, as a place to deposit newfound wealth. William Fargo was once the mayor of nearby Buffalo.

In 1906, the city was devastated by an earthquake. That led to another bank, the Bank of America, providing loans for rebuilding. Another interesting thing about San Francisco's banks is that, in the economic crash of 1929, not a single one of the city's banks failed.

In 1989 I was working in a factory. There was a portable television nearby with a baseball game on. The ground on the television suddenly began to shake. It was the Loma Prieta Earthquake which, while nowhere near as devastating as the one 83 years earlier, still did a lot of damage.

San Francisco is built on a peninsula. While that may make it very scenic, it also means that land is at a premium. As the city grows, the price of land finds it's way into everything else and that is why it is one of the most expensive cities in the world. The following image is from Google Earth. The city to the right across the bay is Oakland.

 
It may seem a mystery as to why San Francisco was a focal point in sometimes testy relations between the U.S. and Russia. There were makeshift wooden shacks on the roof of the Russian consulate there, believed to be concealing all manner of secret antennas. The FBI was reported to have dug a tunnel under the consulate, in an effort to determine if espionage is going on in there, before Donald Trump simply ordered it closed.

San Francisco is not a center of political power but this is explained by the forces of history. San Francisco was once a Russian colony.

One of the best-known views of San Francisco is from Alamo Square, toward downtown, looking past the row of houses known as the "Painted Ladies". The pyramid-shaped building downtown is the Transamerica Pyramid. The first of the following images is from Google Street View, the second is from Google Earth.

 
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.

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One of the best-known street intersections in the world gives it's name to the surrounding district. Haight-Ashbury is not only the name of a district in San Francisco, it is also the name of an era. This was the focal point of the Hippies of the late 1960s. The 1967 hit song by Scott McKenzie, "San Francisco", reminded those on their way there to be sure to remember to wear flowers in their hair. 

The spirit of bringing about a better world was certainly there in those days, and the Monterrey Pop Festival was the predecessor of Woodstock, on the other side of the country. The oak wood for the hardwood floors in the homes all around was harvested just across San Francisco Bay, and gave it's name to the city of Oakland.

https://www.google.com/maps/@37.7700149,-122.4469487,3a,60y,90t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sLkko1sS4oGx_rf_Y0Tursg!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

The inlet to San Francisco Bay, from the Pacific Ocean, is known as the Golden Gate. The bridge across it by that name is one of the hallmarks of San Francisco. The first image is from Google Street View.

 

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Moving south from San Francisco, along the western shore of San Francisco Bay, we come to the city of Palo Alto. Northern California is known for it's towering redwood trees, and the name of Palo Alto means "the tall stick". The southern end of San Francisco Bay is otherwise known as Silicon Valley. So much of the developments in modern computers originated in PARC, the Palo Alto Research Center. Also nearby is Google, where I presume that the servers that host this blog are located.

https://www.google.com/maps/@37.4453224,-122.1622513,3a,60y,90t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1s4qBn0L87SLtVH1g1ro0_3g!2e0!7i16384!8i8192

At Palo Alto is Stanford University, which is known as the "University of Silicon Valley".

https://www.google.com/maps/@37.4254073,-122.1674346,3a,75y,27.7h,90t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sAF1QipPWVcOVniypJUXJkd8ZGJwU6NPyDQSbUzfnM4ko!2e10!3e11!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipPWVcOVniypJUXJkd8ZGJwU6NPyDQSbUzfnM4ko%3Dw203-h100-k-no-pi2.911568-ya35.821-ro-4.190272-fo100!7i6912!8i3456

At the southern end of San Francisco Bay is San Jose, considered as the "capital of Silicon Valley". It is actually the largest city in the San Francisco Bay area.

https://www.google.com/maps/@37.3344557,-121.8890983,3a,60y,90t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sPppkXdpyrZ6uGmWg7OsUeQ!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

San Jose is a wealthy city. This is a residential neighborhood.

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Across the bay from San Francisco is Oakland. It got it's name, as stated above, by providing oak wood to build the flooring in San Francisco homes. The 1906 earthquake that devastated San Francisco brought people to Oakland. San Francisco Bay is a natural harbor and Oakland is the port. The first image of Oakland is from Google Earth.

 

https://www.google.com/maps/@37.8043033,-122.271044,3a,60y,90t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sDErHzw0bZczjIdP--OCQaw!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

Another famous university is the University of California at Berkeley. It is known for it's many discoveries involving elements and atoms and also for the student protests during the Vietnam War.

https://www.google.com/maps/@37.8722715,-122.2584699,3a,60y,90t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1syRzLQk4nKNL00dbqO-CUpA!2e0!7i16384!8i8192

A visit to San Francisco wouldn't be complete without Alcatraz. This is the island in San Francisco Bay that was used first as a fort, and then as a prison. It housed prisoners that were particularly notorious. The first three images are from Google Earth and Street View.

