This journal entry might be a bit long, but I'll try and keep things as short as I reasonably can.
The last week has been stupidly hectic, chaotic and reality driven. There are a lot of changes going on at the moment. Some big. Most big. Internet's been up and down and time's been at a premium.
On the global news front, I was relieved that hurricane Gustav didn't turn out to be all that it could have been. Mayor Nagin's "Husseinism" about Gustav being the mother of all hurricanes fell well and truly into the hype category, which disappoints - as more often than not, the folks who deliver any form of "the mother of", actually show themselves to be foolish, alarmist and ultimately de-credit themselves.
Of course with Gustav, no-one knew how bad it would be and taking a more cautious approach is generally the safest and most responsible way for the authorities to deal with emergency situations. What I disagree with (not that it matters a jot), is the devaluing and sloppy / informal delivery of information from Mr Nagin.
As an official, you must be be seen to be official and lead/show by example, and not as if you've just come out from a lunchtime bar on Bourbon Street. Yes, as I've said, it was safer and prudent to evacuate in case Gustav got nasty. No, it wasn't a good idea to use terminology such as "the mother of..."
One upsetting piece of news that went mostly unreported was that of a British expat who had opted to stay at home in New Orleans. This ex-forces gentleman seemed rather optimistic about staying on in New Orleans whilst most had left.
This same man mentioned in passing, the animals and strays which had been left behind to fend for themselves - questionable behaviour in itself, but in one case for an "orphaned" pit-bull was too much, as the owners had chosen to condemn it by putting a 9lb chain around it's neck. One of the cruelest and most heartless acts I've ever heard of.
What a week for Sarah Palin. Having being picked by John McCain to be the Vice-President of the USA (if Senator McCain should win), Mrs Palin has thus far shown herself to be a much needed shot in the arm for American voters and the American political system at large.
In some ways she has indeed upstaged and outshone John McCain, but (and it's a huge but), do not forget that it was Mr McCain's choice that brought Mrs Palin to our screens.
For what it's (not) worth, I think John McCain has begun to overstate his capture and torture at the hands of the Vietnamese, when he was shot down. Absolutely and undeniably the man has suffered for his country, and he is a heroic man. One to be admired and respected.
I think his apparent "strong and silent type" political and crowd-pleasing reputation would be better enhanced by a more-is-less approach. Let intelligence and good judgement speak for itself.
Over-illuminating one particular component of his lif, albeit for all the right reasons, shows a lack of understanding between telling people what they need to know and progressive, purposeful politics.
Come November, I think it will be McCain/Palin who find themselves in the Oval office and not Obama/Biden.
America, for many reasons (not forgetting their economic lead on the financial markets which affects all of us around the world), really does need a change - one of substance and which is backed by experience, over a change which is admirably more stylish and louder, which is the difference between McCain and Obama.
The former candidate is quieter and means business, while the latter candidate chooses pretentious, unearned and over-confident visual displays of neo-Kennedyism.
It's true of course that if Obama does become the 44th President of the USA, that it will be a milestone in the (surprisingly persistent) issues surrounding race. It's true that his election would be a victory of sorts for the non-white voters of America. It's unfortunate though that we're not back in the late sixties, as America's first black President would have been an amazing, verging on the impossible outcome.
Right now though, with the two E's - economy and energy dominating the world stage, race is not a key or election-winning criteria and nor should it be. What America needs (as I see it) is to transform itself from being the (mostly) self-imposed global identity as a clumsy and corrupt superpower, which relies on militay intervention to get things done. It seems to me the that McCain/Palin duo fit the bill for doing so quite well.
Certainly Mrs Palin's track record demonstrates her ability and inclination to take on corruption and "special interest groups". Let's hope that the McCain/Palin synergy can and will be used to deliver some intelligence-driven good in the world.
Russia - just a short word on the (hopefully cooling) crisis in Georgia, realigned itself in the "being ridiculous" category, along with American protests - by questioning the reasons why America should choose to make it's first humanitarian delivery using the USS Mount Whitney to do so.
America's decision to give 1 Billion dollars to rebuild Georgia certainly didn't help improve relations with the Kremlin, nor VP Cheney's visit to the Ukraine, to re-iterate what's seen as the West's intention to take over the world, which is not what's going on.
