MUSINGS FOR FRIDAY 25TH, FEBRUARY 2022

“Our comforting conviction that the world makes sense rests on a secure foundation: Our almost unlimited ability to ignore our ignorance.” Daniel Kahneman

This is a Hubble Space Telescope image of barred galaxy NGC 3318. It is a spiral galaxy and lies in the constellation Vela and is about 115 million light-years from earth. It was first discovered by the English astronomer John Herschel on March 2, 1835. Some feel that the outer edges of the galaxy almost resemble a ship’s sails swelling in a light wind. Image credit: *ESA/Hubble & NASA, European Southern Observatory (ESO), R. J. Foley; Acknowledgment: R. Colombari* If you would like to learn more about his galaxy please see these links: Hubble Sights a Sail of Stars | NASA and http://www.sci-news.com/astronomy/hubble-vlt-barred-spiral-galaxy-ngc-3318-10464.html

“A reliable way to make people believe in falsehoods is frequent repetition, because familiarity is not easily distinguished from truth. Authoritarian institutions and marketers have always known this fact.” Daniel Kahneman

This is an image of Venus, that was made by using information from NASA’s Magellan spacecraft and the Pioneer Venus Orbiter. The planet is named after the Roman goddess of love and beauty. But it surface is anything but that, with a temperature that is about 788 degree Fahrenheit or about 420 degree Celsius. Very hot indeed. NASA wants to study the planet much more in-depth because it is thought to have had an atmosphere very similar to earth billions of years ago. Even having an ocean on its surface. The current idea is that a runway greenhouse effect evaporated all the water, creating a cloud layer thick with carbon dioxide. This traps the heat from the sun which results in significant planet warming. By understanding this process better it is thought we can gain insights into how our own world is warming. Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech. If you would like to learn more please see these links: https://www.nasa.gov/image-feature/studying-the-lost-habitable-world-of-venus and https://www.universetoday.com/22538/how-hot-is-venus/

“When people believe a conclusion is true, they are also very likely to believe arguments that appear to support it, even when these arguments are unsound.” Daniel Kahneman

The above image is from the Hubble Space Telescope and is showing an example of how galaxies interact with one another. The cool part about the above picture is it shows how this happens in a almost three dimensional way. This is especially rare for an image in deep space. The above galaxies, the large spiral one is NGC 169 and the smaller one is IC 1559, are named Arp 282. Arp stand for atlas of peculiar galaxies. These two are about 319 million light years away in the constellation of Andromeda. In this image you can actually see streams of matter from one galaxy being drawn into another. This is caused by tidal forces. The more massive galaxy pulling material from the less massive one. Image credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA. If you would like to learn more please check out these links: http://www.sci-news.com/astronomy/hubble-interacting-galaxy-pair-arp-282-10528.html and https://esahubble.org/images/potw2206a/

“It’s frightening to think that you might not know something, but more frightening to think that, by and large, the world is run by people who have faith that they know exactly what is going on.” Amos Tversky

This is a Hubble Space Telescope image of galaxy NGC 1705. It is in the Pictor constellation and is about 17 million light years from earth. It is considered a dwarf galaxy. Dwarf galaxies are made up of several million stars as opposed to our Milky Way which has around 200 billion. Or to see it another way, a dwarf galaxy has one star to every 2000 in the MW. Hubble has imaged this galaxy before using the Wide Field Camera 2 in 1999, but the above image was done with the Wide Field Camera 3 (It replaced Camera 2 in 2009). The image is composed of ultraviolet, near infrared, and optical parts of the spectrum. Image credit: *ESA/Hubble & NASA, R. Chandar*. If you would like to learn more about the above image please see these links: https://www.nasa.gov/image-feature/goddard/2022/hubble-revisits-a-galactic-oddball and http://www.sci-news.com/astronomy/hubble-ngc-1705-10504.html and https://askanearthspacescientist.asu.edu/dwarf-galaxies and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pictor

If an elderly but distinguished scientist says that something is possible, he is almost certainly right; but if he says it is impossible, he is very probably wrong. Arthur C. Clarke

HEY!! I AM LOOKING AT YOU!! THAT’S WHO!!

If you are reading this then you have continued to survive Covid 19 so far and so have I!! Yea for us!! I am still hoping that I can keep saying this for all of next year. I really, really mean that, especially if you read my blog post. Lol.

