“Attention is the rarest and purest form of generosity.”

Simone Weil on Attention and Grace – Brain Pickings

Simone Weil on Attention and Grace

“Attention is the rarest and purest form of generosity.”

BY MARIA POPOVA

“Attention without feeling,” Mary Oliver wrote in her beautiful elegy for her soul mate, “is only a report.” To fully feel life course through us, indeed, we ought to befriend our own attention, that “intentional, unapologetic discriminator.”

More than half a century before Oliver, another enchantress of the human spirit — the French philosopher Simone Weil(February 3, 1909–August 24, 1943), a mind of unparalleled intellectual elegance and a sort of modern saint whom Albert Camus described as “the only great spirit of our times” — wrote beautifully of attention as contemplative practice through which we reap the deepest rewards of our humanity.

In First and Last Notebooks (public library) — the out-of-print treasure that gave us Weil on the key to discipline and how to make use of our suffering — she writes:

Attention is the rarest and purest form of generosity.

This piercing thought comes fully abloom in Gravity and Grace (public library) — a posthumous 1952 collection of Weil’s enduring ideas, culled from her notebooks by Gustave Thibon, the farmer whom she entrusted with her writings before her untimely death.

Weil considers the superiority of attention over the will as the ultimate tool of self-transformation:

We have to try to cure our faults by attention and not by will.

The will only controls a few movements of a few muscles, and these movements are associated with the idea of the change of position of nearby objects. I can will to put my hand flat on the table. If inner purity, inspiration or truth of thought were necessarily associated with attitudes of this kind, they might be the object of will. As this is not the case, we can only beg for them… Or should we cease to desire them? What could be worse? Inner supplication is the only reasonable way, for it avoids stiffening muscles which have nothing to do with the matter. What could be more stupid than to tighten up our muscles and set our jaws about virtue, or poetry, or the solution of a problem. Attention is something quite different.

Pride is a tightening up of this kind. There is a lack of grace (we can give the word its double meaning here) in the proud man. It is the result of a mistake.

Weil turns to attention as the counterpoint to this graceless will — where the will contracts the spirit, she argues, attention expands it:

Attention, taken to its highest degree, is the same thing as prayer. It presupposes faith and love.

Absolutely unmixed attention is prayer.

If we turn our mind toward the good, it is impossible that little by little the whole soul will not be attracted thereto in spite of itself.

Gravity and Grace is one of the most spiritually nourishing texts ever published. Complement it with Weil on temptation and true genius, then revisit writer Melissa Pritchard on art as a form of active prayer and cognitive scientist Alexandra Horowitz on reawakening our capacity for attention.

Pantechnicon

 

An original pantechnicon at the Milestones Museum of Living History in Hampshire   Graham Horn

Milestones - Hampshire's living history museum. An original pantechnicon; a delivery vehicle that could be loaded onto a railway wagon, then off-loaded and horse drawn locally at the end of the journey. There are a number of pictures in this sequence, showing various exhibits in the living history museum. The next picture is here 663330

people look more attractive when they speak about the things they are really interested in.

useful advice

A long time ago I remember reading a thread about signs that someone is interested in you, the one I remember the most clearly is that they'll look at you if they see or hear something funny. It helped me resolve exactly one potentially uncomfortable situation in my life, making it by far the most useful advice I have ever gotten from reddit.

Amen

Amen' (in singing and in ritualistic service, amen'), n. (L. amen, Gr. amén, Heb. àmèn. truly, certainly.) 1. A term used in scripture to denote christ. These things saith the amen, the faithful and true witness. -rev. iii. 14. 2. An expression of formal assent, concurance, or conviction. 3. The conclusion, in word or act, the end. amen', adv. and inter j. - 1. so be it: used as an expression of hearty assent or formal confession of faith, also, as the formal conclusion of prayers, etc. 2. Truly, verily. Amen' v.t. To assent to or concur in, to sanction, to say amen to, to conclude.

Poor excuse for an anagram.


A aa ace gofer: Mr. Nonpros Xu. - anagrams

If you haven't found something strange during the day, it hasn't been much of a day.

