Friday, December 31, 2010
I have nothing to say.
Dick
Wednesday, December 29, 2010
A horse, a hotrse, some rare earth for a hotse.
From today's news:
"China has said it will cut exports of rare earth by 10% in 2011.
World manufacturers are heavily reliant on China for these minerals, which are essential for making many electronic goods, such as TVs and PC monitors."
The topic of my Senior Thesis concerned the rare earth chemicals. In those days this group of elements had little practical use. They were mainly of interest when used to separate elements with extremely close chemical and physical properties. Today these elements are used in great quantities to make TV And computer monitors. Imagine if we could no longer get monitors to go with our new computers.
So the Chinese are in a position to use the tools of Capitalism against us. Karl Marx once said he would sell the Capitalists the rope used to hang them. And here we see a monopoly of the chemicals needed to build the equipment needed to defend ourselves in time of war. The Chinese won't need a war to bring us to our knees. Just take away Dancing With the Stars and the US of A will collapse like a tired hound dog. But can you imagine a war in which the Chinese had the latest in technology and we had no monitors?
In an act of irony, during the Roaring Twenties much of the light generated used a bag coated with thorium to make the light brighter. Great quantities of thorium were extracted and the junk left over from isolating the thorium from the original ore was strewn about the location of present day Chicago to raise the ground level. Rare earth minerals are present in commercially large percentages in the same ore in which thorium is found. We could reclaim the rare earths but would destroy Chicago in the process. Irony? To quote a conservative presidential thinker."You betcha!"
Irony is proof that we're all on this flight together.
Dick
Tuesday, December 28, 2010
The third anniversary of the stupidest thing I ever did.


Note: This is copied and modified from a previous entry.
At approximately 11:30 PST will be the second anniversary of the stupidest thing I ever did. Known as The Incident.
On the left is a photo taken about 5 minutes before the incident in my beautiful Sonex. Up until then everything was fine and dandy. Then a sudden quiet as I figured out just how stupid I'd been. Out of gas at 3500 feet. That left me with about 7 minutes to figure out what to do and then do it. In the meantime, Einstein's gravity ruled.
On the right is a photo showing the result of Einstein's gravity and my stupidity. That's me lying on the ground. My head is being stabilized by EMT Dick Deboer, bless his heart, who fortunately for me, happened to be passing by. I will be eternally grateful to him. He probably kept me from being a quadriplegic for the rest of my life (also of which he may have saved). But I'm slowly stumbling back to a semblance of normalcy as the Parkinson's slows the recovery.
Stupidity and gravity are proof that we're all on this flight together.
Dick
Skip all from here down.
Her picture reminds me of my mother.
I finished the book on String Theory by the Englishman and to let it percolate I took up the book on Amelia E. But I'm left with a few thoughts from the book. String Theory exists on the background of space. Space exists in several variations: some ordinary and some exotic. A separate String Theory must be generated for each variation of space since we have no way to distinguish which is which. Although new trails must be blazed for each variation the task is doable since we know where the end is (our reality). So combined with mega verses, there is a plethora of String Theories around to choose from.
Multiple String Theories are proof that we're all on this flight together.
Dick
Friday, December 25, 2009
Merry Christmas to all with twistors.
One of the thoughts that I had was to ponder what time would be like at very short times. At times shorter than the Planck time, time as we know it does not exist. The only way to keep things sorted out at these times is to measure the wrinkles in space instead of a temporal metric. Which raises the follow up question: Since we know that time stretches inside a black hole, could it be that for times shorter than the Planck time, that a temporal metric is stretched there to?
Knowing the Planck time is proof that we're all on this flight together.
Dick
Thursday, December 24, 2009
Merry Christmas.
I wish you a Merry Christmas,
I wish you a Merry Christmas...
And a Happy New Year. At least an improvement over the last
Happy New Years would be proof that we're all on this flight together.
Dick
Wednesday, December 23, 2009
What it all means.
