Quantum Gravity redux

One of my faults is a dislike of repeating myself.  That doesn't work well with the blogging and education format.  So I will repeat and clarify my previous thoughts.

Most of what you can easily find on the web about relativity (both special and general) is bunk and half-truths.  As Terry Pratchett said, it's "lies for children".  I have guesses as to why this is so.  Most people, and this includes scientists, don't actually know much about what they're talking about.  Scientists don't know much about the real world any more.  They are mathematicians working with computer models.  And they're not taught to write well.

So, here is my explanation of relativity, garnered from years of layman research and thinking.

You cannot explain relativity without explaining gravity.  You cannot explain gravity without explaining quantum fields.

A quantum field is how each of the forces that comprise the universe exists and operates.  Each force has its own field.  Particles are standing waves in those fields. The fields interact with each other constantly, according to specific laws.  Changes in the electric field produce changes in the magnetic field, and vice versa.

Spacetime is a field.  It governs motion.  Gravity is a differential in that field.  Everything tends to move from a higher level to a lower level, gaining energy as it does so.  The base energy of the spacetime field is a large positive number.  All other fields derive their energy from spacetime, reducing it accordingly.  This reduction propagates spherically at the speed of light.  (Since the fields have been around since the beginning of time, most of this propagation has already happened.  We just see changes now.)  Gravity is an effect, not a cause.  And it pushes from empty space, instead of pulling towards concentrations of energy.  (Although I will admit, that is a bit of "Six of one, a half dozen of another.")  The spacetime field, as all other fields, is quantized.  ('Quantized' is a fancy term for working with integers, not real numbers.)  In fact, spacetime quantization may be the cause of all other quantizations.  There is a minimum bit of energy, and a minimum bit of time and space.  But these minimum distances and times are relative to a particle.  Spacetime is not a static, integer grid, but rather a smooth flow of the real numbers.

Look at the curvature of spacetime.  That is to say, the difference in energy levels across an area.  If you take a reference from a flat plane parallel to the resting energy of spacetime, you can see the angle made at each point.  The sine of this angle is the motion associated with this spot, where 1=c, the speed of light.  The cosine of this angle is the time associated with this spot, with 1 being the slowest passage of time possible.  Note that these numbers are what a particle at that spot would experience, based on the spacetime curvature.  Please note the elegance of this.  Sin^2 + Cos^2 = 1, as Einstein proved the relationships of Special Relativity are based on the Pythagorean theorem.

Be aware that an alternate explanation is that the angle could be derived from a simple fraction of the whole - how much energy remains at that spot.  This has a subtle but important difference from local curvature.  This distinction could be tested by conducting experiments with atomic clocks at the various Lagrange points, most particularly L4 or L5.

What I just described is special relativity.  This is the laws of motion and experienced time for a single moment in a static universe.  General relativity is what you get when you turn the universe back on, and have constant movement and change everywhere.

Please note that any particle gains energy as it moves down the spacetime slope (stealing it from spacetime), and loses energy as it moves upslope (returning it to spacetime).  Please also note that particles maintain their own speed and perceived time by having their own forward-reverse energy differentials.  (forward is lower energy, reverse is higher energy.  There is not net gain or loss, but a lot of energy can be involved in creating the difference.  That's how AC power works, by the way.)  This explains red/blue shift and differences in perception between viewpoints.

Please also note that the numbers generated are perceived, not actual.  There is a baseline of space and time, independent of every observer.  If this were not so, then photons could not exist, move, and change.  To a photon, all space is the same point, and all time is the same time.  Where would they travel, and when would they change?

Please also note that spacetime has an exact meaning.  Motion is space divided by time.  Therefore, for motion to exist, there must be a field governing both space and time.  And for that to work, along with the basis of quantum theory, there must be a minimum time and a shortest distance.  There must also be a largest possible energy, along with a lowest possible (non-zero) energy.

There is no disconnect between relativity and quantum theory.  There are no paradoxes.  Infinities exist only in the mathematical descriptions.  Scientists, being human, often forget (or never learn) that the map is not the territory.  The math is not the reality.

Quantum randomization is the effect of quantized waves interacting over a smooth spacetime.  Integer based distances interacting while moving on a real number line always round up or down, but which way they round is based entirely upon things you cannot detect, since all you can see is the integers themselves.  Everything is deterministic, yet simultaneously random through the wonderful effects of mathematical chaos.  Small differences can have major effects.  Or sometimes not.

Are black holes hollow?

First off, watch this:  PBS Spacetime

The most interesting take - the entire energy budget of a black hole can exist on its surface.  The surface area expands linearly with energy.

Huh.  So that means that black holes could be hollow.  Absolutely nothing would exist inside the hollow shell.  Which actually makes sense, if the bottom limit to the spacetime energy field is zero, not some negative number presumably smaller than infinity.  And our universe ends at the edge of the real number line, and does not enter the complex plane.

It also explains how black holes can have an electric charge that affects anything outside themselves.  (Work with me here.  If black holes derive from point-like singularities inside the event horizon, and electric fields propagate at the speed of light, then the electric field cannot flow from the singularity to out beyond the event horizon.  Both of these things cannot be simultaneously true.)

Of course, the inside of a black hole would still be the place on the map labeled, "Here be dragons."  There could be an absolute nothingness inside, devoid of all energy.  Or, perhaps, the place where the complex plane impinges and intersects with our "real" universe.  Remember, the gravity at every point inside a hollow sphere is equal to the gravity at the shell of the sphere.

Merry Christmas!

A very merry Christmas to you and yours, from me and mine.

"For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord."

DOD delenda est

The Pentagon, and the DOD leadership and management as a whole, is completely and utterly broken.  Not only are they a bunch of weasels, they are, for the most part, sniveling, incompetent, cowardly weasels.

As example #1, the Air Farce is still slow-rolling the light attack aircraft program into oblivion.  We've only known we needed these ground support planes for 17 years now.  That's 4 world wars, if you're counting.  Read Commander Salamander's thoughts on the subject.  

