Can the Computer make People Better?

This is a trick question and can be answered in a number of ways. 

The easiest way is to assert the innate badness of people. "Nothing on earth will make people any better!"

Or you can go to the opposite extreme. "The Computer can make us perfectible (if not perfect). If the Bomb does not get us first."

Or we can note the obvious: the Internet has changed who we are - for better or worse. 

No Records Were Kept

I am referring to the transition from the RLDS church to the Community of Christ church. The church I grew up in (and was so important to my parents) is no longer.

Many things happened during this transition - including the decision to not remember what happened. 

My brother Steve was active during this transition, but all he will say about it, was that it was painful - nothing more. 

I'm sure it was painful, but it should have been recorded anyway. If we forget our past, we forget who we are. 

Fixing Quantum Mechanics

New York Times Magazine

If you are a normal person (and I assume you are), you don't give a damn about this. It's just too weird. 

But if you like to think (as I do sometimes) it will seem interesting. 

In any case, it will show you that physicists are human too. And that physics deals with human matters. 

Your online guided tour

I have some ideas about this.

First, I would writ write a script as though you were doing an actual tour, describing what the visitors would actually be seeing. First, the outside of the house, then the inside, room by room. 

Then you might add a historical overview, beginning when the RLDS bought land in Southern Iowa and built the town of Lamoni. 

Then add the history of the Railroads in the area and the Roads.

Then take videos, using any camera (your phone would probably be adequate). 

Then record the script, and add it to the video using any Movie Maker. 

Have fun!

My Monster Coffee Maker

I am an expert on Espresso machines. This is my third one. It has the brand Gevi (a company in Formosa) and is made in China. 

Espresso is made by forcing very hot water under high pressure through finely ground compacted coffee.

This all happens in a small cup with holes on the sides and bottom of it. This is held in a solid carrier where the coffee comes out of a hole in the bottom. It is complicated, believe me! 

I followed the instructions carefully, but nothing worked! Ir has a temperature meter (which is unusual) but this does not tell me much about what is going on.  

When I went back to the Amazon page for this product, it was replaced by a page showing a cute dog. Really!

I took the machine apart to see what was happening (I have become good this by now), Most machines have a boiler that is heated to provide steam pressure. 

This one has an external water tank and pumps to provide the pressure. A number of lights are provided but what they indicate is not explained. 

No explanations! This is not unusual, But the companies that do this ought taken outside and shot. 

People are Killing Themselves

And they can see nothing wrong with this. 

In fact, they think they are doing the right thing, what the world is demanding of them. And they are right: the world is demanding this of them and calling it Globalization. 

This process is most developed in the developed countries. They have more of everything, except beneficial human interaction. 

I like that last phrase: beneficial human interaction. This is what we all should be aiming for: a better world. 

But what we are getting is a worse world. And a world that cannot recognize this. 

The presence of the Computer in this complicated mix has not helped. It is demanding that we think better when we can barely think already.  

Korean War

Google News

I can barely remember this although a cousin of mine, Nick Ourth, fought in it. He later forgot all about it. 

In the Sixties, I was a follower of a Korean Buddhist teacher and bowed down to him every morning. There was even a Buddhist teacher in the US during the Vietnam War. There were (and still are) many Buddist organizations in Los Angeles. 

I knew nothing of the events described in this article. Americans have been in wars in Asia for a long time, without knowing who they were fighting.