The Bigger Picture, Where Our Attention Should Be

A Guardian story about scientists prediction that they will soon be able to create matter from light spurred me to revisit a theme. Why is it, especially in this age of discovery and scientific developments, why do we still see so much focus on mundane arguments and unsolvable conflicts?

Researchers have worked out how to make matter from pure light and are drawing up plans to demonstrate the feat within the next 12 months.
The theory underpinning the idea was first described 80 years ago by two physicists who later worked on the first atomic bomb. At the time they considered the conversion of light into matter impossible in a laboratory.
But in a report published on Sunday, physicists at Imperial College London claim to have cracked the problem using high-powered lasers and other equipment now available to scientists.
"We have shown in principle how you can make matter from light," said Steven Rose at Imperial. "If you do this experiment, you will be taking light and turning it into matter."

E=MC². So many implications in that equation, and the only one the vast majority of people consider is whether we should have the bomb; and even that is less discussed these days than it was in my youth.

 Knowing, even the concept is not well known by the majority of the population, or often researched. Even the urge to know is not followed as well and as frequently as our times allow. We are more likely to act like idiots than we are to contemplate and understand. And patience be damned, right.

Sure, if Heisenberg had it right there is no satisfaction in seeking to know, (he never said that, but I can imagine today's thoughtless hoards employing such an excuse), still we have reached a level of progress that makes the old understandings passe:

Quantum mechanics is generally regarded as the physical theory that is our best candidate for a fundamental and universal description of the physical world. The conceptual framework employed by this theory differs drastically from that of classical physics. Indeed, the transition from classical to quantum physics marks a genuine revolution in our understanding of the physical world.
One striking aspect of the difference between classical and quantum physics is that whereas classical mechanics presupposes that exact simultaneous values can be assigned to all physical quantities, quantum mechanics denies this possibility, the prime example being the position and momentum of a particle. According to quantum mechanics, the more precisely the position (momentum) of a particle is given, the less precisely can one say what its momentum (position) is. This is (a simplistic and preliminary formulation of) the quantum mechanical uncertainty principle for position and momentum. The uncertainty principle played an important role in many discussions on the philosophical implications of quantum mechanics, in particular in discussions on the consistency of the so-called Copenhagen interpretation, the interpretation endorsed by the founding fathers Heisenberg and Bohr.
This should not suggest that the uncertainty principle is the only aspect of the conceptual difference between classical and quantum physics: the implications of quantum mechanics for notions as (non)-locality, entanglement and identity play no less havoc with classical intuitions.

But, never mind expanding your minds when the time for consumer goods on sale rolls around.

Smart TV Is Not Having Any Effect

I finally broke down and bought a flat screen, even a "Smart" television, and spent the last two days asking acquaintances if they see any difference in me, so far there seems to be no increase in my smarts.

Sure, you are gagging on the crudeness of that joke now, but just wait, soon a prominent stand up comedian will be using that gag to great acclaim; and I will receive no credit.

A Question To Women

I wonder, the maternal bond is reputed to be strong; after an abortion do you forget you had once made a baby?

Today's Gun Joke

Joe: Wanna hear a joke?

Sue: Sure.

Joe: A gun walks into a bar.

Abigail: I get it. Guns don't walk, ha, funny.

Sue: (internally) Unless Obama is running Fast and Furious, again.

Those Who Join ISIS Believe They Are Acting In Islam

Our Democratic/progressive sperior beings are continuing to spout off about how calling it radical islam is the same as making war against all Muslims. Not true, but it is impossible to get them off a meme once they find one they can believe stalemates the true enemies of America; conservatives/Republicans.

So, only for the record, and without any hope it will change minds, let us state a fact. Those who join ISIS are fighting in the name of Islam. The killers believe they are Muslim. The killers believe their fight is Islamic.

Yet, instead of joining the fight against ISIS our Democratic/progressive superiors continue to tell us what we can not do, and they continue to more likely join ISIS than to join with their fellow Americans if those fellow Americans happen to be conservatives/Republicans.

Soon the Democratic/progressives will be telling us that sharia law is necessary in the ol' USA in order to preserve the American way.

Moderate Muslims are helpless within their own countries against the onslaught from radical islam. The tenets of the religion are used to recruit killers and those killers are used to dominate the population of peace-loving Muslims. Adherence to the radical view is demanded on threat of death. If you want to help moderate Muslims then speak directly against the version of Islam used by the terrorist elements of the religion.

Start in the ol' USA by outlawing Sharia law, or any other religious tenets of Islam which violate our standards of freedom. Do it today. Do it directly toward Sharia, which means doing toward Islam, (think of it as banning yelling fire in a crowded theater, free speech ends where harm to others begins, the same for freedom of religion. right?). Do it in writing. Speak out against it at every turn. Stand up. Act like you care, not like CAIR.

The bottom line, the facts on the ground, the suppressed truth; radical islam is a real thing, those who fight in its cause know why they are fighting. Excusing their affiliation is a corruption of the religion, is dishonest, and does no good.  Such excuses ignore the actual motivation, (it is not what the Democrats/progressives keep telling us), and such excuses make it harder for moderate Muslims to defend themselves.

Islam needs a reformation. That reformation must come from within the religion. It is neither the place of the United States government, (separation of Church and State), nor an effective defense of the American people for our government to attempt such reformation or to impede its actualization by denying the problem. Yet, our government denies the problem and directs blame at us instead of keeping the focus where it belongs, on Islam and its infantile development within the community of man.

