The Japanese Earthquake and Tsunami: We Are All Mortals, Our Planet Fragile

A powerful nation lies in ruins--entire areas scooped from the map. A huge wave barrels across the broad Pacific damaging the western United States. Fear rules supreme as the possibility of nuclear calamity chills the soul as a damaged power plant could face meltdown. Buildings collapse, trains vanish, boats disappear, and people die. Such is the fate of Japan, March, 2011. One of the world's most powerful, well-prepared nations is rendered helpless by the most powerful earthquake ever to hit the nation that knows tremors all too well. Only four quakes have been recorded stronger.

The extent of the Sendai earthquake with multiple after shocks each one of which would normally rate being recorded as a quake of note cannot be fully explored as news accounts are flowing in at a maddening pace. Calling the situation overwhelming is pure understatement.

As if prepared in advance ready for immediate publication, the ideologues are at it again. How shameful it is that the so-called progressive movement of pseudo-scientists, babbling academic elites, and self-obsessed journalists were so quick to make the bold pronouncement the this horrible cosmic tragedy was somehow the result of human activity. Give it time and the sick fear merchants like Glenn Beck and Alex Jones will come up with some insane story line to blame the quake on some secret plot of the planet's puppet masters.  Religious nuts from Islam and Christianity will find reason to affirm the Japanese are being punched by God for some insane reason. For the record, is same sex marriage legal in Japan?

In a world of people obsessed with their sense of self importance and a public hair triggered to assign blame for the most arbitrary reasons, what is so true seems so elusive. There are and always will be earthly and heavenly occurrence's far beyond human control. The most certain thing we all share is that we all will die. The universe is full of phenomenon far more powerful and sweeping that the tiny little human soul can grasp. We stand helpless to forces from beyond like routine sunspots and solar cycles. Our planet can produce furies beyond any technological intervention -- hurricanes, tornadoes, tsunamis, volcanoes, blizzards, and earthquakes among the nastiest.

We can only prepare; we cannot prevent. Still pompous environmentalist blowhards who fail to understand the limits and politicalization of science will continue to make their false sweeping proclamations. Haters like Alex Jones stir up their gullible, ignorant, fearful subjects to believe our government has weaponized the weather and that the government plotted Katrina as an pretense for the government to disarm citizens and throw citizens in to FEMA internment camps.

Sadly, the great natural catastrophes kill the innocent and wicked alike. Just as nature will always have its way, sick human beings will never accept our human limitations to control and explain its power.




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All Creatures Great and Small: Death of a Sea World Trainer Provokes Important Questions

There are many subjects on the treatment of animals this writer is not prepared to deal with. It may be cavalier to say this, but we didn’t wind up on the top of the food chain to eat nuts and berries. One of life’s great pleasures is a nice prime steak, Maryland Crab Cakes, or some tasty fried chicken. Likewise, this writer has no problem with furs and leather. In expressing this, we should strive to treat animals destined to be killed for our lifestyles to be treated and slaughtered as humanly as possible.

Likewise few things add value to our lives than a beloved pet. This writer loves dogs. Others like cats. Further dogs serve us in so many productive and healthy ways such as serving as animal companions for the blind and disabled. Sadly, there is a pet selling market that breeds animals for sale in horrible conditions that we cannot tolerate.

Our focus centers on three areas: animal testing, animals trained for recreational use, and zoos.

Scientists must work hard to eliminate animal testing to the fullest extent possible. Being forcefully injured, infected with diseases, subjected to harsh chemicals and toxins, and other horribly painful and torturous fates is utterly grotesque conduct especially when dogs, all too-often beagles for their lovable personalities and trusting nature making them very compliant subjects whose emotional reactions mirror our own, and higher primates for their biological similarities to our own, simply exceeds this writer’s humanity to tolerate. For some tests, if this is what it takes to test certain products, maybe the pursuit isn’t worth it. The end does not justify the means. Product testing for consumer goods and cosmetics can surely be accomplished without harming animals. Having read some reports of the experimental use of beagles is enough to drive this writer mad with hurt.

What really piqued our interest in writing about his subject is the horrible accident that occurred Wednesday at Sea World in Orlando where a trainer was killed by an Orca, commonly known as a “killer whale” though the species is a member of the dolphin family. Apparently the animal grabbed the 40 year old female trainer’s pigtail pulled her in the water and then gripped her in his jaw. This same animal had been involved in two fatal accidents before.

We’ve seen news footage of circus elephants going out of control hurting spectators. Other examples of “accidents” are widely reported.