This leads me to something I've been contemplating for quite some time now.  The Pentagon concentrates all its attention, money, and cronyism on preparing (badly) for "the big one."  This degrades the existing forces, in addition to using sledgehammers to kill mosquitoes.

It's time and past time to build a completely separate organization, dedicated to fighting LIC/insurgencies. This new organization needs to be completely separate from the rest of the DOD. It should include ground, air, and brown water components. The ground component needs to be wheeled, leg, and airmobile infantry, with supporting arms and sustainment services. The air component needs to be surveillance, ground support, transport, and sustainment, and a complete ban on supersonic aircraft. The brown water component needs to have patrol, sustainment, and transport capabilities, along with a few cutters seconded for near-shore (dare I say littoral?) work.

Write it into their charter that the entire service may not employ, directly or indirectly, more than 4% commissioned officers, with a further 4% warrant officers authorized.

Women "warriors"

What Mr. Briggs said.  "Women warriors are like pizza bagels."

Since this topic came up, I felt the need to comment on just what a bad idea this is, has been, and forever will be.

Women may handle household stresses better than men, but they don’t handle battlefield stresses at all.

Coed barracks work exactly like coed college dorms, but with extra added drama, and the chance of sudden death during the work day.

Women perform adequately in limited roles in a static defense. There have been successful women snipers, for example.

Women perform admirably in noncombat support roles, like intelligence, nursing, and the never-to-be-sufficiently-damned paperwork shuffling.

Women perform absolutely abysmally in any direct combat role. They are useless in the assault, and worse than useless when defending against an assault.

History lesson – In WWII, the Soviets fielded a few all-female large units. The Germans reacted to this development by acting as if those units were gaps in the Soviet lines. They weren’t wrong. The Soviets soon withdrew and disbanded these units, sending the women to support positions in the rear.

Men are irrational in the presence of women. Women utterly destroy the morale and cohesion of any combat unit they are in. Not to mention being completely useless at 90% of necessary tasks in the field, due to being too physically weak. There is a tradition of women “paying” men to do their chores out in the field, because they simply can’t, or don’t want to.

Personal story – When I was in 7th Army PLDC (Sergeant School), lo these many years ago, I was in a mixed squad. Oh, how the women told us that they were just as good as we men were at everything. No, they were even better! Then we went out in the field, and only one of the four females acted like a soldier. (The butch lesbian. Go figure.) When I was squad leader, I gave the M-60 machine gun to one, the tripod and spare ammo to another, and the PRC-77 radio and batteries to the third useless complainer. I made them carry their share of the load until they sat down, cried, and refused to go any further. That took all of about 20 minutes, during which we had marched less than a mile. Then I took everything from them. Their combined loads, plus what I was already carrying. And humped all of it the entire rest of the day without complaint, and without slowing down. (I weighed 142 pounds back then, and was carrying at least that much load.) I even had them give up their personal packs for other squad members to carry, since they were so tired and weak and frail. They didn’t tell us how wonderful they all were again after that. And nobody else put up with their malingering bull#@% after that, either.

11:00, 11/11/1918

Ladies and gentlemen: To our absent companions.

For the Fallen, Robert Laurence Binyon, 1914

With proud thanksgiving, a mother for her children,
England mourns for her dead across the sea.
Flesh of her flesh they were, spirit of her spirit,
Fallen in the cause of the free.

Solemn the drums thrill: Death august and royal
Sings sorrow up into immortal spheres.
There is music in the midst of desolation
And a glory that shines upon our tears.

They went with songs to the battle, they were young,
Straight of limb, true of eye, steady and aglow.
They were staunch to the end against odds uncounted,
They fell with their faces to the foe.

They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them.

They mingle not with their laughing comrades again;
They sit no more at familiar tables of home;
They have no lot in our labour of the day-time;
They sleep beyond England's foam.

But where our desires are and our hopes profound,
Felt as a well-spring that is hidden from sight,
To the innermost heart of their own land they are known
As the stars are known to the Night;

As the stars that shall be bright when we are dust,
Moving in marches upon the heavenly plain,
As the stars that are starry in the time of our darkness,
To the end, to the end, they remain.

Recessional, Rudyard Kipling, 1897

God of our fathers, known of old,

   Lord of our far-flung battle-line,

Beneath whose awful Hand we hold

   Dominion over palm and pine—

Lord God of Hosts, be with us yet,

Lest we forget—lest we forget!

The tumult and the shouting dies;

   The Captains and the Kings depart:

Still stands Thine ancient sacrifice,

   An humble and a contrite heart.

Lord God of Hosts, be with us yet,

Lest we forget—lest we forget!

Far-called, our navies melt away;

   On dune and headland sinks the fire:

Lo, all our pomp of yesterday

   Is one with Nineveh and Tyre!

Judge of the Nations, spare us yet,

Lest we forget—lest we forget!

If, drunk with sight of power, we loose

   Wild tongues that have not Thee in awe,

Such boastings as the Gentiles use,

   Or lesser breeds without the Law—

Lord God of Hosts, be with us yet,

Lest we forget—lest we forget!

For heathen heart that puts her trust

   In reeking tube and iron shard,

All valiant dust that builds on dust,

   And guarding, calls not Thee to guard,

For frantic boast and foolish word—

Thy mercy on Thy People, Lord!

Get out and vote!

Today is election day.  Get out there and vote!

You may not have someone to vote for.  But you can always find a commie-pinko liberal-progressive Democrat to vote against.

Do you really want the entire country to be like Commiepornia?

New methane fuel cell

The source articles are here and here.  BLUF:  A new catalyst could make methane fuel cells worth the effort.  It breaks down the methane into hydrogen and carbon monoxide, which when combined with free oxygen, produces a current.  It also produces water and carbon dioxide.