 

https://www.google.com/maps/@37.8266356,-122.4227447,3a,75y,285.54h,90t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sAF1QipOIgKI5hQIRrNhUVWeYUsIoX8wewx5yXOl0G8Qq!2e10!3e11!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipOIgKI5hQIRrNhUVWeYUsIoX8wewx5yXOl0G8Qq%3Dw203-h100-k-no-pi0-ya232.395-ro-0-fo100!7i8704!8i4352

In June of 1962 three prisoners escaped from Alcatraz, two of which were brothers. A fourth prisoner was supposed to join them but had to be left behind. The escape was elaborately planned, using a utility corridor behind the cells. Chiseling into the wall was done while music was being played, to hide the noise. The prisoners crafted life-like dummies to put in their cots. They sewed raincoats into an inflatable raft.

No one knows for certain what became of the three. A raft was reportedly found. Some believe that the tide into San Francisco Bay was the deciding factor. if the tide was on the way out when the escape took place during the night, the time of night isn't exactly known, they would have been swept out to sea and would have been unlikely to survive. But if the tide was on the way in they could have landed somewhere on shore and made their escape.

But there are many stories that their families have received communications from them, such as Christmas cards.

53 years after the escape from Alcatraz, another prison escape took place. It was on the other side of the country, in a northern New York State town called Dannemora. The escape, of two inmates, from the Clinton Correctional Facility was remarkably similar to the escape from Alcatraz. It didn't involve water but the escapees used the utility corridor behind their cells to eventually access a tunnel through which steam was piped, for heat during the winter, from an external steam plant. They accessed a manhole cover in an intersection a block away from the prison, and made their escape into the dense forest of the Adirondacks. In the following image, from Google Street View, the manhole cover is in the foreground and the prison wall in the background.

 
The country was enthralled with the escape for the month of June, 2015. The two escapees eventually split up, one being shot and killed and the other later shot and captured. Would this escape have happened as it did without the fame of the escape at Alcatraz?

Remembering The Way To San Jose

I have noticed what seems to me to be one of the greatest untold stories of both the rock music era and the computer age. You can read it and form your own conclusion. I have suspected this but have not seen it anywhere else.

San Jose was a rural and agricultural community at the southern end of San Francisco Bay. The city manager of San Jose, from 1950 to 1969, was A. P. "Dutch" Hamann. He really wanted San Jose to grow, and it would become a major city by the end of his tenure.

He is remembered for making the following statement in 1965: "They say that San Jose is going to become another Los Angeles. Believe me, I'm going to do everything in my power to make that come true".

In 1967 San Francisco, to the north of San Jose, had a hit song about it concerning the Hippies coming from across the country to Haight-Ashbury. The song, San Francisco, was by Scott McKenzie, and it reminded those bound to San Francisco to "remember to wear flowers in their hair".

There was a popular singer named Dionne Warwick who, a few years earlier, had a memorable hit song titled "Anyone Who Had A Heart". Dionne Warwick was from New Jersey, had no connections to San Jose and, at the time, had never been there.

But there was a songwriter who worked with Dionne Warwick named Hal David. He had been stationed at San Jose while serving in the U.S. Navy. The city manager who wanted so much for San Jose to grow had also been in the Navy.

Dionne Warwick recorded what would become an international hit song, "Do You Know The Way To San Jose"? She said that she didn't like the song, at least until it became a major hit, and that she did it at the urging of Hal David.

A lot of people were moving out to California at the time but the major destination was southern California, the Los Angeles area.

The lyrics of the song contrasted Los Angeles with San Jose. If the song was about San Jose then why should it even mention Los Angeles, which is far to the south? The basic pattern of the song is a negative view of Los Angeles and then a contrasting positive view of San Jose.

Why would she sing about "getting back to San Jose" and having been "born and raised in San Jose" when, in fact, she had never been there at the time of the song?

The song goes on: (Credit to Google for lyrics).

"L.A. is a great big freeway

Put a hundred down and buy a car

In a week, maybe two, they'll make you a star.

Weeks turn into years. How quick they pass

And all the stars that never were

Are parking cars and pumping gas"

This portrays L.A., Los Angeles, as a false tinsel paradise that offers mainly empty promises of Hollywood stardom.

In contrast with the infamous smog and gridlock of Los Angeles, the song reminds us how easy it is to breathe and move in peaceful San Jose.

"You can really breathe in San Jose
They've got a lot of space. There'll be a place where I can stay
I was born and raised in San Jose
I'm going back to find some peace of mind in San Jose"

Once again, most of what Los Angeles has to offer is empty promises of stardom.