Should we not do some serious soul searching about taking animals out of their element, subjecting them to extensive conditioning, some painful for the sake of our amusement?

What is the true value of such entertainment? Certainly it has a definite “wow” effect but what is it showing other than man’s mastery over the animal kingdom.

It’s a troubling question, but if such entertainment were outlawed tomorrow, would we be upset? Whose rights would really be stepped on? There is no constitutional amendment which provides the right to imprison animals for the sake of money making entertainment.

We’re also disturbed about the world of exotic pets. Dogs and cats are creatures that have gone through thousands of years of breeding and evolution to live side by side with humans in their homes and when housed kindly and appropriately can be tremendous joyful companions.

Other situations aren’t so pleasurable. How can we not think of the elderly lady who had a male chimpanzee as her domestic companion? The animal was not acting himself so she gave him behavior altering drugs for humans. The chimp later freaked out and could not be brought under control. The chimp absolutely mutilated the woman’s friend who suffered broken limbs and had her face literally ripped off leaving her blind and deformed for evermore.

Humans have left a growing danger in the wetlands of Florida. Collectors of exotic snakes are creating an unspeakable disaster. Pythons, huge and dangerous reptiles, are either getting loose or being released on purpose into Florida’s waterways providing them with an ideal habitat to flourish and reproduce. These snakes create a tremendous danger to the ecosystem’s existing inhabitants and pose tremendous danger to humans, sportsmen and residents near the water.

While we may feel we are special or superior creatures to the animal kingdom, we must respect that we are biologically their kin. That kinship requires respect and morals to act accordingly. When man gave name to the animals he assumed the role of often being those animals’ keeper as well.

We must respect they need their space to live, feed, thrive, and survive. Animals do not exist simply for our pleasure or recreation. Conservation efforts to preserve habitat are noble and necessary. As animal species face extinction we face up to hard reality that as creatures of the earth our time will come as well. A study of evolution and human development suggests that our time on this planet is but a small fraction of the time many everyday creatures have called earth home. One million years ago, there were no human beings as we know them today. Human history is only in the five digits. How much do we know that goes back further than 15,000 years?

Many controversies exist today where endangered species appear to be put in such high reverence that human concerns are overruled by laws, judicial rulings, and aggressive regulation. The water supply required to irrigate much of California’s most fertile farm land has been shutdown for threatening the life of some minnow like species. Meanwhile, along the shores of the lower Maryland western shore of the Chesapeake Bay, residents with shore front properties are facing severe erosion problems as their property falls off into the bay without structural reinforcement. Such efforts are being prohibited for the sake of an endangered species of beetle.

While the issues regarding animals, their inappropriate use in entertainment, exotic pets not suitable for human cohabitation, and attempts to protect endangered species, might not seem that important when we face serious issues like world terrorism, economic strife, and health care reform, we must address how we best live harmoniously with others with whom we share the planet. Surely, some of these debates have gone on since humans first developed self-reflective properties able to communicate with one another and discuss their differences with other beings on the planet. We now live in a world where the human footprint has set down in the most remote places on earth. Our presence exists on all continents and the effects of our behavior are universal. With our tremendous powers to control and harvest the earth come even more significant responsibilities.

We’ve only cited a few examples, provided even fewer answers, while raising many questions. That we question openly is perhaps the most important thing we can do aside from learning from how we can better treat all creatures great and small.

February 1, 2010: The Day America Turned its Back on the Future

Freedom 7, May 1961: America's first manned

space excursion. This September, America will

launch its last manned space mission.

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In the wee hours of Saturday morning at 4:39 am, mission STS-130 will be launched aboard Space Shuttle Endeavor. It will be Endeavor’s next to last flight. Between now and September, Saturday’s launch will be one of the five final Space Shuttle missions all designed to finish the build out of the International Space Station. Atlantis has one more flight, STS-132 in May. Discovery flies with missions STS-131 in March and the final Shuttle flight STS-133 tentatively set to launch on September 16th. Endeavor makes its last flight in July.

When Discovery touches down at the end of its mission, that’s it, the end of manned space missions from the United States. What started with great fanfare with Alan Shepherd’s first flight in May of 1961 will evaporate with a whimper almost 50 years later. Considering the last lunar mission was in December, 1972, most of the fireworks all took place in the first twelve years of the program. While surely a space station in continuous operation has its scientific and technological merit, it is a far cry from that which we are capable of developing. Further, considering that which was originally planned and how much has been compromised, the station is only a glimmer of what could have been.