Of course, if you just burned the methane directly, it would also produce energy, carbon dioxide, and water.  You just confine the combustion in some sort of chamber.  If only we had a set of efficient designs for this sort of thing.  We could call it an internal combustion chamber!  And it could be used to turn a rotor to produce electricity!

Efficiency and simplicity are things, people.  If you have the methane, you already have a power source.  CH4 + 2xO2 => CO2 + 2xH2O

Oddly enough, the new fuel cell (with catalyst) will input CH4 + 2xO2, and output CO2 + 2xH2O.  If your inputs are the same, and your outputs are the same, the total energy production cannot increase.  All you can hope for is an increase in the efficiency of the engine design.

Quantum Computing

Let me state this right up front - quantum computing is a boondoggle.  I won't go so far as to say it's a scam, because we're talking about true believers here.

Quantum computing is nothing more than analog computing.  Yes, you read that correctly.
You can replicate the performance of a quantum computer with hydraulics.  This has already been done.

The best current quantum computers act as nothing more than random number generators.  You can do this with a microphone for ambient noise, or an antenna to detect cosmic rays.

You can perfectly replicate an entangled particle pair with a random bit generator and a NOT gate.  This is all that quantum computing has to offer us.

Shadowstats and the real inflation rate

Did you know the real rate of inflation is around 9%, and has been for two decades?

The government has been lying about the rate of inflation since 1983.  They doubled down on the lies in 1987.  And again in 1993.

Go check out Shadow Stats.  They have all kinds of charts showing the true nature of the economy.  How do they do this?  Simple!  They just use the techniques the government used to use to report economic activity. 

Another example:  The government recently reported unemployment at 3.7%.  Hooray!  Except, it's not.  The real rate of unemployment is 21.3%.

Don't believe them?  The price of a new, base option Ford F150 pickup truck has increased 211% over the last 13 years.  Do the math.  That's 9% inflation almost exactly.

Many people's wages are related to the government computed Consumer Price Index - the official rate of inflation.  Social Security checks are, too.  When the real rate of inflation is triple the official rate, you lose money every year - at an increasing rate.

People wonder why they are getting raises, but getting poorer at the same time.  This is why.  Well, that and the recession the country has been in since late 2000.

Witch hunts

The great thing about a witch hunt is that witches, being imaginary, can be hunted forever.  This gives the hunters great power, as long as they can "keep us the skeer."  See, e.g., PoundMeToo, "I'm just glad we ruined Bret Kavanaugh's life," “You cannot be civil with a political party that wants to destroy what you stand for, what you care about.”

The actual, historical witch hunts were fights between the early Protestant and established Catholic churches.  They were directly purging others, or showing that they could protect their people from the Devil better than that other church could, by burning more witches.  The "little ice age" crop failures and famines were good excuses to look for witches.

So, in essence, the witch hunts were the religious version of the crack wars.  New opportunities open, various syndicates fight over territory.  Murders spike.  Eventually, the territories settle down and the factions come to agreements over boundaries.  The murders drop.

Kevin is back at The Smallest Minority

Kevin's latest uberpost.  This one's about the sorry state of education in the USA, and how it was deliberately, and with malice aforethought, made to be this way.

https://smallestminority.blogspot.com/2018/09/education-societal-division-and-proposal.html

Go read it, if you care about the future at all.

9/11/2001

Today is the 17th anniversary of the Muslim terror attacks on America.  Never forget.  Never forgive.

17 of the 19 hijackers were Saudis.  Never forget.  Never forgive.

It's been 17 years.  Commemorating the 9/11 attacks now is a bit like commemorating Pearl Harbor day back in 1958.  But my grandparents and parents still did that through the 1980's.  Never forget.  Never forgive.

“Good Muslim American” is a logical contradiction. If they are good Muslims, they cannot be good Americans. If they are good Americans, they cannot be good Muslims. America and Islam are incompatible, polar opposites. And anyone who says otherwise is either woefully (willfully?) ignorant, or trying to sell you poison.

Dye it black

I see a Loki and I want to dye him black
No colors anymore I want them to turn black
I see Asgardians walk by dressed in their summer clothes
I have to turn my head until my darkness goes

I see a line of spears and they’re all painted black
With Asgard and Heimdall both never to come back
I see people turn their heads and quickly run away
Like a new born star it just happens every day

I look inside myself and see my heart is black
I see the rainbow bridge and have to paint it black
Maybe then I’ll fly away and not have to face the facts
It’s not easy being green when your whole world is black

No more will my Blue Sun go turn a deeper blue
I could not foresee this thing happening to you

If I look hard enough into the second sun
My love will laugh with me before the sandworm comes

I see a Loki and I want to dye him black
No colors anymore I want them to turn black
I see Asgardians walk by dressed in their summer clothes
I have to turn my head until my darkness goes

I want to see it painted, painted black
Black as night, black Shadows
I want to see the sun blotted out from the sky
I wanna see it painted, painted, painted
Painted black

Flat universe proof

It's interesting how much brain power and observations are going into trying to figure out if the geometry of the universe if "flat".  What this really means is - do the angles of a triangle add to 180 degrees, or more, or less?

Every single test has shown that the universe is Euclidian.  Flat.  It's 180 degree triangles all the way down.  A²+B²=C² is the law of the universe.

The funny part is that they seem to not have noticed that relativity, which has been thoroughly tested, only works in an Euclidian universe.  That's right.  Relativity rests upon the assumption that sin² + cos² = 1.

When you examine the space-time field, you will see that it does not stretch.  It does not bend.  It does not expand.  It simply exists, with various energy densities.  Space-time is the quantum field from which all other fields draw their energy.  So, the more energy an area possesses, the less dense the space-time field.  We experience the difference in density as gravitational attraction.

If you imagine the energy density on a plane, it looks like a graph of a parabola.  Normally, the parabola is remarkably shallow.  In the vicinity of black holes and neutron stars, the parabola is quite steep.

Now take a look at the slope of the curve at any given point.  The sine of that slope is the gravitational attraction, based on c=1.   Particles gain energy by moving from a higher to a lower energy level.  Energy is conserved, after all.