"Fame and fortune is a magnet
It can pull you far away from home
With a dream in your heart you're never alone
Dreams turn into dust and blow away
And there you are without a friend
You pack your car and ride away"

In stark contrast, what a friendly place San Jose is. Dionne has so many friends there, even if she has never been there.

"I've got lots of friends in San Jose
Do you know the way to San Jose?"

After listening to that song, San Jose sounds like our kind of place. Let's drop our plans to settle in a horrid place like Los Angeles and go to San Jose instead. It also contrasts with the earlier song about San Francisco by portraying San Jose instead as a family-oriented place that would be good to settle down and start a business. Not like San Francisco, to the north, and it's Hippies with plenty of LSD and "flowers in their hair".

When Dionne Warwick visited San Jose, after the song had become a hit, she described it as a "little country town".

As it turns out, that "little country town" that was the subject of Dionne Warwick's hit song is now the largest city of the San Francisco Bay area. San Jose is considered as the "capital of Silicon Valley" and is one of the wealthiest cities in the world. it is certainly one of the best places to live, at least for the people that can afford to live there.

if the internet began the following year, at UCLA in Los Angeles, then how did Silicon Valley end up so far to the north, centered today on San Jose and neighboring Palo Alto? Could Dionne Warwick's song have been more successful in diverting the flow from Los Angeles to San Jose?

What I cannot help wondering is whether this song was commissioned from the beginning, by a secret deal between the city manager of San Jose and Dionne Warwick's songwriter. I also wonder if Dionne herself knew about it.

At any rate, the whole world now knows the way to San Jose.

The Unabomber And The Zodiac Killer

The Unabomber, Theodore Kaczynski, died recently in prison. "The Unabomber" wasn't a title that he gave himself. From a remote cabin in the woods of Montana he mailed homemade package bombs often to universities and airlines, and others he associated with allowing nature and society to be destroyed by modern technology. The name of the FBI file on him was "Unabom" with the "Una" meaning "universities and airlines".

The Unabomber was pretty smart. He received a scholarship to enter Harvard at age 16, after skipping two grades in school. After graduation from Harvard he went on to get a PhD in mathematics. He was hired as a professor at the prestigious University of California at Berkeley, in the San Francisco Bay area.

But he apparently didn't have the personality to be a teacher, and later resigned. He moved back with his parents in Illinois for a while before choosing to live a very isolated life in the cabin in the woods of Montana. It was while living there that he undertook his long campaign of sending package bombs by mail.

It reportedly resulted in the most expensive manhunt in U.S. history, but it came up completely empty. I remember reading once about someone sending a wooden package bomb, primarily to universities and airlines, on average about once a year. A sketch was made of a man wearing a hood and dark glasses, who was seen placing a package in a parking lot, which exploded when picked up. 

The government had no idea who was doing it. The idea did arise that the Unabomber might have some connection to the University of California at Berkeley, because that was the only place that was targeted more than once. Ironically the first person to arrive to aid the person injured by the second bomb was the one who had been injured by the first bomb.

These mail bombings began in 1978. The Unabomber was finally caught in 1996. He had written a manuscript describing his views of how technology was destroying society. He wrote to newspapers and promised to cease mailing bombs if they published it. The Unabomber would write to his brother describing his ideas and his brother, and his wife, recognized his writing in the manuscript. The brother decided that he had to turn him in to save innocent lives.

After the background of the Unabomber was uncovered, something interesting became apparent. There had been a serial killer in the San Francisco Bay area that got a tremendous amount of media attention but was never caught. It was the Zodiac Killer. I know that the FBI eliminated the Unabomber as a suspect in the case of the Zodiac Killer, but the parallels between the two are just plain eerie.

The Zodiac Killer is confirmed as having killed five people, usually with a handgun and wounding others who survived. There were unconfirmed speculation of other killings and letters from the Zodiac that were determined to be hoaxes. Most of his victims were couples on dates. It seems like classic incel killings. A guy who resents not having a girlfriend kills people who are having fun on dates.

What is unusual about the Zodiac Killer, relative to other serial killers, is that the timeframe of his confirmed killings was short, actually less than a year from December 1968 to October 1969, yet he continued writing to authorities for several years afterward.

This is exactly the same timeframe that the reclusive and unsocial future Unabomber was teaching at nearby UC at Berkeley. He left California some time after resigning his position, moving in with his parents for a while before moving to the remote cabin in Montana.

The Zodiac Killer was known for the cryptograms that he sent to newspapers. Like the Unabomber would later do with his manuscript the Zodiac Killer threatened killings if they weren't published. Some of the cryptograms have not yet been solved, one required a team of mathematicians and programmers to solve. The Zodiac Killer must not only have been pretty smart, but very good with both words and mathematics. The characters in the cryptograms that the killer made up himself look like symbols used in mathematics.