Looking at the numbers on February 6th, it appears, unfortunately, that in the last 30 days (January 6th to February 6th), we have added another 70,000 deaths – for a total of 926, 000. What this means is that in the last 30 days compared to the previous 30 days we have jumped 26 thousand. I would say how tragic this is but I think I am becoming a little immune to the numbers. And to top it off, the number is probably much higher since some of the southern states and those with conservative legislatures are not reporting as accurately as they should so to speak.

Omicron has reeked havoc on those that have not gotten vaccinated and the next variant will probably do the same. Again, this is a senseless tragic loss of life.

Well, the above image still has not changed much in the last 30 days. Still the same top 10 states with Covid deaths. California is still leading the way over Texas by a few hundred deaths. And it has been this way for months. The real mystery is how many people in Florida have actually died of Covid since they stopped reporting accurate numbers over a year ago. I am guessing that by the time all of this is said and done it will be amazing, in a bad way, to see how high the death toll actually was.

Oh well what are you going to do?! The lifting of mask mandates? Is that really a good idea? The CDC has been emphasizing the need for continued masking, but individuals and states have been clamoring for the easing of those restrictions. I am guessing that by the time this blog post is published the CDC will have caved in to those demands. Unfortunately there is still plenty of firewood to burn in this pandemic. Meaning there are plenty of individuals that did not get vaccinated or get their booster and those that are immunocompromised. It is therefore not a good idea to lift the mask mandates as of yet. But due to political pressure and that is what it is, not good science, they will be lifted and I am guessing there will be another surge of infection by the middle to the end of March. All depending on when the mandates were lifted.

The Covid death toil continued to climb for the entire month of February. (2000 to 3000 per day on average) The Omicron variant did prove to be less severe for those that were fully vaccinated, but it still took a significant number of unvaccinated individuals over the last 30 days.

By the middle of the month, the death toil in the United States was about 950,000 and counting. So in less than ten days we had added another 24,000 mothers, father, grandfather, grandmothers, sons, daughters, nephews, uncles, aunts, and nieces… And that was just here in this country. Also in February, on a very disheartening note, the pediatric death toil for kids that were not vaccinated or too young to be vaccinated was about 2 to 3 per day in the USA.

By the time of publishing, February 25th, the total deaths were over 970 thousand. That is an increase in 44 thousand deaths in 19 days. And we were still adding about 2000 deaths per day. The only positive was the number of new infections continued the downward trend.

The question in my mind as the Omicron variant fades is, what is next? Will we have a period of calm and then another significant variant? Most of the experts seem to think this might be the case?! One scenario is that we have another less deadly variant that out competes Omicron and creates more of a seasonal type of virus. Which would be a much better outcome. There are scenarios out there that are a lot more bleak than this one. But I guess time will tell. Either way, I have a feeling that the virus is not done with us yet.

If you interested in looking at the numbers for yourself, please see this link: https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/

If you interested in getting a good understanding of what is going on with Covid each week without having to watch the news, check out this link for the Osterholm Update on YouTube: https://youtu.be/FC1G09xkOFc

And if you don’t want to listen on YouTube you can check out Apple Pod cast. Dr. Michael Osterholm is an American epidemiologist, Regents Professor, and Director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota. Dr. Osterholm gives an update each week on where we are with the virus. Really good information directly from the source and not spun by the news media channels.

Ok that is really enough about Covid! I so want it to be over but… Time to move on to something much better to talk about and that was the month of January on the Front Range of Colorado!

The month of January was nothing like the month of December. And that was a great thing! Yea! Winter finally came back to Colorado’s front range. It was cold. Temps down below zero on some nights and there seemed to be more cloud cover. The thing about this January compared to the one last year, we did not seem to get as many temperature inversions, so the air quality was great for exercising in the outdoors. While going through all the pictures for January, I realized there were some great sunset pics. So I think I will call the month of January 2022, the sunset month.

The above picture was taken on January 1st, 2022 at about 3:30pm in the afternoon. The temperature was about 8 degrees and the crazy part was two days before the temps were close to 60 and I was trail running in shorts?! In this picture, I am looking south along the Powerline trail in Fort Collins.

The above picture was taken January 2nd, 2022 at about 4:30pm in the afternoon. Again another cold day with temps down in the single digits. This view is looking across one of the ponds along the Poudre trail in Fort Collins.

The above image was taken on January 3rd, 2022 at about 5pm in the afternoon. It is looking west, across our neighborhood lake. The temps had actually warmed up a bit to the teens by the third of January. The two mountains you see in the background are Mt. Meeker and Longs Peak. There are about 40 miles distant as the crow flies.

