First Words Spoken by God

This blog is a work in progress.  I will have to figure out how to embed a player.  Anyway, I am studying the "mechanics" of the sound made over (or into) the waters when God brought light into existence.  Here is a link.  Hopefully your browser will open it in another window).

"Let There Be Light" (in Hebrew)

Phonetically, this is three consonants and three vowels (Ye-Hee-OR).  Two of the vowel sounds (lower case) are added with vowel points much later, but by scholars long committed to vocalizing the text.  The actual letters are Yoth-He-Yoth-Aleph-Wau-Resh.  Vowel points vocalize Yoth and the He-Yoth, while the Aleph is "silent" lending its vowel point to the Wau (= 'o').  At the end is the letter transliterated as "R."

The words begin with the Vowel/consonant pronounced Y' ("yuh") followed by the Vowel/consonants HY  ("hiy").  The second word is transliterated " AOR, but pronounced "Ohr."  As can be seen, the only "full" consonant ("stop") is the "R" at the end.  Though the Y and H are vocalized, the sound is made in the vocal cords rather than in the mouth.  However, the tongue forms the "uh," and "ee" sounds.  Then, the mouth forms the "oh" sound before the "R" vocalization "rolls" off the tongue and on to the lips.

The "R" sound is in a way the weakest of the full consonants, and is almost a semi-vowel on its own.  In making the sound, though, the vibration begins in the vocal cords and travels all the way to the lips.  Both the Yoth and the He also began in the vocal cords but had very little reverberation in the mouth itself.  All in all, the whole phrase pronounced with only breath and vocal cords.  It is truly the breath of God made "audible" via vibrations of that air.

In essence, "Ye HiY 'OR" is six sounds that get the "waters" to move.  The Spirit of God "stirs" the waters, and subsequently LIGHT appears.  The sound waves are converted to electromagnetic waves and creation has its first day completed.

Virtual Tour - US 1: Key Largo

Key Largo -- The Large Key -- is the largest of the many islands extending from the "mainland" of Florida.  In an attempt to avoid any law suits for invasion of privacy, I borrowed this shot from Google Earth.  It may include some private land, but I don't think it is identifiable.  I call it a "sneak peek" of the Gulf.  It is a peek over a fence at the end of a cul de sac.  This view of houses, docks and boats is typical on Key Largo. The photo is a composite, copyrighted by Google and the US Department of State.

This is a "far cry" from my one visit to the keys many years ago!  Our visit was in a station wagon pulling a borrowed (or rented) popup camper.  We stayed in a campground on a smaller key along US 1 where the ground water tasted strongly of sulfur.  It may have looked something like this, Calusa Campground in Key Largo.  Again, over the fence, courtesy of Google Earth.

Between Key Largo and the mainland are scores, if not hundreds, of be tiny islands, most of which are uninhabited. Each island is a "key" contributing to probably over half of the more famous string that are connected by US 1.  Other islands along the west coast of Florida are also designated as "keys."  According to Meriam Webster Dictionary this homograph is derived from the a native language spoken by the Taino, a Caribbean people.  They Spanish spelled in "cayo," which the English co-opted.  It may have once been pronounced as if rhyming with "they" or "grey."  In fact, the alternate spelling of "cay" is also pronounced "kee"!  The English language cannot be "trusted."

Since 1947 all the Keys of Florida south of the Everglades (the vast majority of the islands called "keys") have been part of the Everglades National Park.  As such, only the largest of the islands are populated.  Some of the islands are "privately owned," but I strongly suspect that they are also quite regulated.  It's a shame that, for the sake of a subspecies here or there the "last frontier" of South Florida is practically 'off limits.'

A virtual trip up US Route 1: The Florida Keys.

Okay, I know I didn't take this picture, but I was near there many years ago when Mom, my brother and I left Dad and the younger siblings somewhere in the Keys to go to Key West.  On a recent trip to North, South Carolina (see last week's blog), I could not resist having my picture taken in Leesville, SC, where my wife and I ate at a Hardee's right on "America's Highway."  Here is proof:

I'll get there, eventually, on this virtual tour, but today I want to just ease into the idea that perhaps will give me something to write about for the blog.  In what was just serendipitous browsing to "Next Blog," I came upon pictures and narrative of a visit to Maine, one of the states to which I've never been.  It mentioned Wells, Maine, which sits closer to the other end of US 1 than the intersection above is to Mile 0 in Key West.  The route between the two signs above is 784 miles.

