The Timing Of Your Card Was Perfect

The Card - His Will Be Done

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The Timing of Your Card Was Perfect
by JP

It arrived informing us of your impending visit
the day after you slid
into, and then out
of town
without even calling.
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Christmas Light Eyes

Koshi Kat Defender of Pagan Tree Temple

Taking photographs of my cat Koshi is more difficult than photographing my other cats. Using a flash is often necessary indoors, but Koshi is a white cat, and flashes bounce right off of him.

In the photograph posted above, I used an indirect flash, and so we see Koshi's pretty blue eyes, and a curious look from Koshi. The Christmas tree lights in the background compliment the beauty of Koshi's eyes perfectly.

There's no doubt why ancient Egyptians viewed cats as sacred. Imagine being in the low light conditions of an Egyptian temple around sunset, or sunrise. To see the colorful glowing eyes of a cat blazing back at you would have to be slightly unnerving.

All four of our cats love our Christmas trees. They sit under them. Even when they are not sitting under the trees they will lay facing toward them. It must have something to do with all the color, and activity of the lights.

They also like taking little bites from the branches.

Warm Monitor - Cold Winter Night

And Humans Say That Animals Don't Have Souls?


A Sad Chance Encounter

This post is dedicated to an individual whom I knew for many years, who pretended not to see me tonight until I called out her name, and then had absolutely nothing to say to me when I did.

I knew you before the money, which although you never earned it through your own ingenuity, or hard work, has turned you into someone very much less special than you so obviously believe that you are.

Although you became an object lesson tonight, on what type of person I never want my daughter to become, I am sadly obligated to toss my recollection of you into the "Best never to have known you" category. This makes me very sad indeed.


A Prayer

My prayer for you is that somehow before you pass from this world, that you discover a higher path, and take it. That somehow you come to understand that a person's importance, even your own, shouldn't be based upon which subdivision you happen to be living in.

Christians Celebrate The Birth of a Jew!

Context (micro)

I made a quick run to the local grocery store tonight. I needed to pick up some holiday goodies. I was in the parking lot about to leave when an acquaintance arrived. He was heading into the store.


Photo by Beth Brewer

The Exchange

JeromeProphet: Hey there!

Acquaintance: Hey!

JeromeProphet: Have a happy חנֻכה Hanukkah!

Acquaintance: You have a merry Christmas!

The gentleman headed into the store, while my daughter helped me load the car.

JeromeProphet: You know that exchange we just had is profound in a way.

Teenage Daughter: What do you mean dad?

JeromeProphet: Well, in so many places around the world people are expected to hate each other if they are of different faiths.

Teenage Daughter: That's pretty sad.

JeromeProphet: That's a good thing about America. We're not perfect, but we're getting pretty good about tolerating each other despite our religious differences.


Reflections

There's much room for improvement in America, but there's hope that this great experiment will succeed. In a very real sense the fate of the world hangs in the balance.


Note

First Candle was lit December 15th this year (2006). Here's a link for more information about Hanukkah.

Jesus was Jewish. He was born of a Jewish mother, and raised as a Jew. Jesus subscribed to the Jewish faith, never challenging "The Law". The first Christians were Jewish. Saul (Paul) was a Jew, and is the one individual most responsible for spreading Christianity to Gentiles. Aside from Constantine, Saul is the one individual most responsible for the transformation of Christianity into a Major World Religion.

Despite the fact that Christ was Jewish, and that the Jewish people are identified in the Bible as the "Chosen People", Christians have persecuted Jews at various times throughout the last two millenia.

Dear Diary, George Will Has Broken My Heart!

My dear diary (online version),

Fellow diarist, Dave at The11thhour, recorded in his diary (online version) that Pulitzer Prize winning essayist, and syndicated columnist George Will (online version) had made a rather disparaging remark about diarist (online version).



George Will & Bow Tie

I wanted to record within you, my dearest diary (online version), a comment which I had left in Dave's Diary (online version) so that one day while looking back upon you, my sweet diary (online version), that I would recall my initial reaction at being labeled narcissistic by Pulitzer prize winning essayist, and syndicated columnist George Will (online version).

Here goes, cherished Diary:

"George Will is the paragon against which all others are matched when it comes to arrogance.

George Will is nothing more than a pseudo-erudite who has earned his livelihood entirely from the longstanding erroneous perception that anyone should ever, would ever, or could ever, care in the slightest about anything he has ever said.

Then again, I'm just a narcissistic blogger "

I have nothing more to add tonight my beloved diary (online version) for I only wanted yet another chance to see words which I myself have written for they comfort me (online version) so.

A Hydrogen Based Economy Is Inevitable

U.S. Wind-power Map (Seasonally Averaged) U.S. D.O.E. - Public Domain


Oil Addiction In The Land Of Energy Resource Abundance

According to Department of Energy estimates wind power harvested from just three states would produce all of the electricity needed for all fifty states, and this is also true of wind energy which could be produced offshore. The United States is rich in renewable energy resources. The cost of producing electricity using the current generation of wind turbines is now competitive with oil, coal, and nuclear production methods.

Despite an abundance of solar, biomass, wind, wave, hydroelectric, and geothermal energy U.S. energy policy is controlled by the Oil, and Coal industry. Despite predictions that world climate is being changed, and the finite limit on cheap light crude oil the U.S. government's response seems stymied. The U.S. has an oil addiction, and sadly the U.S. government is controlled by oil pushers.

Hydrogen - Seen As An Energy Transport Unit

Hydrogen should be viewed as a form of energy transport, and storage. Water can be broken down into oxygen, and hydrogen, and the hydrogen can then be transported through pipelines similar to the pipelines which transport oil, and natural gas.