To cosine of that slope is the perceived time of a particle at that point, where 1 is the theoretical maximum possible experience of time's passage.  The universal tick, as it were.

Please note that sin²+cos²=1, where c=1.  Relativity only works in an Euclidian universe where A²+B²=C².  It really is just this simple.

This is what they really think

From the comments on today's Dilbert comic.

Denton Young • 4 hours ago

We need a device that when set off in the atmosphere will spread a chemical throughout the entire world that eliminates sexism, racism, stupidity and authoritarianism from all humans and modifies their genes to prevent those traits from ever returning.

Or we can go extinct. Either way works.

Mountains of corpses.  The Left always works towards mountains of corpses.  The either do not believe in, or detest, human nature.

More confirmation of my model?

Can't sleep, so thinking of physics.  Yes, I'm weird.

Universe is flat because Relativity works.  If universe weren't flat, relativity would not work.  Relativity is based on the angles of a triangle adding up to exactly 180 degrees, you know.  QED.

My model of how gravity, spacetime, and velocity work (see earlier posts) posits sine/cosine based laws of motion, energy, and perceived time.  Redshift data proves this.  Why does universal expansion appear to accelerate?  Because the slopes of sin (x) and sin^2 (x) change.  There is no actual acceleration or deceleration.  It just appears that way.  Because geometry says so.

The difference in energy levels (red shift) between two points is determined by the slopes of the individual energy curves.  Everything has a energy-differential sphere around it.  (Lowest energy in direction of motion, highest directly opposite, and neutral at 90 degrees to motion.)  This is what causes motion, perceived time, and energy gain/loss (blue/red shift).  The difference in slopes of any two objects determines this.  This is also where you get sin^2 (x) from - you multiply the two together to find the total.

Or maybe I'm just stupid tired and getting everything wrong.  That might very well be the case.

Happy Independence Day!

Excerpts from the Declaration of Independence, Philadelphia, July 4, 1776.

He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harass our people and eat out their substance.  
Nobody Knows How Many Federal Agencies Exist

He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:
The Hague Court

For protecting them, by a mock Trial from punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:
Lon Horiuchi  Democrat committee server scandal  Hillary's email server  "Arkancide"

He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.
Democrats love alien invaders  True facts about alien invaders  Cartoon summary  Occupy Wall Street  Black lives (don't) matter

In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince, whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.
IRS targets Tea Party  Berkeley "protest" riots and battles  Bundy ranch standoff

D100 Dungeon

D100 Dungeon is a great, free (1) solo dungeon crawl game.  After you download it from Board Game Geek (not the easiest thing to do), all you need to play is some paper, a pencil, two dice to make a d100, and a d6.  This game is unreasonably fun, and an obvious labor of love by its creator, Martin Knight.

For your ease of enjoyment, here are the current versions of the essential files.
D100 Dungeon Files  These are the old versions and some alternate rules.
D100 Dungeon Rules  These are the old and newly (May 2018) updated rules.

I highly recommend this game.

That being said, I can't help but tinker with game rules.  Here are my recommended alterations and additions.

• Use the alternate investments found in the Files.  The rues as written (RAW) are incoherent.  Remember that the roll for for the pip alteration to each whole share owned.  (One share is five pips.)  My addition:  Instead of allowing only one investment of up to ten shares per investment type, allow characters to diversify their portfolios as follows, still limiting investment to ten shares each.
• Up to 4 separate investments in Trade.
• Up to 3 separate investment in Finance.
• Up to 2 separate investments in Holdings.
• Only 1 investment in Wars.
  
• Use, if you wish, the perpetual dungeon found in the Files.  It makes the quests a bit longer and more costly in resources, but makes more sense and provides some continuity.  I change the "running" rule of moving through already explored rooms to this:
• You can move through up to 3 previously explored rooms, as long as all known monsters are dead and the rooms have been searched already.  When moving more than one room per hour, roll a d10.  If the result is less than or equal to the number of rooms moved, a wandering monster is encountered in the room indicated by the die roll, and travel stops there.  For example, if you try to move three rooms, and roll a 2, you encounter a wandering monster in the second room you entered.
• I don't recommend using the included Shop rules.  They make buying new equipment very expensive, in exchange for establishing a known fixed base of goods available.  It's basically a very expensive pawn shop for your stuff.  And "parts pie" is gross, but also funny and makes sense in a horrible sort of way.
  
• Speaking of prices, the sell and purchase prices of everything are identical.  Of course, adventures find their loot damaged, so there is an actual price difference there.  My proposed alteration:  Whenever purchasing a weapon or piece of armor, roll a d10.  If the result is lower than your reputation, purchase the item at list price.  Otherwise, pay an extra fee equal to one pip of repair cost for the item.  Hey, life is hard on the new guy with no reputation to speak of.
  
• There is only an 8% chance of finding a shield, the most common defensive tool in history.  I have created a new random armor table to make shields more prevalent.  Roll a d10 for armor type, then another d10 for specific piece:
• 1-3:  Shield - used to actively block damage.  Blocks amount listed for each pip shaded.  Less than half damage blocked results in only a half pip shaded.
• 1:  Buckler (1)
• 2-3:  Targe (2)
• 4-7:  Heater (3)
• 8-9:  Kite (4)
• 10:  Pavise (5)
• 4-5:  Leather Armor (1 DEF)
• 6:  Studded Leather Armor (2 DEF)
• 7-8:  Chain Mail Armor (3 DEF)
• 9:  Scale Mail Armor (4 DEF)
• 10:  Plate Mail Armor (5 DEF)
• For all Armors:  Armor passively reduces damage.  It may also be used to actively reduce damage, at the cost of 2 points of damage per pip shaded.
• 1-3:  Helmet
• 4-5:  Torso (covers both chest and back)
• 6:  Sleeves
• 7:  Gloves
• 8:  Waist
• 9:  Leggings
• 10:  Boots
  
• Random equipment damage:  Rather than list a specific amount of wear and tear for each item, roll on the following table with a d10.
• 1-3:  1 pip
• 4-6:  2 pips
• 7-10:  3 pips
  

Just a thought on photon energy and proper time

Had a minor revelation this morning.  About fundamental physics.  Yes, I'm weird this way.  Thanks for noticing.