So, what can I say, I've been to many of the points of interest on US 1 in Florida, though I am not sure which that I have pictures available.  In this tour I will be posting pictures mined from Google Earth, all via links directly to the source.  So, let's begin.  The Photo Op for the "Begin" sign actually looks southward away from the historic highway.  This picture was taken directly from "Street Level" and has the copyrights clearly visible in full size:

And so, turning around, we head northeast and head toward the "Florida Keys Scenic Highway."  There is a lot to see in historic Key West, but the "furthest south" landmark is not on this highway, but here is historic St. Paul's Epispocal Church (unless otherwise stated, all copyrighted by Google Earth):

As can be seen on both these Google Earth shots, the yellow street indicators are a dead give-away, but by using them, I think I am safe under public use laws.  Just in case, the whole picture is being used so that copyrights are clearly visible.  On the way out of town, this is what a typical roadside looks like:

Leaving the Keys behind, the only way out is the bridge over the Atlantic Ocean (or part of it anyway)!  At it's longest stretch, that is an astonishingly long seven miles!  Here is another Google Earth snapshot:

Well that's enough for now.  Next stop, Key Largo.  If anyone has actual photos or experiences from the Florida keys, or anywhere along US 1, feel free to share with me.  Perhaps I will get out to see some of this in person again, but for now, I'll be on Google Earth.

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Don't Punch the "Cheerleader"

Okay, this time I used the numbers indirectly to find a news item to perhaps comment upon.  The numbers "generated" by my Solitaire program were "510 1112 6131," leading to a house at an address in Muskogee, Oklahoma.  The numbers are also three separate Nokia cell phones, but what's there to say about that?

So, looking for News about Muskogee, I come upon two criminal investigations: one of murder and one high-profile assault case.  I will comment on the alleged assault case.  I say "alleged" for legal clarification.  The accused admits to doing the damage to the woman accusing him in her own words "with one punch."

This is the case of incoming freshman Joe Mixon who unfortunately had a run-in with a local woman before ever attending Oklahoma University, who drafted him from California.  According to reports, Amelia Molitor, 20, accused him of hitting her in the face at a local cafe. Mixon claims self-defense.

Reports say that Mixon was celebrating his 18th birthday when "people at his table" were harassing the victim and her friends for some reason.  Apparently, someone got up and got physical, for a punch was thrown with enough force to "break [Molitor's] face in four places.  Mixon's defense lawyer says the 21l-pound 6'2" running back was acting in self-defense.  They are confident that surveillance tapes will prove this.

Ms. Molitor has a recent arrest record (jailed and charged with possession of marijuana, etc., last December), and has an outstanding bench warrant out on her for failure to follow instructions of the court.  She is currently "on the lam."  This woman, a blonde standing 5'7" and weighing in at 120 pounds, apparently had a too few too many drinks and felt she could take on a football player!

I do not condone striking a woman, especially when one's life is not threatened, but something is not right in this case.  The newly-minted adult, out to have his first "legal" beer, is faced with a woman two years his major who seems to be a bit tipsy.  Does she "get in his face" and he shields himself to her detriment?  Or did he get up to "make trouble" as part of an act of "harassment" that went beyond words.

Oh, I guess I ought to mention that Mixon is black.  I'm predicting that this will NOT be an issue with the defense, but that his defenders might charge the accuser of being racist.  This will be a big mistake, and I hope that a jury will be told to disregard such an attitude.  I am pretty sure that the video evidence will show that the "punch" was not delivered in an aggressive manner.  The younger man most likely reached out to push away the woman and made unfortunate contact.

Ms. Molitor has been quoted as saying she fears the fans of OU who were placing their hopes on Mixon to be a factor in the coming football season.  In saying this, she is assuming that he will be convicted of assault.  It is interesting that Ms. Molitor's mother does not want her to press charges.  Could it be that she fears her daughter's past will be used against her?

On the other hand, the defense is confident that the video evidence will exonerate Mixon.  The University will not comment, of course.  I am not sure if I would want to be on the jury.