Meaning

"I have always believed and I still believe, that whatever good or bad fortune may come our way we can always give it meaning and transform it into something of value. - Hesse

The ultimate cheat-sheet for critical thinking

confirmation bias

The Virtues

recent food for thought:
The earth laughs in flowers. And remember, jelly, laughter is prayer.
(5) Pinterest

Winston Churchill liked to use 4 or 5 words with the same meaning. - like with orchids, not to show them off, but because he loved them.

Jimmy Carter said faith is easy. The one thing that takes the most courage is love.

What good is the monarch butterfly for? - is like asking what good is the Mona Lisa for?

Socrates was upset when his friends were crying at his execution, and stated he could not be sad because he didn't know whether whether death was good or not.

Not Nature's Boy

eclipse was a bust

or so he said from up bellevue

nature failed that boy

Read your Friggin’ Bible, she demanded!

Hitting a rough patch lately, I traveled down to the Hunger Coalition to ask for some food. It was crowded as the administrators had thoughtfully added a free dog vaccination service for the community that same day. I had been lucky to find a good parking spot for my big rig, and after checking in at the desk, started milling around outside the bustling waiting room on that nice afternoon.

As one food recipient began exiting with his vehicle from the front row, two cars suddenly started vying for his prime parking spot. Since he pulled out to the right, this gave a woman approaching from the left an advantage to grab the spot; and as she had a handicapped placard displayed in her window this seemed like a natural fit to the outside observers. However, her spot-snagging immediately triggered anger with the motorist on the right and that wiry woman started aggressively honking her horn and flipping the bird toward the handicapped parking woman. Not only that, but in this swift scene the angry woman decided to block someone else in, and then quickly emerged from her rig to confront the handicapped woman.

The troubled woman sprinted up to the window of the handicapped woman and started shouting surreally, “You know that man was saving that spot from me! And you took it! READ YOUR BIBLE! READ YOUR FRICKIN’ BIBLE!!

This about did it for me. I read newspapers, and had inkling that this is about when bullets sometimes start whizzing, so I slipped into the waiting room. But then half of me was compelled to check out the wiry woman, so I eased back out and starting analyzing her.  Immediately after the thumping bible encounter the poor woman directed her intensity to a young man whose small dog had pooped tiny droplets in the mulch-bed. “Do you mind going to your car and getting a plastic bag to clean up your filth? I’ll watch your dog!” and then she grabbed his leash and stole his seat. Then she started boisterously passive-aggressively exclaiming: Oh, this dog is my favorite kind; I really like him!

At this juncture, I thought of grabbing my recently published article “Merge right with kindness” of the dashboard of my work-rig and tucking it into her car (which was still blocking in some other poor soul). Then I reconsidered because I felt that prophet-sizing kindness there would likely only piss her off even more and wondering who else she might have heatedly confronted that afternoon I didn’t want to be next.

So here breaks the fourth wall: Since Abner N. remarked that he wouldn’t read my whimsical “Merge Right with Kindness” article until I weaved it properly into this tale; his goading me to become a better writer leads me this rejection letter from a modified version of the ‘merge’ story (which I had been desiring to slip into the nasty bible lady’s window):

We received your guest opinion submission and it was reviewed by Robert Ehlert, Editorial Page Editor. However, it was not accepted for publication. We simply receive more guest opinion submissions than can possibly be accepted for publication. And with the Legislature just ending and a presidential election year, we are extremely backlogged right now.

If you have any questions, you need to contact Robert Ehlert directly at 377-6437 or email rehlert@idahostatesman.com.

Thank you,

Peggy Calhoun

News Assistant

Idaho Statesman

On Wed, Apr 6, 2016 at 10:43 PM, <smavo@cox.net> wrote:

Merge right with kindness

Our sturdy work crew witnessed some disconcerting scenes recently during the commute where traffic quickly comes together by the bridge under construction near the Ketchum hospital. After seeing one ill-mannered incident that looked like it could lead to an altercation one of my guys said, “In situations like these, I just try to focus on good intentions for the troubled people involved,” as he motioned with some blessing gestures.