Photon energy (best known as wavelength or frequency) times proper time (local flow of time) is a constant.  As gravity increases, proper time decreases, and photons gain a proportional amount of energy.  We call this blue shift.

As gravity decreases, proper time increases, and photons lose a proportional amount of energy.  We call this red shift.

Interesting.  It's almost as if gravity has no influence on photon energy - just our perception of it. 

Relative velocity still does alter photon energy.  A photon emitted in the direction of travel still has more energy than a photon emitted in the opposite direction, from the standpoint a stationary particle used as a target.  Of course, that's probably because of the energy differential caused by the velocity deformation around the emitting particle.

So, the only way to tell the actual energy of a photon, is to intercept one emitted at exactly 90 degrees to the path of travel of the emitting particle, along an equal gravitational gradient, by a stationary particle, or one traveling at ninety degrees to the angle of interception.  In that (and only that) circumstance, the energy delivered by the photon will be exactly equal to the energy it was emitted with.

A new job for the EPA and FDA

From a comment by Frank Luke at John Wright's Journal:

"A is for Alar." I remember the 60 Minutes story about Alar like that used on apple trees caused cancer in lab animals. While we were in high school, a friend of mine in FFA gave a speech about his research into pesticides and scare tactics. Alar was his golden example. To get the results it did, the lab gave the mice so much Alar that a human being would need to eat 14 tons of apples a day for 70* years. In that dosage, 5% of the mice developed tumors. In the group having a half dosage (meaning the equivalent of 7 tons of apples a day for 70 years), none developed cancer.

At that statement, the audience went into shock. Half were trying not to interrupt him by laughing at the dosage required. The other half just gasped.

*This is 20+ years ago. My memory may be off on the exact numbers, but "tons per day" and "years" was definitely in the speech.

I propose a new executive order for various government organizations such as the EPA and FDA.  They are to propose no new regulation, ruling, finding or guideline until they have completed an open, replicable, scientific evaluation of all previous rulings, regulations, findings and guidelines.  Study summaries are to be written in plain English, at no more than a 10th grade level, and made freely and easily available to the public.  Each study is to be reviewed by a panel of thirty randomly selected citizens, who are neither government employees nor receiving welfare benefits, with SAT (combined math & verbal) scores of not less than 1000, or ACT overall scores of not less than 20.

Review: .224 Valkyrie

.224 Valkyrie is essentially a .223 redesigned to better handle long for caliber bullets.  It produces similar velocities for the same weight of bullet as a .223, but .223 cartridges can't really handle 95 grain bullets.

If you're really into long range, precision shooting using the AR-15 platform, this caliber will be a good investment.  Unlike most of the other new .22 center fire cartridges, the Valkyrie doesn't come with additional recoil or overall length.

Otherwise?  It doesn't really bring much new to the table.  It might make a decent military round, but increasing the caliber (to at least 6mm, preferably 6.5) would be a better solution.

Quora collapsed: What was it like to be a soldier in Iraq?

The Quora Gestapo has collapsed my answer to "What was it like to be a soldier in Iraq or Afghanistan?"  Because telling the truth about a horrible place is neither nice nor polite, I guess.  Truth is no defense to Leftists, of course.

Anywhere, here's my answer, in all its stream of consciousness glory:

Iraq, 2003–2004, 14 months. (This was my third war.)

It sucked, I’m glad I did it, I never want to do it again. I didn’t hate Arabs before I met them. Most disgusting people I’ve ever met, and I’ve been to over 40 countries, all around the world. Everything Evan Friend mentions in his answer, plus ubiquitous pedophilia - the curse that keeps on cursing. I had an eight year old boy try to sell me his little brother for “ficky-ficky”. MedCap missions routinely treated little boys for prolapsed colons. They don’t have anything remotely similar to what we Americans would describe as morality. Their moral code (the real one, not the formal one for company) consists of “Do whatever you want, as long as you don’t get caught.” Except for the rules of hospitality: if a man invited you into his home for tea, you were his guest and safe from harm. By him. While you were inside the house.

Arabs lie constantly, pointlessly. And they’re not even very good at it. They can’t shoot worth spit, which is why they use so many bombs. The vast majority of them don’t understand the concepts of self discipline, cooperation, courage, and loyalty. The one word that best describes the men is ‘craven’. On multiple occasions, companies of over a hundred Iraqi police or soldiers, armed with AKs and RPKs, in a reinforced concrete building with steel doors, would surrender to two or three men with pistols.

I will admit that I met one respectable, decent Iraqi man. Bravest, most dependable guy I ever met. He kept a PKM next to his door, and never went anywhere without a pistol. It was funny watching the kids, including the baby, pointedly not touch the loaded machine gun on the floor. His wife could really cook, too.

I had a different experience from most. I was on an independent CI/HUMINT team. That meant we got to run our own missions. It also means we got almost zero support from anybody. Our own command betrayed us at levels I really don’t want to go into here. It was fun tooling around with just two, soft sided HMMWV’s, one with a SAW on a cast-iron pedestal in the back, with a bench from an old truck tied to a slab of plywood for a rear-facing gunner’s seat. Sometimes, we talked some support guys into going out with us to be a third truck. There got to be a waiting list for that eventually, after they passed the word that we bought lunch and sodas out on the economy. The chicken was some of the best I’ve had outside Peru. (Never eat the fish over there. Or the vegetables - they wash them with their own water, which has been polluted for all of recorded history.)