With the Obama administration not funding Project Constellation and the Ares Rocket program which just recently launched its first test missile, all manned space efforts on the part of NASA will be over with no provisions to go further. Constellation was the mission to guide us into the future with earth orbit and lunar missions in the planning stages to set the stage for bolder missions beyond.

Now what is there to look forward to? With the delivery of the huge volumes of the trillions of dollars in the proposed Federal Budget, a conspicuous devil in the details was waving the white flag and surrendering America’s lead as the premier space program in the world. Russia has always had a major stake in space exploration from the days of Sputnik in 1967. Over the past three decades, the European Union has developed its own highly advanced space program. Now Communist China has launched astronauts into space and has an ever more sophisticated space program developing including working on satellite killer vessels which could knock other countries’ spacecraft right out of the sky. Having become the third nation to independently launch men into space with a space station in the works and satellite missions to Mars and behind, China is well on its way to becoming a major force in outer space.

Japan and India are moving forward with ambitious space programs. While Japan has no current plans for ambitious manned space flight, they are aggressively moving into a wide range of scientific, research, and communications applications. India likewise has an ambitious satellite program including the ability to deploy multiple satellites from one launch and placing spacecraft in geosynchronous orbit. Indian manned space missions could come as soon as 2014-15.

These are examples of countries using rocket technology toward those enterprises we consider the noble exploit of space exploration; however, as the United States and Soviet Union were fully engaged in pursuing, these same technologies are the basis of their arms race as well. Both North Korea and Iran, two of the most dangerous nations on the planet have ambitious rocket programs. Nothing good can come from them being able to launch craft into orbit but it makes their ability to develop an ICBM program capable of launching nuclear missiles a certainty.

Has our nation become so complacent that we no longer appreciate why our leadership in the space race was so important in the first place?

Our nation was so shocked and terrified when the Soviet Union launched Sputnik on October 4, 1957 then quickly launched a second satellite only weeks later on November 3, 1957. Quickly, American found itself caught off-guard and there was a mad clamor to boost America’s commitment to science and technology education. Amidst numerous failures, the United States first satellite, Explorer 1, atop a Juno 1 rocket, that was a beefed up Redstone rocket, a larger and beefed up missile developed from the German V-2. It was hardly a significant space worthy rocket, launched from Cape Canaveral 52 years ago, on February 1, 1958.

America scurried about to get a meaningful space program going while the Soviets marched on , Yuri Gagarin was launched on Vostok 1 on April 12, 1961. America’s first launch would come just days later on May 5, but Freedom 7’s flight was only a suborbital short flight up and down for Alan Shepherd while the Soviets already accomplished orbit. The first US flight, Friendship 7 would come the following year on February 20, 1962.

Through the rest of the decade, the United States gained the lead in space it would never surrender resulting in man’s landing on the moon by July, 1969, but quickly our ambitions soured and our nation became to rest on its laurels. For four decades from the 1970’s to right now, no nation has gone beyond our level of accomplishment, but now it’s just a matter of time.

Remember this date, February 1, 2010, 52 to years to the date after America’s first successful satellite launch, our President destroyed our celestial vision of going where no one has gone before to wallow in meaningless sidesteps while our vision goes blind and our march to the future retreats.

Today marks a huge turning point in world history. Few will recognize it today, but what will it take for us to recognize what’s at stake?

We’re only months away from when Iran will have successfully tested its first nuclear weapon. They’re working on bigger and more powerful missiles. The time is coming soon when they will be able to place nuclear warheads atop missiles. Which reminds us: President Obama already opted to curtail an anti-missile program which would stage intercept missiles in Poland.

Scientific advancement and national defense go hand-in-hand. Each one supports the other. In a dangerous world with Islamic extremism sworn to destroy us, with energy and environmental needs we cannot successfully address, our nation’s ability to visualize our purpose in preparing for the future and committing the resources to do so have been severely clouded by myopic vision too stuck on the immediate here and now.

Bold dreams and giant steps are what the American Dream is made of. It’s time to dare to dream again lest our current Obama nightmare continue.

Apollo 11: 40 Years Later

Forty years ago today, Michael Collins, Buzz Aldrin, and Neil Armstrong had broken loose of earth orbit and were on their way to the moon. The Command Service module would orbit the moon with Michael Collins at the helm while Buzz Aldrin and Neil Armstrong would descend to the lunar surface in the Sea of Tranquility region in their insectile looking lunar landing module. They were launched atop a mighty three stage Saturn V rocket standing taller than a typical skyscraper. The rockets used just years earlier to propel John Glenn in to earth orbit seemed like mere bottle rockets by comparison.