The above picture was taken on January 6th, 2022 at about 5pm in the afternoon. It is looking West again across our neighborhood lake. I get some of the best sunset shots from this vantage point in the neighborhood. If conditions are right and you time it just at the right moment, then they can truly be spectacular. It was another cold one with temps in the low teens and single digits.

The above image of Marvin was taken on January 10th, 2022 at about 4pm in the afternoon. I am looking North in the Pineridge Open Space behind Fort Collins. Marvin and I were doing a little bit of trail running in the open space. The temps had gradually warmed up into the 30s and some of the snow had melted since the 1st. This made for a very enjoyable trail run. Marvin was keeping a close eye on other dogs in the area.

**The above picture was taken on January 14th, 2022 at about 5pm in the afternoon. Another beautiful sunset pic. This is from a spot in our neighborhood.**

The above image was taken on January 17, 2022 at about 5pm in the afternoon. I felt lucky to have so many great afternoons of clean air and cold temps. The two big mountains in the background are again Mount Meeker and Longs Peak. It seems unreal that they are 40 miles away in a straight line.

The above picture was taken on January 22nd, 2022 at about 5pm. This is looking West across the Poudre River in one of Fort Collins open spaces. Towards the end of the month the temps were a little more consistently in the 20 to 30 degree range. The warm-up made for some nice running with Marvin.

The above picture was taken on January 28th, 2022 at about 5:30pm in the afternoon. Here I am looking West from a point on the Poudre trail. It truly was the month of sunsets. I actually had “sunset pictures” from almost every other day. Lol. Crazy. I had no idea until looking through them all how many times the lighting conditions were just right.

This last picture was taken on January 31st, 2022 at about 4:30pm in the afternoon. Marvin and I were doing a little muddy trail running in the Pineridge open space behind Fort Collins. The temps had warmed up into the lower 40s which was great but it made for some very muddy conditions. Oh well, Marvin did not really seem to mind much. Lol.

The part of January that I am having trouble getting my head wrapped around is the comparison of December to January. It was so warm compared to January. And then of course you have the devastating wildland Marshall fire that burned parts of the towns of Superior and Louisville on December 30th. Just unreal when you think the really cold air dropped into Colorado just a day later with single digits and snow, and if the fire had happened a day later it would have not been an issue. What is the old saying! “Timing is everything.”

Well I did get in some running, even with all the ice and snow for January, and therefore I have some book reviews.

So, if you’re looking for a way to improve your life in 2022, I have two books to recommend. The first one is Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones, written by James Clear. I first reviewed this book back last September but I felt it needed to be reviewed again. It is that good. I have to admit I was a little hesitant to get this book when I first heard about. All I could think was ok great, “another book” on how to create good habits and break bad ones. It has been done many times before so who needs it? But there was a little voice in the back of my mind telling me I needed this book and I am very glad that I listened. Now before you object and say “Yaaa I have read similar books so what” let me say the difference in this book is how it is presented.

Some people have been introduced to the Japanese idea of Kaizen (continuous improvement with small changes) and I think over the years it has taken on a lot of other ideas besides this, especially in the business world. In Atomic Habits, the author presents the most important part, the essence, in my opinion of Kaizen. The idea of small changes (the habits) over time that eventually lead to success. And he does this in a framework that is very understandable, personable and most importantly actionable. I do not think the author ever uses the word “Kaizen” but this is what the book so beautifully reminds me of. This is a great book. I first listened to it as an audio book and I did eventually buy the paperback version. Of course you can find the book on Amazon: https://amzn.to/3BaN95e

The second book that I would like to recommend in this same vein as Atomic Habits, is called Mastery: The Keys to Success and Long-Term Fulfillment by George Leonard. This is another one of those books that I liked so much that I have the traditional paperback version and the audio book. This book was written way before Atomic Habits came out but it draws a similar conclusions to the path of self-improvement. The principles are definitely Kaizen (continuous very small improvements leading to successful outcomes) but pulled from a Zen philosophical point of view. George does not mention Kaizen in the book but you will get the drift.

The best example in the book is his descriptions of learning and mastering moves in the Japanese martial art of Aikido. (Back when it was truly taught as an art form and not a profit making machine) Especially the parts about hitting plateaus when you feel like you are not making any progress. Very enlightening. The other part of the book I liked touches on the anti-mastery mindsets and how to avoid them. When all said and done a great pair of books to have in your library to be read and reread time after time. Of course you can find the book on Amazon: https://amzn.to/3BcGvLO

Another book I would like to recommend is one about Transhumanism written from a Christian point of view called Transhumanism and Transcendence: Christian Hope in the an Age of Technological Enhancement by the author Ronald Cole-Turner. He teaches theology and ethics at the Pittsburgh Theological Seminary. He has written a few other books on genetics and human cloning, but they date from the 1990s. This one is from 2011.

