ALEA IACTA EST. (THE DIE HAS BEEN CAST)

HAS THE DIE BEEN CAST? 

People need to be aware of what's happening with Fukushima Daiishi radiation disaster - that it is very likely worse than Chernobyl, and enough radiation may be entering the food chain at harmful levels in North America. This is according to certain sources, but are all the sources legitimate? It's tricky who and just what to believe.

Radioactive fallout from Fukushima was initially airborne as indicated by "low" levels of Iodine-131 present on the West Coast of North America, but the larger threat continues with the possible dumping of the radioactive fuel rod cooling pools into the Pacific Ocean.


A popular misconception is that irradiated water dilutes in the expanse of the Pacific Ocean, but radioactive isotopes DO NOT DILUTE in seawater, but instead are suspended in currents, then accumulate on coastlines, and remain in the soil for the duration of their half-lives, which range from a few days to near forever.  Although Tellurium -132 has a briefest half-life, presence of it indicates core damage at the very least, and core meltdown at the very worst. Below are the isotopes of importance with effects and half-life information.

• Cesium-137 accumulates in fatty tissues, liver, spleen and muscles. Half-life = 30.1 years.
• Iodine-131 accumulates in thyroid, breast and ovaries. Half-life = 8 days 
• Strontium-90 concentrates in your bones and liver. Half-life = 29 years
• Barium-140 causes bone tumors up to 30 years later. Half-life = 12.3 days
• Tellurium-132 causes cell mutations, repeatedly via replication. Half-life = 3 days
• Plutonium-244 concentrates in your liver. Half-life = 80 million years
• Uranium-234 causes kidney damage, accumulates in your bones and liver. Half life = 246,000 years

Reports are possibly being censored by corporate media and the feds for economic reasons. Why create a panic if "some" radiation poisoning is inevitable and "relatively" harmless? There were rumors of the EPA raising "safe" radiation levels for water, food and soil in 2011, but I find nothing else about it since. Studies and reports are out there by alternative and international media - just keep googling. 

Some links below:

http://www.nuc.berkeley.edu/node/2665

http://iopscience.iop.org/1748-9326/7/3/034004/article#.UAOwv-agHY0

http://enenews.com/uranium-234-detected-hawaii-southern-california-seattle/comment-page-1

http://organicnewsnet.wordpress.com/tag/uranium-234-hawaii-california-and-washington/

http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=24292

http://www.businessinsider.com/fukushima-children-have-abnormal-thyroid-growths-2012-7

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/05/28/us-japan-nuclear-tuna-idUSBRE84R0MF20120528

http://www.ritholtz.com/blog/2012/03/california-slammed-with-fukushima-radiation/

http://www.infiniteunknown.net/2011/04/02/us-government-responds-to-fukushima-by-trying-to-raise-radiation-limits-epa-pulls-8-of-18-radiation-monitors-out-of-ca-or-and-wa/

http://pissinontheroses.blogspot.com/2012/05/alert-barium-140-indications-of.html

Some "facts": 

• High levels of Uranium-234 in [organic] milk in Hawaii in April 2011.
• Cesium-137/134 reported at "trace" levels end of May 2012 in San Diego Bay
• Cesium-137/134 detected in prunes and almonds in California in early July 2012
• Iodine-131 measurements range from from "high" to "trace" levels in Anaheim, CA from fallout. 
• Indications of barium-140 could mean recriticality events at Fukushima as recent as late March or April.

This could be a nuclear disaster happening in a slower more insidious manner than the all out nuclear war people fear, but so far people just roll their eyes or get really upset when I post articles on Facebook. People just don't want to give up their sushi!

The die has been cast. Alea iacta est.

THOUGHTS OF THE DAY

I'M BACK! Last few times I tried I could not get into my own blog to add a new post. Seems Blogger changed things a bit, but I've focussed enough to figure it out.

After commenting on Weather Underground blog about the continuing saga of whether climate change exists, and furthermore, if it's anthropogenic in part or whole, I decided to go back and try to update my own blog again. I do often chicken out when adding comments to blogs, which means editing out, so that's why I need to keep this blog going--to include what I often edit out of other blogs, not wishing to seem like a troll.