Almost everything we (US forces) did in Iraq back then was pointless or actively counterproductive. We built schools - but let the Saudis provide Wahabi teachers. They taught the Arab boys (never girls) to hate America and kill infidels. Where do you think the ISIS supporters came from? Funny story - we built a school on the west side of a main road. A couple months later, the people on the east side of the road complained about their children being hit by cars, and asked us to build a school on their side of the road. We told them no, and explained the concept of the crossing guard. They didn’t get it. Why would anybody care about any children but their own? They just repeated their demand that we build another school.

I reduced a commo officer to tears one day after he asked me, “So, what’s really going on outside the wire?”

The weather sucked most of the time. It’s a desert, so it’s either too hot or too cold. In the summer, when it cools down to 95 Fahrenheit at night, you shiver. You sweat so much that when you take off your shirt, it’s white with salt and can stand up on its own after it dries (in about 5 minutes). Nomads plant and harvest the wheat, then let their sheep and goats graze on the stubble. They also got paid to block the roads with their flocks, so the bad guys could ambush us when we stopped. If you killed the sheep, you had to pay $100 each for them out of your own pocket.

Did you know that a .50 BMG round will go through a cow and then 12 inches of mud brick wall?

The coffee and tea are hot and they drink them with lots of sugar. They don’t use filters, so never drink the bottom 1/4 inch of the cup.

When it snows, the kids immediately build snowmen and have snowball fights. It seems to be built in.

Hummingbird moths are fascinating.

Every spring, millions of hedgehogs migrate across the desert. They move at night, and burrow into the dirt to disappear during the day. You can’t help but run over scores of them when you drive anywhere at night.

Every fall, millions of ravens migrate south from Turkey. The flock is miles wide, and runs from horizon to horizon for three days.

Dust devils come in waves across the desert. It’s not really sand so much as dried, powdered dirt. From land that sheep have grazed on for at least ten thousand years. It gets into your food no matter what you do.

There’a village made entirely out of sheep dung. They cook with it as fuel, too. You can imagine the smell. Especially after it rains.

They still make mud bricks the old fashioned way. It still works.

Not being allowed to shoot back when you’re being shot at really sucks. Politicians are stupid and a little bit crazy, and many of them wear stars on their shoulders. Intelligence reports have dates for a reason - raiding a house three weeks after the meeting seldom produces useful results. The smaller the scorpion, the more painful the sting. The bigger the wasp, the more it hurts. Camel spiders are to be shot on sight. Biting flies are smaller than the mosquito mesh, and don’t care about DEET. There are five separate species of mosquito. Mice get into everything. Gatorade is a literal life saver. You can drink a liter every hour and still not need to pee all day. You can hear a serious burn victim from a quarter mile away - even when the doors are closed on the ambulance. Mass graves have a distinctive smell. Putting a cow or sheep on top of the bodies just makes it that much more unpleasant to dig through. They will never send out power equipment until you dig down far enough with a shovel to be able to take pictures.

There is nothing Iraqis won’t pretend to do, if you offer them enough money. There is very little they will actually do, even when their lives are in danger. Kurds are way better than Arabs - but that’s not exactly a high bar to cross.

Lieutenants are stupid yet arrogant, and think they know everything. This is a universal truth, and never changes. It takes a special sort of genius to order several armored vehicles, one at a time, into the same swamp.

Arab officers are chosen for family connections, ability to pay bribes, and incompetence. (Competent officers would be a threat to their superiors.) The better Arab officers treat their men like illiterate, superstitious peasants. (To be fair, most of them are.) The normal officers treat their men worse than animals. (They generally remember to feed and water the sheep, and seldom beat them for no reason.)

They don’t have enough trees to have toilet paper.

School is hell

From yesterday's blog at Alma Boykin's place.  (You are reading her novels, right?)

I was tiny, and geeky, and introverted (Aspie much?) through school. There was one kid (out of 400) shorter than me – and he was less than 5′ tall at graduation. And he outweighed me by 20 pounds. (Food? What is this food I keep hearing other kids talk about?)

(Side note – My Mom taught me how to cook. On Saturday, make dumplings in chicken broth, with the leftover bones and the wilted carrots and soft potatoes the grocer sold us for half price. On Sunday, boil stew beef for eight hours, or roast a chicken for three. Serve leftovers all week with day-old factory seconds from the Wonder Bread plant.)

In 4th grade, four other boys thought it would be fun to attack me with pocket knives, clothes line, and a length of cable. I was fairly passive until they started damaging my bike. Then I sent them to the hospital. I gave their knives to the cop who showed up at my house a little while later, and showed him the cuts on my hands, arms and back.

I was absolutely tormented through middle school. Even one of the teachers got in on the psychological abuse. Until this one girl just walked over to me in gym class and punched me in the crotch. I knocked her out. The teacher sent her to the office for starting it – he had watched the entire incident (all 5 seconds of it). I didn’t get physically picked on after that.

In high school, thank goodness, I found a group of other outcasts. We really didn’t have much in common other than nerdosity and loneliness. We played chess and talked about The Destroyer (Remo Williams) novels at lunch, played D&D after school, and went to the local Bell Lab to play with their computers once a week. It was wonderful.

The EU can kiss my ass

The EU has new "full disclosure" rules.  I am using Blogger, over which I have no control.  I just type here.

I'm an American, typing this in America, on a service that is located in America.

The EUrocrat fascists can kiss my fat, pasty white ass. 

The debate continues

Lee - 

“Through very careful tests, it has been observed that the Earth is attracted to where the sun is, not where it was eight minutes ago. The simplest explanation for this is that the speed of gravity is effectively instantaneous.”

McChuck, I don’t know where you got this bizarre idea, but it’s wrong. The theory of gravity (The General Theory of Relativity) has gravitational influences traveling at the speed of light. Didn’t you hear about the recent direct detection of gravitational waves? They traveled from the source to us at light speed.