The letters and cryptograms that the Zodiac Killer sent have quite a few misspellings. But how could someone who could come up with these unsolvable cryptograms not know how to spell?

When the future Unabomber was in university he amazed teachers with his ability to solve complex math problems. When he was finally arrested a diary, written in code, was found in his cabin. He was also very good with languages, I know that he could speak at least German and Spanish. Wouldn't he be just the one to come up with the very complex and difficult cryptograms of the Zodiac Killer? Two are still unsolved and one took the team of mathematicians and programmers to solve.

The FBI claimed that the fingerprints of the Unabomber and the Zodiac Killer don't match. But could they be sure that they had the Zodiac Killer's fingerprints? Someone clever enough to create these cryptograms is probably smart enough to wear gloves. A call to a police station by the killer was traced to a photo booth, and prints were found on the phone. But it could have been anyone else's prints. Maybe he waited for someone else to use the phone, so that person's prints would be on it, and then handled the phone carefully with gloves. When he killed his final confirmed victim, a taxi driver, he was seen carefully wiping the car down before leaving.

The Unabomber hunted animals in the woods while living in his remote cabin. Nowhere do I see that the Unabomber was into guns while growing up. His father did show him how to survive in the wilderness and he might have fired a gun, but nowhere in anything written about his life did I see anything about an interest in guns.

But yet he was adept enough with a gun to survive mostly by hunting by the time he moved into the wilderness. It seems that he must have gotten some hunting practice somewhere. Could it have been as the Zodiac Killer in California?

Hunting is usually done with long guns, shotguns and especially rifles, which are more powerful and accurate than pistols. A pistol is intended only for close range. Yet the Zodiac Killer killed with a pistol and, when the Unabomber was arrested he was found to have only a pistol.

Like the Unabomber the Zodiac Killer threatened bombings if what he sent to the news wasn't published. He also made a schematic diagram of a bomb. The Unabomber threatened an airliner just as the Zodiac Killer had threatened a school bus.

One parallel that I find really interesting is in the signatures of the two killers. The Zodiac Killer had his own "crosshairs" symbol, like a plus sign superimposed on a circle. The Unabomber signed his correspondence with F.C., for "Freedom Club". What is so interesting is that they both used their signatures on their correspondence in exactly the same way.

Another convincing link is letter writing. The Zodiac Killer wrote so many letters. The Unabomber was also a prolific letter writer, often to his brother. When the Unabomber was in prison he spent much of his time writing letters, some to answer those that were sent to him.

Following is a copy of the Zodiac Killer's 340 character cryptogram. Part of the "crosshairs" symbol is at bottom. Credit to the Wikipedia article "Zodiac Killer".

The clue as to how to decode it is in the second half of the last line. After that is "ZO". We know that he must be signing his name, Zodiac, but the characters must be moved around, according to some pattern.

Now consider the Unabomber's name. It was unknown why the killer called himself "Zodiac". 

Theodore Kaczynski 

If we start with reverse alphabetical order and take one letter, the Z, continuing in reverse alphabetical order we take two consecutive letters, the OD. Continuing in reverse alphabetical order we go back to one letter, the I, and then to the two consecutive letters, the AC, it spells "Zodiac".

Starting from the end of the name, the "i", if we take the required letters and skip the four letters between each time we end up with "The Zodiac". So there are groups of 1, 2 and, 3 letters, separated each by four letters, to get "The Zodiac".

But how would we know this? The Zodiac Killer gave us a clue in that he committed four attacks but only the first, second and third were against couples. The fourth attack was completely different in that it was against a taxi driver. Remember that everything about this is a cryptogram. The actual cryptograms don't give any real clues, they just point in this direction.

When a person signs their name to a document they sign at the end of it. Look at the last line and the second half of the second-to-last line. The capital "I" at the end has a minus sign, -, extending from it's left side. Is this a sign to start on his name in reverse order from the final "I", as described above?

This ending of the cryptogram spells his name, "Kaczynski". It has several mathematical symbols. The last line starts with MD, which means doctor. It also contains a rearranged "PhD" and the MD could be a clue that this means doctorate. Some letters are reversed so what looks like a "9" could be a reversed "P". "MI" is the abbreviation for Michigan, where he got his PhD.

It is interesting that the Zodiac Killer put a 9 in the final line because he sent in a map with his logo of a circle divided into four quadrants. The origin point was Mount Diablo, with north defined as 0, east as 3, south as 6, and west as 9. The University at Berkeley is due west of Mount Diablo. Image from Google Earth.

That explains the mystery of why he would call himself "Zodiac" but his correspondence never mentions anything to do with astrology. Being so much into cryptograms it was because the letters of his name could be rearranged to spell "Zodiac".