*
Then, another colleague clicked on Wikipedia and spoke aloud: “Kindness is a behavior marked by ethical characteristics, a pleasant disposition, and concern for others. It is known as a virtue, and recognized as a value in many cultures and religions.”

*

Our anchor man observed with thoughtful intensity: “Some people are just having an awful day and everybody is allowed that. However, some poor folks are experiencing a series of really bad days; think about some of your own worst days. And getting behind the wheel of a vehicle may be the one thing that temporarily gives some people a powerful sense of freedom and control, while many other aspects of their life are in shambles.”

*


Which drives me back to the blessing gestures: When motorists merge, it would bring better understanding if more were to reflect on what their most highly revered spiritual figure would do to create a better convergence at our future community bridge.

*


And with this harmonic jazz in mind; as they’ve done well to lessen dangerous conditions for other large mammals, perhaps our Idaho Transportation Department could develop a contest for aspiring graphic artists to come up with an icon to be displayed on new “Merge right with kindness” road signs.

*


Our quixotic high-hope for this persuasive art to work is that some impolite motorists will shift their behavior over from nasty bird-flipping, and upgrade to sturdy peace signs playfully shared with two nice fingers.

Thankful for “relatively harmless” results of airport deicing study

It was inspiring to read the recent Express report “Runway deicer isn’t polluting land around airport” and I’m grateful that the airport authority went to the trouble of conducting the suggested feasibility tests. Moreover, we all should be appreciative for the amazing magic dissolution abilities that water simply has for healing misplaced poisons of Mother Earth - especially with this recent season of 110% normal precipitation helping with great assist.

However; beneath the surface and before this issue gets too quickly brushed aside, I wonder if the residents who live in close proximity to the airport such as those on Broadford Highlands are completely comfortable with the results of this test, which did include some ambiguous statements. After all, most of the houses there were constructed in the era when the more toxic ethylene glycol was being rigorously and copiously applied as a deicing agent to help our local aircraft fly.

I believe that the majority of Broadford Highland residents care about their friends and family and they wouldn’t want to offer any friend a drink of questionable water. So I wonder if a few of the residents there were to ask the Friedman Airport Authority to extend their already comprehensive study to a just a few more wells in their neighborhood and then my intuitive suspicions about poor water quality in that area were proven to be unfounded, then we all might rest a little easier on this important healthy issue. 

Cut off your nose or spite your Facebook?

(Sense of smell is important)

I read with great interest about a qualitative study which indicates that given a hypothetical choice, a majority of today’s youth would prefer to give up their sense of smell rather than live without their social networks.

I’m curious as to how this poll was conducted because instead of giving an instant response to such a significant dilemma, this strikes me as the type of quandary, albeit theoretical, that one should mull over wisely a few days before giving a final answer.

Take, for instance, the importance of being able to smell a fire or gas leak before it builds into an explosive nature. And what about spoiled food, with our smart noses ready to save us from sickness and worse? If we went insensibly snout-less, wouldn’t most of us miss the simple pleasures and familiarity of distinctive aromas and perfumes emanating from friends and beloved ones?

Smell is the sense most closely intertwined with our memories. When we take a healthy walk through the mountainous woods on a vibrant snowy evening feeling powerfully connected to nature, it’s a nostalgic joy to breathe in somebody’s fireplace blazing in the misty distance, which reminds us sweetly of other golden days.

With this in mind, I wonder if more of today’s youth reflected on this, would they truly give up their good sense of smell and prefer to paint rosy Facebook pictures. Perhaps I’m a nosy Luddite, but I sense something sour when I see many of our youth believing social networks are the greatest thing invented since the fresh fragrance of warm sliced bread.

Footnote: http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/todays-global-youth-would-give-up-their-sense-of-smell-to-keep-their-technology-122605643.html.

Merge right with kindness

Our sturdy work crew recently witnessed some disconcerting scenes during the commute where traffic quickly comes together by the bridge near the Ketchum hospital. After seeing one ill-mannered incident that looked like it could lead to an altercation one of my guys said, “In situations like these, I just try to focus on good intentions for the troubled people involved,” as he motioned with some blessing gestures.