We need to take the fight to the radical elements of Islam, radical islam, on the battlefield, in the arena of ideas, at the doors of moderate Muslims who seek a life well lived in their homelands, in favor of any who seek to allow Islam to grow up.  The easiest step should be here at home and consists of making it perfectly clear that the radical ideas within Islam which cause so much homicidal confusion in the minds of their masses are not allowed within our Republic. Those elements of Islam violate so many of our creator-granted Rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Ignoring those elements does not protect us, does not make us liked by the enemy, does not advance progress among Muslims and within Islam. Defend the Bill of Rights by denouncing all tenets of Islam which are in contradiction to those freedoms each of us own at birth.

If you are for women's rights, you have to be against tenets of Islam. If you enjoy freedom of expression, you have to be against tenets of Islam. If you believe in separation of Church and State, you have to be against tenets of Islam. If you really want to live a good life, or, perhaps any kind of life, you have to be against tenets of Islam which are inspiring these killers and threatening to wipe all other cultures out of existence. The promise of a flourishing radical islam is that each of us who is striving for a good life is on the endangered species list. Stand up. Speak up. Hashtag end Sharia in the USA. Do it today. Do it legally. Do it clearly and permanently. Do it while you can.

Recommended Reading: John Hawks On 3D Fossil Printing

From his "weblog" anthropologist John Hawks reproduces an interview he gave on the subject of the Homo Naledi discovery team's publishing of 3D printing specifications for the public use.

How 3D printing fossils will change the way we look at human evolution

The Vice Chancellor of Wits University, Adam Habib, spoke at the announcement of Homo naledi last month, and he really said something that I think resonates widely:

We often talk about science as having no boundaries, but in our world scientific knowledge has become commodified, and too often, what should be the bequest of the world, the bequest of a common humanity, is locked up under paywalls that postgraduate students and researchers cannot get access to. So what we did when we made this discovery, was we put cameras in the cave, and we streamed it live from day one.

"We partnered with eLIFE, an open access journal, to make sure that the discovery was available to all of humanity. And what we did in that practice, is create the first elements of a common global academy….We are not simply going to be beneficiaries of open access, but we are going to be contributors to open access, to the knowledge of a common humanity."

I’ve been sharing that quote a lot, because it expresses something really central. South Africa is stepping forward to lead in the area of open access, and this is not just one team of scientists, we have tremendous support from every level of the scientific enterprise and government. Our team has gotten a lot of attention for this because people aren’t used to seeing significant new discoveries published in such an open access way. But this is the future.
Paleoanthropology is about uncovering the history that all humans share. People are curious about it, they want to encounter that history, they want to explore their origins. As scientists we have the tremendous privilege of discovery, and it gives us a responsibility to enable people to understand our common past.

 

Inappropriate Satire Of Whatever This Event Is Deemed To Be

A Shooting In Colorado Springs.

I first heard of this happening from Fox News, others are also guilty of providing content which may offend some and thus should be banned.

At this moment it is not clear who did the thing we should not mention, but reports say the shooter is now inside a Planned Parenthood Clinic. Unclear too is whether the killing of any babies has been delayed or if the the dissection and harvesting of baby parts has been interrupted by the individual who has migrated to the PPC seeking sanctuary.

It is on record that the Black Lives Matter crowd has reason to hope though, at this writing it is only said that police officers have been wounded, if they pull through the demonstrations begin asap.

The White House has not yet decided if this is only a set back, or if black people were shot or looked at funny thus elevating this to a national crisis.

It is understood that whatever the facts on the ground and whoever has been or will be harmed the real culprit is of course global climate change.

Be aware too that even though the Governor of Colorado has opened the State to the Syrians any connection to that collection of peoples and the events currently transpiring is both mere coincidence and the fault of the Republicans for shutting down the government.

If more details become available we may decide to tell you what you should think and will of course remind you that we care and it is someone elses blame.

And, lastly, remember this is Colorado, so, smoke 'em if you got 'em.

Related, Kate explains it all with just a few lines...

Syed Farook is one two killers from an attack in San Bernardino, California yesterday. He, along with his "wife" is dead now. Before the authorities would release the Muslim sounding names of the killers they went to extreme measures to be certain they had correctly identified the pair. Why? In one respect it is a normal matter; but in these times it is done to assure that Muslims are not falsely accussed, because, after all, President Obama is dong every thing he can to establish Islam in the USA, (and everywhere), so naturally the Feds would pressure the locals to hold the names secret until it was impossible to keep them secret. The US government put out a release, before the names were public, stating that the shooter was an American citizen. Why would that be important, so that once the names were released people would not make the natural assumption that a killer with a Muslim sounding name was killing in the name of Allah. The killers were GoPro cameras during their day kil.., er,  at the beach, which the White House will surely remind us could have nothing to do with the propaganda videos ISIS has been issuing. It will be interesting to know if the couple began their rampag, er, wading into the deep end, by yelling allahu akbar. Expect this to be hushed up by use of the label, "workplace violence".

Btw, the details from the Colorado Springs shooting, still out there in the ether; they must not fit the narrative either. Though all on the left are eager to associate that shooting with an attack against Planned Parenthood, even to the point of accepting as fact a rumor that the killer said something about no more baby parts. Somehow they jump to their conclusion forgetting the example set by John Kerry recently when he talked about the Charlie Hebdo murders, he said they were rational, basically saying those folk had it coming. If the shooter in this place went after the baby killers, while John Kerry's logic would mean it was a rational, excusable, reaction I would disagree. Killing all these babies, nation wide, is a sad testament to who Americans are, but nothing is to be solved by killing a few when 40% of the population believe in killing babies. That 40% is sick because an even smaller minority of our population has successfully convinced the weakest among us that killing the truly weak before they are born is okey dokey. Having convinced the weakest living among us that those killing are okay, it is now easy for them to push the envelope and to kill after birthing the child, and then too to cut up the victim for profit. But, we are talking about all of this when we have not been told that any of the shooting victims were inside the clinic, some reports have that all of the shots were fired to the outside of the building. The Press lets us down day after day.