THINGS THAT BRIGHTEN LIFE

In the winter when Nature turns the landscape into black and white, we might enjoy the beauty of snow though I prefer mine in picture form on postcards.  However, it takes little time before cars have turned snow black and ugly and the yellow graffiti by dogs on snowbanks somehow isn't really aesthetic over the carbon deposit laid down by traffic.  Occasionally, snow on the holly bushes, bright red with berries amidst the green leaves, is pleasing to the eye if one can ignore the mountains of snow that had to get shoveled around it.

If you have had geraniums outside during the summer and can bring them in, they will reward you for their extended life of bloom all winter long.  In fact, many flowers express appreciation for their warm lodgings.  Geraniums require less care than most blossoming flowers needing far less effort on human part.

When world news was at its worst, a gift from a friend; just a few tiny green leaves in a pot, like an un-named orphan have grown to be this.  It took a long time to pore over 600 pictures of plants in the primrose family, but I finally hot th jackpot, finding the Latin name of the variety which I can't find at the moment. (a bit of teeth gnashing would be heard were you here). The blossoms grow, two or three in a vertical row on a stem.  

Plants are preferable to me than pets.  If they die, they pass away quietly and leave no strong odor.  The don't ask to be watered before I wake in the morning or after I have gone to bed for the night.  There is no litter box to clean and they do not shed hair all over the place.  Best of all, they don't charge up $500 dental bills to vets, nor enormous surgery bills.  All they require is a bit of light, air, water, and occasionally a squirt of plant food in water.

Mostly I love to grow African Violets because of the many blossoms they have, and because the blossoms live on the plant for a long time.  I bought a tiny plant in Virginia last Fall.   It has a variegated leaf with a snow white, curly flower.   African Violets (they don't all come from Africa, by the way) need less watering when they are in pots with a reservoir under them. 

There is so much one can do with houseplants.  They can be planted in teapots that have lost covers.  Since there is no drainage, I put pebbles and charcoal on the bottom of the pot.  The charcoal keeps things from getting sour (as in a fish tank)  If it gets over watered, tip the spout as though you are pouring the tea and drain the excess. I've started new plants from a slip or leaf from the plants of friends.  I do buy potting soil, peat moss, plant food, perlite, insecticide, and a few other useful goodies but growing flowering plants has been the least expensive hobby I have ever had...and there have and are many.

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Sometimes accidents happen.  I had a pot of lilies (the original bulb was rescued from an office waste basket in 1978).  It was near a dark-leafed shamrock oxalis which decided to drop seeds into the lily pot.  The seeds germinated and the pot now looks as though it is carrying a bouquet.  The oxalis has small pink flowers in tiny clusters at the end of a stem (which you can see on the top left pot rim below).  My plant was chance.  I was in a jazz club one day and spotted a pot full of the exact blend.  The owner told me it had been a gift from a friend more than ten years previously.  Seeing the coincidence of my own arrangement was a delightful surprise.  I will continue to brighten my life in the many ways I have learned give me pleasure....plants are just one of those ways.

WE ARE FAR FROM A BRAVE NEW WORLD

I'm not at all sure I can rationally comment on anything currently in my world or the world at large since the Lord of the Flies cast took over the House of Representatives..  Sociopaths have left  corporate jobs and are now governors   The goal of the Democrats seems noble but does not seem to be mentioned in public where Republicans can hear.  Their message does not reach Fox News, Rush Limbaugh and other conservatives.

It feels as though our parents died and we have been taken over by evil foster parents whose greed is to take the money given to support us, poor orphans, and refuse us our gruel as was done to Oliver.  All the gains of a century made by protective laws, enforcers of the rules, regulations and monitoring that they are followed, and all else civilized has been slowly being eroded away by our states if the federal government hasn't already allowed it.

While  it has not happened in my lifetime, I understand that the poles of the world exchange places every so many  thousands or more years.  Instead, what seems to have happened is that average has flipped.  All those who are below average in intelligence seem to be carrying more power and greed led by those behind the curtain in Oz who are manipulating them.  The below average are now the more intelligent and creative people are too bright to engage is the pissing contest of politics.