Me - 

Lee – As I wrote above, waves (including gravity waves) are limited to light speed. The effect we call gravity is not. This has been exhaustively tested, and can be observed by noticing that the moon is in a stable orbit around the earth, which would not be possible if gravity operated at the speed of light. (If it did, the moon would orbit a spot 40,000 km behind the earth-moon center of gravity.) If gravity operated in waves limited to the speed of light, it would be red and blue shifted. That would make the universe a much more interesting, and chaotic, place.

The very equations used to compute gravitational effects include a kludge factor to estimate the current position of the attractor from its apparent position. Because the math only works if you assume that gravity is instantaneous.

Entertaining discussion of physics and metaphysics

One of the places I hang out every day is William Briggs' blog.  In the linked entry, there's been a particularly interesting discussion of quantum physics, relativity, and Bell's theorem.  Plus the usual debates and discussions on statistical analysis and Christian theology.

It's an interesting place.  Go check out WM Briggs, Statistician to the Stars.

Here's an extract of the latest comments there, for easy reading.

Lee Phillips - 

Some may think at this point that McChuck and YOS must be just trolls, but I don’t think so. They may be deceiving me, but I really think that they sincerely believe they have achieved such a deep understanding of reality that the mere Einsteins and Bells of the world are as but children in comparison, playing with toys that they’re not sophisticated enough to understand.

Humor us, McChuck. Explain how “gravity” “obviously” “can surpass the speed of light”.

Enlighten us, YOS. Explain how the cosmological constant enters into QM, and how QM requires it to have a particular value.

McChuck - 

1. Lee – Through very careful tests, it has been observed that the Earth is attracted to where the
   sun is, not where it was eight minutes ago. The simplest explanation for this is that the speed
   of gravity is effectively instantaneous. The mathematical equations are obviously kludges to
   make the theory very nearly match the observations. They reek of epicycles.

   The earth moves to the current position of the sun. The moon moves to the current position
   of the earth. The sun moves about the current position of the galactic center. The galaxies
   themselves orbit about their cluster’s current center of gravity, not where it was hundreds
   of thousands of years ago.

   If you agree with Bell (as I do, I just find the argument to be weak), then instantaneous action
   at arbitrary distances must be possible. Both Bell and Einstein cannot be correct. At least one
   must be wrong, as they directly contradict each other. Choose.

   Here is my choice – They are both correct, but require limits. Bell’s theorem, as Bohm points
   out, only prohibits local hidden variables. Global hidden variables are perfectly acceptable,
   and enable instantaneous action. Waves are examples of local actions. No wave can travel
   faster than c. Normal, every day gravity is not a wave function, but a global variable effect.
   Gravity waves are, of course, waves, and thus localized functions. No contradictions here,
   and everything accords with observations.
   *****
   Assume a quantum field. Give it an enormous positive strength. From this field, all other fields
   draw their strength, instantaneously (field, not wave), dissipated in root-square fashion. This
   field governs motion, and we may name it “gravitational potential energy” for convenience.
   Particles exist as localized waves within this field, with their upslopes directly behind them,
   and downslopes directly before.

   The instantaneous slope of field strength determines everything about a particle’s 4-velocity.
   The sine of the slope is velocity (and gravitational acceleration), as fraction of c The cosine of
   the slope is the particle’s perceived time (and distance), as a fraction of 1 (no dilation).
   Enormous energy with very little practical effect at cosmic distances – check. Gravity – check.
   Time and space dilation – check. Red and blue shift – check. Accordance with quantum field
   theory – check. Accordance with relativity – check. Conservation of energy – check.
   Conservation of momentum – check. Lack of epicycles – check. Lack of contradictions – check.
   Simple explanation for complex behaviors – check. Possible explanation for ‘dark energy’ –
   check.

Plastic cased ammumition

Seen in the June, 2018 issue of Guns & Ammo magazine, pages 40-53.

Now there's fantastic plastic ammunition for all those plastic fantastic guns.

True Velocity is making ammunition, in a variety of calibers, with plastic casings.  They offer a 40% weight reduction, and improved heat characteristics.  Well, at least the chamber stays cooler.  The heat has to go somewhere, so it goes down the barrel.  The rounds also don't cook off.  At all.  Not even when they tried their best to make them do so.  The casing eventually deformed and started to melt, but the powder never lit.  Plastic's a pretty good insulator.

They also claim a dramatic improvement in case dimension consistency.  One lot measured an SD of 3 fps, with a max deviation of 8 fps.  That's unheard of in large production runs.

The casings, and thus the ammunition, are also cheaper than traditional brass.  The company is currently focused on serving the military and law enforcement agencies.  I'm sure the troops wouldn't mind shaving a few pounds off every case of ammunition.

What's the downside?  They're probably a lot harder to reload.  

Available in .223, .308, .338 Norma, .50 BMG, and 12.7 Soviet.

See also:  NovX stainless steel/aluminum cased ammunition, available in 9mm and .223.  They also claim a 40% weight reduction and cost savings.  The resin/copper powder bullets are a bit weird, though, with some outlandish claims.  Shell Shock makes their casings.

They haven't seen "toxic masculinity"

My comment to this article: regarding "toxic masculinity" and involuntarily celibate men.

Men suffer more from autism and Asperger’s than women. So women mock them for their disability. Very mature and compassionate of them.

Young men will do almost ANYTHING to get laid. The primary drives of young men are: eat, sleep, fight, screw. Not necessarily in that order.

Bucks grow antlers to fight each other every fall for the chance of having sex, and go without food for weeks in the constant quest for available does. Male praying mantises literally have to die to mate. Black widow spiders earned their name.

Most of Western Civilization is conditioning men to NOT rape, murder, loot and burn. Personal responsibility and self restraint are key to this. That’s why the Left’s constant attacks on Western Civ. (formerly known as Christendom) are doomed to cause far more harm than any marginal good they could possibly accomplish.

Islam is founded on encouraging men to do these things. (To non-Muslims, of course.) The explosive popularity of Islam to unattached young men was not a coincidence. When you allow the older men to keep harems, the only hope young men have is to conquer new territory and capture a bride.