The moral of the story is that a young man should not expect to think clearly while partying with the guys on his birthday.  And also, don't badmouth the cheerleader at the next table if you do!  Joe Mixon has probably lost out even before he started.  If he is found innocent, there will be those that insist it was because he was an athlete.  If he is found guilty, there will be those who claim it was because he is black.  The promising college football career is most likely nipped in the bud.

Special Needs

Today I the top cards were three queens, four, ten, seven and nine. (12 12 12 4 10 7 9).  My first response was to discard the queens for the sequence following them: 4-10-7-9.  I immediately thought that might be a Biblical reference.  Numbers 10:7-9 records God's command concerning trumpet calls - one to worship and the other to battle.  The call to worship and the call to battle remind the people of God that He is near whenever He is needed.  John 10:7-9 records Jesus' words "I am the door of the sheep," and what that means to the flock.  Both passages are reminders that our God is here with us.

With that, I should just post and be done with it. But alas, I'm "hooked" for a while on the random number thing.  So, here goes with "1212":

The Atlanta Zoo has set up a live feed camera to watch the pandas -- the PandaCam!  Click on the link to watch the pandas Live.  The page is designated "1212," so you get this link!  Enjoy.

Finally, another link to Autism: the July & Michael Tracy Family Foundation.  Their Urban Autism Solutions has "Project 1212" that opened June 6, 2014 in Chicago.  From the website:

It is designed to have a secure, nurturing environment. While it will have a family-like staff, it isn’t intended to function as a “container.” On the contrary, it’s a vibrant community-within-a-community. The specific autism friendly design includes a combination of public and private spaces. 

This is a residential group home for autistic individuals with a full-time staff. Though I would prefer solutions that work around the home, I can see where a need is out there for such a facility in most communities.

 

Traffic Control

I just noticed I had not hit "Publish" on this one (Thursday!)

I decided to at least do the random number experiment for a week.  Today, the solitaire hand starts out like this: Ace, nine, queen, king, queen, king and five.  In numbers that is: 1 9 12 13 12 13 5.  Combining where I can, I get  "19 1213 1213 5."

Well, with the placement of queens and kings TWICE in the cards, I would go with 1213 as the "number of the day."  Near the top of the Google search I found the non-profit Christian relief organization '1213,' based on Romans 12:13: "Distributing to the necessity of saints; given to hospitality."

This verse is in the midst of commands given by Paul to the church at Rome years before he visited there.  The chapter begins with a call to holiness and service, moving on to practical instructions on how to make that happen.  Verse 4 reminds Christians that they are "members in one body," each with separate functions.  Since love is sincere and without hypocrisy (verse 9), it is seen in acts of kindness in times of need.

Visit this worthy ministry at http://1213online.org/ for more information.

Next, in an oddly related field on the microscopic level, there is Gene 1213, CLTC (clathrin, heavy chain [human]).  Also known as CHC or CHC17, this is a "major protein component ... involved in intracellular trafficking ..."  In other words, CLTC is necessary to get the microscopic machines within the cells to their proper work spaces.  It is like a GPS on the dash of the utility vehicles of the cell.

I say "oddly related" because this is the function of the 1213 ministry, directing funds to people in need.  They serve as an auxiliary source when times get really hard.  They are a support system of the body of Christ just as CLTC is to the microcosm which is found within the cell.  Find out more about CLTC here  and here.

There you go, folks.  Remember that you have a part to play in the macrocosm which is the world around you.  If you are a Christian, that means to seek to know and use the gift(s) given to you by God.  That example, of course, works in the world around us as well.  As the saying goes, "we are all connected."

North, South Carolina and other stuff

Today my wife and I headed south to find North.  North, South Carolina, that is!  Since the co-ordinates are 33°37' North and 81°6' West, I chose 3337 today.

Gene 3337 of the human genome encodes the "heat shock protein" which regulates cellular processes by aiding in folding, transport and assembly of cell structures.  Apparently there is a tremendous amount of work going on at a molecular level and this gene works as a thermostat.