Then, another worker clicked on Wikipedia and spoke aloud: “Kindness is a behavior marked by ethical characteristics, a pleasant disposition, and concern for others. It is known as a virtue, and recognized as a value in many cultures and religions.”

Our anchor man observed with thoughtful intensity: Some people are just having an awful day and everybody is allowed that. However, some poor folks are experiencing a series of really bad days; think about some of your own worst days. And getting behind the wheel of a vehicle may be the one thing that temporarily gives some people a powerful sense of freedom and control, while many other aspects of their life is in shambles.

Which drives me back to the blessing gestures: When motorists merge, it would bring better understanding if more were to reflect on what their most highly revered spiritual figure would do to construct a better convergence at our future community bridge.

And with this harmonic jazz in mind; as they’ve done well to lessen dangerous conditions for other large mammals, perhaps our Idaho Transportation Department could develop a contest for aspiring graphic artists to come up with an icon to be displayed on new “Merge right with kindness” road signs.

Our high-hope for this persuasive art to work is that some impolite motorists will shift their nasty behavior over from bird-flipping and upgrade to sturdy peace signs shared with two nice fingers. 

Merge right with kindness

Our work crew witnessed some disconcerting scenes lately during the commute where traffic quickly comes together by the bridge near the hospital. After seeing one ill-mannered incident that looked like it could lead to an altercation one of my guys said, “In situations like these, I just try to focus on good intentions for the troubled people involved,” as he motioned with some blessing gestures. 

Then, another worker clicked on Wikipedia and spoke aloud: “Kindness is a behavior marked by ethical characteristics, a pleasant disposition, and concern for others. It is known as a virtue, and recognized as a value in many cultures and religions.”

Our anchor man observed with intensity: Some people are just having an awful day and everybody is allowed that. However, some poor folks are experiencing a series of really bad days; think about some of your own worst days. And getting behind the wheel of a vehicle may be the one thing that temporarily gives some people a powerful sense of control and freedom, while many other aspects of their life is in shambles.

Which drives me back to the blessing gestures: When motorists merge, it would bring better understanding if more were to reflect on what their most highly revered spiritual figure would do to create a better convergence at our future community bridge.

With this harmonic jazz in mind; as they’ve done well to lessen dangerous conditions for other large mammals, perhaps the Idaho Transportation Department could develop a contest for aspiring graphic artists to come up with an icon to be persuasively displayed with new “Merge right with kindness” road signs.

And the high-hope for this to work is that some impolite motorists will upgrade their behavior from nasty bird-flipping, over to peace signs with two nice fingers. 

Re: What is your first Internet Experience?

by Schmazo » Thu Mar 17, 2016 11:03 pm

Around twenty autumns ago, before I even had a clue about what surfing the Internets is, my friend 3V3T2 who is a computer guru snapped a few photos of me while I was donning a six-foot long blond wig while sipping beer next to a campfire. (I'm a large man.)

I had purchased the blond wig earlier that week at a local thrift store for 3 bucks, and with Halloween soon approaching I thought owning it held potential for a some good laughs or a prank.

A few months later, in the middle of winter 3V3T2 invited me into his office to watch some football playoffs. While there, he booted his computer up and during halftime exclaimed, "Schmazo, you really need to check out this website."

It was a site called something like "Am I a hottie or not?" and as we scrolled through the photos you could see a variety of profile pictures. They had women's and men's categories and you could vote on each photo by clicking anywhere from 1 to 10.

I looked at the women featured for a few minutes. There were some good looking women, but since it was a new invention it appeared that the limited amount of random photos would repeat themselves after a few minutes.

Meanwhile, the second half of the Redskins game was starting and I started to turn from the computer to the television programme, but 3V3T2 persuasively insisted that I keep looking at the photos, because there was this really great looking chick who hadn't come up yet that I would enjoy seeing.

And then it happened: I sat there stunned seeing a photo of myself wearing that blond wig by the campfire on the World Wide Web for all to see! On top of that he had listed me in the Women's category, and with the compilation of votes I was rated as a mere "2."