TO CATCH UP ON MY THOUGHTS OF LATE:
I recently heard on one of the news channels about the need for a strong, viable 3rd party. Some miss the likes of Ralph Nader (or even Ross Perot). As a strong proponent of this idea I finally arrived at a name for this party. I propose to name it the Gray Party to achieve some balance between the polarizing black and white tactics of the two main parties. It will be the party of the middle man, the middle class, the middle road. The color will be purple (red+blue) and the totem is a phoenix. So who would be the candidate? Al Gore, please raise your hand? Bill Mahr? Rachel Maddow? Charlie Rose? James Carville? I can think of many thinker-celebs that would probably be a great fit for being a candidate in 2014 (Sorry, Hilary I know you won't likely change parties...)
Then I remembered there are no longer limits to how much money corporations, etc. can donate to a campaign. So who could handle that as a third party candidate, who could even afford to run? Still, I remain optimistic and idealistic. DARE TO DREAM!

THE IRONY. After the Supreme Court ruling to uphold the Affordable Care Act it was eye-rollingly ironic to watch Romney talk about repealing "Obamacare" when much of it was based on "Romneycare" which Romney himself championed when he was governor of Massachusetts. 
I think people in general are very confused about what is true/false and right/wrong these days. There is so much spin, propaganda and obsfucation going on and not enough calling out the liars. Would not surprise me at all if some people actually vote for the GOP candidates just because they are "the right". 


THE SPIN. Let's spin on the many definitions of "right" in the following sentence: 

Having the right to make a profit does not necessarily make the means of obtaining that profit right, but this freedom is often a righteous opinion of the right.

CHANGED ENVIROMENT + HUMAN MUTATION = FUTURE ADAPTATION?

What is the possibility that certain mutations such as autism or schizophrenia could be successful adaptations to a future environment, where those individuals would then have the edge on survival?

I watched a homeless person in a grocery store having a nice conversation with himself when this thought arrived. I look around and see people everywhere so comfortable with structure and wonder...what if most of today's "normals" generally, would not have the survival skills necessary to adapt successfully in the face of sudden environmental change? 

If it our current structure was obliterated by the effects climate change or war, then what traits would become more useful? The traits of the CEO or the transient? I think the transient folks would certainly have an edge with skills for living with less. These traits which now may keep such people on the fringe of society, may be beneficial and highly successful in a different societal environment.

Autistic individuals, with many being savants and brilliant in their isolation, would possibly thrive in a world with less "noise" and social interaction. With no experience with autistic children, this is total speculation, but have these questions been asked? What is non-adaptive now, may be beneficial in a changed environment, and possibly this is why the mutation is occurring now in 1 of 88 births.

Mental or cognitive "illness" may just be a matter of context. Both examples above may be highly adaptable by the changes brought about by a complete breakdown of technology and change of environment.

OUR PRESIDENT CONTINUES TO PRESERVE OUR SECULAR TRADITION

Religious conservatives see an escalating war with the Obama White House. One Catholic bishop called it "the most secularist administration in history." Quote from, Has Obama Waged A War On Religion? by BARBARA BRADLEY HAGERTY (NPR website, 1.8.2012)
In my reasoned opinion, Obama is not attempting to limit religious freedom. He is protecting our right for freedom of ALL choices (religion being one of them) against legislation that seeks to impose "moral" doctrines with revisions to the US Constitution. Religious conservatives are attempting to use disinformation and propaganda to politicize and obfuscate historical facts. 


FACT: The Declaration of Independence and US Constitution are both secular documents. 


The most secularist administrations were the first five: Washington (an Independent), Adams (Federalist), and Jefferson, Madison, Monroe (all Democrat-Republican party) as they INVENTED it. Most of our Founding Fathers were deeply religious (and many were ministers) and they saw the wisdom of the separation of church and state because of history. 


Now conservative evangelistic politicians (Catholics included) are attempting to reform our separation of church and state much same way Islamic fundamentalist extremists like the Ayatollah Khomieni did in Iran in 1979. Obama is protecting our secularist tradition from the current radical fundamentalism of the Christian Right.


Obama is protecting our freedoms and our secular tradition which provides civil liberties for ALL and preserves choice and offers options for those choices. One does not have to choose use contraception, but our constitution guarantees we can choose to, or not. 


While our president and like-minded lawmakers maintain the separation of church and state in a growing atmosphere of religious extremism, unfortunately, the conservative religious right tries to label Obama as an Islamist, or unpatriotic, or a socialist, all of which he plainly is not. It is all propaganda and fear tactics of political and fundamentalist zealots.


Click below to read the article:
http://www.npr.org/2012/01/08/144835720/has-obama-waged-a-war-on-religion

A GREAT YEAR FOR ROCKIN' THAT PROVERBIAL BOAT

The Tradition of Deferring to Institutions

It's what's wrong in America. It's what is not right with the world. It is a longstanding tradition that goes back millennia. Then--deference, tolerance, and obedience was expected of the working class by the elite. This tradition was also followed within ranks of the elite--royalty, nobility and the Church. These were the first institutions.