I have become more interested in the idea of Transhumanism over the last 10 years. Especially with the advancements in A.I., Biotech and Genetics. One of the biggest advancements in this field is the CRISPR gene editing techniques. It has made gene editing, in all organisms, much easier, accurate and cheaper than ever before. To put this in perspective, some of the older geneticist have made comments such as “What I can do now in my garage with CRISPR, I would have needed a million dollar, state of the art research lab when I started out.” Pretty crazy when you think about it.

The above book does not really talk about any of that. Lol. The book looks at Transhumanism as inevitable outcome of this research and how it will effect and be treated by Christianity. While we are all worried about what is happening in Ukraine, the next Covid variant or any of the other big world events, the research and development of Transhumanism is going on quietly behind the scenes. If you have reached the age of 60, then you have probably already experienced some of this already. Think artificial lenses for cataracts, joint prosthesis’s, synthetic by-pass grafts for your heart and aorta, and /or just about anything that you have had done to keep you living. Or in some cases, to make you better than you were before. Even hearing aids, diabetic gadgets, leg and arm prosthetics, breast implants, could all be considered transhumanist. What has changed now is that the current advances in technology will usher in a new age of all of this and more. Imagination may become the only limit. So how do we deal with it from a religious point of view? That is what this book is about. The author has his own views but also includes writings from others currently and in the past. A very interesting read to say the least. Of course, I listened to the book as an audio book but it would work well in any format. You can find it on Amazon at: https://amzn.to/3H6JDdo

Last but not least, I would like to showcase a new piece of art work before I go. It is pen and ink with a little water color thrown. This one is protected in a recycled traditional frame and glass. It is the third drawing of Jesus of Nazareth in a series of four, except I have given the drawing (like the others in the series) a little bit of a twist. I call them Jesus of Borg or SiFi Jesus or Transhumanist Jesus.

I decided to do these pieces over anger of the Texas GOPs enactment of the draconian anti-abortion law. I have three adult daughters and while they might not agree on whether it is right or wrong to get an abortion, they all agree that it is “their right” to choose. And I agree with them. So that is how the project started out but it morphed into something a little different. Did you know that there are at least 10,000 different denominations of Christianity in the world. Of course some say this number is much higher but I figure 10,000 is a safe estimate. Knowing this I thought why not make up my own Jesus?! A lot of other people have. So I did. And what I came up with was a tough, but accepting LGBT SiFi Jesus. A Jesus that would assimilate all other Jesuses, even Republican Jesus, into a hive mind and create an accepting and loving collective for all people and all religions. In Star Trek, the Borg are considered the enemy but in my version I have turned it around and made “Jesus of Borg” the good guy, the savior.

Now you might be wondering where “Transhumanist Jesus” comes in to the picture. If you have read this far into the blog then you will see the connection in the above book review. Jesus and Christianity will have to change to keep up with the “Biotech” or risk the fate of all previous mythologies that have become nothing more than footnotes in history.

TRANSHUMANIST JESUS

**The frame measures 13.5 inches by 16.5 inches with the picture being 6.5 inches by 9.5 inches.**

These pieces and other types of art work are for sale and can be found on my Etsy site: https://www.etsy.com/shop/strugglingprotoplasm/edit?ref=seller-platform-mcnav

Well I have come to the end of another blog post and I have usually included in this section something detailing why it might be a good idea to become minimalist. It is good for you and great for the planet. But I think on this blog, I am going to give you a break and just say if your interested and want to learn more about sustainability, minimalism and the steady state economy, please see these sites: https://www.sustain.ucla.edu/what-is-sustainability/ and https://www.theminimalists.com/minimalism/ and https://steadystate.org/

So take care my friends and if you have not gotten vaccinated, then get it done. We all want this “Groundhog Day – Covid – Marry- Go – Round” to end. Until next time Adios!!

May your trails be crooked, winding, lonesome, dangerous…, leading to the most amazing views.” Edward Abbey

Struggling Protoplasm

MUSINGS FOR FRIDAY 25TH, FEBRUARY 2022

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Life is good, bad, beautiful and ugly – but it is all experience, so drink it up and guzzle it down my friend, for it is all that we are given!!