I glared at Steve in the mirror laughing at me, and I do remember laughing a bit at myself as well: but mostly I remember exclaiming, "THANKS FOR PUTTING MY PICTURE ON THE INTERNET, DICK!" 

For a few weeks after that trying to be a good sport, I went into his office sometimes to see what my rating had gained on the world hottie circuit. Then, I found that I could vote for myself and experimented with giving myself some tens. But this never seemed to raise the rating much.

After a few weeks I figured out that instead of waiting for my profile photo to come up randomly, I could cheat by clicking the back button and then vote for myself quickly again with another 10. But even with that effort, I never could raise my rating above 2.9. Seems other forces of judging beauty were against me. 

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Luckily, my photo now seems to have been expunged from the permanent record. I've looked around a few times in depth too, but can't seem to find me:


https://www.google.com/search?q=TALL+ME ... 24&bih=653

Merge right with kindness

Our work crew witnessed some disconcerting scenes lately during the commute where traffic quickly comes together by the bridge near the Ketchum hospital. After seeing one ill-mannered incident that looked like it could lead to an altercation one of my guys said, “In situations like these, I just try to focus on good intentions for the troubled people involved,” as he motioned with some blessing gestures. 

Then, another worker clicked on Wikipedia and spoke aloud: “Kindness is a behavior marked by ethical characteristics, a pleasant disposition, and concern for others. It is known as a virtue, and recognized as a value in many cultures and religions.”

Our anchor man observed with intensity: Some people are just having an awful day and everybody is allowed that. However, some poor folks are experiencing a series of really bad days; think about some of your own worst days. And getting behind the wheel of a vehicle may be the one thing that temporarily gives some people a powerful sense of control and freedom, while many other aspects of their life is in shambles.

Which drives me back to the blessing gestures: When motorists merge, it would bring better understanding if more were to reflect on what their most highly revered spiritual figure would do to create a better convergence at our future community bridge.

And with this harmonic jazz in mind, as they’ve done successfully for other large mammals; perhaps the Idaho Transportation Department could develop a contest for aspiring graphic artists to come up with an icon to be persuasively displayed with new “Merge right with kindness” road signs.

Merge on the bridge to kindness

Our work crew witnessed some disconcerting scenes lately during the commute where traffic quickly comes together by the bridge near the hospital. After seeing one ill-mannered incident that looked like it could lead to an altercation one of my guys said, “In situations like these, I just try to focus on good intentions for the troubled people involved,” as he motioned with some blessing gestures.

Then, another worker clicked on Wikipedia and spoke aloud: “Kindness is a behavior marked by ethical characteristics, a pleasant disposition, and concern for others. It is known as a virtue, and recognized as a value in many cultures and religions.”

Our anchor man observed with intensity: Some people are just having an awful day and everybody is allowed that. However, some folks are experiencing a series of really bad days; think about some of your own worst days. And getting behind the wheel of a vehicle may be the one thing that temporarily gives some people a powerful sense of control and freedom, while many other aspects of their life is in shambles.

Which drives me back to the blessing gestures: When motorists merge, it would bring better understanding if more were to reflect on what their most highly admired spiritual figure would do to create a better convergence at our future community bridge.

And with this harmonic jazz in mind, as they’ve done successfully with other large mammals; perhaps the Idaho Transportation Department could develop a contest for aspiring graphic artists to come up with an icon to be persuasively displayed with new “Merge right with kindness” road signs.

More misplaced poisons of Mother Earth

 More misplaced poisons of Mother Earth

It’s been inspiring to read the recent letters of ecological concern by Eloise Christensen and Kerrin McCall regarding cleaner snow removal policies. Their letters remind me of a similar concern for the soil at Friedman Memorial Airport, which has been thoroughly contaminated through decades of aircraft deicing.

With the large budget that our Hailey airport has, it would be nice to see board members consider a feasibility study along the lines of a large indoor heated de-icing structure for aircraft to taxi through before flying off. Such an arrangement could be designed with environmentally friendly drains for collecting the used de-icing fluid, and then cleaning and recycling it.