Today, I think, this same unfortunate tradition has transpired into the 'corporatization' of present institutions. Whether the institution is a business, academia, or non-profit, it typically espouses a mission, which is really an advertisement for its brand. 


The corporate culture of teamwork and cooperation are full of marketing buzzwords that sell employees on being a 'team player', for example, in deference and obedience to the reputation of the institution which employs them. 


These buzzwords have seeped from the manuals of institutions into the verbiage and pysche of our pop culture to the extent that our standards of ethics and morals are often obfuscated and compromised in deference to a perceived reputation. Even the term 'mission statement' itself has become a buzzword. 


For those who question 'management', there is the classic and cliche response of --"don't rock the boat". This tradition is how and why Penn State and Joe Paterno failed those kids.


"...it is remindful of what happens in the Roman Catholic Church hierarchy. It's really just obedience to silence and a culture of self-protection, putting reputation above safety of children." 
-Jeff Anderson, child abuse trial lawyer interviewed on PBS Newshour


There is yet another level of this deference. Even celebrity has become an institution. It is certainly a product and a brand. The awe of status it seems to incite defers to this tradition. It's the 'cult of personality'. It's why 'Kardashian' is, unfortunately, a household name.


The "don't rock the boat" thinking has been passed down for generations and the result is often mollifying, especially with the intense branding philosophies developed since the deregulated aspect of the 1980's, which was built on the Madison Avenue culture of the late 50's and 60's. "Mad Men" may be fiction, but is firmly based on the history and ethos of American advertising.


Someone said recently that every generation needs a movement, or a cause. Well, I've been steady on this one since the 80's and happy to finally see more freethinkers like Bill Mahr, Thom Hartmann and Occupy Wall Street in the mainstream. Generation Z is waking up and they "get it". This has been a great year for rockin' that boat.

CHANGE IS AS CHANGE DOES

"The only constant in the universe is change" Heraclitus of Ephesus, 535 BC - 475 BC


Of all the classical Greek philosophers, I think Heraclitus had it right. His understanding of the duality of nature and the unity of opposites is the basis of a paradoxical form of expression called complementarity in quantum physics. Heraclitus' logic, because of the duality, is full of contradiction, and was eclipsed for the more "rationalist" philosophy and logic of Plato>Aristotle>Socrates. 


This, I believe, is where these foundations of Western thought have become outdated for our times. We have gone beyond this classic rationalism and Aristotelian system of logic. It has served us well until this millenium, but our ethics are becoming easily compromised, as is our digital desensitization to actual reality and compassion. Social media technology often makes it too easy not to give conscious consideration before sending or posting. People are currently trashing others lives with one click, or one tweet. Losing consciousness for conscience.

With quantum physics and mechanics being the current "new" science - contradictions are finding their way into the realm of scientific thinking, for example, research on black holes and antimatter. Looking at nature with respect to duality we can begin to make more sense in it. It is the divine paradox.
By a divine paradox, wherever there is one slave there are two. So in the wonderful reciprocities of being, we can never reach the higher levels until all our fellows ascend with us. -Edwin Markham
The Socratic Method got us here, but I think we are in need of something more in context for this 21st century. Many would not agree and think that staying as is-- in keeping with the current status quo, or even going backwards, is the best way forward.


I believe we are one big discovery away from science and  metaphysics combining forces. Could there be a 4th law of motion and a 5th fundamental force of nature on the cusp of discovery? Think superstring theory. If I understand it correctly, Einstein's theory of relativity would be brought into quantum physics and mechanics with regards to gravitational force, then we can explore in 10 dimensions instead of just our current 3. Funny thing is the Greeks, specifically the Atomists. already had this theorized 26 centuries ago. Difference now is that we can build super colliders, like the CERN and now ELENA in Switzerland and finally attempt to prove the theory. Will we finally add hadrons, muons, and antiprotons to the chart below? We better, and soon. We need to colonize a livable planet and we just recently found another candidate ("Tatooine-like" Kepler 16b), yet we still have not discovered the means to get there, or "they" haven't let us regular folk in on having that "Star Trek" capability yet.

Interaction	Current theory	Mediators	Relative strength[1]	Long-distance behavior	Range (m)
Strong	Quantum chromodynamics (QCD)	gluons	1038	1	10−15
Electromagnetic	Quantum electrodynamics (QED)	photons	1036		∞
Weak	Electroweak Theory	W and Z bosons	1025		10−18
Gravitation	General Relativity (GR)	gravitons (hypothetical)	1		∞

Throughout the history of the world there are always the doubters, the ones who resist progress, who use the word "impossible" and strive to keep the status quo intact, holding the line, and not venturing beyond it, (publicly at least). Up until the 19th century, research beyond Scripture was called heresy and the Church suppressed by force the ideas, discoveries and innovations of science and reason. 