The other significant 3337 goes from microscopic to hands on science, introducing us to the *FIRST Robotic Competition, team 3337 from Woodlawn High School in Baton Rouge Louisiana.  Here is a paragraph from the "Panthrobotics" website:

 Panthrobotics, FRC Team #3337,  is a multicultural team of students who are bringing a passion for math, science, engineering and computing to our school and community by participating in yearly FIRST® Robotics competitions. Each year we work with a talented group of mentors, generous sponsors, and excited students to build a robot from scratch within a defined six-week time period, compete with that robot, and then take it with us to demonstrations and other events throughout our  community.

[* FIRST is a registered acronym for "For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology."]

Back to North, SC.  We came in from the northwest, basically east by southeast, having started at about 35 degrees North, in Greenville, SC.  North is therefore Southeast of us.  We came took a picture of the sign on the west side of town, turned up Main Street (North-South axis) and headed home on a mostly Northern route.

As a point of reference for Americans, 33°37' North is parallel to just south of Myrtle Beach, SC; just south of Atlanta, GA; just north of Birmingham, AL; West Point, MS; Warren, AR; Paris, TX; just north of Roswell, NM; Surprise, AZ; and Newport Beach, CA.  North is the only town at 33°37' North that will experience the total solar eclipse August 21, 2017. It will have 2 minutes, 22.3 seconds of totality.

Nouth is about 50 miles due north of Hampton, SC. It is also due north of Savanah, GA; Ormand Beach, Daytona Beach and Marathon, Florida.  However, North is due south of Woodford, Swansea, Gaston, Pine Ridge, Springdale, St. Andrews, Winnsboro and Newport in South Carolina alone!  Also north of North are at least three towns in North Carolina, one in West Virginia an two in Ohio.  Mr. North confused a lot of map makers when he agreed to have the town named after him.

It's Friday!

My solitaire hand today contained only one face card, but it had THREE aces!  That means, in Vegas scoring I start with 15 dollars earned.  Okay, to the random number search.

I take the first four cards - Ace deuce five and another ace - to get a four digit number: 1251.  The first hit ,apart from Wikipedia's page on the date, is Windows-1251, a character encoding table (code page) also known as CP1251.  Since I can barely use DOS encoding, I'll leave this to the experts.

Speaking of experts and codes, the US Legal Code, paragraph 1251, addresses the Original Jurisdiction of the US Supreme Court.  That's right, some cases go to them immediately.  Here are the specifics:

(a) The Supreme Court shall have original and exclusive jurisdiction of all controversies between two or more States.
(b) The Supreme Court shall have original but not exclusive jurisdiction of:

(1) All actions or proceedings to which ambassadors, other public ministers, consuls, or vice consuls of foreign states are parties;
(2) All controversies between the United States and a State;
(3) All actions or proceedings by a State against the citizens of another State or against aliens.

Got it?  Logically, the Supreme Court has jurisdiction over interstate disputes, disputes between the feds and the state(s),  and actions dealing with non-citizens (especially foreign dignitaries).

Well, speaking of legal codes, the Catholic Church has its "Canon Law" which prescribes the proper way, in its opinion, to worship God.  Canon Law 1251 reads:

Abstinence from meat, or from some other food as determined by the Episcopal Conference, is to be observed on all Fridays, unless a solemnity* should fall on a Friday. Abstinence and fasting are to be observed on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday.

[*A solemnity is a holy feast day.  Abstenance is not observed when one is supposed to be celebrating a holiday.]

Speaking of Fridays, according to the song 12:51,  "Friday nights have been lonely."  In this music video by "The Strokes" the words are hard to make out.  Basically, the guy speaking wants to go over to his girlfriend's house "now that {he's} older."  There is one "bad word" in the lyrics and the assumption of sinful behavior, but this mix is acoustically interesting.

So, 1251 reminds us of computer code (aka "law"?), US legal code, and canon law.  And then, at 12:51 one night this guy gets the courage to "take it to the next stage" with his girl friend "now that I'm older."

Let us take from this that there are standards by which to direct our lives.  Some, like computer encoding, are absolute by nature.  Others can be "interpreted" as with civil and ecclesiastical courts.  And then there are personal standards, based on our conscience, which must be trained by higher laws.  Adults have the responsibility to guide children to avoid disaster in the decisions they make.

Random Frivolity

This is so much fun that I'm posting a new number for the third day in a row.  I know, I need to "get a life" -- but hey, right now this IS my life.