For the past several days I've been reading the section of a String Theory book on Twistor Theory. I've read that section twice and have no idea what a twistor is or where they come from or their relation to reality. Which brings to mind that this author must be British. One of the great tragedies of my life is that I have been congenitally incapable of making sense of British authors. Either that or accept the responsibility for my lack of literacy myself. But in general, their thoughts don't follow the same trajectory as mine. Although the father of Twistor Theory (Sir Roger Penrose) is a Nobel Prize winner. So British authors write differently than I.
Or not.
Twistor Theory would be proof that we're all o n this flight together.
Dick
Tuesday, December 22, 2009
Me and the camel.
This is a photo taken in Israel on a teleprompting trip several years ago. I just found again so here it it is. I remember the trip fondly since I had few responsibilities and lots of free time to explore. The thing I remember best is the total lack of spirituality I personally found there. Lots of talk but no walk, as it were. Believing, as I do, that there are daily human rights abuses by the Israelis, godliness is the last thing on any ones mind. I spent one whole day with a Palestinian cab driver who offered a different perspective. But overall it was an enlightening and fun experience.It looks like 'health care reform' turns out to be few gains for the many and a big giveaway to the insurance companies. Oh well, as the vintage Congressional saying goes, "Another day, another dollar".
It's all enough to make one believe in the Illuminati.
Or not.
Giveaways to the insurance companies are proof that we're all on this flight together.
Dick
Monday, December 21, 2009
Addresses got lost in the digitized wasteland of my digital memory.
A few months ago my computer crashed and a whole bunch of addresses got lost in the digitized wasteland of my digital memory. The addresses were not only to people but to the pictures from my camera and to the music for my iPod. It's all there somewhere but exactly where I know not. The address book for AOL didn't show up missing but everything else is gone. If I had some skill I could resurrect the data and then start my own religion. Given enough time I could probably think of a catchy name for the new religion.
My study of quantum theory has progressed to a study of twistors. The theory here is that space is fundamental to the twistor objects and that space does not occur without the presence of twistors. This also assures that space is quantized.
Or not.
Twistors are proof that we're all on this flight together.
Dick
Saturday, December 19, 2009
28036 days ago.
28036 days ago I was born. And on December 28 it will have been 2 years since 'the incident'.
It seems like a lifetime ago.
In my search for the meaning of everything through quantum mechanics I became re-acquainted
with Sir Roger Penrose. He writes of spinors which are the fundamental objects of spin. If true,
space is quantized and cannot be continuous. But then he adds twistors to the spinors to make it
make space three dimensional and to create particles. Or something like that. I haven't
finished the story yet so it remains to be seen.
Virtual twistors are proof that we're all on this flight together.
Dick
Thursday, December 17, 2009
Gigantic strings all over the place.
Gigantic strings may be the only direct evidence of String Theory we'll ever see. The fundamental strings were formed shortly after the Big Bang. Unimaginably tiny when they were formed (10^-33 cm), some of the ended up as entanglements of many tiny strings similar to a ball of yarn which grew in size as the universe expanded. At the present time those once tiny string entanglements have grown as the universe expanded to it's current size and should be detectable with our present technology as it stretches across the universe.
Or not.
With its near infinite interpretations String Theory is proof that we're all on this flight together.
Dick
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
Meaningful health care reform is down the drain.
Brother Bob will stop this morning by and take me to the weekly Hughes graduates meeting for lunch.
My reading continues along quantum stuff. It seems that I have to read each book two or three times and then I forget most of it. Must be the Parkinson's. But it's still fascinating the third time so it must be right. What's to lose? I could be on a street corner selling drugs. Which reminds me, I watched an episode of South Park yesterday which parodied the 'badness' of drugs. Very funny. Those guys get it right every time.
It appears that any meaningful health care reform is down the drain for the next two decades.
Oh what a state we're in. We continue to pay twice as much for less care than any other 'advanced' country.