I believe that the misspelled words in the Zodiac Killer's letters were clues as to which letters are substituted for other letters in the cryptograms.

The Zodiac's letters state that the cryptograms reveal clues to his identity. But the two that have been decoded offer no such clues at all, just descriptions of how much he enjoys killing. Maybe that is because the clues are not within the cryptograms, rather the cryptograms themselves are the clues.

The clue in the cryptograms is that the killer is obviously very accomplished at mathematics. The first place we would think to look for a mathematician is probably a university. All of the three couples that were attacked by the Zodiac Killer were all around college age, this is another clue pointing toward a college or university.

Look at the sites where the three attacks on college age couples took place. The name of all three begin with a "B". Since the killer was a cryptographer surely this must be a clue. Theodore Kaczynski has no "B" in his name, his middle name is John. There is a "B" in the ending of the cryptogram above.

The killings of couples took place at Benicia, at Blue Rock Springs Park, and at Lake Berryessa. Two of the sites begin with "Be" and the other begins with the color blue.

If the Zodiac Killer was so adept at cryptography wouldn't it make sense that the sites of his killings would have some cryptographic significance?

So the victims were around university age and we know that a university would be the place to look for a mathematician who would be adept at such cryptography. There is a university nearby, UC at Berkeley. The name of the school begins with "Be" and it's school color is blue, along with California Gold. The university actually has it's own shade of blue, known as "Berkeley Blue". 

The Zodiac Killer's final confirmed victim was a driver for the Yellow Cab Company and the taxi was a golden yellow color just like Berkeley's other color. The shooting took place very near the Golden Gate Bridge, as if to leave no doubt that the color of the cab stands for the gold that is the university's other color, blue and gold.

This means we should be looking for a mathematician at Berkeley University, whose name can be respelled as "The Zodiac".

The Zodiac Killer killed with a gun but there is one known exception. The attack at Lake Berryessa took place with a knife. Why would someone who kills with a gun suddenly decide to use a knife? Killing with a gun is so much easier and safer than with a knife. With cryptography being so important here, and the first two letters "Be" pointing to Berkeley, could it be a clue that the Zodiac Killer also has a "K" and an "N" in his name, Theodore Kaczynski?

The Zodiac Killer boasted of killing 37 people, which is generally considered as a gross exaggeration. But remember that this is all about cryptography that reveals his identity. "University of Berkeley Theodore Kaczynski" has 37 letters.

Crossword puzzles are usually square. But the cryptogram above has 17 spaces across and 20 spaces down, which adds up to the same number of people The Zodiac said that he killed. "Theodore Kaczynski" has 17 letters and University of (or at) Berkeley has 20 letters.

The solved 408 character cryptogram also has 17 spaces across. I am surprised that no one seems to have taken note that both cryptograms are 17 across. The 408 character cryptogram was divided into thirds, and each sent to a different newspaper. Each third has 8 characters down. Why would he do this? Was it because "Berkeley" has 8 letters. Also an 8 resembles a "B" and the three shootings of couples were at places that begin with a 'B".

I think this leaves no doubt that the Zodiac Killer became the Unabomber. This is not entirely a new idea but these connections I cannot see have ever been pointed out. 

What I had wondered about is why he called himself "The Zodiac", but his letters never mention anything about astrology or stars, and why he took a taxi for his final known murder if he had a car, and killed the taxi driver instead of a couple. Now we know.

I am sure that there is more than this but a lot of what was sent in was sent by other people. Besides I have had enough of writing about, and thinking about, this psychopath. However it is interesting that in 1978, just before the bombings of the Unabomber began, a letter was received, from supposedly the Zodiac Killer, stating "I am back with you".

If you would like to read more true crime material like this see the compound posting "Investigations", December 2018, some of the sections are about crime.

Canada's Arrow Program

The Arrow is a Canadian project to build an electric vehicle. What I cannot see written about it is that The Arrow was also the name of a project of the late 1950s to build a supersonic jet fighter plane with the latest technology. It would probably be the most advanced warplane in the world and was known as the Avro Arrow.

The Avro Arrow became a point of great national pride in Canada and a facility near Toronto employed thousands of people. But Prime Minister John Diefenbaker suddenly and unexpectedly cancelled the project and ordered all plans and prototypes associated with it to be destroyed. Many of the prominent people involved in the project ended up in the U.S. space program.

Canada, and especially Toronto, has never quite gotten over the cancellation of the Avro Arrow. There were rumors that the project might continue, maybe by a private company. People who were really interested in the Avro Arrow were known as "Arrowheads". In August 2018 came the news that a prototype of the Avro Arrow had been recovered from the bottom of Lake Ontario.