Today I have 610 711 1012 4.  I have combined the two-digit numbers consistently with the numbers before them, leaving a single "4" at the end.  (610) 711-1012 is a phone number in Philadelphia, but apparently is private.  Then again, 411.com, "directory assistance," puts the number in Allentown.  The area code puts it in Allentown.  Once again, I find the online directory assistance lacking!

Well, 711-1012  seem to be pages in the Journal of Steroid Biochemistry, all of which are for sale in approximately 5-page articles (going price: $31.50!).  Those interested can look up Volume 5, Issue 8.  Be warned, by use of "mass framentography" minute amounts of steroids can be used to extrapolate peak levels! (Abstract, pages 727-732).

Steroids might suggest athletes, but I doubt if any were used by those running in the Autism Speaks 5K in Potomac, MD (July 4, 2011).  Placing 12th in the 60-64 class, a man from Columbia, SC, ID# 711, placed 1012th overall.  In the chart from runhigh.com, this showed up as 711 1012 in adjacent columns on the chart!  Hmm... This is a possible link back to the first post on Monday.  Thank you, David R., for running for Autism.

Of course, I could go with 610-711.  That looks like a sequence, and indeed, it is a period of time.  On the first page for a search for "610 711," I came upon the Herakleian Dynasty that just so happened to dominate the Byzantine Empire in the seventh century AD.    Like I said, I could go there, but I've written enough.  Thanks for stopping by,

Why did the dog cross the street?

Okay.  Just for the fun of it, I opened the Solitaire program this morning to get 8 Q 2 J K 2 6.  This translates to 812-211-1326.  This time I got hit on a number in Chandler, Indiana.  However, doing a reverse search with Spokeo, the "owner" of that "landline" is presently at an address in Montgomery, Alabama.  This is odd.

Using Whitepages.com, I can confirm that the number is indeed the state of Indiana and not Alabama.  The available area code directory then shows that it is in southern Indiana, confirming the first search result to a point.  Short of calling the number or paying for the privilege of more info, I'd say this is about as far as I can go.

Going on to random links of the numbers 211 1326 I stumbled across a couple of things that are interesting.  First, a GIF submitted to Reddit.com a year ago, measuring 320 x 211 at 1326 Kilobytes, one finds a funny video of a dog crossing the road on two legs. Thanks go out to submitter "derplink."  Oddly, my download reduced the size to 976 KB.  Enjoy:

Speaking of walking, Yahoo Answers a question about walking around a round pond with an area of "about 138,656 square feet," with an approximate walk being 1326 feet, given a rounded radius of 210.1 feet and keeping one's feet dry.  To quote the answer: "This would make my walk 2 pi * 211 = 1326 ft (approx)."  The circumference of the given area is 1320 feet (to two decimal places).  It is odd that someone would give the area, but being a math guy I kinda understand.

"125-2119" Touched by Autism

I just finished watching "Touch" on Netflix.  Having two grandsons with autism piqued my interest in this truncated series about a young boy who communicated with numbers.  He not only communicated in numbers, but he saw patterns that connected seemingly random individuals.

Well in the spirit of that fictional autistic boy, I tried an experiment using a truly random number in dealing a hand of Solitaire.  Actually, it was the game called "Klondike" commonly called "Solitaire," but I digress.  The cards that came were: 8 J Q 5 2 J 9.  Giving the face cards their value, this changed to 8 11 12 5 2 11 9.

I first converted that to a phone number, 811-125-2119, but found nothing.  Abandoning the 811 area code, I tried just 125-2119.  While this gave me several phone numbers to choose from, I found other "hits" to be more interesting.

First, I found the RGB color: 125, 2, 119, "Dark Magenta" (a purple with just a little green in it).  The Hexadecimal version is 7d0277.  Just for fun, this paragraph is in the Hexadecimal version.6

That being a neat, but useless little factoid, I moved further down the list, finding a Michigan state law, Act 224 of 1985, section 125.2119, which reads:

ENTERPRISE ZONE ACT (EXCERPT)

Act 224 of 1985

125.2119 Duration of exemption or credit.

Sec. 19.

An exemption or credit granted to a qualified business shall continue until the certification of the qualified business is revoked, as provided in this act, or for 10 years from the date that the business is certified as a qualified business. Even if approval of an enterprise zone is revoked by the authority as provided in this act, an exemption or credit granted to a qualified business located in that enterprise zone shall continue until revoked or until the 10-year or other specified period elapses.