And could it be true that our beloved Amelia Earhart was a spy for FDR? And was 9/11 a U.S. conspiracy? That's a 'yes' according to Jesse Ventura, the ex-Governor of Minnesota.
Or not.
Amelia Earhart as a spy would be proof that we're all on this flight together.
Dick
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
Two thing you proably didn't know.
2. .The ant can lift 50 times its own weight, can pull 30 times its own weight and always falls over on its right side when intoxicated.
Arcane information on ants is proof that we're all on this flight together.
Dick
Sunday, December 13, 2009
I have nothing more to say.
Dick
Saturday, December 12, 2009
Quantum mechanics proves it. X rated
Arcane questions are proof that we're all on this flight together.
Dick
Friday, December 11, 2009
Up-down, back and forth and in and out.
I finally figured out a way to think of the extra dimensions and what they mean. Forgetting the time dimension there are three dimensions with which we are familiar (Up-down, back and forth and in and out). That just means that any object is free to move in each of the three directions (dimensions). My realization came when I realized that 'other objects' could be moving in the extra dimensions. The 'other objects' could simply be other attributes of space. Spin and quantum number are two that spring to mind. Each of the attributes are free to move in its extra dimension. Mathematically it turns out that 7 attributes inhabiting 7 extra dimensions avoids the disastrous infinities associated with more or fewer than 10 dimensions (3+7+time).
That would also explain why we cannot travel from one space dimension to another dimension of spin, which is already occupied.
Or not.
Travelling through extra dimensions is proof that we're all on this flight together.
Dick
Thursday, December 10, 2009
What does it all mean?
Quantum mechanics is proof that we're all on this flight together.
Dick
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
To be or not to be.
One evening Rene Descartes went to relax at a local tavern. The bartender approached and said, "Ah, good evening Monsieur Descartes! Shall I serve you the usual drink?". Descartes replied, "I think not.", and promptly vanished.
It's cold again today, maybe one or two degrees warmer than yesterday but still cold. It's probably 40 degrees out there.
That Descartes understood String Theory is proof that we're all on this flight together.
Dick
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
36 degrees!
I finished the book on OJ and have returned to the mysteries of the Universe as a expounded by Leonard Susskind. It matters not what the temperature is outside as long as I'm warmly intrigued by String Theory. It never gets old.
Every one of the 36 degrees are proof that we're all on this flight together.
Dick
Monday, December 7, 2009
December 7, a day that will live in infamy.
Brother Bob lent me a book to read on the OJ Simpson circus written by a ghost for the two lead detectives. What they never seemed to get was that the whole thing had little to do with OJ and everything to do with institutional racism and trustworthiness of the LAPD. And everyones attempt to use the trial to advance their careers. But the forces of law completely missed the significance of the entire event. Marcia Clark could have won the trial if she had ignored the evidence and tried it topless. She would have had my vote.
One trial held topless would prove that we're all on this flight together.
Dick
Sunday, December 6, 2009
The weather forecast was for rain until next Wednesday.
The weather forecast was for rain until next Wednesday but it is really beautiful out there right now. Anyway I've planned to spend the day reading. It's too cool out there to be comfortable so I'll stay in next to the fireplace.
Deb gave me some left wing literature last week, All it does is get my blood going over what could be as I watch it go down the drain. I'll leave it to you to define 'it'. Could 'it' be our Constitution, or reasonable health care or ....?
Enough of that. Standoffish Tigger has been down right friendly lately. Time seems to have healed whatever her wounds were.
Standoffishness is an indicator that we're all on this flight together.
Dick
Saturday, December 5, 2009
No entry today.
Dick
Friday, December 4, 2009
1180 Mev!
The LHC beams were collided at 1180 mev , a new record. They are expecting collisions at 2000 Mev in the near future. And that's just a start towards the design value.
Proton collisions at 1180 Mev are proof that were all on this flight together.