There are no genuine obstacles to the transition from a hydrocarbon based economy to a hydrogen based economy.

The United States really has no choice in the matter, as eventually cheap light crude oil will be depleted, and some type of alternative will be necessary to fuel the nations transportation system.

Solar, Wind, Geothermal, Hydroelectric, and Biomass can all contribute toward the creation of electricity which in turn can be converted to Hydrogen. There is a significant loss energy in the process of converting electricity into hydrogen, yet hydrogen is clean, and can be transported, and stored safely, and easily.

In A Power Grid for the Hydrogen Economy, authors Paul M. Grant, Chauncey Starr and Thomas J. Overbye in Scientific American (July, 2006) propose that now is the time for the development of a new national electric grid. The current electric grid, based upon antiquated technology, isn't able to move large amounts of energy across the country which represents a major vulnerability, and restriction to the energy sector.

In their proposed hydrogen based energy transport grid hydrogen cooled to cryogenic temperatures would flow from major energy production centers into urban areas. Electricity could also be transported through super cold super conducting wires within the hydrogen pipelines. This would allow hydrogen, and electricity to move across the country, and into redistribution hubs without significant loss of energy. The current electric grid can not transport surplus electricity from one coast to another. These same limitations which exist within the current national electric grid explains why power plants must be located near cities.

The creation of a superconducting energy grid, and hydrogen transport system would allow nuclear power plants to be located in remote areas, solar power plants, and wind power parks to economically transport electricity to urban areas hundreds of miles away. It would also allow energy produced at peak wind, and solar production periods to be stored in the form of hydrogen which could be pumped through existing natural gas lines. Consumers could electrically recharge their batteries overnight, or could recharge their hydrogen fuel cells using the same lines that provide natural gas today.


Politics of Short Sighted Greed - Resistant to Change

With oil, coal, and natural gas interest in charge of the nation's energy policy it is unlikely any major government investments will be made in assisting the U.S. transition from a hydrocarbon based economy into a hydrogen based economy.

Yet the change is not only coming, it's also inevitable. Sadly, such change will not be the result of concern for the people of the United States, nor will it come out of a sense of concern for the ecology of the planet, but instead be the result of dire necessity. It will come about only as a result of a global economic crisis which will occur as a result of rapidly rising prices for fossil fuel. The economic turmoil which will be thrust upon the U.S. will be a direct result of the nation's political corruption.

Dennis Kucinich - A Genuine Captain Picard?

Dennis Kucinich (Democrat-Ohio)

Tonight's Road to the White House 2008 (CSPAN) featured Dennis Kucinich's (D-Ohio) announcement of his candidacy for the Presidency of the United States. Watch the video here (Most current RealPlayer Required).

As I watched, and listened to Dennis Kucinich's message I noticed it hasn't changed much from his last presidential run, yet I was struck with a vague feeling that Mr. Kucinich has moved to the Center.

Could Dennis Kucinich be using the same words he had spoken three years ago, and yet have magically moved to the Center? After some thought the explanation came to me, Dennis Kucinich hadn't moved to the Center, the Center had moved to Dennis Kucinich.

It was still very much taboo to ask commandingly when the troops might be coming home from Iraq during the last Presidential campaign, but Dennis Kucinich talked the talk, and walked the walk by opposing the Iraq war early on. Kucinich certainly gains credibility for sticking to his ideals, and now he appears to have been very sensible indeed.

In my opinion the greatest obstacle to a successful presidential run isn't his Kucinich's ethnicity, his height, or even Barack Obama, it's his hair. I have a hard time listening to what Kucinich is saying when I suspect his closest advisers have failed to point out his bad hair display.


Captain Jean Luc Picard - Bald - Dignified - A Babe Magnet

My personal recommendation for Dennis Kucinich is that he should pitch his rug into Lake Eerie in a public ceremony. If he's balding, and he doesn't like the half haired look he should shave his head. Anyone recall Captain Jean Luc Picard of the Starship Enterprise, now there's a look for Kucinich! With Kucinich's striking features he'd look great without any hair.

Right now what the Democrats need is a dignified candidate who can honestly say, I've been consistent, and honest, I've been waiting, and now I want your vote. I can't entirely trust Kucinich if I believe that he believes that he can't win the Presidency just because he's balding.

While he's probably right to harbor such fears, he should try the shaved head look. He might just look way too cool for the Presidency - but no one could say he was hiding anything.

Bertrand Russell A Rebel Outcast Embraced

Bertrand Russell - A Father Of Sixties Counter Culture

"A good world needs knowledge, kindliness, and courage; it does not need a regretful hankering after the past or a fettering of the free intelligence by the words uttered long ago by ignorant men."

I didn't know much about Bertrand Russell when I first posted his quote in the banner space to my blog. I still wouldn't claim much knowledge about the man. I am however impressed with what I have read about Bertrand Russell. His Grandfather was Prime Minister of England, his father was an esteemed politician, and Bertrand himself was groomed for political leadership from early childhood. He was a member of the British Aristocracy, but despite his blazing intellect he never accepted his anointed social status.

For his rebellious nature he paid the price in many ways, yet he lived long enough to see his liberal ideals embraced by the counter culture of the 1960's. Make love not war might have summed up his approach, but he was vastly more complex than that.

I'll probably never take the time needed to learn about Bertrand Russell as much as he certainly warrants, yet in my own very small way I hoped to honor him this last week by quoting him, posting his photo, and including a link for interested readers.

If I live long enough I wish that one day I'll have both the time, and energy to grab up a pair of spectacles, sit at the fireplace, and begin to read his philosophical works. I know that if I don't I will have missed out on something very important.