While I cannot see that the present Arrow Project, to build the most advanced electric car, was officially named for the Avro Arrow it is certainly being done in the same spirit and is the modern incarnation of the Avro Arrow. Just as the car was to showcase to the world what Canada was capable of doing I am sure that will now be accomplished by the car.

Remember that we saw the Avro Arrow in the compound posting "Investigations", December 2018, section 38) CANADA'S AVRO ARROW.

The Wavelength Average

There is matter and space in the universe. Both contain energy. The energy in space is electromagnetic radiation, which consists of a wide range of wavelengths, from gamma rays to radio waves, and includes light, infrared, ultraviolet and, X rays. The energy in matter can be subdivided into the energy within matter, which we refer to as the Mass-Energy Equivalence and is the basis of Einstein's famous formula E=MC squared, and the energy of matter in motion, which we refer to as kinetic energy.

Since energy cannot be created or destroyed, but only changed in form, the total energy balance of the universe must remain constant. But the balance of these three forms of energy, electromagnetic radiation, the internal energy within matter and, the energy of matter in motion, is constantly changing and the change is going in only one direction.

Electromagnetic radiation, other than that left over from the Big Bang, is a function of matter. This means that it is produced by matter, and requires matter to define it's wavelength. But the direction in which the universe is going is energy undergoing a one-way transfer from being associated with matter to being associated with space. Electromagnetic radiation in the universe is always increasing at the expense of matter.

Radiation is made from matter, but not the other way around. Nuclear fusion is taking place in stars as smaller atoms are crunched together by the gravity and pressure into larger ones. The new larger atom has less internal energy than the smaller atoms that were crunched together to form it. The extra energy is released as radiation and this is why stars shine. 

Another way of expressing it is in terms of the geometry of spheres. Energy is equivalent to surface area. This is why spheres are the default gravitational form of matter in the universe. A sphere has the lowest surface area per volume, and thus the lowest energy. A larger sphere has less surface area than two smaller spheres that equal it's volume. That is why stars release the excess energy as radiation.

Even when matter falls into a black hole the energy in it is ultimately released as radiation because the black hole eventually decays.

Matter actually can be produced from electromagnetic radiation, at least at the quantum level. It is called "pair production". But it produces one particle of matter, and the other of antimatter. This is what the "pair" is. The two particles soon mutually annihilate back into radiation, so for all practical purposes matter cannot be produced by radiation.

The rapid, or R, type nuclear fusion that fuses lighter atoms into elements heavier than iron only happens when a large star explodes in a supernova. The ordinary fusion process only goes as far as iron and this is the only way that elements heavier than iron are produced, which is why elements up to iron are exponentially more common than those heavier than iron. But this isn't really creating matter out of energy because the matter already existed and it is a reusing of the energy within the same star.

So as time goes on the total mass of matter in the universe is decreasing and the energy in electromagnetic radiation is increasing. Thus, over the very long term, we could say that the existence of matter is just a temporary state in the universe.

There are the two types of energy associated with matter. The first is the internal energy, the Mass-Energy Equivalence. The second is the motion of matter, heat is the movement of atoms and molecules within the matter and kinetic energy is the movement of the entire mass. The two are not really separate things. If atoms in a mass are in motion, relative to each other, we call it heat. If the atoms of the mass are all in motion together we call it kinetic energy.

Both of these are being continuously reduced in favor of the energy going to electromagnetic radiation. The movement of atoms, kinetic energy, is being reduced because smaller atoms are being crunched together by fusion in stars. The total mass is being reduced because the new atom has less mass than the smaller ones that were crunched together to form it. The leftover energy is released as radiation, and this is why stars shine.

But information cannot just be lost. Matter is information and, if it's existence is just a temporary period in the history of the universe, the information in matter must somehow remain. That is where the wavelengths of electromagnetic radiation come in.

The original radiation released in the Big Bang, which we can still detect, must have been extremely short wavelength gamma rays. Remember that radiation today is produced by matter and requires matter to define it's wavelength. With no matter just after the Big Bang there would be nothing to define wavelength. I believe that the orbital distance of the electron from the proton in a hydrogen atom is, or is related to, the wavelength of the original gamma rays from the Big Bang.

As matter collected by gravity, which led to nuclear fusion if there was enough mass, it produced more, and defined the wavelengths of, electromagnetic radiation. It was actually re-radiating the original radiation, but with longer wavelengths. Since the average atom in the universe is continuously getting larger and heavier, due to fusion in stars, the average wavelength of electromagnetic radiation in the universe must be getting longer.

If we could figure the average wavelength of all electromagnetic radiation in the universe it would actually act as a clock from the beginning of the universe in the Big Bang. Atoms do get broken apart, such as by Cosmic Ray Spallation, but that is a minor factor relative to nuclear fusion continuously crunching lighter atoms into heavier ones, and this must be reflected in the average wavelength of radiation in the universe.