Given a good night's sleep, my optimistic perspective may return though, at the moment, that shows little promise.

HUMANS AND ANIMALS EXCHANGING VIRUSES

It sickens me to watch people kiss their pets on the mouth.  I have written about this subject before and have never received a comment.  It is as though my scientific sources are not believed or that no animal kissers read my blog.

Mountain gorillas

From Science Daily 3/29: " For the first time, a virus that causes respiratory disease in humans has been linked to the deaths of wild mountain gorillas, reports a team of researchers in the United States and Africa.  The finding confirms that serious diseases can pass from people to these endangered animals.:

Humans and gorillas share approximately 98 percent of their DNA. This close genetic relatedness has led to concerns that gorillas may be susceptible to many of the infectious diseases that affect people."  For the entire article, click here.

Since we are not likely to find mountain gorillas away from the mountains as house pets, this particular virus might not be too much of a threat right now.  However, house pets can also transmit bacteria and viruses.  Ask your veterinarian.

RADIOACTIVITY IN OUR WORLD

There has always been radioactive activity in what seems random in our world.  Some of us have tested around our houses and found radon surges, usually in  and around the foundation and basement. The Idaho State University has a website devoted to radiation in Nature.  Click here.

Primordial radionuclides are left over from when the world and the universe were created. They are typically long lived, with half-lives often on the order of hundreds of millions of years. Radionuclides that exist for more than 30 half-lives are not measurable. The progeny or decay products of the long lived radionuclides are also in this heading. Here is some basic information on some common primordial radionuclides:

Cosmic radiation permeates all of space, the source being primarily outside of our solar system. The radiation is in many forms, from high speed heavy particles to high energy photons and muons. The upper atmosphere interacts with many of the cosmic radiations, and produces radioactive nuclides. They can have long half-lives, but the majority have shorter half-lives than the primordial nuclides. Here is a table with some common cosmogenic nuclides:

Human produced: humans have used radioactivity for one hundred years, and through its use, added to the natural inventories. The amounts are small compared to the natural amounts discussed above, and due to the shorter half-lives of many of the nuclides, have seen a marked decrease since the halting of above ground testing of nuclear weapons. Here are a few human produced or enhanced nuclides:

Natural radioactivity in the Ocean  All water on the Earth, including seawater, has some radionuclides in it. In the following table, the oceans' volumes were calculated from the 1990 World Almanac:

Food:  Every food has some small amount of radioactivity in it.

Human body: You are made up of chemicals, and it should be of no surprise that some of them are radionuclides, many of which you ingest daily in your water and food.

Natural radioactivity in building materials:  As mentioned before, building materials have some radioactivity in them.

 Oklo Natural Reactor  In 1972, natural nuclear reactor was found in a Western Africa in the Republic of Gabon, at Oklo. While the reactor was critical, approximately 1.7 billion years ago, it released 15,000 megawatt-years of energy by consuming six tons of uranium. It operated over several hundred thousand years at low power.

High Background Radiation Areas:  Background radiation levels are from a combination of terrestrial and cosmic radiation (photons, muons, etc.). The level is fairly constant over the world. The US EPA has an on-line calculator to let you calculate your own annual background dose.
Note:  The above categories and explanations were taken from the Idaho University Site.


 So far I have heard of the Japanese seawater that it is not harmful to humans.  Does that mean it is not potentially harmful to sea life, flora or fauna?  Does any of this information make us more comfortable when we are surrounded by outdated, poorly regulated for-profit-made nuclear reactors?  Will humans mutate to resemble the cartoon character on Futurama some day?

DONALD TRUMP: NEWEST VIP BIRTHER

Political candidates in today's campaigns are really showing either their
hypocrisy or stupidity.  That Trump still wants to see Obama's birth certificate and refuses to believe that the Governor of Hawaii remembers when he was born.  His belief that the governor couldn't possibly remember a birth 50 years ago refuses to believe his parent(s) were friends.