Another potential improvisation to remove dangerous ice would be by beaming aircraft with modernized microwave systems. Constructing a heated hanger for airplanes to pass through shortly before takeoff would lessen the amount of de-icing fluid or microwaves required. In summer, the de-icing booth could even be designed to double as an aircraft wash bay, where frequent engine cleanses would contribute to improved airplane fuel efficiency.

Meanwhile, our thoughtful community should look forward to the ongoing proactive research and letters of public interest from Eloise and Kerrin. After all, we would be less polluted as people if more folks cared about our fragile environment as much they do. 

Misplaced poisons of Mother Earth

It’s been inspiring to read the recent letters of ecological concern by Eloise Christensen and Kerrin McCall regarding cleaner snow removal policies. Their letters remind me of a similar concern for the soil at Friedman Memorial Airport, which has been contaminated through decades of aircraft deicing.

With the large budget that our Hailey airport has, it would be nice to see board members consider a feasibility study along the lines of large heated indoor de-icing structure for aircraft to taxi through before flying off. Such an arrangement could be designed with environmentally friendly drains for collecting the used de-icing fluid, and then cleaning and recycling it.

Another potential improvisation would be to remove dangerous ice by beaming aircraft with modernized microwave systems. Building a heated hanger for airplanes to pass through shortly before takeoff would lessen the amount of de-icing fluid or microwaves required. In summer, the de-icing booth could even be designed to double as an aircraft wash bay.

Meanwhile, our community should look forward to the ongoing proactive research from Eloise and Kerrin. After all, we would be less polluted as people if more folks cared about the proper handling of misplaced poisons from good Mother Earth as much they do. 

The Rock

The Rock

(from Pale Rider)

I know about where it is 
this big rock with a candy vein of gold in it 
scintillating under the stars

*

I want to find this Idaho Sword of Shannara 
and lay me down under the silver fruit 
Press the gold of my ear to the vibration 
to sense if I can detect the echo of 
when Lurch -or was it Jaws? 
Split this baby in half 
with an old 1863 hickory stick sledgehammer

*

Yepperdoodle 
I’ll bend up over the hill tonite 
a-foot 
too itchy and scratchy for a truck in that rough spot 
to see if I can’t see how these hills have changed

*

Yeah that’s it 
I’ll pack up the DVD player 
better bring a spare battery juice-pack 
Cause it’s cold in those Idaho hills 
I’ll freeze frame on the DVD 
sections of Mountains in that backdrop 
and compare it to our current status

*
I think of the nameless preacher in the movie 
and for some reason the Beatles real nowhere man 
jangles my juices like Satchel Paige on opening day

*

On spectacular evenings like these 
Sometimes it feels like we’ll still be standing strong 
long after these hills have fast eroded away

Lower speed limit was safer

After nearly being side-swiped by a cement truck barreling unbalanced down Highway 75 in a recent rainstorm, I thought about how the speed limit for this widened stretch is being raised and considered this teetering ‘near-miss’ a bad omen.

Equally unsettling were the reactions of two motorists who decided to speed up and buzz by the hydroplaning truck as it overcorrected, and then almost toppled over on them as they passed in the slick right lane. I suspect that these law-bending speeders are part of the majority who were ignoring the limits anyway; which is a major reason why the Idaho Transportation Department decided give up on its prudent attempt to keep the speed lower and us safer.

The area near the hospital is well known as an active wildlife corridor, and raising the limit there goes against the grain of an insightful WRHS applied physics class study on the effects of vehicle collisions with wildlife at 45 mph versus 55 mph.

http://archives.mtexpress.com/index2.php?ID=2007149182...

Moreover, motorists turning left into traffic now need to cross over an additional lane before merging.

Sadly, it's easy to predict that bad vehicle crashes will likely increase when the highway soon turns icy and numerous motorists continue to show a lack of respect toward the speed limit. And since Idaho is a state without annual vehicle safety inspections for tires brakes and steering systems some of the same people who pay little heed to basic traffic rules on treacherous roads probably will be piloting vehicles that are not even roadworthy for new season. 

