November 9, 2020
R.I.P., Gordon Joseloff, 75.
Author: vcrosbie
November 8, 2020
Late afternoon along the Miamus River estuary in Connecticut.
October 24, 2020: Procrastinate with Confidence
Adam Grant delivers a counter-TED speech about the counter-intuitive nature of ‘originals’ thinkers who dream up new ideas and take action to put them into the world. “The greatest originals are the ones who fail the most, because they’re the ones who try the most.” He notes that “you need a lot of bad ideas in order to get a few good ones,” plus mustn’t let doubts about yourself get in your way. Who gets what from every dollar you pay for a cup of coffee or coffee beans? This chart from visualcapitalist.com answers that. General Motors has received permission from the State of California to begin operating completely driverless automobiles on the streets of San Francisco.
October 23, 2020: U.S. Healthcare
The gullibility of the minority of American citizens who oppose Universal Healthcare.
October 20, 2020
There’s no such thing as an average person: remember that in business or the classroom. Also, Herbert von Karajan and Richard Strauss’s ‘Einleitung’; plus the world’s cleanest airlines.
Half of Humanity within a 4,100 Mile-Wide Circle
Half of humanity lives within a 20,050-mile (3,300-kilometer) radius of the Mynamar (Burma) village of Mong Khet.
Sunday, October 18, 2020
After thirty years of thumb-sucking, nose picking, and other inactivity by the GOP about human-caused Climate Change. After more than 30 years of conservative politicians sucking their thumbs when asked about human-caused Climate Change, it is finally real. Scientific American magazines explains how to tell the difference between a real or a false conspiracy. You know what a skyscraper is. Yet what about a groundscaper? I know the Frankfurt one (pictured) due to its excellent and soundproof Hilton Hotel. Every see a CAT scanner with its cover off? You’ll realize why it’s covered. Did dinosaurs walk up walls 68 million years ago? It might appear so in this 300-foot high wall in Bolivia, long before tectonic pressure turned a muddy plain into a vertical wall. Bali won’t be accepting tourists until 2021. Think you know how to sit while driving? Guess again. Jaguar Land Rover Chief Medical Officer Dr. Steve Iley shows you how in a two-minute video. This graphic, showing the relative scale of small things just at the limit or slightly beyond human site, shows the remarkable size of a human white blood cell. Here is a video of a new Amtrak Avelia train (disguised with Acela markings) test-running empty between Providence and New York City. Amtrak has order 36 of these ($2.4 billion) to run between Boston, Massachusetts, and Washington, D,C, starting in 2021. These new trains, like the Acelas, are manufactured by the French company Alstrom, with final assembly in upstate New York. Each Avelia carries 25% more passengers than current Amtrak Acela trains, has high safety and crash standards (as well as WiFi, USB and power plugs at each seat, etc.), and is 30% lighter (more miles to the kilowatt) than the Acelas. Although capable of cruising at 185 mph (300 kph), they are currently being test run at up to 165 mph (265 kph), a speed which they can reach only on the long straight section of track between Boston and Providence, Rhode Island. Unfortunately, the winding, century-old rail lines between Boston and Washington, D.C. would have to be completely rebuilt to permit true highspeed train service. The original Acela trains, which began carrying passengers on these routes back in the year 2000, will be retired. #
Saturday, October 17, 2020
The world’s largest trompe-l’oeil display; the final Airbus 380 built; hottest temperature sicne 1913; ‘cabin fever’; and winter like a Norwegian.
Voting Rights & Photo IDs
If Americans don’t need to show a photo Identity card to exercise their other Constitutionally guaranteed rights, they should not be required to produce such an ID to exercise their Constitutionally guaranteed right to vote. Voter fraud has proven to be so minuscule a problem in the U.S., literally as rare as being struck by lightning in the polling booth line.
The Greatest Change of All
Unless there is a nuclear world war or a pandemic deadlier than COVID-19 sometime this century, advances in technology will allow humanity this century to achieve the greatest change in history: the end of scarcity. Scarcity has existed since since before humans existed. Scarce food. Scarce fresh water. Scarce shelter. Scarce money once currency replaced barter. Although 900 million humans have risen out of poverty during the past 30 years, 700 million, a tenth of humanity, still find food, fresh water, shelter, and income of even the equivalent of a dollar per day, scarce. And even though most of the other 6 billion humans might still consider many of those things to be relatively scarce, the concept of a world soon without hunger, homelessness, or a want for basic necessities isn’t a dream, fantasy, or science fiction anymore. Scarcity has existed since since before humans existed. Scarce food. Scarce fresh water. Scarce shelter. Scarce money once currency replaced barter. Although 900 million humans have risen out of poverty during the past 30 years, 700 million, a tenth of humanity, still find food, fresh water, shelter, and income of even the equivalent of a dollar per day, scarce. And even though most of the other 6 billion humans might still consider many of those things to be relatively scarce, the concept of a world soon without hunger, homelessness, or a want for basic necessities isn’t a dream, fantasy, or science fiction anymore. James Burke, tells you why. In a 28-minute radio broadcast on the British Broadcasting Corporation during New Year’s Day 2018, the British author, television producer, and historian of science historian describes what will soon become the biggest change to humanity in 10,000 years. And how the economics of abundance will disrupt civilization. If you don’t have time to listen to Burke explain it all by voice, you can read what he says here.
American ‘Progressives’ Needn’t Defend Themselves
In the political battle between U.S. liberals and progressives versus U.S. conservatives and reactionaries, the dictionary and history books provide judgement.