The Father of Geology

Today I finished a book called ""The Map That Changed the World” by Simon Winchester. It is an excellent Story about William Smith and the birth of modern Geoglogy.

William Smith was not of noble birth or well educated but we was brilante when it came to observation and conclusions. He taught himself about rocks and fossiles befor it became popular. He figured out that older rock strata was on the bottom and each strata occurred in the same order through out England and perhaps around the world.

He single handlely conceived and published a hand-painted a geological map of England that was eight feet tall and six fee wide. It was he first of its kind.

Late in life he was recognized as the “Father of Geology” and was given great honors that he rightly deserved.

I highly recommend reading this book – Awesome!

Migration

My dad always combed his hair straight back. I never thought all that much about it as it was just his style.

During the last decade of my life physical changes have been under way. One of these changes is that hair folicals have been deserting the top of my head where they are needed and moving to other areas of my body where they are not needed. This leaves the top of my head thin and gaining the look of a comb over even though I come it the same was as always.

I say all this because I went to a stylist to change my hair style. You guessed it she combed it straight back. When I looked in the mirror I was in shock. There was my father starring back at me in the mirror. I went back to combing my hair the way I always have.

Going Green in my Email

This came in my email

In the line at the store, the cashier told an older woman that she should  bring her own grocery bags because plastic bags weren't good for the environment.

The woman apologized to him and explained, "We didn't have the green  thing back in my day."
 The clerk responded, "That's our problem today. Your generation did not care enough to save our environment."

He was right -- our generation didn't have the green thing in its day.

Back then, we returned milk bottles, soda bottles and beer bottles to the store. The store sent them back to the plant to be washed and sterilized and refilled, so it could use the same bottles over and over. So they really were recycled.

But we didn't have the green thing back in our day.

We walked up stairs, because we didn't have an escalator in every store and office building. We walked to the grocery store and didn't climb into a 300-horsepower machine every time we had to go two blocks.

But she was right. We didn't have the green thing in our day.

Back then, we washed the baby's diapers because we didn't have the throw-away kind. We dried clothes on a line, not in an energy gobbling machine burning up 220 volts -- wind and solar power really did dry the clothes.
Kids got hand-me-down clothes from their brothers or sisters, not always brand-new clothing.

But that old lady is right; we didn't have the green thing back in our day.

Back then, we had one TV, or radio, in the house -- not a TV in every room. And the TV had a small screen the size of a handkerchief (remember them?), not a screen the size of the state of Montana .
In the kitchen, we blended and stirred by hand because we didn't have electric machines to do everything for us.
When we packaged a fragile item to send in the mail, we used a wadded up old newspaper to cushion it, not Styrofoam or plastic bubble wrap.
Back then, we didn't fire up an engine and burn gasoline just to cut the lawn. We used a push mower that ran on human power. We exercised by working so we didn't need to go to a health club to run on treadmills that operate on electricity.

 But she's right; we didn't have the green thing back then.

We drank from a fountain when we were thirsty instead of using a cup or a plastic bottle every time we had a drink of water. We refilled writing pens with ink instead of buying a new pen, and we replaced the razor blades in a razor instead of throwing away the whole razor just because the blade got dull.

 But we didn't have the green thing back then.

Back then, people took the streetcar or a bus and kids rode their bikes to school or walked instead of turning their moms into a 24-hour taxi service.
We had one electrical outlet in a room, not an entire bank of sockets to power a dozen appliances. And we didn't need a computerized gadget to receive a signal beamed from satellites 2,000 miles out in space in order to find the nearest pizza joint.

But isn't it sad the current generation laments how wasteful we old folks were just because we didn't have the green thing back then?

Does God Exist?

I watched the Discovery Chanel last night dealing with the question “Does God exist” based on Professor Stephen Hawking’s  statement that God does not exist. Theoretical physicist, Professor Stephen W. Hawking has stated that based on his considerable knowledge of the laws of physics, time itself did not exist before the “Big Bang.” He then jumps from physics to theology and says that because time did not exist therefore God did not exist and could not have created the universe.

That show was followed by a show called “Curiosity” with other physicist debating the many sides of that question. Some disagreed with Hawking’s theory of time not existing. The question about the existence of God has been a long standing debate in the world of physicist. Was there are creation event caused by God or did it just happen?

Professor Hawking started with the assumption that there is no god and set out to prove it with science. Theologians start with the assumption that there is God and will accept no proof to the contrary. It is a debate between physical understanding that demands cause and effect testable proofs and the spiritual understanding that need no physical proof but relies on the relationship of our spirits with the holy spirit.

In case you haven’t guessed I do not agree with professor Hawking on this issue.  

How To Fix Congress

Congressional Reform Amendment

1.  Term Limits.
         12 years only, one of the possible options below:
           A. Two Six-year Senate terms
           B. Six Two-year House terms
           C. One Six-year Senate term and three Two-Year House terms
 
2.  No Tenure / No Pension.
         A Congressman collects a salary while in office and receives no pay when they are out of office. 
 
3.  Congress (past, present & future) participates in Social Security.
All funds in the Congressional retirement fund move to the Social Security system immediately.  All future funds flow into the Social Security system and Congress participates with the American people.

4. Congress can purchase their own retirement plan - just as all Americans do.

5. Congress will no longer vote themselves a pay raise.  Congressional pay will rise by the lower of CPI or 3%.

6. Congress loses their current health care system and participates in the same health care system as the American people.

7. Congress must equally abide by all laws they impose on the American people.

I Love History

I can not remember a time when history was unimportant to me. I can remember in school that most of my class mates found this exciting subject boring to the nth degree. Remembering names and dates is not exciting to most people and it is not really all that exciting to me. What got me really hooked on History early on was the stories connected with those names and dates.

Behind each event in history is a fascinating tale if you look for it. I would read the short notation in my history textbook and head straight for the library to search for the rest of the story that I knew was there. When history is viewed in this way we are filled with the emotions of people being hurt, or having their hopes fulfilled. We feel the joy of their success and the crush of their failures.

The same holds true for studying the bible. A  list of dates is nothing but the stories are powerful. Reading the list of begats will bore you to tears but to ask, “Who were these people?” makes a big difference. Their legacy provides us with an example of how to life a godly life in relationship with God. We become part of God’s history.    

What to CUT in the Federal Budget

Salary of the US President ...................$400,000


Salary of retired US Presidents .............$180,000


Salary of House/Senate .......................$174,00​0


Salary of Speaker of the House ............$223,500


Salary of Majority/Minority Leaders ...... $193,400



I think we found where the first cuts should be made !