How the respective cultures and concepts of East and West still (apparently an inherited condition) continue to collide.
Talking of collisions...
In the ultra, ultra, ultra and extremist based theoretical speculation that some say might produce a black hole in Europe, (or maybe Switzerland is ripped off the face of the Earth) next Wednesday, I thought I'd point out that for those of you who aren't aware, the LHC (Large Hadron Collider) is to be used in anger for the first time - when "the experiment to create the simulation of a black hole begins".
Link:
[link]BBC iPlayer link to BBC4 programme - "The Big Bang machine" (UK viewers only I think).
[link]As the page says, they're planning to accelerate (to ridiculous speeds) two beams of opposingly-circulated Hadrons and then collide them into one another, to see and capture at an atomic level, what happens.
They will also be reaching back in time to those first few milliseconds after the big bang, and hope as a by-product, to create some examples of the Higgs boson or "God" particle.
LINK:
[link]The Standard Model has needs some work too. The planned experiments to try and make progress in the sub-atomic and thus far theoretically based suppositions about time, parallel universes and matter, are about to be realised after many years work, planning and massive expenditure.
On a personal note, I'm fascinated by the intricate yet "beautiful" equations and theories such as E=mc2. The Standard Model, which I'll link to as well, is a nightmarish equation - which only the most ardent and supra-intelligent humans tend to understand is flawed.
Scientists know this and by furthering expriments and progress, they hope to get some (make steps towards) answers to life, existence and everything, and I do mean everything - as the Mass and bonding aspects of this work would potentially reveal some of the very core secrets of why things are held together. We might also understand and, arguably, one day control/adjust such parameters for our benefit.
The Standard Model:
[link]Where it all becomes horribly risky (as far as my very limited layman's knowledge is concerned), is that by entering the world of Higgs Boson, (the God particle), we're simultaneously taking wobbly steps towards genesis and possibly nemesis.
People have apparently been emailing the folks at CERN, arguing/pleading for them not to go ahead, as they might inadvertently create a black hole.
A quick reminder about black-holes, (which is not intended to sound patronising), is that they are not holes at all. They look like they are holes, because they are dark (unable to emit or reflect any light), but in reality they are ultra-dense plantery sized, and much bigger, bodies. Their mass and thus gravitational pull is so strong, that everything in their reach / path is "sucked in", including light itself.
These things are known to exist out in the voids of interstellar space, but not to worry - the nearest is millions of light years away (so far that it would take such long periods of time to travel to them, even if we could travel at the speed of light = 186,000 miles per second).
What I think is of importantance here is the colloquial name of Higgs boson particles. "The God Particle". By recreating the first moments after that big bang, it seems to me that we're running the theoretical possibility of one of these particles and demonstrating why it's called as such.
I'm no scientist, obviously. Common sense says to me though that by going anywhere near that place from which we all emerged, that there exists this 1 in 10,000,000,000,000,000,000... etc probability that something nasty might come out of this "oven" that CERN have built, causing horrendous damage to CERN, the Earth or possibly the universe.
I labour the point that I am not trying to scaremonger, or frighten anyone. I'm just pointing out that something of this nature is going on in the world - to those who don't know and who happen to read this journal.
I'm all for science, but when we approach things which involve such forces and energy, it makes me uncomfortable.
To give you an idea of how much energy they're going to use in this planned collision of atoms, it would be like (and I quote) "steaming an aircraft carrier at 35 knots into a solid object and channeling all that energy into an object no bigger than 1/10,000th of a human hair".
Scary stuff (to me).
To address any concerns on this, I should bluntly point out that CERN is using ultra-advanced liquid cooled super-magnets and the strictest, most tested, secure and well-planned facilities on Earth. The women and men who have conceived, built and planned this project completely dwarf me intellectually (absolutely) and probably do so by a four-fold scale of intelligence.
The underlining reason/point of bringing this to your attention is really to ask whether or not you folks agree with such (publicly obscured and unbridled) experiments.
Our best brainacs are reaching out, ever-further, in the name of science in such (completely arguable) directions? Are you folks aware of this? Do you care? Is it worth the risk? Is there no risk?