The Zulu conquest of Africa began when their culture changed, and demanded that young men must first kill an enemy before they could marry a woman. They then slaughtered their way down half a continent, and killed over 10% of the total population of the continent. So that each man could take a woman (and ranch cattle).

x

Democrat government covers up facts about defensive gun use

Hat tip to Old NFO.

The CDC conducted three separate studies during the Clinton years, attempting to discredit conservatives and the NRA, and make more hay for the anti-gun crowd.

They buried the results of all three studies, and denied the studies had ever taken place.

The raw data has recently been uncovered.  Here is a link to the paper.

Never, ever trust the Democrats.

A call to action - but what action?

From blog comments.  My best thoughts usually come in reaction to something else I read.

It has to be an offensive on multiple fronts. We must retake the high ground to be successful. Education, entertainment, news media, the courts, and the legislatures. Those strong points we cannot take we must bypass by creating our own. We must also take back the streets, and meet violence with superior violence.

Where are the right wing ideologue investors? Where is our George Soros? Where are the hundreds of interlocking charities and NGOs? Where are the armies of lawyers, on retainer for both defense and offensive lawfare? Where are the boycotts and demonstrations? Where are the busloads of “temporary resident” voters, such as those that recently decided a special election in Pennsylvania? Where are the home schooling foundations and organizations? Once we control sufficient news coverage, then and only then can we utilize passive resistance tactics in the streets to influence the undecided middle. (The Left enjoys violence, and delights in splitting heads.) Where are the militias?

Where are the right-wing think tanks? Not the Conservatism-Inc. job placement boards – actual intellectuals, dedicated to the cause of advancing the Right by any means available. Where is our Frankfurt School? Where are our right-wing indoctrination centers, better known as universities? Where are our right-wing teacher’s colleges, where the future is programmed?

Where are the right-wing comedians and entertainers? Steven Crowder is great, but he’s only one guy. Where are the right-wing movies? As the Left had the “Lethal Weapon” series, so must the Right build entertaining dramas with explicit and implicit values and messages.

In the end, it may very well come down the street lamps and ditches. That’s not where it needs to start. But we need to be prepared, because when things go pear shaped, it happens unbelievably quickly.

It's time to fight lawfare with lawfare

Why do Leftists hate children, and want them to die?  From abortion, to anti-bullying laws that only prevent victims from defending themselves, to over-prescribed Ritalin (better known as Speed), to gun free zones that make schools into designated victim zones, Leftists prove by their words and actions that they want the children to die.

Why do Leftists hate civil rights?  From the blatantly unconstitutional destruction of the right of free association, to all the anti-gun rallies and laws, they constantly seek to take power from the people so they can dictate who may do what with whom, and we'd better shut up and like it.

Enough is enough.  Whining and complaining accomplish nothing.  The Republican party is dead, or brain dead, or spineless, or actively collaborating with our enemies.  I vow to never spend another dime helping any national-level Republican candidate, save Donald Trump (who isn't really a Republican, as they obviously hate him).  I hereby vow to never vote for another national level, establishment Republican candidate.  If they're no different from the Democrats, why should I bother?

Any tactic, and weapon used by my enemy against me is meet and good for me to use against him.  We need to go full Alinsky on our enemies.  Why?  Because it works.

Let us start with lawfare.  If we can't win in the legislature, even when we win the elections, it's time to win in the courts.  We need to organize and pool our money to hire top notch, conservative lawyers to bring suit is federal court against Leftists.  Who?  It doesn't matter.  Go after individual Leftists.  Attack their organizations.  Bankrupt their charities.  Dismantle their news and media empires.  Disrupt their unions.

What if we don't win each case?  Who cares?  As the Leftists themselves say, sometimes the process is the punishment.

Here's a starting point.  It's been used against us many times.  It's time to start using it against the Left.  Let's start with anti-gun ownership organizations.

42 U.S. Code § 1985 - Conspiracy to interfere with civil rights

(3)Depriving persons of rights or privileges

If two or more persons in any State or Territory conspire or go in disguise on the highway or on the premises of another, for the purpose of depriving, either directly or indirectly, any person or class of persons of the equal protection of the laws, or of equal privileges and immunities under the laws; or for the purpose of preventing or hindering the constituted authorities of any State or Territory from giving or securing to all persons within such State or Territory the equal protection of the laws; or if two or more persons conspire to prevent by force, intimidation, or threat, any citizen who is lawfully entitled to vote, from giving his support or advocacy in a legal manner, toward or in favor of the election of any lawfully qualified person as an elector for President or Vice President, or as a Member of Congress of the United States; or to injure any citizen in person or property on account of such support or advocacy; in any case of conspiracy set forth in this section, if one or more personsengaged therein do, or cause to be done, any act in furtherance of the object of such conspiracy, whereby another is injured in his person or property, or deprived of having and exercising any right or privilege of a citizen of the United States, the party so injured or deprived may have an action for the recovery of damages occasioned by such injury or deprivation, against any one or more of the conspirators.

18 U.S. Code § 242 - Deprivation of rights under color of law

Whoever, under color of any law, statute, ordinance, regulation, or custom, willfully subjects any person in any State, Territory, Commonwealth, Possession, or District to the deprivation of any rights, privileges, or immunities secured or protected by the Constitution or laws of the United States, or to different punishments, pains, or penalties, on account of such person being an alien, or by reason of his color, or race, than are prescribed for the punishment of citizens, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than one year, or both; and if bodily injury results from the acts committed in violation of this section or if such acts include the use, attempted use, or threatened use of a dangerous weapon, explosives, or fire, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than ten years, or both; and if death results from the acts committed in violation of this section or if such acts include kidnapping or an attempt to kidnap, aggravated sexual abuse, or an attempt to commit aggravated sexual abuse, or an attempt to kill, shall be fined under this title, or imprisoned for any term of years or for life, or both, or may be sentenced to death.