Dick
Blog Archive
- ▼ 2010 (257)
- ► December (13)
- Merry Christmas.
- Again.
- Rain, rain go away.... please.
- Oh, the irony of it all.
- The shoot out is over.
- A foggy day in Fullerton town.
- December 12
- Great thoughts from little acorns grow.
- A day that will live in infamy.
- Home made particle accelerators rule!
- Rain rain go away.
- Brrrrr.
- A quark, a quark, a proton for, my quark.
- ► November (17)
- A long standing tradition.
- The search for the truth goes on.
- In memoriam of Tigger and more.
- The rain just adds to the sadness.
- I flashed.
- I have nothing to say.
- The funny papers were in color yesterday.
- Saturday is music day.
- Bright and perky.
- A perfect correlation.
- It rained all night the day I left, the weather it...
- Our known universe has 3 dimensions.
- I knew it all along.
- Tomorrow is Veterans Day at Historic Flabob Airpor...
- It's a black day for America.
- Get out and VOTE!!!
- Another beautiful day in Fullerton.
- ► October (23)
- Bless your heart Jim.
- A radiant sunrise.
- The notorious Santa Ana winds.
- For a reason unspecified...
- San Pedro cactus and me.
- You can tune a piano but you can't tune a fish.
- It's overcast
- It's raining .... again.
- It droppeth as the gentle rain from Heaven ... aga...
- It dropppeth as the gentle rain from Heaven.
- Is Rand Paul really Andy Dick in disguise?
- Some days there's just nothing to say.
- So it's Wednesday October 13.
- A new direction.
- It creepeth over the fence.
- Yesterday was a week day and tomorrow the funnies ...
- Times 2 and me.
- A few thoughts on the nature of Nature.
- Maybe it's the weather.
- October 4.
- ▼ January (27)
- It is early morning.
- Fact you need to know.
- The funnies are in black and white.
- The significance of the numbers 8 and 87.
- The best representation of any object is the objec...
- An interlude.
- Travelling in time
- A Zen koan.
- A word or two from Carl Sagan
- Genius is 99% perspiration and 10 % inspiration.
- A dot in the sky.
- A grand old master of the air.
- Master of Controversial Questions.
- An abbreviated form.
- Souvenirs.
- All spit and polish.
- What a day it was!
- The inimitable Julie Clark.
- Yesterday was perfect.
- The state of our nation.
- Saturday is the annual Cable airshow.
- Terrorism and Me.
- The gardener is here so it must be Monday.
- I just like Merry Go Rounds.
- I've finished the book on Amelia Earhart.
- I'm deep into the biography of Amelia Earhart.
- ► December (13)
Contributors
Saturday, December 25, 2010
Merry Christmas.
There is a new show on the electric TV named "Oddities". It's about a store in New York that specializes in weird and different things like a mummified cat and a two headed stuffed cows head. I really get off on the weird but the thing that struck me about the store is that the customers are weirder than the stuff for sale. It's the only weird thing on which I've ever turned my back.
I met with a new (to me) neurologist on Thursday. I blame every ache, pain or body change to the Parkinson's. He quickly verified the diagnosis of Parkinson's. Then he disabused me of my belief with regard to my aches and pains. Oh well, you can't win 'em all. But I did agree to medication to control the tremors. We'll see what transpires. Sadly he did tell me that the mental and body changes I experience are due to (get ready)... old age! Oh well , you can't win 'em all. So it turns out that the Parkinson's is the least of my worries. But all the others are so vague with regard to their origin that I am unsure what to worry about.
Aches and pains are proof that we're all on this flight together.
Dick
Wednesday, December 22, 2010
Again.
Every thing is falling behind. With the rain keeping me indoors nothing much gets done. Besides I've watched everything worth watching on TV (and much that isn't worth anything of value).
Tomorrow is my appointment the neurologist to discuss the pluses and minuses with regard to medicating for the Parkinson's. I don't want the extra expense or the hassle with possible side effects. One more thing to remember. But my muscles seem to provide only 75% of what they should. And they go in undesired directions at the wrong time. So we'll see what tomorrow brings.