Transporting this symbolic hydrant to the Animal Shelter new office reminded me of my Falls Church Water days: One cold winter night while on call, someone had driven their sedan around a corner too fast, slipped on the ice and knocked over a hydrant so it was spurting water into the sky just like in the movies. Luckily, I arrived quick enough to locate the shut-off valve before it froze over; but after I turned it off, the strange thing was, was that nobody was around.

The vehicle was wedged over the hydrant, and inspecting the scene closer, it appeared as though they had tried to drive away, but could not get it unhooked from the spouting hydrant. I wondered if they had been met by an ambulance, but then a police officer came by and said that that was not the case. We saw quite a few beer cans crushed in the back seat, and later I learned that the owner of the car called the police a few hours later to report his car stolen. The police invited him down to fill out a report in person; but apparently he never showed - probably in fear of being criminally charged with filling out a false police report.

Never did learn how the owner finally got his damaged car back, or if he ever did.

A Far Out Plutonian Ode

It’s practically beyond belief to see the initial photographs of Pluto we’ve received through the 12-watt transmitter of NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft from 3 billion miles away. Stunning high resolutions of icy mountains as tall as Hyndman and a toy box full of planetary mysteries for sunny mission astronomers to gleefully analyze in coming years – and this success merely 112 years after the Wright Brothers.

Meanwhile, here on solid Earth, most people have forgotten the protests over the 24 pounds of Idaho made plutonium that’s powering this extraordinary mission. According to the January 16, 2006 N.Y. Times: “NASA and the U.S. Department of Energy put the probability of an early-launch accident that would cause plutonium to be released at 1 in 350 chances.”

The Times also reported in 2006 that NASA estimated the cost of decontamination, should there be a serious accident with plutonium released during the launch, at anywhere from $241 million to $1.3 billion per square mile, depending on the size of the area.

 This is not a farfetched scenario. Of the 28 U.S. space missions that used plutonium preceding 2006, three had accidents, the worst in 1964 in which a plutonium-powered satellite broke up and spread toxic radioactivity wide over our planet.

Interestingly, soon after the European Space Agency begin using solar energy to power spacecraft past Jupiter, NASA retracted its earlier claims that plutonium would be needed for spacecraft to be operational beyond Mars and admitted that solar will work in deep space. Naturally, this affects the future of the highly profitable market of INL plutonium production.

Recently, I read an interesting Reddit article that speculated about the increasing speeds we will likely achieve in future space travel. The author suggested that within a few generations, we may develop probes capable of reaching the Outer Oort Cloud within a few days. Not only that, but we could even possess the capability of capturing an earlier probe and then retrieving it for education purposes to a contemporary space museum.

If humanity achieves this great ability in another 112 years, I would beseech future generations that they do not return the New Horizons spacecraft full of deadly plutonium to a museum back on delicate Earth, but rather create a safe outpost museum on faraway Pluto. This would also make a perfectly fitting final resting place for some of Clyde Tombaugh's ashes, which are aboard that very spacecraft, as he was the original 

discoverer of Pluto. 

And if you’ve read his book Plutonian Ode in which leading Beat Poet Alan Ginsberg protested broadly about this most deadly element under the sun, I think you’ll agree that he probably would have smiled at this pie-in-the-sky idea.

https://www.idahostatesman.com/opinion/readers-opinion/article41562174.html

Ode to a Plutonian Ode

It’s practically beyond belief to see the initial stunning photographs of Pluto we’ve received through the 12-watt transmitter of NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft, 3 billion miles away. High resolutions of icy mountains as tall as Hyndman and a toy box full of planetary mysteries for mission astronomers to gleefully analyze in coming years – and this success merely 112 years after the Wright Brothers.

*

Meanwhile, here on solid Earth, most people have forgotten the protests over the 24 pounds of Idaho made plutonium that’s powering this extraordinary mission. According to the January 16, 2006 N.Y Times: “NASA and the U.S. Department of Energy put the probability of an early-launch accident that would cause plutonium to be released at 1 in 350 chances.”

*

The Times also reported in 2006 that NASA estimated the cost of decontamination, should there be a serious accident with plutonium released during the launch, at anywhere from $241 million to $1.3 billion per square mile, depending on the size of the area.