It made me sit up and think.
A comment that
and an article I brielfy caught on the news got me thinking about old age, longevity and such things. I find old age a double-edged sword, in that it's something we mostly all hope to achieve, but for which so many people seems a depressing, disabling and scary prospect. There's a substantial component of medicine and disease involved of course.
For some people and I mean this as delicately and sensitively as I possibly could, old age can be a journey in a kind of reverse - back to the incapacity and reliance on others as our time as babies. We have so many people suffering from
Parkinsons, Alzheimers and the like. It's a real tragedy.
At the same time, we're making huge advances in medicine and science, such that we might, (relatively soon) be able to interact, modify and possiby control some of our core biological and chemical processes.
In addition to their plight, and with such substantial increases in energy and bills, our elderly - in most cases think?, need a bit of extra help.
It seems a matter of the highest distaste and disgrace, that our way of life - our modern existence and dated forms of government, plus outright greed and f*ck-each-other-over-ability, bring not just the elderly, but so many people across the breadth of our societies to their financial and spiritual knees.
Nobody seems to care. As I mentioned at the start of this diatribe, America pulls 1 Billion dollars out to help a country half-way around the world, but doesn't have healthcare for it's own people?
Here in the UK, our NI/NHS system has become infiltrated by budget-eating executives and managers.
When the elderly and infirm *yes, it's cliché* have to sit and choose between food and fuel, it seems to me that things have gone too far. Someone pack the nukes away and spend the money on our people instead. Please.
I'm not sure if I'm in favour of anything along the lines of nationalisation, (perhaps I am thinking about it), but it seems to me that privately owned, and foreign-based company operated at that, firms are being less than decent to the vulnerable in our societies.
Banks and profit-greedy business should not be a part of any modern and forward thinking society. We've had long enough to accept the fact that capitalism is not the panacea, nor is it a desirable form of human structure, that we'd like it to be.
Sure it's probably the best, in reality, of what we have currently available in our portfolio of national government systems, but in times like these when so many are struggling, it seems abhorrent that some profit from others distress.
Google has it short and sweet and right with it's motto.
"Don't be evil".
Changing subject radically, I've made a start on sorting my life out (in some ways it's been in a form of stasis since October 2006), and I've also (at 3-4am one morning last week), made a short start on this book that I've been thinking about writing.
It's something about, actually I'll keep that bit back (just to tease in a very minor way), and it will probably be a very short story - which I might like to release on here first to see what reaction it generates.
dA is not famed for it's responsiveness when asked for, but it might be a good pointer as to whether or not to continue or do it again!
These journal updates (and also replies etc) might get a bit drawn out and sporadic too. I'll keep you updated as and when I can, but if I don't get in touch for a while then please take this is as advance notice. There's a lot going on right now and a change of address looks very imminent.
Thank you if you're still reading this far down. I'm amazed if you are. I recently found inspiration from one man and three seperate and un-related women. He will know who he is, one of the women knows who she is, the other might (probably will) and the most recent contributor to this collection of words will realise it's her when she gets around to reading this - which apparently she does (and I didn't know). She's an ace photographer who's also in a rather cool band. Enough said, other than thank you all very much for the encouragement.
It's true what the great and inspirational Sylvia Plath said:
"..and by the way, everything in life is writable about if you have the outgoing guts to do it, and the imagination to improvise. The worst enemy to creativity is self-doubt."
Before I press send, I'd also ask that you have a wander over to Sam's page - aka
, who has recently started her path down the road to professional photography.
I'm just a nobody asking you, politely, to give someone a little encouragement - which is earned and due. You have to respect folks who are willing to try and follow their passion - whatever it is.
The thing with the arts is that they transcend time, allow us to communicate with each other in a universal language, and with time they become ever more precious - especially to those we love and who might not, yet, love us back.
Enough typing. Sorry to take so much of your time up. I hope it's been worth it.
Andy
dA brothers and heroes:
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Clubs:
Stamps:
Pick of the Day:
My astrology:
Get your own courtesy of *
Sharkfold
The spaces in things we know (or don't) 
Uneasy
that we're about to throw at you" is a far cry from the most relevant and useful way to look at change.
Tired
Apprehensive