So, now you know how you can continue to do business even after an "enterprise zone" is no longer in affect in your neighborhood.

Well, since I don't live anywhere near Michigan, I looked further for some trivia connected to 125-2119.  Imagine my surprise when I found that at the Department of the Interior's Minerals Management Service, form MMS-125 received 2119 responses.  At an estimated one hour response time, this translates to $74,165 in estimated cost ($35 per hour).  This is for regulations to keep oil and natural gas wells safe.  On a whim, I searched Google to see what that money might buy.  Well, in nearby Atlanta a 2014 Cadillac Escalade Platinum Edition lists for exactly  that amount.

But alas, I don't have the government's money and I'd probably not buy a luxury SUV, so I moved on to something else.  I found something I might be able to afford: a Trusco model #125-2119 Hex wrench tool from Monotaro.  The size of a pocket knife, I can have it for just 19.09 SGD (Singapore Dollars).  But alas, they don't ship to the USA!

Finally, the fine folks at Pipl, the people finders, gave me a real live person.  He is a 7th Grade Math teacher in Pennsylvania!  If I were Jake Bohm's dad, I might be emailing the guy to ask him if he knows anything about Michigan state Law or tools from Singapore.

Well, if anyone wants to fall in love with a fictional 11 year old boy with autism, try the first season of "Touch."  The producers did a good job of presenting autistic behavior.  Meanwhile, check out Autism Speaks and other support groups.

Is Progress Worth the Effort?

The more we know, the further behind we become.  Perhaps we should just go with what we know works.

From the NY Times:

Experimental Efforts to Harvest the Ocean's Power Face Cost Setbacks.

"a 260-ton buoy filled with technology that can turn the movement of the ocean into electricity to power 100 homes. . . .
Despite receiving at least $8.7 million in federal and state grants, Ocean Power told regulators that it could not raise enough money to cover higher-than-expected costs and would instead pursue a similar project in Australia, backed by a $62 million commitment from that country’s government.
 . . .
The Oregon Wave Energy Trust, a nonprofit, state-financed group, spent $430,000 in state lottery money helping Ocean Power navigate the process of seeking a permit.
. . .
Tidal power, which captures energy from currents moving in one direction at a time, as opposed to the wave-based technology of the Ocean Power buoys, is farther along, said Paul Jacobson, ocean energy leader at the Electric Power Research Institute. One reason, he said, is that tidal power is easier to engineer and has been able to adapt expertise from the conventional hydroelectric industry."

Even when a workable ocean-powered generator is made, it cannot be used due to cost restraints.  It's a real shame.  I'm not sure if the 520 pounds of machinery and electronics per house is worth it, but given that it cost almost a half-million dollars to "help" its developers through the process of getting a permit is telling.  This single prototype cost at least $87,000 dollars per prospective customer and did not get a chance to be deployed into service.  Now the Austailians, with abundance of water on all sides, are going to take the project.

Apparently the complicated approach of mining the movement of waves turned out to be more expensive than the more obvious mining of the regular tides, for which there is already old technology in place.  Perhaps this is a case in which computers and micro-management of resources is not the way to go.

I suspect, though, that a conventional turbine in the ocean would threaten far more of the wildlife than would an essentially closed system of sensors on a huge bouy.  That alone will probably doom the projects, though wind turbines (wind "mills") seem to be immune from such concerns when it comes to the danger to airborne wildlife.

Meanwhile, proven technology for cheap nuclear energy is on hold due to dangers far less deadly on the short term.  Even very "clean" energy from conventional hydro-electric turbines might meet opposition due to the threat to habitat of so-called "endangered" species.  Meanwhile, with carbon dioxide being redefined as a pollutant, even massive improvements in cleaning up the cheapest energy producing plants -- that is, the coal-fired plants -- come to naught.  It seems that the whole twentieth century has been lost on activists seeking to protect the earth from mankind.

I'm all for protecting the environment from destruction.  I am not adverse to new technology either.  But when advancement is persued for advancement's sake, trouble looms around every corner.  Unintended consequences can derail the best of intentions.

Perhaps we should just slow down a bit and enjoy what we already have.