It’s quite a revelation to look at the earliest Project Mercury spacecraft launching solo astronauts into orbit from 1961 to 1963 and look at the substantial advancements featured in the Apollo spacecrafts with the Gemini craft for two astronauts from 1964 to 1966 in between. President John F. Kennedy committed our country to landing a man on the moon by the end of the decade in 1961. The journey to get there was an amazing feat wrought with the dreadful Apollo I tragedy killing three astronauts during a launch pad rehearsal on January 27, 1967 taking the lives of Gus Grissom, the second American to fly into outer space, Ed White, and Roger Chaffee.

After such a setback, the notion man could still land on the moon by the end of the 1960’s seemed remote, but the resolve was tremendous. The pathway to the moon resumed October 11, 1968 when Apollo VII was the sole Apollo flight launched by the Saturn IB rocket into earth orbit. Subsequent missions would be directed at the moon or carry the lunar Lander requiring the vastly more powerful Saturn V whose 3rd stage functioned as but the 2nd stage of the lesser Saturn. What a moving experience the world was treated to witnessing Christmas, 1968 as the crew of Apollo VIII orbited the moon with television images of a giant blue marble and the ghastly cratered lunar surface were transmitted back to earth while the astronauts read from the Biblical book of Genesis, the account of creation.

Between December and July, two more Apollo flights would be necessary. The next never escaped earth orbit as Apollo IX was the first test of rendezvous and docking maneuvers with the lunar Lander. Next on deck, Apollo X shot for lunar orbit with the lunar module almost buzzing the moon’s surface.

In the summer of 1969, the Vietnam War continued on. The Beatles were still thought to be together. Gas was less than 30 cents a gallon. Cars were beautiful. Richard Nixon was in the first year of his presidency. There were no home computers, microwave ovens, or VCRS. Air conditioning was just beginning to become a must have option in much of the United States. Substantial television programming was still in black and white. The New York Jets were the reigning champs in football as the AFL and NFL were approaching the final terms of their merger. The Baltimore Orioles were the talk of baseball. Plans were afoot for a massive rock festival in upstate New York just a few weeks later.

Given only 12 years had passed since the Soviet Union launched the first manmade satellite, Sputnik, what might did we think the world of space exploration and technology would hold in store forty years later. Perhaps some clues were presented in the popular Stanley Kubrick movie, 2001, A Space Odyssey, based on Arthur C. Clark’s novel. In 2001, the earth was orbited by glorious space stations complete with every modern convenience. Colonies were on the moon, and the current frontier was the exploration of Jupiter. The spacecraft was largely computer driven, and the computer, HAL, had ideas of its own on how the mission should progress.

Given the progress the world had seen in the past twelve years, Clark’s vision didn’t seem that far fetched. Surely by 2009, man would have ventured to Mars. In 1969, satellites had already visited the red planet and Venus. Could we imagine that our quest for space would only have advanced one mission past Apollo to the Space Shuttle supporting but one international space station whose mission still remains quite nebulous to measly earthlings as it is just now getting ready to host a full crew of six explorers not just three. The shuttle will be retired next year with American manned spaced efforts supposed to resume by around 2015 with project Orion, almost a retro looking space configuration harkening back to the Apollo era poised to launch more missions to the moon. As for landing on Mars? Well…?

Many conveniences we enjoy every day as well as advanced medical equipment have their origins in the space program most notably the moon missions from project Apollo. From Velcro to personal computers to camcorders to MRI technology, all of these were advanced by the space program. Velcro was first put into use to keep objects from flying free in zero gravity.

How sad it is that our nation has lost its fascination with space and perhaps the pioneering spirit that created this nation in the first place. We’ve become a nation buried in the “here and now” and creative long range thinking does not set well with the “me” generations. While space exploration does not come inexpensively, even during the full deployment of the Apollo space program, it represented a small fraction of the Federal budget.

In 2009, the United States has lost its interest in science. Our competitive advantage in science, technology, engineering, and math are seriously losing ground to the rest of the world.

As divided as our country was in 1969 with racial tension and the Vietnam War, the teamwork and dedication of so many talented professionals from many walks of life, backgrounds, and talent worked together to accomplish a task so great.

Are there any current “frontiers” that could capture the American spirit around which out society could unite for a giant goal like a decade long quest to land on the moon?