The Scientific Revolution (although the term "science" was not used until a century later) began during the Renaissance in the mid-16th century with Copernicus and continued on with Brahe, Da Vinci, Galileo, and Kepler where reason began to shake off the constraints of religious superstition. 
"I do not feel obliged to believe the the same God who endowed us with Sense, Reason, and Intellect had also intended us to forego their use." -Galileo Galilei

The Church fought back to suppress these innovations with the Inquisition, but after the Protestant schism there was a revival of rationalism and science finally established its name with the game changing discoveries of Newton and the philosophy of Descartes. This in turn lead to the European Age of Enlightenment with Diderot, Kant, Locke, Voltaire Rousseau, Hume which inspired the American Age of Reason which gave us Thomas Paine, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, John and Abigail Adams -- who put reason and humanism as the basis of freedom and liberty for the basis of the American independence, hence the birth of our unprecedented democracy. The Church fought back with the "Great Awakening" and called this rationalist, humanist and deistic movement--atheism. These absolutists missed the point, and continue to miss the point. The point then, as it is now is about humans--humanitarianism.


An innovative idea, concept, or invention which is perceived as too dangerous, immoral, or against God is a knee jerk reaction for many human intellects to resist change, uphold the status quo and to keep comfortable with the familiar, especially if it's profitable. It is also just as natural for other humans to be inclined to question and explore the realm of possibilities which often become the ideas and technologies of the future. Both are necessary, but a balance of opposing principals, in my opinion-- is more benificial for progress.
"Far too many people believe in religion; only a handful believe in God." -Unknown

This struggle-- for some to hold back progress, while others venture forth across the proverbial line, is not only human nature but the mechanism of nature itself--all organisms attempt to achieve homeostasis while still striving to grow, colonize and thrive further. 

"It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change."
-Charles Darwin
We as organisms and animals are still bound to the laws of Nature's God, the Creator of the Universe. We will always fill the extreme niches, but I think we can temper this tendency for construction, polarization, then destruction. By balancing the ideas and actions of the extremes, and respecting the beliefs with philosophy and ethics, rather than hate and bigotry. We also need to eliminate the tendency for populations to consent to authoritarianism, totalitarianism, fascism, dictatorship, ethnic cleansing and genocide.
“If knowledge can create problems, it is not through ignorance that we can solve them. ” – Isaac Asimov
I wonder what great minds such as Da Vinci and Einstein would think about the struggles we currently have now. For a great nation as America to be flirting with another possible Great Depression, also born of the same brand of greed and arrogance of unregulated markets. Mix in a resurgence of religious fundamentalism which threatens to squelch the science which allow innovations that help us learn, grow and evolve technologically and philosophically, we restrict discovering the tools to help us survive the burden of an unsustainable future on an overpopulated planet.
"I know not with what weapons World War III will be fought, but World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones." 
Albert Einstein
We must take responsibility for our own failings and learn from history rather than to repeat the failed societal experiments of the Church, Napolean, Hitler, Stalin, Mao, Idi Amin, Kohmeini, Saddam Hussein and their tyrannical, despotic ilk.
Intolerance is born of fear, selfishness and greed. The extreme left is as guilty of this as the extreme right. We need a new balance, a strong middle. We need to be allowed to go forward without fear of dissent and heresy, for it is basically heretics many of us are being called, whether it be a Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Marxist, Liberal or Republican doing the finger pointing and marginalizing.

"Without continual growth and progress, such words as improvement, achievement, and success have no meaning." - Benjamin Franklin

FACTS about Climate Change

"In the Arctic, temperature has increased at twice the rate as the rest of the globe, and could increase by another 8°C (14°F) by the end of this century. The warming atmosphere along with new weather pattern extremes is causing Arctic sea ice to melt at an alarming rate that suggests the Arctic will be ice-free by 2030. The impacts of dwindling ice cover in the Arctic are far-reaching, from species endangerment to enhanced global warming, to the weakening or shut-down of global ocean circulation." 

Read the rest of Weather Underground blog post "Ice, Ice Baby" by Angela Fritz, atmospheric scientist
http://www.wunderground.com/blog/angelafritz/comment.html?entrynum=11
















http://www.wunderground.com/blog/angelafritz/comment.html?entrynum=11