So if the matter of the universe should ultimately be converted into electromagnetic radiation, it's information will not be lost because information cannot just be lost. It will still be there in the wide variety of wavelengths of electromagnetic radiation.

Farewell To Henry Kissinger

During America's Nixon and Ford Administrations Henry Kissinger was first the National Security Advisor and then the Secretary of State as well. In America the position of Secretary of State involves dealing with other countries and is what most countries would call a foreign minister.

Henry Kissinger is controversial, at least as much so as Nixon. His diplomatic accomplishments are beyond doubt. He secretly visited China and set up Nixon's visit the following year, which was 1972. This really changed the world by establishing diplomatic relations between the U.S. and China. As I watched the news of Nixon meeting with Chairman Mao in the Great Hall of the People, when I was eleven years old, I had no idea that this would be one of the most important things I would ever witness. It is why "Made In China" is to be seen everywhere today.

Kissinger also negotiated a truce in the Vietnam War, which ended America's involvement. It was a joyous occasion, although I think a lot of people suspected that the truce wasn't going to last forever.

Aside from these two accomplishments Kissinger is so controversial because of the death and destruction brought about by America's allies. It was the height of the Cold War and Kissinger's reason for being was to oppose Communism. It was acceptable if some of America's allies were brutal and dictatorial as long as their brutality was directed against Communism. Death and destruction were unfortunate but acceptable for the greater good of stopping Communism.

Kissinger's 1976 tour of Africa was especially controversial, although it didn't involve immediate bloodshed. Some African nations were moving toward black majority rule and Kissinger's visits to their white leaders came across as support for their continued rule. Kissinger gave many the impression that he didn't really care about Africa in itself, except as a potential theater of operations against Communism. His concern was that black African rulers might be more receptive to Communism.

What I want to point out is the investigation "36) RICHARD NIXON'S LIST OF ENEMIES" in the compound posting "Investigations", December 2018. This investigation is about three assassinations of national leaders in far corners of the world. It appears that the assassinations couldn't possibly have anything to do with each other, and all happened after the end of Nixon's presidency. But I noticed that the three national leaders did have one thing in common. They had all gotten on the wrong side of Richard Nixon. I do not have any evidence that Henry Kissinger had any involvement in these assassinations, and I never thought of him when I wrote that, but this is significant to anyone with an interest in the Nixon-Kissinger era.

Other investigations in that compound posting are 7) NIAGARA FALLS AND THE MOON LANDING, 9) THE REAL BATMAN and, 59) THE LONG TERM PLAN OF CHAIRMAN MAO.

Crash At Rainbow Bridge

Just a few observations about the wild car crash at the Rainbow Bridge that briefly got Niagara Falls into the global headlines, until it was determined that the crash had nothing to do with terrorism. All images are from Google Earth or Street View.

The car, proceeding west along Niagara Street toward the bridge at very high speed, moved in a straight line to the scene of the crash. Clearly the driver was pressing the accelerator but not steering. The yellow line shows the course of the car, from right to left.

The car became airborne, at very high speed, and jumped this fence.

The car must have drifted into the oncoming lanes of Niagara Street, as seen in the following image. The fence can be seen in the foreground of the white van in the distance. The car tilted to the passenger (starboard) side while aloft, and exploded upon impact with the ground.

This makes it seem that no steering was being done at all. The original destination was a concert in Toronto, which explains why it had a full tank of fuel.

If the intention of the driver was to inflict damage, this car was an illogical choice. He could have rented a truck.

If the intention was suicide, the driver would not have accelerated to high speed and then aimed for the fence. The other side of the fence would have been open, as seen in the following image to let cars from Canada through, and he could easily have steered around the fence. The fence might have slowed the car without stopping it. Surveillance video shows no traffic blocking the open side of the fence as the crash happened.

The obvious conclusion is that the crash was caused by a tragic medical event, but the driver continued pressing the accelerator. This is not as uncommon as we might think. I was in a parking lot once. A car accelerated and hit a wall. The car bounced off the wall and accelerated into the wall again. It was determined to have been caused by a medical event.

Los Angeles And San Diego

Los Angeles is the largest metropolitan area in the U.S., after New York. It is on the coast of southern California and was the natural destination of migrants moving west. It is the city that both introduced the world to the postwar car culture and where the internet began. You are probably already familiar with what the area looks like because it is also home to the best-known movie industry in the world and so much of what is seen on television was filmed there.

Los Angeles is also the port where so many goods from Asia arrive. The following image of endless rows of shipping containers, awaiting transfer to truck or train, is from Google Earth.