Or not.
Perpetual rain reminds me that perpetual war is proof that we're all on this flight together.
Dick
Monday, December 20, 2010
Rain, rain go away.... please.
How much TV can one person watch?
Brother Bob asked me to summarize my life for a book he's putting together for distribution to those with the last name HEIN. He's getting to be quite the auteur. But I tell you that to tell you this: It requires quite a bit of soul searching to bring up memories that are 75 years old. A challenge. Jot down one memory and two more pop up. Patience is a virtue here. But it's hard for me to get everything arranged chronologically correct. But try I shall and get it right.
Or not.
Old memories are proof that we're all on this flight together.
Dick
Friday, December 17, 2010
Oh, the irony of it all.
Or not.
Satisfied junkies are proof that we're all on this flight together
Dick
Thursday, December 16, 2010
The shoot out is over.
The photo of the Great Dane promised yesterday is on the right. That dog is 7 feet tall peeping over the fence. Loud but not dangerous. He just lets everyone know he's there
The shoot out is over. It was more of a disappointing splat. After a pleasant review of the blood results she had requested, we got to my pain avoidance procedures for which Vicodin had been serving admirably. Before we had met she cut the prescription of Vicodin from 10 at a time to 50 at a time. What arrogance. So before we met I carefully reviewed in my mind the reasons I use Vicodin and the length of time I had used it with no deleterious effects. I was all ready. Don't mess with my Vicodin.
And then she blandly suggested a longer acting narcotic! Morphine. That scared me. Morphine? That's for junkies. Dr Reigel told me that Vicodin is more addictive than morphine. Surprise to me! I am still concerned with regard to using morphine on a daily basis. So I'll stick with the Vicodin for now. But it's nice to know there are other options available. So she wrote a prescription for 200 tablets at a time. All's well that ends well.
Compliant doctors are proof that we're all on this flight together.
Dick
Tuesday, December 14, 2010
A foggy day in Fullerton town.
A foggy day in Fullerton town. I could barely see the end of the block on my morning walk.The cat is one I met on my walk yesterday. Real friendly. He waited patiently while I stumbled forward to meet him and give a back scratch. A pleasant interlude. I have another photo of the Great Dane previously shown but can't get over the technical problems involved You'll see it when I solve the challenges. The dog stands 7 feet tall when he stands on his hind legs. Wow!
Tomorrow I meet my new doctor for the first time. I feel like it will be a shoot out. She seems to be on a power trip with my meds. Why arbitrarily change something that has been working fine for ten years. Unless I am pleasantly surprised, this is not destined to be a long term relationship. Oh Doctor Chung, I miss you already.
New doctors are proof that we're all on this flight together.
Dick
Sunday, December 12, 2010
December 12
I am deep into reading Howard Zinn's book,"A Peoples History of the United States". It depressed me when I first read it and it's even worse now. I can't help but realize how we've thrown away an entire country on the alter of $$$. Instead we've created an entire subclass of citizens who were promised freedom and democracy and instead got a malicious oligarchy. All captives of the weekly paycheck payable or not on the whim of the highest earning 2% of the population.
r not.
Weekly paychecks are proof that we're all on this flight together.
Dick
Friday, December 10, 2010
Great thoughts from little acorns grow.
I'm thinking again about assigning one of the extra dimensions as a second dimension of time. The first would be the time we all know and love which clicks along according to the dictates of Dr. Einstein. The second time dimension would be roughly according to a Cosmic scale. Say five steps would put us back at the Big Bang (or Big Splat according to which model fits your belief structure). Imagine what that view would divulge!
Cosmic time scales are proof that we're all on this flight together.
Dick
Tuesday, December 7, 2010
A day that will live in infamy.
Or not.
Citizens voting against their own interests are proof that we're all on this flight together.
Dick