Probably not. Nevertheless, we should commit to landing on Mars sooner than later while people who worked on Project Apollo are still alive to appreciate the results. The United States needs to work on such much needed goals which require tremendous technological growth such as energy independence. Much work is needed in the life sciences and medicine to improve health care and eradicate dreadful diseases.

Let this anniversary of Project Apollo, perhaps the boldest dream ever undertaken and accomplished serve as an invitation to dream and think big again.

We can do it.

Tasmanian Devil Endangered

We report, sadly, the Australian government has put the Tasmanian Devil on the endangered species list. The fury little rascal is dying off because of a horrible cancer which apparently has infected seven out of nine of the species.

We hope conservation efforts are successful. Perhaps a steady diet of rascally rabbits might help.

Apollo 8: America's Christmas Rendezvous With the Moon 40 Years Later

Forty years ago this Christmas, astronauts Commander, Frank Borman, Command Module Pilot, James Lovell, and Lunar Module Pilot, William Anders became the first men from earth to rendezvous on the moon as they orbited the moon for twenty hours on Christmas Eve and Christmas day of 1968. They were the first astronauts to ride atop the skyscraper sized Saturn IV booster whose third stage would reignite after achieving earth orbit to break from earth’s gravity and send the Apollo 8 Command Service Module (CSM) on a trajectory to the moon. Upon reaching the moon three days later, the CSM would fire its rocket engine to insert their spacecraft into lunar orbit. Soon humans would see terrestrial sights never viewed by mankind before as their space craft looped around the back side of the moon. While on the “dark” side of the moon, of course, radio signals could not reach earth creating a little bit of anxiety until all ground crew members were assured their mission had been executed properly.

While in orbit around the moon, Americans and people all around the world watched and listened in awe as the astronauts read the story of creation, the first ten verses of Genesis. For many, the spiritual experience was profound seeing the earth as never seen before while on the holiest day of the Christian faith our astronauts read the Biblical account of creation back to a world of anxious listeners.

As significant a landmark it was to see the far side of the moon for the first time, equally fascinating and far more stimulating was the sight of the earth getting smaller and smaller as the spacecraft approached the moon and then witnessing an “earth rise” with each orbit as the spacecraft came around from the dark side of the moon to the part of the moon visible to earth.

The mission was a huge success leading to two more test flights before Apollo 11 would land on the moon the following July. Many doubted if President John Kennedy’s mission to land a man on the moon by the end of the decade could ever be realized especially after three astronauts were incinerated atop a Saturn IB rocket their Apollo I spacecraft. The next 18 months, NASA scientists and engineers would work feverously to make up for lost time, correcting flaws in design eliminating the need for the astronauts to inhabit a 100% oxygen atmosphere in their space craft where the smallest spark, simply an electrical connection arcing over could cause a massive blaze.

Today, it’s hard to believe that it’s been four decades since man first rendezvoused with the moon and the last trip to the moon would be just four years later in December, 1972 with the launch of Apollo 17. The remaining CSM’s were used for Skylab missions and plans to build additional Saturn V boosters were cancelled. NASA’s budget was cut back to misery amounts as the manta as the Vietnam War wound down was that how could society spend money on space exploration when there are so many problems on earth. That led to the budget spacecraft which still flies today, the Space Shuttle, whose mission should conclude next year with hopes of Project Orion and possibly more moon missions after that.

While citizens criticize the space program for a variety of reasons, the benefits to society from our space missions are incalculable. Whether it’s powdered beverages like (yuck) Tang, Velcro, miniaturized television cameras and computers, and all kinds of technologies and electronics which would benefit everything from medical science to consumer products. The space program also had intangible benefits, giving the American people a chance to band together behind a common purpose continuing the pioneer spirit seeking to extend the known universe and knowledge base of humanity tremendously.

The memories of Christmas with Apollo 8 are hard to forget for baby boomers and their parents. It’s hard to believe two generations have largely passed since America’s missions to the moon. How hard it is to believe that children born on that fateful morning when the Space Shuttle Challenger exploded are almost 23 years old.

America needs the space program. The benefits are overwhelming in so many areas. Those who weren’t born or old enough to remember the space race and Project Apollo would learn much by studying those missions. The commitment to excellence, the “can do” thinking, and the clear dominance of American “know how” all could use a little bit of a recharge as 2009 approaches.

Let us use this historical window, the 40th anniversaries of the various lunar missions to stimulate learning and understanding of the wonders and benefits of space exploration. We should never take such bold accomplishments for granted.