For Los Angeles to grow into the major city that it is today, an aqueduct had to be built to carry water from further inland. Today, the Colorado River that flows across America's west is virtually drained before it reaches the sea because of the voracious demand for water.

The cities of California tend to have Catholic names. But what it is really all about is the land of Protestant-style individualism. As we saw in the posting on this blog, "The Would-Have-Been Nation Of Westland", July 2017, the kind of people who headed west were people who didn't want to be told what to do by the establishment "back east".

This is El Pueblo de Los Angeles historical monument, the Spanish mission that was the beginning of Los Angeles. First image from Google Earth. The name of the city means "The Angels". When Mexico became independent of Spain, Los Angeles passed to Mexican control, and then to the U.S. after the war of 1848.

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/@34.0565689,-118.2385435,2a,60y,30.48h,90.71t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sZagipxetmJwtAbCQtkeVKw!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

Here is the Historic Core of the city that was the city center for the first half of the Twentieth Century. There are more views of the downtown area. The first two images are from Google Earth.

 

https://www.google.com/maps/@34.0469586,-118.2514352,3a,75y,319.91h,90t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sAF1QipMg6U17Jv2Gq4QxlSJ12HXVnxxUmK_iW0tojpkH!2e10!3e11!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipMg6U17Jv2Gq4QxlSJ12HXVnxxUmK_iW0tojpkH%3Dw203-h100-k-no-pi0.21235587-ya43.975693-ro1.2342558-fo100!7i8192!8i4096

A familiar sight is Los Angeles City Hall. Image from Google Earth.

One of the best-known sights around Los Angeles is the Hollywood Sign. The first image is from Google Earth.

https://www.google.com/maps/@34.127285,-118.3265068,3a,75y,72.65h,90t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sAF1QipMPOZeOzI6OdCi9vwB6GVgm2nWujqqhoFWUD4-C!2e10!3e11!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipMPOZeOzI6OdCi9vwB6GVgm2nWujqqhoFWUD4-C%3Dw203-h100-k-no-pi-0-ya295.32455-ro0-fo100!7i7168!8i3584

This is the neighborhood of Hollywood, the sign is above it. Hollywood is all about the movie industry. Few streets in the world are famous in themselves. Los Angeles has several such famous streets. One is Sunset Boulevard, along which the following scenes begin. As the city that introduced the world to the modern car culture, we shouldn't be surprised that Los Angeles has famous streets, three others are Wilshire Boulevard, Sepulveda Boulevard and, Santa Monica Boulevard.

https://www.google.com/maps/@34.0904301,-118.3289199,3a,60y,90t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1svqzhVBRKgWWOBHXCLsfyLQ!2e0!7i16384!8i8192

The following image of Sunset Blvd is from Google Earth.

Here is the "Walk of Fame" on Hollywood Boulevard.

https://www.google.com/maps/@34.1016381,-118.3337029,3a,60y,1.43h,77.1t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sbNYUoj4A25Lr9ryjUhOJhQ!2e0!7i16384!8i8192

Another well-known Los Angeles neighborhood that is associated with the movie industry is Beverly Hills. The following views there also begin along Sunset Boulevard.

https://www.google.com/maps/@34.0736053,-118.4004235,3a,60y,90t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sBt2kTVqEvm9hDDyOIq964A!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

A lot of movie stars and other celebrities have lived in this housing development in Beverly Hills, the Trousdale Estates.

https://www.google.com/maps/@34.1045525,-118.3967976,3a,60y,90t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1siD_UrMPSmELECqFermqxnw!2e0!7i16384!8i8192

Not far from Beverly Hills is the vast and well-known university, UCLA, the University of California at Los Angeles. This is actually the birthplace of the internet.

https://www.google.com/maps/@34.0694343,-118.4449165,3a,60y,90t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sZu1JlQw-VCegDwHddNCLfw!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

The Greater Los Angeles area extends eastward to San Bernardino. Here is a residential neighborhood.

https://www.google.com/maps/@34.1258193,-117.2851434,3a,60y,90t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sGzXr19rZ3ulbM4vFeoMGyQ!2e0!7i16384!8i8192

South of Los Angeles, along the border with Mexico, is the city of San Diego. Like Los Angeles, it began with a Spanish mission during the Eighteenth Century. The focal point of the city later moved to what is now known as the Gaslamp Quarter. The first image, from Google Earth, is of downtown San Diego.

 
https://www.google.com/maps/@32.7136592,-117.1600945,3a,60y,90t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sJofjWLVNqoxwGyFoKPoelw!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

This is more of downtown San Diego. There is a deep natural harbor.

https://www.google.com/maps/@32.7282656,-117.1628729,3a,60y,90t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sXU7AntTNDADPCQo332ps8w!2e0!7i16384!8i8192