*

 This is not a farfetched scenario. Of 28 U.S. space missions that used plutonium preceding 2006, three have had accidents, the worst in 1964 in which a plutonium-powered satellite broke up and spread toxic radioactivity wide over our planet.

Interestingly, soon after the European Space Agency begin using solar energy to power spacecraft past Jupiter, NASA retracted its earlier claims that plutonium would be needed for spacecraft to be operational beyond Mars and admitted that solar will work in deep space. This of course, affects the future of the highly profitable market of INL plutonium production.

*

Recently, I read an interesting Reddit article that speculated about the increasing speeds we will probably achieve in future space travel. The author suggested that within a few generations, we may very well develop probes capable of reaching the Outer Oort Cloud within a few days. Not only that, but we could even possess the capability of capturing an earlier probe and then retrieving it for education purposes to a contemporary space museum.

*

If humanity achieves this ability in another 112 years, I would suggest to future generations that they do not return the New Horizons spacecraft full of deadly plutonium back to a museum on fragile Earth, but rather create a safe outpost museum on faraway Pluto.

*

And if you’ve read his book Plutonian Ode in which leading Beat Poet Alan Ginsberg spoke broadly about this most deadly element under the sun, I think you’ll agree he probably would have smiled at the idea. 

Home I leave to embark on a journey for ten days, where I meet a friend on his island. 

We paddle our canoe to an uninhabited island, where we bow-hunt, shooting a sea lion.

After another ten days we return home.

Impressed by Creative crossword clue

  I often enjoy solving clues in the Times-News laid out by prolific puzzler Jacqueline E. Mathews. Sometimes I’m nearing completion, and then with a little help from my friends we crack the whole thing. Last summer on a work break, Noah and I discovered a unique mind-bender; the clue for 54 across was: “Adam didn’t have one, if you think about it.” We needed five letters across, but checking the down clues, we had unraveled only one; which indicated the middle letter should be “V.”

We returned to work, placing the puzzle aside and though we picked it up later, couldn't for the life of us figure out what Adam was missing. A good wife? Some ribs? Snake repellent?  In the evening after mulling the clues more, the answer came in a flash. Adam didn't have a NAVEL – if you think about it! I called Noah and he was equally tickled with Adam’s belly button. Then, with the gift of Google we researched paintings of Adam from antiquity and realized that dozens of ancient painters had not considered it either, because smack dab next to Adams rib was residual evidence of his umbilical cord leading to a larger Great Mystery. 

Impressed by creative crossword clue

  I often enjoy solving clues in the Times-News laid out by prolific puzzler Jacqueline Mathews. Sometimes I’m near completion, and then with a little help from my friends we crack the whole thing. Last summer on a break from work, Noah and I discovered a unique mind-bender; the clue for 54 across was: “Adam didn’t have one, if you think about it.” We needed five letters across, but checking the down clues, we had only unraveled one; which indicated the middle letter for our answer would be “V.”

We returned to work, placing the puzzle aside and though we kept picking it up later, couldn’t figure out what Adam was missing. A good wife? Some ribs? Snake repellant?  In the evening after mulling over the clues more, Eureka! I answered it. Adam didn’t have a navel – if you think about it! I called Noah and he was equally tickled about Adam’s belly button. Then, with the gift of Google we researched paintings of Adam from over the ages and realized that dozens of Renaissance painters had not considered it either, because smack dab next to Adams rib was residual evidence of his umbilical cord leading to a larger Great Mystery. 

With all the importance being placed on under-inflated footballs, I wondered 
about a few simple questions: 
 
1. Did NFL officials measure the temperature and barometric pressure in the room 
where the balls were originally tested before the game? 
2. How does that compare to the field conditions where the game was played and 
how much did those weather conditions change during the course of the game? 
3. After the game was finished, how long was it before NFL officials checked the 
air pressure again? And did they check the balls in the same room, or in another 
room with different climate conditions? 
4. How often does the NFL check footballs after games and how often does the air 
pressure drop in footballs according to their meticulous records? And do they 
account for changes in barometric pressure between the times when the balls are 
tested?