So that makes me ask if he really believes he has a chance to be chosen as a Republican candidate or run as an Independent.  We are led to believe some people run, knowing they won't be elected, because of the money it brings in.  That would not seem to be the most likely reason for Trump, and publicity would not seem something of which he needs more.
He falsely accuses of Obama spending millions of dollars fighting legal suits challenging his citizenship, when in fact, others have paid legal fees for filing their frivolous suits over his questioning the legitimacy of hi8s being an American.  Or, like the Koch brothers, is he acting in the interests of Wall St. and making sure as much money stays with the rich while keeping the poorer getting even poorer.

For a long time I have wondered whether there is a conspiracy or I have just watched a lot of people  wanting to declare Obama not a real president and, actually, only proving their own stupidity.

REPUBLICAN SENATOR LUGAR WANTS A CRYSTAL BALL

Rep Sen Lugar

Today on Meet the Press, David Gregory interviewed Bob Gates and Hillary Clinton.  Both were very clear on the answer to the questions as to how, why and what are we doing in Libya.  Their segment was followed by an interview with Senator Richard Lugar, (R) Ind.

On 3/24 Senator Lugar was calling for Sen Kerry to hold hearings on the Libyan war immediately.  Senator Lugar was disturbed that we have not goals and end plans clear....emphasis on the 'we' being Obama.  He spoke as though it was totally a US action mentioning, early on in his comments, nothing about the UN Security Council or coalition.  How statements are made, with omissions as factors certainly can skew a picture badly.  With some validity he referred to our lack of knowledge about who or what the forces are that would replace Gaddafi, intimating a  sense of 'the devil you know is better than the devil you don't know'.  Meanwhile he admitted to having had a telephone call with Obama who had laid out answers.  Senator Lugar seems not to have heard them, or perhaps it was that they did not change his preconceived notions for which he wants to hold hearings (probably with people who do not have the answers either)..  He remains convinced we should not be involved with the Libyan Civil War.  We can all be grateful that Lafayette did not feel the same during the American Revolution.

People look for answers that don't exist yet about the future. Random variables being as unpredictable as they are, the consequence of many actions can not be anticipated. A valid point Sen Lugar raised is that nothing has been said about where the money will come from to pay for our participation.

Tom Ricks  a Pulitzer Prize winning former reporter for the Wall Street Journal and Washington Post. He writes a blog at ForeignPolicy.com and is a member of Center for a New American Security, a defense policy think tank,    was the only one who did not speak the language of gloom and doom.  He spoke practically; that the rebels might not win and our efforts may have been for naught. He did not suggest we should not assist the Libyan rebels in their attempts..

3/4 OF THE SENATE GOP DOES NOT BELIEVE IN SCIENCE

Scientists are not Chicken Little

We have been 'dumbing' down for a number of years.  A few years back 'intelligentsia' became a dirty word.  Since I was recently accused of being on the brink of starting a conspiracy theory when I quoted Osama bin Laden as having said he was going to break the US economy and, "since it is broken, did he have a hand in it? " I have tried to just deal with 'just the facts' for all the Officer Friday.s that might chance upon my blog.

While the Senators don't believe in evolution, global warming  or education, I fail to understand how they got to be Senators.  Did we ever fix the rigged voting computers?  How can a country with so many Nobel prize winners draw so little respect for the innovators of our society.  There is so little respect for legislators, that few intelligent people want to run for a job with the corruption and stupidity attached to it.

Our whole federal system of elected officials seems to have gone weird.  When Le Page, governor of Maine, insists on removing a mural of workers from the Labor Department walls I have to wonder if we have somehow attached to a parallel universe.. If I were someone who did drugs, I would wonder if I had O.D.'d.  Looking at people holding public office and getting to speak on TV 'news' feels as though I am seeing them through amusement park mirrors.  Seeing so many men covering their baldness with a little hair on the top of their forehead makes me wonder who sets the TV rules.  Personally, I would rather listen to an watch a bald man who makes sense rather than one who is so vain he fails to see he is as successful as someone trying to hide behind their finger.

For the entire Robert Benson article of the GOP Senators who mock the veracity of scientific conclusions and research internationally, click here.l